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

15. Chapter 15

Leigh's Fanfiction Archive Stormkeeper's Fanfiction Freedom Chapter 15

Freedom

By Stormkeeper

Chapter 15

"All of us X-men will be having a meeting later on today," Charles Xavier said to Sam and Hector as he sat facing them in a conference room, late the following morning. "We are going to decide where to go from here, our next move. You're both welcome to join us as well."

"I'd love to," Hector said, sitting forward in his seat. His eyes tended to dart around, mouth open with awe. He still could barely believe his luck in getting rescued by the X-men. "What an honor," he added.

"I'd like to as well," Sam said. "Professor….will we be allowed to voice our opinions?"

"Of course, Sam."

"You see," Sam continued. He then paused. "I—I really am gonna miss my parents and my sister. I don't know if I can be away from them. You know, the main reason I declined your offer to join the X-men years ago was cause I didn't wanna be away from my family. I just can't bear to think that I'll never see em again and that they don't even know where I am."

"I would not say that you will never' see them again, if you decide to come with us to An'zhina."

"Do I have a choice? I mean, could I be returned to earth?"

"If you would prefer it, we will beam you back down."

Hector turned to Sam and spoke, "But how, Sam? We just spent six months living in the Greys' attic because you had nowhere else to go. You know your parents' house is being watched. You're a registered mutant. You go back to earth and they're gonna get you. You can't go back there."

"I know," Sam said. He shook his head. No matter what happened, it was going to be hard. There was no way to return permanently to his family. Why the hell did it have to be this way?? He looked at Xavier. "Professor….can I maybe get a note to my family?"

"Of course, Sam," the Professor answered. "I know how hard it is to be separated from your family like this. There is no easy way to deal with it until the situation on earth improves. Should someday the situation improve, you could be reunited with them. In the meantime, you might find some comfort in talking to the others here. Panda, for instance, has not been with us as long as many of the others. She sent a letter to her family, letting them know that she is safe. I know that she misses them, but I also know she has come to regard us as her family."

Sam nodded. "I'll talk to her." He then brightened at a thought. "Can we start training as X-men?"

"By all means. I think the others will be glad to begin working with you."

"I want the codename Cannonball. And Hector said he wants to be known as Wraith, right Hector?"

Hector looked down at his hands. He then softly asked, "What about me, Professor? Can I really train with your team? I—I don't think I have any powers. And I know it's painful to look at me. I always turn away when I pass a mirror. Is there….do you have any way to cure me? I mean, not that I think being a mutant is a disease or anything like that, but is there a way to get me to look less….scary? More human?"

Charles took a deep breath and looked at Hector. It was akin to looking at a college textbook anatomy model. The translucent skin allowed one to view bone and muscle, see them working together whenever Hector spoke. Charles knew that once Hank had a moment to sit down with Hector, he would share being intrigued with this. "I do not think there is any way to alter your appearance, Hector. We X-men have not devoted any time to changing our appearances."

"I thought you would say that," he said quietly.

"If it is any consolation, you will be accepted here with us. You can already see that many of us on board have….unusual appearances. You will see more when we get to An'zhina."

"Do any look as grotesque as me?"

For a moment or two, the Professor did not know what to say. The direct answer to Hector's question---the answer that many X-men would have given---was 'no.' Instead, he answered, "There are none who have your particular mutation. That is partly what makes working with mutants so fascinating---we're all different and all so special. I look forward to seeing you progress, Hector and we can discover what your hidden abilities and gifts are."

So they left it at that. Both of the newest X-men looked forward to working with the team.

Believe it or not, I was awake enough the next day to go to the X-men meeting. Jeanne-Marie wanted to go as well. Panda agreed to stay in sick bay with Jean-Paul and keep an eye on him. He was still unconscious, though after Shaman gave him another "dose" earlier in the morning, it was thought that he could wake any minute now.

Aside from Panda, everyone else was seated around the table of the largest conference room, except for the Professor and Angel----they were on bridge duty but listening in via communicators. All of our new crewmembers were there too. I did want to get to know them and all, but those such things would have to wait until Jean-Paul was better and I could think of anything besides his recovery.

I didn't know what to make of the former FOH soldier, Mark. The Professor had spoken to Jeanne-Marie and I earlier that morning and said he was convinced Mark posed no threat to us. I wouldn't ever doubt the Professor, but still it was odd to have him there. He sat quietly throughout the meeting. He looked nervous and I couldn't blame him.

Because I was so preoccupied with thoughts of Jean-Paul, I didn't participate in the meeting much. But the main topic to be discussed was whether to return towards earth and make another attempt at a rescue.

There was a lot of push-back at this idea. Jeanne-Marie was surprisingly vocal in her opposition to it. (I guess I shouldn't say surprising.' I never really knew for sure how she would react to any given situation.) She stood up out of her seat and said, "We already have one X-man dead, another raped, and my brother was nearly beaten to death! We're not going back!"

Across the room, I saw Elena drop her head onto Rogue's shoulder at the mention of Colossus. Rogue put her arm around Elena. Elena's body shook a little but I think she was out of tears to cry.

"What if we were to take a less risky approach?" Storm asked. "As far as we know, FOH still cannot detect our reinforced cloak. What if we were to return to earth over a camp, drop our shields, beam up all the mutants we can detect and then move on? We would have the element of surprise as they should not know we are there. It would not be as thorough as we prefer to be if none of us beam down to the surface, but it is much safer that way. I think the chances of any of us getting captured are quite slim if our shields are down for less than 10 seconds and we all remain on board the ship. The drawback is that we would probably not rescue all the mutants in a given camp. But it is better than returning with nothing."

