Chapter Four: To Save a Life

"I can see the island now," Bobby called from the cockpit. "Are you absolutely sure this is the right one?"

From my seat in the mid-section of the jet, I called back, "Yes."

"What's the matter with you?" said Chloe, who was sitting beside me. "You look…distant."

I had my eyes closed and was deep in concentration. I sighed and said to her, "Psyche knows we're coming. She's pushing out with her mind, trying to pinpoint our location. I'm blocking her senses from detecting us."

"Once we get to the island, they're going to know we're there anyway," said Chris. "There's no way we can land this thing without Magneto knowing."

"I know."

"And we still haven't got a plan," Marie said.

Felicity fidgeted, uncomfortable in the tight-fitting uniform she'd been given.

"Well," I said slowly. "There are six of us, and five of them. If each of us can keep one of them busy, that leaves one person to find the Professor and Cyclops."

"And who's that?"

"That would be you, Chloe," I said. "I don't think there will be much in the way of wildlife on this island, so it's best if you stay out of the thick of the fighting. I haven't quite figured out who's going to fight who, but I'm the only one who can take on Psyche."

"Who's going to fight Magneto?" asked Chloe.

"Shock," I replied. "He won't dare touch anything made of metal when she's firing electric bolts at him."

Felicity looked up at me and gasped, "Me? Against Magneto? I can't possibly – "

"You don't have to beat him, just keep him busy for a few minutes," Chris said. "What about the rest?"

"Mystique is their best hand-to-hand fighter," Marie said. "That would be your department, Shapeshifter."

Chris nodded, "Sounds good to me. Iceman is the obvious choice to fight Pyro. That just leaves you with Rat."

"Yeah. Lucky me. I've never seen him in action. What's he capable of?"

I frowned, "He's pretty fast, but isn't that strong. He has a powerful sense of smell, I noticed."

"What do you want me to do with him?"

"I don't know, give him some cheese," Chris shrugged. "Just whatever you can to keep him busy. Once Chloe finds Cyclops and Xavier, we'll make a run for it."

"We're landing now!" Bobby called from up front. "Get ready!"

I opened my eyes and relaxed my telepathy. There was no point trying to hide our presence any more. If Psyche hadn't already sensed us, Magneto would certainly have detected the jet by its metallic content. The six of us stood and prepared to disembark.

"Make sure you have no metallic items," I reminded them. "We've got communicators to stay in touch. Don't use them unless we absolutely have to. Psyche will probably be able to intercept any messages we send. Chloe, once you find the Professor, let us know, and we'll cover your escape back to the jet."

"All right," she said, trying to look more confident than she felt. "If this doesn't work – "

"Don't think about that! It's got to work," I said, taking a deep breath, then giving the order. "Let's go."

We left the jet, hurrying down the boarding ramp, and took our first steps on to Magneto's island. It was still the middle of the night, and darkness surrounded us on all sides. Up ahead, a few hundred yards away, I could make out a building, probably the building in which I'd seen them while using Cerebro.

"I don't see anyone," Shapeshifter said. "Do they know we're here?"

I stretched out with my senses, towards the building, "Yes, they know we're here."

"Then where are they?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're waiting inside. They must know we're here to rescue the Professor."

I ran forward, moving closer to the building, and sensed the others following me. I stopped momentarily as a strange sensation washed over me, my head feeling strangely light. I knew what it was.

"Psyche's trying to read our minds," I called to the others. "I can feel her."

"I can't feel anything," Shock responded.

"You won't if you're not telepathic," I told her. "Come on, don't stop! Keep going!"

Staying together, we hurried towards the building.

"Get down!" Iceman yelled suddenly.

We dived to the floor, narrowly avoiding a ball of fire that came scorching down through the air from above us.

"It's Pyro! He's up on top! On the roof!"

"Keep him busy!" I yelled. "The rest of you, come on!"

