Chapter 3: Point

I glanced at Jean, "I'm going after him."

"I figured as much," she stated simply. "I'll keep things smooth here."

I smiled; she did too. I glanced at Alex. His face bared no emotion at all. I stepped over to him. I squatted down to his eye-level while he was seated. Alex turned to me, a slight look of regret on his face.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, with or without Logan," I promised him. "Okay?"

Alex sighed, "Sure, Scott. Just hurry back. Please."

I smiled, "I will. Now come here." Alex wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back.

I rose to my feet. I looked at Jean. Then I shot a quick glance at Alex before running out of the kitchen and the Institute. Logan was planning something drastic to keep Magneto away from the Institute. I picked up the pace and made it to the garage. From there, I jumped into my car and followed the tracks Logan's motorcycle had left in the damp edges of the road.

After about ten minutes, I pulled my car up to a bar. I spotted Logan's motorcycle in the corner of the parking lot and pulled in next to it.

"Tequila Club," I muttered to myself as I read the neon sign. "Couldn't make it without a drink, could you, Logan?"

I sighed and pushed open the door. The stench of cigarettes and beer immediately hit my nose. I swallowed and tried not to gag. A quick glance around the room and I had the layout: pool tables on the left; a bar in the middle; and a stage on the right. I headed over to the bar, knowing that's where Logan would be. Sure enough, he was at the corner of the bar, downing a beer. I strolled up to him.

"Do you come here often?" I asked casually.

Logan turned around and glared at me. "I thought I caught you're scent here, but with all the smoke, I wasn't sure."

"You're losing your touch," I told him.

"I expected you to be resting at the Institute like we told you to," he said, a sharp edge in his voice sent a chill up my spine. "You are supposed to be taking it easy, so you don't get reinjured. You know?"

"How am I supposed to be taking it easy when I know you're out here doing something drastic to try to keep us out of harm's way?" I shot back. "It's not exactly the easiest thing to do."

"Point taken, but you have to go back."

"And what if he's all ready there, huh? He could all ready have them and you're out here. Think about this. If you go ahead, you're risking yourself and all of our lives as well."

"Keep it down, will ya?"

I hadn't realized how loud I was speaking to him. A few people were staring at us, because of the ruckus in the corner. I ignored them and turned back to Logan. Logan knew how serious I was.

"And what if he's not?" Logan asked, quieter. "What if he's still in the city, waiting for the right time. If I can intercept him-"

"You'll be killed," I finished for him.

"You can't just-" he trailed off. "Get back!" he ordered, hopping back.

"What?" I asked.

Suddenly someone crashed blast us.

"Fight, a very big fight," Logan stated, pushing me behind him. "Stay behind me and keep your head down. I don't want you getting any more injuries. You understand that, kid?"

I shrugged, "Maybe."

Logan whirled around to face me. It was obvious that he was angry at my comment. "What do you mean 'maybe'?"

"I won't get hurt if I'm not in here," I pointed out with a smug grin.

Logan growled, "I hate it when you make valid points."

I smiled, "So where are we going?"

He sighed, "You drive a tough bargain, kid, but I guess we can make it out to the parking lot. Just watch your head. I know it's thick, but you can't take another blow. You got that?"

I nodded and silently sighed in relief. Suddenly fights broke out all around us. Logan turned back around and headed toward the door. I stuck close behind him as chairs and tables began to fly.

Scott, we're being- Jean's voice rang in my head.

Jean! What's going on? Jean! What's wrong? I called frantically. I slowly began to panic.

"Duck!" Logan yelled, interrupting my thoughts.

I obeyed, not knowing why. Half of a wooden table flew over my head a second later. I stood back up, a little shaky. Logan continued to the door as if that hadn't happened. I sighed and chased after him.

Suddenly a whole table came hurling at us. There was no way we could avoid it. Logan shot his claws out and sliced it in half at the last second. Some people around us stopped to stare. That gave us an opportunity to get out with fewer flying objects. Finally we reached the parking lot.

"Damn," Logan muttered. "I like this bar."

"Come on," I said. "We have to go."

"You are going to the Institute now," Logan ordered, furiously, "while I'm going to get Magneto."

"Think of it this way," I tired to reason, "Ororo has all the information we need. Just wait one more day, before you go after him. Just one day to see if we can get anything for our advantage."

"You said it yourself that we don't know when he's going to attack."

"So we need to go back," I hinted.

Logan growled, "You are absolutely impossible."

"Just one day," I pleaded.

"All right, kid," Logan finally caved in. "I'll go back with you for now, but I'm leaving at noon tomorrow unless Ororo can give us some information that gives me a reason not to."

I smiled, "Let's get back. Jean tried to contact me earlier, but didn't get a chance to finish her thought." I glanced at Logan to see what he thought of it. He just shrugged and mounted his bike. I slid into the driver's seat of my car and we took off, just as someone crashed through a window of the bar.

It was a quiet and frustrating ride back to the Institute. I tried to contact Jean numerous times, but never received a reply. She had to be really occupied to with something. I immediately thought of the worst: Alex was hurt. Jean would tell me if she was hurt, but probably wouldn't if Alex was. As the Institute came into view, I shook my head. Maybe she was just making me dinner or preparing some other surprise that she didn't want to spoil.

I pulled up to a stoplight. Logan pulled up next to me.

"Do a U-turn," he ordered, gruffly.

"What?" I asked.

"U-turn NOW!"

I started to do the U-turn. Then I saw what Logan had all ready seen. There was a helicopter on the roof of the Institute and it wasn't one of ours! We headed down the street and pulled into an abandoned house's garage. We both cut our engines and waited to see if we'd been spotted.

After a few minutes, I broke the silence. "Could you figure out who it was?"

"The kids," he told me. "It's all four of the boys."

"So what now?" I asked.

"We go in and rescue them," Logan stated. I smiled. I really needed a reason to go beat Lance's ass to the ground and this was it!

TBC