Here's part 3. Enjoy.

Read and review. I've rewritten parts of all three. If it's alright I'll post part 4 while i finish up the one shot. I'll only do it if you agree, though.

Disclaimer: i don't own wolverine and the x men. Marvel studios does. And they are idiots for cancelling it.

Warren flew over the treetops, looking for anyone in the trees below.

"Looks like there's no sign of the military, or the MRD." He said, looking at the ground below. But that still left the question as to what caused the explosion.

It hadn't come from inside the mansion, so what could've caused it?

'Are you there Angel? Have you found anyone yet?' He heard Psylocke say in his mind. She'd established a mental link between them and Bobby before they'd split up. He shrugged her off. He liked pissing off Betsy. It really brought him a little bit more joy than it should.

Honestly, he did think she was attractive. I mean, what man wouldn't with her looks? But she was more of a friend to him now than anything. They tried dating once but they never really worked out. Sure, they had some good times, but things weren't really heated between them, at least not for long.

They bonded at first during missions and had a few drinks together, one thing leading to another.

They had a good thing going at the time, but other things happened at the time (sinister, politics, etc…) and it never really took off. Doesn't mean that they didn't like each other though. Far from it.

'Earth to Angel. I know that you're enjoying yourself up in heaven, but you still have a job to do, you know.' She said incredulously through the link.

'Heaven to Betsy, I read you loud and clear.' Warren said and he heard the British beauty giggle on the other end. Warren smiled in response. He liked hearing her laugh. 'How're things on your end?'

'Good, between my efforts and Logan's, we've located most of the children.'

Warren breathed a sigh of relief at that. 'Anything else?' He asked her and moved his gaze down to the forest floor.

'I haven't heard from Bobby. I swear he'd forget to wear pants if Kitty didn't scold him for it.' The Asian beauty responded. Warren chuckled in response.

'You know Bobby, probably lost in an ice-fuelled haze.' The winged x-man said. Betsy giggled slightly and Warren noticed a distinct flash of yellow moving below the trees.

'Gotta go, Bets. I'll check back with you later. I think I've found something in the trees.' He said through the link before cutting it off. He flew down towards the ground, following the source of the yellow.

He noticed, however, that they were running away.

"Huh. Looks like I've been spotted. Guess it's time to drop in." He said to himself and sped himself up. He stopped when he was about 50 metres in front of his quarry.

He spun around gracefully and outstretched his wings before diving.

He landed right in front of his target and folded his wings. Whoever it was, they were trying to hide their identity, but a quick glance at the person's red and grey bangs confirmed one of his theories.

"What are you doing, Rogue?" He asked her curiously. She kept her head lowered. Warren took a step forward, trying to bridge the gap. Rogue took a step back in response. "What's going on, Rogue? Why are you running?"

Rogue looked up this time and Warren gasped lightly as he saw her puffy eyes through her cloak. She looked like she'd been crying her eyes out. Rogue saw his reaction and rubbed her eyes, turning away. He was about to reach out for her but she backed away, keeping a wary eye on her friend.

"Warren, jus' let me go. Please." She pleaded. Just then Warren noticed her backpack. How did he not see it before? It must've been hidden by her cloak, he reasoned. "I'm sorry. I just need to sort things out, and if I go back there I know that I won't be able to leave."

Warren knew from his own past with his family that it was hard to leave a place that felt like home, even if it was for the best. Warren gave a solemn nod and Rogue turned around quickly.

She took a few steps before pausing. She turned her head towards her friend sadly.

"Could you….tell 'em I'm sorry?" She asked him. He nodded silently in response. Rogue nodded thankfully. "Thank you."

She was about to leave but Warren halted her again. "Can you at least tell me why?"

"I'm sure that you can figure it out." She said and Warren instantly came up with one name….

"Goodbye Warren." The absorbing mutant said and ran off. He could've stopped her if he wanted to, not easily mind you, but he could.

But out of respect for the girl who had become like his sister along with the others at the institute, he let her go. Like Logan, she needed some time alone to find herself again every once in a while. But she'd be back. Like Logan she always came back.

So he watched her disappear into the trees, out of his reach (on the ground at least.)

'Warren Worthington lll, I know that you did not just hang up on me. You better have a damn good explanation as to why you did that, or I'll send you to heaven myself.' Betsy ranted through their link, making Angel chuckle.

