Future's Hope
Chapter 1
by
Hawkeye
"I'm just going out for some grub," called Logan over his shoulder to no one in particular as he made his way towards the door. Rogue was sitting with a couple of the other kids watching TV. Without turning around she yelled something about his eating habits, at which he responded with a grunt.
"Pizza ain't bad fer ya. It's practically the fifth food group," he mumbled to himself as he reached for the handle. "And I'll tell ya another thing, Miss Know-It-All--" As he opened the door a woman fell into his arms. She had apparently been standing in the doorway.
"Charles..." she muttered, barely audibly. "Must speak to Charles." With that she slipped into unconsciousness.
Logan sighed. "Why does this always happen to me?"
* * * * *
"I don't know why she's wearing one of our uniforms." A familiar voice spoke, hovering somewhere nearby. "All I know," it continued, "is that she's a mutant, and a pretty beat up one at that. Two broken ribs and a serious concussion. Wherever she's been, it wasn't fun."
The stranger's eyes fluttered slightly as she tried to open them. "Charles?" she asked weakly, barely awake.
There was a moment of silence. "How do you know Professor Xavier?" questioned the voice. It sounded so familiar, but she couldn't place it...
"I..." the golden-haired visitor began, "I need to talk to Charles."
"I just don't know" said the voice again, a woman's voice. "She seems to be conscious, but not very coherent."
"Give her some more time," suggested a man; she had heard that voice before, too.
Time... she didn't have anymore time... Something clicked in her head. She remember who those voices belonged to.
"Jean..." she whispered. The two voices were silent. "Jean," she repeated, "Scott..." Again there was silence.
After a moment, Jean replied, a little shakily, "How do you know us? We've never seen you before."
The stranger remembered now. She forced her eyes to open fully and focus. She was in the med lab, lying on a metal table. Jean and Scott were standing to her right, staring.
"But you have," she said trying to sit up. A flash of pain shot through her body, forcing her to lie still again. As she stared at the two mutants her face became grim. "What year is it?" she asked. The others looked at each other, a quizzical look on their faces.
With brow creased, Jean hesitatingly responded. "2000. Why?"
A wave of relief seemed to wash over their guest. Although it hurt, she forced a slight smile. "Please," she said, "I need you to trust me. I need to speak to Charles. Your future... all of our futures depend on it."
* * * * *
"I know," said Professor Charles Xavier as he sat in his office, Jean Grey standing in front of his desk, arms crossed and with a very worried expression on her face. "I've been watching the monitors."
"Do you really think it could be possible?" asked Jean. She didn't like it when she couldn't understand things.
"You mean, can she be from the future?" The Professor sighed. "Anything is possible." He tuned his chair away from the screens to meet her gaze. "I can't sense anything from her. Nothing. I can't get to her mind, so I'm afraid I know as much, or rather, as little as you do."
Her face took on a more concerned expression. "Do you think she's a danger, though? I haven't been able to figure out her powers yet. We don't know what she's capable of. Plus," she added, "she was wearing one of our uniforms. A little different, mind you, but still recognizable."
"I understand your concern," said Charles, "but I don't think she's a threat. If she had wanted to harm us, I believe she would have by now."
"And you heard what she said?" she asked. "About what she says will happen?"
The Professor nodded. "That she's been sent to stop something horrible from coming to pass. I don't know Jean, I just don't know... We need more information."
"Well, she's waiting for you, I think." Jean continued. "You're the one she keeps asking for."
"Then lets not keep our guest waiting," replied Charles. "And," he added on their way out, "call Ororo. I think she should hear this, too."
* * * * *
"You know," said the stranger, "I think Wolvie was right. You were a dick."
Scott had been standing there, all tense, not speaking a word. He didn't quite know what to say to that. He tensed up some more and hoped Jean would get back soon.
Their guest had recovered a little and was now wide awake, although Scott thought he liked her better when she was unconscious. At that moment, the door slid open and Jean entered followed by Ororo and Logan. Charles rolled in after them.
"Found him loitering around the elevator,' Jean told Scott, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at Logan. Scott had told him to stay out until they had figured out what was going on, so he had a questioning look when he saw the other man.
