Chapter Four

 I woke with a start. Jolting into a sitting position, my fists clenched, my lungs preparing to launch a jet of flame, I looked around for my attacker. Wait a minute…I wasn't in the computer room. I was in my own room. I was…still in bed. I blinked. Hadn't I just been – or was I – had it all been a dream? I glanced down. Cassandra was still sleeping peacefully beside me, giving a contented sigh as she dreamed of something pleasant. I wondered what it might be. I was still confused about my own dream – or had it been real? It had felt real enough – it hadn't been the kind of weird, other-world feeling that usually came with dreams. But not all dreams were like that – some felt as genuine as the real thing until you woke up. As I had just done.

 I shook my head to try and clear away the cobwebs that remained from sleep. I tried to get my thoughts in order. I had to think logically. Had I just gone through what I thought I had, or had I been asleep the whole time? There had to be a way to find out. That E-mail. The one I'd found on the computer – what if it was still there? I slipped out of bed, moving quietly so I didn't disturb my sleeping angel, and headed to the computer room. The door was ajar when I got there, and I could hear voices from inside. I went in.

 Pyro was at the computer, with Vertigo and Recyclo, studying the plans of the research institute we were going to destroy.

 "This looks like a way in here, wouldn't you say?" Vertigo was saying, pointing at the screen. "But it's not marked as an entrance anywhere – d'you think it could be a secret door?"

 "Or perhaps a door they sealed off once they no longer needed it," said Pyro. "Still, if we're in a tight spot and we need a way out, that could be it."

 "Hey guys," I said. "Um – any E-mails?"

I didn't want to tell them about my 'dream' right away, not until I had made up my mind whether or not it was real. If I couldn't decide, it definitely wasn't a good idea to get anybody else confused. Recyclo hit a few keys on the keyboard, then shook his head, "No."

 "You expecting anything?" asked Vertigo.

 "No, not really."

I glanced over Recyclo's shoulder, "Anything in Sent Items?"

 "Why?" he asked – deadpan, as always.

 "Just curious."

He clicked the mouse, then said, "No – it's empty too."

Looking at the screen, I saw he was right. No E-mails had been sent last night. Had I dreamed the whole thing? If the message had been there then, it should be there now. Unless, of course, whoever sent it had subsequently deleted it from record. Which they would do, knowing I had read it. I walked from the room, if anything even more confused and indecisive than when I had gone in. I headed for the kitchen. Maybe something to eat would help my brain to think.

 The kitchen/living room area was empty when I got there. I was glad. I wanted to be alone to think. I couldn't be bothered preparing anything as complicated as a bowl of cereal at this time in the morning, so I grabbed an apple and wandered into the living room. I'd thought I was the only one in the room. A small sound coming from the sofa told me I was wrong. I stopped, and could hear a sob, following by ragged breathing, followed by another sob. Somebody was crying. It sounded like a girl. Was it Cassandra? Had I upset her last night by trying to make love to her? I doubted it. It hadn't been like that. She'd been the one to stop it, but I hadn't exactly had to drag her into my bed and hold her down in the first place.

 It wasn't Cassandra. It was Gemini. As I reached the sofa, I looked down to see her curled up on one of the cushions, her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably, her tears dripping down to soak into the material of her thin white nightdress. I was surprised to say the least. This was not the Gemini I knew – the bubbly, confident, outgoing Gemini – this was a scared, upset, pathetic shadow of the girl I knew. I had never seen her like this before. Whatever could be wrong with her? She clearly didn't know I was there, and I felt a little awkward. I didn't want to say anything that might upset her further, but at the same time I could hardly walk away and leave my friend like this. I knelt beside the sofa, and said softly, "Gemini?"

She jolted as if she had been shot. For a moment she was so upset and shocked that she didn't know what to do, then she got control of herself, bringing her hands down to cover her bare legs, "I'm not dressed! Don't look!"

 "I'm not!"

 "You better not be. I can't sit down for five minutes without some creep trying to look between my legs!"

 "What's wrong with you?"

She snapped, "What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me! Leave me alone!"

 "Gemini – "

 "Go away!"

