Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. (damn) I do own Myra though. And all the other people she knows that don't actually exist. And so you know, I suck at writing action, I'm sure you picked that up in the last chapter. ^___^

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Myra's eyes fluttered open and she glanced around in confusion.
"Wha-where am I?" she squeaked out past a desert-dry throat.
"You're in the Infirmary at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning," said a woman who moved into view as she spoke.
She was older, probably mid- to late twenties with blue-black hair and wide blue eyes. A warm smile rested across her face as she held out a glass of water and pulled a chair to the side of the bed. Myra accepted the glass gratefully and drank half of it in a few gulps, handing it back to the woman in the white uniform. She set it on a nearby table and turned back to Myra.
"So, uh, who, who are you?" Myra asked hesitantly.
"I'm Nurse Annie Ghazikanian," the woman replied.
"Oh, well, thank you Ms. Ghak, Gazk, um."
The nurse shook her head and smiled. "Annie will do just fine."
Myra returned Annie's smile shyly, her gray eyes downcast and her cheeks flushed. She looked around the room as Annie asked her questions and Myra answered her as best as she could.
"My name is Myra Stonecroft." "I don't know who's after me." "I'm not sure how long I ran." "I just don't know" was the most frequent answer to Annie's questions.

**********

"I don't think it's a good idea Professor." Annie looked over the black-wood desk at her employer. "Myra just isn't in good shape. Her heartbeat is erratic and sometimes hard to find. I think that dealing with you or anyone else could make her condition worse."
"Very well Annie." Professor Xavier stood and escorted Annie out of the study. "I trust your opinion. You have my permission to keep everyone out that doesn't belong down there. When Miss Stonecroft is fit by your approval, then we'll see what this is all about."

**********

A week passed, during which Myra's heartbeat remained unsteady, often disappearing entirely for whole minutes before flashing back rapidly. Annie was worried about the anomaly but no amount of tests showed anything. At last Myra asked her why Annie kept poking her full of needles and Annie had been forced to confess her concern.
"Oh that," Myra said dismissively. "I've had that for a while now. Nothing's ever happened, as you can tell by the fact that I ran here from-- ." The younger woman stopped in mid-sentence, her cloudy eyes distant and damp.
"Your home?" Annie suggested, taking the younger woman's hand in hers. Myra nodded, swallowing loudly and sucking on her lower lip to keep it from quivering. Then she smiled and lied to Annie, saying that she was fine.

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A shadow darted in between large brick buildings, pausing here and there to get its bearings. Bright eyes glinted as it peered around and surveyed the school grounds. The shadow slunk out of its hiding place, creeping up to a large two-story building that was just off of the main building; in fact it was an addition to the main building. The shadow clambered onto the side of the wall, using the ivy clinging to the brick surface to scale up to the second floor. It slunk along the thin ledging until it reached its desired destination. It turned and shimmied the window lock, sliding the pane up with naught but a soft hiss. The shadow slid into the room, pulling the window partway down to hide that it was open. With a smile full of malignant glee, the shadow made its stealthy way over to the bedside.

*********

Xavier sat within the metal confines of Cerebro, monitoring the activities of mutant around the globe. Slightly bored and saddened by the wide-scale unrest he found, he moved his 'gaze', sending Cerebro scanning over the mansion and the adjoining complex. He found idyllic sleep everywhere. With a soft smile he reached up to remove the helmet that allowed him to reach such a wide range. A shift of movement in the corner of his eye made him pause, focusing on the strange dark spot. He'd never seen a spot so hard to see however distinctly red it was. It was as though it wasn't there. It reached another red dot, another mutant. Suddenly both dots vanished! Xavier started, astonished by what he'd seen. Mutants did NOT just disappear, not unless they had teleportation and neither dot seemed to have reappeared. He looked closer at the area Cerebro was covering. The Professor knew that mutant and he knew that she didn't have teleportation! {Scott! Jean! X-men assemble! We have an intruder!}

