Forty minutes later, Logan met Jean outside Nicole's new room. The dark man was in a slight panic, and his voice was unintentionally brusque when he asked Jean if she knew where Nicole was. The woman raised her eyebrow slightly.
"She's in this room now, Logan. She's been taking a shower since you left." Logan's eyes widened in shock.
"It's been almost an hour, Jean! Are you sure she's still in there? What if she's gone?" Jean shook her head and sighed.
"She's still there, Logan. She wouldn't leave without talking to you. Besides, she hasn't had a proper shower for three years. Let her enjoy it." Logan just shook his head. He knocked sharply on the door and waited impatiently until he heard Nicole's voice inviting him to enter. Jean headed back down the hall, shaking her head with a wry smile.
No lights were on in Nicole's room, and it was slightly dim because of the setting sun. Logan's eyes instantly adjusted, however, and seconds later Nicole walked out of the steamy bathroom, wrapped in a short towel.
"Oh, Logan, I thought it would be you." She smiled and turned towards the mirror, combing out her long hair.
"Yeah, the professor told me to come and get you. He wants to talk to you about your brother." Nicole nodded and then bent slightly, her hair falling in front of her face. When she was done combing it, she threw her head back and let her hair fall loosely. A few soft strands whispered across Logan's face as she did so, and he could smell the fresh scent of mayflowers and rain.
Logan watched her hair cascade over her back and squinted slightly, a memory of a similar scene playing the deep recesses of his mind, pressing to come to the forefront. He concentrated as hard as he could, trying to remember where he had seen it before.
It was a sunny day, and they were deep in the mountains by a green lake. Nicole's back was towards him and she flipped her hair, spraying him with water. He must have said something, because her lips tipped up into a playful smile and she replied in kind. Logan saw his hand reaching towards Nicole and rest on her upper arm, and she turned slightly towards him, the sun shining off her pale skin. His fingers lightly skimmed her arm and traveled across her shoulder to her neck, then stroked the soft skin under her ear. Nikkola closed her eyes and murmured something else, and his hand splayed across her back. Then his hands were at her waist, and her back was arching to--
Logan clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. The rest of the memory was gone, back into the locked corners of his past. When he opened his eyes again, Nicole was standing in front of him with a questioning look on her face, dressed in clothes that he recognized as Jean's. They were quite a bit more baggy on her slight frame.
"Logan, what is it?"
He shook his head, puzzled.
"I don't know, Nicole. It's like I can remember something, but only bits and pieces of it. I saw part of where we were, but I don't know exactly where it was, or what was going on. And I can't get at the rest of the memory to clear it up." Nicole nodded and frowned slightly, looking into Logan's eyes. Seconds later her brow smoothed and she grinned.
"What do you mean you do not know what was going on?" Logan shrugged.
"I just got parts of the memory. It's kinda dicey." Nicole laughed slightly as she headed towards the door.
"We were in a beautiful setting with no one else around, and we are codenamed after animals. What do you think was going on?" With a shake of her head, she disappeared out of sight around the corner, and Logan was left with a slack jaw. It took a moment for him to gather his wits and head out the door behind her, and he finally caught up with her halfway down the hall.
"You know where you're goin', Nicole?" She grinned up at him and shook her head.
"I am going to where the professor is. Did you not say he wanted to speak with me?" Logan nodded and was about to direct her towards the elevator, but she took the corner before he could say anything. Understanding dawned on Logan's face.
"You're following his scent." Nicole grinned and tapped the side of her head.
"You are correct, Wolverine. Not too bad for a domesticated pet. Maybe there is hope for you." Once again Logan was left with his mouth hanging open and Nicole threw back her head and laughed out loud.
"Does no one in this mansion tease you, Logan?" He chuckled ruefully and shook his head.
"I'm the tough guy. They're all too worried about offending me." Nicole shook her head with a mocking expression on her face and patted his cheek.
"Now that I do not believe. You are nothing more than a giant teddy bear." Logan grabbed her wrist and snarled playfully.
"Pat my cheek again, alley cat, and I'll remove your hand."
The merry light in Nikkola's eyes suddenly turned serious and her mouth opened slightly in shock.
"What did you just call me?" Logan frowned at the look on her face.
"Alley cat. Why?"
