A/N: In response to Melissa: it's true that Chloe doesn't do a lot of fighting, but this is deliberate and is due to her personality. Given the violent content to be expected in an action-based X-Men fic, I felt it was important to have one character, Chloe, who hates fighting and violence and provides a certain perspective for the story. Chloe only uses her power to fight when she absolutely has to, and usually has to be persuaded by one of the others. It's just the kind of person she is. I don't mind the criticism since it was constructive, thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming! Thanks to everyone else who has reviewed!

Chapter Five: The Friend That Was Lost

Four of us stood around the single occupied bed in the mansion's infirmary, none of us speaking, all of us looking down at the unmoving form lying on the bed, waiting for some sign of life.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Chloe asked nervously, breaking the silence. "What if she's gone into a coma and never wakes up?"

"Don't be stupid," said Chris scornfully, but I sensed an under-current of fear in his voice.

"She'll be fine," I reassured them. "I can sense it. Her mind's slowly waking up."

"What's going to happen when she wakes up, anyway?" asked Felicity. "The last time I saw her, she was trying to kill us. I don't understand why you're going to so much trouble to help her."

"Because she's our friend!" Chris snapped.

"Some friend! She was trying to kill you!"

"That wasn't her," I said wearily. "I thought we'd explained this to you. She's being manipulated."

"All you told me was that she's got multiple personalities. Doesn't that mean she's crazy?"

Chris tensed, and I could feel the anger growing in him.

"You don't understand," Chloe said sadly. "You weren't there the first time. When she was normal."

"So what made her go off and join Magneto, and try to kill us?"

"We've already told you at least twice," said Chris impatiently. "She absorbed the consciousness of another telepath, one who was pure evil. She's being manipulated by that person's mind."

Felicity looked at him, "So what are you going to do for her?"

"I don't know," I said. "We'll try talking to her at first, try to get her to fight it. If that doesn't work…I don't know. When the Professor's fully recovered from those sedatives, he might be able to help us."

"So what if she wakes up and tries to kill us?" Felicity demanded.

"She can't. Her arms are pinned down."

Chloe unhappily fingered the strong metal cuffs that held Jacqueline's wrists to the side of the bed.

"How does that make us safe?" Felicity persisted.

"Because she can't use her telekinesis without using her hands," I said. "I can't either. It takes years of experience before you can do it by thought alone, like Dr Grey."

"Who?"

"We'll tell you later."

Jacqueline's hand twitched, and I sensed her mind moving, rising into consciousness.

"Oooh, she's waking up," Chloe exclaimed.

I moved over to stand beside the bed, and knelt down to face Jacqueline. Her mouth moved, her head jerked, and her eyes snapped open.

"Where am I?" she gasped.

Terrified, she looked around, her eyes lighting on myself, Chloe, and then Chris.

"Chris! Where are we? What's happening?" she cried.

"Jacqueline?" he asked excitedly. "Is that you? Where's Psyche?"

Jacqueline looked down at herself, "Why are my hands cuffed?"

"Because you've been trying to kill us?" said Felicity tactlessly.

"Jacqueline?" I said urgently. "Are you all right? What's happened to Psyche?"

She took a deep breath and replied, "Mindstorm. Mindstorm's still unconscious. I'm only Psyche when she's awake and controlling me. I – oh God, no – some of the things I've done – while she's been in control – "

She broke down into uncontrollable sobbing, letting out all of the remorse and guilt that Mindstorm had been forcing her not to show over the last two months. Her hands strained at the cuffs; she wanted to bring them up to cover her face, to hide herself, ashamed of what she had done.

"Please, forgive me," she begged us. "For trying to kill you. I can't stop myself. I can't control my actions. Mindstorm has some power over me – when she tells me what to do, I can't resist her. She's too powerful."

"She's still asleep, right?" said Chris hurriedly. "Tell us how to get rid of her, how to get her out of your mind. Jacqueline?"

Jacqueline was shaking all over, and she whispered, "She's – waking – up – "

"Quickly, tell us! How do we get her out of there?"

