Freedom

by Stormkpr

The second book in my trilogy in which the X-men must fight back against the dominant FOH. Adults only please. COMPLETED

7. Chapter 7

Leigh's Fanfiction Archive Stormkeeper's Fanfiction Freedom Chapter 7

Freedom

By Stormkeeper

Chapter 7

Storm and Colossus had been on duty on the bridge, diligently watching their monitors. They had seen nothing. The Professor and Psylocke, however, contacted them virtually at the same time to let them know that **their** own unique sensors had picked up on several minds in the vicinity.

"I still see nothing on my screen," Storm said. She had sounded the alarm. The Professor, Psylocke, and Rogue had now joined Storm and Colossus on the bridge. "They must be cloaked." The X-men had not had success in discovering a way to detect cloaked vessels.

"They're very nearby," the Professor said. "Roughly four- or five hundred different minds."

"I think it might be two ships," Psylocke said.

"And they see us. They-----"

Charles was cut off by the sound of a phaser blast. It was a direct hit and Freedom was rocked by the blast. Within the span of a second, several shots hit the starship.

"Return fire," Storm ordered.

Colossus was sitting at the weapons station, his fingers ready to go. "I don't know what coordinates to fire back at."

"Make a guess based on the direction that the phasers are coming from," Storm said as she maneuvered the ship. The X-men had undergone a few test battle scenarios fighting against an invisible foe. Today they would discover whether or not their testing had been adequate.

Colossus fired off phasers as Freedom was steered in a direction that Storm hoped took them away from the attacking vessels. The FOH ships, however, easily kept up with them and fired off more weapons.

"They're doin' some major damage," Rogue said, reading off her monitor. "Our shields are down to 45%, an' we've got hull breaches on deck one and two."

Rogue ordered Angel, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Jubilee, Marrow, and Shaman to get to work on repairing the hull breaches. Hull breach repairs required major work and were difficult to do but necessary to prevent the loss of life support. The X-men had done numerous simulated repairs of the hull, and Rogue hoped they would suffice in the real work.

Rogue then asked Beast for an update on the engines.

From his station in engineering, Beast reported back, "Engines holding steady. None of the blasts have impacted us yet. I do-----"

He was interrupted by the loudest explosion the X-men had heard yet. This time the ship was rocked so hard that those who had been standing were knocked over. The Professor was disposed from his hover chair.

"We've been hit by a photon torpedo!" Rogue said, as soon as she could make her way back to her seat and this time strap herself in. "Deck 3 is hit and it looks bad! And our engines are down."

The Professor sensed that one of the X-men had been injured from that photon blast. He telepathically ordered Panda and Ramon to deck 3 to assist with the injured.

Beast confirmed Rogue's report about the status of the engines. "I will commence engine repairs at once." He ordered several others to assist him.

Storm and Colossus were having no effect. It was just as impossible to steer the ship away from an enemy one could not see as it was impossible to hit that invisible enemy. They fired all the weaponry they could but to no avail. Storm then took a pointed look at the Professor and Psylocke.

The Professor nodded and shut his eyes. Psylocke's eyes were already closed and she appeared to be heavily in concentration.

The phaser and photon blasts suddenly ceased. After a few moments, Storm and Colossus stopped firing away. Storm took a good look at the two telepaths. The Professor looked calm and thoughtful. Betsy's eyes were squeezed shut and she appeared to be shaking slightly.

All of a sudden, the X-men heard a loud explosion. The waves of the blast rocked Freedom. "What was that?" Rogue asked.

"That was not us," Colossus said, looking down at the readings from his console. "I not seeing any new damage to Freedom."

"One of the FOH ships just blew up," the Professor said, turning towards Psylocke and looking directly at her.

"Yes," Betsy breathed, her eyes still closed. She rubbed her temples and her body no longer shook. She then smiled and spoke, her voice taking on an eerie tone. "The Captain gave an order to put the ship on self-destruct. No one questioned it."

The Professor took a deep breath. "We will discuss this later, Psylocke. Cease your telepathic activities for today," he ordered her. Psylocke nodded and quietly exited the bridge.

The X-men still had a second FOH ship to deal with. However, using his mind control abilities, the Professor "convinced" the crew of the ship to turn away and set a course back for earth. The Professor waited for a bit and then announced, "We're out of the woods. I detect no more FOH minds in this area."

The intercom on the bridge crackled. "This is Panda," the voice said. She sounded admirably calm considering the crisis that had just passed. "Northstar was injured in that photon torpedo hit. Ramon and I are transporting him to sick bay. Hank, we need you here as soon as possible."

I didn't hear all of what Panda had said over the intercom. I was too busy rushing to repair the hull, as ordered and various noises from the damaged ship kept me from hearing Northstar's name come up. So I continued heading for the breached area of the ship and meet up with the others who'd been ordered to do repair work. I got to the turbolift and then decided against using it, due to the hull damage. As I made my way for the stairs, Marrow and I literally smashed right into each other.

"Where you going?" she asked. "Sick bay's that way."

"I'm going to work on the hull like Rogue ordered," I said.

