Logan looked at the sign of the town he was entering. Redmond, NC. Population 998.

Great. A metropolis. Well, compared to where he'd been living it was a big city. Salem Center and Westchester were for rich people, so not many chose—or could afford—to live there.

But this was where the telepath Storm had told him about lived.

Where Marie was.

Now he just had to find her.

---

Emote had been on emotional edge all day. She couldn't quite understand why, but she knew better than to ignore it. Last time she'd felt like this, her powers had increased and she'd wound up having to stay out of town for weeks.

She looked at Rogue. This was the first time the two mutants had been out in town since they'd met a week ago. The onslaught of extra feelings wasn't from her, so where… aaahhhh. Of course.

~Love, anger, possessiveness, fear, guilt, hope~ Rogue's emotional signature with a feral twist.

Part of Emote's power was that she could track someone by their emotions. People left them on everything they touched. It made her a good tracker.

"Rogue." Rogue looked at her. "He's nearby."

She looked around. "Where?"

"Stop looking. You'll be conspicuous. Do you want to talk to him?"

Rogue thought. She still loved Logan. Still wanted him around. But truthfully, she wasn't ready yet to deal with what seeing him would mean. She had a few more issues to work out. "Not today. I'm not there yet."

Emote nodded. "Thought so. Camo?"

All of a sudden, the shadows changed. A green-haired, green-eyed woman appeared, wearing black clothes and a hunted look. "Yes?"

Rogue jumped a little at the appearance of this mutant. Emote smiled. "Rogue, this is Cammy Geldren, better known as Camo. Camo, this is Marie. I need you to take her to the cabin for tonight." Rogue and Camo looked at each other. Emote laughed. "Camo found me the first week I moved here. She helped me out a lot. I trust you both."

Camo looked at Emote. "Can I be disguised?"

Emote's face softened. Since Camo had come into her mutant abilities, turning her hair and eyes green overnight, she had been hunted down by some of the close-minded members of the human race. She had finally found safety and protection here, but the young woman was still afraid of walking the streets in her "normal" form. She much preferred her chameleon like ability to blend into the scenery. "Of course."

Rogue spoke to Camo. "I like your hair. Green's my favorite color."

Camo smiled. She liked this young woman. "Thank you."

Emote smiled. "Go. Bring her back to my house at 1:00 tomorrow, 'k?"

"`K." Camo's gloved hand took Rogue's ungloved one. The two women turned the color of the building behind them, and seemed to disappear. Emote nodded, satisfied. She turned. Time to find the Wolverine.

---

Logan was sniffing out Marie close by. He knew she was here, but where…? Ah ha.

He turned expecting to see a brunette with white streaks standing there. Instead, he found a blonde woman. She was leaning against the building, an amused smile on her face.

She spoke. "She's not here. Not yet, anyway."

All he could say was, "You smell like her."

"She hugged me."

Logan advanced on the woman. "Where is she?"

The woman straightened. "Elsewhere. She won't talk to you tonight, and if you find her and try to force her, you'll drive her further away. She's not ready yet."

Logan growled in frustration. This woman was keeping him from his mate. He wished he could beat it out of her…

//But you're not that type of man. Not unless the woman is attacking you first.//

He jerked. She lifted an eyebrow at him. //Forgot, didn't you? What did Storm tell you?//

"How do you know Storm…?"

"Told you? Professor promised me he wouldn't tell you, so unless it endangered his precious X-Men, he'd keep that promise. Scott doesn't know where I live. Jean's dead, so Storm's the only one left. Besides, she's the only X-Man to have my address. How do I know Storm? I was one of Xavier's recruits."

Logan heard the hint of veiled dislike when this woman mentioned Jean. "Not a fan of Dr. Grey?"

She shrugged. "Oh, she's all right, when she wasn't trying to `compete' with her class- and teammates. She always thought she had to prove something to everyone. I could feel it." At Logan's surprise, she realized she'd been rude. "Sorry. Name's Emote. I'm a telepath, true, but that's not my strong point. I'm an empath. My gift is feelings. I can read them like a book. And yours are overwhelming my shields. No wonder Marie loves you. You're a perfect match."

~Love, possessiveness, pride, guilt, anger, frustration, hope~ "Really?"

"Yes. Now, Rogue loves you. She wants to be with you. But her problems, until recently, were tripping her up. Now we need to work with yours. Are you willing?"

Logan had never held with that namby-pamby wishy-washy `feelings' crap. But he had found, in his time both with and without her, that they were all about feelings. If she was trying to heal their relationship by facing HERS, the least he could do was face HIS.

He held out his hand. "Logan."

She shook his "Angelica."

And off they went.