Sanctuary Part 11:

Resolution

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center NY

Just as Archangel cocooned himself again Dazzler and Polaris came running out of the Danger Room, Dazzler already firing a blast of concentrated light right into one of the soldiers' back. Polaris yanked a gun from one of their hands. A loud BOOM and a flash of light caused everyone to stop what they were doing and shield their eyes. Before them stood Ms. Marvel, her face contorted in rage, her long blonde hair still waving from the inertia.

"Stop! I have been sent by the President herself to stop you extremists maniacs!" Ms. Marvel proclaimed,

"Oh bull!" one of the soldiers said angrily. "We were sent by the-" Before he could finish the leader elbowed him in the ribs, effectively shutting him up.

"We surrender, " the leader said. He dropped his gun and held up his hands.

"What?" one of the soldiers shouted. He had a crazed look in his eye. "We have to finish the mission!"

"I said, we surrender, " the leader said pointedly. He stared hard at the soldier for several seconds.

"Oh, yeah, " the soldier said as if suddenly remembering something. "We surrender."

Ms. Marvel and Warren looked at each other in confusion. Was this really happening? These men had suffered great losses and had obviously been determined on killing every last mutant at the Academy. Warren knew something wasn't right. He narrowed his eyes at Carol, she didn't exactly like the X-Men since Rogue had put her in a coma for years. Was she saving their hide now that the mutants had the drop on them? "How are you going to get them out of here?"

"My backup should be here soon, " Ms. Marvel stated, yanking a gun out of a soldier's hands. "At least I hope it will be."

The rest of the soldiers cast confused glances at their leader but raised their hands in defeat.

"Can you believe it?" Dazzled asked in a disappointed voice. "I barely even got to fire a real shot."

"Good," Forge said, walking up from behind. The rest of the mutant students and refugees followed in his wake. "Now that it's over I'm ending the broadcast."

"Awwww, " a few fame-hungry teen mutants groaned, but it was too late, Forge had already shut it off. "Ms. Marvel, thank you for coming to our assistance, you got here just in time."

"I was sent by the President," Ms. Marvel repeated. "Once she saw the broadcast she was very quick to send me."

"I'm sure Xavier would like to thank her personally."

"You know," Ms. Marvel said off-handedly. "These boys all look like active-duty soldiers, clean-cut and dressed to spec. These boys don't look like any mercenaries I know."

"Perhaps that is something you could bring to the President's attention," Warren said, still standing at the ready for an attack. Polaris used her magnetic powers to take all of the weapons from the soldiers and set them back in the Danger Room.

"Hands on your heads!" Ms. Marvel barked at the soldiers. Heidi, one of the recent rescuees, came forward and made handcuffs out of ice. The soldiers winced from the extreme cold, no one cared.

"Oh, and don't forget the sniper in the elevator shaft," Forge said. The leader winced. They must have hoped the sniper would have gone unnoticed and finished their job for them.

Carol stared angrily at the soldiers. She flew back into the elevator shaft. A single shot rang out. In a few seconds, Ms. Marvel came back, the sniper unconscious, and slung over her shoulder.

"This isn't the end of it," the leader sneered at Warren. "Someone else will come for you muties and finish the job." Forge punched the soldier in the face. The man's head rocked back from the force but he was still sneering when he recovered. Blood began to drip rapidly from his nose.

"Let's get them back upstairs," Warren said, grabbing a soldier roughly by his bulletproof vest.

"Yeah," Ms. Marvel frowned. "You wouldn't want the government to find out about your little secret basement."

"It's a little late for that," Forge reminded her. "We already broadcasted it to the entire world." Mimic and Blink stepped forward to help.

"Let's go," Warren said grimly and took off, a soldier held roughly in his arms. The rest followed.

Denver, Colorado

Mystique entered the room and immediately the girl began snarling and contorting her body like one possessed. Mystique repressed a sigh.

"You can continue to hurt yourself and act like an animal or you could talk to me and maybe I could let you go."

At first, it didn't seem to have any effect and the girl continued thrashing about. Eventually, she stopped to catch her breath, gasping in huge gulps of air and shaking off the sweat from her face.

"Are you done?" Mystique asked impatiently.

The girl snarled in response. Perhaps she couldn't speak. The thought had never crossed Mystique's mind until now. Though, when she had first met Wild Child years ago all he could do was growl but now he spoke just the same as anyone else. Well, almost just the same.

