Soo... how's everyone doing? I hope you're all ok with this nasty virus spreading, especially those of you in Italy. I'm fine. No ones sick. We have all the essentials at my house. However, we didn't, buy seventy rolls of toilet paper. What is wrong with people? *shakes head*

Anyway, I hope I can lighten your day with this new chapter. Stay safe guys.

The next few days were… Normal. Well, as normal as the days could be where I lived. The fights and missions didn't stop, but I'd once again settled into a comfortable rhythm of school and training. Before I knew it, the leaves began to turn brown, orange, red and a myriad of other colors as the late summer breeze began to have more bite.

On most days I had classes. After school, I would return to my room to do homework and study the material covered that day. My dog would snooze contentedly in a pet bed in a corner, a bone still in his paws.

On that particular day, I was trying -and failing- to get through an especially hard problem from my homework.

"I should've stayed for office hours," I muttered, still seated at my desk. I had done this problem ten times already, and each time I had the wrong answer. I knew it was wrong because the teacher gave us the right ones. The trick was getting to that answer in the first place.

I gave my homework one last glare and pushed off against my desk, rolling backward in my wheeled chair. l again looked at the dog snoozing to my left and sighed.

Lucky.

I decided to come back to the problem after allowing myself to relax a bit. I left the room, not thinking about or even knowing what I should do next. The one thing I did know was that I could use a break. My feet led me to the main living area of the penthouse. It seemed that everyone was working on something else as I came across no one during my walk. The hallways were all empty, both the one I was walking through and the walkway on the second floor, hanging high above.

A high pitched ping cut through the silence. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a familiar name. "Jacob." I swiped right on the screen's green button.

"Hey man! I'm here," he said matter-of-factly.

"Huh- what?" I stammered.

"I'm downstairs, outside your house," he said as if it was obvious. "Mind buzzing me in?"

I let out a laugh. "Okay. Sure."

At this point, I noticed my father on the walkway above me. I wanted to shout at him or somehow tell him that Jacob was coming, but that wouldn't be polite at all so I held back until the man was downstairs.

Finally, I approached him and spoke up. "Hello, Father. Jacob's here."

Father raised one eyebrow. "And he didn't call ahead? The manners of youth today." He sighed. "Very well, let him in."

I went to the hallway that lead to my room and pressed the button that would open the doors to the first floor. After that, I went downstairs to join my friend.

Jacob was standing on the curb, a few steps from the front door. He seemed lost in thought, pensive, and strained. This was an odd combination for me to see, in contrast to his relaxed outgoing self. This wasn't the Jacob who humorously teased me about everything I said. This wasn't the Jacob who argued for the sake of arguing. And this wasn't the Jacob who would immediately spring into action, preferring improvisation to time-consuming planning. Who'd make fun of my attempts to order a disorderly world with logic and planning. He figured that if he could not get rid of the disorder he'd embrace it, along with every opportunity that came his way.

But at that moment, my friend was still. I tapped him on the shoulder. He flinched and in a blink whirled around and spotted me.

He sighed. "Chris, you must be trying to give me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry but I had to grab your attention. I'm not going to stay here staring at you forever," I chuckled.

Jacob smiled fondly and huffed in mock resignation. "Okay, okay. Fine."

The first floor consisted of two parts. The first was an inviting front entrance with chairs and magazines that our neighbors could see into. After all, the best way to hide is to do so in plain sight. A secret entrance activated with either a password or a handprint.

As we walked towards the secret entrance, my friend, ever attuned to his surroundings said, "These magazines are all at least 3 years old..."

I smiled. How it was a privilege to have a friend as discerning as him.

"Do you honestly think my father would buy any more tabloid magazines about celebrity drama than he absolutely needs?" I asked. Jacob shrugged.

"Fair. Plus there's his pride. If he bought those magazines regularly people might think he actually likes them"

I chuckled at the idea. Unreal. Imagine Magneto, Master of Magnetism, discussing celebrity gossip with the same seriousness sports fans have during their discussions. Never. I shook my head as I placed my palm on a seemingly normal part of the wall. This part of the wall slid to the side leading to the actual entrance to our home.

After the pleasant but fake sitting room, came another room that was rather plain. It contained a single plant and white walls. Look closer however and you'll see several 'cracks' in the walls. Compartments for the turrets hiding in the walls.

The idea was that should someone get this far, they'd be confused by the emptiness of the room and wouldn't be able to respond quickly enough to avoid getting shot at. Anyone who doesn't live in my home could enter, provided they have a person who's in the system walking with them. Should someone be forced to let enemies inside, blinking in code is enough to get the defensive weaponry up. Father thinks of everything.

From there we kept on walking, towards another seemingly blank wall. Unseen sensors scanned us and once approved, the wall opened to reveal an elevator.

While crossing this gap, the boy next to me looked around. "It's pretty weird to think that there are tons of weapons hiding right behind these walls."

"Yup, But I can stop them with my shields."

