A/N: I'm well-aware that I have other stories I could be adding to, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone: I had this idea of what if like one of the X-men's enemies, one of the groups like Stryker's from the movies, decided that only the most powerful mutants were worth keeping around, if they could be controlled, and decided to eliminate the rest? What would happen?

The fall of Apocalypse was supposed to show the world that mutants were on humanity's side, that they were worth keeping around. Unfortunately for mutants, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

In the middle of the night barely weeks later, the man known as Wolverine found himself awake and tense and completely unsure of why. Grunting, he hauled himself out of bed to get a glass of water (or a beer. Whatever,) and was dimly aware of a vaguely familiar humming noise on the edge of his consciousness.

He'd reached the kitchen, and was bent over the fridge retrieving a beer when what his subconscious was trying to tell him about the growing-louder sound registered and he lunged for the intercom in the kitchen, "X-men!" he barked, "We have sentinels incoming!" before setting the security system on full alert.

In record time the entire X-men team had gathered on the lawn, prepared to defend their home. The eight Sentinels paused, apparently scanning the gathered group before the lead one spoke, "Alpha mutants: 14557, 45465, 75664, 34360, 74356, 68525; Jean Grey, Anna Marie Darkholm, Raymond Crisp, Ororo Munro, Wolverine, Jubilation Lee, you are ordered to surrender to the United States Government for containment."

Jubilee leaned over to Logan, "What about those they didn't name? Are they just gonna let 'em go?" she murmured softly.

Logan cursed softly, "Somehow, Kid, I doubt it'll be that easy."

With those heartening words and a snarl, Logan launched himself at the Sentinels, followed by Jubilee, Scott and Rogue and then the rest of the X-men. Sam and Kitty were tackling the leftmost Sentinel when a cold, robotic voice intoned, "Extraneous mutants: Terminate," a cannon blast knocked the two out of the air and Kitty's agonized scream seemed to rent the air: this was no longer a fight against captivity, but a fight for their lives.

Scott fell next, and then Kurt, and then they were dropping like flies- except those the Sentinels had named from the start: the robots seemed to be going out of their way NOT to injure them, but to capture.

Jean was the first to realize this and fury rose in her chest and the Sentinel she'd been trying to hold back was suddenly crushed into the earth- which had started to rumble and her head flew up as the Brotherhood made their way up casually, unaware of the tragedy they'd stumbled upon.

"Sup, geeks?" Toad grinned as he hopped.

"Thought we'd join the party." Fred added as he lumbered towards the robots.

"No!" Jean yelled as the Sentinel mercilessly blasted the two boys into pieces where they stood, fire erupted from the redhead and melted it into a puddle of molten metal.

Jean panted, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at what was left of the boys, just inches from Scotts visor, which shifted on the still rumbling ground.

Wanda's vicious scream complemented her powers as she deconstructed the Sentinel that had effortlessly snapped her twin's neck. Lance had sunk a third neck-deep in the ground, while Ray and Ororo had joined forces to short-circuit two more. Jean's inferno grew to engulf another while Logan decapitated the final one.

They all stood, panting, and gazed around at the carnage.

"What the fuck was that?" Lance exploded.

Logan cocked his head, listening, and then turned to face the skyline, where a series of dots in military formation were steadily moving their way, "Figure it out later; we gotta get out of here!"

He lead the way around the back of what was left of the mansion and into the hangar, where their ragtag group boarded the jet and they sped off into the night.

They made it 20 minutes into the flight before Jean broke the silence with a broken-sounding sob, "Scott..."

Logan wasn't sure how to react when Wanda started sparking, "They KILLED my brother." she snarled viciously. Rogue made her way to her fellow Goth and simply pulled Wanda into her arms as tears streamed down both girls' faces.

Lance, in the seat beside Jean, watched blankly as she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Ororo had an arm around Ray in comfort and Jubilee was firmly focused on co-piloting alongside Logan, she felt like if she stopped for even a moment she'd break down entirely.

Jean was fighting an uphill battle to control her breathing and Lance shook off his shock to kneel in front of the panicking redhead, "Grey. Grey! Jean!"

Her gaze met his, startled, and he firmly commanded, "Breathe, Jean."

She shook her head, "Can't... Scott's dead... And Kitty and Kurt... And..."

"I know." he soothed, "But you need to get yourself under control, okay? In case you didn't notice: your powers are acting sketchier than usual- even I know that- so please, calm down."

She leaned down to put her head between her knees and he rubbed her back soothingly and glanced around the plane and up at Logan, "Where are we going?" he voiced everyone's unasked question.

"New Orleans." Logan grunted.

"What's in New Orleans?" Ray asked.

"Old friend who can help us ditch the jet- 'ts too conspicuous."

A/N: I know I was rather ruthless in who I kept and who I killed, but I have ideas that require their deaths (and for some, possible resurrections.) Fair warning here: This will be a LancexJean story, which I know is rare, but I was pondering on it recently, and was kind of like, "If Scott was dead, who would Jean end up with?" and came to Lance, because he's a leader, like Scotty, and despite them being to the wrong people, he's loyal, and I think with both of them being powerful mutants they'd gravitate to each other.

Drop me a review and let me know what you think!