A/N: This one is a little longer than the past few, but I really like this chapter. It should answer a few of your questions. As for exactly when you're going to see the pairings in the summary begin to materialize, you'll just have to wait. It's all coming, but don't get impatient as it may take some time. I'm trying to build up the story, not the romances. Ultimately, this fic is not about romance and pairings. It is about how the X-Men react to the Anti-Mutant Act and what happens as a result of the act. I can promise you one thing, though. Scott/Jean/Logan will be a very important aspect of this fic. Just not quite yet. Romy fans, keep waiting. I'm gonna take that relationship kinda slow, but I promise that you will see it develop and blossom.

Once again, if you're interested in any of the OCs appearing here, email me with your intentions for the character and I'll probably let you have them.

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The sun beat down hard on Guantanamo Bay. There was one battleship docked in the harbor and the guards on land were all trying to stay inside the few air-conditioned buildings as much as possible. The mutant inhabitants of the base were scattered in small groups around the grounds. Some were working on building new Sentinels. Some were resting in preparation of their work times scheduled for the afternoon. Two groups were outside the hospital waiting for their first injection of the day. One of these consisted of 7 women.

"So how long you think we'll be here?" asked Hawk quietly to her fellow prisoner roommates.

"I don't know," said Voltage, "but I hope we get out soon. I don't know how long I can take living here!"

"Me neither!" said Waverunner. "But how are we gonna get out? Escape is pretty well impossible and who's dumb enough to break us out?"

"Escape would be entirely possible if they didn't suppress our powers with these stupid injections!" said Voltage. "I don't know what that stuff is that they put in us twice a day, but I know what it does and I say that if you wanna break out, then you gotta destroy that stuff!"

Carol began immediately studying the ground at this. Nobody there except for Jean and Storm knew that her father had invented the chemical.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone comes to break us out," said Jean.

"What are you talking about?!" said Waverunner more loudly than she had meant to. She glanced around to make sure she hadn't aroused any attention, then said more softly, "who's gonna risk their necks to come after us?"

"My friends! That's who!" said Jean. "I'd bet money that they'll come for us eventually! It's why the X-Men exist!"

"C'mon!" said Voltage. "Look, Marvel Girl, no offense, but you're precious X-Men that you're always telling us about haven't done anything so far and we've been here a whole week! Why can't you face the facts? They're not coming!"

"Storm, can you help me out here?" pleaded Jean.

Storm looked around at the group. She had become a leader to these girls over the last week and they always looked to her for the last word on anything.

"I have faith in the X-Men if they know where we are. However, it is entirely possible that the government has not released our location. If that's the case, then there is no way for the X-Men to come."

"Exactly!" said Voltage. "And why would they release our location? It doesn't make sense for them to tell where we are 'cause there are still so many mutants out there. They're afraid that someone will try to help us!

"I disagree," said Gaia calmly. "The people will want to know where we are being held. It seems to work out that the American people always want to know everything that the government doesn't want them to know."

The nurse emerged from the hospital and called for the girls from one of the other bunkers to come inside. The group that was talking beneath a tree 20 yards away slowly stood and marched into the building.

The girls now sat in silence as they waited for the nurse to come back out for them. Soon, they saw a group of people coming towards them.

"Hey Marvel Girl! Here comes that boy you keep talking to!" giggled Hawk.

Jean rolled her eyes and sighed. Hawk was convinced that she liked Remy. "Hawk, I've told you that I already have a boyfriend and even if I didn't…ugh, no way! He's nice and all but he isn't my type."

Hawk just giggled as Remy and his two friends walked over to the girls.

"Hey, chere. How're you ladies doin' today?"

"Pretty good Remy, and you?" Jean heard the unmistakable sound of Hawk holding back laughter.

"We're okay," said Remy's friend Ryan. "A little anxious though. Ready to get out of here!"

"We were just saying the same thing!" said Voltage.

"Ssso, are you ladiesss ready for your next round of drugsss?" asked Viper, another of Remy's friends.

"You mean the injections? No, but there's nothing I can do about it!" said Waverunner in disgust.

"Have you boys figured out how to escape yet?" asked Jean, looking at Remy.

"Nah, not yet. We're close though. Ya wanna come wid us, chere?"

"No thanks, I'd rather not get killed by the guards."

