Changes Sequel – I. Darkness Part 4

He was finished with searching. He couldn't even tell anymore which spots he hadn't looked at. He had searched the grounds, the whole garden, the wood, had gone back in afterwards and had turned every room upside down, but still he couldn't find him. Now he stood on the roof and was looking into darkness, since the moon was already illuminating the scenery. Remy sighed and sat down. Red eyes scanned the whole area, cursing himself for not being able to see at night like the boy probably was because of his father's genes. But he didn't know where to look either. Taking one more look around, he decided that he couldn't do more, but walk back inside. It was already too late and he and Rogue had to be at work very early again. Maybe someone else had found him already? At least he hoped so…

Passing the elevator, he suddenly stopped. Even if it was a strange thought, he still hadn't gone to the basement. Not thinking twice, he entered and pushed the button; hearing the low vibrating sound it made on its way downwards. Seconds later, Remy stood in the bright halls of the lowest level of the institute, thinking about were to look first.

Beginning with the infirmary, he soon went over to the lab, looked even into the hangar and Dangerroom, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Ah, Mon ami, where are you?" Shaking his head, he went back towards the elevator deep in thoughts. Stopping at the round walls where the uniforms were gathered in transparent large tubes close to the changing stall of the X-Men, he looked at the door for quiet some time. Slowly walking over to it, he suddenly had a gut feeling that he was close to solve this riddle. The double door opened and the room was illuminated by bright light; making the lockers visible which were in the middle of the room to separate the men from the women.

Remy tilted his head a bit when he approached the corner of the men, just to slow down in the next second. One locker, marked with three long scratches, was opened and on the white bench in front of it laid a dark haired small boy fast asleep. Going down on his knees in front of him, Remy noticed the tear strained face on which the salty liquid was already dried. Smiling sadly, the man watched how the boy in front of him clung to one of his father's shirts tightly, which he used as a pillow. The grown-up didn't even dare to imagine what the boy was feeling currently. When he had first met the X-Men he had learned very quickly that the Grey family shared a very deep affection towards each other. Hearing about the dangerous Wolverine before, Remy had been surprised of how gentle and loving the man acted around his children and wife. He had expected everything of the man, but not that what he had seen on that day… Seeing how much the children loved their father and how much he cared for them, had made Remy forgetting about his prejudices immediately.

Stretching out a hand, he briefly stroked over the unruly hair of the boy, only guessing how hard it was for him. Gently, he shook him slightly and it didn't take long, before the boy opened his eyes a bit; hazel pools meeting red ones. "We were looking for you, Mon ami," Remy said calmly, while he still sat on the ground. "Your mère is worried like hell. Remy had looked for you nearly all day…"

Narrowing his eyes, as soon as his mother was mentioned, Jack sat up and glared at his opposite. "Ça m'est égal!" he shot back through clenched teeth while his hands grabbed the edge of the bench hard.

Remy shook his head. "But you should care. Remy knows that she feels like you…," he tried to soothe the boy, but this one only snorted.

"She shouldn't have let him go."

Sighing, the man moved a bit to kneel down in front of the boy. "Your mère loves your père as much as you, Mon ami. It is also hard for her." He tried to reach out, but Jack backed off growling. Remy smiled slightly as he noticed once more how much the boy had inherited from his father.

Getting up, Jack walked a few steps panting in anger, before he suddenly turned around crying. "Elle est responsable! Par sa faute…"

"It's not Jean's fault," Remy cut him off and got up. "Tu imputes á ton mère la faute de l'accident!"

"Because it's her fault!" Jack yelled and began to cry heartrendingly just to drop the ground in the next second. "Why did he go…! Why didn't she stop him…!"

Not knowing what to do first, the man kneeled down next to the picture of misery and pulled him close. Stroking his back gently, while the boy clung to him sobbing aloud, Remy slowly got up with him on his arm. Slowly, he closed Logan's locker and took the blue shirt into his hand. "Here, take dis…," he said calmly and watched how Jack pulled the fabric close. Leaving the room and heading for the elevator, it broke his heart to listen to the despaired sobs of the small boy on his arm. He wished he could help him, that he could ease the pain somehow. But he knew no one could… It was a deep wound in the soul of the boy which would never heal for real. And he knew that Jack carried a deep hate within him. The hate for those who had violently taken his most beloved from him. No matter who they were…the boy would hate them until the end for taking a part from him away. For destroying his young life and his family…

Reaching the upper level, Remy immediately heard flustered voices out of the kitchen. Holding the shaking small body tight to him, while Jack still cried unstoppable, he walked towards it.

