Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.
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A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.
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Abandonnerl'enfant (Forsake the Child)
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How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?
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Preface
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Nodding at the men fighting Sinister Wolverine ran past, attempting to get to Rogue, who was once again surrounded. Six Thieves and Assassins, all that remained of their army, were making their way to her as well. Gambit hesitated, divided on fighting Sinister or helping Wolverine, chose a moment later. Handing half of his quickly depleting daggers to Havok, he ran toward his son, and the woman holding him.
Deadpool was not divided, he ran to the largest cluster of still remaining villains, and began cutting through them, as the last of Rogue's small guard fell. He faced off against the final Prism, effectively taking him down, as Riptide spun, landing several shurikens into Deadpool, and a few into the other heroes. Rogue shielding the baby. Deadpool quickly beheaded Riptide, and then pulled the shurikens from his arms and chest, as he turned to fight Blockbuster.
Quicksilver quickly collected the daggers from Havok, without missing a beat, and quickly sunk several into Sinister, pinning him to the floor. Finally, he stabbed Sinister in the head, as the final wave of villains surrounded Havok and him. Havok watched as the heroes with the baby slipped out of the entrance, then he step forward, hitting the button that Deadpool had given him, and the final explosion shook the tunnels, collapsing the remaining room, and crushing everyone inside.
Wolverine, Gambit, Deadpool and Rogue were shook off their feet as they left the door. A moment later, they struggled to stand. It was then they noticed the police and MRD agents surrounding them. Looking down at the baby, Wolverine and Gambit resignedly raised the hands, and Rogue clutched the baby closer to her. Before they knew what was happening, a burned and deformed Sinister snatched the baby from her arms, disappearing back into the rubble.
" Halt, Mutants. You are under arrest." Came from a bullhorn; as the men raise their weapons at the sudden movement.
"No!" Remy and Rogue scream, attempting to return to the tunnels, as Wade and Logan hold them back, and the officers open fire.
Logan held onto the distraught father as long as possible, as he was pelted with bullets, neither man falling. Remy struggled against the heavier man, furthering the damage caused by the bullets; tearing at his wounds in an attempts to get free. Wade, however, released Rogue in favor of turning to the MRD agents. Even as Wade methodically removed agent after agent from the field, Rogue disappeared into the tunnels; with an unintelligible scream.
Within minutes it was over, agents either dead or withdrawn, and Logan holding the now crying father as the watched the remaining tunnel collapse under the weight of the ground above it. Wade returned to their side and the men began digging, searching for the woman or child in the remains of the tunnel network, carrying on, even as night fell. None willing to quit, not until they had found them, or a body.
He woke with a gasp. Seven years yet the nightmare still haunted him every night. With a groan, and the realization that sleep had left him, at least for the night, the former leader climbed from his bed. He made his way to the front of the notably small cabin that had been their home for nearly four years. She was in the kitchen, eating a bag of chips when he walked in.
" The nightmare again, Father?" Laura asked, looking up from her novel.
"What are ya doin up?" He said in response, ignoring the question.
Laura shrugs. At eleven, she really should still be in bed herself, yet the child had always seemed sensitive to his moods, and he knew that he himself wasn't going to fair well today. Seven years ago, today, everything in his world fell apart.
They had lost. Lost the tunnels, lost their teams. Lost the baby. In turn, they had lost the war. No one, it seemed, had the drive to fight back, when the end began. In the end, none really even cared. Then he had, in the end left. When the fighting started, he had stayed, to watch after Charles, who had remained ominously silent since the tunnel. But then, He didn't really want to know what the future held at this point anyway. After all, knowing hadn't helped. However, when the enemy began pounding on their door, he had to make a choice. Honestly, it had been no choice at all, too many children had already been lost to this war.
With a sigh, he sat next to the girl, grabbing the chips from her, and picked up her book.
"Shouldn't let ya read this. It'll give ya nightmares."
" It's not scary, not really." The girl replied, taking the book back.
He really was undecided it was really far too violent for her, at her age. However, she'd already seen far more than any child ever should. He took it back, intending to hide the book in his room.
She sighed again, eating another chip, while staring mournfully at the book. She hadn't gotten very far into it, she'd just started when he'd woken.
"Why are you up, anyway?" He finally asked.
" Nightmare. The one about when they came to the school."
" I'm sorry." He replied, hugging her. That was another day he wished he could forget.
Just six days after the tunnels fell, none of them were really prepared for what came next. It had been bad enough , to have to bury that many empty casket, but then, the attack on the school in the aftermath, had left them all stunned.
The sun had barely crested the horizon, nearly everyone was still asleep. The Thieves and Assassins had left the day before, however, Crystal and Luna, as well as the Maximoff girls were still there. Remy and Logan sat on the patio, neither having slept more than an hour since the Tunnel.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from the front of the school, causing both men to jump to their feet, as the shock wave shook the school. They ran to through the back door as Logan enacted the security code, locking down the school, well aware that it was most likely to late and that they were most likely already inside.
They reached the front hall at the same time as Wanda and Lorna. Crystal screaming from somewhere upstairs, baby Luna crying loudly.
