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Chapter 11

While Elizabeth was keeping O'Toole occupied, the rest of the Xavier students rushed towards the lab after Professor X.

"How did you know where the lab was, Logan?" Scott asked, surprised that the older man knew.

"He tried to keep me there to take my power, but I wasn't cooperative," Wolverine snarled, still sounding ready to kill O'Toole. "He said something about my causing way too much property damage and locked me in that cell. Too bad for the cell."

Scott felt a grin starting, and he could hear Nightcrawler laughing behind him. As Storm had once said, where Logan was, there was damage. He couldn't resist slice and dicing things, especially if he were angry.

"How much further?" Beast asked, anxious to get the Professor.

"Just around this bend here," Logan said, heading around it. Everyone else followed him while Kitty just went through it. She was too worried about Xavier to think about going around corners.

Seeing the lab, all of the kids hurled themselves at the door and swept into the room beyond with all the force of a tsunami.

"Professor?" Jean called. "Professor!"

"Here!" the Professor called back weakly. "Jean, I'm over here!"

They found the Professor lying down on a table, pale and shaky.

"Heilig Scheisse!" Kurt choked as soon as he saw how white the Professor was. "What did he do to you?"

"Oh, I'm all right," the Professor said as Logan helped him to sit up. "Just a little tired."

"You're too forgiving, Chuck," Logan said, pulling him off the table and holding him in his arms. "Wait till I get my claws on that bastard."

"Logan, please, not in front of the students!" Xavier said, holding onto Logan's shoulders and closing his eyes. "Whatever he did to me, I can't keep my eyes open…"

"Just rest, Chuck," Logan said as they headed out of the room. "We're getting out of here."

Space

Elizabeth smiled as she saw Dr. O'Toole crumple underneath the blow from her fist. Leaving the nutty doctor where he lay, she sprinted down corridors in an effort to meet up with the rest of the Institute students. She didn't like being separated from them for long. There was, after all, safety in numbers.

She was passing a block of rooms when she heard shouting. She stopped, her bare feet sliding a little on the smooth cement floor, and listened. Imagining that her hearing was superstrong, she pinpointed where the sounds were coming from and headed that way, unable to turn away from the cries for help that she was hearing.

She almost left when she realized who it was. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Magneto was still locked up! No one had let him or the Brotherhood out! She felt like kicking herself.

"You!" Magneto said as she came into the view of his door. "Let me out!"

Fear clamped its jaws on her, and she hung back, shaking her head.

"Child, I swear to you, I'm not going to do anything!" he pledged desperately. "All I wish is for my team and I to get out and get away from this madman! Surely you can sympathize with that!"

"Do you promise not to come after me and kidnap me again?" she demanded. "Or send anyone after me? Or try to trick me into coming to you?"

Magneto groaned. "Right now, I only want out! I'm not exactly plotting your kidnapping while I'm stuck in here!"

Elizabeth put out her hand, ready to open the door, but stopped. She wasn't about to do anything for Magneto unless he promised first. "Promise!"

Magneto glared at her. "A promise is only words, girl, nothing more. There is nothing in a promise that could keep me from doing exactly as I please later on."

Elizabeth fought down a smile. How little did he know about promises, especially promises made to her. She always imagined the words to be binding, and so they were. That was why she rarely asked for or made promises. They had true power if she were part of the equation. He would have to keep his word if he promised.

"I won't accept another answer, Magneto," she said, glaring back at him. "You can either promise, or you can stay in there."

The look on his face told Elizabeth that he was ready to do serious harm to her, but he swallowed the words that she could tell were bubbling up. "What do you want me to say?" he choked out.

"I want you to say, 'I promise not to come after you, kidnap you, or send one of my people to kidnap you, and I also promise not to try tricking you into coming to me. Also, I promise to keep my minions from trying to kidnap you without my knowledge. I promise that I will tell them that you are now 'off-limits.' I promise to respect your right to make your own decisions, and I promise to keep my word," Elizabeth said, smiling the slightest bit. "That last promise you made during the night wasn't worth much."

Magneto glared at her, and Elizabeth was sure that if looks could kill, she would become a smoking spot on the floor within moments.

"Magneto," she said, growing impatient, "I have to leave with the Professor in the next few minutes, and I'm not going to wait around all night for you to decide if you're going to promise or not. Either promise, or forget about it. I'm not letting you out until you promise, so you'll just have to live with it."

It took a moment, but Magneto managed to say the words. "Now will you let me out?" he demanded.

She nodded, stepped back, held out her hand, and all through the block, doors opened. Once the doors were swinging open, she was running. Magneto wouldn't be happy with her once he felt that promise take hold…

"Wha…What did you do to me?" she heard him howl as the weight of the promise settled on him and disappeared.

She scooted around a corner and shouted back, "You promised! Keep that promise!"

Swearing under his breath, Magneto told his team to move out.

Space

"Where's the quarter pint?" Logan asked as they reached an outside door and headed for the Blackbird. "She said she'd be all right!"

BAMF.

"Hi," Elizabeth said. "Can we go? I mean, like now? Please?"

"Why so eager?" Scott asked, slightly surprised at her worry.

"Wouldn't you be eager to leave a place with a power-stealing mad scientist?" Rogue demanded. "Sometimes, Summers, I think you're crazy. I'm with Elizabeth—let's go!"

They piled into the Blackbird, and once everyone was seated, they took off.

The Professor opened his eyes. "Are we going home?"

"Yep, we're on our way home," Logan assured him. "Don't worry, Chuck."

"Once we're home," the Professor said, fighting sleep, "we need to talk about all of this. There's something else…"

What else there was, it would have to wait, because the Professor had fallen back asleep.