Changes Sequel III: War and Epilogue Chapter 19, a x-men: the movie fanfic

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Quote from "Requiem for a Dream".

Reference to "Changes Sequel 1 – Darkness: Chapter 26"

Changes Sequel – III. War + Epilogue Part 19

Daken looked at the women with cold and unreadable eyes. He knew very well who she was, but she didn't have to know that. He gave her another resigned look before he left her standing in the corridor and contemplated if he should just kill Kyle right away or let him slowly bleed out. It still pissed him off that he was unable to find Pyro. A whiff of his pheromones would be enough to make that man beg to please him. Right now Pyro ranked the highest on his mental list of who to kill in case he lost his mate. Mate… Daken shook his head in disgust. He was no animal, he didn't think in such categories. He was better than all of them, smarter, dangerous, he could do whatever he wanted, when he wanted and who he wanted. He smirked and the smirk soon turned into a half-grin. Yes, he could have anyone he wanted. A look was usually enough and he had a girl or guy or both on each finger. He could choose who he wanted and no one could tie him down ever. It was he who made the rules, so who cared if that speedster died?!

As he looked into the room again and saw the pale man lying in bed he felt a pang to the stomach. He did. He cared. He couldn't deny this anymore. He didn't want and couldn't lose him… But Northstar was closer to death than life, his senses told him so. If he were a predator and the speedster his prey, he wouldn't even bother to attack him. He'd wait and let nature take its course. His dark eyes narrowed as Frost stepped next to him, accidentally brushing over his back. He only had to swing around. She wouldn't see the attack coming. If he was fast enough, and he always was, his claws would cut swiftly through her throat. She wouldn't even be able to make a noise…

"Hm…," she made and wrinkled her nose. "I thought Northstar and his toyboy had broken up? Well…looking at him they will break up soon anyway…" She shrugged and didn't notice how Daken's eyes narrowed to slits. With gritted teeth he extracted his claws a bit, but retracted them as their eyes met. He hated her smile, her scent, her looks,…her whole existence… "Now… Will you show me to your boss, Daken, or do you have anything else on mind that needs to be done first?"

"Yes… Killing you…," he muttered and she laughed.

"You're funny! Now show me to your boss, handsome," Emma demanded and began walking towards the door to their left. As he didn't follow, she turned around, confused. "Well…?"

He huffed and buried his hands in his pockets. He reminded himself to finally get a shirt… "As I said," Daken told her arrogantly, "I don't take orders." With that he entered the ICU and left her standing there.

"I'll tame you handsome. Mark my words…," Emma muttered and left the corridor, nose high up in her search for someone in charge. Her way led her past the rec-room in which Ororo was sitting with Elektra, Susan Storm and some others. While TJ was sitting on her lap and thumping through a book, Tommy was playing with Jamie, Nick and Ben on the ground. Emma watched the scene and overheard them discussing some funeral. Wondering who it was, her eyes fell on the children. "Well, the X-Men surely have too much free time on their hands…," she thought as Jamie suddenly looked at her and a jolt shot through her mind. Pained, she let out a brief shout that made everyone of the gathered group turn their heads and she grabbed hers in her hands. Surprised, Emma looked at the boy that was pointing at her while trying to get the attention of an adult.

"She mean, Aunty 'roro," the boy said and Ororo couldn't help but smile.

"How right you are, sweetheart," she said while looking at the blonde. "I see you finally woke up and look like your old bitchy self, Emma."

"Aren't we nice today, Storm?" Frost asked and crossed her arms. She wondered who that child was, could feel that he was a powerful telepath already. Doing the math, the child could only belong to two people… "Whose brat is it? Did no one teach him that it's rude to attack someone's mind as a telepath?"

"Well, I don't know, Emma, but I'm sure Jamie doesn't like another telepath probing his mind," Ororo returned the favor. "I just let the Professor know that you've awaken. He asks you to wait for him right there."

Emma looked around the room. If she was not mistaken the mansion had looked very different the last time she'd been in it. The walls didn't look wooden anymore, rather…metallic. "What did you do to your pretty mansion?" she asked rather snobbishly and raised an eyebrow.

Ororo gave her an annoyed look. "You don't watch a lot of TV, do you?" was all she said before she turned back to the group to further discuss the funeral. "I'm pretty sure that Bobby can do something about the snow."

"We don't have caskets…," Susan Storm said and almost didn't dare to say the word. "We can't just put them into some….bags…"

"We'll find a solution…," Ororo replied, her voice throaty. She still couldn't believe it. To her it seemed like minutes ago that she and Kitty had joked about Peter Parker getting glued to the fridge. And now… Sighing, she ran a hand over her face and shook her head. "It's like a nightmare…"

"Well if I had to live here, I'd be depressed too…," Emma commented and was still occupied with taken everything in. Her eyes fell on a man in his late 20s that came quickly closer and was looking right at her. Well, of course he was. Which man wouldn't? Except for Northstar that is…

"Emma, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon," Charles said and gave her a weak smile. "Shall we? I explain everything on the way." He beckoned her to follow him as he noticed her odd look. "Ah, I'm sorry. Some things happened while you were…gone," he told her. "But, yes I'm me, this is not a trick or joke. I'll explain everything. Do you mind?" he asked once more and she followed him slowly.

Elektra waited a moment until she was sure that the two telepaths were out of earshot. "Who was that?"

"Someone not worth being mentioned called Emma Frost," Ororo told her.

"Your relationship seems to be pretty icy…"

"You can say that. The Professor threw her out last time she was staying with us."

"May I ask why?" Susan asked.

"She was hitting on Logan. When he showed her the cold shoulder she manipulated us into believing that he assaulted her," Ororo told them the short version. "She can't be trusted." Her eyes fell on Jamie, who was being hugged by Tommy. "Even Jamie can already figure this out. Isn't that so, sweety?"

Nodding, Jamie looked back at her, still being hugged by Tommy. "She mean."

"I swear Logan will go into a fit. Jean too…," Ororo sighed and looked up when Hank walked past the door, obviously on his way to the ICU. Even if it was only for a short moment that she had seen her friend's face, she had been able to see the concern on his face. She only hoped that it didn't mean another death had occurred…

As Hank reached the ICU he was overwhelmed by the chilly air. It wasn't so much the room itself that oozed coldness, but the two men that were staring each other down. He greeted Narya, who looked very tired and was holding Northstar's hand, with a nod and took the chart before he began to check up on the vitals. He didn't like what he saw but tried to keep his face neutral. Daken, however, picked up on it due to his heightened senses and gave him a look.

"How's he doing, Hank?" Narya asked, clearly tired and gave him a hopeful look.

Hank sighed and scribbled some notes down before he put the chart away again. "Not good at all. His circulation is hardly keeping up anymore…"

"Which means?" Kyle asked and Hank met his eyes.

"That he needs a donation soon or he'll die," Daken summarized and glared at the man. "Isn't that so, McCoy?" he asked arrogantly and quite aggressively, whereupon Hank nodded. "Pyro isn't here. As far as I figured out he's on a mission, so who knows when he'll come back. Now explain again why you can't just take my blood or my father's!"

Hank narrowed his eyes at the way the feral was talking to him. "Jean-Paul has a very rare blood type, plus a healing factor on his own that works different from yours. By using your or your father's blood we'd risk a complete collapse, since what's remaining of his healing factor would attack yours or Logan's blood."

Daken looked at him in a neutral way. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall. "So… As far as I remember my father donated a liver and blood to Summers once and my father's blood adapted to Summer's blood…"

"Scott doesn't have a healing factor…"

"No, but am I not right that a body, no matter if in possession of a healing factor or not, would attack blood cells that are not compatible with the host's body?" Daken asked and Hank began to frown. "So explain again why there's a problem to use my blood for example that adapts to another person's body and heals much faster than my father's…"

"I don't like your attitude, boy!" Hank growled and made Daken huff.

"And I am losing my patience here, old man," the feral gave back and both men seized each other up for a coffin. "Without a donation he'll die, right? The only person capable of donating isn't here and we don't know when he'll return, isn't that so? I know how a healing factor works, furball. I know that a healing factor is pretty much non-existing with that much damage done. So how about finally getting your paws to work? Because I can already assure you," Daken snarled and, with a predator-like walk, came slowly closer, his eyes staring into Hank's, "that you will have hell to pay, if you let him die!"

"Are you threatening me?" Hank snarled back and made a step forward, his teeth bared.

"No… I was rather thinking about hurting your wife and that bastard kid of yours," Daken said and, before Hank could aim for his throat, had his fist out and placed under Hank's chin. "Two claws unfortunately. The wrist-claw however will go straight to your brain…," he remarked and his eyes darkened. "Help him. Right. Now!"

