I let Tabby drive, since that was the closest to Mach speed that we could ever get. Even so, it seemed like forever before we reached the unpopulated forest. From there it was only a few miles before we saw the large silver dome that Caliban had promised would house Wanda. Or had housed her not long ago. As we approached it, Tabby killed the engine and we continued on foot. As soon as we got close, I realized I made a major mistake. It was a very thick, very solid metal wall: No way in. How could I have over looked this? Wasn't this what happened last time, and I had to beg Nightcrawler's help? How had I forgotten? Just as I was feeling despair, I heard something behind me. Rogue was looking warily at Tabby, who gave her a questioning look.

"Look, don't hate me ok? I was jus' thinkin' ahead," Rogue said. I wondered what she meant, but I didn't even have time to question it before a blue arm dangled a watch in front of me.

"Von't you need this, Toad? Or do you plan on saving her looking like that?"

"What're you doing here?" I demanded of him, and he slid down off the branch he had his tail wrapped around and landed on his feet in front of me. I was glaring at him and he was sneering at me when Rogue put a gloved hand on my arm.

"Look, ah asked him ta follow us 'cause I thought sumthin' like this would show up, ok? He's here ta help." I looked over Nightcrawler doubtfully. Why would he ever help me? But then I looked at Rogue and realized he wasn't here for me, but as a favor to his half sister. I dropped my eyes from his and shrugged.

"We're wasting time, yo. Can we just get in there already?"

"Hey, a little thanks vould be nice you know," Kurt told me, and I shrugged one shoulder.

"Waddaya want, a gift basket? C'mon, yo. Time is precious." Kurt shook his head and disappeared, only to come back an instant later to tell us the coast was clear. One by one he teleported us across the metal barrier and into its depths, which were dimly lit. Luckily Nightcrawler had better night vision than the rest of us, and was able to see a lot more than I could.

"Zer is a hallway that is to the left, I think that vould be our best chance," he reported and we all decided to take it. My nerves were buzzing, just waiting for any of Magneto's men to show up and cause trouble. I was especially wary of the Cajun. He was a quiet one, and made me look over my shoulder ever few seconds just thinking about him sneaking up on us. There was a loud clash somewhere behind us that had the four of us jumping out of our skin.

"Let's jus' find her 'n get outta here," Rogue commented softly, sharp eyes taking in everything around us. We all agreed and hurried on. After several more feet, I started seeing familiar markings. Hex marks decorated the walls, and all the lamps had exploded down the next corridor.

"This way," I told them, and Nightcrawler took the lead with me right behind him. We made our way as fast as possible while still keeping a low profile, since we didn't want to attract any attention to ourselves if we didn't have to. As we moved on, the air became darker and filled with smoke, and soon even Nightcrawler wasn't able to see much. "Let me," I told him, putting myself in front of him.

"Ja what are you doing to do, slime your way through the darkness?" Nightcrawler asked, but I ignored him and closed my eyes, focusing on everything that I could hear. Drip, drip off to the right. A broken water line that had emptied all of its contents. Not that way then, it would just be a mini swimming pool. A small but distinct humming from in front of me, with a small snap every few seconds; a busted power line. I'd rather not get fried today, so not that way. Slowly I lead our small rescue party to the left, with my eyes closed and my ears picking up every small noise to determine what lay ahead. After hearing various signs of which way to go, or not go, we ended up in a very large, echoing cavern that felt empty to me. All I could hear were the heart beats and breathing rates of those behind me, but I strained myself to pick up more. There!

Thump….thump thump…. Thump.

A VERY light heartbeat lay at the center of the darkness, and the breathing was extremely shallow, and so labored I knew the person it belonged to didn't have a lot of time.

"Stay here," I said quietly and moved forward slowly at first, trying to bring more information to my senses. The sting of smoke had been tainting my sense of smell ever since it blocked Nightcrawler's view, but I tried to push that aside. After taking a few more steps, my eyes widened in recognition. That sweetly spiced scent that sent my heart racing and my head reeling. Wanda. I ran to her side and felt my way around for her hand. When I found it, she felt cold and clammy which scared me. "Wanda? Wanda!" I called, which brought the others over soon enough.

