Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-Men characters…

Chapter Two

"Jean Grey's office." Jean answered the phone rather fast, considering she had her hand on the phone about to make a call.

"Hello, Jean, it's Ororo." Replied the beautiful woman on the other end.

"Hey… I was literally just about to call you." The red head exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh really? You must be psychic or something." Ororo laughed.

"Maybe." Jean laughed, "What can I do for you?"

"Well…" Ororo paused for a moment. "I just wanted to give you a heads up, that's all."

"A heads up? Why?" Jean said now a little concerned, hearing the seriousness in her friends' voice.

"Logan and Bobby are on their way over to your restaurant." Ororo responded, "They would like to ask you some questions."

"Really?" Jean said, somewhat surprised. "Did something happen?"

"Oh… You haven't watched the news I take it." Her friend answered with a cheerless smile.

"No, I've been so busy-" Jean stopped mid-sentence and got a bad feeling in her stomach, "oh God, what happened?"

"I'm sorry I have to be the one bearing bad news, dear." Ororo said with true agony, "There was another murder last night…"

"You're joking." Jean replied as she leaned back in her chair putting her left hand to her forehead. "Who was it?" She forced herself to ask the question, knowing that it couldn't be good if the police were coming to question her.

"I'm sorry to tell you this…" Ororo paused, she truly hated having to tell her. "it was Alison Blaire."

"My new bartender!" Jean exclaimed, and was truly shocked. There was a long pause as she tried to take it all in… she had just seen her last night, it was so disturbing.

"I'm sorry, Jean. I really am." Ororo responded with genuine sympathy, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No… no. You've already helped by telling me before Logan had to… thank you for the heads up." Jean thanked her friend, and was grateful for her concern.

"Well, if you need anything… you know where to find me." Ororo said with apprehension.

"I will… thanks again." Replied Jean with a weak smile. "I'll talk to you later…"

"Alright… I'll give you a call later tonight…" Ororo said, "Bye-bye, Jean."

"Bye, Ororo." Jean replied then hung up the phone slowly.

Jean got up and walked towards her door. She had a thousand thoughts flooding her head, and she really didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions. She turned the knob with angst in her heart. She walked out of her office and into the large room, where the seats were still stacked on their tables. Jean saw a few employees cleaning and stocking, and preparing for the dinner rush. As she walked towards the front of the restaurant she could see Logan and his partner Bobby Drake approaching.

"Hey, Jean." Logan greeted her with a worried smile.

"Hi, Logan." Jean responded and mirrored his expression. "Hello, Bobby." Bobby replied with a smile and a quiet 'Hello.'

"Do you know why we're here, Red?" Logan asked, even though he had a good idea that she did.

"Yes… I do." Jean paused, "I just got off the phone with, Ororo." Logan nodded and Jean lead them to a table near the back.

"We gotta ask some questions…" Said Logan with a stern look, as he grabbed for a pad of paper and a pen.

"I know… about the murder of, Alison." It was hard for her say.

"I'm sorry, Jean, but…" Bobby paused for a moment, "but we need you to look at some photographs… to get a positive ID."

"You don't have to do that right now, Red." Logan said, "I could call Scott over if you don't want to do it alone."

"No… it's fine." Jean forced out, "I can do it now."

"Are you sure? The pictures are a bit… gruesome." Bobby replied with concern. Jean nodded but had a very unsure look upon her face.

"Alright." Bobby answered as he opened a manila folder, noticing Jeans eyes never looked down with curiosity. He pushed the photos towards her and turned them for her to look at. Jean tried to prepare herself before she turned her eyes downward. She finally felt ready, and she looked at the disturbing photographs.

"Oh God." She said softly.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked. She only nodded, still looking down.

"It's her." Jean replied after a moment, and quickly looked up and away from the pictures.

"Are you sure?" Bobby asked, and received a quick nod.

"She, um… " Jean looked pale and stumbled on words, "she has the same tattoo." She pointed to her own left wrist.

