Hello again, readers!

I'm back again with Part Two of the 'First Mission' storyline! It's the last chapter for this storyline, which shows what happens to Jerry, Kitty, Logan, and the others as they find themselves in the Canadian wilderness with Sabertooth.

Enjoy!

First Mission - Part Two

Kitty POV:

Kitty phased through some of the trees in order to reach Jerry faster. She did not call out after him, not wanting to scare him, as well as to not become winded as she ran. She was surprised that Jerry could run this fast, since he was usually one of the slower runners during training. But she figured if he was really scared, then the fear and adrenaline were helping him run. All she had to do now was keep the back of his head in her sight, and she did so as the two of them ran deeper and deeper into the Canadian wilderness.

While Kitty was no expert on Autistic people by any means, her friend Jubilee had told her about her neighbor back home with Autism, and the girl had learned some information about how Autistic people behaved. It had taken Kitty a while to realize that her loud yet kind behavior was not readily accepted by Jerry. Not that he was mean to her or anything; he was a kind-hearted individual, but expressed his kindness in a different way. She was more of a hugger, squealing with joy whenever she was excited, but he preferred less human contact and quieter, calmer noises. And she had learned by now to not be as excited around him, not wanting to upset him.

"Kitty," Mr. Logan's voice said in her ear. "Come back here now!"

"Can't," she replied, trying to save her breath as she ran. "Gotta make sure he doesn't get lost!"

"We can track him-"

"From the X-Jet," Kitty retorted. "If Sabertooth's still there-"

"I can track him."

"I think the last thing Jerry needs right now is you coming after him!" She phased through a few more trees, her feet kicking up powdery snow. "Where's Pietro?"

"Hurt his leg, can't run."

"What about Jean?"

"Out cold."

That's inconvenient, the girl thought. Pietro could've quickly run after them, or Jean could have tracked them with her mind and calmed Jerry down. Now, she would have to find her own way back once she caught up with her fellow mutant.

"The road should be West, right," she asked. "I'll lead us back when I find him."

"No," Wolverine ordered. "Just stay where ya are once ya catch up with him. I'll come after ya… Jean's up now, so I'm on my way. If Sabertooth finds ya, phase the two of ya through his attacks, have Jerry drop somethin' on him; do whatever it takes to fight back."

"Okay," Kitty replied, though she wondered how she would phase the two of them if Jerry did not like to be touched. Maybe if Jamie or Rogue had been there, they could have talked him into it, but hopefully, she could convince him to take her hand in a possible life-and-death situation. Of course, with his powers, he could easily think of something to incapacitate the dangerous mutant villain, but if he was this panicked, she wondered if the Autistic teen could properly defend himself.

And if he doesn't stop running soon, she thought, I'm gonna be too tired to protect both of us!

As if he had read her mind, Jerry finally stopped up ahead, slumping down under a pine tree as he gasped for breath. Kitty stopped several yards away from him, breathing heavily as well. Running in the cold was murder on the throat and lungs, and it took her several minutes before she turned back to her classmate.

Apparently, the Texan must have been cold, since a space heater sat next to him, blowing warm air onto him as the snow underneath and around him was pushed away by an unseen force. He held a small blue ball in his hand, and he was squeezing it repetitively as he muttered something under his breath, his foot tapping at a rapid pace.

Okay, he's probably still upset, but calmer now, Kitty rationalized. Think! Did Jubilee ever mention something about how to approach an upset Autistic person? She felt like she was taking a History quiz, and was still thinking of what to do when Jerry said-

"Want a space heater too?"

The girl looked up at the boy, who was not looking at her [he never really looked anyone in the eye], and she noticed that he was now squeezing the ball with less vigor, with more time between each squeeze. Did that mean he was starting to calm down? She also noticed that his eyes were shut tightly, so she wondered how he had known she was there.

"I… Y-Yeah," Kitty finally replied, slowly walking towards him. "It's… pretty cold in Canada."

