Tears of the Innocents Chapter Eight: Third Terror Attack, a x-men: the movie fanfic

Down below, the city was spread out like a patchwork quilt of urban, rural and industrial strips. It was as if it was being viewed from afar, though at the same time there was a strange feeling of being there, of standing in those streets, seeing the people, feeling the atmosphere, breathing the air. Along with that there was also a bizarre sense of déjà vu. This was oddly familiar. This had been seen before…but where was it? It was like a memory of a dream, a long-forgotten recollection floating around in the periphery of the mind. This had happened before…something terrible was about to happen…

Appearing as thin as a needle and black as jet, the nuclear missile stabbed down into the heart of the city. As the mushroom cloud enlarged and expanded, and the shockwave and blastwave shot out in lethal rings across the landscape, the feeling of horror and recognition grew stronger. This was not new…this had happened before…or had it? This was going to happen again unless something was done about it…yes, this was a warning of something to come…or was it?

Annie's eyes snapped open suddenly as she awoke. Breathing hard, she forced herself to calm down. Just a dream. Just a dream. But as her mind calmed and her thought processes approached something like logic, she realised it wasn't the first time she had had that dream. No – and that explained the weird sense of déjà vu she'd been feeling throughout. She had seen it before. She was still having the nightmare. Was this going to stay with her forever? Was she ever going to stop reliving her fears?

She stood, pushing her covers aside. Across the room Gemini was still asleep, but she moaned and turned over in her sleep, her body tense, suggesting that something was troubling her. Annie frowned. She'd been vaguely aware of something going on downstairs last night, and she guessed it had involved her friend. It was obvious Gemini was still affected by her tormented past. Annie wanted to help her, but right now she was more concerned about Marina. She pushed out her senses, and found her best friend with Gary in the supposedly empty dormitory next door. Annie headed that way now. When she got there, she found her brother and his girlfriend together in one of the beds, furthest from the door. Both were awake, and both looked up as they heard the door opening. Marina's eyes widened and she gasped, quickly sliding out of the bed and hurrying across the room to sit on one of the chairs.

"We weren't – we weren't – " she began nervously, crossing her legs, her face going a little red.

Gary looked at his sister, "Did you – "

She knew what he was going to ask, and just nodded, "I had my nightmare."

"You just woke up from it," he said – a statement not a question – as he read her mind.

"Why do we keep having this same dream? Nobody else has it any more. It must mean something…but what?"

"I don't know – let's ask Dad."

What are you talking about? Marina wanted to ask, but she couldn't find the confidence. She rarely felt comfortable breaking into a conversation that she wasn't part of. She was still afraid that Annie would be angry at finding her in bed with Gary. She was afraid that Chris and Fliss might find out. She knew that her foster parents were unhappy enough at her relationship with Gary, and this would give them just the excuse they needed to keep her and Gary apart. It wasn't as if the two of them had been doing anything…they just liked to sleep next to each other. Marina felt safer knowing Gary was there. She knew Annie and the others would frown on it, but to Marina it didn't feel wrong or dirty. It felt completely natural. She always kept her clothes on, she always let Gary know when he was doing something she wasn't comfortable with, and he always respected her feelings. Other than that one crazy moment in her house the previous day, they'd never even come close to going out of control. And she would make sure she never allowed that to happen again.

She watched as they hurried from the room, and for a few moments she sat alone in the dorm. Then she got up and went through to the girls' room. Gemini was still asleep, so Marina walked quietly, not wanting to disturb her. She reached for the DVD player remote control once more. Nothing happened when she tried to play the recording of her parents, and she checked the player. It was empty. The disk was gone. Marina assumed that somebody had to be studying whatever evidence was on it. Unhappily she dropped the remote, sank down on to her bed and drew her legs towards her, hugging them tightly, sobbing a little, her tears dripping on to her bare knees, feeling warm against her soft skin. She knew the recording wasn't real. She knew her parents wouldn't really be there when she played it. But still, if she allowed herself to pretend, then for a moment or two it felt as if they were real, as if they had never died, as if her life had never been torn apart. She wanted them back. More than anything, she wanted to have them back. She wanted this to be a horrible, terrible dream she would wake up from any minute. She knew it wasn't. She knew this was real, and she'd never see her family again. She knew they were dead. She knew they'd been murdered. Marina wondered what she might do if she ever encountered the people responsible for her family's murder. Would she seek revenge? Would she be happy to simply see them brought to justice? Did it even matter? It wouldn't bring back the dead ones she had loved. Nothing would. Nothing could.

Pyro was jolted awake by somebody shaking his shoulder.

"John, what are you doing sleeping out here?" Rogue was saying.

He opened his eyes to find himself sitting against the wall outside Gemini's room. He'd sat down here last night in case she'd woken up and started crying and needed him. He must have fallen asleep.

"Ugh," he mumbled as his mind shrugged off the shackles of sleep. "Oh, Gemini had some problems last night. I had to stay with her."

He didn't want to be too specific. Rogue wanted to put out her hand and help him stand, but she knew she couldn't touch him. Instead she took him by the elbow, where his sleeve protected him from her absorption, and helped him up.

"I thought I heard someone screaming last night," she said. "Was that – ?"

Pyro would have told anybody else to piss off and mind their own business, but for some reason it was different with Rogue. He didn't fully understand why.

