Interlude: The Shifting of Power

Los Angeles: The Presidential visit had gone rather well, all things considered. A minor earthquake made things a little exciting for a day or two, but otherwise everything went off without a hitch. Now, a thunderstorm was brewing just off the coast, a rare occurrence in southern California, but for all involved it was just one more bit of unexpected excitement to an already eventful trip. Alicia Vargas stood just to the left of the President, a position she'd enjoyed since that day last spring when everyone had fallen victim to some kind of massive attack. Human nature being what it is, they'd blamed the mutants and in a way, they hadn't been wrong. But they also hadn't been right, either.

Charles Xavier had mysteriously shown up in the Presidents office the next day, with a sheaf of files he'd somehow gotten from William Stryker's private offices. Two days later, he'd again met with the President to give him a full accounting of what had really happened with that whole incident, an incident that had a more widespread effect than he'd known at the time. After all, had it not been for what he'd been forced to do, Alicia would have never known she was a mutant.

It was a secret known only to a very few people; the President, Vice President and the head of the Secret Service the only ones who'd been told. However, her fierce determination to protect the President when he was afflicted had earned her current appointment and the President wouldn't hear anything against her. When all others had fallen she'd done her duty and protected him. That, more than anything else, had convinced him that maybe, just maybe, not all mutants were bad.

So now she was standing here with the President as he made his final goodbyes, waving to the crowd as a hundred cameras flashed, hoping to get a good shot of him before he left for his next stop. Finally, he turned to the stairs that would take him into Air Force One and they were on their way. The jet took off without any trouble, heading straight over the Pacific before the pilot turned it back towards the mainland.

Later, they would say it was a one in a million chance, the kind of thing that can happen to any airplane but almost never does. Extensive interviews of the ground crew were conducted and it would be concluded that no one had infiltrated the crew for the purposes of sabotage. Once the black box was retrieved and analyzed, it was determined that it was exactly what it looked like, a freak accident. A seagull sucked into one engine, burning it out almost immediately. That would have been fine, they were close enough to make an emergency landing and the black box indicated that was just what the pilot was in the process of requesting. But when lightning hit the plane a few seconds later, there was little they could do.

All the spectators saw from the ground was the vessel carrying their leader plunging into the ocean, their terrified screams echoing across the expanse of the airport. Human nature being what it is, they blamed the mutants. In this case, they were dead wrong.

Dallas, Texas: The Vice President made his way through the crowd, smiling and waving as he left the stadium. He'd made sure his itinerary included a stop here so he could watch his favorite team play. After all, it made for good PR and it gave him a few hours respite from his day-to-day duties. He finally made it to his limousine and with another casual wave, he sat down heavily in the back seat. An assistant handed him an ice-cold ginger ale, his favorite drink, and he sipped it as the massive car pulled away from the stadium. The motorcade that surrounded him was a necessary evil, he knew that, but it still made him uncomfortable. It almost seemed counterproductive to him, since it really did nothing more than draw attention to the fact the person in this limo is REALLY IMPORTANT. Might as well paint a bull's-eye on top of the car, as far as he was concerned. Still, it was protocol and he dealt with it.

Later, they would determine it was an accident, the kind of thing that you read about in the paper every day and dismiss as soon as you're done with the story. Extensive interviews of eyewitnesses would indicate that there was no malicious intent. Inspection of the wreckage would show mechanical failure to the brake lines, while the driver's autopsy would show a blood alcohol level of almost twice the legal limit, as well as traces of crystal meth. In fact, it was speculated that the Vice President didn't suffer, that he was killed instantly when the semi crashed through a barricade and hit the limo so hard it was almost folded in half. Human nature being what it is, they blamed the mutants. In this case also, they were dead wrong.

Washington D.C.: In the wee hours of the morning, telephones were ringing all over the place, informing those who needed to know about the tragedy that had befallen the nation. For the first time in recorded history, both the President and Vice President had been killed within hours of one another. According to United States law, the Presidency now belonged to the Speaker of the House. His personal assistant woke him from a deep slumber to inform him of the incident. Although he was deeply grieved by the loss, he also knew there was far too much to do in the few hours before daylight to take the time to grieve. He would do that later, in private, after things had settled down a bit more.

