call me betty

Letting the door shut out some of the noise behind him, Levi answered Betty’s smile with one of his own — a little thinner, but no less sincere. He crossed to join her, standing over the stool instead of opting to sit just yet, his hands resting on the bar as he gestured to the man behind it for a whiskey. “I’m doing okay,” Levi replied honestly; no quips, no sarcasm. His relationship with Betty had changed a great deal over the last handful of months, more than enough that he didn’t feel a need to throw up his usual barriers.

“Riley’s good. He needed a little extra time to recover after, uh.” Levi picked up his drink, gesturing vaguely with the glass before taking a sip and continuing. “Putting me back together, but. He’s good.” Levi had gone straight to Betty when it came to his debrief after the first of June, and what’d happened with Prism; something he would’ve normally taken to Daichi — but obviously, that was no longer an option with their trust and relationship fractured. “What about you, boss? How’re you holding up?”

The growth of their relationship from one of little respect to mentor and student still amazed Betty somedays. There was little that could stop Betty in the pursuit of her goals, but she still had her doubts in the beginning that there could be any type of development between her and the young man. It was nice to be proven wrong, sometimes. 

         upon opening the door, his hopes for relieving tension are dashed on the rocks. it’s betty. and betty, as far as he can recall, doesn’t do house calls. “hey, teach,” he starts, apprehensive. “wasn’t expecting to see you out here.” he doesn’t extend an invitation, but his step back away from the door holds the implication. with a sigh; “i’ll assume it’s important?”

LOCATION && WITH WHOM : : HIS CLINIC W / @infestabeth​

“Ha, you have a lot of nerve coming into here after the stunt you all pulled.” It was after hours and luckily, he didn’t have anyone inside both clients and employees. Well, outside of the two that were in the back resting. St. Julian and some girl, he didn’t know either of their names. “What do you want this time, Elizabeth?” 

he’s luckily avoided her thus far because of how much damage control she’s had to do since the first of june. that luck has run dry; betty stands at the door to his apartment after a short knock on the door. “ezra,” she calls out, arms crossed and fingers tapping impatiently as she waits. “it’s time we had a talk.” 

This was the longest month Betty had been through in quite some time. After what happened with the Brotherhood’s…Well, failure, morale was understandably down. Ezra somehow reached a new low, people were considering if the group was worth fighting for, and they were losing one of their top agents in a matter of weeks. The very same top agent who had been seeing an Omega, then saved another that very same day. It was only because the Omega was her daughter’s best friend that she wasn’t angry over that too. 

At the knock on her door, she glanced up to see the man himself walk in. “Daichi,” she greeted, her voice tired. “I believe I already know the truth, but I want to hear you say it. You were seeing that Omega, weren’t you?” 

The loss of many Brotherhood members in the fight against Xavier left a void for those who survived. Betty would not lie and say she was uneffected, as much as she must act like it as a leader for the group. When she had learned Elliott had died…Something lodged in her throat, and it was as the rug had been pulled out from under her. She trained him with the belief he would not face death for many years to come, strengthening him and preparing him for any danger he’d face. For all his backtalk, anger issues, and inability to take things seriously, she had grown a soft spot for him. And now, he was gone. 

She sat at one of the Brotherhood’s private bar areas, sipping her second scotch, when she heard a door open nearby. Glancing back, she turned fully as she saw who it was. “Levi,” she smiled, sincerely happy to see him. With the chaos of after the people, she had little time to meet with anyone one on one. But, she’d known Levi was alive, and that was a gift in itself for her. “How are you doing? How is Riley?” 

“What lies?! You and the rest of the Brotherhood are hurting innocent people!” Laurel retorts, her jaw setting into place. Her nose scrunches up, her lips frown. She didn’t want this woman’s pride. She wasn’t her teacher, never had been. “How does that make you the better option?!” It took more energy than it should have to keep her breathing under control, after that last burst of light. From what she understood, her ability– the light and heat– were in infinite supply. She could always produce more from within her. It was her body’s own stamina that was the issue. 

