There was a silence over the phone as she thought up some possibilities before she added one final message to their conversation. "I couldn't find a computer guy, but we did find someone you might want. In fact, she's already heard of you."
~~~
POV- Andy
'Heard of me,' I thought, curious. Carmen had already hung up to prepare for the arrival of her new plant specialist, and probably to go buy some more expensive yet legal plants, so there was no way to know how the new girl could have heard of me. 'Did she know about me from the news? Family of a mutant I helped maybe? Or have I just gotten a little infamous? Whatever, I'll find out in like an hour anyway I guess.'
Leaving Jennifer in the tower with only my parents and the Frosts was a good test of faith, as the twins could stop her if she tried anything and Dad had shown himself more than capable of destroying her constructs within a mere moment of contact, which could give the Frosts time to act if she is suddenly hostile during my absence. Bringing Lauren and Joseph with me on the drive to Carmen's was certainly a different atmosphere from my drives with Marcos. 'For one,' I thought, 'I'm driving. My god, I'm a passenger princess. And secondly,' "Andy, change the station, neither of us like rock."
"There's a famous line that dictates the rules of music selection in the car," I began, and Joseph was hanging on my words like they were holy words of wisdom. "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cakehole." Joseph snorted, but sat back in the back seat, while Lauren was looking at me like I'd somehow committed a scandal. "What?"
"That's from Supernatural. You HATE Supernatural." Her words were correct as I had occasionally mocked her for shipping characters together and her habit of binge-watching any kind of fantasy tv show often led to weeks of her staying up late and quoting lines from the shows that no one else understood the reference to.
"Yes, well we have spent several months in a manor, then in a tower with little else to do but watch tv, and train. Luckily for me, I can generally do both simultaneously, which has forced me to watch almost everything on the streaming services. So yes, I've watched it."
"What did you think?"
"That Dean is one of the most pitiable characters I've ever seen, and his brother really doesn't deserve him. Though they messed up by ending the Mark of Cain arc and having Demon Dean for only three episodes. HUGE mistake on their part."
Joseph had no idea what we were talking about, but the two of us in the front were so excited and animated in our discussions that by the end of the hour-long car ride, he probably could have aced a Supernatural trivia test.
When we pulled up at the Guerra estate, both Lauren and Joseph were astounded. Joseph because of the extravagance, and Lauren because she knew I now ruled it unofficially.
"Andrew, It's good to see you again," Carmen greeted, taking us into a private meeting room without her usual bodyguards. Everyone knew if I wanted to, I would obliterate the entire building, and no bodyguard was going to stop it, let alone with the additional two people who were assumedly mutants as well. "And these are?" she probed, bringing me out of my thoughts.
Putting a hand on Joseph's shoulder, I introduced her to the boy she would be working with. Though he would be constantly moving back and forward from here to the tower for training and occasional drills and missions, this would be his main home for the time being. Lauren didn't wait to be introduced, instead stepping forward to greet Carmen with a faint smile on her lips.
"It's lovely to meet you, Carmen," she started, and Carmen bristled slightly at the casual use of her first name by a stranger, as Joseph had been told to call her Ms Guerra during his stay. "I'm Lauren Strucker, Andy's sister. The other half of Fenris." Carmen's bristling shifted to a faint shiver, as although she'd no doubt seen Lauren in pictures, there weren't a lot of photos of her recently. At least, since the school dance. Being in a room with not one, but two Von Struckers, that made up Fenris, was no doubt a little confronting even for someone as experienced as herself.
*She's cute, I'm surprised you haven't slept with her.* 'Is she being serious? That's what she's getting out of this interaction?'
*She's attractive, no doubt. But she's weak, so I'm not that interested.* I watched as Lauren's smile grew even wider, as she shook Carmen's hand.
"Ah, the new Queen of the Hellfire Club, if Andrew is right. Nice to meet you," Carmen said sweetly, though none of her kindness was reflected in her eyes. The three of us talked for a bit, discussing the extent of Joseph's stay here and discussing the beginnings of a new drug trade and expansion East to firmly take hold of the Reaper's old stomping ground. Carmen would now have a clear idea of her position, and at the end of this meeting, I would make sure Lauren left with her number for emergency contact, if she didn't ask for it herself just to annoy the cartel boss.
Carmen put down her glass, passing to Lauren a file, "Speaking of the Reapers, I should introduce you to a potential applicant for your group. I know I can't recruit for you, but she has been asking to meet with you since we took over the Reaper's main facilities and businesses."
Lauren looked up from the file briefly, "And because she wants to meet Andy, you assume she wants to join us? That's a bit of a leap, isn't it?" 'Not many could live as we or the MU do. Even the cartels and gangs had more order than us, and far more normal job expectations.'