Iceman rolled over to avoid another flame, then fired a blast of ice up at the darkness that shrouded the top of the facility. I reached the building, and looked for a way in. There was a door, a few yards away on the left. Shapeshifter had already run past me to kick it open. Not wasting any time with caution, he forced his way inside, and I followed him. Somewhat surprisingly, there was nobody inside to meet us.

"No welcoming party?" he grumbled. "Shame on them. Where to now?"

The corridor before us stretched out for some distance then turned right. There were closed doors on either side, and a set of stairs, leading down, halfway along on the left. I tried to match this up with the brief images I'd seen while using Cerebro. None of it fit together.

"I don't know," I said. "Let's try the stairs. The high security areas will probably be below ground. That's where they'll have the Professor."

We hurried down the stairs, Shapeshifter in the lead. The staircase ended at a door, which he threw open. A blue-skinned foot caught him in the face, knocking him backwards.

"Mystique!" said Rogue.

"She's mine!" Shapeshifter snarled, wiping blood from his nose. "Keep going!"

He dived through the doorway, narrowly avoiding another swipe from Mystique. Rolling over and getting to his feet, Shapeshifter moved towards her. She stepped back slightly, keeping a safe distance between them. He moved forward again, and she moved away. I realised he was shepherding her away from the door, for the rest of us to get through. I thought about staying to help him, but I knew I couldn't. I had my own part to play. He'd just have to take his chances and manage on his own. Running through the doorway and past the two fighters, we continued our search for the Professor.

We were getting close. I could begin to sense him now.

"He's close," I said. "This way."

Pushing open another door, I found myself in a room that I recognised. It was the room I'd seen when using Cerebro, the room Magneto and his crew had been in. Where was he now?

"I don't like this," Rogue said. "Where's Magneto? It's like he's toying with us."

As if in answer to her question, the door at the other side of the room slid open, and we prepared to defend ourselves. It wasn't Magneto. It was Rat. The small rodent-like mutant narrowed his yellow eyes, raised his clawed hands, and rushed towards us.

"Rogue! He's yours!"

But Rat had other ideas. He headed straight towards me. He bared his teeth, and I wondered if he was planning to bite me. A bite from a rat could be fatal. Was it the same with him? I decided not to find out. Raising my hand, I used my telekinesis to stop him in mid-leap, and throw him across the room towards Rogue. Stunned, Rat lay on his back, and Rogue moved in, pushing her hand against his face. He screamed, and managed to break free, but not before she'd absorbed some of his power.

"Go! I can take him!" she urged us.

Shock and Gaia followed me as I ran to the door that Rat had left open. We were even closer now. The Professor had to be in one of these rooms. I could sense Magneto's presence too, also extremely close.

"Magneto's somewhere near. Shock, be ready."

Shock looked scared and anything but ready, but she held her head high and nodded, "I'm prepared."

It was then that Magneto struck. I hadn't noticed before, but all of the doors and walls of this place were constructed of metal. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, but it was still an unpleasant realisation when a section of wall was ripped from its holdings and smashed against my back. I fell forwards and nearly blacked out from the pain, but managed to stay conscious. I blinked and looked up as Magneto stepped calmly through the gap he'd just made in the wall.

"Sorry to intrude like this, but I don't believe I invited you here," he said.

"Shock?" I said.

"No, not really," he responded.

I looked over at the girls. Gaia was on her feet and backing away from him. Shock was not moving. I sensed her, and she was all right. Just knocked out.

Gaia, go and find the Professor! I telepathed.

What about Magneto?

I'll worry about Magneto!

Then what about Psyche?

I'll worry about her too. Just go!

Gaia turned and ran down the corridor in search of Xavier. Magneto didn't appear to notice, or care. He was more interested in me. I struggled to my feet, and faced him.

"So why are you here?" he asked. "I assume you haven't changed your mind and come to join me."

He probably knew exactly why we were here, but on the off chance that he didn't, I wasn't going to tell him.

"I'm selling these rather nice uniforms, would you like one?" I asked sarcastically, pointing to my uniform.

