Kitty approached the door carefully after the first knock. She stuck her head quickly through it and startled the bellboy with the large sealed envelope.
"Thanks." She said, grabbing it from him and pulling back through the door.
The bellboy stuck out his hand and cleared his throat.
Kitty paused in the door. "Oh, right. Hold on."
She ducked back inside and the bellboy heard some casual chatting before she stuck her head back out. "Here." She handed him a twenty. "Keep the change."
"Thank you Miss Pryde." He said appreciatively.
Kitty ducked back through the door. He recognized me… She wanted to giggle and tell someone… But then her thoughts turned to Lucy and she felt deflated.
She opened the large envelope and pulled out the satellite pictures of the area of Lucy's abduction.
"Kurt!" She called. "We've got robed freaks coming out of the woods after the accident. They loaded Lucy in to a van." She tossed the pictures on to the table between Kurt and Alistaire.
Both Kurt and Alistaire grabbed at them to get a better look.
"Gold robes with blue trim…" Alistaire pondered for a moment.
"I've got a tattoo." Kurt said. "We need a magnifying glass."
Alistaire hefted his satchel and drew out a magnifying strip, like you would use for reading a small print book or map.
"Here." He handed the magnifier to Kurt.
Kurt slapped it over the pictures and positioned it just right. "It looks like… " He turned his head slightly from side to side. "Like some kind of modified cross."
"What's it look like?" Forge asked, emerging slowly, his hands in front of him as he felt for the furniture. "Describe it."
"It's a gold colored cross with a loop on top instead of a solid piece. Bigger at the bottom and on the sides than at the top." Kurt ventured. "With something else on the … well, the bottom of the cross…"
Rachael strolled slowly behind Forge, allowing him the independence of walking on his own and feeling quite humbled at how he was able to guide her in the use of her powers.
"It's an ankh. An Egyptian symbol of life." Forge found a chair and sat slowly down, feeling his way slowly. "What about the other thing… Is it a mark of some kind?"
Kurt pulled the magnifier away and looked at the picture again. "I know this one." He said softly. "It's Omega, the symbol for the end."
"The end of life?" Forge ventured. "Sounds bad."
"Sure does." Kitty added. "But how do we find this guy?"
Alistaire was sketching the cross. "I'll have the government boys run this image and see if we get any matches. If this guy's been arrested before we should have some record of his tattoo."
Rachael looked down at the image. "I know that mark." She said at last. "In my world it was the symbol for The Aristocracy. They worshiped Apocalypse as a God, but they weren't much of a threat. More like a secret society of spoiled children who wanted more than they could afford from life."
"The Aristocracy…" Alistaire went fishing in to his briefcase again. "I think I got a memo…"
He pulled out a huge folder, crammed with pages and held closed with elastics. In a moment he had it opened and spilling over the desk.
"Wait… here." He pulled out the right memo. "Interpol put out a bulletin about a month ago about them."
He read out loud off the page:
"Several members of an underground agency calling itself The Aristocracy were detained in South Africa on the suspicion of trafficking in illegal genetic materials bound for Scotland. Obtainable evidence was in short supply and they were later released for a lack of evidence."
"Rachael?" Kurt asked. "Do you have any idea where they might be based out of? Or where we could find some of them? I mean… if this were your world…"
"Catacombs." She said at last. "Under the city. Abandoned tunnels that they moved in to and furnished."
"There are several abandoned tunnel systems in the city." Alistaire pulled out a map and began marking intersections. "We've got subway stations, a few amphitheaters, some old bomb shelters…"
"Bomb shelters." Rachael said. "For some reason that seems familiar."
Kurt nodded. "Okay. We're going to split up." He began to draw on Alistaire's map. "Kitty, I want you to check out the subway stations. Here, and here."
She nodded.
"Rachael, I want you to check out the smaller bomb shelters. It looks like there are three of them here, here, and out here. Do that one last. It furthest away."
