Writer: Rowland Wells
Disclaimer: I am in no way any part of Marvel Comics or any affiliation of their enterprise. I do not own the X-Men or any Marvel Characters.
Alternate
X-Men
#06
"the flood"
The weather above the city of Washington D.C was relatively calm, besides the occasional breeze, bustling tattered newspapers and crushed leaves across the dirty streets. The sun was hiding behind the clouds, barely letting any of its radiant glow touch the beauty of the Washington monument or the Congress buildings on Capital Hill. The monotony of it all was disturbed though, when the light shining down on the city was blocked out by the armada of Sentinels, riding into battle. At first, nobody noticed their colossal forms floating serenely above, until they started their descent on the fair city. Magneto was perched on top of the leader's shoulder, guiding and manipulating the entire crew. The grass and trees swayed violently as they finally landed in the parks in the middle of the city. They spread out, some launching back into the air, and surrounded the area. Magneto raised himself off the shoulder and hovered above the scene. The Sentinels were stopped, and then their master finally commanded his attack. Simultaneously, the machines went to war, and fired on every human they could see. The vicinity was in uproar, people running terrified, and traffic in the street coming to a standstill as his army wreaked havoc on the land that bred them.
A tidal wave of utter horror and panic swept through the city as the people were faced with the hideous reality of their saviours turning on them in their hour of need. People ran for cover, the buildings and trees being incinerated and crushed behind them. Anyone who wasn't under shelter was burnt without mercy, mothers abandoning babies, families being torn apart by the very fabric of their lives. The machines stamped through the parks and out onto the streets, burning and flaming every living organism in sight that didn't conform to the X Gene DNA scans. Cars and trucks collapsed under heavy footfalls, each giant unit swiping and kicking and burning everything in its path. Magneto flew among his armada, the right hand controlling each and every malicious movement in his search to root out the evil of the world. He cleansed the streets, annihilating everything they came across. Buildings crumbled and fell under their own weight, ambulances, fire trucks and the police cars were all included in his glorious purge. His everlasting determination broke down the Washington Monument, letting it crumble into the pool below its supports. The rubble decimated as each Sentinel trampled over to reach the screaming innocents on the other side. People scattered for houses and shops, still on fire, or parts burnt clean off. Cars were crushed, trucks thrown against the sides of buildings, and amidst all the damage, Magneto was there, standing as a god among men.
The police reacted speedily, barricading off Capital Hill with many cars and swat vans. They set up concrete blocks in the way, pointlessly though, because each Sentinel stepped over into the other side. Explosions refracted around the city as his machines were finally combated, and Magneto came to the rescue. The cops cheered as one fell out of harms way and collapsed on the concrete roads. They mounted several more rocket launchers, each swat team manning their own. Plumes of rocket vapour sliced across the heavy atmosphere, striking each construct brutally. They tumbled pathetically to the floor, bursting apart. Magneto landed at the concrete, and the bullets bounced off his magnetic shield. Using his great power, he pulled together the pieces of each of his men, and reconstructed the defeated Sentinels before the police force's very eyes. They came together in one fluid motion, and struck back at the cops, who ran for their lives. Magneto raised their cars and trucks into the air, and flung them into the walls of Congress, toppling the columns that held the great building as one piece. Brickwork collapsed and shattered below, littering the steps with debris. Magneto worked his powers with every scrap of metal present in the entire building, and soon enough the walls burst apart, letting the metal pieces fly onto the desolate streets. Army jets careered overhead, scrambled from miles away. They flew around the city in formation, finally coming to the mayhem below as Magneto advanced his forces to the Whitehouse.
