To Me, My X-Men!

[Karenza]

Kari stood in the doorway of the jet and gritted her teeth as she heard a soft growl from Hank. As gentle as Beast could be, there were times both he and Logan had come to Kari's defense, especially after Jean's untimely death. Kari knew that, under the circumstances, now was not the time to read Emma or anyone else the riot act in her name. Finding the baby and Cable were the only things that mattered.

As she gripped the door frame for a moment, Kari started to spool backward to the time before she had her memories back. To the time when she thought she was the most inept klutz this side of heaven.

Back then Hank and Logan had good cop/bad copped her into trying to break free and be herself. She resisted like hell because, at that point, she thought she was who she was, klutzy missteps and all. They had no idea what their teamwork--whether they saw it as Starsky and Hutch, Crockett and Tubbs or Bayliss and Pembleton--was actually kicking into motion.

The fruits of their labor had first popped up after Kari had finally gotten her memories back and after Jean died. No one was ready for the anger Kari poured into herself to get the battle angel out. Anger at the attack the team faced yet again. Anger at Scott for nearly cutting the skin off Logan when they tussled over Jean's memory. And yes, anger at the fact she was still being the patient soul and not speaking up to anyone about anything. All the pain had to go somewhere, and when it did, it scared Emma half to death. She did not see Kari being free and using her powers to help. She likely saw Jean Redux. A Dark Phoenix of another place and time that Emma could not just shoo away.

By the look on Hank's face now, Kari knew he was sensing in Emma the same fears again. Kari already knew Logan was beyond pissed, and she did not need him taking the princess and getting in her face now. Later everyone could have a nice chat over this in the Danger Room. Right now they had to find Cable.

Kari saw Guardian out there and realized the Canadian military would be their wingmen until they hit U.S. airspace. "Gotta love you Canadians," she said as she walked back toward Logan and then over behind Scott and Emma. "Just be quiet, Emma, and let me think."

"What in the name of..." Emma started to say as a casting staff with a huge glowing orb appeared at her her side. "What now?"

"You do the telepathy, and I'll do the energy readings," Kari growled as the armor vanished. Her hair was red again, but now much of it was in a long whipping braid spilling out from under a blue hooded robe. Her arms were bare and covered with glowing runes, and in the center of her forehead was the mark of the Goddess of Avalon. She felt the sting and tears came to her eyes. She turned for a moment to Logan and smiled. {{Finally}} she whispered in his mind. {{I'll explain once I nail this down, unless you got the heads up already}}



As she took a deep breath, Kari tried to find the best way to explain what she was about to do. "All beings have energy. Auras can be tracked, and if you have family members present of the one you are tracking, then it gets easier. Nathan left an aura pattern on the ammo. With Scott here..." she said as she placed her hand on Scott's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Emma yelped as Kari looked at her with eyes that now flashed golden light. "Get out of his mind!"

"I am not doing a telepathic scan. I wish you would listen for once. I needed temporary contact with Scott's aura. Now if you will let me do this, we can get the plane in the air and get that baby before she goes to college."

A small globe of energy danced in Kari's right hand as she moved the bullet from left hand to right. The auras danced and then seemed to shoot forward out the window of the Blackbird.

"I can't get more exact than this yet, but head south once we leave Canadian airspace," Kari said as she went and sat back next to Logan. "Yes? What were you expecting? Anything less under these circumstances? I will not have my loyalty to this team questioned. I just will not."

Kari touched the mark on her forehead and sighed. "OK, Date 2. I pick the place, and I know just where to go. But work first. Always the way of the soldier."

TBC

[Cyclops]

{{We can worry about that later, Emma,}} Scott said calmly as he prepped the jet for takeoff. He didn't want to bother to think about the secrets that were being kept at the moment, especially in regards to Karenza. It was no secret that she and Emma didn't alone; then again, Emma didn't seem to get along with most people.

