I forgave him the next morning. When I returned to the room, dawn was creeping up over his shoulders where his back was pressed against the window. His face was in his hands, and I could see frost sprouting on the glass where his body touched. Jamie couldn't even bring himself to look at me when I entered the room. I knelt in front of him for a moment, waiting to see his eyes emerge. When they didn't, I was at a loss. I didn't know how to tell if he was who I'd thought he was. My friend. My partner. My entire goddamn team.
Two years ago I didn't know he existed. Then, he became my world. How does that even happen?
It didn't really matter. It felt like it would always be me and him versus the universe. Me and him. I wasn't ready to be anything else. I couldn't just be…me.
I lay my head down against his knees and felt his tension seep out. He kissed my head and ran his fingers through my hair. I reached up to brush his cheek, but when I did his hand closed around mine and he gently lifted my sleeve. The burn looked better in the daylight. Not in his eyes, though. Before he could react, I sat up and cupped his face in both my hands.
"Don't look at it," I whispered. "Look at me." But his eyes scrunched shut, and tears shot out behind tired lids. I kissed them away as they fell. I was surprised to find my anger had completely evaporated.
We'd always been bound to hurt each other. That's what people do. They also heal.
For the next few nights, we wouldn't fall asleep unless we were holding each other. We were gentle with every touch, every question. Still, there was some desperation in the way we kept one another close. It was as though both of us could sense a rift that we refused to believe was real.
Finally, the day of the Cure ceremony arrived. I got up before Jamie did to shower. I was getting dressed when I heard him rustle out of the sheets.
"Morning," he said sleepily from the edge of the bed.
"Nice day for a prison break," I replied, shoving my legs into some pants. I turned to find him looking at me with an odd smirk. "What?"
"Nothing," Jamie defended, stifling a yawn. "But…" He grinned. "I think you're starting to show."
I looked down, horrified, and then quickly ran to the mirror. Sure enough, there was a small, but defined swell on the bottom of my stomach. I hadn't noticed. I hadn't even thought to keep track.
"Shit," I said while Jamie rolled his eyes.
"You knew that would happen," He got up and wrapped his arms around me.
"When do we tell them?" I was genuinely fearful about coming clean to the rest of the Brotherhood about my condition.
"When we need to," was Jamie's simple answer. "Until then, we can just keep her our secret."
"She's the last secret we've kept from them," I muttered.
"That's a good name. 'Secret', like the deodorant company," He started laughing.
"God, you're the worst." I kissed him anyway. He held me tightly, trying to force everything he didn't have the words to say into that one embrace.
"Be careful out there, tonight," he breathed in my ear. I could only nod.
We got to the prison before the ceremony had even set up. That is, Mystique was granted access to the facility, and the rest of us had to wait at a remote location. The shapeshifter had taken the identity of a max security guard, after stealing his badge and verification from him at a bar last night. She worked all too well and all too quickly. She only needed to remove the inhibitor collar from one prisoner, a woman with the power to disrupt all electronically powered sources within a ten mile-radius. One blast from her, and every inhibitor collar in the building would malfunction.
They knew if she got out, everyone would, so she was locked up tight. Only one guard had access, and that was Mitch Mahoney, who in reality was passed out in his home after one too many beers. Mystique was an excellent substitute. A lot of research went into this plan, and I had to say I was impressed with the Brotherhood's investigative prowess.
Once we received word that Mystique and the special prisoner were in position, we joined the growing crowd outside the prison gates where a fancy podium and stage had been arranged. Toad had to hide his blatantly mutated face with a visor, but otherwise we blended in without a hitch.
Trask showed up on the scene in a fancy limo and a grey suit. I felt like I was going to hurl at the sight of his smarmy grin, relishing in the audience's applause.
"My friends," his voice echoed in the microphone. Clicks from cameras and whispers from reporters weren't loud enough to derail him. "We are here to celebrate a breakthrough in medical science and humanitarianism. The Hope Serum 2.0 has already been a massive success during its trial run!"
A smattering of claps and cheers. I looked to Pyro, who was frowning over the tops of, trying to get a better look at something completely out of my view.
"This is not just a triumph for our community at large, but for our detained mutant citizens who will receive a fresh start upon their release."
