Authors: AC, Admiral, Chaos, Maria_Cline, Dreamweaver, Flame, Jubilee_79, Lady_Yann, Le Fae, Leilee, Rainfall, Snowbaby and Teb.
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence
Disclaimer: All Marvel Characters belong to Marvel Comics. All non-Marvel Characters belong to the authors of this story. No money is being made off of this story.
Cara stood looking in the mirror as she brushed her hair. She couldn't believe that it had been one year since she met Jamar and Ryan in the Crestwood Hospital. Cara shuddered...it had been such an awful place, she never wanted to go back, for any reason. But here she was, getting ready to do just that... She was glad that it was under better circumstances. She smiled as she thought of the reason. Cara put down her brush and walked over to the dresser to pick up her car keys.
She paused in front of the pictures that were arranged on the top. There was one of her with Jamar and Ryan, on the day she and Jamar had been released from the hospital. Ryan looked so sad, Cara hated to leave her there. But they wouldn't let Cara stay...there was nothing she could do.
Cara sighed and picked up her car keys, then she walked out of the bedroom and across the hall to the nursery. Little Kat was snuggled up under her covers, pretending to be asleep. Cara smiled. She knew better.
"Little Kat, are you awake?" she asked the little sometimes-angel.
"No." came the little one's reply.
"Really? Oh, I guess that means you won't be able to go with me to pick up your mother... she's getting out today, you know."
Kat immediately opened her eyes and sprang out of her covers...holding out her little chubby arms and demanding to be picked up.
Cara laughed, and picked her up out of the crib. The little girl was only a few months old, but she looked and acted a lot older. She was more of a toddler than a baby, really. Cara smiled, the little girl had grown so much, her mother Ryan would be so proud.
Cara brushed the little girl's hair... and for once, Kat didn't even struggle. She was so happy to be going to see her Mommy, and Cara was so happy to be bringing Ryan out of that horrible place.
Ryan had finished signing most of the necessary paperwork, and was now standing in the foyer waiting for them to bring the final release paper, and for Cara to arrive with little Kat. She began to pace. Why aren't they here yet...I hope they get here soon, she thought worriedly.
The fact that she was finally getting out seemed so much like a dream. Ryan wanted to get out of there before someone woke her up, or told her that it was all a mistake, and that she had to stay there even longer.
Ryan looked out the window once more, and saw it. The little beat_up blue car that Cara drove... Ryan was ecstatic. They were here, they were finally here!
Cara quickly parked the car, pulled little Kat out of the carseat, and ran inside the building with Kat in her arms. When she saw Ryan, she grinned, and stood Kat upon the floor.
Kat smiled up at her Mommy, and in motions that would melt the coldest heart, little Kat carefully walked across the floor straight to her Mommy's arms.
"Mommy! Mommy, mommy, mommy Mommy!" she chattered excitedly as her mother bent to pick her up.
The receptionist brought the final form, which let the world know that Ryan was indeed a sane woman...then Ryan was free to leave. She held her breath as she, Kat and Cara walked out of the building, to freedom.
Rainfall
Sammi walked into the kitchen and looked at Gambit.
"You OK, petit?" He asked, seeing that she was upset.
"I'll be fine." She continued to look at him, then slapped her forehead and said, "Oh no. If you're here, then where's my father?"
Cara came into the room and heard what Sammi said. She came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine." She said reassuringly.
"Oh, I know he's probably fine, but what about the person he drops in on?" Sammi said, looking at her.
"Guaranteed, whoever he drops in on will be calling as soon as he does. I'm going to run and get some pizza, but I have to get my keys first." Cara said, heading out the door.
She stopped when she got to Jamar and on a concealed link said, /Watch Sammi until Jonas gets back. Remember her other power./
/How could we forget./ Jamar said with a wink. Cara kissed him and went out the door.
jubilee_79
By the time Amanda and Scott got to Maria's office, the building was clear of anyone else. Upon entering the room, neither of them saw Maria, but both saw Hank. He had both hands over his ears, trying to get the ringing out. They could understand the feeling. When they approached, Hank smiled at them both.
"At last, hospitable people. How are you, Amanda?" he asked.
Amanda smiled and replied telepathically, /Fine, except I'm a mutant again./
"I see." replied Hank.
"Where is Maria?" asked Scott.
