A/N: Is anybody actually reading this?

Chapter Eight: The Demon Within

It wasn't until we had landed on the Brotherhood's island, and the rest of them were busy preparing for the attack, that Cassandra and I were alone together. I followed her to a room that appeared to be a bedroom – presumably her own – where she sat on the bed, and I stood by the wall, both of us looking at each other a little nervously, neither of us willing to speak. I couldn't think of anything to express the way I felt. I admired her, she had saved my life, but at the same time we were enemies and we might have to fight each other again some time in the future. It wasn't just as simple as saying, "I love you" – there were too many complications that might doom any potential relationship before it could even begin. Eventually Cassandra spoke, hesitantly, "I – I just realised; I don't even know what your name is."

"Gary. I'm Gary," I said, my voice betraying the nervousness I was feeling. "What – what's yours?"

"I'm Cassandra."

"No, I – I mean your real name."

She looked at me with a confused expression. What part of the question didn't she understand? I said, "Cassandra's your mutant name, right? What name did your mum and dad give you?"

This time both her face and her voice reflected a mixture of anger and sadness, "My parents – my human parents – never gave me a name. They gave me up for adoption the day I was born – they didn't want to have a mutant child."

"How did they know?" I asked. "About your mutation, I mean. I thought our gifts didn't normally show until we were about to enter puberty."

Cassandra looked up at me, and sighed miserably, "You can't see it now, because my hair covers it, but part of my scalp is – well, I haven't seen it either, but it's visibly mutated. It's because my mutation is in my brain, part of it showed up on my scalp. When I was born, it gave away what I was. My human parents hated me for it, and abandoned me."

"What – what happened to you after that?"

"I was raised at an orphanage. Nobody wanted to adopt me because I was a mutant. The other children there knew about it, and they hated me too. I spent my childhood enduring the loathing of humanity. It didn't end until I was twelve."

"Then what happened?"

"Pyro came for me. He adopted me. He told me he had founded a school for mutants, where I could be safe from humans, and where I could learn how to use my powers to protect myself from them. That was two years ago."

Two years ago. So…she was fourteen, the same age as me.

"Pyro adopted you?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's what he meant when he told you Overlord was his child, remember? He adopted all of us."

"The rest of them were abandoned too?"

She nodded, "In various circumstances. They all ended up without a family. Some of them ran away from home; some of them were thrown out. Recyclo's parents died when he was a baby. Gemini was kidnapped from an orphanage by some researcher who wanted to do experiments on mutants – Pyro rescued her. He rescued all of us."

"I can't believe your parents abandoned you…"

"Didn't the same thing happen to you?"

I shook my head, "My mum and dad are mutants, remember?"

"Oh yeah, of course. I wish mine had been too. Humans are just callous and cold-hearted. They don't deserve to be able to have children. I can't believe anyone would disown their daughter."

"So now you – now you kill humans?"

"I hate humans," Cassandra snapped. "All my life they've hated me and abused me and hurt me. I don't care what you say; I'll never have anything but hate for them!"

I raised my hands, "Hey, settle down. I don't exactly love them either."

"They can't accept that we're the next stage in evolution. They can't accept that they have to give way to us. They fight against it, against us. We have to fight back."

"I – um – I don't really have any opinions on that right now," I said. "I'm just concerned with trying to find my sister. But at the same time – I don't really know how to say this, but I – I think I'd like to get to know you better."

Without being aware of it, I had moved over closer to the bed. Cassandra was looking up at me as she said, "Really?"

"I never did thank you properly for saving my life."

"Well, you – you saved mine too," she replied, as a flush spread over her cheeks and she quickly dropped her gaze to the floor.

I was now sitting beside her on the bed, my arm moving up and over to gently touch her shoulder. Cassandra's breath caught in her throat, and she looked at me once more, her eyes fixed on mine. She moved her body, angling round slightly, until we were almost face to face. I swallowed nervously. What was happening? I wasn't in full control of my actions; my emotions were beginning to take over. My other hand found Cassandra's, and our fingers intertwined, as we found our bodies moving towards each other in some kind of instinctive synchrony. I felt her breath, hot against my cheek. Our eyes closed. Our lips touched.

The door swung open, and a voice said, "Hey, Cass, have you – "

We broke apart immediately, just in time to see Gemini's eyes widening in horror as she gasped, then screamed, "What the hell are you doing?!"

For a moment, silence fell upon the room, as the three of us were too stunned to speak. Gemini was the first to recover, and she shook her head at Cassandra, declaring, "You've lost it! Oh, you have so totally lost it! If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd fallen in love with this human-loving creep!"

"Maybe I have! You can mind your own business!" Cassandra snapped back.

Gemini sneered, "Yeah, you're right; as if I care what happens between you and this traitor!"

"Traitor?" I repeated in surprise.

