"So how do ya plan to find my kid?" Victor growled at Nathan.

"I'm going to make a call to the Blackbird. It isn't in the hangar, so presumably, the X-Men took it. If anyone's on board, they should answer."

"Presumably? Should? Where my daughter's concerned, I want more than that, Summers."

"It's the best I can give."

Victor snarled, but said nothing. Nate sat down to place the call.

*** *** ***

"Hey, is that the sound the control panel supposed to make?" Kacie Drake asked.

"It means we're getting a call, hon." Billy swallowed. "From the mansion."

"Uh-oh," Marie said. "We're in trouble."

"Maybe if we ignore the beeping, it'll just go away," Kacie said.

The noise only got louder. "Doesn't sound like it's going to," Marie said.

Logan clutched her ears in pain. "Would somebody shut that damn thing up?"

Mac groaned, then got up and slammed on the comlink. "Yeah?"

Cable's voice came over from the other end of the line. "Hello?" He paused for a second. "Who is this?"

"Mackenzie. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Who is this?"

"Nathan Summers. Why are you on the Blackbird? Are the X-Men there?"

Mac looked up, the faces of her companions making it clear that none of them wanted to talk to their pseudo-mentor. "They're...around?"

"Are any of them able to talk?"

Mac saw several of them shaking their heads vigorously. "No."

"Are they all right?" Nathan asked, concern evident in his voice.

"As far as I know."

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

Mac paused. "I can't say. This hasn't been cleared as a safe frequency, and this is official S.H.I.E.L.D. business."

The X-Men gave Mac a look of gratitude.

"I guess they know I'm killing them all as soon as they get back."

"Oh, I'm sure they're well aware of that."

The X-Men looked a little pale.

"One more thing," Cable said. "Is Victoria Creed there—or has she been there?"

Complete silence on the Blackbird, even from Mac. "Can I interpret your lack or response as a yes?" Cable asked.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because her father wants to speak with her."

Logan felt as if something cold had reached into her and grabbed hold of her heart. Vicky's father was Sabretooth—and Addie had killed him. How could he be alive, let alone wanting to talk to his daughter? Cable didn't exactly strike Logan as the kind of person who would hold a séance.

"Her father?" Mac asked. "Isn't her father dead?"

"Apparently not."

"Dead?" Victor Creed's voice came in loud and clear over the speaker. "Who said anything about me being dead?"

Logan stumbled backwards, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. She looked up into Ric's eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. She welcomed the supportive gesture, missing the glare that Tristan was giving them.

Mac was about to reply when the door to the Blackbird flew open, and Vicky rushed in, carrying Rebecca. "Oh my God, what happened?" Kacie exclaimed.

"Rebecca got shot. We were ambushed."

"Get her onto the bunk in there," Mac said. "I can take care of the wound."

Vicky and Mac went off with Rebecca. Cable's voice came back through over the speaker. "What's going on over there?"

Billy answered, figured that trying to avoid a confrontation with Cable was a moot point then. "Vicky just brought Rebecca in here. They were supposed to be on a scouting mission. Rebecca's been shot, and it looks like Warren, Rachel, and Twister didn't make it back."

Victor Creed spoke up again. "Where's Victoria?"

Vicky gently moved Billy aside. "I'm right here."

Kacie pointed to Vicky's leg. "Vicky, you're bleeding!"

"What?" Sabretooth's voice gave away his panic. "Vicky, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I got shot, but I've healed already."

Sabretooth sounded more distraught that any of the X-Men expected. "Vicky, I want you to come back to Seattle."

"I can't."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Dad, but I need to be here. There's some stuff going on that I can't just walk away from."

"Victoria..."

"Please, understand this. You taught me never to back down from anything."

"They're the X-Men, Vicky. They're our enemies."

"No, Dad, they're yours."

"Vicky..."