Leaning against the counter, while Jean was in tears because of her worries for her son, Ororo looked up as soon as she heard heavy footsteps. Seeing the man entering, her eyes immediately dropped to the trembling boy in his arms. "Oh my God, you've found him!" she shrieked and made Jean look up., while Ororo was on Remy's side with quick steps. Stroking through Jack's hair lovingly, the boy looked up. "Do you have any idea how worried we were, Jack?" she asked him calmly when Remy sat him down. Not looking at her, his hazel eyes were fixed on his mother, who had gotten up and came slowly closer.

"Jack…," Jean said carefully and looked at him with a pleading expression in her wet eyes. "Please, listen to me…" Growling at her he backed off first before he turned around and ran off. "Jack wait!" she called, but he was already gone. Pulling a face, Jean buried it in her hands and began to sob in desperation. She absolutely didn't know what to do about him.

"Jean…," Ororo said in compassion after she had exchanged a despaired look with Remy. She couldn't even describe how much it hurt her to see her best friend suffering so much. She felt so helpless and lost because she didn't know what to do. Soothing or sympathetic words wouldn't do, they all were completely aware of that. No one of them could imagine what she had to endure. But nevertheless, she wanted to help her somehow…

Before she could take her into her arms, Jean walked towards the door, stopping briefly next to Remy. "Thanks for finding him!" She smiled barely visible at the man, which he returned with a simple not, and disappeared.

Looking at the other woman again, who stood in the middle of the room like lost, he cleared his throat briefly. "Where's Marie?"

Sighing, Ororo sat down on a stool and ran a hand through her tired face. "She's upstairs with Bobby and Isa." He nodded. "God, Remy,…tell me what to do," she said despaired and rested her head in her hand. "She'll break down because of it… Especially with Jack blaming her."

He could only shake his head. "I don't know, Ororo…"

Shutting the door behind him, Jack walked over to the room he shared with his sister in the dark. After he'd entered it, he immediately heard how his sister moved in her bed. "Jack?" Lily asked calmly and turned her attention to her brother, who she could see in the dark.

"Yeah…," he grunted and jumped on his bed. While she had hers opposite the door on the right, he had his on the other side at the window on the side of the wall where the door was.

"Where have you been?" she asked him and sat up straightening her dark hair. "They were looking for you all day!"

He snorted. "And?" He didn't really care about it. He'd wanted to be alone and had tried his best to sneak past Remy after he'd spotted him in the garden on his way to the wood. He had felt an urge to run. Something he's never felt before.

"I've dreamed again…," he heard Lily say and watched her pulling her legs close.

"Bad one again?"

She nodded and it didn't take long for her to start sobbing. Pulling her plush wolf close, she buried her face in it, while Jack watched her from afar. "I don't want daddy to be gone," she cried heartrendingly and made him look down.

"Come here," he said softly and with few steps she was on his side and clung to him, while Jack wrapped his arms around her protectively. Within he felt and heard what she was thinking. They always knew how the other felt, shared the emotions and moods. Looking up, Jack paid attention to the door as this one opened slowly. He knew instantly that it wasn't his mother. And he was nearly happy about it. Not visible to him first, since the wardrobe was in the way, Rachel came soon into view; holding a little blanket and her favorite soft-toy close. He watched how she tried to make her way towards Lily's bed. "Ray? We're over here," he told her calmly and she stopped immediately. "Just turn to the left and walk straight ahead." Obeying to him, the girl groped her way towards his bed, while he grabbed her wrist as soon as he was able to; helping her onto the bed. "Can't sleep?" Jack asked her, while she sat down next to him.

