Dear new and old readers,

FYI: This story has a heavily OCed cast. For background information or about the general events that took place in the past please skim over or read X-Men: Restoration. This story is the sequel to that one. I believe it is possible for this story to be fairly easy to be read on its own though you may not have the full background on some of the events discussed. I just wanted to let you guys know. Happy reading!

Sincerely. Anonymous

This story takes place five years after Noah Beech returns to a paradise of a future which means overall eight years for the others. For the first few chapters it will focus mainly on the new characters but later I will draw the focus to the original OC cast.

Disclaimer: Don't own X-Men and the OCs are owned by their respected owners.

X-Men: Retaliation

Chapter Two: MIA

Hope was standing before thee Professor Xavier. She had only read about him in articles and seen him on television. He was sitting behind his grandeur of a desk as he opened his hands in welcome. He indicated to her with a gesture of his hand to take a seat. She let her bookbag sound a 'thump' as she took the seat quickly.

"Hello, Hope. How are you?" He asked her. She was dumbfounded. She was in the presence of the greatest heroes of time. She breathed in.

"I'm good." She was able to utter as she sat down in the plush chair.

"Do your parents or relatives know about your decision to come here?" He asked. Hope pursed her lips tightly, he was prying.

"Yes, of course. My sister has always known I wanted to come here." She replied, her voice shook, nervously. She couldn't lie to telepath and what she had said was true. The Professor nodded his head but then put his left fingers to his temple, looking distressed. "Is something wrong?" she asked, wondering if he had gotten a message.

He pressed the intercom button. "Logan, get together a group of three X-Men to take care of a robbery at Kathy's Diner, a rogue mutant is there and people have been injured. I am going to Cerebro to find out more about the rogue mutant." Hope's heart dropped as she realized what he had just said. Kathy's Diner- where her sister worked. The Professor looked up realizing her distress.

"My sister…works there…" She whispered, realizing what she had done. Her sister couldn't defend herself; she worked ridiculously long shifts and never got the rest she deserved. She had left her sister vulnerable.

-At Kathy's Diner-

Olivia opened her eyes to see the regular Fred looming over her with his hands on the side of her face. Chase was there by his side. As soon as they noticed she was awake, they gave her space. She grabbed her aching head and pushed herself off of the ground.

"Didn't you leave earlier?! Why were your hands…" She gasped glancing around to see that some of the people were still being held hostage but there was a small battle going on between the girl with the dangling strips of skin and what seemed to be the X-Man Wolverine. She blinked as her head ached as she instantly recalled being hit in the cheek and having her skin ripped raw. She touched the spot feeling no pain and it was smooth as it was before the attack. "How, did this happen?"

"Slow down, Olivia take some time to breath. The X-Men came in and saved us as soon as you went unconscious. The customers are being evacuated through well, by teleportation." Chase said as he scratched his head. She heard a 'snap' sound and the robber was beating Wolverine with her whip like extensions of skin. The girl saw them and bounded at them her whips ready to lash. Chase dove and covered her with his body.

"Chase…Where's Wendy?" she whispered, frantically. She saw the girl's shoes running towards them as Wolverine trying to block her way to them.

"She is safe. Transported out with the others," Fred replied.

"Get out of my way, you old geezer!" she spat out as Wolverine growled at the comment. Olivia blinked and saw another vision come before her eyes. The girl let out her whips at Wolverine as he turned around, ripping up his back with the stingers on the ends of it. She gasped, pulling herself up from Chase's protection.

"Watch it, Wolverine. Don't turn away!" she yelled out but instead of turning away, he glanced at her. Another vision came over her. "Duck! Hit her in her right side!" she commanded, gripping Chase's arm with fervor. Wolverine had started to win.

Suddenly, Nightcrawler appeared beside them and Olivia screamed from fright. They were transported outside. She stared at Kathy's Diner from the parking lot. There was a blond girl on top of the diner.

