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Notes: This is an X-Men/X-Files crossover...so many X's so little time. Anyway, in this story, Mulder is back from God knows where and Scully is six months pregnant...you did know she was pregnant on the show didn't you?
*-means mental communication 10:32 p.m. Amber Waylin hated her car, it was old, unreliable, yellow and probably still belching black smoke from the engine a mile and a half back down the road. Most of all she hated this place; why her parents had to leave New York City for this burg she'll never know. New York had the subway, she won't have needed a car to get home from her part time job, she could jumped a train and been done with it. But alas, she wasn't in New York, she was in Westchester, on a freezing cold Halloween night walking in the dark, surrounded by a thick and rather creepy forest. She really hated her car. ~Slow down silly.~ Amber froze in her tracks, a voice catching her attention. ~Will ya stop runnin' he went back to the house, SLOW DOWN!!! WOLVEEEEEE!!!!~ * Great...* Amber smirked to herself, realizing that the voice probably belonged to one of the bimbos she went to school with. The forest was like a sex motel for her classmates, not like there was anything else to do in this burg but go to the mall and make out. As Amber pushed on, the voice grew more and more distant. She was grateful that they were gone; her classmates loved pulling practical jokes on her, and with it being Halloween she was sure what ever they might have planned would have been nothing short of humiliating. ~GGGRRRRRRRR!~ Amber froze again, sighing, she began to think maybe she hadn't escaped her classmates after all. "Okay you asshole, I ain't in the mood," She yelled in the direction she heard the growl! "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!" The sound was coming closer, accompanied by thunderous gallop, Amber began to walk again...with a little pep in her step. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!" Her swift walk turned into a full on run when she glanced over her shoulder and saw a shadow of what was best described as a big bad thing running behind her. She flung her purse to the ground as it was holding her back and bolted up the street. If she had been thinking clearly she would have remembered her wings, she would have remembered that she could fly. Her fear had her now, thinking went no further than the word run. Upon reaching the intersection she felt it's steamy breath on her neck, at this point her mind began to accept she was not going to make it home. With a neck wrenching jerk, the monster grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground. Her head hit the asphalt with a thud. The world became like a twin as her vision blurred, the last thing Amber Waylin saw was the blood thirsty red eyes of her killer right before his curved claws bared down on her relieving the young woman of her life. 7:01 a.m. "Good Morning Momma Cita," Mulder yelled from behind his deck, before popping a sunflower seed in his mouth! "Morning Mulder, you called, said you needed me in bright and early? What's going on," she asked while ignoring Mulder's latest remark about her being with child? "Well, now that you asked, ever hear of the Westchester Werewolf?" "The what?" "You know, Westchester, New York, a little burg about two hours away from New York City, sleepy town. Werewolf, big man-beast with fangs, howls at the moon." "Mulder, I know where Westchester is and I know what a werewolf is, but what are you talking about?" Mulder jogged from behind his desk with a mischievous smile on his face and offered Scully the comfortable chair he'd positioned right next to his infamous projector. She took the seat knowing that whatever he was about to show her would make her already quizzy stomach turn inside out; Mulder's slide shows tended to be a bit bloody. He flipped through ten or so slides of young women with their chest cracked open and the their organs removed before he began to explain,"All six girls were killed over the last five years, by the infamous Westerchester Werewolf, or at least that's what the locates believe. All were mauled and disemboweled with brutal force, but the bite marks match nothing we have on record." Scully twisted her face into it's usually I-Don't-Believe-You-Called-Me-In-Early-For-This smirk, "Maybe there is something the local authorizes overlooked, an escaped wild animal that someone was keeping as a pet, a bear possibly?" "I thought along those same lines myself, but there is no record of any missing exotic pets and the bite marks and slashes were not made by a bear. Most likely a member of the canine family the first victim had a tooth lodged in her neck. Scully cringed at the thought. With a sigh, her only protest, she looked up at him with her lips in their normal rounded pout and asked, "When do we leave?" Sameday, 4:15 p.m. Scully kicked off her shoes and reclined back on the stiff mattress, allowing herself a slight scream that sounded more like a loud yawn. Smiling, she rubbed her hand in a circle over her rounded belly. She felt the baby move slightly, this was a recent development. She almost ran to get Mulder again, he usually flipped out when the baby moved while he was around, claimed the kid knew he was in good company. She didn't have the heart to tell him the baby moved more when he was not around; then again Mulder would only turn that around on her claiming that the kid missed him. Scully pulled herself up to a sitting position, a task that gets more difficult everyday, and waited. She would give Mulder less than two minutes before he came to get her....KNOCK KNOCK... She got off the bed and pulled open the door to find Mulder chatting