THE ILLUSIONIST WOMAN

four. Crimes Against Humanity

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THE AIR CONDITIONING BLEW harshly against Ximena's face as she got herself situated in Scott's car. They were on the run and she had no shoes, was wearing shorts and a loose hoodie. She could feel the dried blood on her face, speckled and most likely disturbing. Some was hers from healed scratches but most were from her opponents. It wasn't conventional in any sense but she made due with what she had.

Taking down her half-assed pony tail, she fluffed her hair out before throwing it back up neatly. She could feel Logan's eyes on her, glancing every now and again. "Aye, eyes on the road." She chided, readjusting her shorts to come down her exposed thighs a little more.

"Gross," john muttered with a grimace, staring out the window with a downturned scowl. Bobby nudged him with his elbows jokingly, snorting in amusement. "What the hell was that back there?"

Logan clenched his jaw, stepping on the gas as the tires screeched. "Stryker. His name is Stryker."

"He's who we've been looking for?" Ximena eyed him, frowning subtly. She wanted to reach out to him, touch his hand to show she was here although her presence was apparent. However, she didn't know how to approach Logan lately. She was able to get to him earlier, but this was still a sensitive subject.

He shook his head once, conflicted. "I can't remember."

"Where are we going?" Marie asked, popping her head between the two front seats.

Ximena shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. "I don't know. I would say my house, but there are people there who could be put in the line of fire if we're made." Logan nodded in agreement, remembering her safe house they visited while searching for answers this passed year.

Adora and her little girl, Catalina we're great along with everyone else. They weren't any of his friends personally, but somehow he still felt a certain obligation to look out for Ximena's friends.

She flicked a certain switch on Scott's dashboard, satisfied when the CD player slid open to reveal a hidden compartment.

"What's that?" Logan grabbed for the communicator in the dash board, flipping it around in his hand with confusion drawing his brows together.

"A way to get help," Ximena muttered, taking it from his hand to dial it correctly. She held it to her ear and grumbled when she got no response. "Jean and Ororo must be away from the jet. They're in Boston, we'll have to find somewhere to stay to keep under the radar."

"We'll head that way," Logan nodded in agreement, taking the appropriate turn down the road.

Bobby grimaced, casting his eyes down as Logan eyed him in the rearview. "My parents live in Boston."

"Good."

...

XIMENA SHUFFLED HER FEET in the pair of boots Bobby had loaned her. Luckily for her, his mother was the same size. She made a mental note to pay her back for them, or even find a better replacement. It felt weird wearing someone else's shoes, being in someone else's house when they weren't home. She felt like she was imposing.

Walking out the main bedroom, she passed John on the way, lightly touching his shoulder as a form of comfort. These teens didn't ask for this and Ximena wanted to know what the hell was going on so she could help them get out of it. Innocent people being hunted pissed her off, she knew from experience.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ximena scolded as she witnessed Logan raiding Bobby's fridge for a beer in the kitchen. She rolled her cocoa eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Getting a beer," He muttered, snapping off the cap before taking a swig. The sigh of satisfaction that left his lips only annoyed her further.

"Class act." She chided sarcastically. Ximena moved to lean against the counter adjacent from him, listening to the communicator every now and again for a response or a connection. "Still no answer..."

Logan surveyed her furrowed brows and agitated expression. The scrunched on her nose and the heaviness of her shoulder like she had the weight of the world toppling on them. Stepping closer into her personal space, he tilted his head to the side curiously. "What's got you so wound up?"

Ximena scoffed, "A lot of everything right now. If I'm honest, one of them is you so..."

"What'd I do?" Logan protested with a scowl, leaning back as she rolled her eyes.

"It's what you haven't done or what you won't do, and don't act estúpido. You know what I'm talking about." Setting the communicator aside, she finally met his intense gaze with a guarded one of her own, profiling one another. "Something's different with us – with you. You're distancing yourself from me, why?"

He made an unintelligible sound in the back of his throat, scratching at his bearded face in frustration. "You're better off without me. I just thought I'd let you off easy."

That statement made Ximena laugh because it was complete bullshit. She covered her mouth to stifle the sound, her mood humorless despite the joyous action. "You're so full of shit. Don't act like cutting me off will benefit anyone but yourself. I get it, you're a lone wolf, you deal with things by yourself. But at least have the balls to tell the truth instead of making dumb excuses after leading me on for two years."

