Cara, Leilee and Maria got to the War Room at the same time as Beast and Bobby, who was carrying Athena. The girls smiled at Athena; she looked a lot better...they were glad. They let Beast, Bobby and Athena go in first.
Scott saw Bobby and Athena...he stood up out of his chair and motioned for Bobby to sit down in it. Bobby nodded his thanks and sat down, cradling Athena on his lap. Scott moved and stood behind Jean's chair, resting his hands on her shoulders. She smiled up at him.
Cara, Leilee and Maria entered...they were the last ones. Jamar had come in earlier, and was now standing next to Sammi and Jonas.
Gambit was sitting down; he motioned for Leilee to come and sit down on his lap...there really wasn't anywhere else. With all of the X-Men, Generation X, and now the Vision-X team, it was a full house. Leilee walked over to Gambit and sat down...she giggled a little over something that he whispered in her ear.
Maria walked over to stand by Cable...she wanted to talk to him after this was over.
Cara saw Ryan, and smiled and waved at her. She was glad that Ryan was here, even though she was a little wary of Sabertooth. Then Cara noticed Teb...she realized that she had never said hi to her. Amanda and Xavier were discussing something in hushed tones, and hadn't called the meeting to order yet, so Cara walked over to where Teb and Angelo were sitting.
"Hi! I'm Cara...you must be Teb. It's nice to meet you!" she said.
Rainfall
~In the war room~
Sammi sat between Logan and Jonas, She was holding both of thier hands. She leaned over to Jonas and said, "If they found away home, do you think there will be away back?"
Jonas looked at her. He knew that here was the only home she had known for along time, but he had a feeling that if they did get home, they wouldn't be coming back.
"I don't know. Hopefully." He said sadly.
She gave him a small smile and said,"Thanks." She turned and leaned over to Logan and said," If there isn't away back once we get home, I want you to know. I'll never forget you, dad."
Logan looked at her and gave her a hug. In her ear he said, "Don't worry. I'll always find a way to protect you, daughter." They sat like that for a few seconds, til Xavier called for their attention.
"Now that everyone’s here, we can begin." He began as everyone quieted down. "We're going to start from the beginning, so that everyone that doesn't know the whole story will understand everything."
Cable leaned over to Maria and said,"I'm starting to realize that we have more in common than first thought."
Maria just nodded and turned her attention back to the professor. /It’s gonna be a long night./ She thought.
jubilee_79
~at the Blackbird~
Arac had been following the mysterious course for some time...it led him over a long stretch of sea, with no land or any islands in sight. Suddenly, he spotted it...A small desert island which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
/Hmmm...must have some sort of cloaking device. Very interesting.../ Arac thought to himself.
At Anon's subliminal urgings, Arac prepared to land on the small island.
*****
~Sinister's Lair~
Anon smiled as she telepathically saw the Blackbird touch down. "He is here, 'Father'." she said to Sinister.
Sinister smiled an evil smile...soon his plan will be complete. The others will surely seek this boy out, then he will have all of his perfect creations right where they belong. "Get ready..." Sinister called to his men. "Tell him to come here." he ordered Anon.
Anon complied, and sent another subliminal message to Arac.
*****
~at the Blackbird~
As soon as Anon transmitted the message, Arac was up and out of the cockpit. He wasn't sure who he was dealing with, or what they wanted...he figured it was probably some sort of trap, but he wasn't afraid. He wanted some answers, and he wasn't about to sit around and wait for them to come to him. He was going to find them. Then he was going to make someone hurt for interfering with his plan.
Rainfall
~In the war room~
Amanda was talking to Xavier when she felt another one of those feelings come over her. She knew that Sinister was using his new toy again. The headache had begun shortly after the party and had been getting worse. She was having a little trouble focusing her thoughts.
Charles had noticed the pained look on Amanda's face and knew something was up. Even though these headaches were the reason they had figured out Sinister's plan, he did not like to see her in pain. Charles put a hand on her shoulder, an action that was noticed by most in the room.
From his view point, Sabertooth watched with some interest. He had known what had happened between them the minute they had enter the manshion. His senses could not be decieved no matter what tricks they pulled. He was slightly surprised that old baldy had it in him to go after such a young chick, but then he had fallen for Ryan. She even had him behaving. Still, the behavior was soo unlike chrome-dome that he found himself gaining a new respect for the man. For an old guy he had manage to score with a rather fetching frail, not that she was better looking then Ryan. Sabertooth wondered if any of the X-men knew of their mentors new project. He could probably have some fun with this. Even Ryan couldn't object. Sabertooth smiled.
A.C.
Leilee shifted slightly in Gambit's lap. She couldn't believe he said that!!!! Especially here with both Logan and Sabretooth only a couple feet away! But they had been in the room for a good 10 minutes, and the meeting still hadn't started, because people kept talking. Xavier seemed to be having trouble between everyone talking and Amanda's headache, which Leilee was starting to pick up.
Sighing, Leilee stood up and climbed on top of the table. Projecting in a clear but not too loud voice, she said, "Excuse me, everyone! I think Xavier's ready to start the meeting."
Hearing this, Everyone quieted. Leilee climbed down, settled in Gambit's lap again and focused her attention on the Professor.
Leilee
Athena snuggled closer to Bobby. She really did want to know what had brought her here, but part of her was afraid. If they knew how they got here then they might have to go back, and she didn't want that. Her head felt a little swimmy, she had not realized how weak she had become. She glanced around the room at her friends.
/I wonder what they think about all of this. If we do go back, can things ever be the same? No, it would never be like before. It would be agony without Bobby./
Just the thought made her sad. Tears slowly and silently made their way down her cheek.
snowbaby
Ryan clutched Victor’s hand protectively. She had been thinking about the day she would be leaving for sometime, but now it seemed closer then ever. At first she wanted to go back desperately… but now things changed. When she went home all she had was jail. She was facing charges for the fire she set to her ex-boyfriends house and she didn’t know what to do.
Granted if she had it all to do over again she wouldn’t change a thing. Except maybe get some of her stuff out before she set fire to the place.
She glanced around the room looking at all the new friends she made. She saw Athena sitting on Bobby’s lap and saw the tears in her eyes.
/I know what you’re feeling girl,/ she thought, then she looked towards Victor and thought of her own happiness.
She knew it would be hard to leave him but she didn’t belong here. He seemed to understand that this is the way it would have to be. They had discussed her leaving a while back. She had teased him that he would be happier without her because he could go back to his old ways. He just looked at her with sad eyes and said, “I’ll never be happier then I am with you.”
Ryan looked to the professor and waited for him to speak.
Le Fae
Charles Xavier cleared his throat, and looked around at the inhabitants of the room...letting his eyes linger on the faces of team Vision-X.
"Team Vision-X, you have been here such a short time; yet...you all have become as dear to me as my own X-Men, and Generation X. Who would have thought the joy you would bring to our lives, especially after such a rocky beginning." he said, as he recalled the various battles they had had when Vision-X had first arrived.
Ryan, Athena and Teb all looked surprised, and they looked questioningly at the other members of the group, who were blushing, smirking and shuffling their feet. Cara smiled at Ryan, Athena and Teb, and mouthed, "I'll tell ya later..." she grinned.
The Professor continued, "Now, to start at the beginning. Amanda and I have discovered the origin of your powers...We believe Sinister to be behind this."
Every inhabitant of the war room gasped...and everyone began to question the Professor and Amanda at once.
Rainfall
“What do you mean Sinister is behind our powers? I was the only one who was dropped in Sinister’s hideout. “ Ryan said in disbelief.
She could see how he would be behind her newfound powers but the others. From what she understood they were all dropped in the X-Mansion. She looked to Victor.
“Do you know anything about this? I mean big and ugly did something to change me before I woke up in your room right?” she asked.
“Nope Frail, and I don’t know what happened. I had just gotten there and was shown to my new room when I saw this portal open and you dropped in. He came in shortly after and stopped me from killin you.”
“Great, I’m confused now. I thought that when I was passed out in your room he did something to change me. I know I didn’t have these powers before I came here. Why would he want us? Why would he drop you guys here and me at his place? Wouldn’t it make more sense to drop us all with him?”
