Back in the apartment, Faye woke up with a start; almost suddenly, an ominous feeling settled on her. She looked at the time and noticed that she was nearly fifteen minutes late for her meeting with Rat. She paced around the small studio but still couldn't shake off that feeling. Since Rat would know that she wasn't coming anymore, she decided to pick up a walkman and listen to the recording of Rat's phone call.
Again, as if an unseen force was driving her, she closed her eyes and listened carefully.
"Faye...?" tried Tom in the communicator.
"Shh...," she muttered quickly.
She rewound the tape and listened again.
"Faye, I know what happened to the communicator," said Tom.
"Hush!" she muttered again.
She rewound the tape on more time and listened; this time she cranked up the volume on max. She didn't move a muscle or blink, she didn't even breathe; she just listened...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the same time, Jeff was moving the rubble away from Logan. Logan grunted and groaned as the pieces of rock relieved his sore muscles. Finally, he stood up straight and looked at his helper.
"Thanks," he grunted, cracking his neck.
"Don't mention it," Jeff answer, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt onto his head and hiding his face.
He was dressed in average attire, faded black jeans, a Kiss t-shirt, a long-sleeve, hooded, open sweatshirt over it. He wanted to cover his head and his arms.
"How did ya find me?" asked Logan.
"I have my ways. Are you hurt?"
"Nothin' I wouldn't survive."
"I'm sure. However, you need to be in top physical condition. Go back to Faye's house and ask her to use her powers on you."
"She's hurt ya know."
"I know, but I also know that she's tough. She's probably awake by now. Logan, she's in more danger than she thinks, please stay with her tonight."
"Whacha mean by that?"
"It's hard to explain. Take care of her for me. Promise?"
"She means a lot to ya, don't she?"
"Yeah. She doesn't want to admit it but she's very fragile, just take good care of her. It's very hard for me to ask you this, you know..."
Logan nodded. "I promise," he said.
Jeff nodded, looked around him nervously and left. Logan looked after him for a while, walked to his tumbled bike and picked it up. He, then, looked for his helmet and remembered the attack from Sabertooth. As he put his helmet on, he snarled in anger. He turned his bike around and raced back to Faye's apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Faye was still sitting in the sofa when Tom tried contacting her again. He really needed to talk to her but he didn't want to interrupt anything. Whatever she was doing, she was onto something. He'd never seen her this concentrated.
The communicator made a noise and Faye opened one eye. She knew he had some startling news, but she was trying hard to remember something that Jeff had told her. She had remembered that Logan said it too, long ago when she was first training with him. It was something about blocking out everything around her.
*What is it?!?* she thought desperately.
She was about to give up when she heard a noise outside. It was very faint and very distant. She tried to recognize the sound.
*Sounds like an engine,* she thought *A car but that's not it. No, this thing is smaller. A bike!!*
"That's it!" she cried, suddenly.
"What's it?" asked Tom.
"Remember when Jeff was telling me about his powers? Logan had taught me that a good ninja can tell what's around him just by listening to the wind. Jeff told me something similar to that when I first approached him."
"Or rather, when _he_ approached _you_."
"Whatever. Listen, I've been listening to this tape for a long time now, and I knew something about it isn't right. Something on the back of my mind told me there was something more to the message. I tried remembering what it was that Jeff called it but I couldn't, up until now."
"Which is...?"
"'Silent sounds.'"
"Pardon me?"
"Yeah. I recall we were talking about how he could help me. I couldn't understand at the time what use I had for a blind person that had never found before. So he demonstrated."
"I remember that. He just stood still for two seconds and told you everything that was around him without using his powers."
"Exactly. 'Silent sounds.' There's something on the tape we're missing. Maybe something on the background that we're overlooking. Just because we can't clearly hear it, doesn't mean it's not there."
"I'll scan it."
"No, I wanna find the noise, you can find a match for it."
"Fine, but..."
"Shh...I heard something," she whispered. and reached for her scythe.
She released the pole and the arrowhead, with its many hooks, but not the blade; it wouldn't help her any if she didn't have any space to swing. Faye hid in the darkness and waited with her weapon ready to make damage.
Outside, she could hear footsteps and the door's latch click. The door opened slowly as she charged toward the intruder. The narrow point of the arrow easily connected with the trespasser's stomach, Faye switched the light on to find Logan staring back at her in disbelief. He mouth swung open as she tried to think of what to do next, the only thing she could do was catch Logan as his knees gave in.
