August 19, 1992
"So how should we go in?" Alex asked.
Scott took his binoculars down. The Institute looked normal. The only unusual thing about it was that all of the lights were on. All of the lights were never on, not even on the first day of school. No one was ever up at the same time during the day. Some students were late sleepers, and others were nocturnal.
The last of the dark was just starting to fade from the sky, so the dark would only last for so long. They needed some sort of cover, and that meant that they would have to move fast to take advantage of it.
The impatience in his brother's voice was obvious. However, the fact that he was asking instead of commanding still meant the world to Scott. Alex had meant it when he'd given him field command of the X-men. He was following Scott's lead, and that made command all the more daunting.
"Three groups," Scott said, "Have a team on the roof, one goes in the back, and the other goes in the front. We should have Emma and Marvel on different teams. We'll need some way to communicate with each other."
"And the third team?" Toad asked.
"We'll have Marvel keep close contact with them," Scott said.
He looked at the company.
"Logan, Havok, Mystique, and Emma should be in the group going in from the front," Scott said, "I'll go in from the back, along with Marvel, Toad, and Lance. Magneto, Storm, and Banshee should take the roof."
He put his binoculars back in his pack.
"Unless you have any objections Magneto?" he asked.
It was a courtesy question, but one he knew he had to ask. His brother snorted. Scott had hoped that he'd have his brother's cooperation when it came to Magneto. He'd worked with him in the past. Some wounds ran too deep for a temporary patch though.
"It will work fine," Magneto said, "Just keep in contact at all times. If you find any prisoners, alert me."
Scott nodded.
"Everyone get ready," he said, "We should all enter separately, you'll get a message from Marvel when it's time to move in. We'll make sure to move as one unit."
"The roof team should split off now," Magneto said, "And the other two should stay together for a while."
There was logic to what he said. Scott nodded and peeled away, heading into the woods. There was a path there that ran along the outside of the Institute. Night was no longer on their side, and they would have to be careful.
"Hey, one-eye."
Scott rubbed his temples. Logan was speaking in low tones, but Scott wished that he wouldn't bother him. Not now.
"What Logan?" he asked.
"Somethin I need ta know," he said.
Scott sighed.
"What?" he asked.
"The green haired girl," Logan said, "Lorna or whatever her name is. She Mags's daughter?"
Scott froze.
"I'm not stupid," Logan said, "Don't think I haven't noticed that there're two other people runnin around here controllin metal. An I saw Max tonight when he was fightin that thing with wings that killed that woman. He didn't look like a Summers then. He looked like someone else."
Scott couldn't help himself. He laughed quietly.
"Logan, you assume a lot about my family," he said, "You probably think we're all boy scouts because we're not willing to kill, because we consider it the last option, and a bad one at that. Don't think we won't, and don't think we haven't. We didn't get where we are by doing nothing."
He cracked his neck.
"As for anything you have to say about my sister-in-law or my nephew," Scott said, "now really isn't the time or the place. The time might've been before now, but it's not like it's information that you actually need."
"Might help me understand why the hell Mags is actin the way he his," Logan said.
His voice was irritated. Scott didn't want to dignify him with an answer.
"So, Lorna," Logan asked, "He her father?"
"Yes and no."
Alex drew level with them, his eyes cold.
"Yes, her biological father is Erik Lensherr," Alex said, his voice low, "Yes, she was raised by him since she was eleven. In that sense, she's his daughter."
His eyes became, if possible, even colder.
"Is she really his daughter though?" Alex said, "After he threw her out when she realized there was a better way to live, a better way to fight for what she believed in? After she decided that she loved me? He cut off all contact with her, said he didn't have a daughter. God knows she tried to still talk to him every now and then, but every damn time she tried it ended in heartbreak for her."
Alex met Logan's eyes.
"Why do you think this will help you predict what Magneto does?" he asked, "He uses people. When he's done with them, when they don't serve their purpose anymore, he throws them away."
Logan stared at Alex for a moment.
"He ran into a burning part of the building ta try ta get ta her tonight," he said, "All I've seen o him, when it comes ta her, is him tryin ta help."
Alex's face lost some of his frigidity.
"Then maybe he has some of his soul left," Alex said, "but not enough to count on."
He straightened his uniform's gloves as they approached the back of the school. The other team separated from them. Logan gave Alex a strange look as he brushed past them and headed to the front of the group.
"You're brother's not what I expected," Logan said.
"I told you, you don't know much about my family," Scott said.
"Apparently," Logan said.
He turned around and took off after the other group. Jean looked back at Scott.
What was that about? she thought.
