A/N Ok, here we go, Chapter 6, this is officially the longest story I have ever written, so I am proud of my self. I would have given up a long time ago if it wasn't for my reviewers. There aren't many of you, but its quality, not quantity. Hopefully there will be more in the way of quantity soon as well. My target is one hundred reviews, so tell your friends and relatives. Please R&R, please.

I would like to say that there is some 'T' rated violence and hopefully some suspense. Like I said, I'm not brilliant at Action, so please be nice.

Hopefully, you will enjoy.

XxXxX

Jake crept through an alley between two tall buildings. His innocent mind hadn't comprehended what the 'XXX' and 'Peepshow' signs on them had meant, much to the amusement of the women leading him through the dark streets of Las Vegas. Jubilee had been quiet since they had realized they were lost, she had kept them moving while Jake was too distracted to do anything but follow. It hit him hard when he realized what he had done: he had abandoned his best friends in an alley surrounded by men trying to kill them.

Jake didn't even think to say goodbye or good luck. He was suddenly feeling overwhelmed by what was happening; he stopped and pressed his back against the wall, desperate for a moment's peace. A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder, and thoughts of Beast and what he had said flooded back. Jake looked up at the owner of the hand, and found Jubilee smiling warmly at him.

"You ok kid?" she asked. Jake nodded and Jubilee let go of his shoulder. She stepped back, still smiling.

"What's your name kid?" she asked, her voice softer and more friendly.

"Jake, err, my codename is Glue," Jake answered.

"Well Jake, I need you to be strong for me," she soothed. "You're my only backup, and we're not out of this yet, not by a long shot."

"What do we do?" Jake asked, still shaken by what was happening.

"We find a place still open that sells clothes," she replied. "We need to get you into something less… conspicuous." Jake looked down at his tight fitting uniform and he began to wonder why on earth the X-Men thought such a ridiculous looking costume was a good idea. Jake followed Jubilee as she headed off again. They entered a well lit street, lined on each side by more 'adult theatres'. They travelled along the sidewalk, heading west, as Jake had recalled Cyclops say that they needed to go east when they first arrived. They met very few people, and those that they did didn't seem to notice them. Jake noted that some were dressed in even more ridiculous clothing than he was.

Jake's thoughts returned to his friends, he hoped all he could that they were alright, and he wished that he could turn back time and help them.

XxXxX

Quinn ducked as a bullet flew overhead; more bullets came from behind her, ricocheting off the walls around them. One gunman moved forward to duck behind a wall closer to them, a mistake, Quinn thought. She threw her hands out and drew him into her darkness. She saw him in her mind, shocked and bewildered and surrounded by a swarm of spiders.

"I would change your employer if I were you," she said to him with a menacing smile. "You don't need the aggravation of meeting me again."

He screamed as the spiders started crawling up him, a look of pure terror strewn across his face. She returned to consciousness and saw the man lying crumpled on the floor where he once stood, the look of terror still on his face. Mark meanwhile was firing everything at the gunmen, trying to keep them away. He had turned an iron bar into a small rifle and was firing wildly at the attackers. Bullets touched his skin, but were instantly sent flying back at the firer without leaving so much as a mark. Fighting humans with guns was easily his strong point. Despite this he was feeling tired and the enemy was closing in. He could fend them off at a distance but wouldn't last long in a hand to hand fight.

Cyclops hadn't given up firing at the gunmen, but he had turned his attention to the helicopters and had downed the second one, but it had quickly been replaced by a third and fourth. A fifth could be heard in the distance. He desperately searched for an exit strategy, but like before, found none. His gaze wandered to Quinn, to her wings, and he was hit by a sudden idea.

"Nightmare, get you and Weaponmaster out of here!" he shouted.

"How do you expect me to do that?" she retorted.

"Your wings real or just for show?" he shot back before firing several bursts at the approaching forces. "Go, I'll cover you!"

