Shout outs:

Mark C: You'll see Fury's stake in things later, and you might be right about him and the X-Men. Kurt and Wanda will get closer later on too, and both Logan and Ororo will work things out eventually.

Xcoolcomic: Thanks although I like to think we both are good writers since we both write these chapters together but still thanks.

Daniel Lynx Don't worry everything will work out and all the villains will get what's coming to them, but his is kind of a dark fic. I'm not familiar with Yu Yu Hakusho, and the rescue is close at hand.

Episodic: Sometimes you just can't win against certain odds and yeah she will show up later.

IvyZoe: You're a bit right about Kitty don't worry we'll fix that, plus I think she's just happy that Kurt is letting someone else in after Amanda. Shaw is a lot worse things then perverse but I get what you mean.

X0001: Yeah I wanted to give her a chance at least.

Ingrid: Glad you liked it but why did you want the chapter?

The Uncanny R-Man: Yeah she is in trouble now, and Fury will help them out maybe noting the way you wanted but he will help them.

Wen1: Oh don't worry that won't happen to her.

Thanks to: Lil Jean, Chica De Los Ojos Café, TheLegendaryManHimself, Sparky Genocide

CHAPTER 16: Comfort and Contact

-Hellfire Club Prison Room-

She felt groggy, almost like she and just ran a marathon, but her strength was slowly coming back to her. The woman known as Tessa slowly opened her eyes, staring at the cold, thick cement ceiling that was old and dank quality to it. She felt the old mattress beneath her with a spring digging into her lower back. She shifted her body and then decided to slowly get up.

"So she's awake," said a cold female voice. Emma was there with her arms crossed and a look of contempt on her face. "So what happened? Somehow Tessa, I doubt Shaw would just throw his pet in here with us."

"Sage."

"What was that?" Emma asked raising an eyebrow.

"My name…" she said removing the pins from her hair letting it fall from its bun down to her shoulders. "Is Sage. Tessa was my alias, although they know that and everything else now."

"Explain," Emma said, still the same as the other two just watched and eagerly waited to find out what was going on.

Sage sighed to herself. "I don't see why not. You'll all hear about it sooner or later after Rogue took all the information out of my head. I'm an undercover agent for SHIELD."

"Bullshit!" Emma snarled, "If you're an agent, then why the hell haven't you done anything until now?"

"I, for one, would like to know that too," Betsy agreed.

Sage wasn't surprised by this or couldn't blame them for their apprehension towards her. "I had to maintain my cover. I had to do a lot of unsavory things over the last three years and I had to get as much information on this place and their operations. I didn't spend the last three years here for nothing and I had my orders and my duty." Sage looked over to the others and especially to Emma. "I'm sorry, but I had a job to do. But because of all of this, I had to take a gamble and send everything I could to SHIELD, but I got caught."

There was a moment of silence. Emma just stood there staring at this 'Sage' woman who had admitted to letting them for the last few months make her nothing more then just a slave all because of orders.

"Dose that mean we can expect some kind of rescue?" Vincent asked evenly. He wanted to hope so, but he knew that things didn't always work out for the best so he sat there on the bed looking at the women, not caring about whatever she had done and only what could become of her current actions.

Sage looked down at the floor. "I…Don't know. I wasn't able to get all the information I needed…It might not be enough to sanction any legal action and any covert action could be just as difficult to do."

The other three all felt the tiny spark of hope suddenly leave them. After everything they had been through, they definitely wouldn't bet on a rescue. Just then, several guards came into the room. "You…Boy! You're to come with us." Emma and Betsy shared a look knowing from Vincent's tale of his last time that they were starting to break through his mind in order to twist him to their own ends.

Emma stepped up between them, but felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She was surprised to see Vincent look at her and seemed to tell her to let him go. He knew that they would just use the collars on them. She didn't want him to go. She liked the young man she knew and didn't want them to twist him into something dark. He looked so tired with bags under his eyes and two weeks of hair growing on his face with a line on the left cheek were the scar was on his face.

"Don't…" was all he said to her.

"But-" he shook his head at her.

"It doesn't matter," He whispered to her, "There's no way that prissy wimp Wyngarde will break my mind. And the longer I hold out, the sooner help might get here before you or the others get their turn at this." He gave her smile and nodded to her that he would be all right and walked off to the guards his head held high. Emma watched him walk off with a sinking feeling in her gut. She hoped she was wrong, but she felt like this might be the last time they would see him as he was.

