Nathan, age 47

"You have no right to grieve my child!" Nathan blinked.

"Aliya, he was my son-"

"He might have had your name, but he wasn't yours!" Nathan shook his head.

"But he's-"

"Not yours. Now I have told you I want our marriage to be over! LEAVE!" She slammed the door in his face and Nathan ran his human hand through his hair. She was all he had after Tyler… Even his adoptive parents had disappeared years earlier. He shook his head and slowly walked away from his wife's home.

*Stryfe is back.* Nathan tensed. His… clone. Or the original with him being the clone. Mother Askani never told him one way or another before her death.

*I'm on my way.* He teleported to the base and looked around.

"Thank God you're here, General."

"Where was he last seen?" He was given the intel and he frowned.

"What are our orders, General?"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the poor, frail, Nathan." Nathan bared his teeth as his almost twin suddenly stared at him with a malicious grin. "Tell me. How is my son?" Nathan saw red and moved to attack Stryfe. Their powers were the same, but Stryfe had the upper hand having been raised by Apocalypse.

"If I go down, you'll go with me," Nathan said behind clenched teeth. They continued to fight, not noticing the buildings coming down around them. And then Stryfe hit Nathan, causing him to fly through the air and land hard on his human arm. He knew it was broken. Nathan saw Stryfe coming towards him with a gun raised. Nathan reached in his pocket and grabbed his time traveling device and put the date in that Mother Aksani continually muttered around him before pressing the button. He arrived moments later on a plush lawn. He could faintly hear the alarms going on around him before his eyes closed and he allowed the darkness to overcome him.

When Nathan's eyes opened again, he was in a room that smelled… sterile. He blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings.

"Nate! Hank, he's up!" The fuck?

"Who the hell are you?" he bit out at the man with… red glasses?

"I'm- Nate. You don't know who I am? Do you know who you are?"

"I'm General Dayspring-"

"Oh God," the man said as he stumbled backwards.

"You've heard of me?"

"This isn't possible. You- you're dead. Nate told me-"

"I'm very much alive," Nathan scowled. "How would you know? I jumped to the 21st Century. I'm from the 23rd-"

"You're from now," the man told him. "Nathan…" He reached a hand out to touch Nathan's face, but Nathan jerked away.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"I'm your father."

"No. I'm from the-"

"You…" The man sat on the edge of Nathan's bed. "Nathan Dayspring, right? That's what you go by?"

"Yes?"

"You were born Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. You are my son."

"If I'm your son, then why was I raised away from you?"

"It's… It's complicated."

"Not complicated enough-"

"No, Nate. There was a timeline where you were injected with the Techno-Organic virus and your half-sister, Rachel, took you to the future to give you a chance to survive it. Then she came back for me and my… that timeline's wife and took us to the future to raise you. She gave us the names Redd and Slym Dayspring."

"You- What?" Nathan felt his heart rate increase and groaned as the cyborg components protested.

"I know it's a lot to handle… But when you were fifty and I was seventeen, you jumped back to me and told me what I'd done. I promised your mother I wouldn't do that again. This timeline…"

"I don't understand. This is a trick. It has to be. My family wouldn't have sent me away." The man grabbed his metal arm, not even flinching, and rubbed his thumb over it.

"The me who did that to you is a sorry excuse of a human, Nathan. I'm sorry. But I didn't do that this time. You're nine right now. We got help to stop the progression of the TO virus." The man shook his head. "You don't know how good it is to see you, Nate. After the accident with Nate, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again. I've missed you."

"I don't believe you."

"Would you like to meet you?" Nathan, still unsure if this was a trick, nodded. The man, Slym?, got up and went to the computer in the room and pressed a button. "Angel, you mind bringing the kids to Med Lab?"

"On it, Cyke."

"Angel? Cyke?"

"Angel and Cyclops of the-"

"The X-Men?" Cyclops grinned and nodded.

"You've heard of us?"

"Of course. You helped ruin the future for mutants."

"Ok, ouch. All we're trying to do is protect mutants. It's not our fault that people are bigoted monsters."

"Daddy! Uncle Warren said you wanted us?" Cyclops smiled as two children walked in and Nathan couldn't help but stare at the boy who looked strikingly like him.

"You're… me?"

"I'm Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. You remind me of Big Nate. Are you-?"

"I'm Nathan Dayspring."

"AKA Cable?" the boy asked with a grin.

"Yes…"

"Me too. Or… I will be. Want me to show you his room?"

"His-? What?" Nathan asked, confused.

"Dad knew you'd come back one day, so once Carrie and I stopped sharing a room, he made it for you for when you'd come back. You or Nate- it's really confusing with so many me's around. Come on." The boy held his metal arm out and Nathan carefully took it. The boy grinned at Cyclops and led Nathan out of Med Lab and down to an elevator.

"Not too fast, Nate. He's still hurt."

"I know, Dad!" The elevator opened and the boy dragged him in. He pressed a button and the elevator rose to the third floor where they stepped out into a hallway.

"Where are we?"

