Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was currently in chaos. In the war room, one known as Cyclops paced the floor. He ran his hand through his brown hair and touched his other to the ruby red quartz glass that covered his eyes. He stopped in front of the beautiful, red hared woman whose head was currently covered by a helmet like devise known as Cerebro.

"Anything, Jean?" he asked quietly.

Jean was sitting with her eyes closed in concentration. As a telepath this should have been easy to contact anyone, especially with the Cerebro unit amplifying her powers, but reaching Wolverine was a different story, even for Jean Grey. She opened her eyes, sighed and shook her head. "Nothing."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Well, mien friend," a German accented voice started, "this is not ze first time zat Herr Wolverine has been in trouble before, ja? And he always seems to make it back okay."

Cyclops looked to the speaker. An indigo, fur cover man with three fingers on each hand and a tail. His features could be construed as demonic but to those who knew Kurt Wagner, a.k.a. Nightcrawler, just considered him a fuzzy, blue elf. "I know, Kurt, but what if...I mean, this time Omega Red was in the area. We all saw it on the news."

"Ja. Zis is true, but, Scott, Wolverine was no where to be found. We went and searched and found nothing." Nightcrawler shrugged. "Please do not think for a moment that I am taking this lightly, either, mien friend, but I believe that he is all right. Granted, he has us all worried sick and when I get my hands on him...Well, anyway, zat is to say..."

"He still owes you the beer he went to buy." Jean said turning her attention to Kurt.

"Well, ja." Nightcrawler smiled easily, but both Scott and Jean could see past the facade and read the deep concern that he had for his missing friend. A concern that was reflected in all their faces. Jean looked further and saw the guilt.

"Oh, Kurt..."

He looked away from her and towards a monitor. "I can't help it, Jean. I feel responsible." Jean wrapped her arms around Nightcrawler and hugged him. "You have nothing to feel responsible for. It could just have easily been you or any of us."

"Ja, I know." He returned her hug. "Well, enough of zis. We should be doing something."

"Agreed." Cyclops pressed a button and a three dimensional image appeared, hovering above the table. All three XMen gathered around. "Okay, last time Wolverine was seen was near Chinatown. He could be anywhere by now. We have to assume that he got away and is badly wounded from the what the news showed and from Jean picked up telepathically. We've searched the area as best we could. Jean did a complete sweep of the area and nothing."

"What about the little girl?" Kurt asked suddenly.

Jean and Scott looked at him. "What?"

"The little girl." Kurt leapt up from his chair, did a mid-air somersault and landed in another chair across the room. His fingers flew across the keyboard and brought up the news reel from the night before. He fast forwarded it, suddenly stopping the tape. "There."

The other two XMen leaned forward over his shoulders and inspected the tape. It was a young girl, no less than eight but no more than ten. She was very petite, so age was hard to guess by her size, including the fact that she was covered in some sort of alloy.

Cyclops shook his head and ran a hand through his hair as Kurt slowly advanced the tape. The girl attacked Omega Red, covering Wolverine long enough for him to recover from a blow. Then disappeared down an alleyway.

"So all we need to do is find the girl and maybe..." Jean started to offer.

"Wait there iz more." Kurt slowed the tape again to the ending of the fight just before the Avengers arrived and Omega Red took off. Wolverine had run down the alley, leaving Omega Red's torn up body, and grabbed something. Kurt zoomed in of the picture and lightened it.

"He grabbed the kid," Cyc said.

"Ja and if that iz so then we should be looking for a missing girl and then we vill find Wolverine."

Kurt paused and then added, "Maybe."

"All right, what we need," Cyc straightened up, "is some good, old fashion detective work. Kurt, look for anyone reporting a missing child, female between eight and ten, no eleven years old in the past thirty-six hours. Jean, keep trying with Cerebro and I'll see if there are reports of any John Does at the hospitals or police stations. If Wolverine is that badly hurt, he may try to seek medical attention or may have been picked up by officers."