Abruptly she stopped trembling, and her body still. Her eyes narrowed with hatred, as Mindstorm took control and she became Psyche once more.

"I – will – kill – you," she hissed, pronouncing each word as if it was a deadly curse.

"Jacqueline! Fight her! You've got to fight her! Don't let her take control!"

"She cannot fight me. I already hold total dominance over her feeble mind."

Clenching her fists and tensing her arms, Psyche pulled with all her strength against the restraints. For one moment, one terrible, awful, horrifying moment, I thought she was about to break free, but the metal cuffs held firm, and she sank back on to the bed, her face twisted in fury.

"Release me."

"So you can kill us? No chance," Felicity retorted.

"Where is Magneto?"

Chris answered this time, "He's given you over to us, in exchange for saving his life."

"Release me," she demanded. "If you do not, I will destroy this body. Your friend will suffer unimaginable pain, then she will die."

"Leave Jacqueline alone!" Chloe cried. "Why can't you let her live her own life, instead of hanging on to her like a parasite?"

"She can't hurt the body while she's chained up like this," Chris assured her. "She's bluffing."

Psyche spat at him, and missed. Then she turned to glare at me, "I will torture the other mind. The child. You know what I am talking about, don't you, Oculus?"

"Yes, I do."

"What does she mean?" asked Felicity.

"There's a third mind inside Jacqueline. A copy of herself as a seven year old. She's trapped in there, but she doesn't have any way to control Jacqueline, like Mindstorm has. I assume that's because Jacqueline didn't discover her telepathy until she was older. All she had at seven was her telekinesis, and she can't use that without control of the body."

"Why can't you just leave her alone?" Chloe said, her voice shaking with emotion. "You're a monster, Mindstorm. Let her go."

"This is your last warning!" Psyche said, ignoring all of us. "Release me from these cuffs, or the child mind will suffer agony beyond your imagining."

"We can't let her do that!" Chloe said.

Chris shook his head, "We can't let her go! She's still bluffing! Neil, isn't she?"

"I don't know," I said slowly. "Psyche, we can't release you."

"In that case – "

"Wait!" I said, putting up a hand. "There may be another way."

"What?" Chris demanded.

I ignored him. An idea was beginning to germinate in my mind. Could we? Would it work? It would come at an awful price, but it might save Jacqueline…

"Listen, Mindstorm," I said finally. "I want to make a deal with you."

"Make it quick."

Chris looked at me angrily, "Neil, you can't make a bargain with her! She's insane!"

"Shut up, Chris. For Jacqueline's sake, this might work. Mindstorm, would you leave Jacqueline's mind and let her live her own life – "

"Never!" Psyche interrupted.

I continued unfazed, " – if we could find you a body of your own?"

This time her expression was not one of hatred. Her eyes went wide and Psyche looked at me with what looked like hope. I'd known, somehow, that this would be the one thing that Mindstorm would desire above anything else, even above getting revenge on us.

"Neil, you can't do that!" Chloe yelled. "We only just managed to stop her killing us last time!"

A surge of anger rose in me. Was Chloe really so stupid that she couldn't see what I was trying to do?

"Chloe, shut up!" I snapped. "This is the only way we can get Jacqueline back!"

Chloe's eyes widened in shock, then her expression changed to anger and she yelled back at me, "Fine! Do whatever you want! After all, Jacqueline's the one you really care about, isn't she?"

She turned and, without a backward glance, stormed out of the infirmary. Chris and Felicity watched her go, but I kept my attention fully on Psyche.

"Would you do it?" I asked her.

She didn't answer for a long time, mulling it over in her head. Eventually she nodded, "Yes. I would. If you found a body that matched my previous one sufficiently."

"Hang on, hang on," said Chris. "Even if we can find somebody who's enough like her old body – there's the slight problem that there will already be somebody in possession of it. We can't let Mindstorm do to somebody else what she's doing to Jacqueline."

"I know," I sighed. "Well – I dunno, maybe we can find somebody who's recently died. Mindstorm, could you take control of a body that had recently died?"

