My list of things to work on was freaking enormous, and that just wasn't fair at all.

The chill of cool marble under my bare toes made me shiver, huddling deeper within the sweatshirt I'd chosen to wear today. Despite the fact it was only morning, the weather was well on its way towards high eighties, but was I going to heed that?

Well, if you could locate and identify every bone in your body, would you wear a t-shirt in public? Of course not. Last thing I need is someone thinking Xavier malnourishes his kids and get the younger ones taken away. So here I am, covered as much as can be, sitting in the sunlight, pondering what I need to do.

It's relatively the same as every other day, but Xavier says an important step in my recovery is establishing a predictable routine. After Trask's idea of treatment, I agreed, but that didn't make the task any more enviable.

As per usual: eat at least two full meals today. Three glasses of milk minimum. Meat and potatoes and vegetables and fruit are highly recommended. Spend two hours outside. Light exercise only, and no DR time without heavy supervision. Interact calmly and sociably with three members of the house my own age. Continue to work on de-training the attack reflex. Put no one in the medical wing. Report to Beast for physical therapy and contact Xavier if anything at all bad happens.

Some of them were guidelines, like the talking to people thing. Others were strict, like my diet. I'd been back a little over three weeks, but I could still find all my ribs without trouble. Of course, I'd learned the hard way that eating two full meals was a heavy order; after stuffing myself and promptly puking everywhere, I'd been more than a little wary.

I smirked. Trust Xavier to make mealtime into a damn trip.

Something was going well, though, and that was the un-brain-screwing Trask had done me for. People could finally come up from behind me and I wouldn't almost take their heads off, which was a big relief because all my old team members decided to ambush me with hugs the first day I was out of sickbay... that led to the 'no one in the medical wing' goal, let me just say. And it was an accident. And there were no permanent marks, so there.

Xavier always seemed to know when I was feeling most miserable. He swore up and down that he wasn't reading my mind, but I'm not sure I believe him. Regardless, the one and only time I contemplated ending this ridiculous charade and every time I was down after that, bam. He just rolled right up and got me to talking about the little things I was glad to have back, like social contact with my friends, watching typical bickering at mealtimes, and running water, even if it was cold. I just... owe him a lot, you know?

I tilted my face up towards the sun. That one, at least, I had no problems with. I didn't remember my time outside... well, I didn't remember it, let's leave it at that. So all I had were memories of being locked underground for ages and ages. And boy, when you've been underground do you ever get pale. I can't stay outside for my full two hours without getting crispy. I smoothed one hand over the fuzz on my scalp - I'd been lucky enough to get my head shaved after arriving, when I couldn't put up a fight - so at least I wasn't Patchy McWonderpants for the mansion's amusement.

Almost unwillingly, my hand fluttered down to the bandage patches I had on my stomach and chest. Yeah, chest too, now. Apparently while I was in surgery to fix up what Trask's idiot surgeons had done, Beast found the little device in my chest and had taken it out before anyone had the chance to say 'wait a sec, there'. For which I was exceedingly grateful. I know Beast and I didn't have the best of first meetings here at the mansion, but when he came up to me in sickbay and showed me the thing, I about burst into tears I was so happy. He was probably taking it apart as I enjoyed my morning, studying how they got it to resist my corrosive blood and what made it so effective in controlling me.

But how could I possibly care about that? Trask couldn't hurt me anymore. And he was going to be in jail, away from me, for the rest of his worthless life.

So there. I was healing, mentally and physically. I could lift heavier weights every day, run a little farther, tolerate another person next to me. And now, when I wanted, I slept.

The smile on my face grew bigger. Sleep. I could finally sleep again. The last remnant of Dad had fulfilled his purpose, conveyed his apologies and left, taking the artificial nightmares with him. Now I was only tormented by my own subconscious, which still left me with at least four hours a night. Even though I didn't need that much sleep, it was so nice a luxury to have, I wanted to enjoy it before the next big crisis hits.

Speaking of...

I could hear the soft taps on the steps that meant someone was walking. I took a calming breath, and managed to contain my fear into a slight jump as someone put their hand on my shoulder. I twisted about, eyes narrowed slightly, falling back into the mindset of assess the threat. But it was only Jean, who had a worried look on her face that softened into happiness as I didn't try to slice her to bits. That only happened the one time, and I was getting better every day.

"Loki, I'm glad I found you... we're going to get a debriefing pretty soon. You'd better come with me."

She wasn't telling me something.