"Yeah, you can," he emphasized, "but if I'm stupid for a minute and walk inside the room without you…"

"Hm, I guess I could ask Father to bump you up from the kill on sight designation..." I said.

"Wait, that's a thing?" He yelped.

"Nope, but that's pretty much what happens when someone who's not in the system breaks in." The pain from the punch to the shoulder I received only intensified my laughter.

Once inside, I punched the button to the first floor of the penthouse. Our home was an apartment complex that would under normal circumstances have housed several households instead of one. This meant we had more than enough room for our activities. For simplicity's sake, we lived on the two penthouse floors. The rest of the floors and rooms could be used for other purposes. And that's how we were able to have a dedicated gym and garage in the middle of cramped New York City.

The excuse used for the lack of traffic was that the rich landlord didn't bother to rent out the units for more people out of sheer laziness. I'd actually come up with this one. It happens often enough. Plus - and here's a tip for all of you- saying you didn't do something due to laziness is the most believable kind of lie, especially when it involves paperwork. Everyone feels lazy, so everyone could relate. Telling such a lie also wouldn't make you look good, so many would think you're telling the truth.

Examining the buttons, Jacob asked, "So... Do you guys even use all these floors?"

"No, not at all. You could probably get lost around here, actually," I chuckled. "I know I have a few times."

"Woah, really?" Jacob gasped. "Magneto's rich!"

"Yep, it boggles the mind, really."

He frowned, "Why would it?"

"What?"

"To you I mean. You're his kid. Things like this should be normal for you, right?"

Shit!

"Oh, well I had a pretty normal childhood actually - away from all this."

"Ah, I see. Quite wise. Should anyone learn of your existence many would try to kidnap you to get leverage on him." I looked away from my friend.

"Yeah… exactly," I said, feeling a bit nervous. Technically, it was a lie, but I couldn't just tell him that I was Magneto's adopted son, that my normal life wasn't a decision he made, but mere coincidence!

I gulped. It's pretty hard to remain emotionally distant about a hypothetical kidnapping when it's about you being kidnapped. That was a fear of mine. Hell, I was already worried about being kidnapped before I had met Father!

Really, I was extremely unimportant compared to my father. All scenarios where someone found out who I was they were always about him, not me - controlling him, preventing him from growing more powerful, stopping him. Welcome to the life of anyone with a famous relative.

I took a moment to steady myself with a few deep - but silent - breaths through the nose.

My friend noticed this. Of course, he did - he's him! It was so embarrassing. Darn Jacob and his powers of discernment. Him and Jenny both. It was fun and challenging hanging around them, but keeping my secrets to myself was a herculean task. And yes, I know I was just talking about the coolness of having intelligent friends, but when you are a member of a secretive organization, it makes life so much harder.

"Oh, sorry man. Not a cool thing to say?"

"It's alright," I said, waving his concerns away.

"No it's not," he insisted, shaking his head fervently. "I'm really sorry, man. That's like mentioning the odds of a super earthquake to someone who lives in California. It's a perfectly logical fear."

"I- I'm not-" The door opened and I stepped out first. "It's not important anyway."

My father was 'coincidentally' already in the dining room. Close by, but not so close that it seemed planned. He looked perfectly casual with his newspaper. You see this? This is the result of years of Nazi hunting. He was too freaking good at this.

He put the paper down with a look of perfect 'surprise'. "Ah, Electron, you didn't tell me Jacob was coming."

I hated this, but had to play along. Father was right there and there'd be hell to pay for not backing him up.

"He just showed up Father, I didn't know he'd be here myself."

"I see."

My friend smiled, "Magneto, good to see you. We were just talking about the death weapons you have in your foyer."

Really? Now Jacob was getting in on the lying too? Well, probably for different reasons. He didn't want to embarrass me so he did the bro thing and lied. And it was more of a stretch than an outright lie. Even so, this was still Magneto that he was somewhat lying to.

I wonder if Father thought this was a hidden barb. Knowing Jacob, there was an equal chance of it being that or him being serious. Hell, he might have meant it as both at the same time. Still, Father's outwardly pleasant mask didn't falter. Go figure - the guy had experience. It took a bit more than that to get him to lose his cool.

"A necessary precaution." My father countered.

"Well yeah, I get that." Jacob shrugged. "There's a lot of people who don't like you."

"A bit of an understatement, young Jacob." The way he settled on 'young' showed me he was reenforcing who was in charge here. I could easily pick up on this and felt a touch wary. My friend showed no such sign of recognition. Perhaps he simply wasn't fluent in tall, dark and terrifying and all the hidden messages that came with this dialect of the language of dread.

So was he simply unaware? Or was he able to not shiver in his red hightops at this silent show of power? Either possibility was far beyond my comprehension.

The boy threw in a smirk. "I guess you're right there. I'm just concerned because I come around here regularly and if I accidentally enter that room before Chris…"

"Ah, I see." My father nodded "That is a fair concern. I will talk to Toad to speak about what can be done to prevent such an… incident."

