I woke up.
My face was buried in my pillow, the sunlight a dull glow through my window. There was a damp spot where I'd clearly drooled on the pillow. Nice. I brushed the hair out of my face, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched, still tangled up in the covers. I lay there for a moment, not moving, just ruminating over the events of the past few days. Life was far from perfect. There was fear, there was tension, there was uncertainty. But I was in love. Deeply, turbulently, loved and in love. I had a child. And oddly enough, I felt more like myself than I had for the past few lifetimes. I no longer had to envy people like Emma Frost, who were unapologetically themselves and proud of it. And now, despite the fact I was being forced to hide by others, I wasn't forcing myself to hide anymore. I was living life as I really was, who I really was. I was finally someone I wanted to bed. That was something.
That really was something.
Morning Red.
Even though I couldn't feel his physical presence, I could feel him there in my head and it was comforting. I knew he was one room over, right out of reach, and that was mostly frustrating.
Morning. Were you waiting for me to wake up? I asked this with a smirk, sighing, and then turning on my side to face the wall that separated us.
What, ya think I got nothing better to do? He said, and I could feel him crossing his arms.
I'm just trying to decide if you watching me sleep on the psi-link is romantic, or creepy, I mused.
Neither, I'm just tryn'a keep you safe. Don't want anything to happen to ya, Jeannie, He replied, and I could tell he was being serious.
It's not me you need to worry about, I replied across the psi-link, sadly.
I always worry about ya, darlin, he responded.
Why? Because I die a lot? I'd think you'd be used to it by now, I said dryly.
Don't joke about it Jeannie. I don't wanna lose you again. I mean it. I lose ya, I lose everythin'. He sounded pained. I softened a bit.
Miss you, I said into his head, trying to drag the mood up from the somber tone it had taken.
Yeah? He responded. Want me to come over? He asked, trying and failing to sound innocent.
No Logan. You know the rules and so do I, I replied curtly.
And the rules say what, exactly Logan prodded, being purposefully exasperating.
They say that you and I cannot have any physical relationship. You know it as well as I do. I repeated sternly. I imagined him on the other side of the wall, that cheeky expression he got whenever he wanted to break the rules, which was...well, all the time. Pretty much. Logan and rules went together like orange juice and toothpaste.
So okay, we don't get physical. He said, and I could hear the mischief in his voice.
What's that supposed to mean? I asked.
I mean... he said, and trailed off, as I suddenly drew in a sharp breath. I could feel his memories, he was sending them through our link; memories of us. Specifically, his memories of me naked. Thoughts about exactly what he wanted to to do me. What he wanted to taste, where he wanted to touch, the sounds he wanted to hear...
Is all you ever think about sex? I half complained. The other half was intrigued.
Nope, also beer and stabbin' things, Logan responded a little too smoothly.
I walked right into that one, I groaned.
When you're around though Red, one a those beats out the others, he said, and suddenly I felt a memory as if I were living it, I could taste it, smell it. It was the camping trip, and I felt the vinyl of the tent under my back, Logan's weight shifting on top of me, the flicker of the lantern, the sting of sweat in my eyes, two hearts beating, salty sweat on my tongue... I drew in a short breath, realizing I was still in my room, in my bed. I hadn't moved an inch.
Logan...? I said in a tone somewhere between reproachful and intrigued. I gasped again when I felt him touch himself. He was hard, and it was pleasurable sensation. The psi-link arced between us like lightning. Interesting. In all the years Scott and I had been linked like this we'd never...well, never tried to use it this way that's for sure. If nothing else, Logan got points for innovation.
Oh... I said, distracted again as more memories spilled across the link, burning like pleasurable embers in my head. I felt my cheeks turning red, I was biting the corner of my lip a little. Well... this technically wasn't breaking the rules, was it? We weren't together. We weren't touching. Well, we weren't touching each other, anyway. Looking around as if I expected Apocalypse to be lurking in the corner somewhere judging what I was about to do, I pulled the covers up to my chin and let my hand wander down my thigh. I was only dressed in a t-shirt and panties, and I wiggled my underwear down over my hips easily and pushed them down into the comforter with my feet.