The idea was discussed around a lot, and I was surprised when the group seemed to be going with her plan. They all agreed that the risks were minimal and we had such a great chance to free more mutants, we couldn't lose it. Everyone was asked to offer their opinion because, as Storm reminded us, the decision would impact us all if we were somehow captured again. Eventually, the only one dissenting was Jeanne-Marie and she then literally threw a fit when she realized we were heading back to earth. With tears streaming down her face, she stomped out of the room. I was afraid of her rage and loathe to follow her, so I did not. I sat there, musing about what a hypocrite I was. If I truly wanted Jeanne-Marie to regard me as a brother, I should have gone after her and tried to console her. Yet I sensed she really wanted to be alone after that.

A few other things were decided upon too. We agreed to have a funeral/memorial for Colossus when we returned to An'zhina, as we knew Jean, Scott and Jubilee would want to be there as well. That was fine by most of us; we needed time to collect our feelings and let the pain sink in.

Also, it was agreed that we would begin training Cannonball and Wraith. Both wanted to join the X-men. Cannonball had the ability to fly, though his flying style was a bit different than the fliers I know. He kinda leaves exhaust like a rocket. It looks like it requires more effort than Storm, Rogue or Jean-Paul who all fly gracefully and easily. As for Wraith, we weren't sure if he had any special powers. But he could still be trained in fighting, serving on bridge duty, basic ship functions, etc. He looked very eager.

We also agreed to being working with Jean's niece and nephew, Gail and Joe, as soon as we had a chance. Obviously they were too young for anything like fighting. But Joe needed to learn how to control his ability to see through substances. And it would also be cool to see if Gail had any powers and learn more about the ridges that were poking through her skin. From a distance she eerily resembled Marrow but after giving her ridges a cursory look, Hank said that he did not think they were comprised of bone.

Towards the end of the meeting, Storm tossed out an interesting thought. She speculated as to whether or not the link the Professor made with a few FOH official's minds might have made a difference. "Perhaps we will see when we are closer to earth," she said.

I was surprised again during the course of the meeting. The former FOH soldier, Mark, asked if he could speak. When Storm gave him permission, he addressed us all. "I---I'm not the most experienced public speaker. But I have something I want to say to everyone." The room was so quiet, you could've heard a pin drop. Mark stood with his hands clasped in front of him, and I noticed they seemed to shake. "I used to be a Friends of Humanity soldier. I--i just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know probably you all----well, probably a lot of you hate me and I think you have every right to. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I wish I'd never joined that group. And I know telling you that I'm sorry won't make it right for the mutants that I've-----mistreated. But I wanted to apologize anyway."

The room was quiet for a bit. Mark's eyes darted around and he then sat back into his seat. I gotta say one thing. The guy's got guts.

Finally, Hank spoke. "The Professor said that you are sincere in your remorse and your desire to help us. We all know that the Professor does not make mistakes in his analyses such as these." I think those first two sentences might've been for the benefit of the other X-men; not Mark. I'd been wrapped up in Jean-Paul, of course, and not really talking to anyone else, but I guessed that there were plenty of those who didn't want a former FOH soldier on board. "None of us is able to speak on behalf of those mutants whom you have mistreated, but I firmly believe that a person can turn over a new leaf, so to speak. I am willing to forgive you for what you have done and work with you."

Rogue was sitting with her arms crossed in front of her. "I'd be interested in hearin' why you joined em in the first place and what changed your mind bout us." I gotta give Rogue credit. I think part of her wanted to rip the guy's throat out, but she was being quite civil. Then I remembered. She used to be a "bad guy" too. Oh, never anywhere near as bad as an FOH member, but she did used to fight on Mystique's team when she was younger. So surely she must've understood that a person truly can change. Yet she was looking at Mark with something other than acceptance on her face.

Mark then talked a bit about his history. I'm not going to record it all. He spoke with lots of "um"'s and awkward pauses. The more he spoke, the more obvious it became that he was terrified. He said he joined FOH for purely economic reasons and mentioned that he had a brother who was a member. He said that he questioned FOH's beliefs and tactics almost from the start. He admitted that he was a coward for not doing more to speak out.

As he talked, I looked at my teammates. I can't read minds but I am decent at reading expressions. Hank, Panda, Kurt and Shaman looked like they were willing to give the guy a chance and, as Hank had said, accept his apology. Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit looked none too pleased with the guy but were holding back from attacking him. Storm's expression was unreadable.

And as for me, I can't really say how I felt. A stronger person would not join FOH no matter what, just as they wouldn't have joined Hitler's Nazi party in the 1930's. But the guy's only human. I had to imagine it would be hard to resist such pressure. And then a chilling thought came over me. If I wasn't a mutant---and wasn't gay---, would I have joined FOH? Would I have just gone along with the crowd, did what I needed to do to ensure my family had food, medicine, shelter? Or would I truly have been strong enough to withstand the crowd? I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I never was a brave man. Only being with the X-men made me the person I am today. Mark could have been me. I forced myself to chase those ideas away; I just didn't want to go down that line of thought anymore.

So that was it. We adjourned the meeting and turned Freedom around to head back for earth. We were due back on that troubled planet in roughly 26 hours. As soon as the meeting was over, I went back to my vigil at Jean-Paul's side. I was lucky, I mused, as I walked down the hall to the infirmary. No one had asked me to serve bridge duty. They all accepted my need to be with my beloved.

Not long after the meeting, Storm found herself sitting with Elaine, John and Sara Grey in the rec room. She had given the three a more detailed tour of the ship, including the bridge and engine room. Sara's children were with a handful of the other X-men, observing them train in the Danger Room.

"It's good to be here with you, Storm," Sara was saying. "I feel like I know you the best. Remember when we were bridesmaids for Jean?"

"Of course I remember," Storm said, returning Sara's warm smile. Storm fought back the building resentment towards Sara and tried to view Sara as a sister. It is not her fault that Wolverine does not love me,' she told herself. She then spoke, "Rogue was the other bridesmaid. She and Gambit were recently married in a beautiful ceremony on An'zhina, by the way."

