Author's Note: Welcome back! Sorry for the long wait, my school year has started again and, boy, is this year shaping up to be difficult. That being said, updates may be sparse over this semester: not stopping, but definitely slower. My apologies.
In this chapter, we have reached the point of climax. Or well, part one of the climax. I'm not gonna say anything, hopefully to keep the suspense up, but I will tell you that I tried something a little different halfway through; hope it worked out how I wanted. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the X-men, but I do own Melaney and any side plots. So please don't steal.
We turn a corner in a dead sprint, and there it is: the large, circular door that hides the Professor.
"What is this?" Kurt asks as we slow to a stop, our expressions ranging from awe to despair.
"Cerebro," Storm gasps.
"Storm!" The familiar voice of Scott Summers comes from behind. I turn to see him and a shaky looking Dr. Jean limping towards us; through the serious tension of the situation, I am relieved to see Scott and Jean are, mostly, uninjured. They stop in front of us, gasping in pain of shortness of breath, I can't tell.
"Jean! Are you okay?" Storm voices my concern.
"I'm fine." Did... did that just echo in my mind? I look around me, disturbed at the light caress against my thoughts, but no one else flinches or makes any outward show of having been telepathically connected. Worried and concerned and shocked, I check my mental control, looking for a crack, a hole, something that would suddenly allow access to my mind: there are none.
One half of my attention continues to worry this new development over while the other half listens as Storm asks, "What's happening?"
"Professor's still in there," Dr. Jean shakes her head, blinking as she tries to search with her telepathy through feet of steel and the unknown, "with another mutant. He's trapped in some kind of illusion." My heart stops as an image flashes in front of my eyes; a little girl with wide frightened eyes, but something is off about her, she isn't as innocent as she looks: and then with the thud of my pulse it is gone. Fear spears my heart; what was that?! I try to push away the panic and terror the image has caused, trying to listen as Jean gasps, "Oh my God. Magneto's reversed Cerebro. It's not targeting mutants anymore." Humans. It's targeting humans. The words touch my mind like a feather, a stark contrast to the normal agony of telepathy invading my mind. And this time, I recognize the voice.
Storm demands, "Who is it targeting?"
"Everyone else." The horror of the situation hits the team at the same time. That pain, that anguish, now being experienced by every human in the world: children, men, women. I can see them, white lights slowly collapsing, their knees giving out, their hands trying desperately to block out a pain that is inside of them, their cries echoing through my mind. Fear trickles down my back in a cold sweat, but contrary a spark erupts in my chest. We have to do something to prevent this pointless genocide.
"Stand back." Scott commands, moving away from Jean and reaching to touch his gazer, ready to blast open the doors. No! No!
"No. His mind is connected to Cerebro. Opening it could kill him and everyone his mind is linked to."
I nod in agreement with Jean, mind whirling as I try to think of another way, any way. I watch with far away eyes as Storm moves then, stepping up to Kurt and starting to say, "Wait. Kurt, I need you to-"
"No, Storm." I calmly interrupt, my thoughts settling as I realize the only possible way, "You can't do anything that may damage the machine; you would cause the exact same result as Scott." Jean and Storm both turn to look at me, Jean shrewdly and Storm confused and startled, perhaps at my interruption or maybe at the confidence in my tone. I take a deep breath, "Let me do it."
Jean instantly objects, "You won't be able to; you've never attempted that before. I'll do it."
I glare at her, "Obviously, your powers are not exactly cooperating." She flinches back, and I know now for sure. "You could make everything worse. I have to do this; it's the only way that has the least likely chance of killing every human in the world." Neither of us acknowledge the thought that runs through my head, and most likely to kill myself. Not giving anyone the chance to second guess me, I turn to Kurt. "Kurt, I need to get in Cerebro. Can you take me?"
Scott breaks in determinedly, "Who is this guy? Who are you?" He looks between Kurt and me, and even with his gazer on I can see the distrust, the blatant judging based off of Kurt's appearance.
"My name is Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich Circus-" I tap a finger over Kurt's lips, cutting him off. I manage an apologetic look before looking at Scott. "He teleports."
I look back to Kurt, waiting for his answer. He looks down at me with conflicted eyes, "I told you, if I can't see where I'm going..." That won't do.
"Kurt, remember how we agreed me showing up at that church was an answer to your prayers?" A slight smile and nod. "Well, now, you are the answer to mine." His eyes widen in surprise, "I don't have faith in any god or deity, but I have faith in you."
He holds my eyes, clearly in an internal battle. Jean speaks up, "You can't do anything to the Professor while he's connected to everyone; the sudden shock of being disconnected could have a serious back flash of energy. Disconnect everyone else, though, and he'll be able to see through the illusion himself."
I nod my understanding, not looking away from Kurt. He glances at the door warily before finally he speaks softly, "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." He wraps his arms around my waist and I grab onto his jacket, tucking my face into his shoulder, because somehow I know this will not be the smooth ride of our previous trips. There is an intake of the air around us. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done..." He tightens his grip. I clench my eyes shut. The ground drops from beneath my feet and we are gone.
And then it is back and I gasp as my knees almost buckle. "...on Earth as it is in heaven." The relief of not being half inside a wall makes me cling to Kurt harder for a second, before the tension returns. We separate and I look around at the poor imitation of Professor Xavier's shining Cerebro. I have only been in the real one once before, but this scavenged, puzzle-pieced knock off pales in comparison. I turn and see a man in a wheelchair, a ventilator forcing his lungs to expand and contract with a quiet hiss that is glaringly loud in the silence of the knock off Cerebro. In front of him is the Professor, hooked up to the fake Cerebro.
