Justice had the blue mutant on the table and was
talking quietly to Rayne. He suddenly felt as if he had been rocked violently
and he stumbled back but it it left as soon as quickly as it came.
Beast looked at him for a moment,
"Justice?"
"Alex," Was all Justice could say,
"There's more mutants out there."
Rayne looked at him and was fearful of what
could happen to Alex. Of all the cats Rayne liked her best. The furry elf like
man in the bed next to her shifted and Rayne looked at him. He was curious to
be sure with his piercing yellow eyes, blue fur, pointy ears and a long tail
that ended with a triangular shaped tip. He reminded her of illustrations she
had seen of devils and demons but she got no such impression from him that he
was an evil person. Quite the opposite seemed to Rayne to be the case, as he
seemed to be a very nice person. Rayne was usually pretty good at reading
people. Of course she was enthralled with his thick German accent.
Beast's panic was marked clearly on his
face, "Is Alex all right?"
Justice shook his head non-commitally,
"I guess so." And he turned to walk out. Hank grabbed him before he
could leave.
Beast's eyes flashed a warning,
"Where is she? You are not going out there alone Mr. Adams."
"She is my sister," Justice
said quickly but Storm went to him.
"Justice, we will go to help her as
well," Storm took his hand gently and Beast eased his grip to him.
"Where is she?"
"Pyro and the Witch have her, "
Justice sank into a chair, "Ally might be able to get a location, they
were moving her."
"She's not conscious?" Storm
knew this was upsetting Beast. Justice nodded sadly.
"Let me get Ally and we can go for
her," He sighed.
Storm was upset at being excluded but Hank
was more direct, "When will you Adams ever accept help from us?"
"We are still fighting our father's
ghost, Hank. It's our mess to clean up." Justice stood up defiantly.
"You will not let me fight along side
you, Justice?" Storm met his eye.
Justice was taken back, "Storm,"
He took her hand in hers, "I don't want you to get hurt."
"If we want to go it should be up to
us," Beast growled. He couldn't remember when he had been angrier.
Rayne watched the demeanor of
the usually gently blue man change and knew that he was close to becoming
violent with Justice if he persisted in being stubborn and not accepting
Beast’s help. It was clear that Beast was in love with Alex and would want to go
to her in her time of need, "Ah t'ink it's bes' ta let him go,
homme," Rayne said to Justice, "Seems lik' de greater da help de
better chance yo' have against dose evil people. Better odds an all."
Logan walked in holding Ally,
"Justice won't be goin' alone."
Ally looked as upset as Justice and
she didn't want to disclose everything to them. She knew they would torture
Alex. Logan put her on the bed on the other side of Rayne. Beast made his way
to her quickly looking at her injury.
Rayne looked about the room noticing most
of the people had returned except for her brother. "Where's Remy?"
she asked loudly.
Ally and Justice exchanged an uncomfortable
look, "With Hayley," they both said together.
Rayne swallowed hard worried for her brother but
wanted to comfort the other people, "Remy will bring her back safe."
She only wished she could believe her own words. Rayne’s senses screamed that
he was in danger as well but she fought hard to shove those feelings aside, for
right now she was afraid that if she let those thoughts continue that they
would carry her away like a tree branch being carried downstream by a swollen
river.
Remy was fascinated as he looked around the
Adams house. It wasn't that it was richly decorated or that it was a large
house, but that looking at the interior and especially their bedrooms was a
look into their personalities.
He noticed Alex's room had very little out of place and the
only evidence that it was untidy was the accumulated dust. Justice's room was
also clean and his loafers sat properly on the floor in front of his bed, and
Remy noticed a couple of photographs that he recognized as Jump. The dust was
much heavier in his room for some reason.
Remy saw the next room, which reminded him of Alex's
with the exception of a bassinet and pictures of Logan by the computer.
Remy looked at her, "Can' wait ta see yo'
room."
Hayley laughed, "You don't want to see
it."
Remy knew she was hiding something and since the last
three rooms were back to back he assumed Hayley's must be next. He ran past her
and to the next room.
"Remy," she ran after him but he had thrown
the door open and stepped in.
He found the messiest room of all but not a complete
catastrophe. She had miscellaneous make up strewn across the dresser and her
clothing was over the chair by her computer.