"I assume she is here somewhere. I suddenly appeared here and saw Maria. When she saw me, I think my appearance startled her and she.."
"We heard." replied Scott and Amanda.
"I'm sorry." replied a quiet voice from behind.
Scott, Hank, and Amanda turned to see Maria appear from behind. Both Scott and Hank were surprised to find that Maria appeared to be older, like Amanda. Scott turned towards Amanda with questions in his eyes.
/I know you both have questions, but we have to leave before the cops come and we have to explain what happened. I don't think they will believe us./
All three nodded. Amanda telepathically contacted Cara who was on her way to get pizza.
/Cara, is there something you might want to tell me?/
A.C.
Athena let the hot stream of the shower wash all her tension away. She was going to have a whole evening all to herself, to do whatever she wanted. She sighed and turned of the water. Grabbing her bathrobe off the hook and wrapping it around her, she stepped out of the shower. When she looked up, she screamed. Logan grimaced and covered his ears.
"What are you doing here? Do you honestly think my bathroom is open house? Are you crazy?" Athena shrieked. Then suddenly, she threw her arms around him in a big hug. "I'm so happy to see you! Hey, is Bobby here too? Does Sammi know you're here?"
"One question at a time darlin'. You know you gotta good set of lungs on ya?" Logan smiled. "I ain't seen the popsicle, so I wouldn't know. I don't guess Sammi knows. Do ya have her number? Can we call her?"
"Sure," Athena smiled as she walked downstairs to her study. She quickly found the number to Sammi's San Francisco loft, and dialed it. Jamar answered the phone.
"Hi, Jamar, this is Athena. You won't believe who showed up in my bathroom." Athena said.
flame
"Athena, with everything that's happened today I'd believe almost anything."
"What's wrong, Jamar?"
"Nothing really. Sammi just had an unexpected visitor drop in. So, now that we've got that outta the way, who do you have in your bathroom?"
"Hmmm...well he's kinda hairy, short, long nails and an attitude."
"Hey Sammi! Dad's over at Athena's place."
"That's great. Ask her to bring him over."
"Uh...Athena, we need you to bring dad over as soon as you can. Something big is going down. Cara will be here soon with Amanda and Maria. And from the telepathic message she sent Cara, I don't think she's happy."
"Alright, Jamar. I'll see you guys in a while." Athena says before hanging up.
/It would be a whole lot simpler if I could just like port everyone here./ Jamar telepathically says to Sammi.
/Uh...bro,' you remember that old movie "The Fly"?/
/Yeah, so?/
/Remember what happened to the monkey? Well, you haven't used those 'port powers of yours in almost five years./
/I gotcha sis, I'll just work on it a bit then./
Jamar begins to concentrate on teleporting a glass of juice from the kitchen to the den.
"I would listen to her, 'First One'."
This startles Jamar enough that the juice appears on the couch, with the glass appearing on the table.
/'First One'? Wait a minute, only one person calls me that./ He thinks, as he turns to stand face to face with Zeklos; a being he had thought long gone from his mind.
"Yo, Sammi, I think I'm going nuts."
"Don't worry, 'First One', it's only shock."
Sammi runs in to see Zeklos standing beside Jamar.
"Uh Oh, more guests."
Chaos
"Logan, we're going to San Fransico." Athena said.
"Great darlin', where are we now?" he asked.
"Nashville. Look, I have to make a little stop before we head to the airport. I hope you don't mind." Athena said while packing.
"Won't take long, will it? I really wanna see my kids." Logan beamed.
Athena walked over and put a hand on Logan's shoulder. "I know," she smiled. "But if you're here, then there's a possibility Bobby is as well. And I think he'll want to see his kids too." Athena hugged the astonished Logan. "They are sleeping over at a friends tonight. We'll just swing by and pick them up in the way to the airport."
flame
Sammi looked at Zeklos and says, "Join the party." Just then the phone rings. "Now who showed up?" Sammi says as she went to answer the phone.
"Grand Central Station." She says.
"Sammi? Is that you?" The voice on the line asks.
"Yeah, it's me Teb. What's up?"
"I think somethings going on."
"Why? Did you get your powers back, or did and X_Men drop in on you?"
There was a pause then, "You Know?"
"Yep, I got a Cajun in my kitchen this morning."
"Remy's there. Has Angelo showed up?"
