*Nervously shuffles on stage* Well, should I even bother with an excuse this time? Not that they're untrue, but we all now about life and drama by now, yeah? It likes to get in your way and throw off your groove and make you move out of the house...
Thank you SuniGyrl for your invaluable contributions to this chapter, and if you readers aren't fed up with this story yet, the next chapter is practically done. If I don't have Chapter 7 posted by the end of the weekend, feel free to break down my cyber-door! A quick post after this is the least I can do after such a long wait...
Enjoy!
Betsy felt their kinetic tension the moment Logan and Ororo's minds were within range. Though they were just entering the grounds of the school and Betsy was deep in the basement in the War Room, Ororo's projection of controlled anxiety and Logan's whirlwind of anger and fear were loud and clear. Another certainty was that Ororo had the level head at the moment; she had focus and purpose to her thoughts, while Logan had no direction whatsoever.
That could prove to be more than a little problematic, but Betsy decided see for herself if Logan would pull it together or fly off the handle. Seeing as his only daughter had been taken (mistakenly) for ransom, he certainly had reason to be emotionally frayed.
The problem would be a plan of action. No matter what the problem, Logan always had some idea of what could be done to fix it. No matter how impossible, there was always a plan. But his thoughts were dancing anywhere and everywhere, so fast that Betsy wondered if the man himself was having trouble holding onto just one.
He had no idea what to do and, circumstances notwithstanding, that alone could make him a loose cannon. If the man who always knew what to do was suddenly at a loss when it counted most, he'd expect someone else to have the answers he was looking for. Though he'd learned to be a team player, Logan was a follower only when it suited him best, and Betsy had the sinking feeling that none of their plans were going to be good enough for him.
But, she reasoned internally, a plan didn't necessarily have to be good enough. Logan's anger could be used to their advantage, couldn't it? Aiming his anger was what kept him in such perfect control of the situations he was put in, but if he didn't have a target than it was possible that his darker side might find a random target for him. A little subtle tweaking within his mind might help point his anger and give him focus, allowing everyone around him to breathe a little easier.
Callus as it sounded to manipulate his mind in such a way, Betsy knew that they'd be doing Logan a favor. The less emotional they all were about this, the sooner they'd find Kendall. Fear would only hold them back and make them sloppy, especially the crippling fear that was rolling off of Logan in waves. Ororo would meet the least mental resistance, but Betsy knew how the woman felt about messing with her lover's thoughts.
More complications to add to the growing list, she thought wearily as she eyed the blonde toddler that was pretending to sleep on Remy's lap. Ruby had pretended to be asleep while Betsy and Kitty had tried to hash out the caller's location, but the women had been so focused that neither had paid attention. The only reason she knew now that she'd been fooled was because fragments of the conversation were floating through the child's mind.
And when the Asian had put her to bed with Emma, she'd waited all of five minutes before sneaking down to the War Room and setting up shop outside the door! She was as nosey as her mother, and though it was admirable that Ruby was worried about Kendall and wanted to help, the X-Men didn't have time to play Keep-Track-Of-Ruby.
Eight hours since Kendall's kidnapping and Betsy was already starting to feel the effects of that constant stress. She really wanted one less thing to worry about, but her suggestion of mentally knocking Ruby out had been met with a vicious reaction from Remy. He too was stressed, but his method of coping was different than Betsy's.
"Ain't nothin' bad gonna happen if Remy calms her mind a bit before Wolverine and Storm get back," he'd told Betsy, his hold on Ruby more secure than was necessary. "She be 'sleep by then an' someone can take her back to her mamma."
Betsy obviously didn't like it, but she had about as much authority over Ruby as Remy did, so she'd let it be. That short conversation had been almost twenty minutes ago, however, and with Logan and Ororo headed down to the basement it was clear that Ruby was going to be wide awake if someone took her back to Emma. Sensing the shift in her thoughts, Remy looked down at the bundle of nerves seated on his lap before he nodded subtly to Betsy. He didn't want to put Ruby to sleep Betsy's way, but they could agree that the following conversation would only stress the toddler more.
She waited until the Cajun soothed Ruby's nerves with a bit more force before she accessed a fragile part of her mind and severed her consciousness. Ruby slumped against Remy, and it was clear that it would be a while before she woke again, so that at least allowed Betsy to relax. But before she could ask someone to take the girl to her mother and make sure she stayed there, Logan and Ororo entered the War Room.
No one dared comment on Logan's haggard expression as he shuffled in. His clothes were damp, likely from the rain that had followed Ororo to the mansion, and Betsy's keen eyes picked up the telltale swelling around his eyes that meant he'd been crying.
