Chapter Seven

"You must be Sarabi." He said looking her from head to foot. "You're right Mystique, she was made perfect." Sarabi snorted at his comment and rolled her eyes.

"No one is perfect." She told him and Logan coughed. Sarabi looked at him with a bittersweet smile. "And you're just one of them." She said then walked a few steps away from the three of them. Magneto smiled as he watched Sarabi put an arm around Rogue.

"It's hard isn't it?" Magneto asked. Logan gave him a look. "Being around her and wondering just how much of her you've seen." Magneto smiled as Jean walked up to him.

"What are you doing here?" Jean asked and Magneto looked at the jet.

"Apparently saving you." He answered and Jean gave him a look. "Come, we need to talk." He told her and she nodded then turned towards Sarabi and Ororo.

"Sarabi. Ororo." She said and Ororo walked over to her. Sarabi looked at Rogue and Bobby.

"There's tents and emergency equipment in the hold. Why don't the four of you get all set up while we talk with them." Sarabi told them and they nodded. She walked towards the group of adults and followed them a bit into the dense forest around them.

They went far enough away so not to be overheard, but stayed close enough to keep an eye on everything. Kurt was sitting on a log when Rogue came up to him.

"Thank you for saving my life." She told him and he smiled at her.

"You are welcome." He said then looked at the adults.

"Can you hear what they are saying?" Rogue asked and Kurt smiled.

"No, but I can get a closer look." He said and Rogue smiled.

"His name is Stryker." Magneto said and Sarabi's attention finally focused on him.

"What was he doing at the school?" Ororo asked.

"He was after Cerebro." Magneto said. He was sitting on a stump by the fire Sarabi created as the sun began to set. Mystique stood near him and the rest of them stood across the fire.

"How would he know about Cerebro?" Jean asked and Magneto looked at the ground.

"Because I told him." He answered and Sarabi snorted. Magneto looked at her. "I didn't have a choice. He has this drug that allows him to control mutants. He made me tell him everything." There was a silence.

"What about the Professor and Scott?" Sarabi asked.

"He has them both. He needs Charles for something, so no doubt they are still alive."

"Then why can't I reach him?" Sarabi again asked and Magneto shrugged.

"That I don't know." He told her.

"So what's his plan for Cerebro?" Ororo asked. Magneto looked to Mystique.

"We're not sure, all we know is that it's at his base." She replied.

"And where is that?" Jean asked and Magneto sighed.

"Alkali Lake."

"There's nothing there. I know, I've seen it." Logan said and Magneto smiled.

"Yes, but there is one among us that does know where it is." He said.

"I don't remember anything about that place." Logan said and Magneto laughed.

"You always think it's about you don't you?" Magneto asked him. Sarabi sighed.

"I blew up the compound where I was held." She said. "But there was another one. Where they kept metal boy here. But I don't know where it is."

"How is that possible?" Logan asked and Sarabi looked at him.

"Because I went through the ground to get to your side. I never really saw the outside of it." Sarabi told him and Magneto smiled then looked up into the tree. They all followed his gaze and saw Kurt hanging upside down on a branch. He smiled weakly and waved.

"Hello." He said then came down out of the tree.

"He's the one to which I was talking about." Magneto said and Sarabi looked from him to Kurt.

"Kurt? But I don't remember him there. I would have remembered him. Unlike other people." Sarabi said then looked at Logan from the corner of her eye. Magneto smiled at Sarabi.

"It would have been after your time Sarabi." Magneto said then looked to Jean. She walked up to Kurt and smiled at him.

"I'm sorry for snooping." Kurt told her and she raised her hands to either side of his head.

"Its alright. Now relax." She said and entered his mind. She saw the White House and then the compound. She found out where it was and stepped back from Kurt.

"How soon can you get that jet of yours working again?" Magneto asked and Sarabi wrinkled her nose.

"By morning at the most." Sarabi said looking back at the jet and sighed.

"You might want to rearm that cannon of yours." Logan told her and she looked at him.

"Ya think?" Sarabi said then rubbed her temple and walked back towards the jet. Magneto smiled and looked at Mystique. She smiled at him then watched Logan follow Sarabi.

"Hey, I was only making a suggestion." Logan told Sarabi and she turned and looked at him still walking backwards.

"Yeah, thanks, I think I can handle it." Sarabi said and turned back around. Logan stopped and watched her board the jet. Rogue walked up to him and looked at the jet.

"Is she always so…?" Logan said and trailed off.

"Not really. Just lately." Rogue said then went and sat by the fire with Bobby. Jean followed Sarabi up the ramp into the jet and found her standing in the aisle with her hands on her hips looking around.

"Don't you think you are being a little hard on him?" Jean asked and Sarabi turned then snorted softly.

"He's gone for sixteen years then walks back into my life. What am I supposed to do?" Sarabi asked and Jean smiled.

"Its not his fault Sarabi." She told her and Sarabi sighed.

"I know." She replied softly. "Its just a shock is all." Sarabi continued and pulled a panel off the side of the jet. "This is going to be fun." Jean smiled at Sarabi and grabbed the toolbox.

Two hours later Jean and Sarabi were still trying to get the jet to work. Sarabi kept talking in Egyptian and Jean would smile at her. She wasn't talking to her, but most likely to the jet. Whether or not it was something nice, she didn't know. Sarabi stood working on the panel right at the top of the ramp. With a sigh Jean rubbed her temples.

"I need some fresh air." Jean told Sarabi then walked down the ramp. Logan met her at the bottom.

"So how we doing?" Logan asked her. Jean glanced back up the ramp then looked at Logan.

"It'll still be a few more hours until we get her up and running again." Jean said and Logan shook his head.

"I don't mean the jet. I meant us." He told her and Jean just looked at him then sighed.

"Logan." Jean said then glanced back up the ramp at Sarabi who was busy pulling on a wire.

"Come on. Give me a chance." Logan said quietly leaning closer to Jean.

"I love Scott." Jean told him and Logan looked at her. "Bad boys are fun to play around with, but it's the good boys you take home." Jean said softly.

"I can be a good boy." Logan said reaching out touching Jean's cheek. Jean smiled.

"No you can't." Jean whispered and then Logan leaned forward and kissed Jean on the lips. Sarabi had chosen that time to kneel down to ask Jean something and the words were lost before they even reached her throat. She closed her eyes then opened them again but the image didn't disappear. Logan was still kissing Jean. Sarabi reached back to grab something to pull herself up since she no longer trusted her leg muscles but didn't watch where she was reaching.

Jean pushed Logan away just as the whole jet lit up with a blinding white light.

"God damnit!" Sarabi yelled from inside and there was a thud and the jet stopped glowing. It took everyone a moment or two to see again. Jean looked up the ramp and saw Sarabi lying on the floor.

"Sarabi!" She yelled as she ran up the ramp closely followed by Logan. Sarabi coughed and slowly sat up. "What happened?" Jean asked reaching Sarabi's side. Sarabi sighed then held up her left hand. Her palm was black and badly burnt. Jean looked at Sarabi who just laughed.

"I grabbed the power line." Sarabi said watching her hand heal. Jean went to touch her but Sarabi shook her head. "No, Jean don't. You touch me and you'll get a shock you won't soon forget." Sarabi said holding her hands about a foot away from each other. A spark of electricity jumped between her hands from her thumb ring on her left hand to another ring on her right. Jean looked at Sarabi.

"What were you doing touching the power line?" Jean asked her and Sarabi smiled weakly.

"I wasn't looking where I was reaching." Sarabi said.

"What where you looking at?" Logan asked her and she just looked at him but didn't answer. Jean swallowed and knew what it was.

"Sarabi…" she started as Sarabi got up.

"Jean don't." Sarabi said then walked down the ramp making Logan move out of her way.

"Shocking isn't it Mystique?" Magneto said when Sarabi reached the ground. "Even someone as well learned as Sarabi can still makes mistakes." Sarabi stopped walking and looked at him.

"I told you I wasn't perfect." Sarabi growled.

"Do you always make such life changing mistakes?" Mystique asked and Sarabi looked at Logan as he stepped off the ramp then looked back to Mystique and Magneto.

"Yeah I do Mystique. Some of them haven't been worth the trouble." Sarabi said then looked at Logan.

"So do you think you can send electricity to anything?" Magneto asked playing with Sarabi. She looked at him then smiled.

"I don't know. Shall we see?" She said then turned to Logan.

"Sarabi." Jean said coming up from behind Logan.

"Don't worry Jean. Metal boy will unfortunately live through it." Sarabi said and Magneto laughed.

"There's no bigger fury than a woman scorn." Magneto said to Mystique who smiled and Sarabi turned to him.

"Shut up magnet boy." Sarabi said then walked a few steps away then laughed and turned back to them. "Magnet boy and metal boy. What a great pair the two of you make. To bad you're not attracted to each other." Sarabi said then stormed off. She reached down to grab at something tangled around her ankle and reached out to use the jet for balance and as soon as she touched the jet, electricity went through her body into the jet. Everyone watched as sparks of electricity jumped all over the jet. Sarabi pulled her hand off the jet and fell to the ground. She watched as the sparks died and then the jet hummed into life. She laid there propped up on her elbows looking at the jet then she let herself fall completely to the ground and she laughed. "Figures." She said looking at the jet from between her fingers as she rubbed her forehead. With a sigh Sarabi got back up and headed into the woods.

