Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men; however, I did make up the new characters in this story. I'm making no money off this, so no suing. "Bad Reputation" is performed by Joan Jett. I don't own that, either.

Summary: After a year of being a team, the X-Men face new challenges that threaten to tear them apart…

Rating: PG-13 (A few curse words, some mild violence, and a few sexual situations, but nothin' major…)

Author's Note: This follows the stories The More Things Change… and Clinging to Falling Angels, stories where the children of the former X-Men create a new team. The first two stories can be found in the fanfiction section of my website at https://www.angelfire.com/scifi/addielogan. Stat pages for all the characters in this story can be found at the page https://www.angelfire.com/scifi/addielogan/stats.html.

Additional Note: I started the first book in this series in April 2000. At that point, the Legacy Virus had not been cured in the regular Marvel timeline and, as you probably know, that fact has played a major role in this series. Because of this, I'm ignoring all plotlines from the regular Marvel Comics pertaining to the cure for the Legacy Virus. Basically, this means that for this story, Colossus is not dead, since there would be no reason for him to sacrifice himself. Please, don't E-mail me and point out there's a cure to Legacy Virus. I know I'm always saying not to E-mail me about things I mention in my notes, but you'd be amazed how many E-mails I get from people asking about things I've talked about in my author's notes. And just to let you know, if you do that, I, along with all my friends will sit around and laugh at you. :)

Archiving and Feedback: Again, drop me a line and let me know what you think! E-mail me at addie_logan@yahoo.com or message me on AIM as ChereRogueMarie. I’ll authorize any archiving, just email me and let me know where you’re posting it.

 

New X-Men Chronicles Part III:

Only a Shadow of Innocence

By: Addie Logan

 

Dramatis Personae:

X-Men:

Addie Logan—Wildcat

Ric LeBeau—Renegade

Marie LeBeau—Charger

Kacie Drake—Ice Queen

Rebecca Munroe—Rainmaker

Billy Starsmore—Sparks

Warren Worthington IV—Shadow Stalker

Twister

Rachel Summers—Phoenix

Tristan—The Dark Angel

Kristof Rasputin—Phaze

Illyana Rasputin—Mystik

Allies:

Briana Braddock—Captain Britain

Craig Marshal—Canis

Dr. Angela Worthington

Paige Guthrie-Starsmore—Husk

Nathan Summers—Cable

 

*** *** ***

For years, they'd been coming to the same place—a small town in East Texas. They were mutants, run out of their own homes and forced to live in poverty, barely able to stay alive.

They lived in broken down trailers and barely-standing shacks. Those who looked human enough to find work near-by did what they could to make money to help feed the others. It wasn't always sufficient for everyone to make it.

All over the world, humans and mutants were working together, the tension between Homo sapien and Homo superior spoken of as if it were a distant memory. But in places like this, the people knew that mutants weren't as accepted as the media and politicians made them out to be. Here, they knew the pain of seclusion.

But then he came. They'd heard he'd died years ago, but a man like that—a savior—wasn't he above even death?

They followed him, listened to his message, and began to ready themselves to wage war against the humans that had scarred them.

*** *** ***

Illyana Piotrnovna Rasputin had one good thing to say about Westchester—it wasn't Russia. For almost as long as she could remember, she'd wanted her family to move, to come to a place where maybe she could be happy, where maybe her mother could be happy.

Illyana was in America now, beginning her first day of high school along with her twin brother, Kristof. She was at the start of a new life. She clutched the silver Star of David she wore around her neck, reminding herself that this was what she'd always wanted, and there was no reason for her to be nervous.

Illyana felt like she was going to panic as soon as she walked through the doors of Charles Xavier High School. Although she had been born in St. Petersburg, Illyana had moved with her family to the Russian countryside when she was a little girl, and the high school she had attended the year before had been nothing like this. People were everywhere, and she already felt lost. She wished her brother had stayed with her, but he'd gone in the opposite direction as soon as they'd gotten out of the car, deserting her as she'd discovered he had a tendency to do.

"Hey, are you all right?" she heard someone call from behind her. Illyana turned around and saw a girl about her same height with long, auburn hair and green eyes. "You okay?" the girl asked again. "You seem a little lost."

Illyana nodded. "I am," she said, trying to suppress her Russian accent as much as possible. "I'm new here this year."

"You aren't Illyana Rasputin by any chance?" the girl asked her.

Illyana looked at her in surprise. "Yes, but how did you know?"

"Marie LeBeau," the girl said, sticking out her hand. "Our parents were teammates, once upon a time."

Illyana relaxed some now that she'd found someone she had something in common with. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Marie," she said, shaking Marie's hand.

"Same to you," Marie replied. "So you need help finding your classes?"

Illyana nodded. "Yes, please." She looked down at her schedule. "Where is room 203?"

"Walk with me and I'll show you," Marie said. "My first class is in 204, so we're right by each other."

"Thank you for helping me," Illyana said. "I would have been very lost without you."

"No problem," Marie said. "And don't worry, this is the first day so everyone's sorta lost. Don't feel bad about it or anything."

"This school is just so much bigger than what I am used to. It's…overwhelming."

"Well, I hope you'll like it here," Marie said.

"Oh, I'm already happier here," Illyana said. "I was always very sad in Russia."

Marie raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad you could come here then."

By that point they had reached the classrooms. "Here it is," Marie said, pointing to room 203. "Meet me out here after class is over and we can walk to next period together, okay?"

"That sounds great. Thank you very much, Marie."

Marie smiled. "It's no problem. It's always nice to make a new friend."

Illyana smiled back. It was nice to have a friend, especially since it meant she wouldn't be alone anymore.

*** *** ***

I don't give a damn
About my reputation
You're living in the past
It's a new generation
Hey, a girl can do
What she wants to do
And that's what I'm gonna do
And I don't give a damn
About my bad reputation
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me

And I don't give a damn
About my reputation
I've never been
Afraid of any deviation
And I don't really care

If I'm strange
I ain't gonna change

And I'm never gonna care
About my bad reputation
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Break it down

And I don't give a damn
About my reputation
The world's in trouble
There's no communication
And everyone can say
What they want to say
It never gets better anyway

So why should I care
About a bad reputation, anyway
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me

Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me

Everyone in the parking lot of Charles Xavier High School stopped and stared at the blonde pulling in in a black convertible Camaro with white racing stripes, blaring Joan Jett. The girl turned off her car, pulled up the top, and got out. A much shorter kid looked up at her and she growled, showing fangs. The kid ran away and the girl laughed. She got a bag out of the backseat of her car and walked into the school. She went directly into the front office and asked where she'd have to go to enroll for classes. The woman at the desk directed her to the guidance department without so much as a glance up.

Jean Grey-Summers was sitting behind her desk, going through the stacks of paperwork that came with the start of a new school year when the tall, blonde girl walked in. "You in charge of gettin' me in here?" the blonde asked.

"Yes, I'm…" Jean stopped short when she saw who was standing in front of her. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Victoria Creed," the girl said, sure to bear her fangs just a bit.

Jean tried to stop shaking. "We…I, um…you can't come here?"

"Why not? This is a school for mutants—I'm a mutant. You're not gonna turn me out to the streets now, are you?"

"Not all mutants are welcome here, Victoria. If someone were to pose a threat to the other students, then…"

"It's Vicky. And don't worry, I know how to play nice."

"I'm sure you do, but the risk considering…"

"Considering what? You don't know anything about me! All I've told you is my name."

Jean sighed. "And your name makes it pretty obvious who you are. Any child of a man like that can't be here. It's too dangerous."

Vicky leaned across the desk to meet Jean's eyes. "Look, lady, I've been goin' to school with other kids my whole life, and I haven't killed a one of 'em. Haven't even maimed any. Still, the last school I was at, was a little too—stifling—and I arranged to get myself removed. Only problem is, Daddy's not going to be happy when he hears that. So you either let me in here, or I face the wrath of Sabretooth, and it's on your head."

Jean stared at Vicky in confusion. "Victor Creed is dead."

Vicky looked like she was trying to keep from laughing, and Jean had to wonder what was so funny. "What, you don't think my dad would make arrangements to keep me in line even after his, uh, untimely demise?"

Jean just gave her a blank look. Vicky sighed. "Look, for all you know, Vic kept me locked up in a basement my whole life and after his death, I broke free and am now trying to do all I can to avoid being anything like the man who made my life hell for seventeen years, or something like that."

"Is that true?" Jean asked. She looked sad, almost regretful.

Vicky snorted. "Hell no. But it could be. Listen, I want to be part of you little school here. I cause trouble, you can kick me out, no questions asked. Just let me stay here for a while. I don't have anywhere else to go."

Jean sighed. "I guess I have to," she said. "I owe it to you."

"You do?"

Jean turned to her computer and started going through the process of enrolling Vicky. "Yes, I do."

*** *** ***

Marie sat in her third class of the day. She'd already had math and science, and she was grateful to be in something she could do well in—art.

The door opened and Marie looked up. She'd been taking art classes since junior high, and she'd gotten to a point where she knew almost all the students who spent their time in the art department, but this was someone new. Marie felt herself blushing at just the sight of him. He was gorgeous.

Marie could tell the other girls in the class noticed the newcomer as well, and she told herself it would be impossible to be breathing and not. He was tall and perfectly sculpted, with black hair that fell slightly in front of deep blue eyes. He radiated a sort of masculine energy, something that Marie was definitely not used to finding in high school boys.

His gaze shifted to Marie and he smiled. She smiled tentatively back, almost certain he couldn't possibly be looking at her. She changed her mind about that when he walked over and sat beside her. "Hello," he said, his voice holding a slight accent.

"Hey."

"I'm Kris," he said.

"Marie."

Kris smiled again, and Marie was sure she was melting. "This is my first day here," he told her. "How long have you gone here?"

"Second year. I'm a sophomore."

"Me, too."

By this point, Marie had placed his accent. "Are you Russian?"

"Yeah."

"Kristof Rasputin?"

"The one and only."

"I met your sister this morning."

Kris smirked. "Did she tell you I'm the devil incarnate?"

Marie giggled. "No, but if she had I wouldn't automatically listen. I tell people that about my brother all the time."

"She could be right, you know," Kris said with a wink.

Something about the look in his eyes made Marie blush. "What kind of powers do you have, Marie?" Kris asked.

"Kinetic charge, some empathy," she said, forcing herself to sound strong.

"Are you related to Gambit?"

"I'm his daughter."

Kris grinned again. "I see you inherited that Cajun Charm of his I've heard about," he said.

Marie blushed harder. She noticed random girls in the class were glaring at her and the amount of attention she was getting from Kristof Rasputin. "I don't know how charming I am, Kris."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, beautiful."

Marie decided that if anyone in that conversation had been "charmed," it was her.

*** *** ***

Vicky Creed sat in her first class, looking around at her surroundings. She noted that it was quite different from boarding school, but in Vicky's mind, that was probably a good thing. She'd never much cared for uniforms, preferring instead to wear leather pants and a tight shirt. Added to her badass image.

The teacher came into the room and blanched as soon as he saw Vicky. She recognized him as Bobby Drake and chuckled to herself. Vicky got up and walked over to him, looking down when she approached him. She handed him the slip of paper in her hand. "I just enrolled a few minutes ago, so I'm not on the role," she said sweetly.

Bobby took the paper and read it, his eyes bugging out when he read her name and confirmed his suspicions. "Victoria, uh, Creed is it?"

Vicky smiled her most Sabretooth-like grin. "Call me Vicky."

"Vicky it is then," Bobby said, definitely not wanting to go against anything she said. He hoped desperately that she was good in math. The last thing he wanted to do was to fail her. "So, um, Sabretooth was your father, I'm guessing."

Vicky gave him a funny look. "Yeah, Sabretooth, um, was my father."

Bobby handed her back the slip of paper after adding her to his roster. "All right, have a seat and I'll get class started."

Vicky gave him another grin before sitting down. She didn't pay much attention to the lecture, however, since she suddenly had too many questions on her mind.

*** *** ***

As soon as Vicky left the classroom, she walked up to the first kid she saw, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him into a wall.

"Why do people keep saying Sabretooth is dead?" Vicky growled.

"B…because he…he died about a year ago," the kid said, trembling with fear.

"How?"

"Wildcat…the X-Man…she…she killed him."

Vicky had to stifle her laughter. "Wildcat? As in Wolverine's little brat?"

"Y…yes."

Vicky let the kid go. "Thanks for the help. You were most informative."

She walked away as the kid ran off in the other direction as fast as he could.

*** *** ***

"Mind if I sit here?" Kris Rasputin asked as he slid next to Marie into the cafeteria booth. He glanced across the table at his sister. "Your opinion doesn't count, Yana."

Yana glared at him. "I hate you."

"And I hate you." He turned to Marie. "So, how's your day been since art?"

Marie shrugged. "Good, I guess. Pretty much the same as every day I spent here last year."

Kris chuckled. "You're too beautiful to be so cynical."

Yana made gagging noises from the other side of the table. Kris shot her a dirty look before turning his gaze back to Marie.

"So, um, are either of you thinking about joining the X-Men?" Marie asked.

"Our parents want us to," Illyana said. "Kris has been against it from the start, but I'm thinking about it."

"I'm not against it, Yana, I just don't know if I want to dedicate my life to being a spandex-covered walking target."

Marie spoke up. "Um, we don't wear spandex."

"What do you wear?" Kris asked.

"Black padded leather."

Kris smiled at the mental image of Marie in leather. "Maybe I will have to check out the X-Men out then."

Yana rolled her eyes in disgust at her brother's obvious drooling. "Вы - шлюха," she growled at him in Russian.

Kris glared at her. "Вы знаете, потому что Вы - также один." He smiled at Marie. "Do you think the other X-Men would be all right with us coming around and checking things out?" he asked.

"I don't see why not," Marie said. "We're always open to new members if they're really interested."

"Then I'll guess we'll have to come by the mansion—won't we Yana?"

Illyana gave her brother her best fake smile. "Sure. Sounds great. I know how interesting being an X-Man is to you." She grinned wider and then added, "Почти столь же важный как наличие пола с другой девочкой.."

Kris mimicked his sister's fake grin. "You're crude."

Yana got up from the table. "Whatever, Kris. Listen Marie, you can do whatever you want to do about Kristof, but just know that he got into the pants of almost every girl he knew back in Russia, and he's probably trying to do that again." She walked away, not wanting to stick around while her brother took advantage of Marie.

Marie looked at Kris in confusion. "Is she telling the truth?" she asked.

Kris glanced down at the table top in front of him. "I'm not proud of some of the things I did back in St. Petersburg. I was pretty wild, and even though I haven't been for a while, well, I did some things that hurt Yana, and I guess she hasn't been able to forgive me yet. I'm not the man I used to be. And I'm not just trying to get you into bed, Marie. I think you're very beautiful, and I like talking to you, but I'm not pushing for anything else right now. I am interested in you, but I've had too many 'relationships' that were nothing more than sex. If I get involved with any girl again, it will be something serious this time."

Marie was surprised at how open he was with her. "Have you told Yana all that?"

"She won't listen. I don't blame her. I was awful to her. But I'm trying to prove to her that I'm changed with my actions."

Marie put her hand on Kris's arm. "I'm sure she'll see that soon enough."

The bell signally the end of that lunch period rang. "Can I walk with you to your next class?"

Marie stood up. "That would be great."

*** *** ***

Vicky stood in front of the X-Men mansion. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Hope they don't lock me in the basement like they did Dad," she muttered to herself.

Addie Logan opened the door and immediately turned pale. "Who…who are you?" she asked, forcing her voice not to tremble.

Vicky snarled at Logan. "My name is Victoria Creed. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Logan stared in shock, wanting to say something, but finding it impossible to get any words out. Suddenly, Vicky started to laugh. She walked in and draped one arm around Logan's shoulders. "Just kidding, runt. So, you got any spare rooms around here?"

