"I trust that you will look after one another and return safely," Charles told the X-Men standing before him. "You all have been trained well for missions like this and I’m confident that you all know what has to be done."
All the X-Men except for Scott turned to walk onto the Blackbird. Charles looked up at him and smiled a thin, worried smile. "Bring them home, Scott," he said.
"Yes sir, I’ll take care of them," Scott said seriously.
"And watch Logan. I fear he may become vulnerable at any time."
Scott nodded his head in agreement. He patted Charles on the shoulder, and then walked onto the jet.
Charles watched as the ramp closed, wondering what the outcome of this mission would be. He had an uneasy feeling, but wasn’t quite sure what the cause of it was.
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"This is where Alpha team gets dropped off," Scott said turning around in his pilot chair. "Each team member will be in contact with the team leader, which is Wolverine. Remember stay clear off the spill way and enter through the side door."
The Alpha team slowly walked down the steps. Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jean, and Wolverine. They were the ‘grab’ team. Their objective was to find the mutants and get them out.
Just before getting off the plane, Logan stopped in front of Marie. He bent over and gave her a heated kiss, before pulling back and fixing her with a stern look. "You need to turn your control off now," he said.
"You got it, sugar," Marie told him.
"Be careful and don’t go looking for trouble."
Marie nodded her head. "That goes for you too Logan."
"I’ll see you on the plane."
"Okay," Marie gave him another kiss and then concentrated on flipping her mutation on.
Jean and Scott walked up having finished their goodbyes. "It’s time Logan," said Scott.
"Take care of my girl, Cyke," Logan said.
"You take care of mine," Scott returned.
Marie and Scott watched their two lovers standing in the snow as the ramp closed blocking their view. Only themselves, Storm, Beast and Shadowcat were left on the plane. They made up the Beta team. Their objective was to cause a diversion, to keep the focus off of the Alpha team.
Scott flew the Blackbird to the second entrance point. As they reached a door that resembled a storm cellar, Scott let the Alpha team know that they were about to enter and told them to be ready for the signal. They left Kitty behind to control the jet and monitor communications between each team leader.
As she walked down the stairs into a dark corridor Marie began to sense something was wrong. "Cyclops where are all the guards?" she asked.
"I’m not sure Rogue," he replied with concern.
"Maybe this part of the base is no longer in use," Storm said.
"Or we were given the wrong information and there is no one here," added Beast.
They continued to walk down the damp hall looking for some sign of life. An entrance with a green glow coming out of it caught Rogue’s eye. She began to walk towards the entrance, mesmerized by the odd sense of deja vu she was having.
"Rogue, where are you going?" Storm called out.
"I have to see what’s in that room."
"Rogue stay with the group," Scott ordered.
Rogue began to feel panicky. She was desperate to see what was in there, but she did as she was ordered, and turned to continue with her team mates.
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"What the hell is taking them so long?" Logan asked pacing.
"Relax Logan, give them time," Jean said.
"They should have given the signal already," he said, frustrated.
"I agree, do you think they ran into trouble?" Gambit asked.
"Maybe their entry point was harder to access than we thought," said Kurt.
Neither of their comments made Logan calm down.
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Scott knelt down at the sight of a few men standing in the main area of the dam. He motioned for the rest to get down and take cover, then turned and gave the ‘be ready’ signal. At his command Storm’s eyes went white, and she made a bolt of lightning crash into center of the room. They then walked in, prepared to fight.
Seeing the signal, Logan entered the building with the others following him. He stopped when he reached the edge of a hall and looked at the others."Wait here."
"Logan," Jean called out to stop him, "Dammit! He does that every time."
"The Wolverine knows what he’s doing," Kurt told her.
The sounds of fighting reached their ears, Logan’s claws slicing through bricks. Then after a moment of silence, Logan returned. "Let’s go."
"It’s not fair that you get to kick all the ass," Gambit said.
Logan ignored him and clicked on the mike of his ear piece to call for Kitty. "Shadowcat do you copy?"
"Shadowcat here."
"Do we turn left or right next?" Logan asked.
"Left,” said Kitty. “Then it’s a straight shot to the control room."
"How is the other team holding up?"
"They are keeping the soldiers at bay, but it’s kind of hard for Cyclops to send frequent updates when he’s fighting."
"I’m out," Logan told her. He looked at the rest and said, "We need to hurry."
They reached a dead end, facing a round, silver door. "Jean," Logan said backing up to let her stand out front, "do your magic."
Jean stretched her arms out and focused on the door, but nothing happened. She tried again, and failing the second time, she turned and said, "It’s not working. The door is too thick."
"Try harder," Kurt told her.
Jean turned, stretching out her arms, and using every ounce of energy she had, she tried to will the door open. Logan, Gambit and Kurt had to shield their eyes from the red flames that began to surround her. With a scream, Jean threw her arms forward causing the door to buckle, then fall.
"Damn Jeannie, who knew you had it in ya." Logan said walking past her.
They walked over to the control panel and begin to monitor the security TV’s on the wall. Logan saw two men walking by themselves down a hallway.
“Logan, isn’t Rogue in the same hallway as those soldiers?” Kurt asked.
Logan stared at the screen. “What is she doing?”
“It looks as though she is alone,” Remy pointed out.
They watched as the two soldiers kept walking briskly toward their destination. Then suddenly they stopped and the older heavier set man turned his head to face the direction Rogue was coming from.
"I’ve got to go after her," Logan said, turning to run towards the door.
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