I stood slowly, mindful of my broken body, and followed behind her at a sedate pace. We slipped in through the partially open door and made our way to the underground levels, where all the interesting stuff took place. I brushed the metallic walls with my hand, glad for their protection. This was a fine place, I thought proudly. Why couldn't I have a cool, useless power, like talking to objects? What use would Trask have had for me then?

Insurance. Always at the bottom was insurance. I shook my head as Jean hesitated in front of the final door.

"Now, Loki," she began in a low voice, "don't overreact. Please. We really need your help with this one, but if you freak out you'll be put on probation. Again." I nodded my consent.

I mean, come on. Was I tense and high-strung? Yes. Have I almost really hurt people since I got back? Yes. Okay, now that I think about it, a warning is sort of what I need at the moment.

She pushed open the door and I passed through into the surveillance room, the one we'd been using to track Apocalypse's movements. I let my gaze wander for a moment before my line of sight fell on the person currently strapped to a chair, surrounded by all the senior X-Men.

Time slowed to a sluggish crawl. My pupils dilated. My heartbeat shot through the roof. In my mind's eye, I could see that man, taunting me, beating me like I was nothing, and then- oh god-

Instinct is a bitch to work through. My brain shouted enemy, and my body whiplashed about, sending a glimmering blade of silver death headed straight for him. There were other enemies in the room, too, and I didn't have the power or strength to fight them. Tactical retreat was best. I let off a few more shots before something wrapped around my arm and locked it tight to my torso, leaving me unable to move and unable to fire. But I could still use my legs-

Slap!

Storm's hand connected with my face in a blow that sent me reeling. "Now is not the time, Tempest," she said sternly. And just like that, I broke the Trask mentality and sat down hard on my ass, blinking.

Mesmero stared at me from the chair, looking disbelieving despite the fact I was just as tied up as he was, now. I stared at him.

"Oh," I said softly. "Sorry." Ignoring the burn in my cheeks, I struggled to stand again. "Where were we?" I forced my tone to be light. If I acted okay, I would be okay. It was the mantra that had kept me sane for as long as I'd been home, because if I let everything that happened affect me, I wouldn't have hesitated in jumping off the roof as soon as I was out of the medical wing.

"Apocalypse has a plan to turn all the remaining humans on the planets into mutants by activating their dormant X-gene," Xavier explained as he pulled away from the marked man, who looked at the Professor like he'd eaten a lemon. "He is accomplishing this by use of technology found in the Sphinx and channeled through the pyramids. The power source is Apocalypse himself."

No one said anything for a second, so I decided to take the plunge by asking the obvious question. "Why is this a bad thing...?"

I expected a harsh glare and a reprimand. But instead I got a soft sigh. "You have no knowledge of the way the human body works," he said gently. "Suddenly activating dormant powers could kill many people, Loki."

"As if he should care," Mesmero cut in, his voice raspy. I glared at him. "Unlike you fools, he is touched by destiny. My Master is sorely lacking in his abilities, and I, the loyal servant, will remedy that."

Oh. Right. Rogue was the one who stole the mansion's collective powers and gave it to the nutjob. Only problem was, I don't sleep in my room much, so she missed out. Tough cookies for Apocalypse.

I tightened my hand into a fist. "Don't even start," I hissed, eyes flashing. "What's our next move?" I said instead to Storm, visibly fighting to keep myself in check. I had to be able to handle this. I had to. Think of it as a test, Loki; see how far you've come. Had you tried this the moment you were rescued, Mesmero would be dead and torn apart on the ground. Just keep your powers under control and everything will be fine.

"Charles is going to engage Apocalypse and attempt to reason with him. We were just heading for the jet now." She looked at him angrily. Looks like someone didn't agree with the plan, I guess.

"I seriously doubt he's going to want to talk to you, Professor," Scott tried. "Please, just take some of us with you. I can grab Kurt and Kitty and we'll be there in case something goes wrong."

"Thank you, Scott." Xavier was touched. I rolled my eyes. "But it will not be necessary. Ororo and I will take the Blackbird to Egypt and see what can be done. Beast will monitor me from Cerebro and Logan will watch the New Mutants."

Said man groaned as he fished in his pants pocket for a shiny silver flask. Taking a swig, he stalked out of the conference room, muttering under his breath.

"They're my team, Professor," I said loudly, grabbing his attention. "If anything, I should go watch them."

"Bobby has been made team leader in your absence," Xavier said bluntly. I couldn't hide the hurt that flashed on my face. "You're being re-instated as second in command of Scott's team. I need you with him."

Confusion erased the hurt, but I still didn't feel good. I walked over to him, silently asking to be let out of my restraint, and he complied.