Whatever was hurting her, she obviously didn't want to share it, and was keeping it hidden behind a hostile exterior. It would have been easy for me to get up and walk away as she had asked, leaving her to sort it out herself. But I didn't. I couldn't. No guy could see a girl that upset without trying to help her in some way. And she was my friend. I cared about her. If I'd been that unhappy, I'd have wanted my friends there for me, wouldn't I?

 "Look, I know you don't want to tell me," I said. "But I can't sit here and do nothing while you're hurt that badly. I'm your friend and I want to help you."

She brought her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs, retorting angrily, "No you don't. You just want to get into my panties. Or preferably get me out of them."

 "Gemini? Gemini, look at me."

At first she refused, then she seemed to relent and she glanced in my direction, dropping her gaze as soon as our eyes met. I put my hand gently under her chin, lifting her face until our eyes met again. She looked away unhappily, and pushed my hand away from her.

 "I don't know what you think of me," I said. "But I can promise you one thing – two things. One, I am not the kind of person who lets my friends sit and suffer when I can help them. Two, although you are a stunningly beautiful girl, you're my friend first and foremost. I care far more about what's in your heart than what's between your legs."

 "Oh yeah," she said sarcastically. "I've heard that before."

 "So you don't believe me?"

She hesitated for a moment, and her tone softened a little, "It's nothing personal. But I've been fooled before into thinking guys cared about me, when all they wanted was my body."

 "Gemini, do you trust me?"

She looked away, and didn't answer.

 "Gemini?"

This time she snapped, "Of course I don't trust you! I don't trust any male! You're all the same; you're only after one thing!"

 "We're not all like that!"

 "Oh yes you are! All of you! Scarab, Mole, Atlas, Vertigo and you! Maybe not Recyclo but he's just weird! Now get out of here! Just leave me alone!"

I was half-expecting her to lash out and hit me, but her anger seemed to have burned up after this last outburst, and all that was left was a scared, empty shell of a girl. She looked away from me and said nothing. Her shoulders were shaking, and she was still deep in her misery and her trauma. I didn't trust myself to speak right away, but eventually I said quietly, "I only want to help you. I can't make up for anything that's happened to you in the past, but please just give me a chance."

She said nothing. I added, "If you really do want me to go and leave you alone, just say the words, and I'll go."

Gemini didn't reply. She continued staring at the floor, her body still trembling with emotion. I was getting uncomfortable kneeling there, and I shifted my weight. Gemini's hand shot out to grab my wrist, "Don't – don't go."

 "I wasn't."

 "Please stay."

 "OK."

Two or three minutes passed, with neither of us saying anything. Her hand moved from my wrist, down towards my hand, where her fingers closed around mine, and I held her hand, trying to reassure her. It seemed to work. Eventually Gemini wiped her tears away with her other hand, and swallowed, beginning to get herself under control.

 "OK," she said, her voice still a little shaky. "OK. If you want to know what's upsetting me, I'll tell you. But first, promise me you won't tell anyone else. I've never told anyone this before. Only Pyro knows."

 "I promise."

She believed me, "OK. In that case, I trust you. I – I don't really know how to tell you this, so I'll start right at the beginning. My story begins when I was born fourteen years ago. My parents knew I was a mutant; the hospital had one of those mutant detectors for new-born babies. My mother didn't want to have another girl and she didn't want a mutant baby – she wanted to abandon me. My dad wouldn't let her. My dad's the only decent human I've ever known. He didn't care what I was; he loved me because I was his child. My mother and sisters hated me, but my dad was always there to look after me and make sure I was treated properly."

 A single tear escaped from her eye and she wiped it away as she said in a voice shaking with emotion, "But – but my dad died when I was eight, just as I started having my first periods and discovering how to use my power. My mother wanted to throw me out on the street, but she couldn't. My dad was one step ahead of her, and his will stated that she could only inherit his money if she continued to look after me. She did, but for me it was a living hell. She fed me practically nothing and kept me locked in the house at all times. It was about then that I started using my power regularly – I'd hide somewhere and summon my duplicate. While my mother locked her inside my room, I'd run outside the house and get away from them for a while."

