A/N: Hola! I hope everyone had a good week. The first installment of my X-Men series is almost over... Each installment comes in five parts, in case you were wondering. So, that means X2 will be up soon. Happy fanfic-ing!

Chapter 4

Bane's eyes flickered open, and she breathed in deeply. The ceiling slowly came into focus above her. "I've… been here before…" she muttered, blinking. That was the mansion's ceiling. She sat up, and put a hand to her forehead. At least she was still dressed this time.

That man… Magneto… Her head suddenly shot up. She was in the mansion. They didn't want Logan.

"He's got Rogue," Bane realized.

She climbed down from the table as quick as she could, but stopped, gazing down. The table that was next to hers was occupied. She slowly stepped up to the bed. The man on it appeared to be very ill; he seemed to be sweating profusely, and every vein in his body was blue and popping out of his skin.

Bane gasped. She recognized this man from the short time she had been in the States. He was a lead supporter of the Mutant Registration Act. "S-Senator Kelly?" she whispered. He gasped loudly, struggling for air.

"Is somebody there?" he asked hoarsely.

"I am…" Bane said, looking down at his face. His hand suddenly latched onto her wrist. She jumped.

"Please… don't leave me," the senator said. She swallowed hard, and pulled her hand out of his grasp slightly so she was holding his. "Don't… want to be alone," he panted.

"Of course," she said softly.

"Do you… HATE normal people?" he suddenly asked.

"I… I don't think so," she said, brows furrowed.

"Why?"

She contemplated her answer. "I guess… I am afraid of what they will do, or of what I will do to them. They are the majority, and that is what I fear," she finally replied.

"Well," Senator Kelly started, "I think… you've got a smaller… majority to be afraid of."

She shook her head. "No, don't say that," she said. His arm fell back to the table, limp.

Bane suddenly remembered healing John; perhaps she could save the senator that way. It was worth a try.

She placed her hands on either side of the senator's sopping wet face, and focused, closing her eyes and scrunching her forehead. That cool sensation came back into her hands.

Senator Kelly started to make a noise, and, eager to see if her healing had worked, Bane opened her eyes. She realized the noises were choking and gurgling sounds coming from his throat. He started to swell up, and became larger and larger.

"No!" she gasped, stepping back. She bumped into the table behind her. Senator Kelly's skin faded until he was translucent, and his body rolled like waves in the ocean. All distinguishing features disappeared.

Then, just as suddenly as it had all began, the water and fluid spilled over the table and onto the floor with a splash. Bane crouched down, screaming and crying, and covered her head with her hands. She faintly heard the infirmary doors slide open.

"Bane!" Storm called, heeled boots coming to a stop. Bane tried to scramble up, but slipped in the liquid, falling backwards into what used to be Senator Kelly. She started panicking. Storm came around the head of Senator Kelly's table.

"Oh, Bane," Storm said, kneeling down in front of her. Bane was breathing heavily, glancing rapidly in all directions.

"It was an accident!" she breathed frantically. "I-I was only trying to help! I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I swear!" Storm reached toward her, and hushed her in a motherly tone, hugging her.

"Of course you didn't, baby. He was going to die anyway, before you were even involved. He was a sick man, Bane," she soothed.

After Bane stopped crying, Storm pulled her to her feet. "Let's get you into some dry clothes." Her arm draped over her shoulders, Storm led Bane to a circular center where several hallways met. There were several tall glass cases that had headless mannequins in black leather uniforms displayed in them.

"What are those?" Bane asked, gesturing.

"X-Men uniforms," Storm answered.

"X-Men?"

"You'll see."

Storm opened a thin closet and pulled out a few articles of clothing. Bane changed quickly when she turned her back. "They've got Rogue," she told Storm as she zipped up a thin black sweatshirt with a large silver and grey X sewn over the left breast.

"I know," she said. "Hurry." Dressed, Bane followed Storm upstairs and into the professor's study. Storm threw the door open.

"Senator Kelly is dead," she announced.

"I'm going to find Rogue," Professor Xavier said, glancing at Bane huddled behind Storm. He then turned to Logan and Scott with a stern, fierce expression. The two men were glaring at each other; judging by the tense atmosphere in the room, they had clearly been arguing about just that. "Settle this."

