August 18, 1992
Kurt felt at a loss. He had no idea what was going on, although it was apparent that Scott and the rest of the X-men did. All he knew was that people were shooting at him, and he'd been taught to fight back when that happened.
He looked back at the small cafe where he'd hidden Amanda. It was some distance away, an island of calm in a sea of fighting. A sickening feeling stole over him. Only a few hours ago he'd made the decision not to tell the woman he loved about his strange legacy. Now she was finding out about it anyway. She'd looked at him with such confusion, almost as though she didn't know him.
Kurt didn't like thinking about that. He would have to go back later, explain to her what was happening. Kurt might even have some answers for the questions that must be tumbling through her head. He hoped that she would listen, even though she had almost been shot a few times.
He teleported next to his brother. David had dried blood on his face from where his nose had bled. There was a cut on his forehead, and his shirt was torn. He looked weak, but he was still fighting. Kurt noticed that he refrained from using his powers though.
Next to David Sharon swiped at a soldier with her claws. She looked like she was getting tired. It was unlikely that her father had taught her how to defend herself for long periods of time. Sharon had never intended to be an X-man. She hadn't even trained as one to support a sibling like Kurt had done.
Kurt saw Scott at the far edge of the square. His hand was permanently by his goggles and he was moving fast. Kurt felt a small flicker of anger: of all the places on earth the X-men had to fight, they had to fight in Boston.
A few more soldiers flooded the area. Kurt looked around, trying to get a feel for the territory. There were a lot of them, and he couldn't help but wonder where they were all coming from. He was ready to teleport to a group of likely looking soldiers when the ground began to shake.
Kurt wondered if another plane was crashing. It was the only thing that he could think of. However, an explosion from the other side of the square drew his attention. A woman whose face he'd seen in a dossier years earlier stood by a brooding looking man with a long coat. His face had been in the dossier too: Boom-Boom and Avalanche.
Avalanche stomped the ground and the earth shook, harder this time. David began to fall. Kurt caught him at the last moment. Ororo looked over at the two Brotherhood members and narrowed her eyes.
"Really?" she said, "You think now's the time?"
Boom-Boom shook her head. Two soldiers hurried over and she threw what looked like disks of light at them. Two explosions later the soldiers fell to the ground.
"We're here to help," she said.
"Of course you are," Ororo said.
David looked over at the two of them and got to his feet. He seemed confused for a moment, almost as though he was searching for something. From the other side of the square there was a commotion. Soldiers went flying, accompanied by snapping sounds.
Kurt craned his neck to get a better look. He saw a flash of blue and red before David grabbed Kurt's arm.
"Kurt, where's Amanda?" he asked.
His voice was low and urgent.
"I put her somewhere safe," Kurt said, "She's calling dad."
"Perfect," David said, "You need to make sure that the call went through."
A soldier shot at them. Kurt teleported David to the side. He used his tail to trip the soldier. David put his hand out and sent him flying into a wall.
"I'm not sure if that's the biggest priority right now," Kurt said.
"I disagree," David said, "Dad doesn't even know that there's Brotherhood here now. They seem to want to work with us, but when was the last time the X-men actually worked with the Brotherhood?"
"Not since Aunt Lorna joined us," Kurt said.
"Which was nearly twenty years ago," David said, "Kurt, you're the one who can get around fastest. Tell dad."
Kurt nodded and teleported away. A moment later he was standing by Amanda. She was holding the phone to her head, looking as though she would rather be anywhere else. Kurt felt his heart ache again.
"Amanda..." he said.
Amanda turned and looked at him. Her eyes widened.
"Kurt!" she screamed.
Kurt turned around in time to see a solider leveling a grenade launcher at them. Kurt grabbed Amanda's hand and teleported away. He saw that she dropped the phone at the sudden motion, but it didn't matter. He needed to get her out of the danger zone. He was the one who had put her there after all.
Max woke up at the sound of the sirens. On his first day at the Institute he'd been told what to do in the event of an emergency. He'd gone to bed early, so he glanced at the clock beside his bed. His heart sank. It was far too late for a drill.
He grabbed his coat and threw on his shoes. Max stumbled out into the hall. He thought of his mother, Luna, and Angel in the guest rooms upstairs. He wanted to go to them and make sure that everything was alright.
An explosion shook the hall. At first he thought that one of the students had lost control of their powers due to a nightmare. It had happened before. However, the sirens were still blaring. Something big was going on. He thought of the Brotherhood, how they had attacked only weeks ago. Magneto had just escaped from prison. It might be him.
