Hours after everyone else fell asleep, or so he thought, Ky Thatcher, wearing his combat gear and black mask, lay on the couch inside the hostel room he shared with Eagle and Pietro, one that was breaking down just like all the others. Just as he did on the plane ride to Norway, Ky did not sleep. His eyes were wide open, glaring at Eagle as he sat on the wooden floor, his back against the wall just a few feet from the door. Next to him was a desert eagle pistol, a weapon fitting for him and for whatever he had planned.

He still wore the same tucked t-shirt and camouflaged, military pants, though he wore a cap on his head as he acted as if he were asleep, the visor of said hat blocking his wandering eyes. Just as Ky's trust in Eagle was as solid as a house made of hay, Eagle wouldn't trust Ky even if his life depended on it. The same goes for any of the other mutants.

Pietro, however, was sound asleep, not participating in the standoff between the other two.

In her room by herself, Xiao was busy being nosy, practically spying on Bobby and Tom, trying to make out what was happening between the two of them from their thoughts alone. The curious-by-nature girl was just as curious as ever, listening in as if she were tuning in to a romance story. Her powers were weaker the further she was from them, so the rooftop adventure could be compared to hearing static for her, however, once they were back on the first floor, she could hear all of their thoughts clearly, which she thought were cute.

Eventually, Eagle slowly turned his head toward the couch Ky was fake sleeping on, glaring at the young man as he sat with his arms crossed. Completely unmoving, Ky was successful in convincing Eagle that he was completely asleep. However, by that point, Ky was fed up.

"Wanna take a picture? I'm sure it'll last longer." Ky's voice reverberated inside the black mask that shielded his face, looking onward with eyes that would give Ky a fatigued appearance, though, at the same time, his eyes were filled with resolve.

Eagle exhaled, shaking his head before turning his head back toward the chipped wooden wall he'd been staring at all night. "You're one to talk. How long have your eyes been open under that thing?"

"Don't worry about it." With venom in his voice, Ky spoke, though Eagle was far from intimidated. In fact, he thought it was quite humorous hearing him speaking with such malice.

Eagle grabbed the handgun by his side and pointed it at Ky, if he were to pull the trigger, there'd be a wound right between Ky's eyes before he could blink; at least that would be the case if Ky were a normal man. "Don't tell me you're afraid that I'm gonna put one in between your eyes as you sleep." Eagle flicked his wrist, imitating the gun's recoil as if he shot the young man, though Ky didn't even blink.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Sarcastically, Ky spoke without moving an inch, his arms still crossed across his chest.

"Maybe. A dead mutant's a good mutant." Eagle placed the gun back in its holster on his hip before crossing his legs and his arms. "But... each of you is a free month off my sentence. Guess I'll have to wait."

"What are you even incarcerated for anyway?" Eagle's reasoning for being locked up had been bothering Ky for hours, so he put it simply and asked him.

"Killing a cop." Eagle wasn't ashamed at all of this fact, speaking with utmost pride with a slight grin on his face.

"Impressive." Ky smirked under his mask. 'Guess he serves at least some purpose to society.' he thought. For very obvious reasons, Ky Thatcher wasn't too fond of police. "So what happened? Even I wouldn't be dumb enough to get caught killing a cop."

Chuckling quietly, Eagle thought back on that very moment, the moment he took the officer's life. The details were far too extraneous to go over, though Eagle at least humored Ky with the basics. "It was a traffic stop. Was I a little drunk? Maybe." Eagle blew air from his nose humorously. "Maybe that's why I had the balls to body slam his ass into the concrete. I didn't mean to kill him... His neck snapped on impact. I thought since it was an accident and since I served ten years in the military, they'd give me a light sentence. It was a fucking stupid thought. I turned myself in and low and behold I'm serving fifty years.

But it wasn't long before Waller appeared before me with a deal like the devil he is. He told me he knew about what I had done when I served the country. He asked me if I wanted to serve our country once more, and in return, the US government would arrange that I am released within just a few years.

Obviously, I took the deal and now I'm in a shitty hostel babysitting a bunch of mutant teenagers. I guess it beats rotting away in a cell."

"Do you believe that?" Ky asked him.

"Believe what?" Eagle wasn't picking up what was being put down, so Ky simplified it for him.

"Do you really believe that Waller is going to let you walk? He gave us mutants a similar offer, but I think he's lying out of his ass." Hearing Ky's words, Eagle scoffed.

"Unlike you, I ain't a danger to society. He has no reason to not let me go." Like an aura, false confidence was resonating off of Eagle. Like a fool, he believed Waller's words to be truthful, though Ky was on the opposing side of the spectrum of truth and lies.

"You killed a cop. I assume you killed people during your time in the military as well, right? You've also seen what Waller has been doing behind the scenes, haven't you? You know, I've watched him blow the brains of one of you human soldiers of his. He killed him as if he were nothing as if he were an NPC in a video game, and snuffed the life out of him like he wasn't shit...

But you believe you're different, right? Because you're his number one little soldier?" Those unadorned, cold words from Ky infuriated Eagle.

"Don't you forget who's the one in control, boy! Watch how you speak to me." Eagle's fists were clenched as he glared at Ky with a death stare, speaking with a venomous voice of his own.

