September 4, 1974
A group of soldiers moved into Lorna's path. She sensed metal on their belts and flung her hands out. They crashed into opposite walls. Alex was behind her, fighting another group of soldiers. She could see that he was making fast work of them though, and hurried over to Tabby.
Tabby was on the ground, looking around her with shock.
"Are you okay?" Lorna asked, helping her to her feet.
Tabby nodded, her eyes turning to where Sinister had dragged Moira. She took deep breaths and Lorna cursed herself. She should have trained Tabby better, should have taught her to deal with the stress of battle. She should have told her father that they weren't ready, but she had thought that it would just be a reconnaissance mission. She hadn't counted on any actual fighting. Tabby was still young, unused to the type of life that she had picked.
Lorna wondered if she'd known what she was getting herself into.
"Why the hell didn't you move?" Archangel yelled.
Tabby shrank back. Lorna whirled around, pointing her finger at him.
"When I want your input, I'll ask for it," she snapped.
"As much as it pains me, I have to agree with feathers over here," Lance said.
Lorna snarled. Everything she'd heard in the past hour was pounding in her head, her feelings confused. She was not dealing with this on top of everything else.
"You shut up," Lorna said.
"What?" Lance said, "He's right."
Lorna clenched her fists.
"What Boom-Boom did and didn't do isn't your concern as long as she's safe right now," Lorna said, "That's the important thing."
"But Moira isn't!" Cyclops snapped.
Lorna looked over at him. She could see so much of Alex in him, but he still lacked the curious mixture of solidity, responsibility, and determination that Alex carried with him like a shield. No wonder Alex had hidden his torture from him. He wouldn't have been able to deal with it. He wasn't as strong as his brother.
"And I'm sorry about that," Lorna said, "And we're going to work on that, trust me. But I have to look to my team first."
"You're going to work on that?" Cyclops asked, his voice disbelieving.
"Yes," Lorna said.
A strange sense of calm came over her. She rolled her shoulders back and straightened.
"It was a mistake that she was taken, and it was bad," Lorna said, "But we pay for our mistakes. We make up for them."
As the words left her lips her jumbled feelings smoothed out a little and the pounding in her head lessened.
"Why? She's just a human," Lance said.
Lorna glared at him. She felt a strange, burning pressure behind her eyes and she saw a slight green film come over them. Lance took a step back.
"It doesn't matter," Lorna said.
She saw Cyclops and Warren stare at her, saw Tabby's wide eyes and Lance's shock.
"We're going down there," Lorna said.
She looked away from them and saw Alex run towards them. He looked at her strangely. Lorna wondered how much he had heard. The last group of soldiers took aim, preparing to fire. Almost absently Alex sent a bolt of light behind him, sending them to the ground.
Banshee and the rest of the X-men caught up, as well as Toad and Senyaka. Toad waved enthusiastically.
"Hey, Magnetrix, you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said.
She pointed down the tunnel.
"But our target went this way."
Moira could feel Sinister's clammy hand on her arm as she came to. He was pulling her along, her feet barely touching the floor. He was half carrying her, her hand slumped behind her back. She tried to shove his hand off, but she felt his grip tighten. She winced as the pressure bared down on her bone.
"I could break it if you like," Sinister suggested.
She glared at him.
"No?" he said, "Then stop struggling!"
He pulled her further along. Her mind whirred away, trying to figure out what to do. She thought about what she had seen in the cavern. The X-men had been there, and it appeared that Alex and Magnetrix had found their groups. It was good, but Moira couldn't help but feel her heart sink. Charles hadn't been there.
She hoped that he had simply fallen a little behind. She tried not to think about the fact that he was alone any more than necessary. He was strong, but his mind wasn't near hers. They were so close, both somewhere in the building. Moira hoped that he would find her soon or she would find him. How could they miss each other now?
They had missed each other for so long, but now it looked like they had finally found each other. Moira wanted to see him, to tell him that everything would be alright, that she would stay if he wanted her to, that she had never wanted to leave in the first place.
Now the man who was dragging her along the tunnels was going to get in the way of that. It served to make Moira angry, to fill her with frustration. She couldn't get his grip off, couldn't get him to let go, which meant that she would have to find some other method.
Moira looked around, searching for something she could use. The rock tunnels were roughly hewn, but she couldn't see any rocks that she could grab. Moira didn't think that she had the strength necessary to slam him against the wall either. Sinister caught her looking and laughed.
"Don't try anything stupid. As I've already told you, I'm quite aware of your background," he said, "Jumping in to save the Brotherhood girl was rather foolish, although I'll admit that I should have expected that."
He smiled.
"Now, I've already lost most of my data today and all of my promising test subjects," he said, "You are, I'm afraid, a rather poor consolation prize."
"I aim to irritate," she said.
Sinister shook his head.
"You have no idea what I could do to you if you don't cooperate," he said, "I have years of experience of breaking people."
"I thought you said you were a scientist," she said.
"Yes," he said, "Which means that I collect data by any means possible. Now be a good little hostage, shut up, and let me get to work. Do you understand?"
Moira narrowed her eyes.
"You know you're in for a world of pain when the X-men find you," she said.
"Oh, I know,"he said, "But, really, what is pain? Just a flaring of nerves, irrelevant data. And I thought I told you to be quiet."
Moira pursed her lips. Although she wanted to say something, she knew enough by that point in her career not to aggravate the madman who was already a little frantic. Scott had told her a little of why they had been locked away. She needed to be out in the open if she had any chance of a breakout whatsoever.
She watched in silence as he shoved open a door and pushed her through. She clipped her chin on a table and looked up. She was back in his lab. Moira gripped the edge of the table in frustration before turning around.
Sinister had put on his mask and gloves. She clenched her hands into her fists, letting them hang by her side. She wasn't going to be cowed.
"I'm not afraid of you you know," Moira said.
"Yes, you are. Everyone is. Everyone who isn't is stupid, and I don't think you're stupid for all of your other unattractive qualities," Sinister said, "But I do admire that you have the courage to lie about it."
He cocked his head.
"Or are you afraid of me and you just don't want to be? Or are you afraid of something else, something that takes priority to you?" he asked.
Moira tilted her chin up, her heart pounding. Sinister waved a hand.
"Such metaphysical questions are best left to others," he said, "I try to stay firmly rooted in the physical realm. It's easier that way."
"I'll bet," Moira said.
He shook his head.
"Of course you would say that," he said, "The X-men spend so much time in the metaphysical realm it's boggling. Not to mention their strength and endurance, but they're mutants. That makes sense."
Sinister frowned.
"I've long wondered how a mere human manages to keep up with all of that," he said.
He looked at her, obviously waiting for an answer. Moira thought of the X-men, thought of the few soldiers who were left. They would be coming for her. She could stall.
"I like to think that I have hidden talents," she said.
"Please, I need some more data than that," he said.
She crossed her arms.
"You said you were aware of my background," she said.
"Yes, which is why I know that you're trying to stall," Sinister said, "It won't do you much good, but I do want a good answer, or at least something confirmed."
Sinister gestured around him, taking a step towards her. Moira moved behind the table. She wanted something between herself and Sinister, her mind working rapidly.
"Now then," he said, "You're strong. I believe you are, and you're perhaps a decent sample of what a human can do, but I think that there's something else that's helped. I suppose some part of it is teacherly, maternal affection for the students who have grown up into soldiers."
He kept advancing and Moira kept moving back, careful not to back herself into a wall.
"Some of it is obviously your love for your son," Sinister said, "Maternal affection yet again. I can't quite quantify that, but I'll find a way."
Moira saw a table with a few instruments on it. She put her hands to her side, continuing to back up.
"I think that much of it is your devotion to the foolish telepath who leads them," Sinister said, "Love. A silly, sidenote in the universe."
He stopped just as Moira felt something that felt like a glass beaker. There wasn't anything inside of it, which was just as well. Moira didn't want to go around throwing chemicals with no idea of what they were.
"But powerful all the same," Sinister said, "I'll grant you that."
Moira threw the beaker at his face. The glass shattered and Moira bolted for the door. She flung it open just as she felt Sinister grab her arm. Moira threw her head back. She felt something cut her, perhaps some of the glass that had gotten imbedded in his face, and he howled.
She got out of his grasp and made it to the rock tunnel. A hand grabbed her foot and she fell to the floor, scraping her hands and knees. Sinister grabbed her around the throat and dragged her back into the lab, slamming her into the wall.
Moira kicked and struggled, but his grip was iron. She looked at his face: there were glass pieces embedded just above his mask. She punched upwards, driving them deeper into his skin, and he increased the pressure of his grip, lifting her away from the wall and into the air.
"Love is powerful, just like determination," Sinister hissed, "But trust me: my soldiers will keep the X-men busy for quite some time. No one is coming for you."
"You're wrong."
Moira looked over, her mind crying out at the sound of the familiar voice. Charles was in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Sinister.
"I'll always come for her."