Okay people, here's yet another chapter of this story. I hope you guyz
aren't getting tired of it are you? Don't worry, I have an actual Plot and
idea as to what will happen. I know the basic outline of the story so I
wont just leave you guyz hanging or anything.
Not a lot of Romyness or anything in this chapter. Sorry guyz. But don't worry, you know I can't go very long without writing them doin the Romy thing.
Review replies
Da Smurf- I honestly don't know but your right, there really does need to be more guys like the ones in fics in real life. I think every girl deserves a demon-eyed Cajun or a tall, strong, sentimental Russian of her own at least once in her life.
Fallen_angel99- I'm an angel? Cool! Can I fly? :P Thanx for the review and yeah I share your feelings toward Buffy, Angel, and Spike. Spikes coming on Angel on October 1rst! YAY! Thanx for the review.
Ishandahalf- Yes more Romyness to come. I second that Drool for spike. Lol, hope you like this chapter
Lissa- sent you an e-mail. Hope you got it. Thanx for reviewing.
Pammy- Carol Danvers never even crossed my mind to have in this fic so you don't have anything to worry about I'm pretty sure.
Caliente- Yeah I think I may put Kitty telling Rogue about Remy's 'Womanizing ways' as you put it. Possibly in the next chapter. I don't know.
..And now for our feature presentation..
CHAPTER 21 A Little Lost Kitten.
"Kitty!" Jean called out near the school, earning her a few curious looks from the passerby's that were actually up at six in the morning on a Sunday.
Unfortunately after calling the girl's name at least twenty times all around the campus she still got no answer and went back to the mansion Kitty-less.
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"Kitty?" Chloe called.
"Kitty?" Tabby echoed.
"Kitty?" Amara and Rahne shouted simultaneously.
They were down town at the local area where the teens liked to hang out and the four girls were spread out in search of their missing friend.
"She's not here. Let's get back to Logan so he can tell us where else to look." Tabby said, admitting defeat when none of the other girls were ready to yet. She was right though. The sooner they got back, the sooner they'd be looking somewhere else.
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"Kitty? Are you here?" Jubilee called. She was standing in the middle of the park looking around anxiously.
A bush rustled behind her and Jubilee whirled around in high hopes.
"Kitty?" She called out hopefully.
Bobby stepped out of the bush with a defeated look in his eyes.
Jubilee saddened and her hope drifted away as fast as it come when she saw that it was Bobby behind the bush and not Kitty.
"So I take it you didn't find her either huh?" He asked.
She nodded a no. She was really worried about her friend and Bobby noticed.
He took her hand in his and squeezed it comfortingly. "It's gonna be okay Jubes. We're the X-men, there isn't anything we can't do." Bobby said with a half-hearted reassuring smile on his face, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah, I guess.its just that I'm worried because of the Anti-mutant riot that broke out last night near the post office. That's where she was Bobby. I bet she would have been home sooner if we hadn't given her all that mail." Jubilee said, mumbling the last part.
"Hey, it's not your fault okay. Things like this just happen and we have to work through them together." He said, intertwining her fingers with his.
He was a jokester and a little immature but when it came to the serious stuff he could actually be pretty comforting. Especially when one of his friends was missing and the other was depressed about it. He was there for Jubilee as a friend should be.
"Yeah. You're right Bobby. Let's get back to the Institute and break the news that we didn't find her." She said, walking with her friend out of the park.
"I wonder if anyone else is having better luck then us." Bobby mused.
"I sure hope so." Jubilee answered before they both went quiet.
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"Hello? Lance zis is Night Crawler...NO Vait! Don't hang up! Keety is missing and ve vanted to know if you've seen her lately." Kurt said quickly before the earth shaker had a chance to hang up the phone.
"Hold on, lemme go ask the others." Lance said into the phone with a rather irritated sigh.
Kitty had made it perfectly clear to him that she wanted nothing to do with him sense the little trick Mystique had pulled over on the X-men and the Sentinels attacking so he didn't know where she was but his guilty conscience got the best of him and he decided to check with the others.
Kurt waited impatiently on the phone for Lance to return. The blue mutant's tail was darting around at super speed as he waited.
"Sorry, but none of us have seen her." Lance said, he actually did sound like he'd meant it.
Out of the brotherhood, Lance had been the one least horrible out of the rest at most times. He'd also been the only one, save Tabby, to try and join the X-men.
Kurt sighed into the phone as his hope of finding his lost teammate lessened.
"Zanks anyway Lance." Kurt mumbled, placing the phone back on the hook before Lance could reply.
He lowered his head and Bamfed into the rec room after running out of people to call that might know where Kitty was.
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"Well Professor?" Scott asked hopefully.
Xavier lifted the helmet to Cerebro off his head and sighed, shaking his head with a no.
"I sensed her powers downtown but it was from last night and she hasn't used her powers since. Logan is already looking around where her powers were used but we've already searched that entire area. I don't think she's there." Xavier answered, putting his hands together like a puzzle and rested his chin on them in thought.
"So there isn't anything else we can do? I mean I've already gone to the places Logan told me to go to and Kurt, Evan and I went to the train station earlier." Scott said, pacing back and fourth in the room.
"Any news professor?" Storm asked, walking into the room as the doors swooshed shut behind her automatically.
"No, not yet. Have the students gotten any word?" He asked.
Orroro shook her head. No, I'm afraid they've all come home with no leads as to wear Kitty may be." Orroro said to the older man.
"I don't understand why Logan hasn't picked up on her scent yet. I mean he did it with Jean when Blob took her." Scott spoke up.
"Yes Scott I know. Logan has already tried doing that but he's informed me that her scent was too old and it was fading by the time he'd gotten to the post office but it ended outside the building. All the rain yesterday must have washed away her scent." Xavier explained.
Storm looked down, a little upset with herself.
"You did not know Kitty was out there Storm or I'm sure you would have stopped the rain. Don't blame any of this on yourself." Xavier said, picking up on the burdening thoughts that were practically screaming in her head.
She was like an aunt or a mother-like figure to all of the students and now, like any mother, she was worried sick about Kitty and blaming herself for her absence.
"Yeah Storm. If it was anyone's fault it was mine. I should have made sure she was home when Jean and I got back from the movies." Scott said, leaning over on the desk, angry with himself for putting one of his comrades in possible danger.
"That's not true either. Both of you, none of this is your fault, and it won't matter soon because we're going to get Kitty back." Jean said, stepping into the room.
She had walked in when Storm was torturing herself over Kitty being lost and now she couldn't take seeing her teammates and guardians like this.
Xavier smiled at her slightly, glad that he wasn't the only one trying to look for the good in all of this. He'd hoped that at least one of the students would keep a steady head during all of this but the longer Kitty was missing, the less levelheaded the teens all became.
"Just about everyone is back and waiting for you to tell them what to do now Professor." Jean told the older man who wheeled over to the door she was in front of.
"Thank you Jean." He said, rolling out of the room and down the hall.
Storm left after Xavier and Scott just stood there, staring into space.