"Didn't you hear Panda over the intercom? Your boyfriend was injured."

"What?" The color drained from my face. I reached an arm out to steady myself against the wall.

"Panda said she and Ramon were beaming him to sick bay."

"Northstar is injured?" I repeated. I blinked but kept seeing a brownish haze in front of my eyes.

"Come on," she said, yanking my arm almost off its socket and marching me down the corridor towards sick bay. I'd recovered from the momentary shock enough to make it the rest of the way on my own. I thanked Marrow and then she ran back towards the damaged areas of the hull.

I ran the rest of the way to sick bay. I got there and saw Hank and Panda's bodies blocking any view of Jean-Paul as they tended to him. Hank gave a few orders to Panda and Ramon, asking for this supply or that one. I struggled to get my breathing under control.

"Is he alive?" I asked. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to bother the medics, but I also had to know. If my mind had been more calm, I would have been able to pick up from what they were saying to each other that he wasn't dead.

"Yes," Panda said.

"Stay calm, Bobby," Hank said. As with Panda, Hank didn't turn to look at me but continued to work on Jean-Paul. "He is going to live."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I then kept my mouth shut and stayed off to the side, well out of their way. I don't know how much time passed. But I got an idea that I should let Rogue know where I was, since she had ordered me to be somewhere else.

"Rogue, it's Iceman. I'm in sick bay. Northstar is injured. I'm, uh, sorry I'm not working on repairing the hull breaches right now," I said, amazing myself that I kept my voice from shaking.

"That's okay, sugar. Thanks for lettin' us know." She paused and seemed to hesitate. "Is he okay?"

"He's going to live. That's all I know now."

More time passed. Just as the Professor and Storm arrived to check on Jean-Paul, Hank came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "He is going to recover," he told me. "We think that part of the ceiling fell on top of him. The material gouged a big part of his back but we have stopped the bleeding. He was hit on the head, which is why he is unconscious. We have been performing numerous tests on him, and at this point I do not think he will suffer any brain damage."

"Oh thank goodness," I breathed. I spotted a chair and slumped into it. I felt all of my senses returning to normal.

"We are very fortunate," the Professor said. "We have no other casualties."

"No sign of the FOH ships?" Panda asked.

"None whatsoever. Part of my mind is continuously scanning the area. If I sense any more, we will go to red alert again."

Storm added, "Rogue just reported to us that the hull breaches are under control. It will be a while before they are fully repaired but the ship is not in any immediate danger of losing life support."

"What about the engines?" I asked.

"Wolverine and Gambit are at work repairing them right now. We do not have an estimate as to when they will be finished. The Professor and I are going to join them now," Storm continued. "as the two of us have more experience with the workings of the engines." During the months we X-men had been stranded on the Paradise planet, the Professor and Storm had been on a team which was assigned to fix the engines. The two of them, along with Cyclops and Beast, had the most knowledge of the workings of the engines. "We wanted to check in on Northstar beforehand. Thank the Goddess his injuries are not worse."

"Who is on bridge duty now?" Panda asked.

"We have Colossus on duty, and we've re-deployed Nightcrawler from his work on repairing the hull," the Professor answered.

The Professor and Storm then turned to leave. "Hey, Storm," I began. "Should I get back to working on hull repair? I wanted to check on Jean-Paul first."

"Whichever you'd like," she answered. "We have four others on that project and the situation isn't dire. And certainly it is important for you to be here with him; I know how much he means to you.."

I smiled. "Thanks for understanding, Storm." I wondered if all the X-men leaders would've been so sympathetic. I love Storm.

"Psylocke, you do realize that what you did was wrong." It was a statement, not a question.

"No. It wasn't wrong at all."

Charles Xavier and Betsy Braddock sat facing each other in one of Freedom's meeting rooms. The conference room featured a long, square table and about a dozen chairs. When Betsy had entered the room, she had taken one of the seats farthest from her teacher. As she made her declaration without remorse, she sat steadily meeting Charles's gaze, her arms folded across her ample chest.

"Please explain to me why you think your action wasn't wrong," he said, keeping his tone as gentle as possible. With a fellow telepath, however, masking emotions was futile and Betsy would have no qualms about taking a reading of his mental state if she felt like doing so. "There were 312 human beings on board that ship and now they are all dead. You used your powers to coerce one of them into setting the ship on auto-destruct."

Betsy was silent for several moments. She continued to look at Charles, her expression as blank as she could keep it. The Professor continued, "We could have won the battle without that. All we had to do was turn their ship away."

Betsy shrugged. "I was in the minds of those men before I killed them. Many had killed mutants in the camps. All of them had raped. Some of them had even raped me." She droned the sentences in an emotionless voice.

"I share your anger and pain over these atrocities. However-----"

"However **what**??" Betsy cut him off. Her voice didn't crack; it remained steady. "They deserve to die. And if you truly felt any anger and pain over what they did, you'd agree."

Charles felt her numbness and how she was not allowing any feelings through. It was heartbreaking to see one of his students like this. "Killing is not justified," the Professor said, slowly and firmly. "Taking their lives doesn't undo any of the torturing or murdering that FOH has committed. It makes it worse. It brings us to their level."

