"Control. That's what you're here to learn. That's why you're all here."
- Professor Charles Xavier

Atop of the SHIELD headquarters (obstensibly, any other government run building from the outside) a helicopter was quickly descending to the roof pad. This in and of itself was not an unusual occurance, as both Fury and many of his agents quickly made entrances and exits by helicopter over the course of the week as their job demanded. Keeping both America and the world at large safe. But today was unusual even by their practices, and the helicopter's door quickly slid open, disgorging its passengers and sitting like a black eagle, awaiting its new ones, who were currently making their way across the roof. The kicked up wind from the propeller blades made Fury's coat ripple, as did Deborah's blonde tresses, as they fought their way through it to the helicopter.

"And you're absolutely sure about this?!" he shouted over the noise.

"Positive!" she replied, holding up a file and using it as a vain attempt to ward off some of the wind battering at her face. "There isn't any doubt in my mind!"

"Then it's high time we paid the Institute a visit," he said, yanking open the door of the copter and, gallantly, holding it open for her to climb aboard. She did so, securing in her seat as Fury climbed in and slammed the door shut, not even bothering to sit down before he gave the 'go ahead' signal to the pilot. The black helicopter lifted up and off, vanishing into the night, though their trip would be longer than normal. Dark clouds were on the horizon, as well as an occasional flash of lightning.

A storm was coming.

"... Sarah?"

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out.

"... Sarah? Come back."

Darkness faded, silence vanished. Replacing these were the myriad sounds and sights of the Xavier grounds. The rustle of the breeze through the leaves, the green and brown of wildlife, intermixed with white of marble. And as her vision came back into focus, Sarah saw her tutor, as she'd been when they'd started, sitting cross-legged on the ground before her.

Rogue gave an approving nod. "You're doing better. Are ya feeling any bettah?"

Sarah took a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. "I can still feel it. It's... its just waiting. Crouched, like a... like a cougar. Ready to explode and hurt you. All of you."

Rogue nodded, having fully expected that, and shifted position, stretching out her legs which were growing stiff from constantly maintaining the same position. "Ah understand. Ya have no idea how tough it was when Sabertooth first got into mah head. He was the same way. But ya can handle this, Sarah. That thing, that animal, is only as strong as you -let- it be."

Her student nodded, she was used to the mantra by now.

They'd been doing this for about a week now, after all. Every day after school, while the others students were in the Danger Room, she and Rogue were out here on the Institute grounds. Rogue said it was because nature could be a soothing influence. It was a simplicity that the modern world often lacked. Everything there was too fast, too loud, too big. Here... mother nature still reigned supreme. And maybe for Rogue it was comforting out here. But for Sarah, it was calling to her animal instincts. To run, to be free. To hunt, to kill.

And so their lessons had begun, and Rogue had shown her how to cage those instincts. They worked for Sarah, she said. Not the other way around. And it was helping. A little.

"Ah think that's enough for today, let's go inside before it rains," said Rogue, standing. Sarah smoothly followed suit, and the two girls returned to the Institute. Rogue was through the doors and heading towards the kitchen, but Sarah lingered by them as something caught her attention. Frowning, she tilted her head, cupping a hand to her ear to amplify her hearing.

Whupwhupwhupwhup.

Propeller blades. A helicopter.

Her frown deepened as she cast her gaze upwards. Sure enough, there it was. And the SHIELD logo on the side was impossible to ever forget. Despite herself, Sarah felt a shiver of fear stir deep in her heart. And it reached out its icy tendrils to her mind, filling her with terrible images and ideas. Whispering to her to run. Or to fight.

Breath in. Breath out.

The fear subsided... but it was still there. Overhead, thunder boomed ominously.

Logan was in the foyer when Sarah entered, and she instinctively made her way to his side. He would protect her, she reasoned. He cast her barely a glance, but did give a barely perceivable nod to indicate he'd seen her. That was enough to comfort her, a bit. Despite this, it took a great deal of willpower not to move when Agent Fury strode through the doors and into the mansion. To their surprise, he was accompanied. Deborah Risman, followed like a shadow behind the gray-haired agent, her head bowed low, unable to meet the gaze of Logan (well aware of the fact that he didn't like her) but instead seeking out Sarah.

"Dr. Risman," said Sarah hesitantly in greeting. Truthfully, her feelings were mixed with the idea of meeting her again. One on hand, she'd been one of the only people in the whole HYDRA institute who'd ever been nice to her during her time with them. On the other, she was as much responsible for her creation and subsequently hellish life as Wolverine was. Perhaps more so, for he'd not even been aware of her existence until a few years ago, but she'd purposefully created her.

"X23," breathed Deborah in awe, hardly able to believe the young lady standing before her was the same scared little girl who'd fled HYDRA. And then destroyed it.