Ximena turned her back to him to find a plastic cup for some water. Opening the cupboards with success as reached for the stack of red solo cups with difficulty. She pressed on the tips of the boots for leverage, glaring at the stupid cabinet for being positioned so high.

A sudden warmth covered her back, shadowing over her. The intimacy made her lower stomach swirl with unbridled, stinging sparks. For a second, Ximena was reminded of her nightmare. With the strange man harshly whispering in her ear, coaxing her to slide the quarter into the jute box.

However, when Logan's arm reached over her shoulder to grasp the cups in his hand, her emotions flipped on their head. His face sliding passed her head as his lower body aligned with her back side snuggly. It brought on flashes of their passionate and intimate encounters. Made her lose her breath. His left hand slowly wrapped around her waist in a sickening caress, securing his solid frame to her. Ximena gritted her teeth, taking the cups from his hand and spinning to face him once more before he could arrest her senses any longer. Logan's eyes were smoldering. Disarming in the way that bewitched her, she hated it.

"Thanks," She muttered begrudgingly, staring between his hazel eyes as they darkened in color. Her lips pursing with caution.

"I don't do commitment, Mena." His voice had lowered as he meandered closer, squeezing her hip as he towered over her. He regarded her with such flippancy. Recklessness that anchored solely on his affections for this one Illusion Woman. His laborious breathing deepened and so did his longing for her. In her presence, Logan often felt like he was on the edge of a bottomless chasm. Always looking in but never getting close enough to take the plunge.

It was infuriating; tempting him like the first smell of nicotine for a smoking addict. He knew he needed her, but he was in denial. The catch twenty-two of it all was they were both impossibly stubborn.

Ximena raised her chin in defiance, lowering her lids in a subjecting squint. "And I do, so I guess we're at an impasse."

"Is that what you want?" Logan wanted to object, his eyebrows furrowing in displeasure. It made no sense whatsoever to Ximena. At first, he was pushing her away for distance, and the next second she decides to leave him alone, he starts throwing a fit.

The childishness of it all made her scoff, "That's obviously what you want. If you don't want me, I'm not going to beg for you and I'm certainly not going to wait around until you decide to change your mind. We're adults... Let's just leave it." The edge to her tone drove him crazy and the mindless circling of his thumb on the waistband of her hip was sending her head first into insanity.

"Mena --" She stood on her tip toes and gave him a chaste kiss at the corner of his downturned mouth. It was meant to be a parting kiss, a goodbye. It was short, but the feeling lingered like a wasp sting and Logan couldn't help himself with the way she was looking at him right now.

His grip was harsh in the way it twisted into her ponytail. His lips were rough as they slanted over her own in an open mouth ravage of her coherent senses. Logan kissed her like he wanted her. Like he didn't want to let her go. It was dizzying, all encompassing and damn well confusing for Ximena. She had no choice but to hang onto his forearms as his facial hair scratched her cheeks and his nose affectionately bumped her in tandem with his seductive bites to her bottom lip.

As soon as she was slipping from his clutches, he had to stake another claim on her soul. A branding iron. The thought of her with someone else only fueled his desire to please her, to keep her. Logan had never been so intoxicated in his many lifetimes. He was sure it was unearthly, the way she could control him.

His hand roamed under her ass as he lifted her onto the counter, her back hitting the cabinet as his lips left a scorching trail down the underside of her jaw. Ximena panted, eyebrows furrowed in lust and confusion.

It was only the soft clattering of tiny paws did Logan abruptly stop and extract his claws towards an unbothered cat sitting on the island counter top. "Logan stop it! It's a little gato." The Illusionist lightly pushed him away and hopped down.

She cooed at the cat as she got nearer. Surprisingly, the cat rubbed it's grey, furry body along Ximena's side with a gentle purr. Turning it's head to blink up at Logan owlishly. Logan sniffed, retracting his claws with an unimpressed purse of his lips.

The two adults jumped when the front door opened and in walked a teenager and his mother with similarities to Bobby upstairs. "Hey, Ronny, next time you..." The dad walked in, stopping short as he moved ahead of his family protectively. "Who the hell are you?"

Ximena parted her lips, caught off guard. Especially, because she didn't look anything like a responsible Doctor. In a pair of shorts and a thick sweatshirt, with no bra, mind you. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. "Bobby?" She called out to her student instead, warily glancing between his family and the stairs.

