calaMity

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Everyone had walked into the lobby, as everyone was called for a meeting. I stood next to Monty as we all piled in.

Reeva stood in front of us. "Thank you all got coming. A situation has come up that is concerning. Max went out last night. He hasn't come back."

I stood breathing for a moment. I turned over to my brother who looked as if he was struck in the stomach.

"So, he's missing? Like h-he disappeared?" Andy asked.

"We're not sure. We're searching for him now. We don't know if it's serious."

I remember Max, the man that can charge explosive energy. He had always gone out and came back with the smell of liquor, not my words but Jack's.

"Of course it's serious," Heather said, "If you people let something happen to him——"

"Hey, it's not our fault if he left the building," Sage argued, calmly, "Our security system is at least 98% impenetrable."

"Okay, we'll, someone penetrated it. He's not just gonna run off. And if someone hit him out there, it means they know where he was going."

Lorna stepped in. "Okay, let's just calm down. Chances are he's sleeping off a bender."

"Let's hope that's all it is," Reeva tells.

"We've increased security. For now," Esme explained.

"If you know something, you know how to find us." Reeva looked over toward us. "Monty, your schedule has changed. You will be training with Jack, Heather, and Tico."

"What the hell is that going to do?" Heather grumbled.

Jack shook his head. "Reeva, Monty isn't ready——"

"It doesn't matter," She interrupted, "Monty is going to train. Get him ready."

As Reeva walked away, I asked Monty, "What the hell is she talking about?"

He didn't say a word to me.
The only response I had was a gulp in my throat, a look of panic.

It didn't take long for the four to leave to the training floor. I was stuck to do nothing for the day, which was sort of freeing for once.
Only a few hours go by in reading my books when I wanted to see how Monty was doing.

I got up to go into the elevator when I see Andy by the elevator with Sage guarding it.

"What do you mean the elevator's not working?" Andy complained.

"It's for security purposes. I'm sorry," Sage apologized.

"You're kidding me, right?" I walk up to them.

"It's until we get this Max situation resolved, Reeva doesn't want anyone going anywhere."

"Or calling anyone." Lorna stepped in. "I noticed the phones are down, too."

"Nothing in or out."

"Yeah, but why? I mean, it's not like Reeva suspects somebody here, does she?" Andy perked his brow.

"She's just being careful."

"She should've been careful when recruiting that psychopath drunk," snipped Lorna.

"I'm sorry, okay? This wasn't my decision."

I questioned, "So does that mean Jack and Monty are stuck downstairs?"

"As far as I know, yes, but I sure Reeva will let them back here at the end of the day," Sage assured me, "But they should be comfortable down there, they have everything they need if this goes on for a while."

I couldn't fight them.
Even if I did, I knew the same answer would just be said over and over again.

As everyone walked away, a hand tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see Andy. He looked nervous just to talk to me, his hands always fidgets when he gets like that.

"C-Can we talk for a bit?"

I didn't have anything better to do. Monty was training, Jack was there too. I didn't see the harm in talking to Andy. "Sure."

We ended up eating in the cafeteria. I was chewing on some wings that I shared with the Strucker.

I knew that he was trying to observe me, trying to see if I was still angry at him, which deep down I was, but I didn't care to show it.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked him.

He put down his food and looked at me. "What's Monty like?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.
He didn't seem tense, he didn't sound sarcastic, his eyes didn't hold any grudge or anger in him; just plain old Andy.

"He's fine, shy but fine."

"I mean, who is he? Is he funny, smart, careful?"

"Why do you care?" I remarked.

"It's may be shocking for you, but I do care for you a lot." After realizing what he had said, he looked back down at his plate. "Besides... I thought it was nice of him to give you that movie."

I narrowed my eyes to him.
Why should I tell him? I didn't have to. But one look to Andy, and I wanted to prove that I was right. I wanted to prove to him that Monty was different and that he wasn't a threat to any of us.

I just wanted to prove a point.

"Monty is... a very shy but kind-hearted person. He likes to be an introvert and only hangs out with people he knows. He doesn't use his powers very much, only when he needs to survive; though he is very skilled in his abilities. He occasionally does talk to other people that aren't me and is happy in just the baby steps he takes to be more social. He really is a nice guy, and a good person to people."

Andy gently picked at his food, not really expecting me to say so much about him. "And his past?"

