Chapter Six: Counter Strike

Marina and I looked at each other awkwardly, neither willing to break the uncomfortable silence, neither having the confidence to speak to the other. I didn't trust myself to talk to her. She was upset and scared, and I should have been reassuring her and acting as her protector. Instead, all I was succeeding in doing was upsetting her further. I knew Marina wasn't completely comfortable in my presence - my quick and hot temper combined with my destructive powers often frightened girls - but she was getting more used to me.

Finally I decided I had to say something, since she was clearly too shy to do so. I had to try and repair the broken bonds between us, knowing we would have to stick together and look out for each other if we were going to have any hope of getting through this. I didn't know what to say. Eventually I mumbled, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry I keep hurting you."

"You're not all that bad," she whispered, with her mouth twitching into the closest I had ever seen to a smile on her face. "I'll - I'll tell you about my mutation if you like. Annie said it would do me good to tell it to someone else."

I raised my eyebrows, "OK. If it doesn't upset you too badly."

"I - I think I've cried myself empty. I'm not really feeling anything right now. I'll tell you."

"Go ahead."

"OK. The reason my parents named me Marina is - is because my family have always been sea-loving people. Almost all of my relatives have been in the navy at - at some point. My sister is - was - an Olympic swimmer. My parents met at - at a sailing club. Both of them owned their own boats and - and spent nearly all of their time in or on the water. My older brother and sister could swim before - before they could walk. You could almost say that the sea - or a love of it - is in my blood. Maybe that's - maybe that's why my mutation is to do with water."

She paused for breath, and went on, "I can do anything with water. I can sense it, move it, freeze it, evaporate it, swim in it, breathe in it.…"

"Breathe in it?"

"Yes. This – this is when I come to the painful part. Gary, I - I've never told this to anyone. Even Annie doesn't know the whole story. It's - it's not going to be easy for me to say this, so please…don't interrupt, don't ask questions until I'm done."

"I won't."

"All right. This – this is the story of the day I discovered my mutations: my older brother was in the navy and he - he had just received a promotion. To celebrate, my uncle took us - my whole family - out to sea on his new cruise boat. We - we had a special dinner on board, and afterwards I felt tired, so - so I went to bed. I was - I was the youngest one there, and the rest of them stayed up later. I fell asleep, so - so I don't know exactly what happened. Something must have - must have happened to the boat; when I woke up there was water flooding into - into my cabin. For a moment, I - I couldn't work out what was going on, then I - then I realised the boat had to be sinking. By - by this time my room was completely flooded, and I - I thought I was going to die. In desperation I - I tried to swim to the surface. In the passageway outside my room, I - I - I found my brother. He was - he was already dead. Drowned."

There were no more tears left in her, but she trembled and gasped as the horrifying memories came back to her. My instinct made me put my arms around her, letting her know I was there, trying to reassure her. Determined to get all of her ghouls out in the open at once, Marina ploughed on, "I - I felt like I was going to go crazy or something, but my survival instinct took over and I - and I just swam as fast as I could to get out. A little further along, I - I found my sister. She - she was d-drowned too. She must have been trying to open the - the hatch that led to the deck, but it wouldn't open. The - the water pressure was keeping it closed, I think."

I patted her back and kissed the top of her head lightly, trying to keep her calm. She continued, "I - I knew I wasn't strong enough to open it if she couldn't. There was no other way to get to the surface and - and the air in my lungs was almost used up. I - I thought I was going to die too. There was - there was nothing I could do. My air expired, and I - I knew I was dead. Some kind of instinct made me inhale, but of course I only inhaled water. At - at first I didn't understand what had happened, but suddenly there was air in my lungs again. I - I knew it was impossible to breathe in water, so I tried it again. And - and it worked. I didn't think at the time that it was - it was a mutation; I mean my mind was all over the place. I was only thinking of one thing: I had to get out. The water pressure was still keeping the hatch closed, but somehow - somehow I knew I could open it. I - I can't remember too well what I did, but I must have used my power to control the water, and the hatch popped open. I – I swam up on deck and – and – sorry, just give me a moment…"

She gasped, took several deep breaths to get herself under control, and continued, "The – the rest of my family were there. They had all d-drowned too. They – they must still have been up on deck when it – it happened. I didn't know what to do. I – I just – I just swam for the surface, and - "

She stopped. Gently I prompted, "And?"

