"You live for the fight when that's all that you've got." Bon Jovi

She glanced over at Vic as Magnus and the others moved in for the diversionary tactics. It had completely amazed everyone when she had told them not to touch any of the people guarding Pietro other than to hurt them... no killing. At least not the list of people she had handed to them. She knew that they wouldn't do it for fear of her wrath... even Magnus, because they would figure she knew what she was talking about. She'd given them some BS line about the guards being boobytrapped or something like that so, if they got taken down, bad bad things were going to happen, and everyone had believed her. They didn't know the truth, that part of the correspondence that she had exchanged with one of Cyclop's informants before moving out had told her that he asked she not harm them. She figured she could do that much if they could get Pietro out of there. IF they didn't... well, then all bets were off and she'd kill them all herself. She watched as Rogue and the others flew into a good flanking manuever for Magnus to make sure they all had plenty of cover, at the same time shielding her and Vic as they attacked the convoy ship. "You ready?" Vic nodded as they moved in to get their friend out, both of them smacking their fists together before jumping over the roof of a nearby building to hit the top of the ship hard.

They got Pietro out in such a smooth fashion that Katya was pleased. No one got majorly hurt on either side, although they caused a lot of property damage and knocked every one of Cyclop's people unconscious. She didn't even wait for him to be transported and in stable condition at home before she ripped into the padded envelope to take care of the next thing on her list. Vic and Kurt looked over her shoulder as she pulled out a folder and flipped it open. She felt shock and something close to horror as she stared at the folder. "Fuck." Vic didn't like the tone of her voice, because he yanked the folder out of her hands and took a look at what she'd been studying. He mirrored her sentiment. "I thought they called that off when you two got married." Katya looked at him with a blank face, giving away nothing of what she was feeling at all. "Well, obviously he didn't. Yet another thing Logan was wrong about, and yet another thing that Piotr lied to me about. So he can still change into human form. Why does that not surprise me?" Kurt looked at the pictures with something akin to awe. "Sheesh, I didn't even think you could get into that position without being as flexible as me." Vic yanked the pictures out of his hands and shook his head hard, making it quite clear that he shouldn't go there yet. Katya let the first bit of rage show on her face and then all of it, almost baring her teeth by the time it was done. "My husband's happiness killed mine. Why the fuck am I not surprised. And he talks to his lover. How very interesting. That bitch is going to fry. Kurt... did you bring my toys?" Kurt nodded. "Are you sure you've got the stomach to do this? I could call in my mother if you don't want to." Katya realized immediately that it wasn't that Kurt was insulting her abilities, he was trying to save her from jumping head first into an evil she had never liked and across a line had never wanted to cross. Killing someone was one thing, but torturing them had always been another with her. It had gotten too messy and just too damn evil for her to do something like that. She didn't even hesitate. "No, Kurt. This woman is mine." They looked at each other and nodded, knowing that they'd have to explain to Magnus later about all of this, and not really caring.

Piotr walked into the hotel room early the next morning and, seeing the body, almost vomited. And that was a seasoned warrior's reaction to it. He saw the wedding ring sitting on the woman's chest and suddenly knew, his head snapping to the left side of the affluent highrise building. Katya sat in the chair, balancing a dagger on the end of her finger as if bored. "Piotr. I'm sorry to say that your lover is dead. Such is life." Piotr looked back and, if he hadn't been steel, he knew he would have thrown up at what the woman must have gone through. "Why did you do this, Katya? Because I slept with her?" Katya got to her feet and paced toward him calmly, looking considering as she did. "Partly, I suppose. I mean you've told me that you couldn't turn into human form for more then a few hours a month to release energy and to sleep. I should have realized that there was more to it than that. There was the lies, yes... but, no, I killed her because she did something much much more personal to me. She killed two men I loved. All in one lifetime. The fucker had to suffer for that... and for betraying us to the enemy." She saw the shocked look enter Piotr's countenance and said, "What? You didn't know? She was sleeping with Havok too, you know, and giving up all of our information to him. Magnus isn't going to be pleased to lose our one talented healer, but it couldn't be helped. I needed to get all the information out of her." Piotr looked at her and shook his head. "Two men in one lifetime?" Katya nodded. "She wrecked my perceptions of you, dear husband, and shattered that first love all to the lowest hottest layers of hell. And then there was someone else... someone I was going to leave you for in an instant... that taught me to love and showed me what it was like... all of it. She took him away, too. And for that she could never suffer enough." Piotr looked down at the wedding ring winking in the light and said, "So, you cheated on me, too?" Katya laughed low, the sound like razor blades cutting deep, "No, Piotr...you have to love someone to cheat on them and you've known for years I don't love you. I respect you as an ally, although that slipped a bit further today. I like you well enough...,we have enough common interests. But as for love...,no, I don't love you, and therefore I can't cheat on something that my heart feels no deep connection to." Piotr's head was almost touching his chest as he whispered softly, "I was going to tell her goodbye today. I have finally realized after all this time what I had with you, Katya, and that I love you." The human look in his eyes would have moved her perhaps four years...,hell, four months before, at least a bit, but today it had no effect on her at all. "Then more fool you, Piotr, for there's one man that deserved to never be cheated on and he's waiting for me, somewhere, somewhen. So, in the meantime, don't. Don't love me 'cause I won't love you back. Don't touch me because I will not be a wife to you in that way. You found a mistress once... find another one, and maybe that one will love you in ways I won't. And don't pretend that I matter to you other than as a friend because I've always known better. I'll see you at home after I get some errands done."

