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.
Amanda was in pain. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know if anyone had heard her call. She was slowly losing consciousness. She needed help, and in a bad way. Right now, any help would be appreciated.
"You are a brave woman to have taken on Sabertooth. Either that, or very stupid." stated Magneto.
"You are not supposed to be here. You're not an X-men!" exclaimed Amanda.
"Thank God for small miracles. From your expression, I have this feeling that you know what is going on. It would be in my best interest to help you." Stated Magneto.
"Right now I could use any help I could get. You better realize right now that I know the X-men. I actually dated Charles, and... why did I just say that?" Amanda faltered.
"Probably because you are in a great deal of pain. I would be doing the same thing if I just got man-handle by Sabertooth." stated Eric.
Eric helped Amanda to a bench and checked her injuries. He determined that none were life threatening, but she was losing a lot of blood. He tore at his cape to make bandages to put pressure on the ruins. Amanda tried not to scream or cry from the pain.
"I'll give you some time before we move. You can tell me where I am and how you know Charles Xavier." stated Magneto.
"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. The story is long and confusing." stated Amanda.
Eric sat down beside Amanda and smiled, "I have the time. I'm actually interested in how you and Xavier met. You don't seem his type."
"Really. Do explain."
A.C.
It had been a long day for Leilee. First there was the early morning practice for the new Britney Spears video she was choreographing. Then she'd had to run to the studio. She was guest starring as Shadowcat in the new X-men show. It was a #1 hit.
::Note to self. Thank Amanda for helping me get the part.::
It was 10:30, and she wanted to go home and sleep, but she had to get to Sammi's and Jonas' house. She hadn't been able to make the wedding, but she had gotten them a gift. Something they would be able to use. Namely, Baby stuff.
She smiled softly at that thought. When she had gotten back, she had discovered that she was pregnant, but had miscarried 2 months later. She never told anyone. But that was then, and this is now.
As she drove towards Sammi's she felt a chill in the air. She started to turn up the heat when she heard a familiar voice shout out. She stopped the car in the middle of the street and turned around. Sitting in her back seat was Jamie Maddrox.
"Holy Crap!"
Jamie stared up at her. "Leilee?"
Leilee took a deep breath and sighed. "Hold on a sec." she said as she reached for her cell phone and dialed someone. "Hi, Cara? The Yous are here..."
Leilee
The glowing light subsides and Hope looks around to see where she is, still holding onto Athena. She finds herself in a house, right next to a warm fire. A tall figure in a dark cloak moves over and greets her.
"Hello Hope, I am Ymela. Here, let me take Athena, you look very tired, so why don't you sit down and rest for awhile."
Hope nods and lets Ymela take Athena. She didn't know why but she trusted this lady. Hope sits down in the comfortable chair, weary from all that happened, her eyes close and she drifts off to sleep.
Athena finds herself walking down a pathway in a beautiful garden, she admires the beauty and serenity of it.. Not too far off is a bridge that spans a clear stream, its babbling water creating a soft melody as it goes over the mossy rocks. Athena feels drawn to the bridge, and the garden on the other side more lovely than the one she is in. On the other side are people; she recognizes two of them being her grandmother and grandfather. They smile at her and beckon her to come across and join them.
Athena, feeling happy and without pain, takes a step onto the bridge... then she hears a voice.
"Athena, please stop!"
Athena stops and turns to look. There she sees Hope and another woman hurrying to catch up with her.
"Please don't go...." Hope asks, " I didn't get to say goodbye, and I don't want to say goodbye either. I know that it is your decision, but I don't want you to die. We never got a chance to be friends, and I want that chance."
Athena looks over at Hope and at the woman accompanying Hope, then she looks over at her grandparents beckoning to her. Her grandparents loved her and she always felt important to them. She takes another step onto the bridge.
Hope begins to cry, "Oh please, Athena, don't leave!"
The woman with Hope puts a hand on Hope's shoulder to comfort her, then moves over to Athena.
"You may want to reconsider about leaving. Not only will your death make others feel great sorrow, but there are two other factors that you do not know about." The silvery haired woman with silver eyes motions with her hand, and Athena sees two children appear beside her.
Athena looks at her and asks, "Who are these children... and for that matter, who are you?"
The lady smiles, her smile lighting up her lovely, gentle face.