Carmen simply smiled at her, reaching across the table to a call button, designed for ordering food, drinks or drugs, but in this case, she used it to summon the mutant in question. Within five minutes as me and Lauren refilled our drinks, in my case non-alcoholic as I would be driving us back home, the potential addition to our team walked in.
'Woah,' was the first thing I could think of as I looked at the muscular woman in front of me. Unlike most mutants with a toned physique or curves for days, this girl had muscle. Not to the point she looked disgusting or roided out, but definitely with the strength of a melee-oriented fighter. At a height similar to my own, at around 6'0, 'a height I don't think I would have reached without the assimilated genes, she was physically imposing. Her file had pointed out that she was barely a few months older than Lauren, and I could definitely believe it, though there was a lack of the same brightness Lauren's eyes still carried. Her hope seemingly lost over time. Looking over the shimmering golden scales that covered her chest, arms and legs, as well as the thick-looking tail that extended from her back, there was little chance of misidentifying her as a mutant.
*It says lizard-like mutations, but are they sure she isn't some kind of dragon mutant? I remember Lorna mentioning she met someone like that once.*
*How the fuck should I know? But either way, she has potential as a frontline fighter.*
"Andrew, this, as you read, is Georgia Valmet. She was working for the Reapers before you destroyed the gang's entire collection of stock and one of their biggest kitchens."
Georgia was silent, watching everyone in the room. Analysing each of us one by one, as if trying to get a sense of their threat level. Her eyes flickered over Joseph with a casual pace, but were trapped as she looked at Lauren who sat beside me. 'Perhaps she can identify the potential power of our X-gene?" I theorised, but I wasn't entirely sure how the hell being a lizard would give someone that ability. In my inherited memories, I saw that having two x-genes was seemingly unheard of, so I pushed it aside as a thought and hypothesised that perhaps Lauren's idea wasn't too unrealistic. 'Definitely not JUST a lizard mutation anyway.'
As Georgia's blue eyes slid off Lauren's figure to me, she blanched in colour, her back straightening as if she was terrified.
*Jesus, Andy. What did you do to the poor girl, she looks like she's seen Magneto.*
*Nothing, I've never seen her before.*
Deciding to end the somewhat dragged-out silence that had been filled with pressure, I moved to initiate the interview. "I was told you were looking for me?"
The golden-scaled amazon with warm brown skin flinched at my voice, but settled, and answered. "Y-yes. I asked Ms Guerra to let me join your group, but she said I would have to wait meet you Mr Strucker." 'Hrmm, definitely experienced working under a strict hierarchy. Still weird.'
"Why would you want to join me? From what I can gather, I butchered your old employers and colleagues." Joseph looked at me as if wondering for the story, but I ignored the sweet boy, focusing on the shiny lizard girl. "If you want revenge, I can offer you a close-range fight, but know that it will be to your death." There was another flinch from Georgia, while Carmen seemed instead impressed by the confidence I held despite the woman's awe-inspiring body.
"No, no. I didn't really care about them. I was just broke, and they were one of the only jobs for someone like me," she explained. "They were still violent bastards that I wouldn't hesitate to beat down if they weren't outnumbering me and offering me money. I was mainly used for moving stock due to my enhanced strength, but I was treated like a forklift. My mother was similar to me with a physical mutation, and as a result, she was discriminated against and during a scuffle between my father and purifier, my mother stepped into the fight, but was murdered by some off-duty Sentinel Service agents about 8 years ago. My father was inconsolable and took to drugs after her funeral. He died a few years ago. All because the Sentinels immediately killed my mother for trying to stop a fight between my father and the bigot that started the fight. No trial, no questions, they just shot her."
*Mommy AND Daddy issues* I joked, but the look on Lauren's face was enough of a reply to not make jokes with the person in the room.
"If you don't mind me asking, with your scales, how could she have been shot?" Joseph asked from the side. He had a point, those scales looked damn near impenetrable.
"My mother didn't have scales like mine, but more like an actual snake's instead. More discrete, but not bulletproof like mine."
Heating my coffee again in my hands, I take a sip before progressing with the interview. "Now we know why you want to join us, as you rightfully assume we conflict with Sentinels and purifiers, but why would we want you?"
Georgia furrowed her brows but understood that I really didn't need her. During her explanation, she'd described having gone out for a smaller collection of heavy gear only to come back and watch as I destroyed her workplace and employees single-handedly. "I'm a trained fighter with superstrength, speed and durability. And additionally, the report may not be entirely accurate."
"Are you talking about your ability to judge a mutant's threat level?" Lauren asked, stunning Carmen. "Or that your mutation isn't ACTUALLY lizard-based?" While Lauren had almost no actual evidence to support her theory, the nervous wagging of Georgia's tail and the flash of shock in her eyes revealed more than her words could at the moment.
