True Believers: Part Twenty

by Alicia McKenzie

Part Twenty

#Tyris.#

The voice, quiet but insistent, was as familiar to her as her own. She didn't care. She was perfectly content, here in this comfortable darkness. The thought of what waited for her out in the light was unappealing, to say the least. Yes, the voice could go flonq itself, she decided.

#Tyris!# Out in the darkness, a tiny flame flickered into life. It drew closer, grew larger until it took on the wavering form of the Mother Askani, who gave her a penetrating look. #You have a mission to complete, child, you must wake up!#

'Tyris', again. Dimly, she wondered why.

Chagrin flashed across the Mother Askani's face, and her image shivered. It seemed--out of focus, hazy. Unstable. Something had to be wrong, to be interfering with her manifestation in such a way. #Perhaps that's how I still think of you, as the child you were,# the Mother Askani finally said, her tone gentle for a moment before it grew brisk once more. #Or perhaps it's just being practical. You're far from home, cut off from the collective consciousness.#

As if she really needed to be reminded of that.

#Impudent child,# the Mother said dryly. #You always were, you know. Impudent and headstrong--if I'd cherished any lingering doubts about the latter, you certainly would have disproved them by your actions today.#

She winced, expecting to hear condemnation in the Mother's voice, to sense anger--or worse, disappointment--across the link that all Askani shared. But there was only concern, and a certain wistful sadness she didn't understand.

#I can't approve of what you were planning to do,# the Mother said softly. #Every time Askani kills Askani, the breach is deepened--can't you see that?# She sighed. #But I can't fault your motives. I can't even say what I would have done, had I been in your position, and seen Hana do what she did. And even if I were inclined to punish you, you've already paid more of a penance than I would ever have dreamed of exacting.# Now, there was only concern flowing down the link. #Will you be all right?#

Resolutely, she pushed the memories Hana's attack had awakened back into the distant corner of her mind where they belonged. #I'll have to be, won't I?# she responded, trying to project confidence. The Mother had enough to worry about. #As you say, Mother, I have a mission to complete.#

The Mother Askani suddenly smiled. #You and Nathan are going to get along beautifully, you know,# she said dryly. #You'll probably encourage each other's bad habits.#

#Mother?#

#Never mind,# the Mother Askani said with a sigh. #You'll find out soon enough, I suspect, from the way things have been going.#

Before she could ask for the meaning behind those cryptic words, fire blossomed in the darkness--

--and she opened her eyes with a gasp. It was so COLD! Slowly, she sat up, wincing as she held her aching head between her hands and blinked around confusedly.

What in the name of the Bright Lady--? This was the same field where she'd fought Hana. The same rows of tall, leafy plants surrounded her. But now the air was so frigid it almost burned her lungs, and there was a cold, white--something falling out of the sky. It collected on the ground and the leaves of the plants--and on her, she noted warily, quickly brushing it off. But she soon realized she was fighting a losing battle. There was too much of the white substance, and more coming down by the second.

Judging by the feel of her head, though, if she expended even the small amount of energy needed to raise a TK shield, she would quickly regret it. And as for teleporting out of here--that would be suicide, she realized grimly. The doubled perceptions she enjoyed as both a telepath and a chronal-variant were functioning, if impaired by the psi-shock Hana's attack and the backlash from the anomaly had caused. Relying on them, she could easily sense the disruption in the fabric of space-time, and its reflection on the astral plane. She wondered how the Mother Askani had managed to pierce the distortion and reach her. As for Hana, teleporting away at that most inopportune moment--she very well might not have even made it to her destination. That would certainly simplify things-- She caught a few of the white flakes on her hand, staring in fascination at the tiny, elaborate crystalline structures as they melted against the warmth of her skin. They provoked some dim memory she couldn't quite capture--she hadn't had time for the usual memory implants, but still, something about this was vaguely familiar. #Mother?# she sent tentatively. #What is this?#

No answer, and only emptiness in her mind where the Mother's presence had been. She felt a trace of relief, and a certain, sneaking gratification that the Mother had left her to her own devices without issuing any further orders. I'll have to be sure not to fail her trust this time, she told herself harshly. She had let her anger get the better of her--there were better ways of dealing with Hana than hunting her down, and it would seem that the Mother Askani wished her to find such alternatives.

She tried to get up and failed, but made it to her feet on the second try. The pain in her head throbbed in a steady rhythm, and as she made her unsteady way out of the field, slogging through increasing drifts of the white stuff, her temper grew worse with every step. First I let Hana get away, then I forget to watch out for the anomalies--and now I'm lost, half a world away from the nexus points for all I know, she thought sourly. Oh, this is going SO well.

***

The plane shuddered and abruptly dropped at least a hundred feet. Kitty closed her eyes, swallowing hard. This is insane, she told herself harshly. You do NOT get airsick, Pryde--turbulence or no turbulence!

Of course, turbulence was almost a criminally mild word for what they were flying through. They'd been busy dealing with Cable's little--break with reality earlier, and hadn't noticed how much stronger the winds were getting until Gwen had pointed it out. Then the storm front had hit, and the weather had gotten REALLY bad. She usually preferred to be pilot, rather than passenger, but she knew nothing about this place, and, under these circumstances, wouldn't trade places with Gwen for all the money in the world.

