Chapter 13 - Betrayals
"Blue team is in position," Beast's voice echoed through the communicators, followed by Nightcrawler's reply in a thick German accent. "So is zhe gold team."
"Black team's ready. In three, we go in," Wolverine drew in a deep breath. "One, two, three."
The three groups of X-Men got into motion. In Jersey City, Polaris used her magnetic powers to disable the movement sensors, allowing Gambit and Beast to gain access to the building without any difficulty. Once inside, Gambit knocked the only two security guards out while Beast moved towards the pharmaceutical production line. Oddly, all the mats were turned off and there were no employees around. On top of that, the storage room was empty.
The golden team also entered the Hartford's plant easily after Storm had created a thick layer of fog around the place. Nightcrawler approached the entrance and teleported Jubilee and Iceman inside. Iceman froze the bolt on the security booth, locking four guards inside, while the demon-like mutant punched other two guards to the ground. In the meantime, Jubilee had reached the production sector of the facility. "There's nothing here," she shouted to her teammates.
The situation in Boston was similar. Havok stood outside, giving cover to Rogue and Wolverine, while the two of them sneaked into the empty factory. The female mutant used her powers to absorb the energy and memories of one of the guards, only to find out that the 'cure' tanks had been transported somewhere else earlier that day. Wolverine was beyond mad. "Fuck! These assholes are playin' us. They knew we're comin'!" He growled through the communicator, and then ordered. "All teams, retreat. This mission's over."
Next, they heard Professor Xavier's mental command inside their heads. 'X-Men, return to the mansion. Make sure you are not followed.' Charles then sent a private message to the field leader. 'Logan, we need to talk.'
Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, New York.
"Chuck, I'm tellin' ya. There's a rat in the team. There's no other explanation."
It was past two o'clock in the morning; Wolverine and Xavier were alone in the professor's studio discussing the failed mission the X-Men had just gone through. "I bet one of the newbies is playin' both sides."
"I believe that's rather unlikely," the bald man said, and added in his opposite's mind. 'And I prefer we converse telepathically, Logan.'
'Ya think the mansion's bugged?' The Canadian's eyebrow raised in surprise. 'That'd mean they know where the X-Men live.'
'We have to consider every possibility, my friend,' Charles pondered, his tone more than worried. 'We have seen what our enemies are capable of.'
Wolverine knew his mentor was referring to Calvin Rankin's assassination and nodded in agreement. 'Alright. Tomorrow mornin' I'll sweep out the mansion for bugs and wires. While I'm at it, ya mind scan everyone in the house. We'll get this traitor, and when we do it, he or she is mine,' he growled menacingly and stormed out of the room. A shiver ran down Xavier's spine.
xxxxx
On the next day, Charles summoned the whole team to the Danger Room. The X-Men arrived in pair or trios, every single one of them looking worried and defeated. However, only Professor X appeared to be repulsed by what was about to happen.
Wolverine had just telepathically informed him that there weren't any wires inside the mansion, which meant that at least one of his pupils had to be a traitor. He would spare no efforts to uncover the conspirator.
"I believe you have an idea of why you are gathered here," Xavier stated. "Yesterday, we had a simple, solid plan. It would have worked perfectly, had we not been betrayed by one of our own."
"What?" Rogue's shrill echoed throughout the big empty room. "Who's the snitch, professah?"
The X-Men gazed at each other suspiciously, immediately making accusatory guesses in their minds.
"This is a rather grave accusation, Charles. Are you positive that an actual treason has happened among our very selective staff?" Beast interrogated his mentor.
"I wish I wasn't, Hank. Nonetheless, I have every reason to believe that we were betrayed from the inside. And I intend to discover who was responsible for it, now," he looked around the room. "Thus, I am asking your consent for me to read your minds; I suppose that those who have nothing to hide won't oppose to a superficial mind-scanning."
"I beg to differ, professor. Dere are things in one's mind dat belong only to himself," Gambit spoke, clearly uncomfortable with Xavier's plan.
"Do you have something to hide from the team, Remy?" Storm asked. "That sounds kind of dubious, don't you think?"
Rogue's voice rose to defend the Cajun. "What about ya', beauty queen? Ya've been an X-Man fer five minutes and ya' think ya' can swaggah around the place makin' nonsense accusations?"
"Maybe we have two traitors instead of one," Havok offered, eying Gambit and Rogue distrustfully.
LeBeau turned to the blond mutant, taking two cards from his trench coat pocket and charging them with kinetic energy. "Watch your mouth, mon amie. You don't accuse de belle and live to see it."
