Many thanks again for the reviews. I have to confess my ignorance and admit I have no idea who Kendall is, so chances of him showing up are slim. I'm actually quite shocked at how fast I'm getting through this story, must be the result of not having much else to do.


CHAPTER SEVEN

Xavier sat at the controls of Cerebro, the metal cap in position over his head. Beast was at his side. "Are you certain this is the best course of action, Professor?"

"In the circumstances, Henry, I feel it's the only course of action open to us. There are several reasons why we need to locate Cable as soon as possible."

"One, I assume, being the need to locate Sinister?"

"That being the most obvious and practical one. But I've noticed a certain drop in morale after recent events. The raid on Jean's grave and the discovery that Cable is the result of that raid is preying on people's minds. I think everyone needs activity. And soon."

Beast nodded in agreement. "I'll let you get on."


"You're making quite a habit of coming up here."

Wolverine had been on the roof since the meeting in Xavier's office, watching as the sun set, alone in his thoughts. So he hadn't noticed Storm coming up behind him. He glanced round briefly and then shrugged. "I like the quiet."

"Sometimes you can have too much quiet." Storm came to stand beside him. "You're thinking about Cable? About who he is?"

"I know who he is,"Wolverine snapped. "He's someone that's going to wish he'd never been born next time I see him. That's assuming he actually was born."

"He's more than that."

"Not to me." Wolverine expected Storm to fire off a retort at that but instead she remained silent, inviting him to continue. He tried to let the silence continue but it wasn't long before he felt the need to explain, to justify himself. "So someone took a bit of Scott and a bit of Jean, mixed them up together and he was the result. So what? Doesn't stop him being evil."

"I don't think he's evil, Logan. He's what Sinister's made him but there's more to him than that."

"When did you become a telepath?"

"I'm not. I've just met a lot of evil men and a lot of good men and I think I've learned to tell the difference."

Logan shook his head. "It doesn't matter. He's not their family. We were their family."

"Then why are you up here?"

"Just because someone's your family, it doesn't mean you have to like spending time with them."

Storm put a hand on his arm. "Maybe we like spending time with you."

Logan turned and looked at her, searching her eyes for deception. There was none there. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. He felt her melt into the kiss and held her there, both of them lost in the embrace.


Despite his comments earlier, Beast had not left the Cerebro room. He sat silently behind Xavier, watching the lights playing across the map on the display in front of them, knowing that each light represented a mutant somewhere. Beast knew there was no reason for him to be sitting there but he could think of no place where his presence would be more constructive. He had no real function at the mansion and his position with the government had become increasingly tokenistic, with him spending most of his time mired in bureaucracy that didn't really make things any better for mutants.

His reverie was interrupted when one of the lights on the map suddenly grew brighter. Xavier's eyes flicked open, as though an alarm had gone off in his head. "Got him,"he whispered.


With many of the younger X-Men already having left to search for Gambit, Xavier had chosen a select group to meet in his office, comprising himself, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Rogue and Iceman. Xavier was gesturing to a map. "From the trace I took, Cable's currently here. In Pittsfield."

"Seems to be somewhat out of the way,"Storm remarked.

"Quite,"Xavier agreed. "Which means there must be a specific reason for him being there."

"Do we know what?"Bobby asked.

"No. But I detected four other mutants with him. None of whom I recognised."

"So he's got friends,"Wolverine translated. "More of Sinister's boys probably."

"Strength in numbers is quite a useful truism,"Beast agreed.

"What I want to know,"Wolverine continued,"is are we going after him?"

Xavier hesitated, then nodded. "You are, yes. I want you to take a team down there, Logan. Find Cable and find out all you can about what he's doing there."

"Sure. But he's not gonna stay in one place for long. You going to guide us in telepathically?"

"I fear I will be occupied here. So I'm going to give you the next best thing." Xavier picked up something from his desk, a flat object about twelve by six inches on the surface and about two inches high. On the surface was a series of dials and indicators. "A mini-Cerebro. It'll pick up any mutants within about five miles. I've tuned it in to Cable but you'll need to get close to him to pick it up."

Rogue took it off him then looked at Logan. "Do you want to..?"

"You keep it,"he told her curtly. "Hank, Bobby, you're with us." He turned to Storm and paused, seeing disappointment in her eyes. He wasn't sure if she was disappointed not to be going…or disappointed in him. But he had a feeling that if she saw what he was planning to do to Cable, she'd be even more disappointed. "See you when we get back,"he said abruptly, leading Beast, Rogue and Iceman out.