Chapter Seven: Friend or Foe?

We spent the next week at Xavier's mansion, and for me it was seven days that passed in a whirlwind of carefree happiness. After finding out the truth about myself from the Professor, I'd been convinced I was a freak and that my life was worth nothing. Chloe had thought differently. She still liked – no, loved – me in spite of what I was, and that was the only thing that was keeping me going. Unlike Claire, who'd left me when she discovered I was a mutant, Chloe didn't care what I was, only who I was. The two of us were now spending nearly all our time together, or with the new friends she had made. The other kids at the school had never been to Scotland and were interested to find out what it was like there. Chloe, who had managed to keep her mutation a secret throughout her early years, had never been ostracised at school, and as such found it a lot easier than me to talk to people and make friends. She had become particularly close to a girl named Marie, the girl with the strange white streak in her hair.

Jacqueline remained as cold and distant as ever, but she wasn't unhappy. I discovered she was taking lessons from the Professor, who was teaching her how to conserve her telepathic power and use it more efficiently. She was glad to be able to develop her powers further, as well as having the opportunity to learn from someone who was clearly one of the most powerful telepaths in the world. She made no efforts to get to know anyone, but was content to sit with Chloe, or myself, or Chris, and listen to the conversations going on around her. It was obvious that she was still troubled, and there was still a deep wound on her psyche, but hopefully the Professor could help her in that respect.

The only one of us who was clearly not happy was Chris. He wasn't being his usual talkative, sarcastic self, and on several occasions I'd seen him skulking around the mansion, looking angry. While I was wondering what was wrong with him, I knew I wouldn't be the one to ask him. Although Chris and I were friends, we weren't that close. I was relying on Jacqueline or Chloe to talk to him about it, but Chloe only wanted to spend her time with me, and Jacqueline wasn't talking to anyone.

The Professor had spoken at length to me on the subject of my mutations. He'd told me that as a result of the experimentation, it was likely that I possessed other mutations, apart from the one in my eyes, and he reckoned telepathy would almost certainly be one of them. Jacqueline had said to me that I might be a telepath – it looked as if she was right. I'd asked the Professor what other gifts I might unknowingly possess, but he had no way of knowing. They'd reveal themselves in time, most likely during periods of desperation or stress, he had said. I was determined to find out what my other mutations were; I wanted to know the full extent of what my father had done to me.

It wasn't until the end of the week that I discovered what was eating at Chris. That day Chloe and I were in the dining room eating lunch, sitting with Marie and her boyfriend Bobby, idly talking about this and that, when Marie said, "I wonder what's wrong with your friend Chris. He hasn't been winding up John at all recently."

I glanced across the room to where Chris was locked in conversation with John, the boy with the cigarette lighter. Chris wasn't wearing his trademark grin, and John was looking a little less pissed off with him than normal.

"I dunno, he's been acting weird," said Chloe. "Ever since we got here, he's been different."

"Could be culture shock, I suppose," I said. "He's not from a well-off background. This mansion and the facilities it has might just be too much for him."

"Yeah. Some people take a while to settle in here," Bobby agreed.

At that moment I saw Chris stand up, and walk over to where we were sitting. He leaned over the table and said, "Neil, Chloe, can we talk?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"No, I mean in private."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh, OK. Now?"

"Yeah. Wait a second until I get Jacqueline."

Jacqueline was at one of the other tables, eating alone as usual, and looked up when Chris tapped her on the shoulder and asked her the same question.

"I guess we'll see you later," said Chloe to Marie, as we stood up to follow Chris.

He headed out of the dining room and looked around, "Let's go outside where no-one will overhear us."

The four of us went out into the garden, and he took us far enough away from the building that we could be sure we were alone.

"So what's up?" I asked. "Why have you been looking so pissed off recently?"

"It's hard to explain," said Chris. "But frankly, I don't trust these people."

"You don't?" asked Chloe in disbelief. "But they saved our lives! Didn't they?"

"They did. And rather too conveniently, if you ask me."

Jacqueline frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean think about it," said Chris. "We're seconds away from being killed by Chameleon and Inferno, and suddenly this seemingly all-powerful group of mutants, who we've never heard of, shows up to rescue us."

