X-trio, The search for Suzie

by Chris-San

Suzie's disappeared, and it's going to take all Chris's resources to find her...

"Shit!" I swore. Something I only do when I'm extremely pissed off. Now was definitely one of those times.

            "Why would she just run off like that?" asked Cyclops. As if he needed to ask, the jerk! This was all his fault!

            "I dunno, maybe the kid just needs to blow off some steam." Wolverine put in, but he looked worried. Suzie had been missing for almost a day now, and though we searched the whole mansion, we hadn't found her. The Prof. and Jean had looked for her with no success. She had even managed to block out cerebro, which impressed the hell out of everyone else, but Tash and I knew this was not a good sign.

            "De petite. She was upset non?" Gambit turned toward Wolverine, the last one who had seen her.

            "Yeah. But I'll be dammed if I know why." He replied, then shook his head. "She was havin trouble standin up. I went to help her, but she ran off." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps it is best that we ignore her for now." Said Storm.

"Huh?" said Gambit. "Oh! Like mebe she jus want attention? Could be. De petite's crazy enough. Non?"

"Asshole!" I said as I kicked him in the shin. "You don't know what you're talking about Cajun! This is serious! Ugh!" I sighed in exasperation. Goofs! Didn't they know anything!

"Well then what do you suggest we do, sugah?" Said Rogue, implying that she wanted me to amuse her with my little thoughts. I narrowed my eyes. That was it!

"Come on Tash. I'm feeling demon-ish," I said, dragging my friend from the room. If I didn't get out of here I was going to explode, literally!

"Wait!" The professor said. Tash stopped moving, so I did too. "We won't get anywhere if we fight among ourselves! You two are right. You know your friend much better than we do, but perhaps if we work together, we can find her much faster."

"Yak yak yak" I thought. However from the look on her face I knew Tash felt it was a good idea. I sighed.

"Ok," I caved, "what we have to do here is figure out where she might go, and then start looking around that area."

"What?" Jubilee said in disbelief. "That could take forever!"

"Maybe." I cut her off before she could say another word, "but I think I know where she would head. Thank God she's predictable." I pushed a button on the control panel and a map of the US came up. "OK. She'd head for a city because they're easy to get lost in, there's lots of stuff to do, and lot's of weird people to blend in with." I said. I pushed a few more buttons and all the large cities started to glow.

"She's probably head for the largest ones," said Tash, "or New Orleans." I nodded and pressed a few more buttons.

"New Orleans?" said Gambit, in anticipation.

"That leaves three." I ignored him. "New York, LA, and New Orleans. Now we have to break into groups and go there." I looked around the table.

"Cher et moi, we take Orleans!" Gambit said cheerfully. I wasn't sure I liked that.

"How many people here can hack into government systems." I asked.

"Gambit can 'ack into anytin, petite!" He said.

"I believe I could gain access to government systems with very little difficulty." said Beast.

I nodded. "All right, if it's ok with the Prof. here, Gambit and Rogue can take New Orleans. I'll give you a list of identities to search for, but if you find her, don't go near her, just call me."

"Wonderful planning petite!" Gambit said as he headed for the door, "Gambit go pack now." 

I shook my head and went on. "Beast and Tash, would you mind scouring LA? Tash knows what to look for." Tash and Beast nodded. "That leaves Me and Wolfie." I said, almost imitating Suzie, "We'll take the NY side and see what we can find there."

"What? When did I start taking orders from you?" asked Wolverine.

"Since it's all your fault she ran off in the first place." I barked back at him. This wasn't true, but I figured it would guilt him into obedience. It worked. "Any questions?" I asked looking around the table. There were none. "Good. We'll leave tomorrow. Everyone keep in touch, and if she happens to come back here, the Prof.'ll let us know. Now get some sleep!" I felt like a drill sergeant as they all filed out of the room, giving me dirty looks. I laughed when they were gone. Who was in charge now?

            I turned to Tash. "Well." I said, "I guess we'd better get to work." Tash nodded and we headed towards our room.  

***

We hit another pothole and my head banged sharply against the door. "Hey!" I yelled and grabbed my head. I shot Wolverine an angry look. He ignored me.

"Couldn't we have taken the highway?" I asked again. Of course not, Logan liked the back roads, the bumpier the better. Which meant I had no hope of getting any sleep. Tash and I had stayed up until about 4am trying to figure out any of the identities Suzie might use. We researched her favourite books, her nicknames, and even her great grandmother's maiden name. Every time we thought we'd found them all, one of us thought up something else and the brainstorming was started anew. I laughed as I remembered Gambit's, I mean Remy's, face as I handed him the 50 page list of names. It was divided into last names and first names, all of which had to be paired up in every order possible to find her. My head hurt just thinking about it, I had the list too.

"Waaa!" I yelled as we hit another pothole. "Couldn't you at least try to avoid the holes? Sheesh!"