Either way, things wouldn't be getting better in this climate. Everyone was still very emotional, and Cyclops hoped that once they were airborne again and had actual time to calm down, things would flow nicely. If people wanted to talk, they'd talk. As long as they found Cable and the baby, that's what really mattered. Anything else was a distraction. {{Times have changed. We can't abide by the same kinds of rules anymore.}}

Cyclops had already demonstrated that by commissioning Wolverine to set up an assassination squad. Things were getting desperate for mutants, and if they were to survive, they would have to change the game in their favor or they would be going extinct quickly. Mind wipes would be used if he had to use them. But like Wolverine's team, he hoped that things never came to that point.

He didn't respond to Emma's comments about Jean, nor did he immediately jump in when Emma and Kari where having a telepathic back and forth through their link. And just when their arguing was getting to the point where it was becoming distracting, Kari used him as a mystical conduit in order to track Cable. Cyclops couldn't say he really enjoyed the sensation, but if it helped them get to Nathan and the baby, then it would ultimately be worth it. "South, got it." Hopefully, SHIELD had better things to do than to attempt to follow them once they left.

{{And both of you, cool it.}} Cyclops said, piggybacking off the residual of their link to get his message across, {{Now is not the time for us to be bickering with each other.}}

[Stalik]

Stalik had walked to the back of the blackbird to get away from the drama for the moment as he patched through to Xavier to see the status of things there. He then walked back to the cockpit area.

" Xavier and Prodigy almost have Cerebra fixed, until then, Princess, how about you make yourself useful and see if the Cuckoo's can atleast pick up a faint vapor trail of Cable." He said towards Emma, caring less about her stuck up,pretentious attitude. Lockheed that was perched on Stalik's shoulder, added insult to injury by sticking his tongue out.

Stalik walked back over to where Kitty was and sat down. " I swear, if there is ever a time that Emma takes over leading the X-Men, i'm out of here." He half joked as Scott got the blackbird up in the air, heading south for the time being.

" Thank you for what you said back there, I know this has been tough, not much time to ourselves, our romantic nights out are fighting demons or running from sentinels." That was pretty much how it seemed to be, being a member of the X-Men, it wasn't far from the truth at all.

Stalik took Kitty's hand. " I also never thanked you enough for things way back then, my first encounter with the X-Men during Black Sun, Belasco had used me as a conductor to bring about the demon siege on earth, knowing I was the son of Apocalypse, alot of the X-men didn't think twice to destroy me as I was a being of pure evil." Stalik stopped for a second, then continued. " But not you, Logan and you and Kurt, even Piotyr and Yana all pulled together to rescue me, give me a chance, to see the heart within the darkness."

Stalik brushed Kitty's cheek. " It is also our strange connection, one still shrouded in mystery, but we are both connected to the Neo, not sure how, but it is something that binds our souls together."

[Shadowcat]

"Hey, I think all of us need to stick together right now," Kitty said as she leaned closer to Stalik. "You, me, that whole little universe that collects around Logan. Things are going screwy, and it is not because of the mystics at the school. If anybody knows that, I do."

Kitty smiled as she looked up to see Lockheed still on Stalik's shoulder. She thought about Abbey back home and wished they could be there with her right now. "You are right about the fighting for our lives aspect of all of this. Doesn't even leave us a night for a pizza and a bad movie on TV. Then again, right now there are no TVs back home in working condition anyway. And the pizza guy might get scared off by the downed Sentinels all over the yard."

As she closed her eyes for a minute, Kitty thought back to Black Sun and all the Neo nonsense of the past. "I'd hate to think of how things would have turned out if cooler heads had not prevailed. If the leadership of the team had been different back then. You are an amazing man, and I am lucky to have you as my husband. This team would be poorer if you had not joined it. And anyone who says differently can shove it."

Kitty opened one eye to look up and see Lockheed snickering. Emma was shaking her head, and Kitty could only imagine what the fuss was about this time. "Maybe someone didn't get to keep an appointment with her stylist today? I am not going to go any further than that. I just hope the Cuckoos can figure out where Cable went with the baby. Think your little buddies would be of any help?"