Hank waited a moment and finally pushed Daken away. His face was a mask of anger and disgust. "I liked you more with your memory gone," he admitted and straightened his clothes. His eyes fell on Northstar, who had become even paler than before, then on the machines that were keeping him alive and lastly on Kyle and Narya, who both looked shock but hopeful at the same time. "If he dies, my boy…," Hank said through gritted teeth, "then this is entirely on you!"

"Get to work!" Daken ordered and held out his right arm.

"Sit down…," Hank demanded and prepared everything.

"Hold on…," Kyle interrupted and got up. "He can die for sure if that donation goes wrong, right?"

"Yes…," Hank said while he began to draw blood.

"Then you won't give him that!"

Daken glared at him. "Listen, fruitcake, and just stand there and look pretty," he growled at him. "He will die, too, if he doesn't receive a donation soon, even if he does it might already be too late."

"Are you a medic?!" Kyle snapped and came closer, his arms crossed.

"No, it's called heightened senses, which tell me pretty accurate how he is doing and I can assure you that he won't survive the next two hours without blood!" Daken replied through gritted teeth.

"You, asshole, are in no position to decide this!" the other man snapped at him, clearly angered. "I won't allow it!"

"Ohhh…" Daken nodded theatrically. "You won't allow it, I see… Let me think…" He made a gesture and acted as if he was really thinking hard. "You can decide this because…?"

"I have been with him for almost 8 years, I love him and he was my husband. How long are you with him? A couple of weeks?! You don't deserve someone like him! Plus, you can't feel, you don't know what loving someone feels like or what caring for someone feels like. You, pretty boy, are just an empty shell!" Kyle vented and glared at Daken, who rewarded him with an arrogant smile, while his blood was filling a bag.
"Just let me get this straight… The marriage didn't happen. You left him because you can't deal with him being a mutant and you being a worthless, powerless homo sapien! And as far as I remember….he loves me very much," he said gleefully and his smirked widened. "At least he definitely never moaned your name every time we did it, darling. Hate to disappoint you."

"Are the two of you done?! This is an ICU and not a kindergarten!" Hank interrupted the fight and before Kyle could say something in return. Instead, the African-American huffed and left the room, clearly boiling with anger. Hank was only able to shake his head. "You my boy should really work on your empathy!"

"I lack it. Hate to disappoint you," Daken said and chose to ignore him. Instead, he turned his head in order to look at Northstar.

"Who would have thought…," Hank mocked in return and retreated after informing him that it would take an hour for the process to be done.

Narya looked at Daken for a long moment and the mutant, who felt her eyes upon him, finally turned to give her an annoyed look. "What?!"

"Why do you always push people away that actually care about you or try to be your friend?" she asked.

"You really want to know?" he mocked.

"Yes."

"Because I don't give a damn about anyone of you. If it was up to me all of you could rod somewhere," he said and smirked at her shocked look. "What? If you expected anything else you are quite dumb, sweetheart." He was taken aback though when Narya simply smiled. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to read her, but he had to give it to the woman… She was good in hiding her thoughts.

"You know what I think?" she said and got up, placing a kiss to Northstar's cold forehead before she went over to the door. "I think you simply don't know how to deal with people caring for you. So you get scared and push them away before they can actually realize that you are just afraid of being hurt or left again."

"You bore me…" He faked a yawn and looked away.

"And you can't fool me. You wouldn't have made such a scene just now, if that wasn't the case," she said and left him to glare at the door.

Nick Fury was standing at the window and looking outside. For the past hour he had listened to Black Widows explanations and had tried to find a solution to all this mess. "What about the helicarrier?" he finally asked and turned around.

"No idea." Natasha shrugged. "All I know is that Apocalypse men practically killed the US government. The whole East Coast is his and he is still replacing the leaders in the remaining states. It's only a matter of time before he strikes."

Fury sighed and shook his head. "How many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are in his hand?"

"You mean besides the men he killed and those that are still MIA?" Natasha asked. "I don't know… 65%? I don't know what happened to those that were with me. I guess they were killed." Fury's face remained unreadable. "So what is the plan? Attack?"

"How? We don't know where to start…"

"Excuse me?" she said and crossed her arms. "We've got the world's most powerful and most dangerous mutants here! There must be a way!"

"And still every attack resulted in death or failure. We need to plan this very carefully," he replied. "We only got one chance to kill Apocalypse. Just one!"

She threw her hands up in the air. "Then how about we're getting started?!"

"It's not that easy, Natasha…," Banner, who had remained silent up to now and was sitting on the sofa to Fury's right, said. "We've seen what Apocalypse is capable of. To get through to him alone is a task that needs careful planning. And don't forget about his riders…"

Fury raised his head. "He still has those?" he asked surprised and received a nod. "Do we know who?"

"The Death one looked suspiciously like Wolverine," Natasha said.

"No, Logan's here," Fury shook his head. "It must be one of those Devils that Sinister created."

"A mean creation if you ask me. That Death horseman can duplicate itself like Multiple Man. He is very dangerous…," Banner told him. "As far as we know Apocalypse always keeps him close by. Death is his personal guard next to a specific Deathlok."

"Blaze confirmed that this Deathlok is the leader of the Deathlok squadron," the readhead added. "Famine is Alex Summers aka Havok and Pestilence is Lorna Dane aka Polaris." She noticed the frown on Fury's face. "What?"

"Our information was that both of them died during the attack on the X-Mansion."

"I can assure you they are very much alive…"

Fury nodded. "Makes three. Leaves one. War?"

"Yours truly…," Banner stated barely audible and gave him a shy smile as Fury's eye met his. "Don't worry though, Natasha set my head straight again."

Fury looked at her.

"True. He's our old Bruce."

"I hope so…," Fury said. He looked outside of the window once more, his mind going through every possible scenario. "We'll wait until Cap regains consciousness. Then we'll start planning our next steps."

"Then we'll better hope he'll wake up soon. Because we are running out of time!" Black Widow said and left the room. She headed over to the ICU and entered the third room to the right where she looked at the figure in the bed before she sat down on the stool next to it. Hours went by and she had almost dozed off as the door opened and Bruce came in.

"How is the patient?"

Natasha shrugged and gave Barton a brief look. "How's the Captain?

"Healing," Banner said and checked up on the medical equipment. "Fury doesn't trust me…"

"Fury doesn't trust anyone…," Natasha replied and yawned. They kept on talking for a while until Bruce went to bed. She was about to get comfortable in the way to small stool as she heard Clint sighing. Surprised, she leant forward a bit. "You awake?"

"Hardly…," he muttered and forced himself to open his eyes a bit. It took him a moment to realize who was sitting next to him. "Tasha…"

"Banner said you need rest. So go on sleeping, Barton," she replied matter-of-factly and tried to keep her cool. Inside, she was glad that he had woken up.

A small smile became visible on Hawkeye's lips as he closed his eyes again. "Yeah… I'm glad to see you too, Nat…," he said and knew she was smiling too.

Tony had enough of it. Angrily, he mauled the iron of his suit, his mind completely elsewhere. It had been almost a week and Pepper was still completely ignoring him. Not to mention that he hated himself, hated the back and muscle pain he had gotten from this god forsaken sofa and pretty much hated everything around him right now. His mood was obviously bad enough that everyone stayed clear of him and even had done so during the funeral a couple of days ago. Just the thought of one of his best and longest friends dead at the hand of their worst enemy, made his mood drop even further below zero. As a door slid open, he didn't bother to look up. Instead, he gave the metal that wouldn't do as he wanted a harsh kick.

"It's not the metal fault that you're being an ass…"

This again made Tony look up with a glare. "Back from the nearly dead?" he asked Cap, who was leaning against the doorframe, still looking kind of pale. "And there my dream of seeing a Capsickle goes…"

"Seriously, Tony," Cap said in his usual Cap-knows-best-voice said and crossed his arms. "What were you thinking?!"

"Doing what? Moping?" Tony asked sarcastically and dropped the hammer to the ground, his eyes looking around for the next tool.

"Pepper! What were you thinking?"

"Don't know what you're talking about. Plus, it's none of your business."

"Which means you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Tony rolled his eyes. Cap was being Cap again. "You were saying?" he mocked and went on working on his suit.

"I'd like to know what your problem is," Steve suddenly said right next to him and their eyes met. "You love Pepper more than anything else. You proposed to her, you kept on going on my nerves by telling me that you have to get the perfect ring for her and then you hurt her?"

"I did?"

"Could you stay serious for once?!" Cap gave his opposite an annoyed look.

"Just let me get this straight…," Tony said and moved around his suit, his eyes on Cap. "So you wake up, walk away from the ICU, run into Pepper and she immediately tells you….what?!"

