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"Did you put the tracker on their jet?" Sabretooth asked.

"Yes," Mystique replied.

"I don't see why we need it," Pyro complained. "I can just as easily taken you there myself."

"We need to make sure the Goddess is still there when we attack."

"Who put you in charge?" Mystique challenged. Sabretooth growled, and, for the first time in Mystique's life, she actually became afraid of him and backed off. There was something about him that didn't seem quite right. Sure, he'd always been vicious and a little scary, yes; but there was something in his eyes that gave her a bad feeling...

XXXX

After that night, Storm didn't have any more psi attacks; which was a great relief to everyone- especially Logan. Because of Logan's behavior towards Storm, the kids started making bets on who would ask who out; when they would be going, and where they would be going. Most of them bet that it would be Logan- date and times were to be settled after the first ask out- because of the way he started watching Storm more intently, and he made sure that he was in- or at least oversaw, even if it meant Storm not knowing about it- all of her Danger Room sessions.

Today though, Rogue and Hawk decided to invite them out riding with them, Jubilee, and Kitty. It quickly became obvious that Logan was clueless when it came to tacking up horses. Thankfully, he was in the wrong stall to begin with. "Logan," Hawk said, leading out of the current horses' stall and leading him to a dark bay- a brown horse with a black mane, tail, and legs- horse with a long proud head and straight profile; small pointed ears; large gentle eyes; big nostrils; a full mane and forelock; a neck that was long and muscular and set into prominent withers. "This is Valley- short for Valiant," Hawk explained when they reached the stall. "She's a Latvian." As they stepped in, Logan could see that the shoulders are long and sloping; the chest was high and deep; her back was straight, with a long, slightly sloping croup, and he could see that the legs are solid and well-muscled with strong joints. She was also tacked up.

"What's wrong with the horse I was trying to tack?"

"Uh... Logan, no offense or anything, but the added adamantium to your bones adds to bone density, which adds to mass, which adds to overall weight..." she used her hands like a scale. "...and since horses can carry only twenty percent of their weight... you catch my drift?"

Logan nodded, then turned to the gray horse. "If you're concerned about that, Hawk, then what makes you think I can ride her? She doesn't look like she could carry half of my weight."

"Never judge a book by it's cover," Hawk countered easily. "Actually, Logan, this is one of the stronger breeds of horses. Valley has alot of strength and stamina to spare, and she's about sixteen hands high, which is perfect for your height. Latvian's are actually draft horses that are used nowadays as used as a riding horse. Besides, you won't look even remotely as awkward riding her, than you would on a Clydesdale or Shire." She pointed to two horses- one an extremely tall black one, the other, another tall one, but this one was a chestnut. Both had a white blaze going down their face, and they were obviously draft horses. Hawk turned back to him. "Now which one do you choose?"

XXXX

They all headed out onto one of the well known trails at the mansion. Storm was riding a black Andalusian stallion, Thunder; Hawk was on her black Andalusian mare, Midnight Storm; Rogue was on a black Thoroughbred stallion, Cobalt; Kitty rode a chestnut Arabian, Garnet, and Jubilee was riding a chestnut Thoroughbred, Sparks.

After jumping another fallen log, Hawk pulled back to keep pace with Storm who was just a couple of horses behind her."So, what's going on with you and Logan?"

Storm glared at her. "Are you eavesdropping again?"

"No," Hawk said innocently. "It's all over Logan his face."

Storm rolled her eyes. "We're just friends, Hawk."

"Right," Hawk said sarcastically. "I see how it's gonna be." She had that mischievous look on her face that told Storm she was up to no good.

However, before Storm could say anything about it, Jubilee's horse started acting up. "Whoa," Jubilee said soothingly. That didn't help much, and Hawk could clearly see Sparks' muscles tense. "Sparks, easy, easy," Jubilee repeated. Sparks was starting to sweat now, and her ears were stiffly twitching back and forth, along with her clamped tail, Hawk knew that horse was about to bolt. Not to mention, making all of the other horses agitated. She was also snorting and making low grunts. "Whoa, whoa!" Now Sparks reared and Jubilee fell off.

"Jubilee!" Kitty cried as her own horse started acting up.

"Everyone, dismount!" Hawk ordered, dismounting her own horse. She then used her telepathy to round up Sparks- or at least as close to th egroup as Sparks would she turned to Midnight. "Get all of the horses back to the stables now. Danielle should be there. Tell her what's going and to send Colossus, Angel, Iceman and Beast out here. Midnight nodded and rounded up the other horses. "What's going on, Hawk?" Rogue asked.