"I guess we'll leave in the morning then." Ororo said looking at the now working jet. Magneto just shook his head and went back to sit by the fire. Rogue went into the woods after Sarabi; Logan went into his tent and laid down. Mystique watched him with a smile.

"They say you can imitate anyone you want. Even their voice." Kurt said to Mystique coming up behind her. Mystique smiled.

"Even their voice." She said mimicking Kurt's voice.

"So it's true?" He asked and she nodded. "Then why don't you do it all the time? You know, look like everyone else?" Kurt asked and Mystique looked at him.

"Because we shouldn't have to." She said then walked away from him. Kurt looked after her then went back to the fire.

Logan laid there staring at the ceiling of the tent. Movements at the door made him raise his head a bit then sit up. Jean walked in and looked at him.

"Jean?" Logan asked confused and instead of answering him she walked over to him and crawled onto his lap and kissed him. Logan laid back with Jean on top of him and ran his hands up her sides and then under her shirt while still kissing her. His hand ran over three scars and he pulled away from her to look at them. They looked like scars from his claws. He looked at Jean and she smiled.

"No one has ever scarred me the way you have." She said then changed. It wasn't Jean at all but Mystique.

"What the..?" Logan said and she smiled. He pushed at her and she looked at him.

"What do you want?" She asked softly changing into Ororo for a moment then she changed into Sarabi. She smiled still as Sarabi and leaned closer to him. She brushed his nose with hers, or rather Sarabi's. Then she changed into Rogue and Logan pushed her off of him. She landed by the door and changed back into herself and looked at him. "What is it you want?" She asked again this time changing into Stryker. Logan looked at her.

"I want you to get out." He growled and changing back into herself she left his tent. Logan again leaned back and sighed.

Rogue was watching Sarabi pace back and forth across the ground in a clearing by a cliff. She was making her twentieth pass when she finally stopped and looked at Rogue.

"What's the point of being a protector?" Sarabi asked her and Rogue didn't know how to answer. "I mean what's the freaking point of having all these powers if they don't help anyone? What's the point of being the Fifth Element?" Sarabi said turning her back on the cliff. "I mean seriously what's the point of being the protector of the universe when you can't protect any body?" Sarabi yelled looking at the starry sky. Rogue's eyes suddenly went wide and she stood and pointed at something behind Sarabi.

"Sarabi!" She screamed and Sarabi turned to see what the fuss was all about and she moved to her left to avoid the sword that came slashing down at her.

"Oh shit!" Sarabi said again dodging the sword. Rogue screamed again her voice easily carrying across the forest.

Back at the camp Bobby stood upon hearing the scream.

"That's Rogue." He said as he heard the scream again. He took off towards the direction of it followed by Kurt, John, Jean, Ororo and Logan. Magneto and Mystique brought up the rear. What Bobby saw when he reached the clearing confused him. He could see Sarabi fighting, but he couldn't see what or whom she was fighting. "Rogue?" Bobby said coming up to her, she turned and looked at him.

"Bobby." She said with tears in her eyes. The moon came out from behind a cloud and he could see clearly that Sarabi was fighting another person.

"Who is that?" Bobby asked but Rogue just shook her head.

"It's a Maurickle." Jean said.

"What's a Maurickle?" Logan asked looking at Jean then over to Mystique.

"It's a being that was created to destroy the Fifth Element." Jean answered watching as Sarabi rolled away from the Maurickle's sword.

"She's immortal." Bobby said confused. Jean nodded.

"She is until that sword cuts her. Then she's mortal. She can't touch them either for they'll drain her powers." Jean explained watching Sarabi. All she could do is run. Sarabi back flipped a few times to gain some distance from the Maurickle then she threw her left hand out and electricity flew from her fingers into the Maurickle. Sarabi looked at her hand.

"That is so not fire!" Sarabi yelled as the Maurickle screamed making everyone wince. Sarabi pulled her hand back and the Maurickle advanced on her. She looked at her right hand and threw it out. Again electricity shot from her fingers and Sarabi growled. "Where the hell is my fire!?" She said letting her hand fall. She watched as the Maurickle began to advance on her again. Sarabi sighed but didn't move. "Fine." Sarabi said then began to walk to the Maurickle. It stopped and watched as Sarabi came closer. "You want me dead so be it." Sarabi growled. "But not without a fight."

"Sarabi no!" Rogue yelled stepping towards her. Logan growled and released his claws and stepped in between Sarabi and the Maurickle facing the Maurickle.

"Logan!" Sarabi yelled at him as the Maurickle swung it's heavy sword at Logan with ease. Logan slashed at it with his right hand and cut the sword into four pieces. The Maurickle shrieked as the pieces fell to the ground. Sarabi stared at the blade tip and then picked it up. She held it in her hands then looked at Logan and the Maurickle. Sarabi ran over to them and closed her eyes as she shoved the blade through Logan's back and into the Maurickle. Logan looked down at the blade and Sarabi grabbed another part of the sword, the part with the hilt and pulled Logan away from the Maurickle and with a swift movement she cut the Maurickle's head off. Its body exploded and Sarabi dropped the sword and looked at Logan laying on the ground looking up at her. "The only way to kill a Maurickle is to take off its head." Sarabi said then went down on her knees. Logan sat up totally healed from the sword, he retracted his claws and crawled over to Sarabi.

"Sarabs?" He asked taking one of her hands then he looked down at it. Her hand was bleeding badly. He grabbed the other one and it too was bleeding. "No." He whispered.

"Is it just me, or have I been getting hurt a lot since you've returned?" Sarabi asked him with a smile.

"Jean!" Logan yelled as Sarabi closed her eyes. Everyone ran over and Jean took Sarabi's hands.

"She's mortal, we need to get these wounds closed before she bleeds to death." Jean said taking Sarabi under her right arm. "She can't regenerate can she?" Logan asked taking her from under her left arm. Jean shook her head.

"No." She said and began walking back to camp. Sarabi gasped and pulled her arms out of Jean and Logan's hands. They looked at her and Jean again grabbed her arm.

"What about the stones?" Rogue asked trying to keep the tears out of her voice. Logan looked at Jean. Jean looked at Sarabi. Sarabi stood there with a vacant expression and she slowly raised her eyes and met Jean's.

"I am no longer the Fifth Element." Sarabi whispered. "I no longer protect life." Sarabi took a step back. Jean let her arm slip from her hands. "There's no longer a reason for me to be here." Sarabi said taking another step back. Jean looked beyond Sarabi at the cliff then back to Sarabi.

"Sarabi don't!" Jean said taking a step to her. "What about Kitty? What about us? We still need you, Fifth Element or not." Jean asked and Sarabi looked at her.

"You don't need me. No one needs me. I can finally join my sister in the afterlife." Sarabi looked down at the ground and smiled a sad smile. "I can finally go home." She said and closed her eyes still walking back towards the edge of the cliff. Sarabi's eyes shot open and she looked to her right. Rogue had grabbed Sarabi's arm with her bare hand. Sarabi looked at Rogue as the tears ran down Rogue's cheeks.

"Not yet Sarabi, I need you." Rogue whispered and Sarabi went down on her knees. Rogue looked at Logan and reached out her other ungloved hand towards him. "We can heal her. Completely." Rogue said sniffing. Logan walked over to Rogue and grabbed her hand. He could feel Rogue sucking his power out of him like she had before when he had stabbed her with his claws on accident. Logan soon was on his knees gritting his teeth to the pain. Sarabi was breathing hard and she looked down at her hands as they healed. Rogue let them both go and stumbled back a bit. She hit some loose dirt and slid, her foot went over the edge of the cliff and she screamed. Sarabi slid over to her and grabbed Rogue's hand but began to slide herself. Sarabi had Rogue's hand firmly in her right one as Rogue dangled over the cliff and she felt Logan grab her left hand. Sarabi's eyes rolled as she blocked Rogue's power from passing through her to Logan. Sarabi rolled to her left bringing Rogue up with her right arm. She had to roll into Logan to get Rogue back on solid ground. All three of them laid there breathing hard. Sarabi began to laugh.

"Okay, no more dramatics." She said and Rogue smiled laying there catching her breath.

"You're a good drama teacher." Rogue said and Sarabi laughed again.

"You guys alright?" Ororo asked coming over with everyone else. Sarabi nodded letting her head fall back against Logan's arm.

"Sure." She whispered. Rogue nodded standing up. She looked down at Sarabi and Logan then smiled.

"You two are going to feel a little weak." She said and Sarabi looked at her.

"So that's why I feel like sleeping for a week." She said and Rogue laughed.

"There'll be time for sleep later Sarabi." Jean said smiling. "Let's get back to camp." Jean walked away with Ororo and Rogue following.

"Right behind you." Sarabi said not moving. "What are the chances they'll leave me here?" Sarabi asked Logan who laughed.

