SURVIVING YOU

Chapter 1

A silver jet raced forward through the sparse clouds, swiftly zooming ahead across the stretch of crystalline blue ocean below. The aircraft was very similar to that of the X-Men's large Blackbird, but it was noticeably shorter, though still held sizeable walking space behind the pilot seats. The X-Men had to rely on their smaller aircraft since the destruction of their X-Jet at Alcatraz, but Beast was redesigning the aircraft only a few weeks after their return.

Oddly enough, the mansion had fallen into a rather peaceful state even after the horrendous events the X-Men had been put through. Even with the losses painful, they were continuing on. The largest bereavement was most definitely Professor Xavier, his death throwing the mansion into initial disarray – so much so the school was almost closed. But Storm took on the head position with courage and promised aid from the rest of the X-Men.

It had only been yesterday that Moira MacTaggert, a doctor and a close friend of Charles Xavier had contacted the mansion with the urgent request that they came to Muir Island, just off the coast of Scotland. Not needing all the X-Men for the trip, Storm had chosen Logan to accompany her, leaving the capable Beast in charge during her absence. Whilst at first, Logan had turned down the invitation, a few words of encouragement from Storm, and the request that she didn't wish to travel alone caused him to relent.

And now they were sat in the smaller jet, flying off towards their destination. Logan glanced down at the passing sea below them with a curious eye. "Where are we?" he asked, glancing over to Storm who was piloting the jet.

Storm looked over to him at his question. "Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean."

"Huh," replied Logan. "It feels like we've been passing over this water for hours."

"Well we should be on track.." she paused, checking the console. "Scott normally did the navigating instructions. I've never flown us overseas before."

Logan eyed her at her words, then looking out ahead, "Didn't you say the flight would be less than three hours?"

"Yes, we should be approaching Ireland now," she said as she pressed the screen of the console to scan their radius. "Hm.."

"What?"

"There's no nearby land.."

Logan groaned quietly to himself, placing his thumb and forefinger against his eyes, "We're lost, ain't we?"

"No, we're not lost," Storm quickly replied in defence. "I'm just not a hundred percent sure where we are.. the map isn't showing anything at all. It's like we're nowhere. Maybe the signal is playing up?"

"Storm, we've been flying for four hours. We gotta be a thousand miles off course."

"We must land," she quickly said, panic sounding in her voice for the first time. "We're running low on fuel."

"Land? Storm, there ain't nowhere!" Logan exclaimed and he gestured ahead of them down at the sparkling blue ocean.

Storm stared out of the window, her face taking on a determined expression as her hands gripped tighter on the steering controls.

"What we gonna do?"

"We need to land the jet," she replied quickly, eyes firmly staring ahead.

Logan watched her in silence, eventually turning his gaze to the windscreen. "Ok.." This trip was turning out to be rather surprising. He didn't like surprises.

After short while of silent flying, Storm abruptly spoke up, "There! Up ahead!"

Logan followed her gaze to spot a blur of colour across the sea, the green of the foliage standing out against the cerulean waters. The closer the jet raced towards it, more of the island could be identified. It was mainly covered in lush green foliage, though the remainder of the island was blocked from view by rocky-looking mountains. Ivory beaches skirted a pristine coastline, completing the appearance of what looked very much a sun-soaked paradise land. "We're gonna have to land here?"

"Logan, we have no choice. We'll land and try to contact Hank." Storm directed the controls as she began to descend the aircraft from the skies, coming upon the island, which zoomed closer. She began slowing as the island came upon them, concentrating as she neared the beach. Logan leant forward in his seat to observe the coastline as they lowered upon it. A few minutes later, due to Storm's careful handling, the jet touched down upon the sandy beaches.

Storm sat back with a low sigh, staring out at the deserted beach ahead of her.

"This looks nothin' like Scotland," grumbled Logan. "How the hell did we get here?"

"I've no idea," sighed Storm as she unbuckled her seatbelt and leant back over the console. "I don't understand it. The navigational system is showing up nothing. It must have led us in the wrong direction."

