THIRTEEN

The ambulances, police and fire crews entered the imposing gates of Xavier's School for the Gifted exactly three hours after the attack began. Graymalkin Lane was congested with cruisers, wagons, and TV vans for most of the night. It took the fire brigade almost an hour to get the blaze under control. The work was slow for the emergency workers, too: The mansion had been damaged so much on a structural level that they had to ascertain if it was safe for them to carry out a rescue operation. At least twenty young men affiliated with the Friends of Humanity were recovered; most suffering superficial injuries, but some did not survive the journey to hospital. The group of young students who were sealed in the lower levels was treated for shock at the scene, but apart from the odd scratch and bruise, they were fine. Henry McCoy took it upon himself to call and inform their parents wherever possible that their child was safe and well.

Charles Xavier was escorted through the ruins and helped into a waiting police car. Detective Morgan was at his side. Cameras flashed like strobe lights over them but neither man acknowledged them. They both had the pale, drawn out look of one who has endured hell on earth.

Jean sat in the back of an ambulance with Storm, who was protesting the need for her to go to hospital when there was work to be done. Scott walked over and leaned on the inside of the open ambulance door. His clothes were torn and scorched, his hair sticking up at wild angles and his face was covered in cuts and tiny spot burns. "Magneto has taken Sebastien to hospital," He said. "Chamber went with him."

"Do you think Magneto will come back?" Jean asked.

Scott shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Ororo pulled the blanket around her shoulders and looked up at Scott. "He saved me—He saved all of us."

"Logan made the leap off the rooftop," Scott replied softly. "He trusted Magneto enough to place his own life in his hands."

"A leap of faith." Jean said with a smile.

Scott nodded. "He came through for us. He would have died saving you, Ororo."

Storm smiled too.

That night, every evening edition ran with headlines screaming about Graydon Creed's attack on Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and his fiery demise. Many of the articles exclaimed breathlessly about the attack, most relying on third party information. There were rumors of Mutant terrorist Erik Magnus Lensherr's appearance, but none could establish a credible link between the attack and Magneto's escape from a high security prison. Authorities were still baffled as to how the Master of Magnetism could have escaped, leaving no outward signs of force. Security guards posted to the plastic prison cell recall nothing.

Henry McCoy, spokesperson for Xavier's, issued a short statement explaining that the school was attacked by Graydon Creed's friends of Humanity sect, that the school's main building and surrounding structures had suffered substantial damage, and the clean up and re building process would be a long and exhaustive one. He asked that the media respect headmaster Charles Xavier's wishes and let the staff and students rest and recover. Interviews would be granted in due time.

Sebastien's eyes fluttered open. He was staring into fluorescent light once again. He tried to sit up and his entire right side screamed in pain. A gentle hand forced him back down and pulled his blankets up. Sebastien turned his head and saw Chamber, dressed in his tattered black clothes still, a red bandana tight around the lower part of his face. His eyes shone with concern. "Sit back. They had to stitch you up."

Sebastien frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"Creed. He shot you."

"Is everyone OK?"

"Yeah. The mansion is almost destroyed though. They almost leveled the place."

"You're kidding, right?"

Another voice answered him. Cultured, soft. "They will rebuild it. They always do."

Sebastien sat up a little to see Magneto standing at the foot of the bed. He was attired in a long overcoat and a hat slung low over his eyes. "They were more worried about losing you."

Sebastien smiled. "I thought you were in prison. Didn't I see that on the news?"

Magneto laughed softly. "I think my responsibility here has ended. I will tell the others you will live."

With that, he was gone. As he left, the fluorescent lights flickered. Chamber sat on a chair next to the bed, and watched Sebastien's face intently. "Creed is dead," He said quietly. "Xavier busted Magneto out of prison and Magneto killed Creed."

"Why did Magneto help us?"

Chamber shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Sebastien seemed to settle. His skin was pale and his lips were almost colourless from the loss of blood. With his blonde messy hair he looked every bit the street urchin he was when he first entered Xavier's. Bruises were blushing underneath his skin everywhere, some of them barely healed from the beating he received before Logan saved him. He was looking straight ahead now; the only sounds in the sterile white room were wafting in through the open door. Chamber shifted.

"You did good." Chamber said at last, and stood up to shrug out of his vinyl jacket.

"How do you mean?"

Chamber draped his jacket over the back of the chair and sat down again. He laced his fingers in front of him and hung his head slightly. Wisps of light brown hair fell over his eyes. "You managed to take control of your power, directed it at an opponent to achieve a set goal. It's what Xavier teaches his kids every day."

Sebastien frowned. "I'm not another one of his lost causes. I didn't really know what a mutant was before I was delivered to that place. I had the concept of what a mutant was from what they were saying on the street, and what I saw on the news. But I had never met one, that I was aware. Now you tell me that I am a mutant too?" Sebastien held up his hands for a moment and let them drop to his sides.

"It's not what I'm telling you. It's what you are. It was a big risk, me pushing you to use your power, because you weren't ready to accept the truth…"

"Hold on for a second…how many of you knew about me?" The volume of Sebastien's voice, its harsh edge, shocked Chamber. He was prepared for confusion, misunderstandings, denial…but a complete acceptance of the truth and anger that the knowledge was withheld? He was beginning to understand that it was pure Sebastien. Everything he said was a surprise. He was defiant and he was scared, that much was evident. "Dr. Grey knew about me, didn't she?" He demanded.

Chamber shrugged. Jean Grey probably did know about Sebastien. Chamber had considered it might have been a contentious point between her and Cyclops. It explained a lot.