"I disagree. And I don't want to hear any more of this." Psylocke abruptly stood up. "Are you kicking me out of the X-men, then?" she asked, her tone sounding as if she dared him too.

"No. But I am going to suspend you from serving on our missions. You will not take part in the next rescue mission."

"Very well then." Psylocke spun around and left the room.

"Betsy!" Charles called after her, but she left. However, with a telepath, there is no `slamming the door.' He continued to speak into her thoughts. 'But Betsy, please consider working with me again. You need help. I can help you.'

Psylocke threw up a psychic 'shield' to prevent any more of Charles's thoughts from getting through.

I stayed with Northstar as often as possible. Since his condition was stabilized, I guess I didn't really need to be in sick bay at all hours but I wanted to be there with him. Hank had arranged him so that he lay on his stomach, a massive bandage on his back over the wound. It looked as if Jean-Paul were sleeping and not unconscious. Ramon remained in sick bay with me the entire time, always checking the monitors that watched over Jean-Paul.

"He'll be just fine," Ramon would say periodically.

I nodded. Hank had suggested that if Jean-Paul did not regain consciousness on his own within 24-48 hours, we could ask Shaman to intervene. His healing powers would certainly help.

I looked at the time. Twenty-five minutes until my bridge duty shift. I knew I wasn't really doing Jean-Paul any good….but I didn't want to leave his side either. As if on cue, the doors to sick bay slide aside and Wolverine entered. He walked up to the bed Northstar was on.

"How's he doin'?" Wolverine asked.

"The same," I replied.

Wolverine then made an offer that floored me. "You want me to take your bridge duty shift?"

I was surprised, to say the least. Trying to regain my composure, I replied. "Sure. Thank you. I'd really appreciate the chance to get to stay here with him. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," he said as he left the infirmary.

Jubilee and Rory later entered sick bay, bringing me dinner and keeping me company.

"You could take a break," she was saying. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"I want to stay here," I said. I'd been holding Jean-Paul's hand but had to set it down to eat my dinner. No sooner had I taken the first bite when Rory crawled up to me and reached out her hand. Obligingly, I picked her up and sat her on my lap.

"You're not like all worried, are you?"

I smiled at Jubilee for her concern. "I'm fine. I'm thankful it wasn't worse and no one else was hurt. But I just want to be with him." I looked around sick bay. Ramon was still there, but on the other side of the room, tapping away on the computer at something. I leaned closer to Jubilee and began quietly, "When the red alert siren went off, Jean-Paul and I were about to….go to bed together."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Suddenly, I regretted letting her know that. Jubilee and I had been—since the day I re-joined the Xmen---extremely close and we shared a lot with each other. But I also knew that some straight people were cool with you being gay……**until** you had a lover or had tangible evidence of a sex life. For a second, I feared that Jubilee would have an adverse reaction to hearing the news.

But she showed me that my worries were groundless. "That is so great!" she said. "So you two made up? Tell me everything!"

I filled her in, letting her know that I'd written Jean-Paul a letter, and that he'd replied. "So we met back at my place and we had a really good discussion. We talked about relationships and intimacy. It was fantastic. We agreed that we were committed to each other and that we wanted to make the relationship work."

"That's wonderful! I'm so glad you're back together" she enthused. "So…..will ya tell me more about what you two were doing when the alarm went off?" she asked, smiling.

I returned her smile. "Well, we started kissing. We'd actually gotten to the bed. But when the alert went off, we hadn't taken off any clothes yet."

"Man, don't you just hate FOH even more now??" she joked. We laughed together. Maybe I should've been more upset or more worried, but mostly I was just glad that Jean-Paul was alive and poised to recover soon. Jubilee made me promise to tell her when Jean-Paul and I did get to make love, and I couldn't refuse.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked Jubilee, once our laughter had died down. "She is such a handful," I said, referring to Rory.

"She's getting tired. It's been a long day. She was too keyed up to eat much dinner."

"She knows something's up, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. The red alert sound scares her. Elena did a great job keeping her calm and watching over her during the battle, but Rory was still wound up." Jubilee looked down at her daughter, who had walked back over toward her. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing bringing her." She sighed. "We X-men face danger all the time, and I've been living like this since I was 15. It's normal for me, but maybe it shouldn't be for her. I wonder if next mission I should stay on An'zhina with her."

"I gotta imagine it's a hard decision for you. I mean, you're an X-man. You belong with us. But I know you want to watch out for Rory too."

"I know. Maybe I'll reconsider coming along on every mission. I dunno yet. We'll see."

Jubilee kept me company for a while longer as I picked at my dinner. She kissed me before she went to bed that evening.

The Professor and Storm sat together in one of the conference rooms, reviewing the battle. "The team fought well," the Professor said. "We tended to our injured quickly, the group working on the hull breach got the situation under control quickly, and the engines were repaired fast too. Rogue also performed well on the bridge, checking the status of the ship and ordering people where the need was greatest. Overall I'm pleased with how we performed. What do you think?"