The two X-Men nodded and immediately went to work.

Kitku woke early as her normal schedule and slid carefully out from underneath his arm. She stretched and tried to work the kinks out of her neck. He had held onto her all night, whimpering and shifting in his sleep. She was tired, but he needed food. She opened her little change purse. Not much money, she wasn't sure how much but it wasn't enough. She opened his wallet, hesitantly. No information, the parts holding any ID was gone.

Musta fallen out, she thought to herself. She felt guilty going through his wallet like that, but heck they needed to eat and she needed to find out where he was from. She opened the back part. A wad of cash. She had no idea how much but to her it was a gold mine. He stirred but remained asleep.

She pulled on her coat and quietly moved the can from the opening. It had snowed a bit but not enough to block them in. She thought to leave him a note, but she couldn't write and in his state, she doubted he could read. Well, she'd be back before he woke up. If she was tired, he must be exhausted. She made her way outside into the alley.

As she started to stand, she felt a hand grab the back of her coat and shove her face first into the opposite wall of the alley.

What a way to start the day, she thought.

She slid slightly down the wall, shaking her head and touched a hand to her face. Blood. She looked at her attackers. There were about five of them and they were armed, knives and chains. Kitku had faced them before and was beaten for standing up to them. She'd rather face the guy in the jammies than these guys. She wanted to use her powers but the last kid that had done that, they killed by beating and stabbing him to death.

"Hey, girl," the leader, a Chinese kid of seventeen stepped forward, grabbing her collar and lifting her up, "you're late with the rent."

"You don't own this building," Kitku whispered quietly, trying to hide her fear. Her stomach churned, she was going to be sick.

"Are we gonna have to teach you another lesson, bitch?" He slapped her hard in the face and punched her in the stomach, letting her fall to her knees while the rest of the Tong wanna-bes watched and laughed at her plight.

Kitku wretched, successfully hitting his boots and paid dearly for that act of defiance.

"Oh, that's gonna cost you, worm-girl." He pulled back his leg to kick her in the face. Kitku wrapped her arms around her head and curled up in a small ball, waiting for the blow. It never came. She heard a solid thud and sneaked a peak, the thug was on the ground and Wolverine was standing over him.

He growled. The other gang members moved in and swarmed him, but they were no match for him, even in his wounded condition. In a matter of moments, it was over. Those that could run, did. The others laid unconscious near him. The leader was trying to make good his escape but Wolverine leapt. Kitku didn't think anyone was capable of such movements. He went from a standing position to the air and on the guy. She shook her head and stood to follow.

Wolverine landed on the leader and tumbled with him to a standing position, slamming him against the wall. Wolverine held him by the collar and pulled back his fist, three metal claws popped from his hand. The kid screamed. Wolverine snarled.

Kitku limped over and touched Wolverine's arm. He looked down at her. "Please, don't."

He recessed his claws and looked back at the leader. A foul odor wafted to his nostrils.

"Look," Kitku addressed the leader, "I'm willing to make a deal with you, okay?"

The boy nodded.

"You leave me alone and I won't let my friend kill you, deal?"

He nodded.

"I didn't hear you," Kitku said quietly, getting a perverse sense of justice from this confrontation. As if he could sense her pleasure, Wolverine leaned his face into the kid's and snarled, baring his teeth.

"Yes!" he shouted. "For fucking Christ's sake, yes!"

"Ever?"

"Ever! Call him off!"

"Okay, works for me." She touched Wolverine's arm again. "It's okay now. Let him go, please."

Wolverine dropped the kid none too gently to the ground. The leader sat there for a second until Wolverine growled loudly at him. He ran, knocking into garbage cans and tripping himself trying to get away from this whole nightmare.

Kitku laughed as she watched him run, causing her split lip to hurt and bleed even more. "Ow." Wolverine knelt down in front of her and took her face in his hand. He looked at the wound, torn a piece of his bandage and as gentle as possible, he wiped her lip. His efforts won him a small smile.