"Very slim. At least not for to long." He answered her then tried to get up. He got as far as sitting up when he sighed and looked at Sarabi. "You mind if I stay here with you?" Sarabi smiled but shook her head.

"No, not at all. Feel free." Sarabi said gesturing towards the ground next to her. Logan laid back and moaned. After a few minutes Sarabi smiled. "They left us here." She said.

"Yes, it seems they did." Logan said with his hands over his eyes.

Charles opened his eyes and slowly raised his head. He saw a soldier standing a few feet away from him. A door slid open and two people walked in. Charles looked at one of them.

"William." Charles said and William smiled.

"Charles."

"What's going on?" Charles asked looking at his arms that were strapped to his wheelchair. Then Charles looked back at William and flinched in pain.

"It's a neural inhibitor device. I don't need you roaming around in my mind Charles." William told him and smiled. The device on his head prevented him from using his physic powers.

"What do you want William?" Charles asked and William smiled again. The woman who had walked in with William started to twitch a little. William walked over to her and made her tilt her head down and he squirted some green liquid on the back of her neck.

"I've designed a formula that allows me to control mutants." William said at Charles strange look to him.

"You're the one behind the attack on the White House." Charles said and William smiled then chuckled.

"You figured it out on your own and didn't even have to get inside my head." William said walking back over to Charles. "I don't think this would work on you though would it Charles? No matter. I have other ways to get you to talk." The door opened again and a few soldiers walked in with another in a wheelchair.

"One year after my son was with you, my wife killed herself because of him." William began and Charles sighed remembering Jason Stryker, William's son. "You never fixed him Charles…"

"Mutation is not a disease to be cured William." Charles interrupted.

"It is Charles! And I am going to prove it." William yelled. He turned and looked at the person in the wheelchair. "Meet mutant 143." William said and Charles saw a man sitting in a wheelchair with tubes coming out of his temples. He had one green eye and one blue eye and Charles stared at him in disbelief.

"Jason? William what have you done to your son?" Charles asked. William turned on him with anger in his eyes.

"This is not my son! My son is dead!" William yelled. Then took a step closer to Charles. "He put images in our heads, images of horrible things. He blamed us for his condition. My wife put a drill to her temple to drill the images out of her head!" Charles looked at William and sighed.

"I'm sorry for your lost, William, but that doesn't justify what you are doing." Charles told him and William smiled and stepped back away from him.

"What I am doing is providing a cure to a deadly disease."

Logan sighed and turned to look at Sarabi. They had only been lying there for a few minutes, but it was spent in silence. Sarabi was looking up into the night sky chewing on her bottom lip. Logan went back to staring at the stars and Sarabi looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry." Sarabi said and Logan looked back at her. She turned and looked at him. "For not being very nice to you." Sarabi finished and looked back to the sky.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you." Logan said and Sarabi shrugged.

"Can't change the past." Sarabi said and Logan looked at her.

"Would you?" He asked and Sarabi turned. "Change the past? I mean if you could." Sarabi thought about it for a moment then shook her head.

"No." Sarabi said firmly and Logan smiled.

"Why not?"

"Because if I changed you leaving, we would never have found Rogue." Sarabi stated and Logan chuckled.

"You're right." He said softly and Sarabi sighed then sat up.

"I guess we had better head back to camp before they send a search party." Sarabi said and Logan moaned then got up. Sarabi stood and almost lost her balance. Logan grabbed her arm to steady her. "I'm okay." She whispered with a laugh. They began to walk back to the camp and Sarabi looked at Logan then smiled. "You do realize that just because I apologized for being mean to you doesn't mean I'll start being a hundred percent nice to you." She told him and Logan laughed.

"I couldn't hope for anything else." He said and Sarabi gave him a look. "You keep me on my toes." He said as they walked into camp and Sarabi just shook her head.

"Well, look has come back to grace us with their presence." Magneto said and Sarabi stopped at the fire. She looked at Magneto and Logan leaned close to her.

"Don't let him get to you." Logan whispered then went back to his tent. Sarabi stood there and just looked at Magneto. A smile spread across her face.

"You're good." Sarabi said. Magneto gave her a look and then he knew. Sarabi had entered Magneto's mind and she saw how he had escaped from his plastic prison. He had taken the iron in one of the guards' blood and pulled it out of him. Unfortunately it killed the guard, but he then used the iron to shoot through the plastic walls and then to float across the 100 foot drop to the metal detection area on the other side. Sarabi accidentally shifted into Mystique's mind and she saw her with the guard and injecting the iron into his blood stream. She also saw the little trick she pulled on Logan only a while ago. Sarabi smiled at her. "Nice scars." Sarabi said and Mystique glared at her. Sarabi walked towards the jet stepping over a couple of the mechanical umbilical cords that was connected to the tents and camping equipment to the X Jet providing electrical power, telecommunications and heat to each tent. When the X-Men camped, they did it in style. Sarabi went under the belly of the jet and walked back up the ramp into the cargo hold of the Jet. She turned and saw Ororo sitting in the pilot's seat.

"You okay?" Ororo asked her when she saw her. Sarabi gave her a small smile.

"Well, I'm shooting electricity instead of fire, I didn't detect the Maurickle, and Logan basically saved my life, so yeah, I'm doing great." Sarabi told her then sat heavily in the co-pilot's seat turning it to face Ororo. "How have you been?"

"I'm good." Ororo whispered softly and Sarabi looked at her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Doing better than you at least." Ororo said with a smile and Sarabi laughed.

"Everyone is doing better than I am." Sarabi said leaning back in the seat with a deep sigh.

"I can't get the feeling that there's something wrong out of my head." Ororo told her and Sarabi nodded.

"You and me both. Neither Jean nor I can reach the Professor; I can't even get a feeling on either him or Scott. And to make things even better we are going to Alkali Lake. The only way this could get any worst is for Magnet boy to betray us and hand us all over to Stryker."

"Don't say that." Ororo said looking out the side window at the camp to where Magneto and Mystique were sitting. "I don't trust either of them any more than you do Sarabs, but we have to get along for now." Ororo looked back at Sarabi and noticed the look she was giving her and she smiled. "At least until this is all over." Sarabi sighed again then leaned towards Ororo.

"What happens if this is never over?" She asked and Ororo looked at her strangely. "I mean that there will always be people like William Stryker in this world whether we like it or not. Just because we stop Stryker now doesn't mean someone else couldn't pick up where he left off. It could turn into a vicious cycle that never ends."

"Let's just pray that it won't be." Ororo said.

"Praying sometimes is never enough. Maybe if the people had someone they respected and loved tell them that they are really a mutant…" Ororo looked at Sarabi as she spoke but reached over and placed a firm hand on Sarabi's arm.

"Just wait okay Sarabi? Wait until this is over and you can talked to Charles about it." Ororo told her standing and walking to the ramp. She stopped and looked back at Sarabi over her left shoulder and smiled. "And do give the boy a chance Sarabs, he may surprise you." Sarabi shot Ororo a look she didn't see but Ororo knew from experience that she was getting a look. Sarabi sat there after Ororo left looking off into the dark sky not really thinking about anything, and yet, everything was running through her mind. With a sigh Sarabi looked down at the still open middle panel and smiled.

She sat on the floor in front of it and reached in and grabbed some wires. She pulled them out and looked at them.

"Only Scott could create a temperamental jet." Sarabi said out loud to herself. Just after she said it a panel to her left by the pilot's seat popped open and a CD folder fell out and almost into her lap. Sarabi looked at the console of the jet and sighed. She opened the folder and with a smile pulled out a CD. She slid the soundtrack to the movie `Chicago' into the built in CD player, Sarabi's addition to the jet, and smiled as she forwarded it to the last song then sat back down on the floor and continued to play with the wires.

Rogue crawled out of her tent with a yawn and stretched. She blinked at the sun and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning already?" She asked and Bobby gave her a tired smile. Rogue looked around then sat down.

"Where's Sarabi?" She asked and Bobby turned towards the jet.

"In there." He said then suddenly music began to fill the air. It was unmistakably Sarabi.

"Godsmack…I think their title album." John said then smiled. "That's one way to wake up." Rogue smiled and nodded. Kurt came out of nowhere and sat down by the small fire with Rogue, Bobby and John.

Sarabi walked down the ramp mouthing the words to the second song as it played and all four of the kids smiled at each other as the words were blasted out of the jet. It wasn't one of the bands happy songs… oh no. It had something about telling someone to go away…and other interesting stuff. Rogue looked at Magneto and Mystique.

"Any guesses whom Sarabi has dedicated this song to?" Rogue asked. Bobby looked at Sarabi and smiled as she worked to rearm the cannon.

"My original first guess would be Logan, but since she seems to like him a lot more than our new buddies, my guess is Magneto and Mystique." Bobby said. Ororo came over to them and sat down and smiled. Jean looked over to Sarabi as she sat then glanced over to Logan's tent.

"How could any body sleep through this?" Jean asked and Rogue smiled.

"Perhaps he's use to it." She suggested.

"Must we really listen to this?" Magneto asked and Ororo smiled then looked at Sarabi.

