Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, Wolverine and the Xmen, X-Men: Evolution or any of the many movie/comic adaptations. Thanks and Enjoy! ;D

Chapter 4: Revelations

I watch the rest of the new X-Men disappear as the wall rights itself once more; locking them out, and sealing me in.

"I suppose I owe you a debt," Magneto says behind me, an unmistakably sarcastic tone in his voice. I bristle, wanting nothing more than to blast the guy through the wall.

"Don't do me any favors." I respond dismissively, turning to face him to see that he's removed his helmet. It's somewhat disarming; his features look more chiseled, refined and his white hair is nicely cropped and somewhat messy, giving it a light, boyish quality. I blink and continue, keeping my tone stern and focused, "I just want to know the truth."

"As do I," Erik says, his cocky smirk fading as he starts to move a little too close for my comfort. "I find your predicament to be very interesting. I'd like very much to know how you managed to remain so…" I recoil as his hand reaches for me. "Young during your absence."

"Take a few steps back," I snap, swatting his hand away. "Or neither of us will get the answers we're looking for." I warn and he perks an eye brow in amusement. Then he shakes his head and reaches out unexpectedly, his hand clamping around my throat, "You're in no position to make demands, my dear." He says, managing to keep his cool tone as his hand tightens and I reach my own hands up attempting to pry it away. I can't believe he's so strong.

What is he, fifty by now?

I weigh my options. I know if I attack, I'll never get the answers I'm looking for (and I'll probably get my ass handed to me while I'm at it). But maybe if I play to his ego, he'll sing just the right tune, "Please," I whisper somewhat painfully in what I hope sounds like desperation. "I-I just have to know—"

His eyes narrow in amusement (I don't think he fell for it), but releases his hold on me and I gasp accordingly, playing it up a bit as he turns his back to me. I glare daggers into the back of his head. He really thinks he's got me in a corner.

Maybe he does.

"First you will answer one of my questions, and then perhaps I'll answer one of yours." He says, glancing at me over his shoulder and I nod once, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. He turns to me, touching his fingers to his desk as he leans forward, "Where is your physical form?"

"I don't know." I answer evenly, then counter quickly with my own question. "Where is Mystique?"

He tilts his head knowingly, "Discovered your past loves' dirty little secret, I see."

"Just answer the question," I say quietly, tremulously, fighting to keep from screaming at him.

He takes his time answering me, touching a pamphlet on the desk and realigning it to match up with a book beside it, "Mystique is currently the head principal at Bayville High School. The same one your young friends currently attend, if I am not mistaken."

Mystique? Working at a High School?

"What is she—?" I start to ask quickly, a number of questions burning on my mind. "Ah ah," Erik cuts in before I can get the question out, wagging his finger back and forth tauntingly. "My turn."

I narrow my eyes, but remain silent until he asks, "Why are you still alive?"

My answer is immediate, "I—don't know."

"Oh, come now, Elizabeth." I shudder when he says my name. "That can't be it. I've given you honest answers so far, haven't I?"

I think a moment then say, "It has something to do with my astral body being apart from my physical form. It has to. It must have kept me alive in a comma or something. Maybe I only woke up because my astral body…finished healing."

I stop and think about this a moment. That would make sense…"But then…someone had to be taking care of my physical body. There's no way I could make it for seventeen years on my own. I almost suffocated the first time I fell asleep apart from my body."

"I remember." Magneto consents, moving away from the desk, bearing a look of deep thought similar to my own.

"But who…?" I look up and realize I was about to waste my next question and glare at Magneto, who stands idly by, watching me expectantly.

"Right, my turn," I murmur, thinking hard. "Mystique is Kurts' mother. And Azazel…" I feel myself blush, my face heating unbearably and I turn away, embarrassed, before asking, "Where is he?"

"That I cannot answer," Erik says vaguely but upon my penetrating glare he says, "I never saw Azazel after your funeral. I knew of Mystique's betrayal long ago," He continues, his fists clenching at his sides but his face betrays little emotion. "But I never sought him out. I couldn't even if I wanted to. He's quite adept at wiping his trail."