"You wanna drive?" asked Logan, "go ahead!" He let go of the steering wheel and we hit another hole. The shock made the SUV veer off the road and head for the bushes. We both grabbed the steering wheel and turned it back onto the road, but over corrected and found ourselves heading to the bush on the other side of the road. Logan slammed on the breaks and pushed me away from the wheel so he could correct us again. A few seconds later we were back on the road.

"Jerk!" I yelled at him and punched him in the shoulder, not realizing his bones were adamantium. I swore and rubbed my knuckles. This was not going to be a fun trip.

"You want me to go back?" he threatened, "cause I'm only here by your invitation. I'd rather be at the mansion."

"Sorry." I said. I wasn't, but I was too tired to argue. "I need you because you can hack into computer systems. You didn't say so, but if you and Suzie were trained at the same place, then I'm sure you can. Besides, I think Tash is afraid of you, and I don't trust that horny Cajun." He smiled at this.

"So you think your friend spent some time at the same place as me?" he asked. I nodded.

"There's too many similarities between you for it to be a coincidence." I said. He guffawed.

"There's nothing the same about us." he said.

"Not true!" I defended. "You both heal quickly, have super keen senses, adamantium skeletons, and claws. Also, Suzie's probably one of the only people on earth who knows what you went through at that hellhole of a science lab." I saw him stiffen a bit at this.

"Yeah. It still gives Suzie nightmares too." I looked out the window. 

"How old is she exactly?" He asked.

"Fifteen," I replied, "but she's more mature then most people her age, when she wants to be."

He nodded. "How old was she when they got her?" he asked. He didn't really want to know. The thought of some kid going through what he had made his hair stand on end. Still, he waited for an answer.

"Ten." I said. I thought I saw him flinch, and I saw hatred in his eyes.

I looked away too. Suzie didn't like people talking about this. She hated her weak side, and I hated betraying her, so I changed the subject, switching from present to past.   

"The bastards are still after her." I said, watching his rage mount. "That's one of the reasons I'm so worried."

"Why?" He asked. I assumed he meant, "Why are they still after her?"

"Because she broke out before she finished her training, and because of her ability to control electricity. She can unlock any electrical lock, fool any security system, and escape any kind of detector. Not to mention what she could do with a computer controlled weapon. That's why they want her, and part of the reason we came to you guys."

He glanced at me, indicating I should go on. I explained. "No matter where we go, they follow us. At first, they just came in small groups, but they soon got bigger, and we didn't know how long we could hold them off. We think there's a tracker in one of Suzie's cuffs, but we can't remove them and we can't turn it off."

"Why not?"

"Because shutting off the tracker causes the cuffs to backfire, sending her into seizures. Removing the cuffs is no better because then she can't control her electric side and she ends up blasting something and passing out every once in a while. So you see we're sort of stuck."

"That's the other reason we came to you, because none of us can really control our powers. Suzie feints, and relies on those cuffs, Tash can change into a cat, but we never know what type or how long it will last, and me, well..."

"Well what?" He seemed to hate half sentences.

"You'll find out eventually." I said. I was too tired to muster the intelligence or courage to explain it all to him. "Just promise me one thing." 

"What?" He seemed intrigued.

"If we're ever in a fight, and I tell you to run, do it." I said. He thought this was amusing. So far it was almost as if I had no powers.

"I mean it! Or you'll end up dead!" He looked at me and saw that I was dead serious. He sighed and seemed to shrug his shoulders as we turned onto a paved road. It was clear sailing from here to the city. I put my head down and tried once again to get some sleep.

***

 

I was, once again, unsuccessful at this, but I did manage a slight doze before we reached the city. Then I woke right up! I had never been in New York before, the destination of so many art trips, and I wanted to see everything. I am, I admit, a bit of an artist, so my first instinct was to find the nearest gallery and start looking around. I looked at Logan, who was busy cursing the traffic.

Maybe it was for the better. I mean, I could always come back after we had found Suzie.

I opened the roof of the SUV as we went over the Brooklyn bridge and stood up.         

"Hey! Put your seatbelt on! You wanna get killed?" He yelled as my hair waved wildly in the wind. 

"Oh loosen up!" I said as I admired the view, "Besides, you're not wearing yours."

He glared at me and then did up his belt. The bridge ended so I did the same, just as a police car came around the bend.

"Stupid police." I said as I laughed. "They're always just a few seconds too late!"

He didn't share my joke. Sheesh! I had thought that I was supposed to be the cranky one today.

We found a decent hotel in a not so junky part of town and rented a room. One room, two beds. He despised this as much as I did, and I wished Suzie were here. We would have found an ATM machine, sucked it dry, and gone to the biggest 5 star in the area and booked the president's suite. They would have put the money back in the bank anyway. It wasn't quite like stealing.

"Stealing is only illegal if you get caught." I repeated one of Suzie's favourite phrases and chuckled.

"What's that?" Wolverine asked. He seemed to think I was laughing at him.

