A New Generation Chapter 3: Captivity, a x-men: the movie fanfic

Chapter 3:

Captivity

Jason Linas woke up to the scent of fresh coffee brewing in the kitchen. He knew his fiancée Kathryn would be frying eggs and bacon soon; it was time to get up and start the day; it was time to get himself cleaned up and start with the chores.

He padded barefoot into the kitchen and snuck up behind Kate, wrapping his arms around her slender frame.

"G'morning babe…what's for breakfast?" She spun around and the sight horrified him, her face wasn't the soft Asian face that he loved so; it was the face of an old man, weird tattoos running all over it, and eyes black as coal.

Alexander Grey fought against the identity being pressed on him by his captor, fought to regain control of his mind, he wasn't Jason Linas, would never be. Jubilee wasn't his fiancée, and Piotr wasn't his neighbor. They were all X-Men, and they were under mental control.

Jason dropped to the floor, his head was pounding, and his lungs were on fire. He looked at Kathryn, her sweet face contorted in worry, and then the darkness began to encroach on him.

"Jace, please stay awake hon. Please. Ralph's on his way…please stay with me Jace, please stay with me, don't close your eyes…Jason Linas! Goddamn IT I say stay awake and you will!"

The sound of Kate's voice jarred the pain anew, intensified the pounding in this head. He screamed from the pain, writhed from it. His entire body was engulfed in the weird sensation, something that could be pleasant and yet felt so horrible that it left him no choice but to recoil from it, to seek solace in sleep.

It was a weird illness that ran in his family; it had pushed his father away and crippled his mother. Jason had been left to do the best he could for himself. He had poured every inch of him into his studies, given every breath for his mother, worked himself to exhaustion, and all for naught. At 18 the diagnosis had been handed to him, Jason would not live to see 30. He gave up his dreams of a career in Quantum Physics, and moved with his mother to a farm to enjoy the rest of his life without cares and responsibilities. His mother died shortly after Jason's 20th birthday, but what God took, he also gave. Weeks after his mother's funeral Jason had met and fallen in love with Kathryn, and a few months later they moved in together. By Jason's 21st birthday they were engaged. That's when Ralph, Jason and Kathryn's neighbor, came into the fold, as a doctor in hiatus Ralph was the perfect neighbor for them.

Ralph came crashing through the door, EpiPen in hand, stethoscope at the ready. Jason knew it would be ok…his own name felt so weird…Jason…No that wasn't his name…it was Alex…Alexander Scott Grey Summers …Jason was imaginary, it was imposed…Kate was Jubilee…Ralph was Piotr…he had to fight through the illusion, had to regain control of himself and his mind…the illness, that's what was making all these weird thoughts run through his head. Jason regained control, his head pounding ever louder, ever harder.

"Jace, c'mon, stay awake, you know you've gotta stay awake. C'mon Jace…stay with me."

Jason floated off, he couldn't fight the heaviness of eyelids, the desire to sleep, the need to rest. He gave into them and closed his eyes.

Mesmero worked hard on the X-Men. He toiled night and day to keep them from seeing through his illusions, to keep them subdued. He'd never met someone as stubborn as this brat though, always screaming his real name in his head like a mantra, always launching desperate attacks to seize back control, always whining. The others were so peaceful, so content to listen to his probes that he barely spent an iota of energy on them, on this other one though he spent his every waking second. It was frustrating; to always have him pushing at the boundaries, always launching himself against the barriers.

"How is everything?"

"Erik, if I'm not allowed to drug this one soon…things are gonna go belly up. He grows stronger and faster…how he does it I don't know, I have to spin things quicker and quicker and they're getting quite ridiculous. We need to take action and drug him, a light sedative will more than do the trick."

"I've told you time and time again that sparing any of them pain is out of the question. He will remain as is, or you'll need sedatives."

Mesmero stared into Erik's grey/blue eyes, saw the malice in them and recoiled. There was a difference between demented and being evil…Erik had crossed both lines so beyond it that it was hard to discern what he truly was. The blackness of that stare, the steel behind them was utterly petrifying. But he knew best, he had defeated Xavier and his band far more than any of the others, he had traveled the world and learned secrets others could only guess at, if Mesmero wanted to bring back Apocalypse then Erik Lehnsherr was the best person to secretly exploit. The only trick was to make sure he would never, ever find out. Subtlety had never been Mesmero's strong point, but what little he had he would use wisely.

