Fallen Future

"Not much further now," Logan muttered, teeth clamped on yet another cigar.

I had to bite back the words, restraining myself from pointing out he'd been saying that for a good few miles now. We were out of the wilderness now, had been for a couple days, and had taken to tramping through fields that were empty except rotten animal carcasses. A lovely setting. I didn't reply at all, too damp and tired to bother with trying any more. We'd managed to be pleasant for a while, but the horrible weather and depressing surroundings were getting to the both of us. It was only when we settled down to camp for the night when we managed to relax and drag up a smile for one another.

"There!"

Just as we climbed another fence and I was complaining bitterly in my head about the smell of dead sheep, a grin split across his face. He pointed to the middle distance and I joined his grinning when I saw what was sitting in the field just ahead of us.

"A fucking helicopter? Logan, you're brilliant!" I flung my arms around him, feeling like I could sing with happiness. No more walking, no more sleeping outside, no more bugs biting my ankles.

"Enough of the dramatics, half-pint," he tugged himself free, but I could tell from his smile that he was pleased. "Professor X located you a while ago in this location, I flew here then traveled on foot to find you. It was bloody hard, I'll tell you that much. And coming back's been even worse."

"You loved it really," I teased, my mood lifted considerably. We reached the copter and I looked at the insignia on the tail. It had a 'T' and 'S'. "Who's plane was this, by the way?"

"Tony Stark's," Logan muttered, his smile dropping.

"Tony?" Despite his face, I felt a spark of hope. "Did he give it to you? But I thought he was dead? I mean, we saw what happened..."

I trailed off, remembering the day. Even my parents couldn't hide the war breaking out all over the world, and when I was at school the atmosphere was tense and edgy. Then our headmistress, Mrs Smythe, called an all school assembly. On our projector, the American president appeared, Luthor. His speech had gone on for a long time, but nobody fidgeted or spoke. He talked about striking out rebellion, killing spirit and taking over. And nobody would protest. He mentioned names I didn't know, but I knew Mr Stark. Everybody did. He was a genius, a millionaire, if a bit eccentric. And then he was executed. And we all watched. We had to. That week was my last at school, only a few days later the bombs dropped.

"No. He's still dead," Logan's voice was grim as he helped me into the helicopter and hopped in beside me. "But he knew this day would come. He set up a base, and it had transport supplied for us. That's where we're headed now."

"A base?" I looked at him quizzically; we adjusted our headsets and started to exchange thoughts through the microphone attached. "Please, share?"

"It's a huge underground foundation. And I do mean huge. It's got training rooms and war rooms and meeting rooms and kitchens and recreational areas. Dormitories and private bedrooms, it's even got a swimming pool. It's got anything. It's where I got these," he lit his cigar, firing up the blades and getting us in the air.

"Great," I grinned. "I can take up the twenty a day habit I had when I was sixteen."

"Shut up for the next few hours until we get there, okay?"

I managed to be quiet for about one and a half of those hours, then I questioned Logan desperately about the base we were going to. But he didn't tell me a thing, just smiling mysteriously to himself and occasionally mocking me for the fact I'm afraid of flying. He told me just to close my eyes and sleep, which I eventually did, dozing in an upright position and waking up every now and then to catch a glimpse of cloud and complain about how noisy the blades were.

"Wake up, kid," just as I'd slipped off to sleep again, Logan prodded me awake. "Come on, we're here."

I looked around us. We were hovering above what looked like a totally empty field; I sent Logan a sideways look, wondering if he'd lost it. He caught the way I'd glanced at him and glared back, making me smile.

He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating and held up a hand to shush me when I started to ask what he was doing. After a few seconds, the ground below us started to shake. I gripped me seat, heart pounding, expecting the worst. Had we come so far only to be killed at the last hurdle?

The earth split open, sliding apart; my heart was in my mouth.

"Calm down," Logan had noticed the terror on my face. "It's an aircraft hanger."

He took the helicopter down as the gap in the ground widened, like a mouth ready to swallow us up. And I saw that the hole was rectangular, the moving ground were metal partitions and inside as we landed I saw two other helicopters and Tony Stark's personal jet. When I'd heard about the base, this hadn't been what I was expecting.

"How did they know we were here?" I asked in a shaky voice as we got our feet back on solid ground and the opening above us began to close. "Is there cameras?"

"Nope. Professor X was sensing us, he's been keeping an eye out for a while. It's been a long time since another mutant arrived, everybody's desperate to meet you," Logan patted my back comfortingly, then looked to the left where a long tunnel was leading off into the distance. "And here comes the welcoming committee."

The first to come out was an old man, bald and hunched over in a wheelchair, smiling broadly at me and calling my name. A small crowd grouped behind him, and us two new arrivals walked over.

"Excellent work, Logan, I knew you could bring her home safe," the old man shook hands with both of us. "I'm Professor X, and you must be Eve. Though I've heard you go by Jinx, now?" His eyes sparkled with warmth, and I remembered Logan saying I would get on with him and I agreed, a smile coming on to my face. Everyone in the group seemed to know who I was, coming over and introducing themselves.

"Hi, I'm Kim," the first to come over was a young redhead who was heavily pregnant and she pulled me into a close hug. "Don't be scared. I can tell Logan likes you, so you'll always have somebody to look out for you." At first I thought she'd whispered it, then I realized Professor X was smiling.

"Kim is a mutant, like us," he nodded at her. "Telepathy and summoning."

She grinned and I realized the advice she'd shared with me had been private, between the two of us. I could guess from Professor X's knowing smile that he might have heard it as well, after all he did say he was a mutant too. I took a deep breath, trying to be trusting.