"That was Gemini, yes."

"She OK?"

"I – I don't know. I should check on her."

"OK. Listen, if you think she needs a woman to talk to her – "

"I'll let you know. Thanks, Rogue."

"Sure."

She left and headed downstairs for breakfast while Pyro quietly opened Gemini's door and slipped inside. His daughter was awake, sitting up in bed, in the same huddled position he'd found her in last night, her legs drawn up towards her and held tightly together. Her eyes stared unseeingly in front of her and she made no reaction to his entrance.

"Gemini…do you want to talk?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Look, I'm going to go down for breakfast, OK? I'll bring you up something."

The girl made no reply. Pyro pulled some clothes off the pile on her chair, and put them at the end of her bed.

"You get dressed and when I come back up we'll talk, OK?"

Again she didn't make any response. Pyro was uncertain of exactly what he should be doing. It was clear she was in shock and still traumatised by her past. He had no idea of the best way to help her get over it. He knew that, as her parent, it was his responsibility to guide her through troubled times like this. He was beginning to wonder whether it had been such a great idea to adopt her the way he had, given the fact he didn't have the first idea what to do in situations like this. He could prevent her from being hurt, he could protect her from harm, but that wasn't the only thing a good father needed. He needed to be able to help her once she had already been hurt. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to this. Well, I guess every father feels like this sometimes. It's not as if they run courses teaching you how to do it. He kissed his daughter's forehead, and was encouraged by the fact that she didn't flinch away from his touch. Still worried and uncertain, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

When he got to the dining room, he found to his surprise that the table normally occupied by himself and the other adults was empty. Were they eating someplace else? Pyro had no desire to eat in the company of the children, so he stopped the nearest kid and asked him where the X-Men had gone.

"Front room," the boy said.

In the front room was where Pyro found them. They were gathered around the TV and none of them was speaking. Nobody seemed to notice as he entered.

"What's up?" he asked.

Rogue turned to look at him, "There's been another terrorist attack."

"What? Where?"

"The Vatican. There was some sort of Mass. Thousands of people were killed."

Neil kept his thoughts to himself. He'd predicted there would be further attacks, and it would have been easy to say 'I told you so', but it would have accomplished nothing. Besides, even if they had tried to do something about it, it was unlikely they could have stopped this attack. They wouldn't have had any idea where it would strike.

"Is it the same guys with the badges?" Pyro asked.

"Why don't you tell us?" Logan retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Work it out."

"Sorry, I've got more important things to worry about than your overactive imagination. If you need me, I'll be with my daughter."

Pyro left the room, and the others waited for him to move out of earshot.

"Logan, do you really think he's responsible?" Scott asked.

"Don't you?"

"Well…if it wasn't for the badges, I might agree with you."

"I think Logan's right," said Bobby. "Did you see Pyro's face? He didn't look the slightest bit concerned about the attack. I know he doesn't like humans, but still, you'd expect him to show some reaction."

Rogue shook her head, "I think he's got other things on his mind. His kid's – well, she's a bit messed up. Did you hear her scream last night?"

"That was the sound of Pyro being a good father, was it?" Logan said dryly.

"John wouldn't have done this," she maintained, pointing to the TV screen. "Even if he was going to do something like that, he wouldn't attack people indiscriminately. There might have been mutants killed by today's blast. John wouldn't risk that."

"Neil, what did you think about his reaction?" Scott asked.

Neil shrugged, "Well, like Rogue said, there's a lot on his mind."

"So what are we going to do about this?" said Kurt. "There's been three attacks in three days. We have to assume there's going to be a fourth tomorrow."

"Yes, but where?" asked Chloe. "New York, London, Rome – is there a pattern there, apart from the fact they're all major cities?"

"Perhaps they're striking further east each time," Dominic suggested. "Maybe they'll hit China next, or Japan."

"I don't understand. The attack in New York was the work of Middle Eastern terrorists. We know that because Pyro's daughter was there. The attack in London was by the IRA. We know that because Dominic was there. We don't know who was behind this third attack, but I'm betting it's another independent group. What's the link between them? Why are they working together?"

"There must be somebody else, somebody behind the scenes," Neil said. "Somebody who's orchestrating the attacks and using well-known terrorist factions as front men, using them like puppets."

"Who? Magneto? Who's claiming responsibility for this attack?" somebody asked.

"No-one has come forward. Same as the others."

"Seems as if it's being blamed on mutants, like the other two."

"Typical," said Bobby. "We're always the convenient scapegoat, aren't we? Anything goes wrong and we get accused of doing it."

"Like the way you were accusing Pyro?" said Rogue.

"Hey, that's different. He's earned his reputation."

Cyclops interrupted them, "We have to do something to stop these attacks before any more lives are lost. Whatever's the reason for the bombings, we've got to stop it. The human authorities are getting nowhere. If mutants continue to be blamed, then serious conflicts might erupt between us and the humans. If we can try to narrow down the possibilities for the next target, then we can go out there and try to stop the next attack from happening. Other than that we should concentrate on trying to find out who's directing the attacks, which means finding out if Magneto is still alive, which means finding Mystique."

"Easier said than done," said Chloe. "If she and Magneto are responsible for this, I don't imagine she's going to let herself be found."

Neil sighed, "It's a bad idea, but I'll try using Cerebro."

