(Nine)

Logan was huffing and puffing in the gym, lifting weights. He had a huge grin on his face, Max had come to join him. Max had been recently promoted, going up in rank through the system and preparing for the trails to be placed on a regular squad. He attended regular scheduled Danger Room sessions to get in tune with his teachers on the senior staff, but had also taken Wolverine's advice and was here trying to bulk up and build muscles on his tiny frame. It was working and in a short time, he was already showing some good definition and had gained almost twenty pounds.

"Just ten more reps, boy. Yer doin' good."

Max wheezed and grunted on a matching bench beside that of his new trainer and mentor. "I can do it. I can do it!" he gasped in between reps, psyching himself up.

Maylee was here as well. She was seated comfortably on a mat beside Max, her head buried in a book as always. She was unbelievably intelligent and rapidly cruising through the courses here at the school. Henry was kept busy creating private lessons for her and tutoring her in the lab. Once fully trained, she would be an asset to the team. They were woefully understaffed when it came to mutant medical officers. If Seth wasn't so unsteady, he might have gotten tagged as another doctor in waiting because of his ability to learn so quickly. Unfortunately, he was much too wobbly and unsure with the tools so Henry's next hope dwelled within this tiny cat like girl. She felt she was more than up to the challenge, much to Beast's relief.

She paused from her reading to glance up at her boyfriend. Such a funny word. She had never imagined such a thing happening to her. Back with the Clan, she was considered a half breed and ugly. Here, she was simply another mutant in a school for them. Her appearance upset no one, in fact it had turned the head of this fine young boy. He was older than her, but less mature, it kind of leveled the playing field. He was quick to laugh, but serious about his studies here. He wanted to be on the team and was very dedicated, just as she was to her own work.

Maylee was kept out of the information loop as far as Kimble went, but Max told her some things. Kimble was in trouble again, he'd done something bad and the only thing saving his ass was some deal the X-men had made with SHIELD. If and when he was returned, he would probably have to stay in the holding cells a while. It all meant little to her, Kimble was far away from her and not really a part of her life anymore, she just didn't like how Seth was so sad all the time. She had made a point of being around Seth as much as possible, he helped her with her homework and was teaching her some computer skills. She was enjoying his company, but was also making sure he was okay. Seth had a lot of friends looking out for him.

Logan laughed at Max's mantra and they finished the set. Max sat up and flapped his wings to get his blood flowing. It was hard laying down when you have something attached to your back. "Tomorrow again?"

"Nah. Don't wanna push it too hard. We'll do laps in the pool."

"Right," Max agreed and rose to shake Logan's hand before heading to the showers. He brushed his hand over Maylee's head as he passed, a gentle caress. He would wash and then they'd go outside and have lunch.

What a good kid, Logan thought as his young charge walked away. Could use some more like him around here.

A week had passed and still no sign of Kimble. Jael had been active, though. Here it was, just after Christmas now, and there had been three more bombings, all in the densely populated shopping malls packed with holiday shoppers. The guy had no class, no class at all. Whatever remorse he may have shown in Logan's presence over his little virus clearly hadn't lasted. Logan started to rise for his own shower, but paused when he saw Henry approach him, a crinkled newspaper in his large blue hand.

"Have you seen today's paper?"

"Nope. Got up too early."

Logan took it and cocked his head at the front page. There was a large photograph of a fire truck heading on its way to help with one of the bombings. That wasn't what caught his attention, it was its passenger. It seemed one of the New York fire departments had a new and interesting mascot. This was no Dalmatian, it was a Dognan pilot.

She sat on the top of the truck, her tiny head almost lost under a large fireman's hat, her wings outstretched behind her in the breeze from their travel and a huge smile on her face. According to the article, her name was Meer, a word she kept repeating often. One of the firemen had found her on the street, lost and confused. She spoke no English, but had formed a close bond with the man who found her, a fireman named Bob Kenna. He treated her as a mascot, or more like a dog, and she had become part of the squad. She was in the paper because she had made a daring rescue from one of the malls. She had flown up to an area no mere human could reach and had bravely brought down some people who were trapped.

Logan grinned and rose to walk over to the intercom over by the door. He dialed Fallen's extension and asked her to come up.

(break)

Logan, Jean and Fallen walked into the fire station taking a look around. They hadn't snuck in, they were here in broad daylight, looking to get an interview with Bob Kenna, the man mentioned in the newspaper. Logan and Jean were dressed in suits with Fallen disguised by an image inducer as a photographer. Logan had grumbled about having to dress up, but Jean insisted. They were posing as SHIELD agents and SHIELD agents didn't dress in jeans and cowboy boots the last she had checked. He grudgingly complied, nervously fiddling with the tight collar of his dress shirt on the way here. Fallen thought the whole thing was hilarious and had to snap some quick shots of Logan before they left the Mansion. It was the only time she had ever seen him in a suit and wanted some kind of evidence it had actually happened. He took it in stride, grinning.

At the station, Jean approached Bob Kenna. Just their luck, he was in one of the open truck bays, stowing away some equipment on one of the massive ladder trucks. She recognized him right away from his photograph and called out to him, getting his attention. She held up a SHIELD badge. "Bob Kenna? My name is Jean Grey. I work for SHIELD," she said, not exactly lying. This was one of those grey crossover areas they had worked out with SHIELD, their badges were real. "I'd like to talk to you about Meer."

"You ain't takin' 'er," Bob replied immediately without fear, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't even look at her badge, he boldly met her eyes in a respectful challenge. He was a large man, well built. He was a career fireman and had the large, strong body to prove it.

Jean just smiled at him disarmingly. "We're not here to take her from you. However, we are interested in where you found her."

"Why's that?" His voice wasn't exactly friendly, but he wasn't rude. He didn't trust them one bit but at the same time had a hard time keeping his eyes off of the gorgeous telepath in front of him.

