Drawn to the Lodestone Rock - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 6

"Magnus is alive? And well?" Peter's voice crackled over the video from Muir Isle.

"Yes, little brother, he is here now. He seems to be well. He is suffering from some trauma, but-" Ororo was cut off by Peter's worried barrage of questions.

"Trauma? What sort of trauma? Is he conscious? What is going on?!"

"Peter, please calm down, I can't tell you anything while you're carrying on so."

Peter took a deep breath, "Okay. I'm calm. Now tell me everything!!"

Ororo smiled in spite of herself. "It seems he was in South America. Where we aren't entirely sure. He is suffering from amnesia and a power surge has temporarily undermined his health. He isn't capable of completely controlling his powers just now. I dare say, he isn't capable of completely understanding them either."

Peter's face was contemplative. "How is that possible? The man isn't just a mutant, he's a force of nature."

"I know Peter, it seems unlikely, but it is either true or this is the greatest scam I've ever seen."

"Magnus doesn't scam. No matter what has happened he has always been honest. Brutally so." He paused for a moment. "I don't think it's in his nature to lie."

Ororo didn't reply. The longer she knew Magneto, the less she seemed to know him. She was having a similar problem with Xavier of late.

"Anyway, he's okay."

"Can I speak to him?"

"I don't know if that would be the right thing to do, right now, Peter. He is suffering from amnesia and we don't want to overload him."

Peter obviously didn't like Ororo's decision, but he backed down.

"How is my kitten?" She asked, changing the subject.

Peter's face darkened even more. "She is well. There are ...complications. It is always good to see Katya, though. Even during the worst of times. Kurt has been a stabilizing force for me. He...is a good friend."

Ororo nodded. "Yes, he always was. Peter I will let you know of any developments in Magnus' condition."

"I appreciate that. I should be going now. Thank you for letting me know he was okay."

"Of course, Peter." Ororo clicked the screen off. Once again, Magneto had disrupted their lives. The worst part of it though, was that he hadn't even meant to this time. She didn't know how to react to him. He headed the X-men for a brief period and she had admired his character and his dedication to his vision as well as his willingness to walk a different road.

Recently he was not particularly her favorite person. When Peter left with him to go to Avalon, Ororo had felt as if Magneto had personally insulted her. Now, it wasn't easy to see him in shades of black and white. She realized it was never that easy, she had only wanted it to be so.

"So den the nun says, 'Forget the pickle! Give me the kumquat!!'" Remy was pleased when Eric threw back his head and laughed heartily.

"Good one, LeBeau." He said. "Where did you hear that?"

"A friend in Phoenix told it to me." Remy chuckled lightly at the memory.

<Phoenix -- Phoenix -- Phoenix -- Phoenix> the word echoed in Magnus head. 'I should know that name.'

"Magnus..you all right?" Remy looked at him curiously.

"Who is Phoenix?" Eric asked his brows pulled together. Whatever the connection it felt like it had happened years ago..

"No no no." Remy shook his head. "Not who, where. Phoenix, Arizona."

Eric heaved a sigh. "I know that. But there is a person named Phoenix and I know the name." He looked at Gambit. "Don't I? I'm sure I know it."

Gambit was thinking of how he could possibly get out of relating this story. He could scarcely keep it all straight. Ororo had been there and she could barely keep it straight. "Well, dey call Jean Phoenix."

Eric's head snapped up. "Do they?"

Gambit waved his hands. "Yeah, but, it's real complicated. Let's just say for now, that you had a run in wit' her and leave it at that."

Magnus laughed loudly and got to his feet. "Remy, I have found that just about everything here is complicated."

Gambit had to agree with him on that count. "This takes the cake. Besides, I'm not a storyteller."

A snort was the reply. "This from the man of the 'Kumquat nun?'"

Remy shrugged with a grin.

"Remy's doing WHAT?!" Scott and Ororo's voices clashed together in unison.

Hank winced. "He's chatting with our resident amnesiac archfoe. They seem to be getting along famously."

"Yeah, well, birds of a feather..." Scott muttered. A glare from Ororo came his way, his shoulders lifted slightly but he said nothing to her.

Seeing that this was as much as an apology as she was going to get Ororo turned to Hank. "How did this happen? How could anyone let this happen? You know Remy harbors some resentment towards Magnus because of Rogue. And you also know that Remy is most against the Professor's idea of keeping Magnus in the dark about his past."

"Storm," Hank's voice was firm. "Remy is not going to pick a fight with the man just because he had a brief relationship with Rogue. He's rash but he's not stupid. And anoth--"

"Remy has been through a great deal lately!" Ororo snapped. "He's very distraught over Rogue's leaving and it would seem to me that this would a perfect opportunity to get some sort of satisfaction over what happened. You know he doesn't handle anger very well. And if he took this opportunity, who knows what it might trigger within Magneto. He might regain complete control and decide to decimate Rem---"

"He's telling him the nun joke." Hank said calmly.

"W-what?" Ororo stumbled over her words.

"The nun joke." Hank repeated.

"Are you quite certain?" Ororo narrowed her eyes.

Hank nodded. "I went with them you see. We went to the garage and Remy started working on his bike and then he started telling the joke and I left." He smiled broadly. "I figured it was safe."

Ororo was silent for a moment.

"Oh come on!" Scott said. "It's just a joke! You still don't know if he won't snap."

Storm shook her head. "No no. It's rather odd, but Remy only tells people he feels a connection to this joke. He has a theory about it and his friends. Only people he really likes get to hear it. It's actually quite funny." She smiled slightly.

"I've never heard it." Scott said after a brief silence.

Hank and Ororo looked at each other. There was an awkward silence.

"Oh, so Gambit doesn't connect with me?"

Ororo smiled in spite of herself. "Scott. It's just a joke."

Hank sniggered.

"Whatever." Scott scowled. "Still, don't you think we should keep an eye on them? There is the situation concerning the Professor's instructions. Do we really want to risk the possibility of Remy spilling something?"

Ororo looked at the floor. "Remy may not agree with the Professor in this. And I have to stress that he is NOT alone in his feeling. But, well, Remy keeps secrets. That's what he does. Whether we agree with it or not. He isn't going to tell anything of any importance. I truly believe that."

Scott looked at her. "Maybe you should make certain of that."