An advanced caution to the reader: the following chapter covers a somewhat alternate universe version of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the USA. Marvel Comics did a similar thing in the Amazing Spider-Man # 36. The attacks did coincide with the X-Men Evolution television show timeline, so this chapter addresses the attacks in that context. Most of what had occurred in the real world occurs in this chapter with the addition that many people in New York City blame the superheroes for not stopping the attacks from happening. I will try to treat the attacks in this story in a sensitive manner; however, if reading about the events could be disturbing or troubling to you, please skip the rest of this chapter.

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Note: the characters from the X-men:Evolution belong to Marvel Comics. The character of Icon belongs to DC Comics. My thanks go to the creators of Icon, the late, great Dwayne McDuffie, M.D. Bright and Mike Gustovich. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only and no money shall be earned by the writer.

Chapter 2

Northern Virginia Airspace

September 11, 2001- 0921 EST

"Arnus, you are closing on your target rapidly. You should decrease your velocity…now."

"Acknowledged," Icon replied to the sentient computer of his starship.

When the two jetliners had crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers twenty minutes earlier, Miriam had tapped into the communications net of the nation's air defense grid. She'd found there were two more hijacked aircraft and that one was closer to its suspected target in Washington, D.C. Before Miriam's warning, Wolverine, Storm and he had been en-route to the World Trade Center to assist the city's first responders. Once they'd been warned by Miriam, both Logan and he had immediately decided to try and stop the hijacked planes from killing any more people then streaked into the crisp blue sky.

Now, he mentally toggled his suit's comm system to connect with Wolverine's. The other man was wrapped inside Icon's cape for his protection as they traveled toward their target pushing Mach Five. "We're almost there. I am reducing our velocity to match the jetliner's speed."

"Gotcha, bub. Just get me on that damn plane, Gus. I'll do the rest."

He shook his head as he carefully released his partner from the protection of his cape. "No, Jim. I won't let you take all of this onto your shoulders alone. Essentially, these attacks are similar in scope to what occurred at Pearl Harbor back in 1941. Moreover, we don't have the time to both restrain the terrorists and save both aircraft. Therefore, it would be prudent to treat them as armed, enemy combatants when we board both planes."

"Agreed," was all that his friend said.

As they closed with the aircraft, Icon thought about both Ororo and Charles for a moment or two. Given the professor's attitude toward violence, he hoped the other man would understand why Logan and he would do what had to be done during the next few minutes. He also hoped that she wouldn't be disgusted with either of them afterwards.

Once they'd reached the side of the aircraft where the forward hatch was located, Icon generated a positron field around his left fist and punched a hole through the door. Fortunately, their current altitude was low enough that the cabin didn't suffer from explosive decompression.

Then he opened his fist and grasped onto the frame of the door. Moments later, he ripped the hatch clean off of its hinges and hurled it in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean.

Now he sped into the passenger cabin and released his hold on Wolverine while using his massive body to block the door and keep Logan from being sucked out of the aircraft.

Snikt!

Wolverine popped both sets of claws when they saw the bodies of the flight crew stuffed in the corner of the forward galley. Growling now, the shorter man used his claws to rip through the cockpit door while Icon turned to deal with the terrorists in the first class section.

He saw three men of Saudi descent charging toward him, brandishing knives. When the first man stabbed his chest plate, Icon ignored the knife and grabbed the man by the throat. Then without a moment's hesitation, he whirled and threw the startled man through the opening in the side of the airplane.

When the two remaining terrorists witnessed what he'd done to their compatriot, they froze.

Icon, though, pressed on.

He sped forward and clamped his hands around each man's neck before he dragged them to the opening and tossed them both out into the sky.

While he'd dealt with the terrorists in the passenger section, his enhanced hearing had heard his friend's claws slash into human flesh, shortly followed by two death screams. Then Wolverine yelled, "Icon! I've taken control of the aircraft but the bastards set the plane into a steep dive. I don't know if I can pull her up in time!"

"Do what you can, Wolverine! I'll help you level the aircraft outside!"

He flew through the door and sped up to position himself under the nose of the jetliner. He dug his fingers through the metal airframe to obtain a good grip and applied his super strength while manipulating graviton particles throughout his legs to lift the aircraft.

At first, the plane didn't budge an inch from its death dive. Grunting now, he pressed against the nose with all his might, struggling to overcome gravity's fatal hold on the jetliner.

Then, slowly, inexorably, the nose began to rise and level off. Sighing heavily in relief, he took the opportunity to glance down and found the aircraft was only a few hundred feet above the city's skyline.

