Chapter Six: Confrontations
The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch.
Six Days Ago:
"Boss, I really need a vacation," Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth, said to his mirror. Maybe, if he worked hard enough at it, he could convince the mirror that he needed that vacation.
"Really?" came a voice from behind him. Great- the ass-kisser was here.
"After failing to convince your mutant friend to join our cause, I really, truly doubt you need a vacation," Cortez went on. Sabretooth turned to look at him.
"You ain't the one I was askin.' And you're not the one that decides. Get outta my way!" he shoved Cortez aside and went off to find Magneto.
Behind him Cortez's face twisted in fury, then turned neutral. Oh, how he longed for the time when he could shed his disguise and show these pathetic fools what he was really capable of… but there were still other Players to be found before the Game could be the interesting contest it was capable of being. But when there were enough, Cortez vowed, that illiterate animal would be first to fall, and it would take him days to die!
***
Sabretooth strode towards his boss' quarters. All around him, mutants were laughing and talking, bickering and fighting, and none dares approach him. It depressed him that so many of them were kids. Something like 85% of the world's known mutants were 18 or younger, and of the ones that had wound up here, there were fanatics and outcasts. No hunters, no true warriors. And the older ones, the members of Magneto's 'elite,' let's see… Cortez was a bootlicker, Pyro was still a kid (and a nutty one at that), Mastermind was a worm, Winter or Winters or whatever it was wasn't a fighter, and Voght- Magneto could say whatever he wanted but Sabretooth would never trust anyone who used to screw Baldy. That left only four real warriors of the bunch- and even on their best day, Ramrod and Ramfist were more enthusiastic than skilled.
When he got to the door, he knocked. Winters opened it. The door closed, and after a moment, opened again. Sabretooth went in. There, in his full regalia, was Magneto.
"Sabretooth," Magneto acknowledged. "I have been informed of the results of your mission. I am… disappointed."
Good. Disappointed was good. Displeased, now…
"I told you when I left that it might take me a while to convince him," Sabretooth reminded his boss. "I got him thinkin' about it, and I found something else out."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"He an' a few friends are goin' hunting in a couple days. All his friends are mutants, too."
"Ah. And you think that, if you go along, you can talk to them as well."
"Yeah."
From under the helmet, he could see Magneto smile. It wasn't a nice smile.
"Perhaps I should send someone more persuasive."
"No," Sabretooth said quickly. "These people won't listen to just anyone. I've got street cred. The only other person we've got that they'll listen to is you, and if these guys decide they don't like you…"
Magneto began to laugh.
"Concern? For me? How touching." Magneto stepped closer. "But what I really think you're saying is that you want a vacation." Magneto raised a hand. Sabretooth's world exploded in pain.
"In terms you might understand," Magneto explained, "I'm using your blood to stimulate various nerve centres."
"If there is one thing my German friends taught me, it's that pain focuses a person," Magneto went on. "You have failed me, Victor, and you presume to ask for a hunting vacation? Hopefully this shall teach you the error of your ways, and focus you upon your tasks."
After a few minutes, Sabretooth's eyes rolled up in the back of his head, and he crumpled to the floor.
"Get Mastermind," Magneto told his butler. "See that Sabretooth remembers that I gave him permission, but that he is only to return if he brings new converts with him. I have business to attend to." Magneto went off.
"Yes sir," Winter said softly as he went about his tasks. He knew what business his master had to attend to on this day. As much as Erik Lehnsher claimed to hate all humans, that wasn't the case. Not completely, anyway.
***
"That is something," Xavier said as Logan related the events of the previous evening.
"Yeah, but unless Frost is a lot older than she looks, there's no way the ninja could be her son."
"I did notice that, yes," Xavier nodded. "And if that is the case, then the members of the Inner Circle may be more unified than Sir Braddock knows."
"Huh. What about the search on this end?"
"Nothing," Xavier sighed. "It seems that she's somehow able to mask her powers, or else go without using them, and the Joes haven't been able to find her either. None of us are done searching yet, though."