He stood. Someone said, "Why don't you ask Annie to do it? Isn't she a stronger telepath?"

"Yes, but using the machine takes experience as well as power. She doesn't have the experience, and this isn't the time for her to acquire it. I'll let you know if I find anything."

He left. Scott raised his eyebrows, "Well, let's try and work out where the terrorists will strike next. I guess we'd better cancel today's classes."

"The kids were hoping for a holiday anyway, it's such a nice day," said Rogue.

"Let's get to work."-

When Neil left the room to make his way towards the elevator, he found his children waiting for him. Annie and Gary stood together, their postures identical, both turning to face him at exactly the same instant, with exactly the same movement. While most people probably didn't notice it, Neil had not missed the subtle signs of what had happened to his daughter and son.

"There's something on your mind," he said to them.

Neither of them missed the fact he referred to their minds as a singular entity, which was certainly not an inaccurate description. They weren't sure if he was trying to be funny or if he was just being literal. They guessed the latter.

"We've been having these dreams," Annie began. "Well, actually, it's really just one dream. We've had it more times than I can remember."

"Both of you?"

"Yeah. We have it at different times, but it keeps recurring."

"Does it mean anything?" Gary asked. "I mean, everyone has nightmares, but it just seems to be the same thing over and over again. It's the same for both of us. We think it must be happening for a reason. Maybe it has something to do with our sharing minds."

Neil raised his eyebrows, "I'm not sure what you expect me to tell you. I'm certainly not an expert on – uh, your condition. What happens in the dream?"

It was Annie who answered, "A nuclear missile strikes a city and destroys it. Every trace of life is gone."

"Well, I'm no dream counsellor," said their father. "But it could be part of some kind of residual fear from the Apocalypse. I think we all had nightmares about nuclear destruction at that time. Maybe you two are still affected by it, since you were the ones most deeply involved in stopping it. Maybe your minds share the dream because that's the strongest memories you have from the moment when your minds first fused together."

"You think that could be the reason?" Gary mused.

"I don't know. It's possible. As I said, I really don't know anything about the shared-minds state you two are in. The only person who might be able to help you is dead."

"The Professor?" they said.

"No, although he might have told you something useful. I was thinking of Jacqueline. She was Pyro's friend. Her power enabled her to share her mind with other consciousnesses. She might know something of what you're going through. Or should I say, she might have known. It's much too late now."

"Yeah…"

"So you think this dream is just a harmless piece of fear?" Gary said. "It's nothing to worry about?"

"I told you, Gary, I don't know," Neil said. "Parents don't know everything. You should be old enough to appreciate that by now."

"I was just wondering," Annie said uncertainly. "If it might be a premonition or – or something…"

Neil considered it, "Well, the UN security council is holding an important vote on the choice between nuclear weapon retention or destruction. It's possible that trouble could break out over that. Whether any nation would go as far as to use nuclear weapons on another, is anyone's guess. In today's chaotic political climate, anything could happen."

"But how could we have a premonition?" Gary asked. "We don't have anything like Cassandra's foresight. Annie had some theory it was a warning from God, but I thought He didn't do that kind of thing any more."

"Not since the first century, no. And not again until Christ's return."

Annie frowned, "I just thought since Gary and myself are the most powerful beings alive, that God might have set some task for us, and given us this dream to show us what we should do."

"I don't think so," Neil said. "Your power is insignificant compared to God's, remember. Don't become too proud of your abilities. Arrogance was my problem too."

She accepted the rebuke wordlessly. Her father said, "I'll speak to you later. If you have the dream again, try to find out more about it. Find out if it's exactly the same every time, or if it changes. Find out if it's referring to a particular place or time. Let me know what you discover."

"OK."

He turned and headed for the elevator. Not entirely reassured or comforted, the two teenagers looked at each other.

"Well, I'll get working on the DVD," Annie said. "I think Fliss has got it in her office."

"Right. I'll go back up to Marina."

Pyro returned to Gemini's room with some fruit, and he was just in time to stop little Acceleratus from pushing the door open.

"I don't think Gemini wants company just now, Accel," he told her.

The child held up a bright blue flower in a small vase, "But I wanted to show her this flower! I grew it specially for her and Cassie! Well, Atlas grew it for me…"

"I'm sure she'll love it, but she can't see anybody right now. She's – well, she's not feeling very well."

"Should I make her a card?" the little girl asked innocently.

"No, just – just let her be alone. I'll show her the flower."

Disappointed, the child left, and Pyro watched her go. He was saddened for a moment as he thought about how innocent little Accel was. Gemini was only seven years older yet her innocence was gone, gone forever, destroyed by Van Gaarde. He went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Gemini did not appear to moved since he was last up. She had not put on any of the clothes he'd left out for her. He put the vase with the blue flower on her bedside table, and handed her an apple, "Here."

She looked at it, but didn't take it.

"Honey, you've got to eat something."

Gemini refused to meet his eyes, and mumbled, "I'm gonna take a shower."

She didn't even ask him to look the other way, dropping her nightdress to the floor and walking naked into the small shower room that was attached to the older girls' dorm. She was in there for several minutes before he realised he hadn't heard the sound of water running.

"Gemini?"