Nikkola's face was flushed, and the sound of her laughter floated over the small valley they had found. Logan's teasing was relentless, and she could barely catch a breath from laughing so hard.
"Well, I mean look at you, Nikka. You're nothing more than a scrappy, mangy little alley cat." Nicole's eyes widened and she sputtered indignantly.
"Alley cat? I cannot believe you just said that, Logan!" Logan just laughed at the look on her face, and so was caught off guard when her expression grew crafty and she threw a stick at him, launching herself after it. The two friends tumbled down the hill locked in a wrestler's hold, laughing the entire way.
Logan slowly licked his lips and gradually loosened his hold on Nicole's wrist until they were no longer touching. The expression on the tiny woman's face was solemn as she watched Logan's eyes for signs that he was remembering anything else. Logan cleared his throat.
"When was that?" Nicole didn't even hesitate.
"Two summers after we met, in the Black Sea area. It became one of your favorite pet names for me. I have not heard it for twenty years." Logan nodded absently, and then a second later he motioned for Nicole to continue down the hall. The duo was silent for the second half of the brief walk, and it was only when Nicole stopped in front of a large vault door at the end of a hallway that she turned to Logan again.
"Do you know what he wants to talk to me about?" Logan shrugged and nodded slowly.
"Kinda. I don't think it's good, Nicole." The small blonde nodded, her face reflective.
"You said that it was about my brother?" Logan nodded again.
"I think Xavier found him." Nicole's eyes snapped to his, but the door slid open at that moment and she didn't have a chance to reply. As she walked into the room, she felt her jaw drop at what she saw.
A narrow walkway led out to a small circular platform in the middle of an immense, perfectly spherical room. The lighting and the curved walls made it impossible to estimate how big the room really was, and when Nikkola chanced a look over the side of the walkway, she couldn't make out the bottom of the globe. On the dais in front of a small console was Professor Xavier, who was waiting patiently for her. When she finally turned her attention to him, he smiled at the look on her face and spoke in a low voice.
"This is Cerebro. In layman's terms, it is an extremely powerful computer that amplifies my telepathic power so I can reach any mutant on the planet." Nicole nodded, her eyes squinting.
"Logan said that you had found Victor." Xavier nodded solemnly.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Nicole. Three years ago, I believe Victor was exposed to some radiation that may have altered his healing factor. The injuries he sustained in this last fight with you are not healing; he is dying." Nicole grew completely still for a moment, her gaze fixed intently on Xavier's.
"Dying?" The professor nodded compassionately.
"I'm sorry, Nikkola. I don't think he has much time left, so I brought you here to find out what you wanted to do." Nikkola's head dropped for a second as she tried to wrap her mind around the news. After a moment she looked up, her face set into an countenance reminiscent of Logan's non-expression.
"Do you know where he is exactly, or even if he is still alive?" Xavier wheeled around to the console, reaching for the skeletal helmet.
"I can find out for sure. What will you do with the information?" Nicole didn't hesitate.
"Go to him. Stay with him until he is gone." Nikkola stepped closer to the console, watching the professor at the controls. Instinctively she knew not to move, and as the room seemed to melt away, she watched in awe as the walls of Cerebro took on the appearance of a three-dimensional globe of the world. The continents were covered with red and white lights, but the white lights soon faded away and the red rushed towards them, soon isolating the globe to the northeastern coast of the United States, then the state of New York. Nicole watched all this in awe, her mind working furiously to take it in, all the while wondering how it worked and if she could try it.
Xavier chuckled slightly.
"For someone who does not want me inside her head, you certainly are projecting your thoughts a great deal." Nicole shot back to the present and smiled wryly.
"You caught that, did you?" The walls around them slowly faded back to the original grey, and Charles removed the helmet. He wheeled back from the console and turned to face her.
"I don't know how powerful your telepathic ability is, but I would be willing to coach you through the process if you are willing to try it." Nikkola's jaw dropped slightly.
"You would do that? You would let me find my brother?" Xavier nodded, his face solemn.
"But I warn you now that Cerebro is not for the weak. If you wouldn't mind a test..."
Nicole nodded immediately and knelt in front of the wheelchair.
"What would you like me to do, Professor?" Charles searched her gaze carefully, and obviously found what he was looking for.
