This will be a boring update, but it gotta be done to move on with the story. Sorry!
Happy belated Canada Day! And early Fourth of July
xXx
The small team had made it to New York and was hanging about behind an old, poorly maintained apartment building. At the fire escape Remy crouched beside Logan, who was bent to the ground sniffing.
"So?" Remy asked.
"The Cajun was right, we found 'em." Logan nodded, standing up.
Remy let out a whoop of triumph and slapped Warren on the back. "Yah owe me fifty bucks!"
"I thought there was no way these guys were stupid enough to put an ad online." Warren grumbled.
"Yah, well, Ah was righ' and yah was wrong so pay up." Remy grinned.
"Both of you quiet down, we aren't done here yet." Jean scolded. As tired as she was, she looked happy.
"Well, lets get this over with then. The sooner we have the blood back the happier I'll be." Warren said.
"As dumb as these guys are, we have to remember that they were able to get into the school. They've got powers. We have to go in there with a plan." Jean said.
"How 'bout Wolverine stab thangs, Ah blow thangs up and yah two look pretty?" Remy suggested, making the others roll their eyes.
"Or we could think up something not moronic?" Warren suggested, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily.
"Let's think about this." Jean said. "Chances are if we go in guns a blazing, at least one will get away with the blood, or at least hide it. I say we send in Mr. Thief to snag the blood, and once its in our hands, the rest of us can go and get the baddies."
"That's a good plan." Warren admitted. "But-"
"But what?" Jean interrupted.
"Wolvie already gone." Remy supplied.
Jean spun to see that he was in fact gone. She looked up to see he was moving silently up the fire escape, allowing his nose to guide him. She said a very unlady like word and moved to follow.
Remy threw a sparkling grin at the winged man. "Allons-y!"
xXx
I sat with my legs folded up to my chest on the Professor's couch. Mom was beside me with her arms around me protectively. I'm practically an adult but I still feel safest when I'm in Mom's arms. Like nothing can get me. The fact that she'd be able to fry anything that tried with some lightning helps.
Hank, Scott and the Professor were all gathered in the office, staring at me expectantly.
Finally I broke the silence. "That wasn't Remy."
Hank shook his head. "Remy is still with the team out on a mission. Besides, the man I smelled did not smell the same as him."
"Could you tell who it was?" Mom asked. Her eyes were glowing in anger.
Again, Hank shook his head. "I'm not Logan. While my ability to pick up scents are enhanced, I don't have the ability to remember every scent and be able to trace it as he can."
"So he's going to get away with it." I said softly. Man, I'm getting really tired of people hurting or trying to hurt others and getting away with it. Maybe I should start taking a leaf out of the Punisher's book.
No of course we're not going to let him get away with this. Scott's thoughts broadcasted to us. He was still unable to talk, so for the mean time we had telepaths (usually Jean) send out what he wanted to say. At the moment, the Professor was taking over.
Scott looked directly at me and thought, 'We're going to find this guy Leah.'
I don't think I ever liked Scott more. He's uptight and pushy, but he's a good leader and does his best. I guess he's not a total tool bag.
"Leah, maybe we should get you back to bed. You must be exhausted." Mom suggested, smoothing back my thick hair.
"Thanks Mom, but I'm okay." I know she was just looking out for me, but the last thing I wanted was to go back to sleep.
"This was a personal attack. The man knew to impersonate Remy." The Professor stated, putting his fingertips together. A habit he had when he was thinking hard.
"Could it have been random though? Word did get out about Leah being in a coma, she even had visitors. What if it was just some slime ball trying to take advantage while she was defenceless?" Mom suggested. "And when she began to wake, he panicked and took a different form."
"A possibility, but unlikely. There are plenty of other girls in the school. If the perpetrator just wanted intercourse, he could have easily changed into anyone to satisfy his wants." Hank replied.
"He wanted Leah." The Professor said wearily. I felt bad for the guy. I wasn't any mind reader, but I knew how he felt when one of his charges were hurt. He built this place to keep people safe, and every time someone got hurt, he took it as a personal failure. I wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but I didn't know how to bring it up tactfully.
"But who could possibly want to do that to her?" Mom asked, pain in her voice. She squeezed my shoulder.
I didn't like them talking as if I wasn't in the room, but I feared if I reminded them of my presence they would make me leave, thinking to protect me.
She does have enemies because of her blood's properties, Scott thought.
"But it makes no sense for anyone to try and harm her that way, if they were after her because of her blood." Hank countered reasonably.
"Leah," Professor Xavier asked gently, turning to me. "Can you think of anyone who would do this?"
With all eyes on me, I said "No. Kill me, beat me up, yes. But ra-that, no."
I couldn't bring myself to say the word. It was like acid in my mouth.
Mom squeezed me tighter.
"So maybe an unknown stalker." Hank suggested. "We can go through all the shapechangers and see who…"
His voice trailed off as he realized what he just said. From the look everyone shared, they were all thinking the same thing.