"I agree mostly. I am somewhat disappointed in myself though," Storm admitted. "I was unable to out-maneuver the FOH ships."

"Battling against an invisible enemy is always extremely difficult. I thought you and Colossus did about as well as can be expected under such a circumstance."

"But we failed to damage the FOH at all. If it had not been for you and Psylocke….."

The Professor nodded. "We have one starship. We do not know how big of a fleet FOH has now, and now that they can detect our cloak, our challenge is even harder."

"How is Psylocke?"

"Not well. I suspended her from active duty with the X-men. She still is refusing all offers of help from me." Charles paused and placed his hands together. "Betsy was never the easiest student to work with, but her mental condition has deteriorated since her torture at the hands of FOH." The Professor went on to relay much of the conversation he and Psylocke had earlier that day. "What do you think, Storm?" he then asked. "Psylocke made an accusation that troubles me. She said I did not understand the anger and pain she'd been through." Charles paused "Do you think that I am not being sympathetic enough?"

"Not at all, Professor. In fact, I do not think we could have a more empathic leader. And I know that in working with all those who have survived FOH, you truly do understand the trauma they've been through."

The Professor nodded, satisfied with Storm's answer. It was very late into a long day, and the two soon ended their meeting. As the Professor's hover chair took him to his quarters, he thought of ways to convince Psylocke to work with him again. Her precarious emotional state needed assistance.

The Professor prepared for bed and eventually fell asleep. However, his mind was never fully rested. A portion of it continually scanned for the presence of minds other than those on board Freedom. After what happened today, he could never fully let his guard down. Several times during the night, Charles woke. Yet all was quiet in space and the only minds he detected were those of his X-men. As always, a variety of emotions were coursing through their psyches.

Just under 48 hours after the FOH attack, Jean-Paul regained consciousness. He did so on his own; without the aid of Shaman. Shaman shared with us his philosophy that if someone could recover on their own, it was always better for them to do so, rather than for Shaman to intervene.

Jean-Paul was groggy and out of it for a while after he woke. He remained in sick bay, and I stayed with him. Mostly I just sat there and held his hand. He would smile at me, apologize for feeling so weak, and go back to sleep. Every once in a while, he'd kiss my hand or he'd be strong enough to talk for a bit. He didn't yet feel well enough to leave the infirmary though.

I went back to serving on bridge duty like everyone else. Our ship was on a standing yellow alert, which is a fancy way of saying we were advised to be on our toes at all times and our weaponry was always on-line. Every time you showered or sat down to eat, part of you had to be ready to jump up at any time. We even ate in shifts----this time sans the conversation and laughter we usually took our meals with. Everyone was a bit on edge.

Overall, I wouldn't say that we're a particularly gossipy group, but talk of what Psylocke did circulated quite a bit. A few were stunned that she blew up that FOH ship. None of us, however, were really mourning the loss of their lives. Me, I don't think I'd **choose** to end the lives of 300 FOH members, but I don't really think I'd stop someone else from doing so either. I knew I ran the risk of sounding like Marrow----who was quite enthused over Psylocke's act----but it's hard to get upset at the death of murderers and rapists. We did, however, worry that FOH might retaliate against mutants back on earth. But on the other hand, it was hard to image life for mutants on earth getting much worse.

The fact that Psylocke was suspended from the X-men was discussed a bit too. However, any time Angel entered the room the discussions halted. Poor guy.

It was now two full days after our skirmish with FOH and we were approximately five days away from earth. I was in sick bay with Jean-Paul but my bridge duty shift was scheduled in a few minutes. I glanced at the time.

Jean-Paul saw me making the gesture. "Time for you to go, eh?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I wish I didn't have to leave your side."

"I'll be alright," he said. He was sitting up in bed and generally doing well. Hank told him that if his condition continued improving like this, he'd be cleared to leave the infirmary the following day. "Silver Moon and Jubilee promised to stop by and play cards with me later on. I'm feeling up to it, too."

I nodded and got to my feet. Jean-Paul reached for my hand. "You know, mon coeur….I might have been hit on the head but I remember full well what we'd been doing when FOH attacked." He looked at me with a sparkle in his eyes. My heart melted.

"I'm glad you remember."

"You don't know how hard I'm trying to get better so I can leave sick bay."

I bent down and kissed his forehead. "I love you, Jean-Paul."

"I love you too, Bobby."

I made my way to the bridge and sat down next to Gambit, who was scheduled on the shift with me. Our first hour was uneventful.

Suddenly, a few things happened at once. We received a signal that another starship was sending us a message! At the same time, the Professor quickly entered the bridge. Instantly, based on the look on his face, we set the ship on red alert. In the blink of an eye, Hank entered the bridge to assist us as the Professor said, "FOH vessels nearby."

The message being sent by the other ship came through in both audio and video. The audio said, "X-men---we will begin executing mutants from our Containment Centers in 30 seconds if you do not immediately reverse course and leave our space."

The video portion of the message flickered on our main screen. The screen displayed a handful of mutants with collars around their necks and handcuffs on. They were surrounded by FOH soldiers, each of whom had a gun to a mutant's head.

