Since being in France, Wisdom had detonated a car bomb at a tourist attraction, attacked a Byron Agency field office and taken two prisoners, hoodwinked Interpol (though, as Fury said, if that was a crime then they'd all be in jail) and stormed the French Ministry of the Interior. The French authorities were baying for blood, especially as it wasn't so long since the Paris attack. However, it wasn't like Nick hadn't thought of this. He and Forge had been working to solve this, Forge working remotely from Genosha. They had set up several things for Wisdom, such as false accounts, a base of operations and a jet. They had almost everything they needed and Forge would be supplying them with intelligence reports on what SHIELD was doing to apprehend them.

The cover story was simple. The United Nations knew of the situation with Abyss and how personally it connected with Wisdom. Wisdom had gone on a sabbatical from SHIELD to find himself, so far the truth, but while he was gone, Wisdom had decided that Abyss was everywhere and the only way he could do that was by having a group watching him. Fury had smiled inwardly as he said Wisdom had connected the Byron Agency and Abyss, even though there was no apparent connection, and he engendered enough loyalty in his former charges to find out. Maverick and Del Ruiz were his advance scouts, trying to find information, and it had all gone from there. This was what they had obtained from the various personal logs and other SHIELD reports that Wisdom and his team had filed, but he'd not told all of X-Force, keeping the later members of squad out of it. Wisdom was a paranoid, delusional man, but he had the courage of his convictions, and he'd stop at nothing to get to Abyss and the Byron Agency.

It was exceptionally close to the truth, so close that the Security Council seemed content with that, but insisted that Fury resolve the situation. Of course, he'd said, he would give it his highest priority. In fact, he had added, with permission of the Security Council, he would reassemble the remainder of X-Force and have them head up the hunt for the rogue agents. Who better to catch them than those who knew them best? The council had agreed, however they would not allow the use of the X-Force name. As far as they were concerned, X-Force was a terrorist organisation. They had been terrorists under Cable, they were now terrorists under Wisdom. Fury agreed, and now he was back on the Helicarrier, sitting at his desk, preparing to activate his new Team X, which was what he had decided on calling the other agents. He needed to appear to be working on this, while also holding the former X-Force agents back. He was playing a very dangerous game, for exceptionally high stakes. The ones who had volunteered were Siryn, Raven and Wisdom, and Fury hoped he could get Maverick and Del Ruiz on board as well.

All they had to do was put aside any personal differences they had…

---

DIFFERENCES

by David Wheatley

The small island known as Doral's Point in the Outer Hebrides, the western isles of Scotland, had been secured for the team as a safe house by Brian Braddock, on behalf of Forge. He'd been unable to go with them, and Wisdom wouldn't have asked him to anyway. He was already going to get questions over his links to Wisdom from SHIELD. It was as good a safe house as any, remote from the mainland of the UK, surrounded by rough seas and high cliffs. Forge had installed plenty of things there, using it as a base of operations for himself while he was in hiding during the Genesis debacle, and for now it worked as a hideaway for X-Force, until Wisdom could arrange safehouses of their own across the world. With a little help, anyway.

For the most part, the building looked like an old dilapidated shell, the windows having been fitted with one way glass, so that anyone who looked in from a distance would just see darkness and think the place was still deserted. Add to that the anti-radar filters that protected it from detection by the local military bases and it was as secure as they could manage it.

Wisdom and Bane had been working hard over the last few days with the computers, setting up new identities, bank accounts and the lot. They had all talked about things the last few days and Lydia and David had still to make up their minds. Wisdom, credit, had tried with Lydia but hadn't pushed her. He knew this was a tenuous time between the two of them, and if he had any hope of salvaging the relationship, then he needed to do this properly. They were still upset that they were all on the run, and he'd rather forced them in to it. There were shades of the way that he'd put the original team together in that.

As Pete wandered back to his room he heard music coming from Maverick's room and he knew the album.