She was in there, huddled against the wall, her head buried between her knees, her shoulders shaking as she cried through eyes that had emptied of tears long ago. For a moment he was taken back to four years ago, seeing that traumatised naked little figure cringing against the wall.

"Aren't you going to use the shower?"

"There's no point," she sobbed. "I – I feel so dirty, but – but taking a shower isn't going to clean it off."

Then he understood what she meant. She felt as if she was stained, contaminated by Van Gaarde's actions, blemished for life. She was unembarrassed about her nakedness because she had no pride or dignity left, so what was the point of hiding anything? She felt there was nothing left that she could call her privacy, and she couldn't see how she would ever feel any different. He knelt down beside her and put a towel around her shoulders, preserving her modesty.

"I can't possibly understand the way you feel, Gemini, I mean I'm a man, how could I? I wish you had a mother to help you get through this. I – " he searched for the right words, "You can't let your whole life stop because of this. It wasn't your fault. You aren't dirty because of it. If you give up on life then Van Gaarde has won. He wanted to crush your spirit and make you give up, didn't he? You can't let him win."

She didn't respond, only pulled her legs even tighter together. He said, "I don't think you're dirty. I think you're perfect and unspoiled and – and you've got a bright future ahead of you. But your future is what you want to make it, not what Van Gaarde or me or anybody else wants to make it. Your life is your own, honey. You are what you believe you are. If you think you're dirty, just say 'I'm not', and you won't be."

He had no idea if any of this was getting through to her. He had no idea how to deal with this. He was just saying what instinct told him to.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"It wasn't just Van Gaarde."

"What wasn't?"

"He wasn't the only one. There was – there was another man who raped me. I don't know who he was. Sometimes they'd do it together. He – they – I – I wish I was dead…"

"No, you don't."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

She said nothing, but she looked into his eyes for the first time that morning. In her eyes, through the mists and oceans of sorrow and pain, he saw the tiniest glimmer of hope. His daughter was a fighter. She had not given up yet. He knew she wasn't going to let this destroy her life.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Would you have adopted me if you'd known about this? If you'd known I'd been raped, would you still have adopted me?"

"Of course I would. It doesn't change anything about who you are and how much you need me."

A smile almost appeared on her face, and her voice shook as she said, "R – really?"

"Yes. Come on now, have your shower and then you can get dressed. We're going to get through this, you and I."

He went back through to the dormitory while she showered, and when she came out she had the towel around her, and she asked him to turn around while she got dressed. Pyro smiled. If she had recovered her modesty, then he was obviously doing something right. When she was dressed, she walked over and put her arms around him, resting her head on his chest and seeking to be comforted. Pyro held his daughter and kissed the top of her head.

Will she ever get over this? he wondered, will she ever be the same as she was before? I've never got over losing Jacqueline. I'll never again be the person I was before then. Then he thought, I suppose we all have our own demons. I can't get over Jacqueline; Scott and Logan can't get over Jean; Gemini can't get over her past; and the rest of them have all had their troubles as well. It's bizarre really; we all pretend to be happy on the surface, when instead we've all got monsters and horrors tearing at us from inside. We all pretend to look happy because we're afraid that otherwise people will think we're strange. The real truth is that we're all unhappy, but we maintain this collective fantasy that says we're not. If only we could admit our problems and confess our weaknesses, maybe we could work together to overcome them. Isn't life odd sometimes?

They knew they had to find some pattern in the attacks. Three terror attacks in three days could only lead them to assume there would be another one the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, until – until what? Until somebody finally came forward and made some kind of statement or ultimatum? Until the fear and tension spilled over and riots began? Until God Himself intervened? The X-Men didn't want to wait for any of those things. If these attacks really were the work of Magneto, they had to find out what it was he wanted and stop his plans, whatever those were, from coming to fruition. What could he hope to accomplish from these attacks? Was he simply trying to stir up tension between mutants and humans? Was he going to bring the world to a point of near chaos and then issue his demands to the human governments? Or was he trying to catch the X-Men's attention and force them to deal with the terrorists while he launched another strike elsewhere?

They reminded themselves that they had no evidence he was even alive, except the engraved adamantium discs – were those evidence enough? Could there be some other explanation? Storm and Nightcrawler had taken one of the jets to London to pick up the only clue they had: the badge disc Helios had found. They brought the disc, along with Helios and Cassandra, back to the mansion. Cyclops wanted to analyse the disc to see if it really was adamantium, but Wolverine had a much quicker method. Stabbing at the disc with his claws, he could make no impression whatsoever. It was definitely made of the indestructible metal.

"So what do we do now, dust it for fingerprints?" he'd said sarcastically.

Oculus had returned to tell them that Cerebro had developed a glitch, and he would have to spend time fixing it. He estimated it would be at least an hour or two before he could use it. Shapeshifter and Shock had been busy burning a copy of the DVD-ROM that Aqua had brought back. Crusader had joined them. Pyro had not been seen since morning; they assumed he was with his kid. Rogue was the only X-Man who was wholly convinced that Pyro had nothing to do with the terror attacks. She didn't know exactly why she was so sure, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind: he was innocent. She knew she liked him – they'd always been friends – but since she was married to Iceman she knew she couldn't have any romantic feelings for Pyro. She was sure that couldn't be why she automatically trusted him.

"I think I've found something," Cyclops was suddenly heard to say.