Logan found her voice. "No."

"Riiight. You expect me to believe that you live in a mansion this size and every single room is full? I don't believe you." She pushed past Logan and started up the stairs. "So where are the spare rooms?"

"You can't come up here," Logan said, chasing after Vicky.

Vicky ignored her, testing the handle on all the doors until she found one that was unlocked. "Anyone live in here?" she asked Logan.

"Yes."

Vicky opened the closet. "Then how come there's nothing in here. No clothes or anything."

"Get out, Creed."

Vicky threw her bag on the bed. "No, I think you need to get out. You're in my room and you didn't even ask to come in. That's just rude." She pushed Logan out of the room and locked the door.

Vicky sat down on the bunk and chuckled to herself. This was going to be fun.

*** *** ***

"Hey, Drake, what's up?"

Kacie looked at the person sitting next to her. "Who are you?"

"Vicky Creed. But don't worry. I'm not going to rip your head off or anything."

Kacie thought for a moment and then shrugged. She thrust the bag she was holding in front of Vicky. "Cheese doodle?"

Vicky took one from the bag. "Thanks. So what are you watching?"

"Cartoon Network."

Vicky rolled her eyes. "You are definitely Iceman's kid."

"And that's a bad thing because…?"

Vicky took another cheese doodle. "I'm not saying it is."

"Victoria Creed?"

Vicky turned to see a tall woman with long, white hair standing in the doorway. "Let me guess, Storm's kid?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes. Would you mind accompanying me to the War Room, please? You, too, Kacie."

"Are you going to kick me off the team?" Vicky asked, faking sad, puppy-dog eyes.

Rebecca sighed. "I cannot kick you off a team you are not on. But we are going to put whether or not you stay here to a team vote."

"Great," Vicky muttered as she got off the couch. "I feel like I'm stuck in a rerun of Survivor."

Vicky followed Kacie and Rebecca into the War Room. "So this is where you guys come up with all your big, important decisions. I'm intimidated."

Kacie nudged Vicky. "Try to be a little reverent. Might swing the vote in your favor."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to be voted out of the tribe or anything…"

Vicky sat down beside Logan. "So, runt, you planning on voting for or against?" Logan's only response was to get up and move to the other side of the table.

Rebecca waited for a few minutes as the other X-Men began to file in. "Is everyone here?" she asked.

"Tristan and Ric aren't," Marie said.

"Tristan isn't coming," Logan said. She frowned. "He said he isn't truly a part of the X-Men, so it isn't his place."

"Funny, you'd think your own boyfriend would be standing up for you at a time like this," Marie muttered. Logan gave her a dirty look.

"Ric's on his way," Warren said. "He was on the phone with his grandfather, and he said go ahead and start without him."

"Okay then," Rebecca said, biting her tongue against comments about Renegade's level of commitment to the team. "I'll go around the table and get your vote. Wildcat, I'll ask you first."

Logan rolled her eyes. "Guess."

"Okay, that is one against. Ice Queen?"

Kacie shrugged. "She seems all right to me." Logan looked at Kacie as if she'd just performed the ultimate act of betrayal. Kacie slid down a little in her seat.

"Phoenix?"

"No."

"Okay, two against, one for. Charger?"

"Hell no. She's a Creed, and that can't lead to anything good."

"Twister?"

"It doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I remember her father."

Vicky frowned. "How could you have known my father? I've never heard of you before in my life."

"We fought your father about a year ago, Victoria," Rebecca said. "Around the time of his death."

"Right," Vicky said. "His death. Okay, go on playing Lord of the Flies. Who has the shell now?"

Rebecca ignored Vicky's comments. "Sparks?"

"I think we should at least give her a chance. We don't know what her relationship with her father was, and besides, he's dead now," Billy said.

"I know exactly what her relationship with her father was," Logan snarled. "I remember her from when he kidnapped me when I was five years old. She was daddy's little girl. Trusting her is just asking for trouble."

"And I guess you'd know all about being daddy's little girl, wouldn't you, runt," Vicky said. "I wonder, have you ever had to do anything for yourself, or does Daddy Wolverine come around and make sure his precious little girl never has to do anything that might break her nails."

Logan started to go over the table and attack Vicky, but Warren held her back. "Hey, Logan, Billy's right, okay? We might be wrong in trusting Vicky, but we have to at least give her the benefit of the doubt. I'm not saying we should just let her on the X-Men, no questions asked, but I don't think we should just throw her out, either."

"Don't you remember hearing what happened when her father was here? Warren, I know you know what he did to your mother."

"Yeah, when my father was kept chained up in the basement," Vicky replied.

"Your father was a homicidal maniac!" Logan cried.

"Oh yeah, and yours is a saint."

"Victoria, Adanya, calm down," Rebecca said. "No need to start fighting over the past, especially since no one at this table was even born then. And I agree with Warren and Billy. We should give her the benefit of the doubt. It is not the policy of the X-Men to turn our backs on anyone—even the child of our enemy."

"So that makes the vote an even four and four," Kacie said. "Where's Ric?"

"I'm here," Ric was, coming in as far as the doorway. "What's the count."

"It's at four against and four, well, for," Warren said. "You're the tie-breaker."

Ric leaned against the doorway. "That's a lot of pressure." He looked over at Vicky, who winked at him. Ric smiled. "She doesn't look like a homicidal maniac to me," he said. "We might at well let her stay."

Logan looked from Vicky to Ric, and then back again. She quickly got up from the table, pushing Ric out of the way roughly as she made her way through the door. Marie got up and followed Logan out, muttering something to her brother about him thinking with the wrong brain as she left.

The room was silent for a moment until Rebecca spoke. "Well, Vicky, it looks as if you are here, at least for a probationary period. Cable and Angela are currently away from the mansion, but your status may change upon their return."

"All right," Vicky said. "But I thought Husk was in charge of everything here."

"Mom tends to go off and let us do things our own way," Billy said. "She comes in sometimes and tells us to change a few things, and we do until she leaves."

"So she's following in Xavier's footsteps then?" Vicky asked.

"Pretty much," Kacie muttered.

"Do you think Cable's going to order I pack my bags and get out?" Vicky asked.

"As long as you have not been causing too much trouble, probably not," Rebecca said. "He tends to give us a lot of autonomy. He does not want to make any of the same mistakes he felt he made with X-Force."

"So this means I can settle in here?" Vicky asked.

"For the time being, yes," Rebecca replied. "Logan said you were able to, um, find a room."

"Yeah."

"Are you comfortable there?"

"Yeah."

"Stay there, then. Dinner is served around seven if you want to eat with most of the team. Leftovers are in the fridge usually by eight or eight-thirty, and you are more than welcome to pick at them if you would rather."

Vicky stood up. "All right. I'll see how I feel at seven." She stopped for a moment. "I'm not here to cause trouble, Rebecca. I can't say I'm going to be the world's best team player or anything like that, but I'm not out to get any of you either."

"I know," Rebecca said. "And the others will come around once you prove yourself to them, I am sure."

"Don't bet on it," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. She got up from the table and walked over to Vicky. "With your father and probably whoever your mother was, too, you're destined to be nothing but a problem for the X-Men."

"Unlike if I was born with a parent like Scott or Jean where I'd be destined to be a know-it-all with a stick up my ass?" Vicky asked.

Rachel just glared at Vicky before turning on her heal and storming out of the room. Warren gave Vicky a sympathetic look before following his girlfriend, hoping he'd be able to calm her down from one of her tirades for once.

"If no one else has anything to say to me, I'm going upstairs," Vicky said. "I promise to let everyone know before I go psycho and try to kill the whole mansion, all right?"

Rebecca chuckled a little. "And if you could, give us enough time to get ready for battle, too."

Vicky smiled. "I'll do that."

Ric followed Vicky out into the hall. "Can I help you, stripes?" Vicky asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask a favor from you," Ric said.

"This better not be anything lewd."

Ric laughed. "No. Not now anyway." He winked at her and Vicky snarled. Ric seemed unphased. "No, actually I just wanted to ask you to lay off Addie. Don't make me regret breaking the tie in your favor."

"Why should I do that?" Vicky asked. "The runt's an easy target."

"Addie's been through a lot, especially where your dad's concerned."

"What, he kidnapped her once when she was five. And whatever happened a year ago that you people keep talking about."

"There's more to it than that."

Vicky frowned. "What?"

"It isn't my place to tell you. And I wouldn't ask Addie. I'm one of the only people who know, because she never wants to tell anyone. Just know that her hatred for your father is more than justified, and odds are she's going to project that to you. If you want her to ever accept you, you're gonna have to stop aggravating her."

"I don't care if she ever accepts me or not," Vicky said. "And it's not like my father could've done anything that terrible to her."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Victoria."

"What happened?"

"I told you, it's not my place to talk about it. The only reason I know is Addie used to trust me more than anyone else on the team."

"Used to? Why doesn't she anymore?"

"I'd rather not talk about that either."

Vicky decided to change the subject somewhat. She could always learn the dirt on the team some other time. "So, what about you? Has my father ruined your life in some way, too."

Ric looked sad. "He made me what I am today."

"What is that supposed to mean? Wait, let me guess—you don't want to talk about it."

"You catch on quick."

"Has this team actually been around long enough to build up that many dark secrets?"

"Dark secrets are easy to get," Ric said. "But most of it's more like painful memories. Look, just go easy on Addie. She's had to deal with a lot of the past few years, and she isn't completely healed. You around tormenting her is only going to make it worse for her."

"And I'm supposed to care, because…?"

"Because you're not an evil person like your father."

"Who says I'm not?"

"Just find someone other than Addie to harass," Ric said before walking away.

Vicky was even more confused than she had been before. She remembered when her father took Addie as a five year old, but what had happened since then that Ric was talking about? And what had happened with her father, Ric, and the rest of the X-Men that had, according to them, led to Sabretooth's death?

*** *** ***

Tristan found Logan in their room, laying on the bed and punching a pillow. Tears were streaming down her face. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say Victoria Creed is staying."

Logan stopped, turning around to look at Tristan. "The vote was tied, and Ric came in and broke it. He wants her to stay, and probably because she's his type—tall, blonde, and easy."

Tristan sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder. "You aren't jealous…are you?"

Logan looked up. "What? No, of course not! Who Ric LeBeau attempts to seduce is the last thing I care about anymore. I love you, you know that. It's just, well, I can't live under the same roof as Victor Creed's daughter. God, she looks so much like him!"

"Is that what the problem is—whenever you see her you see Sabretooth?"

Addie started to cry in earnest again. "He haunts my dreams, Tristan. You've heard me cry out in the night before. Being with you, waking up and knowing that there's someone to hold me and make the memories go away, well, it's made things easier. But now, looking at her face, it's all so clear in my mind all over again. She's nothing but a constant reminder of what happened to me three years ago."

Tristan tightened his grip around her. "It's all over now, Logan. He's dead. And she isn't her father, anymore than you are yours. He's never going to be able to hurt you again."

"It still hurts, Tristan. I thought I'd be over everything that happened by now. I thought I was strong enough to move past it. Why am I not strong enough?"

Tristan petted her hair. "You are strong, Logan. You're one of the strongest people I know. But you're dealing with more than anyone ever should have to in a lifetime, let alone only a few years."

"I just don't want to feel broken anymore. My bones are unbreakable—why isn't the rest of me?"

Tristan didn't have an answer for her.

*** *** ***

Illyana Rasputin opened up her suitcase. She'd barely even had enough time to unpack the things she'd brought with her from Russia before she was leaving again, this time to move into the X-Men mansion with her brother. Her parents had been completely for the idea of them leaving, and she knew it would be easier on them to have only two children in the house instead of four. Besides, life away from her mother would make a lot of things easier for Yana.

"So how are you liking it so far?"

Yana turned around in surprise at the sound of a voice behind her. "Richard! You startled me."

Ric had never much cared for being called Richard, but with Yana's Russian accent, he didn't mind so much. Still, he said, "You can call me Ric. Most people do."

"Ric, then."

"So do you like the mansion."

"Yes. So far it seems very nice. The people here are friendly."

Ric smiled. "I'm glad you're happy here. Must be a big change from St. Petersburg."

"Oh yes, very much so," Yana said. "But I think it's a change for the better."

"Your brother seems to like it here. Especially when my sister's around," Ric commented dryly.

"He's been looking for an opportunity to ask her on a date all week," Yana said. "I think that might be why he decided to come here in the first place."

"Is he safe, or should I play protective big brother?"

"I would go with the latter," Yana said. "Kristof Rasputin has broken more than enough hearts in his sixteen and a half years."

Ric frowned. "I'll keep that in mind. Not that Marie with listen to me anyway. She brushes off nine-tenths of what I say to her."

"Younger siblings are like that. I have a heck of a time getting Katya and Nikki to do anything I want them to do."

"How old are they?"

"Nikki is nine and Katya is eleven. I didn't want to leave them to come here, but my parents insisted. Kris mentioned us being X-Men, and I guess they thought it sounded like a good idea. Things have never been easy at home for any of us."

"How so?"

Yana looked away. "I…I don't know you very well, Ric."

"And you're not comfortable talking to me about personal matters?"

"Something like that."

"I understand. But if you ever do need to talk to anyone, I'd be more than willing to listen."

"Thank you."

"I hope you're happier here than you were at home."

Yana smiled. "If everyone's as nice as you are, then I'm sure I will be."

*** *** ***

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Col. Nicholas Fury's Office

Nick Fury stopped short when he walked into his office and saw a redheaded woman sitting at his desk with her feet propped up and a cigar in her mouth. "Outta my chair, Mackenzie."

The redhead just stared at Nick, taking another drag off the cigar she was smoking.

"C'mon, up. And that was one of my best cigars."

"I know." She kicked a file on his desk with the heel of her shoe. "What's this?"

"What's what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Nick," she said, standing up and grabbing the file. She carried it over to Nick and thrust it at his chest. "What's this?"

"Oh, this? This is the file with the orders I was about to hand down to you before you came into my office and rifled through my things."

"I didn't rifle through your things," Mackenzie said, waving the cigar in the air. "I came in here looking for you and saw a file with my name on it on your desk."

"So you read it."

"Of course. And I'm not taking that assignment."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Look, Mackenzie, this matter was brought to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I have to make sure we play some part in it. I need an agent on this mission, and I need it to be you."

"Why me, huh? Look, I know I said I wanted you to give me more field work, but this? This is just asking for trouble."

"I need you because you grew up there! You know the area, Mac, better than any other agent I have.

"It's not that I don't want to be there, Nick. You know as well as anyone how homesick I get anyway. It just, well, I don't want to work with them."

"I've worked with the X-Men plenty of times in the past. It's not so bad."

"Yeah, and I've heard the stories you've told about working with super hero groups. That doesn't sound like a good time to me."

"So what, you signed up for S.H.I.E.L.D. to have fun?"

"No! But, I didn't sign up for it to follow a bunch of mutants through East Texas either!"

"Too bad. You're going, end of story. Either get your ass to Westchester A.S.A.P. or turn in your badge. It's your choice, Mackenzie."

"You wouldn't fire me."

"Wanna try me?"

"I'm going to hate you forever for this."

"You'll get over it."

"Fine. But I'm keeping the cigar." Mac stormed out of the office.

"Kids," Nick muttered under his breath before sitting down at his desk and propping his feet up much the way Mackenzie had been doing before.

*** *** ***

Victoria Creed sat in the main room of the mansion, watching television. The doorbell kept ringing, and it was really starting to annoy her. Hard to enjoy watching random things blowing up when you kept hearing bells. "Isn't anyone going to get that?" Vicky muttered.

Finally, Vicky decided none of the "real" X-Men were going to answer the door. "Fine. I'll do it," she said, getting up and walking the couple of feet to the door. She threw it open. "What?"