"That's the Barenaked Ladies," he said to himself. North had introduced him to the band a little while ago and they were pretty good, for Canadians. Considering this was the country that had given the world Bryan Adams and Celine Dion, Wisdom had wondered if there was any talent in the country at all. The door was slightly ajar and he watched as Maverick jived away to the song that just started playing.

"It's been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry
Five days since you laughed at me saying
Get that together come back and see me
Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault but couldn't tell you
Yesterday you'd forgiven me
But it'll still be two days 'till I say I'm sorry."

As the music played Maverick was moving and waving his arms and Pete couldn't help but suppress a smile, and then he had an idea and just as the next bit of the song was about to start, he burst in to the room and started to sing.

"Hold it now and watch the hoodwink
As I make you stop, think
You'll think you're looking at Aquaman
I summon fish to the dish
Although I like the Chalet Swiss
I like the sushi
'Cause it's never touched a frying pan."

He looked at Maverick and gave a slight nod, and North continued.

"Hot like wasabe when I bust rhymes
Big like LeAnn Rimes
Because I'm all about value
Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits
You try to match wits
You try to hold me but I bust through."

Then the two of them worked in unison.

"Gonna make a break and take a fake
I'd like a stinkin' achin' shake
I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors
Gotta see the show
'Cause then you'll know
The Vertigo is gonna grow
Cause it's so dangerous
You'll have to sign a waiver."

"Are you two enjoying yourselves?" Theresa interrupted, watching from the doorway, and the two of them turned in a slightly embarrassed state. She was grinning, amused by the whole thing.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Pete said with a shrug.

"If I were you, I'd leave the voice work to me," Terry said with a wink. She gave a wave and left them to it.

"Everyone's a critic," said David as he turned the music off and the two of them regarded each other. "I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff, Pete."

"You're not the only one," said Wisdom. "Do you think I enjoy being a real life James Bond?"

"Yes, I do." The answer came without any hesitation.

"I enjoy the good bits," Wisdom admitted, "but have you seen the cost? To my soul, to my sanity, to my relationships? I've lost a lot of people close to me, we both have, but it's a job that needs doing. Abyss is out there, he has what's left of my sister and I can't take him alone. I don't even know if we can take him together. Then there are the Byrons. Black Air reborn and they're trying to take over the world. The sins of the past, Dave, and you know the one thing I really want?"

"What?"

"I want Lydia to love me again. I'd say the hell with it all, if she asked me to. What happened between Kitty, between you and me. That wasn't cool, mate." They sat down on the bed. "I love Katherine Pryde, she was the first girl I ever really loved, but I couldn't be what she wanted and it broke my heart. Then I met Lydia and whatever I felt for Kitty was a memory. Then things got in the way and everything was messed up."

"The Shadow King, Apocalypse, Genesis," said Maverick and Wisdom nodded.

"I don't want to be with Kate. I had no choice. You know what we did to Dallas Riordan, what I did to Jessica Drew. They tapped in to the darkest parts of me and brought them out. I was angry with Kate when she said she wanted an abortion, because I want kids. Can't have them, not with this kind of life, but… I want to have a legacy that's more than death and destruction."

"I know what you mean," said Maverick, thinking back of the family he'd lost.

"I was relieved when she miscarried," said Wisdom softly. "I almost got on my knees and thanked God, because he took the decision out of her hands. And I was angry with myself for it, so I decided I was going to find Iceman and beat the crap out of him. Take it out on him."

"Did you?" asked Maverick and Wisdom shook his head.

"Couldn't do it," he said. "It wasn't his fault, not really, and the poor bastard feels guilty enough anyway. I promised that myself I'd make it up to Kitty though. How can you be glad someone lost a child? A child that could have been your own?"

"It was mine though," said David. "The tests…"

"I know," said Pete, interrupting. "I do know and you've no idea how sorry I am."

"She didn't love me though," said North. "I don't think she ever did." The two of them looked at each other. "We need more than this, Pete. That's why I'm not sure I can stay. Starting again seems appealing."