I bite my lip and look away, trying to make the connections that I'm just not seeing here, and jump when I find Magneto has drifted closer to me, "What do you want to know?" I ask softly, all the questions that had plagued me on the way over escaping me.

"Only this," Magneto says, tilting my chin up with the crook of his finger and I'm startled by the intense way he gazes into my eyes as he says, "When you go to reclaim what is yours, I ask only that I be there with you."

"Why—?"

"And in exchange…" He interrupts, holding up a piece of paper: a ticket, "I understand you've lost more than seventeen years of your life. You've lost a home. A family. Half of a life you can never get back. Take this." He says, pushing it closer to me and I grasp it. But he doesn't let go. "And know that you are more than welcome here."

Live here? In Genosha?

I blink rapidly a few times, pushing away the thought of actually living here amongst my "own kind" as I come to my senses. I snatch the ticket from his hand, "You'd better start singing another tune, Erik." I whisper leaning in threateningly. My face is inches from his own and I bare my teeth as he smirks smugly in my face. "I've heard that one before."

I turn away toward the wall, ready to leave, then remember that it's still my turn to ask a question. So, I ask something that had been on my mind the entire trip over. "Did you ever care about us?"

He doesn't answer and instead just scrutinizes me, his mouth set in a thin line. Then, after a moment of tense silence, he waves his hand and the wall comes apart.

There's my answer.

The others look as if they were just about to bust through the wall and the Professor sighs with relief. Any moment later and it would have been utter chaos.

I walk through and Rogue is the first one on me, asking, "Are you alright?"

I look at her, then back at Erik who shakes hands with the Professor a ways off as though they were just two friends playing a peaceful game of chess, and I look back at her and respond with the first thing that pops into my head, "Peachy."

We head back to

the Blackbird, but just as I begin to climb up the ramp and a gloved hand grips my wrist and halts me, much to Wolverines displeasure, who had been waiting for the rest of us to climb in at the entrance of the ramp. Erik ignores him, still gripping my wrist, his eyes boring earnestly into mine, "Yes, I did." Is all he says before slipping something into my other hand.

Then he lets me go and steps off the ramp. I stare after him a moment before

Logan grabs my forearm and pulls me onto the Jet. I stare down out the window at Magneto, expressionless, until the Bird finally takes off and he's lost from my view.

Leaving me once again to wonder what's truth, and what is a lie.

"What's that?" Kitty asks as we start heading back for the Mansion. Before I can answer, a puff of smoke obscures my vision and I look over my shoulder to see Kurt clinging to the back of my seat. He reaches across me and snatches the pamphlet that Magneto had slipped me moments ago from my hand.

"A poster?" He says curiously, turning the pamphlet this way and that. "Oh, and there's a ticket inside!"

"Gimme that," Logan growls, snatching it from Kurts' hand. "What does this mean?" He asks, turning the Genosha pamphlet towards me. A list of numbers seems to have been scribbled hastily onto it, but I can't make sense of them. It doesn't seem to be a phone number or an address. Maybe it's code for something.

I shake my head, "I don't—I'm not sure."

"There doesn't seem to be a pattern," The Professor says. "3274743292." He repeats the numbers over and over. "Perhaps if I were to type it into Cerebro something might come up."

I stare down at the paper, which was passed back to me once it had circulated around the room. It looks like a pretty good piece of propaganda. With Magneto on the cover, gesturing to the glorious nation across the water, looking down right welcoming. And then that list…If Magneto took the time to scribble it down it must be important.

The pamphlet is pretty thick, with descriptions of all the activities and perks of living in Genosha inside each folded corner. It actually looks pretty nice.

"What did you guys do in there, anyway?" Kitty asks when she couldn't contain herself any longer. I blink, the question taking me by surprise, as Jean scolds her with a look, but everyone else looks at me, waiting for my answer.

