A Dark Rebirth

by Shadow Master

(Gender Bender)(BtVS/Earth-616 Mainstream Marvel Universe) Big things from small beginnings. These words have been used to encourage and inspire. However it looks like chaos bit off a bit more than it could chew this time.

4. The Boots Made For Walkin'

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no money from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are people who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore I would greatly appreciate it if no legal were taken against me. I can promise you that I do not have a lot of money and it wouldn't even cover half of your legal fees.

Massachusets Academy Communications Center

Alexia's POV

O-kay! Time to see if I can add some credibility to my idea before I start asking favors. She thought as she turned on the high tech looking computer in front of her and double clicked on the web browser icon.

It'd been a little under a week since she'd gotten confirmation from Rachel that the comics of her reality pretty much accurately recorded what happened in this reality. Sure there was around fifteen percent deviation by Marvel Girl's estimation but that was still a lot higher than she'd originally thought she was going to get. While she was telling the truth when she'd told Rachel that most of the information inside her head was obsolete there was ONE thing she knew…well sort of knew…okay, okay it was just implied in the comics but serious Spidey fans suspected the truth.

One of the last major storylines that came out in the Spider-Man titles before that damned Halloween night was entitled 'Revelations'. In it Norman 'I am a psycho Green Goblin' Osborn made his big return and not only killed the clone Ben Reilly but several frames in the last two issues strongly implied that the asshole kidnapped Pete and MJs firstborn baby girl right out of the delivery room. The guy was a bastard but DAMN if he didn't have balls of Adamantium to pull off something like that right in the middle of an occupied hospital. Oh sure the sicko took some steps to make sure that it wasn't so obvious that a CORPSE could figure out what was going on but she'd been able to read between the lines. Have Alison Mongrain get a job at the Daily Grind and have her slip something into MJs food to induce early labor. Once done remove MJs usual doctor from the picture and slip in a substitute that on paper looks completely normal and trustworthy. She could only presume that something was done to make sure that the newborn baby didn't cry thus alerting MJ to the truth. Then the baby was likely put into the laundry cart Mongrain wheeled out of the building and into the parking lot where her car was waiting for her.

Finish it all off with a shadowy meeting by the docks with orders to make sure 'it's never seen again' pretty much sealed the deal in her mind as to what really happened.

However as much as she'd like to go running to the Avengers or the X-Men to let them know that there was a decent chance little baby May was still alive there was still that naggling ten percent plus chance her Spidey comics were mistaken. She needed proof, even circumstantial proof would be good enough, before she could try to get more people in on things and even then she'd be keeping the team small. With Osborn he probably had people in every major position in the world, in whatever organizations would give him influence or control, so any activity that would generate a ping with those people had to be avoided for as long as possible. That meant keeping the team small and preferably filled with people skilled enough to stay under the radar for a good long while before any outsiders realized something was up.

O-kay…first things first. She thought as she began to type keywords into an online search engine, Confirm that most of the events I remember took place. So search…keywords…Halloween…Green Goblin…Daily Bugle…explosion.

It took awhile and a little alteration of the search word parameters but eventually she managed to find an article from the Daily Globe detailing the bombing of a floor of the Daily Bugle by the Green Goblin as well as a battle between GG and Spider-Man. She knew she could've tried for an article from the Bugle but while the newspaper probably reported accurate info about most superheroes it'd been a consistent flaw that Jameson was irrationally biased against the web-slinger. If she wanted accurate OBJECTIVE information the Daily Globe, as the Bugle's chief rival, was the best place to look for it. According to the date attached to the article it happened three years and four months ago making her a little concerned for the welfare and current status of Baby May. Was she still alive? Had Osborn put her with some parental guardians to raise her since he didn't consider the job worth his time? While she wanted to return Baby May to Pete and MJ if the kid had been raised by a family already it'd be the whole 'taking her from the only family she knows' thing and she didn't want that.

Stop worrying about what MIGHT be the case and focus on the present! She thought harshly to herself as she began to look for more corroborating information like Ben Reilly's obituary.

She'd just confirmed the events as much as she could with the same level of access that most civilians possessed but if she was really going to lock this down she was going to need more…and unfortunately there was only one way to get it.

Celeste? Interested in me owing you and your sisters a favor? She telepathically thought reaching out to the most friendly Cuckoo in residence.

What do you want? Celeste asked telepathically thankfully without her sisters joining in.

I need you girls to do some cerebral spelunking inside some heads for some specific information. She replied telepathically while working to keep her mental voice the same as her physical voice, It'll be at two different locations and the memories will be three years and four months ago give or take a week. The first location would be the New York Hospital where you'll be looking for info on a Doctor Folsome who was handling a delivery Halloween night and a nurse who was helping him but left with a laundry cart right out of the building. The nurse isn't actually a nurse but a woman going by the name Alison Mongrain.

The other location would be the docks, more precisely the area of the docks where people would put their personal boats not the big cargo haulers or cruise ships. The boat I'm interested in would've left Halloween night or in the days immediately following Halloween with Alison Mongrain at the wheel. What I'm hoping you'll be able to find is where it was headed after it left NYC. She thought conveying what he wanted from the telepathic blonde, I don't know if boats have to file a course plan like planes have to file a flight plan but any info you or your sisters can find on the boat would be appreciated.

What exactly is this all for exactly? Celeste thought sounding interested but wary.

Cliff notes version is I found out that the comics of my world pretty accurately tell how things happened here up until Operation: Zero Tolerance. She replied mentally summarizing the truth, In one of the last issues I read a superhero's newborn baby got kidnapped right out of the delivery room. The parents think she died during childbirth but the issues I read suggest otherwise.

So you want us to help track the baby girl down. Celeste thought back having already completed the train of thought.

Exactly. I've already confirmed some facts through the Daily Globe newspaper archives online but I need more if I'm gong to get anywhere. She thought to the blonde telepath, If I was a good enough telepath to use the Cerebro here I wouldn't have bothered you with this little 'quest' of mine but I'm not.

Why don't you ask Rachel for help? Celeste thought inquiringly with a bit of an edge to her mental tone.

Two reasons. One: this could be construed as a violation of Xavier's rules concerning the proper usage of telepathic abilities so she'd likely only do it as a last resort and I don't want to wait that long. She thought in reply as she laid out her reasons, Two: As far as I know she doesn't know the sneaky arts of digging around in someone's head without them knowing about it whereas I'm pretty sure Frosty probably taught you and your sisters enough to manage it.

So basically your impatient and we're sneaky? Celeste asked telepathically sounding almost amused.

Yep! So…will you and your sisters help me out? She thought in inquiry hoping she wouldn't have to go to Rachel after all.

Well I don't know about my sisters but sure I'll help you. Celeste thought in reply in a tone that implied trouble, But in return you'll not only agree to be my pack mule the next time we're at a mall but you'll let me choose your wardrobe.

What?! I understand being the person to carry around all the bags like your personal butler or something but why would you want to use your favor to by me clothes? She thought with some surprise at the terms laid out.

Simple. Miss Frost gave us credit cards linked to her personal account in an attempt to bribe us into liking her again so running up as big a bill as possible but STILL hating her will be fun. Celeste thought in reply mirth mixed with every word, Also I think it'd be fun having you as my own personal Barbie doll for the afternoon.

Gee! I feel so lucky! She thought as she rolled her mental eyes, Alright you have a deal.

Good. If only I'm on the job you should have your information in one to two weeks. Celeste thought sounding quite happy with the bargain, If my sisters decide to help then divide that time by three.

Good enough for me. I'll be waiting. She thought before breaking off telepathic communication.

Now some people might wonder why she wasn't more concerned about being Celeste's own personal 'Barbie doll' but the answer was actually fairly simple. While the girl and her sisters might at present possess more skill than her in matters of telepathy she was fairly certain that in terms of raw power she could wipe the floor with them. Since there was no way the triplets would be able to prevent her rise in skill as a telepath it was only a matter of time until she became better than them. So if Celeste and her sisters took their visit to the local mall too far…well…there'd be payback down the road equal to any humiliating outfit they tried to stick her in.

She already had a few ideas for payback: telepathically making it so they spoke like hillbillies for a week, making it so that wearing anything with more cloth than a bikini made them unbearably hot and the idea at the top of the list being having them perform every Three Stooges skit in front of an audience.

The Cuckoos likely knew this so she wasn't too worried about what they'd have her try on.