"Actually I - I can't remember what happened after that. I think the shock finally caught up with me and blanked my mind for a while. The next thing I remember is - is being brought here."

I frowned, "So – so what happened? Why did your boat sink? Was it bad weather or something?"

She looked at the ground, "I – I don't know. I never found out. I'm trying not to think about it. I – I can't think what it might have been. My uncle was – was a superb boatsman. He'd never been in any danger at sea before."

"How did you know to come here?"

"I didn't. Shock found out about me and she had me brought here. She grew up in the same town as I did, and she knew my family a little bit. She must have heard what happened to me and figured out that I was a mutant. She's my legal guardian now - she and Shapeshifter adopted me - and now I'm here. And that - that's the end of my story. Now you know - now you know why I am the way I am. I just feel like - like my heart's been torn out. Every time I close my eyes, I - I can see them, my brother and sister, and the rest of my family, dead, drowned…I don't know if I'll ever be the same again. But I'm getting better. Please - please just try to be patient with me."

"Marina…" I said softly. "I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. I always think I'm really strong with all my powers, but you're the really strong one. Keeping yourself going and living your life is more than I would be able to do in these circumstances. I'd have wasted away into nothing."

"That's what I have done," she whispered unhappily. "Look at me. I'm just a pathetic shadow of the person I used to be. All I do is cry and sob and make people feel sorry for me. I'm just a waste of time and space."

"No you're not."

She nodded miserably, "Yes I am."

"No you're not. I'll prove it."

"How?"

"Like this."

In a flash I had my arms around her, and was pulling her towards me. On instinct her arms slid around me, holding me, and our lips came together in a passionate kiss. Just like before, only this time I knew what I was doing. I wanted to hold Marina, to kiss her, to love her, to protect her. Marina needed protection from the world, and I would give it to her. I knew she could love me in return and be my girlfriend - if she wanted to.

I released her, and we stood slightly apart, again mesmerised by each other's eyes, the magic of the kiss still upon us. I dropped my arms to my sides and said a little ruefully, "I told you I wouldn't do that again. Now you can slap me if you want to."

"I don't want to. Gary, I - I need some time to sort myself out. Be patient with me. I need some time; I'm still all messed up. But - but I liked that. It made me feel - special. I - I don't want you to do it again without telling me, though. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Sure. Um - shall we head back to the school?"

She nodded, and the two of us began to make our way back down the secret tunnel. I tried to decide what to do next. Finding the X-Men was probably the first thing to do - presumably they were still around the school somewhere. But even if I could find them, I still had to discover a way to pull them out of the hypnotic trances Overlord had apparently left them in. Nothing permanent. I repeated Pyro's words inside my head. There had to be a way to safely bring them back. Hopefully it would be simple enough. With their help I would be able to find Annie. If the Brotherhood had her, we'd have to overcome them and rescue her. I couldn't think of anywhere else she might be.

We took the elevator back up to the ground floor of the school, and were immediately accosted by a group of children. I'd forgotten that Marina and I were currently the oldest people around and had to be responsible for the kids. It was a little unnerving to think that two fourteen year olds - one volatile and one neurotic - were effectively in charge now. I gave my attention to the kids. They were led by the same eleven year old girl who'd spoken to me before.

"We've been looking for you everywhere!" she exclaimed. "Come quickly! We've found one of the adults! It's Mr Summers! But he's asleep or something and we can't wake him up! This way!"

The kids ran back up the stairs, beckoning us to follow. Marina and I exchanged glances, then hurried after them. They led us up to the first floor, and down the corridor that led to the adults' bedrooms. In the darkness at the end of the corridor lay an unmoving figure: Cyclops.

"Mr Summers!" the eleven year old girl exclaimed, kneeling by him, shaking his arm. "Wake up! Can you hear me?"

"He's not asleep," I told her. "Do you know what hypnosis is?"

"Yeah, of course I know what hypnosis is!"

"I think that's what's happened to him."

She frowned, "So how do we wake him up?"

"I don't know. I'll see what I can do. Look, you know your way around the school better than me. See if you can find the rest of them."

