**Retribution**

Odium was sitting in the cockpit of the second helicopter behind the commando team in the first one.  Odium was impatiently watching the horizon as they flew ever closer to his helpless victims.  The mansion was just beyond that lake and those trees.  He was going to enjoy this.  He planned on painting the mansion red with the blood of the X-men.  He glanced over his shoulder at his motley crew of deluded followers.  Mystique was in the first helicopter with the soldiers.  A green scaly man, called the Skink, sat next to an animorph named Jonesy.  Vega was a sexy looking thing that could control plants.  But Magneto was the one he had wanted here, and he was conspicuously absent.  There had simply been no time to track him down. 

Odium reminded himself that everyone would be unconscious, and force would not be necessary.  Besides, these mutants would serve a purpose, but in the grand scheme of things, they were expendable.  In the end, all that really matters is that Xavier dies, and his dream for the future dies with him.  Then Odium can shape a future of his design: mutant dominance and human servitude.  That is how it was always meant to be.  The strongest rule, the weak serve, live and die at the whim of their masters.  He was feeling almost aroused at the thought. The choppers came in low, skimming the water of the lake.  Everything was going according to his plan. 

Wolverine would no doubt live through the massacre and would have to deal with the aftermath.  Then he would come after his woman.  Odium was cold with hatred.  He longed for the feel of her blood, warm and sticky on his hands, when he throws her body at Wolverine's feet.  He grinned maniacally as he clung to that image.  A sudden wave of pleasure washed over him as they closed in on his prey.

***** 

The X-men had gone outside to meet the enemy.  Jesse had been ordered to stay inside, but snuck out through the gallery.  Storm hovered in the sky, calling up a thunderstorm, but the choppers were advancing too quickly for her to get decent aim with her lightening. 

Hidden in the bushes, Jesse suddenly had an idea.  He concentrated on the lake just beyond the trees.  He let his anger drive the power as he forced the water to rise up and surround the first helicopter.  The chopper flew right into a wall of water and promptly crashed.  Those who weren't killed on impact quickly drowned. 

*****

Odium's pilot took evasive action narrowly missing the second wall of water Jesse had tried to trap it with.  Odium was furious.  "That two faced liar!" he screamed.  "She deceived me!  Never trust a shape-shifter!"  Not only had she not gassed the mansion, she didn't kill him.  Only Jesse could move water like that.  Odium had known for years of Jesse's powers and had suppressed them with a drug slipped in his food.  Jesse's time away from his influence was enough to finally allow them to emerge.  Jesse was no longer a potential member of his perfect future; he was now a serious liability.   I hope she suffered when that chopper went down, he thought.

"Get us out of here," Odium said to the pilot.  At least he still had his trump card.  Wolverine would want his woman back.  He had to prepare for an attack by the whole team now.  Wonderful.

*****

Jesse nearly collapsed with the exertion it took to move that much water, but somehow managed to stay on his feet.  He couldn't believe he'd actually done it.  But he missed the second chopper, and they were getting away.  Great.  Sooner or later they'd be back.

Waves of relief washed over the team as they watched the helicopter retreat, but Logan was furious.  "They're getting away!" he yelled at Cyclops and darted into the mansion, heading for the Blackbird.

"Let's get to the Blackbird and catch them," Cyclops ordered as he followed on Logan's heels.  Scott may not have been Dani's boyfriend, but she was like his sister.  There was absolutely no way he was going to stand around while she was in danger.

"Wait," Xavier said as Logan ran past his office door.  He wheeled into the hall and headed for the elevator.   "I'll track them with cerebro, but you must hang back to allow us to find Danielle."

Everyone had caught up by then and they were surprised by that order.  "Charles, why don't you just locate Dani and give us an address," Scott asked.

"I can't locate her.  Wherever they are keeping her is blocking my telepathy," he admitted bitterly as they all headed to the lower level.  Xavier mentally paged Beast to inform him that the danger was over, and to apprise him of the current situation.

Jesse followed them, though he had no real right to.  He was just a visitor here, and didn't belong.  But he was driven with a need to help.  Logan…future Logan, had told him that he was important.  Jesse wondered if Logan had known more about what was going on than he had let on.  Jesse knew there were no records of this incident, but time travel could be a tricky thing.