The audio message repeated, "X-men---we will begin executing mutants from our Containment Centers in 29 seconds if you do not immediately reverse course and leave our air space."

Gambit, Hank and I looked at the Professor. His eyes were shut in concentration. "I am unable to reach the minds of those FOH soldiers. I can't reach Thompson or any of their other leaders to change their minds. It is as if my powers are somehow being blocked."

The ominous FOH voice invaded us again. "Change course immediately. We will execute one mutant every second until you steer your ship away from earth…..20 seconds remaining."

"What do we do?" I asked.

The Professor shook his head. "I cannot get through. I can't establish a connection with any decision-makers in FOH on earth. There is another force at work."

"15 seconds, X-men. Don't give us reason to kill any of these disgusting mutants here. We have 250 muties at this camp and will kill each and every last one of them if you do not warp away from earth and stay the hell away! 8 seconds remaining!"

The Professor turned towards me. "Bobby. Reverse course immediately. Warp 5."

I did as told. I pressed a few buttons and the ship did an about face. We set a course back for An'zhina and warped away from earth.

Back on earth, the FOH soldier Mark felt mixed emotions. His fellow soldiers all cheered as they received word that the X-men had "tucked tail and ran" back for the mists where their new base was. Mark had been one of the soldiers chosen to hold a gun to a mutant's head for the communication sent to the X-men demanding that they turn back. He was relieved that he didn't have to kill the mutant.

At the same time, he was severely depressed. `The X-men are the only ones with any hope of ending this madness,' he thought to himself. `And now they're gone.'

The X-men sat around the circular table of the main meeting room. Iceman and Gambit remained on the bridge and Northstar in sick bay, listening in via communicators. All the other X-men were present. Psylocke sat around the table, though suspended from active duty, she wanted to at least listen in.

"FOH sent us these coordinates," Beast was saying. He showed the coordinates to the others on a screen. "If we `cross this line', so to speak, they have informed us that they will begin executing mutants."

"They ain't ones for bluffing," Rogue said glumly.

"Indeed, I was convinced that they would carry out their threat," the Professor said. "But I was unable to reach the minds of any FOH leaders or of the individual soldiers who held the guns to the mutants' heads."

"Do you know why?" Storm asked. "Could it be because we were still several days from earth? After all, we were roughly five days away. Was the distance too great?"

"The distance might have been a factor, but I do not believe it was the main one. Fleetingly I sensed another mind at work." He paused, "Perhaps FOH has another telepath working for them."

"Gotta be one powerful telepath to give you trouble," Wolverine said.

The Professor nodded. "There are many unanswered questions."

"So where do we go from here?" Storm asked the group. "We are currently on a course back to An'zhina."

"The unfortunate fact is that we have lost our element of surprise," Beast said. "Our previous missions culminated in the rescue of mutants due to the fact that FOH did not know we were near earth until we de-cloaked above camps and began transporting mutants aboard. We have lost that advantage. FOH can now detect our cloak. And perhaps they now have one or more telepaths working for them as well."

"Beast, resume your work on a way to strengthen our cloak. Try to figure out why they can detect it and a way to reinforce the cloak," Storm ordered.

"I have spent several hours attempting such. I will, however, redouble my efforts." He paused. "A word of caution. This is extremely….complex research. It is quite out of my field. The work I have done has been like taking the proverbial shot in the dark, and none of the early results have been at all encouraging. I will certainly do the best that I can, but if I had to make an educated guess, I would estimate this project could take months. I doubt I will have anything preliminary for three to four months, at a minimum."

Several looks were exchanged around the table. Three or four months?

"But even if we get a better cloak somehow," Rogue began, "if FOH got telepaths workin' for them, they'll still know when we're near earth."

"Maybe not," Wolverine said. "We don't know for a fact they got telepaths on their side. If they do, the telepaths probably don't wanna be workin' for the bastards. If FOH can't detect our cloak, maybe the telepaths won't let `em know that we're here."

"I wish I could find out more," the Professor said, shaking his head. "But unless we can get closer to earth, I cannot."

"I wonder if Queen Marina might help us with a cloak," Rogue said. "She did lend us the Valiant. And look at how she repaired Northstar's arm."

The Professor and Storm exchanged a glance. "We can certainly ask when we return," Storm said quietly.

The X-men discussed the situation for a while longer. They agreed to continue back towards An'zhina. At this point, they could not get near earth without jeopardizing the lives of those they came to save. And if Beast's projections indicated a minimum of three months before they might posses a better cloak, it did not make sense to remain in space. An'zhina would be just over four weeks away.

Meanwhile, back on An'zhina, a mutant by the name of Lu was ill. Lu had been rescued by the X-men from the FOH camp in Beijing. She spoke little English and had kept mostly to herself and a small circle of other camp survivors from China since the rescue. Despite repeated overtures from Hank and Panda, she had refused any medical treatment----until her situation became too dire to ignore. With the help of Yunfei's translating, she went to see Moira MacTaggert. Moira ran several tests on Lu and presented the young woman with the devastating news.

"I canna believe it," Moira said the next day, as she took her breakfast with Banshee, Cyclops, Jean and Siryn. "The poor woman has AIDS." Moira shook her head and tried to sip some of her tea.