"That's what happened. What's wrong with that?"

"A few things. First of all, how'd they know where we were? I don't believe that this Professor guy is powerful enough to sense mutants from halfway across the world. Secondly, there's a lot more to this whole set-up than just being a school for mutants. Thirdly, if they're such kind-hearted individuals, why all the secrecy? Why have we never heard of them before? Call me cynical if you like, but I think it stinks."

"Well, I can answer your first point," said Jacqueline. "The Professor has a device, he calls it Cerebro, which he uses to amplify his powers and track mutants all over the world. He's shown it to me, but I haven't used it. I'm not powerful enough yet."

"Huh. Or that's just an excuse for not letting you play with his little toy."

"And I can answer the second point," I said. "There is more to this place than just a school. The underground levels are the HQ for the Professor's group called the X-Men."

"I know about that," Chris snapped. "What I meant was, this isn't a school. It's a training facility. I've been talking to John a lot, and I've overheard other people talking. There's some sort of war brewing, a war between humans and mutants."

"So?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chris said impatiently. "Xavier's using this place to train an army of mutants to help him fight this war! We're not here for our own benefit, we're here for his! Do you really think he's just a kind-hearted old guy who genuinely cares about young mutants like us?"

"Yes, I do," said Chloe. "There are good people in the world, believe it or not."

"Yes, but they're usually not fabulously rich. I've had a good look around this place and it must be costing Xavier a fortune. Now why's he doing that? What's in it for him? Either he's a good person, which I doubt, because almost nobody is, and most good people are usually poor, or he's training and indoctrinating us to help him win this war."

"But the Professor said he wanted to unite humanity and mutants," said Chloe.

Chris rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. Ever since I was a kid, even when I didn't know I was a mutant, all I've seen is people's hatred for our kind. Xavier's a fool if he thinks humans and mutants can live together in harmony. Cyclops and the others are fools for following him. It's an act, it's all a front. They don't like humans any more than John or I do."

I frowned, and looked at Chloe, then at Jacqueline. The three of us had fully trusted the Professor and his friends so far, but Chris had just sown the first seeds of doubt in our minds. It was hard not to listen to Chris; he had a certain sort of charisma that made you pay attention and take in what he was saying. Although I still trusted the Professor and the other X-Men…I did see the sense in what Chris was saying. From my experience, I too would have deemed it impossible to get humans and mutants to like each other. Could there be something else behind this whole thing?

"Chris, don't you trust anyone?" I said.

"I don't trust people easily. I trust the three of you. Maybe I'm wrong, and Xavier and his people are what they say they are, but I'm not willing to take the risk. I'm getting out of here."

"You're leaving?" Jacqueline asked in surprise. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know. I want to track down Chameleon and Inferno. I've still got a score to settle with them."

"You can't defeat them on your own," I said.

"I know. That's why I asked to talk to all of you just now. I want you to come with me."

"But we're happy here," Chloe said. "I've made so many friends, I don't want to leave them so soon."

Chris looked at Jacqueline, "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," she sighed. "You're right about the war, it is coming. I've been diving in and out of people's minds to practice my powers, and a lot of them are worried about it."

"Neil?"

"Well, like Chloe, I'm happy here. But I do want to go after my father and the others, and settle things with them. Maybe I'll die trying, but at least I won't have sat back and accepted what my father has done to me."

Chris said, "Jacqueline, I had a thought. Can't you read the minds of Xavier and his people to see if they're telling the truth?"

"No," said Jacqueline. "The Professor is way too powerful for me to read his mind without him knowing about it. Dr Grey, she's also a telepath, and also far more powerful than I am."

"What about the other two? Cyclops and Storm?"

"I don't know. I know they're not telepaths, but I've never had the opportunity to delve into either of their minds. The Professor or Dr Grey always seem to be with them. They'd know instantly if I tried it. If they are trying to cover something up, like you say, they'd realise I was on to them. I don't know what they'd do."

There was silence for a few moments. Then Chris said, "So who's with me?"

