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RATING: M (swearing, violence and death)

SUMMARY: While Alex and Andy settle into the mansion trouble appears on the horizon.

FEEDBACK: I'm always eager to hear your views so please contact me and let me know at tanyajoy74@hotmail.com

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have no medical background - unless you count having a nurse in the family. I have no idea whether the genetic information in this chapter is correct or not, but don't let that get in the way of a good story!

The first day at the mansion had passed quietly for Alexandra. No disasters had struck, and no vivid visions of chaos and mayhem had interrupted her day. It was too good to be true, and she knew it. Alex smiled ruefully to herself as Andy wandered into their room. You always gotta look for the down side, girl, don't you? She thought.

"So how was your day?" she asked her young charge as she changed into some sweatpants and a singlet for bed.

Andy about-faced quickly so he wouldn't see her undress. "It was great," he enthused. "Do you know there's a girl here who can walk through walls? How cool would that be?"

"Pretty cool, but what did you do today?"

"Well, I wrote some stuff in English and then we had Math, but that wasn't so good 'cause I hate Math, then some kids showed me about the place. Do you know they have stables here, they got horses and everything."

"You can turn around now." Alex slumped onto the big bed as she brushed out her hair. "Sounds like you had fun."

"Yeah." Andy kicked his shoes across the room and jumped onto the bed. "How about you?"

"Oh, well, I just hung around checking the place out. It seems okay, I guess, if you like the whole happy families routine."

"Huh?" Andy had pulled out some oversized pyjamas and was tugging his jumper off over his head. "Don't look."

"Nothing - just my cynical side rearing its ugly head," Alex said as she turned around.

"Whatever," came back the boy's muffled reply.

Alex turned on the bedside lamp before getting up to switch off the main light. "Don't forget to brush your teeth, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Andy finished undressing and wandered into the adjoining bathroom.

"I have to get you your own room; you're seriously cramping my style," Alex teased as she slid into her side of the bed. "There is no way I could bring a hot date home if you're here."

Andy turned off the bathroom light and made a flying leap for the bed. "Night," he said cheerfully as he snuggled down under the blankets.

"Night, Andy," Alex replied as she turned off the light.

"Hey Alex," Andy's voice spoke out in the darkness. "Miss Munroe said there's gonna be a big storm tonight. Do you like storms?"

"Love 'em, why?"

"Oh, I was just worried that you might insist that I gotta hug you, 'cause one of the boys said girls hate storms."

Alex laughed. "Well you can just tell your friend that lots of girls love a good storm. Now go to sleep."

Robert Dunn sat quietly in his office listening attentively to Doctor Lewis. The scientist began pacing back and forth while he explained the latest test results.

"I do believe I've found it, Mr. Dunn," Lewis said excitedly. "If these figures are correct, we can begin mass producing the serum straight away."

Dunn sat up in his chair and clasped his hands on the desk in front of him. "Have you tested it yet?"

"Not yet. I wanted to make sure before bringing it to you. It worked quite successfully on the chimpanzees, though."

"Time to put it to its intended purpose then." Dunn rose from behind his desk and moved towards Doctor Lewis. "Let's find us a mutant to try it out on, shall we?" He gestured towards the door. "Time to put the final stage of our plan into operation."

Martha walked out of Taffey's Bar into a light sprinkling of rain. She turned up the collar of her coat and headed towards the small car park situated nearby. At first glance she seemed like your average Asian woman in her late thirties. But her friends, of whom there were many, knew she wasn't average. Martha was a mutant. Her powers weren't apparent to a casual observer but they were there, and the men in the van nearby were aware of that.

Nigel looked up from a folder named 'Known Mutants' and turned towards the other three. "What about her?"

"Yeah, she's one of them," the driver muttered as he adjusted the focus on his video camera. "That whole place is full of 'em. Some sort of mutie coalition runs it," he sniffed in disgust. "A man can't even enter a bar these days without running into one of those things."

Nigel watched as the woman slowed down near a small red Beetle. "Then she'll do. All Dunn asked for was a mutant." He slid the door of the van open and turned to the driver. "Just make sure you get all of this on tape."

"You just get the woman, boss, I'll handle everything else," the driver sneered back.

Nigel mouthed some foul words to himself as he exited the van along with the other two men. "Let's do this quietly, boys," he commanded. "Don't want to attract attention and bring all of them out here. God only knows what they can do."

The two other men casually leaned against the van as Nigel walked towards Martha. "Excuse me, miss," he called out as he reached towards his right jacket pocket. "Can you help us? We seem to have a flat."

Martha opened the driver's side door before turning towards them, an inquisitive expression on her face. "Sorry?"

