Little Rock air force base
Two days later
Professor Xavier, Hank McCoy, Scott summers, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, and myself were escorted by armed guard onto an air force base in Little Rock Arkansas in what is supposed to be neutral ground but given the looks and the tenseness of the armed personnel it does not feel very neutral.
"Right this way mutants." One of the armed guards said with a sneer as he opened a door to an office building for us.
I flinched for my sidearm making him feel uncomfortable and causing him to reach for his. I smiled at him and he relaxed but still breathed a sigh of relief. They suggested that I not bring my weapons until they were informed that stripping me of my weapons would seem to me like they were planning an attack and I wouldn't take that very well. After that they changed their minds pretty quickly.
We walked into a large conference room where a bunch of men and women were already seated in their formal military gear. We were shown our seats and we sat down in an awkward silence.
"Before we begin I believe some introductions are in order." A woman said from the head of the table.
"Stow the formalities. You know who we are and we know who you are. Just like I know the only reason we are here or the fact that you didn't shoot me the moment I stepped onto this base is because of director Fury. Oh and the fact that you are scared." I said from my seat at the other end of the table. They wanted to keep me as far away as possible like they thought that would help them if something went wrong. I could just as easily kill them all if I wanted to and considering everything they put me through I should.
"Bullet that is quite enough." Charles said sternly.
"No he is right. There is no point in being subtle. We are here because a war is unnecessary. We are here to come to terms. We decide what is best for both parties. So tell us what is it that you want?" The lady asked.
"A spot at the U.N. Hank will fill the position." I said and one of the men scoffed.
"Aiming pretty high aren't you considering what you did two days ago. You should be sitting in a prison cell right now." The man said and I smiled.
"No point, I would just escape. You see I aim so high because I know you will have some rather high demands yourself." I replied.
"Your not another race of human you are a different species altogether." The man stated and I laughed audibly.
"Your DNA is only one percent off of that of a dolphin's, what makes you so much better than us?" I asked and could see the anger growing in his face.
"Done." The woman said causing some of the other world leaders to look at her confused. "Our counter is that mutants register with the government, aliases, powers, residences, the whole nine." She countered.
"Not a chance until you dismantle the sentinel program and any future chance to restart it will be seen as an act of war against mutant kind." I countered and she stood up from her seat.
"We are wasting our time here, we offer you a place in the U.N. but you wont budge, how is this a negotiation?" She asked angrily.
"This isn't a negotiation. I will tell you changes will be made and you will accept it or we go back to a war on United states soil. We have the high ground and you know it so sit down and shut up." I said and stood to my feet.
"Bullet this is not the way to go." Scott said grabbing my wrist.
"This is the only way to go. We tried handling things the nice way and in turn they walked all over us and corralled us like sheep. We were prisoners kept in by sentinels against our will and they tried to murder all of us." I yelled and the lady looked shocked.
"Those are some pretty serious accusations." She said angrily.
"With the proof to back it up, in fact it should be here any minute, do you really want to keep up this charade?" I asked her.
"Is this true?" Charles asked.
"No it is not." She answered.
"Sorry to interrupt but I have a delivery for a Jason Woodbury." A soldier said as he brought in an envelope.
"Thank you, ill take that." I said relieving the man of the envelope.
I opened the envelope and dumped a flash drive into my hand.
"Proof." I said holding it up to them.
The lady walked to one of the computer monitors against the wall and inserted the flash drive. I walked to the monitors and took a seat and began pulling up files showing a nuclear warhead with coordinates that would direct it to the center of mutantville.
"Genocide of nearly an entire species in the United States. The warhead has been disarmed and is now useless but the proof is right here. As I said we have the high ground and this is not a negotiation. Now Mutantville is done with, Shelters will be opened up all over the country to take in mutants until the government can give them the help they need to get back on their feet. The X-men will help the government take down any dangerous mutants and they will in turn be monitored by us. Laws will be changed, any crime against a mutant will be considered a hate crime as with any other race. I am not asking much I am not asking for a leg up in this country. We just want our lives back and we are tired of asking. This is us not asking we are leaving mutantville and any attempt to stop us will be seen as an act of aggression. I will be monitoring the progress of these changes, Now unless you have anything to add, I believe that we are done here." I said and the rest of the X-men along with the nations leaders looked on stunned.