"My name is Ymela, and these two beautiful children are yours and Bobby's."
"M-Mine and Bobby's??? I told Bobby that I was pregnant in my goodbye message.. but twins???"
Her voice trembles a bit and she goes to look at the children closely. Sure enough, she could see some of her own features, as well as Bobby's... especially their eyes. The children smile at her and then they throw their arms around her.
"Mommy... please don't go, we want to live and be cuddled in your arms..." they whisper into her ears.
Athena's eyes fill with tears as she holds her children close to her.
Athena looks up at Ymela. "But I thought that I was dead, so how can I go back?"
Ymela gently touches her shoulder. "This is what you would call the time for decision. The path leading to the bridge was just the journey. Once you cross that bridge, your time on Earth will end, as well as these children.. You are with child my dear, and these little ones are whom you are carrying within you. They wanted a chance to plead with you to not die."
Athena looks at them, then back at the bridge, then back to Ymela.
Hope moves over to her as well.
"I want you to stay... but I will abide by your decision, but I think that it won't be fair for you to go and not let me have a chance to be your friend. I remember you saying hello to me when I woke up from my injuries, I'm just sorry that I fell back into unconsciousness before I had the chance to go find you. I had strained myself when I poured my energies to give hope to you and the others.... I want to be able to repay you for your kindness."
"I didn't think that anyone even cared about me or that they would miss me. I just wanted to make certain that they didn't have to worry about the minions while they battled Sinister." replies Athena.
"Well Athena that is where you are wrong. You and your gentle soul and loving heart would be greatly missed." replies Ymela. "You are needed but I can not tell you exactly in what way.. besides the obvious, you will find out whom you really are."
Ymela smiles at the two children clinging to Athena for dear life and at Hope.
Athena looks once more at her family on the other side then at the loving group that is near her. She makes up her mind and says,
"All right, I choose to live. I don't want these two precious children to lose their chance to live and perhaps to change the world . Plus I don't want to make the others sad, at losing me" she smiles gently over at Hope.
Hope smiles as well as Ymela and the children . Athena gives them a hug.
Athena remembers her dream when she wakes up from her coma two weeks later, at first not knowing where she was. The doctors had mentioned that she had been brought to the emergency room after being found unconscious in the waiting room. The doctors were glad that she had woken up, they were concerned about her. She felt glad to be alive.
Dreamweaver
Ryan held her daughter's body closer to her. She didn't want to let her go and was near hysterics. She loved Victor deeply still, and the thought of him really being alive should have relieved her. In fact most would think she would be out looking for him. It's just the fact that the last memory Ryan had of the man she loved, the father of her child, was when he tried to kill her.
"Ryan, talk to me, what's wrong?" Jamar asked, concern echoing in his voice.
"Mommy started acting funny after she picked me up, Unca Jar Jar. Did I do something bad?" Kat asked of her surrogate uncle.
"No, of course not Scrappy. Just tell me what you said to Mommy, okay?"
"I told her that I saw a mean man when I was playing with Alara. He had eyes just like mine, Unca Jar Jar, but he growled at me."
Jamar suddenly realized what was wrong. Somehow, Sabretooth was back, and that meant trouble.
Ryan seemed to snap out of her daze, "Where's Amanda?"
Le Fae
Sammi looked at Rogue and then back to Wolverine. And telepathically sent, /Rogue, Help!/
Rogue caught on and grabbed Sammi into the other room. Sammi walked them to the den and telepathically called to Jonas. /Honey, you better use the door in the den. Dad's in the kitchen./
As soon as she said that, the sliding door opened to reveal Jonas. Rogue ran up to him and gave him a big hug. "I'm so happy for you both." Turning to look at Sammi.
"Thank you. But dad's a little miffed." Sammi said as Jonas came over and hugged her from behind.
"Don't worry about him. I'll set him straight." Rogue said with a smile. "OK. I want details."
Sammi looked at Jonas and smiled. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Go get the album. I want to talk to Rogue for a sec."
"I'll be right back." Jonas said as he headed for Sammi's studio.
"What's up? You look worried." Rogue asked.
Sammi sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her. "Well, let's see. First, don't scream. OK? Promise?"
"I promise, sugar. What is it?" Rogue asked putting a comforting arm around Sammi.
