xp_logs | Kurt, Ororo, Sam, Tabitha: Plant Life, Part One

Meltdown stood outside the Blackbird, stiff with pre-mission tension. Once they began, she knew her excitement would fade and her professionalism -- rarely seen, because she kept in a box in her closet -- would take over. For now, though, she stared at Storm, waiting for orders with barely-contained excitement.

Nightcrawler tightened the collar of his uniform another notch and leapt up to perch on a stack of crates near the Blackbird. He'd been waiting for missions for a long time and now, two in a week. He was actually rather excited about this one, as the last had gone so well and this one was a purely humanitarian jaunt. He gave Meltdown a nod and a smile; he hadn't worked with her much, so this would be a learning experience as well, getting to know her more.

Cannonball eyed his teammates, smiling a little to himself. It was good to be back in the saddle, he thought. He'd been keeping way too much to himself lately, between teaching and trying to sort some things out. And this sounded like a good one to ease back in with. Although I'll think that, and watch... Meltdown caught his eye, winking at him, and he suppressed a chuckle and winked back.

"I don't like the easy ones," Nightcrawler murmured, his tail twitching nervously. He looked to Storm. "Does the Professor say that this is going to be as easy as it looks?"

Storm nodded at Nightcrawler. "He's quite certain of it." She put her hands on her hips, trying to look less nervous than she felt. It had better be that easy. She and Meltdown and Cannonball weren't just dusty, they were rusty. The Danger Room was no substitute for real work and she hadn't been in charge of Wednesday's run, hadn't been in charge of anything for a long time.

"There's a small town in Iowa, I'm sure you've all heard about it, with the simultaneous appearance of strange plant grown and disappearance of a young girl. It's pretty clear to Charles that the two are linked. He can't get back here to use Cerebro until tomorrow night, to find her, but with the plant growth not spreading, our guess is that she hasn't gone far. We need to get there and look for her to speak to her because it doesn't look like anyone else has made the connection yet. She's probably terrified and we don't know the extent of her powers. It's best if we get to her first, to avoid any accidents. Any questions?"

"We know anything concrete about the local mood yet?" Cannonball asked. He had read the article, but what people said when they talked to the media and what they really thought could easily be different things.

"Nothing," Storm admitted. "We're just going to have to be casual, as best we can, about it. Nightcrawler and Cannonball, you two get the fun of looking for the young lady. Meltdown and I are going to speak to people at the school and try and get to the parents. Thus the lack of leather in our apparel," she said wryly, noting that both she and Meltdown were dressed in what was basically civillian clothing. "We will keep in touch with the two of you and let you know immediately if we think there's going to be hostility."

"And in the event of a hostile atmosphere, we remove the child immediately to the Blackbird?" Nightcrawler asked.

"Post-haste," Storm replied, giving Nightcrawler a grateful smile for reminding her of that little detail. Goddess above, she was nervous. Her palms were damp and her stomach was knotted. "Any other questions?"

"Are we bringing her back here?" Meltdown frowned. She'd never been on a pick-up before and wasn't sure that kidnapping was the way of things.

"Not at all." Storm shook her head. "We're just going to try and ensure that she's not in danger before we leave. We arrive, you and I speak to the locals, Nightcrawler and Cannonball locate the girl, we reunite her with her parents, we provide them with the contacts for one of the mutant-assistance centers nearby, and we go home. If we can't resolve it safely, we remove her to the center and leave her with the workers there."

"Sounds like a plan," Cannonball said briskly. "If we can believe what we're hearing, they're most worried about getting her home safe." By the standards of what could happen when a young mutant's powers emerged for the first time, this didn't sound so bad. Hopefully the townsfolk would see it the same way.

"Then we're ready to go. Cannonball, you're driving." Storm turned around and headed into the Blackbird. In minutes, they were in the air, headed for Iowa.