I went through the rest of the day, with no sight of Tabitha. I even went to a class or two, thinking that maybe she was mad at me for ditching. Not like she could say anything about that, her attendance almost rivaled mine. I decided to head home early, mostly because neither Tabby nor Wanda choose to be at school, so why should I? But also to avoid Duncan and his hostility towards me. I stopped just short the door to my room, tilting my head to one side as I let my advanced hearing bring me the information I wouldn't have caught otherwise.
A pulse, a heart beat that was sped up just slightly, and shallow breathing. It was her scent that tipped me off, but why would Tabby be anxious, and why was she in my room? Tentatively I pushed open the door, and Tabby's head snapped up. She saw sitting on my bed with her legs dangling off as she kicked them back and forth with anticipation.
"Tabbs?" I asked, confused at her behavior. She shouldn't be worried about seeing me or being in my room. We had gotten to the point that the two of us were completely comfortable in each other's presence. I saw her bite her lip, then pat my bed beside her, beckoning me over. I did as she asked, sitting to her right with a puzzled look on my face. "Is everything ok?" I asked her. She didn't answer for a while, and when she did, she wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Toad. If you could, I mean like if it came up, and you had a chance, if Kurt really needed your help, would you do it? I mean would you help him?"
"I don't-" I started to say, not seeing where this was going, but Tabby shook her head.
"Would you?" she insisted. I thought about it. Sure, I disliked him for upsetting the balance in Lance's and Tabby's life, but that really wasn't his fault. He and I had our differences and, never would I admit this out loud or anything but, I thought he was kinda maybe a good person. And I knew Tabby loved him, and she was my closest, and possibly only, friend.
"Depends on what he needed. I mean I wouldn't kill Lance or anythin', yo. That's not right." Tabby shook her head.
"No, not like that. Just something to help Kurt. If you knew he really needed it. Would you help him?" She seemed so intense, so intent on my answer that it almost scared me. I thought a minute more before answering.
"Well, yeah I guess. Don't go tellin' him or anythin', yo. I'd do it for you, not him." Tabby let out a breath I hadn't know that she'd been holding. "Now what's goin' on?" She was silent again, but was biting her lip and her hands were fidgeting with each other. "Tabbs, you know that you c'n tell me anything." Her wide, scared blue eyes locked onto my golden ones then, searching for something. She looked so vulnerable, so worried that it just about broke my heart. One of my hands slipped into hers and squeezed. With one last sigh, she looked away and it all came out in a rush.
"She's known that something was wrong, and it's been bothering her for a long time now, through nightmares and this terrible feeling that she described. She knew something was wrong, but didn't know what. She tried asking the Brotherhood, but the others were under strict orders not to tell her. They didn't say anything, but she knew they were hiding something. She came to Jean, to try and figure out if Jean could bring the answer out of her thoughts and well Jean said no, I mean the whole team would totally freak if they ever found out that she got help from one of us. Maybe the professor would be ok with it, but the others would never forgive her. So Jean turned her down, but I was there, I mean I overheard it all. I followed her out and she knew I was there, confronted me once we were outside of the mansion. I told her I could help, and well. I did. It was the right thing to do, wasn't it?" Tabby was out of breath by now, and had been squeezing my hand so hard through the duration that I now couldn't feel it, but that didn't matter to me.
"What do you mean, Tabby?" I asked, surprised at how calm my voice sounded when there was panic erupting in my head. "What happened to Wanda?" Tabby took a few deep breaths before continuing.
"I knew a guy, back from when I would do jobs with my dad. He could mess with people's minds really well. I'm not sure if he is a mutant, or a human that's really good at what he does, but it really doesn't matter. He could help people that had seen us forget things, and I figured if he could help people forget, he could help people remember. I didn't want to tell her myself. You know her temper, and I knew that she wouldn't believe me. I took her to this guy…and it worked. She got everything back. She remembers everything." A cold numbness fell over me then, freezing my thoughts.
"Where is Wanda? Tabitha, where is she?" Tabby turned to look at me, since I never called her by her full name. Her chin was wobbling, but she was fierce. She would stick to her guns no matter what, and we both knew it. She clenched her jaw and met my eyes squarely.
"Where do you think? She went after Magneto." Those four words turned my already frigid world to complete ice. At one point I noticed I was standing, facing the wall but I couldn't feel the movement it took to do so. It was those four words that echoed again and again and again through my mind, each time chipping at my fragile frozen mind.
She went after Magneto.
Slowly, a heat was bubbling up inside of me, attempting to burn through the sculpture that I had become. My heart which I was sure had stopped beating was now choking my throat, trying to suffocate me. My stomach had dropped through what felt like and endless abyss, and there was no getting it back.
She went after Magneto.
The churning I felt inside stirred up more of the heat that was attempting to burst through my frozen mind. The warmth wasn't a good one, like Tabby usually gave me. It was uncomfortable and burning the ice away quickly, leaving me agitated. My chest now felt like it was getting crushed in a trash compactor, and I was getting light headed.
She went after Magneto. Wanda went after Magneto. Wanda. MY Wanda. Suddenly I knew what the ice that melted was; panic and fear. And I knew what the growing heat was. Anger, fueled by pure terror that I would lose her. Wanda was going to face her father, arguably one of the most powerful mutants in the world, and I knew she would be out for blood. She wouldn't let him get away with this one, one of them was going to die.
"Where?" I croaked to Tabby, my voice raspy as I placed my head against the wall and closed my eyes as the palm that was on the same wall above my head clenched into a fist.
"I…I don't know." I knew I shouldn't be angry with Tabby, she was trying to help. Wanda deserved to know the truth. But by doing so, Tabby had just thrown the object of all my affections, all my desires, right onto death's door with nothing more than a temper and her own chaos-based witchcraft to aid her. Magneto had his whole team of Acolytes at his beck and call, and God only knew what else. I knew I shouldn't be mad at Tabby, but I had to do something with this fire that was attempting to consume me. Then, just like that, the final frozen glass pane of ice inside me shattered, and it became crystal clear to me. Everything clicked into place, and just like that I had a plan.
"I'm going to need your help. Not only yours, but Rogue's as well." My voice was deadly calm and low, which would have surprised me if I had cared at all at that point. "Get Rogue to touch Wolverine for as long as she can without hurting either of them. I'll find you when this is done. We'll also need a mode of transportation. The faster the better. Can you do this?" There was no reply from her, so I opened my eyes and turned to look at her. She was looking scared again, but this time not of me, but for me.
"What're you doing Toad?" she asked.
"Going after Wanda, or whatever's left of her."
I left Tabby with her orders as I sought out the one person I knew of that would help me find Wanda, or wherever she had been last.
"You asssssked to meet?" he slurred as his pale form slithered from the shadows.
"Caliban." He nodded in acknowledgement. "Wanda Maximoff," I told him, and his eyes widened.
"Why issss it that you sssseak the Sssscarlet Witch?" he asked, which caused my own eyes to narrow.
"It's none of your business, now tell me where she is!" Caliban had no response to this, and he remained silent. I locked eyes with him for a long time, but he only stared listlessly back at me, waiting. Finally I dropped my gaze and relaxed my shoulders. "Because….well, 'cause I love her, 'n I think…I think she's in trouble." This seemed to satisfy him, and he gave me the coordinates. As I turned to leave, he put a hand on my shoulder.
"Be careful what you wisssssh for, little frog. The Witch isssss not to be trifled with." I couldn't help it. A cocky grin slipped onto my face, and in an amused voice I answered him the only way I knew how.
"Don't I know it, yo." He also gave me directions to find Tabby and Rouge, who were at the point that overlooked Bayville. I made my way there as fast as I could, and found Tabby lounging across the hood of Lance's rig, with Rogue sitting shotgun.
"There you are!" Tabby shouted and jumped off, but I shook my head and leapt in the backseat before she could take another step.
"No time, head North," I told them, but Rogue whipped around.
"Ah am NOT 'bout ta let you drag mah ass right ta Magneto's doorstep without a plan! Now tell me what's goin' on, or I'm not takin' one more step in any direction ya so deep ahpropriate." I sighed and motioned for Tabby to get in the car.
"I'll explain on the way, but we really don't have time for this, yo. Can we go now? Don't mean to be dramatic or nothin', but it really is life or death."