Hank glanced at the clock. Carly loved going out, but it wasn't like her to be more than twenty minutes late. He looked at the rack where his coat was and hesitated. He didn't want to seem as though he were shadowing her every move, but he couldn't help but worry. Surely she would understand if he went out looking for her.
The phone rang. He sighed in relief. No doubt she had stayed out a little late and was calling him. He picked it up, scolding himself for being foolish.
"Carly, you really have to give me more warning before-" he began.
"I'm her father."
Hank froze. He swallowed, trying to keep from breaking the phone. He did not want to talk to Daniel Crocker about anything, but he forced himself to stay civil. Carly still loved her father, despite what he had done. Hank had to be respectful, if only for her sake.
"I don't know how you got our room, but she's not here right now-" he said.
"I know and that's why I'm calling," Daniel said, his words a rush, "She had called me, wanted to talk, but then she…it wasn't quite a scream but it was something on the other end of the line."
Hank felt his blood chill.
"Where was she?" Hank asked.
"I don't know," Daniel said, "She…she was…she sounded scared and the phone just kept the sounds of a struggle coming and…she didn't even get a chance to hang up…"
Hank could tell that his voice was pleading. He began looking around the room, his mind racing in a million places.
"How long ago was this?" he asked.
He was surprised at how commanding his voice was. Perhaps he still had some of Beast within him after all.
"About ten minutes," Daniel said.
"Did it sound like she was outside?" he asked.
"Yes, I think so," Daniel said, "There wasn't too much noise though…"
Hank thought of the quiet park outside of the hotel that Carly loved. There were phones there, and it was conceivable that she'd stopped there on the way home and gotten into a conversation that would eat up her time. It made sense. He didn't know why she'd had the sudden urge to call her father when she'd told Hank that it would only lead to trouble. It didn't matter at the moment.
"I see," Hank said, "I know where that is. I'll go check right now."
"Should I call the police?"
"I'll tell you what I find," Hank said.
He hung up and shoved the door open. He raced down the stairs, his coat forgotten on its rack. The thought that he'd had a civil conversation with a man who part of him had always hated drifted through his mind. It didn't make any difference. Daniel Crocker might be full of hatred, but he'd still had enough love for his daughter to call Hank, to know that Hank hadn't been at fault, and to trust that Hank cared enough about Carly to try and find her.
Snow clung to his fur as he ran into the park that Carly often went to. He could feel the cold pounding at his skin, but he ignored it. He took a deep sniff of the air and looked over at the payphones. True to Daniel's word the phone was still hanging off the payphone, swinging in the air.
He bounded over it. For one of the few times in his life he was thankful for his feral senses. Hank took a deep sniff of the air, Carly's familiar and welcome scent drifting into his nostrils. It was followed by the sharp smell of adrenaline and fear, as well as the smell of a second party, and something Hank recognized as chloroform.
For a moment he could just stare at the spot. He could see where the snow was churned up from a scramble. His Carly had put up a fight. Of course she had. She wasn't the type who would just silently sit by while she was taken somewhere against her will. His eyes saw red and his breathing was erratic, breathing in the smell of her panic as she was attacked.
He tried to clear his mind, tried to get some semblance of order. It was an uphill struggle. His wife was gone, taken by someone who wished to harm her, and he hadn't been there. He had only been a few minutes away, but he might as well have been a million miles away for all of the good that it had done.
Hank continued sniffing the air, following her scent. To his dismay it ended in the street. A car had been waiting there. Hank pictured her being shoved into it, the car driving away. He looked around, hoping for cameras, for something in the area that would help, but there was nothing. Nothing at all.
He looked around, hoping for tire treads or something. Instead there was nothing, no traffic, nothing. They had gotten out of the area in a hurry, but nowhere near fast enough to attract any attention. They hadn't crashed, probably hadn't even run a red light. They were law-abiding kidnappers, and the thought made him burn.
Hank hurried back to the hotel, his heart thudding so loudly that it shook his entire body. Part of him said to call the police, but the rest of him screamed to call the X-men. The police weren't going to be enough. He would have to call them for formality's sake, but he needed the X-men. Still, he would call anyone who could help him. Carly was gone, vanished without a trace, and he didn't know if he could find her.
He reached for the phone, trying to calm down enough to see the numbers so he could dial. It would have been quicker to use the one in the street, but the thought that her hand had been wrenched off of it was enough to keep him from touching it. It was enough to keep him away from that park for the rest of his life.
Before he could reach the phone it began ringing. He picked it up. Daniel must have called back, out of his mind with worry. Hank couldn't blame him.
"I don't know anything right now, except that someone took her," he said.
"Good, that will make this shorter."
The chuckling, sardonic voice at the other end of the phone made his blood boil.
"Where is she?" Hank hissed.
"You know, I was half expecting a snarl," he said.
