Author's Note: Telepathy This chapter is rather graphic, so there's my warning. Got it? Good. Let's get on with it.

Chapter 3: Torture

I awoke the next morning to the door opening. Fred came in with a tray of food before leaving. I glanced around the room. Alex crept over to me as Rogue went to check out the food.

"Scott," Alex said, sitting next to me. "How are you doing?"

I smiled. "I'm doing okay." I put an arm around his shoulder. "How are you holding up?"

"I want to go back to the Institute," he told me.

"So do I," Rogue said, coming over with the food.

"What time is it, Alex?" I asked him.

"10:02," he replied with a smug smile. I laughed at his exactness.

"Have either of you tried telepathy with Professor?" I asked, seriously.

They both shook their heads, so I decided to try to contact him. I knew I had to warn him.

Professor.

Suddenly I got a horrible shock in my head. I clutched it and moaned in pain. Rogue and Alex just stared in confusion.

Sabretooth burst in. "Which one of you tried telepathy?" He knew the answer, so I wasn't sure why he even asked. Sabretooth grinned at me. "Do you really think we're that stupid? As soon as we let Charles get a reading, Magneto put up a magnetic shield to block all out going telepathy." He laughed and left.

I sighed, "Looks like we need a new plan. Any ideas?"

Silence fell over. I glanced at them before grabbing an apple. I could only think if Jean: the way she kissed, the way she smelled. Everything brought in painful thoughts.

"I can't believe I'm part of a trap," Rogue whispered, breaking me out of my trance.

"You're not alone, Rogue," I told her. "We are too."

She nodded. I bit into the apple. Then I set it down. There was no way I was going to eat with this going on. I went over to the door and listened for any conversations going on.

"Mystique," Lance whined.

"No," she replied. "I've watched him. If you kill the kid, there's nothing to keep Cyclops from running."

Lance sighed, "I guess you're right." The footsteps drew closer, so I turned and went back toward Alex and Rogue. I sat down against the wall behind them. No sooner, the door opened. I forced myself to look at Alex and Rogue, not the people coming in.

"So you're not going to eat either?" Mystique asked me.

I looked up at her, "No."

She sighed and came up to me, "Scott, you're just making this worse for yourself. It can be an easy experience if you let it."

I looked her dead in the eye. "Easy? Yeah, until you let Lance kill us."

Mystique never faltered. She reached out and pushed back my hair. I knew she was examining in the bruise. Then she let her fingers slide along one of the gashes on my face.

"Like I said," Mystique continued, "this can be easy."

With that she went back to the door. I noticed that Lance was standing there when Mystique began to talk to him in low tones. I looked back at Alex and Rogue. They had stopped eating to watch Mystique. I strained my ears to try to hear their words. Interrogation. Torture. Access. Jean.

Lance looked at me. I held his gaze.

"Come on, Scott," Mystique ordered. I stood up and went to her. The two of us left.

"What's Lance going to do to them?" I asked. I wondered why she kept switching from Cyclops to Scott, but didn't mention that part.

"Nothing," she told me, "if you cooperate."

"I doubt that," I muttered. Mystique said nothing, but lead me down the halls. I let her even though I knew that Alex and Rogue would get hurt. Mystique led me into an office. Magneto sat behind a desk. My breath got caught in my chest.

"Sit," Mystique ordered, pointing to a chair facing the desk. I sat. Mystique left us alone.

"Hello, Cyclops," Magneto greeted. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, sir," I told him, as politely as I could. "How are you?"

Magneto smiled, "You are very polite, but... Mystique said you've been a bit uncooperative in this operation of ours."

"In what way, sir?" I asked.

"You haven't been sleeping on your own," Magneto said. "I bet you haven't been eating either."

I looked him in the eyes, "It's not that I do it just to be uncooperative, sir. It's just that I can't do it."

Magneto nodded, "You don't feel safe here. I understand." I opened my mouth to speak, but shut it without a word. "It's your brother, isn't it?"

I paused, "Yes, sir."

"What's on your mind?" he asked, sitting back in his chair.

"Well, sir, I'm worried that Alex will be killed when Jean arrives," I told him. I was trying to be truthful for two reasons: I hoped he'd spare Alex and Jean and, believe it or not, I feared him.

"And why would that happen?"

"Alex is keeping me here, sir. When Jean arrives, you won't need them both here..." I trailed off.

