Hope Returns

Chapter Twelve

By: Lily Handle

------

Author's Note: I am getting these chapters out really quickly, which I know you all enjoy. I want to thank all the reviewers, since I haven't in a while. You guys are the best! Here's chapter twelve for all of you, where things start to really pick up again. Please read and review.

------

There were things Charles remembered while slowly coming to. He remembered the Capitol, covered in snow. He remember sitting with Ororo, Hank and Dr. Chandler in his hotel room, talking late into the night about the hearings. He remembered his parting words to the students, but most disturbingly he remember gunfire. He remembered sensing something was wrong while he listened to Dr. Chandler speak, he remembered the explosion that knocked him out of his chair, and he remembered the gunfire. He slowly clawed his way through the blackness, waking up step by step. When he opened his eyes he was staring at the Infirmary ceiling. He was in the Institute, he realized, why wasn't he in Washington? Charles pushed himself up so he was sitting, looking around the Infirmary for Dr. Chandler. She should be the one taking care of him, but the Infirmary was empty.

"Dr. Chandler?" Charles tried mentally reaching her, but got no answer, "Logan?"

"That you Charles?" Logan thought back, sounding surprised and relieved, but also far away.

"Yes, Logan, where are you?"

"Canada. Look, call for 'Roro or McCoy, they'll explain everything, but here's the long and short of it. Wilson Trask attacked the Capitol, he's got Hope locked up somewhere here, in Canada. I'm on his trail though," Logan explained, but Charles sensed there was something more.

"What aren't you telling me, Logan?"

"Can't hide anything from you. Trask has thrown down a time limit, the others don't know, but he's given S.H.I.E.L.D. a week to find Hope before kills her."

"I'll try reaching her telepathically."

"I wouldn't," Logan cut in, "Jean's been trying with Cerebro, hasn't had any contact. I figure he's blocking her somehow, like when Trask Sr. had me."

"Yes, that would make sense. Have you found anything?"

"A scent trail, I'm following it."

"Logan, before I go, how many days are left?"

"Four days." Charles let Logan slip away, four days, how long had he been out? Well, if he wanted answers he'd have to hear it from someone who was awake. He called for Ororo first, who answered right away and Charles could sense she was already on her way down to the Infirmary. He leaned back against the pillows and rubbed at his head. He was surprised to find it hurt a bit. He was recovering from a blow to the head, he'd been out for a very long time it seemed, stretching his powers so soon had probably caused it. When Ororo came through the door she instantly walked across the room and hugged him.

"It's good to see you're awake," She said, "We were getting worried."

"Time heals most wounds," Charles said, hugging her back, "But I'm very certain there's a lot I'm missing."

Ororo pulled back and sat down on the bed next to his, "There is. I don't really know where to start."

"Tell me about what's happened to Dr. Chandler," Charles suggested. That was what he was most interested, a long with the attack, but with four days left in the search he needed information on the kidnapping first.

"How did you know something happened to Hope?"

"I talked with Logan before you, he told me she was missing," Charles explained.

"Yes, she is. Wilson Trask turned out to be just like his father, staunchly anti-mutant. He attacked the Capitol building and took Hope. Logan has been part of the search for her from the beginning. He's in Canada now, following a scent trail. Jean did hear from her, a while ago, but hasn't since. She's been trying to get in contact with her again using Cerebro. Before you ask, she went and searched your mind for the code."

"Ah yes, I seem to remember that."

"We believed it was the best course of action," Ororo explained, "How do you feel Charles?"

"Glad to finally be awake. The students, how are they?"

"On edge, they're all waiting for Jean or Logan to find something." Ororo smiled at him, "They've been worried about you too, Charles."

"Well, get me some clothes and we'll go see them."

"Are you sure, Charles? Do you think you need more rest?"

Charles shook his head, "I've been resting for a while now, Ororo, I think it is time for some action."

------

Kitty loved computers; actually she loved hacking computers more than anything else. People thought she was a ditz, all because she said like and uh sometimes when talking, but sit her in front of the Institute's computers and tell her to find a file, she'd be after it with the determination of Jean the Perfect. She was kinda bored right now though; shifting through these files about the Akelm family was boring. These people were possibly the most boring people on the planet. They came from some no where town in Canada where they ran a general store, then moved to Buffalo to open another general store. Jeeze, these people didn't do anything put sell cheese and milk. Ugh, Kitty wanted a challenge, something fun, like hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. She probably wasn't supposed to have heard Mr. McCoy talking about that, but it would be so cool to take on the government. Okay, so the few government computers she'd hacked into had been pathetically easy, but this was S.H.I.E.L.D. these guys were top notch. If Mr. Logan had worked for them, that meant they had to have some sort of high tech firewall. Kitty glanced over her shoulder to where Mr. McCoy was sitting staring at another computer scene. He wasn't really paying attention to her, he probably wouldn't notice if she took a side trip into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers.

"Anything interesting?" Scott asked and Kitty jumped. She'd forgotten Scott was also helping, or at least trying to help, he wasn't that good with computers.

"No," Kitty sighed, watching her chance to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. slip away, "Just some articles about like these stupid grocery stores."

"Yeah, Hank's getting most of the same," Scott said, "Logan hasn't called in either. Hank says he's on his way even farther north."

"Jeeze, he's going a long way for Doc Hope," Kitty commented, "I mean not that we wouldn't do the same thing, but he's made it like his own personal crusade or something."

"Hey, if any one of us was kidnapped he'd do the same thing," Scott said.