"No Not yet, I don't think."
"Well, the professor's here."
"Good. Bring him over quick. Cara went to get Amanda and Maria. And I think Amanda's pissed."
"In that case, I'll be there as soon as I can." Teb said as she hung up the phone.
Sammi hung up the phone and turned to Jamar and said," Well, I think the crisis with Amanda can be avoided."
"How?" Jamar asked.
"Teb drew the Professor." Sammi said with a smile on her face.
jubilee_79
Athena sped hurriedly through traffic on the way to the airport. Logan sat in the passenger seat, and Robbie and Mac sat buckled in the back seat sleeping. The car was quiet until suddenly it shook with a slight thud. Athena blinked and thought she must have hit a pot hole.
That's when she heard, "Cute kids, sugah."
She glanced in the rear view mirror to see Rogue sitting between the boys. Athena reached for her cell phone.
"Hi, Jamar, Athena again. We're on our way to the airport now. Tell Jonas, his Momma's with us."
flame
Cara was driving over to the pizza place when suddenly she heard, /Cara, is there something you might want to tell me?/ the stern voice of Amanda said inside Cara's head. The voice startled Cara, and she had to swerve to miss another car. She pulled off to the side of the road.
/Amanda, was that you?/ she asked.
/Yes, it was...now, would you please tell me what's going on?/ Amanda answered.
/Sammi and Jonas have a visitor...Gambit dropped in on them this morning. And, as you already know, we are all getting our powers back. I "accidently" blew up Sammi's toaster. So, what happened on your end? I'm getting some strange vibes from you./ Cara said as she grinned.
/Maria and I both have a couple of "visitors" as well...Cyclops ended up with me, and Beast ended up with Maria./ Amanda replied.
Cara was about to answer, when suddenly she felt a strange chill in the air. She looked through the windshield of her car up at the sky, and noticed a rather familiar sight... one that she hadn't seen in almost five years. It was a swirling, glowing vortex.
Suddenly, a tall screaming figure appeared through the mouth of the vortex, falling to the ground with incredible force. It was followed by a smaller screaming figure, which landed on top of the first figure.
"OOF! OUCH!!! Hey, Jubes, do you think you could land any HARDER next time? I think I actually have a couple of ribs still intact..." said Robert Drake, Iceman of the X-Men.
"Sure thing, Popsicle...anything you say..." Jubilee grinned wickedly as she prepared to jump on him again. She was stopped by the sound of laughter, and she looked over to see where it was coming from.
Jubilee's eyes got big and round when she saw who was laughing. "CARA! Is that You? Oh my heck...I thought you were dead! Does that mean the others are alive too?"
Cara, still grinning from ear to ear, ran over to Jubilee and gave her a hug.
"Yeah, we're all still alive and kickin'...boy, I'm sure glad to see you two..." she said as she helped Bobby stand up. "And I know a couple or four people who will be extra glad to see you both as well...but first things first, we're gonna have a lot of people to feed, so I'm taking you two with me to the pizza place." she finished, as she began pulling them both to the car.
"PIZZA? COOL!" Jubilee said excitedly, as she jumped in the front passenger seat. Bobby slid into the backseat, being extra careful of his sore ribs. Funny, Cara seemed older than she should be...he wondered why.
/Amanda, Jubilee and Bobby just dropped in on me. We're on our way to pick up the pizza, and then I really think we should all meet at Sammi's and sort everything out.../ Cara sent a message to Amanda as she pulled back onto the road.
/Jamar, luv, please tell Athena and Sammi that I have Bobby and Jubilee with me. I'm sure they will both be pleased. By the way, how many pizzas do you think I should get for this crowd?/ she asked.
Rainfall
Jonas was exhilarated; in the last 4 years he had only been able to do this about three times... glad that there was some cloud cover around so he could fly without being detected... but who would be looking for a Dragon flying through the sky anyway?
Suddenly, he smelled something funny and looked in front of him... a vortex? It was about a 100 meters in front of him, a flash later someone came falling out of it. The figure was screaming some rather obscene words. Jonas saw who it was a split second later... Cable!!!
Jonas turned straight down, folding his wings and streamlining himself to fall faster.
"Got you!" Jonas roared out in a deep voice as he grabbed Cable with his back legs, and aimed his flight path for the building where Amanda had entered.