Sitting beside her, Pete had a death-grip on the arms of his seat. He was cursing steadily under his breath, just like he had for the last half-hour. "I thought her Goddess'ship was supposed to be clearing a path through this muck for us," he grated suddenly, startling Kitty.

She slapped his arm lightly, giving him a warning look. "We're still in the air, aren't we?" she asked pointedly. Ororo had gone forward to join Gwen in the cockpit a little while ago, citing the need for a 'better vantage point', as she'd put it. "I don't think we would be, without her--I mean, LOOK at it out there!" She gestured at the window helplessly. Although Gwen had cut her airspeed considerably, they had to be over England now, and taking the time difference into account, it had to be past dawn. But there wasn't the slightest sign of the sun out there. It was as black as midnight. The wind was howling, and the rain was coming down incredibly hard, almost lashing at the plane, as if it had a vindictive mind of its own.

"Whatever," Pete growled, clearly not mollified. "Next time, I'm bloody well walking--"

Sitting opposite them, Logan glared at Pete. "Would you quit grousing, kid?" he growled. "Before I have to gut you?"

Flushing, Pete opened his mouth to retort, but Kitty took his hand, squeezing gently, and he bit back whatever he'd been about to say. She gave him a quick smile, and he scowled, but his hand tightened on hers for a moment before he closed his eyes in an obvious effort to tune out their surroundings.

Kitty wished she could do the same. But she couldn't get the image of Cable kneeling on the floor of the plane's washroom, bloodstained pieces of the mirror lying all over the place, out of her mind. That ghastly laughter still rang in her ears. She shivered, looking over at Logan. He gazed back at her for a moment with a sort of grim understanding on his face, and then started to pull his hat down over his eyes.

"Nathan?" Domino suddenly said, sounding almost wary.

Kitty looked quickly over to the other side of the cabin, where Cable and Domino were sitting across from each other. Pete's eyes flew open, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Logan straighten, his expression going suspiciously blank.

But most of her attention was on Cable. For the first time in nearly an hour, he was doing something other than staring straight ahead into empty air. Now he was looking out the window, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath--in Askani, she thought, as the muttering grew a little louder.

"Nathan," Domino repeated, just as cautiously. He didn't answer, and she looked over at them helplessly, her frustration plain. Kitty felt a sudden, intense pang of sympathy for her. Cable had been totally unresponsive to any of their concerned questions; he hadn't even seemed to notice when Domino had picked glass slivers out of his hand and bandaged it. She must be so worried-- Kitty thought. Bad enough to see the man you loved losing it, but to FEEL it along a psi-link, as well, must be unbearable. When Piotr had attacked Pete, she'd sensed that something was wrong, but it had been a vague, shapeless (if overpowering) sense of dread. But to actually share whatever Cable was going through--she wouldn't want to be in Domino's shoes at the moment.

Logan stared at Cable for a moment, his eyes narrowing. "Look who decided to return to the land of the living," he said abruptly, in a tone that seemed almost deliberately insulting. Cable still didn't react, and Logan suddenly grinned. It was more a baring of teeth than a smile, though. "Welcome back, Twinkle-Face."

Pete nearly choked. "Twinkle-Face?" he asked incredulously.

Cable turned away from the window and gave Logan a withering look. Kitty couldn't stifle the sudden rush of hope she felt at the reasonably alert, focused expression he wore, so much different from the look of numb, distracted indifference he'd had a few minutes ago. He SEEMED all right, she thought tentatively. Mildly pissed, but all right. Well, all right in the sense of not shouting at people who aren't there and getting violent with the furniture--

"If you're trying to get a rise out of me, Logan, give it up," Cable growled. "Now will you leave me alone? I'm trying to listen."

He's trying to--oh. The possibilities were not encouraging, Kitty thought bleakly.

"You're listening," Domino said, eyeing him speculatively. "To what, Nathan?" He didn't answer her, and after a moment, her mouth quirked in what might almost have been a smile. "Keep in mind, Summers, that I'm going to have to slug you if you say 'the voices'."

And Cable laughed. Not that awful, hysterical laughter of earlier, but a brief, tired, strangely rueful laugh. He sank his face into his hands. "Oath," he said, his voice muffled. "You must all think I've lost it completely."

"The thought had occurred to us," Pete said flippantly.

Cable lifted his head, giving him a black look. "That was a rhetorical question," he snapped, and then sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Damn. Who am I kidding?"

"If you have to ask yourself if you're crazy, I'd say chances are you're probably not," Kitty heard herself saying. She could have kicked herself as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Cable gave her a quizzical look, and she responded with a slightly nervous smile.

"Right," he said distractedly, and then winced, rubbing at his temples. "Look, I know I'm--not acting quite normally at the moment--" He paused, as if expecting a smart comment from one direction or another. When none was forthcoming, he continued, his voice growing almost desperate. "But you have to believe me. That temporal wave--it didn't just have an effect on the weather. There's something else going on, something even worse."

