CHAPTER TWO

Chapter Two

Storm had been following Solitaire for most of the afternoon. Solitaire had dropped off his things at home, then left and stayed out for several hours. He'd changed from sweatpants and a white polo shirt to black jeans and a black shirt, still with the black sunglasses.

The only things Solitaire had with him was his wallet and the pack of cards Xavier had seen earlier in the afternoon. He'd spent most of the afternoon at the lake, laying out the cards like a game, but instead of moving them around he simply looked at them, shuffled the rest of the pack and laid out a few more. He grimaced and swept the cards up, shoving them back into the cardboard pack.

A few people had come and spoken to Solitaire during the two hours he spent at the lake, but none of them had seemed threatening and they all left after five or ten minutes. So far, Storm hadn't seen anything that pertained to danger.

After a while Solitaire stood up and walked back to his house. A dark-haired woman was standing on the porch and the two talked for a few moments. Solitaire frowned and raised a hand to his temple. The woman looked concerned and said something that made Solitaire shake his head. Then he suddenly crumpled to the porch floor, holding his head.

The woman dropped down beside him and pulled out a cell phone. She spoke into the phone for a few minutes, then shoved it into her pocket. A few minutes later, an ambulance screeched up.

The woman said something to the paramedics, who nodded and switched off the siren.

Storm stared after the ambulance. Then she made her decision: she had to talk to Solitaire, no matter what was wrong. It could be something to do with his mutation or it could be unrelated, but she didn't want to find out why the Professor had sensed danger when he used Cerebro.

@ @ @

Logan glanced at the girl with light purple hair sitting beside him. ((Definitely too much time around red-eye,)) he thought. He'd met the girl in New York and something had compelled him to offer her a ride.

She looked at him and smiled slightly. "Thank you for this," she said softly. "I only need to go as far as Professor Xavier's school, then I'll be out of your hair."

"What're you doing at the school?" Logan asked. The girl laughed. "I want to enroll. Not many schools take people like me. And I want to talk to the Professor about something."

"You're a mutant?" Logan asked. The girl nodded. "Ja. I'm empathic, and there are a few other things I'm not sure about. I heard that he might be able to teach me to control my powers."

"He will. The Professor's good at what he does," Logan said. "You know, you never did tell me your name."

"Verzeihen sie, I am Chantelle de Courcey. I'm from Europe," she said. She frowned. "You have a lot of pain inside. I can feel it. You lost someone special to you." {I'm sorry}

"How do you know?"

"My empathy tells me things. I didn't mean to pry, I can't help sensing what people are feeling," she said. Logan shook his head. "Don't worry about it. But I didn't lose anyone. Not yet."

"Es verdad? Someone is hurt, then?" {Is that so?}

"Yes. We're not sure if she's going to wake up," Logan replied, thinking of Raptor, still hooked up to all those machines. Chantelle closed her eyes for a moment and her hair suddenly shifted colour to light blue. Logan yelped, "what the hell is with your hair?"

"Oh, it changes colour with my emotions," Chantelle replied. "I can't control it."

"Why was it purple before and blue now?" Logan demanded. Chantelle answered, "because I was happy before, and thinking about death makes me sad. Timor mortis conturbat me." {The thought of death disturbs me]

She sighed and looked out the window. "How much longer before we get to the mansion?"

"Not long. Once we get off this road it's about half an hour or so," Logan replied. Chantelle grinned suddenly. "I can't wait to be somewhere where there are people like me," she said. "It's been ages since anyone's accepted me. My hair and the way I can tell what they're feeling makes everyone uncomfortable."

"You'll be accepted at the mansion," Logan said. "Trust me, even if you didn't want to be accepted, you'd be accepted."

Half an hour later, they pulled up in the driveway. Chantelle pulled her duffel bag over the back of the seat and climbed out of the truck, whisking her long crimson skirt out of the way of her boots. Dreamer was sitting on the front porch with Jubilee and called out, "ya always show up with a girl in ya truck, Logan. Somethin' we should know 'bout?"

Jubilee swatted Dreamer's arm. "Don't be mean," she scolded, grinning. Dreamer shrugged. "Cain't help it, Jubes. Seriously, it's good ta see ya Logan."

