Sorry took me so long to update!

Icey


13

"…And in a startling new twist it appears that the leader of the mutant terrorist group was caught today by none other than the missing Stephanie McCoy, with the help of two fellow mutants, a man known as Remy Lebeau and another man who would only give the name Sabertooth," the anchor woman blinked but continued as pictures of the three came up on television, then footage of the wolf man being lead into a building was shown. "Wolf, aka Vikar Knite, was found unconscious in a small city pub near London, having attacked McCoy and her friends. He and four other members of the terrorist organization were apprehended soon afterwards, two were dead.

London officials have reported that the men have confessed to the bombings and they will await trial in a maximum security prison. A few airlines have already been opening again, though it will be some time before they are open to the public. Of course McCoy, Lebeau, and 'Sabertooth' will be on one of the first flights to return to their homes here in the United States, though the exact dates and times of the flights are not being disclosed."

Hank, Scott, Kitty, and Bobby stared at the screen while Sam babbled happily to Ruhko on the floor.

"She's coming home," Jubilee said, letting out a long breath. "Thank god, she's like, coming home!"

"She fought him!" Bobby said, looking at the screen. "She's gone mental…."

Hank was finding it hard to say anything as relief flooded through him. Laughing suddenly, he picked Sam up and tossed her in the air which made her squeal with delight, then caught her and held her close as she sighed happily, playfully tugging at his fur.

"Your mother's coming home," he said to her softly, beaming.

Sam lifted her head and smiled, then put it back on his shoulder.

"Mam," she said.

Hank closed his eyes.

"Yes, Mam," he said.

"So how're we payin' f'r this again?" Creed asked as he sat in a first-class seat, stretched out and sipping a beer.

Steph blinked.

"It's a thank 'you'," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'd ride coach if they could tell me exactly where I'm supposed to go once I get over there."

"Don' worry, Sabertooth'll show you," Remy said, looking at Creed through the corner of his eye. "Right? Dat was de deal."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Creed said, leaning back and making himself more comfortable.

"Perfect," muttered Steph, sighing and looking out the window.

"Chere?" Remy asked, looking over the top of his glasses.

"Nuthin'," she replied, leaning against the window, clutching the soda she had bought in the airport in a death grip and closing her eyes as the airplane took off. She had the strangest feeling, as to her memory's keeping she was traveling to someplace new and different than the week and a half she could remember, but at the same time, she was going home to a family she had known for over a decade.

Confused with herself Steph sighed and slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


"I can't do this," she said, looking at the huge ahead of them.

"What?" Remy and Creed looked over at her in surprise.

Steph blinked, then gestured towards the building with her good hand.

"I can't go up there, there's no way I could," she said, looking at them seriously.

"Why?" Remy asked, bewildered.

"Oh please, ya can't be that thick Rem," Steph replied, rolling her eyes.

"I disagree, he can an' he is," Creed said. They ignored him.

"They're not expecting me," Steph said flatly.

"Yeah," Remy said. "Dey are worried sick 'bout you chere, dey tol' you so when 'Onrie called you."

"But they ain't expecting me!" Steph cried. "They're expecting me, but not!"

"Whoa, now I'm confused," Creed said. "Run that again?"

"They're expecting the Steph McCoy they knew before a lecture hall fell on top of me. I don't know any of them, not even what apparently is my own daughter. My husband could be a toad for all I now n' what the &# am I supposed to tell them! 'Um, I'm sorry I don't remember any of you but I had to come anyway because one of our enemies told me my past and that you'd be here!"

"Dat's exactly what you say petite," Remy said, shrugging.

Steph gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Are. You. Mental!" she said.

"Can I answer that?" Creed asked, smirking.

"What?" Remy said, giving her the look right back.

"I'm not going," Steph said, shaking her head and crossing his arms resolutely.

Creed looked up across the lawn, and saw a few of the X Men walking out of the front doors and sitting on the steps, talking.

"Ya sure ya won't go?" he asked.

"Do I look sure, Fuzzy?" Steph snapped.

Creed shrugged.

"Alright then," he said, grabbing Steph by the back of her coat before she could do anything but give a startled yelp as he tossed her out of the cover of the trees.

She hit the ground on her butt and rolled, somehow managing to land in a crouching position as she stopped.

"Hey…." Remy started, but Creed shook his head.

"Fall back," he growled. "Let the team find 'er n' fix 'er up."

His ploy had worked. Hearing the yelp and seeing Steph flying out of the woods had made all the X Men look up. Jubilee immediately cried her name and sprinted over.

Steph looked up, a look of absolute horror on her face as the smaller woman reached her and grabbed her, pulling her into a bone-breaking hug.

"Ouch!" she grunted, eyes bulging as Bobby and Scott arrived, staring openmouthed at her before Bobby laughed and clasped her on the uninjured shoulder.

"Steph, you're back!" he said.

"Um, yeah," Steph muttered, glaring at the trees.

"We thought ya wouldn't be back for like, ages," Jubilee said excitedly, hugging her friend again.

"Um," Steph said.

