Author's Note: Just to clarify a little something: Shadow, Stone, and Cat are my own creations. From now on if I make up my own character, I'll let you know. Sorry about the confusion! Furthermore, you weren't supposed to know who he was. So, don't worry, nothing slipped by you. He's a mystery character at the moment.
Chapter Fifteen
Alliance
Logan paced Xavier's office, his patience waning on a delicate thread. He growled at everything anyone said, his eyes narrowing daggers out the window – desperate to get out on the hunt. He snarled when Cyclops approached him.
"Logan," the leader attempted to calm his rampage. "We'll find her, but we can't just run off blind. We don't even know where to start."
"He's right, Logan," the Professor's calm, fatherly voice spoke up from his chair by the large bay window. "Running off without a place to run to won't help get Rogue back any faster."
"I can't just stand around here," he snapped, glaring at the anxious faces around him. "For all we know Magneto may be trying to use her again! And I swear, if he lays one finger on that girl I'm going to slice him to pieces!"
Bobby hesitantly stepped forward, a question gnawing on his mind. "Logan, about this man you saw; you said he just…vanished?" The young man almost shrank back when the Wolverine flashed his glowering eyes at him. Swallowing, Iceman went on cautiously: "Do you mean like Kurt? A transporter?"
Kurt's head came up, curious.
Logan glanced at the blue mutant then shook his head. "No. He just sort of…disappeared. Like…he melted into the scenery…or…sort of formed into the shadows around him…hell, I don't know. One second he was there and the next he wasn't. Who cares how he did it?"
"To know your enemies," Dr. McCoy chimed in, "is to not only know their strengths, but their weaknesses. Isn't that right, Charles?"
Xavier nodded, thoughtful. "If this man can only blend into surrounding shadows, then bright daylight would do him no good. Yet, we don't know if that's his mutation. We must assume he can disappear and reappear anywhere and at any given time."
"Yeah," Logan said. "And if he reappears around me I'm going to kill the bastard."
"Well," Storm interjected. "He must be connected to the Brotherhood. Who else would kidnap her and use a mutant to do it? So, we do have a starting point. All we need to do is draw a member of the Brotherhood out. Maybe make them think we've got the disc – or are about to find it."
"I agree with Storm," Cyclops announced authoritatively. "But to really grab their attention, I think we should avoid the warehouse scene. They'll think we're really onto something if we don't repeat past failures. So far, the disc as yet to arrive at any of the targeted warehouses."
"What if this isn't about the disc," Bobby asked, glancing at Logan for his reaction. "Someone could want Rogue for a number of reasons. She can do anything as long as she touches someone with that gift. And it's no secret she can fly. The Brotherhood were there when it first happened."
"Yes," Xavier nodded. "But the Brotherhood wouldn't tell anyone else about Rogue's new ability. They would want to use the information for themselves. It is possible they took Rogue in order to get to the disc. It's quite plausible that Magneto already knows its location."
"They why doesn't he get it himself?" Kurt, crouching on one of the filing cabinets, shook his head in confusion.
"Maybe he can't," the Professor answered, slightly baffled him self.
"That doesn't make any sense." Logan's final thread was unraveling. "She absorbs powers. So if they already have someone with the power they need to get the damn disc, then why would they need her?" He abruptly came up short, remembering the nightmare on the Statue of Liberty, cradling her lifeless body to him. "Unless it's somewhere dangerous – nearly impossible to get to. Magneto wouldn't risk himself."
"This is still all speculation that it is the Brotherhood who has her," Dr. McCoy pointed out. His large, furry body took up half the sofa. He truly did appear beastly, but it didn't take long for one to look past it to see his kind, intellectual soul. "Let's just assume for one moment that they don't." Beast scanned the X-men around him. "Who else would take her and why?"
"The government wouldn't use a mutant," Bobby exclaimed.
"Stryker did," Logan's voice was dark and loathing. "What makes any of them any different?"
"What would the government need her for?"
Logan flashed his hardening eyes at Iceman. "To get the disc. They didn't know where it was either. That's why it never arrived at any of the attended locations. Because the government's lost it."
"Then who has it," Storm asked.
They all glanced at each other.
Xavier shook his head. "I don't know."
A knocking on the door interrupted any further discussion. Xavier nodded at Cyclops to the answer. Scott did as he was instructed, slowly opening the door to a young child. "What is it?"
"Someone is here to see the Professor," she answered timidly. "He said it was urgent."
"Let him in," Xavier called, wheeling closer to the entrance.
A tall man dressed in a long, brown trench coat swept into the room, his brown shaggy hair falling over his unique eyes: where it should be white, they were black; and both the iris and retina were red. "Bonjour, mes amis," he exclaimed boastfully.
"Who the hell are you," Wolverine growled, his sensitive nose picking up a dull smell of that almost like an electrical fire. He instinctively had a dislike for the stranger.
The other man grinned. "Je m'appelle Gambit."
End Chapter Fifteen
Galxychld: Something had to break the camel's back, right?
Wapps921: I enjoy tension, too. Personally, I don't care for the lovey-dovey, everyone's walking-on-a-cloud kind of romances: they're not what I would call an attention-grabber, or realistic.
Roguechere AND Snooboostoo AND Asderblair: I answered your Shadow questions above in the A/N section.
S J Smith: I'm glad you decided to stumble out of your Angel/Buffy realm for a quick vacation into my world! More importantly, thank you for the review! I hope you enjoy your stay at the X-men fandom. Please, feel free to join us again.
Sage: Oh, rest assured there will be more. Thanks!
Blix Howlett: Thanks a ton! It's great to hear you'll liking it even if Rogue is making you a bit hot under the collar.
Drnfly: Hey, I couldn't possibly let my readers down! And now you're in for more action and – more importantly – romance!
Starshine: Thank you so much! And as for Logan kicking butt and rescuing Rogue: I wouldn't have it any other way!
Jo: /takes a bow/ Wow. I mean…wow. That is very sweet of you to say.
Kryptonite: I wondered about that myself. It's almost as if he/she wanted me to write him/her. Now why the hell would I waste my time to do that? Anyway, I appreciate the review and motivation.