"OK."

The kids disappeared, leaving me with Marina and the unconscious Cyclops. She looked at me.

"I don't know what to do," I shrugged. "There's one of the Brotherhood who has hypnotic powers. He used them on all of the adults. He tried to use them on me too. I managed to resist him, and I escaped. I've no idea how to break his power over another, though."

Marina blinked, "There must be something we can do."

"I hope so."

There came the sound of footsteps, and the kids were back. They'd found someone else. This time they led us down to the ground floor, into the gymnasium. On the floor lay two unmoving bodies: Rogue and Iceman. Clearly they had fallen on the spot where they had faced Overlord. I hurried over to check on them. Iceman's pulse was slow but strong enough. I knew I daren't touch Rogue's skin, but I had to check that she was alive. I knelt beside her and leaned over carefully, putting my ear next to her face. I could feel her breathing. She was OK.

"How do we wake them up?" asked the young girl once more.

"I don't know," I said again.

I looked at Marina, and asked, "Any ideas?"

She frowned, her forehead knit in concentration. Then she said, "Hmm."

"What is it?"

"I can - I can sense the water inside their bodies - you know our bodies are about 70% water? There's water in our blood, and in their bodies it's hardly moving."

"So what are you saying?"

Marina was hesitant for a moment, then she built up the courage to speak, "If their blood is moving slowly, it means that - that their pulse rate is very slow. It - it must be because of the trances they're in. This might not work, but - but if I can manipulate the water inside their bodies, I - I might be able to make their pulses go faster, and stimulate their hearts. It might - it might wake them up."

"You think it'll work?"

"I - I don't know until I try."

"Will it harm them if it doesn't work?"

"No, it - it shouldn't do. Will - will I try it?"

I nodded, "Go ahead."

Marina closed her eyes and was obviously concentrating hard. She moved her arm slightly, her hand pointing towards Iceman. She gave a slight gasp of exertion, and I instinctively put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. For several seconds, nothing was happening. Marina was struggling with her power, and I was about to tell her to give up since it wasn't working. Then something happened. Iceman's hand twitched. His eyes jerked open. He looked up at me.

"Gary?" he muttered.

"You OK?" I asked.

"I - I think so. What happened?"

"That's…a long story."

He struggled into a sitting position, and his eyes widened when he saw Rogue lying motionless beside him.

"Marie?" he asked. "Are you all right? Marie?"

Being careful to touch only her clothes and not her skin, he shook her gently by the shoulder.

"She's been hypnotised," I told him. "The same thing happened to you and the rest of the X-Men. You're the first one we've awakened."

"How did you do it?"

Gesturing towards Marina, I explained, "Marina used her mutation. I'll let her explain later how it works."

Iceman shook his head slightly to clear it, then he took charge of the situation.

"All right," he said. "Marina, can you do the same for Rogue, please? Then we'd better start looking for the rest. Do you know where any of them are?"

"We found Cyclops upstairs," I said. "I don't know about the others."

"We'll have to look for them."

While Marina knelt down to use her power to revive Rogue, Iceman looked at me and said, "So what happened? I don't remember much. There was a commotion of some kind from downstairs. Rogue and I came down to investigate. We heard noises coming from in here, and we were attacked the moment we entered the room. In the darkness I couldn't tell how many there were. I flicked the lights on, and……after that I can't remember anything."

"It was the Brotherhood," I said.

"The Brotherhood? Gary, what's going on?"

"It's a long story. Can I wait and explain it later, once you're all awake? Otherwise I'll be telling the same story to eight different people."

"OK. We'd better start looking for the rest."

Marina's power had done its work again, and Rogue was conscious, though a little dizzy. Iceman knelt to face her, and put his hand on her shoulder. Still dazed, she reached out blindly, and through luck or instinct her hand shied away from his skin, and rested on his sleeve. Within a few moments, she had got herself together, and the two of them stood.

"We'll split up and search the mansion," Iceman said. "Gary, Marina, you two look upstairs. We'll check the ground floor."

I nodded, and left the gymnasium with Marina following me. We headed for the staircase, and I said to her, "You did really well in there."

"I did?"

"Yeah. I saw how much it hurt you to relive the memories when you told me about your mutation. I guess it isn't any easier when you have to use it."