She shuddered to think of what he'd looked like with tears coming out of his eyes. She knew that under his rough exterior was a person every bit as emotional as herself, but more often than not she chose to ignore that part of him because it wasn't something that he showed to everyone. His exterior was the reason that everyone thought he was unshakable, and to know that he'd been shaken so badly was like watching an illusion shatter. Logically, she knew that she'd be more upset if he wasn't shaken by his daughter's kidnapping, but that didn't change the fact that somewhere along the line she'd chosen to ignore that beneath his tough exterior he was human.
If only in the figurative sense.
But more than seeing him come undone, she shuddered to think that one day she might be undone in such a way if she let anything or anyone become so important to her.
Ororo, in contrast to Logan, appeared to be much more focused. Frighteningly so. Her expression was sharp, alert, collected. And beneath her sapphire irises was the faint, lethal glow of Storm.
Betsy still remembered a time when Ororo had very little control over that side of her, but the growth in Ororo and the control she now had over all that power was apparent to everyone. She wasn't one to be messed with.
Good, Betsy thought. One of the pair needed to be focused and calm and in control. She looked calm enough for both of them. Of course, it didn't help that Logan looked frazzled enough for the both of them… But when one had something the other needed they tended to rely on whoever was stronger, which would be immensely beneficial.
Ororo's sharp eyes scanned the nine other faces in the room briefly before speaking. "What are the facts?" Her voice was somehow smooth and demanding all at once.
"Ruby saw Kendall being taken by two men that neither she nor Emma recognized," Betsy responded at once. "When scanning the area, Emma found a tranquilizer dart under a slide on the playground outside. Apparently – "
"Apparently, nothing," Ororo snapped, a light gust of wind blowing some of the ninja's purple hair back. "I said facts. And if Emma was there, why isn't she telling me this?"
Betsy's jaw tightened, but she detected no hostility in the other woman's mind. So she kept her mouth shut. Everyone was worried about Kendall, and it did make sense that they first have a firm grasp of the facts before they started coming up with theories to fill the gaps.
"Emma is indisposed at the moment," Betsy offered smoothly. It was an acceptable version of the truth. Though incapacitated was more accurate, Emma wouldn't heal faster with more attention.
Ororo cocked her head to the side and her eyes brightened for an instant. She nodded, accepting Betsy's excuse for Emma's absence. It was clear that Ororo had scanned Emma and discovered her condition, and the fact that she hardly blinked made Betsy breathe a little easier. If Ororo wasn't worried that Emma's condition was critical, then that was yet another thing that Betsy could cross off her list of worries.
When no one asked for any further details about Emma, Betsy continued. "None of the teachers saw anything. They remember her going outside, they thought she came in, but only after Ruby brought it to their attention did they realize that Kendall wasn't inside with the rest of the children."
"Imbeciles," Logan growled, punctuating his statement by kicking a leg of the table. It wasn't hard enough to break it, but it was hard enough to make the table shake and cause Ruby – who still lay on Remy's lap – to jump, suddenly half awake. Remy soothed her by quickly manipulating her emotions and erasing her distress and surprise, and thus most of the memory. He pointedly ignored the disapproving thoughts that Betsy sent his way. All the good it had done him to try to slowly soothe her mind, they should have knocked her out immediately and deposited her with her mother. If the conversation further agitated Ruby, it would awaken Emma, and that was not what Betsy wanted.
While Betsy couldn't see the future of this conversation with stark clarity, she knew that it was going to get ugly. Were it not for that small feeling insistently nudging her, she would've been in Cerebro while everyone else had this discussion. Like Logan, she sometimes felt that group discussions were unnecessary and kept progress from moving forward. But, as much as she hated listening to everyone talk, she hated the idea of leaving her hotheaded and volatile teammates alone without some kind of mediator even more. It was clear that Ororo was paying little to no attention to Logan's mental state.
"Did they call the police?" Ororo asked, her tone a bit gentler.
"Only after they called Emma. She got there first, as you know, and after she learned what happened through Ruby's memories, she contacted Logan telepathically. He got there before the police did as well, found what he needed, and took off. I brought her and Ruby back to the mansion, and we contacted you when we were within range."
"Why didn't she contact me first," Ororo snapped.
All eyes hesitantly turned to Logan for an instant, but he hardly seemed to care. He shot Ororo a look that was devoid of emotion, but said nothing. Betsy dipped into his mind for an instant and heard his regret that Emma hadn't contacted Ororo first. She could fly, after all, and with her omega powers she might've easily caught up to the kidnappers before they vanished completely. It certainly seemed to him as though he hadn't offered any valuable contributions to the search.