"Well, it's just that we don't have a jack handy and I heard you're really, really strong." Nigel stepped up close to the woman and drew a canister out of his pocket. Quick as a flash he sprayed liquid chloroform into her face.

Martha gasped and slumped against her car. The other two men moved forward and, picking her up between them lugged her back to the van.

Nigel turned to give a triumphant grin towards the cameraman. "Piece of cake," he announced with satisfaction. He turned back towards the Beetle and pulled out a small business card. He held it up under the light of a nearby streetlight before throwing it onto a seat and locking the car. "A job well done should always be signed," he said before returning to the others.

As he entered the van it started to pour.

Alex found herself in Xavier's office. How'd I get here? She wondered.

"He's coming for you, Alex." She turned around to find Andy sitting in the Professor's wheelchair. "He's coming for all of us," the little boy said quietly. He grabbed the toggle of the chair and maneuvered it towards the closed door. Just as Alex thought he would crash into the solid oak surface Andy passed right through, chair and all.

"Okay, now would be a good time to realise you're dreaming," she said to herself.

She opened the door and stepped outside. The place was silent, eerily so. There wasn't a hint that anyone else had ever lived here. A thick layer of dust covered the furniture and cobwebs hung on every surface. The phrase 'quiet as the grave' sprang to mind. Alex shivered violently.

"I knew it was too good to be true," she muttered as she began to walk down the hall.

The scene suddenly changed and Alex found she was back in that alley. A sharp metallic sound rang out. She turned to see Logan standing a few feet behind her, but he wasn't dressed as she would have expected him to be. He was wearing some sort of tight-fitting black leather costume, which, if she was being totally honest with herself, really made him look good. He gave her a feral grin.

"He is coming, you know," he spoke absently as he held up his fist in front of himself. Logan almost seemed to be admiring the moonlight as it glinted off his claws. "Do you think you're up to it?"

"Do I have a choice, and while we're at it, who the hell are you talking about?"

Logan retracted his claws and looked at her sternly. "You'd better be up for it or we're all dead."

A dark chuckle echoed behind her, further down in the alley. She spun about, the first icy fingers of fear crawling up her spine. Alex saw a cloaked figure standing in the shadows. It hadn't been there before and she knew from past experience that the alley was a dead-end. Where the hell had it come from? Of course this was a dream and anything could happen.

Turning back to Logan, she found herself all alone. "Oh great. Typical of a man to bugger off just when you need him."

The figure chuckled again, then spoke. "Do you think you of all people can stop me?"

Alex shivered at that voice. It spoke of death and decay, of the horrors that inhabited the deepest imaginations and hinted at the things that went bump in the night. This was the sort of voice that would make even Darth Vader think twice before turning out the lights. "Listen, pal, you have the wrong nightmare. I think you're looking for someone else."

"Alexandra Stringer," the voice replied. "You cannot stop me. I will destroy you all, every last one of you."

"Shit, he does mean me." Alex began too ever so quietly move backward towards the street.

The figure reached up and pulled back the hood it was wearing to reveal a skull. The jawbone dropped down and that voice issued out. "I will show you the power I possess. You cannot escape me. For it was foretold that I, and I alone, will destroy the scourge that crawls across the face of the planet. This plague that calls itself mutant."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Alex said with false bravado. She shook her head. "I don't believe I'm having this conversation. You're a nightmare, you don't really exist," she told the apparition. "Wake up!" she screamed at herself.

The skeleton, for she was sure that's what was hidden underneath the robe, chuckled. "You will leave only when I allow it."

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice quavering just slightly.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell them whatever you want, just let me go." Alex was beginning to become really scared. This might be just a dream, but it felt too real for her liking.

As if it had read her thoughts the figure gestured towards her and Alex found herself standing right in front of the skeleton. It grabbed her arm, its bony fingers digging into her skin. "A token of my affection," it hissed. "Something to remember me by." It dragged the tip of a finger bone down her arm, leaving behind a ragged gash.

"AH!" Alex snapped awake with a yelp of pain. She grabbed at her arm and was shocked to feel liquid on it. The iridescent numbers of the clock next to the bed read 2:27 A.M.

"Hn, wha?" Andy rolled over in the bed.

"Go back to sleep, it's nothing," she patted the boy. "Just a nightmare."

Alex staggered out of the bed and looked about her. She jumped at a sharp pattering noise, her hands flying to her chest. It took a few seconds for Alex to register that it was only the wind driving the rain against the window. Shaking her head, the young woman walked into the bathroom. Closing the door so as not to wake Andy, she switched on the light. There in the mirror Alex could see a deep scratch on her forearm, oozing blood.

