A/N: Sorry for the delay. Two weeks and I'm out of school forever!!!!!!! Just have two major projects to get through… Here's the chapter.
Marie hid under the covers. The sun was streaming into the room, thanks to Remy who'd thrown open the drapes at some ungodly hour. She didn't want to get up. There were about a million things that needed to be done yesterday, but she still couldn't dredge up the desire to move.
"Coffee?" Remy was across the room before she even noticed he was there. The smell of coffee did make her lower the blankets, though. He held out the steaming cup as a peace offering.
"Hmm," she mumbled, drinking deep.
"You know you're going to have to leave this house eventually, right?" He sat next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Yeah, eventually."
"Y' wanna pick Jono up from the airport?" A slow grin spread across Marie's face.
"Jono's coming?"
"Apparently his modeling career is too much for the pretty boy," Remy grumbled. "He agreed to help us out a little. As a personal favor to me."
"I wonder if he got the lacy panties I sent," Marie mused, putting her empty cup on her desk. She braced herself for Remy's attack. He dove straight for her ribs and tickled her until she started beating on him. She got out of bed and sighed. Another day. Of course, today was another day with a supermodel.
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"Jono!" Marie called, waving at the young Brit. He had designer sunglasses perched on top of his head. His neck and the bottom of his face were still covered, wrapped with a bright red scarf. Other than that, he was dressed very nondescript in torn jeans and a black sweatshirt.
His face lit up as he saw her. The crowds seemed to part for him as he pushed through with his two suitcases. His skin was tanned, his suitcases were plastered with travel stickers. It seemed as if life on the outside agreed with him.
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"How do you stop the Virus?" Jean asked, looking over Dr. Essex's shoulder. He was staring intently at the cells under the microscope.
"Humans will soon develop the anti-bodies necessary to combat the virus. Soon, only the people that can survive it will turn into mutants. It will lie dormant in everyone else," he answered without breaking concentration. "It's just a matter of time."
"Then what are you doing if not trying to stop the Virus?" She tapped on the keyboard, testing what he would do.
"I'm doing work beyond your comprehension. Now go away."
"I'm bored."
Essex turned to glare at her before shoving a stack of papers towards her. "Go file those, and then you can input some data for me."
Jean smiled angelically. "Do I get paid for this?"
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Remy silently looked at the crew they had assembled. Sam was slumping in the arm chair. Marie and Monet, who had arrived at the door earlier, sat stiffly on the loveseat. Bishop was sitting on the stool by the counter, arms folded and looking bored. Jono was at Marie's feet, leaning against her. He stifled the yawn and gazed up at Remy expectantly.
"We're waiting for two more," Remy said, shuffling the papers in his arms. On cue, the door opened and Kitty Pryde and Jubilee entered the room. "Finally. Ladies, please have a seat."
Marie got up and moved to the computer terminal. The projector was on and Sam hit the lights with the switch above his head.
"These are the four bases that we need to investigate. To begin, we'll separate into groups of two. Once we find out where Jean and Scott are being held, we'll reconvene and…come up with a new plan," Remy said wearily. "If you look to the screen, we'll focus on the San Francisco site, the Seattle site, the one in Virginia and the one in Florida. I paired us off and made up packets with as much information about the area as possible." Marie silently handed out the material. Then she took over.
"Sam and Kitty are going to San Francisco. Sam knows the area the best, Kitty will get into the system quickly and undetected. The warehouse is out on the bay. We expect this infiltration to have little to no physical contact because the hired scout hasn't seen any unusual activity."
"Jono and Jubilee will go to Virginia. The suspected base is used as a hospital. You guys need to check the lower and hidden levels. We know you can come up with something. Again, hoping no one is hanging around, but you may need to brush up on your fighting skills. The blueprints Sam brought should make things easy."
"Bishop and M, you're going to Florida. They put this little hideout in the middle of the swamp. There are people patrolling the area pretty much around the clock. Seems like a government outfit, but there's something strange about it. I know that with M's diplomatic ties and Bishop's…aggression, you guys can get the job done somehow."
"Remy and I will go to Seattle. It's an old theater apparently under renovations for the past decade. There was increased security, but no one moving around. We expect them to be either in Seattle or Florida, which had to be on opposite sides of the country to make our lives easy." Marie paused, moving to stand behind Remy. She placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed lightly. "We need to do this fast. They've been gone for five days now, Scott was shooting beams out of his eyes the last time we saw him, and Jean is probably driving him nuts." Remy looked up at her and gave her a dirty look.