"If you want a happy Fifth Element on your hands, I would suggest suffering through it." Ororo told him. He looked over to her and sighed. Mystique had walked over to the jet and watched Sarabi reconnect wires. Sarabi glanced at her then back at what she was doing.

"I know you were in my head last night." Mystique told her and Sarabi shrugged.

"Not intently, but yes I was. Nice trick on Logan by the way." Sarabi said moving slightly to the music. Mystique stepped closer to her and Sarabi looked over her shoulder. "Something you need from me Mystique?" Sarabi asked.

"I just don't get what he sees in you." Mystique said then walked away leaving Sarabi to watch after her. She turned back to the cannon and tried to concentrate on it. After a moment she sighed and replaced the last wire and shut the panel. Sarabi walked over to where everyone was sitting. Jean gave Sarabi a smile and Sarabi returned it. Jean looked at the ground only guessing what was in Sarabi's mind.

"Why don't you go wake Logan up?" Ororo suggested pointing towards his tent. Sarabi looked at it then to Ororo.

"Why me?" Sarabi asked then looked at Mystique. `I doubt he'd like another visit from you though.' Sarabi thought.

"Claws." Rogue said smiling and Sarabi laughed then shook her head.

"Oh, that's right. I'm the only one who can live through his sudden wake-ups." Sarabi said then walked to his tent. Sarabi opened the flap and looked in. Logan was semi curled up lying on his left side. His head was on his arm and with a soft sigh Sarabi crawled into his tent. She crawled to the right side of him and looked at his right hand. It was free to do any damage and she thought about someway of keeping it immobile. Sarabi carefully took his right hand by the wrist and started to pick it up. Logan woke up real quick and in one move had Sarabi laying on her back next to him, his right hand by her throat and one of his claws out against her skin and pinning her down with his weight. She gave him a smile and looked at the claw.

"Good morning to you too Logan." She said softly. Logan looked at her for a moment then with his left hand pulled up the front of her shirt and looked at her belly. Sarabi grabbed his hand and pulled her shirt back down. "I'm not Mystique." Sarabi said wrinkling her nose. "Use you nose." Logan looked at her and retracted his claw.

"Sorry." He said and she smiled.

"Want to get off of me?" Sarabi whispered and he smiled.

"Why? What's wrong?" Logan asked her and she narrowed her eyes for a moment.

"Too close." She whispered and Logan got up. He sat back on his heels and looked at Sarabi as she sat up. "No wonder I get nominated to wake you up." Sarabi said touching her skin where his claw was pressed.

"Hey, at least I didn't stick you with it." Logan said wondering what she meant when she had said he was too close.

"If wonders never cease. It wouldn't have been the first or the last time." Sarabi said. "Come on, we've got things to do." Sarabi whispered and began to crawl back to the opening. She stopped and rocked back a bit and looked at Logan. "The cannon is rearmed." She said with a smile then left. Logan looked after her for a moment.

"Did it hurt?" Rogue asked as Sarabi came back towards them. Sarabi laughed looking back over her shoulder.

"He actually didn't stick me with one this time." Sarabi said and Rogue looked at her.

"Wow." She said. Sarabi laughed.

"Yeah I know. Amazing isn't it? Although, he did have one up to my throat, so he was ready to do it. Probably would have if I wasn't me." Sarabi said glancing at Mystique. Rogue gave Sarabi a look and Sarabi shook her head. "Nevermind."

"What in the hell is that sound?" Logan asked walking out and looking at Sarabi.

"What? You're looking at me like it's my fault for the music blasting out of the jet." Sarabi said. Logan gave her a look and then raised an eyebrow. Sarabi looked around at the group then smiled. "It's Godsmack, their title album." Sarabi said and Logan smiled at her. "No appreciation for good music." Sarabi said with a smile and walked off towards the jet. Moments after she climbed the ramp the music stopped. She smiled as she came back.

"Thank you." Logan said and Sarabi looked down at him then laughed.

"Don't think for a moment that I turned it off for you." Sarabi said then sat down next to him. "I only like the first seven or eight songs. And the last one." Sarabi said.

"Well let's tear down camp and get going." Jean said to which everyone got up and began to tear down the camp. Sarabi sat there for a moment and looked at the dieing fire. Suddenly it popped and began to roar. Logan looked at Sarabi and her hair was red.

"Get your fire back?" He asked and Sarabi looked at him and nodded.

"I still have a few sparks though." She said then looked back at the fire.

"Well next time you'll watch where you're reaching won't you?" Logan said and Sarabi smiled and stood. She leaned over close to his right ear.

"As usual, it's your fault I wasn't paying attention." She told him and he looked at her. "Think about what you were doing right before it happened." Sarabi said then walked off. "I'm flying!" Sarabi yelled and Ororo smiled at her.

Sarabi smiled as she flew the jet with ease. Jean looked over at her from the co-pilot's seat and wondered what was going on inside her head.

"You know I love Scott." Jean's voice said in Sarabi's head and she turned and looked at her.

"What?" Sarabi answered the same way.

"Last night, what happened with Logan…"

"I so don't want to hear about it."

"Sarabi."

"No Jean, it's painfully clear what his choice is. What do you want me to do about it?"

"You could change his mind." Jean thought and Sarabi laughed and turned and looked at Logan.

"Yeah right." Sarabi said out loud and then rolled her eyes.

"I'm not kidding Sarabs." Jean thought again glancing back at the others who were all looking at each other in confusion of Sarabi's comment.

"How am I supposed to compete with you? You're every man's dream." Sarabi thought and looked at her.

"I am not." Jean thought laughing softly and Sarabi snorted.

"Are to." Sarabi said out loud.

"Am not." Jean answered her out loud. Sarabi laughed and leaned towards Jean.

"Denial is not a river in Egypt." Sarabi told her and Jean laughed.

"Sarabi." Logan said but she ignored him.

"How could you possibly think that?" Jean asked.

"Like this." Sarabi said then thought it again.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Jean asked leaning towards her. "You surpass me in everything. It's a wonder Scott doesn't love you." Jean thought the last part.

"Sarabi. Jean." Logan again said but neither of them paid any attention to him.

"Scott can't stand me." Sarabi thought with a smile and Jean rolled her eyes.

"Scott adores you Sarabs, you just rub him the wrong way sometimes." Sarabi laughed.

"Hello? Anyone up there?" Logan asked and Sarabi glanced at him with a scowl.

"Yes, be that as it may, Logan rubs me that way all the time."

"Liar. Every so often yes, but not twenty-four seven."

"Are you sure about that?" Sarabi asked a loud.

"Hey, who's flying this thing?" Logan asked. And Sarabi rolled her eyes.

"See what I mean?" She asked Jean then looked at Logan. "I am Logan, why do you ask?" Logan gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"Because you are not doing a very good job of it." Logan said and Sarabi glared at him.

"Logan." Jean said.

"And you're not a very good co-pilot either." He told Jean and she scowled at him. Sarabi glanced at the others who all were fixed looking out the front window. Sarabi turned and smiled as she grabbed the stick and narrowly missed the peak of a mountain. She turned back to Logan.

"Is that better?" She asked him and shook her head then looked at Jean. "You know, I've been doing that a lot lately."

"Got something on your mind Sarabs? Or perhaps some one?" Jean thought and Sarabi sighed.

"Thank you for not killing us." Magneto said from the back. Sarabi turned and looked at him then gave him a smile.

"You're welcome, just don't expect me to be so generous again. Lucky for you, there are still a few people on this jet I like." Sarabi said then turned back to the front.

Magneto stared at Sarabi for a moment before looking at John, who was sitting in the back with him and Mystique.

"What's your name?" Magneto asked him. John looked at him while he played with his Zippo.

"John." He answered and Magneto smiled and leaned closer to him.

"What's your real name?"

"Pyro." John answered looking at Magneto. Magneto lifted his hand and John's Zippo flew over to him. He looked at it then to John.

"Nice lighter." Magneto commented then lit it. John reached out and took the flame in his hands.

"I can only manipulate the fire, I can't create it like Sarabi does." John told him and Magneto smiled.

"You're a brilliant boy, Pyro, and don't ever let anyone tell you different." Magneto told him and handed him back his Zippo. John took it and looked at it then to Magneto. Moments later Sarabi was landing the jet on a snowy patch of ground overlooking Alkali Lake. Jean went into the back and pushed on a panel. It slid open revealing the uniforms Scott was so fond of. Sarabi and Logan both looked at her.

"You have to be kidding." Logan said and Sarabi nodded.

"For once, I agree with Logan." Sarabi said. Jean just smiled and tossed them both a uniform. After they had changed Logan hit the panel and it disappeared back where it came from. Rogue and Bobby were looking at the uniforms.

"When do we get our uniforms?" Rogue asked.

"They're on order. They should arrive in a few years." Logan told her and Sarabi smiled. Magneto and Mystique laughed and Rogue turned and looked at them.

"We just love what you've done with your hair." Magneto commented and Bobby had to put an arm around her waist to hold her back.

"Ignore them." Bobby told her.

"The base is underground." Jean told them as they looked at a holographic map of the place. "The entrance is the over flow tunnel as marked by the faded tires tracks here."