Bobby raced down the stairs, eyes wide and eyebrows lifted comedically. "Bobby, who are these guys?" His father questioned.

"Honey, aren't you supposed to be at school?" His mother worried, holding her cat to herself like her life depended on it. Ximena could feel her eyeroll coming on but she held it back. 

Bobby stalled, as if suddenly running out of words. "Uh, this is Doctor Dominguez and... Professor Logan." Ximena rolled her lips to keep from emitting a laugh. "And there's something I need to tell you."

Everyone gathered in the living room with pensive expressions. Ximena sat on the sofa, legs crossed at the ankle, trying to appear as professional as possible. Lightly clearing her throat as the mother spoke. "So, uh, when did you first know you were a..."

"Mutant," His father added bluntly. "You have to understand, we thought Bobby was going to a school for the gifted."

"And Bobby is gifted. Incredibly so, actually." Ximena spoke up, drawing his parents attention.

"We know that we just didn't know --"

"And that would include his mutation," She stated intently.

His mother shook her head, "We still love you, Bobby. It's just this mutant problem is --"

Logan glared as he stood up straight from his leant position against the door frame. His arms crossed defensively. "What mutant problem?" He interrupted.

"-- complicated."

"What exactly are you a professor of, Mr. Logan?"

The man in question ticked his jaw out, answering Bobby's dad with sarcasm and spite marring his words. "Art." Ximena glared at him across the room at mocking her class. She was starting to lose her patience with Bobby's parents. It was the reason she didn't do seminars like Jean, she didn't have the grace to speak formally about something she thought was a no-brainer concept.

Rogue sat up in her seat beside Bobby, laying a gentle hand on his clothed shoulder tentatively. "Well, you should see what Bobby can do."

As if to demonstrate, Bobby leant forward and touched his fingertip to his mother's tea cup. The fluid tea inside the cup and the porcelain cup itself froze solid. His parents muttered worriedly, mouth gape at the iced cup.

"I can do a lot more than that," Bobby exclaimed, hopeful. It broke Ximena's heart that his parents didn't share the same sentiments. They didn't care about the excited look in his eyes or the flushed smile touching his lips.

Instead, his brother abruptly left the room. His mother calling after him. "This is all my fault," She sighed.

"Actually," Ximena spoke up, arching a know-it-all brow. "It's the Male Y Chromosome that carries the mutant gene and passes it onto their offspring. So, if you want someone to point the finger to, it would be him." She lifted her gaze to Bobby's father with a rueful, small smirk.

"Listen, the reason we're here is to maintain the safety of your kid and I can't help but feel the integrity of my student's safety is being threatened right now. So, Bobby -- guys, we're leaving." Ximena stood to her feet, ushering with her hand towards her students to get them to leave with her. Marie, John and Bobby stood to follow, however his parents interrupted.

"Wait, wait. We can't let Bobby go with you people. He's our son." His dad stood up, which cause Logan to step forward defensively. What made her heart clench and her mind turn into a full blown, raging fire was the emphasis of you people. She wanted to scream and yell at them about how wrong they were. How much this was hurting their son who identified as mutant. How racist they were being about an entire species.

She knew she wouldn't get anywhere, but the slur still stung. Because, not only was she a mutant, she was Hispanic. And its not like Hispanics were necessarily welcomed in American, but Bobby's parents just made it clear that there were still people around today that looked at her like she was shit underneath their shoe.

"Yes, unfortunately he is your son. But you see, you signed a series of waivers that assigned Bobby under my supervision." She hugged Bobby under her arm securely. She could see him at the corner of her eye trying not to smile. "So until you unenroll him from the institution, he's my ward during school hours."

The communicator beeped, interrupting the parents angry rebuttal. Logan waved it in the air, motioning that he was stepping out. "It's for me."

"Bobby," His mother whispered. "Have you tried... not being a mutant?"

Ximena parted her lips, fury rising so fast it got stuck in her throat. Her eyes flashed orange briefly. However, Logan burst through the back door. "We have to go now. Now! Mena, come on."

She looked out from where he had come from, her eyes narrowed as she grabbed Marie's gloved hand and tugged her to follow after Logan. When they came out onto the front porch, she swore under her breath. The entire front yard was surrounded with cops.

"James..."

"Drop the knives and put your hands in the air." 

