Xchange Students

Xchange Students

Chapter 8: Battles Royal

The attic at Xavier's, Harry decided, was the closest he'd been to Hogwarts in weeks. Like an unused tower room, it was dingy, dusty and festooned with cobwebs. The attic spaces were either bare or stuffed with old classroom furniture. He wondered why Kitty had sent him up here. Several reasons, he supposed: Ariel apparently trusted him to handle anything he ran across, and this assignment made it unlikely that both of them would be taken out at once. On a personal level, he guessed Kitty was trying to keep him safe.

He patrolled cautiously, hardly even aware that three weeks ago he could not have moved with this degree of sureness and silence. He caught a whiff of something over the omnipresent mustiness--perfume! Harry was no connoisseur of feminine fragrances, but this was not the brand Kitty favoured, nor was it Hermione's or Dani's, and Rahne seldom wore perfume. It might have been Storm's, but he doubted it, as Ororo was outside.

That left one possibility--an intruder, perhaps the White Queen. Harry recalled Professor Xavier's briefings. The White Queen had the same telepathic abilities as Xavier, but rejected the rigorous discipline the professor used to augment his skills. She relied on technology to enhance her abilities. Harry prepared his mental shields, as Professor X had taught him, and moved toward the direction where the perfume seemed strongest.

He found Emma Frost waiting for him in a nearby storage room. She was standing, tall, pale and (Harry couldn't help thinking) rather lovely, in the center of the floor among the old desks and stools. A sparkling silver band encircled her head. She smiled. "Hello, Harry, so nice to see you again. I hoped we'd run across each other. We have a matter to settle, you and I!" She looked around, as if searching for something. "Ah! Just the two of us. No Bambi to help out this time, you little snot!"

She lashed out with her mind, wrenching at Harry's thoughts and feelings, trying to bend him to her will. Harry held his shields as best he could, but he knew he wasn't going to keep her out forever, and he needed to do more than defend. Behind the mental blocks, his mind was racing. Her headband was the key; if he could just....

"Stupefy!" Harry had learned that it wasn't possible to stun an actively shielded telepath completely. Hermione had tried to blindside him once in the Danger Room, while he was fending off Psyche. His spell merely knocked the White Queen backwards, breaking her concentration, as Hermione's had done with him. Harry followed up fast, transfiguring the headband into a daisy chain.

The White Queen swore, using language that would have made Ron blush. She whipped up a hand, aiming a silvery object at him. Harry's body reacted before his mind. He dived to one side as the stunner fired harmlessly at the spot where he had been. He hit the floor rolling and came up on his feet, marveling at how easy that maneuver was, given the practice he'd had. He swept up a stool and threw it at the White Queen's face, then darted out of the room.

Dashing down the corridor, Harry kicked open a nearby door, then slipped silently through the room and past the next door. He remembered Logan saying, "Never let the enemy choose the ground. Whoever chooses the ground has the advantage, so if you need to, get clear and make them come to you. Try to regain the initiative."

Harry reached into his suit's largest pocket and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak. He had brought it with him, never expecting to use it, but it was handy now. He held himself still under the cloak, breathing shallowly and emptying his mind of thought.

He heard the White Queen storming down the corridor, howling, "Where are you, boy? Don't think you can hide from me. Spoiled Limey brat! If you don't come out, I'll give you the thrashing your mother should have."

She hesitated just beyond the door he had kicked, then came on into the room where he was standing. She stalked past him, still holding the stunner, pausing in the center of the floor, head cocked, listening. "You're near, Harry, I can sense you. I'll have you in a minute, I promise!"

Harry flung aside the cloak and leveled his wand. "Expelliarmus!" The stunner flew from the White Queen's hand. Harry stepped toward her. "Pack it in!" he commanded sharply, "I don't want to hurt you."

She jabbed at him with her mind again but, without the enhancing headband, her probe was no match for his shields. She stared for a moment, then, quite suddenly, she gave a screech of rage and flew at him, throwing wild punches.

