All at once the entire room became animated again. Everyone, slightly uncomfortable with what they just saw of Kitty's future, did not look at her.

Looking around at all her friends and enemies and knowing what she knew now, she did the only thing she could think of. She focused on what was important.

"Lance, you cheated on me with Boom Boom! I'll kill you!" Then jumping up she gave chase as he, sensing his impending doom, ran for his life. Across the room, ignoring Remy who was sitting at her feet with his arm around her legs and his head on her lap (Scott fuming), Rogue cracked up.

"Ah knew that would happen! He's gonna git it!" Remy felt her deep belly laughs through her legs. Looking at their storytellers Remy saw Banshee grit his teeth as he looked in their direction. (This is for you Chico) There was some kind of connection between Rogue and this Sean Cassidy. She obviously felt it too, she wasn't looking at him, or better yet she was studiously avoiding looking at him. And when her and Sean's eyes met there was some kind of chemistry.

"Are we ready for the next part of our story?" Sean nodded to Tessa who waited until Kitty (who had pushed Lance in the pool and returned) and Lance (sopping wet) sat down.

John's Story

Once again, at the party, this time with St. John Allerdyce, fire extraordinaire, Acolyte, and secret boyfriend to Amara. Well, soon to be secret ex-boyfriend of Amara.

Since first coming into contact with Amara Aquilla, known to the outside world as Magma, there had been an animal attraction between them. They both like their food hot and their lifestyles hotter. What St. John didn't want to admit to her, though, is that he'd fallen hard for the exotic beauty. But alas, he won't have to.

"St. John, you're nice and all, but me and Roberto, we fit." Amara walked over and laid her hand on St. John's chest. "You're the bad boy, I need the good right now. 'Kay?" Without another word Amara walked away, never realizing that she was walking all over his heart in the process.

Angry and hurt, St. John did the only thing he felt he could… he caught something on fire. Flipping open his Zippo he created a ball of flame which rapidly grew bigger. By now everyone at the party had seen and was looking.

Now that he had everyone's attention, St. John did the most magnificent creation of his yet…throwing the ball at a table he created a figure of him mooning the party. Almost everyone cracked up 'cept Amara. She, in fire form, threw a magma ball at him that skimmed his forehead. Reaching up he felt his eyebrows were gone.

"Ah! Goddammit sheila! That was awesome and you hit me with fire! Crazy yank! I'm outta here!" Strutting off like a peacock, St. John grabbed some beers thinking that he'd find some other sheila to have fun with. Amara was going to be sorry she let him go, while any other girl will be happy.

Walking past Gambit who was sulking in the hallway, and Lance who had a guilty look on his face, St. John headed for the back door. There was a club opposite the hotel and it looked like fun. Rounding a corner, he stopped in the shadows at the sight of Rogue holding Kitty. All he could think in that moment was Ooooohhhh, lesbians!

"Hey, sheilas! Want some beer?" St. John called out and stepped into the light. Forgetting his eyebrows, he looked confused when they started to laugh.

"What happened to your eyebrows?" Kitty asked when she finally stopped laughing.

St. John smiled. "Amara didn't like my sense of humor. You catch one table on fire and everyone's upset." He laughed at himself as he handed them each a beer. They toasted themselves and were about to take a drink when the whole building shook.

"What the…" They all started running at the same time, hoping everything was all right. St. John hoped that nothing had happened to Amara. That would be terrible. They may have just broken up but he cared. Even if she was a bitch.

Racing through the doors, St. John stopped before a very large fire. And in the center was a lone figure. He couldn't make out the details, but the shape suggested a woman. Just around it he could see men in combat uniforms attacking the other mutants. Astonishingly the mutants were losing. St. John could see that several of the X Men had fallen; only the new recruits though. Amara and Iceman were still fighting but they were the only new recruits to do so. Scott and Jean were double teaming some of the commandos while Gambit and Colossus were taking the fire girl. Behind them Wanda, Pietro, and the Blob were planning how to take it down. In unison they turned and yelled a look out to Gambit.