"I believe you," Domino said softly, leaning across the space between them and taking his hand. Stiffening, he pulled away, and she let him go, her expression hardening into a professional mask. Kitty thought she saw a flash of hurt in the other woman's eyes, but it was gone before she could be sure. "All right," Domino continued, her voice crisp, business-like. "Define 'worse'."

"It's--" As Kitty watched, Cable's eyes seemed to unfocus, as if he was staring through everything, seeing on some level that the rest of them didn't even know existeed. "Everything's--overlapping. The boundaries are breaking down--" He cursed, shaking his head. "Oath, I can't believe none of you can FEEL this!"

"None of us have got your abilities, Nate," Logan growled, but there was something very close to helplessness on his face. "I flamin' well know there's something screwy going on with the weather--"

"I think I'm feeling something of what you are, Nate, along the link," Domino ventured, sounding uncertain. "But--"

"I need--I need to check something," Cable muttered, apparently unaware that he'd cut Domino off. She closed her mouth, looking furious for a moment before she visibly wrestled her expression back under control.

Logan took all this in with only a raised eyebrow, but Kitty could see the growing anger in his eyes at how Cable was treating Domino. "Care to be more specific?" he asked harshly.

Cable shot him an irritated look, and then stood up. He swayed dizzily for a moment, but frowned at Domino as she reached out to support him. She stopped in mid-motion, and then leaned back in her chair, her expression tightening again. Kitty wondered what they were saying to each other along their psi-link.

"I said I was fine!" he suddenly snapped at Domino, and then half-staggered back to the sensor array. Kitty saw him slide on the same headset she'd been examining at the very beginning of the flight, what seemed like an eternity ago.

Then, the whole sensor array lit up. Kitty blinked, shocked. Wait a minute--he didn't touch anything, did he? She hadn't been able to figure out what the headset did--it must be some sort of interface, from the looks of it.

And it's not like that's particularly relevant at the moment, she told herself in exasperation. She glanced over at Logan, who glanced at Domino for a moment and then back at her, giving her a significant look. Realizing what he wanted her to do, she got up, sliding past Pete, and went and sat beside Domino. "Are you all right?" she asked very quietly. She didn't know the other woman particularly well, but it sure looked like Domino could use someone to talk to. And although Kitty didn't understand half of what was going on, how Cable could manifest the Phoenix-force or what would cause him to have hallucinations, she felt she was moderately well-versed on coping with exceptionally difficult and stubborn men.

Domino gave her a thin smile. "Define all right," she said under her breath.

"Umm---not considering homicide as a viable option?" Kitty ventured softly.

Domino's mouth twisted, and Kitty thought she saw tears shining in the other woman's brilliant eyes. "It would make life so much easier, wouldn't it?" she asked with a ghost of a laugh that was vastly at odds with the pain in the whispered words.

"The easy way out, though."

"And for some people, the hard way's the only way."

Kitty smiled ruefully. "Don't I know it," she murmured.

***

With one kick, James Proudstar broke down the door, and ran through the open doorway, out of the burning building. He sucked in fresh air desperately, half-doubling over as he staggered to a stop. The night sky lit up with lightning yet again, followed by a deafening crash of thunder, and the little girl in his arms shrieked, tightening her grip on him.

"It's all right," he said, his voice hoarse from the smoke. He scanned the crowd of people who'd already escaped from the burning low-rise, but no one was coming forward to claim the girl. And damn it, he didn't see Terry, either--"It's going to be okay," he said helplessly, turning and looked up at the top floor worriedly. Come on, Red, get out of there-- Smoke and a mutant with a vocally-based power did NOT mix--

Thunder cracked, and in the moment of silence following it, he heard the distinct sound of Theresa Cassidy's sonic scream. A window on the top floor blew out, and Siryn appeared, her uniform sooty but a child on either arm. Two little boys, Jimmy saw, both apparently unharmed to judge by the fuss they were making. Landing, she handed the children off to their parents, who wept and thanked her profusely. Waving off their thanks wearily, she staggered over to join him.

"That's the last of them," she said, her voice even hoarser than his, and then broke into a fit of coughing. Trying to detach the little girl, Jimmy gave his teammate a worried look. She'd been in there too long--she must have inhaled a lot of smoke. "What about the wee lass?" she rasped once she could breathe properly again.

"I don't know," he said helplessly. "I just don't--" Lightning flashed again, and there was the sound of an explosion in the distance. Jimmy winced, wondering what that had hit. He looked out over the city, shaking his head.

There were fires everywhere in San Francisco tonight.

All because of the lightning. It wasn't what you'd call a thunderstorm--there was no rain, no wind either, thankfully, or half the city would be burning by now. He could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles at some of the larger blazes, but there was no way the fire crews could keep up with the damage when there were new fires starting with every lightning strike.

Damn it, it was like Storm had gotten her powers supercharged and then gone stark raving insane! The lightning just kept coming, strike after strike after strike, like fire raining down from heaven.

