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AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS STORY TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE END OF "X-CUTIONER'S SONG", THE "FATHERS AND SONS" TRILOGY, AND SCOTT AND JEAN'S WEDDING IN X-MEN #30. SOME SCENES AND DIALOGUE HAVE BEEN DUPLICATED FROM THOSE PARTICULAR ISSUES.
LOVE THY FATHER
Prologue
By l'il nix
"Shush, Jean. I hear someone coming."
Two people sat in a dark, isolated room; where -- they had no idea. One was a man of approximately six feet three inches with brown hair and concealed eyes. The second was a female of five feet six inches with bright red hair and emerald eyes.
Both were mutants: people born with a certain genetic x-factor that gave them super powers. And both were members of the X-Men: an elite band of mutants determined to bring peace to both humans and mutants. Their names were Scott Summers and Jean Grey.
Jean huddled closer to Scott in an attempt to shove away her fear. There was only one other time Jean had felt so helpless: as a seven-year-old girl, Jean witnessed her best friend's death, both mentally and physically, as her mutant powers began to emerge.
Scott hugged Jean closer to him with a protective air. Before the X-Men, Scott lived in mortal fear of his awesome optic blasts as an orphan. He had felt lonely and abandoned. it was only after joining the X-Men that Scott came to terms with his uncontrollable power. And only after meeting Jean Grey was he able to learn to love.
The clang of footsteps got louder.
Outside the X-Men's prison, a tall man in a suit of armor, complete with
a helmet and a cape, stood in silence as the footsteps came to halt.
The man took off his helmet and switched on an interior viewing monitor.
The picture on the screen chilled him to the bone. Jean and Scott
sat close together, hugging each other, and appeared to be asleep.
It
was a picture of happiness -- of love
and caring. All of which the man watching them had experienced only
once in his life and very briefly.
The man's eyes filled with rage as his mind flooded with memories.
"I should be there with you 'mother' in the arms of 'father'," he said aloud. "But you denied my that, and look at what has become of me! Look at what you have done to me!!"
His last sentence echoed loudly through the hallways, followed by the sound of more footsteps. But these footsteps were barely audible. The man had to strain his ears just to pick up the sound.
"Father?" a small voice called out.
The man let out a sigh and turned the monitor off quickly.
"Father?" the voice called again.
"You're not supposed to be in this sector, Tiara," he replied. He took his helmet from under his arm and placed it on his head.
A young girl rounded the corner. Her father's stern look made her stop dead in her tracks.
"Explain yourself, girl," he chastised.
"Zero has picked up intruders in sector G," she said hastily, her blue eyes filled with fear. "Your 'men' request your presence and your orders."
Without another word, Tiara turned to leave.
The man hesitated a moment. He was usually strict with Tiara -- and his wrath was often very harsh -- but he never hated her, nor could he stay mad at her for long. Watching the twelve-year-old walk away, almost at a run, the man saw her mother. A young woman he wished he could have gotten to know better.
The man let out another sigh and called to her, "Come here."
Tiara stopped and slowly turned around.
The man motioned her forward, extending an arm to her.
"Come here," he repeated.
Tiara, knowing that her father was no longer mad at her, let out a small sigh of relief. With renewed confidence, she walked toward her father.
The man with the helmet turned again toward the interior viewing monitor. He turned it on.
Tiara walked slowly towards her father. She watched the screen with interest as she approached.
"Who are they?" she asked.
"Your past," the man replied.
Tiara looked up at her father skeptically. She knew better than to question him further, but his answer had intrigued her.
"Who are they?" she asked again.
The man glared down at her and stared into Tiara's blue eyes through his helmet. She stared back, unfazed by his sharp look.
*I have taught her well* the man thought. To Tiara he said, "They're the reason we have intruders." He quickly turned off the monitor.
"Now, let's take care of sector G," he said and turned away.
Tiara watched him go, then followed obediently. As they rounded the corner, Tiara stopped and looked back at the black monitor. Then she ran to catch up to her father.
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
The X-Men had arrived on the moon only moments before the alarms sounded.
"I can smell them. They're here. . .somewhere." The X-Man known as Wolverine turned to his companions. "What can you tell. Bets?"
Elizabeth Braddock, the X-Man Psylocke, closed her eyes and concentrated.
"I only sense Cyclops," Psylocke said, her eyes glowing ominously.
"You sure," Wolverine asked. "I'm pickin' up Jeannie's scent too."
Psylocke paused a moment. "Positive."
Wolverine looked up at his other companions: Storm, Beast and Bishop.
"Which way?" Storm asked.
Wolverine began running down the corridor. The others followed without question.
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
Cable walked through the halls of the compound, hoping to find some weakness that would bring about Stryfe's downfall.
What he found was quite shocking.
"Tiara?!"
The young girl had run right into him, fleeing from a falling wall. She hit him with a yelp and fell to the floor.
