Kurt Wagner fingered the slip of paper in his jacket that he found earlier today.
He was supposed to be heading back to Westchester especially after hearing about the incident at the mansion. However, Charles Xavier had insisted that the damage wasn't too serious and Kurt needed to finish his recon mission.
Well, the recon was done, and Kurt had to say…the new object of attention was playing with the wrong kind of fire…top-secret government kind of fire.
Kurt sighed as he crumbled the paper. What was even stranger was that the slip of paper had an address and time…and Kurt was heading there right now instead of heading back to give Charles his report.
He had no idea why this seemed right, except for an instinctual feeling that no harm would come to him.
But still, Kurt was nervous and it was not because he was afraid of his 'special' watch suddenly stopping to work and revealing his true blue skinned, long tailed form….
Kurt checked the address again and surmised he still had a block to cover and so far nothing about the neighborhood was seedy or disturbing. It was all high-end retailers and boutiques. Oh well, looks could be deceiving…he would know.
Kurt turned onto the assigned street and checked both sides of the street for the building number.
A tea bar? Kurt shook his head and crossed the street into the trendy little establishment and looked around.
There wasn't much off a crowd. Mostly people in suits and a few men discussing an 'icy' woman who had turned them down at the bar.
He started strolling around wondering if there was another clue to the note in his pocket when the one of the cute brunette servers stopped him.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm…." his eyes fell on a figure in a white trench coat reading a fashion magazine in one of the corner booths. "…looking for someone."
The girl followed his glance and shook her head in amusement. "Good luck."
Kurt gave her a confused smile and walked to the corner booth as he felt some of the men stare at him walking towards the woman.
"You?" Kurt exclaimed.
The woman tossed her magazine to the side and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "Kurt, have a seat. You're a little late. Let's have some tea."
She waved her hand to the same cute brunette server and the men glared daggers at Kurt.
Kurt lowered his voice. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"
"Kurt, please take a seat."
"I will not," he harshly exclaimed.
"Fine then." The woman looked deep into his eyes and gave a slight squint.
"What did you do?" Kurt asked, gripping the table as a dam in his mind broke through and there was flood of thoughts. Kurt slowly sat down clutching his head.
"I tell you to take a seat every time and you never listen," she clucked.
The server came bearing teas.
Kurt watched as the blonde woman began to stir in sugar and milk.
"Here. Have some of this," she pushed a cup towards him.
Kurt groaned as he slowly recovered from his daze. "Why Emma?"
"Because I'm protecting you…or else as Erik sees it, protecting our kind," Emma smiled.
Kurt slowly took a sip of tea. "How's mother? Marie? You look good by the way."
"Good. Raven is being our Robin Hood by impersonating some mutant haters and taking their money for our funds. Thank you."
"By herself?" Kurt asked worriedly, rubbing his temples.
"No. Mortimer and Sean are with her. It was relatively easy because of Warren's help in pointing out our King Johns and Sheriffs. Got anything for me?"
"Give me a second. I'm trying to get back in touch with myself. Just keep talking. How did you get the note in this time?"
"A little pickpocket while I distracted you from afar. I couldn't openly approach you of course."
"How's your feral?" Kurt gave her a ghastly smile.
Emma clucked. "Hot as usual. Although these last few days have been time consuming so I've been craving sex. You know it does keep me looking younger and radiant."
Kurt covered his ears. "Aahh…too much information." Kurt shook his head as his memory assimilation was complete. His eyes suddenly widened. "Trask!"
Sensing the change, Emma leaned forward. "What about him?"
"I think Charles is going to send Wolverine out to kill him."
"Why would he do that? Bolivar has nothing to do with Charles." Emma asked with growing frustration.
"I'm supposed to be on reconnaissance. William Stryker has met with Bolivar several times so I'm thinking Charles will use that to convince Wolverine to take the mission. Get closer to Stryker, get his memories back. But I know Charles is really thinking why we would be involved."
Emma leaned closer. "How the hell is so attuned to us?"
"My best guess is Remy."
"I knew that sleazebag was trouble the second your sister mentioned him."
"Well…don't blame her. She already blames herself for a lot of other things. Besides you all convinced her to loosen up and have fun when she was there."
"I know. But how would Remy know exactly who we were dealing with?"
"From what I gather, Remy used to be on Stryker's books…something I'm sure both Charles and Remy have agreed not to share with Wolverine. He's an empath….I'm guessing he could sense something different from whenever Mother and Marie went to carry out their missions in disguise."
"Then we really have to get to Bolivar. How are his children?"
Kurt sighed. "He's done a pretty good job of hiding them…but I don't know where. From my recon, I'm thinking people around Bolivar realize his children are mutants. And until we get Bolivar out of Stryker's clutches…we don't have anything….no information…nada."
Emma was still trying to comprehend something. "What do you mean Stryker's clutches?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Kurt took a sip of his tea. "Stryker has men everywhere too. He can be quite persuasive."
"I know…he managed to convince parents to give up their children," Emma said bitterly and Kurt knew who she was referring to. "But why would he suspect Bolivar. Our meetings have been orchestrated to look….unsuspecting. We made sure of it."
"Either way, Stryker knows something is up…and he's keeping an eye on Bolivar. And when I mean eye…" Kurt imitated a gun with his fingers to drive home his point.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Italics = thoughts
Bold = either used for emphasis or flashbacks...
Bold = either used for emphasis or flashbacks...