The man took Star to a small kitchenette and seated her at the table. He opened a can of soup and heated it for her. She sipped it cautiously, wanting to gulp it, but knowing that it would only make her sick, and she needed the nourishment too badly. When she had finished, the man watching impatiently, she put the cup on the table and he stepped forward and helped her to stand. He took her to a large shower room and told her to strip.
"I am capable of bathing myself," she said.
"Sorry, lady. Just following orders. Boss man said I was to keep an eye on you, and that is exactly what I'm going to do. Now get out of those clothes, or would you rather I did it for you?" Lifting her head, Star peeled out of her soiled clothing and stepped up to the shower controls. She adjusted the water and stepped into the stream. The man crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, watching her. She stayed in the water as long as she dared, her parched body absorbing the moisture through her skin, as well as through the damp air she breathed in. When she shut the water off, the man tossed her a towel, and had a clean shirt ready for her. As small as she was, it was quite long enough to cover her body and she put it on quickly.
"Come on," he said when she had finished dressing and she followed him back into the corridor. He took her back to Matthew's cubicle and, opening the door, gestured for her to enter. She stepped inside and heard the door close behind her. The boy looked up at her, but made no other move.
"Hello, Matthew," she said. "My name is Star." The boy watched her silently. "May I sit down?" she asked, placing one hand on the back of the chair. His eyes flicked from her face, to the chair, and back again. She took it as an invitation and sat down. He watched her without blinking.
"I grew up in a room almost exactly like this, Matthew, so I know a little about what it must be like for you." He just looked at her. Star sighed and the boy echoed her.
He felt the woman returning and watched as the door opened and she entered. He felt her heart leap when the door closed behind her, though she was scarcely aware of it herself. She spoke to him for a moment and he found he had to pay careful attention to her because her mind voice was so quiet. She leaned on the back of his chair and he could sense her weariness. Why didn't she just sit down? That's what the others did when they came to bury him with their thoughts. When he looked at the chair, she smiled at him and sat down. She continued to speak to him and he caught glimpses of another child in another room. She sighed and he sighed with her as he realized that he was seeing her memories, that she was the child in the room. He got up and walked over to her. She looked up at him and he realized that she was much smaller than any of the other people he had seen. He was easily as tall as she, and he was far from grown. He put his hand on her shoulder and they both shuddered from her remembered pain. He cried out and snatched his hand away. She slumped in the chair, leaning heavily on the table. When she looked up at him, he backed away from her, until he ran into the wall behind him.
When he touched her, her fatigue weakened shields crumbled and the boy was bombarded by her memories. Unfortunately, the clearest memories were of the pain she had endured, first during her time as a lab animal, then later with the X-Men. The electric shocks when the Doctor was dissatisfied with her progress, the terror and aloneness of the sensory deprivation chamber; Wolverine's anger as he stood over her, with his claws extended; the men at the mall; the flight from the courtroom; Wolverine again, as she lay, broken and bloodied, in the woods by the mansion; Sabretooth's claws on her back; the Reaver's crushing weight as he raped her, and on and on. The boy screamed and backed away from her. She forced her shields back into place, then turned to try and comfort the terrified child.
His eyes widened as her mental presence faded completely. He cowered against the wall as she approached him. When she touched him, he nearly screamed again, but all the contact brought was a gentle awareness. And he realized that she had built a wall around her mind to protect him. If he concentrated, he could understand what she wanted. She was so quiet!
"Matthew, its all right. I'm sorry, son. Its OK. I won't let it happen again, I promise." He flinched when she touched him, then relaxed imperceptibly. He looked up into her face, his blue eyes flickering from one of her silver flecked blue eyes to the other, then he threw his arms around her neck and clung to her.
He was astonished to find that she genuinely cared about him, that she wanted to comfort him. He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She held him and he felt protected, loved for the first time in his very short life.
"Mama?" he said hesitantly, mumbling into her hair.
"Yes, darling. You can call me Mama," she answered quietly.
Sinister watched them on the monitor, smiling tightly. Already the boy responded to her. The only difficulty he could foresee would come when she was no longer necessary, and he had to separate them. Well, he would just deal with that when the time came.
Wolverine would not accept the thought that Star might never be returned to him. He continued to search long after the others had lost heart. He could not give up, even though there had been no sign of Star or Sinister in the long weeks since her disappearance.
Star's pregnancy became more obvious as the weeks passed. Matthew sat down next to her, and placed his hand on her abdomen.
"Baby?" he asked. He rarely spoke to anyone other than Star, and he always used the fewest words possible. Star looked up at him, for he was now taller than she, and smiled.
"Yes, Matthew."
"Thought so. Can hear."
