Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 16
"You have no idea where she could be?" Caliban's voice was just as slow as normal, though there was some urgency to it.
"Nothing," Kitty muttered as she hopped up next to Kurt on the crate he was perched on.
Caliban nodded his head, then settled himself onto a vacant crate. "It will take me a few minutes to find her."
"Take all the time you need," Kurt said, nodding his head. Logan was leaning against the wall a few feet away, his gaze switching between Caliban and Callisto, who had settled herself apart from everyone else, where she could keep a watch on all the X-Men who'd entered the Alley now.
Caliban grew silent, his eyes closed as Kitty and Kurt looked around the small area they'd chosen to converse in. A few of the Morlocks had decided to investigate the source of all the noise and were watching them. Kitty's face was blank as she stared at a few of the more interesting looking mutants. Evan was standing next to him, throwing glances at Callisto. He hadn't meant any harm, and wanted to explain things to her, but keep his thoughts to himself while Caliban searched for Shay.
After a few minutes, the tall Morlock looked up and locked his eyes on Logan. "Almost 15 miles from here, to the northwest."
"You've found her?" Kitty peeped loudly, sliding off the crate.
Caliban nodded his head. "Her signature was strong. I'm sure she's still alive."
Kitty made a soft 'ooh' sound at that, but Logan nodded his head. "You're sure on the direction?"
"Yes. From this spot, it's 15 miles northwest."
"Thank you," Logan stared Caliban deep in the eye, his head nodding slightly with his words.
Logan was already moving towards the tunnel that would take them out of the Alley, Kitty and Kurt following him. Evan hung back for a few seconds, catching Callisto's eye. "Callisto, I'm sorry. We didn't have any other choice."
She stared at him, extremely aware of Caliban watching the both of them. "I understand, Evan, but I can't overlook it." Evan's head dropped down. "Don't come back here again, Evan. You're banished."
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"Beast? We've got a location, 15 miles northwest from the Alley," Logan barked into the microphone of the X-Van as it roared to life outside a large sewer drain they'd used to get underground. Evan was the last of them to climb in, settling into the back seat with Kurt. Kitty sat up front, next to Logan.
"Copy that Wolverine," Beast's voice echoed back to him through a speaker. "The Scott's readying the Blackbird. The minute you return we'll head out."
Logan shifted the van into drive and sped out onto the streets of Manhattan.
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Deep in the belly of Xavier's Institute, Remy LeBeau still sat at a table in a very small room, in the middle of his twelfth game of Solitaire. There was a soft creak at the door, causing his head to lift slightly, his eyes skipping up to the handle. It turned quickly and the door swung open, Charles Xavier in the doorway. His wheelchair moved into the room, stopping close to the spot it had been earlier.
"I'm sorry about keeping you here so long, my dear boy," Xavier smiled cheerfully at Gambit. "Things have been progressing quite rapidly upstairs, I couldn't seem to find the time to come down and talk with you again. Now that my X-Men have left to find Shay, we can talk."
"And what is it y'want t'talk about, mon ami?" Gambit collected his cards together again and began shuffling them without thought, a habit of his. "Magneto?"
Xavier's smile falter for a second. "No, this is not about Eric."
Gambit's eyebrows raised slightly, a small smile playing across his lips, but that smile stopped with Xavier's next words.
"This is about you and what you have to offer."
"I t'ink dis speech is a little late, Professor," Gambit stressed the last word, as though it was a joke.
Xavier sighed loudly and gave Remy a hard glare. "I'm not here to force you to change sides, Gambit, but I do want you to think about something." Xavier dropped his face, forcing him to look up at Gambit. "I know about Alton Lanson and I know about the thoughts that were in your head when you killed him."
Remy's face was completely blank, showing no emotion, but inside his mind his thoughts were racing. He remembered the look on Alton's face when he held the charged card. Remy also remembered looking at the picture of Alton and his two children he used to keep on his desk, until Gambit blew up the office.
"And I also know that there were two things that brought you here tonight. One was Magneto and the other was your need to save someone, a need to help Shay if possible."
Although it stayed blank, Gambit's face flared with color, turning a soft red. "Mon ami, I believe y'are goin' too far wit' dis."
Xavier sat back in his chair and continued to stare at Remy. "I'm going to wipe your mind clear of most everything that's happened here, Gambit, except for our discussion. I want you to think about what Magneto is doing to you and instead what you can get here."
Gambit stared at the Professor for a long time after that, his mind silent along with his tongue, for once. Xavier didn't pressure the boy, just continuing his stare, his kind eyes doing all the talking.