He focused his attention back on the three figures shackled to the wall. He'd met many psionics throughout his life, but never one with so much locked potential, so many possibilities. He could recognize the force of the Phoenix inside him, lurking silently. He was Jean Grey's son; that ran clear through him. Scott Summers' blood was also in him, but it ran quietly, powerfully and alert, but quietly.

Ororo Monroe stood in the balcony where she'd last seen her Beshala, and her entire self was hurting, aching at having him so out of touch. Something was desperately wrong with Alex, she could feel it like bile in her throat, could taste it in the air she breathed. Xavier was biding his time (as always), looking for the best chance to strike at the Brotherhood. She knew it was best, knew that things would go smoother if they studied their target and planned everything as best they could, but her anxiety and her instincts all told her Alex was being damaged and she couldn't bare the thought that it had possibly been her fault.

She looked at the sky and began to play with the weather, pulling and tugging at the different strands of it; altering the path of winds and storms, coaxing hurricanes to dissipate. She always played with the weather when she was unsettled, even though she knew the ramifications could be disastrous, it was something she couldn't help but do.

: Ororo, could you please come to my office?:

She turned from the balcony and walked into Alex's room. The book on the night-table still had the bookmark tucked inside it, the bed was roughly made, the hamper was neatly turned, a sign that he meant o take care of it once he returned, his glasses on the dresser; it all screamed that he would be back.

Two days ago Ororo knew that something was wrong. Alex, Jubilee and Piotr had missed their check in time. She knew that even with stops, traffic and some intervention from the Brotherhood, there should've been no reason Alex et al would not check in with the Institute. She had dispatched Megan Gwynn to check on the small party and her fears had been confirmed. There was no one in the cabin, and the road had not seen a tire-track or foot-step in months.

Ororo cursed her foolishness for not following her instincts, and at that moment decided that Xavier could sit and wait as long as he wanted, she on the other hand, was off to find Alex et al, there was no stopping her, if anyone got in her way she would deal with them.

She turned and began to run; throwing herself into the air once she'd reached the balcony. She knew little enough, but that didn't matter, her wit and her many underworld contact would get her the necessary information. She was sure of it.

Charles Xavier knew there was no stopping Ororo, there were ways to stop her, but there were no reasons to. Her mind had made a choice that it considered rational and Charles could not stand in its way. Ororo was a grown woman and had proved time and time again to be extremely smart and resourceful, who was he to try and stop her from saving Alexander, after all, in the absence of his parents, it was Ororo who assumed responsibility for his well-being. He would aid her in finding Alexander, and hope that when Alexander showed up Piotr and Jubilee were there with him, after all in the absence and stead of their family Charles was responsible for their well-being, and he viewed each and every one of his students as his adoptive children, they all needed to be safeguarded, from either themselves, the evil mutants of the world, or from the hatred that being a mutant brought upon them.

: Storm, I will try and track them with Cerebra, you try and track the truck. One of us will eventually run into something of use:

She felt his message and knew that she had help, it made her calm but it also made her incredibly uncomfortable. Charles Xavier had an obsession with making sure each and every single one of his students was constantly safe. One could call it paternal, were it not for the extreme amount of energy and funds he so carelessly poured into his crusade. Everyone saw him as a father, but Ororo saw more. She saw the possibility that such strong emotions carried, after all a bereft parent was capable of doing horrible things to avenge their child. What would happen if ever Charles lost his cool? How many would suffer the consequences of his outcry? As noble as his intentions might be, Ororo had always made sure to remind Charles that he was just a teacher, and activist and a friend, she hoped that her voice would ring true in his ears, if ever a loss came too close to his heart.

He padded barefoot into the kitchen and snuck up behind Kate, wrapping his arms around her slender frame.

"G'morning babe…what's for breakfast?" She spun around and the sight enthralled him. Her face was a carbon copy of his mother's. Jean Grey, full and total replica. The auburn hair, the hazel eyes, the set of the lips. This was his mother, the mutant so formidable that the Phoenix force had deemed her worthy of being its host.

