The New Exiles
By Agent-G And The Uncanny R-Man

Shout Outs-

TheLegendaryManHimself: Glad you like the new version and the changes. And if John does wake up it will be a LOT for him to take in. Yeah I can't wait to get to the AGU part either.

X-Over: Glad you like it, but the team won't get THAT many members that would be too much to handle at this point. Weapon X will be back also but with all new members, and if you got anything helpful then please send it.

Ruby: Technically he's in a coma not dead but I hear ya. And as for Mariko...you'll see.

Winblades: Glad you liked the changes.

Thanks to: Red Witch

Chapter 7: Meet Chamber

In the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the Canadian wilderness there is a complex in there that officially does not exist. It is one of the bases used the organization Weapon X. High up in the hills the snow covered area is densely populated by trees and wilderness.

A sudden shattering of glass breaks the tranquil silence of the place and a gunshot can be heard for miles, but there is no one else around to hear it.

A man who had just jumped through the window lands hard on the snow covered ground. "Bullocks!" He curses with a British accent and gets up and started to run. He turns slightly and fires a telekinetic blast of energy at the window destroying it and runs off at full speed.

Several figures appear as the smoke clears. They are Wild Child a miniature Sabertooth wannabe with feral features, clawed fingers. Agent X a man covered in scars including an X scare on his face and was fully armed; he currently holds a smoking gun, the same gun that had broken the silence earlier.

Another is a now a beautiful Marrow. Gone now are all the bone growths covering her body as she was now looked like a normal person again, before her mutation. The last is the winged reptile Sauron, a mutant that looks like a cross between a green pterodactyl and a man.

"You missed." Sauron hisses at Agent X.

The other man glares at him. "I didn't miss, look you extinct lizard." He points to a trail of blood on the ground. "I nailed him in the shoulder, it shouldn't be hard not to find this guy now with a blood trail to follow."

"Do we really have to do this?" Marrow asked them. She had liked him, at least a bit better then the others here and it didn't feel right to take out one of them, not like this.

"The boss man said to kill this guy, he was doing nothing but spying on us." Agent X tells her. "Besides the boss will likely turn you back into what you were if you don't do this, do you really want that?"

"NO!" Marrow screams out. The thought of going back to her old self, covered in bones all over her body the old ugly her that forced her to live with the Morlocks in the sewers, is horrifying to her.

The man who they are trying to kill is Jonothon Evan Starsmore AKA the mutant known as Chamber. He clutches his wounded shoulder as he runs through the forest.

'This is just great, first I find out that Sinister of all people are in charge of this place and then he finds out Xavier sent me there to spy on him. I just can't win.' He stops and takes a moment to rip the bottom of his shirt into a few strips and tries to tie them around the wound in his shoulder under the long leather coat he wore.

'Luckily the bullet went right through.' He winces as he tightens it. 'I may freeze without most of my shirt but I'll bleed to death before that happens.' Once again he starts to run off.

'I can't believe I let Xavier talk me into doing this. First the girl I loved which I was a total idiot to let her go to begin with, doesn't want me anymore and worse she's going out with that soddin' priss fancy boy Warren now. I mean just how old and how wrong is THAT?' He fumed to himself. He was still not exactly sorry the he had clocked Warren one.

He jumps a fallen log on the way down a steep hill, being careful not to fall. 'Okay so Paige is seeing another guy and there is no way I want to be around the Institute anymore with them making eyes at each other. So I leave, and I got nowhere else to go. So what happens, Xavier wants to know what is going on inside Weapon X and I get coned by that baldheaded telepath to do it.'

'I mean sure my life sucked at the moment, and I was an idiot to take it, but I felt I would be doing something worthwhile. Play the spy, be the hero. There's one important thing I learned about spy work. James Bond films lie.'

