Title: Chances
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!!!
Rating: PG-13
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It didn't matter that the jet was as fast as, (if not faster) an air force jet. The jet could be going light speed and the Wolverine would still think that it was going slow. His stomach was in knots. Not knowing if they would reach her in time, or if it was too late already. The thought of her dead made his claws itch to come out. The rage that was building up inside of him was dangerous. As he well knew. But he did nothing to stop it. He knew that if she were dead, the part of him that kept him human would die too. He wouldn't care anymore. The only thing that he would care about would be revenge. He knew that instinctively. And most of what made him the "Wolverine" was instincts. They were hardly ever wrong.
Wolverine looked at Cyclops for the hundredth time, as if willing him to fly faster. Finally Cyclops looked at him and spoke. "I can't make it go any faster. It's already passing the sound barrier. We WILL reach her in time, Logan, we will. Have faith." The Wolverine just looked at Cyclops. He didn't say a word, but his gaze said enough. Cyclops read the anguish, the rage and the hope all in that gaze. He faltered under that intense stare. Cyclops looked away. Beast and Gambit were in the cargo area with Jubilee getting the med-vac ready in case Rogue needed it. Storm, Shadow cat and Iceman were all up front. Besides for the steady hum of the engine, everything was silent. Suddenly Jubilee jumped up from the stretcher she was readying. Her face a torrent of emotions. The most apparent of which was anger.
"Why are you all so quiet? You are acting like we are going to someone's funeral. We're not. We are going to rescue a teammate. Not just a teammate, but also a friend. This isn't a time for crying. This is a time for rejoicing. We are going to get her back. We know that as of last night, she was still okay. And we will NOT let that asshole Magneto get away with this. One of us is going to have the chance to get revenge upon him, X-men style. If we keep acting like she is already dead, well than she might as well be. If we do not have hope, we have nothing. We are no good to Rogue if we are fighting like we are dead. Now I don't know what we will find when we get there, your guess is as good as mine. But I do know that the only chance Rogue has right now is us. And we need her back. All of us. She was a major part of this team and by God we are going to get her back." Jubilee's face widened in surprise as she realized she just went off on all the senior X-men. Her face became red, and she turned to walk back into the cargo area, when she heard clapping. First just a single person clapping, then all seven teammates started clapping and yelling.
Cyclops yelled over the commotion, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I do believe Ms. Jubilee is right. We are going to win, we will get Rogue back and we are going to kick some brotherhood ass!!! So let's get this show on the road. Jubes put on some of that horrid techno you love so much. That will get us going!" The atmosphere changed immediately. Everyone had a smile on their faces, even the untouchable Wolverine. Jubilee's speech had given everyone what they had lacked before. Hope.
* * * *
Over at NASA in the Kennedy Space Center, near Daytona, Florida, two men were watching the radar all over the world, as was the nightly custom. The radar was just passing over Northern America, near upstate New York when it picked up a sound. Nothing was showing on the radar, except for the occasional commercial flight leaving from LaGuardia, New York, or Kennedy. But faintly in the background, they heard music playing. The two men, both middle-aged and bored with their jobs stared at each other. They made the sonar volume louder. The music was still faint, but they could make out the tune that their kids listened to. A techno song, or something of the like. Both men stared wide-eyed at the screen hoping for something to come up. Nothing. The one thing that kept playing through their mind was- "We are not alone." Maybe their jobs weren't so boring after all.