I am a Spy

Posted on Fri Feb 23rd, 2024 @ 3:39pm by Charles Xavier & Bobby Drake & Iris Walker

Mission: Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: Salem Center, NY
Timeline: August 27th, 1990

”I’m a spy.”

By the time the words registered in Bobby's ears, the car door was already open and presented for Iris to enter.

"Wh-what?" Bobby asked with an incredulous twitch of his head. "What does that mean? You're a spy?"

The words tumbled out of Iris’s mouth in a flurry, as if she were afraid she would lose her nerve if she didn’t say it all at once. “The president caught me spying on him and he said I could either join the Mutant Response Division or else he could send me to New York to spy on Xavier and then he threatened my family if I didn’t do it but now I like everyone and don’t want to do it anymore, but I don’t know how to get out of it without him going after my sister!” By the time she was finished, tears streamed down her cheeks. “What do I do, Bobby?” she asked pleadingly.

Once the word dump started flowing, there was no stopping it. Bobby could barely believe what he was hearing. The mousy little shy girl was a double agent for the Mutant Response Division? It defied belief. But, if what she said was true, then there was no telling what trouble loomed overhead.

Bobby looked around as if a SWAT Team was about to move in and make an arrest. Obviously that wasn't the case. Still, he didn't breathe any easier. "You need to get in the car," Bobby said, hoping no one had overheard even a word. "We need to get out of here."

What had she done? Of course people would be following her! But as she glanced around furtively, she saw nobody. With another frightened glance at Bobby, she scrambled into the car and shut and locked the door behind her. “What am I gonna do?” she squeezed out, terrified.

“Buckle up." The engine roared to life. Bobby shifted into gear and peeled off the curb into the main drag. After the jack-rabbit start, Bobby blended into the slower flow of traffic until he reached the edge of town.

"There's an overlook up here," Bobby said. "In daylight, we could see the mansion. It's getting dark, so who knows?" The fact they weren't headed straight back to the mansion was notable. Bobby didn't seem any particular way other than concerned for their safety. "We'll be able to see anybody coming for a long ways. That'll be handy... because we need a long chat."

The car drifted off the country highway onto a gravel road that went up and up to the top of the bluff. As Bobby said, the X-Mansion was faintly visible on the other side of Breakstone Lake. Bobby cut the engine and let them sit in silence.

"Alright, Iris. So... start from the beginning." Bobby took a calming breath. How Scott and the Professor handle this? "You were snooping around in the White House, got nabbed by the Mardies, and came to us as their spy. Now they're threatening your family if you don't keep it up. What were you doing in the president's office in the first place and why would they make you in particular come to the mansion?"

“In high school, I used to spy on the Mayor,” she told him. “I would sell the information to the media, who would then know what to search for and where to find it. He was very corrupt,” she explained. “After he ended up in prison, I moved on to the governor, senators, representatives, literally everyone. When they were around, I was spying."

"Okay..." That made sense to Bobby, so he let her continue.

“I guess you could say I actually developed a taste for it. At some point, I thought why not try the president? I’m sure there’s a lot of dirt there. I was wrong; he doesn’t do anything illegal, ant least that I could see. And I also neglected to realize that the secret service would have cameras. Once they realized I’m a mutant who hides in plain sight, they used cameras to find me. One of them tased me. That’s how they arrested me.” She shuddered, remembering the unpleasant sensation.

Bobby nodded. A likely story but he was still trying to be impartial.

“They left me in jail for a few days, and then the president himself sent for me. That’s when he gave me the ulimatum. Either join the MRD officially or act as a spy. He was suspicious of Professor Xavier and wanted to know what he’s up to. I’ve called in a couple of times with reports, but he’s not happy with the information. Like I can help that Xavier’s a good man! He wants me to dig deeper and find more. But I don’t think there’s anything more to find. And besides, I like Professor Xavier. And I like everyone else, too. For the most part.”

That stopped him cold. "For the most part?" he asked, losing the point of the conversation for a minute. "Is there someone you don't care for?"