Danger Dome

Rachel Summers' POV

Rachel. I think you and Alexia should come down to the living room now. Celeste thought telepathically to her while she chased after her student, There's something on the TV you both need to see.

She almost asked what precisely was so troubling but the telepathic connection broke off before she could do so and that gave her the impression she'd have to do as asked to get an answer.

"Alexia! Celeste wants us down in the living room!" she yelled in order to be heard by the young woman who was a fair distance ahead of her, "We'll pick up where we left off after we see what has her spooked."

"'kay!" Alexia yelled before jogging back towards her while she began to walk to the Danger Dome's exit.

It didn't take them long to exit the training area, they didn't bother changing out of their workout clothes, and a few minutes later they were walking into the living room where the Cuckoos all sat with their eyes fixed on the television. It showed a woman in a lab coat, looked Indian in ethnicity, and glasses with a rather severe look on her face. The lady was apparently waiting for her audience to calm down before she spoke but it didn't take long.

"Mutants are not the next step in evolution. They are not the end of humankind." The woman said sounding completely certain of her words, "The mutant gene is nothing more than a disease. A corruption of healthy cellular activity and now at last we have found a cure."

"What?!" she exclaimed not believing what she was hearing.

In her timeline and this one there'd never really been a 'cure' for being a mutant either because no one could figure out how to make one or because they simply chose to jump right to extermination. Indeed without knowing how the x-gene even came into being, what factors gave rise to its initial creation, one would think a cure impossible to formulate. A part of her just wanted to dismiss this woman as nothing but another mutant hater or arrogant scientist but if Celeste was taking this seriously she would too.

"You need only look at how a mutant's ability first manifests to see how it can be called a disease. But don't take my word for it." The woman said before aiming a remote at a large flat screen television, "See for yourself."

A moment later an image appeared on the screen showing someone riding in the back of a police squad car. An officer in the front passenger seat explains how he doesn't expect this to be anything serious and that it'll be easy to resolve relatively peacefully. However when they get out of their car in front of a normal looking home a bright red light and a blood curdling scream immediately cause them to draw their side arms and enter the house. The person with the camera follows them, the image bouncing with each footstep, until it catches up with them just inside the doorframe of a bedroom catching the officer's looks of fear and disbelief. A moment later the operator of the camera entered the room to a horrific sight: a girl surrounded by a monstrous energy construct whose arms had impaled one person, killed another and quickly moved to attack the officers. The image then froze, the glasses wearing lady having pressed the pause button on the remote, showing a horrible sight obviously intended for shock value.

"A child's mutant power usually manifests at puberty. This was not the case for Tildie Soames." The woman said before an assistant escorted the little orange haired girl out onto the stage, "Her ability to manifest her own nightmares cost the lives of her parents as well as officer Hoyt. She understands that this was not her fault. This brave child offered to work with us, under the supervision of her guardians and government health agencies, to test Benetech Lab's new vaccine. In the coming months, she will make herself available to genetic teams from every nation to prove what we now conclusively know. The mutant strain can be eliminated. Safely and irreversibly. There is such a thing as a second chance."

With that the reporters in the audience erupted into a frenzy of question asking and lightbulb flashing but she didn't watch it for very long.

Mostly because Celeste shut the TV off but she doubted anyone in the room objected to that action.

"So…who thinks this is gonna get messy?" Alexia asked sounding about uneasy as she felt.

"That's an understatement." Phoebe replied obviously angered by what she'd heard, "Obviously the Glasses bitch has to die and Benetech burned to the ground."

"There'll be no killing." She said firmly as she glared at the little Frost wannabe, "The X-men won't and they'll make sure no one else does either."

"Even if this 'cure' turns out to be real?" Phoebe asked with the word 'cure' coming out as foul tasting, "The second the government labs are convinced that that POISON Benetech Labs has made works as advertised they'll mass produce it, weaponize it and then make sure every mutant gets it whether they want it or not."

"If anyone tries to force mutants to take the cure the X-Men will stop them. If not them then the Avengers or the Fantastic Four." She said refusing to believe that things would go as poorly as Phoebe thought, "The public might hate mutants but every super team that's actually worked with the X-Men or any other mutant team knows we're not monsters or freaks. We're people just like them."

"You honestly think the American government, ANY government, will give a fuck that their 'heroes' don't agree with their plans to wipe out the mutant species? IDIOT!" Phoebe yelled getting to her feet and walking until the two of them were nose to nose, "They'll either bow to the wishes of the majority or be branded traitors and taken down along with mutantkind! The only chance our kind has is to strike now, wipe out all traces of this cure and discourage anyone else from resurrecting it!"

"Frost's passed on her pessimism I see." She growled not liking the little blonde's tone.

"I prefer to call it realism. Baseline humans fear and hate us. They'll ALWAYS fear and hate us because we have power and they don't." Phoebe said her tone going cool, "No one likes living in fear so they always try to do something to get rid of it and most of the time permanently is preferable. What's more permanent than taking a cure that can turn us from super humans to just plain humans? Nothing that's what!"

"Still sounds like pessimism to me. I've been around a lot longer than you have you little brat so I know that not all humans are like that." She said poking Phoebe in the chest as she made her point, "I have friends who're human, every X-Man has a friend who's human and doesn't look at us like we're monsters, so carpet blaming an entire 'people' because some can't see the truth is ridiculous."

"And are those 'friends' going to risk their lives to protect us when we're surrounded by the ordinance of every country on the planet?" Phoebe asked with utter contempt, "I don't think so little Phoenix."

An insult to her friends and to her in two short sentences.

Deciding that it was time to remodel the Academy a little she prepared to use her telekinesis to teach the student of Emma Frost some manners but stopped when Alexia got in between them.

Looking like her mother it made the teenager an effective obstruction.

"Let's keep the mental fists in our pockets ladies." Alexia said looking back and forth between her and Phoebe, "You've both made your points but let's keep in mind we're not the ones that're going to be handling this. The X-Men or one of the other X-teams will. Let's have a little faith in them to do the right thing."

"What do you think Alexia?" Mindee asked from her chair with genuine curiosity, "What's your opinion on this cure?"

Silence reigned for a few minutes but then her student came up with an answer.

"I don't want to see this cure forced on anyone. Everyone has the right to choose what direction their life is going to take and the choice should never be taken away from them without a damn good reason." Alexia replied making Phoebe look triumphant at the support, "Still…some mutants didn't hit the genetic jackpot when it came time for their x-gene to switch on. Some of them got physically changed in ways that'll keep them from ever having a decent life and others are so different that every moment they're alive is torture. If those people want the cure I have no problem letting them have it."

"WHAT!?" Phoebe exclaimed in shock and a bit of betrayal.

"Think about it Phoebe. Think about the Morlocks who got shafted by Fate when their x-gene kicked in." Alexia said staying calm the entire time, "Some got changed so much physically that they'd cause a stampede the second they got topside but didn't get powers effective enough or strong enough to defend themselves with. It's easy to be indignant about a cure when you look perfectly human and have the power to switch off someone's mind with a thought. It's something else entirely when a cure will give you the kind of life you've always wanted but could never have because of how you looked or because your power made it harmful for others to be around you."

This seemed to deflate some of Phoebe's anger somewhat but it was clear that the Cuckoo still thought eliminating the cure was the best course of action.

Even if it was just because Alexia hadn't lived in this reality long enough to really experience the discrimination that mutants everywhere faced she was impressed with her student's position. It was fair and measured but at the same time leaned more towards the positive side of things then the negative. In any case she was fairly certain what'd probably happen in the next few days. Hank would probably be asked to judge the viability of the cure and if enough cause came up Cyclops would probably lead a team to Benetech Labs to see if there was anything suspicious going on. Naturally Frost would probably tag along to keep working her 'puppet' and show her teammates her superiority so someone would need to keep an eye on the school and be waiting in Cerebra in case something happened. While they did have other telepaths at the Institute she knew it'd either be her or the Cuckoos who'd be selected to man Cerebra and that meant driving back to the Institute for a visit of unknown length.

Either possibility was fine with her since it'd mean she'd get away from Phoebe and she was beginning to think that that'd always be a good thing.

Xavier Institute

Xander's POV

"You didn't have to come back here with me you know." Rachel said as they entered the Institute's front door, "Besides wasn't the whole point of moving you to the Academy to keep you hidden?"

