Author's notes: Yeah, hi. Me again. Last ish Alysdane Stuart was a bit out of sorts due to the disappearance of her godchild, Alysande, and was made more so by the appearance of an 18-year-old Pete Wisdom, whom handed over info on her godchild's whereabouts in exchange for a place in W.H.O. Kurt and Amanda buried the hatchet (not in each other, thank goodness). And just before it cut off, Alysdane found out that the kid's being held by the London branch of the Hellfire Club. Riveting, ain't it?

Amanda Sefton woke up uncharacteristically early. Under normal circumstances, she slept as long as she could. Being a stewardess kept you on odd hours, so when you had a chance to pass out, you did, and for as long as possible, too. Maybe it was the fact that she was no longer feeling so emotionally bottled up that it actually felt good to be awake. Maybe it was because sleep had recently ceased to be her only refuge from her guilt. But odds were it was because the person next to her rolled over and nearly throttled her with his tail, albeit unintentionally.

After detangling herself from Nightcrawler, Amanda sat up and took a good look around his room. 'He hasn't changed.' she thought, allowing herself a fond smile. A pair of crossed swords hung on one wall, flanked by posters of Errol Flynn in his various roles and one from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Kurt's well-worn bible was on the night-stand by her head. The bookshelf on the wall was inadequate to hold all of Kurt's reading material. Novels, mostly high adventure, were stacked underneath the shelves, but there were some newer additions as well. Among them was a volume entitled 'The Art of War' and another by someone called Teillard de Chardin. Neither name was familiar to the stewardess, but she really hadn't kpet up on her reading lately.

On a deep-blue armchair, perched on a small broom, was the little, blonde, stuffed witch that Amanda had given Kurt years ago. It brought to mind her bamf doll, a cuddly miniature Nightcrawler, that was still packed away in storage.

Amanda bit her lower lip as she thought. The night before had been something that she'd desperately needed: a shoulder to cry on. Amanda had come up to Kurt's room and told him everything that she'd been feeling concerning their break-up and how responsible she felt for the deaths of her friends. The worst had been the fact that she'd have been out of Wendy and Elizabeth's apartment for good in another week. She'd had all of her stuff put in storage and had even had the place picked out. If the battle on Muir had taken place a week later, Amanda's friends would never have been involved at all.

Emotionally worn-out, Amanda supposed that she'd fallen asleep after their talk. It was just like Kurt not to disturb her rest. He wasn't even under the covers with her, just lying next to her. Heaven only knew how he'd managed to position himself to get his tail around her neck, though. A quick glance at the clock on the end table told her than it was only a little after six. She quickly got up, gently draped the bedclothes over Kurt, and tried to slip out of the door. She stopped short at the amused voice behind her.

"Fleeing the scene of the crime?" asked Nightcrawler, his voice showing only the faintest trace of early-morning grogginess.

"What crime?" Amanda was still sleepy, and a little off guard. "We didn't..."

"Stealing my heart, of course. Please don't roll your eyes or they'll stick like that."

"I was just thinking that you might have at least been able to come up with some new lines after all this time." Amanda smiled. "I have to go take care of something. I'll be right back."

Just as she got to the door, Amanda paused, turned, and walked back to the bed. Before Kurt could ask what was on her mind, she leaned over and gave him a long kiss and a hug.

"What was that for?" he asked, a lingering smile playing about his lips.

"For being there for me. And for not pushing me further than I wanted to go last night." Amanda smiled and exited the room, nearly colliding with Brian as she did.

"Morning!" she chirped to the Herculean blonde, not bothering to ask what he was doing up so early. Feeling spectacular, Amanda headed for the basement. Brian's eyes followed her until she went down the first flight of stairs. He took in her untidy hair, the rumpled clothes that she had worn yesterday evening, and the sudden change in her disposition. Braddock arched an eyebrow at Kurt.

"You're very good at comforting vulnerable women, I see." Brian said stiffly, recalling all the times that Kurt had just happened to be around when Meggan was whining for attention.

Kurt bristled. He might have taken it lightly if Brian hadn't injected the word 'vulnerable' into the sentence. It sounded as though Brian were accusing Kurt of taking advantage of Amanda's need of a sympathetic ear. "It's not what you think."

"Uh-huh."

Kurt stood up and walked over to Brian. "Think what you wish, Herr Kapitan. I needn't explain anything to you, and doubt that you'd understand if I were to try."

"It's none of my business." said Brian, his manner suddenly disinterested. "Anyway, Brigadier Stuart is on the viewscreen. She wants to see Excalibur at the W.H.O's head-quarters. Immediately."

Not so long afterwards, the active roster of Excalibur (Nightcrawler, Captain Britain, Phoenix, Shadowcat, and Meggan) was standing in the office of Alysdane Stuart.

The first words to escape Kitty's lips as they entered the Brigadier's domain were "Oh, no. Not him again!"

"That mean you don't fancy me, Pryde?" commented Wisdom, lighting yet another cigarette with a small blade of heat from his finger. He switched from arguing with Alysdane to trading insults with Kitty in the blink of an eye. "That's a load off of my mind, that is." Kitty simply scowled at the lanky figure standing in front of Brigadier Staurt's desk. He looked as if he was wearing the same suit of clothes that he'd been wearing the day before. He hadn't shaved either. Before she could fire a rebuttal at the boy, Alysdane's voice jerked everyone's attention away from the two teens.

"Stow it, Wisdom, or you can wait it out in the holding cells!"

"You mean that pile of rubble across the way?"

"Wisdom, SHUT... UP!" Pete shut up. The Brigadier gave him another glare and went on to brief Excalibur on the situation.

Pete Wisdom let the boss lady think what she wanted to about why he'd clammed up. It certainly wasn't because her authority intimidated him. He just didn't feel up to being his usual charming self. Probably had to do with running around in the soddin' rain all night looking for a decent pub. Hell with it... it was guilt, and nothing but.

Pete wasn't half as thick as most people took him to be at first. The image he cultivated was one of being too belligerent to listen to a thing any one said. Served him well, did that image. He now knew the terms of the trade-off with the W.H.O. and the ministry of defense unit that had shoved him off after his... mishap... and wished that he'd had the balls to defy Scicluna's orders and read the damn thing. He'd have shoved it so far up her ass that he'd have been able to take notes on the fine print by looking in her mouth.