Le Fae
Everyone was talking at once...and the talking turned into shouting...everyone trying to make their questions be heard. The noise was unbearable...Wolverine, Sammi and Sabertooth all winced in pain.
Xavier held up his hand...the room slowly quieted down...he cleared his throat and began again.
"Please remain calm...All of your questions will be answered before this meeting is adjourned." He looked at Amanda...she nodded. He turned to address the room again.
"We believe that Sinister entered your world, previous to your coming here. He tapped into your world's medical records, and discovered that each of you were perfect specimens for his experiment... his improved x-factor."
"After locating our medical records," Amanda picked up where Charles left off, "He tracked each of us down, and injected us with his sinister x-factor."
"What do you mean, injected us?" Jonas said angrily. "I have no recollection of Sinister coming to my home and injecting *me* with anything...if he had tried..." Jonas cut himself off. Sammi squeezed his hand tighter.
Everyone knew how much Jonas hated needles. They all wondered just how Sinister had managed to pull something like this off. None of them remembered anything of the sort. Surely they wouldn't forget someone like Sinister giving them a shot.
Rainfall
~Sinister's Island~
Arac walked along for a while, following the subliminal instructions that were being fed into his brain by Anon. He walked up to the foot of a cliff; a door opened, and Arac entered.
Almost immediately, Arac was tackled by two of Sinister's henchmen, who successfully knocked him out and dragged him into the main room of the hidden compound. They put him down on the floor in front of Sinister. Sinister smiled.
"Anon, wake him..." ordered Sinister.
Anon complied, ~Arac, awake, your Father wishes to meet you...~ she spoke in Arac's head.
Arac's eyes opened...he focused on Sinister. "What's up, 'POP'." he said sarcastically.
He sat up...but instead of getting to his feet like Sinister expected, Arac remained sitting on the floor, and placed both of his hands palms down on the floor. He wanted some answers, and he was going to get them, one way or the other.
The floor around and under Arac's hands began to glow, and the glow spread outwards until it consumed the entire floor; then the glow began to spread up the walls of the room. Arac was infusing explosive energy into the compound just as he had the Blackbird.
"Well, 'Pop', I want some answers...if I don't get them, I'm going to blow up your pad and everyone in it...so start talking." Arac said coldly.
To Arac's surprise, however, Sinister only smiled.
Rainfall
~Back to the meeting.~
Amanda could sense the confusion from the Avengers, X-men, and her team. She hadn't remembered the shot either until recently, when she had attempted to read Arac's mind. She had found herself linked to another's mind and Sinister. She then could remember the terror she felt when Sinister hovered over her and injected her with the needle. She shivered at the memory.
"Believe me, he did." Amanda stated to Jonas.
Jonas could tell by her face that she remembered the experience. He was suddenly glad he couldn't. So were the rest of Vision X. Xavier reached for hand as he continued.
"Sinister is controlling Arac, and for some reason Amanda can link up with him. It’s almost as if it were some design aspect." Xavier explained.
In the corner, Sabertooth mumbled to Ryan, " Some way to talk to your girlfriend. And they have the nerve to call me heartless."
Amanda grinned as she heard the comment. She had always liked Sabertooth and she knew that they would need his help. Even so, she decided that it might be wise to continue the meeting. Charles was glaring at Sabertooth in a rather Wolverine like matter.
"I think Sinister wanted to use my telepathy as a way to ensure that we would find him when he was ready for his plan. That’s why Arac chose now to escape, and we now have the answer to the puzzle. The only thing I don't know is why now." explained Amanda
A.C.
Sammi was listening, and the more she heard the more she tried to rack her brain to figure out when Sinister injected her, but she couldn't. That was getting her mad, she was born with a photographic memory and she couldn't remember. Then she caught Amanda's memory of Sinister standing over her. And everything came back to her.
She remembered being at home sleeping, and then someone placing their hand over her mouth very hard. She looked at that face and tried to scream but she couldn't. She felt the first prick and she struggled hard, and then she couldn't move at all. She was paralyzed. That's when he removed his hand. She could only stare at him. If she could have moved she would have puked.
That evil white face with the black diamond on the forehead and that evil grin. That's when he spoke. "You my dear, will be the best. The one that no one will be able to defeat. All my new children will be the best but I have special plans for you, my daughter."
That's when she saw the other needle and her eyes widened with fear. She remembered that she kept thinking, /This is just a nightmare. I'm going to wake up soon. He isn't real. He's just a bloody comic book villain./ Then she felt the second prick and knew it wasn't a dream. /Oh, bright lady, the pain./
The searing red hot pain as what ever it was he was injecting into her coursed thru her veins.
****************************
In the war room, Sammi closed her eyes to fight the tears. Sabertooth across the room was watching her. He could tell by the look on her face that she was probably the one that Sinister was talking about. She was probably the one that was going to kill the X-Men. He saw the tears roll down her face, he could smell them clear across the room and he saw Logan turn to her and ask her what was wrong.
~Sammi and Logan~
Sammi had her eyes closed and was trying to get rid of the memory, but she was failing. She felt a tear escape, but she didn't have the strength to wipe it away. She heard Logan ask,"Are you alright, darlin'?" When she didn't answer he moved to put his arm around her. She violently shrugged it off. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She yelled but she was still sitting. When she realized what she did she opened her eyes to see everyone staring at her.
She started crying and saying,"I'm sorry.", over and over again. Jonas had his arms around her and was rocking her back and forth. Jamar was rubbing her back and they were both trying to reassure her that everything was fine. Sammi couldn't speak. She wanted to tell them what she remembered but she couldn't, the memory was too painful. She was really glad Jonas didn't remember It would probably make him blow.
She could hear everyone asking her what was wrong and she felt Xavier, Amanda and Jean trying to get to her mentally, but she kept her shields up on high. She didn't want anyone to see her that weak, ever. She forced herself to stop crying and she moved from Jonas's hug and turned to face everyone. She saw the pity and worry in their eyes, even Ryan. Sabertooth was looking at her as if he knew what she want through, but that didn't matter.
She looked at the professor and Amanda and said," I'm sorry. I just remembered what that bastard did to me." She looked down when she was done.
She turned and looked at Logan and saw the same look in his eyes as Creed had, but his was different. Logan looked at her and understood why she yelled and said,"Its alright, darlin'. I know what it’s like." He moved to hug her again and this time she let him.
After a few moments of quiet, Xavier spoke again. "We don't know the Why, and How he got to all of you in your homeworld." He started to say but Sammi cut him off.
"He's using Gateway. I saw him in the corner when Sinister injected me. I know Sinister is forcing him, because he had such a sad look on his face. I think he's the one that dropped us at the mansion, to get all of you to help us. I know that when Sinister injected me he was talking about his plan, no wait, He wasn't talking he was gloating. I think he thought I wouldn't remember, but I do. I know I do. I have a photographic memory. I just can't remember it all right now. I can't get passed the pain of the injection, but I have to and soon if we're going to stop him." She said in a voice that held no emotion.
The more Logan listened to her, the more he was afraid for her, for them all, but what scared him the most was her face. There was no emotion at all, not even in her eyes. She was just staring straight ahead like she was looking through the wall.
jubilee_79
~Sinister's Lair~
Sinister looked down at Arac, smiling an evil smile...things were working out better then he had planned. This young man was free from any morals or fear...he was angry, and had reached his maximum potential...his maximum powers...and he wasn't afraid to use them. He was ready. And so were the others. All they needed now was a reason to come to him.
"Anon, go to work..." Sinister said to the mysterious cloaked figure.
Anon walked over to Arac, and knelt down in front of him; she removed her mask to where only he could see her face, and her eyes. Arac stared curiously into her eyes for a moment...then suddenly, he felt himself begin to turn cold. He had no control over his powers...Anon was now in control...the glow in the room slowly faded away.
Arac felt himself turn colder...he couldn't look away from those eyes...those silver, glowing eyes... his hands felt stiff, he couldn't move. For the first time in his existance, Arac felt fear.
Arac suddenly threw back his head and let out a terrible scream which echoed throughout the room; then the scream was cut short as Arac finished...turning into Stone. He had become a living statue...one who would sleep until Sinister felt it was time to wake him.
Anon smiled at her handiwork...then she put her mask back on.
*****
~Xavier's Mansion, War Room~
Amanda had been telepathically connected to Arac, trying to find out more information...she suddenly clutched her head in terrible pain and fell to the floor. She had felt Arac turn to stone.
At the same time, Cara let out a terrible scream, and fell to her knees, doubled over in pain... horrified, she looked at her right hand; it had turned into stone. She was still connected to Arac... what happened to him, would eventually happen to her, only at a slower rate. She herself was turning into stone.
Sammi shook herself out of her trance, looked at Cara and gasped. She had felt what Amanda had felt...She knew what it meant...knew what had happened. Sammi also knew that if they didn't find Sinister's lair and turn Arac back soon, there would be no hope for Cara.
*****
~Sinister's Lair~
Sinister smiled as his henchmen put Arac in a corner of the room. Anon had monitored the situation at the mansion, and told him what had occurred. It was only a matter of time before he had them all.
*****
~backflash~
Sinister had traveled to Alpha Earth in search of perfect specimens for his experiment...those special few who would become his new breed of supermutants...his Children. He had brought Anon with him to help him complete his plan. She had been the one to freeze them, making it possible for him to inject each subject with his x-factor. After he was through, he had her suppress their memories.
When he had found Cara, Anon had told him of her hidden rage...all of the fear and anger that she had suppressed through the years, wound tightly within her.
Cara's rage would eventually erupt, canceling all safety precautions that she had built up through the years...it would help her reach her true destructive potential faster than the others. Her blind, animalistic rage would also make her more susceptible to Anon's urging...she would be the one to lead the others back to him.
Sinister had Anon implant the homing signal in Cara's mind, and give her rage an extra boost as well. The sooner she erupted, the sooner she would be ready...and the sooner the others would be ready as well. Every one of Sinister's subjects were connected to each other, like a chain...what affected one would eventually affect the others. When one developed their full potential, the others would follow.
At the first battle between Ryan and Cara, Ryan's power had amplified Cara's rage and given her a dual personality; the rage in the dual personality developed even faster, and when Arac split from Cara, Sinister knew they were ready. He had Anon activate the homing signal.
*****
~Present, Sinister's Lair~
Sinister smiled an evil smile as he thought of his plan...it was working well. He had sent Vision-X to the mansion so they could get the training they needed...and so they could lull the X-Men into a false sense of security. It would hurt them all the more when they were betrayed by Sinister's perfect time bomb...Sammi.
Rainfall
~Mansion, War Room~
Sammi was up in a moment and right next to Cara. "Cara, you have to calm down, or its gonna go faster."
"Ok. I'll try." Cara squeaked through the pain.
"How did you know that, Darlin'." Logan asked as everyone that was the closest came to Cara's side.
"I don't know. I just did." Sammi was a little stunned. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. Then she got another flash of that night when Sinister injected her. This one was of a girl in a dark cloak and her face was covered by a mask.
Sammi snapped out of it and said,"Anon."
"Who?" Everyone asked.
"Anon. She's Sinister’s first, but she's not like us. He made her in his lab. She wears a mask because she like Medusa." Sammi said still trying to figure out how she knew all of that.
"Who's Medusa?" Jubilee asked.
Sammi looked up to her and said," I can't remember what myth she is from, it might be Hercules or Sinbad, anyway if you look at her eyes she can turn you to living stone. You sleep in that form until she wants to wake you up." She looked at Cara and said," She just turned Arac in to stone, and Cara is still connected to him so she's turning to stone, too, but at a slower rate. We have to find Sinister and change Arac back or we're never gonna save either of them."
Cara was looking at her and nodded,"I know.", was all she said.
jubilee_79
Ryan ran to Cara’s side and grabbed her hand. She slowly focused her powers to see if she could morph the stone back into flesh. She tried her best but the hand stayed the same color. It did have a fleshier feel to it and Cara could move her fingers a little.
“That’s the best I could do. It’s not much but it will make do until we can get to your double.“
Ryan moved over to Athena and looked into the girl’s eyes. She could tell that she was scared and this was not helping her heart any. “I don’t feel so good.” Athena said falling a little more into Bobby’s arms.
“I think we should take you back to the lab” He said looking concerned.
“No I want to stay until the meeting finishes. I’ll be ok, just don’t let me go.”
Ryan once again felt completely helpless. Her friends were hurting and angry and she couldn’t stop their pain.
Le Fae
Athena stared at the room's occupants confusedly. She certainly couldn't remember any injection. That didn't surprise her, because Sinister wouldn't want them to remember.
/He must have done something to force us to forget. What does surprise me is that he would have thought me a perfect specimen for anything./ Athena thought.
Athena knew for a fact that her medical records held enough information about her heart condition to fill a book. She had it since birth, the affects of her mother taking illegal drugs.
/Crack does ugly things to an unborn baby. Sinister had to have known, so why did he still inject me?/ She thought, /Surely he knew that would limit my abilities. Does Sinister make mistakes?/
snowbaby
~Sinister's Lair~
Anon was monitoring the meeting at Xavier's mansion...she smiled as she caught Athena's thought.
/Ah, Athena...don't you realize that you hold the key? Sinister doesn't make mistakes...he has a special plan for you./ Anon thought.
*****
~Xavier's Mansion, War Room~
Amanda sat up and got to her feet...Charles helped her. He looked at her questioningly.
(I am alright, Charles...) Amanda spoke telepathically, (but I am worried about Athena...I caught a thought from Anon, and I have no idea what it meant...She said that Athena holds the key, but the key to what?)
Charles furrowed his brow, he didn't know what it meant either...that worried him.
Across the room, Beast helped Cara up into a chair; he sat with Cara and Athena on either side of him so he could monitor both of them.
Cara smiled at both Sammi and Ryan, "Thanks you guys." she said. She tried to make it seem that nothing was wrong, but in her eyes were shadows of pain and fear.
Beast saw that she was afraid, and wrapped one arm around her shoulder...she snuggled into Beast and hid her face in his shoulder.
Rainfall
Athena looked over at Cara on the other side of Hank. She reached around and grabbed her hand.
"Everything will be all right Cara, we'll all help each other get through this. That's what family does. We'll all make it, because we care enough about each other to stand together." Athena comforted,.then squeezed Bobby tighter.
snowbaby
~Sinister's Lair~
Sinister looked at them all. Sammi, Cara, Ryan, Athena, Jamar, Teb, Maria, Leilee, and Amanda all of them had surpassed his every expectation.
With the exception of one, Jonas... well one failure out of 10 produced was not bad, besides, he now had Arac to compensate.
"Anon, Jonas is unimportant." Sinister stood up. "Dispose of him." He paused and thought of how it would affect Sammi "Let it take some time."
Jonas was only strong, invulnerable, and capable of flight... he was uncreative, there were people far stronger then him that had his capabilities.
And his Dragon form was maybe visually pleasing but also useless as a super weapon, and also unsuitable as a breeding stock... termination was the only logical alternative.
Anon looked in to Jonas mind...
*****
~Xavier's Mansion, War Room~
Jonas twitched... there was something in his mind, and suddenly something was terribly wrong, he could not place it.
He turned to say something to Amanda, maybe it was she who did it.
"....." Nothing he could not speak... he realized what it was that was wrong and panicked!
He could not breathe!!!
He grabbed his neck and his eyes grew wide... Sammi was yelling something. But he could not hear it over the beating of his heart. He spun around and panicked, throwing his arms around.
Thor grabbed him but was having trouble holding him... but his struggles quickly subsided and he slid lower and lower, until he was on his back on the floor.
Someone was giving him mouth to mouth... there was a lot of yelling... but his fogged mind could only see Sammi... he could not hear her.
But he could see the tears, and he could feel his own, with his last strength he grabbed Sammi by the neck pulling her down, grasping the necklace around his neck and pulled it off... he placed it in her hand and closed it.
His body arced and he heard his heart stop... the world faded away.
He died...
*****
~Sinister's Lair~
Anon mused, it was too quick but she had savored the death... still she was disappointed that his mind died so quickly, almost as if it was drawn away from him... She did not concern herself with that now... the programmed termination that they all had, worked... one wrong move from any of them and they would die just as easily.
Admiral
~Mansion, War Room~
Bobby quickly lifted Athena up and ran out of the room. He knew it would be too much for her to take. She was already screaming and crying hysterically. He knew he had to get her out and calm her down. He didn't stop until they got to his room. He didn't take her to the medlab because he knew they would take Jonas there. He didn't want her to see that. He sat her down on his bed.
She stopped screaming and said, "Bobby, he's my friend. He didn't give up on me and I won't give up on him."
At that she tried to make a run for the hall, but her legs failed her and she fell into Bobby's arms. "Let me go!" she protested. "Bobby-bear, if you don't let me go, I'll...I'll..."
"You'll what?" Bobby taunted.
"I'll tell Hank about what happened in the medlab last night!" Athena cried.
Bobby laughed at her and said "Go ahead, he's my best friend. He would probably stand and cheer!" Then he realized how hurtful that sounded and pulled her close to him. "There is nothing you can do. Let the others do what they can and hope for the best. You have to calm down or they are going to be trying to save you again. I can't lose you."
Bobby hugged her close while she cried herself to sleep.
snowbaby
After Athena went to sleep, Bobby covered her up and went down stairs. He went straight to the medlab. He knew deep down that Jonas was gone and he wanted to offer condolences to Vision X. He knew Sammi must be crushed. He remembered how he had felt when Athena had died.
He was angry at the world. He thought he could at least lend a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. He also wanted to talk to Hank about Athena. She was certainly not going to take this well. He thought he might ask Hank to sedate her in order to keep her heart in check.
snowbaby
Amanda pulled Xavier away from the med-lab where Hank was trying to control both Rogue and Sammi. Though Amanda wanted to comfort Sammi, she had to remain focused. Right now the whole team wanted vengeance, but Amanda feared that was what Sinister wanted. She was also concerned about the stray thought she picked up from Sabertooth.
"Did Sinister do this?" questioned Charles when they were alone.
"I'm not sure. I think so. I don't think Jonas was living up to Sinister's hopes."
"If Sinister can kill one of you, then that means..."
"I know, Charles, but I don't think he'll be the one to eliminate us."
"What do you mean?" Charles frowned.
"I picked up a stray thought from Sabertooth saying that one of us was going to kill the X-men. I think it might end up being one of my team." Explained Amanda.
"I think I get what you are saying. With Jonas' death, the rest of you are vulnerable to an attack or any programing that Sinister created."
"Sinister gave us these powers for a reason. The fact that I'm connected to his monsters should prove that we are dangerous to the X-men and anyone else."
"What are you saying, Amanda?" asked Charles.
"After we have a small service, I'm taking Vision X and we're going to face Sinister alone."
"Over my dead body! I am not going to let you go up against a madman like that alone. You could all die." exclaimed Xavier.
Amanda smiled sadly at him. She knew that he wanted to protect her. She also knew that she would be as devastated as Sammi if something happened to him. She took his hand.
"Charles, Jonas was one of us. He was the spirit of this team. We won't be together without his help. He was under my protection and I failed him. I won't fail anyone else. I will not let Sinister use my team for his pawns. It’s time we faced him. I'm taking the fight to him and he is going to pay for what he did, but it's our fight. Vision X has to do this. Don't make this anymore difficult then it already is." She pleaded to him with her eyes for understanding.
Charles smile was sad as he replied, "I understand. I'll inform the X-men of you're decision. They won't be happy, but I think they understand."
"Good," she said as she head to the war room," One more thing, tell Sammi that I won't fail Jonas again. Sinister will pay fully for this. I'll see to it personally. Also, tell her his last thought was for her."
Amanda left Charles where he stood. Amanda vowed that no one else would die under her charge. She would stop Sinister personally. She may be calm on the outside, but inside she was boiling. Sinister was dead, she would see to it. That was if Sammi didn't kill him first.
Amanda was not going to let Sammi deal with the consequences of killing anyone. She was too nice a person to live with that. She knew Jonas would not want that act to destroy her. She would let Sammi have her go at Sinister, but she would not let her kill the man or anyone else. No one was going to use Vision X anymore.
A.C.
