The Sinister Solution

Time frame:

Takes place after Avengers Arena, and will follow the timeline of Uncanny Avengers #14 (after that it changes), and the All New X-men arc with X-23 didn't happen. Includes the Gambit mini-series that was recently canceled and Wolverine and the Xmen references.

Summary:

X-23 escapes from her year in the hellish Murderworld and is found half-dead by Gambit. He's on his way to Wolverine's school to serve as a teacher now that his short career as an international spy is over. Julian is finally becoming comfortable in his own skin. Can Julian help Laura get past her recent trauma? Gambit learns about Rogue's death, but he's not about to let her skip out on him with something as trivial as mortality. Is Sinister the solution? Rogue teams up with lost friends in the afterlife to stop Azazel. They'll all be needed to stop the Apocalypse Twins from destroying the earth. Xmen/Uncanny Avengers

Chapter One:

X-23

Everything hurt. She'd come close to death before and while her healing factor kept the reality of death a distant longing she felt every wound. The past year on Murder World had been the worse and that was including her torture with Kimura and her chainsaw, the radiation Hellion saved her from, and her various adventures with X-Force.

This pain was not only physical, but emotional. The Facility tried hard to eliminate her emotions. They failed. Over the past year in the Avengers Arena she'd been incinerated, dismembered, irradiated, lacerated, eviscerated, and forced into berserker mode by a trigger scent. The physical pain was tolerable, but knowing she's been responsible for the deaths of so many of her classmates under Arcade's game was something she feared she'd never recover. She'd been back on earth for two days and whenever she tried to sleep all she could see were the faces of her dying classmates.

She took a deep breath grateful that most of the oxygen stayed in instead of whistling out from her perforated lungs. They had finally healed and her hair was mostly growing back. Her eyes had reformed. It had been very difficult crawling about without eyes, little skin, and wheezy lungs.

The sound of the metal manhole being slid across the entrance of the sewer drew her attention. That was another misfortunate happenstance. She had been forced to use her sensitive olfactory to guide her out of the sewers. The sound of a pair of heavy boots splashing in the water lightly approached. The step was barely audible. It was definitely someone who knew how to sneak. A thief perhaps? She couldn't pick up their scent amongst the garish smells of the sewer, but she could tell that they were alone.

She crawled to a recess in the wall, her claws popped out by habit from her knuckles.

A soft pink light broke through the pitch darkness. An ace of diamonds glowed brightly and a familiar face came into view. "Need a lift home, Petite?" Gambit asked. The red of his dark eyes glowed brightly in the light of his card, his face was creased in an expression of worry. "Or maybe just a nice hot bath," he suggested with a teasing smile.

His scent was finally able to penetrate through the stench of the sewer. She remembered Gambit helping her in the past and he never asked her to kill anyone. "Gambit," Laura stated.

"Come on, petite. It's time you get out of here," Gambit said extending his gloved hand.

"I am not petite. I am one-hundred and seventy centimeters in height."

"It's just a figure of speech, Laura. I'm thinking we could both use a good soak to get this stink off. Maybe I fetch some tomato sauce for you. It works on skunk stink."

X-23's claws retracted and she grasped the offered hand. "I would like a bath very much."

Gambit led them out of the sewer and Laura was grateful that it was night and it was a new moon. Her eyes would have been in a painful shock with bright light. There was a motorcycle hidden behind some nearby bushes.

"This is not your motorcycle," she observed. She remembered Gambit's bike from their adventures after the schism.

"That bike you're thinking of is now in the realm of the fae and it's a long story that I don't want to talk about. This is Wolverine's bike. I liberated it from the institute's garage."

"How did you find me?" Laura asked. Silently, she wondered why Gambit found her and not Wolverine. Had her father figure discovered her crime in Arcade's Arena on Murder World? Was he disappointed in her?

"My stint with the British Secret Intelligence Network ended and I decided to come home. I'll be a teacher at Wolverine's school. When I arrived Logan was away on some Avengers mission with Rogue."

"That is not the proper name of the institute. It is the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning," Laura corrected. Wolverine had been very specific in naming his academy. Jean Gray was the woman he loved most and wanted to honor with a hopeful environment for the mutant youth. Laura wasn't sure she would be welcome there as she was the epitome of a child soldier that her father-figure wished to prevent.