"I still can't remember all these names," John admitted, shaking his head. "Gambit was the one with the black-red eyes, right?"

"Honey, how could you have missed him?" Elaine asked. "He and Rogue were practically in each other's laps during the meeting! It's good to see young people in love."

"Oh, yes, I remember. Rogue is the one with the missing teeth and the skunk-stripe in her hair, right?"

"John!"

"I didn't mean it as an insult, honey," he said to his wife. "I think she's a lovely young woman. But she is missing at least one tooth and what else do you call that in her hair besides a skunk-stripe?"

Storm smiled at the elderly couple's interplay. They had been together for decades and obviously still loved each other. Storm forced herself to feel happy for them rather than jealous. Her smile evaporated, however, when Sara asked, "What happened to knock out Rogue's teeth? I noticed it too. Last time I saw her, she wasn't missing any teeth."

The light-hearted mood was now gone. Sara noticed the solemn look which came over Storm's face, but she pressed on anyway. "And there are so many other questions I have as well. How did you acquire this ship in the first place? How did you get here? All we heard back on earth was that the X-men attacked the Friends of Humanity and stole one of their ships. I knew that couldn't be true, especially since all the battle footage they showed on TV took place outside the mansion. As if you launched an attack from the mansion and FOH just happened to be there! And at dinner yesterday." Sara continued, barely pausing for breath, "I enjoyed hearing about Jean and the kids, An'zhina and the Queen, and your adventures on the Paradise Planet. But I feel like I'm missing a big chunk of the picture and I would really love to hear the whole story." Sara hated to ask this, but she had to. During the meeting earlier that day, that French-Canadian woman who had stormed out of the meeting had made some very disturbing references to things FOH had done.

John and Elaine voiced their assent with Sara in wanting more information.

"I will be happy to share it with you," Storm began, somberly. "But it is not at all pleasant. The Friends of Humanity did some terrible things to all of us. Including Jean."

"If you do not mind telling us about it," John began, his serious tone now matching Storm's, "I would like to hear about it. I want to be able to understand what my daughter has gone through."

"Jean is okay, right?" Elaine asked, suddenly very afraid of what Storm was about to say. For the past two and a half years, she had spent many waking hours wondering what exactly had befallen Jean. She had known in her gut that parts of it were not going to be pleasant. But now she felt fear, as she knew she was finally about to hear it and from a person who would tell them the truth. Elaine felt her heart rate suddenly pounding.

"Yes, she and Scott are doing very well," Storm said. "So are their children. Don't worry---- everything we told you yesterday at dinner is true and she and Scott couldn't be happier, especially now that they are parents." Storm paused. "And I should say that as a team, we X-men have recovered from the ordeal we went through. What I am going to describe is truly awful, and many of us are still affected by it….but we X-men dealt with it together, as a family does and surviving it together made each and every one of us stronger."

All three Greys had their eyes glued to Storm. John leaned forward in his seat. The Wind Rider took a deep breath and began to recount the events. "We had known for months that the Friends of Humanity were getting stronger and stronger, and that mutants were losing the public relations battle. We knew that we had been so wrapped up in crisis after crisis for the past seven or eight years that FOH had managed to rally most of the world's public against all mutants right under our noses. So we X-men continued to train as best we could, trying to prepare ourselves for the inevitable battle against these mutant-haters. But one night, FOH managed to slip through our defenses and surprise us. To this day, I am not certain exactly how they did it. But they used some sort of stun gas which disabled most of us. Several X-men were killed in battle. I don't know if you remember Morph or Shadowcat or Thunderbird. They all perished."

Sara nodded. "I remember Shadowcat. The younger woman with brown hair? Her name was Kitty, right?" Sara remembered speaking with her at the wedding reception. She also recalled visiting the mansion once and being let in by Kitty. Jean had not yet returned that day, and Sara and Kitty had spoken for a short while then too as Sara had waited for her sister.

"Yes, that was her. She died in the attack. We had also taken in a whole group of mutants called the Morlocks. Many of them had no special powers and no ability to fight, but FOH slaughtered them all. It was such senseless killing. We were merely trying to defend ourselves from an unprovoked attack."

The Greys all expressed condolences to Storm over the losses. Storm then continued speaking.

"A core group of us----including Jean and Scott and many of those who are on board the ship today----were taken prisoner. We were brought on board this very ship and kept in a cell." Storm paused again. "The FOH planned on transporting us all to a planet which is referred to as the Acid Planet. It is a place….that is hard to describe. A large pit of acid is on the planet's surface. FOH had taken many other mutants there for execution, and…from what we know, it is an agonizing way to go." Storm looked at the faces which watched her intently, hanging on her every word. She took another breath. "The journey to this planet would take several days. So we were in the custody of FOH during those days. During the time we were prisoners….FOH did some horrible things. They pulled Jean, Rogue, Jubilee and myself out of the cell and they gang raped us."

John and Elaine both gasped. Sara was not surprised, given what Jeanne-Marie had said during the meeting. "Storm, I am so sorry to hear of this," Elaine said, her eyes wide. She held one hand against her chest, trying to fathom what the woman sitting in front of her must have gone through. Her blood chilled as thoughts turned from offering condolences to Storm to the sinking in of the fact that her own daughter—her own flesh and blood---had been treated in this manner. "Jean!" she murmured. John reached for one of her hands and held it.

"It was a horrible ordeal," Storm said, her voice sounding distant. "There were more than 200 FOH soldiers on board the ship. They kept the four of us with them for days and assaulted us over and over again for days without end. Rogue resisted more violently than the rest of us." She stopped to look at Sara. "They forced her to cooperate. That is why she is missing a few teeth. Jubilee became pregnant as a result of this ordeal and she now has a daughter." Storm then changed her tone and sounded more like herself. "But as I said, please do not despair. Jean and the rest of us are basically alright. We survived it. I know that Scott was wonderful in helping Jean to recover. And as a team, we all helped each other."