A woman only an inch or so shorter than Vicky with long, red hair and blue eyes was on the other side. She was dressed in a light blue, obviously expensive, business suit. "Is this the home of the X-Men."

"No. It's one of the random other mansions out in the middle of nowhere with a big sign out front that says "Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning."

The redhead reached into her jacket and pulled out a badge. "Agent Mackenzie Fury. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Vicky raised an eyebrow. "Any relation to any other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents named Fury?"

"He's my father. Now if you don't mind, Miss Creed, I'd like to come in and talk to whoever's in charge around here."

"That would be Rebecca. And how did you know who I am?"

"It's my job to know." Mackenzie put her badge back in her jacket pocket. "Now can I come in?"

"Uh, sure, yeah." Vicky let Mac in and then walked over to the edge of the stairs. "Rebecca, visitor!" she yelled up the stairs.

Rebecca walked down a few moments later. "May I help you?"

"Mac Fury. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I was sent down here because there have been reports of a mutant referring to himself as Magneto forming a group of what we suspect to be mutant terrorists. Col. Fury wanted me to ask y'all to come with me to Wills Point, Texas—where this 'Magneto' guy is—and try to stop him before things get out of hand."

Rebecca frowned. "Do you have any information on him other than the fact he is calling himself Magneto?"

"Some of our agents reported that he does have powers similar to Magneto, and that his hair is white. Other than that, they couldn't come up with much of anything."

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want us to do about it?" Rebecca asked.

"Go down there and stop him, like I said. Y'all call yourselves the X-Men. If anyone is going to fight someone calling himself Magneto, then it should be you."

"I will have to talk to the other X-Men about this. I cannot simply agree to sending us all somewhere without their permission."

"I understand. Talk to your team. But try not to take too long, all right? The colonel says things are heating up down there."

"I will," Rebecca said. "Some of them are not here at the moment, but I can contact them and get them all home within an hour. Will that suffice?"

"Sounds good to me. I could use a cigarette anyway."

"There's no smoking in the mansion."

"I figured as much," Mac said, rolling her eyes. "But don't tell me you've banned smoking outside, too?"

"As long as you are not in front of any of the mansion's main doorway, it would be fine."

"I'll show you where they usually send us smokers," Vicky said. "It's not the prettiest sport in the world, but it's free from lung-cancer warnings."

"Thanks," Mac said.

"I will let you know when I have the team assembled," Rebecca said.

Mac gave her a nod, and then followed Vicky out to the back of the mansion. "Here. Pollute your lungs all you want here, no one will care. Kristof, Yana, and I all come out here at some point during the day," Vicky said. "I haven't figured out where Logan goes off to pretend she isn't smoking."

"I'm surprised there are so many smokers here," Mac said, shaking a cigarette from her pack. "I would've thought the X-Men would've been more health-conscious than that."

Vicky shrugged as she lit her own cigarette. "Well, it isn't going to hurt me or Logan—healing factors and all. And as far as Kris and Yana, I don't think they particularly care if they live or die. What's your excuse?"

"Somehow whatever's been keeping my father alive for so long worked itself into my genetic make-up. Not much could hurt me, really." Mac frowned, realizing she'd left her lighter in her car. "Got a light?"

"Yeah, sure," Vicky said, tossing her her lighter.

"Nice lighter," Mac said.

"Thanks. I got it off a biker who tried to start something with me," Vicky replied. "So, growing up with Nick Fury as a father. Must've been interesting."

"I wouldn't know," Mac replied, taking a drag. "I didn't know him until I was twenty-two and started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. My mother would never tell me who he was. It's a coincidence that we ended up working together. Guess it was fate or something."

"I still don't know who my mother is," Vicky said, flicking the end of her cigarette. "My father won't tell me. He says I'm better off not knowing."

"He's probably right."

"Still, I wish I knew her."

"I could've gone on just fine not knowing my mother," Mac said. "The Mackenzies—my mother gave me her last name as my first name, evil woman—are a big oil family in East Texas. She wanted me to be a debutant, and was more than a little disappointed when I turned out to be a juvenile delinquent instead."

Vicky laughed. "Well, you seem like you turned out all right to me."

"This coming from the daughter of Victor Creed. I don't think that would assure my mother of very much." Mac paused for a second, and then said. "She's all but disowned me. Most of my family has, except for her parents. I spent most of my childhood at their house out in the country. My mother lived in Dallas, and I'd live with her during school, but she'd send me off the day after school ended. Never wanted to have much to do with me." Mac laughed a little. "I don't know why I just told you that."

Vicky shrugged. "'Cause I'm listening, I guess."

"I'm not bitter, you know," Mac said. "I'm happy. Well, I'm not too happy about having to go deal with some Magneto wannabe in Texas, but it could be worse."

"I've been here a little over a week, and let me tell you, these people are something else," Vicky said. "There's more issues here than at a mental ward. Hell, I'm not this off, and I was raised by a professional hitman. You'd think I'd be the crazy one here."

"Great, now I'm really looking forward to this."

"Hey, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll put this to a vote the way they love to do, and decide against it."

"Put it to a vote?"

"Oh yeah, they vote on everything. I'm surprised they haven't started voting on who cleans the bathrooms yet."

Mac laughed. "Hey, think we should go in and check on things?"

"Sure." Vicky threw her cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. "But don't expect to find anything entertaining. This place is slower than that person who always drives in front of you whenever you're in a hurry."

Mac stood up and put her cigarette out, too. "That's fine with me. Not like things move very fast where we're going if the X-Men agree to go with me on this."

"Trust me," Vicky said with a smirk. "Anything's better than here."

*** *** ***

Mac knew what Vicky had been talking about with the X-Men having to vote on everything now. The X-Men who had been in the mansion or close by when Mac arrived had gathered in the war room, listened to what she had to say, and then had democratically decided whether or not they were going to go with her.  Mac wasn't sure if she was relieved or afraid that they'd agreed to help her.

Now, she was waiting again, this time for the other X-Men to get in so they could form a battle plan. Mac was sitting in the War Room, her chin resting in her hands, wishing whoever wasn't there would hurry up so she could get this over with as soon as possible.

"Who are we waiting for?" Logan asked from the other side of the room. Mac had noticed Logan very obviously getting up and moving to the chair she was in now when Vicky Creed had come into the room and sat beside her, and had filed it away for later. It was always important to know where the divisions were in any team you were working with.

"Craig is not here," Rebecca said. "I believe he is the only one."

"My brother's coming?" Logan asked, obviously surprised.

So Logan had a brother  who, from the sounds of it was somewhat a member of the team, and not someone that Logan was particularly close to. Mac filed that little tidbit away, too. She was beginning to get the impression that there was a lot going on behind the scenes with this team.

Vicky looked up. Obviously as taken aback by what Logan said as Mac had been. "You have a brother?"

Logan glared at Vicky. "Yes, I have a brother. A twenty-six year old half-brother," Logan said, her voice near a growl. Tristan put his hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her.

Craig walked in a few minutes later. And Vicky knew who he was immediately. Despite the fact he was rather tall and had normal hair, there was no mistaking him for anything but Wolverine's son. "Sorry it took me so long to get out here," he said, taking an empty seat. "My boss didn't seem to like the idea of me suddenly leaving without anymore of a reason than 'family emergency,' and traffic was, of course, awful. So what's going on?"

Rebecca gestured to Mac. "This is Mackenzie Fury. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D., and she was sent here to request our help in stopping a mutant in Texas who claims to be Magneto."

Craig sort of raised an eyebrow at that, but his only response was a nod.

"We do not know the extent of the situation—even Mackenzie could only give us some information on the mutant in Texas. Therefore, I think it would be wisest if as much of the team as possible accompanied Ms. Fury, since things could get messy down there. Is there anyone who cannot do this?"

"I'm all for it," Vicky said with the dopiest grin she could manage. "Now that you nice people have let me on the most sacred of all superhero teams—well, excluding the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, of course—I don't want to be anything but a team player!"

Vicky received a mix of looks of distain and stifled laughs.

"Anyone else?" Rebecca asked.

"Hon, where exactly in Texas did you say this is?" Twister asked Rebecca.

"Wills Point."

Twister grew a little pale. "I…I don't know if I should go there."

"Why not?"

"It just isn't a good idea."

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Rebecca asked, standing up. "In the hall."

Twister got out of his chair. "Yeah, sure."

Twister followed Rebecca out of the room, leaving the X-Men to wonder what exactly the two had to discuss. "Does she pull everyone out of the room like that when they disagree with her?" Vicky asked, leaning over to whisper to Kacie.

"No," Kacie whispered back. "She's only doing it to Twister because he's her boyfriend."

"Ah," Vicky said. "Makes sense."

Out in the hallway, Rebecca gave Twister a quizzical look. "Is something wrong? Why can you not come with us?"

"I can't go back there, 'Becca. I can't go through it all again."

"Go back? What are you talking about?"

"I'm from Wills Point," Twister said. "My whole family—they still live there. Hell, I'm the first person in my family to actually leave Van Zandt county in generations. And the last time I saw them, well, they weren't exactly happy with me."

Rebecca put her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "It will be all right. It will not be the same as the last time you were there—I will be with you."

Twister took her hand off his shoulder, but didn't let it go. "That worries me, too, Rebecca. My family, they aren't exactly the most enlightened people in the world. I don't know what they'd do if they saw I was with you."

"What do you mean?"

"They're racist, 'Becca. Extremely racist."

Rebecca pulled her hand away from Twister as if he'd suddenly turned to fire. "Are…are you saying that you do not want to be seen with me because I am black? Are you ashamed of that—of me?"

"No! God, no! How could you think that about me?! There's not a damn thing about you that would make me ashamed of you, especially not your race. It's just…I'm afraid of what they'd do to you. My cousins especially."

Rebecca immediately softened when she heard him voice the real reason for his concern. She took hold of his hand again. "I will be fine, my love." She gave him a small smile. "I can take care of myself. I am the leader of the X-Men, after all."

"I just love you so much, Rebecca. I know you can take care of yourself, but I still worry about something happening to you. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and just hold you because I'm afraid that I might lose you the next day and I'll never be able to again. You're my whole world, Rebecca."

"So be there to protect me."

"I'd rather you weren't there either," Twister admitted. "I'd rather you never had to face any of the things that you do as an X-Man. But I also love you too much to ever ask you to do something like that. You'd resent me for it eventually. This is too much of who you are."

"You know you are my soulmate."

"I know."

"Which is all the more reason why I need you buy my side. In everything I do—including this."

"You're not letting me back out of this are you?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No. Look, odds are, we will not even have to see your family. And if we do, I know you are strong enough to handle it."

Twister nodded, and the two of them walked back into the war room to let the other X-Men know that the team would be unified in this.

*** *** ***

Vicky stood outside the Blackbird, staring at it with a wary eye. It was bad enough that she had to wear one of their god-awful black leather uniforms, but now she had to make like a sardine and cram into that jet with the whole rest of the team?

"Uh, do I really have to fly in that?" Vicky asked.

"Yes," Rebecca replied. "How else do you plan to get to Texas?"

"Um, in a bigger plane?" Vicky offered. "Who's flying that thing anyway?"

"I am," Billy said.

If Vicky had ever prayed in her life, it would've been then.

Mac stopped short right behind Vicky. "Wait…are we all supposed to pile into that?"

Vicky frowned. "Apparently."

"Okay, Nick was right—superheroes are psycho."

Vicky just nodded.

"Oh well, it'll be an…experience…" Mac said.

Another nod from Vicky.

"Come on!" Ric shouted from the Blackbird.

Mac and Vicky looked at each other, shrugged, and boarded the jet.

*** *** ***

The first thing Mac Fury did when she got off the Blackbird was thank whatever forces may have been listening that she had survived the flight and had her feet back on the ground. It was an added bonus that that ground happened to be comprised of Texas soil.

The second thing she did was light up a cigarette in a desperate attempt to calm her now-shattered nerves. Although there was no doubting that Billy Starsmore had piloting skills, he also had many of the same personality traits of all other twenty-year-old boys. Which apparently led you to believe that the best way to fly was by trying to outdo the world's top stunt pilots.

"Don't much like flying?"

Mac turned around to see who had spoken. "Kris Rasputin, right?"

"Right," Kris replied.

"It's not flying I don't like," Mac said. "It being at the mercy of another pilot." Mac reached into her pocket and realized she'd forgotten her lighter again. "Dammit."

Kris pulled out his own and lit her cigarette. He gave her a smile that she found to be sickeningly charming. "Thanks," Mac said, then walking away before he could say anything else.

She went over to where Vicky was standing, leaning up against the Blackbird. "What's up with that guy?" she asked.

"Kris? Oh, he's a jerk. He's been putting the moves on Marie LeBeau since day one, but he's also trying to get into the pants of everything classified as female. He tried with me, but when he found my hand around his neck and his head against a tree, he changed his mind on that one. Didn't even have a chance to phase through my grip I scared him so much."

Mac laughed. Vicky was definitely her kind of person.

Rebecca approached Mac. "Now that we are here, what would you like us to do?" Rebecca asked. "You requested our help with a primarily S.H.I.E.L.D. mission. Leadership is in your hands from here on out since I do not know much more than the little bit you have told me."

Mac nodded. "I'd say the best thing for us to do right now is to send a small team into town and see what we can dig up, while the rest stay with the Blackbird, ready to serve as back up if need be. I've learned from prior experience that running into a situation head-first, guns blazing, is a good way to mess it all up."

"I agree," Rebecca said. "Who were you thinking of to accompany you? I assume you are going."

"Yeah," Mac said. "I'd like you, of course, seeing as you are the field leader and all. And Vicky, if she's willing. If her senses are anything like her father's, they'll be an asset."

"They're not quite as acute as his, but they're good," Vicky said. "And unlike some people on this team, I actually trust them."

"Do you have any other suggestions?" Mac asked Rebecca.

"Rachel. She is the highest-level psi we have on field duty. That would be an asset. And Warren as well. His abilities make him ideal for any sort of reconnaissance work."

Mac nodded. "Sounds like a good team. Round 'em up, and get 'em into civvies. Walking around small-town Texas in padded leather isn't exactly going to keep people from looking at us funny."

Twister walked up behind the three women and cleared his throat. They all turned to look at him. "What is it?" Rebecca asked.

"If y'all don't mind, I'd like to go, too," Twister said.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca asked. "After what we talked about back at the mansion…"

"I know this town," Twister said. "Until about a year ago, it was the only home I knew. They're might be some things there that are difficult for me to face, but I feel like I have to—for the X-Men."

"You're from Wills Point?" Mac asked.

"Yes."

Mac frowned. "It would be helpful having you on the scouting team, then. I spent a good chunk of my life around here, but not in Wills Point specifically. But if you think that you won't be able to handle coming back home, then don't risk it and put us all in jeopardy."

Twister glanced quickly at Rebecca and then turned his attention back to Mac. "I can handle it. And there's another thing. I think I might know who this group of mutants is."

Mac looked at him in surprise, wondering why he didn't speak up earlier, but decided that griping at him about it wouldn't be the best way to get his support. "Who?"

"There are these people—they live around here. They were all really poor, and we never saw much of them, except when they came into town to work sometimes. People used to tell stories about them all the time, about how they were all freaks, and deformed—things like that. The older kids used to tell the younger kids that they would come in and eat children."

Mac nodded, urging him with her eyes to go on. She'd heard stories about people like that before, when she was growing up. Stories like the ones about strange old women down the street rumored to be witches. Typical kid stuff. But apparently Twister thought there was more to what was said about these people than just rumors. "You think they might be mutants?" Mac asked.