"Back to square one?"
"So it would appear."
They were silent for a moment. They couldn't prove any of this, but given all the evidence, their best guess was the only possible explanation that tied all the different factors together, unless one accounted for coincidence. Neither Charles Xavier nor Logan put much store in coincidence.
"So, when are you going?" Logan asked suddenly.
"I'm not sure it would be appropriate, given the circumstances."
"Charles, Ororo, Hank an' I can watch the kids, and we can call you if there's any trouble. You have to do this."
Xavier nodded.
"Thank you," he said quietly, and Logan nodded.
***
"Is there something wrong, Professor?" Scott asked when all the students were called together.
"No, Scott. I merely have to take a trip. Ororo, Hank, and Logan will be in charge until I return."
"That vas strange," Kurt said, after. "He usually lets us know vhere he is going."
Scott and Jean looked at each other.
"Vhat?"
"Well, we've noticed that the Professor always goes somewhere today, every year," Jean explained.
"He never says where, or why," Scott added. "Nobody knows anything about where he goes."
Jean frowned behind Scott's back. He may not have known anything, but she knew a bit. Only a bit, and she had learned by accident. She didn't like telling stories when she knew she didn't have all the facts, and what she did know of this story… she shuddered.
***
"I'll be right there, Jason!" Gabrielle Haller called to her son.
"Okay, mama!" Jason called back. Standing up from where she was working on her garden, Gabrielle looked at her son, sitting doing a puzzle. Jason was handsome, like his father, with dark hair and piercing dark eyes. He was tall and lean, and towered over her. But then, he had turned twenty today.
She smiled. Jason was talking and active more often than not, now. If only he could start to mentally age. Gabrielle fought off the tears. Her son had been like this for five years, she should be used to this by now. It was always hardest on his birthday, and for many reasons.
"How's my birthday boy today?" she asked brightly as she came back in the house.
"Great, mama!" Jason said brightly. He pointed to the puzzle. "I'm almost done- see mommy?"
"That's great, Jason." It was a puzzle of a teddy bear. Jason had been working on it for ten minutes.
The doorbell rang.
"Somebody's here, mama!" Jason exclaimed.
"I know son. Stay here- I'm going to get it."
Opening the front door, Gabrielle looked down at Charles Xavier, holding a birthday present.
"Hello, Charles," she said quietly.
"Hello, Gabrielle. You look well."
"So do you. He's this way." Gabrielle led him to Jason.
"Hi Professor X," Jason said cheerily, looking up from his puzzle.
"Hello, Jason," Charles forced himself to smile. "My, you're looking big."
"That's 'cause it's my birthday today. Mama says I'm twenty."
"And twenty you are, and here's something for the twenty year old," he handed Jason the box.
"What do you say, Jason?" Gabrielle asked her son as he opened the gift.
"Thank you, Professor X," Jason said, as he finished opening his new gift- a train set. "Oh, wow! A train set! Thank you Professor X!"
"You're quite welcome, Jason," Xavier smiled.
"Now, why don't you go set up your new train set while Professor Xavier and I talk?" Gabrielle asked.
"Okay!" Jason ran off too his room.
"You didn't have to send him away, you know," Charles said as he wheeled himself to the living room table. Gabrielle sat on the sofa opposite him. "I like spending time with him."
"Which is why you're here so often," Gabrielle muttered sarcastically. "No, that wasn't fair. I'm sorry. I've just been so on edge, lately, ever since the- well, whatever I'm feeling, I'm sure you and your students feel worse."
"You're afraid."
"Of waking up in the middle of the night to find government agents or large robots here for Jason? Yes, I'm afraid."
"You know there's a place for you both at my Institute."
"I know, and thank you, but our place is here. There may be safety in numbers, but there's also a target painted on your back."
"Not the first time I've heard that argument."
"So I've been told- you're not still angry with Moira, are you?"
