"Logan, where’d they go?" Scott shouted.
Logan turned to see the rest of the team coming up behind him, Hank and Gambit carrying Scott. He stood up to meet them halfway. "They put her in a fucking helicopter and took her!" he shouted. "We’ve got to go after her, dammit!"
"The Blackbird is on its way," Kurt said.
"Where in the hell were you people? Dammit, you were supposed to be keeping an eye on her," Logan hollered. He lowered his head. "Shit! I’ve got to get her back."
“There were no mutants. This whole thing was a trap.” Hank looked grim.
Jean tried to be practical. "Once we get in the Blackbird, we can locate the helicopter on radar and follow it."
They all looked up at the sound of the jet coming. Logan was the first to get on. He ran to the control panel and scanned over it. "Did you see the helicopter?" he asked Kitty.
"Yes, but I lost track of it along this grid," she said, pointing to the radar screen.
Ororo jumped into the co-pilot’s seat and readied the jet for takeoff. "Logan, have a seat we’re taking off," she told him.
Logan walked to the back of the plane and sat across from Jean and Scott. He buckled his seat belt and laid his head back, looking up at the ceiling. "Logan," Scott called out weakly, "We’re going to get her back."
Jean gently pushed Scott back down flat on the bench. She was wrapping his leg to stop the bleeding until they could get back to the med-lab. "Logan,” she said as she worked, “I’ve contacted the Professor. He is trying to locate Rogue with Cerebro."
Without saying a word, Logan unbuckled his seat belt and got up to walk to the front of the jet. "Do you see anything?" he asked.
"Nothing, it’s as though they’ve disappeared," Ororo told him regretfully.
"Well look harder," Logan ordered.
"We’re trying Logan, but there is nothing out there," Kitty told him. She was trying to keep her own emotions at bay.
"What if we go back to the mansion and see what the Professor can do," Hank suggested.
"Marie is out there somewhere not at the fucking mansion!" Logan shouted.
"I know that, but we need to get Scott back to the med-lab and-"
"Scott’s fine! We are not turning around!" Logan said, pushing Hank back.
"I think Logan’s right,” said Remy. “Rogue is out there and we need to go after her."
"Logan, let’s not get out of hand. We need the Professor in on this," Hank said.
Logan looked around at the faces of the X-Men. Kurt had his eyes closed praying and Gambit stood beside him shuffling his cards, ready to back him up no doubt.
Logan lowered his head in defeat, "Fine the sooner we get back the sooner I can search on my own."
"We’ll help Logan," Kurt said.
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Once they had landed at the mansion, Logan took off for Cerebro, with Remy following him.
"Let’s get you to the med-lab Scott," Jean said.
"No, take me to Cerebro. I want to hear what the Professor has to say," Scott told her.
Logan and Remy reached Cerebro just as the Professor wheeled out. "Did you find her?" Logan asked.
"Logan, I’m sorry but I can’t even sense her," Charles told him.
With a shaking hand Logan rubbed his forehead. He felt as though he was going to be sick, he didn’t even try to hide the tears that were brimming his eyes. "What...what about...she was unconscious would that have anything to do with it?"
"No, even when a person is unconscious they still have brain activity," Charles said. He turned his head not wanting to see Logan’s reaction.
"No! What I’m going to do?" Logan cried out. He was completely and utterly lost.
"Let’s go to the mission room maybe we can come up with something there," Remy suggested. He was trying to give Logan some hope.
But Logan turned his head to face the Professor. "Are you saying she’s dead?" he asked.
Before Charles could answer, Scott along with the others came around the corner. "You!" Logan
yelled pointing at Scott. "You were supposed to be watching her!"
He charged after Scott with a loud roar, but Hank stepped in between them. "You son of a bitch! You didn’t look after her and now she’s gone!" he hollered at Scott, the breath knocked out of him as Hank slammed him against the wall.
“Calm down my friend,” Hank said as he held Logan back.
"She’s gone," Logan said against Hank’s shoulder.
"Logan, we’ll start looking for her. We’ll get answers," Ororo told him.
"You should go and see Kayla," added Jean softly.
"And tell her what?" Logan said, loosening himself from Hank’s grip. "Tell her that her mother is not coming back? Tell her that I couldn’t get to her in time? That Marie could be dead and it’s my fault? Fuck, I’m going to be sick." He bent over to catch his breath.
"You can tell her that it was my fault, that as a leader I didn’t watch over my teammates," Scott said. He was still leaning on Jean for support.
At that Logan just looked up at him and stared. He stood up straight and began walking away from everyone.
"Logan…" Remy called out, but was stopped by the Professor.
"Let him go, Remy," Charles said. He looked at the others. "Go get changed and properly dress Scott’s wound. Report to the mission room in an hour." He began to wheel off.
"Where are you going?" Hank asked.
"I’m going to contact my informant and see if she knows anything," Charles told them. “We’ve been set up. Whoever kidnapped Rogue knew we were coming. I just wonder if it was Rogue they wanted.”
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Logan walked slowly down the hall that led to the library. He stopped when he got to the door taking in a deep breath. Quietly opening it, he looked around, spotting Jubilee and Bobby talking on a sofa. Ignoring them he went straight to Kayla’s sleeping form by the fireplace. He scooped her up his arms and began to walk out.
"Logan, how did it go? Did you find the mutants?" Jubilee asked softly.
Logan didn’t answer but kept walking out the door. He stared down at Kayla as he walked to their rooms. Looking at her sleeping face caused silent tears to stream down his cheeks. She looked so much like Marie, especially sleeping.
He opened the door and pressed his back against it to shut it. Marie’s sweet scent assaulted his nose as he stood there.
He looked down at Kayla as she started to stir, and he walked to her bedroom to lay her down on the bed. For a long while he stood over her, watching her sleep. Then he dissolved into tears when it occurred to him that he didn’t have the words to tell Kayla why her mother wouldn’t be here in the morning. Placing a kiss gently on Kayla’s forehead, he pulled the blankets over her and walked out of the room.
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