xp_logs | Third Strike: Hostage Situation

Kurt wakes up in a strange hospital. His visitor doesn't help illuminate matters.

It was over a day before Kurt came back to himself enough to take in where he was, and it was to unexpected luxury when he did. Clean white walls, a room to himself and a soft bed, a television mounted in the corner... this could only be an expensive hospital.

The next thing he noticed, dizzily, was the cast on his leg and the large bandage on his other side. He stared at his leg for a long minute or two, disoriented and shocked, before the idea occurred to him to press the call button.

No one answered, even when he tried a second, then a third time. There was movement on the other side of the door, a face peering in at him through the small window, but the door did not open. The medical equipment in the room was on, transmitting his vital signs to... somewhere else. Apparently there was nothing in them that required personal attention.

Right. If they wouldn't come for that... He was unsteady, but both his arms still worked, and his tail could stand in for the injured leg. Slowly, grimacing in pain and having to stop with every other movement until the dizziness passed, Kurt began trying to get out of bed.

There was more movement out in the hall, and then the unmistakable sound of the door being locked.

He stumbled forward, eyes fixed on the pane in the door, and raised his voice. "You are going to have to come in sooner or later, unless I am to starve!"

--

Sooner was definitely later. Close to an hour, judging by the digital clock in the bottom corner of one of the screens. In the utter silence, the sound of the door being unlocked was very loud. The man who stepped in was an orderly - twice, maybe even three times Kurt's size. He gave the X-Man on the bed a wary look, and then stepped aside.

The much older man standing behind him wore a well-cut summer-weight suit and a hat, which he removed, smoothing away an invisible speck of something on the brim for a moment before he eyed Kurt.

"I must say," Erik Lehnsherr said, pleasantly enough. "You look far better than the last time I saw you."

"You", Kurt snapped, eyes narrowing despite the pallor of his face. "When was it, that you last saw me? As I lay in the street? And why am I a prisoner here?"

Magneto nodded almost politely to the orderly. His expression was unmistakably dismissive, however, and the very large man departed, closing the door behind him.

"You are a prisoner because I choose to keep you as such," he said gravely, once they were alone. "As for the why - surely you don't subscribe to the belief that the 'villain' is somehow obligated to explain his entire plan to the hero."

"I am hardly to be considered a hero with a broken leg when I am apparently the centrepiece of your plan." His eyes narrowed. "Where is Mystique?"

"The centrepiece of my plan? I believe you've spent too much time around Wolverine," Magneto continued, a very lightly mocking edge to his tone.

"It was to be inferred", Kurt retorted. "I am a prisoner because you choose to keep me so, and the reason for it lies behind your entire plan. If it is not so, release me."

"Perhaps you should stop speaking until the effects of the painkillers have faded," Magneto said, looking skyward briefly as if searching the heavens for patience. He moved slowly around the room, as if evaluating its contents. "Demands, explanations - a prisoner is entitled to neither. You are alive because it is more convenient to me that you remain so, for the time being. Be a well-mannered convenience, and you will perhaps live to tilt at windmills for
Charles another day."

"They will come", was the grim response. "My sister knows where I last was, and what she was to do if she did not hear from me. And with Cerebro... Even you would not ambush them in a hospital, would you?"

"Rather naive of you, to think that I would make it that easy for them to find you. Charles hasn't found me, has he?" Magneto asked, almost idly. He paused beside the wall, tapping it gently. "But perhaps you're correct. We'll see, won't we?"

It was possible, Kurt had to admit to himself, that the whole building was psi-shielded. He could only hope not, as he reverted to one of his unanswered questions. "Was Mystique harmed, when the car hit us?" he asked neutrally.

The look Magneto turned on him then was unreadable. "I would suggest," he said after a moment, "that her welfare is not your primary concern right now. Such a convenient car accident, don't you think?"

"Yes", was the flat response, "but that does not answer who was responsible for it. Several people could have been, who would not also have been standing in its path at the time."

"A very engaging mystery from your perspective, I imagine. You should have some time to consider it," Magneto said, turning for the doorway. "I won't trouble you any further today," he said, almost politely. "Your doctor informs me you need time to rest and recover. Had I planned to ignore his advice, I would have found far less comfortable accommodations for you."

Kurt eyed him, not especially reassured by that. "Will you not at least tell me if she is alive?" He wouldn't stoop to saying 'please'. Not yet.

"I arranged for medical aid for you," Magneto said, sounding almost amused. "Why would I not do the same for my closest associate? Presuming, of course, that she needed it in the first place..."

"We both know she would not, for anything less than instant death. That is what I was asking." If she'd landed wrong, somehow...

"You'll have ample time to contemplate the issue," Magneto said, and laid a hand on the doorknob. The sound of the lock sliding back was very loud in the quiet, and Magneto looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Perhaps I'll suggest to her that she comes visit you," he said, not quite mockingly. "If that will make you behave."

"There are not many ways in which I could misbehave, just now", Kurt pointed out flatly. "Send her if you wish, or do not."

"You should rest, Kurt," Magneto said, opening the door. "Focus on that, rather than on things you never had a hope of understanding." He stepped out into the hall, closing the door quietly behind him. It locked, an instant later.