"He'll be fine…He's a tough guy," Betsy said to her seeing the look on her face. Emma only nodded wanting to believe it, but the feeling of despair in her wasn't going away.

Xavier Institute – Weight Room

Scott Summers let out another grunt as he did one more rep on the weight bench before letting the heavy bar fall back to its resting position. His face and body was covered with sweat, hinting that he had been in this area for quite some time now. His breathing was short and ragged after pushing himself so hard, but he didn't seem to care all that much. Beast and the Professor may have forbidden him to use the danger room, but he would be damned if he wasn't going to do something. Sleep wasn't an option, not when he kept having nightmares about someone hurting Jean or about how he failed to protect her.

Since he had recovered from his injuries, he had been very irritable. Few came near him anymore because of his dark demeanor. Now he practically lived in the lower levels, lifting weights and preparing himself physically so that he would be ready at a moments notice to go out and bring Jean back. On several occasions he had collapsed from over exerting himself, but it was never long before he was at it again.

Scott tried to do another set on the weight bench even though his body was screaming for him to stop. But every time he thought about resting, he thought about the dreams where he saw somebody that looked like him taking Jean away from him forever and making her cry the kind of tears that he never wanted to see her cry. He could stand nearly being killed by mercenaries and he could stand the pain of recovery…But he couldn't stand the image of Jean crying.

'Come on…Just one more…' he grunted as his muscles burned from the exertion.

But before he could finish the set, his arms gave way and he forced himself back into a sitting position where he rested his sweaty head in his tired hands. For several minutes he simply stayed in that position, trying to catch his breath. He tried hard to clear his anxious mind and soon became so lost in his dazed thought that he didn't notice Gambit entering the room. He was still moving a little slow from his injuries, but overall he was doing much better than he had been over the last few days.

"You keep dat up homme and ya'll be in worse condition den Gambit was when he arrived," commented the Cajun with a grin as he saw Scott's disposition.

Scott quickly looked up from his position and quickly grew apprehensive about Gambit's presence. However, Remy quickly held his hands up in assurance before the ever cautious Cyclops's combative impulses took over.

"Hey, hey…Remy comes in peace. Or didn't de others tell ya?"

"Yeah…They told me," replied Scott, still out of breath but still with a hint of apprehension in his tone, "But excuse me if I find it hard to trust you given your track record."

"Well, Gambit's hopin' to change dat believe it or not," replied the Cajun, hoping to do something ease the tension in the air.

To his surprise, Scott didn't respond with any snide remark or doubtful word to question his sincerity. Instead, he simply let out a tired sigh as the sweat continued to soak his body.

"So what have you been doin' in here anyways? Gambit's been hearin' the same noises in dis here room ever since he got back," asked Remy as he looked at the normally staunch leader in a position of vulnerability.

If the circumstances had been any different, Scott would have simply told the Cajun off without a second thought. But the young man neither had the energy, nor the desire to formulate a response given his exhaustion and mental state. To him, a former enemy that had once kidnapped one of his friends was the last person he wanted to see now, but with Jean gone and no solid leads to her location, he felt he could probably do worse.

"Why do you even care?" managed Scott, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"Well why not?" quipped Remy.

With a frustrated sigh, Scott shook his head and found himself blurt it out.

"It helps me relax, okay!" he shot back rather harshly, still making it clear that he didn't like the company of an enemy.

"You don't look too relaxed," commented Gambit as he looked at his tired form and took a seat next to him on the weight bench next to him, "Still worried about your girl, aren't ya?

That earned him another snide glance from Scott, but once again he didn't have the strength to yell in response.

"That's none of your business," he said, hoping he would drop it.

"Don't have to be my business to say somethin' about it," replied Remy, "But from what Beast told me, you had it just as bad as Remy when ya came in here. And believe me…Remy can tell what you're goin' through. You may be an enemy, but you're just as readable. You're girl was kidnapped…Now you're kicking yourself just as much as I am for failing to protect someone that really mattered to ya."

Scott looked back that the Cajun with a skeptical look, but when he saw the expression on his face…He noticed that it was different. He now had a look that he never would have suspected a man like Gambit to have…A look he knew all too well. He looked distant, tired, and lost in his thoughts as he felt the sting of his wounds fester again upon thinking about the fight that resulted in Rogue's kidnapping.

