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Want? Take ... Have ... just lemme know where it's going :)
Nightcrawler lay in an unconscious heap against the smoking remnants of the doorframe; the bed had been practically vaporized, the window blown out. Of the thief, there was no sign. Jean's quick reactions and the telekinetic wall she managed to build had stopped most of the jagged splinters of wood from hitting those who gathered around the young man now, and Cyclops' optic blasts had disintegrated the rest of the larger ones that had managed to get through.
Kitty knelt beside the crumpled figure of Kurt and held his fuzzy hand as Storm checked him for any obvious signs of injury. She could find nothing that suggested broken bones or internal trauma; the concussive force of the explosion that had made the bedroom into so much smoking debris had simply knocked out the boy, as well as burning pieces of tinder scorching his fur. Superficial damage, but damage nonetheless. Something she had not thought Remy truly capable of in cold blood against another being. Until now. The force he had charged the room with had been intended to maim anyone in the vicinity; of that there could be no doubt. It was just a miracle he himself had escaped before the explosion had taken him with it.
A groan signalled Nightcrawler's return to consciousness, and the small group backed away to give him some air as he sat up, carefully, obvious nausea at the movement crossing his expression, then coming right back to settle there for the long haul.
"Gott im Himmel ... do not give me the number of that truck. Just make sure it never hits me again."
Kitty finally realised she was still holding Nightcrawler's hand when he attempted to lift it from her hold to give a tentative touch to the bruise on his forehead, a rapidly darkening spot visible even under the blur fur. With a blush she released her grip, at least he hadn't noticed. A quick glance around assured her no one else had either, although Rogue's smile of relief turned just a little too innocent when she caught her gaze.
Before she had decided whether she would be taunted mercilessly later or not, Evan called from the window. He was battling the shredded hotel curtains that snapped at him in the gaping hole and yelling against the wind that snatched the words from his mouth as soon as he spoke, spilling them over the city.
"Can't see him, but there's a couple of squad cars coming in. Probably don't want to sell us no tickets to the Policeman's Ball either"
Logan looked up to the woman in charge from where he was holding up fingers before the probably concussed Nightcrawler's unfocussed eyes. "Elf's not with it 'ro. And I got no yearnin' to be explaining this to the cops. Looks like his image tranducer took a hit too." He pointed to the watch, crispy fried and showing wires. "Whadda we do?"
With a sigh, Storms drew her eyes back from the window and glanced at the faces of the X-Men, turned towards her, waiting for orders. Professor Xavier would have been proud, she noted absently, to see his students without panic in the face of the suddenly dire turn the situation had taken.
"Wolverine, take Nightcrawler and Shadowcat with Cyclops and Jean and find us a new location to make a base of operations. Rogue and Spyke, you will accompany me to find Gambit. I suggest we leave now"
Scott aided Wolverine in holding the staggering Kurt between them, Kitty hanging back and wincing to note his singed tale, the hairs burned away enough to show light blue skin beneath it that looked decidedly raw. With the comforting thought of the many words and no few punches she was going to lay on the thief when they caught up on him, she followed the group out.
Jean led the way down the service stairs as the fire alarms finally began to ring for the building to be evacuated. Hands at her temples in an unconscious mimic of her teacher, she was doing her best to convince the wide eyed staff they passed on the way down that they were seeing nothing more than a group of workers, and very certainly not a group of costumed superheroes carrying a blue demon.
It was made easier by the fact this was what those they passed expected, and wanted, to see. But the sheer numbers were more than she'd ever tried to hold against before. Sweat began to bead under her fingers and she could taste the salt on her lips. Her control was faltering, this wasn't something she was practised in and the fear she would slip was only speeding the shattering of the illusion.
And then with a cool, almost icy, rush she felt an unfamiliar presence step into her shields as if they were nothing and bolster her suggestion. Her steps faltered for a moment as she looked around wildly, completely losing the effect, happily on a stretch of stairs currently empty save for them.
"Jean?!"
They had stopped when she stumbled, catching herself on the rail to keep from hitting the next floor the hard way. Logan and Kitty looked at her with worried curiosity, but it was Scott who had spoken with concern.
"Nothing ... it's nothing. Sorry." With an effort, she pieced together the illusion once more, not sure whether to be pleased the presence of another's strength of mind was there to aid her, or not. But control was easier this time; all she has to do was think of the picture while the other drew it.
They stepped out into the street and quietly began to slip through the small crowd that had gathered outside, there was a sudden collective gasp and Jean followed their gazes. From a still smoking window, three figures emerged, born aloft and over the city as Storm called on the forces of the air to take the hunting party from the scene.
"Muties. 'S always the damn muties. Should lock 'em all up and throw away the key."
Almost against her will, Jean looked towards the voice that had spoken with so much vehemence and venom, apparently to no one in particular. It was a blue suited man, gawking with the rest, smirking in superiority. He looks like an ambulance chasing lawyer maybe, or a petty bureaucrat. The cut of his suit wasn't off the rack, and his thinning hair was so obviously dyed to hide the grey the Highschooler in her wanted to giggle. But the X-Man wanted to answer him, object, some how reason with the prejudice. But the murmurings of the crowd agreed with him and then Logan's hand was on her shoulder.
