"It was like this when we found it, I swear," Andrew insisted as he held his hands up in the air, his eyes trained on Charles and Erik who were staring wide eyed at the twins who were standing in the middle of Hank's very messy lab.
"We came to find Hank and there was a note saying that he went ahead to the base and to bring a crate labeled 'X' so we decide to try and find it. We weren't expecting the place to be already trashed when we came in," Jennifer explained as she held her hands up in the air as well.
Charles was about to read their minds and see if what they said was true, but Erik believed them without a beat of hesitation and said, "So Hank's gone?"
The twins nodded and Jennifer nervously bit her lip. "You think he's okay? He doesn't seem like one to make such a mess," she whispered as her and Andrew looked to Erik for answers.
The man let out a small sigh and went to respond, but got cut off by Alex, Raven, Sean, and Moira walking up behind them. "What the hell happened here?" Alex asked, his eyebrows furrowing together as he looked around at the mess.
"We didn't do it!" Jennifer and Andrew exclaimed instantly making the adults look to them in amusement. "I never said you did," Alex told them with a small chuckle.
"Over here," Charles said causing everyone to turn and see that while they had been talking, the man had made his way across the room and over to a giant metal box labeled X.
Everyone quickly hurried over and Charles lifted the lid up to reveal a row of yellow and black suits that had been folded up within the trunk. The twins' eyes widened and they whispered out, "Woah." "Hank has been busy," Erik commented.
Alex frowned and muttered, "Do we really have to wear these?" "As none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up," Charles replied making Alex's frown grow more.
Andrew caught sight of two smaller suits and smiled before grabbing them, assuming that they belonged to him and Jennifer. He quickly tossed the smallest one at his sister since she was smaller than him. "Here, Jen. This one's yours!" Andrew exclaimed.
Jennifer's eyes lit up and she hugged the outfit close to her body. She looked up to Charles and Erik excitedly before saying, "Andrew and I are going to go change. We'll be back down in a minute and then we can go meet up with Hank!"
And before anyone could break it to the twins that they wouldn't be coming along, Andrew was grabbing onto his sister's hand and the two were running out of the room together to go get changed.
- - -
"What do you mean we aren't going?" Andrew asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he looked to the man who was bent down before them. Charles let out a small sigh as he looked between Andrew, who looked confused and angry, and Jennifer, who looked like she couldn't comprehend what he was saying.
"We think it would be safer for you if you two stay here," Charles explained. "Wouldn't it be safer to stick with the people with powers instead of leaving two young children at a mansion all alone where they could easily be kidnapped?" Jennifer questioned.
"Jen," a voice said and she frowned before looking up at Erik who gave her a stern look. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
"But we want to come," Andrew argued. "We've been training. We can help!" "I don't doubt that you could, but where we are going is no place for children. You will stay here like Charles said and there will be no more complaining," Erik told them.
"But-" the twins started to say, but one stern look from Erik had them falling silent as they crossed their arms and pouted.
"We won't be gone for long," Charles assured them, their thoughts so loud that it was all he could hear. They hesitantly looked to the man and he gave them a small reassuring smile before he got up and walked over to the door where Raven, Sean, Moira, and Alex were waiting.
That left Erik and the twins.
Andrew and Jennifer were still pouting as they looked at the ground, hoping that their upset faces would get Erik to change their mind. Erik bent down in front of them and was silent as he waited for them to look at him.
It took a minute, but the twins eventually let their eyes flicker over to him. Erik offered a kind smile before saying, "I know you two don't see it right now, but this is the best option. Our number one priority is to keep you two safe and the safest place you could possible be is here and away from the battle."
Their faces softened slightly at that, but they kept their pouts on their faces, not wanting Erik to think he had won even though he already knew that he had.
Before either of the twins could blink, Erik had leaned forward and kissed each of their foreheads. Their pouts disappeared almost instantly and they softened as they looked at the man in front of them.
Erik, who almost seemed a little shocked at his actions, blinked in surprise before managing to smile at the twins once again. "We'll be back. Please try not to kill each other or burn down the house while we are gone," he told them.
"Be careful," Jennifer whispered. "We don't want to lose anyone else," Andrew muttered.
Erik nodded ever so slightly before pulling himself back up onto his feet. He then walked over to there everyone else was waiting by the door and they all looked back at the twins.
