Random spur of the moment fic in a fandom I know very little about. Many liberties have been taken with canon due to me not knowing any. There are some graphic descriptions, but nothing I'd rate above a T. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter One

As the Blackbird landed lightly on the facility roof, Alex had to remember how to breathe.

It wasn't like this was the first time that he had flown; and it was definitely nowhere near the worst flight that he had ever experienced, but sometimes it was hard to remind his lungs of that fact. Methodically, he released his white knuckled grip from the restraints and forced his hands not to shake as he undid the clasp. They had landed. They were on solid ground (well, a roof, but near enough). Flying wasn't so bad after all.

Yeah right.

Opposite him, Sean flashed him a concerned look, but wisely chose to remain silent. He and Hank had caught on to the fact that Alex didn't like to fly, but they didn't know why. It was going to stay that way if Alex had anything to say about it. There was no way he could talk about-

Hell, he could barely think about it.

"Security looks tight," Hank commented as he climbed out of the pilot's chair and into the back of the plane to join them. He frowned, though the expression looked more like a feral scowl with the furry face and fanged teeth. "Tighter than we anticipated."

"Nothing we haven't faced before," Alex shrugged nonchalantly. He pushed all thoughts of flying and planes to the back of his mind, focusing on the here and now. So what if his pulse was still just a tad too fast, he could blame it on pre-mission adrenaline. "The alarm system's still the same as the others, we know we can get round that. A few more guards just means we're gonna have to try for more stealth this time."

Sean and Hank shared a look. One was bright blue, the other screamed really loud. Alex's explosive power wasn't much better. Stealth was not the reason that they had been picked for the X-Men. But they were also all that was left, Alex thought bitterly, so they were gonna have to deal.

"Once we're in, we'll spilt up," Alex continued, ignoring the pair of them. "Hank, you'll head to the databank to try and pull their files, find out what the hell these assholes think they're doing to the kids. Sean, you take the lower level and find the cells, and I'll take the labs. Anything goes sideways, get back to the Blackbird immediately. Any questions?"

Both Hank and Sean shook their heads, though they didn't look overly optimistic. This was the biggest facility that they had hit since Moira had found out about Trask Industries and the side projects that they had hidden under defence contracts. From the two previous missions they had already saved twelve kids – who knew how many they were going to find this time. Logistically, it was a nightmare with just the three of them

But what choice did they have?

They found the roof access easily enough, Beast handling the alarm while Havok made short work of the lock. Once they were inside they moved silently through the halls, passing two guards completely unnoticed before wordlessly splitting up at the intersection they had memorised from the blueprints.

The facility was massive, all long corridors and clinically white rooms; a cross between a labyrinth and a hospital that had Havok back-tracking a few times when he missed the turns. The guards he encountered he took down with the chokehold that Erik had taught him all those months ago (Before Cuba) and hid them inside empty rooms. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed that they were missing, but at least there wasn't a trail of unconscious bodies for them to follow.

Things were going surprisingly smoothly – no alarms or flying bullets were always good – but Havok knew better than to become complacent. That was inviting trouble.

Though apparently, trouble didn't need an invitation.

He was two corridors away from the labs when heard a door open behind him. Havok turned, watching the guard's eyes widen in alarm as he automatically raised his gun. Havok lashed out, snatching the guard's wrist and twisting sharply to force him to drop the gun while simultaneously bringing up his other fist to jab the guard hard in the throat. The guard managed to get half a word out before he was silenced, but apparently that was enough.

Two more guards came around the corner, and Havok rushed to meet them. He disarmed one and swept the legs out from beneath the other, but before he could do much else, another guard came out of nowhere, gun raised.

Havok had very little choice. Gunshots would bring the entire militia stationed at the facility down on him in minutes. He had to stop the guard from firing his weapon, and that meant using his power.

He could already smell burning flesh before his choice had been made; flashes of an alleyway in Nebraska haunting him before he tried to grasp onto the Professor's training. Beast's invention had managed to give Havok's power direction, but it was no less fatal. It was Charles that had taken over teaching Alex control, tempering the energy blasts from blazing lashes down to a concussive force; but it took everything Havok had to hold back.

With a prayer, Havok stretched out his arm, twin circles of light twisting around his hand before unleashing across the corridor. The discs struck the guard hard, harder than Havok had anticipated, and launched him back against the wall with a dull thud.

But nothing was on fire. Nothing was burning.

Havok almost gave a semi-delirious laugh – white spots dancing across his vision – before a jab to the ribs reminded him painfully of the two guards he hadn't quite finished taking down. A few well-placed hits took care of them though, leaving the corridor in silence once more.