with another man in a police uniform. He reminded her of Barney from the Andy Griffith Show, then again most of the Deputies she ran into did. After Mulder introduced him as Deputy David Smothers, they were on their way to the police department, which looked more like a store front. The small building was sandwiched between a bakery and a daycare center. Upon entering, Scully noted a counter with bullet proof glass, beyond it were three desks with the usual set up of computers and other assorted office junk, a fax and copier and an old fashioned iron bar cell with one lone sleeping occupant. *Small towns,* she thought to herself. Deputy Smothers lead them through the mini maze of desks to a door that had a white Plexiglas window with the words, morgue, etched into it. As Smothers opened the door, and the stench of death assaulted Mulder and Scully. "Oh, sorry about that, the freezers are malfunctioning," Smothers explained. Scully walked into the next room and found herself in a relatively modern examining room. She smirked, "Time to get started," she muttered under her breath. Mulder joined her as Smothers recovered the body. The smell worsened, but Scully adjusted quickly and set about the task of completing the procedure. There would be little need for a 'Y' cut, the girl's entire chest cavity had been gutted, in all of Scully years with the FBI she had never seen anything like this. Once Mulder was sure she was going to be okay, excused himself explaining he and Smothers had someplace to go. He waved his cellphone at her which won him a nod and a knowing smile. The drive to The Waylin household was a quiet one, Mulder admired the local scenery, especially the ladies. Upon parking the police cruiser Mulder and Smothers went to the door, which opened before they had time to knock, "Did you find out anythin'," Mrs. Waylin barked on the verge of tears? "No Mrs. Waylin, I am sorry, but I would like to introduce you to Special Agent Fox Mulder, we brought him in on the case." Mrs. Waylin weakly shook Mulder's hand and invited them in. The Waylin home was a prime example of what happens when you watch to much Marth Stewart. Mulder planted himself on the sofa, carefully, women like Mrs. Waylin tended to care alot about the visual beauty of their home, god forbid he get something dirty or flop down on her sofa. "Mrs. Waylin, I'll try not to take up too much time, do you mind if I ask you a few questions," Mulder gently asked in a sympathic voice he'd honed after years of practice with other grief stricken parents. "Well, if you think it'll help, fine," she returned with as much strength as she could. "Why was your daughter out there walking that late at night?" "She called and said she was on her way home from work...at the Gap...her car was acting up again," Mrs.Waylin bit down on her lip, regret filled her already pain twisted face. "Was there anybody that didn't like her at school, maybe a rival?" "No, but then again she wasn't popular either, the kids pulled a lot of jokes on her...actually she had gotten into another school, she was suppose to start next week," Mrs. Waylin got up and went to her perfectly organized desk and returned with a letter on expensive cream colored stationery that read: Dear Miss Amber Waylin, Good day, I am Professor Charles Xavier, Headmaster of the Xavier Institution for the Gifted. We here at the Institute would like to extend an invitation for you to attend our school and complete your education in an environment more suited to your gifts and special needs. Should you decide to join us please contact us immediately at the number on the enclosed business card. I thank you for your time. Sincerely, Mulder looked up at Mrs. Waylin who was now red faced with tears, "She was looking forward to going," Mrs. Waylin took her seat and continued to cry for her beloved daughter. Mulder looked up at the Deputy, who to his surprise, had a disgusted look on his face. Mulder looked again at Mrs. Waylyn, clearly it was time to leave. He had traumatized the woman enough "Hey, Deputy, mind if we go to the school," Mulder asked? "Sure thing," Smothers returned. As they pulled away from the house Mulder turned to Smothers and asked, "According to the leaderhead, Xavier's is a local school. Know anything about it?" "No." The Deputy's rushed and somewhat angry response let Mulder know that the man was lying. Interesting. 6:30 p.m. Mulder found Scully sitting at Smothers's desk furious typing her report and flipping through her notes. "So Scully what did you find," Mulder asked, half sure he knew the answer already? "Well, I found fur and a nail embedded in what was left of her right rib cage, I'm sending the specimen's to New York for further analysis. But I'm not sure this is what you think it is, Mulder," she said while gathering up her notes."Amber Waylin, four feet ten inches, approximately 80 pounds, female. I ruled cause of death as blood loss and trauma, but I have no real way of telling, most of her organs are gone. Most of her back too." "Her back," Mulder asked surprised by the statement? "Yes, two triangle shaped pieces of skin were removed from the area over her shoulder blades." Mulder looked over at Smother who just shrugged. "Did you find out anything helpful?" "Well try this on for size, Amber just accepted into Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, only thing was, according to her teachers, she wasn't any smarter than the next kid. She was a C+/ B- student who scored below average on her SAT's. " Scully looked at him, but more interesting than what Mulder had said was how uncomfortable Smothers became when he said it. The trio made their way to the crime scene at the intersection of Greymalkin and Overly West Lanes. To their shock the