"Hey," shrugged Logan, trying to defend himself. "I was just curious, okay?"
"Wolvie? That you?" The stranger turned her head. She was about to say more, but she saw Charles roll in behind him.
"Charles," she sighed with relief. "Thank goodness We need to talk."
"Indeed we do," he replied, moving his wheelchair a little closer. "Let's start with a name. You obviously know ours, but we are at a loss at what to call you."
At first she just smiled. Apparently, there was something funny about that. "Well," she finally answered, "my real name's Joy and my codename is *supposed* to be Charger, but you can call me Sparks."
There was a snort from the Logan section. "Sparks? No offense," he choked, trying not to laugh outright, "but that's the stupidest one yet. Who gave ya that name?"
"Actually," she said, "you did."
He stopped laughing. This was getting a little creepy. "Me?" he ventured after a moment.
"Wolvie, dear," she continued, seeming to bask in the look on Logan's face when she called him that, "you seemed quite pleased when you thought of it."
"Now listen- " Logan was cut off by the Professor's raised hand.
"Before we go any further with this," Charles said, "why don't you just start at the beginning."
The smile faded quickly on the visitor's youthful face. She couldn't have been more than 27 or 28. Painful memories seemed to surface, and her smooth forehead gave way to a furrowed brow.
"It began," she started, "about 1200 years in the future..."
* * * * *
"People lived in fear, mostly because of the Ruler and his enforcers." She took a deep, painful breath. "Mutants are more common. It's not an unusual thing like it was a millennia ago, like it is today. To know one, or to be a mutant yourself, isn't rare; and they aren't feared. At least, not the normal ones. Not the ones that oppose the Ruler."
"Normal? How can mutants ever be normal?" It was Logan. He still seemed a little sore after her earlier comments.
She didn't take it as Logan had intended, though. Instead she just smiled a little and said, "You know, you didn't change a bit." He stopped talking.
Continuing, the smile disappeared. "You see, the Ruler is a mutant; a very powerful mutant who decided he wanted absolute power. Power over other mutants, over non-mutants, over the entire planet. One of his powers is the ability to suck the life out of others, literally. The longer he hangs on to someone, the less time they have to live, and the longer he does." She looked from one to the other. "He's alive now," she said, "and he's just starting to realize what he can do."
The others seemed to be getting uneasy. Scott shifted from one foot to the other; Jean wrapped her arm around his. "And the more he takes from others," she explained, "the more powerful his main ability becomes."
She paused for a moment as her side ached. Jean stepped forward to help, but she waved her away. "One of my powers," she said, "although artificial, is the ability to heal." Logan looked up from staring at the floor. The statement had interested the others, too. Jean slowly backed up and resumed standing beside Scott, although now with arms crossed.
"I'll explain it all later. As I was saying..." She pressed her hand to her side. The pain came in waves, but she knew it was only part of the process. In a minute, it was gone, and she continued with her story. "The Ruler, as he's known as, has great telekinetic powers. In the twelve centuries between now and then, he will amass enough power and skill to destroy whole mountains; often," her expression revealed her pain, this time emotional, "they would crumble over towns and villages. I have even heard of him using his powers to destroy whole cities. In short, he uses it for evil. For himself."
"I was part of a small resistance force, made up of mutants such as myself. We had been in a particularly bad battle and had lost many friends." The others could tell that she was hiding more, trying not to give away her sorrow, but she wouldn't show them the extent of her hurt.
"It was decided that one of us few surviving members would travel back in time and stop this monster from even beginning his destruction." She saw the question in each of their eyes and interrupted before any could speak. "I know, I know. You're asking yourself why didn't we do that sooner." She sighed. "Simply, we didn't have the technology then. It's complicated anyway. The point is," she continued, "that I was to enlist the help of you, the X-Men, when I arrived."
"If he became as powerful as you say he did, then shouldn't we have at least heard of him by now?" asked Ororo. "Why wasn't there anyone to stop him in the future?" The same thing was on everyone else's mind.
"Because," she said, "there weren't any X-Men." It shocked them all, even the Professor. She noticed the glances they gave one another. Fear was on some faces, anger on others. "The reason I was sent back so far was because of that very fact," she began again. "I needed your help, so I was sent back to ten years in the future from now. But it wasn't far enough." She stopped again, holding her head. The pain throbbed though it. "Please," she asked, "give me a moment to recover."
