Chapter 4
It had taken Logan several hours before he made it to the city. He started at the campus grounds of Rogue's school. Not picking up her scent anywhere he tried his luck at the address she left the last time she came to visit. He assumed it was actually her address but he wouldn’t have put it past her to make a fake address to keep people from doing exactly what he was doing.
Taking the elevator up to her floor he walked down the hall catching traces of her scent. He cautiously advanced down the hall at full alert counting the numbers on the doors as they passed. 6304, 6306, 6308…6309. This was her place alright. Her smell was faint through the door but there was no mistaking it. As he lifted his hand to knock he saw the door frame was damaged and the handle was crooked. He grabbed the handle but it wouldn't give. He placed his shoulder into the jam and pushed with all his might causing the door to fly open.
The apartment looked like an altercation had happened. Things were overturned, her bag was on the floor with its contents scattered.
Sniffing the air he focused. While this apartment smelled of Rogue, he could tell that she hadn't been here in a few days. And there was the scent of two other people. A smell that was familiar. “Sabertooth.” He growled. Looking around the apartment for clues he made a note that the door had been broken but efforts were made to conceal it as if they wanted it to go unnoticed. He noticed her phone on the floor and picked it up. It was out of battery power. He picked it up and pocketed it for later thinking it could come in handy.
He stormed out of the apartment knowing that in this city, with the scent that decayed he would not be able to track Sabertooth easily. He hopped on his motorcycle and headed back toward the mansion.
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Lance drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his Jeep. He was parked in the parking lot of his former high school, Bayville high. He never wanted to be back here but he knew Kitty liked to leave campus for lunch. He waited to see if he could catch a glimpse of her but there was nothing. He didn’t see her leave or come back.
He had tried calling and texting her again and again but received no response. He sat there for what felt like hours. Seconds ticking by painfully slowly. What if these attacks were anti-mutant radicals? He tried not to think of worst case scenarios of what they could be going through. Suddenly there was a knock on the passenger window.
"Hey!" A security officer motioned for Lance to roll the window down. "You're not allowed to be here." Lance rolled his eyes and started his Jeep. He should have known this would have been a waste of time. He wasn’t sure what to do next other than to go to Xavier’s and see what they know. He hated the thought of going there but what other choice did he have if he wanted answers.
After arriving at the gate he pressed the code Kitty had given him to get in. “Welcome home Shadowcat.” The robotic voice greeted. Lance rolled his eyes and proceeded into the grounds but the long circular driveway and perfectly manicured foliage. He knew that none of the safety measures would trigger on him but he found himself still glancing around just in case. He parked and made his way up to the front door where he was just about to knock before it opened.
“Oh, hey Scott.” Lance said, trying to hide his discomfort around the man. “I’m looking for Kitty. Have you or anyone seen her?”
“No.” Scott shook his head. “And yeah, we are looking too. Any idea what may have happened to her?” Scott furrowed his brow as if to insinuate Lance had something to do with it.
Lance put his hands up. “Hey man, why would I be here if I did? Besides, Tabitha is missing too, and I was wondering if maybe you guys knew something.” Scott's eyebrows knit together in skepticism. He didn’t love the idea of working with the troublemaker, but one thing he did know is he did care for Kitty and the more people looking the better.
“Come on in.” Scott said. “We can meet with the others and discuss a plan of action.” As Scott turned his back Lance silently mocked Scott.
Inside, Scott led Lance to the library where he found Professor Xavier, Jean, Beast, and Storm all gathered.
“Hello Lance.” The professor said, “Please, do come in.” Lance made his way over to one of the couches and leaned against it, arms crossed.
“So what do we do?” Lance said.
“That is what we are discussing.” Xavier replied. “ I was not able to locate Kitty’s mind anywhere, and Kurt told us that she was not with you. When was the last time you heard from her?”
“Last night.” He said. “We had an argument.” His face reddened with shame and frustration at himself.
“We will find her Lance.” Jean tried to comfort Lance. “She hasn’t been missing long.”
Lance shifted uncomfortably. "Who else is missing?" Lance crossed his arms and tried his best to stop fidgeting.
"Rogue." Growled Logan. "We don't know how long she has been missing, but based off how feint her scent was, it was at least 5 days ago."
"Five days?!" Lance tried his best to resist the urge to make the earth shake. "How could she be missing for five days and you not find her?!"
Logan crossed his arms and looked away, unable to meet the boys gaze. "I ain't proud of it kid, but we were respecting her space. We should have known something was up when she didn't return Kurt's phone calls."
"Unbelievable! I knew coming here was a waste of time!" Lance spun around to walk out, almost bumping into Storm.
"Do not be so sure Lance, I believe we have someone who may be able to help us." Storm stepped aside to a familiar face into the room.
"Bonjour mes amis." Gambit said
Logan bristled at the sight of the man. "Gambit." He growled. "Storm, you better start explaining how this snake could be any help to us."
"Settle down Logan." The professor said. "Yes Storm, I too am interested in knowing how Mr LeBeau can be of assistance."
"I'm glad you asked." Gambit said, flourishing a smile. "I like to keep tabs on people I've worked with before, and it just so happens I know where Sabertooth and Pyro have found gainful employment."
"I don't trust him." Logan said, crossing his arms.
"What other leads do we have Logan?" Storm replied.
"Storm is right, we must chase down any leads we have. Oh and Lance… Please refrain from using Kitty's access code in the future."
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The cave where Rogue and the others were being held didn’t have any sunlight, but if she was correct in her tracking it had been about 4 or 5 days since she had woken up there. All she wanted to do was shower and change into clean clothes. Her hair was greasy, her makeup had long since worn off, and she missed real food and not the slop they were feeding her.
Tabitha had woken up the day before and wasted no time running her mouth and annoying both Rogue and Carol. The way they saw it, she was wasting her time and energy, as well as provoking these people who clearly had the upper hand. Currently Tabitha sleeping, and Carol was tossing little bits of stone across the cell fighting off boredom.
Rogue was starting to lose hope that anyone was coming and she felt herself reaching a breaking point. Sitting in the corner, pulling her knees close to her chest, she couldn’t help but feel abandoned by her found family. Why hadn’t they come to look for her? She then reminded herself that she had become a recluse and set the expectation of her silence for long periods of time. Her feelings weren’t rational. But then again feelings rarely are.
The sound of footsteps pulled Rogue out of her thoughts. Emma sashayed into the room followed by Sabertooth and the woman from before. Emma and pointed at Rogue. “Her first.”
Rogue rose to her feet, determined to put up a fight regardless of how hopeless. That was the last thing she remembered.