"I can't believe it," said Forge as he got in to the car outside Braddock Manor. "After everything that's happened, that they're gone."

"I know," said Maverick, shaking his head. "I mean, even after we found them, I always felt that they were alive."

"Tell me about it," said Forge. "I looked at them and… but the doctors confirmed it, the scans confirmed it and we're sure they were the real ones, especially after the last time. There were no other bodies in there, and there was no way out of Wonderland any other way." Forge sighed. "I hate this part of the job."

"We're almost ready," said Teresa, coming down the stairs towards the car and the two of them looked at her. She was dressed in black, just as they were but there was a way she was walking that showed she wasn't properly recovered from her ordeal at the hands of Black Air.

Forge shook his head. Her hands were still shaking slightly and he knew that what had happened to her had scarred her in ways they'd not been able to touch yet. They had Doc Samson in the UK, working with Dallas Riordan. Maybe they should get him to speak with Siryn as well. The main thing they wanted to do was make sure she didn't start drinking as a way to deal with the stress. Brian has been speaking with her, keeping an eye on things and for that Forge was grateful.

This was the hardest knock X-Force had taken, and it was going to be all he could do to stop the team from falling apart..

"Have we heard from Xavier's?" Forge asked.

"No," she said, "but Brian's been speaking with Betsy. Seems things have been going on in Australia, and she's gone blonde again with her powers what they used to be, and Angel's got his feather back."

"Did they mention the whole thing with the Church of Humanity?" asked Forge, thinking of the paperwork that had come through.

"No," said Teresa and Forge nodded. He didn't think it would come up, but he had hoped. He'd have to put a call in to Angel Inc. later on, but first there was a funeral to attend. "We're picking up Lydia from Pete's place?" Siryn asked.

"Yes," said Maverick. "She feels... comfortable there. I can relate." She slipped her hand in to his.

"How are you holding up?" she said.

"I've lost people I've cared about before," said Maverick. "I killed my wife, years ago, before Team X. She was a Russian spy and she betrayed me, and we argued, she came at me with as knife and I shot her, killing her and our unborn child as well."

"My God," said Teresa. Forge stayed silent. He knew this story from the SHIELD files.

"It broke me, and I became a freedom fighter. I was branded a traitor, and the CIA pulled me in to be part of Team X," North continued. "I survived that, I'll survive this."

"Did you love her?" Siryn asked.

"My wife? Yes"

"No," said Teresa. "I meant Kate."

"I think I did, yes." He looked out of the window. "I really think I did."

"Kurt just phoned," said Marcus as he came down to them car. "He's ready."

"He's got the dispensation to officiate at the ceremony," Forge said, thinking that he must have called in a favour of some kind.

Kurt Wagner, the former X-Man Nightcrawler and now special agent for the Vatican. He had been a minister in New Jersey before heading to Rome, and while he was not a full priest he still had the ability to conduct services and he has spoken with the Church to see if he could perform this one. He would have liked to have done the ceremony for Kate as well in the States, but she was Jewish and as such her ceremony was something he was not quite familiar with.

Her body was being shipped to the States during this ceremony and this would be just for Pete Wisdom and his sister Romany. Pete's father would be there as well, and as Brian and Meggan came down the stairs, Forge nodded to them and Brian came over as Meggan got in to the second car.

"Omega send their regards," he said. "They'll do what they can to be there for Kitty, but they're still sorting things out from the battle with the Church to get here for Pete. That and they didn't really know him, so..."

"Understood," said Forge. "Let's head over to Pete's place and get Lydia." Brian nodded and he and Marcus headed over to join Meggan and then the cars headed off from Braddock Manor to the outskirts of London where the last member of X-Force was waiting.

"They are gathering," she said and the man smiled, as he checked the weapons, especially the gun that had been crafted especially for this mission. "With the media presence that is surrounding Braddock since his identity was revealed, it should be quite public."

He nodded at her, hearing what was being said. "How's it supposed to go again? This weapon will do it?"

"The weapon you've been given is powerful enough to light a whole city if needed." He smiled, being no stranger to super weapons such as this.

"Just like the Scorpio Key," he said.

"More or less. A hefty jolt of electricity will work."

"It won't kill them?" he asked and a dark cloud descended around them as the familiar presence of the Shadow King entered.

"Everything has been planned down to the last detail, Colonel. We have been assured that it will not. After all, we do need them alive."

"Since they thwarted us with the details of John Watkin's death, this will make the payback perfect."

"I want Grey for this," he replied. "Back up in case of resistance. His first proper mission, shall we say?"

"You are in charge of our forces," the Shadow King said, as Viper nodded. "Take the boy, Colonel. Take the boy and humiliate SHIELD as much as possible."

Nick Fury smiled.

"It'll be a pleasure."