"Actually Deadpool told me…"

"Dead…?!" Tony began and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "That's it. I'm gonna kill him. Jarvis? Note that down!"

"Done, sir," the AI confirmed. "May I ask how you intend to kill a mercenary with a healing factor?"

"Painful. Bloody and painful. Note that down too!"

"As you wish, sir."

"Tony?" Cap did a small wave with his hand. "Back to the topic!"

"What exactly did he tell you anyway?" Tony demanded to know and was leaning back against the table while he was staring at the blond.

"That Pepper is expecting your baby and that you are ignoring her, after telling her that you don't want a baby," Cap summarized matter-of-factly.

"I NEVER said I don't want a baby with her!" Tony snapped angrily.

"Then why is she so upset?!" Cap asked and wasn't intimidated the merest by Tony's glare. "She's hurt! Tony you screwed up once with her when you decided to use this Extremis virus on yourself, then you started drinking heavily when she left you and I need you sober and with a clear head! We are at war here!"

"Oh, and you think I don't know that?!" Tony snapped and moved over to him, not caring that the door wasn't closed at all and others could listen in. "Do you see me drinking? Am I drunk? Do I smell of alcohol?!"

Steve groaned. "You got it wrong. That's not what I meant. What I meant was…"

"…that I'm a loser? That I fucked up again? That Pepper deserves better than me?!" Tony listed and his opposite began to frown at him. Sighing, the brunette ran both hands over his face. The lack of sleep was really getting to him.

"Tony… What is bothering you?" Cap asked since he sensed that there was more to it than he understood right now. He stepped away from the door, not bothering to close it. "You hurt her, you keep away from her, but at the same time you say that you don't mind her being pregnant… Help me out here because I don't get it…"

"Me neither…," someone suddenly said behind them and both men turned just to notice Pepper standing in the doorway. "Hi Steve. How are you feeling?" she asked matter-of-factly and he shrugged.

"Okay. And you?"

"Fine," she replied and walked over to Tony to drop a file on his crowded desk. "From Fury." Before Tony could say anything she had turned back around and was heading for the door again.

"Hold it!" Cap said and took her by the arm, then blocked the door. "You'll stay here. Both of you and you'll talk!"

"No." The redhead shook her head.

"Yes! We are at war. The real war might start tomorrow, you might be dead in one hour, who knows. And then you'll regret not having settled this," he told her and Pepper looked away, her arms crossed. "You love each other! This is not only about the two of you anymore, so settle this!" he demanded and locked the door from the outside behind him. "You have one hour! I'll be back then," he let them know and left.

The former couple remained on the spot, Pepper facing the door, arms still crossed and Tony few meters behind her, at a loss of words and nervous as hell. "Pepper?"

"Save it, Mr. Stark!" was all she said and heard him sighing behind her.

"Pepper, I'm trying here, okay? Cut me some slack!" he begged and wished he hadn't because the glare she was giving him as soon as she had turned to face him was a match to Wolverine's. If not even worse…

"Cut you some slack?!" she snapped and came closer, which made him back off against the desk.

"Pepper…"

"I tell you that I'm pregnant, Tony, and you do not only snap at me, you ignore me and treat me like some of your cheap one night stands! You are the last person who deserves cutting some slack!" the redhead nearly shouted at him in anger and he quickly raised both hands in hope she would calm down again. "From all the things you did so far, Mr. Stark, this is really…"

He began to frown as she suddenly stopped talking and supported herself on the desk with closed eyes. It was then that he noticed she looked kind of paler than usual. "Pepper?"

"I'm fine, don't touch me!" she said and slapped his hand away but he refused to let go of her arm.

"You look close to fainting. Sit down!"

"I'm fine!"

"Sit. Down!" Tony demanded and finally pushed her gently down on a nearby stool, then went to get some water. "Here," he handed it to her and took her wrist to check up on her pulse, much to her dismay. "Your pulse is way too fast!"

"Oh really?" Pepper huffed and tore her arm away. "Might have something to do with you."

"Pepper…," he tried once more, but she would have none of it.

"Just save it, Tony!"

"Would you just let me explain?!"

"Explain what?" Pepper snapped. "You don't want a baby, I happen to be pregnant from you so you don't want anything to do with me. I got it!"

"I want this baby with you! What I don't want is to turn into my own father, who never told me that he loved me or liked me and who thought that putting it on a stupid video tape would make up for years of pushing me around like some meaningless thing! If Fury hadn't given me that box, I highly doubt I would have ever found out about that tape!" he snapped back, loudly and clearly angry. It earned him a speechless and shocked look from her. "And what I also don't want is to screw this up and to lose you and the baby because I suck at maintaining relationships, Pepper, and you know that. It's only a matter of time before I do something stupid again and you will leave for good. Or someone will come for you and the baby. I nearly lost you to the Mandarin. Something like this can happen again. What if I'm on a mission or not there to protect you then? Or what is with right now? We are at war here. Chances that we'll survive are slim. What if something happens to you? Or to me? Who's gonna protect you with Rhodey dead?" he asked and it took him a moment to realize that she was staring at him agape. "What is it? Do you need to throw up?" he quickly handed her a bucket. "Or a doctor? I can tear that door down easily!" he said and was about to head over to the door as she quickly reached for his hand and pulled him into a stop. "What is it?!"

"You're afraid…"

He tried to play it down. "Me? No!"

Pepper rolled her eyes and let go of his hand. "No, of course not…," she muttered and looked away. "You only just admitted it in one endless monologue, Tony. And it's okay. I'm scared too. I never had a child before and I know you well enough by now…"

He nodded before he came to realize something. "Hold on… So you are having doubts because of me?!"

"Of course I do. What if you don't want this child? What if someone kidnaps it? What if something goes wrong? Or what if you first decide you want it and then realize one day that you want out? Especially because I know you, Tony, I am having doubts." She noticed that he was looking at her completely speechless. "You know it's true!"

"I love you!"

"I know you do. But this is not about just you and me anymore. It's about you and me and a baby," she told him and was once more annoyed how he started fidgeting with a part of his suit. "Put it away, Tony, before I am going to punch you!"

He did, but not without starting to wildly gesticulate. "I know that!" he insisted and an uncomfortable silence spread between them. While Pepper looked away, Tony kept on looking at her. "Pepper…"

"What, Tony?" she asked without looking up and was surprised when he suddenly cupped her face to kiss her lovingly.

"Just to make sure you got it. I love you and I want this baby with you. And I'll do anything to protect what we have," he assured her and held her gaze, finally earning a smile from her.

"I'm just worried about everything with how things are at the moment…," she said and took his hand into hers, allowing him to pull her close.

"I think everyone of us is…" He sighed and kissed the side of her head, both of them looking up as the door was opened again and Cap peeking inside.

"Wow… So it actually worked?" he asked after seeing them arm in arm. "Damn, I'm good…"

"Go away, Capsickle!" Tony groaned and pressed a button on his notebook, which caused the door to close again.

"Hold on!" Pepper said after seeing it. "So you were able to open the door just by pressing a key all the time?!" she asked and received a sheepish grin from him. "Tony!"

Hank was occupied with scribbling notes down on his chart as his eyes fell on his patient. To his greatest surprise two very tired, incredibly blue eyes looked back at him. Hank almost let his chart fall. "My boy, that's a surprise…," he said in a hushed voice since Daken was still sleeping, his head resting on his arms that were supporting him on the sick bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Half dead…, drugged…, high…," Jean-Paul listed, his voice hoarse. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. His ears were ringing, he felt like being underwater for too long. "How long…?"

"Almost a week. You can thank your crazy boyfriend that you are still alive actually," Hank told him and Northstar frowned.

"Why…?"

"He blackmailed me into giving you a blood donation with his blood, even though there was a 90% chance that it would kill you for sure."

"Sounds like him…"

Hank nodded and reached out to touch the speedster's forehead. "I don't think you will be up and running so soon, my friend…" He looked at the man for a while. "You don't look good at all. As soon as you feel up for I'd like to check up on your weight loss. From your face alone I can tell you lost quite a lot."

"Fast metabolism… Can suck sometimes…," Northstar muttered and his eyes fluttered close. "Tired…"

"Then sleep," Hank said and patted Northstar's hand. He turned around and tended a file again as the machines suddenly began to beep warningly. "What the…" Hank headed quickly over to the bed again, his eyes scanning the screens for information.

"What's wrong?!" Daken, who had been roughly awaken by the beeping asked and looked at him alarmed.

"I have no idea. Do me a favor and get Moira and Jean. NOW!" Hand ordered and, while Daken ran out of the room, he put the comforter aside and began a cardiac massage. It appeared to him as an eternity before Daken was back, Moira and Jean right behind him.

"What happened?" his wife asked, but he shook his head.

