X-Men: New Class

by Ambaryerno

Set in the Earth-10005 Universe, a new class of students arrives at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Inspired by Agents of SHIELD, X-Men: New Class loosely adapts Kyle and Yost's New X-Men as a hypothetical live-action television series. (Note: This story only accounts for up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and will not be updated for Apocalypse)

22. 2x06 - Lying With Angels

2x06

Lying With Angels

Based upon a story by Chuck Austen

###

Act I

###

Burkesville, Kentucky...

It was a beautiful spring afternoon, not quite warm enough to go without a jacket, but the cold of winter was, for the moment, forgotten. The sun hung overhead in a blue sky dotted with perfect, white, cotton-ball sort of clouds, and a fresh breeze rolled in off the Cumberland River. Jebediah Guthrie leaned his back against the wall of Godfather's Pizza, and smiled at a couple girls from school making their way inside. One of them giggled and waved, but the others whispered quietly among themselves and gave him uncertain looks. Jeb just shrugged it off. Being a Guthrie meant two things, and one was dealing with the stares and whispers his siblings bore with pride because of the second: every one of them so far was a mutant.

Maybe soon it would be his turn.

Ray Jr. leaned against the wall of the pizzeria next to him and fidgeted with his phone. Ray was short for his age, skinny, and very dark-skinned, though not that Jeb had much on him in size.

He glanced sidelong at Ray and rolled his eyes. "God almighty, Ray, can't you put that thing away for a few seconds?" he said in his thick Kentucky drawl.

"What? My Clan is in a war right now," Ray said with a shrug.

"We're supposed to be hangin' out lookin' cool, here."

"I don't think you an' me'll be foolin' anyone."

"Yeah, but you could at least pretend," Jeb said. "I mean those girls walked by just now an' one of 'em even smiled at me."

"You sure she weren't just laughin' at you?"

Jeb socked him lightly in the shoulder. "She was probably laughin' at you, dweeb."

"Hey, Guthrie!" said an unwelcome voice from behind him. Jeb turned away from Jay and his phone, and glared up at Abraham Cabot. "I thought I told you that you an' your kin weren't to be comin' 'round here no more!"

Jeb clenched his jaw. Being a Guthrie meant three things...

"Hey look, Ray, it's Abe Cabot!" Jeb said. "He kinda looks like that ogre thing in your game, don't you think?"

"Nah," Ray said, and quickly pocketed his phone as the ugly mountain of a boy approached. "You couldn't put Abe's face in a game, some innocent kid could get hurt."

"You got a point there, Ray. The ESRB ought to put a warning label on it: Unsuitable for all audiences."

Abe curled his lip and glared down on him, and the expression did nothing to improve his pig-faced features. He kept his hair buzzed closed to his scalp, hidden beneath an old faded ball-cap, but otherwise was as well-dressed as all the Cabots, without shame of flaunting their money around the rest of the residents of Cumberland County. His two friends with him, however, couldn't be more Redneck if they tried with their faded overalls and Confederate Flag t-shirts.

"Oh that's funny, Guthrie," Abe said. "I don't kick your ass enough at school you want me to kick it here, too? You ain't got the teachers to hide behind now, either."

"Right here in front o' the whole town, Abe?" Jeb said. "Forget ugly, you ain't got much for brains, either."

"You think anyone in town'd care if I pounded you into dirt right here? Yo' whole family ain't nothin' but dirt, so no one'd even notice." Abe stepped forward and jabbed a finger into his breastbone to emphasize the point. "More'n that, some o' yo' family turned out to be muties, and muties is less than dirt!"

Jeb's whole body stiffened, and he clenched his jaw and fists. "Better'n bein' a Cabot. Julia were the only one with a brain, an' the rest o' y'all from yo' daddy on down ain't got half o' one to split b'tween you!"

Abe seized him by the shirt front and dragged him away from the wall. "You don't even say a thing about my sister! It was yo' filthy brother that got her killed, an' it's too bad the Reverend didn't finish what he started with him, an' wiped every last one o' you freaks out!"

By now a small crowd began to gather. A few people inside Godfather's poked their heads out the door to investigate the ruckus, and pedestrians making their way along the street stopped to watch. They murmured among themselves, but what, exactly, the sentiment was Jeb couldn't tell. All his attention was focused on Abe, and his face heated as his temper got the better of him. Stryker's attack on the school took away Jay, and they almost lost Paige, as well. He tightened his fist, and let his hand fly.

Restrained as he was, he couldn't put much force into the blow, but nonetheless his fist connected with Abe's temple and snapped his head around. He lost his grip on Jeb's shirt, and stumbled under the blow.

"Jeb!" Ray gasped. He tried to rush forward, but was restrained by one of Abe's goons.

Abe himself grabbed the side of his face and glared murder at Jeb. "Oh, you are so dead, Guthrie!" he said, and threw a wild haymaker that drove Jeb into the ground. For a moment he saw stars, and the voices of the crowd faded to a distant rumble as he curled into a ball to shield himself from the blows raining down on him.

"Stop it!" Ray shouted! "Leave him alone!"

Abe was on top of him now, one hand gripping his shirt and the other rhythmically pounding him in the face. Jeb vainly tried to fight him off, but now Abe's size and strength gave him all the advantage. Jeb's head was throbbing in time to Abe's fists, and he felt sick inside. Something was wrong. He'd been beaten up pretty badly before, but this was different. Oh god, he's gonna kill me this time! He's really...

His line of thought died away as a sharp crack like thunder split the air, accompanied by the distinct whiff of ozone. Abe was flung backwards off him with a startled cry as two bolts of electricity slammed into his chest. A hush fell over the crowd, and Jeb found himself staring up into the clear blue sky, with no sign of Abe's ugly face to block the view. Jeb blinked and rolled himself upright, and found everyone staring at him.

"All right Jeb!" Ray said, as he struggled against the arms holding him back. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked, no less astonished. Abe was scrambling to his feet, a look mixed somewhere between horror and rage on his pig face.

"You goddamned mutie freak!" he roared, and charged at him again.

Jeb didn't move. A strange pressure built up in his head again, and now that he wasn't distracted by Abe Cabot's fists pounding his face bloody, he was aware of a subtle prickling sensation in his around his eyes. Realization settled over him, and he smiled.

He was just like Sam, Paige, Jay, and Mel! It was his turn!

He wasn't quite sure how he did it, but just as Abe reached for him, Jeb released his hold on his power. Another sharp crack rocked the street, and two bolts of electrical energy flashed from his eyes and struck Abe. The crowd screamed and many of them scattered in panic. Abe cried out, and danced and writhed as arcs of blue-white energy raced through his body.

"Somebody put him out!" someone shouted, and one of Abe's friends rushed forward to try to extinguish the fingers of electricity coursing through him. Abe went to the ground and rolled over and over while his friend threw his jacket over him and vainly tried to pat him down.

"It's like, electrical or somethin'!" he said. "It won't go out!"

"Jeb! Stop that right now, you hear me!" a man said, and Jeb saw Sherriff Pete — an older man maybe momma's age who may have been an imposing man when he was younger, but now looked to have spent too long sitting in his patrol car at Krispy Kreme — rushing into the middle of the fracas out of the corner of his eye.

Before he could even think of responding, something struck him hard in the head from behind. Jeb saw stars as he staggered under the force of the blow. He was distantly aware of Ray screaming his name, and the appalled disbelief in the Sherriff's voice.

"Christ almighty, Jason, what the hell did you do that for!"

"He started it!" a man said. Jeb nursed the back of his skull and saw the burly local mechanic — or was that both of them? — standing over dressed in his oil-smeared overalls and wielding a wrench in both hands. "It was them Guthries and niggers again!"

Ray's eyes flashed, and he managed to seize hold of the goon still restraining him. "What did you call me?" he screamed, and Jeb's jaw fell slack as, with strength belying his size, Ray flung his assailant in Jason's direction. Both went down in a tangled ball of limbs.

"God dammit, Jason!" the Sherriff said, and laid a hand to his sidearm, "Everyone just calm down!"

"You heard what he called me, Sherriff!" Ray said. "An' he coulda killed Jeb with that wrench!"

"I know! But y'all need to simmer down before someone really gets hurt!"

Jeb was back on his feet, his power sparking in his eyes as he glared down Abe's gang and the mechanic. As the Sherriff was speaking, Jason was scrambling back up after throwing off Abe's fried, and grabbed his wrench again. This time, rather than risk closing in, he flung it straight at Jeb's face. But his throw went wide and instead Jeb watched the wrench arc straight at the back of the Sherriff's head.

Aw, hell!

With no time to think it through, Jeb released his power again, and the wrench disintegrated in a flash of light. Unfortunately, the Sherriff reacted just as quickly out of reflex as the arcs of energy blasted past him. Jeb didn't even see his gun clear his holster, only heard the shot ring out before a sensation like being punched hard in the shoulder ripped through him. Then he was falling, and all he knew was darkness.

###

Westchester, New York...

Westchester rushed by him in a blur of early spring green and brown as Sam Guthrie blasted across New York, wrapped in the energy field propelling him through the air. The wind rushed through his hair, white clouds in the clear blue sky drifted past him, and the sun shone down bright and warm on the countryside below. He didn't get to experience the joy of flying in quite the same way as Mel and Jay, but damned if there wasn't something just awesome about being able to reach out and touch the sky.

Or at least it would be if he weren't rushing to the school on such dire business.

The towering brick and stone edifice of Xavier's mansion appeared below him, and Sam slowed himself and adjusted his trajectory. He swung his legs out beneath him and dropped out of the sky, controlling his descent with subtle bursts of energy until he touched down lightly in the courtyard. Being springtime, a few of the students not in class were out enjoying the improving weather, and excited whispers spread from child to child at the sight of one of the X-Men alighting among them. Sam ignored the attention. He removed his goggles and stuffed them in a pocket, and ran his fingers back through his hair in a vain effort to straighten it out again as he hurried inside.

The entrance hall had changed somewhat since last he was here. That was perfectly understandable considering what Stryker did to it, but otherwise presented a comforting sense of familiarity. The sounds of laughter echoed through the school, but Sam couldn't quite bring himself to feel the joviality. Instead he strode with purpose down the hall, excusing himself politely as he threaded a path through the children in the entry hall. The sensation of being watched washed over him upon nearing the staircase leading up to the dormitory hallway. Not the casual curiosity he was accustomed to on his occasional visits, but a deep, careful scrutiny that made his hair stand on end. He glanced at the upper landing to find a slight dark-haired girl sitting with Cessily Kincaid and Julian Keller, and studying him intently.

Sam suppressed a shudder and turned into the library, then hurried to the Professor's office. Before he could even knock he heard Xavier's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Come in!"

Sam opened the door and quietly slipped inside. The Professor was seated in his wheelchair in the conversation circle near the fireplace, addressing a small knot of students. Like the entry hall, Xavier's private office had changed somewhat since his last visit, but not so much as to be completely unfamiliar. The computer and furnishings were much more up-to-date, but otherwise it was the same, sort of elegantly stuffy and somehow still comfortable space it had always been.

He hesitated a moment inside the door. "I'm sorry, Professor," he said in his Kentucky drawl. "I didn't know you had a class this mornin'. I'll come back ..."

"Actually we were just finishing for the morning," Xavier said. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

If Xavier knew the reason for his visit he didn't let on, and Sam leaned against the wall behind him and folded his arms across his chest. The Professor returned his attention to his students and resumed his lesson.

"Now," he said, "I would like each of you to pick a chapter from the first Book, and write your interpretation of the meaning behind Merlyn's lesson to Arthur. This assignment will be due at the beginning of class next Thursday. If there's no questions, we'll go ahead and break for the day."

Sam allowed himself a tight smile at the collective groans over the assignment, and then the class broke up and drifted out of the room, leaving him alone with the Professor.

"It's good to see you again, Sam," he said, but there was a subtle catch in his voice, as if he were aware of the reason for his visit. Sam knew the Professor would refrain from plucking the purpose from his mind and let him get to it himself, but he also had no doubt the seriousness of the matter was clear.

"It's good to see you, too, sir," Sam said, and stepped away from the wall. "I wish it could be under better circumstances."

Xavier frowned and motioned for him to take a seat. Sam complied, forcing down the sense of urgency that had him wanting to bounce off the walls. "What happened?"

"Are Paige an' Mel around? This'd better wait until I can talk to them, too, but we've got trouble back home an' I need help."

"Paige and Melody are both in class, but one moment ..." Xavier trailed off and closed his eyes. Sam watched him in silence, and wrung his hands and rocked on the chair. "I've asked Peter to step in for Paige, and Melody has been excused. Sam, what has happened?"

Sam sighed and hopped up out of his chair to pace. "Like I said, there was trouble back home. It was mostly a family matter, but ..."

"You said you needed help?"

He nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Of course we'll do what we can, but it would help if you'd let me know more."

Sam sighed. "I know, but it bein' a family matter'n all I'd not feel right about talkin' about it before I had a chance to let Mel an' Paige know what's goin' on."

Xavier gave him a nod of understanding. "Of course."

They didn't have long to wait, of course. The school being the size it was, it took his sisters little time to reach the Professor's office. Mel burst in the door first, apparently so alarmed by whatever the Professor broadcast she didn't even bother to knock. She took one look at Sam rising from his chair as she entered, and a broad smile filled her features. "Sam!"