"I…We—" I glance at the Professor a little too quickly. "I just had some questions. I've been away for a while. I just wanted to get an idea of what I'm dealing with." I add, breathing a sigh, relieved I managed to put that sentence together.

The last thing I need is for everyone to get involved in my little melodrama.

Luckily, the others leave me alone the rest of the trip, throwing around their own ideas about Genosha and what Magneto could be up to.

Some said the mini nation was incredible. Kurt especially liked the idea of being able to walk freely among other Mutants in the day. Others, like Scott, remained convinced that something wasn't quite up to snuff with the floating isle. The Professor maintains that there is more to this whole partnership than either Erik or Kelly is letting on. On that, most of us agree. Hank—the pacifist he's become—seems to want to give both men the benefit of the doubt.

We get to the mansion and most of the teens head off to change out of their X-Men uniforms as it's pretty late by the time we get back. I follow suit and allow myself to be lead to my (temporary) room, by Logan. We walk in silence but something seems to be bothering him.

Too mentally exhausted to ask him, however, I remain silent up until we get to my room, "Thanks, Logan," Is all I say and I step into my room and attempt to close the door. But (as I expected) he throws and arm out, pushing the door open as he says, "I've gotta ask you somethin'."

I cringe, "Logan, I'm really not in the mood for anymore questions—"

"Were you and Magneto involved?"

The question comes so unexpectedly that I open and close my mouth several times before exclaiming, "Invo—No! Logan," I lower my voice considerably as I pull him inside and close the door behind us. "You know I was with—with Kurts' father." I manage to spit out, figuring the more I get used to saying it the less it'll hurt in the long run.

"Yeah, well you and Magneto seemed pretty cozy with each other to me." He says crossing his arms and I stare at him, my head inclined forward in disbelief.

"We weren't—that doesn't even make sense!" I cry at last, flustered. Erik and I never had a thing. That was for sure. We hardly even spoke to each other after I joined his crew except when he was stabbing my back-figuratively. What makes Logan think we were…together? My head feels heavy and I press my fingers to my temples in frustration as I say, "And we're not cozy or involved. Now if you don't mind I could use some down time."

"You have no idea, do you?" Logan says, his voice sounding oddly far away and I blink a few times as a glowing light blurs my vision. "No idea about what, Logan?" I ask absently, closing my eyes and rubbing them profusely, trying to get rid of the blurriness that has invaded my senses, but when I open my eyes the glow is still there. Odd...

"…He hardly left this room after you were gone—" I hear Logan saying distantly, but his voice fades in and out. I blink once more, trying to hear him but it feels as though there's cotton wedged in my eardrum.

This room? Is all I can register as the glow intensifies and spreads throughout the room. It's so bright. Azazel stayed in this room?

Then something else catches my eye; a rapid movement to my right and I whip around, my breath catching when I spot what looks like a shadow made of ultraviolet light (like the kind I can generate from my eyes) standing in the corner of my room near my bed.

"What's wrong?" I hear Logan say , his voice echoing in my head and I shake my head rapidly. What am I seeing?

Wait…"It's just like…when I woke up." I say numbly, but my voice too echoes; only it's not as distant as Logans' sounds to me.

What is going on here?

"What is? What are you seeing?" Logan asks, placing a hand on my shoulder but I move away and toward the figure as it becomes clearer. A memory. It must be...I can just make out its features. "Azazel…" I whisper, reaching out to the figure but I withdraw quickly when he suddenly turns his silhouetted head toward me.

And looks right through me.

I follow his gaze, again ignoring Logan's questions and see that another glowing individual has entered the room, silent as a ghost. "Professor," I murmur at the exact same time that Azazel says in a hollow voice, " 'If you mean to change my mind, do not try. I am leaving. That is what you wanted, Da? For me to move on?' "

His eyes look so empty, even in this odd light, that it hurts just to look at him.