"Your demands seem fair but I believe you mentioned monitoring criminals where does that leave you?" She asked.
"Bullet's action will be closely monitored although I do not see him to be a threat. He was acting out of necessity and proved Your commander and chief attempted to commit an act of genocide. I am sure you are aware of his past as are we but he has made incredible strides in overcoming his past. If you feel you are capable I will not attempt to stop you from arresting him now but I don't believe you are willing to take that risk so what do you say we let his past transgressions slide as a result of him saving hundreds of thousands of lives." Charles said and I smiled as I saw them nodding their heads in agreement.
We stood from our seats and left the room with our heads held high. It is an incredible feeling just to be able to know that we get to go home. That we get to go back to our old lives and that mutants that have been born into mutantville or mutants that powers have manifested and have been sent to mutantville have a chance to live a somewhat normal life now.
Xaviers institute for higher learning
Salem New York
"Daddy what is this place?" Robby asked as we pulled up to the mansion.
"This is home, I guess you were too young to remember. This will be your new school." I said as I took his hand and led him up the front stairs.
"It feels so strange being back here after so long but in a good way." Rogue said as we made our way around back to our old house to find it a complete wreck. Broken windows, door destroyed, plants overtaking the building, it is definitely going to take some work I should be able to replace some windows and get the place at least to where it is liveable within a day or so.
"That's our home?" Robby asked looking at the cottage behind the mansion.
"It will be buddy. We will fix it tomorrow I think I will need your help. How does that sound?" I asked him.
"Can I really help?" He asked.
"Yea for now we will find a room in the big building." I said and walked toward the back door of the mansion which wasn't in much better shape.
After our drive and unpacking and doing some minor renovations we decided to call it a night. The beds and mattresses were too weather beaten and rotten that they had to go. We unpacked our Comforters and Robby curled up in a makeshift sleeping bag on the floor before falling asleep. Rogue and I finished walking the place without going to the sub basement as the elevator was not working and checked the damage done by Stryker's men. We walked outside and took a place on the front steps to the mansion entrance and looked up at the night sky.
"Marie, about my letter." I said before she shushed me. "You have barely spoken to me since the white house incident."
"What do yah want meh to say?" She asked.
"That you love me, that you hate me, that you never want to speak to me again, please just show some emotion." I answered and she stayed quiet.
"Is this the end of us? I can help to fix everything up and be gone if that's what you want. I will come by on weekends to spend time with Robby and I will stay out of your hair just say something." I said and a tear streamed down her face.
"Why would yah think ah would want that?" She asked.
"I don't know what to think." I answered.
"Ah just need some time, its not easy to take in that kind of information." She replied.
"I understand, I will give you your space. Come find me when you are ready to talk." I said before planting a kiss on her cheek and I began to get to my feet when she grabbed my hand and pulled me back down.
"Sit with meh." She said and I obliged.
"Where do we go from here?" I asked her and she turned to look at me.
"We fix what is broken. Mah family was torn apart long before yah did what yah did. It was the worst thing that ever happened to meh. I wont do that tah Robby, Ah love yah Bullet and ah don't want tah walk away from what we have. Ah just need some time for everything to sink in. Ah am tired bullet, Lets go to bed. She said and took my hand before leading me back inside. We made up our own makeshift bed and laid down nex to each other and a strange as it feels it still feels right.
"We are going to be ok Bullet, Ah meant my vows when ah said them and ah still mean them today. Lets begin the rest of our lives." She said and kissed me before snuggling up into my arms. She is right there is nothing else we can do but live our lives day by day. Now that we just bounced back from our low point and we have nowhere to go but up. Its funny I thought if I killed Stryker and felt that I put everyone I killed to rest that I would feel at peace but the thing is I feel more at peace having not killed him. Maybe its because I saved so many other lives or that I made things better for so many mutants but more than that I feel that its because I finally made the right choice. I can finally give Marie and Robby the life they deserve. I can put my troubled past behind me and move forward. No more killing, no more death just me my family and a long happy life together.
The end.
I hope everyone enjoyed this ride however this may not be the end. If you enjoy the happy ending then I suggest letting this be the end. I just finished my X-force Dark reign collection and as a result I will continue my story with a darker feel to it going back to last chapter and continuing from there. It has yet to be titled but If you are game stay tuned to my stories. It should be up soon.