All characters owned by Marvel Comics

Author's note: Hey, thanks for the reviews so far everybody! Appreciate the feedback. This chapter is a lot of setup, not much action, but I promise Chapter Four will be more...exciting. Incidentally, it's not necessary to have read the first few issues of the Magneto series to follow this story, but if you have it will make it (I hope) a little cooler. Thanks again!

Chapter Three

Pietro was a blur across the carpeted surface of the conference room. Remy realized the speedster had donned heavy work gloves and was cleaning up the broken glass from the window Rogue had shattered during her dramatic exit. The mutant practically sparkled as he picked piece after piece from the carpet. Lorna was using her magnetic powers to manipulate the metal frames of several of the chairs in the room into a makeshift window covering. Rogue walked in after Gambit, head held high, nodding in response to Wanda's expectant glance.

Remy came to stand beside the Scarlet Witch. "So, do you actually have a plan here? The X-Men have been looking for him for months, but you're just going to, what? Throw a dart at a map and start searching? Going after him is a terrible fucking idea, on this I actually agree with Pietro." Quicksilver stopped his cleaning long enough to glare at Gambit. From the look on his face he was still a little ticked at Rogue.

While Remy had gone after Rogue, Wanda had spread the contents of several file folders across the conference room tabletop. She smiled tightly at Rogue and gestured for Gambit to take a look. "To pick up where we left off, SHIELD has been tracking our father, attempting to get a lock on his location and bring him in. They've had a couple close calls but, frankly, I think they're not equipped for this kind of mission. He has held his own against the Avengers and the X-Men. Even if the rumors are true and his powers are waning, he is still more than a match for secret agents carrying handguns."

Remy scanned the papers Wanda had arranged for them. Central amongst them was a map of the continental U.S. decorated with red and green dots like some kind of sick sprinkles, each dot tagged with a date and time. Around the map lay printed articles detailing stories of mutant hate crimes, front page bylines that had made the local papers of random small towns. The dates and times of the articles coordinated with the green dots on the map. Other articles, the dates sometimes days later, coordinated with the red dots. These stories were accounts of Magneto the mutant savior bringing swift retribution on those responsible for the initial crimes. All of it seemed so…personal, so individual. The man was always so global in his plans, didn't care how many little guys he stepped on to get his way. Something seemed off about the whole situation.

"He's been flying low…" Remy said slowly as he trailed his fingers along the pages. "Licking his wounds, maybe? Staying off everybody's radar." He moved his fingers to the map. "Moving westward it looks like. But…building the legend again, non? Don't mess with mutants or the big bad Magneto comes for you in the night. Mothers, lock up your daughters…" he quipped hollowly.

Pietro skidded up to the table and dropped his gloves dramatically on the edge. "But, why? The rabble was always so beneath him. What has changed?"

"Charles died," Rogue said quietly, drawing everyone's eyes to her. She was much calmer now, collected and confident, how Remy had been used to seeing her lately. He sighed inwardly in relief. "Despite their history, Erik loved Charles. His death would have ripped him apart inside. There are very few people he has cared about in his life and Charles has been one of the constants. Even when they were bitter enemies, he still respected and looked out for the professor. He's picked up Xavier's mantle time and again when Charles couldn't." She scowled at the map. "This may be his warped version of a tribute, of carrying on the dream when the rest of us haven't been very worthy successors."

"What is it, chere?" Remy asked and stood behind her to look at the map. There were far more green dots than red, incidents of attacks on mutants without an accompanying Magneto marker.

"The towns he's hitting, the places he's striking…there's a pattern here. They seem to be of a certain size. Not big cities, but not real small towns either, see?" She pointed to a couple of the markers. The print of the city name and size of the point on the map were all about the same population Remy realized as his eyes found the map legend. Bigger cities had no Magneto sightings. "Enough of a population to not get lost in, but big enough to hide in."

"Sure. You know as well as I, chere, in small towns locals know a stranger when they see one. There'd be talk, but local talk. Not enough people to make a big stink. He needs people, but not too many people. These towns he's hit, they are guaranteed to have their own newspaper, maybe their own TV station, story gets attention, but they're small enough that I bet their police presence isn't that impressive. He can lay low, be anonymous until he's ready. Then, there's enough fuel for an explosion, but not too big, eh?" He threw a lopsided smile at Rogue. "Good catch," he said.

Queuing up a laptop she had brought to the table, Wanda tapped the keys quickly. "SHIELD is in contact with the Avengers and sent a list of articles that seem to fit his profile of retaliation. Here, let me print it so you can look at it." She pursed her lips in concentration. "Their organization has apparently been seeding news outlets with fake stories to flush him out, but thus far he hasn't taken their bait. Could we look at where he has reacted and narrow down a list of potential targets?" She handed the list to Gambit, the paper still warm from the room's printer. There were thirty reports listed, all dated within the last week.

"Worth a shot," he muttered. "Give us a place to start at least." He tilted the paper so Rogue could read it as well. She chewed her lip as she read.