"Scott, it's going to be okay. We'll find her, we'll fix the problem and before you know it she'll be blaring Pop-songs and filling our ears with 'likes' and 'totally's' before you know it." Jean said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
His face softened at her soothing and reassuring words and he placed his hand over hers, turning around and walking out of the room with her.
"So is Logan not back yet?" He asked as they walked down the halls.
"No, Logan's down there with the group." Jean answered.
"So then who isn't here yet?" Scott questioned.
"Oh, Rogue and Gambit." Jean said, walking down the stairs.
She stopped and gave Scott a 'don't even think that' look with her hands on her hips.
"What!?" He asked innocently. She couldn't see them but she knew his eyes would have been giving away that he knew what she had stopped for.
"Don't give me that Scott Summers. You know perfectly well what. You think Rogue and Gambit aren't back yet because they're out somewhere kissing through scarves or something." She said.
His face reddened a little when he knew she'd figured him out.
"Its not that I don't think they're looking or anything. It's just that.well the others are all back from their assignments and its not like Rogue to be behind when it came to missions." Scott answered.
"Sure Scott. You know Rogue is a big girl. She can take care of herself." Jean said.
"I know, I know. But if he ever hurts her I'll.." Jean cut him off.
"Trust me, if he ever hurts her you'll probably have to wait in a three hour waiting line to get your turn doing something to him." Jean answered with a small smile on her face.
"Yeah I guess your right." He answered, kissing her on her cheek.
"Of course I'm right. You thought otherwise?" She asked playfully.
"Come on, we're holding up the meeting." She said, taking his hand again and pulling him down the stairs quickly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Kitty?" Rogue called through the empty streets of downtown Bayville. It was the area where everything was jumping and alive during the night with all the teens partying and having fun, but like a ghost town during the daytime.
Gambit and Rogue had been looking for her for an hour now and her throat was starting to hurt from calling her roommate's name so many times.
"Remy don' tink de fille be here chere." Remy said, walking up behind her after checking inside the buildings for Kitty.
"She has ta be. She aint anywhere else, and if she's not here and she's not anywhere else then that means that she could be..could be..." Remy silenced her by putting his gloved index finger on her lips.
"Don' tink like dat petite." He told her.
"But what if she's..she could be."
"Somewhere we haven' looked yet." Remy finished for her, knowing that wasn't what she was going to say.
Rogue nodded her head, pulling herself together.
She didn't need to be all hysterical and falling apart when her friend needed her. Not to mention that Remy was there to see her and there was no way she'd show him any signs of weakness.
"Right." She said, blinking away a tear that had somehow gotten past the well guarded emotions of Rogue and snuck out of her eye. She caught it before it slipped out and blinked it away.
"Now all dis could be a whole lot easier if we had a lead o' two non?" Gambit said, embracing her in a comforting hug.
She was grateful that he wasn't being the total flirt she'd come to know at the moment. He knew she was upset and that flirting with her right now would be inappropriate. So he just stood there, holding her in his arms, stroking her hair while she rested her head in his chest.
"Now are ya ready ta keep goin mon chere?" He asked, pulling her away from his body so they were face to face with his hands on her shoulders.
She nodded and gave him a very small smile. He knew she needed that minute of peace and comfort, of him holding her and telling her it would all be okay and now she was ready to move on.
That's one of the things she really liked about him. He always understood in a certain way that others hadn't. He'd understood, and cared, and stuck by her even when she'd pushed him away, and for that she was grateful.
She nodded a yes and he took her hand, intertwining their fingers together as they walked past a few alleys on their way back to the Institute.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"PYRO!" Magneto shouted through the metal halls.
John winced and scrunched up his face. He was only a few inches away from the door, his hand on the knob even, but he hadn't made it out.
"Yeah Mags?" He asked, straightening as his leader came into the room.
"Where is Colossus?" Magneto boomed.
"Colossus? Oh right, right. Well ya see mate, the thing is, and your gonna find this funny, that Piotr..well he didn't exactly come home last night." John said quickly, stepping as far away from the chest of metal weapons as he possibly could without drawing attention to himself.
"HE WHAT!?" Magneto shouted.
"Hehe, okay so maybe you're not gonna find this funny." Pyro answered with a scared and nervous laugh.
"Where is he Pyro? Where is Colossus?" Magneto asked again.
"Well he was mailin a letter back home cause you said he could, remember?" Pyro answered, gulping loudly at the end.
"Yes, but it doesn't take all night and morning to mail a letter." Magneto exclaimed.
"Well maybe the bloke ran into a bit of trouble when the mutant riots broke out." Pyro suggested.
"I highly doubt I would have missed seeing a seven foot boy in armor on the news." Magneto said.
There was silence for about a minute while John wanted more then ever to take out his lighter and snap it open and shut. He did that when he was nervous. He also did it when he was bored or happy or angry or depressed or..actually he did it all the time, but he knew that now was not one of those times. Not while Magneto's head was about to explode from aggravation.
The silence was shattered when Magneto and John caught each other's eyes.
"Well!? What are you waiting for? Go out and find him!" Magneto shouted.
"Right. Good idea mate. I'll be out there while you stay here and.not be out there." John said, hinting very lightly that he wanted to be as far from magneto at the moment as physically possible and for that to happen Magneto would have to stay at the base and vent, rather then go out in public.
Magneto glared daggers at him as a metal table began to rumble and lift off the ground.
"Right, I'll take that as my cue." Pyro said, ducking and closing the door behind him as he made a run for the exit of the base.
When he closed the door and calmed down he stopped to catch his breath.
~CRASH!~ Magneto had apparently just thrown something metal into the adimantium walls, actually causing a rather large dent about three meet away from where Pyro was leaning on the wall, catching his breath.
Pyro jumped back from the wall and nodded his head.
"That bloke's got serious anger management issues." He said to himself, walking out into the public to search for his friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So what do we do now Professor?" Amara asked. Her question was followed by various 'yeah's' and 'What now's?'
"We wait." Xavier said simply. The teens all stared at their leader like he was crazy. Then came the roar of protests by each student at the same time.
"Enough!" Logan shouted, silencing the mutants in the room.
"You all heard the Prof. We're gonna wait, and I don't want any more complainin about it." Logan told them.
They all murmured a 'Yes sir' or something to that effect.
Logan leaned over to the professor and asked, "Uh..Chuck?"
"Yes Logan."
"What exactly are we waiting for?"
Xavier cleared his throat to get the attention of the others. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you what we were all waiting for." Xavier apologized.
"And that would be?" Logan asked.
"The return of Rogue and Gambit. They should be back soon and I don't want to do anything else without the entire team here. Even if we're missing only two members." Xavier explained.
"Where are they?" Jubilee asked.
"Probably up at Miller's cliff." Tabby murmured to Amara who reacted by saying very audibly, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"
Tabby rolled her eyes.
"Now why would you shout when I whisper?" She asked.
"What are you two yappin about?" Logan questioned.
Amara's sudden outburst had caught the attention of the rest of the group.