Havok slumped against the wall, breathing through the new headache that had formed right behind his eyes. He knew from experience that he could easily take down a building and feel little to no ill effects, but when it came to pulling his punches just once he felt as if he'd gone ten rounds with Magneto.

Why was control so hard?

Taking a deep breath, Havok shoved the sudden exhaustion to the back of his mind and climbed back to his feet. He decided to take the time to hide the five guards despite the risk that more could be coming, hoping that stealth was still an advantage that he had. They hadn't made too much noise, considering, and if there had been more men in the vicinity to hear, they would have responded by then. No alarms appeared to have been raised, so Havok took it as a good sign before moving on.

It was just as he reached the wing that housed the labs that he first heard it. A whimpering sound; sobs that wanted to be louder but were held back. Havok felt his blood boil. The cries sounded young, younger still than the kids he had rescued from the other facilities. And then there was an adult voice, clinically recording the kid's reactions.

"—appears to be causing the subject pain," the adult was saying; some mad scientist doctor who didn't seem to care that the 'subject' was just a child.

Havok glanced around the corner of the corridor, noting the two guards outside the door where the voices were coming from. Normally, two guards wouldn't be an issue, but there was no cover between him and the door. They would see him the moment that he stepped out, probably shooting him full of bullet holes before he even made it halfway. Havok sighed, searching for control again as the headache double in intensity.

"—leave me alone, please," the young voice begged, and Havok fought harder, bringing his power to his hands as he prepared to step out and hope he didn't kill anyone. "Please stay away, I can't—"

Red light filled Havok's vision, and it took him a moment to realise that it wasn't him. The guards automatically ducked as the beam cut straight through the wall and beyond, leaving a blackened horizontal slice in the plasterboard. Taking advantage of the distraction, Havok gave up on taming his power and launched across the corridor. He caught one of the guards in a tackle, bringing them both to the floor before taking the man out with a punch to the temple. The other guard swung his gun around but he wasn't quick enough, and Havok brought him down too.

The beam shut off just as abruptly as it had appeared, leaving behind scorch marks and the sickeningly familiar scent of burnt flesh. Havok swallowed down the bile in his throat, trying desperately not throw up as he struggled to stop his mind flashing back. He had to focus on the here and now; on the kid inside that lab that had the same demons haunting them as Havok did.

The door had been split in two and hung limply from the frame, giving easily as Havok pushed it open. On the floor in front of him were the remains of the scientist; the top half of his body separated from the bottom and a surprised expression permanently etched on his face. Havok ignored him, turning instead to the kid strapped to the gurney.

It was a boy, possibly about nine years old, though the scrawny frame made him look younger; his brown hair sweat-soaked and stuck to his forehead. He was panting heavily between sobs, tears shining on his cheeks and his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Careful not to make any sudden movements or loud noises, Havok made his way over to the boy. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do. Touching the kid was probably a bad idea, he knew, but beyond that he was clueless. The kids he had rescued before – they hadn't been in the middle of an experiment. And Banshee had been with him then too. The kids liked the ginger for some reason. But this time he was alone, and the kid was terrified.

The kid turned his head in Havok's direction, seeming to know that he was there even with his eyes closed. Havok tried to keep his voice calm and soothing, "Hey kid."

The kid automatically opened his eyes to look at the owner of the new voice, forgetting momentarily what a terrible idea this was.

Havok didn't even have a chance to gasp before the red light was back and cutting straight through him. He braced for pain on instinct, having seen for himself exactly what the beam of light could do.

But nothing happened.

There was no pain. No burning. Just an odd, harsh skip to his heart that felt almost reminiscent of the time Beast had had to shoot Havok up with epinephrine when a mission had gone spectacularly wrong. His headache vanished in an instant, the exhaustion going with it. And he was miraculously still alive. Weird.

The kid slammed his eyes shut in the same second that he had opened them, turning his head violently away as new tears spilled free. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I—"

"Hey, hey kid, it's okay," Havok tried to stop the boy's rambled, guilt-ridden apologies, placing a hand on his shoulder to prove that he was alright. "You didn't hurt me, okay?"

Tentatively, the kid turned his face back, eyes closed this time. "I didn't… How… Who are you?"

"I'm a friend, and I'm here to help you," Havok replied, squeezing the bony shoulder lightly in reassurance. The kid didn't seem to mind the contact, so Havok kept his hand there so the kid knew that he wasn't going anywhere. "How about we get you out of here? Sound good?"

The kid nodded, then froze. His eyes were so tightly shut that it looked painful, the muscles around them twitching under the strain. "The mask. You have to find the mask. It stops me, please, the mask—"

"Okay, okay, I'll find it," Havok said placatingly, patting the kid's shoulder before moving away to look around the lab. It was fairly obvious what the kid was talking about. A thick black blindfold lay abandoned on a surgical table beside the gurney, almost staring at Havok ominously. He picked it up, feeling the weight of it with a sick sense of dread. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, it stops me," the kid nodded, his face red with tears and the pressure of keeping his eyes closed. His chest was heaving with barely suppressed panic. "Please, it helps. It's the only thing that stops me."

