Chapter Two

Vixen had stopped to gas her motorcycle at a gas station and was just tucking the Institute's credit card back into her wallet. She'd been abroad, doing some research, her skin tanned lightly by foreign sun. The damp weather back home couldn't dampen the prospects of going home to see her friends, especially Logan. Not so long ago, she'd avoided the Xavier Institute like the plague, only returning because her growing telepathic powers had begun to break the mind barriers placed in her memories to protect her from a very sad truth when she was very young. Removing those barriers had begun to fix her broken relationship with her father, and her friendship with Logan was definitely blossoming into something more; and now going home didn't carry the same dread it once had.

**Vixen!**

Vixen flinched as her father's mind voice invaded her thoughts. She felt the panic he flung along with it. It wasn't like him to be so uncontrolled. Vixen was back on her bike and riding before she even tried to respond. When he didn't answer, she used the Bluetooth headset to try to call the Institute. There was no answer. She tried her father's cell, then Logan's, then Storm and Scott's and even Jean's. No one answered. Desperation set in, and she hit the accelerator hard. As the bike shot forward, she fought her fear, tried to remain calm. Her cell rang, making her jump.

"Dad?"

"Vixen!?" A girl's voice, abject terror lacing her tone.

"Rahne!" The girl was one of Vixen's protégées, who could transform into a wolf. "Wolfsbane, where are you?"

"I'm at home. Vixen, they're all frozen!" Panic reverberated through the Lycanthrope's voice.

"Frozen? Who's frozen?"

"Everyone! They're just… still, like statues!"

"Alive?" Please, please, let them be alive! Vixen almost prayed.

"Yes, I think they're breathing. The adults look like they were trying to fight something off…"

"Rahne, get out of the mansion." Vixen wondered if the attacker, whoever he or she was, was still in the building. Or if it was something else that had caused it. Either way, there was a great possibility that Rahne was in terrible danger. "Get out, now. Go to Diego's. Go, now!"

"I can't leave them, Vixen, not like this…But…" Rahne's stubborn wolf loyalty was beginning to show.

"Rahne." Vixen took a deep breath, swerving the bike around a car without indicating. She cut back in a bit tight to avoid an oncoming truck and the car driver honked his horn, annoyed. Vixen ignored him, the bike already streaking ahead of the car. "Rahne, listen to me, you need to get to safety. If whoever or whatever got them is still there, they might attack you too. I might need your help to help them. Get to Diego's. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay. I'm going." Vixen could hear her running along a corridor. "I'm out, Vixen, I'm going to Change."

"Carry your cell. Call me when you get to Diego's."

"Okay." The call cut off.

Vixen took another steady breath and called Diego. The man owned a local bar which was, unofficially, the local hang out for adult mutants. Although Diego was not a mutant himself, both his wife and son were, and all three were well aware of the Institute and the X-Men. They were good friends, and she knew Diego would take care of Rahne. Sure enough, the bar owner was keen to help.

"Want me to go take a look around?" He asked.

"No." Vixen replied. "Thanks Diego, but I have no idea what's going on. If you could watch out for Rayne until I get there, I'd be grateful."

"Sure thing, Vix, she's safe here with me."

Vixen thanked him briefly. She ended the call and pushed the bike to its limit, still far too far from home for her liking. What she wouldn't give to have a long range version of Kurt's powers right then…