Mel didn't even need her powers to fly, as she rushed across the space separating them and vaulted into his arms for a ferocious hug belying her size. Sam just laughed and crushed her against his chest. "Hey there, kiddo, how're you?"

"I'm all right, is it just you?"

"Yup, just me. Where's sis'?"

"I think she's comin'. What are you doin' here? Shouldn't you be blastin' yourself into somethin' stupid right about now?"

His smile faltered, and he laid a hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk as soon as Paige gets here."

Mel didn't miss his change of mood, and stepped out to study him. Her smile faded into a worried frown. "What's the matter?"

"Sam?" Paige said from the doorway, and Sam looked up to see her hesitate at the door. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Sam crossed the space between them and gathered her into a hug. "Hey, Paige."

Paige hugged him back, and after a long moment — long enough he felt her tremble anxiously, and was keenly aware of Mel impatiently wringing her hands and dancing from side-to-side — pushed her at arm's length.

"I've got some bad news, y'all better sit down."

###

Act II

###

They all squeezed into Xavier's office, and Julian silently groused the Professor really needed to add more chairs. He, Laura, and Cessily managed to get there first, and appropriated the couch; himself on one end, Cessily on the other, and Laura's slight frame squeezing in between them with her knees drawn up to her chest. The others grabbed whatever seats were available around the room, with Santo as always leaning against the bookshelf since none of the chairs could comfortably accommodate his rocky bulk.

Julian's first warning this wasn't one of Xavier's usual scowl-fests over something they did wrong came when he entered to find not only Paige and Melody Guthrie present, the latter in tears and leaning into her sister's arms, but Yana Rasputin as well. Even more surprising was Sam Guthrie, standing with his arms folded across his chest, and his blonde hair a disheveled mess. He dressed in the black leather uniform of the X-Men, highlighted throughout with gold piping; whatever brought him to the school, it was clearly as Cannonball, not just a family visit.

Xavier regarded them all piling into his office with an expression somewhere between surprise and amusement, then turned his attention to Josh, who stood off somewhat away from the rest of them. "I don't recall asking you to bring the others," he said, and Julian could hear the smile in his voice.

Foley colored a bit through his gleaming golden skin. "Sorry, Professor, but the way you called I thought you were wanting the whole team."

"No need to apologize, in fact I'm quite pleased that you've begun to think of yourselves in such a fashion, and that it was your first instinct. But in this case, it was just you I wished to see."

Sooraya raised her hand. "If this is meant to be a private meeting, perhaps we can go ..."

Sam shrugged. "Don't see the harm in y'all stickin' 'round. Knowin' the school the way I do I'm sure y'all will know by lunchtime, anyway."

Julian frowned and had to strain his ears and focus to understand a word Sam Guthrie was saying. If Ms. Guthrie tried her best to bury her drawl and hide the hick in her, Sam Guthrie positively reveled in it.

"Truth be told, our brother Jebediah ran into some trouble back home, and ..."

He trailed off when Julian snerked, earning him glares from everyone but Laura (who just seemed lost at what he found so amusing), and especially the Professor and the Guthries. "People actually still name their kids Jebediah?"

"That's right, Mr. Keller," Sam said and glared. "We do. An' if you've got a problem with that I'll thank you to keep your mouth shut. Our family's been through enough as it is."

Ashida frowned. "What's going on?"

"Jeb's been shot!" Mel wailed, and buried her face in her sister's shoulder.

Stunned silence fell over the room, and Julian's face heated in chagrin.

"Jeb an' a friend of the family were hangin' out in town when they got into a scrap with Chester Cabot's youngest boy. I just got the call from our momma an' came right here so I haven't been home to see for myself. She was in hysterics, but he's home an' restin'."

Josh frowned. "Why isn't he at a hospital?"

Sam sighed and his shoulders sagged. "It was the Sherriff who shot him." He glanced at the Professor for a moment, who sat in what Julian recognized as his "I'm thinking really hard so carry on" posture. "Jeb manifested durin' the fight. We don't rightly know what it is about our family, but so far all of us kids have turned out to be mutants. Well, the Sherriff says things got out of hand an' it was all on reflex."

Julian folded his arms across his chest and scowled. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

"All I know is what momma tells me. The Sherriff had him brought home to try an' cool things down in town. I'd have to guess he wasn't hurt too bad if they brought him there instead."

"So what do you need from Josh?" Alleyne said.

Julian rolled his eyes. "For the smartest guy in the room you're pretty slow on the uptake, Nerdstrom."

"They need a healer," Josh said, making it a statement of fact.

Sam nodded. "That's right. I figured you can put Jeb back on his feet again."

Josh shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look. I mean if it's not bad enough to hospitalize him it will probably be a pretty easy fix."

Xavier looked between him and the Guthries and nodded. "Very well. Paige, I'll have Peter cover your art classes while you're away, and Melody, you'll be excused from classes for as long as you need with your family."

Melody sniffed and wiped her nose. "Thank you, Professor."

Yana raised a hand. "I'm sorry about what happened to Mel's brother, but why did you call me here? I get why you asked Josh, but ...?"

"I can fly myself home right quick," Sam said, "but I can't get everyone there on my back. Even if Jeb's not hurt bad I don't want to delay any longer than we have to. I'd be obliged if you can 'port us home."

Yana's eyes widened, and Julian realized with some astonishment her expression was actually anxious.

"All the way to Kentucky?"

Sam regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Will that be a problem?"

"I don't think so, but I've just never done a teleport that far before. And I'm not sure you'll like it all that much in Limbo on the way. My little pets can be a little, well, aggressive."

Yana regarded the Professor. "I'd have to go with them, too. I can't just send them on their way. They'll need me to open the portal at their destination and, uh, make sure everything on the other side behaves itself."

Xavier nodded. "Very well."

"Excuse me, Professor?" Ashida said, and her gauntlets clinked as she raised her hand.

"Yes, Nori?"

"Look, I'm not trying to say you and Cannonball don't know what you're doing, but as team leader, I'm not sure I like sending one of my people off alone."

Julian regarded her with a scowl and narrowing of his eyes. My people?! Laura's eyes settled on him in mild warning, however, and he just folded his arms across his chest and fumed silently.

"I have to agree with Nori," Sooraya said, and that just irritated him even more. "I confess I do not completely understand the complexity of this feud between the Guthries and the Cabots, but Jay tried to explain some of it to me once. I don't think it unreasonable to believe that this incident might stir up trouble, particularly if their brother manifested in such a manner."

The Professor raised an eyebrow at Sam. "Sam?"

He considered that for a moment, and shrugged. "Most folks back home tend to leave us alone, an' it's mainly with the Cabots that we have any sort of trouble. But like I said, I don't know more than what momma told me, an' she was near to hysterics."

"An unknown tactical situation demands thorough reconnaissance. Sufficient force to establish an adequate defensive perimeter around key facilities is both advisable and strongly recommended," Laura said, and the cold, precise manner in her voice made Julian's skin crawl. Everyone stared at her with varying shades of trepidation.

Xavier tapped his index fingers against his chin in deep thought for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Sam, in addition to yourself, your sisters, Josh, and Illyana, I'd like you to take Surge's team with you."

He turned his gaze on Ashida, and she stiffened with an expression that read something to the effect of, "Me and my big mouth."

"Cannonball will be in overall command, but I'll leave the handling of your team to you. Bear in mind we can ill-afford any controversy, particularly under the circumstances of Jebediah's manifestation. Keep as low of a profile as you can, and try to avoid confrontations with the locals. I'll make a note that you will be excused from classes until your return."

"Yes, sir," she said.

"All right! Field trip!" Santo said, and was practically bouncing on his feet like a puppy being let off the leash.

Julian groaned and rolled his eyes, a sentiment mirrored by almost everyone in the room.

"'Santo' and 'Low Profile,'" Cessily said, and mopped her face. "We are so boned."

###

Amandaville, Kentucky...

They emerged from the dark hellscape of Limbo with a blinding flash of light, and Julian swayed dizzily on his feet. He forced down the bile rising up in the back of his throat, and with it the urgent desire to empty the contents of his stomach all over the ground. Judging from the weak groans of the rest of the group he wasn't alone in the sentiment, though everyone managed to maintain their composure.

"Nice puppy... nice puppy ..." Cessily muttered. Her eyes were wide with fright, and her body shivered violently.

Well, most everyone.

"You ok, Cess?" he asked.

"I warned you to keep your hands in your pockets and no petting," Yana said, almost flippantly, and flashed a grin. "They're a little nippy with strangers."

Julian put an arm around Cessily to help her still the shakes. She clutched him back in turn, and after a few moments gave him a small nod of thanks. "And you're telling me you've been going in there since you were a kid?"

"Oh, no," Yana said. "I didn't learn how to open the portals until I was older." Something shifted behind her blue eyes, however, and the smugness of watching the newbies react to her pocket dimension faded. There was a hollowness in her eyes that may have unnerved Julian even more than her casual stoicism in the face of the hellspawn they traveled among on their way to Kentucky. "No. At first they visited me at night when I was little. Just sitting and watching when the lights were out and I was supposed to be in bed."

Then it was gone, and that unnerving smile was back again. "They're really quite sweet once they get used to you."

"No offense, Yana, but I'd rather take my chance with a plane on the trip home," Cessily said, and parted from Julian.

She shrugged, and glanced off to the side. "Suit yourself. Although you know, I've never seen them react like that to someone before ..."

Julian followed her eyes, and they landed on Laura as she stood away from the rest of the group. She turned this way and that, sampling the air and sweeping her green eyes across the open fields surrounding them. He suppressed a shudder of his own. The creatures inhabiting Yana's domain grew bold halfway through the trek, and they all watched in astonishment as Laura stared one down, let out a short growl of warning, and sent it with a yowl of fright back into the fire-and-brimstone darkness whence it came.

"Yeah, well, right now I can't decide which of you two is weirder."

"Decide later, boy, an' let's get a leg out. Momma's expectin' us," Sam said as he brushed past them and started across the turf.

They headed for a modest two-story house set at the end of a long drive off the main road, that couldn't be any more painfully Americana if it tried; white siding, picket fence, tire swing hanging from a tree nearby. And it was all set in the midst of fields of furrowed browned dirt awaiting planting. A red barn with flaking paint — and what looked like burn damage on one side — occupied one corner of the property, and a water tower cast long shadows across the fields as the sun slipped down towards the horizon in the west. The evening promised to be a cool one, and Julian pulled his jacket tighter around himself and despaired at the utter lack of amenities.

"Dude, I think I hear banjos," Santo said.

Laura, falling into step with him and Cessily, frowned in confusion. "I do not hear anything."

"It's a movie reference, Laura," Cessily said, and glared over her shoulder at the walking mountain of rock. "Because Santo's an insensitive jackass."

"Yeah, well, it sure looks like something out of Deliverance," Julian said, earning himself an annoyed glare from Melody and Ms. Guthrie, and a swat up the back of the head from Cessily. He fixed her with his best "What did I say?" look, and rubbed the back of his skull.

"This is our home, Mr. Keller," Ms. Guthrie said. "Maybe it's not the fancy 21st-Century castles you're used to, but it's still home. And you're a guest, here, so I expect you to act like it."

Julian rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything more as they followed Sam inside.

The interior of the Guthrie home could best be described as "quaint." For a small gathering it might even be comfortable and cozy, but as the dozen-or-so of them piled inside Julian found it almost claustrophobically crowded. Especially at the sight of half the nearly dozen more Guthrie siblings popping their heads curiously through a doorway leading into the family room off the short entry hallway to the left. A small, open dining room occupied the space opposite it on the right, with another door leading to the kitchen in the back corner.

"Sam!" A girl's voice called, and a blonde and blue-eyed young girl a few years younger than Mel bounded out of the family room, and gathered him into a hug.

"Easy, Liz, Easy!" Sam said with a laugh. "Girl, you are growin' up strong! You sure you ain't manifested yet?"

"Naw. Now that Jeb's got his powers you know Joelle an' Lewis are next."

"How's he doin'? Momma was beside herself when I talked to her."

Liz accepted hugs from Melody and Ms. Guthrie in turn. "He's hurtin' pretty bad. They brought the Doc by an' he said it weren't as bad as it coulda been. Pete mostly just winged him, but he can't move his arm much. Where you been, Sam? Momma was expectin' you this mornin'!"

"I had to make a stop on the way," he said, and nodded his head towards the rest of them. By now the other Guthrie kids downstairs had emerged from the family room to investigate the newcomers, and most of them looked up dumbfounded at Santo and his big, stupid grin as he stared down on them. A small smile crossed Cessily's lips at the fascination on their features, while Laura tried to shrink into her jacket at the scrutiny. Julian just folded his arms across the chest and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Y'all's mooties, too?" the youngest, an almost painfully adorable little girl in blonde pigtails, said. Julian bristled reflexively when he recognized the corrupted slur, but forced his indignation down.

"That's right, sweetheart," Sam said, and scooped her up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "They're here to help Jeb. Where is he?"

"Momma, Jo, an' Lew are upstairs with Jeb," Liz said. "Sam, Pete's here, too."

Sam sighed. "Don't surprise me none. All right, Elixir, you're with me. The rest y'all can tag along, or make yourselves comfortable down here."

