House of M

• Writer - Daniel Way
• Breakdowns - Javier Saltares
• Finisher - Mark Texteira
• Colorist - Paul Mounts
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Randy Gentile
• Cover Art - Kaare Andrews
• Ass't Editor - Cory Sedlmeier
• Editor - Jennifer Lee
• Executive Editor - Axel Alonso
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada
• Ass't Editor - Michael O'Connor

Summary

  Note: this is part of the House of M cross-over.

  In the infirmary, Logan scrawled, "Don't Follow" on the window ledge, but Mystique followed anyway, telling Drew to wait 15 minutes before alerting Shaw, thereby disobeying an order and compromising another agent. She offers no excuse for her actions; Shaw powers up and smashes his desk in anger and has her taken to the brig.

  Shaw is annoyed when she doesn't try to escape. He's had a scientist check the evidence of Fury's death, and it's inconclusive because of the fire. However, Fury's personnel file was accessed recently.

  Shaw goes to the brig and asks Mystique about Logan's past. She says he talked about how it was before the rise of mutantkind; he was despised but somehow felt he belonged. He had a purpose, but it's gone now.

  She tried to convince him not to drink, but he explained that little bit of death makes him feel alive. She says it's because the war is over, and he should realize he's more than the sum of his enemies. They were only human, anyway; Logan says there was one…

  Shaw asks how she tracked Logan down; she says that's the wrong assumption. Logan and she both just tracked the Sentinel, which because of its size couldn't be sold and must have been chopped up nearby. She found an abandoned steel mill and heard Logan scream Fury's name. She held back, not wanting to enter a situation blind, knowing Logan could fend for himself.

  Logan was shot at by men armed with machine guns but quickly killed them all and then found Fury. Logan told him the only time you confront the enemy to his face is when you want to talk, and he lunges, but it's only a hologram, so Logan tells him to start talking.

  Fury says the House of M will fall because of Logan; they stolen Sentinel has been analyzed, and humans around the world will be able to neutralize them. Then all that's left is the Red Guard, meaning Logan, meaning nothing. Logan promises to hunt him down and kill him, and this time he'll stay dead. Fury is fine with that and suggests he warn their visitor to stand clear. He pushes a detonator, and bombs go off around the mill; Mystique is caught in it, and Logan has to rescue her.

  Shaw thinks it was a bit selfish; Mystique insists Logan risked his life to save her, but Shaw was talking about her. He asks when she first heard Fury's name; she says when she heard Logan scream it; Shaw says no, it must have been months ago (Logan told her Fury was his only enemy that mattered), when Mystique accessed Fury's personnel file.

  Mystique says she loves Logan; Shaw has guessed that she gave him the one thing he couldn't live without: his war. She orchestrated the attacks on the embassy and the steel mill and impersonated Fury. Mystique transforms to Fury's form and congratulates Shaw. In her defense, there were only human casualties, and she destroyed the Sentinel specs before they could be transmitted. She's prepared to face the consequences, and Shaw releases her, ordering her to finish what she started and track down Logan (see House of M 3).