"It can get up to -40 degrees Fahrenheit in some places," the Autistic teen recited, still squeezing the small stress ball in his hand. "It depends from region to region, but since we're in an interior province with a continental climate, it gets pretty cold here in the winter. These uniforms are designed for cold in mind, though I'm still kind of chilly; temperatures in Texas can sometimes drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, depending where you live, but I don't think it ever drop below zero."

"Yeah," his fellow mutant replied, stopping a couple yards away from him; a small space heater appeared next to her, and she was grateful for the warmth. "I'm from Illinois, originally, and it can get pretty cold in the winter." She remembered something. "I remember when it first snowed in Bayville back in December; you seemed pretty excited."

The Texan nodded. "I'm not used to snow. I've seen snow before, when I was seven and we went to visit my mom's family in Colorado." He pronounced the word 'Call-oh-RAD-oh,' his Southern accent shining through. "I liked it, but where I'm from, we don't get snow. It gets cold enough to snow and the sky get's grey, but we don't get snow." He paused. "Then again, it did snow there when I was one, apparently, so I guess it does snow where I'm from, but not on a regular, seasonal basis."

"Oh… I see," Kitty said, slowly walking around so that she was now facing Jerry from the front. His eyes were still closed, but he was no longer squeezing the ball. She took this to be a sign that he was calmed down and asked, "So… Your first mission's not going so good, is it?"

The teen flinched, and the girl instantly wondered if she had said something wrong; why couldn't Jean or Jubilee or one of the other adults be here? They would know what to say without upsetting Jerry any further. However, he slowly nodded.

"Yeah," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I messed everything up."

"No you didn't," Kitty said kindly, crouching down so she was more eye-level with him.

"Mr. Logan yelled at me," the Texan countered, starting to squeeze the ball again. "And I let Sabertooth onto the X-Jet without checking to see who it was."

"Hey, Sabertooth would've broken into the ship either way," the girl said rationally.

"But I still let him on the plane." The Autistic boy finally opened his eyes, blinking a little as they readjusted to the light. While he was still not looking at her, Kitty finally got a good look at his eyes; they were a brilliant sky blue color, and she momentarily thought about an actor she admired with similar eyes. However, she quickly got back to the matter at hand.

"Everyone makes mistakes every now and then," she told Jerry. "I mean, look at me; I'm accidentally phasing through someone almost constantly, and I'm not exactly the best at hand-to-hand combat."

"You lean too far forward when you stand and attack," her fellow mutant stated. "Try leaning back a little, shifting your center of balance so that it's equally distributed; you won't fall so many times and will be able to take a punch without stumbling back."

The girl blinked with surprise, not expecting this sudden piece of advice, but made a mental note to try it out during the next training session.

"Thanks," she said. "You see? Even I mess up sometimes. And Mr. Logan usually yells at everyone; it's just how he is."

"But he still says nice things to everyone now and then," Jerry said, looking down with a sad expression on his face. "He never seems to have anything nice to say to me."

"He's just… rough around the edges. And I'm sure he's said some nice things to you. Remember your first Danger Room session? He seemed impressed by that monster you made."

"That's true… He seemed annoyed at me being careless, though."

Kitty tapped the snowy ground next to her, trying to think of a good reply.

"He just… wants you to be safe," she finally said, after a few moments of thought. "He wants all of us to be safe. He wants us to be ready to face the world on our own, and… I guess he just gets frustrated sometimes, since it's not easy, teaching a bunch of kids with superpowers how to hold it on their own. At the end of the day, he's hard on us because he wants to protect us."

The Autistic teen nodded, but with the passive expression on his face, Kitty could not tell what he was thinking.

"So… I didn't mess up that bad," he finally asked.

"You did what you thought was right," Kitty replied. "And you got away safely; that's what's important."

"Even though Sabertooth got away," Jerry asked. "Mr. Logan's right; what if he tracks us down and attacks us or the group?"

"We can stop him," the girl promised. "We've done it before; twice, actually!"

"Really?" The Texan looked up at her.

"Yeah," she said, smiling a little. "Besides, with someone like you on our side, we'll probably defeat him more easily!"