"I'm not sure, but..." Suddenly, there they were. The Brotherhood. "Oh, great, " she muttered.

"What?"

"We got company." Hawk called to Isis and Sky and told them to get their butts over there ASAP. "Storm, the Brotherhood's here!"

XXXX

"Storm, the Brotherhood's here!" Hawk called.

"Great," Storm muttered. "What do they want now?"

Logan shrugged, then unsheathed his claws.

Snikt!

That was when the Brotherhood came into view. Sabretooth was in the lead, with Mystique and Pyro on either side of him, followed by Toad, Juggernaut, and Multiple Man. The formation made Storm curious. "Since when did Sabretooth become in charge?"

Again, Logan shrugged. That was when Beast, Angel, Colossus and Iceman showed up. Iceman went to his partner, Shadowcat; Colossus, Rogue; Angel, Jubilee; Beast and Wolverine, and Storm was paired with Hawk. Sky and Isis came in just then. Isis went with Wolverine and Beast while Sky was with Angel and Jubilee.

Pyro automatically went to Iceman; Juggernaut went for Kitty; Toad went for Jubilee and Angel; Sabretooth went for Storm and Hawk, and Multiple Man went for whoeever else. Sabretooth launched himself at Storm, and the battle began. Hawk pushed him to the ground with her telekinesis, which led to a growl of dismay. Sabretooth then looked at Hawk with a new interest, and Storm suddenly realized what was going on. Hawk continued to stare at him, and flicked her palms open. "Hawk, wait," Storm said walking towards her. She had to be sure this was who she thought it was. Her suspicion was confirmed when she saw Sabretooth's amber eyes flash. "Oh, no."

"What?" Hawk asked, confused.

"Hawk, run."

"What?"

"Run, het out of here."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Storm I can take him."

"No, you can't. this is not who you think it is."

"Huh?"

Storm didn't have time to deal with Hawk's curiousity and stubborness. "Hawk, go. Now."

"Okay, okay, I'm going." With that, Hawk dashed off into the trees. Then Storm turned back to face the Sahdow King.

XXXX

Hawk found Rogue going after Multiple Man. She was grumbling about how she couldn't tell the difference between the clones and the real Multiple Man when Hawk arrived. "Oh," Hawk said. "That's easy. It's the guy in the center of those two, who's not fighting. It's the easiest trick in the book. Stay between or behind your bodyguards and you don't have to fight."

"Thanks," Rogue said, turning to Colossus, who was taking care of another pair of clones the opposite direction. "Colossus!" Colossus turned to the girls. "Cover me!"

While Colossus covered, Hawk played with her telepathy on Multiple Man until Rogue took him out.

XXXX

"So," Shadow King said as Sabretooth. "You finally figured it out."

"What do you want?" Storm asked icily.

"The world," Shadow King mocked. "But the Brotherhood's a good start."

Storm held fast against his taunts. If she gave in, she would just be playing his game.

"I must say," he continued, "it's certainly been a long time since the last time we met."

"I hoped the last time we met would be the final time we met."

"Why all the bitterness, Ororo?" Shadow King asked mock-curiously. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

Storm glared at him with such intense hatred that you'd think that she'd strike him with a lightning bolt any second. "Do you know that I can cause a series of lightning bolts to concentrate on your body, so intense, that it would kill you instantly?" She asked in response.

"Ah, now you've hurt my feelings." He paused and then looked at Storm with a devilish look. "I wonder how that young girl would react if she knew who I really was."

That caught her off guard, but she held her ground. "You leave her out of this," Storm said ominously. Her eyes started to turn silver, and she let her anger fuel and super-charge the air with electricity. "This has nothing to do with her."

Farouk chuckled. "Oh, but it does, Ororo, it does." That did it. If there was one thing that got Storm angry, it was threatening the children. She brought down a lightning bolt on him. Farouk blocked it with a psi shield, then retaliated by using Sabretooth's claws to slash at her abdomen. Storm spun out of the way, then messed with the air pressure in his ears; which was very effective. Shadow King went down; but, before Storm could finish him, he brought down a psi bolt on her; knocking her back and stunning her. Shadow King got up and went to Storm. However, before he could do anything, Wolverine came out of nowhere; bowling him over.