"Thanks. I kinda like having all my limbs intact," he said with a lopsided smile.

That got a chuckle from my father and just like that, the tension vanished. I blinked.

Did he just do that?

The level of charisma and bravado to pull that off… Or maybe it was just luck. There was no way of knowing.

I shook my head and decided to get myself a drink… of apple juice. What? You'd think Father would share his stash of aged whiskey with his 16-year-old son? Never.

I got my drink and settled on a sofa cushion next to my friend.

"Electron, did you even offer anything to your friend?" My father asked, now sitting in a chair across from us.

"Oh, uh, no. Sorry, I forgot."

The man sighed. "I find more and more that a bear bringing its still alive prey to its cave has more hospitality than the youth of today."

My friend, who was lazily flipping through tv channels didn't seem affronted at all.

Still, I say, "So, Jay-"

"I'm good, thanks."

Nice, now I can't even get you anything to fix this. Nice going man. Not cool. This has to violate some subsection of the bro code.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. "Actually, some water's good."

Did he just?

Still, I got up and got some water. I sealed it in a reusable water bottle. Once I returned to the room, my friend raised his hands high and I threw it at him. It made a thudding sound as he caught it.

I then floated myself over the sofa and allowed myself to drop onto a cushion. We burst into a fit of laughter.

Father shook his head at our antics, probably thinking that he certainly didn't teach me that. After this, he said, "So, what brings you here on such short notice, Jacob?"

"Well…" Jacob looks down, frowning. "I'm kinda here because I think the Professor isn't giving me the full story about stuff. I- it feels like he's leaving a bunch of stuff about the world out when he gives his arguments for coexistence, but, but I- I just can't prove it. That's what I've concluded anyway."

Father smirked. "A very astute conclusion to make. And you're right. You wanted to see what the world is really like for mutants then?"

My friend's face crumpled. He visited the good professor quite a bit. Perhaps Jacob thought he was a trustworthy mentor? Too bad. "Yeah."

"It's 'yes', Jacob. You're intelligent enough to speak properly. And I know it's disheartening to hear you were misled. Xavier has his own selfish motives for this deception." Can my father make Xavier look bad with information he learned just a second ago? Yes. Yes, he can. The sheer ease he showed...

"Because he doesn't want you recruiting me because I could use a Cerebro Machine - at least if I learned not to be so useless with my powers."

Father nodded. "Precisely. And you aren't useless. Simply untrained." He leaned forward. "How did you learn of Cerebro?"

"Xavier." My friend frowned some more.

"I see. Very well, I'll show you. We keep records." We followed my father to his private wing of the house upstairs. There, he used his powers to unlock the door to his office. A compartment in the desk rumbled open.

A small thumb drive jumped to connect to the laptop on his desk with pinpoint accuracy. He could get that tiny drive to connect to his laptop, on the first try, with just the right amount of force. I sighed. I would've broken the drive if I had tried to plug it in like that. And I certainly wouldn't have had it right side up. Learning control suddenly looked so much cooler.

I have to be able to do that one day.

My friend didn't seem nearly as awed at my father's effortless display of skill. Father then sat down at the desk and opened a document on the drive.

He turned the laptop back around. Now we were looking at a large map of Manhattan. However, there were red blotches all over the map. When zoomed in a dense cluster of blood-red, teardrop-shaped icons could be seen.

"This is a listing of all confirmed violent incidents involving mutants in the last year."

Jacob gasped. "But- but that's impossible... Just the last year?"

"Yes." My father nodded.

My friend's look of terror increased as he zoomed out this map to find a red rash of incidents covering our country.

He zoomed in on the location around our schools in Massachusetts. There was a dense clustering of incidents, especially around our schools.

I knew what he'd find. Father had warned me before. I glanced at him, briefly locking eyes. 'Stand down,' those eyes seemed to say. 'Let him find out on his own.' I looked away, suddenly nervous.

At the bottom of the map, there was a key that showed various colored icons, now disabled. Should Jacob notice the unusually dense clustering of incidents around our campus, he'd likely think there was an organized group of anti-mutant thugs nearby and click the icon that showed known violent groups.

Of course, Jacob being himself, he did just that.

"There' a hate group on my campus? On Chris's campus, and the old fucker didn't tell me?" He was all but yelling, eyes wide. Then he shook his head, trying to collect himself. "No, maybe he didn't know..." He sounded unsure of himself. He clenched the edge of the table in a white-knuckled grip.

"I'm sorry Jacob." My father said solemnly. That was all the confirmation Jacob needed. He ran out of the room. Father and I gave each other a look and quickly gave chase. It wasn't hard to find him, he made enough noise for us to follow. The sound of punches and yelling led us to the entrance of the room we'd been in only a few moments ago. We stopped at the stairs, staring at the scene in front of us.

