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Xavier Safehouse…

By the time Ororo and Logan reached the safehouse, Scott was practically climbing the walls.

“Guys, when I call an emergency team meeting, I’d appreciate it if you could treat it like an emergency,” he told them in a clipped tone.

“Scott! They were here in les than five minutes, you have got to calm down.” Jean attempted to calm her fiancé down. In her opinion, he was more agitated than he should have been.

Logan shrugged his shoulders, “Damn, Scooter, I’d like to see ya cover three miles of woods in less than five minutes.” Looking to Ororo standing on his right he spoke softly, “ and thanks again fer the ride, ‘Ro.”

Ororo surprised him by winking in response, “Anytime, Logan.”

*That’s my ‘Ro, taming the beast.*

Ororo gave an almost imperceptible nod and coy smile to Jean. Logan indicated that Ororo take the last remaining chair in the room. She nodded her thanks in return and sat gracefully in the plush, oversized chair. Logan took inventory of the room as he strode across to the fireplace.

Must be pretty damn important for Scoot to call the kids in, too, he mused.

**It is.** Although his face never revealed it, Logan had to admit Jean nearly scared the crap out of him.

He gave her a short look of annoyance, **Jeanie. Out.** He tapped his temple to make sure she understood, Jean gave a sheepish look in return.

Ororo hid a small smile as she watched the exchange. Scott cleared his throat loudly.

“Well, now that everyone is here…Jean and I received word from the Professor. It appears we were right in our assumption that Ororo would be followed.”

Ororo sat straighter in her seat, “Has something happened?”

“It appears our friends from the gentleman’s club have tracked us as far as the diner we were at earlier. The Professor alerted Jean and I when he felt powerful energy surges about two hours ago. I assured him it wasn’t us, so he sent out a small scout team and they found the same guys we did”“

“Only difference is, they weren’t breathing so much this time,” Jubilee cut in.

Logan raised an eyebrow, his voice gruff. “What?”

“Looks like somebody came after us and finished what you started, Logan,” Bobby supplied, swallowing thickly when Logan shot him a glare, “…sir.”

“What makes you think it was the gentlemen we are dealing with, Scott?” Ororo queried.

“Yeah, somebody with half a brain coulda’ come an’ decided the planet was better without those bozos from the diner livin’ on it.”

Ororo gave Logan a stern look. “Logan.”

His response was to shrug his shoulders before stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets and leaning against the mantle.

“The Professor recognized the energy patterns as the same as from the nightclub. Apparently these guys are more than just telepaths. The Professor said their energy patterns are unlike anything he’s ever seen. Stronger.”

“Well, what tha hell are they?” Logan groused, “And why’d ya drag the kids into this?” he indicated with a sharp nod in the direction of the teens.

“Because, Logan, they are here with us and need to know what we’re up against,” Jean answered for her fiancé.

“Which is what, exactly?” Ororo asked.

“We’re still not quite sure”at least, not right now.”

“So ya called this meeting ta let us know that you got jack-shit? Heh, that’s some leadership skills there, Scoot.”


Scott straightened to his full height, apparently ready to go toe-to-toe with Logan. Logan gave a wolfish grin in reply. He vaguely heard Ororo’s stern “Logan!” in the background.

Bring it on, Boy Scout; his posture said it all.

Jean discreetly placed herself between the two, speaking in a calm tone, “Scott called this meeting to update the team and make us aware these guys are on the hunt. We felt everyone should be aware and be on alert. These guys apparently are very powerful and at least one of them is a telepath. The teens need to know so they can work on their psi-shields, Logan.”

Logan hated to admit Jean was correct; instead, he winked and blew Scott a kiss and resumed his position near the fireplace. Scott’s jaw clenched in restrained anger, his eyes narrowing beneath his ruby shades.

“Jean will perform some test runs on your psi-shields. These will be unannounced, so stay on guard,” Scott informed them all through clenched teeth, his gaze never leaving Logan.

Each teen seemed to sit a little straighter, nodding their understanding.

Ororo gave a small sigh. “I am regretful that you all were brought into this. If somehow we were able to complete this mission sooner”“

“Don’t say that, Miz Munroe,” Marie interjected. “We all made tha decision ta come along.”

“And we weren’t invited”we kinda crashed your party,” Kitty added.

Logan gave a grunt at that.

