As I hinted previously, I am bringing the X-Men into the series in this story. They will not be a major part of the story, but I needed characters with their unique set of abilities. I also am bringing in a new character from the X-Men world that is in comics and video games named Irene Adler called Destiny. She is not an X-Men as she is a villain character, but she is a blind precog. As the X-Men movies are so convoluted, I figured it was okay to bring in someone new for one chapter. In the comics, she was a lover of Raven/Mystique. In my mind, the first X-Men movie has happened but not the second, which means Faith's newly created brother John, Pyro, has not joined Magneto. However, Nightcrawler is with the X-Men.
Assume that the there is a few days between the final two scenes in my last story "From Beneath Me." Since it's been a while, you might reread the last chapter of that story to refresh.
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics or characters or any of Joss Whedon's characters.
Chapter 1: Destiny
*****Mississippi******
"Damn it," Irene mumbled. The dream came again. The world was destroyed as fire rained down. She wrote it in her book of prophecy. It was like the last four. America launched nuclear bombs on China and Russia, who retaliated, wiping out all major cities in an instant.
She fell back to sleep and dreamed again. This time she saw a very famous face enter the Pentagon, and she knew what she had to do.
This was not just a prophecy that she could write down and put in her book and set it aside. This one must be stopped—someone had to do that.
Not bothering to check the time, she reached for her phone and pushed one on her speed dial.
"It's four in the morning."
"I miss you, too," Irene said.
"Irene? Is that you? Are you okay?"
"Yes, Raven. I'm fine. I just need you to use your X-Men connections to save the world," she said.
"You're kidding," she said.
"No, actually, I'm not. I've had a prophecy. One that will happen in a week. Nuclear war that we start—except it's not actually the President who does it," Irene said.
"What do you mean?" Raven said. She explained about her dreams, and her lover knew that her dreams were never wrong.
Irene was born blind, but she was a precog, often referred to be her mutant name Destiny. Raven, known by the X-Men as Mystique, realized immediately that she would probably have to share this with Eric. "I think I know how to stop it," she said. Yet she hesitated to share it with Eric because she had never told him about Irene. Irene wasn't a weapon that she ever wanted Eric to exploit.
"I figured you might," Irene said. "When are you going to come home?"
"Soon," Raven said.
"Do you still love me?" Irene asked.
"Of course," Raven said. "I will call you after it's done."
"Please do," Irene said. She hung up, glad to have passed it off to Raven's capable hands.
Raven, though, was dreading telling Eric about her lover's gift. He would not understand why such a weapon was being kept out of his hands. Maybe, it would be better if she didn't tell Eric. She could contact Logan herself.
Several hours later, she found him at a diner near the school. For this rare occasion, she was dressed as herself—the face she had before her mutant gene kicked in. It wasn't a face she had shown to Logan before, but she needed him to believe her. If she thought she could fool the Professor, she'd pose as just another mutant with the gift of prophecy.
"Logan," she said, getting his attention.
He looked up from his coffee. "Do I know you?" he asked. He looked at the attractive blonde curiously. Sniffing, he realized something about her seemed familiar.
"No need to sniff me like a dog, Logan. It's me. Raven—Mystique," she said. When he looked alarmed and looked for others, she held up her hand. "Do you think I'd show you my original form if I was trying to start a fight? I'm here because I have some truly horrible news that only your Professor can help with. I don't want Eric to know about it."
Logan looked at her intently, trying to figure out her angle. She was incredibly loyal to Magneto, but she was also brilliant in her own right. "What's going on?" he said.
"I have a friend—a very close friend. One who I trust with my life," Raven said. "She has never met Eric, and I would rather she not."
That alone was very interesting to Logan. "Go on," he encouraged.
"My friend is a mutant that can see the future. Her visions are never wrong—not ever," Raven said, looking grim and very serious.
Logan didn't think she would be wasting her time if she didn't believe that it was real, so he listened to what she had to say.
"You're not shitting me?" he asked when she stopped talking.