* * *
Having received the urgent call from Scott in what was left of the Savage land; Charles immediately woke the students from the well-earned rest, and sent them on the newly constructed Crow to engage their enemy in a fight to the death. Like the Blackbird, it was smaller, and faster, but also much more delicate, and it was the only aircraft they owned. This time only one of the adversaries would walk away from the battle, leaving the other to perish in the hands of fate. The remaining students were on board, and in such a state that it would have taken a miracle to raise their spirits. Logan sat at the back, only holding onto his place at the institution by a hair's breadth. Jean was at the front, piloting it with as much concentration as she could. The rest of the team consisted of the newly acquired Piotr and Kitty, Ororo and Bobby, who were still cut up over the incident in Croatia; and Tessa and Warren. The silence was deafening inside the cabin, and all anyone could hear was the muffled sound of the engines. A storm was brewing ahead of the flight, the lightening streaks flowing through the dark clouds. The vapours sifted and filtered in front of the sun, blocking the light with a dark glow instead. The rain accumulated, and was ready to fall.
Tessa let up on the communicator, speaking to the rest of the crew. 'The Professor knows its Magneto at the heart of this, so the final fight is about to begin. He's asked us to be so careful when we touch down. We cannot overestimate his power enough.'
Jean turned around to Tessa, one hand on the controls. 'What did he say about Scott? Are we to bring him back?'
Tessa shook her head sadly. 'He didn't say a thing.'
Unexpectedly, Jean heard the familiar voice of Charles echoing in her conscious mind. * If he's there, take him back, and we can deal with him in our own way. I'm not sure that he is, though Jean, Cerebro is having difficulty finding where he is. *
Jean watched the skies ahead of her, replying telepathically. * What if he's part of them now, and has caused all this pain and suffering? *
* Then leave him alone, and he shall answer for his crimes. Anyway it goes; I'm going to keep on trying to make contact with him. * Charles replied. Jean left it alone for a second, wondering about her next question.
* Professor, why did you not tell Magneto about this, didn't you know? *
* It wasn't my business to, Jean – and I would never have been able to stop the flood once it started. He would have marked us as traitors to mutants, and still would have carried out what is happening today. *
The Crow banked right steeply, avoiding the lightening bolt that flew through the air. It passed above the cityscape, spiralling around the skyscrapers, and finally coming to pass through the wreckage that littered the soil. The sounds of war echoed around the area, buildings falling, people screaming helplessly, and the huge Sentinels marching across the city. The students glided above the remains of Capital Hill, bruised and smashed with the police cars lodged in the walls. Burnt remains lined the streets, and a clear path of destruction originated from the parks beside what was left of the Washington Monument. It was simply a stump, the rubble crushed at its head. The Crow sped over the new arena – streets leading to the Whitehouse. Bobby opened the cabin door for their jet, and stuck his head out, watching the Sentinels parade toward their final destination. He let off several bolts, freezing one of the constructs totally. The wind battered against his face harshly, and he was pulled back in by Ororo, who made sure they stayed on board safely. The army jets sped around the area, launching rockets at each machine, and spraying the bare streets with gunfire. Magneto drove the rockets away, sending them straight back to the launchers. The jets exploded in mid-air over the Whitehouse front lawn, scattering the grass with debris. The Sentinels reached the outer fencing, and stepped over, imprinting the perfect grounds with giant footfalls. They spread out, taking on the police and army, who had surrounded the entire estate. Helicopters took off from behind the Whitehouse walls, but Magneto took care of each of them with a wave of his hand. He held them down, and slowly started to crush each under his influence of metal. The men and women fell out, and then scattered while Sentinels strode after them in a horrific display of power.
The Crow snapped round in an arc, and Magneto knew it was the X-Men come to force him back. So infuriated by the prospect, he froze their jet in place, and broke it apart, piece by piece. Suspended in the air, Jean let go of the controls, and her harness snapped, throwing her body against the windshield. The wings fell away, and the engines crumbled to nuts and bolts. The door blew open as it was slowly being compressed, and Bobby jumped out, setting an ice slide for the others to slip down safely. He hit the ground, and took in the entire scene. The Whitehouse was crushed under the force of the Sentinels, who clambered over the burning wreckage, each sending up their orange flares. People ran for the fences, and the army forces were being subdued by even more of Magneto's assault. Bobby shook himself out of the trance, and swivelled to see his friends jumping out carefully. The villain gave them the last few seconds to escape ahead of crushing the jet utterly. Jean expanded a telekinetic bubble inside the cockpit where she was trapped, and it burst the windows. She jumped to the lawn as the jet was turned to scrap metal. The rushing wind of war spiralled around the area, billowing and blowing as the Sentinels branched out to continue the fight. Tessa shouted for several of them to help with the police who were currently trying to save their own lives. Bobby, Warren and Kitty took off in that direction, ready for the fight.