Yeah Jeannie Logan said with enough enthusiasm to let me know this was exactly what he had in mind. I was already wet; whether or not I always liked it, he tended to have that effect on me, and I slipped a finger inside myself. There was something fun about this, something extra naughty. I tried what he was doing, I projected what I liked when we were together, the way he held my wrists when he was on top, the way he scented me, the way he bit my neck just a little bit...
I heard a growl of approval across the psi-link, the intensity like a dizzy pleasant buzz. I could feel him getting closer to the edge and it was pushing me.
God Logan, this feels good... this feels like..
Without warning, the door to my room opened, swung and hit the wall with a muted bang as Scott strode in casually.
"Scott!" I cried out loud, hand freezing under the covers, two fingers still inside myself.
Ugh. Fuckin' Christ, why? I heard Wolverine moan in disgust and frustration on the other end of our psi-link. I stared wide-eyed at Scott, too scared to move. Thank God Logan was the one with the super senses, or I would've been instantly busted. As it was, I hoped I just looked like I lying casually in bed. And not masturbating. Definitely not that.
"Hey Jean. Morning," Scott said, in a tone as if we were passing in the hallway. He came and sat at the edge of the bed, as I continued to stare at him, awkwardly horrified. Did he really just casually stroll into my room, as if that was acceptable, and was he really completely unaware of the situation that was happening?
I watched his bland expression as he sat next to me on the bed and the answer was clear. Yes. Yes, he was clueless. That was the man I'd been married to for years. Many years. Sometimes I guess it takes dying to realize how wrong you'd been about somebody.
"Listen," Scott said in a level voice, pushing his hair away from his visor, giving me a considering look as I lay there stock still. "I feel like we need to talk, Jean. To clear the air, you know?" he continued, smoothing out some wrinkles in the bedding and my heartbeat tripled as his hand came perilously close to the one I had hidden under the covers.
"No, I don't know," I replied petulantly. "You know what? Now is really not the best time Scott, okay? It's uh... it's early. It's early and I'm tired." I said, sounding as annoyed as I felt. "And Scott, we have talked about this before. We're both entitled to our privacy. You need to knock on my door before you come in. Okay?"
"Right. Right. I'm sorry about that Jean, honestly. Force of habit, you know. I mean, it's not like I walked in on you and Logan or anything, right?" He said with a short, derisive laugh, as I glared daggers at him.
"Anyway," he said, slapping his hands on the tops of his thighs, "I just wanted to talk to you about Erik. I was thinking about it, and I wanted you to know, I'm not angry. In fact, I approve. I really... I really see you two as a good match."
"Excuse me?" I said, trying ever so ever so slowly slide my fingers out of myself without seeming too obvious. This was a mess. Literally, and figuratively. Guys were lucky that all cleanup took was a well placed sock.
I heard Logan snicker across the link and I shushed him, irritated.
"I mean, sure, his history is a bit shady, we both know that," Scott began, "But I get that his days of being the villain are behind him now. Krakoa was a fresh start for all of us, so I believe it, I believe he's a changed man. And really, there's a lot of good in him. He's an older man, he's lived his life. He's smart, he's sensible. A bit of an ego, but then again, nobody's perfect. He's got a good head on his shoulders. Clever. Magneto is clever, I'll give him that. But ultimately what I think you need Jean, is a man with stability. I think that's why you and Logan didn't work out, you know?"
Jesus does he ever shut up? Logan asked across the psi-link and for once I agreed with him.
"You and Erik have a future. You and Logan- well, you know how that's bound to go every single time. I'm not sure why you even wanted to go that route again Jean. You know him."
I was about to shoot back, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," but my voice was cut short when I felt Logan start to stroke himself again, and my breath got short, his pleasure overtaking my confusion through the link.
What the hell do you think you're doing Logan? I hissed sharply over our link.
Sick a' slim gettin' in my way. Fuck it. I'm finishing what we started Logan replied, and I realized what he was planning. Damn it.
