The X-Men characters featured in this
story are property of Marvel Inc and used without permission.
No profit is made from these works.
AJ Rovner/Unicorn was created by Abby
Rovner and is used with permission.
Ziska Xavier is my own creation.
It’s a hazy morning. The weatherman promises torrential downpours before late afternoon. Henry McCoy and Franziska Xavier as sitting across from each other at the table, eyes and hands locked, ready for combat. “One, two three four…”
“I declare a thumb war.”
“Five, six seven eight…”
“Try to keep your finger strai… HEY!” Ziska squeals.
Hank smiles from ear to ear, having already pinned Ziska for the third time in a row. “When did you become a glutton for punishment? My hands are twice the size of yours.”
“Since you used to let me win.” Ziska replies while stretching her fingers. She props her head on her hand, making it clear she won’t try again.
“You aren’t twelve anymore.”
“Wishful thinking I guess then. But, that is why you asked me to reach into the mainframe to replace the old wiring, right?”
“It‘s that, or disassembling the whole thing. Besides, you need to keep yourself busy. And we did say three out of five.”
Ziska resigns herself to her fate. “You’ll owe me a manicure.”
“Why don’t you just use telekinesis?” AJ asks.
Startled, Hank and Ziska turn around. “You are way too quiet for our good.” Ziska remarks.
AJ shrugs, and makes herself breakfast. “Some habits die hard. And since I don’t have to wear dress shoes to work, why bother? Seriously though, why not use telekinesis?”
“The short version is that Dad doesn’t want me to. Or anyone for that matter.”
“How long is the long version?” AJ asks between bites.
“I stopped listening somewhere between ‘We would have to contact the Shi’ar to get it fixed if something were to go wrong’ and ‘Most of the information is so sensitive, I do not have another copy.’ And, really, arguing with Dad about these things is not worth the headache.” Ziska watches as Hank glances out the door. “Dad already had his second coffee today.”
“It doesn’t hurt to be safe.” Hank replies and gets to his feet. “See you around after classes then?”
“Then a French manicure?” Ziska replies with a wicked smile.
Hank rolls his eyes, but with a grin sticks out his tongue at her. “I’ll take care of it, but not acrylics. See you later.” As Hank walks out the door, William walks into the kitchen. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” William replies as he walks by. “Acrylics?”
Ziska sprawls out her hands, admiring her already lengthy fingernails. “No thanks, I prefer a more natural appearance these days.”
William chuckles. “I’m so glad you grew up these last few years. But what’s the job?”
“Some routine wire replacement for Cerebro and the mainframe. And since I pretty much shot my mouth off about how it has always been easier for me to reach inside than redoing the whole thing every time, why not save a few hours of labor?” Ziska replies, and then eyes AJ. “You know, technically you could turn into something small and actually see what you are doing.”
“I could.” AJ replies. “But I won’t do it for a manicure.” AJ checks her own nails, which are much shorter than Ziska’s and much more practical. “I do my own.”
******************************************
With snake cam and snake light inserted, mini monitor plugged in and on the ground and a large print schematic spread across the floor, Ziska is on her knees next to Cerebro. She couldn’t find a bribe for AJ, so she decides to go it on her own. Hank left the house twenty minutes ago and didn’t tell anyone where he went.
But four years can change things. Many of Ziska’s “brothers” had a knack for machinery. After all, Brian pieced together the soda fountain from scratch, including the delivery system. Ziska had been there every step of the way. Cerebro is a breeze for her now. Especially since all the replacement wires are color coded.
When she is done plugging in the last wire, she restarts Cerebro. The machine immediately reconnects to the Shi’ar main system. Those wires are supposed to be next. But that won’t happen. As Ziska watches, the screen scrolls to update the computer file. Then, the scrolling stops at a blinking line in the code. Incoming deep space message? She doesn’t wait for the message to finish. A few buttons later reveal the source code. The Shi’ar high council. But it isn’t Lilandra’s code. This can’t be good. Before the message completely finishes loading, Ziska leaves looking for her father.
******************************************
It’s early afternoon, and Charles sits in his office, enjoying hearing to the rain against the window panes. Charles had been raised to keep his space clean and clutter free. As a child, he was told it was so it would appear that he did not have to work. It was his “place” in society to have a leisurely life. He does not regret ignoring those rules. So, while his students and friends have to clean their rooms, all he really has to worry about is deleting junk e-mail.
A quiet knock on his door startles him. “Come in.”
