At two in the morning security alarms blared through the mansion. The children, very groggy, had became accustomed to security drills at all hours of the day. Logan growled as the lights flashed in his room. He had finally gotten comfortable enough to drift off to sleep as they went off. Dr. Henry McCoy, better known as Hank, pounded on his door.
"Logan! Charles needs us in his office immediately!" he shouted.
Minutes passed, and the Xmen waited silently in Professor Xavier's office. On Logan's left was Jean Grey; she was wide awake and attentive, but her other half was forcing himself to stay awake. Remy LeBeau sat to Logan's right; he was dozing off. Xavier entered his office after what seemed like forever. Logan nudged Remy awake, none too gently.
"No time to sleep, bub. Work's afoot," he grunted.
"Dis is no time for work. Remy needs his beauty rest," Remy yawned.
"Beauty," Logan snorted in disbelief.
"Is true! Remy can't look dis good with out proper sleep!"
"Enough you two. Professor, why are we here?" Storm said, cutting them off.
"I have found something; on Cerebro. More mutants. I have pinpointed their location, but there is a force swiftly moving in," Xavier explained slowly.
"The Brotherhood?" Scott Summers asked.
"No. Something different. Something worse," Jean said softly, "I can hear them, or at least one of them. She's crying for help. We have to do something."
"So let's go then," Logan snapped, "Instead of wasting time here talking about them."
"We can't all go, Logan. What if this new force decides to attack the school?" Hank pointed out.
"Jean, Logan, Scott and Storm will take the X-jet to their location. Kurt will go to the children in the bunker. I will get in contact with Erik. Maybe he knows something about this new group," Xavier decided.
"Magneto? That's not such a good idea, Professor," Scott began.
"Scott, just trust Charles. He knows what he's doing," Jean reasoned.
"I'll be outside of the bunker. Let's go Kurt," Hank stated. The two of them left to protect the children.
"What does Remy do?" Remy frowned; he was left out of their plans.
"Stay with Xavier," Logan told him.
"Do we know what those mutants are capable of?" Storm asked Xavier.
"One is able to contact Jean, then she has telepathic powers at the very least," Xavier said. "I'm not sure about the others. You better hurry. Remy, let's go down to the Danger Room. We need to contact Erik quickly."
Logan and the others rushed to the X-jet. Jean began switching things on; the others buckled in. Storm contacted Xavier for the location as Scott entered it into the GPS. It was a ways away from the mansion, but with the X-jet it would take no time at all. Jean picked up speed.
"Jean, I know we need to get there as fast as we can, but should we really be going this fast?" Scott asked.
"There's a kid there that needs our help, Scott," Logan sneered.
"If she can reach me from this far away her powers must be incredible. Untrained and still, assuming of course, young. Scott, imagine what she could do with Charles' help," Jean stated.
"So you're after her head? Not any interest in saving her," Logan chuckled.
"No Logan. That's what we're here for," Storm joked.
Jean landed the X-jet expertly. They were hidden near a house. Outside, a small group of people could be seen. They looked in need of assistance. Lights were flashing inside. Logan was first out of his seat; he stood ready for Scott to tell him what to do next. However, Scott was the only one still seated.
"Hey. Kid, what's the plan?" Logan demanded.
"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry; I'm just tired," Scott mumbled, "Logan, you go in first. You'll be able to take care of whatever is in there. Storm secures the perimeter; once it's safe you can help us get the wounded in the X-jet. Jean and I will deal with the people outside."
The ramp dropped; Logan tore from the X-jet to the house. Storm sailed into the skies, and the remaining two rushed to those lying on the lawn. In the air there wasn't much around. Outside were two grown men and a young girl. One was curled into a tight ball; the other was sprawled out bleeding heavily. The girl sat next to him crying profusely. Jean rushed to her.
"What happened?" Scott asked.
"Mummy's still inside!" the girl screamed.
Jean wrapped an arm around her, "It's ok. Our friend is going inside to get her."
Scott checked the vitals of the man curled up. "Is this your uncle or your father?" he questioned.
The girl couldn't hear him. Her face was buried in Jean's uniform. The bleeding man groaned. Scott quickly went to his aide.
"My brother. Blaze, a mutant. Wife... Inside, also mutant. Daughter, too. Kelsey. Riza inside. Hurting so bad," he stammered.
"What's your name?" Scott asked, "What happened here?"
"Zidane. Will you help? This woman came. Demanded Riza join them, or she'd kill us all. Kill Blaze and Kelsey. Force Riza to survive; suffer through the pain of losing another family. Kelsey... Said... Help was coming... A man... A professor..."
"Xavier, Charles Xavier. We work for him," Scott explained. "I'll get your brother on the jet. Jean, get Storm. One of you needs to stay with Kelsey. The other has to help Zidane."
"Alright," Jean nodded.
Logan kicked the front door in. He could smell blood throughout the whole house. Two woman were in the main room. One stood on the floor, cackling manically, as she held the other against the ceiling with some invisible force.
"Rethink your decision, Riza, and you'll be able to save your pathetic family," she demanded.
"FFF... Fuck off," the other, Riza, snapped.
"Such a poor choice," the first mused.
