Disclaimer: I still don't own X-Men Evolution (curses) and I am making no money from this fic. So please don't sue me.

Author's Note: Thank you for the review ishandahalf. Unfortunately it's going to be a couple of chapters before Rogue and Remy are introduced, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter II

Pietro pushed the door open and walked in. A man sat opposite him behind a desk, flipping through a file. At Pietro's entrance he looked up. Charles Xavier was in his early fifties, although he looked at least ten years older. He was completely bald, his face was heavily creased with lines and when you looked into his eyes you could tell he had seen more death and horror than one man deserved to see in a single lifetime.
Charles Xavier was the head of a secret organisation known as Excalibur. Excalibur had been created to work as a counter part to the British secret service, helping them deal with things that were too tough for them to deal with on their own. There were only a handful of Excalibur agents, but they were all very highly trained and their casualty rates were very low. Each Excalibur agent had a certain codename attached to them to disguise them in public. Pietro's codename was Quicksilver, because of his fast draw.
Charles Xavier had been a British secret service agent for twelve years until he was grievously injured and confined to a wheelchair. For a short time after that he served as a counsellor to the secret service, until he branched off to found Excalibur. He now directed the actions of Excalibur and was one of the most respected men in the country.
"You called me in Charles."
"Yes I did. Have a seat won't you?" Xavier gestured at the seat opposite his and Pietro accepted the offer. Xavier studied Pietro as he sat down. All Excalibur operatives were chosen for one reason, they were the best at what they did. Pietro had been a notorious assassin in central Europe, although the authorities did not know his identity, before joining Excalibur. Although the government had been less than thrilled having a suspected murderer as a member of their elite crime fighting force, Xavier had been insistent. Pietro had fitted in perfectly with Excalibur, becoming one of their top field agents. Xavier smiled inwardly. Pietro often reminded him of himself when he had been an operative for the secret service.
"Tell me Pietro, what do you know about a man known as the Wolverine?"
Pietro thought for a moment before answering. "A professional assassin, who's well known for his unique method of killing his victims." Pietro had seen the uncensored pictures of some of the Wolverine's victims, and he shuddered at the thought of what had been done to them.
"That's correct. Over the years he has worked for anyone there is to work for; Mafia, Triads, you name them and he's worked for them. He's never failed to assassinate his target either, but the strangest thing is, as you said, his method of assassination." Xavier pressed a button on his desk and a holographic image appeared, floating above his desk. The image was hazy and distorted and although Pietro could make out the outline of a man in it, he could barely see any features. "He is a master with all types of blades, and his trademark is three slashes across his victims face.
"This is the only known picture of the Wolverine," Xavier waved a hand at the blurry image. "He is an enigma, the only evidence of his existence is the continued assassinations that he carries out. His motivations are also a mystery; his killings have no pattern to them. Despite all of this, we still need to bring him to justice. The government and the secret service have turned his capture over to us, so I made the appropriate arrangements to apprehend him.
"The only way we can find him is to locate his next target. I assigned John Allerdyce to retrieve information on the Wolverine's next target."
Pietro vividly remembered John. He had been a year older than Pietro, with red hair and a non-descript face that wouldn't look out of place anywhere. That had made him an invaluable field agent, but he had a very volatile temper that had endangered his missions on several occasions before. John's codename, Pyro, had reflected his fiery temper.
"I received details on Monday at sixteen hundred hours of John's tragic death whilst in the field. Apparently his killer was none other than the Wolverine." Xavier looked down at the file on his desk allowing Pietro a short time to collect his thoughts.
Pietro couldn't believe that John was dead. He was no stranger to death himself, having killed many people as both an assassin and an Excalibur agent. But he'd never had anyone close to him die before. And whilst John and Pietro hadn't been that close, all the Excalibur operatives were close to each other. It was such a life-threatening profession that it was easier to make friends with people who understood the risk that they took.
"Pietro, we want you to go in and retrieve the data that John was trying to get."
Pietro looked up, startled. "If John's dead, then won't the Wolverine have destroyed the information?"
"No. The information is in fact an insider who works for the Wolverine's new employers."
"And he's still alive."
"Yes."
Pietro nodded. "Okay, where do I meet him?"
"The informant requested that you meet him at the Hellfire Club in Soho."
Pietro nodded as he rose from the chair, already mentally planning the mission. He stopped suddenly however, when he realised exactly what Xavier had said. "He requested me?"
Xavier nodded, steepling his fingers.
"When an operative is requested by name, isn't the standard procedure to negotiate more before sending them in. Nine times out of ten it's a trap."
"I know, and if it was anyone else but the Wolverine that is exactly what we would be doing, but we desperately need this information. In case it is a trap though, I've assigned you some backup."
Pietro frowned. No one had left an encounter with the Wolverine, unless it was in a bodybag and he'd had to walk into what was almost certainly a trap by the Wolverine. 'Great,' he thought. 'I could be waking up with Kitty, but once again I'm risking everything to stop a maniacal criminal. Just great.'
"Here are the relevant files," Xavier handed Pietro several dossiers. "The meeting time is at ten p.m. at table twenty-one. Good luck."