"Dis," Remy's mouth turned up into a grin,
"Yo' didn' wan' me ta see yo' de messiest huh?" He noticed dance
leotards and picked them up and smiled. "Ballet?" He hadn't figured
her as ballerina.
She snatched them from him and scowled at his amused look.
Remy looked around further wondering what other men had been
here before him, and he began to look around the room for evidence of it. To
his dismay he saw a man's shoe in the closet. He kicked it to his hand as if
was a hackie sac and held it to her and cleared his throat, "Chere?"
She looked up from her own study of her room,
"What?" She laughed at the shoe, "It's Logan's."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "Yo' let him sleep
in here wit' yo'?"
Hayley walked over and took the shoe from him with a
giggle, "Not after we broke up." She tried to kiss him but he pulled
away.
He covered his ears, "Don' t'ink ah wan' ta
know." He moved past her and sat on the bed. He could still hear her
laughter in his mind, "Dis not funny chere."
"Remy," She went to him and put her
hand on his shoulder, "Logan didn't have enough room in Ally's closet so
sometimes he kept his stuff in here." He looked at her and chuckled a
little, "That's all, I swear."
"Dat's it, hanh?" He asked, "When
did yo' an' Wolverine stop dating?"
"When we were still living with our
father," She sighed. "Justice has an apartment elsewhere but still
has things here too."
He hugged her, "Sorry," he
sighed.
Hayley pulled away and looked at him
still a little amused, "You really love me that much?"
He tried to play it cool with a
cocky grin, "Gambit loves all the joli femmes, chere," but he didn't
get the chance to finish before Hayley pushed herself against him with a hard
kiss.
He sighed knowing it was getting late and
he was afraid she would 'spook' herself again and run further. "Chere, yo'
ain't ready fo' dis." He smiled but her playful nature had them both
tugging at clothing. He stopped her grabbing her wrist securely.
"Hayley," he took a deep breath meeting her eye, "Yo' sure
now?"
She touched his mind instead of answering, 'Never
wanted anybody like I do you.'
He watched her for sign of doubt but she was
swept away and he responded more to her pressing his mouth to hers with equal
passion. She drew back with a gasp as he placed his hand under her shirt and
touched her breast. He looked at her unsure until he noticed her eyes were
glowing. He held her so she didn't fall but he didn't keep their embrace. He
knew something was wrong.
"Hayley?" He said calmly.
Hayley's eyes stopped glowing and she began to tug at
her clothing getting away from him. "Alex is being attacked."
He got up tucking his shirt in again watching her make
her way to the door and he wasn't just afraid of her trying to leave him behind
but it was a noise he had noticed. "No, chere. Wait!"
His attempt was too late for as she threw the
door open, Sabretooth loomed over her.
Creed growled and slapped her back as he took in
the scene, "Slut!"
Remy pulled her to her feet not sure if she
would be able to fight him. "De window," He suggested.
Hayley looked at the window then back to Remy
who jumped at Sabretooth with agility that quite impressed her.
Gambit planted a kick in Vic's chest but Creed
just smiled, "My turn, runt." Then he kicked Remy back into Hayley as
the Cajun threw his charged card towards Sabretooth.
Hayley sat up with Remy on top of her, "Are
you okay?"
Gambit snorted, "Got him jus' where ah wan'
him, chere."
Hayley stood to protect him as Remy got to his feet
but he didn't notice she was charging for an electric strike.
"We need ta go, Hayley," He gestured to the
window but when he touched her, he was hit with part of her attack. He shook
his head clear as her attack forced Creed back some.
Sabretooth stumbled back slightly then quickly made
his way to the couple, taking advantage of Gambit's shaken state. Hayley threw
her foot along side Victor's face but he just stood there like she had done
nothing to him.
"You’re making this too easy for me," he
said as he grabbed her by the neck barely allowing her breathing room. He felt
her growing hot and laughed, "Makin' yourself hot won't help you."
"We will put a stop to that," Another
voice said from the hall.
Hayley felt something familiar on her head
and panicked kicking Sabretooth hard. She tried to toss lighting at him and she
found she couldn't. Her eyes traveled to Remy who was getting to his feet. She
worried he would come for her, and he did began to move to her. 'Escape,'
she mouthed to him. She knew they would kill him when she recognized the other
voice, 'MAGNETO!'