 "Nothing." I said as I threw my bag against a wall and flopped down on a bed. "Better get some sleep." I told him. "We have a long night ahead of us." He grunted and went into the bathroom. I put on my walkman, rolled over, and was asleep in an instant.

I suppose I slept well at first, but I started to have this weird dream. Some snarling beast was chasing me wherever I went and I woke up before the sun even touched the horizon. It took me a second to realize that Wolf-boy over there was a really loud snorer. 

With no hope of getting back to sleep anytime soon, I grabbed my coat and headed downstairs. I had to find a phone book and something to eat. Maybe I'd pick something up for Logan too.

It didn't take long to find the book. It was in a telephone booth and was so heavy I don't think even Rogue could have lifted it with ease. I struggled through the section on government establishments until I had found the place I wanted, the transportation building. If Suzie wanted a driver's license, or a transit pass, the records, and hopefully a picture, would be there. That was my target for tonight. 

I left the booth and went to a convenience store to change a 20$ bill for quarters. Then I went back to the booth and dialed Beast's cell number. I put in about 20 quarters and waited for an answer. I didn't have to wait long.

Tash was doing fine. They had just landed in LA. She had a small case of jetlag, and a large case of acrophobia. She hated heights and I jokingly reminded her that she only had to do it once more. She hissed at me.

Everything was fine there so I dialed another number, put in a few more quarters, and was soon talking to Cyclops, who was, as always brief with his explanations. Nothing had changed there. There was no sign of Magneto, or Suzie. No they hadn't heard from Gambit.  

I hung up and grudgingly punched in the number for Remy's cell phone. There was no answer. I fumed, put in the rest of my quarters and punched again. After about seven rings, he finally picked up.

" 'ello?" He asked. He sounded either sleepy or drunk. I guessed the later.

"Remy? It's me, Christine." I was already ticked off. 

"Oh." I had just burst whatever bubble he was dreaming up.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Uhh. Is going fine petite."

He may have been an expert thief, but he was a lousy liar. "Where are you?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Orleans! Where else would I be?"

A really lousy liar. "Gambit!" I said, grating my teeth together.

"It's not ma faute petite." he said, lapsing into French. I could smell the liquor from here. "You see, ma cher, she wan to stop at dis country fair, cause she never been to one since elle etait jeune." She was little. He was lapsing again.

"Oh really? Is it fun?" I was acting interested. This was hard.   

"Uhh, Oui! C'est tres amusant! Dey ave une Ferris wheel, uh, a few jeux. Et le cuisine, c'est magnifique. Il y a de, de pommes bonbon, de coton stuff de..."

Let me guess, "Free beer too?" I asked innocently.

"Oh Oui! Gambit never bin so drunk pour free!"

"Gambit you stupid ass! My friend could be in trouble and you're piss drunk in, in. Where the hell are you anyways?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you?" I emphasized each syllable. "Ou es tu."

"Oh. Bien francais ma petite!"

"Gambit!" I yelled.

"Huh? Oh right. Las I check petite, We somewhere in Tennessee."

"Tennessee!" I shrieked as people stared. "That's barely half way!"

"Non. Dat's almost alf way." he corrected.  He was getting drunker by the second. I was getting angrier by the second. At this rate, I'd blow up all New York before I ran out of time. 

"Gambit. Let me talk to Rogue!" I said. Why was I even trying to talk to him.

            "Huh? Oh sure petite."

            I waited a second.

            "Sugah?" I recognized Rogue's voice.

            "Rogue?" I asked. "Please tell me you've gotten farther than Tennessee. You're supposed to be approaching New Orleans by now."

            "Am sorry shugah, but can't a girl have a little fun?"

            I sighed. Of course, this was my fault. "Look. I probably should have told you this sooner so that you'd taken it more seriously, but I'm worried about Suzie. There are some people after her, and if they catch her I'm afraid they'll screw her up for life, again. So please, hurry?" I almost begged.

            "Oh, well y'all shoulda said something sooner shugah. We're on our way. Anythin else?

            I glanced at my time. Ten seconds. "Put Gambit back on." I said.

            "Uh, 'ello?" I was making him miserable. I smiled. 

            "Gambit you drunken, sorry excuse for a man! If I catch you drunk on this mission once more, I will come down there myself and replace Rogue as your partner. Do you understand!!!"

            "Ohhhh." He groaned.

            "Good! That's what you get you stupid sonofa..." the line went dead.

I put the receiver back into place and went off to find a good take-out restaurant. I hoped it was a long way off. I needed a good while to cool off.

***

When I got back to the room the first I noticed was that Logan was awake.

            "Where the hell have you been you stupid kid! I was about to call the mansion.

            I didn't answer him as I finished walking through the door. He continued.

"Do you know how dangerous it is out there? What if something had happened to you? I wouldn't even know where to look."

"What do you care!" I snapped. My mother had once given me the same speech. I really didn't want to hear it again, or think of her. It hurt too much.

He was taken a bit aback by my harshness, then sniffed the air and looked at the bag I had brought.

