Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men

Episode 5: Time Part Two, The Assassin

When you have to resort to sneaking around in the shadows, wearing all black and hiding your face with a mask, there has to be something wrong with your mind.

The future Nathan Darkholme knew there was something wrong with him. It was more like a someone, really, a personal vendetta that he couldn't quite shake. Someone he loved had been hurt by someone else he loved, and that was hard to forgive.

The day was fresh and clear in his mind, as a matter of fact he never stopped thinking about the night his father had come home early. He remembered how she laughed at his poor attempt to make dinner and how she had so appreciated the candle he had thoughtfully lit. It had been a nice day all around and it had been shaping up to be a pretty good evening.

His sensitive ears had picked up the sound of a car door being slammed. He remembered knowing that it was his father's car by hearing the way the key had fit into the lock on the door. He picked up the sounds of tension, anger, and he looked at her, knowing she wasn't supposed to be there. "He's home early," he had said. "Um, get up the stairs, go to my room. Hurry!"

To know by the very sound of his footsteps that he was extremely upset was a gift Nathan had acquired from his father. He knew what he was in for when the front door had opened and Kish had stepped in, fists already clenched.

To let the beating happen was the lesser of two evils, he had chanted to himself, soundlessly letting the fists hit him in a flurry of rage and pent up frustration. This was the way it always had been. Father comes home. Father is angry. Child takes the heat.

There was a blow to the face. That's going to be hard to hide from Maman, he remembered thinking. Good thing I have no friends at school, she'll think it was a bully.

But something was wrong, he had thought. Father wasn't stopping. The blows to the face were getting rougher. He felt a tooth fly from his mouth, and he let out a small groan as he dropped to his knees. Those blows would leave scars, scars for life.

Then something had happened, a sound he would probably dream about for the rest of his life. She came down the stairs, yelling for him to stop. She had reached his father, had grabbed his arm, was crying, shrieking. "Stop it!"

The next thing Nathan had been aware of was the sickening crack that followed. She had been tossed aside with the strength of a man in rage, and he probably hadn't even realized what he had done. He swung again, but Nathan had gone, run to her, pushing aside the pieces of the glass coffee table and lifting her head into his lap.

Nathan closed his eyes, remembering, boiling, wanting to see her and knowing that the only image of her that wasn't shattered forever was a tear-stained face over a pool of blood.

He had gone insane, and that was okay with him.

...

"Kish," Dom said softly, rolling over and nudging him. "I heard something, I think Nathan's awake."

"Then go put him back to bed," he grumbled, knowing he was going to lose anyway. It was always his job to put the four year old back in bed.

"You know I am not getting up."

Kish groaned and dragged himself out of bed, pulling his shirt on as he walked out into the hallway. "Nathan," he whispered. "Nathan, where are you, go to bed."

He listened for a moment for the tiny patter of running feet but he heard nothing. Dom must be hearing things, he thought, heading back towards his room.

Before he could take another step, a sword, HIS sword was at his neck. "Don't move a hair," said the slightly accented voice. "You can't hurt her if you're not there."

...

"What's taking him so long, he must have gotten the sword by now," Eury grumbled, leaning against the gate. "He knows we can't hang around forever and a day, right Anya?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "At least, I think he knows. He's weird sometimes."

Kish-oo whined. "Anyaaaa, I'm bored."

"Of course you are," Kennedy mumbled. "Always gotta be entertained, dontcha."

"I wanted to go inside with Nathan," Kish-oo said, tugging on Eury's shirt. "I wanted to go help get the sword."

"Somehow I don't think it would have been wise to let you go in there," Eury said softly to himself, looking up at the window where Nathan had crept in. Someone in the mansion could wake up at any time and bust them. "Hurry, Nathan," he muttered.

...

"I don't know any Caitlyn," Kish said. "Will you let me go? I don't even know who you are."

"You don't know my voice?" Nathan growled. "I hear yours venever I close my eyes."

Kish squinted. "N-Nathan?"

"You guessed," he said. "I have to kill you now."

"Don't," he said. "Oh no, please don't, I have--"

"A kid, I know," Nathan smirked. "A kid who you drove to insanity, a kid whose soul you destroyed. I vonder if you bleed."

A bead of red trailed down his neck as Nathan pressed a little harder with the sword. "You just want the sword? Go ahead, you can have it."

"I don't just vant the sword," Nathan said, a little too loudly. "I vant you gone, vanished, dead!"

"Get away from him," Dominique shouted as she spotted them. "Get away from Kish!"

"Maman," Nathan whispered, stepping away, pulling the sword back. He hadn't seen her in years. He felt his chest tighten.

"Who are you?!" she screamed, her fists clenching and purple orbs appearing over them. "Don't you touch him!"

"Maman," he said. "It's... it's me."

"Who," She stopped. "Nathan?"

He pulled off the mask and looked up. The scars covered up most of his face, dark and bruised but mostly recognizable.

"Nathan," she said. "What... but this is impossible. You're... young. You're..."

"I know it's confusing," he said. "I'm sorry it has to be this vay. I have to kill him."

"I--" Dom shook her head. "I won't let you!"

"What the Hell is going on?" Ben said, running into the hall. Jonah stepped out of his room, holding his gun, and Jasmine stepped out of hers.

"Uh Oh," Nathan mumbled. "Um, Eury dude?"

"What?" Eury shouted through the comlink.

"I think we have a problem, Houston."

NEXT: The Portal