Too late. Too busy fighting the mutant; he didn't notice a commando come up from behind him. He did notice the large knife shoved through his back and out his chest. He sank to the floor and stared incredulously at the silver tip. Next to St. John Rogue let out a mighty scream. Running to where Gambit lay fallen she slowly touched his face, tears running down hers. Gambit said something but St. John was too far away to hear. Nodding her head Rogue rose and began to charge the cards she had slipped from Gambit's pocket. Then running she too began to attack the mutant.

St. John turned and saw that the enemy was winning. Reaching for his lighter he created an inferno, burning hotter and brighter than anything on the earth. He would teach this chick what it means to play with fire. Silence from the good mutants was met with the high pitched wailing of the commandos as their flesh was burned from their bodies. However, the mutant in the fire remained immune. Concentrating as hard as he could, St. John focused on her. Urging the fire to be hotter, brighter, and more destructive, St. John tried to destroy whomever it was.

His efforts gave results. The mutant took flight and ran away. Happy that he had succeeded where others had failed, St. John turned off his power. But it had taken its toll. With blood running down from his nose and a severe headache behind his eyes, he let exhaustion rule and slowly sank to the floor.

His ears deaf and eyes blind, he just sat there waiting. For what he didn't know.

The Next Day

When St. John woke up he could hear someone somewhere crying. No, more than one someone. He could tell he was in an infirmary of some kind. His head was pounding but he had to find out what was going on. Shifting his feet over the side of the bed, he cautiously put his feet on the floor. Then sliding off he put his weight on them. Aside from a little burning it was fine. St. John always had to be careful with his power, simply because a lot of it was mental. There had been several times where after using his power too extensively had resulted in his being unable to use it for several days. But it had always come back.

St. John followed the crying until he found the source, which was the tall African mutant Storm. "Hey, love. What's all the wishy-washy about?"

"Pyro!" Ororo wiped her eyes. "Hank said you should stay in bed! And that's where you're going to be!"

Turning around and ignoring her obviously puffy face Storm walked Pyro back to his room. Across the hall he could see a girl laying in bed, she was the one who'd been crying as well. Looking closer he could see that it was Amara. But something was wrong; he couldn't feel her as he once would have.

Storm pushed him into bed and began to fuss around him. "Storm, what's wrong?"

"I guess you should be informed as well. Gambit, Sunspot, Berserker, Toad, and Havok are dead. They were killed in battle. Also Shadowcat, Avalanche, Wolverine, Beast, and Blob are all missing. We believe that they were grabbed by the military at the time of the attack. We don't know if the two were connected or not. The professor is sending you all to a safe haven as soon as everyone is able to go."

"Me, too? What about ole' Magneto?"

"We have been unable to contact him as yet. Now get some sleep."

"Wait! What about the Brotherhood? Are they goin'?" St. John asked (thinking of a certain daddy's girl what? He's free property now!)

"After the incident they returned home, but we are no longer in knowledge of where they are. We checked the house but they've packed up and skipped town." Storm turned and left. St. John heard her enter the room across from his.

St. John spent some time thinking. He played with his lighter while he did so but did not light it. The cool metal soothed him, and allowed him to finally sleep.

Three Days Later

St. John had a choice. He could go with the X Men or he could go his own way. Since he had been sixteen he had been at Magneto's beck and call, far longer than anyone truly knew. Magneto had trained him, taught him, and alternately hated and ignored him. Another thing no one really knew…Magneto hated mutants who didn't take the cause seriously. Which of course he never had.

Now, Magneto wasn't there, and St. John could go home. Australia, the outback, the place he hadn't been in years. He missed it. And now he could go home…and face protecting himself. He had never done that. Soon after his power manifested Magneto had showed up.

Or he could go with the X Men (or what was left). Muir Island. The one place in the world where a mutant was supposed to be safe.

Walking down to the air bay where the Blackbird was waiting, St. John continued to think. By the time he got there he had his answer.

"I'm not going."

All seven people in the cavernous room turned to look at him. " Are you sure, Mr. Allerdyce?" Professor X asked.

"Yeah, mate. Think I'll take a hop across the pond. Make my way home."

"Vhere is dat?" Nightcrawler asked from where he hung upside down on the underside of the Blackbird's wing.

St. John startled replied with a quizzical look. "Umm, Australia."

"Oh! I get eet now!" St. John rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'll be fine. I need any help, I know where to call." Picking up his one bag, St. John turned to leave.