I squeezed her hand, encouraging her to go on. Gemini swallowed once more and said, "When my mother got a new job, she decided she didn't need the money from my father's will any more. She was going to throw me out of the house, when an offer came along she couldn't refuse. She'd made it known that she had a mutant child she wanted rid of, and – and this genetics researcher offered to buy me. I couldn't believe it; I couldn't believe I was being bought and sold like a piece of livestock. Anyway, I thought life couldn't get any worse than it had been with my mother. I was wrong. The researcher was even worse. He kept me locked in an even tinier room; he wouldn't even let me wear any clothes, and he was constantly taking samples of my blood and – and my – and doing other stuff. I don't know how long I was there. I lost track of time. I lost track of the number of times I begged any God that might be out there to kill me. I stopped eating. They fed me through a tube. I don't know how long that went on for. I think my mind just shut down eventually, leaving me in some kind of vegetative state. The next thing I remember is Pyro. He got me out of there."

She smiled for the first time, "He brought me here and told me he would look after me. He gave me clothes; he gave me food; he gave me everything I have. Everything I have is his, and I'll do anything to help him."

I was amazed to feel a single tear running down my cheek. I shook my head slowly, "Gemini…that's the most terrible thing I've ever heard. I can't believe you're still together mentally, after all that."

Gemini exhaled heavily, as if the telling of her story had released a huge burden on her heart. She squeezed my hand, and she said nervously, "I'm – I'm glad I got that off my chest. Thank you – thank you for listening. I guess now you know why I hate humans so much. And why I hate any mutant who tries to protect them."

 "Yeah. I didn't think it would be possible for me to hate the scum any more than I already do – I guess I was wrong."

 "Hold me."

I did it without hesitation, putting my arms around Gemini and holding her gently, letting her feel safe and secure in my protection. We were pressed together, but there was nothing romantic about it. We were just friends, one helping the other get over her painful memories. They would never go away, they would always haunt her, but with the help and support of her friends, Gemini might be able to crowd them out with happier memories of her new life.

 Eventually we pulled apart, and she gave a giggle, "Now, we'd better go and get dressed before Cassandra walks in and sees us together wearing not very much."

I smiled, and gave her hand a last squeeze before standing up and heading for the doorway. Gemini remained where she was, but more relaxed and content now that she had been when I had walked in. I was glad that I had been able to help her. It made me feel special somewhere on the inside of my heart. I could heal people, in a way, not just hurt them. I turned round to look at Gemini once more – a happier Gemini who smiled back at me – as I walked through the kitchen. At that moment something in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned to face it.

 The glass beside the sink. The one I had used last night, when I had got up to have a drink of water. When I had heard the noises from the computer room, and gone to investigate. And found the E-mail addressed to the X-Men. And been hit on the back of the head. It hadn't been a dream! It had been real! The glass was sitting there, exactly where I had left it the night before. I ran for the computer room.

 "Pyro!" I shouted, as I pushed the door open.

Only Recyclo sat inside the room, typing at the computer, his fingers moving with unbelievable speed over the keys. He appeared to be typing by touch alone – without looking at the keyboard – something I'd always thought was a myth.

 "Hey – where's Pyro?" I asked.

 "Helicopter pad."

I ran from the room and down the corridor to the nearest exit. Throwing the door open, I could see the helicopter ahead of me, sitting on its pad. Vertigo was refuelling it while Pyro was in the cockpit, probably performing engine checks.

 "Pyro!" I yelled as I approached.

He looked round as he heard his name, and pushed open the cockpit door, "What?"

 "We have a problem."

 "Tell me again, tell me everything you saw."

I told him. I was now certain I had not been dreaming. I didn't know how I'd managed to get back into bed after being knocked out – maybe I'd been half-asleep and it hadn't registered in my memory – but everything else fitted now.

 "Damn it!" Pyro swore as I finished.

 "What does this mean?" asked Vertigo.

 "That one of us is a two-faced human-loving piece of – " Mole began furiously, when Pyro waved him to silence.

