A Possibility In an Impossible Future

The next morning there was enough meat for them all to enjoy a decent portion. Logan found more water and what they drank was replaced by what he filtered back into the canteens. With their bellies comfortably filled they headed out toward SHIELD’s secret base. The morning was no different than any other morning. Dark overcast with a chance of rain. Or not though only the humidity let on which way it would likely go. Natalya was on point today and Logan was in the rear. Serena was behind Isabella and Kate was behind Serena and Pharaoh was next to Logan talking to him quietly.

They heard the roar of a drones engines and everyone just stopped where they were. Serena felt something on her boot and a large black snake slithered across it and continued on into the brush to her right. Natalya gave the sign to move again and everyone began to move again. As the morning began to slip into afternoon there was a commotion between Logan and Pharaoh. Pharaoh had been having disturbing dreams the last few nights but he hadn’t said anything about that until now. Serena heard ‘Jean Gray’ in their heated conversation and Logan did not appear to want to hear what Pharaoh was telling him.

Everyone was quiet the following morning as they usually were. Kate had fond memories of all of them in the Tower in the kitchen in the mornings making breakfast together. Everyone had especially loved Logan's pancakes. There were no more pancake mornings and none of them ever really smiled anymore. Everyone's eyes had a tired, serious look to them. However, at least this morning there was a good amount of food for everyone to eat.

After they ate they gathered their things and headed out again. Serena and Kate were eager to get going. They were drawing close to the SHIELD base and hopefully to their children. Natalya led the group this time with Logan in the rear. There was some drone activity, but they were able to avoid them. Thankfully, the drones made enough noise to alert them to their presence.

It was early afternoon when suddenly Natalya heard Logan and Pharaoh's voices raise behind her. She looked back over her shoulder and could tell they were having some kind of disagreement. Then, she heard Jean Gray's name mentioned by Pharaoh. She knew it was time for them to take a break anyway and they were in a covered area so she gave the signal and then walked over to Logan and Pharaoh. "What's going on?"

“Nothing, nothings going on,” Logan said angrily and he stepped away unwilling to talk to her about whatever it was. Pharaoh however was a different story. “We need to find Jean Gray. I can’t explain why….I mean, I won’t explain that but we must find her and I think it was Charles that spoke to me in my dreams,” he said. Isabella began to cough and as she did her legs gave out and fell into all fours as she coughed blood out of her mouth.

Natalya stopped talking as she looked back at Serena freaking out over Isabella. Logan turned suddenly and a look of fear came over him. “Natalya, spiders and their coming closer,” he said as he ran past Pharoah up to the others. “Get her up Serena,” Logan snapped as Isabella continued to cough.

Spiders were mechanitions designer by Korvus as well. They could go almost anywhere and they shot monofilament webs that cut people to ribbons. Logan had been the only one to survive an attack by them but they had all seen first hand how deadly they were. A monofilament was a strand one molecule thick surrounded by a forcefield of energy. It made the sharpest knives and blades seem dull by comparison and they could cut through armor. If you were surrounded by the webs you could survive if you didn’t move. But once you moved much at all they sliced into you and would continue to cut into you until they were removed. Horrible constructs that were about a meter in size.

Natalya looked at Logan as he suddenly stormed off. He was clearly very upset about something. When Pharaoh told her that they needed to find Jean Gray she suddenly knew why Logan was upset. However, before she could question Pharaoh any more about why they needed to find Jean Gray she heard Isabella begin to cough and she looked over to see her collapse down onto her knees and then begin to cough up blood. Isabella was dying...slowly and there was nothing any of them could do about it. Natalya could see the fear in Serena's eyes as she quickly went over to her mother to try and help her. Natalya was about to do the same when Logan suddenly turned back and told them that the spiders were coming. A real fear gripped her and she knew that they needed to get out of the area...fast.

Serena quickly grabbed her mother's helped arm to help her up. Isabella tried to argue with Serena to just leave her, but Serena wasn't having it. She had already lost her husband and father. She wasn't going to lose her mother too...not today. Natalya helped Serena with Isabella and they all quickly began to move from the area.

They couldn’t know how far they ran but they ran. They ran for their lives. Eventually they came across a small house in the middle of the forest they had been running in and took refuge there. The house was surprisingly mostly in tact and even had a few supplies at first glance.