"You think I'd come all the way here just to mess with you?" she asked, annoyed. "The Professor is the only mutant I know that can freeze time for even a moment. Somehow, Pepper Potts or a mutant with her face or someone disguised as her is going to go into the Pentagon and release atomic bombs. As soon as she sets foot in the building the war begins. Irene didn't know exactly how she did it, but she saw the result over and over. We hit China and Russian, and they hit us. The fallout destroys the world. It can't be allowed to happen."
"What's your theory?" Logan asked.
"Either Pepper Potts is mind controlled, or Tony Stark uses her as a decoy to slip a bug in," Raven speculated.
"That's what you think?"
"Well, Tony would never do anything like that unless they were using his lover as leverage or something," Raven said.
"Or it might not be her at all. It's possible there are other mutants like you," Logan said.
"That's true," Raven said.
"So we have the exact date and time when the bad guy is going to do a very bad thing—that never happens," he said in bemusement.
"Logan, I swear to you, it will happen unless you get your people to stop it," Raven said.
"Okay," Logan said. "I will make sure we are there to stop it."
"You believe me?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter if I do or not," he said with a shrug. "I'm not risking the world either way. If you're lying, we wasted an afternoon. If you're telling the truth, we've saved the world. Easy choice for me to make."
"I hope the Professor will feel the same way," she said.
Logan nodded. "He will," Logan said. He got up and took some money out of his pocket, throwing it on the table. "Thanks for the tip. I'll be seeing you."
Raven watched him walk away, relieved. She pulled out her phone and called Irene. "I think it's going to be okay. I told the X-Men. They'll stop it," she said.
"Thank God!" Irene said, relieved. "Will you wait it out with me?"
"I will," Raven said. "See you soon." She had faith that her mutant adversaries would stop Irene's visions, but if she was wrong, she wanted the end to come with someone that really needed her. Eric cared about her powers, but Raven didn't think if the world was ending, he would even look to see where she was.
Her phone rang. "Where are you?" Eric asked.
"I'm out of town," she said. "The power outages got me stranded for a bit."
"But you are unharmed?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
"That is good," Eric said. "I spoke to Charles. He said that it was not a mutant behind this."
"Good," she said. "Does he know what caused it?"
"He thinks it was an attack of some kind on the Avengers," Eric said with a snort. So far, he hadn't challenged those do-gooders as they did treat mutants with respect.
"I have a friend in Mississippi that I want to go check on—she's blind and lives alone," Raven said. "I'll call you when I get there."
"Be careful. If another plane falls out of the sky and I'm not with you, you could get hurt," he pointed out.
"I will be," she said, a bit surprised at his concern. "Goodbye."
******Two Days Later******
Tony and Willow had gone through all of Warren's files and knew that he had created a robot. They had specs of one, but they did not have an ID.
"He looked entirely too smug when he was arrested," Tony said. "He's got this robot out there planning more destruction. I just got my system back online. If you hadn't put those safeguards on Ultron, I don't know what damage he might have done. I was so stupid. Buffy told me not to trust him. She fights evil—I should've listened!"
"Hey, let's not waste time with the blame game," Willow said. "Let's celebrate that I was able to pull JARVIS back from the abyss. Your doctor friend has that body to download him into, right?"
Tony nodded. "Yea. Dr. Cho's going to let me have it. I still think we should just use the stone for Loki's scepter to power the body," he said.
"We don't know enough about that stone. We just know it can mind control people and that its power is infinite," Willow said. "We don't need JARVIS to have that kind of power. You'll power the body with a mini-reactor, and I will put a soul in him. He will be alive. This way he'll never be in one place to be destroyed like that."
"Did Pepper say it was okay for you to make a baby with another woman?" Bruce asked with a smirk.
Willow's mouth fell open, and her face flushed. "What?"
Tony laughed. "Yes, smart-ass, she did," he said. "If it was anyone but Willow, she might be a bit jealous."
All of a sudden, the room went dark. Then strangers were there—a bald guy in a wheelchair with two guys and two women. Then Tony noticed the blue man with a tail and finally blinked.
"I don't think you have an appointment," Tony said, looking at Bruce in concern. "Relax, Big Guy."