"Yeah. Once, before my own powers manifested, some friends and I went out there late at night, on a dare," Twister said. "There were these people, completely unlike anything I'd ever seen. I remember one who was floating just about the ground and glowing in the dark. My friends and I…we thought it was a ghost. We ran outta there as quickly as possible, and I never went back. Now, having experience with mutants—being a mutant—I wonder if maybe those people were mutants in hiding, afraid of what would happen if they tried to go out and lead normal lives. A lot of the advancements in rights for mutantkind haven't exactly made it out here yet."

"Did they ever cause any trouble before?" Mac asked. "Ever attack anyone or anything like that? Do anything that would lead you to believe that they would ever band together under someone claiming to be Magneto returned?"

"No, not at the time," Twister replied. "But I can see where they would. Living in poverty because you're ostracized by humanity, having to spend your whole life considered a freak, it has to get to you after a while. I was lucky, finding the X-Men, finding a place where I could relax, where I could belong. These people never had that. It would make perfect sense for them to fall to the leadership of someone like Magneto if he was offering them something better—even if the ways to achieve it were violent."

"I agree," Mac said. "All right, we'll definitely have to check on that. Could you show us where these people are a little later, once we've scouted out the town and kind of gotten a feel for the situation?"

"Yeah, I can show you."

"You're with us then. Okay, go get ready, and tell Rachel and Warren they're coming too. We leave in twenty."

*** *** ***

"So this is Wills Point?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, this is it," Twister replied.

"Quaint. According to the sign it's the Bluebird Capital of Texas…"

"Don't sugar-coat it Ray," Twister told her with a grimace. "Although, actually my family lived outside of town. For us, this was a bustling metropolis."

The other X-Men surveyed what they could see of the town from where they stood. It was far from a rundown backwater, but it was nowhere near a large city either. "This is East Texas, folks," Mac said after a moment. "Small and proud of it. Come on, we have a job to do."

Rebecca, Twister, Warren, Rachel, and Vicky followed Mac further into town. Rebecca could see Twister growing more tense with each step they took. She reached out and wrapped her arm around his. "Hey."

"Hey."

"You said your family lived outside of town?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah," Twister replied.

"Then maybe they will not even be here now."

Twister frowned. "My luck doesn't work that way."

"Alex!"

Twister froze. "What is wrong?" Rebecca asked.

"Alex!" A blonde girl who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen ran up to them. "Alex, is that you?"

Rebecca couldn't tell if Twister was smiling or grimacing. "Hey, Kimmy."

"Why are you here?" Kimmy asked. "I thought Mama and Daddy threw you out. Are you coming back for good?"

"No," Twister said, his voice obviously pained. "They did throw me out. I'm here for…other reasons."

The girl's face fell. "Oh. I…I wish you were coming back. I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

Mac, Warren, Vicky, and Rachel stopped a few feet ahead of Twister and Rebecca and watched. "His name's Alex?" Vicky asked.

Warren shrugged. "I guess. Heck, he lived with my family for a while when he first came to Westchester, and I never knew his real name."

"Rebecca doesn't even know. Or at least she didn't," Rachel said. "He wouldn't tell her."

"Guess his secret's out now," Vicky said. "Although if you ask me, Alex is a much better name than Twister anyway."

Twister gently pulled on Rebecca's hand, signaling for her to stand beside him. "Kimmy, this is my girlfriend, Rebecca. Rebecca, this is my little sister, Kimberly."

"Hi!" Kimmy said cheerfully. "You're a lot prettier than the last girl my brother was with. She was crazy."

Rebecca laughed a little. "It's nice to meet you, Kimmy."

Kimberly turned back to her brother. "So why are you here?"

Twister looked around nervously. "Is there somewhere else we can talk? I don't want anyone seeing me here."

"You mean Dad, Buck, and Jeff, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"No one's gone to that shed out by the creek in a while. It should be empty," Kimmy said.

"The one we used to play in as kids?"

"Yeah."

"Meet us there in thirty minutes then, okay, Kim? Can you do that?"

"For you, big brother, I can do anything. I'll be there, I promise."

"And don't let anyone else know I'm here."

"I won't."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them for a moment. Suddenly, Kimmy all but threw herself on her brother, hugging him fiercely and crying against his chest. "I missed you so much, Alex. You were the only one—the only one who understood."

Twister let go of Rebecca's hand and hugged Kimberly back. "I know. I've missed you, too."

Kimmy pulled away after a minute and wiped her eyes. "I'll meet you at the shed." With that, she ran off.

"Alex?" Rebecca said softly.

Twister didn't look at her, staring at the place where his sister had last been instead. "Yeah. My name's Alexander Wood. Alex. Now you know."

Rebecca put her hand against his cheek, guiding his face so he'd have to look her in the eyes. "It is all right. I love you, Twister. I love you."

He sighed, sounding almost defeated. "Leaving Kimmy was the hardest part in all this. Both our parents are drunks. My father…he's done so many awful things to her, and I'm sure he still is. I always tried to protect her, keep her safe. But now that I'm gone, I can't. I let her down, Rebecca."

"No, you did not. You did not have a choice—you were cast out, and you had no way of knowing what would happen to you once you left. You did what you were forced to do. I am sure Kimberly understands that."

"I still feel guilty. I should've been able to protect her from Dad. I should've…"

Rebecca put her finger to his lips. "No. You could not. Do not tell yourself that. Now come on, we need to rejoin the others.

Twister nodded and followed her, but his guilt was still strong.

*** *** ***

Logan felt trapped waiting on the Blackbird. She wished she'd been able to go with the others—anything had to be better than being cooped up the way she was. She figured the only plus was that Vicky wasn't there to torment her.

She looked over and caught sight of Yana and Ric. The Russian girl was sitting in his lap, and they were talking quietly and laughing. Although they hadn't made anything official, it was obvious something was going on between them and it hurt Logan to no end. Even though she had moved on, it was too painful knowing that Ric had, too. Especially with Illyana. Something about the girl just rubbed Logan the wrong way.

"Beloved, is something wrong?"

Logan tore her eyes off Ric at the sound of Tristan's voice. "I'm fine," she lied. "I just don't like being stuck in here."

"It will only be for a short while," Tristan said. "The others will be back soon."

Logan saw Ric and Yana from the corner of her eye. She was still in his lap, and now he had one hand on the small of her back and the other brushing her hair from her eyes. "I need some fresh air."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No." Logan walked off the Blackbird, letting the door shut between the two of them.

"Hey."

Logan turned sharply. "Craig?"

"Yeah. Hi."

"What are you doing out here?" she asked him.

"It was too cramped in there," he said. "You?"

"Same."

Craig patted the grass beside where he was sitting. "Have a seat."

Addie sat without hesitation. She picked a blade of grass and started playing with it. "Sometimes it surprises me how alike we are," she said after a moment.

"I know. Me, too. It's the little things. The things you don't really notice until you see someone else has them, too," Craig replied. He frowned. "So what really drove you out here?"

"Huh? I told you—too cramped."

"Yeah, but it was too cramped because something's on your mind."

"You tell me what's on your mind first," Logan said.

"Briana sent me an invitation to her wedding," Craig said. "She's supposed to get married next week."

"Wow," Logan said. "I'm sorry…"

"It's all right," Craig said. "I let her go, after all. Just getting that in the mail, it stirred up a lot of emotions I thought I'd gotten rid off."

"I can't believe she actually sent you the invitation to her wedding. I mean, what did she think you were going to do, take a trip across the Atlantic Ocean just so you could see your ex marry someone else?"

"I think she just wanted to take the opportunity to rub my face in it. I get the feeling she's spiteful," Craig said.

"What a bitch. I'm sorry, Craig. I really am."

"It's all right. I'm…dealing with it. So what's your problem? And why aren't you pouring your heart out to your boyfriend—or is he what's causing it?" Craig frowned, suddenly getting an air of protectiveness.

"No, it's not Tristan. It's just not something I can talk to him about, either."

"Can you talk to your big brother about it then?"

Addie chuckled a little. "I guess. Might as well say something to someone. It's not really a big deal, it's just that Ric and Illyana were being all flirty and I was…"

"Jealous?"

Logan frowned. "I don't know if jealous is really the right word. It just hurts, seeing them, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Craig said. "I can't imagine what it would be like if I had to be around Briana and Howard." He said the other man's name with unconcealed disgust.

"I love Tristan," Addie said. "I'm happy with Tristan. I just don't understand why thinking about Ric still hurts so much."

"Because you loved him and he left you," Craig said. "Even if you've moved on now, you didn't get to call the shots when it came to ending it. You weren't ready to let go, and a part of you is still in love with him. Probably always will be in a way."

"Thanks. I feel better now," Logan said sarcastically.

Craig wrapped his arm around her shoulder, comforting her. "I didn't mean that you're always going to carry a desperate longing for Ric, Addie. I just mean that you're always going to have feelings for him on some level, and being around him and watching him with other women is going to be a painful thing."

"Sometimes I just wonder, what things could've been like, If we could've touched."

"You wouldn't be with me."

Logan felt her stomach drop. She slowly stood up and turned around. "Tristan? I didn't hear you come out here."

"Apparently."

"I'm going to go back in the Blackbird now," Craig said, quickly removing himself from the situation.

"You're still in love with Ric."

"No!" Logan exclaimed.

"I just heard you say you are."

"I didn't mean it like that, Tristan!" Addie said. "I'm happy with you."

"But you'd rather be with Ric." His expression was cold, emotionless.

"No! Look, I was just talking to Craig, okay, just saying things. I didn't mean for you to hear any of that."

"Because you don't want me to know the truth?"

"No, because it isn't important. I still have some feelings for Ric. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I don't. That wouldn't be fair to you. But I don't exactly yearn to be with him, either. We broke up. I'm with you now. That's the way things are, and I'm happy. Sure, I'm going to wonder what it would've been like if Ric and I had been able to work things out, but that doesn't mean I'd rather be with him than you."

"I don't see any other way I could interpret that, Logan."

"Does that mean you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't wonder the same thing about you and Maritheza?"

A flash of pain went across Tristan's face. "That's different."

"How?"

"Mari is dead."

"I didn't want to lose Ric anymore than you wanted to lose her," Addie said. "And it wasn't that long ago that we broke up, Tristan, and it still hurts. I feel a pang when I watch how casually he's flirting with Illyana. I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is."

Tristan moved closer, and Addie felt herself trembling. Something about his presence was overpowering. "I need you to be mine completely, Logan," he said, his voice deep, husky—commanding.

Addie nodded, not sure if she could even muster the power to speak. He leaned down,  kissing her hard, and Addie slumped against his chest, whimpering. He wrapped his arm around her waist, steadying her and pulling her closer to him. "I love you, Addie."

"I love you, too," Addie said softly. "I want to be with you, only you."

"Forget about him, Logan. You're mine now."

Addie just nodded, although something in her rebelled against the possessive nature of his words. "I've given up on Ric," she said softly.

Tristan held on to her tightly, kissing the top of her head, not saying anything.

*** *** ***

"You used to come out here as a child?" Rebecca asked, surveying the place Twister had brought them.

"Yeah," Twister replied. "Kimmy and I used to come out here a lot. Sometimes we'd spend all night in that shed over there. It got us away. It got Kimmy away."

Suddenly, Rachel screamed, cutting through the silence that followed Twister's statement. Twister and Rebecca turned around to see a large cat reminiscent of a panther standing in front of Rachel. The cat looked at Twister. He stared at it for a moment before blinking in surprise. "Kimmy?"

The cat began to shimmer, and then transformed into the blonde girl, crouching on all fours. Kimmy stood up. "How did you recognize me?" she asked.

"I don't know," Twister said. "I...I just did." He paused for a moment before adding, "You're a mutant, too."

Kimmy nodded. "I've known for about six months now. I've been hiding it from Mom and Dad. It's been hard. I...I keep thinking how easy it would be for me to just change into my cat form and rip him to shreds."

Twister forced himself not to show the surprise he felt at hearing his little sister talk so violently. Even after all their father had put her through, she'd never spoken about wanting to kill him. "You don't have to live here anymore," Twister said. "I know a place where you can go."

"I can't," Kimmy said, shaking her head. "A few months ago I would have, but not now. Now I have to stay."

"Why?" Twister asked. "I don't want you to stay here and keeping letting that man abuse you!"

Kimmy's one word answer left them all stunned.

"Magneto."

*** *** ***

Logan had been pacing back and forth in the confined space of the Blackbird for close to twenty minutes. "Think you could sit still for at least five seconds, Wildcat?" Ric asked. "You're giving me a headache."

Logan didn't sit still, but she did stop pacing long enough to give him an obscene gesture. Ric just laughed coldly and responded in kind.

Kris turned to Marie and whispered, "Am I wrong in thinking that your brother and Logan have a history?"

"Oh they have a history all right," Marie said. "They were in love once." She frowned. "I'm not sure how Logan feels now, seeing as she's with Tristan and all, but I'm almost positive Ric still loves her. You might want to warn your sister about that. They seem to be getting, um, close."

Kris dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. "My sister's love life is not my concern. If she wants to share a man's bed, she does—despite who may have slept there before her."

Marie gave him a puzzled look, his description of Illyana not fitting how Marie herself pictured the Russian girl.

"My sister's no saint," Kris said, noticing Marie's expression. "She's not any better than what she makes me out to be—all though I can assure you at least half of what she says about me is a lie."

"You seem like a nice enough guy to me, Kristof," Marie said.

Kris smiled. "Come outside with me, Marie. I want to be able to talk to you without an audience."

Marie got up and followed Kris off the plane. Ric watched them go. "Should I trust your brother with my little sister?" he asked Yana.

"No."

From the moment he noticed Kris making eyes at Marie, Ric had been uneasy. She was still too much of a little girl from someone like that. He wanted to go out there and keep her protected, but he knew she'd only resent him for it. Marie may have been only fifteen, but she wasn't about to admit that she was anything except capable of taking care of herself.

Illyana leaned in closer to Ric, putting her mouth right against his ear. "I'm not safe to be around either," she purred, "But somehow I think you're a big enough boy to handle it."

Ric smiled slowly, forgetting all about Marie and Kris.

*** *** ***

"Did I hear you correctly?" Warren asked. "Did you just say Magneto?"

"Yes," Kimmy replied.

The five X-Men and Mac Fury exchanged glances. Apparently, they'd found something at least close to what they'd been looking for. "Kimberly," Rebecca said, "Magneto has been dead for several years. The one you speak of cannot possibly be him."

"It is!" Kimmy exclaimed. "A man as great as that can't possibly stay dead! He's come back in order to free mutantkind! We've been oppressed for too long. Even now we do not have true liberty!

"How does Magneto promise to bring you this liberty, Kimmy?" Twister asked.

She glanced around, as if making sure no one else was around. "By winning the war between mutants and humans—the war that should've been fought years ago. Alex, they can say all they want about wanting to get along with mutants, but they don't mean it! They hate us—they're just looking for the chance to kill us off once and for all!"

"And by 'they,' you mean humans, right?" Mac asked.

"Yes."

"Kimberly," Mac began, "I know living around here may make it seem impossible to believe that all humans don't hate mutants, but trust me, they don't. Lots of humans believe that they can live along side mutants. Whatever this 'Magneto' is telling you, it isn't the truth."

Kimmy stared blankly at Mac for a moment before turning back towards Twister, her eyes flashing with accusation. "She's one of them, isn't she?!" she yelled. "She's a human!"

"Kimberly, calm down," Twister said.

Kimmy turned back to Mac. "You are! I know you are! Don't even try to deny it!"

"I wouldn't," Mac said, keeping her voice calm and steady. "I am human—but I'm not going to try to hurt you."

Kimmy ignored the last part of what Mac Fury said. The girl lunged forward, transforming into a cat in midair. Moments before she reached Mac, Kimmy fell to the ground, changing form back into a young girl as she did. Twister ran to his sister, picking her up, and seeing that she was unconscious. He panicked for a moment, before noticing the steady rise and fall of her chest, indicating that she was still breathing.