But, no. He'd had to be a good boy for pnce in his life a keep the bloody thing sealed. Then Alysdane had made that crack about messing with a kid's life and gotten him curious. So then, he'd to find out about the deal the cheap-shit way, by tapping in on supposedly private phone conversations and shelling out good money to get some little snot to hack into the Happenings' computers and print out the file for him. His respect for Sandie had gone up a notch or two when he'd seen how many butts she'd been willing to boot to get a fix on the girl's whereabouts. True, it'd been because of her godchild, but it was still admirable. He'd walked into her office to offer his services for the case, as sort of a peace offering. Sandie'd tried to brush him off. Somehow or another, they'd wound up at each other's throats before that subject could come up. Then the spandex circus had trooped in and the conversation had been lost. Whether that was a bad thing or not, Pete hadn't decided.

Pete sighed, moved over to a better vantage point on the wall, and waited for the Brigadier to finish briefing Excalibur.

Sharon Friedlander rapped hesitantly on the bathroom door, using her free hand to partially shield her ears from the music pulsing through the door.

"Amanda? Are you in there?" Somehow, she doubted it. Amanda had been so subdued lately. But it was Amanda's turn at the bathroom, according the schedule. The throbbing beat of Salt 'n' Peppa's "Whatta Man" died down and Amanda's voice floated out over the sound of the shower.

"Yes?"

"I've got to make a run into civilized territory. Excalibur has enough outgoing mail to choke a whole herd of horses and I've got some stuff I need to pick up. Could you find the time to give me a lift?" Sharon was a little surprised, but decided that Amanda had simply resolved whatever had been gnawing at her.

"If you can show me where we're going, sure. I'll be out in ten." The volume of the music soared back up. Sharon retreated to the relative safety of the outdoors. Keesha was practicing with her knife, but getting nicked with a switchblade had to be less painful than the 'musical' assault on her eardrums.

Back in the shower, Amanda reflected on how her own good mood was carrying over into the waking day.

'Why shouldn't it?' she asked herself, working her hair into a good lather. True, she felt a little miffed that hse hadn't had a chance to explain to Kurt what she'd had to do that morning. By the time she'd finished explaining things to her mother, Excalibur had left the building. At least things had gone well as far as Margali was concerned. Margali had taken the news that Amanda had dished up with something suspiciously close to relief, but at least she hadn't expressed disappoint in Amanda's abrupt change of attitude. It'd be absolutely no problem to teleport Sharon up to the nearest town.

"With all due respect, Brigadier," began Captain Britain as Alysdane's briefing came to a close, "I really don't think that this is Excalibur's job. The police have already declared the girl dead. Is there any reason to doubt them? The evidence that you have seems to be doubtful at best."

"More than you had reason to believe that your sister was alive, Braddock." snapped Brigadier Stuart. "The entire point of this whole thing is that I've information enough believe that she is." She sighed. "As I've pointed out before, Excalibur is an independent organization, and I can't order any of you to do a thing. If I have to, I'll put my own people on this. But the five of you have an edge that the Happening's people don't. I'm asking for your help."

Brian wore his usual supercilious expression and Rachel was getting sick of it. Alysdane's unshown worry was pounding on her nerves as was Brian's attitude. The rest of the team was willing to help and here he was acting like lord and master over all of them.

Ray spoke up. "You're 100% right, about us being independent, Alysdane, but that doesn't mean we can't help. I, for one, am more than ready to volunteer for this." Ray looked around at her team-mates, her gaze asking if anyone else was willing.

"Same here." spoke up Shadowcat.

"Naturalich." That was Nightcrawler.

"O-of course." Meggan's voice caught as she looked away from Brian's face. She didn't understand what was happening to the man she loved, and it was worrying her. His drinking had gone from horrible to moderate and things had begun to look better for the both of them. Meggan had felt safe and loved. Now, Brian was slipping into his old habits again. Even more painful that his occasional binges and verbal abuse was his habit of running to Courtney's for comfort. He spent most of his nights there now. The huge bed that Brian and Meggan had shared and played their pleasure-games in now seemed an empty, freezing platform. Meggan wanted so badly to make things the way they had been, but how? What had she done... or not done... to make him turn away? She was snapped out of her thoughts by a growling voice.

"Right." muttered Pete Wisdom, taking another pull on his fag. "Count me in, too." Kitty looked mildly startled and Alysdane stared at Wisdom in undisguised shock.

"You looking to joke your way right out of this job, Wisdom?" snapped the Brigadier. "I don't find you amusing in the least."

"Chrissake, Sandie, I ain't shittin' around! You don't want me help, fine! But just for the record, I'm putting my services at your disposal." The Brigadier continued to look at Pete as if he were some loathsome type of insect, but nodded.

"You're in, Wisdom. We need all the help we can get." She tried to ignore the feeling of having just stabbed herself in the foot that came with those words. "Kitty, I'm going to need your talent with computers after this is over." Alysdane passed two disks to the teen. "These are some of the access codes to the Hellfire Club's inner workings and mainframe. I don't know exactly what they're up to or why they'd want Alysande, but it'd really put my mind at rest to know. Problem is, some of these codes aren't complete and most are outdated. Someone'll have to figure out the rest of the puzzle and we don't have anyone here who can touch you when it comes to this sort of thing." Shadowcat accepted the disks, just barely able to keep herself from smiling at both the assignment and the compliment. Sometimes, it seemed that the only person who had every truly appreciated her skill with computers was Doug Ramsey. It'd been a skill that had taken her a long time to master, but most of her friends and team-mates had taken it for granted that everything she knew about computers had come to her as naturally as phasing. So when someone acknowledged her skill instead of expecting her to just do something, it always made her day.

"Sure. Sounds like a cakewalk." was all Kitty said.

Captain Britain had gone red from the neck up, though all that showed of it was the sudden wash of scarlet around his jaw. These people weren't even acting as if his opinion mattered one bit! "Just a moment." he ground out between his teeth. "Don't I have any say in this? I'm the leader of this team and..."