A few days later, after the swearing in and an address to the nation, he sat down with the initial reports on the accidents. Human nature being what it is, they were blaming the mutants. The new President sat back in his chair and smiled.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 12

(Logan)

It's a damn good thing Delta team was progressing as nicely as they were, because February brought us more surprises than any of us could have expected. I'll start with the happy ones and work my way down.

Angela hit the eighteenth week of pregnancy and her obstetrician, a Dr. Karen Owens, insisted she have another ultrasound. Hank had given her one weeks ago, but there hadn't been much to see. Now, the baby would be more baby-shaped and I was eager to have a look at him. Or her. Or (God forbid) them. We lucked out; there was only one baby in there. Angela was relieved, but I was a little disappointed. I wouldn't have minded two in the least. She just glared at me when I said that. Dr. Owens asked if we wanted to what sex the baby was and we both said no. We wanted to be surprised and the doctor just smiled and took a couple pictures for us. I proceeded to drive everyone crazy showing it off for the next few days, but they indulged me, especially the kids. Impending fatherhood had mellowed me quite a bit and they would do anything to keep me that way.

Rogue and Remy continued to enjoy each other's company, much to Angela's dismay. She was still happy as hell that Rogue could touch someone, don't get me wrong, but she would have preferred that someone be anyone that wasn't Remy. The Cajun didn't do anything to make himself less annoying to my woman and still had a habit of calling her "ma petit chat". I'd had to hold her back from clawing the shit out of him on more than one occasion for that, but the real clincher was when Hank caught her making a try for it. He threatened to lock her in one of the secure rooms in the infirmary until she gave birth if she didn't behave herself, but she did as he asked and instead plotted revenge on Remy in dozens of very colorful and painful-sounding ways.

We still had kids coming in through the underground, but now we had more parents bringing their kids personally. I wouldn't call it abandonment, but there were several we never heard from again, or only on very rare occasions. The youngest was a pair of twins, barely seven years old, who had complimentary mutations that had manifested early. The older one (by four minutes as he was always quick to point out), Seth, could transmute any solid into a metal that was as hard as steel. The effect was temporary, only lasting an hour or so, but that was more than enough time for it to be extremely useful. His brother Simon could manipulate metal, but not like Magneto. As he put it, he could simply "tell the metal what to do". Add to that their subtle telepathic twins bond and the two of them were going to be powerful indeed.

In the meantime, the school continued on with its daily routine. Delta team was making good progress in both defense and strategy, with Sage being the one who was the best at the latter. Angela had taken to giving her extra assignments for each scenario just to keep her busy for a few extra minutes in class. The rest of the class was performing to our expectations and we both felt pretty good about the choices we'd made. Which was a good thing because near the end of the month, tragedy struck the nation. Both the President and the Vice President were killed just hours apart in completely unrelated accidents. According to the law, the former Speaker of the House was sworn in as the new President and within days of that ceremony the world went to hell.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I thought all the reports on the incidents indicated that they were nothing more than accidents." Sam was saying just after a news bulletin that shocked us all. "How can he justify this action?"

"I don't know, Sam." Xavier replied, his face stony. "But I intend to find out."

Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day after the report. The new leader of the western world had issued a presidential order just hours before that required all mutants that had been in the area of Los Angeles or Dallas to present themselves for questioning by the FBI in regards to the accidents. The talking head that gave the report said there were rumors that mutants had been behind both incidents. The reporter also said that the Mutant Registration Act was being reintroduced, something we all thought was dead in the water ever since Senator Kelly had died and Mystique had taken his place. She might be an evil bitch, but she'd done some good by impersonating the dead Senator. I still thought she needed a good killing someday, but that would have to wait. We had bigger things to worry about.

"Professor, what are we going to do?" Kyle asked, looking worried.

"For right now, there isn't much we can do." The Professor replied. "My very first concern is for the safety of this school. Much as I would like to run to the aid of every mutant in distress, I realize that's not always possible. I'll talk to Buzz later and have him send a coded message to the safe houses in those areas. I think it would be best if they evacuated as soon as possible."

"But vhere vill they go?" Asked Kurt from his perch atop a bookcase.