Unfortunately, Laurel knows that she can’t do that little trick more than a few times. A fact that her opponent has clearly guessed as she sends droves of black flies after her. With a gulp, she waits, just like with the moths, and when the bulk of the first wave descends upon her, she lights them up with her own sunlight. But she can’t hold it for long, and soon the buzzing, warping wall of black stops simply colliding with the shining wall of white light– and begins to consume it as her great beam of light shrinks, loosing it’s oomf. 

She lifts the collar of her suit to cover her mouth as the light fades back down to her normal glow, in an attempt to breathe without sucking in the flies as they drown out her vision. Smacking into her with their small bodies, their tiny, hairy legs and mouths making her skin crawl and itch, despite the layer of spandex between them. Laurel shakes her head violently, a poor attempt at shaking them off, suddenly grateful for the protective eyewear she’d donned earlier. But it’s too much, there’s too many of them buzzing around her, trying to snuff her out– She screams as she releases her glow again, too soon. She hadn’t given it enough time to build it back up to a reasonable strength– and that was obvious. 

“We have different definitions of innocent!” Betty can’t help but feel pity for Laurel, and that unwavering hope she has that mutants and non-mutants can live side by side. “Even if an individual human is innocent, as you like to say claim, they will still side with humans over mutants every time. Whatever compassion you think they have will not supersede their fear and hatred.” Even if Laurel, Cecily, and other mutants stay stubborn in their belief that Xavier is right, she will fight for a future where they can live openly and freely. If she must be the bad guy right now, so be it. 

She sees her theory is coming true once Laurel’s second burst of light dims quicker than the last one. It looks as if she’s winded from such intense use of her ability. “It’s suffocating, isn’t it?” She walks closer, taking one fly from the crowd and resting it on her fingertip. “They won’t bite you, or fill you with their venom like other insects. It’d be a kinder death if they did. No, they’ll simply snuff you out.”

“Okay, I’m gonna level with you, Betty… I think we’re having a miscommunication problem. Like, I’m telling you the truth and you’re interpreting it as lies.” April watched as spiders appeared, surrounding her and waiting for their orders from Betty. To be honest, they didn’t scare her very much — they just made her tummy rumble, and reminded her she’d skipped breakfast. “I brought it up because it’s all the Brotherhood have been talking about for weeks. Being the newbie makes a prime target for people to blame.” Staring at the spider sitting in Betty’s palm, April nodded. “Of course I want to live, I have things to do.” Unable to fight against her amphibian instinct, her tongue shot out, extending further than any normal person’s could to snatch up the arachnid from an open palm. “I don’t know Xavier,” she lied, chewing on her snack before swallowing. “We’ve never met.”

Eyes on Betty, Levi only saw what happened in his periphery — the flash of Ezra’s knife in the midmorning sun, subsequently buried in Finley’s stomach. Her cry of pain startled him, cutting through like ice, but Levi couldn’t afford to hesitate. “Shit,” he blurted out, immediately stripping off his gloves and shoving them deep into a jacket pocket, thick but pliable leather sleeves hastily pushed back to his elbows.

From there, he followed Betty’s lead. A swarm of rats scurried harmlessly around his feet only to lunge and snap at the nearest opponent who dared cross the divide, and Levi jumped in to meet them. The distraction of hundreds of little pairs of teeth and claws was more than enough to give Levi an opening to find and exploit a bare patch of skin, dropping their first target. The rats moved on to the next in one fluid wave.

“This part of the plan?” He had to raise his voice over the ensuing chaos to ask, even if he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Pride filled Betty’s chest at how quickly Levi readied himself, despite the abrupt start of the battle. She smiled as he took down one opponent, allowing her rats to find their next victim. To make sure people couldn’t run away as easily, she waved a mass of locust towards them to block their view. 

Of course, there was that one person who somehow made it through when the rest were trying to wave pests out of their eyes. Their hands moved up to use their powers in some fashion, and Betty grabbed one, yanking it behind their back with a loud crack. 