'Alright, Bets, I'm here. Don't get your dress in a knot. It doesn't suit you.' Warren said and he could feel her scowl at the other end. It was fun to make the usual calm and collected Psylocke get into a tizzy.

'Just get your feathered ass back as soon as you can.' She said in a slightly mean, yet exhausted and relieved tone. Warren knew from that tone she was probably worried about him. He blushed lightly at the thought and smiled warmly.

'Yes ma'am.' He sent back to her warmly, and he felt the link cut out.

He unfolded his wings and looked back in the direction that Rogue had run off.

'I hope you find what you need, Rogue.' He thought to himself and took off, looking for anyone else among the forest.

After flying back in the direction of the grounds for about 400 metres, he stopped as he picked up a familiar scent and his eyes widened in fear.

"Smoke." Warren said fearfully and looked below. He stopped once gazing upon a patch of nearby smoke rising from the ground, about a few miles northeast of the institute.

He flew down closer to the source of the smoke.

He paused in midair when he spotted Storm's white hair. She was moving slightly and she appeared to be alright, but her usually pristine hair was slightly disheveled.

He was elated to see his friend alive and seemingly well, as well as hopefully not critically injured.

What confused him, however, was the fact that she was on her knees. Was she in pain? Was she hurt?

"Ororo!" The winged x-man called out to his ex and dove down to The ground. He landed about 12 meters behind Ororo.

He walked up to about a few metres behind Ororo on her right side now that he was closer he could see the tears cascading down her beautiful face. "Ororo, what's wrong?"

She didn't respond. She just kept sitting there, crying like a newborn child. No, newborns cry because they don't know better. This cry was something else. Ororo never cried. Never. Not since her nephew Evan got critically hurt in a mutant hate crime a couple of years ago and had been sent to the hospital. He'd been the one to console her back then, when they had been together. Now, he wasn't sure what to do.

Storm knew that he was there. She briefly noticed his presence and knew that she appeared rude at this moment, but she didn't care. She was just caught up in the fact that… she paused as another loud sob racked her system.

"Ororo?" Warren asked her softly before shifting his gaze towards the crater in front of her. At first he couldn't see anything due to the smoke, but a brief clear look inside made his body freeze up in shock.

'Oh no, dear god, no. It can't be.' He thought loudly, which must've been sent to Betsy because she immediately responded.

'Warren, what's happened, is something wrong? Warren?!'

'Betsy, get Logan and get over here. Scott too. You all need to see this.' He said weakly through the link.

'What is it? Warren you're scaring me here.'

'Just get over here. Follow the telepathic signature.' Warren said and ended the communication, falling to his knees a few metres behind Storm, her still not noticing his presence.

'Oh professor….' Warren thought as he felt the tears fall down his cheeks.

X-X-X

"Anyone there?!" Bobby yelled out and shot out another beam of ice at the walls. The blast had really shook the entire property, even cracking the walls of the underground. He started hollering out into the tunnels below like he was in a cave. "Hello! Is anybody down here?"

"Quit shouting already! You sound like Scott when he drank too much on St. Patty's" Bobby heard a snarky voice say and he breathed a loud sigh of relief before letting out a chuckle at that memory. Seeing their fearless leader getting himself completely shit-faced a few months ago was definitely worth the scolding from the Professor.

"Hey, you should just be happy I'm not calling you back to bed."

He heard a faint giggling from around the bend and a few seconds later he saw the girlish face of his friend. there stood Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde. His best 'girl' friend, who he saw like a sister. An annoying sister that's always on your case about everything you do, but that was Kitty in a nutshell.

She was followed closely by a scratched up looking Colossus and a rather limp Nightcrawler.

Kitty rushed forward and hugged him tightly, ecstatic that her friend was alright. "I'm glad you're okay, just don't do it again anytime soon, k?"

Bobby smiled boyishly and nodded, happy to see his friends again.

He then looked over at Kurt with concern. "Um… is he gonna be okay?"

Kitty nodded and looked over at Kurt mischievously. "Yeah, he's just being a big baby, so Peter had to put little baby blue down for his nap."

Kurt groaned loudly in response. "So, not funny." He said, thoroughly embarrassed now.

"It is a little, bro." Bobby said, barely holding back his laughter at Kurt's expense. The German mutant glared at him in response. Bobby just shrugged it off like he did most threats. "Awe, Nightcrawer need his buh-buh? Why don't you just count blue sheep instead?"