Jennifer and Andrew gave them small waves which the adults quickly returned before walking out the door. The door had barely had a chance to even shut before Jennifer and Andrew let their smiles fall, serious looks flashing across their faces as they glanced at each other.
"It will take them at least ten minutes to all pile into the car due to the fact that they can never decide who gets stuck sitting next to who, which gives us plenty of time to sneak into the back if we wanted to," Andrew explained. "So I guess my question is, do you want to sneak after them?"
Jennifer smirked, "Let's do it."
- - -
It was a miracle that Jennifer and Andrew managed to go unnoticed as they snuck into the car. But somewhere between Raven and Alex's bickering, they had been able to skip by and hide in the back when no one was paying attention. Then, to make sure they didn't find out about them, Jennifer had used her powers to block Charles from reading their minds.
Once they had reached the base, Jennifer and Andrew didn't have much trouble getting to the jet the team would all be riding. At one point, Jennifer swore Sean had caught a glimpse of them, but he either hadn't actually seen them or didn't want to tell anyone which the twins were silently grateful about.
The twins made it to the jet right before the others entered the room and quickly hide behind a bunch of crates as they watched the team walk up and look at the jet before them. They were all silent until Raven asked, "Where's Hank?"
"I'm here."
Andrew and Jennifer's eyes widened and Andrew was quick to put a hand over his sister's mouth to stop her gasp from being audible to the adults. They could see Hank now, but this was definitely a different Hank than they remembered.
Instead of his normal looking self, Hank was now covered head to toe in some kind of blue fur, making him look more like an animal than human. It was a shock to both of the twins, but each of them couldn't help but think that he looked so cool even though it was obvious Hank thought the opposite.
"Hank?" Charles questioned, confusion evident in his voice as much as it was evident in everyone's eyes. "It didn't attack the cells. It enhanced them," Hank muttered.
Andrew gave his sister a confused look and she used her powers to read Hank's mind before smiling sadly and whispering, "He tried to cure himself. He wanted to look normal, to not look like a mutant, but all his formula did was make it worse." Andrew looked down sadly at that before the twins glanced at Hank who looked visibly upset.
"It didn't work," Hank whispered sadly. "Yes, it did, Hank. Don't you see?" Raven asked. "This is who you were meant to be. This is you. No more hiding." Hank seemed to soften at her words.
"You never looked better, man," Erik suddenly said and Hank growled as he grabbed ahold of Erik's throat and began to squeeze. "Hank!" Charles exclaimed.
"Don't mock me!" Hank growled at Erik. "Hank, put him down immediately, please. Hank! Hank!" Charles yelled.
Hank released the man who went falling to the ground gasping for air. Erik looked a little pissed off as he looked up at Hank and muttered, "I wasn't."
"Even I got to admit you look pretty badass," Alex spoke up, trying to get Hank and Erik to stop shooting each other death glares. "I think I got a new name for you. Beast."
"You're sure you can fly this thing?" Sean asked as he glanced up at the jet before them. "Of course I can," Hank replied as if he couldn't believe Sean was even asking him that question. "I designed it."
The twins glanced at each other and smirked before beginning to sneak over to the jet, still out of the view of the others.
It was finally time for them to save the world.
- - -
"Bad idea. This was a bad idea," Jennifer muttered so softly that only Andrew could hear her as she gripped onto the crate in front of her. It was the only thing that was not only protecting the twins from the eyes of the adults, but also from flying around the jet as it moved through the air.
It took all of Jennifer's strength just to hold on and Andrew glanced at his twin before moving so that he was sitting behind her and holding the crate for the both of them. His super strength allowed Jennifer to let go and relax while he only had to use a small portion of his energy to hold the two steady. "Thank you," Jennifer whispered as she leaned back against her brother.
"It looks pretty messy out there," they heard Hank say from the front of the jet where he could no doubt see the fighting going on below. "The Crew of the Areal Sea are all dead," Charles confirmed. "Shaw's been there."
"He's still here, somewhere," Erik assured them. "He set the ship on course for the embargo line," Charles said. "If that ship crosses the line, our boys are going to blow it up. And the war begins," Moira told them. "Unless they're not our boys," Charles suggested.
Then, before the twins could comprehend what was happening, they caught a glimpse of a Russian missile flying through the air and almost hitting the jet. Hank had to flip the jet upside down and the twins' eyes widened as they lost their grip on anything and went tumbling to the ceiling of the jet.
