Chapter 2
After breakfast, Jade snuck around the halls to the lab. She knew that’s where all of the testing and the results were there just waiting to be read. She couldn’t waste any time with this. It had to be now or never. The only problem was how did she get in there? The lab wasn’t normally open for students. Only on the rare occasions where there was a special demonstration were the students allowed to access it. It should be fairly simple. Just use her powers to play with the lock until it opens, right? But what if it was a keypad or an eye identification? Knowing the professor it could literally be anything.
She snuck around the long hallway until she was sure that no one was following her. After a long walk, she finally made it to the door of the lab. Looking at it from behind one of the various pieces of art in the mansion, she could see that it was more complicated than just using her metal manipulation to get in there. There were cameras, keypads, and, as she feared, eye identification. She let out a loud sigh. Nothing could get past the professor. Not even the students. For a moment she stood there behind the art piece and thought. If she used one of her magnetic waves, she should be able to temporarily block specifically the security systems. It was only for a short amount of time, say a minute or so, but it would work. All of the cameras would immediately shut down once it was disrupted by her powers. It was worth a shot.
She took a deep breath and with a wave of the hand, she sent out her magnetic wave. The keypad and the cameras flickered the moment it came into contact with her powers. They shook a little as they tried desperately to keep working. However, they quickly became overpowered. Small sparks shot out of the equipment as they shut down, but surprisingly none of the alarms went off. Instead, they made small whirring sounds as the batteries shorted out.
She waited until she knew the systems were down before she walked up to the door and shook the handle. When it rattled back at her, not budging, she gave a grunt. Of course there was a back up. Why wouldn’t there be a back up? She knelt down and put her hands on the door. Through the wood and the door handle, she could tell it was a metal lock which meant she could get it open. She concentrated real hard on the lock, using her mind to get through all the intricate patterns and mechanisms. It was taking a while which worried her. Nothing was ever easy when it came to the security in this place, which was a good thing. They were protected. It was just bad for anyone who wanted to get their hands on information whether they were a student or an enemy. She took a glance back up to the cameras. They could turn back on at any minute. She had to move quickly to save herself from a lecture by Wolverine or other worse punishments.
When she was almost there, she heard a voice behind her that made her jump. “Jade, what are you doing?” Kurt asked. Jade turned around and pressed her hands into the door, startled by Kurt’s sudden appearance. It rattled under her movements which startled her a second time. She looked up to Kurt. To her surprise he was in his true form, blue fur and all, and not ready for school as she thought he would be. He had a confused look on his face that was bordering on concern at seeing her there in front of the door trying to get in. The guilty expression she wore was ten times more worrisome when he took in the whole picture.
“Kurt!” she said louder than she wanted to. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I was walking down the hallway when my image inducer shorted out,” he said. “I was going to see the professor here, but you’re here instead.” Kurt looked around him. The cameras were down as was the key pad on the door Jade was trying to get through. It finally clicked as to why his image inducer shorted out. “Now it makes sense,” he said with a laugh. “You’re the only one who can make multiple electronics go off at the same time. What are you trying to do anyway? You know that’s dangerous.”
Jade gulped. Should she tell the truth of what she was doing or should she lie? She wasn’t too good of a liar. Usually she stumbled over her words, a thin film of sweat coated her forehead, and her cheeks would turn red. With how long she’s known Kurt, he would be able to tell right away. Besides he always made her flustered whenever he backed her into a corner. A crush will do that to you. She looked up to him and down at her feet multiple times before she sighed. There was no use in trying to hide it. “I was…trying to find out more about my family,” Jade said. “It’s possible that Magneto himself could be my father. I need to see if that’s true.”
Kurt gasped and took a step back. When they first met, they questioned Jade about her parentage. She said she was basically an orphan. Was she lying? “How do you know this?” Kurt asked. “Where are you getting this information?”
Crap. Now Jade had to explain what she was doing snooping in other people’s minds. Her cheeks turned red and she looked very guilty as she scratched the back of her head. Kurt was really good at getting people to tell him what they were doing. No one could lie to him. It must have had something to do with his innocent nature and determination. It also helped that he was incredibly attractive. On second thought, maybe this was just the effect he had on her. Either way, he was blissfully unaware of the power he had on people. Namely her. “It’s…it's…I heard it from the professor himself,” Jade said. “He didn’t say it out loud, but he was thinking it.” When Kurt gave a quizzical look she continued to explain. “Kurt, I can read people’s minds without being detected. It’s another one of my powers.”