"Yeah! Any one of us who likes humans is a traitor to mutantkind! You want to be careful who you start a relationship with, Cass! You want to be very careful!"

With that she slammed the door and was gone. For a few moments Cassandra looked uncomfortably at her feet, then I touched her on the shoulder and said in an awkward voice, "Sorry."

Cassandra gave me a shy smile, "Don't worry about it. She won't be mad for long. In ten minutes she'll come back and be my best friend again. She's like that."

I grinned wryly, "I don't think she likes me very much."

"She doesn't like what you stand for. Gemini hates humans with a vengeance like nothing I've ever seen before. None of us can even imagine what that researcher tried to do to her. Underneath that hostile exterior, though, she's not a bad person. She's judging you the wrong way. She doesn't know you at all."

"Um – neither do you, really."

"Yeah, I guess…" she admitted.

"We really don't know anything about each other."

"We'll learn. I – I can't really explain it, but – I can feel something inside of me, something that's telling me you're the right person for me. I don't know if that makes any sense, but – well, I can't really describe it."

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm – I'm getting a similar feeling. Even the first time we met I could sense something. When we were fighting each other, there was a tiny part inside of me, telling me not to hurt you. It's so weird; we've only known each other for a few days, and we've hardly spent any time together, but still…I already feel as if I've known you for years. I didn't know I could feel so close to somebody so quickly, even though we've probably spent more time fighting than we have talking."

"Yeah…sorry about the fight. Hope I didn't hurt you."

"Yeah. Same."

In other circumstances, I might have been more excited at finding myself sitting on a bed next to one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen, who admired me as much as I admired her. I wanted to come close to her again, to hold her, to feel her against me, to kiss her, to share the love that flowed hesitantly and uncertainly between us. I couldn't. My mind wouldn't let me surrender to my desire. I still had Annie to worry about. I couldn't really relax or give my full attention to anything, not with my sister's plight still nagging at my consciousness. Once the attack was over, and Annie was safe, then Cassandra and I could get close again.

But once Annie was safe I would be back with her at the X-Men's school. Away from Cassandra. Away from my love. I somehow doubted we'd be allowed to visit each other. If only I could bring her back with me, convince her to leave the Brotherhood and join our school…but I knew she'd never agree to it. Her hatred for humanity was too powerful. The other possibility was that I stayed with the Brotherhood. I had to admit, that wasn't too unattractive an idea. I had always been taught to protect humans, but nobody had ever explained why I should. And with so many humans going out of their way to kill mutants or make their lives a misery…why should I want to help them? Humans were my enemies…but still…I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of killing them indiscriminately. Sure, fighting humans to protect ourselves was one thing – but murdering them was another thing entirely.

If I stayed with the Brotherhood, I'd be away from Annie, and from Dominic and the rest of my friends. Including Marina. Marina…my Marina. My love. The girl I had kissed. The girl I had told myself I loved. Somehow, somewhere along the line, she had been entirely pushed out of my mind. Now Cassandra was my love. What had happened to me? What madness was this, that I could have forgotten Marina so quickly? Did I still love her? I didn't know. Had I ever loved her? Had my reaction not simply been from a desire to comfort and protect her? Then again, was my love for Cassandra not simply a reaction to the girl who had saved my life? Did I really love either of them? How could I tell? When I had kissed Cassandra, it had felt different from when I had kissed Marina. I couldn't explain exactly how it was different, but the two feelings had been worlds apart.

I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to be without either of them, but I knew I couldn't love both of them. Some time soon, I'd have to make a choice. It was something I didn't want to do. It was something I didn't want to think about either. I love Cassandra, I told myself, I'm with her now. I thought I loved Marina but I didn't. It was just my instinct to protect her, my natural reaction to somebody who needed my help, who was smaller and weaker than I was. I didn't really love her. Did I?

"It's strange," I said to Cassandra. "I was led to believe that you – your group, I mean – were murderers and psychopaths. But having spent some time with you, I can see that isn't true. You're just people, like me or any other mutant."

"We don't care what others think of us," she said. "We know in our hearts that what we're doing is right."

I took her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze, bringing a tiny smile to her lips. I said, "What I was going to say was that I'm not sure how the rest of your group will react to us. Us being together, I mean. Gemini clearly wasn't happy. What will the rest of them think? What will Pyro say?"

Cassandra shrugged, "I dunno. Like I said, I don't care what people think. We don't need anybody's permission to like each other. They probably won't like it, but it doesn't matter."

"What are the rest of them like? I mean, do you get on as friends? I just can't – couldn't – picture you as anything other than a group of cold-blooded killers."