"I would come with you," Jacqueline said. "But we haven't got a clue where Chameleon or Inferno or the other three are."

"Use Xavier's machine to find out," Chris suggested. "The Cerebro thingy."

"No way! There's no way we could get away with that!" Jacqueline exclaimed. "The Professor can sense where every mutant in the mansion is at all times! If we tried to enter his machine, he'd know about it in a second!"

"We'll do it at night. He's got to go to sleep at some point."

"Still wouldn't work. The door to the machine can only be opened by the Professor's retinal scan."

Chris grinned, "Jacqueline, you know me and doors. I have a tendency to ignore them."

"Well," I said. "If we can find out where my father and his mutants are, I'm willing to go with you. I don't want to leave here, and I do trust Xavier, but I can't just sit around doing nothing. Chloe, what about you?"

"I don't want to leave Marie or Bobby or John after I've just got to know them," she sighed. "But I'd rather be away from them than away from you. I'll come."

Chris' grin spread even wider, "All right, then. We'll do it tonight."

We had been given a room to ourselves, where we slept and stored our few belongings. It was here that we were lying awake in the early hours of the morning, while I used my X-ray vision to look into the Professor's room.

"Is he asleep yet?" Chris yawned.

I shook my head, "No, he's still lying in bed reading."

"5am. Doesn't the man ever sleep?" Chris demanded.

Chloe, unable to stay awake, had dropped off a couple of minutes ago and was snoring gently on her bed, next to mine. I decided just to let her sleep until it was time to move. Jacqueline was sitting in the corner, ignoring Chris' complaints, practising using her telekinetic powers by raising and lowering a book through the air, turning it through different angles, and holding it dead still in mid-air.

"Can you train it to bring you the newspaper and your slippers?" Chris asked sarcastically.

She ignored him again. Chloe murmured and turned over in her sleep. I could see the Professor putting his book aside, turning off the light, and settling down in bed.

"Right, he's going to sleep," I said.

"OK. We'll give him five or ten minutes to drop off, then we'll head down," said Chris. "Better wake her up."

I gave Chloe a gentle shake to rouse her. Jacqueline laid the book down on the table and stood up. She glanced at me and I knew what she was thinking. Somehow, at some point, Chris had taken over leadership of the group. Jacqueline had led us up until this point, but she clearly felt uncomfortable and out of place among too many people. Chris, driven by his suspicions and his doubts, was the natural choice to take over.

Ten minutes, we left the room, and headed down two flights of staircases as quietly as we could to the ground floor. From there it was a short walk along the corridor until we reached the elevator. It descended as smoothly and silently as we had hoped, and soon we were standing in the X-Men's headquarters.

"Which way to this machine?" Chris asked.

Jacqueline pointed left, "This way. Follow me."

We turned left and walked down a long, straight corridor to a huge, circular door at the end.

"This would be it, then?" said Chris.

"That's right. Do your stuff."

He flashed his grin and melted into his liquid state. We watched as he flowed across the floor to the door, and waited for him to enter the room. Two minutes passed.

"It's not working," I said.

"The door must be air-tight," Jacqueline said. "Even as a liquid, he can't get through."

The puddle on the floor solidified into an angry-looking Chris, "Damn it! There's no way in! The door's completely sealed."

"Does that mean we can't get in?" asked Chloe.

"There'll be a way. There's always a way," Chris snapped, impatient and annoyed that things weren't going according to his plan.

"I can't think of anything," I said.

"Wait, I've got it!" Chris exclaimed. "There's no way to open it from out here, but there must be a switch or something inside, in case you get locked in by accident. Neil, you look through the door to find the switch. Jacqueline, read his mind so you can see the switch, then use your power to move it."

"That seems a little easy. That means any telepath could open it," Chloe said.

Jacqueline shook her head, "No. I can't move the switch if I don't know where it is. I need Neil's vision."

"All right, Neil, do it," said Chris.

I focused beyond the door and looked around the room inside, "Wow."

"What?"

"It's huge. Jacqueline, are you getting this?"

Yes. I see the switch.

"Do you? I can't."

It's by the door.

"Oh, yeah. I see it."

