Rebekah

Even as the Blackbird sweeps over, we see the figures coming towards us. Beast instantly grabs my arm and sweeps me round so the three of us are back-to-back, creating a triangle.

"Logan, stay in formation. You too Rebekah. We need the others to be able to find us. That means no going after Sabretooth or Isaac."

Logan grunts which Beast obviously takes to mean yes. I snarl and I'm pretty sure I saw him roll his eyes. Then Magneto is standing in front of us, Isaac standing beside him. It's all I can do not to leap at him and leave him bleeding in the snow.I know I must have tensed up because Beast places a warning hand on my shoulder.

"Don't attack. Wait until the X-Men attack. Then run for the Blackbird as fast as you can."

"Isn't that a little stupid? You know, running into the only big bit of metal in this whole stupid ice-sheet, when fighting the Master of Magnetism."

"The Blackbird is made of non-magnetic alloys. You don't think we're that stupid do you?"

"I don't know. You rank with Reed Richards on the stupid genius scale."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you later."

Magneto curls his lips up into a shark-like smile.

"I offered you a position of trust! And this is how you repay me?"

I lean over and whisper to Beast and Wolverine.

"Just wait 'til he joins you. Then you can tease him about this loads."

"Maggie joins us?"

"Yep!"

"Stop talking!"

I turn round and deliberately blow a raspberry in his direction.

"Make me."

I hear Logan snort then Beast mutters along the lines of 'Is she your alternate reality daughter or something?' I blink then try to imagine my dad as Wolverine and burst out laughing. Seriously? My dad is tall, funny and has a PhD in atmospheric physics. Not to mention glasses that were not trendy sometime in the seventies. OK, he has the glacier blue eyes but that's pretty much the only resemblance. Oh, and he's from Southport. So unless fate has some really odd tricks in store, I'm not related to James Howlett in any way. Unless… I mean, a hundred years is a long time to move from Canada to Britain… Note to self, check family tree. But if there are no mutants in my world, then James Howlett would probably have been killed the night his family died.

I'm brought back to reality by Magneto going into a monologue about how we're going to die for insulting him personally by refusing his offer of a new, better world. Do villains really monologue like that? I grin and leap forward, ignoring Beast's shouts. Isaac notices and the next thing I know, ruby light smashes into my chest. Pig! I forgot he copied Cyclops' powers. The fur's been burned and my ribs feel like someone jumped on them. The cold snow makes the burns feel even worse. There's an odd tickling and I smile into the cold snow. I'm healing. Yes, it's slow but it's faster than a normal person would heal. But I stay face down in the snow, knowing red is pooling around me. I hear Beast and Logan shouting and Isaac murmuring something under his breath in shock. I control my breathing and make it look like I'm injured a lot worse than I actually am, as the skin knits together. I hear Logan yell again and then Magneto say something about the metal in his bones. I glance up and see Magneto's foot, right in front of me. I smile then whip out a hand and dig my claws into his ankle. He screams and I dig my fingers in even more. A boot to the face sends me flying and I wince as my sharp teeth cut my tongue. The next thing I know, someone grabs me and then I'm in the Blackbird and Kurt is staring at me.

"Are you insane?"

"What?"

"That! Against Magneto! Do you have a death wish or something!"

I shake my head.

"Don't…remember…"

Kitty's now there.

"Kurt, you gotta stop crowding her! She just got blasted!"

"Because she attacked Magneto!"

I snarl and try to sit up.

"I'm wanna be down there!"

"Calm down…"

"That…traitor!"

"CALM DOWN!"

Then Cyclops is in front of me.

"What happened? Tell me clearly and honestly, what happened."

"Went out. Smelt something. The others smelt it too. We split up. I went with Beast. Heard Isaac scream and went after him. Found Wolverine knocked out. Magneto was there. I attacked him. Then Isaac… Isaac…"

"Tell me."

"ISAAC HIT ME! HE BETRAYED US ALL!"

"It's going to be okay. Just calm down. We've got Beast and Wolverine's just coming. We can go as soon as he's here."

"What about…him?"

"We'll deal with him later. Right now we need to get that injury seen to. I'm sorry. I didn't realise Isaac had copied my optic blasts."

"I did. I should have remembered."

