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The girl hefted her backpack on about an hour later. Then she climbed a tree to get to the second floor balcony. Knowing the security alarm systems were on, she climbed the waterspout next and reached the roof; where she climbed into the air vents.

XXXXX

Storm was slipping into her bed when Logan stopped by on the way to his stopped at the doorway to ask a question. "Would you like to... uh... meet for lunch tomorrow?"

Storm blushed a little. "Sure."

"Okay, great," Logan said. Storm thought she detected a note of relief in his voice. "Goodnight, 'Ro."

"Night, Logan."

Storm fell asleep peacefully a few moments later.

XXXXX

The girl crawled through the air shaft stealthily. It was getting a little cramped, but she didn't want to get out just yet. She paused and looked through one of the vents. Then gasped and stumbled slightly when she realized she was above the headmistress' room. She banged her knee against the vent, making a loud rattle. "Stang," she whispered, and quickly crawled to the next room; which was, thankfully, vacant.

XXXXX

Storm bolted upright when she heard the clatter from the air vent. She heard loud thumps go over her head, then a loud thud as something landed next door. Logan came rushing in a moment later. Claws unsheathed. "You alright?"

Storm nodded, then grabbed and pointed next door. "It's in there."

XXXXX

"I've got to work on that," the girl muttered. She grabbed her backpack and was about to open the door, when it was suddenly kicked in. Uh oh, she thought.

XXXXX

Logan kicked the door open, only to find himself facing... Crystal?

"Crystal?" Storm asked behind him. Logan was speechless. Crystal didn't answer; instead, she ducked under Logan's arm, staggering as she nearly tripped over Logan's boots. "Crystal, wait!"

Logan grabbed the terrified girl's backpack, but she easily slipped her arms through. She then went two doors, which was another empty room, and climbed into that air vent. "Crystal!" Logan called as the vent closed.

"What?" Crystal asked from the staircase. Storm and Logan froze.

"Weren't you just in the air vents?" Storm asked, puzzled as she turned around.

"No," Crystal replied. "I heard a noise, then heard you two calling my name."

"Okay,"Logan said. "Any idea who it was?"

Crystal shrugged. "Probably, Mystique."

"Mystique doesn't carry a backpack," Storm pointed out.

"Maybe a shape shifter of some sorts? I honestly wouldn't know. I gonna go back to bed, okay?"

"Alright," Storm said. "Goodnight."

"Night."

"She's hiding somethin'," Logan said after Crystal's door closed.

"I know," Storm replied. "Question is what?"

"Maybe this will tell us," Logan said holding up the backpack. Then he started to look through it. "Let's see... we've got... a white puppy with a pink spotted collar... and... a book called... 'Captive to Evil'. Okay, I don't think I wanna know what else is in this backpack."

"But our mystery intruder might want it back," Storm said thoughtfully. "What do you say we set a trap for our mystery intruder?"

XXXXX

"Darn it!" the girl grumbled. "That was my only shot!" She sighed, sat down, and leaned against a tree. A black horse came to her and nudged her with it's nose. "Hey, girl." The black horse snorted and nickered. "No, girl," she said as if she could understand the animal. "They'll be expecting me to break in again." The black horse neighed, and it suddenly clicked inside the girl's head. "But they won't be expecting me to break in earlier than midnight. Girl! You're a genius!"

XXXXX

"Remember," Storm was saying to her class . "You have a pop-quiz on Monday. Class, dismiss."

"Crystal," Kitty said. "C'mon."

"Coming," Crystal said, picking up her books. Storm was tempted to stop her, but didn't. She had to go meet Logan. "Oh, Storm," Crystal said, stopping and turning to face her. "Did you find an Oddball? You know, a white puppy with a spotted pink collar from 102 Dalmatians? I thought I heard Logan mention something like that last night."

Storm decided to answer. "Yes. Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Crystal said turning back to her friends. "I was just wondering because I used to have one when I was younger."

"Uh-huh," Storm said, completely unconvinced. Crystal either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Well, see 'ya later."

Storm watched her go. Something about the way she said that made Storm think that she didn't own one; but, she knew the person who did.

XXXXX

Crystal made a stop by her room to drop off her books. The news about the Oddball gave her hope. She tried to contact her sister, for what seemed like the millionth time. Hawk...Hawk! Again, she was disappointed and thought the worse.

"Crystal?" A male voice called through the door. It was the Professor.

"Coming," she said, getting up and opening the door. "Professor, come in." She led him to her bedside where they both sat down, Crystal tucking in her right leg. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"I'm just curious to know who Hawk is."