"They'll have to go to other safe houses. There are plenty of normal humans involved in the underground that they should be able to move with a minimum of fuss." He sighed and for the first time since I've known him, he looked tired. "I will also suggest that all children be sent here. This is the safest place for them and I will not see children subjected to the mercies of the federal government."

"How many people can we hold?" Rogue piped in. "Realistically, I mean."

"That's the real question." Storm said, leaning forward on the couch. "We already put students four to a room as it is to save space. But we're bound to get whole families who won't want to be separated and that's where we'll start running into trouble."

"I agree." Charles said. "We could probably house around a hundred and fifty, if we can get the third floor and attic rooms converted."

"And that doesn't even begin to help the people overseas." Angela said and all eyes turned to her. "What, you think just because our President isn't their leader that they'll ignore what's happened? Like it or not, the good old U.S. of A has pretty much always set the tone for mutant policy in the world. This is going to get really ugly really fast."

"How do you mean?" Scott asked.

Angela rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. "I shouldn't have to spell it out for you, Scott." She held up a finger. "Number one, Magneto is gonna be all over this, saying it's the first step to herding us all into camps and exterminating us or worse."

"What could possibly be worse than death?"

"Are you really this dense or is it just a front you put up so people will underestimate you?" She asked him and he turned to her with an angry expression. "Slavery, Scott. Do you think Logan and I got paid for our time as Stryker's pet assassins? We were slaves. Well kept and comparatively pampered slaves, but slaves nonetheless."

"You don't actually believe that, do you? We're human beings!"

She looked at me and I took over for her. "Get your head outta your ass Cyke and think for a minute." I snapped. "What if they pass a law definin' what qualifies as human and X gene positive ain't on the list? 'Human rights' won't apply to us anymore." His jaw clenched and glared at him. "What was it that Lincoln said? 'All men are created equal'? Well guess what, bub. We're livin' proof that they ain't."

"What? Of course we are! We just have an extra gene that gives us certain abilities…"

"Don't go spoutin' that crap to me. Powers, Cyke. We have powers. And nothin' you or Chuck says is gonna change that. Yeah, it's an accident of genetics, like bein' born an albino or a midget or whatever. But they ain't blamin' midgets on these accidents, they're blamin' us cuz we have the powers to do it."

"He's right, Scott." Xavier added. "I have always taught you and all of my students that your powers are no more than special abilities, no different than being able to paint or play the piano. In a lot ways, that is true, but it's also true that others do not see our gifts that way. Many of us have abilities they cannot begin to comprehend and that frightens people." He sighed and rubbed his forehead before turning to Angela. "I believe you had more to add, my dear."

She nodded. "Magneto will be a problem, but whether that's sooner or later is in his court. We can't worry about him unless he makes a move." She turned to the window and wrapped her arms around herself. "So, number two. There are still at least four active Weapon X operatives out there and at least two of them were last seen in North America. I don't think I have to remind you how hard it was for all of you to pass the worst-case scenario downstairs." Bobby paled and looked down. "What chance do you think some of our safe houses have if even one of them showed up? Or, gods forbid, all four of them show up here?"

"Would they do that?" Jubilee asked. "I mean, they're mutants too, right?

"Yes, they are, mutants like me, Logan and Kyro. But we got away and broke the conditioning they put in us. Those active operatives are still under their control and they'll probably be told they're saving the world or some other line of bullshit." Jubilee snapped her mouth shut and Angela went on. "But the part that has me the most worried are the Sentinels. With this new guy in office, he could greenlight that program and it won't be a question of if he'll try to exterminate us, but when."

The whole room fell silent, no one wanting to voice their fears. Bad enough that Magneto would more than likely spring something in response to this new threat. Even worse that the worst-case scenario might be doubled. Giant mutant killing robots? Might as well lay down and wait for them to come. Except, of course, Angela and I are far too stubborn to go quietly.

"Darlin', with all due respect, fuck that." I said, standing up. "Those things ain't online yet. I say we go lookin' for that Master Mold and shut it down before they are."

"Has Buzz found where it's being kept yet?" Bobby asked.

Angela shook her head. "Not yet. But something that big won't be easy to keep hidden. We do know that it's online, just not producing Sentinels yet. Self-sustaining or not, it'll need a lot of energy to do what it does. He's working on hacking into an infrared satellite to see if he can find it that way."