Jesse tried not to draw attention to himself as he followed at a distance.  He just wanted to be around in case he might at least be able to answer some questions about Odium.  The team waited outside cerebro while the professor was tracking Odium.  Jesse was standing down the hall by the elevator, hiding around the corner, watching.  Logan was standing off by himself, brooding.  Everyone felt sympathy for him, but they were trying not to provoke him.  Logan was very volatile when he was angry.

The tension in the room was thick, and Scott decided to break it. "Storm, I've never seen you make a waterspout do that before," Scott said.

"That was not a waterspout of any sort, Scott.  I didn't do that," she said matter-of-factly.

Jesse could almost see the wheels turning in all of their heads as they looked from face to face to see who might have done it.  He smiled to himself.  He didn't care if they knew.  He just wished he'd gotten both choppers. 

Logan, who had been lost in his thoughts, finally spoke up.  "Jesse did it," he said, and looked down the hall right at him. 

Everyone else turned to look at him as well and Jesse felt uncomfortable.  He ducked back around the corner to hide, but knew he wasn't going to get away with that.

"Jesse, come here!" Logan said firmly.

Jesse looked around the corner at the expectant stares of the X-men and felt sick.  He didn't want to answer questions right now.  He didn't want to be here right now.  He sighed and hung his head as he walked down the hall to face their questions.  Logan was watching him, but didn't say anything.

"I thought you didn't have any powers," Scott said.

"I sort of just discovered them," Jesse said quietly.

"It was good timing," Jean said.  "Thank you."

"Not good enough, I let Odium get away," Jesse said dejectedly.

The door to cerebro opened and Xavier interrupted.  "It's a good thing you did," he said.  "I would never have found her if I couldn't track them back to their headquarters."

"Where?" Logan asked harshly.

"You won't need the jet; it's not even thirty minute's drive from here," Xavier said.

"Then let's go," Scott said.

*****

Dani's head throbbed, but she couldn't raise a hand to rub it, she was tied up.  She looked around the room.  It was just an office, and a dull one at that.  She was lying on a plush leather couch, and a man was sitting across from her in the matching chair.  He was in his late twenties, blonde and dressed in an expensive business suit.  He was casually watching her and smoking.

"You're finally awake," he said as he exhaled the smoke from his cigarette.

"Who are you supposed to be?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Name's Rufus," he said, "I'll be your guard for this evening."

"You don't look all that tough to me," she said quietly.

"I don't have to be," he said with a smile.  "You are just like me in that collar, -no powers."

Dani tried to orb out of her manacles, but failed.  She tried an energy surge, but nothing happened.  This was not a good situation.  She had to think.  Manipulating people was not her talent, but she had to talk her way out of these restraints.

"So you're one of Odium's lackeys?" she said sweetly.

"Odium is a temporary annoyance.  I've been around since before Gabriel," Rufus said smugly.

"So Odium is your lackey," she said.

"Odium is insane," Rufus informed her.

"And you're not?" she asked.

"I haven't traveled through time a dozen times, he has.  The shock of the time portal can affect your mind," Rufus said bitterly.  "His mind has snapped."

"And here you are, taking his orders," Dani said with a smile.  "Lackey."

"Bitch," he said.

"Let me go," she said.

"No," he said.

"Bastard."

*****

Mystique had been careful about getting out of riding in Odium's helicopter.  She knew he would discover her treachery quickly enough and didn't want to be too close when it happened.  He never noticed her slipping out of the other chopper before it took off.  She smiled with satisfaction at her ability to manipulate those around her.  But she had to decide what to do now.  Leave or keep her promise to protect Wolverine's girlfriend?  Mystique felt a sting of jealousy.  She'd gladly take that wild man any day, hell, she'd be any woman he wanted.  But he'd never have her.  Mystique thought it over a moment.  If she let Odium kill the girl, Logan would hunt her down for breaking her promise.  He had as much as sworn to do that when she left with the wimp this afternoon. 

She came to a decision; she would keep her promise.  It wasn't that she was afraid of Wolverine, she just hated Odium. She knew what she had to do.  It was a good plan.

*****

Odium's helicopter landed on the roof.  "Keep your eyes open for them, they'll be coming," Odium said to his few remaining followers.  He was livid.  He needed a release from all of this fury.  He knew just the thing to calm him, torturing his prisoner.  Yes.  That would make him feel a lot better.