Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution belongs to several lucky people, but I am not one of them.
Part Three – Lost Turn, skid, run. Gasp for air. It's coming, it's going to kill him, danger, run…
The voice. Cold but everywhere, filling his mind, his existence, feeling nothing but the emptiness that the voice fills him with – no, not emptiness, completeness, as long as he can hear the voice then nothing else matters…
Stop. Fight.
Filled with fire now. He will make the voice proud. The voice is everything – lord, master, life and death. He lives to obey. He dies to obey.
Pain. The thing has attacked him. He knew it would, but now there is no fear, no anger; he must obey, attack and kill and hurt…
Slammed into a wall. Stifle a cry. He doesn't permit screams. The thing is advancing, coming towards him, get up! the voice screams, but he cannot, his leg has stopped working and he's trapped.
He's seen this before…
A moment of confusion breaks through his perfectly blanked mind. A figure advances on him, wants to hurt him. He can see it in her eyes, half-remembered eyes and an obscurely seen form that solidifies beneath them…
He whispers the name. "Wanda…"
The figure stops. Everything stops. The voice fills his universe again as it commands, harsh, deep, and strong. "Stop simulation!"
The voice is nearing him. He struggles to his knees; he cannot be weak, not in front of this, his reason for life. The figure stares impassively at his pitiful efforts. "Bring him to the lab. He obviously needs extra treatment."
Lab…vague memories of crimson light and screams and fear flit through his mind. But no, now his body is up and obeying; he must go to the lab, it is impossible to conceive of doing anything else. He limps down an endless hall with only one goal in mind, even as a part of him screams in wordless terror.
***
"Well, find him!" Wanda growled.
"Wanda, please," the Professor reasoned. "Without Cerebro it is impossible for me to find your brother. Even with Cerebro it was difficult – your brother's mutant signature cannot be identified. Pietro could be anywhere."
"No, he's not anywhere, he's here, in Bayville! I saw him!" The lights flickered shortly as Wanda glared at Professor Xavier, barely controlling her growing rage.
Jean looked on as the Professor tried to reason with Wanda. The girl had shown up out of literally nowhere – Jean hadn't even sensed her presence until she had flung the door open and demanded to see Professor Xavier.
"Wanda, even if you did see Pietro today, there is no guarantee that he is still anywhere in the area. Your father might not even be with him."
"I have no father!" Wanda screamed. A window shattered and the Professor winced.
"I apologize, Wanda."
Jean had jumped a little when the window had broken. Apparently, Wanda's leave of absence had not improved her temper at all. Once again she wondered what the Professor had been thinking when he told Wanda she could stay with them. True, it would have been cruel to leave her with nowhere to go, but the girl really was out of control most of the time. Anyway, she couldn't have been that desperate for a place to stay if she left before ever staying there, right?
Jean felt a touch on her shoulder and nearly screamed. She had been so intent on watching Wanda's conversation with the Professor that she hadn't noticed anyone coming. She whirled to see Rogue standing behind her. Rogue looked at her quizzically, then peeked around the corner of the hall into the next room. Almost immediately she turned back to Jean with an aggravated expression on her face. A blush colored her cheeks. So the Professor didn't know that she was listening to their conversation. Why should she care what Rogue thought about that?
"He's here," Wanda growled menacingly. "If Pietro is here, so is he. You don't need your damn machine to find someone in a small area. Tell me where he is!"
Professor Xavier sighed. "I will look, Wanda, but keep in
mind that Magneto has found a way to block his mutant signature from me. If he has
taught Pietro the same thing, then I may
not be able to sense him."
Jean frowned. She had traced Quicksilver before and had no problem. The Professor knew that, so why had he told Wanda he couldn't sense Pietro? It wasn't logical.
"You'll sense Pietro. He hasn't learned that yet. He can only manage to blank his mind, not hide it. You'll be able to sense a presence with no thought." The Professor looked mildly surprised at this tidbit of knowledge, but wisely decided not to antagonize Wanda further by asking questions. He sighed softly.
"Very well, Wanda," he said, then shut his eyes as he concentrated. Almost without thinking, Jean did the same. She let her consciousness expand to fill the room, then sent it out over Bayville, searching for the peculiar absence of thought that Wanda had claimed would be Pietro. After a quick search, she found him – or at least, she thought she did. In a moderately large building at the edge of Bayville she sensed a non-presence, an awareness of a being with no thoughts that she could discern. It was a bit creepy, actually – even when people shielded from her she could still pick up a general sense of emotion and self. In unnerved her to feel that curious nothingness.