Here goes.

There was a click, then a hissing sound, and the door opened. Chris gave his annoying grin, "We're in! All right, Jacqueline, how does it work?"

"The helmet at the desk. I'll need to put it on. Chris, I'm not sure I should be doing this. If the Professor was right, and I'm not powerful enough, it might – actually, I don't know what damage it might do. It could destroy my brain for all I know."

"You'll be fine. If it looks like it's doing any damage, I'll pull the helmet off."

"OK…" she said, not sounding confident. "Here we go."

She knelt in front of the device; it was obviously configured to the height of the wheelchair-bound Professor. Placing the helmet on her head, Jacqueline screwed up her face in concentration, and sought out my father and the twins. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then pain began to appear on her face.

"Should we take it off?" I asked.

Chris shook is head, "Not yet. If it gets any worse, we'll – "

Suddenly Jacqueline screamed, an ear-splitting shriek that rebounded around the huge spherical room in a deafening echo. Chloe and I covered our ears, and Chris pulled the helmet away from Jacqueline.

"Damn it, the whole building probably heard that," he said. "Jacqueline? Are you all right?"

She didn't respond, or even move.

"Is she – dead?" Chloe gasped.

Chris put his hand to her neck, "She has a pulse, so she's alive. Must be unconscious."

"Somebody must have heard that. They'll be looking for us. We'd better run for it," I said.

"Right," Chris agreed. "Xavier will kill us if he finds out what we've done. Quick, we need to get to the elevator."

He and I picked up Jacqueline and carried her unconscious figure between us. Chloe ran to the elevator to wait for us. Back up to the ground floor, where we could hear the sound of voices, and people moving around upstairs.

"They heard," Chris confirmed. "All right, here's what we'll do. Chloe, get outside and organise a distraction. Birds dancing, crickets singing, anything. Just get Xavier's attention away from us. Neil, you look through the walls and find an escape route. I'll carry Jacqueline. We're just going to have to make a run for it."

We nodded our agreement, and Chloe hurried off to the door that led outside. Jacqueline was small for her age, and Chris was able to carry her in his arms fairly easily. I scanned the building to see if anyone was coming.

"People are coming down from the second floor," I said. "We'd better keep away from the staircase. We'll need to find another way outside. Somebody will see us if we go the way Chloe just did."

"Isn't there a back door to this place?" he grumbled.

"I don't know. I'll keep looking. Uh-oh, look out!"

I grabbed his arm, and dragged them into a nearby closet.

"What did you see?"

"Storm and Cyclops are coming. Keep quiet."

I focused beyond the closet door to see the corridor outside. Cyclops and Storm were walking past, heading for the elevator.

"What happened?" Storm was saying.

"I'm not sure. The Professor said somebody was trying to break into Cerebro."

She raised her eyebrows, "Do you think it could be Mystique? She's still at large, and she's done it before."

"I don't know. Whoever it is…" I lost the rest of what he said as they walked into the elevator.

Pushing open the closet door, I led Chris outside.

"She waking up yet?"

"No," he said. "She's hardly breathing."

"Really? Maybe we should just give ourselves up to Xavier and take her down to the infirmary."

"No, I don't trust them. We can't take the risk. Have you found a back door yet?"

"I think so. This way."

We hurried down the corridor. Both of us turned with sinking hearts at the sound of running footsteps behind us, but it was Chloe. Racing towards us, she panted, "It's done. Every animal I could find. Where are we going?"

"Neil reckons he's found the back door. We'll head off the beaten track and into the forest. With luck, we can get far enough away before they realise what happened."

We ran through the mansion until we got to the back door, and out into the garden. From the front of the building I could hear some sort of disturbance, presumably the distraction Chloe had caused. Without looking back, we fled across the garden and into the forest that surrounded the estate. As we went, I realised I'd left my sun-glasses behind. I hoped I wouldn't need them.

After we had been running for what seemed like hours, but was probably more like fifteen or twenty minutes, Chris called, "Hold up, you guys. I can't carry her any longer. We should be far enough from the mansion to avoid detection. Let's rest for a bit."