The Greys continued to look at Storm, wanting to hear her every word. She also sensed they were shocked into silence, no one knowing quite what to say. So Storm continued, "I know this is a subject that sometimes causes people to feel uncomfortable. But we X-men decided to talk about this openly and take the shame out of it. None of us did anything wrong, and this is not something that can be ignored either. So we talk freely about it, if we need to. None of us are to blame."

The Greys then asked Storm to tell them more. So, they continued on for a long time. Storm told them of being rescued when soldiers took Bobby's collar off. She did not gloss over the discussions that surrounded the execution of the soldiers. She told them of all the major events that had occurred in the last two and a half years----the time spent on the Paradise Planet, the births of Aurora and Charlotte, the near-capture by FOH and being saved by the Endarians, the relocation to An'zhina, the liberation of two Mutant Containment Centers, the rescuing of three of the X-men from the Cetians, the birth of Christopher. She didn't spend much time talking about life on An'zhina as that had been covered extensively at dinner the previous evening.

"So you understand our determination to liberate more camps," Storm was saying. "The accounts we've heard from those we've already rescued are harrowing. FOH is killing and raping mutants at will and with impunity. It must cease."

Sara sat, shaking her head ."So if Gail and Joey and all of us had been brought to the camp….the same thing would've happened. My own daughter…..being treated like that! Oh Storm! Thank God for Marrow and Psylocke coming to us. Thank God for you and the other X-men."

"We truly are blessed," Elaine said, shaking her head. "Someone above must have been looking out for us to deliver us here like this."

John clenched his fists. He was fighting to get a handle on his anger at FOH as his thoughts turned to a practical question. "Then is it really safe for us to be returning to earth now? How can we risk that??"

Storm reassured John. "Our plan should involve our shields being down for less than 15 seconds. I cannot imagine FOH discovering us and disabling us in that short of a time frame. Once we have the mutants, we'll simply re-cloak and leave." She sighed. "The thing that makes me hesitate about this plan is that we will not be able to rescue all of the camp inhabitants. I know we will be leaving people behind. But it is better than not attempting any more rescues on this journey."

John gently argued with Storm for a while more, disagreeing and fearing that this placed them at undue risk. Storm and the others were eventually able to convince him that their plan was the right thing to do, though many still felt unease.

Around mid-day that day, Shaman paid another visit to Jean-Paul. As Jeanne-Marie and I watched, he touched the unconscious Jean-Paul and held his hands there for several minutes. Already all of Jean-Paul's external wounds---the bruises, tears and scrapes had vanished because of Shaman's powers. He still had a fever but it was down. It was his internal wounds I was worried about, though Hank said that the surgery was a success.

And at last, Jean-Paul opened his eyes. "Jeanne," he whispered. "Ma soeur."

Jeanne-Marie perched on one side of the bed, holding one of Jean-Paul's hands and stroking his face. She murmured a few words in French to him. He looked like he wanted to reply but couldn't muster the energy.

I was on Jean-Paul's other side. I reached down and, gently as a feather, kissed the side of his face. "Robere," he said, using the French form of my name. He had used it once or twice before. "Mon amour." I rejoiced, seeing him like this and apparently back to normal.

The three of us stayed like that for quite some time, Jeanne-Marie and I whispering comforting words to him. Jean-Paul was weak but getting stronger rapidly. He soon closed his eyes again but held Jeanne-Marie's hand in one of his, and mind in the other. Hank popped in periodically, keeping an eye on him.

"I would like for you to remain here for at least 48 hours," Hank said. "Your condition must be monitored. You are healing from surgery and you still have a fever."

Jean-Paul's eyes were still closed. He managed to say to Hank, "I'm not in any position to argue with you, mon ami."

I was so overjoyed that he was going to pull through and he seemed much like his old self. I just hoped that the extent of his internal injuries wouldn't be as severe as I feared.

Before I knew it, we were back near earth. I had to tear myself away from Jean-Paul's side --- which was actually okay as Hank said he needed periods of rest and sleep without visitors. We all held a meeting to hammer out the details of our plan this time. It was to be very simple. All of us would be on alert as we approached the camp, dropped our shields, and beamed up as many mutants as possible. Storm, Wolverine, and Gambit were picked to be the ones on the bridge operating the controls.

Hank, Panda and Shaman would be in the transporter room, ushering those to sick bay who needed it. They would also sort through those we rescued to ensure we didn't accidentally beam up any FOH soldiers.

The Professor would be there too, taking mental readings of those we beamed up. But his first priority would be to attempt to block any telepathic interference he encountered. This led the meeting down a discussion regarding the mysterious telepath. The Professor had said at the meeting that his fellow telepath had him quite baffled; at times he or she was alert to his presence and countering his every move. At other times, the telepath did nothing. "I have sensed nothing from this other telepath during our return trip to earth. I must hope that we are allowed to get even closer to earth and carry out our mission without interference."

"Professor," Storm asked at the meeting, "who do you think this other telepath is? Do you think it is the Shadow King?"

"I do not think so. The Shadow King is imprisoned on the astral plane. If he has broken free, I cannot imagine him stooping to work for the Friends of Humanity," the Professor said. "And from our encounters, I can tell it is almost certainly not him. His mental signature is quite….unique." The Professor didn't say anything more but he did look confounded. It was once whispered that the only telepath in the world who even approached his skill level---aside from the Shadow King---would've been Jean Grey. Maybe there was someone new and young----and far, far more powerful. I wondered if and when we'd learn the identity of this other telepath.