“Not really,” she replied. “I mean, there’s people who annoy me sometimes, but that’s to be expected. There’s nobody I’d want to spy on, anyway. Whet I meant was I like all of the people most of the time. But that’s not the point! How do I get out of this?”

Bobby mentally hit himself. "Right! This is pretty complicated..." His first instinct was to go to the Professor but that was the very man Iris was spying on. Was there a better option? Try as he might, he couldn't think of one. "Okay... you're gonna hate this but I think you need to tell the Prof."

Iris groaned. “You’re right, on both counts,” she replied. “I do hate it, but I think you’re right. Maybe he’ll know what to do.

"First..." Bobby looked her deep in the eye. "You gotta swear to me this isn't some kind of deep play. Swear you aren't going triple agent or something."

At first, Iris was appalled, but almost immediately, she realized that this was a fair question. “I swear,” she replied, crossing her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.”

"I'm serious, Iris." Bobby let his inner conflict show out. "Put your hand up and say, 'I, Iris Walker, swear to everything good and holy that I am not full of shit right now and that I won't fuck everyone over.'" His eyes turned pleading. "Say it. Please."

She laughed a short, watery laugh. “Sorry,” she said. “That cheered me up a little somehow. Okay…” she held up one hand and said, “I, Iris Walker, swear to everything that is holy that I am not full of shit right now… and… what was the rest of it? Oh! That I won’t mess everything up for everyone. Or something like that.”

"Good enough." Bobby bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to doubt you. It's... just..." He was really starting to like her and then she had to go and tell him something like this. "... I don't know. Complicated." Bobby looked back at her with a pensive puppy dog expression. "Anything else you need to say?"

“Only that I hope I can make it up to you,” she said miserably. “And re-earn your trust.”

Bobby stared at her intently. Her misery broke his heart. "You're doing a really brave thing." And then he took her cheeks in his hand and kissed her, releasing his inner turmoil in the act. "Just friends," he assured her. "Just friends," he reminded himself.

“Yeah.” She didn’t really know what else to say. “I hope the professor knows what to do,” she said.

"I'm sure he will," Bobby said. He took Iris's cue to pretend what just happened hadn't.

The car's engine fired back up and they got out of there.

---

"That is quite the story," the Professor said once Iris has recounted her tale. "When are you due to report next?"

“Two weeks,” answers Iris. “Well, 15 days. Unless something eventful happens.”

Xavier sat back behind his desk. "I see. What about recent events? Juggernaut, Stryker, Niagara Falls?"

In the corner trying to be a fly on the wall was Bobby. The Professor wasn't giving anything away in his line of questions and that was making Bobby nervous. An inexpressive Professor Xavier was a terrifying Professor Xavier. Bobby dry washed his hands in his lap and did his best to stay cool. It was plain to see he was scared for Iris.

“He knows about them,” she replied. “Most of them after the fact because there wasn’t time before hand or I didn’t know about it, in the case of Juggernaut. He seems annoyed that you’re not doing anything illegal, to be honest. He keeps asking questions that indicate he’s trying to find dirt on you.”

The Professor chuckled at that. "Yes, I expect he would be," he said with an actual mischievous glint in his eye, "on both counts. Although I do not make public my past association with Erik, there are unlikely to be any former known associations of Magneto who are not under observation."

"Yeah, but you don't help him," Bobby interrupted. "You're the reason Magneto hasn't taken over the world by now, along with who knows how many others?" The X-Men had thwarted several conspiracies in addition to the lower level schemes. "Magneto is a damn terrorist, Professor! How could they think you two are the same?"

"Because our goals are not so different," Xavier said, "not in the end. We are just diametrically opposed to how we get there. I dream of peace through coexistence and cooperation; Erik, through conquest and domination. And each of us believe the other's dream is doomed to failure."

Bobby was turning indignant. "But he kills people!" he insisted. "We save them! You taught us that!"

"Yes, Bobby, and I couldn't be prouder of my X-Men." Xavier turned from Bobby back to Iris. "You all are the proof this world needs of our cause and my dream."

