((super-duper long, 1,769 words, hence the cut tag; also, uh, really bad things happen))

Brenna heard sobbing before she was fully conscious, a soft, pitiful sound coming from somewhere near her middle. Her head ached something awful, pounding hard with the beat of her heart that was suddenly going faster as she realized something wasn't right; memory was slower to return and when she finally opened her eyes she saw the reality of the situation.

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The last time Andrew had gotten this blitzed had been after Reggie had died. His best friend, his partner in the RAF, the guy he got into copious amounts of trouble with on a regular basis, the man he'd agreed to stand up for when Reggie got married ... 3600 miles from home and they clung to each other. One anti-personnel mine had ended that. Andrew had gotten shitfaced with his other mates, it eased the pain for a little while.

Those bastards had taken Kitty. He was upset about all the others, too, he couldn't not be angry when the children he taught and cared for were abducted. But Kitty ... she was everything to him, now. Now he was 5,000 miles away from home, only slightly less out of his element than he'd been in a warzone, and he'd found a woman who made him feel safe again. She'd welcomed him into her home and into her heart and made herself right at home in his own heart.

He'd gone first to the shooting range and, when that wasn't enough, joined a nearly pre-verbal Wolverine in the Danger Room. They'd worked together on the Resident Evil program, killing zombies with headshots and and decapitations respectively, and they hadn't spoken when they'd finished. They didn't need to. Each man knew what the other was thinking -- When we find them, there'll be no quarter given. These people are going to die screaming in pain and we won't stop until they're all dead.

There'd been another hurried meeting in the War Room that evening, a whole lot of bitching about leads and the lack thereof. Logan had heard from a friend about some to-do at the airport and now they were checking that lead. Seeing there was nothing else he could do, Andrew quietly slipped out, back to his room. And a bottle of single malt whiskey that had been full when he started.

There were a lot of things that Terry Cassidy did not like. War, famine, really uncomfortable shoes. Not knowing how to help was definately at the top of that list. She had been sitting on the steps in the front of the school for an hour, the baby monitor resting next to her foot as she stared up into the sky.

She had already called Jamie. Terry had thought about calling Monet, leaving her a voice message and avoiding any potential "I told you so's" but in the end she had called Jamie. He was the leader and if anyone needed to know that there was a potential for danger, it was him. It had been worse than she had thought. She could hear the anger in his voice as she explained what was going on. Even thought it was expected, it still stung a little. She understood how he felt but he didn't he have any faith in her? Things were bad but she wasn't going to put Maeve in danger. She'd protect their daughter at any cost.

Then an idea struck her and she smiled slightly. Pulling the blanket tighter around her, she slid her cellphone from her jeans pocket. "Wade," she said into the phone when she reached her friend's voicemail. "It's Terry."

Standing Terry relied the situation to the man who inevitably get the message. She wasn't sure if this was breaking some rule, letting a mercenary know what was going on but she knew that Deadpool as he was commonly known as had ways. Ways she didn't.

"If you get this..." she paused and took a deep breath "See what you can find for me? Things are getting hairy and I'm....well, I'm a little scared. Bye Wade. I hope I hear from you soon. Stay safe."

To say Tamsin was furious was an understatement. Hell, saying she was unbelievably homicidal was an understatement. Her best friend, her sister, had been taken and there was nothing that Tamsin could do about it. She was effectively helpless. She didn't like being helpless.

Which was why she was in the gym, beating the shit out of a punching bag to try and calm herself down enough to think rationally. Well, a second punching bag. She'd already broken the chain holding one to the ceiling. Whoops.

Completely focused, Tamsin unleashed another series of punches on the bag, only dimly aware that she needed to stop and tape her hands up again.

Dani had heard about the attack on the students and teachers at the Museum. She was good at overhearing things -- especially when could move about as silently as she could. The attack had Ororo upset... and that led to Dani being upset. Ororo was her friend and mentor, so Dani hadn't seen a problem with eavesdropping on the teachers' conversation to find out what had happened.

Hearing about the attack on the museum and that students and teachers had been kidnapped, Dani had a hard time keeping quiet and a hard time not letting her emotions get out.

She had heard about mutants getting attacked and disappearing, but this was different. These were people she knew. They may not be people she knew well because she was knew, but she still knew them.

It was after dark when she changed into the outfit the Valkyries had given her in Asgard and slipped out of the house to go to Brightwind.

"What do you think about us doing a little bit of recon, my friend? If we fly swift and high, maybe we can gather some sort of clues as to where our friends have been taken, hrm?"

Brightwind dropped his head and stamped his hooves, every bit as ready to go as she was.

There were few things that could piss Matty off as much as being captured and thrown into a cage. It had happened a few times, and it never ended pretty, at least not for her captors. They had a tendency to wind up dead. Matty didn't like being locked in cages.

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