He allowed himself a short rest as what he had done went back into his mind. He was ordered to kill a man and in order to keep his cover what did he do? He killed. It sickens him how easily it came after all was said and done, and there was no way he could ever look into the eyes of Paige again after that. How could he? And what would she saw to him if she found out? How would she LOOK at him?

He pushed himself off the tree he had been resting on and ran on. 'Now that I found out about Sinister's little secret, now what do I do? Xavier is gone off somewhere to find his bloody self and left me in the cold. The others have no idea where I am or what I have been doing.'

'It figures that my life would come to this. I've never been lucky at anything for long. First my powers blow of my sodding jaw and part of my upper chest. I get a great girl that I can never kiss, I lose said girl. Now after a small miracle by Sinister of all people I got my jaw and missin' chest back.'

Chamber laughs a little to himself. 'I can eat again, kiss again, talk without constantly sending my thoughts into other people's heads. But the one thing I always wanted to do I can't. Ever since we were going out I wanted to kiss Paige, just once to know what it was like. Now that I can I can't. Yeah, my life is completely buggered.'

He ran and ran his lungs burning with the effort. But he couldn't stop not now or they will find him. But the question was where was he running to? He had nowhere to go but he pushed the thought aside, he would think on that after he was a safe distance away.

He suddenly found himself in an open space. 'Great going you soddin' git. You're a sitting duck here.' He decided to make a dash for it and tried to run across the open field. Then suddenly a high pitched screech filled the air. One he knew all too well.

"Bugger me all day!" He yelled and looked up in the sky to see Sauron dive- bombing for him. Chamber jumped out of the way and sent a blast of energy at him. Sauron had to dodge the attack but the change caused him to loose his hold on the air and he fell to the ground.

Chamber knew if he were there the others wouldn't be far behind. He saw a boulder not too far and ran to it; just as he got around it a bullet hit the rock. He was lucky that he got there in time. A few more seconds later and he would have had another hole in his body. This time he was sure it would have been fatal.

"Just give up and we'll make this painless. Resist and we'll just have to do it more slowly and you'll wish we had done it the easy way." Yelled out Agent X.

"Sod off!" Jono yelled to him.

Agent X sighed. "Why must they do it the difficult way?" He asked the others. He pulled a grenade and threw it beside the boulder. Jono saw it and knew if he ran he would be a target, but if he didn't he was dead.

He started to run but the grenade went off and he felt himself lift up into the air. He landed not far away a searing pain in one of his legs. He started to crawl away. 'If I'm...going to...die...I'm...not going quietly.'

He managed to turn himself over and saw his leg was bloodied and the pants were shredded, not to mention a lot of his leg too. He looked at saw them coming; Sauron too had pulled himself out of the snow and was walking angrily towards him.

'So this is how it ends, huh?' He knew this was it; this was the moment of his death. 'I'm sorry Paige...I'm sorry everyone...I tried...I really did.' He tried to raise his hand and focus his energy for a blast. He wanted to take that Agent X's head clear off, if he was going down then he was taking this jerk with him. Besides he really didn't like the guy. But as he got his hand up Wild Child had come up from to his side and grabbed it forcing it down to the ground.

The rest of his 'team' gathered around him. Agent X smirked looking down at him then looked to Marrow. "Finish it."

"Me? Why me?" She asked harshly.

"Because I said so! Or are you sweet on him or something?"

Marrow looked down at him and he could see the inner conflict in her eyes. "Do it. Just make it quick." Chamber told her. He knew what would happen to her if she didn't. Marrow hesitated but then pulled out a bone 'knife' and stood over him.

"I'm sorry." She told him as she raised the knife over his heart.

"I know." Jono said weakly. He knew this was it; this was his last moments in life. At the moment in what he thought was his last sight in life a crimson beam of energy hit Marrow in the chest and sent her flying back.

