Years ago, Charles Xavier took the prodigal son of Howard Stark under his wing when taking full responsibility over the company X-Corporation. Through X-Corporation, the X-men were formed out of effort to save a world that hates and fears mutants. However, this does not mean that their accomplishments have come with ease.

Their first failure being the murdering of Candy Southern, the X-men found more successes in recruits such as Rogue, Storm and Doctor Cecilia Reyes. However, recently, they were faced with the challenge of being transported to the place known as the Savage Land by Magneto's Brotherhood, who had teamed up with the New York City Morlocks.

After having survived three weeks in the Savage Land, the X-men came even closer together as a family. However, they had one last mission, which was to rescue Matthew Risman who had been the main financial backer behind Obadiah Stane and Cameron Hodge, who had used the island of Genosha as a place for mutant slavery. Now, with Magneto in a private prison under SHIELD's custody, the governing of Genosha is bestowed over to his children, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

Issue 40: Holding onto Hope

Stark Pharmaceuticals – Warren's Office

A week after the X-men's mission on Genosha went by quickly, which meant that life had to go on as usual. For Warren Worthington III, he knew that it meant needing to get up every day and going to work.

Shortly after the mission on Genosha was over, the X-men were informed by SHIELD that Matthew Risman and Magneto had both been arrested. Now, Genosha was going to be ruled and governed by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Magneto was going to be in a plastic prison under custody of SHIELD. With Matthew Risman, he couldn't escape the justice system. With the help of Tony's lawyer, Matthew Risman got sent to Rikers Island in a cell right next to Obadiah Stane and Cameron Hodge for being the financial backer behind a project that led into the kidnapping and ruthless murdering of Candy Southern.

Sitting at his desk, Warren was on a phone conversation with his mother and father, discussing with them what was only going to happen further.

"So you and the X-men were in a place with actual dinosaurs for three weeks?" asked Warren's mother, Katherine.

"Yeah, Mom, but we survived that," Warren assured her.

"Well, we're glad that you're okay. So, what's going to happen next?" Warren Jr. asked his son.

"I'm putting all my focus now into Stark Pharmaceuticals and making sure that this company is profitable. This mutant-friendly medicine is only going to help further, especially for those who need it. All I can do is that," Warren replied back.

"Well, we're very proud of you and we're happy for you. And again, we're sorry that we . . ." his mother started to say.

"Mom, you and Dad have apologized so much; I actually believe it's genuine. You both have made up for a lot over these past few months, and it started with you, Dad, admitting that you screwed up and admitting to what you did. It was a big step for the both of you," Warren said. "Okay? And I appreciate that. But it's still going to take a while for me to trust the both of you completely one-hundred percent."

"We know, son," said Warren Junior. "Well, we'll leave you to get back to work. Good-bye, love you."

"Love you, too," Warren replied, hanging up the phone as he got up from his seat to stare out the window, reflecting on everything had happened over the course of the past five to six months or so.

Ever since the recruitment of Scott Summers, Jean Grey and Bobby Drake, Warren's life seemed to become a lot more full over time of him living at X-Corporation Tower. Years ago, he'd never thought he'd have another shot at having a family again. Now, after the recruitment of Rogue, Ororo Munroe and Cecilia Reyes, Warren's "family" had expanded more than he thought that it could.

'Who would have thought that I would have been able to have something like this six years ago after my parents had disowned me?' he mused as he stared at the New York City skyline. He grinned as he thought this. Turning his image inducer off, he allowed his wings to be exposed before jumping out of his large office windows. Just feeling the cool air hitting his face as he flew through the air never failed to bring Warren serenity; it brought him nothing but peace. Sure, Warren had the image of appearing to be a billionaire playboy, but, he also took pleasure of the simple things in life.

X-Corporation Tower – The Danger Room

Life for Logan "Wolverine" Howlett seemed to get easier as time went on, especially after having joined the X-men permanently.

After packing up his stuff and moving to X-Corporation, Logan found that transitioning from being with Alpha Flight to being with the X-men was as he easy as he thought that it would be. Plus, that also meant he could use the Danger Room for himself more often. However, that did not mean he was alone in there when he ran the Danger Room.

He found ever since moving, Scott "Cyclops" Summers, Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey, and Anna-Marie "Rogue" D'Ancanto were joining him more frequently in getting their workout in, much like how they were currently.

