CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE:

MISSING! (gasp) (spelling corrections applied)

REVIEW REPLIES:

TO: AvalonTheLadyKiller: (makes a soft, cushy bed on the front porch and tucks fuzzy blankets around Avalon while the rain falls) I love thunderstorms too. Sometimes I listen to rain sounds to help me sleep at night.

TO: AwkwardFanGirl: I'm so glad you reviewed! (hands her a cookie and some tea) but why didn't you review the first 61 chapters?

TO: KKcnelson2002: Believe it or not, in some of the Marvel X-Men Comics, Beast and Storm ARE a couple.

Also, I am pleased to announce that the idea for the explanation of Flight 19's disappearance and the U.S.S. Cyclops came completely from the muses in my mind. (takes several bows, accepting cheers and roses) Thank you, thank you. And thank you Lord.

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NICK FURY: Hellicarrier

After the Sabretooth had left his base, after the call to Xavier, Nick Fury thought long and hard, staring vaguely into space while his mind was awhirl with half-formed plans, scenarios and ideas stirring like mud on the bottom of a lake after a hard storm.

His first urge was to immediately leave the hellicarrier under Captain Maries command while he took a smaller stealth craft and went to check on his supply of the Infinity serum. However, he did not know whether or not the newly-discovered intelligence of Sabretooth would have the great brute following him straight to his stash.

So, then, what were his options?

Nick absently drummed his fingers. Perhaps if he could determine for certain where the 'Der Schatler' was, he could go to his previous serum. What about trackers? What if the great cat had managed to plant some bugs on his ship to trail him?

"Greaves!" Fury barked and a tall, dark-haired man with a hooked nose snapped to attention. "Put the entire ship on Code Grey, then I want this entire ship cleaned from stem to stern. NO more talking. Shut all the computers not essential for flight off. Anyone who speaks will be court marshaled!"

Greaves, one of Furys head of Security, gave a curt nod.

Nick Fury let out a barely audible sigh. Once he was certain his hellicarrier hadn't been compromised and he knew exactly where the 'El Tigre' was, he would go check on his precious serum then contemplate his next steps.

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CASSIE / LOGAN

XAVIERS SCHOOL FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

The lounge Logan lead her to was located in one of the lower-lower levels of the school (there was technically more than one basement) and was equipped with a high-tech HD TV, several cushy couches that were suspiciously unstained (in Cassies opinion, if a piece of furniture that belonged to a place full of kids was STILL unstained it either meant that it was a. uncomfortable and therefore unused, or b. possessed some kind of strange, unearthly powers.)

Still, she managed to arrange the children onto the couches with Logans help, using pillows and blankets to make make-shift beds on the floor. The children, however, like all children, were resistant to nap-time.

"I don't wanna sleep!"

"Do we have to!?"

"But I'm not tired!" this particular statement came right in the middle of a very big yawn.

Cassie looked over to Logan. "A little help here would be nice."

When Logan just looked at her, baffled, obviously jerked out of his own train of thought, Cassie hit her forehead with her hand. "Purr, man, PURR!"

Logan glared at her half-heartedly and mumbled something about women but started up his purr.

The sound immediately saturated her senses, wrapping her in invisible fur and warmth. She felt contented and cozy and her eyelids began to droop; she felt her knees go weak and she stumbled.

Instantly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist accompanied by the scent of musk and the sound of a deep-throated chuckle. "Easy there, my mate."

She didn't even have to open her eyes. "Hey Victor."

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VICTOR CREED / SABRETOOTH

The Sabretooth was NOT a happy kitty-cat when he returned to the cafeteria to find his mate, cubs, and little brother all gone. However, since there were no signs of a struggle or any scent of fear, he wasn't as worried as he could have been. Instead, he followed his nose and instincts through several twists and turns and down two flights of stairs till he came upon a lounge/entertainment room which was, he was pleased to find, windowless.

The cubs were bedded down on various couches and pillows, some on blankets on the floor, and none of them seemed very keen on the napping idea. He was about to step in when his mate confronted his little brother;

"Purr, man, PURR!"

He chuckled low and deep to himself as his brother finally started up the purr, then stepped in right as his mates legs buckled. Immediately, he was there, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and pulling her up against the support of his body. "Easy there, my mate."

She leaned into him, not even opening her eyes. "Hey Victor."

He nuzzled his head gently against hers. "We have a date."

Cassie blinked groggily up at him, giving him a lazy smile. Then she frowned and looked over to the sleeping children. "But the kids….."

He bent down to nuzzle her neck making her gasp and lean into him. "Jimmy can watch the kids fer a bit, can't ya Jimmy?" he shot a glare at his younger brother telling him that he damn well better watch the kids.

Logan grumbled at him.

Victor nibbled on his mates neck a bit, making her gasp. "Come on, it's time fer our date."

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NICK FURY:

The sweep for bugs had come back clean and a quick call to a disgruntled Xavier confirmed that the 'El Tigre' was indeed back at the school for mutant children, and so Nick Fury had set off on his own little, sleek jet for a special, little hidden island in the North Atlantic ocean coordinates 25 degrees North and 71 degrees West, in the middle of Flordia, Puerto Rico and Bermuda…..a little area called the 'Bermuda Triangle'.

It always amused Nick to read and hear the stories and legends associated with the Bermuda Triangle. Stories that he himself had started. The planes from Flight 19 that supposedly 'disappeared' into the Bermuda Triangle were actually a new type of stealth planes that Fury had been testing, which obviously had worked, though the pilots had gotten into a good bit of trouble with Fury. A lot of unauthorized people (unauthorized as in unauthorized by Nick Fury) had seen the test flight taking off and simply couldn't understand why the planes never returned whereas, in truth, they had simply switched to stealth mode and flown back to an underground hanger.

The U.S.S. Cyclops had been another matter entirely. The ship had somehow managed to get past Furys force-fields around the Bermuda Triangle and managed to get stuck in the middle, unable to get out.

That had caused on of Nick Fury's major migraines, having to administer drugs and hypnotize a crew of three-hundred and nine men to make them believe that they had never set sail in the first place, get several separate ships to take the men to land, then sink the U.S.S. Cyclops to the bottom of the ocean.

The Bermuda Triangle was also where Nick Fury stashed his precious Infinity Serum as well as the labs and scientists who managed to concoct it.

The entire island was supposed to be even more secure than Alcatraz and Fort Knox put together, so Nick Fury wasn't at all happy to find his little safe-house-island in complete chaos.

Scientist were running around in the labs like chickens with their heads cut off. Red alarm lights were beeping and blaring and it took a while for Nick to finally collar a jabbering scientist and demand what was happening.

The answer was not what he wanted.

Nick Fury bellowed; "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY INFINITY SERUM IS MISSING!"

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AN: Dun dun DUUUN! And the plot thickens…..even more. This, glove-99 is where I REALLY attempt to put in the plot.

Who stole the Infinity Serum?

What are they going to do with it?

How will Victor react when he finds out it's gone?

What are they (Nick and Vic) going to do to get it back?

That's all coming up, folks!

CITATIONS:

"Bermuda Triangle." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 28 Aug 2013. Web. 30 Aug 2013. wiki/Bermuda_Triangle.