"Yes."

"Right. Then that's what we'll do."

"Wait a minute!" said Felicity, but I wasn't listening.

I hurried to the door, on my way to the exit. I had to find a body for Mindstorm. A body for Mindstorm…

I was halted in my progress by Chris hurrying up and stepping in front of me.

"Get out of my way," I said.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded. "And what do you think you're doing, yelling at Chloe like that? I thought you loved her."

"Chris, don't you understand? This is the only way we can get Jacqueline back!"

"It's a deal with the devil, is what it is! We need to think it over more carefully before jumping right in!"

Felicity appeared beside him, also blocking my way, "How dare you shout at Chloe that way? If that was me, I'd have slapped you!"

"Shutup!" I yelled at both of them. "This is the only way we can get Jacqueline back!"

"You know, that's the third time you've said that," Chris retorted. "You're starting to sound like a recording."

"I noticed that too," said Felicity, nodding her agreement and folding her arms defiantly.

Fury rose in my blood. Who were these two imbeciles, these two nothings, who were trying to get in way? I raised my hands, and used my telekinesis to push them away. My fury amplified my power, and both of them slammed into the wall, hitting the floor hard. Neither moved. I strode past them and went to the elevator. Just as I got there, the elevator door slid open, to reveal a figure within. A man sitting in a wheelchair. Another one to get in my way. I raised my hand to toss him aside, when something hit me.

Like a pure, fresh, cleansing wave, Professor Xavier's power swept through my mind, and I gasped, falling to my hands and knees.

"Sir? Professor?" I asked breathlessly. "Wh-what happened?"

"She was controlling your mind," he said simply.

"Who? Mindstorm?"

"Yes. You tied down her hands to prevent her using her telekinesis, but you forgot about her power over people's minds."

"No, that's impossible!" I exclaimed. "I can sense when a telepath is in my mind!"

"You can sense when a telepath is reading your mind," he said. "But you cannot sense when you are being controlled."

"But…but Chris, Felicity…Chloe! My friends! What have I done?"

"Nothing that cannot be mended. You should not have tried to talk to Psyche without me being present. Things could have been much worse if I hadn't found you just now."

"So that whole thing, that idea about finding Mindstorm her own body," I said. "That wasn't my idea at all, was it? She implanted that in my brain and made me attack my friends!"

"Yes. She latched on to your desire to have Jacqueline back, and used it to manipulate you. Neil, you made a mistake, but that does not cancel out the good you have already done today. The actions of yourself and the others may have prevented disaster. You have my gratitude and my congratulations, but I will save that until later. I wish to speak to all of you when Scott has fully recovered. For now, I want you to go upstairs and rest. Leave Psyche to me."

"Right. I take it she can't control your mind, sir?"

"Not at her current age. When she is a few years older, her power may well be on a level to rival my own. But for now, she does not present a threat. Please, excuse me."

He wheeled his way down the corridor towards the infirmary, and I sank down on the floor, leaning against the wall, unable to comprehend what had just happened. I'd been so confident, so convinced of myself and my abilities, that I'd blinded myself to just how powerful Jacqueline was. If the Professor hadn't been able to stop me…I could have killed everybody in the mansion. It also gave me a terrifying insight into just how powerful I myself could be, if I chose to misuse my gifts in that way. Chloe…and Chris and Felicity…I jerked upright. Were they OK? Had I injured them? I got to my feet and hurried back round the corner.

They were on their feet. Felicity was holding her side, still not fully recovered from her burns, and Chris was supporting her. I hurried over, guilt washing over me as I saw the pain in her eyes.

"Felicity? Are you all right?" I asked. "I am so sorry, I can't believe I did that to you! Please, forgive me, I didn't know what I was doing. It was Mindstorm! She – "

"We know," Chris snapped. "The Professor told us."

"Honestly, I'm really sorry," I repeated.

"I'm all right," Felicity said to Chris, ignoring me.

