Marie always followed her regimen, now matter where she was or who she was with, it didn't matter anymore that the child she was carrying wasn't wanted by the people who'd chosen her to carry it. She'd be the best mother she could be, eighteen or no, hell her grandmother had had four kids by her age and her mother had given birth to her just after her nineteenth birthday.

The memory of family surfaced like a silver fish in a dark pond, the pain of it cutting deep into her emotions. Her mind opening to show her the event that had started all this, all this running, all this fear.
The touch of the doctor on her skin as she'd been for her scan, the sudden rush of thoughts and emotions that had come from her. The fears for the baby, the child she was carrying that the `parents' would suspect something was awry when it was born with brown eyes.
She'd been sedated on the gurney as the doctor had fainted dead away, her mind able to sift through the information she'd gathered by her touch on her bare skin. Realising something was wrong with the doctor, something she'd done to her by the doctors touch on her skin.
The thoughts that had been going through her head as she'd been preparing her stomach for the scan, trying to keep herself calm as she did it. That the child wasn't the one they all thought she was carrying, it was something else, or someone else's. The doctor knew both parents were blue eyed and they'd have to be convinced that the child really was theirs. It'd have to be done as soon as the birth was over, they'd been lucky with the surrogate, she was healthy, strong, malleable. It had been those words that had caused her to run, to take off as soon as she could; the words of the doctor had
sounded as if she was a specimen to be dissected. Now it was clear she was also a mutant she knew what would happen to her if she stayed still here, the doctor had a very curious nature and very few scruples, she'd seen that from the mind invading her own.

When she'd awoken there were restraints on her wrists and ankles and her mother had been sitting by her side. Marie could remember the tone of voice she'd had, as if everything she'd ever known had been taken away from her. Telling her that she was a mutant, that her skin had hurt the doctor and that there were people coming for her. Her
mother had said the word `people' in a tone that reminded her of the day they'd taken her old dog to the vet to be put to sleep. Her eyes had met hers then for a moment and she'd known everything she'd had to know. Whoever was coming was going to hurt her and the baby she was carrying, she hadn't spoken just cried as she'd tried to get out of the restraints. Her struggles making the leather cut deep into her wrists, she'd struggled for what felt like an hour next to her almost comatose mother. It had been when her father had come in and seen his daughter trussed up like a sacrifice to science that she'd finally woken up from her stupor.

He'd unbuckled her, helped her to take the straps from her body pushing her to get out of bed. Her mother had tried to stop him but he'd just held her tight in his grip and pulled her frame around into his angry gaze. The words she'd always remember, still burning in her heart, "She's our *daughter* Anna! No matter what those people tell us she's our Marie!" Her mother had tried to get away to call for help but he'd put his hand over her cries, urging her to move, to get out of there. He hadn't done anything else for her but that, he'd set her free, let her get lost in the vast hospital. Dressed in her own
clothes, covered as much as she could be, she'd stolen money from the nurses station in paediatrics and took a taxi home.

Packing everything including her passport she'd high tailed it out of there just as she'd heard the cars coming around the corner. Taking the family credit card had been a bonus; she'd maxed it at the first
opportunity at a bank and had posted it back home. She had money, her drivers licence and a child she'd been paid to carry for someone else. Not the greatest start at a new life but one that was better than being somewhere she didn't want to be.

So here she was sat in a small diner, taking her vitamins, the bottles she'd been given by the hospital, the folic acid, the multi- vitamin and the dreaded iron pill. She'd been diagnosed as anaemic when she'd first been to see if the implantation had taken, the umbilical had been strong on the scan and her body was using
resources she didn't really have in reserve. Hence the vitamins, it was good for the baby her mother had told her so she'd done it for the first four months of her pregnancy and she wasn't going to stop now. Her hand dropped to the bump under her layers of clothing,
remembering what had brought her here, her good intentions, her will to serve something higher than her own needs.

Marjorie and Derek Chalmers, friends of her fathers had been childless for almost all of their marriage, Marjorie would get pregnant but would miscarry at nearly four months every single time.
After five attempts the doctors had told her she was incapable of carrying a child to term, it had destroyed them both. Many a night they were at her mothers kitchen table, crying over the unfairness of it all, Derek was a successful businessman, he had a car dealership in three counties. Had money coming out of his whazoo but he couldn't have a child, not with Marjorie. At first she'd told him to divorce her, trying to ease the burden on him, taking all the blame herself.
That he should go find a `nice young filly' and knock her up, that way he'd have a son to give the business to like he always wanted.
Derek was a man who most would have thought that he'd have jumped at the chance, but her father and mother had known different. Derek hadn't been changed by the success because he knew how fickle it could be, one day on the top the next at the bottom, so he'd stuck by her and it had been Marie herself who'd brought up the idea to them
all.

It had been part of her Humanities class, the idea of surrogacy and the joy it brought to families who needed their help. Several of her classmates had been dead against it but Marie had been all for it, to bring joy and life into the world even if there were some monetary
rewards at the end of it. So she'd broached the subject to her family one night when Derek and Marjorie had been there, the silence that had followed her offer of help had made her wonder if she'd said the right thing but the look of pride in her father's eyes had sealed the deal. If they said yes she'd do it, her college fund wasn't anything to write home about and if she did this, she could pay her own way and everyone would be a winner, including her mother. She'd have a sort of grandchild in the child she'd given birth to, thing was not everything went as well as you expected. Especially when she'd tried
to contact Derek after she'd run out of the hospital, he'd been calm, frighteningly so on the phone to her. Telling her he'd made an account for her for her trouble but she was never to contact him or his wife again. She'd moved the money as soon as she could, into a small post-office savings account under a different name, her soon to
be child's name, Lewington. She kept the small pocket book in her underwear, packed at the bottom of her things, even if she got robbed of the cash she had she still had the account number to get money transferred to her.

The process had been simple really; she'd taken note of her cycle, following it regularly until she knew her most fertile period. When that had been mapped she'd been taken into the town to the clinic for the implantation, a few uncomfortable moments and she'd been pregnant with what she'd thought had been Derek and Marjorie Chalmers embryo.
Only that knowledge had been stripped from her when she'd seen into the doctors mind that had touched her, she was carrying a baby that she was sure of but who's it was she had no idea. A little like her, lost and alone, unloved and uncared for Marie just finished her routine of breakfast her eyes looking for a way to the next town
where she felt safe enough to buy a car. A pregnant woman travelling alone tended to get attention; she needed a mode of transport that would get her away from trouble and attention faster than she got it.

Shaking the bottle she had to get a refill of her vitamins too, she wasn't going to let her circumstances stop her from fulfilling her duty to the child she was carrying. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she stroked her covered belly, "Just you and me kid, no
matter what happens out here Ah'm not going to leave you behind. You're part of me and nothing is evah goin' to change that ya hear?"
Her whisper was lost in the clatter of dishes being stacked and people asking and given their orders over to the staff of the small diner. Marie stayed a little longer as the rain began to fall outside, the sky mirroring her own feelings of loss.


"Where is the subject?" Her hands were playing with her second cigarette of the interview; she'd only been in here for just under a minute. The voice she heard was coming from a two-way mirror, she was alone in the room with her smoke, no chance of a passive death in here. Clearing her throat she answered, "We don't know. She took off after her father released her from her bed, she left the hospital and we lost her." The silence from the other side of the mirror made her nerves spike, she knew it wasn't good but she didn't know how bad it could be, not yet. Tapping out her ash into the small foil tray her
nerves prodded her to fill the waiting silence, "We can track her though." The silence was cut by the sound of the intercom buzzing and a deeper voice asking, "How?"
This voice held a tone that the good doctor recognised, she'd used it herself on interns, it read `whatever you're going to say next may just save you' and here it was something much more important than a job she'd be saving.
"Her meds, the amount and dosage are very specific, there's even some trace elements that she needed. Her diet wasn't as good as it could be and she'll need to take the vitamins every day of her pregnancy."
The intercom buzzed again as the voice answered.
"She could just buy generic from any drugstore." The doctor shook her head from side to side, watching her reflection get lost in the cloud of blue tobacco smoke wreathed around her face.
"No she can't. Every pharmacy has a hospital database on its system; a request is given to the hospital that first filled the prescription just in case an error is made. The trace elements we have in her vitamins will be hard to get other than in a pharmacy within the hospital system. We can track her by that."

Silence filled the room again as the doctor felt the air around her loosen, she'd given them a chance of finding their little experiment of colouring outside the lines. "Does the subject know of her own ties to the child?" She watched her own head shake as she looked in
the mirror, when had these lines appeared on her face, when had her eyes looked so sunken and her skin so sallow?
"No she has no idea that it's her own child, she thought she was impregnated with a donor embryo, not sperm." Although she'd had a niggling feeling that the girl had taken something from her when she'd touched her, that the pain she'd felt coursing through her body had been accompanied by the plundering of her memories too. She
wasn't going to tell the voices this, if she did she might not walk out of here alive.
Silence returned to the room and her hands shook as she lit yet another cigarette from the embers of the last one, if she managed to get through this nightmare she might have the luxury of dying of lung cancer one day. But right now, she was counting the seconds as a bonus on her life, the voice returned and she almost swallowed her
tongue when she heard what it had to say.
"I want you out there, get yourself packed your leaving in an hour."
Crushing her cigarette in the tray, she stood up smoothing out her coat.
"You want me to find the pharmacy she uses and track her down?"
The voice when it spoke was the original one that had questioned her and the humour in it was obvious to her ears, dark and brittle.
"No, of course not, that's what field men are for. You're much too valuable to the program to lose out in the world, we want you to see the donor, get his vitals back up. Turn him into our little breeding bull, you're coming with us Doctor Howard, the girl will be picked up if it's as easy as you say it is. Just give our operatives the list of things they should be looking for and they'll bring her home, safely."

When she finally saw her reflection again her skin had become like paper, waxy and pale, the cigarettes dangled from her hand and she knew her plans for a long drawn out death by cancer were no longer viable. Leaving them behind on the table she walked out and began making the her will in her head, no-one who'd gone to see the donor
had come back and in her heart she knew she wouldn't either.


She'd been sat inside the hospital pharmacy for nearly an hour now, she'd spent the morning trying to find a pharmacy that carried her type of vitamins, she'd searched all over St. Joseph only to find she had to go to the hospital to get her prescription filled. So she'd
entered the queue of people waiting for their meds, just another woman waiting in line. She'd been given a chair at least when she'd uncovered her now proud bulge, the relief had been evident on her face as she'd sat down and Marie indulged herself in a bit of people watching.

There were several families in there some with children holding broken arms, others with bandaged fingers and body parts but it had been the quiet group off by the corner that had caught her attention.
It was just the way the father almost had his body as far away as possible from his son and wife that made her watch them. The son, a small lad, dusky brown hair cut short to his scalp, his head down and a scarf wrapped around his throat.
It looked out of place in here and when she caught his mothers pained look she knew why he was wearing it, he was a mutant, somehow her child had become a mutant and they didn't know what to think or do with him. His father had obviously made up his mind about the whole thing already, the boy flicked his gaze to the side to look around him and Marie found herself falling into black pupiless eyes. The scarf slipping a little to reveal gills in his throat, their surfaces bright red and beautiful to her eyes, watching his long thin fingers
pull the scarf back up to cover them again before anyone else saw.

Marie tore her gaze away, her own hands and skin were uncovered, she'd found something that could let her seem normal as long as no one looked too closely. Spray plasters, who'd have thought that the military would actually have something that she could use to pass as
human, well apart from super glue that is. The thin invisible barrier kept her skin safe from contact as long as it didn't tear and she was careful not to touch things that could rip it. She could pass for human and that was her greatest disguise at the moment, she still didn't have a plan, just wandering until she became bored with it or the baby became too much of a burden to move safely with.

Her car was small, a little three door Ford, dusky blue, not a thing anyone would look twice at but it had room enough for her to sleep in when she needed it and it had had a full service history. As long as she looked after it it'd look after her, it was parked outside in the
warmth that was slowly becoming heat as spring turned to summer. St. Joseph was near the state lines of Missouri and Kansas, she'd chosen here because it was a place to get herself organised before changing direction.

Now she was wishing she'd waited until she'd gotten into Kansas properly, the ticket display changed again and her eyes flicked to the five counters, each one showing a new number. Her own being one of them, smiling she pushed up out of her chair and went to get her prescription. Glancing back she caught the eye of the father with the
bad attitude, he looked through her as she passed his gaze, his eyes dropping to her stomach as if he wished her baby was his. That he had another chance at having a normal child, thing was Marie wasn't even sure that the baby she was carrying was normal. Pushing her fears to
the back of her mind she approached the pharmacy window with her number on it. The kind face smiled as she approached, the name tag reading `Sylvia'.

"Marie D'Canto?" Marie nodded to the woman who held her three bottles in her grip. Watching as she dropped them into a plain white pharmacy bag, pushing over the paperwork for her to sign and pay for as she did it. Marie took the pen in her fingers being careful to grip it
tightly; the spray plaster made things hard to grip seeing as it smoothed out the skin. Holding the pen, she carefully wrote her name and her old home address and the non-existent one she was heading for in Phoenix. Handing the form back over with a few bills, she expected the bag to be handed to her but the woman hadn't moved. She was
looking at the screen with a small frown on her features, Marie felt her stomach clench as the air around them changed from friendly to hostile. Leaning over to have a look at the screen, Sylvia moved it away from her view and just took the forms and money away, leaving her items in front of her.
Snatching the vitamins Marie almost ran out of the building, moving through the unfamiliar corridors, trying to follow the signs that would lead her to her car and freedom.

She was almost flying across the ground when she saw the men enter the end of the corridor she was running down, without even knowing why she screamed as they locked onto her form. Clutching herself tightly Marie ran back the way she'd come, back into the maze of corridors knowing this time she'd be lucky to escape. She was tired, her baby had grown and she couldn't run as long without pain lancing through her muscle. Finding an empty room Marie flung herself inside and hid under the large bed, praying to a god that she hoped loved mutants as much as the rest of humanity she got her wind back listening for footsteps.

*********************************************

They'd been checking every single hospital this side of the country; they'd only been forty minutes away from St. Joseph when the computer had flagged the request to their own laptop. The prescription matched perfectly, even her name and old address, it would be as easy as they'd said it would be. They both knew the file inside and out, hell
they'd even bought gloves especially for this case, they knew her by sight, even if she'd changed her hair and her skin tone. She was five months pregnant and the projection of her growth would make it hard for her to run, she was a small woman.

Reaching the hospital they'd double-parked, flashed a badge at the rent-a-cop security and were heading for the pharmacy when they'd spotted her running toward them. Smiling they'd just pushed through the few people that were there and followed her progress, watching as she'd ducked into a room, her breath laboured and her scream still echoing in their ears. She hadn't run far thankfully they needed both of them healthy and complete, she looked in good health but you couldn't tell until they got her out of here.

Rent-a-cop was coming and he nodded to his partner to deal with him while he got the job done on the girl. Pulling out a small hypo gun, he slotted the tranq in and opened the door a crack, dropping down he scanned the room, including behind the door through the crack in the
hinges, seeing nothing he saw the dark huddled shape under the bed.
Smiling he took aim and fired, a small cry was all she let out before she just relaxed and fell into a deep sleep. Pulling himself upright he looked at his partner who was asking for a wheelchair, slapping his back in triumph as the security left. They'd be back in a few
hours, grabbing his phone out of his pocket he dialled a number quickly, the other end being answered immediately. "We've got her, we're in St. Joseph Missouri, flyspeck in the middle of nowhere if
you ask me. Thank the doc for us, she saved us some time." The voice on the other end was pleased with their progress and it made him smile when he thought about what it could mean later on.

The rent-a-cop returned with the wheelchair and they used him to pull her out from under the bed, if he touched her; hell he could pay the price for doing it. They got her manhandled into the wheelchair and he had to admit she really was better looking in the flesh than she had been in the pictures. His partner noticed the way he was looking at her and he waited until they were moving her out of the hospital before he mentioned it to him. "She'd kill you in seconds man, sometimes your such a loser," looking at his friends amusement he had to laugh. Yeah he'd liked what he'd seen, not enough to die for it
though, grinning he slapped his partner around the back of his head as they went toward their own transport.

"Sure man, whatever you say," his eyes dropping down onto the sleeping face below, his thoughts telling him it might not be such a bad way for someone like him to die. At the moment his life expectancy wasn't that good anyway, after here he was on the detail
to move the donor to the same facility she was going to along with the good doctor. And where they were going not even the human population lasted long, whether it was the remoteness or the place itself he didn't know. All that mattered that was when he'd delivered her he'd be going back to the place again with the donor. He'd heard the stories about the donor, all of them had and it made his
nightmares about Afghanistan fade into pleasant memories and he'd be riding with him during the six-hour trip. Steeling himself he looked at the young girl he'd be taking there, he only hoped she never saw the thing she'd been impregnated with, yet somehow he knew she wouldn't be spared that not where they were taking her.

Strapping her in she moaned a little as they set up the iv in her arm; they needed her relaxed and the baby calm. A monitor was placed on her stomach that showed the heartbeat of the child she was carrying; it would accompany them all the way to the facility. The sound of new life growing in safety and darkness, everything it would ever need being provided by the young beauty carrying it, even now her hands were draped across her stomach as if she was trying to protect it. As he took the passenger seat he couldn't help but remember the Hail Mary's his mother had made him say every time he'd left to go abroad, whispering them under his breath he prayed she'd come out of the hell hole they were taking her to in one piece. She was still human to him, he didn't hold the views his partner did, he'd been given an order, he'd followed it anything else than that, and he'd question it. A good soldier knows when to question and this
was neither the time nor the place, setting his eyes to the road in the quiet silence; the only thing breaking it the quiet heartbeat of the precious cargo they carried.