Scott was unsure what it was about the wounded Cajun that made him look so different then the confident, cocky fighter he and the others had encountered many times in the past. But with his bandages around his torso still visible, it was clear now that the circumstances were very different.

"You know you never answered my question," said Scott, breaking the silence, "Why did you come here?"

"Well dere ain't much else for me to do here," said Remy, "De others still don't trust me and flinch every time dey see me, Beast don't want me gettin' myself hurt any further, and de infirmary was gettin' on my nerves."

"That's not what I meant," said Scott, "I meant why are you here in general? Beast told me what happened. He said how you nearly died trying to get to the mansion just to tell us what had happened. And I just want to know why. What's your angle in this? What do you have to gain?"

The Cajun mutant let out a deep sigh as he ran his hand through his messy hair with an exasperated look on his face, not believing that he found himself talking to Cyclops of all people.

"Ain't about gainin' somethin'…It's about holdin' on to somethin' before it's gone," he answered cryptically.

"What do you mean?" asked Scott, unsure of what he meant by that.

Remy Lebeau was never one to talk much about things he didn't like discussing, but he needed to find someway to get this out before it ate him up inside any more than it already had.

"You and de others think Gambit's just a crook and a thief…Dat much is pretty obvious. But dere's a reason why I'm a thief an' it's not because I'm greedy, crooked, or sadistic. It's just because dat's how Gambit was raised. His whole family are thieves, he was trained to be a thief…It's as simple as dat. It's all I've ever known. But a lot's changed since Magneto recruited me."

"How so?" asked Scott, growing all the more curious.

"Ya see…After Magneto disbanded, Gambit tried to go back. But it just didn't feel right…It wasn't de world Gambit wanted to be in anymore," Plus there had been a certain incident that he was trying to forget that involved that girl from the Assassins Guild, but he didn't voice that. "So I decided to make a fresh start. I didn't know how and I still don't…But I wanted to start by makin' up for past mistakes."

Remy then felt himself hesitate before continuing, which was something he seldom ever did. But never the less, he had Scott's attention and he didn't show any signs of losing interest.

"And de person who helped me see all dis in de first place was Rogue…So I wanted to start wit' her."

Scott noticed a subtle shift in his voice when he mentioned Rogue. It was something that the Cajun tried to hide, but he had done a very poor job. Scott may have been partially blinded by his powers, but his ears more than compensated. And knowing all too well what a tone like that meant, he couldn't help but shake his head in amazement that he was seeing this in Gambit of all people.

"Rogue huh? The girl you kidnapped made you see all this?" said Scott with a light laugh that did not go over too well with Remy, "I don't know whether that's messed up or not, but I guess she sure did a number on you."

"She did…More den I thought she would," said the Cajun in response, "I wanted to make up for what I did to her. I didn't want to be her to be an enemy…I wanted to be more den dat to her. Guess it got more complicated den Gambit ever thought it could."

"Yeah, Rogue definitely has that effect on people. And I'm guessing that's why you nearly died for it," commented Scott as he noticed Gambit slightly clenching the still covered wound around his stomach where Deathstrike had stabbed him.

"You guessed right homme," said Remy with a sigh, "I didn't think I would survive. Hell, I knew I was gonna die at one point…But for some reason, I'm still here. And I shouldn't be…Because Gambit failed to protect someone dat meant a lot to him…Someone dat meant more den he ever could have imagined."

"Believe me…I know how that feels," said Scott sympathetically, his apprehension from earlier seemingly gone upon learning more about the Cajun he had fought against in the past. Normally, he never would have allowed himself to be so trusting so fast, but upon seeing the scars he had suffered and hearing what he had been struggling with, he couldn't deny the man's depth…For he was clearly more than just a thief.

"Sucks don't it…" said Gambit, "Thinkin' how ya coulda done somethin'…Kickin' yourself over an' over again for failing when it really counted."

"And having the whole thing play over and over again in your head, each time worse than the last…" added Scott.

Gambit couldn't help but laugh at that last bit, for it really sounded like Scott understood. It was not something he would have expected from a guy who was supposed to be so uncompromising when it came to enemies. But then again these last few weeks had been full of surprises.

"You know…This was supposed to be a good month for me and Jean," said Scott as he allowed himself open up to the frustration that had been eating at his soul since this whole thing began, "Everything was perfect. We were making our way through college, we were talking about moving in together and we were growing closer and closer by the day. I've even been thinking about things like marriage and a future with her…Because I already know she's the one. Hell, I've known that for quite some time. But then something like this comes along and…It just makes me feel like shit that I couldn't do more for her like I should have."