'You've caused so much hurt, Magneto, and you're never going to live it down!' Jean cursed, approaching him. He flew into the air, just above them. 'This is my will to power, X-Men, and I'll not let you or anyone else stop me this time!' He moulded the remains of the Crow into whole chunks of metal, and hurled them at the students below. He took off, to find the survivors of the helicopter crash. Piotr changed into his metallic form and took each of the blocks on his body. He crumpled painfully to the floor, but looked to the others to pursue Magneto's retreating form. Ororo circled around the Sentinels, floating high in the air. She summoned the storm, already violent enough, and struck down shafts of ball lightening into the Sentinels. They blew open systematically, exploding in front of the helpless men. The orange flares shot up, cracking over the skyscrapers and office blocks. The surveyors scattered, and then the Sentinels toppled onto the concrete below. Warren swept past their bodies colliding with the top of one last attacking Sentinel. It wobbled, shakily, opening the palms of its hands onto the people below. Its arms broadened out, causing the flares to arc. Warren dodged one flare, but not the other. His left wing was caught in the fire, and the feathers incinerated cruelly. He screamed, the sound an awful high-pitched whine, as he dropped from the sky. Ororo caught hold of his falling body, but she was dragged down too with his weight.
The area was left without the cops, and only one Sentinel on that side was left. It turned, watching the pair as they hit the ground. Its foot raised slowly, ready to trample them under foot. Ororo cradled Warren's head in her arms, as the shadow appeared overhead. She faced it, and cried out, calling down one last strike of lightening. Bobby saw them, and shot off his ice plume. It set up a slope underneath the Sentinel's falling foot, and the machine slipped over, just as the lightening struck it. The electrical charge travelled through the machine, and into the ice, finally coming to rest in Bobby, who was still firing. It hit him brutally, and he spun backwards, unconscious. The Sentinel fell onto its back and collapsed. Ororo tugged Warren free, who was in too much pain to do anything.
The President's bodyguards set up a rudimentary barrier around him and his family, as they were quickly backed into an alley. The walls trembled and cracked about them, rubble falling in places as the Sentinels blew up the offices. Magneto was brought down by Logan, who launched himself from behind. He pinned the master to the floor, the six claws sticking through the material of his cloak. 'Got you now, Mags – you ain't goin' nowhere after all the trouble you've caused!' Logan spat at him, and raised his hand to strike, but in the split second between thought and execution, Magneto brought one of the larger pieces of debris over and hit him in the back with it. Getting up, he moulded the piece into a long battering ram. He flew up into the air, wielding the weapon among the students. Piotr grabbed for it, but was struck around the head whilst missing. He tumbled out of the way, and Jean pulled Magneto down to the ground with her mind. He used the metal in every zip on her clothes to propel her body away. She was tossed against the rubble of the Whitehouse. Tessa seized him as he was lowered, but he whirled around, brandishing the ram, and hit her in the midriff violently. She crumpled, in anguish, and was left to suffer. Casting them all away once more with a wave of his hand, Magneto returned his attention to the Bodyguards. They were subdued by the largest Sentinel, which brought its hand down to mete out their punishment. The bodyguards scattered, and fired off at their attacker whilst running. Magneto deflected the bullets, and sent each of them back to their origin. Several of the men staggered to the floor. The Sentinel regained its composure, and rallied the others of its kind, preparing to take on the wounded X-Men.