**************************************************************

He wasn't responding, they'd tried everything she knew and then some thing's she'd researched on the internet. The donor wasn't responding to any kind of stimulus, the last set of tests he'd had before she'd gotten hold of him seemed to have short-circuited his nervous system,
he was awake but not `aware'. And they needed him `aware', she'd been given a free hand with this subject and she'd used it, the facility they had him in wasn't perfect but she'd managed to get a few interesting results from him.

She'd been here a month in total, her days were spent trying to figure out exactly what had been done to him. The scar tissue that had been documented was none existent, his skin was flawless, the medical procedures that were documented weren't to be trusted because if they had been the subject should be dead. He was improving now she had him on a regimen of nutritional suppliments although they had to be given intravenously after the last incident.

She'd been examining his nervous system, testing his reflexes when her assistant had been stabbed through the hip, she herself had only just been missed by the three metal claws that had sprung from his hands. After seeing to her colleague she'd fired the claws again using the same stimulus, watching the wounds slowly heal and seal
over the breaks in his skin. It had been then she'd gone back to the notes she had on the subject, reading about the `improvements to his natural abilities'. They were vague but the medical notes weren't, they told her everything she'd needed to know and so she'd tried to
fire his nervous system into life.

Heat, cold, pain, pleasure (she almost blushed when she remembered that one, remembering that his notes told of the bulk harvesting of his sperm. It was as if he could keep producing as long as he was aroused, no wonder the orderlies called him `the bull'.)
It had been just such a sample she'd implanted into Marie D'Canto, the motility of his sperm were impressive, nearly 80% were viable compared to the normal 55%. He was a walking baby factory if the cycle was right and she'd known of at least seven other clinics who had his samples.

Looking at him strapped down, eyes open but blank to the world, his face was lined by pain, the eyes especially, she wanted to touch him but she wondered what she would do if he'd responded to it. She'd tried everything else she could think of to get him out of the miasma he was in; there was nothing in his notes about any drugs he'd been given at the other facility. But that's wasn't any guide at all, the medical notes she had covered some parts of his `improvements' and not others. So she took samples of hair and nails for a tox-screen, the results had just come back and she was dreading opening them.
Because if he was a vegetable her own life expectancy would be zero, bracing herself she opened the file as she stood next to him.

The read-out was something from a cornucopia pharmacy, there were so many different agents working in his system she was sure he'd be dead if he wasn't a mutant. No wonder his system had been so depleted when she'd first seen him, she hadn't done anything for the first two
weeks but support his system, keeping him alive. Now she had the evidence in her hand she could try to bring him back to health,
looking at the thing she could see his liver and kidneys would need more help than they were getting. Going over to the phone she pulled the receiver up and requested a dialysis machine to be brought up to her, they'd need to clean his blood of the harsher toxins first then support his body as he fought the rest on his own. His body was thin but it still echoed with the image he had been, the one they wanted her to get him back to. The photograph at the front of his file, of him in a cage fighting another man dressed in fatigues, all muscle, all purpose, his hands held low to his body, a snarl on his face and his eye dark with hate. They wanted this back, they'd broken him and she was here to put him back together, quietly, quickly and as soon as possible.

She was still thinking as the machine was brought to her, they didn't have a shunt in him but they would use his femoral arteries instead, painful but necessary. She didn't stay and watch, she had enough on her plate with the girl coming here, sitting at her desk her hand
playing with the pictures on it she jumped when the phone rang. Picking it up she answered it politely, "Dr Howard," the voice on the other end she recognised, it had been the same one that had informed her that she was coming here. Now it told her she was to get ready to
move with the donor, they wanted him ready to move in six hours. She'd be escorted to a better facility with more resources, a more `secure' facility where she could do her work in peace. The surrogate would be coming also and she would be caring for the both of them, it was better if they kept the two projects side by side and under one doctor. She heard herself say she'd be ready as soon as
they got the donor stable again after dialysis, her hand shaking as she replaced the receiver.

The cold entering her body as she walked to the bed where her subject was having his blood cleaned, his thin frame showing a little more colour than it had been but she knew that this was a bad move for both of them. He was important to them, she was replaceable, a throw away item, her skin itched as she touched the nicotine patch on her shoulder. No matter where she went now she only had herself to blame, she'd let her curiosity lead her here, down the rabbit hole into Aliceland. And it was true what they said about it, nothing was as it seemed, not even her, she'd tried to play god with the new species
and this was her reward. Being drawn in tighter to the centre of things, where the more you knew the less human you became.
Watching the blood circle the machine, seeing it return to his body through a small shunt in his armpit. He'd be aware soon enough or she'd be dead, it was that simple, when you got it down to the basics there wasn't much else to do but work. She went back to her office and began packing the things she'd need, unconsciously leaving everything she didn't need behind including her will in the top drawer. Hopefully someone would find it but she doubted anyone would care.

Sensation, pins and needles running riot over his skin, the first thing he’d truly felt in months, it built gradually, painfully until it filled his entire world. He wanted to scream with the pain of it but his throat wouldn’t work, all he could do was endure in silence. Light was becoming noticeable too, the deep shades of grey were moving around, it was no longer fully black, it was many shades of grey, coloured with the flashes of his retina as it remembered exactly what it was for.

His body felt like lead, he couldn’t lift himself if he tried, he knew he should be able to, there was a reason he should be able to move but it eluded his clouded mind. His brain finally began to process scent again, there were people nearby and his blood pressure shot skyward, fear and adrenaline pumped through his body. People, people meant pain, his mind knew that as a truth and he tried to move to get away from the grey shapes that were coming closer. He even managed to sound out a tiny whimper that inside his mind was a full-throated scream; the scent came closer as did the dark grey shape. There was a pricking and a softness blurred his mind again, taking the relief given he dropped back into the comforting darkness where there were no people, no feelings only darkness.

********************************************

Marie woke to find herself back in a bed, dressed in scrubs and restrained again. Choking back a sob she took a look around the place she was in, the room was around sixteen feet long, nearly twenty wide. Her bed was the only main piece of furniture in there, there were two chairs in here, their red upholstery clashing nicely with the mint green of the walls. The door looked solid, metal by the looks of it and something out of an asylum if her mind remembered correctly. The sheets covering her were warm as she dropped her head, turning her head to the right Marie caught sight of a cabinet next to her bed. A syringe was in a paper kidney bowl and she knew she’d been caught by someone, looking at her stomach she could feel the baby moving still. At least she still had her baby, she stopped the thought right there, when had it become *her* baby?

Tears pricked at her eyes, when she’d run and found no one else wanted either of them, that’s when. She’d fight for her child and if it meant using her skin she’d do it, shifting herself around in the bed her ears heard the slow whine of something and her eyes searched for it. Finding the camera in the ceiling looking directly at her, there were no windows in here, only over head strips so she had no idea what time it was or if someone would come to see her now she was awake.

She didn’t have long to wait; the door opened revealing a long corridor and two armed soldiers either side of the door. Her eyes widened as she saw people in white coats moving between several other rooms through the gap. Her movement ceased altogether when she looked at the person who’d walked in, it was the doctor who’d done this to her in the first place, Doctor Howard. She looked at least five years older than she’d looked the last time she’d seen her and her voice was stilled in shock as she walked over to her gloved up and ready to examine her.

The whole thing was entirely done in silence, the equipment was wheeled in by orderlies whose demeanour spoke volumes, they were male for a start and muscular. Marie came to the conclusion that she must be in a mental institution somewhere, something secure, very secure. Tears were forming and she cried as the doctor scanned her baby, took blood samples and put a line in her arm. Before she left the doctor reached out and touched her bare arm and Marie found herself wishing she could hurt her. Finding the doctors calm gaze looking at her, a sadness resting deep inside her eyes, Marie found her voice, “Why? Why me?” The doctor traced her soft cheek with the latex covered fingers, Marie noticing the doctors own eyes filling with tears. She didn’t answer her; the tear rolled out of her tired eye and was lost on the sheets covering her. Taking the new samples and data she left her alone again to the silence of the room, the sounds of the guards moving outside her room filling the air.

She was caught by god knows who and she was back in the hands of the one person she never wanted to see again, the doctor who’d seen her as an experiment. The imprint of her was foggy now in her mind but she still could learn as much as she could about her. So that’s what she did, spending her first night in captivity plundering the thoughts of the woman who’d obviously be her keeper for the duration of her stay.
It was after this her thoughts drifted to the reason she was still alive and the truth made her stomach turn. The baby, they wanted her baby, whatever or whoever the child belonged to was important to them, important enough to kidnap her right under the hospital’s nose. Hospital’s had security, she’d seen them so how had she….. then it hit her; it wasn’t just a small thing anymore, she’d seen other doctors in the corridor. She wasn’t the only one in here, there were others like her kept captive, looked after by the good doctor. Her mind finally retreated from the revelation, she didn’t want to face it, and if she did it meant her life was over in four months when she gave birth. She was just an incubator, and her mind threw up the words the doctor had used to describe her ‘healthy, strong, malleable’. She was perfect for this, hell she’d even volunteered for it and as she looked at the baby she was carrying she wondered just what they’d given her that day. It sure wasn’t the Chalmers baby that’s for sure and if it wasn’t theirs then who’s was it?

A steel seemed to enter her mind at that moment, a sense of power filled her veins as she let herself relax onto the bed. She’d be ‘malleable’ upto the point where she found out exactly where she was and what she was carrying. She wouldn’t give up hope until she knew there was nothing left for her to hope for, she wasn’t injured and she hadn’t been harmed, yet. Her mind thought to the things she’d gleaned from the doctor and the half faded images of an experiment she’d been excited about. Something about infections and viral antidotes was all she could glean from her memories; the doctor had been a researcher into nutrition and development before she became a fertility specialist. Whatever things she had in store for her Marie would do whatever she asked of her calmly, she wouldn’t risk her babies life just make their lives difficult. When it was born, hell that was a different story all together, because if she’d been in the same situation and she had someone like her here she’d keep her to breed from. She was young, strong and healthy, she’d looked after herself religiously, even more than her mother had when she’d been carrying her. If she had the chance she’d grab her kid and run, damn the rest; she came first and so did her child. She’d wait her time and when they thought they had her controlled they’d let their guard down, hell the doctor thought she was ‘malleable’ already so she’d play to it, make everyone else believe it too. Inside she spoke to her child, ‘We’ll be okay, ah know we will, trust your momma and we’ll get out of here. One way or another.’

**************************************************

The coffee was awful but he’d been awake for nearly twenty-eight hours straight, the journey with the girl had been easy, they’d been picked up just outside of Kansas City and flown the rest of the way. The pickup had told his partner to get back and find her car, when he found it to bring everything with him to the facility. His partner’s face had fallen at that, he’d expected to be free after this drop off, to get back to his first assignment but no things had changed and he was now drafted into the squad. Shrugging he’d left his partner on the road looking after the unmarked helicopter, it’s light showing the frown still covering his features. It never did to try and understand things; you were doing well if you could remember your name some days.

Sat in the plastic chairs of the canteen he looked around the room, the small grey walled place wasn’t exactly homely but someone had made an effort with the food. Pity they hadn’t tried with the coffee, eyes running to the clock it told him the world had turned to another day and the sun was up above his head. Thing was all he felt was tired and he still had to give his transport report to the head of security. They’d almost lost the donor on the way here; his vitals had fallen after they’d crashed off road. It was only down to the doctor they had with him that they still had him alive and breathing. Settling the cup down on the formica table, he heard the approach of army regulation boots, standing up and turning as the soldier spoke to him, “Agent Richards?” Nodding he followed the hard faced young man, noting he had a small gold pin on the lapel of his shirt. A triskelle in gold and he felt his blood chill, the soldier taking him to his debriefing was one of the new anti-mutant insurgency regiment. There were rumours about them in the circles he moved in, doing work for the spooks that never saw daylight but what was one of them doing here?
He never got the time to think about the answer as he’d reached his destination, the office of the facility head, rubbing a little life back into his skin. The soldier opened the door his eyes never leaving Agent Richards as he let him inside.

The room inside was quite well lit; it even had a false window and view, making the inside look as if it were on the surface. The figure seated behind the desk was a small man, dressed in a dark shirt; his smile though didn’t reach his eyes. Seated already in the room was a larger man and when he turned to look at him Richards almost bolted. It was Carter, Carter had been the old head of the department, the rumour mill had been working overtime about why he’d left after nearly thirty years service. Now it was making sense, he hadn’t left he’d been promoted and now he was here as well.
The smaller man spoke first as the door shut behind him trapping him with the two men, “Agent Richards, please sit down before you fall down.” He did as he was told and kept his eyes just over the head of the man who told him to sit, eye contact here would be a bad thing. “Now if you’d be so kind as to fill in your superior as to why you nearly killed our newest resident?”

Swallowing nervously he kept his eyes above the smaller mans head as he prepared to give his version of the disaster that had been the transport of the donor.
“Well sir, the road wasn’t actually to blame it was the truck we were using. Whoever does the maintenance has to answer for this one, we were lucky we had the doctor on board. Otherwise it would have been even worse, she managed to get him stable once we’d finished getting ourselves out of the ditch.” The smaller man nodded as he took in every single detail of his speech even down to the nerves that were showing as he was trying desperately to relax.
“Now tell me, just how exactly the whole escapade actually happened. I have the report from the driver but I want the details from you. You’re a trained observer I want what you saw and what you heard before and after the accident.”

Clearing his throat he began, “We’d just turned down the access road when we went off the tarmac, the driver was having trouble keeping the truck on the road. I called through to him from the back but he didn’t answer me, the sounds coming from the drive shaft weren’t normal. Something was grinding in the gears too, so I just told everyone to hang on when I heard something shear underneath us. The doctor did her best by covering the donor with herself and the medical kit. I just hung on until we’d stopped moving, then checked that the cargo was still viable, the doc was doing her thing by then and she didn’t need me interfering. I got out to have a look at the driver; he’d been hit by something, a weapon not something done by the crash. I used the radio in the cab and called for back up, kept my eyes peeled and waited for you to come and collect us.” The smaller man nodded as he finished; finally, Carter spoke directly to him making him turn his head to look at his old boss.
“How many do you think were out there?” Carter’s eyes were peeling back the layers of his tiredness, making him re-evaluate the scene he’d been in.
“No more than six sir, the set up would have been difficult to do under the security of the compound. To get inside unnoticed would have been near impossible if you ask me, although there was the river at the bottom of the ridge, someone could have….” Carter cut him off mid flow.
“Thank you Richards, that’ll be all.” Carter’s dismissal of him was abrupt but the smaller man just nodded to them both.
“Thank you Agent Richards, Mr Carter if you’d be so kind as to remain with me for a few moments more.” Getting up out of the soft chair Richards felt his body complaining, he needed to get some rest. Going toward the door, the smaller man spoke to him again, “Please get some rest Agent Richards, we’ll be meeting again soon enough. If you’d be so kind as to follow the young gentleman who brought you here he’ll escort you to the barracks.” Opening the door he came face to face with the young soldier, the gun he was carrying in his hand pointed in his direction for a second until the younger man moved the gun to the side. Turning to see the thin smile on the dark shirted man finally reach his eyes which radiated a kind of sickness that suddenly filled the entire room. Casting a look at his old boss he knew who he had to thank for being here, nodding Richards let himself be taken to the barracks.

All the while his mind trying to remember any more details about the crash, there was something they knew he couldn’t remember and it was important that he did remember, his life may depend on it. Tired he let the younger man lead him aware that he was just as much a prisoner here as the donor and the girl, when he’d had some sleep maybe he could start putting the things together in some sort of order. Now all he was good for was sleep, he just hoped he’d get a full eight hours but being here, he doubted he’d sleep well anyway. Not when he’d heard the cry that had come from the donor when they’d crashed, the doc had to put him out to stabilise him. It had reminded him of the prisoners he’d taken in Afghanistan, you always knew when they’d given up hope because they’d cried like he had just before they did something stupid, like rushing an armed platoon with nothing but a rock in their hand. Men who’d had enough who’d finally snapped under the pressure and torment they’d put them through, it hadn’t been loud but it had been there and the doc had worried about it too. He’d seen her panic run across her face as she’d sedated him, doing everything she could to keep him calm and stable while they waited for another truck. But there had been something just before it hadn’t there, what it was eluded him and would make his dreams fitful if he had any at all. He had to remember what it was, not just for himself but for the donor, whatever it had been he’d been crying out to it, he’d sensed it before they had. He just hoped he remembered what it was.
*********************************************

Light, bright light, a sterile breeze wafting over his skin, making it goose, feeling something on his skin, something keeping him still, holding him steady as he fought upward toward consciousness. A million thoughts and feelings rushing through his starved mind, images of men in uniforms, colours so bright they hurt his eyes, then laughter, the stink of liquid metal, harsh in his lungs, burning flesh and the stench of seared bone. Everything coalescing around a bright point of pain, something so deep it unlocked the darkness, the beast inside his mind, the primal half most men kept locked away and under control.

Unable to move the beast let itself be known, he was weak, tied up, held down but it wouldn’t be forever and when he got free he’d destroy everything and everyone that got in his way. Pushing his head back into the support foam he opened his throat, tilting his head back and howled, the sound building slowly. His vocal chords unused to being used the sound wasn’t as full as the feelings behind it, but it was enough. It echoed through the lab he was in, bouncing off the walls into the office where Doctor Howard was writing up her own report about the crash. She dropped her pen when she heard it; the sound made her hair stand on end.

Standing slowly she made her way into the lab where the donor was laid, his body was arcing out of the foam support in places, his muscles were tensing against the straps. There was no chance he could get out of them but she still took a step back from him, her fear of him evident in her movements. She skirted the edge of the room so she could get a look at him before she went any closer; he dropped back into the bed. His chest rising and falling rapidly as he breathed in the air of the lab, moving closer now as he relaxed further she took a look at the readouts. He’d had an event in his nervous system, something was happening to him, he was healing, but exactly what state he’d be in was another matter entirely.