"Dude, you're all obviously wrong. I say you start the mind-scan with popsicle, professor," Jubilee said, pointing a finger at Bobby. "He's the one hiding something."
"Hey, what have I ever done to you, Jubes?"
"What about Beast and Forge? For a pair of genies, it's taking them long enough to build the damn conduit," Angel accused.
"We've made astounding progresses regarding that matter, my winged teammate. You, on the other hand, are barely ever around the X-Men. Nonetheless, you are quite familiar with everything that occurs within our headquarters. How are we supposed to trust you?"
At this point, Wolverine stomped into the room. "What the hell's goin' on here?"
"Good, now the boss has joined the party," Forge said wryly.
"Wolvie, can't you just, like, smell who's lying?" Jubilee asked.
"And why should we believe in Wolverine's senses? Maybe he's the one who's betrayed us, since the 'cure' is harmless to him," Polaris pointed out. "Or maybe he told his outsider girlfriend about our plans and she's the one who's spilled the beans to the Hellfire Club. I say we go after her."
Logan snarled at the green-haired mutant, showing her his canines. "Ya've got two seconds to take that back, princess."
"Meine freunde, zhis is pointless. While we quarrel among ourselves, our enemies are only getting stronger."
"That's enough, X-Men! Kurt's right. You are all acting like spoiled children. These empty accusations won't accomplish anything," Xavier said loudly and sternly, and the room went quiet. "Wolverine, what have you discovered?"
Logan was still glaring at Lorna as if he was sizing her up for a coffin. "Our access to the plant's cameras were tampered. I've just watched the real videotape - the Hellfire Club moved the 'cure' tanks into Chicago's facility yesterday afternoon."
"Did it happen before or after the X-Men's debriefing meeting?" Beast asked.
"After. Someone here tipped them off," Wolverine growled. "Chuck?"
"Just one more second, my friend… Oh, yes, I think I've got it. X-Men, please be so kind as to restrain Ms. Dane, would you?"
"What? Hell no! Lorna's innocent," Havok yelled, outraged by the accusation.
Before the X-Men could act, Polaris used her mutant powers to elevate herself in the air, all the while releasing a magnetic blast that sent most of the team to the floor. However, Nightcrawler was fast enough to teleport away and reappear right behind the woman. He held her from behind and was soon helped by Rogue, who flew to his aid and punched Polaris in the chin, knocking her out. Kurt teleported back down and laid her safely on the floor.
"What have you done?" Alex got up and ran to Lorna's side. But before he could kneel beside her, an ethereal creature emerged from the young woman's body, sending him to the floor, startled. It started hovering in the air above, looking the X-Men down.
"Fooled you well enough, X-Men! Hahahaha," a crazy-sounding female voice left the ghost's mouth.
"Who the fuck are ya?" Wolverine roared and unleashed his claws. Soon, all the X-Men raised from the floor and prepared for battle.
Xavier didn't hesitate to invade the intruder's mind to disclose the truth. "Her name's Malice. She was hired by the Hellfire Club."
"I've been among you for a week, and none of you have noticed me! Not the mighty telepath, not even the stupid boyfriend! Hahahahah," the villain mocked. "By the way, you're a terrible kisser, blondie."
Alex crouched beside his unconscious girlfriend on the floor. "What have you done to Lorna, your maniac?"
"Oh, I've just toyed a little with her… You know, seen things, heard things, done things… Polaris is a real sweetie. Hahahahahah."
"That's enough," Professor X said, striking her mind once again with fury. Malice yelled in pain, holding her head between her ghostly hands.
"Get out of my head, old man!" She shouted and her body darted up, her ethereal form passing easily through the solid ceiling and allowing her to escape the mansion.
"I'll follow her and make sure she doesn't return to the Hellfire Club," Angel said and was about to take off when Xavier stopped him.
"There's no need for it, Warren. I've erased our headquarters location from her memory. I believe the X-Men's secret is safe for now."
"Professor, who was she?" Jubilee questioned.
"A mutant spy. For what I could detect, her ability enables her to bond to the hostess -in this case, Polaris- and completely take over its body," he explained. "All the while, Lorna was trying to psychically fight her. God, why couldn't I realize there where two mental patterns in Ms. Dane's mind?"
"Ya couldn't have guessed, Chuck."
"How long do you think Malice's being parasitizing Lorna, Charles?" Forge asked.
"Probably since before Polaris and Havok arrived in the mansion. Otherwise, she wouldn't have discovered our headquarters."
