Lori McDonald
June 1997
The massive door opened slowly, six feet of reinforced adamantium rolling back into the wall to show a short alcove cut off by a thick blue forcefield.
He stared in at that blue wall, hands clasped under his chin, trembling almost imperceptably. It was a prison, a cell, a cage...
Moira put a hand on his shoulder. "Coom on, Remy. A know it's hard, but he cannae come oot tae meet wi' ye."
Since the cliff, Moira had increased his therapy and dragged out of him the fact that he'd been having repeated nightmares about Magneto.
Placing a hand on his back, she pushed gently, and he stepped inside. Immediately, he felt his perceptions narrow and bolted backwards, slamming painfully into the closing door.
"My powers!"
"A know, Ash," she soothed. "A told ye. Th' Proteus chamber negates mutant powers, remember?"
Eyes closed, he took deep breaths and nodded. Yes, he remembered. The Proteus chamber was the strongest cell in the world. Designed to hold the deadliest mutants.
"Coom, Ash. Th' force shield wi' only be down fur a few moments."
Reluctant, yet drawn at the same time, he let Moira lead him up to the shield. It parted and they stepped through into the cell on the other side.
"See?" Moira said. "It's noothin' like what ye went through wi' Sinister."
It wasn't. He saw, of all things, a pleasantly decorated room with a couch, table, stereo and shelf of books. He could even see a bedroom and bathroom beyond.
Magneto was sitting on the couch, an open book held in one hand. He regarded them calmly, regally, seeming larger somehow, even in the plain clothes he wore, than the room he was locked in.
"So," he said coolly. "This is the young man who needs to be convinced that my quarters are not a cage."
"Please, Magnus," Moira said softly. "Ye agreed tae allow this."
Magneto snorted. "Or else he may attempt to leap off another cliff?" He turned gray eyes on him. "Look around, boy. Convince yourself." He returned to his book.
Slowly, he walked over to the bookshelf, his feet scuffing on the plush carpet. It felt cold, like a steel grating on bare feet. Trembling, he reached out to touch the books, but they shimmered and pulled away, becoming the clear glass of a cylinder only five feet wide. Through it, he could see the sterile whiteness of Sinister's lab. He was back there, naked, collared, caged...
"No, no, no, no, no... no cages... no..." Desperate, he slammed his fists against the glass, and leaped back as books fell down before him. He was in the Proteus chamber, covered in sweat and terrified.
Quickly, he turned to see both Moira and Magneto looking at him intently. Moira sighed in frustration.
"A'm soorry, Ash. A was hopin' this would help ye. A better take ye home."
"Let me talk to him."
It was Magneto who'd spoken. "Privately," he continued.
Moira shook her head. "A cannae."
He turned those eyes on her. "Privately," he repeated. "I will not harm him. I give you my word."
Moira hesitated, then looked at him. "Is this all right wi' ye?"
He looked at Magneto, remembered the tunnels and nodded.
Reluctantly, Moira withdrew and Magneto leaned back on his couch, regarding him as he stood and trembled. He could still see flashes of Sinister's lab out of the corner of his eye. He didn't care what Moira said. This room was a cage.
"I dislike prisons," Magneto said at last. "But you are terrified of them. Why is that?"
He swallowed convulsively, ignoring the older man's gesture for him to sit down.
"I- um, I was kept in a cage," he admitted. "A glass cylinder. F' two years. Sinister used me f' one a his lab experiments."
Magneto's eyes narrowed in anger, then he sighed regretfully. "I have sworn to protect all mutants. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
He smiled slightly. "Dat's what y' said in de tunnels t' de Morlocks." It was rather comforting to know someone this powerful would be willing to protect him.
Magneto, however, looked surprised. "That was you," he whispered, rising.
He nodded, hugging himself as he saw more flashes of Sinister's lab. "I was scared a' people f' a long time, so I stayed down dere. I gave y' my cat."
Magneto smiled slightly. "Yes. I named her Anya. She rules Avalon." The frown returned. "McTaggert didn't properly introduce us. I am Eric Magnus Lensherr. What is your name?"
He could see the reflection of Sinister's dissection table over by the coffee table. "Experiment #713," he said without thinking.
"DO NOT EVER REFER TO YOURSELF AS A NUMBER AGAIN!!"
Magneto's face had changed, becoming a tower of rage and he panicked, bolting backwards into the nearest wall. He was trapped, he realized. He couldn't get out, just like in the lab. A terrified wail escaped him.
He was just about to lose it completely when Magneto was in front of him, holding his face between his hands and forcing him to look him in the eye.
"Listen to me," he said. "You are not trapped. We are in my room, having a pleasant conversation, and it is an ordinary room..."
Slowly, under the force of the personality behind those words, he stopped shaking and relaxed, the images of Sinister's lab pulling back into his nightmares.
He took a deep breath and Magneto released him. "Sorry," he apologized lamely. "You mus' not t'ink ver' much a me."
Magneto only shook his head and crossed to a small sink to pour him a glass of water. "All men are judged by their weaknesses. You still rate higher than many I have known." He gestured for him to come take the glass.
He did so, and sipped at it. "I guess Moira's plan to convince me y' weren' in a cage kinda backfired, neh?"
"Why is it so important to you I not be in a cage?" He smiled. "Do you have aspirations to be an Acolyte?"
"A what? Uh, no. I jus' can' stand anybody t' be locked up... an' I'm de one put y' in here."
Magneto walked back towards the couch. "I seem to remember the X-Men doing that."
"I helped dem," he said miserably.
"No, you defended yourself." Magneto sat down. "You didn't hunt me down. Never be ashamed of doing what you have to do in order to survive. Only in giving up."
It'd been said to him a hundred times before by the X-Men and Excalibur both, but just like in the tunnels, Magneto's words reached into him in a way theirs couldn't and he nodded. Magneto was the only one who had a real idea of what he'd gone through. Rogue had been Sinister's prisoner too, but her captivity lasted a short while and she'd never given in to despair. Magneto, however, had lines of despair and pride and strength etched into his face and soul. He'd survived, and seeing that made him feel a little better. A little stronger.
He shook himself. "Uh, I'm sorry I disturbed you."
Magneto waved that away. "I enjoyed the company." He watched the forcefield part to admit Moira. "Another time, then."
He nodded gratefully and walked past him to rejoin Moira. He felt better than he had before he went in, and he knew he would follow Magneto's advice to do what he had to in order to survive.