"And what?" asked Rachel sharply. "That gives you control over the rest of us? In case you weren't listening, Brian, we volunteered for this. We didn't say anything about you having to come. Obviously, it isn't worth your while to go after another little girl."

Brian winced, his rush of anger subsiding. "You're right, of course. Dreadfully sorry. I'll be happy to help, if you'll still have me." He didn't understand what his sudden rage had been about, though it had made perfect sense a moment ago. His face went red again this time from embarrassment and shame for his juvenile behavior.

"As I said, we need all the help we can get." said the Brigadier with a slight smile. "Let's get going. I'll fill you in on the plan on our way." As the team left the office Alysdane grabbed Pete's arm and held him back.

"Change yer mind, Sandie?"

"You made a reputation for yourself during the time you were with the ministry." she hissed at him. "So I'm assuming you're not totally incompetent. But if you louse up this mission, I will kick you r skinny butt out of here, deal or no deal. It doesn't extend to putting up with your insubordination, Wisdom. Just a reminder." She released his arm and marched after Excalibur. Pete stopped just long enough to stomp out his cigarette butt before starting out after them at his own pace.

We're in for it now.' thought Kurt as the dark van containing a driver, Alysdane, Pete Wisdom, and Excalibur pulled up to the front of a prestigious-looking building. It was obvious to everyone that Alysdane's plan had been rapidly cooked up by someone who was less than a master tactician. Kurt could all but touch the tension radiating from the Brigadier. He had a feeling that was trying so hard to fullfil some goal, that she'd formed the plan herself without adequate consultation or forethought. Wisdom had even tried to put in a few suggestions that were fairly well thought out and she'd dismissed them out of hand. Not the smartest thing to do when there was something personal at stake. Still, the plan wasn't a total loss.

"What in the world...?!" snapped Captain Britain, shattering the heavy silence in the back of the van. "Are you trying to get me laughed away at the front door?!" Kitty was biting the insides of her cheeks at the outfit that Alysdane had ordered Brian into. The suit didn't clash, it was in the middle of a major battle. But what else could be expected? The Brigadier had sent Alistaire out to buy Brian a suit that he would have picked out for himself. That in itself would probably have been awful enough, but Alistaire had been out of sorts about not being allowed to come along. Alysdane had been adamant about that. If worse came to worse, she didn't want her brother involved in any of it. Suffice to say, Brian's suit was rather snug and looked as if it had been grabbed from the half-off rack of a soon-to-be-out-of-business retail store.

"Sorry, Captain," muttered Alysdane, looking up from the floor plans that she and Kurt were poring over. "But with Phoenix scanning the building, masking your minds and faces, and keeping tabs on the rest of the team, I don't want to take chances with stretching her powers too thin by using them to disguise your costumes as well. And if the Hellfire Club realizes that they've been invaded, we're all up a creek. They aren't exactly light-weights when it comes to current politics."

"Besides," put in Rachel, " if anything goes wrong they'll be so busy staring at your suit, it'll be all they recall of our visit. I probably shouldn't even bother disguising our faces." she joked. In direct contrast to her usual flamboyancy, Rachel didn't have to worry about being remembered. In a modest white blouse and flats, and a knee-length gray skirt, she looked as if she had spent her entire life languishing away behind a secretary's desk. Rachel's levity kept everyone from tensing up. She couldn't blame them for being uneasy about the plan. Without a powerful telepath, it would have been next to impossible to pull off.

"Everyone ready?" asked the Brigadier, tossing the five members going in small button-like devices. "These transceivers will let us track you once you're all inside. If you press them or if the two of us out here get an SOS from Phoenix, Nightcrawler'll show up to teleport you out." Rachel nodded and mind-linked Wisdom, Kitty, Meggan, Brian, and herself together, casting a slightly annoyed glance at Wisdom as she did. The transceivers were over-kill as far as she was concerned, but Alysdane had insisted. Rachel chalked it up to Wisdom's inexperience with mind-links. The fact that those two disliked each other was obvious, so why bother with the extra insurance for him?

"Ready." she told the Brigadier. In an instant, the five before Nightcrawler and Alysdane vanished and four total strangers and one familiar face stood in their places.

Pete, seeing himself through Rachel's eyes, broke the sullen silence that he'd kept up. "Wot the bloody hell...?! What's the idea with turning me into a ferret?"

Kurt couldn't help laughing out loud. "Not quite. His name is Nigel Frobisher. But why are you using his face on Herr Wisdom, Rachel?"

I figure if anyone does see them and happen to recognize the pig, he might get hassled over it. The drab faced woman thinking in Rachel's voice frowned at Kurt's highly amused thoughts. Oh, all right, Fuzzy. But I still say he'd deserve it. Pete's face went to one of a grizzled gray-haired man.

"Allow me." Kurt swung open the back doors of the van and waited for everyone to get out. "Good luck, mein fruends." he called before slamming them shut.

Good luck, Kitty. Rachel thought to her best friend as the two teens and Meggan vanished through the ground. You too, Meggan. she added as an after-thought.

Yeah, with this set-up, we'll need more than luck. Don't suppose no one's got a 'Get out of jail free' card from the Almighty? No need to guess who that was from.

Hush, you! Thanks, Ray. You too.

Sure, kiddo. Rachel turned her attention back to Brian. Know your lines?

The black-haired man with the scar running down his chin nodded and indicated the clip-board tucked under his arm. Most of it's right here on the forms. They paused in front of the huge, oaken, double-doors and rang the bell. Let's try to be discreet, shall we?

Rachel gave Brian's loud suit an up and down glance and cleared her throat, but kept her comments to herself.

Joseph Smithe hadn't been with the Hellfire Club long. It was, in fact, his first month on the job and he simply couldn't see why everyone at the Butler's Union dreaded taking jobs with this organization. The pay was superb, the live-in quarters bordered on luxuriant, and the hours, while subject to sudden change, were not overly demanding. All in all, it was an excellent job. Perhaps the pressures of dealing in such an important position intimidated some butlers. Their loss, then. More jobs for capable people like himself. The bell to the front door rang and Joseph strode down the hall to answer it.

On the front step stood two people. One, an obvious office drudge stood meekly behind a hulking dark-haired gorilla who should have been shot by the fashion police. An important place like this attracted all sorts of solicitors.