"What happened to her?" Twister asked.

"She'll be fine as soon as she wakes up," Rachel said. "I'm sorry Twister. I just couldn't stand there and do nothing while she attacked Mackenzie."

"It's all right," Twister said, standing with his sister still in his arms. "I'm glad you did something."

"Me, too," Mac said. "Thanks."

Rebecca put her hand on Twister's shoulder. "Let us get Kimberly back to the Blackbird. She can rest there, and maybe when she wakes up, we can get some answers."

*** *** ***

"What did you want to talk about?" Marie asked Kris once they were outside the Blackbird.

Kris moved close to her, staring down into her eyes. "How beautiful you are."

Marie blushed. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be a very long conversation."

Kris pushed a strand of Marie's hair behind her ears. "Don't you realize you're gorgeous?"

Marie looked down. "I've never really thought of myself that way." There was a brief silence before she added, "Guys never seemed to notice me."

Kris gently took hold of Marie's chin so he could meet her eyes. "I certainly noticed, Marie," he said huskily.

Marie's legs felt so weak that she wondered if the only think holding her up was Kris's hand on her face. "You...you did?"

"I want you, Marie," he said. "I want you to be my girlfriend." Kris leaned down to kiss her, then suddenly pulled away. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she saw the "scouting group" plus one addition coming towards the Blackbird.

"What happened?" Marie asked Rebecca. "And who is that Twister's carrying?"

"I will explain it all in a moment," Rebecca replied. "Come on the Blackbird with us."

Kris and Marie followed the others onboard the plane.

*** *** ***

"So let me get this straight. Twister's a native of Wills Point, and he has a sister who just happens to be a follower of the guy we were sent here to find?"

Rebecca nodded. "That is pretty much the story, Billy."

"Well isn't that all very convenient," Marie muttered under her breath. Ric elbowed her, and she glared at him.

"When Kimberly wakes up, I believe we should attempt to find out all we can about this so-called 'Magneto,'" Rebecca said.

"I'll talk to her," Twister said. "She trusts me—or at least she used to."

"That would probably be for the best," Rebecca said.

"So does anyone actually have any sort of plan to follow?" Vicky asked. The X-Men stared at her blankly. "Riiight."

"Alex?"

Twister jumped at the soft sound of his sister's voice. "Kimmy's awake," he said. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"Alex?" Kacie asked as soon as Twister left.

"It is his name," Rebecca said. "Although I get the feeling he would rather we continue to call him Twister."

"It must be hard for him, coming here," Billy said. "The few times he talked about his home he never described it as a happy place."

"It is hard on him," Rebecca said. "It reminds him of how much he feels like he does not belong."

"He belongs on the X-Men," Rachel said.

Rebecca looked through to where Twister was kneeling by his sister's bedside. "Sometimes I am not sure how certain of that he is."

*** *** ***

"Um, Nate, has the mansion ever been this quiet?"

Cable paused for a moment and realized he heard absolutely nothing. "No."

Angela closed her eyes and tried to locate someone in the mansion telepathically. She opened them again. "No one is here."

"It's nine A.M. on a Saturday, and they're teenagers," Nate said. "They've got to still be here. Most of them shouldn't even be awake yet."

Angela tried again, and then shook her head. "No one."

It was then that Nate noticed a note stuck to the door. He pulled it off and read it. "Gone to Texas with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to fight 'Magneto.' Be back soon. X-Men."

"What?!" Angela exclaimed. "Let me see that."

Nathan handed her the note so she could read it herself. "We leave them for a month and look what happens!"

"We need to try to find them," Cable said. "At least make sure they haven't gotten themselves into trouble."

"Nate, my love, do you know these kids? Of course they've gotten themselves into trouble! It is what they do best, after all."

Nathan swore under his breath. "Do you think they took the Blackbird?" he asked. "If they did, I could, just try to contact them on it."

"It's worth a shot," Angie said. "Come on, let's see if the hangar's empty."

Nathan and Angela were just about to walk off, when they heard a knock at the door. Cable opened it to the last person he expected to see.

Victor Creed snarled at Cable. "Where the fuck's my daughter?"

*** *** ***

"Alex?"

Twister sat down beside the small cot where his sister was lying. "I'm right here, Kimmy."

"Where am I?"

"The Blackbird. It's...an airplane."

"Airplane? Are we moving?"

"No."

Kimmy sat up, holding her head. "I feel dizzy."

"It'll pass in a minute."

"Alex, what are you doing with a human?" Kimmy asked. "You don't trust her, do you?"

"Agent Fury? Of course I trust her. She's a friend, Kimmy."

"Humans can't be our friends. They only want to harm us. They're afraid of us, and they want us all to die."

"Mackenzie Fury isn't going to hurt me, you, or any other mutant. She doesn't hate us."

"Magneto says all humans hate all mutants."

Twister reached down and stroked his sister's face. "Magneto is wrong. You have to trust me here, Kimberly. War between humans and mutants is not the answer. So much progress has been made already without war, and continued peace is the only way to make that progress go any further."

"I don't know, Alex. What Magneto says about fighting back against humans and their oppression—it seems to make so much sense."

"But it isn't the best way." Twister took a deep breath, then asked, "Have you ever heard of the X-Men?"

Kimmy looked at her brother with wide, shocked eyes. "Magneto says the X-Men are just as much our enemy as humankind. He says they turned their backs on their fellow mutants."

"That's not the truth."

"How can you be so sure about what's truth and what's not?"

"Because I'm an X-Man."

Kimmy gaped for a moment before setting her jaw tightly and narrowing her eyes. "Then you're the enemy."

"How can you say that?" Twister asked in outrage. "You're going to believe some delusional demagogue over your own brother?"

"He came back from the dead to save us, Alex! How can I not put my faith into that?!"

Twister found that incredibly hard to swallow. Who did that guy think he was, the Mutant Messiah? "Kim, I can assure you that Magneto has not risen from the dead. I've seen the man's grave, and trust me, unless he took the time to replant the grass, no one's climbed out of it recently."

"Maybe he was never in there to begin with."

"I don't think so, kiddo."

Kimmy started to cry. "But he has to be Magneto! He has to save us! I can't be a mutant if it means being hated!"

Twister sat beside his sister and pulled her into his arms, trying to comfort her. "It's all right," he said. "It's going to be all right. Being a mutant doesn't necessarily mean being hated. But people like whoever this is claiming to be Magneto don't make things any easier on us. Threatening war on humanity is a good way to convince humans that we are something to be hated and feared."

"I...I need to think, Alex," Kimmy said. "Can I have a couple of minutes alone?"

"Yeah." Twister kissed her on the top of her head before getting up. "Holler if you need me."

"I will."

As soon as Twister was gone, Kimberly broke down and sobbed.

*** *** ***

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cable said. In all honesty, he wasn't even sure who he was talking to. The man looked like Sabretooth, but Cable knew Victor Creed had been killed over a year before.  How could that man possibly be him?

"I have a daughter. Victoria Creed. Sorta tall, blonde, green eyes—y'know, basically me if I was a woman. She was in boarding school down in Olympia, but apparently she left without tellin' her old man. So, I got to lookin' for her, and well, my sources said that she'd gone and enrolled herself at Xavier's Mutant High. When I found that out, I started thinkin' where could my little girl be stayin' if she's goin' to school in Westchester, New York, and then suddenly I remembered the nice little set-up you people got goin' on here. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized Vicky's probably tryin' to hide from me, seein' as she got herself kicked out of the nice school I spent all that money to send her to, and what better place to go than the one place Daddy' ain't gonna want to come look? So the question remains, boyo—where's my kid?"

Cable blinked a few times, trying to take in all the information that had just been thrown at him. "I honestly don't know," he said. "I've been away from the mansion for the past month, and when I got back, the X-Men were gone. If your daughter was here, she most likely left with them."

Normally, Victor would've knocked the guy around a bit, even though his heightened senses told him he wasn't being lied to. This time, however, he was too worried about his daughter to care about much else. "Do you know where the X-Men are?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Look, I'm not here to hurt them. I'm not into terrorizin' superheroes anymore. I just want my daughter back."

Angela stepped in, moving Cable out of the doorway. "Mr. Creed, why don't you come in and have a seat?" She tried to push back all the hatred that seeing his face stirred in her. She was, after all, fully aware of what Sabretooth had done to Psylocke, her mother. "I need to speak to Nathan alone for a moment, and then we can see to helping you find your daughter."

Victor nodded and followed Angela into the house. "Have a seat," she said, gesturing to a chair that appeared large until Victor's frame filled it. "Nate, come with me to the kitchen, please."

"Hey, wings," Creed called out as Angela and Nathan started to walk away.

Angela turned around, still forcing a slight smile. "Yes?"

"You the Braddock woman's kid?"

"Yes. Why?"

Victor gave her a grin that made her stomach turn. "Just wonderin'. Ya look exactly like her, frail."

Angela couldn't suppress her shudder as she turned around and walked with Nathan to the kitchen.

*** *** ***

"This is not possible," Nathan said as soon as he and Angela were in the kitchen. "There is no way that man can be Victor Creed. Sabretooth is dead!"

"Technically, half the people we know are dead, Nathan. Our lives are like a soap opera. Death is never final."

Nate sighed. "I know. And from the little information I picked up from the small mind scan I attempted, he doesn't appear to be lying—about his identity, or his concern for his daughter."

"I picked up the same thing," Angie said. "The question is, what's really going on here? We both know Adanya killed Sabretooth—or so we thought—yet here he is asking about a daughter no one even knew he had."

Cable frowned, thinking for a moment. "It looked like we're going to have to accept the possibility that whoever Addie killed wasn't Sabretooth—although who it really was is a mystery to me. It makes more sense that it wasn't him if you think about it. I mean, for several years no one heard anything out of Creed, save for the two times he kidnapped Addie to get to Wolverine. Then, out of the blue, he reforms the Brotherhood and attacks random people in abandoned warehouses in New York, taking humans hostage, and generally making a nuisance of himself. The pieces don't fit there, Angie. It would've made much more sense for him to just stay in Seattle with Victoria and never come here to build up the New Brotherhood."

Angela looked at Nathan quizzically for a moment. "You're sound as if you knew about his daughter before hand."

Nathan paused. "I did."

"How?"

"You can't repeat this to anyone, Angela. It's one of the darker secrets of the X-Men, and I promised my father I'd take it to my grave."

"I won't tell, Nathan."

"I know because, well, Victoria's mother is Jean Grey."

Angela started at him blankly. "What? Could you repeat that, because I could've sworn I just heard you say Jean Grey and Victor Creed have a child together."

"I did."

"How can that be?"

Nathan took a few deep breaths. "About nineteen or so years ago, right around the time Rachel was born, Jean started to, well, suffer from a mental breakdown. The stress of her telepathy got to her, and, for lack of a better term, she lost it. Her behavior was so erratic, so senseless, that she actually drove Scott away. Somehow during that time, she managed to have a short affair with Creed that resulted in a pregnancy.

"She wanted to get rid of the baby, but Scott wouldn't let her. He insisted that they raise the child as their own. They lived in Alaska for a while—basically cut off from the other X-Men—raising both Rachel and Victor's baby. This went on for about three months, with Jean hating the child the whole time. Scott said that one day he woke up to find both Jean and the baby gone. When Jean got back, she said that she'd taken the child where it belonged, which, looking back now, must've meant she took her to Victor."

Angela was in shock. "I think...I think I remember them being gone for a while, when I was a little girl. No one talked about them, and I thought it strange even at the time. But Jean's okay now, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Scott sent her to Zander Hayes—a world-renowned mutant psychiatrist. Dr. Hayes helped Jean get back in touch with reality, and to deal with her powers in a way that would keep her from loosing her mind again."

Angela pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. "I can't believe this..."

"I know," Nate said, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands. "But Jean wasn't herself then. If she had been, she never would've done any of that."

"I know." Angela sighed. "So apparently, Victoria Creed has been here—or at least her father thinks she was. What now?"

"I'm going in there to talk to Creed. I want you to leave the mansion, though. I don't want you to be in the same house as that madman."

"No," Angela said, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving you with him. Besides, I didn't really sense any violent hostility from him."

"With Creed, that can change at any moment," Cable said. "You of all people should know what he's capable of. Just think about what he did to your mother."

Angela winced. "Believe me, Nathan, I have been. But that doesn't change my mind. We're both going in there."

"Angela..."

"You're not stopping me, Nate."

"You're the most stubborn woman I know."

"And you love me for it."

"Sometimes."

Angela stood up, bringing him up with her. She stood on tiptoe, kissing his cheek. "C'mon, big boy, let's go talk to the homicidal maniac in the living room."

*** *** ***

Kimmy came out a little while later, her eyes puffy from crying. "I'll tell you where he is," she said.

"Magneto?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah."

"You are doing the right thing," Rebecca told her.

Kimmy wasn't sure if she agreed with that or not, but she kept on reminding herself that blood was thicker than water. If she had to betray someone, it should be Magneto and not her brother. "There's...there's something I haven't told you," Kimmy said. "Magneto's holding a rally in Tyler in three days. His plan is to entice the humans there to riot so mutants can move towards more violent action, while claiming self-defense."

"We can't let that happen," Rachel said.

"And we will not." Rebecca crouched down so she was eye level with Kimmy. "Thank you for speaking up. Hopefully, you have saved many lives."

Kimmy nodded, then looked away.

*** *** ***

"So have you decided what you're gonna do with me yet?" Victor asked with a cruel smile as Angela and Nathan came back out from the kitchen.

"We're not sure where your daughter is," Cable said. "Like I told you, Angela and I have been gone for a month now, and somewhere during that time the X-Men—and presumably Victoria—left."

"And they wouldn't be in Texas by any chance, would they?" Sabretooth grinned at Angie and Nathan's surprised looks. He held up his hand, a small piece of paper dangling on the end of his index talon. "You dropped this."

"We're going to try to contact the X-Men," Cable said. "If Victoria is with them, we'll let you know."

Creed moved so quickly that Nathan and Angela barely had time to even register it. He grabbed Angie, digging the tips of his claws into her throat. "You let me be with you every step of the way, or I make what I did to her mama look like a flesh wound."

Nathan contemplated trying to take Victor out right then and there, but he wasn't sure how successful he'd be with Creed's healing factor and reflexes, and he didn't want to take any chances when it came to Angela's life. "Fine. Whatever you want. Just let her go."

Victor threw Angie into Nathan's arms. "Never thought I'd see the day when you of all people turned into such a softy over a frail, Summers."

Nathan glared at Creed over Angela's head. "Come on, let's get this over with so you can find your daughter and get the hell out of here."

Victor grinned, making him look very much like the predator he was. "Sounds like a plan t'me."

*** *** ***

Rebecca led a scouting team comprised of herself, Rachel, Warren, and Vicky to the place Kimmy had indicated as being Magneto's hideout. There, they found an area full of old, rundown trailers, shabbily-built shacks, and an eclectic group of mutants.

"Looks like something off the X-Files," Vicky muttered. Rachel gave her a look, obviously wanting her to be quiet. Vicky just glared right back.

The X-Men looked on for a while, trying to observe all the could about Magneto's people. "They're making weapons," Vicky said after a few moments.

"Where?" Warren asked.

"Over there," Vicky said, discreetly pointing. "Where those guys are welding. They're repairing old guns."

"Do you think they've actually been able to arm themselves successfully?" Rachel asked.

Warren felt a cold gun barrel up against the back of his neck. "I'd have to say so, Ray."

"All of you turn around and put your hands on your heads."