"Maybe she had a hint. But with your sort of power, it would have been hard to perceive. Maybe they just hadn't come to the surface then. Jean is a telepath, but she's not in that habit of raiding someone else's consciousness."

Sebastien seemed disturbed. His eyebrows were knit and his lower lips stuck out, like he was a toddler facing a stern parent. Chamber gripped his shoulder and leaned forward. "But what's done is done and you can't change it. I can't change it. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to." Sebastien didn't respond. Not that Chamber expected him to. They were just words really. Nothing would penetrate the shock of such a life changing revelation. Finding out that one has mutant ability requires such a dramatic change in whom you are as a person that you tend to go through a grieving period for your humanity. Chamber's mourning period was longer than most; he lost half his face, his friends and most frightening of all, he lost the warmth of human contact.

Sebastien's arrival at Xavier's mansion caused a ripple in Chamber's existence. He was jolted by the dreams he'd been having, and the way he felt when he was around the boy. Sebastien had showed him what it was like to feel something again, even if it was that sick feeling in his stomach, warmth spreading in his belly and making him want to retch. He felt human again.

"Lately I've been having these dreams, mostly to do with water. Drowning, swimming, falling through it like it was all I could do. You were there all the time. I spoke to you while you were in the pool, and I could hear the water laughing. You were telling me to dive in and I just couldn't."

Sebastien watched as Chamber's eyes drifted away from him, and he could see tears slide down what was left of his cheeks. Sebastien sought Chamber's hand, caught it and gave it a squeeze. Chamber's hair fell over his troubled eyes, and he was breathing rapidly. "I couldn't get you out of my head. I tried, god I tried. But you were always there. Every time I turned around, there you were. Then strange things were happening, all of a sudden. The adults were fighting. Logan and Cyclops almost killed each other and Logan walked out of here. Everything was starting to fray around the edges. And there you are, just calmly passing through all of it with a concerned look on your face, never knowing you were the cause of it all. Then, I realized, just before Creed's troops made their move, I realized why I couldn't get you out of my head."

Sebastien squeezed his eyes shut, "Jono, you really do not want to be saying this…"

Chamber nodded. "I know. I know I shouldn't be saying this. But I have to tell you, because when Creed shot you I almost thought we'd lose you, and I was scared for the first time since coming to Xavier's. The X-men have averted the end of the universe so many times, and I've been right in the thick of it, and I was never as scared as when I saw you fall."

"No." Sebastien whispered. He squeezed Chamber's hand, and then let it go. "No, it's not going to happen. I can't allow myself to…" Sebastien stopped himself. Chamber was looking into his eyes as if he could see right through him. Of course he always did that. Chamber had what Sebastien liked to call scarecrow eyes. They had little depth and gave away nothing of the personality that gave them life. Chamber had honed everything into training to be an X-man, and he worshipped at Logan's feet. His body and mind were hardened by his condition. There wasn't much of a spark left in him. Something stirred Sebastien just then. He couldn't quite pinpoint it. He reached forward and stroked Chamber's cheek. "Well, then. Who'd have thought? Mister Starsmore has feelings."

Hank McCoy entered what was left of Xavier's office to find Cyclops sifting through the debris on the floor. McCoy shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled weakly at his old friend. Cyclops looked up and acknowledged Hank with a nod. "I did most of this damage, you know." He said as he brushed his hands of soot. "I shot a hole in that wall there."

Hank whistled. "Impressive."

Scott crouched down and retrieved a diploma that once hung on the wall he had destroyed. It was singed and torn around the edges but otherwise intact. "I was going to kill Logan. I hit him with everything I had. I felt this…white-hot rage. I wanted him dead. And now I can't recall why. Isn't that the damndest thing?" He laughed softly, without humour. His face was covered in soot and his hair was littered with bits of debris. He looked like hell.

"I heard about your altercation with Logan. Jean told Charles about it." Hank knelt and picked up a smashed photo frame. He shook the shards of glass out of the wire frame and slipped the photo out. He held it up for Cyclops to see. It was a glossy picture of Xavier's first graduating class: Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Ororo Munroe and Hank McCoy. Charles Xavier was in from of them holding a plaque with the date engraved and all their names on it. The plaque was once affixed to the wall behind Xavier's desk. It was safe to assume it was liquefied by the force of Cyclops' optic blast. Hank sighed. He was wearing his uniform in that picture, his whole body covered in blue hair. He was The Beast. Hank paused and lowered the photograph to look at his reflection in the shards of glass at his feet. He was fleshy and normal looking, wearing an expensive suit. He looked like a normal human being except for his size. "I haven't seen this place in so long, and when I do come back some madman has almost destroyed it," He said quietly. "I had no idea how close we came to losing it."

"Charles would die before he let that happen." Cyclops replied quickly. "You know that."

"I lost that kind of passion a long time ago." Hank slipped the photo into his breast pocket. His face was drawn and tortured. His eyes were searching around the destroyed office. "I thought I could make a difference away from here, use my training in the human world, change their minds. Hell, I went to the extreme of making a hologram-inducing machine just to fit in, because my appearance would frighten people. And you know what? It was all for nothing…"

Cyclops picked his way through the debris, and hugged his friend. Hank smiled and took off his glasses. There were tears in his eyes. "Charles has never been angry at you for leaving, Hank. None of us has been. We all love you and we respected your decision even if we didn't agree with it." Cyclops patted Hanks big shoulder. "I'm glad you're here now. We have a lot of rebuilding to do."

"In more ways than one," Hank McCoy said, as he watched the pulsing throb of the emergency vehicles outside.