He was looking through the log he'd kept of major terrorist attacks around the world in the last few years. Since Magneto's unexplained disappearance, Scott had kept record of all such incidents in case any of them turned out to be Magneto reappearing on the scene. Then they had been told their arch-enemy was dead, and his focus had switched to recording events in case Pyro was responsible.

Having gotten the others' attention, Scott explained, "The three attacks have been in New York, London and Rome, right? Well, look at this. According to my log the same thing happened three years ago."

"Exactly the same thing?" asked Logan.

"Unexplained attacks on these three cities within the same week. Not in the same order, and again no immediately obvious connection, but it's almost exactly what we have here."

"I remember those attacks," Storm nodded. "We'd just started to take an interest, then they stopped abruptly, for no apparent reason. Just then we heard a rumour Pyro was causing trouble in Eastern Europe, and we never found time to look into the attacks."

"Nobody ever found out who was responsible. It was assumed to be just some random nutcases who ran out of steam."

"So whoever was responsible then is responsible now?" asked Iceman.

"We can only assume so. What I'm wondering is: will this tell us what their next target will be?"

"But why is history repeating itself?" Bobby interrupted. "The attacks three years ago didn't change anything. I mean, not in the grand scheme of things. A lot of people died, but the terrorists never actually got anything to change. Why'd they do it? Why are they doing it now?"

"Maybe they were testing to see what kind of response they'd get," Rogue suggested. "Maybe that was just a dress rehearsal and this is the real thing."

"What if it was Magneto testing us to see how we'd react?" said Nightcrawler. "Maybe he was trying to bait us into a trap, and he got bored when we didn't bite soon enough."

"We still have to find out where the next attack will be," Scott reminded them. "According to my records, four other cities were hit in the space of a week, one per day, then the attacks stopped."

"Which cities?"

He consulted the log, "Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; Toronto, Canada; and Edinburgh, UK."

"Edinburgh…" said Gaia softly. "I remember the attack on Edinburgh. So many people died; it was horrible."

"We have to go to these cities," Scott said. "There's no guarantee the terrorists will stick to the same places as before, but it's the only lead we've got to go on. We'll have to watch the places we think are most likely to be terrorist targets."

"I'm sure Pyro could help us there," said Logan sarcastically. "He's got plenty of experience picking terrorist targets."

"What if we run into Magneto?" Rogue wanted to know. "What if he's recruited a new Brotherhood?"

"We do whatever's necessary to stop the attacks," said Scott. "If Magneto wants a fight, he'll get one. All right, let's move. We've only got until tomorrow to stop the next attack."

Gary slipped his arm around Marina's waist as the two of them walked slowly through the gardens in the peace of the morning.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

Marina whispered softly, "Yeah. I'm still – I'm still getting over the initial shock of seeing my mom and dad. I never thought I would – I would hear their voices again."

"We've got to find out who murdered them."

"Murder…" she whispered, almost to herself. "Of course. My family were murdered...right in front of my eyes. Did you – did you look at what's on the rest of the disk?"

"Annie's doing that. She's with, uh, your mum and dad."

"They're not my mom and dad," said Marina. "They don't expect me to – to call them that. They're just Chris and Fliss."

"Isn't it weird having them as parents when they're not married?"

"Well, like I said, they – they're not my parents. They're more like an aunt and uncle."

Gary said nothing for a minute or so, then he stopped walking and turned to face her. She stopped too, and looked at him expectantly. There was obviously something on his mind.

"Uh, Marina?"

"Yeah?"

"When are we going to get married?"

"When you ask me," she said nervously.

Silence fell for a few moments. Then:

"Marina?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Before I answer…can I – can I ask you something?"

He nodded, "Of course."

"OK. Do you want to get married because you're ready to commit yourself to me, or – or because you want an excuse to have sex with me?"

"Because I love you, and I want to be with you forever."

"Gary, please – answer the question."

"All right, because I want to commit myself to you."

Marina sighed, "I – I'm not sure you realise just what that means."

"What do you mean?"

"Would you be willing to live underwater?"

"What?"

"If we get married, I want to spend at least some of our time living underwater. I can – I can be happy down there. I can't be happy up here."

"But Marina, I can't – "

"I know you can't. You'd have to make a lot of sacrifices and put up with a lot of difficulties. I – I can't live my entire life on the surface. I have to spend some time underwater. That – that's my one condition. If you ask me to marry you, then I'll say yes. But only ask me if you agree to my condition. If you're not willing to do that, I understand."

"Marina…I can barely even swim…"

"I know. Gary, I'm not trying to put pressure on you. I don't expect you to agree with it. But at the same time, you – you can't expect me to live my whole life above water when I don't belong here."

"Yeah…you're right…"

She sighed sadly, "Maybe we should just forget about marriage. I've – I've been dreading this moment, actually. I knew I was going to have to tell you someday. I – I don't think we have a future together."

Gary shook his head, and caressed her cheek with his fingers, "No, no, I don't want to lose you. I suppose it'll take some getting used to, but I'll do it. I'll live underwater with you. I agree to your condition."

She shook her head, "I don't think you know what you're saying. Let's – let's try it. Let's spend a day underwater together and – and see how you feel about it."

"OK. When? Not right now, I hope."

"As soon as our lives have settled down enough. As soon we find out who's trying to kill me."