"Rachel remember what's going on right now." She said as they proceeded to the headmaster's office, "Benetech's announced to the world that they have a cure for mutants. Every agency that cares one little bit about mutants is going to be focusing their eyes on the location of the cure. I'm betting they've put only a fifth of the spy eyes on the Institute right now. Besides it's only for a night or two right? What could possibly happen in that short amount of time?"

"You do know you taunted Fate right there don't you?" Rachel asked after a brief wince.

"Sure and if we were back on my world atop the Hellmouth I'd be kicking myself right now for saying something like that but since we're not I'm fine with it." She replied as they ascended the stairs and turned in the direction of the office, "Besides as long as any government peeping toms don't track us back to the Academy it's still a good hiding spot."

When the two of them got to the office both Cyclops and Frosty were geared up to head out but when they laid eyes on her she could tell they weren't happy that she'd left her little hidey hole. Normally she'd feel a little sorry that she was risking the plan but Frosty's oh so superior look and lack of humility rubbed her the wrong way so instead she just smiled.

"I don't believe we told you to bring your student Miss Summers." Frosty said in a tone as chilly as her name, "Care to explain why you've let a perfectly good plan go to waste?"

"She wanted to come along and since I figured I'd only be here for twenty-four hours at most I didn't see the harm." Rachel replied completely ignoring Frosty's chilly expression, "Now don't you have a lab to infiltrate?"

It was pure GOLD seeing Frosty fume like that but fortunately Cyclops still had enough of a backbone not to let things devolve into a sniping match.

"We should only be gone five hours or so." Scott said as he moved to leave the room, "Stick close to Cerebra. If we find anything we'll let you know and if we need back up we'll call."

"The remaining faculty will be in charge of minding the students but they'll likely all be in bed by the time we get back." Frosty said following her bed warmer to the door, "I suggest that once we return you immediately drive back to the Academy. With luck any 'spectators' the Institute might have will never know Alexia was here."

She was SO tempted to say something snarky but decided against it when Rachel gave her head a slight shake in the negative. Upon further thought she reluctantly conceded that it was probably not a smart move to antagonize Frosty no matter how much the snowy bitch deserved it.

Once the team was gone Rachel went down to Cerebra to keep a telepathic ear out for the field and she decided to do a walkabout of the Institute to see how people were taking news of 'the cure'. She was glad that she had 'telepathic shielding one oh one' pretty much licked because even if it wouldn't hold up against another telepath determined to get in it thankfully was enough to keep the pressure of a great many emotionally primed people out of her head. She could still feel the pressure of their thoughts but as long as she didn't have to keep them all out for longer than a day or so she'd deal with it.

As she'd expected the only topic of conversation was 'the cure' and even seeing her again didn't register even a little bit on their conversation radar. She was old news. Still it was a decided difference from the Academy but she wouldn't say it was better because at least back at her hiding place she could have some privacy and space. The Institute was pretty much packed with students and faculty with the fact that it was nearing bedtime for some of the younger students being the only reason the halls weren't so crowded. Normally when left with nothing to do she'd plunk herself in front of the nearest TV but all the living rooms or places with TVs that she'd seen so far were occupied. That wouldn't have been so bad if what the students were watching was a little more varied than news reports on 'the cure' or some show she could instantly tell she wouldn't like. There were certain genres, certain themes, that she just could not tolerate long enough to make it through an entire episode without feeling the urge to get up and leave.

Thus she contented herself with roaming the hallways, looking at whatever caught her fancy, while thinking about the future.

The future…much like Willow always told her when she was a guy she didn't really think beyond the next week or next month at the absolute most. Partially because that was part and parcel of being a teenager but it was also due to the fact that she never much liked where she suspected she'd wind up in the future. Minimum wage. Dirt bag apartment. No girlfriend to speak of and not much chance of getting one in the future. As a result she chose to live in the moment and enjoy what few joys came her way as best she could.

Now though…things had changed.

She'd literally been given a blank slate on her future to make of it what she would albeit with a few responsibilities tacked on. She had powers that by most accounts were on par with Jean Grey and she had a proto-Phoenix Force inside her that likely made her one of the most powerful people on Earth. Like Spidey often repeated to the point of some people being sick of it 'with great power comes great responsibility' and that meant in exchange for this new opportunity she had to make sure she didn't let the power she now had go to her head. Lives depended on her being able to keep her head and her honor as best she could and should she start slipping make sure there'd be people ready to stake her if she fell. While she didn't FEEL like she was slipping into the evil madness that usually befell people clad in the costume of the Dark Phoenix that didn't mean that she wouldn't at some point in the future. After all she hadn't yet truly tapped into the cosmic power the Phoenix Force was comprised of or performed any of the feats he'd seen previous hosts perform in the comics.

The corruptive force of power often required that its victim get a taste for it first.

It was as she made a ninety degree left turn though that she saw something that made her feel like she used to just before a vamp would come out of the darkness back in Sunnydale. There was a man…at least she thought it was a man…standing a fair ways down the hall near another hallway about halfway to the other side of the mansion. Clad in metal and crimson cloth with a small hood covering his head the man seemed to be speaking with two of the younger members of the student body. She'd apparently caught them between sentences but past experience kept her from saying anything that'd get the man's attention any sooner than necessary.

Giles always stressed that it was important to know what you were fighting before you tried to cave its skull in.

"And you're SURE they're not here?" the man asked sounding mildly exasperated.

"I saw the X-Jet take off like, an hour ago." The boy student replied sounding wary but honest.

"And you don't know where they went." The man asked slowly letting go of his annoyance.

"A mission or something…I mean, they don't tell us stuff like that." The boy student said not sounding like he was fibbing.

"This is very frustrating." The man said regaining some measure of composure.

"Did you want to leave them a message, or…oh god, that's so stupid." The girl student said sounding like she liked to be someplace else at the moment.

"We're not X-Men. We're just kids and…um you could come back." The boy student said sounding like he was cluing in that danger might be creeping up on him.

"You two are mutants." The man said more as a statement of fact rather than a question.

"But we're not, like, cool ones or anything." The boy student said sounding like he was trying to make himself less appealing as a target.

"Wing…" the girl student said trying to get her friend's attention.

"You've helped me. You have my thanks for that." The man said in a tone she recognized from many a demon back in Sunnyhell, "I will leave the X-Men a message."

Not good! He's going to attack them! She thought as she tapped into her telekinesis, Gotta end this quick!

She knew that the X-Men would've probably insisted that she just try to restrain the guy and put him in whatever constituted a brig for the Institute. However she'd been raised to think a bit differently when it came to confronting foes. Back on the Hellmouth in her old body she'd faced things at least three times faster, stronger and deadlier than a human making it stupid to try to take them alive. Back in Sunnydale you put the demons down hard or you wouldn't get a chance to do it later after capturing one of them blew up in your faces. So it was with only a second's hesitation that she fired off a blast of TK energy at the man that she felt equaled roughly fifty percent of her maximum.

It put the guy through the wall and out of the mansion leaving an impressive hole for all to see.

She didn't expect that it'd be as easy as that to put the guy down. Anyone with guts enough to waltz into X-Men central and potentially kill one of their youngest students was either crazy or a badass both of which were dangerous even when injured.

"One of you get the teachers out of their beds." She said as she ran by the students towards the whole, "The other get down to Cerebra and tell Rachel we've got an intruder and I am engaging that intruder."

As she heard the pitter-patter of newbie teenage feet she felt relief that neither of the students had questioned her orders any. Bringing up a TK field around her body she leapt through the hold the intruder's body had made to find the man hurt but still with enough fight left in him to be a problem if he chose to be one. Deciding to try and KO the guy a different way she fired off what she hoped was a psi-bolt strong enough to knock the intruder out long enough to get him into restraints or the brig.

A wince of pain but nothing else showed that the attack had any effect.

Damn. Must have some kind of psi tech protecting his mind. She thought as she touched the ground, Guess we're going to have to do things the old fashioned way.

As the man turned to face her she could see that he wasn't human in appearance but that could mean anything from demon to a mutant with a physical mutation to an alien. All she knew for certain was that he'd intended to do something decidedly not nice to two innocent kids for no other reason than they were mutants. That pissed her off. It was one thing to target X-Men or mutants that'd had time to fully master their powers but to go after the young…unforgivable.

"To tell you the truth I'm a bit divided on what to do with you." She said trying to sound confident and dead serious, "Half of me is willing to let you go so long as you don't come back here EVER again. The other half wants to pound you into unconsciousness, maybe take off a limb or two, so you'll have ample incentive to NEVER show your face here again. Which way this goes is up to you at this point."