"Ugh…," Lorna stirred on the floor, and all faces turned to her. "Alex? W-Where am I?"
"Shush, babe, I've got you. You're safe, we are with the X-Men."
She tried to sit up but didn't have enough strength. "W-Where's she? Malice?"
"Gone," his boyfriend told her, stroking through her hair. "I'm so sorry, Lorna… I should've realized it wasn't only you in there. Forgive me, babe," he said, sobbing.
"It's all right, sweetie. I'm glad you're with me now," she hugged him.
"Hank, please take Ms. Dane to the infirmary and give her a proper medical checkup," Professor X ordered, "the rest of you, to the War Room, now."
xxxxx
Ten minutes later, the X-Men were reunited around the round metal table. The atmosphere inside the War Room was dense; unfair accusations had been made and the team's moral was shattered. Wolverine was fuming; nonetheless, there was some serious work to be done, and he decided to initiate the meeting.
"Listen… we can't allow one fucked up mutant to destroy everythin' we've built. So drop out the long faces and man up. We've got a factory to raid."
"Agreed, sugah. We gottah forget what's happened in the Danger Room and focus on the work ahead of us. The 'I'm sorrys' can wait."
"I'm glad to hear that, Anna. I hope we're all in the same page here," Xavier said, and everyone nodded.
"I've just examined the security videos from Chicago's facility -the real videos this time- and they have enhanced their defenses to extreme levels," Forge exposed. "I'm talking about double electrified fences, ultra-sensible metal detectors, and about two hundred heavily armed men, a dozen snipers included."
"Merde," Gambit exclaimed. "Even if de whole team goes to dis mission, de odds are still against us," he considered, his fingers fiddling with a pair of playing cards.
Suddenly, Havok stood up. "Professor, we need to check on Scott first. Malice knows about him!"
"Who the fuck's Scott?" Logan's brows furrowed.
"My big brother. He's also a mutant, and he's alone in my apartment with his baby as we speak."
"Great!" Wolverine sounded even more pissed. "Ya go and bring them here. We leave in one hour. Don't be late."
"I won't," Alex replied and rushed out of the room. The meeting went on.
"The attack team will be me, Gumbo, Rogue, Elf, Storm, Beast, Drake and Havok."
"But Wolvie, I wanna go too."
"Not a chance, Jubes. Ya're stayin' with Chuck, Forge and Polaris. They'll need your protection in case Malice decides to come back."
"But I can help in the field mission!"
"Not against those men, ya can't. Ya'll help from here. We'll be telepathically linked. Ya do as Chuck says."
Warren spoke up. "What about me, Logan?"
"Ya go to Jeannie and convince her to come hide in the mansion. I got a feelin' Malice's interested in her," Wolverine told him, seriously. "After she's safe, ya take the chopper and join us in Chicago."
"Don't you think I could be of more help than that?"
Logan growled. "Nothin's more important than that, flyboy."
Hellfire Club, New York.
"Selene, Selene, where are you?" Malice yelled as she ran across the Hellfire Club's corridors, her heart hammering against her ribcage.
"I'm here, child," the older woman's cold voice echoed through the hallways. She was lounging on a white leather armchair in front of the fireplace in the fancy living room, a glass of red wine in her left hand. "What are you doing here?"
"The X-Men… they've discovered me, Selene. But I have so much to tell you, my queen. You'll be pleased with my work," she told her opposite, no longer altered to her ghostly form.
"We'll see. Come, it's time to find the others," the Black Queen raised from the chair and headed for the conference room where the Inner Circle was about to reunite, the younger mutant following her closely.
Once inside the room, Selene sat at her usual place at Shaw's right side, while Malice stood behind her. Soon, the rest of the Inner Circle joined them.
"Who's this?" Pierce asked arrogantly. "As far as I'm concerned, servants aren't supposed to attend our meetings."
"This, dear White Bishop, is Malice, my eyes and ears inside the X-Men's headquarters. Thanks to her, the Hellfire Club was able to anticipate their moves and transfer our precious 'cure' to Chicago," she explained proudly, raising from her seat to slowly walk towards the end of the marble table and pour herself more wine.
"That was an excellent job, Selene. We are very grateful for that," the Black King complimented the brunette, to Emma Frost's displeasure. "You've saved us a lot of money."
"I have indeed," the Black Queen smiled coldly.
"Tell us what you have discovered while infiltrated among the X-Men, Malice," the White Queen asked.
