9 Trapped but Prepared

"In other news, a recent Mutant attack has caused mass panic in Iowa, seeing dozens of police officers and civilians sent to the hospital with numerous life-threatening injuries. Reports indicate that it would be a miracle if the casualties do not rise dramatically in the next few days."

Rolling his eyes at the news, Xavier leaned back into his wheelchair as a beautiful, red-haired woman entered the room, holding two plates of food in either hand.

Reaching for the remote, Xavier switched off the TV, smiling happily as she moved across the room, placing the plate of food down in front of him. She meanwhile moved to the other side of the table, taking note of the slight straining to his smile, knowing full well it had something to do with the news.

"Is everything alright, Charles?" She asked, both of them beginning to cut into their food.

Xavier sighed. "You know how to read me well, Amelia." He replied with a slight smile, comforted that she knew him so well. "But no, the news is insistent on sparking Mutant hate across America."

"What happened?" Amelia questioned.

"Two young brothers, teenagers were squatting in a small town on the border of Illinois and Iowa, they were caught by the police and they fought back." Amelia frowned at that, pausing momentarily in her eating before continuing.

"It seems to me that the boys were in the wrong." She responded, Xavier, nodding his head.

"I know, but I have called a few friends of mine for more information about the situation in Iowa and none of the people hurt are suffering from life-threatening injuries and there's certainly no expectation of casualties like they're expecting," Xavier explained, frowning deeply. "Besides a few broken bones, concussions and some bruising, the police and people caught in the crossfire are fine."

"But the news don't intend to report it as such?" It was a rhetorical question, many news media stations like to report the stuff that would get the most attention and most intense reaction.

Mutant hate was becoming a more widespread social movement. People feared what they didn't understand and there was very little known about Mutants besides it being humanity's next step in evolution. However, people were also envious that they weren't Mutants themselves, using whatever reason they could to justify turning their envy into hatred.

Most commonly it was using religion as a means to claim that they were spawns of the Devil.

Even though religion was not as widely spread or believed in as it once was in the past, that didn't change the fact it was still highly influential and a dangerous weapon to be used in the wrong hands. Currently, people were highjacking religion as a means of justifying their hatred of Mutants.

This incident was no different.

Two young teenagers, who like Amelia had pointed out were in the wrong, but Xavier knew that the reason for their actions was due to some past incident that had made them wary and untrusting. It was a common thing for many Mutant attacks.

Mutants, young and old had been attacked by humans, despite having never been violent toward them before. Then, every time they faced hostility or felt threatened, the Mutants then attacked first as a means of self-preservation.

But the narrative painted by the media always portrayed Mutants as cruel and violent individuals and humans as the victims. If things continued like this, then the Mutant Crisis would only get worse until it would be impossible for either side to rectify their differences and come together as one.

His silence had not gone unnoticed, Amelia had been watching him stare at his food deep in thought. "You're thinking of going to see them, aren't you?" She had always known what his intentions were for Mutantkind, the moment they had revealed to one another that they were Mutants they had been much more open with one another since.

She knew that Charles was intending to gather Mutants together in order to battle for the pursuit of peaceful coexistence between Mutants and humans. There were bad eggs on both sides that would not listen unless forced to, but they also need to fight to protect their own kind.

Charles' solution was to bring together a group of Mutants who believed in his vision and would fight for it. A contrast to her own opinion on what Mutants should do, a cause of serious contention between the two that had put a serious strain upon their once strong relationship.

She had met him when he had been taken to a hospital in India where she had been working at the time. It had been part of her giving back to those less fortunate, and escaping from the hotbed of Mutant hate forming in America.

At the time, she only knew that he had been caught in the earthquake that brought down the walled city in Tibet days prior. She later knew that he had been pivotal in instigating the rebellion that took place there, overthrowing the tyrant that had been ruling the city. During that rebellion, a falling block of stone and cement lands upon him, crippling him from the waist down.

There he had been brought into the hospital that she was working in by a black-haired woman who had not given her name, just handing off Charles to the doctors and leaving.

As an American herself, she had been assigned to help tend to Charles, aiding in his slow rehabilitation progress, pushing him to work harder. Though he had not been able to regain function in his lower body despite initial hopes by doctors, Charles had not let that hold him back.

