Continuity Er .. some time after Rogue joined up with the X-Men? Really, I have no idea. I've seen only some of the first series and none of the second. Sorry if things aren't right ...
"Um ... Ms Darkholme?" Abigail's voice crackled tentatively over the intercom. Interrupting the Principle was never taken well and the snapped reply a moment later proved her original inclination to just tell the visitor to come back later correct.
"This had better be important Abigail"
Abigail looked up through her bangs at the elegant woman waiting patiently before her desk who was brushing imaginary dust from the cuffs of her flowingly refined tan dress. "Ms Ororo Monroe to see you. She said you would be expecting her."
There was a long pause, then the voice replied, bled of all emphasis. "Show her in."
Ororo gave a graceful nod and a pleasant smile to the nervous women who hesitated as she stood halfway from her seat.
"I can show myself in. Thank you Abigail"
With a relieved, if tentative, smile Abigail sat down and, once the woman had stepped into the office, resumed circling the wanted ads in the paper.
Ororo studied the closed expression of the woman sat behind the office desk as she gently pulled the door shut behind her with a soft click. There was a flat hardness to the eyes and a tightness to the features, a readiness to strike. But it was the trace of curiosity that held the woman back, she suspected. It seemed Mystique had not been expecting a visit from a lone X-Man, let alone one wearing a serene and almost friendly smile.
Confusion to her enemies seemed the best approach, so she decided to keep the woman further off balance still, taking the seat before the desk and relaxing into it. "Good afternoon Raven. I see you've moved offices ... what on earth happened to the last one?"
The flinch was slight, but evident, while the answer was off-hand; as if explaining the unfortunate case of wood rot in a floorboard, rather than the fact her office had been reduced to matchstick sized pieces. "We had a break in, the thief used unnecessarily violent methods. Thankfully no one was hurt. I sent my students to warn you that the thief may target the Institution next, but they were shown the door. I do hope nothing has happened."
The purring insincerity in the woman's words froze Ororo's smile for a moment, but she gave a fluid shrug. "Have you ... identified the thief?"
The deepening curiousity in Mystique's expression told her the hesitance in her question has been noted.
"Why no, not yet. Although, rest assured, it is only a matter of time. Do you have any suspicions as to whom the culprit is? Not the thief, he is clearly a hired tool."
At that Storm shook her head, genuinely puzzled about this herself. She couldn't imagine Jean-Luc allowing anyone in his guild, let alone his son, to take on such a job. It could be nothing but detrimental to mutants, and Jean-Luc was an intelligent man. "No, we have been unable to narrow the field of suspects a great deal thus far." Her smile flashed bright and as insincere as the other's for a moment. "It is only a matter of time."
They had taken the battle into words, both were feinting and parrying as if it was their bodies they fought with. Her advantage was lost since Darkholme had been given the slight opportunity to form a plan. Perhaps this confrontation had been less advantageous than she had first thought. Still, for all her doubting the woman told the entire truth, it seemed they had both fallen victim. Raven seemed to find the contents of the folder before her intensely interesting for a moment, then spoke without looking up.
"As we have verified neither of our factions is responsible for this embarrassing debacle, perhaps a temporary alliance is in order. We will pursue the thief, if you will look for whomever is pulling his strings"
That was the last thing she wanted, but forced her tone to remain as calm, even honest, as she could. "I think that those roles may be best reversed. Wolverine is even now following the thief's trail, whereas I am sure your connections are most suited to uncovering those behind him."
Raven raised her eyes, not bothering to disguise the almost amused but keen interest in them. Storm met them without blinking. This was just a part of the verbal sparring. Both knew the other was hiding information; neither could pry without becoming subject to their own examination. A stalemate. After a moment, the other woman looked back at her folder of test papers.
"Very well."
Silence descended heavily for a moment, then Ororo stood, marshalling her emotions under a control more tenuous than most suspected. Hand on the door, she paused and spoke without turning. "Your son is well." The silence was more pointed, almost tangible, a presence of it's own. She allowed herself a smile and walked out, closing the door just as quietly as she had when she entered.