Scott cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "Um, isn't that a little risky?"

"No more than being a mutant today." She replied dryly. "He's a hacker Scott and between him and his friends, he's the best chance we have right now of finding this thing. It's either that or let Logan and Kyro break into a military base and start interrogating people."

"I don't think that would a wise idea, Angela." Xavier said. "Right now, we just have to wait and see what happens next. We'll deal with this one step at a time." We all nodded and he dismissed everyone, but held me back. "Logan, as soon as Buzz finds the Master Mold, I'm giving serious to thought to assembling Omega team."

I nodded. "Kinda figured you would."

"I don't have to tell you that you'd be leading that mission, I'm sure."

"Guess that means you won't be sendin' One-Eye then."

He shook his head. "Something as important as the Master Mold will most likely be heavily guarded and as we both know, Scott is still too reluctant to do what will need to be done in that case."

I stared at him in shock. "Charles, anyone guardin' that thing is just followin' orders, ya know."

"I know. But as much as I hate to admit it, Erik was right about one thing. The war has begun. I will still try my best to work out a peaceful resolution between mutants and humans, but I won't let that stop us from doing what's necessary." He looked at me and a little of his old humor was back in his eyes. "I don't have to tell you that I do expect you to ask them to surrender before you start killing them."

I chuckled. "No, you don't." The clock in the corner chimed and I made a quick decision. "I'm uncancellin' the Danger Room session for Delta team. In fact, I think I'll double the sessions til this whole thing is over."

"A wise decision." He glided over to the window and looked out over the snowy landscape. "Teach them well, Logan."

"I will." I started out of the study but paused at the door. "Don't worry, Chuck. We'll make it."

"I hope you're right."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that day, I stopped in to check on Angela after the strategy class for Beta team. I watched her from the doorway for a little while as she paged through the solutions the kids had come up with for the days' scenario, whatever it had been. After a few minutes, she scowled at the computer and turned it off. She leaned back in the chair with a sigh and I took that as my cue to go in. "Hey tiger. Rough day?"

She managed a weak smile. "Yeah, you could say that." She replied. "It's not every day we get a racist asshole in the Oval Office, you know." I pulled up an extra chair and sat next to her. I could smell the anxiety coming off of her and I reached over to stroke her hair. She leaned into my hand and purred. "Mm, that's nice."

"So we got killer robots on one side an' a hysterical politician on the other." I grunted. "Just when I thought the world couldn't get any more fucked up."

"You can always count on people to be ignorant." She said bitterly. "It's the Salem Witch Trials all over again."

"Yeah, I know. Just wait til they try to hang us for bein' mutants. At least it'll be funny to see their faces when you come back the next day an' take 'em out."

"Won't happen. We won't let it happen." She sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder. "Where's the brilliant insight when I need it?"

"Ya know, I've been meanin' to ask you 'bout that." I said and she sat up. "You told me back when Buzz first found the Sentinels that you'd had flashes before that turned out to be right. When was that?"

She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "A long time ago, back before Alkali Lake. I was pregnant with Emma and I kept dreaming about people breaking into the house, dragging me into the street and throwing rocks and beating me as they chased me out of town. The odd thing is, that actually happened to me once in the fifties, a really small town in South Carolina. That was right after information about mutants was being released to the public. I don't know how they found out, but they did. Anyway, I thought I was just being paranoid, you know? I was pregnant and alone, no one to protect me. I mean, I wasn't helpless, but I wasn't nearly as good of a fighter as I am now." She shook her head sadly. "About three weeks later, I was dozing on the couch when I heard a noise in the yard. I looked out and there was this crowd in my yard, my neighbors and people I worked with. One of them threw a rock through the window and they all started yelling for me to get the hell out of here, filthy mutie, the whole nine yards."

"Jesus darlin'! I had no idea. How come you never told me?"

"It was a long time ago, Logan. And they didn't actually get to me. I snuck out a window on the second floor, jumped roofs to the end of the block and just left town. That was the last time I lived anywhere that had less than fifty thousand people."

"So what was the other time it happened?"

"That was right before I had Emma, maybe a week or so. I'd been living in Ontario after I left the other town, living off money I'd stashed there in the twenties the first time I went to Canada."