"Whatever."

The hospital door opened and the nurse emerged carrying a clipboard.

"C'mon girls! Your turn!"

*****

The Blackbird roared through the sky like it would never fly again. Logan was pushing the jet to the extent of its power and the X-Men could feel it vibrating much more than normal. They had discovered Jean and Storm's location the day before and left this morning to rescue them.

"Professor, how long will it be until we get there?"

"I don't know, Scott. It shouldn't be long though. In fact, we should see land in just a few minutes." Professor Xavier turned around to look at his team. The X-Men were strapped in behind him, all in full uniform.

Scott was focused on the front of the jet. He was staring out the window looking for a sign of land.

Kurt sat beside him, watching the ocean through the window.

Kitty and Rogue sat across the aisle from the two boys. Like Nightcrawler, Kitty was taking in the ocean through the window.

Rogue sat with her arms folded and her eyes shut as she prepared for the coming fight.

From the pilot's seat, Logan grunted.

"I see land."

*****

Jean sat down as the nurse grabbed Hawk's arm and led her to the examination table. Jean was beginning to feel her powers coming back, but she knew there was another 15 minutes before she would be able to use them and by then she would have had another injection.

She looked at the other girls and could see that they felt their powers reemerging also. Gaia and Storm had their eyes closed and were making sure that they had control over their powers. Both women were worried that when their powers returned they would have trouble regaining control over them.

Voltage and Waverunner sat and tried to make their powers manifest so they could escape. Both knew it was a wasted effort.

Cloak and Miss Marvel, as Carol now preferred to be called, sat with their eyes closed, but for different reasons than Storm and Gaia. Cloak was praying that they would all be okay. Miss Marvel was thinking about what Voltage had said earlier. The only reason they were all still on this island was because of her father and his creation. She was beginning to feel a personal responsibility for the captivity of everyone here.

A tear appeared on Hawk's cheek as the nurse injected the chemical into her arm. Then the nurse turned to face the line of girls on the wall.

"Okay, next!"

Cloak began to step forward, but stopped when she heard a strange sound, almost like an explosion.

"What was that?" she asked turning around.

"Probably just a mishap in the work area. Now get on the table. We don't have all day!" said the nurse.

Cloak nodded her head and sat down on the table. The nurse picked up her syringe and stepped towards her.

*****

The soldiers watched as the huge black jet landed vertically just outside the wall of the base. They all turned to each other in astonishment. They had no idea who was inside of the jet, but they knew that jets shouldn't be able to land like helicopters! They raised their guns as the stairs lowered from the body of the jet.

They waited for something to emerge from the craft.

"By orders of the United States Army, come out of there!" yelled one ranking official.

A red beam fired from the fuselage of the jet and blew a gaping hole in the wall of the base. Soldiers dove for cover as debris flew everywhere.

They heard a loud growl as Wolverine leapt out of the jet and charged them with his claws out. He quickly took down every soldier in the area, then turned around and signaled for the X-Men to follow him. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Shadowcat ran down the steps and through the wall.

Once inside, the X-Men took to the plan they had put together on the way over. Wolverine and Shadowcat paired off and ran towards a cluster of buildings to the left. Cyclops and Rogue got together and ran in the opposite direction towards what looked like a construction area with a huge pit in the middle. Nightcrawler ported around to each of the guard towers one by one to prevent the soldiers there from firing on the X-Men. The Professor remained in the jet and waited for everyone to return.

Wolverine slaughtered every soldier that got in his way as he and Shadowcat ran to the cover of the buildings ahead. As they got closer, they realized that they were running towards a group of cabins. Bullets zipped into the dirt in front of their feet as they ran. Wolverine wrapped his arms around the young girl beside him and pulled her between two of the cabins.

"See who's in there!"

Shadowcat nodded and stuck her head through the wall they were leaning against. She looked around quickly, but the cabin was empty. She pulled back into the alley and stuck her head through the wall of the other cabin. The girls in the cabin shrieked when the girl's head emerged in their room. Shadowcat walked through the wall and tried to calm them down.

"It's okay! I'm, like, here to help you! We're gonna get you outta here!"

The girls calmed down as they all looked at each other to decide what to do. Finally, the girl closest to Shadowcat spoke up.

"The door's locked."