Kitty and Colossus both laughed heavily at that one, causing the giant to nearly drop Kurt. He looked down at his hurt friend. "I'm sorry."

Kurt just sighed heavily. "It's alright. I'm used to being ze butt of everyone's jokes at this point. Just as Bobby is used to falling flat on his face." He said, smirking.

"Hey I resent that comm-" Bobby said in defiance but tripped and fell on a stray patch of ice of his from before. "That hurt."

"Now that's ironic." Kitty said, laughing at Bobby's childish pout.

"No, he is ironic." Kurt said and pointed to the man carrying him, who was wearing a partly metal uniform on top of his already metal skin. He then pointed to the icicle boy on the ground and smirked slightly. "That's hilarious."

Bobby pouted and Colossus laughed. "Good one moy drug." (Moy drug is russian for my friend).

"Thank you mein Freund." Kurt said tiredly and his head went limp.

"Kurt!" Kitty yelled out and rushed over to her friend's side. Her panic disappeared, however, when she heard a soft snoring come from him. "False alarm. He just passed out. Poor guy."

"Geez, what a drama queen. All that faint speaking made it feel like a soap opera down here." Bobby said and he snapped his icy fingers as a thought came to him, causing a little bit of ice to hit Kitty's shoulder. She squealed a little and glared at Bobby, who was now rubbing his neck sheepishly. "So, uh, hey, did you guys happen to see any unstable areas on your way over here?"

"Yeah. I found a few bad spots on the way here. I can show you." Kitty said, annoyed and brushed the ice off her shoulder before she walked over to Colossus. She put a hand on Kurt's shoulder gleefully. "Bye, Hurt Kurt, we've gotta go. We'll make sure you get some help once we're back."

"Hurt Kurt. Nice." Bobby snorted and high-fived Kitty as they walked together through the tunnels.

"Well, moy drug, looks like it's just you and me now…" Peter said and went down the hall to the infirmary, hoping that it wasn't destroyed.

X-X-X

Scott and Hank panted as they exited the tunnel into the hanger. their clothes slightly damp with sweat.

"Man, am I glad we're out of there. We seriously need to get that place renovated." Scott said and wiped the sweat from his brow. Being in that tunnel was almost like being in a sauna. Luckily the room had cooled significantly towards the end. It must've been Bobby icing up the lower levels. "I mean, the place is like a sauna."

"I agree." Hank said and shook his fur a little. He was going to have to make a field day of just grooming himself again this month.

"Did we really have to take the long way around?"

"Yes, unless you'd rather blast through the wall and kill us in the collapse." Hank said blankly.

Scott flinched at this and nodded reluctantly. "Fair enough, so what's next?"

"Now we have to hurry in order to check if the mainframe is still up and running, otherwise we'll essentially be fixing the place up from scratch." Hank said and he started walking towards the war room and Scott quickly moved after him.

"Let's just hope that everything is intact."

"We'll see." Hank said and he looked at the walls. Some of them seemed to have a few cracks but everything seemed alright.

They walked down the corridor and found the war room after a couple minutes.

"Finally. Let's get inside." Scott said.

Hank nodded and walked up to the computer. Scott walked over to his left side.

He was about to activate it but he paused slightly as he saw the active monitor. "Odd, it seems that someone has already accessed our systems."

"That can't be good."

"I'll say. Let's just hope that we can still access the mainframe." Hank said and entered a few keystrokes. He ran a system diagnostics check and was displeased to find out that the system had been accessed recently. "Oh, dear. It appears we may have a problem. It appears that someone accessed our systems just less than an hour ago."

"Didn't our cameras pick them up?" Scott asked.

"Unfortunately, no. The cameras were all shut down in the explosion." Hank said, disappointed in himself for allowing this. The lab was his responsibility, he should have safeguarded it better.

"Well do we at least know what they accessed?"

"No, it seems that our perpetrator covered their tracks very well. While there is evidence of use, there's no record of what they actually got into." Hand said and rubbed his head. The others weren't going to be happy about this one. He then caught sight of something peculiar. One of the slots had significantly less dust around it than the others. "On second thought, we may have something after all."

"What is it?"

Beast checked their financial records and found a piece of the trail. "it appears someone accessed the accounts."

"They went after our finances?!" Scott said and he fumed loudly.