"I can understand that," Wisdom replied. "It's why I tried to quit SHIELD., but what if this is what we're supposed to be? Why should men like us find happiness? Did you hear what happened with Wolverine?"

"No," said Maverick. "I thought he was dead." Wisdom shook his head

"He and Elektra were whisked to another dimension, got married and had a life for about ten minutes, before they ended up back here, just as Almagordo exploded. They were amnesiac and they didn't know each other or something and they fought. Elektra died."

"Again?" Maverick shook his head. "How many times is that now?"

"Four, five? It's getting old," said Pete. "That's not the point."

"Which is?"

"You take the moments of happiness you can get. You never know if they'll last, or if they'll come around again, but you have to be true to yourself as well." He stood up. "I'd like you to help me on this, David, but I won't force the issue. It's up to you." Maverick said nothing and his friend left the room, both of them thinking over what had been said.

Sarah Bane was getting coffee from the filter machine and she shook her head as she took a sip. American's had no appreciation of coffee. It was bland, manufactured, one every street corner type of coffee. She made a mental note to go to one of the other islands at some point and get some good stuff.

"Ah'd try the tea instead," Marcus suggested as he watched her. "You Brits know how to get a decent cup of tea."

"Thanks," said Sarah as she poured the excuse for coffee down the sink. "You're the telepath." Raven nodded as she turned on the kettle. "Wouldn't try scanning me, it's not too easy."

He smiled. "Ah know the feeling. Got some pretty powerful psi-defences of my own."

"Useful. Known too many tepes go rogue because someone gets inside their head." She glanced at him. "Aren't you a bit old to play secret agent?"

"Used to be FBI," he reminisced. "Until they fired me for being a mutant." Sarah winced. It was a stark reminder that the US weren't as tolerant of people as they were in the UK, and the British tolerance had limits these days too. "Ah'm older than Ah look as well. Ah don't seem to age that quickly, or should Ah say Ah age better than most?"

"Either way, it's useful. You prefer melee fighting or staying back and using your powers?"

"Depends on the mood," Marcus shrugged. "Though I'm easy either way." She nodded. "Ah was actually looking for you, though." She looked up and raised an eyebrow, questioning the comment. "You need to talk to Lydia, about Pete."

"Me?" He nodded. "Why me?"

"Because she won't listen to him, and you know him best. She loves him, she always has, but she doesn't think that he loves her, and she thinks we're just trying to keep the team together. You're a neutral party."

"It does need sorting," she agreed. "Pete's had a face like a robber's dog since we got here."

"A what?" asked Marcus.

"He's been ugly because of his mood," she said. "You think she'd listen to me?"

"Worth a try," he said and she put down her cup of tea.

"What the hell?" and she wandered off to find the other woman as Terry walked by.

"You spoke to her?" she asked Marcus and he nodded. "I think Pete and David have sorted things out as well."

"We're almost back in business," he said, picking up the drink Sarah had just made. "Damn good cup of tea."

Sarah knocked on the door of Lydia's room and waited. There was no reply, but she could hear movement inside. No speaking, just movement and she focused her senses to see if she was alone in there. It seemed so she knocked again.

"Lydia, it's Sarah, do you have a moment?" she called out and after a moment Lydia opened the door.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Can I come in? I think we should have a chat."

"About him?" Sarah knew she meant Pete and nodded. Lydia sighed and stepped out of the way. "You'd better come in then."

"This wasn't my idea," she said as she came in. "Marcus and Theresa thought it'd be good for us to talk."

"So what do you have to say then?" Lydia asked, and Sarah glanced around the room. The bags in the place were packed and there were no obvious signs that this was anything more than a place to sleep until she was on her way.

"Have you any idea what he's going through?" she said. "From what I can tell, you're one of the few who've managed to see him as he is, behind the bravado, the swagger. Do you not get how much it's killing him inside?"

"What, being without me?" Lydia shook her head. "Don't tell me you've bought that as well."