"Teriyaki?" he asked. I nodded. He opened the bag and then looked inside. Not even St. Bernard's drooled that much. I smiled and shook off my foul mood.

"There's one for you too." I encouraged. "Do you want the shrimp or the steak?" He looked at me, almost suspicious at first, then grateful. He examined the two cases, trying to decide. I laughed.

"You look like a kid trying to pick between two types of candy." I explained. I was suddenly reminded of my sister, who never could decide on anything. "Why don't you take them both." I said to him, trying to hide the pain in my voice. I was suddenly not hungry.

"You ok?" he asked me. Now who was the lousy actor? I forced myself to be happy.

"Yeah, fine." I said as I flopped down on the bed. "Talking to that Cajun just makes me lose my appetite."

"Cajun?" he asked.

"Yeah. Your snoring woke me up so I went and checked up on everyone. I also found out where we're heading tonight."

            "Where's that?" He asked, his mouth full of food.

            "Transportation building. We have to break into it, spend all night on the computer. Scan their databases, and pray we find her. Any problems?" 

He coughed on his food. "What? Are you out of your mind?"

"Yes," I said, "but luckily, so is Suzie. She left without her baggage, which makes our job much easier."

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

"Because she left this." I held up a small disk. He looked skeptical.

"It's a virus." I explained, "Suzie designed it. First it messes up the cameras so that they freeze on one frame, while the clocks keep ticking. Then, it shuts off all sensors in the building without letting the main desk know. Finally, it turns on the lights you ask it to, so you can see what you're doing when you go in."

"Whoa." Wolverine was impressed. "What did she use it for?"

"All night shopping spree." I replied. He looked at me in disbelief. "Hey, it's only stealing if you get caught." I repeated. "Come on, let's get going."

"When I'm finished eating." he said. "You wanna help?" He handed me the untouched shrimp platter. I caved. 

***

            The jeep stopped in an alley behind our target destination. I hopped out. Even after dark this city glowed with the light of a million signs and street lamps. It made me think that maybe Suzie wasn't here. She hated a lot of light.

            We walked along in silence. I considered our course of action from here, to dawn. It was relatively simple. Get in unnoticed, find the main security computer, download the virus and spend the whole night scanning photographs. Easy, right?

I sighed. Nothing was ever that easy.

We found the fire escape. Wolverine examined the door. Was there an alarm on the other side? Or could we just bust it open? I slumped against the building to consider the dilemma.

Shing! Screetch!

I turned around in surprise as I heard metal slice through metal.

"Wolverine!" I hissed.

He finished cutting out a section of the door. It took me a second to realize he had solved the problem. If the hinges didn't move, the alarm wouldn't sound.

"Good idea." I complimented.

"They needed a doggie door," he said as we went inside. Luckily there were no cameras around. We went up the stairs to the very top of the building where we found a large grate. "Wait here," he instructed as he sliced it open. I watched as he disappeared into the blackness. I sighed and sat down in a corner.

            "Hey, wake up."

            He shook me and I opened my eyes, suddenly realizing I had fallen asleep. I stood up and checked my watch. He had been gone almost an hour.

            "Well?" I yawned despite myself.

            "Follow me!" He said, jumping into the grate again. Easier said than done. I'm not quite as acrobatic as he is, and I didn't know about the twelve-story drop on the other side. Obviously this had slipped his mind.    

            I yelped as I plummeted into the darkness about three stories until he caught me in his arms. This may sound romantic, but you forget he has an adamantium skeleton. In other words, a steel bar broke my fall. I groaned loudly as he put me back on my feet.

            "Shhh!" he hissed as he walked forward. We were on some kind of platform in the middle of the shaft. He found another grate and opened it. Before I had completely gained my wits back I was following him, crawling blindly through a maze of air-ducts. Curse his super sight.

            Suddenly I heard another grate open and Wolverine disappeared again. I pawed the space ahead and found that there was a hole there. This time I managed to jump down on my own into a room full of blinking lights. It was the main security room.

            "Where's the disk." Wolverine demanded. I handed it to him and he shoved it into a drive and began typing. I rubbed my sore shoulders and legs. I tried to look around, but the only light source was the screen Wolverine was working on. I went to go find a light switch and tripped over a set of legs on the way. There was a man lying there.    

            "Wolverine!" I hissed.

            "He's ok." he assured me, "I just gave him something to help him sleep." In the light of his screen he held up a small tranquilizer dart. I looked at the man, uncertainly.

            "Done!" Wolverine announced his triumph. The lights went on, and I blinked at the sudden brightness. "Where to now?"

            "Um, wherever they keep the records of licenses and permits. We need pictures too."

            He clicked away on the keyboard for a bit and then led me down a few halls to yet another room that held a lot of computer stuff. He sat down at the terminal and was hard at work for about five minutes. Then, "Now what?" he asked.

            "Now I take over," I said as I shooed him out of the chair. I sat down and pulled out the list. I took a deep breath and started my work.

