The X-Men all waited in apprehension for the Professor to come down to the War Room. Things had been very busy in the last few days since the uproar at Pharm-Tech. One of the mutants they'd rescued had spoken of a mutant coming into the containment area and talking to one of the prisoners. Since then, the X-Men had been working diligently to find anyone with information on the identity of the mysterious stranger. Now, three days later, the Professor had just telepathically summoned them, saying he had news concerning the mutant who had played a part in the events at Pharm-Tech. The War Room seemed half empty with most of the team out on other missions. Only Cyclops, Jean, Storm, and Jubilee were left. Jubilee had not yet showed up.
Just then the door opened and Professor X entered in his hoverchair. Beside him was Jubilee. As they both took their positions in the room, all eyes were on the Professor.
"My X-Men, I have called you here because Jubilee believes she may have information about the next target of the two mutants involved in the situation at Pharm-Tech."
"Two?" Jean questioned. "Longshot only mentioned hearing one mutant enter his cell area."
"That's true, Jean, but I believe Jubilee has found out otherwise." He looked over at Jubilee and nodded.
Jubilee squared her shoulders, proud to be the center of her teammates' attention. "There was a guy in the bar the other night called Mort Toynbee. He was bitchin' about how his boss never gave him assignments anymore—that she always just gave them to her kid. He started talkin' about how Pharm-Tech should have been his job, like he should have gotten the credit. Then he started talkin' about how his boss had went and hired some guy that wasn't even a part of the group too. He was really mad, and he said something about stealing government weapons and how he and his buddies could have handled it without the 'damn canadian or the southern brat.'"
"What were you doing in a bar?" asked Cyclops sharply.
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "I think you're, like, straying from the point."
"She's right, Scott," Jean agreed, quickly brushing off her husband's concern for Jubilee's nocturnal activities. She turned to the Professor. "Is this 'Mort Toynsbee' in our files, Professor?"
"Yes he is, Jean," Professor Xavier nodded, consulting a printout he held in his lap. "They call him the Toad, he's a mutant. He works with the Brotherhood of Mutants under Mystique. I believe the 'kid' he was referring to is her foster daughter, Rogue. I'm not sure who the outsider is, though."
"But where would they find government weapons around here? There's nothing major worth all this trouble," mused Cyclops. He thought about it for a few minutes. "We need to find this Toad. We need to know more about their plan." He turned back to the Professor. "Professor, can you find him with Cerebro?"
"Hey, no need, Cyclops! It's only Wednesday, he'll probably be back at the bar tonight. He's always there."
Cyclops looked like he was going to have a conniption. "How do you know that?! Are you a regular? Will someone please explain to me why—"
"Cyclops, calm yourself," Storm smoothly intervened. "The child has provided us with valuable information, I do not think this is the time to chastise her for petty matters." Storm turned her back on Scott as Jean reminded him to take deep breaths. "Jubilee, could you take us to this . . . place you speak of?"
Jubilee's eyes lit up. "All right!" She raced off towards the garage. Storm serenely followed, as Jean and a recovering Cyclops brought up the rear.
Wolverine and Rogue made their way through the forest. As they got closer, the side fence of the military compound came into view through the darkness. Wolverine immediately took up his position in the lowest branches of the closest tree. At his signal, Rogue screamed and Wolverine rustled the branches. His sensitive hearing picked up the voices of the two men guarding the front gate. Moments later, one of them came around the corner. Wolverine had to give him credit. The man was quiet and dressed in camouflage. If it weren't for his military training and heightened senses, Wolverine may have missed him. Looking down, he saw Rogue lying on the ground, her clothes dirty and a little torn. She held perfectly still as the man crept closer. He kept his gun carefully trained on her as he approached.
"Miss? Miss!" He waited several minutes for a response. Receiving none, he prodded her carefully with the toe of his boot. When she still didn't move he removed a glove and bent down to check her pulse. As his skin touched hers, the transfer opened. His breath caught in his throat, and then he collapsed.
Rogue opened her eyes slowly and stood up. Looking into the tree, she met Wolverine's eyes. "The other guard is named Bryan," she whispered so softly only Wolverine's super sensitive hearing could pick it up. He nodded.
