Sleep wasn't arriving.
Ethan lay awake in the quiet room, Raven on his left and Rogue on his right, both asleep. His mind remained active, processing the day's unresolved thoughts.
Marvel villains.
Not the immediate threats. Apocalypse was resolved, the cartel work nearly finished, and HYDRA remained a distant concern. With these partly behind him, Ethan shifted focus to the larger, undefined threats—those he knew were coming, though their timing and origin were uncertain.
His mind landed on the looming dangers that lingered: Onslaught.
Onslaught was the result of Xavier's and Magneto's worst traits merging into a greater threat. The conditions for this—Xavier's struggle with anger, Magneto's ideology, and a potential psychic trigger—were already present. While it was uncertain if this world would reach that outcome, the risk remained significant.
Afterwards, his thoughts moved outward: the Shi'ar Empire.
The Shi'ar Empire was a spacefaring political power known for its aggressive stance toward the Phoenix Force. With Jean's Phoenix bond now evident to those with cosmic awareness, the Shi'ar would be aware. Their response and timing, however, remained unpredictable.
Then there were threats less defined by politics or power: the Brood.
The Brood, parasitic aliens that reproduce by converting hosts, remained an unknown threat. Their current proximity to Earth was unclear, but their presence warranted attention.
He returned to Earth-bound dangers: The Hellfire Club.
With Sebastian Shaw gone, the Hellfire Club's power structure had shifted. Selene, the Black Queen and a psychic vampire with centuries of experience, was likely now in control. She was more dangerous and less predictable than Shaw.
Groups like the Purifiers and Friends of Humanity represented organised hostility, often disguised as protection. While not yet mainstream, their influence was growing beneath the surface, foreshadowing future conflict.
Other dangers were harder to anticipate. Cassandra Nova.
He was uncertain about Cassandra Nova's emergence in this world. As Xavier's shadow twin, the mummudrai, her manifestation remained unpredictable.
Some threats combined technology, manipulation, and ideology: Bastion and Sublime.
Bastion's Operation: Zero Tolerance was a particularly severe anti-mutant initiative that combined advanced technology and infiltration. With sufficient resources, it could already be underway. He needed to monitor for early signs.
Still, some dangers were personal and persistent. And William Stryker, he thought. Who I'm fairly sure is not finished.
Wolverine's memory gaps and fragmented timeline indicated a specific cause. In the film, a close-range adamantium bullet caused the memory loss. Since Logan retained his claws, the procedure had occurred, implicating Stryker, who was likely still operating Weapon X or a similar program from a remote facility.
This suggested that other mutants were likely still held in some facility.
That's tomorrow, he thought. Find Logan in the morning, confirm what he knows, then figure out the address.
He filed it and closed his eyes.
Sleep arrived eventually, as it always did.
---
The morning at the mansion followed its usual school-day routine, with students at breakfast and instructors in their schedules. Ethan arrived early and found Logan in his typical spot, always near coffee.
Logan was in the garage, working on a partially disassembled project bike. He examined a component with the focused look of someone assessing the severity of a problem.
Ethan leaned in the doorway.
Logan looked up, offering his usual greeting to those he accepted. "Summers is annoyed at you," he said, combining a greeting with a status update.
"I know," Ethan said. "Not my problem."
Logan made a noncommittal sound, indicating agreement without elaboration, and returned to his work.
"I want to ask you something," Ethan said.
"Ask."
"Weapon X," Ethan said. "What do you remember about it?"
Logan became still, not from surprise, but with the control of someone considering how much to reveal about a difficult subject.
"Not much," he said after a pause, his words flat and deliberate. "Procedure. The tank. The pain." He set the component down. "After that, gaps. Big ones."
"Do you remember Stryker?" Ethan asked.
The set of Logan's shoulders changed in a way that was its own answer. "Name," he said. "Face. Enough to know I'd like to find him."
"Do you know where the facility was?"
Logan turned and met his gaze for the first time, his expression layered with suspicion, curiosity about Ethan's motives, and a deeper sense of longing.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because if the facility is still running," Ethan said, "there are probably other mutants in it right now. In the same situation you were in."
The garage fell silent as Logan processed confirmation of something he had already suspected.
"Canadian Rockies," Logan said. "A mountain. I don't have coordinates, it's north-northwest." He paused. "You're going."
"Tomorrow," Ethan said. "I was going to ask if you wanted to come."
Logan glanced at the bike, then at Ethan, and finally toward the north-northwest, as if focusing on something beyond the garage.
"Yeah," he said. "I want to come."
---
He found Raven in the sitting room, reviewing notes on power-copying experiments, Rogue beside her with her guitar and no gloves, and Jean across from them, reading a book.
Their comfortable arrangement reflected a natural dynamic he noticed often, though he no longer commented on it.
Jean looked up first. "You found Logan?"
He sat down and shared Logan's confirmation: the memory gaps, the direction, and the likelihood that the facility remained operational.