Vicky cut him off again. "I can't talk about this right now. I'm covered in blood, I have one teammate in need of medical attention, and three more I had to leave behind. I don't have time for this discussion. We'll talk later."

"Victoria..."

Billy leaned over and closed the communication. Vicky gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

"What happened?" Billy asked. "Where are the others?"

"We were ambushed," Vicky explained. "Some of Magneto's people came out and attacked us. They had guns, and one of them was somehow blocking our powers. Rebecca got shot, and I knew I had to get her out of there, so I made a break for it. When we left, the others were surrounded. I wanted to help them, but with Rebecca I knew I couldn't. We...we need to go back for them."

"Do you think Magneto's people could have killed them?" Kacie asked.

"I don't know for certain, but I don't think so. Not yet, anyway," Vicky said. "They were talking like they wanted to take them to Magneto, but after that..."

Mac Fury stepped back into the cockpit. "Rebecca's sedated. I was able to remove the bullet and tend to the wound. Luckily, it didn't do any real damage." She looked at Vicky. "You saved her life."

For a moment, Vicky looked almost embarrassed. "It was the right thing to do."

"But we're still grateful to you for doing it."

Vicky turned in surprise at the sound of that particular voice. "Thank you, Logan."

Logan nodded. "You believe the others are still in danger."

"I'm certain of it."

Logan looked grim. "Then let's start working on a plan to save them."

*** *** ***

"Logan, are you all right?"

"Leave me alone, Ric. If we're going after the others tonight, I need to have some time to center myself. I can't lead the team with my nerves frazzled like this."

"Maybe you should have someone else do it in your place then. I mean, I know you're the one with the most experience leading the team now that Rebecca's down, but..."

"If you'd leave me alone until we need to go, I'd be fine," Logan snapped.

"You can't push everything away like that Logan, pretend you can handle it yourself.

"I can handle it myself!"

"It helps to talk to someone."

Logan glared at Ric as if she weren't at least a good foot shorter than him. "You're one to talk. Have you opened up to anyone about what happened to you when you became Renegade?"

"That's different. No one could possibly understand what I've been going through with that," Ric said.

"Your mother certainly could," Logan said. "Besides, I don't think you're exactly the first person I'd go to if I wanted to talk about my feelings on Victor Creed."

"You need to talk to someone. Let it out. I'm offering to be there for you, Logan."

"Now you are!" Logan shouted. "What about before, when I wanted you there? What about when I was free to love you? Where were you then, Ric? Where were you when my heart was breaking, when I was all alone? When you told me it was over, that was one of the darkest points in my life, Ric. In a lot of ways it was darker than even what happened with Weapon X or Sabretooth. Physical pain goes away in time. What you did...it tore me up inside." Logan brushed a tear away from her cheek. "I loved you more than someone my age should even be able to love anyone. I trusted you, trusted you not to break me the way everyone else had. I...I thought maybe if I could have someone there for me, someone who wouldn't let me down..."

Logan started pacing, hot tears streaming down her cheeks in earnest now. "I always tried to be optimistic, to believe that things would be all right at some point. I told myself that, even when I knew you were slipping away. I convinced myself that you were my rock, that you loved me as much as I loved you. Dammit, Ric, I was so naïve."

"You weren't naïve," Ric said. "I loved you so much it scared me. I...I always felt like I couldn't be all you needed me to be."

"I just wanted someone beside me. Some who could be strong with me," Logan said.

"Do you have that with Tristan?"

Logan let out a pained sob and fell into Ric's arms. He pressed her against his chest, smoothing her hair and promising her that somehow, everything would be all right.

Tristan was careful not to let either one of them know he was there as he slipped back into the Blackbird.

*** *** ***

I know...it's been a while since I posted a chapter, and this one's really short. I've been extremely busy lately, so I haven't had a chance to write much, and I wanted to get this written to let everyone know I'm still alive. I should be finally getting my computer back tomorrow though, so I'll have more chances to write. Until then, let me know what you thought!