"The older ones we can probably eliminate," she grabbed the edge of the page. "He seems to be popping up within a couple days of each incident. 'Spose it has more of an impact when tensions are still high, still fresh in people's minds." She gestured to the map on the table. Lorna, finished with her repairs, joined Pietro and Wanda as they looked at their forming pattern.

"There's at least a couple of days in between each of his strikes," Lorna said as she put her knee into a chair and leaned over the table. She tucked her green hair behind her ear and grabbed a random printout. "If he were flying under his own powers, he could get from place to place in no time at all and strike instantly. Is he traveling like a normal person? Maybe the reports of his waning powers aren't exaggerated?"

Pietro snorted again. "Are you implying that instead of using his magnetic powers he's taking the Greyhound to each of his destinations? Perhaps renting a car and hitting the local McDonald's drive-thru?" Pietro frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Come to think of it, I don't know if our father can even drive." Lorna scowled angrily in Pietro's direction.

"I don't think we can assume anything on his powers right now…that would be real dangerous," Remy said evenly. "But Lorna does bring up a good point. However he's getting from point A to point B, there's a definite lag time between when he surfaces. He's either traveling conventionally or taking time to get his bearings and to plan, but, for us, it means he's going to ground. He's landing somewhere he can be found." He pulled the list out of Rogue's hand and laid it on the table next to the map.

"You can't seriously think we're going to track him down at a Motel 6 or something of the like? That's preposterous." Pietro crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I don't think it is," Wanda interjected. "Don't give me that look, Pietro. It actually makes sense. All of these months, skilled people with state of the art equipment after him and no one has found him? But, those searching for him are reacting to him based on old patterns…" She laid a hand on Pietro's shoulder. "Our father is a survivor. Time and again he has been beaten down and still he has persevered. When faced with adversity, he becomes a new man, changes tactics. Sheds his skin…"

"Like a snake…" Remy muttered, receiving a glare from Lorna.

Wanda continued. "What if this time he's not holed up in Antarctica or on a floating asteroid in Earth's orbit? This time…" she pulled a photo from her stack of files. It was a black and white shot from a security camera feed. "…he's hiding in plain sight." Remy had to do a double take at the photograph. The quality wasn't great, but it was of a city sidewalk. The shops lining the edge of the image were the antique stores and boutiques you'd find in any smallish city's main street revitalization area. The walk was crowded, but not New York City crowded, couples walking arm in arm, groups of ladies pushing strollers. Smack in the center, so nondescript he nearly missed him, was a man in an army jacket with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Jesus!" Remy leaned in closer. The man, of an indeterminable age with a surprisingly shaved head, was Magneto. "Who loves you baby!" He jabbed his finger at the face turned slightly from the camera. Rogue gasped and leaned closer to the grainy image. "All the man needs is a lollipop!" Remy pouted when no one laughed at his joke. "What, Telly Savalas not relevant anymore?" Rogue scowled at him as Lorna rolled her eyes and pushed off from the table. "Should I have gone in a more Mr. Clean direction?" Or Charles Xavier…not creepy at all, Remy thought but kept it to himself for now.

"Anyway…" Lorna said, waving a hand in the air. "We need a plan and we need to move quickly here. We can't chase him for weeks, SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers will never allow that. Our window of opportunity seems to be closing quickly. Suggestions on how to proceed?"

"Remy and I can definitely narrow down the list of potential targets to ones that fit his pattern," Rogue crossed her arms and nodded in his direction. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of working alone together for the next couple hours, even if it meant being roped into this bullshit. "From the looks of the list, some of these targets are clustered together. He's probably getting his news from the internet or the news wires, same as SHIELD. Maybe when we have some possibilities, we could split up? Do a ground search the old fashioned way?" She said it like a question and directed it at Remy. Why did he all of a sudden feel like he was leading this dumbass mission? He let out a sharp breath.

"I like the idea of figuring out where he's going to strike, maybe being there before he can. I don't like the idea of splitting up, but we may not be able to avoid it. There's so many problems with this caper I can't even begin to formulate a strategy…" He ran a hand through his hair and despite his irritation he smirked as he caught Rogue's eyes locked almost hungrily on the sight of his chin length tresses. He shook them a bit and winked at her. He was pretty sure from the look she was giving him that the sight of a bald Magneto did nothing for her.

"So 'Cyclops', what issues do you feel we need to address before we can get airborne?" Pietro sniped as he was speed-reading through a stack of the newspaper articles sprinkled across the table.

"Thought you didn't want in on this?" Remy ribbed the man, but Pietro continued flipping through the papers.

"I do not. But I can hardly allow my sisters to confront our father without me. I am sure you can relate." He raised his eyes briefly and looked towards Rogue for a split second and then met Remy's gaze. Remy nodded slightly. There was no way that girl was going off after Magneto without him.

"Okay," Remy ran his hand roughly across his jaw. "Issues." He raked his eyes across the faces of the mutants gathered around him. "First, you're all too recognizable to him. Shit, he knows all of us on sight. Can't run a caper if you've been made, we are gonna need damn good disguises. Lorna, Pietro and Rogue's hair are a hot mess in terms of keeping a low profile. You'll all stick out like a sore thumb, especially in a small town. Truthfully, if he spots us or gets wind of us before we're ready to confront him, it's over. This is going to be tough. We need to be slightly behind him, but still looking at where he's going and working to get a step ahead. We're gonna have to cut your ties with SHIELD and keep contact with the Avengers to a minimal. Your father's good, real good, but the way he's been avoiding those looking for him means he may have people helping along the way, someone on the inside. Last thing we need is to have him get wind of us until we're ready and have a good strategy in place.

