Katherine Pryde's breath was quickening as she packed her suitcase. She carelessly threw as much clothing in her suitcase as it could hold. Each new sound in the night caught her ears, as she jerked her head up in fear of being caught. She latched the case and eased it out her bedroom window, onto the cold stone landscape of Muir Island. The phone call she had received had startled her very much and she was doing the only thing she knew that would keep her friends safe. Katherine pulled out a single piece of paper and wrote with an English styled pen, one word. She phased herself, with the paper in hand through her wall to Kurt Wagner's room. Placing the paper on Kurt's bathroom mirror, she returned to her room to grab Lockheed, her purple alien dragon as she leapt out of her window into the chilly Scottish air. Katherine picked up her suitcase and ran to the emergency Hanger kept at the far end of the Island. She hoped no one would discover her gone before she even had a chance of leaving the country.

* * * * * * *


     Kurt Wagner, known as Nightcrawler awoke early that morning with a feeling of urgency. He thought that he had seen a mysterious woman, crowded in shadows creep into his room. He knew that he must have been dreaming or else he would have stopped her. But he needed to assure himself his feelings were wrong. Kurt walked into his bathroom and searched the dim surroundings. Sensing nothing dangerous he flicked on the light switch, in surprise to see a note stuck to his mirror. He read the single word written upon the paper to himself and was puzzled beyond belief. He automatically got dressed and quickly walked down to Moria MacTaggert's quarters. He banged loudly on her door, awaking her with a start.

     "W'o is it bangin' on t'e bloody do'r at t'is wee 'our of t'e mornin'?!" Moria's voice squealed grumpily.

     "It's Kurt, Frau MacTaggert. I didn't mean to wake you, but I need your help." He called out quietly to her. There were some low grumbling and thudding coming from the other side of the door, until Moria poked her head out at Kurt, blinking hard to clear her sleepy eyes.

     "W'at is it?" Moria said with a kinder tone.

     "I found this." Kurt stated, handing over the piece of paper. She examined it closely, with a bewildered look on her face.

     "T'is looks like Kitty's writin', but it ain't make much sense to me. Why would she leave t'is in yer room?" Moria scratched her head in puzzlement. Kurt shrugged his shoulders in response.

     "Did ye check 'er room?" she asked intently. He shook his head, Moria grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to Katherine's room. Moria gently knocked on Kitty's door but there was no response and Moria was in no mood to wait all day to find out that Katherine wasn't in her room. Moria tried the door knob but had no success, so Kurt teleported the both of them into Kitty's room. The first thing that hit them was that Katherine had been kidnapped, her room was a mess and her belongings were scattered all over. But when they discovered her suitcase and most of her clothes gone, and the note . . . all they knew was that Kitty had run away.

* * * * * * *
     Professor Xavier's voice lent Excalibur no relief in Kitty's well being. Moria faxed the note found in Kurt's room and even Charles Xavier was surprised by it.

     "Why did she leave this? What is going on over there? Why would she want to leave Muir Island?" Charles quizzed the members of Excalibur, in a slight accusing tone. Kurt stepped forward as leader and spoke calmly in response to Xavier's rude assumption.

     "Pete had gone missing. She went out to London to find out what had happened to him and came back different. Last night was her first night home in a month and she just went straight to her quarters without a word. We all know that Wisdom died, after the reports from the New Mutants. So we just left her alone to her thoughts. Then I wake up to find that she left this note on my mirror and she's no where to be found." Xavier raised his eye brows and then motioned to Jean to deliver the paper to its proper owner.

* * * * * * *

     Logan raised his eyes to Jean as she lightly knocked on his ajar door. He motioned with his head for her to come in. Jean placed the paper on his bedside table and walked out without a word. He picked up the paper with curiousity, to find the word; "Wolverine" written in black ink. He sniffed the paper sharply for the oldest scent. Picking up the strongest, but oldest smell was of Katherine. He then carefully examined the penmanship and manner of writing to conclude that she was in a hurry and was deeply distressed, but careful enough to give him a clue of just where she was going, deliberately. His code name was also written in a strange way; with the V, I, N, and E larger than the rest of the letters.