More clapping. Trask sure had found the best spin to put on the cure to keep him and his supporters sleeping at night. Pyro's hand fell on my shoulder, causing me to jump. I turned to shoot him an annoyed glance, but found he wasn't looking at me. He'd found whatever he'd been looking for and his face had gone pale.
"They're here," He hissed in my ear. "X-Men, all over the place."
I was too short to see familiar faces, so I had to take him at his word. My heart thumped heavily at the thought of running into my former caretakers. Jamie brushed up between us.
"How did they know we'd be here?" said Jamie, scanning the crowd.
"Either an excellent guess, or someone tipped them off," Pyro raised his eyebrows. I was hurt when Jamie's eyes immediately swooped to me, but he had enough tact not to ask. For the record, I hadn't been in touch with any of the heroes since our allegiance had switched.
"What do we do?" I asked. "Call it off?"
"It's a little late for that."
As if on cue, Trask's voice dropped out of my ear as his microphone turned off. Video cameras fizzled out, and the stage lights went dark. A terrible screeching of metal filled the air, as the barbed wire fence peeled out of the ground. Magneto appeared, coiling a ring of metal around a gaping Trask. There were screams and attempts to run, but as planned, we surrounded the crowd of humans to prevent escape. At least until they heard what we had to say. I created a long field of energy that corralled the humans, and the other Brotherhood members stood poised for attack. With his other hand, Magneto crunched the guns in the hands of surrounding officers. In seconds, they were powerless.
"Good evening," the metal maniac's voice boomed even without an amplifier. "We represent the minority population you are attempting to destroy. We refuse to become extinct, as we have shown time and time again and will continue to show. Your oppression will no longer be tolerated." I'd never seen someone so terrifying yet so calm at the same time. "But we are not monsters, as your superiors would have you believe. We are more than happy to negotiate with you, Mr. Trask. You're a businessman, surely you can adapt. Ban the cure…and I'll spare your life."
"N-never!" Trask sputtered, despite the metal fence squeezing him more and more with each moment.
"I'm being more than fair," Magneto feigned offense. "One life for the lives of hundreds? You're getting the better end of the deal."
"Erik!" I heard a voice call out from the crowd and knew at once who it was. "Don't do this."
If Magneto was surprised, he recovered incredibly fast.
"Glad you could make it, Charles. It just wouldn't be a party without the stick in the mud."
"This is not the way," The professor sounded tired and soft. I could barely make out what he was saying to his fellow mutant, and I certainly couldn't see him from the edge of the crowd. "You'll only prove them right."
"How many times must we have this argument?" yelled Magneto, fury raging all at once. "How many times must you stand in my way, spouting the same nonsense, so that nothing changes? Mutantkind is at a crossroads, our situation direr every day. You can't tell me there's a better way, when all you do is sit back and let us die!"
There was a pause. Everyone was craning their necks, making it harder for me to even catch a glimpse of the scene. "I don't want to have to fight you."
Magneto sneered.
"Oh, sure you do."
But before the men could square off, a distant crash sent eyes up towards the prison. From the rubble of a broken wall I could see the unmistakable form of the Juggernaut, who had rammed a clean opening through the brick. As the dust cleared, other figures emerged behind them. Slowly, at first, then all at once. The prisoners were running down the hill, but not away from the crowd. Right towards us. This wasn't just a rescue mission—it was an act of vengeance. I'd known that. I'd prepared myself for it. Still, what the Professor yelled out next made me drop my guard completely.
"If you hurt these people, there will be no coming back from this! They will meet your fire with fire, tenfold."
"And we will be ready for it!" bellowed Magneto.
"And I will always be there to stop you!"
Chaos erupted. I can't count the number of times that's happened around me. I took two steps back, Pyro and Jamie at my sides. Some of the people realized they had a chance to escape in the distraction, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to stop them.
"Spread out, we're losing them!" Pyro shouted.
Jamie moved to oblige, but I grabbed his shoulder.
"No," I said. "No. Fuck. The Professor's right. This was stupid."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jamie could hardly focus on me while trying to keep tabs on the swarming crowd and the oncoming army of mutants. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the X-Men form a barrier between the humans and the horde. Storm was up in the air. Clyclops' beams were already keeping some of the first prisoners at bay. I was sure there were more on the ground. The troops had really been rallied.
