Part XXXVII

By the time mid-winter hit, Dorrie's observation on Ororo was confirmed as correct and Magneto got to experience firsthand what Drake jokingly referred to as the Madonna effect. That odd feeling of contentment that hung over the group home. When he mentioned it to Reed, the man just gave him a slight smile and a shrug.

"Would you prefer an underlying feeling of tension, Erik?"

Dorrie was sitting up and gave Magneto one of her long looks before she spoke in her usual matter-of- fact manner .

"He might, Reed. I think a peaceful calm feeling is as alien to him as anything else here is."

Magneto frowned a bit.

"Dare I ask how you come to that conclusion?"

"Pretty damn obvious actually, Lehnsherr. Dorrie here is just more upfront at statin' things th' way that they are. Go on an' tell th' man since he asked, gal."

No mistaking the deep voice behind him, so Magneto just kept his eyes on the young woman who was beginning to brush out her tail – partially to keep it still. He had long since noticed it tended to switch around when she was either upset or ill at ease.

"Well, sir – it isn't as if you haven't made a name for yourself. I've read things about you by those supporting you and those against you. Throwing out everything flattering said by one side and everything rude said by the other side, you still end up with the picture of a man whose life was altered at a very young age by a war that traumatized even fully grown men. And you sort of had a triple whammy for back in those days – Jewish, a mutant and, if some of the stories are bo be believed, married to a gypsy. I believe I recall the gypsies were another of the races that was being targeted? Any way, since those days, you've gained a reputation as someone who commonly isolates himself and maintains a group of followers that can most accurately be described as a bunch of yes-men. I suppose that's only natural since you also have a reputation for being someone that doesn't take criticism or correction well."

"All of that plus what I've seen for myself leads me to think that you've never really ever stopped looking over your shoulder and the closest you can get to feeling secure is by being surrounded by what amounts to a large number of pawns that parrot back to you what you want to hear. I've seen you talk – I've seen you listen – but I've never seen you debate a point with anyone the way I've seen Hank and Victor and Reed debate. The difference being that when they talk, you know they're stating their opinions and observations – you tend to speak like you're always stating the facts rather than just the truth as you know it."

There was a lengthy pause before Magneto spoke again. Without his conscious notice, Cherry had settled by him and he had automatically begun to stroke her. As he thought, he discounted arguing against his followers being yes-men and pawns. Compared to the group currently around him, it was hard to deny that they at least appeared as such. Instead, he chose to quibble one the last phrase she used.

"The 'truth as I know it'?"

This time the voice behind him was deep, musical and feminine as Ororo moved to Creed's side.

"Surely you've lived long enough to notice that the truth changes with the observer. The truth is not an absolute. It is intangible, like love."

"Love feels pretty damn tangible to me."

That earned Creed a good-natured elbow shot into his ribs.

"Not love-making. The emotion."

Smiling at Ororo, Dorrie laid back down, then turned her attention back to Magneto.

"You know, if you let yourself, you could fit in very nicely here, sir. No offense meant, but you aren't getting any younger and if some of the people you've been leading really do believe in that survival of the fittest stuff, you're going to spend more time defending your right to rule than you are ruling. Is it really so bad not being the one in charge for once?"

There was an even longer pause as Magneto took a moment to look around the area. They were all, very literally, miles of anywhere of note and surrounded on all sides by a violent storm that isolated them even more than the distance did. None of them agreed with him, few even liked him, but there was nothing genuinely hostile against him here. His eyes moved down to where Cherry had settled – and there was proof that they had even taken the extra steps to ensure his safety despite their basic philosophical differences.

"No. Not so bad at all."

It wasn't as if he'd never allowed himself to relax over the years, but it had truthfully been quite awhile since the last time. He took a deep breath – and stopped fighting the feeling. Then he heard a chuckle from behind.

"See? Wasn't that painful, was it? Yer a survivor, Lehnsherr. Take a few minutes now an' again just t' savor that."