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RATING: M (some swearing and a little bit of violence)

SUMMARY: After the nightmare from hell Alex receives a message from an old friend.

FEEDBACK: I'm always eager to hear your views so please contact me and let me know at tanyajoy74@hotmail.com

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This story is set after the X-Men movie and before, hopefully, it’s many sequels. I’ve just become a fan and have never read the comics so I’m just winging it, okay? Don’t flame me for any discrepancies.

Logan grabbed the door handle as the Batmobile took the corner a little too fast. "Jesus Christ, be a bit more careful why don’tcha?"

"Shut up and let me do the driving," Alex snapped back.

"You got a death wish or something?"

Alex narrowed her eyes and put the foot down a bit more. The car slipped through a busy intersection narrowly missing a red light. "Nope, I guess not."

"I don’t believe I’m letting you drive this thing," Logan muttered. "If you have a vision right now, you’re gonna be roadkill."

"Nag, nag, nag. What are you my mother?" Alex eased off the accelerator as she prepared to turn into a quieter street. "We’re almost there," she briefly looked at Logan’s white knuckles as he braced himself for yet another corner. "Just don’t puncture the upholstery, okay?"

"I’ll puncture you in a minute."

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

Alex slowed right down and turned into a small parking lot, that was situated in the seedier part of the district, the Dodge bouncing through a couple of deep puddles. All the lot contained was a few tired looking cars, the owners all inside the two nearby bars drinking an early lunch.

Alex parked her car in front of Taffey’s Bar and turned off the ignition. They both sat there for a few minutes, listening to the quiet tick-tick as the engine began to cool. The door of the bar opened and a black man in his mid-forties walked out. He was clean-shaven with short close-cropped hair that was beginning to show the random white strand. Lean and fit, he looked like a man who could, and would, hold his own in any fight.

Alex pocketed her keys and jumped out of the car. "Paulie, what’s up?"

Paul Briggs nodded towards Alex and folded his arms. "Who’s this?" he looked towards Logan, who was standing next to the car.

"Oh don’t mind him, he’s sorta a friend."

"Sorta?" Paul shook the Canadian’s hand before turning his attention back towards Alex. "Listen, have you heard from Martha in the last few hours?"

"Martha, no I haven’t spoken to her for about a week." A nasty premonition ran its icy fingers down Alex’s back. "Why?"

Instead of explaining, Paul just gestured for the two to follow him. They walked across the parking lot towards a red beetle that was sitting all alone.

Alex picked up her pace when she recognised the car. "Hey, that’s Martha’s."

They came along side it and Alex looked at Paul questioningly.

"Martha finished work about 12.30 last night and left the bar. She said she was going home and we didn’t think anything of it until we found her car here this morning."

"Maybe she got lucky and left with another guy," Logan said up as he circled the car.

"Not likely. She already had a guy waiting at home," Alex watched Logan as he sniffed deeply, a frown on his face. "What? She added. "Somebody fart or something?"

Logan leaned in close to the driver’s side door and inhaled. "Who does that remind me of?" he asked himself.

Of the two dominant smells Logan could detect one of them was vaguely familiar. He scowled at his reflection in a nearby puddle. If it weren’t for that damned storm he would have recognised it. But even his heightened sense of smell couldn’t compete with last night's downpour. All he could tell was he had smelt it before and it was from a mutant.

"This Martha know many mutants?" Logan asked.

"You could say that, though that’s not hard seeing she’s a mutant herself." Paul moved alongside Logan and tapped the driver’s side window. "It’s what was found inside that’s really interesting."

"What?" Alex pushed her way between the two men and, cupping her hands against the glass, peered inside. "I don’t see anything," she looked up frowning.

"Probably because I already took it." Paul pulled out of his pocket a sealed plastic bag, inside could be seen a small rectangular piece of cardboard. He handed the whole thing to Alex. She turned the bag over and noticed some writing. What she was holding in her hands was a business card. Embossed in gold lettering were the words – Pure Human League ‘Protecting our bloodlines for the future’.