As if on cue, they heard footsteps behind them, and Annie appeared. She looked at them and said, "We've studied the disk."

Marina's eyes widened, "And?"

"And the evidence your brother found seems to point to a senior Navy admiral. He has strong links with the government, and with powerful tycoons from various industries. Your brother accidentally intercepted one of the admiral's transmissions, but what he heard made him so suspicious he decided to intercept a few more."

"What did he find out?"

"Our admiral friend was responsible for some top-secret naval research projects. It looks as if he was scamming money and stealing technology from the projects, and retaining them as part of some private venture he was involved in."

"And that's why my brother was killed? And – and the rest of my family..."

"I'm afraid so," said Annie. "The admiral couldn't afford to let the Navy find out about his little operation. He couldn't afford to let your brother tell his superiors what he'd found out. The research projects were considered vital to the defence of the United States and her allies. Had the admiral been found out, he might have faced the death penalty."

"So he killed my family."

"I assume he found out that your family were making an escape on your boat, and he sent some naval vessel to intercept. Probably told them to open fire on your boat because it was full of terrorists, or something like that. After that he must have tried to cover it up. That's why there are no newspaper reports on the 'accident'. He must have made sure it was never reported. The only reason we know about it is because you survived."

"Then he sent some men to ransack Marina's house in case there was any evidence against him there," her brother guessed.

"Yes," his older sister nodded. "When we went down there, somebody must have seen us going in, and reported back to him. He sent that first man to kill Marina in case she knew anything of his secret. When that man didn't report back, he sent those others."

Gary thought for a moment, then said, "So what about the suicide tooth the first guy had? Remember he bit down on it and poisoned himself. What's the story with that?"

"We haven't quite figured that out yet," Annie admitted. "It's unlikely this admiral would be able to command people to kill themselves to protect his secret. There must be something more to it. But at least we know why Marina's in danger."

"What can be possibly be so important that he has to kill my entire family to hide it?!" Marina snapped with uncharacteristic anger, her tiny hands tightening into fists.

"That's what we have to find out."

"Do we know the admiral's name?" said Gary.

"Yes. He's Admiral Peter McKenzie. He has a distinguished naval career with several decorations for bravery, initiative and leadership. And political aspirations as well. Come down to Fliss' office and we'll show you what we've found."-

Gary and Marina walked hand in hand after Annie until they were back inside the school. On the way they passed Cyclops and Wolverine, who were heading for the hangar.

"Where are you guys going?"

"Toronto," Scott replied. "We think the next terrorist strike might occur there. We have to stop any more people from getting hurt."

"Good luck," Gary said genuinely.

Logan ignored the boy. He was still angry about the many times he and Gladiator had fought against each other during the last X-Men/Brotherhood conflict. Most of all he was angry that most times Gladiator had come out on top. He felt sorry for Marina too. Gladiator probably treated the girl no better than a sex slave, no doubt taking advantage of her silence and her nervousness to dominate her both physically and psychologically. She would probably be forced to bear him at least three children before she was even eighteen…

"Do you need us to stay here?" Annie was asking.

Scott shook his head, "Oculus and Gaia are staying behind to keep an eye on the kids. The rest of us are splitting into pairs and going to where we think the terrorists might hit next."

"Looks like I drew the short straw in terms of pairing," Logan muttered, but Scott ignored him.

"There's something we may have to check out, so I was just checking if it's OK to leave the mansion," Annie said.

"No problem, but you won't be able to go far. We'll be using all the jets."

The two men headed off, and the three teens continued to Felicity's office. She and Chris had already departed for Edinburgh, where Chris had grown up, to search for the terrorists. Annie sat down in front of the computer and indicated the other two should pull up a seat. She showed them the information that was stored on the DVD: mostly recordings of radio messages intercepted by Marina's brother; and his notes and conclusions regarding the admiral's activities. There was nothing in there that Annie hadn't already told them.

"So where does this admiral live? Can we pay him a visit?" Gary said.

"That was my plan," Annie agreed. "We need to find out where his research is based, and have a look around there. That might tell us more about what he's doing with the money and parts he's stealing from the project. Hopefully if we can find some way of shutting down his operation or exposing it, he'll stop trying to kill Marina. Now obviously his lab will be well hidden since it's a military research complex. I think we're going to have to find the admiral himself and ask him where it is."

"'Ask' him?" Gary repeated, a wicked smile creeping across his face.

"As persuasively as we possibly can."

"So where do we find him?" Marina asked.

Annie tapped the computer screen, where she'd been doing some Web research, "His home is right here in New York. We can drive there."

"You can drive?" said Gary.

"Yes."

"Do you have a licence?"

"Do you care?"

"No."

"Then let's go."

Chronos was watching the girl of his desire as she made her way down the stairs, along with her father. He knew her name now – Gemini – but he hadn't yet found an opportunity to get near her. She was crying and hiding her face, staying close to her father, whose had his arm tightly around her shoulders. Chronos frowned. If he wanted to get close to her, he'd have to do it when her father wasn't there. He had already had grief off the man for staring at the girl. He continued to watch them, hoping they'd split up, hoping he could try and approach Gemini, but they stayed together all the way to the front door. He sighed.

