It's ten days later when I arrive at Alkali. I park the car, climb out, and engage the security systems, the tiny cameras in the body effectively masking its presence. I levitate myself above the trees and look for signs of life in the surrounding area, and notice a small campfire approximately ½ a mile out. Here goes nothing. I shake my head and lower myself a bit, flitting in and around the branches to the area. I settle myself in a tree not far from the small fire and watch.
The Phoenix has a routine. I've taken to calling her that because I'm sure that if I think of her as Dr. Grey, I'll burst into her little world and scare her to the point where she might just attack me.
She wakes each day to hunt. She's really very good at it, has gotten better at controlling the animal's actions with her mind. She freezes whatever happens by her where she hides, then approaches slowly. I don't know how she manages it, but I'm pretty sure she constricts its heart to kill it. She bleeds it, and then returns to her fire to cook it.
She stretches after this, and goes to the lake to swim for a few hours. When she returns, she mutters softly to herself. It's possible that swimming reminds her of surfacing from the lake.
She eats a small meal, and resumes her conversations with herself. I'm not sure what she's fighting, but it scares her into cutting her arms with the small stone knife she created for herself.
I want so badly to stop her but I know that if I startle her, she'll kill me, and then what?
I've been watching her for two weeks now, and I'm nearly ready to introduce myself into her sphere. I learned a lot from Logan about predators. I need to establish myself in her area and let her come to me.
God, I really hope this works.
The woman rises one morning and feels a change in the land. Looking around, she sees the embers of another fire not far away from her home. Carefully, she approaches it, and sees another like herself sitting near the embers, stirring up a fire to cook the small animal dead next to her.
This one puzzles her, it's not like the other animals. It's like her. It's long brown fur has streaks of white in it that seem so familiar, and yet so foreign.
She tilts her head and observes as the other one places the animal over the fire. Blinking, she smiles and the idea.
The other one has constructed a small tower on each side of the fire, and a stick holds the animal above to keep the fire from hurting her hands.
She backs away quietly, and returns to her own fire to do the same.
"Why isn't she back yet Charles?" Logan growls at the man behind the large mahogany desk nearly three weeks after Rogue's departure from the mansion.
"I told you not to ask me that anymore Wolverine." Charles says carefully.
"And I told you to stuff yourself. Where's Marie?"
"Wolverine…" Charles trails off. "I don't actually know." He admits.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I know where I sent her, and I know why. I also gave her strict orders not to communicate with me except in an emergency. The person she's retrieving has a degree of psychic ability, and would likely be able to detect any communication between Rogue and myself."
"And just who is this mysterious person?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Try me." Logan stares at the older man. "Chuck, I've been patient for three god-damned weeks. You promised me that you wouldn't send her out until she figured out this Carol shit. You know as well as I do that she barely had a handle on her when she left. What if she lost the control?"
"There's no reason to believe that will happen Wolverine. This trip simply requires caution. She must proceed slowly so as not to alarm her target."
"Chuck, you've got about thirty seconds to tell me where Marie is before I trash your office, leave, and track her myself."
"Alkali Lake." Charles says softly.
Logan stares at him. "You sent her where?"
"The forest on the southern shore of Alkali Lake. That is where I sent her. I have no way of determining her current location without endangering her Logan, and if you go after her, it could be more harmful than you can possibly imagine. She's tracking a Phoenix, and the fact of the matter is that I sent her because she's the only one who won't push this person too quickly."
"A what?"
"A phoenix Logan. Rogue is tracking a phoenix. She has explicit instructions to contact me in a true emergency, but this phoenix cannot be rushed, and I've found in the past year that one of Rogue's gifts is an infinite patience. She has taken her time learning to control Carol Danvers. She has never seen a loss of that control as a setback, but always as a learning experience. And she witnessed the burning of this phoenix. She was the only one who did. Not even I picked up on it. That is why I had to send her. Let her do this Logan. She's the only one who can."
"What the hell is a phoenix?"
"A mythological creature." Scott's rough voice says from the doorway. "What the hell is going on in here?" he looks between the two men.
"Discussing Rogue's fully re-instated status to the X-team." Charles says quickly.
"You never said anything about that!" the Wolverine stands, glowering at the psychic.
"Sit down Logan. This is not the time for theatrics."
Logan's eyes flame as he is forced back into his chair. "You will both stop this immediately. Leave Rogue alone. If she needs us, she'll contact us. If I find out that either of you has been trying to locate or contact her, I will personally keep you unconscious for the duration of her mission."
"What does this have to do with me?" Scott asks carefully.
"Stay out of it. Both of you."