"This Mark guy might know who the telepath is," Wolverine said. Mark was not in the meeting with the rest of us but I saw the looks on everyone's faces----like we were dumbfounded that none of us had thought to ask him this! Mark had not offered any information on this, but then again, if we didn't tell him, how would he have known that we needed this information. I think we'd all been so busy and wrapped up in other things, that this somehow slipped through the cracks. Ooops. The Professor said he would ask Mark if he knew anything about this.

Back to the planning of the rescue mission. The rest of us X-men were to simply be on alert and ready for battle in the case of any mishaps during this mission. I hated to leave Jean-Paul's side in sick bay, but it would be necessary during the beam-ups. I got myself ready for another encounter, and hoped that things would go better this time around. None of us were completely satisfied with this plan as we knew it would potentially leave several mutants still at the camp.

As always, we selected at random which camp to attempt to liberate. We didn't necessarily want to return to the same one. The randomly selected camp was located in Canada.

There was one period of a few hours when I'd finished my training session, Jean-Paul was asleep in sick bay and I had nothing to do. So I decided to watch the news and see what I could find out about the happenings on earth. I hadn't done this last time but now I was curious.

It was hard to find out any real information. The GenCore company still controlled all the media and GenCoreNEWS was the only news source available. I played around on the computer, hoping to tap into some underground press or illegal websites, but I found nothing. I wanted to see if I could substantiate what one of the FOH soldiers had taunted Jean-Paul with. He had said that all gay men were being locked up by the Centers for Disease Control in an attempt to control AIDS. So I couldn't determine if that was true or not but I sure wouldn't have been surprised. Whatever the case, the mainstream media made no reference to AIDS at all, and I frustratingly could not locate any of the underground press.

We did tap into one interesting piece. We've known that FOH has been sponsoring and making propaganda about mutants for a long time now. A few of us got the idea to tap into some of that and see what was new in that arena. We downloaded a movie---one that apparently was quite popular on earth; a box-office smash. This film took place in the future and in it, mutants had taken over earth. A mutant king and queen ruled over everything. Needless to say, the portrayal of mutants was hideous. But as much as I hate to say it, the movie had beautiful cinematography and several of us actually watched most of it---disgusted at the depiction of mutants as we were. I think maybe we were missing movies and television. Or maybe we just needed a good laugh. We riffed on the movie, throwing objects at the screen and ripping it to shreds. A dark way to have fun but we did it.

Directly after the meeting, Charles sought out Mark. "Do you know whether FOH harbored any mutant telepath at the camp you worked at?"

"Yeah," Mark said, tilting his head back and trying to remember. "I never saw her myself. She was----" he stopped himself. "Only the higher ranking officers were allowed to….interact with her. But we heard she was a really powerful psychic or something. All I know is that she was supposedly really pretty and had blond hair. I think they said she was originally from England. Oh yeah! Her name was Emma something."

"I see," the Professor said, nodding. "Emma Frost."

"Do you know her?"

"We have had some dealings with her in the past. Her powers have increased since then."

Jean-Paul had been moved to his quarters. He was well enough to walk for limited periods of time, though still quite weak and in need of monitoring. Emotionally, he seemed depressed. But he could not remain in sick bay --- it was cleared out for the more grave emergencies. We now had 126 rescued mutants on board Freedom!

The mission had been a success. We positioned the ship directly above the camp, dropped our shields and our cloak, and beamed up as many people as we could in 10 seconds. As FOH ships rushed towards us, the Professor, Hank and the others sorted through those we had brought on board. We did accidentally beam up about a dozen FOH soldiers. Freedom had to take evasive maneuvers and fight off a few FOH ships, but we circled back to not far from the camp and returned the FOH members. We then zoomed back into space.

A few FOH ships seemed to follow us. Though we were cloaked, they seemed to know the general direction in which we headed. They fired in that direction and followed us. It's hard to explain though----in later meetings, we thought that perhaps they couldn't detect us perfectly but they did have a sense of where we were. Whether that was due to cloak detection improvements, a telepath, or what we did not know. The Professor said, however, did not sense telepathic interference. (And he had, by the way, told us that he found out from Mark the identity of the telepath. Apparently her name was Emma Frost. I don't know her but I'd heard of her from the other's dealings with her during the Phoenix saga.)

Before liberating the camp, we had also managed to drop off a note for Sam Guthrie's family. I know Sam was very glad of that.

We now had a shipload of traumatized mutants to attend to.

As every time the X-men had rescued mutants from a Mutant Containment Center, controlled chaos reigned on board Freedom as the vessel sped back towards An'zhina. The survivors needed much tending to. All the women had been repeatedly raped and needed considerable medical and emotional attention. And many of the men had been beaten and similarly harmed by the FOH soldiers----more, it seemed, than previous camp survivors had. Their injuries and their need for emotional support and appropriate outlets were substantial as well.

Because Freedom was not being tracked by FOH, the X-men decided to require only one person on bridge duty at a time. They simply needed people to expend their energies elsewhere, and they were certain that FOH was not able to detect them.

Approximately one week after the rescue of the 126 mutants, Gambit found himself in the gym. He was working with a dozen of the camp survivors, teaching them a few basic fighting skills. Nearby, Angel supervised another 20 or so rescuees as they played a game of basketball. Meanwhile, Storm was in a conference room, working with a group of female camp survivors, trying to help them overcome trauma. The Professor was teaching a group, which included Sara Grey's son Joe, skills on controlling their powers. At all hours, the ship buzzed with activity. John and Elaine Grey had even found ways to pitch in.

The Cajun had to chuckle inwardly at the irony----the group he was working with had just come from a session that Nightcrawler had led, about the importance of finding non-violent ways to resolve conflict. Most of the group, as far as Gambit could tell, simply were not there yet. They seemed much more receptive to Gambit's teachings on how to protect themselves.

