X-Men

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  The real Bobby sat in his room, studying, wondering why Rogue had left. Feeling vaguely guilty for not defending her, and hoping she was all right.

  Westchester Train Station

  Cyclops glanced over at Storm as he brought the black SUV to a halt in front of the train station. The black motorcycle Logan had taken was parked there.

  “Let’s hope he’s talking some sense into her,” Storm said.

  “I’m more concerned about keeping Logan out of Magneto’s hands.”

  “Yes, that too,” Storm agreed.

  They headed inside the classic station house. It boasted high, beamed ceilings; massive decorative windows; and a clock tower that could be seen from the tracks and parklike grounds. At least a hundred people were milling about, sitting on the high-backed wooden benches or standing in groups, talking. Cyclops could see a train sitting on the tracks just beyond the building.

  “Split up,” Cyclops said. “You check the ticket counter. I’ll see if I can spot her in the benches, or on the platform outside.”

  Storm nodded as Cyclops turned and headed into the crowd of people.

  Logan leaned back in the train seat and let out a deep breath. Things had changed so fast for him, and for Rogue, it was no wonder she had believed the other student. She had nothing else to believe, no one to trust. Neither did he, really. But there was something about this professor and his people that Logan liked.

  Now he had to get Rogue back there, for her own good.

  “You know,” Logan said, staring up at the ceiling as he talked, “I woke up one day in the woods, in the middle of nowhere. I had no memories, no life.”

  He turned and looked straight at her. She was watching him, listening. He held up his fist, showing her the marks on his hands where his claws were, just below the skin. “I didn’t know where these had come from. All I had was the dreams of pain that wouldn’t let me sleep.”

  She nodded, so he went on.

  “At first I couldn’t live with it. I can’t even show you all the scars from all the times I tried to kill myself, cause they just disappeared. I looked at this power of mine as a curse.”

  Again she nodded, agreeing with him there.

  “When you touched me last night,” he said, going slow and not looking at her, “I felt, for one brief second, death. And right then I realized I didn’t like it. I realized I didn’t want it anymore.”

  A tear was slowly making its way down Rogue’s cheek.

  “I just came to thank you for that.”

  She nodded, saying nothing.

  And there was nothing more he could say.

  Around them a few other people came onto the car and took seats, getting ready for the trip. Logan had no idea where this train was even headed. He doubted Rogue did, either.

  “You think I should go back?” Rogue asked softly.

  “I think you should follow your instincts,” Logan said.

  Slowly, sitting there, arms folded around herself, she began to cry. Soft sobs shook her small frame without making any noise.

  He took his jacket off and carefully wrapped it around her shoulders. She tried to pull away from his touch, even through the leather, but he held her firmly. Finally she gave in and sobbed into his shoulder as he held her.

  After a moment the sobs slowed.

  “There are not many people who will understand what you’re going through, Rogue,” Logan said with uncharacteristic softness. “But I think this guy Xavier is one of them. And he seems to genuinely want to help you. That’s a rare thing for people like us.”

  The train whistle echoed down the platform, and the train slowly jerked into motion. “What do you say?” Logan asked. “We can still get off at the next station, hop a cab, give these geeks one more shot.”

  Rogue was clearly thinking about it, but not yet convinced.

  “Come on,” Logan said. “I’ll take care of you.”

  The words were out of his mouth before he’d even realized he said them.

  Rogue looked up at him, her big eyes full of hope. “You promise?”

  Logan took a deep breath. He actually did feel like taking care of this girl. He wasn’t sure why. Partially, he felt as if he owed her. But mostly it just felt right to care about someone else besides himself for a change.

  “Yeah, I promise,” he said.

  Then he frowned at her.

  “What?”

  “No more heart-to-hearts, though, okay?” Logan said. “I can’t tell you how much I hate this.”

  Rogue laughed, smiling. “Deal.”

  Around them, people were talking and the car was rattling as the train slowly began to gain speed.

  Suddenly everything lurched violently, and the train came to an almost instant stop, as if it had hit something very, very large.

  Logan tried to catch himself, but it happened too fast. He went flying head over heels into the aisle, ending up flat on his back with a man in a business suit sprawled across his legs.

  What the hell had they hit?

  People were screaming and moaning and trying frantically to get to their feet.

  He got out from under the guy and stood up. At a glance he could see that Rogue was all right. She looked as if she’d bumped her head, but she was moving fine.

  The car around them creaked and rocked again, sending more shouts and screams echoing through the air.

  Then the train started backward down the tracks.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Westchester Train Station

  Storm moved through the crowd, ignoring the looks her black X-Men uniform elicited from the people. She was proud to be wearing it, and she hoped that someday everyone would recognize it as a sign of their goodwill and noble intentions.

  For the moment, though, she moved up past three people who were standing in line at the ticket counter. “Excuse me,” she said to them. “Emergency.”

  Then she turned to the ticket agent. “I was wondering if you could help me? I’m looking for a young girl, about seventeen. She’s my height and has brown hair. She may have been upset.”