Dr. Hank McCoy was usually a calm and composed man, despite the fact that he was six foot five and weighed well over two hundred pounds, none of which was fat. However when the name Pietro Maximoff was mentioned, his blood ran cold. Hank viewed Pietro with a mix of fatherly worry, humour and utter despair.
Hank liked Pietro, but he constantly managed to destroy any gadget he gave him. Hank always provided Pietro with a demonstration of the proper way to operate his gadgets and he installed every possible safety feature he could into his equipment, yet Pietro still managed to destroy them.
Right now, Hank was staring at the remains of a safe-cracking device that had been disguised as a personal organiser. All that was left of it now was a fused bundle of wires and plastic that was almost impossible to determine as anything.
With a sigh Hank picked it up in a massive hand and dropped it into a nearby bin. He wished Pietro could bring back one gadget, just one, that was wholly intact.
At the sound of the elevator doors opening behind him Hank turned around. The morose expression on his face instantly disappeared, being replaced by a smile that stretched the width of his face. "Pietro! It's great to see you, buddy!"
Before Pietro could respond, Hank crossed the room in a single bound and grabbed him in a crushing bearhug. Pietro felt his bones being crushed, and suddenly realised that there was a lot of truth in Hank's nickname, Beast.
"It's great to see you too Hank, but could you put me down? I think my spine is about to snap here," Pietro managed to gasp.
"Oh sorry." Hank deposited Pietro back onto the floor and Pietro rubbed his aching bones. "So," Hank said, once Pietro had regained his breath. "What do you need?"
"Here you go." Pietro handed him a dossier Xavier had given him and Hank skimmed through it.
"Right. Standard retrieval mission, eh?" He moved off muttering to himself as he picked equipment from the shelves. In a few moments he returned, depositing equipment on the table in front of him. "Sig-Sauer P226." Hank handed Pietro the handgun. Pietro weighed the gun in his hand, then slid it into the holster under his shoulder, glad that he could feel the re-assuring weight of the gun by his side again.
"ScarletFire vest." Pietro took the bulletproof vest, glad that he would have some protection in the case of a trap. The ScarletFire vest had been invented by Hank, and was stronger than Kevlar, but it wouldn't stop a bullet at point blank range. Still, it was better than nothing.
"Iris camera and tooth mike." Hank handed Pietro what looked like a blue contact lens and a false tooth. Pietro picked the contact lens up and put it in his right eye. Hank flipped on a monitor and Pietro felt a slight buzzing in his eye. Suddenly the monitor suddenly showed Pietro's field of vision. "Working perfectly," Hank said, adjusting some controls. "Pan around a bit." Pietro turned his head and Hank nodded. "Good. Now the tooth mike."
Pietro fitted the mike over one of his back teeth, and Hank flipped a switch on by the monitor. "Now, say something."
"Okay Hank. Are you picking me up?" Hank nodded as Pietro's voice came out of the inbuilt speakers in the monitor.
"Everything's fully operational." Hank switched off the monitor as Pietro removed the iris cam and the tooth mike and placed them in a small, sterile box Hank provided him with.
"Thanks Hank. I'll see you when I get back."
"Sure thing. I'll have a cold beer waiting." Hank grinned, then became deadly serious. "Good luck Pietro. Be careful. Oh, and try and bring the equipment back in one piece," he added as an afterthought.
Pietro gave him a grin and a thumbs up as he took the lift up.

When Pietro reached the briefing room, three agents were already there. Pietro instantly recognised his good friend Lance Alvers. Lance was code-named Avalanche and he was one of the best demolition experts Excalibur had. The other two agents Pietro didn't immediately recognise.
When Lance saw Pietro he immediately walked over to him and clasped his hand. "Good to see you again Quicksilver."
"You too Lance. How's Tabitha?"
"Pregnant," Lance smirked slightly.
"Really! Wow, that's great."
"Yeah it is." Tabitha and Lance had met in America last year, and got married five months ago.
"So, you been briefed already?" Pietro asked, all business, as he Lance move to the large table in the centre of the room.
"Yeah." Lance pressed a button and a holographic map appeared on the table. The map depicted the interior of the Hellfire Club, down to small individual people wandering around. "This is table twenty-one." He pointed to a small table where two people were sitting. "You meet the contact here, get the information and walk out, no trouble. Theoretically speaking, of course," he smiled grimly. "I'll be positioned here." He pointed to a shady alcove right next to the main entrance. "Callisto here," Lance motioned at the taller of the two agents, "will be positioned at the bar here," he pointed at a spot. "And Iceman," the smaller agent nodded, "will be positioned by the corner here," he motioned to an alcove diagonally behind table twenty-one. "We'll all be tuned into your tooth mike, and I'm going to have a monitor on your iris cam. If anything goes wrong, then we'll provide covering fire whilst you get out of there."
Pietro nodded. "One thing guys, I don't know if Xavier told you, but there's a big chance that, the Wolverine will be there."
Lance nodded grimly. "We know."