"I don't know. One moment he was talking to me, then he said he was tired and I had barely turned around as he went into cardiac arrest. I already tried adrenaline, he is not responding," Hank told them while still doing CPR and watched how Moira set up the defibrillator.

"We need you to leave!" Jean told Daken and pushed him gently out of the room.

"No!"

"Please!" she demanded and he watched helplessly how the door went shut right in front of his face. Daken remained on the spot, eyes wide as he listened in to what was going on on the inside.

It was for Logan to nearly bump into his eldest son as he was on his way back to the gym. He frowned as the feral didn't respond or react to his question and simply watched him headed further down the corridor. "Kids these days…," Logan shrugged and had barely entered the gym as he heard Jean's voice speaking to him mentally.

"Logan?"

"What is it, darlin'?"

"Did you see Akihiro?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You need to find him before he does something stupid!"

He frowned. So he hadn't been wrong in noticing that her voice sounded off. "Darlin', what happened?!" Logan asked but there was no immediate reply. "Jeannie?"

"Jean-Paul is dead. He went into cardiac arrest all of a sudden. He didn't respond to any treatment…"

"Damn it…," he cursed and set into a run, asking everyone that crossed his way if they had seen his son. In the end, he found him on the outside, far away from the hideout and staring at the ocean. "Son?" Logan asked and came carefully closer. He already noticed from afar that his son was trembling, the shoulders shaking while he was hugging himself. As their eyes met Logan grew seriously concerned. He had never seen this expression in the younger feral's eyes. His son seemed to be completely lost, confused and desperate.

"My chest hurts…," Daken croaked and was heaving deep breaths, his eyes having trouble to focus on anything at all. Same was the case for his usual so sharp mind. He couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate, couldn't grasp one tiny thought. His heartbeat wouldn't calm down either, his chest hurt like hell and he didn't understand what the hell was wrong with him. "Make it stop…," he begged and got even more confused as his father simply hugged him tight.

"It's normal t'feel that way after losing someone ya love, son," Logan explained and held him close. "I'm sorry…," was all he could say and didn't know what else he could say. He sucked at this… He couldn't tell for how long they were standing like this or what he should do. Jean or the Professor would be better at handling such a situation. After a long moment, Logan let go of his son and looked at him. Daken's demeanor hadn't changed one bit. "If ya need someone t'talk t'…," he began but his son kept on staring past him. "C'mon, let's go back inside…"

They had barely reached the inside again as Cap crossed their way. "I was looking for you, Logan!"

"Can it wait?"
"Not really, no," the blond replied and frowned at the two ferals in confusion. "Fury said you have a sword that can kill those Devils for good?"

"Yeah. The Muramasa blade," Logan nodded and his eyes darted towards his son, who was still impassive. "Why?"

Cap crossed his arms over his chest. "We are making plans for an attack. So that sword is here. That's good."

"No, it ain't." Logan shook his head and received a confused look. "I hid it in Japan the last time I went there."

"Why?"

Logan glanced at Daken, who wasn't looking back at him. "In case he tried to kill me again…"

"Can you get it?" Cap asked. "We need it in case we need to act soon."

Logan thought about it. If he was honest to himself he didn't want to leave right now, couldn't in fact. Jean could need his help with Jake, he needed to be here in case of an attack, he didn't want to leave his children and, especially now, he wanted to be there for his eldest. "No… Not now." He shook his head.

"Logan… We need to act soon. Fury has some intel that Apocalypse is planning something soon. We need to be prepared. You could make that trip in a few hours with the jet!" Cap suggested and the feral heaved a deep breath.

"Fine. But yer gonna call me as soon as somethin' happens!" Logan demanded before he took his son by the arm. "'n yer comin' with me. Ain't gonna leave ya outta my sight for now."

Finally, Daken looked back at him, his dark eyes unreadable. "Why? Afraid I'm going to jump off that cliff?" he asked in an emotionless voice.

"Yeah," his father replied honestly. "Or that ya feelin' provoked 'n gonna kill someone." He turned back to Cap. "I'm gonna take the jet. Should be back in a couple of hours."

Cap nodded once. "Thanks. I'll let the others know. Be careful!" He had walked a few steps as he turned back around, slowly walking backwards. "And call in as soon as you're there!" he added before he went his way. Lost in thoughts he walked around a corner and bumped into someone shorter than him. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Cap said and, after he had regained his composer, thought his heart would stop beating. He stared at the blonde woman in front of him, completely forgetting to help her up. She had the same face, exactly the same face as…

"I see you're better, Cap," Bucky suddenly said behind him and gave him a pat. He looked at the blonde. "I see you already met Sharon Carter?"

"Nice to finally meet you, Captain!" the woman said and held out her hand for Cap to shake.

"Carter…?" Cap mumbled and was still staring at her.

"I think you can let go of her hand…," Bucky whispered into his ear.

"I'm sorry," Cap said and withdrew his hand. "It's just… You remind me of someone special…"

"Peggy Carter perhaps?" Sharon asked and crossed her arms, smiling as she noticed the surprise in the legends eyes. "She's my aunt."

"Aunt…," he muttered and all of a sudden wanted to ask so many questions, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Rendered speechless he kept staring at her, saw that she was speaking but was too lost in his thoughts. It wasn't before Bucky elbowed him that he awoke from his stupor.

"Love at first sight?"

"What?"

Bucky chuckled. "Well, I can tell you a secret," he said and put an arm around his best friend's shoulder, leading him away, "She's hot and she's totally taken with you. So if you want an advice… Go for it!"

Cap huffed. "Don't be ridiculous…"

"Why not?"

"We've got our hands full with other things, Bucky."

The man shrugged. "So? Even Captain America needs some love," Bucky replied. "What's the status on Fury's plan? Update me on it!"

If Logan had to describe his mood, then pissed would be the biggest understatement ever. After Daken and he had left Genosha they had headed right for Jasmine Falls. Ken, however, had told him that strange men and a man in silver samurai armor had come and taken the sword. Logan of course knew immediately who was behind it. So Daken and he, after paying their respects to Itsu they had headed for Tokyo and tracked down Harada and his lot. To his greatest surprise, but if Logan was honest to himself he wasn't surprised at all, Harada and his gang knew Daken – or kuroi ryu, the black dragon as they called him. Of course Harada didn't want to give the sword back voluntarily, so Logan was inclined to cut off Harada's remaining hand. Daken, however, was faster and Logan was once more surprised how violent and cod his son could actually be. Or should he say was? After cutting through Harada's men like paper and then threatening Harada himself, the Silver Samurai had given up the sword in the end. Logan wondered what his son had done that the man was so afraid of him…

The following task had been easy actually. Board the jet, fly back home. The only problem was: Daken had chosen to disappear somewhere in Tokyo and Logan was on his third day trying to locate his son. The fact that Cap and Jean had called in the third time already didn't help to calm his nerves either. So here he was, sitting in the hidden jet, rubbing his tired eyes. "I don't know where he's, Jeannie…," he sighed. "No one saw him 'n trust me…someone like Akihiro gets noticed… How are things by ya?"

"I think you need to see for yourself."

"That bad?"

"No… But…" The redhead sighed heavily and ran a hand through her long hair. "It's just very confusing how something like it is even possible…"

"Hm… Kids are fine?" he asked and leaned back against the headboard.

"Yes. Jake even played with Jamie and the gang today." She gave him a tired smile. "What time is it by you?"

Logan looked aside. "2 a.m. I'm gonna head out soon. I need t'check some clubs. Maybe he's in one."

"Do you think…he did something stupid?" Jean asked and heard him sighing.

"Knowin' him and judgin' from the way he acted… Yeah," he replied.

"Fury thinks Apocalypse will act soon…."

"I'll try t'find him tonight. Love ya!"

"I love you too. Be safe!" she said and the screen went black.

Getting up, Logan got his leather jacket and headed out. The colorful lights of Tokyo almost make it appear to be day as he walked down the streets. Once more he asked people if they had seen his son, went to clubs and took a look around but in vain. He couldn't find Daken at all, knew the man could disappear easily without leaving a trace. Maybe he was already in Europe?

After he had walked through several back allies he found himself in front of a club. Logan's eyes looked at the sign and considered what to do. His gut feeling told him to go inside, his mind told him to go past it. He knew exactly what kind of club this was. Everyone who lived in this area did. He was sure of that. In the end, he walked up to the entrance, spoke some Japanese with the bouncers and was sure they only let him in because he was fluent. Inside, however, he wished he had just stayed outside. The noise and scents were completely overwhelming him. Ignoring them as good as he could, he tried to do the same with all the people, especially those that threw offers at him. Instead, he demanded to know if they had seen his son and it wasn't before he was about to leave again that a guy pointed at the far back, to a hallway with seedy rooms. Logan had to breathe through his mouth in order to not go nuts with all the scents around him and tried his best to be deaf as he headed down the hallway and towards the door the man had pointed at. He braced himself for whatever his son was doing behind it but didn't expect at all what he was actually seeing.