" Lorna, stay back!" Wanda screamed as she was hit with a stun grenade, thrown by the head MRD agent. Lorna screamed as Wanda fell, she was divided between running to her sister, or back up the stairs. The agent moved to shoot, but Logan jumped in front of the girl, shoving her toward the stairs.
Remy stood between the stunned woman and the Agents. Emma started down the stairs, but both men screamed for her to stay back, as the lead agent aimed at her instead. Alice, who had appeared at the top of the stairs, quickly pushed Emma aside, and was shot instead. Laura screamed in rage, and attempted to run at the shooter, but was quickly grabbed by Beast, who ran with the child toward the sublevels. Logan moved quickly to cut off any attempt to follow, while Remy ran up the stairs, to protect Emma and Lorna. As well as Crystal and Luna. He led the stunned women down the hall, toward the screaming. He reached the room, to find Crystal struggling with two agents, who had broken in via the balcony; a third had a hold of Luna, who continued to cry. Remy quickly jumped into action, first knocking the men out that had a hold of Crystal, before simultaneously grabbing Luna and knocking the third man out.
Remy quickly handed the infant to her mother, before shoving the four of them into a closet, shoving a dresser in front. He needed to ensure their safety. As well as get to the others. After he had them secured, he rushed back out of the door, and straight into a team of MRD agents.
Logan and Hank had gotten as far as the medlab, and locked the doors, before looking around for a way to secure the patients. Ororo attempted to sit up from her position in the closest bed. Hank quickly set down the girl.
"What happened?" She asked, as Logan gave up the search and began moving toward Kurt, who was the closest to the operating room.
" We're under attack Ro. I need ta get you all in here, no glass ta break through." Logan replied as he pushed Kurt's bed through the doors. Beast growled and rushed from the room, intent on keeping the agents away from his patients. His roar could be heard down the hall. Logan returned less than a minute later to move Bobby, however he realized Ororo and Kitty were going to be harder to move, attached, as they were, to so much equipment.
He returned a moment later, and moved Ororo, setting her monitors on her bed next to her. He quickly parked her next to the men as he heard a crash from the other room. Rushing back into the medlab, Logan growled at the men who were beginning to break through the door. Then he lifted Laura, who was still sobbing where Hank had set her down, and placed her on Kitty's bed. He then placed all of Kitty 's equipment on the bed with her and shoved the bed through the door just as the agents broke into the lab.
Logan slammed the emergency button, securing the air locked doors, before placing the patients in a more secure, and safe, formation, and checking the equipment. Laura continued to cry, now softly, as he secured everyone else.
"Laura, sweetheart, why don't you come sit with me" Ororo stared, struggling to sit up.
"O-o-kay." The girl hiccupped, as she climbed on her would-be step mother's bed.
" Darlin' we're goin ta be okay. " Logan said, as he double checked Kitty.
They could hear the agents on the other side, trying to break down the door. Logan looked around him, at all the helpless people in the room with him, and began to grow angry. He knew this had to be about the Tunnels. The tunnels, that, thanks to unfailingly listening to what was virtually a ghost, had already cost them, and those around them, nearly everything.
Rage building, Logan roared, as he rushed from the room, barely with the forethought to seal it behind him, and into the crowd of agents now making their way into the room. He mindlessly attacked the agents, yelling in grief and rage over not only this current attack, but the events leading to it.
Remy stood in the upper hallway. He was unaware of how many still were free downstairs, but he was determined to keep the women behind him safe. He wasn't loosing anyone else, as long as he was still standing. He was unwilling to use his charges this close to the women in the closet, instead fighting the agents back with his staff, and hand to hand combat training.
The agents, however, quickly realized that he wasn't using his powers and took advantage of it, eventually they nearly overwhelmed him with sheer numbers. Bloody and bruised, Remy continued to guard the door, refusing to move further away from it, or to falter. Eventually, he was struck, with what he would never know, on the back of his head. He made a final attempt to protect them women, giving in and charging the armor of the two closest men as he slid to the floor, blankness flooding over him, even as he heard Lorna's screams.
Logan fought his way forward, knocking back as many of the men as he could, slicing through armor as if it were nothing and ignoring the screams and gurgles of the fallen. He made his way as far as Beast, who was just outside of the lab. A feral rage had overcome the normally calm doctor as he tore into the men with his bare hands, completely ignoring both the screams of pain, and the bullets he had been pelted with.
Logan joined Hank in the defense of the lab, and it's helpless occupants, holding back wave after wave of invading agents, They had nearly defeated the agents, when Lorna's scream was heard throughout the mansion.
Hank and Logan looked wordlessly at each other, before Hank nodded and Logan ran for the stairs. Hank then returned to the agents as he decided that his death would not matter, as long as those inside were safe.
Logan made his way quickly to the second floor, cutting effortlessly through the invaders along the way. He reached the second floor landing as Wanda's scream joined Lorna's. Remy was crumpled, in a pile of rubble and former agents, just outside of the door. Logan looked briefly at the fallen man, and was assured that he was still breathing, before rushing into the room.