###

Josh followed Sam up the flight of steps leading to the bedrooms on the second level. Ms. Guthrie and Melody came with them, but the rest of the group remained downstairs with the Guthrie kids rather than try to pile into the crowded stairwell. The furnishings were rather sparse, though framed photographs lined the walls all the way up the stairs. A hollowness spread through his gut at the smiling faces of children wrapped in their mother's and father's arms, and Josh stuffed his hands in his pockets and hung his head to avoid looking at them.

The stairs opened onto a small hallway on the second floor. To the right it led directly into the master bedroom, which occupied a sizable part of the upstairs. There was also a single bathroom which, from the brief glimpse Josh caught inside on his way past, was at least a few years out of date. The rest of the space was given over to three smaller bedrooms made even more cramped by the bunkbeds needed to fit all of the Guthrie siblings under one roof. As problematic as Josh found it to get some privacy at the Xavier school at times, he couldn't imagine just how much more difficult it would be living in such quarters.

"Damn it, Jeb! That was a stupid thing to do!" a woman shouted from one of the smaller bedrooms. A bedroom which Josh concluded was their destination as Sam turned left down the hallway.

"Would you stop sayin' that, momma? It weren't my fault!" said a voice in protest.

"That don't make it any less stupid! Pete says you could have killed someone!"

The four of them arrived at the door to the room, and Josh craned his neck to peer past Sam's athletic frame and the edge of the door. A knot of people were clustered around one of the beds; One wore the uniform of the county Sherriff, holding his hat in hand and shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot during the tirade. The woman — Josh guessed it was Mrs. Guthrie — was of average height and build, and with hair that was once a rich brown now shot through with streaks of silver. Her features were careworn and tired, and she glowered down at her son in frustration.

Jeb Guthrie was maybe a year or two younger than Melody, slight of build, and dark-haired like his mother. His shoulder was wrapped in linens, and his arm hung in a sling. Joelle and Lewis sat on the side of his bed, and fidgeted under the ire of their mother.

"Momma, I had it under control!" Jeb said in protest.

"Damn it, boy! I raised you better'n that! You know you ain't supposed to be usin' your powers on folks!"

"I didn't mean to! Abe Cabot started whalin' on me an' it just happened!"

Sam cleared his throat, and the argument died away as everyone spun around to face the newcomers. The younger Guthries' faces lit up at the sight of their eldest brother, and Joelle and Lewis both left the bedside and charged in for a glomp.

"Sam!" they said in unison, and Sam accepted the hug with just as much joviality as the assault down below.

"Heya Jo, Lew!" he said. Sam turned his attention to his mother. "Momma."

"Thank god you're here, Sam," she said. "Maybe you can talk some sense into your brother."

"I don't know about that, momma, you know how reckless I was when I was his age. But I did bring some help with me." Ms. Guthrie ushered Josh forward with a hand to his back, and Josh fidgeted under the eyes of the others. "Folks, this is Josh, from the Xavier school. He's a healer, so I brought him 'round to mend up Jeb's shoulder."

"Well, at least someone in this family has their head on straight," Mrs. Guthrie said.

The Sherriff eyed him closely, and hooked his thumbs through his belt. "Look, I don't want to get involved in mutie affairs; all I care about is keepin' the peace in my county. This business between you and the Cabots has to stop, Lucinda."

"But Abe started it!" Jeb wailed in protest.

"I don't care who started it, and this ain't just about you an' Abe Cabot, Jeb. This feud's been goin' on too long. It was bad enough that mess that came out of Jay an' Julia, an' now y'all are letting it spill over into town an' puttin' innocent people at risk. I don't want to have to do it, but if I have to I'll ask y'all — officially — to steer clear of town!"

Mrs. Guthrie glared. "You can't do that, Pete! We've got rights, too."

"So do the folks that live there, Lu. Jeb was out of control today, an' he nearly cooked me too—"

"That's a lie!" Jeb said. "Jason tried to throw a wrench at me, but he missed an' it was about to hit you, Pete. I blew it up. You're the one what had the itchy trigger-finger."

Mrs. Guthrie buried her face in her hand. "You're not helpin' boy. Maybe if your daddy were still alive he'd be able to keep y'all in line, but I have to manage the best I can. We've already lost Jay, an' nearly lost Paige, too. This family's had enough tragedy to deal with to have you addin' to it."

A sober silence fell across the room. Josh fidgeted, and the Guthries lowered their heads. From the looks of him, the Sherriff was just as uncomfortable as he was.

"Well, it's not worth dwellin' on," Mrs. Guthrie finally said after a few moments, then fixed her blue eyes on him. "Boy, my son says you're here to help, so if you can help put Jeb's shoulder right I'll be much obliged."

Josh nodded, and the others cleared him a path so he could approach Jeb's bedside to go to work.

###

"Lord almighty, girl, where do you put it all?" Mrs. Guthrie said as Laura heaped another helping of green beans onto her plate.

The dining room was so crowded Julian scarcely had room for his plate. Laura and Cessily squeezed in on either side of him, with Santo next to Cessily, and one of the younger Guthrie siblings next to Laura. Otherwise there was no real order to the seating arrangements, and everyone found a place wherever there was room. He and the rest of the newcomers — especially Santo — generated quite a bit of excitement, and there were actually arguments and squabbles over who would get to sit next to who. Most of the kids looked so alike Julian long ago gave up on trying to remember who was who. To his astonishment even the Sherriff crowded in at the table.

If someone shot one of my friends I sure as hell wouldn't invite him to dinner.

"My healing factor provides an accelerated metabolism, necessitating a significant increase in caloric intake," Laura said flatly, and Julian quirked a grin at her missing the hyperbole in Mrs. Guthrie's remark.

Ashida made a face at her plate. "If she's anything like the Wolverine, by the time she's sixty she won't look a day over twenty, too. Some girls have all the luck!"

"Theoretically my life expectancy should surpass Logan's, as his healing and regenerative abilities are adversely affected by the adamantium bonded to his skeleton."

"Ada-what?" one of the kids asked.

"Don't ask," Ashida said, "or we'll be hearing about it all night."

Mrs. Guthrie sobered a bit and stared at Laura, who for her part shrunk into her jacket at the scrutiny. "I understand you were the one who was with my boy when he died."

The whole team visibly stiffened at that pronouncement, and in anticipation of the faux pas looming on the horizon.

"I was there when Jay was killed," Laura said, almost casually, between bites of green beans.

"Was it quick? Did he suffer?"

Laura opened her mouth, but Julian gave her a warning shake of the head, and her pale cheeks colored slightly. "It was not instant, but he succumbed quickly."

Mrs. Guthrie nodded. "I'm sorry to put you on the spot, dear, but Professor Xavier didn't have much for me about what happened. Did he say anything?"

"He said that Julia was waiting. I do not know what that means."

"Julia Cabot," Sam said, with a heavy sigh. "Blood's been bad between us an' the Cabots so long it's hard to remember sometimes there was at least one bright spot in all of that."

"Jay mentioned her to me once," Sooraya said, and deftly maneuvered a bite of her dinner beneath her niqab. Her hijab proved almost as much a source of curiosity to the younger Guthries as Santo's enormous rocky bulk, Victor's reptilian features, and Cessily's gleaming silver skin. Fortunately, Mrs. Guthrie had no trouble making accommodations for Sooraya's halal diet. "He did not wish to speak of her much, though."

"I don't think Jay ever got over Julia," Mrs. Guthrie said, and offered her a sad smile. "He mentioned you on a couple of his calls home, though, near the end. From the sound of things he thought very highly of you. But Julia ..."

"She was Chester Cabot's daughter," Paige said, and slumped in her chair. "She and Jay found something in each other the rest of us could have done a better job looking for. Chester got wind, though, and went after Jay to keep him away from her. He didn't really tell us much more about what happened, only that Julia thought her father killed him, so she killed herself. Jay was never the same after that."

"Wow, that's like, total Romeo and Juliet stuff," Santo said.

Cessily blinked. "Ok, I'm impressed you actually picked up on that."

Santo shrugged. "What? We just watched that old movie in English Class. You know, that one with Olivia Hussey where you can see her—"

"Santo!" several of them all shouted at once, but Mrs. Guthrie just chuckled and shook her head.

"Liz, honey, why don't you see if desert is ready," she said.

"Yes'm," Liz said.

The Sherriff wiped his mouth on a napkin. "I'll have to pass. Thanks for supper, Lucinda, but it's time I got back to town. If you want my advice, it'd be to think long an' hard about what happened with Jay, and what near happened today. This business between your family an' the Cabots has got to stop before it gets someone else killed."

Sam folded his arms across his chest and scowled. "Come on, Pete, it ain't on us an' you know it. It's Chester you ought to be havin' this conversation with. We'd be content to live an' let live, but it's always been the Cabots stirrin' up trouble."

"Now look, boy, I've been tryin' to keep the peace between y'all and Chester for years, but frankly I'm runnin' out of patience—"

"Momma!" Liz shouted, and everyone craned their necks to look at her through the door leading to the kitchen. "Momma, you'd better come take a look at this!"

Mrs. Guthrie got up from the table, and hurried into the kitchen. "What's the matter, baby?"

"It's Chester Cabot an' his boys. An' they've got guns!"

###

Act III

###

Mrs. Guthrie's face blanched, and Julian's stomach churned. "What in God's name does he think he's doing?" she said. "Liz, fetch me your daddy's rifle, Rest o' you kids stay here."

"Now hang on, Lu!" the Sherriff said, and hurried to follow after Mrs. Guthrie as she sprang to her feet and headed for the back door. "Don't you go makin' a confrontation out of this!"

Everyone was in motion, now; the Sherriff caught Mrs. Guthrie by the arm, Liz hurried off to the family room to do as her mother asked, but no one else showed any sign of obeying her orders to stay put. Mrs. Guthrie threw the Sherriff's hand off her arm and glared. "It's been confrontational for years, Pete! An' I'm not the one walkin' up to his back door armed for bear! Liz!"

"Here, momma!" Liz said, and hurried back into the kitchen carrying an old lever-action hunting rifle. Mrs. Guthrie snatched it from her hands and stormed for the door.

"Lu, wait!"

"Damn!" Sam said, and hurried after his mother. Ms. Guthrie tore at her skin as she followed behind him, exposing a gleaming metallic surface beneath. He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of them. "You kids stay here and keep an eye on the youngun's."

Julian scowled at the order and pushed past the knot forming in the doorway leading into the kitchen, anyway, and Laura and Cessily hurried after him.

"Keller! What do you think you're doing?" Ashida said. "Cannonball told us to wait here!"

"We're here to help, so I'm helping," he said over his shoulder. "Ms. Guthrie might be bullet-proof right now, but the rest of them aren't. If anyone starts shooting I'll put up a barrier. Fight over."

"God damn it, Keller!" she said, before falling into a string of Japanese invective as she followed after him.

Julian ignored her, and hurried through the kitchen and squeezed outside to join the others on the back porch. Mrs. Guthrie cradled her rifle in her arms and glared out onto the path leading up to the back door as four men; the eldest a well-dressed and somewhat doughy older man with thinning brown hair who could only be Chester Cabot. The family resemblance of the other three was impossible to miss, and all of them carried rifles or shotguns. Laura's green eyes were already flicking from man to man to digest the situation, and her lithe frame trembled, ready to spring into motion at the first sign of aggression.

He cautiously reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder. Laura flinched, but didn't move. "Hey, remember these guys are just a bunch of dumb rednecks," he muttered into her ear. "It's not Stryker's men. So like, no removing limbs, or anything."

Laura gave him a bewildered look. "They are armed and threatening our host."

"I know, but trust me, no killing."

She chewed on her lower lip, then nodded. However her body remained tense. Julian felt the rest of the team crowd out of the kitchen behind them, and they all took up positions flanking and behind Mrs. Guthrie, with the rest of the Guthrie kids watching the standoff from the kitchen windows and doorway.

"What's with the artillery, Cabot?" Mrs. Guthrie said as he approached the steps leading up to the back porch.

"Protection, Lucinda," he said. His accent was a bit more refined than the Guthrie clan, but was still a thick Cumberland drawl. God, it's like freaking Gone With The Wind, or something. "I mean come on, your boy shoots lightnin' from his eyes, and who know what else the rest of these freaks can do?"

Julian scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "We can do lots of things, do you really want to push us?"

"Can it, Hellion," Sam said. "You ain't helpin'."

"You an' all your kind back there better stand down," Cabot said. "We've come for the one that hurt my boy, an' aim to teach him a bit of respect for us normal folk."

Mrs. Guthrie barked out a sharp laugh. "Is that right? You aim to teach my boy a lesson on respect? What about all the nonsense your boy has done to us over the years? Jeb can't hardly walk down the hallways at school without Abe beatin' him within an inch of his life, or how about the time he set our barn on fire, an' poisoned our dog? An' you expect me to just stand aside an' turn my son over to you?"

"Them's lies, daddy!" Abe Cabot, an ugly, pig-faced sort of boy, shouted from the back.

"You ain't never been able to prove that!" Cabot snapped, and gestured at her with his shotgun. "You're just paranoid, Lucinda."

"I ain't got to prove nothin', Cabot," she said.

"Damn it, Lu! Chester! You both step back before this gets out of hand!" the Sherriff said, and tried to put himself between them. Julian clenched his fists and called his power to him; the tension hanging over the porch was so thick he doubted Laura could even cut through it with her claws, and everyone fell silent.

