A/N: If anyone hasn't seen the new Wolverine movie, go watch it now! It's what inspired me to write this chapter. There's a huge surprise at the end of the movie that can't be missed! Also, I finally got a beta, so many thanks to BlackSaphirax!

Happy Reading :) Comments, suggestions, and reviews are greatly appreciated!

"Won't someone just come and take my heart, and tear it apart?"

"Kennedy Curse" The Maine

"They've destroyed the bridge." Ororo announced steadily, receiving the information from the headset in her ear. Someone from the school must have contacted her after seeing it on the news. "They'll be going after the boy next."

"We have to be ready." Rogue muttered, her eyes meeting Piotr's from where he sat across from her.

They had only recently found out about a boy in California who had a very unique mutation: he negated the abilities of any mutant that got close enough to him. The boy was being kept in an undisclosed and safe location, but Magneto had apparently discovered his whereabouts. In Magneto's eyes, this boy's powerful mutation posed a threat to mutants everywhere. Suddenly, there was a way to strip mutants of their powers, and this scared Magneto to his core. Rogue knew from experience that nothing would stop Magneto from his misguided quest against humankind, even if both sides suffered countless casualties. She had been on the wrong end of that deal back then, too.

"Going into stealth mode." Storm said, and the jet immediately became invisible as they descended on the scene of the battle.

Somewhere from the back of the plane, Rogue heard Kitty gasp in sheer surprise and fear at what she saw. Armed soldiers were lined up around the facility, protecting the boy and their source of the cure. Even though these humans were all heavily armed, they still seemed daunted by the sheer number of powerful mutants Magneto had at his disposal.

"Rogue, I'll need you to take control of the jet and land it a safe distance away from the combat area."

Immediately, Rogue moved to the front of the plane and took Ororo's spot at the controls. The dark skinned mutant stood and addressed the group, standing tall. "We have to protect the boy at all costs. Anyone who stands in our way is a threat. Magneto started this war, it's time we finish it."

As she exited the hovering jet, lightning sparked at her fingertips and striking the ground around her dramatically. The humans stared at her in awe, their cure armed guns raised up warily. The rest of the X-men followed quickly after her.

With a farewell nod in Rogue's direction, Piotr jumped from the lowered aircraft and landed crouched on the ground, his metal skin protecting him from the fall.

Nightcrawler deftly teleported himself and Jubilee directly right under where Ororo levitated midair.

Bobby grabbed Kitty's hand reassuringly and the two exited the jet, her mutation allowing them to fall straight to the ground unharmed.

Uncharacteristically serious, Remy slipped out of the aircraft next, his eyes glowing red as he landed with his trademark staff in hand.

Logan hesitated at the edge of the jet door, glancing back at Marie for a split second, his face grave and pensive.

"Go on then." Marie urged, grinning wryly at her friend. "I'll catch up with you." She'd follow him anywhere.

The feral let out a laugh of disbelief, staring at the smiling girl, before his eyes hardened in determination. Then, he was storming towards her. He stopped next to her pilots seat at the helm of the jet, his large form looming over her even as he leaned forward, bracing himself with one hand on the armrest of her seat. The fingers of his free hand trailed across her cheek gently, as they slipped down to cradled her neck before his grip tightened, hauling her roughly towards him. Marie let out a startled gasp as his lips pressed to hers in a bruising, yet chaste kiss. With his close proximity, she felt the heat from his hand on her neck and the sheer strength he seemed to radiate and shivered slightly, pressing back into his lips.

And then he was pulling back, his forehead pressed intimately to hers.

"I just had to do that before I lost the chance." he breathed, his voice a faint growl. His amber eyes were more wild and intense than she had ever seen.

The next moment Logan was gone, the familiar sound of his claws unsheathing the last thing she heard. Suddenly, the jet felt far to quiet.

Marie took a deep breath to refocus herself on the mission and flew the jet to a vacant field half a mile from the battle. Moving quickly, she ran through the trees, dodging branches as she swiftly covered the distance between herself and her team.

Despite not having her mutation back, the ones she had taken from other mutants had fully returned. So, Marie's skin remained remarkably touchable and everyone stayed oblivious to it. Except Logan, of course.