Soon, he heard the thunder of the jet's engines as Wolverine applied more thrust from the cockpit.

"Hey, bub! I've got this baby in the pipe and she's five by five! I'll set her down at National," Wolverine said over their comm system. "You get after that last plane, ya hear?"

"Acknowledged. I am on my way."

Icon descended below the slowly climbing aircraft and contacted Miriam. "Give me the position of the last aircraft."

"It has just crossed into Pennsylvania airspace, Arnus."

"Thank you, Miriam," he said and ascended to an altitude where he could safely accelerate to high Mach speeds.

#

Precious minutes later, he caught a glimpse with his super vision of the last airliner somewhere southeast of Pittsburgh after closing to a distance of a hundred miles or so. Moments later, as he began to decelerate so he wouldn't overshoot his target, he gasped when the aircraft rolled onto her back and plummeted out of the sky right into the unforgiving ground.

"No!" he shouted and sped toward the crash site. Upon his arrival, though, it was clear that he'd arrived far too late.

He searched through the entire debris field but there was no sign of life.

After he'd satisfied himself that the numerous small fires at the crash site were not in danger of harming any habitats before the arrival of the rescue crews he'd heard in the distance, a saddened Icon turned away from the crash site and launched himself into the sky to retrieve Wolverine so they could return to the World Trade Center and assist their colleague Storm in rescue and recovery efforts.

#

Xavier Institute for Gifted Children

October 2, 2001 – 1856 EST

"I'm really, really sorry for running into your leg, Mr. Freeman."

Augustus Freeman shot a wry look at the boy and his four multiples after the child had bounced off, multiplied and fallen right on their butts. Then Augustus smirked at the young man. "That's quite all right, Mr. Maddox," he replied, amused at the boy's antics despite himself. "In the future, though, you need to be careful and slow down! If you'd run into Ms. Munroe, Ms. Grey, or, dare I say, Ms. Aqulla, you may have gravely injured them."

"Geez, Mr. Freeman! I wouldn't want to hurt anybody! I'll try and be more careful, honest!"

"All right then. Why don't you go downstairs, very slowly, and find a good spot in front of the television to watch that special report."

"Yes, sir!" Jaime Maddox exclaimed before he turned and carefully (at least for him) walked down the mansion's ornate staircase.

With a smile on his face he watched the boy head down to the first floor and shook his head in wonder. He'd been living at the Institute for just six weeks now and felt as if he'd settled in surprisingly well for an old confirmed bachelor like himself. His private bedroom and en suite were well-appointed and comfortable. Athough it had been trying for him to have so many people, particularly, so many teen agers underfoot, Ororo's patience, advice and understanding had greatly assisted in his transition to the ways of the Institute. If only Raquel, his sidekick Rocket, from Dakota City could see him now, he mused as his heart filled with a sense of melancholy. She'd never believe how approachable he'd become during the past few weeks. And after leading the children in training exercises, particularly the New Mutants, he'd also found himself wishing that Estelle, his human wife, and he had tried to have children despite the possibility the slightest error in his genetic makeup could have caused problems with their baby's genetic structure.

Another opportunity forever lost.

"Augustus!" At the sound of the Windrider's cultured voice, his smile turned genuine. "I see that you handled that situation with young Jaime quite well for a man who'd gruffly advised me that you had no experience or temperament to deal with young people. I must say I am perplexed at which of you two old soldiers, Logan or you, has a bark that is worse than your bite," she teased gently.

"I must admit, I, too, am surprised that the children haven't pushed my sanity to the brink yet. Then again, I suppose if they've driven me insane, I wouldn't necessarily be aware of my condition."

She graced him with a beautiful smile and wrapped her arm around his as they started down the staircase together. "If we're caught up together in this insanity, I can't think of a person I'd rather share it with than you."

"I hope you feel that way after the children hear about what Logan and I did aboard that jetliner three weeks ago."

She sighed. "I know starting a new life on our world among a rambunctious group of teen agers has been difficult for you. However, even though you haven't been here long, they do look up to you. Besides, the one thing I've learned about these extraordinary children is to never underestimate their capacity for compassion and understanding. Your steady influence during their training sessions have done much to earn their trust. Do not be surprised when they show you they understand how hard it must be for you to live with what had to be done in that trying situation."

He pondered her words as the smile ran away from his face.

"What else is troubling you, my friend?"

"I am concerned about how the children will react to all that they'll see on the special report."

She nodded. "Although I share your concern to some degree, I still believe it is best to be transparent and honest with them. It is appropriate to expose them to what they will face someday in the real world rather than sugarcoat things for them."