"Oh look, big daddy is here!" Daken snickered and took another long sip out of a bottle that smelled like illegal Everclear to Logan. The older feral watched how his son gave the too young looking woman in front of him a push, uncaring about being half naked and also not paying attention at all to the man and woman, who were both literally all over him. "Came to spank me?"

"Get dressed. Now!" Logan growled and his glare was enough to send the two women and the guy running for their lives.

"Great… You are a such a party pooper…," Daken sulked and emptied the bottle before he threw it to the ground.

"Kid… Don't make me really spank ya!"

"You'd like that, hm?" his son returned the favor and snickered as he tried to get up without stumbling.

Logan watched how he fumbled with his zipper and belt, having trouble closing both. Sighing in annoyance, he finally went over, did it for his son and threw this one's jacket at him. "Yer gonna follow me t'the jet 'n then we gonna head back home!"

"No!"

"No?!"

"Kaeranai wa!" Daken snapped and pushed his hand away before he headed, or rather stumbled out of the room and down the hallway.

"Mate!" Logan called after him in Japanese and went after his son, who was ignoring him on purpose. "I said wait!" he said and reached out to grab his son's shoulder in order to turn him around. It was then that he finally noticed what exactly was bothering. However, before he could asked he was flanked by two bouncers.

"Warui tokoro ga aru ka?" the bouncer to his right asked and had his arms crossed.

Logan wanted to laugh at that tiny guy who desperately tried to make himself bigger by changing his stance. "Okoraseru!" he warned both of them and slapped their hands away. "I said piss off! There ain't a problem here!"

Daken smirked and leant his arm on the bouncer to his right. "Boku no otousan da!" He snickered at the looks he received. "Hontou ni!" he added and turned around to leave, heard how Logan shouldered the bouncers out of the way and felt a hand roughly grabbing his neck. Soon afterwards he was dragged out of the club, into an alley and pushed against a wall.

"What did ya take?" his father snarled at him, the glare something others might call intimidating.

"Nani?"

"Don't ya what me, kid! Yer pupils are dilated as fuck, so which drug did ya take?" Logan roared and felt the strong urge to punch Daken, who was still giving him the same smug smirk and acted completely innocent.

"I don't know. But it's great. You should try it," Daken said and his head banged against the wall as Logan slapped him hard. "FUCK YOU!"

Logan refused to loosen his grip. "We're goin' home!" was all he said but Daken fought against his grip. "Yamero!"

"IKASETE!" Daken barked at him but was too drunk and drugged that he could fight off his father for real.

"I won't let go, yer comin' back home with me. I spent three fuckin' days tryin' t'find ya!"

"I don't give a shit!"

"Right. Back t'base 1, huh? Jean-Paul'd be ashamed of ya!" Logan said and saw something flicker in the dark pools that were his son's eyes at the moment.

"I don't give a fuck about him!"

"Sure," he nodded and kept on dragging his son further to the jet where he secured him. "That's why yer miserable, that's why ya ran off, fucked around, got wasted 'n look like junkie that needs his next fix. Who do ya wanna kid, son?"

"Go fuck yourself, Logan," Daken muttered and looked away.

"Ain't we sophisticated?" Logan mocked and took his seat next to Daken and started the jet. "Ya can come 'n talk t'me anytime. Why can't ya just admit that ya can't handle losin' him?! Why act all childish and immature?" he asked when they were up in the air but his son chose to ignore him. "Fine, go on sulkin' then."

As they arrived back at Genosha and after the jet had landed, Logan took his son again and dragged him out of the hangar and tracked down the Professor's scent. He had a hard time ignoring the curses, threats and badmouthing by his son, who was obviously determined in giving him hell. It didn't take long for him to find the Professor, who was holding a meeting in his office. "Do we have holdin' cells here, Chuck?" Logan asked immediately and without greeting them, still struggling to keep Daken still. "Kid needs t'calm that hothead of his."

Charles stared at them for a moment, the whole room silent and occupied with looking at the fuming feral. "Uhm, yes we do, but, Logan…"

"Where?"

"In the basement," Charles replied whereupon Logan nodded and began to drag Daken out of the room again. "Logan, it would be wise to listen to what I need to…"

"Later!"

"Well, that went well…," Tony said after both ferals had left the room. "And damn… Even I never looked that wasted."

"That's because you've never seen yourself," Clint mocked and Black Widow next to him tried to hide her smile. He looked up when the door was opened again and watched how Logan entered the room.

"So, what's up, Chuck?" he asked and crossed his arms.

"Maybe Akihiro should have heard it too, but well…," Charles said and pointed behind him to the window. Cocking an eyebrow, Logan went over to see what the man meant. He saw Reed Richards and Banner on the outside, dressed in thick jackets and standing in the snow. He turned to give Charles a questioning look. The telepath got up and took a look himself. "Oh… Well obviously he's gone for the moment, but…," he began as he saw how the snow got kicked up out of nowhere. "There he is!"

"Who?" Logan grunted and looked back to Reed and Banner, just to see a third person suddenly standing there and talking to them. He thought his jaw would drop. "How?"

"It's complicated. But let me tell him that you're back," Charles offered and touched his temple, concentrating on the man, who raised his head and looked into their direction. It only took a second and he was standing next to them. "Maybe you want to explain the situation, Jean-Paul?"

"Explain what? That you put me into a fucking freezer?!" the French-Canadian asked and wiped the snow off his shoulders. "You're back?"

"Ya too… Still how? Thought ya were dead?" Logan asked and looked at the speedster from all sides.

"Oh, he was," Hank, who had just entered and witnessed the last part of the conversation said. "And I actually told him to take it easy. I need to be sure that…"
"I feel fine. I told you that I never felt that great before in my life! So no need to stay in bed and get bored," Jean-Paul waved off.

"Again… HOW?!" Logan demanded to know. Hank cleared his throat. "No medical mumbo-jumbo, Furball!"

"Well… You might remember that your healing factor healed Scott after he needed a liver and was also alive in Jean for a good while after you donated blood."

"Yeah, so? Last thin' I remember is that ya told us Akihiro couldn't donate blood coz his blood type was too different from JP's."

"Yes, and it is," Hank nodded. "Jean-Paul's vitals were not good at all when he woke up briefly. Akihiro's donation didn't do any good. At least that's what we thought. Jean-Paul's blood type was 0, now it's D+."

Logan was still cocking an eyebrow at him. "So it changed?"

"Yes. Jean, Moira, Bruce, Richards and I did several tests. Jean-Paul is perfectly fine. His vitals and body have never been better and healthier. So our conclusion is that his wounds were too severe for Akihiro's blood to heal them completely. Instead his blood destroyed Jean-Paul's blood cells, which caused the cardiac arrest. To make it easier for you to understand, and without any medical mumbo-jumbo as you put it, a body's reaction to a wrong blood type is severe. It's like poison. So we think that Akihiro's blood type overwrote Jean-Paul's whole system."

Logan gave the speedster a critical look. "'n this won't have any further consequences?"

Hank shrugged. "That we don't know yet. And that's also the reason why I told him to stay in bed and take it easy, instead of… What were you actually doing on the outside?!"

"They wanted to test how long I need to run around the world," Jean-Paul said matter-of-factly before he looked around the room. "Where's Hiro?!"

"Holdin' cell…," Logan grunted.

"Pourquoi?!"

"Ya don't wanna know…" Since the speedster was glaring at him expectantly, he sighed and shrugged in the end. "Fine, but ya won't like it. We went t'Japan for a mission, he disappeared, I was lookin' for him for three days just t'find him in a… Let's call it club… Partyin', drinkin' 'n no idea which drug he used. He was completely wasted 'n still is."

Jean-Paul huffed. "With partying you mean fucking around!" he said. He just knew.

"Don't know what he did before I found him… When I did those two guys 'n that girl still had their clothes on." Logan shrugged and it was easy for him to read the speedsters face. "He thought he lost ya for good. That's why the kid did what he did."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to feel better now?!"

"No."

"Two guys and a girl? He sure knows show to party!" Tony commented and quickly raised both hands as the French Canadian shot him another glare. "But yeah, it's wrong. Totally wrong!" he quickly added just to watch how Northstar aimed for the door.

"Where yer goin'?" Logan asked.

"Hopefully to bed and staying there…," Hank sighed.

"Hate to disappoint you," Jean-Paul said and went straight for the holding cells, where he found Daken staring at the wall, sulking. Since the feral did not turn into his direction he guessed that Daken was ignoring whoever came into the room. "Proud of yourself?" he asked and Daken's head jerked aside as if he had been hit by lightning. "Yes, still alive and really, really mad at you. What the hell were you thinking?!"

