We had to go a further distance than I had first supposed. At least two miles...

When we had come to the back of the compound and met the fence, I had been ready to do something about the obstructive thing, but Logan stopped me.

"Let me."

Out came an adamantium claw in a flash, ripping fiercely through the placed boundary that separated us from the others. Retracting it just as quickly, he took off again. Not waiting for me to crawl through the hole he had created, or to offer me some words of.. encouragement.

But I didn't need them.

So we ran. And ran.

Following after him, not asking where, or when. Just running blindly after Logan, knowing even through my shallow anger that I trusted him completely.

Through woods we went, past houses, over more fences and then back into more woods. Dogs barking at us, owls hooting in dark passages, and the sound of our boots crunching against the soft snow.

The morning light growing as the rays shot through the trees, brighter and brighter it became until the dark finally disappeared altogether.

I tried to regulate my breathing as I allowed the secluded feeling environment fill me to the brim with strange bursts of hope.

It was a moment of reprieve that was much needed.

But then Logan stopped. Forcing me to as well.

And that was when perdition came into view.


Actually it was a gas station. A deserted one at that. Cars that looked abandoned, lights that were on the fritz. And people moaning on the road around it. Some that looked to be the Brotherhood, others unfortunate bystanders.

My senses told me they were all alive, but that didn't stop me from going to one of them closest to me. But Logan, maneuvered his hand around my body, placing his hand on my upper stomach, and pulled me back.

"We don't have time for that."

"Logan these people are hurt.. we should help them." I made a move to lean down, but he stopped me again.

"We are going to... by stopping this before it goes any further."

I felt extreme dissension them. Rebellion leaping up in me, the need to do the complete opposite of whatever he was suggesting.

"You coming?" His words were hard. Brutal. And the hint of a challenge underlining them.

I looked around me, taking in the human suffering.

"I can't just leave them Logan!"

"You can, they will still be alive when this is over.. But the next ones she comes across might not be so lucky."

And that was when I made my decision. One of the toughest in a long while.

I left them behind.

Not because of Logan's words, not because it was the strategical correct thing to do.

But because I was tired.

Not physically although there was that as well, but more mentally.

And sick.

Sick of the suffering, of the killings and murders. My friends being hurt and people trying to kill us.

There is only so much you can take. So far you can bend until you realize you either stop it or you break in half.

That time was then.


And then what do I come upon? What spectacle was waiting for me? Not one that I had supposed. Not one of the many, many scenarios I had ran through my busy little brain.

To find Magneto on his knees, his hands out in front of his as he tried to ward of Jean's attack, was not expected. I had presumed that he was one of those left behind on the Friends of Humanity base, covering our flank.

But of course not.

Instead of doing what he had said, he had probably decided to approach Jean himself, thinking in his presumptuous manner of his, that he would be able to say something to her that would somehow bring her on his side, or at the very least gain her attention.

And while he was in the process of getting a good dose of the latter, I don't think it was the kind he was aiming for.

He looked as if he could handle himself for a while, especially since some of his people looked to be trying to help him. One person with a flash of white and blue, was running around Jean and picking up speed, the actual snow was rising from the ground, mixing with the rush of wind until it became a white ring around her.

Another was causing the earth to break up and crack. And another and another, doing this, doing that, some actions more interesting than others.

We regrouped with Ororo. Not as easy a task as typing it. Having to force our way through the Brotherhood, who were doing everything possible to keep Bobby and Ororo away from Jean. Fortunately most of them were distracted with the purpose of getting Magneto free from Jeans grip.

When we finally reached the two, there was no stopping to chat, instead the conversation flowed over the fighting.

"Sorry, they destroyed our communicators, or we would have warned you." Ororo told us rather breathless, yelling slightly at us, her back facing us as she jumped, kicking someone right in the jaw. Before I could even blink she was already doing something else as she caused hail to fall out of the sky and land around her. Pushing and throwing some people back.

"Magneto and his people came out of nowhere.. " Bobby added, dropping and rolling to the left as someone sprayed what looked to be acid out of a rather large mouth at him. Jumping back on his feet Bobby extended his fingers, covering the offenders mouth with a thick layer of ice.

"And you're surprised?" Logan, grunted, already occupied with a very large man, the biggest I had ever seen. Wolverine's adamantium was flashing as he made contact with the man's oversized belly, more than a little surprised, when the only reaction to his move was a rather guttural laugh from the big monstrous person.

"You are right Logan. We should have known. But now isn't time for incriminations. We need to .. " Storm paused for a second, ducking out from under a heard of birds that were trying there hardest to peck at her. Reaching her hands outward, wind gushed forth, knocking the creatures away from her. Twisting to her right side, she flexed her fingers, sparks of electricity blasting the woman who had been controlling the small animals. ".. Get to Jean."

I was more than a little busy myself as two twins, dressed in full ninja garb, came at me, their moves mirrored in or even completing each other as they attacked me. But that wasn't all. I found in no time at all for them to make contact with me, was a very, very bad thing. For it wasn't just pain that shot through me, but a coldness. A sweeping sensation that started from wherever they managed to hit my uniform that spread quickly throughout the rest of my body, making me feel numb. If it hadn't been for Logan's regenerations, I am sure that I would been stunned and that it would have been more than a little difficult to fight back.