C'mon Red, this is going to be a long night and it ain't gettin' no shorter hanging with the brainless."
She nodded unhappily, catching the expression on Scott and Kitty's faces that Logan did such a job of hiding. They were as upset as she. The mansion life had sheltered them for the most part, and now New York City was showing them just what other mutants faced every day. Not forever, she promised the persecuted silently, it won't be forever.
With a fleeting brush over her psyche, the presence left her mind and she followed the others into the back streets while the crowd's attention still remained fixed on the diversion Storm had created for them to escape undetected in.
Except for one pair of confused and bespectacled eyes that ignored the sensation in the sky and followed the figures struggling to slip away. With a thoughtful frown, Abigail took note as the Bayville students she recognised under the flickering illusion of hotel workers quickly headed into the shadows of the alleyways. Maybe New York was too close, that interview with the Highschool in Washington suddenly seemed tempting.
They had lost the eyes of the crowd quickly, but it had bought them no lucky sign of the thief at all on the way over. Gently, Storm set herself and her charges down on an office block rooftop and shook her head.
Evan walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the bustling main street below. "We're never gonna find him." He turned, still standing so carelessly on the edge Rogue wanted to haul him away. But Storm seemed unperturbed, so she fidgeted and rubbed her arms against the chill breeze who's passage was unrestrained by the lack of buildings, bringing in the winter with all it's force.
"Well, can we guess where he'd go?"
When they turned to look at her, she immediately shrunk back; not from shyness but battling the little voice in her head telling her she had no business with them, let alone in helping. But she grit her teeth, she had her own reasons for wanting to find the young man. He'd done something, she could feel it, and the empty sensation since she'd left his presence was not natural. She wanted it gone. Now. But the thought of having to explain this was worse than the feeling, so she just went on.
"Ah mean, yuh seem to know him Ms Monroe...?"
The reply was clipped. "Not anymore." Tempering her tone, Storm went on "I cannot tell where he will go, or what he will do. Our only hope is to find him and extract the information we need." Her brow furrowed as she considered, trying to think of his possible avenues of escape. And he would have planned them, he was trained to have a response for every contingency he might encounter, hiding from those who might catch him would be high on the list.
With a degree of certainty, she continued. "He will not have left the city, I do not believe. There are a finite number of ways out, but an almost infinite number of places to hide within it."
Spyke snorted and resumed his viewing of the street below while his aunt thought aloud, enjoying the rush of the duel sensations of such height and vague dizziness. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rogue watching him furtively, and he grinned, inching even closer to the edge as she blanched slightly at his actions.
"A bar was his refuge last time, but I doubt he will try that again." As she spoke, Ororo was desperately trying to ignore her nephew's actions. It was important to define the role she played as an effective Team Leader, not allowing it to blur with her concerns as his relative. Even so, she winced as he took another inch, toes nearly handing over the drop. That was quite enough. "Spyke, if you do not move back this instant, I will move you back."
With a shrug he complied, moving to stand beside Rogue. "Yes ... aunt."
It was an effort to calm herself, temper the frustration and anger she was feeling at the days events, feeling the elements of nature shifting themselves minutely to her mood. That could not be allowed. Eyes closed, she sought peace, and found it as she pictured the garden she tended so carefully.
"I have decided our course of action. It is not without risk, but will be more productive than searching a city of this size."
Rogue allowed her curiosity to show as she took a step closer to Storm, the easier for the other woman to lift them all one more. "Where we goin'?"
"To find a telephone" The ex-member of the Cairo Guild of Thieves smiled faintly as she took the three of them above the city once more "I wish to phone a friend."
Ensconced in the master chair before a roaring fire, claret in an exquisite crystal glass in one hand and finely rolled cigar in the other, a man smiled. Through the bay window across the room he could see the panorama of New York City, lit up so brightly against a night filled with the promise of ice come morning. The door opening quietly interrupted his viewing, soft footfalls across the plush carpet and a light aroma of a dusky perfume.
"Good evening my dear, you come with news?"
The woman stopped behind the chair, resting one hand lightly upon it and speaking with a quiet amusement.
"All the files have been retrieved, although our thief has had a decidedly spectacular way of gaining them."
"Excellent. And all parties are unaware of our involvement?" He ran a finger along the top of the glass, making the crystal sing a long note to accompany his associate's answer.
"I detected nothing to suggest they are. One group of X-Men were almost in danger of being arrested, but I insured they escaped"
The note died away and Sebastian Shaw stood, his considerable stature almost dwarfing the woman dressed entirely in white that he turned slowly from the window to face. "Then I believe we may begin phase two."
The White Queen nodded and turned back towards the door.
"Then it begins."
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Sorry this took such a long time to get done for those who've been reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be out much quicker :)
Note : "Gott im Himmel" - "God in Heaven"