"Please don't do this," I whispered as he keyed in the code. My arm loosened away from my torso and I rolled my wrist a few times before kneeling in front of him and gripping his armrest. "Please."

"I must. I must use diplomacy, or everything I have worked so hard for in my lifetime will have been for naught."

I stood, bracing myself against the nearest solid object, which happened to be a table. I couldn't look at him. Here he was, basically going off to his death, and what could I do? Twitch, be startled, and take a limb off? Hold him back? Beg?

"Be safe," I said quietly, avoiding eye contact as he motored around me, giving soft orders in his wake. I looked up through tear-filled eyes to see his profile as he exited the ready room, aiming for the flight deck. I growled loudly, slamming a fist into the table and leaving a small dent.

"Loki," Scott said calmly. "It's alright. Storm will keep him safe, okay? Just calm down."

"Calm down?" I hissed, eyes flashing. "Apocalypse killed Magneto with barely any effort or interest involved. If he wants, Xavier is dead. Miss Ororo too. And there's nothing we can do about it, because we're stuck back here, waiting to see how everything goes wrong."

"Xavier's planning on using Cerebro to boost his powers," Jean's voice cut in. I glanced over Scott's shoulder to find the woman standing behind us, Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty flanking her. I bit back a hiss of surprise, grabbing a handful of pant leg to avoid the Reflex. "If we can get in Cerebro's chamber before Beast locks us out, we'll at least be able to keep in contact with him."

"Let's go," I said lowly. Scott fell into point, me on his right, Jean at his left. We bolted out of the surveillance room and into the hall, making three successive right turns before we stopped at the entrance to Xavier's biggest secret.

Cerebro was an invention of his and Magneto's. It boosts and amplifies telekinetic abilities. The room itself was like what I imagined the inside of a futuristic golf ball would be: metal plating lining the dome that curved around and under us, a bank of computers waiting at the end of a short walkway. Beast was already set up when we tromped in behind him.

"Hank," Xavier's voice filtered through, static and murky. "Keep the team out of Cerebro's room."

"Too late for that," he muttered, eyeballing us over his shoulder. "The gang's here and waiting, Professor. Now or never."

We had to wait another agonizing ten minutes for the Blackbird to make a landing in front of the Sphinx. When Xavier finally put the helmet on, though, an image flared before us.

Apocalypse.

"Oh, man, look at him," Kurt moaned.

It was like someone had fused Apocalypse with a computer and then took a silver Sharpie to him. Metallic light glinted off his silver skin, broken only by strange markings and his clothing. He floated to a stop in front of us - well, in front of Xavier - and spoke.

"Charles Xavier," his voice rumbled, though his lips didn't move. "Why have you come?"

"To talk. Nothing more. I want to know why you are doing this."

"I am an instrument of destiny, Charles Xavier. I am playing my part, as must we all." For a moment, his chilling gaze shifted, and I was frozen to the spot, sinking down into a dark, vast hole of nothing, fear freezing in my gut. But his focus shifted elsewhere and I let out a shaking breath, drawing a reassuring pat from Jean.

"This is not what humanity needs," Xavier tried.

"Humans have never known what, exactly, they needed. I am their provider, whether they wish it so or not."

"You have no right to force them into this situation," Xavier snapped. He was losing his temper. Billions of lives were at stake here; I would have too. "If I must, I will stop you."

"No." Apocalypse actually spoke this, serene and confident. "If I am to be stopped, it will not be by you."

Cerebro's feed crackled and cut out. We were treated to a few precious seconds of audio - Storm screaming, thunder booming, and then a flash of white that blinded us all before communications cut off completely. We stared at the empty space, disbelieving. Jean broke the silence first, muffling a sob into her arm. Scott wrapped his arm around her waist, burying his head into her hair.

"No," I said flatly. "No." Not when I had just come back to normalcy. Not the man I loved like a father, like all of us loved as a father. "We're going after them. We're going to take him back." In the jet or in a body bag.

I clenched my hand into a fist so hard I punctured skin. Blood sizzled on the metal deck, acrid smoke filtering up to my nose, making it burn.

"Logan's pinging," Beast said quietly after my proclamation. "We've got company. Back to the ready room, now!"

Back and forth, back and forth. I've done this song and dance already, I thought as we jogged down the corridor, following the burning path of Jean's hair as it bounced up and down. Just keep it together. Don't panic, don't freak out. We need to plan. Going in without a plan is a death sentence.

Again inside the surveillance room, Mesmero mercifully gone (probably taken back to the brig, if we even have one), we were treated to Logan shouting furiously at who I believed to be Fury. Yes, he was turning towards us, I could see the eyepatch. Well, Logan was obviously pissed; I wonder if he knew about Xavier?

