Chapter 6: Ignorance is Bliss

We all made a point of not mentioning the purple bruise on the side of Scott's face the next day at breakfast.

I pulled my scone apart, setting the chocolate chunks to one side like I always did. Scott took a gulp of orange juice and winced.

"What happened?" Alex asked, then his eyes widened. "Where's Jean?"

Ororo's head snapped up. When she saw Jean's empty seat her eyebrows drew together. "Is she alright, Scott?"

He got up and set his plate in the sink. "I'm going out. Call me if anything important happens."

The door shut behind him.

"Vait, he means ozar zen his verlobte* not coming down. Last time she vas sick… and remember ze accident vith Cerebro? Ze one aftar ze Professor's? Somzing is not right." Kurt muttered.

Emma shifted uncomfortably.

…and that was about when it all clicked.

Of course, I had just taken a sip of cranberry juice. I sprayed red droplets across the table cloth, then got up and bolted out of the room.

Ororo went after me. "Caitlyn, what's wrong?"

I dropped my head into my hands. "I think I have few new mental scars… Sorry, ah, well— I can't explain it."

She gave me a concerned look. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I nodded. "I'm just- I'm going to talk to Hank, see how's he's doing on that plane. Didn't he say he'd be done soon?"

"You are a terrible liar." She sighed, "Go ahead and talk to Hank."

I gave her a forced smile and scurried down the stairs to the hangar. After our meeting, Hank had somehow gotten hold of a commercial sized plane and started remodeling it. I still wasn't clear on where he had bought the darn thing.

"Hey, Hank."

Hank was hanging by his feet from one of the wings, tinkering. "Hello Cait, what do you think?"

I shrugged. "I know nothing about planes."

He dropped to the ground and fixed his spectacles. "She's almost done. But there are some safety features I can't add until we see the base. Do you know where Scott is?"

I turned and pretended to bang my head into the wall. "He said he was going out and to call him if anything important happens."

"What about Jean?"

This time I really did bang my head into the wall.

"Caitlyn, what is going on?"

"Jean left. I think- never mind, it's ridiculous. Anyway, Scott should be back soon, you could talk to him then."

Hank nodded and went back to work on the plane.

It was late afternoon when a rain soaked Scott clomped back into the school. He barely responded when Hank asked him about a scouting run. Then he went up to the teachers' wing and stayed there.

~OoOoO~

At about eleven o'clock at night, I got up, and snuck down the hall, careful not to wake Remy up.

When I saw Emma's door open, I ducked behind a potted plant, moving the fronds with a quick thought.

A laughing, half dressed Scott walked into the hall, shirt tucked under one arm. Emma snaked an arm around his neck and kissed him. I looked away.

A moment later, the door clicked shut. I glanced up in time to see Scott walking toward me. I took a half step out from behind the plant. Scott stopped dead.

I raised an eyebrow. "How long?"

"What are-?"

"Don't play idiot. How long have you been with Emma? I'm guessing that was why Jean slapped you."

He glared at me. "This is none of your business. We were over before Emma even showed up. Jean had no right getting angry and-"

"None of my business? Scott, I may not have liked Jean, but that doesn't mean I'm happy that we're missing a fighter."

"So I'm not allowed to do anything that will make my ex unhappy? She ended it!"

"Of course you are, but you really could have handled it better. You know what, I don't care. Do whatever you want, I'm going back to sleep."

~OoOoO~

Hank glanced at the map again, "If this is right, the base should be right over there."

"It's right, I got it from the pilot." Emma muttered.

Out tiny plane rose just above the tops of the Rockies and we our first sight of Base 14. Kurt started prayer in German, Scott swore, I gasped, Ororo turned ashy. Remy just stared mutely.

Base 14 was set deep into the side of one of the mountains with a runway sprawling out in front of it. Watchtowers with cameras were everywhere and heavily armed guards stood at intervals in the yard. We could see the electrified, barbed wire fence from here.

As we watched, the cliff doors opened and a line of prisoners jogged out into the bright sun. One of them stumbled and a foot touched the ground next to the path for half a second. There was a bright flash, and what was left of the mutant dropped to the ground.

It was Emma who voiced what we had all been thinking.

"How are we going to get past that?"

A/N: I know it's kind of short… but they saw the base! And how the bloody heck are they going to get past the land mine-things?

Next chapter, my dear readers, next chapter

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