"All I'm saying is that you're a fool to trust Waller. He's a manipulator, a good one at that. You may think you're in control of me, but at the end of the day, Waller is holding all the cards. Don't forget, you have a bomb in your head just like I do. Like it or not, you and I are the same."

"Don't compare yourself to me." Eagle's tone was threatening, though Ky wouldn't be afraid in the slightest.

"The way I see it, you and I are more similar than we'd like.

A bad run-in with the police brought us to where we are today.

We were forced to become Waller's puppets.

We're on a mission, forced to work with the enemy of our people.

We're two untrusting fighters who want freedom more than anything.

We have common goals, yet you wanna be a sheep and believe all of that genoist nonsense that's been force-fed into your brain."

Eagle winced his face and rolled his eyes, laughing at Ky's words as he shook his head. "Now the freak thinks he's a know it all. Call me a genoist all you want, I don't care. Humans and mutants shouldn't co-exist. That's how things should be."

"Why? Why can't we? Can you give me a real answer? And please don't pull the violent card again. Last time I checked, our most gruesome wars were fought by humans. Your biggest war killed seventy-five million. Y'all let off a literal nuclear bomb in Japan! On civilians...

But I'm violent? I'm evil for wanting to go to school? That was my dream, Eagle. All I wanted was to go to school... But people like you took that away from me. My brother is gone... my whole family is gone because of people like you. Do I not deserve the right to education? Do I not deserve the right to have a family? Do I not deserve the right to live?" Ky's pained expression was hidden beneath the jet-black visor on his mask, though the pain in his voice was as clear as can be.

Eagle didn't know what to say. For the first time in his life, the beliefs he was taught in school and by his parents growing up, which were then reinforced in the military and by the media, were truly being challenged. Dehumanizing mutants was the most useful strategy during the many mutant genocides, along with painting them out to be the bad guys, the scapegoats.

"We're not the same." That was all Eagle could mutter, involuntarily swallowing his own tongue.

"You're right, we aren't the same." as if Ky's words were capable of muting Eagle, the soldier didn't speak for over five minutes, staring at the wall in front of him as he pondered Ky's words. Mutants were never given the opportunity to really voice their side of the conflict and how could they? They had no voice. Even if their voices weren't censored, none were willing to admit to being a mutant to try and defend themselves, they'd just be hunted down.

"What do you believe then? You sound like you want us all gone." Eagle saying this made Ky laugh under his mask.

"Now you're making it sound like you're a victim. All I believe is that humans and mutants should be able to coexist. Really, humans and mutants are the same shit, the same species. Just like how I'm Black and you're white but we're both still human... Though a piece of shit like you is probably racist anyway, so I guess that comparison doesn't change anything, does it?

Yeah, I'm a mutant and a freak, but before that...

I am human."

As those words left Ky's lips, the sound of multiple car doors slamming shut could be heard outside. Both Ky and Eagle looked at each other before Ky sprung off the couch and looked out the window. Outside, there were soldiers armed with lethal weapons made to kill both regular humans and mutants.

"Pietro! Wake everyone!" as if Ky's voice-activated Quicksilver like a machine, his eyes shot open. Seeing both Ky and Eagle reaching for their weapons, he sprinted over to the window to see the commotion for himself before flashing out of the room using his super speed. Xiao's room was his first destination, though as soon as he reached her door, it swung open and the two stood face to face. Xiao could hear the soldier's thoughts outside, so she knew they were out there and was prepared to warn the others. "Get to Ky and Eagle!" Quicksilver told her before blasting off toward the opposite side of the hall in almost an instant.

Without knocking, Pietro blasted Bobby and Tom's door off its hinges before shouting at the two boys, startling them both. "THERE'S A BUNCH OF..." Pietro paused, looking at the two boys sharing the same bed together, both shirtless under the blankets. "Uh... Woah..." All three boys' faces shared that same pinkish hue as Pietro shielded his eyes.

Before any questions could be asked, soldiers began rappelling onto the building with grapple hooks, telling all three of them all that they needed to know. Wanting to gear up as quickly as possible, Bobby and Tom sprung out of bed in a hurry.

Tom put on his shirt and coat, along with his special gloves and shoes that instantly molded themselves over his hands and feet. As Tom finished dressing and arming himself, Bobby shrouded his body in ice and the two made their way over toward Pietro.

As the three of them ran toward Eagel and Ky's room, Pietro wanted to make a few things clear, running using the speed of a normal human. "Uh...

Just so you know, I don't care that you guys...

You know...

I was just surprised."

Tom, checking to make sure his gun was loaded, spoke. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't bring this up to anyone else, yeah?"

"My lips are sealed!" Quicksilver pretended as if he zipped his mouth shut as they continued across the hall.

Eventually, all three of them were in the room with the rest of the team before Eagle began giving orders. "Spread out, there's too many of them for us to take head-on. Use the darkness to your advantage and take them out quietly. Got it?"

"Understood."

"Got it."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright."

"Okay."

All five of the mutants were in agreeance, following his orders and spreading out throughout the hostel, disappearing in the shadows. Though they were outnumbered, the six of them had been training for a moment like this, having not even an ounce of fear in their hearts as they prepared to fight.