"Nothing!" They said in unison.
"What were you two talking about? It might be important to the mission." Scott said.
"Not unless the mission is to suck face with Rogue." Tabby mumbled, causing Amara to giggle for a second.
"Super hearing kid." Logan growled.
"Hehe.oh yeah. Forgot about that little detail." Tabby mumbled.
"Where do you think they are?" Tabby asked Storm.
"Out looking for Kitty like the rest of us were, I'm sure." Storm said, ignoring Tabby's remark.
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"So where should we go next?" Rogue asked Gambit.
"Dunno petite. Where d'ya tink dey would have a good lead on where t' find de fille?" He asked.
"I might have an idea of where to look."
Rogue and Remy turned their attention to the new voice in the conversation who was leaning lazily against a brick wall, flipping his lighter's top off and on repeatedly.
Rogue went straight to fighting stance but Remy just looked at his friend with curiosity.
Rogue was about to threaten John to leave or else when something happened that she didn't expect.
Remy looked around.
"Yo' be all by yo' self Pyro?" Remy asked, going into fighting form as well, taking out his bo staff and twirling it around with ease.
"Yup. All by m' lonesome Rem." John said, putting away his lighter.
As soon as Remy heard the pyromaniac call him by is real name and not his alias he dropped the angry, ready to fight, act and his face softened with a huge grin.
Then Rogue saw something she definitely wasn't expecting to see.
Remy closed up his bo staff, put it back into his trench coat. Then he and John hugged.
It wasn't one of those girly hugs or the hugs that Remy give Rogue. It was just one of those hugs you give your friend when you haven't seen them in a while when you're a guy.
Rogue's mouth fell open and her eyes widened. What the hell was going on around here?
"How's it been mate?" Pyro asked.
"Same ol' same ol'. How bout you?" Remy asked.
"Not much. The Sheila huntin just aint the same without you mate." Pyro said.
"Oui, probably wouldn' be...but Remy not be huntin anymo'." Remy said with a smile, tilting his head at Rogue so Pyro understood.
"Uh..Remy?" Rogue asked, a little..okay a lot confused with the scene playing out before her.
"Oui chere?" Remy asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"What's going on?"
"Oh y' know John dontcha?" Remy asked innocently.
"Yeah I know him. He tried to burn my hair off my head." Rogue shot.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that Sheila. No hard feelings?" John asked, putting his hand out.
Rogue stared at it as if it were going to explode when she touched it.
"Chere y' don' have ta worry bout John when he be alone. He an' Remy be real good friends. He was de only one o' de Acolytes dat knew bout Chloe." Remy assured her.
"Yeah Sheila. I'm as harmless as a kitten when the others aren't around...speaking of kittens, I overheard your little problem." John said.
"And?" Rogue asked, not entirely convinced her was to be trusted just yet.
"And it just so happens that one of our merry men of Acolytes has gone missing as well." John explained.
"So?" She asked.
"So, I figure we can help each other ya know? Cause chances are they're together." John told her.
"But why would they be together?" Rogue asked, confused.
"Because he was last seen at the post office and if I'm not mistaken, so was your friend." Pyro told her.
"Oh."
"So if we find Piotr, we find that little Valley girl of yours that he's so obsessed with." John finished.
"Oh, okay. But where do you think we should..Rogue stopped and realized what he just said.
"WHAT!?" She exclaimed. "What do you mean he's so obsessed with her!?" She asked.
"Remy's hand went up to his face and he slapped his own forehead,
"John ya moron. Piotr is gonna skin y' alive." Remy groaned.
"You knew about this!?" Rogue asked incredulously.
"Oui."
"And ya didn't tell meh?"
"Non"
"Why thah hell not?" She asked, a little annoyed and forgetting Pyro at the moment.
"Chere, if y' tol' Remy sometin outta secrecy, would ya wan' Remy ta go tell his friends?" He asked.
"No. I guess not." Rogue mumbled, knowing that he had a point.
"So are we going to look for them or not?" Pyro interjected.
"We're going to look, but where do we start?" Rogue asked.
"The old warehouse district down by the docks." John told them.
"Why there?" Rogue asked at his random choice of places.
"Ever get a look at the tin man while he was in his armor?" The Aussie asked her.
Rogue nodded. She had after all battled with all of the Acolytes at one time or another before.
"Well then you know how tall he is. There aren't many places a bloke like that can stay without getting noticed as being different." Pyro said, putting emphasis on the word different.
"Alright. I'll just call the professor and tell him what we're doing." Rogue said, taking out her communicator.
"Hey wait!" John exclaimed. Rogue stopped and waited for him to say something.
"Just don't tell him I'm here. It'll be my ass if Mags finds out I helped the X-men..even if it is to get back Piotr." John told her.
She nodded and turned on the link.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rays of sunshine poured into the high windows in the warehouse. Kitty was currently curled up on the crate with her arms crossed under her chest. Her head was resting sideways on Piotr's leg and she was using it as a pillow. She didn't know she had gotten into this position overnight and she was still fast asleep.
Piotr was also asleep. His back was against the wall and the rest of him was in a sitting, slouched position on the crate with Kitty. Neither of them had awoken yet or were showing any signs of waking up either.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where the hell are they?" Logan asked, frustrated. They'd waited half an hour now and still no sign of Rogue or Gambit.
"I'm sure they'll be here any minute." Storm said, trying to calm him down. If he lost it in front of the children there was no way the kids themselves were going to stay under control.
"Yeah, well if we don't hear from them in the next two minutes I'm gonna.." Logan was cut off by a static sounding radio, followed by Rogue's voice.
"Hello? Anybody there?" She asked into it, waiting for a response. Instantly all of the X-men dove for the radio.
"FREEZE!" Logan said in a gruff, military voice. All students froze in their place, barely breathing. "Step away from the radio." He told them slowly in a mock police officer way.
They all did as he said and sat back down where they were before Rogue had contacted them.
"Hello?" Rogue repeated again.
Logan walked over to the radio, picked it up and flipped the switch to his side of the communicator.
"Stripes? Are you hurt in any way?" He asked.
"Uh.no." Rogue answered, a little put off by the random question.
"Well then why the Hell aren't you here!?" He yelled.
"So much for calmness and keeping your cool." Orroro mumbled.
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Rogue held the link away from her head a few feet as Logan's yelling filled the air.
"Damn. You quit the Acolytes for that?" Pyro asked Remy when he heard Logan going ballistic.
"Non mon ami. Not fo' dat." Remy said, referring to Logan.
"Fo' dat." Remy said with a smug smile, pointing to Rogue who was trying to get a word in edge wise in her conversation with Logan.
She hadn't noticed Remy point to her but she suddenly felt like she was being watched and whirled around, glaring at Pyro and Gambit who were staring directly at her just as she'd expected them to be.
They quickly turned their heads to look over at a random brick wall or up at the sky or down at their feet, looking as innocent as two boys like Remy and John could.
She rolled her eyes but was brought back to the link lecture when Logan called for her.
