Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, Marvel does and I will make no money off of this. This story will be based largely on the comics, mixing Ultimate with Uncanny and obviously leaning heavily on AU. Maybe a tiny bit of movie verse thrown in. So in other words, pretty much everything! The title of the story is also a title for a song by Bonnie Tyler...

Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need

[Chorus

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life

Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder end rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

[Chorus

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there's someone somewhere watching me

Through the wind end the chill and the rain and the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood

Hope you enjoy !

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" The alarm clock sounded harshly in the early morning light.

Linda started awake rushing to turn off the unpleasant sound, sighing heavily she flopped back down onto her bed. Not for the first time she wished she could forget work and just go back to sleep instead, god but she hated mornings! Forcing herself to get up and start her day, some of the more important reasons for going to work flashed through her head, "Rent, groceries, student loan payments… just get your ass up."

It was not as thought Linda hated her job, it was just that sometimes she got this funny feeling that there was something wrong and that she should be doing something else instead. However, she never really knew what that something else was. As Linda made herself a cup of coffee she stared blankly out the window, turning moody thoughts over and over in her head, the grey skies of November tended to match her mood of late. Her memory fuzzily trying to recall the last time she was truly happy.

One particular thought lurked about her back brain, demanding closer inspection, whispering, "There's supposed to be something more."

Linda finished her coffee and continued going about getting ready for her day, absently playing her life over as it was to date. Single (her boyfriend of five years having recently broken up with her), late twenties, lived alone and worked at the local hospital as a nurse. Linda studied herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She wished her eyes were greener and her hair was naturally red instead of having to dye it, she also wished she was drop dead gorgeous as opposed to average.

"Then maybe Trent would still want me." she thought bitterly.

The day turned out to be extremely cold and stormy, sharp winds whipping the rain about making it nearly impossible to keep dry. The odd sense of wrongness continued to plague Linda even as she approached the old building where she worked, "Maybe I just need more coffee." Linda thought as she reached the protective walls of the hospital. Now that she was over the shock of waking up, she didn't mind being there so much; medicine was one of the only things she really enjoyed. Work was busy as usual and her peculiar thoughts were banished as she concentrated on the tasks at hand. Linda found herself thinking about the weekend during her lunch break. She was looking forward to going out with her friends tomorrow night, even if Trent was going to be there.

"I sure could use a handsome hero to whisk me away.", she smiled to herself as she thought this. Little did she know that this weekend would challenge everything she believed in, her average little life was about to get a rude awakening.

Logan was getting restless, he really hated waiting. Chuck had called the X-men to his office for an important meeting over 10 minutes ago and they had arrived promptly only to find that Charles was no where to be found. The lavish room buzzed with anticipation, it wasn't like Charles to be late. Something important must be happening. Logan sat in an over sided leather armchair at the back of the room slouching slightly legs spread wide, the picture of ease, belying the turmoil within him. He really didn't want to be here, he wasn't in the mood for people. Ororo sat with Hank and Bobbie, the three of them talking quietly among themselves. The oversized Russian artist Peter sat to Logan's left talking with Kurt and Scott sat at the front of the room waiting patiently, looking more up tight then usual. The kid needed to learn how to relax.

Peter and Kurt's hushed conversation flitted through Logan's acute sense of hearing,

"Perhaps he has finally found vere Jean is." Kurt spoke in his thick German accent.

"This indeed would be a vounderful piece of news, let's hope so my friend." Peter replied, clapping Kurt on the back which nearly sending him flying out of his chair.

It had been two long years since Jean's death at the North Pole. It was a heavy blow to the team, there was no body to bury this time. Six months ago, while on a mission to Northern Canada, Peter and Logan had come across a wounded scientist who's cryptic ramblings suggested that Jean was alive. Logan had become livid and demanded further information but the man had died before they could get any useful information out of him. Ever since then Charles had been using every resource he had to find out if this information was true. He had combed the globe weekly using Cerebro to try and locate her.

His contacts in the military had finally paid off about a month ago, a top secret document had found it's way into Xavier's hand detailing "Sybil", a military research project using telepaths. The government was researching the benefits of using psychics as military weapons and currently had one of the strongest telepaths on the planet at "location B". The report had also stated,

"Sybil is well within it's allotted time frame and Phoenix promises to be extremely valuable to the project. The neural stripping has caused minimal fragmentation and is within acceptable limits and the memory implants are keeping her pliable. We should be able bring her out of suspended animation for a test run within the next 6 weeks.".

Charles Xavier rolled into the office and the chatter ceased, all eyes on him, while his face remained grave. "I've found her."