"How," the boy asked curiously.

"Well, you can think up just about anything; you could easily lock Sabertooth in a cage or something."

"That's… Why didn't I think of that," the Autistic teen said, more to himself than her, starting to look a little distressed as he started to squeeze the stress ball once again. "Why didn't I think of that; it's so much simpler than making the Lone Ranger fight him!"

"It's okay," Kitty said kindly. "Some of us panic in the middle of a fight, and we don't always think things through."

"That is true," Jerry admitted. "People do tend to think quickly when in a stressful situation; sometimes they think too fast, and things go wrong."

"But I think in my case," a new voice said, "things worked out just fine for me!"

The Texan gasped, a frightened expression on his face as he stared at something behind Kitty. She whirled around, gasping and scrambling away from the figure that stepped out of the shadows.

"Well well well," Sabertooth said, a wicked grin on his face. "Look what I have here! No doubt Logan will come for you two, and when he does, I'll settle our score once and for all!"

[][][]

Jerry POV:

Kitty screamed, scrambling back from Sabertooth until she was right next to Jerry. Normally, he would hate someone being this close to him, but right now, he was more concerned with the hulking villain with fangs and claws. It was like one of his old monsters come to life, but this time, he could not just imagine it away. This was his first time facing a real villain, and it was so different from being in training, where he knew that if he lost, he could try again tomorrow. If he lost this fight, he would not live to see tomorrow, most likely.

Make a cage, make a cage, he thought, trying not to focus on how scared he was as the evil mutant slowly approached them.

"Jerry, I need to take your hand so I can phase us," Kitty hissed to him.

"I don't think so, missy," Sabertooth snapped, quickly running forward and grabbing Jerry by the arm. The boy screamed as he was pulled to his feet, trying to wriggle free as the mutant grabbed him in a chokehold with one hand, the other one poised over his face. The villain's claws were an inch away from the Autistic teen's skin, and were razor-sharp.

"Not so fast," the evil mutant said, taking a step back with Jerry while Kitty jumped to her feet. "Try anything, and I'll cut him into ribbons!"

I don't wanna be ribbons, the Texan thought, shivering with fear and from the cold. Please, God, I don't wanna be ribbons!

"Let him go," his classmate demanded, a determined expression on her face. "Pick on someone your own size!"

"Tough words, pipsqueak," Sabertooth said as Jerry's feet kicked at the air. "The two of you together can't stop me! And I've got a pretty good idea of what this kid can do, but it looks like he's too scared to send another cowboy after me!"

God, help me to not be scared, Jerry prayed, trying to think of a way to free himself. He couldn't make a cage, since he'd be stuck in it as well. Maybe he could make something attack the villain from behind? But who or what? Besides, if Sabertooth was able to defeat both the Lone Ranger and the Invisible Man on the jet, would he be able to defeat anyone he imagined?

"Trust me, pal, I ain't now cowboy," a familiar voice said.

The Autistic boy was dropped as the bad mutant turned and tried to block Wolverine's attack. He was unsuccessful, and the orange-and-black clad superhero kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Snarling and with his adamantium claws out, Wolverine looked scarier than he ever had before; he looked more like a wild animal than a man, and when he leaped forward, he attacked Sabertooth with all the ferociousness of a real wolverine.

"JERRY!" Kitty grabbed his hand, and he instinctively tried to pull away. However, she kept a firm grip on his hand, pulling him away from the two fighting mutants.

"Let go of my hand," the Texan yelled.

"Not until it's safe," the girl replied. "If anything happens, I need to be able to phase you with me!"

Wolverine was thrown into a tree, falling to the ground. He jumped right back up as Sabertooth tackled him, the two of them rolling in the snow, snarling and yelling and hitting each other. It was scary to watch and listen to, and Jerry closed his eyes, once again trying to pull his hand free so he could cover his ears.

"No, Jerry! I-" Kitty screamed and pulled him to the ground as the two feuding mutants sailed over their heads, landing not too far from them. Sabertooth was on top of Wolverine, punching him again and again and again without fail, each blow powerful enough to break a normal person's bones.