The double door opens and William is holding a bag full of papers. “You wouldn’t by chance have a shredder here would you?”
“I do actually.” Charles answers. He glides back and pulls the shredder and its matching basket from under the desk. “What is all that?”
“Junk mail.” William replies. “You’d think they’d get the hint.” William pulls out several envelopes, all stamped from the same company. “They can’t all be home owners here.”
Charles glances at the letters, all addressed to several of his students. “Vinyl siding? I think not.”
“Ohh, can we get green?” Ziska calls as she walks in the door. Charles and William both stare her down. “Alright, the brick is cute too.”
William shakes his head in disbelief. Where did your manners go?
“I trust you didn’t barge in here to redesign the exterior of the house?” Charles chides her.
“Can’t say that I have Dad.” She answers. “There is a message coming in from the Shi’ar.”
“How do you know that?” Charles asks as he switches to the other system from the common desk top.
“I was working on Cerebro and when I rebooted the system I saw it in the code.”
Charles takes a deep breath. “You shouldn’t be doing that kind of work alone Franziska.”
“Yeah, well, tell Hank not to take off next time. And it’s not from Lilandra, it’s from the council.”
William’s eyes dart from one to the other. In the two weeks since Ziska came here, he couldn’t help but notice how she had changed, for the worse in some cases. She is in a bad mood half the time, and rarely knocks on the office door. Though they haven’t gotten into anything serious as of yet, William is dreading the day these two have a screaming match.
She may have realized what William is thinking about and quickly makes her exit.
Charles quietly sighs and then speaks. “Please, don’t say anything William.”
“I’m not sure what there is to say Professor.”
******************************************
Ziska must have just turned on Cerebro as the message was beginning to transmit. It takes a few minutes to finish off before Charles can finally view it.
Oh, just skip the formalities already. He thinks impatiently. The face of an elderly Shi’ar councilman appears in front of him in a hologram. The man introduces himself as a secretary of someone further up the ladder, and Charles quickly gets tired of listening. But listen he does, especially for the words and phrases which have special emphasis. Sometimes the oldest way to hide a message is the best. And what he hears between the lines worries him.
“Assistance… Lilandra…Not…. Well…Poi(nt)… So(meday)…Net”
The last word was poorly pronounced, but Charles still got it. Poisoned.
“A ship will be in range by this afternoon. Please, enjoy your time on the throne world.” Is the last thing the hologram said before it blinks out.
Charles hates these cloak and dagger routines. It’s bad enough someone was able to harm Lilandra surrounded by her guards. But since harming her would case a panic, someone else usually has to come in to protect her and at the same time be a good excuse why she isn’t being seen. Charles fits the bill quite nicely.
It won’t be safe. But if he doesn’t play to their tune, things will get worse in a heart beat. While he and the X-Men would handle protecting Lilandra, the three newcomers could live it up.
It’s then that Charles realizes he doesn’t know what kind of relationship Ziska has had with Lilandra. But he really can’t come up with an excuse to not bring her along.
******************************************
“Outer space?” AJ asks in disbelief.
“Well, they couldn‘t exactly put that in the want ad as a perk.” Ziska points out. “Bring clothes and some extra room in your bags; you’ll probably bring some things with you. And you really won’t need toiletries, trust me.”
AJ carefully eyes Ziska. “I thought this is a mission.”
“It is, but a part of it is to act normal, and after Lilandra is safe and sound we aren’t exactly going to get booted out of the empire.”
There are a lot of things AJ wants to say right about now. She holds back though, mostly because she was raised better. The rest of it is because she is dealing with her boss’s daughter. For the first few days, Ziska was nice, sweet, and everything was fine. Since then though, AJ and several other have noticed a nasty mean streak in her. A cheap shot there, a cheat there. And it’s getting worse.
But since AJ is the only new person on board, who was she to judge?
******************************************
It’s not much, but it will have to do. Charles thinks as he looks at the crew around him. Scott, Jean and Logan would be the main team, while AJ, William and Ziska will serve as a distraction mostly. Hank will be joining as well, if he can get packed in time.
Once airborne, Hank digs out a small paper bag from a pharmacy a few miles down the road. “Ziska, you didn’t by chance get started on the wiring yet, did you?”
She looks back to him. “I’m already done.”
“Sorry, you were faster than I expected. Here.” He says as he gives Ziska the bag.
She opens it up and manages a smile. She pulls out two little bottles of nail polish and manicure guide stickers. “Thanks Hank, that’s too sweet.”