"It's Sarah now," Logan growled down at her. "She has a name."

"Of course," replied Deborah, shirking back under Logan's fierce gaze. Then she turned back to look at Sarah. At her creation. And she realized her little girl had not only grown up, but grown apart from her. And while she was very proud of that, part of her was also very sad.

"Sarah. It's... it's very nice."

A bolt of lightning split the air, momentarily illuminating the solitary figure to be found crossing the streets of Bayville towards the Xavier Institute's outermost walls. By skill or luck, they had managed to completely evade the sensor system, finding a small weak point that was almost unnoticeable. Thus, they darted across the grass and scaled up the side of the Institute walls without being blasted to pieces or setting off dozens of alarms. There, hidden in the trees, the figure brought up a pair of binoculars, and took careful aim. The view was abysmal at best, but he could see his target well enough through the glass windows of the Institute's kitchen.

X23. She had no idea how closely she was being watched. By himself, by Gauntlet, by half a dozen other agents. He himself was an expert tracker, and he almost had her up in Canada. And right now they had a very keen eye on her. Not inside the Institute grounds itself or in Bayville High, but still damn close. They'd almost had her at the mall. Alas, now was not the time to finish the job... but soon, he suspected, he'd get the order. Very soon indeed. There mere fact that SHIELD was now involved told him things were about to get very interesting.

The agent, still holding his binoculars with one hand, lifted up his other and nudged the side of it, activating his comm. wristband. A secure link was quickly opened up to a fellow agent on the other side. One who knew and worked with frequently.

"We have trouble," he stated.

"How bad?" came the reply, garbled faintly by static. Damn short-range comms, he thoughts.

"Bad enough that our employer needs to be aware," he replied, eyes still locked on the images in the binocular. "Both Fury and Risman just showed up on the Institute grounds. They finally put two and two together."

"That's bad."

Understatement of the year, he mused. "Contact Hydra. I'm going in for a closer look."

"That's against our orders. No contact is..."

He tapped the side of his wrist again.

"I know. Ask me if I care," he growled darkly, tossing the binoculars over his shoulder and into the pack he had secured to his back. Wasting no time, he dropped down from his perch and took off like a shot, running across the institute grounds. His movements were perfectly timed, he completely slipped by the motion sensors. As graceful as a cat he leapt up and grabbed the roof, vaulting up and over, landing in a shadowy crevice not easily noticed. Rain began to fall, splattering against the rooftop, and thus his feather-light landing wasn't even noticed. Nor would Wolverine be likely to pick him up with the storm raging outside. He was virtually invisible to all inside.

So he leaned back, claws digging into the side of the roof to keep him stationary, and tilted his head. And he listened in on a most fascination conversation.

"Let's cut to the chase," broke in Fury. "Believe it or not I do have other assignments to get to. But the good doctor here thinks she knows who the assassin may be."

"I know who it is," she replied softly, her every syllable laced with fear. Her body was bathed in the scent, nearly enough to make both Logan and Sarah sick. "And the agent is undoubtably Hydra.

Logan, observing the strict customs of host, beckoned them in and led them to the kitchen so they could all make themselves comfortable. He took his customary perch on the windowsill, arms crossed, listening. Waiting to pounce on any tidbit of information that was produced. Sarah sat at one end of the table, Deborah at the other. Fury stood behind her while she began her story. Ororo had dropped by to ensure they were comfortable, but had then slipped out, sensing this was a conversation not meant for her ears. At least, not yet.

"The operative... is X24."

"X24?" asked Sarah, puzzled.

"X24 was... is... the next attempt of Hydra to duplicate the Weapon X project. He was born shortly after you were," explained Dr. Risman quietly. Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap, so no one could see they were shaking badly, and she never met Sarah's gaze.

"Another clone of me?" growled Logan dangerously.

"No!" she replied, a bit too quickly. Then, composing herself, she continued "No, not of you, Weap-... er, Logan. When we had such success with... with our cloning techniques on you, we realized there was a wealth of possibilities available not only from the DNA we obtained from you, but also from the other Weapon X operatives whose samples we recovered from the wreckage."

Logan's eyes grew wide at the implications, and he realized several pieces had started to fall into place. That scent he'd picked up in Canada, the Weapon X project connection. All of it.

"X24 is a clone of the Weapon X operative known as Victor Graydon Creed," she replied uneasily. "I... I think you know him now as..."

"Sabertooth."

Outside of the mansion, a bolt of lightning crackled ominously overhead, and properly illuminated the HYDRA agent stationed there. Had anyone been present, it would have given a proper look at the X-Men's latest enemy. X24, the son of Sabertooth.

