Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men in anyway shape or form. I did not create them. I did not help to write any of the comics, movies, books. Anything at all. I just enjoy them immensely and the manipulation of them that I cause is due solely to the nerdiness of myself, my brother, and any and all of my friends who happen to stumble upon me plotting deep and dark things.

Author's Note: Alright, so I will try to keep as true to the characters as I possibly can. So sometimes there will be a little while between updates but that is because I will be researching/conferring with my brother ( who is a bigger nerd than I am) and trying to make sure that I keep as true to the story line as I can. With that being said, there will be some things that I twist around and mix up. That is simple necessity for my own timeline. In this case (for those of you who know the timeline), this is all happening, after Wolverine looses his adamantium due to Magneto ripping it out. This is also after Josh kills Stryker. So clearly this is after he woke up from that coma and was forced to heal Laura (so she will probably pop in at some random point or another we'll see how that works out). This is before, however, Logan gets the adamantium placed back in his body which means he and his double are bone claw devils. Any further explanations will randomly pop up and appear throughout the story. Hope this isn't too much of a spoiler for everyone.

To Jeanniebird;; Thank you so much for your comment! And actually, as of right now, I don't have really anything planned in the way of the X-Force but we'll see how that goes. The plot isn't set in stone yet. It's got certain points I would like to hit, but it's fluid so you never know!

Chapter One

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, New York

Joshua stared down at the black blob that was currently floating around his wrist lost somewhere in his memories. He had to say that despite his powers, being a mutant generally had a tendency to suck. At the age of nineteen, Joshua had saved and seen more lives lost than should have been legal. He had also taken a life. The thought still made him sick and the black blob on his arm was a constant reminder of the horrible thing he had done in a fit of rage.

A part of him couldn't help but feel that the world was better off without Stryker in it, but that didn't change the fact that he had done it. He had used his wonderful gift for something so dark and twisted that it seemed to have left a visible mark on his soul. And there was nothing he could do to turn back time. Even if he could, he honestly wasn't sure what he would do. He had relieved that moment so many times in his mind and it always seemed like some inevitable end.

He always killed Stryker with his power.

A shudder ran down his spine. Thinking about it only made it worse. But he couldn't seem to stop thinking about it either. Even now as he was working with Hank and learning about how to properly heal people, his mind always went back to that day and the terrible things that he did.

He jumped and bit his lip hard to keep back a cry as a hand touched his shoulder. Turning, he looked up to see Hank McCoy looking down at him. "Um, hey Hank," he managed a weak smile as he looked up at the older man. Much like Joshua, Hank could never fit in with normal people. The blue fur tended to put people off for some reason. Joshua usually barely even noticed it now.

"The professor and I would like to see you up in his office. We have an assignment for you," Hank said with a note of pride in his voice.

Joshua looked at the other man warily. "An assignment?" he asked cautiously. "What kind of project?"

"Come," Hank insisted. "Logan's back. We'll explain everything once you've heard his story. And what a story it is!" The man was absolutely fascinated by it if his happy cry was anything to judge his mood by.

Joshua just stared at Hank for a moment in shock before he scrambled to his feet. "Logan's back?" He was more than a little shocked. He still remembered how Logan had tried to stop him that day so long ago. At least it seemed like a long time ago. In all actuality, according to his own time line at least, it had only been about a month. Then again that was what happened when you had a bad habit of going into comas. Hank started to move down the hall without him. Joshua ran after the older man trying to pry more out of him.

Instead, he found that Hank seemed to be quite content to keep whatever information he had a secret. Joshua finally gave up. It wasn't worth it. Besides, he would find out what this was all about soon enough. And with that thought in mind, he moved into the Professor's office and managed to smile at the sight of Wolverine, a smile that faltered when he realized that there were two of them. "I-I don't understand," Joshua said looking to the Professor for answers.

"Logan why don't you explain your story once more please?"

The Canadian gave Charles a hard look to which the man simply replied with a raised eyebrow. Logan sighed, shaking his head before he turned to Josh. "You weren't there the day I left, but you heard about it. After I moved around. Kitty, asked me to look into some things for her in Scotland. After, I moved around Europe for a while. While I was in Germany, I had a run-in with a man named Donald Pierce. Have you heard of him?"

Joshua nodded slowly unable to look up at Logan.

Logan rubbed his temples. "Than you know how he feels about us," Logan spoke quietly. "He decided that it was my turn." Joshua stared at Logan blankly. He honestly couldn't see where this was all going. What could Pierce, of all people, have to do with whoever the double was in the room? Unless Pierce was the double. Looking at it, Josh quickly negated that thought. No, the other Logan was too...sweet looking if there was any other way to say it. And there was no way that Pierce would be just sitting there quietly doing...nothing.

"He cut off my head."

The words stopped every thought and feeling that had been going through Joshua up until that moment. He was fairly certain he might have even forgotten to breath. His mind understood the words, but he couldn't process them. The words simply lost all sense once they were stringed together in a complete sentence.

A hand shoved him back against his chair and he found himself looking up into old eyes. "I'm not dead," Logan pointed out quietly.

"You should be with that story!" Joshua snapped shooting up and stalking over towards one of the several windows that dotted the room. "And whose that? Your clone!"

Logan crossed his arms over his chest and made a rude noise. "Yeah he could pass for that couldn't he?" Logan asked shaking his head. "But he's not...exactly. He's me Josh. When Pierce cut off my head, a cheap shot mind you," he growled daring anyone to argue that, "Jamie grew from my body."

He still couldn't believe that. Joshua heard the words, but he just couldn't understand how it was possible. "You realize that shouldn't be possible, even for your powers Logan. Professor..."

Charles held up a hand. "I know. I was just as surprised as you when I first heard the tale Joshua. But I've also looked into Logan's mind. It happened. I don't know how. I cannot even begin to explain it or imagine how it could be possible, but it happened. And that is where you come in."

"Me?" Josh asked, turning from the window to look between the four other men. One of them had to let on something, didn't they?

The Professor nodded. "Yes. Hank and I would like you to watch out for Jamie and Logan-" a snort from the latter greeted the idea "-and help them settle back in. There have been a lot of changes around here. You know that better than anyone. Besides, you're one of the only three people beyond Logan and Jamie who knows the truth and I would like to keep it that way. As far as everyone is concerned, Jamie is Logan's son, discovered while he was abroad."

"And people will buy that?"

"Are you going to give them a reason to believe otherwise?" Charles asked watching Joshua carefully. They both knew the answer to that.

Joshua sighed defeated. It looked like his days of brooding alone next to that window of his were done for now. They were finally giving him a real job. He had a feeling that it wasn't going to end well.