 "All right, this means we have to change our plans," our leader decided. "If the X-Men will be lying in wait for us at noon, we'll leave an hour early – 11 instead of 12. By the time our enemies get there, we'll have been and gone."

Atlas nodded. Gemini said, "So if there's a traitor – and now it seems there is – how do we know who it is?"

 "We don't," said Pyro. "It could be any one of us."

He looked around at eight of us, the entire Brotherhood, as he said angrily, "I have trusted all of you. I have helped all of you make something of your lives, and this is how one of you chooses to repay me. I will get to the bottom of this. From now on, the computer room is off limits to everyone except me. I will not take the risk of further information being compromised to our enemies."

I glanced briefly at the rest of them, asking myself the question I was sure the rest of them – except one – were asking: who could it be? Which of us was secretly an X-Man sympathiser? I knew I could scratch one name off the list instantly. Gemini had told her story from the heart earlier – not even the most talented actress on Earth could have faked that. That had been genuine pain. She could not be the one. What about the rest?

 Mole? No. I had seen him fighting against the humans the day before on the mainland. Again, nobody could have faked the ferocity and venom with which he fought.

 Scarab? Possibly. I didn't know very much about him. He didn't seem like the brightest, and any kind of deception might have been beyond him…unless that too was a deception!

 Cassandra? As much as I hated to think of my love in this way, I couldn't automatically rule her out. We had spoken at length last night on our feelings about the human situation, and she had admitted to some reluctance when it came to killing them. Surely if she were the traitor she would not have said that, to avoid attracting suspicion to herself. I hoped that were so.

 Vertigo? No. He simply didn't care about anyone or anything – that was the impression he gave anyway – and was chronically lazy. I just couldn't see him going out of his way for any particular cause.

 Atlas? Well…maybe. It would certainly explain why he was always so nervous and looking over his shoulder all the time. Being a spy would make anyone paranoid. Could that be the rather obvious explanation? Was there anyone else? Oh – Recyclo. It didn't seem possible. I'd seen Recyclo kill plenty of humans in situations where merely injuring them might have had the same effect. For this reason, surely he couldn't be an X-Man in disguise, no matter how strange and emotionless he might be.

 There was one other suspect: me. I obviously knew I was not guilty, but the others didn't know that. I had even been with the X-Men once, and for all my friends knew I could have been a spy planted in their midst. I could have lied about last night to try and push suspicion away from me. I knew I'd have to convince my Brothers and Sisters that I was not the one.

 "Right," Pyro interrupted our thoughts. "Before we all go off into wild conspiracy theories and start accusing each other, let me make one thing clear: nothing has changed. We will not allow this to get in the way of the plans we have made. Suspicion and mistrust will tear us apart. Our traitor will make a mistake before long, and woe betide him – or her – when that day comes. In fact, my advice now would be for that person to get out of here while he – or she – still can."

Nobody said anything. Pyro said, "Our mission goes ahead as planned, but one hour earlier than originally agreed. That leaves us one hour from now to prepare. Everyone get ready. Meet me at the helicopter at five minutes to eleven."

 We were both a bit subdued when we went back to our room. Cassandra was avoiding my eyes, and I hers, and neither of us was willing to say anything to break the ice that had formed between us, between all of us. I knew that she might well be thinking I was the traitor, and it was a logical conclusion for her to make. I had been with the enemy once, and last night she had heard me speaking of my discomfort at killing human children and babies. Was that what she was thinking? If so, I had to get things straightened out as soon as possible. Suspicion of each other would tear our relationship apart. I didn't want to lose Cassandra. I had already lost one love through my inability to save her. I wasn't going to lose another.

 "Cassandra?" I said uncertainly.

She looked up, "Gladiator?"

I stepped close to her and took her hands, holding them in mine, "Do you think I'm the one giving information to the X-Men?"

 "No," she said quickly – too quickly. "No, it's just that I – well, I don't know what to think. Someone must be."

 "And I'm the most likely suspect?"

Cassie hesitated, "Well…I don't want to put it like that, but…yeah. Please – don't be angry. I'm just trying to think logically. My head says you could be the one but my heart says you're not."