"Just how much money do you have?" I asked, curious for the first time.

She shrugged. "No idea. I always saved as much as I could, stuck it in banks all over the place. I never closed any of the accounts, just let them gain interest all these years. If I wound up somewhere that had a branch where I had an account, I'd just use that to live on til I could find a job, then keep depositing." She gave me a half smile. "But we weren't talking about my money, lover."

"Sorry. Go on."

"Anyway, I was in Ontario and again, I kept having these awful dreams, only these were me getting in a car accident and getting stuck in it. The car caught fire and exploded before I could get out. Just like before, it was something that actually happened to me, only I had barely managed to get out of the car the last time. I still got thrown by the blast into an oncoming pickup and woke up the next day in a morgue. That was in the seventies."

"So what happened?"

"Well, I was supposed to go shopping with this one chick I worked with, but I was feeling really tired and backed out at the last minute. She lived across the street from me and for some reason, her car wouldn't start so I let her use mine." She clenched her jaw and a tear slid down her cheek. "She died when she hit an icy patch on the road, slammed a bridge abutment and got trapped in the car, which caught fire and exploded." She shivered again and looked at me. "And now, giant killer robots, which I accidentally saw the plans for back at Alkali Lake."

Something about her story was tickling the back of my mind. "And those both happened while you were pregnant, right?" She nodded. "Darlin', what were Emma's mutations? Do you know?"

"Uh, yeah I do actually. Buzz found that on the last disc from Hudson Bay and gave me the printout this morning." She rifled through a stack of papers until she found what she wanted. "I haven't actually had a chance to look at this, but hey." She skimmed the paper, then grew pale. "Logan, it says here she had heightened senses but no healing factor…and precognition." Her hands shook as she handed the printout to me. "Lover, what does this mean?"

"I dunno. But I'll bet Blue could help us figure it out." She looked at me and I wrapped my arms around her. "We'll ask him later, ok?" She nodded and I kissed the top of her head. I might not have a degree in anything except killing, but I am more than smart enough to figure some things out. If I was right, then it was possible her brilliant insight wasn't hers at all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beta, Delta and Gamma team were not happy with the extra Danger Room sessions, but I could feel time slipping away from us. February turned to March and the best news we had was that the safe houses in the L.A. and Dallas areas had been evacuated without incident. A few days after they were empty, there wasn't a mutant to be found in either region, even those who could pass as human and had done so for years. Hollywood was shocked when a few celebrities went mysteriously missing after the crash of Air Force One. Xavier eventually found them with Cerebro, hiding out in small retreats that had been kept secret from the world at large. Thanks to Buzz and his hacking skill, we sent them messages that were carefully worded in case they were intercepted, inviting them to the mansion any time they wanted to come. All were politely declined, but all agreed they would come if they felt it was necessary.

We also doubled the patrols at night and added outdoor security as well. Bobby and Storm were the ones who did most of the outdoor patrol, since neither one of them were affected by the cold, although Rahne took a shift now and then using her full wolf form. Hank also took the occasional shift, his own fur keeping him plenty warm. Angela took a night shift at least three times a week in the security office; I know she was thinking back to when I'd been taken from the mansion with such ease and she was unsettled by the thought that it could be someone else next time. I missed her on those nights and joined her more often than not, although it was all business in there. She'd never forgive either of us if something happened while we were fooling around on the clock.

One thing that did amaze both of us was the way the younger kids were throwing themselves into their defense and gift lessons. Even those who didn't have what seemed to be a combat-worthy power were finding new ways to use them. There was one girl who could control the growth of plants who had progressed to the point where she could cause something as simple as grass to entangle an opponent to near-immobility. We had another girl with a power that was similar to Kitty's, except that she could phase everything except herself. She got such fine control over her power that it was impossible to hit her with anything from a bullet to a Mack truck. Even Josh, who had always hated the idea of hurting people, discovered that he could use his power to cause great harm to an opponent. He hated to do it, but told me that if he were faced with hurting someone who was trying to hurt us, he'd do it and not think twice. If only One-Eye could get that through his head.