Looking at his face she saw he’d dropped back into a stupor, his breathing evening out again, the body had ways of dealing with trauma and this was one of them. He’d retreated again somewhere inside his head but he’d been aware once and that meant he could be again. Feeling a little better about her own prospects she began work on the regimen she’d have him in, upping his doses of vital fluids and nutrients, they’d try him on some liquid food soon by mouth. Then they could remove the stomach tube they’d been feeding him with upto now, smiling she put her hand near his head. Her voice almost whispering to the man on the table in front of her, “I think we’re going to make it, both of us.” Turning away, she didn’t see the eyes follow her as she moved away or the low growl that rumbled through him. He had her scent now, his tormentor, his keeper and he’d remember.

**********************************************************

The bed was comfortable she had to give them that, the foam support seemed to mould itself to her body making it easy to sleep, even with her extra passenger. Marie hadn’t seen anyone since the doctor had been to poke and prod her, her stomach was now beginning to protest at not being filled. Her own internal clock was telling her that this must be breakfast hunger, she didn’t feel the same twinges as she did when she’d missed lunch. This was breakfast and that meant a big meal of toast, cereal, milk, pancakes and fresh fruit. She’d been following the same routine for most of her pregnancy and she wasn’t about to stop now. Shifting herself so she could look directly into the camera that was trained over toward her bed she began to squirm as the other daily routine made itself known. She needed to pee, badly, “Hey, you in there, ah need to pee!”

She shuffled as far as she could with her body strapped down, her belly rising and falling as she went, her bladder sending urgent signals to her brain that if someone didn’t come soon it’d be too late. Just as she’d made her peace with actually soiling the bed, a nurse arrived with two hefty orderlies. She was pushing a small chair with a cover on it, a commode, seeing the thing her eyes locked onto it and didn’t leave it as the orderlies unstrapped her from the bed. Pushing herself upward a wave of dizziness swam over her and she grabbed onto the covered arm of the orderly, not realising what she’d done until she looked at his face. The shock was registering in his eyes but Marie still felt the need to apologise, “Ah’m sorry.”

They both moved her over and the nurse lifted her scrubs so she could go, the sound was intensely loud in the bare room, none of them seemed embarrassed about it but Maries face told of her shame. She was clinically cleaned by the nurse and helped back into bed by the two male orderlies, this time they strapped her differently to the bed. Two upper arm restraints, linked to a chest restraint, her legs were left free, she still couldn’t leave the bed but using a bedpan would be doable strapped like this.

Everyone left before she got a chance to talk to them further, the door was pulled to not shut and Marie could hear the rattle of a trolley coming around. Although it was the smell that made her sit up and take notice, this was food coming and her mouth began to water. Patiently she waited for it to come through her door, her voice squashed in her throat when she heard the wheels move on from her door. She had to be *good* damn it, if they didn’t want her to eat yet she didn’t, she had more than herself to think about here. Shuffling a little Marie prayed for someone to notice she was there.
A mumbling was heard outside her door and the trolley began to wheel back toward her doorway. It opened revealing a female orderly with a hot trolley, seeing Marie eyeing the food and almost drooling the orderly turned to a soldier and spoke quickly, “She doesn’t have a table, go get me one and then I can make sure she gets fed. Next time make sure you fill the damn form in when there’s a new resident I’m not taking the heat for your mistakes.” The soldier left quickly coming back with a hospital table, wheeling it into position for her; the orderly flashed a thin smile at him as he left leaving her with the trolley and her new patient.

Seeing Marie she plucked a menu card off the trolley and held it out to her, raising her hand she managed to hold it. The menu read like heaven and the orderly just took a look at her and just piled a little piece of everything onto her plastic tray. Handing it over she took back the breakfast menu and slid an orange card over to her, “That’s lunch, you’d better get your order in now while I’m here. Newbies usually don’t get lunch, the medical tends to run on for a while.” Looking at the pile of food and the orange card Marie just scanned down it and found her eyes drawn to the steak and liver salad. Handing the card back over she spoke to the woman who’d just made her life a little more bearable.
“Ah’d like the steak salad please,” her voice was quiet and calm, mousy almost and a million miles away from the personality she usually had. The orderly smirked at her as she recognised her accent, the smile re-appearing on her face and actually reaching her eyes this time.
“My-Oh-My, we have a southern belle with us. Well missy ah’m afraid the nearest we’ll get to your momma’s cookin is Canadian bacon. Ain’t no beans and biscuits here.” She was trying to get Marie to smile or at least lighten up a little; she wasn’t in danger from her. Seeing the woman’s attempt at humour Marie let herself smile a little. "There now that wasn’t so hard now was it?” Marie shook her head and picked up the plastic fork she’d been given to eat with as she started in the orderly began to take the trolley out. Just as she was closing the door, she winked at her, making Marie wonder exactly where she was, prisons don’t usually have food as good as this. And everything she’d seen didn’t look like a normal hospital to her, but what hospital had such good food and helpful staff?

She’d almost finished her breakfast when the answer came to her, one where they want you to be as relaxed as possible, just in case you harm the baby your carrying. The food had been good, exceptionally so but what did you expect from a nutritionist? She was making sure everyone got the best they could including her, she’d eat it, hell yes she’d need the strength to run after her child was born and she had a clue already, she was north, how far was another matter. But she had an inroad to that information and she’d use it.

Soon after her mammoth breakfast, two armed soldiers appeared in her room, their bodies radiating a sinister type of violence, insidious it wound through her nerves making her fear to make any sudden movements. Her mind knowing by instinct that these men would kill her without a thought, with her eyes were locked onto them she didn’t notice the smaller man enter with the good doctor. She only noticed them when he spoke directly to her. “Miss D’Canto?” Her eyes dragged away from the looming bulk of the soldiers and met the cold glass stare of the man who’d addressed her. Her stomach tightened at the sight of him, she was in danger right now and the answers she gave this man would tell her how long she survived if at all.
He pulled the small chair over and seated himself in it demurely. “Now if we can begin,” he plucked a file from the doctor on his right, opening it he began to read. “You were implanted nearly six months ago yes?” Marie nodded quickly not trusting her voice her eyes watching every movement he made, he turned to the doctor for a second. “Did she show any signs of rejection at her first scan?” The doctor was pale as she answered him, her own voice trembling slightly as she shifted toward the bed.
“No, the patient had a solid recieval of donor sperm, growth started around twelve hours after implantation.” The words hit Marie’s ears, the room shrinking to her own body, the child she was carrying was hers, she was so involved with the information she didn’t hear the rest of the conversation about her.
“Really? That fast? My we do have a prize on our hands don’t we?” The grin that was on his face was lost to Marie but it made Doctor Howard’s blood run cold in her veins. Turning back to the file in his hands he looked at Marie again before reading her results, “She’s shown no problems, no mutation of the foetus?”
“No her own mutation came on as a result of the pregnancy, we’re wondering if it’s a self defence mechanism by her body. The mutation in the donor sperm could have triggered her own genetic response after the first trimester.” The little man was nodding to himself as he listened to the doctor, Marie came back to herself when she heard her name being called again.

“Marie? I can call you Marie can’t I?” The way he gave her name a sliding twist reminded her of the way her uncle had sung to her when she’d been a child. He’d stretched her name out as if it was a lyric to be sung, it had made her smile when she’d heard him calling out to her. But he’d been dead for nearly five years now, crushed at the mine, half a mile under the earth and now the same lilt was here to haunt her.
She just nodded at the small wraith like man as he flicked through the file, he held up a scan of her child smiling to himself. “Well it looks like you’ll be giving us a very healthy baby soon Marie, I hope you do as your doctor asks of you. Everything here is for your own good and the babies.” Her eyes couldn’t help but flicker to the guns being held by the soldiers that flanked the small man, he noticed her gaze and smiled as he got up handing the file back to Doctor Howard. When she met his gaze again the coldness that met her own gaze frightened her, there was nothing human in it. “The soldiers are here to protect you from the donor my dear, he’s not someone who can be trusted you see, he’s killed several women just like you already. We keep him here too you see, it’s a lot easier to have you all in one place, just in case. But I’m sure you’ll do as your told, follow what the doctor prescribes for you, we want your baby to be born healthy don’t we?” The threat was in every word he spoke, even Doctor Howard had her head dropped so she couldn’t see the look in the smaller man’s eye as he turned away from Marie.

“Do your medical Doctor Howard and give me her file personally, I want to know if her mutation could be passed to the child. If so she’ll be worth keeping, just think of the possibilities Doctor, we’d be the answer to the worlds problems.” He handed her the file back and walked out of her room the soldiers following close behind him, the dread flowing into the room in his wake as Marie finally understood why she was there and whose child she was carrying. Yet now she knew, her sense of self preservation seemed to leave her as she watched the doctor approach the bed, her hands already gloved up. All she could do was scream and her fear found a release in the sound, the small man walking down the stark corridor smiling to himself as he heard her crying out to ears that couldn’t hear her. His tone urbane and cultured as he spoke to his personal guard, “Come, let’s go and see what else the good doctor has for us.” His hand opened another room door, the occupant sobbing quietly as they entered as one.

******************************************************

The bunk wasn’t very conducive to sleep, a basic army mattress on what seemed to be a slab of wood with holes in. Tiredness filled his bones and grit stung his eyes as the door opened again, a familiar voice entered his fuddled mind, “Hey, numb-nuts. Get up your wanted.” The kick to his feet made Richards twitch, moving slowly he made out the shape of his partner above him, he looked like fifteen miles of hard road. Stubble covered his chin, there were food stains on his shirt below a coffee stain on his usually smart tie.
“You look like hell.”
His partner snorted as he shifted off the solid bunk.
“So’d you if you’d have driven nearly fifteen hundred miles cross country and through a border patrol that makes the Mexican border look like a Sunday stroll.” Richards shrugged as he got up, looking directly into the red rimmed eyes of his partner who was eyeing the space he’d just vacated.
“Who want’s me?” His partner slid into the still warm space and settled as if it was a king size deluxe, the deep solid sigh leaving his throat making Richards jealous of his ability to sleep anywhere.
“Hey!” He kicked the bunk getting his partner’s attention again, the eyes focussed on him and smiled.
“Carter, outside next to the girls car. He wants ‘a word’.” Richards had been dreading this, if he wanted to talk to him then there was something screwy here and if he wanted to talk to him why should be have to be outside, unless there were some thing’s he didn’t want anyone else to listen to.

Wiping his hand over his tried features he watched his partner dropping into sleep, opening the door Richards made his way to the outside, the darkness out there filled with animals and forest sounds. He’d never liked the ‘great outdoors’, he never knew where the danger was coming from, give him a city anytime, he could find you fifteen different avenues of escape and survival there, but here he was at a loss. This was why he wanted to know why Carter had obviously asked for him on this pick-up, there was something he needed to know and he’d find out as soon as he could be sure they weren’t being listened to.

Huddled under a small light rig the car was being pulled apart, Carter was stood by watching the technicians work on the small car, looking in everything, taking the whole thing apart piece by piece. The pile of personal belongings that had been cleared by the tech’s was sat in a clear plastic bag next to Carter. Richards moved into the small circle of light, his dishevelled appearance stark against his superiors neatness. Carter turned to look at the man, his bulk moving easily in the open air, at home out here in the cool night. His breath fogging Richards spoke to his superior, “Sir, you wanted to see me?” Carter was looking through him, he always did that before he answered anyone, as if he was trying to work out what he could do with you that wouldn’t trouble him too much.
“Yes, you picked up this subject is that correct?” Richards felt a little strange here, Carter must know he did so why was he asking him, deciding to just answer him he spoke.
“Affirmative sir, we picked her up in the hospital,” Carter moved closer to him, his bulk taking the light from his own body.
“Were you the only ‘people’ there for her?” The tone wasn’t lost on him and he began to run the events through his mind, the search for her, the capture, even the way the rent-a –cop helped them take her to the car. That struck an odd note now as he was stood with his superior, the way the guy had been so helpful, even packing her things inside. His eyes must have spoken for him because Carter pulled out a small device from his pocket, button shaped it glistened in the light before his superior dropped it back into his pocket.

Things had just changed, Richards felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he met his superiors gaze again. “Let’s keep this between us shall we? Now I want you to take her personals to her,” He motioned to the plastic bag, “Question her while you’re there, be…discreet but quick. I need you to read her while you’re there, see if she knows anything about the child she’s carrying and the donor.” Carter shifted around so his face was in complete shadow and only his eyes were showing reflections from the lights around the car. “I asked for you to be here Richards, don’t make me regret my decision.”
Richards knew then that his partner was expendable, another little piece of flotsam that didn’t matter in the long game and Carter *always* played the long game. You had a better chance of winning and this time Richards was going to make sure he survived as well.

He went through her things before he saw her, the whole lot screamed 20 something female, several different brands of moisturiser, hair products, make-up, although this one even had books with her that had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She had ‘How to live healthy on $10 a day!’, ‘Back Road Summer’s, A journeyman’s remembrances.’ The latter had maps and routes that avoided most major highways, listing hotels and eateries on route and gave them a rating for safety and cleanliness. She’d planned her route, used some intelligence and had still ended up here, ‘here’ being a base in the middle of nowhere where even the food had to be shipped in by air.

Plucking the thin plastic bag off the dirt, Richards went back inside the contents shifting and moving around. Her things spoke to him as he walked through the cold corridors, she bought small things that could be replaced easily. Her jewellery was silver and minimal, nothing that would stand out in a crowd or be worth the effort of stealing. Walking to the nurses station he found the sister filling in charts and reports, coughing politely he got the woman’s attention, earning himself a basilisk stare as he stood there. “Yes, can I help you?” He held up the plastic bag to her eye level before answering her.
“Orders from Security Chief Carter, I’ve to see the girl I brought in yesterday,” he held the bag as proof, her hand was going toward it when he pulled it back a little out of her reach. “I have orders to ‘see’ her.” The inflection he gave to the word made the sister blink and she quickly came out from behind the station, keys in hand.

“You do know she can’t be touched, she’s on watch as well as guarded. Doctor Howard believes she’s the most valuable we have so far, so please don’t stress her any more than you need to.” Richards grabbed the sisters arm tightly and squeezed it hard, his eyes narrowing to slits as he whispered to her.
“When you get back you’ll switch off the camera to that room and you’ll forget I was down here. Do I make myself clear?” His grip increasing as he shut his mouth, he could feel the thin bone of her upper arm in his grip and for a second he saw her eyes show fear before nodding. “Good, glad we understand each other, now take me to her.” The sister led the way through the bright clean corridors where the soldiers were evenly spaced, he could hear the cries of new-borns along with the crying of women, his curiosity peaked he grabbed the sister again as they walked.
“How many do you have in here?” She didn’t stop walking she just stumbled a little before moving on with his hand around her arm.
“Twelve in all, four have already given birth but the babies aren’t viable.” A cold sensation crept through his blood as they walked to the final corridor where the woman he'd brought in was being housed. Before they reached the two soldiers outside her door he stopped the sister dead, there were things going on here that he needed to know before he went in and talked to the occupant he was heading toward.
“Viable? What do you mean viable?” The sister was reluctant to look at him but a squeeze on her already bruised arm made her see the darkness in his thin tight mouth. Her breath seemed hard to get as she looked at him, her features settling on pain mixed with guilt.
“They’re not human, the donor’s genetics don’t mix well with everyone. We estimate one in twenty will resemble human shape, one in a hundred will look human. The donor’s mutation isn’t well mapped, Doctor Howard thinks that’s why he’s so prolific, his body is trying to get around it’s own mutation, to have a normal baby.”

Richards looked down the corridors they’d just come down, there were more than forty rooms here and they’d all been occupied, the grip he had on the sister suddenly made him feel sick. Dropping his hand his pushed her ahead of him, no longer wanting to think about what might be behind those doors he’d passed and the pain that was already eating into him as he imagined women giving birth to monsters at the will of the small man who ran this facility. Now he knew why Carter was here, why he’d disappeared off the company radar and what his role was. No matter what he found out from her, her child had to die, if the donor managed to produce a viable child with the mixed traits of both mutant parents….it didn’t bear thinking about.

The sister opened the door for him, revealing the woman he’d picked up to his view, her eyes pleading with him to be calm, not to stress her in any way. The young woman on the bed looked at him and her saw her fear rise, he’d been the last thing she’d seen before she’d woken up here and it was a valid fear. If he had to he’d be taking the one thing she’d been protecting all this time on the road, her baby. Smiling at her frightened face as the sister left, closing the door behind her, he offered up the plastic bag filled with her stuff. Seeing her eyes dart to it he broke the tense silence, “Hi there, I’m Jeff Richards and I’m pleased to meet you at last Marie. Anything you want to know please ask me, I’ve been sent to answer any question you have and to re-assure you that you’re not going to be hurt while you stay here. After all it’s your well being that’s important to us all here, so please relax and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.”

Moving himself into the room and pulling the smaller chair to the side of her bed, so he was below her eyeline giving her a sense of superiority over him. Handing her the plastic bag and smiling his best ‘I’m on your side’ smile all the while his stomach was churning at the thought of having to kill her and her child in the near future. Swallowing the rising bile he waited for her first question, his eyes seeing the little red light on the camera switch off above them, Marie too busy looking over her things to even see it go off. They were alone now and he had an hour at the most to get what Carter wanted from her and he’d get it by any means possible.