“Okay, I see your point, but! My thought process was that if I’m busy killing someone like the psychopath I truly am inside, someone else could get the jump on me while I’m focusing on that. If I just zip tie people and put them in a pile, I have more time to take out more people without risking getting knocked out.” April had a feeling she was going to be getting knocked out really soon anyway — within the next few minutes soon. Insects that could take down a frog? “Oh, what the fresh hell, Betty? I thought we were teammates. Are you the spy? Why are you trying to kill me with insects, hmm? Not very brotherly-hood of you, if I may say so.” The only way to possibly get out of this life threatening situation was to fake it until she hopefully made it. “No, but really, I’m not doing anything. What do I have to do to make you trust me?”

Unlike her experience with April, Laurel doesn’t quickly recognize this voice. What does jog her memory, however, are the flying bugs that pop into existence with one snap of the other’s fingers. 

“Betty?” The ravishing woman she’d met at the New Year’s gala. “You’re–”

But she doesn’t get to finish her question. Where once, she’d been dazzled when the woman produced one sweet, little butterfly– this time she’s sent a whole.. herd? Of moths? No, was it a flock? As unhelpful as this line of thought was, her mind stayed on it– searching through the tidbits she’d retained from various encyclopedias she’s read over the years. And as the looming, dark cloud of moths gathers closer, the buzzing of their wings beginning to drown out the rest of the chaos, her mind provides her the answer: an eclipse. Seems fitting, Laurel thought. Only, they wouldn’t be able to snuff out her light. 

Though her skin was practically crawling off of her at the thought of letting the bugs get closer to her, Solarbeam stood her ground. Betty wants the bugs to attack her? Swarm her? Fine. She’ll make sure they don’t miss. Her glow flickered, brightening then dimming– beckoning. Then as soon as the eclipse surrounds her, and with only minimal squealing of discomfort: she channels her aura in the same way her harness did, turning sunlight into a solarflare, capable of enough blistering radiation to cause real harm. Only instead of it being concentrated into a palm-sized beam, she channels that destructive power into her aura, turning her into a human bug-zapper.

“I am on the right side of this battle,” Betty finished for her. “You could be too if you let go of the lies your dear professor has told you.” 

But she wasn’t here to recruit. Laurel was an enemy who needed to be put down because she stood in the way of the Brotherhood’s future. She expected her bugs to snuff out her light, but found herself surprised at the young girl’s quick thinking. The world around them began to brighten so much Betty had to look away and cover her eyes with her arm to avoid being blinded permanently. Still, she stumbled slightly once she dimmed. Her moths lay dead on the ground, then disappeared into the air in ashes. 

Be patient. Levi nodded, almost imperceptibly, and let some of his tension work out with a faint roll of his shoulders. Patience was rarely his strong suit; recklessness typically won out. But he was learning. For Betty, he could be patient.

“I’m ready,” he assured without hesitation, eyes meeting hers unerringly for a moment before they flicked over his shoulder, back towards Riley, and then forward again to the self-righteous pricks in spandex. Levi repeated his orders.

“If negotiations go south, we just gotta keep ‘em busy. And I think I can help keep 'em very busy,” Levi murmured, gloved hands flexing carefully where they hung at his sides, itching for what he deemed an inevitable fight.

A different mentor would find Levi’s tie to Riley a burden that could weaken his resolve in a fight. But Betty saw it as the direct opposite; it would make him fight harder. As much as Xavier framed the Brotherhood as a cold and ruthless organization, there was love and care for each other between members. There had to be to survive. It was why they fought for a future where all mutants would thrive. 

June 1st, 1998; 46th Street || @infestabeth​

Laurel’s glow grew and intensified until, for two precious seconds, it was as bright as the sun. Then extinguished to almost nothing. A blink, she’d been calling it. She blinked thrice more before deciding to take her chance and kick her target’s weapons out of their hands. She missed, but the two masked mutants were already stumbling backwards anyway, having been standing too close to save themselves from being blinded by the blinks- a side effect that Laurel was thankfully immune to. One fell into a still standing trash can, wedging himself into it. The other fell back after Laurel landed a swift kick to their torso. 