"You think to scare me girl?" the alien/mutant asked with contempt, "One surprise attack, potent I'll admit, and you think me beaten?"

"That was a warning shot. The next one won't be." She replied glaring at him with what she hoped was an 'I WILL kick your ass' expression on her face.

"You shouldn't have wasted it!" the alien/mutant yelled as it charged with spiked knuckles on the left and a weird jagged edge chakram in the other.

She'd half expected this so she wasn't taken by surprise like her opponent likely expected her to be and therefore she was able to fire off another TK blast but unlike telepathy TK energy was visible to the naked eyes. Made sense when you thought about it: telepathy just has to mess with the head whereas telekinesis has to be able to physically affect solid matter. It's only natural that a different type of energy or a stronger concentration of it would make it visible to normal human eyes. Annoyingly this also made it possible to dodge and evade her attack and that is what the intruder skillfully did while still advancing. However unlike most telekinetics she had an inventive mind and with a little more power than she'd used so far she grabbed ahold of the dirt all around the intruder as well as below and HEAVED.

As though it were water the dirt shot up from the ground like a geyser, impacting and surrounding the intruder, until she let it go and fired a sixty-five percent TK blast at him. As she'd predicted her opponent couldn't evade in the air since there was nothing to push off of and it didn't look like the guy had a jetpack.

And then he was gone.

On instinct alone she dove forward into a roll, just like Rachel had shown her in the Danger Dome, but it barely proved to be enough to keep her alive.

It wasn't enough to keep her from getting tagged.

PAIN.

It raced back and forth along the cut the alien/mutant had made across her back but seeing as how she could still feel her legs there didn't appear to be any serious damage. Landing on the ground caused the pain to flare again as the impact echoed through her musculature to the muscles that'd been cut by the attack. She didn't cry out though, she wouldn't show weakness, because she'd felt worse at Tony Harris' hands and she'd survived.

"You're resourceful mutant I'll give you that." The alien/mutant said angrily, "I hadn't anticipated that you'd attack me indirectly. Fortunately I have just the thing to remove your fangs and your claws."

The cure.

Somehow this guy was connected to the cure and planned to stick her with it.

If he did that she'd lose her telepathy, her telekinesis and likely the proto-Phoenix Force inside of her since she'd no longer have the mental power for it to use.

Warmth blossomed within her body in response to this thought but it didn't stay 'warm' for long and soon it became downright hot but with it came power as well as the receding of pain. The power flared as she felt herself rise up off the ground but not through the use of her legs. Despite what her teachers said back at Sunnydale High School she was smart enough to figure out what was going on.

The proto-Phoenix inside of her might not be developed enough yet to speak to her but it could still comprehend what was going on around it. Thus just like a wolf sensing a threat to one of its own it moved to defend its kin both by using its power to heal wounds as well as bare its teeth at the perpetrator of the wound. With the sight of flickering fire at the edges of her field of vision and light that was coming from her she looked at the intruder with peaceful resolution no longer on the table.

"Sorry but I'm a little attached to them at the moment." She said aware that her voice had a cosmic quality to it at the moment, "Still howsabout I take care of yours and you can tell me how it feels. If it looks like enough fun maybe I'll give it ago later."

With that she struck determined to eliminate this man's threat to her and to the Institute residents.

Permanently.

Rachel Summers' POV

YOU IDIOT! She thought as she scrambled out of the elevator that'd brought her up from the sub-levels, YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!

Switching to telekinesis since it'd get her to where she needed to go faster than her feet ever could she took to the air and easily homed in on where she needed to go.

It was kinda hard when she could feel the power of the Phoenix as easily as she could see the sun.

She passed Gambit and the other teachers who were heading towards the sound destruction and fighting but none of them could fly as fast as her indoors. She supposed if Northstar were around at the moment he'd have gotten to the fight first but he was off visiting his friends up north in Alpha Flight. As it was she made it through the hole Hisako had told her to look for and what she beheld was a sight she'd hoped not to see when it came to Alexia. On the ground was the man that'd held a group of people hostage and lured Scott's team away from the mansion at the precise time Benetech Labs was announcing 'the cure'.

The man had seen better days.

Both of his arms were gone and judging from the smoke that was rising from the shoulder stumps as well as the grass that was aflame it was clear they'd been burned off. The same had been done to his legs leaving him completely helpless before the person who'd effectively crippled him and from the look on his face Ord knew it too.

Who was responsible?

None other than Alexia now clad in the same Dark Phoenix outfit she'd first arrived in with cosmic fire flickering around her body but not having formed the fire raptor just yet.

"ALEXIA! Stop!" she yelled before touching down between her student and Ord, "You've gone too far!"

For a moment, seeing the flames dancing about even from the edges of the eyelids, she worried that it was already too late and she'd have to get serious in order to take Alexia down. That proved to be unnecessary for with a deep breath and a few seconds with the eyes shut the flames of the Phoenix vanished and as a surprise the uniform of the Dark Phoenix transformed back into Alexia's clothes. The former was surprising since she'd really been expecting a fight but the latter was surprising because she hadn't gotten anywhere close to the telekinetic lessons on transforming clothing. When her student's eyes opened up they were completely normal looking without anything visible for her to be worried about.

That still left the invisible though.

"Nope. I think I've gone just far enough to get my point across." Alexia said sounding perfectly normal and hopefully she was precisely that at the moment, "Remember this buddy: I gave you the option to walk away and you threw it back in my face. You attacked me and if it hadn't been for my flamey friend I'd be in the infirmary for quite a few reasons. Try this again and you'll lose more than your limbs."

While learning a bit more of the situation calmed her down a little she was still worried about what Alexia had done to Ord since as far as X-Man procedure went it was definitely overkill. Sure with Wolverine he'd get a little claw happy but he'd never go so far as to dismember someone like this unless he'd gone more than a little feral. Before she could say more than a cascade of flashing lights popped up all around them and once she got her eyes back she did NOT like what she saw. Guns. Lots of guns and all of them pointed at either her or Alexia. As for who was doing the pointing it looked like a mix of .E.L.D agents and some other outfit with similar fashion sense but instead of blue they'd gone with green.

"Shit! Look what they did to Ord!" one of the agent's in green cursed looking down at the helpless warrior.

"Freeze X-Men!" one of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents said looking like she was the one leading the group.

"Technically she's the X-Man and I'm just a student." Alexia said pointing out a flaw in the statement with a smirk on her face.

"Alexia? NOT HELPING." She growled at her student in response to the increasingly cross look on the lead agent's face, "Since there seems to be a need for introductions you mind telling me who you all are and what you're doing here?"

"I'm Agent Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who the agents in green are is classified and you don't need to know." Agent Hill replied holstering her side arm before taking a few steps forward, "What you do need to know is that while your intruder shouldn't have been here that still doesn't justify what was done to him. I'm afraid your Phoenix friend is going to have to come with us."

"Not happening. The guy is a criminal in more ways than one, threatened two kids just into their teen years and was looking to do me some serious harm." Alexia said clearly against going anywhere with the law enforcement agents, "If it weren't for an edge of mine I'd be needing medical help right now. As for how I responded…I'm sure you've got some advanced cybernetic tech that can patch him up or perhaps he knows of a good prosthetic producer. Either way you're not taking me anywhere I don't want to go."

"I insist." Hill said and in response every agent with a gun chambered a round or activated the laser sight on their weapon causing a dot to show up on Alexia's torso, "Conscious or unconscious the choice is up to you."

"I be thinkin' dat the l'il lady will want option trois." Came a Cajun voice from the hole in the mansion wall, "You all take charred wonder and leave while jeune Alexia come back inside. Sweet deal, hein?"

Looking up she saw Gambit standing there in his boxers and nothing else with three cards in his right hand glowing pink while a box of forty-nine other cards rested comfortably in his left hand. Clearly he'd grabbed only the essentials but was still ready to mix it up with the S.H.I.E.L.D agents in defense of an Institute resident.

"No deal Mister LeBeau." Agent Hill snapped clearly insulted at the idea of backing down from three mutants, "Never mind the fact that she permanently crippled a VIP but she's also a host to potential planetary level threat life form. I cannot just let her walk."

"I'm afraid we must insist." Gambit said and with that the numbers began to change in their favor.

Dani walked into view on the roof with a neural arrow ready to fire.

Sliding along on an ice sled was Bobby already transformed into his ice form coming to a stop behind the S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

Rahne loped into view transformed halfway between her human form and wolf form.