"Yes? Might I help you?" Smithe asked, keeping his voice neutral. One did not fawn or snub until you knew with whom you were dealing.

"Yes. I'm with the A.S.A.P..."

"Bri..ent?" spoke up the drudge. She had surprisingly strong voice. "Don't you mean R.S.P.C.A.?"

"What? Oh, yes..."

"Whatever for?"

Brian fumbled. "Er... well, we've received word of some problems with dogs here and..."

We're legit! Rachel pushed at Smithe's mind.

"Oh, of COURSE!" Smithe gushed. "Come right in and follow me! Someone will be with you in a minute." Smithe trotted down the hall. Brian and Rachel followed.

Rachel?

Cap?

We are DOOMED.

Kitty, how long is this going to take? asked Meggan as Shadowcat, with Wisdom and herself in tow, sped along a few inches below the surface of the ground. I can't breathe!

"Happens when you're phased." Kitty muttered automatically, being used to speaking while phased. "Almost there." She reminded herself of the link and tried to save her air.

If you're recalling the briefing right. scoffed Wisdom. For the briefest of instants Kitty wondered if just letting go of this snotty brat would be worth the trouble of explaining to Alysdane what had happened to one of her agents. Then she began walking upwards.

"There!" Kitty snapped, stepping out of the ground and not stopping until she was a foot or so above it (at which point she dropped Pete to the ground). "Right where... oh, crap." Where the Brigadier had said the kennels were supposed to be, there was nothing but a good-sized area of enclosed grass.

"Bloody fuck!" snapped Wisdom, as he saw what Kitty had dropped him in. "Well, you're partially right, you rotten little Yank plonker! Someone's been exercising Fido out here." He ripped up an handful of grass blades and brushed at the dog excrement staining his trenchcoat. "Hell," he muttered, "that just about does this one in..." Aside from giving him a dirty glare over his cursing, Kitty paid him little heed. She couldn't understand where they had messed up.

"Meg..." Kitty broke off and stared at Meggan.

"What?" she asked, looking down at herself. Her body was covered with black and tan fur. "Oh, I've done it again! There must be a dog or something near by."

"Hope that Braddock sod don't mind snogging a woman what has more back hair than he's got." Pete commented.

"That's it!" Kitty grabbed Pete and Meggan's hands and took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching. She air-walked all of them up a pretty fair distance and unphased. Ignoring Pete's yells of surprise as the ground sped towards them, Kitty phased again. The three of them passed into the ground without a sound.

The fall took them through several meters of dirt and concrete much faster than Kitty could 'swim' before they hit an open space. Kitty solidified all of them and landed easily, flexing her ankles to absorb most of the shock from the impact, just as Stevie Hunter had taught her (no good being a dancer if you sprained your ankles on every jump). Meggan hovered easily in mid-air. Wisdom landed like a sack of potatoes.

"You getting some kind of rush from slinging my bum all over the place?"

"Maybe. I knew we were in the right place, I was just thinking on the wrong level!" retorted Kitty, taking in their surroundings. Two rows of sterile dog runs stretched out far as Kitty could make out.

Back in the van, the driver turned up the music in the front, Kurt continued to monitor his team-mates, and Alysdane paced from one end of the van to the other. She felt a total fool. All of the flaws in her plan were becoming apparent to her and she hated not being able to do anything. Absolutely HATED... her line of thought broke off as she collided with Nightcrawler's back.

"Sorry." she mumbled, straightening up.

"Nothing hurt." He smiled at her. "Am I correct in assuming that you are as uncomfortable with enforced inactivity as I am?"

"Probably more so." She looked over his shoulder, just to have something to do. "Any word?" She asked, though she knew there was none.

"Not a peep. Considering that they're only supposed to contact us in case of trouble, I'd say that's not a bad sign." The Brigadier nodded at him and resumed pacing.

Kill me, kill me, kill me...

Rachel be quiet!

The drudge mask that Phoenix wore over her face didn't alter expressions, nor did she jostle the teacup on her knee (TK powers could help a lot in little ways). However, her thoughts were beyond frustrated.

I will not! All you said when that little toad ushered us in to see this Steed woman's pet toady was something about concern over health-codes and we've been getting a sermon on animal equality that would make a room full of PETA extremists nauseous!! I say we just bust that kid out and wipe the whole episode from everyone's minds!

Brian (or Brient as he'd been introduced) nodded at the dark-haired woman in front of them.

"... and as long as man has domesticated dog, it's been an MUTUAL benefit to both species, don't you agree?"

"Oh, absolutely." Brian agreed, "but that's..."

"I know it's an age-old argument, but..."

Brian's eyes glazed over as the woman started up the same arguments at yet another different angle all over again.

Rachel sighed mentally. What's our purpose here again?

If Shadowcat and the others run into any trouble, we're supposed to create a distraction in here.

What if we fall asleep before then?

Brian ignored that comment. How're Meggan and the others doing?

So far, so good.

"I'll be buggered..." Wisdom muttered, walking up to one of the chain-link gates that opened into the dog runs. The creature inside was definitely not Rin-Tin-Tin. The muzzle was too short, the head too rounded, and the stop too pronounced. The first thing that actually came to his mind was one of those bloody-awful children's cartoons that humanized an animal as much as possible while still making what it was supposed to be obvious. There wasn't any aggressive signals coming from the animal either. It seemed more curious than anything else.

Meggan wandered around, not too far from Pete and Kitty. To her, this mission didn't seem unpleasant at all. These animals were actually rather cute and her empathy wasn't picking up so much as a prickle of fear from any of them. Several of the 'dogs' had reared up against the gates of their pens and were wagging their tails, as if looking for attention. The thing that made her uneasy was that the sounds that came from their throats were not barks or whines. They were words or almost words. Nothing elaborate, just short phrases: "Me!" "Good!" "Hoo-mahn play?" "Wan out!"

Shadowcat was looking not just at the dogs themselves, but at their reactions to the sudden appearance of strangers in their midst. Biology and animal behavior had never been the strongest links in Kitty's chain of education, but some things were obvious. The bigger brain cases, the placid curiosity instead of the automatic territorialism that most dogs engaged in, and the advanced vocals. These animals were intelligent and she was willing to bet they weren't naturally so. She also noted that not all of the runs were occupied and that all of the two dozen or so animals that were already there ranged from what looked like a little more than a year to just a couple of months. Then she noticed Pete further down the line, staring in fascination at one of the occupied pens.