Just clarifying some things, Scott said, Nothing to worry about.
They moved behind a few trees. The back of the school was in plain sight now.
Are the other groups in place? Scott asked.
Jean put her hands on either side of her head.
Yes, she thought.
Good, Scott thought, Let's head in.
"They should take older people soon," Kurt said, "I want you to go with them. You should be safe with Hank and his family."
"And you?" Amanda asked, "When are you coming?"
"Probably with one of the last groups," Kurt said, "I know that I'll be teleporting at least one group out. I'm not sure I'm up to any more."
Amanda nodded and twined her hand with his.
"Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?" she asked.
He rested his arm on his knee.
"I have no clue what happened earlier," Kurt said, "The Brotherhood...their expressions...it was like they were seeing a ghost."
Amanda didn't say anything, no doubt waiting for him to clarify. He thought back to when he was younger, the one time he had flipped through the X-man's dossier on the Brotherhood. The man who looked like a demon stared up at him, and Kurt had slammed the book shut.
Part of him wished that he'd read more. The other part of him was perfectly happy with the decision that he'd made.
"I don't know," Kurt said.
Amanda squeezed his hand tighter.
"It's probably nothing," she said.
"Probably," Kurt agreed.
He knew just how uncertain he sounded. Amanda yawned next to him.
"Try to get some shut eye," he said, "I'll be back in a bit. My brother shouldn't be too far away."
Amanda nodded reluctantly. She was too tired to argue. He kissed her forehead before getting up and stepping out of the tent. He saw David walking towards the other end of the camp, Max and Luna in tow.
Kurt teleported over to them. Max started, but David just smiled.
"You might want to save that," he said, "You're going to have to start teleporting soon."
"I know," Kurt said, "I just wanted to talk to you about something."
"What about?" David asked.
Kurt put his hands in his pockets.
"Something private," he said.
Fear flickered across his brother's face. A moment later the flicker was gone and David made a gesture to Max.
"You know where the zone is," he said, "You can make it there by yourself, right?"
"Right," Max said.
He gave Kurt a curious look before pulling his sister with him. She gazed at Kurt.
"You don't need to be so scared," she said.
Kurt's eyes widened, wanting to ask her what she meant. Max was still pulling her away though. David shrugged.
"Max tells me she's been saying some weird things tonight," he said, "She's probably still out of it after...you know."
"Yeah," Kurt said.
He cleared his throat.
"David...why was the Brotherhood staring at me like that?" he asked.
David cocked his head.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"One of them called me Zaz David," Kurt said, "What does that mean?"
David shifted his feet, not breaking eye contact but not looking comfortable either. Kurt had the feeling he was going to give him an evasive answer of some kind. David was training to be a lawyer, and Kurt knew that he was good at bending the truth.
"Why would I know?" David said.
"Because you know a lot about the Brotherhood," Kurt said, "I remember you pouring through those dossiers for hours when we were younger."
David moved his lips a little. Kurt knew that meant his brother was biting the inside of his cheek.
"David, I know you know," Kurt said.
For a moment time slowed. David was looking at him, searching for something. Kurt wondered what it was that he saw. He knew that he could be silly at times. Kurt knew that, compared to others, he was probably naïve and overly optimistic. He was the contemplative, thoughtful one. Kurt wasn't cynical like David.
He hoped that wasn't all David thought of him.
"I think that there are some questions that have answers that only hurt people," David said at last, "Answers that aren't good, that don't have any real bearing on what's going on. They're superficial because the people in question have gone far beyond the answers. All that's left is to cause pain."
Kurt closed his eyes.
"You think that this is one of those questions, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes," David said.
Kurt opened his eyes again. He felt desperate.
"David," Kurt said, "I...I'm not blind. I know that Mystique looks a lot like me-"
"Mutations get repeated all the time," David said.
He spoke quickly, and Kurt's heart sank.
"David," he said.
His voice came out soft and sad. David took a deep breath.
"Kurt, if you want to know more about...things," David said, "Then I'll help. I'll always help you."
He breathed in again.
"But I think you already know all you need to know," David said, "And I think that you know what you want to know."
He raised one of his hands. In the dim light of the rising sun Kurt could make out the scar across his palm. Kurt raised his own hand. In his blue skin, there was an identical scar, one that had never healed just right.
"Blood brothers," David said.
"Blood brothers," Kurt agreed.
He lowered his hand.
"Thanks David," he said.
"Don't thank me just yet," David said, "We've still got tonight to get through."
"I know, but thanks anyway," Kurt said.
David laughed, just as a scream broke out from the other side of the camp.