Even in the Danger Room against virtual opponents, he wouldn't open up his visor to killing strength. I know he was holding on to the idea that this would all blow over, that a peaceful solution could be found. Nothing that Kyro, Angela or I said to him could convince him otherwise and we tried. There were reports on the news every day about violence against mutants that had been living secretly amongst normal humans, sometimes for decades, but he still held on to the belief that it "won't happen here". Must be nice to have such a Pollyanna view on things. I know better than that.

Finally, around mid-March, the weather started to turn along with the political climate. The President issued another order stating that all currently active military personnel were to report to their bases' medical facilities for testing for the X gene. Anyone found to be X factor positive, whether an active mutant or not, were being dishonorably discharged. The ACLU had a field day with that one, saying that just carrying the gene but having no powers was not a good enough reason to discharge those men and women. They said nothing about active mutants, but I think it was more out of fear than any real belief that it was all right to discharge them. Eventually, the non-active X gene carriers were reinstated, but the damage had already been done and over the months following the order, more people went AWOL than ever before. Many of them disappeared, never to be seen again. Whether they went into hiding or were captured, we never knew in most cases. Some went to the safe houses, having heard of the underground but since they were on active duty, not being able to get to them. By the end of March, the safe houses near the bigger cities each had at least one military-trained mutant in residence. Of the rest, some eventually surfaced in other countries. And some showed up at the mansion.

Piotr, Kitty and I were running Beta team through a new scenario that Buzz had come up with that included the Sentinels. Having carefully gone over all the Russian notes in the schematics, we'd finally figured out their weapon capabilities and how they detected mutation, which is really complicated and I'm not getting into it here. But Buzz had spent about a half a dozen sleepless nights programming the scenario and it was our first time going through it. The biggest surprise of the team was actually Jamie, who simply made so many copies of himself that the Sentinels couldn't track them all, allowing the rest of the team to devise ways to take them out. However, that wasn't as easy as it sounds. Most of the wiring in the damn things was fiber optic, so Bedlam had a hell of a time shorting them out. Hellion was able to use his telekinesis to protect himself and members of the team by creating a barrier, but the Sentinels also had some way of adapting to powers and he was unable to use it more than once before they were able to block him. Kitty phased into one and completely fucked it up from the inside out, but that's the only chance she got before they saw her as the biggest threat and disabled her to get her out of the equation. Davey tried frying them from the inside out, but they adapted to him so quickly he was all but useless. Chasca's sword wasn't enough to do any damage to them and her echolocation attack only works on living people sensitive enough to hear it. Kyro was also at a loss, since he didn't have any means of damaging them. Finally getting frustrated, I had Piotr chuck me at one and I cut it into little pieces with my claws. Besides the fact that they couldn't adapt to the adamantium, it was fun as all hell and we dubbed the move the "Fastball Special". I was already thinking of other uses for it when the scenario stopped before it was over.

"What the fuck's goin' on here?" I shouted as the walls morphed back to their usual polished steel.

"Nice to see you too, lover." I heard Angela say with a touch of annoyance. "You, Piotr and Kitty need to get showered and up to the study. We have some new recruits."

"Dahell you talkin' about? We didn't get any word from the safe houses."

"They're not from the underground. It's a long story. Just get your ass up here." Before I could answer, she cut the intercom and I saw her leave the observation booth.

I cursed softly. "All right then, class dismissed." Julian, Jamie, Jesse and Davey all left and I turned to the others. "You heard the lady, let's go."

"You do know Angela would kick your ass if she heard you call her a lady, right?" Kitty asked as we walked out.

"Nah, Hank would have her hide if she tried to fight anyone at this point." I replied with a smirk. "I'm safe for at least another thirteen weeks, eighteen if I'm lucky."

"She'll just save it up and get you later." Piotr said helpfully and I glared at him. He just laughed and went to get his shower. Kitty went to the women's side, giggling and I growled. There were days I wondered why I put up with this shit. Then I would think about my woman's growing belly and I stopped my grumbling.

Twenty minutes later, the three of us walked into the study and were greeted by the Professor, Scott and Angela, who were talking to two men and a woman I'd never seen before. Before I could ask who they were, the door opened behind me and Sam walked in. He took two steps and stopped short, staring icily at one of the men. "Alex." He said shortly.