"My. Allerdyce? Wait." Professor X said before wheeling over. "If you need any help use this." He hand St. John a communicator.

"Thanks, mate."

Six Months Later

Paris is beautiful, if you travel it the right way. St. John had never known the right way to travel. The group he was with was one of gypsies. They'd met on the barge to France and had invited St. John to join them. Unbeknownst to them, he was quietly stealing them blind. Or so he thought.

Just yesterday the leader's son, Petri, and informed St. John that his father wanted to speak to him. Unable to leave the busboy job he had taken at a small café off of the Rue Royale, St. John had delayed the meeting until tonight.

Knocking on the door of the wagon/home of the leader, St. John waited for a response. It came in the most unexpected way. The fist of Petri. Slamming into the ground a few feet away, St. John struggled to regain his eyesight. He squeezed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to help.

"John Allerdyce, you are on trail by the Romani. The charge is thievery!"

"That's St. John, mate!" St. John said as he got to his feet. His eyesight was coming back, but he was not liking what he saw. Completely surrounded by some of the strongest and meanest of the group. But in his favor, some were carrying torches.

"What do you plead?"

"Petri, this is a misunderstanding. I ain't stole nothin'."

"Liar!" A woman called from the back. "I saw you! Coming sneaking into my room! Looking for money!"

Identifying the voice, St. John replied. "I wasn't lookin' for money…I was lookin' for you sheila!"

The group tittered. The woman who had spoken was quite beautiful, and ungiving in her charms. It was only befit of the princess of the gypsy tribe.

"Enough!" An old voice yelled from in front of him. Stepping out of the wagon was none other than the leader, Alexi. "We took you into our tribe. Gave you food when you had none…shelter…protection. Why? Why do you betray us?"

Good question, St. John thought. Why did he do anything he did? He lied, stole, cheated. It was what he did. He never needed a reason before. It was always just done. Looking around him St. John thought for a moment that maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

"I needed the money! My sister in Australia is sick! She has…er…a disease! She has cancer of the lungs. The doctors say that without treatment she will die." St. John put his hands in his pocket and pinched his leg, hard. The results were genuine tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I'll give it all back. It's in my knapsack. Over there." St. John pointed.

"I don't see any harm. Give the money back and we'll forget all about it. We all make mistakes." With those words all the tension evaporated. The people were at ease once again, and joking about the mistakes others had made.

St. John walked over to where he had lain his knapsack, catching snippets of conversation.

"Remember when Morgana caught the theater we were performing at on fire…"

"I looked around, at the broken glass, and ran!"

Unfortunately for the crowd St. John did not stop at picking up his knapsack. He kept walking, slow and amiable, until a cry went up behind him and then he ran. He could hear echoes of feet pounding in the small back alley and could tell that they were catching up. Reaching for his lighter he knew he had to lose them. Creating a wall of fire he jumped a fence while they couldn't see and allowed it to fade. By the time it was completely gone he was hid and they were frightened.

Waiting until they had all left, he slowly stood up from behind the fence. At that moment he came face to face with most mutants' worst nightmare. A Sentinel.

As he again reached for his lighter, it swooped down from the sky and aimed a laser at him.

"Mutant signature identified. Destroy." It's creepy monotone voice said.

"Oh, no you don't mate!" But he never got the chance to react. Before he knew it a team of mutants dropped from the sky, all clad in varying costumes, but several he recognized.

"Rogue! Nightcrawler! Iceman! What are you doin' here?"

"Here to help sugah!" Rogue yelled as a tall blond man set her on the ground. 'Why don't you and Banshee get out of here?"

"I'm not leaving you to face this alone, Rogue!" The blond said in a heavy Scottish accent.

"No choice sugah! Get him out of here!" Rogue said back right before Nightcrawler teleported them to the roof of a building nearby. Within seconds both mutants were teleported large boulders over the robot, trying to distract it.

It worked. Within seconds the Sentinel had focused on them and left the way open for Banshee and St. John. Using his power of sonic waves, Cassidy began to fly and took St. John with him.

Soon they were flying over the rooftops of Paris. "Ya know, mate, this is a great view."

Laughing, Banshee answered him. "Aye, it is."

Still laughing they landed in a graveyard overlooking Paris. Within minutes the rest of the team had joined them.

