"So what is this place exactly?" Logan couldn't help, but question as he, Scott and Charles made their journey to the safe house where Charles was keeping Scott's son tucked away from the rest of the world.
"It's a summer home that my family had when I was growing up," Charles explained as they traveled up the winding road towards the address Charles had shared with Scott and Logan once they'd gotten into Scott's car. "It's been a part of my family for generations. It's very private and secluded away from the rest of the world as a safe haven, which is what I felt Christopher needed during this time."
"Why hadn't I heard about it before?" Scott questioned, his grip on the steering wheel intensifying as he pondered the place they were headed to. They were two hours into their journey and Scott found himself increasingly eager to see his son at long last.
"It's been my own personal retreat," Charles explained exhaling slowly, "I'd kept it private for years hoping that the time wouldn't ever arise for us to have to use it, but now that things are the way they have been…"
"You had no choice, right?" Scott glanced over at Charles briefly before focusing on the road again.
"Life is full of a great many choices and consequences Scott. I don't anticipate this being an easy road for us, but hopefully one day you'll come to understand why I had to take such extreme measures to protect you and Christopher," Charles stated plainly, his voice devoid of any emotion when Scott noticed something in the road up ahead closing it off.
"What is that?" Logan questioned sitting up straighter when he spotted the block in the road up ahead.
"I don't know. It looks like a tree and…," Scott frowned slowing down the car when he spotted smoke in the distance beyond the horizon.
"That shouldn't be there," Charles began worriedly, his thoughts leaving the car when another flash of movement captured Logan's attention.
"Scott, pull over," Logan ordered reaching for the handle on his door to open it.
"Logan," Scott frowned watching his lover roll out of the moving car without hesitation. Scott brought the car to a screeching stop as he watched Logan sprint off into the trees, seeking out the source of movement that he'd spotted moments earlier. Feeling an unsettling sensation carrying over him, Scott turned to look over his shoulder at Charles once again, "What's going on?"
"I have no idea," Charles admitted honestly, "as far as I know that shouldn't be in the road and…"
"It's not going to stay there long," Scott decided opening the door to get out of the car. "Wait here."
"Damn it," Scott cursed under his breath as he felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled his phone out and realized it was Ororo on the other end of the line. Approaching the sudden roadblock Scott brought his phone up to his ear and spoke up in a terse tone, "Where are you?"
"We're on our way Scott. We were delayed by a security breach at the school," Ororo explained drawing in a breath.
"What kind of security breach?" Scott felt tension coil in the back of his shoulders when he stood up straighter.
"It's nothing to worry about…" she paused before speaking up again, "At least not just yet. The jet will be there in no time according to our calculations. We've been following the directions that you've given us and…"
"What aren't you telling me Ororo?" Scott questioned in between surveying the area.
"It's just…" she stopped herself, "What's going on out there?"
"I'm not sure, but something tells me someone doesn't want us to make our way up to Christopher. It would be in all of our best interest if you just get here fast," Scott ordered in a firm, authoritative tone. He glanced over his shoulder as Charles sat in the car and felt a frown carry over his lips, "I don't trust this situation or Charles after everything he's withheld from all of us."
"I realize that, which is why Hank and I put together a team right away," she informed him with a sudden apprehension in her voice, "We're just minutes from the location Scott, but as I said we were delayed by…"
"By what?" Scott questioned when he looked to the thick, rounded tree in the road.
"People were at the school. There were some men from the government that were asking questions about you and Charles-they were asking about your son as well…," she hesitated indicating there was far more than she was willing to say over the phone, "Scott, things aren't looking good. Whatever happened with you and Charles before…"
"What?" he inquired stiffening at her hesitation, "Ororo?"
"I just think it's best that we get your son and get out of the area," Storm informed him with a sudden seriousness in her voice, "If there's any chance that he's under their radar…"
"Just get here," Scott instructed when tension coiled up over his spine, "If you make it to the house before we do, then find Christopher and get him out of there no questions asked."
"You have my word on the Scott," she agreed quietly, "What about Charles?"
"We've hit a bit of a delay," Scott looked to the offensive tree again, "but it's nothing I can't work through."
"Do you want us to pick you up Scott?" she inquired.
"No," Scott decided, "Just get to Christopher. As I said before Ororo I don't trust this situation. Everything about it just feels…wrong."
