ISSUE #15

Ian survived the bombardment from, Ajax and Kimura, using the gravel to hide from their eyes. He moved quietly, and slowly, so that they couldn't see him and eventually he found a small river. His anger started to vanish, his fight or flight instincts resided and finally he just gave out. He collapsed to the ground, tired. His body aching and bleeding from the .50 cal bullets that hit him. He fell face first into the water and was slowly pulled along it.

More than four hours later, after a much-needed rest, Ian awoke to find himself in the San Francisco Bay, floating just below the golden gate bridge.

Ian was floating still, in quiet, and slumber, and was gently placed on the shore, by the waves. He rested there, just lying on the beach until finally he began to awake.

" Huh? Where am I?" Ian asked. He sat up and looked around at his environment. Trying to figure out where he was or what had happened since his black out. He didn't know where he was, but when he looked up and saw the bridge, he realized it.

" I'm in San Francisco! I'm free!" Ian exclaimed. He looked down at his hands and started laughing, frantically. The fact he was finally free, hit him like hurricane. He laughed hard and long and cried.

" I can't believe it. Wait... I'm in San Francisco. What happened... How did I get here?" Ian asked himself. He was trying to piece together what had happened for him to escape from his captors. " I... I think, I remember running and then an explosion..." Ian thought hard about what had happened. " I was hurt by the bullets. They injected me with.... Something. I can feel it. I feel heavy and my hands.... They feel like they're creaking. There's something inside me." Ian spoke. He placed his hand on the ground to try and push himself up and he accidentally cracked the ground. " Whoa!" Ian exclaimed. He looked at the dent he made and marveled at it. " How strong am I?" Ian asked himself. " It doesn't matter. I need to find a phone. I can't let them find me again." Ian got to his feet, stumbling to keep his balance and walked up the sandy path towards the city.

Ian crawled up from the shoreline and onto the grass of someone's lawn.

" Help! Help me!" Ian shouted as loud as he could.

An old man, who happened to be mowing his lawn, heard Ian shouting and came around to the back of his house to see the boy, on his knees panting hard.

" Hey! Hey boy, are you alright?!" The old man asked. He ran up to Ian's side and wrapped an arm around the boy.

" They... Took me." Ian spoke.

" Who did? Who took you son?" The man asked.

" I don't know, just some people. They kidnapped me." Ian told the man. " But I managed to get free."

" Well, good." The man replied. He helped Ian to his feet. " Come on, inside son. I've got some clothes you can wear." The man said to Ian.

Ian was relieved to have run into someone nice enough to help him. He felt like his problems were finally over.

Once inside, the old man helped Ian into the shower and cleaned him off, since Ian was still too weak to carry himself. Afterwards he helped Ian out of the tub and even helped him change clothes.

" They must have done a real number on ya, son? How did ya end up in the bay?" The man asked as he placed a plate down in front of Ian.

" I escaped, I collapsed in a river, and I guess, I was carried all the way out here." Ian told the man

" River? The nearest rive is in the canyons north of the Petaluma River. You're lucky to be alive son. What's your name?" The man asked.

" Ian... Ian Sinclair." Ian told the man. He didn't want to be rude. This man stopped what he was doing and helped Ian. The least he could do was tell him his name.

" Ian, huh. Well, Ian my name's David. I used to be a lieutenant in the police department. I'm gonna get you some help son. I've already notified the police and they'll be sending a unit over to us. I want you to tell them what you told me OKAY. We'll get the people who took you and get ya home safe."

" Thank you, sir. I... I really appreciate it." Ian replied.

" No problem son. You know, I've seen my fair share of kidnapping cases over the years, but this is the first time..."

* Crack!

The window to the backyard shattered and the old man suddenly jerked forward.

Ian stared at the man in shock as the two of them realize what just happened. David had been shot

David looked up at Ian and then was hit once again right through his skull.

Ian jumped to his feet and saw a black Helicopter in the distance. He hoped to his feet and flipped the table over.

" We found Weapon Thirty. He just killed an old man." Kimura spoke. She continued looking through a scope from the distance, trying to find a shot.

Meanwhile, Ian was searching for a way out.

He crawled up to the old man's body.

" I'm sorry I brought this on you sir. I'm so sorry. I promise... I don't know how, but I'll make this right. If not today, then someday." Ian spoke. He reached into the old man's pocket and searched for his keys. Ian grabbed them and then bolted out of the house's front door. When he got outside, he was hoping to see a car, but there was nothing there. " What the hell?" Ian asked. He looked around and saw that there was a garage. He ran towards the garage and forced the door open. Inside he saw a black 97 dodge charger.

Ian quickly opened the door to the car and started it up.