Something that looked like an energy lance hit Agent X's gun and it disappeared. Then a giant white version of Sasquatch jumped in and fought Wild Child. It was a short fight for the much littler man. He didn't see what had happened to Sauron but he saw a dark haired woman in black and some pale looking guy with no features on his face standing over him. He could hear the sounds of a battle but his vision was getting a little blurry and he was trying not to black out, then suddenly all the fighting he heard had stopped.

He didn't have any more strength in him to raise his head and his head slumped onto the cold snow. He heard the others approach him.

"Is he alright?" He heard a female voice say.

He felt someone examine his leg and he let out a groan. "I don't like the look of this. He's losing too much blood and I don't like the looks of the damage." Said a female voice he could now see a black woman looking him over.

"And I've seen enough battle field wounds that looked better then this that had to be amputated." Said a male voice grimly. "We need to get him out of here right now."

He would let out a laugh if he had the energy. First he loses part of his face, now that he got it back he loses a leg. The irony of it all wasn't lost on him.

"Alright Vince I'm getting the teleporter on-line now." Came another female voice he couldn't see and heard some kind of electronic beeping.

"Hurry Blink, I don't know how much time he has left."

The last thing he felt was himself falling into darkness.

"Hey man hold on!" He heard a distant voice call to him, but he felt like a million miles away now as the darkness enveloped him.

Jono woke up with, instead of a falling sensation, it was a floating one. Everything around him was green then he realized he was in some kind of liquid. He panicked and tried to breath, and after a moment found he could breath in the liquid.

He looked around and saw some kind room filled with tubes. He tried to move but his whole body felt stiff and he could hardly move a muscle. Then he saw a face looking at him. For a moment he thought he was seeing things cause it looked like the Doctor from Star Trek Voyager looking at him from the other side.

'I must be dreaming, no wait. If I was dreaming of Star Trek I would be dreaming of Seven of Nine and me on that holodeck thing, on a beach and her in a little white bikini.'

Nice fantasy. Came a voice in his head.

Who the hell is that? He sent back. Then the guy that looked like Robert Picardo moved away and a tall man all decked out in what he guessed was black was now in front of him and who obviously had telepathic abilities.

What's the last thing you remember Jonothon?

First off guv, call me Jono and the last thing I remember... He thought back to before he blacked out. He remembered the chase, him getting pretty messed up and then getting his British butt saved by a group of people.

That was a group of mutants called the Exiles. They go to other worlds saving people and trying to make a difference, for the better. Came the voice again. He remembered something else now and tried to see his leg. Don't worry it's still there, we got one great medical plan here Juno could hear the laugh in the thoughts.

So why save me? Jono asked him. There have to be better people then me in my world.

You're right, there are. Jono would have glared at him if he could move his face muscles. But I also like to give people another chance at life. Life is a precious thing at times and sometimes people lose their way. They don't know what to do, or where to go. These people fall into despair and lose all hope. I like to give back what they lost to some degree. What I am trying to say is that I like to help people.

Juno thought over what he said. So again...why me?

I know of your life and I can feel the sorrow and pain in your soul. I can't give you the girl you lost, or a chance to change it. Jono wasn't sure but he felt a great sense of sadness to the words. Like this man had his own pain that he wished could be undone.

But I can give you a new life. A chance to start over, a clean slate and a position in the Exiles if you want it. A chance to make something of your life. I won't lie to you. It will be dangerous and you may even get killed one day. But I promise you won't be alone, and your life will have meaning once again.

Jono floated there in the tank for a minute thinking it over. What if I say no?

Then you have your own choice. I could send you back to your world, or to one of your own choosing, provided there is no other version of you on it. The choice it yours and there are no strings attached.

Jono thought about everything. What was there to go back to for him? His friends were either dead or gone from his life. The love of his life left him, he had nowhere else to go, and he was sure Sinister would be looking for him to collect his hide. And since the guy was practically immortal he had patience too.

Plus there was the fact that this man's words had cut a cord in him. His life had lost all meaning. He looked at this man and he couldn't read him, his mind was too powerful, but he did get a few things. He was a lot older and more powerful then he looked. But what he really got was that he was sincere about everything he had said.

