Chapter Eight

Raptor tapped the tiny microphone hidden in the clunky pendant hanging from a chain around her neck. She and Kurt were in the room Damien had assigned Raptor. Chantelle was guarding the door, still invisible. It was past midnight, long after their shift on security had ended, probably the only safe time to try and contact the mansion.

"Guys, you there?" she whispered. The receiver hidden in her left earring crackled and Jean's voice answered.

"Do you have anything we can use?"

"Yeah. Chantelle can show you how to get in here," Raptor said softly. "We found Scott, and we're pretty sure we know where the others are."

"Is Scott all right?" Jean asked.

Raptor hesitated before answering, "I won't lie to you, he's hurt. But not too badly. He'll be okay."

"What about the others?"

"From what we've heard, Solitaire and Remy were hurt, but I didn't get any details. Aura and Dreamer are both fine, and the Professor is okay too. Solitaire, Remy and Aura are together, but I'm not so sure about Dreamer and the Professor. I think they're separate," Raptor said. "There's a problem though. Damien made a deal with Sinister. I don't know any details, but basically Sinister gets Aura, Remy and Solitaire in return for Dreamer, and some other stuff that they were talking about. You guys better hurry to get here."

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Jean promised. "We've got more help, too. A guy Aura knows came to the mansion. You'll meet him when we come."

"I gotta go, Jean. It's not safe talking like this."

"Leave the microphone on. That way we'll be able to know what's happening."

"Okay. See ya soon."

Raptor looked up at Kurt. "They're on their way. Shouldn't be too long, I don't think. Jean says some guy who knows Aura volunteered to help, so there'll be one more than usual."

"I think we should try to find Dreamer and the Professor," Kurt said. "We have a pretty good idea where Aura, Remy and Solitaire are, but Dreamer and the Professor could be on Venus for all we know."

"We're supposed to be sleeping," Raptor said. "What excuse would we use if someone found us?"

"Maybe you won't be seen," Chantelle said. They couldn't tell where she was because she was still invisible, so her voice seemed to be coming from nowhere. "I can make other people invisible if they're close enough, and if I don't have to do it for too long. I would have made you two invisible from the beginning but then it might have taken longer for us to find this place, and I wouldn't have been able to keep it up long enough for us to do recon."

"How long can you keep it up?" Kurt asked.

Chantelle replied, "a few hours. Three or four, maybe five. But we wouldn't be gone that long. Just lock your door so they'll think you're… well, you know. Making babies."

Raptor wrinkled her nose. "Gross. No offense, Kurt, but that's… gross. I don't need to be thinking about that, Chantelle."

"Verzeihen sie. I'll extend the invisibility over you two. You should be able to see each other, and me, once we're all in the field." [I'm sorry]

Chantelle blinked into view. Her hair was still streaked with yellow, but she seemed to be fairly confident. "Let's go."

They left Raptor's room, locking the door behind them. Raptor said, "I think they might be somewhere near Scott, but I'm not sure. I couldn't exactly ask where they are."

"You still have to speak quietly," Chantelle cautioned. "Being invisible doesn't make us inaudible."

@ @ @

Sabrina sat at Damien's desk, fiddling with her hair as she waited for him. A few minutes passed before the door opened and he walked in.

"Good evening, Sabrina. Is there something I can do for you?" he asked. She looked up and frowned. He looked like hell. His skin was grey-tinged, like a corpse, and his cheeks were hollow and gaunt. His dark eyes burned like coals above protruding cheekbones and his dark hair fell into his eyes as he slumped at the desk.

"Are… are you all right?" Sabrina asked, shocked.

Damien nodded. "I will be. Using my power can take a lot out of me if I'm not careful. There was a situation with the Professor. I must admit, his stubbornness is impressive. He still refuses to do what we want, despite the suffering our friend Daniel is going through. Though he can be quite violent when he wants to be."

"He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No. Not permanently, anyway. I'll recover," Damien said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Sabrina frowned. "No offense, but you look like death warmed up. Maybe you shouldn't go ahead with this."

"Sabrina, you of all people should know how important the next stages of our plans are," Damien told her, looking up. "If we don't unlock the powers buried in our friends' minds, all this will have been for nothing."

"You don't intend on honouring your deal with Sinister, then?" Sabrina asked.

Damien frowned. "Of course I am, Sabrina. But there were several conditions to our deal. One of which was that Aura, Remy and Solitaire would remain here until I have unlocked their hidden powers. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to tell him as soon as we unlock their powers. It may… take a while."

Realisation dawned on Sabrina. "So you're going to unlock their powers, do… something, then hand them over to Sinister?"

"Perhaps. Then again, I may unlock their powers, do something, as you put it, and then kill Sinister using them. A rather fitting end for such a man, don't you think?"

Sabrina smiled. "Yes. I never did like him. He gave me the creeps."

Damien sighed and massaged the back of his neck. "Remind me to have the karamantium cuffs around next time I try to make a telepath do something he doesn't want to do," he said.

Sabrina frowned. "He did hurt you, didn't he?"

"Mildly," Damien admitted. "More than I'd have expected, considering all the factors. But it won't take long for me to recover. And the good Professor will do what we ask unless he wants to see Scott Summers and Daniel Whitlock suffering further because of him."

Sabrina stood up. "You should get some sleep, Damien. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better after you've slept for a while."

Damien smiled tiredly. "Kylie told me the same thing when I met her in the hall," he said. "Why is it only you two and Adam never annoy me?"

"Because we're like you, Damien. We believe in what we're doing."