Jacob was on the couch, violently assaulting a pillow. "I can't believe he didn't freaking tell me!" he raged. He kept punching until he ran out of breath. Breathing heavily, he stilled before sensing our presence.

"Wait! Don't come closer!" He bellowed with his head still turned away. Gone from his voice were the sharp dangerous edges, all that remained was the quiver of an urgent plea. I did no such thing and rushed to my friend. I soon felt the beginnings of a dull headache. Something was assaulting my mental defenses. No, someone.

"It's okay Jay. You can't harm me by mistake," I said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. He was still hunched over the pillows. I raised a hand and touched his shoulder. He flinched, seemingly breaking out of his stupor.

"I can't?" he asked in a small voice. It pained me to see him looking so vulnerable. I didn't want to know what had happened to make him so afraid of hurting a friend. So this is what I looked like on the outside during my… fits.

"No, you won't. I didn't freeze at the tournament either, right? There's a tingle, but other than that I'll be completely fine," I said, smiling.

He managed an exhausted smile, finally looking up to meet my eyes. "So that goes for you and your dad then?"

"No Jacob. Just him." Father finally arrived, now with this helmet on. "Instead, this helmet will protect me from any outbursts."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. I just- I could tell I was going to…"

"It's fine," I said quickly.

"We're fine." My father agreed.

Jacob sat up and sighed, running a hand through his hair. Frowning, he mentally collected himself. As he did, I could feel the tingle in the back of my mind growing weaker. "So the Professor… He's been lying to me this whole time." He scowled. "Frankly, I just want to go to his school and rearrange his face. Actually I just might-"

"I wouldn't recommend that, Jacob. Xavier may try to use his powers to change your view of things," my father interrupted.

"He wouldn't do that, would he?" Jacob asked, surprised.

"Well… I thought so too, until he kidnapped my son," he said solemnly.

The color drained from my friend's face. "He - he didn't. Chris, tell me he's just joking." He looked at me. "Tell me you're joking!"

I shook my head.

"And you didn't tell me he did this, why exactly?"

"I... I don't like to think about it." I couldn't bring myself to look at him while saying this.

"Oh… I see." He was silent for a second. "Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Good, because if he had, I would've gone over there myself to clobber him and to hell with the consequences," he grumbled.

My father laughed. "It's good to see that my son has such a good friend. And you needn't worry. I taught him quite the lesson when I recovered Electron."

Now it was Jacob's turn to laugh. "Good."

"Still, you can call him if you want." I said.

"Sure. No, wait. I kinda left my phone at the dorm. Or was it my car?" He frowned. "Or… somewhere, I don't quite remember right now."

"It's fine, use my phone instead." My father said. So we went back to his office and he used the phone there. Jacob also decided to place it on speaker after calling. The Professor picked up quickly.

"Erik?" he asked.

"Xavier." Jacob greeted him instead.

The line was silent for a beat. "What are you doing over there, Jacob? What did he tell you?"

"Everything." My friend's eyes narrowed. "Stuff you didn't bother telling me."

The Professor sighed. "Magneto has a way of telling the truth in a way that suits his needs. Which is why you shouldn't be exposed to him," He said gently, as if he didn't just imply Jacob couldn't make this decision for himself. Such a snake.

Fortunately, my friend could understand that bit of subtext.

"I shouldn't be exposed to him? And yet you know the guy well enough to have his number? And you didn't bother telling me about the hate group on my campus? You haven't told me much of anything! How dare you think it is your right to choose what I do and don't know!" I winced. My friend just… exploded on the guy. He was furious.

"Magneto is only telling you this to get you on his side," Xavier said weakly.

"And what are you doing?" Jacob growled.

This was silence. Then he managed to compose himself.

"You must understand, Magneto can't be allowed to recruit a telepath with your level of power."

"Yeah, I know, because of Cerebro right? I'd be able to help his cause. That is. if I wasn't so trash at using my powers." His voice turned cold at the end, and suddenly the implications of his words hit me.

"Jacob you aren't as you put it, 'trash' at using your abilities. You're only untrained." My father reassured, putting his hand on Jacob's shoulder.

"Leave that boy alone Erik!" The Professor snarled, throwing away any and all pretense of gentleness. It seemed that the instant he felt that his role of 'teacher' was being encroached on, the man lashed out. Some pacifist.

"Like you're doing, Charles? I wonder why he's still so inexperienced, given how much time you spend with him. Have you even bothered to teach the boy the basics?" Father shot back.

"At least I'm not filling his head with poison," The other man huffed. "Unlike yourself."

Jacob, understandably sick of others discussing his future when he was right there, interjected. "And how am I supposed to trust you when you tried to hurt my friend?"

There was silence on his end, then he said "Your friend…? Magento, stop deceiving the boy, you're getting him angry at the wrong person."

"So do you deny kidnapping him?" Jacob didn't relent.

"No… But there were extenuating-" Jacob definitely didn't like that.

