Please feel free to send me your comments, criticisms and/or suggestions. I always want to know what people are thinking about my work. bye, ambereen

Growing up in the barrio wasn't conducive to making one a trusting soul, and because of this Angelo never quite trusted his team. He had grudgingly joined them only because he hadn't found anything else to do with his life. His reasons weren't noble or honorable, he merely sought escape from the daily struggle of survival that was life. He had known that joining Sinister meant battling against those that opposed him, and this appealed to something within him. It pleased him to think of himself as a freedom fighter, but now, being back in his hometown, he didn't think of himself as a fighter. How could he when all he had done since coming back had been to hide? He didn't like showing such weakness, but that had been his only choice. Most of the team was seriously injured, and moving them wasn't a viable option. They would just have to hope that Xavier's New Mutants team wouldn't find them. But tonight, even this hope had been extinguished, for Ariel had learned that the team sent after them was much stronger than they had previously assumed.

"Oy man, yer wanna get movin'? Don't yer think we've kept Sabey waitin' long enough?" Ariel was standing at the entrance to the inner rooms of the church. He had been watching Angelo quietly since they had left the bar, and had noticed how pensive his mood had become. That encounter with the kid hadn't helped any, because Skin had just bottled up his emotions more than he usually did.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Let's go." Skin mumbled his reply and followed Ariel through the door leading to back of the church.

St. Mary's had been the center of the community before all of the strife caused by the Mutant Crusade, but it's present state was one of decay. Skin chose this as their temporary base because of the obscurity it provided. In the years since the strife, no one had bothered with the old church. It was perfect to hide within the eye of the storm, for usually that was where peace could be found.

This old building was so different from the technologically advanced Seattle headquarters that Skin feared his team would have a difficult time adjusting. The only luxury they could boast was electricity, and that too was only in the back section of the church. However, he hadn't heard a single complaint from anyone in the group. Their resilience surprised him, because he realized that his opinion of them was that they were too dependent upon the wealth and security that Sinister provided. Skin didn't know how he had conceived such a low perception of his teammates, but he guessed that it came from his experiences on the streets. When he first joined the Hellions, Sinister's version of the New Mutants, he was surprised at how readily they accepted him. They had tested him, to see if he belonged with the group, but everything had been relatively easy. Skin was shocked at this because his gang experience had taught him that acceptance came only after the severest testing, and only a select few had what it took to reach that point. He remembered his own initiation into the Crypts. How frightened he had been that night he had to perform his final test, killing a rival gang member.

Angelo believed he was prepared for anything. After all, the world had shown him that killing was easy, an act almost insignificant in its nature. When life was worthless, the elimination of it should be effortless, yet despite all of his determination to harden his heart, Angelo felt regret the moment he pulled the trigger, and saw the life drain from the face of his enemy. The memory of that first time would stay with him, blocking out all of his other kills. After the initiation Tores pulled him aside and told him that she admired his act. She hadn't believed that he would go through with it. Her words gave him no pleasure, in fact they haunted his soul. For they represented the worst with in himself, and Angelo didn't think that he could ever rise above the actions committed that night.

The bright fluorescent light that accosted him upon entering the church gymnasium jarred him out of his disturbing thoughts. Looking up from the wooden floor, he was greeted by the sight of the Hellions scattered throughout the room in various states of agitation and distress. Skin wondered if something had happened while he and Ariel had been away.

^^Well, nice of y'two t' decide t' join us. We've all been waiting to find out if we can leave this forsaken place.^^ Jonothon Starsmore wasn't the happiest person among the Hellions, and to say that he was the most depressing wouldn't be too far from the truth. However, no one ever questioned why he had such a negative outlook towards life, for one look at him revealed the entire tale. Yet Jono's ill humor was most often turned against himself, so his teammates weren't completely put off by his pessimistic attitude.

"Take it easy on us, brother. We've just come back with more information than any of yer probably expected." Justin Starsmore was always quick to defuse Jono's temper. It pained him to see his brother's bitterness, but trying to change Jono was like trying to stop the sun from coming up every morning, impossible.