But that meant more. It meant Jason Linas didn't exist, it meant his name wasn't Jason but Alexander. It meant some mutant asshole was fuddling his mind, it meant that this whole thing, from sight to smell, to sound and touch and taste were nothing but fabrications, nothing but the machinations and imaginings of some underling to some baddie who had nothing better to do than imprison him in his own mind.

"Jace, what are you talking about?" Kate's voice was warm as a summer evening, it made his body react to it, it lulled him, quieted him.

"Did I say all that aloud Kate?" he asked with a worried look her way "Sorry, I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me again, I keep having this dream, it's so realistic, so…I don't know how to describe it…"

"Is it the one where you're like a superhero? Last night you were screaming about some man named Scott"

His father, Scott Summers, a powerful mutant with the ability to produce optic energy beams, who had married his mother Jean Grey, a powerful mutants with multi-psionic abilities, the two had been part of the original X-Men and now were faculty at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted, a facility in which mutant kids could learn to control their powers and finish their schooling without having to constantly face the threat of hatred that was so common-place to the mutant world. He was Alexander Grey, third child of the Grey-Summers pairing, and the youngest full-fledged member of the X-Men, ever.

"Jace, we should really talk to Ralph, you seem really outta it lately…it's a bit scary babe…" Kate's voice was full of love and caring, but something was off.

"Jubilee! Break through!"

Mesmero was flung away from Alex's body, his mind simply could not take much more of this, he would have to admit to Magneto that the little brat was more powerful than he was, the prospects of this revelation earning him any points with Magneto was nothing more than a very far-fetched thought.

"Erik! Erik!"

Magneto was getting sick and tired of hearing that sniveling idiot of a man whimpering and whining. He had come so highly recommended, his powers had been spoken of with awe and respect, and yet here he was, a shadow of his former self. Always struggling for control of that brat. Alexander was proving to be just like his mother, a thorn on Magneto's side, eternally stubborn and amazingly strong.

"What is it NOW Vincent?"

"He's reaching out to the others now, going through his damned family tree in his head, and reciting the accomplishments of those X-Men worms, shouting at me from the bottom of his subconscious. I cannot keep the illusion going, and keeping them inside a loop just gets him closer to breaking my control. If we don't sedate him now then he'll slip right out of it, and you don't want an angry psionic loose after mind control, believe me. How do you think I lost so much of my power Erik? By choice?"

Magneto's hand rose and Mesmero clutched desperately at his neck. "Listen Vincent, and listen well, because I am not a man who repeats himself often, if at all. You WILL find a way to restrain that brat, you WILL keep him from alerting the others, and you will make damn sure that you get the information we need from his head before long, or YOU will die." With a flick of his hand Magneto sent Mesmero flying across the cavernous room.

"You may be the 'Master of Magnetism' Magneto but don't you forget, I have powers of my own"

With a thought, Mesmero slammed himself into Magneto's unprotected mind. He had waited for this moment for a long while now, and he would not pass up an opportunity to get Magneto under his thumb, even if just for a minute.

The images began to play, like a movie that stalls. Scene by scene Erik Lehnsherr's life began to flash by. Max Eisenhardt that was his true name. His wife's name had been Magda, his first daughter's name had been Anya, she'd died in a fire and Max's self-control had snapped and he'd killed some humans, Magda had run away from him, unbeknownst to both Magda had been pregnant at the time with Pietro and Wanda.

The death of his parents was vivid in his mind, the screams, and the abuse. His time at Auschwitz, the horrid images of his brethren being slaughtered like cattle, the gas chambers, and his involuntary yet real involvement in all of it. Mesmero could barely hold onto the images, they came with such strength and such a feeling of urgency, such sorrow and pain. He could understand how the naïve boy had become the embittered man. How the loving teenager had become the strict, and impenetrable man. He could understand this being now, and through that understanding he gained a small, yet strong power. He knew the ins and outs of the thought process that ruled one of the most powerful mutants in this world and in this reality, Mesmero had gotten a key into his private world, and only death would take that key out of his hand.

The flood of images ended suddenly, like a waterfall that is suddenly dammed, the flow simply stopped. Mesmero knew that the price for the information would be high, and the iron collar around his neck gave Magneto instant access to his life. But Magneto would not kill him, not now anyway. Not while he still needed Mesmero to control the X-brats, so long as they were safely in Magneto's custody so would Mesmero, what would happen after that...well only Magneto knew that.

