Generation Next (X-Men fanfic)

Twenty Two

A'Cadia strolled back into the room, her emotions back under control.

"Well, is he gonna back us up or not?" Ziva asked when she entered the room.

"Yeah, sorta."

"Sorta? What does that mean?"

She scratched the back of her neck as she sat on the bed beside Skylar. "He'll come but only if he's in charge."

Ziva jumped up off her bed, jostling Craig who was sitting on the end, leaning up against the wall. "What? Why does he want to be in charge?"

"Uh, I'm guessing 'cause he thinks we've screwed things up thus far, also he's one of the X-Men so he has more experience. So yeah, he kinda knows what he's doing."

Craig leaned forward on the bed. "He does have a point, Ziva. I mean we did underestimate Lenny and we lost our powers. We could use Logan's help. And if he's willing to help then we should accept it. Also, respect it."

Ziva sent him a glare before she sat back down on the bed. "Whatever. Fine."

Craig patted her leg, but he focused on A'Cadia when he spoke. "So, what's the plan?"

"We let him know when we're ready to go, 'bout it." She shrugged.

"We need an actual plan then," Skylar said with a sigh.

"Yeah, works better if we have one," A'Cadia replied with a smirk.

***

Lenny settled his crown on his head. "Is everything nearly set to go?"

"Yes," Brittany answered from her spot on the edge of his desk.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, sighed, and looked back into the mirror. Honestly, he was getting tired of her perching on his desk like that. He spent hours polishing the wood only to have her plant her butt on it and smudge it. Giving his head a shake, he turned away from the mirror, satisfied with the placement of the crown. It was not quite in the center and slightly tilted, looking rakish, but regal.

"Good, good." He rubbed his hands together in satisfaction. Soon, he'd finally get what he wanted. Everything was finally going his way. He'd have Ziva on his side and if his luck continued to hold, A'Cadia as well. He couldn't believe that his little clawed lovely was happy over at camp happy-happy. She carried a wild side that he'd been encouraging along nicely before she decided to up and desert. Honestly, he couldn't understand why she'd even left. It didn't matter much, now he'd have a chance to get her back along with Ziva. It was about time too. If Ziva spent any more time in Craig's company then Golden Boy was certain to worm his way into her head and corrupt her further. His jaw clenched at the thought.

"So, what are we doing, Lenny?" Brittany was swinging her legs now, her heels clunking against his desk with every backswing.

He cringed and turned on her. "Stop swinging your legs! You're gonna scratch my desk!"

"Oh, wow totally sorry." She bent over awkwardly to look down and see if she had made any marks and promptly toppled off the desk. "Ow! I fell on my head!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you didn't injure anything important," he muttered under his breath as he headed for the door to his office.

Brittany scrambled up off the floor and ran after him, rubbing at the bump on her head. "Wait for me, baby!"

"Don't call me baby, it's unprofessional," he told her as he made it to the elevator, punched the button, and scurried inside. Though he managed not to cringe as she sidled inside with him, smiling happily, and latching onto his arm as she did.