"How do you know. . . ." she began to ask as she got up from the dirty concrete. She brushed herself off quickly and looked up.
She stopped short of screaming and backed up slowly into the shadows.
Cable was at a complete loss for words. His mind ran through the events that led to his wife's death and the disappearance of his children.
*After all this time,* Cable thought, *He's raised her in his own hellish world, just like Tyler.*
Aloud he said, "You don't know who I am, do you?"
Tiara looked at him more closely. He was one of the intruders she had seen on the main screen. Tiara closed her eyes and reached out with the power within her. Her eyes snapped open at what she found. A feeling, An old feeling. A familiar feeling.
"You. . .you look like my father," she replied in a low voice. "But your aura is different. You're not like him, are you?"
*We're too much alike* Cable thought with a frown. *Damn Stryfe and his brainwashing. But she can tell us apart. That's a start.*
"I'm not going to hurt you," Cable told the girl. She stepped closer to him.
"I know," she replied with a coolness Cable thought odd for someone of her age.
As she stepped into the light, Cable took a good look at her. Her face was flushed from running and her eyes were red from crying. She also had a small, but noticeable, black and blue mark on her left cheek.
*Bastard!* Cable thought in rage.
"He didn't mean to," Tiara replied, reading Cable's thoughts.
"I was just someplace I shouldn't have been."
Cable wanted to pull her close and tell her that everything would be all right. But there was no time for emotion. There was a mission.
He squatted down to look the girl in the
eyes. "I need your help. I'm looking for two people--"
"This way," Tiara cut him off. She grabbed Cable's hand and led him down a second corridor. "I know where they are."
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
"Where is that girl?!" Stryfe shouted at his speechless companion, Zero. "I told Tiara to stay in her room so she wouldn't be. . . ."
His voice trailed off as a screen to his left flickered to life. There, on the monitor, he saw Tiara running down a hallway followed by. . .was that. . .Cable!
Stryfe howled in rage.
"NO! Damn his soul, I won't let him take her back!"
With a sweep of his cape, Stryfe left his command center.
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
"What's going on?" Jean asked Scott as the door to their cell began to open.
"I don't know what you want this time, but. . . ." Scott stopped short. He had expected Stryfe, not a young girl.
"Hurry," Tiara motioned for them to come out. "There isn't much time."
Scott looked back at Jean. She was equally surprised.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Cable came into view behind the young girl. "Let's blow this place, and fast."
Was Jean imagining things, or was Cable smiling?
The two captives looked at the two people in the doorway and then at each other before exiting the cell.
"Stop!" came a threatening voice.
Tiara whipped around, her light brown hair swinging from one shoulder to the other.
"Father." The word was barely a whisper.
Cable turned to see Stryfe standing in their path.
"Tiara," Stryfe commanded. "Come here!"
The young girl looked first at the two free prisoners. Why had they been important enough to keep locked up in a cell? Why had another stranger, a doppelganger of her father, risked his life to rescue them? Then she looked at Cable. He knew who she was. His thoughts were just as confused as her's when they met.
Could it be that Stryfe had been lying to her?
Her head began to hurt and she clasped her hands to her ears. She wanted to scream in pain but instead yelled, "NO!"
Before Stryfe could deliver his astonished reply at his daughter's blatant disobedience, Cable stepped between them. Leveling his weapon, Cable fired upon Stryfe. Scott assisted with a few bursts of his optic blast. Jean pulled Tiara, still clutching her head in pain, away from the fighting men and placed a telekinetic force field around them.
To protect himself, Stryfe used his telekinetic powers to a create an equally powerful shield and deflect the array of fire.
"You think you can stop me?" Stryfe said in a laughing, yet demanding, voice. "It is time for my revenge. You took away something of mine Nathan Dayspring Askani'son. I demand repayment with something of yours!"
Cable only stared at Stryfe. Fury and hatred seething out of him with every breath.
Suddenly Jean cried out, nearly fainting from Stryfe's telepathic assault. He shut down her telekinetic field. Using his own telekinetic power, he grabbed Tiara. With a motion of his hand, he pulled the young girl toward him.
"NO!" Cable howled. He leveled his weapon again and was prepared to fire when a burst of light temporarily blinded him. Scott and Jean also shielded their eyes. As the light disappeared, the three X-Men could make out two silhouettes. One of a large man, lying on the floor. The second -- a young girl glowing with energy from head to toe.
"She's a mutant," Scott whispered.
"And a powerful one," Jean whispered back.
Drained by her effort to protect the strangers, Tiara fell to her knees. Cable quickly rushed to her side. He picked her up in his arms and turned towards Scott and Jean.
"Let's move."
"NO!"
Cable was hit from behind and fell to the floor. Stryfe was slowly getting to his feet. He stared at the four people before him, anger glowing in his eyes.