"Stripes? Stripes can you hear me? Are you listening to me?" Logan asked.
Rogue quickly turned her com link back on and spoke into it.
"Uh, yeah Logan. Sorry about that. The static on this thing is terrible. So listen, the bad news is we don't have Kitty." Rogue told him.
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All the people in the room seeped down in their seats at the Goth's words and let out a few groans.
Logan ignored them and continued on with Rogue.
"And the good news?" He asked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The good news..the good news is that we have a lead. A really good lead for where Kitty may be." She said with a little hope in her voice.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At Rogue's new words the people in the room all perked up and their eyes brightened in hope.
Logan however, did not change his tone in his voice.
"And what would this lead be and who did you get it from?" He asked.
There was sudden silence on the other end of the radio.
"Stripes?" Logan asked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rogue turned to John who had a look of fear in his eyes. He thought she was going to turn on him and tell Wolverine he was a part of this and then word would get back to Magneto and he'd be in way over his head.
Rogue bit her lip nervously, looking toward Remy for an answer of what to do.
What she got wasn't exactly an answer. It was more of a comforting, reassuring smile that said 'Do what you think is right.' He seemed to have faith that Rogue wasn't going to snitch on his friend.
She smiled at how much reliance he had put in her and a warm feeling rose in her chest but she shook it away quickly, getting back to the things at hand.
John looked at her pleadingly and she swallowed hard, which didn't make him feel any better. She took a deep breath and spoke into the link, staring at John while doing so.
"Yeah Logan. Ah told ya the reception ova here sucks." She answered.
"Fine, but what about the lead? Answer my questions already will ya?" He asked impatiently.
"Right. The questions." She said, still looking at John, who was staring right back at her.
"The lead is that she could possibly be in one of the old buildings in the warehouse district by the docks." Rogue answered.
"Did any of you check there yet?" She asked.
Logan looked at the students who all shook their heads.
"No. But where are you getting this information of yours?" He asked suspiciously. Something was up and he knew it.
Rogue and John locked eyes again and Remy watched them both intently, seeing what Rogue's next move was.
Rogue took another deep breath, shut her eyes for a second and then continued to look at John and talk to Logan.
"The source..the source is..." She stuttered.
"Yeah? The source is what?" Logan asked impatiently.
"The source is..is.." Rogue stopped. She was seconds away from giving in and blurting out that Pyro was the one with the bright idea, which would no doubt lead them all into trouble. She shook the thought away and smirked in the corner of her mouth.
John and Remy saw this. "Is that a good thing mate?" John asked Remy in a whispered voice, not taking his eyes off Rogue.
"Don' know. But Remy tinks we about t' find out." He answered at the same volume.
"The source is..common sense." She answered.
"Come again?" Logan asked, confused.
"Common sense Logan. Think about it. We looked everywhere else and you said yourself we haven't checked there yet. Plus if someone had her then they'd take her somewhere away from the public. The abandoned warehouses fit that profile perfectly." Rogue replied smoothly.
Remy grinned at Rogue and Pyro let out a sigh of relief.
"Tol' ya mon ami. Mon chere knows what she be doin." Remy told Pyro.
"We'll send someone over to check on your theory." Logan said.
"NO!" John exclaimed, covering his mouth when he realized Rogue still had the com link open.
"Who was that?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Uh..that was..a random person in the background. It's a little noisy over here. But Logan you don't have to come. We're closer then you and it might attract some attention if a group of random people are walking around in an abandoned warehouse zone ." She replied.
"Oh..alright fine. But I'm still coming over. You've got fifteen minutes to find her before I come and help." Logan said.
Rogue sighed.
"Alright." Rogue said. She knew she had gotten something out of the deal and she wasn't going to push it.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"So when are we going?" Bobby asked.
"We're not. I am." Logan grunted.
"Huh?" The other kids asked in confusion.
"Oh Come on Logan. At least take a few of us. You promised us that the next small mission we had you'd take us on." Bobby said.
"Yeah." Amara and Jubilee said in unison.
"Come on Wolverine. I really want to go on my first mission. I mean at least the others all had a little action. What about me?" Chloe asked.
Logan was getting a headache and his patience was thinning.
"FINE! But if yer not ready in three minutes I'm leavin without you." He said.
Logan didn't have to finish what he was saying.
All four kids were out of site, getting ready.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Okay this is the last warehouse. We've searched all the others." Rogue said, walking ahead of the two boys.
"Den maybe dey be in dere petite." Remy said with a smile.
"Yeah sure. What are thah chances of that happening? This was a really great idea Pyro." Rogue mumbled sarcastically.
She pushed open the door of the musky old building and stepped inside, followed by John and Remy.
They all looked around but saw no one.
All of a sudden Rogue came to a sudden halt, causing a chain reaction of Remy bumping into her and John bumping into Remy.
Rogue's mouth fell and her eyes widened.
"What's de hold up chere?" Remy asked.
She pointed silently over to what had caught her attention.
John's eyes widened as well.
"Oh, dat." Remy said after seeing what she was pointing to.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
In two minutes exactly the younger mutants came stampeding down the stairs and toward the door,
"FREEZE!" Logan called.
Bobby stopped with his hand on the knob and Jubilee collided into his back. Amara and Chloe weren't yet at the door but froze when he said to.
"We're ready." Jubilee said excitedly.
"No your not." Logan growled.
"What do you mean we're not? What else do we have to do? We're in uniform." Bobby said, motioning to all their attire.
"That's just it. You're in uniform. This is supposed to be a low-key mission. As in not attracting attention to ourselves while looking for Half- pint." Logan explained.
"Which means?" Chloe asked, not getting the point he was getting at.
"Which means no uniforms. Go change into your normal stuff. We don't need the press on our backs while we're trying to do this. And I definitely don't need to be rescuing you all from mutant haters while I'm already looking for Half-Pint." He said.
The four let out groans and ran back upstairs to change back to what they were wearing in the first place.
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Hahaha! I am sooooooo evil. I know I didn't have any pairings in this chapter or anything but I so will have them in the next chapter...I think. I don't really know yet.
For those of you who are wondering if that little bit back there with Scott and Jean was a Scott bashing moment, it wasn't. It was just Scott getting all worked up and worried about Kitty. I don't do bashing. It's against my code of...fanficness? anyways I don't like to read bashing so I really don't like righting it either. If I do somehow write bashing in a chapter PLEASE by all means, call me on it so I can fix it.
So how did you guyz like it? I know Kitty and Piotr were asleep through the whole thing but I needed to have this chapter in here before Kitty and Piotr woke up. And besides, I wanted John to be in this chapter. Aren't him and Remy such cool friends?
Okay PLZ PLZ PLZ Review People! Tell me what you thought of this chapter and stuff like that.
With all that said, thanx for reviewing and everything. I know ya'll must be excited cause for some of you the 'Cajun Spices' episode is going to be premiered in just ONE WEEK BABY!!!!! And hmm..what could an X-evolution episode called CAJUN Spices possibly be about? Lol :P Wish for Romyness in that Ep like I'm doing okay people!