"We're not that," she said. "As you said, we're just people. Some of them I like and some of them I don't. Gemini's the only other girl, so we're pretty close friends – most of the time. The guys are a mixture: I like Vertigo; Atlas isn't too bad, but he's a bit of a nervous wreck at times, which can get on my nerves; Scarab and Mole are pretty regular guys, they're always trying to get Gemini to date one of them; Overlord is – I mean was – always trying to impress me, and wanted me to be his girl. I never really liked him – he was too arrogant – but now that he's dead…I dunno…it just feels wrong to be speaking ill of him…"

I said nothing. She finished, "And Recyclo…he, uh, he freaks me out."

"In what way?"

"Dunno. Just the way he never shows any emotion, no matter what's happening. And it's creepy that he doesn't even know who he is. His parents died just after he was born, and he's got no idea who they were. Apparently he's got a twin brother, somewhere, but nobody knows where. They were split up after their parents died. I guess it can't be easy for him."

"Yeah…"

Then she stood, "Come on; let's go get some food. We'll need to have something to eat before the mission."

I followed her out of the room and downstairs to a corridor that ended in a medium-sized kitchen. For a moment I was surprised to find such a room in the Brotherhood's secret base – I'd half-expected it all to be dark prison cells and creepy research labs – but of course, everybody needed to eat.

Cassandra handed me food, and I ate it, without really looking at it or concentrating on what it was. My mind was wandering again; despite my attempts to keep my fear under control, my brain was imagining all sorts of terrible things that might be happening to my sister right now, while I was doing nothing to help her. She might even be dead…what if I was too late to help her? No, I told myself, don't think like that. She's alive, and you can help her. Think positive for once. I wanted to ask Cassandra what the two of us were going to do once the mission was over, and we were free to go our separate ways. I didn't want to be away from her, but I didn't want to be apart from my sister and my friends either. I decided I should try and make up my mind which I preferred, before discussing it with her. I didn't want to upset her in any way.

The turmoil that enveloped my mind meant that I was only partly conscious of the passing of time, and thus I wasn't sure how much later it was that we were ready to leave. The sun had gone down while we were inside, and the night sky was showing the first of its stars. Cassandra and I were still together when we were called to join the rest of them, and my feelings were mixed as we walked side by side to the helicopter. I didn't trust the Brotherhood; I didn't know them well enough yet. Could I be sure that Pyro would keep his word, and would let Annie and me go? He had said before that we were the 'key to everything he had planned' or something. Surely he wouldn't let us out of his grasp that easily? Or could it be that he had underestimated just how powerful Annie and I were, and he was genuinely concerned that he and his group wouldn't be able to keep us captive for very long? Or had he decided that incurring the wrath of the X-Men and my parents was not such a great idea, especially now that Overlord was gone?

I didn't hold anything against Pyro. I understood why he had done what he had done, and why he was going to do what he had planned. It made perfect sense to me: humans wanted to kill us, so we had to defend ourselves. I had never understood exactly why I should try to be friends with humanity, when they were clearly unwilling to reciprocate. When this was all over, I'd have to sit down with one of the adults and ask them.

Vertigo was piloting the helicopter again, and as Cassandra and I sat in the back and Pyro pulled the door closed, he took off and we began our journey to the mainland. I watched the Brotherhood members differently now. I knew now that they weren't just mindless killing machines; I knew that they were thinking, feeling, emotional people, with relationships and desires just like anyone else. I noticed things now that I hadn't seen before. I saw the way that Scarab and Mole tried to catch Gemini's eye, to get her attention, though she was deliberately avoiding looking at them. I noticed how Atlas was nervous, as Cassandra had said, constantly glancing out of the windows, or at me, checking that he was safe, making sure that there was nothing in danger of imminently harming him. Pyro was detached, by himself, and I sensed he had always been a loner. That kind of person I could relate to. Recyclo was still a calm, imperturbable, emotionless, almost robotic figure, staring out of the front of the aircraft, as if his mind was in a different place.

Cassandra leaned slightly against me, and it felt good to have her there, to know that I had at least one friend in this cauldron of uncertainty. I wasn't sure whether any of her friends had noticed how close she was getting. Gemini was still turning round to give us disgusted glances every now and again, and I suspected that Pyro didn't miss much that was going on, but nobody else had given any indication, or raised any objection to Cassandra's new-found love.

After some time, Vertigo began glancing at the radar display beside the controls. Eventually he broke the silence inside the chopper, "We're nearly there, chief."

Pyro looked up, "Good. Land on the south side, next to the river."

"Right."

Our leader went on, "All right, I'll go over the plan once more, mainly for your benefit, Rosiçky. This helicopter is invisible to radar, and it's night, so the humans should have no warning of our coming. We'll take them completely by surprise. Our main force will draw their personnel away from the building, and our secondary group will sneak inside the building to plant the explosives."

Then he looked at me, "I was planning for you to go in with the secondary force, and search for your sister. Once you've got her out, let us know, and we'll detonate the explosives."

