”It’s a trap! Fall back plan. Liz, you’re in charge. Get out of here and back to the mansion. Gawain will know what to do” there was sound of commotion in the background. He was fighting someone or shadowboxing. Carrick was only partially listening as he stared into a high power spotlight that flashed on from one of the watchtowers. ”****ers!” Carrick shouted interrupting Sam’s orders to the rest of the team.

Another grunt from Sam as a gunshot echoed from where the icemancer was. ”Kid you alright?!?” there was a momentary pause as Carrick dived into a cloud blinded for a moment until the cloud cover bought him enough time to recover his sense of sight. He stopped flying forward for a moment to respond and lose his tail of light. It kept moving forward and he asked, ”Yeah, they saw me.... but just ta be clear... ya want us to leave you here go tell the rest of yer teammates that you got caught.”

His eyes scanned the grounds of the small and obviously no longer abandoned fortress. How did no one see anyone? He should have seen them. Sam should have sensed them and Lizzy... this was clearly her fault. ”Carrick. Shut up and listen. You. Two. Go. Home.” there was more gunfire and grunts as Sam’s line went dead. There was also flashes on the other side of the compound as members opened fire where Sam was. Pillars of ice erupted and mist started to cover that section of the yard.

Carrick high overhead followed a few clouds as more beams of light illuminated the sky. ”Lizzy, get ready fer a pick up!” Carrick said into his ear wondering how much he was getting paid for this ‘easy’ mission. Did the X-Men have hazard pay? Should he have negotiated his compensation? It was odd they never asked for a routing number.

He spotted his ex-girlfriend and former teacher in the snow where they left her. ”So glad we brought her along...” he muttered loud enough to be picked up by anyone listening on the comms and then dove as more lights filled the sky.

Metazoa's mind slammed back into her body and she reeled backwards with a sharp gasp, despite the lack pf physical force involved in the repossession. The mouse that had been her passageway scampered off before Liz could even process its presence.

"What was that? What was THAT?!" she whispered with a a rising tone of fear. She'd been piloting a rat and acting as an on-the-ground scout for Cold Steel, while Carrick looked out from above. Then something happened and she was thrust out of the rat and into the senseless void. In her psychic limbo she had latched onto the first mind she could reach and bade the mouse to return to her human form.

Metazoa slapped herself with her fur-lined gloves (a staple for a mission that had Cold Steel on it). "Get it together, no time to panic. You need to move!"

Something had happened and the rat hadn't seen, heard, smelled, or felt anything before it was just gone.

Then the chatter on the comms registered. CS wanted them to go home.

"Forget that!" Liz said to herself as she poured her mind out and felt all animals within two hundred feet, tapping into their minds. Scattered viewpoints painted a kaleidoscope of chaos as explosions warred with ice constructs and icy fog.

Then Carrick was there. "Go go go!" she shouted as she raised her arms enough that she could be easily scooped up.

"What happened?" she immediately asked him. "Where's Cold Steel? We need to get him out of there!"

This wasn’t how he was expecting to spend a Saturday. He cancelled a date to be here. Thankfully the Princess was understanding... well at least for her. The shifter grunted slightly as he reached for his ex and pulled her up as his wings compensated for the additional weight of another person. ”Back there.” Carrick said flying away from the trouble as ordered. ”Was I the only one listening!?!?” he said with some panic given the situation and the fact that he was only have listening to Frosty the boss man.

It was like getting hit with a pop quiz in one of Lizzy’s classes where he didn’t know any of the answers. It was a feeling he didn’t like. One he was glad to verbalize, ”I can’t be carrying yer team Lizzy! I’m not a pack mule!” he shouted as he flew over wintered landscape. Rolling hills of fresh snow climbed outward the higher he went.

”I don’t know! All I know was he told us to bail and get Gawain! I’m just following orders! He signs the checks! Sam... not Gawain... wait who does pay us?” he thought out loud hoping she had some idea. Lizzy was a teacher. She was on the payroll already... unless she was double dipping... could he get a job teaching? It had to be easy right? Hand out papers, books and tests it had to be easy right?

There were a few more loud commotions behind them as another pillar of ice upended one of recently constructed towers. Carrick didn’t slow though, boss said go so he was going.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. "What? We don't have time to get Mirror!" Metazoa shouted into the wind. They were miles and miles from the mansion. There was no way Carrick was going to be able to fly them both there in time for any meaningful help, even with mirrorwalking to speed things along. She didn't think he would do well going alone either - he wasn't lightning, just a guy with wings. "Since when do you listen to other people, anyway?"