"How's she taking it?" Siryn asked quietly.

"About like you'd expect. She's devastated, the poor thing. Yunfei did all the translating but Lu was so choked up that she could barely speak. She did keep insisting that it was not her fault and that she got it from the FOH camps."

Siryn looked down at her plate. She remembered the camps all too well. The soldiers were supposed to use condoms but they didn't every time; some of them would hit you if you asked. Siryn knew she was fortunate. She'd had a full exam and was given a clean bill of health.

"What stage of the disease is she in?" Jean asked.

"It's gone beyond HIV infection to full blown AIDS. I canna say how long she has to live, but I'd be surprised if it's more than a few months," Moira said. "She's wasting away. She now weighs only 90 lbs and she's 5'3" tall."

"Do you think Shaman could do anything to help?" Cyclops asked.

"I don't think his powers are that strong," Banshee said. "Jeanne-Marie told me of the time Northstar adopted a baby girl who had HIV. They took her to Shaman but that powerful disease was beyond him."

"Of course we can try when they return from their mission," Moira said. "They should be reaching earth in about a week's time. Which would mean they're roughly six weeks away from returning here."

"Maybe Queen Marina can help," Siryn suggested.

Scott and Jean looked at each other and were silent.

Siryn continued, "Should we at least ask?"

An awkward pause before Scott replied, "We'll ask her," he said, looking at Jean. "But I am not optimistic that she'll agree. Also, we will need to work with Lu about communicating this to the others on An'zhina. With her consent, of course. If she would like us to keep it a secret, we can and will. But should word get out, we should find a way to communicate this to others so that people don't treat Lu as if….she has the plague."

"That's right," Moira said. "We don't want people afraid to come near her or afraid to touch her. Perhaps at some point we'll need to do some education in HIV and how it's spread. People need to know that they won't get it from casual contact."

"But first and foremost, we should not say or communicate anything unless Lu agrees to it," Jean said. "If she wants to keep this a secret, that is what we must do."

The group agreed, though they knew once Lu reached the final stages of her disease, it would not be possible to keep the situation completely under wraps. Moira soon returned to the infirmary. She decided to begin her own research on a cure. She was grasping at straws, she knew; this was far from her area of expertise. But it was worth a try for Lu's life.

On board Freedom, several X-men were assembled in the mess hall, eating their lunch. It was the day after they had decided to return towards An'zhina. Nightcrawler and Marrow were having a spirited discussion at one end of the table; Bobby, Panda, and Hank were laughing hysterically over something a few seats away; and Rogue and Gambit were playfully teasing each other.

Jubilee sat on one end of the table, spooning food into Aurora's mouth. Storm and Wolverine sat near her.

"It is not the end of the world, Logan," Storm was saying. "We will find another way to get to earth and free more mutants."

"This mission was a disaster. No other way to look at it," Wolverine said.

"At least we turned away before FOH killed any mutants," Jubilee offered.

"We lost!" Wolverine said, smacking a fist against the table. "We were forced to run away. All we have to show for 2 years of traipsing around the galaxy is the rescue of 200 mutants. A damn drop in the bucket. How many more are back on earth!"

Storm placed a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Logan. We'll find a way to strengthen our cloak so they can no longer detect us. All we need then is a way to get close enough to earth so that the Professor can change the minds of FOH leadership." She paused. "Try to be patient. This won't be easy but we need to move slowly and cautiously. I know that is not the way you prefer to operate. But rushing in right now would accomplish nothing other than the deaths of the very people we want to save."

Wolverine shook his head and resumed eating. Storm took it as a sign that he wasn't too miserable since he didn't walk out of the room and go beat a punching bag in the gym.

Angel entered the mess hall and approached their end of the table with his tray in hand. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, gesturing to the seat across from Jubilee and next to Wolverine.

"It's all yours," Jubilee said.

Angel set his food down and began to eat but seemed quite enchanted with Aurora. "She is such a cute baby," he said, admiringly. He smiled at Rory and she smiled back, loving the attention.

"Thank you,' Jubilee said.

"And she's so well-behaved." Angel then made idle conversation with Jubilee, asking her a bit about the baby and how she was progressing.

"She is a mutant, right?" he asked at one point.

"Yes," Jubilee said. "We had her tested when she was very young and she has the gene. But we don't know what her mutation will be yet."

"I wonder if it will be the same as yours or something entirely different," Angel mused.

"I wonder that too. But we might not know until she's a pre-teen."

The conversation then drifted, and Angel asked Jubilee a lot about the karate training that she was doing under Wolverine's tutelage. They spoke about that for a while, with Storm and Wolverine mostly listening to the conversation between the two.

After some time had passed, Jubilee said, "Well, I'd better put her down for her nap. Rory gets cranky around this time."

"I've enjoyed talking with you, Jubilee," Angel said. His tone changed. "Do you enjoy swimming?"

"Sure I do," she replied

"Would you like to swim together? Perhaps some time this afternoon?"