Ororo hardly glanced in Logan's direction, but the inkling of remorse was easy for Betsy to pick up on. She didn't rush to reassure Logan because he truly hadn't done much to help with Kendall's kidnapping. She also knew that that wasn't his fault. Emma could have tried to contact Ororo first, and she might have killed herself from the mental reach and from breaking through Ororo's mental static. Logan might have found a way to get ahold of Ororo with what he knew, but the situation was too close to his heart to expect complete and utter rationality.
Ororo said nothing to ease Logan's mind, because she was having a hard enough time keeping her own thoughts from spiraling into chaos.
Suddenly Logan's gaze seemed sharper and more focused, and Betsy realized a moment too late that the change wasn't a good one. He was hyperaware of every single pair of eyes on him, and looked like he was searching for something to take his anger out on. Listening in on his thoughts, all she could hear was his anger and impatience building the more he became aware of how afraid he was.
The fact that he was still clueless as to what to do was only increasing his anger.
Betsy bit back the urge to make herself a target that he could unleash his tension on. On the one hand, she hated feeling like she was waiting for him to snap. But, on the other hand, she couldn't help feeling like it was only a matter of time until he did, and that she'd be better prepared if she waited. Trying to keep track of the swirl of chaos inside his mind was starting to tax her, but she knew that it was the only way to be ready to act when the time came. She didn't know what he'd do – and she honestly believed that he wouldn't hurt anyone unless provoked – but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Then there was Ororo, who was a wild card at this point. She'd certainly be capable of getting Logan under control – and she was possibly the only one who was truly able – but would she be willing when the time came? Betsy wanted to believe that she would, but it was impossible to tell when Ororo had never acted like this before.
"I got a scent off the needle," Logan said gruffly, looking only to Ororo. "Two males, likely the ones that Ruby saw…" He clenched his jaw, locking it shut. No one asked him to complete the statement.
"They were headed down the road I found you on?" Ororo asked, her tone much softer.
Logan locked his eyes on her and the building anxiety in his eyes seemed to recede, if only a little. "I lost their scent miles before that, but there was nowhere else to go on that road."
Not much of a start, Ororo thought to herself.
"But it's better than nothing at all," Betsy supplied to her mind alone.
Ororo nodded to her. "Well, that means that they should be headed south," she said out loud. "It's impossible to know just how far south, but if they left in a car then it can't be more than a few hundred miles."
Logan mentally flinched at the word 'impossible', his anxiety so potent that it even seemed to be affecting Remy. "You don't know that," Logan stated quietly.
"If you've got a better idea then let's hear it," Ororo snapped back, much louder. "And keep in mind that 'they could be anywhere' is a counterproductive statement."
Alarms began going off in Betsy's head as she watched their hostility unfold.
"But impossible, that's something we can work with," he sneered. "If we assume that they're anywhere then we'll leave no stone unturned, versus keeping our search south when it's possible that they were simply driving to a helipad and traveled north."
"They could've traveled north, yes," she said tightly, her eyes glowing a little brighter and the room getting a little colder. "They could've traveled west. It's possible that they're somewhere underground. It's also possible that she's no longer in the country! You think I don't know that the possibilities are endless? We aren't leaving any stone unturned! South is just a place to start looking!"
"Until something happens?" he yelled, his eyes growing darker.
"If we try to plan for everything, we won't do anything!"
Betsy opened her mind to the activity between them, wincing slightly. Knowing how much they liked their privacy – and generally being a lot less nosey than Emma – it'd been a long time since Betsy had forced herself to listen to exactly what was going on inside both their minds. She usually only skimmed the surface of either, reading only what they weren't keeping shielded.
Logan's usually lightning fast thoughts were that much faster – damn near impossible to read – and the emotions that surrounded those thoughts were like a dense fog. Ororo's thoughts were coming to Betsy like a bad radio transmission, every bit as clouded by emotion.
"We ought to get back on topic," Betsy suggested, knowing that her two-cents would be promptly ignored.
"Someplace to start isn't good enough," Logan growled. "Every minute we spend talking in here is time that could be spent – "
"Running in circles?" Ororo hollered back. "Chasing after faded scents on foot? I'm being realistic! You and I both wasted a lot of energy when we heard what happened…"
"I am not resting!" he snarled, causing Ruby to whimper softly, now fully awake.