When Storm was conscious enough to comprehend what was going on, she bolted up and saw Wolverine attacking Sabretooth. "Logan, no!" She cried. Wolverine stopped and looked at Storm. "It's not who you think it is."

XXXX

After freeing Kitty from Juggernaut, Hawk went back to where Storm was. Wolverine was already there, but it was clear that she didn't want his or anybody else's help. She didn't want the other to carry her burden. Well too bad, Hawk thought. And, for the second time that day, she wondered who this guy was that Storm refused to let anyone else, but her, fight.

XXXX

"What do you mean, 'Ro?" Logan asked.

"Just trust me, Logan," Storm pleaded, "please."

Logan didn't know if it was something in her voice, or if it was just instinct, but he let Sabretooth go and walked over to Storm.

"Just trust me," she repeated. "He is not someone you want to tangle with."

Before Logan could say anything else, Isis came bursting from the underbrush, and attacked Sabretooth. "No!" Storm cried.

XXXX

'Bout time you showed up, Hawk thought as Isis came out of the underbrush. Hawk was up in the trees, where she had a better view of what was going on. Suddenly, her head exploded with pain; so much so that, she lost her grip on the branch she was on and fell.

XXXX

Storm sensed someone falling out of the trees, before hearing the rustle of leaves, followed by a thud. She turned to see Hawk sprawled on the ground. "Hawk," Storm said, rushing over to her. She was going to have a long talk with Hawk after this about following orders in the field. Hawk started to moan in pain as Storm reached her.

Shadow King laughed. "Such a feisty spirit, and so very powerful. She'll be a pleasure to have under my control."

"No," Storm said, knowing she was in a very tight corner. "Leave her alone. Please, she's just a child."

"What are you proposing, Ororo?"

Storm took a deep breath, she knew what was coming up, but she didn't have a choice in the matter. "Take me instead."

Shadow King laughed menacingly. "Why would I want to take you?"

"You wanted me originally," Storm pointed out. "Not to mention, the fact that I have better control over my powers than she does."

Again, Shadow King laughed, but Hawk, at least, stopped moaning, and Storm got that dreaded feeling that he just accepted her proposal.

"Done!"

XXXX

Logan stood by and watched the exchange between Sabretooth and Storm. He saw Hawk on the ground, and knew she was probably spying on them. The fear he sensed from her was unlike any other fear he'd sensed from her in the past. Before he could ask Storm what was wrong, she collapsed to her knees, crying out in agony. Sabretooth blinked a couple of times in confusion. He didn't know what he was doing here, or why he had come. But seeing Logan gave him the chance to finish what he started on the statue.

XXXX

Hawk bolted up after the pain subsided. Then she saw Storm on her knees. No! she thought. Then she saw Sabretooth and Logan unsheathing their claws. Hawk would've given anything to see Sabretooth's butt whooped, but Storm was in trouble, and they had to help her. "Logan!"

Logan looked at her as she got between them. She glared at Sabretooth. "Call it a truce for now, and get the rest of the of the Brotherhood off of the property. You'll get safe passage off. But don't think that this changes anything between us."

Sabretooth growled, but accepted the offer. Logan glared at her. "Don't look at me like that!"

"You just let him go free."

"Look, under normal circumstances, I'd be happy to let you beat up. But these aren't normal."

They both rushed over to where Storm was on her side. It was clear that the psi battle- which Hawk knew was going on- was taking a toll on her. Logan cradled her and she jolted awake. "Logan," she whispered.

Logan looked down at her. "Don't worry, darlin'. You're going to be alright."

"Logan, kill me, please," Storm begged.

"What?"

"Kill me."

As soon as she said that, Hawk glared in warning at Logan. Don't do it, Logan.

"Please, Logan," Storm continued. "Please, do it while he's in me."

"Who?"

"Me, Logan," a voice that belonged to Storm, and yet didn't, said. Her voice had suddenly become much deeper and ominous. Hawk could also see that her eyes had gone silver with just a hint of purple.

Logan had jumped at her voice, and almost dropped her. "Yeah, Logan," Hawk encouraged. "You might wanna drop her."

"What? Why?"

"That ain't Storm."

Shadow King laughed as Storm. A cackle that sent even Hawk's hackles rising. "She's right, Logan."

Logan went with Hawk's advice. Shadow King got up and turned to face them. "Farouk!" a voice called behind them. They all turned to see a bald man, probably in his early to mid-fifties, stalk towards them. Then, for the first time since she had come to the mansion, Hawk saw Logan's jaw drop. "Leave them alone."





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