Later days!
-AngieX
Not a lot of Romyness or anything in this chapter. Sorry guyz. But don't worry, you know I can't go very long without writing them doin the Romy thing.
Review replies
Da Smurf- I honestly don't know but your right, there really does need to be more guys like the ones in fics in real life. I think every girl deserves a demon-eyed Cajun or a tall, strong, sentimental Russian of her own at least once in her life.
Fallen_angel99- I'm an angel? Cool! Can I fly? :P Thanx for the review and yeah I share your feelings toward Buffy, Angel, and Spike. Spikes coming on Angel on October 1rst! YAY! Thanx for the review.
Ishandahalf- Yes more Romyness to come. I second that Drool for spike. Lol, hope you like this chapter
Lissa- sent you an e-mail. Hope you got it. Thanx for reviewing.
Pammy- Carol Danvers never even crossed my mind to have in this fic so you don't have anything to worry about I'm pretty sure.
Caliente- Yeah I think I may put Kitty telling Rogue about Remy's 'Womanizing ways' as you put it. Possibly in the next chapter. I don't know.
..And now for our feature presentation..
CHAPTER 21 A Little Lost Kitten.
"Kitty!" Jean called out near the school, earning her a few curious looks from the passerby's that were actually up at six in the morning on a Sunday.
Unfortunately after calling the girl's name at least twenty times all around the campus she still got no answer and went back to the mansion Kitty-less.
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"Kitty?" Chloe called.
"Kitty?" Tabby echoed.
"Kitty?" Amara and Rahne shouted simultaneously.
They were down town at the local area where the teens liked to hang out and the four girls were spread out in search of their missing friend.
"She's not here. Let's get back to Logan so he can tell us where else to look." Tabby said, admitting defeat when none of the other girls were ready to yet. She was right though. The sooner they got back, the sooner they'd be looking somewhere else.
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"Kitty? Are you here?" Jubilee called. She was standing in the middle of the park looking around anxiously.
A bush rustled behind her and Jubilee whirled around in high hopes.
"Kitty?" She called out hopefully.
Bobby stepped out of the bush with a defeated look in his eyes.
Jubilee saddened and her hope drifted away as fast as it come when she saw that it was Bobby behind the bush and not Kitty.
"So I take it you didn't find her either huh?" He asked.
She nodded a no. She was really worried about her friend and Bobby noticed.
He took her hand in his and squeezed it comfortingly. "It's gonna be okay Jubes. We're the X-men, there isn't anything we can't do." Bobby said with a half-hearted reassuring smile on his face, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah, I guess.its just that I'm worried because of the Anti-mutant riot that broke out last night near the post office. That's where she was Bobby. I bet she would have been home sooner if we hadn't given her all that mail." Jubilee said, mumbling the last part.
"Hey, it's not your fault okay. Things like this just happen and we have to work through them together." He said, intertwining her fingers with his.
He was a jokester and a little immature but when it came to the serious stuff he could actually be pretty comforting. Especially when one of his friends was missing and the other was depressed about it. He was there for Jubilee as a friend should be.
"Yeah. You're right Bobby. Let's get back to the Institute and break the news that we didn't find her." She said, walking with her friend out of the park.
"I wonder if anyone else is having better luck then us." Bobby mused.
"I sure hope so." Jubilee answered before they both went quiet.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hello? Lance zis is Night Crawler...NO Vait! Don't hang up! Keety is missing and ve vanted to know if you've seen her lately." Kurt said quickly before the earth shaker had a chance to hang up the phone.
"Hold on, lemme go ask the others." Lance said into the phone with a rather irritated sigh.
Kitty had made it perfectly clear to him that she wanted nothing to do with him sense the little trick Mystique had pulled over on the X-men and the Sentinels attacking so he didn't know where she was but his guilty conscience got the best of him and he decided to check with the others.
Kurt waited impatiently on the phone for Lance to return. The blue mutant's tail was darting around at super speed as he waited.
"Sorry, but none of us have seen her." Lance said, he actually did sound like he'd meant it.
Out of the brotherhood, Lance had been the one least horrible out of the rest at most times. He'd also been the only one, save Tabby, to try and join the X-men.
Kurt sighed into the phone as his hope of finding his lost teammate lessened.
"Zanks anyway Lance." Kurt mumbled, placing the phone back on the hook before Lance could reply.
He lowered his head and Bamfed into the rec room after running out of people to call that might know where Kitty was.
XXXXXXXX
"Well Professor?" Scott asked hopefully.
Xavier lifted the helmet to Cerebro off his head and sighed, shaking his head with a no.
"I sensed her powers downtown but it was from last night and she hasn't used her powers since. Logan is already looking around where her powers were used but we've already searched that entire area. I don't think she's there." Xavier answered, putting his hands together like a puzzle and rested his chin on them in thought.
"So there isn't anything else we can do? I mean I've already gone to the places Logan told me to go to and Kurt, Evan and I went to the train station earlier." Scott said, pacing back and fourth in the room.
"Any news professor?" Storm asked, walking into the room as the doors swooshed shut behind her automatically.
"No, not yet. Have the students gotten any word?" He asked.
Orroro shook her head. No, I'm afraid they've all come home with no leads as to wear Kitty may be." Orroro said to the older man.
"I don't understand why Logan hasn't picked up on her scent yet. I mean he did it with Jean when Blob took her." Scott spoke up.
"Yes Scott I know. Logan has already tried doing that but he's informed me that her scent was too old and it was fading by the time he'd gotten to the post office but it ended outside the building. All the rain yesterday must have washed away her scent." Xavier explained.
Storm looked down, a little upset with herself.
"You did not know Kitty was out there Storm or I'm sure you would have stopped the rain. Don't blame any of this on yourself." Xavier said, picking up on the burdening thoughts that were practically screaming in her head.
She was like an aunt or a mother-like figure to all of the students and now, like any mother, she was worried sick about Kitty and blaming herself for her absence.
"Yeah Storm. If it was anyone's fault it was mine. I should have made sure she was home when Jean and I got back from the movies." Scott said, leaning over on the desk, angry with himself for putting one of his comrades in possible danger.
"That's not true either. Both of you, none of this is your fault, and it won't matter soon because we're going to get Kitty back." Jean said, stepping into the room.
She had walked in when Storm was torturing herself over Kitty being lost and now she couldn't take seeing her teammates and guardians like this.
Xavier smiled at her slightly, glad that he wasn't the only one trying to look for the good in all of this. He'd hoped that at least one of the students would keep a steady head during all of this but the longer Kitty was missing, the less levelheaded the teens all became.
"Just about everyone is back and waiting for you to tell them what to do now Professor." Jean told the older man who wheeled over to the door she was in front of.
"Thank you Jean." He said, rolling out of the room and down the hall.
Storm left after Xavier and Scott just stood there, staring into space.