            I ran through names for half the night. I looked at pictures, dates, ages, anything that could have been Suzie. I was expecting someone between the ages of 15 and 25, that was named anything to do with death or wolf. I knew her appearance would have changed, and I sometimes spent a minute just looking at one picture to make sure it was or wasn't her. Then if I thought it could be her, or I wasn't sure, I would right down the name and address and do on to the next one. It isn't surprising that in a few hours I was seeing double. 

            "Want me to take over?" Wolverine asked after my face hit the keyboard for the sixth time. I nodded and sort-of stumbled over to a corner. I fell quickly asleep to the sound of rhythmic tapping. Wolverine shook me awake some time later.

            "Time to go." he informed me. I half-heartedly got up and followed him back into the room, through the maze of air-ducts, and onto the platform. He helped me back up three stories to the grate and soon we were driving down the streets headed for our motel. I staggered through the door and collapsed on the bed. This time, not even an earthquake could have awaken me. I was dead for all anyone else could tell.

***

I awoke and checked my watch. It was almost 1:00, and Logan was no where to be seen. There was, however, a bag from Starbucks, with a bagel and coffee in it. I ate the bagel and drank as much of the coffee as I could stand. I hate anything but cappuccino, however today I needed the caffeine. Then I took a shower and got dressed. I was just finishing with my hair when Logan came back through the door.

            "Good afternoon." I said. "Where were you?"

            "Just checkin some stuff. Rogue said to tell you they were in New Orleans, and that the Cajun was sober."

            "Good!" I said as I smiled. "Last time they were at a fair in Tennessee, with Remy drunker than a German at Oktoberfest!

            He shook his head in disgust, but there was humor in his eyes. I pulled out my list of names and started going through them as he informed me that Tash was also well, and things were normal at the mansion. I checked a map of New York I had gotten off the internet and circled ten names from the Manhattan area. I was slowly forming a game plan.    

            "What're you thinking?" he asked me as he peered over my shoulder. I continued scanning area and zip codes.

            "I'm looking for any suspects in the Manhattan area. That's where we'll start our search." I explained.

            "Search?" He asked.  

            "Yes, and it's exactly what you think it is. We will split up, take half the addresses each, and go look for her. If you see Suzie, don't approach her. She'll probably run if you do, and try not to let her smell you either." I concluded.

            "How will we know it's her?" He asked, a little skeptical. I looked at him.

            "She could look like the bloody Queen of England and you'd still know it was her." I said. "There's only one death." 

            He shrugged at my joke and we headed for the door. A while later we parked the car and went our ways, agreeing to meet back at it some time around ten. He didn't like the idea of this, but I assured him I could take care of myself. I pocketed my little

tazer-gun and went off to stake out apartments. We spent almost a week doing this, in different areas of the city. Still we didn't find Suzie.

            I learned a lot that week. For example, how to pick locks, and how not to pick locks. The first rule, of course, is to make sure the person isn't home first. Then I learned how to navigate air-ducts by myself, as well as how to sneak past security guards, bouncers and dogs included. Also, I found many creative ways to draw people out of their apartments, without seeing me. My best one was a tape recorder that played the words, "OPEN UP! POLICE!" really loudly. Still, despite all the names, places, tricks and locks I tried, I could not find Suzie. No one else had had any luck either. I was starting to think that maybe I had gotten it wrong.

            We did, however, manage to find other people we never imagined we'd bump into. Well, sort of.

One night, Wolverine was late getting back to the jeep. When he did he was rather bloody and beat up. I asked why and he explained that he had run into Sabertooth while doing his rounds. "The blood is his," he assured me, and didn't say anything about it after that. He looked confident, however, that the lunatic wouldn't bother us for quite some time. I hoped he was right.

My run in was a lot less violent, but probably much more damaging than his had been. It was something I had been running from  for  almost a year now, and of all places, it found me in New York.

I was late getting back to the jeep and I knew Logan would probably yell at me when I got there. I ran along the crowded streets dodging people, street lamps and  pickpockets when all of a sudden, smack!

"Sorry!" I stopped and helped the poor man pick up his belongings.

"That's ok," he replied as he stood up. I recognized him in an instant.

"C..Christine?" He asked. I was running again. "Hey! Wait!" my Uncle John chased me down the streets. He was in good shape, with longer legs than I had, and I used every trick, alley and trashcan to lose him. In the end my salvation was two quick corners and a coffee shop with a back escape route. I finally made it to the jeep almost a half an hour late, still out of breath, my eyes red from crying.      

            "Where the hell have you been!" Logan roared at me as I opened the door.

I sat down. "Go." I said, without even looking at him. I stared out the window and tried to compose myself. He understood. An hour later we were sitting on a hill at the edge of town, sharing a pizza, and admiring the view. After a few minutes, he asked the inevitable.

"So, what was that all about?" He asked. He wasn't going to let this go without an explanation. I sighed.