"Let me try, Jimmy," Terry said, and, with a few soft words, got the girl to release her death-grip on him. Carrying the child over to the crowd, she spoke briefly with an elderly couple and then left the girl with them. The girl latched onto the old woman almost instantly, and Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief.

Terry came back over, swaying on her feet. "Let's be going, shall we, Jimmy?" she suggested, her shoulder slumping with weariness. "I dinnae think this is the only place where we could be of help tonight."

They hadn't gone five blocks when they came upon another burning building. Jimmy tried not to think of what the rest of his team must be doing. They'd all split into pairs and set off to offer whatever sort of help their abilities allowed. The last time he'd seen Ric and Tabitha, they'd been creating firebreaks. 'Star had been charging into a burning house with absolutely no regard for his own safety, and 'Berto had been rescuing people off a roof.

He didn't even WANT to think of what must be happening in the rest of the world. Nature's got too many damned ways to kick us in the balls, he thought wearily. As they drew closer, and heard screams coming from inside the building as well as the crowd outside, Jimmy closed his mind to everything else but the situation at hand.

***

They were halfway up the hill when Jubilee stopped. "Oh, this was SUCH a good idea!" she screamed, the rain plastering her hair to her face. She looked like a drowned rat, Gina thought as she turned to face her friend. Then again, I probably don't look a lot better--but dammit, I'm SICK of listening to her complain!

"Lee, would you quit it!" Gina shouted at her harshly. Jubilee gave her an incredulous look, as if she couldn't believe that Gina had snapped at her. That only made her angrier--what did they all think, that she was some timid little idiot who wouldn't raise her voice to a mouse, or some such stupid thing? Forgetting the pouring rain, the howling wind and the mud up to her knees, Gina glared down at the other girl. "It's not like we INTENDED to end up here!"

Jubilee rallied quickly. "No, but if you hadn't been so charged up about following Miriya, we wouldn't be IN this mess in the first place!" she shouted accusingly.

Without thinking about it, Gina used one of Andrew's favorite curses. She had the slight satisfaction of seeing Jubilee's eyes widen in shock again. "So it's all MY fault, is it?" she screamed. "Oh, now THAT'S fair!"

Tally, a short distance ahead of them, stopped and whirled to face them. "Would you PLEASE shut up?" she shrieked at them both. "You're slow enough as it is--I'm not going to put up with you sniping at each other!"

"Who asked you?" Jubilee shouted, fists clenching at her sides. "Leave if you don't like it, 'Scooter'--"

The storm made it really dark, but even so, Gina saw Tally flush. "Don't call me that!" she shouted.

"I'll call you that if I want, you--"

Gina started to feel like she was in a bad dream or something. Here they were, in the middle of a storm like nothing she'd ever seen--and there was something else wrong, she could feel it, this terrifying sense of wrongness--and the three of them were standing here in it, having an argument and calling each other names. How stupid did that make them?

"Stop it!" she finally shouted. Tally and Jubilee both glared at her, but she met their eyes without flinching. SOMEONE had to calm down and think straight, here. Tally had resisted the idea of running ahead to get help, not wanting to leave them to struggle through the storm over unfamiliar territory on their own, but Gina was beginning to think that might be the best way. "Look, we stay out here much longer, we're going to--"

"So make with a TK shield or something, Dreamy!" Jubilee shouted.

Gina almost howled in sheer frustration. "Jubilee, I can't DO that!" she protested.

"Why not? You're supposed to be Rachel Summers, aren't you? SHE was telekinetic--"

"I AM NOT RACHEL SUMMERS!"

She saw Tally go as white as her hair, and shift her weight, as if she was about to move towards her. Was I really that loud? Gina wondered baffledly, and then cried out as the ground beneath her feet suddenly moved.

Tally might have outraced it, Gina realized in that last, seemingly endless moment as she realized what was happening. She could have gotten clear, but she'd frozen--trying to figure out how to help us, Gina realized. It occurred to her that Bishop would be very proud of such an analysis.

Then, the whole side of the hill broke away.

***

The cabin intercom crackled. "If you're not strapped in already, do it now!" Gwen said vehemently. "We're coming in to land, but it might be a little bumpy!"

Logan didn't like the level of tension he heard in her voice. Poor kid's probably going to kiss the ground as soon as we're down safely. She sure is one hell of a pilot, though-- He had a fair idea of what Storm was capable of, after all these years, and something told him Gwen had just as much to do with the fact that they'd stayed in the air up until this point as 'Ro did.

Kitty and Domino, still talking quietly--about ME, Logan realized with a brief flash of amusement--obediently strapped in. Wisdom already was. But Cable was still sitting back at the sensor station, poring over readouts that Logan couldn't make heads nor tails of, and he didn't look like he was planning on moving anytime soon.

"Nate!" he growled.

"I'm fine," Cable said distractedly.

"Damn it, Nate," Logan snarled, losing his patience entirely, "get over here and get strapped in!" The warning look Domino gave him only made him angrier. So Nate's got a lot on what passes for his mind--that doesn't give him the frigging excuse to treat her like a piece of furniture! Even after all these years, he still was at the mercy of his protective instincts. That wasn't going to change anytime soon--especially not when he could almost smell the misery coming off her.