The t.v.s were on, tuned in to some high-tech frequencies only we had access to. While I was... gone, they'd planted cameras around the domes - there were three, I think - so we could have round the clock eyes on them in case something went down.

Something was going down, alright.

Sentinals stormed across the screens, wreaking havoc. Before I could take any more details in, pain hammered me from my bad side; I staggered and fell to the floor, clenching my jaw in order not to scream. Scott knelt next to me, one hand on my shoulder. Oh god, Trask and the Sentinal from the city and pain-

"It's Storm!" Kitty breathed. "And look, there's - Magneto?"

"Everyone who went missing," Kurt said, wonder coloring his tones. "Professor! And-" His voice cut off abruptly in a choke as Rogue took up the commentary.

"Her," she growled. "Mystique."

Fantastic. I thought she was in pieces at the bottom of a ravine, but no such luck. I fought back to my feet, shrugging Scott off, still gasping, to see Kurt holding back sobs as tears made tracks through his dark fur.

"I knew it wouldn't be this easy," Logan snarled, turning to Fury as his muscles tensed. Ready for battle. I glared at the man as well. If all he came to do was show us the Sentinals, then fine. Mission accomplished. I could testify to that.

"They're armed with specialized weapons that can tear down the barriers around the pyramids," Fury said, cutting through the sounds of destruction now emanating from the screens. "Once that's done, we need you to divide into teams and take them out. You're the only ones who can do this."

Logan wanted to refuse. I wanted to shove his words right back up his pompous ass. But Scott knew better than I did, and signaled a huddle.

"We'll split up into four teams, one for each dome and one for the sphinx. Kitty, go get the Brotherhood. Now." She nodded, saluted, and phased through the floor. "Kurt, go find Spyke." A bamf and he was gone. "Jean, go get any other neutral mutants you know that live in Bayville and tell them to meet us here ASAP." I think he glanced around at the remains of his group, but I can't be sure.

"We'll make it through this," he said confidently. "Trust me."


It must be nice to kiss ass to the government, I contemplated as I looked out the window at the glittering water below. If I strained my head far enough to the side, I could see another helicopter-jet powering across the ocean.

Yeah, apparently our mission was important enough that all we needed to do was ask and hey, free stuff! We had a combat-ready helicopter-jet armed to the teeth, and our uniforms had been upgraded to be able to resist a lot of the collateral damage we normally take.

You know. The whole being-thrown-into-walls thing we have going on. At least the armored padding would soften that particular blow.

My mike crackled. I turned to the interior of my vehicle where Scott, Logan, Kurt, Rogue, and Fury were sitting.

"Listen up," Fury rasped. "You need to take Apocalypse down. I'm sorry for doing this to you, but if you guys fail, then we're officially screwed."

Logan had taken it upon himself to fill Fury in on the details. Weirdly enough, the man hadn't seemed too pleased to be in on this particular loop. I smirked. "No prob, boss," I said cheerfully. "Maybe your power will be something cool, eh?"

I received at minimum four flat glares (I couldn't tell with Scott) and I chuckled into the open mike. "Can't take a joke before battle, alright, I gotcha."

Act calm, be calm. Be collected. Be smart. Don't do anything stupid. Unless it's a teammate, don't restrain the Reflex. Take Apocalypse down, or the whole world burns.

Water changed to sand, golden brown. Minutes later, there was a jarring thud as the helicopter-jet touched down in front of the Sphinx.

The setting sun framed the obelisk nicely. Dusk was beginning to fall; I could see stars as well as glimmers of light from the horizon. I formed up behind Scott and Logan as Rogue disappeared from my line of sight.

Not in the line of sight, not an enemy, I couldn't care about her. Too much at risk.

I felt the anxiety, now, despite my flippant attitude. It sat like a weight in my stomach, made my bum shoulder burn with dull fire.

Before us, stairs leading down into darkness stretched like the gaping maw of some merciless beast. I glanced back at Kurt, who had replaced his usually goofy demeanor with something far too serious for his character. Scott was stiffly standing ahead of me, uniform already gathering dust as the evening wind howled.

Without looking back, we started forward.

Here we go.


A/N: Here we go, indeed. We've reached the finale. Apocalypse is making his move, and Loki is pulling the pieces of himself back together again to fight him. How will everything turn out? You're going to have to wait and see, I suppose.

Spinning plates for sequel purposes, don't mind me... *whistles*

Two more to go, the finale and an epilogue. And then Winds of Change is done. Until next time, my friends, leave me your thoughts and peace!