The Professor motioned for the X-Men to join him in a corner. When they were all there, he began simply by stating what was on all their minds. "Do you think she is telling the truth?"
"If she is," commented Scott, "I don't think I like it."
"I'm with One-Eye," Logan piped in. "For once."
"How can we tell?" asked Jean. She didn't look so well.
"I know what you're thinking." It was Joy. They all turned around to find her sitting upright on the table, legs dangling over the side. She appeared to have recovered fully. "How do we know we can trust her?"
"You're right," said the Professor, not wanting to hide anything. "How do we know if what you say is true?
"I thought you might act like this, so I have this for you." She jumped down and walked over to where the suit she had been wearing was hung over a chair. Reaching inside a pocket she produced a small disk. "Here," she said, handing it to the Professor. "I hope this clears things up."
Directing his chair towards a bank of computers in the lab, the Professor put the disk into one of the drives. Gathering around him, the others watched with anticipation. When it was loaded, the Professor, if somewhat older, appeared on one of the screens.
"I know this is probably a little shocking to you," it began, "but necessary."
Charles continued to calmly watch, not betraying anything. If he was shocked, it didn't show.
"If you are watching this," it continued, "then you have met Joy. What she tells you sounds incredible; believe me, I know. When she first told us, we didn't believe her either. That was nearly two years ago. Since then, we have come to accept her as one of our own. She is even a valued member of the X-Men."
"The point of this message is simply this: trust her. What she says is true. If you have any doubts, check this disk itself. Embedded in this message is one of the secret codes I have never told anyone else. I, or rather, the past version of myself, will recognize it immediately."
The message cut off there and Jean pulled it out of the drive. "Shall I?" she asked the Professor. He nodded his consent and she placed it in another computer. After a moment she had located the encoded element and displayed it on the screen. The Professor's jaw dropped. The others first stared at the code, and then at Charles. To them, it was merely a combination of letters and numbers, but to him it was evidently more.
"How...?" he began, but trailed off. With a creased brow he regained his composure and swiveled his chair to face Joy.
"How can we help?"
* * * * *
As Scott sat at one of the mess tables, he couldn't help but shiver as he thought of what Joy had told them. If it was true, which seemed to be the case, then somehow they were all doomed. At least, as far as Joy could tell.
Jean was sitting beside him, not eating much either. She seemed upset, which wasn't her style. He placed his hand on top on hers as it rested on the table. "We'll be okay," he said, not even sure if he believed it himself.
She nodded, but there was something in her look that made Scott believe that she didn't think so. The entire thing was hard to believe. He remembered the rest of her story quite clearly. As his glance shifted from Jean to Joy, who was getting her supper, he could hear her words in his head...
"When I first arrived at the Mansion," she said, "no one believed me then, too. It took a while," a smiled form on her face, "but you accepted me and what I had to say."
"And we accepted you into the X-Men?" questioned Scott, still not sure about it all, even at the Professor's assurance.
"No," she went on, "not at first. I was there almost two years, you see. It was several months before you trusted me as you trust each other. In anycase, after you had accepted who I was and when I was from, you did everything to try and help. Professor," she said, looking towards him, "you used Cerebro to help locate him. It was then that the trouble started."
"Trouble?" Charles asked.
"When we went after him, to try and prevent my timeline, my future, from happening, he had already figured out how to use his powers and was too strong. Even for the team."
"Now listen here." Logan seemed upset. "I ain't been with these geeks for long, but if one things for sure, they ain't a bunch to be messed with. How could one guy beat all of us?"
"As I said before, his telekinetic abilities are very strong. Besides, he had amassed a large following. When we found that he was too powerful, Charles and Jean helped me make another device, so that I could travel farther back and hopefully end it then."
"You had a set of blueprints, then?" It was more of a statement then a question coming from Jean.
"Yes," she replied. "And there is another set on that disk I gave you. You thought it would be easier to read one you wrote yourself then a set with a thousand years' advanced technology. That's the main reason why I stayed for so long. It took time to figure out how to build it with the equipment available."
