Chapter Ten: Mutual Interests

The next few days were the happiest I had ever known. Having Jacqueline back was like the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was my life. My circle of friends was complete once more. I'd never had a lot of friends, but the ones I did have I knew were true friends: Chloe, Chris, Jacqueline, and now Felicity too. The five of us were an inseparable group, spending all our time together, sharing our worries, our fears, our discoveries, and our joys. Well, maybe not quite all of them. Chloe and I had yet to come as close together as we had on that night, but I knew our relationship was still developing, and I knew it would be some time before we told the others that we were ready to make love.

It was taking me a little while to get used to the way things were now, with Jacqueline among us. I was no longer the second most powerful telepath after the Professor, and no longer the only telekinetic in the school. Also I was no longer the oldest of my age group. Jacqueline was nearly 18 now, several months older than I was, and already people were beginning to look up to her, as they did with me. She had been given a room to herself, now that she was too old to share with boys, and thus there were no problems with the fact that Felicity had taken her place in our room. However, I knew there would be problems of another sort later.

It happened one evening when I was in our room, lying on my bed reading a book, while Chris sat at the table, drawing idly on a sheet of blank paper. Chloe and Felicity were together elsewhere. There was a knock at the door and Jacqueline entered.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," she smiled. "Chris, can I ask you something?"

He looked over, "Yeah, what's up?"

"Oh, I was just…I was just wondering if you'd like to do something after dinner. I thought we could…we could maybe go for a walk in the…in the gardens, or go for a drink in the town. It's only a few miles away."

Chris sighed, and said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Jacqueline, I should have told you this earlier. I'm already going out with Felicity."

My eyes widened. This was news to me. I knew the two of them admired each other, but I didn't know they had any formal relationship going. I sensed Jacqueline's spirits dropping, her hope crushed, and she looked unhappily at the floor.

"I was going to tell you, but I thought you'd already know, being able to read my mind and all that," Chris explained.

She shook her head, "I'm trying not to use my power. It reminds me too much of what I – what I did when I was Psyche."

"I'm sorry," he said lamely.

I felt Jacqueline's emotions change: sadness; then jealousy and anger at Felicity; then bitterness and anger towards Chris; then sadness again. She covered her face with her hands as she started crying.

"Jacqueline," said Chris awkwardly. "Please don't get upset. It's not that I don't like you, because I do. I just think Felicity and I are a better match. You need somebody who'll be kind and patient and understanding, and that's not me."

"You were all that kept me going," she sobbed. "When Mindstorm was controlling me, when I thought I'd never be in command of my own mind and body again, the only thing that kept me going was thinking about you, and the hope that someday we could be together."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have made assumptions. I – I hope you can be happy together."

She was trying to sound sincere, but I knew she didn't mean it.

"It doesn't mean I don't love you," said Chris. "We all love you. We're all here for you. We're your friends."

Jacqueline smiled through her tears, "Yeah…I suppose I should count myself lucky that anyone wants to be my friend at all, after everything that I've done."

"It wasn't you. You know that."

She shook her head, "You're wrong. Mindstorm was controlling me, but in order to control me, there had to be something for her to use, something for her to latch on to."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything that I did," she sniffled. "All the killings, all the hate, all the destruction…it was Mindstorm's doing, but there was a part of me…a part of me that wanted to do it. A part of me that wanted revenge on my parents and the rest of humanity for what they had done to me. She couldn't have controlled me without that part of my mind to start on. I'm just as bad as she is – I mean, as she was."

"No, you're not," I said. "We're all like that. There have been plenty of times I've wanted to enact revenge, wanted to use my powers against people who have hated me because of what I am. I resisted the temptation to hurt people because I knew it would be wrong. You did the same. Mindstorm didn't, and that's what made her a monster."

"He's right," said Chris. "You know how angry I can get; you know how many times I've nearly lost my temper and lashed out at people. I've always managed to stop myself from hurting innocent humans. We've all had the same desire for revenge. I bet even the Professor's had it."

