September 4, 1974
"He really planned for this, didn't he?" Lorna said, "How long do you think he was tunneling underneath here?"
"It's hard to say," Alex said.
He waved the flare around.
"I mean, considering the scope, I'd usually say that it was a month," Alex said, "But it's Sinister. It might have been a week."
"You give him a lot of credit," Lorna said.
"Unfortunately, he's earned it," Alex said.
The flare ran out. He tossed it to the side and pulled out one of his own. Lorna watched in amusement.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said, "I just didn't expect you to have flares too."
He shook his head and tapped his utility belt.
"When we go on long trips we carry certain necessities with us," he said, "No less than you do."
"Interesting, because most times I don't see X-men with flares," Lorna said.
"Then they were on short missions," Alex said, "I don't believe in overkill."
Lorna snorted in disbelief. He knew it was well-warranted. It was a lie, but he didn't feel like telling her about the fight he'd gotten in with Charles about it. He'd felt foolish insisting that so much equipment be carried, especially since they had the Blackbird with them. However, he'd known that they would need something.
They had ended up compromising. Hank had designed the next set of uniforms to have pockets hidden in the sleeves as well as pouches in the utility belt. Small things like certain medical supplies, tablets for water, and a miniature flashlight, could be carried in them. Alex still wished that the utility belts were standard issue for every mission. He knew it would have made Jean and Warren's lives easier if they'd had it with them when Sinister had arrived.
He thought of Scott. He didn't know where he was. Charles had told him that Sinister had captured him along with Warren, but there hadn't been any news after that. Alex worried that something had happened, but Charles had been surrounded by the X-men. They were probably close to Scott and Warren right now, although he had the feeling that they would have told him if they were.
The one consolation Alex had was that his brother was probably still alive. Scott had told him what had happened the last time that they had run into Sinister, his plans for Scott. However, having his existence prolonged because he was being tortured wasn't a good alternative. Alex rubbed his collar bone absently.
Scott was strong and smart, but Alex knew that Warren and a Brotherhood member had also been captured. Sinister would try to use his sense of responsibility against him, and Alex knew that was his great weakness, as well as his great strength. Sometimes Scott reminded him very much of their father.
"What, nothing to say?" Lorna asked.
He blinked and looked over his shoulder. Alex had to keep on his toes. He'd told Lorna about the Brotherhood girl getting captured, and her face had hardened. She'd started to walk much faster after that, her mind evidently bent on attempting to rescue her teammate. However, unlike him, she didn't seem quite so distracted.
Then again, he was pretty sure that the Brotherhood girl wasn't her sibling.
"Whatever Trixie," he said.
He lit up another hallway. He shook his head.
"This place really does go on forever," he said.
"It would appear so," Lorna said.
Alex shook his head and started down the passageway, Lorna close behind him.
"So, what's this Sinister guy's deal?" Lorna said, "Besides being a sick bastard who experiments on mutants."
Despite everything Alex had to crack a smile.
"We've only run into him twice, and the last time only briefly when we were fighting Black Tom," Alex said, "We don't know much about him."
"Archangel told me that Beast ripped his heart out," Lorna said.
Alex nodded.
"Yeah. We'd heard reports from South America that were…weird to say the least," he said, "So we went down there. Sinister was using the place as his own private laboratory. A whole region. Inhabitants called it the Savage Land. It was a pretty accurate descriptor."
"Jesus," Lorna said.
He winced, remembering his own times in the swampy region, the triumph that they had felt afterwards. Alex remembered the brutal reality when they returned to Westchester though, of the news of Maeve's death along with that of Sean's daughter, or so they'd thought. The news and Sean's subsequent attack on Black Tom had left his friend mentally fragile for a long time afterwards.
Alex frowned. During both occasions Black Tom had been involved. He felt uneasy. Surely the two of them couldn't have been working together back then? It wasn't like Sinister had been interested in Terry or anything. Still, his association in the two events was something that he would have to look into later.
"And?" Lorna said.
"Sorry," Alex said.
"You're getting pretty spacey on me Scholastic," Lorna said.
"Falling down and ripping open your shoulder does that to people," he said.
Lorna smiled and he smiled in turn.
"Right," Alex said, "Where was I?"
"The Savage Land," Lorna said.
"Got it," he said, "So we fought him, and it became apparent pretty quickly that he's a hard man to take down, a hard man to even slow down. So Beast took the direct route."
Alex could still hear the sound that Sinister's organs had made when Hank had reached inside his chest, the strange ripping noise. It wasn't a pleasant memory.
"We thought that took care of him," Alex said, "So we went to the labs. It's where we found-"
He stopped and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Yes?" Lorna said.
"It's not important," he said.
"No, go back and tell me," Lorna said.
She sounded irritated. Alex longed to just tell her. He knew that he could trust her, although it was a disturbing thought. Alex had a lot of those around Lorna. He'd already told her what had happened with his parents although, as he'd said, it hadn't been a secret. Everyone had known that.