A officer approached them from her right side, pointing a loaded gun straight for her head. Shoot to kill. Ximena, despite having fought all types of people for the sake of saving the innocent, she felt her heart pick up speed at the sight of the gun. She placed her hand in front of Bobby to shield him from the violence. Her stomach dropping.

"What's going on here." Logan gritted out, standing before all of them.

"Ronny," Bobby sighed beside her, shifting his eyes around hesitantly. "This is just a misunderstanding."

"I said, drop the knives," The officer commanded. They broke in from the other side of the house, shattering the glass with a baton. Feminine screams, most definitely from Bobby's mom echoed around them and Ximena was losing her focus.

A voice in her mind told her to place the officers under her control. Have them fire at each other. Kill them all, it demanded but she abruptly placed her hands to her ears as if to stop the incessant demands. Ximena had never had this happen before, it was alarming. She cried out as her eyes flickered between orange and brown, like she was short circuiting under the anxiety inducing situation.

At her sudden movements, the officer took his shot. The bullet pierced through the air and found its home in Ximena's forehead.

It was as if all was silenced. A single point in time that seemed to stretch on for hours.

"NO." Logan shouted, veins straining from his neck at the pure force he exerted from shouting. He rushed to catch her body before it fell, narrowly missing. Marie screamed bloody murder as Ximena dropped to the ground as dead weight, blood dripping from the forehead shot wound. Logan panicked, bending to her side as his heart halted altogether.

She had no heart beat, no pulse, not one breath slipping past her lips.

"She wasn't doing anything, please!" Marie cried.

"Down on your knees or we'll shoot again," The officers commanded, raising their guns once more with an intent glare. The students sunk down to the white painted porch, raising their hands above their heads as a sign of surrender.

John brewed with rage, staring down at Ximena's lifeless face. She didn't deserve it, especially not after defending them earlier. Of course, they would shoot the minority of the minority, it was humorlessly laughable. If Ximena wasn't around to defend them, who would and then, the idea came to him.

Why not him?

"You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?" John subtly flicked open his handheld lighter. He could feel the heat calling his name, stirring for his attention as it sparked to life. He grinned wide. "Well I'm the worst one."

Reaching his hand outward, he manipulated the flames to his will. Shooting them at the cop cars and officers. Sirens blarred mixing with sounds of combustion. The vehicles exploded upon impact, flipping on its roof in a tandem event of dominoes. One after the other, the cars became consumed with fire and it only fueled John's rage at their injustice.

"John, that's enough." Rogue pleaded, watching as the officers shouted in fear.  In a rash decision, she peeled off her glove and grabbed his ankle, momentarily stopping his tirade.

John choked, gasping for air as Marie drained his life force. Right in front of their eyes, the fires extinguished under the roar of the X-Jet hovering overhead.

"Our rides here," Logan gathered Ximena in his arms, tearing his eyes from her dangling head hanging from his shoulder. "C'mon. Get to the jet!" He staggered behind the kids to make sure they got on, climbing up the ramp with Ximena close to his chest.

An unknown, fellow mutant sat in one of the chairs. Blue skinned and smiling nervously as he acknowledged them. "Guten Tag," He greeted, warily shifting his eyes to the lifeless woman in Logan's arms.

"Mena," Jean exclaimed worriedly, glancing behind her with sorrowful eyes.

"She's fine, she'll be alright... Let's just get this in the air." Logan swallowed harshly, laying her down on a leant-back chair, brushing the hair and blood from her forehead. He finally raised his eyes from her face and nodded to the new guy. "Who the hell is this?"

"Kurt Wagner. But in the Munich circus, I was known as the Incredible Nightcrawler."

"Ah, save it. Storm?" Logan winced, he could already hear Ximena in his head telling him to stop being an arrogant asshole. He turned back to Kurt and pursed his lips. "Sorry, hi," He bluntly amended.

The students were shocked.

"We're out of here," Ororo replied, flipping the controls back to take off. Logan adjusted Ximena's seat beside him, strapping her in as she still showed no signs of healing. He fought the anxious voices in his head telling him she wouldn't survive this and instead focused on the outside windshield of the jet.

"How far are we?"

Jean glanced at the navigation, "We're actually coming up on the mansion now."

"She's not awake yet... why?" The ginger allowed Storm to take controls and turned her chair to face Logan's momentarily, her solemn gaze shifting over Ximena's still frame.