"Maybe you're right," said Jacqueline. "I'm sorry, I'm just finding it difficult to be positive right now. I'd set my heart on being in love with Chris and now that I – "

She was interrupted as the door was pushed open, and Chloe and Felicity entered, chatting happily to each other. Both stopped when they saw Jacqueline crying.

"Are you all right?" asked Chloe in a concerned voice.

Jacqueline turned round to look at the two of them. As her eyes settled on Felicity, I sensed her anger and resentment growing, overflowing. Her right hand twitched, and she began to lift her arm. My heart rose into my mouth. Jacqueline was going to lose it again. She was going to use her power to kill Felicity. I was already on my feet, raising my arms to counter her attack, when she came to her senses, and dropped her arm. Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks, and she snapped, "Have fun together. Don't worry, I won't get in your way. In fact, I think I'll just stay away from all of you from now on!"

Before any of us could react, she had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Jacqueline was true to her word. She refused to speak to any of us from then on, shutting herself away behind walls of misery, sitting alone at dinner time, ignoring all attempts at starting a conversation. When I tried to sense her feelings, I discovered she had put mental barriers around her mind, denying me access. After she had finished eating, she disappeared to her room and locked herself inside. We didn't know what to do. Chloe suggested that Jacqueline just needed some time alone to sort herself out, and badgering her would probably not help. We decided to leave her alone for the time being, and see if she was any different tomorrow.

Chris and Felicity had their own plans for the evening; I wasn't sure what those were, but it seemed to involve going the short distance from the estate to the nearby town Jacqueline had mentioned earlier. Chloe and I decided to have an early night. I had a hunch that something important might be about to happen tomorrow; at dinner I had noticed the senior X-Men talking together, and had sensed that something out of the ordinary was going on, or was about to crop up. I wondered if it was to do with Nightcrawler, or Rat and the others. I'd told Chloe about it, and she had agreed that going to bed early was probably a wise idea. We had showered, changed, and climbed into bed, when I glanced over in the darkness at Chloe and said, "Chloe? Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"About what happened that night – you know, just before Mindstorm was destroyed. We were getting close together, and…well, it wasn't like anything we'd ever experienced before. I don't know if that was just a one-off or what, but, well, I just thought I'd ask."

"What are you saying, exactly?"

I took a deep breath, "Do you want to make love?"

Surprise, but pleasant surprise, registered in her mind.

"I – I don't know," she said, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry if it's premature. I mean, we have only been going out for two months. If you're offended, I apologise. But we both think we have a future together, and…well, I mean love follows its own timetable, right?"

"I guess so…"

"Chris and Felicity aren't here…they won't be back for a couple of hours at least. We've got some time alone. I don't know what you want to do, but I thought maybe if we lie in bed together for a while, and start kissing, and just see what happens. Maybe we won't get close like we did last time. If we don't feel in the mood, we can just lie and talk. I don't know how you feel about it…"

She didn't say anything. In the darkness, I saw a vague shape moving, then my duvet was lifted, and she slid into bed beside me.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said.

She put her arms around me and we began kissing, holding each other tightly, our desire and excitement growing each time our lips touched. As I had done before, I established a telepathic link between us, and transmitted my emotions to her. Her heart jumped as she felt them, and she pulled me closer, kissing me with a new passion and intensity. It was happening again, just as it had done before. Our shared emotions were rocketing past anything we had ever previously experienced, like twin shuttles rising from the launch pad, both burning with a white-hot, unquenchable fire.

"Are we in the mood?" I asked, when we parted from a kiss.

"Oh, yes."

She let go of me for a moment, and there was a flop as her nightdress hit the floor. My own clothes soon followed, then there was nothing but the two of us, drawing together, rising higher and higher, two as one.

When I woke the next morning, exhausted but happy, she was still sleeping beside me, her arm draped loosely over my chest, her face angelic and perfect, still my paragon of beauty. The love that we had shared last night – it was the most powerful emotion that I had ever sensed. No fear, no anger, no hatred, no negative emotion could ever be as powerful as love. I knew the love I had for Chloe was the most powerful emotion I would ever experience, and she would ever receive. I was lost in rapture at the memory of the feelings we had shared.