If it hadn't been for the fact that the men were holding guns, Vicky probably would have started laughing. They were a ragtag group of mutants, all wearing old jeans and white T-shirts with the words "Magneto Is Neato" written on them in black permanent marker. "And I thought life with Dad was absurd," Vicky thought. "This brings absurdity to a whole new level."

"They're mutants, I think," one of the armed men said. "Look at the one with the white hair."

"And the blonde girl's got fangs," someone else said. "Lookit the way she's snarlin'."

Vicky raised her eyebrows, offended that that man would have anything to say about her. One glance at his and she was sure she could hear "Dueling Banjos" in the background.

"You are here to hurt our master," one of the men said. "Our Seer has said so. We do not wish to harm our fellow mutants, but for you, we must make an exception. Magneto cannot be allowed to die again."

One of the men closed his eyes. "They are the X-Men. I can see it in my mind."

"As if the huge X's on our uniforms don't give it away," Vicky mumbled under her breath.

"They are enemies of Magneto. Capture them!"

Magneto's soldiers began shooting at the X-Men. Rachel tried to use her telekinesis to grab their weapons, but she found she couldn't. "My powers won't work!" she called out.

"Neither will mine!" Rebecca said.

"Of course they won't!" one of the men said. "My powers take yours away!"

The X-Men tried to fight, but it was next to impossible for them to fight the men while unarmed and stripped of their powers. Suddenly, a bullet whizzed by, lodging itself in Rebecca's shoulder. She cried out and fell to the ground.

Vicky saw Rebecca go down. She surveyed the fighting and knew it was a losing battle. The X-Men were overpowered and outnumbered. Vicky could tell even from there that Rebecca's wound wasn't fatal, but she was losing blood, and without medical attention it could become infected. Then things could get serious.

Vicky calculated the risks and knew what she had to do. Granted, if someone was blocking their powers, her healing factor wasn't working and a bullet wound could kill her. But for how long could her powers be gone? If she went through with the plan of action that was going through her mind she might take a bullet or two, but if she could get away from the "Magneto Is Neato" crew, wouldn't she be all right?

I didn't matter. She had to get Rebecca out of there, and that was that. She didn't care what the other X-Men thought of her, she wasn't about to let someone die when there was a chance she could save them.

Vicky jumped up, and ran towards Rebecca. A bullet hit her in the thigh, causing her to fall forward, but she immediately got back up, telling herself pain was only a temporary state. She worked her way to Rebecca and hefted her off the ground, into her arms. "I'm getting you out of here," Vicky said.

"What about the others?" Rebecca asked.

Vicky looked behind her to see Magneto's men surrounding the remaining three X-Men. She grimaced. "We're going to have to come back for them. You're losing a lot of blood. I need to get you to safety—now."

Rebecca just closed her eyes and nodded. She wanted to stay, wanted to fight, but knew she couldn't. The pain was so bad and there was so much blood...

Vicky slipped into the woods, using everything her father had taught her to stay hidden—to stay alive.

"Hey Bruce," said one of the men holding Rachel, Warren, and Twister at gunpoint. "Ain't there supposed to be two more girls? One with blonde hair and one with white?"

The leader—Bruce—frowned. "Yeah. Where did they go?"

"I think they took off."

Bruce thought hard for a minute. "Let them go. With the one woman bleeding the way she was, they aren't going to get  far."

Twister wasn't sure if Bruce's statement made him feel calmer or even more uneasy. He's seen Rebecca shot, had tried to get to her, but he hadn't been able to. If she was really as hurt as Brice had said... But at least she'd gotten away, and, presumably, Vicky was with her. Twister prayed to a god he'd long-since stopped believing in that Victoria would get Rebecca to safety.

Twister felt a gun barrel pressed against his back. "C'mon," a gruff voice barked. "We're takin' y'all t'see Magneto."

The X-Men went along, knowing that they had to surrender then, but as soon as an opportunity to escape presented itself, they would take it.

*** *** ***

"So how do ya plan to find my kid?" Victor growled at Nathan.

"I'm going to make a call to the Blackbird. It isn't in the hangar, so presumably, the X-Men took it. If anyone's on board, they should answer."

"Presumably? Should? Where my daughter's concerned, I want more than that, Summers."

"It's the best I can give."

Victor snarled, but said nothing. Nate sat down to place the call.

*** *** ***

"Hey, is that the sound the control panel supposed to make?" Kacie Drake asked.

"It means we're getting a call, hon." Billy swallowed. "From the mansion."

"Uh-oh," Marie said. "We're in trouble."

"Maybe if we ignore the beeping, it'll just go away," Kacie said.

The noise only got louder. "Doesn't sound like it's going to," Marie said.

Logan clutched her ears in pain. "Would somebody shut that damn thing up?"

Mac groaned, then got up and slammed on the comlink. "Yeah?"

Cable's voice came over from the other end of the line. "Hello?" He paused for a second. "Who is this?"

"Mackenzie. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Who is this?"

"Nathan Summers. Why are you on the Blackbird? Are the X-Men there?"

Mac looked up, the faces of her companions making it clear that none of them wanted to talk to their pseudo-mentor. "They're...around?"

"Are any of them able to talk?"

Mac saw several of them shaking their heads vigorously. "No."

"Are they all right?" Nathan asked, concern evident in his voice.

"As far as I know."

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

Mac paused. "I can't say. This hasn't been cleared as a safe frequency, and this is official S.H.I.E.L.D. business."

The X-Men gave Mac a look of gratitude.

"I guess they know I'm killing them all as soon as they get back."

"Oh, I'm sure they're well aware of that."

The X-Men looked a little pale.

"One more thing," Cable said. "Is Victoria Creed there—or has she been there?"

Complete silence on the Blackbird, even from Mac. "Can I interpret your lack or response as a yes?" Cable asked.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because her father wants to speak with her."

Logan felt as if something cold had reached into her and grabbed hold of her heart. Vicky's father was Sabretooth—and Addie had killed him. How could he be alive, let alone wanting to talk to his daughter? Cable didn't exactly strike Logan as the kind of person who would hold a séance.

"Her father?" Mac asked. "Isn't her father dead?"

"Apparently not."

"Dead?" Victor Creed's voice came in loud and clear over the speaker. "Who said anything about me being dead?"

Logan stumbled backwards, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. She looked up into Ric's eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. She welcomed the supportive gesture, missing the glare that Tristan was giving them.

Mac was about to reply when the door to the Blackbird flew open, and Vicky rushed in, carrying Rebecca. "Oh my God, what happened?" Kacie exclaimed.

"Rebecca got shot. We were ambushed."

"Get her onto the bunk in there," Mac said. "I can take care of the wound."

Vicky and Mac went off with Rebecca. Cable's voice came back through over the speaker. "What's going on over there?"

Billy answered, figured that trying to avoid a confrontation with Cable was a moot point then. "Vicky just brought Rebecca in here. They were supposed to be on a scouting mission. Rebecca's been shot, and it looks like Warren, Rachel, and Twister didn't make it back."

Victor Creed spoke up again. "Where's Victoria?"

Vicky gently moved Billy aside. "I'm right here."

Kacie pointed to Vicky's leg. "Vicky, you're bleeding!"

"What?" Sabretooth's voice gave away his panic. "Vicky, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I got shot, but I've healed already."

Sabretooth sounded more distraught that any of the X-Men expected. "Vicky, I want you to come back to Seattle."

"I can't."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Dad, but I need to be here. There's some stuff going on that I can't just walk away from."

"Victoria..."

"Please, understand this. You taught me never to back down from anything."

"They're the X-Men, Vicky. They're our enemies."

"No, Dad, they're yours."

"Vicky..."

Vicky cut him off again. "I can't talk about this right now. I'm covered in blood, I have one teammate in need of medical attention, and three more I had to leave behind. I don't have time for this discussion. We'll talk later."

"Victoria..."

Billy leaned over and closed the communication. Vicky gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

"What happened?" Billy asked. "Where are the others?"

"We were ambushed," Vicky explained. "Some of Magneto's people came out and attacked us. They had guns, and one of them was somehow blocking our powers. Rebecca got shot, and I knew I had to get her out of there, so I made a break for it. When we left, the others were surrounded. I wanted to help them, but with Rebecca I knew I couldn't. We...we need to go back for them."

"Do you think Magneto's people could have killed them?" Kacie asked.

"I don't know for certain, but I don't think so. Not yet, anyway," Vicky said. "They were talking like they wanted to take them to Magneto, but after that..."

Mac Fury stepped back into the cockpit. "Rebecca's sedated. I was able to remove the bullet and tend to the wound. Luckily, it didn't do any real damage." She looked at Vicky. "You saved her life."

For a moment, Vicky looked almost embarrassed. "It was the right thing to do."

"But we're still grateful to you for doing it."

Vicky turned in surprise at the sound of that particular voice. "Thank you, Logan."

Logan nodded. "You believe the others are still in danger."

"I'm certain of it."

Logan looked grim. "Then let's start working on a plan to save them."

*** *** ***

"Logan, are you all right?"

"Leave me alone, Ric. If we're going after the others tonight, I need to have some time to center myself. I can't lead the team with my nerves frazzled like this."

"Maybe you should have someone else do it in your place then. I mean, I know you're the one with the most experience leading the team now that Rebecca's down, but..."

"If you'd leave me alone until we need to go, I'd be fine," Logan snapped.

"You can't push everything away like that Logan, pretend you can handle it yourself.

"I can handle it myself!"

"It helps to talk to someone."

Logan glared at Ric as if she weren't at least a good foot shorter than him. "You're one to talk. Have you opened up to anyone about what happened to you when you became Renegade?"

"That's different. No one could possibly understand what I've been going through with that," Ric said.

"Your mother certainly could," Logan said. "Besides, I don't think you're exactly the first person I'd go to if I wanted to talk about my feelings on Victor Creed."

"You need to talk to someone. Let it out. I'm offering to be there for you, Logan."

"Now you are!" Logan shouted. "What about before, when I wanted you there? What about when I was free to love you? Where were you then, Ric? Where were you when my heart was breaking, when I was all alone? When you told me it was over, that was one of the darkest points in my life, Ric. In a lot of ways it was darker than even what happened with Weapon X or Sabretooth. Physical pain goes away in time. What you did...it tore me up inside." Logan brushed a tear away from her cheek. "I loved you more than someone my age should even be able to love anyone. I trusted you, trusted you not to break me the way everyone else had. I...I thought maybe if I could have someone there for me, someone who wouldn't let me down..."

Logan started pacing, hot tears streaming down her cheeks in earnest now. "I always tried to be optimistic, to believe that things would be all right at some point. I told myself that, even when I knew you were slipping away. I convinced myself that you were my rock, that you loved me as much as I loved you. Dammit, Ric, I was so naïve."

"You weren't naïve," Ric said. "I loved you so much it scared me. I...I always felt like I couldn't be all you needed me to be."

"I just wanted someone beside me. Some who could be strong with me," Logan said.

"Do you have that with Tristan?"

Logan let out a pained sob and fell into Ric's arms. He pressed her against his chest, smoothing her hair and promising her that somehow, everything would be all right.

Tristan was careful not to let either one of them know he was there as he slipped back into the Blackbird.

*** *** ***

Wildcat knew from the start that the rescue mission was going to be difficult, and that it would rapidly turn into a fight.  If what Vicky had said was true, these people were going to know the X-Men were there—and possibly find a way to block their powers. Wildcat decided to bring the whole team with her, aside from the still-injured Rebecca and Mac Fury, who agreed to stay behind and look after her.

Wildcat divided the X-Men into two groups, telling one to go after their captured teammates while the others watched their backs. Once the team was whole again, they could concentrate on stopping a war.

Vicky Creed—now dubbed "Slayer"—was heading up the rescue side of the mission. She'd asked Logan if she could, seeing the guilt of their capture resting on her shoulders. She'd been the one to leave them behind—it was her duty to get them back. Logan tried to assure Vicky that she'd done what she had to do, but agreed to let her take the mission.

Logan knew all too well the guilt brought about by leaving a teammate behind.

The X-Men were about to leave when Logan heard someone call her name. She turned around.

"Let me come, please? I know I'm not an X-Man, but I could help…"

Logan looked at Kimmy, the girl's eyes pleading. "It isn't safe. You need to stay on the Blackbird."

"But Alex is my brother, and he's in trouble! Besides, I know these people. I was one of them, remember? I can help!"

"I don't know…I don't know if Twister would want you coming with us like this."

"But Logan, I have to! In a lot of ways, this is all my fault! I followed Magneto. I have to make up for that!"

"This isn't your fault, Kimmy. We'd be involved in this with or without you."

"I have to come, Logan. I need to help rescue my brother."

Logan frowned, thinking about how she'd feel in Kimberly's situation. "This is going to be dangerous."

"I know."

"Stick by one of us at all times, all right?"

The girl's face brightened. "I won't let you down. I promise."

Wildcat nodded, then turned back to the rest of the team. "Let's go, X-Men. We have work to do."

*** *** ***

"Could you just be quiet, Warren?" Rachel snapped. "We're stuck in some shack, tied to chairs, and the guard's cutting off our powers. Your whining is not helping matters, rich boy."

"Leave my money out of this! And I'm now whining."

"Hey, think y'all could stop fighting for five seconds?" Twister asked. "I think I hear something."

The three captured X-Men grew completely still. After a moment, Vicky Creed walked in, followed closely by Kacie, Billy, and Kimmy. Vicky extended her talons to cut Warren and Twister loose. Finding her powers restored and figuring the guard must be either gone or unconscious, Rachel telekinetically freed herself.

"Miss us?" Vicky asked.

"Honestly," Rachel said, rubbing her wrists, "yes."

Kimmy ran to Twister and threw her arms around him. Twister hugged her back for a moment before moving away a little, his hand still firmly on Kimmy's shoulder. He looked Vicky in the eyes. "Where's 'Becca?"

"She's on the Blackbird," Vicky replied. "She was shot, but she's going to be okay. Mackenzie knew what to do."

"Vicky saved her life, getting her back to the 'Bird," Kacie said. "If she hadn't gotten her there as quickly as she did, Rebecca would've lost too much blood, and Mac wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Not enough blood on the plane for a decent transfusion on the plane."

Twister looked back over at Vicky, meeting her gaze again. "Thank you, Victoria. No matter what happens, I'll remember this."

Vicky just nodded.

"I hate to kill the moment, but we need to get out of here," Billy said. "The others are outside, and from the sound of it, the fight's getting pretty bad. If you guys are all in one piece, we need to go help them."

"We're ready," Warren said. Twister and Rachel nodded their agreement.

Rachel walked out and almost tripped over the guard lying in front of the door. "He's not…dead…is he?" she asked.

"Nah," Vicky said. "Although he's gonna wish he was when he wakes up with that headache."

Rachel figured that was good enough and stepped over the guard.

*** *** ***

Billy had been right in his assessment of the sound of the battle. Although the X-Men were fighting their best and were lucky enough not to have their powers negated, things were looking pretty grim.

Slayer made her way though the battle over to Wildcat. "The team's whole again, boss," she said, kicking a small man who tried to lunge at her.

"Good," Logan said, ducking to avoid some sort of plasma blast. "We can use all the help we can get right now."

Slayer and Wildcat fought side by side, as if they'd been a team their whole lives. They didn't have to say a word, but seemed to each know what the other one was thinking, know how to move instinctively as two halves of a whole. As enemies, it would've been quite a bloody battle. As teammates, it was like a well-rehearsed dance.

The Dark Angel watched Wildcat from the other side of the battlefield. He'd never really seen her that way before, so entirely in her element. Even before, when they'd fought the Dark One, it had been as if something was missing. But here, she was completely in control, completely self-assured. She knew who she was and why she was. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. And it tore him up inside.

