BIOGRAPHY - Page 3
Despite the X-Men's hiatus, Cyclops wanted to eliminate several threats to the mutant race, and had Wolverine and X-23 remain active with a black ops team of X-Force. Wolfsbane learned her biological father Reverend Craig was working with the Purifiers that X-Force was targeting and tried to get involved. Instead, she was captured and injected with a near-lethal dose of heroin. Wolverine had Elixir flown in to the Colorado mountain chalet X-Force was using as a base. Josh was able to heal Rahne's injuries and purge her system of most of the heroin, but no one was aware of the behavioral conditioning Rahne had been subjected to until it was too late. She attacked Angel at Risman's orders and ripped off his wings. This led to another encounter with the Purifiers where Angel mutated into the bio-mechanical Archangel and Risman (Laurie's murderer) was finally killed in a power struggle with Bastion for control of the Purifiers. [X-Force (3rd series) #4-6]
In the days that followed, X-Force had to decide what to do with Elixir. Josh had seen and heard too much. While the X-Men were reforming in San Francisco, X-Force's shadows ops had to remain clandestine and a secret from the team's public face. Laura (with the candor she was so well known for) suggested the best tactical response was to kill Josh before he revealed their secrets to his classmates or his girlfriend, Alani. However, she and Josh instead reached out to 
the Stepford Cuckoos. Josh didn't want to risk becoming a killer again, but he also didn't want to stop X-Force from doing what needed doing. Therefore, the Cuckoos could erase his memories so he would no longer be a security risk. As it happened, this gesture was enough for Cyclops and Wolverine to believe Foley could be trusted, and they asked him to remain active with X-Force. [X-Force (3rd series) #7]
X-Force's next mission dealt with the Vanisher stealing a sample of the Legacy virus. They tracked him down in Japan and X-Force's newest member Domino pointed out Porter's safehouses in the country. X-Force corralled Vanisher to the safehouse where Elixir was stationed, and Josh turned his powers on Vanisher. After getting some independent medical treatment, Vanisher returned to X-Force willingly to discuss the brain tumor in the shape of an 'X' he now had! With Foley now keeping Vanisher on a short leash, X-Force compelled him to teleport them back to Sinister's laboratory where he had dropped the sample on his first incursion.
Vanisher had fled because the smelting factory that served as Sinister's base was filled with Marauder clones defending the property. X-Force tore into the Marauder hordes, and X-23 located the vial of Legacy virus that Vanisher had dropped earlier. As she retrieved it, however, agents of the Right also broke into the facility and smashed the vial through her chest, exposing her to the Legacy virus. Robotically compelled to complete her mission, X-23 fled from her teammates to avoid exposing them and prepared to hurl herself to her death in one of the foundry's vats of 
molten metal. Elixir chased after her, however, and grabbed Laura as she fell over the side. X-Force had been callous earlier with their comments, noting that the Marauders were clones and opined that therefore their lives didn't matter. Josh, on the other hand, saw Laura as a person and as his friend, regardless of her origins, and he was sick of losing friends. He convinced her to fight to stay alive, and she held on while he used his powers to locate and eliminate the Legacy virus in her system, purging the pathogen.