******************************************
“Gather
round all, show time.”
Ziska gets
there first, with the others slowly following; everyone except AJ, who is still
getting used to the idea of traveling to space.
Every kid dreams to travel in
space. AJ tells herself. But
this… what did I sign up for here?
“Come on, you’ll miss it.” Ziska calls to AJ.
At first,
she thought it all sounded like a bad movie.
But then she watches the transfer gate charge. For the earth bound X-Men, this is a
treat. For AJ, it’s complete awe. For the crew members who go through this on a
regular basis, the guests are complete idiots to be awed by something so
simple. But no one dares to say that
about the Consort of Majestrix
Lilandra.
******************************************
From listening to the others, Ziska realizes that, in this timeline, her father had spent a long time in space with Lilandra. Here, they are married, technically at least.
It was very different in her timeline. Charles had met Lilandra, and did fall head over heels in love. But when it came down to it, Gabrielle wouldn’t hear of Ziska living in outer space (even though she had visited the throne world twice already), and Charles wouldn’t abandon his daughter. And being torn between three things was too much for anyone. So eventually, Lilandra stopped coming.
She probably hated my guts. Ziska thinks. So, for her father’s sake, she will keep her distance from Lilandra.
******************************************
Does
it EVER end? Various members of the group groan
inwardly. Ziska tries to ignore their
thoughts. Charles probably wasn’t
listening to begin with.
It is tradition that whenever they
arrive, the whole council has to be reintroduced, as well as all the guests…
which quickly becomes a problem.
“Daughter? Why was this not brought to our attention
previously?” The same secretary from the
hologram demands.
Before Charles can respond, Ziska
steps forward. “I’ve only just joined my
father in his life recently. He knew
nothing of me until about two weeks ago by our time. It ought not to be held against him.” She then gives a little bow, and the council
is impressed with her actions.
“You have taught her well.” He replies.
“Well then, perhaps we should go see the Majestrix?”
With that, the council disperses,
and the Imperial guard takes over.
Lilandra wants to see all of them.
******************************************
Lilandra is still weak, but she is sitting in a comfortable chair in her… their residence. This is Charles’s home as well. He just doesn’t use it as often. A daughter? Lilandra thinks to herself. She knew about David; she wanted to come to the funeral. But Charles was so distraught he asked her not to come. Had it really only been two months? She misses him. But she wishes that he would have had a chance to come for some other reason than saving her. At least, for now, he would be here.
The group files in, and finally the guards can relax. Only a select few are allowed into the residence. Charles is at the top of the list.
He slowly wraps his arms around her, and she feels safer than she’s had in days. It’s alright. He tells here. I’m here now.
You can’t fix everything you know. She replies tearfully.
Maybe not everything. But I can help. Charles then leans back and starts to
talk. “I believe it’s time for some
introductions.” With that, the three new
members step forward. “From left to
right, we have AJ Rovner,
Boy, don’t sound too happy there Dad. Ziska thinks to herself and bows, closing her eyes as she does so.
“Pleased to meet you all.” Lilandra responds, but isn’t sure how to react to Ziska. She seems so… cold. Is she angry with me? But before Lilandra can actually say anything, she becomes dizzy, and Charles steadies her.
“You need to rest.” Charles insists. “We can talk more later.”
Weakly, Lilandra nods in agreement.
******************************************
The group is lead to their quarters. While the Professor stays with his wife in the residence, Ziska joins the others on the guest tower. She has a pretty good idea what is on their minds, and she doesn’t want to hear it. “Dibs on the far left room.”
“Go for
it.” She hears
Not waiting for anyone else to respond, she walks into the room and closes the door right after herself.
“Alright.” Jean starts. “What has gotten into her? She didn’t need to pull that face in front of Lilandra.”
Scott tries to stop the problem from escalating. “Let it go Jean.”
“Why?” Jean demands. “I know she started acting up after she zapped Hank and Nate. But I don’t see a connection.”
“I mean the part about why she made the face in Lilandra’s presence.” Scott adds. “I have a feeling this is very different for her.”
“Just a
lucky guess?”
“Unlucky if anything.”
They don’t quite get a chance to unpack, as someone knocks on the common room door, and without waiting for an answer to the knock, a young woman, bright eyed and seemingly cheerful, walks in. “I have been instructed to give you a tour.” She says with a sweet smile.
The group looks at each other quizzically. “Thank you… but we’ve been here before.” Hank replies.