An owl fluttered silently into Metazoa's mindrange and she immediately directed it back toward the fray, where CS's battle was lighting up the night. The owl had just gotten eyes on Sam when pain lanced through it and Liz's skulls before the connection severed. Liz gasped and stifled a shriek. "They're blinding me down there," Metazoa announced. "I need to get closer. Set me down over there," Liz said, pointing toward a place that looked like it had excellent cover.

"This isn't the time for thinking about money!" she said hotly. "Cold Steel is powerful, but that fortress was clearly prepared for us! He's not going to survive if we don't act now!"

As they flew, Liz sought out everything she could feel with her mind. In the air like this, her power was limited - they were too far from most animals, only the occasional bat or bug. Still, she pulled them into her fold and began gathering a small stream of nocturnal flying creatures behind Carrick. She needed allies. Lots of them. Whatever was killing her hosts couldn't be everywhere at once.

Right?

”I know!” Carrick shouted back. His eyes darted out in front of them adjusting to the dimmer light the further they went from the place they escaped from. ”I listen to the boss that pays me! It’s part of the job!” Carrick said bitterly as he was having a conversation with someone he didn’t care much for. At least anymore. The only reason he didn’t say anything about the team was because of the boss man scared him.

”Then stop going! We’re not going back!” Carrick said looking back noticing a few more nocturnal creatures flying behind them. ”Stop that! They’r gonna lead them right to us!"” Carrick said diving lower into the pines. If they were going to make it back to the mansion in time he was going to have to shift. Even then it would be him diving constantly to build up enough speed. Would Liz survive it? He never went that fast with anyone riding with him before. She’d be the one he was willing to test it on though.

”I know he’s powerful! Not an Eejit Lizzy. They are holding him up! They spotted us and got the drop on him. They know we were coming and set a trap. Ya think I don’t know the situation? They are holding their own against him. Ya think we got a shot right now? We don’t. I’m immortal it’s true.” he said lowering himself into an open spot amongst the trees and landed.

Lizzy was the first to be set down. Carrick’s feet landed next and he was already taking off his shirt in the fridged night air. ”Why am I the voice of reason here? Yer supposed ta be the smart one. Frosty is smarter than us right? He’s the one with the plan? Well they got him and I like living me life above ground.” his pants were off next and he shoved them into the bag he had slung on his back.

”I don’t think he’s the type to go down easily. Enough rumors around the mansion. I doubt this is the first time he’s been in a situation like this. So love, unless ya got a plan behind those blonde locks I’m gonna do what he told me to do and get help.” he was naked now. His feet were cold. Thankfully there was enough tree cover around them to block some of the wind.

His hands were on his hips and he waited for a moment for her answer. He didn’t like leaving someone behind. Especially the man who was always willing to throw the shifter a job or a gig.

"Oh please, a bunch of bugs and bats aren't going to attract more attention than us, the biggest things in the sky for miles around!" Metazoa retorted before she could catch herself. Her hackles were raised, and not just from the sensory disturbances she felt through the animals. It was always like this with Carrick. No matter what happened, he got under her skin like nobody else.

Carrick did make the landing, though. Liz stumbled a bit as she practically leaped out of his arms and leaned against a tree for balance. Data poured in her mind as she tapped into the woodsy area's denizens.

"Okay, we have some cover here. Nobody ever comes out here," she said after a moment scanning the minds of squirrels, birds, and more. "And what do you mean, immort--?"

Liz was turning around to stare a Carrick in disbelief when she saw her ex rapidly undressing in front of her. She immediately spun back and cut off visual sensory flows from the animals around her to her mind. She did not need to or want to see that!

Some of Carrick's words finally resonated with her. "God help us, you're right," she swore. "You are being reasonable. I'm panicking. This is happening to so fast and I'm overwhelmed."

Liz took a deep breath and moved away from the tree. She clasped her hands together as if in prayer, her back still to Carrick, and she grabbed onto a few minds in particular.

This late in the year with such low temperatures, many subterranean animals had started their dormant hibernation cycles. Their minds were calm and still, reacting to nothing, safe in their hidey holes.

Liz allowed those bugs and moles and other critters to wash over her, and as seconds passed, her mind began clearing. Finally, she straightened, adjusted her mask, and Metazoa began to speak. "You must have forgotten who you're talking to," she said as Carrick announced his intentions of leaving. "I always have a plan." Her brain was already kicking into overdrive. Things Carrick had said mingled with her own experiences and what she'd seen out of Cold Steel.

