They were putting away the plates when Cyclops' voice came over the intercom.

"X-Men, report to the War Room immediately." Wolverine moved for the door, but paused when Star did not follow.

"I will join you in a moment, Logan." He nodded and hurried on. She put the last dish away and turned toward the dining room. She stood in the doorway, puzzled by the impulse which had sent her here. Finally, she turned to the large cabinet where board games were stored. She opened the door and looked within. All the way to the back, nearly invisible in the gloom, was a deck of cards, bound by a rubber band. She reached in and picked it up, remembering how it had come to be there.





Jubilee was trying to teach Star a card game, but somehow it wasn't coming out right. Finally, disgusted, they counted the cards. There was one missing.

"Well, no wonder it wouldn't work." Jubilee had snorted. She'd snapped the band around the gathered cards and tossed them toward the trashcan. Jean had snatched them out of the air and sailed them back to her.

"Save those for Gambit, Jubilee."

"Yeah, right." Jubilee had later tossed them in the cabinet, intending to give them to the Cajun later that day. And they had been forgotten.

Star took the cards with her, putting them in the pocket of Wolverine's robe. Then she went to the War Room.





"No. As soon as we got the call, I checked with his hotel. The Professor never arrived." Cyclops was saying as Star quietly closed the door behind her.

"So somebody's managed ta snatch Chuck. They say where ta bring the ransom?" Wolverine asked.

"Yes." Cyclops typed a command into the computer keyboard at his fingertips and a map was projected on the screen. "It's an abandoned subway line." A red X appeared on the screen. "They want the money dropped here, tonight."

"That don' give us much time," Gambit said.

"Let's move, people. I want us airborne in ten minutes." The X-Men moved quickly to change into, as Wolverine had put it, their working clothes.




Star watched as the X-Men boarded the blackbird. Wolverine stopped in front of her.

"I hate leavin' ya like this, darlin'." She reached up and touched his cheek.

"Go, Wolverine. You are needed." He looked at her a moment longer, then turned and joined the others. Jubilee dashed past Star on her way to the plane.

"Jubilee! Wait!" Star hurried after her and quickly gave her the deck of cards. "Take these with you."

"Yeah, sure. Gotta go!" Jubilee ran up the ramp to the waiting play. The ramp closed behind her and the huge plane moved slowly toward the opening hangar doors.




When they had gone, Star went to her room and dressed quickly. She wasn't sure how much time she had. She moved silently through the empty house toward Xavier's Ready Room and the powerful computer housed there. She suddenly changed directions and went downstairs to the armory instead. She located the Kevlar vests and put one on. It was much too large, but she decided that it was better than nothing. She found a shirt, discarded in the gym, and put it on, effectively concealing the vest. Then she went to the ready room. She searched until she found a box of blank discs. She inserted the first disc into the computer and, closing her eyes, she sought the proper keystrokes that would allow her to bypass the Professor's security system. In just a few moments, she was copying the data to the first of the blank discs, erasing the information from the computer as she went.




She had accumulated an impressive stack of filled discs, and had nearly completed transferring the files, when she suddenly had the feeling that time was running out. She put the last disc into the slot on the computer and quickly gathered the other discs together. She was at a loss as to where to hide them. Then she knew. She ran, silently as always, to the rec room. She pulled open the drawer where the computer game discs were stored. As she'd hoped, they were in total disarray. She dumped the discs in and ran back to the Ready Room. The final disc was just finishing when she heard voices. It was the men from her dream. She snatched the disc out of the machine and slapped the off switch. They were just outside the door. She was trapped.






The blackbird landed silently atop a large building which, their map showed, had once had an entrance to the abandoned subway somewhere in the basement. The X-Men slipped out of the plane. Jean probed ahead of them.

"The building is empty," she told them.

"Mebbe so," Wolverine replied, standing in the open doorway leading to the stairwell. "But there's been a lot o' people here recently. Includin' Chuck." They proceeded down the stairs with Wolverine leading. They reached the ground floor without encountering any security at all.

"This is too blamed easy," Wolverine muttered. He carefully opened the door to the basement and paused for a moment. "Scent's stronger down here." At the bottom of the stairs they spread out, searching for the entrance to the subway system.

"Here, mes amies," Gambit called softy from where he stood in front of a barely visible door. It led to yet another set of stairs leading down. At the bottom of this set of stairs was the subway line.

"Which way?" Cyclops asked.

"Can't tell. Too many scents overlappin'" Wolverine said.

"Scott, this is the tunnel from Star's dream," Jean said suddenly.

"Look sharp, people. We're expected," Cyclops answered. "Storm, you take Wolverine, Gambit, and Jubilee, and check the right-hand tunnel, the rest of you, with me." Quietly, but efficiently, they split up.