Marina opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. She was silent for a few moments, then eventually said, "It - it wasn't really like that. I didn't think about the memories at all. It - it was just the right thing to do, and - and I did it. It just felt - well, natural. As if I had - I had done it a thousand times."

I nodded my acknowledgement. We were now back on the corridor outside the adults' bedrooms, where we had found Cyclops. He was still there, which wasn't too surprising. Marina crouched down beside him, and looked up at me as if waiting for my approval. I gave her a nod. She closed her eyes and her power went to work, as she manipulated the water inside Cyclops' body, forcing the blood in his veins to circulate faster, to resuscitate him.

It didn't seem to take quite so long this time. Maybe she had got the hang of what she was doing now. Cyclops sat up, his hand instinctively reaching up to his visor, and he focused on his surroundings.

"Marina? Gary?"

"Welcome back," I said.

"Where are the others?"

"Iceman and Rogue are downstairs. We're still looking for the rest."

"Are you two OK?"

We nodded. Cyclops paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, then got to his feet and said, "Right. I'm heading down to the base. Once you find the others, tell them to join me there for an emergency meeting. We have to find out exactly what's going on. You two had better be there as well, to tell us what you know."

He hurried down the corridor and was gone. I felt a slight relief spreading through me, feeling as if a weight had been taken off my shoulders. The adults were back. I was glad to be able to hand the mantle of responsibility over to them once more. With luck, the worst of this crisis was over, and I could leave the rest in their hands. I couldn't face the Brotherhood alone, but they could. They could confront them and force them to release Annie and Dominic. Almost unconsciously I gave out a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be all right now.

We had to find the rest of the X-Men. I had no idea where they might be, but their rooms seemed as good a place as any to start looking. I hesitated slightly before pushing open the door of the bedroom nearest me. It didn't feel right to be going into one of the adults' rooms without asking. I valued my privacy, and I hated the idea of violating somebody else's by just walking into their room. I overrode this feeling by reminding myself that this search was essential. I opened the door. Marina followed me into the room. It was a man's bedroom, but I couldn't tell whose. There was nobody there. We left and tried the next.

In the next room I noticed several German books and magazines stacked neatly in the bookcase just inside the door. This had to be Nightcrawler's room. He wasn't in it. The third room was Shock's - I knew that because I had been there before, once, when she'd wanted to talk to me about something, I couldn't remember what - but it too was empty. It wasn't until we reached the fourth room that we found somebody: Shock and Shapeshifter, both face-down on the floor, clearly having been caught by surprise and been unable to get out of the room. Marina trembled slightly, and instinctively put her hand in mine, when she saw her foster parents lying motionless on the floor.

"They've been good to me," she whispered. "They - they know they'll never be able to replace my real parents, but - but still, they've been good to me."

"I had no idea they'd adopted you. I didn't even know they were married."

"They're not."

"But they love each other?"

"As friends," she said. "Just - just as friends. I don't - I don't think there's anything romantic between them."

She walked over to the bed, picked up one of the pillows, and knelt to place it underneath Shock's head. It was a useless thing to do, since Shock couldn't feel anything, but I knew Marina was only doing it to show her love and appreciation for her adoptive parent. I watched as she took the second pillow and did the same for Shapeshifter. She then knelt beside her foster father, and slid her hand inside his. It was the first time I had ever seen Marina smile.

I didn't say or do anything. I didn't want to disturb this small bubble of happiness in the middle of Marina's troubled and traumatic existence. She shut her eyes, began to concentrate, and used her power to resuscitate him. Shapeshifter groaned slightly, moved his arms, then opened his eyes. He saw Marina sitting on the floor beside him, and he sat upright, putting his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"Marina, you're safe," he breathed, sounding relieved. "Oh, thank God, you're safe."

She returned his hug, and for once she didn't look uncomfortable or ill-at-ease. She rested in the warm and protective cocoon of her foster father's arms, and temporarily let all of the fear and sadness flow out of her. Shapeshifter saw Shock's unmoving body, and looked over at me, "Gary? What happened?"

I had a feeling I was going to hear that question a lot today. I sighed and said, "I'll tell you later. Cyclops wants us all to meet him down in the base. I'll tell everyone then."