"I don't know... She's radio silent. I can't read her mind," She bit her bottom lip, furrowing her eyebrows as she focused intently until she sighed when she found nothing to read. "She has no conscience yet."

"How long has it taken before?" Logan was getting panicky, taking Ximena's small wrist in his hand to feel for a pulse. He new his healing was faster than hers but it shouldn't be taking this long.

Jean winced, feeling unhelpful when she repeated herself once more. "I don't know. She never commented on how long it took when she first died to come back, only that she did and she didn't want to go back."

A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Logan's gut. Dread causing him to hold her limp arm tighter. "... go back where?" He asked no one in particular, clenching his jaw in contempt.

"I've got two signals approaching. Coming in fast." Storm announced, glaring at the radar as two red dots appeared behind them.

Static filled the jet as a woman came onto the intercom. "Unidentified aircraft, you are ordered to descend to 20,000 feet. Return with our escort to Hanscom Air Force Base. You have ten seconds to comply." 

Ororo scoffed, indignant. "Wow, someone's angry."

"I wonder why," Logan said pointedly to John behind him. Meanwhile, John was unrepentant, crossing his arms as he sat back in his seat.

"We are coming up alongside you to escort you to Hanscom Air Force Base. Lower you altitude now." They were sandwiched in on either side and getting closer. "Repeat-- Lower your altitude to 20,000 feet. This is your last warning."

"God, we can't catch a break," John sighed in exasperation.

"They're falling back."

"No, they're marking us. They're going to fire! Hang on." Storm commanded before increasing the speed of the thrusters by pushing the lever forward. Alarm sirens went off as the jet jostled around in the air pockets. "I gotta shake 'em." The platinum haired leader turned the jet three-sixty, causing nausea to form in the pit of Logan's stomach.

"Please don't do that again," John swallowed and Logan nodded his head in agreement. Wondering why their flight had to be the issue when he still hasn't gotten over his freight of it. "Don't we have any weapons in this heap?"

Ororo unfocused as her eyes glazed over to an opaque white. The jet grew dark as storm clouds formed overhead. All of a sudden, tornados started forming by her will, touching down to the ground all around them. Jean fought to weave between them, the jet swaying to and fro in a chaotic rhythm. Logan laid his hand over Ximena's limp frame, trying to hold her steady despite the circumstances.

Jean turned to check on everyone, sighing to relieve the tension in her stiff muscles. "Everybody okay back there?"

"No." Logan begrudged.

"They shot us," Storm spoke in alarm. "There's two of them."

Jean mentally located the missiles and gritted her teeth as she tried to disarm them. The veins in her forehead strained against her skin. Her eyes briefly being overcome with a fiery flame before one of the missiles imploded. "There's one more," Ororo coached, but Jean simply couldn't find the will or strength to focus on the last one. Her eyes widened in panic when she realized, lips parting in a near silent gasp.

Without warning, the second unchecked missile slammed into the back of the jet and create a hole in the top of it. The change in air pressure formed a vacuum and Rogue screamed as her body was unexpectedly swept away by the force into the atmosphere.

"Rogue!" Bobby yelled in anguish.

Thinking fast, Kurt vanished in a puff of black smoke, snatching Marie as she fell from the sky before reappearing on the floor of the jet, holding onto her tightly.

They spun out of control, losing altitude and fast. The jet circling to nose dive straight into the ground below. Logan closed his eyes, holding Ximena's hand in his grasp tightly as the electrical crackled in protest and the sirens blared their last warning.

That is... until the jet started slowing at a constant rate. The metal of the hole on the roof began enclosing itself as if my some sort of magic. Logan; however, knew better. His eyebrows furrowed as he peeled them open in disbelief. His eyesight was blurry and yet, even he could tell who was doing the manipulation.

The nose of the jet stopped but a few feet from the powerful hand of Erik Lensherr. Usually, he was their enemy, a foe on opposite sides of morale. But today, in this very moment... Magneto had just saved their lives. 

"When will these people learn how to fly?" He drawled to Raven in a chuckle, lips curling into a arrogant smirk.

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Unedited. 7/23/21

Sis is dead, dead. Oop. Anywaysss, what's you favorite part of this chapter? And why do you think it's taking so long for Ximena to come back?

Let me know in the comments! Vote if you can, Xx