Thanks LillianaKay2011 , DragonRider2000 , and Vanilla Cookie for your reviews!

Just as a quick note, the first scene isn't really in anyone's point of view. :) I honestly expected this chapter to be a bit more revealing mystery-wise, but it ended up being so long that I had to split it in two, leaving the actual 'unveiling' in the second part. :P I should be posting the other section within a couple days. Enjoy!

Dragnet

A week or so after the rogue trio returned from their Canadian venture, between the doctor's Biology class and Wolverine's advanced combat class, Renee, Scott, and Logan were in the Danger Room practicing fighting against six holographic mutants. Normally (for these three old friends had met to practice every day almost since their return), they helped each other in defeating the outnumbering opponents; however, this day was a bit different.

Ever since the day before when the two men had dropped by the physician's office within five minutes of each other to 'chat' and give her a caffeinated drink, only to have the result of commencing a glaring contest in front of her, both mutants were just a little…edgy. It hadn't helped that she decided right then to announce that she was a strict tea drinker and abhorred coffee, unlike what she had allowed the 'metal-man' to believe previously…what made it even worse was that Scott had, by chance, brought the right refreshment, unlike his poor apparent rival.

Right then and there, the woman had tried putting a stop to it, but Cyclops and Wolverine were the type of people who didn't let things go just because someone told them to do so. Now, they were actually trying to make each other fail just to make themselves look good for Renee. The subject of their unusual mooning, on the other hand, did her best to ignore their boyish antics. Though she seemed rather distracted in her own way, she was generally focused on her work. Just that morning, she had officially cleared Scott to return to work, including retaking his place as the X-Men leader.

Just as Renee was about to take out her second projected enemy, a blue slime-spitting fellow standing at about six feet, and while the other two fighters were still trying to trip one another, a notoriously mischievous technician messing around with the holographic controls in the viewing room suddenly hit a certain button which allowed certain aspects of the 'game' to be real. The result: all three mutants were sprayed and soaked with blue goo before they finally finished off the enemies.

"What the…heck…what the heck was that?" Wolverine yelled, glaring at the now-empty viewing room and shamelessly spitting on the floor in hopes of clearing his mouth of the plastic-tasting substance. His moody companions were likewise attempting to rid themselves of the slime, though with a bit more discretion.

"Now, don't go trying to take the poor kid's head off, pal," Cyclops returned, trying to find a clean spot on his shirt with which to clean his glasses, but ultimately giving up. "I'm sure it was just an accident. The Professor was mentioning something this morning about a glitch in the Danger Room and that boy was trying to fix it. Obviously, he succeeded…just with bad timing and abilities a little rough around the edges."

"Sure, go ahead a put a good face on it. That prankster did it on purpose," Logan growled, though he no longer seemed inclined to dismember anyone. "…Boy Scout."

"Grizzly bear," the other mumbled back.

"Gosh! Would you two just get along for two seconds today?" Renee demanded, trying desperately not to have a spitting fit just to get rid of the disgusting flavor of the projected goo. "I swear if you don't start at least acting like you're not sworn enemies, I'll tranquilize both of you, steal the X-Jet, and drop you off in the middle of the Sahara with nothing but a single water canteen. Now, move aside. There's a shower with my name on it."

The instant she moved towards the exit, both men rushed toward the door to open it for her, only to collide with her and each other. While Scott and Logan merely glared, Renee, having been in the middle of the impact, went bouncing backwards, landing unceremoniously on the hard floor.

Logan barely held back a chuckle at the huffy, gel-covered girl with soaked, sticky hair clinging comically to her face; however, Scott chivalrously ran to help her up. Dr. Bradford, on the other hand, was no longer in any tolerating mood whatsoever and slapped away the offered hand prior to storming over the door with a glance daring anyone to try opening it for her again.

"Both of you, stay away from me," she growled.

After she was gone, the remaining two couldn't help but laugh at the entire situation. Again, they were both after the same woman; only this time, she wasn't inclined to deal with either of them.

"You know," Scott noted, using his fingers to get some of the goo off of his sunglasses, "while she seems to like the 'straight-and-narrow' type more, she seems to be acting more and more like you every day."

Wolverine scoffed, catching onto the good humor.

"She's already been on a date with me, though."

"That was before I came along."

"In your dreams."

"Howlett, James…birth year: 1837…suspect in father's murder, who was found with mysterious stab marks in abdomen…brother of…Victor Creed…status: rogue; memory wiped… It couldn't be…it just couldn't…"

Though it was admittedly quite rude under normal circumstances, Charles' concern for Renee's wellbeing had driven him to listen in on her mumblings for a brief moment as evening fell as she scanned over a file apparently given to her by Sabretooth before he attacked. Ever since her return from Canada with Logan and a very-much-alive Scott three weeks previously, Dr. Bradford had practically holed herself up in her little glass office, teaching her classes, checking her occasional patients, and staring in bewilderment at two files that had not come from school or infirmary archives: her own and one belonging to this mysterious 'James Howlett'. When not doting over her new obsession, the doctor would go on walks with Cyclops that lasted for hours in the evening or, when Wolverine wasn't in the Danger Room, she would practice fighting with holographic creations of a new and improved Sabretooth.