She continued her maniacal laughter as Riza let out a howl of pain. Outside, her husband let out a howl of pain. Logan jumped on the unnamed woman. It knocked her off balance; the disruption freed Riza. Logan unsheathed his claws ready to slash the woman's throat. She launched Logan off of her with a blast of invisible force. His eyes squeezed shut from the pain, but he was back on his feet again. He took a quick glance at Riza; she was standing too.
"Pretty impressive," Logan thought, "She must heal like me. Sounded like a lot of pain."
The unnamed woman let out blast of force, pinning Logan against the wall. He growled. Logan watched as sparks flew around Riza; bursts of static bounced up her body. She held her palm out to shoot the woman, but the woman got her first.
"Annoying pest. Let's see who you're tied too," she pondered.
Logan howled as pain shot through his body. It wouldn't cause any physical damage, internal or external, but it hurt. The pain kept surging through his body. Riza was fully aware of what the woman was trying to do to him.
"She's searching your memories for the person closest to you," Riza explained, hoping Logan could hear her. "It could be a lover, a friend or family. The pain you're feeling will transfer to them shortly."
At first Logan felt blessed; he had no one close to him. Fear got the best of him as Rouge flash through Logan's mind. The woman's lips curled into a thin smile. Another burst of pain surged through him.
Inside the bunker at the mansion, Rouge curled up into a little ball screaming from pain. Piotr began pounding on the door, calling for help, as Bobby clutched her gloved hand.
The woman laughed and turned her attention to Riza. As the pain began to creep up her body, static discharge flew down the invisible blast. It buried itself in the woman's hand; her concentration was broken. Logan and Riza fell freely to the ground. Without their accelerated healing, they'd be dead.
Outside, Blaze was safely buckled in the jet. Storm stood outside with Kelsey, she refused to go into the jet without her parents. Jean bandaged up Zidane as best as she could; Scott suggested they take him to a normal hospital.
"We'll be too busy with the other three. They're actually mutants; they can't get normal treatment," he reasoned.
"What will we tell them? It'd look suspicious if mutants took him in. They'll think we attacked him," Jean argued.
"The last thing we need to do is feed the anti-mutant riots," Storm agreed.
"They'll listen to Hank and Charles. We'll take him with, but if they decide to send him to a hospital we send him," Scott sighed, defeated.
"What's going on with Logan? Why isn't he out yet?" Storm wondered.
"Mummy?" Kelsey whimped.
Storm scooped her up. Jean and Scott moved Zidane to the X-jet. Jean set up a temporary psychic barrier around the jet to prevent further harm to the brothers.
"I'm going in. You two stay here," Scott ordered.
Inside, the tables had indeed turned. Logan would attack and fall back before the woman could pin him again. While he backed up, Riza would fire bursts of electricity. Their planning had been silent, but it was highly effective. Scott's entrance interrupted their flow. The woman pinned Scott to the wall, and sent the other two flying back.
"Before I even think of hurting you... I'll find your tie," she decided aloud.
"He's dead if she does," Logan hissed.
Riza got to her feet, and offered a hand to Logan. "Can't heal like us?" she asked.
Logan, shaking his head, took her hand. "Anythin' physical you can make with your sparks? Ima throw you at her. We don't got long, Ckye's got himself a girl right outside."
Riza nodded. Logan picked her up and spun for momentum. As he released, Riza created a staff of electric current. Scott and Jean screamed in pain. His visor began shaking; Scott squeezed his eyes shut tighter. Riza lashed out with her staff; it connected with the woman's neck. Her concentration was broken, yet again, and Scott fell to the floor in a heap. Riza smiled at her minor victory. Logan shambled over to Scott and slung him over his shoulder.
"Me and my friends are right outside. We're leavin'. Now," he stated and left.
Riza didn't look back as she started to leave. The woman grabbed her ankle, hissing venomously.
"You won't heal fast enough at this range. I will fucking end you," she spat.
Pain shot swiftly from her ankle through her nervous system. Instead of dividing the pain between two people the woman gave Riza a full dose. Riza tried to use the static in the air to form a desperate barrier, but she failed. Her vision slowly faded; her end was nigh.
"JIMMY!" she howled. "HELP ME!"
Logan froze where he stood outside; his keen senses had heard Riza's cry. Something triggered inside him. Storm had set Kelsey down to help Jean when her screaming started. All their eyes were on him. Logan dropped Scott and dashed back inside.
"Come here you fuckin' bitch!" he snarled, claws out.
Logan pounced on the woman; his claws buried themselves in her back. Riza collapsed to the floor; the pain was too much for her. As much as Logan wanted to slaughter the unnamed woman, he chose not too. He slung Riza over his shoulder and left the house again.
"Get him on there. We're leavin'. Now," he said flatly.
"Mummy!" Kelsey cried. However, she seemed reluctant to follow Logan aboard the X-jet.
"It's ok; go with him," Storm urged.
Jean's barrier had broken once the pain hit her. She collected herself and tried to help Storm carry Scott to the jet. Logan had Riza and Kelsey strapped in. He ducked outside, grabbed Jean, ignored her protests and strapped her in as well. Storm got Scott in. She took the pilot's seat; Logan sat next to her.
A/N: And that's my first installment! I figured the first should be longer than the others, so the rest will have varying lengths (that's what she said). Review if you wish to do so. Title is a work in progress. Couldn't think of anything else.