"Those sons-a-bitches got calling cards now?" Alex handed the bag onto Logan. "And you found this where? In Martha’s car?"

Paul nodded a serious expression on his face. "I think they took Martha. That’s why nobody has seen her and she’s not at her place. Doc checked that out before I beeped you."

Alex shook her head and absently started chewing on a fingernail. "No way, those guys might hate a mutant's guts but they draw the line at kidnapping."

"They tried to swipe you and Andy," Logan reminded her.

Paul glanced sharply at Alex. "They what?"

"It was nothing," Alex tried to dismiss the subject.

"I saved em," Logan added.

Paul looked at the scruffy man with some new respect. "Thanks. She might be a pain in the ass but she’s family."

"Family huh?" Logan looked at Alex. "My condolences."

Alex punched Logan on the arm. "Have you called the cops yet?" she asked Paul.

Paul shook his head. "You know an adult has to be missing for over forty-eight hours before they’ll do anything."

"So what the hell are we going to do?" Alex demanded angrily.

"Well, I was hoping you’d help me," Paul replied.

"Oh," Alex’s anger faded and she looked awkwardly about the parking lot. "Can’t you think of another way?"

"Nothing that would give me instant results," Paul replied.

Alex noticed Logan about to open the sealed bag and snatched it off of him. "Hey, doofus, don’t mess with the evidence."

"I just wanted to sniff it," Logan said.

Alex snorted at the comment. "Oh you’re seriously twisted."

"Stop changing the subject," Paul interrupted. "Are you going to do this or not?"

"Do what?" Logan wanted to know.

"Listen," Alex turned to Logan. "Don’t you have a bike to steal back or something?"

"Nah, I got that all under control. This sounds much more interesting."

"You are a nosy bastard, you know that?"

"Sweetheart, if you’re gonna insult me you’ll have to do better than that."

"Shit I hate this," Alex rubbed at her temples before looking imploringly at her friend. "You’ve tried everything else?"

Paul reached out and gently squeezed one of Alex’s arms. "You know I only use you as a last resort."

"Fine, fine," Alex finally gave in gracelessly. "Where do you want to do it?"

"Whatever it is, can we do it within walking distance? I’d like to delay getting back in that car with her again," Logan said.

Paul smiled and nodded. He too had suffered at the hands of Alex’s driving skills.

When the trio walked into Taffey’s Bar, the transition from bright sunlight to the gloom of the interior caused both Alex and Logan to slow down their pace as their eyes adjusted. Paul strode on ahead as if he didn’t have a problem. There were only three customers to be found at this time of the day. Each one sat in his corner of the room, oblivious to anything but the refreshment of choice sitting in front of them.

"Hey Jerry," Alex called out to the man behind the bar.

The bartender gave them a cheerful wave as they walked by him, before returning his attention to polishing the glasses. The young man sat a shotglass on the gleaming bar so it was in perfect alignment with its fellow brethren before picking up another.

Paul pushed open a door marked ‘Staff Only’ and ushered them into the back of the building.

"Just down there," he gestured to a nondescript door at the end of the hall marked ‘Manager’. "I’ll be with you in a minute," he said, as left them and turned off into another corridor.

When Paul finally entered the room a few minutes later, he was holding two cups. He found Alex slumped in a chair, looking miserable, and Logan leaning over the front of the desk flicking through some papers he’d found there.

"Would you like to ransack the drawers as well?" Paul asked mildly, handing Alex one of the cups. "Sorry," he added to Logan, "I didn’t know what you liked."

"No matter," Logan picked up a picture frame. Paul, a woman a few years younger than him, two bright looking children and a dog stared back at him. "Nice little family you got there. So you’re the manager, huh?"

"Thanks and only part-time, in that order," Paul moved around behind the desk and sat down.

Alex took a sip of her coffee and was forced to spit it back again. "Too hot," she mumbled, waving a hand in front of her mouth.