"Not just any particular finances, only one of the trust funds." Hank said and entered a few keystrokes.

Scott raised a brow at that. "So whose was it? If it's Logan's I promise that I won't laugh, much." He said humorously.

"No, the account accessed actually belongs to …. Rogue." Hank said, surprised by this.

"Rogue?! Why Rogue?! I mean her trust is even smaller than Logan's, and she's been here longer." Scott, said, his glasses even nearly falling off from the shock. Luckily he managed to grab them before he eye-blasted the entire war room.

"True, but you also have to factor in the fact that he goes on a lot more missions than Rogue does. Even with adding his… frequent travels." Hank clarified. Scott nodded in understanding.

"Still, that begs the question of why Rogue's trust account?"

"Hmm, I don't know. It's very peculiar. It could be someone with a vendetta towards Rogue." Hank said and stroked his chin as he awaited Scott's response.

"You don't think it could be…"

"No, from what I heard from Logan it was a smooth parting, as smooth as it could be given the circumstances, anyway." Hank said strongly and Scott let it go.

"That still doesn't answer the question as to who and why."

Hank thought about it for a second and his head perked up as an idea came to him. "Let's get back to that. For now we should check the storage. See if anything's missing."

"Hey, yeah. There's some important stuff in there. Uniforms, weapons,"

"My spare lab coats and glasses…" Hank said and Scott shot him a blank look. "What, it's hard to get clothes in my size, especially those."

"Fair enough." Scott said and tore a piece of his remaining sleeve before using it as a rag to clean the screen. "There, that should help."

"Thank you. Though you could have used something a bit more appropriate." Hank said and pointed to Scott's left. The taller man looked and his mouth dropped open a little as he saw a spray bottle and rag.

Scott looked back to his friend sheepishly. "Guess I got caught up in the moment."

"Understandable, given what we just went through. I can still feel the adrenaline rush myself. You must feel like you're in a marathon at the moment." Hank said understandably.

Scott scoffed. "Yeah, more like a roller coaster." A collar coaster of emotional strain and turmoil.

Hank nodded understandingly and said nothing else as he entered the command sequence for the storage unit.

"Well unfortunately, the ride isn't quite over yet." Hank said and opened the panel down the hallway and on their right. "You check out the one down the hall. I'll check the main storage."

"Sure, give the blind guy the easy job." Scott said and growled slightly.

"You've been spending too much time with Logan." Hank commented. Scott scoffed slightly and shook his head.

"You're one to talk, fuzzball." Scott said with a slight smirk as he walked down the hall.

Hank shook his head and walked into the closet, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Okay. Weapons, check. Stealth suits, check. Uniforms, che.. wait a minute." He said and paused as he noticed a distinct lack of one person's clothing. "Scott, get back here! I think I've found something."

Scott appeared in the doorway, panting slightly from the rush. "Hey, what's the rush?"

"Take a look. See any lack of uniforms anywhere?" Hank said and pointed to the area he was searching. Scott's jaw dropped slightly in surprise and slight realization.

"Rogue's uniforms, they're all gone. Her spare outfit, even a pair of her shoes." Hank said and he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Scott looked at him sceptically. "I'm not kidding."

"Never said you were, but it looks like we know who passed through here."

"It does seem rather obvious. Still, I should probably have Kitty take a look at this for me later. She's always been much better than me when it comes to computer systems, anyway." Hank said, acknowledging his younger teammate's talent. "If anything's out of sorts, she'll find it."

Scott nodded in agreement. Kitty was by far the best computer expert they had here. The girl only being 17 only made her that much more impressive, especially with her being among such high level intellects such as the professor, Forge and even Hank himself. "No doubt about that."

"Hello! Anyone there?" Both men heard a young voice say and their heads turned to the doorway to see a slightly scuffed up Kitty and Bobby standing in the doorway. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. Good to see you're both alright." Hank said.

"Angel and Betsy too. They're both topside helping the students." Bobby said.

"Anyone else?" Scott asked them, adding to the conversation.

"Yeah, Peter's with Kurt, taking care of him in the infirmary. He got a little scratched up in the blast, but he'll be fine, and Peter was in his metal form." Kitty said, still slightly worried about her injured friend.

"I saw Logan above ground. He should be up there searching like the others." Scott said.

Kitty heaved a sigh of relief at that. "Thank goodness."