The President and his chiefs and colleagues backed into the corner, each defending their superior. 'We won't let you past; you'll have to kill us first!' They shouted, setting up the last defence of their leader. The master of magnetism set down on the ground, presenting himself. 'If that is what it will take…' He said. They flashed weapons at him, but using the power, he tugged each gun free, throwing them far away. They ran for him in a desperate attempt to overpower him, but Magneto lifted each up by the metal in their uniforms, pinning them to the broken, crumbling walls. They were stuck, and looked on as he walked to the President, protecting his family. 'And now, your majesty, I request that we communicate properly…' He said, looming over the cowering human.
The remaining Sentinels towered over the students, as they were pitched in the middle of the melee. Kitty ran into the group, phasing through one of them to get there. 'Bobby and Warren are out – we've got nowhere to go!' She yelled. 'What the hell are we gonna do?'
The machines circled them, preparing to fire. Jean pulled herself together, and created a huge bubble around them, strong enough to support the flames. The flares reflected perfectly off the shield, and they were blanketed with the orange firestorm. Jean supported herself, but the strain of the combined fire was too much, and she started to buckle. The bubble reduced, becoming closer and smaller. The rest of the students stepped in behind her. 'If they don't let up, we gonna get fried – how can we escape this one?' Tessa whispered. The only noise left was the constant flickering of the flames as they dragged endlessly over the surface of the bubble. 'Come on!' Logan shouted at Jean, who was beginning to fade. Kitty summoned up as much courage as she could, and phased through the bubble and flames, coming out the other side. The Sentinels spotted her at last, waving her arms. The flares shot down on her passing straight through, and leaving the others alone. Immediately, the others fought back, Ororo flying into the air. Piotr leapt toward the Sentinel attacking Kitty, and changed into his metal form again. He exerted an inhuman force at one point on the Sentinel's leg, and it caved under the pressure. It toppled backwards, as lightening and sleet from Ororo's power struck the others. They exploded with an earth-shattering energy, sparking more blazes along the ground. Tessa protected herself and Jean as the falling debris impacted on the land beside them. Logan was the first to leave, going after Magneto, determined to prove his ties with the Brotherhood were extinguished.
Magneto dragged the President by his tattered suit collar and threw him on the lawn. The remaining army of Sentinels dragged themselves towards the exhausted students. He stamped down on the President's shoulder, pinning the man to the ground. The camera crews surveying the damage from afar were suddenly deprived of all their equipment, as it was brought over the fences and into the foray. The Sentinels burst and collapsed around the area, lightening fusing into the earth, and pieces flying through the air. The cameras and broadcasting equipment was shoved down to the earth, and Magneto concentrated on pulling it all together. The President quivered as he lay in a heap on the ground. Through the mist and haze of the battle, Logan pounced on top of Magneto. He cut into the villain's hip, digging the claws deep. 'This is for everything you've done here today, bub, and your never gonna get off that easily!' Logan raised his hands to the sky, kicking Magneto's head into the earth and soil. The man was dazed, as the claws sank into each shoulder. His scream penetrated the noise, a blood-curdling scream of raw passion and anguish. He focussed his talents, and in one swift, agonising play, ripped the metal from Logan's body away from the bone. The mutant was forced to the floor, every nerve, tendon and muscle coming loose as the metal was sucked off the skeleton. In his rage, Magneto was blinded, and spat blood back at his lethal servant. 'No more shall you walk this earth as a man, Wolverine!' He screeched. 'For you are no longer anything in our eyes!' Logan convulsed violently, howling out in pain. Magneto squeezed as hard as he could, but at the last moment, Piotr came from out of the mist, and bear-hugged his body. He was picked up, and lost control over the retching runt. Magneto struggled limply, but finally flung the mutant away from him. Piotr's colossal form crashed to the earth, and Magneto blew them all away in a fit of wrath. Picking up the debris in the area, he flung it into the air, filling the atmosphere with whirling metal and broken ruins. It spun and orbited his body in a giant semi-circle, surrounding him, the equipment and the President. Falling away from the barrier, the students grouped on the outside, holding onto the last of their faith as it dissipated into the ether.