"I don't buy any of his attitude for a moment," said Sarah. "I looked in to his eyes and I see all I need to see. You don't need enhanced senses to see the pain he carries with him every day, the way he has to keep himself going by doing everything he can."

"I know that Pete Wisdom," Lydia answered. "I know he doesn't love me though. I've seen him with Kitty, how he showed her something he never showed me."

Sarah sighed. "I swear to God, if I come face to face with her, I'm going to beat the crap out of her. She was seventeen when she met Wisdom, her hormonally charged body, combined with that tight latex costume… no bloody wonder he wanted to get her naked."

"You're saying she was a tease?"

"No, I'm saying she was a seventeen year old wanting to explore her sexuality and he was a relative stranger who fancied her rotten. Right place, right time. He loved her, I don't doubt that, but she never loved him, not really. What the hell do seventeen year olds know about love?"

"I'm no fan of hers, but she'd been though a lot," said Lydia.

"And yet she still had no idea of how to treat him. Do you know how many people he's said 'I love you' to in his life, ever?"

"No," said Lydia, uncertain she wanted to know.

"Two. You and her, and I've never seen him so broken as when he walked away from her."

"Not even on undercover missions?"

"Especially not then," she said, shaking her head. "It'd have made things so much easier at times, but he had to be a principled assassin." Lydia smiled in spite of herself. "You love him, I can see it."

"You got that from a smile?" There was slight embarrassment on her face, but Sarah shook her head.

"I got that from increased heartbeat, the way the hairs stood on end, the glazed look on your eyes and the shallowing of breath when I said 'you and her'. Enhanced senses are great."

"Not too obvious then," she said with relief.

"Look, I know you think he doesn't love you, and that he chose her over you, but you never gave him the chance. You walked away before he could talk to you, and it hurt him. He quit SHIELD because of you. Yes, there were other reasons, but you were the thing that kept him there. He could handle it all, knowing that the woman he loved was going to hold his hand when he needed it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lydia scoffed.

"Don't dismiss it so quickly," Sarah said. "I've known him a lot longer than you have. He's like my little brother in a lot of ways. I love him dearly, but there's times when he's just annoying and in need of a slap. It doesn't mean I don't keep an eye on him, and those he cares about."

"You're very alike," Lydia said after a moment.

"Go talk to him," Sarah said. "Sort it out once and for all, and then if you're going to leave, at least you'll do it on equal terms. After everything you've been through, you owe each other that much." Lydia looked at her, thinking over the words and then she left. "You're welcome," Sarah muttered.

"Drove downtown in the rain, nine thirty on a Tuesday night," Pete softly sang to himself as he looked out of the window, watching it rain. The lights were off and he was alone with his thoughts on life and a song in his head. "Just to check out the late night record shop." There was a knock at the door and he wondered who this could be, though his choice of people was quite narrow. He wandered to the door and opened it, then he took a step back. "Lydia."

"Hi," she said, standing there, he hands behind her back, so he couldn't see how she was wringing them in nervousness. "I think… Pete, we should talk."

"I think you're right," he said, and stepped out of the doorway. "Come in?" She took a few steps forward and entered the room as he turned the lights on. He sat down on his bed. "Please, sit." He gestured to the vacant chair that was pointing towards the window. She came in and sat down. "What… how can I help?"

"I think we need to talk about you and me," she said. Pete's first thought was to say 'what you and me?' but he just looked at her. "I'm sorry," she started. "I shouldn't have left like that, it was uncalled for, you didn't deserve that."

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said. "I'll admit it hurt, and I didn't get it at first but then I realised that maybe I'd been focusing too much on Kitty, and taking you for granted. I shouldn't have done that, babe. I'm sorry too."

"I don't dislike Kitty," said Lydia, "I just don't get what you see in her."

"Saw in her, Lyd. And despite what people think it's not because she was 17 and wore skin-tight latex. It was more about who she was than anything. She wasn't perfect, she knew it, but she did what needed to be done, without thought or fear for herself. She gave unconditionally. I never thought that she and I would end up together. I didn't think I was capable of love."