"We mean you no harm," the bald guy said.
"How did you do that?" Willow asked with interest. "I didn't feel any magical disturbance."
"Magic?" the guy with the long sideburns scoffed. "We're not a circus act."
"My friend, Kurt, can teleport," the bald guy said, gesturing to the little guy with the tail. He must be an inhuman. "Forgive our intrusion. I am Professor Charles Xavier. I run a school for gifted mutants and train them to be X-Men, who help contain mutants, who abuse their powers to hurt others."
"That's really cool!" Willow said excitedly. "I have so many questions."
"We have tons, but no time now, Will," Tony said. "We're in the middle of a little crisis."
"I believe I can help you with that," the Professor said. "This is my team. Logan, Jean, Scott, Kurt, and Ororo. We know a mutant, who is a precog. Her visions are never wrong." They had decided the only way to get their plan to work was to get Tony Stark on board. He had the power and influence to get them in the Pentagon without weapons drawn. Charles was not about to risk the world on the word of a mutant he had never met, so he wanted to stake out the Pentagon a few days before and after the time to be safe. He told Tony about the vision. Charles was pleasantly surprised that Tony took his words seriously and listened without interruption.
"My Pepper would never do such a thing, but—" he paused and glanced at Willow, who nodded. "I think we know what's happened. I had this weasel of an employee, Warren, who was the one who knocked out the power—he thinks he's a supervillain. He's got a gift for creating robots that look entirely human."
"He's from my hometown," Willow said. "He made one of my best friend Buffy that looked exactly like her."
"We just discovered specs of a new robot, but we didn't have an ID," Tony said. "If he made it to look like Pepper, that really helps us. Pepper is going to want to kill him, though."
"She's going to want to kill you," Willow said with a smirk. "I'm Willow, by the way. I work with Tony."
Charles through his thoughts into the woman's mind. Are you a mutant?
Willow shook her head. No, I'm not. "No, I'm not a mutant," she said. "I'm a witch."
Charles wasn't so sure about that since she so easily throw her thoughts back to him.
Logan snorted in disbelief while the little blue guy's eyes got wide, and he clung to Storm in fear.
"A good one—I won't hurt you," she said to the little blue guy. She was kind of cute.
"Yea, well, Bruce and I are scientists. How do you think we feel?" Tony said. "The woman does the impossible all the time. But her blood doesn't have any mutant gene—believe me, I have checked. She grew up on a hellmouth—the one in Sunnydale, California."
Charles smiled in realization. "You know Faith," he said.
Willow looked surprised and nodded. "Yes," she said. "How do you know Faith?"
"Faith is the current guardian of the hellmouth is she not?" Charles asked.
"Yes," Willow asked. "How do you know that?" She looked at Tony, who shrugged.
"Her brother John is a student at my school," he said.
Logan looked surprised. "Pyro knows about witches?" he asked.
"He did tell you that he was going to get his sister to come kick your ass if you mocked him one more time," Jean said dryly.
"Is she a witch?" Logan asked.
"No, Faith's a vampire slayer," Willow said.
Logan looked surprised. "Vampires are real?" he asked.
"You really need to listen to the students more, Logan," Scott said with a smirk.
Logan grinned. "I keep telling the Professor that I'm no teacher, but he don't listen so good," Logan said.
"So all of you are mutants?" Bruce asked. They all nodded. "Do you mind telling us what you can do? It will help us figure out a plan."
"Logan has indestructible adamantium metal claws," Charles said. Logan showed them off, causing Willow to wince.
"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked.
"I have this insane healing ability," he said. "I heal instantly."
"Does that metal go all the way through your body?" Tony wondered.
Logan nodded. "It does. It makes me useless when fighting Magneto, who's a mutant that can move metal," he said. "He's a bad mutant, who thinks mutants should rule humans."
Tony winced. "I better not meet that guy either," he said.
"Jean and I are both very powerful telepaths," Charles said. "However, she also has telekinetic powers while I can freeze time, which is what we can do to stop the Pepper robot when we spot her."
