The planes are coming in from all over today, it seems. Well, maybe not, but after such a long period of inactivity, anything going on here at the mansion seems rather amazing.
Scott and I returned from Alaska two weeks ago, after we'd
gotten news of Kitty's passing and of Remy's return. I
think that those two events happening so closely together stirred
something up inside Scott, rekindled the fire from embers, as it
were. It seemed we'd barely settled into the mansion again (the
boat house was destroyed in the battle and hasn't been rebuilt)
when Scott got it in his head that he was going to rebuild the X-Men,
pulling together the remnants of the various teams that had dispersed
around the globe like ashes scattered on the wind.
We would start small at first, and then, in time perhaps, when we've
all healed a bit more from our wounds (which are mostly mental at
this point in time) we would begin to recruit again. I don't
know if Scott really has the heart to build another fighting team,
though. After seeing so many friends- people who were, for all
intents and purposes, family- die, I don't know if he has
the strength to start all over. But we could teach. No matter what
the state of human/mutant relations, there will always be the need
for someone who can teach our kind to use their extraordinary gifts.
Emma is doing much the same thing at the Massachusetts academy, alone
now that Sean is gone, and a few of her original kids from Gen X have
stayed on to help. Jubilee is there, and Everett, if I recall
correctly. I've been a bit out of touch, I'm afraid.
I head down to the hangar to greet Kurt and Pete, just arrived from
Muir. Mr. Wisdom accepted Scott's invitation to come here
immediately, which surprised us both a little. He said there was
nothing left for him over on Muir, there were too many memories. Kurt
had been more hesitant. He insisted that he needed to stay and help
Moira with her work, until Moira interrupted on the comm channel and
told us he'd be here even if she had to tie him down. The X-Men
needed him more than she did, by far, she'd pointed out. After
that, Kurt was much more agreeable.
Nathan, Domino, and the rest of X-Force are due in in just a few more
hours. I think that was the hardest call for Scott to make. Things
between him and Nate turned incredibly sour after the battle. Perhaps
it was because most of Nathan's team survived when so many of
our own team mates died. Maybe it was Scott's inability to
accept that this time around, Cable's...unique way of training
his students had proven vastly more effective than our own methods.
Maybe all the death had simply dredged up too many dark memories for
the both of them. It's no secret that they've never quite
seen eye to eye on most things, but after what happened, their
animosity towards each other tripled and by the time Scott and I
moved up to Alaska, Cable had taken his team back to the west coast.
I don't know if they've really patched things up (I've
given Scott his privacy on the issue) but the fact that Nathan agreed
to come here, and bring his team with him, bodes well for the
future.
Scott's next phone
call did not go nearly as well, and I think he's still
recovering from the wounds Alex inflicted on him by his rejection.
X-Force is long disbanded and was nearly defunct before all of this
began. The members left from the original team all refused to have
anything to do with this new vision of Scott's, but I think
Alex's unwillingness to even consider rejoining stung Scott more
than he'd care to admit. I wasn't terribly surprised by it.
Alex has been bitter for a long time and his vehement rejection may
have in part been due to a need to go against anything Scott does.
Another clash of those stubborn Summers genes, I guess.
Hank will be coming in from New York in a few days, after he ties up
business there. He gave up a promising research job to come back to
us. He'd still be able to do much of the same work here, he
reasoned, and he could always head back into the city if there was
something important he needed to do. It'll be great to have him
around again. Maybe once we're all together again, we can shake
off this cloud of melancholy that seems to have settled over
us.
There's Kurt and Pete now.
I smile and hurry into the hanger, knowing that this small reunion is
just the beginning of a bigger reformation, a rebirth of Xavier's
dream, rising from the ashes as surely as the fiery bird that's
become my namesake.