"Bryan! Get over here!" His voice was hoarse and muffled by the trees. Rogue quickly dragged the other guard's body behind the bushes and hid beside him. As the other guard came into sight, she rustled the bushes slightly. Cautiously, Bryan crept over. He stopped about five feet away from the bush.
As he searched the bushes for movement, Wolverine gathered his muscles and leapt out. Knocking the gun from his hand, he unsheathed his claws at the man's throat.
The man's eyes barely moved. He looked down Wolverine's claws with a straight face and a steely gaze, not saying a word. He didn't even see Rogue as she walked up behind him and laid a bare hand on his cheek. He lost consciousness with no more than an intake of air.
"Ah have ta say, Wolverine, Ah'm impressed with these guys. That one didn't even blink at your claws and neither of them cried out when mah power took them. Most folks yell like the dickens." She looked up at him as a realization seemed to strike her. "Course, you didn't shout either."
Her gaze seemed to bore a hole in him. "Hard to yell with someone's mouth over mine," Wolverine replied nonchalantly. He grinned at her and she smiled back, shyly.
"Well," she said finally. "We better get changed."
Wolverine nodded and they proceeded to undress the two guards. As they stripped out of their own clothes before replacing them with the guards' uniforms, Wolverine glanced over at Rogue. She seemed freer now than when he had first met her. As he watched, she let her clothes drop to the ground before bending over to pick up the guard's uniform. Wolverine inhaled sharply. Much freer. Rogue tucked her hair into her cap and began to turn around. Wolverine snapped back to attention. As he changed into the guard's uniform, he chastised himself for being unprofessional. Still, as Rogue walked on ahead of him towards the gate, he couldn't help but remember what was beneath the uniform . . .
A wave of fog rolled over the military compound and the surrounding area. As the X-Men cautiously approached the gait, Cyclops beckoned them all to stay close.
"There aren't any guards out here, but that doesn't mean there aren't any inside. Storm, take out the security cameras."
"Consider it done," she responded, rising into the air. Moments later, lighting pierced the darkness and a few small explosions heralded the end of the security cameras.
"I sure hope Cerebro was right about Rogue and that other mutant being here. The government hates us enough already without us destroying their toys," Jubilee quipped.
"Jubilee be quiet." Cyclops raised a hand to his visor and prepared to blast the keypad to the gate.
"Scott, wait!" Jean whispered urgently. Cyclops looked where she was pointing. Jubilee stood inside the open gate.
"Huh," the youngest X-Man said with a shrug. "It was open."
Jean hid a smile as she and Cyclops walked in. Storm landed softly behind them when they were inside. Walking a little farther into the base, they saw the door to the guardhouse was open too. Jubilee ran ahead and looked inside.
"There's a guard in there unconscious," she said, turning back to the team.
Cyclops' face was grim as they began to walk towards the building. "They must have made it inside already. Jean, can you sense anyone?"
Jean lifted a hand to her temple and closed her eyes. After a few moments she opened them again.
"I sense one mind inside, maybe another one. The second one might be Rogue, but I can't get a clear picture of her mind. It's just static."
"You mean you can't sense any guards?"
"No. They must have gotten them all."
Cyclopes sighed. "Well, that's certainly possible. The Professor said he'd never heard of a government base in this area. If it really is a secret base, there wouldn't be many people here."
"Cyclops, how are we going to navigate our way through the building to find Rogue?" Jubilee whispered.
Jean answered for him. "I'm afraid that's going to be all too easy."
"What do you mean—oh." Jubilee's voice trailed off as she opened the door and they all looked inside. There was a guard lying right inside the door. The barrel of his gun had been cut off cleanly and he had a bruise blossoming on the left side of his face. His shirt had been ripped and shreds of it used to bind his hands and feet together. He was unconscious.
Jubilee's voice sounded tiny in the echo of the large building. "I guess we just follow the bodies, huh?"
"Ah still think you shoulda just let me take care of those guards. Ah kin handle a couple of minds for awhile."
Wolverine sniffed the air again, checking for more security. "We need to move fast now. We don't know who could have been watching the security tapes, and we don't need to be surprised by any extra soldiers."
"Yeah, Ah know. Still, ya didn't have to be so brutal with that last one."