He raised his eyebrows, then turned his attention to Shock, "Felicity?"

"I'll wake her up," said Marina, her voice lacking its usual hesitation and nervous stammer.

She stretched out her hand towards Shock's body, and used her power once more. It didn't take long for her new mother to wake up. When she did, she too enveloped Marina in a loving embrace, relieved to see her safe. I was surprised to feel a tiny pang of jealousy within me. Where had that come from? Was I too longing for parental figures to hold on to, to turn to when in danger? Was I wishing that my mum and dad were here right now, to comfort me the same way Marina's were doing for her? Was that the jealousy I felt? No. That was a stupid and selfish thing to feel. Marina's family were all dead - she had seen them die - and mine were still alive and well…or at least, as far as I knew. I had no right to complain about my current situation, when I compared it to hers.

In between hugs, Marina told them that we were still looking for the three remaining X-Men. Shapeshifter said, "All right. We'll find them, don't worry. You'll have to use your power to wake them. We'll help you look."

He turned to me, "Gary, would you mind going downstairs to meet Cyclops and the others? We'll go with Marina. We - uh - we'd like some time alone with her."

"Sure. I, uh - "

I wanted to say something to express how I felt. I wanted to let him know how relieved I was, and how worried I still was about my sister. I wanted to say something to Marina, to let her know how well I thought she was handling her problems. I wanted to say how good it felt to see them together as a happy family. It was a bizarre turmoil of emotions, and I couldn't find any way to express it words. In the end I gave them a sort of grin, and left the room, heading for the stairs.

Stepping out of the elevator on to the underground level, I saw Cyclops ahead of me, and moved over towards him. He was standing by the entrance to the Brotherhood's tunnel, peering into its interior. He looked round as he heard me approach.

"Gary," he greeted me. "This tunnel…what happened here? This is impossible. These walls are made of adamantium. Do you know who made this hole?"

"Yeah. That's part of what I'm going to tell you. I thought I'd best wait till everyone is here."

"Yes. Have you found the others?"

"We found Shapeshifter and Shock. They're helping Marina look for the rest."

"Good. We'll wait for them in the conference room. This way."

I followed him a short distance down the corridor, turning the corner and into an oblong-shaped room, which contained a roughly circular metal table, with eleven or twelve metallic seats around it. There was some sort of machine in the corner, which incorporated a small computer screen and several control panels. Cyclops moved over and started using it, and, for want of anything else to do, I took a seat at the table. I stared at its metallic surface for a minute or two, allowing my thoughts to swirl around in my mind, hoping they would settle down and rid me of the clouds of confusion that fogged my brain.

I was still in two minds over what Pyro had told me. While I had decided that what he and his people were doing was wrong, it was clear to me that their way of thinking was not entirely mistaken. It was also clear that everything I had been told about them wasn't quite true. They weren't murderous psychopaths who killed for pleasure, which was more or less what I had been told. They had more in common with me - and other mutants - than I had ever realised. After all, they were just people, like myself or any other. They would have hopes and fears, ambitions and relationships, just like anybody else. It was all too easy just to think of them as mindless, psychotic killing machines.

I looked over at Cyclops. He was still working with the machine, whatever it was. What did he think of the Brotherhood? Did he think they were cold-blooded murderers? Or did he think they were simply mis-led? How much did he know about them? How much did anybody know about them? I didn't know what to think. It was possible I knew more about them than anyone here. After all, I'd met all of them, except one. I knew fairly well what they were all capable of. I certainly knew far more about them than they would want the X-Men to find out.

It wasn't too long before the rest arrived. In ones or twos the X-Men entered the room, and finally Marina, walking between her parents, looking content and at peace. It was good to see her happy with life for once.

"OK, we're all here," said Cyclops, after everyone had taken a seat at the table. "I called this meeting because it's obvious that a new threat has arisen, one that endangers us and everybody else at the school. We have to find out as much as we can, and decide what to do about it. Now as I understand it, all eight of us were incapacitated by the intruders; however, Gary and Marina here were not. Gary, you first; I'd like you to tell us everything you know about this."

Feeling slightly nervous, I swallowed. I hated the way everyone turned to look at me. I had never been a good public speaker, and having people staring at me quickly eroded whatever confidence I was able to muster.