"I won't be in the field, like you two, though," Kim nodded at Logan and I. "I chose to stay with the citz, help keep our numbers up," she rubbed her swollen belly with a look of pride on her face. "Oh, citz are citizens by the way. They're all at dinner, only us super's who came up to greet you. I'm supposed to be helping, so I can't stay long."

"Right," my head was reeling with all this information being thrown at me.

"I'm Peter," a tall young man took Kim's place as she waved and walked back the way she came. "And this is Flash."

I took the two of them in. Peter looked a handful of years older than me, and his light brown hair was in desperate need of a cut. Flash, however, was in a full costume, like it was Halloween, with a huge grin across his face.

"Always nice to have another lady around," he smirked, then seemed to vanish and appear behind me. "Maybe with your teleporting you can keep up with my speed."

"Give her a break," Peter cut in, looking annoyed. "She's just got here."

Their voices faded out as I blinked rapidly and stifled a yawn. I felt dead on my feet and suddenly being around a group of people who weren't trying to kill me was a new feeling to me. For seven years I'd been on my own except for moments of being attacked or trying to help people. Now I was being thrust back into civilization again. I had to admit, I was more than a bit scared.

"Look, Spidey, you've got a mission to do. So go do it," Flash suddenly cut into my thoughts and I realized I'd totally zoned out and missed the exchange between the two males. "I'll make sure the little lady's occupied."

"Actually," Professor X cut in, looking stern. "Flash I'd like you to go with Peter. Raven, Logan, if the two of you could go and help Kim with dinner. I'd like to talk to Evelyn alone, please."

Everyone followed his orders. I didn't know if it was because he was the one in charge or just because he was old, but nobody complained and he had an air of authority around him. When everyone had gone their respective ways, he nodded at me and we began to travel down the corridor, passing a couple of closed doors as we did.

"This area is all official things that Tony set up," he started talking after a few moments of silence. "Nothing to concern you yet. The West wing is the smallest, it's the private rooms. That's where you'll sleep, with the rest of us who are left of the gifted. The East wing is the dormitories. That's for the others, split into male and female. Couples are given their own smaller dorms. Currently we have fifty-three male occupants, forty-one females, and nine couples. Kim is one of them, and her child will be the fourth born underground here in our base."

"There's children here?" I gasped, interrupting. "Is that safe?"

"My dear," Professor X chuckled lightly. "This is the safest place on Earth. No cause for concern. We try and keep the citizens busy, and helping build our numbers again is vital. The North Wing is living areas, small places of entertainment and for us to eat. Tony was a man who loved the fine things in life, and he didn't skip any details down here. There's plenty for people to fill there time. And of course, the South wing is where we're passing now, and that's for training. Logan will show you that in good time."

We stopped at a crossroad in the hallways, and I took a moment to admire my surroundings. It was bright from the halogen light strips above us, and there were small signs on the walls which would hopefully ensure I wouldn't get lost.

"So, Jinx," he looked at me. "You do have a choice you know. We don't force anybody into anything. You can work in the field, like most of us here who are gifted. Wolverine, Spiderman, the Flash, Batman and a handful of others. But you can also opt out, as Kim did."

I thought about it for a moment. I was terrified of the thought of fighting and battling, training myself up to save people. I wasn't sure I could do it. But the thought of being trapped underground twenty-four seven scared me even more. I was too used to the wilderness.

"Sign me up for field work," I forced out a weak smile, and Professor X nodded knowingly.

"Just one more choice for you. Would you like to go to dinner, or straight to bed?"

"Bed, please."

He pointed me in the right direction and I was left by myself to wander the halls that would now be where I stayed. There was more doors here, and some had nameplates on them, I guess privacy was important here. After all, the world was lost but some law and order had to stay.

Near the end of the corridor I found a door with my own name on it, which made me smile. My own room. It had been a while since I had one of those. I opened the door and almost screamed when I saw a figure inside, sitting in the dark. I found the light switch and fired up the lights.

Logan stood in the middle of my room looking startled and holding a mug in one hand.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be helping with dinner?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Probably," he shrugged. "What do you think of the digs?"

I took my first proper look at my room. It was a good bit smaller than the room I'd had as a teenager, but it sure beat sleeping in a tree. A small single bed in one corner, a desk in the other and a sink and a set of drawers on one side as well. Somebody had even laid out what looked like pajama's on my bed, with a bar of soap. I blinked away tears that had appeared out of nowhere.

"New clothes and stuff for a hot shower, that's all a girl wants, right?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I picked up the bundle of clothes on my bed. I was right about pajama's, but there was also jeans, two sweatshirts and a light jacket.

"If you need anything else, there's plenty of girls around to lend you something."

"Thanks, Logan," I smiled at him, I could tell from the look on his face that he'd helped organize this and he was desperate for me to like it. "This is brilliant."

"It's no problem," he ruffled my hair and set the mug on the desk. "Drink that when you're about to go to bed. Night, kid."

He left quickly, closing my door behind him and his footsteps faded in the distance. I drank in my surroundings again, then stripped down to nothing, leaving the dirty clothes in a pile on the floor. The sink had running water and I used to soap to get the worst of the grime off me, which was hard. Leaves and twigs and dirt fell from my hair, and the soap was almost away to nothing when I gave up. But I felt cleaner than I had in years as I slipped into my new nightclothes and put my other stuff in a drawer. Sitting on my bed, I picked up the mug Logan had left and took a long sip. It scalded my tongue, but I kept drinking the sweet hot chocolate I'd been given.

Just as I began to relax and get ready for sleep, somebody knocked on my door and immediately swung it open before I could answer.

"Logan," I smiled at him. "Thanks for the drink, I-"

"You're welcome, but come on," he replied gruffly. "Get dressed, we need to go pick somebody up."