Emma Frost was not a trained fighter, and though she was fit from daily aerobic workouts and tennis, she was no match for the sinewy youth. It took Harry only seconds to subdue her, though he had to drop his wand in the process. He held her in one of the less painful holds he had learned; he couldn't bring himself to knock her out, despite Wolverine's frequent warnings to male students that "Chivalry can get you killed!" It didn't, but it caused him some trouble.

The White Queen redoubled her mental attack. Though Harry tried to shield, she had opened the link. She began to bore into his mind, dragging up memories and thoughts of his worst moments, trying to hurt him in any way she could. Another opponent might have resisted; Harry counterattacked.

Harry's telepathy was latent only because he could not open a link with another mind. He could, however, grasp control of a link someone else had made. In Harry's brain, long-dormant neural circuits flared into life. Before the White Queen could grasp what had happened, control of the mind-link was wrenched from her by a steely will almost as strong as Xavier's. A powerful, probing mind pushed aside her hasty shield, stripped away the veneer of sophistication and ambition, and revealed Emma Frost, a lonely, frightened and rejected little girl whose wealthy parents feared their only child's uncanny perceptions.

The mind that had so ruthlessly penetrated hers was the icy, crystal-clear mind of the young X-Man called Hawk, but behind it was the warm, compassionate heart of Harry Potter. It was Harry who understood that lonely child. Harry who shared with her his memories of the cupboard where he had spent most of his childhood, and the petty cruelties of the Dursleys. In the end, it was Harry who defeated the White Queen.

They had sunk to the floor together. Harry was no longer restraining Emma; instead, he was cradling her gently as she wept. "Shh," he breathed, "it's over."

She looked up at him through her tears. "You son of a bitch," she whined softly. "Nobody ever did that to me. How can you be stronger than I am?"

"I never forgot how to care," Harry told her. "Now, go to sleep."

"Harry," she murmured, as her eyes began to close, "you should tell your friends about your feelings. It's important. I never did, and now...." Emma Frost fell asleep.

Harry arranged her as comfortably as he could, and retrieved his wand. He had a killer headache, which peaked abruptly, then vanished. He felt something warm and wet on his upper lip, his fingers came away red. His nose had bled a little, apparently. He needed to talk to the Professor about what just happened.

His communicator crackled. "Wolfsbane to Hawk. Emergency! Meet us on the rear balcony, stat!"

"Wolfsbane, this is Ariel. What's up?" Kitty's voice asked.

"Hunter to Ariel. The mansion's being infiltrated from the rear. Hawk and I can handle it while you secure the interior." Ron's voice was crisp and commanding, a new sound. Harry raised an eyebrow, surprised. Before Ariel could respond, he triggered his own mike.

"On my way, Hunter. Ariel, I have the White Queen up here, she's out, but I don't know for how long. You should send someone to secure her." He knew that Ariel would not countermand or contradict him, she trusted him too much, and she knew he trusted Ron's judgment on these things.

Nightcrawler appeared out of nowhere. "Hawk, I'll get you to the balcony, then I'll come back for Ms. Frost." He put an arm around Harry's shoulders, and then.... Harry wasn't in the vortex of portkey or Floo travel. It was more like being picked up by a giant and thrown, while simultaneously being punched in the stomach. One second, they were in the room, the next, they were on the balcony overlooking the sunken formal garden adjoining the arboretum. Nightcrawler released Harry, winked at him, and then vanished with another bamf! of foul-smelling smoke.

Wolfsbane was there, in her semi-human form. She pointed across the gardens without speaking. Two giant metal forms had emerged from the woods and appeared to be assessing the rear of the building. More Sentinels?

As Harry watched, Ron tore out onto the balcony, carrying both their brooms. He tossed Harry his Firebolt. The two of them mounted up, kicked off and streaked across the gardens to engage the Sentinels.