"Why?"

"I've killed. I've slaughtered. I've enjoyed it and I'm good at it. Hot knives can kill better than wound. I can beat the shit of people, get a confession out of almost anyone, but it all caught up with me and I fell apart, which is how I got transferred to Excalibur, and the rest is history. I loved my Mum, and my family, but I was a monster, and I've seen it come out time and again in the last year and a bit."

"And Kitty awoke it in you?"

"Yeah. I've slept with a lot of women in my time, but she was the first one it actually mattered about, but I was on a hiding to nothing in the end. She… out grew me. I wanted a relationship, she wanted to save the world. Different outlooks, different opinions. I think she loved me, at first, but she doesn't now. Hasn't for a long time and I thought I'd been punished for the things I'd done. I was still a monster, and the universe doesn't forget. Then I met you."

"Me?"

"You know this stuff, Lyd," he said uncomfortable.

"Tell me again." She looked at him. "Please."

"I thought you'd be a good shag, but a bit of an uppity princess, but we spent those weeks in hospital, we got to know each other and I found you were like her, a lot like her in your outlook, but more assured, more confident. I can't wear my mask twenty four seven and you saw me as I was, and I found I didn't want to wear the mask with you. I was falling for you, falling pretty hard."

"But Kitty came back."

"Yeah." He got up and crossed to his jacket and picked up a cigarette and lit it. "Kitty shouldn't have been part of X-Force. You know what made things worse between us than anything? I was aware of what was happening in my own little way, and deep, deep down inside untouched by any alien crystals or telepathic suggestions, I was screaming that this wasn't what I wanted. And then she got pregnant."

"You took her decision hard, that was when I figured how much you loved her," said Lydia. "You were so upset by the decision to have an abortion and after she miscarried, you were more than nice to her. It seemed such a radical change. It hurt, Pete. I felt rejected."

"I do know," he said. "Well, I realised after you left, anyway. I want a family, Lydia. I want to be a daddy, to wake up next to a mummy, knowing our child is sleeping at the foot of the bed, and she was just… throwing it all away. The thing I wanted most, above anything else, and she was getting rid of it."

Lydia could see there were tears forming in his eyes. "You never said."

"How could I? How could I say to you I want Kitty to keep our baby? I didn't want her, I wanted the kid." He closed his eyes. "I was… I was glad when she miscarried." He imagined her recoiling in horror at that, and he kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see that look on her face. "I told you I was a monster."

"So was I," Lydia whispered and he opened his eyes to look at her, and she was sat next to him. "I hoped it would bring you and me back to us. It drove us further apart."

"I tried to make it up to her," he said. "I overcompensated for the guilt and I drove you away. Then the stuff with Abyss, and Romany, and I needed you because you were the only one who knew me. You were the only one who'd listen to me, and you were gone."

"Do you love me?" Lydia asked.

"With all my heart," Wisdom said, putting his hand on hers. "I love you Lydia del Ruiz. I have to do this stuff for Nick, I wish I didn't, because then we'd could be free, we could go somewhere and start over again and forget Pete Wisdom and Lydia del Ruiz, and be new people. I know you don't want to stay, but I want you to. I don't want to do this without you, but I don't know what you want."

"You," she said, letting his fingers slip in to hers. "I just don't know if we'll work out, Pete. I do believe you, and I know you love me. I can't hide from that, but this life isn't made for relationships."

"How about we try anyway?" Pete suggested. "I love you, you love me and we're good together. Operationally speaking." She smiled, the first one he'd seen from her since they'd been reunited. "I just…" He trailed off. "I want to share the adventure with you, Lyd."

"Fighting Black Air? I'm not…" He put his finger on her lips and he silenced her.

"I mean life," he said. "I want to share my life with you."

Wait," she started. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

"As soon as we find a country we're not wanted in, Lydia…" He looked her in the eye and took her hands in his. "Will you marry me?"