* * *
Charles finally made contact with Scott, over in the Savage land. The student picked it up on the coms, standing by Wanda, Pietro and the rest of Magneto's estranged followers. 'Where the hell are you? I've been trying to contact you for the last two hours!' Scott yelled down the microphone. 'Magneto's on his way to Washington, he's going to lay waste to the entire city!'
'I know – he's already destroyed half the capital. Most of the Sentinels have been defeated, but he's surrounded himself and the President with all the debris of the battle – we can't get through, because it's flying around at too high a speed. We need your help, Scott, right now! The others need you.' Charles answered down the microphone. 'I would be able to subdue him completely, using Cerebro, if he weren't wearing that damn helmet of his, but no-one has been able to break through to remove it!'
'I'll get on the Blackbird right now, I swear – my god, Professor, I'm so sorry I left, I wish I was there now with them!' He replied, clutching the microphone intensely. The connection fizzled out, and Scott was left talking with nobody on the other end. 'Professor! Goddamn it! The aerial's loose again!' He cried, slamming the device on the desk. Wanda cradled his shoulders, carefully. 'There's nothing we can do, he'll have done it all in a matter of minutes and then we can count on the rest of mutantkind being eliminated for the remainder of history.'
'There's got to be a way, I won't let it all fall apart, and fade to nothing – not what we've spent years building! It won't let that happen!' Scott screamed. Suddenly, the idea entered his mind. He grabbed hold of Pietro. 'You – you can run in there and grab his helmet off him before he'd have a chance to react – you're the only one fast enough!'
Pietro shook off Scott's grip, and backed down. 'There's no way I'm ever going to cross him, Summers – it'll kill me, know what I'm saying?'
Wanda pitched in, switching on the monitors. Every station was watching the scene in Washington; the giant structure of orbiting metal span around Magneto, containing his determination. 'Brother – do it, you're the one that can save us!' She shouted. Pietro backed into the corner of the room. 'No way – I can never betray him!' He screamed.
Scott pushed him against the wall. 'Consider it payback for every little thing he's ever done to you, worm! Make it happen, or we'll be hunted, slain, hated and reviled until the last line of mutants drops in their cold blood cursing your name forever!'
'I will not!' Pietro screamed, sobbing. They blocked his path, and he fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands. 'After everything he's done to me, I still can't do it…' He whispered.
'We'll all be killed if he carries this through, Pietro, so we're asking you now… please, for your sake as much as anyone else's.' Wanda embraced her brother, lying helpless. 'Please…'
* * *
The swirling mass of metal spun and flew around the area, guarding the President from the harm outside. Stanchions, poles, blocks and hunks of metal flung around and around, unceasing. They tore into the ground, batting away the loose earth, and swirled at such a speed, it was possible for the President to see the X-Men on the other side, trying to get in. He whimpered helplessly, but was tugged to his feet by Magneto's gloved hand. 'You…' He sneered. 'You're the one who everybody shall see as a front for this injustice. You will be the first and only victim of your own conscience, sir, and I truly hope you've made your peace with it.' Magneto threw him, beaten and bloody, to the floor. The cameras were brought to life and focussed on the one man lying pathetically on the torn grass. They then panned to Magneto, and continued recording, live, as he spoke. 'This is the one man who initiated the Sentinel programme over the whole Globe. He has run a country that has single-handedly had a stake in every mutant atrocity carried out. He's responsible for all the actions of America, and now, he will pay for it with his life; his meaningless life!' The noise echoed through the area, the machinery smashing against the shredded lawn. The haze of the whirling mass span out of control, buffeting against everything that it touched. Dodging the movement, the students backed off as it expanded.
Pietro crossed over the waters and the land at phenomenal speed, coming ever closer to the impending disaster. He ran past houses, roads, lakes, farms and cities, all without taking notice. His goal was clear now, and he was going to continue until the end; until they got what they deserved.