"No…," Rachel replied and pulled the blanket close. "Uncle Bobby doesn't read bedtime stories as good as daddy…"

Hearing how Lily had to sob again, Jack pulled his youngest sister close, too. "I know…" Making an angry face, he couldn't help but growl slightly. Never before had he felt so angry. The urge to destroy something was completely new to him and he didn't know how to deal with it. Lost in thoughts, he stared into emptiness for some time, before he suddenly realized that his sisters were fast asleep. Looking down on them, he finally laid down, too. With one last look he closed his eyes, making a promise to himself. "I'll protect you…"

At the same time, the X-Wing flew over an eastern part of Mexico. Attentively, Hank watched over the radar, looking for any threats or a sign of the Blackbird, while Scott and Kurt kept on looking out of the cockpit at the deserted area underneath them. For hours they were flying over the most wooden region of the country, following the last coordinates Mystique had been able to extract of the vague information she had gotten from the computer, but they couldn't find anything.

Sighing, Scott got up to have a better look. He hadn't expected that this search would become so difficult. Nevertheless, they'd to go on. After speaking to Ororo, who had told him about the difficult situation between Jean and Jack, he'd promised her to keep on looking, no matter how long it would take… But so far, there was nothing more to be seen than trees, rivers or mountains in the very far distant. Hearing a noise behind him, Scott turned around to give Hank a look, who had bent over the radar. "Got anything?"

Raising a hand to tell him to wait for a second, the mutant began to type on the keyboard and waited. "Slow down!" Nodding, Scott pushed a button and the jet's engine obeyed immediately. "Can you see something on the outside?" Hank asked the two men next to him who began to look out of the cockpit again.

"No…," Kurt replied and also Scott shook his head.

"Damn," Hank cursed and switched towards the night vision again. Just as Scott was about to accelerate again, the blue mutant jumped up all of a sudden. "Land! I think I've found the jet!"

Exchanging glances with Scott, Kurt maneuvered the jet to the ground, while the other two men held onto the seats tightly. As soon as the wing had landed and the hatch began to open, they quickly went to the outside; Scott at the front with his torch already on. Illuminating the way in front of him, he suddenly stopped gasping for air. Seeing the shocked expression of their comrade, Hank and Kurt, who had checked the left and right side in the meanwhile, stopped and followed his gaze. Slowly raising their torches, they soon became aware of the whole scenery.

"Oh my God…," Hank gasped in shock and stepped forward when he saw the smashed remains of what had been the Blackbird before. Hearing the others following him, he slowly approached a part of what he thought was a wing before. At least half of it…

Looking at the mess, which they could see by the weak light, Scott shook his head while he couldn't decide where to look at first. "They can't have survived this…"

"Well, we have to find them, haven't we?" Hank gave back and turned towards Kurt. "Can you fly the X-Wing up and illuminate the ground a bit more?"

"Sure," Kurt nodded and disappeared with the familiar bampf.

While they waited for him to maneuver the wing above the scenery, Scott heaved a deep sigh. "If Jean still has hope then that's it…" He doubted that even Logan could survive a crash like this without being at least deadly wounded. Covering his eyes for a brief moment when the wing's lights were turned on by Kurt, he could only shake his head, while Hank's eyes were widened. The remains of the jet covered a few miles of the area and he would bet that they would find some parts even further away. He was convinced that the explosion must have been gigantic from what he could see. He even thought that he could still smell the fire…

"Kurt?" Scott asked through his headset. "Keep and eye on the area and let us know if you see anything suspicious! And turn the camera on to send the data to Mystique…"

"Come on!" Hank said and began to move.

Walking through the wreckage carefully, both men kept on looking around, trying to find their friends. Both knew that they had to expect the worst when they'd fin them… If they could find them at all…

Kneeling down, Scott looked through what he thought had been the main computer. "I think I found the black box," he called since Hank was paying attention to other parts. Hearing him pulling parts of the wreckage away, Scott got up again with the box in his hands. Frowning, he asked himself why they hadn't been able to read it from home. It was damaged, but not too damaged that they couldn't get any information from it. At least he thought so… Walking further, he approached the tail and examined it closely. Wrinkling his brows, Scott used his torch to light up the remains a bit more. As far as he could tell, it didn't look like an attack. Nevertheless, the hatch made him wonder…

"Scott!" Hank suddenly yelled in a very urgent voice and made him look up. Seeing that the mutant beckoned him to come over he quickly made his way to him.

"What?" Scott asked and saw how Hank pointed to something on the ground.

