August 19, 1992

The Blackbird landed. Scott unbuckled himself and began moving to the back of the plane. David did the same, and Jean bit her lip. She knew why David had been removed from the X-men roster, why he had never made it past the first few years of his training.

Unless there had been a new development, then those problems were still preventing him from taking place in field work.

"You might want to stay behind," she said.

David gave her an even look.

Jean, I won't argue with any of you in front of the Brotherhood, David said, But my parents were in there. I fought at the square. I'm involved in this. I am going to go with you all.

Jean's eyes flickered to Kurt.

He should stay here though, David thought, Him, Sharon, and Amanda.

David, no, Jean thought, No one is contesting your right to be here. We can't just let you onto the field without knowing what's out there though.

She braced herself.

You're not an X-man, she thought.

David stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding his head. She could feel his anger simmering beneath the surface, but it needed to be said.

Alright Jean, he said, Alright. If you need back-up, just call me.

He turned his head away, severing their connection. Jean breathed out in relief and got up. Mystique got up, leading the rest of the Brotherhood behind her.

"Aren't they coming?" she asked.

"No," Jean said, "They're non-combatants."

Mystique laughed.

"They didn't look that way at the square," she said.

"That's irrelevant," Scott said.

He gave Jean a slight, grateful look. She inclined her head. They really couldn't have David out on the field without knowing what he was capable. He was too untested, and there were still too many things they didn't know about the other minds held captive within his own.

There were shouts further into the woods. Scott's head shot up.

"Jean, what's nearby?" he asked.

"One of the camping cabins used for field trips," she said.

Scott nodded, picking up his pace.

"Let's get going," he said.

Scott began running. Jean kept pace with him. They stumbled into a clearing, and she saw Rogue crouched there with Luna. Rogue started when they came close and began to get up, but the panic left her eyes when she saw who it was.

Luna, awash in a large coat, ran forward. She grabbed onto Scott's legs. He knelt down and hugged her.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, biting her lip. Scott looked up at Rogue.

"And you?" he asked.

"Ah'm fine," she said, "But the rest are fightin something-"

"Which way?" Scott asked.

She pointed. He gently disconnected his niece, but she shook her head.

"I don't wanna get left behind anymore!" she yelled.

She pushed away from him and took off into the trees.

"Luna!" Scott yelled.

He took off after her. Jean followed, trying to reach out to Luna's mind. She was only ten, and she was running right into a combat zone. What was she thinking? Jean couldn't quite reach her mind: it was too chaotic, too unfocused.

They had to catch her before she ran into the fight though. She wasn't ready to see that.


Max looked up. Blood sprayed from his aunt's side into his face as she was pushed back. He watched as the blood dribbled down his face. Angel collapsed slowly onto her knees before her head hit the ground. One of her hands moved weakly, but she looked more confused than anything.

"Angel...?" he whispered.

The creature turned to him, his wings moving. Max took a deep breath, looking between it and Angel. Logan was shouting something, even Magneto seemed to be shouting, but he just stared.

That was his aunt on the ground. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd seen her get out of the car, hugged her. He thought of his mother. There was doubt there, doubt that she was alright, but there was also doubt that she was dead. It wasn't much, but it was something.

There was no doubting that his aunt was not alright. Her blood was darkening the ground. He could feel it on his face. Her eyes were fighting for control, and he knew that the concussion, and the blood loss, was weakening her.

His hands clenched into fists as he looked up at the creature. Its hand moved towards him and Max felt a burning behind his eyes. Rage began churning inside of him. It felt so vivid, so real, but it was also holding him in a sort of dreamlike state.

Angel's eyes focused. She grabbed the creature's foot as it advanced. It kicked her away and she gave a weak cry. The cry snapped Max out of his dreamlike state.

"Don't touch her!" he screamed.

The creature turned his head towards Max. Max got to his feet, his breathing harsh.

"Don't you dare," he said.

The creature moved towards him. Max put out his hand. The rage was distorting his vision, but he knew exactly what he was doing. His vision seemed perfect even though it was all wrong. For the first time in his life Max felt aware of everything.

The creature was inches away from him, and Max gritted his teeth. He twisted his fingers. He heard a whine fill the air as the creature's wings contorted in time with his fingers, twisting back and forth.

He had always been taught by his mother that keeping calm was the way to unlock his powers. She had never said anything about rage, about the way that it flowed through him. It was almost as though he was doing coin tricks, one of the first things that he had learned.

The creature stumbled. He could see the pain in its face. Max took a step forward, his hand still out. He lifted his hand slightly and the creature was brought into the air. The wings were part of it, like an arm or a limb.