"Got it," I said. "Who else is in the secondary force?"

"Mole and Gemini."

Mole's face lit up with a grin, perhaps at the prospect of being alone with Gemini. I was less happy at the prospect of being away from Cassandra. I glanced at my love, and she shook her head sadly, "I have to stay with the main group. I'm more useful there, predicting where the humans are going to come at us from."

Before I could say anything in reply, Vertigo was taking the chopper down, and the rest of them were preparing to disembark. I saw Mole pulling a small bag from under his seat and slinging it over his shoulder – that had to be the explosives. I had no doubt that the Brotherhood knew what they were doing. I had no doubt that they could successfully destroy this building, and the humans guarding it. With luck I'd be able to sneak in and find my sister soon enough. Hopefully the humans would commit their entire security force to defending against Pyro and his group, and I would not have to fight my way in and out.

The helicopter touched down, and Scarab threw open the door, jumping out on to the ground. The rest of us followed, and soon we were ready to move. Vertigo remained inside, seated at the controls, and Pyro said, "Remember, you stay here in case we need to make a quick withdrawal. We'll contact you if that happens."

"Right."

Pyro looked at the rest of us, "Let's go."

We moved away from the helicopter. In the pitch darkness I could barely see a thing, but he seemed to know where he was going, and I just followed the rest of them. Before too long I could make the shape of a building in the darkness. The night was silent. The only sound I could hear was the gentle sound of water flowing; Pyro had mentioned something about a river, hadn't he? As we approached the dark shape that had to be the humans' base, Pyro held up a hand to stop us. In the blackness I could make out a fence, just in front of us, blocking our way. It was about ten feet high and made of some kind of wire mesh.

"Recyclo," Pyro whispered.

A shape beside me moved, and Recyclo stepped forward. I watched as a metallic blade appeared in his hand, and he began to cut through the wire. His recycled tool did not last long – I remembered his power was only temporary – and the blade vanished after a minute or so. With his other hand he formed another cutter, and continued the process. Mole was sniffing the air cautiously, but he remained calm and I assumed there were no threats nearby.

By now Recyclo had cut a hole big enough for us to squeeze through, and he led the way through the fence. Mole sniffed the air once more, and tapped Pyro on the arm, pointing ahead and holding up three fingers.

"Three man patrol," Pyro hissed to the rest of us. "Scarab, Recyclo, take care of them. Silently."

My eyes were adjusting to the dark, and I could now make out three shapes moving in the night. They were heading in a direction roughly diagonal to the way we were facing, and would pass by us any moment now. Before they could do so, Recyclo skimmed two knives through the air towards the first pair of humans, slicing into their throats. The third man reacted in shock, but before he could make a sound, Scarab had grabbed him and twisted his neck around. I winced at the snap as it broke. Pyro noticed my reaction, and whispered, "Remember, these people have your sister. They killed Overlord and they tried to kill all of us. Show no mercy."

I nodded, trying not to show my uncertain feelings, "Right."

Mole and Scarab had dragged the bodies outside the fence where they wouldn't be found, and we proceeded to the building without encountering any further humans. Pyro stopped the group and said, "This is the crucial moment. We have to do this just right in order to catch them by surprise. With luck they'll panic, and send out their entire force. That'll make it much easier for our secondary force. You guys get ready."

Mole and Gemini nodded, and I shared an unhappy glance with Cassandra. What was going to happen? Would I ever see her again? I no longer cared what her friends might think; I pulled her gently towards me to give her a quick kiss on her lips. She smiled. The others stared for a moment or two, then their concentration returned to the mission. Mole looked at me uncertainly, but said, "We'll need to hide somewhere until the soldiers come out."

"Right."

"We should be able to stay hidden round the side of the building," Gemini said.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Pyro nodded to Atlas, "Once they're in position, start the distraction."

The earth mutant swallowed nervously and said, "Got it, boss."

I turned to follow Mole, when Cassandra hissed suddenly, "Wait! Wait a minute!"

Gemini gave an exasperated sigh, "What for? So you can give lover boy a final kiss?"

"No – the X-Men are coming!"

The rest of us turned simultaneously to face her, our eyes widening in shock, and in most cases horror.

"Tell me you're joking," Pyro snapped.

"No. I can foresee it. They'll be here in under five minutes."

Scarab swore. Gemini pointed an accusing finger at me, "He betrayed us! He brought them here! I knew he would!"

"Keep quiet!" Pyro hissed. "The last thing we want is for the humans to hear us!"

"Gary didn't betray us!" Cassandra said angrily, coming to my defence. "I was with him the whole time on the island. There's no way he could have contacted them!"

"Yeah, bullshit!" Gemini retorted.

