Just incase you were confused as to why everyone gave up so quickly, the last thing Logan and Storm saw, was Rebecca being grabbed then a large explosion. Just to clarify in case it was confusing. (Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand)

WARNING: PROFANITY WILL BECOME MORE COMMON!!!

Oh and hey, review some feedback! I wanna know what you think :) Special thanks to the Backstreet Boys and their Millennium CD for getting me hyper enough to write this chapter (oh, and can't forget STARBUCKS!!!)

A woman with long, dark red hair crouched low over the side of a one story barber shop, binoculars held up to her eyes. The darkness of night concealed her from wandering eyes. As a figure crossed a busy San Francisco street, she pulled a photograph from the pocket of her dark blue jeans. The person matched perfectly.

The woman discarded the binoculars and stood. She turned quickly as footsteps approached. She raised a fist, which was glowing dark purple, in threat to whoever approached. She lowered it, however, when she saw who it was.

"Easy Cher," the man said holding his hands up. The woman allowed him to approach, his long black trench coat brushing against the roof top. "Magneto t'ought you could use help."

"So he sent you?" the woman asked with a chuckle. "Thanks, but no thanks, Gambit. I can handle this." She said and brushed past him. Gambit ignored her, and watched as she slid down the fire escape with inhuman grace. He shook his head and let out a breath before jumping the ten feet to the ground.

"You know Magneto don't like it when you go off on your own." He said approaching her where she stood at the end of the alley, peering out from the shadows. He stood behind her, uncommonly close, and watched as she completely ignored him. "Artemis," he said taking her arm.

"Shh," she snapped pulling her arm away. Artemis, as she was now called, pressed her back flat against the wall as the man she was trailing passed by the alley, none the wiser he was being followed. Artemis waited a moment before stepping from the shadows and onto the open street. Gambit followed suit. The dark haired man walked several blocks before turning down a deserted street. The three people entered the alley and emerged on the other side. The street they were on now was significantly less populated than the others and the buildings looked warn and old. Artemis watched as the man she pursued entered another alley. She waited outside of it as he walked several paces, leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette and took a long draw.

"Is dat him?" Gambit asked in a whisper. Artemis looked up at him with a glare. "Stupid question huh?" he asked and Artemis rolled her cerulean eyes. "He looks young," Gambit muttered.

"Jon Bloom, age nineteen. Immigrated from Greece with his mother at age five. They briefly lived in New Jersey before moving to San Francisco. Powers first arrived when he was fourteen. Has the ability to generate powerful vibrations in the earth."

"You sure know your stuff," Gambit said watching the teen carefully. Artemis pulled her gloves on tighter and cracked her neck.

"All part of the job LeBeau. Try to stay out of my way." Artemis stepped boldly into the alley and began approaching the boy. It wasn't long before he noticed her. At first, Jon looked surprised, and then relaxed when he noticed it was only a woman. "Mind if I bum a smoke?" she asked and Jon eagerly pulled one out for her. He handed it to her and lit it. Artemis took a long draw from it. "Thanks," she said and winked at him. "What brings you here this time of night?" she asked casually.

"Just on my way home," he answered slightly nervous as to why a random stranger was talking to him. Especially one that looked like Artemis.

"Park Street and Crest, Fair Heights, apartment number 547." Artemis said with a wicked grin. The boy faltered for a moment. "I know a lot more about you than you think, Jon." Artemis whispered stepping closer to him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked pushing her away. A car drove by and the headlights illuminated the alley for a moment. In that time, Jon saw the seemingly normal woman's eyes shift from a normal cerulean blue, to a blazing purple. "What are you?" he asked in fright.

"You know what I am," she said trailing a finger down the side of his face. "Just like I know what you are."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. Get away from me!" he yelled throwing her to the ground and sprinting from the alley. Gambit rushed into the alley and extended a hand to help her up, but Artemis stood on her own.