She tried to stand on her own, found it too difficult, and he ran to grab her as she fell. Felicity flashed him a grateful smile, and he tried to smile in return, succeeding only in looking awkward, "Here, I'll help you upstairs."

"Hey, are you ignoring me or what?" I asked.

Chris looked round at me. His gaze was still harsh, "No offence, Oculus, but being thrown about by somebody I thought was a friend…let's just say it doesn't really fill me with good feelings for you."

"But I – "

They'd already gone round the corner and I could hear the elevator doors opening. I sank down on to the floor again, allowing depression to wash over me. I hadn't missed the significance of Chris using my call-sign rather than my name. The extra layer of formality was a signal, a warning, that our friendship was in danger.

"But that's just stupid!" I said to the empty corridor. "It wasn't my fault! I was being controlled by Mindstorm – "

Then I remembered what the Professor had told me. It was my fault. I should have known that Mindstorm was capable of controlling minds. I'd gone in there and spoken to her, without any defences in place to prevent her from manipulating one of us.

"Damn it!" I swore, angrily kicking at the wall.

Now I had a sore foot as well. I felt a fresh surge of guilt, and did nothing to fight it. I deserved to be feeling guilty. I'd upset Chloe and hurt Felicity because of my own stupidity and arrogance. Who was I trying to fool? I was no leader. I'd deluded myself into thinking I could lead the X-Men just as well as Xavier or Cyclops, and now I had been brought back down to earth.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you idiot, I told myself, go and feel sorry for the people you've hurt!

Where was Chloe? I stretched out with my senses and tried to locate her. She wasn't anywhere in the building. I pushed out further, and found her in the gardens. Getting to my feet, I headed for the elevator.

I found Chloe sitting on the same wooden bench we'd been occupying what seemed like a million years ago, when Chris had found us and told us the Professor wanted to see us. She was facing away from me, staring unhappily at the ground, and had obviously been crying.

"Chloe?"

She was still angry, and her expression was anything but welcoming when she looked over. I made as if to sit down next to her, but she snapped, "Don't sit down."

"Why not?"

"If you do, I'll get up and go somewhere else."

"Chloe…"

"Leave me alone."

"Listen, Chloe, I didn't mean what I said. I was being controlled by Mindstorm…no, honestly! Ask the Professor."

"I don't care if you were being controlled. The sentiments were still yours."

"What sentiments? What do you mean?"

"Your burning, overwhelming desire for Jacqueline is what I mean. I've had to sit for two months and listen to you talking non-stop about how much you want to have her back."

I was shocked, "But of course! Don't you want her back?"

She hesitated, "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I want her back. But I also wanted to have some time alone when we could talk about us, and what we were going to do."

I noted her use of the past tense. I sat down next to her and, despite her earlier promise, she remained where she was. I sensed some of her anger had ebbed away, and she was more upset than anything else.

"Listen, Chloe, I want to tell you something," I said. "I love you, OK? Jacqueline's my friend and I'm desperate to have her back, but she's just that: my friend. Nothing more. I've never even thought about loving her instead of you. If it was you who was missing, and Jacqueline who was here, I'd have felt a thousand times worse. Chloe, I swear this is true. You can get the Professor to read my mind if you don't believe me."

She sighed, "I believe you. That is, I know you mean what you're saying."

"Pardon?"

"Neil, do you really love me? True love, I mean? Can you see us getting married, having children, growing old together? Or is this just some short-term thing and you only like me because I'm a pretty face?"

"No! I love you, I swear!"

"That's all right, then."

"Why do you ask?"

"I just thought…well, because our relationship started so quickly and we seemed to fall in love at first sight…"

"You thought it wouldn't last?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I was afraid it would burn itself up and fizzle out. And – and I know I have true feelings for you, but I wasn't sure if you felt the same about me."

"I do."

"I know, but I still feel…uncomfortable."

"Why?"

"Because you're always so cold and detached that I can never tell what you're feeling!" she exclaimed, letting her frustration out in one wild burst. "The only time you show any kind of passion is when you're angry! You always know how I'm feeling because you can read my mind and my emotions, but you never show me how you're feeling! When you're happy, I want to be happy with you; when you're upset, I want to comfort you; when you're loving me, I want to love you in return, but I can't! You never let me know how you're feeling, except when you're angry, and that just frightens me."