She looks up at him. “Not all of you have, there are at least three new visitors.”
What’s going on here? Jean asks the whole group.
Don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t like
it.
Are you including Ziska in this chat Jean? Scott asks.
Either way I’m listening. Ziska chimes in.
Scott tries
not to look at their guide, but addresses the three new recruits through
Jean. We are supposed to act normal here.
AJ, William, Ziska; do your best to act like tourist.
“So, where are we going?” Ziska asks.
“Where ever you choose. Please, follow me.” The guide says and exits.
Ziska is out the door right behind her, but William hesitates. “You guys sure this is a good idea?”
“Not really.” Hank replies and digs in his duffle bag for a communicator. “AJ, take this. Get in touch if anything comes up.”
AJ takes
the small device and stows it in her pocket.
Why do I have to be the
responsible one?
******************************************
Several miles away AJ, William and Ziska are in a shopping center. Unlike what they have ever seen on earth, this “mall” doesn’t just cover different cultures in the world. It offers a little something from across the empire. Ziska is not awed. In fact, she was more than ready to ditch their tour guide after the first five minutes. But the young woman was more than happy to drop them off shopping and get clear. They were advised that any expenses they incurred would be taken care of.
AJ hates shopping on someone else credit. Not that she had any idea how expensive these things technically are. Or, in some cases, what exactly they are.
After a short debate about where to go shopping, William is the one who brings up a great point. They don’t have uniforms yet, aside from the training togs the school provides. And none of them were too fond of the design.
AJ is the first to get changed. Her outfit is very simple; basic black, with expandable sleeves and low boots. After she mentions her powers to the sales person, he assured here this material will shift to match all her needs.
“Is it setting in yet?” William asks.
“Is what setting in?” AJ asks back.
He walks up next to her looking at his new uniform in the mirror. “Officially joining the team. That stuff is bullet proof, custom fitted, padded where safety needs it, never fades, never stretches…”
“You sound as bad as that salesman right now.” AJ responds with a smile. “Truthfully though, I’m still trying to wrap my head around not having to skirt around saying I’m a mutant.”
Ziska pulls open the door to her dressing room. As she sees AJ and William in front of the big mirror, she joins them. “Cool cuffs.” She remarks to AJ’s choice.
“Thanks.” AJ replies.
“What are those supposed to be?” William asks while looking at Ziska’s boots.
“Knee pads.” Ziska answers.
“That I got. But why did you get boots that go mid thigh?”
“So when I put things in my boots I have easy access.”
“Oh, right.” William replies.
“Now what am I missing?” AJ asks.
“I had to wear a school uniform. Since skirts don’t have pockets, I never knew where to put my wallet and other things. Now, I really hate to wear pocketbooks, so I started sticking things in my boots. Made it damned near impossible to steal my wallet.”
William looks around at the other shoppers. “You know, we blend in a lot more wearing these things than wearing out street clothes.”
“So that’s a confirmed sale then?” Ziska asks.
William straightens up and poses in the mirror. “That it is. Think they’ll give us some bags for the other threads?”
“Why bother?” Ziska asks and pulls out her duffle. “Dump them in here.”
******************************************
Some time passes and Lilandra regains some strength after eating. Since then, they are curled up arm in arm in an oversized chaise. Now Lilandra listens to Charles talk about his daughter. And things make a little more sense.
“It must be difficult for her.” She whispers when Charles is finished talking.
He doesn’t move. “It seemed like it would be at first. But now… I guess reality is setting in that things are different. I guess having people tell her directly they aren’t interested in their past with her might have upset her.”
Lilandra leans closer to Charles. “Did we get along?”
Charles sighs. “I don’t know.”
“How come?”
“Part of Ziska’s power is that only memories of others who she previously touched are opened up. I have memories of her and myself only, but beyond that, it can only include people who also have their memories. It leaves a lot of gaps, especially from after I opened the school. Although now that I think about it, I can remember conversations about people she hasn’t come in contact with yet.”
“Does she remember the gaps?”
“I suppose she does.” It dawns on Charles what Lilandra is getting at. “You don’t think you got along?”
“I imagine it must have been difficult. You spent a lot of time here with me. Where was she that summer?”
Charles doesn’t get to answer. The residence is perched on top of the palace, much like the space needle. They don’t hear the explosion, but when the whole place starts to shake and finally starts to topple, there is little doubt about what is going on. As they slide across the floor along with the furniture, Charles grabs a hold of a piece of drapery, and manages to hold on, for both their sakes.