Iris afforded him a small smile at that. It made her feel better than he included her in that statement. “I just want this all to be over,” she said miserably. “And I have no idea how to do it.”

"The situation must play out the way it was always going to," the Professor replied. "Keep doing your duty and keep your call-in appointments. Don't put your family in any unnecessary risk until we are ready to move on their behalf. I am not afraid of accountability, even by those who deem themselves unaccountable to others."

Iris nodded. “Do you want me to just keep telling him the whole truth, or is there anything I should hide?” she asked.

"If there was anything that I feared you would reveal, Iris, I would never have permitted you to stay." The Professor gave her a kindly smile, though the glint in his eye twinkled all the brighter.

Iris only nodded at first, the implications of his words not registering. Then she blinked and her eyes widened. “You knew all along!” she said, amazed.

"I did," the Professor admitted with a smile. "If it wasn't you, Iris, then the MRD would only have sent someone else. Perhaps someone I could not come to trust."

He trusted her. Iris clung to that with everything she had. To her, it was all that mattered. “Thank you, sir,” she said softly. “It feels so much better to have this off my chest. And it’s good to have a confidant, too,” she added with a weak smile at Bobby.

"Not sure what I did." Bobby shrugged. "Got you to tell the Prof something he apparently already knew, I guess."

"You were being a good teammate and an even better friend," the Professor offered. "If only everyone were so fortunate to have someone like you to support them."

Bobby blushed and looked away at the floor.

“Exactly,” agreed Iris. “The world would be so much better if everybody had a friend like you.”

"Yeah, well, I'm alright." Bobby looked up at Iris before his eyes darted away again. His cheeks blushed even harder.

The entire subtext made Xavier take a deep sigh. He had counseled Bobby to find people who could be trusted and it appeared Bobby had done just that. Hopefully it wouldn't lead to more problems than it solved.

"I do want to express my gratitude for you both coming to me about this situation," the Professor said. "There is no situation which I could fathom where I will not advocate for my X-Men. Mistakes are part of how we grow as individuals. Learning to make amends for our mistakes is how we become good ones."

“I’ve learned to stop spying on high profile politicians,” Iris commented. “Those days are over.”

"That's a relief," said the Professor. "I intend to keep my promise to help you control your ability. It is good to be noticed."

Bobby nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. Silence meant he could keep from blushing again.

Iris grinned, remembering the first day she had arrived and Scott had approached her without her speaking to him first. “Indeed,” she said. “Is… is it okay if I go to bed now? I’m exhausted. It’s been a long day.”

"Of course," the Professor said. "I believe all could do with some rest."

"Good night, Professor," Bobby said.

“Thank you, Professor,” said Iris once more as she stood to leave. “And goodnight.

Bobby saw Iris back into the hallway. "That turned out pretty good, yeah?"

Unable to contain her relief and downright happiness, Iris immediately wrapped her arms around Bobby’s neck and hugged him tight. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she said.

The sudden excitement and breach of the touch barrier made Bobby blush all over again. "You're welcome," he managed to say. "Don't mention it."

“Sorry,” she said, releasing him. “It’s just that I’ve been stressing about this for weeks and you being honest with me as exactly the push I needed to come clean. I feel so much better without that on my conscience. And knowing you don’t automatically hate me for it was a big help, too.”

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Bobby said. "But I'm glad my... push... helped you come clean." His cheeks stayed flushed at the memory of his impulsive kiss before, especially since she had not acknowledged it. "Now we can help you get out of this mess."

“Yeah,” she agreed. “It’ll be good to not have to sneak around any more. Now I can just be honest about it and go make my phone calls. And listen,” she added. “For the record, I like you, too.” And she gave him another of her winning grins. “Now, is it too late for a game of foosball?”

Bobby felt his heart leap into his chest. Like? Or like-like? It was impossible to know and Bobby was too scared to ask. "Good to know," he said, looking down but unable to avoid her gaze. "And you're on!"