Angelo moved further into the cavernous room, and was happy to see that Penance had managed to shift her body from it's usual metallic state into that of her human form. Since the attack in Seattle she had been having problems transforming back into her flesh and blood self. Somehow the psychic attack undertaken by Karma had affected her bio-physiology so that she was stuck in the bio-armor that covered her body. Now, looking at Yvette Marie Duncain, Skin was taken aback by the bruises and cuts that covered her face and body. Normally, in her bio-armor Penance was invulnerable. Her body was covered by an adamantuim-like substance that shielded her from attack, and made her a fierce adversary. However, the concentrated attack of Karma and Husk had weakened both her mind and body, forcing her to lower her armor. Thereby leaving her without protection. Chamber had rescued her just before Husk was about to inflict the killing blow. The shock of the attack had forced her body to mutate into it's protective state, causing her body to once again be covered in crimson metal.

Marie, as she liked to be called, sat on a makeshift bed next to Wolfsbane. Both girls were talking softly to each other, careful not to disturb the sleeping form of Vincente Scanlin. It was impossible to tell how severely Vincente had been hurt because his mutation hid the injury. Vincente's body was composed of an ether like substance that could change shape and form, without ever becoming truly solid. Sometimes he floated in the air, and other times, he seemed to be a mist. Although he was able to revert back into a human shape, Vincente preferred to stay in his ephemeral form. Never quite touching anyone, and always afloat. Skin was afraid that Vincente wouldn't survive the move to Los Angeles, because of the injuries that he had suffered. Having been cornered by Riptide, Vertigo, and Harpoon, Vincente was completely at a loss. Although none of them could physically touch him, their combined assault had considerably weakened his defenses. It seemed as though the projectiles of Harpoon and Riptide were just phasing through his body; however, they were affecting his neural impulses, for the ether that composed his body was organic and capable of feeling. Luckily one of Madrox's dupes had seen his predicament, and quickly come to the rescue. However, after the battle, it was apparent that Vincente would not be able to fight again if another attack came. His body, had begun to thin out, and Vincente resembled the early morning haze that covered the Seattle dawn.

Madrox had decided that it would be prudent for them to retreat, so they utilized the underground network of tunnels and sewers, to reach the harbor. From there, the only rest they had received was on the boat to the docks at San Pedro. Vincente had barely made it through the journey, but the rest he'd gotten since settling in Los Angeles, proved to be beneficial, for his body had regained most of its density, and it looked as though he would be able to move when the time came.

Skin turned away from the girls and walked over to the threesome huddled in the back corner of the gymnasium. As expected Madrox had turned over the stewardship of the group to Sabretooth, and was intently listening to whatever the new leader was saying. Skin was happy that he didn't have to answer to Jamie anymore. Although he liked Madrox, and found his dupes to be even more entertaining, he didn't think that Jamie had been comfortable in his role as overseer. Angelo knew that he wasn't comfortable as team leader, so he sympathized with how Madrox felt. "It isn't easy being the fall guy, especially if you aren't too keen on taking the fall," he thought.

The other member of the group was Josephine Black, known to everyone by the code-name Rogue. She was standing next to Sabretooth, completely relaxed beside the volatile presence of the fierce man. Skin had met Rogue only twice before. She was only a year older that Ariel and Chamber, yet she was a member of the Marauders, not the Hellions. Looking at her, Skin couldn't believe all of the stories that he had heard about her. If one judged her by her face, she seemed to be an extremely beautiful woman, but Skin knew that underneath was a heart and soul forged of steel. "I guess living with an old man like Sabes, will do that to a person," he mumbled. There were many rumors circulating about these two, but watching them right now, he could tell that they had a bond. One that was formed a long time ago, and one that would not be broken.

At that moment, while he was staring at her, Rogue looked up, and the intense expression on her face faded somewhat, only to be quickly replaced by anger. "Bout time, y'all decided ta join us."

Her words sparked him to action, and he closed the short distance that separated him from their small circle. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long, but the information that I recovered will be worth it." Skin didn't want to show any weakness in front of these two. He was intimidated by Sabretooth, but he refused to show them exactly how much.

"Don't be too hard on the boy, kid. It's his first time as leader, so he wants to make sure he impresses the big man. Here's a word of advice boy, don't tick the kid off, she's not a firecracker. When she blows, it's more like an atom bomb. Now before you get down to spillin' what you know, let me just congratulate you on your choice of hide-outs. I always did like churches. You remember that time in Paris Jo? Now that was a great church." Sabretooth was acting strangely. He was definitely not what Skin had expected, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Everyone had warned him to be very careful around the man, but the way he was behaving surprised Angelo.