He began pushing through students to get to the stairs. His panic was increasing, but he tried to push it down. His father had always taught him that panicking in a crisis situation was the worst thing that he could possibly do. If he was panicking then he wouldn't be helping his family.
Halfway there he saw Rogue and Bobby come up from one of the side hallways. John was behind them, his eyes drinking in every detail. Rogue looked scared, and Max didn't blame her. Beyond the sirens, he could see how she held herself. She was tense and nervous. She'd left all of her gloves and protective clothing behind when she slept. At the moment, if someone just brushed up against her shoulder they'd be vulnerable. Max was just glad that he preferred pajamas with long sleeves and pant legs.
"Max!" she said.
Max pushed his way up to them.
"You guys have to get out," he said, "Go down that way. You went over the evacuation drills, right?"
"What about ya?" Rogue asked.
"I'm going to go find my family," Max said, "They should be coming down soon."
"That's pretty stupid," John said, "You can't just run back towards danger."
"I'm not leaving without them," Max said.
Bobby stepped forward, his eyes darting around.
"Listen, they might already be out," Bobby said, "Looking for them is pretty counter-productive-"
"It just went off!" Max said, "I should be able to catch them going down."
"But-" Rogue began.
"I'm not arguing about this," Max said, "I'll see you guys at the evacuation point."
He shoved past them and began moving up the stairs. Another explosion rocked the halls. Max had to struggle to stay on his feet. He pulled himself up the stairs.
"Max!" Rogue shouted.
Down below he could hear a fire fight. His heart began thudding even more painfully. He was nearly at the top of the stairs when he saw his mother coming down, followed closely by Angel and Luna.
"Max!" his mother said.
She rushed forwards and hugged him tightly. Max hugged her back. He saw that Angel was holding Luna's hand. Luna looked terrified. The sounds of gunfire continued to filter up through the floorboards. Max looked down at the floor.
"Come on," his mother said, "We need to get you out of here."
"Got it," Max said.
His mother gripped his shoulder and pushed him forwards. He was surprised that, at the bottom of the staircase, Rogue and Bobby were still there. Rogue was making a motion to the stairs and looked like she was going to go up them. She stopped when she saw Max and his family.
"Hey Rogue," he said.
"Good, they're here," Bobby said, "We need to go."
Max stared at Rogue. She'd been planning on going up after him. He wanted to say something, but his mother was already pushing him forwards. Most of the students were already gone, although he could hear the sounds of running feet from below them.
Several soldiers came up the stairs. His mother put her hand out and threw them into the wall. One of them moved around his flying comrades and continued up the steps. His mother moved forwards and punched him in the face. She followed it up with a quick punch to his throat and then a kick to his feet.
His mother got back up to her feet. She took a deep breath and looked at Max and the others.
"Keep going to the evacuation point," she said, "I'll see you all there in a bit."
"What?" Max said, "Mom-"
"It's been a few years, but I was raised as a soldier Max," she said, "You don't forget some things."
She gave a small smile and her eyes met Angel's.
"Make sure they get out," she said.
"Of course," Angel said.
The sound of more soldiers coming up the stairs filled his ears. His mother put her hands on the stair's railings and jumped over it. Max saw her for a moment, a determined face and a flash of green hair, before she finished her descent.
"Mom!" Luna wailed.
"It's okay," Angel said.
She pulled Luna forward. Max felt numb. He wrapped his sleeve around his hand before gripping his sister's hand though. He wasn't going to lose it. He was a Summers, and Summers didn't lose their heads at the first sign of a crisis.
"What about Logan and Remy?" Rogue said.
"From what I've heard about Logan, he can take care of himself," Angel said, "And Remy's an X-men. They'll be fine."
Rogue stared at the stairs, looking torn. Max realized what she wanted to do. He couldn't condemn her. Not after what he'd done.
"Aunt Angel, can you take Luna out of here?" he asked.
Angel looked at him, her eyes livid.
"Maximilian Bryan Summers, don't you dare," she snapped, "Your mother wants me to get you to safety, and I'm going to get you to safety. I'm not going to let you go exploring for people who are fine."
"Aunt Angel-" Max started.
"Max, don't go!" Luna said.
His sister grabbed his pant leg. Max bit his lip. He felt himself turn to Rogue, feeling torn. He wanted to tell her that he would go anyway, but he didn't know if he could. His family was demanding that he go with them.
The decision was made for him. Rogue took off down the hallway. Max disentangled Luna's hand and chased after her. He could hear Bobby arguing with Angel, could hear his aunt and his little sister calling him back. He wasn't going to let Rogue head into danger by herself though. She was family too after all.