"If we hadn't provided such a distraction you never would have escaped Weapon X," Mystique lied. That was another great thing about being Mystique, she had such control over her body that she could lie and no one could tell. She didn't give off any of the usual lie-detecting markers such as breaking into a sweat or those annoying tell-tale rapid heartbeats.

The girl continued to glare but didn't make any further move.

"We helped you get out of Weapon X but we can't guarantee you stay out unless you come with us." The girl looked doubtful.

"I know you're used to the humans lying to you, abusing you, using you for their own ends. This is different." Still, the girl looked unconvinced. "For one, we're not humans, we don't see you as a monster or as property but as a mutant sister. Secondly, you and I have the same enemy, the same people we want to see fall, Weapon X."

X23 snarled again at that name.

"If you come with us, I can promise you that you will get your revenge on the people who tormented you."

"Lady, I don't need your help to take down Weapon X now that I'm out!" Good, the girl could speak. She sounded like an adult trapped in a child's body, there was no innocence here, naivety maybe but no innocence. How was Mystique gonna convince her?

"I know all their secrets, their hidden bases, I am gonna track them down and slit their throats one by one," the girl stated it like a fact. Mystique was impressed, which was a rare occurrence.

"You know all the scientists and agents and soldiers who turned you into their little weapon, but do you know who made them do it? Do you know who ordered your creation?" The girl was silent, her dark eyes going cold and hard. "Come with us and I promise we will punish everyone who is responsible."

The girl was silent for a moment. Mystique let the girl sort through her thoughts. "You will NOT control me or tell me who to kill. You will NOT tell me what to do."

"Of course not," Mystique said, shaking her head. "As I said before, we see you as an equal, you will make your own choices, but we will work together toward the same goal."

"Let me down and I'll consider it."

"Can I have your promise that you won't kill me or my friends?"

"I can't promise about the hairy one."

Was that a joke? Did the girl actually have a sense of humor after all she had been through? She might be actually serious. "That's okay, he's not here right now anyway." With that Mystique hesitantly unlocked one cuff and then the other.

"Welcome to the Brotherhood," Mystique told X23 as Destiny and Vanisher walked into the room. "This is Destiny and he is known as Vanisher. The hairy one we call Sabretooth and he won't be back until tonight. I bet you're hungry." X23 simply nodded.

"Vanisher."

"On it." He disappeared and almost instantaneously reappeared with a pile of steaming hot pizza boxes in his hand. "I guess a few flatscans aren't gonna be getting their delivery tonight." Mystique laughed as he passed them each a pizza.

Washington DC, White House Press Room

"I can confirm that thanks to the intervention of superhero Ms. Marvel the mutant crisis at Xavier's is over."

"Madame President, have you been able to identify who the attackers were?" A reporter asked.

"They have just been detained and are still being processed at this time so they have yet to be identified. Don't worry my team has made a resolution to end this cycle of violence that has recently gripped our nation. I would like to take this opportunity to once again reassure the people that the rumors of them being American Military operatives are simply not true. There have been no military operations involving the mutant gathering site known as the Xavier Institute nor have any plans been made for any. Now, as for the rumor that it was the mutants themselves doing it through shapeshifters to drum up sympathy after the Presidential Assassination, it seems unlikely but we are determined to investigate every angle of this situation."

"Madame President I haven't heard any rumors that it was the mutants themselves that did it, and frankly it sounds absurd. Do you care to elaborate on your comment?"

"I can't help it if you're not a good reporter, I'm just addressing the rumors that have been brought to my attention," the President said acidly. "My Speaker will answer any further questions, thank you."

The President stepped down to a flurry of questions she had no desire to answer and left the room through the back door. Gyrich was waiting for her on the other side.

"Well done, Madame President," Gyrich smiled, sincerely for once. "They're already eating it up."

"Do you have custody of the M-Squad?"

"Ms. Marvel delivered them straight to us," Gyrich smiled even wider. "She didn't suspect a thing."

"How long until they can be operational again?"

"A few of them have extensive injuries but I can get most of them back on the field in a day or two."

"Good," the President nodded firmly. "I may have to change our target but our goal is still the same."

"Of course."

"Oh, and Gyrich," she stopped him with a gesture. "Get rid of that nosy reporter."