Rogue entered the gym. She smiled at the site of her husband, but had no wish to interrupt his group. Gambit was a good instructor. Though he had expressed some doubts to Rogue about his ability to teach, she silently observed and saw that he was doing quite well. Rogue had just come from a series of one-on-one sessions with different female camp survivors. Her distaste for this had not abated but those she counseled had no idea of Rogue's aversion to playing therapist. They found her a wonderful shoulder to cry on. That afternoon, Rogue needed some time to unwind. She entered the portion of the gym that served as the Danger Room, and she adroitly battled—and defeated---several Sentinels.

When Rogue left the gym, Gambit's session was winding down though a few of the mutants remained with him, seeking further instruction. And Rogue spotted that someone else had entered the gym. Mark.

Rogue had spent very little time with the former FOH member. There simply had not been much time for socializing for anyone. At the end of a weary day, she and Remy would lay in bed together---most night making love but sometimes just holding each other and talking, recapping the day's events. Hearing the horror stories from the mutants was always difficult. The most abhorrent things had become mundane. Rogue and Gambit often talked about not wanting to become callused to it all. But the former FOH soldier Mark had scarcely entered Rogue's mind.

Rogue found herself walking in Mark's direction. Mark was at work, straightening up the gym, returning some supplies and equipment to their proper place. Rogue joined him, and the two soon had that section of the gym tidy again.

"Thanks," Mark said. "Rogue, right?"

"Uh-huh," she replied. A bit fatigued from her Danger Room session, Rogue made her way to a bench and sat down. She looked in Gambit's direction and saw that her husband was on the other side of the gym now, still working with a handful of the others. She checked her timepiece. Darn it. Gambit was due on bridge duty in minutes. Once again, they likely wouldn't get any time together until after dinner.

"He seems to have a good rapport with them," Mark said, seating himself next to her on the bench and noticing the direction of Rogue's gaze.

"Yep," Rogue said, not looking at Mark. Gambit could turn up the charm on anyone he wanted to. That had never been a problem for him. He still made her melt and always would. "They already are coming to respect him," she commented. She then questioned herself. Why am I botherin' to make conversation with this piece of hog slop?'

"How has your day been?" Mark asked.

Inwardly, Rogue groaned. Keeping her eyes on Gambit across the room, Rogue decided to indulge Mark and respond. "It was fine. Had bridge duty in the mornin'. Ain't heard a peep from any of yer old pals. I spent the rest of the day working with a few of the women who survived that camp. We got some really hurt people on board this ship."

Mark nodded. He had no idea what to say now. "I imagine they really appreciate the help you're giving them."

For the first time during their conversation, Rogue turned her head and looked at Mark. "Did you rape any of the mutants when you were working at that camp?"

Mark gulped. Momentarily shocked, he groped for the right answer. A lie would get him nowhere and likely wouldn't be believed---for all he knew, this mutant had the ability to detect a lie. "Yes," he finally said.

Rogue rose from her seat, grabbed Mark by the collar with one hand, and punched him in the stomach with the other fist. Had she wanted to, Rogue could have killed him with a blow or two. She precisely controlled the degree of the jab, ensuring it would cause him severe pain but not incapacitate him. Mark yelped and fell back, coughing and sputtering. "Quit yer whinin'. That ain't but a fraction of the pain you caused," Rogue told him as Mark struggled to return to his feet. "We ougtta make you hurt instead of lettin' you walk free."

On the other side of the gym, heads turned at the sound of the commotion. Gambit started to head over towards the altercation. Meanwhile, Rogue was oblivious to all except Mark. When he had made it back on his feet, she grabbed him and violently smashed him back against a wall. "Help!" Mark cried out.

"Chere, what are you doin'??" Gambit asked, coming up beside Rogue. "What did he do to you??"

"Just givin' him a little gift," Rogue replied.

Gambit was taken aback by the flippant tone of voice from Rogue. She sounded as if she did not realize what she had done. "Did he attack you, chere?" he asked quietly.

"No," Rogue said. "But this FOH guy needs a little payback, an' that's what I'm givin' him!"

Mark looked at Rogue in terror, her steel grip now clutching his neck again. He then turned to Gambit, his eyes pleading.

"Chere," Gambit said quietly, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Stop it. He not be hurtin' you."

Rogue let go of Mark and faced Gambit. She clenched her fists in rage and fought to keep her voice steady. "He admitted that he raped mutant women at the camps he worked at! Goddamn him! This son of a bitch deserves to get his ass whipped and I'm gonna do it!"

Gambit's mouth fell open. Although he sometimes had trouble controlling his anger at FOH soldiers, the Professor had taught that violence is wrong. And in this case, it appeared unprovoked. "Chere, please," Gambit said, again keeping his voice soft and soothing. "Please stop. We t'ink of a way to handle dis later but no sense beatin' him up like dis! Dat not gonna solve nothin'." As Gambit spoke, he realized that he had to rely on Rogue's feelings for him to calm her down. Rogue was the strongest of the X-men and if she went on a rampage, Gambit could not stop her. It would take quite an effort from several X-men to subdue her, if need be. And Remy couldn't remember ever seeing Rogue so enraged. Not since that night so long ago, when the two of them and Wolverine had taken it upon themselves to destroy the FOH soldiers who had attacked them. "Chere, please. Take a deep breath."

Meanwhile, Mark used this interlude to run for his life. He bolted out of the gym. Rogue watched him go, trying to get a handle on her fury. She then turned towards her husband and narrowed her eyes. Rogue and Gambit stood there for a moment, looking at each other and neither sure what to say.

Suddenly, Gambit's communicator beeped. "Gambit, please come in," said the voice on the other end. It was Jeanne-Marie.

"Gambit here."

"Can you get to the bridge please? Not to be a pest, but you were supposed to relieve me five minutes ago, and I really want to go be with my brother now."

