Chapter One

Quentin stepped silently into the assembly room at the Mansion he had taken over for the X-Men's base of operations.

*All X-Men, report to the assembly room immediately. I will explain when everyone arrives.*

The month prior, Quentin had been listening to the police scanner in his office, and that was when he started forming a plan to break out the mutant that could only be called Wither.

Stepping into the room, Quentin took a seat at the table and waited for the rest of the X-Men to arrive. His plan having been formulated, he was ready to give his team the lowdown. It was time to bring a mutant to their cause, a mutant that would be a wonderful addition.

Black, low heeled boots clicked along halls as a voice entered the wind riders mind, 'Well so much for breakfast.' she thought as she turned around and headed back the other way, towards the conference room. Arriving, she opened the door, arching a white brow as she did to see she was the first one there. With a mental sigh Storm walked over and sat not to far from Quentin, "Good morning Quentin." she smiled as she placed her arms on the table, her hands folded together.

Marie set down her coffee on the side table for a moment. She picked up the remote control and shut off the TV. She figured she would just have to catch up on the news another time. She picked up her gloves and her coffee, and then left the private study she shared with Quentin. Marie made a brief stop in the kitchen to drop off her cup before heading to the Assembly room.

As Marie crossed the threshold to the meeting room she pulled the sleeves of her black cable knit sweater down to her wrists. She unconsciously adjusted her clothing to ensure that none of her skin between the top of her form-fitting dark denim jeans and sweater was exposed. She smiled at Quentin as moved around the table to her seat, which was to the left of Quentin.

"Good morning darling." Marie said in the delightfully sweet southern girl accent she had. As she crossed behind him to get to her seat, she ran her uncover fingers cross the top of his back. She placed her gloves in front her on the table and took her seat. She smiled at Quentin as she ran her hands through her hair pulling it all together and on side, so it wasn't in her face. She thought to follow her greeting with a question about the meeting and/or a personal question, but she could hear others approaching and so she opted to be quiet.

Inside Storm cringed at the pairs lovey doviness. It sort of made her sick, but to each their own. Deep down she really wanted something like that herself, but she would never let on. That was brushed from her memory as soon as Quentin spoke to her and she nodded. Cover was something she was good with. A bit of fog, maybe some heavy snow to make it near impossible to see, sure. It would look odd to humans, but she could care less really. She had a job to do and anyone that got in the way would meet a very electrifying death. Plus she really didn't have to worry about her comrades being able to see through her cover with all the high tech gadgets they had, they would be able to see through whatever she put down.

"Jean's not here yet, but this is important, so I'll just open a link to her mind so she can watch the meeting." Quentin said coldly, his hand slipping down and grabbing Rogue's ass. "Morning baby." He said with a grin. "There is a mutant in custody that will be a good addition to our cause. His name is Kevin Ford. Our job is to break him out with as little police interference as possible." He looked momentarily at Rogue, then over towards Storm. "Storm, you'll be giving us cover, so we can get into the prison without any resistance, or at least try." He then looked back at his fiancé.

"Baby, when we get in, you'll be taking the memories of a guard, so we can find Kevin's cell." He continued speaking, addressing Jean as if she were in the room, since the link he had opened would allow her to hear him.

"Jean, you're flying us in. You'll be waiting with the Jet, so we can make a quick escape once we grab Kevin." He paused momentarily, only to give Rogue a kiss, a passionate kiss on the lips. "Does anyone have any questions?" He asked once the kiss was broken.

Keeping the link open to Jean so she could still hear every word that was said in the conference, Quentin smiled over at his fiancée. "We get suited up to go, right now." He said, standing and then pausing momentarily when Marie asked her question about Kevin's talents. "Ford, or Wither as he has been known to be called, is capable of draining someone's life force by touching them. Like you, Marie, he will never be able to touch another living being. Except for me. It makes me wonder what kind of shit Charles and his posse have up their sleeves when they're able to arrest a mutant such as Wither without losing even a single member of their force."

Quentin sighed softly. "Enough talk. Let's get this fucking show on the road. I want to be back in time to watch House."

"Well, then... let's gear up." Marie said pointing out the obvious next step they should do. She grabbed her gloves and pushed back from the table. Marie rose to her feet and left the table, after pushing her chair in.

As Rogue started toward the exit, she thought a moment about this new mutant, Wither that they were going to free. She had mixed feelings about this task they were about to go on. Mostly her feelings centered on the mutant and not their actions. She felt empathy about another poor soul who couldn't experience physical touch. It was hard to deal with for her and so she figured it was the same for him. Marie knew this mission meant that she would have to deal with her own semi-similar insecurities and that is one of the things she hates to do. Marie knew she needs to suck it up and everything would be okay. Rogue didn't like the idea of anyone being locked up on because of what they were... it always echoed of her past. She was pretty sure the mutant probably just found himself one day walking along the street and then next minute under arrest. She wondered if one day she slipped up and the goon squad would finally grab. She knew life would be over at that moment. She did her best to shrug it off as she didn't want Quentin or Jean to pick on her feelings and thoughts.

"So I bet the goon squad thinks they have a real goldmine in their grasps with him." Marie said in that southern Louisiana drawl that made even the worse news sound acceptable. "Poor boy probably doesn't even know were going to save him from life of being only an expendable pawn."