Quinn nodded and grabbed Mark roughly by the chest from behind and with one massive sweep of her wings flew high into the air. The circling helicopters opened fire on them as they cleared the buildings but failed to find their target before Quinn swept down to street level and glided briefly before sweeping upwards to fly over a second set of buildings. Mark noticed his feet dangling dangerously close to the ground but was powerless to do anything. Quinn realized suddenly that they were being pursued by one of the helicopters and its gunner fired wildly at the pair as it chased them.

Quinn dived down again to soar through another alley in a desperate attempt to shake them but their pursuers kept up, hovering over them. It waited for them fly out before opening fire, barely missing Quinn's wings. She was beginning to feel her grip on Mark slip and was finding it hard to keep them both in the air. Distracted with keeping hold of him, she flew high over a tall building but had not saw the radio mast until it was too late to avoid it. In a desperate act she threw herself round, hitting the thin metal mast square on the shoulder. They bounced back and hit the roof of the building hard, sliding along the graveled surface. Mark felt his body fall and a hand clasp his while his mind was in a daze. Looking around he suddenly realized he had fallen off the edge and was dangling a dozen floors above the ground. He looked up to see Quinn desperately holding on to him, straining through the pain of the injuries she had just suffered. He clawed at the brickwork of the building in an attempt to pull himself up, but suddenly felt his arm slip. He looked up to see Quinn rapidly growing smaller and braced for the inevitable impact against the concrete below.

XxXxX

Beast rolled forward to land between two gunmen and threw his arms out, knocking both clean into the air. At the same time a tiger leaped over his head to crush into another unfortunate attacker. Caim had unleashed an arsenal of deadly creatures against their opponents, while casting spheres of flame at those that challenged him. Hack was busy dealing with anyone who opposed them as the three of them attempted to flee. They had been pursued by a dozen black cars before running deeper into the suburbs and finding themselves in a trailer park.

They fled through the maze of mobile homes and pickup trucks while battling their pursuers. People came out of their homes before quickly retreating as soon as they saw the guns and heard the shots ring out. The three X-Men were steadily being surrounded as more gunmen flooded the area. The concept of being trapped didn't affect them, it was the fact that it was as if their attackers were innumerable. For every gunman they defeated, two more replaced him. Caim had never had to fight so hard and was growing tired. Only the thought of his friends getting to safety kept him going.

As they moved deeper into the park they were flanked by several gunmen, who took cover behind several cars and opened fire. The three of them ducked for cover from the furious fire and leapt into a dried out ditch. Bullets peppered the ground above them, sending dirt raining down over them.

Caim sent both his lion and tiger charging towards the gunmen. He suddenly noticed that he was in pain. It took a moment to register that the pain was coming from his shoulder. Looking down he saw a hole in his uniform, a dark red liquid seeped from a barely distinguishable against his black uniform. His eyes widened and his breathing sharply increased, he made no sound but looked close to screaming.

Hack looked down to see Caim panicking and she knelt next to him, gripping his arm. He looked up with wide eyes, shocked and going pale. She smiled warmly while tearing her sleeve and pressing the material against his wound. He gave a slight cry and closed his eyes tightly.

"You're going to be fine," She said softly, just audible over the gunshots. "It's just a flesh wound."

He seemed to go paler before suddenly fainting. Hack cursed quietly before looking up to Beast, who had only just noticed what was happening. He nodded in understanding before picking up a trash can and hurling it in the direction of the shooters. After checking to make sure the boy was ok Hack crouched over to Beast's position.

"He's homophobic," she explained. "It looks like we're on our own."

"We could have used his little pets," Beast said, glancing over at the ever persistent gunmen and the sudden disappearance of the big cats. They were being surrounded on all sides, black suited gunmen closing in around them on all sides.

"Any ideas?" he asked. Hack looked around, then she seemed to notice something and leapt to her knees, pulling out her PDA.

"Cover me," she said to a bewildered Beast.

"What?" he asked, confused. She shot him a look telling him not to ask anymore questions and returned to what she was doing. She didn't press any buttons, a look of complete concentration etched on her face. Beast turned his attention to the gunmen, hurling anything that came to hand while roaring furiously. Despite this it didn't appear to have any effect on them, they closed in, the bullets getting closer to their targets. Beast quickly found that he was ducking out of the way increasingly more than he was returning their attacks.