I'm so busy studying his face, my hands coming up as though to touch it that I am startled when his eyes suddenly widen and he takes a step back, " 'What are you doing here?!' "

I whip around and I feel anger and panic well up inside me when I realize that a new figure stands in the Professor's place, "Mystique!"

"Where?" Logan snaps in the distance, looking around the room wildly. This must be driving him insane. I should have told the others about this a while ago, but I didn't think I'd be able to see these…projections everywhere I went.

I thought it was one time sort of thing.

"It's a memory," I say numbly, watching as Mystique approaches Azazel with a determined look in her eye. She looks angry, sad, and resolute all at once, though she's clearly trying to hide it behind a sultry smirk. Tear stains mar her perfect, blue features. "I'm seeing…a fragment of a memory."

" 'Don't look so surprised." Mystique scowls, the purple aura that surrounds her blazing, making Azazel's aura looks pathetically dim in comparison. " 'What? Aren't you happy to see me?' " She laughs cruelly. She seems odd to me. Off-balance.

Then I remember, "Magneto said something about a betrayal. Maybe this is what he meant." I look back and forth at the two mutants as Azazel says, " 'What is it you want, Mystique?' "

" 'Blunt, aren't we?' " Mystique responds, then she turns her gaze down, sounding a lot less confident than mere moments ago. " 'I know you're hurting. So am I. I thought I could…' " She hesitates at this and I stare her down, daring her to finish her sentence. " 'keep you company.' "

She looks up then through a curtain of red hair which looks considerably longer than last I saw it and says almost childishly, " 'Like you used to when Erik and I would fight.' "

It's as if I've been slapped across the face.

They've been together before, I realize. They had a thing! How did I not see that?

" 'Is that what this is?' " Azazel asks disbelievingly, his tired eyes training on her with a growing hostility. When she merely watches him, a look of determination mingled with vulnerability on her face, he lays a hand across his eyes, and for a moment says nothing. Whatever fight was in his eyes seems to just dissipate at that moment.

I watch him, praying he'll kick her out. Hoping he'll call for the Professor, attack her, throw her out the damn window, anything other than what happens next.

Her silhouette steps right through me, sending a horrid chill running down my spine, and I watch helplessly as she places a blue hand on his arm and gently pries his hand away from his face. He looks down at her almost unwillingly and I move around so I can see her face, too. There are sparkling tears in her eyes. I've never seen her look so helpless before. She means it.

She really is hurt.

"Don't—" I plead in a voice barely above a whisper, but it's no use. They can't hear me and no amount of pleading can stop the past as it plays out right in front of me as Azazel wipes Mystique's tears from her eyes, and I turn away just as Mystique leans in, a faint smile touching her lips when he doesn't resist…

I hurry past Wolverine, who's been watching me spazz out this entire time, but he grabs both my arms and holds me back, shouting, "What the hell is going on here?!"

"Let me go!" I cry. Desperate to get away.

I'm facing them.

The projection hasn't ended as quickly as when I first woke up, and I can see quite clearly the conception of the little blue teleporter just down the hall...I squeeze my eyes shut desperately and try to cover my ears but Logan shakes me, saying, "I've called the Professor. He'll be here in a second. Just calm down."

Too much noise.

I can't take it. "I shouldn't be seeing this…" I whisper hoarsely, the words barely coming out at all, and I phase through his hands and flee the room, running straight through the wall and the Professor, who had just been about the enter the room.

"What—?" He starts to question me and I can feel his mind sweep across my own (my guard having dropped) and his voice falters, "Oh, my…" Is all he says.

I meet his eye through a watery lens, giving him an undeserved, accusatory glare, before phasing down through the floor to the only place that feels familiar in this labyrinth of broken memories and painful revelations.

Fans of the first installment of this series are probably noticing a few variations in Liz's powers, which will be explained in later chapters, but that won't come till a bit later. Things will start to make sense soon enough! Until then, tell me what you guys think about these new possible ships. I'm trying to decide which one I'll make cannon. Thanks!

~THESCRIBE!