"OK," I began uncertainly. "Well, um…the people who attacked the school are the Brotherhood. They, um…they came here to kidnap me and my sister. They want us to hold to ransom to ensure that my parents - and you guys - can't do anything against them. We - uh, we managed to get away from them. We didn't really know what we should do, with you guys out of the picture, so Annie suggested we use this - this Cerebro machine, to try and contact my dad. I - I don't know whether she succeeded. The machine, it weakened her, and the Brotherhood were after us, so we split up. Annie went one way and I went the other. I kinda ran into some of the Brotherhood. They got hold of me, but I got away. I don't know where Annie is now. They must have her and Dominic. We've got to go and get them back!"

I looked round at the adults. They looked back at me. None of them was exactly leaping into action. I frowned. We couldn't afford any delay. The Brotherhood had Annie. We had to go and get her. It was as simple as that. I couldn't understand why we weren't already on our way.

"What do you know about the Brotherhood?" asked Cyclops. "How many of them are there?"

"Uh - nine," I said. "I - uh, I guess I've met nearly all of them. I know a bit about each."

"Go on."

"Well, first of all there's Pyro, their leader. But you probably know more about him than I do. The rest of them are about my age, maybe a little older. Uh, let me see…there's Gemini; as far as I can tell, her mutation lets her create a duplicate of her own body. I think she can control both simultaneously. The duplicate sort of – well, disappears – if it gets hurt. There's Vertigo; I think he's some kind of ninja or acrobat, he knows a lot of martial arts and gymnastic moves. I guess his mutation made his body flexible and agile, unless he's got some power I've not seen…"

I was more confident now, talking on a subject I knew about, to interested listeners. I went on, "Then there's Scarab; as the name suggests he's got incredible body strength. I don't know whether or not he's stronger than I am. There's Cassandra, who can see into the future and predict what's going to happen. Like for example, if you try to hit her, she'll predict it, and she'll dodge out of your way. Um, there's Mole, who has fists made of adamantium; I think he's the one who dug the tunnel into the base. He packs quite a punch as well, and seems to be able to use his fists to protect his body from my flame-breathing attack. There's Overlord; he's the hypnotic one, the one who - uh, who you guys met earlier. He hypnotises people with his eyes. I managed to resist him long enough that he had to blink, and his power dropped. Last of all there's some guy I've never met, but I think he has some sort of power over earth, the same way Pyro controls fire. Marina said she saw him start some kind of earthquake. I don't know his name. I think that's all of them."

Iceman shook his head, "That's eight. You said there were nine."

"Oh, yeah. Who have I forgotten? Oh - Recyclo. I don't know much about him. I don't know what his mutation is. I'm trying to think what the name Recyclo might mean, but I can't come up with anything. He doesn't seem to say anything. He uses throwing knives."

The adults began to look at each other, their eyes widening slightly. I realised I must have said something important, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I concluded, "That's all I know. Oh, apart from the fact that Pyro has set up his own mutant school. They're his students. And they admitted to starting the Plague and murdering your President."

I was about to add that Pyro had asked me to join the Brotherhood, but I kept it back. I wasn't too sure why. I just felt it wasn't a good thing to say. I didn't want the X-Men to know that I had indeed been tempted by Pyro's offer. I said uncertainly, "So – are we going to go and get Annie?"

"Do you know where she is?" Storm asked.

I hesitated, "Not really. But the Brotherhood must have her. There's no other explanation, right? And I know where they're based."

"How do you know the Brotherhood have her?"

"Marina told me," I said. "She and Annie and Dominic tried to escape down the tunnel that the Brotherhood dug into our base, and they ran into this earth-controlling guy. Marina got knocked out, and when she woke up they were gone."

I hadn't told them about the image Marina thought she had seen, of men wearing black and carrying guns. It didn't really seem important. It had to be just a dream, didn't it?

There was still nothing happening. I couldn't believe it. Trying to stay patient, I said again, "So, we're going to go and find my sister?"

A few people looked at Cyclops. He frowned slightly and said, "Gary, don't think you're the only one who's worried about Annie. We all are. But we can't just go and start attacking the Brotherhood when we don't know for sure that they have her. We have to make our move carefully. Annie's safety is your priority, right?"