"Logan I'm going to murder you," I muttered, and in a heartbeat I realized I'd been speaking out loud.
"I hear you, Jean, I hear you," Scott replied without missing a beat. "I wanna murder that hairy little bastard sometimes too. Haha. Listen, you're preaching to the choir. Sometimes I do just want to...ah, just wanna shove him off a cliff into the sea and watch him sink like an adamantium stone. Not that I'd do it, given the chance. Just something I think about from time to time; you know I've talked to my therapist about it at some length- I guess murderous fantasies are actually pretty common and can be part of a healthy inner life. Who knew, right?"
Scott's voice droned on and it was all nonsense as far as I was concerned. Logan was about to come and it was all I could do not to slap my hands over my mouth and stop from crying out.
"Jean, are you listening to to me? Did you hear what I just said?" Scott asked.
"Scott, I mmmppghhgk," I stumbled mid-reply, losing the ability to speak as a wave of endorphins hit me. Logan's pleasure dunked me into a momentary vortex void of conscious thought- just a sudden sea of words, just animal lust, smell, touch, taste, senses momentarily overwhelmed. I gasped for breath for a second, trying to recover.
"Jean! Jean, are you all right? Do I need to call a doctor?" Scott asked, concern rising in his voice, putting one hand to my face. "You looked like you were having a stroke."
No, I thought to myself, but Logan certainly was. "Ah...ah, migraine, Just a migraine Scott- oh, woah..yeah, a bad, bad one." I managed, thinking on my feet, slowly coming to my senses. "I've been getting these really bad migraines lately. Sorry, they happen when I'm really stressed out and you know, it's been stressful."
"Do you need me to get help?" Scott asked, voice saturated with concern.
"No...no, I'll be okay. But actually- you know what, Scott? Logan has some medicine I've been using, next door. Go get it Scott, please, now," I managed as I swam back into my own consciousness, ragged breaths easing. I'd never give up a little chance to get revenge, not when it presented itself this easily.
Scott leapt from the bed, and ran towards the door connecting my room to Logan's. He made his way quickly across the room, swinging opening the door wide and stepping inside while calling, "Logan! Jean's sick. She said you have some - Oh."
"The fuck Summers? You ever heard a' knockin'?," Logan shouted from next door. "Man can't get some goddamn privacy in his own room? Get the hell out!"
I smothered my laughter with my pillow, but Logan heard it loud and clear inside my head.
Fine, ya won this round Jeannie, I heard in my head, as Scott reappeared in my room, white as a sheet and looking slightly sick to his stomach.
"I uh... Oh, well, I um... you know what Jean? Logan's, uh, indisposed at the moment. I've got some Motrin. That stuff's good for headaches. Just give me second, will you?"
"Actually, now that you mention it, I'm feeling much, much better Scott," I continued, smiling. "That's the thing about migraines; they come on suddenly, but then they're over just as fast. I feel great."
"You sure you're okay?" he asked me incredulously.
"I'm better than okay, " I reassured him. "And I'm glad we had this conversation. There's something you should probably know, though."
"Ah- yes?" he asked. I could still tell he was shaken up from walking in on a naked Wolverine who had obviously just been enjoying some alone time. The thought still amused me.
"Erik and I aren't together, Scott. Not now, not ever. I'm not with anyone right now, I figured it would be good for me to just... take some time for myself after everything that happened."
"But-" Scott stammered. "That morning I saw you two together? I came to the door, and I saw that you'd...you'd slept there, and he was showering, and your...your..." He glanced down at my chest.
If Scott thought I was going to waste time making up some reason I'd be breastfeeding, he could think again. It wasn't his damn business and I knew he'd be too embarrassed to ask me straight out.
"I know," I said, in a placating way. "I know what it probably looked like, and it was my fault for not setting things straight then and there. But Erik and I are friends, that's all. I'd stayed up late with him talking. I was in a bad place that night, so to speak. He offered me a bed out of kindness. He's a good man, I agree, but there's nothing going on between us."
"I... I see," Scott said, sounding more bewildered than ever. Served him right for being in everyone's business, not respecting anyone's boundaries, and worst of all not knocking, I thought acidly.