********************************************************

Doctor Howard had just finished running the bloodwork through the microscope, Marie was showing a normal rise in hormone, everything about her pregnancy was normal. The others she’d been given charge of were all showing rising levels of white blood cells, as if the mother’s bodies were trying to clear themselves of an infection. Thing was they were all healthy, it was the foetus’s they were carrying that were suffering, nearly every single one of them were showing deficiencies in either bone or nerve growth. It was as if they reached a certain point in development then just began to die, all except Marie D’Canto. Even the babies that had survived weren’t going to make more than a few months on their own, she’d been brought in too late to save most of them.

Thing was the donor seemed to know when one of his progeny died, as if he could sense when it happened. She’d been checking his fluids and read outs when the E.E.G showed a huge spike, the donor had opened his eyes for a moment, the slits showing a flash of glowing hazel before he’d sunk back into the coma he seemed to sleep in.
His lucid moments were getting more regular and longer, soon he’d be awake for most of the time, his body was putting on weight now and condition. He ate through his stomach tube still, but regular feeding on high protein had done wonders to his frame. They’d had to re-enforce the straps holding him down, he’d thrashed out in one lucid moment breaking the strap as if it were cotton. They’d learned from that and now he was chained as well as being strapped, she didn’t like the thought of having to do it but she’d read the reports on his mutation and his strength when he was at full health. It was prudent to be careful and she was prudent, she wanted to live through this if possible.

Casting her mind back to the original problem of Marie D’Canto, why was she able to carry the donor’s child normally, was it her latent mutation, was that the key? Was it in her RNA? Where was the answer? She wasn’t a specialist in mutant DNA and to get the answer that her boss wanted she’d have to get some help as soon as possible. Maybe her old contacts could help her, there were several who were sympathetic to the mutant cause, and maybe they could help her get to the bottom of this. But if she went to her boss he’d know she couldn’t solve this herself, her life expectancy would drop substantially.

Her gaze dropped on her laptop, she still had access to her old university files, maybe she could query the alumni through the intranet, no full details just hypothesis. It could give her somewhere to start from and that would be better than nowhere, the decision made she began firing off e-mails, even if she was found out they couldn’t trace it back to here. Her connection was via several secure servers, it’d take a super computer to track her to here and they didn’t grow on trees, at least not in her experience.

******************************************************************
The little light flashed in the darkness, the green cursor blinking like a beacon in the panelled room. When it was noticed the occupant clicked on the cursor, his eyes reflecting the screen in glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Reading the text that had been sent to his inbox, the words sending his mind into cartwheels of unexplored thought. The hypothetical scene being given felt too real to be truly hypothetical, the data too complete, his mind quickly putting the pieces together and finding something he really didn’t want to think about.

Setting his face he picked up the slim phone by his computer, pressing a button he whistled the tone of the code being dialled. He knew it by heart as well as the voice that answered the call, the honeyed tone making a smile come over his features, “Ororo, could you bring Scott here. I think we have a new project for him, one I’m sure he’ll enjoy.” When he finally replaced the receiver Doctor Hank McCoy turned his mind to the problem being displayed on his machine. If what was on here was true, then the secret war had taken a turn for the worse, if this ever came out things would never be the same for either side. The darkness was still wrapped around him when his guests came to see him, no solution had presented itself to him, he only hoped that the two people that had answered his call would give him another option.

**********************************************

“Where am ah?” Richards met her frightened gaze, readying his lie and moving closer to her to make her believe what he was going to tell her.
“You’re in a secure facility for mutants, a little out of the way but nowhere dangerous. You’re perfectly safe here.”
Marie watched the man talk, he inclined his head to her as he spoke, his eyes never leaving her own for a second, even his demeanour was calm and relaxed.
“What do they want with me?” Richards moved back now, giving himself a little room now, he knew why she was here but she wasn’t going to know the details of it.
“Now that even I don’t know, all I was asked to do was pick you up. I’m not much more than a glorified go-fer.” He smiled his best ‘I just work here’ smile, the one where it softened his eyes just a touch, he saw her lose a little fear about him after that. “What about you? Where are you from originally?” She hesitated for a few seconds her fingers touching the silver necklace through the thin plastic before answering him.
“Meridian, kind of left in a hurry though,” he noticed her tears beginning, she didn’t get flustered just sad, nodding he reached out toward her hand on the plastic. Noticing she snatched her hand away from his, her eyes filled with fear, not for her for him, her voice trembling with it as she spoke to him.

“Ah’m dangerous to you, you can’t touch me. Ah’ll hurt you if you do, an ah don’t want to hurt you.” Her reaction almost made him stop, she was concerned for his safety not her own, he moved his hand back but not entirely away. Showing her he wasn’t afraid of her or her skin, looking at her tear-streaked face he decided to go for the information he needed.
“Have you always been a mutant?” Her eyes grew cold as she looked at him, expecting him to move when she’d told him she could hurt him, when he hadn’t Marie had begun to wonder why. Her suspicions were growing but about what she didn’t know, just that it felt wrong to have someone in here with her letting her ask questions if it was somewhere she was in danger. Yet she’d never have another chance as good as this one to ask what she wanted to know.
Swallowing her nerves she looked at the shabby man seated next to her bed, she could touch him if he tried to hurt her. Deciding to answer him Marie began her story, telling him about her visit to the clinic for her father’s friends, her test and the switching on of her mutation, the one thing she didn’t even know she was. Until now, her own mind had been wondering about what Doctor Howard had said, that she thought it was a self defence mechanism of her body to keep her and the baby safe. She voiced that to Richards, his face creased as he followed her logic, “So you think it might go when the baby is born?” Marie nodded and held her hands over the proud bump that hid her child from the world.

Richards took that into account, if the doctor wasn’t sure about the mutation in the mother then the child may not inherit anything from either parent. He knew from the file on her that she’d shown no mutant power up until the first trimester of her pregnancy. Could the whole thing actually be from the donor? He’d just found out that the donor’s genetics didn’t mix well with normal humans so she might have been lucky in one sense but damned in another. At least the child she was carrying seemed normal enough, he was about to continue when the door opened to the room, and a trolley came in with a female orderly. The lunch wagon was here, the camera in the ceiling flicked back to life and he got up to leave, the rattle of the trolley covering his cursing. He turned to see Marie looking at the food trolley with almost relief in her gaze, if he’d pushed her any further he might have blown it with her. She needed to believe someone and he’d be the one she’d believe, he cast her a warm smile and pointed to her food, “Make sure you eat all that, we want you to be healthy, both of you. If you have any more questions just ask for Richards, the soldiers will find me and I’ll come to talk to you okay?”

Marie took the plastic plate in her hands her mind telling her she might have an ally in the man who’d come to see her. Hope surged as he left the room, she might have someone else to get information from but if she could trust it was another matter entirely.
The orderly was about to leave when Marie got her attention, “Excuse me but do you know Richards. The man who was in here when you came in?”
The orderly just looked at her as if she’d asked if the sky was green, “Honey I don’t know everyone here but as far as I know he’s only been here as long as you have. Come up with you and went back for the other one.” She was fishing out the dinner menu when Marie saw her opportunity.
“Other one?” Her hand covered in plastic took the menu, protecting the orderly form her bare touch. Looking at Marie she came a little closer to point out something on the menu but her voice was telling her something entirely different.
“Don’t know who he is but they say he’s chained down like an animal, Rudy takes food down to him. Liquid food. He don’t say much about him but Rudy don’t like it, he’s a good man Rudy but he’s going to get himself fired if he’s not careful about what he says and to who.”
“Fired?”
“Yeah honey, fired. An I don’t mean with severance pay either.” The look that passed between them both made Marie’s blood run cold, the things she’d been told were no longer fun. It didn’t feel like a game to get one over on the people who were holding her here, it was survival. No one was trusted, even the staff, they were miles away from anywhere and anything could happen to her, the orderly plucked her card out of her covered fingers and spoke loudly to the camera watching above. “SO that’s the salad, pork, mashed sweet potato and cheesecake with grapefruit juice, big order there honey, just hope you can stomach it all. Eating for two huh?” The woman had her back to her so she couldn’t see the pale reflection of Marie in the room. It was a risk to hope that Jeff Richards really was on her side, but if one person was couldn’t another be?

She wasn’t hungry but she ate anyway, a small call button was plugged in after her lunch so she could call for a nurse if she needed help. Her baby’s life and her own would have to rely on others for a while and for that she needed to trust her instincts about who she could trust and who she didn’t. At the moment all she knew was that she was locked up somewhere no-one knew or cared about, the father of her child was here as well and that was a priority to find out about. How she did it was another matter entirely.

*************************************************

There were irons on his wrists, forearms and shoulders, forcing his eyes to open in the glare of the room he made out the shapes that were moving around him, the white of their clothing made his voice box rumble with hatred. They stopped work immediately leaving him alone, a single solitary figure approached him, a familiar scent filling his nostrils. He knew this one, this was one who’d caused him pain and his growl deepened, words he half understood made their way into his consciousness. “Get him washed, take out the stomach tube, from now on he gets hand-fed. When he’s aware I want at least one person with him at all times and the physio machine running, he needs exercise to build his strength up. Get yourselves ordered into a rotation, I’ll take the morning shift, we’re collecting new sperm samples tomorrow for analysis.”

The movement of his bed from prone to vertical made his head spin for a moment, light dimmed somewhat for him and he took his first look at the face that had caused him so much pain. Mousy blonde hair, cut short in a bob that aged the face, dark circles under the washed out blue of the eyes. A face that watched every movement of his own body with obvious glee, she moved closer to him so he could sense the sickness radiating from her. A scent that told him of her dying body, of the corruption hiding just beneath the surface of her skin, she was death walking and his body was repelled by her. Flexing his muscle to move away from her, seeing her eyes follow the movement and her smile waxy and pale filling her tired eyes. “Nice to have you with us Wolverine, I’m sure our distinguished leader would like to meet you at last.” She turned away from him as she moved around the bed he was on, her hands redoing the straps and ties that kept him to the bed securing him properly before risking her bosses exposure to him.

Fury was building inside his mind, scenes of depravity, pain, torture, humiliation at the hands of soldiers dressed in green, of being held down while he was beaten unconscious. The scent of ammonia filling his nose as they pissed all over his bruised and battered form, knowing he should be able to get up and fight back but his body couldn’t. Their laughter filling his ears as they dragged him outside, the snow cold on his battered skin, numbing the aches they’d given him. Leaving him outside to freeze as night fell, his naked body trying to keep warm as he shivered, the pain almost making him black out as each wave went through him. Frost-bitten he’d been left in a cold dank cell to recover, his body eating muscle mass to repair the damage. Pissing blood for days, his body too tired to digest whatever they threw at him, throwing it back up as soon as it touched his stomach.

That’s when ‘he’d’ come, the soft toned voice that made his nightmares flare into life, the things he’d done to him made the abuse he’d suffered so far feel normal. Stripping him of his mind, his humanity, his manhood, taking everything that was left of him until there was nothing left but the animal. Then the burning had begun, the testing of his body, the strength he had left being sapped away by ‘treatments’, his own body becoming heavier even though he could barely raise his head anymore without help. Then finally he’d snapped, losing his sense of self, of life itself, retreating after years of abuse, the final straw the sight of the blades in his arms.
No longer human, no longer fighting the pain or darkness that covered his mind, losing himself in the animal they wanted him to be, Wolverine. Everything lost to the darkness that raged through his skull, to the world he was an animal to be used, trained, taught to act human until his skills were needed, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a mutant killer.

It was this face that he showed to the man who walked into the room, his small frame glowing with pride as he walked toward his bed. Lunging forward he listened to the voice that had haunted his nightmares, the soft cultured tone forming each word carefully knowing full well he could understand him. “Well, we have you back to your old self, Wolverine. I think if you continue to progress the way you have over the last week we should have you back in the program in just under a month.” The face leaned closer so he could scent the pleasure radiating from his skin and his nostrils flared with the familiar scent making him test the restraints on him further, his flesh parting as he strained to get at the man who taunted him with his closeness.

Seeing the blood flowing from his prize the man turned to the doctor who was watching the interaction between them, “Doctor if you don’t mind I’d rather the restraints were padded, we don’t want him doing himself an injury before we start work again.” The small pale hand reaching out, caressing his cheek, the snap of his own teeth barely missing the hand that was touching his skin, making it creep as the touch swept over the healthy surface. Letting go he turned his back on him talking to the doctor the words reaching him through the haze of hatred, “Make sure you feed him properly doctor, I want him back to his original weight before the month is out. We have a lot of work ahead of us and I need him fit to do it.” His gaze landed on his strapped and naked form, eyes caressing every inch of him as if he were a lover, “We have so many things to do him and I, improving on nature takes time and effort, I have the effort doctor but not the time. Do I make myself clear?” He heard the female tormentor answer, watching him leave the sterile room smiling as he went, the scent of pleasure wafting toward him as the door closed on him.

Cut off from his view of the one he wanted to kill Wolverine howled, the song filled with rage and pain, echoing through the entire complex, making new-borns echo their fathers cries, mothers to be shaking in fear as the sound reached them. Marie a few corridors away heard the sound, it filled her with a terror she couldn’t understand but her instincts could. It was the sound of the dark, of the thing that lurks just outside the firelight, the killer that hunts the weak, old and very young. Wrapping herself around her baby Marie tried to shut out the howls that were coming from somewhere close by, her mind telling her that it could be her next.

Falling to sleep her dreams were filled with scenes of wolves hunting over the snow, chasing her down, but their teeth never bit her, they just surrounded her, the sound she’d heard echoing through her room filling her dream and driving her deeper into sleep. Escaping the reality by running into her mind, where at least she had some control and she was taking whatever she could get.

******************************************************

“What do you know?” Carter was still annoying, he could hear a mouse fart at fifty feet so he had no chance at sneaking up on him but he still tried. Richards sat himself in front of the desk that Carter occupied here at the base, running his hand through his now clean hair he ordered his thoughts.
“The girl doesn’t know anything about the donor, she’s a dupe, just like the rest of them here. She has no idea of who or what he is and why she’s here, or even where she is.”
“So she’s stupid?”
He shook his head as he undid the button on the shirt he’d borrowed from a closet in the barracks, “No, she’s smart. Street smart though, she knew to go by back roads, to stay low off the main radar. She got caught by thinking about her kid, she wasn’t a mutant to begin with so she learned to keep herself low. Using the spray plaster was a good idea to cover her mutation.” Carter looked through him, “Her mutation is her skin, she drains the life from people who touch her, so she covered whatever skin was on show with a thin barrier of plastizied starch. Her skin could breathe but she was protected from random touching.” Carter nodded as he saw the sense of her decision, something that had allowed her to move safely and quickly through places she might be at risk otherwise.

“What about her child?”
Richards moved forward to look Carter in the eye, his gaze questioning, “Well that’s a bit of a quandary for us.” Carter looked through him again making him fill the silence, “Doctor Howard seems to think that her own mutation was triggered by the donor’s genetic material. She might not retain the mutation after the child is born, that is if it’s born normal.” Carter’s eyebrow lifted skyward, this was the cue for him to elucidate, “The sister was very helpful about this part, seems like our man in charge hasn’t been very honest with you or the guys running this show. The sister told me there were twelve occupants here needing attention but the rosta at the nurses station had nearly forty names on it. Seems like the experiment goes a little further than anyone realised, the children don’t live long, that’s those that actually make it to being born. And those that do aren’t entirely ‘viable’.” His mouth almost spat the word ‘viable’ across the desk into Carter’s lap, Carter steepled his fingers as he moved back in his chair.

“Go on.”
“Seems like the ones who do survive end up as guinea pigs for the rest, the non-viable that is. The ones who don’t look human.” He’d been down to the labs, gone on a security inspection at the orders of the man seated opposite him. What he’d seen had turned his stomach, babies being dissected on marble blocks, small tiny organs being removed into jars for further study. Some were still living, he’d seen their eyes follow him across the room as he’d been dressed in the green smock everyone else had been in. They’d been neutered, their humanity stripped away, they were specimens to be studied, labelled and pickled. Their shapes were horrific and now he knew why the women had been crying, each one had been breast fed for the first few weeks until their systems had begun to fail. They’d had every chance at survival but the genetic mix had failed and the bodies of the children were malformed or had no feeling at all.
“I saw two children who looked human, were ‘viable’ but they were sickly. Locked up in quarantine, not even barrier nursing to help them, everything has to be sterilised before they can have it near them otherwise they’ll die. They have little or no immune system to speak of, they’re useless unless you want a soldier who can fight from a plastic bubble.” He felt dirty still, even after showering for nearly an hour he could still feel the dirt under his clothes, it made him angry and he couldn’t be angry, not yet. There’d be time soon enough if he was right about the reason for Carter being here but for that he had to ask a few questions of his own.

“Permission to speak freely sir?” Carter nodded his assent, he knew Richards would want some answers soon and he’d give him as much as he could. “What are you doing here sir? Someone of your experience it doesn’t ring true to me and it shouldn’t to the rest of the security service either.” Carter fixed him with a cold stare, his face didn’t change as he leaned forward on his elbows crowding Richards with his bulk.
“What else would you expect from a disgraced former operative commander? A ‘welcome home all is forgiven’, no you get sent here, sent to look after the dirty laundry because someone has just as much on you as you have to deal with here. It’s not a job Richards, it’s a reprieve from ‘retirement’. Thing is you shouldn’t always believe what you read in reports or on the gossip vine, you know that yourself. You were at Farah, you know how important it is to get the facts straight.”

Richards almost swallowed his tongue, Farah had been a total fuck-up, and a small insurgent force had been found according to the local militia. So they’d gone light, what they’d found was a whole regiment of Taliban fighters as well as a training camp. They’d just managed to get out with two vehicles out of the eight they’d brought, fifteen men cut down before they’d even had a chance to react to what was in front of them. He’d taken a shot to the shoulder himself and after that he’d made sure he knew exactly what he was getting into in Afghanistan, always checking every report with aerial photographs if possible. The entire thing had changed the way they’d reacted to reports from so-called ‘friendly’s’, thing was some ‘friendly’s’ were actually spies sent from the warlords to infiltrate villages. Letting them win a few minor battles and get some credibility before sending a bunch of soldier’s to their deaths in ambush.