Havok felt awful as he placed the mask over the kid's eyes, the thick band covering from his hairline to his nose. Reluctantly, he fastened the straps at the back, the metal of the buckles clanking like torture devices. But as soon at the mask was in place, the kid calmed down significantly, almost sighing in relief.

"I'm gonna untie you now, alright?" Havok said as he reached for the straps. They pinned the kid down across his shoulders, wrists, waist and ankles, leaving behind livid ligature marks on pale skin as Havok tugged them loose. "Do you think you can walk?"

The kid nodded, allowing Havok to help him upright and set him gently on the floor, before promptly crying out and nearly collapsing.

"What? What is it?" Havok asked, instinctively holding the kid up under the arms to keep him from dropping.

"Sorry, I forgot my leg," the kid murmured sheepishly. He gestured at his calf and the jagged hole cut through the jumpsuit he was wearing. With the darkness of the fabric it was hard make out the blood, but if it was causing enough pain to stop the kid from walking on it then it was probably a pretty deep cut. "I tried to kick one of them. They didn't like that."

Havok scowled at the doctor's remains and the unconscious guards just beyond, before burying his anger so that he could be calm for the kid. "Do you mind if I carry you? We need to get out of here."

It was frightening just how light the kid was as Havok lifted him up and held him against his side, as was the pure trust. Clearly the kid had been through hell, but he threw his arms around Havok's neck and clung on tight. They didn't even know each other's names, but apparently there was some instinct telling the kid that Havok was safe.

Presumably, none of the other labs were occupied given that no one had reacted to the light show earlier (unless mutant kids losing control under test conditions was considered normal there, which was a terrifying thought) but Havok gave them all a cursory check anyway. There was no way he was leaving any kid behind in this place.

With his part of the mission complete, Havok headed back the way he had come. He moved quickly but carefully, knowing the missing guards would most likely have been noticed by then. There were only three corridors and a stairway to go between them and the Blackbird, when a familiar scream cut through the silence.

The kid covered his ears, burying his face against Havok's shoulder. "What was that?!"

"A friend," Havok replied shortly, doubling his pace. He had to get the kid to safety and then he'd go and find Banshee and make sure that he was alright. Something bad must have happened for him to give up the stealth advantage, Havok just hoped that he wasn't too late. Maybe if Beast was done in the databank he would get there quicker.

A second scream sounded, closer than the first, which at least confirmed that Banshee was still alive and moving towards the Blackbird. With the door to the stairwell up to the roof in sight, Havok almost breathed a sigh of relief.

But then all those guards that Beast was so worried about… well, maybe he was right after all.

Havok skidded to a stop and flung himself sideways into an alcove as twenty or so guards opened fire. Bullets pitted the plaster all around them, raining them with shards as the thunderous onslaught continued. The kid kept his hands over his ears, muffling a cry of fear in the fabric of Havok's uniform. Blind and now deafened, he didn't have a clue what was happening. No wonder he was terrified.

Havok waited for the pause as the guards would have to reload, trying to think through his options. First thing, he couldn't fight with the kid in his arms – even if the guards didn't shoot him, Havok's power would take him out, and that was not an option. So he would have to ditch the kid. The alcove seemed safe enough for the time being. As long as no one got past Havoc he was relatively well covered.

And then what? Tempering his power took time and concentration – two things he was pretty low on at the moment. If he went out there full force, he would kill someone.

If he didn't, they would kill them.

It wouldn't be the first time I've killed, now would it?

Taking a deep breath, Havoc dropped to a crouch and tried to peel the kid's grip from around his neck, but he just clung on tighter. "Kid, come on, you gotta let go," Havok grunted. He's already missed the first pause to reload and now the guards were closer. He had to move soon or there was no point. "You'll be safe here, okay? I'll be right back, I promise."

The kid reluctantly did as he was told, turning to look up at Havoc. The mask was sightless, but the gaze piercing regardless, and Havoc felt as if the kid was looking right through him.

"I'll be right back."

The pause came with a heavy silence, and Havoc boldly stepped out of the alcove. His power came to him freely, forming wide rings of energy all around him and centring on the chest plate Beast had invented. He tried to aim non-fatally, thanking Beast for the control he now had as he targeted gun hands and legs. He tried not to breathe in the smell of burnt flesh or listen to the sizzle of heated skin. Tried very hard not to look when he accidentally severed a guard's hand from his arm.