"You can hear the baby?" Matthew nodded, then looked puzzled.
"How?"
"How can you hear the baby?"
"No. How baby?"
"Ah, I understand." Star smiled at him, then, remembering what she'd read about the technical portion of human reproduction, and embellished with her own feelings towards her child's father, she began to explain.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes." He frowned. "Who Logan?"
"'Who is Logan'. Please, Matthew, other people will have difficulty understanding you if you don't vocalize the entire sentence."
"'kay. Who is Logan." Star smiled at him again, sadly this time.
"Logan is my husband. I love him very much, and I miss him."
"I be husband. You love me."
"I do love you, Matthew. But I loved Logan first, and in a different way."
"Logan father?"
"Yes."
"You go back?"
"Please, Matthew." Matthew sighed, and began again.
"Do you want to go back?"
"Yes. I'm certain that he is terribly worried about me."
"Tell him you are okay."
"I can't, Matthew. I no longer have the ability to speak to him with my mind."
"Why not?"
"I ... tried too hard, and hurt myself. That's why we are being so careful with you, why you must practice so much."
"I can hear you."
"Yes, you can. But that is because of your powers, not mine." Matthew did not look satisfied, but he did not ask any further questions.
Sinister smiled as he watched the little drama unfold on the screen. He'd done extensive testing while Star was unconscious when he'd brought her here. And Matthew had told him more after the two mutants had touched minds and the boy had begun to speak. He could use the information he'd gathered to insure that she didn't try to escape. He'd seen her watching his guards and knew what she had in mind.
When Star was returned to her room, as always under guard, Sinister was waiting for her. She watched him cautiously, waiting.
"You know, you should not lie to the child. Eventually, he will find you out."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your child. You told him Logan was the father."
"Logan is the father, Sinister. I don't know what you hope to gain by..."
"Sure of that, are you?"
"Yes."
"There is no chance that someone else could be responsible?"
"None."
"Hmmm." He looked at her where she stood by the door, her small hands fisted at her sides. "That's very strange. I did a complete genetic profile on you, and your child, when you first ... arrived here. Yours checked against the file I already had on you, and the child's is very interesting." He got up a moved toward her. "I decided to check it against some of the other files I have. I like to keep track of who is related to whom. I have Logan in my files. And certain of the Reavers." He was gratified to see her pale. He reached out and stroked her cheek. "What do you suppose I found?" He laughed. "You might as well make yourself comfortable here, my dear. Do you truly believe that he would welcome you back, with another man's child growing in your belly?"
"He ... he would ..."
"Let me guess," he interrupted. "He wouldn't care, he would love you anyway, and would love your child as if it were his own. And every time he looked at its face, he would see the face of his enemy. How long do you think he would stay with you then?" He laughed again, and stepped past her through the open door. He closed it behind him and locked it. He returned to his observation room, and turned on the monitor in her room. She was still standing at the door, and he smiled as a single tear slipped down her cheek.
The next morning, Star was returned to Matthew's room. He could tell that she was upset, but she refused to tell him what was wrong.
"I'll be all right, Matthew," she said. But she kept her mind tightly closed. Finally, he could stand it no longer. He put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and her smile wavered when she met his eyes.
"Matth..." she began when he reached inside her mind and shut her shields off. But he went too deep. He was left with an impression of momentary terror, and then there was nothing. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. He stared at her, stunned, then knelt beside her and shook her shoulder.
"Mama?" She didn't move. "Mama?!?" The door opened and a guard entered. The man bent over Star for a moment, then smiled at Matthew.
"She'll be OK, son. Just let me take her back to her room now." Matthew watched, frightened, as the guard picked Star up and carried her from the room. His smile hadn't reached his eyes, and his thoughts were frightened, but not for Star. He was frightened of Matthew. Star remained completely silent. Then he could hear Sinister giving orders. He "tapped" into one of the guards, as Star had shown him, and he could see the room.
Sinister studied a read out, frowning.
"What did he do to her, sir?" someone asked.
"Quiet, you idiot." He looked up from the display and stared at Star. He smiled coldly. "He's shut off her mind." He walked over to Star and tapped her on the forehead. "There are no brain functions above the bare minimum necessary to keep her alive. Magnificent!" He laughed and the sound chilled Matthew to the bone. He broke the link and sat, huddled and miserable, alone in his cage.
"What do we do with the girl, sir?" one of the technicians asked.
"Monitor her. If her condition changes, contact me. I want to know if this alteration is permanent." He continued to smile as he left the room, and returned to his observation chamber. He watched the boy. This project was turning out quite well. The intercom beeped.
"Yes?"
"Her temperature is rising, sir."
"Significantly?"