There was a single bed in the back bedroom and as Serena and Natalya helped get Isabella situated Logan and Kate served as lookouts. The spiders had a certain amount of AI and if they had seen them they would attack them until they were destroyed or their victims killed. The bed was old and lumpy but it was far nicer than anything they had had in a long while.

Isabella’s teeth and lips were stained red as she laid back onto the dusty pillow. “I’m...sorry Serena...You won’t find them if you keep dragging me around like this,” she said as tears filled her eyes. Pharaoh brought them water and after they drank her mother was able to close her eyes.

As Serena removed her mother’s gauntlet and put it on herself she brought up the medical suite and scanned her.

“She is bleeding from a torn ventricular tear Serena,” Jarvis said. “she needs immediate surgery,” he said.

Serena was trying to be strong for her mother, but she was failing. Her mother was dying and there was nothing she could do about it. There wasn't a hospital she could take her to. She felt completely helpless and her heart broke to know her mother was in pain.

"How much time does she have Jarvis?"

“Impossible to tell. You might consider trying to make her more comfortable Serena,” Jarvis said. Obviously his AI knew the situation just as much as she did. Her mother would not be leaving this room.

Logan stepped into the room. “Looks like we gave them the slip,” he said softly as he gazed at her mother. He could see Serena was about to lose it and he moved up to her as she stood and hugged her to him. “I’m so sorry Serena,” he said softly as he held her. From the doorway both Kate and Natalya saw them and Pharoah closed his eyes.

Serena cried against Logan as he put his arms around her. Logan didn't comfort people, but clearly he knew that she needed it. She remained in the room with her mother for the next few hours. She sat on the bed next to her and she held her hand. After a while her mother managed to open her eyes. Serena looked at her with tears in her own.

"I'm so sorry Mom."

Isabella coughed a little and then looked at her. "Why are you sorry? I have lived a great life Serena. I was married to the man I loved and I had you. You have made me so proud. I could not have asked for a better life. I'm going to go be with your father and that is a nice thought for me. You are going to continue to do great things Serena. My only regret will be not seeing you do them. Tell Willow and Anthony how much I love them and remember that I will always love you."

Isabella's eyes then closed and did not reopen. Serena leaned down onto her mother's chest and began to sob. The others gave her some time before Kate led her away from the body. Natalya, Logan, and Pharaoh wrapped the body in a blanket and took her out into the back to find a place to bury her.

The team remained there for one more day and Logan found a small trap door to an underground cellar. It was filled with food and they forged themselves that night on canned peaches and apple pie filling. Chocolate pudding and fruit cocktail. It didn’t makeup for their loss but it was a little goodness in their world of hell.

All their packs were filled with food now and they left the small house behind after Serena had a moment alone at her mother’s grave. Serena saved its location into her suits GPS and did not turn back.

After another full day of travel and 4 more drones, they finally made it out of the trees and onto a large roadway. Jarvis showed that the base was only a half a mile away. If her mother could of hung on a day more SHIELD may have been able to help her. Serena had said nothing to Kate about her mother’s death but Kate would not look at her. She could not as she laid more fault at her sons feet and her own for not heeding the warnings that only now were as clear as day.

The half mile took almost no time at all but as they moved up onto the bunker it was clear to everyone that it was nothing but a hallowed our ruin now. Bodies in different levels of decay were strewn about the area as if a battle had taken place weeks or even months ago. As they created the riven earth Serena looked down over the edge of a large crater.

Logan frowned and Kate ran forward. “No! NOooo!!” She cried as she ran up to the edge and fell onto he knees. The crater was deep and Jarvis detected no energy signatures except one. A red light on a post flashed intermittently but it was clear that the base had been destroyed.

Serena had to be forced to eat. She had still been grieving the loss of her husband and father and now this was a new wound in her heart. The only thing that was keeping her going at this point was her children. If she didn't have them then she probably would have taken matters into her own hand at this point. Her life felt like it was in ruins all around her, but she had to remind herself that many others had lost people they loved too. She could see the tremendous guilt in Kate's eyes and noticed that Kate wouldn't look at her. Kate and Steve had thought that they could handle William on their own. They refused to see the warning signs that were right in front of them because they wanted to believe only in the good in him. They had done everything they could for him and had tried to instill their good values and morals. They had thought that would be enough. Kate had refused to think of William as dangerous. He was her son. But as she looked at the destruction around her and saw Serena grieving the loss of her mother now she felt that this was all her fault.

