The team was genuinely happy to see Shatterstar and Rictor back on home soil when the PACRAT landed in the X-Men hanger of Xavier's mansion. Caliban hung back during all of the hugs and happy backslaps and finally slinked forward and lowered his head until he and 'Star were almost nose to nose. The huge, gray Morlock sniffed the alien suspiciously and licked his tongue up the redhead's cheek.

"Caliban-" Theresa began to move forward, but the warrior held up a hand to stop her. In a way, this was the ultimate test to prove whether or not he was back to his previous self and Caliban was the only one capable of putting all of their fears to rest, Shatterstar's included.

The huge mutant tasted the scent on his tongue, dissecting it in his unknown, inscrutable way and finally looked at 'Star again. Everyone collectively held their breaths.

"Friend-Star!" Caliban bellowed and swept the tall alien up into a full-body hug that would have probably broken the back of an unprepared human. "Friend-Star is back! Caliban is sooo happy!"

Shatterstar was struggling in his stronger member's arms. "Put me down, Caliban! It's embarrassing. Even worse, it is an affront to my honor!"

"He's back. He's really back," James murmured to Roberto. "Oh, thank the Great Mother for that."

Caliban regretfully did as ordered and then began tapping the alien's head. It almost looked like he was petting him. Rictor had to submerge a smile of amusement at the mortification clearly evident on his best friend's unhappy face. He decided to slip away from the funfest before Cable broke things up and decided to give him and 'Star a private 'debriefing' on the expected morality of today's youths. Or, worse, make them sign an I.O.U.

Tabitha chased the Hispanic down until they were alone in the corridor. "So, what's going on, Ric? Are you part of X-Force again?"

"Looks like."

She made a face. "So let me see if have this straight. First, you tell everyone that you won't have Cable telepathically mucking around inside your head and then you quit. Now you're back no problemo?"

Rictor sighed. "I said when I left that if any of you ever needed me, I'd be back. And 'Star needed me."

"Yeah, but he's okay now. What's that mean for you?"

"It means I'm staying. If you want the truth, things didn't work out so good for me back home. Satisfied? What's it to you anyway, Meltdown?"

It was impossible to determine what was going on in Tabitha's face as long as she wore her mirrored sunglasses. Judging by her pursed lips, she didn't look happy. "You were only gone a month, Ric, but a lot of shit went down. Shit that we could've used your help with. Shatty had my back a couple of times when even my own team turned on me. I'm just doing the same for him."

Struggling to keep his cool, Rictor said in a neutral voice, "So your motivations are just out of friendship? Is that what you're telling me?"

Damned if her cheeks didn't flush just the slightest bit. "You don't know what it was like after you left. For us. For 'Star. If you hadn't run away when you did, he probably never would have gotten messed up with that Gamesmaster prick in the first place."

Rictor had to admit that thought had crossed his mind quite a lot ever since he got the call from Theresa. Ric hadn't handled Cable's announcement of his new approach to leadership of the team very well and 'Star had been the one who had paid for it; heart, mind, and soul. "You're right," he surprised her by saying. "I have a lot to make up for, Tabs. To him and to the team," he said in a softer voice. "I'm sorry."

"Did you tell him that?"

"Si," and so much more, he thought privately.

Tabitha's tense posture relaxed. "That's great to hear. I baked a Welcome Back cake when I heard you two were coming. You can be the first to have a taste."

Guinea pig time, the Hispanic though ruefully, knowing that most of her baking endeavours usually failed the first time around. Still, he was smiling when she took him in hand and practically dragged him to the kitchen. It felt good to be back among his teammates again, almost as if he'd never left.

As things turned out, Tabitha's first attempt at a red velvet cake with chocolate frosting was pretty good and, as word spread of the success, the rest of X-Force began trickling in for a piece. Cable was still in a lousy mood over the whole hotel business but Domino was in high spirits. She had skimmed over the bill and could barely look at Rictor and manage a straight face. She'd witnessed her fair share of teenaged hijinks over her considerable years, but even she had to admit that what Ric and 'Star had managed to get up to (and that was limited by the stretch of her imagination) went to the top of the list. Not many managed to get one over on Cable and lived to brag about it. Those two young studs had enjoyed two days of uninterrupted fucking all on Cable's dime. That was pretty damned impressive.

Tabitha was gushing about her baking skills. "I kind of made the cake as an homage to the both of you. Chocolate for you, Ric-"

"Chocolate! Do I look black to you?"

"Well, you are very tanned," Risqué commented.

Rictor looked at her suspiciously. "Who the hell are you?"

"And-" Tabby was determined to keep the topic on track. "Red velvet for Shatty. Part of it for his red hair and part of it for that funny Clifford name Ric gave him."

