A/N: My friend says I should kill off all the xmen…as amusing as that might be, I am not that cruel…and it's so much more fun to just kill off a couple and make the MC suffer! Mwahaha…ok sorry about long delay, school sucks, I am writing now! But first I must CURSE x-men Evo for not telling me it had moved back to WB and continued the new season!!!! Which means I missed at least one really cool episode! Curses…and to Bagira, the thing Magneto gave Sabere was just a funky communicator thingie. Dunno if he's coming back or not…whatever.
Scott took over the controls from Xavier as he yelled over his shoulder at Sabere. "Okay, we come to rescue Kurt, and now we're leaving without him? What the hell is going on? Why…" He ranted on for a bit and Sabere curled up in her seat, tucking her knees up under her chin. She finally spat out the words like a vile poison - "He's dead."
Shocked silence fell in the jet. Xavier nodded slowly. "I wondered…something didn't feel right…"
Sabere's eyes hardened even as tears fell as she relived those moments. I could have warned him…this is Andy's death all over again…only so much more painful…"Stryker shot him. I want to go back."
"There's nothing you can do," Xavier said softly. "Revenge won't change anything."
"This is all his fault," she choked out, trying vainly not to let tears escape. It is his fault. And if you want to see me perform, be worthy of the X-Men, take me back and let me kill the bastard. He ruined everything. No one argued the point. Jean glanced at her tears with an unreadable expression, and Sabere felt the last crushing blow from fate – everything is gone.
The jet flew on in silence.
* * * *
Sabere sat in the jet long after it had landed. The others left her alone, which was probably wise on their part since she was so torn between fury and grief that she might have blasted them through the jet walls. She paced the length of the plane in her rage, trying to contain her emotions and at the same time wondering why.
Because they all think you're weak and you don't want them to see you cry.
But you are weak, you lost Kurt –
That wasn't your fault!
Yes it was! Just like losing Andy. That's the whole reason you're here – you couldn't save someone so you wound up in freak school – just to lose someone else –
Too bad there's no one left to kill.
"Why I am bothering?" she wailed finally, collapsing into the nearest seat and dropping her forehead onto her clenched fists. Her life now seemed like one huge freak accident – fate killed her fiancé and gave her mutant powers, then gave her a friend and killed him too. Maybe everyone I get close to is just going to die. Maybe fate just wanted me on my own. Tears finally spilled out freely as she thought of both lives she could have had…and everything she had lost.
One thing was certain – as soon as Stryker was taken down, she was leaving. She knew she couldn't go back home, but maybe she could drive further north and find a little apartment somewhere – somewhere where the world didn't care about mutants and she wouldn't have to care about her past life…
Her plans were interrupted by Logan. He walked up the ramp, looking like he had finally recovered from the drug. She glared up at him, then pointedly turned her gaze away into the back of the jet.
Logan sighed. "I was never good at this…look, Scott told me what happened."
Anger flared with a sickening jolt in her stomach. "Don't apologize. I don't want pity."
"I know you don't. Believe me, I know what it's like to lose someone. And I know what it's like to want revenge." He paused, then sat down in the seat across the aisle. "Look, I know you know that the rest of them aren't sure about you yet. I also know that you say you don't want pity, but everyone needs support now and then. Will you look at me already?"
Reluctantly Sabere faced him, flushing hotly from his blunt summary of what was unfortunately her true feelings. Logan's eyes were unusually sympathetic. "You don't need to hide anything. They'll trust you in time - "
" – If I stay," she snapped. "Which I don't plan on doing."
"Hey, even if it doesn't seem like it, we need you. Now, I've contacted some old friends, pulled a few favors, and we've got some help for shutting down Stryker's base. And I have just as much reason for taking it out as you do. Everyone's in pretty good shape, so we've agreed to meet up with S.H.I.E.L.D in three hours."
"What's shield?"
"An organization kinda like the CIA except they like us. I've worked with them before – let's just say they owe me. So go get some rest and try not to let the anger build up."
He jogged back down the ramp and left Sabere to her even more confused thoughts.
=I know you'd rather not be interrupted…=
Sabere groaned aloud. Why, why couldn't the man bother anyone else?