Logan, who had entered the room too was listening to Jean-Paul lecturing him and Daken remaining unresponsive. He had to give the French-Canadian that he knew exactly what he was saying. However, Jean-Paul was far from being stupid. He just hoped his son would care only a bit. In his drugged stage, Logan guessed, he didn't give a fuck what Jean-Paul was telling him. After the speedster was done, Logan waited for Daken to reply.

"You don't have to say anything to this mess, do you?" Northstar asked and crossed his arms, clearly angered.

"I want out," Daken nodded at Logan. "I'm sick of being treated like a child."

"Then don't act like one!" Jean-Paul said before Logan even had the chance. He cocked an eyebrow at the speedster as he suddenly heard Jean's voice in his head.

"JP wants me to tell you that he fears Akihiro will be vengeful if we leave him in the holding cell over night. I think I must agree. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Ya can't read his mind if he has his barriers up, darlin'," Logan replied mentally.

"He's still pretty wasted, Logan. It's very easy for me to read his mind right now."

"That's the reason why I want him locked up. There's no guarantee for what he'll do if someone provokes him…"

"He'll behave. Jean-Paul gave me his word that he'll take care of him. Let Akihiro out, Logan. The consequences will be far more severe if he stays locked up."

"Don't tell me ya haven't been warned!" Logan grunted and opened the cell, but not without glaring at his son. "Yer getting' a chance here. Screw up, provoke or hurt anyone 'n yer back in that cell!" he warned him but Daken huffed.

"Zip it!" Northstar snapped before the feral could reply and dragged him out of the room and into theirs. "Shower! You stink," he said and gave him a push into the direction of the bathroom. Fuming, he watched how Daken began to slowly pick clothes. "You didn't tell me… Was it worth it?"

"What?" the feral muttered.

"Fucking around?" Jean-Paul snapped aloud and noticed how Daken grabbed his temple. "Hope that headache hurts like hell!"

"I didn't fuck around."

"Sure. Two guys and a girl, drunk and drugged. You might think the others are stupid, but I'm not!"

"And I had my clothes on, so did they. Just because my father thinks it doesn't make it true!" Daken snapped back angered.

"It's bad enough that you sank that low at all. I believed you finally learned something, but you're still acting like a plotte," Jean-Paul snapped back and aimed for the door.

"What's a plotte?!" Daken asked, butchering the Québecois on purpose.

"A slut!"

Narrowing his eyes, the feral clenched his fists. "If you hadn't left me, this wouldn't have happened anyway! You broke your promise!" he barked, but made his opposite merely smile.

"You're being ridiculous, Hiro. You know perfectly well that I wouldn't have left you, if I hadn't been mortally injured. I'm only still alive because of your blood donation, so stop blaming others for your screw up!" the speedster said. "You can have the bed. I sleep on the couch," he added before he left. He had barely walked a few steps as something shattered against the wall in their room.

Cap and Logan were both studying the files in front of them that Fury had gotten his hands on with the help of Tony and Jarvis. "So what do you think?"

Logan exchanged a look with Cap. "If he's really there at that time we should strike," the blond suggested. "It might be our only chance to get close to him. It would be wise to have several teams…"

"Yeah," Logan nodded. "The more we have, the higher our chance."

"Then we should get ready, don't you think?" Fury asked. "We already wasted enough time. Apocalypse is supposed to be at the scene in less than 3 hours."

"We might need the help of the Brotherhood…," Cap said.

"Hate t'admit it, but Steve's right…" Logan crossed his arms. "I can try talkin' t'Scott… However, there's no guarantee he'll help us."

"I'll talk to my team and the FF in the meantime. Let's meet again in one hour. If we do this, we need to hurry up!" Cap went for the door, followed by Logan, who headed straight for Remy's and Scott's room. He knocked and waited. It didn't take long and the door opened. The moment Scott saw him he wanted to close the door again, but Logan pushed it open. "We need t'talk!" he said and went inside.

"There's nothing to talk about. Leave!" Scott replied and held the door open. "We're done, as you so nicely put it."

"How about listenin' first?" Logan growled. "Apocalypse will be in New York in three hours. We have the exact location 'n time. Tell yer team about it. It's now or never." With that being said he aimed for the door again.

"Why should I help you, Logan?" he heard Scott asking and stopped.

"Because yer an X-Men, Slim! No one of us is more an X-Men like ya, 'n ya know that! Yer not a Brotherhood member. Yer angry 'n ya want revenge! I understand that better than anyone else. We might not be getting' another chance of hittin' him 'n I need ya on this!" Logan said and Scott looked at him thoughtfully. "Magneto only wants ya on his team coz he's tryin' t'get out on top. 'n let me tell ya this…" He came closer. "In a war like this only those that stick together will come out on top. Not someone like Magneto who favors his own agenda 'n his own people only. Those will fall. We're in this together 'n need t'stick together more than ever. So if yer in it, put on this 'n meet us in one hour in the hangar. The decision's yers!" he said and put a pile of clothes into Scott's hands before he left.

Thoughtfully, Scott unfolded the bundle and realized that it was his X-Men uniform…

He'd been sitting on the ground for about an hour now, doing nothing except for staring at the sleeping man on the couch. His mind was clear enough again by now that he was actually able to think about what's been done and said, and he hated himself for not being able to realize that it wasn't the others that were wrong, but him. Then again, he wasn't dumb. Far from it. He wasn't stupid enough to risk the only thing that actually held a value for him. Even if that meant admitting that he had been wrong, which cost him a lot to even admit it at all. In thoughts Daken reached carefully out and caressed Northstar's cheek, his mind trying to find a way to make things right again. The apology and actions had to come from him, he was well aware of that, and this, too, made his inner narcissist boil with anger. However, he knew that the consequences of behaving like he wanted to would make things worse. Jean-Paul was not like the others he had met and tried to bind to him. He was equally stubborn, arrogant and proud. His perfect match and opposite. Something he had been looking for too long to even remotely risking losing him for good. Especially not to that Kyle. But he didn't think like normal people did. He couldn't think like them. So what was he supposed to do in order to make things right?

Thoughtfully, he withdrew his hand and simply stared at the man for a long moment. From afar he could hear his father and Cap discussing procedures with other members of the team. Even Magneto's voice echoed in Daken's sensitive ears as he was arguing with Charles about whatever mission they were about to go to. It took a while before Magneto named 6 mutants that he wanted to join the strike-team, Pyro and Juggernaut include. Of course, Daken thought, he wouldn't send that Frost-bitch. It was no secret to him at all that buckethead and she were sharing a bed. He was surprised though that Cap was to stay here and his father went with the team in the end. From the loud footsteps and many voices, Daken figured that it was a rather large strike-team that was sent off to kill Apocalypse.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here…," a hushed voice suddenly said to his left and made him startle.

His eyes darted into the direction of the female and identified her immediately. That second telepath that had been rescued from Sinister's lab. What was here name again…? Beggy?

Bratty? "Betsy, right?" he asked and she gave him that odd smile again that had already been stuck to her face the first time they had run into each other and seemed to be glued to her lips ever since. How many days ago had that been anyway? He couldn't tell.

"You look lonely… Everything alright?" she asked and came closer a bit.

"I'd rather be alone," he dropped the hint and hoped she would just leave. She was pretty, yes, had a nice body, yes, and two rather big arguments, but he couldn't care less. "Now!"

"Well, if you ever change your mind…," she shrugged and winked at him, swaying her hips on purpose on her way out.

Rolling his eyes, he ran a hand through his hair, just for his eyes to find their purpose again. For how long was he already siting here…?! Carefully, he reached out and took the unused pillow, putting it neatly on the floor right next to the couch. He would be freezing but he couldn't care less right now. Not knowing what he should do, he gave in to the urge and kissed Northstar lightly on the lips, lingering there for a moment and taking the man's scent it. "Someone like you can really make things all right for me… I'm sorry…," he whispered, knowing that was true and maybe one of the few honest words he had ever said. Feeling tired, he lay down on the ground and curled up.

"And you needed almost two hours to tell me that?" Jean-Paul asked tiredly and Daken's head jerked aside.

"For how…"

"…long? Since you entered. I can't sleep when you're not next to me…" He ran a hand over his face and made room. "Come up here, it's fucking cold," he muttered with closed eyes and soon felt a warm body snuggling up to him. He hugged the feral back, trying to get comfortable in the limited space. He was too tired to go to their bed right now. "I'm still mad at you. If I ever find out you were fucking someone behind my back, I'll…"

"I didn't!" Daken insisted.