"So the bosses are okay with a mutant working here?" Logan said.

Paul smiled. "They should – mutants not only work here, they run the place."

Alex coughed.

"Correction," Paul added. "Mutants and one psychic."

"That's better," Alex said. She blew heavily on her coffee before taking another cautious sip.

"And I'm guessing because you didn’t just run screaming from the room at the mention of all those mutants that you might be one too." Paul said to Logan.

"Oh he's a freak all right, no doubt about that," Alex said.

"Finish your coffee, Alex, so we can get down to business." Paul said.

Alex halted the cup halfway to her lips and sat it back down. "Too hot, remember," she reminded him.

"Don't shit with me, girl," Paul pointed a finger in her direction. "The sooner we're finished the sooner we'll know."

Alex grabbed the coffee off the desk and swallowed it in two huge gulps. She then slammed the empty cup back down in a defiant gesture.

"So what are you going to do?" Logan wanted to know.

"Alex is going to find Martha through Remote Viewing," Paul replied.

"Remote what?"

"Remote Viewing. A technique the American and the Soviet militaries both experimented with in the 1960's. By entering a meditative state trained subjects are able, through the use of

Co-ordinates and key words, to find objects, locations, even people and basically spy on them. By all accounts it was highly effective until the CIA closed their books back in the '80's. Although rumour has it that their work is still ongoing," Paul said.

"And Alex can do this?"

"Yes, she can, and without any kind of training."

"Hello," Alex waved a hand in the air. "Please don't talk about me like I'm not in the room."

"Sorry," Paul apologised. "Think of it as 'fatherly' pride."

"Yeah right, sure." Alex snorted and shook her head. "Let's just do this already, Andy must be wondering where I am."

Paul decided to ignore Alex's sudden turn around. "Well if your friend, Logan, would draw the curtain we can start."

Alex moved into a more comfortable position in her chair as Logan pulled the dusty blinds and settled himself back down.

"Let me know when you're ready," Paul said, from behind the desk.

Silence filled the room as Alex closed her eyes and started taking deep, controlled breaths. Minutes passed before she spoke. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Paul tugged a notepad towards him and picked up a pencil. "Alex, I need you to search for Martha and tell me where she is."

Alex nodded and made an effort to relax.

"She can do this?" Logan said in surprise. "I thought you could only find a mutant using –" he stopped before he mentioned Xavier's Cerebro. Luckily the other two were preoccupied and didn't seem to notice.

"I'm having trouble finding her," Alex frowned to herself. "I think, Paul, I think she's dead."

"Then find her body, Alex, her family needs to know."

"All right. I'll see what I can do," Alex's voice was beginning to sound strained.

"Describe what you're seeing," Paul said.

"Green," Alex replied after a few minutes. "Trees . . . a woods maybe?"

Paul started scribbling on his pad. "Can you see her?"

Alex's eyes were still shut as she started turning her head. To all appearances it looked like she was sightlessly searching. "There," her movements stopped and she lifted a hand to point. "There seems to be something over there."

Logan craned his head to see what Alex was pointing at but all he could see was a filing cabinet.

"Move closer," Paul instructed.

Alex's hand dropped back to the chair. "Right, but I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Alex leant forwards in her chair and seemed to look down at a spot just in front of her sneakers. "There's a pile of leaves here, covering something. You're gonna ask me to move them now, aren't you?"

"'Fraid so."

Sighing Alex leant forwards even further before suddenly rearing back. "Holy shit!" she whipped her head to one side and screwed her eyes even tighter, as if trying to shut out her inner sight. "It's her, it's her! Oh shit, I'm waking up."

"No," Paul practically shouted. "We need to know where to find her."

"Fuck you, pal. If you're that keen, do it your damn self."

"I can't so you have to do it for me. Now, don't look at her, Alex. Look around instead. Just give me anything, a landmark. Something to pinpoint her location and I'll do the rest, okay?"

Alex took great gulping breaths and tried to calm her racing heart.