"Aww, trying to protect these brats, are you," Sabertooth asked, laughing as some blood trickling from his mouth [courtesy of a left hook from Logan]. "I oughta skin them along with you, make a nice rug out of you three!"

"Like hell ya are," Wolverine growled, kicking the villain in the stomach, swiping at his face with his claws. "You're not touchin' them!"

As they continued to fight, Jerry started to see what Kitty had meant about Mr. Logan wanting to protect them. He had seen the gruff mutant fight during training sessions before, but right now, it was clearly life or death for him. And what he had just said to the evil mutant about him not getting his claws on them seemed to corroborate what Kitty had said about their teacher wanting to protect him. Now that he thought about it, Jerry started to see that whenever the fighting mutants started to stray in their direction, Wolverine would push the villain back, putting himself between him and the teenagers. Even after he screwed things up and let Sabertooth into the X-Jet, the Texan was surprised that Logan was risking his life to help him.

And he's getting really hurt, too, the Autistic boy thought, noting the bruises and bloody marks on Wolverine's face and body. Sabertooth also had some, but not as many, and seemed to be gaining the upper hand in the fight. I have to do something!

Finally, with a loud roar, the evil mutant slammed Wolverine into a tree, and the man slumped to the ground, not moving. The two students gasped as the villain turned towards them, evil glee in his eyes.

"No hero to help you now," the mutant laughed. "Now, who's next?!"

Seeing his teacher laying in the snow, and feeling Kitty trying to pull him away to safety, Jerry started to get angry once again. Usually, when his got too emotional, he lashed out and could barely think straight, like the raining rocks from earlier. Now, however, his mind seemed clear, focused on the single goal of protecting himself, Kitty, and Mr. Logan from Sabertooth. Finally, he pulled his hand free of his classmate's uncomfortable grip, raising it up in front of him.

"Cage," he muttered.

A large cage appeared around Sabertooth, stopping him in his track. Roaring angrily, he started to hammer on the bars of the cage. The pounding seemed to hurt Jerry's head, but he focused all of his power on the cage, strengthening the bars to keep the powerful mutant trapped.

"You're gonna regret this, kid," the villain growled, a murderous expression on his face. "When I get my hands on you-"

"Jerry," Kitty gasped, trying to take his hand again. "We gotta-"

"Don't touch me," he snapped, and the cage briefly vanished as his attention broke. The villain started to run forward, but the Autistic teen ran out of the way, pushing Kitty with him, and created another cage to stop the mutant.

"Go check on Mr. Logan," he said. "Or call the others; I cannot hold him forever."

"But-"

"Go!" Without any more arguing, the girl turned and ran to Logan's side, checking for a pulse. Jerry knew Wolverine would be fine; he had a special ability to quickly heal from most injuries, and would probably be fine. Still, he hoped his teacher would hurry up and wake up, since Sabertooth was still snarling and trying to break out of his cage.

"I'm gonna make you pay for this," the evil mutant promised, baring his sharp fangs at him. "I'm gonna rip you limb from limb!"

"Be quiet," the Autistic boy said, his head aching with every punch the villain made to the bars of the cage.

"Why don't you let me out? You let me into that Jet of yours earlier, so letting me out shouldn't be a problem!"

"I said quiet," the teen repeated, and willed a gag to appear in the man's mouth, silencing him. This caused him to attack the cage even harder, which made Jerry's head ache and his hands shake. It was getting harder to focus on keeping the cage there, and he took a step or two back, gasping for breath. However, the villain seemed to notice how tired he was becoming, and started to attack the cage with renewed vigor, slamming his fists against the bars, denting the metal.

Finally, Jerry could not hold it anymore, and the cage and gag disappeared. With a triumphant roar, Sabertooth leaped forward and tackled him to the ground. The man was heavy, and the teenager was too weak to fight him off or think of anything to help him. He could not see Kitty or Mr. Logan, and tried to open his mouth to warn them. But before he could, the evil mutant grabbed him by the throat, slowly starting to choke him.