"Corals, you are good to go!" Nightcrawler yelled giving her a thumbs up. She raised her arms in the air, sparkles rising from the building and shot through the front door. A few moments later, Wolverine dragged out the robber's body. Olivia sat on the asphalt next to Chase who was probably just as disoriented as she was. She stared at the scene as Fred, Nightcrawler, 'Corals', and Wolverine gathered in a circle discussing what to do with her. She had no idea the insistent regular was a part of the X-Men. She closed her eyes as she thought about what her sister had told her numerous times. Hope wanted to be an X-Man, but Olivia knew she couldn't let her. Olivia wanted to be like them too but there were too many risks, too many losses involved. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her only relative, her sister, for goodness sake. Hope was naïve to these things but Olivia knew…knew too much about the consequences. She turned away trying to think about the present.

"So are you as flabbergasted as I am?" she whispered. Chase nodded.

"Sometimes, I wish I could be heroes like them." Chase commented leaning back, his hands propping himself up. She smiled.

"You were a hero. You protected me. That is enough for me." Olivia said.

"Do you want to go for coffee…sometime? Not at Kathy's Diner for sure." He asked.

"I thought you would never ask." Olivia smiled at him; she scooted closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her. "Thank you for everything."

"There is nothing like Maple Mondays." He laughed. She raised her eyebrows at him but gave into a laugh. She would sure have a story for Hope when she got home.

-SHIELD NY Branch-

"Natalie Foster, code name Commander- #2354" she stated before walking through to HQ. "You needed me, sir?" She asked Nick Fury who looked like he had more than one thing on his mind.

"Yes, Foster. Meet your new partner. X-23." Nick Fury said. Natalie turned to see a beast of a girl standing there next to him. Natalie pursed her lips together but then opened them.

"I've been fine without Danielle, then Becky, and finally Sergio. They moved on, so can I." Natalie beckoned and X-23 looked irritated. She heard a 'slink' and the girl had razor sharp claws like Logan. She didn't want to get on the wrong side of this girl. "Though this is fine, just fine. X-23 you are more than fit enough to be my partner."

"Good, I'll leave you two to get to know each other." Nick Fury left them. They walked out side by side.

"So, what have you been doing during this time?" she asked before she would be sliced to pieces.

"Been frozen in ice for ten years, so not much." She said with a tone of irritation and with that she disappeared. Natalie had a problem with her new partner and now looking back at all of the other problems to nil she had with her partners before' this was the cherry on top. She thought Danielle's eating problem where they always would have to stop and eat on a mission was the worst. She was far from wrong as possible. Great, just great.

-At The Mutant Academy Dorms-

"Don't you remember when stuff use to be easy?" Mark mumbled, lying on his bed face down so that his voice was muffled.

"What do you mean easy, you mean when we were having the regular ol' Brotherhood X-Men scuffles?" Rainier said reading the newspaper for national boxing match times. Mark turned over on his side and propped his head up on his hand. Rainier gave him a long look with a crooked smile that discomforted him.

"No, don't miss that…really don't miss that. But when we use to not have the national spotlight on us and we use to be kids. I feel like we grew up too fast." Mark commented, ruffling his green hair.

"Well, we had to grow because we had to protect our future. Anyways, where did all this sappy junk come from, Sliders? Are you trying to lose your rep as the 'funny green haired guy' of the house?" Rainier commented. Mark sat up.

"No, I am still just as funny as I was. I was just reminiscing." Mark said in his defense. He twiddled his thumbs and picked up a deck of cards.

"Where is Levi? We need to practice for our next match or we won't get to nationals." Rainier replied, throwing the newspaper down.

"Where do you think? Levi is flirting with the girls. Like always." Mark replied, shuffling the deck from hand to hand.

They heard loud noises from downstairs. They both looked at each other and raced to the doors, scrambling downstairs. The other X-Men had returned from a mission. They saw the entrance doors open to see Camlin and Eric arriving with Ansleigh. The beat up group glanced up the stairs where the boys were standing in the balcony area, they waved at each other. They had just returned from saving the electric plant from shutting off half of the city's electricity. Ansleigh shook her electricity fried hair as they all laughed.

-At the Dawson Apt.-

"Hey, squirt!" Olivia shouted entering the dark apartment. She was alarmed and quickly ran to Hope's room. The room was dark; she turned on the light to see that no one was there. Her heart skipped a beat.

She ran out of the room grabbed her purse and keys when a letter dropped out of her purse. She flipped it over and saw that it was Hope's handwriting. She ripped it open and read it. She gasped, flying out the door.

She couldn't join the X-Men. She couldn't or she would die.