It only took a tiny lie to buy them some time in California. Julian called the school and let them know they were sticking around the west coast for a bit because Cess had some issues to work out with her family. If Wolverine didn't believe him, he had not let it show.
Once that was done, the next item on their agenda was getting some pizza. Cess felt it was imperative they have their first official plan-discussing meeting with pizza and beer; a tiny celebration felt appropriate. Fortunately for the runaway teens, Julian's credit card was capable of providing them some small comforts while they settled down at the abandoned Utopia island. By the time they sat down in the old war room, the smell of hot, greasy pepperoni was invading even the furthest corner.
"So the file says that Wolverine had tracked Sooraya's mom to a facility in northern California but when he got there, it was empty and there were no signs she had ever been there," she said. "They think it was meant to be a trap for Sooraya. Possibly Purifier-related since they have it out for her."
Julian grabbed another slice and bit into it, burning his lip. His tk-powered mechanical hands were useful for plenty of things, but gauging the temperature of food wasn't one of them. He washed it down with some cold pop and put the slice down.
"Purifiers," he repeated. "Somehow the Purifiers make this seem right. Maybe it is supposed to be us following up with this stuff and seeing where it leads."
The Purifiers were the reason Brian wasn't with them. No matter how many times Julian went after them, his thirst for vengeance was never satisfied. But just thinking of them made Julian reach for his chest. He ran his mechanical hands over his chest, touching the five scars that Lady Deathstrike had left the last time they went after the Purifiers head first.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this alone," he added. "I'm not afraid of those bigots… but they do have a track record of being pretty dangerous."
Cess smiled, before going through her bag. She grabbed a manila folder and threw it on the ground in front of Julian.
"The Sooraya file wasn't the only thing I stole from Wolverine's office," she said, a certain sense of pride washing over her face.
Julian raised it telekinetically and the sheets of paper from inside the file began floating in front of him, flying all around, pausing in front of his eyes whenever he needed them to. The files lined with a glowing green light fell to the floor at once.
"Laura is in…California?"
Julian did his best to hide his excitement. It had been a while since he had seen her. X-23 was supposed to be with the Avengers but she had dropped off the grid a couple of months back. Wolverine didn't seem too concerned for her safety which made Julian believe that she was, at the very least, alive. Knowing Laura, she wouldn't be found until she wanted to be found. But Wolverine was as close to a father as she had, so it wasn't too surprising that he had some tabs on her location.
"How are we going to find her? She's really good at keeping off the grid"
"I'll worry about that. I need you to worry about something else. How much more do you think we can charge on that credit card?"
Julian grinned. He didn't hold his family in high regard, but their billionaire status was at the very least, useful.
"Unless you plan on buying a Blackbird, we should be fine."
"Hmm," Cess paused to think for a moment.
"You weren't planning on buying a Blackbird, were you?"
But Mercury was no longer paying attention. She grabbed her phone from her bag and looked at the message received. She smiled at Julian.
"We have company."
"Hello?" A male voice called from the hallway just outside the war room.
"We're in here!" Cess shouted back.
"Who is that?" Julian asked, flaring up with telekinetic energy just in case.
"Relax, it's Gabriel."
"Gabriel?" It took Julian a while to figure out who she meant. By the time he realized who she was referring to, the third member of their team was standing at the doorway.
"So, two questions," Velocidad said. "First, why did I just have Pixie drop me off on this abandoned island and can I have some of that pizza?"
Cess stood up and hugged him.
"Yeah Cess, why is he here?" Julian said, while he lifted the pizza box and used his telekinesis to move it toward Gabriel.
Cess asked Gabriel to sit down before she began explaining her plan. They would use pick up Laura and use Julian's credit card to drive up to the base. They had to avoid using their mutant powers just in case anyone was keeping an eye on them. Once they were at the base, Laura, Cess and Julian would look to find any clues Wolverine may have missed. Gabriel would be their lookout. If anything went wrong, he would use his powers to get to safety and alert the school in New York of what was happening.
"Sounds like a good plan," Hellion admitted. "Except we still don't know where Laura is."
"Also, I feel like it was really presumptuous of you to assume I'd want to risk my life for whatever the hell you guys are doing," Gabriel added.
"Julian, talk some sense into him," Cess said. "I'll work on finding Laura."
With that, Cess walked out of the room and down the hall. She paused at the hole in the corner, which was no larger than a fist. Slowly her body turned into liquid and it poured itself through the hole, down an entire floor. She slithered under the nearest door until she was in her old room. It would be another twenty four hours before she came back out.