"No, I think I can do without one of those," Magneto said. "You are here to save Charles, I assume? It's already too late. Psyche is with him. The process should be completed any minute now."

"So I was right. You are going to use her to trap the Professor's mind."

"Oh, good, very good. I didn't expect you to figure that out. I – "

He paused in mid-sentence, and a look of confusion crossed his face. He grabbed a communicator from his belt and spoke into it, "Pyro, what's happening out there?"

There was no response.

"I think Pyro's a bit busy," I said.

"Evidently. Strange…you couldn't brought anyone but yourselves…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Two large vessels have just pulled up at the south dock. Military vessels."

"How do you know that?"

"I can tell from the concentration of metal in the hull. Who have you brought here?"

I shook my head, "I haven't brought anybody else. I don't what you're talking about."

"The military…this will make things rather difficult…"

Something occurred to me. I said, "A military unit was sent to New York City earlier today to deal with mutants. Your war has just begun."

"Yes, so it would seem. I didn't intend to fight it on my own doorstep, however."

He grabbed his communicator again, and spoke into it, "All of you pay attention. Military forces have landed on the island. Soldiers are approaching the facility. Make for the helicopter."

"You're running?" I asked. "Aren't you going to stay and fight this war you've started?"

"No, I do not feel ready. I had expected to have more recruits by now, but it seems you got in my way. I have other facilities I can work from. This is only a minor inconvenience."

At that moment a door slammed further up the corridor, and Psyche came running down towards us. Ignoring me, she shouted to Magneto, "Soldiers are everywhere! They've cut off access to the helicopter!"

A brief flash of anger crossed Magneto's face, then he regained his composure and said, "In that case, we'll have to fight our way through."

"There's too many of them! Rat's down and I can't get in contact with Pyro!"

I allowed myself a small smile. Two of our battles seemed to be going well.

"What do we do?" Psyche asked.

"We can still get out on the jet," I said. "It's on the other side of the island."

Both of them suddenly remembered I was there, and their heads snapped round to face me. Psyche looked at me with undisguised hatred, and Magneto merely said, "'We'? What are you suggesting?"

"You want to get off this island alive?" I asked. "We have to work together. You can't get to your chopper, and fighting each other won't do either of us any good."

"You die, Oculus," Psyche snarled, raising her arms.

I braced myself, but Magneto put out his hand to stop her, "No, he has a point. Fighting the military may prove too costly."

"You can control metal!" Psyche snapped. "You can stop them!"

"My power is well known," Magneto said. "I think they will be prepared for that. It is likely they are using non-metallic weapons, probably ceramic."

"Besides, you can't leave the Professor here," I said. "We have to get him out. Where is he?"

Magneto looked at Psyche, "Did you complete the mind transfer?"

"No. I was distracted by the soldiers. Xavier's still drugged, so he can't do anything."

"Get him."

"What?"

"You heard me," Magneto snapped. "We're moving out of here."

"You can't be serious! We can't possibly be joining with – with them!"

He gave her a cold stare, "It is only temporary. Now do as I say."

Psyche's fear of him overcame her desire to protest, and she hurried back the way she had come. Magneto took his communicator once more and spoke into it, "This is Magneto. The military are invading. I've declared a truce with Oculus until we can get off the island."

"This is Oculus, confirming the truce," I said, speaking into my own communicator. "Head for the jet and get it ready. We'll be there as soon as we can, once we've got the Professor."

Finally content that I was safe from immediate attack, I knelt down to check on Shock. She had partially regained consciousness, and was looking around in a confused state. From behind me came Gaia's voice, "Oculus!"

She had found Cyclops, still without his visor, and was guiding him along the passageway towards us.

"Where's his visor?" I demanded.

"Destroyed," Magneto said.

I frowned, "Hmm. Gaia, you'd better take Cyclops back to the jet, and fill him in on what's happening. Hurry, before the military can get there first."

The door we'd come through earlier was pushed open, and Shapeshifter hurried out, "What's going on? What's all this about a truce?"