Carter was telling him that he was the same, just because he looked the part didn’t mean he ‘was’ the part, Carter had always trusted him, given him assignments that he didn’t want anyone else near. Things that needed his ‘skill’s’, he seemed to have a sense for the work, to pick up on lies, to ‘feel’ out someone who was different or odd. That was why he questioned the removal of his then boss over a year ago and the rumours that had come out about his swindling of the government resources he had. Richards knew Carter and it wasn’t right, he’d spoken out but he’d been slapped down and demoted, sent on every crap job going, even this one, which had been countersigned by his section head. A pick-up job for a branch of the military, he’d complained until he’d seen the request, it had come from further up the line, almost as high as you could get. That was when he’d started questioning about who’d requested him and he’d been answered when he’d walked into that office to give his report about the crash.

The crash, there was still something niggling him about it and finally he saw it, there had been three guards at the roadside when he’d first come back with the girl, when they’d come with the donor there’d been four. That was what was odd, the guards had moved and acted as if they didn’t know the other one, they looked to the ones they knew and not to the new guard. The new guard hadn’t been one of those who’d helped them out of the ditch but every guard had been scrambled. That was the difference, “Sir I think we’ve been infiltrated here, I remember now what the thing was, what was odd, a guard at the gate, one who wasn’t there the first time I came in and was there the second time. When we crashed they weren’t there, even when all the guard on the gate was sent for, they weren’t there!” Carter smiled as he handed a gun over the desk to him.
“Keep it out of sight, use it *only* if you have to. Keep yourself near the one you brought in, she’s important if she’s the only one with a viable child. On no account should any harm come to her, shield her if necessary.” Carter’s words made no sense whatsoever to him, he’d asked him earlier to get as much information out of her as possible by any means necessary and now he was asking him to lay down his life if necessary to protect her.
Hiding the gun on his body he looked into his superiors gaze and saw a little fear showing there and if he was feeling fear then he should be out of his mind with it.

“Sir, why the change of order?” Carter’s face was grim when he replied the light had gone from his eyes and a gauntness had replaced his usual full features.
“Because I’d rather be remembered as a Schindler than a Mengle Jeff, because this is how it starts. You’ve heard the rumours, seen the little gold insignia on the soldiers here, I can’t save everyone when whatever goes down goes down. But you’ll be clear enough from this to come out clean enough to have a conscience again, me I’ll just have to take what comes down the line.” He moved back and straightened himself, the shadows retreating a little from his eyes, “So make yourself useful to me and keep your eyes and ears open for our little intruder, something tells me they’re still here.”

Richards knew how serious it was and how deep he was in it, Carter had used his first name, and he’d only ever used that the day he’d thought he was going to die in Farah. Telling him that he could die on his own time but not on his, and he was on his time, almost shouting it at him as he’d laid there on the jeep hood flying over the ground. His shoulder wound staining the brown of the jeep bright red and Carter screaming at him to stay awake, using his first name to get his attention back on him.
Leaving the office he had his orders and he’d follow them to the letter.

The days passed in a kind of order, the only visible sign of change was the food. As she got nearer her due date the portions became smaller and lighter, she talked to the orderlies that moved her and gave her exercise. Strapping the little muscle stimulators to her body and setting them going, she still didn’t get out of bed much, only to have her baby scanned which seemed to be on odd occasions to her. Blood, faeces and urine were tested daily, there were books she could read if she wanted to, puzzles, games, everything but tv and talk to other patients.

Throughout it all she did as she was asked, as she was told but the flame of mutiny was still alive and well inside her. She was sure she wasn’t more than a month away from her delivery date when the sound of gunfire reached her ears. She was still strapped into her bed when her door opened she was almost frantic when she saw who it was. Jeff was there, his hand was holding a gun and he was coming her way, her mind refused to believe what she was seeing, she’d talked to him when she’d seen him. He’d dropped by usually when the lunch was being served to see if she had any more questions he could answer. She’d asked about the scream she’d heard that night, the one that had haunted her dreams ever since. He hadn’t answered her but he’d told her about the other women here, that she wasn’t alone there were others who were going through the same thing as her, giving her hope.

Now he was here with a gun and a serious face, he moved like lighting and went to the ties on her bed. Throwing them off he left her to get out of bed herself, her muscles weren’t used to moving quickly. She did manage to get upright but her legs weren’t used to the extra weight of the baby, she almost buckled and he caught her around the waist. “Come on little mama, we’re getting you out of here.” He went toward the door his hand reaching for it when it opened on it’s own, the gun the soldier was holding was already firing as he raised it at them both. Richards threw both of them to the floor as the gunfire went over them both, using the hand at her hip he fired twice into the soldier. Blood fountained from the wounds, the trigger finger still clutched the gun sent bullets everywhere in the room. Behind the dead soldier something big was happening in the corridor, people in black were running into every room on the corridor. Taking out the occupants under cover of their friends who were keeping the rest of the soldiers at bay. One looked behind at the two of them but he never got to shout his warning to the rest as Richards fired once into his skull. The blood spattered his compatriots who were having a hard enough time handling the people in black.

Marie didn’t have time to think, she just let Jeff take her, he pulled her down the second corridor, past the kitchens, into the storage area. Opening a store cupboard he pushed her inside, “STAY HERE! I’ll find us a safe way out.” He shut the door on her then the thought of doing as she was told went straight out of her head, this was her chance at getting out and she was going to take it.
As soon as she was sure he’d gone she opened the door, she had no idea where she was going but away from the fighting seemed a good idea. Her feet were bare as she padded down the silent corridor, the doors all looked the same to her but the floor was a different matter altogether. Tracks told her which was the heaviest wear on the tile and she followed them, leading her toward danger instead of away.

*************************************

He’d been tested, burned, skinned, drowned, milked like a bull, stretched to test the resilience of his ‘improvements’, electrocuted, gassed, poisoned, until he was sick of the sight of humans. The female doctor hadn’t been with him when he’d been tested, she’d always collected him afterward, making sure he ate, that he was as fit as he could be while her own health deteriorated. She had him strapped up into his bed as usual when the gunfire reached her ears, the sound making her own guards run off to find where the incursion had come from and why the alarm hadn’t sounded. For the first time in a month she was alone with him, her eyes glanced over at the door the soldiers had left through. She knew she didn’t have much time but if she was going to do something she had to do it now.

Her mind was on autopilot as she undid the straps that held him down, tears filled her eyes as she remembered the glee she’d seen in her superiors eyes as he’d tortured and ‘improved’ the man she’d cared for. He was a human being reduced to an animal, to a test subject, she’d destroyed everything she could of his samples already. Burning the stockpile of sperm she had, sending out a bogus health warning about the samples she’d sent out telling them they were contaminated and any progeny should be aborted as soon as possible.

Snapping the last one out of its socket she expected him to move but he didn’t, she shook the bed but he didn’t move. Running around to face him she saw his eyes were shut, his body still as if he expected something to happen to him, the tears obscured her vision as she grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him out of the bed.

She didn’t even feel it, the slide of the blades as they went through her stomach, both sets were buried in her and the purring rumble was the only thing she felt. They vibrated inside her as he opened his eyes to see her for the last time, her hand raised to touch him but he threw her body aside to land under her desk. Bleeding out from the open wound that had been her midriff, she felt nothing and she knew it was better than she deserved. Closing her eyes to the cold that was creeping up into her chest, at least the cancer didn’t kill her, she’d met her own death in her own way, she only hoped her superior would meet the same as she did.

He was free! The sound of battle drew him and he bolted to the doorway and the freedom beyond it, he bounded through the door claws drawn. Too late he saw the small figure just meeting the doors opening, one hand already plunged into a side that was way too big to be an enemy. The body turned and saw the thing that had hurt it, a silent scream was building but the pain was too much to voice. Instinct kicked in and the woman reached out toward him just as he pulled the blades free, her blood running freely down her side. Her nightmare come true, her life leaving her she would take the killer of her child with her.

When she touched him a bolt went through them both, locking their skin together like a magnet and iron, a surge like she’d never felt before went through her. The pain lessening then fading completely, a howling filling her mind too much for her to bear, falling dead away with her hand still connected to her killer. His own mind put out like a light with her touch, her taking everything he had to give, leaving him at the mercy of the people around them both.

Curled around each other, his body laying half over hers, protecting her stomach, his head laying on the cold floor behind her, lost to the world that was crumbling around them. Neither of them realising exactly what they’d be waking upto, if at all.

************************************************

The raid had gone well, several teams had infiltrated the site and collected nearly thirty women, most human. The mutant population had been brought back with them, the human’s had been transferred to a small cottage hospital funded by the Institute. They could contact family and friends from there and reconnect with those who thought they were dead, the information gathering had been done thoroughly. The place had seemed to pick on the vulnerable or money hungry, giving the women a chance at some financial stability only to be a guinea pig for the medical staff.

Hank had been processing the women when Pietor had brought the man in, he was small but it took all of Pietor’s strength to carry him inside. The woman they’d found him with was following and as Hank looked over he saw the face that was on the notes that had been recovered from the lab. This was Marie D’Canto, the only woman to have a normal pregnancy, Hank took in the blood that covered her side and came over quickly. Putting her down on the bed Pietor left, he had several other trips to make before the blackbird was empty, the quiet Russian was disturbed by what he’d found there and he’d need to talk to Hank later. Their eyes met for a second and Hank found himself reaching out to the large man, patting a gloved hand on his shoulder. “We’ll talk later Pete, we both have work to do,” the quiet man moved off his eyes dropping to the naked man on the gurney and the small petite woman by his side. He’d found them wrapped around each other so it would seem they were being held together, maybe he was her husband who could tell in that medical hell. Closing his mind to the thoughts he went back to work leaving the two of them in Hanks care.

Cinnamon, she could smell cinnamon, if heaven was a bakery she’d be happy to open her eyes and take it on the chin but something told her she wasn’t dead yet. The smooth surface of a sheet told her that, warm and light it didn’t smell the same as her sheets at the facility. Cracking open an eye Marie looked around the room she was in, small, private, no window again, but she wasn’t tied down this time. Moving quickly she hopped off the bed, her legs giving out as she hit the floor, scared she put her hands out to stop her and six bone blades fired from her knuckles. The scream she released made her lungs ache and her bladder released in total fear, what came to her rescue made things worse. A six foot five blue bear came in the room dressed in a lab coat with glasses perched on his nose, it was too much for her fragile mind to bear and she went back under into darkness. The blades in her hands keeping her upright to the floor, only releasing when Hank pulled her out of the tiled floor. Picking her up carefully he set her down on her bed, unaware someone else had heard her cry and was coming to her aid.

Everything was laid out in his mind, the day he’d been captured, the torment at the soldiers hands, the torture, the beatings, the things they’d done to break his will to make him believe he was nothing, a no-one with no value or rights. Feeding him only when his body couldn’t repair itself anymore, a perfect punch bag, a training dummy that healed right up. A mutant to train against, to test weapons on, then came the idea to use him in other ways, to take his manhood away, to use him like a prize bull. To breed more of him, they’d given him volunteers at first and he’d killed them outright knowing they were soldiers, they were their best and he’d just snuffed their lives out as he’d fucked them. Snapping their necks as easily as he would a twig, it hadn’t pleased his captors one little bit but by then he was an animal not a man.
He didn’t give a damn what they’d thought, so they’d strapped him down and milked him instead, being raped over twenty times a day didn’t do much for his self esteem or his feelings toward humans either.
What he remembered about the move from the first place to the one he’d been in when he’d escaped was blurred. He remembered the truck going off road and a scent he remembered from the last place, another mutant like him, one he’d been pitted against, one he’d lost to. He’d cried out to them just before they’d crashed, to kill him, to end this cycle of pain but he was glad they hadn’t because he’d killed the woman who’d tormented him and brought him back to health. He remembered that much, the silk slide of his claws as they’d entered her stomach, almost tearing her in half as he’d thrown her aside in his rush to escape. There’d been gunfire and confusion, different scents that had driven him to run and he had straight into her.

Her wide brown eyes were the one thing he could remember clearly, the way she’d looked as she’d turned her pregnant body toward him his claws releasing her side and her pale hand reaching out to his own skin. Her touch burning him like fire, draining his thoughts, his will, his strength, knowing she was death incarnate but her scent was familiar to him. She smelt like him and a part of his hind brain was screaming as he’d withdrawn the claws from her small frame.

When he’d woken up in the large room it had been because of a scream, ‘her’ scream and he’d just bolted toward the sound. Wolverine knew his mate’s cry and he was heading for it, the man Logan was just here for the ride. Tearing through the corridor he found the place she was in, a large white coated man had his back turned to him and he growled loudly. His blades singing free as he moved into the room, seeing her laid on the bed unharmed and the blue furry man moving away slowly his hands raised showing he was no threat. Sniffing the air he couldn’t detect any blood or drugs near her, moving over toward her he cut her scrubs away to check her skin. Grabbing hold of the fabric he pulled it aside revealing her naked form, his nose telling him of the people who’d moved her. Nothing had touched her for more than a moment but he wasn’t going to leave her here alone with a man in a white coat, blue fur or not.

Growling to the man who was watching him Wolverine climbed into bed with Marie, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her back into him so she was protected. His skin running over her own with no effect whatsoever on him, Hank looked at the snarling man, going over to a wall and pushing the intercom button. “Charles, Jean could you come down here please I think I’ve just found out who our donor was.” Wolverine slid his claws back as he settled down with his heavily pregnant mate, no one was going to keep him away from her. She was carrying his child and he’d protect all of them to the death if need be, sweeping his hand over her naked form he purred into her ear bringing her back out of her faint into reality.

The scent had changed in her nose, this one was familiar to her, it fired memories in her confused mind. Of pain so complete she couldn’t breathe never mind scream, hatred, fear and loss crushing her from the inside out, things moving so quickly through her mind she didn’t understand them. The ones she did made her stomach turn, the feel of hands on her body brought her upward, the warmth and soft purr in her ear forced the images at bay. A calmness overcame her as she shifted in the embrace she was in, she ‘knew’ this scent, she trusted this one, because it was her own and it wasn’t.

Confused Marie opened her eyes again to see the large blue bear taking off his white coat, greeting two other people who were walking into her room. The growl behind her deepened and she froze, finally realising that she was being held by someone, someone was *touching* her skin and not dying.
Turning her head she looked into the sharp hazel of the man who’d nearly killed her, his own gaze concentrated on the two new visitors. She knew his name, his name was Logan, how did she know that? How did she know he liked his beer as well as his hockey from Canada, that he liked to eat steak as often as possible just for the feel of the meat in his mouth, that he hated perfume because it screwed his head up with all the false scents he had to track. That he loved to go fast in any vehicle but he loved bikes most of all, he hated swimming and loved walking for miles out in the middle of the forest where no man had ever been. Just to be alone and to feel free without someone judging him, someone looking at him strangely, without hating him for being born different.

That’s when it hit her, he was a mutant, he was like her and when she’d touched him she’d gotten his mind as well. He’d nearly killed her but she knew it had been a mistake, he hadn’t meant to hurt her, he’d just wanted to get out of there. Just like she had.

Reaching up to his face she traced the lines she found near his eye, making him glance down at her, the look in his eye instantly softening, his voice back to the gentle purr again. She was naked against him, his hands were over her stomach protecting the baby and then the knowledge hit her, he was the ‘donor’, it was his sperm that she’d been implanted with. She was carrying his baby and the images she had in her head were nothing like the fears she’d had about him. He’d been tortured beyond belief all because he was different, used abused and beaten almost to death daily by people who hated anything that was different to them. He wouldn’t hurt her or the baby on purpose and at the moment he was the only solid thing she could rely on. Her whisper made him hold her tighter, “Logan, your name’s Logan.”

She didn’t care who was watching her or if she was as naked as a jay bird, this was important he had to say her name. Inside her head it was vital that he put her name to the scent he had in his nose, it would make the man come back to the surface so she could talk to him. Holding his head in her small palm she moved his gaze to her and whispered her name to his face, “Marie, my name is Marie.” She could almost see the change in his eyes, something retreating to be replaced by something else, something so tired of trying. She encouraged him, “Marie, say it, please say it Logan, for me, for us.” She grasped his hands laid on her stomach and the baby moved under the firm grip making her skin ripple, the purr became a whine almost then tapered away to nothing. The rumble of his voice filling her world as he moved his lips to say her name, the thing falling out in pieces at first, “Ma….ri,” slowly getting better the more he said it, the more his brain remembered to use the language he had left. “Marie,” when it finally came out whole she could have shouted from the rooftops, he had her name, her face linked to her scent now. No matter where she was in the world he’d find her, track her with his own senses if he needed to.

Turning her face back to the group who were quietly waiting near the door she found they’d gone, the door wasn’t locked or barred. She was free to move around if she wanted to, but at the moment she really didn’t want to, she was being held for the first time in nearly six months. Laying her head back down on the soft pillow she let the rumbling purr of Logan’s breathing soothe her. He’d watch her sleep and tell her if something was coming, hell she could smell it herself if she needed to but Logan would wake her if they came back. For the first time in months she felt safe, wrapped up in the arms of the man who’d tried to kill her, it had been an accident but it was one that had bonded them together.