"Like, totally not a problem!"

Shadowcat phased through the door and phased the padlock out of place. She turned around and pushed the door open, swinging the still locked padlock around her fingers.

"C'mon! Let's go!"

She led the group of girls around the cabin and back to Wolverine.

"Good work, half-pint. Now let's get the next one!"

They waited until nobody was around, then ran to the next cabin where Wolverine jumped through the locked door.

"C'mon bubs! Everybody out!"

The cabin's occupants spilled through the remains of the door where they met Shadowcat and the rescued girls.

Wolverine led them to a secluded corner, then turned to gather some information.

"Who's got a good attack power here? Any of ya shoot lasers or have superstrength or anything that might be useful?"

The newly freed mutants looked around at each other in silence before one boy asserted himself as their leader and spoke up.

"They've got some sort of injection that keeps our powers at bay."

Wolverine sighed. This would be a tougher fight than he thought. "Okay then, so no one here on this whole base can use their powers?"

"No," said the boy.

"Stay here then!" said Wolverine as he took off in search of more prisoners.

"Hey! Like, wait up!" shouted Shadowcat as she chased after him.

*****

BAMF!

"Hi there!"

The stunned guard turned around to find a blue devil perched on the wall of his sentry tower! He jumped when he realized that this creature had just tapped his shoulder with its tail! He raised his gun, but Nightcrawler pulled it away with his tail and dropped it to the ground.

"Careful! You'll put your eye out!"

Nightcrawler spun around quickly, landing a kick to the guard's head that left him unconscious.

"This is zo eazy!"

BAMF!

*****

A red beam fired into the oncoming group of soldiers and knocked them to the ground. Cyclops and Rogue ran ahead and into what was definitely a construction area. When they got to the edge of the large pit, they stopped in shock and stared down.

"Sentinels?!" cried Rogue. "They're makin' Sentinels!"

"Looks that way," said Cyclops slowly. "And they're making mutants build them! Let's go!"

He dropped down the dirt embankment and slid to the bottom. Rogue landed soon after him and ran towards a group of working mutants. Cyclops fired a few blasts at any soldiers that dared to attack her. Rogue ran up to the group of mutants and helped them out of the hole they had been digging. They ran back towards Cyclops as a red beam fired over their heads and hit a platform behind them where two soldiers had been standing. The platform collapsed and fell 50 yards to the bottom of the pit, landing on a work area that had been used to weld steel. The impact caused the welding tools to start and ignite a can of gasoline that had been laying nearby. A deafening boom sounded as a cloud of dark flames roared into the sky.

Rogue felt the heat from the flames wash over her as she turned around. "Ah think we just blew our cover," she said cynically.

The men around Rogue all laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so! I take it you two are on our side?" said one of the mutants as he followed Rogue to where Cyclops was standing.

"Yeah, we are! Are y'all the only ones here?"

"Yeah. Everyone else is in the cabin area."

By this time, they had arrived next to Cyclops.

"Then let's go get them!" said Cyclops.

*****

Cloak sat down on the table and rolled up her sleeve for the nurse to inject the chemical into her. The nurse picked up a new syringe and turned towards Cloak. Just as she placed the syringe against Cloak's skin, however, Wolverine leapt through the doors and landed inside the building with Shadowcat running up beside him!

"Wolverine!" cried Jean and Storm together.

"Jean! Storm!" said Wolverine in surprise. He hadn't expected to find them in here.

A cry of pain came from Cloak as the nurse stabbed the syringe into her and quickly made the injection before running out the back door of the building. Wolverine started to chase after her, but was stopped by Jean's hand on his arm.

"She's harmless. How did you find us?"

"Tell ya later, Red. Fer now, we gotta get outta here!"

He led the girls out of the hospital where they were met by a crowd of rescued mutants including Remy and his friends. Clouds began to block out the sun and the wind picked up as they stepped outside. Then, a downpour of rain fell from the sky. Wolverine turned to look back at Storm, whose eyes were now glowing completely white.