He sank down on to the earthy ground and laid Jacqueline down on her back. She remained out cold. Was it my imagination or did her face look paler than normal?

"What did that machine do to her?" asked Chloe. "She looks bad."

"I think it was a lot more than just being knocked out," said Chris, leaning over Jacqueline to measure her pulse. "It's as if – well, it's like her body's here, but her mind's somewhere else. This is still her body but she's not in it any more. I don't know if that makes any sense."

"Sort of," I said. "Using the machine was obviously too much for her."

"Is she going to wake up?" asked Chloe.

"I can't tell," said Chris. "If only we could get inside her head and see exactly what damage has been done. If she's really severely injured – physically or mentally – we will have to swallow our pride and go back to Xavier's."

"But how can we get inside her head? None of us are telepathic," said Chloe.

I coughed, "Actually – I might be."

"You what?"

"The Professor reckons I have other gifts, not just my eyesight. He said there was a 98% chance I was a telepath."

"That would certainly come in handy right now," Chris said. "Why don't you try it? See what you can do for her?"

"I'll try. Don't be surprised if nothing happens; I've never done it before."

"Go ahead."

They moved back slightly to give me room to kneel beside Jacqueline. I had no idea what I was doing, so I just did what came naturally, placing my hands on her forehead, closing my eyes, and projecting my concentration towards her mind. Nothing was happening. No, wait, something was happening. It was an odd sensation, something I hadn't ever experienced before. I wasn't in her head yet, but I had the distinct feeling that I wasn't in my own either. My consciousness was sort of…floating. I pushed it in towards Jacqueline and tried to get inside her mind. First there was nothing. Then –

Pain. Anger. And a sorrow so deep and intense that I was physically jolted and thrown to the ground. For a moment I was only half-conscious.

"Great, don't tell me that's both of them gone comatose," Chris grumbled.

Chloe leaned over me and said in a worried tone, "Neil? Are you all right?"

I blinked and sat up, "Urgh…I think so."

"Did it work? Did something happen?"

"Yeah. I got inside her head…briefly."

"What did you find?" asked Chris.

"Just emotions – feelings. Unhappiness, anger, fear, bitterness – everything that Jacqueline's been keeping hidden inside of her for the last ten years. I think she's more messed up than any of us realised."

"Was she actually in there? Could you communicate with her?"

"I don't know. I was in for less than two seconds. I'll give it another try."

I placed my hands on Jacqueline's forehead once more and projected my mind into hers. This time I was ready for the eruption of emotions that would greet me, and managed to keep control of myself. It was strange; her emotions were flitting about inside my head as if I myself was feeling them. I forced my mind to concentrate, and telepathed to her, Jacqueline?

Quoi? Qui parle?

I'm sorry?

Qui est vous?

Jacqueline?

Oui?

Um…I'll be back. I'll talk to you again.

Pardon?

I pulled out of her mind, and looked up at the expectant faces of Chris and Chloe.

"Well?" he demanded.

"I got into her mind and talked to her," I said. "But there's a problem."

"What?"

"She can only speak French."

He looked confused, "Huh? That doesn't make any sense."

"I think it does. I wasn't talking to the seventeen-year old Jacqueline who we already knew. I was talking to the seven-year old Jacqueline who's been trapped in her head ever since her parents disowned her."

"What?" Chloe gasped. "So where's the older one? Where's she gone?"

"Deeper into her mind, most likely," I said. "Buried under layers of pain and sorrow. She couldn't cope with her parents deserting her – hell, I know I wouldn't have – and it's messed up her mind completely. She may even have a split personality."

Chris looked at me and raised his eyebrows, "But you can talk to her again, and bring her back, right? You can pull her out of there?"

"Not on my own," I said. "I don't think I have enough telepathic power to go in there and drag her consciousness out. She's got to do it herself, and I can only guide her."

"What if she can't?"

I took a deep breath and answered, "Then we've probably lost her forever."

A/N: sorry to those of you who wanted the characters to join up with the X-Men, but that wasn't where I wanted the story to go. For the things I have in mind, they have to be on their own and relying solely on each other. Please review!