Note: This chapter will shed a little more light on Nate & Wanda's past (together), as well as the mysterious mutant duo in the van.  Plus, there's three new mutants some might recognize.

Chapter 6: Things to Do When You're Bored (at Midnight)

It was a dream he'd had at least once a week ever since he'd left Wanda, and it never changed.

In the dream, Nate would wake up from a nightmare (dreaming within a dream was NEVER a good sign) in a cold sweat.  He would then look to the left and see Wanda sitting on the windowsill, watching the sun rise as she always did.  He would conveniently forget that they no longer lived together in the loft in Soho, and that Wanda was currently trucking around the country (or "vanning" as he'd always put it).

The dream itself wasn't really a bad thing.  It did, however, constantly remind Nate that Wanda had not just been a traveling companion.  Back then, he'd taken her presence for granted.  But even in the dream, there was something about waking up in the same room as her that made living seem worth all the trouble.  Whether that was because Wanda was the one person who understood him, or because she was a kindred spirit, he couldn't say for sure.

Either way, waking up without her nearby was definitely nowhere near as relaxing.  Especially since the dream liked to occur around midnight and leave Nate with a really annoying case of insomnia.

He briefly considered waking Piotr, but decided against.  Piotr was a nice guy, but Nate was pretty sure waking him up at this hour would still earn him an armor-coated fist to the head.

It was then that he felt the mental equivalent of a tentative poke.  ~"Nate?  Are you still up?"~

Nate sat up and yawned.  ~"Yeah, Yana.  What is it?  Nightmare?  Midnight munchies?"~

~"No, I couldn't sleep."~  There was a tiny hint of frustration in her tone.

~"Want me to come read you a story?"~  Nate asked, glad to have something to do.

~"No, you better not.  I'm not s'posed to ask for help unless there's big trouble or a 'mergency.  Jubilee says that's what being independent's all about.  She sounded pretty sure about it, so…"~

Nate smiled.  ~"She does have a point, Yana.  But if you don't want my help, why did you call me?"~

~"Um.  I thought, since I couldn't sleep, and you're kinda in my head, maybe you couldn't sleep, either.  So, I figured if neither of us could sleep, we might as well talk and keep each other busy."~

~"Well…I would like that, but you have class in the morning, and I have to see the Professor again.  So maybe we should try to get some sleep."~

~"But I did try.  It doesn't work!"~ she complained.

~"That's something I can help you with.  Don't worry, even independent people need help getting to sleep some nights."~

~"Okay.  But don't tell Jubilee!"~

~"My lips are sealed.  Now, open your mind to me."~

~"Is it gonna feel funny?"~

~"No, more like someone draping a blanket over your head…which makes perfect sense, when you think about it."~  As he spoke, Nate subtly slipped in among Illyana's thoughts and inserted a simple suggestion.

By the time he'd finished the sentence she was fast asleep.  "Sweet dreams, Yana," he whispered faintly, letting the connection fade. 

Unfortunately, that left him, yet again, with nothing to do.

Nate turned to gaze at his window.  "Wish you were here, Wanda," he whispered.  "I was never bored with you around."

* * * * *

Wanda likened the sensation to a tickle just behind her ear.  Exactly what it felt like wasn't the issue, though.

Nate had been thinking of her…perhaps even missing their being together as much as she had.

The night before he'd left, he'd told her everything: how he was a ticking, telekinetic time bomb, how he was going to die, and how he didn't want her to be hurt when he did go out with a bang.  His last act had been to weaken their telepathic link to a point where it only picked up the most basic sensations: life and death.  If Wanda were to die, he would know.  When she experienced triumph, he would know.  She'd joked about what might happen if she took a cute guy home, and Nate had been somewhat vague about how much would be filtered through to him.

Maybe he'd just expected her to know that he could and would respect her privacy.

Maybe he'd known then (and damn him for not telling her if he had) that there would be no cute guys.  Well, there was Remy, but he was clearly lying about his age.  Wanda could never touch him intimately without feeling like a horrible person.  Whether the lack of cute guys was just natural, or if she was subconsciously rejecting every guy that wasn't enough like Nate, Wanda couldn't be sure.  But that was odd, since the farthest she'd ever gotten with him was waking up in his arms.  Nate always gave off that "you're-my-best-friend" vibe that she'd learned to put up with, no matter how infuriating it was.  She'd half-expected him to make a face and run for fear of cooties; he was so child-like sometimes: a seven-year old in a teenager's body. 