Something they’d both need in the coming few hours, not everything was as it seemed and she’d need Logan to help her figure out what they needed to do. She was carrying his child but was he in any state at all to want it and her? What if they wanted the child back, what if they came for her again, what if they already had her and all this was just a game? Tiredness won out over her nerves, if they meant harm they’d deal with it together and get the hell out of dodge. Gripping Logan’s arm laid over her middle she snuggled into him, feeling the contented rumble go through him as she did it. For the first time in months she felt a true smile cover her face as she dropped into sleep, safe in the arms of the father of her child.

****************************************************

Marie was seated in a chair, plump with stuffing, the sunlight pouring through the window, everything looked well used and very expensive. There was someone seated behind a desk looking at her, their face was calm but it was the way the eyes peered through her that unnerved her. The scene outside changed to a stormy day, with rain flashing down out of the sky, her fear building as she saw the man wheel out from behind the desk, his features trying to tell her something but she was lost to the nightmare building around her.

Everything broke apart as inside her mind she cried out, pieces of the room broke and floated away in the maelstrom of her mind. She was dreaming but the images weren’t her own, men with surgical masks hovering over her with a maniacal look in their eyes. The fear she felt pushed her deeper into the territory of the dream, running from one scene she went straight into a rusted cage. Inside was another mutant, huge, furred, barely human it attacked her with a savagery that bordered on desperation, it roared loud in her mind as it tore her apart. Her mouth finally working she screamed loud, clutching her stomach in defence as the wave of pain soared through her body, something was wrong, a feeling of wetness, of liquid being pulled from her made her mind struggle for consciousness. Pushing upward she could hear voices around her and someone almost roaring in frustration and fear.

Opening her eyes she was on the bed in the room she’d woken in, her legs were wet and the pain she felt didn’t feel normal. She’d read enough about childbirth to know that this wasn’t normal, the fear she felt upped a notch when she saw the man from her dream. He was seated nearby in a wheelchair and she screamed out at him as she tried to back away from the cause of her terror. The big blue bear was there again but he was trying to get past Logan without being speared by his claws, every single move he made toward her he countered with an open handed swipe. Marie could hear the words he was trying to get Logan to understand, “Please I’m only trying to help her, she’s in labour, the babies coming and I need to help her.” His face showed concern for a fuzzy human and right now Marie needed any help she could get, including Logan.

“LOGAN!” his head snapped round to her laid on her side her hand out to him to grasp as a wave of pain went through her body. He was torn she could see it, he wanted to come to her but he couldn’t defend her if he did, tears were flowing down her cheeks as she tried to grab for him. Seeing her shudder with pain made his mind up he went to her, snapping his blades away, still growling he wrapped himself around her. Holding her from behind still able to swipe out at someone if they hurt her, Marie wasn’t concentrating on Logan she was concentrating on herself and her baby.

She started her breathing, trying to oxygenate her blood and getting ready for the next contraction, turning herself so her feet were on the edge of the bed and Logan was supporting her from behind his hands filled with her shoulders. Listening to the words of the blue doctor as he told her to bear down on the next contraction, sweat already making her skin slick, eyes narrowed as she watched the man in the wheelchair leave.

She knew he was to blame for this, if her baby was hurt because of him she’d kill him, she’d touch him and hold on until he was dead. No matter what it did to her mind she’d do it, if he killed her baby she’d kill him, Logan was picking up her anger and he saw where she was looking. Maybe he’d do it for her, no she *knew* he would if she asked him to, there was a piece of him inside her that was screaming in rage about the intrusion into her mind. Just before the next contraction she worked it out, he was a telepath, he’d been in her head while she’d slept, he’d been through her mind while she’d been unprotected. It felt worse than the things the hospital and the facility had done to her, at least there she’d had her own thoughts. She could think as much as she wanted, plan as much as she’d wanted, dreamt as much as she’d wanted but here, here she’d been stripped of her privacy, her last piece of privacy. They hadn’t taken that from her, he had and for that she wouldn’t forgive easily, as the wave of pain ripped through her she screamed and gripped Logan’s arms holding her up.

Pushing as the wave went through her, she could hear the words of encouragement coming from the doctor between her thighs. “A little more, come on Marie, I can almost see the crown. On the next one give it everything you’ve got, dig deep and push hard!”
Marie almost snarled at him, she was doing her best as it was, there was nothing else to give in her, breathing hard she felt the build toward the contraction giving it her all when something else surfaced in her mind. A will to live, to fight, to survive filled her veins, overlaying her own mind like a gossamer veil, power fed from rage surfaced and she pushed hard with it. Gripping Logan with all her strength, blood surfacing under her fingernails as they dug into his flesh, her cry more of a howl than human.

The sudden feeling of pressure released as the baby crowned and passed it’s head through the narrow gap, a tight voice informed her that the shoulders were next and to keep pushing. Logan’s head was on her shoulder, his purring was keeping her together as she pushed again, he licked her skin every time she pushed. Knowing he was testing her pain and scent, making sure she remembered the feel of something good with each piece of pain, his thick thighs were either side of the doctor who was gloved up and ready to catch her baby. He was protecting them both while holding her safe, panting she felt the slide of the baby pass through her as she contracted powerfully again, gritting her teeth as she pushed the final portion of her child through into the world, into the hands of the doctor.

Her eyes dropped immediately to the bloodied form in his hands, the small body was already squirming to be free as he cleaned the face and mouth. The first breath she watched fill it’s tiny lungs and the cry that ripped the air made it all worthwhile, her baby was alive, looking at the small form as it rose to her hands covered in Logan’s blood. Holding her baby close to her still connected to her body by the cord that had fed it for it’s entire life, looking at the small bundle she could feel Logan’s erratic breathing behind her. Taking a look she saw his eyes filled with tears, a grief in his eyes she understood, taking his hand she wrapped it around their son, her lips saying the word she knew he wouldn’t believe yet, “Ours.”

The child was perfect to Hank’s trained eye, no deformities, no signs of nerve damage or discoloration, looking over to the mother he watched the vaginal tear knit itself together slowly. It looked like Marie was a super healer as well as armed with killer skin, it made sense to him as he told Marie to keep pushing for the after birth. Nodding she cradled the child in her arms while the waves continued to flow through her, looking up Hank saw a metal claw slide from Logan behind her. He almost shouted when it went toward the baby, Marie could see him but she didn’t panic as the blade separated the child from his mother. Blood began to pump out of the remainder and Hank quickly tied it off, his eyes meeting Logan’s own, possession riding high in his expressive gaze. These were his and he’d defend them to the death, looking at Marie Hank saw her tired shaking form and helped to remove the last of the placenta, checking she’d expelled everything. When it was clear she had he moved back up, his own back complaining of the cramped position it had been in.

“I’ll bring a wheelchair and maybe you and the baby would like to get a shower?” Marie looked at the calm face of the doctor who’d just helped her give birth, his eyes didn’t look like he was lying, his scent didn’t either but she didn’t know. Her hand reached for Logan and he tightened his grip on her, Hank didn’t miss the contact between them. “All of you if you want to, I’ll just go get the wheelchair.” Marie let herself sag after he’d left, she was so tired, her body felt exhausted but her mind was elated. She’d close her eyes for a moment, just a moment then she’d get that promised shower.

Her son was feeding when she woke up under the gentle warm rain of the shower, Logan was holding her in his arms, gently shifting her under the warm rain. His face looked so peaceful as he held them both, smoothed from all the worry and hurt his features were handsome, beautiful almost and her own dam of worries and frustrations finally broke. She was lost in a place she didn’t know with someone she’d only feared before, she had him in her mind but it didn’t feel wrong to her or upsetting.
Logan’s mind was a whirlwind only showing her bits and pieces of him at a time, her own thoughts were still ordered and calm, but it was there underneath. When she slept she’d assimilated more of him, trusting her instincts to guide her about Logan and the darker half of him that had given her the strength to give birth. She needed to talk to him, privately, away from probing minds and ears. The shower was tiled all over, a wet room when all was said and done and big enough for twelve people.

His face was lifted to the warm water, letting it run down his skin, the enjoyment in the simple shower was enormous, she knew he hadn’t done this for quite a while, years and that alone made her eyes glaze with fresh tears.
He chose that moment to look down at her, water beading in his thick hair, noticing her tears he whined, nuzzling her head with his own, the baby full for the moment disengaged and cried out for attention. Logan’s eyes dropped immediately to the small baby held in his mother’s arms. Dropping his head he looked at the small form, taking the scent of his child deep into his lungs, logging and registering it, a deep purr coming from his chest and reverberating through them both. The small baby quietening with the sound, it’s eyes closing and sleep taking over until the breathing had evened out. That she was able to hold her own baby had made the whole thing worthwhile, she could *touch* him and Logan could touch them both. Even if the whole world was shut off for her she still had that and she’d defend it to the death.

When they’d finished washing they found towels and a towelling baby wrap waiting for them, the scent on the fabric was the furry doctor’s. Smiling as Logan put her down Marie placed the sleeping infant in the soft towel and checked him over herself, her son, the one thing that had kept her hoping, kept her living was here. A little early but he seemed fine for that, he looked healthy and pink, a shock of black hair that could only have come from his father. Logan was just stood a little way away, she could feel his tension in her skin, he wanted to touch him but he wasn’t sure he could or if she’d let him.

Without even turning her gaze away Marie held out her hand behind her giving Logan the cue he needed. The solid bulk of him met her back and she moved aside to let him see his son, he was as much his as he was hers. Watching as Logan’s large fingers stroked the soft thin skin of their son, moving up his tiny body as if he were writing him to memory just as he was right now. Seeing Logan’s face change as his son’s nostrils flared as the fingers came to his tiny face, knowing he was taking in his fathers scent lodging it with the safe warmth he was feeling right now. The scent would forever be linked with safety, his scent and Marie saw his fingers tremble as he pulled his hand away from the small sleeping form.

Anxiety filled his face as she touched him, knowing without being told that he feared them being taken from him, torn apart again by others, everything so fragile for him, that someone could hurt him again by taking them away. She didn’t know him but she did, she *felt* his emotions, knew what triggered them and how to deal with them. She was more stable than he was and that fact was something she wanted to keep to herself. Logan had been maltreated by humans, he’d been abused, tortured and held prisoner, she’d been experimented on and that had given her latent mutation a kick into life. She wasn’t sure if she still had it, the only people she’d touched were Logan and the baby, if she did have it still she’d have to be careful when they left here. Her stuff was back in the facility that is if any of it was left standing, she knew she’d have to face the man in the wheelchair soon, it was his place of that she was sure but she didn’t want Logan to feel threatened.

The doctor, he could be their go between until Logan was sure enough of himself to talk to the man on his own. Smiling at Logan she pushed herself into his arms, picking up their son carefully Marie felt his arms tighten around them both. She had to make him believe her, that she wanted him with her, that she needed him. “Logan, let’s go back to the room, I want to talk to you.” He looked at her with concern in his gaze as if he expected her to push him away with words, she countered that easily by offering their son to him to carry. “Can you take him, Ah’m still tired and ah don’t want to fall with him in my arms.” She offered the tiny bundle to him, the shock registering for a moment then pride surging forward as he took the small life in one arm. Cradling him perfectly, protecting him with one solid arm, Marie held onto the other one as they walked back to the room, dressed in the towels that had been put out for them.

Marie didn’t know how she was going to get Logan to speak to her but she had to try, she needed to get some things straight with him and find out what his plans were. They might not include her but they would include the baby at some point in its life and the sooner she got that into his head the better.

**************************************************

Hank was furious, Charles had pressured the girl into labour. He usually didn’t get angry about the decisions that Charles took but this one had put the child and Marie in danger. If she hadn’t thought about reaching out to Logan both her and the baby could have died, when the baby had crowned the umbilical had been wrapped around it’s throat. He’d slipped it off without telling Marie but it could have gone horribly wrong, what was going on with the X-Men?
He knew the files had been transferred from the facility when they’d cleared it, he was looking at the ones that had been written on Logan. Only after he’d read them did he understand how dangerous the man could have been to everyone in that room. Marie’s powers were incredible and if they were mingled with Logan’s own…..well that would be one hell of a mutant, a category A for definite.

He’d questioned Pietor earlier when the two of them had been asleep, he’d found them stuck together, her hand on his arm until he’d moved Logan off her. She hadn’t killed him when her mutation should have drained him completely, maybe it had been because her body recognised the genetic make-up of Logan. Because she already had a piece of him inside her, she took his healing ability if the tears in her old scrubs were anything to go by but why had he injured her in the first place. Pietor had told him he’d found them both outside a lab, perhaps Logan had come running out straight into her with claws drawn. She’d lifted her arm to protect herself and the rest was history, whatever it was they were bonded now. Her baby was alive, normal and very precious to whoever were holding them, Hank’s mind went to the other mutant mothers he was seeing to along with Jean.

They weren’t so lucky, several had miscarried and the bodies were in the morgue downstairs. They weren’t complete, several had bones missing, some were just lumps of flesh, both Jean and him had agreed that it would be best to scan the remaining women and give them the choice of having the children terminated if there were any malformations present. For this one child to be alive and perfect was a miracle and it was something he would protect, even from Charles.

Picking up the telephone he dialled internally to the office the phone ringing for a few seconds then being answered, the voice on the other end almost unrecognisable. “Yes Hank?”
Swallowing his doubts he ploughed on, “About our new residents, the baby seems fine but I’ve yet to examine the child fully. Mother’s fine, she seems to have retained a little of Logan’s healing as well as his weaponry.” The mind on the other end was turning, it was a special kind of silence that Hank had begun to recognise over the years.
“Does she know his history? Did she take anything else from him, memories perhaps?” Hank knew Charles had been inside her mind, that was what had triggered her labour, her protecting herself and her baby from the intrusion of his mind in hers.
“What were you looking for Charles? I mean why were you in her mind in the first place, couldn’t you have waited until she was awake to ask her?” His tone showed his annoyance at his mentor’s methods and Charles could pick up the inflections and intent in the air.
“I did what I had to Hank, I make no apology because there’s none to give. I was assessing a threat to us all and trying to get as much information as possible before I made any decision. At the moment as things stand I need you to get them as well as possible and to get them away from the school as fast as you can. We were watched and monitored when we raided that facility and there’s not much time to get the rest of the rescued safe. We bit off a little more than we usually did this time and I’m doing my best to keep the lid on this. Jean has told me your plans about the other mothers and I agree with you both, just move the schedule up. I’ll send you some more help down but I want both Marie D’Canto and Logan up here in my office before the end of the day. Scott is preparing an escape pack and documents as we speak, one day soon we can contact them again but not for a while. Wherever they go they’ll need to be out of touch with everyone and everything, not very easy in this day and age but still achievable in places. So while I’m sorry I upset your sensibilities Hank I didn’t have much of a choice, three lives against the three hundred we have here?” Hank heard the tired tone and understood the reasoning, it didn’t sit well but he understood it, they’d had to make such choices before.

“Okay Charles I’ll get them ready as much as I can, how long do I have?”
“About six hours if I’m any guess of Scott’s planning, we’ll have to take the jet and risk leaving the house unprotected for a while. I’m sorry Hank but things are moving faster than I thought they would. Tell them I’m sorry.” Hank put the phone down he’d seen the look in Marie’s eyes when Charles had left, she wouldn’t trust him again and Logan didn’t trust anyone except Marie by the looks of it. He only hoped wherever they went they’d be left in peace.

******************************************************

His mind was in pieces, he’d been escaping one moment, then he’d run into the woman who’d almost killed him. Her skin had drained most of his anger, rage and hatred into herself, when he’d woken up here his first thought had been that he’d been brought to another facility. So when he’d heard her cry he’d just run toward it, he knew her sound as well as he knew his own. So much had happened to him, it confused his mind, so he was relying on instinct to guide him, even with the birth of the baby.

The baby that was his, he knew it was his, it smelled like him, *she* had smelled like him that’s what had made him withdraw the claws from her when he’d run into her. She’d smelled like him but that was impossible, he’d never been near her before so how could she smell like him? His mind had furnished the answers, the things his captors had spoken about when they thought he was sleeping, the women, the babies. She must have been one of them, she’d carried his baby, he touched her warm skin as they tried to dress in the scrubs that had been left out for them both after their shower. He wanted to talk but his mind was a mess, there were things he needed to know, to understand, he’d have to rely on his animal side for a while as he came back to himself. Having Marie nearby helped, she reminded him he was human, not an animal.

The baby began to cry, without even looking toward Marie he picked up the small crying form, holding it close to his skin and purring, the baby settling quickly next to the warmth of his body. Marie was sat on the bed now, her face showing her tiredness, moving over with their son Logan laid down with her. Their son laid between them, not knowing how many things were happening above them in the world, what plans were being made and executed to find them again. If they had they might have never woken up again or left the comfort of the small room they were in.

******************************************

It had hit the fan alright, Richards had gone back for her only to find her gone, he’d sworn a blue streak a mile wide as he’d looked for her. Only to see a huge man dressed in black leather picking her up and taking her away, his skin covered by leather so they must know about her mutation already. Cursing he looked down the corridor he’d just come down, no one had come his way yet, cutting his losses he’d run hell for leather toward Carter’s office. Hoping that he’d be able to get the both of them out of there before the shit hit the fan fully, he passed plenty of dead and injured soldiers. His feet barely touching the ground as he ran, seeing Carter’s office door hanging ajar he slowed to a jog.

The silence behind it wasn’t what he was expecting, pushing it open he saw the empty chair askew but it was the headless body that got his attention. A soldier armed and ready for action albeit without a head, the cut fine and neat, the collar had a gold pin on it and Richards knew then it was time to move. Snatching at his own pockets he found what he was looking for, the keys to an old ford, dusky blue in colour.