"Is she….?" Tabby asked

"She's alive. But barely. Nightcrawler, get us outta here," I called, but before Nightcrawler could move, something else intervened.

"I believe that I'm not supposed ta allow dat ta happen," he said, his smooth Cajun accent filling the air. Why hadn't I heard him before? I didn't have long to think about it. Gambit was advancing on us quickly, but his boots made next to no noise.

"Kurt, get her outta here," I said as I stood and moved myself in front of them. Nightcrawler crouched down to touch her, but Gambit was faster. A fist full of glowing rocks headed our way, and I could only get three slimed before the rest exploded, tossing Kurt far to the left and Tabby with him, while I lay over Wanda. I had no idea where Rogue was, but I didn't have long to wonder.

"Remy!" she called from in front of me. "Knock it off!" I blinked, blind to what was happening. Again I had to close my eyes to get any idea of what was going on. Rogue stood a few feet directly in front of me in a fighting stance, heels digging into the ground, as Remy slowly advanced.

"Cherie, you shouldn't be here," he crooned at her softly, and stopped in front of her. I could hear the leather of her gloves chafe as she clenched her fists tightly.

"You have no right ta be tellin' me where I can 'n can't be, Remy Lebeau." It seemed as if they had a fight recently. This couldn't be good. Gambit just sighed, and I heard his staff twirl once before he placed it in the dirt and leaned his weight against it.

"C'mon now Anna, can't ya jus' let dis one go? I can't fight you when we're fightin'. Takes all the fun outta it." I could hear the cocky grin in his voice, and that apparently bothered Rogue. I heard her put her hand behind her back as she continued talking, to hide from him the fact that she was slipping one of her gloves off.

"Well then ah guess today is your lucky day, 'cause it ain't gonna be muchova fight." With that she brought her ungloved hand up towards his face, but Remy caught it by the wrist. He was fast! I heard him utter a tisking noise.

"Now that's playin' dirty Cherie, 'n you know it." I heard him shift his weight forward to lean into Rogue. "Not dat I'm condemnin' it, mind you. I kinda like it when you play dirty." It was about there that I realized Wanda didn't have time for this. I had to get her out now, without any further delay. Tabby had made her way back over to us by then, dragging Nightcrawler with her. He seemed to be unconscious, and I would have believed it if it weren't for his elevated heart rate. He was faking.

I slipped my hand into Tabby's, and made several circles on her palm. She got the message, and put her hands together. I opened my eyes as her hands began to glow, and was able to see what gave Remy his edge. He was wearing night vision goggles, which were now locked onto Tabby and her activity. He didn't have time to react before she threw close to a dozen of her mini bombs at him, forcing him to doge away from Rogue. As he did that, Nightcrawler's hand reached out and grabbed my ankle and Wanda's wrist as Tabby grabbed a hold of him and I shot my tongue out to grab Rogue's wrist and yanked her into our collective group so Nightcrawler could poof us outta there. We ended up outside, at the exact spot we had entered.

"We can't stay here," Tabby said and Kurt nodded in agreement. Within second we were piled on the hood of Lance's rig, and Tabby was sliding in the driver's seat. Rogue jumped in the back, then helped me pull Wanda in just was Kurt jumped into shotgun.

"Gun it!" I shouted, and Tabby didn't need any more prompting. Moments later we were flying out of the forest and screeching onto the highway. "You think we lost him?" I asked Rogue, and she looked dubious, but shrugged. We both knew that if he had really wanted us, we'd all be dead or in some other terrible situation at this point. "Pull over as soon as you think it's safe," I told Tabby.

"Zer!" shouted Kurt, pointing at an alcove in the cliffside just big enough to hide the jeep from sight. Boom Boom pulled us into it, giving the wall a slight tap with the passenger side of the jeep before turning it off. I looked down at Wanda, and felt my chest constrict.

She was one big, bloody mess from head to toe, not one inch of her seemed unscathed. Several broken bones, multiple wounds that were still slowly oozing her blood out of them, and a head wound that looked ferocious. Gingerly I got up and eased her out of the car with me. Rogue jumped out to join me while Tabby and Kurt stayed in the car.