Lydia Del Ruiz looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. Yes, the room had the taste of stale smoke and liquor, but it was fairly obvious that Pete hadn't lived here in a very long time, and she looked back on the past, thinking of the first time she had come here, at the request of Nick Fury to bring him in. She and Agent Cooper had arrived thinking what kind of a man lived in a hole like this.

When he'd answered the door, they'd gotten their answer. He was not unattractive and his rugged looks stirred her, but the smoke and the liquor on his breath, not to mention his attitude, told them that he was a bum. Lydia had been less than impressed and Agent Cooper had done the introduction piece and she'd looked at the man to see what exactly the Director wanted with him, and had been unable to decipher it.

As a detective, it concerned her that she couldn't figure it out and it annoyed her that she was distracted from the considerations by the way he had checked her out as they had travelled to the Helicarrier. It offended her, but at the same time she had also felt pleased that he had noticed her, however it confirmed her opinion that he was not SHIELD material. Over time she had learnt exactly what Fury had seen in him, why he wanted him in SHIELD and why he was needed to lead X-Force.

At first Lydia had considered him boorish, arrogant and with no respect, but she had seen past the visage he had portrayed when he had been in hospital with her. He had lacked the strength to play the role he had set up and the attractiveness she had felt at the moment of their first meeting had intensified as she realised the kind of man he truly was. He did what he had to do, regardless of the cost to himself, and he had paid many a price in his life, but still he came back.

She had come to realise she loved him, and he loved her - even if it had taken a potion from Viper to get them to admit to it. Their feelings had been brought to the fore, and though the moments they had spent together were special, they had come close to sex, but had never made love. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but Pete couldn't, his experiences with the Shadow King rendering him impotent. He had gotten over it, but they had agreed to get to know each other better first and they had been on several dates and there was no doubt how much they loved each other and now…

Now he was gone, killed trying to save his sister. Trying and failing and this time it wasn't faked. They had his body properly, the doctors and the machines had confirmed it was him and there was nothing to contradict it this time. Pete Wisdom was dead and this was the day they would bury him.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and then she smoothed down her dress and shook her head sadly. Then she looked at the picture of the man she had loved and nodded with a sad smile.

"Rest easy," she whispered and then went to the door. The others would be here soon enough and she would meet the cars and then they would say their last goodbyes.

SHIELD Agents Arturo and Tyler were the detail assigned to ensure that the body of Katherine Pryde made it back to New York. This was the one mission they hated, because it made them feel uneasy. Yes, SHIELD agents often died, but it was rare that the bodies came back. Most were classed as missing in action, which always gave hope of return, but with a body then there was no hope and it reminded them of their own mortality.

"I've been thinking," Arturo said as they waited for the clearance to depart.

"Oh, God," muttered Tyler, thinking it was always dangerous for that to happen. "What've you come up with now?"

"Well, Pryde's natural state is to be intangible, right?"

"Right," said Tyler.

"Well how come she was hurt in the explosion. How come when she sleeps she doesn't fall through the earth. How…"

"You have way too much time on your hands," Tyler answered his partner. "First things is, she was probably solid when she was injured which caused her conscious mind to shut down. It's like breathing is a reflex action. When her mind shuts down, it sends a signal to say to her genes stop phasing. I guess the same goes for when she's asleep."

Arturo looked and him with incredulation. "You just made that up." Tyler shot him a look. "Well you did," Arturo stated and then he was cut off by the radio.

"SHIELD Transport 8-9er Alpha, you are cleared for take off."

"Let's do it," Tyler said and Arturo nodded as the aircraft set off down the runway. As soon as they were airborne, Tyler would take the first watch over the body and Arturo would take over a short while later. They were faster than any commercial flight, but it would still take a little while to get to the States. As they got towards the end of the runway Tyler looked at Arturo, who was looking pale. "You want to take off any time soon? Before we hit the grass?"

"I can't," he said. "She won't lift." Then the plane stopped altogether as the engines hummed loudly. "What the?"

"This isn't right," said Tyler and checked the scope. "Oh hell. Major psionic power spike."

"We're being held," said Arturo realising what was going on and then the door of the plane flew open and the two agents were on their feet in moments, weapons drawn as alarms sounded, but then they two were held in place as two figured came on board.

"Good work," Fury said as he looked at two of his former agents and smiled. "Gents."

"Should I kill them?" asked X-Man as he walked over to them. "I could just turn off their minds, leave them alive, yet dead."

"No," Fury said. "Word's out anyway, and I want them to tell the world who did this. Though you can knock them out."

"With pleasure," Grey said and then the SHIELD agents fell to the floor as a psychic blast felled them.

"Let's see if this works," said Fury as he opened the coffin and pointed the weapon at Kate Pryde and fired, sending a massive jolt of electricity through her body. She awoke with a gasp, fighting for air as life returned. "Damn me," Fury said, in almost disbelief. "It worked."