"I understand," she replied before clearing her throat, "I'll do my best Scott."
"I know you will," Scott added in letting go of some of the stoic firmness he'd carried with him, "You're one of the few people in this world that Jean and I would trust our son's life with Ororo. If I can't get there to him, then I know you'll keep him safe until we're able to get there."
"I'll do my best," she promised as Scott hung up the phone and thought to his plan for finding his son again. In having Logan run off after some impending threat and being met by a roadblock Scott could feel himself on sensory overload in wondering what he was being lead to.
"You can't trust anyone," a voice in the back of his mind instructed carrying shivers over his spine, "especially not them."
"Them?" Scott repeated when there was a sound from behind where he stood.
"Scott," Charles called out to him watching Scott push forward, focused on removing the obstacle blocking the path when Charles heard a tapping on the window beside him. He tipped his head to the side seeing Erik outside of the car.
"We need to talk my friend," Erik waved his hand in the air, using his powers to open the door to encourage Charles to exit the back seat, "now."
"What is he doing here?" Scott demanded turning his attention to discover Erik and Charles with one another. With his frustrations mounting Scott ignored the fallen tree and moved towards the other man who had opted to play god with his child's life. Feeling vibrations of anger carry over his skin Scott demanded a response out of Charles, "Did you call him out here?"
"There were a few things we both needed to discuss with you," Erik began in a smooth and even voice, "They were things that you needed to hear directly from the both of us considering that…"
"That you left Jean there to die in that facility," Scott finished with a sneer when he felt his angers mounting, "She asked you for help. She begged you to bring my son to me, but what did you do? You both hid him away from me and refused to let me know of his existence."
"That was not my intention," Erik offered up with an apologetic expression on his face, "nor did I ever want for any of this son."
"I'm not your son," Scott spat back at him with a snarl. He clenched his fists at his sides before glaring over at Erik and Charles, "neither one of you had a right to make decisions what was right for my child."
"Actually…" Charles opened his mouth to say something more when Erik stepped forward.
"I know what it's like to have your child stolen from you Scott," Erik interrupted with a deep remorse in his voice, "I know what it's like to learn years later that your boy is out there living a life where he's completely unaware of your existence. I've been where you're at in watching my son grow up in a world without me-in a place where others deemed it better for him to be away from any potential influence that I could bring upon him."
"Erik," Charles began stiffly when tension carried over his posture.
"No more lies Charles," Erik snapped in a dark tone when he focused on Scott once again, "I know what it's like to be deceived after your child has been brainwashed into believing that you are the enemy-that you aren't capable of love or real emotion when the person you trusted-the person that you loved brought your child into this world without so much as the benefit of the doubt in letting you know he was out there. Instead you find yourself surrounded by lies and manipulations, by fabricated memories best served to hide the truth about who he was and where he's come from…"
"Erik!" Charles snarled taking a step forward when his jaw tightened in warning, "Now is not the time or the place…"
"If not now, then when Charles?" Erik questioned turning to face his old friend again, "Why keep the boy in the dark when all he's asking for is the truth? We've done things your way and it was ineffective, so now it's time to play it by my methods."
"Scott," Charles opened his mouth to say something more to soften the blow of what Erik was inevitably going to deliver to Scott, but instead he discovered that Scott had turned his back to them instead using the powers he'd acquired to move the tree out of the center of the road. He held his hand out, curling his fingers into a fist as he raised his arm out in front of him. The thick, oversized stump crackled and heaved against the force, twisting up off of the ground, rising with each movement Scott made when Erik let out a breath of anticipatory awe and fascination.
"Look at him Charles," Erik's lips curved upward in the beginnings of a smile when the tree ascended beyond the road hovering over the road a few feet above Scott's head. It appeared lightweight as Scott began to twist his fingers in an attempt to twist the tree around and return it to where it had originated. It moved through the dense woods beside them gliding effortlessly through the air until Scott squeezed his fingers again. The movement caused the tree to stand upright, sliding in over the splintered stump that still lingered in the ground. With a few other movements Erik and Charles watched as the tree returned to it's base, suddenly rooted into it's missing piece and reemerging as one before them. Against all laws of nature the tree began to thrive and flourish appearing as if it had before it had inevitably been taken down, "He's magnificent."