Worry boiling over, Xavier finally reached out to the woman with his mind and called out to her.

"Renee, can you come to my office for a few minutes? And bring that file you toted with you from Canada."

When the summoned lady arrived, wearing gray sweat pants, a light blue V-neck shirt, and her white lab coat, and carrying the mysterious black folder under her arm, he noted her relief to see that no one else was there.

"You called, oh wise and noble Professore?" she queried, leaning on the desk with her fingertips.

"Yes, I have noticed that you are spending a lot of time on your project…namely, with that particular file."

"Well, sir, you did say that I could work on it as long as it did not interfere with my job. Have you noticed any slack in my efforts or me getting behind in any grading or appointments?"

"No, but what do you think? You may not be falling behind yet, but everyone has noticed how tired, distracted, irritable, and reclusive you are."

Anger flashed in her eyes.

"I am not…!" Cutting off, she took a breath to calm herself. "I'm not irritable."

"When I agreed to let you search for answers concerning your early childhood, I expected you to conduct yourself like the mature woman you are; I also expected you to ask for my help."

"I'm sorry, Professor, but, when I went up to Alkali Lake to bring Scott back, I didn't expect to have my curiosity thrown in my face and be more baffled than ever."

"Perhaps I can now be of assistance…?"

After contemplating over the file for a moment, Renee gently handed it to her boss, who promptly opened it. Inside was practically an entire summary of the life of James Howlett during and prior to the 1970's. What had probably caused the girl's distracted shock was the picture that went with it…it was Logan.

"Now you know."

"This would reveal practically all of Wolverine's past and I'm sure he would be relieved by it, but what does this have to do with you?"

"I think I can give a fair guess," someone offered. Charles swiveled around to find Magneto standing in his office in his full costume, having come through the now-open window.

"What are you doing here, Erik? Have your powers back, I see."

"Nice to see you too, Charles. How have you been? Can't an old friend just drop by to say hello?"

"Under the circumstances…no."

"Oh…well, in that case." With that, the arch-nemesis of the X-Men lifted Renee up into the air and brought her to float beside him. "I don't know how it works for other people, but that mutant 'cure' actually retreated and, not only did it return my former power…it gave me a few new ones. Now, don't be jealous, Charles. I have plenty of uses for the dear doctor. Besides, a little revenge never hurt anyone. Do take care, old friend, and say hello to Wolverine for me."

Concluded with his traditional ranting speech, Magneto lifted himself into the air and, to Renee's obvious distress, flew out the window and into the distance. Only then did Storm, Cyclops, and Wolverine come charging into the room.

"What happened?" Scott demanded, his fingers poised and ready to remove his sunglasses. Happily, the former and returned leader of the X-Men had settled comfortably back into the general routine, though his sorrow for Jean's death was clear. "Where's Renee?" The last part was echoed by Logan.

Still trying to fathom how Erik had returned to the world of mutants without him hearing of it and noticing that the black file on his desk was also gone, Charles replied,

"Magneto is back."

"Using Cerebro, I discovered Renee in a new facility about seven miles north of Alkali Lake. Magneto is failing to completely shield her from my sight, so I can only assume that he is purposefully trying to draw us in. If you are to strategize a rescue mission, it must work around the probability that this is a trap."

"Are you sure this'll work?" Scott asked as he and Logan headed for the X-Jet from the 'locker room'. Even though he was team leader, he still felt more trusting of Wolverine's opinion lately, despite their continual conflict.

"It'd better work. Why do you think he took to the doc, though? I know he's creative with those crazy plots of his, but what does he want with a mutant who can control molecules? Is he back at trying to change human DNA again?"

"You know, that almost sounded intelligent."

He received a pointed glare from the other man for the tease.

Despite all circumstances, Cyclops couldn't help but feel some slight resentment for the part Wolverine had in Jean's death. While he had done a rather good job at hiding it, the sorrow for the loss was still too deep to forget. Still, Renee's presence somehow seemed to soothe the many hurts surrounding the school. During his short time back at the mansion, he couldn't help but see how content the students, teachers, and overall environment seemed with the doctor around, regardless of her presently distracted state.

"Are we ready?" Storm asked, already waiting by the X-Jet with Iceman. In spite of his scramble to finish school and apply for colleges nearby, Bobby had remained loyal to the X-Men, forming tight friendships with his teammates, including Renee, who had accompanied them once or twice during the past month.