(Of course, Foley then got too tired to hold on and dropped Laura. She caught on fire as she bounced off the edge of the tank. Still, good effort, Josh.) [X-Force (3rd series) #8-10]
Meanwhile, the X-Men had relocated to San Francisco as local heroes and a haven for mutants. Josh and X-Force lived among the other X-Men in their downtime, concealing their private missions. Josh's relationship with Alani apparently ended, for he was seen preaching tantric sex magic at a yoga studio with all three Stepford Cuckoos. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #510]
Human activists under Bastion's direction began striking out at mutants using Legacy virus samples they obtained from one of Sinister's other labs. Mutants were being turned into WMDs against their will as weaponized Legacy injections were used to make their powers flare out of control, causing a rise in anti-mutant sentiment. After mass death at two human rallies, three of the X-Men's younger members were kidnapped for an assault on the United Nations, including 
Hellion and Surge. Wolverine tried and failed to keep the captives' identities from Foley and X-23 so they weren't distracted. X-Force's search for the missing kids was interrupted when Cyclops located Cable's signal in the future with Hope. The child took priority, and Cyclops remotely transported Elixir and X-Force into the future before they could rescue Julian and Nori. [X-Force (3rd series) #12-13]
In the future of 2973, X-Force had to deal with the threats of Stryfe, Apocalypse and the traitor Bishop while protecting Hope. The conflict was inconclusive, and X-Force returned to the present empty-handed. [Messiah War crossover] Having only spent a moment in the future relative to the present, X-Force immediately proceeded to stop the United Nations attack. Josh got to 
Julian and purged him of the Legacy virus dose quickly, but Nori's electrical powers were already starting to overload. Elixir pushed through her electrical field to neutralize Surge's power fluctuations, and barely got to her in time. The United Nations was left unscathed, but Elixir fell into a coma as his powers needed time to recuperate. [X-Force (3rd series) #17-19]
A lot happened while Josh was unconscious. The Black Queen raised a coven of death-dealing mutants, including Foley's long-missing rival, Wither. They in turn used a techno-organic virus to resurrect an army of undead mutants to lay siege to the X-Men. Meanwhile, Wolfsbane had reunited with her wolf prince, Hrimhari, and became pregnant with his supernatural scion. Her mortal physiology was ill-equipped for carrying such a mythical birth. Rahne instructed Hrimhari to find Elixir before falling unconscious, but he found Josh in a coma during a zombie uprising. 
Hrimhari petitioned Hela, Asgardian Goddess of Death, to save his love and child. In exchange for his soul in her service, Hela offered a life for a life and would save one soul of Hrimhari's choosing. Faced with the impossible choice between Rahne and the child, Hrimhari instead asked Hela to restore Elixir, trusting the mutant healer could save them both. Josh startled awake, only to see Hrimhari and Hela fade away. The wolf prince's last words were begging Josh to see to Rahne.
[Note: While healing Hope in the future, Elixir gained some insight into the first mutant after M-Day, proclaiming "I know what she is!" Suspense built when he fell into a coma shortly afterwards, before he had a chance to reveal what he had learned. When he eventually woke up during Necrosha, however, Josh's discovery was never revisited, and the entire plot thread was left dangling.]
Elixir rushed into action at the infirmary, transferring some of the baby's strength into Rahne so she would be strong enough to support the baby's development. Elixir and Wolfsbane then rejoined X-Force for a surgical strike on Genosha, where Selene's coven was based. Vanisher kept begging Josh to remove the tumor in his head in case Elixir didn't make it out, and Foley finally told Porter he had already removed the tumor days ago when they were in the future. Despite slipping his leash, Vanisher decided to remain with X-Force for their final battle. Using Warpath's knowledge of the Ghost Dance, the team armed themselves with protective war paint and rituals to shield themselves from Selene's draining abilities.
X-Force invaded Selene's citadel, but she was already powering herself up by draining the life-energy of the entire reanimated population of Genosha. Elixir found himself in a confrontation with Wither, who had completely embraced his role as Selene's pet. Kevin Ford had always hated Josh, but now he also planned to kill Ms. Frost and all his former teammates in the Hellions when he got the chance. Wither continued ranting, blaming Josh for Laurie's death on top of everything else, while revealing the vampiric transformation the Black Queen had bestowed upon him. Elixir and Wither grappled hand-to-hand, with Josh's gold neutralizing Kevin's death touch. As it became clear Wither could not be saved, though, Elixir shifted to black and deconstructed Kevin's body, violating his vow never to kill again in order to make sure Wither didn't hurt anyone else he cared about. [Necrosha crossover]