"Professor!" I shout, moving to dodge around the unknown mutant, when Kurt wraps his arms back around my waist and pulls me behind him, shouting terrified, "Nein, Laney! Beweg dich nicht! They will shoot!" His fear is so overwhelming, so real, that for a moment I actually freeze and look for the danger even though I had already looked over the area. Then I realize what is happening: the mutant. I am invisible to his illusion, hidden in my ability, but Kurt is not.
"Kurt, it's not real. Whatever you are seeing, it isn't real." I tell him forcefully, having no time to be kind and gentle like I know I should be. I slowly pull from his protective hold. But when he screams in pain and jerks like he has just been shot at close range, my heart decides one more person added to six billion will not matter. His smothered screams of pain turn to gasps for breath and he blinks dazedly as suddenly whatever reality he was seeing disappears. He meets my eyes, and after a long second, he nods and manages a smile. I try to return it, but the severity of our situation has reasserted itself and only fear and horrid anticipation flow through me. As I walk past the mutant in the wheelchair, I warn Kurt, "Kurt, it's about to get really hot in here."
"I'm not going anywhere."
I smile now, relieved not to be left alone to this mission. Now, I am directly behind the Professor, my stomach just barely brushing the back of his wheelchair. Careful not to touch his skin, my fingers lightly graze the sides of the helmet: immediately I gasp. My world goes dark. And in the dark, are six billion little lights softly glowing in the blackness of Cerebro: and every light signifies a human, and every human is dying.
...Kurt...
When Melaney looks at me with her light gray eyes pleading, I push away my fear and doubts about my power. She is warm in my arms, and her solid presence gives me the courage I need to teleport us.
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name-" She grabs my jacket, and I tighten my arms around her, ready at any moment to reverse, to teleport back, if this goes wrong. "-Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..." There is a very large chance of this going wrong, but I do not tell Melaney that, because if she has faith in me to do this one thing for her, than I have faith in God to help me. Help us. "...on Earth as it is in heaven."
...
Guns, barrels pointed straight at us from fifteen different guards. The one in the middle, the tallest one who gives off the raw scent of power, shouts, "Do not move! Move and we will kill you!" They stand there without moving, their eyes dead and merciless, and fear rolls down my spine and tail in heavy waves; Melaney pulls away and shouts, but not the scream of fear or panic I may have expected. No, Melaney, mutig Melaney, looks right through the guards and calls for the Professor. The guards do not react to her exclamation, but I do not chance them ignoring her if she starts moving. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her behind me, panicked that she may try to struggle and they may shoot and she can't get hurt. I promised to protect her. "Nein, Laney! Beweg dich nicht! They will shoot!" My back blocks most of the threat, but she is still too exposed, too many barrels with too many bullets that could tear easily through me and into her. I curl around her, my tail flicking in a hopeless arc; I know we are done for when the sound of a cocking gun reaches my ears. And then she says calmly, "Kurt, it's not real. Whatever you are seeing, it isn't real." Was? Of course it is... nicht wahr?
She pulls away slowly, but I can not help when I reach out to her, my natural instinct fighting to keep her from leaving my arms, wanting to protect her; the guards open fire.
The pain is not a burn, nor is it the sharp piercing agony one would expect from being shot; instead, it is a dull, heavy thud and then absolute desperation to escape from the injury. Torture rushes like electricity through my veins and my blood drips steadily from my wounds and I can only pray that Melaney has not been hit as bad as I have, when suddenly it is gone. I gasp in shock.
Melaney's eyes are worried, concerned. I can see now what she had tried to tell me, that the guards were just an illusion, they were not real and neither were the gun shots that had felt so very real. Grateful, I give Melaney a wobbly smile. She nods at me and then faces forward, her shoulders squared. I watch as this beautiful, courageous woman readies herself for battle; this woman who shied away from violence before, now ready to head into war alone.
As she walks away, closer to the man in the wheelchair that must be the Professor, she warns me, "Kurt, it's about to get really hot in here."
It is a warning, but also an offer; she is giving me the chance to escape before she does whatever it is she is planning on doing to save the humans: something that may end very, very badly. I never even consider it: I will stay and help and protect Melaney in any possible way. She isn't in this alone. "I'm not going anywhere." Her smile is worth the possible danger.
She moves closer to the Professor, and her fingertips just barely touch the helmet he has on. Her body seizes, locking every joint into place and every muscle contracting until Melaney is bent backwards, her head tipped back to the ceiling. Her eyes stare unseeing at the patchwork ceiling, her irises darkening almost to black. Blood drips over her cheek as her teeth cut into the flesh of her bottom lip. Terrified, I leap to her side and try to reach her, but she is gone. Logically, I know she is still there, still only a step in front of me, six inches from my hand; but my mind is so sure of her nonexistence, I can not even force myself to continue reaching forward. My hand veers to the left.
Unwillingly but resigned, I step back and settle to wait, patiently, until she has completed her mission.
This, I can not protect her from.
AN2: I hope Kurt's point of view worked out okay. It was supposed to feel a little choppy and disorganized, to reflect the tension of the climax, but I hope that didn't interfere with the glimpse into Kurt's mind. Review if you enjoyed!
German Translation
Beweg dich nicht! - Don't move!
Mutig – Courageous
Was? - What?
Nicht wahr? - (literally means 'not true?' I use it to mean-) right?