Magneto stayed quiet, as if he was thinking. I glanced at his desktop. There were four metal rings sitting on it. They were opened and looked like restraints, only they were attached to anything. Then I understood.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Magneto stated. With a flick of his wrist, the clamps attached to me: one on each wrist and ankle. I was scared now, but I wasn't about to show it to him. That's what he intended.

What do you want?" I asked him boldly.

"The access codes to the Institute," Magneto said. "Once Charles gets here, we'll break in and teach at the Institute."

"What'll happen to us?"

"That hasn't been decided yet."

I swallowed. "Which codes?"

"All of them," he ordered. "Tell me all of the codes."

"I don't know them," I told him. It was a half-truth. I knew the ones to the Danger Room and the outdoor security system, but that was it.

"Bullshit," he stated, flipping his wrist. I flew out of the chair and hitting the wall with painful force. The metal clamps put my body at his control. "Tell me the codes!"

"The only one I know is to the cameras outside," I replied, "but you all ready know that one."

Magneto flipped me to the floor roughly. The impact was brutal on my ribs.

"Then how do you get in the front door?" he asked.

"The cameras recognize the students and the door opens for a positive ID."

"So," Magneto said, pushing me into the wall, "I'll have to drag your brother out there to get in there?"

"The security system will attack you even if it IDs Alex," I replied.

"Hmmm..." he thought, throwing me back on the floor. I coughed.

Suddenly Sabretooth came in. He walked up to Magneto and spoke to him in a low voice. I didn't even try to eavesdrop. I was in too much pain to even move. Then Sabretooth glanced at me and nodded. Magneto smiled as Sabretooth came up to me.

"The access codes," Sabretooth demanded.

"I don't know them!" I repeated.

Magneto pressed me into the wall. Sabretooth's claws tore into the flesh on my stomach. The pain was almost unbearable. I could feel the blood running down my body. Sabretooth held up his hands to show me his bloody claws.

"I ask again," Magneto said from his chair, "what are the access codes?"

"I don't know them!" I repeated.

Sabretooth dug his claws into my torso. I cried out unwillingly.

"I don't know any access codes," I told them.

"While that may be a possibility," Magneto said, "I doubt it." He flipped me to the floor.

After five more minutes of being tortured, Mystique came in. I tensed, because I assumed that she was going to attack me.

"We have company," she reported. "Blob will lead him back to the room."

At that, Fred came in. Magneto took off the clamps and Fred led me back to the white room, while the Brotherhood prepared for something. The journey back was painful, because it hurt to move and Fred kept me moving. After a long, painful trip, we ended up in the white room. Fred left with Lance, who was still there with Alex and Rogue. I glanced around the room.

Rogue lay unconscious on the floor. She was bruised badly, so I figured Lance beat her with some kind of pole or stick. Alex was sitting in the corner holding his right arm gently. I ran over to him.

"Alex," I said. "Oh, Alex. Are you okay?"

"Yeah— no," he replied. "He dislocated my shoulder. I popped it back in, but the pain is horrendous."

I nodded, "Just relax." I looked around the room for a possible sling. I spotted a pile of bandages and water bottles. "Where did those came from?"

"I don't know," Alex replied. I limped over to the pile. I took a rolled up cloth bandage and went back to Alex. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Friendly interrogation," I told him. "Only I got two bad cops."

Alex laughed, "We'll have to bandage you up next."

"I think Jean'll be able to help you with that," I told him, tying his arm into a makeshift sling.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, lifting up my blood stained shirt to look at the gashes.

I watched him examine them. "They left me alone, because someone came. Sabretooth didn't react, so I doubt it's Logan."

Alex pulled himself to his feet and went over to Rogue. I followed slowly.

"He used a baseball bat," Alex offered. I cringed at the thought. "Should we wake her?"

"No," I replied. "She's out of pain right now. She's escaped it."

"All right. Let's bandage you up."

"I'm fine, Alex." It was a lie. I was in a tremendous amount of pain and Alex knew it. I smiled, "Okay, let's do this."

I slid off my shirt. Alex gasped a little at the gashes and blood. I laid down as he got bandages and water. I drew in my breath sharply as the pain elevated.

"Scott?" Alex asked me. "Take it slow."

"My ribs are definitely bruised," I told him. "Plus my left leg..."

Alex rushed back over and pushed up my pant leg. There was a long gash down it. "I guess we'll fix that one first. It seems to be the worst one on you," Alex stated. I nodded.

Suddenly the door opened. Somehow Rogue was awakened with a star. In the doorway was Jean...

TBC