"I found this…," he said barely audible and his comrade looked at the burned corpse in front of him gasping for air. "And this…"

Following his finger, Scott looked up to the former cockpit, seeing another, heavily burned body which was still in the seat. "My God…," he gasped shocked and shook his head in disbelief. "This can't be true…"

Hank still looked at the body above them. "It's the leader's seat, isn't it?" he asked like in trance.

Scott nodded slowly, knowing what he was thinking. "Can we somehow figure who is who?" he asked in returned and bent down to examine the corpse on the ground. Sighing, he had to give up soon. There was no way he could tell who of them it was… "Damn it…" Cursing, he exchanged glances with Hank. "Well, it's only two… Where's the third?"

Shrugging, Hank began to pull the body on the ground out of the wreckage. Watching him for a while, Scott's eyes suddenly caught something. "Hold on a second!" Bending down, he put the box to the ground before his hands touched the metal of the X-belt. Rubbing it a bit, he narrowed his eyes and held up his torch. "It's dark brown I think… Yes, it is," he murmured and Hank watched him. "It's Shiro…" Getting up again, Scott switched from Sunfire's body to the second one they'd found and tried to find a way to reach the seat above them. "Can you lift me up?"

"I can try," Hank replied and pulled the man into his arms. Heaving a deep breath, he pulled him up and tried to steady him.

As carefully as possible, Scott worked on the seat, but the body was stuck. Working on his visor, he used his beam to cut through the seatbelt and held up his arms just in time to catch the fall of the body. "Okay, got it!"

Putting him down again, Hank kneeled next to the second body and worked on the belt, too. "Useless,…that thing is completely burned." Sighing, he examined the uniform and shook his head. "Can't tell if it's Neil."

"Or Logan…," Scott added and met his gaze. "Well, he sat on the leader's seat, Hank…"

The blue mutant got up again. "Maybe they switched and Neil sat at the front?" His eyes scanned the area. "And the bones of him don't shine silver… Adamantium can't be burned, so it's not Logan…"

"Still we have to find him!" Scott replied and turned his head, looking at the other parts. Suddenly, he frowned when his eyes caught the sight of what he thought had been the middle part of the Blackbird. "Hold on…" Confused, Hank watched him walking over to it. Looking at it for a second, Scott beckoned him to come over. "Look at this…," he said and gave him a brief look while he pointed at what he had found. "Do you see the scratches on the ground?"

"Logan's claws…," Hank murmured and took a closer look, while his hands touched the marks.

"I found the hatch over there. It was open…," Scott told him and pointed at it. "Maybe…maybe he tried to hold onto it and was sucked out?"

Hank shook his head. "He could be anywhere if that's the case...," he replied. "And the scratches would look different if he wasn't able to hold onto it."

Scott sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. Looking up to the X-Wing, he pushed the speaker button on his head set. "Kurt, you can land again," he told him and watched how the jet moved over to where they'd landed before. "And bring two body bags…," he added grimly and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What about Logan?" Hank asked him after a while, hearing from afar how the hatch opened. "We can't leave without him… What if he's still alive and need help?"

His opposite nodded. "I know…but if he was here, we would have found him. We don't know what happened. If the hatch was open and he lost his grip, he could be everywhere. But it doesn't change the fact that they're dead, Hank. As much as I want it to be different…"

Nodding sadly, Hank folded his arms, too and watched Kurt coming slowly closer, while Scott stared at the wood which was close by. "Still, we can't come back without him," he suddenly said looked at Scott. "It will only make it harder for Jean and the kids…"

"I know…," he heard the man with the ruby glasses replaying grimly, before he finally heaved a deep sigh. "We continue tomorrow. It will be easier to search the whole place by day, so… Shall we sleep in the jet or set up a tent in the wood?"

Finally here it is. I am sorry that you had to wait so long, but as I told you, I still had an exam to go at university, so… I wrote it today, came home and began to type up what I have pre-written. ; ) Thanks for all the nice reviews! I am glad that you guys like it so far. : ) I always love to read your thoughts! I already have pre written lots of scenes, but I haven't decided when which scene will take place. So far, Part 5 isn't written, but I think I already know how it will end. Yup, the key-scenes are already written and I promise, you will either be shocked or hate me. LOL ; ) Well, you see! Hope you liked it. I made it shorter, so that you do not have to wait again! See ya and please review!