"You better come look at this, Pryde." he said, his voice for once not snide or pitched down to a growl. "Looks like what-ever happened to these bowsers had some failures... or whatever the bleedin' hell you wanna call it." Shadowcat walked over quickly. She thought that they shouldn't be sight-seeing. Their main goal was supposed to be finding Alysande. Then she saw what Wisdom was looking at.

In the run was what looked like a 50/50 mixture of dog and human. The creature was wide chested, narrow-hipped, bipedal, and emphatically male. Kitty blushed slightly and looked away. The intelligence level didn't seem to be that much different for it was reacting in almost the same way as the others, except it was able to reach through the mesh to try and touch them. It whined slightly a lay back it's wedge-shaped ears when both humans backed away. A second later it moped to the back of the run and curled up in it's kennel.

Kitty swallowed hard. For some reason, she felt sick. Maybe it was just the smell of all those dogs. "Let's just find Alysande and get out of here."

"Oh, yeah, that'll be an easy job. What're we gonna do, interrogate all o' these mutts?"

Kitty felt that she'd had just about enough. She didn't know how she was going to find the girl anytime soon and Wisdom's sarcasm wasn't making it any easier for her to think. "Look, you haven't been any help so far, so could you just shut up for five minutes!?!"

"Um... Kitty...?" voiced Meggan timidly.

"Look, if you had any sort of idea of what we were supposed to be doing, we'd have found the kid already an' been on our merry friggin' way!"

"Kitty? Mr. Wisdom?"

"Oh, and I suppose you're this great strategist with ten years of training as a Black Op spy! If you were running this thing, we'd have been in and out with Alysdane's godchild already!" The dogs seemed fascinated by this version of a dominance challenge and kept their eyes glued on Pete and Kitty.

"Give the little girl with the big mouth a bleedin' cigar! And it's five years o' training, not ten."

"Right, and I'm Princess Di!"

"If you're right about that at all, I pity Chuck."

"Listen you...!

"EXCUSE ME!" Kitty and Pete left off snapping as Meggan raised her voice. "But I think I can find her. These doggies are all nice, but they don't FEEL like people. Alysande's a person, right? She should feel different..." Meggan left off trying to explain, and reddened slightly. She felt stupid. Getting feelings and concepts into words had never been a strength of hers. She simply flew towards a small door towards the back and paused. "I think it's got a lock... one of those fancy electrolysis ones."

"Electronic." Kitty corrected Meggan automatically as she phased through the lock and door, letting the other two follow the usual way. She paused. It looked like just another room, except it was much smaller. There were only two runs. One was empty. The other held the first 'normal'-looking dog they had seen since they had come in.

"That's her." affirmed Meggan.

"Is she sick or something?" Kitty asked, hoping that it was that and not the other conclusion she was drawing.

Pete was not so inclined to avoid the truth, hard or nasty as it might be. "Thought you were supposed to be bright. She's a brood mare, Pryde. Probably mothered all of those dogs what're out there. And that's why she's back here in isolation. Just waiting to get bred again."

Pete formed a small hot-knife and prepared to burn through the lock on the run. Another peculiarity. None of the other runs had been locked. Kitty shoved his hand away.

"WHAT?" he snapped. "You got something against property damage too?"

"Yes, but that's not what's wrong. Don't you think they'll be just a little bit curious about how a dog managed to burn through her lock?" Pete kept his mouth shut with an effort. The little know-it-all had a point. Being used to solo missions, Wisdom wasn't used to having a power besides his hot-knives and training to rely on. "Right then. Do your thing."

Kitty phased into the run and extended her hand to the dog. While the dogs outside had shown curiosity at their arrival, Alysande went half-mad with fear. She dashed into her kennel and snarled from there.

"Hey, it's OK." Kitty coaxed. "Come on, we're not going to hurt you... that's right..." She reached in after Alysande and got snapped at for her troubles. "I hate to do it this way..." Kitty muttered. As swiftly as she could, she plunged after the frightened girl and wrapped one hand around her muzzle and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck with the other. Kitty's fingers slipped for an instant, but found a hold on a band of metal hidden by the thick ruff of fur.

'Inhibitor collar.' Kitty noted. Designed to cancel out a mutant's powers, this one was keeping Alysande locked in her canine form. 'I'll get her out of it as soon as things calm down.' Kitty promised. She phased them both out of the kennel and the run, noticing that now that she had a secure hold on Alysande, she'd stopped struggling.

"We're not going to hurt you." she whispered, before turning her attention back to Meggan and Pete. Alysande rolled her eyes up towards Kitty, but didn't move otherwise. "I've kinda got my hands full here. Grab my arms and hang on." As she phased and air-walked all four of them upward, Kitty sent the following thought Got her! How are you guys doing up there?

Well, whoever they sent up here to 'straighten things out' is talking rings around Brian. Pretty pointless on the whole. We're practically out the door.

Well, we're gonna be out in a minute.

Wisdom butted in. Not like I care or nuthin', but you all right, Pryde? You sound like you're about to pop yer clogs on us.

Irritated, Kitty whirled on him. I'm not used to phasing this much mass, OK?

Don't take my head off you stupid little cow...

Watch your tone with her. warned Rachel.

Look, all I was gonna say is that it'll save her some time and keep me from an early dirt-nap if she comes out at an angle. She veers off to the left and we'll probably come out a few yards from the van, and we won't have to zig and zag around underneath the Hellfire Club again. Silence from both girls.

It is a good idea. Rachel admitted. Kitty stayed quiet, but angled off sharply.

They broke the surface just as Kitty began to get desperate for air. Shadowcat noticed that they were further from the van than Pete had estimated. As she turned to pull Meg and Wisdom totally clear of the rock the dog in her arms dug her hind legs into Kitty's stomach and used it as a springboard to push herself away. Within seconds, she had turned down a street and was out of sight.

"Bugger!"

"Damn!" Kitty swore. Rachel, can you track her?