Neither team encountered any resistance as they moved down the different branches of the subway line. Finally, Jean turned to Scott and said,

"I don't recognize any of this. I think we're going the wrong way."

"Do you sense anything?"

"No."

"Come on. Let's catch up with the others." They turned back.





"Somethin's not right," Wolverine said. "Scents stronger all of a sudden."

An explosion ripped through the wall as a dozen trap doors opened all around the second team, exposing the men that had been waiting for them.

"Ahhh!" Storm cried as the wall collapsed. Wolverine snatched her out of the way. Gambit charged and threw his cards, the explosions scattering their enemy as Jubilee blinded them with her powers. Wolverine leaped into the fray as Storm recovered her feet and called on the powers of the Arctic winds to impede their foe. Wolverine slashed through the barrel of the automatic weapon one of the men carried, rendering it useless. Most of the enemy tried to flee, only to find their way blocked by Cyclops and his team. The battle was quickly over. The floor of the subway line was littered with unconscious bodies. Wolverine grabbed one of the men by his shirtfront and shook him.

"Wake up, pretty boy." The man groaned and opened his eyes. "Where've you got the Prof stashed?"

"Drop dead, mutie," the man snarled, grinning up at him. Wolverine growled deep in his throat.

"Answer the question, or I'll give ya another smile ta go with that one." He held his free hand in front of the man's face and extended his claws with a sharp, metallic sound. The man swallowed, his grin fading for a moment.

"Yeah, right, mutie. Everybody knows you guys don't kill anyone."

"Mebbe they don't," Wolverine said, returning the man's smile. "But I do." The captive's smile disappeared.

"Wolverine..." Beast began but Cyclops stopped him.

"Leave him be. We can always ask one of the others." Wolverine never took his eyes off his prisoner, but his smile widened. The color drained from the man's face.

"Wait! I'll take you to him!"

"Just tell us where he is. We'll go get him ourselves."

"D..down that tunnel," he pointed. "Take the second left, then the first right. He's in an old maintenance room."

"Thanks, bub." Wolverine drew his fist back, the claws gleaming, and punched the captive, retracting his claws at the last instant so that the man's final sight was of the vicious weapons bearing down on him.

"That wasn't very nice, sugah," Rogue said and the moved in the direction the now unconscious man had indicated.

"It worked, didn't it?" Wolverine moved ahead, with Jubilee on his heels.

"How'd ya know he knew where the Professor was, Wolvie?" Jubilee asked.

"I recognized their uniforms. These're Friends of Humanity punks. An' he had the most confetti on his sleeve."

"Oh."





Though they moved quietly, they soon began to encounter resistance. The FOH was well entrenched, and soon Gambit was reduced to charging bits of rubble to throw at the slowly retreating enemy. Suddenly, they were before a door marked 'Maintenance'. Wolverine tried the knob, but the door was locked. He extended his claws and drove them into the door above the lock, intending to cut the door open. A powerful electric charge surged through his body, throwing him backwards. He struck Rogue, knocking her down as well.

"Wolvie?" Jubilee asked tenuously.

"He's still breathin', sugah. So I'd guess he'll be fine shortly," Rogue said, picking herself up.

Cyclops focused his power on the door, only to have the blast reflected back. Everyone ducked.

"Jean?" he asked.

"No good, Scott. It's shielded with a field similar to the one we found Star in. I can't penetrate it."

Storm tried both heat and cold, to no effect.

"Why dere never anyt'ing' ta t'row when ya need it? Looks almost like dis place been swept up or somethin'," Gambit said.

"I think, perhaps, it has been," Beast quipped. "They seem to know quite a bit about us." He examined the door, careful not to touch it. "If you'll notice, the knob is made of non-conductive material. Only the door itself is electrified. The walls seem to be specially reinforced. Probably to prohibit Rogue or myself from going through them." He pondered for a moment. "The door would seem to be the only viable entrance. And by depriving Gambit of any ammunition we seem to have been, for the moment at least, stopped cold."

"Hey, Gambit!" Jubilee said suddenly. "Here!" She tossed the deck of cards to him.

"Much obliged, Chere." He said, deftly catching the bundled deck. "Where you get dese?"

"Star."

"Oh." He turned to the door. "Stand back, mes amies. Dere no tellin' what kinda reaction we gonna get." Everyone moved away from the door, Rogue and Beast taking the still stunned Wolverine with them. Gambit carefully charged several of the cards and casually tossed them toward the door. It exploded, with no further traps.

Within, they found the Professor, unconscious but apparently unharmed. Beast gathered him into his arms and the X-Men moved quickly back the way they had come. Rogue and Jubilee assisted Wolverine until he had recovered sufficiently to move on his own. They encountered no one and soon were back on board the blackbird, airborne, and headed for home.