" No time like the present to learn right?" Ian joked. " I'm sorry David. I really am." Ian pressed his foot on the gas pedal and floored the car right out of the garage and into the street. " OKAY WE'RE DRIVING!" Ian shouted.

The moment, Ian exited the garage the chopper opened fire on the car, tearing through the streets, and homes of the city. The Carnage and hysteria, caused by the Facility alerted the authorities immediately to what was going on.

" I can't believe these guys! They'd do this in broad day light to get me! These people are insane!" Ian exclaimed. " How did they even find me?" Ian asked himself. He then remembered the clothes he was wearing were given to him by the facility. " They must have planted a tracker in my underwear... But why did it take them so long to find me? Shouldn't they have been able to follow me? I need to find a phone. Damn, I didn't think to see if David had one! Fuck!" Ian cursed. Ian did his best to avoid the barrage of gun fire from the Heli, driving like a mad man through the streets of San Francisco.

Meanwhile across the country in New York A group of students from Xaviers were watching the news.

" So, what's on the news today? How are they planning to kill us now?" Julian asked.

" Ugh! Do you always have to be such an ass, Julian?" Noriko asked the boy. She had always hated Julian's guts.

" Shut up, Nori." Julian replied.

" Shhh hey guys do you see that!?" Megan asked. She pointed to the tv.

Nori and Julian both turned towards the screen and started reading the tag line.

" Murder in the streets. Chaos erupts in San Francisco.

" Yes, folks. We are getting reports from San Francisco, a helicopter armed with machine guns and rockets is currently chasing a black 97 dodge charger through the streets. Hold up, I have news that we have an image of the driver of the black charger taken by one of the nearby news carriers." The news lady spoke. A blown-up image of the charger appeared on the screen. " And here we have what appears to be a young man, driving the charger..."

" No way, that looks just like..." Julian started

" IAN!" All three of them shouted Ian's name at once.

" Megan, pause the tv. I'm going to get Someone!" Noriko shouted. She got up from the chair and sped off towards Scott's office in a burst of electricity.

Noriko burst into Scott's office while the teachers were having a meeting.

Scott, Kurt, Gambit, Rogue, Dani, Xian, Logan, Emma, Hank, Bobby, and Logan all jumped as the girl burst in.

" Jesus, Noriko. You scared the hell out of me!" Logan exclaimed.

" Noriko, what are you doing, bursting in here. We're having a meeting right now." Scott asked the girl.

" Mr. Summers, you guys need to see the news. Now!" Noriko exclaimed She was breathless as she had exerted all her energy running as fast as she could.

" What is it, girl? Just spit it out." Emma spoke. " We don't have time for games."

" It's Ian!" Noriko stated.

" What?" Logan asked. He hopped to his feet and approached Noriko. " What about him?"

" He's in San Francisco. Some guys are chasing him through city." Noriko explained.

" Scott, get the black bird ready now!" Logan yelled.

" You heard the man, everyone get to the jet, now!" Scott yelled.

Neither of them wanted to miss this chance. They had spent so long looking for Ian, but Weapon X had always been good at avoiding telepaths. They had all but given up hope of finding the boy alive, but now that there was a chance no one was gonna waste it.

Every single teacher, except for Emma who and Hank, who were staying behind to use Cerebra downed their gear and boarded the X-Jet and took off for San Francisco. at the fastest speed, it would take them an hour to get to San Francisco from New York. They were hoping, whatever Ian had gone through that he could stay alive for an hour. Because San Francisco was home to many of the X-Men's enemies. The friends of humanity, the U-men and more.

" Come on, kid. I thought you were gone. I need ya to stay alive!"

Across the city, in Manchester.

" And here we have an image of a teenager driving the charger in pursuit. We are still waiting on authorities to identify just what is happening. We will get back to you once we have more to inform you of."

" Och, Ian. Wha' have ye done?!" Rahne asked. It had been a whole month since her date with Ian. She had thought Ian had ghosted her and was hurt more than ever. But seeing him on the news now, being shot at worried her.

Back in San Francisco, Ian was still evading Kimura and her men. He had to ditch the car and hop on foot, to avoid being shot at more by the copter.

Ian ducked into an abandoned building to try and bunker down and hide. Ian crouched down behind a dusty bar, sliding against the backwall and onto the floor.

" Fuck me." Ian cursed.

' Well, no Mr. Sinclair that is highly unlikely.'

" Hey, wait... Who just said that?" Ian asked.

' I know it's been a while, but I hope you haven't forgotten who I am, Mr. Sinclair.'

" Miss Frost?"

' The one and only. Now, my dear boy, who is chasing you?' Emma asked

" I don't know what they're called exactly, but I know that one of the ladies calls herself Kimura." Ian replied.

' Oh dear.' Emma replied.