"You were stupid to think you could fight me," Sabertooth said, an evil grin on his face as the Autistic Texan struggled for breath. "But I always win in the end!"

Spots were dancing before Jerry's vision, and he couldn't breathe. He prayed in his head, trying not to be scared of death. He felt himself growing weaker, his eyelids starting to droop-

A blurry figure knocked the villain off of him, and the pressure on his neck was instantly gone. He took a shuddering breath, but stars continued to dance all around him, and he was so tired. He wanted to go to sleep, but it was a struggle to get air into his lungs, it seemed. He saw a shadowy figure run up to him, saw their mouth moving, but he could not tell what they were saying. Sleep was the only thing on his mind, and despite the person trying to shake him, he drifted off to sleep.

[][][]

Logan POV:

Logan sat in a chair next to the bed, the small machines nearby beeping softly as they monitored Jerry's vitals.

After Jerry had run off, Logan had quite the difficulty of keeping X-23 and the other students calm. Pietro's leg was broken, and he made him a makeshift splint out of some wood and belts they had taken from the soldiers. When Jean had finally come to, he instantly put her in charge and went off after Jerry and Kitty. Their scent was not easy to track, given the strong wind, and their footprints were twisting and winding, but he finally manged to find them, just in time to see Sabertooth grab Jerry in a chokehold.

Instantly, he had attacked the villain. They had held a grudge for so many years, he had lost count; he was sure Victor had forgotten too. As usual, their fight had been long and brutal, the only thing keeping them both alive being their mutant abilities. At one point, however, he had been knocked unconscious, only to wake up a minute or two later to Kitty's panicked expression.

"Jerry," she gasped, and Logan had turned to find Sabertooth pounding away at a cage, and the young Texan's face screwed in concentration. Suddenly, the cage vanished, and as the Autistic boy started to fall to the ground, the villain attacked him, pinning him down and starting to choke him. Growling, Wolverine pushed himself to his feet, determined to not let this monster kill one of his students. Seemingly fueled by rage and the instinct to protect, he ran forward, tackled the evil mutant off to the side, and punched him so hard in the face that he would not be surprised if his entire skull was cracked. It was apparently strong enough to knock Sabertooth unconscious, but he quickly took off the man's coat and belt, tying his limbs behind him before turning to Jerry.

The young mutant had angry red marks around his neck, and his breathing was ragged and shallow. Kitty was shaking his shoulder, shouting his name as a few tears ran down her face. He instantly shooed her aside, putting his hear to the boy's chest and finding a faint heartbeat.

"Jean," Logan said, putting a finger to his earpiece. "Contact Charles, have him send a plane to our location."

Now, back at the Institute, the grizzled mutant watched Jerry sleeping, his breathing now back to normal. Fortunately, his neck had not been broken, but the teen would have to wear a neck brace for a couple weeks, and would not be able to perform in his high school play at the beginning of February. Hank had prescribed a few days of bed rest, and no talking until the brace was off; he was lucky that Jerry would be able to swallow food and drink, and did not want him to aggravate his throat any further.

Logan, since arriving back in New York, had done a lot of thinking in the past eight hours or so [it was now after three in the morning at the Institute]. He could not help but feel some guilt for Jerry getting hurt. After all, he had lost his temper and screamed at the boy, scaring him and sending him off running into the woods. It had also led to Jean and Pierto getting hurt, and Kitty's life being endangered when she ran after him. Of course, they were all safe now, and the man tried not to think about what would have happened if Sabertooth [who was now in the Siberian flatlands with no memory of yesterday, thanks to the Professor's ability to erase memories] had won.

Logan looked up as the Autistic teenager stirred, the machine's beeping slightly increasing. Hank, who was dozing in another chair, abruptly woke up, instantly going to the boy's side.

"Jerry," he said calmly. "Jerry, can you hear me?"

The young mutant's eyes opened, and he looked up at the hairy blue mutant in front of him. His eyes widened for a moment, and he tried to sit up. However, he fell back onto his pillow, his hands reaching up to feel the neck brace as he opened his mouth to ask a question.