Star dropped the disc into the nearly empty box, snatched a blank disc, and ducked behind the equipment at the back of the room. She heard the two men enter the Ready Room. They turned the computer terminal on and inserted a disc of their own into the machine.

"How long's that virus gonna take, Joe?"

"Not long," he paused. "There, that's got it. Give me some of those blanks we brought."

"Why don't we use these?" Star risked peering around the corner of the equipment and nearly gasped when she realized that he was holding the box of discs she had left next to the computer.

"No. These folks are tricky. We don't take anything out of here except the files, that way we know we can't be traced."

"What ever ya say, Joe." Star slipped back down to where she couldn't be easily seen.

"What the hell?"

"What's the matter?" Star heard the second man nervously draw his weapon.

"There's nothing here! The whole damn file is empty!" Just then Star heard an odd beeping. She peeked out again and saw Joe pulling a cellular phone out of the bag he carried.

"Yeah," he said, then listened for a moment. "Right." He put the phone back in the bag and turned to the other man. "They got wiped out."

"What? How? This was all supposed to be a piece of cake."

"Yeah, I know. Come on. The files we came for aren't here. Let's get out of here before we find out we were set up too." Both men had turned toward the door when Star felt a wave of dizziness sweep through her. She lost her balance and fell, landing on her hands and knees, the disc she had carried with her clattering across the floor. The second man spun in his tracks, firing his weapon as he turned. Three of the bullets struck her in the body, throwing her back against the wall. She slid down and lay motionless on the floor.

"Jesus, Joe, it was just a kid!"

"Forget it. She had to be a mutant or she wouldn't have been here. Get that disc, maybe it's got something we can use. She thought it was important enough to hide it."

Star couldn't breathe. She felt as if her chest had been crushed. Her vision narrowed until all she could see of the approaching man was his boots. He bent and scooped up the disc.

"Hey, Joe. Should I finish her off? Gut shot ain't a nice way ta die."

"Leave her. Didn't I already tell you she's nothing but a filthy mutant? She deserves whatever she gets. Now, come on!" Star blacked out.





By the time the blackbird touched down in the underground hangar, Wolverine had completely recovered and the Professor had regained consciousness. They climbed out of the plane, puzzled over the entire mission.

"But why did they kidnap you in the first place, sir?" Cyclops asked the Professor.

"I can only assume that it was to lure all of you into their trap. Fortunately, they underestimated you." Wolverine moved ahead and opened the door that lead to the mansion proper.

"Hold it. Somebody's been here, I can smell 'em. Smell gunpowder too. Why would..." He gasped as if he'd been gut punched. "Star. Star!" He moved quickly through the door and down the long hallway, the others following. Jubilee helped the Professor roll his wheelchair after them.




The strangers' scent, and the smell of gunpowder was strongest in the Ready Room. It only took Wolverine an instant to see Star, lying in the shadows at the far end of the room. He ran to her, oblivious of the others moving into the room behind him. He knelt beside her, afraid to move her. The shirt she wore was stained with blood. Using his claws, Wolverine carefully cut it open. He was stunned, but relieved to find that she wore a Kevlar vest beneath it. Beast joined him.

"Was she shot? Where is the blood coming from?"

"I don't know."

"Get that vest off her." Wolverine gently cut the vest away. The short blouse she wore finally revealed the origin of the blood. The wound on her abdomen had opened under the punishment of the blows from the bullets. She moaned and Wolverine gently lifted her upper body off the floor, holding her close against him.

"Bring her to the med lab, please. I need to re stitch that wound." Beast shook his head, his relief as evident as Wolverine's.

"Logan," Star murmured as he picked her up and moved toward the door of the Ready Room.

"Professor," Cyclops said. "Your files are gone. They took everything."

"Let me see." Xavier waited until Wolverine had moved past with Star, then moved around the console to face the computer terminal.

"This is a disaster. The names of every promising young mutant in this country were in those file, as well as many from outside the country. In the wrong hands, those files can be used for great evil."




Wolverine placed Star, once more, on the table in the med lab. She smiled groggily up at him.

"Is everyone...all right?" she asked.

"Just fine, darlin'. Now be still, Hank's gotta sew ya up again."

"Why are your clothes burned?" she wrinkled her nose and then, smiling to take the sting out of her words, she said "they stink."

"Go change, Wolverine. We'll be a few minutes here, yet." After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and turned to go.

"Henry?"

"Yes, Star?"

"Tell the Professor his files are in the game drawer."

"What?"

"The files. They're in the game drawer. Please tell him, he's very unhappy about losing them."

"Y'all need any help in here?" Rogue asked from the open door.

"No, thank you. But you could pass a message on to the Professor from Star, though."

"Sure. What's the message, sugah."

"His files are in the game drawer."

"That's it?" Star nodded, trying not to flinch as Beast put the first of the stitches in. "You got it." Rogue moved down the hall to the Ready Room.