"That didn't go so well, I t'ink," he said with a small laugh. Artemis growled and ran after Jon, her combat boots pounding the pavement. Gambit snickered before following. Artemis trailed the man closely. When Jon saw she was still following him, he grew frantic and ran into another alley, then another, and another. He hit a dead end and looked behind him, but she was no where in sight. He let out a shaky breath all too soon. Artemis lept from the fire escape and tackled him to the unforgiving ground. She pinned him to the ground as she straddled his legs.

"You shouldn't have done that." Jon said, his voice growing arrogant. He clapped his hands on the ground and it began to shake violently. A shockwave threw Artemis against the alley wall. She slid down it, a large scrape pouring blood from her collarbone. In a flash, a glowing card flew toward Jon and exploded. He was sent sliding along the ground toward the dead end. Gambit jumped from the fire escape and stood blocking Jon from the exit. Artemis stood and approached Jon. The ground began to shake again as he threw a fist at her. Artemis dodged it, grabbing his arm and throwing him face first into the wall. Before he could do anything else, she wedged her boot into the back of his neck, pressing his face flat against the wall.

"I hate it when they try to fight," Artemis grumbled, rubbing her sore shoulder. Jon coughed, blood pouring from his nose.

"What do you want?" he choked out. Artemis pressed her foot harder against his throat until he coughed again.

"I came to bring you a message. You're a very talented mutant, Jon. You've caught the eye of my boss. If you're looking for somewhere to belong, where you can live without fear of using your powers, I suggest you stop by some time." Artemis dropped her foot and leaned against his back. "Don't keep me waiting, Avalanche" she whispered and slipped a piece of paper with an address on it in his front pocket. When Jon felt her weight lift, he turned but neither she nor her male companion were anywhere to be seen.

X

An hour later, Artemis stepped inside the front door of a three story rural house. The house was nearly a half an hour from the city, fifteen minutes when she drove, and stood about a quarter mile from any other house. Inside, she set her car keys on the end table inside the door and hung her ankle length leather jacket on the coat rack. The hall opened up to a large open kitchen and common room, both were deserted. Behind her, the front door closed as Gambit followed her inside. The first thing Artemis did was pick up her cell phone and dial the first speed dial. It rang twice before an answer came.

"Status report?" asked the voice on the other end. Artemis stood in front of the large mirror on the wall and pulled her long hair off her left shoulder that was bleeding.

"A little worse for wear, but mission accomplished." She said picking strands of hair from the red goo. "He's as every bit as powerful as you said. At least a level three." She said wincing in pain. Gambit watched her for a moment before grabbing the first aid kit from atop the refrigerator. He tossed his trench coat on the armrest of the chair she stood next to and pulled out an alcohol wipe. Artemis swatted his hand away as he tried to wipe the blood from her collar bone.

"Good, and how much damage did he take?" the man asked. Artemis slapped Gambit's hand away again.

"Enough." Artemis answered taking the alcohol wipe from Gambit and wiping the blood away herself. "His first instinct was to run, we may want to work on that." Artemis said sarcastically.

"Is it likely he'll come?" the man asked in a sharp tone. Artemis chanced a look at Gambit before answering.

"I think we sparked his curiosity enough. He'll come looking for us in the next week." The man seemed pleased with her response. "Oh, and Magneto, next time, don't send a babysitter." She snapped before hanging up.

"Babysitter?" Gambit asked with irritation. Artemis brushed past him toward the kitchen. "You should let me look at dat cut, Cher." He said following her. Artemis set her phone on the counter and opened the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of beer, handed one to Gambit, then took one for herself.

"I'm fine," she said ignoring his concern and returning to the mirror. Gambit disregarded her answer and stood behind her as she looked at the cut in the mirror again. They both watched as the cut on her skin closed up and only a light trail of blood remained. Gambit smirked and placed his hands on her hips.

"Sometime, I forget you can do dat," he whispered in her ear. Artemis wiped the blood from her collar.