Wolfsbane had never seen anything quite like it. She couldn't help the boys, and there were things she should have been doing, but she was spellbound by wonder at their flight.

She had ridden on a broom, of course; broom rides had become a regular part of Sunday mornings at Xavier's. Laughing children whizzed around the grounds, transported by the endlessly obliging Ron and Harry. Rahne had been both exhilarated and terrified as she had flown along, resting against Ron's broad back, her arms tight around his waist. Loyal as she was to her Sam, Rahne was not about to pass up a legitimate chance to snuggle up to hunky Ron!

Only now did Wolfsbane realize what broom flying was all about. This must be the sort of thing that went on in that Quidditch game the boys were forever talking about. Harry and Ron swooped, circled and zigzagged in an interweaving pattern that left the two Sentinels floundering. They dodged stun-bolts and net canisters with aplomb. Harry's voice floated dimly back to Wolfsbane's keen ears. She couldn't make out the words, but one of the Sentinels suddenly sank to its knees in the ground. Then, she heard Ron's shout, and the other Sentinel's hand--the one with the stun-projector in its palm--instantly became a balloon, which burst, leaving a truncated and useless stump.

Ron had concentrated too hard on the spell. The Sentinel lobbed a stun grenade at him. The grenade was proximity-fused, and the blast sent Hunter spinning out of control to smash to the ground.

Inside, Ariel and Charm had met up with the rest of the team in the main hall of the mansion. The various members of the Hellfire Club were all secured. Beast was working over the White Rook, muttering, "There is no actual damage to your limbs, Mr. Pierce, but you will need to recharge them and reboot the control interfaces. I don't think we can permit you to do that here, though!"

The Black Bishop occupied another stretcher, bruised and demoralized, but with no broken bones. Shaw was conscious, and he had surrendered. On Professor Xavier's orders, Charm had untied him. Shaw now sat against the wall with the White Queen's head in his lap. Kitty didn't know what Harry had done to her, but Emma Frost was sleeping like a child.

Psyche had strapped up Thunderbird's broken rib--none too gently--depositing him next to Empath and Catseye. Empath huddled against the wall, neither speaking nor looking at anyone. Catseye had transformed into a tall, blonde girl with green eyes and a cat's tail; she observed everything in silence. The mercenaries slouched along the other wall, under the watchful eyes of Sunspot and Nightcrawler, who kept a liberated stun-projector trained on them.

Suddenly, Charm gasped, and her hand flew to her neck, to the pendant Ron had bought her. "He's in trouble!" she said. She closed her eyes, concentrating. In a blaze of intuition, Ariel dashed forward and flung her arms around her friend. There was a second's impression of a dizzying vortex, and they were outside.

A giant shadow loomed over them. "Sentinel!" yelled Ariel, as she dived off to one side. Ron was on his hands and knees at Hermione's feet, shaking his head blearily. The Sentinel looked down and intoned, "Unidentified targets. Threat level Indigo. No orders. Lethal response indicated." It raised its remaining hand.

Hermione gripped her wand, crying "Protego!" just as the Sentinel fired its laser.

The magical shield was meant to deflect spells and curses, not multi-gigawatt laser-bolts. It held, but only just, and Hermione was flung down, dazed, beside Ron.

With a bellow of rage, Ron regained his feet and stood over his fallen love. As the Sentinel prepared to fire again, he thrust out his wand and shouted "Reflectio!". A perfect, disc-shaped mirror sprang up in front of him, and the incoming laser-bolt rebounded directly into the Sentinel's right eye. An inch either way, and it would have expended itself with minimal damage on the impenetrable shell. As it was, the laser tore through the delicate visual sensor array and melted the complex computer brain behind it. The Sentinel stopped in its tracks, never to move again.

As Ariel rolled and scrambled to her feet, she heard her name being called. Hawk was arrowing towards her, one hand outstretched. As he flew past, she caught it, and vaulted lithely up onto the broom behind him. For the next few seconds, they twisted and swooped through the air, dodging the remaining Sentinel. The thing was stuck, up to its knees in solid ground, but its weaponry was still lethal.