" Miss Frost, I need yuir help. I really do. They hurt me. They hurt me bad." Ian told the woman.

' I can see your memories, Ian. I am so sorry for allowing this to happen to you. Don't worry, Logan and Scott are on their way with help. Just try to stay alive for as long as possible. I'll be with you every step of the way.' Emma told the boy.

" I'm gonna try, Miss Frost. Just don't leave me." Ian replied.

' I'm not dear boy. I'm right with you.' Though she'd never show it, Emma always had a soft spot for her students. She had always only wanted what was best for them and to protect them. She'll always regard the death of her Hellions as her greatest failure. Emma the stone hearted ice queen, shed a tear as she relived the images of Ian's torture.

" What is it, Emma?" Hank asked.

" So, much pain, Hank. So, much pain." Emma replied.

' Miss Frost are you there?' Ian asked.

' Of course, Ian. What is it?' Emma asked.

' I think those guys found me.' Ian spoke.

' Stay low, Ian. Try to hide. Only defend yourself if you need too. I'm gonna try and reach into help you as much as possible. But if worse comes to worst, I need you to defend yourself.' Emma explained.

' I don't know, Miss Frost. This isn't a danger room session. These are real men.' Ian explained.

' I know. But they are going to kill you boy. I know what they made you do, and I know you hate it so much... but this is our world, Ian. You need to be a man now. I'm sorry to ask you this, Ian. I really am. But I need you to do whatever it takes to stay alive, even if you have to kill them. I know, it's a horrible thing for me of all people to ask you to do after I preached to all of you about using your powers responsibly. But remember what else I told you. When the times comes, we need to be ready to deal with those who will inevitably come after us. Well, I'm sorry to say it Ian, but that day has come for you.' Emma explained to the boy, crying to herself as she speaks to him. 'Now, ready yourself, Ian. Because men are coming right towards your location.' Emma spoke.

Ian took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He knew she was right, but it was still a hard thing for Ian to do. But he knew she was right, he had spent weeks killing, now it was time to put that hell to use for something good.

Ian heard the door open and the sound of boots, stomping on the ground. He looked over the bar and saw a parade of flashlights wavering. He took slow deep breaths, as the lights flashed around, hoping he wouldn't be found. Unfortunately, Ian could one of the men approaching from behind the bar.

Ian waited until, finally he could wait no longer. He exploded out from behind the bar ad grabbed the man by his shirt and waist.

" RAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!" Ian shouted as he charged forward. All eyes in the room turned towards him and they started firing, despite one of their own being used as a meat shield. Ian reached down on the man's belt and ripped the pins off the grenades he had attached and then threw the man's remains at his friends.

" What the fuck! GRENADES!" The soldier shouted to his comrades that there were grenades, but it was too late, the grenades went off in unison and the entire floor of the building was destroyed in the explosion.

Ian, fell down through the floor and landed in the basement with a thud.

" Damn it!" Ian cursed. He got to his feet and brushed himself off. " I need to get out of here, a lot of people were bound to have noticed that." Ian spoke. " Miss Frost, I might have made a mistake." Ian spoke.

' It's alright dear boy, just keep going.' Emma replied.

" Right." Ian mumbled. He walked towards the nearest door and knocked it down and started running through the hall.

He was trapped and needed to get out of the building as soon as possible. He knew if they were crazy enough to chase him through a city with guns, that they most likely wouldn't mind dropping the entire building on top of him. Ian continued running, trying to find any way out. Eventually he came to a small hatch in the ground.

" What is this?" Ian asked himself. He felt the building starting to shake and he stumbled. " Damn, caution to the wind then." Ian opened the hatch and dropped down inside of it.

He landed in a sewer tunnel and started looking around.

" Why is this here?" Ian asked.

' It's an old Morlock tunnel. You are lucky. Follow where it leads. Best case scenario, you'll run into someone who can help.' Emma suddenly spoke.

" And worst case?" Ian asked.

' Worst case, you'll be back to square one.' Emma replied.

" On my own again. Okay, that doesn't sound so bad." Ian spoke. He did as Emma said and started running down the tunnel.

A few minutes later, Ian arrived at one of the Morlocks old hiding grounds.

It was a dark and damp chamber, and it seemed to have been abandoned long ago. There were still mats all around the place and even stalls, but everything else was just barren.

" Jesus, people actually lived down here?" Ian asked.

' They still do, Ian. The Morlocks are a people of underground hermits. They are actually mutants just like you and I, but their mutations have changed their outward appearances, and they cannot blend in, in the public's eye. So, to escape that persecution, they moved underground and started traveling through the sewers.' Emma explained.

" That's sad." Ian spoke.

' I know, but for now at least they'll be of some help to you. Just sit there and wait until the X-men arrive.' Emma spoke.