Cable suddenly rose, giving him a chilly look. He still looked more or less composed, but there was something not quite right about his eyes. The tiniest crack in the mask, but a telling one. "Or you'll do what?" Cable inquired almost challengingly, but came over and sat down across from Domino docilely enough.

"That's better," Logan muttered, strapping in.

"Don't push your luck," Cable said harshly. "I was done anyways."

Sure you were, Nate, Logan thought pointedly. Putting on a good show, bub, but you ain't foolin' me.

#Mind your own flonqing business!# Cable's voice said sharply in his mind, but Logan didn't break eye contact. Cable might have done a pretty good job of pulling himself together, but whatever had caused him to decide that the mirror didn't deserve to live was still there, festering beneath the surface. He could shove it away, try to bury it, but it wasn't going to vanish just because he didn't want to deal with it. Cable's expression tightened, and he looked away. It was the closest thing to an acknowledgement that he'd get, Logan knew.

Logan realized he was growling under his breath, and forced himself to stop. But Cable's scent was wrong again, not just because of the traces of the Phoenix Logan was still getting. Logan stared at him for a long moment, trying to fight the pull of instincts that wanted him to go over there and put Cable out of his misery, as if he were a rabid animal.

Kitty glanced out the window, frowning as they descended through the clouds. "Where are we?" she asked, sounding puzzled. Logan forced himself to look away from Cable and pay attention to what she was saying. "I don't see any lights or anything--"

Wisdom smiled over at her. The smile seemed rather forced, to Logan. "Hell, Pryde, you didn't actually think the London station was IN London, did you?" he asked lightly.

It was clearly the kid's attempt to lighten the atmosphere, but Logan nodded to himself. Only made sense. These people had stayed hidden for an awfully long time, and you didn't do that by landing sophisticated aircraft in the middle of a major city, even under the sort of cover a storm like this provided.

Kitty had straightened in her seat, scowling at Wisdom. "Very funny. So where---oh!" She gripped the arms of her seat tightly as the plane banked sharply.

Logan's stomach did a peculiar little flip-flop. "What the hell is that girl doing?" he growled, shooting a hard look at the cockpit door. "We're not in a flipping F-18!"

"You think that's good, wait until we fly into the side of the hill," Cable said, an odd smile playing on his lips. Domino was watching him, not taking her eyes off him, but he was still ignoring her completely.

"Joke, right?" Kitty asked with a laugh, but she sounded a little nervous. Cable shook his head.

"Oh, for the love of--that's where the entrance to the bloody hangar is," Wisdom snapped, looking irritated. Cable looked over at him, raising an eyebrow, and Logan was surprised to see the flicker of real anger in Wisdom's eyes. "You and that friggin' excuse for a sense of humor of yours, old man--"

Cable shrugged, looking away almost dismissively. "Just trying to lighten the atmosphere," he said, and Logan knew he wasn't imagining the mocking edge to his voice.

They continued to descend steadily--or rather, as steadily as possibly with gale-force winds hammering at them. The plane rocked back and forth erratically; Gwen seemed to be having an awful lot of trouble keeping them level. Logan glanced out the window beside him. They were flying low enough now that he could see the hilly terrain beneath, and it was certainly nowhere he recognized.

The plane decelerated even more sharply. The ground started to look uncomfortably close--and then something shimmered outside the window for a moment. Suddenly, they were rushing past smooth metal walls rather than English countryside. The plane sped down the long tunnel, and then shuddered slightly as it touched down.

"Not a bad landing, all things considered," Cable murmured as the plane gradually slowed to a stop.

"They must have at least some of the internal systems back up," Wisdom said thoughtfully, peering out the window. "Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to get the iris open. Gwen would've been landing on the bloody lawn again."

"At least we're out of the storm," Kitty said with relief. The sound of the engines died to a hum, and finally stopped entirely. The total silence was almost unnerving, after the constant thunder and wind.

"Amen to that, darlin'," Logan said gruffly, undoing his harness and getting up, stretching. He leaned over, peering out the window again. The area around the plane was lit, but beyond it, there was only darkness, impenetrable shadow. "Some kind of underground complex you've got here?" he asked.

"Something like that," Cable muttered. Everyone else was getting up, but he was making no move to follow their example. Logan straightened, frowning as he saw the barely-disguised reluctance in Cable's eyes.

Domino seemed to sense it, too. But before she could say anything to Cable, the cockpit door slid aside. Ororo and Gwen, both looking utterly exhausted, emerged into the cabin.

"By the Goddess," Ororo sighed, leaning back against the wall of the cabin. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and she looked like she was about to fall over. "I would not wish to do that again anytime in the near future. That was--most difficult."

"I second that motion," Gwen said with a weary laugh. "Definitely one of my more challenging flights--" She shot a somewhat wary look at Cable, who hadn't moved to get up yet. "Nathan? Dunworthy'll be waiting--"

"Good for Dunworthy," Cable muttered. Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Umm---okay. Not losing your nerve, are you?" she said almost jokingly.