Wolverine growled. "He shot you."
Rogue fingered the injury on her left shoulder. It wasn't too bad, but it had still hurt. "Still, ya practically disemboweled him."
Wolverine grinned. "Yeah."
Rogue rolled her eyes as they reached another door. As Wolverine made short work of the lock, they both froze as a mechanical grinding noise echoed through the walls.
"The elevator," Wolverine said grimly. "Someone else is here. We gotta dig it."
Together, he and Rogue rushed the weapons room. It was huge, with stacks of crates on either side. Each one contained explosives, chemicals, or other methods of destruction. Wolverine and Rogue quickly made their way across the floor to their goal. Suddenly, a gust of wind sprang up in front of them, blowing them backwards. Rogue and Wolverine scrambled to hold onto something.
"Stop!" Cyclops commanded. He and the rest of the team ran forward as Storm ceased her wind tunnel.
"Shit," swore Rogue. "We don't have time for this!"
Wolverine roared and leapt towards Cyclops. Dodging the other man's optic blasts he tackled him to the floor. Wolverine's claws slid from their sheaths. He pointed them down at Cyclops, who grabbed his arm, trying to keep the deadly metal from reaching him. Storm took to the air, and Jean approached Rogue.
"Stop right there, Rogue."
Rogue turned to her with a panicked expression. "Who are you! How do you know mah name?"
"My name is Jean Grey. I'm one of the X-Men."
"No! You're lying! Get away from me!"
"Rogue, it's okay—"
"GET AWAY!" Rogue screamed. Clutching her head, she collapsed into a ball on the floor.
Concerned, Jean rushed over to calm her. As she knelt down beside her, Rogue rolled to the side and struck out with her leg, striking Jean square in the chest. Jean flew backwards, as the air was knocked out of her. Rogue stood up and started towards her, but a bolt of lightening struck the ground in front of her.
"Do not come any closer," warned Storm from the air.
"No," Jean gasped. She stood up and glared at Rogue. "She's mine."
Rogue smiled and gestured for Jean to approach her. When Jean stepped forward, Rogue swung her fist at her face. Jean quickly put up her telekinetic field. Dropping it again, she reached out with her telepathy to touch Rogue's mind. As Rogue felt the touch of Jean's mind on hers she briefly released all the personas in her head. Jean screamed as the thoughts overwhelmed her.
Cyclops heard Jean's scream. "Jean!" he yelled. Firing an optic blast at Wolverine, he sent the other man sailing back into a crate along the wall. Quickly, he stood up and ran to where Jean stood with Rogue.
Wolverine growled and picked himself up off the ground. He took a step towards Cyclops and grunted as a burst of fireworks hit him. Looking to the side he saw a girl in a bright yellow raincoat holding her hands in front of her.
"Stay away from Cyclops!" she shouted.
Wolverine turned to face her. She tried to blast him again, but he easily dodged her fireworks. Jumping closer to her, he knocked her down. Raising his claws, he stopped for a moment. She was just a kid. Hesitation stopped his arm, but his pity cost him. Without warning a lightening bolt struck his upheld adamantium claws, sending an electric current through his skeleton. His eyes went wide, and he collapsed, twitching.
Rogue and Jean had been circling one another, each looking for a moment of weakness in the other. Cyclops stood a little ways off, trying to get a clear shot, in case Jean needed him. Rogue looked over Jean's shoulder and saw Storm strike Wolverine down.
"Wolverine!" she cried. With a snarl she charged Jean. As she and the other woman fell to the floor, Cyclops raised a hand to his visor. Rogue looked up in distress.
"NO!"
Too late, Jean realized what was wrong. "Scott, DON'T!"
They both closed their eyes as Cyclops' optic blast hit the crate behind Rogue and Jean. The crate exploded, and the force of it knocked Jean and Rogue both across the room, where they hit the wall, hard. Cyclops was blown a few feet short of the wall, and Jubilee and Storm missed it entirely. Storm flew back down to the floor and Jubilee came out from behind the other crates.
They both looked at their unconscious opponents and teammate as Cyclops rose and shook off his disorientation.
"Jean is gonna be pissed," Jubilee said slowly.