Not everyone knew that Clarice had been found in South America, a girl barely out of childhood traumatized into silence with several other children though. She'd only really been able to come out of her grief when they'd started training her for the X-men. Sinister had never had any direct contact with her, which was why he supposed that she wasn't frightened of him. He'd never asked though.
Alex didn't need to ask how she'd feel about him sharing her story with Lorna though. He knew she wouldn't appreciate it.
"It's not important information, okay?" Alex said, "It just isn't. If it pertained to what was happening here, then I'd tell you."
"Really," Lorna said.
The skepticism in her tone was rampant. Alex glared at her. After everything, she was doubting him? It made him angry, and something else prickled beneath his skin.
"You know I would," he said.
Lorna hesitated and then scratched the back of her neck. She looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I do," she said, "I trust you."
She paused after the words left her lips.
"I shouldn't have said that," Lorna said.
Alex bit the inside of his cheek again.
"No, you shouldn't have," he said.
He released his cheek.
"We really shouldn't…all of this," Alex said.
His words sounded pitiful and stupid. Lorna laughed and shook her head, her thick green hair clouding the air around her.
"It's too late for that," she said, "You already told me that we were friends you know. Months ago."
"I remember," Alex said, "You agreed with me."
"Because you were right," Lorna said.
She drew level with him, one of her hands tracing the walls. He wondered if she was going to say anything else.
"I always wondered why my father still considered him friends with the Professor," she said at last.
Alex didn't like the comparison.
"We should have known better though," he said.
Lorna nodded, a faint look of amusement crossing her face.
"Yeah, I should have just been a total witch to you when we met," she said.
"Should have been?" Alex said, the words coming unbidden, "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'continued being.'"
She raised her eyebrows.
"Have it your way, but if that's true, then you should've kept that stick in your ass," she said.
He laughed.
"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" he asked.
"You can say that again," Lorna said.
It felt like Moira's head was splitting open. She managed to focus her eyes and look around her. She hadn't had the strength to do that before, only just hearing murmurings from the room next to her, as well as some strange, clunky noises. The murmurings were the only reason she knew where Scott and Warren were. For the first time she could feel that the drug was wearing off and, for once, she could think clearly.
Moira couldn't hear Charles's voice, but she was sure that he was nearby. He wouldn't leave her. They were probably still in battle and his telepathy was needed. Moira remembered his gentle touch in her mind, remembered his concern, how he hadn't held back any of his feelings, his worry. She couldn't help but be touched by it.
Carefully Moira packed up the memory until she could use it. It would be something to hold onto. At the moment she was being held by a mad scientist, along with a few of her students. Charles would come for her: she had no doubt about that. However, until he reached them along with the rest of the X-men, she would have to find out as much information as possible.
It was the only logical way to be useful, especially after Charles had asked her to stay and wait. She didn't like it, but there was some logic to what he'd said. She didn't want to get in their way.
Moira forced herself to sit up and look around. Her head was clearing by the minute, sharpening her thoughts. She could see that she was in what had probably, at one point or another, been one of the conference rooms. She could just see the piles of fold-up chairs that were stacked haphazardly around the room.
She tugged on her wrists. Moira had been locked down onto what she could only assume was some sort of medical table. Then again, knowing who held her, it was more likely to be a dissection table. She shuddered at the thought, thinking of what Scott had told them, of Clarice's shell-shocked attitude when she first came to the Institute.
Moira flexed her wrists. There was some give to the restraints, which surprised her. Perhaps Sinister hadn't put much stock in her because she was a human. The thought was amusing. People had been underestimating her for years, first because she was a woman, and now because she was a human.
She heard sounds from the next room. Moira put her head back down and closed her eyes, straining her ears. She didn't know if Sinister was planning on coming back into the room or not, but if he was, then she would have to pretend that she was still out. She didn't have any other weapons to fight with.
"Yes, I suppose I have made you too comfortable. That was my mistake."
Moira bit her tongue.
"You two can go together," Sinister said, "You're such good friends after all. I was saving this for later, transport, but it might be good to box you up right now. I need to check my samples."
She heard footsteps, almost as though he were pacing.
"As for you…I don't really know who you are. But I could always use an extra."
There was a sound like furniture being moved.
"Don't try to get out," Sinister said, "Any sudden pressure on the door results in electric shocks. And, by the way, don't hurt yourselves. Both of your blood is quite precious to me, although for different reasons."
She heard Sinister laugh, the sound high and bitter. Moira felt chills run down her spine.
"After all, what scientist hurts their subjects before their time?"
Moira took a deep but quiet breath as his footsteps died away. She opened her eyes and flexed her wrists again, feeling the restraints. She didn't know what Sinister was doing to her students. There was no way that she could wait for Charles and the X-men though. Not anymore. She would apologize to Charles later, but she was going to have to get out on her own.