Crystal froze. "You were reading my thoughts?" she asked icily.

"No, you know I'm psychic and telepathic. Your thoughts reached me."

"She's just... a friend I once knew, that's all."

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. Storm's just concerned about you."

"Look, tell Storm I'm fine and that there's nothing to worry about."

The Professor looked unconvinced, but nodded and left. There was another knock at her door. "What?" she snapped.

"Everything okay, Crystal?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, Kitty," Crystal replied. "Everything's fine."

"Okay, Peter, Rogue, Bobby, me, and Angel are going to play some volleyball, want to come? No powers allowed."

"Sure," Crystal said, her spirits lifting.

XXXXX

The girl was putting down her sleeping bag when Black came over. "Hey, girl," she said. "I need to rest a little." She looked around. "Now, if only I can find my-" she cut herself off when she realized something. "Oh, no. They have my iPod." She slumped back down. "Great, if Crystal sees that, she'll know I'm here."

XXXXX

"Hey," Storm said, catching up with Logan downstairs. He led her into the living area, where lunch was already made. "How did you know what my favorite sandwich was?

Logan pointed to his nose. Storm chuckled. "Right, you can smell the ingredients." She sat down on the couch with Logan and began to eat.

"Do you have any more clues to figurin' out who the intruder was?" Logan asked.

"No," Storm said in between bites, "but, before breakfast, I went through the bag and found a movie."

"And?" Logan asked, eying her curiously. "What's so important about this movie?"

"The movie's called Flicka."

"That 1940's film about a boy gettin' a filly?"

Storm shook her head. "More like girl. Try the most recent version."

"And how would you know?"

"I looked at the year."

"So you cheated?"

"No," Storm said defensively. "I was merely curious about the movie, so I looked at the back to see a description, and incidentally saw the year it was made."

"Yeah, sure," he said, inconspicuously. Storm rolled her eyes.

"I also watched it just before my class, and that filly shares some common characteristics with the intruder. I think we should call her Flicka, just until we find out her real identity."

"Why?"

"Because she's a Flicka. And not just because she wore all black last night."

"Well, while you were watchin' your movie, I also went through the bag and found this." He held up a silver rectangular object with a huge dent near the screen. "I think it's one of those Mp3 things that the kids use to listen to music with."

"An iPod," Storm said, taking it from Logan. "It's an upgrade from the mP3; I also hear it can hold more than an Mp3."

"How do you know that?" Logan asked, surprised that she would know all that.

"The kids think I won't notice them using it, but I do. I confiscate them all the time during tests." She flipped the iPod over. "This is only a two gig; one of the older models. Either her parents punished her for something she did; she likes antiques; or she didn't have alot of money."

"Why do you say that?"

"Logan, this iPod can only hold up to three hundred songs max- depending on what she got of course. I've confiscated eight to hundred-and-two gigabytes. Those can play TV shows, movies, and music videos. Now what kind of kid these days would want a two gig? It doesn't do any of that."

"Well, I don't think any kid would these days, but I can tell you that our intruder is no shape shifter. I took a look at her playlist."

"You can tell all that just by looking at the playlist?" Storm asked skeptically. "How do you know it wasn't a 'he'?"

"You said so yourself that it was a she." Logan pointed out.

"I was assuming by the person we saw last night."

"Well gender was confirmed by her music. Trust me on this; Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood-"

"Hey," Storm said pointing a warning finger at him. "I like Carrie Underwood."

"ABBA, Jump 5, Miley Cyrus," Logan continued. "All of those are girl groups."

"And what about these artists?" Storm asked, scrolling through the artists on the iPod. "Skillet, Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, MxPx, and Jesse McCartney? Aren't these all guy groups?"

"You'd be surprised," someone said behind them. The couple turned to see Crystal behind them. "Sorry, couldn't help but overhear. Believe it or not, alot of guys like Taylor Swift." She came over and sat on the arm by Storm. "And, Skillet is not just a guy group. The wife of the lead singer plays the keyboard and the electric guitar; and the drummer is also a girl."

"And how do you know that?" Logan asked.

"I used to live in Florida, Logan. We had a church retreat called Camp Orlando that my church went to every year. This year was different from the last couple that I went to; we had a Talent show called Orlando's got no Talent on the last day and a friend of mine sang Love Story. Pretty much most- if not all- of the guys in the auditorium went up to the stage and sang along. She was pretty good too. Even her cousin came to her cabin to congratulate her on her singing.

"However, my friend also loved Skillet and a few other Rock Bands."

