"Malcolm! Randall! Seek cover NOW! That's an order!"

"Sorry sir," Malcolm had replied. "You're too--"

He was going to say important. Randall? He didn't even get a chance to scream. The firefight lasts an eternity. All the time it takes to destroy a life--several lives.

Body armor protected me from the worst of it--but the boys...

"Malcolm...?" he asked, looking down at his charge.

"Just doing our job, sir," Malcom replied. "Just... our job."

"At ease, son. At ease."*

(* Excerpted from Marvel's The Uncanny X-Men #287-Dino)

You're too important. Just our job. Too important, our job.

"NOOOO!!!!!!!!"

He finds himself sitting upright, his body dripping with sweat, drenching his bedsheets. It's night here in the Colorado Rockies, where the estate of Warren Worthington III sits.

The final words of his partners ring through the mind of the man called Bishop. Ever since Malcolm and Randall were gunned down, Bishop has considered their deaths his greatest failure, along with the death of his sister, Shard.

"Bishop?"

A woman came in through the wall. This was Shard, reborn as a photon-based lifeform. In addition to her mutant ability to generate bioelectric energy blasts, her nature as a photon-based lifeform allowed her to control her density. Currently, she was a member of X-Men Omega, the team which Bishop lead.

"Are you all right?" Shard asked, running to his side.

"I... am fine, Shard..." Bishop replied. "It was just a nightmare. Nothing more than a nightmare..."

"I don't blame you," Shard stated. "When you've got a homicidal maniac living in your basemen--"

"It has nothing to do with Creed,"* Bishop interrupted. "It was... the boys."

(* See issues #5-7 to find out why Sabretooth is currently inhabiting the estate-Dino)

"You mean Malcolm and Randall?"

"Yes..." he stated, pulling the covers off his body. "This isn't the first time it's happened, either. When they were first killed, I was plagued by nightmares of their deaths. As time passed, so did the dreams. Until now... Recently, they've begun to return, more vivid than before. Sometimes, I wonder if this is a message..."

"It's nothing to worry about, Bish," Shard said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He could feel a tingle of electricity on his bare skin. "It's nothing more than stress caused by the recent events. Now, try to get some sleep."

Bishop allowed a smile to pass on his usually-grim face. If there was one thing he could count on, it was Shard telling him when he was overreacting. Even in death she had not lost that.

"So, when do we pick up Luna?" Pietro Maximoff, the X-Man called Quicksilver, asked.

"Soon, I hope," his wife, Crystal replied. Like Pietro, she was a member of the X-Men. Unlike him, she was an Inhuman rather than a mutant, with the ability to control the four elements. "Medusa says that Luna hasn't caused any trouble lately."

Using her powers over fire, she began to heat up some toast.

"Well, there are some advantages to not having her around..." Pietro said with a grin as he pulled her into his arms.

"What about breakfast?" Crystal asked, in-between kisses.

"Forget abou--"

"Ahem."

"FORGE?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Sorry to disturb you two..." Forge replied. "But, the rest of us have been waiting at the table for some time, and with the fastest man alive helping with breakfast, we expected it to be a bit faster."

"Yes, well..."

"We'll be out there in a moment, Forge," Crystal stated. Forge nodded and exited the room.

"Then again... perhaps having Luna around won't change things too much..." Pietro muttered.

"Ya'll sure like t' take yer sweet, ol' time..." Rogue stated as the couple entered with a tray.

"Instead of complaining, it might have been a good idea for you to help out as well..." Pietro cursed under his breath.

"You didn't want any, remember?" Rogue reminded. Pietro simply clenched his teeth and sat down in a chair.

"Where's Bishop?" he asked.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him," Shard stated, slipping down from the ceiling. "He didn't get much sleep last night, so I think he'll be asleep for awhile."

"Doesn't seem like him," Betsy noted. "No matter how much sleep he gets, Bishop is usually up bright and early."

"Would you care for some breakfast, Shard?" Crystal asked.

"No thanks, Crys," Shard replied. "Food isn't really something that a hologram needs."

"I don't really think Bishop disrupting his usual routine is anything to warrant any concern," Forge said. "He has been through a lot, lately. You all have."