"No, not really. I can understand her decision to withdraw Rahne, but I don't like it."
"She's thinking like a parent. She wants her daughter where she feels she can protect her."
They both glanced at the mirror which hung on the wall behind Gabrielle. Someone who was unaware of its history might think that it was some sort of piece of art, a mirror which had been shattered and then re-hung with each piece almost put back together. That's what someone unaware of its history might think.
"Yes, I know."
***
Jason sat on the floor of his room, looking at his new train set. He was good at putting things together, and he had a nice new ins-, inst-… he had a nice new booklet that told him what went where. His train tracks were soon altogether, and Jason looked forward to being able to put the train on the tracks and making it go. He just wished he had friends he could play trains with, but mama said that there wasn't anybody his age around.
He put the train on the tracks, and moved it back and forth, making 'choo-choo' noises. Suddenly, the train went out of his hand and started moving around the track all by itself!
Jason's eyes went wide. "You can move by yourself!" he told the train.
"Not quite," he heard a voice chuckle. Jason looked up. In the window, he could see Mr. Erik, his godfather, looking in.
"Hi Mr. Erik!" Jason said joyfully. "I thought you weren't gonna come!"
"And my godson's twentieth birthday? Not a chance." Jason stood up, opened the window, and Mr. Erik helped him outside. "And how are you today, my boy?"
"Great, Mr. Erik," Jason smiled. "Professor X got me a nice new train set an' everything! He's inside talking to mama. Do you wanna talk to them." Interpreting the opening of Mr. Erik's mouth as a yes, Jason yelled out "Mama! Professor X! Mr. Erik's here!"
'Well, this is going to be awkward…" Erik thought to himself.
***
"Mama! Professor X! Mr. Erik's here!"
Both Gabrielle and Charles put their coffees down when they heard Jason's happy voice.
"You don't think…"
"He's never missed one of Jason's birthdays before," Gabrielle mused.
"Which is much more than he can for his own children, lately," Charles muttered.
Entering the yard, they quickly found Jason and Magneto.
"Hello, Gabrielle, Charles," Magneto said conversationally, like there was nothing wrong. "I was just making Jason's new train move."
"I see," Gabrielle said, 'happily,' as she went over to Jason. "Son, why don't you go play with your train set, and later, we can all have some of your cake."
"Okay," Jason said, and went back inside the house.
The three were silent for a long time. It was like old times in so many ways, with Erik paying Charles and Gabrielle a visit, but so much had changed since even Jason's last birthday.
"Gabrielle," Erik said quietly, "despite what you may or may have been told about me, it is good to see you."
"It is… good to see you, too," she said quietly. This man was once one of her greatest friends. Even now, it was almost impossible for her to reconcile Erik Lehnsher with Magneto. Especially dressed like this- thick grey overcoat and no hat, despite the fact that it was unseasonably hot and there was a risk of heat stroke. Classic Erik. Magda used to tease him so…
"Charles," Erik said, neutrally. That was a sign of change. Once, the address would have been warm, and either preceding or shortly following a back-slapping hug.
"Erik," was the simple reply.
There was more silence as the two looked at each other. Finally, they nodded. They could put aside their differences for Jason's sake, and for Gabrielle.
***
"Why have you come here, Erik?" Gabrielle asked as he helped her with the dishes.
"To see my godson, and to see you," he said simply.
"That's all?"
"I don't steal children."
"That's not what I've heard."
"That was different."
"Really? How?"
"The child was being raised on a military base," Erik said matter-of-factly, as if that answered everything.
"By humans," Gabrielle said evenly.
"By soldiers, Gabrielle, and we both know what you think of soldiers. I tried to take that child to prevent him from being used for their ends."
"As opposed to your ends?"
"So long as you live, I will never take Jason." There. He said it. Gabrielle felt a little better. Even Charles admitted that just enough of Erik Lehnsher remained to make Magneto keep his word.
"That's not what I asked."
Silence.
"I do what I must for my people. You should understand that."