"Scott, it's going to be okay. We'll find her, we'll fix the problem and before you know it she'll be blaring Pop-songs and filling our ears with 'likes' and 'totally's' before you know it." Jean said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
His face softened at her soothing and reassuring words and he placed his hand over hers, turning around and walking out of the room with her.
"So is Logan not back yet?" He asked as they walked down the halls.
"No, Logan's down there with the group." Jean answered.
"So then who isn't here yet?" Scott questioned.
"Oh, Rogue and Gambit." Jean said, walking down the stairs.
She stopped and gave Scott a 'don't even think that' look with her hands on her hips.
"What!?" He asked innocently. She couldn't see them but she knew his eyes would have been giving away that he knew what she had stopped for.
"Don't give me that Scott Summers. You know perfectly well what. You think Rogue and Gambit aren't back yet because they're out somewhere kissing through scarves or something." She said.
His face reddened a little when he knew she'd figured him out.
"Its not that I don't think they're looking or anything. It's just that.well the others are all back from their assignments and its not like Rogue to be behind when it came to missions." Scott answered.
"Sure Scott. You know Rogue is a big girl. She can take care of herself." Jean said.
"I know, I know. But if he ever hurts her I'll.." Jean cut him off.
"Trust me, if he ever hurts her you'll probably have to wait in a three hour waiting line to get your turn doing something to him." Jean answered with a small smile on her face.
"Yeah I guess your right." He answered, kissing her on her cheek.
"Of course I'm right. You thought otherwise?" She asked playfully.
"Come on, we're holding up the meeting." She said, taking his hand again and pulling him down the stairs quickly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Kitty?" Rogue called through the empty streets of downtown Bayville. It was the area where everything was jumping and alive during the night with all the teens partying and having fun, but like a ghost town during the daytime.
Gambit and Rogue had been looking for her for an hour now and her throat was starting to hurt from calling her roommate's name so many times.
"Remy don' tink de fille be here chere." Remy said, walking up behind her after checking inside the buildings for Kitty.
"She has ta be. She aint anywhere else, and if she's not here and she's not anywhere else then that means that she could be..could be..." Remy silenced her by putting his gloved index finger on her lips.
"Don' tink like dat petite." He told her.
"But what if she's..she could be."
"Somewhere we haven' looked yet." Remy finished for her, knowing that wasn't what she was going to say.
Rogue nodded her head, pulling herself together.
She didn't need to be all hysterical and falling apart when her friend needed her. Not to mention that Remy was there to see her and there was no way she'd show him any signs of weakness.
"Right." She said, blinking away a tear that had somehow gotten past the well guarded emotions of Rogue and snuck out of her eye. She caught it before it slipped out and blinked it away.
"Now all dis could be a whole lot easier if we had a lead o' two non?" Gambit said, embracing her in a comforting hug.
She was grateful that he wasn't being the total flirt she'd come to know at the moment. He knew she was upset and that flirting with her right now would be inappropriate. So he just stood there, holding her in his arms, stroking her hair while she rested her head in his chest.
"Now are ya ready ta keep goin mon chere?" He asked, pulling her away from his body so they were face to face with his hands on her shoulders.
She nodded and gave him a very small smile. He knew she needed that minute of peace and comfort, of him holding her and telling her it would all be okay and now she was ready to move on.
That's one of the things she really liked about him. He always understood in a certain way that others hadn't. He'd understood, and cared, and stuck by her even when she'd pushed him away, and for that she was grateful.
She nodded a yes and he took her hand, intertwining their fingers together as they walked past a few alleys on their way back to the Institute.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"PYRO!" Magneto shouted through the metal halls.
John winced and scrunched up his face. He was only a few inches away from the door, his hand on the knob even, but he hadn't made it out.
"Yeah Mags?" He asked, straightening as his leader came into the room.
"Where is Colossus?" Magneto boomed.
"Colossus? Oh right, right. Well ya see mate, the thing is, and your gonna find this funny, that Piotr..well he didn't exactly come home last night." John said quickly, stepping as far away from the chest of metal weapons as he possibly could without drawing attention to himself.
"HE WHAT!?" Magneto shouted.
"Hehe, okay so maybe you're not gonna find this funny." Pyro answered with a scared and nervous laugh.
"Where is he Pyro? Where is Colossus?" Magneto asked again.
"Well he was mailin a letter back home cause you said he could, remember?" Pyro answered, gulping loudly at the end.
"Yes, but it doesn't take all night and morning to mail a letter." Magneto exclaimed.
"Well maybe the bloke ran into a bit of trouble when the mutant riots broke out." Pyro suggested.
"I highly doubt I would have missed seeing a seven foot boy in armor on the news." Magneto said.
There was silence for about a minute while John wanted more then ever to take out his lighter and snap it open and shut. He did that when he was nervous. He also did it when he was bored or happy or angry or depressed or..actually he did it all the time, but he knew that now was not one of those times. Not while Magneto's head was about to explode from aggravation.
The silence was shattered when Magneto and John caught each other's eyes.
"Well!? What are you waiting for? Go out and find him!" Magneto shouted.
"Right. Good idea mate. I'll be out there while you stay here and.not be out there." John said, hinting very lightly that he wanted to be as far from magneto at the moment as physically possible and for that to happen Magneto would have to stay at the base and vent, rather then go out in public.
Magneto glared daggers at him as a metal table began to rumble and lift off the ground.
"Right, I'll take that as my cue." Pyro said, ducking and closing the door behind him as he made a run for the exit of the base.
When he closed the door and calmed down he stopped to catch his breath.
~CRASH!~ Magneto had apparently just thrown something metal into the adimantium walls, actually causing a rather large dent about three meet away from where Pyro was leaning on the wall, catching his breath.
Pyro jumped back from the wall and nodded his head.
"That bloke's got serious anger management issues." He said to himself, walking out into the public to search for his friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So what do we do now Professor?" Amara asked. Her question was followed by various 'yeah's' and 'What now's?'
"We wait." Xavier said simply. The teens all stared at their leader like he was crazy. Then came the roar of protests by each student at the same time.
"Enough!" Logan shouted, silencing the mutants in the room.
"You all heard the Prof. We're gonna wait, and I don't want any more complainin about it." Logan told them.
They all murmured a 'Yes sir' or something to that effect.
Logan leaned over to the professor and asked, "Uh..Chuck?"
"Yes Logan."
"What exactly are we waiting for?"
Xavier cleared his throat to get the attention of the others. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you what we were all waiting for." Xavier apologized.
"And that would be?" Logan asked.
"The return of Rogue and Gambit. They should be back soon and I don't want to do anything else without the entire team here. Even if we're missing only two members." Xavier explained.
"Where are they?" Jubilee asked.
"Probably up at Miller's cliff." Tabby murmured to Amara who reacted by saying very audibly, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"
Tabby rolled her eyes.
"Now why would you shout when I whisper?" She asked.
"What are you two yappin about?" Logan questioned.
Amara's sudden outburst had caught the attention of the rest of the group.
"Nothing!" They said in unison.
"What were you two talking about? It might be important to the mission." Scott said.