"Well we're not going to be able just to walk in. They'll most likely see us and flood the tunnel. We need someone to get in there and get to the over flow controls." Ororo said.

"I'll go." Logan said and Magneto laughed.

"And what will you do once you're in? Claw at the controls?" Magneto asked walking through the hologram. Sarabi laughed and Jean, Ororo and Logan looked at her.

"You have to admit that was a good one." Sarabi said then shrugged. "I can do it." She said and Magneto looked at her.

"And have you bring down the mountain?" He asked and Sarabi looked at him.

"At least everyone would be dead." Sarabi said with a half smile. Magneto laughed and nodded.

"Yes. Everyone would be, and you'd loose Cerebro." Magneto said then looked at Mystique. Sarabi just shrugged as she looked at the others.

Mystique walked down the over flow tunnel as Logan. One of the guards inside watched the monitor then turned slightly.

"There's someone coming down the over flow tunnel." He announced and Stryker looked at him then came over to him. "I'm going to flood it."

"No. Wait." Stryker said and looked at the monitor. "Look who has returned." Stryker looked down at the guard. "Bring him to me." He told him then left the room. Mystique stood at the end of the tunnel and looked up at the camera.

"STRYKER!" She yelled in Logan's voice. A couple of sections on either side of her opened up and guards came out with guns drawn and ready. One of them put a restraining device on her then the end of the tunnel opened. They took Mystique by the upper arms and lead her into the facility. Stryker walked into the room that led into the over flow tunnel and watched as his guards brought Logan in. He stood there looking at him then growled.

"Seal the doors." Stryker said. "I know my own creations and that's not it. Kill it!" Stryker commanded then left the room. In one swift motion Mystique was out of the restraining device and turned back into her self and had the guards around her on the ground. She ran at the door Stryker left through and slid through it as it closed. She went feet first and gave everyone still left in the room the middle finger as the door closed. Stryker ran into the control room and looked at the guard sitting there.

"There's a metamorph in the compound. Keep your eyes open she could be anyone." Stryker said.

"Anyone?" The guard asked then was knocked unconscious as Stryker turned into Mystique. She sat down in his chair and closed the room's doors.

"She's good." Logan said back in the jet and Magneto looked at him.

"You have no idea." He said then followed Jean and Ororo off the jet. Logan glanced back at the holographic image then walked down the ramp. Sarabi looked at John, Bobby and Rogue then smiled.

"You three, stay here. And I mean it." Sarabi told them and both Rogue and Bobby looked to the ground. The last time Sarabi had told them to stay they stowed away with Kurt and Kitty on Baby X.

"Why does Kurt get to go?" John asked and Sarabi looked at him.

"Because Kurt can teleport and we may need that. If there was anyway I thought you guys could help I'd jump at the chance for you to do so." She told them. The three nodded and Sarabi walked down the ramp.

"Get these doors open!" Stryker yelled at a team of men. Two of them went to the control room door and put C-4 on it then backed to a safe distance and blew them. The door was dented badly, but not open. Mystique barely heard the explosion from inside the control room. She glanced at the door and smiled then turned back to the controls.

"The door is too thick!" One of the men said and Stryker growled.

"Of coarse they're thick! I made them that way!" He yelled.

"Sir! The over flow tunnel doors are opening!" A guard yelled to Stryker.

"How many are coming in?" Stryker asked and the guard shrugged.

"We can't tell sir. There's to much electrical interference." He told him.

"You two, get these doors open, the rest of you follow me." Stryker said then walked off.

Ororo had lighting jumping all over the tunnel as they approached the tunnel doors. Sarabi smiled as fog began to fill the tunnel.

"My turn." She said then took off in a run towards the doors.

"Sarab…oh what's the use." Jean said then laughed.

There was a soft fog coming out of the tunnel and into the room. One of the soldiers looked at it nervously and held his rifle tight. He was trying to see through the fog when something hit him and hit him hard. He fell to his back, his rifle flying and looked at the woman kneeling on his chest smiling.

"Miss me?" Sarabi said and the man looked at her eyes as the green spiked through the blue. He took a deep breath.

"Sarabi." He said and her smile widened.

"The original." She said then punched him hard. She heard the clicking sound of the guns around her and she looked at the nearest soldier. "Let's play." She whispered then like a flash kicked the rifle out of the soldier's hand. She grabbed it before it hit the ground and used it like a staff and knocked the soldier silly. As soon as one hit the ground another approached her. She ran at one and ran up his chest kicking him in the nose then flipping off backwards and landing on her feet. Another came at her and she tossed the knife she had gotten off the last one and embedded it into his throat. One by one they fell like flies, one of them actually got a shot off and it hit her in the side. Sarabi looked at him from across the room and growled. "Do you know how much that hurts?" She asked then took off in the other direction right at the wall. She ran up it a bit then turned and ran along the wall over the soldier's heads to the other side of the room where she jumped off and landed in front of the soldier. She snatched his rifle away from him then squeezed the trigger firing once. She looked at him then smiled. "Hurts doesn't it?" She said then swung the rifle around catching another soldier in the throat. Jean, Ororo, Kurt, Logan and Magneto all stood at the tunnel doors watching Sarabi.

"She's good." Magneto said with a grin.

"You have no idea." Jean and Ororo said together as they watched Sarabi jump straight up and grab another soldier by the head with her knees then leaned back landing on her back then twisted and broke his neck then roll towards them.

"Having fun?" Logan asked looking down at her as she got up and gave him a smile.

"Tons. Want to join?" She asked and Logan laughed.

"Don't mind if I do." He said and released his claws Sarabi gave him a wink then turned as another soldier advanced on her. She kicked straight up and caught him under the jaw and heard the all to familiar sound of bones breaking and the soldier went down. Logan sank his claws into one then pulled his right hand back and slashed another across the throat, both of them went down and Logan jumped off the platform and got two others. He turned to his right as Sarabi came up to his left. She leaned against Logan's back as she kicked a soldier in the kneecap then across the face. Logan gutted the soldier on his side as he felt Sarabi against his back. Two soldiers came at Sarabi and she managed to break the fist one's neck but the other was upon her to quickly so she did the first thing that came to mind. Logan felt Sarabi grab his right arm and pull it behind him and he turned slightly as a soldier embedded himself on his claws. Sarabi gave him a smile then rolled across his back and side kicked another soldier in the stomach making him double over and she kicked him in the jaw. Logan watched Sarabi for a moment with a smile then turned and brought down a soldier coming towards him. Sarabi was now on the other side of the room from Logan. None of the soldiers had a chance to get off a shot before Sarabi or Logan killed them. Sarabi back flipped back onto the platform as a soldier came at her with a long knife. Sarabi's landing wasn't quite perfect due to a body left there and she fell back onto the platform. The soldier was on her in a second and Sarabi grabbed his wrist that held the knife. She looked at the knife and laughed.

"You call that a knife?" She asked him and he smiled. Logan's chuckle made them both look up. He knelt down by Sarabi's head and showed the soldier the claws from his right hand.

"These are knives." Logan said then easily cut the knife into four then sank his claws into the soldier's shoulder and tossed him across the room. Sarabi only smiled and lifted her legs over her head and rolled onto her knees then stood. They both turned as more soldiers came in through the door. The one in the lead slid to a stop and looked at them.

"Holy shit." He said and his eyes went wide. "Sarabi and Wolverine." Another soldier raised his rifle at them but the lead soldier put his hand on it and lowered it. "Save your ammunition." He told them. "It won't hurt them." Sarabi looked at Logan and smiled.

"They remember us." She said.

"So what do we do?" A soldier asked and the lead smiled at Sarabi then nodded at her.

"Run." He said and turned walking back the way he had came. The others looked from Sarabi and Logan back to their leader and with a shrug followed him. Sarabi looked at Jean who was smiling and she shrugged and looked back at Logan. They both stood there for a moment looking around them.

"That's it?" Logan asked and Sarabi shrugged.

"You have to give them some credit Logan, they were persistent." Sarabi said and Logan gave her a small smile. Sarabi walked towards the doors that Stryker then Mystique had gone through and they opened. The others joined her and together they walked down another tunnel.

Stryker was deeply pissed. He could only imagine who was behind this attack.

"I should have gotten her years ago." He whispered angrily to himself. He turned and came upon a dead end. He reached over and pushed some buttons and the door before him opened. He walked up to Jason, who was sitting a bit behind Charles as Charles sat at Cerebro. He leaned down and whispered into Jason's ear. "Time is short. Find them now." And then he left. The door closed behind him and he grabbed the soldiers with him and pushed him towards it. "Shoot anyone who comes near this door." Stryker told them then walked back down the tunnel. "Even if it's me." He said and nodded at Yuriko, the woman who was always with him and she followed him.

Jason was in Charles' mind but he was a little girl at the school asking the Professor to find all their friends using Cerebro, as Charles knew it. Charles had agreed not knowing it wasn't a student in his school. The child told him that time was short; they had to find their friends now.

"Concentrate." The little girl was telling him. "We have to find all our friends."