     "VINE . . . Vine, grapes, alcohol . . . V.I. any . . . Viany. Viany pub in London." Logan exclaimed triumphantly.

    "That little smarty-pants."

     Logan gathered a few clothes in a bag and grabbed a hand full of cash from his dish-like light fixture in the centre of his room. He snuck down the hall to the jets and took one of the smaller two-seaters.

* * * * * * *


     London, England, 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Katherine was sitting on a park bench in the cool morning air enjoying the quiet surroundings. Early morning was always her most favourite time of day. She was still weary from her fast departure from Muir Island and wasn't sure when Logan would come to the pub or if he would come at all. A squeal of rubber on pavement roused her attention to the street circling the park. She jumped up from the bench and made her way deeper into the forested park. Even though the car sped by without stopping she still pressed on into the welcoming cover of the trees. Lockheed followed after her curiously wondering her sudden alertness. He cooed softly at her to comfort her. Katherine stopped at the sound of Lockheed's coo and took him in her arms with a warm embrace. He was all she had for the time being until she and Wolverine met. Katherine calmed herself and sat under an old Oak tree to rest her tired body with Lockheed tucked comfortably in her arms. It was going to be a long wait before she could contact Logan, and she had no where to sleep until Logan arrived, when she would feel secure enough. The bar would open in seven hours and Katherine had no where to go that would be safe for her and Lockheed.

* * * * * * *


     Seven hours later and Katherine walks into the almost empty pub. The bartender gives her a quick glance, then sets his eyes on Lockheed. Katherine thinks to herself;

     'Oh great, here we go! I better be prepared for a fight, or at least to be kicked out.'

       He looks once more at Katherine's face then bellows out;

     "Is he litter-trained?"

   Kitty startled, blurts out;

     "What do you mean, 'Is he litter-trained'?"

   The barkeep looks at her cross eyed and explains himself properly.

     "I mean, I don't want no unruly pets, flyin' 'round 'ere makin' me place dirty! That's what!"

     "He's not my pet, but he's very well behaved." Katherine answered him feeling a bit embarrassed by the centred attention. But after her words the bartender turned back to what he was doing without another word. Lockheed hissed at the men eying Kitty as she went to the back of the pub and chose a secluded booth with curtains that added extra privacy. She seated herself down and placed Lockheed beside her, to wait for however long it would take for Logan to arrive at the pub.

     It wasn't long before Lockheed peeped up and gave a puff of smoke to notify Katherine of Wolverine's entrance. Logan searched the now very crowded pub for his very close friend. He spotted Lockheed's purple head and pushed through the already drunken flock of people.

     "Hey Kit."

     "Sit down and close the curtains."

     "What's all the secrecy about?"

     "I'll tell you, just I don't really know myself." Katherine's eyes told Logan that she was in no "small talk" mood. He did as she had instructed and focussed all his attention to her.

     "I received a phone call yesterday night. It was from an old and trusted friend. He had news of Pete's whereabouts. As you may know, we were all told that Pete was dead. But he had a different story . . . " she paused briefly to recall the conversation.

     "He said that Pete was working for someone . . . not Black Air, but a higher level organization. One that could change the world forever. Pete had not lied to us about his Black Air ordeal. He had worked for them, but to betray them, using us as the "back up" that he needed to fulfill his mission. He used me for information against Excalibur and the X-Men, for his organization. They're going to wipe out all organizations and law in-forcing groups, especially the X-teams. He was the one who defeated the New Mutants and is holding them hostage, along with Jubilee. Of course Pete knows that I would not stand for it and object to what he is doing . . . he is going to give me a chance to save everyone's lives, if I voluntarily go with him. But of course he is still going to kill everyone. But the longer I stay with Excalibur, the sooner he will attack them. If I stay away from them, I will prolong Pete's assault on them and the others, but I don't want to go to him after all this. I don't love him anymore. Pretending to be dead, just so that we wouldn't know it was him, who betrayed us and led us on. I hate feeling so foolish and naive that I actually fell in his trap!"