police had reopened the section of road where her body had been found. Smothers parked nearby and pointed to the now barely visible chalk outline of where the body had been. From the look of things, that was all that was left of the scene, most of the blood had been carried away like the chalk by passing cars. Sighing, Mulder looked around trying to get a better feel of what Amber might have seen that night. There were no street lights or traffic lights only stop signs. Still, if she meant her end in the intersection, wouldn't she have seen something, maybe she did, maybe she even tried to run. Out of the corner of his eye a flash of hot pink streaked by, he turned in the direction of the fluffy blur. Across the street stood a young Asian girl on rollerblades, dressed like she was in a Janet Jackson video with an attitude plastered across her other wise adorable face. Once she noticed Mulder starring at her, she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her sparkling blue eyes. She was at least sixteen with the body of gymnist starting to blossom into womanhood. Something on her face told Mulder she had more than a passing interest in their being there. Mulder cleared his throat and jogged across the street while Scully looked on, "Excuse me young lady," he called to her. She turned and bolted up the street, no way was he going to catch her on foot. Scully jumped in the car knowing where this was going, but Smothers stood his ground. "No way, she goes to that school, the Institute, no way," Smothers protested. Mulder looked at Scully amazed by the Deputy's lack of courage and out right fear of 'that school'. After returning to the station, Mulder and Scully decided it was time to pay 'that school' a visit. 8:35 p.m. "Good Evening, Xavier's Institute, Scott Summer speaking how may I help you?" "Uh, HI, I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, we would like to ask you a few questions. It's about a young woman named Amber Way..." before Mulder could finish yelling the sentence into the speaker phone, the ornately crafted iron gate began to pull to one side. "Special Agent drive up to the front door and park there, someone will be out to greet you." At that Mulder turned to Scully who simply smiled. He drove up the drive and parked at the front door as instructed; there were four people standing outside. Once the car stopped, a tall handsome man with long auburn hair approached Scully's door and opened it. "Good evening Chere, allow Remy to help, non," the man asked as if he already knew she'd have trouble getting out of the car; he extended a gloved hand and helped her to her feet. Afterwords, he politley kissed the back of her hand and offered his bowed arm for her to take, which she did. Mulder watched with great amuzment as his partner was instantly wooed by the smooth Cajun. As he exited the car, three of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen in his life smiled at him in unison. "Good evening Special Agent Mulder, my name is Jean Grey-Summers, " the gorgeous red head extended a hand in friendship which he accepted. "These are my colleges, Ororo Munroe," the beautiful black woman with platinum hair and blue cat eyes stepped forward and greeted him with a hand shake,"And this is,...Rogue...Marie Rogue." Jean fumbled, she couldn't just tell the man that woman's name was simply Rogue, he probably already had his suspicions about them that would only add curiosity to the mix. The ladies lead him to through the door into what looked like the house from the old eighties' show Dynasty, only nicer. Whoever this Xavier was, the man surely was wealthy beyond imagination, Mulder reasoned. The woman lead him upstairs, he half hoped to a room where he could live out that fantasy he had about...anyway. They stopped at a large wooden door and waited, for what he didn't know, but after a few seconds the redhead named Jean opened the door and lead him in. Scully was already seated in front of a large oak desk in a massive leather winged back chair. The Cajun was no where to be found, but a gentile older bald man sat thoughtfully gazing at Scully as she spoke in a whispered tone to him Before taking his place next to his partner, Mulder whispered in her ear,"Hey, you think we could enroll here, I really do need to brush up on my algebra." That earned him a slight snicker, which was better than normal. The older man's face brightened with a smile as if he'd heard the remark. Mulder could hear the door the close, but the man looked at it for a long second, then nodded as if he was completing a conversation that had never started. "Good evening, I am Dr. Charles Xavier, you have some questions about Amber, I assume this has to do with her murder," the man was nothing if not direct, but Mulder could hear a pang of regret in the aged man's tender voice? "Yes Sir," Scully jumped in not giving Mulder a chance to start this off, "Miss Waylin was accepted into your school, but according to her academic record she had no special needs and her grades were only average at best," Scully's voice was all business. "True, but test scores don't always reveal all of a child's...true potential," the sentence was loaded like a gun. Scully could feel that he was hiding something, but as usual... "Excuse me, Sir do you know anything about the Westchester Werewolf," Mulder asked? Scully sighed and smirked. She knew any hope of getting any real information out of the Professor as now dead. "The Westchester Werewolf, you mean the beast that has been lurking out in the forest for the past five years," Charles' elaborated? Scully's right strawberry eyebrow shot up on her amuzed face. "Yes Sir," Mulder was overjoyed, though he tried to hide it. "We have been keeping track of this 