As I looked across the room, cold logic washed over me, and I began thinking straight. Chris and Felicity were both sleeping in their respective beds. They must have come back last night and found us together, asleep, our clothes still strewn on the floor. They could only have reached one conclusion. Now our secret was no more.

Then another thought, even more terrible, struck me. We hadn't used any contraceptives. What if Chloe had got pregnant? Frantically, I pushed out with my senses, directing them towards her. I breathed a sigh of relief. I could only sense Chloe, nobody else. No embryo growing inside her. Thank you, God, I prayed. As much as the two of us wanted to start a family together, it was definitely not something we wanted to do for a good number of years. From now on, we'd have to be careful.

When we went down for breakfast, I could sense Chloe was still dreaming, reliving the passions that had flowed between us, our shared emotions combining like nuclear fusion. She walked beside me, her hand in mine, lost in love, completely carefree, allowing herself to forget everything else. I was slightly more aware of what was going on around me; once again I noticed the Professor and Cyclops locked in conversation, and once again I got the impression that something important was being discussed. It came as no surprise when Cyclops walked over and asked us to meet them in the Professor's office when we had finished breakfast.

We had just started our meal, when Jacqueline arrived in the dining room, took her food, and sat down at our table. Her mind shields were still up and I couldn't tell what she was feeling, but she seemed to still be ignoring us, and Chloe's gentle attempts to talk to her met with silence. A little later on, Chris and Felicity appeared. We waved them over to our table, and Jacqueline, looking uncomfortable, began eating more quickly, presumably so she could leave as soon as possible.

"The Professor wants to see us after breakfast," said Felicity.

"We know," I said. "I think something's come up."

"He wants to see you too, Jacqueline," Chris told her.

She refused to meet his eyes, but said, "I know. I asked him if I could join the X-Men when I turn 18. I want to do something that will make up for all the wrong that I've done."

They were the first words she'd spoken to us since yesterday evening, and I wondered if she was about to come back out of her shell and be herself again.

"You have to be 18 to be an X-Man?" said Chloe. "I thought we were all one."

"No, you're still an auxiliary member," Jacqueline said. "You can't become a full member until you're an adult."

"That's a bit unfair," said Chris resentfully. "We've all done as much as anyone recently!"

Jacqueline didn't reply, and seemed to have gone back into her self-imposed silence.

"We should be called X-People," Felicity decided. "X-Men is sexist."

Chris rolled his eyes, "Trust you to say that. I haven't told you guys yet, but Felicity here is an ultra-feminist."

"Better than being an ultra-chauvinist, like you," she said.

"Listen, God created man before woman!"

"Yeah; obviously the flaws in the design were corrected before creating woman!"

I grinned and Chloe giggled at the angry expression on Chris' face. It softened into a smile and he gave Felicity a small kiss on the cheek. She blushed, and suddenly became very interested in her food. Jacqueline angrily pushed back her seat and hurried out of the room. I watched her go, wishing there was something we could do to make her feel better. Unfortunately there was no way of changing the way things were. The four of us had paired off, and Jacqueline was left the odd one out. I knew Chris was feeling guilty about it, but there really wasn't anything he could do. I hoped Jacqueline would find somebody else, somebody who could love her, but unfortunately the only other guy at the school her own age was Bobby, who was already spoken for.

"Neil?" said Felicity, interrupting my thoughts.

I returned my attention to the conversation around me, "Yeah?"

"Why was Chloe sleeping in your bed last night?"

Chloe gave a choking sort of gasp, and tried to make it look as if she'd got a piece of food stuck in her throat. Chris had covered his face with one hand, and was looking around surreptitiously, hoping nobody had overheard. I myself had just about managed to keep any reaction from showing on my face. Felicity must have been more naïve than I thought, but then, she had only just turned 15. I was trying to concoct some response to give her, but thankfully Chris stepped in before me and said, "That really isn't any of our concern, Fliss."

"But I was just – "

"Fliss – leave it."