Logan was running a Danger Room session with Scott, Jean and Anna-Marie on a slightly more difficult level, knowing that Scott was insisting on a challenge. They had been in the session for nearly an hour, the scenario being set on Genosha.

"Wow, Scott . . . are you trying to kill me?" Jean asked as she dodged a century gun firing away at her.

"Seriously, sugah, did ya have to ask for this?" asked Anna-Marie.

"Quit complaining guys. After what we just did on Genosha, this should be a breeze in comparison," Scott said, firing an optic blast beam.

"Careful what ya wish for, kids," Logan said.

Finally, Rogue grabbed hold of Logan and threw him towards a canon, ultimately ending the session.

"Alright, good work, kids," Logan told them. "Go, scram."

Rogue proceeded to head off to hit the showers while Scott and Jean lingered behind, both panting for breath.

"I thought I told ya both to go," Logan told them.

"You don't control us," Jean pointed out, pulling her hair back.

"Touché," Logan said gruffly to her. "But, do not think that just because I am livin' here now with you runts that I will be softening on you guys."

"Yeah, very true," Scott said with a nod.

"But, Scooter, since you pretty much are our field leader, I'm gonna need ya to start organizing the sessions in the Danger Room," Logan told his student.

"If I start doing that, are you going to be happy about it, or are you going to be a control freak since you've been training me all these months?" Scott asked.

"We'll see, bub," Logan told him. "But, I trust ya, and I know what yer capable of, kid. I know yer gonna make the right choices. Now the both of you, get outta here, go."

The former living weapon watched as Scott and Jean exited the Danger Room together hand-in-hand. He didn't know exactly what was forming between his two students, but, from what Logan could sense, Scott and Jean have gotten closer. He internally smiled as he watched them; the both of them have come a long way from being two, undernourished, orphaned teens to two healthy; hard-working, responsible young adults. It was almost hard to believe how much the two of them had changed over the course of five to six months of just simply living at X-Corporation. Logan couldn't be prouder of the two of them.

Marsden Regional High School

'Wow, if my high school algebra is this complicated, I wonder how college math is gonna be,' Bobby Drake thought.

After nearly six months of living in Manhattan, it seemed as though Bobby's life had been turned upside down, as though somebody had flipped a table on him and he was still trying to turn it all back around. However, he also knew that with the school year nearly coming to a close, that he was looking forward to the summer more than anything else.

Bobby was sitting in his algebra class that he shared with Peter, trying his best to pay attention to the lecture that his teacher was giving the class. Ever since moving and transferring to Marsden Regional, Bobby's life seemed to be even more chaotic. This was especially after he had told the entire world that he was a mutant, and not just any mutant, but the Iceman of the X-men. After having done that publicly, he'd faced his share of backlash from students at school, in particular students like Duncan Matthews and Eugene "Flash" Thompson who made their hatred for mutants loud and clear. On top of that, Duncan's girlfriend, Taryn Fujiko, stuck by his side like she was glued there, and she was up his ass. It also did not help that his mother and father hadn't called him, even after he had come home from the Savage Land. That more than anything hurt; that his parents hadn't called him to ask him if he was alright.

"Pete, I swear to God, I love a good challenge with math, but, this is like college level stuff," said Bobby under his breath as he looked at the problem before him. It was inequalities . . . great, one thing that his old high school in Boston had never taught anybody at all.

"Just push through it, buddy," Peter said. "Who knows, maybe Mrs. Lee will give you a gold star on your final if you pass with an a hundred?"

"Oh shut the hell up," Bobby said with a roll of his eyes. "I love you, man, no homo even though I am gay. But I'm telling you if you say that to me again, I will put you on ice, in front of M.J just to see how she'll react. After all, she drools over you secretly."

Peter's ears went red at the mentioning of Mary-Jane having a crush on him. It was one thing that he could hardly believe at all, that Mary-Jane, his best friend and one of the most popular girls in his grade, liked him that way.

"Don't go there, or I will make some modifications to your yearbook picture," Peter threatened.

"Fuck you." Bobby glared jokingly at his friend, though a smirk made its way onto his lips.

The two boys proceeded to stay quiet for the rest of their math teacher's lecture until the end of class. Getting up from their seats, they went out into the halls so that they could head to their Biology class that they shared together. However, as they headed there, they could see Flash Thompson and Duncan Matthews harassing Johnny and Angelica in the hall.

"You've gotta be kidding me," hissed Peter in disgust towards Flash and Duncan as he overheard what the two jocks were saying towards his friends.

