The Next Night.
It had been long since the sun had gone down. Ian and Noriko were already relaxed and resting in bed.
Today had gone exactly as yesterday did and for a while, Ian didn't think he'd find the chance. But after a while the opportunity presented itself, Ian slipped out of bed.
Ian quickly got dressed, slipping on the stealth outfit, Rahne and Scott brought him. Once he was dressed, Ian took out a small note and placed it on drawer at the side of the bed.
Ian sighed heavily.
" What am I doing?" He asked himself.
Risking his life, endangering his relationship, he hated it. Hated the very thought of it. But Ian knew it had to be done. Dangerous forces were at play, and it wasn't just the purifiers.
" I'm sorry, love. But I have to go now. I love you, Noriko." Ian leaned down and placed a kiss on the side of Noriko's sleeping cheek. Ian felt regret for what he was doing, but if it meant she would be safe, then it would be worth it. " I'll be back, I promise."
With those last words, Ian left the apartment, making certain that each and every lock in the place was secured. The last thing he wanted was someone breaking in.
.....
It took Ian a few minutes by flight to cross the country into North Dakota. More specifically Fargo, North Dakota. Once there, he was met by James, Logan, and Laura. But to his surprise Rahne was nowhere to be found.
" You too, huh?" Logan asked Ian as he approached the trio.
" Yeah, me too. I see Rahne didn't show up. At least that's good." Ian spoke. He was gladdened by the fact that Rahne decided not to come after all. Maybe it was jitters. Maybe it was something Logan said. Whatever it was, it didn't matter anymore.
" Yeah, well she had sense enough to know when she's over her head. The rest of you idiots... Just listen all of you, I don't know what bag of goods Cyclops sold you. But you all need to walk away from this. Right now. You do this, and you're not X-Men anymore. You may be on the team. You may be standing next to Beast and Angel and Iceman, but you won't be the same as them. Not after this. Larua, you keep heading down this path, and any shot you had at being human slips away. You do this and you're X-23 again." Logan told the woman. " Jimmy, you've got no purpose in life, and you decide to go back to revenge? It didn't work out for you before and it's not going to work out for you this time. You're a big tough man. I know. But you do this, and you're something else, you're just a killer. And you, runt, you want what you got with Ashida to end? Over something like this? What you got is good. You got something a lot of men would die for. A nice young lady, kind and strong, you have the powers to move mountains, and enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life. You have a future as a hero kid, not just with the X-men. You could one day be an avenger. You want to lose all of that?" Logan pleaded his case for the others, but no matter what he said, none of it mattered. It all fell on deaf ears.
" Fine, it's your lives." Logan spoke up. He grabbed his mask and slid it over his head. It was time to go.
X-Force crawled their way through the cornfield, leading to the Purifiers Church. There was no security on the outside of the establishment. No sentries or anything. It was if the Purifiers never believed anyone would find their hideout. But they thought wrong.
X-Force entered the facility quietly. As stealthily as possible for them.
It wasn't until they got inside, where things took a drastic turn.
Wolverine, Onslaught, X-23, and Warpath began tearing through the hordes of Purifiers on the inside. Literally.
Ian brute forced his way through the gunmen, punching each of the men who approached him so hard their heads exploded from the impact. There was no holding back, here. Out of the corner of his eyes, Ian saw a man with a shotgun, behind Laura.
" X, behind you!" Ian yelled to the woman. He warned the girl of the attacker and in an instant, Ian was behind her, he kicked the barrel of the gun upwards, just as the man pulled the trigger and watched as it blew the man's head off. " Watch it, X. He could have killed you."
" It wouldn't have killed me." Laura replied bluntly. Her tone was cold and uncaring, something Ian was no stranger to. But he did think they were beyond such things. " Risman. He's not alone." Laura stated, after taking a few sniffs of the air.
" What do you mean?" Ian asked the woman.
" Yeah." Logan spoke up in agreement. " I smell her too."
" X-MEN!"
Logan, James, Laura, and Ian turned to face their new guest. And it was none other than Risman himself. And lying down on the floor was Rahne Sinclair. She was chained up and had a bloody lip.
" Wolfsbane! RISMAN!!! LET HER GO!" Ian demanded that the man let Rahne go, but the moment he took a step forward, Risman raised a gun to the back of Rahne's head, causing Ian to stop.
" Stand down. Or the mutant dies." Risman told X-Force.
" You do anything to her, and you die too." Ian told the man.
" He's lying... He doesn't want to kill her." Laura spoke up.
" X, no. We're not chancing this." Ian told the woman. He held his hand up and told Laura to stop. But she was adamant about being right. " X, no!"
Laura leaped past Ian, despite his yelling, and stabbed a purifier in his shoulder. One he was done, she leaped at Risman who looked unfazed.
" I don't bluff." Risman stated. And then.... He pulled the trigger.
*BLAM!
" RAHNE!!!!!"