"Man, we kicked that hunk of metal's ass!" Iceman shouted as he "de-iced" his body.

The others agreed. Rogue slipped into Banshee's arm for a quick hug and laughed when she saw the look of surprise on St. John's face. "What?"

"I've never seen you do that sheila!"

"Well, it's only fitting to hug my husband."

"Husband!?"

"Yep. Three weeks!"

Banshee brushed a kiss across Rogue's hairline. "And a babe soon too."

"You can touch?"

"No, but we've discovered ways of getting around that."

St. John shrugged. Strange that he'd thought she would grieve longer. Back in the day she and Gambit had been pretty hot and heavy. He'd thought that they would have ended up married or something.

"So, what do y'mates wan' to do now?"

"Well, we have to get back to Muir Island. You're welcome, of course, join us." Banshee said.

"Nah. I need to be movin' on. I'm hopin' one of these days I actually get to Australia. The way I been travelin' I doubt it."

"If ya want we can give ya a lift." Rogue said, pressing a button on her collar and revealing a large plane behind them.

"Well, if it ain't a bother."

"No, bother at all ol' friend. Ve are happy to be of help." Nightcrawler said, hooking an arm through St. John's. "Absolutely happy."

One Month Later

St. John leapt down from the fence he had been jumping and looked around. The commandos who had been following him chose tonight as the night they'd attack. He'd seen them lurking around the neighborhood, with their close cut hair and stiff stance they stood out in his laid back town. But he'd never thought they'd actually come for him. Usually those types just watched and reported about mutants.

St. John had awoke at five p.m. after spending last night partying in a new mutant club outside of town. Wondering what had woke him up St. John heard (barely) through his headache a pounding that was definitely not his headache. Getting up he walked over and jerked open the door. Just outside of his apartment St. John had noticed a package. Bending over he felt a rush of wind from behind and turned around. Losing his balance St. John fell just in time to miss getting hit with a dart.

St. John automatically reached for his lighter and watched as ten commandos quickly began to surround him. Flipping it open and lighting it St. John began to throw balls of fire at them. Not too big because he didn't want them to catch the building on fire, children lived here.

With the fire distracting them, St. John ran around and out the building. That's when the chase started. It had originally just been those ten, but now he could hear a whirling bird over head.

St. John found a torn up sweatshirt in a dumpster. It may smell a little but it would cover his distinctive red hair. Walking out of the alley, St. John could see that the people of the neighborhood were out in force trying to find out what was going on. Walking swiftly he managed to get by the bulk of the people without getting noticed. But when he passed another alley a hand reached out and pulled him in. Fighting and struggling to break away from the steely grip, St. John felt a syringe stab into his neck and someone push in the plunger. Then the world went dark.

One year later

John had always assumed that life had a lighter side, no matter what. Unfortunately that didn't apply to everything. Take his life now? He's been wandering in this damn forest for hours. The last person he had seen was a guard, and he'd been dead. That was three hours ago. The body had had three long gashes in it and John was smart enough to worry. Alone in a forest, nighttime, and a monster on the loose.

Speaking of monsters that could apply to him. He had been a prisoner of Genosha for a year now. Captured by a group of cyborgs led by someone named Lady Deathstrike, they had sold him to Genoshan Mutant Labor Company, and from there it got worse. They'd used him to destroy the bodies of mutants or mutant lovers. He'd become a walking, talking crematorium.

All that had ended a month ago. It had been a particularly large group of bodies. And they had urged him to make the fire bigger, hotter, and faster. In the middle of all those flames he'd seen her. Already in stress from the overexertion of his powers, at first he thought he imagined it. No, it was definitely her. Amara. Burning swiftly in a fire of his creating. In that second he broke. The fire continued to burn but he was no longer controlling it. It began to crackle and spread to buildings and forests near by. St. John fell to his knees and watched as firefighters showed up to keep it from spreading anymore.

From behind him, St. John heard the crack of a whip. Seconds later he began to notice that through his numbness someone was beating him. Turning to whoever it was St. John saw red. The whip had cracked across his face, splitting it open. But he didn't feel it, he felt nothing.

