** Disclaimer in Part One**
Update list: autumnfic@yahoogroups.com
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The funeral had taken place two days ago. Logan had read the eulogy and had immediately taken off after the funeral. Everything in his room had been cleared out, and a few of the bows in the physical education cache were missing as well. He had been seeing red since his last encounter with Marie and was determined o make the fiends pay for what had been taken from him.
Marie was among that list. Rogue had been right when she'd told him that Marie was dead. There wasn't anything left of the woman he had cared about. He was angry with himself for what had happened to her, he knew what her feelings were and had still refused to acknowledge that there could be anything more than friendship between them.
He felt guilt stricken and guilt was not something the Wolverine easily identified with. Self-loathing, apathy, and irony he could deal with. Guilt was new, and terrible. Guilt was knowing that you fucked someone else's life up and was something Logan couldn't stand. Fuckin' his own life up was fine since it just affected him. But screwing over somebody else just felt bad.
On top of everything else, Scott was gone. Storm had stepped up to become the leader of the X-Men, but the entire school felt the loss of a fine young man. 32 was just too young to die. Scott had always been there for him, and Logan hated to admit that he was lost without him. So he turned off all the emotions and did what the Wolverine did best. The wolverine saw things in black and white. Scott had been killed, and a debt needed to be paid. Logan had thrown together some supplies, jumped back into a truck and sped off towards the place where it all had started.
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New York City
Marie, Steffon and Angie had traveled to the city the night before the Mutant Registration Summit was to vote on the central issue. The younger vampire had been following the news in both the paper and on the television at a nearly obsessed level. She'd taken down names of pro-registration Senators and had come to the conclusion that another warning was clearly in order, as the first warning hadn't done the job.
Steffon and Angie were somewhat startled at Rogue's aggressiveness and hatred towards here 'enemies.' News of her participation of the killing of another vampire had traveled fast. It had led to the conclusion in various circles that a powerful master was on the rise. Killing other vampires wasn't exactly against their code, but it was unusual. And Daren had been dispatched in a particularly cruel way. The message had come across loud and clear-don't fuck with Rogue.
Unfortunately for the U.S. Senate, they didn't seem to be getting the message. So Rogue had enlisted help to leave a calling card. Twelve targets had been picked, and the three vampires spilt up to inspire a little bit of terror.
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The following day:
Westchester……..
Everything was falling apart. Charles had lost three of his best team members in less than five months. Scott. Just the name brought back tears to his eyes. He had lost his son, for that's what he truly was. Charles had known the man since he had come to the mansion at 16. Jean had taken him under her wing and the teenager grew into a fine young man. Charles had always hoped the two would one day wed, but the end of their union had resulted in Jean leaving the mansion to pursue her own career. She had come back for the funeral and had agreed to stay temporarily.
Logan had left without saying goodbye. Charles could feel the hurt and pain rolling off of him in waves, and knew it was best to simply leave him to his own means. And for once, Charles knew what he was up to and didn't step in to attempt to stop him. He felt that what the burly man was going to do was justified, and the darker side of Charles admitted that he too wanted some sort of redemption for Scott.
Logan blamed himself for Rogue's death, and in turn Scott's. But Charles felt it was on Rogue herself. She had refused to accept life with her mutation, and hat turned to something far darker and sinister because of her own anger and selfishness. For a split second, Charles almost wished Logan's mutation hadn't been able to save Rogue in Magneto's machine. Then none of them would be here now.
Charles quickly admonished himself for such thoughts and wheeled into his office. He'd barely slept in the past few days and had neglected his daily activities, the pile of mail on his desk attested to that. He plowed through the letters slowly until he came to a plain white envelope with a familiar script.
Dear Charles,
I know you know where I lived. I'm sorry about Scott. I really am, he was my friend too. Knowing you, you probably blame me, so knock it off. What happened with him was an accident, but remember you're the one who gave my location to Logan. All I wanted was to be left alone.
Rogue
His hand flew to the bridge of his nose as he felt a major headache coming on. He'd fought Rogue's wish to leave the mansion with tremendous force, but had finally come to the realization that she was her own woman and would do whatever she damn well pleased. He'd agreed not to try and locate her with Cerebro, and not to contact her. It had been hard; Charles liked to know what went on with everybody who had passed through his institute at one time or another. But he'd agreed to her terms knowing full well that she'd take care of herself. It had turned out that they'd both been wrong.
She was right when she said he blamed her, but she didn't apologize and Charles knew that in time he would indeed feel like a fool for attempting to place most of the blame on her. But for now he could be angry with her. He grabbed the newspaper and his blood ran cold at the bold headline, splashed across the face of The New York Times.
Mutant Registration Bill Linked to Senator Massacre
Twelve bodies were found exanguinated in the Four Seasons Hotel early yesterday morning. The hotel was hosting several members of the Senate who were staying in town for the Mutant Registration session.
The bodies were discovered early this morning when the 12 senators failed to show up for the first meeting of the day. Four Seasons manager Susan Devins discovered the first of the bodies as she had personally gone to rouse the senators. "It was like he was sleeping. There was no blood or anything anywhere. Just two little marks on his neck, and a card at his feet." Devins said of the late Rowan Johnson of Pennsylvania. The card, later found on all of the victims simply reads: 'Vote 'No' on Registration.'
The other eleven bodies were discovered shortly after and each crime scene was identical. The police involved are perfectly puzzled. Detective Robyn Willis stated that thus far not so much as a hair or a drop of blood has been found at the scene. The coroner's report stated that each death occurred between 2:30 and 4:15 AM yesterday morning.
When asked about connections between the mysterious deaths and the attack on Senator Lori Angleman, detective Willis declined comment. All Senators have been taken into surveillance and the mutant registration summit has been called to a halt.
Charles hands shook in rage. He had suspected Rogue to be behind the attack on Angleman, and from what Logan had told him, he had been correct. He had been working his entire life for mutant rights, and now Rogue had taken it into her own hands to achieve that end through a terrorist approach. He wasn't just angry with her now, he was downright pissed. If she wanted to play dirty, then he was more than willing to bring on the mud.
He hadn't left the mansion grounds in a quite a long time, but now he was prepared to do just that. He threw together a small bag and asked Storm to take him to the airport. He could contact Logan later, but now he needed to get to New York.