Remy's vision cleared finally and he
saw Hayley's assault as he stood but his eyes grew wider at the sight of
Magneto who clamped the restraining helmet on Hayley. Then Eric moved towards
Remy.
"You must be the boyfriend,
Gambit," Eric said plainly as if he was asking him for tea. He produced
another helmet and it floated in the air to Remy's head. Gambit grabbed it and
held it in his hand.
"Maybe yo' catch femmes wit' dis but
not Gambit, me." His eyes became as violent as he felt now. He saw Hayley
telling him to leave but he couldn't let her go with them, not after what they
did to her before.
"Remove her," Eric
commanded as he approached Remy.
Remy was then bombarded with every
metallic object in the room before he could attack Magneto. He finally tried a
desperate lung for Magneto but the master of magnetism had shielded himself
against any attack Gambit could dish out.
"Join us," Eric offered
the hot headed young man.
"Never," Remy hissed.
"It could be your one chance to save her and
yourself," he told him earnestly, "Why do you think you must side
with humans? Or protect them against their own ignorance? Join us and she will
stay yours. Or, I am afraid that you will soon be fighting her instead
of fighting for her."
Remy's anger got the better of him and he began his
attacks more fiercely. He charged objects and tried to beat his way through
Magneto's shielding, but that only pushed him back further.
"No?" Eric asked angrily, "Then meet
your doom."
Remy rushed him quickly but Magneto threw him
off balance with a magnetic wave and before Remy could gain his balance another
wave was sent at him and he went flying out the window. Once away from
Magneto's influence Remy grabbed the tree beneath him breaking his fall and he
began to maneuver his way to the ground as gracefully as he could.
Magneto looked out the window impressed with the
man’s agility and threw another pulse that tossed Gambit head over heals as he
himself floated easily from the window. He watched Gambit flounder on the
ground as he fought to regain his bearings.
"All to easy," Eric purred as he found
Hayley and Sabretooth. He found Hayley wasn't conscious and grabbed her by the
chin to inspect her. "What did you do?" he hissed.
"I stopped her from fighting me," was all Creed
would offer.
Eric grunted at him and realized he would need to deal with
Creed soon, but he had to admit this surprise attack had garnered them two
Cats. "There is another mutant to take with us," He ordered quickly,
pointing at Gambit.
Sabretooth growled knowing what he meant and he wasn't
too found of the male that was bedding the woman that was carrying his child,
"Why not kill him?"
Eric laughed, "You are not the one to make
such decisions." Then he set a stern look. "Gather him now and keep
him alive," He handed Creed a helmet to keep Remy contained and Eric
gathered Hayley into his arms.
Eric smiled looking at her face and he touched her
flawless skin appreciatively.
Sabertooth stopped moving and sniffed the air,
"The runt," he hissed and looked for Wolverine.
Eric sighed knowing very well his testosterone would have
Creed at Logan's throat for hours, "We have no time for this."
"There are other's with him," Sabretooth
grunted.
"How many and how far?" Eric didn't wait for
an answer though. He cut his losses and hauled them into the air quickly
leaving Gambit behind, "We will get him another time."
Xavier sat Scott, Jean and Warren in
his room. He sighed still not feeling quite up to this.
"Scott they are not X-men and I have
little control over what consenting adults do outside of my wall." He
rubbed his temple.
"Professor, I have a bad feeling
about this." Scott said softly.
Jean held his hand for support but
she knew they all felt a connection to the family and it hurt when they did
things without allowing help.
"They can deal with Hayley
better than we can at this point in time." He exhaled. "I would also
like to be there for them but pushing at them will only tear them from us. As
Hayley has shown tonight."
"I think she running from
that con, Professor." Warren spoke up.
"I don't think so,"
Xavier said simply, "I think she is upset." He sighed looking at
Warren.
"Jean, you are needed in
sick bay to help attend to and old friend." Xavier said hearing Justice's
telepathic call.
"I heard it too,"
She squeezed Scott's hand and moved out of the way and out the door.
"Scott, give them
room," Xavier said gently, "If we don't they will run and I would
rather have them here."
Scott looked to Warren,
"I am sorry sir I know this is hard not that long after your brother's
death."