"That’s right, don’t forget to breathe," Paul shot a look towards Logan, who was half out of his chair. Alex's friend indicated for Logan to settle back down, that everything was under control. After a moment, and a fierce stare at Paul, Logan complied.

"You'd better have some aspirin ready, Paul," Alex rubbed her forehead. "This headache is gonna be a bitch." She stretched her arms and legs before settling back down. "Right, I'm in a wood of some sort. I can't hear any traffic, so it’s a fair guess this is out of the way."

"Well, if she was murdered, it would make sense that they mightn't want her to be found," Paul said as he began writing. "What else?"

"Just trees! What do you want me to do? Pull an exact address outta my ass?"

"Look up, then."

Alex tilted her head back until it was resting on the back of the chair. "I'm just seeing the tops of trees now," she stopped. "Wait a minute, there is a gap. I can see a tower of some sort. Radio maybe?"

"There's a large radio tower that looms over some woods near the Canadian border. If the body was near there," Logan said.

"How about it Alex?" Paul asked.

"I dunno, could be," Alex shrugged. "All I can add is the tower 's to the east of the body."

"Well that will have to do. If we can’t find her on that information, you might have to try again," Paul dropped the pencil in front of him and started to stretch his neck muscles. "Thank you, Alex, for all your help."

Alex shuddered once and opened her eyes. "That had to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced." She moaned as she slumped sideways, feet curling up underneath her in an unconscious imitation of a fetal position. "I feel like shit."

Paul pulled out a small bottle from one of his drawers. "Logan, could you go get Alex something to drink, please."

"Sure," Logan disappeared down the hall and quickly returned with a brimming cup of ice-cool water. He handed it over to Alex and watched as she swallowed some aspirin. "Well that was something else," he said.

"Yeah, something else," Alex replied faintly.

Logan turned his gaze to Paul. "You think you're gonna find this Martha?"

"I hope so, young man. She is family to a lot of people around here."

"Listen if you need any help, I know a guy," Logan started to say.

"That's all right, thank you. But if we have any trouble I can call Mr. Xavier myself."

Logan's eyebrows shot up. Did everyone know Chuck?

Paul smiled at the Canadian's expression. "Mr. Xavier is an active member of the mutant community, Logan. Why, he personally fronted the money to enable us to buy this establishment. In return, we made him a silent partner until we can pay him back. He has helped a lot of us find our feet."

"Chuck?! Own a bar?" Logan snorted in amazement. "Does that mean if I was to turn up here one night and tell the bartender I'm a close personal friend of Cue-Ball –?"

"You'd pay for your drinks just like everyone else" Paul finished for him.

"Figures," Logan jerked a thumb in Alex's direction. "What about her?"

Paul looked across at the young woman, who seemed to be fast asleep. "Well she could stay here for the night, we have a fold-up bed in the back for such emergencies. Alternatively you could take her back to the mansion, I'm sure you'll want to report to Mr. Xavier on everything that has happened here."

"He's probably wondering where we are."

"Of course you'd have to drive Alex's car back. We couldn't have her behind the wheel in her state," Paul grinned at Logan.

The Canadian grinned back. "Well you sold me on the idea, Paul. Anything's better than suffering another road-trip with 'Sparky' here."

"I heard that," Alex opened an eye a crack and glared at the two men. "In case it slipped your puny minds, I still have the keys to the car. "

"I'll hold her down, you go for the keys," Paul told Logan, before turning his attention back to Alex. "You're exhausted, for once in your life accept that you might not be perfect and let somebody help you. Logan won’t dent your precious car," he turned back to Logan. "Will you?"

"I won’t scratch the rust-bucket," Logan said.

"Fine," Alex's voice was weak. "Anything as long as there is a huge soft bed at the end of it."

"Well my bed isn’t that soft," Logan said.

"Oh ha-bloody-ha-ha. Get me home to Andy already."

Paul smirked. "Scorned for another man, Logan."