As the professor wheeled out of the room, Bane slipped away to follow him. When he stopped at the elevator, she shyly stepped up to his side. "May I come with you, Professor?" she asked quietly. With a ding, the doors slid open. He nodded curtly.

"Yes. Come along." She stood in the elevator beside him as they went down.

"Magneto didn't say anything about where he was going," she said. The professor nodded.

"I didn't think so," he said. "However, I have a pretty good idea where to begin my search." The elevator doors opened again, and Bane followed Professor Xavier down a series of lower level hallways until he stopped a few feet from a circular silver door. A thin blue light came from the center of the door, and then with a metallic clang, they started to open.

"Welcome, Professor," a cool, metallic female voice said.

"Do you want me to stay out here?" Bane asked.

"No; I would like you to see Cerebro. Logan's explanation didn't do it near enough justice," he said with a slight smile.

She followed him into a spherical room walled with square silver panels. Down a long walkway into the center of the room there was a desk-like machine. A helmet with two wires connected to each side rested on top.

The professor set the helmet over his head. "Don't move, Bane," he said.

She stopped a few feet behind his wheelchair obediently, and then the professor sat for a minute. To her eyes, nothing was happening, but maybe only the professor was able to see whatever the machine could do. However, when he started to reach up frantically as if to pull the helmet off, something seemed amiss. The helmet clattered to the walkway, and Xavier slumped forward, his wheelchair starting to roll back. Cerebro's lights started to flash on and off as Bane's head snapped back and forth as she tried to see everything at once.

"Professor!" Bane gasped, watching in horror as he collapsed onto the floor, fallen from his chair. She ran to him and kneeled down at his head. She leaned forward, and listened for breathing. She was startled to find his eyes were open.

"Help!" she yelled, craning her neck around to look out of Cerebro's now open doors. "Help! Anybody!!"

No response. Of course no one was going to hear her all the way down here. Bane carefully lifted the professor's head onto her lap, not wanting to leave him.

Jean.

Telepathy was something Bane could do. Bane could do anything. Closing her eyes, she tried to locate Jean in the mansion. Bane sensed she was still in the professor's study. Logan, Storm, and Scott were there as well.

Dr. Grey! she thought, entering her mind. She could sense the other woman wince.

Not so loud, Bane, Jean thought in return.

It's the professor, Dr. Grey! We're down in the Cerebro room… Something went wrong, I don't know what… He needs help! she thought.

We're coming, she replied in Bane's head after a moment.

Scott and Logan had laid the professor out on a metal infirmary slab, with over a dozen wires stuck to his head. Bane sat in the corner of the room, silent.

"I'm sorry," Logan said aloud, turning away and leaving the room. Bane turned her head slightly to watch him go.

An hour later, she wasn't able to stand sitting in that room anymore. She stood up and left, resting her hand on Scott's arm for a few seconds before walking through the doors.

It was late; all of the students, except Bane, had gone up to their rooms for curfew. She sat on one of the small leather sofas in one of the living rooms, not even remotely close to tired. Logan and Storm were in one of the other rooms, arguing again about sides and a war. She could hear them talking dimly. Then she heard the slight ding of the elevator. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Scott helping Jean out of the elevator. She looked very weak; something must have happened. Bane quietly stood, and crept out into the hall, peering around the corner. The two went into a room just down the hall.

Bane became curious. She tiptoed down the hall. The door to the room Scott, Jean, Logan, and Storm were all in was closed. Bane extended her arm, and moved her pointed index finger in a tiny circle. The doorknob twisted, and opened inward a few inches. Bane put her back against the wall in case someone noticed. After a few moments, no one seemed to, and she silently stood at the cracked door, listening and looking inside.

The four adults were positioned around a table that was moving with Scott's voice. "Magneto is here; Liberty Island," Scott said. "Now, presumably, his objective is to mutate the world leaders at the U.N. Summit on Ellis Island." The map changed again to show both Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

"He doesn't know his machine kills," Storm said, her voice calm and serene. Senator Kelly flashed through Bane's mind, and she shivered slightly. What machine? "And judging from what the professor saw," she continued, "if Magneto gave Rogue enough power-"

"He could wipe out everyone in New York City," Jean finished. Apparently the professor had read Senator Kelly's mind. The grey map showed a wave starting at the Statue of Liberty and washing over Ellis Island and all of New York City.