"Sure. I got bridge duty on fifth shift today, but I'll be done before dinner. Elena and Colossus promised to do some babysitting for me."

"I'll stop by the bridge at the end of your shift then."

"Great. I'm looking forward to it."

Jubilee then escorted her daughter to their room, and Angel soon left the mess hall. Storm and Wolverine looked at each other.

"Logan," Storm said, a slight warning in her tone as she saw the displeased look on his face.

"What's he want?" Wolverine muttered. "An' it better not be what I'm thinkin'."

Just then, Bobby swung by their end of the table. "So what's up, you guys?" he breezily asked. "And what was the deal with Angel talking to Jubilee and making eyes at her? I saw him laying on the charm from over there."

"Bobby, I think our Jubilee has a date," Storm said.

"And I think Angel and Jubilee ain't gonna be the only ones at the pool before dinner," Wolverine said.

"Logan," Storm said.

"How old is he?" Logan demanded.

"Angel?" Bobby asked. "Let me see….he's one of the original X-men. I'm the youngest of the original five and I'm 32. I'd guess Warren's about 35 or 36 by now."

"He's too old for her," Wolverine grumbled.

"Logan," Storm said. "He just asked her to go **swimming.**"

"You said it yourself it was a date."

"Oh, Logan, who really knows? Maybe he just wants to get to know her better."

"Come on, `Ro. This means disaster and you know it."

"Ever the optimist," Bobby muttered.

"What was that?" Logan asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Bobby answered, smiling.

Jean-Paul walked back and forth in sick bay. "I tell you two---I am fine. I'm ready to go," he was saying. "I've been in here for three days and I'm ready to go."

Both Hank and Shaman looked at him and at their tricorders. I stood next to them, glancing at the readings.

"My tricorder readings indeed substantiate your claim," Hank said. "I officially give you permission to leave sick bay."

"Please call me if you need anything," Shaman said.

"Feel free to contact me, as well," Hank said.

Jean-Paul smiled. "Thank you both for your care." He then turned to me and extended his hand. "Shall we go, amour?"

I smiled and took his hand. We turned and took our leave of Hank and Shaman.

"You really feel fine?" I asked, as we walked down the hall. Jean-Paul was kind of leading and I was basically following him. "I feel great!" he told me, sounding rather enthusiastic. We continued to walk down the hall and I made small talk. I told him a bit about the conversation between Jubilee and Angel and the subsequent speculation of Storm and Wolverine earlier that day. I also told him about the really big argument that Marrow and Nightcrawler had engaged in at lunch. He occasionally responded with a nod or an "uh-huh" but he seemed preoccupied.

Jean-Paul and I continued walking until I realized we were outside of my room. He tilted his head towards the door and raised his eyebrows. I nodded, and we stepped through the doorway.

All of a sudden, Jean-Paul grabbed me, backed me against a wall and started kissing me. His lips grasped my tongue and sucked on it. My heart started pounding---at first from shock and then excitement.

"Do you want to?" he asked me, breaking the kiss off.

"God, yes!" I responded breathlessly.

His lips descended on mine again, somehow both aggressively and tenderly at the same time. His roving tongue entered my mouth again. Delicious. Suddenly both of his hands were under my shirt, fingers were running along my back. I got goose bumps. Jean-Paul then brought a hand front and brushed his fingers against my nipples. "You like this?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "You can give a little squeeze….gently." He did so. I sighed with pleasure.

Next thing I knew, Jean-Paul was guiding me back towards the bed and undressing me. I was basically in heaven. "You have such a beautiful blush on your skin, mon ami," he murmured, looking at my chest. He discarded the top part of my uniform and then pulled my trousers down. I stepped out of them and of my shoes and socks.

I looked into his eyes. "I love you, Jean-Paul," I said. His eyes were soft but intense, looking back at me with love and desire.

"I love you too, Bobby." He took his gaze away from my face and bet his head to slowly lick one of my nipples. "And tonight we show each other how much, eh?" I kissed the top of his head. He then kissed my lips again, and then brought his mouth around and nibbled on my shoulders. I squealed. It felt so good.

I was content to let Jean-Paul take the lead but I had to see and appreciate his body. What I'd seen of it to this point was magnificent and I had to see it all and take it all in. So once he had stripped me down to my briefs, I knelt in front of him. "I want to see you," I said.

He smiled. "I like that you tell me what you want." He slowly removed his clothes for me. He did it with a bit of flair. I just sat there, drinking in the sight of him. His legs were muscular and thick and so well defined. Like something you'd see in a magazine. I ran my fingers up and down them, feeling the hot flesh over the defined muscles. I then tilted my head upwards. I had seen his chest before but it looked exceptionally gorgeous that evening. My eyes traveled back towards his cock. It wasn't hard all the way yet but it was wonderful already. "You're like a Greek god," I said. He smiled.

From that point onwards, we didn't make any pretense at going slowly. I stripped my briefs off and we got on the bed. He got atop me and kissed me with more passion than I could remember ever experiencing, his tongue darting in and around my mouth. I loved the feel of his weight on top of me. I think my hands were shaking again and the rest of the room might even have been spinning. It had been so, so long. But it had also never happened before because I hadn't ever been with a man I wanted this much and one who I loved this much. My heart throbbed with love just as another body part throbbed too.

