Wolverine sat down in the chair, he was still hooded and had been led down a series of corridors or at least he thought he was, there was something a miss there. He breathed in and caught six scents, the guard who had been with him, two other men, and the last two that set his animal blood to boiling, Jasmine and Kitku. A growl formed in the back of his throat, his wrists labored against his restraints and his mind began to black out.

"Is that you, Wild Thing?" he heard Jasmine ask.

His mind quickly cleared and he grunted in response. He heard Kitku sigh with relief and he wanted to tell her it would be okay, but he couldn't. He wasn't so sure it would be okay, not now. If it were just him, that would be another story but now he had to worry about the little girl. Jasmine, she could take care of herself, she had proven that over the years. They would have to work together to get Kitku to safety.

"We're gonna make it out of here, Wild Thing, together," Jasmine said as if reading his mind.

"Yeah," Kitku chimed in. "You promised season tickets to the Yankees and you can't welch on that over something like this."

"You promised season tickets?" Jasmine's voice held surprise. "I guess I was wrong about you."

"Red letter day," Logan snarled. "Let me mark my calendar."

"Smart ass."

"Yep."

The conversation faded and they sat, waiting for their fate. Wolverine wished he had Kitku's optimism, but he was too far jaded. He tested his restraints again but to no avail, sniffed at the air to see if anyone had come in or out. There were no changes in the room, which he could detect. He heard Kitku sigh from boredom.

"I wish they'd get this over with," Jasmine complained. "It's not like I don't have a life outside of being a kidnap victim."

Wolverine shook his head, Jasmine knew the score but found humor in it anyway. Two new scents immediately caught his attention. The first, he did not know but the second belonged to the one who had attacked him early in the day, but the scent had a nagging familiarity to it. He heard two chairs scratch back as the men seated themselves.

"What's going on?" Kitku asked in a hushed tone.

"I'm sure they will let us know soon enough," Jasmine said, her tone holding no fear but only reassurances to Kitku.

"You are quite correct," answered a man's voice.

"Do I get a gold star?" Jasmine asked snidely, almost challenging.

"No, I'm out of those," the man replied in an amused tone. "My name is Controller."

"Bit narcissistic, don't you think?" she mocked.

"Perhaps"

"Who's your buddy?" Wolverine snarled.

"That introduction will have to wait. But we do have some questions for you," he finished before she could interrupt any further. "So, if you'll be kind enough and patient enough, this will be over soon. First, we'd ..."

"Don't answer nuthin' ta people I don't see," Logan broke in.

"Really? Well, that is a shame, since we now are at an impasse."

"Guess so."

Utter silence filled the room, it seemed as if no one was breathing.

Cyclops waited in the War Room for Professor. Jasmine, Kitku and Logan had gone missing. Their vehicles were nowhere to be found and they had disappeared without a trace. Literally.

When the X-Men went to check on where Jasmine and Kitku had last been seen, Kurt had gained access into mall security and checked the cameras. They were taped leaving the mall but not the parking lot. The camera made its slow sweep of the parking lot, it revealed the car with Jasmine and Kitku about to get in but on the camera's return sweep, the car was gone without a trace.

As for Logan's vehicle, the X-Men discovered that he bought some groceries and then went out to his jeep, but the storeowner claimed he never saw the jeep drive away. They searched the dirt parking lot for tire tracks but there was too many to identify one from the other.

He looked over to Jean. She gave him a small smile. "Here we go again."

He shook his head. "This is getting to be a regular theme with these three."

"No doubt," Archangel interjected as he sat down.

"It is evident that they maintain a forte for encountering adversity," Beast agreed as he entered the room.

Jean smiled at Beast. "I agree."

"Perhaps we're overreacting," Archangel observed.

"No, I don't think so," Kurt disagreed as he 'bamfed' into the room.

"Thanks," Angel said, waving his hand in front of his face to fan away the brimstone.

"I agree with Kurt." Storm made her way into the room and seated herself between Archangel and Cyclops. She gave a sweet smile to Warren who returned it. "When it comes to Logan, we should never believe ourselves to be overreacting."

"Nor Jasmine, from what I've seen," added Cyclops.

"Scott," Jean warned. "Be nice."

"I am being nice."

"She's just overzealous."

"About everything."

"It's refreshing."

"It's annoying."

"Children," Warren broke in. "No fighting in the War Room."

"Now that is an oxymoron," Beast observed.

"So is ..."

Professor Xavier entered the room and everyone turned their attention to him. He took a breath and then said, "I believe we have an immense predicament."

Kitku shivered at deadly quiet of the room.

"Take the others back to their rooms," Controller ordered.

Kitku heard Jasmine swear loudly and Logan growled and snarled and then silence.

"We were hired to retrieve you and take you to your family, Kitku," an eerie voice broke the quiet.

The mechanical whispering voice made Kitku shivered again. "My family is dead."

Then anger over powered her fear and she leaned as far forward in her chair as far she could and tried to stare into the general area of the speaker. "They're my new family and that's my Dad and if he ever gets loose, he's gonna kick your ass 'til next Tuesday."

"That's your father?" the first man questioned.

"Well, duh? Isn't that what I just said?"

"Yes, it is," Controller agreed.

She felt her hood being removed and blinked rapidly against the bright shining flood lights. "Damn."