"Right, well, anyway, Rachel found you on Cerebro and Stormy sent me on this recovery mission," Gambit said sitting on the bike and starting the engine. "Though she'd have had trouble keeping me away from this mission," he said looking over his shoulder at her. "Get behind me."

Laura did as ordered. "I like Rachel," she said. "I would choose her for a teammate over other telepaths. Though, Franklin Richards shows great potential."

"But not over other telekinetics?" Gambit teased. "Hold tight, your healing factor is buzzing busily. We don't need you falling off and fixing some broken bones." He held out a helmet for her.

"The broken bones have already set and mended," Laura said. It had been especially uncomfortable crawling with her bones grinding together. "You need the helmet more than me."

"Good point, I was trying to be a gentleman, petite." Gambit shoved the helmet over his head.

Laura bit her tongue to keep from correcting Gambit on the folly of his nickname for her. She banded her arms around his torso and rested her cheek against the middle of his back between his shoulder blades. It was nice not to be alone and to be with a trusted ally. She would have preferred Wolverine, but then what girl wouldn't want her dad after what she'd been through?

"I'm taking us to a hotel. You're going to clean up and then I'm hiring room service and you're going to eat," Gambit said at a red light. "Then you're sleeping. We'll reach upstate New York tomorrow evening."

OoO

Hellion

Fall finals had been challenging. Since starting at Wolverine's school the year before Hellion had adjusted to his physical disability. He no longer felt sorry for himself. According to Dr. McCoy his powers had evolved substantially to cope with the loss of his hands. Prior to the accident he focused his telekinesis through his hands. Now he directed his power through his mind.

He had a pair of metallic prosthetic hands that he manipulated with his telekinesis. The main draw back was that while they were aesthetically pleasing, he couldn't feel any sense of touch from them. They were unnecessary but it helped his classmates be less creeped out by him. It was like they thought that if they spent too much time with him they might lose a body part. Fools.

He stirred in a handful of blueberries into his cream of wheat breakfast using his mind. His spoon sat unused at the side of his bowl. He glanced up to see Santo Vaccarro watching him. His friend Rockslide no longer ate, but he enjoyed spending time with his friends while they ate. It made him feel more human. Hellion thought it was pathetic. They should be proud of their mutant identity. He picked up his spoon with his prosthetic hand and ate slowly. He might as well give Santo a show. Once upon a time, Julian considered himself the Big Man on Campus. He was Mr. Popular before the whole decimation of the mutant population by the Scarlet Witch. Frankly, Santo and ironically Quentin Quire were his only friends at the school now-a-days.

Speak of the devil, mentally anyway, the pink haired telepath sat next to Julian with a tray stacked high with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. "So, Julian! Would you care to know why Ms. Monroe and Ms. Grey keep staring over at you?"

Julian looked up from his breakfast to see that Storm and Marvel Girl were indeed looking in his direction and talking quietly to themselves. "I imagine they are fascinated with my freakish hands," he said shoving his spoon into the food.

"Darn, Rachel just blocked me," Quentin whined. "However, I did learn something you might be interested in," he said stabbing his eggs with his fork.

"You know he won't ask. Just tell him already," Santo grumbled.

"They found X-23. Gambit went out to fetch her," Quentin explained. He tapped his temple. "You can thank me anytime now."

He hadn't heard from Laura in over a year. The last time he saw her had been bittersweet. Finally, they kissed! Then she broke up with him and enrolled in the Avengers Academy. He'd sauntered back to Wolverine's school like a dog with his tail between his legs. The only reason he'd decided to join Wolverine after the schism was because of her, and she wasn't even here!

"Really? Is she okay?" Santo asked, knowing that Julian wouldn't inquire, but that he'd want to know.

"Not sure, but I'm thinking something bad happened. I mean, why else would the super assassin need assistance?" Quire asked.

Julian's appetite had vanished. What would happen when Laura returned? His feelings for her hadn't faded, if anything they'd grown during her absence. She wanted to live her own life and he tried to do the same, but part of him tried his best so that she would be proud of him. He wasn't the same man that was living in a pig-stye full of empty soda and beer cans and old pizza and Chinese takeout boxes back on Utopia. As a matter of fact, he recently won the award for cleanest dorm room when Drake did his evaluation last month. His parents were gone from his life. He had a few friends like Santo and Quire, but when it mattered it was Laura Kinney he wanted at his side. Regardless of personal strife he knew beyond any doubt that Laura had his back and he had hers. She was the best friend he ever had.