"He does have a border line obsession with her." Mom said finally.
And violent, animal like tendencies, Scott added.
I felt a tight squeezing sensation in my chest. "But, but he can only change into animals!"
"Mystique can change into both. It's a possibility that he learned how to become another person as well. She could have taught him while he was with the Brotherhood." Xavier agreed. He looked even more tired.
Hank, you and me will go get him right now. Scott ordered and both men raced out the door.
Xavier closed his eyes and placed two fingers to his temple. He opened them and looked at us apologetically. "I'm so sorry, but he's already gone."
xXx
Fang pounded the ground in his bare feet as he ran through the woods behind the Xavier estate. The branches of trees scratched and tore at his arms, chest and face, but he kept running. He tried to change into a wolf to hurry his escape, but he wasn't able. He was stuck in the tall, angular body of the man he hated most.
Stupid, stupid stupid!
He knew he shouldn't have, but the animal part of him had taken over. At first he had just gone into her room to watch over her as she slept. But seeing her stirred a hunger in him. She just looked so perfect, laying there. Even with her hair dishevelled and wearing pajamas. He never wanted something more in his life than at that moment.
But she woke up! Without thinking, he forced himself to change, even though he knew he wasn't ready.
And now he was stuck in this damn body.
Then again, when he thought back to how her eyes lit up when she looked at him, how good it felt to touch her; he'd almost think it was worth it. He had been so close to finally doing what he had wanted to since they had found each other again.
Who knew she was going to turn out to be so…
And then she nailed him in the balls and Beast came in.
STUPID!
Chances were, they'd figure out it wasn't really the Cajun. As much as he wanted the southerner to take the blame, he was too smart to actually believe in. He had been able to fool Leah, who was still drowsy and weak from the drug. He wouldn't be so lucky to fool the other's noses or the telepaths.
He'd blown in at the Institute, he'd blown it with Leah and now he was stuck in this ugly body!
He broke through the trees to the roadway. He bent over panting, as a fancy black car pulled up. The tinted passenger's window rolled down.
"You are completely stupid." Mystique stated in a cold, bored voice from the driver's seat.
Fang snarled at her and let himself into the car. The engine roared to life and took off down the road.
"You've really messed up our plans with your little stunt here tonight, you know that?" Mystique threw at him sternly.
"Shut up."
Fang wasn't fast enough to dodge her powerful blow to his face. He hissed in pain, but otherwise kept silent.
"We have to change everything now because you couldn't keep it in your pants." She hissed back, her yellow eyes glowing.
Fang took a couple deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. The animal in him wanted to dominate her, but he controlled himself. "Alright, I'm sorry. Just tell me how to change back."
"No." For the first time since he'd entered the car, she smiled. It was a cruel, cold one. "I think you can just stay like that for a little longer."
xXx
"Nice go'n birdbrain!" Remy barked at Angel as he did a series of flips and twists to avoid poisoned spikes that were being shot at him from another man's arm. It turned out the thieves were mutants. They had no interest in using Leah's blood on themselves because they loved using their abilities. It truth they were lousy thieves and their mutant powers were the only thing that kept them in the game.
"Shut up and move!" Angel shouted back. Logan had used his claws to get inside the small apartment. He and Remy went in first, moving as quietly as possible. It was four in the morning so the thieves were still asleep. That is until Angel's wings accidently knocked over something, waking them all up.
Now, they were in the fight Jean had been looking to avoid.
There were six mutants against the X-men. As untrained as they were in comparison, they were holding their own. Jean had been put to sleep when one of the mutants with sharp, glowing green teeth had bit her. Angel was bleeding heavily from one leg, but still standing.
But still, they were the X-men. Within ten minutes they had taken out the group.
"Awesome," Remy said, slightly winded. "Now where da-"
"Logan!" Warren interrupted suddenly, pointing to something behind him.
The other two men spun just in time to see a woman jump out the apartment's window. They all had time to catch a glimpse of a blood filled syringe in her hand. Logan let out a swear and followed her. The woman had features like an ape which allowed her to quickly scale the fire escape and get to the roof.
"Remy, go help, I'll watch these guys." Angel ordered.
Remy sighed. "Ah hate run'n."
Angel shot his teammate a glare. In response, Remy put up his hands in a 'easy, I was just kidding' gesture and followed Logan out the window. The ape woman might have had assets to help her scale walls, but she hadn't been trained as a thief since the age of six. Like an acrobat, he performed a sequence of well-balanced flips and jumps which brought him to the rooftop in no time.
There was enough light provided by the city that he could make out a silhouette on the roof top a few buildings over from him. He ran and soared over the distance between the building to catch up.
Logan stood above the body of the ape woman. She was still breathing, but unconscious.
"Damn," Remy commented. "Yah didn't even dink ta save some of da figh' for me."
Logan didn't respond. He turned to look at Remy with angry eyes and yanked a needle out of his bicep.
Remy stared at the syringe with wide eyes. "Was that-"
"Yeah."
"Double damn."