"Yeah and the pipsqueak ain't even old enough to appreciate that fact," Logan scratched a sideburn and turned his gaze in Alex's direction. "Can you walk or do I have'ta carry ya?"

Alex lurched out of the chair. "I'll walk," she staggered and was forced to grab for the armrest. "Just give me a minute."

Paul walked out from behind the desk and moved to Alex's side. He grabbed one of her arms and placed it around his shoulders, slipping his other arm about her waist so he was supporting most of her weight. "Let me. It’s the least I can do after all."

The trio moved slowly out to the parking lot and came to rest next to the Batmobile.

Logan clicked his fingers in Alex's direction. "Keys."

She just glared back at him.

"Keys or I'll open it myself," Logan waved a fist in front of her.

"Do I want to know?" Paul asked, with some concern.

"Nah," Alex reassured Paul before she pulled the keys out and threw them at Logan. "Here."

"Now children," Paul began. "Go straight home, no partying with friends or dragging, all right?"

Both Alex and Logan glared at him causing Paul to break into a laugh. "Go home, both of you."

Logan opened the passenger side door and Alex practically fell into it. He closed it gently behind her and turned to Paul. "I'll get her home safe."

Paul nodded and shook Logan's hand. "I appreciate it."

Logan just grunted. "Hope you find your friend." He opened the driver's side before turning back. "Let me know if you want any help making those bastards pay."

"Sure, you'll be the first I call."

Paul retreated back towards Taffey's before turning to watch the battered Dodge leave the lot. Sighing, he walked back into the gloom of the bar, there was much to do. Family to call, a search party to organise and a certain anti-mutant group to survey.

Logan pulled into the garage at the mansion, and looked for a slot to park the Dodge. He finally parked next to a black Jag and turned to look at the sleeping woman. "Guess I'm carrying ya after all."

Taking Alex into his arms Logan kicked the door closed, not bothering to lock it. Just as he reached the door that led to the house, it opened from the inside.

"Is she okay, Logan?" It was Storm waiting on the other side.

"Just tired," Logan replied. "Let me guess, Chuck wants to see me."

"You must be psychic," Storm joked. "Let me take her and you go ahead."

"Nah, 'Ro, I'll take her to her room and you can tell Chuck I'll be along in a minute."

Storm just shook her head. "What is it with you and strays?"

"Beats me. All I want is a quiet life."

Storm laughed quietly. "I'll see you then."

Almost fifteen minutes later after he had reassured an indignant and sleepy Andy that Alex was fine, Logan walked into the Professor's office to find the core of the X-Men waiting for him.

"Busy night?" the Professor asked.

"You could say that," Logan replied. "It seems this PHL has upped the ante."

Xavier's raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How so?"

Logan sat himself down on a chair next to Storm. "Looks like they've kidnapped and murdered a mutant friend of Alex."

"That is worrying," Xavier steepled his fingers together and pressed them against his lips.

"I thought these people were mostly harmless," Storm said.

"Tell that to Martha," Logan said. "The dead friend," he added to Xavier's questioning glance.

"Maybe it was an isolated incident. A case of one of them getting a bit overzealous," Scott said.

Xavier dropped his hands to his lap. "Maybe. How did she die?"

"Dunno," Logan said, shrugging. "They haven't found the body yet."

"Then how do you know she's dead?" Jean asked.

"Alex used Remote Viewing to find her."

"What's that?" Storm asked.

"The ability to obtain information about distant people, places, or things by means of psychic abilities," Xavier explained.

Logan was disappointed – he had been secretly hoping nobody knew what it was and he could tell them all and therefore come across as smarter than Scott.

Jean picked up on his surface thoughts and leant across to whisper to him. "Don't worry, Logan, I didn’t know what it was either."

"Alexandra is showing some interesting talents," Xavier said.

"Don't tell me you're gonna try and recruit her too," Logan said. "Good luck trying."

"What are we going to do about this PHL?" Scott asked.