No. I can't get a hold of her thoughts!

Why not? Kitty asked at the same time she started running in the same direction that the alsatian had taken. She barely noticed Pete keeping stride with her or his grumbling about having to stir the air in his lungs. Meggan took the high road, managed to catch sight of Alysande, and led the way.

Remember what the Professor said about there being some people that are naturally immune to telepathic scans? People like Madelyne? I think Alysdane's godchild has the same quirk.

Bleedin' lovely. came Pete's agitated retort. Don't look now, Pryde, but we're about to hit a crowd.

Kitty looked ahead and saw that the lunch-hour had started and things were starting to get crowded down the streets.

Better and better. Ray, get Alysdane and the others to wherever the heck we are as soon as you can. We'll have to keep up the best we can until then.

By the time Rachel and Brian got to the van, Rachel had already sent the information ahead to Brigadier Stuart. Alysdane was champing at the bit by the time they managed to figure out what area Kitty and Pete had dashed off to.

"This is my fault." Kitty muttered more to herself than to Pete as they turned down another alley, still following Meggan who was following the dog.

"Eh? Howzat?" Pete panted out, trying to keep up. For such a puny looking little whisp, she was in good shape. Course she'd proved that when she'd peeled him off of that gate-guard out in front of W.H.O's HQ.

"I should have phased her out of that collar as soon as I knew she had one on! At least then she'd be able to get back to normal instead of waiting to be picked up by a dog catcher."

'That's really buggin' her.' Wisdom noted. 'Guess she ain't such a little twit after all.' They lost sight of Meggan as she dropped from the skyline in an obvious hurry and stopped to catch their breaths.

"I get what yer saying. Lost girl, you've got the cops and 50 volunteers out and about after the parents. Lost dog, you've got a one way ticket to the pound at best, tire tracks over your body at worst..." Kitty flinched slightly at mental picture. 'Bad choice of words, chum.' Wisdom thought to himself. "Look, you didn't mean no harm, so don't beat yourself up over it." Shadowcat looked at him with an expression that was close to surprise on her face. She'd fully expected Wisdom to agree with her, not try to make her feel better.

Before she could say anything, Meggan flew back into view. Instead of hovering as a beacon, she flew straight at them. The expression on her face was one of worry.

"I... I was chasing the wrong dog." she explained. "She went into this network of alleyways and I chased the first dog that came out. It ran right up to this young boy and they ran off. So I think Alysande's still in there."

"Are you sure?" asked Kitty.

Meggan nodded. "I checked to be safe. It was a boy dog. Jingo, I think his master called it."

You getting this, Ray? Any progress?

Yes and no. Still no luck with trying to find the girl by her thought waves.

Well, we're going to try and find her. Try to find someplace nearby to park in case she runs your way.

Will do. Be careful, kiddo. Rachel broke off the contact and wondered just how long it would be before Kitty lived up to Logan's expectations of being a good leader. She certainly had the giving orders part figured out.

"You sure she's down there, Pryde? I ain't gonna finish ruining me coat for nothin'."

Something in Pete's manner led Kitty to believe that he wouldn't have passed a polygraph test with that one. She'd been watching him a little more closely over the past 15 minutes, and he didn't seem as offensive as he had before.

"Pretty sure." was all she said. "We've been through practically every space bigger than a rabbit hole and come up with zilch."

"Dead end." Meggan observed, peering down the dark lane between two brick buildings. "Narrow too. Only one person would be able to go in."

"Got two outta three." said Pete, shucking off his trenchcoat. "Pryde could phase around the other way and lend a hand."

"Are you sure you should be the one to go in there, Mr. Wisdom?" asked Meggan, looking down the filthy alley.

"Knock it off with the 'Mr. Wisdom' garbage, will ya? My name's Pete. And yeah, I think I should be the one to go in there. I know what I'm doing."

Kitty, where are you? broke in Rachel. Alysdane wants to come meet you. She might have a better effect on her godchild than you guys, after all.

Kitty looked around. I think we kind of lost track. Can't you just... She looked around and saw that Meggan and Pete hadn't 'heard' the one-on-one between herself and the telepath. Pete had already disappeared down the alley.

"Um... Kitty? Shouldn't you be going around to help him?" asked Meggan.

Kitty fumed silently, but phased into the building forming the left wall of the passage. WILL kill him! she promised Rachel. She was surprised when Nightcrawler answered instead. She'd assumed that the link with the rest of the team had been severed.

I think the Brigadier is going to reserve that pleasure for herself. Kurt remarked. It would take a contortionist to succeed in what she wants Wisdom to do to himself.

Unaware (but not unsuspicious) of Kitty's plans for his demise, Pete took another few steps. Only an inch long hot-knife balanced between being thrown and being extinguished kept him from being totally blind. The roofs of the buildings above shaded the alley from most of the sun's light and his own body was blocking any that might have seeped in from behind. And in not ten paces in front of him was a snarling, cowering alsatian. Wisdom came forward a few inches more and went into a crouch in front of the dog, leaving himself just enough room to maneuver if she decided to go through him.

"There now, Alysande." he murmured, dimming the hot-knife in his right hand a little. The dog actually stopped snarling at the use of her name, but still showed her teeth as growl rumbled in her throat. "I don't look so big, now do I?" He hadn't the faintest idea what to say, so he just spoke what came to mind. "Poor sod. You've had a right rough time of it, haven't you? Bet you didn't appreciate Ki... Pryde talking down to you neither. But she ain't so bad really and she weren't shittin' you." He paused and reached towards the dog, whose snarls instantly resumed. Pete withdrew his left hand and continued talking. 'Pryde, you silly chit, where are you?'

"I don't guess you've got any reason to trust us. I wouldn't trust me neither. Fact is, most o' the time, I don't. But Alysande...Dane... bloody hell, Brigadier Stuart sent us to get you out of there. You know her, don't you?" Lips had covered the shining teeth, but Alysande made no move to the positive or negative. Fur still rose along her back. "Mustn't be easy having your sort of power, girl. Probably don't know who you are half the time. I'll bet that right now, after what you've been through, you're half convinced you're nothing but a dog. And that's just bollocks. Once you get out of that collar, you'll see. Course, you'll be older and prettier than when last you saw yourself. Probably feel odd at first..." An idea hit him. "Look, Al, I'll show you that my word's good. Let me burn that damned collar off o' you. If I was just trying to take you back, that wouldn't do me no good, would it?" He edged forward a little more, ready to draw back if she snapped. "C'mon, luv, trust me. I promise on me very soul that I ain't gonna do nothin' to hurt ya." He lay one hand on her trembling head and parted the fur at her ruff.