She hoisted him up and tried to think of the fastest way to get her healing powers on him. On an impulse, she kissed him , and, through her mouth, nearly all her healing energy transferred to him. His wounds started closing faster than with his own powers. He could now stand on his own two feet, so he took advantage of the situation and wrapped his arms around her.
"Ahem...," Tom said on the communicator. "Are we alright now?"
"Yeah," Logan said caressing Faye's hair, who was now hugging him.
"Faye?" said Tom.
"I'm okay," she answered, breaking from the embrace. "I thought I killed you."
"You could've. It would've taken me at least two days to heal from somethin' this deep. Thanks, I feel better than ever."
She chuckled. "What are you doing back here?" she said looking at him.
"I met with an old friend..."
"Sabertooth."
"I'm thinkin' he ain't alone. Rat's worried 'bout ya. And frankly, so am I."
"I'm fine. Sabertooth won't try to find me, he's not that crazy. So, you've seen Rat, we've never met yet."
"Can you tell me what's goin' on?"
"I wish I knew, but I'm about to find out. Come with me."
She crossed the portal, with Logan right behind her, and walked toward one of the many machines in the room.
"Tom, play back the recording from Rat's call," Faye said.
Immediately, Rat's desperate voice filled the room.
"Now, isolate any high frequency sounds."
"Whacha lookin' for?"
"Silent sounds."
"I 'member that technique."
"Yeah. Tom, anything?"
"Nothing, important. Bird sounds mostly."
"Check the low frequencies."
"Alright, love."
Tom ran another check and could isolate three sounds. He played them all together at first and then separately.
"Wait!" said Logan. "Play that second 'un again."
"What did you hear?"
"I recognized somethin'. Just listen."
It was a low-humming kind of sound.
"Expand and enhance," commanded Faye.
Tom complied and it was actually a creaking noise.
"That!" said Logan.
"Find match," called Faye.
"Don't bother. I know what that is," said Logan.
"What?"
"I heard the same sound just now, while I was fighting Sabertooth. It was much louder though."
"Take me there," said Faye.
"You might not believe this but I do have some rather interesting news," interrupted Tom.
"Which are...?" asked Faye.
"I found what happened to the communicator."
"Oh, really? What?"
"It was magnetized."
"How come?" asked Logan.
"Yeah, the reason why most of my circuits have been going nuts is because a magnet was near them."
Logan walked up interested, as Faye backed up into one of the walls and looked at the floor bewildered.
"You can ask Kitty. She probably knows that you should never leave a magnet near a computer unit. It scrambles signals around the computer and the systems eventually fail."
"Huh! That's new. Faye, ya can't hide anythin' from me now...," Logan broke off and stared at Faye.
She had now crouched down on the floor and was hyperventilating.
"Faye, darlin'. What's wrong?" he asked.
"He's early. Why? What's his purpose? He's throwing me off, I can't believe he's throwing me off," she kept on muttering. "Why's he here?"
"What's she talkin' 'bout, Tom?"
"I think it will be best if you go. Go to the Institute, Logan. I'll take care of Faye, she's just thinking now so she will be able to put everything in order."
"I have to stay. Rat asked me to take care of her."
"Why? Does he know something he's not telling us?"
"I don't know what he's tellin' ya. Ya ain't tellin' me shit."
"I'm sorry. I'll keep her here with me, then. No one can enter these four walls without me knowing it. I'm the only one who knows the coordinates for this location, so rest assured she'll be safe. I'll also keep watch on everything outside. No one will come here, you have my word."
"Okay. But contact me if anythin' happens."
"I will."
He walked towards Faye and knelt down near her.
"Faye!" he called out, putting his hands on her knees.
"Logan...?" she said, coming out of her trance. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. You're leaving?"
"I'm goin' back to the Institute, ok? Please stay here with Tom, just for tonight. It ain't safe for ya out there."
She nodded, quietly. He didn't have to tell her how dangerous it was for her with _him_ out there; after all, she'd been running for a long time now.
Logan ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her face closer; slowly, he kissed her. She didn't fight him, she was too tired of doing it, besides she was really sick of making him hate her. She realized she needed his help more than ever.