"Oh my God," she said in shock. "It was real."

She riffled through the medicine cabinet searching for bandages. Alex noticed two full bottles of aspirin on the second shelf and absently wondered if Logan had been in her room to make sure she was adequately supplied. The closest she could find to bandages were some sticky Band-Aids with Garfield faces printed on them. Not exactly what she had in mind. She slipped back into the other room, pulled a clean handkerchief out of her jeans, and went through to the bathroom. After cleaning the wound as well as she could under the tap, Alex wrapped the hankie about her arm and used her teeth to knot it firmly.

"There," she told her reflection in the mirror. "That should do it. Now do you tell everyone that a skeleton from your dreams is planning on destroying the world as we know it? Or are you just going to chalk this one down to too much cheese before bedtime?"

Alex's reflection just stared back at her mutely.

"A fat lot of help you are," she grouched at herself. "Okay, if they ask me if I dreamt of anything bad, I'll tell 'em. Otherwise I'll just steer clear of dairy products after six from now on."

Alex returned to bed content to have reached some sort of decision - even if it didn't feel like the right one.

Dunn, Doctor Lewis, Nigel and a few assorted dignitaries stood around an examining table. Strapped to it was an unconscious Martha. The cameraman from the van adjusted his equipment as Lewis explained what they were attempting to do.

"For decades now we have known about the genetic code responsible for mutations. It exists in all life forms - that elusive factor that enables a species to adapt to its surroundings. The factor that aeons ago gave our ancestors the kick start to develop into Homo Sapiens."

"Yes, Lewis," Robert Dunn interrupted in a bored tone of voice. "We've all had to sit through our biology lessons too, you know."

Some of the sycophants present dutifully sniggered.

Lewis frowned before continuing. "Yes, well," he cleared his throat and absently straightened his tie. "What I, and my team, have done is developed a vaccine against this mutation."

A murmur of surprise swept the room.

"Are you trying to tell me, son," a swarthy middle-aged man asked, "that we can shield ourselves against the mutants?"

"Well you see, sir, my team has discovered the precise sections of the DNA code that activates at puberty to create mutants. What my vaccine does is attach itself to that particular gene sequence," Lewis explained. "We would be able to vaccinate adults, children, even new born babies. Then when the DNA becomes activated, usually during the teenage years, the vaccine will also activate and begin its assigned task. It will hunt down and destroy that marker. There is a small side affect though, in the process of attacking the targeted gene the vaccination does severely damage surrounding DNA and unfortunately this effectively kills the host." Lewis noted the worried looks on the men.

One of them shuffled his feet and spoke up. "I don't want to sound alarmist here but if everyone has this genetic mutation, won't your vaccine just kill all of us?"

"Not at all," Lewis said trying to calm the men. "We have noted that the latest mutations are a resulting activation of certain so called 'junk DNA'. The vaccine is designed to target that DNA in particular and none other. Anyone without the active code will be perfectly safe."

"No more mutants," Robert Dunn proclaimed happily. "And besides even if it did destroy mankind's ability to change, why should that worry us? We are made in God's image; are we not at our evolutionary peak? We do not need to change."

"And this vaccine of yours works?" an elderly man with a deep Southern accent asked, ignoring Dunn's sermon.

"In computer simulations and on chimpanzees with the activated code, yes," Lewis said.

"So what you're saying is mutant computers and chimps that glow in the dark are affected? What about humans?" Swarthy Man turned to acknowledge the chuckles around him.

"That's why we are here, gentlemen," Dunn spoke up. "Today is the first test on an actual mutant. Of course we knew you'd all want to be here to witness this historic occasion."

"And that's why you have that pipsqueak with the camera, I presume?" Swarthy Man said.

"Yes sir, Mr. Stringer," Dunn turned to speak to Swarthy Man. "This here moment will rival the first atomic explosion as the turning point in mankind's history."

"If it works," Stringer replied.

"Oh, it will work," Dunn said. He turned to the cameraman. "Are you ready?"

The cameraman gave Dunn the thumbs up.

"Now," Doctor Lewis wheeled a metal tray towards himself, on it was two syringes each filled with a pale gold liquid. "I have decided to inject the mutant plus a pure blooded human to ensure the vaccines safety. Of course I've decided to use myself as the test subject."

"You'll do no such thing," Dunn interrupted just as he and Lewis had carefully planned. "What if the vaccine is somehow faulty? If we lose you, Lewis, we lose all chance of defeating the mutants."

Lewis ducked his head in a humble gesture. "Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Dunn, but I'm sure my team could carry on if such a disaster occurred. Besides I have full faith in my work."