"So you know who's iPod this is?" Storm asked. Crystal bent over to take a closer look.

"Looks familiar," she said, "but no guarantee. A lot of people could own this." She looked over her shoulder. "I've gotta go. Kitty, Bobby, Rogue, Angel and I are going out to play volleyball." Then she got up and left the room.

"I'm gettin' a little tired of her lies," Logan growled after she was out of sight.

"I know," Storm said. "What's so important to her that she pretends not to know anything? It's like she's covering for someone. But who?"

"And why?"

XXXXX

Flicka slipped into the air vent around 1 a.m.. She'd overslept and was in a rush to get her stuff back. When she reached the air shaft, though, it was filled with lasers. Flicka reached into her bag and took out some magnets that she put on her fingertips and crawled upside down; the lasers didn't even touch her.

Flicka found her drop-off point, and released the grip. However, she landed harder than she thought, and made a loud 'thud'. "Excellent," someone said as she grabbed her backpack and puppy. Flicka turned to see the headmistress in the doorway. "You may have gotten past the security system, but you won't get past me."

Flicka immediately jumped up and crawled back into the air vent. "Testing me are you?" Flicka heard the headmistress ask. The winds started to pick up. However, since the security systems were off, Flicka was able to hold on to the vents edge. The winds died down and Flicka was able to quickly crawl to the next room and drop into it. "Bobby!" she heard her pursuer call. Flickla quickly opened the door and sawan ice wall immediately to her right.

"This should hold her," Bobby said on the other side. "There's no way she can get past this and Storm."

Oh, yeah, She thought. Bring it on. She took out a pocket knife from her bag and held it up into the light; knowing Bobby would send someone to stop her. A girl a little older than her grabbed her wrist. The older girl gasped when Flicka sling-shotted through the ice and phased to the other side. "You were saying?" she taunted before darting off. As she rounded the corner, another girl a little older than her grabbed her wrist. This time though, both girls gasped. Flicka felt dizzy and lightheaded, then she yanked her hand out of the other's grasp. She bolted down the hall until she reached a semi-large office and went inside. She found a small hidden cubicle under the bookcase and slid inside. It was a tight fit, but she managed to get in and close the lid or whatever they called the side door to this thing.

XXXXX

"Storm," someone said into Storm's com-link.

"Go ahead, Iceman," Storm replied.

"We've got a problem; the quarry got past my wall. Colossus just took it down so that you could get through."

"What?" Storm asked. "How did this happen?"

"She used Shadowcat to phase through it. When she saw my wall, she took out a weapon of some sorts. We thought she might use it against you, and since I didn't want to take it down, I sent Shadowcat in to get it. It was a trick. The quarry used Shadowcat to shoot right through the wall and darted off."

"Stay right there," Storm said, impressed and irritated at Flicka. "I'm on my way."

XXXXX

Logan rushed to Rogue, who was slumped on the floor. "Rogue?" Logan said, shaking her gently. "C'mon, kid, wake up." Rogue gasped, looked up to see that it was Logan, then relaxed. "Gees, Rogue," Logan growled. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know," Rogue said, confused. "I just grabbed the quarry's wrist and... I don't know. I must've blacked out."

"Rogue?" a voice asked behind them. They turned to see Storm coming toward them. "Are you okay?"

Rogue nodded and got up. "She bolted down that way," she said pointing down the corridor that led to Storm's office.

"I thought you said you blacked out?" Logan questioned.

"Not before I heard the direction she took off at."

"Angel," Storm said into her com device.

"I copy, Storm," Angel said.

"Do you have sight of our quarry?"

"She went into your office a few minutes ago, but hasn't been out since."

XXXXX

Flicka suddenly realized that there was an open window in the room, and that she could've used it as an escape. Or at least a diversion. Now she wished she'd took advantage of that, but it was too late now.

XXXXX

Wolverine and Storm entered the office cautiously. Flicka was unpredictable, as she has just proven, and they didn't want any surprises. The office wasn't that big, thankfully, but it wasn't all that small either. After a careful search, they found it empty. "Well, she didn't just vanish into thin air," Storm said. A gentle breeze blew into the room, and Storm looked to see an open window. "She must've used this as an escape."

"Or a diversion," Logan put in. "Her scent's scrambled because of the wind. It's all too faint."

"I guess we'll have to check tomorrow then," Storm said looking at her watch. "Come on, it's late."

Logan nodded, sheathed his claws, and followed her out. Unbeknown to them, leaving a sleeping girl behind.





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