"Oh, about that, guys. Whatever you do, don't call him Clifford to his face. Seriously. He takes it in a whole different way than Russell did. We almost came to blows over it."

"Why?" Domino asked.

"It's a dog reference. 'Star has a thing about being called a dog thanks to Mojo's bullshit. It really pushes his buttons."

"Shite! Somebody needs t'go warn Jimmy!" Theresa said, setting her plate down and rising from the table.

It just occurred to Rictor that James wasn't in the kitchen and neither was 'Star. "Where are they?"

"In the Danger Room," she said and they left the room at a run.

Roberto explained along the way. "Jim's been crawling the walls for a decent sparring partner. I'm too powered up for hand-to-hand and he makes Caliban cry-"

"Friend-Warpath can be very cruel with his taunts," the former-Morlock mumbled unhappily, chocolate icing smeared around his mouth.

"'Star hasn't had a decent training session since that whole Russell crap started," Bobby continued. "He asked James if they could schedule a match and Jimmy was immediately on board with it. The Danger Room was free so ..."

The group broke up into two groups; Domino and Theresa went into the control room, just in case they had to shut down a simulation or create a barrier, and the rest unlocked the main entrance and rushed inside. They all saw the same thing: James was struggling to sit up from where he'd been blasted into the far wall, the outline of his body a vague silhouette in the panelling above him. A short distance away, 'Star was kneeling on the floor and glaring at him. Both of his swords were still smouldering from a shockwave release.

Rictor hunkered down beside the big Native American and whispered, "Lemme guess. You called him Clifford?"

"Uh huh."

"He doesn't like that."

"No shit. Thanks for the tip."

Ric was still a little miffed about James' past viewpoints about the whole 'gay' teamwork thing and really didn't feel too bad about the oversight. "Any time," he said shortly.

"No one will call me 'Clifford' again!" Shatterstar told the group as he hauled himself to his feet. "I am not Russell. I do not like it! Is that understood?"

"Yeah, we get it, Shatty-buns," Tabitha soothed. "Loud and clear. You want some cake?"

The alien had been opening his mouth to continue his tirade and broke off, looking at her with sudden interest. A lifetime of dull protein rations on his world had made him develop a sweet tooth on Earth. It was just about the only weakness he had. "What kind of cake?"

"Red velvet. I made it because I was thinking about your hair. Your red hair. Not about-" she coughed nervously, "Well, about anything else, y'know?"

"Smooth," Bobby whispered under his breath, snickering at the look she flashed him.

"That would be acceptable. Thank you, Tabitha." He crossed the room and extended his hand to James and easily hauled the huge Apache to his feet. "A rematch after the break?"

Jimmy eyed him warily. "You gonna go batshit crazy again?"

"Are going to call me a dog again?"

"Not a chance!"

'Star slapped him amiably on the shoulder. "Then we will have no further conflict on the subject. Come, let us enjoy the repast and then resume training."

"Good deal," James said eagerly as they followed Tabitha out of the Danger Room.

Rictor lingered behind, smiling at the sight of his partner walking away (Damn! Gav has a great ass, he was thinking fondly) and was nudged from behind by Domino.

"You did really good with the whole Russell situation, Julio," she praised. "'Star brings a passion to the team we've been missing and you're the only one who brings out the best in him. Are you back with X-Force?"

"I couldn't leave again even if I wanted to," he sighed, and then realized who he was talking to and nervously cleared his throat. "Uhm, I mean... Yeah, I'm back."

The look that the mercenary was giving him was making him distinctly uncomfortable. He genuinely liked Domino, identifying her as a trusted maternal figure (far more than his own step-mother, that's for sure), but he still wasn't willing to say anything about him and 'Star. He had made the alien promise to keep quiet on the subject and he sure as hell wasn't going to be a hypocrite behind his back.

It was pretty evident that Dom knew anyway. She affectionately ruffled his dark brown hair, muttered something about cute horny kids, and left the room with a chuckle.

The next day, the X-Men returned to the mansion with casualties and without Xavier, but X-Force didn't have time to mingle as they went off to Latveria. It was a perplexing, time-displaced mission involving World War Two, Nazis, and the team reduced to a discorporal, ghostlike state. At one point during a rare moment when Rictor and 'Star were alone, the alien tried to touch the Hispanic on the cheek and watched with dismay as his hand went through the other. "This is inconvenient," was all he could say of the situation.

"It sure is, but I'm pretty sure we're not dead," Rictor replied. He was staring up at his friend with regret. Neither had any chance to so much as kiss since they'd returned to the mansion.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't think ghosts get boners."