Bobby chuckled. "So you go over to England to give a lecture, have a building fall in on you, capture one of the most wanted mutants in Europe and the United States, and come back home without telling us to say 'um'? You'd better go see Hank. He's been a nutcase ever since we heard you were gonna get to come back, he doesn't even know yet."

"Hank?" Steph said, wracking her brains. She would have thought having these people mob her would have brought something back, but it didn't.

"Of course," Scott said. "Hank's been sick with worry. Come on."

They lead Steph up to the Mansion before she could reply, going in through the front door, which shut securely behind her.

"Was dat a good idea?" Remy asked, looking over at Creed, who shrugged.

"Better there then runnin' round with a thief," he said. "You can visit her any time, don't worry."

Remy looked up at the mansion.

"I t'ink I'll wait here," he said. "De chere might need a f'miliar face later."

"Suit yourself," Creed growled. "I'm outta here." With that he turned and walked away, leaving Remy waiting and watching the mansion, wondering what was happening to Steph at the moment.

"Steph!" Hank cried, leaping up over the couch, his face a mixture of shock and joy.

"Um, Hank," Steph said, placing the name with the voice on the phone as he pulled her into a tight embrace, not letting go for a while.

Finally he backed up a step and looked at her arm. "What happened, are you alright?" he asked, then examined her slowly healing head.

"I'm alright," she said.

"What happened? Why didn't you call?" he asked.

Steph's mouth opened, then closed.

"Um," she said.

"Never mind," Hank replied, shaking his head. "Thou art safe now, my sweet Stephanie, you're home."

"Yeah," Steph said.

Hank smiled. "Sam's missed you terribly."

"Can I…." Steph hesitated. "Can I see her?"

Hank smiled. "Of course," he said, for the briefest instant looking like he suspected something was amiss, but then he shook his head and took her hand, leading her up to an upstairs room.

Steph slowly opened the door, seeing the small bed towards the side of the room she walked over and saw Sam sleeping in it, orange hair falling gently over her face.

Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed at the small child, and a moment later the babe opened her eyes, blinking for a moment and then smiling up at her mother, stretching her hands out to be held.

"Mam!" she murmured drowsily as Hank beamed.

Steph, however, was horror-struck. She had forgotten this? This baby girl, her baby girl, her husband, her home... The sense of loss she had felt at the beginning of the incidents was nothing compared to what she felt now, when she was shown what had been taken away from her.

She choked, tried to hide it as a cough but failed, then gasped as tears started to pour down her face. Turning from the cradle she fell to her knees, crying uncontrollably into her hands as Hank, thunderstruck, knelt down beside her. Sam, confused, whimpered quietly and looked through the bars, watching as her father put his arms around her mother.

"Stephanie? What's the matter, what's happened?" Hank asked, worried at the strange behavior. Bobby and Jubilee, who had followed Steph and Hank up while Scott went to inform the others, came into the room, also confused.

"What happened?" Jubilee asked.

Hank shook his head, the worry in his eyes so vivid that Bobby knelt in front of Steph.

"Steph, what's up?" he asked. "Steph, you ok?"

Steph looked up, breathing ragged and tears still flowing down her cheeks.

"Who are you?" she cried.

Bobby's mouth opened and then shut again.

"What d' you mean?" he managed after a moment.

Steph's hands fell to her knees.

"Who are you people?" she asked again, looking over at Hank and then at Jubilee. "Who is that? What is this place? Who am I?"

"Steph," Hank said gently, not understanding as he reached for her again.

"Don't!" Steph cried, moving away. "Jus'…jus' answer me! Who am I?"

"You're…you're Steph," Bobby said, baffled. "You're my sister, married to Hank. You're Sam's mother…what's going on?"

Steph's eyes closed again and she turned, pushing past the men and Jubilee and racing down the hall just as an older student came out of his room.

"Steph!" he said happily, but she ran by him, hand covering her mouth as she wrenched open the front door and ran out as fast as she could.

Bobby and Hank raced after her, stopping as they watched her run to the woods and disappear.

"What was that?" Bobby said, looking up at Hank.

"Den it didn't go dat well?" said a voice behind them.

The X Men turned to see Remy struggling out of the bushes by the patio, rubbing his head as he looked to where Steph had run.

"What the…who are you?" Bobby said, taking a step backwards with his head reeling. "What is going on here!"

"You're the man who helped Stephanie," Hank said, recognizing the eyes and face.

Remy nodded.

"Remy Lebeau," he said. "Met de chere in England, t'ought I'd help her out. You her husband den?"

Hank nodded.

"Hank McCoy," he said. "Do you know what happened to Stephanie?"

Remy shook his head as he rolled his shoulders back.

"Sabertooth tossed her t' you, you took her up t' dis place, n' I followed," he said. "Den I was 'bout t' knock when Steph raced out n' pushed me off de porch, running t' de trees."

"But why?" Hank asked.

"Cause," Remy replied. "She can't 'member nuthin' 'bout dis place, or any of you."

"What?" Bobby said, completely lost.

Remy shook his head.

"De petite don' know who she is, de head wound los' her mem'ry."