Jean came out of her telepathic trance at the same time as the Professor. He spoke as she steadied herself. "I am sorry, Wanda, but I could not sense even a trace of your brother. If he was in Bayville earlier, then he must be staying somewhere else. It would be perfectly within his capabilities to run here for an hour and be on the other side of the country before we noticed he had even appeared. I'm afraid that must be the case."
Jean was so shocked by this that she nearly stepped forward and said something. Only Rogue's insistent tug on her shoulder held her back. Rogue looked aggravated and clearly wanted to know what was going on, but Jean only shook her head. Rouge still seemed angry, so Jean held up a finger to signify that she'd tell her later. Mollified, Rouge settled back to watch once more.
Wanda looked indescribably furious about this information, but luckily nothing else exploded. She snapped, "So what am I supposed to do? I have to find him!" The inflection in her voice told Jean that the "him" she referred to was Magneto, not Pietro. A shudder ran down her spine. She couldn't understand how Wanda could be so angry as to want her father dead. The hate that sparked in the girl's eyes chilled Jean to the bone, and she prayed that Wanda's anger was never directed at her.
"You may have to give up searching for him, Wanda," Professor Xavier said. Keeping his voice calm and soothing, he continued, "Your brother and Magneto are extremely difficult to track. Unless they decide to reveal themselves, it is possible that you may not see them again."
Fury and hatred blazed through Wanda now; Jean felt the sudden blast of emotion as a physical blow. The picture frames on the walls all shattered as she screamed, "I won't give up! I will never stop searching for him until he is dead! I'll make him pay a thousand times over for what he did to me!"
"Wanda, wait – " the Professor started, but Wanda had already stormed from the room. She slammed the door so hard that Jean expected the pictures would have cracked if they hadn't already been broken. Professor Xavier sat alone in the center of the living room for a moment, then said, "You can come out now, Jean, Rogue."
Jean flushed with chagrin, then slowly walked around the corner of the room, followed closely by Rogue. The Professor stared them down until Jean felt she'd die of shame and embarrassment. "I'm disappointed in you girls," the Professor said sadly. "I thought you would be able to tell when a private conversation was taking place."
Jean was mortified, but Rogue scowled. "Private? Wanda was yelling loud enough for the whole block to hear. We didn't do anything wrong." Xavier looked at her regretfully, but Rouge didn't care. She pushed past him with her head held high, calling back a defiant, "I'm going out." Jean watched her go, then turned to the Professor.
"Jean?" The Professor's gaze demanded an answer, an explanation as to why she had been eavesdropping. Jean wanted to explain, but instead blurted out, "Professor, why did you tell Wanda you couldn't find Pietro? I could sense him, just inside of Bayville…" her voice trailed off as the Professor looked at her piercingly.
Xavier stared deep into Jean's eyes. "Jean," he said, his voice deep and compelling. "Wanda is in a dangerous state. She cannot be allowed to continue this mad search to destroy her family; it can only bring her grief and might endanger us in the future. Think about it; what happens if she attacks civilians in her quest to find Magneto? The public will decide that mutants are dangerous and become violent. It is better that we give her no encouragement, so that perhaps she will learn tolerance on her own."
Jean blinked, suddenly very confused. Why was she so dizzy all of a sudden? The Professor continued, holding her gaze. "It really is for the best, Jean. It might seem wrong to conceal the truth from her, but it will ultimately be to her advantage. If you think about it, I'm sure you will agree with me."
Jean shook her head, as much as to clear her head as to disagree with him. She didn't understand. The Professor made so much sense, but still…she struggled to come up with a reason why he should be wrong but found nothing. Of course there was nothing. The Professor always knew what he was talking about. He was their mentor and teacher; she was foolish not to listen to him.
"Of course, Professor," she found herself saying. "I'm sure you made the right decision." The Professor smiled at her, and she smiled back. She really was lucky to have such an understanding and intelligent person as her mentor. Without his guidance, she might have made a terrible mistake in judgment.
Jean smiled at the Professor one last time, then walked back down the hall to her room. She needed to lie down - suddenly she had a terrible headache.
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