Paige emerged as well having husked her skin to transform into a body of solid steel.

"Now assumin' you S.H.I.E.L.D people bother to do your homework before you go about raidin' a place I think you realize dat we have the advantage." Gambit said sounding as cocky as he ever did, "Not only is dis our home but we have years of experience dealin' with soldiers with guns so even assumin' you got psi-scramblers to keep you safe from Rachel dis can only end one way."

Seconds passed as Agent Hill debated her options and was probably trying to find justifiable grounds for pushing her luck even further. Eventually though the woman made a choice and with a displeased sigh flicked the safety of her weapon on and holstered it.

"All agents stand down." She ordered with a voice that only reinforced the position of her sigh, "You win today Cajun. We'll take our VIP and leave. Don't think we'll be forgetting this or that there won't be any repercussions."

"It never crossed my mind Agent Hill." Gambit said as he tossed his charged cards up to explode harmlessly in the air a few feet above him.

A minute later and another series of flashes and the S.H.I.E.L.D team, the unknown operatives and Ord were gone. Still the fact that the armed soldiers had utilized a teleporter, a rare and expensive piece of hardware, implied much about the value of Ord. Usually the super spies got around on physical transports but it made sense that they'd have a teleportation device available for situations when time was a crucial factor. Seeing as how she'd never witnessed it before though and didn't know anyone who had it was definitely not something S.H.I.E.L.D wanted to spread word around about.

I'll have to let Dad know about them when he gets back. She thought before turning towards her student, For now though I have some disciplining to do.

"Five objects, five hundred pounds each, for fifty minutes when we get back to the Academy." She said looking right at Alexia.

"What!? What for?!" Alexia asked responding with the right amount of shock and dread.

"You attacked an intruder instead of notifying the faculty. You recklessly endangered the lives of two students engaging an enemy whose abilities you knew nothing about." She replied in a tone her Dad had used when he was seriously disappointed in someone, "AND you used excessive force on an enemy when rendering him unconscious or immobile would've been enough. Consider yourself lucky that you've got such an understanding teacher because if Cyclops of Frost were here you'd be spending the next week in the sub-level brig."

While Alexia didn't look happy about the penalty she'd stipulated she knew the host of the Proto-Phoenix would choose it over seven days in jail.

She would just have to make sure that the two of them were on the road and away before either leader of the Institute found out the details of what'd happened.

No problem.

Massachusets Academy

Alexia's POV

RING!

RING!

"It's the Institute again!" she said after checking the caller I.D on the phone.

"Ignore it then." Rachel said from her chair in the ground floor living room, "It's either Dad or Frost probably looking to chew you out for what happened with Ord."

"It's probably Cyclops then." She said as she let the phone ring until it went to the voice message system, "If Frosty wanted to read us the riot act she'd do it telepathically using Cerebra."

"Maybe. Still you'd think they'd have given up after a week went by." Rachel said looking away from the TV.

"Maybe they're not calling to chew us out." She proposed as a possibility, "Maybe something's happened and they want to get in touch with us."

"If it was serious they would've contacted us telepathically using Cerebra or hopped in an X-Jet to tell us in person." Rachel said dismissively turning back to the movie they were watching, "It's definitely just to read us the riot act."

Point.

Even over a week after the night when the alien Ord infiltrated the Institute she didn't feel the least bit sorry for what she'd done to him. He had trespassed on private property, threatened children and then tested the sharpness of his weapon on her back! To her that more than earned him the loss of his limbs and she wasn't kidding when she'd said she had confidence that cybernetic attachments would make him good as new. Ord was an alien after all so there had to be dozens of places where someone like him could get some robo-arms and robo-legs to place what she'd burned off with the power of the Phoenix.

If not…well she still wasn't sorry about what she'd done.

After Rachel's little punishment though she'd definitely do a better job of hiding her role in any future limb removal or find someplace else to be. Still after four days straight of the punishment she was fairly certain she'd reached a new weight limit for her telekinesis as well as increased her mental stamina. Both would be necessary things regardless of whether or not she planned on joining the superhero set in the future but the last while Rachel had been putting her through her paces telepathically. The last lesson had focused on learning how to telepathically cloak herself from detection by others and according to Rachel with practice she could 'cloak' others along with herself. However as she found out herself during training it was possible for other telepaths to see through the cloak if they had superior skill or power. In a way it'd been like hide and go seek except she didn't use solid objects to conceal herself but the power of her own mind. She still hadn't managed to last an entire session without Rachel managing to find her but the length of time she did stay hidden was increasing.

That both pleased her and concerned her at the same time.

She might not be an expert but the rate at which she was learning to wield her telepathy and telekinesis had to abnormal. If she judged purely by an X-Man's age as they were drawn then it took easily most of their teen years and the early part of their twenties to be good enough to hold their own in the field to fight the good fight. She'd even asked Rachel how long it'd taken her to get good at telepathically cloaking herself and she'd said a little over a year. She hadn't yet voiced her concerns to the daughter of an alternate Jean and Scott Summers but she wouldn't be at all surprised if the older woman suspected the truth already. The only possibility she could come up with was that the bloody Halloween spell had somehow left her with Jean's knowledge of her powers on a subconscious or muscle memory level and that this was responsible for her accelerated learning. So in a way it was more like she'd gotten a selective case of amnesia and the training was helping to reclaim those lost memories of how to use her powers.

As for her ability to wield the Phoenix she suspected that it had more to do with that then her.

Ever since it'd healed the wound Ord had dealt to her back and come to her defense she'd been testing it, for want of a better word, with various stimuli in order to measure its responses. She wasn't a scientist and her reasoning skills weren't the best but the reactions from the warmth within her bore a great resemblance to a wild animal that'd taken a liking to one not of its kind. She supposed that given the closeness of their connection it was only natural that it'd feel that way towards her but she wasn't going to presume anything. A wild animal was still a wild animal and until it 'evolved' into true sentience that could speak to her and understand why it had to reign in its instincts she had to be watchful of it. There would be times when she'd be in a situation where the Phoenix would want to lash out but she'd know that that would be the worst thing to do and so she'd have to restrain it.

Whether or not she'd be up to the task…hopefully Rachel would finish the necessary training with her before she was put to the test.

If you're finished worrying about the Phoenix slipping the leash I have the information you wanted. Celeste thought into her head telepathically from somewhere in the mansion, It's not as much as I'd hoped to get even with my sisters helping out but it should help you decide what to do next.

Thanks. Now if you could 'download' the info into-, she thought telepathically before being hit with a data payload that froze up her mind.

All at once she was hit with the knowledge the Cuckoos had managed to dig up for her and thankfully they'd been kind enough to prearrange things so he could view their findings in chronological order rather than randomly. First from the hospital on the night in question she viewed memories of a nurse who was on duty at the time and near the delivery room in question for the entire evening. She saw as MJ was wheeled into the hospital with her Aunt Anna close behind and then she saw for the first time Doctor Folsome as he truly was rather than the comic book art she'd been working with. The memory quickly switched to later in the evening where she saw a nurse in scrubs wheeling a laundry cart out of the delivery room and down the hallway. It wasn't as clear a look at Alison Mongrain as she'd have preferred but she'd take what she could get for the time being. From there she saw the mind of a harbor master for NYC she saw that only one personal boat left the harbor during the target time she'd specified, the Jade Gargoyle, and based on the records it was headed for Europe. The man hadn't seen Mongrain's face or appearance or anything really that confirmed a connection to the woman and Osborn but it still meshed with the events of the comic book.

When the clip reel of memories finished she had to shake her head both mentally and physically to reorient herself but didn't let the little annoyance she felt at the no warning download get out of the starting gate. She should have been more prepared for the info and perhaps even expected the Cuckoo to download it without waiting for her to finish a sentence. After all they're not friends but they're not strangers either. Would she like for them to be her friends? Difficult to say since she hasn't really had a chance to get to know them either as a group or one-on-one so she didn't know if they were the kind of girls she'd like to be friends with or teens she'd wind up despising. At the moment though, since they'd done as she'd requested, she was leaning towards giving them a chance since they didn't have to do anything and Celeste's price for helping didn't appear to be the work of a bitch at her worst.

Then again she was living proof that looks could be deceiving.

Aaahhhh! Too much thinking! She thought as she got to her feet and moved towards the kitchen for a bite to eat, Making friends with the triplets either will happen or it won't. I need to think about what I'm going to do now.