"You're not the only one who keeps underestimating me." Artemis muttered turning around to face him. Gambit tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and grinned apologetically. "I don't understand him sometimes." She said exasperated. "If it weren't for the two of you I'd still be lying unconscious in a hospital bed, yet he acts like I'm going to run away all the time. I wish he'd just trust me." Gambit ran his fingers up and down her back to try and comfort her.

"He's just concerned, Cher, we both are. You took a nasty knock on da head a few years ago. We don' want any'ting to happen again. Specially since you lost your memory an all dat."

"How am I supposed to remember anything when he keeps me on such a short leash all the time? Everyone else in the house gets to go on solo missions and I'm three times as powerful as they are. He doesn't trust me."

"Course he does," Gambit said with a reassuring smile. "Maybe he lets da others out alone cuz he don't care about dem as much as you."

"Has he always been like this? You know, before the accident. Was he this protective of me? Did he always send a chaperone?" Artemis asked furrowing her brow.

"D'ere was a time when you liked havin' ol Gambit aroun'," he said softly. He placed a hand on her lower back and pulled her closer toward him. Artemis felt something familiar pulling on her lower abdomen as he pressed her against the wall and trailed small kisses on her neck. She wrapped an arm around his neck and placed her other hand on his arm. Just ask he was moving toward her mouth, sounds of the front door slamming open were heard. Artemis shoved Gambit away and folded her arms. A moment later two boys and a girl entered the room.

"Where were you two?" the first boy asked plopping on the couch. "Hey Pyro, toss me a beer." He said putting his feet on the table. The second boy, Pyro, tossed hid friend a beer and then grabbed one for himself.

"Out, Pietro, that's all you need to know." Artemis said moving away from the wall. The girl, who was a few years younger than Artemis, laughed and pulled the lollypop from her mouth.

"Someone's in a bad mood." She said teasingly. "Not that I can blame her. You should have come out with us tonight Gamby, we had loads of fun scaring stupid mortals." She said hanging an arm over Gambit's shoulder.

"Gamby?" Artemis asked under her breath. She rolled her eyes and shoved the girl into a chair. "If the three of you had been here like you were supposed to, Sway," Artemis said glaring at the black haired girl, "You would have gotten the message from Magneto that we had a mission tonight. You're damn lucky Gambit and I were here to clean up your mess."

"What did my father want?" Pietro asked sitting up. Artemis stood up straight and looked at him.

"Mutant Contact: Avalanche," Artemis said pulling a folder from the counter. She tossed it to him and he opened it and began reading the material. Pyro joined him on the couch and looked over his friend's shoulder, buy the black haired girl, Suzanne Chan, commonly called Sway, ignored it completely and returned her attention to the Cajun.

"You'll have to promise to go dancing with us tomorrow night Gamby," she said with an obnoxious chuckle. Artemis rolled her eyes and retrieved her drink from the counter.

"I'm going to bed," she muttered and brushed past Gambit. He watched her walk up the first set of stairs, wondering if he should follow her. He decided against it and plopped into the armchair before turning on the television and tuning the world out.

On the third floor of the house, in the attic, Artemis sat on the balcony railing, her back leaning against the side of the house. She held her knees to her chest and had her chin resting atop them. She was lightly rocking back and forth, tears pouring from her eyes. She stared out at the vacant back yard and the world. Everything was so confusing.

She'd been brought to the Brotherhood House in San Francisco four months ago to the day. It had been Magneto and Gambit that had found her in the hospital in a comma. Her identity was lost do to a severe head trauma during a routine Mutant Contact with a mutant that could erase memories: Mastermind. Since begin brought back, she'd been racking her brain trying to remember something from her past. Trying to remember was it felt like to feel.

Something in her had changed. She no longer felt joy, sympathy, compassion, or anything to that extent. She felt hollow, empty. Like some great part of her was missing, and no one knew where to find it. Least of all her.