"How long are you going to be?" he pressed, his voiced strained.

"Cover me," she repeated. Beast grunted and threw another trash can at the gunmen closing in on their left.

"Got it," she said victoriously. "I'm in."

"In where?" Beast demanded.

"The U.S communication network," she said matter-of-factly. "I have access to all the mobile phones in the area."

"Great, what are we going to do?" he said. "Prank call them?"

"Shut up and look," she answered, "Their ears, they have mobile earpieces." Beast looked up and saw the small black devices in their attacker's ears. Returning to her deep concentration, a moment later Hack looked up again with a sly smile on her face.

"Cover your ears," she told him. Beast followed orders immediately, still confused as to what she was planning. The gunmen closed in quickly to less than a few meters from them.

"Ha-ha, I'm in, I've accessed the network and isolated the intended individuals," she said, smirking. "Say goodnight, stupido!"

She jabbed the send button and for a brief moment there was absolute silence. Suddenly a deafening screech erupted from every earpiece of every gunman near them. The noise pained Beast's ears, but the effect was far worse for their attackers, who momentarily writhed in pain before they all fell unconscious.

Beast surveyed the aftermath, his ears still ringing. He looked down at the smiling Hack.

"I love you," he said.

"I love myself too." She beamed proudly, then she looked back down at her PDA suddenly confused. "That's odd, there's a strange signal originating less than a mile from our location."

"What?" Beast asked. "I think you deafened me."

"Let's get going," Hack said sighing. She got to her feet and headed back to the unconscious Caim. Happy he was OK, she signaled for Beast to carry him before they headed back into the city.

XxXxX

Jake caught a T-shirt in his arms and added it to the jeans that hung over his arm. Jubilee and him had found a big store that was open twenty four hours a day and had headed straight to the clothing aisle. Jubilee decided what he should wear, he simply took what she gave him. He been surprised she had accurately judged what he size he was.

They quickly bought what she had decided and he borrowed a changing room to change out from his uniform. He liked what he was given, a blue shirt, smart skinny jeans and red sneakers.

She smiled slightly when he showed her what he looked like, but she didn't say anything. Instead she rushed off out into street expecting Jake to follow. He carried his uniform under his arm and ran after her.

They headed west again until they came upon a street surrounded by tall buildings. Jake suddenly felt as though this place was familiar and realized it was very close to the pyramid. Looking around he saw the tall hotel. He grabbed Jubilee's arm and pointed.

"That's it!" he cried.

"That's what?" she replied, frowning.

"The hotel, that's where the Blackbird landed!"

XxXxX

Quinn sprinted down to the ground floor and burst into the alley Mark had fallen into. Dread filled her when she saw the crumpled figure on the floor. Running over she knelt down over the boy. He didn't look hurt, but his eyes were closed and his breathing non-existent. She took hold of him, holding him to her.

"Why did you have to fall you stupid idiot," she whispered, her voice strained. "Mark, please be ok." A tear rolled down her face.

"You dropped me." The mumbled voice came from her lap and she looked down to see Mark smiling slightly, his eyes half open.

"I wouldn't have if you weren't so fat," she replied. "It's a good thing you landed on your ass, it cushioned your fall."

"Thanks," he said uncomfortably. "I'm glad you care."

She pushed him off her lap and he pushed himself onto his elbows. His head was spinning and his body felt like it had been hit by a bus but he didn't have any serious injuries. His healing abilities had saved him from certain death, though even he was shocked to be alive. Quinn helped him to his feet. He was unstable, but was able to stay up without falling.

"Where's the helicopter?" he asked, looking around.

"I don't know," Quinn replied. "It flew off, I don't know why."

"We need to get back to the Blackbird," Mark said after a moment.

"Trouble is, I have no idea where that is," Quinn replied. They looked around, completely lost. Quinn decided to head off in a random direction, holding up a limping Mark.

XxXxX

A/N crappy ending I know, I lost my train of thought. A surprise will be in the next chapter, so stick around to see what it is.