She nodded too.
"Alistaire, I want you to check out the amphitheaters."
"Got it." Alistaire nodded.
"And I'll take the large shelter here, and this old bit of subway tunnel here. Understand?"
"I guess I'm waiting here then?" Forge asked softly.
Kurt sighed. "Do you want to ride along with Alistaire?"
"I'd like to be doing something." Forge said. "I don't imagine that sitting here is helping to find Lucy."
"Right then. You're with me." Alistaire told him. "Let's go."
And Forge began to get up to his feet.
"Take care of him." Rachael whispered in to Alistaire's ear.
Alistaire nodded but said nothing.
"At the first sign of gold robes I want whoever finds anything to radio the others. None of us has more than three places to check so it should be pretty easy to figure out where to go depending on who calls. Everyone got it?" Kurt searched the faces of his friends.
"What about Brian and Illyana?" Forge asked.
Something gnawed at Kurt's insides. "Actually, it's taking them too long at the hospital. They should have radioed in already. I'm still waiting to hear back, but I'm suspicious that Watts might have gotten to them first."
Everyone nodded. "Forget what I told you earlier people. When I said to trust each other… I had no idea what we were in for. Trust yourselves and your own good judgement instead and hopefully we can come through this without too much…" Kurt looked at Forge and pursed his lips sadly. "Loss."
Forge must have sensed Kurt's attention, because he smiled weakly at him in reply.
"Let's go then," Kitty said. "I'm taking the motorcycle."
"Come on." Alistaire presented his arm to Forge who placed a hand on it and allowed himself to be guided to the door.
"I guess I'm flying." Rachael concluded. "Want me to drop you off at your first spot?" She asked Kurt.
"Ja." He said softly. "And if I give the signal, we meet back here to regroup again. Got it?"
"What's the signal?" Forge asked.
"Code blue." Rachael stared at the map, memorizing the different intersections.
"Sounds good to me." Kurt said. "God's speed."
And everyone broke for the door except Kurt and Rachael. When everyone was gone he asked her. "Code blue?"
"For Forge." She explained. "It's what they call in a hospital for a heart attack."
Kurt dropped his eyes. I just pray this works. For all our sakes…
Rachael met his eyes. "I'm … hoping … too." She said softly. Despite my better judgement.
"Listen… If we find anyone… We're going to need your powers. Especially if we're going to get Lucy back. Are you up for a big expenditure tonight?"
"As ready as I've ever been." She had a face set in stone. "I've done nothing but heal and rest since I've been here. Whatever happens… I've had more than a fair chance to recover."
"Good." Kurt sniffed. "One more thing… If we find her… our main objective is to get her away from them. We're not looking to take down this Aristocracy tonight. We can do that any time. What's important to me now is the safety of my team. I want Lucy, Forge and anyone else who can't defend themselves out of harms way as soon as possible. I saw how you stopped Tabitha's time bombs in mid-air. That was very impressive. She could have taken my head off that time and she didn't. You stopped her. I'll be counting on you for that again tonight. Understand?"
She nodded. "Absolutely." Trust me… I'm ready to die trying. "Oh, yeah…" She added. "In my world, The Order of the Voice was stopped in a variety of ways. Sometimes they would come to their senses when seeing or killing a family member. Other times they would come out of it after a night in jail. But the only common thread seems to be that they all ended up totally bewildered by some kind of surprise."
"So it was shock, like Forge suspected."
"It seemed so, but it had to be very personal and very intense." She added.
"Vell, it's not much, but it's vhat we've got. Let's hope it all plays out for the best." He shrugged and opened the balcony doors. "Looks like a nice night for flying." He commented.
"Kurt?" She said softly.
"Ja?"
"Thank you for… everything. For saving me, putting a roof over my head and … giving me a family."
He smiled wide. "Have faith… It was entirely my pleasure."
And with a twitch of her mind they both jumped in to the sky and sailed across the London skyline.