Harry racked his brains to think of a spell that would help. Fireballs had bounced off the Sentinel's armor. He'd been unable to explode it, he couldn't stun it and it was too big to transfigure. Most spells were meant to deal with humans or other living creatures. The Wizarding world had never had to cope with giant robots! He wondered if Hermione knew a spell to deactivate Golems, and whether that sort of spell might work.

Suddenly, Ariel was speaking into his ear. "Hawk, do you trust me?"

"Of course!"

"Then go straight for its chest and stop when I tell you."

Harry obeyed, plunging straight into a volley of stun-bolts. Ariel gasped, she had never realized what a superb flier her Hawk was--Logan had picked the perfect codename for Harry. He avoided every strike, while still keeping dead on target . Closer, closer-- now!

Charm and Hunter watched in astonishment as Ariel, Hawk, broom and all disappeared into the Sentinel's chest. Harry had stopped when ordered. They were inside the Sentinel. He saw and felt the thing around him like a dense fog with blue lights arrayed throughout. As he watched, the lights began to flicker wildly and converge on Kitty and him. When they touched either of them, the lights vanished or shot off at high speed in random directions.

Ariel told Harry, "In the phased state, we disrupt electronic systems. The longer we stay in here, the more this thing's insides will get scrambled. Go when I tell you."

Harry looked up. Above him, a white glow seemed to be the source of most of the blue lights. An idea struck him. He pointed his wand and said "Incandescens!". As the white glow began to turn orange, Kitty yelled "Go!" Harry shot forward, flying clear of the Sentinel, then looping around to see what damage they'd done.

The robot was now locked in a rigid, upright position. As Harry brought the broom to a hover, the Sentinel spoke. "Power flow disrupted. Control systems down. Power plant overload imminent. Auto-destruct initiated. Five, four, three..."

Harry turned his Firebolt and made for the trees at full speed. On the ground, Ron yelled, "Shit!", scooped Hermione up in his arms and tossed her over the low, stone wall that bordered the sunken garden. She dropped five feet into a flowerbed. A moment later, Ron followed her, shielding her with his body.

The explosion wasn't loud, but bits of the Sentinel were flung in all directions. Only the lighter ones struck the mansion, so little damage was done. Due to their sheltered position, Hermione and Ron missed the shockwave and the debris.

Of course, the first thing Hermione did when she could speak again was to tear a strip off Ron. "Ron Weasley, you idiot! What would have happened if one of those bits of metal had hit you? If you wanted to protect me, you should have used a shield, not your great, silly self."

Ron looked down at her. "No, love. Your shield barely held that laser. I wouldn't trust one of mine against dirty, great chunks of flying red-hot metal. If I'd been hit, well, I'm bigger than you, you'd have been all right--that's what mattered."

Hermione glared. Why wouldn't Ron trust his own abilities? He had just disposed of a Sentinel by using magic more adroitly than either she or Harry could have done--but he didn't trust himself to cast a simple shield spell effectively!

"You great lump," she chided him, "what would I do without you? Don't you dare do anything so stupid, again!"

He grinned. "Did I ever tell you you're beautiful when you're angry?"

Hermione heaved a great sigh. She flung her arms around his neck, dragged his face down to hers and kissed him fiercely.

The communicator buzzed. "Cyclops to all units. Report in!"

Hermione gave her man a disappointed little moue as she switched her mike on. "Charm here, with Hunter. Both OK. Two Sentinels down, but we lost visual with Ariel and Hawk."

"This is Ariel. Hawk and I are down and safe in the woods. We'll come back on foot."

Ron clicked on his own mike: "Hawk, your Firebolt OK?"

"Yeah. Ariel just doesn't fancy flying at the moment."

"OK," said Cyclops, "You two walk back. Charm, Hunter, go meet them. Take your time, kids, there's no rush. Cyclops out."