*********

The shadow looked up from its observation of its target as an alarm began to whine. The pitch grew but the shadow still heard something else, something just a bit softer.
FOOTSTEPS! Lots of them headed this way.
The shadow leapt at the sleeping figure, knowing it had only this one chance and the odds were slowly turning against it. The woman snorted awake, looking up at the shadowy figure in fear. She began screaming trying to use her mutant powers on the being, finding them useless as hands wrapped around her throat, pressing down mercilessly on her windpipe. The woman's screams whistled to a halt though she continued to thrash against her assailant.
Voices raised just beyond the door, the door swung open to reveal several dozen mutants swarming in the hall just outside. The hallway lights flooded into the room, temporarily blinding both figures on the bed. "LORNA!"
"What the hell!" someone shouted. "Who the hell is that?"
"It's her! That girl, what's her name?" Bobby started forward.

*********

The shadow-now-revealed, stunned by the light had loosened its hold on Lorna's throat allowing the Mistress of Magnetism to push it away.
"Myra, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Lorna shouted angrily.
"Who the hell do you think you are asking me that kind of question you selfish bitch!" Myra shot back, flying at Lorna. The two women tumbled to the floor. The other X-men rushed forward only to be thrown back. Jean's brow furrowed.
"She's a shielder, damn!" Jean said after a moment's scrutiny.
"Now we find that out!" someone muttered.

"Knock her out Jean," Scott commanded. Minutes passed. Lorna and Myra continued to struggle on the floor, blankets tangled up both fighters. "Jean?"
"I can't get through the shield!" Jean responded.
"What are we supposed to do then?" Warren demanded.
"The Professor is on his way, along with Annie and some others," Jean said, her concerned gaze on the two struggling figures before the gathered throng. "Maybe the Professor can get through the shield."
Unsatisfied, several of the mutants began to pound on the shield, distracting Myra and allowing Lorna to get in several good shots. Myra's eyes glowed a deep violet and her hair lifted momentarily as the shields flew outwards, sending mutants crashing into walls and furniture. With the distraction gone, Myra focused again on her opponent, glaring down at Polaris with cold stone eyes. She pulled back and landed a punch on Lorna's shoulder as the other woman shifted.
"That's for Patrick!" The shielder landed blow after blow, each time calling out a name.
"That's for Eire!" "Taylor! Nicole! Shona! Darren! Frank! Leena! Maureen! You'll suffer the same way they did!"
Annie and Xavier pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Annie, seeing Myra with blood flowing from freely from her nose, rushed forward. Jean moved to warn the human woman about the shield.
But rather than crashing backwards, Annie went right through! Had the shield come down? Triumphant, Bobby ran after the nurse. The ice- wielding mutant was thrown back forcefully as soon as he hit the shield.
"Kurt!" Xavier called. The German mutant appeared with a cloud of smoke and the stench of brimstone.
"Jah Professor?" he asked, his tail twitching back and forth as he crouched.
"Teleport inside the shield!"
Kurt nodded once and then 'bamf'ed away again. Myra had glanced up when Annie had reached the fighting pair and saw Kurt disappear. She brought the shields to within only a few inches of she, Annie, and Lorna. The blue-furred mutant reappeared, turning to look at the Professor. Myra took her chance, pushing the shields out again with lightening speed, sending the distance-hopping mutant into a wall.
Annie gasped and turned to pull at Myra's arm. Myra yanked her arm away turning and snarling at the nurse, "Get away from me! This isn't any of your business!"
"You're killing each other!" Annie cried out in distress.
"That's sorta the point!" Myra growled in exasperation.
"Why!?" Annie demanded.
"Easy, this selfish, cold-hearted bitch," Myra pulled Lorna's face an inch from hers as tears tumbled down her cheeks. "Is responsible for the death of my whole team and hers."
"What?" Alex demanded.
Myra looked up with a sneer. "Didn't she tell you? You are her precious fiancé after all," she mocked, locking her arm around Lorna's head. Annie sat in a distraught pile nearby, gazing at Myra in shock. "She hates competition. Any kind of competition." She turned to the green- haired woman in her grasp. "That's why we didn't pick you Lorna, in case you were wondering."
Lorna sobbed as she struggled against the younger woman's strength. She managed to break free and ran for the shield. Myra watched her with a face of stone; her only sign of emotion were the silent tears streaming from her eyes. Lorna reached the shield but couldn't get out and began to pound on the invisible surface, gazing out at the others pleadingly.
"You're not getting away Lorna. Just like none of them could. You're the reason their dead Lorna, all those people. All of your friends. They're all dead! Because you couldn't stand it! You couldn't stand that we'd picked Patrick over you! You snide selfish bitch!"
Lorna was yanked back as the shield was shrunk. She stumbled to the floor, gazing up at Myra from the younger woman's feet. "We cared about you Lorna, we loved you. You were one of us. How could you do that to us Lorn?"
"Myra, what's going on? What are you talking about?" Xavier demanded.
"What? She even managed to keep her deep, dark secret from the X man himself?" Myra laughed harshly. "What a talented actress you've become Lorna!"
"Myra, this isn't like you," Annie spoke up at last.
"How would you know?" Myra turned on the nurse, stalking towards her and glaring down at her.
"I've watched you, listened to you, you aren't this kind of person. You're a good person!" Annie continued undaunted. Myra stopped, staring down at Annie's earnest face in confused awe. She turned and looked back at Lorna who lay crumpled on the floor.
"You're right," Myra said at last, her voice barely audible. Suddenly the shield fell as Myra crumpled to her knees, sobs wrenching through her body. "I-I don't want-*sob*- to be like her!"
Annie crawled forward to wrap her arms around the younger woman while the others rushed forward, crowding the room as they tried to decide which woman to help. The Professor helped make things simple by commanding Cain to help him. Juggernaut picked up the crying young woman and carried her out of the room, followed swiftly by Xavier and Annie. Xavier turned in the doorway.
"Lorna, I want you in my office once you're ready. Only take ten minutes," he commanded. Lorna nodded frightened, before burying her head in Alex's chest, crying loudly and muttering about Myra being insane.