"Scott," Charles took a step forward to seek out Scott again when a sound rose from above the trees. It was a pounding sensation that vibrated the ground beneath them, carrying with it an overwhelming force followed by an earth shattering explosion.
"No!" Scott gasped horrified by the thick cloud of smoke rising above the trees, "Please tell me that's not the direction we were headed in."
"Scott I…" Charles opened his mouth to say something further, but instead Scott ignored him and rushed up the hill bound and determined to seek out the son he'd been kept from for far too long already.
XXXXX
Leaves crunched underneath Logan's feet as he ran through the woods chasing the source of the sounds that surrounded him. His eyes shifted through the shaded area when he moved further away from the others and the car. He paused listening to the sound of his own labored breath when the scent saturating the area became overwhelmingly familiar. It was all around him, consuming him until finally he spun around to see a deer in the green grass before him munching on the blades as if it hadn't had a care in the world. It's big, brown eyes were on Logan eyeing him suspiciously as Logan's foot came down on a twig in the grass. It snapped causing the deer to dart off in the opposite direction. It was then that another noise came from overhead.
"What the…?" Logan questioned seeing a bird swoop down from the trees towards him. He ducked down preparing for battle by extending his claws when he spun around to discover Mystique standing before him with a mocking grin on her face. She was leaning up against one of the trees with her arms folded in front of her chest.
"You're a little bit jumpy aren't you?" she teased to reveal a bright, white smirk before him.
"Mystique," he frowned in standing upright. His claws returned to his body as he glared at her, "I should've known it was you…"
"What can I say?" she waved her hand around in the air, "I have a knack for theatrics in keeping you on your toes."
"What are you doing out here?" he questioned wearily when she approached him.
"I was following you, which truth be told I don't believe I'm the only one," she continued in a nonchalant fashion, "However, with what I had to say I knew it couldn't wait any longer."
"Come again?" Logan blinked back at her.
"Oh I think I'd like that," she grinned widely before shaking her head at him. He snarled extending his claws out when she waved her hand around in the air dismissively, "Logan, I'm joking. I needed to speak with you…"
"About what?" he asked suspiciously, "Why follow us here?"
"What better place than the house of lies you're about to walk into with your precious Cyclops?" she challenged hoping to pique his curiosity when she stepped forward to close the gap between them, "The things that you're about to enter into with Charles Xavier aren't at all what they seem."
"Meaning what?" he frowned back at her.
"Meaning that perhaps it's time for you to really think about what you're getting yourself into. Charles isn't at all what he claims to be," she continued in an impassioned tone, "I realize that Scott is changing as well. Erik is too as he's becoming something far more than what he was before. The time away has changed all of them as their powers are evolving and…"
"What do you know about all of their powers?" Logan demanded with a scowl.
"I know that they've all become something darker than any of us have anticipated," she paused drawing out extra emphasis in her voice, "especially Charles. He's a liar and a manipulator."
"Why would you say that?" Logan asked wearily.
"Because he's shielded you from a lifetime of memories with Scott," Mystique practically purred in the admission, "He's stolen joy from the both of you time and time again only to serve his own greedy agenda. The ironic part of all of it is that you've been blissfully unaware of all he's stolen from you simply because he wouldn't allow Scott the true joys he'd longed for in his life. Scott has been idolizing him for most of his life, but the past isn't as buried as Charles has hoped for, which is why all of this will erupt very soon."
"What will erupt?" Logan questioned with a frown.
"Charles Xavier's house of lies," she chortled with a wicked smirk, "and I, for one, want to be standing there watching it fall down all around him. Once his tyranny is exposed, then everyone will see that his dream is nothing more than an illusion meant to oppress those like you and Cyclops from realizing your true potential."
"I didn't realize that you weren't a fan of Chuck's," Logan remarked with a thick air of sarcasm in his tone, "I'm sure he's crushed that you won't be leading up his fan club this year."
"Don't make light of this Logan because you're one of the many he has betrayed," she warned sharply, "He and Erik are full of lies meant to betray us all starting with your precious, little Scott."
"Do you have a point in all of this?" Logan looked over his shoulder to the direction he'd come from. His thoughts returned to Scott and the mission they'd been on.