The pain was instantaneous, his throat and lungs burned for air, the pressure was already unbearable and it had only just begun. Perhaps he had miscalculated Magneto's need of him; perhaps his window into Magneto's mind had had some weird flaw in it. Perhaps what Mesmero had seen had only been a glimpse of what Magneto was, perhaps this time around, his powers had failed him beyond all measure.

"You made a very big mistake Vincent. When my associates make mistakes, it makes me look bad, and I HATE looking bad."

The pressure became unbearable, Erik knew that Vincent had only seconds left, his use had been a mistake, and his necessity had become obsolete. Mesmero would die, and Magneto would deal with the brats himself.

The last breath was ragged and drawn out, a horrid sound. Magneto had heard it before; it would never again unnerve him. It had stopped unnerving him years ago.

Alexander grey could sense the illusion wavering, he could sense the breaking of the barriers around his consciousness wavering. He gathered his energy about him and sent a psionic pulse throughout his mind, followed by another and another. He would break through and he would do everything he could to get himself and his team-mates free from whatever mess they were in. He knew they would be in bad shape, perhaps they been beaten and starved; perhaps his energy levels were high only because he was still cocooned inside his mind, safe from the pains and pang that his physical body maybe experiencing.

He wondered how long they'd been where they were. They had left on Tuesday the 16th of July; he would have to worm the information out of one of the dopes who would be his jailors. Who would be their enemies? What organization or individual would have done this? The agencies were many H.Y.D.R.A. had been after young mutants for a while now, and Alex still didn't quite trust the whole S.W.O.R.D. deal, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been running some strange ops, and Alex had lost some confidence in them and in their mission with mutant-kind.

He felt the barriers snap, and the physical pain flooded in, the cramping muscles, the parched throat, the throbbing head, and the emptiness in his stomach. He felt what had been boundless amounts of energy simply dissipate into nothingness. The fight to get free would not be easy, but he knew that staying captive would not be an option, he could only hope Piotr and Jubilee had some energy to break out, at least if Piotr got loose, maybe they had some sort of chance, maybe there was a small amount of hope.

Charles Xavier was hard at work inside Cerebra, he could not find the mental signatures of the missing students, he couldn't pinpoint their location, and for the first time since Cerebra had been built and operational Charles Xavier doubted that this second version of the machine would be able to reach the grandeur that the original Cerebro had achieved.

He focused again, trying to isolate the psionic signatures of Jubilee, Piotr and Alexander. This time he got a glimpse of Jubilee, a fleeting sense of her, like the afterimage that burns in your mind once the lights come off, persistent but unclear, and in-focusable...a fleeting thing, never to actually be seen. He knew the vicinity they were in; that much Cerebra had been able to log before the short burst of contact had been broken. He had to get them free, he knew now whose hands they were in, and given the man's past, and his ever-changing politics, they might be in danger, or they may be guests, neither option served Charles well, Erik wasn't someone he trusted any longer, Erik and his mad schemes and totalitarian views, the Erik he knew now was not the Erik he had met decades and decades ago, the Erik that roamed the Earth now was a much darker, broken, man. The shell remained, but the friend Charles had so admired and enjoyed the company of was no longer there, no longer present.

: Storm, I have found Imperium, Colossus and Jubilee. They are currently somewhere in the vicinity of Wiltshire, England, somewhere close to Stonehenge. I'm dispatching the X-Men now; you should rendezvous with them and head there. Magneto is involved in this mess:

He could feel her frustration at not being able to simply fly off by herself and pound the man into a pulp, he could feel the agitation of her mind, the desperation that sang clearly and loudly through her at the thought that she knew where Alex and still could not go and save him. This had become her normal reaction, fear, frustration, anger and pain. These seemed to be the only emotions she understood now, the loss of Alexander had been ever-present in her mind, she had not come back to the Institute since the day she left, it had been almost two weeks ago, and since that day Charles had only seen Storm twice, and both times it had been quick, once in Antarctica when the X-Men had discovered spikes of Psionic energy pulsing from inside the walls of the Amery Ice Shelf, and once more when the Avengers had told Charles of strange Psionic signatures emanating from inside the Louvre Museum in France. Both time the incidents had lead to nothing, and both times Storm had sworn that they had simply alerted the captors, and they had fled off in search of a new hiding place.