"Only Monty can tell you the details, but for sure, he is a strong soul. With the amount of pain he has endured throughout his entire life, he still managed to be good, which is something that not a lot of people can do."

"He seems really cool."
"Yeah, he is."

Within a window of silence, Andy slowly brought his hand to mine, holding it.

"Lux... be careful, okay. I'm not talking about Monty, I'm talking about what happened to Max."

I had to force myself to not stare at our hands and focus on him.
"You really think someone targeted Max?"

"I don't know, but we can't risk any one of us being the next person. I-I don't want you to be missing, not like last time." He squeezed my hand. "Just please be careful for now."

Even after everything, he still cared for me, really cared.
So did I.

I couldn't change that.
Andy was my first love, which left something in my heart. I may not have had the same feelings for him as last year, but that didn't mean I stopped caring about him.

"Okay, I will," I nodded, "And make sure you watch your back too. People would kill to be the reason a Von Strucker died. You hold a lot of power in that name."

"So does Mycroft."

"Yes, but most still believe Jack is captured and I died. To society, we died off. You, on the other hand, is another story."

❅   ❅   ❅

"I have some bad news. Max is dead."

I stared blankly into Reeva's eyes as she told everyone in the training room, including me, Andy, and Lorna.
Hearing the words, my head tried to process that a person from the Inner Circle has died.

Gone missing and died.

"What the hell do you mean, Max is dead?" Heather reacted.

"Look, I know you're upset."
"Yeah, we're a lot more than upset!"

"We all want answers and we will get answers."

Esme followed, "All we know for sure is that he died in a car fire at a nearby liquor store."

"D-Did someone kill him?" Monty questioned.

"We don't know. It may have been an accident, but the girls are looking for witnesses," admitted Reeva.

"Yeah, no way. This was a hit," Heather claimed.

"You sure?" Lorna turned over to her. "I mean, the guy liked to blow stuff up. He makes a mistake — boom."

"He didn't make mistakes. Do you know something that we don't?"

"Stop it," mutters Reeva.

My brother tried to be of reason. "We know that's you're upset but——"

"Shut up, Jack."

"Hey, don't tell my brother to shut up!" I shout.

"I said to stop!" Reeva yelled to us, "We are too close to our goal to fight amongst ourselves."

"We will get to the bottom of this," Esme tells us, "No matter what it takes."

"Is Monty ready?" Reeva looked toward my brother.

Jack was a little taken back. "I-I mean, he can do it, but he——"

"That's all I need. Heather, Tico, train Monty. Esme will explain the training, you three are not done."

I looked toward Month and his eyes held disbelief. His body looked tired, he was sweating bullets, it had almost looked as if he was going to faint.

"As you okay? You need to sit down?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "N-No, no... I'm okay, I swear."

I knew it was a lie. He was overworked and burnt out. "I can stick through training with you——"

"No, no, you have to be upstairs," Monty denied, "Just stay with your brother or Lorna."

His grip felt as if it was the only time he would touch me, eyes looked in desperation and worry.
He was breaking apart.

"Lux, we gotta go," Jack calls me from behind.

I wanted to tell him no, but I couldn't. I knew Reeva's eyes beamed at me, like a sniper's gun.

Monty nodded to me and pushed me away from him, I stumbled in looking back to the Pryde kid, but Jack's hand took hold of my arm and dragged me away.

I didn't realize it then but I was in full custody of Jack for the next few hours. I knew since Max had mysteriously died, things were gonna change, especially for my brother. I sat in his room, looking at the few books he had on his shelf; he was never a big reader.

"So, you're just gonna lock me in your room?" I questioned him. "I can't stay here forever, you know. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, Max used to say that. What is he now? Dead," Jack retorted.

"Come on, I know you're my brother, I know you're supposed to take care of me, but this is gone far enough. I don't go out like Max did, I barely go outside. I'm safe here."

He didn't say a word, only made a little lighting ball and threw it up in the air to catch it like an actual baseball. Acting as if I was only a ghost.

I furrowed my brows to him. "What are you not telling me?"

"You're being dramatic, I'm not hiding anything."

"Yes, you are."

The more silence filled the room, the more I started to think. The way he would stare at the door constantly, the way he would try to remain as calm as possible, and the reason why I'm in his room and haven't left in a solid two hours.

"You think there's a traitor here," I answer, "You think someone here killed Max."

He stopped throwing his ball and let it disappear in the air. "I-I have a hunch."