"Yes, ma'am," Gyrich saluted and turned back towards the press conference, the President continued on, accompanied only by her hulking silent bodyguards. She knew Ms. Marvel was going to have some awkward questions. Question was, how much did she need the heroine? Enough to put up with it one more time, she supposed. She could see Ms. Marvel's streak of light heading her way. The President sighed, at least one more time. The

Highway 81, West Virginia

BLINK! A large pink portal opened up on the side of the highway. It took the nearby X-men several seconds to even notice it was there, by then the shy young mutant known as Blink was stepping through the portal. The X-Men had been lounging over by the men they had disarmed and captured, their faces a mixture of worry and boredom.

"I can't believe I did it on the first try," Blink mumbled to herself as the X-men waved at her in excitement and gathered around her. She smiled for them even though it made her stomach clench to be crowded by so many people at once.

"Is Little Sky alright?" Xavier asked as the rest began blurting out questions at the pink-skinned student.

"Healer is patching him up now," Blink confirmed. Then the avalanche of questions was simply too much for poor Clarice and she fell silent.

"I'm sure we'll get all our questions answered," Xavier announced loudly. "But first, let's get home."

Iceman was first to slide through the portal with the rest not far behind him. Storm, Nightcrawler, and Jean all thanked Blink personally before going through the portal. Eventually, it was only Xavier and Clarice left. There was an awkward silence.

"I believe a thank you is in order, young lady," Xavier finally said. "If it weren't for you many lives could have been lost."

"I froze up."

"Only for a moment, Sam helped you take action, that's why we work in teams. We are always stronger when we stand together. No one else could have done what you did. Thank you."

With that Xavier wheeled his chair through the portal. Clarice allowed herself a small smile before following him and closing the portal behind her. The tied up men looked around and saw red and blue flashes of light. The cops had finally arrived.

Back at the mansion, Warren watched as Polaris and Jean hugged in front of him, and they weren't the only ones. Tears were flowing as the refugees began to relate their tales of terror to the X-Men. Warren couldn't handle all the free-flowing emotions. Why did they all have to hug and cry in public? He wanted to squirm, he had to get out, he turned and left the common room.

In the hallway stood Logan, his face as grim as ever and a far-off look in his eyes. Logan wasn't exactly comfortable during these emotional reunions either.

"What's on your mind?" Warren asked. Anything to stop his brain from remembering how he had once enjoyed these occasions.

"On my way back here the President made a little announcement," Logan growled.

"Let me guess, she denies any government involvement."

"Yes, but that's not what's bugging me, I expected that to happen. What really burns my hide is she had the nerve to insinuate it was us fooling the world to get sympathy."

"Bitch." Warren shook his head.

"This isn't going to stop," Logan predicted. "She's still going to try and take us down. Politicians never change especially the more powerful ones. She isn't going to stop."

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Let's get the others and make a plan."

"Scott and them are busy catching up on what's happened. I'm sure they think that this could wait."

"I wasn't talking about Summers, I was talking about Switchback and that Cannonball kid."

"I thought we weren't going to bring kids into this."

"We weren't but the kids have already been put in the middle of it, they attacked us. Besides, if we're to stand any chance of bringing down the President we're going to need every mutant we can get on this."

"We're going to need more muscle than that if you want to take on the President," Warren told him, shaking his head.

"Just go get Sam and Switchback, maybe they know a few good mutants."

Warren hesitantly went back into the common room. He hated to tear Sam away from the giant group hug his family was giving him and his sister Paige but that's exactly what he did. He touched Sam's shoulder and motioned for him to follow. X-Force was finally going to take some action. Even if the X-Men didn't approve.

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center NY - Later

Cecilia Reyes was exhausted. She was used to high octane work with long hours, she was an emergency surgeon after all, but never had she had so much adrenaline coursing through her system at once. She had half-expected to see children getting gunned down in front of her while she could protect a mere few. Now that it had been over for nearly an hour the adrenaline had worked itself out of her system leaving her cold and drained. She wanted nothing more than a long hot bath and an extra-long night's sleep. Instead, she was getting dressed up to eat with the X-Men. A knock came at the door, rapid but soft.

She glanced at her fit and curvy frame in the mirror to make sure she was decent then opened the door. On the other side of the door stood the man she only knew as 'the Arm'. For good reason. His right arm was huge and muscular in contrast to his very average fifty-year-old dadbod frame. What disturbed her more were his eyes. The white was actually ink black and his iris' were blood-red, his pupils were black too.