She lifted her head and made eye contact with her next target: a woman who had apparently not been standing close enough to be affected by the rapid blinks moments earlier. Solarbeam took a deep breath, and then resumed the battle stance that Jackie had worked so hard in teaching her.

Betty finished kicking a man to the ground, who struggled against a swarm of goliath beetles pinning his arms and legs to the dirt. They multiplied enough to crawl up his arms and begin to suffocate him as she had instructed them to do. A flash of intense light and warmth nearby spun her around in time to watch two members taken down by a beaming woman with striking red hair. Laurel, her mind supplied, remembering her from the gala. It was a shame she hadn’t been persuaded in time to join them for this battle; maybe once she lost here she’ll have a change of heart. 

Levi was trying to keep his irritation under wraps, he honestly fucking was, but his impatience with the politics was getting harder to swallow back with each second that passed. He scoffed quietly in response to Elizabeth’s murmur, shaking his head and cutting his attention sidelong to his executive.

“I’m all for trusting the process, but we’re wasting our time. If Xavier threw a spy to the wolves to begin with…” He trailed off, voice low, the muscle in his jaw working as he laid eyes on Finley, in Ezra’s bruising grip. “There’s no way he’s going to trade ‘em for something like Cerebro.”

Betty hummed in thought at Levi’s expectations; she had been thinking the same thing. She knew personally Charles wouldn’t trade Cerebro for even the entire school of mutants, let alone just one. “We must be patient.” As long as Charles and the ones he brought with him were distracted, the team sent to Xavier’s would have more time to remain undetected.

LOCATION & WITH WHOM: 46TH ST W/ @infestabeth​

Elle opened another portal, she wanted the kid gripping her arm to go somewhere safe, but it’s not like she could send them home, wherever that was. The best she could do was somewhere public where the kid could find a proper adult. She spread her hands and through a purple haze times square was visible, crowded, but thankfully not in complete chaos. “Go find an adult with another kid and have them call the police ok honey?”  The kid nodded and stepped through the portal hesitantly. Elle felt terrible, but this wasn’t the place for a child and the police, while useless in most respects, were probably the only people who could track down whatever family the kid had that weren’t lying a pile of blood. As she tried to collect her thoughts Elle noticed bugs crawling by her feet, too many bugs, why the hell were the so many bugs. She spun around and saw Betty facing her. “Let’s do this,” she gritted her teeth.

Betty watched her send the child off in a portal she created, waiting until that matter was settled to send a wave of beetles in the direction of the young hero. They were harmless to people, and just a way for her to make an entrance. 

“Well, I’m just a really selfless person! I thought that I’d like… I’d let you do your thing without interrupting. You had that dude handled.” April had no desire what-so-ever to get involved in this war. Had she considered running all the way to Xavier’s to protect her friends? Yes, absolutely! But she didn’t want anyone from the Brotherhood to follow her there and cause even more trouble. So, instead, she’d watched her friend get stabbed by Ezra in front of a live audience. And now? Now she wanted to throw up and cry.

With a furrowed brow, she shook her head at Betty. “It’s not abandonment! I’m the Brotherhood’s wifey for lifey, you know? I just need to go grab some zip ties from the hardware store a block away… I can’t restrain people without zip ties, Betty! And if I can’t restrain them, I can’t save them all in one big pile to mass poison later. I figure if I excrete enough of my frog juice, I could kill them all in one go. I’m really big on efficiency.”

WHAT: right-hand death man! 

WHERE: 46th street.

Tension was already crackling in the air. Two groups of people in opposite sides, ready to go to war at any moment. The negotiations were going…poorly. That was an understatement. Betty attempted not to sigh as Charles, once again, pleaded with Magneto to see reason and let Finley go without anymore bloodshed.