issue summaries

X-Men & Alpha Flight 2 (of 2) The Gift Part 2 Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Paul Smith Inker: Bob Wiacek Colorist: Glynis Oliver Letterer: Tom Orzechowski Editor: Ann Nocenti & Denny O'Neil Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter Based on an premise by: Jim Shooter, Ann Nocenti and Denny O'Neil Date: January 1986

Talisman searches through the caverns, trying to find Kitty and Rachel (who she thinks is insane).

Kitty meets up with Talisman and they find a strange rune stone. Lockheed reports that he's found Rachel and he leads them to her.

Crying, Rachel yells at Kitty to leave her alone. When Kitty refuses, she tries to blast her psibolt. Kitty tells her it's not the end of the world, but to Rachel, it is. Scott's unborn child is a boy, but it should be her. Rachel concludes that means she will never really exist and her whole past is a lie.

Kitty tries to console her by suggesting that it means that her future won't happen - that Ray's timeshift changes things for the better and that would be worth the price of Ray not being born in this timeline. Rachel reluctantly agrees, but it's still bothering her.

Suddenly, the cavern they are in starts to collapse. Rachel blasts a hole into the stone wall and holds the rest of the cavern up allowing the others to escape. As Ray's t.k. shield is about to fail, Kitty phases and gets her out.

They find themselves on a ledge in the magical fountain. When Ray and Talisman accidentally touch the glowing light in the center, they are sent flying into the stone wall. Talisman senses magic at work and Kitty wonders if the cave-was intentionally caused by someone trying to prevent them from learning too much. Everything that's happened seems to good to be true and they wonder if they aren't being told the truth. They head off to investigate.

Rachel and Talisman head to the library to translate the rune stone.

At the feast, one of the now superpowered scientists reports to Maddie that there's a problem and she sneaks off. Kitty then spots Maddie acting suspicious in Wolverine's room. Logan explains that Madelyne used her healing powers to cure him of his berserker rage. But when asked if he found Snowbird, Wolverine is confused. He went off to find her with Beastmaster, but then returned. Since Beastmaster can control animals, Kitty theorized he could have manipulated Wolverine into abandoning his search for Snowbird. Kitty explains her suspicions about what's going on.

Wolverine goes to continue searching for Snowbird with Aurora and Lockheed, while Kitty goes to warn Professor Xavier.

Logan finds Snowbird dying in a cave near. Beastmaster and a pack of wild animals approach the cave, demanding that Logan leave Snowbird and let both her and Shaman die. But Logan is prepared for a fight.

Back at the Citadel, Rogue is celebrating her ability to control her powers by dancing with Northstar.

At the library, Talisman learns that the rune stone is from Loki.

In Asgard, Loki is upset about the mortals questioning the gifts he has given them.

Back at the party, Northstar tells Rogue that nothing comes for free and wonders what price they must pay.

A disheveled Logan burst into the party carrying Snowbird and a tied-up Beastmaster, shouting that they all need to wake up and realize they have been conned. He explains that the price is Shaman and Snowbird's lives. They all debate whether sacrificing the magic users is worth it, considering the good that could come from their new powers.

Quickly, the sides are set: Xavier, Scott, Kurt, Kitty, Northstar, Logan, Rogue and Talisman all want to save Shaman and Snowbird, while the scientists, Madelyne, Rachel, Peter and the rest of Alpha Flight want to take advantage of the gifts Loki has given them to make the world a better place. A fight ensues, but it's interrupted by Loki. He reminds them to think of what will be gained rather than the few that will be lost. When they still don't agree with him, he creates snow giants to destroy them.

Talisman convinces Maddie and the scientists to side against Loki. But when one of the scientists is critically injuries, Maddie's healing powers no longer work. She begs Loki to save him. Loki forces her to accept his gift and side with him, in exchange for returning her powers so she can save the man.

The X-Men and Alpha Flight defeat the snow giants.

Then the other Asgardian gods interfere and tell Loki to leave the mortals alone. Furious, Loki takes back everything, including everyone healed by Madelyne. Scott and Rogue loose control of their powers, Puck shrinks back to dwarf size, and all of the scientists become human again. The Citadel begins to crumble. But Snowbird and Shaman are both fine.

The team hurries to board the plane as a blizzard approaches. Xavier realizes that Rachel isn't onboard and Scott goes out to find her. Ray is in the remains of the Citadel, contemplating whether or not to tell Scott who she is. She concludes that her world is her past now and her future is what she makes of it. Scott has made peace with his ghosts and she figures it's about time she did too.

She's afraid if she tells him the truth, she will just reopen old wounds and be a constant reminder to Scott and Madelyne of what Scott could have had with Jean.

Scott approaches her and she tells him she's ready to go. He says he's heard that she's from the future. But she corrects him that she's from a future, and they won't know if it's the future until it happens. Scott replies that by that time, it will be too late, so they shouldn't worry about it.

But Ray tells him that her father used to say that as long as you are alive, it is never too late. He asks her if her father died and she replied that all of the X-Men died in her future.

As they walk out to the plane, he tells her she reminds him of someone. She asks if that's a good or bad thing.

Good, he replies, and explains that this person was very dear to him and part of him will always miss her. He never thought he would be happy again after she died, until he met Madelyne.

Rachel takes hold of his arm and rests her head on his shoulder. She says her mom had a saying that everyone deserves a second chance.

Scott replies that her mom was a smart lady. She agrees and says that when they made her mom, they broke the mold. Scott replies that he was thinking the same thing about Rachel. Scott puts his arm around Rachel and they walk out to the plane.

Rachel thinks to herself that she isn't going to tell him. She no longer feels the need to.

As the plane flies off, Citadel vanishes, except for a rose.

Notes:

The final scene with Scott and Rachel has confused many fans. Did Scott figure out that Rachel was his daughter? In the letter page of Uncanny X-Men 215, a fan asked about when Scott would learn Rachel's secret, and the response was that he did in X-Men & Alpha Flight 2. This was clarified in Days of Future Past 5 when Jean told Scott that Rachel could telepathically prevent Scott from figuring out the truth about her.

Since Rachel only told him she was from a possible future that potentially could still happen. How would he guess that Rachel was his daughter with Jean Grey, even if Rachel reminded him of Jean? Or might Scott have assumed that Rachel was his daughter with Madelyne?