"Gambit be dere in a minute, Jeanne-Marie." He glanced at his timepiece. Darn Jeanne-Marie! He silently cursed her. By Gambit's watch, he wasn't late at all. Had he left right then, he would have been on time.

Gambit clicked his communicator off and then faced Rogue. "Chere, we talk bout dis later, okay? I gotta go."

Rogue nodded and Gambit made his way to the bridge.

Rogue couldn't wait for Gambit's shift to be over. Halfway through it, she strode onto the bridge.

"Chere!" Gambit exclaimed, seeing her in the entranceway as the doors to the bridge parted.

"I wanna talk to you, mister!" she proclaimed, marching right up to him. Gambit stood up from the captain's chair he had been on. Rogue's hair was askew, eyes red, appearing as if perhaps she had been crying. Gambit was loathe to see her in this mood and opened his mouth to say something comforting, but she cut him off. "What the hell were ya doin', sticking up for that no-good Friends of Humanity shit?!"

"Chere, please. Get a hold of yourself. Gambit not----"

"You heard what he did! I could have been one the girls he hurt! I ain't gonna put up with this crap!"

Gambit's patience flew out the window. His voice reached a decibel that Rogue was not used to hearing from him, certainly not directed at herself. "Chere, listen! You know we on the same side here. But Mark not hurtin' anyone right now. You were gonna hurt him real bad jus' for the sake of hurtin' him an' Gambit can't allow an innocent man to----"

"Innocent?!" she screeched.

"Will you stop cuttin' me off?!" he yelled back.

"Why shouldn't I? You ain't listenin' to a word I'm sayin'! You don't care bout what happened to me!" she said, her voice now quaking while attempting to hold back tears.

"You know dat ain't true, chere," Gambit replied, his voice lower and steadier now.

But Rogue was not in a mood to listen. Fighting back more tears and too angry to listen, she stormed off the bridge.

It turned out that Jean-Paul and I were no longer the only gay people on board the ship! I met a young lesbian woman named Dani Moonstar----though she usually just went by Moonstar. She was the polar opposite of Marrow, the only other lesbian mutant I knew. Moonstar was serious, quiet and reflective. Her background was Native American and she was only about 21. She had long dark hair and austere features that belied her young age. She was not beautiful, not in the way that most mutant women were. But her eyes were kind and deep, her small mouth determined.

Moonstar and I hit it off when we hung out together----not that anyone had much spare time. She spent many hours working with the Professor to get her powers under control. She had the ability to take images from other people's minds and turn them into three-dimensional objects. Needless to say, it was a power that requires some degree of control, and she'd had no real training. She said she wanted to train as an X-man, and Storm said she had plans to get Dani up to speed on essential ship functions including bridge duty. I enjoyed her company quite a bit. I remembered sitting next to her at lunch one day, wishing that Jeanne-Marie and I could have the kind of effortless rapport that Moonstar and I now had after only a few days of meeting.

Moonstar was also an amazing singer. She played the flute as well, and was given permission to replicate one. Many times during the trip she would sing to us or play for us in the rec room. She also played for camp survivors, using music to help heal, even though she herself was also a survivor. (I asked her a few times but she said she didn't want to talk about it. She said she'd only been in the camp for a few weeks and acted totally unphased by it. I respected her desire to not open up about it.) Her voice and her playing were divine. I'd heard nothing akin to her uncanny voice since the natives on the Paradise Planet sang and played for us. The others who heard her sing or play were equally entranced by her music.

Being with Moonstar was a nice diversion from my dire situation with Northstar.

Jean-Paul was getting better physically, but mentally he was not himself. When he had first regained consciousness days ago, he'd seemed back to normal. But it was like with each passing day it got worse. I think that maybe the memories of the torture came back, the memories of what the soldiers did to him started to haunt him. But that was all speculation since he wouldn't talk to me. Some days the only thing he said to me was to get out of his room.

He was angry and moody all the time and he kept to his quarters most of the day. As far as I could tell, he almost never left. Jeanne-Marie or I brought him meals.

I remember one time, perhaps a day or two after we had rescued the 126 mutants. An exhausted Hank and equally tired-looking Panda visited Jean-Paul and I in Jean-Paul's quarters. Hank used the tricorder to examine him. He pronounced him basically well. He then added, "Given what the soldiers did to you, and given the surgery you endured, I must recommend that you not engage in anoreceptive intercourse for six to eight weeks."

"What the hell is that?" I asked, smiling, trying to make it a joke and lighten things up.

Jean-Paul looked at me and his voice was bitter. "He says you can't fuck me in the ass for a while." He then turned to Hank. "No big deal. We usually do it the other way around anyway. Can I still fuck him?"

I stood there, my face turning beet red. I wasn't ashamed about what we did in bed----not really, not around Hank--- but I was hurting at the way Jean-Paul sounded. His tone of voice was so acrid and angry. I don't have any objections to the word "fuck" and I think in the right context, it can be very sexy. But using it this way, talking about our lovemaking so callously as that in front of Hank and Panda…..it just hurt like I'd been slapped in the face.

Although Panda looked taken aback, Hank was unflustered. He just said something to the effect that he thought that would be alright. He then added, "I advise you to use condoms at least for the next six to twelve months. As you know, the results of the tests for sexually transmitted diseases you both have participated in are negative but these infections sometimes can take a year to appear on a test result." Soon after that, the two doctors left us. I sat down on the bed next to Jean-Paul and asked him if he wanted to talk about what happened.

"No," he muttered. "I want to be alone."

With that, he turned on his side, facing away from me. I stood there for a second or two. Finally, I whispered, "I love you." I bent down and kissed the back of his head. No response from Jean-Paul. I left the room, went back to my quarters, and cried like a baby.

Storm stood in the gym, feeling as if knives were cutting and maiming the inside and outside of her body. No, she thought, knives would have been preferable to this mental anguish. She took a deep breath, trying and failing to simply will away the pain of jealousy.

