magnetic ◊ criminal minds

l.

l. the brotherhood of mutants
( season six )

IT was late at night, the moon high in the sky. Regardless, it was the weekend, and so some members of the team decided to go out for drinks. This group included Lyra, Prentiss, Morgan, Reid, and Garcia.

"I've been meaning to ask... Lyra, what's the deal with you and Magneto?" Prentiss asked.

"What do you mean?" Lyra signed in response, forcing herself not to freeze up. She had to play dumb. She could not give anything away, not when she had made it this far. Not when there was so much on the line - her job, her life, her father's and her siblings' lives.

"Come on, Lehnsherr, you know what she's talking about," Morgan said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Lyra sighed. As much as she hated to do it, it was time for her to hide the truth from them once more. "As you guys know, I was an X-Men. We've fought Magneto a lot. He used to be friends with my teacher, Charles... you could say we have mutual respect." Mutual respect was putting it lightly. "Oh, and he saves my ass sometimes."

"Name one time, and it can't be with Fitz," Prentiss challenged.

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're up for that conversation? It isn't cheery."

Garcia gasped rather dramatically. "Are you going to tell us the story?!" she asked.

"The story?" Reid repeated. "You mean like-"

"Yeah, of my scar," Lyra signed, nodding as though it was no big deal. As if it was not something she had been hiding for the better part of eight years. Originally, it had been because she was hiding the fact that she was a mutant. As time went on, however, she found rather that is was because it was hard to talk - well, sign - about.

The others leaned forward, desperate to know everything. After years of waiting, this was finally the moment. They would learn her secret-

The synchronized ringing of phones distracted them.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Prentiss said, annoyed. They had a case. "Do we still get to hear the- and she's already leaving."

♢

Walking into the briefing room, they found Strauss standing there alongside Hotch and Rossi. That could only mean bad news.

"Good. You're all here," Strauss said. She took a breath. "I know this isn't your typical jurisdiction, but things have gotten too out of hand. The director wants you to find Magneto. He requested it specifically," she said. As she spoke the last words, her eyes were on Lyra. It had to do with her certainty with Stryker, then? Because Strauss had no idea she was a mutant, that had to be the explanation.

"Magneto," Morgan repeated. "Ma'am, are you sure-"

"We're not asking you to capture him," Strauss reiterated. "Just find him."

"We'll try our best," Hotch promised. Strauss nodded, content, before she left.

"Find Magneto?" Prentiss said. "How are we going to do that?"

Lyra kept her hands to her sides, fists clenched. Find Magneto? While that might be the easiest task for her, she could not let it happen. She bit her lip. Would it be risky to sabotage this hunt? Absolutely, but in her eyes, it had to be done. Erik Lehnsherr was not a bad person. If he was a bad person, then so was she, and she refused to accept that. Not after all she had done. Not after all she had endured.