"I was wondering if I could have a word with you before you go to dinner," the Arm said.

"Will this take long? I hate being late to anything," Cecilia was instantly skeptical, this man had barely said two words to her before this. What could he possibly want from her? Warning bells were ringing in her head. She didn't move.

"There's actually a few of us," the man motioned down the hall. Cecilia still didn't move.

"What's this about?"

"A few of us no longer feel safe here and wanted to see who else might feel the same way."

Cecilia was stunned. She stood quietly for a moment, considering. "Okay, where is everyone?" The Arm walked on down the hall toward a small alcove, one of many in the mansion, Cecilia followed.

She stopped when she saw a large group of refugees, Madame Drache, the insect-winged Connie, Calvin Rankin, Papillon, and a number of others she didn't know at all.

"What's going on?" She asked the group. She wanted someone to actually say this out loud in a group setting. Maybe then they would realize how dumb it sounded.

"As I was explaining, since the attack a lot of us don't feel like we're safe here. Xavier's is obviously just one big target and we think it would be best if we got out of the line of fire."

"So, you're telling me that after we were attacked by over a dozen heavily armed and highly trained soldiers and no one died that you don't feel safe here?"

"Like I said," the Arm's patience was obviously gone already from the tone in his voice. "This place is a target."

"The X-Men weren't even here and nobody died," Cecilia said flatly.

"It's still the first place they'll come when they want to kill mutants," someone she didn't know retorted.

"That's what's got you scared? Here we actually stand a chance of holding them off. When they come for mutants, they're coming for all of us, everywhere. Here you might survive. Out there? You won't stand a chance. They're coming for us either way. If your neighbors or local police don't get you first. You want to go lone wolf it, fine go ahead but there's a reason most wolves stay in a pack."

"We aren't wolves," the Arm sneered.

"Here you have guaranteed shelter and food, you have people willing to fight for you even if you refuse to fight. Here you have access to weapons and a hundred different powers. Where out there are you going to find any of that? Let alone all of it."

Nobody said a word, even the Arm was quiet.

"I don't really care whether you go or stay but if you think there's a better option out there then you are deluding yourselves. I'd think long and hard about what your options really are. Now, I am hungry so I am going to dinner."

"Wait!" The Arm called out. She stopped and faced him. "Don't say anything about this to the X-Men."

Before she could reply, "She won't have to because we aren't going." Madame Drache looked determined. "Right, Coach?" She stared pointedly at the Arm.

"You don't speak for all of us," the Arm challenged.

"I think she does," Calvin Rankin turned angrily. "I think we're all done listening to you."

"Now that's over with, I'm headed to dinner," Cecilia turned and marched off toward the dining hall. She wanted to pull at her cornrows in frustration, how could those refugees be so ungrateful? She understood not wanting to become an X-Man but not appreciating all they had done for them? She hated to admit her faith in mutantkind was a bit shaken.

"Miss Reyes, how kind of you to join us," Henry McCoy, otherwise known as the blue-furred Beast, stood up and greeted her as she approached the X-Men's table. He was charming, intelligent, and kind. She liked him. Several other X-Men smiled and waved.

Polaris, Forge, Dazzler, Portal, Wraith, and Multiple Man were all at the table with the X-men. Cecilia sat down with a courteous nod and smile. A salad had already been prepared and placed at her spot at the table. She immediately started eating. She hoped to avoid too many questions.

"We wanted to thank you all for protecting our home and family while we were away," Xavier said. "There is no way we could have predicted the events of today but we could predict your heroism. Each of you has fought by our side before and have proven your intentions. We are so happy that you have joined us in trying to create a sanctuary for all mutants."

"Before you go any further," Dazzler interrupted with a smile. "Forge, Polaris and I have all talked it over and we all agree. We want to fight by your sides again, as X-Men!"

Several X-Men cheered at the news. Storm had a hint of a smile as she glanced at Forge, he glanced back and smiled wider. She hoped this dinner wasn't a membership drive for the X-Men. Cecilia shrunk in her seat, she wasn't prepared to go that far with her gratitude.

"This is cause for even greater celebration!" Beast laughed. "Chef! Bring on the steaks!" A four-armed woman dressed in traditional chef garb nodded and headed back to the kitchens. The large table was abuzz with excitement and conversation and Cecilia was unsure she wanted to be a part of it.

"Don't go too crazy," Scott warned. "There are at least a dozen more refugees on their way here now, and our food supply isn't endless."