"She showed it to me… a couple of days ago." Jean paused again, thinking carefully about the tattoo of three dazzling stars, "She got it on her birthday… she just turned 24." Jean looked down, thankful to see that Bobby had put the photos back in the folder. Logan and Bobby glanced at the photo to confirm what Jean had identified. The three talked for a few more minutes, but Jean couldn't tell them much, only that she left early and didn't notice anything or anyone that was suspicious.

"Alright, Red…" Logan said as he stood from his chair, with Bobby following close behind, "You do know that we're gonna have to talk to the employees that worked last night…"

"Maybe the past couple nights…" Bobby said low and fast, as if he were thinking out-loud.

"Alright." Jean nodded softly looking away towards the bar, "I'll get you a phone list of the people who were working…" She turned and started walking for her office. She got about 10 feet when Logan stopped her by grabbing her elbow gently.

"Jean… Red…" He started, thinking carefully about what to say (which he wasn't very good at) "First of all, I just want to say that I'm sorry that this happened… Second, I'm sorry that you have to go through all this questioning, along with yer restaurant… And third… If you ever need to talk about this, with me being a friend and not a cop… I'll listen…" Logan said the third rather quiet, his voice was full of concern. He could tell that she wasn't alright, even though he knows that's the next thing she was about to say.

"Logan, thank you, but I'm alright… really." Jean smiled but it was forced. "And Ororo already reassured me that I could talk to her…"

"I'm jus' checking, darlin'." Logan replied then nodded and went to join his partner near the entrance.

Jean found the list and then quickly highlighted the names of those who were working last night. When she came across Alison's name and number, she hesitated and felt like there was a rock in her stomach. She could tell her eyes were getting red and misty. Jean got up and went to a mirror on the wall and dried her eyes with a tissue. She walked out of her office, holding the paper and the yellow highlighter.

"Here you go." Jean held out the paper with a drained smile, as she toyed with the fluorescent marker.

"Thank you, Jean… We'll try to get this done fast…" Logan said with a similar grin.

"Okay, thank you, Logan and Bobby…" Jean replied.
"No problem." Bobby replied quickly with a smile.

"I'll see ya later, Red." Logan responded as he and his partner walked out the door.

"Bye bye…" Jean waved slightly.

Remy hung up the phone and got up quickly. He walked towards Scott's office with a rapid stride. Remy discovered that his door was open and he could hear Scott finishing up a conversation on the phone. He stepped into the office, sticking closely to the door. Scott gestured for Remy to sit down directing his hand to the chair.

"Okay, Jeff, that sounds good…" Scott replied to an unheard voice, "Yep, talk to you later."

Scott hung up the phone and rolled his eyes slightly.

"Man, Jeff is a nice guy and all, but…" Scott started with a smile and short laugh, "he can talk your ear off."

"Jeff Greene, from downstairs?" Remy asked then received a nod, "hell yeah he can… last Tuesday night I left early, not realizing Jeff was getting off… he trapped me in the parking lot and I was dere a good 20 minutes, just learnin' 'bout the weather and clouds…"

" Yeah, that happened to me two weeks ago… but it was about the sun and how bad it is for your eyes… or something." Scott said while looking down at his large executive desk. "But I don't think that's why you're here… what's on your mind?"

"Well… have you talked to Jean today?" Remy asked.

"No… I was going to call her in a bit… why?" Scott replied with a worried look.

"I jus' got off the phone with, Rogue…" Remy responded, "She said that Ororo told her about another murder that happened last night…"

"What, another one?" Scott was now considerably worried and was wondering what this had to do with his wife.

"Yeah… apparently it was a girl that worked at the Phoenix." Remy said, trying to be considerate of Scott.

"What?!? Who?" Scott was now very concerned and somewhat upset.

"Alison…" Remy looked down at the small piece of paper with a single name he had been holding, "Blaire. She was the-"

"The new Bartender…" Scott interrupted with a distracted look, and a hint of panic in his voice. "I have to call Jean."