'being' for sometime now, but I doubt that it is a 'real' werewolf, they don't exist you know," Charles' expression softened as he watched her face light up slightly and his darken, it would seem they'd been down this road before. This type of non-verbal communication, between normal humans, only come from years of trusting and knowing someone, this was not lost on Charles' initial impression of them. They were protective of one another, Mulder even more so now that she was pregnant, though Charles was picking up a large amount of confusion about this blessed event from both of them. It wasn't his place to pry, it just struck him as interesting. "True as that maybe...," Mulder started. "Professor, I nee....." the young girl they had seen at the intersection burst into the office with a wilily look of angst on her tender face, shortly there after a tall slim but muscular man with red lensed glasses ran up behind her almost bumping into her. "Jubilation, I have told you before to knock before entering Child," Charles' voice was stern but gentle. Mulder stood to get a better look at her. The girl backpedaled out of the room as soon as she laid eyes on Mulder, like she'd seen a ghost and then she ranaway. "Scott," Charles said. Then there a long was a moment of silence while both men just looked at each other. Finally, Scott nodded and ran after her. Mulder looked over at Scully who's face wore a bewildered expression. After another hour, Mulder and Scully realized that there was nothing else that the Professor would tell them that would help. The gentleman and the three ladies, who had escorted them up to the office, returned like magic at the end of the conversation and lead them to the car. They waved good-bye as the car disappeared through the gate. "Mulder what are you doing," Scully asked as he made a U-turn only a few yards away from the end of the brick gate around the property? "That kid knows something," he blurted out. "So we can't talk to her without her parents per..." To Scully's surprise Mulder backed the car into the woods just out of sight of the mansion, but a perfect location for him to make good use out of the binoculars Byers gave him last Christmas. Scully sat in the car and waited, something had Mulder's head turned around about that kid, nothing she said would change his mind. Almost on que, a slight slender form appeared at the top of the brick wall and jumped over. Landing then rolling, the figure quickly got to her feet and jogged across the street into the woods. Mulder waited a moment then gave chase. Scully got out, but Mulder signaled to her to stay put. A few moments pasted, actually fifteen minutes past Scully, now worried something went wrong, checked for her gun and was about to get out the care when..."Ya kno' Chere, Remy t'ink you stalkin' him. Can't blame ya, I'd stalk me too." Scully looked up and the familiar face of the man that lead her to Xavier's office stared at her through the window, only now his eyes were black and red. She gasped when she noticed this. Remy opened the door, having changed out of his silk shirt and linen pants into all black leather and pink body armor, Scully refused his kind offer to help her out the car this time. "Have you seen the P'tite," he asked while taking a drag from his cigarette? "The girl? She ran in the...the..." Scully's eyes were drawn upward by a flicker of firelight coming closer, and closer. She wanted to duck but the flame died down and the graceful form of Jean Grey-Summers appeared and floated gently to the ground. Jean looked at Scully pensively, "Did you find her Remy," she asked? "Nope, Remy t'ink tis one kno' a lil', non," he turned glowing red eyes back to Scully who was on the verge of passing out? Mulder tailed the kid for five minutes, it was in the course of this run that he realized that he needed spend a little more time working out than pigging out with Scully, though he did do most of the pigging. The girl stopped in a clearing and gathered a few logs, with her back turned to Mulder, who found himself a log to hide behind, she lite a blazing fire and began to rummage through her neon pink backpack. She withdrew a can of beer and a pack of raw steaks. Notably she didn't put the steaks on the fire to cook, only untied the bundle she'd been sitting on, which was a Pokemon sleeping bag and another thicker plaid blanket. Mulder smirked, *Great, I get to see this kid and her 'boyfriend' make googly eyes all night.* Mulder had half a mind to leave. It was then that he heard a low grumbling from behind, his a dog on the verge of barking. Mulder moved his hand towards his gun, then he heard the gallop, like a race horse it was so hard and fast. As he turned all he could see was fangs and hair, lots and lots of hair. It was a cross between a man and a silver-backed gorilla. "NO WOLVIE," Mulder heard the girl's voice form behind, but the 'animal' kept charging! Mulder aimed his weapon and fired, emptying sixteen shots before the thing finally stopped and collapsed to the ground. Mulder could hear charging coming from behind him now, no where near has powerful as before but something was coming, "LEAVE MY WOLVIE ALONE!" Mulder turned in time to see the girl, who was no more than ten feet away, leap headlong towards him with a glowing light in her hand. The light left her fingertips and the last thing Mulder remembered hearing was the Fourth of July, before he was engulfed by a blinding light and a painful hot pressure that knocked him out cold. Part 2 "What in the World," Scully only allowed herself enough time to utter the rhetorical question then bolted off in the direction she heard the gun shots and explosion. A firm but gentle 'force' wrapped around Scully's entire body. Like Superman, she lifted off the surface of the road in. She had wanted to scream out of utter fear, but the possibility that Mulder could be in danger stifled it. Looking around, Scully soon found herself a few feet behind Jean, both of them were floating effortlessly over the treetops. *Agent Scully, I fear your partner may have found what...or actually whom he was looking for.