"I bumped into my uncle." I explained. He raised an eyebrow. "He's an art teacher up in Canada, near Toronto. Every year, he takes some of his students down on a trip to see the art galleries. I guess this just happened to be that time of year. Weird huh?" I gave a half laugh. Wolverine didn't. The silence began to fill the air once again. I chewed pizza automatically.

            "Did you and your family get in a fight?" He asked.

"No," I answered. "My family and I always got along really well." I picked my words carefully. "But about a year ago..." My courage fizzled and died.

            "They found out you were a mutant?" He pushed.

            "I found out I was a mutant." I corrected.

            "And you ran away from home?"

            "I blew up my home," I said bleakly. "I blew up my home, and everyone in it, and every home within a five block radius. The screaming demon was born, 52 people died, I met up with Suzie and Tash, and I've been with them ever since."

I looked at him, as if to say, "Happy now?"

"Sorry." he apologized.

I sighed.

"It's not your fault." I excused him. "I'd be asking questions too if I were you. It's Ok." I smiled at him. "Hey? Wonder what's on the radio." I said as I turned the knob. "What music do you like?"

"Silence" he said. I fake pouted as I found a channel that was playing rolling stones. I smiled.

"These guys were my dad's favourite," I said. "He called this one his theme song."

Luxury played out of the small speakers as we headed down the patchy road and into the city again. For a second I lay back and imagined that I was going home. Just like old times. Stones were blaring static from the speakers, dad was beside me smoking a cigarette and wearing some goofy farmer's hat. His old pickup flying down the dark dirt roads at 100 km/h. It was perfect.

Despite the jostling I fell asleep, completely content, because I was going home.

***

It wasn't until the starting of the second week that I finally got any clue that Suzie was nearby. It wasn't a good clue either. I was walking down the street somewhere in the Bronx when something familiar caught my eye. Was it John? No. It was a uniform, a black uniform, like the ones you see the FBI wearing in the movies. This guy, however, was not FBI. He was crouched down low over something, and seemed to be examining it intensely. It didn't take me long to realize it was a tracker. Suzie's ghosts had caught up with her.    

I had an idea. If this guy could track Suzie with that thing, so could I! The only problem now was getting it from him. I reached into my pocket and drew my tazer gun. He was wearing a vest so it wouldn't kill him, but maybe it would give me some time to run. Judging on how things had gone with John a while back, I would need every second I could get. I took a deep breath, and approached him.

"Excuse me?" I said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Wha?" he had been concentrating so hard I had startled him. I aimed for his chest and fired.

I grabbed the thing from him and was running before he even hit the ground. I took about five steps before I realized my fatal mistake. "Zip," a laser beam whizzed past my head. Of course! There were two of them! These guys always traveled in pairs. I gulped and forced myself to a full sprint.  

Another shot took me in the back. The force pushed me forward and I stumbled, but I recovered before long. Luckily, I was immune to all those stupid lasers. I smirked, or at least tried to smirk, as I raced around a corner.

"Bang!" Oh shit! Who would have guessed they had guns too? NOW I was in trouble. I shot across a street and turned into a narrow alley. Out onto another street. Another shot. I looked around frantically for someplace to hide. My eye spotted one of those super grocery stores. Perfect!

I ran across the parking lot, weaving through the cars, and running out of breath. Or at least I was until another shot grazed my shoulder. I fell between cars and out of their aim. Luckily they were still a good ways away, and now I felt as though I could run like the wind, even if it was just to keep me from pissing my pants.

I made it to the door of the grocery store rushed inside. I headed for the back first, trying to put as many isles between me and them as possible. Then I ran into the storage area where all the stock was kept. I swerved around pop bottles, dodged sacks of rice and crawled between crates of fresh produce. Finally I found a flight stairs that went up to a second level where there were some offices and stuff. I sprinted up these, closed the door behind me, and collapsed on the other side.

I caught my breath for a brief moment and examined the bullet graze. It was bloody, but not deep. I could take care of it later.

After a while I followed the corridor out to the front of the store again. There was a fire door there, just hidden from the main view, at the side of the store. Luckily, it didn't have an alarm on it. I slipped out unnoticed and walked away across yet another parking lot. Fifteen minutes later, I finally felt I was safe.    

I went to a drugstore, bought some gauze and tape, and then put on my coat to hide the bloody t-shirt. Then I bought an early dinner, and sat down in some park to examine my prize. I knew I didn't have much time to find her. There was more than one man with a tracker out there.

The locator was simple in design, to say the least. There was a screen with two flashing dots on it, and when I turned around and lined them up, I figured that must be the direction she was in. I started walking. Half an hour later I was no closer to the dot than I had been when I started. "Great!" I thought. I knew Wolverine would kill me for this, but I hopped a subway and was soon on the other side of town. Now I was much closer, and could almost see myself move in whichever direction I went. Perfect! Now there was only one problem. She was on the move! Fast!