"Well, since your up, we need to eat and get you some clothes." She ushered him back inside the room. "Wait here, I'll get you some clothes and I'll be back shortly, 'kay?"

He grabbed her wrist, shaking his head. He had no intentions of letting her go off by herself.

"Look," she said rolling her eyes, "you can't go with me, not like this. It'll only be a minute. There's a mission up the street, 'kay?"

Wolverine looked down at himself, nodded and sat on the bed, looking very displeased with the situation.

"Come on, you know I'm right." She smiled and ducked out of the room, moving the can in front of the opening before she left.

Wolverine sat on the bed. He had to get himself together. He wasn't an animal. He knew that. He had needed his bestial side to survive Omega Red and get the kid to safety. Time to come back and let the man takeover.

He moved from the bed and sat in a lotus position. He couldn't remember his name or where he was from or where he was going to, but he knew he could reach the answers through meditation. He cleared his mind. Tried to focus. He opened his eyes and lit the candle on the crate in front of him. He focused on the candle.

She made her skateboard and skated/skied down the alleyway. She wasn't sure how her powers worked, only that she could skateboard on any surface. Walls, ceilings, ice, snow and even water. That's just the way it was and she couldn't argue the point. She made her way quickly to the Mission, passing by the food line and directly to the back door. She dissipated her board and went in.

"Hi!" she called out to Merv.

He looked up and gave her a lopsided smile. "Hi, Kitku."

He bounded over to her and hugged her. He was a man in his fifties, rather handsome with his salt and pepper hair and beard. He had the deepest brown eyes that seemed to sparkle with untouched innocence. Merv was a bit slow and worked here in exchange for room and board. He had been staying with his family but they had died. The Mission workers found him wandering the streets and the city gave him a job here, repairing small appliances. He enjoyed the work and felt he was doing something for the betterment of the world.

Kitku returned his hug and gave him a small smile, trying not to resplit her lip.

"Oooh, you got hurts." His eyes registered the pain that she was in. "Big owie."

"No, not really. You should see the other guys."

Merv looked at her, trying to grasp her meaning. Suddenly he laughed, a deep rich laughter. "I get it. Very funny."

"I'm not kidding," she mumbled. "Merv, I need some clothes."

"Well, 'kay." He stopped laughing and led her over to a couple boxes that had not been processed yet. "Try here."

Let in the flame and clear out the blackness. He focused, stared and felt his body begin to float. He let the feeling consume him. His mind was cleared. He reached into himself just as....as....what the blazes was his name?...he had taught him to do this, to help control himself when he was in Japan and the other man who helped him at....Home?

He viewed the scenes around him as if he were looking at a museum. A woman with red hair, she was beautiful. He felt a surge through his body. Love? Admiration? Why couldn't he remember her name? Was she a lover? Wife? Friend? He felt himself longing for her. No, not a lover or a wife.

He wandered further into his mind and searched for more answers. Friends and enemies flew past him. A couple furry males, a young girl, a black lady with white hair. A female cyborg. Omega Red. A bestial male...Sabertooth. A man in a uniform, wearing a helmet. Another male with an eye patch. A blonde woman in some sort of spandex uniform.

Why could he remember his enemies and not his friends? Was the need in him to hate so much stronger an emotion than the love of his friends? Or was his mind trying to protect them? But from whom and why?

This was not getting him any closer to leaving behind his bestial side. He moved further down the halls of his mind.

Kitku shifted through the boxes, they were all for little girls. "Oh, Merv..."

"You don't like?" the hurt in his voice was overwhelming.

"Oh, no, it's not that," Kitku said quickly, "They're wonderful, but I need men's clothing. For a new friend of mine."

"Friend? Like me?" He looked at her in a hurt way.

"Heck no, no one can replace you, Merv. You're my bestest friend." She gave him a hug, quickly reassuring him. "I found him, he's very hurt and needs clothes. His got messed up in a fight."