* Jean's soft polished voice invaded Scully's mind like a catburgular invades your home. Powerless, Scully pushed back the urge to extent her arms and accepted that somehow Jean Grey-Summers had the ability to fly and bring others along for the ride. Ahead of them she could see a small clearing illuminated by a campfire. Jean touched down near the sparkling blaze and Scully gracefully hovered a few inches behind her. For a brief moment Dana had tried to escape the invisible hand holding her but found it fruitless. "Jubilation," Jean yelled! "Jubilee, please honey I can feel Mulder nearby where is he?" *She could fell him?* Dana's eyebrow shot up for the second time this evening. In eight years with Mulder and all their crazy adventures never had that happened before. At the edge of the clearing, the young 'runaway' girl emerged pale faced and panting like she'd just completed the New York marathon. It was then, just in the shadows that Scully could make out a lumbering mass moving sluggishly behind her. Jubilee moved closer to the flames, her face twisted with rage, "Can't you people just leave us alone. He didn't do this, why'd ya sent Fed 5-0 after us?" The barked at Jean who held her ground. The redhead simply shock her head and extended her right hand towards the girl. Jubilee floated towards Jean, she battled her raise off the ground as if someone was trying to kill her. A short thick grizzled man, with thick powerful arms and a slouched posture emerged from the forest at lightening speed. Blood spring out of open wounds like water from a fountain. Scully yelped at the sight, her doctoral instincts kicked in, stop the bleeding, clean, bandage the wounds and SEDATE IT...him! He reached upwards, capturing the squirming girl's arm and one of the most incredible tug of wars Scully had ever seen began. Jean lost, by choice, if she'd continued Jubilee's arm could have been ripped off. "Logan, let Jubilee go. I know both of you are upset, even scared but hiding out here like this only makes things worse." Jean's words fell on deaf ears, the manbeast roared angrily at Jean and tried to take off, but she grabbed him the same way she'd grabbed the girl. "*sigh* Sleep," was Jean's only comment as she waved her hand in the air. Both the girl and the beast immediately slipped into a peaceful coma. No more than a half a second later Mulder stumbled out of the woods. Almost tripping over the pair resting only a few inches off the ground in the thick grass of the clearing Mulder literally jumped out of his suit and wing tips when he saw both his attackers. He went for his empty gun, but halted the action when he saw that they were no longer a threat. Glancing towards the fire and saw Jean standing like a ruby statue with his goddess like partner hovering (hovering)? behind her. This time Mulder did recover his gun, he'd play the bluff, Scully was in danger. "I don't care how, put her down NOW!!" Mulder aimed the gun at Jean, who telekinetically snatched it from his hands and moved it across the clearing to her. "Agent Mulder," she said recovering the gun from the air, "you should never point an empty gun at a loaded one." Jean checked the clip, which was empty, but she already knew that from the yelling inside his dazed and confused mind that demanded he play a bluff in order to 'save' his partner. "Besides, I would never hurt her, that's not what we do." Scully gracefully landed on her feet. She cautiously moved past Jean and walked over to Mulder. The giant gash on his forehead and reddening on his face concerned her. "Wha' happen Gambit miss all de fun again, dang," The tall wiry Cajun emerged out of the woods a few seconds later with staff at the ready, his dark pink body arm sparkled in the dim light cast off by the dying camp fire. 11:15 PM Officer Smothers had long since given up on the Agents returning before his shift ended. He entered the hall like he did every night around this time. Walking passed the sewing classes and driver's education seminars he turned the corner and entered the smallest of all the meeting rooms, #15. "Good evening Officer Smothers, did you bring a friend with you this time," Carmilla Carmichael asked, batting her long blonde eyelashes. "Naw, just me Hon." He said while signing the ledger. "I think you'll like our speaker, Greydon Creed, from the Washington, DC office." Her face lite up at the mention of his name. "Really, so what does The Westchester Friends of Humanity owe that honor?" "Claims we got a problem, says he's gonna fix it. Like he did in DC with that gene trash the government hired." "Good." He winked at Carmilla and entered the hall for this evenings meeting. 