It was that drive which had sparked the beginnings of their relationship, the two moving to Bombay for three months together before eventually returning back to America. Things had been good back then, the two of them deeply in love and happily living their best lives.

But their problems started when she discovered his plans for a Mutant detecting device called Cerebro and the discovery that they were both Mutants. What should have initially begun to bring them together had instead caused a large divide between them both, neither able to agree upon the other views.

"I intend to help them." Charles choose his words carefully, knowing full well what this could dissolve into.

"Recruit them you mean." Despite that though, Amelia saw through him and her words were biting. However, Xavier did not cower, just looking away and continuing to eat silently.

The fact that Amelia didn't even attempt to continue their argument showed just how bad things had gotten. They had gone beyond the point of anger to just, indifference and Xavier didn't know if their relationship was salvageable or if it had gone too far.

-X- Line Break -X-

Escaping the town had been simple with Jack Winters' help, not that Scott had expected any differently. As much as he didn't trust him, nor wanted to agree to his terms, Scott knew that making use of his telepathy was the best way to escape without causing more of a ruckus.

However, that did not mean he had to like it.

He didn't trust Jack Winters, not when he knew the type of man he was and what he no doubt wanted them for. Despite his words, it was not because it was from the good of his heart. Jack saving them was purely selfish, not altruistic.

Scott didn't trust him.

So, when they had headed out of the city and towards the train tracks where they caught a ride, hitchhiking back towards Nebraska, Scott made sure they were in different trailers. Jack's powers of telepathy were weak in comparison to those he knew existed out there, his limits much more clearly defined and exploitable.

It did give him some measure of comfort, but not enough with Alex around and in very real danger still. He needed to move carefully and wait for an opportunity to strike decisively before Jack could figure out what was happening.

But Jack also seemed to be on guard around him as well. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that Scott wouldn't attack him if given a chance, the only reason he didn't do so straight away was because of Alex and the danger Jack posed to him.

However, Jack was not trained properly.

An opening was bound to come about eventually, Jack was going to make a mistake at some point.

So, as Alex slept soundly as the train moved with speed, Scott stayed awake. Eyes focused on the wall separating theirs and Jack's trailers. Despite it being forged of metal, Scott knew that with Jack's unique powers he would be able to break through easily.

Barriers like that became meaningless in the world of heroes and villains. But even in a time like this, Jack would be able to get through it easily.

Scott could not allow himself to rest and leave himself and Alex exposed. Jack was a greedy man, desperate to gain more power and he would not let things go easily. He had his eyes set on them, he would not let them go just as he had his eyes set on his old workplace.

The destination they were heading towards.

It was earlier than in the memories of Cyclops, he had been sixteen when he escaped the State Home for Foundlings and was taken in by Jack, living as a criminal as they prepared for their final big job. It was when Cyclops was seventeen that he met Xavier, who had come to help guide him on the right path and stop Jack.

But unlike Cyclops, he was fifteen and on the way to Nebraska and most importantly, he had Alex with him. A small difference, but little things could have big impacts, that was what his instincts told him.

There was a possibility that Xavier would not be there to neutralise Jack's telepathy. If that happened, Scott would have to tread carefully, the changes his body would undergo when exposed to the isotopes did not worry him.

He knew the limits of diamonds and how much power was needed to destroy them. It would not even require him to fire his Optic Blasts at full power, but it would be better to deal with him before he fully underwent those changes.

For now though, it was all about patience and timing.

So, Scott remained awake, never letting his guard down as he kept a constant gaze upon the wall separating them. Even over the sound of the train moving, Scott could hear movement from the other side; Jack was awake and pacing.

He was nervous, not only about what was to come but also because of them.

The thought made Scott smile. 'Good.' The stress and anxiety Jack felt as they got closer to their destination would only increase the chances of him skipping up. Relying upon Xavier was not what Scott was going to do, he had seen the problems that came because of Cyclops deifying him.

Xavier was a man and he was not perfect, nor could he be everywhere at once. Scott knew that and so, like he had sworn to himself upon leaving the State Home for Foundlings, he would only rely upon himself to protect Alex.

Even if Xavier was not there, Scott would do everything in his power to eliminate Jack and remove a threat to his and Alex's lives.