Cable gave her a furious look. "Dunworthy can go flonq--" He trailed off in mid-sentence, and then cursed, all but ripping off his harness and getting up. "Fine," he snapped, his eye glowing. "Let's get this over with."

Cable stalked over to the storage compartment where they'd all left their bags, his posture fairly screaming anger and anxiety. Wisdom threw out an arm, barring his way. Cable gave him a thoroughly evil look, but Wisdom didn't so much as budge.

"You go in there like that, you're shooting yourself in the bloody foot before you even get started," he said very quietly. Cable glared at him for a moment longer, and then nodded, visibly struggling to compose his features.

"You know," Domino said in a dry voice that didn't fool Logan for a moment, "I'm looking forward to meeting this 'Dunworthy', I think. After everything you and Nate have said--"

Some unreadable emotion flickered in Wisdom's eyes, and his smile was sardonic. "I'll ask you if you feel the same in a couple of hours."

"Can we quit the verbal sparring and get on with it?" Cable snapped, yanking his own bag and Domino's out of the storage compartment. He handed hers over without even meeting her eyes, and then strode over to the hatch, hitting the control pad beside the door. Without a word, Domino followed him out.

Logan collected his bag and Storm's, offering Ororo a supporting arm. She accepted it gratefully. "I will be fine, with a little rest," she said as they exited the plane. "It was simply very--Goddess," she whispered, looking around, her eyes glowing slightly. Logan stiffened, hoping her claustrophobia wasn't bothering her, but her next words reassured him. "Do you feel that? This hangar must be immense!"

Logan looked around, his eyes narrowing. The lights were still out, save for one from above lighting the plane, and two lines of light on the floor, demarcating the runaway. But there was a faint, cool breeze, which must be what Storm had felt. Something about the feel of the air made Logan sure that she was right, and that the hangar must be huge.

Cable stood at the very edge of the circle of light, staring out into the darkness. He was so tense, Logan half-expected him to explode into violence as soon as a target presented itself. Domino stood beside him, but was quite noticeably keeping her distance. As Logan and Storm came over to join them, she gave Logan a quizzical look.

"Well, I did expect a welcoming committee," she said flippantly.

"On its way," Cable said in a remote voice, and two more rows of lights lit up on the floor, stretching away from the plane and dimly illuminating a door at the other end of the newly revealed path. The door slid aside, and a stooped figure stepped out. As he came closer, Logan saw that it was an old man, stooped and white-haired, leaning heavily on a cane. Somewhat incongruously, he wore something that looked like a cross between a black spandex suit and body armor. Behind him was Shavrin.

Cable took a few steps forward to meet them. "Nicholas," he said calmly, and nodded at Shavrin. The Askani studied him in silence, her eyes widening. She was doing a pretty good job at keeping composed on the outside, Logan thought with a grim sort of amusement, but he still thought she seemed to be on the verge of spontaneously combusting. That, more than anything else, put the seal on it for him. Something was VERY wrong with Cable.

The old man had an open, genial face, but the sharpest blue eyes Logan had ever seen. He studied Cable for a moment, and then smiled faintly. "It's good to see you again, Nathan. But you look terrible." His voice was clear and strong, free of any quaver of age.

Cable's mouth quirked in an unwilling smile. "Nice to see you too, Nicholas," he said dryly.

"You've had us all terribly worried, you know," Nicholas continued, his tone almost scolding for a moment. "You need to take better care of yourself, son." Cable raised an eyebrow, and the old man was apparently astute enough to let the subject drop. He looked over Cable's shoulder and smiled at the others as they joined them. "A few more than we expected, but your friends are always welcome here, Nathan."

"I hope Dunworthy feels the same way," Cable murmured almost ironically, and Nicholas gave him a sharp look. Cable raised a defensive hand, nodding as if in acquiescence, and then made perfunctory introductions. Logan nodded to the old man when his turn came, and was a little surprised by the penetrating look that he got. Cable got to Domino, and Nicholas's expression changed, softened.

"It's good to finally meet you," he said to her almost gently. "I've heard so very much about you--"

Domino gave him an uncharacteristically hesitant smile. "Umm--good things, I hope?"

Nicholas smiled back at her. "Of course." Logan raised an eyebrow at the warm approval in the elderly man's voice, wondering what all that was about. Nicholas's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer, before he turned his attention to Wisdom, his voice growing reproving again. "Dunworthy WILL have a few things to say to you, I'm afraid, Peter. You really should have called to let us know you were all right after that unfortunate business at the airport."

"Just living up to my reputation," Wisdom said almost whimsically, and Nicholas shook his head with a sigh. "Would hate to deprive Dunworthy of the pleasure of complaining about how bloody irresponsible I am--" Kitty sighed, and he grinned at her.

"Snipe, snipe, snipe," Gwen said disgustedly, looking from Cable to Wisdom and back again as she joined them. "I thought you two had outgrown that."

"The three of them bring out the worst in each other," Nicholas said drolly. "I've always known that, my dear. Then, again, it keeps me employed. Always room for an old diplomat, around here--" Gwen chuckled, and, stepping forward, hugged the old man firmly. Nicholas returned the embrace, obvious affection on his face. "How's that darling little girl of yours?" he asked lightly as she let go of him and stepped back.