" Right," Ian sat down against the wall.

The waiting game began, Ian had a little less than an hour left to wait for the X-men to arrive. meaning all he had to do was just sit and wait and hope those people didn't find him first.

Ian sat there, just resting, his wounds from the explosion, already healed up. waiting. Believing he was safe for the moment. But just as he was beginning to finally relax, the roof above him exploded.

Ian jumped to his feet and watched as armed men descended into the chamber.

" Miss Frost, they found me!" Ian exclaimed.

' Just hang on, They're almost there!' Emma replied.

Ian nodded and readied himself as men continued to flood the room.

" Well, well. Someone's been a very naughty boy." Kimura stated. She was the last to join the slew of soldiers from above. And that was concerning. Because unlike the others, Ian didn't know how to kill her. " Time to come home lost child."

" Not today, bitch! I'm not going back!" Ian shouted. He jumped up and hit the ceiling of the tunnel over and over again.

" What's he doing?"

" He's trying to collapse the tunnel on us all!"

" RAAAAGH!" Ian jumped real hard and broke through the ceiling of the tunnel.

' Fucking brat!" Kimura cursed. She and the others retreated back to through the tunnels to avoid being buried alive.

Ian tunneled through the dirt above, forcing his way out of the underground tunnels and back into the streets of the city.

Ian appeared right in the middle of the streets and didn't hesitate to start running away.

Ian ducked into the nearby alleyway while the citizens in the streets panicked.

" Frost, how long?" Ian asked.

' Nearly there.' Emma spoke.

Ian kept on running, even as he saw the helicopter's flying above him, he kept on running.

High above the buildings, Kimura was once again following Ian in one of her Heli's.

" We have vision ma'am." The pilot spoke.

" The open fire." Kimura ordered.

" But the buildings."

" I SAID FIRE!" Kimura yelled.

The pilot nodded and then started bombarding, Ian's position with rockets.

Ian looked behind as he heard the hiss of the rockets and braced himself.

The rockets hit right behind him and exploded, blowing him into the streets in a blaze of fire and death.

The streets broke out into further panic and law enforcement officers and agencies of all kinds started opening fire on Ian, and the Helicopter.

Ian covered himself with his arms to avoid any further attack and tried running away. But Kimura's forces reigned down missiles right on Ian's position.

" Damn IT!" Ian cursed, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

" Nein, such vulgar words shouldn't be said out loud mein freind." Ian opened his eyes suddenly felt himself being pulled away in a puff of smoke. When his vision cleared, he was on a jet with a very familiar face. " Now then why don't you stay here, while we clean up this mess."

" Mr. Wagner?!" Ian recognized the fuzzy blue elf as one of the many Teachers at the institute.

" The one and only. Now, if you don't mind." Kurt teleported away from Ian and landed right next to Scott and the others in the streets. " It's time for the Adults to have a word."

Scott and the others stood in the streets of San Francisco, surrounded by The Facilities armed men and Kimura.

" X-MEN! TAKE'EM DOWN!" Scott opened up with a volley of optic blasts, blasting Kimura's Helicopter right out of the sky and her forces on the ground.

" Damn it! X-men! GET THEM!" Kimura shouted as she got up from the burning remnants of her Heli.

Kimura and her forces opened fire on the X-Men

" Lady, you really ticked me off! WRAAAGH" Logan lunged at Kimura, but was blasted in the chest with an RPG, from one of her soldiers. When the dust cleared Logan stood there with a hole in his chest, and growling.

Meanwhile Ian watched from the jet as the X-men quickly decimated Kimura and her forces forcing them to retreat, wounded and embarrassed.

" Look at'em, running scared. Let's get them" Logan shouted.

" No, Logan. We need to leave quickly, before any more of them show up. We have what we came for." Scott told the man.

Logan grunted and nodded, as he knew Scott was right.

" Bobby, put these flames out quickly, everyone else back to the ship!" Scott ordered.

Scott and the rest of the X-men returned to the jet, to a grateful Ian.

" Logan!" Ian got up from his seat and raced to hug the others. Grabbing onto Logan and pulling the small man into a tight hug, squeezing the life out of him.

" Alright! Alright!" Logan shouted. Ian let him go as he realized quickly that he was hurting the man.

" You guys, have no idea how good it is to see you, I mean... I can't just explain it!" Ian spoke frantically.

" We're happy to see you too, Ian. Now rest. We're going home." Scott told the boy. He didn't pry any further, none of them did. He just walked up to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Ian, his distress and anxiety and pain finally hitting him all at once, broke out into a fit of laughter and eventually broke down into a fit of tears. Crying on the floor of the X-jet until he eventually passed out from exhaustion.