Pyro waved both of them to silence, "It doesn't matter how they know! All that matters is they're on the way, and we're going to have to move much faster than we planned! All right, Atlas, now! Mole, get into position!"

Jolted into action, I hurried after Mole and Gemini, turning round to give Cassandra one last glance. She mouthed I love you and I gave her a sort of smile in return. Would I ever see her again? I didn't know. I ran on.

"This is far enough; stop here," Mole whispered, and the three of us crouched down beside the black hulk in the darkness that was the humans' base.

"As soon as the scum rush out, we go in," he said. "Gem, you've got the rest of the explosives, right?"

She patted a small package clipped to her belt, "Yeah. Five minute fuse? That ought to give us enough time to get out."

"What about my sister?" I asked.

"Screw her. We have to set the bombs and get out of here before the X-Men show up."

"Hey! We're not leaving her in there to die!"

Gemini glared at me, "If she's anything like you, she deserves to die! Human-loving scum!"

I reacted angrily, throwing a punch before I could stop myself. Mole knocked my arm aside and hissed, "Leave her alone, X-Man."

"I am not letting my sister die!" I told them furiously.

Mole sighed, "Fine. We'll set the fuses for seven and a half minutes, no longer. If you can't find her before then, I'm sorry. Any longer and the X-Men will find our bombs and defuse them."

It was the best I was going to get. Could I find Annie inside seven and a half minutes? A lot would depend on whether or not she was conscious. If she was, she would sense me telepathically, and would be able to direct me to where she was being held. If she was unconscious – or worse, dead – finding her might be almost impossible. I had no idea where to look; I would probably head for wherever security was tightest. It would have to be tight to hold my sister.

Something was happening out front. Atlas had to be using his power, as I could feel a tremor running through the earth beneath my feet. It grew stronger, and soon the ground at the front of the building began to shake violently. Shouts and yells could be heard, and there came the sound of doors slamming. The humans began to pour out of the building, into the waiting arms of the main group. A throwing knife flashed through the air from a shape that had to be Recyclo, and a stream of fire illuminated the darkness around Pyro for a second before being directed at the soldiers. I hoped Cassandra wasn't going to get hurt.

"All right, here goes," said Mole.

Clenching one adamantium fist, he swung it towards the wall beside him. The brickwork crumbled under the force of the blow, and the wall collapsed, leaving a hole big enough to climb through. Mole squeezed through the gap, and I went next, Gemini clearly not trusting me enough to leave me behind. She came after me, and the three of us paused in the corridor inside.

"We need to find their ammunition storage," said Mole. "That's the best place to set the explosives."

"Where will they be keeping my sister?"

"How should I know? Finding her is your job."

He and Gemini hurried off down the corridor away from me, and I took a moment to get my bearings. I had no idea where to look. I didn't even know how wide the building was, or how many floors it had. OK. Logic suggested that the high security areas would be on the lowest levels to make escape more difficult. Would there be any underground floors? I didn't know. I had to find out. I activated my body camouflage, and ran in the opposite direction to the one they had just taken. It was taking me around towards the front entrance of the building, and I listened carefully for the sounds of any humans. I couldn't hear anybody, but from the noises outside the battle was now raging. I heard gunshots, explosions, screams, the crackle of radios, men yelling desperately for medical attention or back-up. It seemed the Brotherhood were winning.

I turned a corner, and found myself in a wide corridor leading to the front entrance. From behind me I heard footsteps, and I froze against the wall, relying on my camouflage to keep me hidden, as two soldiers hurried past. As they passed, I resisted the temptation to breathe a jet of flame at them. I didn't have time to get into a fight. I had about ten minutes, maybe less, to find Annie and get her out. I swore as I realised just how difficult it was going to be. Had our situations been reversed, it would have been much easier. With her telepathy and X-ray eyes, Annie could have pinpointed my position in seconds. I had to do the best as I could with the powers I had. The trouble was, with the exception of my camouflage, my powers were best used for fighting, not for infiltration or sneaking around. I was no use at this kind of thing, but still, I had to do it. I was the only one who could rescue Annie. The X-Men probably wouldn't get here in time.

The soldiers had gone, and I moved on, searching for anything that might help me find Annie. A map or plan of the base would have been nice. A little further on, I found a set of stairs leading to an underground level, and I decided to go down, gambling on my guess that Annie would be found among the lower floors. At the bottom of the stairs I stopped, uncertain which way I should go. I couldn't afford to waste any time, and both ways looked just as good, so I randomly chose to go left.

There were no markings, no directions, nothing to tell me where I was or where I was going, and I rapidly became disoriented and lost. More than once I thought I had found my way back to the original fork at the foot of the stairs, but each time I was wrong and I began to panic. Annie had less than ten minutes to live and I didn't have the slightest clue where she might be. As I hurried helplessly down another blank corridor, I thought I heard voices. I stopped, and listened hard. Yes, there were definitely voices coming from the turning to the left. I had no idea who it might be, but I decided to head that way anyway.

