-XXXX-

"Professor, he's awake," Storm said

Xavier followed her down to the medical ward, where Scott was waiting, wearing a pair of ruby quartz sunglasses. He was slowly moving around, but stopped when he saw Xavier and Storm enter the ward

"Uh, hi," Scott said, "Professor, you're walking? How did-"

"We'll worry about that later, Scott. For now, how about you tell us how you managed to survive the Phoenix's attack"

"I, uh, have no idea. I just woke in a cave. Got a lift to here"

At that minute, Alex walked into the ward. The two brothers shared a look of recognition, as Scott headed over and pulled Alex into a close hug. A tear could be seen falling pass his sunglasses

"God, you're alive," Alex said

"I thought I lost you all those years ago," Scott said

"I think it's best if we leave these two together," Xavier suggested

He and Storm left the ward, as Scott drew back to Alex

"When did you get here?"

"A few days ago. I heard that you died and came straight here"

"We should get out of here and catch up somewhere less sterile"

"I'll meet you upstairs. Good to see you, bro"

"Yeah, same here, Alex"

Alex left the room, as Scott let out a sigh, before grabbing a hoodie and throwing it on, writing out his exit form, then heading upstairs to meet his brother, passing Logan on the way, who turned back to him in surprise

"Scott, nice to see you're up and about"

"Logan. How's things?"

"Eh, can't complain. Got a daughter to socialise and a son who wants to kill me"

"Sounds like fun times ahead"

Scott continued on, finding his brother outside and joined him on the bench

"So, I guess it's time we talked," Alex said after a few minutes silence

-XXXX-

"You seem troubled, love. There a problem?"

Rogue turned around to face Gambit, who was leaning against the staircase with his arms folded against his chest, a small smile on his face. Rogue folded her arms

"Nothing that concerns you"

"Ah, no need to be like that, Rogue. You have a problem, you talk about it"

"How do you know my name? I never told you"

"I find these things out. Part of what I do"

"Uh-huh. Well I don't have an interest in knowing what you do and therefore, I'm gonna go have a training session with Logan"

"The Wolverine. Sounds like fun. Come, I'll join you on this"

"No, it's just me and him. It's a little thing we have"

"You and the Wolverine are together?" Gambit asked with a slight frown

"No, I'm already with someone else. But Logan and I, well, I'm not telling you"

"Come now, Rogue, we are all friends here"

"I'm not your friend"

"You wound me with such hurtful wounds," Gambit chuckled, "I'm sure Wolverine won't mind if I accompany you"

"I don't need accompanying"

"Then I shall tag along and view this training session. Maybe I can spar Wolverine"

A small smile appeared on Rogue's face, as Gambit frowned at that

"You'll end up regretting it," she said

-XXXX-

"Morales, Hills, how is it going?" Nick Fury asked

"Things are going well, sir," Agent Morales replied, "We're closing in"

Fury and his SHIELD agents had been able to track Magneto down to a small building in Manhattan and were now closing in on him, hoping to catch him by surprise and take him down. Fury was watching via Morale's camera, as she led a small team from the front, while Agent Hill and her team was surrounding the back of the building. Once everyone was in position, SHIELD moved in silently. Fury was filled with tension as he watched his agents storm the building. There were no mutants in sight, as the agents moved higher through the well-lit building. They reached the top floor, converging outside the only room they hadn't checked yet, knowing Magneto was behind the door

"On three," Morales said, "One, two, three"

She kicked the door open as the agents stormed the room. However, they were all surprised to see that Magneto or his Brotherhood wasn't anywhere in sight

"Where did they go?" Hill asked, "They were here a few minutes ago. Sir?"

"Satellite did confirm that they were there," Fury said, "They must have left through a back door or something"

"We would have known," Hill continued, "We have agents…come in, Forrest"

Forrest was one of the agents posted outside the building in case the Brotherhood made a backwards exit and there was nothing coming back over the radio

"Dammit, I think they've pulled one over us," Morales said

"Spread out and search the surrounding area," Fury ordered

"On it, sir – LOOK OUT!"

An agent was hoisted up into the air by five long silver claws, while another agent scored two carbonadium tentacles through his chest. His life force was drained through the tentacles, as the owner of the tentacles, wearing red armour, used them as whips, taking down more agents. Morales was shouting out orders, as something moving faster than lightning took the gun from her hands and took her down. Fury watched helplessly as Lady Deathstrike and Omega Red slaughtered his agents

"Any remaining agents, get the hell out of there NOW!" Fury shouted

"Trying to – ARGH!" Hill cried

Omega Red had infected her with his Death Spores and she was dead within seconds. With all the agents dead, Magneto entered the room and knelt before a camera

"Really, Sergeant Fury, you should have known better"

He then used his powers to destroy the camera as Fury slumped in his chair, defeated

-XXXX-

"You're doing good, kid, keep at it"

Gambit leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as he watched Rogue spar with Logan. He was quite enjoying checking out Rogue's form, impressed with how she was able to hold her own against Logan. As they sparred, Gambit could see the bond that they had, but wasn't worried about that at all. He wasn't scared of the Wolverine. If he wanted something, he got it, though he knew it would be a difficult and interesting chase for Rogue. First off, he had to get past her boyfriend, Bobby

"Logan?"

Speak of the devil

"What's up, Iceman?" Logan asked, stopping his sparring

"We're here for our training lesson," Bobby replied

Peter, Kitty and Laura all joined him in the Danger Room

"Alright then, let's do a little session. Hey, Cajun, you in on this or you gonna watch Rogue all day?"

Gambit jumped, a little embarrassed, as Bobby shot him an angry thought, his fist becoming frozen in ice. Gambit ignored him as he sauntered over. He didn't think that Logan had been watching him, but he was quite mistaken

"Of course, I'll join in. so, what kinda training are we doing?"

Logan chuckled

"Hey Frost, put the days of future past stimulation on"

The entire room completely changed, becoming an apocalyptic world. Logan grinned when he watched Gambit take in his new sudden surroundings

"Welcome to the end of the world," Logan said, "Let's see how Cajun handles this"

-XXXX-