A beach
A/N Sorry for the long amount of time it took me to write this!
The X-Men, newly suited up, stand in a line, whilst Hank starts the plane.
Alex feels stupid in this Canary yellow suit, but he won't say anything. He's surprised at himself, as he hasn't poked fun at Hank's new appearance or the costumes.
Aiysha is nothing short of terrified. She knows how this ends, and she doesn't want it to happen. The yellow suit feels too tight, almost suffocating her. Lena smiles, trying to calm her.
Alex catches this and is rather confused. Lena hasn't smiled in weeks now, one day, that day that Erik destroyed Hank's machine, she's been grumpy, snappy and tired. Not even Charles, with his usual knack of knowing everything cannot tell what is going on. Moira has put it down to stress, after all, the world is in their hands.
Charles doesn't believe this. Why would it suddenly have this effect; she changed overnight. But, he supposed, maybe he shouldn't think about this now. He has the world to save.
"Right." He says, once they are all aboard the plane. He pulls a map out his pocket, and points to various sections of it. "This is where we land. We have to stop this boat here, crossing this line." He runs his finger across the middle. "Banshee, you will send out radar, and sense the location of the submarine. Then, let us know and Erik will lift it out the water."
Alex is impressed.
"Wow, Erik, I didn't know you could do that!"
Erik smirks, but doesn't reply.
Moira looks at Charles sceptically, noticing he isn't developing on his plan.
"What happens then?" She asks.
He smiles.
"I have absolutely no idea. I know we have to get the helmet off Shaw, then either Lena or I can freeze him to bring him into custody( Erik rolls his eyes at this), but I think Lena will probably have her hands full."
Though only Aiysha knows why, this statement will probably turn out to be true. Dying takes up quite a lot of your time.
Lena wishes the plane could go faster, magically transport them to their destination. She asks herself why. Honestly, she thinks, she is scared. So very scared. As selfish as it seems, she doesn't want to die.
But she supposed it is easier than what would have to happen if she lived. The baby would start to show, and what then? The baby of two of the most powerful mutants in the world? A whole lot of people would want to get their hands on the child, and what would Lena do then? So maybe dying is easier. She has to die at some point, she just wishes it wasn't today.
She looks down at her hand, which Aiysha is gripping tightly. If anything, Lena wishes she wasn't dying today for Aiysha's sake. She feels sorry for Aiysha, the poor girl knowing when her friend is going to die, and not being able to do a thing about it. But she can't think of any reassuring things. How do you comfort someone on your way to a sea full of missiles, where you will be one the casualties?
She hugs Aiysha, pulling her small friend close. Aiysha is crying now.
Alex touches Aiysha's face, and starts whispering to her. Aiysha smiles, although Alex's comforts are only quelling half the fears. She has to toughen up for Lena. It's bad enough for her as it is, knowing her fate. She's quite sure she isn't helping that.
Charles notices the small exchange between the two girls opposite him, and searches Aiysha's mind. He finds a locked box, and starts to break down its barriers.
Someone coughs. Charles looks up, and Lena shakes her head slowly at him.
He leaves the box untouched, confused, but he supposed it can wait.
Hank hovers above the sea, and Erik, Charles and Sean stand up.
Once Sean has located Shaw's submarine, Erik finally feels the adrenaline rush that he feels whenever the chase is on. His final enemy is going down. But first he has to go up.
Erik summons his mutation, pulling on the large metal object down near the base of the sea. To Shaw, it may be millions of pounds, or a secret palace, but to Erik, it is just another piece of metal, another thing he can control. That he supposes, is his biggest mistake. He sneers. He would never make that mistake.
He feels the sub lifting, breaking through the layers of water, and finally through the surface. Water sprays in every direction, and Erik receives a lovely shower. He doesn't mind though, the new emotion inside him is overwhelming.
He's felt like this before, before his mother was killed, before he met Shaw. He feels happy. Erik doesn't really know what to do. He knows happiness is just a passing craze, so assumes this will pass too.
Above him, Charles is smiling, but Erik, seriousness back, feels no inclination to smile. Erik will repress this happiness until Shaw is dead, never to bother him again.
He throws the sub onto the beach, smiling( nastily) at the crunching sound.
Charles feels a blockage, that doesn't allow him to sense Shaw's location. Luckily, this sends him Shaw's location as easily as if he had put balloons up.
Hank lands the plane quickly, and the X-Men run out. Erik heads off towards the sub, followed Charles, whose mind is already searching for the other mutants in Shaw's service.
Charles feels a hand on his shoulder and he turns. Lena is there, and he can see the fear into Dr eyes. But, he realises, the fear is not for her, but for him.
"Whatever happens, remember I love you." Charles is slightly taken aback by these words. He though his relationship with Lena was over. Oh, how he wishes it wasn't.
She kisses him, quickly. "Now go." She says, smiling. "Save the world."
Then Azazel grabs Hank, and the battle begins.
Hank digs his sharp claws into Azazel, who swiftly teleports to a tree, and then Hank wrestles him the ground.
Angel flies overhead, spitting fireballs at all and sundry. The suits protect them from the worst burns, but the burning material won't stand more than one hit on the same spot.
Alex sends a blast of energy at her, making a whole in one of her wings. Angel comes crashing down, smoke trailing behind her as she spins lopsidedly. She lands ungracefully in a heap on sand, but stands up quickly, wings tucked away.
Alex begins to walk towards her, but Aiysha gets there first. In the month or two spent training in the mansion, Aiysha has become an expert in hand to hand combat. And of course, she heals incredibly quickly, which makes her a tough opponent.
Alex watches slightly bemused as Aiysha kicks Angel in the head, but Alex soon becomes occupied with Riptide, whose hurricanes have become rather problematic.
Lena is tackling Emma Frost.
( A/N Emma Frost has not been captured by the CIA in this version of events!)
Lena dissaperes, and stretches a long arm round, hitting Emma in the head. Emma falls, turning into her diamond form. Lena scowls. She supposed it was inevitable, but it does make it slightly trickier to defeat her. She hopes she has the time, because her clock is ticking.
She picks Emma up, and stretches her hand and arm above the clouds, then drops Emma. The diamond cracks slightly, but leaves Emma unconscious, but no serious damage done.
Azazel sees what has been done to his friend, or at least to his comrade, and as soon as he is free from Hank's grasp for a single second, teleports.
Lena becomes visible, and looks around. Then she feels the sharp pain, and looks down to see a pointed tail sticking out of her stomach, having gone all the way through. Her first thought is ow, her second Charles, and her third baby.
Azazel teleports again, leaving the crumpled form of Lena behind him.
Aiysha screams, and shoves Angel off her, and leaves Alex to zap her, which he does, then runs over to join her by Lena, who is lying on her back, breathing slowly.
Her fingers go to her stomach, then come back to her vision red. She feels a few tears falling down her face.
"Lena!" Aiysha kneels down by her friend, clutches her hand. "Lena, please." Aiysha is crying too.
Lena feels pain, but not just from the wound, also in her mind. She has to leave her Charles, and her baby has to die. If given the option now, if either she or her baby could survive, she would save the life of her child, her baby. But this can never happen.
"It hurts." Is what she says out loud.
An idea comes to Aiysha.
"Lena, your mutation!"
Lena smiles feebly.
"Which one?"
"The one you were born with, the ability to copy other mutations!" Aiysha feels her heart lifting, maybe she can save her friend.
Lena's expression turns to stone.
"No!" She says. "It's too dangerous."
"Please Lena! If you copy my mutation to heal, then you will be okay!"
"Aiysha, no! We are both too tired, and there are so many complications! I won't let you risk your life!"
"Shut up Lena!" This is Alex. "It's not your decision. If Aiysha is willing to do this for you, then you should bloody well let her!" He's crying too. "Lena, please."
Seeing the desperation in their eyes, and knowing her own common human desire to survive, Lena nods.
"Aiysha, concentrate on your healing mutation, healing only, and just think of healing. Then, touch my hand. It will feel like a small electric shock, or so I've been told, but it let hurt. And you will still have your mutation, I promise."
Aiysha does this, and there's a snap when their hands touch. Aiysha's hair stands on end.
"Do you... Do you know how to use it?" Aiysha sniffs, holding back her tears, as she doesn't see the wound healing.
"Please leave me." Lena says. "I'll be fine."
Then she stops breathing, and Aiysha screams.
Raven and Moira rush over, then stop.
Charles and Erik run out of the sub,and Charles falls to his knees.
He repeats the single word 'no' over and over, cradling Lena's limp body. This can't be happening. His mind flashes back to the last time he saw her, her fear and her words. It's like a switch flicks.
"She knew." He says, but he doesn't really know why this is helping. If anything, this makes it worse. He sent her to fight, when she knew she would die. He feels a sense of overwhelming self-revulsion, and he stands up, laying Lena down. "She knew."
He looks at Aiysha, who nods slowly. Aiysha knew, she had seen it. And Lena had hidden this from him, and faced her death bravely. He wonders what else Aiysha saw, but his attention is diverted by the rather large number of bombs hurtling towards the beach.
Erik walks forwards, and stops the missiles in their tracks. He begins to spin them. For crying out loud, Charles thinks. Bloody Erik and his anti-human crap!
Moira begins to shoot at Erik, who deflects the bullets. Aiysha begins to cry, more panicked than before, and she screams.
But it's too late. The bullet hits Charles' back, and she knows everything is coming true. But this time,it's no bad dream, and she's not going to wake up.
Alex sends a stream of light towards Erik, who dodges it. Erik strangles Moira with the chain round her neck, and he hisses at her.
"You did this!" He says.
"No, Erik," Charles coughs, "you did."
Erik's anger and grief fills him as he stops strangling Moira. His mother, dead because of him. And now Charles, who will surely die.
He must leave, run away.
"Who will join me? Mutants must be superior, and we must defeat the humans." Emma, Riptide, Azazel and Angel walk to stand beside Erik. Then Raven, who takes one last look at her two friends, who are dying or dead in the sand, and takes Azazel's hand. A flash, and they are gone.