Pieces of the Puzzle

Summary: Scott and Jean try to figure out who kidnapped Hank and Alex and rescue them. Feedback, sure.

Rating: PG

Jean hung up her phone. "I can't get through to Ororo or the Professor either. And with this distance I can't contact the professor telepathically."

"And Warren?"

"His secretary told me that he was in London on a business trip but went up and met up with Ororo and the Professor. I can't get through to his cell phone either and no one's picking up Moira's landline. …Scott what are we going to do?"

Scott was equally as confused as Jean. But he had to think and remain focused. "Alright, the first thing we need to do is try to find Hank and my brother. We can't get through to the professor in the UK, so we'll assume the worse."

"Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening again."

"I know, but we can't do anything for them now. They have Ororo, the Professor, Warren, Maire, Bobby and the others are there. If something were to happen, they are all better prepared than last time with Stryker. Let's just hope they're okay."

"Yeah, you're right, but where should we start?"

"I have an idea… Betsy."

"Betsy?"

"I was with her this morning, her phone rang, the number on it matched closely with that of one of the numbers I saw from Hank's phone log. With your attack and everything that's happened, it's too much to be a coincidence… I'm.. I'm sorry Jean."

Jean was relieved, she wasn't loosing her mind but at the same time she was disturbed by everything else.

"Scott, please, you don't have to."

"No, I'm sorry. Maybe if I listened to you sooner, maybe none of this would've happened."

"Scott, don't go around and blaming this on yourself, you did nothing wrong here. So enough with the apologies, have you tried reaching Betsy?"

"Yes, she isn't picking up her phone."

Jean and Scott left Jean's hotel room and headed towards Betsy's dorm. Scott knocked at her door while Jean remained close by. There was no response. Scott knew what classes she had so he stopped by one of the lecture halls, but she wasn't there as well. They walked out disappointed that they didn't find her. They sat down at a bench and tried to think of what to do next.

"Essex, that name I swore I heard it before." Remarked Jean.

"It's a common name."

"I know.. I'm supposed to have photographic memory, but I cant remember. I'm still having trouble concentrating sometimes.."

"Still? Ever since Liberty Island?"

"Yes, unfortunately they go away and then come back. I even went to Hank… oh my God Scott ! That's it."

"What?"

"Essex! Hank was treating me, he said he sent my case over to a colleague of his, Essex for consultation. I don't like where this is heading Scott."

"Me too."

They went down to the computer lab where Scott logged in remotely to the network back in Westchester.

"The good news is that the mansion seems to be okay. The new security system is up and running fine. No one's been at the mansion since they all left."

Jean took over the keyboard and accessed the health database to try to find a clue to where Hank is.

"This is odd."

"What?"

"Over the past several months, Hank has logged in a lot remotely and downloaded a lot of medical information."

"But he does that all the time."

"Yes, but some of these logs .. oh my God.. their our health records .. he wouldn't download this remotely. He has a copy of all of that in his lab, he wouldn't need access to it."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I helped set it up for him. He wouldn't need to access all this information; he has all the updated files. "

"Maybe it wasn't him." Scott took over the keyboard. After typing up a bunch of commands, "Why am I not surprised? It was Hank's login but a lot of them were downloaded remotely from Wyngarde Labs." Scott typed in a few more commands. "Alright, I have the computer doing a search on both Essex and Wyngarde Labs, it'll take a couple of minutes."

"I don't like this, why would they want medical files? Why would they take Hank or your brother? They nearly got me. And who are these people?"

"I don't know Jean, I don't like it either but we got to stay strong. They almost got you but they didn't, you stopped them and we'll stop them together."

Jean smiled. Scott always had a way of reassuring here even when times were tough. It was on of his qualities that made him such an effective leader. It was a shame Scott took off. The team missed him and needed him. Ororo is a good friend and a capable leader but Scott always fit the role so well. She forgot how safe she felt when she was with him. If he and the professor weren't captured, he could've helped prevent the attack on the mansion and put a stop to Stryker sooner. Jean admired his calm demeanor, even now while one of his best friends and brother were missing, most probably kidnapped. Jean didn't know how she would handle something like that. She was freaking out as it is. Thanks to Scott, she remained calm and focused. She was always tried to loosen Scott up. She was glad she didn't succeed too much, his disconnection from emotions and outside of the box thinking is what they need right now, especially during an emergency situation.

"Alright, finally Dr. Nathaniel Essex.. graduate Oxford, PhD in genetics, partner of Wyngarde Labs… and according to this they have a lab just outside San Francisco."

Jean and Scott took off in Jean's rental and headed east, outside of town. The traffic was light and they made it there in 20 minutes. They were close to the lab, but they were careful to keep their distance from it. Scott wasn't able to find and floor plans or building schematics for the lab. They soon realized that the complex was huge and surrounded by a huge fence.

"This place is massive, it must cover at least 50-60 acres."

"From the sign in the front, Wyngarde is just one out of many companies here. It's getting late, everyone should be leaving to go home soon. We'll go in, during the cover of night."

They parked away, hidden from sight. They watched as cars filled with workers started making their way home. The sun was already setting. Scott reached for the back and pulled out two duffle bags. He handed one to Jean and kept one to himself.

"Alright, let's gear up. Once the sun sets and most of the cars have gone, we'll make our move… You can stay here. I'll change outside."

Neither of them had their X-Men uniform and so they changed into darker clothes. Jean removed her shirt and put on a black tank top. She slipped off her slacks and put on a pair of black pants, leather boots and a black sweater. Jean pulled the visor down to look at the mirror. She pulled her hair back and wrapped it around a scrunchee. She adjusted the visor and saw Scott changing. He was tightening his leather belt. He took off his shirt and put on a grey wife beater. Jean couldn't help but stare as she admired his body. He was still very fit, more cut than he was before. He probably has more time to hit the gym, she thought. She forgot how smooth his skin was. Logan, she concluded, was far too hairy. Scott put on a black sweater as well and replaced his glasses with his visor. He went over to the passenger seat and tapped at the window. Jean lowered it down.

"Are you ready to go?"

To Be Continued . . . .

Note: Sorry for the delay. Il y a beaucoup de travail pour moi faire avec l'ecole. I have crazy amounts of work to do for school as well as at work. I took this opportunity to put in some of my personal comments over Cyclops' portrayal in the X-movies (both past and future). I wasn't planning on writing this chapter any time soon but figured why not. I wrote this faster than I expected. The next story will be up depending on my work load ahead. Feedback is appreciated and makes me write faster sometimes.