I nodded, "It's the same for me. I can't stand to think that you might be the one – but I can't rule it out just because I love you."

 "That's what I was trying to say."

 "Yeah. But we can't think like that if we want to have a loving relationship. We can't love each other if we don't trust each other."

 "I agree. I love you and trust you with all my heart, but still – I can't be completely sure when my brain isn't convinced. I don't want our relationship to fall apart. I want us to stay together, but if we go on like this things are going to fall apart."

I sighed, "If only there was some way we could let each other know – not just think, but know – that we're both innocent. If only there was some way to look into each other's hearts and see the truth."

 "Maybe there is."

 "Huh?"

 "Gladiator – take your clothes off."

 "Excuse me?"

 "Take your clothes off. I'm taking mine off too."

 "Um – why?"

 "Because if one of us is the traitor, then they're a very good actor and a very accomplished liar. And I'm betting it's a hell of a lot harder to lie to somebody when you're both naked. This may seem extreme, but – well, we have to do something to prove to each other that we're innocent. And we have to do it now before things start to break up."

I was more than a little taken aback. Yes, I loved her – and yes, I too wanted to break down any barriers of suspicion that might sour the love between us – but this was…well, extreme was the right word. Would it work? If nothing else, it would be a gesture of trust, that both of us had nothing to hide from the other, and that we were prepared to go to any lengths to demonstrate the way we felt. But still…

 "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

 "You think I enjoy taking my clothes off in front of people? Of course I don't. I'm doing it because I love you and I want more than anything to know that you're innocent."

I didn't know what to say. There was nothing I could say. All I knew was that I was likewise desperate to reassure myself that Cassandra wasn't the spy. And was it really such a big deal to take my clothes off in front of her? Of course not. If, as I hoped, we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, it certainly wouldn't be the last time. We had to do this. To save our relationship and preserve our love before it began to fall apart, we had to do this. Cassandra had already kicked off her shoes, and as she began pulling at the sleeve of her top, I swallowed my embarrassment and followed her example.

 When our clothes were on the floor, and we were standing nervously and self-consciously in front of each other, I looked her in the eyes and said, "Now what?"

 "Keep looking into my eyes and tell me that you never have and never will betray the Brotherhood."

I forced myself to keep looking straight into her eyes. The temptation for my eyes to wander over her gorgeous naked body was almost unbearable. She was probably having the same difficulty. It was only my desperation to convince myself that she was innocent, that kept my eyes fixed on hers. I repeated after her, "I never have and I never will betray the Brotherhood."

I had spoken from the heart. She knew I was telling the truth, and she breathed a sigh of relief, her body visibly relaxing.

 "Now you do the same," I said.

I continued to stare into her eyes, almost losing myself in those twin pools of sapphire brilliance, as she repeated the words. Cassandra was not lying. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew. There was no hint of deception in her eyes, no sign of a false persona or barrier of lies. I too felt my body sagging as relief spread through my system. This girl that I loved was everything she said she was. She was not the traitor. She was innocent. Her love for me was not false, and my love for her was returned in equal measure.

 "Oh, Cassie – I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Forgive me?"

My girlfriend nodded, "Of course. And you?"

 "Yeah."

Both of us smiled. We came together and kissed, and I was slipping my arms around her when she pushed me away gently and said, "I think we'd better get some clothes on before we start kissing and cuddling, don't you?"

We dressed, then held each other and kissed passionately. I knew I loved her now more than I had ever done before. We had seen into each other's soul, and seen nothing but the love we shared. We knew that neither of us was responsible for giving information to our enemies. I could cross Cassandra off the list. That only left five possibilities. I had no idea which of the guys it might be. Pyro had assured us that he would get to the bottom of the matter, but I wasn't entirely sure what he had in mind. He had sounded confident enough, so I assumed that he knew what he was doing. At this moment I was only concentrating on one thing: Cassandra was my love, and the two of us had shown that we were prepared to go to any lengths to prove our sincerity to each other. Whatever else might come to pass, at least I still had the girl I loved so much. If all else should fall away, I would always be happy as long as I had her by my side.