"What are you doin' tellin' me to step back?" Mrs. Guthrie said. "Cabot's the one here on my land without invitation, packin' heat, an' threatenin' me an' mine. I am well within my rights to shoot them all down like the dogs they are!"

"Momma's got a point, Pete," Sam said, and folded his arms across his chest and glowered down on the Cabots. "You've got a lot of nerve tellin' her to stand down with Cabot there pointin' his shotgun at us."

"Look, I'm just doin' my job, here!" the Sherriff said, and raised his hands. "This county's been peaceful an' I don't want nobody to start pullin' triggers and spoilin' that! An' yes, dammit, Chester needs to put his gun down, too. If y'all want to come down to my office so we can talk this out like adults we can get your grievances out official-like, but for God's sake let's not let this turn violent!"

Mrs. Guthrie's glare hardened even further. "Is that supposed to help, Pete? My boy was just defendin' himself, an' you up an' shot him!"

"Damn it, Lu! I told you what happened!"

"If you think I'm goin' to sit down with a Guthrie you're out of your mind, Pete," Cabot said. "This ain't your affair, now get out of my way! If Lucinda and her freakshow ain't gonna clear the way quietly, we'll just have to make them!"

And with that, Cabot muscled the Sherriff out of his way, racked his shotgun, and leveled the barrel at Mrs. Guthrie. She in turn snapped the barrel of her rifle up, and the Cabot boys raised their own weapons.

Aw, hell!

A sharp snikt echoed across the Guthrie farm, and Laura sprung between them and Cabot. "Laura, no!" Julian shouted, but before he could even think of making a move to restrain her, her claws flashed, and she brought them down on Cabot's shotgun, slicing it cleanly in half and spilling its inner workings across the porch.

"Shit!" Cabot blurted out and stumbled back. The Sherriff reflexively reached for his sidearm, and the Cabot boys readied to fire.

"Cabot! No!" the Sherriff cried, and tried to put himself back in his path, but his protest died in his throat when Cabot swung wildly at Laura with the remains of his shotgun, and clocked him in the side of the head.

The Sherriff went down hard on his back. Laura evaded the blow, caught Cabot by the wrist, and effortlessly drove him into the dirt. She dropped her full weight on him and leveled her claws at his throat. Julian threw up a wall of telekinetic energy between them and the Cabot boys just in time for a shot to ring out, and splatter uselessly against his shield. Sam unleashed a low-level blast of energy that struck the eldest son in the shoulder and spun him into the ground. Ms. Guthrie rushed forward and delivered a ferocious right hook to the jaw of the middle son. Santo followed after her with a bellow of challenge, and Abe Cabot, wielding his gun like a club, futilely whacked him in the flank. The stock shattered against Santo's rocky body, and his glowing blue eyes lit up gleefully as he smiled down at the dumbstruck boy.

Abe immediately raised his hands at the sight of the towering mountain of living rock casting his shadow down on him. "Whoa! I quit! I quit!"

Santo smacked one fist into his rocky palm. "That's right! You try it and you're gonna get rocked!"

"Oh shut up, Santo," Cessily said, as she helped the Sherriff back to his feet.

The fight was over in seconds, but Julian's heart did its best to tear through his ribcage nonetheless. The Guthrie kids watched in a mix of excitement and terror, all of them too enthralled to retreat from the porch or kitchen windows. Electricity danced across Ashida's skin as she retrieved her discarded gauntlets and slipped them back on. "Damn it, Julian!" she said, and discharged her built-up energy. "I told you guys to stay back!"

Julian glared at her over his shoulder. "Hey, if it wasn't for me one of those idiots would have killed someone!"

"That's not the point! We're supposed to be—"

"That's enough! Both of you!" Sam said.

"Damn it, Cabot!" the Sherriff snapped as he regained his balance. "You had no cause for any of this!"

"Her boy almost kills mine," Cabot said from his back, "an' you're layin' this on me?" His face was white as he stared up into Laura's cold green eyes, her claws at his throat and gleaming in the light from the porch.

"You came here lookin' to start a fight, Chester! You're on her property, you came here armed, an' Lu ain't wrong about that." The Sherriff turned his glare on Laura. "That's enough, darlin'. Put them blades away an' let him up."

Laura complied immediately, and stood away from Cabot and retracted her claws.

"Now you get your ass into the back of my car and tell your boys to get on home!"

Cabot gawked incredulously as he unsteadily returned to his feet. "You're arrestin' me, Pete?"

"Damn right I am! Now you get into that car right now an' maybe I won't charge you with assaultin' an officer on top of it all." He nursed the bruise forming on his jaw to emphasize the point.

"That's it?" Mrs. Guthrie said. "You're gonna just let his boys walk away?"

"I'm tryin' to do the right thing here, Lu. Me an' the entire county have had it with this mess between you an' the Cabots. I'm already bendin' over backwards not bringin' Jeb in for that brawl in town this mornin'. By all rights I ought to bring the lot of you in, as this ain't just about your barn; it's startin' to spill over an' put the locals in danger, too! This business has to stop!"

She ground her teeth and fumed silently, but otherwise said nothing.

"Now I'll take Chester in to cool off; he had no right comin' armed onto your property demandin' your boy be turned over. I don't want no lynch mobs in my county, but this has got to be settled, you hear?"

###

Pete turned his car off of Lucinda's drive and onto the main road. Chester fumed silently in the back of his car, his hands cuffed behind him, and glared at the Sherriff's back.

"So you're really takin' me in, Pete?" he said.

"I ought to, you idiot. What the hell were you thinkin'?" Pete said.

Chester glared incredulously at his head silhouetted against the windshield as the car sped down the road. "You weren't even supposed to be there! You were supposed to be clear before me an' my boys got there!"

Pete sighed. "I saved your life, Chester. Can't you count? You were outnumbered an' out-gunned. Jesus Christ, that little girl threw you down like you was nothin'. I've heard of another of them muties with claws like that, an' that's trouble you don't want brought down on your head. Who knows what else those kids Sam brought with him can do? That gold-skinned one? He just touched Jeb's shoulder an' put it right."

The car struck a rough spot in the road, and Chester bobbed a bit on the rear bench. He rolled his shoulders as best he could to relieve the strain in his arms. "I had it all under control!"

"You would'a been killed you idiot!"

"We had a deal, Pete! Look the other way while we burn Guthrie an' her clan out of there. You've said how many times the Guthries bein' here ain't nothin' but trouble!"

"Right now you're not exactly endearin' yourself, either. Your boy attacked Jeb Guthrie in the middle of town in broad daylight, for Christ's sake! Sentiments ain't what they used to be; ever since the mutie school up in New York was attacked folks're more open to their kind, an' you think they're gonna look kindly on your boy attackin' one in public? Now I'd been willin' to turn a blind eye, but damn it, Chester! Not when it's tearin' up my whole damn county!

"An' now the Guthries brought those out-of-town kids in on top of it! Jesus Christ, Chester, what do you expect to do about that big rocky one?"

"Anything can be killed, Pete," Chester said, and twisted his lip into a scowl. That includes the Guthries and whatever help they bring in from outside, an' I don't care how tough they think they are. They can be killed."

They spent the rest of the ride in silence, as Pete turned his car on the road for home.

###

"This isn't going to end here, Sam," Paige said, "and you know it!"

They were all crowded into the family room, Guthries and X-Men crammed into whatever space could be found for them. Momma sat on the couch with the youngest, hugging them tightly against her side as they sobbed over their fright from the scrap outside. The rest of her siblings' faces were downcast and anxious. Mel was holding up better than the rest; surviving Stryker's assault gave her a measure of experience she never wanted her sister to have, but at least helped her relax from the confrontation. Yana sat with her, her expression almost bored, and that sent a shiver down Paige's spine.

For their part, Nori's team was masking their own anxiety well; well, Sooraya's expression was always hard to read through her niqab, and Santo never seemed to stray far from his usual dopey cavalierness. Julian Keller leaned against a wall with his arms folded across his chest, his lips turned downward into a scowl. Nori glowered irritably at him, and Paige couldn't exactly fault her reaction. The others didn't offer much clue as to what they were thinking or feeling.

Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're not supposed to be here for a fight, Paige."

She waved her arms in exasperation. "But that's exactly what Chester Cabot came here looking for!"

"You don't think I know that? But what are we supposed to do, march up to the Cabot estate an' start bangin' on his door? Professor Xavier doesn't want us to raise a ruckus!"

"Yeah, well, Chester's already raised one. And it's just going to get worse!"

"She's right, Sam," Momma said. "Chester's up to somethin', I can feel it. Oh, he's always been a right pain in the ass, him an' his boys, but this? I never thought I'd see the day he'd grow enough of a pair to march up to my front door an' outright threaten us right in front of the Sherriff. It's always been whatever he could get away with an' deny."

Paige folded her arms across her chest and nodded her agreement.

"Momma, you're askin' me to go to war with the Cabots, here," Sam said.

"We're already at war, baby. I'm askin' you to help us fight back!"

Sam sighed again. "What about the little'uns? Do you really want them in the crossfire of that?"

Momma hugged the little ones against. "You know I don't! We can send them somewhere safe until this is done with."

Paige regarded Sam. "We can have Yana 'port them back to the school. The Professor will be able to keep an eye on them."

Sam's shoulders slumped, and he ran a hand back through his hair. "God damn Chester. All right, all right. Nori, in the mornin' I want you and your team to get out of here; I don't want you kids part of what's goin' down. Take Mel an' the others with you until this all blows over."

Julian started to open his mouth in protest, but Nori beat him to it. "We're not kids anymore, Cannonball."

"I know that, but this ain't gonna be a trainin' exercise."

She folded her gauntleted hands across her chest. "We handled Stryker, we can handle this. Besides, it would just be the two of you and your mom, you need help!"

"I ain't leavin', neither," Mel said, and twisted her lip. "This is my home, an' I'll not leave you, an' Paige, an' Momma all by your lonesome."

A chorus of other voices chimed in with their agreement, and Paige couldn't help but quirk a smile as every one of their siblings refused to leave.

"Now look!" Momma said, "This is serious, an' I don't want you kids getting' hurt!"

"I already been hurt, Momma," Jeb said. "Abe Cabot beats the tar out of me every day, an' I'm not gonna watch his daddy do the same to you."

"Professor Xavier put me in charge ..." Sam said.

"We ain't X-Men," Mel said, "but we're still Guthries. So what Professor Xavier said don't apply."

"An' what Momma said don't?"

"Momma can't make us leave."

Momma raised her eyebrow in amusement. "Oh she can't? You want a paddlin', girl? Same goes for the rest of you!"

"A paddlin' ain't much a price to pay for runnin' off the Cabots for good," Joelle said.

Paige looked back to Sam again. He rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "Well, Sam?"

"God, the Professor's gonna kill me, Paige. What I wouldn't give to have Cyclops and the others here to deal with this."

"We have to make do with what we have," she said.

Nori grunted. "And we're still X-Men."

"Sorta," Cessily said.

"And being X-Men means we're supposed to protect people! Even flatscans!" Santo said.

"Easy for you to say," Victor said. "You can't get shot."

"Hey, I got blown up, remember?"

"It doesn't change the fact the walking pigeon perch is right," Nori said. "Keller was right about one thing earlier; we came to help. So let us help!"

"Alright, alright," Sam said. "But we best have a good plan. For now, everyone keep close to the house. It looks like we'll be diggin' in for a spell, an' without knowin' what Chester has planned I don't want any of y'all wanderin' off alone."

"I'm afraid I don't have much room in the house," Momma said. "But y'all can stay in the barn. Most of the damage Abe Cabot caused has been repaired an' the heater works."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Oh, great."

Sam glared. "If the accommodations ain't to His Majesty's likin' Yana can always 'port you home." Julian ground his jaw, but ducked his head from Sam's glare and didn't say another word. He stared the younger mutant down a moment more to be sure, then swept his eyes across the rest of Nori's team. Paige watched his lips twitch downward into a frown, and she mirrored his expression.

"Sam?" she said, when he didn't say anything.

"Where's Laura?"

Paige's eyes widened, and her belly churned when she realized Sam was right: Laura was gone. The rest of her team all looked among each other in alarm as they, too, realized she was missing.

"I have not seen her since after the Cabots left," Sooraya said, her own concern evident in a barely-noticeable widening of her eyes behind her niqab.

Nori sighed and mopped her face with one gauntleted hand. "Oh, great. Girlverine is on the loose."

Julian stood away from the wall, a scowl still plastered across his features, this time directed at Nori. "She's probably just trying to get some space, you know she's not big on crowds. I'll find her. I need some air, too, anyway."

"All right, just stay close to the house!" Sam said as he started for the door. "An' tell Laura that goes for her, too."

Julian waved him off, and headed out the door. The others watched him go, Nori's expression annoyed, the rest anxious. Paige sighed. She had no doubts Laura could take care of herself, but the idea of any of them going off alone right now made her uneasy. Hopefully Julian was right and she just wanted some time alone.

"Well," Momma said as she watched Julian step outside and close the door behind him. "Let's get y'all settled in."

###

The most striking thing Julian noticed as he stepped out onto the front porch was the brilliant dusting of stars spread across the black night sky, winking across space to shine their light down on Cumberland County. Accustomed as he was to the skyglow of New York City and Los Angeles, it was an awesome sight to actually be able to see the stars. At first he couldn't entirely understand Laura's newfound fascination with them since her encounter with the Entity, but being able to see them so clearly for himself, now, was like a veil lifted from his eyes.