"They're changing him Logan," she added with an uneasy breath, "what you think you know isn't at all the way things are. I'm sure you must be realizing that what those people did to Scott…Logan, you can't tell me that you're so blind that you haven't realized that they've caused him to evolve into beyond what he once was."
"Have you been spying on us?" Logan questioned thinking back to what had transpired in the barn with Scott. In the aftermath someone had taken great liberties to murder the man who had tortured Scott and with Mystique standing before him Logan couldn't help, but wonder if he'd found the culprit.
"I don't have to," she wrinkled her nose at him. Her eyes glowed with something Logan couldn't quite read when she leaned in closer to him, "Erik's changed as well. I can't trust him anymore."
"Is that right?" Logan mouthed with a thick air of sarcasm in his tone.
"He's not the same in he hasn't been letting me in anymore. All of his plans are secretive now that he's found another alliance to confide in with his newfound companion," she further explained when Logan rolled his eyes at her.
"I'm not here to be a relationship councilor. Why do I care about any of this?" he questioned gruffly in an attempt to turn away from her.
"Because it directly involves Scott," she reached out to wrap her fingers around his arm in a solid twist, "Whether you want to believe me or not, Erik's plotting something. He's been building upon a new agenda since we found him. He's changed and as it stands it seems as if his new agenda revolves solely around an unholy union with Charles Xavier like they had years ago."
Logan stiffened at the mention of Scott's mentor.
"I knew that would capture your attention," she mouthed releasing his arm when he faced her once again "The two of them have an agenda and it won't end well-certainly not for your lover."
"You're lying," Logan accused when her eyes met in a challenge.
"Why reason would I have to lie? What purpose would it serve for me in telling you the truth about Erik's new allegiances with Charles?" she shrugged her shoulder simply.
"Maybe you're jealous that someone else is capturing his attention," Logan suggested with a shrug.
"Or maybe he's being manipulated by the same man who wiped out Scott's memory for years in the name of preventing him from finding true happiness," she tossed back at him flippantly, "Scott still hasn't told you about your beginnings, has he?"
"Excuse me?" Logan blinked back at her.
"Perhaps that's part of his loyalty to Charles," she rolled her shoulders back, "Maybe a part of him is afraid of what the truth will do to the future in realizing just how deep the level of betrayal ran with Charles all that time ago."
"I'm not following…" Logan shifted on his feet again.
"Charles never wanted you to be with Scott. It was the one thing that he fought against from the beginning, yet here you are with Scott's ring on your finger," Mystique reminded him with a wrinkled expression on his face, "Just how long do you believe that Charles intends on letting it stay there Logan?"
"Chuck doesn't have a say in my relationship," Logan remarked sourly.
"Doesn't he?" she raised a suspicious brow, "Given that he's lead you out into the middle of nowhere with a flimsy story and talk of a long lost child for Scott…"
"You know about Scott's son?" Logan's eyes widened with surprise.
She nodded, "I've seen him. I've spoken with him…when Erik had him."
"Erik," Logan repeated with a frown, "Magneto."
"It seems Charles Xavier didn't want to carry the burden of the truth on his own, so he let Erik hold the power of attorney to Scott's child. I'm sure he's bypassed that bit of information though, hasn't he?" she forced a laugh.
"Magneto's had Scott's son," Logan replied with a snarl.
"And he has no intention of giving him back to Scott given the circumstances," Mystique taunted further, "He believes Christopher is the chosen one…that he can somehow use him in ways that neither Scott nor Jean were capable of fulfilling for our kind. He's holding on to a futile hope and a dream, but he's mistaken. Christopher isn't the one who will change things. Scott is. It's always been Scott, but something tells me that you've always known that."
"This is crazy. I shouldn't be wasting my time listening to this when…" Logan admitted with a tight scowl.
"The things that happened to Scott will undoubtedly change him. They've been building to a point where you'll have to make a decision and a choice," she informed him with a sudden seriousness in her voice, "Erik and Charles are aware of this. They've seen what the future holds in store for all of us. They've been taking measures to ensure that things change, but they're both afraid that the outcome is still inevitable for us all."
"You're not making any sense," Logan frowned back at her, "All of your nonsense is wasting my time and…"
"You'll be presented with a choice Logan," she added with a brashness in her tone, "You may have no other choice, but to destroy Scott if the people who created him get control of him again."