"Well, I'm pregnant." Sammi said and looked at Rogue.
"That's wonderful. What's the problem?" Rogue asked holding Sammi tighter.
"Jonas doesn't know, yet. I haven't told him because I'm scared I might lose this baby too." Sammi said, trying not to cry.
"What happened?" Rogue asked, pulling Sammi into a hug.
"Well, a little while after we got back, I found out I was pregnant, but two months later I lost the baby. Only Leilee knows about the first one. I ran into her after I started to show. She was with me when I had the miscarriage. I'm afraid that it's going to happen again." Sammi said and couldn't help it. She started crying.
After a few moments Jonas came in the room and found Rogue hugging Sammi and rocking her. He saw that Sammi was crying and rushed to her side.
"Honey?" He said as he kneeled next to them.
Sammi turned to him and fell into his arms crying. He held her and rocked her.
"You need to talk, I'm going to talk to Logan." Rogue said as she kissed them both on the heads and left.
Rogue stepped out of the study and was met by Logan. He looked like he was going to cry. That's when she knew that he heard. "Come on, Sugar. Let's talk." Rogue said as she led him to the back door and on to the fire escape.
After they sat down, she said. "You heard."
"Yep." Was all Logan said.
"She never told him. I know her, she wanted to spare him the pain." She said as she put her hand on his.
"I know. I just want her to be happy." Logan said.
"She is. Jonas makes her happy. And I know she makes him happy. There was a reason they found each other, once. And know they found each other again. They were meant to be together."
"I know. I trust her. I guess, its just, I'm a little upset that I didn't get to walk her down the aisle. Have you noticed that they all are older? We missed so much." Logan said looking straight ahead at the Bay bridge.
"I know. We just have to find away to deal with it. So what do you think, Grandpa?" Rogue said with a smile.
"I can't wait, Grandma." Logan said returning the smile.
Jonas was holding Sammi, but her crying had stopped. She was holding on to him for dear life. When she said, "I have to tell you what happened after we got back."
"Sweety, you already told me." Jonas said, confused. She already told him everything. /What is she talking about?/ He thought.
"I'm talking about something I couldn't bring myself to tell you before. I didn't want to hurt you. I love you too much to ever want to hurt you." She said pulling back to look him in the eyes.
He couldn't say anything, The sadness in her eyes had stopped him. He never saw her that sad before. "I love you too. No matter what." He said.
Sammi cleared her throat and said, "A little while after I got back, I started to get sick. I went to the doctors and he said that I was pregnant. I was so happy. I still had a part of you with me. I ran into Leilee a little while after I started to show. I was going to try and contact you but you weren't on the board and I never knew your address. So Leilee was helping me." She stopped as she took a deep breath and hugged him tighter.
"About two months later, I had a miscarriage. Leilee was with me. I never told anyone, not even Jamar, when him and Cara moved in." She stopped again as he kissed her. When he broke apart he said, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that without me. But why didn't you tell me?"
"It was a month to the day that I got your first email. When I found out it was you I was so happy. When I knew your memories were gone, I didn't know how to tell you. Then when you told me about your dream of me, I wanted to be with you and I couldn't bring myself to tell you. I'm telling you know because you need to know. Because I'm pregnant." She said and looked into his eyes.
jubilee_79
Cara, Bobby, Jubilee and Angelo had just pulled up outside Sammi's loft, when Cara's cell phone rang.
She pulled it out of her purse, and said, "Hello?"
"Hi, Cara? The Yous are here..." said the voice of Leilee on the other end of the line.
"The you's...you mean JAMIE?!! ALRIGHT!!!" Cara said excitedly into the phone. She heard Leilee and Jamie laughing on the other end of the line.
"Hey, Leilee, where are you?" asked Cara.
"We're on our way to Sammi's, we'll be there shortly."
"COOL! Tell big Bro that a big bear hug is waitin' for him, okay?"
"Sure thing...see ya in a few!" finished Leilee, and they hung up.
Bobby, Jubilee and Ange listened to this brief exchange with considerable amusement...they remembered that Cara was notorious for her bear hugs.
Cara grinned sheepishly as she felt the others laughter, then said, "Come on, you guys...help me carry the pizzas in. We'd better hurry too, because I can feel that Wolverine is hungry."