As she made her way to the kitchen she thought about what she now knew. Thanks to Celeste and her sisters she now had concrete proof that what happened in the Spider-Man comics during the four parter entitled 'Revelations' did in fact happen in this reality. She also has information that properly utilized could pave the way for little May to be returned to her folks but the problem was she hadn't the foggiest how to do the utilizing. She wasn't a detective and she wasn't anywhere near familiar enough with the reality she was in to make even a half assed attempt at it. In short she needed to find someone, perhaps many someones, with the skills and the connections to take this to the next leg of the race.

The only question is: who should she choose and would they be willing to help?

They'd have to be people outside of the standard spotlight, people who wouldn't be noticed if they took a break from their usual activities, but still competent enough for the job she'd have them do. They'd also need to be able to be veritable ghosts as far as Osborn was concerned, unseen and unnoticed, until the moment they had little May Parker in their arms. That meant no one who had a knack for taking the direct approach whether they wanted to or not and definitely people who had experience getting into off limits places with no one the wiser about them being there.

HEY! He'd be a good first pick and he's not one of the headliners of the team he's on. She thought as a possibility came to mind, If he decides to leave for a few weeks no one'll notice until it's too late to track him down.

True she'd never tell HIM that or he'd probably refuse to take the job just for the insult.

Still I'll need someone with detective skills and connections. She thought as she realized her first pick usually had the necessary intel provided for him rather than putting it altogether himself, Hmmmm…guess I'll just have to ask if he knows anyone who'll take the job.

With that in mind as she reached the kitchen she moved to where she knew she'd find paper, envelopes and the phone book for the state of New York.

Wolverine's POV

"Where the flamin' hell am I?" he asked rhetorically not being able to recall how he'd come to be standing in the middle of an infinite expanse of white.

While memory problems weren't anything new to him he'd figured that they were pretty much over with after he finally got his past back. Looking about to try and find a clue as to where he was, how he'd gotten there and who might've been responsible for the sudden relocation he found absolutely nothing. Listening extra carefully and taking a few practice sniffs with his nose he found that there was nothing for them to pick up whether it be sound or scent. This told him one thing: he wasn't anyplace real.

No matter where he'd ever been in the galaxy, even with tech designed to block his senses, there'd always been something one of his five senses could detect.

The only time he hadn't been able to sense anything like this was when he was in one of Frost's damn telepathic faculty lounges or when he was having an out of body experience. With that in mind he figured it was time for whoever was responsible to make an appearance and tell him what the flamin' big idea was.

"If there's some flamin' point to this get to it." He said curling his fingers into fists in preparation to pop his claws if this turned nasty.

"Always ready for a fight." A voice behind him said with amusement.

It was a voice he'd never forget even if someone mind wiped him again and it caused him to whirl around to confirm what his ears were telling him with his eyes. Standing two dozen feet away from him was a female form and while he could make out the basics of the woman he couldn't see her crystal clearly because it was like there was a pane of fogged glass between the two of them. In terms of measurements, skin tone and hair it was Jeannie through and through. Pair it up with the voice and either he was having a dream or a ghost was making a long distance phone call from the great beyond.

"More the latter though I'm flattered by the former." Jeannie said as amusement faded to become more serious, "As much as I'd like to chat with you Logan I'm afraid this is both a business call as well as more than a bit personal."

Business of the Phoenix host and something Jean would consider personal? He didn't even need two seconds to understand.

"You're worried about Alexia? The teenage you that showed up?" he asked just to get confirmation of his belief.

"Yes but not in the way you're probably thinking." She replied never losing her business tone, "With her transformation and the creation of the hatchling within her that which was considered a universal constant up until now has been changed."

"Hatchling?! You don't mean?!" he asked connecting the dots in seconds and being more than a little confused.

"Yes…through circumstances I'm still putting together what Alexia has within her is the offspring of the Phoenix Force that resides within me." She replied and he could just make out a happy smile on her face, "When the spell was cast transforming her into a copy of me it reached out across the multiverse for the original so it could get the 'blueprints' for both host and cosmic being. However it didn't just make contact with me in the White Hot Room…it also made contact with every fragment of the Phoenix Force scattered throughout all creation. It fixed everything."

"What do you mean 'fixed'?" he asked still trying to come to grips with the idea that a cosmic being like the Phoenix Force now had a kid.

"There's so much about the Phoenix Force we didn't know and could only guess at or piece together from what other civilizations had recorded about it. It's a lot like someone from ancient Greece seeing a spaceship or superhero do something and then try to define it all using what is familiar as well as comprehensible to them." She replied sounding like she was trying to put into words what could only be sensed cosmically, "We know from previous experienced that the Phoenix Force embodies rebirth, the burning away of what doesn't work to make room for new growth, but what we didn't know was that it was made up of two halves. One side that embodied the destroying of what didn't work and the other made up of what would give rise to new life."

"So…what? It's got a case of split personality?" he asked figuring that meshed with how things tended to go anytime the Phoenix Force took a host.

"No. When someone becomes host to the Phoenix Force they're forced to maintain a balance of sorts between these two opposing forces. Think of it like balancing two stacks of books, one in each hand, while doing a high wire act." She replied with a shake of her head, "The people who're able to keep the stacks level and make it to the other side of the wire are the ones who stay stable and don't lose themselves to the power of the Phoenix. The ones who fall from the high wire or fail to keep both stacks level are the ones who go all Dark Phoenix and start destroying everything."

A bit different from everything he'd ever heard about the Phoenix Force but it still made sense the way Jeannie explained it.

"We'd always assumed that it was either human emotions or the corrupting influence of the Phoenix's power that caused hosts to become evil. The truth is that they simply proved incapable of maintaining the balance between the two parts of the Phoenix's nature." She said before sounding hopeful, "With Alexia's change though no future Phoenix host will have to balance the dual natures of the cosmic being. The Phoenix will carry one part and its offspring will carry the other. The possibility of either host succumbing to corruption and leaving a path of destruction wherever they go is now no more certain than it'd be for an ordinary person."

"When'd that arrangement happen?" he asked unsure of this supposed shift in galactic constants, "I'm pretty sure we woulda noticed a change of galactic proportions like that."

"It happened when the spell that changed Alexia made contact with the Phoenix shards along with me and the Phoenix itself in the White Hot Room." She replied as she went into her best thinking pose, "While in the White Hot Room it has been my duty to locate and collect every fragment of the Phoenix Force across all of creation. It's exactly as hard as it sounds to do that even from where I am and with the Phoenix's help but when the spell reached this reality all the fragment locations lit up clear as day. I know where they all are and that's going to speed up collecting them by quite a bit."

"Does that mean-?" he asked as his heart pulsed with the possibility his hope had formed.

"Possibly. I can't say when or where but possibly." She replied knowing what he was asking before he even finished the sentence, "Until then though I'd ask you to keep an eye on Alexia. When the spell changed her the parts of the Phoenix Force that dealt with burning away what doesn't work were pulled across the multiverse to form the core of the hatchling Phoenix. It hasn't yet evolved into a true sentient consciousness yet but rather something more akin to borderline wild animal that makes its choices based on feelings and instincts. It will trust Alexia, see her as family, but at the same time it will not act based on rational thought."

That did not sound good.

He knew from personal experience what it was like with that kind of mindset and had seen it often enough in others to know how hard it could be to keep instinct and emotion under control. Even if there was someone there to hold the baby Phoenix back the chance it might manage to wriggle free was still there. Therefore it made sense that Jeannie would want him to keep an eye on Alexia just in case she had problems keeping the little birdy inside of her under control. He wasn't sure what he could do outside of offering moral support and maybe distracting it long enough for the girl to get it back on its leash but since it was Jean asking he'd do what he could.

"She's young, Alexia I mean, younger than I was when I first encountered the Phoenix Force but I have faith in her Logan." She said with a warmth he'd only ever heard her use with Rachel or Cable when he was a kid, "She has been exposed to things that have broadened her definitions of 'possible' and 'impossible' without looking away and even now she's trying to use her current circumstances to do what is right."

"What do you mean Jeannie?" he asked concerned about what the teenaged girl might be up to.

"When you wake up ask Gambit." She replied with an amused smile being visible through the fogged glass-like distortion between the two of them, "Expect me when you see me Logan."