11:45 "Well Special Agent Mulder you are a very fortunate man, Ms. Lee's temper was red hot but for some reason she spared you the full fury of her rage over your assualt of her best friend. Actually I would call that a blessing." Mulder could hardly make out anything Dr. Hank McCoy was saying to him, the man was too intranced by all the blue fur. "He's the Westchester Werewolf?" Mulder's slightly childish tone, curtesy of a mild painkiller, made the qustion sound even more ridiculous. "There is no such thing my Good Agent," Hank explained while cleaning the cut over Fox's right eye, "You just had a run in with Logan. He may be a party animal but he's no 'werewolf' I promise you." Mulder looked across the room at the still sleeping manbeast that was being heavily restrained by metal bars. The young woman named Jubilee was fretting over him, muttering under her breath about the metal being too cold for him and that this was not needed. "The what is he," Mulder asked trying to sound as professional as possible? "Like myself, Logan is Homo Sapiens Superior or a mutant if you like. We are HUMAN beings with a X-factor gene that has activated normally dormant genes giving us special abilities that most humans do not have." Hank looked Mulder in the eye, there wasn't a hint of shock in them, clearly the man was either completely aware of them or about to passout. "You mean you think you are the next step in human evolution," Scully asked from the other side of the bed? Mulder turned his head to face her, having not realized that she'd been there supervising Dr. Mc Coy's examination of him. "I don't think so Agent Scully, I know so. All of us here at this Institution and our sister school in Massachusetts are 'mutants'." "If this is true, why haven't there been any journals published on this or..." "There have been text about the subject, I and Professor Xavier arthored most of them, but no respectable school of biology or medical science will dare put the work on their shelves. Our numbers are small, for now, so we are mostly ignored or thought of as freaks. Many of us, who can 'pass', try to live out normal lives and rarely tll anyone about our gifts. Others, like myself, stick out. Humanity deals with us in their own special way." The last sentence was delievered mournfully. Scully could only imagine all that the gentleman doctor had been through in his life. "Agent Scully we are sorry for all the games we have played but you have to understand, if our location and work were discovered there are many, in the government and in the private sector that would have our heads on poles," Dr. Mc Coy stopped speaking, held his expression in neutral and appeared to be listening to someone Scully could not see. Then he turned to both her and her dazed partner, "The Professor would like to talk to you later, but you both should get some sleep." Hank helped Mulder into a wheel chair, not trusting the medicated agent to walk, and wheeled him to a small bedroom. With the help of the Cajun they placed him in the bed, Scully watched, helpless to do anything. The memory of what happened in the woods still fresh in her mind. Hank pointed to the other bed in the room and invited her to take a nap. After several hours of pacing and feeling like a Princess in a tower, Mulder awake from his drug induced coma. His skin had started to flake like it would after a bad sunburn and his eyes reflected the painful headache he was now suffering. "Get the plates on that Mack truck for me Scully?" He slowly got himself up into a seated position and looked at her playfully. But his attempt at levity was lost on her, she continued to pace trying to digest all she'd heard. "Their mutants Scully, dang, here I was hoping for a Werewolf." Again his comment fell on deaf ears. "He could have been the killer, large, powerful enough to do the damage to the girls. Even has fangs. With his mutation he could possibly be able to regrow a lost tooth or claw with in days of losing it like other animals..." The door sung open halting Scully's verbalization of her thoughts. Jean and Jubilee appeared. Despite himself, Mulder cringed upon recognizing the girl. Dressed in a baggy plaid shirt and jeans, the girl stepped forward, "I am sorry for paffing you in the woods," she uttered under her breath. "Paffing?" Mulder questioned. The girl smirked and exhaled exhibiting the same attitude he'd seen when she rollerbladed by the crime scene. Raising her hands, small sparks began to appear accompanied by the sound of fireworks. "Paff." She whispered. Mulder replied a silent 'oh', and nodded his head. Wringing the back of his pained neck he got to his feet and accepted her apology with a hand shake. Scully and Mulder followed them back to Charles Xavier's office. Where they found everyone, except Logan and McCoy, sitting on the sofas. "I apologizes agents but we have come to a decision to help you by telling you everything we know." Both Mulder and Scully looked at each other wide eyed like Santa Clause had just told them that he was taking them to the North Pole to learn all his secrets. Taking their seats, the agents listen to Xavier's tale. About their mission to protect a world that fears and hates them, about the mad man leader of the small island nation of Genosha and his never-ending plotting to take over the world, and more importantly about this so-called werewolf. "At first we believed the crimes were unrelated, the first two girls were merely candidates, we had not approached them yet, but when the third girl died we became suspicious. All the young women murdered were going to enroll here, or were about to be approached and asked to..." "Here we go again...blame it all on him why don't you," Jubilee cut in,"He didn't do it I was with him that night, I tell ya he didn't do it!!" She was on the verge of tears, but her stubborn streak and tough as nails attitude kept her from crying. "Jubilation that is enough," Charles had lost his patience. "Young lady if you cannot control yourself I would kindly ask you to leave this meeting." "You say you were with him, then who was in your room, I checked on you myself," Scott's smug matter-of-fact tone was driving Jubilee to the boiling point, luckily she had a rebuttal for him. "You checked on a pillow and a wig One Eye, I hit the bricks the second you losers weren't looking. We saw da girl but I steered Wolvie clear of her." The entire room turned and faced Jubilee, shock clearly on their faces. She