Kitku squeezed her eyes shut before opening them to the light; even then she was forced to blink rapidly to force her eyes to adjust to the sudden brilliance. She focused on the two men in front of her. One was a fair looking gentleman, pretty nondescript person people would notice on the street, brown hair and eyes, and average build. Kitku guessed that the guy used this being average in every way to his advantage. The other made Kitku unintentionally recoil back in her chair.

He was huge in build and, even though he was seated, Kitku could tell he was tall, very tall. His solid black uniform covered him from head to toe; a reflective silver material covered even his eyes. If there was a picture of Death, Kitku was sure this is what it would look like. He was stone still as he sat across from her, she was sure he was not breathing. Maybe he did not need to. Maybe he was Death.

She shivered.

The first man looked past her and some one came up behind her to wrap a blanket over her shoulders. "Better?"

She shrugged; her eyes never left the man in black. His very presence chilled her to the bone and she doubted that one lousy blanket was going to warm her. He scared her in a much different way than Viper did. Viper terrified her but this one, Death, brought a whole new meaning to the work scared. She tried not to shrink any further back in her chair as he leaned forward on the table, clasping his hands in front of him.

"Do you have an uncle?" the man in black asked.

"No," she answered in a shaky voice. "Why?"

He leaned back, letting out a deep breath but said nothing. The other man looked at Death and nodded. "Other than your new family, do you know of any blood relatives that are living?"

Kitku was taken aback by the concern in the kidnapper's voice and stammered, "Uh, well, no."

The two men sighed in unison.

She stared back at them as they studied her, deciding her fate and the fate of Wolverine and Jasmine. The more she thought on the fact that these two men held her life in their hands, the more she became angry. She had nothing left to loose, they could kill her at any moment and judging from Death's biceps, snapping her neck would be like snapping a tooth pick between fingers. She squared her shoulders, her chin up and narrowed her eyes, trying her best to look like Jasmine did just before she blasted someone. "Okay, boys, I've had about enough."

Controller raised an eyebrow as a smirk danced across his lips. "I'm sure you have."

"I'm not kidding, Scanner Boy," she raised her voice.

Death tilted his head toward Controller. "It's her nickname for me. Quaint, isn't it?"

Death shrugged.

"I'll show you quaint!" Kitku yelled as she struggled against her bonds. A strong hand dropped on her shoulder, putting an end to her struggle. "Just you wait."

Kim entered his Master's bedroom. Viper had been recovering at a rapid rate over the last few days and was sitting in the lotus position, meditating. Kim waited patiently for a sign from Viper. After several minutes, Viper opened his eyes and looked to Kim.

"My lord," he greeted as he bowed. "I have news for you."

Viper stretched his aching muscles as he got to his feet. His stomach muscles burned with pain from the slashing attack by the gaijin. "The girl?"

"Yes, and him."

"Excellent."

"The delivery is to proceed as scheduled. It seems that the man has agreed to a face to face meeting for the drop off of the goods." Kim busied himself by pouring Viper a hot cup of healing tea.

Viper accepted it after Kim had taken a sip to check for poisons. "Very good. He is a man of honor; I do not perceive any chance of betrayal. Do you?"

"His reputation is undisputed." Kim paced for a moment and absentmindedly began flipping his butterfly knife open and shut. "However, if he were to discover what our actual intent is with the girl, he could turn on us."

"Like a rabid dog, eh, Kim?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Won't that be a true challenge to take him down in a one on one battle?" A gleam of excitement shined in Viper's eyes. To take down an indestructible foe like him would be glorious.

Kim offered a small smile. In his heart, he believed that Viper would never survive a battle with that one. No one had so far and it was not likely to be so in the future. "Very true, My Lord."

Viper studied Kim's expression. "However?"

"However, My Lord, we can not even be sure that he will be the one who arrives, after all, no has ever seen him and lived. He could be a decoy."

"No, no, Kim, he will show and he will bring the girl and the gaijin. What he does with the female is of no interest to me." Viper finished his tea and offered Kim a small smile.

Kim nodded and was glad to see his Master was happy again. He knew Viper was anticipating the challenge of taking on the one called Wolverine and this time, the X-Men would not be able to stop the fight.

Archangel let out a low whistle, Kurt shivered involuntarily, and Beast sighed. "Ah, this will be much like 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', will it not?"

"Let us hope not, Hank," Professor said. He waited for the information to sink in before he continued.

Storm stared down at her hands for a long moment before she raised her head. "Professor, it does not make sense. I understand that Wolverine would be of interest to him but Jasmine and Kitku?"

"Storm's right," Cyclops agreed. "Taking the girl doesn't fit his profile."

"What little we do know of his profile," Jean corrected. "We know nothing about this man. Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Professor steepled his fingers in front of his face and briefly closed his eyes. "I probed the mind of the store owner and he had seen something but it had been erased. However, the telepath forgot about the dog."

"The dog?" Warren questioned.

Professor cleared his throat and forced a blush of embarrassment away. "Well, yes, the dog. Admittedly, it took a bit but eventually I was able to communicate with him and he saw Wolverine's attacker, quite clearly, I might add."

Cyclops raised an eyebrow. "The dog did?"

"Yes," the Professor repeated somewhat exasperated. He knew by admitting where he got the information, he would be subject to jokes by his X-Men, but he did not expect ribbing from Cyclops. "Regardless, we have a description of the attacker and whom I believe him to be."

Cyclops fed the information into the computer.

"No image available," the computer announced.

"Give what details we have available to us," Professor instructed.

"Information on subject: Man of War."