Chapter Five

Vixen approached the grounds, shifting into her favourite wolf form. It was a form she used regularly, and had spent many months in. It came much more naturally than any other. She stalked up to the boundary wall, sniffing carefully. She scented where Wolfsbane had jumped the wall, but was more interested in whether there genuinely was an intruder at the Institute or whether it was something more insidious.

She recognised the smell from Rahne's memories the second she sniffed it. The rotten egg smell of sulphur, of fire and brimstone. It was how Vixen had always imagined a dragon's breath would smell. But underneath it all was the smell of hair spray – lots of hairspray – and PVC. It started some way off, and carried on straight up the driveway. Whomever had hurt her friends, her family, had clearly sauntered up to the grounds and straight up the drive. Vixen growled, a deep rumbling in her chest. Whoever they were, they would pay, and she would make sure of it.

But where was Wolverine? She needed backup, suspecting that she would need his adimantium rage, but more to the point she needed his strength – not just his muscles, but his absolute faith in her. He only had to glance her way, and she knew. An itch in the back of her mind fretted for him. Though she knew Wolverine's healing ability, his battle skills and his adimantium skeleton made him damned hard to kill, she had always suspected he was not truly immortal. It was too much of a coincidence that Sabretooth had shown up right before the mysterious intruder. Someone had had Wolverine lured away from the Institute deliberately. She tried again to reach out to him telepathically, to no avail.

Vixen, stalking amongst the trees as she made her way slowly up to the mansion, gave herself a small shake. Wherever, however Wolverine was, she would have to worry about him later. When she'd figured out exactly what she was going to do here, or when she'd freed the Institute's residents, she'd find him, and if he wasn't dead then she would kill him for leaving her alone in this venture.

Pressed against the wall of the mansion, Vixen crept to the doors of her study. They were always ajar, even on the coldest and wettest days, to allow Rahne and herself easy access without Changing if necessary. She was grateful that Logan and her father had thought to install them for her when the mansion had been rebuilt. She entered the building sneakily, listening for sounds. The room stank of brimstone and fire and she fought the urge to sneeze. She knew it would take weeks for the pervasive smell to disappear. Her wolf ears twitched as she heard a cackle of laughter from her father's study next door. Someone was talking to the Professor, tormenting him, but she could hear nothing from her father at all.

Vixen shifted back into human form. She reached out, gently as she could, to see if her father was truly there. She sensed him, his thoughts warm and happy and content, though she couldn't see exactly what was making him feel that way. A sense of relief washed through her anyway. At least she knew he was alive, and hopefully could be saved. She searched for other members of the team, and they were all the same as her father, their thoughts isolated from her, but all suffused with the same warm, contented energy. None of them seemed harmed in any way other than the fact that they were statues, stuck in time and their own happy illusions.

**I know you are there, Ilehana.** A voice, like a witch from a movie. **I can feel you seeking out your friends.**

**My name is Vixen.** Her standard refusal of her given name. No one called her by it now. **Who are you, and what do you want?**

**Come and face me, and you'll find out.**

**Where are you?** Though she knew perfectly well, Vixen stalled for time, creeping out of her study and away.

**I'm with your father, the greatest telepath alive… Only he isn't. That's my title, Vixen. Mine! I am the great Chimera, strongest telepath alive. None dare stand against me!**

Vixen knew from her ramblings that Chimera was insane. The woman's voice made her skin crawl. Wolves didn't tolerate madness well, and Vixen was no exception. It happened occasionally, when a wolf was old, ill or severely injured, they might go mad from the pain or dementia. The pack would unceremoniously drive them out. Vixen wondered what pack Chimera had been exiled from. She moved carefully, fairly certain that Chimera was alone in her quest for domination over telepaths, but not daring to trust.

She found Kurt in the kitchen. Nightcrawler was…Vixen frowned as she tried to work it out… trying to look at his tail? His body was twisted so his head was looking backward over his shoulder, his arm set for balancing himself. Poor boy, being stuck in that ungainly position couldn't be very comfortable. Remembering the telepathic shock she'd received from Scott in Rahne's memories, Vixen took a breath and carefully took Kurt's hands.

Kurt was normal. No blue fuzzy fur, no tail… and no image inducer. He was at school, in the corridor where the lockers were, hanging out with human friends. They were whispering not so subtly, and encouraging Kurt to go and ask Amanda for her number. The teenager was clearly not keen on the idea, but when his friends gave him a push and he ended up right in Amanda's path, he began to stutter words that almost sounded like "can we hang out sometime?"

Amanda looked at him, not with disgust but with a look of boredom. "No thanks, Kurt, you're sweet and all, but… well you're not really my type." And she set off down the corridor, books clutched to her chest. Kurt was left watching her go, his face crestfallen as the object of his affections gave Lance, aka Avalanche, a long, interested look as she passed him…

Kurt was normal. No blue fuzzy fur, no tail… and no image inducer. He was at school…

Poor Kurt. Vixen released the young lad's hands, understanding that though Chimera could give her victim one of their hearts desires, she could not give them everything they wanted. And they were stuck in the same, repeating dreams. How many times had Kurt watched Amanda walk away from him because he was normal and not a mutant? And how to set them free?