Mystique smiled as she looked at the door of the control room as it bent and was pulled off. Magneto walked through it and Jean tossed the two soldiers back down the tunnel where they landed with a thud.

"Where's Cerebro?" Jean asked looking at the monitors before her.

"I don't know." Mystique answered but pointed to a section of the compound. "But this area is currently using about fifty percent more power than normal, so my guess would be there." She said and Jean nodded. Ororo looked at the monitor and smiled.

"The kids." She said then turned and looked at Kurt. "Kurt I need you to come with me." Kurt nodded then looked over his shoulder.

"Where's Logan?" He asked then looked around. "And Sarabi?" Jean looked at the door to the control room and saw both their earpieces sitting on a table by a monitor.

"They're gone." Jean whispered. Ororo looked at Jean.

"Are you going to be alright with them?" She asked her and Jean nodded.

Sarabi had followed Kurt into the control room and stood back as Mystique told Jean where she thought Cerebro would be. She had glanced over her shoulder at Logan, but noticed he wasn't there, and then she saw him on the monitor beside her and his earpiece lying on the table and knew what he was up to. She took out her earpiece and laid it next to his then took off after him. She knew these tunnels quite well and she shivered slightly from being back here. She followed Logan's sent easily and stopped when she reached the doorway of a room. It was very similar to the surgical theater where Logan had the adamantium put on his skeleton. There was even a tank in the middle of the room shaped like a lid-less coffin. But the resemblance wasn't what made her stop in her tracks. Logan was getting his ass kicked by the woman that followed Stryker everywhere. At that moment she was stabbing him somehow in the back through the metal wire that hung over the tank.

John sighed and walked to the cockpit and hit the button that made the ramp descend to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Bobby asked him and he looked at him.

"I'm going to follow them." He said.

"Sarabi told us to stay here." Rogue said as John started down the ramp. He sighed and looked back at Rogue and Bobby.

"Do you always do as you're told?" He asked then left the jet. Rogue and Bobby looked at each other then at the ramp. Bobby hit the button again and the ramp closed.

"Bobby?" Rogue asked looking at him and Bobby shrugged.

"Let him go." Bobby said and Rogue looked at the now closed ramp and sighed.

Sarabi sighed then ran at the tank. She jumped up onto its edges laced her fingers through the wiring and kicked the woman. The woman hit the x-ray wall and looked at Sarabi who then did a sideways flip off the tank and landed on her feet on the floor next to it. The woman gave Sarabi a smile then ran at her. Sarabi blocked her punches then felt something very familiar enter her chest going through her right lung and out her back. Sarabi looked down at the woman's hand then smiled and looked back at her.

"Those wouldn't be adamantium would they?" Sarabi asked quietly then kicked the woman back away from her. Sarabi stood there a moment regenerating and looked at the woman's hand. There were five very pointed staffs of metal coming out of the tips of her fingers. And when the woman lifted her other hand Sarabi saw that it too had metal staffs coming out of the fingers. Sarabi sighed as the woman reached out and slashed her across her right cheek. Sarabi stood there as it healed and watched as the woman's expression go from surprise to mild amusement. "It happens to me all the time." Sarabi said then ran at her. She had taken the woman a little off guard and the metal slipped back into her fingers as she got another hard punch across her jaw line from Sarabi. She stumbled back to the top of the tank and glanced down at a pool of liquid adamantium in a heated container, then back to Sarabi. She threw a couple of punches and kicks that didn't seem to bother Sarabi at all. Logan moaned and rolled off the metal mesh table and landed on his feet in the tank below. He looked up at Sarabi and the woman fighting it out right in front of him. He glanced back at the doorway behind him then turned suddenly when Sarabi screamed. The woman had reached over and grabbed something that sat by the tank then sank it into Sarabi's left shoulder. In a flash Sarabi knew what was happening and why it hurt so damn bad. The thing the woman had grabbed had a tube running from the end of it and it was through that tube that she was now pumping liquid adamantium into her shoulder and into her left bicep muscle. Logan yelled then slashed the tube and a bit of the adamantium fell to the floor. Logan grabbed the woman and pulled her into the tank then jumped out, grabbed another of the devices she had used on Sarabi and stuck it into her abdomen and squeezed the trigger. The woman stopped and her mouth opened as the container of adamantium slowly began to empty. Soon the liquid was seeping out of the corners of the woman's eyes and nose and Logan pulled the device out of her. She fell back into the tank and slowly sank through the water and landed with a thud at the bottom. Logan quickly turned and looked at Sarabi standing there with her hand to the device still in her shoulder.

"Sarabi." Logan said and reached for it and quickly pulled it out. Sarabi gasped and blindly reached for him.

"Logan." She whispered and he took her up in his arms. "God this hurts." She said then leaned her head against his shoulder. He slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her back carefully.
"I know." He commented then tore softly at the hole in the shoulder of her uniform and watched as some of the adamantium leaked out of it. He touched the skin and then pulled her back close to him. "Regenerate." He whispered and Sarabi shook her head.

"I can't. Too much pain. The temperature is too hot." Sarabi said with actual tears in her eyes. "I can't move my arm." She said and Logan looked down at her left arm. "You… you have to get rid of it." She whispered and Logan just looked at her.

"How?" He said his heart racing. Sarabi swallowed and looked him in the eyes.

"You need to cut off my bicep." She told him and Logan began to shake his head. "It will regenerate Logan, its all in the muscle, you have to do this before it hardens after that we both know it won't be able to be done without removing my entire arm, and I don't know if I can regenerate that." Sarabi said pleading with him the tears running softly down her cheeks. "Logan please!" Sarabi's voice faltered as she tightened her grip on his shoulder with her other hand. "Please." She whispered and Logan took a deep breath and released one of his claws in his right hand then closed his eyes and slashed through her skin right down to the bone. He retracted his claw and pulled Sarabi close to him and felt her breath against his neck and left ear. She had wrapped her right arm under his left one and was holding onto the back of his uniform in the shoulder area. Her breathing slowly began to go back to normal and he chanced a look down at her arm. It had finished regenerating and he noticed that the U in her military tattoo also replaced itself. Sarabi slowly pulled away from him and he placed his hands on her elbows.

"Sarabi?" He whispered and she managed a smile.

"You can never tell me that I don't know what it felt like to have that stuff inserted into me." She said taking deep breaths. Logan smiled and wiped away a tear still left on her cheek then pulled her into a hug. Sarabi sniffed then chuckled softly. "We better find Stryker before he escapes." She said in his ear and he nodded and let her go. She lightly put her right palm against his cheek and smiled at him. "Thank you." She said then looked at her left arm. With a sigh she grabbed her uniform at the shoulder and ripped the sleeve off. She gave Logan another smile. "Scott is going to kill me." And Logan chuckled.

Jean followed Magneto and Mystique down a tunnel and into the generator room. She looked to her left then her eyes widened and she threw Magneto and Mystique further into the room as a beam of red light blasted from the right side between her and them.

"Scott!" Jean yelled. Magneto looked over his shoulder as he stood then helped Mystique up.

"This is one lover's quarrel we shouldn't get into my dear." He told her then they both went down through the room to the hallway on the other side leaving Jean to handle Scott. Jean got up as Scott came out from between the generators. She ran a few paces then turned and faced him. He reached up to the side of his visor and emitted another blast. Jean raised her hand and blocked it, but the force of it was pushing her backwards. Jean's eyes flamed like they did on the jet and the blast went to Scott.

At the same time Jean was fighting Scott, Ororo and Kurt had found the kids that had been captured.

"Storm!" One of them yelled as she came into view above them. Kurt disappeared from Ororo's side then reappeared below her with the kids. They all were a bit startled but smiled, as they knew they were going home.

The whole compound shook and Logan and Sarabi looked at each other as they started out the other doorway. Suddenly Sarabi gasped and covered her ears.

"Charles!" She yelled and then Logan too was covering his ears.

"Jean!' Scott yelled coming towards her. He found her lying on the ground. "Jean! Oh Jean, I am so sorry!" He said kneeling next to her helping her up then took her in his arms. "I could see you but I couldn't stop myself. Can you walk?" Jean took a step then winced.

"My leg." She whispered then leaned on Scott.

The soldiers standing around Cerebro's door looked around themselves when the compound shook. Suddenly the pins in their grenades went flying to the end of the tunnel. They all began swearing and trying to get them off. The explosion again rocked the compound. Magneto dropped the pins and walked down the tunnel to the door of Cerebro. He had his helmet on, the same one that prevented Charles from entering his mind. Mystique dropped to the floor her hands covering her ears.

"Eric, hurry!" She said as she kept changing shape. He looked down at her then opened the doors to Cerebro. In doing so Cerebro shut itself down and the pain stopped in every mutant's head. Charles looked around still thinking he was back at the school.

"What happened?" He whispered to himself. Mystique stood and changed into Stryker as Magneto raised his hands and switched some of the metal panels that made the wall of Stryker's Cerebro. Mystique as Stryker bent and whispered into Jason's ear then with a smile walked out with Magneto. He shut the doors and went down the tunnel.