"Is dat why you be punishin' yourself in here?" smirked Gambit.

Scott simply let out another lighthearted laugh, not believing that he was actually feeling a little better as a result of talking to Gambit.

"Well it may not help me relax…But at least it helps me focus on something else," he said in all truthfulness.

The two young man sat in silence for a brief moment, still somewhat surprised that they were talking to each other as if they had never been enemies to begin with. It was still somewhat awkward for the both of them, but it was definitely a lot easier and it was therapeutic for them since they were both somewhat in the same situation.

"Well…Thanks for de talk Cyke," said Gambit as he forced himself to get up despite the lingering sting in his torso, "I'll get out of yo' hair for now."

"Wait…" said Scott, stopping him before he could take another step, "Why don't you stick around and lift some weights? That might help take your mind off things."

Gambit looked back at his former enemy with a skeptical look, but in seeing he expression on his face, one devoid of the apprehension when he initially came in, something told him that it was better than wallowing in his own self pity.

"You sure you wanna let an 'enemy' hang out wit' ya?" scoffed Remy in his more usual tone.

"Hey…If you want to get a chance to say what you wanted to with Rogue, you're going to have to get your strength back. And lying around the infirmary just isn't going to do that."

Gambit couldn't help but smile at the dramatic shift that he had just witnessed. Under traditional circumstances, he would never have been so forthcoming to anyone. But in doing so, it felt a little better because it helped him feel as though he maybe did have hope of starting over and doing what he wanted to upon leaving New Orleans.

-Hellfire Club-

Rogue was in her room concentrating on her powers. She could use her absorption powers just fine now with turning it on or off, but using the powers of others that she had used was a lot harder. The first time when she was able access all those powers, she had lost control and all the personalities had threatened to overtake her. She couldn't remember exactly how she had over come that now. She thought it had been so clear at one point, but then after she had joined her past seemed to be all murky in her mind. But she didn't care about that anymore. The past was gone and she didn't care.

All she cared about now was serving the Hellfire Club and learning to control this new power. She tried to see how many different powers she could use at the same time, but when she got to five her head would be in too much pain from trying to keep all the different minds that went along with them at bay. However, she could use three with no problem.

She opened her eyes and looked around her lavish room that looked like a penthouse suite. She had slept well lately, which seemed strange as though she hadn't for a while, but she quickly pushed that aside. She walked around and saw her reflection in a full-length mirror and smiled at herself. She ran her hands over her body that was shown off with the tight leather garments of her uniform. She remember how she had to cover up herself all the time because of her powers, but now she could show off her body and she had to admit she had a good one at that. She simply never noticed it with all the bulky clothing.

Her smile faltered a bit upon seeing her face. For a minute there, she didn't recognize it. It had looked like she had been looking at a completely different person. She reached out to touch the mirror, but shook her head. It was just a trick of the mind…She knew who she was.

In the other room Vincent was being led to the same place where Jason had tried to break him mentally. He had spent a few hours in meditation, making his mind stronger against the telepath and he wasn't going to let him break through his barriers so easily. He was strapped onto the same cold metal chair and watched in contempt as Jason strolled in. Vince was about to say something to him when he noticed another person walking in. It was Jean, this time in with her hair up high into a bun and a sinister look on her face.

Vince swallowed hard upon seeing her, for he had been afraid of this. He had trouble with just one and Jean was much stronger then Jason. In fact, that was the reason why it took so long to turn her in the first place. Now he had a huge mental battle in store for him. He just hoped he could last and when this was all over, he was still himself.

-Xavier Institute – Library

Piotr Rasputin was walking the halls of the institute with the intention of heading down to the lower levels to check up on Gambit. The institute was still chaotic ever since the kidnapping, only now the situation had been exacerbated by the new rumors about Kurt and Wanda that Kitty had initiated. While she hadn't intended to spread the word like she had, that hadn't stopped it from being the gossip it was.

As he passed the library, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar and light was coming through. It was strange because it was rare that the students would be in the library at this time. Curious, the Russian born mutant opened the doors and walked in to see Kitty half asleep with a book in her hands on the couch.

"Katya?" he said as he approached her.