Then with a little jolt he found himself sitting up in his bed like someone had shoved a cattle prod up his ass. While he would've preferred a gentler return to the waking world if Alexia was up to something and Gambit was involved taking things slow was probably not a good idea. It took him two minutes to get some clothes on and head towards Gumbo's room but as it turned out the Cajun was just leaving and had a letter in his hand.

"Going somewhere LeBeau?" he asked and smirked as the Cajun turned to look at him.

The expression on the thief's face told him everything he needed to know.

Massachusets Academy

Alexia's POV

Well there goes Rachel. She thought as she watched her teacher drive off to a supposed meeting with a pal of hers from Excalibur, Hope she doesn't figure out she's been tricked for at least four hours.

She'd set up a meeting with her potential detective and thief to happen in thirty minutes but she'd had to get Rachel out of the Academy for the duration of said meeting. Some people might ask why she didn't simply include Marvel Girl in the operation and the answer to that was 'covert'. Norman Osborn was alive and despite what some might think the madman was still quite capable of pulling the strings he desired and getting the results he wanted. With his spies and his agents and his hidden programs the asshole would be kept apprised of his assets' status or one of his paid minions would. It was also possible that any hero or heroine Osborn deemed to be a possible threat to his schemes would also be monitored so that meant she had to be careful who she offered the job to. It couldn't be any big name hero or someone who'd easily be recognized because that'd only tip off Osborn and potentially ruin everything. Rachel was a former host to the Phoenix, a member of Excalibur and the X-Men, and one of the top psi-talents on the planet so it was a given that she was on the watch list of any baddie who thought she might come knocking on their brains.

The two people she'd selected for the meeting on the other hand had reps but nothing that'd put them on Osborn's radar and so they were the logical choice.

Sure she only knew one of them well enough to know what he could do and the other she'd managed to pull from the Academy computers as someone Frosty had used once or twice but she didn't have much choice. While she might have been something of a comic book collector back home she didn't know a lot of detectives who had the chops for what she'd be asking them to do. She didn't need some ordinary beat cop or even an experienced private investigator. She needed someone with powers or someone skilled enough to take on a potentially large group of people who did have powers. No run of the mill human was going to be able to handle what Osborn would throw at them.

That being said she knew that even if asked there was no guarantee anyone would come especially with how she'd phrased her request for their services in the two letters she'd sent. So when she'd sent out the letters she'd put into them that if they weren't available to take the job it'd be appreciated if they could pass it along to someone who was free. She made sure to specify that whoever they chose had to be capable of taking on heavily armed, highly skilled and possibly super powered opposition but not be lacking in the detective skills or be missing the word 'stealth' in their vocabulary. While it'd be something of a roll of the dice in terms of who she'd get she hoped that she'd get someone good enough for the job.

Especially since she'd recently received her identity papers AND ten thousand dollars courtesy of Scott Summers the latter of which she was putting up as payment for services rendered.

Walking to the kitchen she began grabbing an assortment of drinks and food telekinetically before heading for the Danger Dome where she'd already managed to relocate both chairs as well as a table to. Sure she might be going a little overboard but she figured that being a good hostess was the least she could do and that it might make the people she wanted to hire more receptive to her request. It didn't take long to lay it all out and after that she just sat at the head of the table and waited.

Why?

Another thing she'd done soon after Rachel had driven through the front gates was switch on the Academy's security system. Since it'd been purchased by Frosty it was top of the line with a few custom additions that put it at the same level as most major corporation buildings. She'd done this to act as a sort of test for the two people she intended to hire and while Gambit would likely breeze through it if her second pick pawned the job off on someone else then the test would prove they had the skills. Sure the paranoid part of her was worried they might get insulted or expect her to just let them in the front gates but she hoped that the little she put into her letters would keep things on the positive side.

She waited patiently until her watch started beeping telling her that it was not the time she'd specified in her letters for her potential employees to be here. Looking about with her eyes she couldn't see anything or anyone making her worry that she'd been blown off by her potential employees but then she considered that perhaps THEY were testing HER. So with that in mind she reached out telepathically to see if she could sense any active minds inside the Danger Dome or the main Academy building. What she found surprised her a bit because she was picking up decidedly more minds than she could be even taking into consideration the Cuckoos up in their rooms. In total there were eight minds within the specified telepathic zone she was scanning and subtracting three for being the Cuckoos and that meant five minds where there should've only been two minds.

Something screwy was going on and so she did two things.

First she erected the strongest of telepathic and telekinetic protections she was capable of around her mind and her body just in case they were hostiles.

The second was saying "I know you five are there. If you're finished playing hide and go seek let's get down to business."

"Nice job spotting us chere." Gambit said as he walked out of the vegetation in his trademark uniform consisting of pink and black body armor and trench coat, "Had my mind locked down good an tight but you still found me."

"Don't butter her up Cajun." Logan growled as he came forward from another direction, "If she's got half the brain power Jeannie did and if Rachel's done her job teachin' then she coulda spotted you when she was half asleep."

WOLVERINE!?

Well this was certainly going to get difficult since she was going to have to figure out a way to make Logan back out of this little job meeting because there was no way he could be involved in the job. He was one of the Avengers and a senior member of the X-Men for God's sake! Add to that his very unique hairstyle and very unique claws and he'd be spotted the second he stepped off the plane!

"Still have to give the girl credit." Danny Rand aka Iron Fist said walking out from yet another direction, "Instead of trusting only her eyes she actually used her brain. Literally."

"That puts her above my usual clients Danny." Misty Knight said emerge from the foliage.

"Definitely. You would not believe some of the idiots I've had to defend in my time." She-Hulk said coming out in her Jennifer Walters form, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get them to not incriminate themselves on the stand when they're that stupid."

O-kay…more than I'd expected to show up and somehow I doubt they're gonna take this job for two grand apiece. She thought looking from one to another, Still what're the odds that all five of them are gonna say yes.

"Well now that you're all here anyone want to help themselves to the snacks and drinks laid out do it now because once I start laying everything out I'd prefer not to be interrupted by someone with the munchies." She said trying to walk the line between formal and casual.

Thankfully no one seemed to take offense at what she'd said and instead went over to the table with the food and drink grabbing a glass of what was available plus a disposable biodegradable bowls. Once they had what they wanted two went to the chairs she'd brought out while the others just stuck close to the table and leaned on it.

"So who are you and what's the job?" Misty Knight asked sounding completely professional.

"The name's Alexia…Alexia Grey." She replied still not used to what she'd found out when she'd first taken a look at the identity papers that'd arrived along with the money, "As for the job it's a track and retrieval one with a significant amount of weight put on the doing it without anyone realizing you're there until it's too late for him to do more than throw a tantrum."

"What would we be retrieving?" Iron Fist asked sounding positively zen in tone.

"The firstborn daughter of Spider-Man and his wife." She replied knowing what was coming and kinda looking forward to it.

"WHAT!?" everyone but Logan exclaimed in shock and disbelief.

Logan just raised an eyebrow with interest then took another gulp of his drink.

"Maybe I'd better start at the beginning." She said with a bit of an amused smile, "I'm not from around here. I'm from another reality and in that reality you're all fictional characters as seen either in comic books or cartoons. I collected quite a few comics. In the last bunch I read Norman Osborn kidnapped Spidey's kid right out of the delivery room without the wife knowing a thing."

"How do you know what happened in your comics happened here?" Jennifer Walters asked sounding more open minded than Misty knight looked at the moment.

"Awhile ago I had Marvel Girl, my psi-teacher, take a look at a couple issues centered on the team Excalibur that she used to belong to. According to her the twenty-three issues she read are eighty-five percent identical to her memories of what happened back then." She replied measuring the reaction of each potential employee, "I also had some telepaths I know peek inside the memories of people who were at the hospital where the baby was born and the docks where the kidnapper took off from later. They found memories supporting what happened in the comics bumping up the similarity to ninety percent. To me that's high enough to be worth following up on."

"Damn straight. Got any leads? Intel?" Logan asked sounding like he was all in on this little caper.

"Before we get to that you mind explaining what you're doing here Logan?" she asked before turning to the others, "Gambit and Jessica Jones are the only two people I sent letters to offering them the job."

"I dunno about the other three but I caught Gumbo comin' out with your letter looking to go someplace. Figured I'd tag along and see what's what." Wolverine said finishing his drink and tossing the cup in the general direction of the trashcan.

She had to telekinetically give it a boost to make sure it reached its destination.

"Jones called me sayin' she couldn't take the job and wanted to know if I'd take it." Misty Knight said taking a sip of her drink, "Shulkie and Iron Fist were visiting and joined in 'cause they're too curious for their own good."