backed up trying to get to the door, she'd said too much, time to leave. Part 3 Jean reached out to Jubilee with her mind, knowing it was impossible to break down her mental defenses, the flaming red headed beauty settled for halting her escape with a powerful telekinetic hold. But Jubilee was not Scully or even Logan. Twisting around in midair the young woman managed a sneak attack of brightly colored paffs. Her intention was not to hurt them only to fry their retinas, and fry she did. The sudden flash disoriented Jean so much that she lost her concentration and dropped her prisoner to the floor. With the swiftness of a hawk, Jubilee got to her feet and flung open the door. 3:15 AM "And in closing my brothers and sisters, it is time we started to pressure OUR elected officials to handle this growing crisis before it becomes an epidemic. Imagine how many lives could have been saved if our lazy congressmen had taking action sooner on the AIDS virus or how many lives could have been saved if they had moved into Yugoslavia earlier. Now we must remember the past mistakes we have made with our conservative rise to arms and take quick action against our poor mutated countrymen before they, in their twisted way, cost us not only our jobs or our way of life, but our very lives indeed." With the power and passion of Baptist Minister Greydon Creed had captured the small crowd's attention for well over six hours. An incredible roar of cheers and thunderous applauds erupted from the fifty or so gathered to see their national leader speak. He scanned the crowd, finding a stoic Smothers standing in the corner, he beckoned him to the back room just off the stage with a haunting glance. Creed, with the flamboyancy of a presidential candidate, waved to his adoring public and left the stage flanked by two armed men. "You wanted to talk to me Sir?" Smothers' tone was respectable and awestruck as he spoke to Creed. "Yes, Officer Smothers or is it Deputy Smothers now?" Creed smiled knowingly, he was behind Smothers new rank. Call it partial payment for years of good work. "Yes Sir and I thank you for your kind words in the letter to the Mayor." "Well, son we Friends must truly stick together. As I am sure you understand." Creed looked at his guards. A single glance sent them from the room. "Sir, I 'handled' their latest recruit." A devilish smile crossed his thin lips. "So I read," Creed went into his pocket. "But we have a new target. One of the children already there." He withdrew a photo from his pocket and tossed it across the table. Recovering it Smothers was shocked to recognize the new target as the girl who rollerbladed into the intersection when he and the FBI were there earlier. 4:30 AM Jubilation Lee was no fool. She knew she had to go back there at some point. But why? For him? He wasn't anything but trouble, granted she loved him to no end, but did he feel the same. Of course not, no self respecting adult would feel that way about a child. But she was sure that he did care for her. Maybe? He'd dragged her all across Asia, they were partners, best friends, soulmates...that is until they arrived here. *Learn to use your powers?* she said to herself in her best attempt at his voice. *I will protect you, we are a family.* "Sheessssh, right I protect your fuzzy butt more than you do mine now Pal. The second we get here you ship me off to the other school so that I have to deal with Emma and Monet. Why, what did I do? Wasn't I good enough to be with you?" Having said the words, she slumped down on a fallen tree and fought tears. She had nothing or no one. Parents, dead. Her best friend Ev, dead. Now if Summers had his way Logan would be carted off to the big house. *They think you killed those girls because you go nutso, you had access to the files, made them targets and just killed them. No way you don't work that way. You've only killed because you have to. And never like that, never that brutal, never so...." "GRRRRRRRRRR..." "Jigga?" She grunted. A slang word for what was that she learned from Ev. She looked around, already aware that the growl was not Logan's, she knew his in her sleep. It wasn't a fake one, it was too deep for that. She was in danger. Nuff said. Like a shot she leapt from the log and began running back to the mansion. In the weeks since Charles had summoned her to help handle Logan, she'd learned these woods like the back of her hand. She easily maneuvered around the trees, jumping ditches others would have missed. like she hopped her attacker would. So when she came around the largest oak in the forest, she was quit surprised to see the lumbering shadow of a brute with long powerful arms and fangs dripping with spit. She back stepped twice, raising her arms to firing position the whole time. She yelled a battle cry and launched a battery of high powered paffs, which the beast shrugged off as if she was throwing paper balls at him. *WOLVIE!!!!!!!!!* Charles and Jean almost passed out as her blood curdling psychic scream tore apart their minds. "Jean?!" Scott caught his falling wife just in time. Both Mulder and Scully stood to examine the victims of this strange 'bullet'. Jean looked at Scott and the others, "Jubilee is being attacked in the forest." No more needed to be said, Ororo opened the window behind the Professor's desk and gracefully sailed out. Mulder watched the beauty in awe as steamy white clouds seemed to form all around her. "C'mon, Agent, we got a P'tit, middle nam' Trouble, to save." Gambit tagged Mulder with the back of his hand. Following Gambit, Mulder and Scott raced out of the office leaving Scully to care for Jean and Charles. "Things like this happen all the time?" Scully asked Jean as she helped her to the sofa. Jean only nodded a painful yes.