"I take it that the underground is secure." Hank said, not missing the not entirely subtle increase in Kitty's pitch at the mention of their other hairy friend.

"Yeah, all except for the elevator. I had to ice my way down here. Hey wait, how'd you guys get down…." Bobby said.

"We took an old evac tunnel system built into the house before the professor even owned it." Scott clarified.

"That why your pits have stains like you crawled through the air vents?" Bobby said, snickering.

"Moving on…" Scott said, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Have you seen Rogue?"

"Rogue? No. Why? Has something happened to her?" Kitty asked, her relief that Logan was alright leaving her mind somewhat. Rogue was like a sister to her, she didn't want to lose her.

"We don't know, we were hoping that you could tell us." Hank said.

"What are you talking about? It's not like we kidnapped her and stuffed her in cerebro." Bobby said incredulously.

Beast, however, wasn't amused. "This isn't the time for kidding around, Bobby. Rogue's uniforms and clothes are gone and her accounts have been accessed."

"What? Are you sure it was hers?" Kitty said, interjecting.

"Yes, and that was the only trail that we had to follow, that and a new x-card was printed recently. The printer was still warm." Kitty said and Iceman gave him a blank look.

"Uh, Beast, In case you hadn't noticed, everything around here is a little warm right now." Bobby said. Beast gave him a stern glare. "What? It is."

"I meant that the motor was still running it's default operations, ones that cannot do so without entering the proper command, and none of the others were running at all."

"Ok, I get your point. But why would Rogue want to access the system?" Bobby said, backing down.

"No, the question is, how did Rogue even access the system in the first place." Scott said, wondering how she could even access the mainframe. The answer came in the form of Kitty chuckling while rubbing her arm nervously.

"That's my fault. You see, I may have taught Rogue a few computer skills in case of emergencies. You know, if we had an intruder, which you've got to admit happens a lot around here."

"Fair point. But why would Rogue want to do all this?" Hank asked, confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Bobby asked as if it were obvious. Everyone looked at him. "She's running away."

"But why would she do that? She has a home here. A family." Scott said, appalled by this.

"Yeah, but it doesn't have Logan. And most of the time when he is actually here, he's on missions with either us or sleeping off a hangover." Kitty said observantly and Hank nodded in agreement.

"You forgot spending time with Jean." Scott said icily.

"Wait, Jean? You mean they?" Kitty said, heartbroken by this.

"Yeah. I'm still not sure as to when, but we were talking about it before the blast, and she…." Scott said and paused as he relived the painful memory.

Kitty frowned as she thought about the implications of this.

"I was not aware that they were… I mean, I knew they were close, but I always pictured the two of you as…" Kitty said, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings.

"Now's not the time for that." Scott said, making it clear that he wanted to drop the subject. "Right now we have to find the others and make sure they're alright. We can deal with all that later."

"Agreed, all of this drama is just distracting us from Rogue." Hank said, adding his two cents.

"At least she'll be hidden. She took a cloak with her too, and an extra jacket." Scott said offhandedly.

"Well, at least she'll be warm." Bobby said. Everyone looked back to him. "What? Too soon?"

"Just a little, snowboy." Kitty said with a small teasing smile.

"So, what do we do about Rogue?" Hank asked them. He was at a loss as to how they would approach that particular situation.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do, really." Kitty said, sad that she had to admit it.

"So, what, we just give up on her?! We have to go and find her!" Scott asked loudly.

"Maybe she doesn't wanna be found." Kitty said sadly. She didn't want to have to talk about this. Rogue was her friend. She didn't want her to just leave without saying goodbye.

"So what do we do, just abandon her? That's not what the X-men are all about. We don't abandon our own." Scott said with conviction as well as slight disgust towards Kitty for saying what she did.

"I know that we don't, I'm merely suggesting we give her time. She'll come back, you'll see."

"What makes you so sure that she will?" Scott asked her, feeling her dark mood and calming down slightly.

"Because Logan always comes back here, and she once told me that this place doesn't feel like home without him." Kitty said with a slight smile, glad that Rogue trusted her enough to confide in her about that. Scott reeled back at her conviction and scoffed slightly.

"Alright. I'll trust you on this one." Scott said and thought about their next move. Logan hadn't really told him what to do after going underground. He shook his head, trying to get the idea of actually listening to Logan out of his head.

"We need to get topside, check out the situation up there." Hank said, slightly confused as to why his friend was shaking his head like that.

