A/N: Hey all! I'm back from Lebanon! Well actually I've been back for about a month, but I got a job at a junior high like the second I got back and I've been busy dealing with seventh grades since.

But, I still hope to finish this story soon, so I'll be updating on the weekends. And I hope you enjoy this little update. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men.

Chapter 36: Phone Call:

"Rogue, what do you mean we're going to get it for him?" Scott asked, perplexed. "We can't possibly give him all the pieces to the puzzle without knowing what it makes. It's just—"

"Scott, Scott," she cut him off quickly. "We're not actually going to give the crystal to him."

"But, you said…" he trailed off, not following.

"I know what I said, what I meant was that I told him I'd get it for him," Rogue elaborated.

"Oh," Scott said, somewhat understanding. "But, how do you know where it is?"

Rogue grinned. "It's with my cousin."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah, 'our cousin,'" she said, making air quotes.

"You mean Warren has it?" Scott asked.

"Yeah and Shaw told me all about it. The piece Sabertooth stole wasn't the last and wasn't the one in Warren's possession either. He wants us to talk to Warren about it, convince him to sell it to Shaw. He's willing to pay a hefty price for it."

Scott nodded his head. "Wow, that is a lot of info you got out of one little meeting."

Rogue smiled proudly. "Just doing my job… now, we've just got to tell the Professor, figure out what the M'Krann crystal does, and find out who's working with Shaw and then our job is done."

"This is great, not that I don't love spending all this time alone with you, cause I really do," he started, reaching for her hand. "But I can't wait to go home."

"I know what you mean, I'm ready to just be me," Rogue informed.

They went silent for a moment before Rogue broke it again. "So, what were you up to on the laptop?"

Scott got up to grab it. "While you were in the meeting I went down to the bar hoping to see more of the Inner Circle."

"Did you?" she asked.

Scott nodded; he turned the screen to Rogue. "Meet Emma Frost, the White Queen."

"White Queen?" Rogue asked confused. "She wasn't wearing that when you talked to her was she?"

Scott chuckled, seeing Rogue's reaction to Emma's scantily clad picture. "Not quite. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading all this info. Apparently they've all got names like that. Shaw's the Black King. Leland's the Black Bishop…"

"Those are chess piece names," Rogue realized.

"Yeah, they are," Scott confirmed. "So after I talked to Emma I decided to get her background info. She's got an engineering degree from Oxford, a teaching degree and a business degree from Harvard and an IQ of 130."

"Wow, blonde she is not on the inside," Rogue joked.

"No she's not," Scott agreed. "She has a position with Shaw's company too. Her official title is CAO, chief advising officer. Basically, she strongly advises Shaw on what to do with his company."

"She's running the show," Rogue stated more than asked.

"As far as the company, she is. Outside of that…" Scott pondered. "Well, I'm not sure if she's part of his whole M'Krann plot."

"Either way," Rogue continued. "She seems like a woman that definitely needs to be watched."

Scott nodded his agreement.

"We're not done here are we?"

"Nope," Scott answered.

Lyss awoke abruptly the next morning. She'd been having a nightmare, of that she was sure. What it was about, even though she didn't remember the details, she could guess. Because what she could remember were two burning eyes. She'd been dreaming about Jean. She couldn't help but shudder.

She then became aware that she wasn't alone. Looking to her side, there was Logan's head on her bed, fast asleep. She smiled, reaching out a hand to touch his cheek.

She hadn't meant to wake him, but Logan began to stir.

"Lyss,' he said groggily, lifting his head up.

"Hey," she said tenderly. "You should go up to your bed."

"I'm not leaving you," he told her adamantly.

She didn't try to persuade him otherwise, knowing he wouldn't budge. Instead she asked, "What did Hank say?"

"Nothing really bad," Logan related. "You were just over exhausted and needed to rest."

"See," she said smiling wryly. "Didn't I tell you I was fine?"

"Yeah," he agreed and then gave her the bad news. "Hank wants you to take it easy."

"Take it easy, how?" she questioned, suspicious.

"Ease up on the stress, try not to use your powers too much, that kind of thing," Logan told her. "And oh yeah, he thinks that maybe you should leave the mission to us, until you're—"

"No, no way!" she protested. "I'll do anything else, but that I cannot do."

"Lyss—"

"No Logan, that's asking too much. Besides after last night, I don't think I can get out of this."

He shot her a wary look. "I wish you'd tell me what you saw."

She nodded. "I know, but the Professor asked me to wait. He wants to make sure what I saw was real."

"Have any of your premonitions ever not been real?"

"Not that I know of," she confessed.

"So…"

"What I saw, it's serious, and it's something that can change all our lives. If it's all true. That's why I'd like the Professor to make sure," she explained.

"This sounds too serious to be a good thing," Logan stated ominously.

"It depends," was all she could say.

"The M'Krann Crystal?" Charles spoke into the phone.

"Yes Professor, that's what Sebastian Shaw said it was called," Rogue added. "Do you know about it?"

"No, I can't say I've heard of it. But I'll get Hank and the others to pull all data on it right away," Charles assured. "And I'll call Warren right away; let him know what's going on."

"All right Professor," Rogue agreed.

"You two are doing excellent work there. Keep it up!" he praised. "And be careful."

"Thanks Professor," she replied. "Anything new at home?"

"Not really," Charles conversed. "Lyss's whole family is still here. Logan's back, thankfully, and we're all working hard. I'll be calling a meeting very soon and I'd like you and Scott to video conference with us."

"Just let us know the date and time and we'll be there," Rogue assured.

"Good, good, I'll let you go now," Charles finished. "Take care."

"We will, bye."

"Bye."

Charles hung up the phone, only to dial another number.

"Hello?" he heard a voice answer.

"Warren?" Charles asked. "This is Professor Charles Xavier."

"Professor!" Warren exclaimed. "It's good to hear from you. How are you?"

Charles nodded his head absently. "I'm all right. But I have an issue that I've been dealing with and I think you might be able to help with it."

"An X-men issue?" Warren asked perceptively.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Well," Warren started. "What can I do for my former teacher?"

"Warren," Charles began tentatively. "Have you ever heard of the M'Krann Crystal?"

Well that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the short chapter. I'm going to try to update soon!

Thanks to my 3 reviewers: Rogue14, 00 BodySnatcher, and KusajishiFuktaicho. And thanks to anyone who's put this story on alert!