"Destroy Scott?" Logan blinked back at her.
"That's what I believe Erik and Charles are doing right now in plotting ways to take him under," she continued meeting his eyes again, "They know the kind of power Scott wields. Should it fall into the wrong hands again with Stryker's supporters, then our kind will be wiped out into extinction. They will manipulate him as they did with Jean until there's nothing left of him, but a tool for vengeance to be turned against us. Stryker was well aware of this from the start…Erik and Charles know this and they've taken measures to ensure that Scott doesn't reach his full potential. Should that happen they both know that it will be the end of mutantkind as we know it."
"You're insane," Logan mouthed under his breath when he found his patience running thin.
"Tell me he hasn't changed-that he's not capable of things that you were too afraid to believe in before," Mystique suggested with a long sigh, "We both know that he's becoming something more than the rest of us. With his limitless powers…"
"What do you know of Scott's powers?" Logan tossed back at her flippantly.
"I know that he's the chosen one-that he's always been the chosen one and Stryker wanted to make for damn sure that he was kept on his leash long before Scott realized what he was," she added with a shake of her head, "If you hadn't freed him from his cell all those years ago Stryker might've been successful in destroying us all, but you changed that for him. You took Scott to a place where he was never meant to be and now…you've condemned us all."
"I've condemned us?" Logan repeated with a shake of his head, "I'm finished with this nonsense."
"Extinction is right around the corner," she squeezed at his arm once again, "That day is coming and it has been for years. William Stryker was just the first in a great many who have tried to tear us to pieces. They've tried to destroy all that we are, but they've always come up short. They haven't been able to find the key until they were able to get their hands on Scott. Once they realized his full potential, well that's when they realized that Scott isn't like the rest of them. He yields uncontrollable power that never should've been made possible from his parentage…his existence as a whole is an abomination by their standards."
"Let go of me," Logan warned sharply when he pulled his arm back only to feel her nails dig further into his flesh.
"Logan, we both know that the world will believe that his evolution is dangerous. If he's in the wrong hands, then there's no denying what will happen to our kind in the aftermath. It's a fate we all want to avoid because if the others find him again-or even if Erik and Charles manage to get their hands on him, then the consequences for us will be deadly. Scott's strengths are unexplainable with the Phoenix force inside of him and we both know that Stryker's people are feeding into what's happened to him…"
"The Phoenix force?" Logan repeated eyeing her suspiciously.
"There are things that Charles Xavier has kept well hidden-some better than others, but with Jean Grey, well, she was a host for so very long. Her abilities made her readily able to keep the reigns on what was happening to her, but with Scott he can't afford the luxury. He can't contain it as Jean had and everyone knows that. Once it takes control of him there will be only one choice-to kill or be killed. Only destruction will follow and when he reaches that point should he be on the wrong side it could end us all…"
"Look," Logan seized her by the arm, "I'm taking you back with me. We can get to the bottom of your nonsense after…"
Logan's words were brought to an abrupt ending when an explosion ripped through the sky. Looking up Logan noticed the flames that shot through the day, bringing a thick cloud of smoke around the trees he'd been immersed in. He felt Mystique beside him, struggling to get out of his hold on her, but when another explosion followed she suddenly became an aftermath in the name of getting to Scott before it was too late.
xxxxx
"Where did that explosion come from?" Ororo questioned as she rushed up to join Scott at the front of the estate grounds where Charles was keeping Christopher.
"Sentinels," Charles announced joining the duo when Hank and the others moved out of the jet.
"What are they doing here?" Scott questioned in a panic when he could see the front of the house had been ripped to shreds right before his very eyes. Panic and emotion overtook him in thinking about his son inside of the now burning building, "We have to neutralize them and get in there."
"I'm on it," Logan announced rushing to join the others with claws extended, "Just point me in the right direction and I'll put a stop to this. Pete!"
"I'm here," another voice rose up through the sounds of explosions as Scott looked to the others.
"You two get on them and Ororo," Scott turned to his long time friend, "you find a way inside to get to Christopher. I'll work on clearing them as well."
"I've got it," she nodded turning her attention to the task at hand when Scott and Logan exchanged worried glances with one another.