Charles was worried about Storm, he worried that her mental health was somehow being affected by another entity, perhaps even by Alex himself. He needed her to come in and rest, needed her to take some time off and recuperate from whatever was going through her head, but before he could expect her to listen to these things, he had to have Alexander Grey in custody, safe, sound, and responsive. He alerted the X-Men and began to ready himself to accompany them. This was a mission that Charles Xavier was not willing to let them take on alone. Jean and Scott were unfocused, Storm was deranged, Logan was M.I.A. and Rogue, Gambit and Beast had been spread thin to cover the cracks that the others were creating. His X-Men were not what they had once been, they were not the careless younglings who had flung themselves into fights over and over again, they were now parents, and husbands and wives, fiancées and uncles and aunts, and lovers, and children. The belief of invincibility had fled with the years, and the strength and care-free attitude of youth were no longer ever-present.

The team needed new blood, and Charles himself needed to retire, his body was not what it had once been, and even his powers were no longer as sharp and poignant as they had been before, the difference was minute, almost undetectable to those around him, but to Charles it was evident, clear and a reminder that he was aging, and that even the Shi'ar technology that had saved his body from complete deterioration, still wasn't enough to stop the aging process.

Alex could feel the utter weakness that enveloped him like a shroud. He could feel his entire body, every cell, every muscle, every inch, every millimeter of it hurt. The pain was a dull throbbing that never seemed to dull nor lessen, simply to BE, always present.

His consciousness came and went as it pleased, but Alex had been able to deduce some things already. Most important, and worrying, was that there was a fourth person lying dead not 20 feet from where Alex, Jubilee, and Piotr were shackled to the wall. The second thing he had figured out was something of a fuzzy assumption, glimpses caught here and there, but above all it had been the lack of a mental presence which had given their captor away.

At first Alex thought he was simply too weak, his body too malnourished and his mind too battered from the intrusion he had so blatantly suffered at the hand of his captor, after all he could see shoes right in front of his half-closed eyes, but there was no psionic activity, no mental voice, no thought process, no brain-waves. Then the trickle of cold fear that touched him was much too much; there was only one mutant Alex knew of that had been able to completely shelter himself from even the most powerful psionic mutant ever born. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, or as he was commonly known to mutants and humans; Magneto. The confirmation had not come yet, Magneto had been careful to neither speak, nor use his powers around his prisoners, and whenever the few bites of food and drops of water that were afforded them were doled out, Alex et al were blindfolded and given grunts for instructions.

"Ironic isn't it Magneto? That you set yourself up as this 'Freedom Fighter' and you have mutants shackled onto your wall, and another mutant dead on the floor. And I would be willing to bet a whole lot that he was the one who weaved the illusion. So not only do you hang your opponents as decoration, but you kill the few that aid you. Very well done mon Fuhrer, very well done."

Magneto's hand was fast, Alex never truly saw it, but he felt it. He felt the metal lined gloves impact his cheek, felt the vibration of it shake his cheekbone, and he tasted the blood as his capillaries broke and the metallic liquid flowed into his mouth, and he felt as it trickled from his nose. Alex knew he'd hit a nerve, and as much as it hurt to be hit, and as much as it would hurt being hit again, he had to keep striking at that sensibility, a spike in electromagnetic activity would tip off the X-Men, they were always looking for it, always watching out for Magneto.

"You're nothing but a spoiled brat, even in your powers and training you have been coddled, and guided every step of the way. What do you know of suffering Alexander? What do YOU know of being told no?"

"More than you would know, and more than even I can believe sometimes."

"Silence! You are an impetuous child Alexander! How dare you even begin to compare your small losses to the loss of thousand of people? Have Charles and his X-Men made you this self-important? This self-absorbed?"