"Indeed but they are also
fragile and they only see their siblings right now," Charles moved closer,
"They have forged many ties here but they have seen many ties broken. I
fear they will leave us to spare us any pain." He exhaled. "Eric sees
them as his and will stop at nothing to get them. I would like them here."
Xavier sighed, "I would like to
help them where their father failed." He stopped suddenly. "Justice
informs me Alex has been taken by Pyro and the Scarlet Witch."
"What?" Scott said loudly.
"Was it an ambush? I knew we should have gone."
"Second guessing won't help us
now," Charles said quickly.
Warren lost his patience, "Now,
can we organize with them?"
"They are our friends,
Warren," Xavier sighed. "We ask if they would like out help."
Ally sat in the infirmary kicking
herself for not following Hayley, "I'm going this time."
Logan pointed his finger in her face,
"YOU, are staying her." He motioned to her leg, "You can't
walk."
Justice spoke up, "He's right
besides," Justice pointed at her belly, "He wants you and the
kid."
"I can't just sit here." Ally
said but her protest was interrupted but a telepathic scream and Justice's
glowing eyes matched her own.
Rayne sat forward, "Merde!
Somet‘ins wrong."
Justice and Rayne exchanged horrified
looks. "Hayley and Remy are being attacked," Justice blurted as
his eyes stopped glowing.
"It’s Sabretooth," Ally
whispered not sure how Hayley would handle being captive again.
Beast slammed down the tray he held.
"I am going this time," He said quickly, "You have allowed all
the other significant others to fight on their behalf. Now it‘s my turn!"
"Hank!" Justice yelled,
"Calm down!"
Beast lowered his gaze, "You sir,
have not presented any valid argument as to why I should not go."
"Or me," Ally piped in, "I
can fly still, and I can surely fight!"
"You're a handicap this time,
Al," Logan kissed her head, "You may be able to fly but what if that
is taken away. You wouldn’t be able to fight with that bad leg. And, if we need
a telepath we can take Jean along."
"They’re my sisters Logan. I have to
help them," Ally argued.
"Rayne's brother is out there as
well but she's not going either," Justice looked at her meaningfully.
Rayne hopped up on her bed and glared at
Justice. "Ah’m goin’ ta help Remy," She crossed her arms and kept her
stare on the male Adams.
"No your not!" Justice,
Logan and Hank stated together.
At that, Rayne plopped down on the
bed and wondered if it would be possible to form an alliance with Ally like she
had with Justice. "Ah jus’ wan’ ta help ma brother," Rayne said
sadly.
"We're wasting time people,"
Justice groaned. He jumped up quickly feeling another scream. "They got
Hayley!" He felt helpless and he looked at Ally.
Rayne jumped off the bed and bolted for
the doors but Justice grabbed her, "You are staying here!"
"NO!" Rayne cried and
tried to break free of his grasp, "Ah have ta help Remy!"
"Girl, you sure have a one track
mind," Justice quipped.
Ally was frightened for her sisters and
Gambit, "I saw Remy through Hayley’s mind," Ally pressed her lips
together, "He was giving Magneto one hell of a fight."
Rayne stopped squirming and her
face went pale as she looked at Ally, "What do yo’ mean by, was givin’?
What happened to him?"
"Can you reach Gambit now?"
Justice said, "My link to Hayley and Alex is totally gone."
Ally shook her head, "I will try
again in a second." She sighed with frustration, "Remy's thoughts are
almost impossible to hold onto."
Rayne stood staring at the floor,
"Dis not good. We los’ da fight already."
Justice slammed his fist on the wall,
"I'm going right now to try and recover them." But as he moved from
the room he found Scott standing there.
Logan moved out and lowered his eyebrows,
"You goin’ too junior?"
Scott didn't need to be asked and
followed Justice's brisk pace.
Beast took Jean's hand, "I leave you
in charge here, madam." He motioned to Rayne and Ally, "If they move
a muscle towards the door, sedate them." He winked knowingly to her then
quickly followed the other men.
Jean nodded and regarded her patients who
were looking at her, "Don’t try anything ladies. Remember, I have
telepathy and I am not afraid to use it!"
Rayne looked at Ally whose eyes were
faintly glowing and Jean scowled at them.
Justice ran in first tears threatened as
he thought of their home used for this awful purpose. He stopped short seeing
Remy on the ground and he knelt to his friend.