"How are we gonna get off here?"

"Logan! I don't know!" cried Storm, her panic quickly increasing as she stared across to him. "Please, stop asking me questions."

Frowning, Logan unfastened his seatbelt, "Hey, I'm sorry, all right? I just don't like the situation, this island ain't givin' off any good vibes. We've just landed in the middle of nowhere, we've got no signal and no idea where we are."

"I know," she sighed softly, swivelling in her silver pilot seat to move away from the controls. "We can't even use the main transmitter to contact the mansion. Without Charles.. Cerebro can't be used," she closed her eyes in sadness to the recollection of Charles's death before she pushed on ahead, walking across the jet. "We'll have to use the radio, and hope Hank is in the lab."

Logan rotated round in his own seat, but didn't stand. "Hope?" he repeated, sounding cautious. "Seeing the luck we've had so far – "

"Don't say it – "

" – things can't get any worse."

Storm span round with stern eyes, "You said it!" she exclaimed, her hands on her hips.

Logan smirked at her, "Aw, c'mon, y'don't believe in karma an' all that do you?"

"I'm swinging neither way, but I don't see the sense in pushing our luck." She turned away from him, running a hand through her short white hair with a sigh. "Now, where do we keep the radio in here?" She glanced around the smaller jet, before she headed over to the wall and extended a compartment in which she plucked out their only radio. "Come on," she said as she turned to the door and opened it. Logan looked hesitant, but pushed to his feet and followed her down the short steps onto the beach.

He squinted at the bright light, a hand shielding his eyes as he observed the jungle-like terrain that formed after the strip of beach terrain. His eyes trailed upwards to the clear blue sky that beat down a scorching sunshine.

"Don't go too far," Storm called as Logan began wandering off. He made an incoherent noise in response as he moved across the sand, idly trudging towards the water's edge. It was noticeably warm, and Logan was relieved they had gone casual for the trip. He didn't think leather and hot climates would go together very well.

Behind him, outside the jet, Storm was twisting dials on the radio, attempting to find a signal, her eyes stared at the screen anxiously which showed the image of a pulsating beacon and the words: 'Locating wavelength'

She anxiously licked across her lower lip as she waited, becoming increasingly concerned the longer it took. The bars at the right side of the colour screen were struggling to gain more than two levels. Eventually, the message on screen changed: 'System override'.

"What?" she said to it in disbelief. Her words summoned Logan's attention, who trudged back up the beach towards her.

"What's up?"

Storm shook her head slowly as she stared at it, "It can't get a signal. There's something overriding it."

"What does that mean?" asked Logan with a frown.

Storm slowly looked up to him, "There's something else on this island with a stronger signal, and it's blocking ours out."

"And that's the only communication we've got?"

"Yes.."

Logan turned away from her with a small growl, a hand running through his untamed hair agitatedly. "Damnit! Now we're stuck on this godforsaken spit of land!"

Storm turned off the radio in silence, but continued to stare at it. "Look, I'll save the batteries for now. There's no point in wasting it when we can't get a signal. We might have to try higher ground."

Logan slowly glanced over his shoulder at her, "Didn't the navigation system on the jet fail to get a signal?"

"Yes," replied Storm as she looked up at him, sliding the rectangular radio onto the belt of her dark jeans via the designated clip. She hesitated before adding, "It could be the same problem."

"And we had high ground in the air."

Storm sighed as she rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. The temperature was uncomfortably hot, and not the best conditions for thinking. "It could be a fluke. I suggest we keep trying every hour to see if there's any change in the strength of the output. We shouldn't try more often than that or the batteries could run down."

Logan fully turned his body to face her, his hands up behind his head as he scrutinised her. "Meanwhile, we're stranded?"

"We're stranded.." she confirmed in a hollow whisper.

This story is quite different to any of the others I have going currently! If you're familar with me, or a new reader, please leave a review! Do you find the prospect interesting? I'd love to hear your views. :) (And yes, there is a POTC reference!)