She started to walk by him and was almost to the door when he said, "I'll see you there, my love." She stiffened and then mentally shrugged, figuring she'd get used to it, and delivered her final blow, "I have it on good authority that Little Snowflake is alive, Piotr. Why don't you look for her instead of trying on a mission you're doomed to fail at." With that she walked through the door he'd just come through and didn't look back.

She arrived at Magnus's mansion and walked in with Vic and Kurt to see how Pietro was recovering. After looking in on the big guy Vic, her and Kurt sat in the kitchen drinking and talking. "So, you were saying you had a side project?" Kurt's voice wasn't even close to being slurred... none of theirs were, even though there was more then a couple of glasses down inside them. Katya pulled out a bottle of good scotch from the trench coat she was wearing and screwed off the cap. As she poured she nodded coldly. "Yes. I'm going in and killing a lot of people that killed someone I cared for. There a problem with that?" Kurt shrugged. "I was going to volunteer to go with you, but I think you'll be doing this one alone by the way you're acting. You need my help with anything you know where to find me." She then watched in almost humor as Kurt took a swig back of the scotch and started coughing. "God... that's the good stuff!" Vic swigged his back smoothly and then smacked his lips. "Yup. Where in the hell did you get this stuff?" Katya just shrugged and didn't answer and was about to light up a cigarette when a telekinetic bolt shot her out of her chair and into a wall. Hard.

She blinked the black spots away from her eyes and ended up looking into the very pissed off face of a very pissed off redhead. "YOU SOLD US OUT YOU BITCH! YOU SET HIM UP!" She made no move to avoid the fist flying at her face, not that she'd be able to with the telekinetics hammering her to the wall. She rolled with it as much as she was able to, though, already starting to phase to see if she could help it out that way. She finally found the right frequency and slipped free of Jean's grasp and simply slid to the floor, her form shaking. It took a couple of seconds for everyone to figure out she was laughing so hard she was having problems doing it out loud. She finally calmed down enough to look up at Jean as she said, "OF COURSE I sold him out. I would have done it for free, but I sold him out for Pietro's location. I just find it funny that I got paid to do it." With that, Katya lashed out with her foot and took Jean in the knee hard to repay her for the telekinetic slam into the wall and watched as Jean staggered back, barely avoiding a dislocated limb. "So, is he dead?" The tone was disinterested and Katya didn't much care. Jean's outraged face was seen through a curtain of hair as she pulled herself off the floor where her blow had finally sent her. "No. He dunked Logan's arm into a pit of acid so that we had to get it recapped. He wasn't even THERE -- it was an attack droid. I had to pull Logan out of there before he was killed. I thought you were his friend." Katya looked over Jean's sprawled form to the small one armed mutant stepping through the door, letting him see the cold hatred there, "Oh I WAS his friend until he taught me how much friendship was worth." Logan shook his head as he leaned against the door and lit a cigar. "I forgive her, Jean. I had it coming and I knew it. Told you not to get upset." Katya got to her feet and Logan got his first good look at the costume changes she'd made to herself the last twenty four hours. The black leather outfit was lower cut and more tight fitting then a second skin, her arms bare except for the gloves and the wrist claws. And her blonde hair was shorter then it had been. He wondered who he was looking at, she could tell, as she simply said, "Well, I'll never forgive you, Logan. Kurt. Vic. Let's go." The three of them simply walked out the back way through the older part of the mansion and were gone into its depths.