"You can freeze time? That's awesome!" Willow said.
"Cyclops here basically can shoot laser beams from his eyes," Logan said. "Storm can control the weather."
"Like Thor?" Tony asked.
"I suppose," she said softly. "I don't need a hammer, though, to do so."
"I have so many questions," Willow said.
"Later, Will," Tony said. "Let's get to planning."
They did just that. Rhodey was brought it and was properly horrified at the latest threat, insisting on meeting this precog. When the X-Men wouldn't produce it, things got testy.
"Look," Logan said. "The mutant who gets the visions is not one of ours. In fact, this vision came from our enemy, but she was very terrified. She came to me because she knew that I wouldn't risk the fate of the world on not believing the source."
"Has this enemy ever lied to you before?" Rhodey asked.
"Well, Mystique is a shapeshifter, so it's her nature to be duplicitous," Charles said. "However, she didn't tell Eric about it because she cares about this mutant and doesn't want him to know about her abilities. That tells us that the source is real. She is his most trusted soldier—his right hand."
Tony nodded. "That's good enough for me. I wouldn't risk it either way anyway, especially since it's my employee that unleashed all this to begin with," he said. "Ultimately, I'm the only one responsible."
"Where's this employee?" Jean Gray asked. "I can read his mind."
"That's probably a good idea. We need to know if he's got any other surprises for us," Willow said.
"I'll see if we can get some face time with him," Rhodey said, pulling out his phone.
Logan was just glad that the most visible Avenger wasn't the asshole so many said he was. The world might just keep spinning after all.
*****Ohio*****
When Xander finally got off the phone with Willow his head was spinning. So many things going on. Buffy wanted to foster that poor kid Savannah that lost her mom, and Willow wanted him to convince her what a bad idea it was due to the First gunning for all of them. Five potentials had been assassinated already. Willow didn't have the time to call her right now as her and Tony were trying to figure out what else Warren has set in motion—he looked too smug when he was arrested. Xander hadn't gotten a chance to discuss his feelings about Cordelia being pregnant due to all the stuff she'd said about Warren, robots, and nuclear war visions. He rubbed his eye, glad he hadn't gotten that particular vision. Since Giles had gotten word of five deaths of potential slayers, the Watcher's Council was on high alert. Something was targeting them like never before.
"From beneath you it devours."
Odin had said that months before they began getting visions of dead people saying the same words. Was it connected?
All he wanted to really think about was the fact that he was going to be a father, but it was not Anya who would be the mother. Guilt filled him as he drifted off to sleep.
The All-Father came to him in his sleep. They were in a beautiful garden with a waterfall in the near distance. Odin was sitting on a bench, petting a wolf. Xander eyed the wolf warily.
"Uh, is this a dream or one of those All-Father visions?" he asked. "Can that wolf tear my throat out?"
"This is Geri. His mate Freki is nearby," Odin said. "I am considering sending them to Earth to guard you and Cordelia. Although I have another there to protect you, these would be closer."
"I'm not sure I could care for wolves," Xander said. "I live in an apartment."
Odin smiled. "They would not need you to care for them," he said. "They would be a part of you and come out only when you had need of them."
"Well, okay," Xander said. "I guess you know about the baby."
Odin smiled. "I do. Congratulations. Frigga and I are very excited for you and Cordelia. You know that she spent time in Asgard with us. We are very fond of her."
Xander flashed a bitter look. "Guess she's more fitting than Anya, huh?"
Odin sighed. "Alexander, I did not cause Anya to die. It was her time. There were so many threats around her that it mattered not what path you chose—she would have died within two years in one fashion or another," he said. "She would've died in the final battle in Sunnydale had you not left."
"Really?" Xander asked in surprise.
Odin nodded. "Yes," he said. "She had lived a very long time, so there is no reason for this bitterness. It is time for you to let it go. It is time for you to let her go."
"She's not even been gone six months," Xander said. "Now I've knocked up my first love. It's just not right."