"Seriously, Storm, how could you be with a freak like this? I mean aside from the fact that you both are hotheads?" asked Duncan.

"Duncan, shut the hell up and back off! I'm done taking your bullshit!" Johnny said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I really feel like asking you what your IQ is, because I may have an IQ that's worthy of being flushed down the toilet, but, at least I'm not a total ignoramus."

"I don't know what the fuck that means, Storm, but, what I can tell you is that as far as I'm concerned, once you're associated with freaks, you're a freak," spat Flash.

"Oh for the love of God, Flash, I wouldn't waste too much time forming words. You might need it later on," Johnny quipped. "Besides, the more time you form words that actually would require thinking, which is probably too much for you and your walnut-sized brain to handle."

That was enough for Duncan and Flash to become more than a little bit pissed off, which lead to them tackling Johnny to the ground and beating on him. The sight of it was more than enough for his girlfriend, Angelica, to grow angry, her fists starting to form flames around them and flames starting to dance wildly off her hair. That was the moment she released a pyrokinetic blast of energy at Flash, his shirt catching on fire. Bobby went in, shooting a blast of ice at Flash's shirt to stop it from completely being submerged in flames.

"Angelica, chill out!" Bobby told her as Mary-Jane came over to see exactly what was happening. "Girl, are you out of your mind?"

"Stay the hell out of this, Drake, Parker, this doesn't concern either one of you two fags!" shouted Duncan.

Bobby flipped Duncan the bird, going over to pull Johnny to his feet. "Like you even know what that word means! That's an old-fashioned word for the word "stick." Besides, I'm above name-calling and insulting people like a little bitch, especially with the use of gay slurs!" he said calmly.

"He's right. Besides, Duncan, how's about you get out of here and leave Johnny and Angelica alone, no harm done?" Peter suggested calmly.

"How's about you get outta here before I shove my fist up your mouth, Parker?" spat Duncan. He balled his right hand into a fist, getting ready to throw a punch Peter's way.

"I don't wanna fight you, Duncan," Peter insisted, though he didn't seem as though he were about to crawl into a ball and be a coward.

"C'mon Duncan, stop it!" Mary-Jane said, exasperated as she watched Duncan throw a punch. However, what shocked her and everyone else watching was the fact that Peter, who typically was the one to get the living crap beaten out of him in two seconds flat, managed to dodge the punch. This just seemed to make Duncan angrier as Peter dodged yet another punch. When Duncan was about to run in to throw another punch, Peter somehow managed to avoid it by doing a backflip. Duncan finally seemed to give up after at least five minutes of making the attempt at beating Peter up, and he punched a locker door hard as a result, leaving a dent.

"This isn't over, Parker!" he yelled as he and Flash made their escape. It did not stop Johnny, Bobby, Angelica, and Mary-Jane from casting Peter mesmerized looks.

"Pete, dude, what the hell was that?" asked Johnny. "Because I have never seen you dodge a punch like that."

"It's nothing man. It's nothing," Peter insisted.

"Dude, ever since that exhibit with the radioactive spiders at Dr. Curt Connors' lab in Oscorp, you've been different," pointed out Johnny.

"I'm not different. How am I different?" Peter asked.

"Well, for starters, you're not wearing glasses anymore," Angelica pointed out as they all walked towards their respective classes.

"Dude, if you're sick, I can totally have my future brother-in-law run a couple blood tests on you. Are you burning up or something dude?" Johnny jokingly placed his hand against Peter's forehead.

"Wow, the hothead asking me if my temp is too high! That is so rich," Peter said with a shake of his head and a grin on his face.

"Touché," Mary-Jane said. "Now, let's get to class, and we can worry about this during lunch," she suggested.

"Agreed, thank you for ending the nonsense," said Angelica as she walked off towards her art class.

Lobdell Veterans Housing

"No more mutants! No more mutants! No more mutants!"

Lobdell Veterans Housing prided itself on being one of the many veterans' buildings in New York City; however, that moment in time, it was the location of a meeting currently taking place.

"No more mutants . . . no more mutants . . . no more mutants!" the crowd of at least forty-five men and women there chanted over and over, fists raised in the air in anger as they wore shirts and hats that read "FOH" on them.

"Kill every last one of the mutie freaks!" someone in the small crowd cried out.

"Muties go home!" another shouted in anger and hatred.

Taking the stage was their leader, Graydon Creed, who stood at the podium smiling at his followers with a bitter smile.