Logan laid there for a moment as the pain in his head disappeared. Sarabi had stood and was rubbing her temples.

"Now that was a headache." She said then helped Logan up.

"What was that?" He asked and Sarabi glanced back to the tunnel in the other direction.

"When the Professor uses Cerebro, he can find the brainwaves of humans and mutants. But if he were to concentrate hard enough on a particular group or person, he could kill them. I think that's just what happened, although something has interrupted Cerebro so it shut down." Sarabi said heading the way Stryker had gone. "Something tells me that's what Stryker had planned all along." She said over her shoulder as Logan followed her.

Stryker stopped and took off his glasses and looked at them. A drop of water had fallen from the ceiling and he looked up. There were cracks running all along the ceiling and he swore silently then ran down the tunnel. He came to another small room and looked at the meters on the wall. All the dials were flicking madly and he kept running and opened a small hidden door that lead outside and closed it behind him.

Sarabi felt the water as it hit her bare shoulder and looked to the ceiling as she ran. She stopped suddenly and Logan looked at her.

"Sarabi?" He asked and she looked at him.

"The dam isn't going to hold. Whatever those explosions were compromised the structure of it." She told him then began to run again. "We need to deal with Stryker then get to the others as soon as we can." Logan nodded and followed her looking at the ceiling from time to time. They passed the meters and Sarabi reached out and grabbed Logan's arm as they came to the hidden door.

"Here." She said and opened it. Logan looked at her.

"How did you know this was here?" He asked and Sarabi just smiled.

Stryker came over the small hill and looked down at the helicopter sitting in a cleared patch of snow. He ran down and ran his hands along the side of it as he went to the front. He kneeled down and unhooked the chain. He stood and went to the chopper's other side and was met with a hard punch to the jaw that sent him backwards into Logan's arms. Logan turned him around and sank his left claws into his right shoulder. He yelled and looked at Logan.

"Wolverine." He said like he was out of breath. "What are you doing?"

"I should kill you." Logan growled at him and he chuckled.

"Do that and you'll forever lose your past." Stryker told him and Sarabi looked over Logan's left shoulder.

"Not completely he won't." Sarabi said. Stryker's eyes narrowed at her.

"You're not going to follow her again are you? Come with me Wolverine, I can tell you everything you need to know." Stryker said looking back to Logan. Logan lifted his right hand and slowly released his claws at Stryker's neck. Stryker swallowed. "I made you who you are, Wolverine. But you haven't changed a bit. You were an animal then, and you're an animal now." Stryker said. Sarabi chuckled beside Logan.

"Yeah, that's true." She said and Stryker smiled.

"Has she told you everything Wolverine?" Stryker asked and Sarabi took a step back glaring at him.

"I have nothing to hide." Sarabi said and Stryker laughed.

"But you do my dear. Or have you forgotten what happened after Africa?"

"You and Victor were the ones who killed Kayla...twice." Sarabi said backing away even more. "You've done nothing but lie to us both. I have never lied."

"But you did." Stryker said and Logan looked at Sarabi. She stood there and looked hard at Stryker then at him.

"Logan." She whispered and Logan closed his eyes. He had a flashback of Sarabi standing in the middle of a crumbling ruin shaking her head and looking at Victor.
"I do not sense anyone Victor. I am not sure what the two of you are sensing," Sarabi glanced at Logan as she spoke "but there is nothing."

Logan opened his eyes and looked at Stryker.

"Its not her fault." Logan growled and Stryker glared at him.

"You'll never change Wolverine. Never." He said and Sarabi walked up to them.

"What makes you think anyone wants him to?" She asked. Then a loud warning beep echoed through the mountains. Logan looked back towards the dam.

"What's that?" He asked and Sarabi swallowed.

"It's about to break." She said. "Water is going to be filling the over flow tunnel any minute. We need to get back to the others and warn them." Stryker began to laugh.

"You'll never get to them in time." He told them. "Wolverine, come with me." Logan looked at him then removed his claws from his shoulder. Stryker slid to the ground and Logan grabbed the chain and wrapped it around him, tying him to the chopper's front wheel.

"Come on." Logan said to Sarabi and they both took off back the way they came.

"What has she ever done for you?" Stryker yelled after them and Logan stopped and looked back at him.

"More than you'll ever know." Logan told him then followed Sarabi.

Ororo, Kurt and the kids met up with Scott and Jean in the tunnel leading to Cerebro. They got to the doors and Scott went to blast them open when Jean stopped him.

"Scott no! You could kill the Professor." She said limping against him.

"We have to get in there and get him out." Ororo said then looked to Kurt.

"There's been a change of plans." The young girl told Charles. "Find all the humans. Concentrate on them." She was saying and Charles did it.

"Kurt, I need you to get me in there." Ororo told him and Kurt looked at the door.

"I told you, if I don't know where I am going…" Kurt said but Ororo put a hand on his shoulder.

"You have to try." She told him. Kurt took a deep breath then pulled Ororo close to him and began to recite the Lord's Prayer.

"Don't believe anything you see in there." Jean told them and Kurt disappeared.
He reappeared on the other side of the door and they looked around. A young girl stood at the end of the walkway looking at them.

"Professor?" Ororo yelled and the little girl laughed.

"Who are you looking for? There's no one here." She said but Ororo looked around and yelled again.

"Professor!" Again the girl laughed.

"I told you there's no one else here." She said. Kurt went to go to the little girl but Ororo stopped him.

"Don't." she said to him and Kurt looked at her strange.

"But she's only a little girl." Kurt said and Ororo shook her head.

"No, she's not." Ororo said. "Kurt, it's going to get very cold in here." Kurt looked at her.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said to her as her eyes went white. Wind began to fill the room, a cold biting wind. The little girl looked around her then to Ororo and Kurt.

"What are you going?" She asked frightened. "Stop it!" But Ororo ignored her and snow began to mingle in with the wind. "STOP IT!" the girl yelled now crying. "Oh, he's going to be so mad at me." She said sobbing then disappeared. Charles and Jason appeared before them and Ororo stopped the wind.

"Professor." She said and the room shook and an alarm sounded. Kurt grabbed Ororo's hand and teleported her out of the room as a piece of concrete from the ceiling fell right where they had stood. He teleported back into the room and wrapped his arms around Charles who had turned and looked at Jason. Kurt teleported him out as another concrete piece fell onto Charles' now vacant chair.

"We have to get out of here. The place is falling down." Scott said as he helped Kurt with Charles.

"Let's get back to the over flow tunnel." Ororo said and they all began to head for it.

Sarabi didn't realize just how far they had gotten away from the group until they needed to get back to them. She began to wonder just how far under ground this place went.

"Where are they?" Logan asked over his shoulder. Sarabi kept pace with him and swore.

"Heading back to the over flow tunnel." She answered him then began to run a little faster.

"Can you hold back the water?" Logan asked and Sarabi swallowed.

"I could try…"

"But?"

"But, water isn't my strongest element." She said with a shrug and Logan sighed.

The group ran into the room just off the tunnel and headed for the stairs that would take them up to it. They got to the top of the stairs and the doors began to close.

"You don't want to go that way, trust me." Logan told them and they all looked at him and Sarabi standing on the other side of the room. The doors were almost closed when water began to shoot out into the room. Sarabi looked at Logan and smiled.

"See? Didn't need to use it after all." She said. Logan gave her a smile then removed his claws from a control panel.

"You just may have to yet Sarabi." He said. Jean looked at them and smiled. She had feared that they both had taken off for good. "Come on, we know another way out." Logan said and the group ran back down the stairs and followed Logan out to the secret door Sarabi and him had used earlier. Sarabi ran along side Scott then with a smile she softly elbowed him. He looked at her.

"What took you so long?" She asked and Scott shook his head and laughed.

"I'll tell you all about it once we're out of here. But only if you tell me what you did to your uniform this time." Scott told her.

"Deal." Sarabi said with a laugh. Logan opened the door and they ran through the snow up the small hill. One of the boys slipped and fell, since they were all still in their pajamas and mostly bare footed. Logan bent down and picked him up and carried him up the hill. Sarabi was the first one to reach the top and she slid to a stop. The rest of them caught up to her and stared down at a cleared spot on the snow.

"There was a helicopter here I swear." Logan said and Sarabi swallowed.

"I hate it when you're right." Sarabi whispered to Logan and took a deep breath. The helicopter was gone, Stryker was gone, and for a moment all hope was gone. But the sound of a jet made them all look up. The X jet came into view and Sarabi smiled. It was going sideways but managed to land not to far from them. They all began to head towards it when Sarabi happened to look around her. She placed a hand on Logan's arm and pointed at a concrete wall. Logan followed Sarabi to it and Sarabi looked back at him with a small smile. Chained to the wall in a not to comfortable way was Stryker.

"Wolverine, Sarabi." Stryker said when he saw them from the corner of his eye, for that was the only way he could see him considering a chain had been placed across his head making him look in the other direction. "Come with me Wolverine. What chances do you have with them? What can that boy or Sarabi give you? Nothing! I can give you your past." Stryker again pleaded with Logan. Logan placed the boy on his feet next to Sarabi and reached up for the chain around his neck. He pulled off his dog tag and tossed it in Stryker's direction.