"Bull. Shit." If anyone had somehow missed how angry Jacob was, they definitely knew now. "Kidnapping is wrong and there's no justifying it. You lied to me! And you kidnapped Chris."

Well, he certainly had a way with words. In a way, the simple phrasing only emphasized his hurt and rage.

"I did that because Chris was about to go home to a man who taught him to kill without a shred of remorse. Children shouldn't be used to fight wars of adults. I didn't tell you this because without proper context, you'd have reacted as you are now and joined the very same man. It's not mentally healthy for a child."

"I'm willing to deal with the consequences," I said.

The man sighed. "Because you've been indoctrinated into thinking violence is the answer. Chris, you're not even old enough to legally buy a beer. And you say you want to fight in and possibly die for his war? Magneto can be very convincing, and he is good at creating doubts. He has no moral boundaries given all the destruction his organization has wrought. But to do this to your own child is beyond the pale. And I'm sorry you can't see that Chris."

"It's Electron," I rebutted.

"Exactly my point. The boy won't even acknowledge his birth name."

"You've done nothing but lie to me for your own ends," my friend said. "Don't call me again."

He stalked over to the phone and slammed the 'end call' button. There was a moment of quiet before the phone rang yet again. Father frowned, and the very same button was pressed in a millisecond, this time without anyone touching it. Once more the phone rang, and the device was yanked out the power outlet, seemingly by invisible hands. It seemed Father was just as irritated as the rest of us.

"That self-righteous, hypocritical…" Jacob muttered.

Father didn't disagree. "He'll likely call you again on your phone sometime in the next hour, thinking you need to calm down some. He won't acknowledge his wrongdoing and will likely try to downplay it. After that, he'll wait a day or so before calling again."

"I don't want to hear from him ever again. I'll block his number."

"Including all of the numbers from all of the phones in the school? Cell phones included?"

My friend frowned, now realizing the sheer impossibility of this.

But Father did have a solution. "I can get Toad to give you a phone that blocks unrecognized numbers to avoid such harassment," he offered.

My friend's eyes narrowed in suspicion for a fraction of a second before he caught himself and carefully schooled his expression. "I think I'll take you up on that, thanks. Chris, mind playing a game of Avenue Brawler?"

I was a bit surprised that the conversation had turned to me. "Sure."

"I'll set up your tv and console." He said before leaving the room.

"That turned out well." Father said with a satisfied smirk. "You're dismissed but I do want to speak with you later."

"Yes, Father." I left and followed my friend.

To no one's surprise, I got my ass handed to me in Avenue Brawler. Jacob was just too good at that game.

We had just begun a new match when a smooth jazz melody glided through the air. I pressed a button to pause the fight. My friend, meanwhile, grumbled about me disrupting a combo move he was in the process of completing.

I took a moment to look at the clock across from my bed. It had been an hour alright.

Sometimes I forget how close they were.

Knowing how long until someone would call back to make amends was serious best friend territory.

Nonetheless, I summoned the phone from the nearby desk to my hands. "Xavier, why are you calling with someone else's phone number?" The other boy looked up from the screen.

"I'm doing this because your father isn't allowing me to contact Jacob myself. Speaking of, I tried to call Jacob's phone, but it went to voicemail... Did he take his phone? If Magneto's keeping him captive..."

It was a wonder I was able to say a civil word after such an accusation.

"That happens to be completely unrelated to you Xavier." My eyes became slits. "Jacob has simply misplaced his phone."

How fucking dare he?

A suspicious hum was the answer.

"Believe what you want to. It's the truth."

My phone was snatched away by the boy in question. "Don't call back, Xavier. I'm done." Then, he handed the device back to me.

"This is all very convenient for Erik, isn't it Chris? Especially with you being Jacobs 'friend'." I could hear the suspicion laced in each and every syllable.

"You doubt my sincerity?" I could feel myself turning red. The outrage I felt! "I am his friend."

"And doesn't that just make it so much worse?" the Professor asked.

I said nothing and glanced at Jacob. He was reading the Avenue Brawler guidebook. Upside down. Smooth.

I decided to take the call elsewhere. Once I'd found a hallway take refuge in, Xavier spoke again.

"Chris - Electron, I know you don't want to do this. I know from how you acted with Rogue, how you defended her from even your father, even after she tried to kill you."

The reminder of that part of my life made my mind go blank. It almost seemed to trigger something primal in my brain, and I couldn't breathe. I turned around and leaned on the wall to keep my balance. The phone became like butter, slipping right out of my grasp. I halted its descent midair, the feeling of using my power grounding me somehow. Then, I fumbled my hands around it again.

"You might kill," the Professor went on," but it's obvious you're loyal to those you care for. Erik must be making you, then."

I had nothing to say.

"You don't need to suffer this mistreatment, Chris," he said, voice turning soft. "Come back to my school, and you needn't concern yourself with him again. We can protect you from him."

I shook my head reflexively. "No, you can't. He broke in to get me last time, and he can do it again. Besides, I don't want you to 'rescue' me… He is my father and doesn't harm me to begin with."

