'It's been a month since it all went to shit,' thought Lauren Strucker as she laid on her bed in the apartment complex she was occupying with her mother and younger brother.
It was a month after the defeat of Reeva Paige. The patriarch of the Strucker family, Reed, had given a noble sacrifice to save his family. He had defeated Reeva at the cost of his own life. The Hellfire Club was defeated. But now, anti-mutant sentiment was continuing to be on the rise.
Lauren continued laying there. She and Andy had grieved their father. Clarice and Erg had grieved the Morlocks. Esme Frost was mourning the deaths of her two sisters that she had had left. Lorna was additionally in mourning over the actions she had committed; add to that, her and Marcos' daughter Aurora was still in hiding with Lorna's aunt. Everyone was mentally preparing for what could potentially come.
The Mutant Underground and the Morlocks were gone. That meant Esme, Lorna, Clarice, Erg, Caitlin, Lauren, Andy, Marcos and John were the only ones left to continue the legacy. There were still many mutants on the run who were in need of safe harbor from the Purifiers. But in the news, it appeared as though the Friends of Humanity were beginning to collaborate with the Purifiers. It was by far more dangerous with the Purifiers and the FOH collaborating to spread hatred and fear.
As Lauren sat up, she took notice to her alarm clock saying that it was one o'clock in the morning. She also noticed her brother – who had recently allowed his hair to go back to its natural chestnut brown – was wide awake too. Both could hardly sleep ever since they had lost their father.
"You can't sleep?" Lauren asked as she rubbed her blue eyes. Not that she needed to ask, though. Her and Andy's telepathic connection seemed to be growing stronger the more time they were around one another. They kept going to Esme, but even she couldn't begin to understand their connection. Sure, she had had one with her sisters and could feel everything, but that did not mean she was the most knowledgeable telepath in the world.
Andy breathed out a sigh. "Yeah," he whispered. Both proceeded to stretch their limbs and walked into the living room area of the apartment complex. They had relocated to the city of Newark, New Jersey. They were living in a rundown complex not too far away from the Newark Rutger's campus. Next door to them were Clarice, John, Marcos and Lorna, as well as Esme and Erg who had their own apartments. Luckily, the landlord who owned the apartment complex was mutant-friendly and had several refugees already there.
Walking into the living room space, they could see Caitlin was awake as well, sitting up on the couch watching the all-night news reports from Hawk News. She had dark circles underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep she'd been getting.
"Mom?" Andy asked softly. He sat down on the sofa next to his mother, who pulled him to her chest in an embrace, Lauren joining in.
"The FOH and the Purifiers seem to be not giving up," Caitlin whispered.
"They're relentless," Lauren said. "It's all getting worse now, more than ever. And needing to rebuild the Mutant Underground is putting even more weight on our shoulders more than ever. I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Agreed, Lauren." Andy's voice sounded as though he were scoffing. "And to think a year ago, Lorna, Sage and I all thought that joining the Inner Circle would be the key to peace. It was the key to destruction. Now look at where we are."
"You can't blame yourself for that, Andy. And Dad made his choice when he chose to face Reeva," Lauren pointed out.
"She's right, Andy," Caitlin whispered as her eyes misted over with tears at the thought of her late husband. She missed Reed tremendously every day. He was the love of her life, and she was convinced that he still was, somehow. She did not believe she would ever get over the loss of her husband.
As the three remnants of the Strucker family sat there, they could hear activity going on outside. They could hear knocking at their door. They knew Marcos, John and Lorna had been patrolling that night since they were all having trouble sleeping as well. The loss of Reed had hit them hard, too. For Marcos, Reed had been a better father to him than his own father had been. John had felt a true connection to Reed when he'd begun tutoring Reed on how to control his powers.
"Caitlin!" John said, knocking on the door a little louder.
"We're coming, John!" Andy said, getting up to unlock the door. However, the sight that greeted them left all three in surprise.
John and Marcos were supporting someone between them. However, it was not just anybody. It was the familiar face of Logan Howlett – the Wolverine – one of the X-men members.
The sighting of Wolverine was shocking. Everyone had been so sure that all the X-men were dead. To see that one was still alive was a shock to the system, especially for Andy and Lauren who had grown up watching the X-men on the news and in a way, idolizing them. They had heard the stories of how the X-men had defeated Apocalypse . . . how Jean Grey had become the Phoenix . . . how they had stopped Magneto from turning the world's leaders on Liberty Island into mutants. Many had been so sure they were just myths. But to see Wolverine standing there in the flesh being supported between John and Marcos stunned Andy, Lauren and Caitlin into silence.