As I turned left, I came across a door marked 'AMMUNITION STORAGE – Authorised Personnel Only'. It was lying half open. The voices were coming from inside. Still camouflaged, I snuck a look around the door. Inside the room, standing over the bodies of two dead humans, were Gemini and Mole. They were busy preparing the explosives, and I called to them, "Hey! Have you seen my sister?"

Both of them jumped slightly in surprise, and looked around. I was still invisible, but I pushed the door open to let them know where I was. Mole blinked short-sightedly in my direction, and Gemini's face became a hostile glare once more.

"Have you seen her?" I repeated.

"No, we haven't!" she snapped.

"Better hurry; you've got about eight minutes," said Mole.

I left them to it, and hurried back outside. I had to find Annie. I had to get her out of here. I turned right at the next fork and followed the corridor until it branched out again. I felt like screaming in frustration. Everything here looked exactly the same! How was I supposed to find where my sister was? It was hopeless! It was a complete waste of time! At this rate I'd be lucky if I could find my own way out. I slumped back against the wall, and sank to the floor in defeat, my shoulders drooping, my heart sinking utterly. I would never find her.

Gary?

I gasped, taken completely by surprise. What was that?

Gary? Is that you?

It was Annie. She was using her telepathy, speaking into my mind, which meant she was alive and conscious. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. One of my burdens was lifted from my shoulder. At least she wasn't dead. My sister was alive. Now I just had to keep her that way. I had to find out where she was. I couldn't communicate with her directly, but I knew she'd be reading my mind, and if I could concentrate hard enough on a certain sequence of words, I could get a message through to her.

Annie? Are you all right? I thought.

She responded almost instantly, I'm not hurt. What are you doing here?

Came to get you, of course. Where are you?

Hang on a second. All right, I can see you. You're on the same floor as I am. I'll try and direct you to where I'm being held prisoner.

I stood up, I'm ready.

The route Annie guided me along might have been any random sequence of turns and corridors if I hadn't known it was going somewhere, and I supposed that, given enough time, I would probably have found the way there myself. As I took a right turn into an area I definitely hadn't visited before, I heard Annie's voice in my head, You're very close. There are soldiers around the next corner, so be careful.

I was still camouflaged, and as I moved cautiously around the corner, I saw them. There were three men, looking nervous, standing outside a door, clearly on guard. Were they guarding the room where Annie was being held? She must have been reading my mind, as my sister's voice came, I'm through the door they're guarding. You'll have to knock them out, or distract them if you can.

There was no time to think of a clever plan to get them out of the way. I had only minutes to get us out; Annie didn't know about the bombs. As quietly as possible I hurried over towards the guards, and threw a punch at the one nearest me. He didn't see the invisible fist coming towards him, and the blow knocked him to the floor, out cold. The other two men responded in shock, panicking slightly, raising their weapons and looking frantically around to try and see what had happened to the other man. I had to knock them out before they could call for reinforcements. Using the moves Shapeshifter had taught me, I spun on the spot, kicking one man in the chest, then driving the side of my hand into the other soldier in a vicious chop. Both of them dropped to the floor, unconscious.

I tried the door. It was locked. I didn't have time to find a way to unlock it. Tensing my muscles, I attacked the door with my shoulder, putting my entire mutated strength behind it. It took three or four charges until the door collapsed and gave way. I hurried through, finding myself in a tiny, dark corridor, that led to another door. This too was locked, but it too didn't last long against my strength. Pushing my way through into the room beyond, I screwed up my eyes against the brightness of the light, but I knew I'd found my goal.

Lying on a hard metal table, on her back, was Annie. Her wrists and ankles were restrained, to stop her from using her telekinesis, and she too had her eyes screwed up against the light. It was shining down from a single, very intense electric bulb, and I knew it had to be hurting her sensitive eyes. I ran over to her at once, and tore off the restraints that held her down. Once free, she rose into a sitting position, and we put our arms around each other, both sagging with relief, both overjoyed at seeing the other alive and unhurt. Annie had probably been worrying about me just as much as I had about her. Nobody on Earth meant more to me than my sister.

"Listen, Annie, we have to get out of here," I said quickly. "Don't ask me to explain just now. In about five minutes this whole place is going to explode. There are bombs set. We have to get Dominic and get out."

Annie didn't argue. She got to her feet, steadying herself against the table; she'd clearly been kept immobile for some time, and her muscles were still stiff.

"He's through there," she said, pointing to a door opposite the one I'd come in by. "I'll be ready in a moment."