They really were beautiful.

He sighed as his train of thought threatened to derail him from his purpose, and he stepped down off the porch and onto the path leading back to the road.

"You should stay close to the house," a voice above and behind him called down, and Julian spun around and gathered his power to him on reflex.

Laura sat with her knees drawn up near her chest on the roof of the Guthrie house. All he could clearly see of her was her dark shape silhouetted against the night sky; a small black patch obscuring the stars behind her. The image of her bound to the Entity sprung unbidden to mind, and he thought of the twinkle of starlight in the black shadow of her hair.

"What are you doing up there?" he said.

"Keeping watch," she said, and Julian colored at her tone, said as if what she were doing was completely obvious.

Julian gathered his power, and a green aura formed around his body as he lifted himself from the ground and up to the roof to join her. The roof sloped gently to its precipice, unlike the steep peak of the Xavier mansion, but as his feet touched the shingles he felt queasy at the thought of sliding off and tumbling to the ground below. Laura's green eyes flicked in his direction for a moment as he sat beside her, then turned back to watch the darkened fields stretching for miles in all directions, leaving the Guthrie household a small, and crowded, island of humanity in an empty sea of waving grass. Mrs. Guthrie's rifle lay at her side, and a shiver worked its way down Julian's spine.

"Not much to see," he said.

"You do not see in the dark," she said. Julian glanced at her, and thought he caught a hint of a smile on her lips.

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, there's still not much to see even if I could. It's too empty out here for me. Give me the city any day."

"I like it here. It is quiet."

Julian considered her for a moment, but Laura didn't look at him, and just kept watching out into the nothingness of rural Kentucky. "Well, don't get too comfortable. Cannonball wants everyone to stay close to the house. They're thinking the Cabots are going to cause more trouble, and we're sticking around to help out."

She nodded. "That would be advisable."

He sighed. "This is some crazy Hatfield and McCoy type of shit, that's for sure."

Laura frowned at that, but said nothing for a long moment. Julian leaned back on his elbows and stared up at the twinkling net of stars overhead. The temperature dropped quickly after sunset, and spring for the moment relinquished its grip. Still, aside from the excitement earlier it was an almost perfect night.

"Julian," she ventured after a time. "May I ask you a question?"

He shrugged. "What's up?"

"Is that what it is like to be a part of a family?"

He looked at her in surprise at the question, but Laura never tore her eyes away from her vigil over the house.

"Honestly? I don't really know. Thing is, even before I got my powers my mom and dad didn't think much of me. It's like no matter what I did it was never good enough." He sighed. "My brother, though... He couldn't do any wrong. I got so sick of hearing 'Why can't you be more like James.' 'James' this and 'James' that. Looking back at things now, them packing me off for Xavier's may be the best thing they ever did for me."

He frowned at her. "Why?"

"I do not have a family," she said, and rested her chin on her knees.

"None at all? Not even before you got your powers?"

Laura hugged herself tightly, and even if her expression didn't change it was evident from her posture the question dredged up something painful. "I have an aunt and cousin," she said, and her voice got very quiet and distant. "But I have not seen them for several years, and I do not know where they are."

Julian sat up again, and dropped his hands in his lap. "That's a familiar story for a lot of us, I guess."

She shook her head. "They did not force me away, but I had no choice ..." Laura trailed off and slumped her shoulders. Julian nearly voiced the question she left unanswered at that remark, but she continued again before he could. "I see Melody with her siblings and mother, and it is different than what we were like."

He shrugged. "Well, they're bigger than a lot of families, I guess. It's too crowded in there."

Laura nodded. "Yes. So many people made me uncomfortable. But I also watch Melody and Ms. Guthrie, and they are different here, than they are with their friends at the school."

Julian suppressed a shiver at the thought of Laura slipping ghost-like through the halls of the mansion, and watching the private doings of others from afar. "Well, it's nothing like my family, that's for sure. I guess Cess and I are a bit like that, though."

She frowned as she considered that. "But you are not genetically related."

He suppressed a laugh. "No, no we're not. But it doesn't make us any less family, though. We are because we've chosen to be, and I guess if there's any good thing to take away from the fact my parents are assholes, it's that I've been able to choose a family that actually means something."

Laura seemed to consider this for a moment, but didn't say another word on the matter. Julian studied her for a time, watching the starlight glitter in her eyes, and the subtle spring breeze stirring her finer hairs. He shifted a bit and looked away, but if she noticed she didn't say anything. "Look, it's already been a long day, so don't stay up too late. Cannonball wants us to get a good night's sleep. Though I've got no idea how anyone expects to do that in a freakin' barn. Santo's snoring is bad enough to have to deal with pigs, and cows, and who knows what else, too."

"I can go a two weeks without sleep before suffering ill-effects," she said.

Julian chuckled under his breath. "Of course you can."

"He is right to be concerned," she said. "If I correctly interpret your context when referencing the Hatfield and McCoy feud, it suggests a pattern of violence. This pattern will continue. If Chester Cabot intends to exact vigilante justice against Jebediah over a slight to his son, his arrest is unlikely to curb such aspirations for vengeance."

It took Julian a moment to process just what she was saying, but he nodded. "So much for keeping a low profile, right? Mrs. Guthrie thinks Chester Cabot is planning something, I just wish we knew what. Maybe then we could actually do something about it."

Laura considered that for a moment, but said nothing. She then looked towards him. "It is late, and Cannonball is correct: you should get some rest."

Julian regarded her and sighed. "Yeah, it's been a long day. Just hard to wind down from that business earlier. You're really going to stay up here a while longer?"

"Yes."

"All right, I'll let them know. Just stay close, ok?" he said as he got back to his feet.

"Good night, Julian," she said.

"'Night," he said, and levitated himself back to the ground again. By now the rest of the team was breaking up and heading for the barn, and Julian fell into step with Cessily, Santo, and Victor as Mrs. Guthrie led everyone across the grounds.

###

Paige watched Momma and Nori's team file out the front door as she led them towards the barn. The excitement over the visitors was still palpable among her younger siblings, and they all clustered around the windows to watch them go. She allowed herself a smile at the fascination on the features of the youngest — particularly over Santo's enormous rocky bulk, which the big mutant received with almost childlike glee of his own — and thought back to the day her own powers manifested, and her excitement over getting to join Sam at Xavier's.

She heaved a sigh. Going to the school wasn't just a fun family tradition. Deep down she knew, in part, it was to keep the rest of the family safe by leaving the farm, and drawing the stigma of being a mutant away. But now danger had come right to their front door, and in the pit of her gut she knew this time it wouldn't just follow her, or Sam, or Mel, or Jeb were they to just go away.

"All right, y'all need to be getting' up to bed," Sam said, as he jumped into the Herculean task of rounding everyone up and ushering them upstairs.

"Aw, Sam, can't we go an' talk to the others for a bit?" Liz asked. "I ain't tired yet."

"Sorry, hon', but it's been a long day an' Nori an' her folks need to get some sleep as well. They'll still be here in the mornin'. 'Sides, Momma's comin' right back, an' don't you think I'm getting' on her bad side lettin' y'all stay up!"

"Aw, man," Liz said, and her shoulders sagged, a sentiment mirrored on the faces of the rest.

Mel chuckled softly. "C'mon, Liz. Yana will be stayin' in the house with me. Maybe if you're all good she'll show you a little magic."

Paige frowned, but that got the attention of the others. "Like, real magic?" Cissie said. "Not like, pullin' coins out of my ears?"

Yana, who remained behind in the house when the others left for the barn, leaned her hip against the couch and twitched one corner of her mouth into a rather unsettling smile. Somehow rather than finding the pretty blonde with the darkly gothic style as unnerving as even her friends did, Paige's brothers and sisters were almost as fascinated with her as they were Santo and Cessily. "Real magic," she said. "And if you like scary stories there's things that I could tell you ..."

She let her voice trail off ominously, and that only piqued their interest more.

"All right," Paige said with a roll of her eyes. "So it's settled then. You guys go with Mel and Yana, and have your little magic show." With the promised distraction, the rest of the kids rushed in a squabbling knot for the stairs leading up to their rooms, with Mel and Yana in the lead. Almost as an afterthought she shouted up behind them, "And no demons in the house!"

Sam chuckled as he watched the herd of cats scramble over each other to get upstairs, and shook his head. "Suddenly, Xavier's seems like a quiet retreat, don't it?"

Paige smirked and shook her head. "God love them, but I think if I had to spend more than a couple days in the house they'd be driving me crazy." She sighed and wearily pinched the bridge of her nose. "I still can't believe it's come down to this."

He folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, if it were up to me I'd just get everyone out of here. You're not officially an X-Man, Paige, you ain't seen how ugly this can get."

She glared. "I don't want to have this argument with you tonight. No, I didn't join the team. I thought the best way I could help those kids is to teach, not running around God-knows-where fighting the Magnetos and Trasks and Strykers of the world. That doesn't mean I can't or won't fight to protect them, or give up my life for them if I have to."

"Look, Paige, I ain't sayin' that—"

"I was there, Sam!" she snapped, and tightened her hands into fists. Her drawl broke through in spite of herself, and that only made her face heat even more. "I was there an' I watched Stryker's men try an' shoot down those babies! Maybe if I was a bit quicker Max Jordan wouldn't have died. Maybe I could'a even protected Jay. This is my home, Sam! I may live an' work in New York, but my heart is still here, an' damn it, I aim to fight for it!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Paigey," came Momma's voice from behind her, and Paige spun around to find her leaning against the front doorjamb, her arms folded beneath her breast. She looked older and even more careworn than Paige could ever remember seeing her, and her throat tightened at the sight of her. "To be honest, I never thought I'd hear you say that. You were always so anxious to be off to the big city an' that school up north. An' you always tried so hard to hide your accent. I just figured ..."

Momma trailed off when Paige hung her head in chagrin. A few tears welled up in her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, darlin', I don't mean nothin' by it, but ..."

"I know," Paige said, and her voice broke. Sam shifted uneasily in the silence, broken only by the sound of laughter and excited shrieks at whatever mischief Yana was getting up to upstairs.

"Look, I know you got your own life, baby, an' it's a good one. You've got a good job, an' you're makin' somethin' of yourself helpin' those kids, it's just ..."

"Just what, Momma? You thought all I'd want is to shake the hick offa me and forget all about y'all?"

"It's just folks that make somethin' of themselves ain't too interested in poor white trash like us," Momma finished. She hugged herself, and Paige watched tears start down her face as well. "I lost your daddy to the mines. We lost Jay the day that Julia died. I thought we'd lost you too, to them big city lights an' rich folks in Westchester."

"Momma, this is still my home. It's always been my home, an' that hasn't changed!" she said. "I'd never give that up!"

"It don't change none you're ashamed to be a little bit redneck. You're so proud of bein' a mutant; you just couldn't wait to get your powers, too, so you could go off with Sam, why can't you be proud of the other part of what it is to be a Guthrie: a hard-workin' coal minin' family. We never had much, Paigey, I know that. But we did have each other, why do you need to hide that?"

Paige colored and hung her head. Momma stepped away from the door and crossed the floor to gather her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms tightly around her in turn. For a long moment they just stood there in each others' arms.

"Look, baby, we can talk about this later, if you want. It's been a long night, an' we could all use the sleep."

Another excited squeal, followed by a loud crash ripped through the house, and she, Momma, and Sam all looked up to the ceiling.

"An' someone needs to find out what that ruckus is before they tear apart my house!"

###

The silver light shining down on the fields stretching out between the Guthrie and Cabot estates left her more exposed to watchful eyes than she liked. Laura pressed on, gliding quickly and silently across the turf and flitting from shadow to shadow. It was well past midnight before she was able to slip away, and time, now, was of the essence. Julian was right: They needed more intelligence as to the intentions of Chester Cabot to adequately prepare for the fight Cannonball expected. She had a mission, and she would not let him down.

Several miles of tilled fields and fallow grasslands separated the Guthrie household from the Cabot farmland, but it took her little time to cross them, and soon she was crouching behind an old split-rail fence encircling Cabot's house. It was a large, sprawling, plantation-style home evoking the grand estates of the Deep South, with a columned entry façade, and a large number of windows looking out onto neatly-manicured lawns. She noted a few modern amenities all carefully hidden and disguised to avoid spoiling the architecture's evocation of the past.

Design suggests a preoccupation with pre-War Southern aristocracy. Cabot therefore views himself in this context, possibly informing the hostilities with the Guthrie family, whom he considers beneath his station.

She filed that away for future consideration; speculation into the motives involved might prove an interesting mental exercise, but was a distraction from accomplishing her mission objectives.

Laura made a quick survey of the grounds between her and the mansion. There was no obvious sign of a security system covering the expanse of lawn between the wall and house. The wall itself appeared mostly to be for aesthetics rather than practical security, and aside for a few decorative trees clustered around the sides of the house, the grounds were empty of cover or potential sites for cameras. She did, however spot a few placed at fixed angles on the corners of the house itself, and she quickly calculated the blind spots allowing her an unobserved approach to the building. A long circular driveway off the road led to the front door, and branched off to a garage around back. She frowned: the Sherriff's car was currently parked on the driveway.

She kept low as she rolled over the top of the fence, and hurried across the grounds in a low crouch through the gaps in the camera coverage. Upon reaching the house she pressed her back against its outer wall, and slunk through its shadow towards a darkened ground floor window. A quick survey found it locked with an alarm, but she easily bypassed both, and entered the mansion.