"I hope so…," Jean-Paul replied. "And if I ever catch you with drugs, I'm gone faster than even your senses can tell you. Bonne nuit."

After the jet had landed the group had immediately split and begun to search the area. Tony, who was sitting next to Cap and Fury were sitting in front of a screen and were intently following the mission. "According to the satellite Jarvis hacked in you are close," Tony said and typed away on his keyboard, whereas Cap's eyes darted to the list of the team members from time to time, which showed their status. Up to now everyone was alive and well. He hoped it stayed this way. "What about ground patrols?"

"Can't see any. Which is weird…," Bucky said in a hushed voice and, weapon ready, walked through the deserted streets of New York, followed by Colossus, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic and The Thing. He reached for his earpiece and listened to the voice on the other end. "The Brotherhood said there's suspicious movement in Central Park. We're moving that way. Logan, do you copy?"

"Yeah. Cyke, Kurt 'n I are still searchin' the harbor. We'll join ya as soon as we're done. Be careful!" they heard Logan replying.

"Any new satellite images, Tony?" Mr. Fantastic asked.

"Working on it," the Avengers replied and waited for Jarvis to be done. "Jarvis, what do you have?"

"The target is at Central Park, sir. I suggest taking precautions, sir!"

"We'll do."

"Okay, strike teams alpha, beta, charlie, delta, listen up!" Fury said into the microphone for everyone to hear. "The target is at Central Park. We got confirmation via satellite images. Take any precaution and safety measures possible!" He waited for confirmation of each team.

"Okay, the show is on," Tony said and clapped his hands together. Leaning back, he watched the 4 camera-screens of each team member that showed what happened on the other end.

"We see him," Pyro suddenly said.

"Can you confirm that it is Apocalypse?" Cap asked and waited anxiously.

"Yeah. That's why I said we see him!" Pyro mocked as the cameras went dead all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?!"

"We lost the damn signal," Tony cursed and started working.

"Team alpha, do you copy?" Fury asked, then waited, then asked the next team. "The lines are dead too!"

"I know. As I said, we lost the signal. It's hard enough to get around their stupid blocks," Tony told him and typed away on his keyboard, but cursed. "It's the satellite. It's out of reach."

"Which means?" Cap asked.

"That the teams are blind and we won't know what's going on…," Fury cursed and threw his earpiece on the table. "Damn it!"

Daken narrowed his eyes as he was busy preparing some soup and saw a movement to his left that he definitely didn't want to see in the kitchen. "Go back!" he hissed but Jean-Paul sat slowly down on one of the stools and supported his head with his hand. "You are supposed to stay in bed!"

"I'm fine," the speedster replied and was rewarded with a glare. "Hiro… I'm in this body, not Hank!"

"I don't care!"

"But I do…," Jean-Paul yawned and stretched, his hand wandering to the pants he was wearing. "Can't believe your skinny jeans sit loose on me…," he muttered and pulled them up a bit.

"That's because you've gotten skinny…," Narya said and shrugged after he gave her a look. "It's true. Just look at your more than prominent cheekbones. How much weight did you actually lose? 22 pounds? You could be Jared Leto's twin…"

"That would mean I look damn hot. Merci, chérie… And almost 22… Are they still not back?" he asked and received a shake of Pepper's head. His eyes broke eye contact and nodded at the steaming pot to his right, which had the fullest attention of the feral. "What's this?" he asked.

"Miso-Soup…," Daken grunted and went on stirring the soup, not caring that he was being watched by more than just his lover. He heard how the speedster got up and soon felt the man's arms around his waist, then a head resting on his shoulder.

"For me?" Northstar asked and leant against the feral.
"Only if you go back to bed…"

"I'm fine.…," the speedster sighed in annoyance and was once more rewarded with a glare. He rolled his eyes. "Can we agree on the sofa?"

"No."

"C'mon…"

"No… Hank told me you need to take it easy, so you'll take it easy!" Daken replied and crossed his arms, eyes still seizing his opposite up for a coffin. He looked at the man's face, which was still way too slender for his liking. The high cheekbones stood out, but didn't distract him too much from the button nose, sensual mouth and those enormous blue floating eyes that were surrounded by thick, dark lashes. The speedster was still attractive and handsome as hell. Well, not as beautiful as he was, but the man came close…

In the end, Northstar shrugged and moved over to the door. "I'm on the sofa in case you're looking for me, love."

"Bed!" Daken snapped.

"Sofa!" Jean-Paul insisted and left.

"It's so not obvious who's in charge in your relationship," Tony smirked and Daken turned to stare him down.

"Anthony Edward Stark, go back to bed or I'll spank you!" he said in an almost perfect copy of Pepper's voice and Tony's jaw dropped a tad. "You were saying?" he mocked and took the plate with the soup and a bottle of water.

"Jerk! I was saying jerk!" Tony sulked and crossed his arms in defense. "I should check up on that word in a dictionary. I bet there is a picture of you next to it…"

"Better look up pantywaist," Daken replied.

"Why? Is there also a picture of you next to it?" Tony asked, smirking.

"Yeah, while I'm pointing at you from behind!" The feral winked arrogantly and headed over to the door.

Tony faked a laugh. "A girl shouldn't let her husband wait for the food. So better hurry up!" he returned the favor and Daken turned to look at him.

"You cooked for Cap? That's so sweet of you, Tony!"

Before Tony could reply the feral had left. "Don't bother. Even you can't win against him. He always has the final say," Johnny told him and laughed, but didn't see how Tony's eyes were now on him.

"Well, you should know with your big crush on him, don't you?"

Johnny fell silent. "What?! Why does everyone say that?!" he demanded to know.

"Because it's true! Everyone can see those big pink hearts fluttering around your head the moment you see him," Deadpool commented on the situation and nodded. "But hey, I can totally understand you. Princess is pretty and eye candy and everyone has fantasies that…"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Johnny asked and gave him an incredulous look.

"Your fantasies, idiot!" Deadpool sighed and shook his head. "Don't tell me I actually have to say it out loud. Well, I'll do it anyway, you don't have to beg for me to do it! Everyone knows already anyway, so no harm done, right?"

"Wrong!"

"See? Told you I was right!"

"No?!"

"Just drop the soap in the shower!" Deadpool suggested. "Oh, but not when the speedster is around. I heard he's got one nasty punch!"

"What?!" Johnny asked, agape.

The merch sighed aloud. "Fine, maybe you can try it with the speedster around, I dunno what their kinks are, but I'd recommend waiting until you catch Princess alone, okay? Just listen to me!"

"You…are fucking crazy!" Johnny hopped off his stool and headed for the door. "Seriously, I'm not into guys!"

Deadpool tapped his covered mouth with one finger. "Then ask the Snicktling to get a sex change. Is that how you thank people for trying to help you? You are seriously a case for Dr. Phil, you know that? Or Oprah. Better try Oprah! Or Ellen, whatever." He threw his hands in the air and left the room, passing by the living room where he stopped and entered. "Yo, Snicktling!"

"Go away!" Daken growled and tried to concentrate on the book in his hand while the speedster was dozing with his head on his lap.

"Thanks, but I let myself in," Deadpool waved off and ignored the glare. "Listen, I don't know what you are thinking breaking this poor guy's heart, but, hey, how about showing some sympathy for a chance before poor Johnny actually goes online to buy a ticket for Oprah, huh?" he asked and waited for Daken's face to make the tiniest movement, but it didn't. "Okay, fine, how about a threesome then? Just show him some love!"

"Some love, you say?" Daken asked and Deadpool nodded. "How about I show you some love by sticking my claws up your ass. I said !"

"Jeez, anger issues are in your genes, huh? That's what you get for trying to be helpful. Fine. Whatever. Break his heart, stomp on it and don't expect him to drop the soap! Say yo nara!" Deadpool waved his hand, uncaring that he had just butchered the feral's native tongue and left.

"That guy is annoying as shit…"

"Better tell me what's always with you and that Storm guy…," Northstar muttered and rolled on his back so that he could look up at the feral. "Something I should know about?!"

"I'm a sweetheart and everyone loves me. Can't help it. I make friends everywhere I go…," Daken replied nonchalantly and the speedster only rolled his eyes before he curled up again to go on dozing.

His plan was roughly interrupted by the channel that was running in the background switching to the news all of a sudden.

"We interrupt the program to report about the latest happenings on the east coast of the United States of America. As our satellites have shown…"

Frowning, Jean-Paul sat up a bit and listened to what the anchorwoman was saying. His eyes darted briefly aside. Daken, too, was staring at the TV, his face looking thoughtful. "Professor, I think you should see this…," the speedster muttered and it didn't take long for the room to fill with the remaining people.