Sabretooth left him standing there, and turned to the rest of the room. He waited until all of the Hellions stopped what they were doing, and gave him their full and undivided attention. Then, he motioned for Skin and Ariel to come forward, so that they could give their report to the group. Skin briefly told them where they had gone, and who they had met. He considered omitting Tores' involvement, but then decided to tell them everything. Secrets were dangerous, especially at a time like this. When he finished he let Ariel take over, and relate to the team exactly who and what they were facing.

"Well, it looks like they underestimated us that first time in Seattle, so they decided to send in the veterans. Some of the New Mutants are still on the team. Marie, you'll be happy to know that you'll have a second chance to give Husk a little pay back, and Sunspot, you can go toe t' toe with Warpath again. As expected, Siryn, Banshee, Domino, Meltdown, Feral, and Marrow are all present and accounted for. But we have t' be especially careful now, because they've included some of the others too. Two of the original fab five X-Men have decided to whip the newbies into shape, so Iceman and Angel are among the ranks. As expected, they've sent a telepath, though they didn't send the premiere Lady Marvel, Ms. Grey. In her place, is my own country woman, Elizabeth Braddock. The cheap Magneto wannabe Mistress of Magnetism, Lorna Dane has also come down to see us, and with her is the wonderfully agile and witty Nightcrawler. So, we're facing a team of thirteen highly trained, mutants. They have only one goal, and that's to bring us in." Moments like these, when all of the attention was focused on him, caused Ariel to often overplay a situation. His old drama training came back to him, and he found himself getting into a role. In this case, he felt like he was the host of a spy show, letting his team know about the dangers that they were about to face. Glancing around the room, he saw his brother give him a sardonic look, letting him know that he hadn't missed the show.

"If y'all are done preenin' and posin', d'ya think ya can answer a little question sugah?"

"Ask away, Josey." Ariel didn't take anything Rogue said personally, and he refused to get riled up because of her bad temper.

"First, are you absolutely certain that this information is reliable? And Second, do you remember what I did to you the last time you called me Josey?"

"Trust me, Miss Josephine. This information is the real thing, I pulled it from the minds of the patrons at the fine drinking establishment Angelo and I visited."

Rogue was beginning to relax somewhat, but she was very concerned by the information that Skin and Ariel had just relayed. She and Sabretooth had expected Xavier to send a better team than the one that had attacked in Seattle, but they hadn't thought it would be so powerful. They had also been surprised by the condition of the Hellions. "At least more of them are on their feet now," she thought. She looked around the room, and was pleased to see that Rictor and Sunspot were completely recovered, and the only one left to truly worry about was Vincente. Wolfsbane hadn't been injured, and aside from the cuts and bruises, Penance had also been removed from the critical list. "At peak condition, this team might be able to take on Xavier's errand-boys, but in your present state, Ah'm not sure if we can pull it off. What d'ya think, Pops?" Rogue heard mumbled comments of disagreement from the Hellions, but she turned towards Sabretooth and directed the question to him.

"It's not like we have a choice in the matter, Jo. Xavier's sent his people, and it's up ta us ta hold 'em off. With the exception of the purple haze over there, we have a functioning team. Besides, yer discounting the most important player in this operation, Me. Now, there ain't no use in worryin' about what's gonna happen. Right now we have to concentrate on keeping a low profile, and not letting anyone know that we're here. Hey, Epidermis Lad, did you make sure that your friends will keep quiet about seeing you?"

"They won't talk."

"Good. Because if they do, I'll have to personally silence them. Okay, starting tonight we have two people on guard duty, covering the church grounds and making sure that nothing gets past them, not even an alley cat. Madrox, I want you to make a dupe and send him to watch the South exit that these two used. And make sure he doesn't get into trouble. That means no jokes, at all. Rogue, you and Wolfsbane take the first watch. You see anything, investigate. But do not, under any circumstances, call attention to yourselves. I don't want the mind-witch scanning your powers. Even though she's not as dangerous as Grey, she can still pose a threat. Everyone else, get some rest, but I want you all to be ready in case of an attack. We ain't leavin' here until Sinister gives the word, so we'll just have to sit tight."

--To Be Continued--