Scott and Jean wasted no time in helping Cable and Tiara to their feet and repelling Stryfe's newest attack. This time, Cable had a clear shot of Stryfe and fired without hesitation.
Distracted by the barrage of bullets and laser fire, Stryfe began retreating backwards.
Tiara, her strength returning, watched the battle.
"Wait!" she shouted at Cable, but it was too late. His last shot knocked Stryfe hard into the wall. It cracked and began to crumble. The air was suddenly being sucked out of the hall.
Stryfe, Cable, Tiara, Scott and Jean were sucked out as well.
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
On the moon's surface, other members of the X-Men as well as members of X-Factor and X-Force, gathered around and witnessed a loud, deafening explosion.
"What was. . ." Alex Summers, Scott's brother and leader of X-Factor, asked.
The wall to the compound they had been charging now had a large hole in it. they had noticed Stryfe lying a few feet from the hole. Several feet away from him lay his three compatriots and a fourth person he didn't recognize.
"Scott and Jean are free!" Lorna Dane, the X-Factor member named Polaris, said excitedly.
Alex, Polaris and one of the young members of X-Force, Cannonball, rushed toward the small group. Polaris and Cannonball were knocked backward by some unseen force. Alex was also effected, but was able to get closer to his brother and his friends before falling to the ground.
"It ends here, Stryfe!" Cable declared as he and the others got to their feet.
Stryfe cleared his head and looked up at the small band of heroes. A malicious smile spread across his lips.
"Oh, I agree," Stryfe replied. "But for that, one of us must die. A contest for humanity, mutant kind," he glared at Tiara, "and the future."
Stryfe stood to his full height and glared at Cable.
"Are you so willing to risk you daughter again, Cable?" Stryfe prodded.
Without a second thought, Cable leaped at Stryfe.
Scott and Jean could only watch. If they interfered, there was no telling what Stryfe would do. Tiara stood several steps ahead of Jean. Her eyes grew wide at the site of the two men fighting.
'Are you so willing to risk your daughter, again, Cable?' Stryfe's words rang over and over in Tiara's mind.
Was Cable really her father?
Stryfe's words were also starting to make sense to Scott and Jean.
<<Scott,>> Jean said telepathically. <<Could it be possible?>>
<<I don't know,>> Scott replied, grimacing as Stryfe punched Cable again. <<If Cable is her father, then she would be my-->> His thoughts were cut short by the sight of Stryfe holding Cable above the ground by his neck.
"Put him down!" a new voice commanded.
Stryfe looked around and found Alex just inside the perimeter of his force field.
"Ah, the brother," Stryfe profoundly noted. "I wasn't expecting you, but no matter. The family's all here."
Alex's face contorted to a look of confusion, but his outburst had given Cable the advantage he needed to re-plan his attack. Using the distraction, Cable hit Stryfe hard on the back of the head. Stryfe cried out. His concentration was broken. Cable fell to the ground with Stryfe. He pulled a small remote from his belt and tossed it to Scott.
"When I give the word," Cable said, holding up a small, round object. "Detonate this."
"Cable, what are you--" But Scott's words were lost again as Stryfe grabbed hold of Cable and flung him down on his back.
Tiara continued to watch as they fought. She wanted so much to help, but she was too afraid. She looked back at Scott and Jean. Scott was confused about what Cable had intended, but Jean was staring back at her. Jean wanted to help, too, but was afraid she could do nothing.
Cable had Stryfe pinned and called to Scott, "Hit the switch!"
Scott just looked at Cable. He realized what the leader of X-Force had intended.
"Don't ask me to do this." Scott replied.
"Cyclops," Cable called again. "For God's sake, throw the switch!"
With a sigh, Scott did as he was told.
Bright yellow lights swept the sky. Clouds parted and thunder rang from the heavens. Cable and Stryfe began to disappear. Scott watched as Cable detonated a self-destruct device. He didn't plan on living through the ordeal.
5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .both men disappeared from view completely. All that was left was the sound of an explosion and both men screaming in pain.
X-Factor, X-Force and X-Men alike watched in awe and surprise. The lights vanished as quickly as they appeared.
For Scott, Jean and Alex, it was a time they would never forget. A part of them was teleported away with Cable and Stryfe; a part of them that wished this was all a bad dream. They looked at the young girl, standing a few feet from where the two men had disappeared.
No one could have lost more than her.
Tiara stared at the spot where her father -- both of her fathers -- once stood. She would never know the truth. Not now. Not ever. She dropped to her knees and began to cry. She didn't move until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Tiara," Jean said, her voice a whisper.
The young girl looked up. Jean and Scott stood behind her. She looked at them closely. How had her 'father' phrased it. They were "her past." But how could they be her past if they were standing there with her?
Tiara threw all questions aside and stood up. She ran to them, hugging Jean and crying.
Alex walked over to the three of them. He was still a bit confused by the whole ordeal, but he was glad it was over.
That was four years ago. . . .