It would've been annoying in anyone else, but with Nate, it was just fun and fast and…easy.  She didn't have to try to be someone she wasn't around him, she didn't have to hide her powers, and she didn't have to worry about him trying to cop a feel (though she wouldn't have stopped him, probably).  Nate liked her exactly as she was, and that had impressed her.  He never asked her to dress up or paint her face.  In fact, most times he told her to cover up and wear less "face paint"…which was sweet, since Wanda saw that as an attempt to refuse his lust for her body and a desire to see the real her.

Just when she was about to doze off with a vision of Nate in her head, there was a hard poke in her ribs.

Wanda shook her head and glanced down, only to find the very large head of a Komodo dragon sniffing at her duster.  "Oh.  Still awake, Musty?"  She stroked the scaly head gently.  "You know, I've just realized something.  All your transformations have been either mythical or really rare animals so far.  Think you could do a gargoyle or a kraken?"

The Komodo dragon sneezed, sounding a bit grumpy.

"You don't have to get touchy about it.  I just always wanted a pet gargoyle."

There was a sound not entirely like "bamf," but a lot closer to "boomf."

Wanda waved her hand to clear away the slight clouds of smoke, and found that her Komodo dragon had grown huge, leathery wings.  "Well, I guess it's a start.  Thanks for trying, Musty."  She offered him a bright smile.

There was a grunt of what might have been happiness just before Musty dropped his large head in her lap and began to snore.

Wanda couldn't help chuckling as she patted his head.  She glanced over to where Remy had fallen asleep, propped up against their oversized egg.  "Not a bad idea."

Moving slowly under the weight of Musty's head, Wanda moved to lean against the egg, finding it surprisingly warm at her touch.  Taking that to be a good sign, she patted it fondly and laid her cheek against the smooth surface.  "Sweet dreams, little one," she whispered, closing her eyes.

A moment later, Musty slowly wandered over, once again in the hunched over form of the Wendigo.  Moving carefully, he slid between the side of the van and the egg, draping his huge, furry arms around the egg and the two teens, in something of a brotherly embrace.  Within seconds, he was asleep again, his chin resting carefully on the very top of the egg..

Deep inside the egg, a young life shifted, and then settled down to finish its long nap.

* * * * *

"Most troubling," Charles Xavier whispered as he removed the Cerebro headset.

There had been absolutely no trace of Wanda Maximoff.  She was either dead, or shielded from Cerebro somehow.  Magneto was one of the few people who could provide her with such information, but why would he, and would she even accept his help?  They were certainly not on good terms, Charles knew that much for a fact. 

But Nate seemed too sure that Wanda was alive, and that Cerebro couldn't find her.  Perhaps he knew of another way to find or summon her.  It was certainly possible, given the unpredictable nature of Wanda's powers. 

Still, it would've been nice to see the proof of her existence for himself.

Xavier sighed and turned his wheelchair around, leaving Cerebro's chamber with several doubts in his head.  Maybe that was why he nearly collided with one of his students.

Or maybe said student shouldn't have been wandering the halls so late in the first place.

"Jubilee!" Xavier cried in surprise.

Jubilee jumped back in shock…or maybe it was guilt.  "Um.  Hi, Professor!  You got the munchies, too?"

"No, I was…"  Xavier trailed off.  "What were YOU doing out of bed this late, child?"

"Oh, you noticed," she sighed.  "Well, I could say I was getting cocoa for Yana, but then I'd have to explain what I was doing all the way down here."

"That was my next question…"

"The truth is, I was actually getting some warm milk for myself.  Had some trouble sleeping."

"I see."  Xavier reached out and touched the large mug she was holding.  "Do you always prefer you warm milk…ice cold?"

Jubilee blushed in the dim hallway.  "Okay, ya got me.  I was down here for another reason."

"And that would be…?"

"I was hoping I'd bump into Mr. Logan.  As in corner him so he couldn't slip into the shadows again."

Xavier arched an eyebrow.  "Might I ask why you needed to bother the poor man at this hour?"

Jubilee shrugged.  "I guess I could have waited, but I'm curious NOW, and I might forget by morning."

"What did you wish to ask?"

She shifted uneasily.  "You know how when you gave Logan some answers, he ran off?"

"He came back, Jubilee."

"I know that.  But…Nate might not."

"…I thought we were talking about Logan?"

"We were.  But Nate's not Logan, and…I don't want him to go, Professor.  He's been so good for Yana, and if he left, it would break her little heart."

"And you hoped to keep him here by asking Logan to threaten the boy?"

Jubilee smiled.  "Well, that IS an idea…but no.  I was gonna ask Logan if Magneto had ever gotten mouthy and mentioned his kid.  You know how egotistical bad guys always talk too much when they think they've got you…"

"I really doubt Magneto would ever mention Wanda to an opponent.  He was never really comfortable talking about her at all, not even to his closest friends."