The man cowered, shivering, as Magneto asserted his power for the last time. 'I don't want to die! I never approved the project – it was all Spaskyich's idea, I swear – let me be, Magneto, I'll pardon you, and everyone else, I swear to god!' He cried, shaking on the ground. 'You don't need to do this!' Magneto raised his hands into the air, ready to purge the last obstacle in his vision. He raised the guns off the floor, and set them around the President's head, floating serenely amid the destruction. 'Witness now,' he shouted to the live camera feed 'as you see one man fall, and another take his place – I will forever be the leader of mutantkind, a new world for a better people!'
Pietro ran through the orbiting metal while it span against the ground. He sped past his father, plucking the helmet off of his head, and then through to the other side of the shell. 'Consider that payback, father.'
Magneto turned to look as he felt his head bare. The guns dropped to the floor, and Xavier's voice echoed through his mind. * Hello, Erik. * He said. Magneto felt nothing for a moment, letting the force bore into his defenceless head. He was then consumed by Charles' will, his mind almost splitting apart as the sting seared through the body. Muscles tensed and flexed in spasm, and he finally felt the almighty strength of the most powerful mind on the planet. It overcame him utterly, and he sank to his knees, letting out a child-like whisper of anguish, before collapsing.
Jean threw up another bubble around the students as Magneto lost control over his powers, and the debris spun out of orbit. Parts and pieces collided brutally against the bubble, but Tessa supported it as well. Using Magneto as a mutant superconductor, Charles took his abilities over, and drew the metal debris, still whirling around, into a colossal ball, which encased him. Magneto was lifted high into the air, the metal surrounding him completely, and then thrown far into the upper atmosphere. The ball vanished from sight, and Charles lost his contact with the students on the lawn.
* * *
The Blackbird swept across the desolate remains of the Washington D.C streets, hovering above hunks of jagged metal and the Sentinel parts lying in ruin. This time, the rain did not pour to cleanse the land of its clash with Magneto, but instead, the sun broke through the clouds. It lit up the enduring buildings and structures, and glimmered over the white rubble of the Presidential house. Paramedics littered the area, parking ambulances anywhere there was available space. Black suited security men surrounded the rest of the government officials, and especially the President and his family. They were all seen by the numerous paramedics from out of town. The clean-up operation had already begun, construction workers coming out of the woodwork to help rebuild the fractured monuments of American architecture. The metal hulks of Sentinel parts were being transferred by crane onto the backs of many trucks, hoping to restore a level of normalcy among the chaos that had taken place. The reporters collected their equipment, and checked every lead, cable and wire for the perfect recording of Magneto's fall. Somehow in the entire clamour, the students, battered, bruised and unsung, managed to leave the area without too much notice. The Blackbird skimmed the rooftops of houses and apartments, finally resting in the centre of a small back street. Spotting it flying around, the students limped and hobbled into its familiar confines, keeping Warren safe in the back of the cabin. Pietro boarded the plane, but kept quiet on the journey back.
As the President shuffled away from the busy reporters, trying to get some breathing space from their intrusive questions, he stared to the sky, and made out the faint image of a large, dark jet leaving his weakened city.
* * *
Underneath the Mansion's peaceful outer surface, the Blackbird lay safely in the hanger, back where it belonged. Inside, Warren was stuck in Medical, his left wing bandaged. He lay asleep, while the others sat in the large lounge several floors above. Back with friends in his proper place, Scott listened to Charles as he addressed all of his flock. Pietro stood at the back, present, but scarcely listening. 'I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you today, but the only way to fully defeat Magneto, and secure his fate was to use Cerebro from here. I hope you understand.' Logan sat at the back also, facing out of the open window with a cigarette in his hand. He too had a lot to think about.
'I'm really proud of the lot of you – you showed wisdom, discipline, and accuracy in your attacks, but most of all, you showed courage. For a time I thought that you were going headlong into overbearing odds, but you proved me wrong. I'm glad to know you lot.' He chuckled, warmly. 'There are things that have changed now because of what took place today – hopefully for the better, but we'll have to see. I'll understand now, if any of you need time off from studies or training. Hopefully, we might get some more recruits if this term turns out as a success.'