Logan slammed the door of the truck. "Can you guys take Chantelle to see the Prof? I want to check on Raptor."

Dreamer nodded. "Sure. Knowin' Logan ya've got th' wrong idea 'bout the Prof. Logan lahkes ta scare people," he added, standing up. Jubilee grinned. "I'm Jubilee, and this is my boyfriend Dreamer."

"Chantelle de Courcey. Nice to meet you," Chantelle said, her hair shifting to light purple with darker streaks. Dreamer and Jubilee didn't seem too surprised at the change of her hair. Dreamer said, "c'mon, we'll take ya ta the Prof. An' then ya c'n get th' "grand tour" that we all have ta go through."

@ @ @

Storm went up to the nurses' desk in Ward 7 of the small county hospital. She asked, "excuse me, is there a Max Jackson here?"

"Yes, there is. Room 2C," the nurse replied. "I think it's okay for him to have visitors now. Just don't turn on the lights, and be very quiet."

Storm nodded and headed to room 2C. The nurse called out, "wait a moment, ma'am!"

She brought a paper cup of water and three pills. "See if he can take these. They usually help."

"What's wrong with him?" Storm asked. The nurse frowned. "Didn't Doctor Rodeski explain it?"

"Yes, but I don't understand all that medical jargon," Storm said, wincing inwardly at the lie. But it worked. The nurse smiled and said, "I know how that feels. From what I understand, Mr Jackson gets migraines every month or so. They're supposed to be very painful, but usually he gets through them at home. This one was more severe than usual, so the doctor thought he'd better keep him in for observation until it passes."

"Thank you," Storm said, turning back down the hall to room 2C.

The door was closed and no light spilled from under it. Storm opened it carefully and entered. The room was dark, the blinds drawn across the window to block out as much sun as possible.

Solitaire lay motionless on the bed, an IV in one hand. His head turned as Storm entered and he whispered, "nice to finally meet you, Storm."

"How do you know my name?" Storm asked. The Professor hadn't thought Solitaire was a telepath, but maybe he'd been wrong.

Solitaire replied, "I saw it in the cards a few days ago. Normally they aren't quite so detailed but sometimes I get… flashes that are really clear. And I saw you."

"Well, I'm not here to harm you. As you seem to know, my name is Ororo Munroe, though I am also known as Storm."

"Why are you here, Miss Munroe? I know I'm a mutant but I can control my powers enough to get by. I'm not really material for your school."

He groaned softly and pressed his knuckles to his temples. "Never been this bad before," he said hoarsely.

Storm frowned. "Solitaire, have you noticed anything… out of the ordinary lately?" she asked. The teenager shook his head minutely. "Not really. I've seen a lot of mutants, but that could be nothing…"

"How do you know they're mutants?" Storm asked. Solitaire replied, "I get flashes telling me. There've been more than normal."

"Solitaire, I think you're in danger. How soon do you think you'll be mobile?"

"Couldn't tell you. Could be hours to days," Solitaire replied. Storm shook her head. "We don't have that long."

A voice suddenly entered her head. **Hey 'Ro. Long time no see.**

**Sabrina, what are you doing here?** Storm demanded.

The blonde girl laughed in her mind. **Just doing a job, Stormy. Playing a little game. Want to play?**

**What?**

**I guess you'd call it "Keep Away". Can you keep the boy away from me, my new friend and Dusk long enough to get out of town? If so, you get to save him. If not, Damien keeps him. Your choice.**

**What does Damien want with him?** Storm asked.

Sabrina chuckled. **You really think I'm stupid enough to tell you our plans?** she asked scornfully.

Storm bit back an angry retort. **How much time do I have?**

**Ten minutes to get him out of the hospital, Stormy. After that, who knows? Have fun.**

Her voice vanished. Storm turned to Solitaire. "I can't explain right now, but we have to go," she said urgently. Solitaire nodded. "Yeah, I heard."

"You… never mind, we can talk later. What's the fastest way out of here without alerting the nurses?" Storm asked. Solitaire sat up slowly and replied, "this is the ground floor, so if that door over there is unlocked we can go through the garden. We'll have to be quick, though. I haven't had the worst of this migraine yet."

"I have a car parked out the front," Storm said. "We have to hurry. I don't know what Damien wants with you and I'd rather not find out."