“What they’re trying to say, to all of you, is that we put ourselves here in hopes to help, and that’s what we intend to do,” Peter, who was typically the quietest of the group, spoke in his heavy Russian accent.

“What we all tryin’ ta’ say, hommes, is we X-Men an’ we stand as one, or not at all.” His Cajun drawl lazy as ever, Remy accentuated his point by standing and extending his hand.

Marie, Kitty, Jubilee, and the rest if the younger X-Men followed suit and placed their hands in the center with Remy’s. Bobby gave the adults an expectant glance. Jean and Scott immediately caught on and joined their hands, as well. Ororo rose as gracefully as ever and added her mocha hand to the group. She raised an eyebrow at Logan, he responded by leaving his perch and joining the group.

He clasped his hands over hers in the huddle, speaking in his usual gruff timbre, “We stand as one, or not at all.”

Later that night…

The Xavier safehouse quieted down considerably by 1AM. Ororo had retired to her loft accommodations on the third floor and Logan had taken to securing the grounds for the fourth time in the past hour.

“I’d sleep better knowing I did a thorough check,” he told them all before jumping from the second story window.

“Why does he do that when he can just use the door?” Jubilee chirped after he’d left.

Bobby grinned as he answered, “‘Cause then he wouldn’t be The Wolverine.”

Jean and Scott both checked the security panels before retiring to their room. The teens had retired considerably before them, although sleep was the furthest thing from their minds.

“So, how’re we gonna play this?” Kitty asked, her face bathed in the artificial glow of her laptop’s screen.

“What do you mean, Katherine? Mr. Summers and Miss Grey have given us our orders,” Peter replied in his usual calm tone.

Marie tsked in impatience, joining Kitty on her queen-sized bed. She ambled to get a better look at the screen. “What she means, Pete, is that we gotta come up with a plan tah help out. An’ just keepin’ our psi-shields up ain’t it. We need tah be ready if it comes down to a fight.”

Realization dawned on Remy and he smiled his usual lazy smile, “I guess dis mean we be needin’ ta practice, non?”

Bobby clamped a hand over Remy’s shoulder, “Oui, my man…oui.”

Remy responded with an even bigger grin, illuminating the room as he charged the ever-present deck of cards he kept in his hand.

“Finally! Some action on this hayride,” Allison added her thoughts, then amended them as she saw Bobby’s face. “No offense, babe.”

“So? What’s all this mean?” asked Jubilee.

Kitty cleared her throat. “What this means is we begin training as soon as the sun rises. We practice our fighting skills while keeping our psi-shields in place. If we’re gonna be on this team, we might as well be useful.”

“And how are we gonna do that out here in the great outdoors?” Jubilee rebutted.

Allison chimed in before Kitty could respond, “Jubes, this is an Xavier compound, remember? We use the mock Danger Room on the lower level and, knowing Kitty the way I do, we will be running the simulation she’s been creating on her laptop for the last four hours.” She cast a knowing glance in the direction of their resident computer whiz.

Kitty’s face beamed with pride as she turned her laptop so they could all view the schematics of her latest creation, “And you do know me so well.”

Meanwhile…

Logan returned from his rounds at approximately 3:15AM. He had already checked on the kids and found them all dozing peacefully in their adjoined rooms. He also detected from the soft breathing accompanied by intermittent snores that Jean and Scott were asleep for the night, as well.

Only one person left ta check, he thought as he soundlessly climbed the stairs to the third floor. He focused his superior hearing as he topped the stairs and heard… nothing. Absolutely nothing. Complete silence, not even breathing could be heard.
Too quiet, Logan could feel his own heart rate increasing as he slowed his steps, transitioning into a crouch. He scented the air around Ororo’s bedroom door, picking up only faint traces of her scent, hours old. That couldn’t be, he’d personally seen her up to her room before he set off to his rounds. Logan soundlessly turned the knob and entered the pitch black room, his heightened senses told him he was all alone. He stood, flipping the light switch on as he did. Ororo’s bed wasn’t even turned down; her things on her dresser remained untouched. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what happened when he heard the faint rustling of leaves outside the bedroom window. Scenting the air again, Logan narrowed his eyes, returning to his crouch position. Seconds later, he used his powerful legs to propel him upward, through the open skylight above him. Although he landed without a sound, he startled his unsuspecting prey, grabbing their arm and pulling back the black hood they wore to conceal their identity.

His eyes were the color of steel and twice as hard. “An jus’ what tha hell do ya think yer doin’?!”





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