TBC

[Emma Frost]

{{She is a powder keg waiting for the match to set her off, Scott, and we both know that}} Emma said telepathically to her love as he guided the jet into the skies and then southward. {{I am not going to pick a fight with her, but when she is looking like some runaway from that Percy Jackson movie, I have a right to be concerned}}

Emma looked back briefly when Stalik mentioned the mansion and her girls. {{If one more person calls me princess, I think this steering column will become a hat for the person uttering the phrase}} she said to Scott as she then focused on the Cuckoos. {{Girls, can you hear me? We need you to use Cerebra to try and locate Cable. Karenza is trying to use one of her Las Vegas-style power stunts, but I am not betting it will work}}

"I am talking to the girls right now, and as soon as I have an answer, you'll all know."

TBC

[Dragonfly]

Conor reclined a bit in his seat next to Domino. "It's good to see all the old faces again." He said to Dom. As he looked towards the cockpit, "I had heard about Scott and Emma, but seeing is believing. Maybe she'll do him some good." Conor chuckled a bit.
"The last time I saw the White Queen we were both tryin to ..... never-mind.

Ah the good old days. When you could tell the bad guys from the good guys."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Domino said back.

"This whole thing stinks to high heaven. I've been listening. I've heard the comments. The first mutant born since day zero. Some sort of mutant messiah. It's got everybody worked up. Everybody wants that kid.
Nate, feels strongly enough that he snatches the kid. It's got me thinkin, Nate is from the future, maybe he knows the real deal with this kid. So he steps in. And the whole thing has got him scared enough to put a bullet in my noggin. Which tells me that he knows not everybody is who they say they are. If Nate is desperate enough to play keep away from us, then I can only assume,,,,, one of these things, is not like the other." Conor hummed that old Sesame Street song.

"I think we're in for one hell of a ride. Cuz things are only gonna get worse from here on out."

tbc

[Logan Wolverine]

Logan nodded to Kari. " Ya got it Red, and yah, always tha soldier, seems ta be our calling card." Logan then got up and made his way back to where Conor and Dom were.

" Glad to have you two aboard, and yer right, we've only scratched tha surface ta hell, let's just hope Nathan ain't playin tha devil." Logan may of been doing what Scott wanted, but it didn't mean he was going to follow like a mindless soldier and off Nathan without question. Nathan was protecting the child, if he wanted it dead, it would of been.

Logan leaned down to Dom and Conor, as if he didn't want everyone on the bird hearing. " I think yer on ta somethin, theres a reason Nathan aint comin ta us with open arms, gotta mean somethin, er someone aint right." There was a big piece to the puzzle missing, was willign to bet part of it may be sitting in wherever they were going.

[Karenza]

Kari stayed in her seat near Thom but gave a mental tap to Logan, Conor and Domino. {{Sorry for the interruption, but I need to stay close to Scott to keep this connection going. I'm getting a lot of interference. Nathan might indeed have a mystic blocker on him. And I think I have a theory on why he might be staying away. At least one that makes sense once he saw me}}

"Scott, more southwest now," Kari said as she kept her eyes closed and looked more like she was watching the inside or her eyelids than keeping track of a small globe of energy outside the jet.

"Well, your parlor trick actually worked," Emma said as Kari's eyes snapped opened. "The girls think he may have gone to see Forge. They are picking him up in the Dallas area."

{{And that confirms what I was thinking. Nathan wanted to get that baby far away from us because my family attracts Sinister and crazed winged assassins like most people do ants to a picnic. Conor, the shot to your face was likely to throw us all off. He seems to be very good at pushing the envelope. At least we have a viable destination}}

"Not a parlor trick, Emma. Not at all," Kari said with a sigh. "I knew it would work. I used it long ago."

