August 18, 1992

Scott punched the last soldier in the face, dropping him. It was simple, much simpler than the rest of the fight. He felt as though hours had passed. He wiped the sweat off his brow and assessed his troops.

There was no other way to think of them. Jean and Ororo looked alright, although they were both tired. Kurt and Sharon also looked, for the most part, fine. David was a mess, but he knew that was because of his struggle with landing the Blackbird. He'd taken the brunt of that burden. Deadpool had been slashed up badly, but his healing factor was making up for it.

Once he'd figured out that they were fine he directed his attention to the Brotherhood. Mystique was blinking rapidly, most as though she were trying to figure out what to say. Lance looked smug, and Boom-Boom had her arms crossed.

"So," he said, "did you know this was going to happen?"

Mystique stopped blinking.

"Not exactly this," she said, "But we had information that some sort of attack was imminent. Magneto headed down to the Institute with Toad and Emma."

"That accounts for everyone except Senyaka," Scott said.

Mystique laughed.

"I'm not going to tell you everything just because we're working together Cyclops," she said, "That wouldn't be in our best interest, now would it?"

Scott clenched his fist. He thought of his brother. Alex had been forced to lead missions with the Brotherhood by his side on more than one occasion. Granted, a few of those had been with Lorna. Scott figured that would make things a little easier.

However, she hadn't been on all of the missions. Even when it hadn't been Alex leading the missions, Sean had somehow managed. The Brotherhood hadn't changed all that much: it was still full of the same assholes. They had both managed to avoid any real discord between their teams in the course of their team-ups.

If Sean and Alex could keep their tempers in check, then Scott could too.

"Moving past that," he said, "We need to contact the Institute."

Mystique shook her head.

"By the time you do that, it will have already gone down," she said, "Your time to warn them was quite a bit ago."

"Then why didn't you call them?" David asked.

Mystique turned her golden eyes in his direction. Scott wanted to hit David, tell him that he wasn't helping. The fact that they had received any help from the Brotherhood at all was a startling revelation.

Sirens screeched as several cop cars pulled into the plaza. Scott swore inside his head and looked at Jean. He didn't know if she would be up to sending them all away. David might be able to help, but he looked exhausted.

Deadpool pushed past Scott.

"I got this," he said.

Scott stared at him in disbelief as he waltzed up to the nearest cop car, digging around in his pockets.

"Okay...was it this suit I put it in or was it the other one?" he muttered, "Well, there was that one time I kept it in my mask for a while..."

Scott could see Mystique staring in shock as well. He felt the urge to say something, to explain to Mystique that Deadpool was just some moron that they had picked up, that he really didn't have anything to do with them.

The cop car's door opened. Just as the cop leveled his gun Deadpool pulled out a badge. The cop's eyes widened and he pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"We've got a SHIELD situation here," he said, "Everyone pull back!"

The sirens stopped but the lights stayed on. The cop stared at Deadpool uncertainly.

"Um...what do you want us to do sir?" the cop asked.

"Stand on your heads, do ten backflips, then get some banana cream pies-" Deadpool started.

"Secure the area," Scott cut in, "Make sure no civilians get in."

"Right, right," the cop said.

He shot a dazed look over his shoulder at Deadpool before leaving. Deadpool put his hand to his forehead.

"Dude, do you know how few opportunities I get to do that?" he asked.

"I don't care," Scott said, "What did you show him?"

Deadpool flipped out a badge. Scott wasn't sure what all of the different symbols meant, but he could make out the word SHIELD on top of it.

"It's a SHIELD clearance," Deadpool said, "Pinched it off Cassidy coupla months back. Been dyin to use it."

Scott thought for a moment.

"Would it show up that that clearance was used here in some sort of database?" Scott said.

"Yeah, which means we better get outta here fast," Deadpool said, "Cassidy's gonna be kinda pissy that I used this."

"He'll be pissy for a couple of other reasons," Scott said, "And you're staying here."

Deadpool blinked.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You're staying here, because we're going to need Sean here, and there's a good chance that my brother will come here too," Scott said, "You meeting them and explaining is what happened is the easiest way."

Deadpool was quiet for a moment.

"Terry'll be with them," he said.

"That's your problem, not mine," Scott said.

Deadpool shook his head.

"Look, you can't make me stay," he said.

"I can though," Scott said, "Because if Terry comes here, then that means she'll insist on fighting without her mutation. She's proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but these were some real nasty people. Want to leave her to take her chances without her greatest weapon?"

There was silent for another moment.

"You're a bastard," Deadpool said.

"Less so than you," Scott said, "I'm not the one who left her in the first place."

He turned away from Deadpool and approached the group. Scott tapped the side of the Blackbird.

"We're going to need to get this thing off the ground again," he said, "Marvel, think that you can fix the engine?"

"It might take a few hours," Jean said.

"Less than that," Sharon said, "There are a few different things that you can bypass if you try. It won't make it perfectly stable, but it'll get it into the air faster."

Scott raised his eyebrows. Sharon shrugged.

"I'm smart, and my dad left those blueprints lying around in his office," Sharon said, "It made for good bedtime reading."

Scott nodded. He jerked his thumb to the Blackbird.

"Have at it," he said, "And try to see if you can reestablish communications with the Institute."