"Whoa!!!" shrieked Kitty as she accidentally phased herself through the couch and fell rather harshly onto the floor, "Peter…Don't scare me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

The Russian born mutant watched with mild amusement as Kitty tried to slow her heart back down to normal, but given her reaction it was clear she was a lot more jumpy than usual.

"Sorry Katya," apologized Colossus as he helped her up, "Why are you in here anyways? I haven't seen you around the mansion since lunch."

"Well if you must know, I'm busy hiding from Wanda," said Kitty as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Ever since that rumor about her and Kurt got out she's been somewhat irritable and I guess she blames me for it."

"Well I can't say I blame here," said Piotr in all honesty, "The others have been quite chatty all day."

"And I'm the one who started it," groaned Kitty, "Damnit! Why did Bobby have to be the one to hear me in the kitchen this morning?!"

"Calm down Katya," coaxed Piotr, placing a strong hand on her shoulder.

"I can't!" she exclaimed, "Now Wanda's, like, totally out to get me, Kurt won't talk to me, and on top of it all I feel like shit for starting this whole thing! I mean…Kurt's my friend. And so is Wanda. And because of me their private life is now the center of attention even though we've still got Jean and Rogue missing."

"Well look on the bright side…At least you gave everybody something to focus on other than the grim search effort," said Piotr with a lighthearted smile, trying to lighten the mood even though he was not the best at it.

Kitty did manage to laugh slightly, but it still didn't make her feel much better about what she had done. She remembered how she and the others had given Scott and Jean a hard time when their relationship began to deepen. While it was all in good fun at first, it did spoil many close moments that they could have had if they weren't being bothered and the teasing did seem a little childish now that she looked back on it. Now, up until the kidnapping, Scott and Jean had been getting very serious and all that teasing over the great love that they obviously shared seemed less funny and more mean. In considering those circumstances, it felt just as bad with Wanda and Kurt even though she was still uncertain whether or not they even had any kind of romance going on…Or so they said.

"I still feel like shit," said Kitty, "God…When am I going to learn to keep my big mouth shut?"

"My thoughts exactly…" came a new voice standing in the open doorway, once again causing Kitty to yelp as a result.

They both turned to see Wanda Maximoff leaning against the open door with a smug grin on her face. Kitty immediately contemplated phasing through the floor, but nothing in the room was shaking so she instead she merely stood close to Piotr.

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Kitty wearily.

"Long enough to hear the rut you've dug yourself into as a result of your conscious," said Wanda.

Kitty felt somewhat relieved upon hearing that, but she was still anxious at what the ever volatile Scarlet Witch would do.

"Look Wanda…You know that…"

"You're sorry, I know," said Wanda, finishing her sentence before she could even say it.

"Right," stammered the young valley girl, "And you know I feel bad about it, so can we just put this thing behind us?"

Kitty watched as Wanda seemed to be thinking about this when in secret, she was somewhat enjoying Kitty's graveling for meddling in other people's business.

"Well I don't know," she said, laughing to herself at the scared look on Kitty's face, "I did just hear another snide bit of gossip Tabitha about what Kurt and I did in the shower last week."

Kitty let out a frustrated groan, for she was sick of this constant hiding and living in fear in her own home because she had so greatly angered a friend. She just wanted this to end and not have to worry about so many things on top of the kidnappings and the chaos around the mansion.

"Hey, I don't know where that came from, but it wasn't me!" said Kitty, wishing that this could just end here and now, "Look…I know what I did was wrong. I had no right to do it, but don't you think I've been punished enough? I can't stand the hiding and the guilt anymore. So what do I have to do in order for you to forgive me? Do you wanna hex me? Start another rumor about me and some other guy? What?"

Wanda wasn't normally one to let something go so without anger, but after talking to Kurt and seeing Kitty's attitude about the rumor…She was almost humored by it. Part of her wanted to yell while the other part of her wanted to laugh. But in seeing Kitty like this…She inwardly smiled to herself and felt that maybe she had suffered enough.

"Okay…" said Wanda finally, much to Kitty's relief, "Maybe it's your petty graveling, but I guess I can forgive this one embarrassing indiscretion. But just remember…Sneak into my private life or Kurt's, and you won't get off that easily next time."

"Don't worry, I'll remember," said Kitty as her mood finally lightened and she let out a deep sigh…But Wanda wasn't done just yet.

"Be sure that you do…And just as a reminder…"

Suddenly, Wanda's hand began to glow and Kitty suddenly found herself flung back against the bookcase, much to her surprise and upon impact, the young mutant used her hexing powers to bury her in a pile of books while blocking out her powers so that she would feel them hit her on the head. This only caused Wanda to smile more as she saw the rather discontented frown on her face which was just too priceless for her to forget.