As they neared the base a sense of relief came over the group. However, that relief was short lived when they got closer and saw that instead of a bunker there was a crater. Bodies were strewn everywhere and there was no sign of any life. Serena just stood there a moment as Jarvis confirmed that the only energy signature was the red light on a post a few hundred feet away. She turned around and doubled over and became sick. Natalya immediately ran over to her and tried to comfort her.

"It's going to be alright Serena...we're going to find them."

"No we're not!" Serena yelled, not caring if she was found at this point. "How are we supposed to find them? If they are even still alive. We have no way of knowing or communicating with Happy. What are we supposed to do?! Just keep wandering around until we're finally captured and killed?"

“No, we’re not going to find them,” Logan said though Natalya tried to pull him back. He shrugged her off. “Their either dead or captured. If their captured them they are alive. If not, then not,” he said plainly as he moved up and grabbed hold of her. He made her look at him.

“I know this is a raw deal Serena. As bad as it gets but if you just give up you disrespect those that gave their lives for us!” He scolded. “You father, Peter, your Mother!” He said sounding disgusted with her.

Natalya was looking at that annoying red light. It blinked intermittently and she wanted to smash it. But something that had long since had laid dormant in her fucked up memory pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. It wasn’t just an intermittent light. It was telling her something. It was telling her in a very old code that few now used or even knew about. It was Morse code. She knew it now and waited for it to begin again. It simply read. “Turn me,”

Serena looked hard at Logan. "And what exactly are we supposed to be doing Logan? Running and hiding for the rest of our lives? That's not a life I want to live."

Natalya had stopped listening to Logan and Serena argue. She found herself just staring at the blinking light. It wasn't blinking normally. There were strange pauses and times of faster blinking. It then hit her. It was Morse code! She held her breath as she waited for it to start again. When it did she paid close attention. She blinked when she realized what it said. She slowly walked over to the light and grabbed a hold of it by the pole and turned it.

“So your just going to give up?” Logan said. “I thought you were a Stark!” He growled but his words died when he heard the ground begin to open up. A body shifted as the ground beneath it began to shift and open up. Sounds of a mechanical nature filled the area and the hole that appeared, no not a hole, a tunnel that quickly formed stairs and led down into the ground. Logan stopped to watch mid sentence and his face was a mask of awe and surprise. A pale light appeared on the ceiling of the stained tunnel that led deep into the earth.

“Well son of a bitch,” Logan said though it was clear that they were all thinking the same thing. Kate had stood by then and she had a hand over her lips that quivered with hope.

Pharaoh just grinned and pointed. “Jean Gray is down there,” he said happily.

Natalya didn't know what to expect when she turned the pole, but when the ground started to shift beneath them with a mechanical sound she began to smile. A tunnel and then a set of stairs appeared. Serena and Kate both stared and blinked and then a feeling of hope returned to both of them. Serena and Kate started for the stairs and Natalya looked over at Logan when Pharaoh told them that Jean Gray was down there. Natalya grabbed Logan's arm and pulled him towards the stairs.

"You're coming. Let's go."

The tunnel angles down down down deep into the earth. The pale light above was an eerie reminder that if it went out that they’d be completely submerged in darkness. There was a mechanical sound again and a vibration as the small shade of natural light. Proof that they were now inside with no real way out. The tunnel continued.

Eventually it leveled out and the metal tunnel became a hallway. The hallway continued on and on for what seemed minutes but in reality was only seconds. Suddenly the hall stopped and dead ended into a wall. Abruptly the pale lights winked out and they were in complete darkness, for a moment. And then their were bathed in a bright, blinding light and the wall in front of them suddenly dropped. Men yelled and several guns were cocked and two men in suits stepped toward them.

“Serena?” Sam Wilson said. But she also saw Jim Rhodes. “It’s alright guys. This is The Avengers,” Jim said. As they stepped forward toward them. The lights switched off and the more pleasant pale lights returned. Sam and Jim retracted their masks as they stepped up to her. Jim looked around and then looked at her. “Where is Isabella?” He asked as he looked at the others.