At the loud noise, the whole team looked up to see Andrew and Jennifer holding their heads as soft groans left their lips. "Jennifer? Andrew?" Erik questioned causing the twins to give all the adults sheepish smiles.
"Grab them!" Raven exclaimed as she reached up and grabbed ahold of Andrew's hand and pulling him down while Alex did the same with Jennifer. The metal on the jet bent ever so slightly as Erik glared at the twins, obviously mad with them, but they tried to avoid his gaze as Raven and Alex held them steady.
It was only when the jet was turned right side up again that everyone let out sighs of relief and the stone grip on the twins was lessened. "A little warning next time, Professor," Hank called back.
"Sorry about that. You alright?" Charles asked as he glanced around at everyone. "Yeah," Sean whispered out in a daze making the twins chuckle.
Everyone's eyes were then on the twins and Erik was the first one to talk. "What the hell do you think you two are doing?" Erik asked angrily, his teeth gritted as he stared at them.
"Would you believe it if I told you we just woke up here?" Andrew questioned. The look in Erik's eyes told them that he wasn't in a very joking mood, so Andrew looked down bashfully.
"We just wanted to help," Jennifer finally said. "Charles and I told you-" Erik began, but Jennifer shook her head and stood up before walking over to Erik.
"No, you don't get it! We are all in this together. Andrew and I have trained just as much as all of you and the fact that we are young doesn't mean we can't help out. We're all a team now, we're family," Jennifer said, her voice raised slightly as she crossed her arms. "And I know that me and Andrew, we're not letting another family slip through our fingers."
"Not again," Andrew agreed as he stood up and went to stand by his twin. The two stared ahead at Erik while the whole jet was uncharacteristically quiet. Surprisingly, Erik's eyes softened slightly and he let out a small sigh. "Just don't put yourself into harm's way," he told the two. "If we get home and you two have so much as a scratch on your body, you're going to be in big trouble, do you understand?"
Andrew and Jennifer smiled before nodding their heads. "Yes, sir," they said. Erik let a little smile escape the cold facade he had up and nodded towards the empty seats as he said, "Good. Now go sit down and buckle up."
The twins did as Erik said and Jennifer took the empty spot next to Alex while Andrew went and sat next to Sean. Charles smiled softly at the twins despite being a little angry himself before putting a hand to his head and saying, "I still can't locate Shaw."
"He's down there. We need to find him now," Erik insisted. "Hank?" Charles called out. "Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?" Hank asked Moira. "No. Nothing," she replied.
"Well, then he must be underwater," Hank concluded. "And obviously, we don't have sonar." Everyone looked down in frustration except for Jennifer who was looking confused. "Uh, yes, we do," she said causing everyone to look up at her.
However, her gaze was on Sean who needed nothing more than her to look at him for him to realize what she was suggesting. A smirk appeared on his face, "Jen's right, we do."
Jennifer smirked back before the two undid their seatbelts and began running towards the back of the jet with Charles, Erik, and Andrew on their tails. "Hank, level the bloody plane!" Charles yelled out as he struggled to get to the back.
Hank did as Charles requested and they finally managed to reach the end. Sean, who noticed Erik coming along, pointed a finger at the man before saying, "Whoa! You back right off."
Erik held his hands up in surrender and took a few steps back. It was only when Sean believed him to be at a good distance that he yelled out to Hank, "Beast, open the bomb bay doors!"
For a moment, a flicker of fear flashed across Sean's face and Jennifer felt her heart ache for him. She gently took her hand in his while Andrew did the same. She watched as Sean related, Andrew obviously having calmed down his emotions so that he could focus.
"You're going to do great. Just remember that this is a muscle," Jennifer yelled over the roaring wind as she pointed to Sean's throat. "You control it! I'll be with you the entire time!" She then pointed at her head to make a point before smiling and squeezing his hand, "You got this, Banshee!"
Sean nodded and gave the twins thankful smiles before they took their hands away from him. "On my mark!" Charles yelled once he saw that Sean was ready to go. "Three! Two! One! Go!"
Then Sean let out a loud holler before jumping out of the jet and down towards the water below. Jennifer caught a glimpse of him diving into the ocean before the doors closed again. She instantly connected her mind with Sean's and closed her eyes as she awaited coordinates.
It took only a matter of seconds before she grinned and exclaimed, "Banshee has got a location on Shaw!" She opened her eyes and glanced over at Charles, Erik, and Andrew. They all looked a little giddy and she couldn't help but chuckle a little at the boys.