     Wolverine stretched his arm over the table and gently placed his hand on hers. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.

     "I missed you, Logan. It's been a very long time. And I need you now, more then ever."

     He returned her a smile and slid over to the other side of the booth to sit next to her. Kitty rested her head on his wide shoulder and sighed deeply. Logan wrapped his arm around her tightly and squeezed her close to him.

     "It's okay darlin'. We'll figure out what's with Pete."

     Katherine and Logan left the crowded bar for a quieter scene to talk more about the dilemma.

     The hotel was quiet and secluded. Katherine signed the guest-list and took the keys from the innkeeper's hand. He smiled sickly at her when her fingers brushed his. She felt a wave of nervousness shiver down her spine. Logan popped up from behind her and thanked the man, giving him an icy stare. The innkeeper backed off into the storage room nearby, watching from the doorway as Katherine and Logan travelled up the old creaky stairs.

     They reached their room and dropped their bags on the floor. Kitty and Logan both reached to lock the door at the same time. Katherine shot her hand back to her side, blushing brightly.

     "Great minds think a-like." Wolverine smiled knowingly. Katherine's face calmed down and she started in on her London escapade.

     "I had heard that Pete had gone to London, to help out the New Mutants with a few Black Air affairs. He had gone missing for about a week while working with them and I wanted to make sure that he was alive, I just had to find him! There was a body, it looked like him, but there was something about it, that wasn't quite right. I knew that it wasn't really him. Then I heard a whisper threw the underground that he had been sighted walking through the streets of Paris. I went there and what I found. . . I can't explain. . . I went undercover as a reporter and well. . . he was talking with a lot of 'important' people. I heard him talking to the major of Paris, blackmailing more like it. He kept on referring to 'The Paw'. Do you have any idea of who they are?"

     Logan's face darkened.

     "This is serious."

     "Can they really take over the world?" Katherine's eyes widened as she asked.

     "Hitler was one of their fledgelings."

     "He, he was one of The Paw?"

     "First division. He was at the beginner level of their world-wide organization. Mussolini, Mao T'se Tung, Chaing Kai Shek and General Franco where also first level Paws. The founders of the organization were Caesar and Napoleon. All men with the vision of world domination. And with today's technology. . . they may very well take over the entire world."

     Katherine shivered at Logan's last words. To think the world under the control of a madman is hard to conceive, but the actual possibility of a world-wide organization, with a hostile intent that could last till the world dies made her very stomach turn.

     "But let's hope they aren't going to strike soon. It seems to me that they have a lot of work to do first before they even try to attempt a war right now."

     He gave a little comfort to her spinning mind.

     "Let's forget this right now and set up some tickets to Paris, France."

     "I'll get started on the computer." Katherine placed her laptop on the bed and hooked up to the phone-line. Kitty flew her fingers over the keyboard, the laptop clicked and dinged as she went through security and password documents.

     "There, it's arranged. Two one-way, free first-class tickets to Paris, France. The plane leaves 6:00 am tomorrow morning. Late enough for you?" Katherine Joked trying to lighten the situation. Logan grinned cheerfully at her. It was going to be a long night, he knew it then. Katherine's mind was already buzzing and he knew she was going to ask a million questions about the Paw and how he knew so much about them.

     He was right and most of the night he spent explaining himself.

* * * * * * *


     Katherine awoke to find Logan sitting out on the balcony of the hotel room. She grabbed her housecoat and stepped lightly out onto the cold cement balcony.

    "Is everything alright? You seem a little distant."    Wolverine turned to look at her, almost startled by her presence.    

 "Uh, everything's fine. I was just thinking over our strategy."    

Katherine nodded her head slowly, looking into his eyes, trying to find the truth in them. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he flinched away from her touch. She wrinkled her forehead in puzzlement to his reaction.    

 "Logan... tell me please! You know you can trust me. We've gone through too much together for you to be hesitant in telling me what's on your mind."