Serena and Kate moved quickly, but cautiously down the tunnel as it took them deeper beneath the earth. Serena's heart was beating hard and fast in her chest and her mouth felt dry. They could be walking straight into a trap and there would be no way out for them. Soon, they found themselves on level ground, but they saw no one. Natalya, Logan, and Pharaoh caught up with them but as they walked down the hallway the lights suddenly went out and they found themselves in complete darkness. Then, they were blasted by harsh, blinding light and were confronted by men with guns. Serena felt a moment of fear, but that fear faded into relief when she saw Sam Wilson and James Rhodes step towards them. She had known Sam and James nearly her entire life.

As everyone relaxed Serena looked at the two men as they asked about her mother. "She...she's dead. She died two days ago. Are Happy and my children here?"

Him and Steve hugged Serena and gave her their condolences to her loss. The others came forward and they were quickly surrounded by SHIELD agents and soldiers. There was a lot of hand shaking and questions being tossed back and forth when…

“Mother!” A high pitched voice sounded out. Sam nodded and took a step back as Three children ran toward them. Anthony and William ran toward their mother just as kate’s daughter Sarah ran into her arms crying tears of happiness. Logan smiled at Natalya and Pharaoh only looked on. Serena’s children rained kisses down on their mother and they sobbed together as they all fell to their knees. Happy finally came forward though he looked much older now. He had been the keeper of their most prized possessions and he had come through for them.

Serena's heart nearly stopped in her chest when she suddenly heard a familiar voice yell out. She looked over to see Willow and Anthony running towards her. She collapsed down onto her knees and took them both into her arms as she began to cry tears of joy and happiness. She hugged them tightly and kissed them both over and over again. Sarah ran over to her mother and Kate pulled her into her arms and sobbed as she held her.

Serena looked up as she saw Happy walk over. "Thank you Happy...thank you so much."

The party was debriefed and to their surprise Captain Marvel was there along with Bruce Banner and Gambit who looked older now than he had been when Serena last saw him but as heart and saucy as ever. Serena was given a large room where her children could stay with her. It was completely furnished and the showers were what most of the party were after first. Logan and Natalya soaked for over an hour as the hot water sprayed down onto them. And Kate thought that she’d never feel clean again.

The next day after everyone had been settled they were asked to come to the large conference room. Once they arrived Carol, Bruce and Gambit were there as well as someone else, Jean Gray. Once she saw Logan she flung herself into his arms and began to sob.

“They’re all dead Logan. All of them. Storm, Scott, Beast, everyone!” She cried. Overcome by her emotion Logan held her to him and murmured soothing sounds in her ear. Those were people he had fought alongside. People he respected. “Evan Charles?” He asked as she leaned back to look at him with tear stained eyes. “I...I don’t know Logan, I don’t know about anyone else,” She said. Logan saw that she was older than he remembered but no less beautiful. Suddenly he became aware of the others looking at him and he helped her to a chair.

It had been a long time since Serena had seen Gambit. When she and Peter had become engaged she had written to him to tell him the news, not wanting him to hear it from anyone else. He had surprised her by sending her a beautifully written letter of congratulations and a wedding present. The two had only been in brief contact since then. She was glad to see that he was alright.

The following morning everyone gathered in the large conference room. Natalya knew about Jean Gray from Logan, but she had never met the woman before. She stood back as Jean flung herself into Logan's arms and began to cry. Natalya felt no hint of jealousy. Logan had proved his faithfulness to her over and over again. These past few months had been a true test for their relationship, but they remained as strong as ever. However, she did feel bad for Jean and Logan. He had told her about the X-Men and she knew that he had been close to a lot of them.

As Logan helped Jean to a chair she walked over to introduce herself. "I'm Natalya Sokolova. I'm sorry to hear about your losses."

At first Jean didn’t recognize her then, as if she pulled the name from her memory she nodded. “Hello Nata..lya, I’m Jean,” She said and extended her hand to her as she wiped her tears away with a tissue with her other hand. Pharaoh stood suddenly and his face looked almost gray as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Jean Gray? You are Jean Gray?” He asked. Jean looked over toward him. She did not know Pharaoh nor had she ever seen him before. “I’m sorry, I…” she began but Pharaoh cut her off. “Charles Xavier told me that I needed to find you.