"And his forcing you to lie to your friend?"

"A morally challenging but logical decision." I fought to kill any possible sense of emotion that threatened to emerge in my voice. Still, the sudden change to a dead, neutral tone, showed him more than enough.

"You think it's fine to do that if it suits his goals, so why not anyone else?"

"I don't think it is fine. I- I hate it but…" I paused, staring at a white wall in the hallway. "It isn't my decision to make. It was him who kept the organization going with his decisions for decades, not me. Meanwhile, you're not out fighting on the front lines, you're safe hiding in your mansion. Look around, Xavier! Are we not reviled? Are we not oppressed? Are there not people who'd cheer at our deaths, everywhere?" I insisted. "Father makes decisions that are tough to deal with, but I trust his judgment because I know he'd never try to harm our cause."

"But everything else is fair game?" He shot back.

"The end justifies the means. Sacrifices must be made for progress."

"And what, you think you're the exception? That you won't end up a sacrifice yourself?"

"I know I won't. Goodbye, Xavier." I hung up.

A notification appeared on my phone, summoning me to Father's office. I took a deep breath to stabilize myself. It would do no good to anyone if I went to Father feeling as uneasy as I did.

After settling into the seat in front of his desk, I said, "Jacob is still in my room. Xavier called me."

Father put down his paperwork with a frown. "Hm, he shouldn't have been able to do that. Very well. I think I'll have a listen."

I wanted to leave, I couldn't as I wasn't dismissed.

The conversation was played back.

I hoped I didn't say anything bad. But no, the man nodded, completely agreeing with my words.

He sighed. "I know I've put you in a difficult spot, Son. But the work you're doing to recruit your friend is crucial to our cause."

I smiled at the praise, but it didn't erase my conflicted emotions completely. "I know Father. It is. I'm helping… Like I wanted before. But…" I sighed. How could I explain how I felt? "It feels so dirty and wrong, Father. And- and it hurts to look at him and know I'm keeping secrets, when he hasn't ever done so to me. We're close and I- I don't want to lose that." I averted my gaze to the nearby bookshelves then the windows, anything but his actual face.

"Listen, Electron." I looked up at him. "Your loyalty is to our cause first. You've prioritized that so far and there's nothing wrong with that. You've done well," he said with a nod.

"Thank you, Father."

"It must be hard, lying to your friend," Father said knowingly.

"I- I haven't, actually..." I fumbled. Father frowned, seeming almost disappointed.

"I see… So that's how you've been coping with this then? You haven't lied to your friend yet, but have you not been biased? Have you not underplayed the cons that come with joining our cause?"

"I- I um…" He had a point. I didn't tell Jacob of the struggles I'd dealt with after joining.

"But no, that isn't lying per se, is it?" Father asked, eyes narrowed. "In fact, you could easily say you did that because you already think what you do is more than worth all the disadvantages involved. I'm sure you'd be able to come up with such a defense yourself if the topic weren't so… emotionally taxing.

It's clear to me that you've been able to cope with this betrayal of your friend by not lying to him, while simultaneously aiding me in recruiting him. Thus, you can solve the cognitive dissonance that inevitably comes when someone as loyal as you betrays a friend's trust."

"Cognitive dissonance? What do you mean, Father? There's no dissonance. I'm perfectly at peace with what I'm do…." I paused.

Father frowned. "You couldn't even finish your last sentence. You know you're lying to yourself. But you couldn't bring yourself to lie to me..."

I shook my head. "N-no Father… I can't."

Oddly enough, the frown morphed into a small smile, "Good. This honesty why we have such a strong relationship. While I may keep things from you, I haven't ever lied to you, Electron."

"I know Father. I'm glad." I suddenly felt the urge to throw myself out the window. I just… wanted to go back in time half an hour, to when I was still gaming with Jacob. When I didn't feel so shitty for betraying the most important person in my life.

"This need to be completely honest is perfectly fine and appropriate when it involves me, your father. However…" Father said, crossing his arms, "you don't owe others this. You embrace this mindset to an extent, it's' how you've kept your powers a secret. But, when it comes to your friends, you struggle." He paused, letting the last sentence linger in my mind, before continuing.

"Jacob cares about you and is a close friend. But Jacob doesn't come before your duties to the Brotherhood. The complete honesty and trust the two of us share isn't something to casually give to others, especially those who don't share our goal." Once again he looked stern and wary.

"Yes, Father." The promise I'd made to Jacob suddenly sounded so much more foolish.

"Despite your interactions with others your age, in a sense, you're lonely. You yearn for the ability to have someone to talk to and be honest about everything, someone your age. Someone who understands what you feel in a way that I could never."

How did he always just know how I felt? And how is it that he could always put my feelings in words better than me?

