DISCLAIMER:
As you should know, I do not own the X-Men. They are the sole property of Marvel Comics Group. However, I do claim assorted OC's and will generally share if asked politely.

Lost, Then Found
by Dizi

Chapter 7

"It was most amazing, Logan. All the cats were focused on the same point. It was obvious a breeze was blowing only on you, Morgan, the cats, and the grass in the area they were looking." Ororo turned to Morgan. "Was that where Melody was?"

"Yes," she replied distractedly as she opened the door to the conservatory. "It was a very informative session. Hopefully one that won't need to be repeated."

"Ve could hear little of vhat vas said," Kurt spoke up.

"Not that we could have heard Melody anyway," Scott added. "But, Logan, you were the only one who was clear."

"It's to be expected. The spell was entirely on myself and the cats. The potion was only to make Logan more open, thereby allowing us to see Melody for ourselves through him." Morgan gestured to the center table. "Gather round. There are some things we need to discuss."

Carefully, she placed the bowl of water on the table, then flipped the pages of the large book. When they were spread out on the other side directly in front of her, Morgan began. "As I said, the session was very informative."

"Didn't seem like it ta me," Logan grumbled.

"But it was. She explained many things and told me enough to guess at others." She made a notation in the book. "For instance, the reason you saw her as a student of your school. Once she was finally able to get you to see her, you told her to stay with the other children. Melody understood this to mean she should be a student, that it was what you wanted. She would have been very eager to please, so did her best."

"It was his own doing." Emma arched a brow at him, as though she had known something was his fault.

"Yes and no." Morgan sighed. "Many children often do what's expected of them. A ghost child trying to make you see her will do what you expect just so you will. Once she had learned what you would expected, of course. That may be another reason why it took so long for you to actually see her."

"How does that help?" Ororo asked. Once again her eyes were drawn to the many plants but she was paying attention to the conversation.

"Well, it doesn't really. But it does explain why there was some confusion about her." Frowning, Morgan looked around at the table. "I forgot my other book and none of the cats are here. Drat."

"Vhere did zhey go?" Kurt realized this was the first time there wasn't a cat around.

"The ones involved in the spell are resting and the others are taking care of them. Cats are very small, afterall, and it wasn't easy for them to partake of the spell." Morgan hesitated, evidently worried no matter how calm she sounded. "They should be fully recovered in a few days."

"It was dangerous for them?" Scott frowned at the idea that she would put the cats in peril. As they appeared to be precious to her, it made what happened seem like much more, though from what the observers had seen it hadn't looked like much.

"There was no danger to your friend, I promise."

It wasn't the answer to his question, but he could tell it was all she'd admit.

"The most important thing we learned is that some erroneous assumptions may have been made." Morgan paused. "Melody insisted she wasn't dead. I think she may be right."

"She did say that," Logan agreed doubtfully. "But..."

"I do not have knowledge like yours, but I lived vith Margali," Kurt reminded them. "I know zat many ghosts do not know zhey are dead. Melody is a child, how could she know?"

"A valid point," Morgan nodded to him in acknowledgement. "But I am not only going by that she believes it, she said something else as well. Remember, Melody is not attached to a place. A grave or other location has no hold on her. How long was it before she became upset about the lack of communication from her mother?"

"A couple months after I first seen her," Logan confirmed.

"So at least two years, likely more. Yet she said her mother spoke to her, she could hear her. The mother wasn't at your school, and no one can go to a grave or her place of death to speak to Melody. How then was it possible?" She looked at each of them in turn, as though waiting for them to see the logic.

Skeptic she still was, but Emma was also curious. "From your tone, you know the answer. Enlighten us."

"It's only a theory, but it fits." Bending down, Morgan picked up a jar from the shelf under the table. "I think Melody did die. With modern technology, or CPR, or something, her body was brought back. During the short time she was dead, she acted like any other ghost and attached to Logan. There actually is a precedent for this in coma victims. Nowadays, ghost does not equal dead. It explains everything."

"No, it doesn't," Logan protested. "How'd she take ta me in the first place? Ya said somethin' 'bout how I had ta have touched her, an' I didn't."

"Ja, you said zere must be physical contact," Kurt agreed.

"That's a different question." Morgan gently tipped the jar so a few of the herbs inside fell into the bowl. "But I think I have an answer for that as well. Melody didn't remember much of the events right before she connected to Logan. However, she said enough to give us an idea."

"She talked like she was in an accident or somethin'," Logan remembered.

"So, what... Logan rescued her somehow but doesn't remember it?" Scott said the last somewhat incredulously, thinking the first part sounded about right but not the second.

"How many people do the X-Men save each year? Do you know the number? Do you even see all their faces?"

They didn't answer. They couldn't.

