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CHAPTER EIGHT

Kitty, Warren and Jubilee were walking through the back streets of New York. All of them felt out of place, uncomfortable with the looks they were getting from the people around them. At least half of those they passed seemed to be debating whether to mug them or not.

"This is hopeless,"Jubilee complained. "We'll never find him."

"It's hard to know where to start looking,"Warren agreed.

"But we should know! I should… We all should. How long has he been living with us now? Nine months?"

"Remy likes to keep to himself,"Kitty pointed out.

Jubilee didn't seem to want to let it drop. "Don't we know anywhere he might go? What about his family?"

"I don't know much about them. Except for his wife and she's dead."

Jubilee stopped suddenly. "His wife?"

Warren looked awkward and Kitty realised he was remembering how he had met Bella Donna, during his brief period in the service of Apocalypse. "She was one of Apocalypse's horsemen,"he explained. "Gambit had to kill her during the fight on Brooklyn Bridge. She would have killed Peter otherwise."

"I never knew he was married,"Jubilee said quietly.

Kitty was surprised at how personally Jubilee was taking it all. As far as she was aware, the only person Gambit had really confided in about his past was Storm. Even Kitty herself had only heard snatches, most of them during that time she, Gambit and Colossus had been alone when…

She slapped her forehead in disbelief. "Of course, I'm an idiot!"

Warren and Jubilee looked at her. "Why?"Warren ventured.

"I know where Gambit might be."

Wolverine sat silently in one of the front seats aboard the X-Jet. Beast was working the controls next to him, meaning he had nothing to do except brood in silence. Rogue kept shooting him worried looks in between keeping an eye on the mini-Cerebro she was holding. He turned to face her. "Anything?"

"Not yet,"Rogue replied.

Wolverine gave a low growl. "It's not her fault,"Bobby protested. Wolverine looked at him, his eyes ablaze with fire and Rogue knew that at that moment it was taking all his self-control not to attack Bobby.

Then she saw something light up in front of her. "Got him!"she announced. "About two miles away, moving north-west."

Wolverine turned towards Beast. "Is there anywhere in that direction where we can land safely?"

"Certainly,"Beast confirmed. "A private airport. Disused, mostly."

"Well, ain't that a coincidence,"Wolverine noted.

"That's where they're heading,"Bobby realised, rather redundantly. "They're planning to head on somewhere."

Wolverine nodded. "Unfortunately for them, they're on foot. We can fly."

Storm told herself that there was a good reason why she was going to Xavier's office, other than just wanting something to do. Lessons at the mansion seemed to be on hold by an unofficial agreement. She wasn't with Logan and the others, where she could do some good. And Xavier… She knew he was doing something. And she wanted to know what.

He glanced up briefly as she entered. "Ah, Ororo. Good. I wanted to talk to you."

Storm sat down opposite him. "What is it, Professor?"she asked, her tone slightly icy.

"I've been attempting to find out exactly what our friends were doing in Pittsfield."

"Would it not have been better to do that before the others left?"

Xavier looked up at her and sighed. "Logan's a man of action, Ororo. He needed to vent the frustrations that I sense in him. But more than that, he needs to challenge Cable. He won't know peace otherwise."

"So you sent him on a fools errand."

"No. Sinister's people need to be stopped. But there's more to it than that. I've discovered there was a raid on a genetics factory not far from their location."

"And you think Sinister was behind it?"

"Well, it fits, doesn't it? So while Logan is dealing with the 'who', maybe the two of us can deal with the 'why'." He got to his feet. "Do you think Colossus and Siryn are ready for field work?"

"I think so."

"Good. Then they can come with us."

"Why do I have to carry all this stuff?"Harpoon moaned, trying to move the bag on his back into a more comfortable position.

"Quit whining,"Scalphunter snapped at him. "We're not far to the chopper."

"It might still take us a long time to get there,"Vertigo replied.

Scalphunter looked round at the comment and saw what she had seen. Wolverine, Beast, Rogue and Iceman were walking towards them, all with determined expressions on their faces.

"Found yourselves some playmates, Cable?"Wolverine asked. "Wanna introduce us?"

Cable gestured to the rest of the party. "Scalphunter, Harpoon, Riptide, Vertigo."

"He didn't mean it, you fool!"Scalphunter snarled. He raised his gun and converted into a flamethrower, sending a burst of flame shooting in the enemy's direction.

The X-Men all dived aside to avoid the burst. Wolverine gave a snarl of fury and threw himself at Cable. He swung one of his fists, claws extended, and they imbedded themselves in Cable's metal arm. Cable pulled the arm free and pushed Wolverine away from him. "This violence is pointless,"Cable snapped.

"Yeah?"Wolverine retorted. "Kinda see it as a point in itself."

Rogue squared up to Scalphunter, delivering a kick that sent his weapon flying from his hands. He took up a defensive posture and hit her, knocking her down. She swung her leg in an arc, knocking him off his feet.

Vertigo prepared to use her powers to affect Rogue's balance but suddenly her hands were encased in a block of ice as Bobby froze them. She gave a gasp of pain at the sudden cold. "Sorry, lady,"he remarked, "but I really couldn't let you do that."

"Anyone ever tell you not to pick on women?"Riptide sneered. He spun his body round like a whirlwind and hurled a series of spikes from his arms in Iceman's direction. Iceman quickly created a wall of ice between them and the spikes struck it, their momentum halted as they stuck to the wall.

Harpoon had charged up one of his spears. "Take this, furball!"he shouted at Beast, hurling it at him.

Beast leapt aside to avoid the throw. "Your insult is accurate but somewhat lacking in eloquence,"he remarked. He bounded towards Harpoon, avoiding more spears as he did so, and with one final leap landed his feet in his opponent's chest, knocking him down.

Wolverine and Cable continued to trade savage blows. Wolverine made a lunge for Cable's face with his claws. Cable knocked the arm aside and delivered a punch to Wolverine's side. Wolverine grabbed Cable by the arm and threw him over his shoulder, leaving him winded. "It's a disgrace you even exist,"he snarled.

"I do not understand your hostility,"Cable replied. "Sinister's plan will bring benefit to all. It will see a new, stronger world, a better human race."

"Yeah, I've heard that song before. And the outcome? Not pretty. But then neither am I." And with that, he leapt at Cable again.