Her face suddenly grew dark. "We were almost done. All that it needed was some fine tuning. But..." her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes.
"It all right," urged the Professor. "Go on."
When she opened them, her golden eyes were brimming with tears. "I'm sorry," she apologized, noticeably embarrassed at the show of emotion. "It's just that..." She took a deep breath. It looked like she was trying to grab hold of all the control left in her. Exhaling deeply, she managed to continue. "Before we had a chance to send me back, he attacked."
"He, as in, this horrible bad guy he?" offered Logan.
She nodded. "It was really bad. We fought, we fought so hard, but it was no use. We were being beaten. Charles said he had to try to send me back then, or else it would be too late." She paused a moment to regain her composure. It seemed like there was more to it, more than she would lead them to believe.
"We left the fight," she said, looking at the Professor, "and you told me that you weren't sure when I'd end up, but hopefully five or more years before then. Long enough to stop him from gaining too much power."
"So that's why you were injured when you arrived," said Jean, relieved that she was finally able to understand some of it.
Joy nodded again. "So you see," she finished, "I have met you before. You just don't remember." She ended with a meek smile.
"What do you need us to do then?" asked Ororo.
"Find this man," interrupted the Professor, "using Cerebro."
Joy confirmed his belief. "His real name is D'Arcy, if that helps. Hopefully," she added, "we can catch him this time."
* * * * *
"Logan?" Their new visitor looked up from the buffet style lunch. "Do you always eat like this?" Logan turned to face her, plate in hand.
"When schools in, why?"
"Oh, just that this place wasn't a school last time I was here," she replied.
"Well," he continued, "it's nothin' like a good slice of pizza," he said, almost growling his last words, still upset that he never got his lunch, "but it ain't that bad."
Leaving the line, they headed for the opposite side of the room where there were a couple of free seats across from Scott and Jean. As they approached, the two bumped into Rogue and Bobby heading back for seconds. Of course, since Rogue hadn't welcomed their new guest yet, she had to right then and there. She was about to open her mouth when Joy dropped her plate.
"Bobby..." she gasped, wide-eyed. She stared right at the surprised boy, then at Rogue herself, and suddenly ran for the open door and was gone. Logan and Rogue stared at Bobby; so did the rest of the room. He only shrugged. Handing him his plate, Logan raced after her.
He found her huddled on a bench on the far side of the yard. Her knees were pulled up and her arms wrapped around her legs. He couldn't see her face; it was buried in her lap.
"You okay?" he ventured, not wanting to make matters worse.
She only shook her head. He couldn't help but notice she was crying. Gently, he sat down on the opposite side. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked. He wasn't good at this, but she seemed to be the most comfortable with him. By the way she talked, it appeared they had been good friends. He didn't see why he couldn't at least be a good acquaintance right now.
She raised her head to look into his eyes. Her's were bloodshot and tears were streaming down her face. "We..." she began, choking with the effort, "we were close." Logan didn't understand, and it apparently showed. She continued with her explanation. "In the future,' she glanced at the house, "Bobby and I were friends. *Very* good friends."
Logan understood now, although he couldn't imagine anyone being interested in him, albeit a 28 year old him. Maybe it was just that protective thing he felt whenever he saw Rogue and him together.
"Then what's the matter, darlin'?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
"During the fight..." She closed her eyes tight, sending another set of tears rolling down her cheeks, "he.... he didn't make it."
Logan sat up straight. He, too, glanced back at the mansion. Sure, he wasn't any great admirer of Robert Drake, but he couldn't imagine the poor guy being dead, no matter how annoying he got.
He reached out a hand and placed it on her quivering shoulder. Giving in, she let him pull her towards him and be held. She hadn't showed this much emotion since arriving that afternoon. Logan suddenly realized how hard it must have been; leaving in the middle of a fight like that and finding herself here all of a sudden. "Shhh...." he soothed. "I didn't realize it was that bad." He couldn't help but wonder what happened to his future self. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, hoping she would stop crying.