Odin was silent as he watched Xander pick up a pebble and throw it into the pool of water. "Alexander, your guilt is misplaced. Cordelia is someone you have always loved. She is someone who you never entirely let go of—someone you hurt years ago and felt a deep shame over that hurt."
Xander turned. "How do you know that?" he asked. "Can you read my mind?"
"Not exactly, but I have forged a tie with you. It allows me to know you in a way I do not know others," he said. "She is not a stranger you picked up at a bar like humans often do."
"It would be easier if she was," Xander said. "That's why I feel so guilty. I feel like I moved on already. I know that I love Cordy—I've always loved Cordy. She is a part of me in a way that Anya never quite was—that's part of the problem. Growing up, I hated her because she was so mean, and then I was in lust with her, and then just as I was completely in love with her, I broke her heart over some insane fluke with Willow. We were over before we ever grew up and knew if we could really be anything. Now I've gotten her pregnant in a drunken hook up. If we were going to get back together, it shouldn't have happened like that. Now I've ruined whatever we could ever have again."
"That is not true," Odin said. "She is not entirely human. Just as you are not entirely human any longer. You have many years to work out how you feel about one another."
"So you're saying I shouldn't worry so much?" Xander said, a half-smile on his face.
Odin put his hand on Xander's shoulder. "Your son will be a great blessing to you as my sons have been to me," he said.
"A son? It's a boy? How do you know that?" Xander asked.
Odin smiled. "Your slayer Buffy has awakened an old enemy," he said, not answering the question.
"The First? Keeps showing up as dead people? You said he was an old fallen celestial or calls himself the First Evil, but he's just a big fat liar," Xander said.
Odin nodded. "If you allow him to empower his disciple, he will kill many young girls," Odin said. "Even now, many have already died."
"Giles said five potentials have been killed," Xander said.
"There's a chance, though, to end his plans before he really begins," Odin said. "I do not want your child to be endangered, so I am interfering where I would normally not."
"Really?" Xander asked. "How?"
"My son has the ability to help, and your friend Angel has a weapon he knows not he has that can help close the hellmouth permanently," Odin said.
"Thor? Thor's going to help?" Xander said.
Odin shook his head. "No, he would not be much good against an enemy such as this. Loki. He will aid you," Odin said.
"Isn't he an enemy of humanity?" Xander asked. "I mean, I know Tara loves him and all."
"He has much changed because of her love," Odin said. "Even now, he is helping humans."
"He is on Earth?" Xander asked.
Odin nodded. "He is," Odin said. "When the time is right, he will step in and help defeat this evil you and your friends face."
"Are you sure he can be trusted?" Xander asked.
Odin was silent. "No. However, I trust that he cares for Tara and Cordelia. He would not allow anyone to harm either of them—I know that," he said.
"Cordy? I didn't realize she knew him," Xander said, not sure how he felt about that.
"Fear not," Odin said. "My wolves will protect you and your unborn child, and my son will aid you in your final battle with the evil you face."
"Okay," Xander said. "Thanks." Another very large wolf appeared, staring intently at him.
"Ah, there is Freki," Odin said, smiling at the wolf. "It's time."
Xander woke up in bed with the sun streaming in his room. That was different.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, wondering how much of the dream was real. When he got out of the shower, he wiped the steam from the mirror. Then he blinked as he saw a tattoo on his left pec. Wiping the mirror some more, he peered closer to it.
"Woe!" he exclaimed. It was a wolf. He had a tattoo of a freakin' wolf on his chest that was not there last night.
He thought about his dream and what the All-Father said. Closing his eyes, he called out to Odin. "All-Father. Why do I have a tattoo of a wolf that I didn't have last night? Is that you?"
"It is," Odin replied. "It is Geri, your new protector. He will come out only if you are in danger."
"What about his mate?" Xander asked, wondering about the other.
"She will protect your baby," Odin said.
Xander's eyes widened as he realized what that meant.
Cordelia was going to kill him.
******Chapter End*****
Although the wolves are a part of Odin's comic lore, I got the idea of wolf protector tattoos from my favorite writer Christine Feehan in her Dark series. I saw an opportunity to use it, and I hope it fits. I would love a review.