"Sam." The man replied just as coldly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Someone wanna tell me what the hell's goin' on here?"

"Of course." Xavier said and gestured to the three new people. "Logan, this is Sarah Rosenthal, Peter Anderson and Alex Summers."

I raised my other eyebrow. "Summers?"

Scott nodded. "Alex is my little brother. I believe you've heard a bit about him."

I looked at Sam, whose expression was carefully neutral when he spoke. "Yes Logan. He's the one I put through the wall back when I was a student here." I cursed under my breath. Things were about to get very interesting around here.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night as Angela and I got settled in for the night, we discussed our new arrivals. "I can't believe I hafta put up with another Summers around here." I grumbled.

"Oh, calm down." She said, chuckling. "Maybe he won't be so bad."

"Sure. And I've decided to live a life of celibacy and join a monastery." I said dryly and she just glared at me. "I'll bet that if we had Blue check their DNA, they have a special gene for 'stick up the ass'. It's probably a secondary mutation."

She rolled her eyes and pulled on one of my t-shirts. "You're jumping to conclusions, lover. I'm sure he'll be fine." She climbed into bed and turned onto her left side. "Damn it, I want to sleep on my stomach!"

"Too bad. The doc said this was better." I didn't mind in the least. It meant I got to curl up behind her and hold her close to me all night. "You do realize that Alex is the guy that Sam put through the wall, right?"

"Yes Logan, I know. He said so, remember?" She sighed. "And they say pregnant women get forgetful."

I growled playfully and slipped into bed next to her. "You're not funny."

"Yes I am." She pressed herself into me after I got settled and I wrapped my arm around her waist, my hand resting on her belly. "But did you see the way Scott was looking at Sarah?"

"Darlin', it's impossible to see how he looks at anyone."

"No it isn't, not if you know what to look for. His face was more relaxed than I've ever seen it and he was always leaning a little bit towards her. You ask me, I'd say he's attracted."

"Hmm." I thought back on what I'd seen during the meeting, but I'd been more focused on keeping Sam and Alex apart than on what One-Eye was doing. "Could be. Maybe it'll chill him out."

"Mm-hmm." She murmured. I slipped my hand under her shirt and gently stroked her skin. "Mmm, that's nice."

I moved in to kiss the back of her neck when I felt something move under my hand and I stopped dead. I waited a breath and I felt it again. I broke into a grin and leaned up on my elbow. "Angela, I can feel him movin'!"

"Really?" She said, rolling onto her back. "I mean, I've felt him for a couple weeks now, but I didn't think you'd be able to feel anything for at least another month."

"Sometimes bein' hypersensitive is a good thing." I said and I laid my head on her belly. I closed my eyes and filtered out all the background noise; the soft sound of the heat coming through the vents, Angela's and my own breathing and heartbeats, various creaks coming from all over the house. And there it was, my baby's heartbeat. "Darlin', I can hear him!" As soon as I spoke, he moved again and I smiled. I looked up and Angela had a smile on her face and tears standing in her eyes. "I can hear him!"

"You can?" She asked and I nodded. She held out her arms and I gathered her up for a kiss. I made love to her gently that night, not wanting to break the spell. We fell asleep with me curled around them protectively and I was the most content I could ever remember being. I should have known it couldn't last.

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AN: I believe this is the official halfway point, if you all count the epilogue as a seperate chapter...:) I know i spoiled you guys when i wanted to make sure i got "Devil Inside" posted before i went on vacation and as tempting as it is to post more than one chapter at a time, i'm not gonna do it...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, the bestest beta readers ever...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for his constant support and assurance that this thing i've written is more addictive than crack...Super Special thanks to my readers, for staying with me through all of this...and Super Swanky Special thanks to those who have reviewed, which are sela103, Ineluctability, MidLifeCrisis and reeltreble1031...also, a new reviewer, Mary Sue's Assassin, who reviewed on chapter 10 the day i posted 11...and sela, for the record...i have at least TWO more stories planned in this current saga, as well as another one that's a crossover that i've been messing with on and off the past couple of weeks...so the end still isn't in sight, not really...:) And with their expanded lifespans, who knows how much further i'll end up going:)

Ok, now all of you who have read and haven't reviewed, please do so! Even if it's just to say hello!