Ahh Peter

~

River felt a bit nauseous as the stretcher swung. The soldiers were not very good at handling people. She kept her eyes closed to pretend she was unconscious.

There were a lot of hallways, and the trip was very long. She almost fell asleep but was too scared to. Her adrenaline kicked in as they set her down and pushed her off the stretcher. Jerks. She laid there until she head the other stir. River opened her eyes to see she was in a highly secure chamber with glowing green bars around. The bars buzzed with electricity. River decided not to touch them. She sat up and saw Raven, Hank, Peter, and Moira do the same. She stood up and stretched a bit. Hank was in his beast form, but Raven quickly turned into her human form. River walked over to Hank.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked. He looked at her and adjusted his glasses. The looked small on his furry face.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uh Stryker? Is that his name? Well, he kinda knocked everyone out at the school but took some of us. I don't know why," River replied.

"Stryker?" Raven's expression looked like a mixture of fury, fear, and nostalgia.

"Hey!" Peter walked over. "I know you! Except you were like this tall." He made a motion by his waist. "River, right?" She nodded with a smile. "You grew up!"

"Yeah. Sorta." I'm still short, she thought with a suppressed smile. "Good job and thanks on saving everyone back at the house," she said gratefully. He tipped his goggles as if he had a top hat, grinning. He was still the same Peter Maximoff - jokester.

"Woah!" Peter said when he saw Hank. "What's wrong with you? Is that going to happen to all of us?!" He looked scared. Hank shook his head.

"No, don't worry. I just left my meds at home," he said. River patted his arm.

"You don't look that bad, buddy," she said with a wink. He smiled slightly. River knew Hank had always been insecure about his outward appearances.

"Why me though..." asked Moira. Before anyone could respond, a man (River recognized him as Stryker) walked up to one of the windows at the top of the chamber. They all looked up as he tapped on a microphone.

"Hey!" Raven said angrily.

"Mystique," he replied back coldly. He narrowed his eyes at River. Don't say anything, don't catch me... Raven cut in before he could say anything.

"Major Stryker," she said.

"This conversation is like ice," River whispered to Peter. He nodded with a grin.

"Like Antarctica," he whispered back. River stifled a laugh.

"It's Colonel Stryker now," he corrected.

"I'm Moira, Moira MacTaggert. Senior officer at the CIA!" said Moira. Stryker looked like he didn't care. "You can't keep me in here!" she yelled, looking mad.

"Actually, I can," he said smugly. "A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moscow. That event came from exactly where we found you - at the home of the world's most powerful psychic. So, you're going to tell me," he looked down at them. "Where is Charles Xavier?" Pain and fear flashed before Hank, Raven, and Moira's eyes. River wondered why.

"It's not him you should be worried about," Moira said. "There's someone else out there, someone more powerful." Stryker looked doubtful.

"If you let us out of here, we can help you!" Raven yelled. He scoffed.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? You can put on any face you want, but I know who you are. What you are." With that last insult, he walked away. Raven looked like she wanted to punch something.

"I hate that guy," she muttered.

"You've told us before," River smiled. She overheard many conversations of Raven telling Charles about the dangerous and insane man named William Stryker. Raven looked at her.

"Hey, um sorry I've been gone," she said quietly. "I've just been..."

"At work. It's fine." River smiled again. She had gotten used to Raven being gone after many years. "Plus you found Kurt. And that makes up for it." Raven smiled a bit. She didn't smile much usually.

"Well, now we're stuck here," Hank stated. River sighed.

"Scott, Jean, and Kurt should be coming soon," she said softly while sitting down.

"What?!" Hank was shocked. "This is unbelievably dangerous and..."

"Shhh! He might hear us," said River, pointing at the windows above.

"But...what...here...how?" Hank stammered.

"I came here with them. We snuck onto the helicopter but got trapped. They're trying to rescue us right now." Hopefully.

"Why're you here then?" Peter asked. River sighed again and looked up at them.

"You guys are family. Maybe I'm not as close to you, Peter, or you, Ms. MacTaggert, but Hank, Raven," she turned to look at them. "I've known you all my life and..." She paused. "Family is more important than anything. Even...even staying alive with friends." She gave a small laugh.

"Thanks River," Hank said after a small pause.

"Whatever," she grinned and stood up. "We should still try to get out though?"

"She's smart," Moira commented.

"Most of the time," Hank smirked.

"Wow, thanks," River laughed. All of a sudden, there was a voice in their heads.

"Hear me, inhabitants of this world." All of them looked up sharply. Charles! River thought.

"This is a message. A message to every man, woman and mutant. You have lost your way. But I have returned. The day of reckoning, it is here. All your buildings...all your buildings and temples... will fall. The dawn of a new era will emerge. For there is nothing you can do. Those with the greatest power..." He paused. "Protect those without. That's my message to the world." It ended more aggressively than it started. Raven's eyes were wide, Hank looked worried, Moira looked confused, and Peter looked like he was thinking.

"Holy crap," River said. They were all stunned.

"Charles did that without Cerebro," Hank murmured. Stryker walked over to the window and banged on the glass angrily.

"I know that voice - it's Xavier! What's going on? Tell me!" he demanded. Raven threw her hands into the air.

"We. Don't. Know!" she yelled. "What did we say?" He glared at her.

"We don't know, bro!" Peter added. River stifled another laugh.