Moments later, they entered the mansion's drawing room where two club chairs had been saved for them by several of their charges. Wolverine was already seated in one club chair where Kathryn "Kitty" Pryde was perched on one arm while her roommate, Rogue, sat on the other. Balanced on top of the back of Logan's chair was the blue-furred Kurt Wagner. Seated on two small chairs near Logan were the tall, lanky field leader of the X-Men, Scott Summers, wearing his ruby quartz spectacles and his second, the flame-haired telepath, Jean Grey.

He fought down the urge to smirk at the five X-Men when they glanced at him nervously. During a training session that Logan had set up to prepare the kids to take on Juggernaut, Icon had practically handed them their heads. His assessment of their performance wasn't harsh; he'd just been honest. In his view, they had a decent team with a good array of powers with the exception of the lack of a member with super strength, super speed, and invulnerability. Against foes like Juggernaut or the Blob, the absence of that capability was a major weakness that should be addressed as soon as practicable.

"Auntie O!" Evan Daniels now called out to Ororo. Her nephew patted the back of one of the club chairs. "We saved this one for you!" He was seated on one of its cushioned arms while Bobby Drake sat on the other. On the floor on either side of the club chair were Rahne Sinclair, a freshman from Scotland, and Sam Gunthrie, a sophomore from Kentucky.

Apparently saving the final club chair for him were the two girls that Ororo had teased were his surrogate daughters, Tabitha Smith and Amara Aqulla, the princess of Nova Roma, a recently discovered civilization in the Amazon jungles.

Finally, he spied Jubilation Lee, a half-Asian descent young lady from San Francisco, Roberto Costa, Ray Crisp and young Jaime seated at the foot of Charles Xavier's wheelchair.

Now everyone settled down when the broadcast began. Onscreen footage from a helicopter showed the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center Towers. Superimposed over the establishing shot was an image showing the second jetliner striking one of the towers, followed by an image showing FDNY personnel, the brave and the bold, rushing dauntlessly into one of the buildings, shortly followed by an image of the Avenger, Thor along with Storm calling down the rain to smother the flames while Magneto assisted other fire fighters in their rescue efforts by using his powers to move steel beams from the debris field.

Then the voice of the President of the United States spoke over the images on the screen.

Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

The images faded away to be replaced by a live broadcast of the special report's host. He described the timeline of each event that had occurred on that terrible day. He discussed how most of the countries in the world, including Latveria and Wakanda, had condemned the attacks and offered their condolences to the American people. Then he gave a full accounting of all the casualties the nation had suffered during the attacks.

After a short commercial break, the host returned to present a story of one of the attacks that had failed to deliver a strike against the Capitol. "We now go to Brian Fowler in Washington, D. C. for that report. Brian?"

"Good evening, Tom. American Flight 77 had been hijacked shortly after it had taken off from Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Five terrorists had grabbed the flight attendants and demanded the flight crew to open the cockpit door. After the flight crew complied with their demands, the terrorists brutally killed each member of the flight crew. Once they had taken control of the aircraft, they prepared to fly it into a target on the ground somewhere in the Capitol when suddenly, a fist slammed through the jetliner's main hatch. The hatch was then ripped from its hinges, allowing two men to board the craft mid-flight. One man appeared to be a tall man of African descent dressed in a crimson and gold costume with a cape that made him appear to some of the passengers like an 'avenging angel.' The other man was much shorter than his companion. He was garbed in an orange and black costume and had his face hidden by a cowl. This man also appeared to be armed with a set of metal claws on the back of each wrist."

"According to witnesses, the shorter man used his claws to break into the cockpit while the tall man engaged the terrorists in the passenger section of the aircraft. Then here is what happened next as seen by one of the flight attendants."

The reporter's image was replaced by a prerecorded film showing a woman in an attendant's uniform facing the camera. "The terrorists," she said, "were shocked when they saw the two costumed men tear their way into the aircraft. Then they rushed the tall man brandishing knives. When the first one reached the man, the terrorist tried to stab him but the blade just brushed off the breastplate of his suit."

"What happened next?" the reporter asked.

She blinked thrice before she was able to continue her tale. "The tall man…he…he threw them out of the opening in the side of the plane while we were inflight."

#

Augustus' didn't need to use his enhanced hearing to hear a few of the students' gasps. Yet, he was surprised when he felt Amara and Tabitha reach out to comfort him.

#

"When you saw what the tall man had done, were you frightened?"

The flight attendant shook her head vigorously. "Not one bit. Those terrorists had killed several members of my crew without any hint of mercy. They were going to crash our plane and kill everyone on board and a lot of people on the ground. Those two costumed men saved our aircraft and our passengers. If it weren't for Icon and Wolverine, I would never have seen my family again. Wherever those two men are, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they've done!"