*Let me talk to her privately. If I don't think she will mesh with us, I'll refuse her, but having a dragon on our side could be useful. Maybe she has wings.*
I stood from the chair and took Carmen and Joseph with me out of the room, discussing my need for a tech specialist in the coming days, but as it lead nowhere I left Joseph and headed to the car, jumping into my seat and listening to the radio. After a while, as I waited in the car, I saw both girls come back out to the car together, with Lauren wearing a devious smile. 'She's making me think she has something planned, but there's literally nothing the lizard girl could do, even if she wanted to prank me. And knowing that Lauren's not really interested in women herself, I was seriously confused as to the 'cat-that-got-the-cream look' she was giving me.
*Anything I should know?* I ask.
Her smile dimmed a little, but remained positive, *She's desperate for a family again, no surprise.*
*And you're happy because?*
*She's beyond your reach you philandering prick. She's not into guys.* Rolling my eyes at my sister's stupid reason for accepting the dragon girl, I waved to Joseph who stood at the door to the manor before popping the car in reverse. 'Goddamn, this drive is too damn long.'
~~~
Georgia would be working mainly with Lauren and Lorna, when she returned, as two of the more 'ground-force' mutants, with experience in handling mutants with external mutations. Lorna had experience from her years in the MU, and has seen potentially thousands of different mutations, and while Lauren hadn't seen such an overt mutation like the lizard girl's, she was as kind and accepting as she had ever been. No amount of bloodshed could strip her of her kindness and willingness to defend others, which is part of why I find her so incredible. 'I've grown somewhat distant as things got busier, more dangerous, but she remains an angel.'
Leaving the two girls to talk and get Georgia sorted, I decided to check in again with Sophie. I'd visited her a few times, but each time she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. 'That and I feel guilty for not having realised Reeva's trick in the first place. She got injured and almost died helping me and my family.' Reeva had been left in Rebecca's spinning prison thing, mainly because I didn't have anywhere else to put her, but regardless it required the Frosts to mind-control her in order to keep her fed and hydrated, though she was never without a ball gag to avoid being blasted with sonic screams.
As I stepped into Sophie's hospital room, which was actually only a few floors below in the recovery section of the tower designed for post-operation surgery and was staffed with a few nurses with doctors on call. As I step into the room, I spot her rubbing her shoulder softly, just as her other hand rests on her right hip.
"Are they still sore?" I voice my concern, but seemingly startle Sophie as she whips around to look at me.
"No Andy, I'm fine," she says, but I spot the slight drift of her eyes to her shoulder again, which is still covered by her hand. I walk slowly to her bed, placing the small collection of flowers from Guerra's garden onto the bedside table and sit on the edge of her bed.
"I… Thank you, Soph." Her gaze lifted from her blanket and met mine. "Because of you, my family is alive. Rebecca could have inverted space from outside the barrier and killed my sister." Taking her free hand in mine I place a gentle kiss to her palm. "You can understand how much it means to me, just as family is for your sisters. And you saved them when I couldn't." Leaning over tentatively, I held her chin in my hand as I placed a soft kiss on her lips. It wasn't lust that I had for Soph, but somehow this kiss made me feel warmer than any before. As her hands slid over my neck and chest, I reciprocated, only for Soph to flinch back.
"I have scars, Andy. The Healer can only regenerate, but there's a scar at each point he performed his healing." Looking at the skin on her shoulder, I knew she was referring to the faint pink line that encompassed her shoulder and the space above her right knee.
"Soph, if you think two incredibly small pink lines would stop me from loving you, you would be so wrong," I said with a faint smirk, only realising what I said after I'd said it. Her face the epitome of stunned. It was as if she was waiting for me to make a joke, or take back my words, but I knew they were true, I genuinely cared about Sophie, and I think I've known it since the moment I saw her bleeding on the floor. Leaning forward again, I placed another small kiss on her lips, which seemed to wake her from her silent stupor, as when I pulled back, her hands shot around my neck and pulled me into another, more passionate kiss. 'The problem is Phoebe and Lauren. They all know about each other, but actually forming and maintaining that kind of relationship seems for tiring than operating a revolution.'
"If you would prefer for them to be removed, I can try and find someone though. Whatever you need to feel more comfortable." Her smile was stunning as her white teeth shone under the bright light of the recovery ward.
"I…I'd like that. "Esme and Phoebe told me how stressed out you were after you found me. And I know the others have probably already said this while I was unconscious, but…thank you. Thank you for saving my life, and for what it's worth…I love you, Andy." While I couldn't stay with her in what was essentially a single bed, there was nothing stopping me from making out with the almost recovered patient with as much intensity as I wanted and so as I made my way back to my room late that night, I couldn't shed the permanently fixed smile that seemed to replace the tired and scornful look I'd worn previously.