"I know this feeling you have because I've felt it myself. Decades ago - before I met Xavier. After meeting him I thought I could tell him everything. That we'd be like brothers…" He smiled ruefully. "I was wrong." He returned to frowning. "His influence lasted for years, such that I didn't even think to check Xavier's Mansion for you. And you suffered for it."

I wanted to reassure my father that I was fine, but something told me not to. To him, it didn't matter that I wasn't hurt, the fact that I was taken in the first place was a great failure to him. As though I hadn't willingly left the house, leaving me open to being taken in the first place.

Somehow, he was able to look even more serious. "There are consequences for trusting the wrong people." He warned. "And for mutants with our powers, those consequences often end with the death of others or ourselves. You won't always get as lucky as you did with Rogue or Xavier."

I visibly deflated. "No, I won't."

"It's far too dangerous for you to open yourself up to the possibility of such harm. At the moment you can trust only me completely," he warned, voice more serious than ever. "You owe others nothing- not the truth, not a shred of information, nothing, not even if they dress up their demands under the guise of 'common courtesy'. Given the chance, many would use it against you." He paused. "Your first job is to learn everything you can from me, so you can be self-sufficient. Your second is to devote yourself to the cause that we both believe in. Everything else is insignificant. Do you understand?"

Everything?

Nonetheless, I gave him the correct answer. "Yes, Father."

Father nodded before continuing. "Likewise, my first responsibility is to ensure your safety and teach you what you need to know to defend yourself and others. My second is to the cause I've created. And that's it."

I nodded. I found it interesting that he stated his responsibility to me first and his cause second.

"Now onto what I meant by cognitive dissonance, you mistakenly believe the following: that it is wrong to lie to friends. The flawed moral code of children on a playground. Jacob is a friend, therefore you had difficulty accepting a mission that would require concealing things from him." I picked up a fountain pen from his desk, capping and uncapping it absentmindedly when I found I couldn't take it apart. Still, I made sure to not break eye contact.

He gave me a silent look, and I quietly recapped the pen and placed it back. Father sighed and continued.

"When I refused to let you off the mission, you were able to reconcile the two beliefs by not technically lying to him. However, this is still a problem. Such beliefs could lead to you failing to conceal vital information in the future, because you couldn't bring yourself to lie. Understood?"

"Yes, Father."

"What I want is for you to rid yourself of the notion that you owe the truth to any of the 'friends' you encounter. You owe them nothing. Lying to help our cause isn't a horrid thing. Anything that helps our cause isn't."

"Anything?" I asked.

"Yes, anything. The end justifies the means." My mouth turned dry, but Father didn't notice my reaction and carried on.

"Had you merely been a boy whose biggest worries were a missing homework assignment, you would have been able to remain thinking that lying is a horrid thing. But as long as there remains people and organizations who would kill us for how we were born, you cannot. It's suicide. We need every possible advantage."

"Yes, Father." I looked away to a corner of the room, a feeling of resignation settling in. Father always made so much sense. I wanted to remain resistant to the idea of lying to my friend, but this rebelliousness was quickly smothered, a spark deprived of oxygen.

I had responsibilities and by doing all I could to avoid lying to my friend was I not neglecting them? Didn't I admire Father's clear focus and knowledge of what was and wasn't important to him? Didn't I wish to be just like him? And wasn't such commitment one of the greatest things a person could have?

I should tell him. Tell him about how I promised not to lie to Jacob. About Rogue. Those are the only things I'm keeping from him. With how much he trusts me, it's only proper that I confess.

I swallowed, hands clammy. "Father, what would we do if Jacob knows that I'm supposed to recruit him?"

Coward! I cursed myself.

"Oh, I'm sure he's already aware," he said almost casually. I stared at him. "Even if you didn't tell him, which I suspect you have already," I gasped. "I figured he'd know by now. It's an obvious conclusion. Still, he, like you, is also lonely and being as close as you are, my wanting to recruit him isn't a big issue."

That was it. I broke down, defenses crumbling. "I- I'm sorry Father. I- I told him you want to recruit him. I told him that doing that was tearing me apart." I couldn't bear to look at him anymore and looked down instead, fiddling with the fabric of my shirt.

"Hmm… I see… Have you told him anything else?"

"No Father. I haven't."

"Electron, look at me when I'm talking with you. I thought we had solved this last year," I steeled myself and met his eyes. "Good. Now, do you have his trust?"

"Yes, Father. He doesn't think I'd lie to him." It was odd that I didn't see any trace of anger.

"Good," he said thoughtfully. "I can use that… Now then, Electron. Keeping such things from me is a severe offense. You should have immediately told me of your mistake."

I nodded furiously, agreeing with my father, feeling all at once horrible for my lack of judgment.

Father shook his head. "Your commitment to those you care about is both your best and worst quality."

"I shouldn't be your heir, Father. Someone with the kind of hesitation I have shouldn't be allowed to lead the Brotherhood." I was being serious. Unlike many, I sincerely meant it when I confessed that I felt unworthy to do something due to my failures.