Charger found herself surrounded by a cluster of Magneto's men. She pulled out a playing card, ready to charge it, when suddenly she heard a high-pitched wail inside of her mind. She clutched her head in pain and fell to the ground. One of Magneto's soldiers pulled a bone spike from his arm and prepared to stab Charger with it. Before he could, a metal pole flew at him, knocking both him and the person beside him to the ground. Renegade ran up and grabbed the next man who came after Charger, punching him hard. "Don't fuck with my sister," he said, his voice a menacing growl. The one man left standing started to go after Renegade, but the look in Ric's red eyes made him think better of it.

Renegade helped Charger to her feet. "You okay, kid?"

"I think," Charger said, rubbing her forehead. "I just…" She stopped and pointed up to the sky. "Ric, what's that?"

Renegade stared up to where his sister indicated. What appeared to be a man in a bubble made of lightning floated down to the ground. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's the crack who thinks he's Magneto."

"You're one to call people who think they're the Master of Magnetism. 'cracks,'" Charger muttered. Renegade gave her a dirty look.

"Fine thing to say to someone who just saved your life."

"Cease and desist this petty warfare, mortals!" Magneto bellowed as he floated down to the ground. "I have grown weary of this battle. Are we not all mutants? Should we not join together to rid the world of the mere Homo sapiens that make this planet perilous for our kind?"

"But these are the X-Men, master!" someone shouted. "They think we're no better than the flatscans."

"Silence!" Magneto bellowed. "No one is to argue with me!"

Suddenly, Charger realized why "Magneto" looked so familiar. "Ric," she whispered to her brother. "Look closely at the guy in the bubble."

Renegade turned pale. "Mon Dieu! It's Zach!"

Charger nodded. Zachary Tyson had one been one of their classmates, but had fallen prey to Sabretooth's New Brotherhood after Creed forced Ric to permanently absorb Zach in order to create "Magneto Reborn."

Renegade started to walk off. "Where are you going?" Charger demanded.

Renegade turned around and looked down at his sister. "I think it's safe to say I know Zach better than anyone else here. I can stop him."

"Ric…"

"I'll be fine, 'Rie."

Renegade pushed his was though to Zach as Charger ran over to where the other X-Men had clustered.

"Hey, Magneto!" Renegade yelled as he got closer to Zach. "Remember me?"

Zach's eyes grew wide as he saw Renegade approaching. "Get away, soul-stealer!" He screamed. "Get the hell away from me!"

A few of Magneto's more loyal soldiers ran forward to protect their leader, but Renegade hit them with a magnetic pulse strong enough to send them flying backwards. No one else moved.

"What the hell is he doing?" Wildcat hissed.

"He's trying to talk to him," Charger said in defense of her brother. "In case you people haven't noticed, that's Zach Tyson."

"Zach!" Ice Queen said in a voice that managed to be a cross between a screech and a whisper. "Oh my God!"

"I thought he was dead…" Phoenix added.

"Who's Zach Tyson?" Slayer asked.

"The guy your dad made Ric absorb," Wildcat said. Slayer started to argue the point, but settled on rolling her eyes instead.

"You know you're not Magneto." Renegade continued, moving closer to Zach. "You're just some kid on a power trip."

"I said to stay away!" Zach took a metal spike from off of his belt and threw it. Renegade stopped it in midair, making it crumple and fall to the ground.

"You can't hurt me, Zachary. I can do anything you can—and I can do it better."

"I'm Magneto!" Zach yelled. "I'm Magneto! I'm the greatest mutant who ever lived! I'm all-powerful! No one can stop me!"

"You're just a scared little boy who no one ever loved," Renegade said, taking another few steps closer. "You were just another possession of your parents. Something they could show off. But then it turned out you weren't the perfect son, and they hated you. They hated you for being a mutant. You were supposed to impress, but you were nothing but a freak."

"No!" Zach screamed, throwing his hands over his helmet, trying to cover his ears. "You're lying! This is all a lie!"

"They tried to send you away. But no one wanted to take a 'problem child.' So you had to stay home and be reminded everyday of why your parents didn't love you. The called you the 'gene joke.' The 'mutie.' No one knew what went on behind closed doors, but you did. You were mommy and daddy's filthy little mutie."

"No!" Zach fell to the ground, sobbing. "I'm a good boy!" he screamed. "I'm good!"

Renegade turned to face "Magneto's" followers. "This is who you put your faith in? A sniveling child who can't even stand up for himself? You say you want empowerment—supremacy for mutants." He shook his head in disgust. "Maybe next time you go looking for power, you should take a closer look at who it is offering it." Renegade stepped away, a defeated Zachary Tyson still crying in a heap on the ground.

Renegade went straight to Wildcat. "You're the leader; you take it from here, babe."

He walked away, finding a place where he could be alone.

*** *** ***

The man who had been Magneto's second in command agreed to meet with Wildcat. He had green skin, yellow hair, and his name was Mike. They sat at a card table in an old shack, each one across from the other.

Wildcat sat up straight and looked Mike in the eye, wanting to appear tall, in control. "My team can't allow you to go through with your planned attack on Tyler."

Mike looked down, unable to face Wildcat's gaze. "How could we? Magneto was our savior—our strength. Now thanks to you and your team, we've realized our hope was…misplaced. We're nothing but a group of gullible outcasts."

Logan had sympathy for him and the others, but she couldn't let any weakness show. Not now. "I need to make sure your people won't be able to hurt anyone once we're gone. You need to turn over your weapons."

Mike's jaw fell. "You can't be serious! How will we be able to protect ourselves?"

"You and I both know you didn't get those weapons for protection. Besides, you did a pretty good job of fighting us with just your powers."

Mike's mouth closed in a grim line. "Magneto told us that the X-Men were so dedicated to 'protecting' humans—the very people who want to kill us and all our kind—that they forgot they were even mutants. He said they thought they were better than us. I didn't really believe him about that, didn't think any mutant could be that way. Well, now I've met the X-Men, and I was wrong. You're exactly what he said you were."

"We haven't forgotten we're mutants. We just don't like to see blood spilled—whether it possesses an X-factor or not. If a group of humans was threatening to kill all the mutants in a city, we'd try to stop that, too."

"Then why haven't you done it? A few years ago when a new version of the Brotherhood of Mutants formed, and the hate groups were back in full swing, where were you? Where were you when my best friend was tied to the back of a car and drug until he died? Where were you when my girlfriend was hanged because she was carrying the baby of a mutant—my baby? I'll tell you where you were. You were fighting your fellow mutants."

"You don't understand," Logan said defensively. "The members of the Brotherhood weren't trying to help all mutantkind—only themselves. Starting a war, attacking humans, it doesn't help anything. We've made so much headway already. Violence will only make them fear us—will only set us back."

"Easy for you to say," Mike snapped, glaring. "You look normal; you can pass. People can't walk down the street and know you're different. The don't take one look at you and think 'mutie scum.' It's like that for all you X-Men.  You're all freaking gorgeous. Like models. You can't even begin to imagine what it's like to be us. I bet you've never even had anyone give you as much as a scratch because of the glitch in your DNA."

Logan unsheathed her claws. "Looks can be deceiving, bub. You think they coated these and every other bone in my body with metal 'cause they thought I was some normal, human kid?"

Mike looked taken aback. "If…if you know how humans can hurt us," he said after a moment, "then why are you so ready to protect them? They hate us—why should we care about them?"

"Because hate is hate, no matter where it comes from. I do my best to help people, even when maybe they wouldn't do the same for me. You can't stop discrimination with more bigotry."

"You think being nice to people who want to kill you is going to make them suddenly become our best friends? Out here in the real world, it doesn't work that way. You show them weakness, and they rip your throat out."

Logan stood up, putting her hands firmly on the table. "Look, just hand over the weapons or I'll have S.H.I.E.LD. come and get 'em—their way."

"This coming from a woman who only moments ago was spouting the rhetoric or nonviolence."

Wildcat turned and stormed out.

*** *** ***

"So I guess you're leavin', huh?"

Twister looked over at his little sister, guilt already beginning to gnaw at him. "You could come with me, Kim."

"No, Alex, I can't. My place is here." She gestured to the dilapidated mess "Magneto" had made his mutant haven. "A lot of changes are going to be made around here, and maybe if I stick around, I can do some good." She stopped, looking down and absent-mindedly kicking a pebble in front of her feet. "Y'know, what they're really gonna need around here is a leader. With Mag, uh, Zach gone, a lot of people aren't gonna know what to do. You could give them direction, Alex."

"Kimmy…my place is with the X-Men."

"Your home is here!"

"Kim, I…"

Kimmy sighed. "I know, Alex. I know."

*** *** ***

Tristan found Logan punching and kicking the trunk of an old tree. "What did the poor plant life ever do to you?" he asked.

Logan yelped, jumping backwards. "Tristan! You scared the hell outta me!"

Tristan frowned. "Since when could anyone sneak up on you?"

"Um, well, I was…"

"Someplace else?" Tristan asked with his half-smug grin he only wore for Logan.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"What's on your mind?" Tristan asked. He looked down at her, sternly.

"I just had a talk with one of 'Magneto's' followers. He said I wasn't being true to my fellow mutants—that I was trying to be too human. Do you think that's true?"

"I don't know," Tristan replied. "I don't know anything about mutant/human relations. The petty squabbles of the people of one planet don't concern me. My people have known suffering on a galactic scale."

Logan stopped her mouth before it could fall open. "How can you say that? Sure, it may not be as big of a problem as the ones you face back home, but that doesn't make it any less important."

"Yes, Adanya, it does." His voice was patronizing, as if he were talking to his child, not his lover.

Logan didn't know if she wanted to cry or lash out at him. She chose the latter. "You're here with us now, aren't you? Fighting with the X-Men? Our sole purpose is to help humans and mutants coexist. How can you be with us and say you don't care?"

"I'm not here for that. I'm here for you. Honestly, I don't care at all about the politics of Earth. If you want a man who can share you ideas on working to create a mutant/human Utopia, then maybe you should invite Renegade back into your bed."

"Is that what this is all about?" Logan asked. "Ric?"

Tristan bristled. "I saw you with him—outside the Blackbird. You were in his arms."

"That?! That was nothing, Tristan, really."

"It did not appear to be 'nothing.'"

"It was just one old friend comforting another. Nothing more."

Tristan backed Logan against the tree she'd been using as a punching bag earlier. "Are you certain about that?"

Logan trembled. "Tristan…"

"You're mine, Logan. Mine." He silenced anything she would've said with a kiss, then walked away, leaving her breathless.

*** *** ***

Tristan sought out Ric as soon as he returned. "Renegade," he called to him. "We need to talk."

Ric raised an eyebrow. "We do? About what?"

"I just want to make one thing clear right here, right now," Tristan said, his voice dark and menacing. "Logan's mine. My fingerprints are all over her body. You'll never have her again."

Ric's anger was obvious. "You don't have her, Tristan. You only think you do. For whatever reason, Logan's playing along with your little game of possession right now, but she won't forever. She'll get sick of letting you think you own her, and when she does, you're going to learn a thing or two about Adanya Logan that you never saw coming. You may think you know how passionate that woman is, but you don't. She fights for what she wants, and freedom is what she values most in the world. She won't give it to you, or anyone else."

Tristan just smirked. "You don't know what you're talking about. She loves me, adores me—would do anything for me."

"You really think that?" Ric shook his head. "You're an idiot."

Tristan struck out at Ric with a punch, but Ric ducked it easily. He started to throw one of his own, but Illyana ran out from the Blackbird. "Ric!" she yelled, coming to stand between them. She looked at Ric with pleading brown eyes. "Please. Don't fight." She took his hand. "Let's go back on the plane, okay?"

Ric looked from Illyana to Tristan, and then back to Illyana. "Yeah. Let's go."

As he walked away, Ric threw a look at Tristan over his shoulder that let the other man know that their fight was far from over.

*** *** ***

Rebecca knew Twister, sometimes better than she knew herself. He was her other half. They may not have had the psi-link Billy and Kacie and formed, but she knew when something was troubling him.

Like something was right then.

He told her it was her injury. That he was worried about her. She didn't doubt that he was concerned, but she knew him well enough to know it wasn't the whole truth. She'd asked him several times to tell her what was on his mind, but he hadn't let her in.

She kept asking. She also knew him well enough to know if she didn't give in, he'd give up.

The fifth time she asked, her strategy worked. Twister sighed. "It's Kimmy, all right?"

"What about her? Are you upset about going back to New York and leaving her?"

"That's part of it. And well, I talked to her earlier, and she told me I should stay here, trying to help the people that Zach's left behind now that he's, well, less than sane. She thinks I could be a leader."

"And why are you not going to?"

Twister looked surprised that she'd say that. "Because my place is with the X-Men—with you."

Rebecca put her hand on his. "If I am why you are not staying, then do not let me be. I do not wish to hold you back."

"I love you so much, I can't live without you, 'Becca. You're my light."

"And I could not live without you. Which is why if you decide to stay, you will not be staying alone."

"Rebecca, you can't do that. You're the leader of the X-Men."

"Some things are more important than giving orders to a team. If I am needed elsewhere, the X-Men will understand. And someone else could fill in for me as leader. I heard Logan did a fine job against Zach Tyson—as she did against the Dark One."

"I just don't know. Kimmy said this place is my home, but it really isn't. In so many ways, it never was. I don't know where I belong, except in your arms. And how could I help these people? I'm nothing myself."

"That is not true. You are an amazing man—one of the best I know. There is so much to you that you do not see—but I do. Your sister is right; you could help these people. And you would not need to worry. I would be here with you, beside you every step of the way."

"I…I just need to think about it."

"I understand. But know what ever decision you make, I support you."

*** *** ***

Logan walked back to the Blackbird as the sun was setting. She didn't know if she wanted to see Tristan or not. When he was gone, his possessiveness bothered her, even scared her a little, but when she was in his arms… She couldn't begin to describe what that man did to her. She guessed it was why she knew she couldn't walk away from him then, although she knew logically that she probably should.

Vicky Creed was leaning up against the Blackbird, smoking a cigarette, when Logan got back. "Hey there, runt."

"Don't call me that."

"Touchy like the old man?"

Logan sighed. "Come on, Vicky. We've been getting along all right for a day or so. Don't be a bitch."

Vicky flicked her cigarette. "Having a bad day are we? Have anything to do with Tristan?"

Logan's stance grew defensive. "Why do you ask that?"

"Because he came back earlier, and it looked like he and Ric were about to get in a fight. Illyana ran out here and pulled Ric away before it got bad, though."

Logan didn't know why she felt a little flare of jealousy at Vicky's mention of Illyana's name. "Typical for them. They hate each other."

"Does it give you a thrill, knowing two men want you enough to fight over you?"

"No," Logan snapped. "It makes me think that I'm dealing with a couple of children."

"Sure it does, runt."

"Please, just leave me alone. I'm tired. I'm going through hell right now. I don't need to be antagonized."

Vicky frowned and Logan's worn-out tone. "Sure. Wanna talk about it?"

"Why? So you can find something else to pick at me about?"

"No. So you can have someone to listen to you. Something tells me you don't get that very often."

"I don't need that."

"Runt, we all need that."

The 'runt' didn't offend Logan this time. Maybe it was because Vicky's smile was genuine. "No. But thanks. I'll be good. Once we get back to New York, things'll even out again."

"You sure about that?"

"No. But I like being in denial." Logan laughed. Vicky thought she looked like she'd rather be crying, but was glad she didn't. She was willing to be nice, but she didn't want to sit out there and comfort a sobbing Logan.

"Don't float so far down that river you fall off the waterfall."

"I won't." Logan paused for a moment, then asked, "Vicky, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Go ahead. I may answer."

"Was that your father leading the Brotherhood back then?"