Now, he'd broken out and was on the run. The large cut stretching from above his eyebrow almost to his lip was infected. He could feel puss running down his face at that very moment. It also burned real bad, but he didn't altogether mind that. Behind John a twig snapped. Instantly on alert John yearned to be able to have his power back. It had been weeks since the overload but they showed no sign of returning. At that thought John's heart squeezed, just a little. Surviving was tough enough, but to also have to do it without his extraordinary powers was worse.

Behind John a twig snapped. Turning he could see nothing. Then without warning a figure lunged out of the woodwork at him. Falling backwards so that it flew over him, John recognized it, by the shape and the glint of it's "claws".

"Wolverine! Mate, we're friends, you know?!" John avoided Wolverine's swipes at him. For some reason he wasn't getting through. Wolverine was moving slow, almost as if through extreme pain.

"Gawwwwww!" Wolverine roared as he once again lunged at him. Sliding to the side John caused Wolverine to slam into a tree and knock himself unconscious. Deciding the best thing was to get out of there, John quickly began to make tracks out of the forest.

It was two weeks later though that John finally made it out of the forest. Unfortunately it was right into a ghost town. Walking the empty streets he could see signs of fighting. He recognized blasts from the guardia guns, and mutant attacks.

As if on cue, several mutants walked out of the shadows. "Are you spike or static?"

John was not confused at the terminology. Many next generation mutants had taken to called mutants spikes. As in the rest of non-mutant humanity is just background noise.

"I was a spike. But now…" John left it unsaid. They obviously knew what he was talking about. They nodded their heads and stepped towards him.

"Your name, brother?" The one who had first spoken asked. He was the leader, that much was obvious. Tall, with blond hair and loads of cybernetic implants, he cut a very intimidating figure.

"St. John Allerdyce…"

"No," the leader (rude) interrupted. "Your real name."

"Pyro."

"What happened?" The goon asked nodding to the long, really infected cut on his face.

"Oh!" John said reaching up to it, having forgotten about it in his relief at finding other people. "Guards did it." At his words the people backed up several feet. "What?"

"You could be infected."

"With what?"

"Legacy." All the mutants stilled at that word. It provoked an incredible amount of fear.

"What's that?"

"It's a plague from my time, sent back to destroy mutant kind."

John looked at him quizzically. "Oh, the name's Cable. Time traveler, mutant, and father." He nodded to one of the goons in the background. "We're from the future."

"Okay." John replied, thinking why did he tell me all that?

John was led to an underground bunker that was half hospital, half home base for the resistance. Though they had healers, none would put their hands on him, all were too afraid of getting Legacy.

John was held in containment for three weeks, if he'd had Legacy it would have manifested and killed him by now. Alas no such thing. John was Legacy free, but the cut had already started to heal over, leaving him with a long horrible scar. Once an injury has begun to heal over mutants healers couldn't interfere.

Looking around him, in this den of misery, John knew he would not stay here. NO fuckin' way.

Five Months Later

This was unexpected to say the least. Walking along a busy street in downtown Kawasaki the last thing he expected to see was an X Man. The last time he had seen Rogue was in Paris.

"St. John!" She screamed (from halfway down the street).

"Just John, love. Just John."

Rogue flew into John's arms and laughed. "Ah seem ta remember you bein' very adamant about that St. part!"

Spinning her around (not so carefully avoiding the tourists on the street) John replied. "A year in Genosha makes ya grow up, sheila. But look at you!"

Finally back onto her feet Rogue posed. "Don't Ah? Ya're not the only one who spent a little time in Genosha. Looks like ya got off worse though." Rogue ran her hand down the scar in his cheek… Her bare hand.

"Geez sheila! You got control."

Smiling stiffly she replied. "In a manner of speaking. Ohmagawd! Ya've gotta come see Kitty. They just released her from the hospital but Ah'm sure she'd love to see ya agin!"

Following Rogue they entered the large skyscraper behind her. They laughed as they went up the stairs and through her door. John stopped laughing when he saw Kitty.

She was just floating there, near the windows. You could see the view through her. She looked…miserably tragic.

"Ah guess it could be said she came off worse than we did, ey?" Rogue whispered in John's ear. She walked past him and spoke to a small Asian woman John hadn't noticed. The woman walked off.

"Kitty, come say hi to St. John…"

"John."

Rogue shot him an exasperated look. "…John!"

