The Companion Picture - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 12/03/2009 06:26:08 PM

Chapter 22

Sam Guthrie paced the hallway in front of Xavier's memorabilia room. He had visited that room with all of its memories on several occasions, lingering over the pictures of Doug Ramsey and Illyana Rasputin.

Lately, he had been lingering over the pictures of Magnus. After the former Headmaster had left Sam found himself wondering how he should feel about it all.

There were many in the mansion who didn't understand. They were accustomed to Magneto being an enemy. Sam was inclined to view the man with regard, respect and even affection.

He continued to pace.

"Sam?"

He stopped, looking up. Ororo lounged in the doorway, regarding him with a mixture of concern and humor.

"Hi," Sam partially waved and turned back to the old school portrait he paused at more often than not.

Ororo was not deterred. "You are in here quite frequently of late," she remarked, pausing at the group shot of the X-Men depicting her in leather and a mohawk.

"Ah s'pose," Sam wasn't in the mood to be talkative. He looked sideways at Ororo. Maybe he was. "Storm?"

She looked at him pleasantly, an open expression on her face.

"You worked with Magneto," he began.

She nodded, "Briefly."

"What did you think of him?"

Ororo turned back to the photo she had paused at. "I think he made a very real and very honest effort to try Charles' way. I admire him for that if nothing else."

Sam wasn't satisfied. "Is that all?"

Ororo smiled as she turned and looked at Sam again, "What do *you* think of him, Sam?"

He stared hard at the picture. "Ah learned a great deal from him. More than Ah ever would have if it had only been the Professor here."

Ororo nodded. "One teacher, even a man as knowledgeable as Charles, can only teach so much. You have had three such teachers, I imagine you have learned a great deal."

"The Professor was one extreme, Magnus was the other, and Cable seemed to be somewhere in between," Sam shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh.

"Do you find yourself preferring one way over the others?" Ororo had to admit to being curious about Sam's opinion. She wavered in her own.

"Ah think all three have their merits, but Ah also think that we need to take stock and see where our work has gotten us," Sam's voice took on an authoritative tone. "Ah mean, we've been fighting for how long? And things are worse now than they ever were!"

"Worse?" Ororo mused as she sat down next to Sam. "I don't know if I agree with that. I have seen many instances that give me hope that our dream can come true."

"Ah don't know if Ah *have* that dream, Storm," Sam confided. "Ah don't know if Ah agree with this peaceful cohabitation riff that the X-Men supposedly stand for. All Ah want is to make it safer for the ones that come after us."

"Is that not a dream in itself?"

Sam shrugged, "It could be. Who knows? All Ah see is Graydon Creed getting more popular every day. And why? Because he's promising to people that he's going to keep them safe. From us, Ah guess. From mutants. He's an idiot. He's promising to keep people safe from evolution and people are buying it. It's times like this that Ah agree with what Magnus has said."

"Is that so?"

Sam looked at Ororo, "He's lived through one kind of holocaust, it doesn't look as though anyone has learned anything."

"Does that mean we give up our own ideals?"

Ororo asked.

There was a pause before Sam spoke again. "You're friends with Gambit."

Ororo's smiled briefly, "Yes."

"Do you think he's doin' all right with Magneto?"

<Good question,> Ororo thought. "In my experience, I have found that Remy usually knows what is best for Remy."

"Ah've gathered he's not real popular 'round here," Sam didn't mention that that was the reason he was most likely to approve of the man.

"I can only speak for myself as far as Remy is concerned," Ororo answered. "But I certainly have no questions as to his loyalty. He has more than proven himself to me."

"Wasn't he a thief once?"

Ororo was silent for a few moments. "If you look at our numbers, you will find very few of us have remained on the 'good side' for all of our lives. Yes, Remy was a thief, I would guess that if you asked him he would say he still is, but I was also a thief. You, yourself, Sam, were once on the wrong side of the law, such as it is."

"Ah know, Ah'd rather have had that experience than not." He looked up at the ceiling and heaved a sigh, "Ever since Ah graduated up to the X-Men, Ah've been second-guessing myself."

Ororo leaned against the table, "Why?"

"We did things different with X-Force."

She nodded, "Many things have changed. I remember when we were based in Australia, we also handled things differently." Storm ran her fingers through her hair. "When I returned, I too, second-guessed myself."

"Ah'm tired of it, Ah know how to handle myself in a crisis, but you know what Ah keep doing? Ah keep asking myself what would the Professor think of my actions? Or what would Scott think? Is that stupid or what?"

Ororo laughed, "Give yourself time, Sam. I am certain that your high expectations will fade once you have really and truly lived with us for a time. You don't look at Hank quite the same way after you have had to deal with his clogging the drain in the showers. Or when you have gone to get a drink from the refridgerator and accidentally taken one of his 'cultures'." Ororo shuddered. Sam laughed.

"I have a feeling that you will most certainly open our eyes to possibilities that we have not previously thought of."

"The squad we sent has disappeared, Sir." James Granger steepled his fingers. "Is that so?"

The other man nodded.

"Do you have more details, Kastanek, or are you going to make me guess?"

Kastanek swallowed, slightly nervous. He hadn't liked the radio silence that he had received from the squad that he sent to New Mexico. He liked even less the rather eerie scene he had found when he had gone to investigate. "There's nothing there, Sir."

"What do you mean there's nothing there?" Granger leaned forward, frowning. "We get a report that a Class A X-Factor operative has gone rogue and you can't find anything?"

"That's right, Sir. We sent a covert squad to New Mexico just like you said. The last report we got from them was that they had Polaris on their scanners and they were going in. We haven't heard anything since. We went to check the scene and there is nothing there."