For a moment Kurt looked stunned and he didn’t say anything. He was trying to let this new information, something she’s told very few people, sink in. When he finally got it, he remembered what he was thinking that morning and his face turned a deeper shade of blue. Embarrassment set in as he realized Jade could very well have heard him that morning. He grabbed at his face and he looked absolutely mortified. Jade realizing what that face was for, turned beet red and immediately looked down to her twiddling thumbs. “You mean…you can read minds and you didn’t even tell anybody?” he halfway screamed. “How long has this been going on for?”
“Since I’ve got here,” Jade admitted, her voice as quiet as a mouse.
“Oh great, there’s no telling how many secrets you know,” Kurt said. He felt like he was going to tear up. The embarrassment was eating him alive. “You…you weren’t listening to me this morning, were you?” he asked though he was so afraid of the answer.
Jade paused for a moment to gulp down her own embarrassment before answering. “Yes, I heard you,” she admitted. “But we need to get through that door. Can you get us in?”
Kurt sighed. She looked uncomfortable as he did. It wasn’t every day that the person you’ve been secretly crushing on knew what you were thinking. However, the way she averted her eyes to the side and how she sunk in on herself told him she felt guilty for what she did. She was perhaps even wondering if he was going to shun her forever which he wasn’t. They just needed to have a talk about boundaries later. Now for her next question. He wasn’t one to sneak into the lab. Especially one decked out with so many security cameras and extreme measures of protection. But he thought back to how he found out about his mother, Mystique. It wasn’t pretty and he still didn’t know the whole story. If he helped her right now, maybe he could stop her from going through the same thing.
“Okay, I’ll help you,” Kurt said. “But we’re not done talking about the mind reading.”
Jade smiled. “Yes, I know,” she said. Kurt walked up to Jade and allowed her to thread her arm through his. She grabbed on tight and before she knew it, they were both in the lab. So many things surrounded them including various instruments, computers, and chemicals used to test antidotes and the like. Tables were everywhere cluttered with beakers and test tubes and other pieces of technology. Large wipe board lined the walls already marked with a writing she didn’t fully understand. Books sat open at multiple tables telling of previous occupants of the lab. At the center of it was a big projector. It was the database of all the mutants and the place where she would find the tests of Wanda, Pietro, and Magneto. She took a deep breath and her heart clenched in her chest as she walked toward it. In its idle state, a giant globe floated in the center.
“This is it,” Jade said. “This is where I’m going to find out.”
Kurt grabbed onto her shaking hand. “You’re sure you’re ready for this?” he asked. “When I found out, it was pretty rough.”
Jade heaved another sigh. “Positive,” she said. She let go of Kurt’s hand and started typing into the computer. She brought up Pietro and Wanda and their DNA. Of course they were a matching set save for the parts that defined Wanda as a biological female and Pietro as a biological male. They were twins after all. They would have the same DNA. All of them matched Magneto and an unknown mother figure. The computer showed the face of Magneto and an anonymous image for their mother.
Jade let out another breath. This was it. This was where she was going to look up her connection, if any, with all three of these people. On the side of the image of Magneto, she brought an image of herself and her DNA makeup. When she first brought it up, she just stared at it, trying to find the matches with her own eyes. However, that proved useless as her eyes quickly tired of trying to differentiate between the little lines and dashes. So instead she ran a scan. The scan went through multiple phases of checking the matches between her, Magneto, Wanda, and Pietro. It glowed red, green, and blue multiple times. Small descriptions of each piece of DNA popped up quickly as it scanned. She tried to track it with her eyes, panic building in her chest as it got closer and closer to being done. Kurt put a hand at the small of her back. He figured it was the only thing he could do to offer her any comfort. Jade felt his hand on her back but she didn’t move. Her eyes were focused on the screen in front of her.
Finally, the screen made a beeping noise before the screen rebooted showing her the results. It showed her relation to all three people and what they had in common. Her eyes widened. The results were there and the science doesn’t lie. She was the daughter of Magneto, and Pietro and Wanda’s half sister.
“No way,” she whispered, stunned.