The kid's getaway car had been abandoned a few kilometres from New York, the trail going cold as soon as he followed it into the smoke filled bar on the sidewalk a block down. It was quiet, save for the faint background buzz of a faulty fan. The tables and chairs all bore scars from use as they were intended and ,judging from the rough and ready looking bar-flies eyeing him as he came in, from no few bar fights as well. It was a dive that smelt of booze, puke, cigarettes and depression. Not necessarily in that order.
After a few moments all eyes turned from him, but no conversation took place. Each of the men, not a woman in sight, was on his own save for a drink before him. Only the barman watched his progress across the floor, the rag he was using on a glass less cleaning than moving the grime around. His boots sounded loud on the plank flooring, an accompanying beat to the whine of the air conditioner.
He decided against leaning on the sticky looking bar, less from prudishness as simple disgust. The smells in this place were hell on his sensitive senses and he had a dark suspicion the punk had chosen this place for just that reason.
The bartender was as greasy looking as his bar, middle aged and lips and fingers stained yellow from the cigarettes he seemed to chain smoke. But he watched Logan with a wariness that showed running a bar had given him an eye for the ones that could cause trouble. He could play this one of two ways, kind words or threats. Well, kind words might work once.
"I'm lookin fer a kid that ran in here less than an hour ago. 'Bout six foot, thin, brown hair. Seen him?"
The tender shook his head as he replied in a distinctly familiar accent. "Non, don' allow no chil'ren in here. Drink?"
Logan kept his tone low, striving for calm even as a snarl entered his words. "Don't want a drink bub, I want the kid. I know he came in here..." Now he did lean on the bar with both hands clawed on the wood, glaring up at the man and allowing just a hint of his fang teeth to show . "... and I'm askin nice where he went. I only ask nice once."
It took a moment, but the tender broke, sweating slightly and licking suddenly dry lips. The growl in the shorter man's words had spoken directly to the primal instinct within him, calling for him to find a fire to keep the beast at bay or, alternatively, give it what it wanted and hope it didn't feel peckish in the meantime. The $50 the kid had given him would not cover the damage to himself or his bar this ... man ... was implying he would make.
"Out th' back. 'Bout ten minutes ago" He pointed at an off-white door beside the bar, then resumed his glass smearing busily, keeping his attention on that alone.
With a feral smile, Logan picked up speed over the door, but opening it as silently as he could. Voices were coming from the end of the dusk-darkened alleyway outside. One he recognised as the thief's, the other was lower pitched and oddly accented, but clipped and precise. The air was tinged with ozone, already being lost in the reek of rotting garbage.
" ... so, you jus' gonna hand ove' your files? Mind if I ask why homme?"
"Because I am not as stupid as either you or your contractor seem to give me credit for. If they are so desperate for information on my Marauders they may have it, without risk to my laboratory from your atrocious habit of creating property damage wherever you go. In return, I expect to be given the details of the information already appropriated."
The outline of the thief's figure, slight in comparison to the massive height and bulk of his companion, gave a shrug. "Expect what y' wan' M'sieur Essex, I ain' in no place t' promise you anyt'in'"
"No, you are not. But if your employers have a spark of sentient intelligence, they will realise it is in their interests to keep me on their side. Just deliver the message thief."
Essex lifted his hand palm out and the alleyway was flooded with the scent of ozone once more as a shimmering apparition the size of a large door flickered into existence. Without looking back the suddenly illuminated figure stepped into it and disappeared. The portal was gone a second later, leaving only the twilight of the near set sun. Logan didn't need his heightened hearing to pick up a distinctly relieved exhalation of breath from his prey, nor the muttered words.
"What's a good cat'olic boy like you doin' dealin' wit' devils Remy? Oh yeah ... money"
Standing from his crouch by the door, he stepped towards the kid as he was quickly putting the folder and disks he had been given into a black rucksack. The thief's back was to him, and he knew he hadn't made a sound. Even so the young man stiffened and then turned quick as a snake, bringing up those damn fire cracker cards.