"I'm sorry for the technical problems. However, we now have the satellite images ready!" the anchorwoman said and the station suddenly showed satellite images from Central Park, New York. "As you can see here the self-proclaimed president of Utopia, Apocalypse, who by now reigns over half of the United States, is standing right in the middle of Central Park. Our experts identified members of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Avengers and even the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants throughout the city, obviously planning an attack on Apocalypse. As you can see next, they surrounded Apocalypse, but…," the woman shook her head and looked at her colleague. "Tom, what happened here?"

"I don't know, Kim, but it seems that…" He was staring at the screen in front of him as the station repeated the video. "It seems that Apocalypse glowed and then a massive ray of light spread throughout New York City. I… I don't know what happened there afterwards. We are still waiting for the follow-up images, however, there seems to be a problem with the satellite at the moment."

"What do you think happened there?" Northstar asked into the round while they were waiting for the images and listened to Tom and Kim discussing and analyzing what had happened.

"I don't know. It seemed to be a strong attack mad out of light. Perhaps like your powers?" Charles suggested.

"No, that didn't look like the repulsor technique," Tony disagreed. "That one goes into one direction only. This attack here spread like a wave. And it must have been damn strong considering the satellite has problems."

"Don't we have an active connection to the teams?!" Daken asked.

"It went dead. There was no way of getting any images. I tried all night long," Tony shook his head and his eyes found the screen again. "Obviously they solved the problem."

"We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but there was a problem with the connection to the satellites. However, our technicians solved the problem and we can now see the aftermath of the, what seemed to be an attack in New York City," the anchorwoman said and looked at the screen in front of her expectantly. As soon as the images became visible a gasp escaped her lips and her breath caught in her throat. "Oh my… D…do you see this, Tom?"

"I sure am… But I can't believe what I'm seeing here right now, Kim," he replied. "This… What you are about to see… I can't describe it in words."

"How about just putting it on, damn it?!" Daken said and became impatient.

"See for yourselves. We are still waiting for confirmation."

"Oh my…," Pepper gasped as the images finally became visible for them too and she thought she was dreaming. New York under Apocalypse's reign had already been turned into a living hell, but what she was seeing now… Her hand automatically found Tony's, who pulled her closer with his free arm. "What did he do?!"

"He wiped out the city…," Charles stated matter-of-factly and exchanged a look with Erik, who was still standing next to Emma Frost. "Why would he do that all of a sudden?!"

"He didn't wipe out the city just for the sake of it. He wiped out the majority of our team. He doesn't care about his own soldiers or the few mutants that were still living in that city. He wanted to hit us," Daken said.

"And you know that because?" Erik asked and received a glare.

"Because I would have done the same, if I were him. Think as your enemy and you are three steps ahead of him!" the feral cited what Romulus had taught him.

"If what you say is true, Akihiro…," Charles said and looked at the TV that showed the ruins of what had once been New York City, "…then we have a bigger problem than we had before… 65% of our teams are there." He ran a hand through his auburn hair and tried to grab a clear thought. "Another problem is that we don't know how often Apocalypse can launch such a destructive attack. What if he plans to target other cities next?"

"He won't attack Washington D.C.," Erik said. "It's his base." He gave Akihiro a look. "Why don't you tell us what Apocalypse is thinking?" he mocked and received a glare.

"Why don't you think for yourself or come up with something productive instead of mocking other people with a higher IQ than yours?" Jean-Paul snapped. "We have more important things on our hands than your stupid jealousy! Your son was in the zone!"

"You mean the traitor that decided to change sides," Magneto corrected him with an arrogant smirk. "Elaborate!"

"I'd come here and kill us all," Daken replied and noticed the looks he was given. "What? We are the last of his enemies. Of course he wants us dead. Don't act so surprised." He turned his head towards the door. "That was the hangar door just now," he told the team and was about to get up as Scott appeared in the door, breathless, bloody and his uniform torn.

"A medic. Quick!" he managed to say before he dropped to his knees, holding his middle.

"Scott!" Charles quickly knelt down next to him and kept him steady. "Jean and Moira will take care of you in…"

"No!" Scott breathed and shook his head. "Not me. Logan. Quick…" Like dead weight he slumped to the ground and was unconscious.

Charles reached for the throat, glad to find a pulse. "Moira?" he asked, since Jean had already run out of the room and towards the hangar. He waited for the woman to take his place before he went after the redhead. He heard her agonized wail through the thick hangar door and sprinted towards the open hatch of the jet. "No…," escaped his lips as the redhead came into view, a more dead than alive looking Logan in her arms. "Is he…"

"No…," she breathed and tried to concentrate on the leaking wound on Logan's shoulder where his left arm had once been. "He said we need to evacuate…"

"When?" Charles asked and took the first aid kit to take care of the large and deep gash on the right side of the feral's face. Even if he was no medic he could tell that the eye was definitely damaged. "Why is he not healing?"

"He's losing too much blood," Jean told him in a monotonous voice that still trembled.

"Jean, when did he tell you that we need to evacuate?!" Charles asked and barely heard her answer. "So he was conscious just a moment ago?" He did his best to patch up Logan's face, telling Erik at the same time to gather everyone in the hangar for immediate evacuation. Still… "We have nowhere to go…" He looked aside as the hangar door opened and saw Storm coming closer.

"Magneto said we…," she began and let out a shocked gasp as she noticed what Jean was doing. "No… Don't tell me he's…"

"No, but Ororo I need you to focus. We need to leave immediately. Get everyone together, get the most important things and bring everyone here!" Charles told her and she turned around, jogging out of the room. "Jean?" he tried and she looked up with teary eyes. "In case of an attack…can we count on you? Can you focus?" he asked and she nodded. "Are you sure?"

"They'll pay for what they've done…," she said darkly but regained control quickly. "I managed to stop the bleeding for now. I need morphine and a syringe."

"I'll get it for you!" he promised and left.

Now that she was alone with Logan, she could finally let go. Hugging him carefully, she caressed the good side of his face and shook her head. "Where did we go wrong?" she wondered and only she knew why she thought this way. She remembered the encounter in the kitchen too well, the encounter that had happened a few years ago in her sleep. The man named Cable, who had missed an arm and an eye, who was far away from being her Logan. Now looking at Logan, she wondered what they had done for things to take a different turn. They had saved Jamie, Cable had told her that things were fine by now, that she and Logan were looking forward to their twins being born, that everything was alright…

"Darlin'?"

Startling, Jean lowered her gaze and looked down, trying to smile through her tears. "Charles is getting morphine to make the pain easier…," she told him and cupped his face with one hand.

"Hardly feel it…," he muttered and closed his eyes again.

She knew he was lying to not have her worry too much. The tremble in his body told her otherwise. "We are evacuating. But we don't know where to go…," she said, trying to keep up a conversation to distract him from everything that was going on.

"Home… He won't reckon with it…"

"Home? You mean Westchester?" she asked in confusion and he nodded. "But our home's destroyed, Logan…"

"Parts of the underground passages ain't. We hide the kids… 'n then we'll attack him. It's now or never," he replied and coughed, his face a mask of pain. "Damn…"

"You can't fight in your condition! Plus, we hardly have anyone left to fight…," Jean said and stroked over his face, relieved when Charles came back with the morphine. She quickly applied the morphine into his remaining arm and touched his face, ordering him mentally to sleep.

"We are ready to evacuate. But I have no idea where to go…," he told her thoughtfully. "Tony just checked the media. Obviously Apocalypse sent a mutant named Genocide to several important locations. He's destroying whole cities in just one blast. It's like an atomic bomb." He shook his head. "We waited too long… We should have started a direct attack when Apocalypse was still weak…"

"Logan wants us to go back to Westchester," Jean said and he raised his head. Looking surprised. "He thinks they won't reckon with it. He said we should hide the children in the underground tunnels that are still intact and start a direct attack."

"I actually think he is right. Apocalypse won't reckon with us going back to New York…" Charles turned his head as the hangar door opened. "What do you think, Jean?" he asked as the room began to fill and the few remaining mutants began to board the jet.

"I think we don't have any other options left…," she said thoughtfully and covert Logan with a blanket, so that her children wouldn't immediately see their father's injury.

Charles nodded and closed the hatch after everyone was inside. "So to Westchester it is."

"We're going back to New York?!" Storm asked and exchanged a surprised look with Scott. "Why?"

Erik, who had looked at Charles in silence had understood. "Because the war has begun."

I'm terribly sorry for not updating in ages, but next to college I have a teaching job since September, which keeps me very busy. I hope you can forgive me and still follow the story. The end of WAR is very near. The Epilogue-parts will follow afterwards. I have tons of scenes pre-written for the epilogue for years already and look forward to finally using them. I hope you will stay with me and the story. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! What happened in Central Park will be explained in the next chapter. Please review! See ya!