"Now, would you tell Gambit about this Honeymoon of yours?" Gambit said with a grin.
Someone knocked on the door. Sammi opened it knowing instinctively who it was... but was greeted by a smoking object being held by Logan.
"Yours?" Logan said, and handed the rather fried toaster to Sammi.
Sammi looked confused for a moment holding the toaster. The she smiled and threw the toaster over her shoulder, almost hitting Jamar, and gave Logan a bear hug.
"Hi dad." Sammi said, not letting go.
Logan hugged her back hard, and didn't say anything.
As they both let go, Logan looked into her eyes... "Honeymoon?" Sammi only grinned.
Jonas let Cable down and landed, turning himself back into a human. He took his bag and started to get dressed.
"Jonas?" Cable looked around... "Thanks, but where the hell am I? I thought you all died?"
Jonas smiled as he put on his jacket, and pulled out a small box. "We are all alive... and it's a long story... let's pick up Amanda and Maria and get..."
Suddenly they heard a scream and Jonas fell over in pain, his sensitive ears almost breaking over the sound.
He quickly put the contacts in, blinking to make sure they were in correctly, and his eyes looked normal.
"I usually wear sunglasses, but they don't go well with a suit. This takes away about 40% of my vision. Now, lets get Amanda and Maria out of there before the cops come... and put that GUN away!"
A minute later, Jonas and Cable were looking at Amanda, Cyclops, Maria and Beast. Everyone seemed rather surprised.
After a second, Beast asked, "May I ask that we continue this at another place... I hardly think that WE could be easily explained."
Jonas looked at Amanda and grinned; they both had a hand in the X-men TV series, and this would not be that hard... would it?
Sammi held up her hand and grinned wide...
Logan dropped his jaw... a sniff later, he could smell exactly who was the other half. He hadn't liked him as her boyfriend... and he already hated him as her husband. He was about to object, but was pushed hard out of the way as Rogue grabbed Sammi's hand.
"Married?" she beamed as she examined the ring closer.
Sammi suddenly realized that Rogue was not wearing gloves, and was touching her skin...
"Rogue... your power?"
Rogue smiled... "Jonas left me a gift... I'll tell you later... where is he?"
Admiral
Cara, Jubilee and Bobby had just loaded the pizzas into the trunk of the car, when suddenly...
~ZZSSSSSSAAAAPPPPCREAAAAACK!!!~ a huge crackling sound was heard overhead, followed by a shout and a long stream of swearwords all spoken in Spanish.
Cara and Jubilee jumped out of the way, just in time...for Angelo Espinoza suddenly appeared from another vortex, and landed directly on Bobby.
"Hey, thanx for breaking my fall, popsicle!" Ange said, grinning as Jubilee pulled him to his feet.
"don't mention it..." Bobby said in a rather tired voice.
Cara stifled a smile as she bent to help Bobby up, and helped him back into the car.
"Well, good news for you, Bobby, is that Hank is here as well. When we get back to Sammi's, he can check you over." Cara said.
She turned and grinned at Ange. "I know that Teb will be very happy to see you...she is also on her way to Sammi's. Hop in, and we'll be there shortly."
Jubilee ran around to the front passenger side and jumped in. "Ha! I call dibs!" she said.
Ange didn't mind, he was preoccupied with the wonderful thought that he would be seeing Teb again. He got into the back seat, and said, "What're we waiting for? Let's go!!!"
Cara started the car and peeled out of the parking lot, much to the dismay of Bobby, who was once again rubbing his sore ribs.
"Oh, sorry, Bobby...I'll go a little slower. I know that Athena wouldn't like it if..."
The rest of what Cara was going to say was interrupted by Bobby's shout of, "Athena is going to be there? Why didn't you tell me? Drive faster!"
Rainfall
Ryan was freaking out, she couldn't deal with this anymore. She needed to get out. "Hey, I need to go pick Kat up. I'll be right back." she said, and quickly walked out the front door. Jamar came after her. "Ryan, I don't think you should go alone... do you want company?"
"No thanks, Jamar. I really need to go alone, but thanks for the offer."
Ryan walked down the street to Cara's friend Cindy's house. She wanted to pick up Kat and run as far away as she could... but she knew she couldn't do that. When Ryan got to the house, Kat was playing outside with Cindy's daughter, Alara. The girl was older then Kat, but Kat looked older then her age. It was weird for Ryan at first to deal with a 4 year old who was taller then most 8 year olds. Most other kids stayed away from Kat because of this. Alara was different. She liked Kat, and always made her feel special.
