Chapter 6: Questions

Magneto stood in the open doorway. He stepped in and shut the door behind him. He had a sack in his left hand.

"Everyone stand up," he ordered. We obeyed rather reluctantly. Logan was the most reluctant, but Alex was the slowest because of his shoulder injury. Logan pushed Rogue behind him. I moved in front of Jean and Alex. I didn't have a clue toward what was going on, but I wasn't going to let anyone get hurt. I knew Logan felt the same way I did.

"What do you want, bub?" Logan demanded, knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer.

I glanced at the sack. Magneto smirked and shook it. "You know what these are, don't you, Cyclops?"

My breath stopped halfway in. I did know what was in it. Fear swept over me, but so did the need to protect the others.

What is it, Scott? Jean asked me.

"You still want those codes, don't you?" I asked Magneto.

He smiled, "You catch on quickly." I was right. Wolverine stepped forward and extracted his claws with a loud metallic SHINK!

"Must I remind you that your body is full of metal?" Magneto asked.

Then Sabretooth came into the room. I tensed; so did Alex. They were definitely going to start something. Magneto set the sack down on the floor and told me, "I won't open it if I don't have to."

I glanced at Jean. Tell Logan what's happening.

She gave a little smile before using telepathy with Logan. I could tell she was doing it, but wondered whether Magneto knew it or not.

"You won't get any access codes from me," Logan stated.

"We'll see about that," Magneto replied, snapping his fingers. Sabretooth took a step toward Logan. They started circling around slowly. I glanced over at Magneto. He was watching something intently. I followed his gaze to Rogue. Realization clicked. I looked at my brother. Alex was on his toes, ready to tackle Rogue out of the way. I locked eyes with him and pointed to my right arm. Alex looked at his arm as I'd signaled. He looked at the sling I'd made. He knew what I trying to tell him, so he nodded.

Suddenly Sabretooth let out a low growl. Instinctively, my right hand shot up to my sunglasses. I saw that Sabretooth had all ready passed Rogue once and was coming around again.

"Don't shoot, Cyclops," Magneto said, opening the sack.

I let my hand fall to my side. I could tell now that Sabretooth was definitely going to grab Rogue this time around. Without a second thought, I tackled Rogue flat just as Sabretooth made his move. As we hit the floor, I feared that her powers would activate, but it didn't.

Sabretooth let out another growl.

"You're asking for it," Magneto warned me. "Just move back over to your brother and we'll forget about this, okay?"

I climbed to my feet; so did Rogue. I moved in front of her and held my ground. Sabretooth advanced on us. Logan stood in a slight daze. Sabretooth stopped in front of us.

"So," I took the offense, "you're going to use a girl to get you what you want?"

"Not just a girl," Magneto said, dropping the sack, "one of the X-men." Four clamps rolled out of the sack.

By now, Logan was out of his daze and had realized what was going on. He came up to Sabretooth for a fight. Magneto flipped his wrist and sent Logan flying into one of the walls.

Rogue tensed as Magneto addressed us all, "This is your last chance X-men. Tell me the access cades codes to the Institute now. This is your last chance before things have to get ugly." Magneto pulled three more clamps out of his sack.

I tensed as Sabretooth set his claws on my face. "You know how sharp these things are," he hissed.

Magneto twirled his finger. The seven clamps began to spin in a circle in the air. Then Magneto pushed his hand out and the clamps attached themselves to Alex and Jean. Jean had one on each wrist and ankle. Alex had three, excluding his injured arm. Magneto kept his hand flexed t keep them pinned to the wall. I looked from them to Magneto and tried desperately to control myself.

Suddenly the door opened again. Lance and Pietro entered. I felt myself began to panic. I glanced over at Logan only to see him staggering to his feet. Lance walked straight over to Jean. Pietro moved over to Alex. My fear level raised a couple notches.

"Here's the way it's going down," Magneto stated, flipping Logan back into the wall with his free hand. "Wolverine is going to tell us the access codes or Rogue will get hurt. It's that simple."

Sabretooth took a step back from me. I glanced at Jean, who was unsuccessfully jerking at her clamps.

Tell Logan to say that he only knows the one to the cameras. I sent Jean my idea.

A moment later, Logan spoke, "I'll tell you the only one I know. The security cameras are 67093."

"Bullshit," Magneto stated. Pietro ran up to me and twisted my arms up behind my back. I didn't even expect it. I pulled against his grip, but only received a sharp pain throughout my body. With me out of the way, Sabretooth advanced on Rogue.

"Leave her alone," Logan pleaded.

"Tell me the access codes," Magneto ordered as Sabretooth carefully rendered Rogue defenseless.

"I don't know any," Logan lied just as I had done the day before.

Jean's voice cut through the air, "Lance, touch me again and I swear that I will kick your ass as soon as I'm free."

No one had ever heard Jean cuss before, so silence fell over for a moment. I glanced up at her. She was clearly mad at Lance. Lance gave Magneto a sheepish look before moving over to Alex.

Pietro gave a rough jerk on my left arm. "She's quite a girl, eh?"

I said nothing to him. Logan was now walking toward Magneto very cautiously. "I don't want any trouble, but I don't know any codes." His self-control was very uncharacteristic.

Logan and Magneto started to discuss something. I tuned them out, so I could hear Lance's threats to Alex. Alex just stared ahead and took everything Lance dished out. Lance didn't like this. I knew that and I knew what was to come next.

As I'd known, Lance threw a punch, a right hook to be exact. It hit Alex in the jaw with a sickening crack. Both of our heads snapped to the side: Alex's from contact and mine from the emotional damage. Pietro laughed at my reaction.

"Let's go," Magneto ordered sharply. I looked at him to see what had been decided.

Sabretooth threw Rogue to the floor. Then he grabbed Logan and twisted his arms behind his back. Magneto, Logan, and Sabretooth headed toward the door. At the edge of the door, Logan shot me a look that read as protect- my-girl. I nodded to show that I understood and they left.

Immediately Alex and Jean fell to the floor as the magnetism gave out. Alex didn't get back up.

"Alex," I called out.

Jean and Rogue were both on their feet and to Alex before Lance could even move. Pietro tightened his grip on my arms as Jean rolled Alex on his back. Lance started to move toward them. Without looking up from Alex, Jean flipped Lance into the opposite wall with her telekinesis.

"Jean?" I inquired about Alex. Pietro grip never loosened. If anything, it continued to tighten.

"He's unconscious," Jean reported. "My guess is that his arm broke from the fall and he passed out from the pain."

"His arm's broken?" Rogue asked.

Jean merely nodded in sadness. I jerked against Pietro's grip, but it didn't do any good. Lance came stumbling over to us. He was obviously angry. Lance came up to Pietro and me.

"What's the game plan?" Pietro asked.

"Do we have all of the information Magneto wanted?" Lance returned.

"Real names, code names, and mutant powers."

Lance nodded. "We know it all, so I'm ready to have some fun."

Pietro nodded. Lance pulled out a piece of plastic cording and tied my wrists together behind my back. The cord was almost cutting into my skin. They set me by one of the walls, so I was facing Jean.

Get out. It told Jean. Take Rogue, too.

Jean took a step toward the door. Pietro ran up to her and twisted her arms behind her.

"What are you going to do to her?" I demanded.

Instead of answering me, Lance walked up to Jean and pressed his lips onto hers.

TBC