  The guy in the cage hadn’t looked up at her until she was finished. “Nope, haven’t noticed anyone like that—”

  Suddenly the guy’s eyes went wide with fear, and he quickly stepped back.

  It took Storm an instant to realize that he was looking over her shoulder, not at her. She spun around just in time to come face-to-face with Sabretooth.

  He was wearing a long trench coat to cover his furs, but he still smelled like he’d come right out of a graveyard. Before she could even move, he knocked a young boy aside, then grabbed her around the neck and lifted her off the ground, choking her.

  She couldn’t yell.

  She couldn’t even breathe.

  Around them people backed away.

  “Scream for me,” Sabretooth said. Then he laughed. It was a vicious laugh.

  Suddenly she could feel the professor inside her head.

  Hold on, Storm. Fight! I’m with you.

  She kicked at Sabretooth, smashing her foot right into his midsection.

  One woman screamed, and people started to run as he took Storm and smashed her backward into the glass of the ticket counter. The impact knocked some of the wind out of her, and shattered the glass, but it also loosened Sabretooth’s grip on her neck.

  She took a quick breath before he tightened his grip again.

  This time he held her far enough away that she couldn’t kick him.

  Behind him she saw Cyclops fighting his way through scrambling people. Then she saw Toad jump up on a pillar behind him.

  Try as she might, she couldn’t shout out a warning.

  Toad’s tongue whipped out and snatched away Cyclops’ visor, yanking his head up and back.

  A massive red beam of energy shot out of Cyclops’ eyes, before he could get them closed. Luckily it streaked upward. The beam ripped a hole in the roof of the building.

  “Everyone get back!” he shouted, his voice ca
rrying with authority over all the shouting and yelling. “Storm!”

  Bits of stone and concrete and wood rained down on the crowd, sending people screaming and turning the panic up to a higher pitch. Now people were fighting and climbing over one another to get out of the building.

  Sabretooth just laughed and choked her harder. If he held her like this too much longer he would break her neck.

  Cyclops dropped to the floor, his eyes tight, completely blind. She was, for the moment, going to have to fight alone.

  She reached out for the feeling of the weather around her. A moment later she could feel it bending to her control.

  Lightning.

  She needed lightning.

  She could feel the professor in her mind, helping her, boosting her power.

  Suddenly the lightning was there, and it was in her control.

  She smashed the bolt down between them, bringing it in as close as she could to Sabretooth without touching either him or her.

  The impact of the lightning and the resulting explosion ripped her from his grip and smashed her backward over the ticket counter. She rolled as she had trained to do, time and again in the danger room, and came up hard against a wall.

  Sabretooth flew through the air in the other direction, smashing through the Arrivals/Departures board, shattering it, sending clouds of dust and debris raining down over the remainder of the crowds.

  Storm managed to pull herself to her feet, trying to catch her breath, just in time to watch Toad pick up the stunned Sabretooth and stagger away toward the train platform.

  Cyclops was still on the ground, his eyes closed tight, his face pointed downward to make sure he would injure no one should any stray energy slip free.

  She had no idea what had happened to Logan or Rogue. And the professor was no longer in her mind to tell her.

  The lights had gone out inside the train, and the sound of metal buckling and folding surrounded Rogue. It was so loud it hurt her ears. It was as if a giant was tearing apart the train car.

  People were screaming and trying to shove their way through the doors. She had braced herself between seats, and Logan had done the same in front of her. The smell of burning wires and smoke was starting to choke the car, as well.

  She couldn’t imagine how the train was moving backward. The ground was flat. Clearly something had to be pulling or pushing them.

  Suddenly, with a massive tearing sound, the entire back of the car seemed to rip away. Everyone in the car except Rogue and Logan scrambled to get out the front door.

  As Rogue watched, the figure of a man floated up and stood in the ripped-out area of the car. Rogue knew instantly it must be Magneto. If the professor was right, he was here to take Logan.

  Magneto floated toward them, the car’s metal walls and ceiling rippling like water as he moved.

  Logan stepped into the aisle, his claws out.

  “You must be Wolverine,” Magneto said. “I saw your tags.”

  Before Logan could even say a word, Magneto held up a fist, and Logan just froze.

  Magneto smiled, looking Logan over. “The remarkable metal doesn’t run through your entire body, does it?”

  Magneto opened his hand.

  Logan’s arms and legs spread out like a starfish. The pain was excruciating.

  “I guess it does after all,” Magneto said, laughing.

  “Cute trick,” Logan said.

  Suddenly Logan started to sweat as Magneto pulled his claws out, more and more.

  “Stop it!” Rogue shouted, and started toward Magneto. “Stop it now!”

  “What the hell do you want with me?” Logan demanded.

  “My dear boy,” Magneto said, laughing still, “Whoever said I wanted you?”

  Magneto glanced over at Rogue. His eyes were cold and dark.

  She couldn’t believe it. He was after her! Why? What did she have? What had she done to him?

  “No!” Logan shouted, struggling futilely against the force that held him in its grip.

  Magneto just shook his head and closed his fist.