Finally, Remy's head nodded slightly and he climbed out of his chair. "T'anks, mon ami," Remy said softly, tipping his head as he left the room. He made his way slowly out of Xavier's Institute, as though his mind was on auto-pilot. He was pretty surprised when he looked up and found himself standing outside the front doors of the mansion.
"What you can get here…." Gambit looked up at the front of the mansion. Shaking his head slowly, he turned and walked down the long driveway.
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The Blackbird touched down slowly, surrounded by trees and shrubs. Inside, the X-Men were situated around a large screen, showing the front of small building a few hundred yards away from where they were. Beast had pulled up an old blue-print of the building, which had once been used as a lumber yard.
"A large door on the west side is the best shot of a quiet entry," Beast pointed to the large door on the screen. "There should be a large circuit box just inside that is a make-shift security grid. Tripping the circuits will cut the alarms so they'll be no re-enforcements as long as we make this quick.
Scott looked over to Kurt and Kitty. "Nightcrawler, get Shadowcat down to that box. Trip the circuit and come back to the Blackbird. Jean, Wolverine and I will find Shay."
"The elf too," Wolverine spoke as he shot a look in Kurt's direction. "If Shay can't carry herself, it'll be better for him to bring her back quick."
Nightcrawler nodded his head. "Right."
"What about us?" Spyke said as Rogue nodded her head along with him.
"Less bodies running around in there, the better," Beast reasoned as he handed Nightcrawler a communicator, exactly like Cyclopes, Jean and Wolverine's. "We're not looking to shut the whole place down."
"Not yet, anyways," Wolverine muttered, pressing the small speaker into his ear, the cuff resting snuggly on his earlobe.
"Ready, Kitty?" Kurt turned to her.
"Yeah, let's go," she answered, climbing out of her seat in the Blackbird.
Beast looked at her, nodding his head. "The box will be right on the wall, inside the door."
"A wave of my hand and this place is toast," Shadowcat grinned as Nightcrawler took one of her small hands in his fuzzy blue one.
Suddenly, there was a loud BAMF and in Kitty and Kurt's place was a small patch of smoke, smelling faintly of sulfur.
Down at the door of the base, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler appeared, the same BAMF and cloud of smoke signaling their arrival. Kitty kept Kurt's hand in hers as she slide straight through the large, metal door.
The hall was large, though empty for the most part. A corner of the entry hall was filled by a large van, undoubtedly the one that had stowed Shay away from the Institute. Kitty looked around quickly, and there on the wall was the large black box, just as Beast had said. It looked just like a normal circuit breaker in any normal house, except this one was holding the whole security grid for the front doors of this little make-shift base.
Just like she'd said in the Blackbird, Shadowcat walked right up the box, Nightcrawler right next to her, and waved her hand through the box. As she did, someone behind them shouted a loud "Hey!," but the sparks and smoke pouring out of the box's top proved the security on the door was spent.
"What the hell?!" came a shocked voice from behind the pair. Kurt and Kitty turned, still holding hands, to face a young man, wearing an odd set of fatigues and boots. A gun rested at his side. He seemed more then a little surprised by what he saw, but could you blame him?
Kurt smiled at the man, obviously scaring him even more. "Might want to get that looked at real soon. You don't know what kind of riffraff you'll get with your doors wide open."
BAMF.
The young man was left alone, staring at the smoking security ox, gun still at his side, mouth hanging open. After a few silent seconds, he finally recovered, turning and tearing off down the hall, boots cracking against the cement floor.
Bursting into the main security office, three more men who wore the same odd clothing snapped their heads up.
"There are mutant in the building!" the young man shouted at them.
They stared back, then they all busted out laughing, faces quickly turning red and running short of breath.
"We know, Will. That's the whole point of this place," the biggest of the group finally choked out. The other two continued to giggle, eyes never leaving 'Will.'
"A boy and a girl were in the main tunnel! They disabled the security grid!" Will continued excitedly, his frustration growing on his face.
"What's this about the security gird?" a gruff voice asked from the doorway of the room. All four of the men turned towards the voice, faces falling.
"Nothing, Boss," the same large man said clearly, sitting a little straighter in his chair.
"Nothing, Jamerson?" the so-called Boss looked between Will and the other men. "Are you just crying wolf again, Williams?"
There was no answer from the four men, but one did come from the hall behind the 'Boss.'
"Not so much a wolf, as a Wolverine."
****Notes****
Er, sorry it just kinda stops like that, but the next chapter is really, REALLY long and I had to keep it all together, or things wouldn't make sense. Umm… Heh. Love Wolvie. Oh yeah, thanks once again to Amy Michelle [dark_english_rose] for the extra Cajun-ness in this chapter. She's a sweetheart.