"Asking when her Uncle Nicky is going to come back and visit," Gwen said with a grin. "You made quite an impression on her, you know."

"At the nearest opportunity, I promise," Nicholas said warmly.

"Should we not be going?" Shavrin asked, her eyes never leaving Cable's face. It was as if none of the rest of them existed, for her, but Cable was avoiding her gaze just as resolutely as he was Domino's. Logan was getting more than a little irritated with him.

Nicholas looked repentant. "Oh, dear. At my age, I tend to get absorbed in small talk--this way, please?" He herded them all back the way he and Shavrin had come. "I'm sure you want to be getting to the command center, Nathan--"

"Not particularly--" Cable muttered, that almost fear-scent coming off him again. Nicholas gave him a troubled look, but when Cable said nothing more, gave up and herded them all back the way he and Shavrin had come.

They stepped through the door right into a largish elevator. Cable immediately moved to the back corner, looking like a trapped animal. Domino started back to join him, but Logan reached out and took her arm, holding her back. Give him some space, he willed her silently. The look in her violet eyes was unreadable, but she didn't try to pull away from him.

Nicholas leaned forward, touching the control pad, and the elevator started to move downwards swiftly. "It was quite the event, wasn't it?" he asked almost conversationally. "Did it hit you as hard as it did Shavrin here?"

Cable didn't seem inclined to answer, so Logan stepped in. "Event?" he asked. "The temporal wave, you mean?"

Nicholas blinked at him. "Oh--of course. I'm sorry, I forgot that you wouldn't be familiar with our terminology, Mr. Logan."

"You know my name," Logan said, not really surprised. Nicholas smiled.

"Of course. We have exhaustive files on all the X-Men and affiliated mutants." Nicholas sounded almost apologetic. "I hope that's not a source of concern to you--it's an unavoidable necessity, considering our mission."

Logan could almost feel the hair rising on the back of his neck. Knowing that these people were so well-informed didn't shock him, but it certainly didn't make him happy.

"Pays to know your chess pieces," Cable muttered savagely, and Nicholas looked back at him, his expression almost sorrowful. Cable didn't seem to notice. "So it's an Event now, is it?" he said harshly. Logan frowned, hearing the capitalization in the emphasis Cable laid on the word.

"A full ten point variation," Nicholas said heavily, and Wisdom muttered a curse, paling slightly. "Nathan, I know you don't approve of that part of the--project, but you must take it into account in a situation like this--"

"The hell I will!" Cable growled. "Too bad it wasn't worse--I certainly wouldn't have shed any tears about it!" Nicholas looked pained.

Logan wasn't following this conversation at all. He was about to ask them what the hell they were talking about when the elevator stopped.

"Here we are," Nicholas said brightly, and the doors slid aside to reveal a sight that stunned Logan into silence.

He followed the others out of the elevator, looking around in amazement. They stood in a cavernous room that looked to have been carved right out of the rock. It was lit only by the red glow of what had to be emergency lights of some sort, but even that dull illumination didn't diminish the sheer impact of the place.

High overhead, the ceiling rose to a dome. There were several mezzanines, for lack of a better word, cut right into the rock. Most of the upper levels were dark, but the floor of the cavern--there wasn't any other way to put it, really--was abuzz with activity. Men and women in black armored suits similar to the one Nicholas was wearing were rushing around. The whole place was filled with the most sophisticated-looking equipment Logan had seen since he'd been aboard Cable's space station, Greymalkin. Banks of screens, dark and lightless, stretched almost halfway around the outside edge of the circular cavern. In the centre, there was a raised platform, where chairs surrounded a table with what looked vaguely like a holographic unit suspended over it. The rest of the place, oddly enough, reminded Logan of nothing so much as an unbelievably high-tech and very asymmetrical version of a mission control set-up. The upper levels seemed to be filled with more equipment, and here at 'ground level', there were doors set at regular intervals around the circle.

Not far away, there was a round opening in the floor, an access tube to some sort of sub-level, it looked like. Cable shivered. Then, his hands clenching into fists at his sides, he stalked over to it.

"Dunworthy!" he snapped, staring down into the hole. A few of the people working finally seemed to take notice of him, hesitating in the midst of their various tasks. "Get up here!"

There was the sound of someone climbing, and then a head wearing some sort of breathing mask popped out of the opening. "You bellowed?" the head asked in a muffled, but distinctively feminine voice. One slender hand reached up, removing the mask.

And Logan's jaw nearly hit the ground. "YOU?" he nearly choked. Climbing up and sitting on the edge of the floor, she looked over at him, smiling that same enigmatic smile he remembered so clearly. Her black hair was touched with silver now, but her dark eyes were just as penetrating, and she was still every bit the stereotypical Latin beauty she'd been fifteen years ago. A distant part of his mind wondered absently if she still danced.

"Hello, Logan," she said calmly. "Long time no see."