Laura found herself in an elaborate dining room, and in the darkness she could clearly make out the long table and chairs, and a hutch filled with fine china and crystal glasses. A chandelier hung suspended from the high ceiling over the middle of the table, and fixtures for gas lamps on the walls would provide additional illumination, and was part of the home's historical aesthetic. The walls were papered, and the floor was made of polished hardwood. Nonetheless, with long practice and the natural affinity of her mutation, Laura crept in complete silence through the darkened room, straining her ears for any hint of activity elsewhere in the house.

Her ears caught the distant sound of voices, one of whom might have been the Sherriff.

She slipped through the darkened halls of the mansion, her keen hearing focused on the voices as they slowly resolved from an unintelligible mumble into clarity.

"...you're confused about your loyalties, Pete," a man said. She recognized the voice as Chester Cabot's. "Makes me wonder if you're really up to this."

Laura frowned. The Sherriff was supposed to be taking Cabot into custody following the altercation at the Guthrie household.

"Damn it, Cabot," the Sherriff said. "You just don't want to get that times've changed. "The media had them kids' bodies splashed all over the news after that business up north. People ain't seein' muties as second-class citizens no more. This ain't the '60s in Birmingham where you could kill a black man in broad daylight and be acquitted by an all-white jury. Kill a mutant — especially kids — an' folks are goin' to be angry."

"An' that's a damn shame, ain't it? They don't belong here, Pete. They're freaks of nature, every one of 'em."

"They got rights, Chester."

"I got rights, too! That Guthrie boy uses his mutie powers on my boy an' you just gonna let him walk? I thought you an' I had an understandin'!"

Laura narrowed her eyes and curled her lips at that. Institutional complicity with the persecution of mutants. Probable corruption within the Sherriff's office. She reached the source of the voices, and pressed her back against the wall in the shadowed hallway outside a large study. The décor reminded her in some ways of Professor Xavier's office; a large oaken desk in front of a window with a computer, and chairs across from it for visitors. A conversation circle occupied one corner, and a bookshelf another. However this space was not nearly as lavish and, like much of the rest of the house she observed, evocative of the Old South.

Cabot sat in his office chair, leaning over his desk while the Sherriff loomed over him. His hat was gripped in one hand planted on his hip, while he glared down at Cabot.

"Our understandin' was I'd turn my eye to what went on out here between you and Lucinda," the Sherriff said. "But now it's spilled over into Burkesville an' innocent folks are bein' put in the crossfire. I ain't got a choice but get involved, now!"

"Then help us, damn it!" Cabot said. "You know what muties are capable of, they're a danger to everyone in town so long as they're here."

"You attack the Guthries an' what do you think is gonna happen? They got the eldest two called in, an' who knows what the rest of them kids they brought with 'em are capable of. You'd need an army for that."

"Funny you should mention that, Pete."

Cabot let out a smug chuckle, and Laura peered around the doorframe with a frown as if expecting one to appear at any moment. She chided herself for foolishness even a year ago she would not have succumbed to, and for a moment wondered what other effects the influence of the others was having on her instincts, before filing it away for future consideration.

She had a mission to complete.

"What do you mean, Pete?"

"I'd gotten a call not long ago from Reverend Stryker. Seems he heard about my little vermin problem down here. He couldn't send folks to help me out all direct, but said he could point me to some like-minded associates of his. But there's better'n that."

Cabot paused and leaned under his desk. Laura craned her neck, but her view was blocked from this vantage point. However she did not need to speculate; Cabot straightened again and when he did, he tossed an M4A1 carbine into the Sherriff's hands. He scrambled to catch it and dropped his hat in the process. A small thrill worked its way out of Laura's belly and through her whole body at the implications.

"What the hell, Chester!" the Sherriff said, and his face went white as he scrutinized the carbine. "This is military-grade, where did you get this?"

"Stryker sent us enough of these to arm a whole infantry platoon for if things got really bad, an' more than that besides. Soon as my boy came home all banged up by that Guthrie freak I started makin' calls. Stryker's friends'll be here in the mornin'."

"Jesus Christ, you're plannin' to wage a war right in the middle of my county?"

"We're already at war, Pete! Maybe you don't get that. Maybe none of these folks get that. But the Reverend does! He's out there fightin' for us, to preserve our way of life, an' I intend to join him in fightin' back."

"I can't help you with this, Chester," the Sherriff said, and thumped the weapon down on the table.

Cabot kicked his legs up on his desk and threaded his fingers behind his head. "You don't need to, Pete. Go back to your office an' just stay out of my way. You've even given me the perfect alibi; I'll be all locked up tight through tomorrow to cool down after that fight.

"As far as anyone else will know, it's all Stryker's boys strikin' a blow for us normal folks."

###

Act IV

###

"You just let her go!" Ashida shouted. Her gauntlets clacked as she clenched her fists, and sparks of electricity danced down the lengths of her arms and through her hair.

Julian matched her posture and called his own power to him, and the green glow of his telekinetic aura filled the barn. "I didn't 'let' her do anything! I didn't even know she was gone!"

Cannonball, Ms. Guthrie, Mrs. Guthrie, and the rest of the team were all gathered in a circle around them in the middle of the their lodgings for the night; a spacious timbered structure supported by heavy wooden beams, and filled with machinery. An old, battered, and rusty tractor occupied one corner, among other pieces of heavier equipment. There was also a storage cabinet for tools, while the upper levels were filled with feed, and enough hay that Julian spent much of the evening with his nose running like a faucet. The lower level was, as Mrs. Guthrie promised, heated and at least serviceable as a place to stay. All the same Julian would have much rather sprung for motel.

"You were the last one to talk to her," Ashida said.

"And I told her to stay close," he said. "Last I saw her she was sitting up on the roof of the house with Mrs. Guthrie's rifle keeping watch."

"Well she's not there now!"

Julian glared. They were just beginning to turn in when Cannonball came to do a head-count, like he didn't trust them not to run off and do something stupid. So of course, much to their shock, they realized that Laura had apparently done just that. And yet he was taking the blame!

"All right, both y'all calm down," Cannonball said. "Snipin' at each other ain't gonna solve anything."

"Tell Ashida! She's the one who started the 'snipin''" he said, adding the last with a mocking imitation of the other's accent, which drew indignant glares from his sister and mother.

"Because you're probably the only one she actually seems to like, God knows why!" Ashida said.

"Hey, she likes me," Cessily said, wounded.

Sooraya raised her hands, and tried to put herself between the two of them. "Cannonball is right," she said. "Getting upset with one another will not change the fact that she's gone. But Julian has a point, Noriko: Laura is nothing if not independent, and I have no reason to doubt she might have gone off on her own without warning."

"That's right," Santo said. "She followed Jay that night Stryker attacked us without telling anybody."

"Santo!" Victor snapped, and glared. The others paled, Sooraya's face colored beneath her niqab, and even Julian scowled at the big mutant.

The damage, however, was done, to judge from the look on Mrs. Guthrie's face. Ms. Guthrie and Cannonball both shifted awkwardly. "What's that about Jay?"

"It's nothin' to worry about right now, Momma," Cannonball said.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared. "Like hell it ain't, boy! That little girl knows somethin' about what happened to my baby at the end that y'all been keepin' from me. I may be your momma but I ain't a helpless, weak ol' woman who can't handle the truth."

Ms. Guthrie sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, Momma, you know Jay weren't right after Julia died," she said, her native accent slipping through. "Somehow Reverend Stryker got his hooks into him an' used him to hurt the kids at the school. He didn't know, but we thought it best not to say anythin' about it."

"Why? You didn't think I could handle it? I may not have the fancy city education, Paigey, but I ain't stupid. I know my baby was hurtin', an' I know that there's folks out there who use it against kids like that. The whole reason I sent him to your school was because I thought if anyone could get through to him it was your Professor."

"Mrs. Guthrie, we all tried to help him," Sooraya said. She clasped her hands in front of her, and hung her head in such a way that even her eyes were hidden by her niqab. Julian's shoulders sagged, and everyone fell silent as her voice broke. "I tried to get him to open up, but ..."

Mrs. Guthrie sighed and crossed the barn to gather Sooraya into a hug. "I know, sweetie. I know y'all done your best, but maybe Jay was already gone. An' that's just more reason we have to fight know for what we got left."

"There will be a fight," came a voice from behind them, and everyone spun around in alarm to find Laura standing in the doorway of the barn, with a gun tucked under her arm.

"Laura!" Julian said in astonishment; she hadn't made a sound.

"Where the hell have you been!" Ashida said, and glared hellfire at her. Laura flinched at her tone, but otherwise ignored her expression.

"Julian desired to know what the Cabots were planning," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Julian's face colored at the incrimination.

Ashida turned her glare on him. "God damn it, Julian!"

"Laura, I only meant it rhetorically," he said. He scratched the back of his neck self-consciously over both the stares fixing on him, and chagrin over Laura's pronouncement that she did it for him. "I wasn't asking you to go off snooping around."

A faint hint of color appeared on her cheeks, and Laura shifted uncomfortably when the attention of the gathering shifted back to her. "Oh."

"Look, what's done is done," Cannonball said. "In the future, Laura, you need to remember that as part of a team you can't just go off on your own like this. If somethin' happened you'd have been in a world of trouble without help."

Much to Julian's surprise, Laura's expression actually seemed indignant at that particular rebuke, but before she could offer an argument, Cessily stepped forward and frowned at the gun in her hand.

"Laura, where did you get that?" she asked.

"From the Cabot residence," Laura said, and turned her attention to Cannonball. "The Sherriff did not take Chester Cabot for incarceration as he claimed, but returned him to his home. He has been complicit in the Cabots' predations against your family."

Ms. Guthrie's face dropped, and Mrs. Guthrie gawked at her. What Cannonball thought of the announcement wasn't quite as clear, but he ran his hand back through his hair. "Pete's been workin' with the Cabots?"

Mrs. Guthrie shook her head. "That can't be possible. Pete's been tryin' to keep the peace between us for years!"

"He has an agreement with the Cabots to ignore their actions against your family," Laura said, "Though he has refused to aid them directly."

Julian twisted his lip into a scowl and clenched his fists. "That son of a bitch!"

Mrs. Guthrie spit him with a glare. "You watch your language, boy!"

"There is more," Laura said. "Cabot has been in communication with Stryker regarding your family, I suspect due to intelligence the Reverend extracted from Jay, and received a shipment of munitions from the same source."

She tossed the rifle in her hands to Cannonball, who caught it and turned it over as he studied it.

"M4A1 carbine," she continued. "The same as Stryker's men used in the attack on the school. Note the lack of serial numbers; these weapons are meant to be untraceable. I estimate from the shipping crates he has at least thirty-six. Stryker also put him in contact with a local organization to assist him. Based on Cabot's description I do not believe they are Purifiers themselves, but perhaps an affiliated organization."

Mrs. Guthrie bunched her features in confusion. "Purifiers?"

"Stryker's militia," Cannonball said, and his hands tightened on the gun. "As near as we can figure, ex-military types recruited by Stryker for waging a war on our kind in God's name."

"Based upon their tactics and organization I speculate most are drawn from elite units, with extensive combat experience," Laura said. "I cannot estimate the strength or capabilities of the men to which Cabot referred, however, as they were not present."

Alleyne raised a hand. "Did you hear how many? When they're expected?"

"Cabot contacted them as soon as he learned of Jebediah's powers being used on his son, and expected them by the morning. Assuming the weapons cache I located is the extent of the shipment he received, we can expect approximately thirty-six men altogether, perhaps more if they provide their own equipment."

Cannonball deflated visibly, and Mrs. Guthrie hugged herself tightly. "Dear God," she said. "I never wanted any of this! If I had my way I'd live and let live, but Cabot? He just can't leave well enough alone."

"So what do we do?" Victor asked. "If Laura's right, they're going to be coming in force tomorrow. I mean yeah, at least this time we know they're coming, but still."

Julian folded his arms across his chest. "We kicked Stryker's ass, we've got this."

"Gee, I remember it different," Ashida said. "We were the ones getting our asses kicked until Laura showed up, and were just lucky to get out of it alive."

He glared at her. "If you want to run home and hide, fine with me. All I see is a bunch of KKK-wannabee redneck hicks wanting to kill mutants."

The Guthries all spit him with a glare, but he ignored them. All he could think about now was Stryker's men standing over the bodies of his friends.

"Shouldn't we call the authorities?" Cessily said.

"Pete is the authority in Cumberland County," Ms. Guthrie said. "If he's lettin' Chester Cabot have his way there ain't anyone we can turn to."

"Except for us," Josh said from the back, and everyone looked in his direction. Except for tending to Jeb Guthrie, Josh had remained quiet since their arrival. Now, however, Julian noted the grim set in his jaw. "We've all lost friends and people we loved to men like Chester Cabot. I'm with Julian: We have to stand and fight."

Julian gave him a nod, but the others fell silent. Cannonball mopped his face, and sighed. "Damn, I wish Scott were here."

"He's not, Sam," Ms. Guthrie said. "You're in command, now."

"I know, Paige. Don't change I'd rather not be." He looked to Mrs. Guthrie. "Momma, this is going to get ugly. I missed Stryker's attack but I saw the aftermath. You need to let Yana port you and the kids somewhere safe."