"Anything else?" I asked, smiling.
"No. No I don't believe so," Scott replied, still sounding like he was Alice and Wonderland wandering through the looking glass. Good. He could take that to his damn therapist, because it wasn't me and quite frankly I was tired of entertaining his endless exposition. Emma could fill those shoes if she wanted to, and best of luck to her at that.
"I'm going to be installing a lock on my door, I'm sure that won't be an issue," I continued as he turned to go.
"I uh- no, of course not Jean. I understand, privacy is ah- it's important. It's important to people."
"Absolutely. Couldn't agree more."
"I'll just be going, if you need me.."
"I know where to find you, Scott," I assured him. "No need to come looking for me."
Without another word, he turned and left my room, closing the door firmly behind him.
Can't say I expected to spend this mornin' with Cyke walkin' in on me with my dick in my hand, Logan sighed begrudgingly in my head.
Don't be a crybaby just because you want to challenge me at games you can't win, I retorted, smiling as I mocked him.
Get the hell over here Jeannie, he growled.
You gonna follow the rules? I asked.
Only one way to find out, he answered.
Sighing, and pulling on a pair of sweatpants, I padded over to the door and opened it. Logan was siting cross legged on his bed, in boxers, hands behind his head.
"Sight for sore eyes, Red," he said, smiling at me.
"I think you sent Scott back to therapy," I mused.
Logan shrugged. "Good for him. He needs somebody to reassure him he ain't gonna go blind. Hey. I was thinking..."
"Dangerous thing to do," I responded.
"Don't be a smartass Red, it's already takin' all my willpower not to grab ya and lay you flat out and.."
"Logan," I said with a smile, shaking my head at him pointedly.
"Sorry," he replied sulkily. "Point was... followin' the rules."
"What about it?" I asked him, raising one eyebrow.
"I'm assuming I can't go in and see her, our baby."
"No, I'm the only one with access," I replied. "I definitely don't think we could risk it."
"Right. But the psi-link... that works pretty good, don't it?"
"Well, you were the one hellbent on testing it out this morning and I would say, yes. Yes, it works quite well."
We stared at each other.
"Oh," I replied as it dawned on me exactly what he was thinking, and a smile slowly spread across my face as well. "Yeah. Yeah, Logan. We could be together, on the psi-link, while I visited her. It'd be close to the real thing. Wouldn't be breaking any rules, at least not technically."
Logan grinned at me, and I could see nearly all his teeth. He looked genuinely happy.
"You're really excited about it," I said, laughing. "It's cute Logan."
"Ain't never been called cute before," he said, raising an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth turning down.
"As I learned this morning, there's a first time for everything," I replied.
"Can we do it now?" he asked.
And that's how I ended up at the secret entrance near the Krakoan hatchery in the middle of the afternoon, the bright sunlight changing to dappled shade under the broad branches of the trees, looking furtively around me before I used my key card to slip inside.
I walked in through the two sets of double doors, Logan psychically riding shotgun.
Can't believe I never noticed this place before, he said into my mind.
Well it's been purposefully hidden, I explained. The outside entrance is camouflaged with the natural scenery and I wouldn't be surprised if it's got psi-shields too. Unless you knew it was here, you could probably be staring right at it and not even know it existed.
I could feel Logan in my mind, sizing the place up.
How many damn babies they got in here anyway? he asked, tone uneasy as we walked past the first row of isolettes.
Too many, I replied darkly. I had my eye out for Echo's crib, and despite myself, joy shot through me as I approached.
I walked up to it- and I froze in my tracks.
Echo was there, smiling, one little fist jammed partway in her mouth, dripping with baby drool. But she was doing something else. Something I'd never seen her do before.
She was standing. She was standing up in her isolette, holding onto the side with one hand as she gnawed on the other, following me with her clear blue eyes.
That her? Damn, we made a cute little girl, Logan said cheerfully over the psi-link. Then he must've been hit by the wave of emotion rolling in from me, because his tone changed and I felt uncomfortable confusion swell as he hurriedly asked, Jeannie? What it is? What's wrong?