Alright mate, I'll try this gig out. Not like I got any better things going for me. But tell me...what's your name?

The man smiled. Call me Guardian. That will do for now, and I think you should rest now. You still got a few more hours in the tank before your healed then I can introduce you to the others and get you all started.

Jono tried to nod but couldn't. He watched the man leave and he felt himself getting suddenly tired. As he fell to sleep he wondered if his life had just gotten better or worse. 'Well I was about to die...how much worse can it get?' Was his final thought as the darkness came and this time he did dream, and it was a good dream.

As Guardian left the healing chamber he saw the other Exiles for the most part waiting around for him. He smiled to them. "He'll be fine, and he's going to join us."

"Cool one more member for the team!" Morph said happily, looking like Hannibal from the A-Team.

"Where's Blink?" Guardian asked.

"She's in there with John." Vincent said pointing to the intensive care room. The immortal nodded and walked off to her to in form her of the news.

"I wasn't sure if we could have saved him to be honest." Heather said leaning back on one of the stylized sci-fi beds. "But with all this technology I'm amazed at what the Doc was able to do."

"You did help." The Doc said walking over to her. "You assistance was invaluable."

"Please." Heather said with a smile. "I felt like an intern again with you."

"Well you are still learning about all of the medical devices and their uses, but I will say you are learning fast and in a few months you should be able to do complex surgeries like that by yourself if you need to in your sleep."

"I just hope we don't need it." August said. "No offence Heather, but I really don't want to get hurt bad enough to need that, but if I do I hope you're on hand."

In the other room Blink was sitting next to John. "Hi again John. It's me Blink...I don't know if you can hear me, but...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to go through this...that we had to leave you. I always hated that and I wish you had stayed with us...everything has changed since you were on the team. God I can't believe it's been over a year since it started it seemed so long ago."

She held his hand and she dropped her head slightly her short hair falling down to obscure part of her face. "I cut my hair." She said as a joke. "And...we lost so many...first I left...then I came back when...when Mariko died, Cal...left, T.J. lost the baby...and she never did get a chance to go home...she found someone and she's moved on though. She loved you, you know? She was mourning for a long time, even when she didn't show it...God I wish you were here...I mean really here, then I wouldn't feel like I failed all of you.

"You did the best you could." Came a soft voice from behind her and saw the Guardian there with a sad expression on his face. He could see the tears in her eyes the she tried to dry. "If is makes you feel any better...we all fail...even me."

"You?" She said a little surprised at this. "I'm sorry but I just can't see it."

He got a small smile for a second. "I was young once too and I made a lot of mistakes, and I've lost too many people too Clarice. I've been around for a long time. I've seen friends that didn't die young, grow up, have kids, see their kids have kids, seen them all grow old and then...die." He walked next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked into is old eyes and she could see a lot in them. Wisdom, strength, an almost ageless quality...even pain and sadness.

"I believe in you and in your ability to lead. We all lose people from time to time, it's part of the way of life. But I do believe in you Clarice...if I didn't I would have chosen someone else to lead. Trust yourself you are worthy and I couldn't think of anyone better. Yes you lost a few, but you kept the Exiles alive for a long time, you saw them through some tough missions and I must say...I'm impressed. And that's hard to do nowadays."

A small smile was on her face. "Thanks." She felt a little better with the pep talk; it was nice for someone to actually say she had done well as could be expected of her as a leader.

He nodded and turned to leave then stopped suddenly and snapped his finger. "Damn I nearly forgot. Apparently Mr. Starsmore will be joining your team, he'll be healed soon so I figure you might want to know. I'll add him to the security system and assign him a room too."

She nodded her thanks. "Great, I want to meet him when he gets out and give him the lowdown."

Guardian grinned. He knew he made the right choice with this one.

TBC...

NEXT CHAPTER 8: THIS SUCKS!