Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.

Shout outs!

To Kali3110: That's a good thing for me! If you feel the desire to kill one of my characters that just means that she's just so realistic and believable... right? Or that she's just that evil-ish. Sparky has her moments of goodness, she just feels very, VERY deeply and that gets really annoying to our favorite empath because its very over powering to be around her.

To firewhisperer: Yep, in the time she's been away from her family Naomi has quite the backbone to those who would hurt her. We're so proud of her. ^-^ Is this what you thought the fight would be like? lol.

Chapter 31

Wings silently passed through the air over the harbor. ArchAngel watched for movement anywhere on the docks. It seemed almost deathly still. He tapped the com device's mic. "I don't see anyone, or anything. Are you sure this is the place Rune?"

The reply was almost instant, "Yes I know where we are going! I've been working within the Shadow Brotherhood for months, and before that for a few years I was with them alright? Don't question me!"

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, if that is what liking a girl does to a guy I hope I never even get interested in girls..." He muttered. "There are lights on in warehouse four-oh-twelve, I can see people moving around in there." He silently flew closer to the building, "Want me to count how many?"

"No."

"Yes."

The replies came at the same time, Beast cleared his throat. "See if you can discover where they are holding Naomi, Warren."

"Roger." He dove closer and landed on the roof, "You know Fallen would of been better for this, he blends in the dark."

"Thanks for the vote, I thought I'd shadow you anyway." Fallen Angel landed next to him. He winked, "I've always believed that more eyes are a good thing."

Warren smiled, "Fallen's here."

"We heard," Logan said, "Stop chatting and do your job."

Storm and the others sat in a nondescript car, some patiently, others very impatiently. Prism shifted nervously in his seat next to Rael who was staring out the window looking at the sky. "It should be dawn in another hour or so."

Nightcrawler was sitting next to Beast in the back with Rune between the two of them. Rune was flexing his hands back and forth between fists, his jaw set in annoyance, he wanted out of the car, he already planned to rip a new one for Pyro. Beast kept a hand on the young man's shoulder.

Wolverine was in the passenger's seat and Storm in the driver's seat. The communication device was static for a moment before Fallen Angel spoke.

"Most of the windows are boarded up, but I can see people sitting at a table playing cards on the second floor. Third floor was empty, all the lights off." He whispered. "There's a fire escape on one of the walls, you could climb up it and get into the third floor, catch them by surprise." He stepped out onto it, his foot fall sounded like a tap on the metal. "I'm not sure about condition of it though."

"Three options then, " Storm began looking back at everyone. "The fire escape and possibly get the drop on them, or the front door and make it clear that we've arrived."

"And option three?" Rune asked.

"Curt teleports us to the third floor and we may, or may not have surprise on our side."

Rael turned his attention into the car, "If we go with that one, may I suggest a distraction to assist our infiltration?"

She sat against the wall rubbing her bruised jaw. The spider had become darker, and there were several other ones she'd made skittering around in the darkness. Her own shadow was a few shades darker as well, she tried to make it lift off the ground, it tried but only succeeded in doing a wave across the ground. What she really needed was a few hours rest and some sunbathing.

There were foot falls outside, she shooed the spiders into the corners and leaned back against the wall. The handle turned, in the back of her mind she was still expecting her father to walk into the room. Again she was wrong, but to her relief it wasn't Recharge. Pyro squatted down before her, he smirked, "You have a visitor, he's later than we expected, but late's better than never, right?"

Her stomach fell slightly, "You were after Rune, aren't you. Why?"

Pyro sighed, "Well, Recharge isn't interested in him, but an associate of ours is very interested in his powers." Pyro stood, "Think of it, his power is gravity and pressure, imagine if he became strong enough to alter the pull of the earth on something like a star or even the moon. He could also cause a massive earthquake by applying pressure to a fault line." Pyro sighed, "He plays down his power because he knows he's dangerous to everyone. If they knew what he could do then if they were smart they'd be afraid of him."

She laughed and looked up into one of the corners, the spider moved down into Pyro's shadow blending in perfectly, the young man didn't notice the new addition. "Rune wouldn't do that for anyone, he doesn't want to hurt people."

The building shook slightly. Pyro grinned, "Are you sure about that? He's rather desperate to get you back I'd say." He stood and walked out, "After we negotiate the exchange I'll have someone come get you." He closed the door, taking with him Naomi's personal message to anyone else who was there. She knew Rune wouldn't come alone.

The spider crawled within Pyro's shadow until he turned the corner, it skittered up the wall and hid in another shadow. Where it divided into several hundred smaller black spiders. One by one they made a thin trail along the upper edge of the wall and into one of the rooms. Once within the dark room they combined again and went out the window. It sat motionless on the board of the window then crawled up to the third floor. It glanced within as the building trembled and groaned again, in that same moment there was a crack, hidden decently by the groans of the building, and the others were there. It crawled inside, it was hardly visible within the darkness. The arachnid nibbled on Rael's pant leg.

A black sword came down and pointed at the spider, it neatly turned flat against the floor, but all the same shuddered in fear. "Gimme a light." Rael said softly. "A soft one." Prism bent a gentle beam of moonlight in and revealed the silent messenger. Rael chuckled, "Reckless is here somewhere." He bent down, the spider skittered away slightly, "Well where is she?"

Rune gritted his teeth as Pyro came out of the building, "You're alone? I would of thought you'd bring backup of some kind."

"This only involves me, right?"

"Yes, well you and the girl."

"Where is she?" Rune demanded.

Pyro opened his old lighter and flicked on the flame, then closed it again. "She's safe, for now."

The ear piece crackled slightly, "We've got a guide to her," Beast said, "She's quite the ingenues girl."

Rune didn't let his relief show. "So you're looking for a trade, me for her right?" The dock groaned under the pressure he was exerting from his anger.

The other shrugged and flicked the lighter open again, "I may just keep you both." He pulled the flames from the lighter and shot a ball of flame at Rune. He moved away from it only to have it curve back toward him again. "She's an amazing power herself, have you seen what she really looks like yet? How about that world when she goes into shadows?" With each question the flames curved toward Rune as he moved.

Rune sent a wave of pressure at the flames they curved in the opposite direction and into the water. He then dropped the pressure into the water, the liquid was displaced and splashed across the deck. "You're tricker that Dragon, but I beat him every time, you'll be no different."

Naomi was surprised when the door opened again, the spider couldn't of shown them where she was so quickly. She cringed at the face of Recharge standing over her, "No one calls me weak and gets away with it," She stated, "and Pyro's not here to protect you this time."

She smirked and laughed, "I don't need protection," she waved a hand slightly, "Haven't you heard, I'm Reckless, I can take care of myself!" She stood. The shadows began to shift and crawl, they even sounded like spiders as they turned into a wave of thousands. Most of Naomi's skin was black now, she ached from the exertion of splitting the spiders into such small things in such great concentration. "Try and touch me, I dare you." She waved a hand and the insects came up from the ground. Recharge stumbled back several steps and hit the wall.

he he he... bugs, keep Recharge at a distance right? Who will the others encounter before finding Naomi? Yoooooou'll just have to wait for the next chapter :p la di da.