xp_logs | Scott and Forge, Thursday afternoon

Forge finally learns more about Jennie's disappearance, and deals with the realization that there's not a whole lot he can do.

Forge whistled quietly to himself as he rapped his knuckles on the
half-open door to Scott's office, sticking his head in. "You wanted to
see me, boss?" he asked cheerfully, noticing the stacks of folders on
the headmaster's desk that practically screamed "beginning of term".
Forge had to grin, having managed to schedule his college classes
around his responsibilities at the school to give himself the best
possible use of his time. Even still, he wasn't yet up to trying to
match Scott's driven dedication to making the school run smoothly.

Sliding into a chair across from Scott, the younger mutant took a
quick draw off a bottle of water and nodded to the headmaster. "So
what's up?"

Scott managed a faint smile, but it disappeared almost as quickly as
it had come. Why is it always up to me to wreck people's good
days? he wondered drearily, closing the folder he'd been working
on and setting it aside.

"I'll be straight with you, Forge, since there's really no good way to
lead up to this," he said quietly. "When you spoke to Ororo about
Jennie, she called Jennie's father to see when we could expect her
back. It turns out that she had told him that she was back,
around the same time that she told us she was planning to stay with
her family for a while longer." He went on before Forge could respond.
"All we've been able to find out is that she boarded a flight for
Paris. We can't reach her on her cell phone, she hasn't used her
credit cards. I know this sounds alarming," he said, "and frankly, at
this point I'm finding it alarming, too. But we're doing everything we
can to find her from our end. The Professor's been spending some
quality time in Cerebro again. I also got in touch with Wanda at Snow
Valley, and they're going to look for her via their channels as well."

Forge just frowned, then nodded his head slowly. "So she lied," he said flatly.

Scott sighed. "She did. We don't know why, obviously, and won't until
we find her. She's had a rough year, of course... it's not totally
bizarre that she'd have taken some time to herself, given the
opportunity." It was a very teenager-type thing to do, actually. "But
we're at the start of term, and we both know how serious she is about
school."

Forge shook his head, then leaned back to stare at the ceiling.
"You've got Remy and his folks checking up on things? I'm sure they'll
be able to rule out or confirm if someone's, well, grabbed her like
with me and Lorna. But if she's not been using her credit card, then
it's likely she's with someone who can get her stuff..."

He bit back the immediate thought that she'd found some Italian local
and decided to go on some whirlwind romantic trip through Europe and
just forget about family and friends. As seemingly impulsive as Jennie
could be, Forge thought, that wasn't her. He was certain of that.

"Shit," he grumbled under his breath. "Hell of a time to be taking a
business trip. But to be pragmatic about it, there's really nothing I
can do here to help, is there? If there is, if something comes up...
you'll let me know, right? I can get on the first flight back if I
need to."

"I'll let you know as soon as we know anything. I just wanted to make
sure you knew what we knew before you headed off on your trip. We
would have said something sooner," Scott said, "but we were really
hoping to be able to track her down quickly."

Forge moved as if to stand, then paused, turning back to Scott. "How
much of this is going to be common knowledge among the students?" he
asked. "I promised Crystal I'd let her know the moment I had any
information. I know she and Jennie don't get along much, but she's
really concerned. And I think she can be trusted to be discreet and
not do anything stupid."

... oh, how I love my job. "If Crystal's been particularly
concerned, I'll speak to her," Scott said. "As for general
knowledge... I don't see any need to let the school as a whole know
until we have more information." He smiled very faintly. "There are
certain conclusions that, given past events, it would be natural to
make. I'd prefer to avoid that until we know something more
definitive."

Forge nodded in agreement. "While I know that people are concerned,
having everyone ask how things are progressing every ten minutes would
just get in the way. As much as I dislike the idea of keeping the
students in the dark... well, there's no need causing an undue panic
until we know for sure if there's call for it."

He stood abruptly, cracking his knuckles. "If it turns out that... if
it's the same thing with Magneto or someone, if someone's got Jennie
like he used me and Julio..." Forge paced back a ways, letting out a
small grunt of frustration. "I know there's nothing I can do. And
there's possibly no reason to even be worried. So the best thing to do
is just go back to work, right? You guys have it under control."

Scott nodded. "As soon as we know anything," he promised again, "I'll
let you know. Hopefully we'll have her back here before you get back
from your trip."

"With a suitcase full of fun samples," Forge said with a smile and a
small wave. "Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone."