....And Then, There Was Chaos

When dawn came, Logan had been up for hours, already, and stood outside of his room. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall beside the door. Sniffing, and listening to the others as they were waking up and moving around in their rooms.

A door down the hall, to his left, opened and a woman stepped out. She came closer to him and stopped a few feet from him. Mac. She smiled and said good morning to him. He only nodded in return.

"Jonny's been up and went downstairs. I'm waitin for the group." Logan spoke flatly, and stared at the wall in front of him. He sniffed her, and found himself becoming puzzled over her scent. He knew that scent, as well as Jonathon's. But, he couldn't put his finger on it.

"You really haven't changed, have you, Logan?"

"What do you mean?" Logan turned to look at her and narrowed his eyes in attempt to figure out her puzzle.

Mac smiled softly. "Nothing, cher. You're the same Logan I remember. I'll bring you some coffee." She turned her head to look at the closed door beside him, and smiled again. "He's up. Good. I'd like to talk to him, when he comes out. And you...." She paused, and looked back at him. "If I may?"

Logan growled under his breath. He was about to say something when another door opened. It was across from Mac's room, and the figure was rubbing his eyes and coming closer to them. A child. Black hair and stood about 4 ft 8 inches tall. Logan watched as the boy came up beside Mac and took her right hand.

The boy yawned and snuggled up to Mac's side as he eyed Logan with wide eyes. "M-m-momma....." The boy's gaze never lifted from Logan, who was now staring back at him.

"Okay. Breakfast should be ready. Go get something to eat." She patted his back and sent him on his way. She watched him go downstairs before turning back to face Logan. "You don't have to worry. The X-Men are like..... family..... I guess you could say." This time, a door opened from behind Logan, and Mac glanced over his shoulder to see Sarah making her way towards them. "We'll talk later, ok?" She smiled at Logan and then wrapped an arm around Sarah and helped her down the stairs to breakfast.

Logan stood there, confused. How was it she knew what he was like? And why was she so familiar? And the kid....? He could only wonder what had supposedly happened in the 45 year span. He shrugged it off and went back into his room to find Remy awake and sitting on his bed, staring at him.

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A little while later, the remaining gang of X-Men came downstairs and into the huge space that had been used for a main floor. People scurried about with their chores and things to do. The children had filed into a separate room for class. Mac, Jonathon and Sarah were gathered around a long wooden picnic table, staring at a piece of paper that had been unrolled.

Jonathon looked up from the paper. He had been standing at the end of the table, holding Sarah's hand, and saying something about positions of attacks and targets. "Good, you're all up. Would you like some breakfast?" He smiled and watched as Jubilee tried to hide a blush.

"No. Thank you. We are wondering how Cyclops is. What of his condition?" Storm stepped forward and asked in her monotonous tone.

"Your friend is still recovering. I will take you to see him." Sarah spoke and stood up. She moved away from the table and motioned for them to follow her to the med lab.

Storm, Rogue and Jubilee followed her.

Logan and Remy stayed behind. Logan fixed his gaze on Mac, again, and came closer. "So, what's this news you wanted to tell us?" He made sure to keep his eyes on her and be ready for anything to happen. It was a thought that something over the top was apparent but, his mind couldn't have made her reasonings reality.

"Sit. Please?" Mac motioned to the table and chairs and waited for them to oblige before continuing. "I uh..." She looked to Jonathon as if her thoughts would come to her from seeing someone from her present. "I wanted to show you a way to go against what we're fighting. I think between the three of us, on one side, we'll have a better chance to surround him and stop the armies before they destroy us."

"Who's the 'him', girl?" Remy spoke and caused Mac to hesitate in a mild shock.

Taking a breath and then letting it out slowly, Jonathon finished for her. "She means Sinister." He blinked calmly, as all eyes focused on him. There was a silence for a long moment before he added another comment. "He has constructed a device to counter the humans' satellite that destroys the mutant gene. They've had that up for a few years but, no one has managed to get it down. Sinister's device causes an advanced mutation from that signalbeam and is killing most of the younger mutants. The humans want mutants gone now, more than in your time due to we outnumber them 150 to 1. We are also much more advanced than in your time. Sinister saw this as a gain and only wants to use the humans' weapon against them. However, it's killing us. We brought you here because you might be immune to the beam, and after your friend was hit, we are back to square one."

Another pause before a loud clap of thunder rang throughout the building. Amidst the tall structure and empty space, the rain poured down and made heavy sounds on the leaking roof. Lightning flashed brightly as the storm itself had been right overhead but, it was not from Storm's doing.

Mac looked up for a moment and then turned away to look at the corridor to the parking garage. She was still as she listened to an engine roar into the lot and a loud slam of a door before an equally loud voice boomed commands at a various group of people on a returning battalion. "Duke's back." Her eyes narrowed as she listened more intently. "He's not happy." Excusing herself from the group, she walked hastily towards the tall doors to the garage and threw them open, letting them hit the walls to either side of the corridor behind her.

Five huge, wet, black Hummers had scattered themselves in the middle of the lot and concealed an angry group of equally wet and dirty soldiers who were having a disagreement. The tallest man in the group was the leader of the team, and was surrounded by his teammates. The argument had been over the team's command and contradiction of order, in which caused a few teammates to not return alive.

"What the Hell is goin' on?!" Mac shouted overtop of the noisy crowd. She hadn't realised that Jonathon, Logan and Remy had all followed her into the room and stood a few yards away from her. Crossing her arms and glaring at the leader, she waited for an explanation as the crowd hushed and stared at her. "Duke...? Why is there only half of your team on the grounds?"

"Ambushed! We were ambushed!" One of the team members shouted from behind Duke.

Duke was a very tall man, as tall as Remy only about an inch or two taller. Short blond hair and a crewcut said more about him than anything he could do with his mutation. He had been a military sargent and trained heavily, daily. When he stood and spoke to either Mac or Jonathon, he stood with his feet apart and arms folded about his wide, muscular chest. His hard and often cold brown eyes stared back at Mac, refusing to speak to a woman who had more authority than him. "Can it, Diaz." He barked over his right shoulder. He had turned his head to shout but turned back to find Mac standing two feet closer to him, nearly against him.

"I'm waiting." She demanded as her eyes flashed red, lasting as long as a common camera flash.

Looking at her but not directing his words to form an answer, he shouted back. "Why don't you ask your precious little Jonathon, over there?" Nodding in Jonathon's general direction. "I bet he knows more about this than he's tellin even you."

Perking at his name being mentioned, Jonathon stepped forward. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Leave Jonathon out of this. Right now, you'd better be focusing on what I'm doin'." She hadn't moved from her position or stare forward. She was vicious when she fought and would go to immense legnths to protect Jonathon or her son.

Duke stared at her and was going so far as to dare to start something with her, hoping she would lose. "Aw, what's the matter, MacKensie? The mom and pop role got ya in a twirl? Or, is it because the REAL LeBeau is here, now?" He had said it, and as he finished his statement, he was struck by her fist on his left jawbone, sending him off-balance for a second. "That's it, isn't it? You can't hack what he could do, so you're tryin' your best to outtop him, huh?" Turning and heading back out in to the rain to close the huge garage doors, he added one final blow that sent Mac over the edge. "Go on back to your bastard boy, little girl, leave the fightin to the big boys."

Her temper overheated and her glowing red eyes now became blinding white as she started following him in a hurried pace. Holding the crowd back with her mind, she grabbed the nearest side mirror, with one hand, from the nearest truck she had passed and ripped it off as if it had not been attached at all. A red charge lit up and covered the mirror and case around it. Letting the charge grow to a dangerous level, she tossed it at him as if it were a frisbee. She watched as it struck his back but only left a blackened mark, not harming him at all.