"Carmen," he whispered, flushing as he remembered that night in Madrid. There were other changes in her. She seemed calmer, more self-contained, but he'd be willing to bet that the fiery-tempered young mercenary was still there, if you looked deeply enough. "How--why--" He shut his mouth before he made an even bigger fool of himself. What she was doing here, what she was doing apparently LEADING these people--he couldn't even begin to imagine.

"We'll talk later," she said. Her smile grew slightly, but then faded as she turned back to Cable. "Nathan, you look like shit," she said after a long moment.

"So everyone keeps telling me," he growled. The two of them just stared at each other, as if they were sizing each other up, until Nicholas stepped forward, giving them both a reproving look.

"No hitting, children," he said. It didn't sound like a joke.

Neither Cable nor Carmen said anything. They continued to stare at each other. If they'd been cats, they would have been fluffing up their fur and hissing. Though Logan was still reeling from the shock of Carmen's mere presence here, he recognized right away what was between the two.

*They do NOT like each other.* And he suspected that was putting it mildly.

"So," Carmen said, almost nonchalantly. "Do you want a status report or what?"

"That would be nice," Cable said through gritted teeth.

***

"She's coming to, Raul." The voice seemed to come from a great distance away.

Hana opened her eyes, blinking in an attempt to clear her vision. But the room was dark, and her eyes wouldn't seem to focus properly. Tentatively, she scanned the room, wincing at how even that slight effort redoubled the pain in her head. Three minds, she decided--all three with substantial mental defenses. But not psis.

So the advantage was hers. Or would have been, rather, if she'd had ANY idea where she was.

"It's about time," a harder voice said, and Hana heard footsteps, someone approaching her. She was lying on a flat, soft surface, she realized--a bed? And there was a little light in the room, she saw as her eyes adjusted. Enough that she could see the face of the man as he leaned over her. She tensed instinctively, but forced herself to relax when she didn't sense any immediate threat.

He was dark-haired and olive-skinned--handsome enough, she supposed--but there was a coldness in his eyes that made her wary. He gave her what seemed a perfunctory smile. "So you're the dangerous, unpredictable Askani we're supposed to shoot on sight, then?"

Hana didn't answer for a moment. She touched her chest, the spot where Tyris's knife had struck. The wound was gone--there wasn't even a trace of soreness left to remind her of her overconfidence. They wouldn't have healed me if they were planning to kill me, she reasoned. No, something else is going on here--

"Very likely," she said laconically, pushing herself up on her elbows. Inwardly, she was thinking quickly, trying to orient herself. The last thing she remembered was fighting Tyris--being struck with the knife, and teleporting away--

She extended her perceptions slightly, as far as she dared, and stiffened at the distortion she sensed. If I teleported through that, I'm lucky I'm still in one piece! she thought, amazed. Another one of the anomalies must have hit, and it must have been in phase, to cause this much damage to space-time. This changed a great deal--complicated things enormously.

The man's expression was oddly measuring. "You wouldn't happen to know WHY such an order would have gone out, would you?" he asked. Hana got the distinct impression that he was asking for form's sake--that the answer to the question didn't really matter to him. Although she couldn't read his thoughts clearly through his defenses, something told her that he'd already made up his mind on a course of action. "I mean, the last time I looked, we were on the same side--"

Hana shrugged with one shoulder, elegantly. "A misunderstanding," she said lightly, beginning to think she knew who--or at least what these people were. Part of the network Blaquesmith so painstakingly constructed, she surmised. "I'm sure you know how Dayspring can be--" she said leadingly.

The man laughed harshly, not looking amused in the slightest, and Hana suppressed a faint smile, knowing that her guess had been accurate. Members of the network, but numbering among those more inclined to a--proper point of view, and thus, malleable. Deftly, she reached out with her empathy, weaving emotions as subtly as she could. She was soon rewarded.

"Oh, believe me, I know how Dayspring 'can be'," the man said almost grimly. "Overbearing, judgemental, and far too independent for his own damned good. He's been absolutely ungovernable since Blaquesmith died--"

Hana put on her best grieved expression. "Perhaps you can help me then," she said softly, persuasively, still busily at work with her empathy. She fought back a gleeful smile. All three of the people in the room would have been able to defend against a high-level telepathic attack, but their resistance to empathic manipulation was even lower than what she'd seen in Tyris. There's always a vulnerability. If you know where to look, that is-- "My mission is terribly important," she said earnestly. "I can't allow Dayspring's personal biases to get in the way of a vital nexus point--you cannot imagine what depends on the events of the next few days--"

The man's mouth quirked in a humorless smile, and Hana nearly crowed. All of this was playing to HIS personal biases, she realized in delight. The others felt much the same, which made her job even easier. No need to plant mistrust when it's already there--only to encourage it a little.

"Perhaps I can help," the man said, and glanced around, his expression deprecating. "Welcome to the Paris station," he said, gesturing dismissively. "We're in a bit of disarray at the moment, as you can see." His gaze fastened on her again, and this time his smile did hold a trace of humor in it. "I'm Raul Olivares."

"How does the saying go? Ah yes--it's a pleasure to meet you," Hana murmured, beginning to get honestly intrigued.

to be continued...

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