Kitty turned from the window and floated to a few feet from where he was (still in the doorframe). She smiled shyly at him.

"Since we returned from tha desert, she hasn't spoken. The doctors don't think she can in this state. But we've gotten her stable a couple times and she hasn't then either. She's just bein' a bitch." Kitty stuck out her tongue at Rogue. It was the first real sign of the old Kitty he had seen. Then Kitty grinned, a grin that actually reached her eyes. She was looking over his shoulder at something.

Turning John saw the small Asian woman bringing a small child towards him. "And who's this little bugger?" John asked reaching for the adorable child.

"That, JOHN," Rogue stressed his new name, "is my baby boy. Elias James Darkholme."

"Rogue! Have you been keepin' secrets? This is no babe, this is a toddler!"

Rogue reached for her son and smiled gently as she blew across his temple. His already long hairs shifted as Elias instinctively cuddle his mama. "He's only fifteen months old."

Doing the math quickly in his head, John smiled. "Tut-tut-tut. Bad girl."

Rogue looked sharply at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Suddenly a buzz filled John's head and whatever it was he had been thinking at that moment was gone. And all he remembered was how adorable this baby was.

"Ya know John. We need some help here at the Hellfire Club. Ya should stay awhile."

"Nah, sheila. I'm on my way home. But I wouldn't mind stayin' a bit."

Four Months Later

John looked around the foggy field. Three months ago after only a month with Rogue and Kitty, John had finally gone home. What he doesn't know is that less than a week later Kitty, Rogue, and Elias were forced to run. What he does know is that while there he and Rogue had a super secret, super hot affair. That woman was a lion in the sack. But she was almost unbearably cold afterwards. Eventually she'd told him it was time for him to leave. Which is why it surprised him that she would call him now. And ask him to come to Scotland?

Shivering John wished he'd brought himself a better coat. Or better yet that his powers had not left him and that he would be able to start a small fire. God, some days life sucked.

Behind him a twig snapped and an oddly shaped figure stepped out. "John!"

John turned to see Rogue in the shadows. She was holding a bundle in her arms. Looking closer he saw that it was Elias.

"Marie, what's going on?"

"Ah need a favor. A big favor. Ya have to take Elias…"

"Take him?! What do you mean take him?! I can't…You can't expect me to…" John stammered loudly.

"Shhh! Please John." Rogue reached out and touched his arm. "If you love me you will do this." She wasn't supposed to say that or ask this of him. His feelings for her were unspoken, between them! He couldn't make a commitment and neither could she (whatever her feelings were). "If you love me you will help me save my son's life!" Rogue looked at John with tears in her eyes and her son asleep in her arms.

"Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"I've contacted the Scarlet Witch in England. She'll take him when you get there. She knows what to do." Rogue handed John her son and a bag of essentials. She also gave him a piece of paper. "Give this to her. Her address is on the paper. When you get done you can join me and Kitty in Cambodia. We have a plan and you can play a part if you want." Rogue leaned over and kissed John passionately. "Please be careful. I do this all for him." Rogue disappeared and left John alone. In the woods. With a baby. He sighed. He always ended up in messes.

Three Months Later

John looked out the window as he and Kitty listened to Rogue and Nightcrawler argue. John was in complete inner turmoil. Rogue had lied to everyone. Told them her son was dead. Even Kitty had no idea he was alive and well in England.

Behind them the door opened and Rogue walked in with Nightcrawler. "It's set. We're going to do it. Three months from now we're going to go back and change time. We're going to need a little help with the actual procedure so I'm going to leave for a while to get it. I'll meet you at the mansion in New York…"

"What's left of it anyways." Kurt interjected behind her.

"…then. Be on your guard." Rogue smiled. "We're going to make history boys and girls."

John followed Rogue from the room. "What's going on Marie?"

"Ah have to do this. Don't you get it John? If Ah go back in time, no one has to die! You won't lose your powers! Kitty won't have lost control! My husband wouldn't have died! The father of my child wouldn't have died!"

"And your son wouldn't have been born!" John shouted back. A strange buzz filled his head. "Would you give him up?"

"No, and I won't have to." Rogue turned and walked away.

Three months later they walked through the portal together. Both turning to give a small wave to Nightcrawler and the woman who would help Rogue save the world…her son.

Ohh! I'm good!