I climbed to the streets and followed the signal as best I could. She was coming towards me, and I looked around everywhere to see her. Then, she was suddenly past me. I had an idea and pointed the locator at a passing bus. Damnit! That's where she was! I ran to the nearest bus stop as I watched as the vehicle carrying my friend disappeared around the corner. I sighed. This could take a while!

It was almost 10:00 when I finally caught back up to her. She was in some dance club that looked like the kind of place Suzie would hang out in. The sign on the front said, "Performing tonight: " I smiled. Oh predictable death! I walked to the front door.

"Hold it!" I hadn't noticed the bouncer at the side. "Where's your ticket?"

"Uhh, do I need a ticket?" It was a stupid question, but give me a little credit. I was caught off guard.

            "You can't get in without a ticket." He said. I stared at him a moment and then walked off to think up a plan. Entering through the front door probably wasn't a good idea. Suzie could see me and then bolt. I was pretty sure she didn't want to be found, and I didn't want to bug her if that was the case. I just wanted to make sure those army freaks didn't hurt her. I went to look for another way in.

            I went around back, where I found a commando opening up an air vent.

"Shoot!" I thought, "That was gonna be my entrance. Now what'll I do?" I felt my gun in my pocket, and thought, "When looking for Suzie, do as Suzie would do."

I approached the man as he worked, sneaking in from behind, between a dumpster and a wall. I zapped him once on the neck and he went limp, the loudest noise made was the clanging of a tool as it dropped. "Like a pro!" I thought as I crawled out of my hiding spot; not really.

Any pro would have realized there were two of them, and anyone with a brain would have remembered this from last time. Needless to say, my brain was on vacation that day. I heard a yell behind me and felt a beam hit me in the back. I turned to look, but the blast had knocked me off balance and I fell from my knees, to my ass, to my back. I reached for my gun as I saw a flash of metal and watched the commando suddenly take off and do a back flip into a wall. He hit hard while the man who had thrown him rushed out of the shadows at me. I took aim.  

            "Wolverine!" I yelled as he ran into the light. "What the hell are you doing here! I almost shot you in the head!"

            "Shut-up." he instructed as he knelt over me. "Don't talk, don't move."

            "Wolverine!" I shouted as he pushed me down to the ground.

            "Where were you hit?" He asked. I stopped struggling as I realized what he was doing.

            "Oh! That!" I laughed. He let go of me and I sat up. "Don't worry. I'm immune." I said, then I realized. "Oh shit!" I said, and grabbed my back.

            "What! Your back?" he asked, his face scrunched with worry.

            "No, my jacket!" I said as I pulled it off. I examined it. There was a hole the size of my hand in it where the blast had hit. "Awe," I whined, "now I have to buy a new imitation Tommy Hilfiger Jacket." I sighed and noticed that wolverine was gritting his teeth.

            "What the hell were you doing back there! You could have been shot you idiot!" He was blistering with rage. I looked at him calmly.

            "I was shot." I explained, "That makes it twice today, but don't worry. My body can absorb any type of energy blast, so I wasn't hurt." I looked at my poor jacket. "I just wish my clothes were the same." I finished.       

            "Twice!" Logan said in a dull roar as he grabbed my shoulders. I yelped as he accidently squeezed the bullet graze. He sniffed and smelt the blood on my shirt. He glared at me.

            "Immune huh?" he said. "Then what's this?" He lifted up my t-shirt sleeve and slowly peeled away the gauze. I grimaced.

            "I didn't say I was immune to bullets." I replied nonchalantly, shooing him away. "But it's only a graze." I pulled my sleeve down and put my jacket on again, changing the subject from me to him. "How did you find this place?" I asked.

            "I followed a boy-scout." He said, referring to the commando. "What the hell are you doing here?" He wasn't going to let me off easy.

"I used this." I held up the tracker I'd stolen. He frowned. 

"Go back to the hotel now!" he growled, "I don't want you getting in my way. You don't know how these people work, and I ain't no nanny. Go!"

I glared at him. There was no way I was doing that. I opened my mouth to protest but instead, "Look out!" I yelled.

I pushed him out of the way and jumped in front of him as the commando on the roof opened fire. I felt my skin burn, just a bit, and heard my jacket sizzled as I absorbed three more laser blasts with my arms. I took out my gun and fired. The commando fell.   

            I turned to wolverine. "Who's the nanny now." I said, or would have said, if I had still been standing. Logan threw me to the ground as a loud rattling sound echoed down the ally. In a flash, Wolverine was after the trigger happy bullet slinger and I was left sniping off other random commando dudes. Then, everything went quiet.

            "Wolverine?" I called, hesitantly. Had we gotten them all? I thought so, but...

I turned a corner, and ran directly into a commando, the force knocking me back. My tazer went flying and I landed hard on my tailbone. I looked up. He raised his gun and I shut my eyes, bracing for impact.

I heard a metallic ring, and a choked cry.

I opened my eyes. The commando had three claws sticking out of his chest.