Sharon and Jean moved off. Scott gave Mystique a hard look. She put her hands on her hips and Scott turned away. He wasn't going to deal with her right now. He walked over to Kurt and David. Kurt disappeared in a cloud of black smoke as he approached.

"He's going to get Amanda," David said.

"Good," Scott said.

He put a hand on David's shoulder.

"You and I need to talk," he said.


When Max woke up he saw the night sky staring at him. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. Rogue was sitting next to him, a small form swallowed in Remy's coat.

"Hey..." he muttered.

Rogue smiled. Next to her he saw Remy shift, giving him a weak smile. Max ignored him.

"Ya woke up," Rogue said.

"It's what I do," he said.

Max pushed himself up and winced. He looked around him and felt his heart sink. They were no longer near the Institute. He could see Toad and Emma on the fringes of the group, but he couldn't see Magneto.

He dismissed it.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"An hour or somethin," Remy said.

He felt his breathing slow down. Max gritted his teeth.

"Then I take it you all just left my mother?" he asked.

"Nah."

Logan walked up. He smelt like smoke and blood. Rogue gave him a worried look, her eyes flicking back down to Max. Max narrowed his eyes.

"If you didn't leave her," Max said, "then where is she?"

Logan sighed and sat down. He lit a cigar, looking tired.

"Kid, Mags an me went back down to the first floor. Figured that's where your mom was," he said, "There was...somethin was there kid. I don't know how ta...nevermind."

He exhaled, leaning back.

"Don't know how ta say this," Logan said, "but your mom was fighting and..."

Logan trailed off, looking like he was having difficulty. Max felt the wheels click in his head. He wanted to cry, but it couldn't be true.

"And?" he demanded.

He shoved himself further up. Logan wasn't answering fast enough.

"And?" Max repeated.

"The roof collapsed," Logan said, "I don't think most people coulda survived that."

Max swallowed angry tears, his hands digging into the grass.

"But you don't know," he said.

"The place was on fire," Logan said, his voice quiet, "We couldn't get to her in time to do anything. Not with that other guy there."

"But you don't know for sure," Max said, his voice desperate, "My mom would've survived that. She's strong."

"Kid, that's not how it works," Logan said.

"You don't know her!" Max said, "She was an X-man for a decade! She fought against all sorts, she turned her back on her old life, she went through so much...she's too strong to be killed by a collapsing roof!"

"Kid-"

"Stop calling me that!" Max screamed.

He pushed himself to his feet.

"You left her there," he said.

"Max," Rogue said, her words soft.

"Don't defend him!" Max snapped.

He rounded on Logan.

"How long did it take you to make that decision, to leave her behind?" Max said, "Maybe a minute longer than it took Magneto? Less?"

Logan snorted.

"I was the one who had to drag Mags away," he said, "He woulda ended up gettin himself killed and, as much as I don't like him, we might need him."

Max staggered under that information.

"He...he hates my mom," Max said.

"I highly doubt that," Logan snorted.

Max paused, trying to digest that. Next to him Remy cleared his throat.

"Max, ya are right," he said, "Ya mom is an X-man."

Max turned on him. He hadn't wanted to go back when Max had asked him. Max might have been out for a few hours, but he remembered that. Remy continued talking though.

"Which means that she wouldn't a wanted us ta go back for her if it meant putting everyone else in danger," he said, "She woulda wanted us ta get out, getcha ta safety. Sacrificin da team ta save one person...it don't work dat way."

He remembered his mother, the way she had instructed Angel to take them out. Max looked at Remy. He felt torn. How could they leave her behind? It might have been dangerous, but they were supposed to be X-men.

Remy seemed to sense his thoughts. He gave him a sad smile.

"I told ya," Remy said, "It's not all fun an games."

Max looked at the sky. He could feel a swirl of different emotions building up at him. Footsteps approached the camp. Max tore his eyes away from the sky and saw that Magneto was standing there, looking tired and more than a little angry. He was singed and Max remembered what Logan had said about the fire.

"The Professor and his wife are still back there too, aren't they?" Max asked.

"It's likely," Magneto said, "The information we received said that these people wanted the Institute as a base."

Max swallowed and looked around. He didn't know what to do.

"I believe you have a sister," Magneto said.

His tone was calm yet distant. Max focused on him, his heart still fracturing.

"How do you...?" he asked.

"Where is she?" Magneto asked.

"Wit the other students," Rogue said.

Her tone was still suspicious. Max wished that he could find it in himself to be hostile to Magneto. He was the one that Logan had to away though. Not the other way around. It had been stupid, that act of bravado, but it was the kind of thing that Max thought an X-man would do.

"Then some members of your family are safe," Magneto said, "Be thankful for that."

Max bristled.

"My mom's still alive," he said.

"Of course," Magneto said.

Logan gave Magneto a sharp look, but didn't say anything.

"She's not safe by any means, but I do believe she could very well be alive," Magneto said.

Max swallowed again and looked at the sky. He could see the stars there, one of them shining brighter than the other. Dim memories of astronomy lessons were called forth. It was the north star up there. Polaris.

He felt tears streaming down his cheeks and fought to stop them.

"We're going to get her back," Max said.

"Of course," Magneto said.

Max continued to stare at the stars for a minute, unaware that he wasn't the only one grieving.