"But since I found you," Jubilee said suddenly, patting his shoulder.  "If you could possibly take your time in this whole search for Wanda…?"

"Jubilee.  I will not withhold information that could save Nate's life.  If he must leave us to become healthy, so be it.  While I am concerned for Illyana's happiness, I am far more concerned for her safety, and that of every other student here.  If her being unhappy means she continues to live…well, she has her brother."  Xavier sighed.  "However, you need not worry.  I've had no luck finding Wanda with Cerebro."

Jubilee couldn't help smiling.  "Request permission to cheer?"

Xavier frowned.  "I would advise against it.  You're in enough trouble as it is.  Now, off to bed with you, child.  I had better not hear one report of you falling asleep in classes tomorrow."

"Okay, I'm going."  Jubilee leaned down and kissed his forehead.  "Night, Prof."

Xavier smiled slightly as she turned to go.  "Goodnight, Jubilation."

* * * * *

Senator Robert Kelly was not a man that liked to answer his phone after hours.  Had anyone happened to walk into his office, they might've only thought that the senator had suffered a change of heart.  They could not know that was the least of the changes.

For one thing, Kelly had been dead for some months now.

The person sitting in his chair certainly looked enough like Kelly, even sounded and acted like he did.  But that was where the similarities ended.

The phone ran precisely three minutes after midnight, and "Kelly" picked up on the second ring.

"Give me good news, son," Kelly said.

There was a dry laugh from the other end.  "Hello, 'Mother'.  We're in Maine."

"Already?  Then I take it the doggie's behaving himself?"

"He's been most cooperative.  Keeps going on about how he'd be dead if it wasn't for my father.  It's even starting to get a bit annoying."

"He's worth the big mouth, son.  How did your trip go?"

"Very productive.  We found our friend without much trouble.  He seems to like being out and about.  Not half as hands-on as he was at first, though, thanks to whatever was in that package."

"Merely a mock carbonadium synthesizer.  It won't fix the problem, but it will keep him from sucking you both dry.  You keep an eye on him.  He doesn't owe us as much as the doggie, and he might change sides if it suits him."

"I don't think he will.  For now, he's quite excited about our plans.  Especially when I mentioned a certain student of Xavier's."

"That can wait.  You do remember our first priority, don't you?"

"Of course.  I am as interested in seeing my sister alive as anyone else."

"And which sister would mean by that, Pietro?"

"Does it matter?" he replied.

"No, I suppose it doesn't.  You be careful, boy.  I want to be able to tell Magneto you've done exactly what you were supposed to."

"You worry too much, Mystique," Pietro said.  "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you thought you really were my mother…which wouldn't be so bad if you weren't an old man at the moment."

Mystique smirked as she hung up.  "Touché, son of Magnus," she murmured, looking pleased.  "I look forward to seeing you again."

* * * * *

"Good to see you haven't run off," Pietro said as he climbed into the truck.  "I'd hate to have to chase you down."  He paused and laughed, shaking his head.  "Actually, I wouldn't."

The larger mutant shook his head.  "Would never run from you, Brother-Pietro."

"You just keep thinking like that and we'll do fine."  He started the truck and jerked his head back, indicating the refrigerated container behind them.  "Any noise from him?"

"No, Brother-Pietro.  He only says that he likes the cold."

"He should.  He's been in it for at least a century, if my Russian serves me correctly.  If that didn't make him cold-blooded, I don't know what would."

"Can we trust him, Brother-Pietro?"

"A good question, my friend.  One that will be answered soon, I think.  For now, just watch your back.  And if you start to feel tired or sick, tell me at once."

Behind them, surrounded by incredible cold, a mutant with bone-white skin, pale blond hair, and crimson eyes sat on an ice block.  Despite the temperature and the movements of the trucks, he never budged.  He only stared straight ahead, with a vicious snarl on his lips and a crimson glare in his eyes.  Affixed to his chest, making a slight, constant humming, was a device that literally kept him from killing himself.  It would, however, allow him to kill more efficiently, and that would be very important in the coming days…

* * * * *

Things to Do When You're Bored @ Midnight

Sing a telepathic lullaby to a friend.  – Nate Remember old friends.  – Wanda Dream about older female friends.  – Remy Transform for a friend/caretaker.  – Musty Go hunting for Wolverines.  – Jubilee Search for long-lost relatives.  – Xavier Impersonate your enemies.  – Mystique Track down an old friend.  -- ??? Practice Crimson Death Glare.  -- ???