He'd been given a brief tour of the mansion building, and he knew now that his original suspicions had been wrong. This wasn't government. This really was what they claimed it was. It was a little further away from home than he might have liked, but there was nothing back in Glasgow that he would particularly miss. He had never been close to his foster family, he'd had no real friends, and the area where he'd lived had been pretty unpleasant. Litter, drunks and junkies had covered the streets, and seeing a car without its windows smashed or tyres slashed had been a rare sight.

It had always made him angry. He shouldn't have been living in such squalor. He deserved better. He was Chronos, and he would one day be the master of time. Didn't people realise that? Didn't people realise that some were destined for higher things than others? This mansion, richly furnished and well appointed, seemed more fitting. It seemed like the kind of place where superior beings ought to live. Mutants like him were the world's elite, and they should be regarded and treated that way. One day the humans would be overthrown, their Suits and their conspiracies defeated, and mutants would rise to take their rightful place as rulers. Or better yet…as gods.

The four young mutants sat around the table in one of the empty classrooms. On the table before them lay the adamantium disc engraved with the words MUTANT FREEDOM. Helios, Cassandra, Vertigo and Atlas had been given the task of trying to find out anything more they could about its origin.

"They think Magneto made this," Vertigo was saying. "They think he's still alive."

Atlas had picked up the disc and was examining it closely, trying to see what he might find out about the method of engraving. If it had been done by some sort of chisel-like cutting instrument, then surely there would have been cut and chip marks left behind. Or if it had been done by hardening liquid adamantium into a specified mould, there might still be imperfections in the solidified state. If it had been done, as the X-Men suspected, by Magneto's metal mastery, then there should be no such flaws in the surface. Atlas said so to the others.

"So it was either cut, moulded, or Magnetised," said Vertigo. "What's your money on?"

"I have no idea. I don't really know what they expect us to find. If this thing was made of stone, I'd able to tell a lot about its contours and how it was shaped, but since it's made of metal..."

"It can't have been cut," said Cassandra. "Adamantium's supposed to be indestructible, isn't it? I mean, how can you cut into it?"

Helios looked at her thoughtfully, "Do you remember when you guys first attacked the mansion?"

The three of them bristled, but Dominic held up his gloved hands, "It's all right, I'm not trying to start any trouble. I was just thinking: your bloke Mole tunnelled his way inside our base, didn't he?"

"He did," said Vertigo. "What's your point?"

"My point is: our base was shielded by a layer of adamantium specifically to prevent tunnelling. Somehow Mole got through it."

"His knuckles were adamantium-tipped," Cassandra told him. "He was born like that."

"OK. So my point is, maybe you can cut into this stuff using blades made of the same material. Maybe that's how this disc was made, with an adamantium drill or something."

Atlas and Vertigo raised their eyebrows and thought it over. The foreseer girl shook her head, "No. I saw that guy Wolverine trying to cut into the disc. He didn't get anywhere. His claws are made of the same stuff, aren't they?"

"Yeah," said Helios. "Oh well…so much for that idea I suppose."

"What if somebody's discovered an even stronger metal?" Atlas suggested. "That would be able to cut into it."

Vertigo nodded, "Yeah…we should find out if there's any research being done into that area."

Helios stood, "Scott and Kurt should have some scientific journals I can borrow. I'll be back in five minutes."

"Honey, are you OK?"

Gemini sighed, "Dad, you keep asking me that."

"Well, I want to see if there's anything I can do to make you feel better."

She said nothing, and returned to her drink. Pyro had decided that a change of scenery, getting her away from the mansion, might help her to calm down and begin to come to terms with her long-forgotten but recently-surfaced memories. There was a café in town not far from the school, and he'd taken her there for something to drink. Now Gemini sat across the table from him, sipping her soft drink, unable to meet his eyes. He felt sad. The lively spark that had always been in her eyes, the intense desire she had to live her life to the full and enjoy every moment she had, was gone. In its absence she was an empty shell of a girl, taking no interest in life and merely doing whatever was set in front of her. She was willing to go on living, but that was all.

He finished his drink and said, "I'm going to the men's room. Back in a second."

She made no reaction, just continued to hold her half-empty drink in both hands and stare at it as he left. Gemini still felt dirty. She felt as if she had been defiled and corrupted for life. The number of times Van Gaarde and that other guy touched me, I'm no better than a hooker, she thought. Her virginity had been stolen away from her and she would never have it back. She would never have the chance to give it to the man she chose to, as was a girl's right. Her virtue and her womanly pride were gone. What was the point of trying to live her life now when it was ruined? Would she ever be able to have sex normally, without the memories flooding back as they had done last night? Would she ever be able to feel comfortable around men? She was used to being an object of sexual desire, having lived on the island with guys like Overlord, Scarab, Mole and Atlas, who would take any opportunity to ogle her panties. She hated it! It felt as if they too were violating her body by leering at her, not caring one jot for her modesty or honour. There were few men she could feel at ease with, knowing they weren't looking at her lustfully. Pyro was obviously one. Gladiator was another. She didn't trust the male X-Men at all. Apart from that…even Vertigo, who she'd thought actually cared for her, had clearly only been after one thing. Why else had he tried to make love to her after one date, if it could even be called a date? Gemini felt as if she was just a sex toy for every man to use as he pleased. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed forlornly.

"Hey, honey," came a voice.

She looked up. The woman at the next table was looking at her with concern in her eyes, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Gemini lied, wiping at her tears.