When they saw that they weren't really slowing me down, they started going for my exposed skin on my face and arm. Their intentions obviously was to multiply their painful effect with true contact. Maybe not knowing who I was or what I could do to them if they did.

The thought of them touching me more than aggravated me, it deeply annoyed me.

And then they pulled out weapons...

Leaning to the side I pulled out Gambit's old staff, extending it while twirling it in my hand, letting it end in front of me with the completed rotation. And man did I feel like fighting. The need to bypass all the mutant abilities inside of me and test the natural ones that had been instilled in me by Xing, practiced upon and sharpened by others, and not used enough for my own tastes.

I always did like a good brawl.

With a sharpness I didn't know I was capable of, I took them on, with a Bo that I thought I had been stupid for bringing along.

Someday I would have to thank Gambit. For his staff was a work of art. Perfectly balanced, durable and strong. Lasting against the twins hard blows that came at me with their sais and katanas. Landing more than a few of it's own, that probably had more to do with my humble skills than the actual weapon itself, but fine tools can increase ones advantage.

It wasn't an easy fight nor a painless one. The two of them coming against me at once. Swift, organized and very competent they were.

But they had apparently never gone against a motivated southerner. And I suppose me being able to sense the metal of their weapons, as far as where it was going to land made it more doable as well.

I finally just let my mind shut off, drowning out the voices in my head that were trying to direct my movements, allowing instinct to guide me.

My Instinct.

When one after the other the two ninjas crumpled on the ground before me, I couldn't help but grin, A self indulgent thing that felt a little conspicuous.

Turning my back on them I started walking back toward the others, not that I had parted far from them.

I saw most of the fighting was though in that area.

That was when I heard it. A soft clinging of metal.

Twirling around I was to find that half a dozen shurkins were coming toward me, one of the supposedly downed twins making a last try before she passed out.

Logan shot toward me, shoving me roughly to the side, not even giving me time to act.

Running and jumping in front of me his claws extended, twisting and turning he blocked them all, the deadly objects making contact with his blades. Off they ricocheted, some baring into a tree, others shooting through some bushes, one digging itself into a steel pole.

When I was done watching all of them reach their destinations, I turned back toward him.

"Yeah you could have handled it." He mocked me slightly, knowing he was saying exactly what I was about to accuse him of. "But I like watching your back."

There was something of an inference in his statement. Looking at him closely, I saw his eyes dancing with amusement.

Until they flashed with shock.

That was when I was struck from behind.

Or more accurately pushed.

When I spun around I didn't see anything, but then I heard grunting behind me, an angry curse and the sound of punches landing.

I was slightly astounded to find Logan reacting as if he was being hit, blood trickling down his face from a split lip, tears appearing randomly in his leather uniform as if something was taking pieces of it. And him being thrashed and jostled about as if he was being struck.

But there was no one there. Or so I thought. They were just moving too fast to be seen.

Looking down I saw footprints forming in the snow, circling around and about us. The wind picked up near me, new scents lining the breeze as it blew into me. Something tugged at the edge of my brain, something about the person's smell was vaguely familiar.

I knew it was same speedster I had watched earlier, the one who had been trying to help Magneto.

Magneto.

The person vaguely smelled like Erik Lehnsherr!

And not from contact, or from being around him. It was embedded into the skin and body.

I saw that Logan too was able to smell the person, for the one sided assault stopped moments after it began. Veering out of the way, he moved to the right, his eyes becoming hidden behind his eyelids as he peered through them, focusing on the area in front of him. And then with a flash of movement Logan brought his right hand back, curling his fingers tightly into his palm he violently thrust it into seemingly nothing but cold air.

Only at the last instant I was able to make out a streak a color, the sound of running feet more evident than ever before, as the person tried to stop.

But they were going too fast.

Logan's balled fist impacted with a man's face, a man who seemingly appeared out of a gush of wind.

Crashing and tripping the person nearly ran right into a tree, avoiding it only to lose his footing as he went down a sharp declined path not too far from where I had been standing.

He didn't come back.

Logan walked past me and looked down the small hill, shaking his wrist in an agitated manner as he did so. I joined him by his side, a little curious of the person that Logan had belted.

But there was no one there, just apparent signs of blood, some bent bushes and heavily trodden footprints.

"Where'd he go?"

"Straight to hell for all I care." Logan was patting the inside of his uniform, looking for something as he became more and more frustrated with each rough pat. One of his eyebrows shot up as his mouth took on a twisted frown. "The son of a.. he stole my cigars!"

"You've got plenty more Logan." I told him, actually becoming amused. Did he really want to smoke right then? Right there? For all I knew he could have.

He started murmuring under his breath in a heated tone, some words more coherent than others as they rung through my ear canals, making me flinch.

"That's not the point Marie! Nobody. And I mean Nobody steals from me. Especially not the son of Magneto!"

My suspicions were confirmed. I had always known Erik had children, just never thought about actually coming across them.

"Well cheer up Logan, I think y'broke his nose." I was thinking back on that horrible crunching sound that had resonated from the malicious collision of flesh.

Logan's eyes lit up at that comment, his mouth building a smile until it came crashing down before it was fully formed. He kicked some exposed dirt out from under his boots.

"I was aiming for his jaw."