Voltana stroked the necklace. He said it was hers, but it didn't spark any memory in her. She felt so empty, not knowing who she was or even really *what* she was. She rubbed her fingertips, examining the darker patches of skin on her fingertips. Scorch marks. Voltana put the necklace on and tried to sleep. It wouldn't come.

She could not find any peace. Something inside her burned away, reminding her that there was something she should do, somewhere she should go. But she just didn't know where.

Anger built within her, sparked by her frustration with her missing memories. She burned to know who she was, who had done this to her, who was trying to kill her.

"Why can't I remember?" Her hands balled into fists and began to glow. Voltana didn't notice, her attention drawn to the skin on her face. It felt hot and tight. As her anger grew, it tightened further, splitting apart.

"Argh!" She launched a stream of electricity at the wall opposite her, melting and buckling the metal. She stopped, her energy spent for the moment and noticed something drip down onto her jeans. She touched a hand to her face and it came away wet with blood.

She nearly leapt from the bed and hurried over to a small mirror set in the wall. The cross on her cheek had opened. All on its own. And now it was closing again. The blood had already stopped.

There was a gentle knocking at her door. "Cheri, are you all right? It's Remy."

She didn't answer, continuing to stare at her reflection. "Who the hell am I?"

The door opened slowly and Gambit entered, his brown eyes flashing red for a moment. "Voltana?"

The name sounded alien. It wasn't hers. But she was forced to wonder if she would know her name if she heard it. After a moment she looked at him. "I- I'm fine." Her voice was faint, distant.

"Remy heard the noise. He has the room next door."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I just can't sleep." She turned to face him.

He saw the blood on her face, but didn't comment. "It's hard to accept, I know. But soon you will be able to control your powers again, and you will feel better."

"I hope so." She sighed.

"Good night, cheri."

**********

The air snapped and crackled with electricity. Voltana's accuracy was rapidly improving, as was her control over her power. She practiced almost obsessively, hoping that her control might lead to some answers.

But there were none so far. Except for the times she woke up at night, feeling the need to move, to go *somewhere* else. But she never knew where she was meant to be.

"Voltana." Magneto strode into the large, empty chamber. "Come, I have something you should see."

He led her to a smaller room, filled with computers. Pressing a few keys, a display lit up, showing the picture of a large man who reminded her somewhat of Sabretooth. She didn't know how that was possible, because she'd not even said one word to the animalistic man, but the feeling was there.

"Who's this?" Her voice was hard and sharp, as it always was when she spoke to Magneto. And any other mutant in the 'haven', bar Remy. And then, only when they were alone.

"This is Wolverine, another mutant. He has - " He punched in another few keys and the image changed to show long metal claws protruding from his hands. "An adamantium skeleton, and claws. They can cut through almost anything."

She had a flash of the long gashes in her car. "Like a car?"

"Exactly."

"So it was him." Her mouth twisted and anger began to fill her. He was the one who had hurt her; she could feel that it was true. It was because of him that she didn't know who she was. "Do you know why?"

"Sadly no." Magneto hit yet more keys. "But he is part of the 'X-men', who work for this man."

She studied the screen. //Bald, paraplegic, fairly old... What on earth can connect us?//

"He is a very powerful telepath, called Charles - "

"Xavier..." Voltana whispered, then blinked in confusion. "How did I know that?"

"Obviously he is connected to you in some way."

She nodded and looked closely at the screen, burning his image into her mind. "If this Wolverine works for him, then he was probably under orders. Not that that really matters... It just means I have two men to kill instead of one."

Voltana swept out of the room.

Magneto smiled.