That earned him a slight smile before there was a blast of German from around a corner and they were back on the clock again. About the only good thing was that Rictor got to use his powers and it felt good to be able to cut loose like that and kick some Nazi ass. By the time they were done, they were back to their proper forms and the team was operating like a finely honed machine again, which was all that Cable could ever ask for. It was funny how one simple cog or bolt out of an engine could hobble the works and that had been the state of X-Force ever since Rictor had left, taking a crucial part of Shatterstar with him.

Returning to the mansion, it was clear that anti-mutant sentiment had escalated by the way the X-Men were agitated and fortifying the compound. By now, Benjamin Russell's attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers had been making the rounds in Washington and covert op groups began receiving their funding and dusting off their varied arsenals. The youngest, untrained mutants in the Institute were transferred to the safety of Moir Island to join the Generation X team. The rest remained at the mansion. Shatterstar was kept doubly busy both in training and as a trainer. His weapon craft and unarmed combat skills were among the best of the group and he was often involved in sessions with other teammates, helping them in areas they lacked.

He and Theresa were engaged in a sword fighting simulation in the Danger Room. She had picked the holographic display to match her ancestral home, Cassidy Keep, and the two fenced and parried up and down the stone staircase of the castle, the clash of steel echoing off of the barren walls. It didn't take long for the alien to notice her clear lack of focus. "You're angry, Siryn."

"No, I'm not."

"Theresa, a warrior learns to read his opponent's emotional state. Your moves are growing increasingly reckless, and your lack of focus is obvious. Something is clearly bothering you."

Her green eyes blazed in anger. "I don't need ye to psychoanalyze me, 'Star."

"Better to wrestle with your inner demons before battle," he remarked and flicked her blade away with an almost backhanded parry, the sword clattering down the stairs. The point of his weapon was a millimeter from her throat. "Your emotional balance is as important as your physical equilibrium."

She frowned. "If ye'd allowed me t'use me sonic scream, I'd not be on the losing end o' things."

"Probably not, but the point of our exercise was to hone your sword fighting skills. You shouldn't depend solely on your mutant ability."

"I know, I know," she muttered, dropping her eyes.

'Star broke out into a warm smile. "Don't be discouraged, Theresa. The master swordsman who taught my gladiatorial cell swore I would never survive his class let alone Mojo's arenas. There's hope for you yet. End of session," he barked and the hologram ended and returned to the stark cube-like surroundings of the Danger Room. "Now, will you tell me what's bothering you?"

Theresa sat down on the floor and 'Star sat beside her, inspecting his blade as he always did after he used it, even in a routine simulation like this. She sighed. "It's James ... and Wade ... and men in general. I can't figure them out. I dunno, mebbe it's me. Mebbe I don't know what I want."

"I take it that you are unnerved by the relationship of James and Risqué?"

"Yeah. He was interested in me, 'Star, and I blew him off. Now that I see him in the arms of that woman, I'm getting all jealous. I mean, what's up with that?"

"Perhaps I'm not the one you should turn to for romantic advice."

"Ye still having problems adjusting to being around us girls in the mansion?" She flashed him a teasing glance.

It had been over a week and he and Julio still had not managed more then a few minutes of alone-time together; a quick grope in a hallway, a stolen kiss before maneuvers. At the very least that distraction was diverting his attention from any of the others, so he wasn't lying when he said, "It is not a bother for me anymore. I have had time to adjust."

"That's good to hear. I know ye were in a right bad shape there for awhile. Perhaps, maybe, you and I could-" Whatever she had been about to propose was interrupted by Caliban having some sort of epileptic fit. As difficult as it was to witness his stricken teammate, 'Star was privately grateful for the interruption, lost in thought.

Late that evening, Rictor was standing on the far side of his bedroom with his ear pressed against the wall. Sam Guthrie was in the mansion now that the X-Men were back home and he was in Tabitha's room, which was right beside Ric's. It didn't sound like they were talking. It sounded like ... "I don't believe it," Julio muttered, pacing his room. He was crawling the walls in sexual frustration and picturing two of his friends getting it on wasn't helping his mental state. He wanted to cross the hall and go to 'Star's room, but the alien's next door neighbor was James, he of the superhuman hearing.

"¡Chale! Qué chinga!" Ric muttered under his breath. He raised his hands and slapped them to his sides in frustration. "¡Chingada madre! Voy a hacerme la chaqueta." He was walking over to the bed to begin the act when there was a deliberate tapping at his window. His body froze in mid-step. He was on the third floor. Who the hell-?

He pulled open the curtains and saw a pair of hands holding onto the windowsill. "'Star?" he asked in disbelief when he pulled open the window. "What're you doing?"