"We leave tomorrow. Tickets are in your packets, money and transportation has been arranged. And everyone take their cells. Now let's get some sleep. It's going to be a hard two days." His voice had lost the fun, the joy for life. Everyone moved quietly around him and got ready to sleep. Marie gently pulled him up the stairs and helped him into bed. As the room went black, his eyes glowed dimly. Who could sleep? He hadn't slept in days.
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Jubilee and Kitty spread their information over the sofa bed they were sharing in the living room. Both had grown up from their days at the Institute. Gone were the giggling girls fighting for attention, for assurances that they were special. Gone was the innocence, the ignorant bliss in which they lived. They had found that they were needed to fight this strange new thing, this taste of evil, the unknown that licked at the corners of the world. Jubilee and Kitty carefully memorized the routes, planned for the task at hand. They helped each other out, finishing thoughts and plots of the other, covering page after page in notes and drawings. There was no time to sleep. The light burned bright late into the night.
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Sam stared up at the ceiling. He thought of his youth, he thought about his mother. He had tried his best to get her to move out of Kentucky and into California. He hated going to visit her in that hell hole. He remembered the day her blue eyes went flat, the day when her smile became strained. He remembered the day his father died. What would happen to his mother if he died? Would she lose her warmth, her love?
He remembered Jean, her bright hair shining in the sun. She didn't speak much, kinda withdrawn. It took him three days to get her to smile. Another two days to let him hold her hand. A week for her to become his sister in spirit, if not blood.
The shadows that played across the room changed as the sun came up. Sam watched them drift across the ceiling, his steely blue eyes never wavering, his mind working a mile a minute. He could get sleep later, after all.
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Jono lay on his side, thinking about the latest adventure he was headed for. Life was becoming too predictable so when Remy had called and asked him to help with the rescue mission, he had jumped at it. He could barely remember the girl, though Remy had talked enough about her. You would think that reacquainting yourself with life would be slow process. You would think that you would want to appreciate the details that you missed before. You would be wrong. There was a fervor to the way Jono lived life. He didn't have time to pay attention to the details; there was too much to do, too many things that he could miss if he slowed down.
Jono didn't want to sleep. You never know what you might miss.
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Scott took a drag on the cigarette. It had been so long. As the nicotine hit his blood stream, Scott thought about how hard it had been to quit. That was why he didn't let Remy smoke in front of him. The temptation was too great. He forced himself to grind the stick under his shoe. He couldn't even look at it. The sky was black, but he couldn't get to sleep. There was this constant restlessness that the little cell couldn't relieve him of.
Logan looked over at him, his face unreadable. They hadn't spoken since they'd made it to the lab. Scott stared silently back at him. It was a contest of wills, continuing on throughout the past days. Neither would speak.
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Jean was sick of feeling sorry for herself. She was tired of waiting for people to save the day. She hummed as she twirled the key to the power suppression collar as she headed towards the cell. It seemed to be pretty late. Working for Essex was pretty interesting. In the files that she was looking through, the man certainly seemed to have done his research on many of the world leaders and their offspring. And he barely paid any attention to her. It seems that since he knew Remy was becoming quite the thief, he would know better than to leave her alone with the supply room and files. Oh well, better for her. She yawned as she finally rounded the last corner. Scott and Logan were sitting in silence, both scowling, both poised to fly at one another.
You guys better keep quiet while you fight, she shot at Scott. I'm exhausted.
His expression never changed, however the surprise was evident in his "tone." How the hell did you do that?
It's pretty easy without that damn collar strangling me.
Key?
She smiled brightly at him and kissed his forehead. " 'Night Scotty."
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The plane had just touched down in Seattle half an hour ago. Marie and Remy were at an internet café, downing enough caffeine to keep them going for a week. Remy swore as he read Jean's message.
"Trust a fuckin' woman to be late!" Marie swiped at the back of his head. He didn't even notice. "She's here with Scott. They're both fine and waiting for us to 'hurry the fuck up' and get them out."
Marie sighed and pulled out her phone. "Hi, Sam…" Remy hummed as he flipped open his phone. "Hi, M…"
A/N: Wouldn't bet on another chapter of anything for another 3-5 weeks. Unless I get something out during finals, I'm going to Hawaii after grad so it'll be a long wait … Aloha! As always please, review. The big story is going very slowly. Promise to pick up with Raven, Xavier and co. next chap. Review!! Thanks.