They thanked him tiredly, and dissolved for the day, each going either to the kitchen or their beds. As they were leaving, Logan came up to the Professor. 'I did somethin' today that I never did for anyone b'fore, Charlie – I sacrificed myself for another person. I sacrificed myself for other people. Right now, I'm not sure how I feel 'bout that…' He grunted, finishing the cigarette. 'Anyway, that's not what the problem is… when I signed with Magneto, he promised to help me out a little. You knew when I arrived that there was a history behind me, didn't ya?'
'Yes – you had put up many defences relating to it, so I never asked, Logan. Do you want me to ask about it now?' Charles enquired.
'Perhaps – but what I could settle for is trying to find a little place that I knew about, a long time ago. I'd like to go there again to find out a bit more about my past. Magneto hired me out of the blue when I was switching between jobs, and 'cos he looked pretty clever, I figured he'd be the best bet to help me. Maybe I shouldn't have trusted him.'
'The real question now is do you trust me? I'm willing to let you back in here, Logan, if you want to be reformed. I'll aid you, but it will be a deal that you stay for the information I help you locate. Agreed?' Charles suggested.
'Okay. Can we get right on it, because for the time bein', I'm not the most popular guy in this place.'
Xavier nodded, and Logan left the room, tossing the butt in the wastepaper bin.
'What are you going to do now?' Charles asked, looking at Pietro.
'Not too sure. I've got to see Wanda again, so…'
'You could always stay here, Pietro – you and your sister, and anyone else who's prepared to make the change.'
'I doubt it, Professor – we made a choice to follow our Father… I don't know what the future holds, but that's a decision I'll leave for everyone else to make. Personally, I'm not in it for the whole "save the world" take. I'll see you around, Charles.' With that, Pietro was gone. He had heard Xavier's pitch, and it wasn't for him. Now, he would leave his lot in life to fate.
* * *
On the first floor of the Mansion, the rumpus room was active, with the last of the students watching tv. Piotr sat on the smaller couch, with Kitty resting across his lap. He looked at the guide, while she finished the yoghurt from a pot. To the side of the pair was Ororo, half asleep, her head resting on one hand. The noise was turned down low, and at the back of the room, Scott sat with Jean, hoping to patch things up. He was looking at the rather small cut, put clean across her cheek. He brushed his calloused thumb over it, caressing her face. 'I'm glad you're okay.' He said quietly. 'I'm sorry I reacted so stupidly – I just didn't think we were doing too well.'
She wondered if he meant their relationship, or the team's. 'It's okay to freak out over things like that Scott. Don't think I haven't done the same.' She paused, looking into the reflective surface of his red shades. 'What did you think of it once you got to Magneto's place?'
'It was beautiful, but it wasn't right there – he was pretty mad, really Jean; I couldn't have followed him. It isn't in my blood.'
A sudden impulse took Jean, and she held his hand, stroking it. 'So we're cool then?'
'Yeah, we're alright.' He replied, comforting the both of them. 'You and Logan – what happened about that?'
'It was a mistake, Scott, that's what it was. I don't wanna see him again.'
'Did you hear what was happening to him?' He asked.
'Something about going off to find his past, I don't know. Whatever happens, I hope he doesn't bring back any trouble.'
* * *
Tessa was holding onto some documents in the offices in the Mansion's basement, when Charles came out of medical. She stopped, acknowledging him. 'I guess we can get rid of a lot of this paperwork on Magneto now.' She said, pulling a wastepaper bin out from the cabinets. 'I'm not so sure that you should – maybe you should let me hold onto them. I'll take care of everything down here. Get some rest, Tessa.' He said, ushering her away. She nodded, and gave him the files. 'So what now?' She asked, almost out the door.
'Now we have a reputation to build in the world. Hopefully, tomorrow will find us more comfort than we found today.'