"Huh. Keep your shirt on. I'm gonna go upstairs and start writing a letter to my Mom and Dad. I'll meet you down at Professor's office, 'kay?"

Chris nodded. Felicity smiled at him, then left. He raised his eyebrows at us and said, "Talk about clueless. Look, I'm not going to ask you about last night, because it's really none of my business. Obviously I'm not going to tell anyone about it. I won't mention it again, unless you want to."

"She isn't clueless, just innocent. But thanks, Chris. We appreciate it," I said.

"No problem. I'll catch you later; I'm going to see if Bobby's around."

He finished the last of his breakfast, got up, and left the dining room. Chloe looked at me and said, "So much for our secret, I suppose."

"We can trust Chris; he won't spread it around."

"I know, but I don't want anyone to know about it. We'll have to be more careful next time."

"Yes, and in more ways than one. You could have got pregnant, you know that?"

She looked up in horror, "I never even thought about that! What if – what if I am?"

"Relax. You're not. I'd sense the baby's presence if you were. But listen, Chloe, the fact that it never even occurred to us, suggests to me we really shouldn't have – well, you know. Maybe we're not old enough."

"Maybe you're right. We were just getting carried away. It's that shared emotion thing, when you telepath your feelings to me. We just seem to go out of control."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. We'll need to talk about it later. Right now we'd better go and see why the Professor wants us."

We finished our meal, and headed out of the dining room together, towards Xavier's office.

It was just like it had been at the original meeting we'd had, right at the beginning of it all. Just as then, we were the last ones to get there. There were two new faces – Jacqueline and Felicity – but everyone else was standing in more or less the same places they had been last time. Jacqueline looked up as we entered, and moved slightly further away, leaning coolly against the wall.

"All right, I'll begin. Thank you all for coming," said the Professor. "First of all, the most important thing – I've been able to locate Nightcrawler."

"Where is he?" asked Wolverine.

"He's been taken to an ultra high-security military research facility," said Xavier. "As far as I can determine, he was captured at the same time you were, but for reasons unknown to me, he was moved to this other base."

"Maybe they considered him more dangerous," said Storm. "Logan and I were caught by surprise, and weren't really able to fight back, I'm sorry to say. Kurt very nearly escaped; he could have teleported to safety quite easily if he hadn't been concerned with trying to rescue us."

"We've got to get him back," Wolverine declared. "Where is he?"

"Only the highest security military base in the country," said the Professor. "Area 51."

Felicity couldn't contain her surprise, "What?! Oh…sorry, sir, I didn't mean to interrupt…but there really is an Area 51? I thought it was just a story."

"It exists," said the Professor. "And Kurt is being held there. That isn't all. Our old friends are also there, no doubt continuing their research into anti-mutant weaponry."

"You mean that sadist Van Gaarde?" I asked. "And Rat and Colonel Lutowski?"

"Yes. It is imperative that we go to Area 51, both to rescue Kurt, and to destroy these weapons. Without them, the military may lose confidence, and will hopefully be more ready to accept a peaceful solution."

"So what's the plan?" asked Cyclops.

"Getting into Area 51 won't be easy," said the Professor. "Firstly, it's guarded by the most advanced radar system known to man. Even our jet won't be able to get in undetected. Secondly, the complex is surrounded by the Nevada desert, and protected by almost any kind of trap you can think of: electrified fences; laser tripwires; hidden explosives; heat, sound, motion and pressure sensors; and regular patrols covering every inch of ground. I believe the expression is 'you name it, they got it'. Thirdly, once past the traps, there is the facility itself. There is only one entrance, guarded at all times by men, dogs, tanks, helicopters, gun emplacements, the lot. Fourthly, the inside of the base. Each level underground requires higher security clearance than the level directly above. There is only one elevator. Rigorous checks are performed before access to lower levels is permitted. There are also regular patrols and infra-red sweeps of the interior of the building."

"Whereabouts in the base is Kurt?" asked Storm.