"Oh, 'kay." He went to another box and shifted through it, pulling out sweatshirts, sweatpants, jeans, jackets, underwear, and anything else he could find.

There was a woman, small, petite, Greek looking. Wolverine moved towards her. She looked up at him and smiled. She had long, black hair and her scent was jasmine. She bent the metal in front of her forming it into two figures intertwining.

"What's the matter, gorgeous? You lost?" She stood and walked over to him. She tilted her head and studied him. "Been in another scrap, huh, Logan?"

Logan? Was that his name?

"So typically you. Well, it must of been a bad one, babe, otherwise you wouldn't be here lookin' for yourself." She walked over to a painting and covered it. She explained, "We haven't finished that one yet, Wild Thing."

He smiled. The nickname. She called him that once upon a time, but when?

"Oh, now don't go worrying yourself over me. You'll remember when you need me the most. Right now," she moved back over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, "Right now, there's a little girl who needs you more. You're on the right track, gorgeous, just keep going that way."

She pointed down the hallway. It was pitch black. "Just remember, babe, don't stop and fight on the way or you'll loose yourself, possibly forever. And, Logan, I just couldn't stand not ever seeing you again. Now, run along and take care of this mess." She turned, blew him a kiss, and shut the door to her memory.

As he moved further down the halls, he heard the memories of his past battles. He felt claws rip into his back. He turned and faced the one called Sabertooth. He popped his claws, frothing at the mouth, his beast ready to kill.

He forced himself to turn around, trying to regain his control.

"Come on, runt," the memory called. "Let's finish it."

"Yeah, lets." Wolverine stopped, started to turn, "No, I won't."

"You're the best at what ya do, runt. From what I see, it's runnin', ya coward!"

He felt his control slip. He fought to regain control, she had warned him if he turned and fought the memory, the man in his mind would be lost, possibly forever. He forced the door to shut on that memory, just like...Charley?...taught him.

He reached the last door and opened it to the man inside. The beast looked upon the man.

"'Bout time, bub," he said and moved to the beast. The beast and the man became one. Wolverine closed his eyes. Okay, he wasn't complete, but it was better than before. He knew his name was Wolverine and Logan. The beast and the man?

Kitku checked each one over, trying to guess Wolverine's size. She finally settled on a Celtic's sweatshirt, a black t-shirt, a trenchcoat, work boots, and a pair of jeans. As an after thought she grabbed the sweats in case the jeans didn't fit.

"Thanks, Merv." She stuffed the items in her backpack. "I'm gonna bring him by for breakfast so you can meet him. Let me know if he's okay with you."

Merv beamed at her. "You bring him here and I'll have breakfast waitin', 'kay?"

"Sounds good." She gave him another quick hug and left, waving over her shoulder at him. He stood at the entrance way, waving until she was out of sight.

The clothes fitting went well. The jeans were a bit long, but Kitku rolled them up a bit. The boots, surprisingly were a perfect fit. And a person can't go wrong with t-shirts and sweatshirts. Once he was dressed they made their way down to the mission and true to his word, Merv had breakfast waiting.

As they approached, Merv looked upset. He was pacing. Kitku stopped and looked at him. His eyes met hers. He was scared. She stopped Wolverine who was sniffing at the air. Merv shook his head. Wolverine was already backing her away from the mission.

As they approached the mission, Wolverine sensed the fear coming from the man at the backdoor. He sniffed the air. Not good. Something was wrong. He could smell the gun oil, the metal, and...something else, something from his past. He couldn't place. He should know the scent. He stopped and listened. The sliding of a bolt. He scooped up Kitku and ran. "Come on."