She didn't think she could talk about it, it hurt so much. But she couldn't hold it in any longer. "I wasn't sure I wanted to tell any of you this. It's not very pleasant." She was calming a little now. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"
Logan nodded his consent, so she continued, still wrapped in his arms. "When D'Arcy arrived at the mansion," she began, "I was down in the lab with Charles and Jean, working on the time device. We heard something like an explosion, so we moved up to the ground floor to see what was happening. A part of the house," she gasped, "was gone. Crumbled away. That's what we had heard. And he was standing out there on the lawn, all alone, a hideous smirk on his face." She paused for a moment, anger on her face. "He told us he'd be back later that night. I never knew why he warned us."
"Why didn't the Prof just use Cerebro to find him? Then you could get to him before--"
She was shaking her head sharply. "No," she said. "After our first encounters, he figured out that we could track him. He's very clever and somehow found a way to elude our searches."
"So you were sittin' ducks," said Logan.
"We couldn't find him, and we wouldn't run," she went on. "So we waited. Luckily, no one had been hurt in the first attack. We were able to regroup and form some sort of plan."
"So what happened then? When he attacked?" he asked.
"When he showed up, he brought a bunch of his goons with him. They were mutants, like us."
"Not exactly like us," added Logan. He wasn't like them.
"No," she consented, "not exactly like us. But powerful, nonetheless. We all fought, even Charles. Ororo was the first to go down. I saw a giant piece of debris take her out. I don't even know what became of her, but I didn't see her after that..." She began to choke up again.
"Hey, if you don't wanna talk about it, ya don't have--"
She cut him off again. "No," she said. "I need to tell someone." She looked up into his hazel eyes which met her own golden ones. "You were always there for me, you know," she added. He seemed to color a little, betraying his true feelings, but all he gave was a thoughtful grunt.
Then she became very sober again. "Jean and Scott were handling him, although it looked like he was too strong, so Charles tried to help. He was knocked out of his chair by one of the flying pieces of debris, so Rogue went to help." Her brow creased as she remembered. "I saw one of his monsters stopped her before she reached him. He grabbed her from behind. She couldn't reach him with her bare hands..." She stopped for a moment. "Seeing her in there... it was almost like she wasn't gone."
Logan didn't like this at all. Rogue? Dead? Never. He would never let that happen. Not as long as he lived. Which brought up another question. She seemed to know what he was thinking.
"You tried to save her, you know, but you were fighting your own battles. So was I..." She seemed the contract at the thought. Maybe it was guilt, thought Logan. He knew that's how he would feel.
"I was able to get rid of who I was fighting and help Charles back into his chair. It was then that he suggested we get down to the lab and send me back. I always knew the time would come, but I wasn't prepared for it. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye."
"But what about Bobby?" He didn't want to aggravate her more, but she still hadn't got that out in the open.
She was silent for a long time. Finally, she spoke. "As we were moving back into the house, I had to look back to find Bobby. I just couldn't leave without one last look. He knew I had to go soon; we had talked about it before. But somehow," she sighed, "I never thought it would be that way."
She moved away from Logan now and sat looking at him. She could see the mansion behind him. Supper was over now and lights were coming on in different parts of the house. She put her hand in his and continued. "When I looked back, I saw that he had knocked out Jean and Scott. Just then, too, cause I saw them fly through the air and land hard. I knew Jean was still alive. She moved a little, but Scott didn't get up." She tightened her grasp. "It was then that I saw Bobby attack. He headed right for him when he saw the others go down. He was almost there when he was sideswiped by a huge rock. I guess D'Arcy had picked it up from the yard somewhere. But it hit so hard..." Again she grasped his hand.
Fighting back tears, she went on. "It hit him so hard I even saw little pieces of ice fly off. He hurled Bobby right through the side of the mansion. I tried to make my way to him, but... but..." she started sobbing again. "It was too late. I could only see his arm in the wreckage. It wasn't in his ice form and... and..." She buried her head in Logan's chest, unable to stop crying.
"There, there," he said, rocking her gently. "It's over now. You're here with us... So is Bobby." She looked up into his face. There was pain in her eyes, but something like determination as well. "Will you help me? Will you help me to prevent this from happening?" She looked so deep into his eyes, he thought she saw right to his very soul.
"I will, darlin'," he said. "With all my heart."
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