"Looks like she got her powers back," mumbled Logan as lightning began to flash across the sky. It was then that he noticed the other girls beginning to clench their fists and trying to use their powers. Slowly, Miss Marvel began to rise into the air. Voltage's eyes began to glow as electricity sparked around her. The trees began to shake and bend down to touch the ground as Gaia held her hands out. As the rain fell around her, Waverunner threw her hands forward and caused the rain to gather in pools in midair in front of her, then spiral around her body. Jean put a hand to her head and began rising into the air slowly. She then created a telekinetic bubble around her that was visibly keeping the rain from falling on her body. Wolverine and Shadowcat watched in amazement at the incredible display of power around them. Than an explosion behind them woke everyone from the daze they had gone into. They turned around and saw smoke coming from the ground right beside Remy. He pulled another card out of his pocket.

"I think it's time t'go."

"Right, bub. C'mon everyone! We're gettin' outta here!"

Everyone began to run towards the cabins, following Shadowcat. Wolverine grabbed Jean's shoulder as she took a step forward and walked beside her.

"By the way, Happy Birthday."

*****

Cyclops and Rogue met up with Shadowcat and Wolverine in the middle of the cabin area. Both duos were leading large groups of mutants. Nightcrawler appeared in the middle of the gathering with a bamf.

Storm was telling Wolverine and Cyclops the best ways to get out of the base when jeeps full of soldiers drove up and blocked every exit from the area. The base commander jumped down and ordered all the mutants to surrender.

Gambit threw a card into one of the jeeps and it exploded ferociously, knocking everyone to the ground. Once the flames subsided, Ryan, Remy's friend, turned and nodded at Remy.

"Thanks for the way out, pal! See ya 'round!"

Ryan laughed as he used his power to cause time to slow down around himself and Viper. Remy watched in shock as the two blurry figures sped away from the scene, abandoning him in the prison camp.

Once the soldiers emerged from their frightened panic, they began firing on the mutants. Everyone scattered and ran for cover. Cyclops grabbed Jean and pulled her into an alley between two cabins. Storm, Shadowcat, and Wolverine dove into another alley as Remy, Rogue, and Miss Marvel slipped into the unlocked door of one cabin. Kurt bamfed to the top of one of the cabins where he wouldn't be seen.

Shadowcat was peeking over the hunk of debris from Gambit's explosion to see what was happening. She looked across the road and saw a soldier looking right at her and loading his rifle with some sort of dart. He aimed it at her head and fired. Shadowcat watched the dart fly towards her and allowed it to phase through her forehead. She heard Wolverine grunt behind her and realized that she had just allowed the dart to hit him instead! She turned around quickly to check on him.

"Wolverine! Are you okay?!"

"Ungh, I'm fine, Half-pint, but I'd appreciate a warnin' next time." Wolverine turned around to see what had hit him.

Storm gasped when she saw the dart and realized what had just happened. "Wolverine, I'm afraid I don't have good news for you. That dart must have been filled with the same chemical that they have been using to suppress our powers. Fortunately, it looks like the dart only held about half of the amount they normally gave us. If I were to guess, I'd say that your powers will be gone for about 6 hours!"

Wolverine grunted at Storm as this sunk in. He pulled the dart out of his back and looked at it. He threw it to the ground and crawled out of the alley. Storm and Shadowcat watched with baited breath as he dove between pieces of debris and made his way over to the soldier that had shot him. He jumped over the soldier's barricade of debris and knocked the gun out of his hands. He punched the soldier in the jaw, then picked him up and punched him again. Warm streams of red blood gushed from his hand as his claws extended.

"There's nothing mutant about these, bub!"

Wolverine's blood mixed with the soldier's as Wolverine disemboweled him on the spot. Finally, Wolverine dropped the bloody carcass from his grip and continued on to the next unsuspecting soldier.

*****

Rogue listened to the gunfire from inside the cabin that she, Remy, and Miss Marvel had ducked into.

"So we meet again, chere," said Remy as he sat down next to Rogue.

Rogue blushed under her make-up and looked back at Remy. "Looks that way. What are you doing here?"

Before the two could say anymore though, they were interrupted by mumbling coming from Miss Marvel.

Rogue turned to the girl with concern. "What's wrong?"

Miss Marvel just sat against the far wall and muttered under her breath. Rogue managed to pick up the words "Daddy," "chemical," and "destroy" before Miss Marvel stood up, punched through the back wall of the cabin, and flew off.

"What was that about?" asked Rogue, turning to Remy.