"Alright," Scott said. "We can insert here, at the George Washington Bridge, and come around the bank just off of Manhattan. We'll land on the far side of Liberty Island here." The map changed to illustrate all of what he was saying.

"What about harbor patrol? Radar?" Logan asked.

"If they have anything that can pick up our jet, they deserve to catch us," Scott said. Logan looked as if he seriously doubted that. Logan didn't ever believe what Scott said, though.

Taking a deep breath, Bane pushed the door open all the way, and stepped into the room. Everyone's heads turned sharply to look at her. She rubbed her fingers together. "Please," she said. "I want to come with you to save Rogue. I don't… I don't really know what's going on, but I want to help."

Scott shook his head as she spoke. "Absolutely not. That's completely out of the question." No one else said anything. Her eyes started to burn, but Bane refused to cry. She had cried too much during the entire time she had been at the mansion. She refused to cry anymore.

She swallowed hard. "Please," she whispered. It was silent again, and then Storm turned to Scott.

"Let her go. I'll keep an eye on her. I think her powers could really help us," she said. Scott shook his head again.

"You're not going to be able to watch her while we're fighting Magneto," he persisted.

"She'll be my responsibility," Logan suddenly said, looking up from the table. Scott turned and tilted his head slightly to look unbelievingly at him.

"Are you sure, Logan?" Jean asked. Logan nodded, arching his eyebrow.

"It won't be a problem. I can handle myself, and I can watch her." There was a hesitant moment, when everyone turned to wait for Scott's answer. Finally, he sighed and threw his hands up in the air in reluctant assent. Bane ran to Logan, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Minutes later, Bane found herself seated behind Jean in the X-Men's jet.

"You actually go outside in these things?" Logan asked, fidgeting in his new black uniform, identical to the ones she had seen in the display cases earlier. Bane still wore the clothes she had received from Storm.

"Well, what would you prefer, yellow spandex?" Scott asked sarcastically. A little laugh escaped from Bane's lips. Logan turned to look at her, eyebrow arched. She shrugged.

Storm was working the controls. There was a slight thudding noise, and a shake.

"How are we getting out of here?" Bane asked. Jean looked over the back of her seat, and nodded her head upwards. Bane leaned toward the window, looking up past the top of the jet. What she had thought to be the ceiling split in two and started retracting in opposite directions. She felt thrusters sputter to life on the bottom of the jet, and they began to lift the jet up out of the large lower level room. Her stomach jumped, but she swallowed hard and ignored it. The jet hovered in midair for a moment as Scott set its course, and then started off, steadily growing in speed.

Once the jet got going, the Statue of Liberty came into view quickly. "Wow," Bane breathed, leaning toward the window again. Storm turned to look at her.

"Haven't you ever seen her before, Bane?" she asked.

Bane shook her head. "I've never even been close."

Storm turned back around as Scott spoke.

"There's the bridge," he said. "I'm taking her down." The plane dived through the air, raising water in its wake as it flew under the Washington Bridge. "Storm? Some cover, please," he asked. Bane only needed to see the fog rising from nowhere outside to know Storm's eyes had filmed over milky white. Scott pushed a few buttons at the top of the plane, and a red line dropped down across the windshield that made everything visible in a red sheen.

The plane's pace slowed to a near stop, and then made a slightly rough landing in the water. Bane slid around in her seat a little. She undid her seatbelt as Scott turned off the engine.

"Sorry," Scott apologized.

"You call that a landing?" Logan asked. Bane laughed slightly, standing. She walked down the back of the plane, and Jean dropped the exit ramp. Bane stepped out of the jet, and Logan stepped up onto the base of the Statue of Liberty in front of her. He turned, and pulled her up.

Once off the place, the five stopped to observe the statue. "The torch," Scott said, stating the obvious. The bottom of it was a different color green than the rest of the statue.

"Is that where Magneto's machine is?" Bane asked. Storm nodded.