"From what I have seen of groups like yours, it may be possible." She had watched the herbs drift down to the bottom of the bowl and they were now settled. "If we were able to get enough from Melody, we can find out. Or maybe we'll see just enough for Xavier to get more from Logan." Whether it was the light or something else, the pupils of Morgan's eyes seemed larger and darker suddenly. "All of you, watch the bowl. Water does not conduct sound well this way, but the image should be very clear. Pay close attention and look for anything which might be significant. I'm not a VCR and this can't be rewound and shown again without doing everything over. And no talking."

After she finished speaking, Morgan breathed deeply a couple times, then placed her hands around the edge of the bowl without disturbing the water. Seconds passed. A single ripple went outward as though something had been dropped into the large bowl.

When the water was again still, an image appeared, clear as a TV screen but the sound was tinny...

Their words not fully comprehensible, two men with bloodshot eyes shouted at each other in the front seat of a moving car.

In the back, Melody had tears streaming down her face. "But, Daddy, I want Mommy!"

"Mommy's a bitch and she's never gonna lay eyes on you again!" the driver yelled.

Melody continued to cry and scream for her mother.

The passenger shouted, "You shut the kid up or I will! I think we should dump her anyway! She'll just get in the way!"

"I'm not letting my wife keep my kid! She thinks she's so great, has all that money and can dump me without giving me a cent! It's my kid and she's coming, so deal with it!"

"Fine! But I'm not listening to her anymore!" The passenger lunged half over the seat and backhanded Melody.

The scene went dark, then changed...

It was raining torrents, pounding the roof of the car. Going over the side of the road, it crashed.

"Jesus! It's pouring so bad, I couldn't see a thing!" The driver got out of the car, letting the rain in.

Far in the distance, headlights flashed from a car coming towards them.

"Shit! Someone's coming!" The passenger got out too. "Maybe we can hide in the woods. Whoever it is will probably report the crash and the police will recognize the car."

"Daddy!" Melody called, her face swollen and lip bleeding. "I want to go home!"

Her father had to shout to be heard over the rain. "We can't hide in the woods with a kid!"

"I can take care of that!" A gun gleamed as the second man pulled it out of his jacket.

"NO! She's my daughter!"

The car shook as the two men grappled for the gun. A shot rang loud through the rain. Melody shrank away as her door open, but the man grabbed hold of her arm and jerked her out of the car. She was instantly drenched as she was thrown to the ground, covering her dress and hair in mud.

Scared, she tried to get up. Melody screamed as a bullet hit the ground beside her.

The car hadn't even reached them when a red beam of light shot out. It glanced the man, turning him around, and hit the car.

Screaming again, Melody fell.

Growling was clearly heard. There was a flash of triple blades as something leaped over her straight at the man.

Sliding in the mud, Melody tried to get to her feet, going towards the second car.

The man yelled a death cry. But at the same time the gun fired again.

There was no scream this time as Melody fell face down onto the road...

Blinking, Morgan removed her hands from the bowl. "Does that help?"

"Was that the incident I think it was?" Emma asked her teammates in amazement.

"I-I think so." Scott was clearly shaken.

Frowning, Kurt said, "Zat vas ze back road behind ze mansion, ja?"

"Yes, I was not there but remember being told what had happened." Ororo gestured to the bowl. "I never dreamed it was like this."

"My jeep had broke down." Logan seemed to be in a daze. "Slim an' Red had picked me up on their way back from her parents. We'd taken the back way as a short cut 'cause o' the weather."

"We heard the first gunshot, but weren't close enough for me to stop him from pulling her from the car," Scott continued. "The rain was so bad and I wasn't wearing my visor, only glasses. I was afraid I would do more harm than good if I had fired again."

"Jeannie had been asleep. It went down fast an' she didn't have a chance ta do much before she was all the way awake. She contacted Chuck, had him call the police an' an ambulance before I even jumped the bastard."

The two men's eyes met and Scott said softly, "She was getting out to help the child but you got there first. Jean put pressure on the wound with her telekinesis. You were the only one to touch her before the ambulance arrived."

"But I understood the child from the incident survived." Ororo was confused. "How...?"

"She was shot, 'Ro. We don't know if she died on the way an' they brought her back, but I'm guessin' she did." Logan looked directly at Morgan. "The paramedics were wearing gloves but I touched her with my bare hands."

"She most likely died in a moving vehicle and could only relate to the last person to actually touch her. You, Logan." Morgan poured the water from the bowl into a planter behind her. "With what you have learned, can you find her?"

The X-Men all exchanged glances, smiles on their faces. With the resources of the mansion, it would be an easy thing to do.

"Yeah, we can find her. But what then?" Logan hadn't thought about how to put Melody back. Until a few minutes ago, he thought they needed to help her 'move on'.

"All you will need to do is touch her," Morgan replied wryly. "Such a simple thing. Touch her and that which ties her spirit to you will return to her own body."

to be continued.

note: Did I surprise you? Trying very hard to be unpredictable and yet not so 'out there' that it's too strange to be accepted.

Last chapter coming next week! Halloween!

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi