September 4, 1974
"We're at the city limit?" Lorna asked.
Alex nodded.
"West, right?" Lorna asked.
He nodded again. He stepped out of the Blackbird and gestured to the road ahead of them. Lorna followed the gesture. The vehicles that they had come in were safely hidden fifteen minutes from there. Lorna could see the woods around them. They day before she had thought that they looked like a perfect hiding spot.
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
"We won't even think about calling the police for another thirty minutes," Alex said.
Lorna laughed.
"Wouldn't that be endangering innocent lives?" she asked.
"Good point," Alex said.
Lorna looked at him. Although his uniform was completely zipped up, she could almost feel his scars boring into her. She shifted her feet.
"I'm glad about Mrs. Xavier," she said.
"Me too," Alex said, "Trust me."
"I hope Archangel didn't lose too much blood," Lorna said.
"He'll be fine," Alex said.
Lance came out of the Blackbird, followed closely by Toad, Senyaka, and Tabby. Tabby seemed quiet and withdrawn, her gaze pensive. Lorna wondered if she was going to be alright. She'd talk with her when they had a minute. Now she had a different duty to discharge.
"We going or what?" Lance asked, "Dumb plane gave me leg cramps. Plus, whole place smells like disinfectant."
Lorna rolled her eyes. She wanted to smack him for the last comment: they had been administering antibiotics to the Professor's wife from the moment they left the conference center. Alex narrowed his eyes at the comment, and Lorna cleared her throat.
"You all start without me. I need to talk to Havok," she said.
Lance frowned.
"What about?"he asked.
"Lollipops. Sinister of course," Lorna snapped, "I need to know what they plan to do with him."
"We can wait for you," Toad said.
Lorna tilted her head.
"I appreciate that, but I'll catch up," she said.
Toad gave her an uncertain look. Lorna rolled her eyes again.
"Look, bad comes to worse, they're still standing by a metal plane," she said, "They're not that dumb."
"Okay," Toad said.
He gave her one more uncertain glance before moving on, the rest of her team following him. Alex turned to her.
"Sean has some friends who are good at taking care of this sort of thing," he said, "We'll give him to them."
"Containment?" Lorna asked.
"I'm not exactly comfortable with it, but I don't like the alternative," Alex said, "Besides, it appears we can't kill him even if that was an option. Every time we do that he just pops up again in the worst places."
"I figured you'd have some sort of plan," Lorna said.
"We always do."
"We'll agree to disagree on that one," Lorna said.
"Of course," Alex said.
There was a pause.
"Are you going to try for details or something?" he asked, "Location or anything like that?"
"No," Lorna said, "You probably aren't supposed to tell me."
"I'm not."
"Then I'm right."
She could feel a lump forming in her throat.
"In that case...you might want to catch up with the rest of your team," Alex said.
Lorna didn't move. She breathed in and tried to calm herself.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Alex frowned.
"What for?" he asked.
She reached out hesitantly before pressing her hand to his chest. Alex sighed, but Lorna refused to let him speak.
"This should have never happened," she said.
"Lorna, I told you that I don't blame you," he said, "You're not like them."
Lorna forced a smile. He didn't know how much his words simultaneously healed and hurt her.
"You really do need to tell me how you figured out my name," she said.
Alex shrugged, but Lorna didn't move her hand.
"It wasn't a lot of detective work. Terry asks for you from time to time," he said.
"Of course," Lorna said.
She cleared her throat again.
"I still need to apologize."
"You didn't do anything," Alex said.
"No, but that doesn't change what happened. That doesn't change that I belong to an organization that is rather different than what I thought it was," Lorna said, "Nothing you say can change that."
She took her hand off his chest. Lorna forced herself to look him in the eye though. She owed him that.
"But I can tell you that, as long as I have any say, nothing like what happened to you will ever happen again," Lorna said, "And what happened to Black Tom won't happen again either. His case was different from yours, but the point is still the same."
Alex furrowed his brow and Lorna tilted her chin up.
"For a long time I thought that the only difference between the Brotherhood and the X-men was that you were weak," she said, "But I know now that's not true. I saw you all today. You're not weak, in any sense of the word. The only difference between our groups is that the Brotherhood doesn't have any boundaries, nothing that separates us from the people that we're fighting."
It hurt to admit how wrong she had been about the people she cared about. It hurt to know that her father condoned torture and murder while telling her that he was making the world safe. Lorna had always believed that there were lines that weren't to be crossed, and now it turned out that her family had crossed them behind her back.
"You told me once that we were responsible for the fear that humans have for mutants," Lorna said, "I'm not sure how much of that I believe, but I believe enough to tell you that things have to change."
Alex was staring at her with an unfathomable look, and she continued on. He needed to know.
"I'm going to see what I can do to change what my father is doing," Lorna said, "I know it won't be immediate, and I know it will be difficult, but I'm not going to stand by idly while these things happen. Not anymore."
Lorna clenched her hands once before letting them relax.
"I also want to thank you, because even when I was screaming at you, you didn't need to tell me about what happened. You didn't need to open yourself up to that," Lorna said, "Thank you for telling me what no one else would."
She felt tears in her eyes. Lorna knew she was saying too much, but she also knew it was too late to turn back.
"As much as it hurts to admit it," she said, "you might be the only person who's been completely honest with me in over ten years."
Her words ran out and she looked at Alex. He was still staring at her. Lorna wondered what he was going to do or say, if indeed he was going to do anything at all. She waited uncertainly, hoping that he would at least say something before she left instead of just staring.
He reached out for her shoulders suddenly, pulling himself closer. His lips covered hers and Lorna's eyes widened.
Part of Alex couldn't believe what he was doing. He could hear his thoughts screaming at him to stop, to draw back, but he couldn't. The fact that he had even considered doing something like this meant that it was far, far too late for any seconds guesses.
For a moment her lips froze beneath his and he felt his heart leap up to his throat. Then her lips moved against his, her hands fanning out on his chest. He kissed her back fervently, one of his hands tangling in her hair, the strands standing out against the black of his glvoes.
She filled his senses. Her warmth pressed against him, her skin brushed his. Her taste was filling his lips and tongue, his mind leaving him for a few blissful moments as he took everything in.
His lungs burned and they parted. He continued holding her though, bowing his forehead down so that it touched hers. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her breath against his cheeks, his hand still in her hair.
"We...we shouldn't have done that," Lorna murmured.
"No, we shouldn't have," Alex said, "But I don't give a damn."
Lorna laughed slightly. He felt her shift in her arms. Alex tightened his grip.
"Come with us," he said.
"You know I can't," Lorna said.
"You're not like them. You're more X-man than Brotherhood, we both know that," Alex said, "You don't belong with them."
He was aware how desperate his voice sounded.
"You're right: I'm not like them," Lorna said, "But as for belonging...it's because I'm not like them that I belong."
Alex tilted his head down, allowing himself to see her green eyes staring into his.
"They need someone to tell them that what they're doing is wrong," Lorna said, "They're good people: they just need someone to help them. Someone like me."
"They won't listen," Alex said.
"My father will," Lorna said.
Frustration and dismay welled up inside him.
"He won't," he said.
"Alex, he's my father," Lorna said, "I know him."
"I know him too," Alex said, "And he won't change. The Professor already tried."
"I'm his daughter," Lorna said, "He'll listen to me. I know he will. I know him, I know all of them so much better than you do."
Alex wanted to tell her that she had said the same thing before Mystique had hacked Black Tom to death. However, he knew that it wouldn't do any good. He swallowed.
"Think about what I said," Alex said, "My invitation stands."
"Thank you, but I won't need it," Lorna said.
They stood together for another moment, Alex trying to memorize her. He didn't know when he was going to see her again, or what the circumstances would be.
"I have to go," Lorna said, "And I can't look back."
"I understand," Alex said.
He didn't move. Lorna breathed in. When she spoke her voice was pained.
"You have to let me go," she said.
Alex gritted his teeth and released her. Lorna nodded at him and walked away, pulling her hood up. Alex watched her for a few minutes, struggling with his feelings. When she was a good distance away Alex forced himself to turn towards the Blackbird ramp.
He stopped. Sean was standing at the entrance, gaping at him. Alex cursed inwardly as Sean found his feet and came down the ramp.
"How much did you see?" Alex asked.
"Enough," Sean said.
Neither of them said anything. Alex willed himself not to look back at Lorna, not to make things worse than he knew they already were.
"What was that?" Sean asked.
Alex bit his tongue.
"If you...if that wasn't what I thought it was," Sean said, "And...that wasn't what it looked like, if there was some sort of explanation you wanted to give, then I'd believe it."
Alex knew that he would. Sean was a good friend, a good friend who was giving him a way out. However, Alex could only feel the pain in his chest and a bone-deep weariness settling inside of him.
"It was exactly what it looked like," Alex said.
Sean stared at him.
"Don't you dare say anything," Alex said.
"I'm really going to have to," Sean said, "Alex, do you know what you just did?"
Something snapped.
"Yes, I do know," Alex hissed, "And don't stand there, angry and disappointed. You couldn't possibly be any angrier with me than I am with myself, or more disappointed."
He buried his face in his hands.
"Alex," Sean tried, "She's-"
"Magneto's daughter? Yes, she is. But she's so much more than that," Alex said, "She...the way she looks at things...she's not like them. She's honorable, brave, kind, strong and..."
He trailed off and shook his head.
"It doesn't matter," Alex said.
"It can't," Sean said.
Alex sighed. Sean was worried, and he knew that he had every right to be.
"Don't tell Charles," Alex said, "Or anyone really."
"Alex, you just-" Sean said, his voice strained.
"As I said, I know," Alex said.
"But...one day she's going to take over the Brotherhood," Sean said, "That's what all our intelligence suggests. And Scott's going to take over after you. The two of them will end up fighting."
"And possibly killing each other," Alex said.
He looked at Sean. He knew that his face was strained. It felt like he could barely breathe.
"And you have just hit upon my worst nightmare," Alex said.
Sean stuck his hands in his pockets. He looked off to the side. Alex knew that he was looking at Lorna as she walked away to join the rest of her team. He couldn't bear to follow his friend's gaze though.
After an eternity Sean turned back to him.
"I won't tell," Sean said.
"Thank you," Alex said.
He turned towards the Blackbird, ready to go in. Sean put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"But if you need to talk, I'm here," Sean said.
Alex shook his head.
"Thanks, but this is something I'd rather not talk about," Alex said.
He thought about his scars. Lorna was a scar too now, one that he doubted would ever heal, one that he could never even examine. He sighed and shook Sean's hand off before continuing his walk into the Blackbird.