"Where is she?" he shouted.
There was a tsking sound on the other end of the phone.
"Safe, for now."
"If you harm her-"
"You'll do what?"
Hank dug his claws into his hand, his eyes seeing red.
"That's what I thought," the voice said, "Now then, it appears that this is the point in the conversation when you ask what you can do to keep her alive and unharmed."
Hank took a deep breath, struggling to remain calm.
"What can I do?" he said.
The voice chuckled.
"That's more like it. You can start by dropping your case."
Everything clicked in his mind. The Friends of Humanity. Of course. Who else would it be? His heart screamed at the thought that Carly was in their power now.
"After that," the voice continued, "I want you to make a very public apology. We don't need to embarrass you too much, just say that you found something faulty in your findings and that you are withdrawing in good conscience. That way we can all save a little face."
Hank breathed in deeply. That way he would be humiliated, shown as a farcical, whining doctor who had been fairly benched and his unsafe procedure sidelined. The Friends of Humanity would be in the right, battling a dangerous, delusional, mutant doctor from wrecking his havoc on innocent human patients.
"And then you can have your wife back."
He took another deep breath.
"But there are a few conditions to this generous deal."
Hank continued to listen, feeling the blood clotting in his fur as he dug his claws deeper and deeper.
"The first is that you don't contact the police. If you do that, and we hear, then she dies. Horribly, painfully, and slowly. Understand?"
He tried to concentrate, but all he was able to do was think about Carly in the hands of people who thought nothing of ending her life.
"Tell me you understand."
Hank gritted his teeth.
"I understand," he said.
"Good. Now, there's also a time limit. We want this settled two days before the case goes to court. We don't want any last minute deals. And for each day that you delay, each hour, well, let's say that it won't be so good for your wife. We're generous hosts, but we can get a little impatient, if you understand."
Hank swallowed, panic trying to overtake him.
"You seem a little slow on the uptake. Tell me that you understand."
"I understand," Hank said.
"And you can't take it back, because we'll give her back to you only after you withdraw your proposal," the voice said, "And we'll be watching, do you understand Dr. McCoy?"
His name was said with a sneer.
"I understand," he said.
"Good," the voice said.
"Wait," Hank said.
He heard the voice chuckle.
"You're being awfully demanding."
"I just want to know that she's alright," he said, "Could you put her on the phone? Just for a moment?"
The voice paused, as if considering.
"Alright."
There were a few shuffling noises. Hank's heart leapt up into his throat.
"Hank?" Carly whispered.
Her voice was shaky.
"Tell me you're alright," Hank said.
"I am, I'm fine," Carly said.
Her voice was still shaky. He doubted she was telling him the truth.
"I don't want you to worry," Hank said, "I'm going to take care of everything."
"Hank-" she began.
"Because I wouldn't want you to worry," Hank said.
She paused. He wondered if she knew the terms of her release, and he knew that she was probably working out what was going on in his mind.
"I'm sorry Hank," she whispered, "Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night, give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun. Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love-"
"Cut the sentimental bullshit," the voice snarled.
He heard her cry in surprise, although it didn't seem to be a cry of pain. Hank gritted his teeth, but he knew that Carly had been trying to tell him something. She hated the tragedies and wouldn't talk about them unless she had to. He tucked away the information for later. He had to concentrate on what was before him.
"So, do you understand?"
Hank swallowed.
"I do," he said.
"We look forward to hearing from you Dr. McCoy."
The line went dead. Hank hung up and then immediately called the front desk to get the number of Carly's father. He'd called the hotel, his number was on file now. He called him, his voice calm.
"Someone's taken Carly. They say they'll hurt her if I call the police. But I'm getting her back."
He could almost hear her father begin crying on the other end.
"I never wanted her to get hurt," he said, "I…those men I was talking too…Graydon Creed…I shouldn't have-"
"Don't," Hank said, "just don't. I think they would have done this anyway. But I'm not letting them hurt her."
He heard Daniel hesitate.
"She told me she's pregnant," he said.
Hank felt his brain light on fire, the information burning along his synapses. They didn't just have Carly. They had his unborn child too now.
"I'm getting her back," Hank said.
He hung up and asked the operator to connect him to New York. He waited impatiently as the phone rang.
"Hank?" Alex yawned, "You might've forgotten, but it's one in the morning over here-"
"The Friends of Humanity have kidnapped Carly," Hank said.
There was a moment's pause.
"When did this happen?"
"Half an hour ago," Hank said.
"I'll get the rest of the team up," Alex said, "I'll be there in an hour. I'll call Sean, I think he's up there for a conference-"
"Just get here as soon as you can," Hank said, "Because when I find them, and I will, I'm not waiting for anyone."
He uncurled his fist, the blood still thick in his fur.
"And God help them if they've hurt her."