"Mommy!" Kat yelled, and ran to her mother's side. "Alara and I made mud pies!"
Ryan smiled at her daughter, giggling at the sight of her covered in mud. "That's good, sweet heart... but we have to go home now. We have company."
"Alright. Bye Bye Alara!"
"So, Scrappy girl... what else did you do today?"
"Well, I met this funny looking man who had eyes just like mine, Mommy! He growled at me and walked away. He didn't look too friendly, Mommy."
Ryan's face fell at what her daughter told her. Her mind drifted back to the last day she saw anyone who had eyes like her daughter. Victor had tried to kill her, but then he was killed. It couldn't be him, she thought.
"What's wrong, Mommy?"
Le Fae
Hunting down Sabertooth was not as easy as Amanda had thought. She could vaguely pick up his psychic signature, and could sense hostility from him, but that was about it. Amanda had used her powers to create a psychic staff and held it in a defensive position, keeping her senses sharp. A part of her cursed herself for not informing the others on where she was going, which meant there was no back up.
"They'll figure I'm gone soon." she whispered to herself. I'll probably be dead by then, she thought.
Amanda heard a noise behind her, and pulled up her staff just in time to block the claws swiping at her. She flipped back in time to see Sabertooth behind her. He didn't look too happy to see her. I hate it when I'm right, she thought.
"Well, if it isn't chrome-dome's girlfriend." sneered Victor.
"Well, if it isn't Scooby Doo. What's wrong, did someone forget your Scooby Snack?" Amanda replied.
Sabertooth sneered, and Amanda realized that that may have not been the best thing to say. As Sabertooth charged her, Amanda prayed she had enough mastery of her power to save herself. She also hoped that someone would realized she was missing and come to help her, because she knew she was in hot water if they didn't.
A.C.
Amanda tried to scan Sabretooth's mind to find out why he was attacking her. She suddenly realized what was wrong. It's all off, she thought. Sabretooth's memories where completely wrong. He didn't remember the love he shared with Ryan, and in fact, a deep hate for Ryan was all she could find.
There was no reason for him to hate her, but for some reason he did. In fact, most of the memories he had of Vision X were wrong. He didn't have any memories of his time at the mansion, only his battles with them. Suddenly, it hit Amanda. Sinister must have deleted his memories and replaced them with hate for the group, Amanda thought. At that moment, Amanda knew she was in big trouble.
Le Fae
/DUCK./ Someone screamed in her mind. Amanda followed the movement with instinct... instinct she didn't know she had.
Ducking, counter-blocking, movement fitting that of a master fighter... at last she saw the movements she was making were because of...
"THANAGAR!" She yelled out, and smashed her staff across Sabertooth's jaw with a force that sent him flying to the side.
/Careful, fair lady... you wish not to hurt the animal... only stop it, that is our way. Never forget that./ Azmaru's silvery voice shimmered in to focus.
/But don't let your guard down!/ Thanagar shouted to her as Sabertooth launched at her again...
Amanda blocked him, driving the staff into his gut, making him gasp for air... then she quickly slammed him across the head... but this time he didn't stop... but grabbed her across the neck.
"Nice try, frail... never thought you'd have it in ya." he brought one clawed finger up to her neck. "I guess I have to kill ya real slow..." Creed's smile disgusted her.
"Never, you filthy animal!" Amanda grimaced and ran her entire mind into his as a wedge, giving all she had... she broke it open, and Creed screamed.
Amanda gasped as Creed grabbed her by the shoulder with his other hand and drove all five claws into it. She fell to her knees still trying to knock him out telepathically... she was slowly losing consciousness, it had been so long.
"Can't... keep... this up... Frail..." Creed said, and grabbed at her shoulder harder.
"But I can, she is in you mind... I AM PART OF IT!" A telepathic version of Thanagar grabbed and flung Creed back away from Amanda. As the connection was broken, Thanagar faded away... but Creed knew when to skip out of a fight.
"Later, frail..." He said, and ran away.
Amanda could feel her mind drift into darkness... and called for the only person she knew would hear her now...
"Charles..."
Admiral