Chapter 2: Full Disclosure

Summary: With answers comes more questions.

Kurt saw the whole thing happen from a distance. He was up on the trees, thinking about the past few hectic days, when it was suddenly disrupted by fog and red laser beams. He felt sorry for Scott. Kurt knew all too well how it felt to be a prisoner. Ever since Jean carried him into the jet before they left Alkali Lake, he couldn't help shake this feeling he had about Scott. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Logan fly halfway across the estate. Kurt quickly teleported to Logan's aid.

He found Logan lying on the ground, his clothes torn and numerous cuts across his body. Suddenly, Kurt couldn't move he was frozen by the site before him. And that's how Kitty and Piotr found him.

"Kurt, are you ok?" asked Kitty.

"It was the first time.. first time they used me...their first trial run.." Kurt said frozen, his gaze still towards Logan. Piotr picked Logan up, whose wounds were already starting to heal and headed back to the mansion.

"Kurt .. what're you talking about?"

"That was my job.. to retrieve wounded personal .. I went room by room, teleporting people out of that building.. time was running out ..two bodies laid on the ground .. covered in blood.. they were both dead but that didn't matter.. I just needed to get them out.. I teleported the first person out .. but before I could go back to get the other person the building had exploded..."

Kitty looked on in awe. She didn't say anything and let Kurt continue.

"And I looked down at the person I just teleported.. it was .. it was Scott… I don't.. I don't even remember it .. I thought they just used me with the president …" Kurt sank to his knees and put his head down and started to pray.

Later that evening, resent in Professor Xavier's office were Xavier himself, Jean, Scott, Storm, who was not seriously hurt, and Logan, who for the most part was fully healed.

"A teleporter?" Scott said. "That does explain a lot … I remember everything .. getting shot, passing out .. and then the next thing I know I was laying on a gurney, with all sorts of tubes attached to me with all these people around me." Scott described. "I think I was moving .. like in an ambulance but I wasn't sure ... I couldn't really think straight. They had me drugged from the get go… and I kept slipping in and out of consciousness. When I finally came around, I found myself lying in some sort of hospital room. I spent the first few weeks recovering from my wounds. And that's where I met him… Dr. Nathaniel Essex."

"Essex .. wasn't he the one the building was leased to. I thought he was just an alias." Storm said.

"Who knows if that was his real name .. but whoever he was, he was real and that building was one of his little labs.. he's a real whacko, he treated me until I got better and after that I just became one of his lab rats."

"Lab rats?" Jean commented.

"That's exactly what we were to him.. they were other mutants there .. though I never got to really see them, unless we fought each other… sort of like a modern day mutant gladiator. A true Darwinist, he believed in survival of the fittest, especially when it came to mutants and I became his favorite guinea pig. He had me train as if I were going for the Olympics and then drugging me, running tests .. all sorts of things.."

"We can't find any information on Essex. Where is he now?" The professor asked.

"Well, lets just say that one day, he got into my line of sight .."

"Ohh." Ororo said somewhat mortified with the image that had formed in her mind.

"I was of course beaten profusely after that .. and that's when Stryker found me. He used me for information about cerebro and the mansion's security system, employing their latest drugs on me to break my will… I'm sorry to say that it worked." Scott said.

"Scott, you have no need to apologize. You're home now and that's all that matters now." Xavier responded.

"Is there anything else? .. I'd like to rest now."

"Oh, please. Go, I'm sure you must be tired."

Scott left the room and no one was quite sure to say. Jean was especially shocked at the brutality of Scott's captures, but what was interesting to everyone was the way Scott nonchalantly described his ordeal. In fact, his whole demeanor was subdued. Scott was known as a little bit of a "stiff," but this was far worse and he carried himself indifferent to everything that has happened to him.

The room was quiet and Ororo was the first to speak. "What he said about survival of the fittest and being forced to fight other mutants.. you don't think Scott.."

"Judging by the way Scott shot at you and sent me flying … I think he had to do what he had to, to survive.." Logan added.

"Oh my God .. the ordeal that he's been but through.. and he talks about it like.. like nothing.. and all this time he was alive .. we should've kept looking.. I should've kept looking.." Jean said and thinking about it almost made her stomach turn.

"Jean, please don't blame yourself .. we couldn't have known he was alive."

"The professor's right. We both saw him die, felt his pulse and saw him bleed out. He was dead, but you can never be sure with phycho doctors… believe me." Logan said recalling his past experiences.

"I assume that if they developed a machine to inhibit mutant powers, I assume they had the technology to block Cerebro, or else we would've detected Scott a long time ago. But I share all your concerns. I'm worried about Scott, one never knows how they'll react to what Scott's been through. I'm sorry to say that his physical wounds may heal, but the psychological, it'll will take time." Said the Professor.

"I agree with the Professor, Scott has been through a lot .. the best we could do is just let him be and we support him as best we can. " Storm said.

"There is also this issue with mutant testing. Magneto developed that machine on liberty island, the FOH has a device to inhibit mutant abilities, I do not like where this is heading. I will phone in Hank and ask if he found out any new information. But our main priority right now is getting the school up and running and staying on our guard." The professor said.

Everyone left the room but Xavier asked Jean to stay for a moment.

"Have you heard back yet?" The professor asked.

"No." Jean replied.

"I already spoken to the others .. I think it would be best not to say anything to Scott... news like that might be too much for Scott to handle right now. His mind is closed off, he had always had natural defenses against telepaths, but I guess after two years of torture have improved it. When Scott gets settled in, we'll tell him. It'll will be tricky to locate especially with our limited resources at the moment.. but we have time.. keep trying."

Jean nodded in accordance and left the room.

To Be Continued…