"Fine, stay silent. There are more than one way to skin a cat." He turned his heel and walked away again.

"We are going to be stuck here forever," groaned Raven. She inspected the glowing, green walls.

"Hey, did you Magneto?" Peter asked her suddenly. Hank looked over interested in her reply.

"I thought I did," she replied distractedly.

"Was he like...like the bad guy they all say he is?" he asked hesitantly.

"Um..." She tried to think of an answer and came up blank. "No. But I mean, yeah. But I mean...why're you asking? You see his speech on TV?" Peter took a pause.

"Yeah. And...well...he's my dad." They all spun around in shock.

"What?!" exclaimed Raven.

"He and my mom, they like did it..." He made some hand motions that made Moira turn right around.

"There are children here!" Hank said, covering River's eyes. She pulled off his hands and gave him an eye roll.

"Ok ok yeah," Raven said, putting Peter's hands down hastily. "But...like...are you sure?"

"Yeah. My mom never talked about it, so I guess he left her before I was born. I met him ten years ago in '73, when you were a kid," he nodded at River, "but by the time I figured it out, I was too late. And then I saw him on TV and went to your guys' house to look for him, but I was too late again." He paused. "You know, for a guy as fast as me, I always seem too slow." They all thought about the whole ordeal in silence.

"We'll find him," said River, breaking the silence. Peter looked at her. "And we won't be too late. You'll tell him." He smiled slightly.

"Thanks." All of a sudden, there were alarms. The mutants couldn't hear them, but they could see the flashing orange lights. "What the heck?" Peter mumbled. The five turned to look out the windows but couldn't see much. All they could observe were flashing light and soldiers running around frantically. Stryker was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" River muttered.

"I guess we just wait here," Moira said with a sigh. River looked up. The soldiers were still running around, but now they were screaming. She saw a flash of red spray into the air. What the hell...

"There's something up there," she pointed. Hank and the rest of them looked up to see a splash of red stain the window. The alarms still flashed, but there were no more soldiers standing.

"Oh my god..." Moira whispered. They all stood in silence, in case the killer could hear them. There were no sign of the three teenage mutants, and River's stomach sank. They aren't coming. They got caught or killed or both. She started to cry, and Hank went over to hug her without asking what was wrong. She was grateful for that. She buried her face into his shirt, feeling the blue fur in her hair. We're stuck here. Forever.

After a few minutes, they were all either sitting down or looking for a way to escape, when they saw the top of a door open. A blue boy carefully went to the window, his face a mixture of awe and disgust. River almost screamed; she was so happy to see one of her friends.

"Kurt!" River yelled with relief. He heard her faintly and looked down at them. He waved and said some words. "We can't hear you!" she yelled again. He kept mouthing words.

"We can't hear you!" Raven shouted. Hank made some motions by his ear, and Kurt finally got it.

"Step...door! St...away...do-" The microphone cackled and cut his words off. He realized that they couldn't understand him, so he made a rectangle with his finger. Then he made a "go away" motion.

"Step away from...oh! Everyone, get away from the door!" Raven yelled.

"The door! The door!" Peter said frantically. Raven pushed him and Moira to the side, and Hank huddled in the back with River. The sides of door in the wall started to glow faintly, and River ducked as it blasted open. She looked up to see Jean waving the dust away, and Scott put on his glasses.

"JEAN! SCOTT!" River yelled with a happiness she didn't know was possible to feel. She ran out of the door and gave Jean a crushing hug.

"River, it's very very good to see you too, but I need to breathe," Jean squeaked. River let her go and laughed. "Thank you."

"Are you ok?" Scott interrupted. River turned to look at him and gave him a hug similar to the one she gave Jean.

"Thanks for rescuing me, Summers," she said into his ear. He hugged her back.

"You're welcome," he whispered with a grin. She released him and cleared her throat when she saw Hank and Raven winking at her. I hate older siblings, River thought subconsciously.

"Anyways, yeah we're ok." She smiled.

"I know where the professor is," said Jean. The five ex-prisoners perked up.

"Which way to escape?" Hank asked. Scott pointed to the right of him. "Let's go."

"Hold on," said Kurt, holding his arms out. Jean, Scott, River, and Raven grabbed on. Kurt bamfed into the end of a hallway. He reported away and a few seconds later, Hank, Peter, and Moira were in the hallway with them too.

"Jesus!" Peter said after they teleported. "That is even cooler than my thing!" Kurt smiled a bit. Raven looked around at the dead and bloody soldiers on the ground. River tried not to notice them, and she walked closer to Scott.

"You guys were busy," stated Raven, a little impressed.

"We uh had help," Scott said, exchanging glances with Jean. River wondered who had helped them. "This way." He lead them down the hallway and into the room with the aircraft. Kurt teleported them all inside now that the electrical field was gone.

"Nice," Hank said when he saw the planes.

"Hey Hank," Raven said, looking them over. "Think you can fly this thing?" She motioned to one of the sleekest looking planes. He observed it and nodded.

"Yeah, I can figure it out." Hank kept looking at the plane as Scott pushed a button of a translucent cabinet next to him. The door slid open with a hiss and revealed a couple black armoured suits.

"Hey, guys," he said. "Flight suits." Raven looked at the students then looked at Hank. Her next words gave River chills.

"You got your warplane. Let's go to war."

~

WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO BE AT THE APOCALYPSE FIGHT WOOO