Betsy stood up, determined to be heard. That feeling that something ugly was on the way intensified, and she'd be damned if she didn't at least try to stop it. This argument had nothing to do with what was being said and everything to do with needing to release the rapidly building stress. This could spiral out of control with one wrong word.
"How do you expect to get anything done if you're exhausted," Betsy stated. She hated to be so frank and point out such a flaw in front of everyone else, but at this point it seemed that he was ignoring the silent spectators. She wanted him to focus back on logic rather than his emotions, lest he fall prey to his feral side.
"Both of you are running on fumes," Betsy continued, ignoring Ororo's pointed glare. The weather witch would be a fool to deny that she was tired as well. "You won't do Kendall any good if you don't have a little strength and some semblance of sanity," she stressed.
"Maybe having no clear idea of where to look isn't ideal," Logan admitted, his mind finding focus in the words he was saying, "but do you really expect me to rest and wait for something to happen? Wait to hear that they've taken her for… God only knows what purpose? Fuck that!"
"Nothing bad should happen. The intent was to ransom her," Kitty supplied. Everyone in the room turned to Kitty with surprised expressions. Everyone except Betsy; she could see her reflection in the opposite wall, and she looked positively livid. She'd told the girl to keep her mouth shut for a reason, damn it! She'd been subtly aiding Kitty in keeping her thoughts transparent from Ororo, but it made no difference now.
Ororo glared at Betsy. "Any special reason why the hell you would want to keep that from us?"
She wasn't so naïve as to think that Ororo hadn't been rapidly scanning every single mind in the room as furiously as Betsy was. For anything; information, ideas… But because Ororo would keep nothing from Logan – especially where their daughter was concerned – Betsy had thought it best to keep this tidbit from both of them, when really, she'd only needed to keep it from Logan. Did he really need any more encouragement to fly off the deep end?
Having read Betsy's mind, the weather witch relented. But only slightly; though she didn't agree, she could apparently see the logic in waiting to corner Ororo and tell her this first.
Obviously Kitty didn't see that logic. Or perhaps she'd decided to bypass logic entirely!
Betsy kept her visible malice to a minimum, however. Kitty wasn't a child anymore; she knew that she was responsible for her actions. But even adults make mistakes. And besides, it was clear that she'd thought she was helping. For that reason, instead of letting out a string of belittling insults, Betsy simply snapped, "Stop helping," in Kitty's mind.
Logan's reaction to this news pulled Betsy's focus away from Kitty. His mind, frighteningly like Phoenix's, felt like it was split in two. Half of his thoughts were so vicious and filled with rage that Betsy's vision began to turn pink. And the other half of his thoughts were so filled with fear and despair that she actually felt tears building up behind her eyes. Remy too was struggling to keep the strength of the intense emotions from overwhelming him, and even Ruby seemed to sense the mental activity Logan was radiating.
The air actually felt thicker. Everyone – whether they realized it or not, shifted uncomfortably the longer that Logan glared at Kitty. Kurt, however, was watching Logan like a hawk. His yellow eyes were as sharp as Betsy had ever seen them and every muscle in his body was coiled like braided steel, ready to spring at the first whisper of physical hostility.
"I just didn't mention it because ransom was the original intent," Kitty said after an uncomfortable silence.
Ah, yes, Betsy thought snidely. He wants to hear that the stakes have changed.
Kitty hardly heard her, her entire focus on the predatory glare that Logan was shooting her. Kitty had never once backed down in the face of danger, but she apparently saw something in Logan's endless obsidian eyes that unnerved her immensely. The memory of Logan looking up at her and growling viciously flashed in her mind, as did a flashback to her time in captivity when she'd discovered through various cruel 'tests' that adamantium was too dense for her to phase through. The feeling of vulnerability – something that Kitty Pryde wasn't used to – was spreading rapidly, paralyzing her with fear.
"The original target was Ruby," Betsy said, hoping to bring Logan's intense focus away from Kitty. It was clear that Ororo's attention was occupied with scanning Kitty's now-open mind for every little detail she could, and Betsy wanted to curse Ororo for not paying attention to how he was falling apart. Didn't he always attempt to pull her together when the roles were reversed?
Different circumstances, Betsy had to remind herself. For all she knew, Logan might ignore Ororo in favor of gathering information about Kendall if their roles were reversed. Betsy could appreciate that Ororo was focused on getting her child back by any means necessary, but couldn't she see that every level head would bring them closer to that goal?