"Nonsense my good fellow," Dunn turned towards Nigel. "I'm sure one of our dedicated foot soldiers would gladly step in to help, right Nigel?"

Mystique, who was growing increasingly worried at this turn of events, snapped her head towards Robert Dunn. "What?" she said in her Nigel disguise. "Are you nuts? I hate needles."

The cameraman smirked as the room burst into laughter.

"Of course, Nigel," Dunn patted the man's arm in a condescending manner. "Why should you risk yourself? After all, men will only follow a leader if he proves himself brave enough to face his greatest fears. 'Never order your men to do something you are too afraid to do yourself', my father always told me." He began to roll up his sleeve.

Stringer moved forwards and gestured for Dunn to stop. "Your father was a God fearing man and we all miss him greatly, son." He unbuttoned his cuff and pulled up his sleeve. "But you're right. The leaders of this movement should show their faith in this here Doctor's work. Now I know I'm not a mutant," the group chuckled dutifully. "So do your worst, Lewis - poke me with your damn needles."

Dunn stepped back. This was going as exactly as he had planned. By making one of the Elders get involved, it not openly encouraged their commitment to the cause, but also elevated his standing in the group. That one of the Elders would be so inspired by his words to risk his life gladdened Dunn's heart. The small dig at Nigel's expense just sweetened the deal.

The room tensed as Lewis carefully swabbed Mr. Stringer's arm. Gently, Lewis injected him with the vaccine. Lewis then carefully covered the puncture with a surgical bandage, instructing the man to keep his arm elevated. He then picked up the other syringe and, without any regard for the unconscious woman's health or safety, plunged the needle into the mutant's neck.

"How long will it take?" Old Southern Accent asked.

The symptoms will take only a few minutes to manifest," Lewis said. "This vaccine is extremely effective."

A heavy silence filled the room as the group waited impatiently. Several minutes passed before Martha suddenly jerked. This startled those present. They all took a few steps backwards. Martha's body seemed to tense up and then she started convulsing.

"So far so good," Lewis spoke out. "This is following exactly the same pattern as the chimpanzees."

A small trickle of blood began to ooze from the unconscious woman's nose, and if it hadn't been for the straps that were holding her down, she would have thrown herself off the metal bed with the strength of her actions.

Blood was now gushing from Martha and every time she jerked, the bright ruby liquid splattered across the room. A small fussy looking man found that he had to remove his glasses when stray drops started landing on the bifocals.

Several of the men were turning green, now, as they looked on in horror at the thrashing mutant. The woman's movements became punctuated by almost animal grunts as her face contorted, lips peeling back to reveal bloodstained teeth.

Finally, after almost ten minutes, the woman's movements began to slow. Her breathing turned more ragged while the blood from her nose thickened up and began clotting. Three more slow minutes passed. Then Martha - mother, lover and a friend to many - took one final heaving breath and died.

Dunn was the first one to speak. After clearing his throat, he turned to Mr. Stringer and said with false cheerfulness. "So how are you feeling, sir?"

His words broke the eerie tension that had filled the room. The men present took the opportunity to move about and quietly speak to each other.

"Just fine and dandy, thank you," Stringer replied. "Would it be safe to say the experiment was a success?"

"I say," Old Southern Accent said.

Mystique stood there staring at the Martha's corpse, not listening to the men's chatter. Now she knew what Dunn and the PHL were up to. She shuddered. If these bastards were planning on mass-producing this so called vaccine and releasing it on an unsuspecting public, then as much as it pained her, she'd have to tell someone. And the only person she could think of was that damned Xavier.

"Nigel!" Mystique blinked and looked up, realising just where she was. Dunn spoke to her again. "I said help Lewis set up for an autopsy and then, when he's finished, dump the thing somewhere where it will be hard to find. I don't want them to learn the nature of their demise just yet."

Alex successfully avoided any chance of dreams popping into a conversation by skipping breakfast altogether. Instead she decided that a quick walk would clear the cobwebs from her brain. Besides in the warmth of the sun any dream, nightmare or otherwise, shouldn't seem that bad. She shivered, as she took the path back towards the mansion. That hadn't been an average dream even by her standards.

Alex successfully avoided meeting anyone as she walked through the stables before detouring through the kitchen for a quick raid. Snatching an apple and some cheese she made a dash for her room. Unfortunately, for her, Alex ran into a certain Canadian on the way.

Logan took in her flushed face, the warm jacket Alex had donned against the morning chill and the damp hems of her jeans. "Been out hiking I see."

"Yeah, building up an appetite and all that," Alex popped some cheese into her mouth and chewed vigorously. "Guess it worked. Well, I gotta go," she tried edging past him.