"Yeah," I said a little impatiently, wondering when we were going to get on with it.

"If we go in unprepared, there's a good chance she'll get hurt. We have to plan this carefully."

I stared at him, "And how long will that take? Look, she's in danger! We have to go now before anything happens to her!"

"Gary, I know how you feel. No, I'm not just saying that, I really do. But think about it. What happens if we go in without a proper strategy, and the Brotherhood have a trap waiting for us? That doesn't help Annie."

My patience was at an end, and my temper finally snapped. I had been counting on being able to go and get my sister the moment the adults were back in action. My fear for my sister's safety was overwhelming me, and I was completely unwilling to accept any kind of delay. Angrily I snapped, "Well, you can take as long as you want! I'm going to go and help her right now!"

"On your own?"

"If I have to, yes!"

Shock, who was sitting next to me, put her hand on my arm, "Gary, you can't do that. You have to be patient. You can't face the Brotherhood alone."

I shrugged her off, and pushed my seat back, getting to my feet. My anger and impatience had gone out of control, and I retorted bitterly, "What would you know about it? So far I've done a better job of fighting them than all of you put together!"

"Gary…"
I ignored her, and turned to head for the exit.

"Gary! Come back here!"

I looked at her and snapped, "You can't tell me what to do! You're not my mother! I'm going, with or without you guys!"

"I'm sorry, Gary," said Cyclops, shaking his head. "We can't let you do this."

"Try and stop me, then!"

I activated my camouflage, and each of them jumped slightly in surprise as I disappeared from view.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Wolverine said impatiently. "Somebody stop him."

I hurried to the exit and began running to the elevator. I heard the sound of chairs being pushed back and footsteps coming after me. I glanced behind me. Shapeshifter and Cyclops were the first two to leave the room.

"Where is he?" asked Shapeshifter, looking both ways.

"He could be anywhere. Don't worry. He can't get far. We can deactivate the elevator before he gets there."

I swore silently. So I couldn't use the elevator. That meant there was no way off this level…I was trapped! No matter how well I tried to hide myself, Wolverine would eventually sniff me out. Then something occurred to me. There was another way to get out of here: Mole's tunnel.

Running along the corridor, I reached the tunnel, and ducked my head to hurry into its interior. Obviously the adults had forgotten about it. It wouldn't take them long to realise I had come this way, but hopefully I could be far enough ahead that they couldn't catch me. Stumbling over an uneven rock in the darkness, I cursed and almost lost my balance. Where had it all gone wrong? Why was I trying to escape from the very people who were supposed to be protectors, to go alone to try and rescue my sister? It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to hand over to the X-Men and let them fight the Brotherhood. I shrugged. It wasn't my fault that they'd rather sit and talk for a year and a day than actually get out there and try to find Annie. It just confirmed what I had always believed: when it really came down to it, the only person you could rely on was yourself. Now I had to rely on myself to outwit my enemies, find my sister, then everything would be all right.

I heard a shout behind me, "He's gone down the tunnel!"

For a moment I panicked, since the voice sounded frighteningly close. Then I relaxed. It was due to the tight confines of the tunnel that the sound was so loud from so far away. Another voice came, Shock's, sounding worried, "We've got to get him back! We can't let him go out there alone!"

The tone of her voice made me pause, just for a moment. I looked back. She sounded genuinely upset, genuinely concerned for my safety. Maybe I should just go back. I hated to think that she would be worrying about me. Then I heard Wolverine's voice, "Stupid kid! Doesn't he realise we're trying to help him?"

My anger returned. So I was a stupid kid, was I? They could worry all they liked. I knew what I was doing. I turned, and kept on running. I knew that once I exited the tunnel, there was no way they could find me. I'd head for the town and hitch another lift. I knew where the Brotherhood's school was, and the X-Men didn't. They'd have no way of finding me. That suited me just fine. If they were really that bothered about Annie and me, then they'd already have been on their way to go and help her. Adults were too cautious. They never simply went out and did things that needed to be done. They always had to sit and talk about it first. Maybe this would show them that when something needed done, you just did it yourself.

"I'm coming, Annie," I whispered to myself. "I'll be with you soon."