"You take the back I'll go up the front," Scott suggested turning his attention to Peter at Logan's side, "You ready for this?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Logan nodded moving towards the direction of the chaos.
"Logan," Scott opened his mouth to say something more when the smoke and flames engulfed the woods around them becoming a greater threat with the violence tearing into house before them.
"I'll be back," Logan promised giving Scott one last look before turning away.
"I'm counting on that," Scott mouthed focusing on the threat in front of him when he felt another presence at his side.
"Let's do this," Hank announced rushing forward to aid Scott in their mission to save Scott's son from the danger that now threatened to take them all under.
"Scott…" Charles opened his mouth to say something with Erik at his side.
"Not now," Scott charged forward preparing for a battle now that it was clear that disaster was threatening to overtake them.
"Scott…" Charles began again when Scott walked away much to his dismay.
"I'm afraid the boy is right. Now's a time for action," Erik decided stepping forward to join in the fight with Charles at his side.
"That's what worries me," Charles mouthed to himself when it seemed that the world around them was about to explode into chaos.
xxxxx
Thick red and orange flames engulfed Charles Xavier's summer home as Scott pushed his way inside. With Hank at his side they'd been able to neutralize one of the sentinels they'd encountered on the way inside, but that was only the beginning. Never before had Scott found himself so caught off guard in his surroundings when it seemed that a full force attack was waged upon the home. It was starting to feel like war as he and Hank had fought like hell to take down the sentinel, but even in the brief moment of victory Scott could still hear the others struggling to find a way to do the same when another explosion ripped through the front of the house behind them.
"They're closing in on us Scott," Scott could vaguely hear Hank's voice in the back of his mind.
"They want to destroy you Scott," Scott could hear Jean's voice in the back of his mind, calling to him when he took a long look around, "They know you're close to finding him."
Looking up Scott turned his attention to the large window still in tact at the back of the house. Through the smoke that surrounded him he could see Logan out back doing the same thing he'd done moments earlier in taking the sentinel down. The weight of the violence built, the threat expanding as Scott noticed that Magneto had managed to step up and join in the fight. Ororo was somewhere in the house undoubtedly seeking out Christopher while Logan and Peter continued working to take out the last threat to the team.
"The end is near," Jean's voice haunted Scott, pulling him further from the moment when a terrible ache surrounded him. He closed his eyes feeling the flames engulf him when suddenly everything felt unstable, uncertain. He took in a breath feeling smoke in his lungs when he reopened his eyes to discover himself surrounded by fire.
"Scott, it's time," Jean beckoned him causing him to look up as she hovered above him with outstretched arms. Her smile lit up her face, drawing his attention to the blackness behind her eyes when she curled her finger at him in urging him to join her, to walk away from the path he was on and become something more. He took a step forward realizing that the world around him had shifted, leaving everything else behind except for the fire and madness.
"Scott!" she ordered drawing him towards her when Scott felt a firm grip on his shoulder pulling him back to reality. Now, as Scott felt the overwhelming smoke around him, he searched through the house attempting to make his way up the stairs to the place where Charles had promised Christopher would be waiting. However, another explosion ripped through the house causing Hank to call out to Scott in a panic.
"Scott!" Hank shouted snapping him out of his daze completely, "Look out!"
"What?" Scott questioned raising his head to see one of the ceiling beams approaching him. He brought his hand out preventing the beam from crushing him completely. His fingers stretched out, twisting the beam in an unspoken movement when Hank's eyes widened with shock and astonishment. Clenching his fist Scott rotated the beam sending it across the room out of their path, "I've got this."
"Scott I…" Hank found himself at a loss when another sound caused the house to vibrate around them.
"What's taking them so long?" Scott questioned thinking of Logan when there was a scream from upstairs. It was followed by a loud popping sound when Scott rushed up to the top of the staircase only to be met by another thick, gust of heat.
"I've got this," he could hear Logan's voice carry over the moment drawing his attention to the room at the top of the stairs, "You're safe now."
"Logan?" Scott questioned rushing down the hallway only to feel pressure surround him. He raised his head up, preparing to say something more when the remaining part of the roof was ripped away from the house, crumbling into pieces around him. He attempted to fend off the threat of the unexpected sentinel, but before he could react he felt something crash into him from behind sending him down into the floor in a harsh wave of darkness.