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When Coronal William Stryker tried to trick Professor Charles Xavier into killing the world's mutant population by attacking them telepathically with Cerebro, he was so blinded by the idea that he gave no thought to the consequences to non-mutants.

Likewise, when Magneto reversed Cerebro to target humans instead, he didn't think about the consequences either. As a result, the attacks led to hundreds of thousands of people, both human and mutant dead in numerous countries.

When being telepathically attacked, people behind the wheel of cars, trucks, and buses collided on streets, highways, and interstates. Some pileups were so massive, it took days to clean them up, with the death toll hitting triple digit numbers. There were numerous accidents in various workplaces, like factories and hospitals. Planes fell from the sky, killing hundreds on people all at once when their pilots lost control.

No doubt Stryker or Magneto would have just considered the losses "collateral damage" if their main goal had been accomplished.

The international media circus that followed, trying their best to understand how these multiple tragedies occurred didn't mention the Professor, or the school, or even Magneto. It was known that he broke out of prison, but he wasn't connected with the attacks, and Stryker's assault was explained as a "machine" designed to attack mutants that malfunctioned.

In the end, Stryker's own paranoia had worked in the X-Men's favor. Only a handful of people knew what he was really up to, and they all had died at Alkali Lake.

But something also happened at Alkali Lake that greatly affected the X-Men.

Jean Grey had died.

A figure so present in the daily life at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was suddenly gone. Making the ultimate sacrifice, she was swallowed up by the blue abyss of the broken dam water in order to get the people she loved out of harm's way.

After their loss, they had to go to Washington D.C and confront President McKenna about the crimes Stryker had committed. Xavier than encouraged him not to make the mistakes of the past, but the work together for a better future. When getting done there, they finally made their way back home. All they could do now was wait for the President's decision.

Now was when the hard part began.

The smell of death was in the air as inside the mansion Stryker's men that had been killed by Wolverine were lying on the floor. They called ambulances to take their bodies away, then the Professor erased the memories of the paramedics, to make sure the whereabouts of the school could remain out of the public eye.

Normally, the Professor would have never of used his powers that way but he felt it was the lesser of two evils in order to keep his students safe.

To his credit, Xavier was doing the best he could to get things back to normal or as normal as things were before the attack on the mansion. Several walls had been damaged and they were quickly fixed up by a group led by Peter Rasputin, who had desplayed courage and strength in leading the students out of the school. A few of the younger students were still understandably scared and were having trouble moving on.

Two days had now passed.

Two days and they all continued to grieve in their own way, but life must continue with the routines of before the tragedy. They all need more time, but the pressing demands of reality and the present do not allow for it.

Currently, the Professor was sitting in his office, attempting to console the two people who were hit the hardest by the loss of Jean; Scott and Logan. The both of them have changed greatly in these few days.

The man who loved her and was loved back, and the loner who thought he had found in her a woman to share his life with no longer felt the need to compete with each other. They actually drew strength from one another, each knowing the other's pain like none of the others could.

But like all of them, accepting that this was Jean's choice was the hardest thing. They were both men who would give their lives to save the ones they love, so it's difficult to come to terms with it.

"Do you think we could have done more to save her?" Scott asked.

"In the past…she may have let us." Xavier answered.

"There had to be another way," Logan began. "Why did she leave the jet?"

"Because she made a choice."

A knock on the door then got his attention.

"Yes, come in."

It was time for classes to begin again as the students came into the room and Logan and Scott walked out, closing the door behind them.

"Hey..." Logan began while looking at Scott. "She did make a choice...it was you."

Scott didn't respond, he just swallowed the knot in his throat and walked back to his room, sitting down on the bed. There was an empty feeling deep down inside him. It was strange to wake up without Jean beside him, kissing him good morning, getting ready to teach the kids.

He felt so guilty. Every time he thought of Jean he could hear his own voice in his head…what he said to her that day at the museum.

"I would never let anything happen to you…"

Scott also felt like a failure…a failure as a leader. It was his job to look out for his team members and one had died on his watch.

He began thinking of the team.

Despite loosing Jean, the team had gained more members. Bobby Drake and Rogue had both been given uniforms, Kurt Wagner had done a lot to help the team at Alkali Lake and was brought back here. He would probably be joining the team too.

He was hurting at the moment, but he was still the leader and Scott needed to get them ready, but he also needed to improve his skills and so did Ororo. Sure they practiced now and then, but it wasn't good enough.

They needed to be bigger…faster…stronger. Maybe if he had just been a little better, he wouldn't have been kidnapped by Stryker's bodyguard and none of his would have never happened.

There was a completely empty room on the second floor of the mansion…he could build a room there where the team could go and practice and hone their athletic and combat skills. He wouldn't lose another team member like he lost Jean.

Scott got up and went over to the other side of the room, sitting down at the desk, pushing everything off it and pulled paper out of the drawer and began writing down every idea he had. This room could have things like metal tentacles reaching out to grab you, jets of flame, lasers, robots.

They would train every day for the dangers that awaited them about there.

It would be a Danger Room.