"From the sound of it, I'd say she's goin' t'destroy the chemical dey used to hold back our powers," said Remy.

"What do you mean?" asked Rogue.

"Didn't ya hear? Dey got a chemical that suppresses mutant powers an' makes ya human for a while."

Rogue stared after Miss Marvel as she flew off across the base. She suddenly began chasing after the young mutant as fast as she could. Remy tried to go with her, but stopped when he heard a female voice call for help.

Rogue followed Miss Marvel until she stopped at a small building in the center of the base, pulled the door out of the doorway, and went inside. Rogue ran through the open door and found Miss Marvel overturning tables with all sorts of containers and vials.

"Hey! What do ya think you're doing?" yelled Rogue

"What I should have done a week ago!" yelled Miss Marvel in a rage as she smashed a table to the ground.

Rogue pulled off one glove as she tried to calm the girl down.

"Please, stop it! That chemical that you're destroying. It could be a blessing to some of us!"

Miss Marvel stopped and turned back to look at Rogue.

"This stuff is a weapon that my Dad made to kill mutants. It's no blessing!"

Rogue took a step forward.

"It is to me."

Miss Marvel looked at Rogue and frowned.

"Everyone wants to be normal, but this isn't the way to do it, sugar! My Dad invented this stuff. It's my duty to destroy it!" With that, Miss Marvel went back to throwing furniture and chemicals across the room with such force that the small building started to creak.

Rogue grabbed Miss Marvel's arm with her bare hand.

"Then I'll stop you myself!"

Miss Marvel screamed as power rushed out of her body. She tried to fly away, but hit the ceiling of the small building and couldn't break through due to her quickly diminishing strength. She fell back to the ground and tried to push Rogue away with all the energy she had left. Rogue let go, but the push from the incredibly strong Miss Marvel threw her into the wall. This last blow was all the structure could take and the ceiling began to cave in on the two girls. Miss Marvel groaned as a piece of wood hit her head, knocking her across the room and leaving her unconscious. Rogue tried to help her but the ceiling finally gave way and the whole building collapsed on top of her, knocking her unconscious as well. Rogue's body went limp and fell to the ground. Her bare hand landed on Miss Marvel's forehead.

*****

Cyclops watched as a severely bleeding Wolverine made his way to each of the soldiers one by one. Not long after Wolverine's initial attack, Nightcrawler had teleported into the middle of the army and begun fighting along with Wolverine. Jean had explained to Cyclops what must have happened when he couldn't figure out why Wolverine's wounds weren't healing. Cyclops used his blasts to cover Wolverine and Nightcralwer's backs while they fought.

Bolts of electricity kept flying around the street that had become a battleground. Some of these blasts came from Voltage. Others were from Storm.

Waverunner had tried to escape in the confusion after Gambit's explosion. Unfortunately, a soldier had found her and put his gun in her face. She surrendered and was currently sitting on the ground as the soldier had ordered. When the soldier went to help a friend of his, the girl cried for help.

The soldier came running back to her quickly and almost shot her, but decided against it. Just as he lowered his rifle, a small explosion came seemingly from his own body! When the smoke cleared, the soldier's legs lay on the ground and the rest of him was scattered around the area. Gambit was running up to Waverunner from behind where the soldier had been.

"Looks like ya got yerself in a spot o' trouble there, chere," he said as he untied her hands.

Waverunner laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. I'm good now though. Thanks."

"Don' mention it."

"Hey, can you help me get to the harbor? I think I can help out if I can get out there."

Gambit considered this for a moment. "Sure thing, chere. Let's go!"

The two raced off towards the waterfront.

*****

Wolverine let out a primal yell of pain and rage as he viciously attacked yet another soldier. He smiled to himself as he dropped the dead body. He could do this even without mutant powers! Then it returned. While he fought, he was only somewhat aware of the pain in his hands. The struggle to live overwhelmed the pain during these moments. However, each time he killed a soldier and got a chance to breathe, he was reminded of the immense pain that was shooting up his arms. He had never felt pain like this. It was almost unbearable and it only got worse as time went on. On top of that, he was losing a lot of blood. He watched the red liquid foam up as it pooled on the ground with the blood of the soldiers. He retracted his claws and looked at the three holes on the back of each hand. Ordinarily, they would immediately close when he retracted his claws, but not now. He stared at the holes until he passed out.