"Echo..?" I said hesitantly, taking a step towards her. She was still small, but she definitely wasn't a newborn anymore. She had filled out a bit, chubby legs and and arms, and her face looked more like a toddler.
"Mama," she replied, reaching one small hand out to me, and my heart momentarily turned to ice, shock running through my brain like a buzzsaw. Puzzled, heartbroken, and filled with love all at the same time I held out a hand touch her and she grabbed hold of my finger, laughing. "Mama, mama, mama!" she babbled excitedly. Her hair was longer too; what had been a thick black fuzz over her scalp was now wispy ebony curls about her ears and neck.
Logan... this isn't... she's grown. She was just a newborn. Just a day ago. How can this be happening? She's standing up. She looks like she's a year old already, at least. I said in awe and confusion to Logan, and after only hesitating a moment more, I lifted her out of her isolette and into my arms. She was dressed in the same thing she was always was, a simple white cotton one-piece. There was nothing else different around, nothing to explain this gut-wrenching, world-altering change. It made me feel like I was losing my mind.
I opened the little drawer that had contained diapers and formula beneath her bed, and inside was now neatly lined up jars of baby food. So this was planned. It was intentional. This was expected, and whoever was running this show- Saturnyne, or Sinister, or that creepy woman who had initially approached me- obviously had part in manipulating her growth. If they could do this to my daughter, what else could they do? What had they hidden in her genes, what kind of time bomb had they turned my innocent child into?
I was filled with sudden fear and anger, although the soft tug of Echo's hands on my face made me remember to keep an outward cool.
Jeannie, listen, Logan's voice came urgent over the psi-link. He knew me too well. He knew when I was on the edge. I know you're pissed off right now. I can feel it like the heat of a thousand suns, I get it, yer self control is somethin' else right now not to raze this place to the ground. But before you go and do anything yer gonna regret, think about the situation. Our little girl is healthy. She looks happy. We're all alive. Don't do anything too crazy, okay darlin'?
Part of me thought vaguely, detached, that when Wolverine is advising you not to do anything stupid, you really must not be in the best place mentally. And he was right. I wasn't. I knew what he was saying was logic and sound, but the fact that someone was playing with us like this- playing with my family. With my emotions. With my CHILD, it made me feel blinded by rage. A deep, bubbling, molten rage that I felt deep down in my very bones. I clutched Echo close to me, and she clung to me, nuzzling her little cheek under my chin.
How dare they touch my daughter. Our daughter. How dare they.
"Come out, right now, wherever you are," I called in a voice filled with anger and pain. "Who's doing this? Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself! SHOW YOURSELF!" I called into the quiet of the nursery. Echo looked innocently up at me, my voice ringing out around us. I heard the faint wail of another baby in its isolette, awakened by my voice.
Jeannie- Logan started, but I abruptly cut off the psi-link. I knew it wasn't fair to him, but I had had enough. I'd played along. I was done.
I heard a lone sound - clap, clap, clap... and I saw a figure step out of one of the doorways and walk down the hall, clapping slowly. I recognized almost immediately who it was.
"Sinister," I said between gritted teeth, "I swear to god, if you value your life you'll tell me what the hell is going on right now," I said, my voice tight.
"Oh Jean," he said, smiling, stopping in front of me and leaning with one arm against one of the isolettes. "I always had a soft spot for you. Saturnyne warned me about playing favorites, but it's just hard not to. Your DNA is such a work of art," he said, sauntering forward, dripping with narcisssism as always.
"What the hell did you do to my daughter," I asked, almost breathless with anger. Echo was looking up at my face attentively. She definitely knew something was happening here, but not quite what.
"First of all Jeannie," Sinister said with a smirk, before I cut him off abruptly.
"DON'T call me that," I snapped.
"I don't know why you're so angry at me, it's because of me that your darling child is alive at all," he said, shifting his cape around his shoulder, smug smile on his face.
"Don't give me that bullshit, Essex. You had no intention of ever letting me raise my child. I don't know what you were planning on doing, but whatever it was, it stops now. She's mine."