"I never compared myself and what little I have lost to the Holocaust and the thousands upon thousands of lives that were lost there! I am neither arrogant nor self-absorbed Erick, or should I say Max? If anyone in this room is self-important, or has delusions of grandeur, it's you Magneto not ME! I know my place in the world, I know where I fit into the scheme of things, you on the other hand think you have this great destiny of you, but all that's there is smoke and mirrors, haven't you noticed that? Haven't you noticed that every time you've done something worthwhile, something that really affects the outcome of things something happens and the world forgets that it ever happened? Get it through your thick ass skull Magneto; you're nothing but a wannabe! Even Rachel says you never have and will matter, not even in a universe where the movement you back wins are you important!"

Magneto's face fell, his determination faltered for a second, just a second. That's when Alex knew that in a battle of wit and word, he may have the one-up on Magneto. He knew how to push him, how to hit below the belt and still be called a gentleman. There was doubt behind the steel-blue eyes, and that was Alex's chance, to make the doubt bigger and bigger, to make it eat at Magneto, to weaken him mentally.

"It's stupid isn't it Erik? To fight everyday, to get up and go to sleep only with this idea in your head, and never have true allies. I mean, even Lorna left the Brotherhood, and Wanda's support is as ephemeral as M Day was. What's the point of it all Max? What would Magda think of the man you've become? Would Anya be happy to call you daddy?"

Alex felt the trickle of psionic energy, felt that small flowing river of images and knowledge that flowed from one psionic to another. The only question he could ask then was: WHERE was the information coming from? Neither Jubilee or Piotr or Magneto had any psionic abilities, and the only psionic close enough to send out the images was the one lying face-down on the floor, and not breathing.

: And are you quite sure I died Alex?:

: Mesmero...you snake! You better not be walking around this hell-hole, 'cause I can assure you that if you are, I will make damn sure that I make you crippled beyond a shadow of a doubt before I break outta here:

: All these threats Lex, and for what? You can't even pinpoint where I am. How can you hurt something you are not sure if you see? Should you start to wonder whether or not you are really out of hypnosis? I mean after all, I'm dead right before your very eyes, can you now trust that this isn't all just another illusion?:

The thought sickened him; it hit the very core of his mind, the very pillars that his universe was set up on. It was possible though; after all he had been very close to buying Mesmero's last trick, the smells, sounds, tastes, all felt so real, so utterly right. He'd even felt refreshed after sleep, full after eating. Whatever Mesmero was, and however badly he behaved and what-not Alex had to at least admit that the man had an uncanny way of weaving a complete world within the person's mind. The fact that he had been able to link the same world to three people and fabricate entire new identities, back-stories, and a panoramic surrounding that had been utterly complete was astounding. Alex knew that Mesmero's powers had once been feared, and that many a person had gone utterly crazy thinking their life was nothing but an illusion that Mesmero had created.

: Relax Lex, its real life. I am in fact on the floor, however I am breathing. Magneto almost choked me to death, I've been using a projection that shows me still, but it's taking all my energy to get Magneto to see it, you and the others are easy because I can use psionic energy, but with Magneto I have make sure that I don't move, and project stillness to him as well, it's very draining:

: Will you help us? I can help you with the energy thing, if you help us escape.:

: I may not be the brightest star in the sky Lex, but I'm not stupid enough to confront Magneto again, I'll just lay here while he either kills or releases you...sorry Lex, but it's just how I am:

The response had been obvious to Alex once he'd asked the question. If there was one thing people wouldn't ever say about Mesmero it would be just how brave he was. Bravery wasn't his strong-suit and Alex was pretty sure it wasn't forefront in his dictionary either. Mesmero was something of an oddity, always a player in power games, but never the one moving the pieces. He always allied himself with the faction that had the most probability of winning, but always managed to get out before things began tumbling down on top of him. Even with his powers at full peak he had always managed to be sensible in his choices, never betting too much on an affair that didn't have 100% chance of succeeding.

Jubilee could almost just see something was outta whack with Alex, his face followed Magneto's movements but his eyes were still on a single point; the dead mutant. Jubilee had a sense that perhaps the mutant wasn't dead, perhaps he/she was only pretending to be dead. But then again, no one can pretend to not breathe for as long as this mutant had been pretending to not breathe, it simply ran against most of what she knew, both as a human and as a mutant.

She saw that Alex was playing some type of game with Magneto, pushing buttons to gain response, although after the punch Magneto had given Alex, Jubilee thought perhaps it wasn't quite a good idea to continue whatever plan Alex had in his head.