"Do you want to get out of here?" the alien asked in Spanish, making no effort to pull himself up.

"Yeah," Ric responded helplessly. "Where can we go?"

"I know a place. Meet me down on the lawn." 'Star pushed himself off the wall and executed a lithe back flip to land in a silent crouch on the grass far below.

"Me caes de güevos güey," the Hispanic said with a broad grin. He paused long enough to grab a few things from the drawer of his nightstand and climbed out of the window. He activated his power and climbed down the stone wall to the ground. 'Star was thunderstruck. "When did you learn to do that?"

"At the Marriot Hotel. It's how I got over to your balcony that night you got hammered." He pulled 'Star's head down and kissed him. "Man, it feels like that happened a year ago. I missed you, buddy."

"I missed you, too. I could not wait anymore. James and Risqué have been coupling for the last hour, keeping me awake."

"I'm pretty sure Tabby and Sam are hooking up in the room beside mine. Theresa was buzzing away earlier. Cable and Domino share quarters. It's not fair. They all get beds and we have to do it in the woods like some homeless bums."

"It is your choice, Julio."

"Yeah, I know. Times like this it comes back and bites me on the ass."

"No, in short time that will be me and we do have a place to go," 'Star said and moved across the lawn with that unnatural speed of his. Ric managed to catch up when they entered the lush woods. "The bunker where Feral and I had sex is not very far," the alien told him. "I checked it earlier and disabled the sensor connecting it to the mansion security system. I also disconnected the security camera."

"You mean you and Feral were on video?"

"According to Cable, yes."

"Oh shit! I'm surprised he didn't go blind in his good eye!" Ric chuckled.

"I'm more surprised he didn't interrupt us," 'Star admitted, easily negotiating his way through the pitch black woods while the Hispanic stumbled and crashed his way through the underbrush along side of him. Stopping at a predetermined location, 'Star reached down for the hatch and hauled it open. "You first."

Ric wasted no time crawling down the ladder and 'Star followed after him, swinging the heavy metal door closed and locking it. In their urgency neither noticed Wolverine, who was on patrol in the woods. The X-Man saw them as they rushed past, not even making the effort to hide from view. He watched the two disappear down into the bunker and shook his head in disbelief as he continued on his way. "Friggin teenagers," he rumbled under his breath.

When Ric stepped off the final rung, he activated the floor plate and the emergency lights came on, illuminating a room that was sparsely furnished but, really, the old futon was all they needed. "So this was you and Feral's little love nest, eh?"

'Star was pulling the futon from the wall and setting the mattress to a horizontal position. He stopped what he was doing and looked curiously at the Mexican. "Does that bother you?"

"No," Ric said, running a hand along the faux-suede material. "It's actually kind of a turn-on. The thought of you two getting it on down here. Russell told me that even while you two were screwing, you were thinking about me-"

"That's true. I was imagining you joining us."

"What? You mean like a-a threesome?"

"I believe Maria would have enjoyed that. She was a resourceful individual with incredible vitality. The three of us would have had a great deal of fun," the alien said with a wistful expression on his face. He became aware that Julio was looking at him closely. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh wow, Gav. You've, like, got me so turned on right now," the Hispanic said in an unsteady voice. He pulled the alien close and kissed him impatiently, grinding his rock-hard crotch against the taller teenager's thigh. He ran his hands underneath of 'Stars' shirt, deliberately drawing his fingernails down the ripped muscles of his pecs and stomach and stopped at his belt, impatiently unbuckling it and working at the fly. When that half-hard meat came into view, Julio dropped to his knees and took that dick into his mouth. By the time it was 'Star's turn to reciprocate, they were both naked and crazy with desire. They fell onto the dusty futon and made full use of it and the condoms they brought. At least down here, they didn't have to keep their voices down like the others back at the mansion. And they didn't.

By the end of it, they traced each other's bodies with their hands and kissed affectionately. They didn't want to pull apart and begin the act that would separate them again but knew they had no choice. Just like their early morning bonding at the Marriot, Julio felt his heart surge with emotion but was too apprehensive to express how he really felt for the virile warrior. It wasn't out of fear of rejection, or disdain, or ridicule. Clearly, 'Star felt the same way but it was all so new for the both of them. They each expressed their mutual affection in their vague, roundabout way and returned to the mansion in far better spirits than how they'd left.

In the days that followed they managed two more frenzied trysts in the bunker before the shit hit the fan.