Sinister sighed, then examined his sleeves, picked off a thread. "Shoddy workmanship," he muttered.
"What are you doing with these children?" I demanded. "Is this some sick experiment?"
"Oh no. Listen Jean, this," he said, waving his hands around to indicate the room full of isolettes "This isn't pleasure, much as I do love to play with your genes. This is all business. These fine clothes don't pay for themselves, and I have a certain lifestyle to support. I use my talents to support it, just as I'm sure you do."
"What do you mean, business?" I asked.
"Since it's unlikely you'll live through this next part, I may as well be frank with you, my dear. Saturnyne has custom ordered an army for Otherworld. And she's paid me handsomely. It's probably no surprise to you that she didn't take losing well. Certainly, you would've predicted that the war was far from over, just because of some silly little contest. Well, what better way to fight X-Men than...more X-Men! Only newer, better, improved. That's where my genius comes in of course. You all did the hard part; or perhaps I should say, the fun part," he grinned and raised an eyebrow. "I was so hoping for another Grey-Summers hybrid, but I should've guessed what was really coming. That angry little furball never could keep it in his pants to save his life. Can't say it was a terrible result this time, she's quite beautiful," he said, gesturing vaguely towards Echo. "And powerful, although you're just going to have to wait and see what little bag of tricks awaits," he grinned devilishly.
"You're sending an army? Of children? To Otherworld so they can be trained to fight against us and take over Kraoka?" I said incredulously.
"Well, that's the jist of it," Sinister replied, examining his nails. "When you say it that way it sounds like a cheap Hollywood plot device, but I assure you; it took a true mastermind. Yes, myself. I'm speaking of myself, of course. Although you're wrong about one part. I'm not sending an army of children. They won't be children much longer. I've sped up their biological clocks. I promised dear Saturnyne a full fledged army in six months time. If I grow them any faster than that, the powers become unstable, so, we had to compromise a bit, thus the nursery. But I'm afraid, Jean, you're not going to be there to watch your darling little berserker grow up. Truly sad. I'd shed a tear, but I had my tear ducts removed years ago, pointless pieces of anatomy."
"What are you going to do to us?" I asked, trying not to let the fear creep into my voice, taking a step back, holding tight to Echo, who had gone completely still in my arms, hands clinging around my neck.
"Part of the deal was that Saturnyne would grant me amnesty and protection, so she gave me a few tricks up my sleeve to protect this beautiful little project of mine. Say hello to the Hoard, they're likely the last things you'll see," Sinister said, using a beckoning motion of his finger.
At first I heard nothing, and then I heard what sounded like a dull buzz, followed by a low shrieking sound, and then I saw them, coming down the long white corridor that led farther from the nursery than I'd ever ventured. They looked black, wraith-like, not like anything of this earth. And I realized they probably weren't. They were flying towards us at alarming speed.
Echo shrieked, and buried her face in my chest as they closed in on us and raising a hand I threw up a psi-shield just in time to be engulfed by darkness, swirling, writhing goblins.
LOGAN! I shouted in my head, but I realized no one but myself could hear. The psi-link was down. The hoard was throwing itself against my psi-shield, a swirling, chaotic screeching mass of demonic forms that was blacking out the light. I felt myself start to sweat from the immense pressure I was exerting to keep us safe and Echo had started crying.
Oh god, I thought to myself. This was it. And I realized, if I couldn't protect my daughter, I didn't want to come back. I didn't want a resurrection this time. If we went down, we went down together, forever. I couldn't live with myself after that.
"Aaauuuggh!" I cried with frustration, falling to my knees, still clinging to my crying daughter. The force of the hoard was immense. We were in the pitch black and I was pushing as hard as I could to keep them off me, keep our shield intact.