"Of course," she said. "It was my plan. We must thank Stryker if we happen to run in to him." Fury nodded thinking that it had been her idea for the Shadow King to hit them with a psionic attack so powerful that it rendered them dead to everyone and everything, unless they had heightened senses. Shadowcat had seen it happen to Cyclops and Storm when Charles Xavier had been under the influence of Reverend William Stryker.

"Welcome back," said Fury and the two of them shook hands.

"Now, let's go get Wisdom and get the hell out of here," Kate said. "We've work to do."

"Peter Wisdom was a man of complexity," said Brian as he stood there, speaking to the small gathering. He looked over at the people and faces. Forge, Lydia, Siryn, Maverick and Raven sat on the front row with Pete's father Harold. In the next row were Meggan, Alistaire Stuart, Sapphire Steel, Percival Rockford and Dai Thomas. Then there were some other people he didn't know, but he carried on.

"Many, if not all of us, were sceptical about him, but we saw past that in the end to realise how much of a decent man he truly was. He had your back, whether you wanted it or not, and he always came through in the end. Yes, he was at times, awkward, sometimes boorish and he never did things the right way, but he always meant for the best."

Brian paused a moment, looking past the assemblage, to the small line of SHIELD agents who were keeping the press from getting too close. Now that his identity as Captain Britain had been realised and was public knowledge the media, considering him as a celebrity politician, was hounding him. If they found out he had his powers again… He shook that thought off before going back to his notes and continuing his eulogy.

"Pete may have done some questionable things in his lifetime, but he more than made up for those things later in his life. The man was a hero, he was my friend and I will miss him." There was no applause, but silent appreciation as Nightcrawler placed his hand on Brian's shoulder as he stepped down to take his seat next to Meggan.

"Thank you, Brian," Kurt said. "Now then we will…" His gaze wandered past the crowd and on to the young woman walking towards them. "Mein Gott…" They couldn't fail to see the shock in his eyes as he spoke and they turned to see Kate Pryde coming towards them and a raft of muttering went through them.

"What's going on?" asked Forge and Marcus shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. "Ah can't get a read on her…"

"LADIES AN' GENTLEMEN!" said a voice and they all looked at the podium, where Kurt was lying unconscious on the floor and Nick Fury was standing there, gun in his hand. "Did you yahoo's think I'd let this event pass?"

"Fury!" said Forge standing and then he felt himself held in place.

"Don't bother trying to do anything about this," Fury said. "Telekinetic grip's got you all, and Marcus? Ya ain't got the power to take on X-Man. He's holding you all in place and keeping the SHIELD guard over there from noticing what's happening."

"Why are you doing this, Nick?" Lydia asked. "Pete's dead."

"Not dead yet," said Fury and fired his weapon at the coffin before them, to the horror of them all and then it happened. Hot knives flew up and out of the wood splintering it as they did so and Pete's fist soon followed as he climbed out.

"Cut that bloody fine," he said as he shook his head. "Thought the bastards were gonna bury me."

"Ye of little faith," Shadowcat said as she came over and the two of them kissed.

"NO!" shouted Lydia at the same time as North called out Kate's name.

"It was you," said Forge, looking at her. "You were the mole." Kate smiled. "You were the one who reactivated Fury's master codes, letting him escape the Helicarrier. You were the one who let Fury in to the SHIELD files. You're the traitor."

"Took you long enough," she said. "I've been working with Fury from the moment he brought me in to X-Force."

"When you were alone with him, examining Pete's body," said Lydia, the pieces starting to fit.

"You didn't forget him, either," said Maverick. "When you did the thing to alert SHIELD at the CSA."

"Needed him thinking of other things," she said. "It let Farouk have a little chat with him."

"Got me to reconsider a few things," said Pete. "Besides, she played you better than anyone else." He chuckled. "Heh, she's done a real number on you, Davey."

"What?" said North.

"What ever made you think I could be attracted to you?" Kate said. "I used you, it put a dent in the X-Force camaraderie. You and Pete were at each other's throats, and I seduced you. You're old enough to be my father? How much of a slut did you think I was?"

"I thought you loved me," said North, barely understanding it. He cared for her so much.

"You were meant to," said Pete. "You've fallen for her and it's going to eat you up inside that you were played again. Just like your wife did all them years ago. But look on the bright side, Mav. You got a shag out of it." Maverick closed his eyes, his heart breaking. The fears he'd had that it was too good to be true, the ones he had pushed aside were coming up again.

"So I win after all, Forge," Fury said. "I get two of your top agents, X-Force is in a shambles and we've just humbled some of the UK's best heroes, all on live TV. Hail Hydra!" He laughed and then he, Pryde, Wisdom and Grey were gone, leaving an emotionally broken group in their wake.