It was a grim knowledge. If the wings were like limbs then he was going to snap them, watch it writhe in pain like it had made his aunt writhe. It had kicked her while she was on the ground, bleeding and broken, and he was going to give it the same courtesy. He prepared to twist his fingers again.

A scream filled the air and he looked to the side. Luna wasn't looking at him. She was crouched by Angel, sobbing. Angel was brushing her hair out of her face, her eyes still glazed. She was trying to form words, and Max's heart ached, thinking about her.

He felt his grip on the creature falter. He looked at it in horror. Had he really been thinking about torturing it? Shame washed over him as he thought of his mother and his father. They hadn't raised him to be that way, hadn't raised him to use his anger like that.

A sick, choking sensation came to his throat. If Luna's scream hadn't stopped him, would he have actually done it? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had a decision in front of him.

He could kill the creature in front of him like his mother had talked about. He could make that decision. However, it wouldn't be killing on the battlefield. The way things were now, it would be murder.

Max let his fingers falter. Slowly he began twisting the creature's wings around it, hoping to bind it. He couldn't kill it, as much as he wanted to. Not now that he had come back to his senses, now that he knew what it was he would've been doing.

The blue crystal on its forehead began to glow. Blue light flashed and the creature disappeared. Max stared at the air where it had been, wondering just what had happened. Where had it gone?

"Angel..." Luna sobbed.

Max turned away and moved over to his sister. She was still covered in his coat and he put his hands on her shoulders. Angel smiled at the two of them, her eyes glassy.


Angel wasn't sure what it was that she was seeing anymore. Max and Luna were there, and she wished that Luna would stop crying. Max looked like he was going to cry too. She didn't want that either, but she seemed to have lost the words she wanted to say.

She tried to focus on them. Angel had the feeling that she was dying. Part of her mind was saying fervent prayers. Heaven knew that she had made a lot of bad decisions in her life. She hoped that she'd done enough to atone for them. Somehow Max and Luna's tears made her feel better. She had someone who was crying for her. Most people who'd done what she had in their lives didn't get that.

There were more footsteps.

"We should get a doctor or somethin-"

"Swamp rat, she's too far gone for that."

Angel reached out and touched Max's shoulder. Her hand faltered and slipped down to Luna's face. They were so young. She didn't want them here, didn't want them privy to all of this. Too many childhoods had been damaged by the war she'd been fighting in, by stupid people who couldn't let go. She'd hoped that their childhoods could be preserved. No such luck.

She let her eyes roll up towards the skies. Angel had no idea what that thing that had attacked them was, but she knew that it was a harbinger of worse things. She'd been around enough to know that. Despite her own wishes, Max and Luna were now in the middle of it all.

There were more footsteps. Angel saw Magneto approach, his eyes fixed on her. She had no idea what he was doing here. Maybe he wasn't even real. She focused, but he was still there. Angel swallowed, even though the action was painful.

"Please..." she managed, "Take care...so precious..."

Her hand on Luna's face faltered. Magneto's eyes met hers. He nodded slightly, just enough for her to see. She smiled to herself. He loved them, just like he'd loved Lorna. It had been a love that was full of possession perhaps, and it hadn't been enough for him to hold onto her. It had been love though.

Without anyone else, he was the best person to protect them. Angel didn't really know who the rest of them were. She had vaguely seen Max fighting the creature, and she knew that someone needed to make sure he was put in that position again. Not until he was ready.

Angel wondered where Lorna was. Perhaps she was with the rest of the X-men. It made sense. Besides, she didn't want her to see her like this. She didn't want Max and Luna to see her like this, but she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

She laid her head further down on the grass, her vision blurring. A pair of green eyes, familiar but distant, looked at her. She managed another smile.

"She's happy Ms. Dane..." Angel whispered, "She's happy..."


"Angel?" Luna whispered.

Angel stared sightlessly ahead. Max took in a sharp breath, realizing what had happened. Luna realized too because she broke out into sobs, burying her face in Max's shirt. He felt his own tears beginning to flow. This couldn't be happening.

She couldn't be dead. She wasn't supposed to die. He thought of her coming over to babysit them, the first time he'd seen her by their house's fence. Angel hadn't been a soldier, not anymore, she had quit that way of life. She shouldn't have died a soldier's death. There shouldn't have been a need.

From the other side of the clearing he saw his uncle burst through, along with Ororo and Jean. He didn't pay attention to the others: his eyes were fixed on his uncle. He could feel the rage burning inside of him again.

"Where the hell were you?" Max screamed.