"As ready as we can be."

"What's the plan?" Bobby queried, having only volunteered after finding out about the rescue at the last minute.

Storm was the one to answer as she steered the jet into the air. Scott could tell from the tension in her voice that she was fighting to not use her powers to stir up a little wind to make the vessel go even faster. It was amazing, but not surprising, what an impression Dr. Bradford had made on the school residents.

"Magneto has taken Renee to what we believe to be his new base near Alkali Lake. We have no idea where she is inside because the Professor was somehow blocked before he could look further…so, we're going to infiltrate it by landing on the roof with the X-Jet in stealth mode and sneak in through the ventilation. We can only hope that Magneto doesn't have an army stored in there as well."

"Do you think that would actually stop us from getting in?"

Storm glanced back at the three supremely determined men behind her and didn't even bother to answer Logan's incredibly obvious question. Even if she did manage to take command from Cyclops and end up pulling the plug on the mission due to unnecessary danger, she knew that it would be all but impossible to hold her teammates back. Besides, losing one of their own to a kidnapping tyrant wasn't exactly something of which they were in the habit.

Ororo herself considered the girl an excellent asset and a dear friend; Bobby was well on his way to seeing the doctor as sort of a big sister; Scott had clearly known Renee previously through their mutual dealings in the past and very noticeably favored her, though the closeness of Jean's death seemed to still hold him back from any feelings beyond those of friendship, as far as she could tell; Logan was prominently protective and concerned for Dr. Bradford, however they tended to squabble, and also seemed to have a soft spot for the feisty, dear physician, particularly since they both possessed mysterious histories.

"We're here," she finally announced some time later, cautiously lowering the jet onto the roof of the huge, of course metal, building. She didn't dare produce a cover of fog or thunder as Magneto knew from past confrontations that the female mutant often used her power for diversions and camouflage.

With silent footsteps, the team slipped across the roof and carefully opened a hatch that revealed the tinny rectangular tube, just large enough to crawl through, which made up the ventilation system of the building.

"Ladies first," Logan offered sarcastically.

Before Ororo could respond, Cyclops promptly and quietly slipped forward and into the hole. With that decided, Storm went second, with Iceman following and Wolverine bringing up the rear. The woman had to hold back a snicker at how Logan's bulk barely fit in the available crawl space with enough room to actually crawl. She could also barely hear him grumbling about the ridiculousness of the entire secrecy of the affair.

About three minutes into their creeping, Scott stopped at an air shaft, which, as they discovered from peering through four others, Storm could guess was around fifteen feet above the floor in the ceiling. A final difference, however, was Magneto's voice echoing into the shaft from the area below, a large metallic hallway.

"Don't worry so much, Radar. I know they'll come. They always do…" He cut short when his companion hushed him.

If Storm had been looking through the grill as Scott momentarily was, she would have been shocked to find Magneto staring directly at her, despite their absolute quiet. What she did notice in her present position, however, was that Logan was gone and Bobby was just then disappearing into a hole made by the bottom giving way to reveal a slick ramp of some sort leading into nowhere: an obvious trap. Further noting was interrupted as the woman was swept into a slanting tunnel of her own. Despite all efforts to find a crack or stray cord to hang onto and stop her fall, she found none, plunging down the metal slide and trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever could possibly be at the bottom. Suddenly, the tunnel gave way to air, and air to hard floor. Sitting up slowly, she discovered herself in a small, ten-by-fifteen-foot cell or cage of sort…it was too dark to tell. She only knew that she had been captured.

On his part, Wolverine, who had been the first to be swallowed up by the abyss, had automatically stuck his claws into the flawless walls of the tube, but his claws went through the material like paper and he kept falling, only stopping when he dropped into a solitary little room with no windows or escape means of any kind. With nothing better to do at that moment, Logan instantly began pounding and scratching at the apparent door, ignoring the fact that his claws were barely making even the slightest mark on the hard surface.

Bobby, the second to go after hearing the beginnings of his companion's tumbling, also went sliding down to nowhere and attempted to use his power to halt his descent, shooting ice to create a block against further downward movement; however, his dam, strangely, hardly worked at all and he ended up crashing through the ice and falling unexpectedly into a cell of his own. In his case, though, the unprepared and awkward angle of his landing ended up knocking him senseless.

On his part, Scott, who had seen his friends go plummeting before him, had the senses to instantly brace himself against the shaft walls as soon as his own support opened and sent him sliding. The friction of his suit against the tunnel's side successfully slowed him to a near stop…that is, until the metal suddenly started to rapidly heat up after a few seconds, forcing him to release his victorious hold and continue down the dark passage. Ultimately, the fall landed him in his personal, puny accommodations, which, after a minute of recovery, he eagerly searched for an exit, though there was none to be found.

Apparently, Magneto had been expecting them for a while.