Days and Nights: Chapter 1

Prologue

Magneto watched the Blackbird make its way through the sky until the clouds and sun blocked his view.
Toad hobbled over to him, clutching his side and groaning.
With out breaking his eye contact with the sky, Magneto asked, "Is it done?"
"Yes, but that African bitch gave me something for my efforts" Toad complained clutching his side harder, his English accent offering class where there was none.
Magneto finally looked away from the Balckbird's disappearing vapor trail and started to stalk away back to his own waiting transport, "Your self-pity will not inspire any sympathy from me Toad."
Sabertooth was busy trashing some nearby cars, venting out his frustration at not been able to fully let go in the fight that had just occurred.
Magneto had told him just to occupy the X-Men while Toad had gone to work.
"How long did you sent the timer for” Magneto asked without breaking stride.
"About 20 minuets"
Magneto's answer was his silence, while casting a glance into Sabertooth's direction. Sabertooth stopped compacting a Volvo and walked back to the transport.
20 minutes and Xavier’s X-Men would no longer be a problem to be considered.

Part one

He hated this.
This constant fluttering of his muscles that was caused by anxiousness, anxiety, a willingness to do something, but what.
Logan sat at the back of the blackbird staring into middle distance, his arms crossing his chest, indicating to anyone who knew anything about body language that he did not want to be disturbed.
That pitiful fight back there was not what Wolverine considered a challenge and he felt left wanting. Wanting to ram his claws into something.
Just what Sabertooth had been up to was beyond him. The Professor had alerted them to mutant activity near the Canadian border. He had gone with even though he had already packed to leave the school for one of his 'vacations'.
In fact, the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

It was not like Sabertooth to just up and run away in the middle of a good beating. The others had stood by as he had one on one'd with Sabertooth until, snarling he had retreated into defeat.
Wolverine had just about to give chase when the fearless leader had stopped him, The Professor wanted them back. Something not right about the situation...the normal crap that happened whenever something was going his way.

Change.
That’s what was needed, change.
He contemplated the various changes to be made...rearrange his room....neh, he could recruit one of the schools females to do that, though that could be dangerous to his masculinity.
Bright breezy curtains, cheerful furniture accentuated by interesting decor. He grinned inwardly at that thought.
Get something new? Change something? Do something different?
His mental grin changed into a grimace.
He had been listening to Marie natter on about to many Teen magazines.
No. All he needed was to beat the living hell out of someone.

A soft sound, a sound that was out of place was filtered by his ears and made known to his thoughts.
He blinked, adjusting his eyes to the correct focus.
Words drifted into conversations.
One caught his ear.
"What did you just say!”? Logan asked Storm sharply, snapping his head to the left to face the two women talking to one another.
"What?" She stopped talking to Jean and turned around to look at Logan.
"Now...what you just said to Jean...something about Toad"
"Oh...I was just telling Jean that Toad was there too. While you where busy pounding Sabertooth I found Toad by the Blackbird” she gave a tight smile "I don’t think he enjoyed our little liaison"
Jean laughed softly.
Logan’s mind changed gear.
Sharply honed instincts refined what his senses where telling him.
"He planted a bomb” almost casually he got out of his chair and backed away "I can hear it outside."
Everyone turned around and stared at him like he just turned into a 7-foot cockroach.

Scott started to take the jet down in a sharp arc, pounding ferociously at various buttons and gears...."There’s no where to land, Jean cant you remove it?", he shouted.
Jean closed her eyes and focused her mind
"I'll try."
"Better do more dan try or we all soon little bitties chere", Gambit moaned.
"Its under the wing, near the fuselage", Logan directed

Gambit stared out the window as Jean face tightened with control.
A small black shape flew out from under the wing
"You got it chere", Gambit whooped in glee.
Logan’s ears followed the ticking as it drew further away. Jean sat down breathing hard, Storm next to her.
Scott smiled and Logan froze.
Everything froze as Logan heard the ticking stop. Gambits face fell as the bomb exploded next to the jets tail.
A muted "WHOOMP" filled the back of the cabin with fire as the tail was torn away.
Sirens blared onboard as the Blackbird started to tumble to the earth.