Stopping and turning around, Duke laughed loudly. "Is that the best you can do, little girl?"

"Nope. I just wanted you to turn around." Balling her hands to fists and squeezing a bit, 6 long bone claws slid out from between her knuckles.

Jonathon found his voice and called to her. "Mac, don't do this." His own fists had balled and were turning white as he wasn't able to move to stop her.

"I won't hurt him........ much." She said back but, didn't turn back or raise her voice over the distance. She continued to follow Duke at a slow and cat-like pace.

Duke hadn't cared if she was behind him or not since, his ability was to control kinetics and maintain their heat until needed as it's own powerful conductor; a human lightning bolt. Stopping beside the right hand wall, near the switch to lower the rolling doors of the two exits, he was shoved harshly out into the rain, landing chest first onto the pavement of the empty and wet street. Mac was ontop of him and scratching at his back with the six razor sharp claws.

Straddling his hips and leaning over him while frantically scratching at him, she began growling and glowing red while her eyes pulsed a blinding shade of white. She was aware of the crowd from inside that had been able to move since she was no longer in the building and focused on keeping them out of it, as was she aware that Duke had rolled over and in turn rolled her over to hold her wrists away from him and wrestle with her. They rolled around the driveway, cursing and swatting at each other, not caring that they were soaked with rain and blood from the both of them.

Duke had pinned her down to the ground, sitting on her hips and pinning her wrists together above her head, he was about to say something when two strong arms grabbed him around his wide chest and pulled him off of her. The arms held him back and seemed to crush him under their heaviness and stregnth. "Let go! That little tramp deserves what's comin to her!"

"Maybe so but, not today, bub." Logan growled from behind him.

The one to hold her back had been Jonathon at first though, Remy joined as he saw that she was indeed too strong for him to handle. Standing in front of an angry Mac while Remy stood behind her and linked his arms through hers so that she couldn't move, Jonathon told her to calm down. "Let him go, Mac. Let him go."

"Shut up!" Furious and hurt and stressed out, Mac screamed at Jonathon, not caring she stood only a few inches from him. "My son is not a bastard! He is the only thing I've done right in my life," her voice went from a hurt yell to an angry whisper. "and I will hunt down anyone who says different." Shoving herself out of Remy's grasp, she turned and glared at him as the years of hurt came out and choked in her mouth. "In your time, you'll take her," pointing to Rogue who had come to stand at the garage door, with the others from the med lab and watch, "and you'll have a child who thinks the world of you, and one day, you'll leave that child and they'll go on thinking it was them. Their fault for you leaving and never coming back." Gasping for air, Mac took a moment to calm down from her rantings. When she spoke again, she was calm and collectively aware of her surroundings. "I won't ever do that to my Benji. He's just a little boy, so precious....." Mac's voice trailed off. She shook from the cold rain and walked back inside to change.

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"Why'd you tell them that?" Jonathon demanded. He stepped into Mac's room and closed the door behind him. He watched as she peeled off her wet jeans and sweater to put on dry ones.

Mac stopped and turned around to look at him. She stood there in her small white bra and white bikini panties, not caring if he saw how thin she had become from her illness. "Gee, Jonny, I'm not really sure." She answered in a sarcastic tone. "You didn't exactly stop me and say something else. Kicking the pile of wet clothes out of the way, she bent slightly and picked up a folded, faded pair of blue jeans that lay on her bed beside a clean black T-shirt. Ignoring his presence until she slipped the shirt over her head and slipped her arms through, she looked back to him while pulling her long black, wet braid out of her shirt. "Why didn't you say something else?" Changing her tone to a curious notch.

Sighing, Jonathon shrugged and answered. "Maybe it's because we haven't really been a family since I became the unknown father to my own child." He'd had enough. Even after she had stopped dressing and turned to glare at him, he felt her had to tell her. "That hurt, Mac. It killed me when he first started asking about his dad, and where he was. I'm right here, MacKensie! What about me? I need to be something other than a dirty secret to him. Can I do that?"

"Certainly. I didn't have any objections to you and Sarah. But, I will not let my child know he has a mad scientist for a grandfather." She spoke softly but angrily to him.

Mustering the courage to answer, Jonathon hadn't thought of how his retort would affect her. "That's right. He just has a thief that worked for him, as a grandfather. That sounds so much better, Mac." Finishing, he was promptly slapped across the left cheek. The side of his face burned as he looked away.

"At least my father respected mutants and humans. Don't bring this up again, Jonathon." She hissed.

Leaving without another word, Jonathon soon found himself face to face with a curious Wolverine. "Is there something I can do for you, sir?" Overcoming his shock that Logan had heard their argument, he could guess what would come next.

"A chat." Logan stated firmly. He had been passing by and overheard them chatting. It had sounded interesting enough to stay and listen. Logan had convinced himself that he'd get to the bottom of what was going on, or die trying. Putting his arm around Jonathon's shoulders and leading him away from Mac's room, down to the great hall, he began his line of questions, starting with the prior incident with Duke. After Jonathon had answered a few about their current situation, he started for the conversation between he and Mac. "I knew you smelled familiar, I just couldn't figure out why. The girl mentioned a 'mad scientist' and a dad that worked for him." They stopped at a table and sat down.

Jonathon sighed and calmly answered. "The 'mad scientist' she was referring to was Nathaniel Essex."

"Essex?" Logan didn't register the name right off but, thinking about it had caught him. "Sinister."

Jonathon nodded and looked as though he had done something terribly wrong. Folding his hands on the table and rubbing his thumbs over the knuckle of the top finger, he had pleaded with himself for Logan to want to help.

"And her dad is...?" Logan went on unphased.

"LeBeau." Jonathon sat across from Logan and stared at the tabletop.

Logan watched him closely. "Yer the kid's dad, aren't you?"

Jonathon's eyes shot up and met with Logan's. He didn't answer directly, as there was no need. "Benj is her son. I'm just the pawn."

"Who's idea was that?" Logan knew it was uncomfortable subject and none of his business but, he felt that if he dragged it out of Jonathon, he'd feel more comfortable about it.

Jonathon's eyes saddened. "Hers."

Nodding sympathetically, Logan mused to himself aobut the girl who called herself "Mac," and just why Jonathon wasn't allowed to be known as the father of his son. "How long have you known her?"

Thinking and silently counting in his head, "Twelve years." Exchanging glances with Logan, he wondered if he should tell him everything and risk sudden death when Mac found out, or just let her handle it herself. "We've been close enough to give comfort when each other needs it but, Benj is one of those comforts I'm not to be allowed the honour of."

Logan sighed and empathised with him. "Who else knows? Or, is it just you two?"

"Just us." Jonathon shrugged. "When Ben was born, she didn't want her mom or step-father. She just wanted you and Remy there."

Logan sat up at the mention of his name. "Me?" He wasn't expecting himself to be mixed up in their dilemna.

"Yes."

"Why me?"

"She told me that you and Remy raised her. She didn't want anything to do with Rogue or even me, just you two." The exhaustion of holding the secret for so long, finally set in and he couldn't stop himself from telling more than he should. "That was where she learned how to fight so well." Realising where he was, Jonathon shook his head to clear the sleep and ended the conversation. "I can't tell you more. That's for her to say. I'm sorry."

They stood up and were about to say goodbye when a young teenage girl with blonde hair in braids and thick rimmed glasses ran up to them. "Jonathon! Jonathon!" She stopped beside Jonathon and huffed to catch her breath. She was a thin girl though, running from one end of the building in a hurry, had worn her out as if she was not in shape. "Come quick! It's Sarah! Sarah's collapsed." She was still panting as she was left with Logan to watch him run back to the medical lab to be with his fiancee.


TBC