"Jack, a 'hunch' isn't gonna cut it. Come on, I know you have something more. You have some sort of proof that someone in the Inner Circle is up to something."

"It doesn't matter," He tells, "I already said what I know to Esme, the triplets would do what they please."

"What did you tell them?"

Before he could answer, a knock came to his door. He immediately went to open the door, which ended up being Esme on the other side of the door.

"Jack, thank you for the information," She says, "Because of you, we finally... terminated the traitor — we caught the mole."

I held my breath.
Who could it be? Who would dare land a hit on the Inner Circle?

"Who?" I peeped.

Esme was stunned that I was there, but didn't ask any questions. She explained, "Sage. Sage was the mole. And if it wasn't for your brother, who suggested in looking at her computer, which is hooked up to every camera in the building, we wouldn't have caught her in time."

I stared blankly to the blond.
Sage? The computer genius? The girl who helped the Underground on multiple occasions... Lorna is going to be crushed.

Jack closed the door, after thanking Esme for the news. "I didn't want to tell you until it was actually tru——"

"Why Sage?" I ask, "How could Sage do that? Why would she?"

"I don't know. Listen, I didn't mean to get her into trouble, it was an idea, but now we know the Inner Circle is safe. That is all that matters."

"Jack, are you joking me?! Sage was Lorna's friend. I-I trusted Sage and know she..."

"We all trusted her," He comforted, "I know it's upsetting but that's the way it goes. Some people turn against us."

I shake my head. "Still. I mean, who do we trust now?"

"The Inner Circle."

"I don't think——"

"Hey." Jack went close to me, practically angry that I would even suggest a thing. "The Inner Circle is all we have. They brought us together, they brought us home. You better not be turning your back on them now."

"I'm not. I'm just thinking——"

"Don't think. The Inner Circle is good to us. We have a goal of spreading mutants and having humans accept us. They are our way to that, you really are going to doubt them over one mole? A mole that we caught in two days?"

"The same mole that also killed Max," I remarked, "And I'm not losing my faith, I'm just... worried about our protection here."

"Well, protection is quite scarce nowadays. At least the Circle can offer better protection, better than the Underground."

I didn't say a word.
As much as I did appreciate the Inner Circle of bringing my brother back, creating a home for me where I didn't like I've had to constantly watch my back for humans, I couldn't help but just feel more distant from them.
It wasn't as if I was actively going against them, it was just questioning the trust I've had for people.

❅   ❅   ❅

It had been 11 at night, I was up to see Monty, whom I haven't been able to speak to for a while.
I stood in my bed, eyes glued to the door.

I could already feel my drowsiness start to hit me like a ton of bricks. My eyelids slowly closed down on me, yet I still fight to stay awake.

It was then that I hear footsteps coming to my door. My body jolts up in seeing the curly-haired boy.
I held a smile for him until I truly did see him.

Sweat rained down on him, bags underneath his eyes, and his body trembled as if weights were on him. The look of dirt all over his face was lined with markings on him.

It had only been 10 hours...

"Monty." I got up from my bed.

He only looked at me and he fell down onto the floor. I ran over to him, keeping his head on my lap. "Monty, Monty!" I try and shake him but he was already out. I panicked just feeling the heat off of his body, and he was so quick to drift into unconsciousness.

"Help!" I shout, "Somebody help me!"

Immediately, I see a figure run over to me. I look up to see Andy, looking down at Monty. He looked totally confused but with one look to me, a glance of my watery eyes — Andy was in action.

"Help! Esme, Jack! Come on, we need help!" He screams, running in the hallway for their attention to wake up.

All I did was hold Monty tight, only letting a few tears shed, as everyone finally got him help. Jack and the triplets took Monty to the infirmary, as soon as they saw him.

I was left on the floor, on my knees. I had to take deep breaths for me to calm down.
What had Monty been doing? How did he get hurt? How badly was he hurt?

I couldn't stop thinking about the many thoughts until someone had came over and hugged me.
I gasped for it to see platinum hair in the corner of my eye. My arms hesitated in hugging him back, with my sobs becoming quieter as he whispers to me.

"He's gonna be okay," Andy comforts, "Monty is going to be fine. He's gonna be fine."

Soon, the night had become too much of a blur for me to remember anymore.

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outta curiosity I gotta ask who's side are you on:

Andy and Lux (Landy)
OR
Monty and Lux (Lonty/Mux)

-- Mariena