Without her consent, Marie's thoughts drifted back to him, her face warming at the memory of what happened in the jet. She wasn't sure of his reasoning behind the kiss: whether it was just because they were about to fight for their lives, or because her feelings for him weren't completely unrequited, but it was Logan. She was just undeniably happy that he kissed her at all, even if it was a one-time thing.

A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth, and Marie mentally berated herself, wiping the elated look off her face. This was not the time to fixate on her emotions. She was in a war. She needed to focus on the fight ahead. With that thought, she breathed deep, a grim look appearing on her features as she approached the scene of the battle.

Rogue caught up with her fellow X-men and surveyed the battle going on in front of her. Her eyes locked on Storm, who swiftly recovered after a heavily tattooed mutant jumped from a ledge and tackled her midair. Gambit was throwing energy charged playing cards at his opponents, the glowing pink cards exploding on impact. Gambit, upon seeing he had her attention, sent her a smug wink.

Rolling her eyes, Rogue quickly joined into the fray, using the super strength she had taken from Carol Danvers to take out multiple mutants. Just as Rogue delivered a devastating kick to one of Magneto's followers, sending his unconscious form slamming into a wall, she heard Logan agitatedly calling for Kitty.

Rogue turned just in time to see Shadowcat run straight through the side of the facility, chasing after a giant mutant that was smashing clean through the wall. He's going after the boy with the cure. Immediately, Rogue took to the air, not hesitating to fly through the building's entrance.

Piotr saw Marie fly inside out the corner of his eye. Punching the enemy in front of him, he gritted his teeth in worry and frustration at not being able to help her. There were just too many of them out there to face. He couldn't possibly leave his teammates to chase after his best friend. So, he would just have to trust in Marie's abilities. That didn't stop Piotr from channeling all his frustration into his opponents, smashed his fist into a mutant, immediately knocking him out cold, just to have another mutant take its' place immediately.

Oblivious to Rogue's entry into the fight, Wolverine sliced clean through a mutant, only to witness the man's limbs grow back immediately. The second it took him to get over his surprise, allowed for the mutant to punch Logan across the face. Now, he was pissed. He slid his claws through the mutant again, only to watch his arms reform a second time, looking almost jelly-like. Growling in annoyance, Wolverine kneed the mutant in the groin, sending him sprawling across the ground in pain.

"Try and grow those back." he scoffed, moving on to the next opponent.

Katherine Pride ran through the building, following the loud sounds of crashing and chaos. It seemed the other mutant had no problem running through walls either. Finally catching up to him, she grabbed onto the massive mutant and pulled him halfway through the floor before stopping. Feeling pretty good about successfully trapping him in the floor, she froze in shock when he smashed his fists against the ground, sending himself falling to the floor below. Then he continued his pursuit towards the center of the building. Towards the cure.

Groaning in frustration, Shadowcat passed through the ground after him, determined to protect the child at all costs.

She slipped past the giant, sprinting as fast as she could. She needed to get there first. She had to protect the child. He didn't have a choice in what he was, just like the rest of them. She was going to help him, no matter the costs.

Finally, she entered a room and saw a young boy clothed in all white huddled in the corner of the room, his blue eyes wide with fear.

"It's okay, I'm here to help." she said softly, holding her hands out to him, attempting to calm him. "Let's get out of here, okay?" she said, smiling.

Grabbing his hand, she turned to go through the wall, only to find her mutation not working. She slapped her hand against it in disbelief. "What's happening?" she asked, frightened.

"Your mutation won't work around me." he sighed, his light eyes somber and almost apologetic.

Loud crashes came from the other side of the room, sounding closer with each passing second. The whole room seemed to vibrate with each footstep, and the lights flickered ominously.

"This way." Kitty said, pulling him through the doorway to the room and taking off away from the destructive mutant that was after them.

As they ran down the hallway, Kitty caught sight of her friend and sighed in relief. She was grateful to get help, the responsibility heavy on her shoulders. The guy could break through buildings without even receiving a scratch, for crying out loud. That's terrifying to be chased by.

Rogue grinned at the sight of her teammate and the boy running by her side. As she flew towards them, Marie suddenly found herself descending from the air and shifted to land on her feet without stumbling, despite the abrupt loss of her powers.