Father sighed. "Electron- I expect you to make mistakes such as these. You're 16. I know grown men who'd make the same mistake as you and would never think themselves wrong. You have strong morals and an ever-stronger commitment to those you care about, which to an extent applies to almost everyone. It'd be unrealistic for me to expect all of that to leave all at once. Yes, you were wrong, but that doesn't make you a monster like many of the men you've killed."

"Yes, Father."

"But that ironclad commitment to those you care for is exactly why I'd want you. I merely want you to focus on caring about the right people and teach you not to let this compassion cause you to make a fatal mistake."

I didn't deserve this. I didn't. I didn't deserve such a great, wonderful, forgiving parent. I didn't. My voice shaking, I told him just that. Was my vision blurring? Yes, it was.

"And I often feel I don't deserve the admiration and love of a son so keen on being kind to others, and yet here I am." He smirked. "Your error in the grand scheme of things is small and I will teach you so that it doesn't lead to bigger issues in the future. You'll be punished for your offense and we needn't think of it again."

"Yes, Father. Thank you." Father could electrocute me for 3 days or 3 hours, the promise of forgiveness was far too valuable. I just wanted things to return to how they were.

He frowned. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For not disowning me for what I did," I said, managing to blink away my tears.

He seemed aghast and scandalized, unable to fathom the idea. "You think I'd disown you for such a trifle?"

"I- it's... It's stupid, but I just worry."

"Electron," he paused. "I'd never disown you! I take my commitments very seriously."

"But- but sometimes I'm not how I'm supposed to be- and sometimes I make mistakes over and over and and I make you mad and sometimes I talk back and and..."

My father raised his hand and I went quiet. "You were acting your age and made mistakes- none of which were serious or had any lasting effects. Where would you get the notion that you'd be abandoned for such things?" He paused, then he understood the answer to his own question. "Electron, your mother might have made it clear to you that her love for you was conditional on you acting and being a certain way, but that doesn't apply to me."

He stared dead at me before saying," I will never abandon you, never."

I wanted to break down right there. Still, I held it together and nodded. "I- I won't ever disown you either Father. You'll always be family to me." I let out a sigh. "It feels great to hear you say that. The idea of you renouncing me..." I shivered.

"That will never happen. And have I ever lied to you, Son?"

"No, Father."

"Very good."

I smiled, extremely pleased. Then I remembered. "There's one more thing. Marie, she absorbed me. I'm sure that includes memories of secret information."

"I'm aware. I figured as much. And that's part of why you wanted her not to be caught. You didn't want me to kill her."

I nodded. "Yes, Father."

"You know that isn't possible now," he said.

I nodded again. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. And that is it? Those were the secrets you were keeping- no hidden girlfriend or anything?" he said, raising one eyebrow.

I might've made a joke about that if I mentally in a better place. Still, the shock of my worry mixed with the relief I felt when I learned I wasn't going to be abandoned, left me emotionally depleted. Instead, I just said, "No. That's it."

"Hardly earth-shattering, Electron. If this is your idea of betrayal I can see why the concept of you even being biased makes you feel such guilt. Even when everyone is naturally biased anyway."

"What are we going to do about Jacob?"

Father hummed, thinking. "Continue to befriend him... I will offer him the chance to join us on a mission. He'll likely accept and we'll go from there."

"Yes, Father."

I won't tell Jacob about this, I won't.

I went back to my friend. We played more games, eventually switching to Yuu Sports. I destroyed him in the basketball games but he got his revenge during the tennis matches.

Eventually, my friend left. I didn't tell him, though the words rested on my lips the entire time. Anytime I thought about saying a thing, Father's words echoed through my mind.

At the moment you can trust only me completely

So I said nothing. Nothing at all.

Afterward, I met up with Father for my punishment. I didn't dread it as much as usual, not when the thankfulness I felt during our last conversation still remained.

"Father, I haven't told Jacob of your plan and I only hope that I'll be able to earn back whatever trust I lost today," I said.

"It wasn't much and yes, you'll have plenty of time to do that." I nodded happily.

We headed back to his office.

"Electron, you understand that what you did was completely inappropriate?" Father asked sternly.

"Yes, Father. It was and I accept any punishment you decide on," I said, steeling myself. I tried to think of what I did. It was my own fault that I had to go through this. Father was in the right here.

"Good."

A burst of electricity hit me. It burned. So, so badly. The force was so great that it shoved me to the ground. I screamed for a few moments until the pain stopped. I sat up, a bit dazed, looking at him.

"You're forbidden from the use of electronics for anything but school work for the next two weeks. Don't make the same mistake again, Electron." I let out a relieved sigh. The punishment was relatively light. I felt lucky to be let off so easily. Only two weeks. And he didn't even shock me that bad.

"Yes, Father."

Father didn't need to take away my console or laptop. He knew I'd do as he said without deviation. I didn't so much as breathe on the electronics, afterward. With my father, confessing guilt and immediately taking responsibility was always better than lying.