They all piled out of the car, grabbed the pizzas and ran into the building.
Amanda had just finished giving Magneto a summary of her meeting with Xavier, when suddenly, ~ZSSSSSAAAAAAPPPPPPCCRRRRRRRAAEEEEKKKKKK~ another portal opened up.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" screamed a somehow familiar voice from above, as yet another figure fell.
Magneto raised his magnetic shield and rushed upwards to catch the falling man. Magneto grinned as he set the young man upon the ground.
The young man grinned up at Magneto, and said, "Hey, thanks Pop."
Magneto raised an eyebrow, "What did I say about calling me 'Pop'..."
"Uh, how 'bout Dad?"
Magneto raised his eyebrow again, and looked sternly at the young man.
"Yes, Father..." the young man replied rather sheepishly, then grinned.
Magneto laughed, then put his arm around the man's shoulder. He turned him around to face Amanda, that's when she saw the man's glowing red eyes, and noticed how familiar he looked.
"Amanda," Magneto began to say, "I would like you to meet my son...Er-"
"ARAC!!!" a rather shocked Amanda said in a very shrill voice.
The young man winced...he hadn't been called that in a while.
"Yeah, Amanda, it's me...only I don't call myself Arac anymore. I call myself after my new father, Eric Magnus Lensherr, better known to you as Magneto. My name is now Eric II." said Eric jr.
"Father? How? When...What happened?" asked the rather confused Amanda.
There was something different about the young man. Amanda thought back to the last time she had seen Arac, now known as Eric jr. She could remember the insane anger and suicidal determination behind that hate-filled face, just before he blew up the island. But for some reason, those torturous emotions were no longer plaguing him... he seemed...sane, and happier somehow.
Eric jr thought for a moment before speaking.
"When I blew up the island, I didn't care if I went with it...life had no meaning, no value to me. But, for some reason, I didn't die. I still don't know what happened, but I woke up in the Blackbird, and was flying in some unknown direction. I don't know how long I had been there, or why the aircraft didn't crash while I was unconscious, but for once in my life I felt grateful to be alive. I decided to stay on the course which had been set for me, and to make a long story short, the course led me straight to Magneto. He took me in, and over this past year he has raised me as his son. I still had a lot of anger and issues to deal with, but he helped come to terms with the past, and gave me a reason to live and change for the better. I am very grateful to him." Eric jr finished.
Magneto looked proudly down at his son. When he had first found him, the boy had reminded him of himself. Hurt by the world and angry, he was determined to end the hate and pain any way he possibly could. Even if it meant destroying the world and everything in it.
Magneto had felt that way himself, but over the years the fire burned less and less hotly, and Magneto had finally come to terms with his own grief and anger. He still did not fully believe in Xavier's dream...but he wasn't the murderous villain he once was. Magneto had missed the chance to watch his son Quicksilver and daughter Wanda grow up... he felt that he had another chance at being a father with this boy. So, he took on the role of Father, Mentor and Teacher. It had been a tedious, long process, but it was fruitful. The boy had finally found peace.
Magneto looked at Amanda, she looked like she was about to faint from the blood loss...he decided the best thing to do was to get her to her friends as quickly as possible. Magneto raised his magnetic shield around himself, Amanda and Eric jr, and with Amanda's guidance, flew them in the direction of Sammi's loft.
Rainfall
Ryan scrambled to her feet and ran to the front door. She didn't even realize it at the time, but Amanda had gone out looking for Sabretooth.
"Ryan, where are you going?" Cara asked as Ryan pushed past her.
Jamar was right behind her and looked at Cara, "Tooth is back and he's not happy. Ryan thinks Amanda went after him."
"What!? He'll kill her!" Cara exclaimed. Cara ran after Ryan.
All that ran through Ryan's mind at the time is that she would never forgive herself if something happened to Amanda. It was her fault that Amanda went after him alone. If she hadn't been so dazed she would have told her not to go or to get someone to go with her. Ryan threw open the door and ran outside; she looked along the street for any sign of Amanda.
That's when Ryan's heart stopped. She saw Amanda, Magneto and ARAC heading towards her. Ryan was running so fast that when she saw Arac, her body kept moving but her feet didn't. Ryan promptly fell on her butt. She sat on the sidewalk staring wide eyed with terror at the sight before her.