He appeared to be injured with bullet wounds that were closing up and healing. He was panting hard for breaths, and his eyes were closed. Instantly, Caitlin led Marcos, Logan and John to the sofa, turning off the news and closing the door.
"We found him while we were out on patrol duty," Marcos grunted as he and John hauled Logan towards the sofa, leaning him onto it. "We knew who he was when we saw him . . . the FOH attacked him."
"Shit," cursed out Caitlin as she took notice that the bullet wounds on Logan's chest were already closing up and healing. As far as she could tell, he did not need immediate medical attention at all. But Andy and Lauren were still standing there with their jaws dropping to the floor. As Caitlin went to grab disinfectant and cotton pads, her arm was grabbed by Logan's hand.
"Don't need anything," Logan grunted out, his eyes closed tightly. "If ya know anything about me, you'd know about my healing factor."
Caitlin nodded, suddenly remembering. She remembered how the X-men had appeared as names under Mutant Registration. Full information about their powers and their addresses had been released publicly after the Mutant Registration Act had begun.
"Mind tellin' me where it is that I am?" he asked.
"You're in safe harbor. You're with what is left of the Mutant Underground," Marcos informed him.
Logan nodded, opening his eyes to reveal the dark brown – almost black irises – that were staring back at them. His eyes seemed to be hardened by the years of the X-men having been missing. It would make sense, though. The X-men had been the only family he had ever had.
"Good . . . wait, what happened with the Mutant Underground?" he asked.
"You didn't hear about it?" asked John in a serious tone, speaking former soldier to former soldier with Logan.
"Nah," Logan said. "All's I know was that the Mutant Underground had been put in place as the last resort. It was what Chuck left behind, before the Xavier Institute blew to shit. Yer best off filling me in on what the fuck's been going on."
"First, do you mind answering some questions first? How many X-men survived? Have you been in contact with anyone?" asked John.
"No, no I haven't been in contact with anyone. But I have been lookin' fer two of 'em . . . Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Their bodies hadn't been found by anyone. That tells me, those two have been on the run this whole time. And I've been hearin' rumors . . . somethin' about their kid, Rachel, having been part of the Hound program. But it's all smoke and mirrors at this point because I do not know it to be true. I haven't been able to find their scent anywhere," Logan explained as he leaned back into the sofa.
"At least that's a start. But I have to say . . . the Mutant Underground, it's over," John whispered.
"The fuck ya talkin' about?" Logan asked.
"We'll need to fill you in on quite a bit," Lauren whispered, still trying to get over the shock of seeing one of the X-men in her presence.
John, Caitlin, Andy and Marcos proceeded to fill Logan in on everything that had happened over the past few months. From the fall of the Underground, to the Inner Circle's attempt at rising by manipulating the anti-mutant media . . . Logan sat there, taking it all in.
"Well shit," Logan groaned. "So what are you all attempting at now?"
"Trying to do whatever we can to keep something going," Andy said. "If we just gave up, my dad's sacrifice would be for nothing."
"At least one good thing came out of the von Strucker legacy, considering all the shit yer ancestors caused," Logan grunted.
"But there is something we need to ask you. What were you doing? How did you run into the FOH?" asked Lauren.
"I was searchin' fer any other X-men that may have survived. Most I know . . . there were a few bodies that hadn't been found, yet that is. In addition to Cyclops and Jean Grey . . . Shadowcat and Iceman's bodies hadn't been found anywhere, either. I just feel that somehow, those four survived. The others are all gone. As far as I know, Storm and Beast are dead. Their bodies had been found," Logan whispered, his voice tinged with bitterness and a hint of sadness.
"Alright, so four possible X-men might have been survivors, as well as Cyclops and Jean's daughter. But the issue is how do we begin searching?" John asked.
"I've been trying to catch their scents fer a while now. But I hadn't been able to find anything. But I can say this, I did find out about the Inner Circle being taken down," Logan whispered. "That was one thing I did hear about . . . and I've been around quite a few bars. Most of 'em have consisted of some loud-mouthed FOH members bragging about how they've got a crazy, telepathic redhead in their custody. That was enough evidence fer me to know they've got Cyclops and Jean's daughter as a hostage." Logan's voice was tinged with disgust as he said the last half of it.
Lauren and Andy stood there, taking this all in. The fact that the Friends of Humanity had the audacity to brag about having someone's child as a hostage made them both feel sick. But from their experience with the Hound program, they had been exposed to how arrogant prejudice people could be.
"Well, there's not much we can do at this point," Caitlin said.
