Disclaimer: See Chapter 2 or 5 (your pick!)

Special thanks to Tailfeather, Dracula'sGurl, and Demonrogue.

Ch 7- The Old Fashioned Way

Jean woke up automatically groaning, "Rosie, please. Let Mommy sleep."

Every day Rosie would come and wake her parents as soon as the little girl was awake herself. When Jean didn't hear a protest, she sat up to see golden sunlight streaming through her window. As soon as she saw this, Jean looked to her clock in alarm. It was seven fifteen; Rosie usually came in by at least six, which was usually why Jean and Scott ended up cooking most of the morning's breakfast. "Scott." Jean spoke urgently, shaking her husband. "Scott, Rosie didn't wake us up."

Scott immediately leaped out of bed and followed Jean to Rosie's room. Last night, Triss and Nate hadn't put anything in Rosie's bed, because they didn't expect the five year old to follow them. At the sight of the strewn covers and empty bed, Jean cried, "She's gone!"

Everyone else heard this and appeared in Rosie's room soon after.

"Rahne," Jubilee asked, "Can you go sniff the doors to see if Rosie left?"

Rahne nodded and then bounded down the stairs three at a time, her fur rippling from the speed at which she was going. Rahne sniffed the floor, as well as the door knobs to confirm Rosie's disappearance. Bobby opened the door for Rahne, and she sniffed just outside the door. Suddenly, the fur on the back of her neck stood on end. Rahne turned tail and raced upstairs. The others followed the wolf as quickly as they could. They found Rahne, a human now, in Ron's room, leaning against the wall for support. Rahne had ripped the quilt and sheet off the bed, revealing two pillows, a basketball, and various pillowcases, all neatly arranged to resemble Ron. All stood there for a moment, looking stricken, before scattering to their childrens' rooms. Soon, everyone was in a frenzy to follow Rahne, who was attempting to track the children in her mutant form. She dashed across the dewy grass until she came to a brook at the edge of the woods. She stopped there and turned back to a dazed human before saying, "Ron thought of this; he had them go through the creek."

All stood by the stream until Kitty gasped, and dropped to her knees to fish something out of the water. She held up the dripping object, which turned out to be a strip of leather with something tied at the middle like a necklace of some sort. Of course, everyone gathered around her to see, because if a woman who is nine months pregnant drops to her knees like that, it's usually a matter of importance. Kitty's voice was quaky as she said, "It's Drake's."

When she didn't say anymore, most thought her statement was pretty self explanatory. Only Kurt and Rogue knew better. Kurt knew exactly what it was, while Rogue had to question a little.

"What is it?" Rogue inquired curiously, as she and Kurt helped Kitty to her feet again. "It's a rattlesnake's rattle." Kitty explained, tears welling up in her eyes. "About a year after the divorce, I took Drake to Disneyland in California with Lance. It was to show Drake everything was going to be ok." Kitty paused here, choking on her tears. She continued once she found her voice. "We found this at the hotel, just lying on the sidewalk. It was sort of a handmade souvenir."

Rogue nodded in understanding until Kitty found a soaked piece of paper. She peeled it off the rattle and unfolded it carefully, revealing a message written in black ink that was barely legible. Kitty managed to see that it read:

You said it would be ok. Liar.

Kitty's eyes grew wide as she finished Drake's message. Tears spilled down her face as Rogue and Kurt tried to console her. It was in vain, though. Kitty let them walk her into the Institute as she wept. When the three came in, Jean caught some stray thoughts from Kitty.

Kitty, you are not a bad mother. Jean told her using telepathy, saddened at her friend's opinion.

"If I was good one, this wouldn't have happened!" Kitty wailed out loud before going upstairs to her room.

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Later, the Institute was the picture of depression. Rahne had been outside for an hour, still trying to catch a scent, even though she knew it was useless. Her friends Amara and Jubilee eventually convinced her to come inside. Rogue was more sarcastic and defensive than usual, which was truly saying something. Roberto and Bobby finally coaxed their wives to eat something, while Kitty had to coax Kurt not to eat everything in the house. The men were trying hard not to show any sign of strong emotion, despite the women telling them that crying feels much better and that they shouldn't keep their emotions bottled up like that. This didn't last, however, because Rogue got very tired of the men's false sense of calm. She forcefully kicked Scott, who was by far the most stubborn about the women's suggestion, sending him into hysterics about his son and daughter. Upon seeing their leader fall, the rest soon gave in to tears, also admitting to their wives that they had been wrong.

Soon everyone was gathered outside the doors of Cerebro. Everyone except Jean, who was inside helping Professor Xavier locate the missing children. The Professor soon said, "I've found Tom." It was easy for him to locate Tom, because he had done so before. Xavier was about to speak when he noticed something curious. He had lost the children. It was as if they had been extinguished like candles.

"Professor?" Jean asked, starting to becoming slightly alarmed.

"I've lost them to the same kind of mind block that Magneto's helmet contains," he answered grimly.

Jean sat wide eyed in horror at this announcement.

"What do we do now?" She whimpered in fear for the children.

"We look the old fashioned way." he answered, going to prepare a search through the vast woodlands that were to the Institute's northwest.