*****

"Wolverine's down!" said Cyclops as he stood up and began to charge towards the remaining soldiers. Jean stayed behind him and used her powers to protect him from the bullets and darts that were being fired at him. Nightcrawler teleported Wolverine's unconscious body away from the fight. Storm caused the wind to pick up and knock the guns out of the hands of some of the soldiers. Cyclops blasted away at the few soldiers left in the area until they were either scared off or blown away by the blasts.

*****

"There's the water, chere!" yelled Gambit over the noise of the explosions. He threw another two cards at the oncoming soldiers.

"Thanks, Remy! Now get out of here!" said Waverunner.

She took off towards the waterway. Storm's winds were causing the harbor to be unusually rough. Waverunner ran to the edge of the water and then continued on running over the surface of the water! She stopped in the middle of the harbor and turned around to face the base. She lifted her hands into the air and two huge pillars of water rose out of the harbor. She thrust her hands forward and the pillars collapsed on the battleship, snapping it in two.

Waverunner then turned her attention to shore. She sent wave after pounding wave towards the beach. Finally, she created a tsunami and directed it towards the construction area. The gigantic wave crashed against the metal Sentinel frames and crushed them under the weight of the tide. The construction pit filled with water as she emptied the harbor onto it. Wave after wave struck it with such force that when she finished, the dirt embankment was nothing more than a small hill.

*****

Gambit walked calmly into the administration building. He stepped up to the front desk and looked down. Cowering under the desk was the soldier that had checked Gambit and Jean in 4 days earlier. The soldier whimpered when he saw Gambit above him.

"Please don't hurt me!" he screamed.

Gambit sneered at the man, then walked around the desk and disappeared into the back of the room. When he reemerged, he was wearing the clothes that he had originally arrived in. Black spandex framed his face and covered his hands, leaving only his thumbs and index and pinkie fingers free. Metal plates lined his arms and legs and a dark pink breastplate covered his chest. Over all this, he was wearing his long brown trench coat. He smiled at the cowardly soldier who was still hiding under the desk.

"I told ya I'd be takin' back mah things, mon frere."

The soldier only whimpered in response as Gambit opened the front door. He looked back and tossed a card over the front desk, then walked outside and shut the door behind him.

The force of the explosion blew his hair around wildly as he walked away.

*****

"Has anyone seen Rogue?" asked Nightcrawler.

The battle was over and now they were just trying to find everyone. Most of the survivors were helping to round up the dead bodies from the street. Most of these bodies were mutants who had been killed by the soldiers when they first fired into the group. Others were soldiers who had been killed in the fighting. Storm and another of the prisoners who happened to be a doctor were caring for the injured in an open field. They paid special attention to Wolverine, who had lost enough blood that he faced a very real possibility of death. He was still unconscious, but his wounds had been wrapped up and the bleeding had finally stopped. Cyclops looked up when he heard Kurt's question.

"No, not since the army attacked us."

"Yeah, me neither! You don't think she, like, y'know…?" asked Kitty nervously. Flashbacks of Evan's face danced through her mind.

"No, she's alive," said Jean. "I can pick up her brain waves, but she's hurt. She's close, but I can't pinpoint…"

"Don't worry, I think I know where she is," said Remy as he walked up from behind Jean. "I just can't remember where dat building was. Hey chere, where'd dey keep de shots?"

Jean was taken aback as she tried to remember.

"They were in a small building somewhere over there, weren't they?" said Jean as she pointed to the west.

Remy looked that direction and tried to remember. "Yeah, dat's it. Dat's where she is."

"How do you know?" asked Scott.

"I was wid her when she left to go over dere. Now follow me."

Scott, Jean, and Kurt began following Remy across a field. Kurt leaned over to Scott as they walked and whispered to him.

"Can we trust thiz guy? I mean, doesn't he work for Magneto?"

Jean answered for Scott. "He used to, but not anymore. Magneto betrayed him."

Kurt nodded his understanding as they arrived at a pile of rubble.

"Uh, dis is de spot, isn't it chere?"

"Yeah, this is where they kept the injections. Why would rogue come here though?"

"Cause dis is where your pretty little friend came. Miss Marvel or somethin'."

Jean took this in silently. Miss Marvel must have come here to destroy the chemicals out of some sense of responsibility.