"There is a young boy somewhere on the property whom I think you have already met. He was the one who allowed you an escape route earlier today. Do you remember?" Nicole nodded.
"The small one with the brown hair. Yes, I remember." Charles nodded as well.
"His name is Jeff and he has heightened senses, as well as some other abilities. I want you to introduce yourself. Ask him why he was giving you an opportunity to flee."
Nikkola immediately reached out with her mind, searching for the small boy. Seconds later she smiled, and soon after looked up at Xavier.
"He says that I looked like a caged animal who was going to escape one way or another. He was just providing a relatively painless way...for everyone." Charles smiled as well, having followed her thoughts and hearing the same thing from Jeff.
"Excellent, Nikkola. There is just one more thing I need to be sure." Nicole knew what he was going to do, and nodded her agreement. The two telepaths leaned forward slightly, their concentration flowing into the astral plane.
In the depths of psionic space, Xavier's consciousness raced towards where he knew Nikkola was waiting. When he reached her, he was immediately encompassed by an awareness that surprised him with its depth. He pulled back slightly in shock, then probed deeper. Nikkola's psi was stronger than any other he had ever encountered, even slightly stronger than Jean's. He immediately knew that she could operate Cerebro as well as he with some help, and withdrew with the information.
Nikkola blinked once, and waited for him to speak. Charles shook his head and smiled.
"I had no idea, Nikkola. With a little coaching, you will have no problem with Cerebro." Nicole stood immediately, and then knelt in front of the console, placing the helmet over her head as Charles instructed, taking a deep breath after she did so.
"The basic principle behind Cerebro is simple. You think into it, and it amplifies your power to a global level. You just need to relax." Nicole closed her eyes with another breath, and focused her mind with a simple exercise she had learned in the army. When she opened her eyes, her mouth opened in amazement at the sight and feeling of the room dropping away into nothing, like a giant roller-coaster. She was looking at the giant map of the world as if she were inside the core looking outward.
One corner of her mind concentrated on the instructions Xavier was feeding her telepathically while the rest complied with them, muting out the white lights that represented the 'normal' humans and focusing on the scarlet lights that were mutants. Just for fun she mentally spun around the globe and laughed delightedly at the huge number of lights displayed, before settling on the eastern seaboard as Xavier had earlier. It only took a second for her to isolate New York, and then she concentrated on finding Victor's unique mental signature, a sense of urgency to her thoughts.
Suddenly she latched onto the familiar voice, and raced towards him. He was still in the forest, only a few hundred meters away from where they had fought. Nikkola felt a tear trickle down her cheek at the pain and despair she felt in his mind, and she took a moment to confer telepathically with Xavier.
Can I talk to him through Cerebro? Charles mentally nodded his head, and Nikkola took a breath and blinked once.
Victor... She recognized the confusion and surprise that her brother felt, and instantly wrapped a psionic blanket around his mind, calming him down. Her lower lip trembled slightly in relief when she realized that he was indeed in his right mind.
It is Nikkola. I am here, Vilya. Nicole felt his relief and almost cried when he tried to hide his pain from her.
Victor, I am so sorry. I had no idea you could not heal. Victor rebuked her for apologizing and began to apologize instead, berating himself for attacking her. Nikkola shook her head and stopped him.
We do not have time for apologies, Victor. Can you hang on for a little while longer? I am coming to find you. Her lip trembled again when she felt him hesitate, pain and fear filling his mind.
Vilya, you can hang on. You must hang on. I will be there soon. She could feel him slipping and called one last final plea before racing away, returning to the platform in the spherical room where Xavier was waiting with wonder in his eyes.
"Your abilities are truly amazing, Nikkola. I haven't found anyone else who can handle Cerebro with such ease and natural talent." Nicole nodded quickly, barely acknowledging the praise, her mind set on her brother.
"Professor, I need to leave. Victor will not last long, and I have to see him before he dies." Xavier immediately nodded and they exited the room, the vault door hissing closed behind them.
"I thought that was what you would want to do. Logan, Jean, and Scott are already waiting for you in the Blackbird. I have given them the coordinates, and they only require you before they leave." Nikkola nodded absently, her mind only half concentrating on what the professor was saying. When it finally sunk in, she stopped mid-step and looked at him quizzically.
"Blackbird?"