Jean-Paul was kissing my shoulders and chest, and one of his hands was slowly progressing lower. His hand grasped me and slowly started to pump. "Jean-Paul," I breathed. "Let me. Please. I want so much to taste you now."

"Whatever you desire, my love," he said, smiling.

So he relinquished his grip and rolled onto his back. I gave a few quick kisses to his muscular thighs and taut abdomen. I picked up traces of his sweat on my lips. But soon I got my lips around his cock----I could wait no longer to experience it. He was perfect. All I remember is that he was big and lovely and nice and thick. I had a problem though. I don't know if it was because I was so nervous or so excited but my mouth was too dry. I couldn't get enough wetness in my mouth to do the job. I was mortified. That had never happened before.

Jean-Paul and I had a good natured laugh over my problem. I got up and drank some water from the water bottle I kept in my room and that helped. I got back to work and this time, I could do it.

So I loved him with my mouth while stroking myself with one hand. He liked what I was doing; I could tell from the sounds he was making as I licked around and around the head of his cock. I'd settled into a rhythm and I wasn't so nervous any more. I loved how sensual it felt with him moving inside my mouth, hearing his breathing and panting increase. He was mostly quiet but he did whisper, "You're sooooo good at this, Bobby." And I was delighted that I hadn't lost my touch. I've always been good at this and I easily had every inch of his fat cock inside my mouth. I used one hand as an extension of my mouth and just pumped up and down. His taste was delectable. "I'm cuming," he whispered. I kept my mouth on him as he climaxed, and I followed just a moment behind. His cum was milky and salty and copious. I swallowed most of it, but some ran down my chin. I dabbed at a few drops and spread them on one of my nipples.

"Mon coeur," he smiled, sitting up, "you didn't let me have a turn. You're all finished," he observed. Drops of my cum were dripping off one of my hands and thighs. He reached for the drops on my thigh and gently rubbed them into my skin.

I smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't wait."

I rested my head on his chest and he stroked my hair. "Maybe we rest a little and have round two?" he asked.

So we rested for a bit, just chattering and leisurely stroking each other's bodies, occasionally kissing. I ran my fingers through his hair which was dampened with sweat. I touched his arms and shoulders, telling him how incredible they looked. So powerful and well sculpted. He was a magnificent work of beauty.

I can't even describe how I felt---just really satisfied, really loved. I've always liked this part of lovemaking a lot. I could have stayed there forever, chattering with him and exchanging words of love. But I think Jean-Paul was a bit more eager to get back to what we'd been doing. After a bit, he turned me onto my stomach and started giving me a back rub but then changed it to giving licks all up and down my back. I yelped in surprise. It felt incredible. All too briefly Jean-Paul grabbed my bottom and squeezed it gently. He then murmured in French to me as he shifted upwards and kissed the back of my neck. His tongue tickled one of my earlobes.

Jean-Paul then returned me to my back. He traced his tongue around and around one of my nipples. He lifted his head then and began to use his hands to stroke me. I was hard again in no time. "Beautiful," he said, looking at how swollen I was. Then he dipped his head down and rubbed his smooth cheek against my cock. He put his mouth on me and I started to moan loudly and uncontrollably.

Jean-Paul next did something surprising. He swung his body around so that he was on his belly, kinda at a 90 degree angle from me. He put his mouth back on me. His lips and tongue felt so good on me but I think the view was even better. I craned my neck and shoulders up and to the side so I could feast my eyes on his perfect rear.

"You like the view, eh?" he asked, taking his mouth off my cock for a second.

"I'm in heaven," I murmured.

"I noticed you checking it out before. I thought I'd give you a little treat."

I reached around to caress and fondle his soft bottom. I let his mouth continue with its work and I think I came in record time. When I was done, we changed positions and I put my mouth back on him. It was even more wonderful the second time around. The bed sheets were soon soaked with our cum and our perspiration.

Afterwards, Jean-Paul got out of bed. I assumed he was heading for the washroom and I was right. When he left the small bathroom, instead of returning to the bed though, he picked up his clothing from the floor and started dressing.

I sat up. "Where are you going?" I tried to keep the alarm out of my voice but perhaps wasn't successful.

"Back to my room," he said simply.

"But….don't you want to stay here?"

Jean-Paul just smiled and walked closer to the side of the bed. He planted a kiss on my forehead. "I just want to sleep in my own bed. See you tomorrow, amour."

I didn't know what to say. I lay in the bed and watched him leave the room.

I called Jubilee on her communicator. "Hi, Bobby," she said. "What's up?"

"Guess what? Jean-Paul and I did it!"

"Oh really? That's great!" I then heard her turn from the communications device and say to someone else, "It's Bobby. He and Northstar finally got it on!"

"Jubilee, uh….who are you telling?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm in the rec room with Aurora, Storm, Wolvie and the Professor…..They're happy for you."

I tried to laugh instead of feeling completely mortified. I couldn't believe she told them!

Chapter 6

Chapter 8