{{And she does not bloody well need to know why right now}} Kari said to the trio linked to her telepathically. Her hand was white-knuckled around the casting staff, and the orb at the top glowed a brilliant green and then blood red as Kari's mood shifted. {{I used it once to get Thom back from Sinister}}

TBC

[Rahne Sinclair]

Rahne had remained quiet for most of this whole mission. Seeing Caliban die reminded her in all too vivid detail why she was even there. This baby meant the world to the mutant race, and she could not let some lunatics in robes do in the wee one. "Nice to have you fellas along on this," she said to Anole and Rockslide as she clutched onto a set of rosary beads. She wasn't exactly praying at the moment, but she was using them to center herself for whatever was coming at them next. "I have a funny feeling this is all going to go a bit more off the path once we get to Dallas. We'll need all the hands we can get."

The idea that Cable had spirited the Blackbird to Dallas was actually a fairly clever move in Rahne's opinion. Took guts to do something like that with the manpower they had on that mission before the rescue team arrived. Then again, Cable knew them all well enough to take them out of the equation to achieve his mission.

As she turned to see Logan speaking with Domino and Conor, Rahne got a twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach. This little covert mission could get blown sky high at any moment.

TBC

[Cyclops]

"Forge? Why would he go to Forge?"

"Because of Forge's powers," Scott said in reply to Ray as he redirected the Blackbird in a more precise location. As frustrating as it was, Cyclops had to admit that running off to see Forge was one of the better things he could've pulled. He wasn't surprised that Ray didn't know about him, either, despite being one of the more veteran members of the younger generation.

Ray never spent much time doing training runs with the younger students, and with his age, he never spent much time with the senior member, so while he did know Forge, he didn't know of his powers. "Forge is a genius, as you know. But his mutant powers allow him to invent pretty much anything he could imagine. Cable could use Forge's tech for all manner of things, up to and including traveling through time if he came to it."

Fortunately for them, Cable didn't seem to have any time traveling tech on hand, otherwise he wouldn't have went to Forge and would've been long gone by now. Nathan may have had a head start, but hopefully they'd catch up. "See if we can get Forge on the line. Hopefully he can stall Cable long enough for us to reach them."

[Shadowcat]

"I've got this, Scott," Kitty said as she moved to one of the communication consoles in the jet. "I hope we get him on the line fast," she said as she started to open the line to the Aerie in Dallas. "Forge. Come in. It's Shadowcat."

Kitty sat and made a face as the line came up fuzzy with static. "Oh, joy," she muttered as she started to flip switches and turn knobs on the console. She looked back at Stalik and Lockheed and shook her head. "Come on, work you!" she said as she kept playing with the console. "Forge! Quit fooling around! Pick up the line!"

"I'm still looped to the girls," Emma said as she grunted a bit and rubbed her temples. "Telepathy is not reaching him, so something may have happened. If we push to hard and tap Nathan, he might bolt."

"I can try to push the mystic scan," Kari said as she continued to sit with one hand in a death grip around her casting staff. The gem at the top was now blue again. "I can help, Mum," Thom replied as he moved to the seat next to his mother.

"Scott, I am getting only static," Kitty added as she kept working the console. "I'll keep trying."

TBC

[Emma Frost]

"Scott, we're approaching Witchita, Kansas," Emma said as she kept looped into the feed with the Cuckoos back home. "If we can't get Forge on the line or telepathically, I can only assume things went south and we need to be there yesterday."

"Kansas isn't that far from Texas," Kari sighed as she stood up, "but it might as well be light years. Everyone, please hang onto something," she added as Emma spun in her chair and shook her head.

"The last time you did this, you passed out, the plane got hit, and we all nearly died," Emma growled as Kari firmly planted both feet in a wide stance and then touched the casting staff to the ceiling of the jet. "Or has the start of all this conveniently slipped your mind?"

"No, but I wasn't playing with the full power set back them, Emma. Scott, you'll still need to pilot the jet. The Goddess is simply making us move a bit faster."

Emma turned a slight shade of green as the jet seemed to slow for a second and then spring forward like it had a warp drive engine. {{She still scares me}} Emma said to Scott as the jet kept hurdling toward Dallas.

TBC in Bending the Lines of Morality thread in the USA/Texas-Eagle Plaza forum

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