"All is forgiven…" she said with a grin as she walked out and left Kitty sit in her own stupor of payback.

Kitty was glad that Wanda had put it to rest, but having a bunch of books dumped on her and being slammed against a bookcase wasn't her idea of forgiveness. In seeing her, Piotr tried very hard not to laugh at her expression.

"Don't say anything…" said warned Kitty as she rubbed her sore head and got up from the pile of books Wanda had tried to bury her in.

"I wouldn't dream of it Katya," smirked Piotr as Kitty grumpily left the library and made her way up to her room, wanting desperately for this long, annoying day to finally end.

-Later that Day-

Fury was sitting in a SHIELD helicopter on his way to the X-Men. The info had been incomplete and even with all that he had, he couldn't get sanctions to move against the Hellfire Club. Once again he had been derailed on the issue. And since he couldn't go against them officially or even unofficially, he had only one option left. He knew that an independent force, that wasn't attached to SHIELD could do what he couldn't and since they had two of their members, he figured they would jump at the chance for this. This was all off the books too. The pilot was someone he trusted, having signed out for this under the guise of a shakedown cruise. He figured that would give him enough time to do what he needed to do.

The large black helicopter touched down onto the ground in the front of the mansion and Fury stepped out. He wasn't surprised to see Logan coming out to see him, but he was surprised by how he looked. Logan looked like he was having trouble with something, judging from the dark circles he had under his eyes and he was even less shaven then usual. "This had better be important Nick. We've got troubles of our own to deal with," said logan harshly to the man he had known for years, and on good days considered him a friend.

"I know Logan, that's part of the reason I'm here…I've found them."

Logan's eyes widened and in another time the look on his face would have made Fury laugh, but this wasn't one of them. "If we can go somewhere where I can play this," he said as he held up a disk for him to see, "I can show you everything you need to know."

Logan only nodded and walked quickly to the front door with Fury on his heels. Logan sent a thought out to Xavier and he told them to meet them to the war room. They were quiet on the way down. Logan was deep in thought, trying to figure out how Fury had known about their missing members, wondering how long they were under surveillance, and how long Fury had been holding out on him. He was tempted to grab Fury by the collar and force him to spill his guts, but kept that impulse under control. He had already damaged things with Ororo with his damn temper and didn't want a repeat performance.

They entered the war room, which hadn't been used since Apocalypse, to find Xavier and the other X-Men already there. He figured that Xavier would want the others in on this and saw Kurt there looking hopeful. He also saw Wanda and Piotr since they were technically X-Men now and while they hadn't been on a single real mission yet, they were doing well enough in the Danger Room. Warren was also present, looking anxious for any kind of news.

Then his eye rested on Gambit. "What's he doing here?"

"I invited him," Scott said surprising everyone there. "He has a part in this too." He didn't go into more detail, but he figured that Remy needed the change to redeem himself just as much as Scott needed to.

Fury walked up to the main console and place in the disk and opened the files. "What I'm about to tell you is classified and you never got this from me. In fact, I'm not even officially here and if anyone asks, you never saw me and you got all of this information on your own and SHIELD had nothing to do with this," he said as looked over the faces and saw that his words were taken as they were meant.

"The mercenaries that took Jean and Rogue are called the Reavers, led by a Japanese woman named Deathstrike. They were given their cybernetics by Donald Pierce, a member of the Inner Circle…The group that took not only Jean and Rogue, but a boy from Canada as well. There is also a list of other possible names they were considering, but they were the first group. They also got a young woman named Betsy Braddock," He noticed Warren tense up at her name.

"The group is called the Hellfire Club," Fury went on and now it seemed Xavier was the one that tensed up and Warren got an angry look on his face, "All this info came from an agent I have there under the name Tessa, but Xavier might know her under another name."

The image of a dark haired woman with pale skin and almost aristocratic features with high cheek bones flashed upon the screen.

"Sage." Xavier whispered out. He hadn't seen her in years, but he knew it was her, one of the first people he had helped with her gifts before he had the idea of making a school for mutants to come to and learn. He had always wondered what had happened to her and now he knew. "Sage…What have you gotten yourself into?" He said to himself quietly.

NEXT UP CHAPTER 17: RESCUE ATTEMPT