He stopped when saw Magneto and me standing together.

"It's true," I said. "Ah, here's the Professor."

The Professor had not yet regained consciousness; I assumed he was still drugged. Psyche was using her power to lift his motionless form along the corridor in front of her.

"Is he all right?" Gaia asked.

"I think so," I said. "I don't sense any injuries. Shapeshifter, Shock, you two help the Professor back to the jet. Gaia, hurry!"

Gaia ran to the door, guiding the groggy, disoriented Cyclops. Shock and Shapeshifter, supporting the Professor, were behind her. That left me with Magneto and Psyche.

"Let me kill him now," Psyche hissed. "Afterwards we can go to their jet and say the military got him. Then we can kill them and take their jet."

"Yeah, that sounds like one of your plans, Mindstorm," I replied. "I know you're in there, controlling Jacqueline. I know she'd never have become Psyche without you manipulating her."

"Shut up!" she snapped. "She has become what I wish her to be. I push her in the directions I wish her to take. I will make her crush you like the insect you are."

With that, she raised her hand and I felt her power clutching at my throat, constricting my windpipe. Gasping for air, I used my own power to resist her. She lifted her other hand and her power increased. I had nothing left to counter it with. I couldn't breathe. Clutching at my throat in desperation, I sank to my knees, darkness beginning to creep in at the edges of my vision. I was dying.

The first of the explosions ripped through the silence of the corridor, blowing a hole in the side of the building, throwing debris all around us. Psyche screamed as a huge section of metal plate knocked her to the ground, abruptly silencing her. Getting my breath back, I stretched out with my senses. She was alive. Just.

"Jacqueline!" I cried, running over to try and pull her out.

She was still trapped under the metal plate. I couldn't move it away from her. It was too heavy and my power was still recovering.

"Magneto!" I snapped. "Help me get her out!"

"She just tried to kill you," he replied. "Why do you want to help her?"

"Because she's my friend! Part of her is, anyway. Get this thing off her!"

With a flick of his hand, Magneto lifted the metal plate away from the unmoving body of Psyche, and I pulled her out.

"Is she alive?" he asked.

"Just barely. I have to get her back to the jet. What was that blast?"

"The military, of course. They're trying to force their way in. We must hurry."

I lifted up Psyche in my arms, and Magneto threw open the door that led back to the exit. More explosions sounded, and more wreckage and debris were thrown up. Shielding Jacqueline with my own body, I hurried after Magneto. Another explosion, bigger and louder than any of those previous, shook the very foundations of the base, and I stumbled and fell, Psyche slipping out of my arms to the floor. I dived over her body to cover her, and luckily most the falling rubble fell away from us. Magneto was up ahead, striding towards the next door. A section of the roof was collapsing, falling right down on top of him, and he was unaware of it. Obviously it wasn't made of metal.

"Magneto!" I yelled.

He couldn't hear over the sound of further explosions outside. I raised my hand and used what little power I had left, to push him away. Taken by surprise, he lost his balance, and fell forwards. The collapsing roof smashed into the floor just where he had been standing. He looked over at me and shouted something, but I couldn't make it out over the noise. I picked up Psyche once more, and hurried towards the door. Retracing the steps I'd taken to get into the facility, I found myself darting up the stairs and turning right to run to the exit. Pushing the door open with my foot, I found Magneto outside, scouring the landscape ahead.

"The soldiers haven't come this far," he said.

"The jet's over here."

"I know; I can sense it."

We hurried away from the building, towards the jet. I could hear the engine running as we approached, and the boarding ramp was down, ready for us to enter. I could begin to sense the presence of humans – soldiers – coming closer, and I quickened my pace as I ran up the ramp.

"We're in!" I yelled. "Take off!"

Bobby hit the controls and the jet took off vertically, just as the first of the soldiers burst into view. They fired a few harmless shots at the underside of the aircraft, before the engines were brought to full power, and we sped away. I sank down on to a seat to rest, allowing Psyche's unconscious body to lean against mine.