Remy got up to walk out, when he heard Scott say thanks in a preoccupied voice, as he dialed his phone. He paused and nodded in response, as if saying, you're welcome.

The young and handsome lawyer stepped out of his car and set the alarm. He walked slowly through the double doors and into the unusually bright room. He wasn't used to seeing this place without hundreds of people in it and flickering red and blue lights. Remy saw a few people cleaning the bar, and replacing light bulbs. He stood there for a moment searching for what he had come for it the first place. He found her rather quickly, she was near the back talking to two people he's never seen before. She was so beautiful and graceful.

Rogue finally made eye contact with Remy while she was pointing to the corners of the Club; where the ceiling and walls met. She waved and smiled without breaking her conversation with the two men. He saw the three approaching and made sure that his right hand was free; he traded off his keys to his pocket and put his jacket over his left forearm.

"Hi, Remy," Rogue gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "This is Daniel Stewart and John Connelly; they work for Williams Security." She directed her hand towards each man as she introduced them. "Daniel, John, this is my fiancé, Remy LeBeau." She said smiling as she looked at Remy.

There was an exchange of 'Nice to meet you' and a few firm handshakes.

"LeBeau, eh? LeBeau as in the lawyer for Guthrie?" Daniel asked with a sly smile.

"Yeah, that'd be me." Remy replied.

"The guy's innocent right? I mean… there was another murder last night, wasn't there?" The other young man asked, glancing between the other three.

"Yeah… to both questions." Remy responded with a grin, "He was enjoying a nice relaxing night at his current homestead; an 8 by 10 cell downtown… he wasn't killin' anybody."

"Well, anyway," Rogue interrupted, "Daniel and John are here to help with a better security system. Ororo and Ah figured it couldn't hurt."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Remy replied as he looked into his fiancée's green eyes. "You can never be too safe. So spare no expense my boys, this little lady's gonna get the best security a man can buy!" Remy smiled but had a very serious look in his eyes. The four talked a little while longer about smart ideas on how to make the club more secure. They wrapped up their conversation while walking towards the front door.

"Well, everything sounds good," Remy started as he put out his hand, "it was nice meeting you two."

"You too." Daniel and John said in unison with a smile, and then both shook Remy's hand.

"Yeah, thank you John and Daniel, Ororo or Ah will give you a call sometime tomorrow with a decision on what we'd like." Rogue said as she shook the men's hands.

"Alright, you two have a good day." Daniel replied as the two business men walked out the front door.

"Mmm, alone at last." Remy exclaimed as he put his arms around his fiancée's waist and kissed her neck. She pulled away slightly and gave him a "behave yourself" look.
"Not quite." Rogue said as she pulled him by the arm towards her office upstairs, getting away from the cleaning employees. They reached the room and Remy shut the door the second they were inside. Remy pushed Rogue against the back of the door and kissed her deeply, feeling the side of her thigh all the way up. The two parted and were breathing heavier than before.

"Now we're alone." Rogue smiled then pulled him close again. Their lips met for only a second before her phone rang. The two lovers jumped a little and laughed. Rogue leaned over the desk to answer the phone, and purposely showed off her bottom to Remy, which he didn't hesitate to enjoy.

"Hello?" Rogue answered with a smile on her face as she laughed silently at her fiancé's expression. Her face suddenly became grim as she made eye contact with Remy. He knew right away who it was.

"Jean… I wanted to call but Ororo said you were busy with Logan and Bobby…" Rogue trailed off from her fast talking. "How are you doin' sugah?" Remy sat down in a chair and played with the small tree's leaves that stood to his right as he listened carefully to their conversation.

Rogue could tell that Jean had been upset, her voice was a little hoarse and shaky. Rogue comforted her friend for nearly 10 minutes and asked if she needed anything 5 times. Rogue offered to come over there to keep her company for a while, and Jean explained that Scott would be over any moment. They did decide to get together for lunch tomorrow.

So..... what do you think so far? will there be another victim so soon? maybe. Maybe not... If so... who will it be? (sorry this chappy took so long...)