Rebekah

I pick up the shreds of my coat and my bloodstained shirt and sigh. The shirt, that's fine. The X-Men always make sure we have three or four. The coat isn't so good. Logan coughs.

"We could take that to Jean."

I nod and set off. He follows. Great, now we have to talk about feelings.

"Look..."

"Logan, for pity's sake, you were in the middle of an illusion from one of the best illusionists on the planet, capable of fooling a cosmic entity! I don't blame you!"

He stares at me for a long moment.

"You don't seem afraid of dying."

I shrug.

"Oh, I'm scared. Absolutely terrified. Not of dying. Dying isn't what scares me."

He fixes me a dark stare.

"What are you afraid of then? Judgement?"

I shake my head.

"It's not something to be proud of."

"Go on."

I stop and hug my coat to me.

"I'm afraid of living. Of never being able to make anything of what I am. To suddenly realise I'm old and I've wasted a lifetime. At...At times, I've stood by the road and just watched the cars and wondered -just wondered, in a totally detached way- what would happen if I stepped out. And I'm just scared that the fact I actually wonder about dying and I find it so...neutral; not good, not bad; I'm afraid there's something wrong with me. I'm not afraid of dying but... It feels like I'm torn between live fast; die young and wanting to live forever, be young forever. And I'm so scared. Because at times I feel there's something wrong with me. Something...not quite human. I...I don't get these totally obvious social cues. Am I detached? What's wrong with me that I see death or injury as an experiment not a danger? I'm so afraid there's something wrong...defective... Am I something different? Is it just because I'm a mutant and I've always known it deep down? Logan, at times... At times I've hurt people and enjoyed that rush of power."

He stares at me and I shoot off. He grabs my wrist.

"You... You aren't afraid of dying? You're afraid of the human part of you?"

I nod then shoot off. Find Jean, hand over the coat and then she closes her eyes and the coat is molecularly reassembled. I thank her, smile and run off. Avoiding Logan at all costs.

Isaac

I awoke with a start. It was raining. I didn't move for what seemed like ages. It was warm so the rain didn't bother me that much.

"So I'm not the only one who likes rain," Kurt said appearing beside me in a puff of purple smoke.

"How you doing Kurt?"

"Not bad."

"I'm sorry Kurt. After everything you did for me, I betrayed your trust and hurt everyone."

"Isaac, it's fine now. Try not to look back, but only ahead. That way we can all move forward as a team."

Professor Xavier contacted us saying to meet in his office immediately. We both looked at each other and ported simultaneously.

Everyone was there. Dr McCoy was narrating something to everyone. I listened to what he had to say.

"The reason our reality is unwinding is due to a machine in the Pacific. It seems to be making reality expand. Reed has picked up some sort of magical energy signature which is the power behind the machine. It also seems the Brotherhood have been drafted in to help guard the machine.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Cyclops answered. "Simple. We take out the Brotherhood and destroy the machine."

"If only life was that simple," I heard Logan mutter. I turned to see where he was. He was across the room sitting next to Jean.

"You're right Logan," I said under my breath. His head snapped up and looked straight at me.

"I know you're one of the only people in this room who can hear me. Listen carefully, whatever Cyclops planning will take too long. You know how he is. He'll plan for every unlikely event. That's okay in most situations but we don't have much time. Whatever we decide to do has to be done tonight. You could take Sabretooth, Spider-Man would take Toad, Me and Bekah could take Blob and that would only leave Mastermind and Magneto. If we strike fast, we could disable them quickly and take on whoever's controlling the machine. What do you think?"

I watched Logan's face closely. He had that composed look again. He was probably remembering what he did to Bekah the last time we went up against the Brotherhood. His eyes suddenly flashed and he nodded slightly.

"And don't even think of leaving me out," Jean said in my head. "I'm the only one strong enough to take on Mastermind."

I and Logan stared at her in amazement. I hadn't even felt her inside my mind. "I'm the only one keeping Charles out of your heads at the moment, but don't think I won't let him know what you both are up to if you don't include me."

I looked over at Professor X just as he turned away. He must have noticed my lips moving and tried to read my mind.

"That's right sonny boy, your mental shields aren't strong enough to stop a telepath of Charles' level unless you're concentrating," Jean said. I turned to look at Bekah. She was standing in the doorway looking back at me. She had heard every word.

"You in?" I asked, so quietly, only someone with super-hearing could have heard. She had that look on her face all girls seem to get when the boys are about to do something stupid. Nevertheless, she nodded and we were silent again.

"It's settled then," Jean said aloud in our heads. "We'll meet outside the gate at ten to twelve. Someone make sure to tell Spider-Man. I'll get the coordinates to the place and Logan will get all the gear we need."

It felt good to have Jean on board. I had never been more sure of success.