Smiling to himself he dodged the raiders with ease, going out of the compound via the airstrip and service road. The logging road wasn’t metalled but it’d have to do, all he was concentrating on was getting out while he could. The girl was in someone else’s custody now, someone who knew about her mutation and probably someone Carter knew about. The donor was loose somewhere and that gave him the most cause for fear, he’d heard the stories of him attacking a group of soldiers fully armed with assault weapons. He’d killed them all without breaking into a sweat, a perfect hunter/killer, a machine for death and destruction and he was loose. If it were him he’d be going after the ones that kept him here and that included his own hide, he knew his scent, he’d ridden with him for most of his journey here he’d be easy to track for someone like him. So he was hightailing it out of here, he’d try to contact Carter later when he reached some sort of civilisation that was bigger than a dot on a flyspeck.

He knew the old safe houses in San Fran, he’d head there and see what came down. Whoever had taken that place apart knew what they were doing and that meant government or agency, someone had pulled the plug on the research and it was prudent to find out who was behind it.
Setting his eyes on the horizon Jeff Richards patted the little ford, she might not have had much money or much backing behind her but Marie had chosen well in her mode of transport. It’d get him to San Fran if he was careful with her, he might even get to give her keys back one day but he doubted he’d live that long. He just hoped wherever she went and whoever she was with had her best interests at heart, he still had his active orders to protect her and the baby and he’d follow them. Even if it meant going against his superiors now, Carter had been his superior in many ways but one he did share was the value of life. Life is valuable, you save that before equipment or information and this was one order he’d finish whether Carter was alive or dead.

*****************************************************

They were woken by the scent of a stranger in the room, Marie woke first her eyes locking onto the thin form a woman, red haired and serene. A faint smile covering her lips as she looked at them, something about the way she looked through them made her flesh creep and she clutched her baby to her. Logan stirred and turned over, his own nose telling him someone different was here, his body went from relaxed to stressed in a heartbeat. He was humming with tension and Marie could feel the growl building in him even before it voiced itself, she spoke first. “Who are you and what do you want with us?” The red head moved into the room and Logan voiced his growl making her stand still, some confidence leaving her as she spoke to them both.

“No one is going to hurt you here, we only want to help you both.” Her eyes went from Logan to hers, there was something in them that she wasn’t saying, maybe she’d helped them earlier and seen both of them naked. It was that kind of look, that she knew something they didn’t and she liked things that way. “Please if you feel upto it I’d like you to meet the man who’s given you shelter and care here. I’m afraid things have taken a turn for the worse after we broke you both out of there and we need to get you somewhere safe, somewhere they can’t find you again, not until you’ve had chance to recover.”

Marie looked at Logan, his growl hadn’t changed but she knew he understood her words, he wasn’t allowing her near them, something about her he didn’t trust and so she wouldn’t either. “Where’s the blue doctor?” Her expression flickered a little and showed a distaste as she felt herself being rejected by them both.
“You mean Doctor McCoy?” Marie nodded quickly, “You feel more comfortable speaking to him?”
“Ah don’t care but Logan does, human doctors hurt him for years and you look and sound like a doctor. He doesn’t trust you to be here and if you try to make us do anything he’ll probably kill you.” As the words left her mouth, Logan decided to make his own point, the six blades slowly slid from his hands and locked out in readiness. Marie had to give her credit whoever she was she didn’t blink as they were locked out but she did back off when Logan got down off the bed to face her fully.

“I’ll find Hank for you,” with that she left them alone, the room becoming much more friendly and open now she was gone. Tension was dropping from Logan’s shoulders, Marie let her hand run over his back in encouragement hearing a rumbling purr coming from him as she touched him. Telling him he’d done something right, smiling as he turned to look at them both, her eyes filled with trust. His hand cradled her cheek and brushed her skin, both of them re-affirming their bond with each other after the fright of the strange woman.

Padding footsteps were coming and they both heard a mumbled discussion in the corridor, something about Logan being irrational and her being high-strung. Also how it might be advisable to split them up for their own safety, Logan could hear this as well as she could but Marie put it together first and she moved quickly to the doorway carrying her baby with her. Facing the corridor and the two doctors she scowled at them both before speaking her mind to them both, the rage in her mind whirling, knowing it wasn’t hers it was Logan’s.

“Just who the fuck do you think you are?! What the fuck are you and why are you keeping us here!” Her shout was loud and her child was beginning to pick up her fear, Logan was at her back in an instant, his claws out again a threat rumbling out into the corridor. The red head’s eyes were wide as if she hadn’t expected her to hear anything that had been said about them.

Hank turned to both of them, his eyes dropping to the claws that were on display first before answering Marie, “We were just trying to do what’s best for you all, we weren’t trying to hurt you.” Marie gripped Logan’s body behind her his arms coming up to protect them both.
“Ah know what’s best for *me* doctor and at the moment Logan is the only person who hasn’t tried to keep me prisoner or use me in any way. Now are you going to let us go or do ah move out of the way and let Logan get us out of here his way?” She could feel Logan tensing up behind her, ready to fight, to attack both of them and she knew he’d win. She didn’t know if her skin would work on the doctor but she’d give the red head a shock when she grabbed her.

Hank was quick to answer and diffuse the situation, “Please Marie, we only want to help you.” Anger was welling up from her and she needed to make sure they knew she wasn’t going to be messed with anymore.
“Yeah like the guy in the wheelchair messing around in my head while ah was sleeping. What is he and where are we?” Hank could sense the air beginning to charge up, Marie was beginning to panic and if she panicked Logan would protect her first and think later.
“Please Marie, if I wanted to hurt you or Logan I could have when I helped you with the little one in your arms. I only want to get you somewhere safe,” Marie grabbed onto that and fired off a question.
“Why aren’t we safe? What did you do?” Hank was slowly moving forward toward both of them, his hands outstretched in placation.
“Nothing, honestly, nothing. It’s what we did when we got you out of the facility, what we found there and what it means now.”

Hank was close enough to smell and Logan had ceased growling, his blades were still covering them just in case. Hank reached out toward her and Logan twitched as he did it, the look in his eyes was one of trust, not fear and he didn’t smell scared just a little nervous. Logan moved first, he dropped one set of blades away so Marie could touch Hank, “I don’t think Logan should see anyone alone,” her hand was resting on his stomach and circling there, trying to calm him.

“I agree, whatever is decided it should include both of you.” Hank heard the intake of breath from Jean behind him and he turned to pin her with a glare that went right through her. “Both points of view should be given credit Jean, just because you think you know what’s best doesn’t mean you have the right to make it happen Jean.” He looked at the two people who were barely hanging onto their sanity after everything they’d been through, turning his gaze back to Jean adding, “We have plenty of examples down the hall if you need any more convincing Jean.” The red head’s face soured and she walked down the corridor away from their small group, the tension leaving with her.

When he finally turned back to the small family that had been pressed together by fate he saw the trust they had in each other, it was tenuous but given a chance it’d grow. “Come on there’s someone you need to meet, he’ll tell you everything you want to know about what’s going on.” As they moved back to the room Hank motioned to a piece of the wall and a wardrobe opened itself, revealing items of clothing. “Lets get you all dressed and we’ll go up together, I’ll just get people to clear the corridors above us. I don’t think a crowd would do either of you any good right now.” They stayed together wrapped up in each other, Marie holding Logan tightly and Logan focussed on the baby, no matter what Hank wasn’t going to allow them to split them up. What he’d read in the reports on them both had made him wonder about humanity, Marie had someone who was willing to touch her and Logan had someone who was trying to reach him.

Pulling clothing out of the wardrobe he laid it on the bed and left them to it for a few minutes, they had no shoes but that’d be sorted before they left. He just hoped Scott had found somewhere far enough away, it’d be a risk with a new born but he’d leave a communicator with them just in case. Hank was tired of this game of second guessing, this would be the first time the X-Men had actually been pro-active instead of re-active and they weren’t prepared for it. Whatever the outcome he knew they’d learn lessons from it, he hoped that Marie, Logan and the baby didn’t end up paying for it.

When the door opened to the office Marie felt her heart clench for a second, it was the same one as her dream, even down to the light coming through the windows. Logan was holding the baby, he seemed calmer when he was holding their son, as if he knew he couldn’t do anything violent when he was with him. He’d put his life over his own and that meant running before fighting, Marie had watched him as they’d gone up in the lifts to the ground floor and out into the empty wooden corridor. Hank had led them to a panelled wall with a doorhandle, turning it and opening it wide for them to enter together. Marie had gone first with Logan’s hand in her own, even now the doorway was ajar not fully closed, just in case.

The man they’d come to see was sat in front of the desk, his glasses hid his eyes from their respective glances. Hank gave a double take as he saw Scott but not Charles. Looking from the guests he turned his attention to Scott, “Scott where’s Xavier?” The young face smiled and waved to them, all to be seated, Hank put Logan and Marie in a small sofa and stood next to them both. Protecting them with his bulk and presence.
“He’s had to go Hank, Ororo has taken him to New York, he’s catching a flight to Washington in the next hour or so. Things are moving Hank and we need to get these two out of here before someone puts everything together.”
“What about the rest of the women?”
“Jean’s handling it now, the beta team is taking one each to a safe house along the east coast. It's the best we can do for now, as far as we know there won’t be an attack on the school but we will be investigated Hank. We can’t have any trace of them here, so I hope you’ve backed up your copies because anything paper is going to be burned. As far as the world is concerned these two are married and that baby is the fruit.”
He pushed off the edge of the desk and picked up a bundle of documents, two passports, both Canadian, birth certificate of the baby showing it was born in Sherbrooke just over the border three weeks ago. He handed the entire thing to Hank, “You’ve got three hours to get them ready for any questions they might get asked while their out there. The supplies are in the blackbird, including stuff for the baby, you can thank Jean for that. I’ve got to organise another fifteen drivers and maps.” As he was leaving Marie finally got to open her mouth and ask the man something.
“Ah thought you were going to give us some answers, like exactly where we are and who the hell you are.”
Scott looked at the confused face of the young mother and the tight face of her now husband. Picking up a remote control he pointed it at a small dark screen, “Look I don’t have time to give you the tour or to answer questions about who or what we are. I can give you a clue to what’s happening out there though since we risked our lives getting you out of there. Here this could tell you much better than I can.”

With that he left them all watching the news, the horror of it spilling over their already shattered nerves, only Logan didn’t notice or hear what was being said on the small screen. He was more concerned with the survival of his family, now that he had one, the rest of the world could kill itself but his family, his Marie, came first. When they’d tired of listening to the reports of violence and rioting in major cities after news of the experiments was leaked out. Hank switched off the tv and sat across from them both in a large armchair, “I’m not even sure if it’s safe out there anymore for me after this.” His large face creased with worry making him look like a huge teddy bear but Marie wouldn’t be put off.
“Where are we and what the hell did he mean when he said we were married?” Hank snapped out of his maudlin thoughts and flicked up the papers that Scott had given him.
“You’re in Westchester, New York. At ‘Xaviers School for the Gifted’ mainly a mutant school for children whose mutantcy is considered a danger to themselves and others. What the public doesn’t know is that we’re also a group that work toward mutant and human integration, we help those mutants who are in places like the one we found you both in.”

Marie considered this, she’d heard of the school, who hadn’t they were on tv enough, the advert for the school made the place sound like heaven for those who were different. She’d seen it once or twice while she’d been on the road but she hadn’t even considered it, she didn’t think of herself as a child anymore. So they went out and helped those who needed it did they, well it took them long enough to get to her but her mind wouldn’t leave one question alone. If they’d known about Logan, why hadn’t they gotten to him before now?

Seeing Logan cradling their son her breasts beginning to ache as she recognised the babies urge to suckle, reaching over to him she locked eyes with Logan as she took their now mewling son. Unabashed Marie opened her shirt and fed him, her child was hungry and she’d feed him, that was that. Logan was still watching their son as he ate, listening to his breathing as he suckled, Marie felt the pressure decline in her chest as her son took what he needed. Turning her attention to Hank she found his gaze somewhere else entirely, smiling at him giving her some semblance of privacy reassured her of her first impression of the man but the others she wasn’t sure of.

“You said you help mutants who were like us?” Hank nodded as he kept his gaze away from Marie and her baby, “Then why didn’t you get Logan before now?” Hank’s gaze shot back to Marie’s, his face showed shock as he answered her question, “Marie I would have told everyone if I’d known he even existed, Xavier doesn’t risk the school entering military compounds for one man. We have to think about everyone here, the children, the students and the network of safe houses we have across the country. When we went after you both we didn’t know how many there were, not until we managed to track down the facility. It was our first major raid and we weren’t prepared for it to be truthful, none of us were.” For the first time she actually thought about the pressure that the rest of them were under, what they’d risked for her and every other woman in there.

“Thank you, thanks for coming. Ah didn’t know how to get out of there but Ah tried,” her eyes met Logan’s warm hazel when she looked at him, smiling as she spoke. “Ran into this guy when we were both trying to get out, he hit me and Ah touched him. Kind of makes us even in my book.” The smile that reached her eyes almost made Hank look away again it was that personal, it spoke volumes for them. Logan reached out to Marie and stroked her face with an open hand, his fingers trailing down to her breast and the baby. The contact meant to be reassuring but it excited Marie, her skin flushing with the thought of his touch on her, he was so alive, so real. Fate had handed them both a chance and she was going to grab it with both hands.

Tears were blurring her eyes when she turned back to Hank but it was Logan who spoke next making her eyes go wide. “Where we go?” Hank looked shocked for a second before recovering, the intelligent gaze locking onto Hanks own and willing the larger man to speak.
“Well according to the map’s here you’ll be somewhere up in the North-east coast, close enough to contact if we need to but far enough away for you to be safe.” Logan was shaking his head, his hand gripping Marie and the other reaching out toward the map. Hank brought it over to them both, watching Logan scan the paper, his eyes never staying still as he concentrated on it.

“Show where,” Hank’s finger pointed out the cabin on the map, Logan grunted in annoyance and shook his head more. “No, not safe.” Logan’s eyes hadn’t left the map and Hank was about to question him about it when Marie took a look at the map herself. A cold tightness over came her as she saw the terrain, she’d been there before, she’d seen this map before and she paled as she knew exactly where she had seen it. In a memory from Logan.
“We’ve seen it before.” Marie met Hanks surprised gaze as she tapped the side of her skull, the knowledge finally sinking in to Hank that Logan had been there. His finger dropped about fifty miles from the proposed ‘safe site’, his voice growling out “First place.”

On the map it read as a small weather station but Logan was telling him it was the place he’d first gone to and looking at the remoteness of it he understood why. Hank didn’t know where else to send them, the list of places was in Scott’s safe and he didn’t have access. Wracking his brain his eyes dropped on the photographs on the walls, it showed the ranch they used to go to in North Dakota, a hundred miles or so out of Williston. A huge place, they owned all the land there and it had been a while since anyone had been out to it.

Hank quickly made the arrangements in his head, the place had a communications network so they could contact if they needed to. Smiling at them both he tuned his head toward the small family, “I think I have the perfect place for you both, somewhere no-one will bother you for a while as things calm down. Out of the way, remote and hard to find if you’re not looking for it.” Logan’s face was watching Hank’s as he described the place to him, pulling out an atlas he found the area quickly and showed Logan the terrain.

A light seemed to fill Logan’s face as he looked at the place, it looked defensible to him, the house at the end of a bluff canyon, built into a rock face there was only one way of entrance and attack. Both of them looked at Marie who’d just finished burping their son, his small pink face going back to sleep after his feed. Logan put the atlas under her gaze and pointed to the small canyon, “Home.” She still wasn’t sure about the price of this, of taking help form these people but they’d been honest so far, well Hank had and she’d trust somewhere he found them. If it meant she’d be getting out of here and away from the mind probing man and the red head witch she’d go right now.

Logan looked a little more secure now he knew he had somewhere to take them both and if need be they could leave and go somewhere else that they didn’t know. Plus it was close enough to the border for them to slip across if they needed to, with the papers that the other man Scott had prepared for them it made out they were married anyway. So that shouldn’t be a problem the only thing they were missing was money. As if he’d been thinking the same thing Logan smiled at her, winking as he closed the atlas, turning back to Hank he handed it to him. “We go there, now.”

Hank smiled and nodded, turning toward the phone they both heard him call down to someone changing their schedule and supplies. With luck they’d be leaving in an hour, the world finally a little under their control Marie felt a little better. The talk she would be having with Logan would have to wait until they were alone, but he seemed quite happy to be with her and the feelings she was getting from him weren’t negative. If anything they were pleased and pleasantly surprised that she wanted to be with him. She couldn’t explain it and at the moment she wasn’t in any state to even try, she was still wiped out from giving birth to their son. Seeing the two of them going over maps, Marie did up her shirt one handed bringing her son close to her heartbeat. Sliding into sleep her last view of them Hank telling Logan about the animals that were on the ranch lands and the hunting seasons. Smiling to herself as she knew Logan wouldn’t give a damn about regulations, if there was food available he’d take it. Just like everything else in his life, including her and she didn’t find that thought troubling at all.

********************************************************

Richards looked at the small two up two down house, it looked empty but he couldn’t be sure. He set up himself in the small car, watching the house for movement half a block away uphill from the house giving him a good view of it if someone did happen to come by. The little ford had been a little battered and bruised throughout the trip but apart from a puncture they were okay, dirty but okay. He hadn’t slept for what seemed like days, in reality it was about forty hours or so, adrenaline had kept him moving forward. He’d tried to contact Carter but he’d had no luck so far, the tiny phone he had was dead and the number he’d remembered from their old department days was as dead as a dodo.

He’d been playing the radio on the journey down and over the border, the news hadn’t been great and he expected it to get worse. Luckily there had been no major reports of rioting in San Francisco, he doubted there would be, it might be tense but the city had a different feel and make up to the rest of the Western seaboard. There were too many different subcultures for something like this to affect it, they might protest, but rioting? Keeping his eyes glued on the small town house the frontage almost hidden behind a large evergreen, the locals knew about this house and if he made any sign of it being habited they’d be out here investigating why.