******************************************
The X-Men hear the explosion, and Jean sees it through the window. As they make a run for the residence, they are stopped at the tower gate.
“Sorry, we don’t have time for this, something is wrong with the Majestrix and the Professor.” Scott shouts as he is being pushed back.
The guards aren’t listening. Helmets down to cover their faces, they instead raise their weapons at the X-Men.
One of the guards steps forward. “You are under arrest for acts of terrorism.”
******************************************
A view of the palace is a desirable thing, especially for an equally towering shopping center. The group was just settling down to get off their feet and enjoying the view. Seeing the blast is terrifying, and the crowd is quickly in a panic. Watching the residence topple down half way was even more shocking, but a massive artificially generated force field avoids major disaster.
“We gotta go.” Ziska announces, grabs her bag and starts running. With no reason to argue, the other two follow, but they don’t get far. Security gets them before they’re even at the elevator and without explanation drag them off into a holding office.
Without a word, the three are thrown into a larger cell together.
“What the hell just happened?” William asks.
“Do I…” Ziska starts.
“Shh.” AJ hisses with her ear against the wall. “They didn’t turn off their translators, I can hear them.”
William and Ziska stand perfectly still, and AJ listens to the guards outside. Rather than pass on the information bit by bit, she listens to the whole conversation as the guards walk away.
AJ backs away from the wall and tries to regain her composure. “They’re blaming us for the explosion.”
“WHAT?” Ziska shouts.
AJ covers her ears, having not turned them back down yet. “We, as a group, supposedly were the last ones coming down from the residence. So we must be the ones that planted the explosives.”
“So this whole thing was a set up.” Ziska says when she’s composed herself.
AJ fumbles around Ziska’s bag and then in her pant pocket looking for the communicator. As she digs other things fall out of the bag too.
“That is Shi’ar tech; it probably won’t work here for security reasons.” William points out.
AJ tries it just to be sure, but William is right. No connection to anything. “Well, so much for getting in contact with them.” She then eyes Ziska. “How about telepathy?”
“Same problem, they know how to block it.” Ziska looks around. “Fire balls and telekinesis won’t do much either.”
“We’re too far off the ground for me to do anything. Is there any kind of life support over ride system?” William asks.
“We’re being medically monitored at all times probably.” Ziska replies.
“What about starting a fire?” William asks.
Ziska shakes her head. “My pyrokinesis is self generating, so there is no smoke. And heat alone won’t do it.”
“So what, we’re going to do, nothing?” AJ asks back.
“No, just, lemme think.” Ziska leans back against a wall and bangs her head lightly against the metal.
“Not helping with thinking Zee.” William huffs and looks down. He sees the bag that Hank gave Ziska earlier. “How about burning that?”
Ziska looks down, and realizes what William is talking about. “That would work.” She reaches for the bag, and drops out its content. “This might work better.”
AJ watches as Ziska peels the cover off the nail polish bottle. “This is going to stink, isn’t it?”
“This would throw off the medical scanners for air purity.” Ziska replies.
“Which might make them run even quicker than just smoke?” William asks and walks towards the other side of the door, across from AJ.
Ziska finishes pouring the second bottle of nail polish onto the bag and makes a fireball. “Ready?”
As soon as Ziska lights the liquid, AJ has to pinch her nose. Just a few seconds later, the alarm sound for the air system.
The door slides open, and two guards are standing there, firepower at the ready. The weapons go flying as soon as Ziska lets loose a small telekinetic field. The guards themselves are terrified by AJ’s large cat transformation. One manages to escape, the other faints dead away.
“What the hell is that?” William asks AJ.
She meanwhile turns back into a person. “A liger, combination lion and tiger. I figured a big cat might scare bird descendants.”
Among the chaos in the small security office, the trio makes a run for it, just passing palace guards. Not immediately being recognized, they get a nice head start of the group.
“Told you these clothes would help us blend in better.” William points out mid stride.
Even in her human form, AJ is the fastest of the three as a runner. But the glider vehicles are still catching up to them.
“William, raise the ground behind us a little.” Ziska shouts.
“Why?” William shouts back.
“They are flying low, raise a line just a few inches and they’ll get stuck.”
William spins mid stride and motions across the road from where he visualizes the road. Just as the gliders hit the area, the ground rises up and catches them. No serious injuries, just some property damage. Just like the X-Men. He thinks with a smile.
To Be Continued