I moved closer to her and said, "Well, I'm sorry, but that's how I am. I was hated at school for being a mutant, and I got used to not showing my emotions. If there was no visible sign that I was angry or hurt, people would usually give up and leave me alone."

"You're not at school any more. Well, you are, but not that school. You can show your feelings now."

"I'm trying. Um – Chloe?"

"Yeah?"
"Can you see us growing up together and having a family?"

"Yes. I never wanted to talk about it before, in case you thought it was stupid and laughed at me."

"I'd never do that!"

"Yeah, I know that now."

"Do you forgive me for what I said earlier? Down in the infirmary?"

"Yes."

Chloe rested against me, putting her head on my shoulder as she always did when she was tired, and I felt relief flowing out of her. I put my arm round her and squeezed her gently.

"So what's going to happen to Jacqueline?" she asked.

"Dunno. The Professor's with her. Mindstorm can't do anything to him."

"Maybe he's going to help Jacqueline try and take back control of her mind."

I shrugged, "He didn't say. I don't think he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. I also don't think any of us realised just how dangerous Mindstorm was. We thought that once she had been taken out of her body, she was no longer a threat. We didn't realise she could influence Jacqueline from within."

"I just can't understand how a person can be so evil," Chloe said.

"It's because she received mutation implant treatment, similar to what happened to me," I said. "It warped her mind and wiped out any good personality traits she might have had. I'm glad the same thing didn't happen to my mind."

"So am I," said Chloe.

She reached up to plant a kiss on my cheek, and I knew in that moment that the breach I had opened between us, had been sealed.

We spent more than an hour sitting there together, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon, and just happy to be in each other's company, relieved that our argument had been settled so quickly and we could get back to loving. There was something about Chloe; I didn't know what it was, but her presence seemed to instil a certain warmth and peacefulness in me. It was actually more noticeable when she wasn't there; I tended to feel slightly ill-at-ease and almost incomplete when we were apart. It was amazing; I'd known this girl for little more than two months, and already she was part of me. I was glad she felt the same way about me as I felt about her. I didn't know what I would, or indeed could, have done if Chloe had decided she loved somebody else. I had to admit that I had been guilty of more or less taking her for granted these last two months, while I was busy worrying about Jacqueline. Looking back, I could see that I really should have devoted more of my attention to Chloe, to let her know just how special she was to me. She was my everything, my whole world. When I was with Chloe, feeling the warmth of our love flowing between us, nothing else mattered; Magneto, the military, Jacqueline, Mindstorm, everything else took a back seat. It was Chloe who had taken hold of my life and given me reason to keep on living, when I had been on a downward spiral of depression after finding out the truth about my parents, when I was ready to give up and waste away. In doing that, she'd filled a vital gap in my life, and if that were ever taken away…I knew I couldn't live without Chloe.

"Where's Chris?" she said dreamily, as she gently lifted a tiny spider out of her hair, and set it down on the ground.

"He's with Felicity."

I could sense the two of them in the mansion. I knew I'd have to go and find them and make a proper apology for my actions, and hope they forgave me. Obviously I wasn't as close to either of them as I was to Chloe, but I was fairly certain that Chris would accept my apology and repair our friendship. Though we weren't particularly fond of each other, we'd been through a lot together, and there was a bond of sorts between us, something that – I hoped – could never be severed. As for Felicity, I didn't know what to think. I hardly knew her, and had no idea how she'd react, but hopefully I could talk to her and sort it out.

I looked down at Chloe, still resting against me, and pushed out my senses to feel the emotions running between us. Chloe's love: warm, caring, affectionate, cuddly, and my love: protective, passionate, burning like a fierce, unquenchable flame. Chloe. My everything. My whole world. I solemnly vowed to myself that I would never hurt her again, either physically or psychologically.

If I had only known that within 24 hours I would be forced to break my vow.