Kitku was staring at Merv when suddenly Wolverine had her under his arm and was running down the street away from the mission. Great, now I'm a sack of rice, she thought to herself. The small attempt at humor did not alleviate her growing fear. She cringed as Wolverine ran down the street with her, the bouncing aggravated her sore stomach muscles. Kitku covered her eyes when Wolverine suddenly spun, backtracked and made a sharp turn down an alley. He paused and let her down. She slid down against a wall, trying to catch her breath, holding her stomach.

"Mind telling me what that was all about?" she gasped between breaths.

He put his hand over her mouth. The urgency in his eyes and the ferocity on his face, startled her. Shaking, she nodded. He let her go and peered around the corner, he ducked back quickly, gesturing for her to go up the fire escape. She materialized her skateboard and went up the side of the wall, stopping just at the cuspid of the roof. Wolverine had made his way up the fire escape, indicating for her to follow him. He took her onto the roof, staying low made their way to the edge.

Kitku looked onto the street beneath them. Several men in dark sunglasses and business suits were walking quickly in their direction.

"Well, aren't they a bit cliché," she whispered. She glanced at Wolverine, he was watching them intensely. Kitku shrugged, turning her attention back to the scene. They were closer and she could pick out their features. They were Chinese decent, Kitku gasped. The Tong. "Oh, shit. I gotta get outa here."

She panicked, backing up from the edge. She looked around her wildly, trying to think of her best escape route. Her mind fogged.

Mom was shoving her into the rice bin, hiding her daughter.

"Quiet. Don't move. Don't come out," she ordered.

Kitku nodded. She closed her eyes tight. Then the shouting and the sounds of breaking things. She could hear her Dad arguing and pleading in Chinese with them. She opened the bin just a crack to get a view. They were hitting her Father. A man in red and black with a sword stood in front of him. He made an order to one of his thugs. The thug grabbed her Mother and pulled her head back exposing her throat. Then her Dad was throwing his body over his wife. Both looking towards her. Kitku was frozen. She couldn't move. She was captured by her parent's eyes and then an explosion. She felt her body being shook.

Wolverine watched her back away from the edge. She was in a state. Wolverine had to get himself together and quick, otherwise he'd loose the kid. He knew he was getting better. He was feeling himself, more human, more of a man. He tried to grab her once, but she slipped from his grasp.

She was screaming silently, holding her ears, trying to hold out some unheard noise. Her eyes squeezed tightly together, trying to block out an ugly memory. She was heading for the edge. Jeez, what did they do to her? And so young, Christ, he thought to himself. He grabbed her as she started to go over the side. "Gotcha."

He held her in his arms, backed up and took a running start. He dove for the other roof, he tucked and rolled, protecting her with his body. He stood up and held her at arms length. "Come on, kid," the voice growled. "Relax, darlin'."

She opened her eyes and took a quick inventory of her surroundings. They were on a different rooftop. Wolverine was kneeling in front of her. She flung herself at him, hugging his neck tight. His first instinct was to bolt, but slowly he returned the hug, patting her back softly.

"It's okay, darlin', shhh. It's okay," he counseled her as he felt her tears run down her face and onto his cheek. "Come on, Kit, it's gonna be all right."

"They're gonna kill me, Wolvie, kill me dead!" she sobbed, "Ya gotta help me, Wolvie."

He sniffed at the air, to see if they were close, not close enough to worry about. He had to get Kitku back on track, otherwise, she'd be a liability. He sat back and pulled her onto his lap. "Why are they gonna kill you?"

"'Cause I saw 'em kill someone," she whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. She looked at him, her green eyes reflecting absolute terror and questioningly for help.

"Don't worry, sweetpea, ain't gonna let no one hurt ya. Ya got my word, kiddo, ya got my word." He pulled her closer and hugged her tight, trying to absorb some of the fear from her.

"Yes, my name is Scott Summers and I'm looking for someone. Yes, I'll hold," he sat back, feeling his spine crack from leaning over too long. "Ow, felt good."