"Probably should. Knowing Kurt, he's probably awake by now, teleporting Peter off a cliff." Bobby said offhandedly. Scott gave him a slightly appalled look. "Don't ask."

"Probably best for my sanity if I don't." Scott said. Hank nodded wisely in agreement. "Is everything else okay?"

"Yes, the diagnostic showed no other concerns." Hank said and looked over to Kitty. "Think you can give the system a check later, just to make sure?"

"No problem. But we should-"

"Good. Then let's get topside." Bobby said, cutting her off and he walked to the doorway. He paused when he saw Kitty giving him a look. "What?"

"Ahem. Aren't you forgetting something? Or some friends? What about Kurt and Peter?"

"They'll be okay for now. Let's just worry about getting up there." Scott said, eager to get out of the frankly stuffy underground. Besides, those two between them could handle anything thrown at them, or on them in today's case.

"I'm right behind you." Bobby said.

"Yeah? Well you better get in front of me, quick. You're our exit, remember?" Scott ordered.

Oh yeah, duh." Bobby said airheadedly and the group walked back over to the destroyed elevator down the hall. Well, all except for Kitty.

Kitty sighed at their behaviour. Why did she have to always be the mature one here?

"Kitty, you coming?" Bobby said to her.

"Yeah, I'm coming." She said reluctantly and followed along, not appreciating being treated like a rookie.

She paused and looked back at the war room. 'Good luck, Rogue. Come back safe.' She thought and a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Kitty. You coming or what?" Bobby called out to her. What was she doing? He'd never understand girls.

Kitty quickly wiped away the tear before anyone saw it. She didn't want other people to see her all mopey and pouty, anyway.

"Yeah. I'll be right there." Kitty said and walked up to her friend.

"You alright. You were kinda just standing there a little." Bobby said, trying not to be completely obnoxious for once.

"I'm fine. Let's just make sure everyone's ok." Kitty said and Bobby shrugged, letting it go.

Bobby nodded and they both walked back to their teammates.

"Hey, Iceman, quit moving like an iceberg already." Scott said, challenging Bobby.

"We'll see who's an iceberg when I freeze your ass, Summers."

"Anytime, Drake. Anytime."

"And, they're back." Kitty said and she and Hank shared a laugh.

X-X-X

Logan wiped the sweat and rain water off his brow as he cleared up the last of the debris. The digging had left him virtually done by this point, and his clothes were soaked through. He looked around and sighed in exhaustion when he saw the state the house was in.

"Logan!" He heard a British voice call to him and he looked over to see Betsy running over to him in a slightly torn up black tank top and torn blue jeans to cover her admittedly attractive form. Her purple hair was tattered and full of ash, but she was still dignified with strong posture. She bent herself over and gripped her knees, exposing the top of her breasts to Logan. "Where's Scott?!"

"Underground with Hank. What's going on?" He asked, trying to avert his eyes from her chest. Betsy noticed his confliction and admired his chivalry. Most people would just simply gaze at her breasts, but Logan was showing restraint. Maybe he wasn't all animal after all.

But he was definitely no Angel.

"Warren sent me a message through the link. I'm not sure what's happened, but we have to get to the northeast side of the forest now!" She said. Logan looked confused as to why. "Logan; there wasn't any rain predicted in the forecast until next Week!"

"'Ro." Logan said in realization. Betsy nodded. "What about the kids?"

"They're alright. The older students are keeping watch over them." Betsy said and Logan nodded.

"Alright, let's get moving." Logan said and Betsy nodded, not wanting to push him.

They ran all the way through the backyard and down into the woods, Betsy tracking Warren through their link. Meanwhile Logan was using his senses, running and zipping through the trees as fast as he could without racing past Psylocke. Luckily, Betsy was no slouch, and she picked up her pace a little. Logan didn't know if it was a rare show of athleticism or adrenaline, but he didn't really care at that moment. As they passed a large tree, Logan began picking up the smell of smoke. Soon enough, he could see it too.

"Right there." The Wolverine pointed out and Betsy nodded in response. As they walked down the roots of the tree they saw… Storm on the ground, kneeling in front of a crater. Well, Logan saw her. Betsy's gaze was immediately drawn to Warren, who was in a similar state to Ororo.

