AN – Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have this pretty much planned out, but it's always fun to let chance guide my writing and see what pops up. It's turning out to be a little longer than I originally thought, but bear with me please, I have some twists and turns in store for you.
Jewel closed her outer eyes, and opened her inner senses. It was similar to what she did when she sought other minds, but different as well. Finding people was second nature to her, but probing the mind itself took far more concentration, and a…shifting of her point of view. Every telepath saw the mindscape in a different way. For Jewel, it was much like the world she saw with her eyes, except here the landscape had very specific meanings.
She had never experienced a mind like this before. It was a barren place, guarded by a high thick steel wall that went on for as far as she could see. Gaining entry even to surface thoughts would be very difficult. A mutant like Professor Xavier could just tear the wall down, but Jewel lacked that strength. She had to search for another entrance. Luckily, distance was nothing in the mindscape, for she moved with the speed of thought, seeking a crack, a weakness. There was always a weakness; it was only a matter of finding it and exploiting it. But it begged the question, how had he shielded his mind, and from what?
A tiny crack in the steel wall appeared before her, and Jewel flowed through it, her form determined only by thought. Inside the wall was horror. The landscape was jagged and harsh, ranging in color from deep blood red to sickly yellow-green, far worse than the empty barrenness of the other side. In some places it resembled crystals, and she felt the fragility of these structures, yet in others it was unyielding stone. Huge shadows stretched and blocked most of the light, but Jewel could see a spot in the distance where the light had gathered, as if to protect itself from the ever encroaching darkness.
Jewel equated light with an untroubled mind, and darkness with chaos. There was always some darkness in every mind, but here it was almost overwhelming. Nearer to the light areas were small pools of water and the jaggedness seemed to grow less. Jewel had never experienced anything like this mindscape before. Such a dichotomy of images….
Within the light, she saw the hunched figure of a man. He was Lance, and yet he wasn't. He looked only a little like the man they'd brought in. His hair was the same color, but much shorter, and his face was clean-shaven. He wore ripped blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a brown vest over it. But the oddest thing was that he looked about ten, while Lance's body was closer to thirty.
He didn't seem to sense her presence, so Jewel reached out and touched him. She had never found a personal representation before, but she could guess the reasons for his existence, and by making contact with him, she could get actual thoughts.
Don't wanna get hurt anymore…. Safe here, gotta stay in the light. The Other can't find me in the light. Stay hidden, hide in the light, stay safe, stay safe, never let him find me…
Jewel pulled her mental hand back so quickly she lost her focus, essentially falling out of his mind. She opened her eyes to see Kitty looking at her expectantly.
"Can I have an aspirin? I feel like I got ran over by a Mack truck."
"Are you okay?" asked Kitty, as Dr. Jackson retrieved some painkillers and a glass from a nearby table.
"Thanks," she said to the doctor, swallowing the aspirin. "I'll be alright. It's just a headache from pulling out too quickly. Okay, I've got some stuff to tell you, and it's not going to be pretty."
Kitty's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? Did you find out what's wrong? Can you fix it?"
"Well, I think I know what's wrong, but I've never encountered it before personally. My best guess is his mind has shattered. Somehow or another, the bastards managed to separate his core personality from his body and, well…break it. There's a whole lot of chaos in there, but there's also an aspect of Lance hiding from something he called the Other. I think it's a part of him that managed to hide away and not get absorbed into the Other. But the damage to his mind is too great for me to fix. I'd need a whole lot more power than I've got."
"What is this Other?" asked Dr. Jackson, interest plain in her voice.
"Well, from what I understood, it's another personality. The core of what is Lance was hiding from it, so whatever this personality is, it's very powerful. Strong enough to destroy a weaker personality, that's for sure," answered Jewel, her gaze fixed on Kitty, who looked on the verge of tears.
"Is he a danger?" asked Kitty, her voice harsh with emotion. Yet it was a question that had to be asked.
Jewel shook her head. "I don't think so. So long as the personality I encountered remains in control, he won't be a danger to anyone. He should wake up soon, I think. His mind seemed like it was just finishing putting itself back together. Any idea what happened to him? Why he's unconscious?"
Kitty's gaze was still fixed on Lance when she answered. "It was right after Kurt teleported you guys out, I think. He was so…it was like no one was home. But then three men came in, and I think Lance recognized one of them. He used his power to knock them flat, maybe hoping to buy us some more time or something. After that, he just went limp again."
"Maybe it was because he was scared of that man," Jewel pondered out loud.
"Maybe," agreed Kitty.
Jewel put a consoling hand on Kitty's arm. "Come on, let's get something to eat, okay? You can talk with your friends and meet the others. Maybe they know something about what's been done to Lance."
"Okay," said the brunette, but Jewel knew her concentration was all on Lance.
Regretfully, Jewel half-dragged her friend away from Lance and toward the mess hall.
**
Lance remembered a voice. It was a good voice, a warm voice full of nice emotions. He didn't remember hearing it before. It had been an eternity since he'd heard a nice voice, maybe even longer. He wasn't so sure of time anymore. All he knew was that he had to stay in his safe place, away from the one who tried to find him. Away, alone…all alone. He didn't like being alone. The voice…it reminded him of a time when he hadn't been alone. But when had that been?
He also remembered the bad men. They had done bad things, very bad. And now he had to hide. They put the Other in his head. Lance was scared of the Other, all violence and rage and anger. It wanted to swallow everything and make the world one big pile of rubble, leaving nothing standing. Lance knew exactly what the Other wanted, and that's why he had to hide.
Had to hide. But…he wanted to see. He remembered the cold man. He remembered using his power on him. But where was he now? Had to hide…had to…but something bothered him about before. Something…
"Kitty?"
**
The man sat alone in his office. His face was expressionless, but a cold anger surrounded him, and it was a wonder why the metal desk didn't have a layer of frost on it. Years he had worked on that mutant, twisting him, bending him, molding him to their purposes. And now he was gone with the rest of them. All the most promising mutants, and they were gone in minutes.
But Alvers was different. He was a danger to anyone around him still, yet he felt that their work was nearly complete. Those damned mutant rebels couldn't be allowed to ruin the work of seven years.
The man picked up the phone. "Have you found him yet? No? Well keep looking. That tracking device should still be active. Well keep on it, he must be found." As he set down the receiver, his plan crystallized. Recover Alvers and take out the rebels at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. Alone in his office, Sebastian Barnes smiled a cold, cold smile.