"His machine is built to turn normal humans into mutants. It takes so much power, if Magneto were to do it himself, he would die. That's why he needs-"

"Rogue," Bane whispered. Logan looked down at her.

"Let's go," Scott said.

The doors to the statue building had been locked, but Bane easily used her powers to open the lock from the outside and push open the doors while simultaneously disabling the silent alarm.

"You're getting better," Storm said. She shrugged.

"That was easy," she replied. "If I ever need to be a thief, though, I'm good."

Proceeding with caution and near silence, the group proceeded through the foyer of the gift shop, Bane safely sandwiched between the four X-Men.

Realizing something, Bane whipped around to try and stop Logan from walking through the metal detectors, but they had already gone off, loudly and shrilly. Reacting quickly, Logan's claws extended, and he jammed them into the flashing red alarms on the left side of the detector. The alarm died with a bright shower of sparks.

Bane lowered the arms she had thrown up in front of her face, grinning slightly. She glanced over her shoulder at Scott's withering glare. Logan retracted his two outer claws, giving Scott the adamantium bird. She grinned wider. Scott smirked, laughing silently, and Jean shook her head in a slight, disbelieving way.

For the next few minutes, the five of them spread out a little across the entire first floor. Bane wasn't entirely sure what they were looking for, and stopped to look at several displays, dropping her guard slightly. A glass-covered case in the middle of the floor caught her attention, and she started walking toward it. As she moved to pass Logan, however, he put his arm out to stop her.

"What?" she asked. He sniffed the air, and Scott joined the two of them.

"There's someone here," Logan said lowly.

"Where?" Scott asked immediately, looking around fervently.

"I don't know. Keep your eye open," Logan replied, starting forward. Even at times like these, he could still make sarcastic comments.

"Logan!" Scott hissed, trying to keep him from leaving the main floor. Logan ignored him, turning a corner ahead. "Damn it…" Scott cursed. Bane rubbed her arms.

"You know, now that he said it, I am getting that creepy 'being watched' vibe," she said quietly. Jean rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

Logan came back a few seconds later. "Anything?" Scott asked.

"I know there's someone here, I just can't see 'em," he growled. Scott turned away, looking around. Bane glanced over her shoulder at Jean and Storm, and then looked forward again in time to see Logan extend his claws.

"LOGAN!!" she screamed, eyes widening in horror. Scott whipped around, and then someone leaped from the side, crashing into Logan. Bane froze, staring.

"Logan?"

The two Wolverines fell to the side and rolled, fighting each other. Bane, Scott, Jean, and Storm ran after them. Scott put a hand to his eye gear to shoot. Both men put their hands out to stop him. "WAIT!"

Bane pointed to the one closest to her. "That one!"

Scott turned, but the fake Logan cut the weight holding the steel door open, and it slammed closed.

"Alright, back up, back up!" Scott ordered, pushing the three women back. He raised a hand to the side of his head again, but everyone was distracted by someone Bane recognized. The mutant who had attacked her back in Seattle, the one she guessed was obviously Toad, flew through the air, slamming his feet onto Scott's chest and sending him sailing backwards into an open doorway. Then he kicked his legs out, connecting with both Storm and Jean. They each fell to the side and Toad landed, facing Bane.

"We meet again," he said with a malicious grin. He turned to one side and stuck his tongue out to pull a door closed, hiding Scott behind it. He turned back to Bane. "Now, then," he said.

She bent her knees, preparing to fight. Toad shot his tongue out at her, but she leapt into the air and levitated herself, avoiding him. He shot at her again and again, and she swooped left and right, trying hard not to fall out of the air.

Bane looked around, trying to figure out how to attack Toad. She noticed a large Statue of Liberty model in the corner of the room. Focusing on it, she tipped the heavy model over. It fell on Toad, and broke into pieces. He groaned loudly, but didn't move.

Bane landed gently on the ground and put a hand to her pounding heart. She took deep, calming breaths, amazed she could think on her feet that quickly.

Jean was up and at the door that was blocking Scott from the main room, trying to pull it open. Storm got to her feet, nodding at Bane. "That was good, Bane," she said. Bane smiled weakly.