Jean was a showstopper and she knew it. Her smile was pleasant and friendly, working the man as she said, "We have reason to believe she might once have belonged to Jael."

Bob started to laugh, but stopped when he saw she was completely serious. "Why's that?"

Jean looked around the busy station. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

He balked at that, still not ready to just take their word for anything, and this time Jean was forced to give him a slight mental push. He blinked, somewhat resistant, and his brow creased in confusion. He looked behind him, there was an empty office that way.

"That would be fine," Jean responded as if he had actually spoken.

Logan cracked a smile, he couldn't help it. Jean sure knew how to get what she wanted.

"This way," Bob said with a gesture towards the back. He was doing as Jean wanted but he rubbed his temple now, like he had a headache.

Jean and the group followed, the telepath keeping a close eye on their leader. Jean had wanted Bob compliant but not stupefied. She knew all she had to do was show him Fallen undisguised and all would be well, but she wasn't about to do it in view of the street. She didn't want to control Bob, she wanted him to come to terms with this on his own, a big mental push would make that impossible. It was a credit to her training that she could manipulate the big fireman without having to take him over.

They entered the office and Logan closed the door, pulling the window shade to the door down for privacy. Once more Bob faced them with little fear. "Okay, now what?"

Jean gestured to Fallen. "Show him."

Fallen nodded and clicked her image inducer to 'off.'

Bob took one look at an undisguised Fallen and grunted in surprise. He could see she was the same as Meer. "Okay."

He opened the door and whistled sharply, looking to the floor above them. Instantly there was a corresponding bark from a short distance away. They heard some thumping from the next floor and then some happy squealing. "She likes the pole," Bob explained with a short laugh, rolling his eyes as if speaking of a child, his face happy at the sound his pilot had made.

They heard the clicking of claws on the cement floor of the station and Meer came in, her face one huge smile. She trotted up to Bob on her tiny hands and pawed feet and jumped up on him just like a dog. "Meer! Meer!" she chirped. "Kialay chur! Chur! Meer!"

Fallen laughed softly.

"What," Logan growled.

"She speaks Dognan. It's been a while since I've heard it."

Bob cocked his head at her. "She's speakin'?"

"Yeah. It's broken, like a child. She's not as well made as I was, no offense."

Bob cocked his head. "Made?"

"Never mind that," Logan interrupted. He turned to Fallen."What's she sayin'?"

Fallen tapped on Meer's shoulder and said to her in Dognan, "What's your name, little one?"

Meer turned, her eyes going wide at the Dognan words, and trembled in fear.

"Don't be afraid, Meer. I won't hurt you."

"Kialay happy. Happy. No go."

Fallen laughed.

"What?" This time it was Bob who asked.

"Her name is Kailay. 'Meer' means happy. She's very happy here and doesn't want to go."

"Then she's stayin'."

"Like I said," Jean interrupted. "We're not here to take her. We just want to see if she can tell us anything."

"Kialay," Fallen said, returning to the pilot. "Do you know where your Master is?"

"Meer call," the pilot said defiantly.

"Okay, you are Meer now. That's okay. Do you remember this man?" Fallen held up a sketch drawing of Jael. One of the Professor's students with artist skills had worked with Logan to draw it out for him after he had been kidnapped. They wanted some kind of record of what this terrorist looked like. No one else they knew about besides Remy and Logan had seen Jael and lived.

Meer smiled. "Big Master. No play."

"No fun, huh? He wouldn't play with you? Is that why you ran away?"

"No play. No happy. Happy now."

"Yes, I can see that. You will stay here because you are happy. We need to find the Big Master. Can you take us?"

Meer frowned. "No go."

"I promise you can stay here. We just need you to take us to the Big Master. Then you can come back here and ride all the fire trucks you want."

"Meer knows."

Fallen couldn't help the smile that broke out. She looked at Logan. "Call Fury. She knows."

Logan nodded and reached for his cell phone. He would arrange a meeting, he wasn't about to discuss this on an open line where Jael's spies might overhear.

Meer took advantage of the lull in conversation to reach out and touch Fallen's chest and the tattoo there. "Green. Meer red see."

"Excuse me?"

"Meer red see."

"You've seen a Mark like this, only red?"

Meer nodded. "Red. Brown."

"Red and brown? On a pilot like us?"

Meer shook her head. "Man. Woman."

"Humans?"

Meer nodded.

"What was that?" Logan asked when he saw the look of surprise on Fallen's face. He had been put on hold and was waiting.

"She's seen another Mark. A red one and a brown. I think she saw one on a man and the other on a woman."

Logan grunted. "Anya said there were more Guardians."

"What did she mean by the Marks?" Bob asked.

"We're not sure. We're looking for someone who has a big tattoo like Fallen there. Sounds like Meer might have seen him or others like him," Wolverine explained.

"What? Is he a pilot, too?"

"Yes," Jean replied. It was the easiest explanation.

"If all the pilots have a Mark, why doesn't Meer?"

"Only pilots of high Clan rank have the Mark," Fallen said quickly. "Meer is kind of low on the pole. It doesn't make her bad, she just didn't earn the Mark."

"So Jael is collecting pilots?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Why?"

Fallen raised her hands and made them glow blue with Ristle. Meer chirped and laughed, standing up to do the same. They reached out to one another and bolts of blue lightning burst from their hands to form a circuit between them. Their powers canceled each other out and they were unharmed. It kinda tickled actually. Meer laughed and laughed. Bob stepped back, his eyes wide in amazement. He had never seen Meer do this. "Holy crap!"

"He wants her as a power source," Fallen replied.

"Then...then Meer isn't a mutant is she? I mean...neither are you," he asked Fallen.

"That's classified," Logan said with a grin.