"You understand you'll have to tell us everything now. We can't allow Magneto to have the advantage if Isaac tells him everything."

I gulp.

"Does that include Logan's past?"

"Damn right it does kid."

Isaac

I watched as the Blackbird soared up in the sky. Less than a minute later it was gone. Magneto turned to me.

'You have Cyclop's power?'

I nodded. I could scarcely believe it myself. I had seen Bekah jump towards Magneto in slow-motion. The urge to protect Magneto made an intense heat I'd never felt before build up in my eyes. I felt the heat explode towards Rebekah. I couldn't stop it. I hadn't meant the blast to be so powerful. If it wasn't for Bekah's healing factor she would have been dead. She never told me she had a healing factor! I grinned despite myself. I was getting more powerful all the time. Then I noticed the blood coming out of Magneto's ankle.

'We need to get that seen to,' I said.

Magneto nodded. I put a hand on his shoulder and teleported. It took me three ports to get back to the castley-place. This time I didn't feel sick at all. A mutant I'd never seen before came through the door. She placed her hands on Magneto's ankle and knitted the flesh back together. It didn't stop the pain though. Magneto sat in a chair muttering angrily of what he was going to do to Bekah the next time he met her. I shifted outside. There was a huge expanse of wall. I tried to practice my laser vision but every time I built up the heat within my eyes I couldn't let it out. I told myself to forget about it. I was sure when the need arose I would be able to do it.

On a whim I decided to go out. I felt cooped up with Magneto. When I was at the X-Mansion it always felt like a prison but at least they didn't hit me. I'd basically swapped one prison for another. Enough of this sitting around all day. I was sick of it. I shifted outside. I slipped into slow-time and ran out of the city. As I reached the edge of the city I looked out at the endless sea of snow. I started running. I teleported through the deep parts and ran the rest. I ended up going so fast I couldn't see where I was, although I thought I saw water. A sea. My legs seemed to be taking me somewhere but I wasn't quite sure where. I realized I was going towards the mansion. I stopped at the tree-line and looked out. I felt ill thinking about the consequences of getting caught but I pressed on. I teleported onto the roof and from there inside the house. I was back in my old room. I missed this place. My things were sprawled around the room untouched.

'I might as well,' I thought.

I started to pack all my belongings into a rucksack. After I was done I walked over to the door and put my ear against it. There was no sound. I opened the door quietly. I could vaguely hear talking downstairs. I didn't go down. I remembered what Logan and Xavier had said about disguising your mind and scent. I hoisted the backpack on my shoulders and crept down the hall. There was no one about. I strained to hear any noise and suddenly my hearing increased dramatically.

'It must be Victor and Logan's hearing combined,' I realized.

I could hear the voices quite well now. It was mainly Rebekah's voice. I didn't have time to eavesdrop though. I sped up to Bekah's room and left a note saying I wished things could have ended differently. I sighed and shifted outside. I took a last look at the mansion and turned to speed off.

'Leaving so soon?' A voice called out.

I froze in my tracks. I turned round. Rogue was leaning casually against the wall.

'I was just getting my stuff. There's no crime in that,' I said defensively. Rogue strolled towards me.

She stopped and held my gaze steadily.

'Why'd you leave?' She asked.

'I think that Magneto has the mutants best interests at heart.'

'But what if that means killing humans?'

'I won't do that. I just want the humans to stop hurting innocent mutants.'

'Magneto won't just stop once the humans do. He'll eradicate them. And then he'll kill more mutants than the humans ever did trying to rule the world.'

'Then that will be the time I change sides. Not before. For all the truth your speech may hold, what are the X-men doing apart from helping the same humans who hate you? You guys don't do half as much as Magneto does to help his fellow mutants.' Rogue was silent. A voice called out. It was Kitty.

Rogue turned to me.

'You'd better go.'

'Aren't you going to raise the alarm?' I asked.

'What good would that do?'

'But I'm your enemy now.'

'No you're not. Me and you are more alike than you know...'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You ask a lot of questions. Just go,' Rogue said smiling slightly. I nodded and shifted. Kitty came running round the corner.

'Why are you smiling Rogue?' She asked.

'No reason,' Rogue replied. 'No reason at all.'