"Why's ever'body so gloomy in here?" She asked of Cyclops, Jean, and the Professor. "The mission was a success an' Star ain't hurt all that bad."

"They've taken my files, Rogue. Without them, I don't even know who the people are that will be hurt by them."

"Star said ta tell ya yer files're in the game drawer."

"What?"

"That's what she said," Rogue answered with a shrug. "Shucks, if I'd known they were that important, I'd o' picked 'em up on ma way by." Cyclops hurried past Rogue to get the discs for the Professor.




"How long would it have taken her to copy all these files, sir?" Wolverine heard Cyclops asking Xavier as he went back to the med lab.

"Several hours, Scott. In addition to the time it took her to break the code. Speaking of which, I apparently need to develop a better security system. It's embarrassing to have your computer broken into twice in the same day."

"Not to mention the fact that they got into the mansion without tripping a single defense."

"Indeed. Ah, Wolverine. Please tell Star that by moving the files, she has probably saved the lives of many of the mutants listed. And tell her I said thank you. She does not seem to be very...comfortable...in my presence."

"She's scared o' ya, Chuck."

"Hmmm. I will have to work on that."

"She knew those guys were comin', didn't she?"

"It would appear so." Frowning, Wolverine continued on to the med lab.




Star was sitting on the table, a fresh bandage covering her newly stitched wound. Beast had gone. She smiled at Wolverine when he entered the lab, but her smile faded when she saw his frown. She watched his approach uncertainly.

"When did ya know, Star?" he demanded angrily.

"I...I..."

"You knew those guys were gonna be here. I want ta know how long you knew."

"Since...last night."

"An' ya didn't say nothing."

"I couldn't. There was too much at stake."

"Did ya at least know that you were gonna be all right?" She looked up at him, her eyes wide. Slowly, she shook her head. Snarling, he slammed his fists into the table on either side of her. She fought against cringing.

"I'd say we got us a real good relationship here. Lots o' trust involved." He glared at her. "I musta sounded like a class A chump this mornin', huh, girl?" He straightened, moving away from her. "Well, you just never mind. I been kicked by the best an' I always get over it. You have a good time, girl. You don't have ta worry 'bout me botherin' ya." He turned and stormed from the room.

"Logan, wait!" she cried, hopping down from the table to follow him. She heard the front door open, then slam closed. Another wave of dizziness overwhelmed her and she staggered into the doorframe. By the time she had recovered her balance, she could hear the roar of his Harley moving away from the mansion.




Star leaned against the doorframe, listening until she could no longer hear Wolverine's 'bike. She went upstairs to her room and closed the door. Her chest and stomach still hurt from the impact of the bullets, and she pulled her shirt off to examine the darkening bruises. Her abdomen seemed to be swollen as well as bruised. She pulled on a loose blouse and sat down next to the window. She was unaware of the tears that streamed down her cheeks.



When neither Wolverine nor Star came down for dinner, everyone assumed that they were together. No one was aware of the heartbreak being shared by two people who were currently so far apart.




Star stayed at the window throughout the night, hoping he would return. When the sun rose, she was vaguely surprised. Somehow, she had expected the night to just continue. She got up from the window, unsure of what she should do. A sudden cramp doubled her over. She sank to the floor as the pain was joined by a nauseating dizziness. She leaned against the wall, her arms around her stomach and her knees drawn up. Gradually, the pain and dizziness passed, leaving only the nausea. Gingerly, she climbed to her feet and lay down on her bed. Abruptly, the tears came again. Why hadn't she just lied to him? It would have been easy enough to tell him that she'd had her vision after they had gone. He would have believed her, it was what he had wanted to hear. But she hadn't. She buried her face in her pillow, muffling her sobs until she fell asleep. She dreamed of Wolverine as she'd first seen him. He stood over her, his eyes cold. He was ready to kill her to prevent her from injuring his friends. He'd seen something behind the madness which trapped her and had knocked her out instead. Then he'd been there when she had awakened, had helped her fend off the darkness. She moaned in her sleep, the memories made painful by his absence. She was awakened by a tapping on her door and was startled to realized that it was again dark outside. She had slept the entire day.

She struggled to sit up in the bed and discovered that any movement made her sick.

"Come in," she called when she had her nausea under control. The door opened, admitting Jubilee.

"Hey Star, have you seen Wolvie?"

"Wolverine is not here, Jubilee. He left yesterday and I do not think he has returned."

"Oh." Jubilee shrugged. "Sometimes he just takes off like that. You get used to it after a while." Star didn't answer. "Well, you look bushed, so I'll get outta your hair and let you get to sleep." She closed the door behind her as she left the room. Star lay back on the bed, too sick to notice how swollen her abdomen was.

She slept again, once more dreaming of Wolverine.