"Don't speak," Beast ordered in a kind, yet firm tone. "You're back at the Institute; you're safe now. Your neck is hurt, though, and you'll have to wear this brace for a little while. So no talking until it's off."

It's like a doctor talking to a child, Logan thought, remembering that, despite being a teenager and one of the smartest kids in the Institute [the younger students always raved about his study group sessions], he still had a younger mind. This made him feel even more guilty, feeling like he had yelled at someone Jamie's age instead of someone in high school.

"Logan, you're free to go to bed now," Hank said, bringing the man out of his thoughts. "I'll look after Jerry from here; besides, you've had quite a fight, and need some rest."

"I slept on the flight back," Wolverine reminded him.

"Doctor's orders," the blue mutant said. Knowing it would be useless to argue, Logan turned to leave, just about to walk out the door when something grabbed his hand.

Whirling around, he was shocked to see Jerry standing there, looking up at him. However, a quick look at the bed showed that Jerry was still there, neck brace on and a look of concentration on his face. Turning back to the Jerry in front of him, he realized that this must a clone the boy created. But why create one.

"I… wanted to say I'm sorry for putting everyone in danger," the projection of Jerry said, sounding and acting just like the real Jerry; he was looking down at the floor, shifting from foot to foot as his fingers tapped his leg. "By letting Sabertooth onto the ship. And for running away and nearly getting you killed." The clone looked up at him, his gaze on something over Wolverine's right shoulder. "Can you forgive me?"

Logan stood as still as a statue, unsure of what to say. He had received apologies from the students before, usually for breaking a window or being caught sneaking out, but this was the first one he could recall where the kid asked for forgiveness. And the first time that an apology was not necessary; he should not have left Jerry alone on the X-Jet, whether he wanted him there or not. He should have brought him with the group, maybe let Jean or Kurt look after him, but instead, he left the boy alone on his first mission, and he had nearly been killed.

He shouldn't be apologizin', the man thought. I should be sayin' sorry to him.

"It's fine," Wolverine said out loud. "And… I forgive ya. It's my fault, really; I shouldn't have left ya alone and yelled at ya."

"Kitty said you yell a lot," the Jerry clone stated. "But she said it's because you wanna protect us, so I can't be mad at you for that." He paused, then said, "And I forgive you too; I don't know if you were apologizing, but I guessed that you were. You don't look as grouchy as you normally do."

The blatant comment, combined with his lack of sleep and nearly dying, made Logan smile. He chuckled a little, and seconds later, he was laughing full-out, unlike he had ever done in years. Hank's mouth dropped open, and Logan figured that he had probably never seen him crack a smile before, much less laugh. Jerry and his clone both looked taken aback, but moments later, they smiled too.

"I was apologizin'," Wolverine finally said, his laughter and smile fading away, though his usual scowl was not on his face. "Just not used to it, I guess."

"It takes practice," the clone told him. "But if Jesus could forgive everyone, then so can I." He turned back to Beast. "Can I have something to eat? And I need to go to the bathroom. Will I be able to take a shower in this brace? Were any of my bones broken? Where's everyone else, are they okay? I need to apologize to them as soon as I can."

"Of… Of course you can eat something," Hank finally said, getting over his earlier surprise. "I'll get you some food, and you just rest; don't use your powers unless absolutely necessary."

"Okay." The clone turned back to Logan. "Thank you from brining me on the mission, Mr. Logan."

The man hesitated a moment, but then smiled, nodding his head.

"And thank ya for comin'," he replied. And on that note, the clone vanished as the real Jerry turned to him, waving one of his hands a little in farewell.

I like how this chapter turned out! Jerry and Kitty get to talk, Sabertooth attacks, and he and Logan apologize at the end of the day. Kind of a nice ending, and one that makes me feel happy, and I hope does the same to you all.

Have a great day, everyone!

-aggiefrogger

I do not own the Lone Ranger or the Invisible Man at all