"Remy?" He said with a small
jostle to his shoulder, but Remy remained unmoving. Logan ran past Justice with
his claws drawn and headed into the house with Scott and Warren in tow.
"Remy! Wake up!" Justice yelled
after finding a strong pulse. He saw Remy's eyes open and he jumped slightly
crying Hayley's name.
"Where is she, Remy?" Justice
asked quickly hoping they had been wrong. Remy looked as if he would answer but
his eyelids slid shut instead.
"Hank, he's not to good,"
Justice called. Justice looked at him up and down for further injury. He found
his pants secure and no blood and then he saw a horrible gash across his chest.
Beast sat next to him. "Head injury,
not sure of the chest wound and possible internal injuries," Justice
mumbled making way for Beast to work.
Logan swaggered up. "They're
gone," He growled, "How's Gumbo?"
Justice grabbed his jacket from his body
and wrapped it around Remy.
"We need to get him back,"
Beast said worriedly.
Scott and Warren took in the similarities
between the décor in the Adams home and the X-mansion as the looked further for
signs of battle or people. They found the room where the broken window was and
Warren produced a battered helmet they both recognized from the recent battles.
"Bring it." Scott said and they
met the others outside.
Beast held the helmet realizing it was
the surpressor, and handed it to Justice, "We will have run tests on this
as soon as possible." Beast gathered Remy to him gently and looked to the
sky wondering if Alex was all right and sighed deeply.
Remy last remembered falling and seeing
scattered images of Rayne, Hayley and the guilds. They were running from the
assassins as he and Hayley tried to hide Rayne so she couldn't be found.
Instead, he found both women held by the assassins and they didn't move for
fear of his getting caught too.
He heard buzzing. Bugs moved around him
quickly and touched him lightly but made no move to harm him, but he tried to
move to chase them away and he couldn’t. He tried to concentrate on them but
his head hurt too much to focus.
Finally the bugs insisted he open his
eyes but he couldn’t obey them. "REMY!" A familiar voice called and
Gambit saw Hayley's eyes.
"Hayley!" He yelled and tried
to go to her but he couldn’t move. He finally focused on Justice staring at him
with eyes like Hayley.
"Where is she Remy?" Justice
asked with Hayley's sad eyes.
Remy couldn’t answer him and felt the
darkness pulling him back as the bugs floated around him. 'Leave me da hell
alone bugs!' Remy screamed at them inwardly.
Deanna watched Pietro waking slowly,
"How do you feel?" She asked him but he looked fine to her.
He looked at her confused by his
surroundings, "How long was I out? What happened?"
"Ally-cat's attack," She
sighed, "I haven't quite figured out what she did but it seems she did no
permanent damage."
He looked at her and suddenly remembered
the fight and grew a little angrier. "That's why they are weak, they value
the opponent's life to highly," He grumbled as he sat up, "Not
willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good."
"So, you think she should have
killed you?" Deanna said curiously.
Pietro began to get to his feet but found
he was completely undressed and kept the sheet close. "Yes, and that is
why Xavier fails," He said as he looked around for clothing.
"They don't kill because they are
good," Deanna said slowly. "Good people or just good at what they
do?"
He said smugly, "Whose side are you
on anyway?"
"Eric's of course, but I think there
is a better way than rape and murder," She uncrossed her arms and handed
him a robe and then turned her back to allow him the privacy to change.
He laughed. "Maybe you are being too
optimistic," He drawled.
"How so?" She said staring at
the door.
"You turned your back on me," He
said quickly causing her to jump, "Not everyone is trust worthy."
Toad opened the door and smiled at Pietro
tormenting Deanna again.
Pietro crossed his arms, "Ever
knock, frog face?"
"Your father has two of the cats and
is on his way back," Toad said watching Deanna's shocked expression.
"He got two?" Quicksilver
smiled, 'Was there nothing my father couldn’t accomplish?'
Toad nodded and pointed at Deanna,
"He wants her to be ready for them."
"Why me?" Deanna looked angry
at the idea of being at their beck and call.
Toad looked bored, "One looks bad so
he wants you to be ready for her."
"Who?" She asked quickly.
"Didn't say," Toad said nonchalantly as he strolled off.
Deanna ran to get things ready and hoped she didn't look as upset as she felt.