"No. I was going to school in Olympia, but I remember around when all that was happening. I didn't hear much about it—there wasn't much on the news—but I heard about there being some sort of violent mutant-rights group, and lots of hate groups in its wake. I remember because Dad called me, to make sure I was okay up at school. He was afraid someone might be giving me a hard time for being a mutant. He called me from Seattle, Logan. Not New York. I have caller ID on my cell phone. And he didn't seem weird either, like he was trying to hide something. Besides, I know my father. He's done a lot of bad things, sure, but that? It doesn't fit with him. He isn't into all that global domination shit. He does what pays. That wouldn't have."

"But if it wasn't your father, who was it? He looked like him, talked like him, even knew things that Creed would know. Like who my father was, just from looking at me. Who else could that be?"

Vicky shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Dad has an evil twin."

Logan snorted. "Great. Sabretooth's evil twin. Just what the world needs."

"Look, one thing I know for sure is, you said you killed who ever that was, and my father's not dead. I saw him last Christmas, and we all heard him over the intercom back on the Blackbird. Whoever that guy who formed the Brotherhood was, it was someone else, Logan. Not Sabretooth."

"I'm starting to believe you're right."

"I am." Vicky took her pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and offered it to Logan. "Smoke?"

"No. I don't…"

"Bullshit. I've smelled it on you plenty of times, runt. Come on. Get your nicotine fix with me. We can bond. We have healing factors. Not like it's going to hurt us."

Logan laughed and took a cigarette.

*** *** ***

It took the X-Men three days to get everything sorted out in Texas. Zachary Tyson's former followers turned over their weapons, and Mackenzie Fury took them "someplace safe" in a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport.  She took Zach Tyson, too. He didn't seem to be recovering from the psychological blow Ric had dealt him.

Finally, it was time for the X-Men to go home.

And for them to say good-bye.

"Are you sure you won't come back with us?" Rachel Summers asked as she hugged Rebecca. Tears were forming in her eyes.

Rebecca hugged her back, her own eyes damp. "I cannot. Twister's place is here for now, and my place is with him."

"I'm going to miss you," Rachel said as she pulled away.

"And I will miss you." Rebecca smiled a little. "But I will be back. You cannot get rid of me forever."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Come on, Ray, the others are waiting."

Rachel turned at the feel of Warren's hand on her shoulder. "All right." She looked back at Rebecca. "Keep in touch."

"I will."

Warren and Rachel walked back to the Blackbird, his arm around her shoulder in comfort.

*** *** ***

Victor Creed was waiting in the hangar bay when the Blackbird landed. He stood, snarling at the X-Men as they filed off. His sneer faded however, when he saw Vicky finally come out—talking to Addie. "My daughter and the Logan brat?" Creed muttered.

Vicky's eyes grew wide when she saw her father. Addie just turned around and walked back onto the plane. Vicky walked as calmly as she could over to Creed. "Daddy, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Creed didn't say anything. He just grabbed her and hugged her tightly. After a moment, he moved away, holding Vicky by her collar. "You scared the hell outta me, girl! Don't do that to me! They called me from your boarding school, and told me you'd been expelled, and then I couldn't find you! I called all your friends, none of them had heard anything. I was frantic worryin' about you, and you were off on some joyride with the goddam X-Men! You had Larry all worried, too."

Creed dropped Vicky and she rubbed her throat. "Sorry, Dad. I…I didn't want to have to face you angry. I knew how much it meant to you that I go to that school and get the best education I could, but I just couldn't stay there."

Victor sighed. "Why didn't you say anything? When you just took off, I thought…"

"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't want you upset with me."

Creed pushed down his anger, not wanting to lose it on his own daughter. "It'll be all right now," he said. "You don't have to go back there if you don't want to. We'll just go back to Seattle and…"

"No."

"What? No? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm not going back to Seattle. I'm part of the X-Men now."

"The X-Men? Victoria, I told you about the X-Men. They gave me a lobotomy and locked me in the basement!"

"This aren't even the same X-Men, Dad. And I'm…part of the team."

"Victoria, no. You're coming home and that's final."

"I told you I'm not and that's final. I like it here. Daddy, I love you, but I'm not going back home."

"They'll tell you lies about me, Vicky. They'll make you think I'm something I'm not."

"I know what you are. I'm not naïve. But I love you anyway, and nothing they tell me will change my mind."

"I'm not leaving unless you go with me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Victoria…"

"I'm not having this conversation anymore." Vicky walked out of the hangar bay.

Victor started to go after her when he stopped, slowly turning around. He frowned. "You aren't gonna run like a scared little mouse, frail?"

Logan shook her head. "I heard your conversation with Vicky. And I also know exactly what you're afraid someone's going to tell her. She's knows about your past, about everything you did before she was born. But she doesn't know what you did, oh, about three or four years ago."

Victor glared. "Don't you dare tell her, frail. That girl doesn't need to know that about her father. She thinks…she thinks I don't do anything like that anymore."

"I won't tell her, Victor. If you get out of here and don't come back."

"You can't expect me to just walk out of here and leave my daughter."

"She's not going with you. And you stay here, I don't know what'll pop out of my mouth." Victor growled, raising his hand to swipe at Logan. She ducked. "Wanna have to explain to Vicky why I'm in pieces?"

Victor sighed, stepping back. "Don't disillusion her."

"What? By letting her know what her father does to little thirteen year old girls?"

"Stop it!" Victor bellowed. "I don't want to think about that!"

"You don't want to think about it? What about me? What you did to me? You…"

"Dad? Logan? What's going on in here?"

Creed turned around, startled. "Vicky! How long have you been there?"

"Just a minute. When I noticed you and Addie were both still in the hangar bay, I came to make sure nothing was going on back here…"

Victor looked back at Addie, caught the look in her eyes. "I was just telling the little Logan that I'm leaving. Walk me out, Vicky."

Vicky looked skeptical, but she walked back out with her father. She decided it was better not to ask any questions. She might not want to know the answers.

*** *** ***

Logan blocked out everything around her, concentrating on taking her aggressions out on the punching bag. She hit it hard, wishing she could let herself go and release her anger on the person who had caused much of it.

Victor had already gone back to Washington, but seeing him had brought so much back to the surface. When she'd thought he was dead, she'd been able to handle it better, put that part of her life behind her. But now, he was alive—and seeing him had brought everything rushing to the surface.

As if she needed that now, with the way things were going in her life.

Logan's claws shot out, and she shredded the chain that held up the punching bag, making it fall to the ground.

"You know, someone has to pay to keep replacing those things."

Logan spun around, her claws still extended. She sighed and pulled them in when she saw who it was. "Ric. Don't sneak up on me like that."

"There used to be a time when you could tell I was coming from a mile away."

"There were a lot of things that used to be different between us, Ric."

"They could be that way again."

"No, they couldn't."

Ric reached out, holding her by her arms. "Addie, I love you. I made a mistake leaving you. I thought I was doing what would be better for both of us, but I wasn't. I've been working on my shield. Look, my hands are touching your bare skin and nothing's happening. I can be with you and not hurt you now. No more magnetic pulses. We can be together."

Logan moved out of his arms. "There's only one problem. I'm with Tristan."

"Forget about him. He doesn't love you. I do."

"I can't be with you."

"Why not?"

"Because things are too complicated for me right now."

"Complicated? How?"

"What do you mean how? Dammit, Ric, we had all that crap happen in Texas, Victor Creed is alive, and well, my love life is complicated enough without throwing you into the mix."

"Things would be better for both of us if we were together. We belong together, Logan."

"We don't. You were right to end it."

"No, I wasn't. I thought I could live without you. I can't. Please, give me another chance."

"Why? So I can wait for you to leave me as soon as things get difficult again? I crumbled when you left me Ric. I can't go through that again. With Rebecca gone, I'm the leader of the X-Men. I can't allow myself a weakness."

"That's why I am to you? A weakness?"

"You're something that will hurt me."

"Addie, I'm sorry, all right? I was scared, and I made a mistake. I know now what life without you is like, and I can't take it. I won't leave again. I love you, you love me. Everything will work out."

"I love Tristan."

"Don't, Logan. I know you well enough to spot a lie."

"Ric, we are meant to be. We'll only end up hurting each other again."

"It's a risk I want to take."

"I…I can't."

Ric grabbed Addie again, this time pulling her all the way against him and kissing her hard. Logan only froze for a minute before melting against him sighing into his mouth. She tangled her fingers in Ric's hair and he dipped her down, pressing himself harder against her.

Slowly, reluctantly, Ric let her go. Addie looked into his eyes, her pulse and breath speeding up. She wanted him, wanted him more than she'd ever wanted Tristan. But she remembered how before she'd let herself become so wrapped up in her feelings for him that she'd forgotten where she ended and he began. She'd even run away from the X-Men when he'd left her. She couldn't do that again. She had to be more responsible this time. Loving Ric would be giving too much of herself, and she couldn't afford to do that.

"I can't," she said, backing away from Ric. "I can't."

"You can't what?"

"Love you." Addie ran away and Ric watched her go.

*** *** ***

Ric knew that a bottle of whiskey wasn't going to make him get over Logan's rejection, but it sure was making him care a little less about it. He'd seen her go off with Tristan after dinner, and it was more than he could take.

"Ric?" The voice was soft, accented with Russian. Ric took another drink.

"Yeah, Yana?"

"I came to find you," she said, sitting beside him. "I saw you go off by yourself, and I was worried about you. Are you all right?"

"The woman I love rejected me. How do you think I feel?"

Illyana looked hurt by Ric's sharp tone, but quickly tried to hide it. "Logan rejected you? I am sorry, Ric. I know she must mean a lot to you."

"I need her by my side."

"I know." Illyana slipped her arm though Ric's then leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I could make you forget, if just for a little while."

"What…what do you mean?" Ric asked, although the look in her eyes said it all.

"Take me to your bed, Ric. I may not be Logan, but I can please you."

"I shouldn't, Yana," Ric said, moving away.

"Tristan and Logan have been in their bedroom for hours. Why should you pine for her when she has scorned you and found comfort in another man's arms? You let her walk all over you, keep you on a string even though she will never take you back. You are more of a man than that, Ric. Much more." She emphasized her words by reaching down and cupping him with her hand.

Ric swallowed hard. The logical, rational part of him was saying to just tell Illyana good night and get the hell out of there, but his body and the alcohol were telling him something else entirely. He thought about Tristan and Logan and closed his eyes, as if he could block out the thought. He loved her, but she'd made it clear that she couldn't—wouldn't—love him.

He took Illyana's hand and led her to his bedroom.

*** *** ***

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

Tristan finished buttoning his shirt. "The Dark One has had more than enough time to regroup. I need to be back with my people."

"Just like that you're leaving me?" Logan wrapped a sheet tighter around herself. She suddenly felt so cold and alone.

Tristan sighed. "Logan, I won't be gone forever. Just…a while."

"How long will that be? And why do you have to leave tonight, without as much as a word beforehand?"

"Don't question me, woman."

Logan's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I said not to question me. It isn't your place."

Logan's eyes were like blue fire. "Then what is my place?" she asked, fighting to keep her tone calm, steady.

"I have to leave. I'll be back. Wait for me."

"Like hell I will. I'm not sitting around waiting for you to come back to port, sailor. You leave now, and I won't be here when you get back."

Tristan spun around, grabbing her wrists. "You'll be here, Logan. And you'll be waiting for me. I mean that. I don't want to find you with another man—especially not Renegade."

Logan jerked away from him. "I'll be with whoever I want to be with. I'm not your property."

"You are my lover, and as such, you'll do as I say in matters such as this."

Logan glared. "Did you treat Maritheza this way?"

Tristan's jaw tightened. "Don't you speak her name," he snapped.

"What, am I not good enough?" Logan got out of the bed, hurriedly redressing. "Am I not as pure and wonderful as the great Maritheza?"

"She is dead, Logan. Have respect for her."

"Don't even do that right now, Tristan. Don't tell me you're leaving, but I have to wait around like some faithful puppy dog, and then tell me to be reverent of your dead wife. I'm sick of you treating me like this."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm just a diversion. That you don't even love me."

"I do love you."

"You sure don't act like it."

"I tell you all the time!"

"If you loved me, you wouldn't be leaving me now!"

"Logan, I have to! My people, they…"

"You don't even want me to come with you!"

"You wouldn't come! You're too dedicated to the X-Men."

"I get the feeling you wouldn't have asked regardless."

"I'm going somewhere you can't be."

"Of course not. It would mean you'd have to let me be a real part of your life."

"Logan, you are a part of most of my life. There are just some things…"

Logan turned around. "Just go."

"Logan…"

Logan turned around. She grabbed a glass from the nightstand and threw it, smashing it against the wall right by Tristan's head. "If you're gonna go, then just go!" she screamed.

"I don't want it to end like this."

"Too fucking bad."

"I want to know you'll still be here when I return."

"Don't bother returning, Tristan. You said back in Texas that you aren't here for the X-Men, and if you leave now, there's no point in returning for me."

"I don't understand why you're being so unreasonable! I'm not leaving to hurt you. I have people who depend on me." He walked over slowly, taking Logan's hand. "I love you so much, Logan, but I can't let my wants come before the well-being of my people. I'd much rather stay here with you, but I've been gone long enough. I didn't ask you to come because I didn't want to pull you away from the X-Men. You need to be there for them the same way I need to be there for my people. We both have priorities in other places. I'll come back to you as soon as I can, I promise. Don't tell me I'm going to lose you."

Logan's lip trembled. "I don't want you to go."

Tristan pulled her to him. "Tell me you'll be waiting when I get back. Please. Tell me you won't go to Renegade."

All Logan could manage was a nod.

Tristan kissed her softly, and Logan could taste the good-bye. She forced a smile. "Don't make me wait too long."

"We'll be together again soon."

Logan sat back down on the bed until she saw a flash of light on the lawn and knew Tristan was gone. She buried her face in her hands and cried.

*** *** ***

Vicky was on her way back to her room when she heard soft sobs coming from Logan's room. The door was opened part-way, and she peeked in. "Everything okay in here?"

Logan looked up sharply. "Vicky."

"Yeah. Is everything all right?" Vicky glanced around the room. "Where's Tristan?"

Logan sniffed. "He's gone."

Vicky raised an eyebrow. "Gone? What, did the Mother Ship call?"

Logan gave her a dirty look. "No. He just had to go back."

"For good?"

"He said he'll come back to me later."

"Then why are you crying? Don't believe him?"

"Of course I believe him!" Logan snapped. "Look, could you just leave me alone. The last thing I want to deal with right now is a Creed."

Vicky's mouth fell open a little. "Well, fine. I was going to try to be nice, but since you apparently can't get over the fact our fathers don't get along, why bother."

"Wolverine has nothing to do with why I don't like your father. Victor Creed has done enough to me personally to make me hate him."

"Oh? Like what? We've already established that wasn't him that formed that 'New Brotherhood,' or whatever."

Logan almost told him the truth then, but she couldn't. As much as she hated Sabretooth, she could tell how much he meant to Vicky. She didn't deserve knowing that about her father. "Nothing. It's not important. Look, I'm sorry. I'm just in a bad mood, and I was taking it out on you. I'm sorry. I don't blame you for what your father's done. It's just…hard for me."

Vicky managed a nod. "Fair enough."

"I need to be alone for a little while."

"I understand."

Vicky shut Logan's door behind her, making her way down the hall to her own room. She hadn't planned to stay with the X-Men when she'd made her impromptu trip to New York, but it seemed like she was there for the long haul.

Even with all their problems, Victoria Creed figured the X-Men wasn't a bad team to be a part of.

*** *** ***

Well, I know it wasn't the best ending in the world, but it's an ending. ;) I have an outline written for book four, so let me know if you're interested in reading it. And for all the Ric/Logan fans, sorry about how their relationship end up in this one, but don't give up hope yet! Everyone send me feedback and tell me what you thought!!! (addie_logan@yahoo.com)