**********

Cain took Myra up to Xavier's study, setting her down on one of the couches. As soon as she'd been released, Myra curled up into a little ball, sobbing broken-heartedly into a corner of the couch. Annie sat down next to her, forcing the younger woman either to accept her prescense or flee. As much as Myra tried to scoot away, Annie just kept following and finally Myra gave up, allowing Annie to clean her face and whisper soothing words to her.
"Well, Myra, that was certainly interesting. Would you mind telling us what that was all about?" Xavier said as he sat down in a chair that Juggernaut had pulled up. The behemoth himself was seated cross-legged on the floor.
"I-I c-can't!" she sobbed in response.
"May I see what happened then?" Myra looked up at him startled. "I'm a telepath Myra, I can read peoples minds. May I see inside yours? I'll only do it with your permission."
Myra looked at Annie and then Cain before nodding slowly. The Professor shut his eyes and Myra mimicked him. With heartache, Myra sent her memory back to a few months ago and slowly worked her way to the present day.
Xavier withdrew. "Dear God."
"Oh God!" Myra whimpered, clutching her head. "Oh God I wish I were dead!"
Annie, shocked at Myra's reaction locked her arms around the young shielder in case she got any ideas to carry out her feelings.
"Myra," the Professor whispered to her. Myra continued to cry uncontrollably.
{Myra. I realize you're in pain. I know how you feel because I felt it, while you let me inside your mind, I felt what you felt and thought what you thought.} Myra's sobs began to decrease. {But you can't do this to yourself. Don't sully your hands for revenge. Would they have wanted you to waste your life away in grief and regret and revenge?}
"No," Myra managed to get out, turning her face into Annie's shoulder.
There was a tentative knock on the study door. Several X-mutants stood in the opening doorway, including Lorna and Alex. Myra drew herself up straight, glaring death at Lorna as the green-eyed green-haired goddess stepped hesitantly into the study, only entering because the ones behind her pushed her forward.
"Lorna, I think you have a lot of explaining to do," Xavier said with quiet authority.