"I, uh… I know they're going to attack the factory in Chicago… probably today," she told them, all eyes resting on her nervous face.
"We're prepared for that," Shaw said. "What else?"
"Their leader is the old man, Charles Xavier. He's a telepath."
"So, the famous Professor Charles Xavier is indeed a mutant, and the leader of the X-Men. I've read one or two of his books," Frost told them. "Can't say I was impressed."
Malice continued. "But the one who calls the shots is Logan… Wolverine. He's got three claws in each hand and a temper. Everybody's afraid of him, even his teammates."
"We already know about him and Gambit. Go on," Pierce ordered.
"There are two scientists… Beast and Forge. The first one -a big furry blue guy- has created some kind of antidote and given it to the whole team. It enables mutants to keep their powers. The 'cure' won't work on those idiots," Malice said, suddenly feeling more confident. "Now, both of them are trying to make a way to spread it over the country through the air. But so far they've only spent a lot of money and failed. Oh, and there's this one other guy… a rich blonde dude with wings. He's paying for everything."
"Rich? What's his name?" Leland questioned her, his interest suddenly raised.
"They call him Angel."
Emma rolled her eyes. "His real name, girl."
Malice looked down. "I, uh… I don't know. He's not usually around. I've only seen him a couple of times."
"Are you stupid? Why didn't you ask?" Pierce yelled, and she shuddered under his gaze.
"I-I'm sorry… I didn't realize it was important," she apologized, her solid hands trembling.
Leland interceded. "Who else's in the team?"
Malice told them everything she knew about the X-Men members, their real names, powers and personalities.
"Anyone else we should know about?" Shaw questioned next.
"Well… I've learned that Havok has a mutant brother who still has his powers. He hasn't taken the antidote yet, though. He's living in New York, in the same apartment where I attacked Lorna Dane last week," she explained and gave them the address. "Also, Wolverine has a girlfriend outside the team. She's about six or seven months pregnant with his baby," Malice told them, staring into the Black Queen's eyes. "Her name's Grey, Jean Grey. She's a doctor."
Selene approached the girl, standing right in front of her. "Is this Grey woman a mutant too?"
Malice tried to take a step back, but the older woman prevented her by fiercely cupping her chin. "I-I uh… I don't know… I've never seen her. She's not an X-Man, and Wolverine doesn't really talk much about her."
The black-haired woman raised a brow. "Where does she live?"
"In his flat, uh… in Salem Center… I-I couldn't… I couldn't get the address. He was becoming suspicious."
"This information is irrelevant," Frost stated, exasperated. "What about the X-Men's headquarters? Where's it?"
Malice turned her eyes to the blond woman. "It's in a private school in… in… in…" She tried to remember the mansion's address but couldn't.
"What's the matter with her?" Leland asked.
The White Queen raised from her seat and walked towards the girl. She placed both her hands beside Malice's head. "She can't remember. Someone removed this specific memory from her mind. I'm guessing it was Xavier."
"Damnit!" The Black King hit his fist against the table, making the ghost mutant shiver unintentionally. "This was the most important piece of information for us, girl. How could you fail at it?"
The room went silent. Emma Frost returned to her seat and Selene moved around Malice, slowing circling the younger mutant's neck with her fingers.
"Your work here is done, child," the Black Queen stated in a dark, velvet voice, tightening the grip around the girl's neck. Malice let out a choked yell as Selene drew the life force out of her, to the rest of the Inner Circle members' shock. After no more than thirty seconds, Malice's lifeless body fell to the ground.
The Black Queen sat in her chair again, not bothering to glance at the fresh corpse, and spoke to her audience. "That will teach the stupid child to complete her job."
Salem Center, New York.
It was already dark when Jean finally arrived home, only to find an impatient Warren Worthington pacing around the living room, wearing his X-Man uniform.
"Jean! Thank God you're alright! Where the hell have you been?" The blond man hugged her as if they hadn't seen each other for a lifetime.
"Hey, Warr. I was shopping for baby stuff," she answered, showing him the bags in her hands. "What are you doing here? Better yet, how did you manage to get inside?" She asked, walking into the living room to put the shopping bags over the coffee table and turn on the tv.
"You left the kitchen window open. I've being trying to reach you for more than an hour, Jean. Why haven't you picked up the phone?"
"Oh, it's dead. My cell phone decided to stop working this morning. Sorry about that," the redhead explained. "But I've just gotten myself a new one, see?" She pointed to a paper bag with an Apple logo in it. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Did something happen? And why are you wearing that outfit?"