"Help! Somebody... please," I cried weakly as I felt my defenses start to buckle under the weight. Echo's tears, soaking the shoulder of my uniform, and my own tears starting to run down my face. It couldn't end like this, dammit. It wasn't fair to her. I was so close to having it all, only to have it ripped out of my grasp. I also knew, deep in my heart, that I couldn't let the hoard take my daughter. If I couldn't protect us, I would have to kill us. Oddly, I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy, realizing I was now put in the awful position that Logan had faced with me, long ago. How much love does it take to end someone's life when they are the very reason you breathe, the reason you wake up in the morning?
"Shhh. It's okay, Echo," I stroked her smooth, dark little ringlets as she whined and looked up at me, frightened, the sweat mingling with my tears in the dark shielded space that was slowly, slowly caving in on us as I lost the battle.
"I love you," I whispered to her. "I know you can't understand me yet, but I just want you to know, I feel more love for you than I ever imagined I was capable of fee-"
RRRRRAAAAAWWGGGRRR!
From the darkness, the primal sound rang through the air. I would know that sound anywhere.
"LOGAN!" I yelled, desperate, dropping the sobbing Echo into my lap to use both my hands to push away the encroaching swarm. "LOGAN, WE'RE IN HERE!"
There was a sudden blinding flash, bright red energy that momentarily dazzled my vision, so that I was only seeing stars. And just like that, the darkness disappeared, lifting, pushed back temporarily.
And there were two familiar faces. Logan and Scott, back to back, pushing back together against the hoard to help free us. Scott let out another optic blast, scattering the wraiths, and turning toward Logan, ordered in a monotone, "Get these children out of here Wolverine. Jean, retreat. Get out now, they seem to be vulnerable to me but I can't hold them back for long."
In that moment, I remembered why it was I'd fallen in love with Scott in the first place. Even if I didn't feel the same, at that instant the bitter taste he left in my mouth disappeared. For all that he was not, Scott was a leader, and a warrior. Who else could be dragged out of his room and expected to instantly fight an army of intergalactic demons without even questioning why his ex-wife was standing there holding a child that looked suspiciously like his greatest rival? Scott. That's wasn't here to ask questions, he was here to win.
And Logan was by his side, claws out, keeping the scourge from flanking him as he pushed them steadily back, blast after blast. At Scott's command, Logan immediately, turned and with the ease of years of expertise, ran down the row of isolettes, breaking the latches on each. Turning to run, I saw exactly how they'd gotten in- the door was a wrecked mess of claw marks and singed metal, and through the smoking entrance stepped Emma.
She barely had time to acknowledge me when Logan threw two babies at her, "Get 'em outta here Frosty," he growled, heading back towards the black mass to collect more. "Fuck outta here, ya damn demons," he muttered, slicing several forms into ribbons as he collected two more infants under each arm.
Emma looked as startled as the two children she'd just been handed did. She quickly recovered, then said to me, "I've contacted Magneto, reinforcements are on their way. Get out of here Jean, run. We've got this."
I ran past her towards the door as I heard more optic blasts, and Logan's roar. As I clambered out the broken entrance, Echo in my arms, Magneto flew past in a blast of wind, a trail of metal detritus following him, an artillery made of deadly shrapnel. Emma ran back past me, handing off children to Daken, of all people, who looked somewhat confused and disoriented standing at the entrance.
"I'm not a goddamn babysitter," he yelled through the smoke and chaos, as one of the children screamed bloody murder in his arms and another gnawed on his pants leg, "Why are you giving me these kids? Let me in there! I'm here to kick some ass!"
"You will shut up and do exactly as you're told. Get these children to safety, NOW," Emma snapped at him crossly, leaving no room for argument, handing off another child and then turning away, morphing into diamond form as walked back into the wild fray. Emma may have been a bitch, but by God she was no coward.
"Damn you for always meddling," I heard Sinister's voice in my head. "Always trying to ruin me. Don't think you can win this!"
Turning away with Echo, I ran, stumbling through the roots of the Krakoan jungle, trying to put distance between us and the fight, trying to get Echo to safety, wherever that was.
I had only gotten a few yards away when a heard what sounded like an explosion and felt a concussive blast rock the earth, knocking me to my knees. I covered Echo with my body.
And then there was only blackness, as I lost consciousness and hit the ground.