Holding up a cigarette, the woman asked, "Can I have a light?"

Gemini looked over to see Pyro had left his lighter sitting on the table. She flicked it open, ignited it and held it out to light the woman's cigarette. Their hands brushed together as the cigarette caught light, and the woman nodded, "Thanks."

A few moments later she got up and left the café. Gemini put Pyro's lighter back on the table. It wasn't until she went to pick up her drink that she noticed the piece of paper the woman had slipped into her palm. Intrigued, the teenager unfolded it.

Meet me out back. Now.

Now even more intrigued, Gemini looked up to see if the woman was still in sight. There was no sign of her. Her curiosity piqued, she was about to stand and walk outside, when the thought occurred to her: what if this was a trap? What if the woman wanted to kidnap her? What if she had been sent by Van Gaarde to grab her? The girl shook her head, don't be stupid. He's dead. Gemini was going to sit down and ignore the note, but she couldn't. Something was bothering her. Was it the handwriting? Did it seem familiar? She wasn't sure. Clutching the lighter, she walked to the exit. If anything happened to her she'd light it and scream at the top of her voice for Pyro.

When she walked round the back of the café, there was nobody there, just an old tramp sleeping beside a dustbin. Gemini looked around for the woman, but she wasn't there. Was this some of kind of joke? Was it a trap? She checked the area to make sure there were plenty of escape routes just in case. What the hell was going on here? Why had the woman slipped this note into her hand and then disappeared?

"Hello, Gemini."

She whirled in surprise to see the woman standing behind her. The tramp had disappeared. For a moment the girl was perplexed, then her brain began to put things together.

"Mystique?" she asked uncertainly.

The woman nodded, "I wanted to talk to you alone. Without Pyro."

"Are you all right? I haven't seen you since – "

"Since the Apocalypse was stopped, I know. I'm OK. Listen, Gemini. We haven't much time. There's something I need you to tell the X-Men."

The girl looked at her, "What?"

"They think Magneto is responsible for these terror attacks. They think he's trying to start trouble with the humans again."

"Huh? He's dead, isn't he?" asked a very confused Gemini.

"Yes. They think he faked it. They think I lied to Pyro and you."

Gemini didn't bother to ask how Mystique knew all this. It was obvious she had her methods. Providing Magneto had trained her to mask her thoughts from telepathy, she could have been in and out of the mansion a hundred times posing as anybody she wanted.

"I want you to tell them that," the metamorph instructed. "Magneto is dead. I'd give anything for that not to be true, but that's the way it is. They're going at this completely the wrong way."

"So – so who is responsible for the terror attacks?"

"I don't know. I'm still trying to work that out myself. I – "

She was interrupted by a man's voice from the side, "Mystique?"

The girl and the woman turned.

"Pyro."

"Long time no see," he said sarcastically. "There was me going under the impression you were dead."

She didn't rise to the bait. He went on, "You say Magneto's dead. How can you expect us to believe you, when you lied about your own death?"

"You're in no position to lecture me, Pyro, not since you surrendered to the X-Men."

"I didn't surrender to anyone! It was an alliance."

"Sure it was. Erik would never have done it."

"He's allied with them before!"

"Only when lives depended on it. You've given up the fight. Admit it. I bet you even take orders from Cyclops now."

"That's bullshit! I haven't given up anything! All right, maybe I'm just more concerned about my daughter and not wanting to put her in danger. What's wrong with that?"

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. I never expected you to live up to him anyway."

"What are you talking about?" he said angrily.

"Shut up and listen. I haven't much time. These terrorist attacks are being blamed on mutants. If they're allowed to continue then mutants will be killed, as people seek some sort of revenge. I can't let that happen. I want you to tell the X-Men they're looking from entirely the wrong angle. Erik is dead."

"All right, I'll tell them, but what makes you think they'll believe me? Some of them even suspect me of directing the terrorists. If I tell them I've met you in secret, they'll just assume we're restarting the Brotherhood and I'm a spy in their midst."

"I have proof."

"Proof he's dead?"

"Yes."

Mystique took off the necklace she was wearing, and held up the locket. It had a tiny hinge on one side, and she carefully prised it open. Pyro and Gemini moved closer to see what was inside. All they could see was a small pile of grey, filmy material like dust.

"Erik's ashes," Mystique explained. "Sometimes it feels almost as if he's still with me."

She stepped closer to Gemini and fastened the necklace around the girl's throat, "Show that to the X-Men. They can DNA-test it if they want."

"When shall we give you it back?" the girl asked.

"You can keep it. I'd like to think Erik would be watching over you. Even though I know he's gone, it will give me some sort of assurance that you'll always be safe."

"I'll never let harm come to her," Pyro said, slipping a protective arm around Gemini's small shoulders. "She's already suffered far more than anyone ever should."

The woman had turned to leave, but he called, "I don't understand, Mystique. Why did you deceive us? Why did you pretend to be dead?"

"Because, Pyro, I wanted to disappear."

"From us?"

"From everything. I knew it would take me a long time to get over losing Erik. I couldn't bear to be around anyone else during that time."

"I cried for days when I thought you were dead," said the girl. "I missed you."

"You had your father with you."

"I guess…will I see you again?"

"I can't promise anything, but I hope so."

Then she was gone.