The operator came back on, "Yes, sir, I'm looking to see if a man around five feet, five foot three, broad build, black hair, brown eyes, has been admitted to your hospital. His name is Logan, but he may have been listed as a John Doe. Yes, I'll wait."

He reached for his cup of coffee, made a face at the taste of it. Cold. "Yes, I'm still here, sir. No? No one? Are you sure? I'm sure you are very efficient. I'm sorry. Yes, thank you for your time."

He hung up the phone, carefully lifted his visor, wiping his eyes. Cyclops looked at his watch, it was only eight o'clock. Why was he so tired? He looked back at his watch, eight p.m., Friday? They had been up for over thirty-six hours? He looked around the room, stacks of dishes, cups, and other assorted foodstuffs had been shoved to the other end of the war table. He looked over to Jean, she was still on Cerebro, her eyes squeezed shut. Kurt was asleep over his keyboard, the printer humming next to him.

Cyk stood and stretched, the rest of his spine cracked an popped. He went over to Jean and gently touched her shoulder. "Jean, love?"

She opened her eyes, her beautiful green eyes were bloodshot. "Yes?"

"Come on, love. Lets get some sleep."

She nodded, removed the headpiece, and stood. Her legs ached, her back was sore, and her backside was numb. "What time is it?"

"Eight."

"Seems like it should be later." She yawned.

"Friday."

"Friday?" Her eyes were wide with surprise. "We've been up for thirty-six hours?"

"Yes." He had walked over to Kurt and touched his shoulder. Nightcrawler jumped to his feet, parrying an imaginary sword.

"Back, foul scourge of the sea, least yeah...Oh, hello, Scott." He looked away sheepishly. "I guess I fell asleep."

"It's okay, Nightcrawler, it's late and we need to get some sleep. Come on. We'll get a fresh start in the morning." He glanced over at the printer, something caught his attention. He grabbed up the papers and began reading. Most of the children listed were missing recently. None were mentioned missing in Chinatown. "Kurt?"

"Ja?"

"These kids, that you have listed, they're missing recently?"

"Ja, within the past week. Why?" Kurt suddenly was more alert.

"What about in the past year..."

"Year?" Kurt snapped, "Mien Gott, Cyk, look at the pile of papers from just this week. You vant me to go into the past year?"

"Specifically in Chinatown, Kurt, just Chinatown."

Wolverine and Kitku had made their way from rooftop to rooftop, finally stopping near a less crowded area of Chinatown. The only thing on Wolverine's mind was to get her out of here and away from the Tong. He was sure that the Tong or at least the person with them, was also after him. So, now, it was a matter of survival. Wolverine spotted a kid on a motorcycle, he had just stopped and was waiting for the light to change.

"Get down there, Kit. We're gonna get some transport."

She spotted what he was looking at and smiled, "Gotcha, Wolverine."

She skated down the wall, keeping to the shadows. Wolverine jumped to the pile of trash beneath him. His landing was near perfect, but his gut hurt. He still wasn't wholly healed yet. He'd have to be more careful, not keep pushing his healing factor. He rolled out of the trash and came face to face with Kitku's skateboard.

"Oh, you're gonna smell good," she snickered waving a hand under her nose.

"Shaddup, kid." Wolverine stood and ran over to the guy on the bike, it was a Yamaha. Crap. But it would have to do, beggars can't be choosers. The guy started to move, Wolverine shoved him off the bike.

"Hey, you son of a bitch!" The kid jumped to his feet, taking a swing with his helmet. Wolverine snatched the helmet from the kid's hand and landed a solid kick to his chest. "Here, put this on."

Kitku took the helmet, started to protest, his growl hushed her. "All right, already. It's on." Wolverine revved the bike and sped away, out of Chinatown. No particular destination in mind, just as far from here as possible. That was not exactly a true statement, he had an idea of where they could go, just that he wasn't sure of the exact address and the name of the person he had in mind. The woman from his memory, the woman who warned him. He knew she could help protect Kitku and give them a safe place to stay for awhile.