"If we sic a bunch of angry mutants on innocents, we're no better."
"Of course we're better. Innocents? Jesus, they would do the same to us! They already have!" He looked fearful and angry at the same time. He knew what I was going to do next. "Maggie," He said. "Pull yourself together."
I didn't have a retort. He was right. But, so was I. I backed away from him.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled.
I broke into a run before he had the chance to scream my name. I did look back—and when I did, he was boiling the mud in front of him to burn the feet of advancing police officers.
I kept running until I saw a familiar tuft of black, greasy hair.
"Logan," I panted. He turned to me in surprise, almost getting knocked over by a mutant with tusks. I sent the guy flying to the side.
"Hell, am I supposed to fight you now?" He growled, extending his claws.
"God, I hope not," I said. "How's it looking over here?"
He hadn't dropped his air of suspicion.
"You're one of 'em," Logan narrowed his eyes, but I sighed impatiently.
"I'm not one of anything. Do you want my help or not?"
Logan looked between me and the storming mutants, trying to decide if he was pissed off enough to say 'no'.
"There's too many," He shook his head. "Not enough of us to keep 'em all back for long."
"Keep doing what you're doing. I'll handle the civilians."
"'Civilians?' What, you're a fancy superhero now?" But he had a half smile, and turned back to the battle.
I found a spot between the X-Men and the scared group of people, huddled by the stage. Some who had ran had already been attacked. Officers were going down by the dozens. I lifted my hands and planted my feet in the ground. From my fingertips burst a dome of magenta colored light. I gritted my teeth and struggled to encase the entire crowd. It was the biggest one I'd done to date, and I didn't know if I could hold it. People inside the dome were freaking out, trying to press against it and terrified to find the light had turned to solid energy around them. Whatever. They could scream all they want. At least none of the baddies could get in.
Were they baddies, though? I had enough stamina to look around as I held tight to the force field. I spotted entire families of mutants, their inhibitor collars still swinging from their necks as they hurried off into the woods instead of seeking their revenge. I prayed I was doing the right thing. I'd done my part, fighting for their escape. Now I had to help those at a disadvantage. The weak were ever-changing.
Maggie, the Professor's voice appeared in my head. He knew I was here. Embarrassing. Can you get the onlookers a safe distance away?
I can try, I thought. I was already losing my grip. With another deep breath I shoved forward with all my might. The dome shifted a few feet, people still securely inside.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I whispered. This was too hard. There was no way I could move them all. My body ached under the weight.
You're stronger than you think.
Fine, Obi Wan, I snapped back. It didn't matter if I was stronger than I thought, or even stronger than I thought. I knew what needed to be done.
A grunt ripping through my lips, I shaped the dome into a sphere, a hamster ball like the one Jamie and I had escaped in all that time ago. I'd seen it done in a movie once, but not to this extent. Not carrying this many people. No, not the time to think about that. This had to be done.
I hoisted the sphere into the air, ignoring the cries of terror from the people inside. I could only get it a few feet off the ground, but it was enough so that others cleared the way as I dragged it through the air. I pushed and pushed until the glowing orb was small enough to be considered "a safe distance away". Then, I let go. The people in the dark were surely confused, having just been dropped off in the middle of nowhere, but at least they weren't in the middle of a fight that wasn't theirs.
I was breathing heavily, but I caught Logan's eye as I re-centered and grinned. He shot one back at me, but his expression turned to a foreboding one as he saw something behind me. The warning was just escaping his mouth as I felt it.
A hot, thin blade pushed right through me. I didn't know what was happening until I looked down to see the tip of it sticking out of my side. The blood didn't come until my assailant pulled the shard back out. I couldn't even turn to see who had done me in, as my weight crumbled to the ground. All I could process was Logan's vengeful face, his slash of claws as he took down the person behind me, mutant or human I did not know. All I could think was how stupid I'd been. Not for getting stabbed, or distracted. For allowing this moment to be my downfall. I didn't want to be down for the count. Not yet. I still had to figure out what I'd been fighting for. Not fair, I thought as Logan's arms closed around me and I slipped into an all-too familiar darkness.