*************

Apocalypse's stronghold

Sinister looked across at his son and asked, "Alex? I want you to be honest with me. WHAT did Black Air do and what did you have to do with it?" He felt like slamming his fist on the table but didn't, figuring that would be a bit emotional and he didn't want to give Alex any reason to blow his formidable temper. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!" His eyes shifted from one side to the other and then he snapped, "It was Jamie Braddock's little crew mutinying that did it!" Sinister almost sighed that they were finally getting somewhere, and asked, "And?" Havok scowled. "Scratch wanted control of the Western Continent taken away from Jamie Braddock, and since I don't trust that brother of flatscans I figured I'd give him the resources to train his men and do something that would impress our highlord. That was to assasinate the human high counsel and to take down a small rebel band in Europe at the same time." Sinister opened the file in front of him and scowled, "Yes, well, all we have confirmed are the deaths of that mutant band. The human high counsel is fine. DID YOU EVER stop to think that assasinating them might not be the most... oh, how should I put it... bright thing to do, son? Throwing the world into civil war would be a bad bad thing." Alex's face lost some color, his jaw still clenched, and Sinister knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "Very well, Alex. You can go."

Scott walked in as Alex was walking out, not even bothering to acknowledge Scott in his temper. Scott raised an eyebrow above his eyepiece as he sat down at the table, looking across at Abyss and Sinister who were sitting there and then over at Holocaust who was more leaning against the wall. "The Bedlam brothers told me to come home from my leave early, and since it was a boon I figured it would have something to do with this." With that he produced a couple of folders from his uniform and threw them on the table, sitting down as his father looked through the details. "I've got satelite pictures of the mess that Black Air made of Muir Island, an approximate death count, and one name of the one person who was there that wasn't supposed to be." Sinister looked up from the folders, looking pleased. "Thank you, Scott. I knew I could depend on you. Our communication network has not been its best overseas right now." Scott nodded toward the other folder. "With good reason. Someone is slaughtering people all over Europe and some over here. I was at Prelate Johnson's reception with Vanessa as my date when Holocaust was served his head on his plate the other night. There is a growing death toll. Jamie Braddock had an unfortunate boating accident in his backyard and was declared barbeque right before I left to come here. There are 250 confirmed dead beneath Israel in the bunkers for Black Air operatives, where someone set off a nuke. Caused a level three earthquake, but it accomplished the job admirably and took out a good component of their supply line. Trask was hung up by his ankles and used like a pin cushion...should I go on?" Sinister cursed as he threw the folders and the photographs aside. "No need to, Cyclops. Suggestions on salvaging what is left of the European operation?" Scott shrugged, "I honestly haven't come up with more than one suggestion." Sinister glanced at him. "Well spit it out." Scott nodded toward Abyss, "Abyss will back me up that we can't find competent soldiers anymore since Apocaylpse started killing anyone that got on his nerves, no offense intended toward our highlord, and training can be a pain when we're trying to run in different directions at once. I say we take the yachts we have since they're heavily armored, and go salvage the foot soldiers. We need them. They're well trained British that are MUCH better trained then most of the men out there. I mean, the pens are where my training rooms used to be. Now I have Rusty -- 'scuse me, Inferno -- and Skids out there in the field with Firestar to whip the soldiers into shape and train my engineers, I'm constantly on the lookouts for good recruits nowadays."

Holocaust looked over at him like he'd lost his mind. "HUMAN soldiers??? You want us to go and rescue flatscan soldiers?" Scott looked back calmly. "Not all of them are human, and if they are human so what? They're nice little cattle that are well trained and loyal to their highlord. What more do you want?" Abyss spoke up for the first time, "I agree with Cyclops. I desperately need the people, and if they have engineers even better. Last engineer I had working on that damn tunnel scratched out shit on a napkin and I ended up killing him just out of aggravation. That tunnel the Bedlam Brothers tell me is not good for anything and Firestar, who I give Cyclops credit to for being one of the most successful and brilliant engineers I have run across in a long time, has done wonders for putting that piece of crap together so it might just work after the fact. It's still leaking like a seive, but at least she didn't 'eyeball' it." He looked at Scott, "I'll take any and all of the men you can offer me that are halfway competent. No questions asked."

Scott nodded, pleased. "Good. I have Horsemen approval so I'll go forth and get those people out of there. As for the others... father, I would suggest that you just stay out of Shadowcat's way... at least, by some of the "phasing" incidental deaths, I'm assuming it is her. She's dangerous and I don't think there is a way to catch her. She's bright, resourceful and driven." Abyss nodded. "I messed with that woman once. The thing that makes her the most dangerous, Cyclops, you didn't even mention." Scott asked, "And what would that be?" Abyss shrugged, "She wasn't afraid of me. Not at all. Which means one and only one thing that makes anyone severely dangerous in my opinion, without adding the abilities and the brilliance in. She's not afraid to die." No one had a thing to say to that comment, but all took the most feared of the new Horsemen seriously. And so they wrote off the rest of the people Scott gave them that were probably on her list, and waited for it to be over because they figured the people had it coming anyway. Apocalypse would suffer deception, but failure and incompetence he would have a problem with and make them die horribly for.