            "Thanks Wolverine." I sighed and watched as the claws retracted and the body fell. I gaped.

            "S...S...Suzie?" I stuttered.

There stood a girl, same build, same height as Suzie, but with short black hair, and silver bangs. Could it be her? She stared at me through her sunglasses.

"Wait a minute," I thought, "Sunglasses? At midnight? In a dark alley?"

"Um, hey Suzie." I was sure now. I started to get up.

"Um, sorry, you must have me confused with someone else." Suzie said, stepping back. "Look, you can't be back here. You'll have to go and wait to get in at the front, or if you're a reporter, you'll have to call and set up an interview with my manager. Here's her card. Now if you don't mind, I have a show to do. Bye."

She hastily stepped back and turned around to leave. I sat, frozen in my place, unsure of how to approach my slightly insane friend, who was known to change moods faster than Dennis Rodman changed hair colours. I watched as she stepped further into the shadows, then stopped as something jumped down in front of her.      

            "Where do you think you're going?" asked Wolverine. Suzie stopped.

            "I'm sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else." She said slowly. Wolverine sniffed.

            "Nice try, but my nose says you're lying."

            "I didn't know your nose could talk." said Suzie, apparently giving up. "What do you want?"       

            "We were worried about you." I said. This was cheesy and stupid, but once again, my brain was on vacation. Suzie looked at me.

            "Well as you can see, I'm fine." she said, "Now leave me alone. I can take care of myself." She tried to walk past Wolverine. He wouldn't budge.

            "Hey!" he said, "We went through a lot of trouble lookin' for you. The least you could do is come back to the mansion with us. Or do I have to drag you back, kicking and screaming like some baby?" He narrowed his eyes and fell back into a battle stance. Suzie took off her shades and looked at me.

            "Oh come on guys, all I want is to be left alone. I just want a normal life for a change. A normal life! Is that so much to ask? I have a band now, and an apartment, and a drivers license...." She broke off. "You understand Chris, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah." I caved, "I know. I just don't want those MEP jerks to catch you again. You know?"

"But I can handle them. I've been doing it for three years now. Please, I'm begging you, just leave me alone, please?"

"Ok Suzie," I said, "If that's what you want, I can't stop you." Tears moistened my eyes. If she was going to lay it on thick, so was I.  "Just, call us once in a while, so we know you're okay. You know where we'll be." I gulped. "Take care." I smiled. "and good luck with the band thing. OK?"

She nodded. Logan let her pass, and she disappeared around the corner. I let out a deep breath, he looked at me.

"So, that's it?" he asked, confused.

"We'll see." I shrugged and then smiled wryly at him. "It depends on who won the Oscar."

"Huh?" he was really confused now.

"The dramatic duel." I said. He didn't get it. I didn't even try to explain.

Suzie had wanted a big dramatic scene to end her charade. It was her way, and I was happy to oblige her, I even enjoyed it a bit myself. Now I only had to see if I had been right to assume this was a dramatic duel, because Suzie might also be dead serious. If that was the case...   

            I went around front and sat on the curb, Logan sat down beside me. This was the hard part of the duel, the waiting to see if Suzie had meant what she said about being left alone.

We sat, and sat, and waited, and then waited some more. It was 2 am before the concert let out, and three before I finally heard a familiar voice say good bye to the bouncer and step out onto the sidewalk. I still didn't move. I listened as the steps moved towards us and felt my muscles stiffen. They came closer, closer, then, walked right past. I finally breathed as she walked around the corner, and let my shoulders slump.

"That's it then." I said aloud, but more to myself. Wolverine looked at me. He had no clue what was going on, but guessed rightly that somehow I had just been defeated. He waited for me to call the next shot.  

I stood up and stretched my stiff joints, trying not to feel sad. If that was what she wanted, fine then, she would get it. I tried to think about it in terms of Suzie gaining her freedom, rather than me losing one of my best friends. I almost didn't hear the tires squeal as someone turned the corner at top speed and roared down the street. I looked up just as the black mustang convertible stopped in front of me. I smiled.

"Uh, you guys need a ride?" she asked. The  word, "gotcha," flashed in my head and I struggled to pull my smile into a half snarl as I jumped into the passenger seat. Logan stood there, the utterly confused look on his face caused us both to laugh. "Meh. Normal is boring." She explained, "Hop in."

He got in the car slowly, unsure that he should because the driver was a lunatic. I tried to stop snickering as he did his seat belt up. Suzie turned on the radio, hit the gas, and we went around the next corner, practically on two wheels. I woo-hood, and Suzie laughed as we watched Logan turn pale in the back seat. Within the next half an hour, Suzie became the first person to ever make the Wolverine scream like a girl. We almost pissed our pants laughing.

It was 4 am before we reached his jeep and let him off the roller coaster. I used a pay phone to call Tash, the mansion, and Gambit, to tell them the good news. We got my stuff out of the hotel, then Suzie put the pedal to the metal and we raced out of the city doing 100km/h above the limit.