"By experimenting on them?"
"By bringing their powers to their fullest so that when the time comes, they will be able to defend themselves and those mutants that are weaker."
"And making them obey you unconditionally?"
"I am fighting a war, Gabrielle, and 85% of my soldiers are children. I need obedience that doesn't come naturally to children."
"You mean you need to steal their free will."
"What do you want from me?" he demanded, turning to face her. "Remorse? Repentance? For me to fall upon my knees and confess that I am a monster? Well, perhaps I am. Yes- say that I am. Say that I am a monster. But if by becoming a monster I can ensure the survival of my people, then I accept that fate!"
"Erik-"
"Wake up, Gabrielle! You are living in a war zone! The entire world is at war, now. It's only recently that the first open shots have been fired. It's being going on for a long time, now, you know that. You should know it better than anyone! Everything I've done, I've done for the survival of my people. You think I haven't regretted any of it? You think I haven't regretted the need for my actions?"
"And is this war one of mutants against humans?"
"It is a war of those who support us against those who would destroy us."
"Then why have you been preaching fear and hate of all humanity?"
"Because of all humans, I can only count on one hand the number of humans I can be sure that would help us! I can't take the chance of letting others in! I can't, not when there are giant robots that can scan us and try to kill us, and who knows what else there is out there that desires our extinction- or worse, enslavement?"
Gabrielle was silent for a moment. Erik hadn't lost his ability to be forceful without yelling or shouting.
"And what of the cost, Erik?"
"I have paid, Gabrielle. I lost my family when I was a child, and again when I was an adult. Magda and Anya are dead, Pietro and Wanda have turned against me, and so have all of our old friends. I have nothing but my people."
"And whose fault is that? You've pushed both of your children, and all of our friends, away. I can almost understand what you did to Wanda. Back, when Jason was…" Gabrielle swallowed. "I can understand why you had to put Wanda away, but why did you just abandon her? Why didn't you ever see her? Why did you leave instructions that I couldn't see her? Why didn't you let me see Pietro? You asked me to be their nurse after Magda died, and I did my job. I loved those children, Erik."
"I felt you had enough difficulties with Jason, especially before…" his voice dropped off. Gabrielle knew what he was getting at.
"Yeah, well, I didn't have that problem for very long," she muttered as she returned to her work.
"No, I suppose you didn't." They both looked over at Jason, remembering what he was like before.
***
Later that evening, after Charles and Erik had left, Gabrielle watched Jason sleep.
Before he left, Charles renewed his offer to let Gabrielle and Jason live in the Institute. For the first time, Gabrielle was beginning to reconsider her answer. Jason now had the mind of a child, and had indicated a number of times how lonely he was. He certainly couldn't have friends his biological age, and even though his attacks of catatonia were now very rare, it was equally impossible for her son to have friends his mental age.
The people at the Institute would be nice to him- they'd be his friends (or at least make the effort). Her son wouldn't be lonely anymore. Jason had always hated being alone… Gabrielle shivered. Jason had been alone for five years, except for her. He hadn't shown any signs of his old power ever since that day five years ago (five years ago to the very day), nor had he displayed any of the… side-effects. Maybe, it was time to let him around people. Maybe, this time, he could have friends. And he had more right to live in that mansion than any of the students, or the teachers for that matter. Yes, maybe she'd give Charles a call in a few days, to arrange for a trial stay. And if it worked out, then who knows? Maybe her son would stop being lonely.
And maybe, a dark and secret voice whispered to her, maybe she'd finally be able to have a life. Gabrielle ignored that voice. That wasn't why she wanted Jason to go to the Institute…
…was it?
Yeah, most of that was plot. Except for the part with Sabretooth- which I have already been hinting at- it may not seem like it, but a lot of what you've just read will be explained later on (and its relevancy will be revealed). In the meantime, Sabretooth joins up with his fellow hunters, and love is back in the air, so stay tuned for "The Mutant Massacre:"
Chapter Seven: The Calm