"Second, Magneto could care less about civilians or collateral damage. The more of a mess, the more his name'll be in the headlines. None of us can afford to risk innocent bystanders or get any more bad press." He raised an eyebrow at Rogue. "Third, we can't go in all Avengers. Can't use your fancy Quinjet, too easy to spot. We're going to have to go low-tech or he's going to know somebody's after him. If his powers are even a fraction of what they were, he's going to be able to block a lot of scanners and equipment, sense image inducers. We're going to have to go old school, pounding the pavement, asking questions and digging up dirt. Study our surroundings."

"This isn't a jewel-heist, Remy," Rogue kidded.

"Same tactics, chere. Know your target, know your environment."

Wanda sighed and sunk with a small thud into one of the chairs. "This isn't how I hoped this would go. I just wanted to find him, reason with him before it came to any more violence. With all of our resources available, your suggestion is that we hunt him down like some human private investigator?"

Remy shrugged. "Can't be sneaky with your Avengers' jet screaming overhead."

"Can't be fast flying commercial, either," Lorna reminded him. X-Factor had been taking Serval Industries' corporate jet to most of their missions and it hadn't really worked in their favor. "Harrison has a smaller Cessna on the grounds. I have to clear this mission with him anyway, I'll get that plane. We can make flight plans, land in the smaller airports that will be close to our targets. It'll take longer, but I think Remy's right, Wanda. A Quinjet is just too adversarial."

Tracing her fingers over the map again, Rogue's hand came to rest on a small airport in the Western U.S. that was adjacent to several small cities. In her other hand, she held SHIELD's list of mutant incidents. "These towns," She left a thumb on the airport and pointed one finger each at four surrounding cities, spreading her hand across the map. "Are on our list and seem to fit the pattern. We fly the Cessna, land here," she tapped her thumb against the map, "split up and each make our way to a town to search on our lonesome." She tapped each finger on the cities. "Civilian clothes, keep in contact with cell phones. Recon only, touch base on whatever we find?" She looked questioningly at Remy. Pursing his lips, he nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like we've got a plan. Sort of." He placed his hand on Rogue's and moved it aside, running his thumb slowly along the underside of her gloved palm, smiling slightly seductively as he did so. She eyed him warningly but returned the smile. "First thing's first though, chere. I think we need to check out the places we know for sure he's already been. I know we're on a time crunch and flying a conventional plane is gonna slow us down even more, but we need to see the steps he's taken before we're going to figure out how he's moving forward. SHIELD is good, their people are good, but there ain't nobody alive that knows him like you four do. They may have missed something, some evidence or witness, some motivation. We won't."

"Good thinking, Cajun." She smiled deeper and leaned towards him, all magnolia and sugar syrup, her destructive temper tantrum from earlier just a memory. He had forgotten just how intoxicating her presence could be to him. Beyond all the drama and angst there was always a solid fiery passion that connected them, still as vivid as ever.

"If you two are through?" Pietro broke the spell and Rogue pulled her hand away from Remy. "We can't use image inducers. Gambit is right, if my father's powers are even slightly functioning he would spot their electronic signature within a thousand yards. I suppose I could find some baseball caps or something suitable for disguises."

Remy shook his head, "Non. You read up on all of this stuff. You'll get through the info quicker. Look for anything relevant that we may have missed. Be thorough." He pointed to each of them in turn. "Wanda, touch base with Alex on our intentions, get us as much time as you can, let him know we'll be incommunicado unless absolutely necessary. Then, get some civvies rounded up for disguises. Get a wig for Lorna, that green hair ain't going to hide under a baseball hat. Maybe some Grecian formula for Pietro?" That got him a withering look from the speedster but Remy just chuckled. "Rogue, double check our pattern cities. Google information on the towns you think are possibilities for his next targets. We need the closest airports, a list of hotels, population distribution, and police strength on each, anything you think will be useful. I'll do the same for our first stops, the towns he's already tore up. Somebody has to have seen him, talked to him that didn't talk to the police or SHIELD. I want us to canvas the towns and find out every step he took. Lorna, work your magic on Snow."

Wanda stood. "Can we be airborne in three hours?" She asked, looking at each of them. The siblings nodded stiffly. Rogue nodded and removed her hoodie, revealing a tight green tank top underneath. Remy smiled devilishly as she wrangled a seat in front of the laptop on the table, still in mild disbelief that they were back together after so many months apart.

"Google, here I come," she smirked as Wanda, Pietro and Lorna left the conference room. Remy leaned over her to look at the screen. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and Remy breathed deep, happy to be close. He sighed and barely stopped himself from kissing her bare shoulder.

"Careful, sugar." Rogue whispered. "There's another laptop on the banquet over there."

"Oui." He kissed the top of her hair, slightly defeated.