"Yes, sir. Its up four degrees, and the rate of increase is accelerating."
"Interesting. Keep me apprised."
"Yes, sir."
Several hours later, during which time Matthew didn't move, Sinister decided to check on Star's progress.
"Her temperature stabilized at one hundred and nine, sir. Her metabolism is racing. Shall we begin intravenous feeding?"
"I suppose that would be best." He was almost disappointed that the boy hadn't killed her outright. Ah, well. It would all work out.
Matthew kept his eyes tightly closed. He knew Star was still alive. He'd tapped into the guard again, hoping she was better. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew he couldn't fix it if he couldn't get to her. He thought about her "husband". He didn't like him, simply because he was a rival for her affection, but perhaps he could help. He thought about the mind picture he'd seen in Star's thoughts, about the way the man's mind felt to her. And he reached.
"Logan," it was the faintest of whispers, but it was enough to stop him in his tracks. Jubilee ran into him.
"Hey, what gives?"
"Quiet, darlin'."
"Logan!" it came again, a little stronger this time. "Can you hear me?"
"I hear ya, bub. Who are ya, an' what're ya doin' in my head?"
"Wolvie?"
"Turn this thing off an' get Jeannie for me."
"Uh, right. End program!" Jubilee called as she headed for the intercom revealed as the holograms faded.
"Logan?"
"I'm here, kid."
"Mama ... Star ... needs you."
"Star? Where is she?"
"Here. I hurt her. I didn't mean to. She needs you."
"Logan?"
"Jeannie! There's a kid in my head. He says Star's with him. Can you find him?"
"I will try."
"Logan?"
"I got a friend with me, kid. Can you show her where ya are?"
"I don't know."
"Jeannie?"
"Hello."
"Mama remembers you," the youthful voice said after a pause. "Can you follow me? Mama needs help."
"I believe so. What is your name?"
"Matthew. You need to hurry. You're too far," the voice, faint to begin with, began to fade. "Hurry!"
"Matthew?" There was no response.
"Did ya get him, Jeannie?"
"Yes."
"Let's go!"
Matthew looked up when Sinister entered his room.
"I want Mama."
"I'm sorry, son. She can't come see you right now," his voice was sincere, but Matthew could see beyond the surface.
"I can make her better."
"Can you? Well, it might be interesting to let you try. Come." The boy, preceding him down the hall, was nearly as tall as he was. Sinister smiled. The boy was certainly well grown, and should be coming into his full powers soon. Star had trained him well, but she had outlasted her usefulness. He would have to arrange an accident for her, then be available to comfort the boy, to transfer the child's feelings of affection to himself. He would have a powerful tool in this mutant.
Star's face was flushed, her hair was plastered to her skull. Matthew looked at her for a moment, feeling the awful blankness where she should have been. He touched her arm and reached again. She was almost as hard to find as her "husband" had been, but he did it. He found her and brought her back. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Matthew."
"Hello, Mama." She smiled at him, then looked around. A frown flickered across her forehead and she quickly put a hand on her swollen abdomen. Matthew covered her hand with his own.
"Baby s'OK, Mama," he said, reverting to the short speech she'd worked so hard to teach him not to use. She sighed and closed her eyes in relief. He frowned at her belly. He didn't want to share her with anyone. He was suddenly sorry he'd called her husband.
The X-Men quickly boarded the Blackbird and took off. Following Jean's directions, they moved silently across the country, toward Star and the mysterious Matthew.
Star got shakily to her feet as Matthew watched her anxiously. She smiled at him and he beamed back.
"Can we go back to my lessons now?"
"Perhaps you should allow her to ... rest," Sinister interrupted before Star could answer. Matthew glowered at him.
"Its all right, Matthew," Star said. "I do need to rest for a bit. I'll see you later."
"OK, Mama," the boy answered sullenly. Sinister took him back to his room, while other guards delivered Star to her cell. She stretched out on her bed, and thought about what Matthew had done. If he had not ... recovered ... her mind, she would never have awakened. She put one hand on her belly, feeling the child within stir. She was noticeably further along in her pregnancy than she'd been that morning. Perhaps the normal progress was due to her healing abilities, whether she had been aware of using her powers or not. She closed her eyes with a sigh.
"Well, Matthew," Sinister began. "I guess you can see, now, that her new child is more important to her than you are, can't you?" Matthew looked up a Sinister from where he sat on his bed. "It will be born soon. And then she won't have any time for you at all." He walked around the room, pretending to examine the items he found scattered about. "Is that fair?"
"No."
