Interlude: Washington D.C.
A few hours after the DC Metro incident, the President entered his office and was surprised to see someone waiting there for him. Whoever it was obviously didn't pose any threat, because his personal Secret Service agents hadn't prevented him from entering the Oval Office. Still, this was not a common occurrence and the President was understandably wary.
"May I help you?" He asked and the man turned around.
"Actually, I believe you can." He replied as he stood, then waited for the President to settle in behind his desk before taking his own seat again.
The President looked this man over and the only thing that could be considered remarkable about him was his height; everything else about him was utterly forgettable. "So, may I ask your business, Mr…?"
"Who I am isn't important, Mr. President." He replied mildly.
"I beg to differ!" The President moved his hand towards a button underneath his desk that would call his Secret Service agents in to protect him. "I demand to know your name!"
The man smiled, but it was cold. "Don't bother pressing the alarm, Mr. President. No one knows I'm here. I do not exist. But I can assure you that I mean you no harm."
"So what in hell are you doing here?"
The man leaned forward and looked at the President intently. "I know what you've been trying to do. I know all about Project Wideawake, your personal agenda with that Project and your so-called reasons for justifying using the Project in that manner."
"How dare you? My father was killed by a mutant!"
The man sprang from his chair and leaned over the President's desk. "YOUR FATHER WAS KILLED BY A DRUNK DRIVER!" He shouted. "The only mutation that man had was the ability to create water! And not even very much water, only about a cup at a time. His being mutant was incidental to the accident that killed your father!" He smoothed his tie and sat back down. "Need I remind you, the mutant was killed as well."
"How do you know all of this?" The President asked, clearly shocked.
"You do not need to know that. But this is what you are going to do. You will rescind the order to activate Project Wideawake and recall any Sentinels that are in the field immediately. You will rescind the order for the arrest and detainment without trial of mutants who are merely suspected of terrorist activities. I will concede that the mutants who were captured as a result of the DC Metro incident are justifiably imprisoned, so nothing needs to be done there. However, you will cease and desist any other activities that are specifically anti-mutant in nature immediately."
"Just who are you to tell me what to do? I'm the President of the United States!"
"For the moment." The man stood and looked down at the leader of the free world. "You will stop your vendetta against mutants. Now. Before you need to be stopped."
The President narrowed his eyes. "Is that a threat?"
"No sir. That is a fact. Good day." The man left the Oval Office through the back door. No one tried to stop him and later, no one would even remember him. Except for the President.
Terrence Bennington left the White House and turned towards his office. He knew that the President would be reluctant to do what he'd been told and in a way, this saddened him. Granted, he still had several steps to take before resorting to assassination, but it was something he had to keep in mind, just in case. Still, as he knew, a word here, a slight nudge there and a single man could move a mountain.
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Epilogue
(Angela)
Hank let us move back to our little suite just a few hours later. He wasn't sure, but he felt confident that my healing factor would take care of all the after birth issues in less than the six weeks it takes for a normal human. I admit that my memory of the post-partum period after I had Emma was fuzzy at best and since I wasn't with anyone back then, well...I didn't really pay attention. The episiotomy had already healed by the time I was settled into bed and I drifted off to sleep with a smile of contentment.
I woke up a few hours later and I was still alone in the bed. I sat up a little, straining my ears and I could hear Logan in the nursery, murmuring softly to our daughter.
"…hope that I'll be a good daddy to ya. I've been around a real long time an' stuff ain't always easy 'round me. An' I hope that when you grow up, you'll understand if I'm a little growly with the boys. You're my little angel an' I ain't gonna let anyone hurt you."
I stood carefully, slid on my robe and padded softly to the nursery door. Logan was sitting next to her bassinet, stroking her dark head gently with one finger. I leaned against the doorframe and smiled as I kept listening. "Now, your mommy, she's a real hero. She's been fightin' for other people for a long time. She fought to bring me outta some real bad places a few times now, she fights to keep all the people in this house safe an' she fought like hell to bring you into the world today. Sometimes I don't know why she fought so hard for me, but you I understand."
"Because I love you, Logan." I said and he looked up.
"Hey tiger." He said and I walked over to where he was sitting. He slipped his arm around me and pulled me down to the arm of the chair. "Just tellin' Evie how lucky she is to have you for a mom."
"She's luckier to have you for a daddy." I said and he snorted softly. "It's true. No child has ever been safer than this one, because she's got you to protect her."
"No, she's got us. An' everyone else in this crazy place. It'd take an entire army to get to her an' they'd hafta kill every one of us to do it."
I nodded and looked down at our daughter. For the first time since I'd lost Emma, I felt whole again. I had people that I cared about and a purpose greater than myself. I had a mate that I loved so completely that I could no longer imagine my life without him. And we had a daughter, who bound us together even more deeply than the primal instincts that mated us for life.
Evie stirred and started to whimper softly. Logan leaned over and picked her up gently, cradling her close to his heart. As I looked at the two of them together, a bit of Shakespeare sprang into my mind. "What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!" Watching my mate, I could believe that the Bard had him in mind when he wrote that passage. I marveled at the sight for a moment before taking our daughter from him and settling into the chair to nurse. He stood over us protectively and watched, his expression one of wonder. Finally, we were complete.
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On the other side of the country, a woman sits in an office and waits to be contacted by her superior three thousand miles away. The computer monitor in front of her springs to life and she looks impassively at the man sitting there. After entering her personal encryption code, she waits for the man to speak.
"Tigress, I hope you have something good to tell me." He says.
"Yes, Director." She replies. " I've had a report from one of the clairvoyants."
"Go on."
"They've done it. Hellcat gave birth to Wolverine's child a few hours ago."
The Director steeples his fingers and leans forward on the desk. "Any clues as to its possible mutations?"
"Not at this time. Even children born to mutants don't manifest their mutations until puberty under normal circumstances."
"What about abnormal ones?"
"Unless the situation is extreme, the earliest we can count on is age ten."
He sits back in his chair and frowns in thought. "Very well. We will continue as we have until such time that the child exhibits its powers. Move Project Prodigal back into the active files. Recall Demon and Vulture from Beijing and have them report to me directly. However, we will not be retrieving Hellcat and Wolverine at this time. We'll let them come to us."
"How so, if I may ask?"
"It's very simple, Tigress. When the time comes, we will take their child."
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The End.
(for now)
AN: Well, that's it! End of the ride...:) As always, my heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you for sticking with me through this long process of telling this story...and, as you can see, it's not over yet...:) Now, i have some news...i've signed up for NaNoWriMo...for those of you not familiar with this, it's National Novel Writer's Month and it takes place for all of November...it's basically a challenge to write an original 50,000 word novel in 30 days...it is my sincere hope to have the next installment of this saga in the can by then, but if not well...you'll probably have to wait until December to see what happens next...:) Now, before you get all up in arms about this, i have recently gotten a jump drive and do a lot of writing at work as well as at home, so i'm able to crank out more pages and get them sent to beta in record time...i only have about 5 more chapters (or so) to write before it's done and i don't post anything until the whole story's finished, beta'd and ready to go...you all will be the third people to know if i succeed in finishing, after me and my beta readers...:) If nothing else, wish me luck for NaNoWriMo!