I shouldered the door open, and found myself in another holding cell, the same as Annie's. Another of the metal tables sat in the centre of the room, and on it Dominic lay restrained. He looked over as he heard the door being broken open, and he exclaimed, "Gary! What are you – "

"I'll explain later!" I told him, as I ripped his restraints off. "We have to get out of here now! Can you stand?"

He got off the table, testing his legs, stumbling slightly, but nodding, "I'll be fine. Where's Annie? Is she OK?"

"She's fine. Come on, we haven't got any time to waste!"

I hurried back through to the other room; Dominic following me as fast as he could. Annie was waiting for us, and she said, "I've planned a route out. Just follow me."

"Right."

The three of us left the prison area, past the three still unconscious guards, and on a path that I trusted would lead us back up to the ground floor, and to the exit. There was no time to think, no time to stop and try to remember if I'd been this way before; all I could do was follow Annie. As we came to an intersection, she suddenly stopped, giving a cry of warning. It came not a moment too soon, as three humans came running around the corner towards us. All three of them had automatic weapons, and they aimed to fire at us. Annie and Dominic both lifted a hand; Dominic's power shone a beam of light into the eyes of the humans, causing them to wince and looked away; Annie used her mind to pull the guns out of their hands, and throw the weapons away down the corridor. I shoved the soldiers to the floor, stunning them, and then we were speeding away, heading once more for escape.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs, there were several more dead humans who hadn't been there last time I had. I assumed Mole and Gemini must have already made their escape this way. Shock and dismay crossed Annie's face as she saw the dead bodies, but there was no time to stop, and we hurried on up. At the top of the stairs we paused. The front entrance of the building was visible up ahead, and there was still a battle being fought outside. It was too far away for me to make out anyone, but Annie was squinting ahead with her telescopic eyesight, and she gasped, "It's the Brotherhood!"

"I know, I came here with them," I said. "I'll explain later, I promise. There's another way out; follow me."

I wanted to ask Annie if Cassandra was all right, but I knew I couldn't. I didn't want to let my sister know I had fallen in love with one of the enemy, and besides, Annie wouldn't know which one Cass was. She and Dominic ran after me as I led the way round to the opening that Mole had punched into the building. We squeezed through the hole, and then we were outside the building, one step closer to safety.

"Look!" Annie cried, pointing into the darkness. "There's our jet!"

I didn't have her vision, but I took her word for it. The X-Men were here. Annie was already running in the direction she had pointed, and Dominic was behind her, his right hand raised, shining light ahead of him as a torch. I hesitated, then ran after them. The sounds of the battle were still coming from my left, and there was an aching urge to go and see what was happening, to see what had become of Cassandra. I almost changed direction to go and find her, and yet…and yet I didn't. My mission was accomplished. I had rescued Annie. Everything was all right. I could go home now.

In the darkness a shape was moving towards me. Instinctively I clenched my fists, and assumed a defensive posture, inhaling deeply, ready to breathe fire on anyone who tried to attack me.

"Gary!"

It was Shock. I relaxed, and she put her arms around me, holding me tightly, relief pouring out of her.

"Gary, what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I – "

"No – you can tell me later. Go to the jet and wait with your sister. We'll be with you soon."

I shook my head desperately, "We have to get out of here! The building is rigged with explosives!"

"I know, I know. Trust me. Go and wait with the jet."

She gently directed me towards the dark shape that I could now make out as the X-jet. Then she turned and hurried in the direction of the sounds of fighting. For a moment I watched her go. A burst of flame lit up the night – that had to be Pyro. My eyes widened suddenly. Was it my imagination, or had I seen Cassandra's face by the light of the flames? Was she all right? Was she still alive? Was I ever going to see her again? Could our love ever be?

I didn't know. I turned and ran for the jet. Annie and Dominic were already there, standing at the bottom of the landing ramp, watching the fight in the distance.

"How did they know we were here?" asked Dominic.

I shook my head, "I don't know."

Then I frowned? How had the X-Men known to come here? I hadn't told them. It was too far away for Annie to have contacted them by telepathy. There had to be another explanation…well, I could ask them soon enough. We waited in the cover of the jet, listening to the sounds of battle still ongoing. I knew there couldn't be long now. I knew the explosion had to be imminent.

With a roar like a thunderstorm, the building erupted into the night air, the sound almost deafening, combined with the sudden flash of light and fire that illuminated everything in its radius. For a moment the veil of darkness was pierced, and I could make out everything: the Brotherhood and the soldiers still locked together in mortal combat, with the X-Men approaching from the sides and attempting to stop the conflict. The blast knocked all of them off their feet, and as blackness surrounded them once more, a chaotic melee ensued. From the interior of the jet I heard footsteps, and then a voice, upset and afraid, "What – what was that?"

"Marina!" I exclaimed.

She looked at me, suddenly realising I was there, and her eyes widened in happy surprise, "Gary!"