Rodents began moving about the ground and trees, scurrying to do her bidding and gathering materials and moving to positions. Nocturnal birds and bats began taking up formations in the trees. Green, red, and gold lights reflected off the eyes of a handful of deer and a bobcat, who watched them from the edge of the clearing. Black and brown lines of arthropods began crawling and buzzing toward her, making their ways into her clothes.

She glanced over her shoulder and the yellow lenses of her mask glinted in the starlight.

"Ready to test your immortality?"

It shouldn’t have worked. In theory it was great but in practice... Carrick had seen it all go wrong before and unlike those times... he had Lizzy here instead of Zek, or Ranger. So not only was he surprised when it worked but there was a smug look when he landed on the guy in surprise collapsing him to the ground and smashing his face into the snow. He was cold and still naked and now on top of a guy who was struggling but he was smug about it.

”****ing told ya it would work.” Carrick said eyeing Lizzy from her hiding spot amongst a dense set of bushes and trees. ”Happens all the time in the movies!” he said pointing to the breadcrumb trail of clothes he littered out moving away from where Daddy Frost was being held captive... or dead. Carrick wasn’t willing to rule the second one out until he saw him.

”Only surprised that there isn’t...” pointed ears twitched to a branch breaking from the direction goon number one came from. The thief’s wings snapped open and he flew off shivering and waiting for goon number two to approach the clearing.

“Where did you go? I don’t know the area as well as you!” the guy called out muttering under his breath wondering if this was the best career choice. ”Surprise.” Carrick replied landing on the second one ripping off the ear piece and grabbing the communicator before he could call for back up.

A few punches with a closed fist to the face and he was down and bloodied. He wasn’t particularly worried if the man survived or not. He was alive now and if he’d wake up before any of the beasties that Lizzy was talking to smelled the blood he’d be alright. That and hypothermia.

”Look I was right again!” Carrick said smugly wondering how he was going to get the uniform on over his wings.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a mastermind," Metazoa said blandly as Carrick took down the first guy. She knew she shouldn't rise to all of his baiting - she was supposed to be the mature one, especially since he'd de-aged and lost years of progress - but if she didn't say something it was going to bottle up inside her and explode at the worst time.

Besides, banter was normal. If they didn't banter, that would be admitting something was wrong and if they started doing that, they were lost long before they started.

"When you're done playing around, make sure you read your guy's ID," she said over her X-Man communicator. If they were going to pass Carrick off as a guard, Metazoa wanted to be a s prepped for every situation as she could. "Better to know your name and not need it than to be called on and not know it." Fortunately, the goons had full-face masks, probably to hide their own identities because Liz couldn't imagine their employment was entirely legal.

From her den in a thick pine tree, Metazoa let her wishes be known. A trio of racoons descended upon the first guy Carrick had ambushed and began stripping his utility belt and searching him for anything useful. The man's earpiece was pulled out and handed to a red squirrel who pranced back to Liz and inserted in her other ear. Now they could hear the enemy's communication. "I'm not getting anything from CS and I'm not hearing anything from the mansion," she told Carrick. "Something's blocking us. Just try not to talk into the bad guys' mic, okay? Actually, maybe you shouldn't talk at all. Here, Lester will speak for you."

A blue jay fluttered down in front of Carrick and chirped Liz's words, "Hi, my is Carrick and I like warm bugs!"

"Now get going!" she said over the X-com as the raccoons returned with their loot. Metazoa checked over the assault rifle and handgun they'd brought her. She slung the belt around her waist, doubling up, and slotted the handgun back in its holster. She flicked the safety off the rifle and began taking aim through it. As Carrick finished dressing, three owls absconded with the goon's grenades and quickly floated off into the night sky. "I've got eyes and ears on the situation."

”Well I had an excellent teacher!” life. Life was his teacher. He wouldn’t give Lizzy credit for teaching him anything other than about heartbreaks. The mask slipped on and Carrick’s stomach churned at the smell of... was that fish or sour cream and fish? Gross. ”Smells awful.”

The clothing wasn’t too bad of the fit. Between his tail and wings he stuck all the extra appendages under the clothing. The tail wrapped around his stomach and was by far the least noticeable. The wings though made him look like he was wearing padding. Lots of it. Shoulder pads included. ”Ryan Rivers... think this is a fake name.” Carrick said eyeing the badge for any more information. There was an I.D. number as well but that was more than a few digits so he stopped memorizing it in song after four. Instead he was already creating a backstory for Rivers in his head.