"They were going to try to get money out of Emma," Betsy continued. At this point it wouldn't have done anyone any good to hide valuable information. "From the conversation that I had with the clown that seems to think he's calling the shots, he meant to steal Ruby to get money out of her, but they accidentally stole Kendall."
"So my daughter was stolen because they want her money?" Logan growled quietly. "That about right?"
Remy squeezed Ruby just a bit tighter, gently prodding at the very back of Logan's mind and trying to soothe a little of his fury. Betsy lent her powers as well, hoping that she could find the right words to explain the situation to Logan in a way that wouldn't get him riled up.
Betsy's mind was only just too late in telling her mouth to stay shut. "Did you hear anything I just said? They meant to take Ruby!"
"But they didn't," he yelled, his gaze on her sharpening, not unlike a lion getting ready to pounce. "Should I be more upset that Ruby is perfectly fine while Kendall has disappeared? ! Don't preach to me like that when you know nothing! It's all the same to you! They're not your kids!"
"Shut up," Remy snapped at Betsy before she could open her mouth again. "We ain't got time to be arguing 'bout what was meant to happen or who oughtta be angrier."
"We need to start somewhere, Logan," Kitty said gently. "Yes, anything can happen, but if we have a clear-cut plan then we won't be too scared to act."
"I am not afraid!" he roared, his claws jumping out of his fists. So enraged that he was visibly trembling, Betsy suspected that the combination of her powers and Remy's powers were all that were keeping him from slicing the room the shreds.
No one refuted his statement, if only because it would anger him further. Betsy was sure that even Ruby could tell that he was scared, but it was a normal reflex for Logan to deny his fear. He was already hanging on for dear life to control his emotions and not let them control him, and he got closer to breaking with every second that ticked by.
While Marie, Remy, Ororo and Betsy had all seen these changes in Logan – this precursor to him going into a red rage – everyone else looked insanely uncomfortable. Betsy could sympathize with them; it was jarring to watch someone who was mostly good at heart turn into a killer right before their eyes.
Peter's body became coated with his organic metal without him realizing it, Lee began to tremble a little, and Bobby moved a little bit closer to Betsy as though for protection. Wide eyed and heart beating wildly, Kitty stayed rooted to the spot, and Kurt unconsciously hunched down, ready to spring. Warren's eyes began pinning as he glanced nervously between Betsy and Logan, his feathers slowly puffing out until they were almost twice as large. Everyone's fight or flight reflex was kicking in, and it dismayed Betsy to see how many were ready to fight, specifically some who didn't have a prayer against Logan on his worst day.
Very much against her will, Betsy's eyes settled on Warren's. "I know you," he thought in her direction. "Please don't do anything rash."
Though mildly touched by his concern, Betsy gave no indication that she'd heard him and had no intention of heeding his warning. She'd do whatever was required of her to keep the peace. If that meant that she had to put herself in the line of fire, then so be it.
To be honest, though, she was waiting for Ororo to jump in any time now.
Everyone jumped when Kurt abruptly stood up, his tail twitching and lashing so furiously that he risked breaking the chair if he kept sitting. The move was frighteningly precise and fluid to anyone who might judge Kurt based solely on his friendly attitude. His eyes never once shifted away from the distance between Logan and Kitty. His desire to move her as far from that mass of bottled fury was so great that Betsy saw blue smoke clouding around him.
It took her a moment to realize that he was so focused on being ready to teleport across the room that he was teleporting in place, essentially making him as intangible as Kitty. Betsy wasn't sure how he was able to do it so silently, but he was a prankster, after all.
Betsy sent out a silent command to everyone to leave Logan alone and let Ororo handle him, but stopped mid-thought because her mind became clouded.
Her vision swam until the scene before her morphed into something else entirely. Knowing that it had to be important, she blocked out all else and let the vision go where it would.
She saw Kendall, curled up on a couch and sleeping soundly. The vision then changed to show Kendall awake and alert, sitting on a counter. Her eyes were focused on something that Betsy couldn't see, but suddenly her gaze shifted and she grabbed at something that was flying past her eyes. Kendall missed the first grab, but she managed to swipe it just before it hit the counter and hugged it to her chest.
"Good catch, cub," said a gruff voice. Then Betsy could see him clearly; a man that she had never met, but had seen in Logan's mind enough to know that he wasn't someone to be trusted. He casually walked past Kendall, patting her head lightly.
"Thank you, Uncle Victor," she preened as she unwrapped what looked like a small piece of candy.
The vision faded and Betsy swore. Everyone's minds were swarming with activity. Everyone except for Logan. His thoughts was silent as death for several seconds before there was an audible click within his mind.