"North-northwest of the Canadian Rockies," Raven said. "That's not a small search area."
"Logan believes he can narrow it down once we're in the area," Ethan said. "Scent memory and instinct—whatever Weapon X left him with—should help locate it."
"Mutants in cages," Rogue said flatly. She wasn't asking.
"Almost certainly," Ethan said.
Rogue gave him the look she used when her mind was made up and said, "We're going."
"Tomorrow," he said. "All of us. Logan, too."
"Good," Jean said, which was her complete review.
Raven set her notes aside. "What now?"
"Today," he agreed. "Something simple."
---
The simple activity turned out to be watching a film.
Bobby suggested it at lunch with evident enthusiasm, having waited for the right opportunity. The mansion's common room was equipped with a television, a VCR, and a varied collection of tapes.
They chose Total Recall (1990), a science fiction film that suited both Rogue's and Jean's preferences. The action content was sufficient for Logan, who joined during the opening credits and stayed.
The group settled into their usual seating: Ethan on the main sofa with Raven to his left and Rogue to his right. Jean sat next to Raven, as she had been doing more frequently, gradually becoming more integrated with the group.
Bobby had the armchair.
Logan had the floor, which he'd chosen himself and which nobody had questioned.
The film played as the group enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere. Rogue laughed at two unintended moments, her genuine laughter filling the room. At the forty-minute mark, Jean questioned the plausibility of the memory-implantation technology, sparking a ten-minute discussion that continued uninterrupted as the film played.
Bobby joined the conversation enthusiastically, appreciating that others engaged seriously with the topic rather than dismissing it.
Logan just watched the movie.
---
Dinner brought everyone together, filling the table with lively conversation. Instructors and students mingled, creating the organised chaos typical of large communal meals.
Scott glanced at Ethan twice from across the table. Ethan chose not to respond, maintaining his decision to wait until Scott initiated a meaningful conversation.
Jean sat between Raven and Storm, engaged in a conversation Ethan could not hear. Storm appeared genuinely interested, while Raven seemed to be mentally noting the details.
Logan ate efficiently, treating food as fuel and conversation as optional. He gave Ethan a brief nod, signalling agreement about tomorrow, then resumed eating.
---
Jean said goodnight to all three in the corridor, hugging Rogue with genuine warmth and Raven with the familiarity of a long-standing friendship that had recently deepened.
She looked at Ethan before she went.
Her look lingered for a few seconds, conveying several unspoken messages.
Then she went down the corridor to her room, and the door closed behind her.
---
The three entered Raven's room, which felt familiar from long use.
Rogue lay on the bed, clearly finished with the day's activities. Raven stood at the window, deep in thought as she looked out at the January landscape.
Ethan sat on the edge of the bed and began taking off his boots.
"How long do you think?" Rogue asked, staring at the ceiling. The subject was clear without being stated.
"Before Jean asks?" He thought about it. "Not long."
"Any day," Raven said from the window, her tone confident. "When she asks, it will not be a question. She will have already decided."
"That's very Jean," Rogue said.
Ethan surveyed the room, noting how the three of them had naturally reorganised the space, the paintings, Raven's window, and Rogue's guitar in the corner.
"We may need a larger room," he said.
Rogue turned to him. "Or a house."
"I was joking," he said.
"I was not," she said.
He looked at Raven.
Raven turned from the window, clearly having considered this before. "I've been thinking about it," she said. "Not urgently, but the mansion and school belong to Xavier. We've stayed because it made sense, and it still does for now." She crossed her arms. "Eventually, it would be good to have a place of our own."
"Ours," Rogue repeated thoughtfully. "How many bedrooms are we considering?"
Her question carried a hint of amusement, aware of its implications.
"As many as make sense when the time comes," Raven said. "Somewhere with land, outside the city, but accessible. A place where Jean could have her own space if she wanted to be nearby."
"You're already considering Jean in the design," Rogue observed, without criticism.
"I'm planning for the people we care about," Raven said. "That is what you do when you have a permanent home."
Ethan considered the idea of a future house in an undetermined location for people who had not yet all committed, and realised the thought did not intimidate him.
"Somewhere with a large garden," he said.
Rogue looked at him. "For your sunbathing," she teased.
"For the garden," he said.
"Sure," she said, smiling. "For the garden."
Raven sat on the bed, opened her notes, and began writing, her way of preserving important parts of the conversation before the night ended.
The night continued as usual, with Rogue's earlier comment about endurance remaining unresolved.
---
Later, in the quiet darkness, with all three settled:
Ethan reflected on William Stryker, likely still operating Weapon X in the Canadian Rockies, and the mutants were probably held captive there. He considered how straightforward tomorrow's task seemed.
Find the facility. Rescue the mutants. Address Stryker.
He had misjudged simplicity before, but tonight, with Raven and Rogue beside him, he allowed himself to believe tomorrow would be straightforward.
Sometimes things were.
He closed his eyes and waited for morning.