Ron looked at Hermione. "Did we just get permission for a walk in the woods?"

"Sounds like it!"

Ron heaved himself to his feet, then reached down to help Hermione up. They made their way towards the forest. As they walked, Hermione rubbed her rear vigorously where it had lain on the cold earth. "Oooh, chilly bum! That'll teach me to wear a thong under this!"

"Here, let me...." said Ron fondly. His large, warm hand expertly caressed the affected part. Hermione purred.

Moments earlier, the shockwave of the explosion had sent Harry's Firebolt careering out of control into the woods. Kitty clung to him, doing her best to phase them through the trees and branches Harry couldn't avoid. Finally, just as she was sure she was going to toss her cookies, Harry brought them to a gentle landing in a clearing. They dismounted, and Kitty staggered off, clutching her middle. Harry looked back the way they had come. "I think I might have overdone it a bit."

"No shit, Sherlock!" replied Kitty crossly, still preoccupied with her rebellious stomach. When she recovered, she flung herself, all contrition, into his arms. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to snap."

He shushed her, kissing her softly. "It's OK, sweetheart! Anyway, you call that a snap? You should hear Hermione on form!"

She looked up at him, then said, "Harry, your face!"

He felt the dried blood on his upper lip. "Oh. It's nothing. The White Queen."

"She punched you in the nose?"

"No. We were sort of...mind wrestling. I have to talk to the Professor about it."

Frowning, Kitty searched her pockets. She pulled out a tissue and held it to his lips. "Spit!" she commanded. Harry obediently did so, and Kitty cleaned him up, muttering, "I don't know. I take my eyes off of you for a minute and--". She stopped, realizing, she sounded quite absurdly like her mother. Harry's grin told her that he suspected as much. She mock-punched him, and that led to another kiss--and another, after that.

It was at this point that Cyclops called for the check-in. Harry reluctantly shouldered his broom, and he and Kitty set off through the woods. They didn't hurry, stopping frequently to indulge their impulses. Hermione and Ron were proceeding in much the same way. The four finally met in a glade, and dashed toward each other.

Hermione ran into Harry's arms, and was surprised by his response. Usually, when she hugged him, he stiffened nervously. This time, he returned her hearty embrace, and, when she drew back a little to look at him, he leaned forward and kissed her as if she were a much-loved sister.

Astonished, Hermione's eyes widened. "Now, what was that in aid of?"

Harry shrugged. "Two people today told me I ought to take more care of my friends. I've been thick about telling people what they mean to me--you and Ron, especially. I've never really told you how much...how much I love you both."

"We've always known," Hermione said seriously. "The words never mattered." But, the sudden wetness in her eyes and the little catch in her voice told him how glad she was that he had spoken. Acting on instincts he was learning to trust, Harry pulled her closer. Hermione buried her face in his shoulder and clung to him tightly for a long time.

Kitty hung back, not wanting to intrude on the moment. She was completely taken aback when Ron bounded past Harry with barely a glance and swept her into a huge, warm bear hug. Not knowing what else to do, she hugged him back, feeling for a moment utterly safe and protected within those powerful arms. When Ron released her, she looked up at him. "Wow! Unexpected bonus for being Harry's girlfriend."

Ron's shook his head. "Don't ever think that!" he told her quietly. "You're our friend in your own right, Kitty, and we'd care just as much for you if you weren't seeing Harry."

Blinking back tears, Kitty yanked Ron down to her level, planting a smacking kiss on his cheek. They turned to see Harry and Hermione still holding each other. Ron was pleased, Harry was finally opening up! Yet he also felt a small, irrational, pang of jealousy. When they parted, he mock-grumbled: "Well, it's about time!"

Harry looked at Ron for a moment, then said, "Oh, to Hell with it!". The two friends clapped their arms around each other, thumping each other on the back. Kitty and Hermione linked arms, smiling indulgently. They all began to walk, laughing and teasing, back to the mansion.