"I know. You've been the best additions to my ranks in a long time. Tell me, how are the newest mutants? Tori and… Zen, was it? I never can remember that name."

"They seem to be settling in well," Sabrina replied. "Tori is very defensive of herself, and Zen seems to be a very private person, but we've seen that before. They seem to genuinely want to help us, which is a rare thing sometimes, especially for an operation of this magnitude."

"They seemed troubled when I met them," Damien said.

Sabrina nodded. "They're runaways, Damien, with no family, no support. I'd say all they had was each other."

@ @ @

Jean glanced around the jet, smiling to herself despite the severity of the situation. Logan had once again claimed the pilot position, and Storm was sitting next to him. Those two had an on-again, off-again relationship, and lately it was definitely on-again. Storm's hand was on Logan's arm and, remarkably, he wasn't saying anything scathing about it.

Kitty and Jubilee were talking softly. Kitty looked a little uncomfortable, but that was probably because she was wearing tight leather with Bobby in the same room. He wasn't making any lewd remarks about it, which pleased Jean but didn't really surprise her. Since he'd started going out with Raptor he'd been a lot less… attentive to other girls.

Warren was sitting apart from the others, his huge wings sweeping the roof of the jet, deep in thought. Jean was a little intrigued by him, truth be told. She knew that he was the heir to Worthington Enterprises, which made him a very rich young man, but he was going out with a runaway living in a school for mutants. But then, he didn't exactly look like the stereotypical rich kid. From his light blue skin to the white wings to his easy-going manner, he seemed just like a normal mutant. The others certainly trusted him, even though they'd only known him for a few hours.

Rogue was sitting by the window, gazing out blankly. She was worried about Remy, you didn't have to be a telepath to see that. But then, everyone in the jet had someone to be worried about, even Logan and Storm. Going into battle was always nerve-wracking, and Jean worried every time she and Scott were separated while fighting. It was worse now, not knowing how badly hurt he was, and having to worry about her baby. It didn't show yet, but soon enough it would be fairly obvious that she was pregnant. Once that time came, the Professor had told her it would be best if she stepped down from active duty as an X-Man until after the baby was born.

Jean smiled, a little sadly. Only two weeks ago she and Scott had been talking about what to name the baby. They didn't know whether it was going to be a boy or a girl, since they'd opted to wait until it was born. They'd told the students not long after the wedding, and ever since then Jean had been bombarded with names for the baby. The students had told Scott several options, though he'd mainly gotten the silly names.

Like 'The Hulk', a name suggested by Bobby. Or 'Cougar', that one from Raptor.

"We're almost there," Logan said suddenly. "Everyone ready?"

"No," Kitty said. "But we kinda have to be, don't we? So I guess we're ready."

Logan was still puzzling over that logic as he landed the jet in a field. Jean picked up the transmitter they'd been using to talk to Raptor and said, "we're just outside the town, Raptor. Where to now?"

"Okay, there's a church near the supermarket," Raptor answered via the radio link, her voice sounding worried. "Go there."

"This looks so weird," Jubilee muttered as they walked through the dark streets to the church. Then she grinned at Warren. "At least we have a cover story. If anyone catches us here so late we'll just say you're an angel. Angels have the right to be in a church."

Jean smiled at Jubilee's reasoning and asked, "now where?"

"The fourth… no, fifth pew from the back, on the right side. There's a hidden trapdoor. It pulls up, and then you go down into the facility. Be careful, though. There are more guards than there were last time. That's what Chantelle says, anyway…"

Jean relayed this information to the others. Logan went to the place and yanked the trapdoor up so hard the hinges squealed in protest. He let his claws slide out with a snikt and said, "let's get going."

They headed down the metal stairs, trying not to make too much noise. Boots on metal are never quiet, though. Their footsteps echoed with clanking noises as they descended.

There were two guards standing at an electronically-locked door. Logan walked up behind them and smashed their heads into the wall. They crumpled to the floor without a sound.

Kitty phased her hand through the lock. It spat sparks and the door slid open with a sick-sounding hiss.

There weren't that many guards right inside. "They probably figure the two at the door can take care of any uninvited guests," Kitty whispered. "I guess they didn't figure for an invasion of the X-Men."

@ @ @

Xavier glared at Damien. The younger man laughed and said, "you can resist all you want, Professor, but I'm afraid Scott Summers and Daniel Whitlock aren't doing too well right now. And they know why."

"They'd rather die than see someone like you gain enough power to control all of humanity," Xavier said calmly. ((He wouldn't kill them. They're too valuable to him. I've seen that much already.))

Damien picked up his cell phone and pressed a button. "Lukas, Dusk, bring in Summers and Whitlock. I want the Professor to see something."

A door at the end of the room swished open and the two large, muscular mutants entered, dragging Scott and Dreamer between them. Scott wasn't wearing his visor, and the white karamantium cuffs were locked around both their wrists. Their clothes had scorch marks, as though they'd been hit by an electrical current, Scott's face was covered with bruises and blood was trickling from the corners of Dreamer's mouth.

Damien smiled. "You see? If you don't want this for the rest of your students that we have here, you'll do as we say."

"I won't allow you to gain that much power," Xavier said, trying not to look at Scott or Dreamer. Scott smiled weakly and said, "don't give up, Professor… it's not worth it…"

Damien snapped his fingers at Dusk and Lukas. "Leave them both here for a while. Maybe when we come back the good Professor will be ready to help us. If not, we'll kill Summers or Whitlock. You can choose."

Am I the only one who hates Damien?

Anyway, in Chapter Nine, the X-Men attack the base. Kick ass on some mutants. Get hurt. You get the idea.