"How're we gonna do this with her unconscious?" Rogue asked me. I didn't answer. Instead I slid one of my hands at the base of Wanda's skull and gently lifted her head up.

"Wanda, I know you can hear me. Right now it's lookin' pretty bad, yo. I know you put up one hell of a fight, but I need you ta be strong for jus' a little bit longer. Wanda, wake up. We need your help. Help us help you." She didn't reply, not in any manner. My other hand went down to take hers, and there was no response. Suddenly I was a lot more desperate for a miracle than I was moments ago.

"I have an idea," Rogue said, sliding her glove off.

"No, you can't, she'll die if you take any more form her," I said, but Rogue locked her eyes on me.

"'N she'll die if I don't! Toad, we have one shot at this, 'n that window is closin' fast." I thought a few seconds about it, and realized that she was right. I had to put my trust in Rogue, and hope that she knew what she was doing, and pray that she could work two different mutant's powers at the same time. The original plan was to get Wanda to manipulate her ability to steal a mutant's power and tweak it just slightly so that she could use those powers herself. By getting Rogue to use her power to take Logan's regenerative abilities, it enabled Rogue to have them. Thus if Wanda could change up a hex a bit, she could use those healing powers on herself. But since Wanda was out cold and unresponsive, Rogue had thought of an alternative: Touch Wanda, take her powers then use them to take Logan's mutant ability out of her and give it to Wanda. Already I could see this going so very wrong in my head.

Rogue pressed the tips of her thumb and forefinger to Wanda's skin, then inhaled deeply as she was flooded with her powers. Rogue allowed only a few seconds of contact to pass, afraid of how much energy she could take from Wanda in this already fragile state. When she pulled back she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Rogue?" I asked, and she nodded and held up a finger while scrunching her eyebrows together. "You ok?" I asked, and again she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine. Jus' wasn't ready for the thoughts she has screamin' in her head, is all." I could tell she was trying hard to sort things quickly, and finally she blinked her eyes open. Still she looked a little muddled, but was able to focus on the task at hand. Her eyes locked on Wanda, and her hands started to glow blue with a hex, which then enveloped the witch. I saw her jaw clench as she worked hard to focus Wanda's chaos magic, which would be a feat in and of itself but she also had to manipulate it to move Wolverine's powers from herself to Wanda. She was wobbling a bit, so a blue hand reached out to steady her.

Rogue took strength from having the support of her half brother and closed her eyes again, this time to truly focus on what she was doing. It seemed to take forever, and all we could see from the outside was the glowing of Rogue's hands and Wanda's body. Seconds felt like hours as they ticked by, and we all held our breath as we waited to see what would happen. Rogue gritted her teeth as the task grew harder and I felt my heart hammering. What if something went wrong? What if Rogue couldn't handle Wanda's powers? What if Wanda's magic couldn't be used in this way, and my idea was flawed from the start? What if Rogue couldn't focus on doing two things with two different powers at once? What would happen if it failed right in the middle of the spell?

As my thoughts grew darker and darker, I kept my eyes on the two of them; hoping, believing and praying that this would work. Finally, after what could only be described as an eternity, Rogue dropped her hands and the blue faded. She swayed heavily, and her eyes fluttered. Luckily Nightcrawler was there to take her weight and catch her before she toppled over.

"Rogue?" I asked, and she stayed conscious just long enough to give me a nod. Then she passed out cold, and my eyes went to Wanda.

"Toad, we have to get going," Tabby was telling me as Kurt put Rogue in the backseat of the car and buckled her up, then sat beside her.

"Gimme a second," I said quietly, still not daring to breathe while Wanda teetered on the brink.

"We don't really have a second. For all we know, Magneto and company'll be on us in a few seconds. I knew this's stressful, but you can watch her in the car can't you?" I didn't want to listen, but Tabby was making sense. Softly, carefully, I gathered Wanda into my arms again and climbed into the front seat, keeping her in my lap and holding her tightly as Tabby peeled out and started speeding down the road. I didn't notice her speed, the turns, or anything else. My attention was fully locked on Wanda.

Please.

Please.