Mrs. Guthrie stormed up to him and snatched the stolen rifle from him. "I already told you once, Sam: This is my home, an' I'm not leavin'. If Chester Cabot wants me an' mine off my land, he's gonna have to drag my dead body off it with his own two hands."

"You know none of the others will go," Ms. Guthrie said. "An' if Yana refuses to go, there ain't no portin' anyone out, anyway."

Cannonball sighed. "All right, all right. We fight, then. But let's just have a real good plan, an' maybe we'll all get through it in one piece."

###

Pete glowered at the rough collection of thugs and hooligans crowding around Chester Cabot and his boys. There was little uniformity among them; here and there were a few in matching fatigues, and were he to venture a guess they had been collected from several diverse militia groups. The one thing they had in common was the righteous frenzy Chester Cabot was working them up into.

He looked at Cabot, standing in front of the gathering with an assault rifle clutched in his hands. The morning sun, just breaking the rim of the horizon in the east and stretching a golden light across his fields, glinted on his sunglasses, while his sons stood behind him similarly-armed.

"Y'all know why you're here!" Chester said. "We ain't doin' this for ourselves. No! We're here because our families, our homes, our way of life is in danger! There's folk that say times have changed, but I say they ain't committed to the cause."

And at that Pete thought he saw Chester's eyes flick over to him, before returning to the crowd.

"I say when it's your family you're protecting, there ain't no such thing as too far! We got ourselves a nest of vipers across the way, an' it's high time we burned them out!"

A cheer went up among the men, and Chester flashed him a smug grin.

"You hear that, Pete?" he said. "Devotion. They ain't afraid to do what needs to be done."

Pete folded his arms across his chest and glared. "What they're doin' is turnin' my county into a warzone. Damn it, Chester! This is getting' out of hand!"

"It's them Guthries that've been getting' out of hand, an' if you'd done what you were supposed to be doin', we'd have this tidied up a long time ago. Now get on home, Pete. We're finally takin' back control of our county."

Without another word Chester pushed past him, and his rag-tag militia formed into columns behind him and his boys. Pete watched them go without another word, and ground his back teeth together as they made their way across the fields separating his estate from the Guthrie farm. He took off his hat and slapped it against his thigh, and hurried for his car.

"Damn it!" he growled under his breath as he threw open the door and dropped into the driver's seat. Pete grabbed the handset for his radio and queued up the channel.

"Dispatch," a woman said on the other end.

"It's Pete. Get me everyone still on duty, an' anyone who ain't get 'em anyway."

###

"But Sam! I can help!" Mel said.

"That's right, you can," Sam said. "By stayin' out of the way an' takin' care of the little'uns."

"That ain't fair! I'm a student at the school, too!"

Sam sighed and folded his arms across his chest. Somehow he knew exactly how the conversation would go the moment he ordered Melody to stay in the house and guard the others. Not that it made preparing for her arguments any easier. Right now she stood with her hands balled into fists and her arms stuck down straight at her side in that defiant-little-sister posture and spit him with her best glare. The rest of the kids crowded behind her, their expressions ranging from anxiety for those old enough to understand just what was about to happen, to confusion, to fear from the youngest because they knew something was going on but couldn't understand what. Yana, for her part, leaned against her hip against the kitchen table and made a show of boredly examining her nails.

"I know, Mel, an' I know what you been through, but you're still just a kid."

"So are Nori an' the others!"

"They're older'n you, and they've at least had some trainin'. But someone needs to help protect the others in case any of Cabot's boys get past us." He looked at Yana. "An' that's both of you."

"But Sam—"

"No 'buts!'" he snapped, and Mel flinched back. "I ain't tellin' you this as your brother, Mel, I'm tellin' you this as the senior X-Man on site. You keep your butt inside this house an' take care of your brothers an' sisters, got it?"

Mel hung her head, and gave her head a reluctant nod. "Got it."

"Good."

And without turning back to watch for faces and dirty looks, he stormed out the back door and locked it behind him. Nori and the rest of her team had formed a loose line around the house astride the path from which Cabot was most likely to approach, and a knot formed in Sam's belly at the thought of bringing them into combat.

Damn, why'd this have to get out of control so quick? Momma stood with Paige and Nori, calmly loading daddy's rifle. David and Josh hung further back out of the way, while those of the team with better combat utility kept to the front. Santo's enormous rocky bulk shifted impatiently from side to side as he put on what he called his "wrestling face." Julian, Victor, and Cessily stood around him, with Sooraya on the other flank nearest to Momma, Paige, and Nori. Sam casually called his power to him, and his body began to glow as the energy field formed around him. Julian followed suit, and his hands glowed with a pale green aura. Blue-white arcs of energy raced across Nori's body as she shed her gauntlets. Paige took a firm grasp on the skin of her face and ripped it away, exposing a surface like granite underneath.

"Remember," he said as he took his place in line, "We're X-Men. Our job is to preserve mutant an' human life, so do everythin' you can to put 'em down without killin'."

"You know they ain't gonna give us the same satisfaction, baby," Momma said, and worked the action of her rifle. "An' I got one for between Chester's eyes, besides."

"That's why we gotta be better'n them."

"They are coming," Laura called from above and behind him, her voice cold and calm. It sent a shiver down Sam's spine. He glanced over his shoulder and looked up to her perched on the roof of the house, the appropriated assault rifle in her hands. She peered through the scope. "I count thirty, no body armor. Their lack of organization suggests they are not a cohesive unit, and stiff resistance combined with light casualties may provoke a panicked withdrawal. I have a shot on the lead element."

Sam took and held a breath. "Take it."

###

It took them the better part of a couple hours to cross the fields between their houses, but now the Guthrie household loomed up ahead, and Chester could see a group of people standing in a loose line across the line of his march. He smiled tightly; the Guthrie clan and their freak show companions were making themselves a perfect target.

"There they are, boys!" he shouted, and hefted his rifle. "Let's go get 'em!"

However before anyone could take a step forward, one of the men out front cried in pain. He spun to the ground as blood fountained from his shoulder, and that scattered the rest of the men in the lead as the report of the shot echoed across the empty fields.

"Man down!" someone cried, the others all started talking over one another in a panic, punctuated by another cry and a second man going down. Then a third. All three lay writhing in pain, their wails turning the features of their comrades a sickly green hue.

"Shit!" Chester said, and threw himself down. "Where'd that come from!"

"I don't know, daddy!" Abe said, his own face buried in the turf with his hands over his head.

"Come on, damn it! Get going! We ain't gonna let a couple shots drive us off!"

The men hesitated, crouching low in a vain effort to present as little of a target as possible; a fourth man went down, this time the round smashed through his temple and out the corner of his jaw.

"Go!" Chester shouted, and they responded and surged forward with a cry.

###

"Four down," Laura said, her voice never rising above a calm and measured tone. "They are charging."

Sam sighed. So much for a couple casualties sparking a panic among the rest.

"All right, here they come," he said. "Stand your ground, keep them from reachin' the house."

Santo bashed one rocky fist into his palm. "All right! Our first real fight! Bring it on!"

"Cool it, Rockslide," Nori said. "Remember what he said; no killing if we can avoid it. You're playing bunker."

"Aw, how come I have to just stand here and be shot at?"

"One because you're bullet-proof, rock pile," Julian said. "Two because you're going to turn anyone you hit into jelly."

"Hellion, keep a shield up; nothing gets past you to hit the house," Nori said. "Dust, once they're close enough see if you can blind them. Anole and Mercury, we'll help take them down."

Sam cocked a grin and gave a short nod. Good girl; usin' your team to their strengths. Were it up to me I'd give you an A+.

He didn't have time to deliberate any further, however, as with a cry what was left of the lead group rushed in and opened fire. Julian threw up a shield between him and the house, and their shots plinked harmlessly off the telekinetic barrier and Santo's rocky hide. More shots rang out from behind them, as Laura effortlessly picked off one man after another with an efficiency that made Sam's blood turn to ice. Momma took cover and fired back as well, the report of Daddy's old gun joining with the sharp crack of Laura's appropriated assault rifle, though her fire was not nearly so accurate and quickly proved more effective at keeping their attackers' heads down than actually putting them down.

"Husk, let's go!" he said, as with a howl Sooraya discorporated and blasted across the grounds, like a wall of sand driven by the wind. Chester's firing line faltered and shielded their eyes.

"Right!" Paige said, and rushed in. Return fire plinked off her skin as she waded into them, and effortlessly flung them aside.

With a crack like thunder a blue-white blast of energy ripped across the field as Nori unleashed a barrage of electricity. It struck among a knot of the intruders, and they all shrieked and jerked as the bolt arced from one to another, the effect for all the world like an oversized Taser. Victory and Cessily held back closer to the house, and as the stragglers reached them quickly dispatched them.

All right, Sam, time to get into the game...

Sam unleashed his power and blasted skyward, trailing a wake of energy behind him as he propelled himself in a ballistic arc through the air, and slowly arced around to strike them from the flanks. Men screamed and scattered as he ploughed through what little formation they had left, an unlucky few blasted aside by the barrier of energy gathered around his body.

###

Chester watched dumbstruck as the leading element of his assault collapsed in on itself, torn apart by a bunch of children.

"Daddy, what's happenin'? We're losin'!" Abe said.

"I know that, boy!" he said, and swatted him up the back of the head. He seized on the leader of one of the groups from across the state line. "Get your boys and swing around the house! The others'll tie 'em up long enough for you to get inside an' deal with the young'uns! Go!"

###

Laura did not hear the sounds of the fight raging around her. She did not see how the rest of her team was fairing. The only thing that existed for her was the rifle in her hands, and the picture through its scope. One pull of the trigger after another, one by one, Cabot's men fell. The Guthrie farmhouse was not the ideal perch — she might have preferred the hayloft of the barn, allowing her to enfilade with Mrs. Guthrie on the ground below, and fire into the enemy from behind — but it afforded her the best position by which to survey the entire battlefield.

And that was how she noticed the group splitting off to circle around behind the house. She swung her rifle around to track them, but they disappeared into a blindspot in her firing lines and she was unable to reestablish contact.

Laura lowered her weapon and quickly surveyed the field. The enemy main body had the others occupied; Julian was maintaining his shield with Santo covering him, while the others assisted Cannonball and Husk with breaking up the attackers.

Threat rear, no other assets available to assist. Breaking position to secure the flank advised.

Without a moment's more hesitation she dropped her rifle and hurried back inside the house through the attic window she used to reach the roof.

###

The youngest squealed in fright with every crack of a rifle, or the explosive blasts as Sam unleashed his power. They all cowered in the middle of the living room behind furniture thrown up into makeshift barricades, and Mel huddled with them, trying to keep them calm.

Why, oh why, couldn't we have listened to Momma an' just had Yana 'port us out?

Mel glanced at Jeb, whose face was drawn and tight. If she looked closely she could spot a subtle glow around the corner of his eyes as, in the stress of the fight raging outside, he struggled to maintain his hold on his power. Even though Mel had a year or so on him at the school, she still found it hard to keep hers under control under stress, so she didn't know how he was managing. She couldn't help but drift back to those terrifying minutes that seemed to drag into an eternity during Stryker's assault, expecting the door into the classroom to give way at any moment and for men to pour through and slaughter them all. And now here she was again; helpless to stop it.

Yana, alone among the group, stood up tall and straight, radiating a cool nonchalance in an effort to help calm the kids. But Mel could see through it. The subtle trembling of her lip, the tightness of her jaw, her nails dug into her palms. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the truth was plain as day that Yana was scared out of her mind, too.

The sounds of fighting intensified, and her brothers and sisters ducked their heads and whimpered and sobbed at the sounds of gunfire, and the splatter of bullets slamming against the shield Julian threw up between their assailants and the house. All it would take was a moment of inattention for a hail of hot lead to tear through the old walls and kill all of them.

She heard, or thought she heard, a muffled sound around to the front of the house. It was hard to tell because of the chaos outside. But Yana seemed to hear it, too, and immediately fixed her attention on the front door.

Before anyone could think of saying a word, the front door collapsed under the weight of a booted foot, and armed men swarmed in like ants invading the kitchen during summertime. Liz screamed. Yana reached into her soul and drew her sword, white flame flickering along the edge of its long, slender blade as she raised it overhead in both hands. Mel placed herself in between the invaders and her siblings, her own power utterly useless now, but determined to at least shield them with her body if all else failed.

Rifles leveled on them.

Snikt.

Cabot's men didn't even have time to piss in their boots. Laura vaulted over the railing of the stairs leading up to the second floor, her claws flashing in the lights of the house. Mel only saw the aftermath of Stryker's attack. She didn't see what Laura did, even if she heard the stories from her classmates. They didn't do her justice. She and Yana both watched with expressions frozen in astonished horror as Laura tore through them, a black shadow flitting among them and dancing around their panicked efforts to fight back. Blood sprayed across the walls as she ripped open bellies and tore out throats. She spun, rolled, and flipped through them, hands and feet working in concert to keep them off-balance.

Had Mel so much as blinked she would have missed it. It was over that quickly, and in less than a heartbeat Laura stood in the midst of a heap of corpses. She was splattered in blood that was not her own, and her claws were red with it, a thing of terrifying, deadly beauty. But what terrified Mel the most was her expression; calm and cold. Yana loved to put up a cool detachment, but this wasn't the same; Laura felt nothing over the men she killed.