"Well, it doesn't look like there's anyone here now," said Scott.

"Wait!" cried Jean. "Scott, she's under there! I can sense her brain waves. She's under all that rubble!"

"Vhat!" cried Kurt.

He dove into the pile and began pulling bricks and wood beams out and throwing them across the field. Remy and Scott soon hit their knees and began helping Kurt. Jean used telekinesis to pull away the heavier objects.

"I see her!" yelled Remy as he pulled a board away and opened up a hole that looked down at Rogue's face.

Kurt leaned over and looked down at his friend. "That's strange! She looks…different."

"Well, she did have a building fall on top of her," said Jean.

"No, I mean she looks different overall! I mean it's definitely Rogue, but her face is just different. She almost looks younger."

They kept pulling the debris away faster to get her out. Kurt pulled a large plank of wood away and threw it to the side. When he looked back down, he screamed and jumped back in horror.

"What's wrong, Kurt?" asked Scott.

Kurt just stared blankly into the hole. Scott climbed around and looked down, which was followed by the same reaction Kurt had had.

There was another person down there. Their skin was wrinkled and their whole body seemed shriveled up. It was clearly a girl because she had long blonde hair that, strangely, looked normal; like it was still on a living body. But that couldn't be because this was clearly the body of someone who died years ago. Except for the hair, it looked like a mummy being pulled out of a pyramid!

"What's wrong?" asked Jean.

She stepped towards the pile and looked down into the hole. She screamed a high-pitched scream and fainted. Remy crawled over and looked down too.

"It's Miss Marvel!" he said in shock.

"What?!" cried Scott in amazement. "No way! It can't be! I mean, look at her. That body has been there for a long time and you said you saw Miss Marvel just four hours ago!"

"Yeah, but look at dat," said Remy calmly as he pointed to the shriveled face.

Scott and Kurt both gasped with realization as they noticed for the first time two fingers laying gently over the temple of the shriveled head. The arm they belonged to led up to Rogue's body.

Remy returned to digging in the rubble as Scott and Kurt sat on the ground in shock and disgust. Once he had a hole big enough for Rogue's body to fit through, Remy tried wake her up.

"Hey chere, wake up!" He got no response.

He stretched his arm through the hole and quickly tapped Rogue's forehead with his index finger. He felt a small amount of power drain from his body as Rogue's eyes flashed open.

"Huh?! Where am ah?" asked Rogue as she sat up slowly.

"You're okay, chere. Just grab my hand."

Rogue reached up with her gloved hand and Remy raised her out of the rubble. Rogue glanced around and noticed Kurt and Scott staring at her.

"What's wrong? You two look like ya seen a ghost or somethin'."

"In a way, we have," mumbled Scott under his breath.

He could now see what Kurt had meant. Rogue did look different. She looked younger in her face and her hair was a lighter shade of brown.

"Ya were trapped under all dat rubble," said Remy. "How do ya feel?"

"Fine. Thanks for rescuin' me, sugah."

*****

Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Remy, and Storm watched as the Blackbird landed in the field in front of them. The professor had been taking everyone back to the United States, but they obviously couldn't fit everyone on the Blackbird at once, so they had done it in shifts. All of the freed mutants that survived the day were now back in America and on their way home. Everyone that had been killed had been buried in a field. Now it was time to finally get out of Cuba. The X-men and Remy boarded the jet and strapped themselves in as the professor took off one last time. Wolverine was strapped in on a gurney in the Blackbird. He was still unconscious and probably wouldn't wake up until the effects of the dart wore off.

Rogue sat next to Remy and looked around her happily. They had waited until she wasn't around to remove Miss Marvel's body from the rubble and so far, they hadn't told her about what had happened.

"Well Remy," said Jean, "what are your plans now?"

Remy considered the question for a moment before answering.

"I dunno. I thought'd I'd go after Magneto, but my 'friends' abandoned me back dere. I guess I'll go after him myself."

"Alone?" asked the professor. "I don't suggest that."

"Den what do ya suggest?"

"Well," said the professor, "we have an empty room at the mansion if you're interested. You proved today that you have what it takes to be an X-man."

Remy thought this option over for a while as he studied the faces around him. He smiled.

"Sure. Sounds like a plan, mon ami."