Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel and I'm using them without their permission. I am making no money for writing this. Dakota's mine.

Note: This story starts after UXM#351/XM#71 and then starts to differ from the Marvel Universe from there.

Feedback can be sent to bkittle@creighton.edu (I forgot to put that last time didn't I?)


The First Step - Part Two
Beverly McIntyre

Storm shut the door behind her. She felt that if this man had any news about the whereabouts of Xavier, she had better be the only one to hear it. That would give her time to think through the plausibility of the information before deciding what to do. Some of her more impulsive teammates, like Rogue or Wolverine, would act upon the information first before thinking a plan all the way through. They also would not try to figure out if it's a trap before they were in the midst of it. Storm could not afford to lose anyone when things were running so low for the team.

She looked at the man who appeared to be sizing up the room. He stood over six feet tall with broad shoulders and a tight, muscular frame. His short, black hair was neatly combed back. He had warm, brown eyes set into a finely chiseled face. His lightly copper-toned skin and slightly high cheekbones signaled his Native American roots.

"Well," Dakota began, interrupting Storm's observation. "this place is a lot emptier than the last time I was here. You guys doing some heavy-duty spring-cleaning or something?"

He turned to face her, brown eyes flashing with curiousity.

"You could say that",Storm said neutrally. She did not know who this man was, and she was not going to let on about the devastation Bastion had wreaked upon them, or signal any of the team's vulnerability. He just smiled. "What information do you have on the Professor, Mr. Dakota?"

"It's not Mr. Dakota. Just plain Dakota. I don't like any titles added to my name." He said as he dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a rumpled and folded piece of paper. He handed it over to her. "I got this from your Professor a couple days ago."

Storm had to keep herself from snatching the paper out of his hand. If this note was truly from the Professor, it would be the first sign the X-Men had that he was still on the face of the planet. She carefully unfolded the paper and smoothed it out. She noticed her hands trembled slightly during the process. She cast a furtive glance at Dakota to see if he had noticed, but he had started to look around the room once more. She gratefully looked back at the note. After a few minutes, she looked up from the note.

"This is indeed the Professor's handwriting, but it's written in some sort of code I can't make out." Dakota stopped his inspection of the surroundings and looked back at Storm.

"So, that is Xavier's handwriting?" Storm nodded uncertainly. She thought this man knew the message was from the Professor. "All right then," He reached into his back pocket and pulled out another rumpled and folded note. "this is the translation."

Storm hesitantly took the piece of paper, not quite sure of what this man was up to. As she unfolded the piece of paper, Dakota's head snapped up to look at the door to the room. Storm stopped smoothing the paper out and watched as he moved towards the door. He moved like a wraith, moving so quiet that Storm thought the only sound in the room was her breathing. He stopped right in front of the door.

"Is there-" Dakota held up a hand for silence; Storm bit back the question, curious what he was up to. He crouched down in front of the door and balled up both fists. He held his fists over two distinct spots on the door. He paused for a second, tilting his head to the side as if to hear something better. Abruptly, he knocked once, very loudly, on the two spots he held his fists over. Storm raised an eyebrow at the man's odd behavior.

Dakota stood up and opened the door. Standing in front of him, rubbing their aching ears, were Cannonball and Iceman. Both looked quite sheepishly at Storm, having just been caught listening in on an important conversation. Storm sighed at how pitiful both men looked.

"Samuel, Robert, when a man asks to speak with me privately, I expect the courtesy to be extended to him. Not impinged upon by you two." Bobby and Sam exchanged a glance.

"But Sam said this guy had some information on the Professor. We wanted to make sure this guy was legit." Dakota looked amused. An easy grin had spread across his face.

"So, you figured eavesdropping was a good way to see if I'm legit?" Dakota asked with mock-indignation.

"Well, no. We had ta make sure yer weren't gonna do any harm ta Storm." Sam got a strong jab in the ribs from Bobby's elbow. Storm looked entirely unamused. While both of them meant well, Bobby and Sam were probably costing her the trust she needed from Dakota for him to give her all of whatever information he had. She was about to admonish both of them when Dakota spoke up.

"You were worried about me doing her harm when she can call up a whirlwind to toss me across the room, fry me with lightning, or beat me senseless with hailstones the size of footballs? Either you SERIOUSLY underestimate your leader's power, or I seem like like such a menace that her powers alone won't stop me." Dakota paused and looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. "I hope it's the second one 'cause no one's thought that way about me for years. Now, go back to the other X-Men and tell them Ms. Monroe is fine and can take care of herself, and she'll dispense the pertinent information later."

As Dakota shut the door, Sam asked Bobby how did this guy know that the other X-Men were waiting to hear what they learned. Dakota just shook his head and laughed.

"How did you know they were there?" Storm was a bit intrigued by this man now. He shrugged as he walked back over to her.

"First, the house got real quite. Everybody could have been taking a lunch break, but it's a bit too early for that. Second, Cannonball gasped when I said I had some information for you on the Professor earlier. Thirdly, if those to want to listen in, they should stop whispering to each other so much. Now, do you want me to verify the accuracy of the translated message?" Storm looked at him quizzically. "Well, it would be the first thing I'd do. Anyway, the person who translated is...sigh...no longer sitting in the van."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes. I really should staple his butt to the seat. Would you help me go find my wandering friend? He'll get into more trouble than I care to think about walking around here." Storm looked down at the notes in her hand. "Oh, um... if you help me find my friend out there, I'll... I'll get this place some furniture or something."

Storm refolded the notes and placed them in one of her pockets. "I appriciate your offer, Dakota, but I do not think we need your assistance at this time. Now what does your friend look like?"

Dakota started for the door. "Trust me, you know him already. He kinda stands out." He opened the door and held it open for her. "I believe you're old friends with him."