"O-kay…just so you know I only have ten thousand dollars PERIOD to pay with so if you all wind up taking the job that's two thousand apiece." She said figuring the responses made about as much sense as anything ever did, "So before we get to the intel and leads one question's got to be answered: you in or out?"

"In." Logan said crossing his arms over his chest as a physical sign of resolve.

"Count me in chere." Gambit said with his usual Cajun accent.

"I owe the web-head. If his kid's out there count me in." She-Hulk said nodding in the affirmative.

"Two grand for a job like this? Sounds about right. I'm in." Misty Knight replied trying to sound like she was in it for the money.

"Same here so I guess that makes it unanimous." Iron Fist stated turning to look at her, "So…intel? Leads?"

"I got the information telepathically and since there's no tech that can turn memories into images on a view screen I'll need to use telepathy to show it to you." She replied looking at each in turn, "That okay with all of you?"

Nods all around though some of them were less sure than others. Not that she could blame them since having someone in your head was far from comfortable and since she was an unknown only Gambit and Logan had a reason to trust her even a little bit. Hopefully this initial experience would be enough to get the other three to trust her if only a little bit. Closing her eyes briefly to bring her focus to the level Rachel said it'd need to be at for this trick when she opened them she reached out with her telepathy and brought them to a mental environment that mimicked a military meeting room.

"The relevant issues of the 'Revelations' four part story arc are in front of you if you want to peruse them while you listen. Out of respect for Spider-Man's privacy though I've blurred out any mention of his civilian identity and those connected to him." She said before a projector screen popped into existence, "I'll be focusing on the core info. First up is the big boss behind the abduction: Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Everyone including the web-head thought he'd died years ago soon after the battle on the George Washington bridge but he didn't. Instead he left to pursue other plans in Europe leaving his son Harry to carry on the Goblin name.

"However when Harry Osborn died this started the long process of Norman getting his revenge in more ways than are immediately relevant. The revenge plan that's relevant is that he planned on abducting Spidey's kid right out from under his wife's nose in the delivery room. This plan was comprised of three parts." She said as three images popped up on the screen showing Osborn's minions as well as Norman himself, "Part A was to have Mendal Strom aka the Robot Master keep the web-head busy and away from his wife until a specified time. Part B was a woman who went by the name Alison Mongrain who slipped something into the meal Spidey's wife had ordered at a local restaurant designed to induce early labor. Part C was to have the doctor that'd been handling the pregnancy up until then replaced with a Doctor Folsome.

"The comic books didn't specify precisely how they were able to get the baby out of the delivery room without it crying loudly enough to be heard. Probably some kind of sedative mixed with soundproofing the disguised laundry cart Mongrain used to remove the child from the hospital." She said as the images shifted to showing the two final pages from Amazing Spider-Man four hundred and eighteen, "She then took the child to the local docks and boarded the Jade Gargoyle and set out for Europe and haven't been seen since. Your leads are the three minions Osborn used, Oscorp, a connected company called Multivex, a secret European cabal called Scrier and if my hunch is right anyone with both the technology as well as the scientists necessary for accelerating the aging process."

"You think Osborn's going to try and age her into an adult?" Iron Fist asked sounding disturbed by what he'd been shown and told.

"If Osborn just wanted to hurt Spidey he'd have just killed the baby and made sure the wall crawler knew it was him that made it happen. No…he has something bigger planned for the child." She replied letting her personal disgust for Osborn bleed into his voice, "If this wasn't real life but a comic book I'd be expecting him to try and turn her into a weapon to use against Spider-Man. He'd probably think it perfect to send Spidey's own child to kill him knowing the web-head wouldn't dare hurt her knowing the truth. Or maybe he'd rig it so that she did die in such a way that Spider-Man would feel responsible for it and reveal her true identity afterwards. While it's possible that Osborn might let her grow up naturally I doubt he's that patient which means scientifically induced aging and probably some sort of tech based learning system so that she learns what she needs to know in order to be an assassin/enforcer/bodyguard."

"What's the Scrier connection? Heard of them but nothing that makes me think they've got Osborn connections." Misty Knight asked sounding more focused on the info.

"A member of the Scrier organization was shown in the company of Gaunt aka Mendal Strom with the latter implying that they were both under the employ of the same man. Also According to the information that the Rose managed to uncover the cult had been heading for extinction until nine or ten years ago when someone planning on becoming the European Kingpin of Crime took control." She replied explaining what she'd learned by reviewing her memories of the specific issues, "He honed their fighting skills, updated their espionage techniques and outfitted them with high tech weapons. As the Rose put it their annual budget for weaponry exceeds most small nations. I believe that Osborn is this self-proclaimed European Kingpin and that through the Brotherhood of Scriers that you might find out where Spidey's child is located."

Looking at each of them in turn she was pleased to see that the gears inside their heads were grinding as they digested the information she'd provided them with.

"I realize this won't be easy." She said as she brought their minds back to their conscious bodies in the real world, "The trail is three years and four months old and that's pretty cold. Still…after everything Spidey has done for the world he deserves a miracle like getting his kid back."

"Don't worry darlin'." Logan said shaking off the discomfort of telepathic contact, "I've followed colder."

"That's…something I wanted to talk to you about Logan." She said trying to phrase things just right, "One of the reasons I sent the letters to Gambit and Jessica Jones is because they had the skills for the job and weren't big enough players to be IDed on sight wherever they went pursuing this case. But you're an Avenger and one of the more infamous members of the X-Men. Add all that to your unique haircut and you'll ping on Osborn's intel network for sure. I'd kinda like to have Spider-Man's kid literally in our arms before Gobby realizes someone's been looking for it in the first place."

"So I'll wear a disguise." Logan said sounding like it was a simple enough problem to solve.

"If the comics I've read are accurate your idea of a disguise is to put on an eyepatch and call yourself Patch." She said to counter his statement, "I'm thinking only idiots and the blind would fall for that one."

This caused a round of chuckles from everyone other than Wolverine who just grumbled for a few seconds before standing silently.

"That doesn't mean you can't join in later. Assuming the rest of the team can get a good idea of where Spidey's kid is being held we can call you in before the assault." She said hoping the promise of future carnage would keep, "In the meantime there's something else you can do."

"What?" Wolverine asked sounding mildly curious.

"Once we find out where Gobby is hiding the baby we'll need a means of positively IDing her." She replied putting forth something she'd planned on asking him to do anyways, "Osborn's dealt in clones, surgically altered impersonators and lots of other ways of faking people out. I need you to get a DNA sample from both Spider-Man and his wife. Hair sample or skin sample it doesn't matter. Then take it to an egghead you trust and have them come up with the top five most likely DNA combinations of the two samples with the only constant being that the child must be female. Once we have that info put into some kind of portable scanner we can confirm that the girl we find really is Spidey's baby."

"And if Osborn's changed her enough genetically to make a DNA scan useless?" Iron Fist asked pointing out a troublesome possibility.

"Then we take whoever we find, get her to an expert geneticist we trust and see if he can't pry the truth from the altered DNA strands." She replied greatly opposed to such a possibility becoming a reality.

"I notice you keep saying 'we'. Does that mean you plan on coming with us?" Misty Knight asked sounding like she didn't favor the idea.

"Only when you get an idea where Spider-Man's kid is being held." She replied honestly as she looked at the detective, "I know I'm no detective and I'm no super spy with the skills that go with the job. That's why I wanted to hire you guys in the first place. If I went with you from the get go I'd probably screw up before we even got halfway to the kid. I WANT to be there though when we know where she is though."

"Reasonable enough." Gambit said with a nod of acceptance.

"Then unless any of you have any more questions I bring this meeting to an end." She said getting up from her chair, "Enjoy the food and drink for a bit longer if you want. Rachel shouldn't be back for at least another hour and a half. I'd prefer it if she never realizes this meeting took place."

Nods of acknowledgment all around and over the course of the next hour the group she'd assembled left, some partaking of the food and drink before leaving, until she was once more alone.

Well it's all set up now. She thought as she began to move everything back into the main Academy building, All I can do is wait, train and prepare for the day that they give me the call to either say they found little May Parker or confirm beyond a doubt that she really did die in childbirth.

She hoped that that wasn't the case.

If only ONE good thing ever came from her comic book knowledge she wanted it to be returning May Parker, daughter of Peter and Mary Jane Watson-Parker, to her parents.

Was that too much to ask for?