@ @ @

Sabrina sat at the wheel of the car Damien had bought for her, driving along a deserted road on the way back to New York. Storm and Solitaire had gotten away, as Damien had instructed her to allow them. Adam was sitting next to her, flipping through an old paperback that had been in the glovebox.

"What does this group do?" Adam asked.

Sabrina shrugged. "Exactly what I told you, Adam. We get revenge for any mutants who have been harmed by FOH or other people."

"People lahke who? Ya've told me all this but ya nevah go inta detail. Don' ya think ya c'n trust me by now?"

"I trust you. I just don't think we should talk until we're certain it's safe," Sabrina said.

Adam looked perplexed. "Safe from what? Th' big bad X-Men who c'n hear everythin'?"

"You could say that. You don't like the X-Men?" Sabrina asked.

Adam replied, "Ah was kiddin', Miss Huntah. Ah've nevah heard of th' X-Men before. It was somethin' Ah picked up from one of ya dreams a few nahts ago."

"I forgot you can go into dreams. Don't go into mine again," Sabrina said.

Adam shrugged. "Ah didn' do it on purpose, Miss Huntah. Sometahmes Ah get images from dreams that Ah don' look for. Ah'll try not ta do it again but Ah cain't promise it."

Sabrina turned back to the road. After a few minutes, Adam asked, "ya aren't old enough ta drive, are ya?"

"Not legally. But I have a fake ID that Damien had made, and everyone's believed it so far," Sabrina replied. Why? Can you drive?"

"Ya. Ah learnt a while ago. Ah thought Ah maht need ta if Ah was gonna fahnd mah brothah."

"You can take over at our next stop. I want to get back as soon as possible," Sabrina said.

Adam nodded. "Fahne with me. Ah jus' want ta fahnd Daniel."

@ @ @

Bobby sat at the computer and typed furiously, searching on the Net for any clues about the whereabouts of Raptor's parents. He'd been looking for over two months, but he'd promised to find them for her and he intended to keep that promise.

Kurt and Kitty stopped by on their way to lunch. Kitty said, "Bobby, you've been cooped up here for hours. Come grab something to eat with us."

Bobby shook his head. "No, I'm fine. You guys go ahead."

He saw the concerned glance they gave each other and ignored it. Knowing Kurt and Kitty, they'd prefer to be alone anyway.

After another hour of searching, Bobby found what might be what he was looking for. He printed out the page and scanned it, a grin forming. "Yes. This is it," he said to himself, looking down at the page that held the information he'd been searching for.

He shut down the computer and went to find the Professor. He said, "sir, I think I found them."

"Found who, Bobby?"

"Raptor's parents. I found them."

Xavier scanned the paper and smiled. "Looks like you did," he agreed. Bobby said, "I have to get them here. She wanted them to see her before she… in case she didn't make it."

"Bobby—"

"I promised, Professor. Would you make me a liar?"

Xavier sighed. "I suppose you're right," he said. "But they're in Alabama, Bobby! How are you going to get there? And what would you say to them?"

"I'll figure that out when I get there. I have to do this, Professor."

"All right. But when you get back you'd better catch up on your schoolwork. You don't want to fall behind the others."

Bobby grinned. "Thanks, Professor."

He went to the infirmary to say goodbye to Raptor. Even though she was in a coma, he believed she could hear what was going on around her.

Raptor wasn't alone. Logan was sitting next to her bed, his duffel bag at his feet. He was talking to her, telling her what he'd been doing for the past three months. He looked up when Bobby entered and cracked a brief grin.

"Hey, Popsicle. What's new?"

"I found her parents," Bobby told Logan. "I'm bringing them back here."

"That's… that's great. When are you leaving?" Logan asked. Bobby replied, "as soon as I pack some things. I wanted to tell Raptor where I was going."

He gently kissed her cheek. "I'm gonna be gone for a while, but when I come back I'll have your parents with me," he promised. He turned to Logan. "Will you take care of her while I'm gone?"

"Of course. Good luck, kid."

TBC. Thanks to those who reviewed =)

In Chapter Three, Damien's 'minions' attack. Which of the students will be captured? You have to read and find out! Storm and Solitaire are heading back to the mansion. Damien meets Adam Whitlock…