"Now, now, now, gentlemen, ladies," he said with a ruthless, cunning look in his eyes as he looked at everyone there.

"Creed, seriously?! You do know that we're at risk as long as muties are roaming free! Come on! Those X-men especially who had Matthew Risman and Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane arrested! For what? For trying to stop those freaks from destroying our country? Because from what I can tell, President Osborn isn't doing shit, and he claims he's on our side!" spat one of the followers.

"Now, now James, have some patience, my friend. I can almost promise you, that once the Friends of Humanity make their presence known to the country, the muties aren't even gonna wanna come out of their homes, including those Morlock freaks who think that they are too good to live on the surface world," said Creed calmly. "Believe me; we will take back the state of New York, and then the rest of the country! The world belongs to the humans, not the mutants. We will make that very, very clear, believe me."

Stark Tower – Tony's Office

The week following the return of the X-men should have been a week that brought Tony Stark some form of relief. However, he was shocked that he was still underneath a great deal of stress and that he was still drinking so heavily.

Tony knew that being a recovering alcoholic meant that he should not be drinking. However, the temptation was always there. It was the demon in the bottle. He couldn't stop himself from reaching for the closest bottle of liquor that he could find. However, what concerned him more was the fact that a couple weeks prior, he'd experienced severe chest pains when he had been in his office. At age thirty-five, he knew that at his age there were risks for heart condition. He just hoped that was not the case. He could not be the owner of X-Corp while dealing with health issues.

Sitting in his office, he was awaiting the arrival of Dr. Cecilia Reyes, the resident doctor of X-Corporation to come by with results. He had gone to her earlier that day, asking her about what was going on with him, and when he'd told Cecilia what had happened, she had been in shock over it.

Before Tony knew it, Cecilia appeared in his office, holding an iPad in her hands and wearing a look of dread on her face. Tony let out a sigh. He knew that the bad news was coming.

"Dr. Reyes?" he asked her, swallowing hard.

"Tony, you came to me earlier today asking me questions about the fact that you were experiencing chest pains at least a week or so ago. You did tell me that during the three weeks the X-men and I were missing in the Savage Land, you had been drinking a lot more excessively. I understand that you have been making the attempt at cutting cold turkey. But I've noticed just how frequently you have a drink," Cecilia said.

"What's the verdict, Doc?" Tony asked her. "Because I can tell that whatever it is that you have gotta say, I am not gonna like one bit of it."

"You're right, Tony. From what my data tells me, your excessive drinking has led to you beginning to develop heart arrhythmia," Cecilia said bluntly. "And at your age, that's not good. You're thirty-five. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to not just heart arrhythmia, but worse conditions later in life."

"So what you're saying is . . .?" Tony started to ask.

"From the looks of it, you're pretty damn close to having something worse. This explains why you've been having chest pains. You do know what this means for you, right?" Cecilia's voice was grim as she said what she said.

Tony nodded. Hearing that he had developed heart arrhythmia was something that scared him greatly. He knew what that meant. He knew that having that meant an irregular heart rhythm, panic attacks, and dizziness. When he'd passed out those couple weeks ago after drinking, he'd just assumed it meant that he had too much to drink. But, now that he knew what the case was, it scared him gravely.

"What I am saying, Tony is that you have got to stop drinking, or else, heart arrhythmia will be the least of your problems. So therefor, your only option is to stop drinking, or you will get sicker," Cecilia said sternly. "You better start getting serious about sobriety, or else, you know what will happen. Okay, I have to get back to work at X-Corp."

Tony nodded. "Bye, Doc," he said as he watched Cecilia leave.

'Shit,' he thought as Cecilia closed the door to his office. Looking at the half-empty bottle of vodka sitting on his desk, he closed his eyes, feeling the sickness pooling in his stomach as he swallowed hard. He knew exactly what this meant for him: it meant sober up, or die. The young, billionaire playboy released a breath he didn't even know that he was holding in. He reached over for a glass, contemplating taking a shot of whiskey, before deciding against it completely.

Washington, D.C SHIELD Base – Magneto's Prison Cell

'As if I didn't have any more reasons to lose my faith in humanity . . . this just gave me another reason.'