He was little more than a kid, physically resembling a young boy close to sixteen or so, though chronologically this was not true. His growth had been accelerated in the past few years to make it easier for him to overpower his older sibling. His blonde hair was lighter than the original owner of his DNA, and cut far shorter, in military fashion. A few stray clumps stuck up at odd angles along his head. He was powerful... very powerful. Had he been a high school student, the football teams coach would've sold his soul to the devil to get X24 as his star quarterback. His mouth was closed now, and there was no notice of his elongated canines, but they were there. His uniform, unlike his sisters, was black, skintight armor, the very latest available, covering him from neck to toe, leaving only his hands and head free. A heavy coat covered his upper body, keeping him warm and reasonably safe from the elements.

As he heard his name, he knew his time was up. Gracefully, he leapt up and rolled, landing in a crouch in the yard and sprinting across the Institute. He cut across the river at the far end of the grounds, making sure to wash away his scent so X23 and Wolverine wouldn't be able to track him.

But they'd find him eventually. And he'd finally finish off his little sister.

"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" asked Fury.

Dr. Risman sighed heavily, taking a few moments to collect herself. "I was unaware he'd survived," she finally replied. "Hydra ordered me to create him shortly after the creation of... er... Sarah..." she hastily corrected herself, glancing at the dark-haired girl before her. "He was separated, his progress monitored at another facility. I was informed shortly after Sarah turned seven he'd been terminated. Too dangerous."

"They lied to you," stated Sarah quietly.

"Hydra's trade in stock," spat Logan bitterly.

An uncomfortable silence descended over the table, broken then by Fury, who tugged the toothpick out of his teeth.

"So what can you tell us about X24? What's he capable of? And are there more we should be worried about?" he added. Now there was a chilling thought. Who else could HYDRA have cloned? What other DNA-altered mutants and freaks had they captured and subjected to this abominable procedure. And worse, how many of them were still alive and still under HYDRA's control.

Dr. Risman swallowed nervously. "X24 was created from the DNA of Sabertooth, you already know that. But unlike Sarah, was had an undamaged sample from the original, so there was no need to make genetic modifications. However, from what I am to understand, they wanted to create X24 to control X23... Sarah... in case she ever went rogue. A failsafe measure."

"But she didn't."

"X24 is even stronger and much more dangerous than you are, Sarah," Risman stated softly, finally meeting her gaze. "They felt he was too dangerous even during training, when he was very destructive. He often flew into dangerous rages that make Sarah's look like temper tantrums. And he's stronger than the original Sabertooth. A lot stronger. They wanted him as less of an assassin and more of a... a... a storm," she finally settled on. "If X23 was to be a surgical knife, X24 was to be..."

"A case of C-4," surmised Logan. Great, like father like son.

Sarah growled softly, not liking the picture they were painting of this pseudo-sibling X24. And she'd seen this person in action, though not up close. She somehow doubted she'd enjoyed the experience of a second confrontation. Especially if things got up-close-and-personal.

"And to answer your earlier question, Mr. Fury," Risman stated quietly, turning to face the gray-haired agent. "I do not know. There were others, yes. When we realized the healing factor was the key we tried a number of others, not just Logan and Sabertooth. And after the success with X23 I tried some genetic recomination with some other DNA we'd acquired.. so there are others. At least half a dozen of which I was aware."

Logan sucked in his breath, growling softly at that. Bad odds, even if the whole team was put together.

"I was told they were all destroyed, that they would focus on X23 first to see if the Weapon X procedure worked to bond adamantium. After it did, her training began to interact in a relatively normal environment like the outdoors, and it did not occur to me to ask about the others. I was too busy working with her. I honestly do not know. But... now I am beginning to suspect they are alive. Some of them, at least."

Fury's toothpick snapped between his fingers.

Another uncomfortable silence ensued as each contemplated what had just been said. What it implied, and what it meant for the future of one fifteen year old girl. Sarah was the one who broke it this time, by abruptly sliding out of her chair and making her way out of the kitchen.

"Damn..." swore Logan, starting to go after her. He knew where she'd be going.

"Logan!" called out Fury. Logan skid to a halt, glancing back at his former commander. "Keep her and yourself out of this. We'll handle this X24 and bring him in. And if Hydra is still up and running we'll take care of them too. But the last thing we need right now is you and Sarah interfering. My hands are tied this time."

Logan told him, in no unclear terms, that Fury could go to hell, and take Dr. Risman with him. Fury grumbled, starting to go after him and the girl both, but Deborah placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"This is not your fight, Mr. Fury. And even if it was, X24 is too powerful for even Logan to stop alone. It has to be them both who confront him."

Fury growled, crunching the already broken toothpick in his fist into splinters, but bit back a sharp retort which wasn't fit for company. Instead, he settled for using his one good eye to glare at Logan's back, hoping he'd burst into flame. But he knew Risman was right. If these agents were half as dangerous as they were being painted, they were tough. Fury had seen one mutant tear through whole platoons of his men in mere minutes, and he had no doubt X23 could easily do the same if she was inclined.