"The third floor. This is where our suite is." The boy went to a door and scanned his thumb. "Come on!" The door opened and Nathan walked through, looking around.

"Who is she?"

"That's Mom. See- look at the picture." Nathan walked up to the framed picture and took it in. He saw a younger Cyclops, a beautiful redheaded woman, an older version of the boy who'd brought him up, and a redheaded young woman. And me, he thought as he looked at a man who looked just like him, down to the scarred 'M' over his eye.

"I don't understand."

"I told you," Cyclops said as he closed the door. "You're from a different timeline. You're my son." He went over to a door inside of the suite and opened it. "This is your room. If you'd like…" Nathan stepped in and looked around. There were pictures of him all over the walls, some with Cyclops, some with the redheaded woman, some with him and babies.

"You're telling the truth. This is me?"

"It is."

"Where is my mother?" Cyclops' face fell.

"She died. You and your sister weren't quite a year old. Sinister kidnapped them and I had to choose…"

"You picked me? I mean-"

"I know what you meant. And yes. You're my son. It doesn't matter what timeline you came from. But Nate… I lost you eight years ago. This is… I've missed you. I knew you'd find a way back to me. The kids grew up with you. They couldn't have if you hadn't come home." Nathan barely registered what Cyclops was saying as he touched the wall, hearing a mechanical whirring behind it. The wall opened up, showing a multitude of weapons and a screen.

"What is this?" Nathan asked.

"I have no idea." The screen blinked on and Nathan saw a man who looked slightly older than himself pop up.

"General Dayspring," the man said. "Welcome home. I knew this would happen, since this is how it started with me."

"Nathan," Cyclops whispered from beside him.

"If you'll stick your hand on the pad beside the screen?" Nathan looked at his metal hand for a moment before putting it on the scanner beside the screen and waited. When nothing happened, he rolled his eyes.

"I should have known- Ah!" He fell to his knees trying to grasp his metal arm with his broken arm as information entered him.

"Nate!" Cyclops cried, going to his side. The download stopped and Nathan dropped his arm, gasping.

"Scott," he rasped.

"Nathan?" Nathan looked up and stared at his father.

"What happened to me?"

"You fought someone and died. Nate said last year that it was someone named Stryfe." Nathan growled.

"Stryfe?!"

"I take it you know him from your timeline."

"He's a bastard. Tyler was his…" Nathan closed his eyes.

"I see…" Nathan stood and adjusted his broken arm.

"Hope," he said with wide eyes.

"She's waiting for you in Alaska. If you weren't here by Christmas, I was going to get her myself." Nathan nodded.

"I need my arm to heal before I can get her."

"I'm glad you're back. These last few years…" Scott swallowed. "You're not allowed to leave me like that again, Nathan. Do you understand me?"

"If that's how I go, that's how I go. There's nothing either of us can do to-"

"Don't say it. You don't know what I went through, Nathan." Scott stepped forward and, careful of Nathan's arm, hugged him. "But you're here now. I have time with you again."

"What about Nate?"

"Unless there's an emergency, he mostly stays in his own time. I haven't seen him in over a year."

"Hm."

"You're… You're going to stay, right?" Nathan looked around.

"I'll need a space for Hope."

"Done. You guys can move into Dad's suite."

"Then I'm here. I'll have to travel around a bit, but… I'm here, Dad." Nathan felt a hand on the back of his neck, bringing him down.

"I've missed you," Scott said quietly before letting him go and wiping at his face. "I'll have to call your grandpa and uncles. Let them know it's you."

"Wait-"

"Nathan. I can't keep this from them. You don't know what losing you did to us-"

"Stryfe was after me." Nathan saw Scott pale.

"No."

"We'll need to protect Nate. Both of them."

"I don't know how to protect him but not cut you off."

"I'll figure something out. I just need you to be aware that he's after me." Scott nodded once.

"We'll protect you this time." Nathan looked around again and picked up a picture of him and his mother.

"I can't believe that bastard gets me. After everything I've done to keep the upper hand…"

"Nate said you were protecting him." Nathan scanned his memories of his younger version.

"I see. Then I'm glad I was there." He put the picture down and turned to Scott. "So. Dinner. I'm starving, and I'm eager to see the reactions of the team." Scott grinned.

"I am, too. Let's go." Nathan followed Scott out and saw his younger self and Carrie.

"You've done well, Cable. You've certainly lived up to your name." Nate gave Nathan a wide smile.

"I told the other older me to tell you to leave the message behind the wall. I'm glad you listened."

"It was your idea to destroy the room?" Scott asked with his arms crossed.

"Um… No?"

"Yeah, sure. You're grounded."

"Aw, Dad! Don't I get a reprieve for getting Nathan back?"

"That's why you're not getting spanked. Grounded, Nathan Christopher Charles. Two whole hours." Nate's eyes widened at hearing the 'two' before he laughed.

"That's fair, I guess." Scott kissed the top of Nate's head before looking at Nathan.

"Let's go."

A/N: Like I'd let him stay dead for long ;)