"Are we all here?" I asked.

Gaia nodded, "Except Rat."

Magneto looked over, "Where is he?"

"He wouldn't come with us. He refused to get on board. He went off after the soldiers."

"He disobeyed my orders! Where is he? Oculus, can you see him?"

I turned back to look through the view-port at the rapidly disappearing shape of the island. Using my mutated eyesight, I zoomed in on the island, focusing on the area we'd just taken off from.

"I can see the soldiers. I can't see Rat…no, wait! He's hiding in the trees, stalking them."

"Fool!" Magneto exclaimed.

"Are we going back for him?" Pyro asked.

"No. He disobeyed my orders, so he's brought this upon himself. He can get himself out of it."

Chris spoke up, "Listen, Magneto, I'm assuming you don't want to come back to the mansion with us. I'm also assuming that our truce extends until we have safely parted company. Where do you want dropped off?"

"Are we extending the truce?" said Pyro, flicking on his lighter.

"You don't really have any choice," Marie responded. "There's three of you now, and six of us."

Magneto ignored her, "I have no desire to see any mutant's blood shed today. I will extend the truce. You can drop us off at the edge of New York City."

I continued to watch the island, but in the darkness, and at an increasing distance, I was finding it difficult to make out what was going on. Three soldiers had discovered Rat, and he was fighting for his life. Ripping one of them open with his clawed hands, he dodged fire from the others, and took cover behind a rock. As they moved over cautiously to force him out, he leapt, knocking one of them to the ground, sinking his teeth into the man's neck. The soldier jerked, convulsed for a moment, then lay still. Rat avoided return fire from the remaining soldier, then kicked the man's weapon away from him. The soldier panicked, tried to run, but Rat was on him in an instant, slashing with his claws. It became too dark for me to see the soldier's final demise, but I had no doubt Rat had won.

We travelled in silence until we reached the outskirts of the city. Bobby landed the jet at an abandoned airfield, and as the landing ramp was lowered, we watched apprehensively as our enemies turned allies turned enemies once more prepared to disembark. Pyro and Mystique were first to leave. I expected Magneto to follow, but instead he walked over to me and said, "Psyche comes with us."

"No."

"No? She is one of the Brotherhood."

"Not any more. I'm taking her back to the mansion with us. I'm going to save her, bring her back to us."

"And why should I let you do that? She is invaluable to me."

"Because I saved your life? In the facility, remember?"

Chris, Chloe and the others stared at me. Magneto raised his eyebrows and thought it over.

"You did save my life," he agreed. "Is this what you ask in return?"

"Yes."

"In that case…very well. Do not expect me to be so agreeable the next time we meet."

He turned on his heel, and without giving us another glance, walked down the boarding ramp and off the jet. I knew it wasn't the last time we would meet. Although our mission had been a success – we'd rescued the Professor and Cyclops, and Jacqueline as an added bonus – our troubles were far from over. Wolverine and Storm were still in the hands of the military, who seemed determined to capture or exterminate all mutant life they encountered. Magneto had started the war – it was too late to try and stop it now – and we had to defend ourselves. Could we put an end to the conflict and bring about peace before countless lives were lost? I didn't know. I certainly couldn't think of any ideas. Hopefully the Professor would be able to come up with something once he recovered.

I cradled in my arms the body of Jacqueline, still unconscious, as the plane took off once more. With her eyes closed and her mind at rest, she looked so peaceful, so kind, so unthreatening. But Mindstorm was still in there. We had to get her out, so Jacqueline could be herself once more. I didn't know how we were going to do it, but I knew we'd do everything we possibly could.

"Neil?" said Chloe. "Did you really save Magneto's life?"

"Yes."

"But why? Isn't he our enemy?"

"Yes, he is."

"So why did you do it?" Chris demanded.

"Because Magneto isn't all bad. And – and I think it's what the Professor would have done."

A/N: Please review!