Carrick eyed the animals while he awkwardly kept pulling his shirt back down to cover his back still humming the lyrics quickly improvised song and backstory. ”Lester... is that his name or one you gave him?” looking to Lester, ”I’m Carrick and I do like warm bugs, better than cold ones.” he said knowing far more about the subject and how they tasted than he’d care to admit.

----

”Look, I can call ya Carrick or Lester.” the Irishman said as he trudged through the landscape. The fortress wall revealed itself the closer he got. Would have been easier and quicker to fly but that was part of the issue. They were looking overhead. So if that was the case... ‘Beep’

The flashing green lights on the console mounted to the wall signaled he was good to enter as the door unlocked with a loud ‘click’. ”Well that wasn’t too bad.” Carrick said as he pushed the door bundled in his disguise and entered the facility.

“Why do you do this to me baby? You know I hate fighting with you.” The voice was soft, gentle... it was nothing but honeyed lies. The cruelness in the voice was hard to forget, imprinted in his memories and his soul. They made him who he was today, skeptical, even paranoid. Someone he grew up with, someone he was supposed to grow old with. Well, as old as agents of T.A.T.M.A.H. could get. He probably would have been dead by now if he was still with them. If they were still around. The voice in question belonged to Amanda. His first love. One of his partners from back in the day. They knew so much about each other and now it felt like nothing at all.

“Do you want me to make you see them again? It drives me crazy you think of her when you go to your happy place but I can manage. I’d have you at least.” there was a pause in the conversation and Sam spat on the ground. The taste of blood in his mouth made him want a drink given more so given the company.

”No, as much as I’d love that we both know what happens when you send me there. We also both know you can’t do that without restraining my powers. Be nothing more than a meat shield.” a parting gift from Slate, the ability to fight back should he be placed in an illusion again. “It kills me I even have to consider it. What happened to us? We used to be inseparable.” the woman said stepping into the dim light that hung over the icemancers head.

His vision slowly started coming to. They didn’t move far from where he was picked up. Magic and adapted’s was what finally took him down. The former assassin guessed in the basement. Away from the exits. Armed guards in between and a handful of other things. He grew up with Amanda, she was twisted sure but she was smart. She knew all of his weaknesses. ”Well for starters you were fine living in a cage as an experiment. I even offered to take you with me.”

“But we lived! We had each other! We had Sydney!” she snapped back the sweetness in her voice falling to the one he was more familiar with now, cold and calculating. ”You forced me to leave early. I always wondered how they knew I was planning on leaving. I only told you. Next day I opened my door to a handful of armed soldiers. You gave me your answer then and had to live with it!”

There was a flash of movement and Amanda’s hand reached out and slapped Sam across the cheek. It stung, he’d live. ”Mmmmmm... if you cared so much about Sydney you would have kept him from looking like you when the X-men showed and freed me. You knew what I was going to do when I woke up.”

There was another jerk of a hand and Sam felt the other cheek start to sting from the impact followed by footsteps, heels clicking with each step as they moved further and further away until a loud metal groaning echoed the room. ”I hit a nerve?” the door slammed shut and he started to chuckle as he started to understand his current holding area.

Twelve steps to the door on his left. Metal no doubt reinforced. It was to his back. He still couldn’t use his powers, there was no collar though. Was it magic? Or an adapted? ”You know what happens to the people she has working for her?” Sam

Metazoa frowned. Was Carrick paying her a compliment? That was bizarre. Obviously he was in shock. Obviously. As Carrick quipped back about the blue jay, Liz didn't miss a beat. "Yes," she said simply and unhelpfully, purely on the off chance Carrick cared enough about the bird's name to be irritated by her response.

--------

As Carrick made his way into the building, the blue jay fluttered off. There was no way it could hide and it would give Carrick away in an instant. She'd left a few literal bugs on him, but she wasn't in direct control of them. She was too busy running intelligence.

Creatures of the night weren't her typical psychic comrades, but Metazoa was nothing if not adaptable. Through the eyes of owls, she saw the estate as if it were daylight and she could even hear individual footsteps of guards a thousand feet away. Some of the animals she was in touch with even had memories of the place going back months.

"I found the door they took him through," Liz reported. "North wing of the building. About two hundred feet in front of you and sixty to your left. If that helps. Whatever happened to CS, he was alive when he went into the building."