Jubilee was in the fight of her life. She'd never seen something that big move so fast. She raced around in between the trees firing paff after paff, rendering thick ancient trees to little more than toothpicks. This thing had picked the wrong night to mess with the wrong girl. She had just cleared a low branch when she lost track of it, Murphy's Law came into play in her mind, she spun around expecting it to be behind her but it was gone. *I scare it off?* She pondered. *Naw, it wasn't really hurt by the crap I was tossing, so where are ya?* The question came from above. The creature dropped down from the heavens, actually a thick branch directly above her. Her scream echoed through out the valley, as it punched her in the ribs, breaking two of them. She had wits enough to flash him with a blinding light. Something she hadn't tried earlier, she'd reminder herself to have Scott kick her in the butt about that later, if she survived this that is. She could literally feel the bones cutting into her right lungs, but pain could wait. A rush of lifesaving adrenaline was coursing through her now. With the creature blinded and rolling about, she managed to get to her feet. She began a clumsy stagger towards the road only a few feet away. The Mansion was just beyond. Then she heard it, the rumbling gallop of the beast coming up from behind her. She whispered a final prayer, she preyed that God keep and hold Logan's hand always since she wouldn't be there to do it. Bravely, she turned to face her killer. It was only a mere few feet away from her, drooling and snarling like a hellhound, when a thick small shadow crossed her line of vision just to her left. It impacted with the beast taking it down into a tight roll and away from her. The force of the impact gusted a wind strong enough to knock her weak frame off balance. "Oh My God," she muttered holding her ribs. A soft smile crossed her lips as she caught a glimpse two sets of three long adamantium claws emerge at lightspeed from between his knuckles as he got up off the creature and to his feet. He was standing upright like a man and his frame looked somewhat normal, normal for him that is. He lunged forward taking a sweep at the creature, it danced out of the way. Grunting and growling with feral rage, Logan rolled across the forest transversing the distance between him and it faster than running would have and stood toe to toe with it. The bearish type beast, slammed on claw across his face sending Logan spinning through the air. He landed on against a tree. From behind, he could hear the sound of electricity whizz by him. Two thin purple tinted playing cards hummed through the air. When they contacted the beast it was lifted off the ground four feet and sailed into the darkness of the forest. But quickly it got to it's feet. Returning to it's low gallop it charged towards the man responsible for the hand dealt it, Remy LeBeau. Said Cajun Card Shark was standing defiantly next to Storm who was cradling Jubilee's small frame in her arms. From over Remy's right should a wide red beam appeared and shot the beast. Again it was lifted up and away from it's prey, but this time it retreated. Logan, shaking off the mild headache he got from being slammed into the tree. Just as he began to chase the creature he heard Jubilee's weak voice calling his name. He looked in the direction 'it' ran than at his Darling Jubilee, she needed him here, he'd dance with the thing later. Mulder entered the woods, gun drawn ready for the action he missed. "Is she okay?" He questioned as he approached the others. "Her ribs maybe broken and there are other wounds. I will take her to Hank immediately." Ororo's lifted off the ground as gingerly as she could with her young friend in tow. Logan emerged from the woods in a deadly serious stride. He looked up at Storm and Jubilee, their eyes connected for an instant. The corners of her ruby lips turned up into a slight smile. He was back, almost. They held their stare until Storm turned and flew back to the house. Logan sneered, turning he faced Remy, Scott, and a befuddled Mulder who barely recognized the Logan as the man-beast that had almost mauled him in the woods earlier. "Welcome back Mon Ami, but how is it that you recover so quickly this time?" Gambit greeted with a slight bow. "Thank duh kid, if ya had someone screamin' at ya from de astral plane at four in duh mornin', see if ya don't c'mon back duh yerself." Logan's words were barely understandable but they all felt the passion in his voice. A loved one was in trouble, hell or high water wasn't going to stop him from saving his friend. "Now what Ol' Fearless?" Gambit turned to Scott. If not for his natural smugness and years of practice at hiding his emotions in battle, Scott Summers' face would have been beet red from shame and guilt at pointing such a strong finger at Logan. But only stern resolve lived on his partially covered face.
"I tell ya what next Gumbo," Logan started,"
We bust a few heads, namely Smothers...dip shit Deputy." With that Logan
stormed off towards the house, leaving the three men to ponder what in
the world Deputy Smothers had to do with this.
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