Alysande quaked as she saw the flash of the knife, but held still. She could smell that he wasn't lying, but she still didn't want to trust him. She didn't even know if she should believe him... There was the smell of smoke and a low, electronic whine that the human's ear's didn't even register, and then a blessed coolness as reasonably fresh air hit her skin.

A flash of motion caught the dog's eye and she whirled as Shadowcat walked out of the wall. Despite what Pete had told her and done for her, the girl-in-dog-form didn't fully trust that this wasn't a scheme to do her wrong. She tried to run out of the alley and found Wisdom blocking her way. She might have tried to go around him if he hadn't stood up. The sight of someone looming over her caused the girl to attack. As instinct dictated, she went for the throat.

Before he rightly knew what was happening, Pete found himself flat on his back, giving a dog his right arm as a substitute chew toy for his neck. The first second didn't hurt. After that, it felt as if someone were slamming his arm with a spiked baseball bat just for the hell of it.

"AW, SHIT!" he yelled, trying keep his arm from being turned into ground chuck. Once Alysdane released Wisdom, Kitty grabbed her from behind, but the dog was like quicksilver and slithered away from her grasp.

"Meggan!" Kitty called, intending to warn her friend that a seriously pissed off chain-saw with legs was headed her way. She needn't have bothered. The Brigadier was already standing there.

"Alysande!" The girl/dog paid no heed. They had tricked her once! Not again! She'd missed her mark on the first, but this one she'd make sure of! Alysande leapt...

In a single fluid motion, the Brigadier drew a pistol from her holster and fired. The retort of the gun and the sound of a missile striking flesh seemed very loud. The dog staggered another step and dropped. Alysdane knelt by her godchild's side and sighed deeply. "I didn't want to have to do it this way. No other choice."

Rachel, standing just behind the Brigadier seemed more concerned about Kitty, but Meggan was appalled.

"You... you just..."

"Tranq darts, Meggan." the Brigadier said shortly, as she hefted the dog's body. The animal's rib-cage rose and fell with steady, deep breaths. "Stronger than I would have liked to use, but effective. How's Wisdom?"

"For Chrissake, Pryde, stop tryin' to be a crutch! It's my arm what's mangled, not my legs!" Kitty held her tongue and walked out of the alley a little ahead of Wisdom, holding Alysande's broken inhibitor collar.

"His arm's torn up pretty badly. Other than that, everyone's fine."

"Great." Rachel telekinetically held the gaping wounds on Pete's arm together. Don't argue. she told him.

"Wasn't gonna." he said simply. His friggin' arm hurt too much to make it worth mouthing off to the person who was keeping him from painting the cobbles with his blood.

Once back in the van, Nightcrawler examined Pete's arm over his patient's loud objections.

"That bloody HURTS! What're you doin', trying to kill me?!"

"I don't suppose we have any pain-killers in the first-aid kit, do we?" asked Kurt through gritted teeth. He'd had pirates that were quieter patients than this!

"No luck." announced Brian. Alysdane wordlessly slapped a tranq dart into Kurt's palm. The furry blue German wasted no time in plunging it into Pete's upper arm. Wisdom quieted down in seconds. For a moment or two he was quite co-operative. Then, in a voice more suggestive of a tavern than anything else, belted out a tune.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a bastard's life for me!
I drink and I smoke and get by on rum luck!
Drink up me bullies, yo ho!
If Sandie don't like me, I don't give a fuck!
Drink up me bullies yo ho!"

Pete laughed at the sheer delicousness of his wit and passed out.

"What was in that?" Kurt asked, taking advantage of the sudden silence in the van to finish examining at Pete's arm.

"I really don't know."

"Does it matter?" asked Brian. "At least the lout's shut up now." Thinking of how he'd been little more than a decoy in the plan had made Captain Britain sulky. Not only that, he'd been made to look a fool. It rankled. He felt that, as Excalibur's leader, he should have played a more important role in the whole thing. Meggan noticed the scowl on his face and came to a decision.

Kurt delivered his verdict. "Not good. The wounds are quite ragged and hardly clean. I fear infection at the very least, perhaps even partial loss of use in this arm."

"We've got medical facilities at HQ." Alysdane said reassuringly. "They'll have him patched up in no time."

Well, perhaps a little longer than no time. It was a few hours later when Wisdom came to for the second time. His head was throbbing a fit to kill and so was his arm.

"Hell..." he muttered, trying to get that thick slab of muscle in mouth to work. "Buggered if I ever volunteer for anything around here again." Finally, his eyes came into focus. What had happened? Oh, yeah. Scared little bitch had tried to take off with his arm.

"Hey." said Kitty from against the wall. "How're you feeling?"

"Like someone just took a dump behind me eyes. How's my arm? I don't think it's happy with me right now."

"Dr. Wayland said that you should get pretty much full use of it back within a month. Maybe three weeks. Not bad considering that he had to use most of his surgical stitching to piece it back together." She paused and looked down at the flask in her hand. Pete didn't notice. His attention was on his gauze-swathed arm.

"Great. So when the hell do I get out of here?"

"They want to keep you here a couple of days for observation." She cleared her throat. "I just hung around to say that what you did when you came around earlier was really noble."

"Damn wonderful, that is! Two days with no smokes, no booze, and nurses from the Black Lagoo... eh? What're you jabberin' on about, Pryde?"

"What you said when Alysdane questioned you about her godchild's attack on you. Taking the blame for making a sudden movement. That was... you know... nice."

"Oh, that. I was high on whatever the hell they pumped into me system, is all. Don't feel so damn special."

"Well, it's not like I appreciate you lying about what happened when I wasn't even in the room! When I tried to explain to the Brigadier, she said that she understood perfectly. I had to get the whole story out of Alist... Dr. Stuart."

"You mean England's answer to Steve Urkel?"