"Not unless the mission is to suck face with Rogue." Tabby mumbled, causing Amara to giggle for a second.
"Super hearing kid." Logan growled.
"Hehe.oh yeah. Forgot about that little detail." Tabby mumbled.
"Where do you think they are?" Tabby asked Storm.
"Out looking for Kitty like the rest of us were, I'm sure." Storm said, ignoring Tabby's remark.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"So where should we go next?" Rogue asked Gambit.
"Dunno petite. Where d'ya tink dey would have a good lead on where t' find de fille?" He asked.
"I might have an idea of where to look."
Rogue and Remy turned their attention to the new voice in the conversation who was leaning lazily against a brick wall, flipping his lighter's top off and on repeatedly.
Rogue went straight to fighting stance but Remy just looked at his friend with curiosity.
Rogue was about to threaten John to leave or else when something happened that she didn't expect.
Remy looked around.
"Yo' be all by yo' self Pyro?" Remy asked, going into fighting form as well, taking out his bo staff and twirling it around with ease.
"Yup. All by m' lonesome Rem." John said, putting away his lighter.
As soon as Remy heard the pyromaniac call him by is real name and not his alias he dropped the angry, ready to fight, act and his face softened with a huge grin.
Then Rogue saw something she definitely wasn't expecting to see.
Remy closed up his bo staff, put it back into his trench coat. Then he and John hugged.
It wasn't one of those girly hugs or the hugs that Remy give Rogue. It was just one of those hugs you give your friend when you haven't seen them in a while when you're a guy.
Rogue's mouth fell open and her eyes widened. What the hell was going on around here?
"How's it been mate?" Pyro asked.
"Same ol' same ol'. How bout you?" Remy asked.
"Not much. The Sheila huntin just aint the same without you mate." Pyro said.
"Oui, probably wouldn' be...but Remy not be huntin anymo'." Remy said with a smile, tilting his head at Rogue so Pyro understood.
"Uh..Remy?" Rogue asked, a little..okay a lot confused with the scene playing out before her.
"Oui chere?" Remy asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"What's going on?"
"Oh y' know John dontcha?" Remy asked innocently.
"Yeah I know him. He tried to burn my hair off my head." Rogue shot.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that Sheila. No hard feelings?" John asked, putting his hand out.
Rogue stared at it as if it were going to explode when she touched it.
"Chere y' don' have ta worry bout John when he be alone. He an' Remy be real good friends. He was de only one o' de Acolytes dat knew bout Chloe." Remy assured her.
"Yeah Sheila. I'm as harmless as a kitten when the others aren't around...speaking of kittens, I overheard your little problem." John said.
"And?" Rogue asked, not entirely convinced her was to be trusted just yet.
"And it just so happens that one of our merry men of Acolytes has gone missing as well." John explained.
"So?" She asked.
"So, I figure we can help each other ya know? Cause chances are they're together." John told her.
"But why would they be together?" Rogue asked, confused.
"Because he was last seen at the post office and if I'm not mistaken, so was your friend." Pyro told her.
"Oh."
"So if we find Piotr, we find that little Valley girl of yours that he's so obsessed with." John finished.
"Oh, okay. But where do you think we should..Rogue stopped and realized what he just said.
"WHAT!?" She exclaimed. "What do you mean he's so obsessed with her!?" She asked.
"Remy's hand went up to his face and he slapped his own forehead,
"John ya moron. Piotr is gonna skin y' alive." Remy groaned.
"You knew about this!?" Rogue asked incredulously.
"Oui."
"And ya didn't tell meh?"
"Non"
"Why thah hell not?" She asked, a little annoyed and forgetting Pyro at the moment.
"Chere, if y' tol' Remy sometin outta secrecy, would ya wan' Remy ta go tell his friends?" He asked.
"No. I guess not." Rogue mumbled, knowing that he had a point.
"So are we going to look for them or not?" Pyro interjected.
"We're going to look, but where do we start?" Rogue asked.
"The old warehouse district down by the docks." John told them.
"Why there?" Rogue asked at his random choice of places.
"Ever get a look at the tin man while he was in his armor?" The Aussie asked her.
Rogue nodded. She had after all battled with all of the Acolytes at one time or another before.
"Well then you know how tall he is. There aren't many places a bloke like that can stay without getting noticed as being different." Pyro said, putting emphasis on the word different.
"Alright. I'll just call the professor and tell him what we're doing." Rogue said, taking out her communicator.
"Hey wait!" John exclaimed. Rogue stopped and waited for him to say something.
"Just don't tell him I'm here. It'll be my ass if Mags finds out I helped the X-men..even if it is to get back Piotr." John told her.
She nodded and turned on the link.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rays of sunshine poured into the high windows in the warehouse. Kitty was currently curled up on the crate with her arms crossed under her chest. Her head was resting sideways on Piotr's leg and she was using it as a pillow. She didn't know she had gotten into this position overnight and she was still fast asleep.
Piotr was also asleep. His back was against the wall and the rest of him was in a sitting, slouched position on the crate with Kitty. Neither of them had awoken yet or were showing any signs of waking up either.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where the hell are they?" Logan asked, frustrated. They'd waited half an hour now and still no sign of Rogue or Gambit.
"I'm sure they'll be here any minute." Storm said, trying to calm him down. If he lost it in front of the children there was no way the kids themselves were going to stay under control.
"Yeah, well if we don't hear from them in the next two minutes I'm gonna.." Logan was cut off by a static sounding radio, followed by Rogue's voice.
"Hello? Anybody there?" She asked into it, waiting for a response. Instantly all of the X-men dove for the radio.
"FREEZE!" Logan said in a gruff, military voice. All students froze in their place, barely breathing. "Step away from the radio." He told them slowly in a mock police officer way.
They all did as he said and sat back down where they were before Rogue had contacted them.
"Hello?" Rogue repeated again.
Logan walked over to the radio, picked it up and flipped the switch to his side of the communicator.
"Stripes? Are you hurt in any way?" He asked.
"Uh.no." Rogue answered, a little put off by the random question.
"Well then why the Hell aren't you here!?" He yelled.
"So much for calmness and keeping your cool." Orroro mumbled.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Rogue held the link away from her head a few feet as Logan's yelling filled the air.
"Damn. You quit the Acolytes for that?" Pyro asked Remy when he heard Logan going ballistic.
"Non mon ami. Not fo' dat." Remy said, referring to Logan.
"Fo' dat." Remy said with a smug smile, pointing to Rogue who was trying to get a word in edge wise in her conversation with Logan.
She hadn't noticed Remy point to her but she suddenly felt like she was being watched and whirled around, glaring at Pyro and Gambit who were staring directly at her just as she'd expected them to be.
They quickly turned their heads to look over at a random brick wall or up at the sky or down at their feet, looking as innocent as two boys like Remy and John could.
She rolled her eyes but was brought back to the link lecture when Logan called for her.
"Stripes? Stripes can you hear me? Are you listening to me?" Logan asked.