Toad's tongue suddenly shot down from the upper level, and wrapped around Storm's wrist, yanking her upwards. She gave a strangled shout.

"Storm!" Bane yelled after her, hearing her crash into something above. She hadn't even noticed Toad move from under the statue. She mentally berated herself. He leaped over the rail, and lashed out with his tongue on the way down, catching Bane off guard and knocking her into a square pillar as he landed. She hit her head hard, and had to lie on the floor, dazed, for several moments before she could stand. She vaguely heard her name being called above her. Everything in front of her was sideways, spinning, and double.

Hand to the back of her head, she stumbled a few steps forward, and then regained her balance. Her vision swam for a few seconds more, and then she was able to focus in on Scott kneeling beside Jean, who had a hard, green, plaster-like substance covering two-thirds of her face.

Toad must be on the second level again, she thought.

Shakily, she tried to levitate herself again. She floated up to the second level, and saw Toad knock Storm into the empty elevator shaft. A scowl twisting her features, Bane strode stormily up to him. She tapped his shoulder with two fingers.

"Hey!" she said loudly. Toad turned, and she gave him the hardest right hook she could muster. He fell to the ground moaning. She added in a kick for good measure. Bane then turned, and ran for the railing, leaning over it. "Are you guys alright?" she asked, looking down at Scott and Jean. Jean's face was now clear of any blockage.

"Yeah, we're fine," Scott said.

"BANE!" Jean yelled, pointing. She turned around just in time to see Toad's feet push her over the rail, and then she was falling to the floor below.

Jean dived forward, arm outstretched, and she stopped Bane a few feet before she hit the ground. Jean let her land on her feet, but as soon as she touched floor, Bane dropped to her knees.

"Thank you," she breathed, palms against the tile.

"What about Storm?" Scott asked, hand on Jean's back.

There was a tiny ding from the second floor. The three of them turned to look up. There were bright flashes of lightning from above, and a strong wind began to blow.

"I think that answers our question," Bane said.

"Don't you people ever die?!" she heard Toad shout from above.

"Yeah," Scott replied. "That just about sums it up." He helped Bane to her feet, and she stood, shorter, next to Jean and Scott.

"Is Logan back yet?" she asked. Jean shook her head.

"Not yet," she answered over the din from upstairs. Bane nodded curtly, and turned slightly away from them. She closed her eyes, and tuned out Storm's noise. Focusing hard enough on Logan, she was pretty sure she could find him.

"Wait here," Bane told them, turning and jogging in the direction she had sensed him in.

"Bane, wait!"

Bane weaved in and out of displays and square pillars. "Logan…" she whispered in a singsong voice. "Logan? Logan!"

"Bane, is that you?"

She turned around. "Storm!" she smiled. "You're not hurt, are you?"

She shook her head. "No. And you?"

Bane smiled wider. "I'm fine."

Storm looked around. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was looking for Logan. I thought I sensed him here, but I guess I locked onto you instead," Bane replied.

"I came down here to look for Logan, too, but he's not here," Storm said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. We have to regroup."

Bane looked at her. Something about her was wrong. She looked down at Storm's hand on her shoulder. It was bruised, and looked broken. Realization shot through her, and she quickly pulled away.

"You're not Storm," she said. She smiled, and held up the injured hand, looking at it.

"You're right," she said, a touch of darkness to her voice.

Bane drew a shaky breath. "John…" she whispered.

"There's a problem," a voice said from behind the imposter. Someone grabbed her shoulder, and pulled her back into their chest. Bane looked up.

"Logan!"

Claws extended, he thrust them into the stomach of whatever was pretending to be Storm. "You're not part of the group."

Bane gasped as he wrenched his claws from her body. Every aspect of her began changing; her hair, her skin, her clothes, her body. She finally collapsed on the floor in a blue-skinned, red-haired form, three inch-long puncture wounds in her abdomen. Bane recognized the blue woman from the alley in Seattle. She must be a shafeshifter, the mutant Xavier had called Mystique.

"Come on, Bane," Logan said, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder and steering her away from the woman's body. She looked up at his face; he didn't call her by her name a lot. "Let's go get Rogue."

I hope you enjoyed Chapter Four. Please review!