When the film flashed off, the live shot of the reporter had returned to the screen. "Who are Icon and Wolverine? We asked the White House and was told that their true identities and their activities were highly classified. However, several confidential sources have told us that they were responsible for recovering Captain America from the Arctic a month ago."

#

"Typical government B.S.," Logan grumbled from his seat.

Augustus simply nodded in agreement with his friend. In reality, Logan had asked if the Cooperative technology on his starship could help save Captain America after years of cryogenic suspension to keep the man alive after the super soldier serum had disrupted the man's DNA. After consulting with Miriam, Augustus was able to reprogram the ship's lifeboat's genetic reconfiguration process to cure Steve Rogers' condition. Once they'd saved the man, Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD, was ecstatic. Fury then persuaded Rogers to take over the Avengers after he crafted the Arctic recovery cover story.

It was then that a grateful Steve Rogers had thanked both Icon and his old comrade James Logan Howlett for saving his life. Moments later, a shockingly emotional Wolverine told Augustus he always had a friend in Logan for what he'd done on behalf of Rogers. Then the three men agreed that 'Gus' and Steve would be the only people Logan would allow to refer to him as 'Jim.'

#

"In any event," the reporter concluded, "America is thankful that two enhanced humans were able to stop one of the hijacked planes on that fateful day. Tom, back to you."

"Thank you, Brian. Next, we turn to the other plane that did not strike its target but was lost when her brave passengers struggled to recapture the plane from the hijackers and the hijackers crashed the plane out of spite."

#

His eyes were closed in shame and his head hung low during most of that damning report. His failure to rescue the innocent people on that flight still haunted him. Then to Augustus' surprise, Tabitha and Amara gently placed their hands on each of his shoulders, plainly expressing their compassion for his plight. At that moment, he gave each girl a sad smile and quietly thanked them.

#

After that last report, another commentator told of the tales of heroism in New York City among her first responders and stories of how some of the enhanced beings assisted in rescue and recovery efforts. The darker side of this story, though, was how some people, even now, were still angry that the superheroes had failed to do anything to stop the planes from crashing into the twin towers.

"One of the lighter moments," the commentator said, "occurred the following day during a press conference with the Avengers. A reporter asked Captain America to reveal the identity of the regal-looking dark-skinned woman who worked with Thor, the Avenger from what many believe is another dimension, to generate rain showers that put out some of the fires and reduced the particulates in the air."

The image shifted to Steve Rogers in his uniform standing behind a podium.

"Her name is Storm," Rogers answered.

"She seems to have the same abilities as Thor. Is she related to the Asgardian, Captain?"

Rogers gave the reporter a sly smile. "Thor told me his family adopted her. So everyone should know that if you have a bone to pick with her, you'll have to answer to the big guy!"

#

"What?!" Ororo bellowed to the television screen.

#

After everyone in the drawing room had finished rolling on the floor and laughing out loud, Logan said, "Why, those two sons of a gun!" Then he turned and smirked at Augustus. "Gus, it looks like we're going to have to buy Cap and Nature Boy at least two rounds of drinks for making our day!"

Feeling a bit better about how the teen agers had taken the broadcast, Augustus said, "I'll cover the first; you take the second."

"You've got yourself a deal, bub!"

Ororo regarded both men with a pretty little pout and Augustus thought she looked absolutely adorable. "I am so pleased you two reprobates enjoyed Captain Rogers' little jest at my expense," she observed with a faux look of annoyance on her face.

Soon, the program ended and Xavier used the remote to switch off the television. "My students, I am certain that program raised many questions in your minds. I want you to know you may ask them now or come to me or any of your instructors at any point in time."

"I have a question, Professor," Scott said.

"Yes, Scott?"

"Why weren't the X-Men sent into the field to help at the World Trade Center?"

"Well," Xavier said, "I was afraid of exposing mutants to the world before it was ready to accept you, particularly in the chaotic situation presented to us on that terrible day. Even though, Magneto, my old friend who did much to restore my faith in him, and Storm had assisted our brave first responders, almost everyone had regarded Eric, Ororo, Augustus and Logan as enhanced individuals like the members of the Fantastic Four. Indeed, I believe the good captain's comments at the press conference went even further to show Ororo in a positive light."

Well, Augustus mused to himself, given her goddess-like beauty, poise and grace, it would be difficult to make the woman look bad to anyone.

"I understand, Professor. Thank you."

"Any further questions?"

When no one spoke up, Xavier nodded. "Very well. You are all dismissed."

#

TBC

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