Kitty laughed before she could think. "Don't talk about Alistaire that way!" she snapped a second later. "He's brilliant."

"Whatever. Ain't you got nothin' better to do than badger the sick? Ain't your team about due home?"

"No and they've gone already. I hung around to give Alistaire a hand with dismantling that collar. He's never seen one in such good condition. He'll be giving me a ride home later.

"Anyway, Rachel gave me something she said might stop your belly-aching. Believe it or not, the Brigadier OK'd it." She passed the small metal flask over to Pete. He unscrewed the top and sniffed.

"Where the hell did you get burbon?"

"Ray played around with the molecules in rubbing alcohol."

"Well, that was more than I really needed to know."

"You asked."

"Any port in a storm, I suppose." sighed Pete. "Tell your friend I said thanks." All the same, he set it on his end table, not quite ready to try it just yet.

Kitty pulled up a chair, turned it around, and sat down. She crossed her arms on top of the chair's back and rested her chin on them. "Pete, do mind if I ask you a question?"

"I suppose I owe you one for the booze. Shoot."

"You're just a few years older than I am, right?"

"Near as I can tell."

"So... why are you working for the W.H.O.? I thought they had an age limit."

"Well, part of it was included in that deal that you and Urkel got to evesdrop on the other day. The rest of it is, I ain't really 18."

"Let me guess. Time travel."

"Wha?"

"Never mind. Are you going to explain?"

Pete really began to wish that he had a cigarette. Parts of this were going to require some minor truth twisting. "This...er, agency that I used to work for specialized in apprehending dangerous super-villains. There was some political terrorist going around and turning certain members of Parliament into tots with a threat to put the rest of them back in diapers if such and such a policy didn't go into effect. Not that it probably would have affected their running of things an awful lot, but no one seemed to much appreciate it.

"The powers that be got a lead on it. Turned out to be a mutant whose power made her a living fountain of youth. Guess who got shipped off to take care of it.

"I managed to track her all the way back to this posh hotel that she was holed up in and tried to take her into custody. She weren't too happy about it and next thing I know, she's got her hands around me neck. I didn't even catch what was going on until I went down a couple of inches. At that point, I didn't have much choice but to put a hot-knife through her gut. Got knocked back down to me teens anyway. So now you know."

Kitty looked as if she were about to say something when Alistaire knocked at the door of the room.

"Kitty, are you ready? It's starting to get late."

'I do NOT have to be in bed at 8:30.' said Kitty's expression. Pete caught it, but somehow, it passed right over Alistaire's head.

"Sure thing. It was nice talking to you, Pete."

"That's a first." muttered Pete under his breath. Louder: "Right. Hey, Stuart, you still spending your evenings with that hot Bunson burner?" If Alistaire had a retort, it was muffled by the sudden slamming of the door.

'Pryde's a smart one... cute too.' thought Pete, laying back against his pillow. 'Crazy about that git, too. And Stuart's a thick-skulled wanker not to notice.' Staying awake seemed too much trouble and Wisdom drifted away.

Brian thought that he was the first one into the lighthouse that evening. Like a bloodhound on a hot scent, he headed for his stash of drink in one of the basement storerooms. It was nowhere to be seen.

"That insufferable interfering cow!" he growled under his breath. 'It wasn't enough that Rachel tossed out my main store of whiskey. She had to search the place top to bottom and toss out all of it! I'll be surprised if we even have cooking sherry left!' All the same, Brian went through the entire room to make sure that he hadn't just misplaced it. Satisfied that his booze was nowhere in the room, he began to scour the rest of the house.

Captain Britain was headed up to put his room under the microscope when he zoomed by the bathroom and did a double take. Meggan was hovering over the john, pouring the second-to-last bottle down the drain.

"MEGGAN!" he thundered, shoving the door all the way open. "What in blazes are you doing?"

Meggan shoved down the sudden stab of fear that she felt and lifted the last bottle. "I'm helping you Brian. You've been horrid to everyone lately, and I think it's because you've gone back to drinking."

"What would you know, you stupid trollop? Give me my whiskey."

Meggan flew out of reach and Brian grabbed air. "Brian, please... Rachel says that the first step to helping you get over this would be to get you to admit that you have a problem."

For more than a minute, Brian Braddock literally saw red. No those nosy idiots invading his lighthouse had even turned Meggan against him! "Oh, I've got a problem all right, and its name is Meggan!" Before he could get a handle on himself, Brian had flown up, grabbed his alcohol from Meggan's grasp, and clouted her on the side of the head. For a second, everything seemed to freeze. Then Meggan gave a choked sob and flew out of the room.

"Meggan... wait..." Brian started, but Meggan didn't or wouldn't hear him. She flew to their room and locked the door.

"Did you get a chance to mail it?" Thomas Corsi asked Sharon as the two of them stood on the shore, admiring the way that the moonlight created unique patterns on the nearly still ocean waters.

"For the third time, Tom, I mailed it." smiled Sharon, flipping her thick black braid from one shoulder to the other. "What was in there anyway?"

Tom looked almost shy as he picked up a pebble from the sand and skipped it across the waters. "I'll tell you once I get a response."

"Meggan...?" Brian had finally located a key to his room and now stood poised uncertainly in the doorway. Meggan saw him and flew from the window to the roof. "Love, please!" Brian followed. Meggan stood on the opposite edge of the roof, her face hidden by her hands. Brian approached her slowly.

"Meggan, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'd never hurt you, truly..."

"No, Brian." came the choked whisper. "I'm sorry. You're a grown man, old enough to make your own decisions. I shouldn't have interfered." To Brian's near shock, she ran to him and clung to him desperately. "Please don't hate me, Brian. I couldn't bear that!"

Feeling awkward, Brian patted her shoulders and hugged her with one arm. "It's OK. We'll work through it, Meggan." He knew he should have felt ashamed for being pushed to hitting the woman he loved. But a surprisingly near-to-the-surface part of Brian Braddock felt that he had just won some victory over the sobbing woman in his arms.

Next Issue: Mail call! Actual contact with the outside world (or, more specifically, Westchester). More with what's going on with Alysande Whyp and the Brigadier. Also, see what's cooking in Sinister's kitchen.