Rogue quickly turned her com link back on and spoke into it.
"Uh, yeah Logan. Sorry about that. The static on this thing is terrible. So listen, the bad news is we don't have Kitty." Rogue told him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
All the people in the room seeped down in their seats at the Goth's words and let out a few groans.
Logan ignored them and continued on with Rogue.
"And the good news?" He asked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The good news..the good news is that we have a lead. A really good lead for where Kitty may be." She said with a little hope in her voice.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At Rogue's new words the people in the room all perked up and their eyes brightened in hope.
Logan however, did not change his tone in his voice.
"And what would this lead be and who did you get it from?" He asked.
There was sudden silence on the other end of the radio.
"Stripes?" Logan asked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rogue turned to John who had a look of fear in his eyes. He thought she was going to turn on him and tell Wolverine he was a part of this and then word would get back to Magneto and he'd be in way over his head.
Rogue bit her lip nervously, looking toward Remy for an answer of what to do.
What she got wasn't exactly an answer. It was more of a comforting, reassuring smile that said 'Do what you think is right.' He seemed to have faith that Rogue wasn't going to snitch on his friend.
She smiled at how much reliance he had put in her and a warm feeling rose in her chest but she shook it away quickly, getting back to the things at hand.
John looked at her pleadingly and she swallowed hard, which didn't make him feel any better. She took a deep breath and spoke into the link, staring at John while doing so.
"Yeah Logan. Ah told ya the reception ova here sucks." She answered.
"Fine, but what about the lead? Answer my questions already will ya?" He asked impatiently.
"Right. The questions." She said, still looking at John, who was staring right back at her.
"The lead is that she could possibly be in one of the old buildings in the warehouse district by the docks." Rogue answered.
"Did any of you check there yet?" She asked.
Logan looked at the students who all shook their heads.
"No. But where are you getting this information of yours?" He asked suspiciously. Something was up and he knew it.
Rogue and John locked eyes again and Remy watched them both intently, seeing what Rogue's next move was.
Rogue took another deep breath, shut her eyes for a second and then continued to look at John and talk to Logan.
"The source..the source is..." She stuttered.
"Yeah? The source is what?" Logan asked impatiently.
"The source is..is.." Rogue stopped. She was seconds away from giving in and blurting out that Pyro was the one with the bright idea, which would no doubt lead them all into trouble. She shook the thought away and smirked in the corner of her mouth.
John and Remy saw this. "Is that a good thing mate?" John asked Remy in a whispered voice, not taking his eyes off Rogue.
"Don' know. But Remy tinks we about t' find out." He answered at the same volume.
"The source is..common sense." She answered.
"Come again?" Logan asked, confused.
"Common sense Logan. Think about it. We looked everywhere else and you said yourself we haven't checked there yet. Plus if someone had her then they'd take her somewhere away from the public. The abandoned warehouses fit that profile perfectly." Rogue replied smoothly.
Remy grinned at Rogue and Pyro let out a sigh of relief.
"Tol' ya mon ami. Mon chere knows what she be doin." Remy told Pyro.
"We'll send someone over to check on your theory." Logan said.
"NO!" John exclaimed, covering his mouth when he realized Rogue still had the com link open.
"Who was that?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Uh..that was..a random person in the background. It's a little noisy over here. But Logan you don't have to come. We're closer then you and it might attract some attention if a group of random people are walking around in an abandoned warehouse zone ." She replied.
"Oh..alright fine. But I'm still coming over. You've got fifteen minutes to find her before I come and help." Logan said.
Rogue sighed.
"Alright." Rogue said. She knew she had gotten something out of the deal and she wasn't going to push it.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"So when are we going?" Bobby asked.
"We're not. I am." Logan grunted.
"Huh?" The other kids asked in confusion.
"Oh Come on Logan. At least take a few of us. You promised us that the next small mission we had you'd take us on." Bobby said.
"Yeah." Amara and Jubilee said in unison.
"Come on Wolverine. I really want to go on my first mission. I mean at least the others all had a little action. What about me?" Chloe asked.
Logan was getting a headache and his patience was thinning.
"FINE! But if yer not ready in three minutes I'm leavin without you." He said.
Logan didn't have to finish what he was saying.
All four kids were out of site, getting ready.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Okay this is the last warehouse. We've searched all the others." Rogue said, walking ahead of the two boys.
"Den maybe dey be in dere petite." Remy said with a smile.
"Yeah sure. What are thah chances of that happening? This was a really great idea Pyro." Rogue mumbled sarcastically.
She pushed open the door of the musky old building and stepped inside, followed by John and Remy.
They all looked around but saw no one.
All of a sudden Rogue came to a sudden halt, causing a chain reaction of Remy bumping into her and John bumping into Remy.
Rogue's mouth fell and her eyes widened.
"What's de hold up chere?" Remy asked.
She pointed silently over to what had caught her attention.
John's eyes widened as well.
"Oh, dat." Remy said after seeing what she was pointing to.
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In two minutes exactly the younger mutants came stampeding down the stairs and toward the door,
"FREEZE!" Logan called.
Bobby stopped with his hand on the knob and Jubilee collided into his back. Amara and Chloe weren't yet at the door but froze when he said to.
"We're ready." Jubilee said excitedly.
"No your not." Logan growled.
"What do you mean we're not? What else do we have to do? We're in uniform." Bobby said, motioning to all their attire.
"That's just it. You're in uniform. This is supposed to be a low-key mission. As in not attracting attention to ourselves while looking for Half- pint." Logan explained.
"Which means?" Chloe asked, not getting the point he was getting at.
"Which means no uniforms. Go change into your normal stuff. We don't need the press on our backs while we're trying to do this. And I definitely don't need to be rescuing you all from mutant haters while I'm already looking for Half-Pint." He said.
The four let out groans and ran back upstairs to change back to what they were wearing in the first place.
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Hahaha! I am sooooooo evil. I know I didn't have any pairings in this chapter or anything but I so will have them in the next chapter...I think. I don't really know yet.
For those of you who are wondering if that little bit back there with Scott and Jean was a Scott bashing moment, it wasn't. It was just Scott getting all worked up and worried about Kitty. I don't do bashing. It's against my code of...fanficness? anyways I don't like to read bashing so I really don't like righting it either. If I do somehow write bashing in a chapter PLEASE by all means, call me on it so I can fix it.
So how did you guyz like it? I know Kitty and Piotr were asleep through the whole thing but I needed to have this chapter in here before Kitty and Piotr woke up. And besides, I wanted John to be in this chapter. Aren't him and Remy such cool friends?
Okay PLZ PLZ PLZ Review People! Tell me what you thought of this chapter and stuff like that.
With all that said, thanx for reviewing and everything. I know ya'll must be excited cause for some of you the 'Cajun Spices' episode is going to be premiered in just ONE WEEK BABY!!!!! And hmm..what could an X-evolution episode called CAJUN Spices possibly be about? Lol :P Wish for Romyness in that Ep like I'm doing okay people!
Later days!
-AngieX