Before I knew what I was doing, we had our arms around each other, and I was kissing her passionately. My logical mind screamed at me: what was I doing? What about Cassandra? I loved her, didn't I? How could I be here kissing another girl? My emotional mind ignored all of it, taking control, as I held Marina tightly and we came together for another kiss. We broke apart at last, and she rested in my arms, relieved and content at seeing me safe. Annie smiled, happy because we were.

I loved Marina. I was sure of that. I thought I had loved Cassandra, but that must have been wrong, because now I was sure that Marina and I were meant to be together. This love between us, that felt so good, it could not possibly be wrong. Something that felt so wonderful and so pure could not possibly be a mistake. I had never been as happy as this before, and I probably never would be again. I smiled to myself. As long as I had Marina, this happiness would last forever, as our love would last forever together.

It wasn't the first time that I had been wrong. And yet, as we parted, and I turned back to face the battle to try and see what was happening, I had no way of knowing that my happiness would only last for mere seconds. The moment Annie stiffened and gasped, I knew something was wrong. She whirled round, and I turned too, facing the small group of soldiers who must have circled round and hidden behind the jet. Annie's telepathy had warned her of their presence a second too late. Time seemed to move in slow motion, as the soldiers raised their weapons to fire on us. Annie was lifting both hands, preparing to use her power to protect us, and Dominic had his right hand out, ready to blind the humans. Neither of them was fast enough. The first of the bullets missed Annie's head by mere centimetres; the second skimmed past my leg.

The third hit Marina in the throat. She gasped, clutched at her neck, and fell to the ground, blood spilling on the earth around her.

Somewhere inside me, deep within my soul, a demon was released, a terrible, howling demon of vengeance. It screamed through my throat: a raw howl of hatred, revenge and irreplaceable loss. The demon took over, pushing me into my berserk state, activating my camouflage, sending me hurtling towards the humans. With impossible speed, I grabbed the weapon of the one nearest me, snapping it in half with one flick of my wrist. The man reacted in shock, instinctively backing away, and my fist caught him in the face, shattering his skull. As his head exploded in a shower of blood, the other soldiers recoiled, frantically aiming their weapons in search of the invisible demon that had destroyed their comrade.

"Gary, no!!" I heard a voice screaming.

I paid it no attention. The demon was in control now, grabbing the second human, snapping his neck as if it was a twig. Inhaling deeply, a huge jet of fire burst from my throat, setting two other men on fire. The demon feasted on the sound of their screams, as they rolled on the ground in a desperate, hopeless attempt to smother the flames. The rest of the men fled.

"Gary!"
A hand was on my arm, pulling me back, but I broke free, and accelerated furiously after the running men. They turned briefly to fire their weapons, but they couldn't see my camouflaged body, and it was blind, panic fire that hit nothing. I was gaining on them. I grabbed one by the arm, hurling him through the air, caring not where he landed. I breathed fire once more, setting another man alight. There were only two left; they threw their guns aside and ran for their lives. Unarmed or not, they were still my enemies, and they would still be killed. They had fired on an innocent, unarmed girl and killed her. Now the demon within me would enact my revenge.

The whirling of helicopter blades could be heard as I rapidly covered the distance between myself and the fleeing men. No longer needing my camouflage, I deactivated it. A karate chop broke the neck of the first man. A kick to the chest killed the other, rupturing internal organs and throwing him about twenty feet away from me.

For you, Marina.

She was gone. I would never see her again. Already the anger was beginning to fade; the demon, its task accomplished, was handing control back to me, and all I could feel was a deep, unrelenting sorrow. I spat on to the ground by one of the dead men. Marina's life was over, before it had even properly begun. At the same time, my battle against humanity had just begun, and it would not be over until my vengeance was complete, until every single human on the planet was dead. It would not bring her back, but it would ensure that no other mutants had to suffer as I was suffering.

Bullets began to kiss the ground around me, and I turned to see more men heading in my direction, weapons raised, some reaching for grenades, some with flame-throwers. My berserk rage was gone. The demon was dormant. I felt weak, slow and sluggish. I could not fight them. The first man aimed his weapon directly at my head.

A knife embedded itself in his throat. A wall of flame enveloped the three behind him, as the earth around them began to shake, throwing them to the ground.

"Over here!!" a voice shouted.

I headed towards it, towards the vague shape in the darkness that turned into a helicopter. The door was open, hands reaching down to help me inside, and I jumped up into the aircraft.

"Let's go!" Pyro yelled.

I sank into a seat as the chopper lifted from the ground, and I faced the Brotherhood once more. They looked at me differently now. No longer did their eyes hold mistrust, doubt or hate. A bond of sadness, of torment and of pain, all suffered at the hands of humans, had brought us together. Now I was one of them. We were the Brotherhood of Mutants, and we would destroy the humans.

The demon inside me stirred. All the humans.