Mel's stomach lurched. She wanted to throw up. Joelle did. Laura sniffed at the sickly-sweet stench of vomit filling the living room, but ignored it. She casually retracted her claws and without a word crouched next to the broken front door and watched.

###

Chester didn't know what happened to the men he sent around the front of ht ehouse, but he could hear the screaming over the radio the leader of that group carried. It was over in moments, and now there was only a deathly silence that turned his mouth dry. In front of him the remnant of his army collapsed; their bravado failed against the unrelenting assault of the eldest Guthrie boy, and they broke and ran in a panic, leaving him and his sons there alone.

"Dad, what we gonna do?" Abe asked.

Chester just stood dumbstruck at the sight of it. A bunch of kids, that's all the Guthries had. A bunch of god-damned kids and they were giving him a thorough beating.

"Dad!" Abe said, more insistently this time, but Chester couldn't form an answer, especially as a new sound reached his ears. The wail of sirens rapidly drew nearer, and a fleet of police cars and SUVs rounded a bend in the road. They ploughed onto the Guthries' lawn and fields, swinging around to encircle the fleeing gunmen driven into panic by the muties defending the Guthrie household.

Pete vaulted from his car at the head of the pack with a bullhorn in hand, and crouched behind it in case anyone decided to start taking shots. "Everybody drop your weapons, now!" he shouted. "On the ground with your hands where I can see 'em!"

The rest of his deputies sprung from their vehicles. Chester heard the racking of shotguns, revolvers cocking, and the whisper of steel against leather as service pistols were drawn. He found himself staring down the barrel of no less than a dozen officers. That was too much for the men, who all cast down their arms and threw themselves face-down in the dirt. Maybe they were praying for salvation from the abominations that so thoroughly routed them.

"Dad?" Abe said, and tugged on his arm.

Lucinda Guthrie stepped out from behind the barricade she was sheltering behind, shotgun in hand. Sam Guthrie alighted beside her and dismissed his power, and all the children drubbing him and his men relaxed from their guarded stances. Every last Guthrie poked their head out the door to see what was happening, like a pack of curious rats. Chester fumed and gritted his teeth, but he did the only thing he could do.

He tossed his gun to the ground.

###

Act V

###

Sam watched as Chester Cabot and his boys were led away in handcuffs to a waiting squad car. Those of his thugs who escaped without injury soon followed, while the wounded were loaded up under guard to be taken to the hospital. A couple died during the fight; one or two Laura shot from her perch and due to quirks of ballistics took fatal wounds or otherwise succumbed to their injuries after they fell, as well as the knot who managed to reach the house but didn't make it past her.

He glanced sidelong at her, sitting quietly in the grass and showing her claws to his youngest siblings. Ever since the attack ended they clung close to her in a way that made Sam equal parts secure and uneasy, and Laura seemed to find baffling. Cessily and Sooraya just found the whole idea amusing, and even Julian seemed to smirk at the expression that, if Sam didn't know any better, all but pleaded to be rescued from the clingy mass of children latching onto her.

Santo seemed to be doing an admirable job entertaining the rest; bench-pressing a picnic table out in the yard with Mel, Jeb, Joelle, Lew, and Liz piled on top, counting each rep almost casually with his deep, booming voice, and untroubled by the weight. The kids laughed and giggled, while Yana and Victor watched with amusement.

Josh was among the medics and deputies, helping tend to the injured men, guided by an altruism Sam reluctantly admitted he might not feel himself in the golden-skinned mutant's place. Somehow he doubted the men he healed would be much appreciative of the gesture; most would spit and curse him for what he was, even as he helped put their inside back inside and put their broken bodies to rights.

Nori and David stood with him, Paige, and Momma, watching the scene. The former folded her gauntleted hands across her chest and gave her best impersonation of Cyclops's commanding glower while the rest of the team wound down from the battle. But despite that little victory in the field, Sam knew deep down there was another one coming, and no sooner did that thought cross his mind then Pete slammed a car door shut on Cabot and his sons, then start across the field towards them with his thumbs hooked through his belt. Momma stiffened, and tensed her grip on the barrel of her shotgun. Sam laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't go shootin' the Sherriff, now, Momma," he said. "We ain't under arrest yet."

Momma scowled at him. "What do you think is gonna happen here, boy? A fight like this don't just get swept under the rug, I don't care what your Professor's been teachin' you about all them shenanigans you've been getting' up to."

He sighed. "Look, let's just let him say his piece, is all."

"All right, Sam, we'll play it your way. But I ain't forgettin' what that little girl said; He's been part and parcel to our troubles all along, an' I ain't about to let him playin' cavalry make me forget it."

They waited for Pete to approach, and as he reached them he stopped, whipped off his hat, and mopped his brow on the back of his sleeve. It was all for show, of course. Pete hadn't really done much himself, certainly not hard enough work to justify it. Sam just folded his arms across his chest and waited.

"Welp, that's the last of 'em," Pete said. "Near as I figure it's an open an' shut case of self-defense. Chester Cabot got some of his boys riled up an' come lookin' for trouble. Y'all ain't had a choice but to stand an' fight. That'll be the end of it."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise, the expression mirrored by Paige, Nori, and David. Only Momma narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the Sherriff in suspicion.

"All nice an' neat like that?" she asked. "What's the catch, Pete?"

Pete put his hat back on and made a show of adjusting it in as official-like manner as he could. "The catch, Lu? The catch is that's the end of it. All of it. I'll do what I can to make this go away, you have my word, but this business between you an' the Cabots ends here. Now. Today. You're gonna bury that hatchet before it tears up my whole damn county."

Momma thumped the butt of her shotgun against the ground and leaned on it. "It ain't never been our business, Pete, an' you know that! All we ever wanted was to live in peace, but Chester an' his kin never gave us the chance."

"Chester's goin' to jail, Lu. Along with his eldest boy. It's up to the courts to decide what becomes of the rest of 'em, especially Abe since he's still a minor. What happens between you an' the Cabots is for you an' Ma Cabot to work out for yourselves. But damn it, Lu, I want this to be the end of it!"

Sam looked between Pete and Momma. Momma stared at him a good long while before she finally grit her teeth, lowered her head, and nodded.

"All right, Pete."

Pete held her gaze for a long moment, before giving a curt nod, satisfied this was, indeed, the end of it. "Good. Now I mean you know offense, Sam, but I suggest you an' that group you brought in be makin' yourselves scarce. As long as y'all are here it's gonna be a lot harder to keep a lid on what's happened here."

Sam nodded, and shot Nori a warning glare when he saw her open her mouth to protest. "We're as good as gone, Pete."

Paige crossed her arms and eyed Pete closely for a moment. "This is right charitable of you, Pete? You sure ain't lifted a finger for us before, why the change?"

"Because Chester Cabot was tryin' to turn my county into a war zone!" Pete said, and spat off to the side. "If things continued as they were all of Cumberland could have exploded, an' that means innocent folks getting' hurt. I mean look at all this hardware! This ain't kid gloves, Lu, this is military grade. I don't know how Chester managed to slip it through, but it was all sent by Reverend Stryker. I think y'all ought to know that."

"We already do," Nori said. Her gauntlets clicked and clacked as she flexed her fingers. She spit him with a glare, and a grim scowl crossed her face.

Pete gawked, taken aback by the revelation. "How ...?"

Sam shook his head. "Pete, that's a Pandora's Box you're really best not openin'," he said, and glanced to where Laura was in the midst of demonstrating some of her techniques to the delight of Cissie and Liz, with Julian as her target dummy. For his part, much to Sam's surprise, Julian seemed not the least bit bothered about being roughly and cleanly wrestled to the ground time and time again by the lithe but lethal little ball of fury. In fact if he didn't know better, he may even have been enjoying it. "Trust me, the less you know the better."

The Sherriff followed his gaze, a look of amazement on his features, and he swallowed visibly. "Right. Well, I'll leave y'all to get this back in order." He turned his attention back on Momma. "I'll need you to come into town to take your statement, just remember what I said. This is the end of it, here an' now."

"I get it, Pete," she said. He eyed her for a good moment more before, satisfied with her response, he turned and headed back to the cluster of police cars and SUVs slowly breaking up and pulling away, hauling Cabot and his thugs off to jail.

###

Abandoned Weapon Plus bunker, the Canadian wilderness...

Stryker stood in the doorway leading out of the bunker and onto the wide swath of ground between it and the line of trees beyond. The snow was just beginning to recede, shaking from the boughs of the dense growths of pine forest, and running in trickling streams down the hillside as it melted. Soon the rivulets and rills would find their way down to the rushing waters of some creek or river, to eventually drain into the lakes and maybe, perhaps, the Atlantic Ocean. All was still and quiet, just the sound of the wind and a few birds singing as spring slowly tore the Canadian wilderness from winter's icy grip.

He heard a noise behind him, but didn't turn. He was already expecting Matthew with the morning report and dispatches; a small routine to break up the monotony of waiting. Waiting for what, exactly? The Canadian authorities to rout them out under pressure from a screaming U.S. State Department? For Xavier and his band of terrorists to come barging down his door? Or for some sign of providence from the Almighty himself? A sign that his sacrifices and labors were to be rewarded?

Stryker sighed. More than anything, he was just waiting for the end of the waiting.

"Reverend," Matthew said upon reaching him. Stryker frowned. There was an odd catch in his voice. He turned and was surprised to see his scarred visage was deeply troubled.

"What is it, Matthew?"

"You'd best take a look at this." He handed him the tablet he had been carrying, and Stryker found himself looking at a news feed out of Cumberland County. "You remember Chester Cabot? The man in Kentucky we sent a shipment of arms to?

Stryker scowled. The Guthrie boy. "Yes, I recall he had something of an infestation at home."

Matthew nodded. "He decided to take it on himself to try and burn them out. It didn't go well."

He read the news feed himself: Seven men killed, over a dozen more wounded. Chester Cabot, his sons, and the other survivors all arrested on charges of some flavor of assault, home invasion, destruction of property, and attempted murder. His stomach churned at a note near the bottom of the article:

Weapons recovered at the scene have been tentatively linked to wanted fugitive William Stryker and his organization known as the Purifiers, which has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Damn," he said under his breath.

"There's more, Reverend," Matthew said. "I checked in with one of our local contacts, and the attack was broken up by a group from Xavier's school. He says it was led by the eldest Guthrie boy."

"The X-Men?"

"He wasn't sure, but it's likely."

Stryker sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Contact Adam," he said. "I think we may need to move up our plans. Tell him we have the perfect target in mind for his field test."

"Sir?"

He fixed the younger man with a deadly serious look. "Tell him to make the release in Salem Center."

---

A Note from the Author

This is the first episode I really needed to sit down with a copy of the books (well, digital. Thank you, Marvel Unlimited!) open while I've written it. Most of what I've done so far I know the material fairly well, but I'm relatively new to the books themselves so there's a LOT I never read (I grew up on the '90s toon and movies, and it was only discovering X-23 that got me to start actually picking the books themselves up). It's certainly a different experience to work this way, and there will be other stories to come which require the same process.

She Lies With Angels has certainly become quite the source of ridicule among the fanbase, and Chuck Austen with it. However I knew I wanted to touch on the Guthrie/Cabot feud at some point. That said, if you get past some of its more ridiculous moments (like Angel banging Husk in the air. In front of her mom) and the heavy-handed Romeo and Juliet subplot, there's actually not a bad story there. So in adapting it for this series I decided to streamline things by focusing solely on the feud itself. This was helped by the cast; removing Warren eliminates the awkward romance with Paige, and as Jay and Julia are already dead by this point it excises the pretty laughably bad Shakespeare homage. Yet even with all the streamlining (I just couldn't fit the Rays in except for Ray Jr. in the beginning; there just wasn't a spot for that subplot) this still ended up as one of the longer episodes.

Were this to be a series with a full 22 episodes per season I'd love to spend more time building up Paige in advance of this episode, particularly the fact she's been burying her accent. Unfortunately this is the main recurring issue I've been running into: I've got such a large cast of regulars and secondary characters there's just not room to fit them in every episode, so some ideas aren't developed as fully as they could be.

Although this episode focuses mainly on the Guthrie clan, we do get a little more psychology of the other characters. Since I've established that something is a little "off" about Yana in her previous appearances, I wanted to give a few hints on how I imagine that happening in this adaptation. Her backstory is one of the more complex and convoluted (which is saying a LOT for the X-Men), and I wanted to both simplify it while still offering nods to some of its more iconic elements. We also get another moment between Julian and Laura.

I did want to give a nod to this episode's origins by referencing She Lies with Angels's connection to Romeo and Juliet in the dialogue. The version that Rockslide mentions is a real adaptation, and is a bit of a personal in-joke; we watched the Olivia Hussey version when studying Shakespeare when I was in High School. Unfortunately, the teacher hadn't seen it, and didn't realize there was a scene where Hussey is topless...

As a tangential aside, one of my favorite choices for an actress to portray Laura in live-action is India Eisley. Eisley just so happens to be the daughter of Olivia Hussey, which makes Santo referencing that version even more amusing to me.

This episode was incredibly frustrating to write, to be honest, and it really got me behind schedule. I just found it incredibly hard to stay focused and slog through to the end. So yeah, I'm behind. I was originally planning for two episodes this month, but because of this one taking so long, and the result of a pretty wasted November, that ain't happening. Thank god it's over!

Anyway, so long 'till next time!