Quentin glanced over at him quickly, the telepath tried to not invade the private thoughts of his friends, but sometimes people would think too hard. Julian had a feeling his loud thoughts were picked up like a radio broadcast by his friend. When it came to X-23 Julian's thoughts were very loud.

"Want to go a few rounds in the Danger Room? We can invite Kid Gladiator," Julian suggested.

"Now you're talking, Hellion!" Santo said with a grin. "Hurry up, Quire. Maybe you can make that stuck up space princess cry!"

"Julian, may I have a word with you?" Rachel Grey asked as she approached their table.

Julian exchanged a quick look with Quire before he nodded.

"Don't worry, you'll be available for a Danger Room session with your buddies here," Rachel said with a smirk, her green eyes twinkled in amusement.

"You're not going to modify the Danger Room again are you, Ms. Grey?" Santo asked nervously.

"You know I can't let you boys become complacent," Rachel said. "Julian?"

Julian pushed his chair away from the table and stood, he followed Rachel out of earshot of his friends.

"I'm sure your little eavesdropping telepath friend has already told you, but Laura will be coming to this school. I don't know all the details on what happened, but I know it's not good. I was able to see glimpses when I found her on Cerebro. Whatever it was, it was bad. I know the two of you were close. I'd like to have you show her around campus."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. We didn't exactly part on a happy note," Julian argued. As a matter of fact Laura had made it clear that she wasn't much interested in him.

"What she said and what she feels may not be the same thing, Julian. Can I count on you? I thought about asking Cessily, but she might not be up for the task. I believe she and Laura were friends as well."

Cessily "Mercury" Kincaid was someone with even fewer friends than him at the school. It was her father's scheme that lead up to the schism amongst mutants. It would probably be good for her when Laura showed up.

"Who will be her roommate?" There weren't too many females that he thought would be a good match for Laura. They wouldn't understand her moods or they would be scared because of her past. Or they'd be jealous of her looks and talents. Mercury had been her friend as had Dust, but the latter wasn't at the school. No one really knew where she was. Maybe she was holed up somewhere with his parents since he didn't have a clue where they were either.

"I thought about that," Rachel said thoughtfully as she rubbed her chin. "It might be best to give her her own room, but I was thinking of moving Cessily to the room next to her. It's not like we don't have enough rooms to go around."

Hellion had his own room. So did Quentin Quire. Why shouldn't Laura have her own room? It would make it easier to visit with her without worrying about a pesky roommate.

"It's a good thing Logan doesn't have a telepathic mind like mine," Rachel said with a wink. "He does have a superior sense of smell, so you might not want to partake in any late night visits with the girl he considers his daughter."

He was really going to have to work on not broadcasting his thoughts. "Right, well, I'm available if you need me. I'm going to engage in some Danger Room time."

Rachel reached out and grabbed Julian's upper arm in a friendly grip. "You may find this hard to believe given Logan's short temper with you, but you're well liked, Julian. And I trust you as does Storm and Iceman. Emma Frost wasn't the only one that was confident in your abilities or your character. You are a born leader and I think if you had someone like Laura at your side you'd be near unstoppable and if need be you'd be able to stop her if she were sent into a berserker mode. I'm glad you're on the side of angels. I know what happened with Karima. You honored her request for peace."

No one had mentioned his attempted killing of Karima since he'd left Utopia. "Thank you, Ms. Grey."

"We're not in the classroom, Julian. You can call me Rachel. And I want to see you later for an evaluation of your telekinesis. Mr. Drake will pick you up from your room around three. Practice well with your friends."

"Thanks, Rachel," Julian answered with a grin. He knew the evaluation was to assess his ability to perform in violent situations. He'd already passed the psyche evaluation - that was how Rachel knew about the Karima incident.

Logan was against the students participating in the school's defense, but he was no longer a child. He was one of the oldest students at nineteen years old. And since Kitty Pride left the school with the time traveling original X-men and Logan was busy with the Avengers the title of Head Master fell to Ororo Monroe. Ms. Monroe was more open-minded to letting adults old enough to join the U.S. Military join in the X-men roster.

With a bounce of excitement in his step that he was quick to mask, Hellion joined his friends to go a round in the Danger Room and burn off some excess energy. His whole body was glowing in green in anticipation.

OoO

A/N: So, what did you guys think? I've got some pretty big plans for this story so stay tuned! Next chapter is Rogue and Gambit's POV.

Edited: June 27, 2014