=Because they don't need bothering,= Xavier replied. = I confess, I listened in on your conversation with Logan.=
Sabere jumped up and stomped out of the jet as if she could walk away from the conversation. =So I want to leave the place that messed up my whole life. Is that a problem?=
=Not for me. But where will you go? The conflict can't be avoided, no matter where you go. Besides, Stryker knows who you are now – he'll be able to track you, and outside the mansion, I can't guarantee your safety.=
=Like you're doing a good job of it now,= she shot back. =You can't even take care of your X-Men, never mind me.=
=That wasn't my fault and you know it. Conquer your anger. If you're not thinking clearly by the time we're ready to leave, you're not coming. Irrational decisions are the last thing we need.= His mental voice, which had been colored red with anger and disappointment, softened. =You are not the only one who is deeply grieved by Kurt's death. I had hoped to give him a new home here, but…it seems we all failed.=
With that he cut off the mental link, leaving Sabere feeling ashamed. She wandered back to the elevator, still in uniform, and slowly made her way back to her room. The door, surprisingly, was still intact – but the entire wall was iced over. About two and a half hours to wander around in a miserable gloom. Sounds like fun.
A knock on the mansion's front door spared her from sinking back into self-pity. She jumped the frozen-over bottom stairs and skidded across the thawing hallway to open the door.
Magneto, the blue-skinned woman Mystique, and a boy about Bobby's age that Sabere didn't recognize stood in the entrance. Magneto was wearing a reddish helmet that made him look more sinister than regal as he had the previous visit. Mystique, as opposed to her former cocky demeanor, looked ready to kill something and pushed her way past Sabere as soon as the door opened.
"Where's Xavier?" she demanded.
Sabere drew out one of her knives and held it across her path. "Why do you want to know?" She half-expected Magneto to crumple the blade up with his powers, but he just watched them with mild interest. The boy was staring into the half-frozen hallway with an expression of mixed longing and fear.
"Is Bobby okay?" he asked hesitantly.
"I haven't seen him, and I don't know why you care. What do you want?"
"It's fine, Sabere," Xavier called from down the hall. Scott and Storm walked alongside him, both still in uniform. "Thank you for your help, though." He met Mystique's eyes for an uncomfortably long time before dropping to the boy. Before he could say anything more, Magneto said happily, "Ah, so you do have a name. Sabere. A lovely name, derived from your knives, I assume?"
"Eric, is there anything I can help you with?" Xavier asked bluntly.
Magneto – or Eric – shook his head and smiled a little. "Charles, what happened to manners? Twice I've been here and never have I gotten a proper introduction. Either you're teaching them to be afraid or you're just not teaching them manners."
"Look, we've got about two hours before we head out on a rescue mission," Scott snapped, "so unless you have something important to say - "
"You still haven't gone for Kurt?" Mystique demanded. "Seems we didn't miss much."
"We…" Sabere faltered and looked back at the Professor.
"We're going back anyway. Stryker is still operating at his base and if we want to stay safe, he needs to be taken care of." Xavier paused, then looked up at Mystique again. "We just returned from our failed rescue attempt. Kurt…was killed."
Mystique stared at him for a minute, then turned on her heel and stalked out of the mansion, pushing past the boy and disappearing behind some trees. Xavier watched her unhappily, then returned his attention to Eric. "I assume you're here for a reason other than to determine the fate of Kurt."
"Yes. Pyro here nearly killed us all because of that damned drug, and I intend to make sure that drug and the man who created it is destroyed." Magneto suddenly lost his lighthearted, condescending manner and Sabere felt that she would rather not have him angry with her. She relaxed her grip of the knife but at the same time rested her fingers on the catch that would release one of her spikes.
"You're welcome to come along. We'll need all the help we can get." He rotated his wheelchair and led the way past the thawing ice patch. "Scott, why don't you take Sabere down to get the jet ready. I'll be down in a few minutes."
"Professor, I don't think this is a very good idea - "
"Scott, everything will be fine. Trust me."
Scott sighed and opened one of the hidden elevators, gesturing for Sabere to follow. As soon as the door closed, he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I'm…sorry I snapped at you in the jet. I guess I was…worried. I didn't want things to go wrong and when they did…"
She thought about retorting about Jean, but she just shook her head and stared down at the floor. "Who was that kid with Magneto?"
"That's John Allardyce. The guy Magneto was talking about last time, and the guy who apparently burned up half of New York."
"Oh." She fell silent again. The doors of the elevator opened and they went slowly down the hall towards the jet. "Why was Mystique acting like that? I didn't expect her to be so upset…"
"I don't know. The Professor does, obviously, but I have no idea why she'd be concerned."
They went into the hangar and Sabere looked glumly up at the jet. Yet another reason to hate flying…
"Are you going to be okay? Because you can always sit this out."
She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, determined not to throw him on top of the jet. "Are you pitying me, or are you in Jean's boat about not trusting me?"
"Look, I know you have your reasons now for taking Stryker out. But you don't have to prove yourself to us. We already know who's side you'll be on, and even if we weren't sure, we'd keep you around anyway."
Sabere just walked up into the jet.
A/N: GAH!!! My computer wasn't working! It froze when I tried to open this!! Badbadbad! But all is well now…so review please!!!