"Storm!" Logan called out and ran towards her. Ororo paused as she recognized his voice. As he reached her, the weather goddess immediately dove into his chest, seeking his warm comfort and also not wanting to give him a chance to see her tears, but Logan saw them. What could have brought this reaction out of her? He wondered. He wrapped his arms around the normally elegant beauty and held her while rubbing her back as soothingly as he could. Ororo just cried into her friend's muscular, warm chest. Betsy walked over and put a hand on Warren's shoulder.

"Warren? What's wrong?" Betsy asked slowly. Warren wordlessly pointed to the crater in front of him. The psionic mutant stood up and looked inside the crater and gasped, falling to her knees in shock. Tears came to her eyes as Warren came over to her and brought heer into a soothing embrace. Betsy accepted it, not bothering to even comment how his feathers were getting in her hair….

Logan looked down at the girl in his arms with concern. "Storm? What's wrong darlin'? What's going on?" Storm cried a little harder. After a few seconds, the sobs lessened a little and Ororo raised a shaky arm and pointed behind herself towards the crater. "Down there?" He asked. Storm nodded.

Logan nodded back and let go of Storm, not before whispering silent reassurances in her ear and rubbing her back. Once she willingly let him go he walked over and took a look at the crater. At first glance it just seemed like an ordinary hole, but it had jagged lines running inside it, and it looked more like a piece of abstract art than a hole. But as his vision lowered, his eyes widened in shock and he nearly collapsed as he realized the source of 'Ro's sadness.

Down at the centre of the crater was the professor's empty chair, tilted on it's right side and seared to a crisp. It looked like it had been run through an incinerator. The only indication that it was Charles' chair was the charred 'x' on the wheel. Lying close by, was a torn piece of blouse that bore a somewhat ordinary green colour if anything, but Logan would know that colour anywhere...

"Oh, Chuck, no…Jean..." Logan said and a few tears slipped down his own cheeks at the sight before him, and storm came back over and hugged his back, crying into his shoulder.

Logan stayed there, frozen in place as he faintly registered Ororo holding him. All he felt was that he had failed. He couldn't make it in time. Now Jean was gone, and so was the professor. Both were among the only people he really counted as friends. He tightened his hold on Storm. No doubt she was probably hurting as badly as he was, probably more. But he just felt too hopeless to care. There was a solemn silence as the four x-men just stayed there, mourning their fallen mentor, a sullen rain falling on them.

X-X-X

"Fresh, sweet air." Bobby said but then hacked a bit as a big hit of dust went in his mouth. "Ok, maybe not so fresh."

"No kidding, I've inhaled cleaner dust bunnies." Kitty said, sneezing slightly. Bobby chuckled at her cute sneeze and hank waved his arm around and saw how it collected itself onto his sleeve. He'd have the dust analyzed later for any trace elements of a bomb or other energy device.

"Ash or no ash, at least we're outside." Hank said wisely.

A little girl screamed and they turned their attention to the sight.

"You were saying?" Scott asked Hank with a raised brow before running off with the teens quickly following. Hank shrugged it off and followed the leader.

"What the…?" Bobby said. Everyone else stayed silent, mouths agape, at the sight before them.

Walking out of the forest, was a tired looking Wolverine holding a crying Storm against his side, keeping her upright and quite possibly being her only support. The crowd parted as they walked toward their teammates. A downtrodden Angel and Psylocke followed them, holding each other closely as they walked. All of them had cuts in their clothes and had scrapes and scratches along their arms and legs.

Logan walked up to them, a tattered Ororo sobbing in his arms. Warren followed holding Betsy, tears falling down both their faces.

"Storm!" Bobby said to his friend and mentor. Logan shrugged him off as the woman in his arms kept sobbing and he rubbed her back, trying desperately to calm her down.

"Logan. What happened?" Hank asked. Logan didn't speak or even grunt in response like he normally does. In fact from the doctor's expert opinion the Wolverine looked… sad.

Scott growled slightly and raised a fist in frustration. "Would you answer him?!"

"Scott, relax! Can't you see that Storm's going through something right now? Just let it go." Kitty said pleadingly. Scott scoffed, but dropped it.

Logan finally felt Storm's cries die down, so he finally managed to glance up at his friends with a grave look. "We got some bad news…"

How y'all liking this so far? I hope yall like it. Just so you know, i do plan on posting chapter five and maybe six in the near future, just to satisfy y'all a little. Expect part 4 of the prelude out soon.

Peace. Heroverse out