"Scott," Xavier admonished. "We will have reason enough to worry tomorrow, there is no reason to dampen the moment."

"Good old stick in the mud," Logan chuckled.

"I didn't mean," Scott stammered.

Jean and Xavier laughed. Beast winked good-naturedly at Cecilia and then burst into laughter himself. Everyone joined in. Cecilia included. It ended up being a great meal after all.

END

As these characters vary slightly from our normal 616 X-Men I am going to include a few short bios in each issue going forward.

Blink: (Clarice Ferguson) Much like the main universe's Blink this one was also abducted by the Phalanx to absorb her powers. Also like her mainline counterpart she couldn't control her powers, shredding anything that got caught in her teleportation wave. She used this to destroy the Phalanx known as Harvest but she also disappeared, she was thought dead. However she had teleported herself successfully to Madripoor where she barely scraped by, living on the streets. She was too scared to use her powers again given the deadly consequences but when a group of criminals chased her down, wanting to find out her powers and exploit them, she desperately teleported again, this time without killing anyone. She had ported home but found that her family was gone and she was unable to find any trace of them. With nowhere else to go she contacted Xavier and was brought to the Institute. Still scared of her powers she hated to use them and didn't appreciate being pushed to use them. Due to this, and feeling like she was only there because she had nowhere else to go, she went out of her way not to make friends and has kept mostly to herself. Her control over her powers has improved dramatically.

Ms. Marvel: (Carol Danvers) This Carol is much the same as the regular 616 Danvers up until after Rogue stole her powers. The coma only lasted 6 months and she woke again, somehow Rogue retained her powers until Carol attacked the X-Men to bring Rogue to justice. When they touched again Rogue lost Carol's powers but Carol gained Rogue's memories, driving Carol away. Now empathizing with Rogue and the mutant cause Carol tries to keep her distance but finds herself constantly pulled into mutant affairs. She recently tried to re-join the Avengers and failed due to her PTSD from multiple events. Seeing her call to the White House as a sign of purpose she joined only to soon find herself questioning everything around her.

Mystique: (Raven Darkholme) Mystique was born well over 100 years ago and has been leading many lives ever since. Like the mainstream counterpart, she and Destiny are lovers, unlike the main Marvel comics Mystique is actually Nightcrawler's father and Destiny his mother. Otherwise, she is pretty much the same enigmatic and untrustworthy person. She attempted to assassinate Kelly and was stopped by the X-Men, as the leader of the Brotherhood. She does have a history with Wolverine but he doesn't remember or know of it. She and Rogue's relationship is terrible, Rogue blames Mystique for all her bad choices and Mystique thinks Rogue should be grateful to her or she'd still be a little nobody in the backwoods. Nightcrawler on the other hand has mostly forgiven her but doesn't trust or like her. It's hard for anyone to tell what her agenda is at any time. Only Destiny seems to understand.

I have thrown a ton of characters and info dumps into this X-Men series as I want to build something special for all mutants in my story but I imagine for my readers it must be confusing who is where in this universe so I compiled a few lists for you to help clarify things.

X-Men: Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Colossus, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, Polaris, Forge, Dazzler,

Students: Cannonball, Legion, Blink, Empath, Sunspot, Karma, Firestar, Firefist, Warlock, M, Catseye, Cypher, Magma, Wolfsbane, Roulette, Wiz Kid, Copycat, Moonstar, Beef, Shadowcat, Sunpyre, Siryn, Warpath, Hollow, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Chamber, Rictor, Magik, Marvel Girl, Synch, Jubilee, Ernst, Skin, Husk, Prodigy, Icarus, Spyke,

Refugees: Switchback, Portal, Connie, Wing, Papillon, Multiple Man, Forgetmenot, Mimic, Wraith, Madame Drache, Evangeline Whedon, the Arm, Dr. Nemesis, Cecilia Reyes, Tek, Iceheart, Wildfire, X, Rush, Leech, Healer, Bevatron, Lucinda Guthrie, Aero, Discharge, Elizabeth Guthrie, Joelle Guthrie, Lewis Guthrie, Cissy Guthrie,

Mystique's New Brotherhood: Mystique, Vanisher, Destiny, Sabretooth, X-23,

X-Force: Archangel, Wolverine, Switchback, Cannonball

Missing: Sunspot, Leong & Nga Coy Manh, Wolfsbane,