He didn't have time to take them all down. (He would have done if he had just blasted freely, but he tried not to think of what that massacre would have look like). Guards recovered and took aim quickly, and out in the open, Havok didn't stand a chance. One bullet skimmed his left side, causing him to grunt in pain; but it was the second bullet to his right shoulder that really messed him. The impact made him stumble, throwing his aim skyward and taking out part of the roof. He had maybe a second to hope that he hadn't hit the Blackbird before back-up arrived.

"Havok!"

Without hesitation, Havok dropped and rolled, hands coming up to cover his ears just as Banshee let loose a scream that probably would have deafened him for life if he had stayed in the line of fire. Several of the guards dropped instantly, the others clutching their heads in pain and confusion, but all Havok felt was a killer headache and some ringing in his ears.

"You alright?" Havok heard distantly, blinking as he looked up. Banshee was standing at the end of the corridor, clearly prepared to scream again if need be. Behind him, a little girl with pink hair and pink skin peaked around the corner to see what was happening. Banshee must have found her in the holding cells.

Havok barely had time to nod before the still conscious guards recovered, but a roar and a blur of blue fur told him that Beast had arrived and could handle it. Which is when Havok remembered that he had been shot, twice, and the pain abruptly made itself known.

Getting shot sucked.

"We've got to go," Banshee said, gesturing behind him at the girl. She hurried forward and grabbed Banshee's hand, followed closely by another child, this one even younger and covered in fur. Havok struggled back to his feet, using the wall as support. Beast was just finishing off the last guard, though if the thundering sound approaching was anything to go on, there was soon going to be more.

Havok staggered over to the alcove where he had hidden the kid, but the shiny new holes in his body prevented him from being able to crouch down and pick him up. Remembering the kid's leg, he called Banshee over. "Can you give me a hand?"

"Sure," Banshee grinned, but then looked uncertainly at the black mask covering the kid's face. He threw Havoc a questioning look.

"I'll explain later, we've got to go," was all he said. The kid seemed to glare apprehensively in Banshee's direction, sensing that a stranger was about to pick him up and not liking it. "Hey, kid. This is a friend of mine. He's gonna help you out of here, alright?"

The kid frowned, clearly not happy about anyone but Havoc coming near him, but he allowed Banshee to lift him, staring unseeingly in Havoc's direction the entire time. The other two kids didn't seem so apprehensive; the pair of them staring at Beast in wonder. He was probably the first adult mutant they had ever seen that looked as different as they did, which seemed to console them somewhat. They followed Beast up the stairs and into the Blackbird (that Havoc had thankfully not hit) just as the facility's reinforcements arrived.

Havoc was almost too tired to realise that they were flying as the Blackbird took to the sky and vanished before the guards could think to open fire. If it wasn't for the soft rumble of the engine and the slight pressure from the high speeds of the plane, he probably would have passed out as soon as his back hit the seat.

"Are we flying?"

Havok blinked his eyes open and glanced down at the seat next to him. Apparently Banshee had figured that the kid liked Havoc and so had strapped him in on his side of the plane instead of the opposite side with the two girls. "Yeah, kid. We're flying."

The kid looked distinctly unhappy. "I don't like flying."

"Yeah, well," Havoc sighed, shifting uncomfortably. The harness came right across his injured shoulder, but there was no way in hell he was undoing it. "It's the quickest way to get where we're going."

Banshee looked up from where he was checking the gash on the kid's leg, nodding at Havoc's injuries "Are you alright?"

Havok waved him off. He was pretty sure that the bullet wound in his side was just a graze. It burned a little when he took too deep a breath but it didn't seem to be bleeding too much. His shoulder was probably worse, but he didn't want Banshee to insist on releasing the harness so he could get a look at it. Beast could yell at him later, but for the twenty minute flight home, Havoc figured he was mostly fine.

"Where are we going?" the girl with the pink hair asked. Her face was hard to read, almost blank really, but her tone was slightly petulant. Grateful for the rescue, but still uncertain of her saviours. Havok could understand that.

It was Banshee who answered, thankfully. Havok was becoming a little hazy around the edges as the adrenaline wore off. Blood loss probably wasn't helping his attention span either. "Somewhere safe, Clarice," Banshee smiled. "Don't worry."

Banshee shot another worried look at Havoc, not buying his assurance of general health, but moving on to look after the other kids anyway. Clarice, as Banshee had called the pink haired girl, actually smiled a little when Banshee cracked a joke to distract from the cut that he was disinfecting on her arm.

Havok's eyes were just slipping closed when it occurred to him that he still didn't know the kid's name. He looked down again to find him hugging his knees tightly, the black mask that covered his eyes pressed against them. "What's your name anyway, kid?"

The kid just rocked gently. It appeared that he liked flying just as much as Havok did. "I'm Alex."

"Scott."