"Yeah, of course, but there's something going on between them," Kitty muttered more to herself than to Scott.

"What?" Scott looked astonished at the idea and Kitty rolled her eyes.

"You know Scott, sometimes you're a real dork when it comes to certain things," Kitty said whispering, "Doc Hope has a thing for Mr. Logan, haven't you noticed?"

"What? No way," Scott denied also whispering, "She's got something going with Hank."

Kitty rolled her eyes again, "You're so clueless." Scott looked about to argue, but the door opened and Kitty was spared.

"Professor!" Scott rushed towards the door, and Kitty jumped out of her seat, "You're awake!"

"Yes, Scott," The Professor reached up and placed a hand on Scott's shoulder, "How goes the search?" He asked, rolling further into the room.

"Slow," Mr. McCoy said, turning away from his computer, "I'm looking into both Trasks, to see if they have a connection to Agent Akelm."

"Agent Akelm? He was one of the FBI agents assigned to protect Dr. Chandler, what does he have to do with Trask?"

"Mystique was disguised as Agent Wayne, another agent assigned to watch out for Hope. In the attack on the Capitol she was knocked out and captured. When Logan went to…talk… with her she claimed that Akelm was Trask right hand man, we're looking into that."

"While Logan follows a scent trail through Canada," the Professor said, "Has Logan caught Akelm scent?"

"I don't know, he hasn't updated us today," Mr. McCoy frowned. Kitty watched the Professor who seemed to look through Mr. McCoy and knew he was using telepathy. Kitty always thought it was a little weird how the Professor could read thoughts, it was kinda of like someone reading your diary without your permission, but the Professor never read your thoughts without asking. He was good about those things.

"Logan says there's a snow storm, he's still tracking the scent, but it's harder in the weather," The Professor said after a minute, when he seemed to come back to the reality of the computer room.

"Kitty," The Professor turned towards her and Kitty smiled at him, "You haven't hacked anything recently have you?"

"No, just searching through the newspapers," Kitty blushed a bit, "I wouldn't hack anyway, not without like permission."

"Good," The Professor looked past Kitty's shoulder, "It looks like you have something." Kitty turned around and sat back down in her chair to start typing furiously.

"It's a change of name application," Scott said, looking over Kitty's shoulder, "Akelm changed his name."

"What?" Mr. McCoy walked over and stood looking over Kitty's other shoulder, "When?"

"Ten years ago," Kitty said, "His old name was William Stryker."

"Change the search," Hank ordered, "Look for anything connecting William Stryker and Trask." Kitty flexed her fingers, rolled her shoulders and hunkered down.

------

The weather had gone to hell, or hell when it froze over. Logan could barely see five feet in front of him through the thick billowing snow. The temperature had dropped to twenty below, which wasn't too bad for this part of Canada, but he wasn't thinking about that. Hope was out in this, with nothing but a falling apart shed to protect her from the cold. The SUV was handling the weather well enough, but if he stopped there was a chance the oil in the engine would begin to freeze, leaving him on foot. That had its upsides and its downsides. While on foot Logan could track the scent better, but on foot he'd move slower, and he didn't have time to waste. There was some good news though, Charles was awake, finally and had joined in the search. Jean may not have been strong enough to reach Hope, even with Cerebro's help, that wouldn't be a problem for Charles. Damn, Logan thought pulling the SUV back to the correct lane as a strong gust of wind pushed it to the other side of the road. He should stop, pull over to the side of the road somewhere and wait the storm out, but he didn't have the time to wait. Four days left, Logan glanced at the clock, and it was slowly closing on three. He didn't have a clue about how long the trail could be, if he continued at this pace he was going to run out of time. He couldn't go faster in the storm without risking getting in an accident, and then he'd be left on foot, even slower. He could ask for the jet to pick him up, but then tracking the scent would be harder. His best option was to continue at the pace he was at and hope Charles or hell even Fury got something new. His phone rang, Logan glanced at it on the seat next to him, the Institute was calling.

"Yeah," Logan said when he answered.

"We've got news," Hank said without preamble, "Big news."

"All right, what is it?"

"Peter Akelm's real name is William Stryker, there's a cabin owned by Stryker's father about 120 kilometers from Fort Good Hope. The team is on its way, but the bad weather's going to slow them down."

"Who the hell is Stryker and what does he have to do with any of this?" Logan asked, the driving made even more difficult with one hand on the wheel.

"Here's what Kitty's been able to get so far. Trask Sr. meets with his lawyer, the lawyer meets with a client named William Stryker."

"And Akelm who is really Stryker meets with Trask Jr. Damn it, all right, well tell 'Roro to get up here, she's got do something about this damn weather," Logan yelled.

"She's on her way, but there's no guarantee. Logan, you're the closest, you have the best chance of reaching Hope."

"Damn it, Hank, the storm can't last that long!"

"It's a not just a storm, it's a blizzard," Hank growled, "The Canadian weather service says it's one of the worst on record. Until Ororo gets up there, you've got the best chance of finding the cabin, and what do you mean the storm can't last that long?"

"Never mind," Logan hung up and tossed the phone into the backseat. He checked the gas gage; he probably had enough to take him to the next town, and floored the gas pedal.

Author's Note: Did anyone see that coming? Did you? No, I bet you didn't! Ha! Anywho, you hated Trask, just wait until you meet my version of Stryker. While he won't be exactly like his comic counter part, you'll know he's Stryker. Stay tuned for more!

------