Her hands were hurting; being hung up by her wrists wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. She feared her hands would be useless before long if blood wasn't soon allowed to reach the muscles there. Magneto knew her powers weren't too strong, and as of yet lights weren't exactly harmful.

: Alex! Alex, can you hear me?:

:Yea Jubs, I read you loud and clear, give me a second, k?:

: K:

She knew he was "talking" to someone else, and she would have to wait her turn, meanwhile she worked on the seed of a plan that she currently had, she needed to refine the finer points, beginning with exactly HOW they were gonna convince Magneto to let her loose, followed by how exactly she could incapacitate him long enough to free Alex and Piotr. The plan had potential, but it balanced on a whole lotta "ifs" and that wasn't exactly Kosher.

Alex maintained his conversation with Mesmero, hoping to convince the hypnotist to help him and his team-mates escape. Alex bribed, threatened and cajoled, but Mesmero simply would not give in. Always he made an excuse of his weakened state, or his diminished powers, even blaming Alex for how weak he currently was. Alex apologized to Mesmero (though he still didn't fully understand why he was apologizing) and tried time and time to get him to co-operate with an escape, but Mesmero would not budge.

: Fine! You stay on the floor like the roach you are, and I will get my friends out of here, even if it kills me:

: Oh it will Imperium, just you wait. It will:

Alex cut off his communication to Mesmero and turned his mind instead to Jubilee. Her tone had given him the sense that she had something important to say, he slapped his mind with frustration at having been taking in by Mesmero for as long as he had.

: Jubes, you ok?:

: Yea, I'm as well as can be given the current circumstances. I have a bit of a plan.:

: Hatching an escape plan? Why? Aren't you comfy?:

Alex sent as much humor and lightness as he could into the message, and he could see that Jubilee understood why he'd done it, which made him glad, because he didn't want to come across as an asshole for no reason.

: As pleasant as the view and the smell are here at Chez Magneto's I'd much rather be in the danger room at level 20 with a blindfold on. Listen, if we can somehow convince Magneto to let ME loose, maybe I could somehow help you guys get loose, and at least escape, or call for help:

: I don't know how we can convince him to let you down though...he's always been such a hard-head, even the Professor has a hard time getting anywhere with this psycho.:

: I'm not a threat though. My powers are nothing more than light-shows. How much harm can I do? What I'm gonna entertain him to death? Let's try and work that angle, maybe you can pull off some trick with your powers to somehow amplify mine when the time comes...or something!:

: Let's give it a shot, I'll fill Piotr in.:

Alex left the connection with Jubilee and searched for Piotr's mind. A chill of horror touched the entirety of him when he realized, the body that hung on the last rung, was a lifeless corpse. Colossus was dead. There were no mind-waves, no nothing coming from him. Piotr Rasputin had died at the hands of Magneto. Rage, cold, calculating, empowering rage began to fill Alex, the pains and weakness suddenly washed away by the cold touch of hatred and unchecked anger that ran so freely through him now.

: Jubes...Piotr is dead. We're on our own. If I manage to get loose, or get you loose, you run, and get help, and don't look back. Agreed?:

: No way Alex. Leave no X-Man behind, either WE leave or WE die, no self-aggrandizing sacrifices need to be made, we're in this together.:

The mental touch she sent through the connection was reassuring, a flame in the darkness that enveloped Alex's every thought and action. He may not be powerful enough to get loose, he may not be able to do anything to Magneto, but he had something Magneto didn't at the time. He had a sister that like him, and his mother and his brother had unlimited potential, and a bond that had proven to be very strong. Alex may not be able to do anything, but Magneto was about to get the Phoenix Force rammed down his throat, the Grey-Summers family had a special bond with the Phoenix Force and right about now, Alex was gonna show him just what a pissed off psionic was capable of doing.

Alex gathered his every drop of strength; he mustered all his anger into one single thought, into a single cry of agony, despair, anger and revenge. Rachel would hear and she would come, and with her, the X-Men, and freedom.

Author's Notes: Please R&R. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

I know it took a long time to put up this chptr, but I have a new wind, and hopefully it'll carry me onto chptr 4 in no time =)