Sitting in his plastic prison in SHIELD's Washington, DC base, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr was staring at the television that he could see from where he was sitting. The news was replaying the same footage over and over: of the X-men being interviewed by the police after they had saved Matthew Risman. The master of magnetism felt nothing but bitterness. The fact that they had rescued Risman and threw him under the bus was something that he was hardly able to just get over. However, he was also hearing that Risman was in prison. But, that did not make up for what that monster had done to financially support Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane to illegally experiment on his people.

For the past week, Magneto had been in SHIELD's custody, and he was awaiting trial as they spoke. He knew that his trial would ultimately determine just how long he would be in SHIELD's custody. However, he also knew what his daughter and Mystique were capable of as far as handling affairs on the island of Genosha. He knew that with no doubt that Wanda had the charisma and the intelligence to govern the private nation for mutants.

The old Holocaust survivor had plenty of reasons to hold bitterness towards humanity, one of the many reasons being that he had lost his mother and father at the hands of merciless Nazis in a Poland concentration camp. He'd had to live in a ghetto while his mother and father suffered intense abuse that they tried to hide from him. But, Erik had seen it all. He'd watched as young, Jewish girls were raped mercilessly and then killed right in front of him. It finally came to a head when he was four, and his magnetism powers came earlier than anyone could ever expect. Being born during the Holocaust was something that would for sure scar any child for life. It had been a moment that shocked him to no end. Finally, he reached his adult years, and he met Charles Xavier at Oxford when he was in his fifties and they were both getting their degrees there. Magneto was considerably older, but, at the time he'd felt a deep kinship with Charles Xavier, leading to their friendship. But, their friendship had splintered after Erik had lost his wife, his beautiful Magda.

Erik closed his eyes as he heard footsteps approaching his cell. He could hear Clint Barton speaking to him.

"You have a visitor, Mr. Lehnsherr," he informed him. Erik opened his eyes to see Charles Xavier himself, sitting there in a plastic wheelchair with a plastic chess board in his lap. Clearly, his old friend was looking for a game of chess. Did it surprise Erik? No, not in the slightest.

"Charles," he whispered, shaking his head.

"Can we have a moment?" asked Charles to Clint.

Clint nodded, though he added to Magneto, "Do not try anything stupid," in a warning tone.

Erik sighed as Xavier came into the plastic prison, setting the chess board down on a table.

"Erik," he said.

"Charles," Erik said in reply. "I see you fancy a game. But I know you're also not just here for that," he added.

"Indeed, Erik," Charles said, starting the game. Being able to read Erik's mind to figure out what move he was going to make was something that he did dating back to their years at Oxford. "You know Erik, what it is that you are making the attempt at doing, it's not the way to go."

"How would you know, Charles? You wouldn't," the master of magnetism asked bitterly as they started their game of chess.

"I do know that you suffered, Magnus. But you must try to listen to reason, for once. How is what you're doing proving anything?" Charles moved his bishop over.

"You have got no idea what I had to suffer through, Charles. I've seen more suffering than you ever have in a lifetime. Just because you can look inside my head, it doesn't mean that you know how I feel," Erik said in a cynical tone. "Why do you continue to try and fight for peace when the world outright refuses to hear you?"

"For holding onto hope," Charles explained softly.

Erik let out a sigh as his cold eyes stared at his long-time friend. "It's been a while since I've played," he said, deciding to change the subject between the two of them.

A/N:

And that's a wrap! We are officially finished with Peace in Our Time volume 2! Thanks to all for reviewing and reading every week. This volume was quite a ride, bringing in characters like Cecilia Reyes and Rogue. It brought forth personal moments for characters such as Bobby, Warren, and Rogue. Volume 3 will be posted on the 26th of January, and character reflections for various characters featured in volume 2 will be posted throughout December and January. Volume 3 is one that is going to be especially exciting, and that one is going to be updated bi-monthly every two weeks, mostly because I want to treat it like a true comic book so that way, between volumes 3 and 4 I can do a Christmas special in between those two volumes. As much as I love posting weekly, I realized that I won't be able to do a Christmas special this year given the circumstances. Next year, the opportunity will allow it since I will be going back to bi-monthly updates. Keep an eye out for reflections that will be posted in December and January.

Volume 2 reflections will be posted in a little while!

I just want to also take the time to thank my co-author and mentor MarvelMaster616. Like with volume 1, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. Thank you for your endless support and being by my side via email through this process this past year. I couldn't have asked for a better friend to help me with this.

Also, be sure to go and check out my story The Evolution Project!

Excelsior muties! And have a good Thanksgiving!

DC-MarvelGirl 1997