He smiled gently, kissed her hand and crossed. Faye looked after him a while and then turned to Tom.
"I saw that," he joked. "So, what now?"
"Now we find out how and why Magneto got here so early."
Again, as if an unseen force was driving her, she closed her eyes and listened carefully.
"Faye...?" tried Tom in the communicator.
"Shh...," she muttered quickly.
She rewound the tape and listened again.
"Faye, I know what happened to the communicator," said Tom.
"Hush!" she muttered again.
She rewound the tape on more time and listened; this time she cranked up the volume on max. She didn't move a muscle or blink, she didn't even breathe; she just listened...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the same time, Jeff was moving the rubble away from Logan. Logan grunted and groaned as the pieces of rock relieved his sore muscles. Finally, he stood up straight and looked at his helper.
"Thanks," he grunted, cracking his neck.
"Don't mention it," Jeff answer, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt onto his head and hiding his face.
He was dressed in average attire, faded black jeans, a Kiss t-shirt, a long-sleeve, hooded, open sweatshirt over it. He wanted to cover his head and his arms.
"How did ya find me?" asked Logan.
"I have my ways. Are you hurt?"
"Nothin' I wouldn't survive."
"I'm sure. However, you need to be in top physical condition. Go back to Faye's house and ask her to use her powers on you."
"She's hurt ya know."
"I know, but I also know that she's tough. She's probably awake by now. Logan, she's in more danger than she thinks, please stay with her tonight."
"Whacha mean by that?"
"It's hard to explain. Take care of her for me. Promise?"
"She means a lot to ya, don't she?"
"Yeah. She doesn't want to admit it but she's very fragile, just take good care of her. It's very hard for me to ask you this, you know..."
Logan nodded. "I promise," he said.
Jeff nodded, looked around him nervously and left. Logan looked after him for a while, walked to his tumbled bike and picked it up. He, then, looked for his helmet and remembered the attack from Sabertooth. As he put his helmet on, he snarled in anger. He turned his bike around and raced back to Faye's apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Faye was still sitting in the sofa when Tom tried contacting her again. He really needed to talk to her but he didn't want to interrupt anything. Whatever she was doing, she was onto something. He'd never seen her this concentrated.
The communicator made a noise and Faye opened one eye. She knew he had some startling news, but she was trying hard to remember something that Jeff had told her. She had remembered that Logan said it too, long ago when she was first training with him. It was something about blocking out everything around her.
*What is it?!?* she thought desperately.
She was about to give up when she heard a noise outside. It was very faint and very distant. She tried to recognize the sound.
*Sounds like an engine,* she thought *A car but that's not it. No, this thing is smaller. A bike!!*
"That's it!" she cried, suddenly.
"What's it?" asked Tom.
"Remember when Jeff was telling me about his powers? Logan had taught me that a good ninja can tell what's around him just by listening to the wind. Jeff told me something similar to that when I first approached him."
"Or rather, when _he_ approached _you_."
"Whatever. Listen, I've been listening to this tape for a long time now, and I knew something about it isn't right. Something on the back of my mind told me there was something more to the message. I tried remembering what it was that Jeff called it but I couldn't, up until now."
"Which is...?"
"'Silent sounds.'"
"Pardon me?"
"Yeah. I recall we were talking about how he could help me. I couldn't understand at the time what use I had for a blind person that had never found before. So he demonstrated."
"I remember that. He just stood still for two seconds and told you everything that was around him without using his powers."
"Exactly. 'Silent sounds.' There's something on the tape we're missing. Maybe something on the background that we're overlooking. Just because we can't clearly hear it, doesn't mean it's not there."
"I'll scan it."
"No, I wanna find the noise, you can find a match for it."
"Fine, but..."
"Shh...I heard something," she whispered. and reached for her scythe.
She released the pole and the arrowhead, with its many hooks, but not the blade; it wouldn't help her any if she didn't have any space to swing. Faye hid in the darkness and waited with her weapon ready to make damage.
Outside, she could hear footsteps and the door's latch click. The door opened slowly as she charged toward the intruder. The narrow point of the arrow easily connected with the trespasser's stomach, Faye switched the light on to find Logan staring back at her in disbelief. He mouth swung open as she tried to think of what to do next, the only thing she could do was catch Logan as his knees gave in.