Metazoa growled a bit in frustration. She didn't know anything more than that. She didn't have access to the building and she didn't want to risk bringing herself closer in order to find animals inside. If anything happened to Carrick, she had to be able to rescue him or get help or or or or.

Get it together, Liz!

A squirrel bit her on the arm and Liz took a deep breath, dismissing the squirrel. She wasn't powerless. Knowledge was power. She was getting more knowledge with every moment. She was learning patrol routines. She was researching this place, animal by animal, going through their memories. She was listening into their radio chatter.

She was also gathering allies.

As the shifter entered the facility Lester or Carrick flew off of his shoulder. ”Coward!” before stepping further in. His eyes took a few seconds to adjust behind the goggles his disguise had slits formed as they filtered light from a snow-covered bright landscape to a rather dim and... dank was that the word? The hallway looked like it was poorly constructed and had a set of stringer lights running the length of the hallway. Clearly this was not to code.

His shoulder itched, reaching over he scratched it making sure not to pat his wings too much less he’d end up showing them off. Two cameras. One above him and one at the end of the hallway. He was a thief for most of his life. Being aware of extra eyes just came with the territory.

With purpose and the bravado he normally carried himself with he strolled into the facility making sure he knew his way out. ‘Fight!’ he was on edge. He was also indoors in a small hallway. He couldn’t fly even if his wings were free. Further in he went, unaware of what lay before him in the next room as he approached a pair of double doors and another security clearance checkpoint.

”Ryan Rivers!” Carrick said doing his best to imitate the voice he briefly heard as he swiped the card and walked in when the light turned green and the door unlocked. There was no voice recognition needed. That didn’t stop Carrick.

The door opened and someone was there to great him. It seemed the person before him was heading out the way Carrick was coming from. “Any luck?” the voice asked though it was somewhat muffled from the balaclava the man was wearing. ”Nah, ‘fraid not. Partner found a nice hole to **** in though. Why he is out there still. Said something about what he ate.” his accent was gone for the moment and he took on a Texan drawl to help blend with his character.

“oooof... say no more. Though you should have waited for them...” the man leaned down a bit to inspect the badge. “Rivers.... you are one of the newer guys right?” the man asked Carrick as his posture seemed to be sizing the shifter up. ”Ah! I left after an hour. Yep! Been... man all the days start to blend together...” Carrick said looking down to his gloved hands and started to pretend to count. ”I can’t even tell how long I’ve been here.” mainly because Carrick didn’t know. In hindsight asking some questions would have saved him in the long run.

“Yeah, this isn't the best post. If you’re lucky you’ll get a transfer to the Australia one. Less snow.” he chuckled slightly and patted Carrick on the shoulder and then walked past. “Try and get some rest and tell you’re partner to say no to meatloaf in the mess hall next time.” he walked past the shifter and Carrick waited a second before quickening his pace so the door shut behind him. ”That was easy... now where would I be if I was a snowman...”

Elizabeth wasn't one to bite her nails when anxious. She didn't have a lot of the normal signs of getting jitters or anything similar. She could normally control herself, especially when in communion with animals. This was hard though. She didn't know what was going on with Carrick. She could hear a bit of dialogue here and there as he interacted with other people - and with each word she was scared he'd get discovered - but somehow he was making it.

Metazoa inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, enforcing a wave of calmness over herself. She exhaled. No, she did not need those feelings. Fear and anxiety were not helpful in this situation. She trusted Carrick. At least, she trusted him enough to make a big scene and survive it long enough for her to help.

Something caught the attention of a red fox that she'd placed on sentry duty. A trio of guards were making their way toward the wooded area Liz had staked out. Two of them held standard issue rifles, just like the one Metazoa had taken from the previously downed guards, but the third, the one in the middle, had something else in his hands.

An owl peered out from a roost in a tree and Liz saw a forked stick in the man's hands. It didn't take a mystic to recognize a dowsing rod, although the zoopath strongly doubted they were looking for water.

"Yeah, I'm definitely getting something," the dowser said, the words easily making it into the ears of several animal scouts, and therefore to Liz. The stick in his hand wavered a bit. "Maybe two people? Should be just ahead of us. Get ready."

The trio started walking straight toward Metazoa's location.

"I'm going radio silent for a few minutes," she told Carrick over the X-Communicator. "Got a few bogeys heading toward my location. There's at least one magical item on them, one might be a mystic. I'll tell you when I've dealt with them."