"Not fair at all. After all, you are her child as well. But did she take care of you while you were waiting to be born?" Matthew's mouth dropped open and he stared at Sinister. "Oh, didn't she ever tell you? My, my. How thoughtless of her." He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Yes, indeed. You are her first born. Her eldest. But I had to intervene just to keep you alive. She and your father, not to mention the rest of the X-Men, had written you off. Why," he continued, "they even held a funeral. If I hadn't come along, you'd have died, alone in that nasty little box they'd buried you in."
"Why would they do that?" Matthew asked, his voice shaking. "Why would she do that?"
"Do you truly want to know?" The boy nodded. "Let me show you, then." He moved to the small desk, and typed a command on the keyboard. A picture formed on the screen. "Come here, boy. Let me show you what your beloved 'Mama' allowed you to develop into." Matthew looked at the picture.
"What is that?"
"That was you, dear boy. Until I took you away from your loving parents. It only took a few minor adjustments to your genetic structure to allow you to develop normally, into the fine young man you are now.
"What about..."
"The new child?" Sinister interrupted. "She's guiding its development with her healing powers. Something she could have done for you, had she so chosen."
"But she said she loved me."
"I see. You poor child. You probably believed her, too. Well, as you grow older, you will learn that people, women especially, will say whatever you want to hear, when it is to their benefit." Matthew looked stricken. Sinister smiled, his back to the boy, knowing that this battle was won. When he turned to face him, his face was suitably sympathetic.
"But how could she lie? I could hear her thoughts."
"Star is a very powerful telepath, Matthew. You could only hear what she allowed you to hear." Matthew swallowed his other objections. It was clear that she had lied to him. She'd been more skillful that the others, but she was not true friend. Sinister smiled down at him, and if his smile held no genuine warmth, at least he had never pretended to be his friend.
Star awoke with a start. There was an odd howling which took her a moment to identify as an alarm. She got up and moved quickly to the door. Matthew would probably be frightened by the confusion an alarm would create, and she wanted to be with him. It did not occur to her that she was the ultimate cause of the alarm. She banged on the door, but no one answered her. She pushed, but it didn't budge. She heard the sound of running feet and pushed harder. Her eyes, suddenly silver, were determined. She shoved harder and the door moved outward a fraction. She leaned into it, and the door flew open. She stepped out into the hall, but no one was visible. She hurried in the direction of Matthew's room, and now she could hear sounds of fighting. She reached his room. The door was standing open. Within, she could see Sinister, standing behind Matthew, with one hand on the boy's shoulder. The air around them began to flicker. Star realized that this must be the teleportation field she'd heard mentioned. She stepped quickly forward into the field. She had to stop him from taking Matthew. Sinister moved in front of Matthew as the field grew stronger. He raised his hand to strike her, but she ducked under the blow and reached the boy. Reality itself seemed to come apart around them. Matthew jerked away from her, and glared down at her with hate filled eyes. She recoiled, and Sinister laughed.
"Push her away, boy! Rid yourself of her lying hand once and for all!" Matthew continued to glare, and she saw his eyes go silver even as she felt herself falling backwards, out of the field. She screamed as she felt herself being torn apart, then there was nothing but darkness.
"Dis da place, mon amie?" the tall Cajun asked.
"Yeah," Wolverine snarled. "She was here just a minute ago, an' her trail don't leave this room." He growled in frustration. "She was just here!"
"Wolvie?"
"She's gone, Jubilee. For weeks, we don't hear nothin'! We finally got a lead, an' she's gone!" He stormed from the room, perhaps hoping to find one of Sinister's men who could tell him where Star had been taken this time. Jubilee followed him.
Jean entered, followed by Rogue.
"She gone again, Cheries," Gambit said in answer to the unasked question. They could hear Wolverine snarling with rage in the distance.
When the world finally resolved itself around her, Star found herself lying on the rocky shore of a large body of water. She was damp from the spray, and when she licked her lips she tasted salt. She got slowly to her feet, for she could not shake the absurd feeling that if she moved too quickly, she would break apart. She didn't know where she was or, for that matter, who she was. She was wet and cold, and the child within her was frighteningly still. She climbed laboriously to the top of the steep slope which followed the edge of the water for as far as she could see. When she reached the top she was relieved to see a road and, in the distance, a small building. She walked slowly to the road and began to follow it carefully toward the building, which remained dark in the gathering gloom, and she felt her hope of shelter fade. When she reached the building, she saw a large sign which read "Closed" hanging in the door. She tried it anyway, but was unsurprised to find it locked. She leaned against the door for a minute or two, trying to sort her scrambled thoughts. It didn't help, everything insisted on remaining fuzzy. She turned at last and began to walk down the road. She continued in the direction she had started simply because to retrace her steps seemed an odd sort of defeat.