Cara came out of the house right after Ryan did. At first she didn't notice Amanda or the others. In fact, all she saw was Ryan on her butt.
"What happened?" Cara asked concerned.
But Ryan didn't answer her. Cara followed the direction of Ryan's stare and that's when she saw it. Her worst nightmares come true. She still had nightmares about her evil twin, as some would put it. She would wake up in cold sweats at night because of them. Cara gasped in shock, and then fainted for the first time in her life.
Le Fae
Just then, Sammi and Jonas both sensed a strange presence in the air. Jonas and Sammi ran over to the windows, just in time to see three figures flying through the air, headed directly for the Loft.
Sammi, with her enhanced vision, was the first to recognize Amanda, who appeared to be unconscious. Then she recognized Magneto, and...
"ARAC!!!" Sammi shouted.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
"What? What did you just say?" asked a worried Maria.
"It's Arac, and Magneto...they've got Amanda!" Sammi exclaimed.
Jamar shuddered. /Arac is back...what is Cara going to do? She still has nightmares about that day. She wakes up screaming and crying, because of him. He's bad news./ he thought to himself.
Jamar narrowed his eyes in anger...Arac had tried to kill Cara before... if he tried again, there would be no stopping Jamar. Cara was his wife, his love, his friend. He'd do anything to protect her. He'd promised himself that, a long time ago.
Rainfall
Jamar came right out behind Cara, just as she fainted away. She landed softly as a tk hold brought her down as if she were a feather.
Anger boiled off Jamar in waves of barely contained fire.
"What've you done to Amanda?"
Energy crackles around Jamar. Ryan looks on in awe as Jamar turns toward her his eyes rippling changing from color to color.
**Ryan, take Cara and get inside.**
"What are you gonna do?" She asks.
Jamar turns, gracing her with a cold and malicious gaze and replies, "You don't wanna know!"
The hair on the back of Wolverine's neck stands on end making him sheathe and unsheathe his claws. Rogue puts her hand on his shoudler.
"What's wrong, Shugah?"
"I don't know, that's what's bothering me."
"Something's not right." It's like there's psionic static raging around her. Gambit sits looking at nothing, his eyes picking up shifts in temperature. Iceman sits, visibly troubled by the changes. Ryan comes running in supporting an unconscious Cara. Wolverine and the others rush over to help her. Before they can ask what's going on, the sense that something's wrong is confirmed as their senses all scream "OH SH*T!!!"
A shockwave strikes the building.
"**I SUGGEST YOU AND YOUR CHRONIE BACK AWAY FROM AMANDA AND LEAVE NOW!!!**" All thoughts of explaining the situation leave as Magneto is presented with a threat, and an ultimatum.
"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE ME, BOY?" Magneto says as he begins to rise in his trademark magnetic bubble.
Jamar only smiles as his eyes flash, and Magneto drops to the ground. A look of confusion crosses Magneto's face as he realizes that Jamar has just negated his magnetic powers by synching with him and powering down.
"Now that you've quieted down, send the boy over and we'll see if he's learned anything."
Eric rushes over, only to pass through Jamar and catch a sidekick to his head. Jamar turns, becoming all blades as Eric whirls, charging the street.
"I hope that got the cocky bastard."
"Sorry to disappoint you!" Jamar says as he flies outta a portal, and catches Eric across the side with his claws.
The others rush to the windows to witness World War III. The strange thing is that none of the people on the sidewalk or driving by have seen a thing. Sammi begins to ask, when she catches a sense from her brother.
/Don't worry sis', crazy doesn't mean stupid./
Sammi just burst out laughing. They all turn to regard her with an expression of "what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you".
"Don't worry guys, Jamar thinks he know's what he's doing."
"He t'inks he know what he doin'. It look ta Gambit like the boy gonna rip someone a new one."
A tired voice rings in their heads. **No one's ripping anybody a new anything.**
/Jedi! Stand down!/
/Okay, but I still don't trust them./
Eric begins to toss a charged rock, only to find it stopped glowing halfway through it's arc and burns up on Jamar's heat shield. In a stern voice Jamar says, "Let's go in, the others are waiting." not even sparing the two villians, or ex-villians, a glance, he picks up Amanda and enters the house.
Chaos