The Hunter
By: Kismet Noelani
Disclaimer: I still don't own them, although I really want a few of my own. That would be nice. I'd make all the hot guys Cabana boys.
Author's Notes: Neva, did I mention that you are so cool. Okay, if you are reading, please take the time to review. I want to know your opinions so I can make it even better. It's what keeps me writing. Anyway, this chapter has a little more plot in it! It's exciting, I know! PLEASE READ & REVIEW!! So, here we go.
*____* is thoughts
*italics* thoughts at other people
Chapter Five
Davin was worried. He hadn't heard anything from Cyrene in over three weeks. He had called the house, but the number had been disconnected. She wasn't answering her cell phone, and he'd left her about ten e-mails, without answer. He'd called her at work, but Phillip, her secretary, told him that she'd left the company. She had completely disappeared from New York.
He stood suddenly and began pacing his small bedroom. There was no trace of her anywhere. She wouldn't have just dumped them and disappeared! Davin knew she would never do that, she cared too much. He stopped and bit his lip. He turned to the mirror. "What are you looking at?" he snapped at his reflection. He didn't know who to turn to. Davin sighed and left his room. Maybe if he got something to eat, he would be able to concentrate.
He stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen and immediately felt better. Some people just didn't understand how therapeutic cooking could be. He began pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator, turning over possibilities while he cooked. Where would she have possibly gone? He sent his mind back and thought about the week before he had moved into this place. What had she said? *Let's see... she said she had to go out of town...add some butter...but where was she going? And why isn't she answering her e-mail? Don't they have any olive oil in this place?!!* Davin banged his hand onto the counter top and realized he was holding the olive oil. *Where did that come from?* he wondered as he poured the oil into the pan. He felt like pasta. Pasta and sautéed vegetables. *What if she did just up and leave. What if she never wants to see you again?* his subconscious asked.
"Oh shut up," he muttered at his subconscious.
"Talking to yourself again?" a soft voice teased behind him.
Davin spun around startled. Ororo stood behind him, chuckling softly. He hadn't even heard her come up. He smiled at her and watched her as she walked over. She was quickly becoming one of his best friends in this place; always willing to talk, introducing him to people, helping him fit in however she could.
"What are you making? It smells heavenly," Ororo said softly.
"Uh, pasta primavera," Davin answered. *Oh smooth, Davin! You didn't sound like an idiot at all!* Since she was becoming such a good friend, he could understand exactly why he tended to blush like a teenager whenever she came near him, or why he stuttered and said things like 'uh.'
"Who are you cooking for?" Ororo asked. For her part, Ororo had found someone who really seemed to understand her in Davin. Someone she could really talk to. For a long time Ororo had felt like a third wheel to the team. Scott and Jean were often so caught up in each other that they forgot about her. Or they asked her to go places with them, but tended to make her feel like an outsider. They were Scott and Jean the couple. Apart, they were her friends, but when they were together, it became hard to communicate with either of them. While she had been at the mansion, she had stayed quite and, while she could whip her classroom into line in an instant, she seemed to have stayed in the background of everything that went on. She knew everyone and everything that happened, but was rarely a part of it.
"I was just cooking," Davin answered.
"Is there enough for two?" she asked.
"Sure."
Davin and Ororo smiled at each other, Davin's thoughts about Cyrene forgotten in the face of good food and a beautiful weather goddess.
*****
The motorcycle roared down the highway. Logan still couldn't get over what a great machine this was. As soon as he got back to Xavier's, he was going to have to get one. And that little red button...well, that was the best part. Logan grinned to himself; he was going home. He wasn't sure exactly when over the past few months he had come to think of the mansion as home, but he had. He missed the people there; Jean, Storm, Marie, even Cyclopes, although he would never, ever tell him that.
He hadn't found out a whole lot while in Alkali Lake. It seemed that whatever had happened fifteen years ago was going to stay in the past. Being there had given him a few more of his memories back, but not much. All he remembered were flashes. They weren't much to go on.
Logan glanced up at the sky and decided it was time to find a hotel. It would only be a few more days until he was back in West Chester. He pulled into the first hotel parking lot he saw, a Comfort Inn. He paid for his room, grabbed a bite to eat at the small restaurant, and headed up to his room. He was exhausted. Riding 18 hours on a cycle was tiring work. He almost immediately fell asleep.
The dreams came right on the heels of sleep. The dreams had been worse lately, but he figured that was just because of the visit, but this one was worse then the others. Men in black suits, champagne, a green laser, then darkness. Then color again, and this time a voice. "Hey. Are you all right? Come on Wolf Man, stay with me here. You promised me!" A hand reached out between the bars of the cell to grasp his tightly. "What the bloody hell did they do you this time? Wolf? Please stay with me. If you die on me, I am going to kill you!" He smiled through the haze of pain; she was always saying things like that.
"I'm not going to die, love. I'm just going to lay here for a while in pain, okay?" he told her. She didn't answer; instead, she caressed his hand lightly and then withdrew as the sound of booted footsteps came closer. He heard her door open and a hard, male voice.
"Take her to room five. Inflict as much damage as possible without killing her. Time how long it takes her to heal it all. I want to know what she's capable of." After that there was nothing more but the blissful darkness of sleep.
*****
Miles away, Cyrene jerked upright. Her whole body was trembling and she was sweating. She had dreamed, no not a dream a nightmare. But she couldn't quite remember what it was. Something about the past... Shivering and breathing hard, she swung her legs over the edge of the couch she had fallen asleep on and made her way over to the refrigerator. She must have dozed off after setting up the computer. She grabbed a bottle of ice tea. She took a drink and tried to recall the dream, but it was just out of reach. She sighed and pushed it aside. It didn't matter anyway. The past was the past and there was nothing she could do to change it.