Hank had been pushed back into the lab, by the agents, as he continued to savage man after man, and they, in turn , continued to riddle him with bullets. Still he was holding his ground, and they were nowhere close to the operating room. Then suddenly, a loud alarm sounded. One of the patients had either taken off their sensors, or was in trouble. Hank however, could do nothing about it.
Divided as his attention was, Hank didn't notice the agent behind him until he felt the collar around his neck, as a dart hit him in the side.
As he slid to the ground he begged. "Please…don't hurt the children."
Logan made it into the room, and was horrified to see what waited him. Wanda was tied and thrown against the farthest wall, Lorna's scream was abruptly cut off, as he entered the room, when the stock of a rifle smacked her in the temple. Crystal lay, in a growing puddle, in the center of the floor, Luna was nowhere to be seen. Emma, too was missing from the scene. Logan hoped briefly that she had somehow escaped with the infant.
" You fools! You have no idea what you have done, you just attacked the Princesses of Genosha!" Wanda stated with a sarcastic laugh. Everyone knew the new Genoshion treaty protected the 'Royal' family from any attack.
The leader of the squad paled notably at Wanda's words, his eyes jumping to the dying mother on the floor. Logan roared, once more as he dispatched the agents in the room. The leader ran from the room, as his men fell. Logan then went to Crystal, but it was already too late.
" Where are They?" He asked Wanda with a growl.
" Secret panel. Behind the wall, Emma found it. Not enough room for everyone, and they were nearly in. So Crystal handed the baby to Emma. We were going to be right behind them."
Logan grunted, he had nearly forgotten the panel, but now that she mentioned it, he remembered, it opened into Chuck's room downstairs. The room acted as a panic room during an attack, and was really the best place for the girls. Logan untied Wanda and told her to take Lorna into the tunnel, he passed her the code as the door closed. Once typed in , the only thing the room would open for was the code.
He the returned to the battle, intent on removing as many agents from the house as he could. Remy was once again ready to fight as well, as he struggled to his feet, wiping blood from his face.
" Ya good kid?" Logan asked the younger man, who grunted in response as he took off the opposite direction.
Logan didn't have time to worry about the injured man, as another wave entered the building. Logan dived from the landing with a scream, taking out two as he landed, then two more without pausing. He then turned to continue the fight; however, seeing his attack, the remaining men had run.
Remy meanwhile, had made his way to the basement. There he found, among the ruins of the battle, Hank crumpled against the steel doors of the Operating Room. He was surrounded by the men who had shot and collared him, and they were prepping him for transport, as the alarm on the other side of the door continued to sound.
" Now why y'be wantin de Doctor, he not be at de tunnel." Remy said, as he drew his staff, prepared to fight.
" One mutant the same as the next, that one too men." Yelled the leader, as the agents attacked.
Remy beat back the first five at once, as four of the six other men moved from Hank, who was unconscious, to join in the attack. The leader, meanwhile, pulled out another collar and attempted to get it on Gambit as the others attacked. Meanwhile the remaining two with Hank drug him from the room.
Logan rushed into the room, as Remy, now collared, slipped to the floor. Roaring, Logan dispatched the remaining man and leader, the others already beaten by Remy. Logan then unlocked the collar, Remy's near fatal wounds healing as his powers returned.
Logan then turned to the doors, typing the code in quickly, as the alarm continued to sound. He both hoped it was nothing and feared that moving them may have killed one of the patients. He pulled open the door, and was rushed by his four year old daughter.
He picked the girl up, and moved into the room at the same time, as Remy shakily followed, growing stronger by the step. Remy quickly looked about the room, to determine who was in trouble. Ororo was sitting up, tears of pain and sorrow in her eyes. Bobby struggling to see something, anything as he still wasn't sure who had entered the room. Kitty's alarms, as Logan had feared, were the ones sounding, and not because they had come undone.
Logan went quickly to the girl, setting his daughter down with Ororo on the way. However, something had been jostled during the rushed move, and it was already too late, she had hemorrhaged during the battle. Logan reluctantly turned off the monitors, as he covered the girl with a sheet. Bobby wailed in horror next to her, as Remy led the young child out of the room.
He picked Laura up as they reached the door, with a groan. " Petite, lis'en t' moi now. Cover y' eye an don' look none til I say."
Laura nodded as she buried her face into his shoulder. Remy slowly made his way to Charles' safe room. He knocked gently on the door and called softly that it was safe to let him in. Emma reluctantly opened the door, resealing it as soon as Remy had slipped in.
They all sat silently, no one willing to speak first. After several minutes Logan too arrived. He however, pounded loudly on the door, until Emma opened it.
"C'mon. We ain't got time. I got the Blackbird ready, Ro an' the guys are already on board. I need ya to take Laura an Chuck too." Logan said as he walked into the room. " I'll be back for em but now, ya gotta get em to Genosha."
Emma, Wanda, and Lorna wordlessly filed out with Luna and Laura, on their way to the Blackbird. Emma knew how to fly it, as did Wanda, so Remy stayed with Logan.
He really did hate remembering that day. He wished that Laura could forget it. Smiling at the girl, who was growing up far quicker than he would like, He suggested that she attempt to return to bed. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easily, for either of them.