"That's the understatement of the year..." Clarice muttered, looking down at her bandaged wrist. It was injured during her battle with Sabretooth. Luckily, it was just her wrist and back that suffered. She should be glad that she got out with those minimal injuries. But, what Victor Creed did to her felt like the worst betrayal, despite the fact that she never really had any real history with him, so to speak.*

(* Again, read #6 for details-Dino)

"The battle with Thunderbird seemed to exhaust him,*" Betsy said. "Did anyone else notice that after the battle, he began to use his weapons a lot more?"

(* See issue #4-Dino)

"That's all it is, exhaustion," Shard stated. "I know him better than anyone, and he always seems to force the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"I think it would put my mind at ease if we had Psylocke scan his mind," Forge retorted. "Just to be safe."

"There's no need for that, Forge," Bishop stated as he entered the room. "I've just been... tired."

The room grew deathly silent with his entrance. His fellow X-Men were a bit cautious around him ever since he announced that Sabretooth would be joining the team. Well, moreso anyway.

"As Shard stated, it's exhaustion," he said, taking a seat. "I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

The rest of the X-Men simply looked back and forth to each other. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence.

Whenever one of the X-finks passed by his cell, Victor Creed, called Sabretooth, could smell the distrust and awkwardness they felt around Bishop. There was something going on, something they didn't want to tell him. Even though he was the newest member of X-Men Omega, he wasn't here by choice. He was being forced to fight alongside them.

It appeared as if the X-Men agreed with the saying, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." However, Sabretooth was hoping that they would keep him just close enough for him to make his move.

With his incredible strength, enhanced senses, healing factor, and adamantium-laced bones and claws, he was the strongest, and most dangerous X-Man. At first, that distrust was directed towards him. But now, it was at their leader.

Victor Creed couldn't help but smile at this fact. Who cared if he was a prisoner? They were already providing him with more entertainment than any TV set or movie theater could ever provide.

"Apparently Psylocke, it seems that you're back to your old self," Forge said. "Well... one of your old selves, anyway. Once Jean defeated the Shadow King,* it seems that your psi-powers returned back to normal. However, your shadow-stepping abilities, which are still something that puzzles both me and Dr. MacTaggert, are something entirely different."

(* Back in M2K's Uncanny X-Men #3-Dino)

"I thought as much," Psylocke said, standing up. "I just wanted to double-check."

"There's nae a problem with that, Elisabeth," Dr. Moira MacTaggert told her. Her face appeared on a monitor before Forge and Psylocke. Since she was presently on Muir Island working to find a cure for the Legacy Virus, it would be too difficult for her to travel from Scotland to Colorado. Instead, Forge sent her the data through an Internet connection so she could review them herself.

"However, I would still like tae find out more about yuir teleportational powers..."

"Perhaps another time, Moira," Psylocke stated. "I've had my fair share of being poked and prodded today. I just need a cold shower and to curl up somewhere for the rest of the day."

"No objections there," Forge said. "You've been taxing your abilities, lately. Using your telepathic powers to keep a lock on Quicksilver while you used your shadows to transport you there was difficult enough. Not to mention keeping Sabretooth sedated until I arrived."

"If'n ye're not up tae it, then just give me a ring when ye are," Moira said. "Muir out."

The monitor went blank as Psylocke went towards the door.

"Hold on a minute," Forge said. "There is something I want you to do..."

"What's that?"

"Shard said that Bishop's been exhausted as of late," Forge began. "I don't think that's entirely true. I know I just said I wanted you to take it easy after taxing your powers, but would it be too much trouble to--"

"No," Psylocke replied. "I wouldn't mind performing a psi-scan on him at all."

"Bishop...?" Forge asked as he knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer. "Bishop, can we--"

"Don't bother, Forge," Psylocke said, opening the door and walking right into Bishop's room. "He's gone."

Bishop continued to run further from the Estate, a trench coat draped around his shoulders. He still wore his uniform, but he had to get out. Something was wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he thought his dreams were trying to tell him something.

Before he could take another step, something knocked him off his feet.

"Well, look who's here."

"We never thought we'd see you again."

"No..." Bishop muttered. "Can't be... you died..."

"To quote one of the most-popular sayings among the X-Men, we 'got better.'"

Standing in front of Bishop were two men dressed in XSE uniforms. They were Malcolm and Randall.

NEXT ISSUE: Malcolm and Randall--back from the dead?!