She hoisted him up and tried to think of the fastest way to get her healing powers on him. On an impulse, she kissed him , and, through her mouth, nearly all her healing energy transferred to him. His wounds started closing faster than with his own powers. He could now stand on his own two feet, so he took advantage of the situation and wrapped his arms around her.
"Ahem...," Tom said on the communicator. "Are we alright now?"
"Yeah," Logan said caressing Faye's hair, who was now hugging him.
"Faye?" said Tom.
"I'm okay," she answered, breaking from the embrace. "I thought I killed you."
"You could've. It would've taken me at least two days to heal from somethin' this deep. Thanks, I feel better than ever."
She chuckled. "What are you doing back here?" she said looking at him.
"I met with an old friend..."
"Sabertooth."
"I'm thinkin' he ain't alone. Rat's worried 'bout ya. And frankly, so am I."
"I'm fine. Sabertooth won't try to find me, he's not that crazy. So, you've seen Rat, we've never met yet."
"Can you tell me what's goin' on?"
"I wish I knew, but I'm about to find out. Come with me."
She crossed the portal, with Logan right behind her, and walked toward one of the many machines in the room.
"Tom, play back the recording from Rat's call," Faye said.
Immediately, Rat's desperate voice filled the room.
"Now, isolate any high frequency sounds."
"Whacha lookin' for?"
"Silent sounds."
"I 'member that technique."
"Yeah. Tom, anything?"
"Nothing, important. Bird sounds mostly."
"Check the low frequencies."
"Alright, love."
Tom ran another check and could isolate three sounds. He played them all together at first and then separately.
"Wait!" said Logan. "Play that second 'un again."
"What did you hear?"
"I recognized somethin'. Just listen."
It was a low-humming kind of sound.
"Expand and enhance," commanded Faye.
Tom complied and it was actually a creaking noise.
"That!" said Logan.
"Find match," called Faye.
"Don't bother. I know what that is," said Logan.
"What?"
"I heard the same sound just now, while I was fighting Sabertooth. It was much louder though."
"Take me there," said Faye.
"You might not believe this but I do have some rather interesting news," interrupted Tom.
"Which are...?" asked Faye.
"I found what happened to the communicator."
"Oh, really? What?"
"It was magnetized."
"How come?" asked Logan.
"Yeah, the reason why most of my circuits have been going nuts is because a magnet was near them."
Logan walked up interested, as Faye backed up into one of the walls and looked at the floor bewildered.
"You can ask Kitty. She probably knows that you should never leave a magnet near a computer unit. It scrambles signals around the computer and the systems eventually fail."
"Huh! That's new. Faye, ya can't hide anythin' from me now...," Logan broke off and stared at Faye.
She had now crouched down on the floor and was hyperventilating.
"Faye, darlin'. What's wrong?" he asked.
"He's early. Why? What's his purpose? He's throwing me off, I can't believe he's throwing me off," she kept on muttering. "Why's he here?"
"What's she talkin' 'bout, Tom?"
"I think it will be best if you go. Go to the Institute, Logan. I'll take care of Faye, she's just thinking now so she will be able to put everything in order."
"I have to stay. Rat asked me to take care of her."
"Why? Does he know something he's not telling us?"
"I don't know what he's tellin' ya. Ya ain't tellin' me shit."
"I'm sorry. I'll keep her here with me, then. No one can enter these four walls without me knowing it. I'm the only one who knows the coordinates for this location, so rest assured she'll be safe. I'll also keep watch on everything outside. No one will come here, you have my word."
"Okay. But contact me if anythin' happens."
"I will."
He walked towards Faye and knelt down near her.
"Faye!" he called out, putting his hands on her knees.
"Logan...?" she said, coming out of her trance. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. You're leaving?"
"I'm goin' back to the Institute, ok? Please stay here with Tom, just for tonight. It ain't safe for ya out there."
She nodded, quietly. He didn't have to tell her how dangerous it was for her with _him_ out there; after all, she'd been running for a long time now.
Logan ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her face closer; slowly, he kissed her. She didn't fight him, she was too tired of doing it, besides she was really sick of making him hate her. She realized she needed his help more than ever.
He smiled gently, kissed her hand and crossed. Faye looked after him a while and then turned to Tom.
"I saw that," he joked. "So, what now?"
"Now we find out how and why Magneto got here so early."