"Are you ready for this?" Charles asked, his focus on Erik. "Let's find out," Erik muttered as they began to walk away. "Wait!" Andrew called out as he jogged up to the two. "I can help."
"Andy," Erik sighed, but Andrew was quick to shake his head. "I can help," Andrew insisted. "If you use your abilities and combine it with my ability to control the air that is within the water, it will make it easier to get the submarine out of the water."
Erik was silent as he studied the boy and Charles sighed before nudging his friend. "Andrew's got a point," he told him with a small shrug. Erik ent Charles a small glare before sighing and saying, "Fine."
Andrew grinned and looked to his sister before reaching out to give her hand a small squeeze and then running after Erik. Jennifer smiled after her brother before running to the front of the jet to tell Hank where to go.
Andrew hadn't really thought about where they would be going to try and lift the submarine up so when Charles was suddenly directing him onto the wheel of the jet, Andrew paled slightly. Erik noticed this and gave the boy a small smile before holding out his hand. "It's okay. I've got you," he assured him.
The red head relaxed a little at those words before taking Erik's hand and climbing onto the wheel. Erik put the boy between him and the wheel before making sure to have one armed wrapped tightly in place.
The wheel then jerked before being lowered so that the two were right above the water. Erik held his hand out and moved it slightly as he tried to find the exact location of the submarine. It took a minute, but Erik eventually muttered out, "I found it."
Andrew followed where Erik's hand was pointing and took a deep breath before holding his hand out as well, beginning to move the air around in the water until he could almost feel the submarine itself. He began to try and move the air up under the submarine to help move it to the top, but let out a frustrated sigh when he realized he wasn't really doing anything.
He knew that Erik was having trouble as well and silently willed himself to help out more, to make Erik proud. However, the harder he tried, the more he seemed to fail.
You need to relax.
Andrew froze slightly, his sister's voice echoing in his head. He glanced up and saw that she was standing next to Charles with a concerned look on her face. Her lips didn't move as she put her hand to her temple and began to talk to him again.
You can do this, Andy. You just need to relax. You've trained for this. There's no need to be scared or even worried. I believe in you.
Andrew felt those words calm him down a bit and, after closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, felt completely relaxed. He looked to the water with a confident expression on his face before he held his hand up again.
He could feel the air in the ocean as it began to move to his will. He knew that air had surrounded the submarine and smirked slightly when he saw air bubbles beginning to rise from the water. Together, him and Erik combined their powers and began to lift the submarine right out of the water.
Andrew let out a childish laugh and looked to Erik in excitement as the man tried to suppress his smile. Once the submarine was out of the water, it was a lot easier for the both of them to use their powers to move the submarine through the air.
Hank sped up the jet a little faster and the two began to move the submarine along with them and towards one of the beaches of Cuba and away from the embargo line.
They were half way there when the hatch of the submarine opened up to reveal the one mutant who could control the weather. Andrew's smile dropped and the submarine began to lower ever so slightly, but Erik was quick to nudge the boy and say, "Its okay. Stay strong." Andrew nodded and gained his focus once again, the submarine lifting back up to the height it had been at moments before.
The weather mutant scowled at them and began to spin around, causing the wind to pick up and for a huge twister to head their way. The wind blew Andrew back and the boy almost fell, but Erik quickly grabbed ahold of the boy before holding him tightly as the two struggled to keep their grip on the submarine.
"Erik, take my hand!" Charles called out. "Andrew!" Jennifer yelled as she stretched an arm out towards him. "Take our hands!" Charles exclaimed once neither of the boys made a move towards them.
Before they knew it, the twister that had evolved into a cyclone of water and wind had surrounded them. Erik and Andrew had to hold onto the wheel a little tighter, but neither let go of the submarine until they were close enough that they could toss it onto the beach.
"Take our hands!" Jennifer yelled and this time the boys both looked up and went to reach for them. Jennifer latched onto her brother's hand before pulling him up, Charles doing the same for Erik.
When Andrew was safe on the ground, Jennifer practically launched herself into his arms. "You did it, Andy! I'm so proud of you," she said as she hugged him tightly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," Andrew assured her, already feeling the waves of concern that was radiating off of her. He let out a small sigh of relief and leaned his head against the side of her own as he held his twin tightly.
"I'm okay."