Caliban's seizures got worse and he was taken off the active roster. Risqué revealed her true colors and betrayed the group, to James' utter mortification. He left the group to go to Detroit, Michigan on a personal quest. A new organization called Zero Tolerance proved to be a viable threat. At the command of an enigmatic man called Bastion, a troop of humanoids called Sentinel Primes; cyborgs equipped with advanced mutant-hunting technology, stormed Xavier's Institute without warning and with surprisingly little opposition. In short order, the premises were under their control. Cable was stranded in the underbelly of the mansion, trying to get a stricken Caliban to safety before they could be detected and/or killed.

On a separate mission in Missouri; Rictor, Meltdown, and Shatterstar were taken prisoner and placed in stasis tubes for transport and examined by mysterious doctors. Domino was captured, taken to a separate facility, and operated on. In the span of less than a day, X-Force was left completely in tatters.

Rallying together, Siryn, Sunspot, and undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Dani Moonstar tried to track down their missing teammates and managed to find three of them in a convoy travelling across New Mexico. Ric, 'Star, and Tabby were freed. Suffering from days of sedation, the trio were understandably disoriented from their imprisonment and needed evac. Cable picked them up and retrieved a traumatized Domino from a truck stop in Oklahoma. He decided to take everyone to a safe house located in a secluded part of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains.

"We've been severely compromised," he told the six youths once everyone had a chance to settle in. By that point, Domino had already left the cabin, deciding to head out on her own until she could determine what had been done to her. Her sudden abandonment did not bode well to the now-low morale of the bewildered team. "Most of the computer files in Xavier's Institute have seen seized. They're encrypted in Shi'ar but it's only a matter of time before Bastion cracks the files. That makes this a dangerous time to be operating as openly as we have been. Therefore, I propose we go underground."

Of them all, Bobby managed to find his voice first. "You mean you want us to hide out like we're in the Witness Protection Program?"

"I put this team together so that there would be a group of mutants uniquely trained to deal with the great conflict to come," Cable told them. "I can't afford to lose any of you. When we resurface, we'll have the element of surprise on our side."

At some point in the past, he had taken the time to prepare new identities for each member of the team; new social insurance numbers, driver's licenses, names, and even back stories. He handed out envelopes to each individual. Siryn and Dani expressed their displeasure of such a drastic action. Meltdown laughed at her new name, but it was Roberto who voiced out loud what they were all feeling at that moment: "We already have to conceal the fact that we're mutants if we want to live any semblance of a normal life. Now you're telling us that we can't even use our own names? I can't think of a scenario more demeaning than that."

"This is just a temporary thing," Cable said, trying to assure them. "All of you just need to lay low and not draw attention to yourselves. Eventually, at a safe time, we'll regroup and strike back stronger than ever."

"How long are you talking? A week? A month?" Tabitha asked. When she didn't receive any response, she almost shouted, "A year? You expect us to hide like some kind of criminals until we hear from you when it's safe to come out? Are you serious? Count me out."

Rictor ripped his file in half. "That's your problem, Cable. You think that just because your whole life is some holy war, you think the rest of us are your faithful crusaders hanging on your every word. I originally came back to make sure Shatterstar was okay. If X-force is over, it's time I returned to Mexico. I've got personal business to deal with down there."

Shatterstar was immediately by his side, his face impassive. "Julio's my friend, and I would rather offer him my sword arm than have it atrophy from disuse."

Ric had to struggle to submerge his pleased grin. "Consider that two more 'no's, Cable."

Cable continued to spin his pitch but nobody was listening. Siryn finally spoke for all of them when she made it clear that Cable had trained them to be independent and to fend for themselves and it would be impossible to suddenly bottle up all that enthusiasm to become subservient and successfully stay under the radar. It was no longer in their natures. They were mutants, and proud to be so, and they were not going to hide from anyone, damn the consequences. "Seems t'me that with all our training - the training ye gave us- we can handle whatever comes our way," she finished.

Cable saw the resolve in each of their faces, but he didn't take it well.

"You're right, Theresa," he said, bowing his head in surrender. "Each drill and every field mission you were assigned were intended to give all of you the skills and training so that one day you could stand on your own, as individuals and as a team." He walked slowly to the front door. "It appears that day has come ... sooner than I expected. Be careful."

With that terse send-off, he walked out of the cabin.*

Translations:

Ric: "¡Chale! Qué chinga!" – Damn it! What a pain!

- "¡Chingada madre! Voy a hacerme la chaqueta." – I've had it! I'm going to jerk-off.

- "Me caes de güevos güey." - You're awesome, dude.

*NOTE: This chapter was an abridged account of events depicted in X-Force issues 64 to 70. Issue 70 (1997) was the last time Ric and 'Star (except for one cameo, and an annual) were featured in this series until its merciful cancellation in 2002.