Logan looked shocked and also a little angry and he crossed his arms over his chest. “This is Pharaoh, Aker Maget, and he is likely the oldest man alive,” Kate said as she introduced him to everyone. Bruce leaned forward now looking intrigued though Carol listened but seemed to remain completely calm and never changing her expression.

“Charles spoke to you? When?” Jean Gray asked breathlessly. “A few days ago,” Pharaoh said. ‘Shh, I know I know!” He growled under his breath as he appeared to be talking to someone that wasn’t there. His sanity of late had been questionable at best. Logan rolled his eyes impatiently as others looked at one another confused at what was happening. “He told me that you could help the ‘me’ that I was 18 years ago learn about what has happened so we could stop...this,” he said as he looked around. Bruce thought about what he said for a moment as did everyone else who appeared in shock at the implications of this.

Serena looked between Pharaoh and Jean Gray. She remembered the argument Logan and Pharaoh had been having a few days ago. She knew that everyone else thought that Pharaoh must be mad, but Serena had known Pharaoh most of her life and she trusted him. If he said that Charles Xavier was speaking to him then she believed him. She grabbed onto the little hope that he suddenly offered them, as crazy as it sounded, and held onto it tightly.

"How Pharaoh?"

“Well, how would Xavier know that?” Bruce asked and then gave a regretful look toward Serena. “And who is to say that the result of messing with our timeline won’t cause more problems than they solve,” he said. “I know of your loss Serena, Tony, Isabella and Peter and yours too Kate but you might be trading one fate for another and I doubt Xavier could predict that,” he said then someone else suddenly stepped into the room and everyone knew who he was.

“But I can and I have,” Strange said as everyone turned around to face him. “I told Tony, Steve and Peter what they had to do to stop the Kree. This entire timeline was bent by them somehow and those 3 men sacrificed themselves to stop them. Something the Kree did not expect to happen I can promise you that. They wanted our world for themselves. This thing with Korvac is just a byproduct of the Kree’s failure here,” he said then turned to Serena.

“I’m sorry that none of this was told to you Serena. I can only imagine how much pain you’re in right now. I can tell you that by going back and fixing this that not everyone will come out unscathed. And none of you save for Pharaoh will remember anything about what we are talking about right now,” he said.

Serena was shocked to see Dr. Strange. She didn’t know him very well, but her parents had. She listened intently to what he had to say, and it caused her heart to break even more. A few tears came to her eyes that she wiped away with a trembling hand. She took a moment to compose herself and think about everything that had been revealed.

“There’s a possibility here to save many lives and change the course of the future. I for one am willing to take that risk.”

Bruce looked at Serena and frowned. “No offense Serena but I think your opinion is a subjective one. We need to be objective about this. Captain Marvel and myself have come up with a plan on how to deal with Korvac and this is what this gathering was supposed to be about,” Bruce said as he looked around the room.

“We’ve all lost someone but cheating death always has a price and I’m not certain if knowing or not knowing is worse. What if Willow dies or Sarah?” he gestured at Kate. “Would you take one life for another? Because that’s what you are really advocating for,” he said.

“If she is willing to take the risk than how can you say that Bruce,” Gambit said suddenly speaking up. “And how will not knowing be worse? We all just take what happens and we deal with it. If the Kree has manipulated our timeline than we should seriously consider what Strange is saying. I don’t know how they got Loki to do what he did but I for one think 5 billion lives is worth the risks,” he said and looked at Serena and gave her a reassuring nod.

Carol looked at Bruce then back at everyone else. She had lost all of her friends in the attack but her resolve had not faded. “I’m not certain I will let Jean and Pharaoh do this,” she said and then Logan stood and flung his chair back and it hit the wall behind him then tipped over. His face was a thunderhead of anger and aggression.

“Are you fuckin kidding me?” Logan said. “The Kree ambushed us and you’re ‘not’ going to let us fix it? What kind of fucked up plan is that!?” he said. “If it was for Serena alone I’d say do it but it ain’t,” he growled. If being apart of The Avengers has taught me anything its how important it is to defend and avenge those that can’t. 5 billion people are dead! If we can reverse that then our decision should be pretty god damn clear!” he growled.