She had been working out in the gym. Sara Grey entered the gym not long after, her daughter Gail in tow. The two had been trying out the myriad exercise machines.

And then Wolverine had entered the gym. Without a glance in Storm's direction, he had gone directly up to Sara, heading straight for his prize. Storm's hearing was pretty good. Wolverine was instructing Sara and Gail on the proper use of the machines, giving them tips and advice.

They then discussed more serious subjects. Storm heard Sara and Logan talking about the camp survivors, Sara commenting on how shocked and horrified she was at the condition of the rescued mutants. Logan tried to comfort her. Storm heard the tone in his voice and saw the look on his face when he addressed Sara. It was that look again. The look that Storm had never been the benefactor of. And such gentleness. Logan had been like that around Jean too.

Storm could not bear to observe any more. She exited the gym, as unobtrusively as possible. Heading down the hallway, she nearly crashed right into Rogue.

"Oh!" Rogue exclaimed. "Sorry, sugar. I ain't watchin' where I'm goin.'"

Storm looked at her friend. "Rogue. What's wrong?"

"Nuthin.'" Rogue mumbled.

Storm smiled and placed both her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "I know you far too well, my beloved friend."

Rogue smiled, knowing the truth of what Storm said. "Aw, Storm. Remy and I quarreled! We quarreled bad. I could kick him; I'm so mad!"

"You did? Care to talk about it?"

Rogue looked down and then back up, meeting her friend's gaze. "Yeah. But I gotta get to bridge duty. I'm almost 10 minutes late already and I don't think Bobby's gonna be too happy. You wanna talk on the bridge?"

"I'd love to."

They proceeded to the bridge in relative silence. It was hard to get used to the halls of Freedom being full once again, but there were mutants all over. Many nodded or otherwise acknowledged Storm and Rogue. This time, though, fortunately no one stopped them to talk. Their brisk strides made it obvious that they were in a hurry.

"Sorry I'm late, Bobby," Rogue said, once they arrived.

"It's okay," Bobby mumbled, his eyes downcast.

Storm looked at Bobby and looked at Rogue. So much sadness on board this ship, she mused. So much pain and heartbreak in the world. I guess it is part of being alive,' Storm mused philosophically. It helps us to appreciate the good times.' Of course, that wisdom was doing little to console Storm herself.

"I am making a mental note to speak with Bobby when I get a chance," Storm proclaimed, as she and Rogue settled into the Captain and First Officer's seats.

"Yeah, he looks pretty sad, don't he? Seems like Jean-Paul is takin' forever to recover. And word is that he ain't in the best of moods either."

"Well, I can certainly understand why. He was horribly tortured. Everyone reacts differently to that."

"Seems you hardly react at all, girl," Rogue said.

Storm just smiled. "You know how I prefer to keep my emotions in check. It is necessary. But as for Bobby, he needs an outlet."

"I know. We gotta make sure he doesn't go back to the way he was before….wanting to take his own life."

Storm voiced her assent and then pressed a few buttons on her console. Space was vast and very quiet. No signs of activity within sensor range. "So care to tell me what you and Remy argued about?"

"I guess so. It's makin' me crazy." Rogue went on to describe her interaction with Mark, which Gambit had observed. She then described the fight on the bridge. "Maybe I was wrong to hit him," she was saying. "But the guy admitted he was a rapist! We got a ship filled with women who've been hurt from guys like him----and half of em have been crying on my shoulder. And yours too. Remy acted like it was no big deal!"

"I understand your anger at Mark. But surely you understand Gambit's point of view as well? I cannot imagine that he is not as angry as you about the actions Mark has done. I am sure he disagreed with the thought of beating up Mark though."

"Yeah, I get where Remy's comin' from. Mark didn't do anything wrong that day and I hit him. And threw him against a wall and I probably would've done more if Remy hadn't asked me to stop. But I still think the jerk still deserved it. Specially considerin' he ain't ever gonna get punished for what he did."

"It is an interesting dilemma," Storm said, her voice far away and her thoughts momentarily away from her two friends' relationship. "The Professor says he poses no harm to us, and I certainly believe him. But should Mark be punished sometime for what he's done? And if so, how? Do we construct a jail cell on An'zhina and leave him there? And if so, for what duration of time?"

"Hell, I dunno and that's why I attacked him! I get so angry and that's the best way to get it out." Rogue sighed. "I really do know where Remy was comin' from though." She paused and then continued, "And I know he loves me and he's as angry about what FOH soldiers did---are doing---as I am." Rogue paused and shook her head. "Heck, maybe what I'm pissed about is that he was probably right. Or maybe I'm really pissed that I let my anger get a hold of me like that. You shoulda seen me yellin' at Remy on the bridge. I just ain't as controlled as you, Storm but I don't like runnin' wild either."

Rogue went on to speak a bit more about what she planned to do next. She said she would talk with Remy once she had cooled down a bit. "We'll work it out," she said. "We always do."

"I know you will. You and Gambit have been through too much to let something like this harm your relationship. I am sure that once you both have cooled down, you will be able to understand each other better."

Rogue then turned and looked at Storm. "Hey….what's eatin' you, girl?"

The Wind Rider looked down at her console. "Nothing," she finally said.

"Nothing?? I think I know you too well, Storm. Don't tell me-----"

Storm's communicator sounded. "Storm, please come in. This is Shaman. Can you come to sick bay? Megan is asking for you. She sounds like she really needs someone to talk to now and she is insisting on you."

Storm leapt to her feet. "I am on my way, Shaman."

As Storm headed for the doors, Rogue called after her. "I ain't forgettin' this, Storm! We're gonna talk!" Storm was gone before Rogue finished both sentences.

Chapter 14

Chapter 16