"I'll take my chances with the boy." Logan said picking him up again. "And with Sarabi." Logan turned and walked back down towards the jet.

"Have a nice swim Stryker." Sarabi said with a smile then saluted him. She turned to leave but stopped and smiling like the cat that got the cream, looked back at Stryker. "Its funny, both compounds have been destroyed by two different elements. One which I caused and this one…well, I couldn't have thought up a better way." She told him and then followed Logan to the jet.

"Wolverine! Sarabi!" Stryker yelled after them and the boy Logan was carrying looked back at Stryker and stuck out his tongue. It was green and had a split at the end. Logan walked up the ramp into the jet and placed the boy down. Sarabi looked back at the dam and bit her lower lip then ran up the ramp.

"Rogue." Ororo said looking at her in the pilot's seat still holding on tight to the throttle. "It's okay now, you can let go." Ororo said taking Rogue's shaking hands. Rogue got up and took a seat in the back.

"Let's get out of here." Sarabi said coming up the aisle. "Buckle up." Sarabi told them then buckled Rogue into her seat. "Let's not repeat history." Sarabi told her with a gentle smile. Rogue just nodded then closed her eyes. Bobby reached over and took her hand in his. "Where's John?" Sarabi asked and Charles looked at her.

"With Magneto." Charles said softly and Sarabi wrinkled up her nose.

"It won't start!" Ororo said to Scott as they kept trying it. "There's no vertical propulsion." Ororo yelled and Sarabi glared at the jet. Then she took another look around the jet then to the co- pilot's seat.

"Where's Jean?" She asked and everyone fell silent. Scott got out of the co-pilot's seat and looked at Sarabi.

"She's outside." Charles said staring straight in front of him. Scott pushed past Sarabi.

"What?" Sarabi said as Scott pushed her into Logan heading towards the ramp. It suddenly lifted and closed him inside.

"Storm! What are you doing? Lower the ramp!" Scott yelled back to her.

"I can't!" Ororo yelled and Sarabi slid up front and tried the button that lowers the ramp.

"The damn thing isn't working." Sarabi said and then the jet started up with a hum.

"No! What are you two doing! Jean is out there!" Scott yelled and Sarabi turned to him.

"No shit Scott! We're not doing anything!" Sarabi yelled.

"I know what I am doing." Charles said and everyone looked at him.

"Jean?" Scott asked and ran to where Charles was sitting. "Jean honey, get back in the jet." Charles slowly turned towards Scott.

"I have to do this." Charles said talking for Jean. Sarabi looked out the front window at Jean then to the dam in the distance.

"Jean no!" Scott yelled. Sarabi turned and looked at Charles.

"Let me do it Jean." Sarabi said. "Let me do it, I can do it." Charles shook his head no.

"I need to do this." Charles said and Sarabi looked at Jean again through the window. The dam began to break and Sarabi went to Charles.

"Charles, don't let her do this! Jean!" Sarabi said swallowing then standing up again. Logan stood behind Ororo's seat and looked to Kurt who was standing next to him.

"You, go get her." Logan told him and Kurt disappeared for a second then returned.

"I can't." He said. "She won't let me."

"I have no control over the jet." Ororo said looking at Sarabi. Sarabi stood there pleading with Jean to get her butt back in this jet. But Jean wasn't listening to her. She even tried sending her mind guardian at Jean's mind but that too wasn't working. The dam broke and the water it was holding back came flooding down at them.

"Sarabi." Scott said grabbing her left shoulder making her wince a little. "Stop the water Sarabi." Sarabi's eyes had already turned green.

"One step ahead of you." Sarabi whispered and then gasped. "She's not letting me. She's not letting me!" Sarabi slammed the palm of her hand against the window to Ororo's left and her hair turned red. "She's not letting me do anything." Sarabi said as the water came at them. Jean stood outside in front of the jet. She raised her right hand towards the jet and it began to rise. Then she turned and faced the flood that was coming right at her and raised her left hand and the water parted and went around her and the jet. She looked back at the jet and raised it some more into the air. Sarabi was trying desperately to do anything, but Jean had her completely blocked. Sarabi still had her left hand on the window and could only watch as Jean raised the jet. "Please don't do this Jean. Please." Sarabi whispered her eyes filling with tears. "I protect life. Let me protect." The jet now was hovering well above the water and Jean looked back at the water in front of her and lowered her left hand.

"NO!" Scott yelled and Sarabi felt actual pain run through her.

"She's gone." Logan whispered as Scott lost it. He leaned a little against Logan as he stared out the window. "She's gone." Logan said again and Scot tried to punch him in the chest.

"Don't say that!" Scott yelled at him. "She can't be gone!" Scott started sobbing against Logan's chest and Logan put an arm around him as a couple of tears slid down his cheeks. Ororo put the jet on autopilot as soon as she plotted a course back to the school and turned and got up. She looked at the scene around her. Scott had pushed away from Logan and retreated into the back of the jet. Charles had closed his eyes; the kids were silent just watching the sudden chaos around them. And Sarabi was still standing with her hand on the window. Logan looked at her and slowly reached out and took her left arm. He gently pulled her towards him but her hand seemed to be stuck to the window. He reached up and pulled a little harder on her hand. It slowly pulled off the window leaving a perfect and permanent handprint. Sarabi slowly turned and looked at Logan but didn't really see him. Scott looked at her from the back then walked quickly up the aisle.

"Why couldn't you do anything?" He asked Sarabi and she blinked then looked at him.

"Scott." Charles said opening his eyes and looking at him.

"You are supposed to protect! Why didn't you protect her? Why?" Scott yelled and Sarabi didn't reply. She just looked at him through green eyes. "You're supposed to be an all powerful being sent here to protect, but you didn't, what's the point of you having these powers over the elements if you can't even use them?"

"Scott, that is enough." Charles said in a stern voice. Sarabi looked down at him.

"No, Scott's right." She whispered and Charles looked at her.

"Sarabi…"

"Scott is right." Sarabi repeated then looked at Scott. "I don't know why I couldn't protect her. I don't know why I couldn't overpower her. Maybe I shouldn't be the one. I can't seem to protect anything. I couldn't protect my father; I couldn't protect Egypt when she needed me the most. I couldn't even protect Logan." Sarabi told him her bottom lip trembling. "I can't even protect myself." She whispered as tears began to slide down her cheeks. Scott looked at her and blinked.

"Sarabi no, I'm, I'm sorry I didn't mean…" Scott said coming back to his senses. He reached out to touch her but she moved away from him. Sarabi shook her head.

"I am no protector of life. I can't even keep plants alive." Sarabi said and pushed past Scott and sat down in the back facing a corner. Scott looked at her and swallowed.

"What have I done?" Scott whispered.

"Ororo, plot a course to the White House." Charles told her and she nodded and re-plotted their course.

"Why the White House?" Scott asked and Charles sighed.

"Because this may not be the end." Charles said looking at Scott who nodded and looked back at Sarabi.

President McKenna sat at his desk in his oval office and sighed as the camera crew around him got things ready for his address to the nation about the recent events that had happened. He wasn't even sure what had happened.

"Okay Mr. President. We're ready." One of the men said to him and McKenna nodded and laced his fingers on top of his desk. He looked at the camera set up in front of him.

"We're live in five, four, three." The last two numbers weren't said and President McKenna took a deep breath as the red light on top of the camera came on. He began to read the script presented to him on a screen just below the camera lens. Suddenly it stopped and everything went dark. Lightning flashed outside the window behind him. He turned and looked at the window and when he turned back he looked at all the crew. No one moved. They all seemed completely frozen to the spot. A couple more flashes lit up the room and suddenly a soft glow filled the room. President McKenna gasped as he looked at the people suddenly standing around him scattered throughout the crew.

Professor Xavier, with Sarabi's help, had frozen the camera crew and the people in the oval office with the exception of the President. The X-Men stood around looking at the President.

"Who are you people?" the President asked swallowing. Charles smiled.

"We are the ones who have been protecting your kind." Charles said softly. The President looked at him strangely. Scott walked up and handed him a folder. The President took it and opened it. He looked through the material and looked back at Charles.

"Where did you get this?" He asked him and Charles smiled.

"Let's just say I know a girl who can walk through walls." Charles said and Kurt who was positioned on the mantel of the fireplace, smiled. The President looked around the room. Next to Charles stood Scott. Next to him was Rogue, and on her left was Bobby then Ororo. Sarabi stood between Ororo and Logan; she just stood there looking at the President. His eyes met hers and held there. He blinked and looked at Kurt who just smiled softly and waved at him. The President swallowed and looked back at Charles.

"What does this all mean?" President asked and Charles sighed.

"It means we're not all bad and that we are always here to help. There is no reason to fear us. What you do with the information before you is up to you. We will always be there to protect the human race, no matter what they think of us, or the way they feel." Charles told him and the President looked down at the folder on his desk.

Lightning flashed again and Charles and the X-Men were gone. The lights came back up and the people around him unfroze and were looking at him. President McKenna cleared his throat and looked back to the camera.

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