"The very deepest level. Only the US President, his top advisors, the researchers, and certain military personnel may gain access to that level. If a breach of security occurs on that floor, the first action taken is to flood the entire level with poisonous nerve gas. Each member of staff present on this level is provided with a gas mask and oxygen tank, and a ten second warning sounds before gas is released."

"You're right, this isn't going to be easy," Chris said.

"Even then, our troubles won't be over," said the Professor. "Getting out of the facility alive will be far more difficult than getting in, since they will definitely be alerted to our presence by then."

"In other words, it's virtually impossible," said Wolverine. "But you have a plan, right?"

"I have the beginnings of a plan," said Xavier. "That is the main reason why I asked you all here. All of you have unique gifts that will help us get in, destroy the weapons, find Nightcrawler, and get out. It will require all of us to do this."

"What about Magneto?" said Cyclops. "Shouldn't somebody be keeping an eye on him? What's going to happen when he finds out about this?"

"Actually, he already knows," said Xavier.

"What? How?"

"Because I told him."

"You what?" Wolverine yelled.

The Professor merely turned to the door that led to the office adjoining his, and called, "Erik, you can join us now."

As the door was pushed open, and Magneto stepped into the room, I felt a whirlwind of emotions rising from the other X-Men: varying levels of anger, shock, and terror. Cyclops raised his hand to his visor, Wolverine extended his claws, Jacqueline began to lift her arms, Chloe edged behind me, Marie and Bobby moved closer together, Chris adopted a fighting stance, but the Professor merely nodded to Magneto.

"Everybody stay calm," Xavier said to the rest of us. "Magneto is here at my request."

"Have you gone crazy?" Wolverine demanded.

"No, Logan, I have not. I have already outlined the difficulties of this mission. If we act alone, we may succeed, but there is no guarantee of it. In order to swing the odds in our favour, I have turned to an old friend to aid us."

"Not him!" Wolverine growled. "After everything that he's done, you're actually going to trust him?"

"While we have interests in common – yes. This research into anti-mutant weapons is as much a threat to Magneto as it is to us. That is why we must work together. I believe we will need their help."

Magneto spoke at last, "So, Charles, we are joining together to go to war."

"No, Erik, we are not going to war. There will be no loss of human life during the course of this mission. I insist on that!"

Magneto didn't respond, but I sensed the conflicting emotions passing between the two of them. Old friends, arch enemies, both wanting the same thing, but seeing different ways of doing it. The two most powerful mutants on Earth faced each other, like grandmasters gazing at one another over a chess board, both ready to deploy their pieces, both waiting for the other to make the next move.

Eventually Magneto conceded, "Very well. You have my word."

I was expecting Wolverine or Cyclops to make some remark to the effect that Magneto's word was not worth a penny to either of them, but nobody seemed willing to intrude in the private battle of wills that was going on between the two leaders. Xavier bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, and concluded, "In that case, the X-Men and the Brotherhood will join together for our mutual interests."

He faced the rest of us, "We will set out tomorrow. The rest of today will be spent planning our mission. You are all part of this, so input from any of you will be welcomed. One thing I wish to make very clear: Magneto, Mystique and Pyro are our guests and, for now, our allies. They are be treated with courtesy and respect. There will be no settling of old scores or grudges."

His eyes lingered on Wolverine, who shrugged, "If they're going to help us get Kurt back, I'll behave myself. If we can trust them."

I wondered about that too. Could we trust Magneto? He'd promised to save our lives when I had asked him, and he'd done so. At the same time, however, he had blown up the facility, killing all those inside. I was fairly certain that when he had promised the Professor that no humans would be killed, he had meant it. He would keep his word. That didn't mean we could trust him. It was the hidden things, the things we knew nothing about, his hidden plans, that we had to watch out for. He wouldn't betray us – of that I was sure – but when his interests began to diverge from ours, I knew that we would have to keep a very close eye on Magneto.

A/N: In response to ramblingsofcrazywomen, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the X-Men, so you are most likely right. But at the end of X1, does Magneto not use his power after transferring to Rogue, when he tries to stop Wolverine destroying the machine, just before Cyclops blasts him?