Granger sat back again, letting the words from Kastanek sink in. "Are the coordinates correct?"

"Yes Sir," Kastanek opened a folder. "We double-checked them and we even have these satellite pictures of the area two days before the incident." He slid several photographs across the desk.

Granger looked at the photographs idly. They depicted the desert, there was enough of it, but a two-lane road and a residence as well.

"We had the satellite take some pictures after we lost contact," Kastanek continued. "After we got the results we went and checked the location ourselves. The coordinates are correct in the photograph, you can see the same geographical features, but, well, see for yourself, Sir."

Granger took the photographs and looked at them. He compared them to the others and found that the geography of the area was the same, but the road and the house were gone. It looked like a simple desert-scape. His lips tightened and he looked back at Kastanek.

"The actual location is even stranger, Sir," Kastanek went on. "There's nothing there. No indication that Polaris was there, no indication of our squad. We had specific readings on their last radio comm-link and there is nothing there."

Granger pushed photographs back to Kastanek, "File that under Confidential B-344PY. I also want you to write up a press release. When it is finished bring it to me, I don't want anything out in public just yet. If we have a Class A X-Factor operative gone rogue we have a great deal to consider. You have your orders."

"He always made me think," Sam continued. Ororo's eyebrows lifted questioningly.

"Magneto."

"Ah," she nodded. "He had a talent there. I often found myself question our motives after our battles with Magneto. When he took over here, I found myself deferring to him. Something I never expected of myself."

"Why did you?"

"Because he seemed to know everything," Ororo sat down and propped her chin on her hands. "I felt dwarfed by his experience." She smiled at Sam. "So you see, you aren't the only one who has second-guessed themselves."

"Do you agree with the Professor?" Sam looked up at the larger portraits on the walls.

Charles and Magnus were the most prominent.

"Certainly not on all things," Ororo conceded. "I admit there have been several instances where I have been very angry with his methods. I have also been very disappointed in some of his intentions. I have also allowed myself to be swayed by him against my better judgment. And I admit to having doubted him."

Sam snapped his head towards her, "Doubted how?"

"Thinking that, perhaps, the world's greatest mind might be more than a little tempted to subtly influence those around him."

"The burden of leadership," Sam remarked quietly. "There's that 'power corrupts' idea, and there's a lot of truth to it. Ah know Ah've been pretty steamed sometimes when someone else has come up with a better idea than me. Ah know Terry used to get furious with me when Ah chose someone else to take point instead a'her." He was quiet for several moments. "Ah've wondered about the Professor myself. With Cable, you didn't have to question his motives so much. He kept a lot of it secret, but he wasn't really what you called subtle."

"How do you mean?"

"Standing up for yourself and challenging his ideas kind of reminded me of those nature documentaries where the elk or the ram are butting heads over who gets the herd." Sam clasped his hands behind his head. "What you got from him was what you got. Ah'd be lyin' if Ah said Ah never wondered what the Professor was up to at times."

"Oh the burden of being a telepath," a cheerful voice came from the doorway.

Ororo smiled, "Hello Jean."

Jean entered the room and went to the pictures. She briefly touched an early photo of herself with the original five X-men. Then she turned to Sam, "I know it's just a matter of time before you start taking control of everything, Sam." Jean smiled. "I have to admit to a great deal of curiosity regarding you."

Sam looked at Jean, eyes narrowed. "Why's that?"

"Well, Nathan is very dear to me for obvious reasons."

Sam nodded, understanding. One of the oddest things he had heard of since he discovered he was immortal was the news that Cable was Scott's son from the future. He also knew that though Jean wasn't the birth mother it was her genes that were used to clone Madelyne Pryor and -- Sam clipped the memory off immediately. If he thought about Inferno he would think about Illyana and then he would think about Doug and he just didn't want to walk that road at the moment.

Jean let out a heavy sigh, "You know, I thought Cable was the most obnoxious man I had ever met at the beginning. When things started falling together, when Stryfe captured Scott and I and raved about how we had failed him. When we found out that Nathan was our son instead of Stryfe, all of these things changed."

Sam raised an eyebrow at her.

"Knowing what I know now about Nathan, I am very excited to see how he has taught. I am very interested in seeing how you resolve the teachings of Charles, Magnus and Nathan." Jean looked at Sam seriously, "I think you have the most to offer us." Jean cocked her head, "You haven't been holding out on us, have you, Sam?"

Sam grinned, he *was* being rediculous. There were plenty of things he had dealt with that the X-Men never had. They had never worked closely with a demon sorceress. They had never been taught be Magneto. They had never fought with the Externals. Sam looked at Jean and Storm, "Not anymore."

Ororo and Jean left Sam shortly after. He continued looking at the old pictures. His own doubts as to his place on the team were answered, this much he knew. But his questions regarding the return of Magneto were still unanswered. Sam lamented to himself that if one thing was certain it was that he would never know quite what to think of his old headmaster.

James Granger sat at his desk reviewing the press release that Kastanek had given him. <Polaris has been on the wrong side before,> he thought. <She worked with a mercenary group of mutant assasins for a time. It *is* possible that she has gone rogue again, but she hasn't given any indication of it in recent months.> He tapped his fingers on his desk.

<She would have been very useful to us,> he got up and looked out the window. <She is a source of considerable power, mostly untapped. Granted, I'd rather have Havok, but no one seems to know where he has gone.> He looked back at the desk and the affidavits on each member of X-Factor. <Odd, that a team that seemed quite stable is suddenly falling apart. Perhaps a visit to Forge's headquarters is warranted.>

Granger again sat at his desk and hit the intercom. "Kastanek?"

"Sir?" came the reply.

"Prepare your team, we're shutting down X-Factor."