"But what is there to do?" Andy asked.
"We go searching tomorrow, and see what we can find," John said. "I'll see if I can track Scott and Jean. If they're close enough, they should be easy to find."
"Good," Caitlin whispered as she closed her eyes in exhaustion.
"Cait, Andy, Lauren did you guys sleep at all?" Marcos asked.
Andy and Lauren looked at Marcos incredulously. "What do you think?" Lauren asked with a shake of her head.
"You should try to," John advised softly.
Caitlin turned to Logan. "You can take the couch for the rest of the night," she said. "I know two other members who have got other rooms available, that is if they'll be willing."
Logan nodded a gruff thanks in Caitlin's direction as Lauren and Andy went back to their bedroom to try and will sleep to come.
The sounds of muffled screams . . . the feeling of a horrendous, torturous pain ripping through her insides . . . salty tears on her cheeks. It was pain . . . pure pain. Her breath hitching . . . the sounds of males' groans and grunts as their hands roamed her prone body . . .
With a loud gasp, Jean Grey-Summers awoke from her uneasy slumber she had managed to fall into. Her eyes opening, Jean could feel her breath catching in her throat as she clutched her forehead in the palm of her hand.
The dream she had just had . . . it brought her a horrible feeling of anxiety that formed a sickness in the pit of her stomach. Her dreams she was experiencing seemed to be getting more graphic. Her sleeps were beginning to be interrupted by dreams that had her awaking in the middle of the night screaming. Unfortunately for Jean, the dreams seemed to be happening more frequently than typical.
Beside her, laying on the floor of the abandoned apartment that they were occupying, Scott Summers stirred with a groan. Looking up at his wife behind his ruby-quartz sleeping goggles, Scott slowly sat up and wrapped his arms around his wife.
"What is it?" he murmured into her hair, rubbing her back as he pulled her into his chest lovingly.
"My dreams . . . they keep getting worse," Jean whispered.
"Jean, you hadn't had nightmares this graphic since your Phoenix dreams," Scott whispered in worry, rubbing circles on her back and kissing her forehead.
"These feel different," Jean whispered. 'Why do these dreams feel worse than the ones when I was about to go Dark Phoenix? I cannot pinpoint exactly what it is . . .'
Through their wide-open psychic link, Scott could hear what Jean was thinking. "Jean, maybe these dreams are happening because you are just stressing yourself like crazy."
"Well, yeah!" Jean said as the tears formed in her eyes. "I mean . . . 7/15 may have been years ago, but that was around the same time we got separated from Rachel. Then we're hearing rumors she might've been a Hound mutant . . ."
"Jean, Jean, I know you're worried about her. I am too . . . I miss her so much," Scott murmured. "But we will find her eventually. Please, just try to fall back asleep for me."
Jean shook her head into Scott's chest as the tears streamed down from her eyes. Scott pulled her even closer to him as he leaned back into the mattress they were sleeping on together. Kissing her forehead one more time, Scott continued to try and soothe his wife with gentle words.
"Jean, you're not doing yourself much good right now," Scott whispered. "Just try to relax, please."
"Scott, you know why I can't," Jean whispered. "I'll relax, when Rachel's home."
Scott closed his eyes as he felt them starting to sting. He struggled to hold his tears back as he tried to stay strong for his wife. Over their years of being on the run and being in hiding, the two felt as though this was by far the worst they ever could have gone through. After the 7/15 attacks had happened all those years ago, they had heard the horrible news that the Xavier Institute had been bombed. Professor Xavier had been found dead. Their daughter had been the only survivor. They could only assume Rachel's mutant powers had manifested during the bombing, because she had been found alive. Her powers had kicked in as an act of defense.
As a result, Jean and Scott had to resort to hearing the stories about how their daughter was a Hound mutant. Just hearing it made the two parents feel sick. Jean felt the guilt of having not been there to protect her child. Scott felt as though he failed his daughter. She was their only child . . . their baby. As the two fell back asleep with a strong sense of foreboding, Scott and Jean could only pray that wherever Rachel was, she was alright.
'Rachel . . . wherever you are, hang tough,' Scott thought as he closed his eyes tightly, holding Jean closely to him as he rocked her back to sleep.
A/N:
I appreciate the reviews on the prologue! Thank you for the response on the beginning of a story I am very proud and happy to do! Reviews are always appreciated. Be sure to continue to review, follow and favorite if you want to see more!
Also, be sure to go and check out my fanfiction collaboration with MarvelMaster 616, Peace in Our Time! -
DC-MarvelGirl 1997