"Our mutations are repressed around him." Kitty explained, her eyes flashing to Marie's gloves hands for a split second.

"Where's the giant-" Rogue started, before being interrupted when someone smashed through the wall a few doors down the hallway from them, causing debris to fly everywhere.

"You guys go. I'll slow him down." Rogue ordered, slipping into fighting stance.

A look of understanding passed between the two girls, before the shorter one continued down the hallway with the boy.

"You picked the wrong guy to run from." The mutant said confidently, clearly underestimating the brunette in front of him. He was twice as tall as Rogue and at least four times her weight. He had a thick stone helmet on his head, and a leather and metal vest covering his torso and bulging arms.

"Who's running?" Rogue replied cockily, flashing a smile, tensing in anticipation.

With an aggressive yell, the giant man came running towards her, head lowered to barrel straight through Rogue. Her muscles coiled, she waited until the last moment before leaping, flipping over him midair, and landing deftly on her feet. She watched as his momentum brought him straight through the closed elevator doors. Then he fell straight down the elevator shaft, crash-landing fifteen floors below.

"That ought to slow him down a bit."

From where he stood, Magneto could survey the battle as it was fought in front of him. His icy blue eyes watched as Ororo Munroe shot numerous bolts of lightning at Calypso, effectively knocking her out cold. Near by, a strange blue mutant teleported his mutants into the sky, sending them careening back towards the ground towards their death. The Wolverine was slicing through his enemies as if it were child's play, taking out numerous opponents at a time.

"It's time to end this war." He stated before levitating a car into the air, and letting it hover next to where he and Pyro stood alone.

Immediately, Pyro lit the car ablaze, and watched as it careened towards everyone: mutants and humans alike.

Chaos erupted on the battlefield as flaming cars exploded onto the ground, and people attempted to escape a fiery death from above.

Logan quickly took cover behind one of the few cars that weren't on fire along with Storm, Jubilee, and Bobby. His eyes caught sight of something glinting on the ground near them. Grabbing it, he found it was ammo from one of the cure filled guns. Four syringe needles lay in his hand, filled with the cure to any mutation. And possibly the answer to their predicament.

Logan's eyes locked with Storms, and they took a few seconds to make a crucial decision that could change everything.

"The best defense is a good offense." Storm offered up, repeating Logan's words from a few days prior.

Nodding in understanding, Logan turned to Bobby. "Think you can take care of your old friend?"

Bobby nodded in affirmation, a rush of pride that Logan of all people had faith in him. The two of them had never really gotten along, but he had always admired the older mutant. He was a damn good fighter, and really seemed to care for Rogue. Even though Bobby was no longer interested in Rogue, he still cared about her. She had been through so much and deserved to be happy.

Standing from where he had been crouched in hiding, Iceman stepped out into the crossfire and sent bursts of ice towards two of the flaming cars. It was time he faced his former friend.

Magneto scowled in displeasure as he watched one of the X-Men freeze one of the cars Pyro had lit, ruining his plan for victory.

"Handle it." He ordered Pyro, oblivious to the boy's inner turmoil.

It was almost poetic. The two blondes had been close friends for so long, and now everything had changed. They had always been polar opposites; Bobby was collected, responsible, and a decent student. John was a rebel, quick-tempered, and never seemed able to follow the rules. It was only fitting that their elemental abilities were counterparts as well. As different as fire and ice. And now they were set against each other.

Iceman and Pyro came to stand facing each other, a good distance apart. Almost in tandem, the two sent blasts of their individual element at the other. Fire sparked in John's hands before shooting out and meeting the ice Bobby sent. The two elements met in the middle, and waves of steam rose up as the fire and ice clashed.

Gritting his teeth in concentration, Pyro pushed the flames to overcome his opponent's element, and was able to slowly approach him. Then, Bobby was engulfed in a wave of fire, and immediately covered himself in a layer of frost to protect himself from the deadly flames licking heat at his skin.

"You should've stayed back at school Bobby." John said warily, his eyes tight with tension. He needed to win. He needed to be right.

Bobby shook his head. Breaking free from the onslaught of fire, Bobby head-butt John, knocking him out, his ice-form protecting him from the fire.

"And you should never have left."

A/N: Thanks for reading!