With a roar, Wolverine leapt, claws flashing in the light of the new moon.
Professor Xavier looked at the worried faces of his students before him and tried to project the very image of an adult in complete control of the situation. It was a cheap ploy, his conscience argued, but it seemed to work, even on Scott and Jean. They relaxed at his calm smile, trusting his ability to make everything right once more.
"At this moment, Wolverine is tracking down our visitor and may well have retrieved the documents already. Storm is visiting Mystique to see if the office explosion was related, or whether she was behind this intrusion. However, I feel this would be an excellent opportunity for you to practise more covert operations. When Storm returns, she will drive all of you into New York for the weekend in an effort to stake out areas the thief is likely to hit on the Saturday. The Sunday, however, is yours. You will be leaving in an hour."
He met Scott's faintly suspicious gaze blandly, willing the student not to point out this exercise held no real purpose beyond getting them away from the mansion and forcing them to keep a low profile. To his relief, the young man simply gave a slight nod with a calculating expression and a lightly sardonic smile. He didn't think he could be prouder in that moment, but none of that showed as he went on over the suddenly excited chatter of the younger pupils.
"Scott will be in charge of this training mission, Storm will be with you in a supervisory capacity only. Should you spot anything unusual, you are to contact her immediately with your com badges. Does anyone have any questions?"
A chorus of various replies in the negative was his only response and he couldn't restrain a chuckle as he shooed them off to pack. Only Scott hung back, resisting Jean's efforts to tug him towards an exciting exploration into the world of helping a woman choose clothing for a weekend in New York. Crossing his arms, he waited until the room was clear save for himself and the Professor to speak.
"This isn't just an exercise, is it sir?"
This time Xavier didn't hide the proud smile, even as his reply took on a regretful note.
"No Scott, it isn't." Studying the boy's, no, young man's resolute posture for a moment, he chose to give him the truth. "I honestly have no idea whether Logan will find the thief. Even if he does, we have no guarantee that he will find the files with him. It is imperative that, until this situation is resolved, you and Ororo keep the others as hidden as possible."
Silence filled the warm room for a moment, a comfortable respite as Scott thought. "What do I tell them if this isn't ... resolved ... by the end of the weekend?"
"Then we will tell them the truth."
"What is the truth sir? What was on those files?"
"The complete details on every person in this Institute. Your strengths and potentials, your weaknesses, your habits. Every detail of your lives since enrolling here."
Disbelief warred with anger in the young man's tone as he took this in. "What? Why? And why on file? What's wrong with a computer?" Clearly, he desperately wanted to believe the man he looked upon as a teacher and surrogate parent had an excellent reason for creating documents so easily stolen, but he couldn't think of one.
"Because the files ensure, in the event of anything happening to myself, that you and your education are harmed in no way, for the first part." He kept his tone reasonable, hoping the same trick would work twice, or at least not infuriate the adolescent further. "And any computer can be hacked. Any computer. There are mutants with the ability to take information from a stand-alone machine. I had thought hard copy files in a location only I knew of to be the safest place possible. Clearly, I was wrong."
Again there was a long moment of silence, this time an accusing one as Scott attempted to master the anger and betrayal he was feeling. Logic was on Xavier's side, but cold logic often had no place in the upset minds of the young, even those as remarkable as his students. Finally there was a reply in a tight, but studiously polite, tone.
"I can see your point sir, have you discovered who could have known about the files?"
"No one other than myself. Believe me, this is something I will be looking into while you have the others safely out of the area."
Jean's voice floated into the room, still bubbly with the excitement of the weekend spent in the city. "Slim?"
"I'm just coming Jean ... Professor Xavier was just telling me he was forwarding us all two weeks worth of allowance for the trip."
Her happy laughter, along with Kitty's, greeted his words as Xavier conceded the move with a nod. "Go and pack Scott, I'll see you all before you leave."