"Any dreams last night?" he asked.

Alex swallowed the last of the cheese, hard. "Um, no." she lied. "You?"

"Only the usual," Logan looked at her closely. "Nuthin' you'd want to hear."

"That's right," Alex said. "Keep your dreams to yourself. Look, I'm going to duck out for a few hours. Tell Andy I'll be back later tonight."

Logan folded his arms as Alex sidled past him. "'Bout time you moved that rust-bucket from the front. The kids have been complaining that it's bringing the tone of the place down."

"Oh just wait a damn minute," Alex spun around. "First of all there isn't a speck of rust on her and second of all...." She thought furiously. "I don't have a second of all, but if I did it would be sharp and scathing."

Logan smirked and was about to answer when two sharp beeps emanated from Alex's jacket causing her to dig into a pocket. She pulled out a handful of lint, candy wrappers and a pager.

"Batman demanding his car back?" Logan said sarcastically.

"Only way he'd get it is if its George Clooney asking," Alex replied absently.

The pager message simply said 'Call Paul URGENTLY.'

"Where's the phone?" she asked dropping her apple into another pocket.

"Should be one in the TV room, I'll show you," Logan started walking back down the hall.

"You know you could just tell me."

"Nah," Logan said to her over his shoulder. "I was looking for something to do. Guess you're it."

"Gee, a girl could take that comment so many ways."

"Really? How many ways were you thinking of?"

They had reached the TV room at this stage so Alex decided to drop the flirting and instead started to look for the phone. Since it seemed the fun was over, Logan picked up the remote and started to channel surf.

"There you are!"

The stocky Canadian growled to himself and, forcing a bored expression onto his face, turned around to confront Scott. He had hoped to avoid the little upstart this morning. "Yeah?" Logan drawled.

"Where is my bike?" Scott demanded.

Logan briefly contemplated re-enacting his 'patting the pockets' routine that had won such critical acclaim two nights ago but decided against it. "I told ya it's in a safe place."

"Well maybe I don't believe you," Scott poked Logan in the chest. "Because your idea of a safe place would be to pawn it for beer money."

Logan slapped Scott's hand away and stepped up close to the young man so they were now practically nose to nose. "How'd ya guess?" he snarled.

"Oh for fucks sake! Why don't you both whip them out so we can find out whose is the biggest once and for all."

Both men looked at Alex.

"Now do you mind?" She indicated the receiver in her hand. "I'm trying to make a phone call."

Alex punched in her friend's phone number and waited. "Hey Paul it's . . ." She pulled the phone away from her ear and frowned at it. "It's the answering machine." Alex scrunched her nose. "I hate it when that happens. I feel like a dick."

"You do?" Logan looked on interestedly. "What, right now?"

"Not yours, dear," Alex snapped back.

"I just would like to say for the record that I'm rolling my eyes at you two," Scott said.

"Would you prefer it if I was chatting up your girl?" Logan smirked at the other man.

Scott looked back down the hall towards the classrooms where he knew Jean was teaching. "You're right. I wish you both the best and I hope the wedding is lovely."

Alex turned her back on the insane conversation and spoke into the receiver. "Paul, its Alex.. Stop screening your calls and pick up." She waited a few seconds before continuing. "Right, I guess you're out. I have my cell phone with me - no, wait, scratch that. I'm coming into town. I'll drop by Taffey's and, if you're not there, I'll call into your other work and find out what's so damn important. See ya."

She hung up and turned to the two men.

"What's going on?" Scott asked.

Alex shrugged. "Beats me but I'm going into town for a bit."

"I'll come with you," Logan spoke up. "You can find out what's going on and I can collect 'pain in the ass' here's bike."

"Good idea," Scott said before Alex could think up a reason to object. "I'll let the Professor know what's going on. Just make sure you get back before dark this time."

Alex flipped Scott a salute. "Yes, sir." She looked in Logan's direction as the visored mutant moved towards the door. "Just who does he think he is?" she stage whispered, indicating Scott.

"Oh he just thinks he's the leader of -"

"Logan." Scott snapped as he turned around. The group had decided the night before that they would keep their extra-curricular activities a secret from Alex until they knew exactly how she would react.

"- The Scooby Doo gang," Logan finished, giving Scott a 'what kinda moron do you think I am?' look.

"You people are just too weird," Alex shook her head in disgust. She pulled her car keys out of a pocket. "Are you coming or what?" she asked Logan.

"Or what. And give me those keys I'm driving."

"When hell freezes over." She brushed past the men and quickly ducked out the door.

Logan just rolled his eyes and muttered. "Women."

è CHAPTER FOUR