Chapter 4
"…There was a time
You let me know
What's real and going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?"
~ "Hallelujah", Leonard Cohen
"Senator Kelly? I'm Professor Charlotte Xavier," she introduced herself quietly to the ill man.
His breathing was shallow as he replied, "I was afraid…if I went to the hospital…they would…" he trailed off uncomfortably.
"Treat you like a mutant?" she supplied. Kelly didn't meet her eyes.
"We're not what you think," Charlotte informed him gently. "Not all of us."
He gulped, straining to breath. "Tell that…to the ones who did this to me." From his mind, she caught a flash of Erik's face.
"Senator, I want you to try and relax," she told him, subtly calming his frightened mind as she put her hands on the sides of his head. "I'm not going to hurt you."
…emerging from the ocean—now fully aware that he was one of the things he feared so much…the hating, fearing looks of people watching him on the beach…slipping through the cell bars to escape…a blinding light emanating from a strange machine…
There.
She dipped into that memory: Kelly, strapped to a chair, watching as Magneto used a fantastic machine. It hurt and left him smoking slightly. When it was over, Erik emerged—weak, slumped over. Raven went to him and helped him up, with his arm around her neck.
"Welcome to the future, brother," he told Kelly as they passed.
His voice was weaker, more tired than Charlotte had heard in years. Likely since she fished him out of the ocean to prevent him from drowning, all those years ago…
"The machine emits radiation that triggers mutation in ordinary human beings," she explained.
"But the mutation is unnatural," Jean threw in. "Kelly's body is rejecting it. His cells began to break down almost immediately."
Beside her, Scott asked, "What effect does the radiation have on mutants?"
"There appears to be none," Charlotte mused. "But I fear it will seriously harm any normal person exposed to it."
Logan's thoughts were a jumble as he tried to untangle the plan behind all of this. "But what does Magneto want with Rogue?"
"I don't—" she paused mid sentence. "Actually… It seemed to be that the machine was drawing its power from Erik. It nearly killed him in the process. I believe he's going to use Rogue in his place."
There was a pause as they took in the full ramification of this.
"Cyclops, you and Storm ready the jet to find Rogue," she directed. "Jean, get Logan a uniform."
"Whoa," Scott objected. "He's not coming with us, is he?"
She nodded. "Yes," Charlotte replied in a clipped tone, leaving no room for argument.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but he'll endanger the mission."
Logan turned quickly. "Hey, I wasn't the one who gave the train station a new sunroof, pal."
Logan! she snapped.
Scott was unperturbed. "No, you were the one who stabbed Rogue through the chest."
Jean's eyes widened. "Scott—"
"Hey, why don't you take your mission and shove it up—"
Storm flew into the room, her mind panicking. "Senator Kelly is dead," she reported. The argument fell silent.
"I'm going to find her," Charlotte told them firmly. "Settle this."
Erik, what are you doing? She thought to herself as she made her way to Cerebro. She slipped the helmet on and began the machine, when—
A cry of pain escaped her. It felt like red-hot spikes were being shoved into her skull—not as bad as a coin through the forehead or a bullet to her spine, but—
She shoved the helmet from her head, dizzy with pain as she tried to leave. Slumped forward, she only managed to tumble from the wheelchair to the floor heavily.
Her temple connected with the platform painfully.
Jean— she cried out.
Black.