So they would have to fight fire with fire, and hope the X-Men were up to it.

Didn't mean he liked it though.

Logan stalked off down the corridor, trying to catch up to Sarah. But by the time he spotted her she'd already boarded the elevator heading to the lower levels. The doors were already sliding shut, and her expression told him in no uncertain terms not to follow her. Cursing darkly, he headed to the stairs.

He didn't find her right away. Mistakenly he'd gone straight to the hangar, but both the XM Velocity and the Blackbird were still in place. He found her instead in the equipment room. And not gathering weapons, as he'd suspected, but sitting in the far corner, legs drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Shaking like a leaf in a storm. No tears had fallen yet, but her expression gave little doubt they would be coming soon.

Logan dropped down into a crouch beside her, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder. She just continued to stare straight ahead, not acknowledging his presence.

"Kid, you okay?"

"... it just doesn't die," she finally said. "Can't die. It just grows another head. We can't kill the Hydra... we can't...!" she said hysterically, finally turning her terrified gaze to look up at her pseudo-father.

"We can and will," he responded firmly. "Sarah, you listen to me and you listen good. We'll stop this guy. All of us, together. You're part of a team now, and the X-Men will always be there for you."

"No!" she said, shaking him off and slipping away. "It's because of me you're all in danger. I'll... I'll take care of X24. He's my responsibility."

"The hell he is," replied Logan with a frown.

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt," she said darkly, turning her back to him, rummaging through one of the shelves to find some of Rogue's razor-disks. "I'll face him alone."

"You'll die alone," Logan stated as a matter of fact.

"No one'll miss me," she said, finally finding the items she sought and giving them a quick inspection, flipping one open. Razor blades sprung from either end, and she nodded in approval.

"If you think that then you need a serious eye-opener, kid." She turned, about to protest, but he cut her off. "And yes, I said kid because it's what you are. Look, I know exactly how tough you are. I should know better than anyone. But you're not the only one here who cares about people getting hurt. And I guarantee everyone upstairs... everyone... doesn't want to see you get hurt anymore than you want to see us hurt. So wake up!" he roared at her.

Sarah, pushed to a breaking point, snapped. This was too much. This was too much!

Screeching like a wildcat, she hurled herself at Logan, left claws sliding free of her knuckles in seconds, ready to tear him apart. Free of its cage, her instincts lashed out at the nearest thing it could. Logan, however, was amply prepared, and his own left claws popped free with a distinct 'snickt' sound, neatly blocking hers. His arm twisted, and he held her in place, as he'd done the night they'd first met. For a while she just howled at him, tears flying from her eyes as she struggled to hurt him like he'd hurt her. But he stood his ground, and eventually, all the fight drained out of her.

She cried as her claws slid back into their sheaths, falling forward as Logan caught her, engulfing her in his arms and just letting her cry. She was tough, he knew. And damn good. But she wasn't thinking straight, so he forgave her attack on him.

HYDRA, however, he'd never forgive. Ever.

"We all care about you, Sarah. You're one of us," he said gently, patting the back of her head. "You don't have to do this alone anymore."

Rumor and gossip being what they were, coupled with living with such extraordinary individuals as the X-Men, meant that information circulated quickly. By the time Logan and Sarah re-emerged from the basement, virtually everyone could be found in the living room.

Waiting for them.

Almost as one, the younger students all but engulfed Sarah, who had to fight her instincts to flee once again as they wrapped their arms around her in what were supposed to be comforting hugs and pats on the back. It was punctuated by heartfelt apologies and sympathies towards her plight, coupled with a few good natured, if violent, comments about what they were going to do if anyone tried to hurt her.

Jamie summed it up as her clung to her, as if afraid she'd go if he released her.

"You're part of the family now."

She managed a smile at that. Forced herself to smile at that.

"Thank you... all of you. I never knew what it was like to have a family before this. But now I do. And I could not be more grateful for all of your help."

"Don't worry, Sarah, we deal with guys like this every weekend," stated Bobby. "These Hydro guys try anything with you..."

"Hydra," corrected Scott, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Right them. They try anything I'll drop some ice down their shorts."

Sarah laughed at that, but it was bittersweet. The mental image was amusing but... she realized none of them could take this seriously. None of them knew Hydra like she did. Not even Wolverine. But she allowed none of her thoughts to betray her surface as she just asked politely if it was nearly dinnertime, and the Institute family made their way to the dining room to eat.

They loved her, she realized. And she loved them. More than anything in this world.

But that only made what she had to do... all that much harder.

Or maybe it was better this way.

Author's Notes:
And so introduces X24, for whom the original story had been named.