"Logan sent me. He wants you to go to the School and stay there."
The woman went to the bathroom to wash her hands and face. Warren followed her. "Well, you can tell him I'm staying right here."
Angel sighed. "Jeannie, I don't have time to explain it. Just grab your stuff and let's get out of here. I'm needed somewhere else, urgently."
She left the bathroom and went back to the living room. "No, Warr, I'm not going anywhere. I'm sick of Logan's attitude. We've talked yesterday, for God's sake, and I've agreed to stay here, not to go to some high-tech superheroes' mansion."
"Jean, I really need to go. Please don't force me to just grab you and fly your pregnant ass out of the window."
The telepath studied her friend's face. He looked nervous. "Warren, why are you acting so strange?"
Suddenly, the television programming was interrupted to announce an especial news report.
"And now, broadcasting directly from Chicago, our correspondent Trish Tilby has some important information. Trish?"
"Thanks, Martha. I'm currently standing in front of Shaw Industries' complex, where the mutant renegades known as the X-Men have broken into one of the buildings."
Jean's eyes suddenly turned to the screen. She sat on the couch as the news went on.
"Chicago's Police has arrived a few minutes ago to assist the company's security staff. So far, the official information is that most of the mutants have escaped in some kind of stealth jet. However, the police commissioner has declared that the leader of the rebel operation, the mutant known as Wolverine, was successfully captured. We have some images of his arrest. Dear viewer, bear in mind that due to the high level of dangerousness of said offender, some degree of violence was used against him. The next scenes aren't to be viewed by the most sensitive audience."
As Tilby spoke, the tv showed Wolverine being shot and hit with electroshock tasers several times. His uniform was shredded to pieces, and there was blood coming out of his chest, abdomen, legs and mouth. At least four bullet holes could be seen in his forehead. He was crouched in a defensive position, panting heavily. His eyes were dark and filled with fury; his claws were out, clearly stained with blood and other body fluids. Jean was gazing intently at the screen, her heart racing and her mind numb. She could barely sense her mind trying to reach for Logan's. The next scene showed him covered in even more blood, dropping lifelessly to the ground. Six strong guards were struggling to carry his body away from the factory.
"Shit," Warren said, kneeling in front of the redhead and placing his hands over her shoulders. "Jean… Jean… talk to me. Are you okay?" Angel felt dumb to ask her such a question; it was evident that she wasn't okay. "Jeannie, talk to me… I need to know what you're feeling," he shook her shoulders lightly. However, the woman didn't respond, and Warren concluded that she was in a state of shock. "Shit," he said again and reached for the remote control to turn off the television. Suddenly, the woman flinched and a sob escaped her lips. Angel sat beside her on the couch and spoke firmly. "Come on, Jeannie, let's get you out of here." He put his left arm under her right shoulder to help her get up. As they tried to stand, her legs gave away, but Warren's hold on her was tight. Startled, he looked down. There was a round red stain on the couch, and some of the thick liquid was dripping to the wooden floor. He stared at Jean's khaki pants - she was bleeding heavily. "Oh no no no… Jean, look at me. Look at me! Are you in pain?" But the redhead only managed to stare back at him with empty green eyes.
For a moment, Angel nearly panicked. He knew he couldn't take his friend to a regular hospital - the doctors would test her blood and find out that she was a mutant. And if she survived, she would be arrested and given the 'cure', or worse. On the other hand, Jean needed immediate medical attention. Warren did the only thing he could think of and reached for the communicator on his uniform. "Beast, are you there? It's Angel. I have an emergency! Does anyone copy? I need to speak to McCoy now!" His voice sounded urgent. After about five seconds, Hank's coarse voice was heard through the communicator.
"Beast speaking. We find ourselves in the middle of a situation here as well, Angel. I'm currently in the Blackbird's med bay tending to Gambit's broken ribs. What do you need?"
He glanced at the woman again. Her face looked paler and her body felt limper in his arms. "I'm with Jean. She's bleeding and isn't responding to my commands... I think she may have gone into shock. I'm taking her to the mansion."
"Goddess!" Warren heard Storm's yell on the other end of the line. "That can't be happening. She's only 27 weeks pregnant!"
"Oh my stars and garters! Take her to the infirmary, Angel. We're on our way back to Westchester, our ETA is twenty minutes," Beast responded.
"You make it in ten, do you hear me?" Angel screamed into the communicator and turned it off. He then lifted the limp redhead in his arms and flew out of the window, living a trail of fresh red blood behind them.