She sat down at the computer and turned it on. She hadn't checked her e-mail in weeks. Her informants would be going mad. She grinned as she scanned the new mail list. No less than 17 letters from Davin. She shook her head, a small smile on her lips and checked the rest of the mail. One letter from Remy and all her regular informant reports. Though, there was quite a bit of information from the Canadian Sector. Frowning, Cyrene checked the source. It was valid. Maybe it was time for a visit, although she wasn't exactly fond of Canada. Scratch that. Canada sucked as far as she was concerned.
She opened the first of the letters. The Canadian government had reinstated its mutant testing facilities. Oh joy. She opened the second letter. They were already gathering mutants. Oh double joy. She opened the third letter. She should pay attention to the news and check all missing person's reports. Unclear whether the US government was cooperating or uninvolved. Oh triple joy. She hoped they were uninvolved. It would be much safer for everyone, because when she found out the names of all people involved, they were going to pay. Some days life really sucked.
Cyrene's organization was much more wide spread then anyone would have guessed. It was much too large for one person to head alone, so years ago she had broken the organization down into sections and subsections by region and information type. It was really very simple and it helped keep all of the information she had organized and easy to find. The head of each section, which she liked to call her informants, reported to her on a daily basis, sometimes more if there was an emergency. She could easily access any information at anytime. Cyrene was the main figurehead though and not even her informants knew exactly who she was. One or two had guessed at it, but the information game was more dangerous then she had originally realized. She was the only one who knew everyone's identities.
Over the past few decades she had become known as 'The Hunter.' A United States Senator had coined the term in the early 90's when she had gone after a very bad man. She had pulled out everything she had on that man. He was a murderer, blackmailer, kidnapper, rapist, and the list went on. The FBI wanted him; some did the police of almost every state, and of several countries. No one had enough evidence to convict and no one would share evidence. She had gone into everyone's files, copied and passed them out. The man was convicted. There had been a media frenzy over 'the Hunter' and subsequently, the safety of computers. She had sent a statement to every news and media group available telling them their computers were fairly safe, just not from her. She had signed it 'The Hunter' and had also told them to back off. They had.
She smiled grimly at the memory and started checking up on the Canadian government in recent years. After the destruction of the Alkali Lake facility 15 years ago, the government had closed down all mutant-testing sites, claiming that it was too dangerous to keep up with the project. That had been a very personal victory for her. Cyrene finished checking things and began sifting through all the material she had come up with. She didn't know if she was ready to face her past and finish what she started fifteen years ago, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let those poor people go through the three years of hell she had gone through at the hands of the Canadian government. She resolutely pushed aside her fear, and the knowledge that she wasn't ready, and got down to the business at hand.
*****
School had finally started at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. All the students that had left were back for the year, all the new students had moved in, and the new teacher was getting along well. Everything seemed well, if a little bit chaotic, but it was like that every year. There was only one dark spot on the happiness; Charles Xavier had recently received word that mutants were being kidnapped. He had checked into it and found that they were disappearing at an alarming rate, especially in Canada. He had called an emergency meeting of the X-Men, meaning that Scott, Jean, and Ororo were sitting with him now; listening to him explain the situation and outline what he though they should do. Except he didn't know what they should do. A situation like this had never arisen before. He finished explaining the problem and watched their faces. Scott and Jean exchanged worried glances, while Ororo remained expressionless.
He looked at them for a moment, letting everything sink in before speaking. "I would like nothing more then to be able to act on this right away, but unfortunately, we need more information. I am trying to contact someone called the Hunter." Jean's eyebrows raised at this.
"I heard that he had gone underground ever since that media incident in the 90's," she commented.
"That's true, but the organization has remained intact. I have used it before as an information source and I think this is too important to trust to any other source. I believe that someone is collecting mutants for experimentation purposes. I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say we can't let that happen," Xavier answered. "I'll give you more information as soon as I can."
They stood and Scott and Jean left, both looking very worried. Ororo stayed behind for a moment. "Excuse me Professor, but are you planning to inform Davin of the X-Men anytime soon?" she asked quietly.
"I was thinking about it, but I'm still not sure about him. What do you think?" he asked, knowing full well that she had been spending quite a bit of time with him.
"I think," she said slowly, "that he is someone who can be trusted. I also think he will want to help us, and be hurt if we don't tell him and he finds out."
Xavier nodded. He had come up with pretty much the same thing. "I'll think about it a little more, but I promise to tell him before this mission gets much further along."
Ororo smiled, inclined her head slightly, and gracefully left the room. Xavier turned back to his desk and began writing an e-mail, trying to find out some more information from the Hunter.
*****
Cyrene turned her attention from the missing person's file she was reading when her e-mail icon began blinking. She clicked on it.
Hunter,
This is New York. Just received this e-mail. Awaiting further instructions.
NYI
Cyrene clicked on the attachment and read the e-mail.
Dear Hunter,
My name is Charles Xavier and I have used your network in that past. I have recently come to find that a large number of the mutant population is disappearing. I am sure that you know all about the X-Men and what we do. I would appreciate any information you could give me so that we can stop these disappearances. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Charles Xavier
Cyrene read the e-mail a second time. She shook her head and wrote NYI.
NYI,
Does this check out?
Hunter
Not two minutes later the reply came.
Hunter,
Yes.
NYI
She nodded and replied.
NYI,
Sit tight and gather all information on these disappearances that you can for me into a single file. I'm coming to NY ASAP to handle this personally. Thanks much.
Hunter
Cyrene closed her file and stood and stretched, and to pack her things. *It never rains, but it pours.* She thought cynically. She grinned suddenly, and she didn't grin very often, not any more. The X-Men were going to be surprised as all hell to meet the Hunter.