"For now, we wait," Xavier said. "Until we know if Martha's death was an accident or not, it wouldn't pay to provoke these people into an attack. I'll organise with Paul Briggs any aid his people might need and we'll hire his security firm to start a surveillance." Xavier looked at the four mutants sitting in front of him. "It's late, we can discuss anything else in the morning."

"Lets hope this all blows over," Scott said, standing up.

"I don’t know, Scott," Storm replied. "I have a feeling about this and it's not good."

"You always have 'a feeling', 'Ro," Scott joked.

"And am I ever wrong?" she replied.

Scott didn’t answer; he just opened the door to the office.

"That's what I thought," Storm replied as she passed him.

Logan and Jean walked out behind her. Jean looked back at Xavier as the others left.

"Professor?" she asked when she noticed he was just sitting behind his desk.

"I'll stay here for a while. There is a lot of paperwork still left to do. You go on to bed, I'm sure things will look brighter in the morning."

Jean nodded and closed the door behind her. She could see Scott waiting at the end of the hall. Maybe things would be brighter in the morning.

Alex woke up disoriented. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the car and now she didn't have a clue where she was. Rolling over, she immediately noticed two things. First, the bed was hard as a rock. Second, she wasn't in her room. Actually she wasn't in any room.

Where did that son-of-a-bitch take me? She wondered, thinking of Logan, as she stood up. Looking around she could see that she was outside. Trees surrounded the clearing she was in, and off in the distance Alex could make out a large radio tower.

Oh shit! Her eyes darted about the clearing and there it was, right where she had seen it in her vision. Only it wasn't a mound of leaves this time, it was a large hole.

"This is not good," Alex muttered as she turned to leave. But all she found behind her was a swirling gray mist. "No, not good at all."

Alex swung around with a startled squeak, but the skeleton was nowhere to be seen. "I, um, I was going to but I got a little busy. So sorry."

Alex clutched at her temples as excruciating pain, like she had never felt before, exploded in her head. "Stop it, stop it," she screamed, but if anything, it intensified until she was curled up in a ball. "All right," she sobbed. "I'll tell them. I'll do anything just, please, stop."

Several agonising seconds past before the pain ceased. It was like somebody had just flipped a switch inside her head, the relief was that immediate. Alex lay there, panting, afraid to move unless the headache came back.

She hesitated, unsure just where this nightmare was going.

Alex dragged herself up and looked around but there was still no sign of the skeleton that called itself Death.

"Go to the hole." An invisible hand pushed Alex from behind. "Go."

She staggered forward on unsteady feet. There was no way Alex was going to like whatever would happen next, she just knew it.

Almost crying in fear Alex leant forwards and looked down. She didn't know how deep it was but the hole was filled with bodies. Most were complete strangers but there were enough that she recognised. Andy, Ororo, Logan, Doc and Paul, some girl with a white streak in her hair that she had seen around the Mansion, even Martha – but the one that scared her the most was the one on top. The one with the green lifeless eyes that stared right back into her soul. Alex saw herself in the grave.

A sharp push toppled Alex into the grave, screaming.

Alex fell to her hands and knees, her hoarse scream echoing in the hallway. Sitting back on her haunches Alex brushed hair away from her face and looked around. She was back in the mansion, alive and well. She leant forward and kissed the carpet in relief.

"What's going on?" Jean pushed her way past a small group of students who were gathering outside of their dorm rooms.

Alex came to her feet and started moving back to her room. She stopped in front of Jean. "Nothing – just a really bad dream, that's all."

Jean reached out to touch Alex but recoiled in horror as she accidentally picked up on the remnants of the nightmare.

"What?" Jean began.

Alex reached out and grabbed Jean. "Not here, not now," she looked around to see Scott and Ororo herding the children back to their beds. Logan was leaning against his doorframe, his hair even more disheveled than normal. "Please, Jean, this is not the time or place to talk of such things. I promise I'll tell you everything in the morning."

 è CHAPTER FIVE