  Logan flew backward, smashing into the front wall of the train car. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  “What did you do?” Rogue shouted, jumping out into the aisle and running toward Logan.

  Suddenly she felt a sharp stabbing in the back of her neck. Before she could even reach up and touch the syringe that had jabbed her, the blackness swept over her.

  She staggered two more steps and fell short of Logan, facedown on the train floor.

  The last thing she remembered was hearing Magneto laughing, as if from a long, long distance away.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Westchester County, NY

  Jean Grey faded the black Bentley Turbo into the corner, half watching the road, half watching Professor Xavier. The tires screamed and held as she accelerated out of the corner, pushing the car as fast as it and the roads would allow.

  The professor was belted securely into the passenger seat, and his attention clearly wasn’t on her or her driving. She knew it was at the train station, with Cyclops and Storm and Rogue and Logan. She could sense enough to know that the four of them were locked in the fight of their lives.

  She took the next corner just a little too fast, and the rear end swung around, but she recovered without losing any speed. They were still a good ten miles away.

  At this speed that would take them ten minutes.

  Ten minutes too long.

  Westchester Train Station

  Magneto watched as Sabretooth and Toad quickly loaded the unconscious Rogue into the cloth bag and pulled the top closed. That would keep her from touching anyone if she woke up a little sooner than he had planned.

  Logan was still out cold.

  “What shall I do with this piece of garbage?” Sabretooth asked, kicking him.

  “Leave him,” Magneto said. “Bring the girl.”

  Sabretooth growled, kicked Logan once more, then turned to follow.

  They moved as a group across the platform, through the edge of the train station, and out one of the doors that led to the front area. He half expected to see Charles’ two flunkies appear and try again to stop them. Instead what greeted them were at least ten police cars, fanned out in front of them. Their flashers were lighting the shadowy trees and train station with strobes of blue and red.

  At least twenty police officers had their guns drawn and were facing Magneto. Onlookers and the people who had been in the station had been shoved back a good hundred yards, clearing the parklike area in front of the station. Good, Magneto thought, because that was where he had planned to have Mystique land the helicopter.

  “Seems they wanted to say good-bye to us,” he said wryly.

  One cop raised a megaphone. “Put your hands over your heads.”

  Magneto, Toad, and Sabretooth kept walking, with Rogue secure in the bag slung over Sabretooth’s shoulder. Toad still carried Cyclops’ visor, as if it were a trophy. Magneto hadn’t expected this resistance, but it didn’t really matter.

  “I said raise your goddamned hands, asshole!” the cop ordered again.

  Magneto shook his head. It seemed it was time again to teach the poor humans a lesson in manners. And also show them just how powerful mutantkind could be.

  So he did raise his hands, but with them came two of the police cars. The two vehicles flew into the air and smashed back to earth with an impact that shook the ground.

  The cops scattered, all guns still drawn and pointed at Magneto. With his mind Magneto felt the guns, and with a smooth downward snap of his hand he yanked all the guns out of every cop’s hand. They flew toward him, and stopped.

  He then turned the weapons around, still hovering in midair, and held them there, each aimed at a cop’s face. A couple of the cops tried to dodge, but each gun remained with its owner. Pointed right between the eyes.

  “You Homo sapiens and your guns,” Magneto said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “When will you ever lea
rn?”

  He was about to start the lesson when a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. With his mind he maintained control over the floating firearms.

  It was Sabretooth.

  The savage mutant grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. From his new vantage point, Magneto could see Toad moving to help his clawed companion. The grip hurt and he was having trouble breathing, but he knew it wasn’t as tight as it could be.

  “That’s enough, Eric,” Sabretooth said, almost as a growl.

  “Let the cops go!” Toad demanded.

  Magneto knew instantly who his real enemy was. He glanced around, trying to spot Charles, but without any luck.

  “Why not come out where I can see you, Charles?” he said hoarsely.

  Sabretooth gripped his throat even tighter, cutting off his wind for a moment, then relaxing just enough so that he could talk.

  “What do you want her for?” Sabretooth asked, his voice an even lower growl, as if he was trying to fight Xavier’s control.

  Magneto reached up and tapped the side of his helmet. “What’s the matter, Charles? Can’t read my mind? So what now?”

  “The girl?” Xavier asked through Sabretooth. “What do you want her for?”

  “To save the girl,” Magneto said, “you’ll have to kill me. And what will that accomplish, Charles? You’ll let these humans have their way, and they’ll have you in chains with a number burned into your forehead.”

  “It’s not going to be that way,” Xavier responded through his unwilling proxy.

  “Then kill me and find out,” Magneto challenged. He knew Charles wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t who Charles was.

  The seconds ticked past. Sabretooth’s hand didn’t move.

  As Magneto had gambled, Charles would not kill an old friend.

  “Release me,” Magneto demanded.

  Still, Sabretooth’s hand didn’t lighten its grip. It was starting to bite into Magneto’s throat and skin. And his breathing was coming harder and harder.

  “No?” Magneto said. “Then fine.”

  The gunshot echoed over the silent park in front of the old train station.