Plucking a sandwich from a plastic bag he tore into the processed meat and cheese that was passing for food, he could do with something to drink to force this down but he didn’t dare move out of the car just in case. The whole episode was running around his head, his partner would report him missing if he got out and if he did then he’d be on the list to find and retrieve. That thought alone made him nervous, what would they do with him? He’d been at a facility that was now being strenuously denied by all parties who’d been involved in it, hell even the Canadian government was making noises about getting compensation for the so-called ‘medical research facility’ that had turned out to be a mutant experimentation farm.

Things had turned bad very quickly and experience told Richards to keep his head down low until things had smoothed over, there had been a few blocks on the media as to exactly what had been there until the story had broken early this morning just as he was crossing the border. Someone had given a major network tapes of the place and the raid that had discovered the entire thing, not many faces were revealed but the pictures showed places he’d walked down, it was the place he’d just escaped from. What he’d seen in the small mini-mart as he’d stopped to get gas and food had been the medical wing. The pictures were of pregnant women being herded out being guided by people whose faces were blurred. All of them under fire from soldiers, american soldiers with harsh faces their uniforms sparkling with the little gold insignia on the collar. He’d known what they’d meant but everyone else wouldn’t, even if he hadn’t been there he could’ve put two and two together himself and come up with the answer nearest to the truth. Being part of the military or even having a uniform on was going to be hard right now and he needed to make sure he dropped as far below the radar as he possibly could.

Hence the safe house he was watching, the roof was sloping on two sides, he wasn’t going to use the main house he was interested in the roof space. Quiet out of the way and secure, even if they used it for someone else he could use the roof and climb out into another house on either side. Settling back into the seat he waited out the sun, it’d be dark soon, then he felt secure enough to make his move if no lights came on. Tonight he’d be sleeping in a safe secure place, the rest would come later.

******************************************

Hank led them all to the hanger, the shape of the large man seeming constrained by the walls around him. Logan wasn’t speaking much but he was watching and sensing everything around him, his ears were picking up the sounds of crying and the sound of comfort coming from the rooms above him. Several areas were filled with a scent that reminded him of the woman who’d born his child, his scent mixed with others. Knowing that there were other women, others who’d been given his sperm in the hope that they too would bring a child into the world.

He tightened his grip on the woman who was walking just ahead of him carrying his son, her face was still tired but she was eager to leave as was he. He didn’t trust anyone, not even Marie if the truth was known, he’d been pushed with her from the start and he’d stay with her getting to understand just how she managed to get pregnant with his child.
Underneath he felt Wolverine fighting to surface, to run, to take off, to hide from everything and everyone including his child. As if she sensed his trepidation Marie turned to look at him, handing their son over to his care, “He needs his poppa.”

The small child was mewling as they went toward the vast plane, she felt his nerves and she needed to know he was there with her. The tiny infant caught his fathers shirt and scent immediately, his tiny perfect fingers surrounding the cloth and making Logan’s feet move forward on their own. Trusting Marie to guide him on board as his eyes locked onto the brilliant green of his son’s gaze, the tiny word spoken to his child lost to Hank in the raising of the ramp but not to Marie, “Mine.”

Feeling himself pulled along and deposited in a seat, finally looking up to the hands that were strapping him and his son in the softness around them. Meeting the cool gaze of a woman-child with dark hair and darker eyes, her thin Asian features framed by two large yellow earrings that looked totally out of place on her uniform of black leather. The memory of being handled rose unbidden to his mind releasing a low growl in his throat as he tucked his son closer to his chest, the sad look in the woman-child’s eyes entered her voice as she moved away from him. “No need to get defensive there Wolvester, just making sure you and the rugrat are secure.”

Logan watched her strap in Marie as well, there was another at the head of the controls, a young man with blonde hair, his face concentrating on the instruments in front of him. A wound was still evident on his skin, a slash cut just under his chin, memory told Logan it had come from an upward swing of a blade, a strike meant to kill. The blood was dried but it told a different story, one where these two hadn’t had much time to think about themselves. Seeing Marie Logan tried to smile, her eyes were on him, her gaze all concern, he could feel her body as well as he could his own. She was fighting sleep again, he didn’t know that her mind was trying to cope with the extra passenger she had, each time she slept a little more of the personality was integrated with her own.
All he knew was that she’d given birth and recovered quickly, not being around many births he thought this was normal, that she needed rest. His look finally tore away from her as the ground gave way, the sensation making his stomach lurch making him growl reflexly. Hank’s hand touched his shoulder, making him turn to see the large doctor just behind him in a seat of his own. “We’ll be there soon Logan, just relax and try to sleep if you can. It’s going to take some time to get you settled so any sleep you can get now would be worthwhile.”
The comforting touch of the furry hand calmed his nerves somewhat, he felt at ease with the large doctor, he didn’t trust him completely but he’d been nothing but calm and helpful to both him and Marie. He’d let this play out as much as it was going to an if they were as helpful as they said they were going to be then they’d have a good place to run from. His son chose that moment to reach up to his face grabbing his attention, the small fingers warm and soft against his lined skin. Dropping his guard he purred to the small form wrapped up in the armoured embrace he had around him, making the pilot and co-pilot turn to look behind them but Logan wasn’t seeing them he was looking into the small face of his child and the almost ancient look in his tiny eyes.

Marie felt the floor drop beneath her as the plane took off, she was giving a lot over to the large blue doctor who was accompanying them on the trip. Inside she was panicked but the look in Logan’s eyes had reassured her, he wouldn’t let anyone else hurt them again. Not even if it meant him killing someone for them both, her own hands had tightened at the thought of killing and the rush of pleasure she’d felt at the emotion. Squashing it down she concentrated on trying to sleep, she seemed so wiped out after the birth, physically she felt fine but mentally she was doing a work out just keeping herself calm and evened out. Settling down Marie calmed her mind, trying to sort out her emotions and feelings, their rising and falling seeming to fight her own control over them. Flashes of emotion pulsed through her, anger, hatred, loneliness, pain, humiliation, each one shadowed by a glimpse of a scene, her being beaten, tormented, burned, experimented on, left alone for weeks with nothing but water.

It was this memory that came forward in the most crystal-clear clarity, of a cell no more than twelve feet wide and sixteen long, no bed, just a patch of earth. Rock walls that dripped with cold, no window or light, just a breeze that brought fresh air under the iron door. Loneliness so complete, so suffocating, a hurt that radiated through skin sensitised to any breeze or touch, senses screaming at the brush of the soil under it. Looking to the door as a strange scent drifted toward it, one that had been away for so long, listening to the sounds that were coming. Human sounds accompanied by light, scenting the warmth of it as it came nearer, the language guttural but understandable. The words translating for her into something Marie could understand, so eager to see, to touch she was next to the iron door listening.

“How long has he been in there?” The voice clipped, authoritative the scent that accompanied it sterile almost, clean scenting of medical alcohol. The other deep, recognised as a pain bringer; a tormentor making her fear rise until she soiled herself, the wetness soaking into the ground beneath her.
“Three months.”
“Three months? You fed him I assume?” The deep voice laughed out loud making her skin crawl as a memory of hot iron and burning flesh made her stomach churn.
“No.”
“No? Surely he’ll be dead by now?” The deep voice cleared its throat before continuing.
“Actually I’ve kept food from him for longer, his system seems to adapt to the lack of food, as long as he has water I believe he can survive indefinitely. His powers are quite remarkable Herr Doctor, I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting him.” The sound of the door opening screeching as the rust fell away, ears unused to such loud sounds sending pain signals loud and clear to her mind. Eye’s trying to focus in the light that was blinding her, sending her skin into sharp relief and her brain finally seeing it as it was. Dirt encrusted but muscular still even after confinement, her hands large the fingernails long and curved over into claws, a growl that turned into a whimper as the light was blocked by a dark uniform, the only points of light were two silver lightning flashes on his collar. She felt powerless as the man in black moved aside to show the other man her form, panic reached down and pulled something dark and feral from her mind as she looked at the round smiling friendly face studying her shape. She didn’t know the name but the look was the same as the one she’d seen in the small man who’d first visited her in the facility.

As the little man moved forward, his white coat shifting with him as the eyes went over her skin, the little round glasses that perched on the bridge of his nose making her think of an owl. “Have him washed, deloused and sent to the medical bay. I want to see his powers myself.” The larger man was about to voice his displeasure but the little man was quick to continue, “The Fuhrer needs evidence Commander, photographic evidence, not just the reports you send him, hence my re-deployment with your regiment here. I didn’t want to be pulled away from my experiments either but their will always be more Slav’s to experiment on, but he is unique. And it is that uniqueness I’m here to get to the root of.” The white coat bunched as the small man bent lower to look at her, “Yes, he looks perfect doesn’t he?” The little eyes were all over her skin making it crawl as she finally got used to the light noticing for the first time the other soldiers around her. “Bring him, let’s get to work. We don’t have much time and the Fuhrer has little patience with those who don’t get results.”

Marie’s mind screamed away from the scene, losing itself in the calmness of her own personality, struggling to come to terms with the thing she’d seen, the thing she’d *remembered*. It wasn’t her memory it was one of Logan’s it had to be, she could even remember the feel of his skin on the dirt floor, the way it had brushed against the hair on her naked body. The pieces of herself came back together, covering the turmoil of her subconscious, of the mingling of their two minds slowly becoming one.

The plane juddered bringing her back to the world of the living, seeing Logan watching her with an open-eyed gaze of trust. Their son cradled between his arms, the gentle calmness that filled them both when she looked beneath the surface of their faces. She couldn’t take that away from him now, she had to talk to him alone and away from everyone else, she only hoped he wouldn’t run from them both. She had a feeling that he’d run before from things that were too hard for him to face, things that hurt him emotionally and she understood why. The most human contact he’d had had always been negative and yet she couldn’t keep his memories secret from him. It’d overburden her, so she had to tell him what her gift had done to him and hope that she’d managed to lock all the doors and windows beforehand.
She sent him a shaky smile as she undid her straps, hoping he put her nerves down to the trip. When they were settled would Logan find out exactly why she was so pale and she hoped she was upto the task of dealing with it.

*******************************************************

Charles watched as the news ticked by on the large screen in front of the gathered senators, he was there by invitation and they knew exactly who had broken into the facility that was now splashed all over the screen. Keeping his calm demeanour as the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen rolled by, telling the numbers of cities that were now rioting. Their mutant populations finding support with the general human population as the awful truth came out, the screen flickered, showing pregnant women with scared faces being fired on by american soldiers.

A senator whispering ‘My God,’ another’s thoughts were betraying him as he tried to remember if his son had been re-posted before this attack. The screen suddenly went blank as the president entered the room, looking tired and old a very different picture of the man who’d promised to build bridges between the two differing communities of humanity.

His tired eyes dragged around the senators and fell finally on Charles himself, a spark of anger lodged deep inside his mind flaring slightly as he looked toward his seated figure. “Good you’re all here. Now what can we do to calm this mess?” No one answered, nothing was thrown out onto the floor and the faces of the gathered senators was stony, the exasperated voice of the president rang around the oval room. “Are you suggesting then by your own silence you expect this to be handled by troops?”
One man was foolish enough to open his mouth to confirm the good sense of this action when the president jumped on the movement. “Harry? You’d like me to send troops down into North Carolina? Let them calm the situation down in your part of this mess?”

His body was beginning to shake as he moved over toward the large and slow senator who was well known for his views on the ‘mutant problem’. He tended to think long and slow before opening his mouth but this time he launched into a tirade that wasn’t well thought out.
“Why the hell not! Ah mean people need to see us taking back the streets, we’re bein’ hammered out there! Why can’t we let the garrison’s sort this mess out Phillip, ah mean that’s what we pay the goddamn bills for anyway!” The president didn’t answer him but an aide did, the words he used were small and easily understood by the slow witted senator.

“Because that would mean a declaration of Martial Law in your state Harry, and if you think we’ve got trouble now…..” The rest of the unspoken sentence hung in the air between them all, the charge of anger was building and Charles decided to act.
“There are those who would use the deployment of troops to their own advantage Senator Gall, both mutant and human.” The hot gaze of the senator dropped onto his form and Charles felt the hatred wash over him, he was a bigot but an honest one, he didn’t have the guile to hide what he felt.
“We all know your take on this, bet you’re as happy as a pig in wallow right now aren’t ya? All those ‘people’ out there damaging resources and business’s that have taken years to build up.”
Charles didn’t rise to the bait but he did notice the level of attention on him rise as he answered the barb directed both at him and his ‘kind’.
“No Senator I’m not happy at all, if anything I believe this has put us all back at least a year on relations. What the media did was inexcusable, they put people and mutants at risk by showing this tape to the most volatile sections of both our societies. What has come from this has been from the extreme ends of our own sides, not the majority and if we react like they want us to we will only confirm their views in the undecided of both sections. At the moment I’m trying to get community leaders to help out where they can in their own districts. Helping both communities by pulling together not apart, putting in troops will only exacerbate the problems.”

His voice was calm, the words solid as they fell onto the silence that had filled the oval room, turning to the screen that had been blank he nodded to the white haired beauty that was stood unnoticed in a corner until now. She moved with a feline grace that had many men in the room looking her over and finding someone they’d like to tame. Putting a gold disc into the machine she pulled back and showed the assembled group the screen as it flickered back into life. Charles voice was heard just before the voice began on the screen, “This was given into one of our safe houses by a ‘carrier’. We have no idea where it came from but I believe you need to see the information before you make any decision gentlemen.”

The face was familiar to most of the senior men in the room, Martin Carter, the ex-head of the secret service faced the camera. The way he looked on the screen was a man who knew he wasn’t long for the world and he needed to clear his conscience before it killed him. A deep voice rang out across the room, “Get Chambers in here, I want him to see this.” A door opened and a security man slipped out to bring the new secret service head here to the meeting.

The first few minutes were Carter giving his thoughts on what was happening outside the knowledge of the government funding this facility. He spoke of the re-assignment of troops, of people going missing to and from the facility, of the women brought in their state and the information he’d managed to gather as to where and how they’d been recruited.

The door opened again just as Carter was getting to the ‘Donor’, even he was looking around the small office on screen as he laid out the information he’d had on him. Charles watched Chambers face drop as the words echoed around the room, “Records show that the man known as ‘Wolverine, file number 454-25-243’ is the main sperm donor of the experiment. His file has been requested from the Alkali Lake facility by the head here, a Dr. Ursell. The file has been cleared by Director Chambers, his signature is on the first page.” The file was held upto the camera for perusal, the screen filled with it for a second then pulled back to show Carter’s drawn face.

“I’ve tried to gain access to the secure files on the subject but I’ve been denied it by Dr Ursell, lucky for me I know how to bypass my own security. The file shows a concerted effort by the last administration to find a solution to the ‘mutant issue’, the entire project was run by a conglomerate of scientists, they’re not named in any normal sense, just by numbers. The subject ‘Wolverine’ was a mutant taken and programmed to be a perfect killing machine, the conditioning he underwent was believed to have caused a split personality. When fighting this meant he did a mainly two pronged attack, in testing Wolverine would kill anything in his path, animal, human or mutant. If he was injured mortally he would lie low, wait to heal and finish the mission he was programmed with. His main programme was to hunt out and kill any mutant he found, basically a ‘final solution’ wrapped up in metal armour on his skeleton if the file is to be believed.”

The face of Carter was serious as he faced the room filled with rapt faces once again, “If he manages to escape here I’ve no idea where he’ll go or what he’ll do but looking at his track record I’d be looking behind me all the way to the moon. They made the perfect killer, thing was they couldn’t control him, hence the program here. He was too vicious, too feral, he’d kill everything and not differentiate between friend and foe, thing is there are notes on him from 1944, from Klagenfurt, Austria. Written in German I can’t translate them but they’ll be added to the data on here, looks like our boy has been in other hands than our own for longer than we realised.”

A sound much like gunfire was heard on the screen and Carter’s face flicked to the side, fear etching deep lines in the craggy face. The door opened and a young voice was heard asking Carter to put the camera down and to accompany him. He did so and placed it so the camera could see the young soldier pointing the gun at him, the conversation between them was kept at a minimum but the ending was always sure in Charles’s mind. The young man was felled quickly his head snapping back as Carter snapped the thin neck, the body landing next to the camera. The gold insignia looming large in the lens, picking up the camera Carter spoke hurriedly, “These guys have been infiltrating the garrison since I got here, Sir….., Phil if you get this and by God I hope you do, get any of these guys out of your personal guard. Whoever they’re working for it isn’t you, what is it they say, ‘Administrations come and go but the machinery keeps going?’ Well Phil, these guys are part of the machinery, I’ve copied the files onto this disc so you should get everything I know.”

Sustained gunfire was now drowning out his words and the camera shook as it was picked up. “Gotta go Phil, say hi to Carol for me, never did get to see her ride Victory.” The tight smile was all he left them with as the screen went blank again, Ororo opened the drawer of the machine and took the gold disc directly to the President. Stiff backed he took the disc out of her hand, his eyes locked onto the small golden round in his hand.

Charles had been scanning the emotions of the room as the disc played, several were unsure, incredulous almost as the thing had gone on but Chambers had been calm, upto the piece where the solider had come in and been dispatched with efficiency. Then his fear had begun to spiral, his face had locked onto the President’s own, eyes narrowing when he’d seen his own face watching his reactions to the situation. Still keeping his gaze on Charles, Chambers spoke up to the quiet room, “Sir I think we need to discuss this matter privately, we need to clear the room and get some damage control on this before it spirals out of our sphere of influence.”

Charles had to hand it to the President, he was calm, controlled as he turned to look at his security chief, it covered the turmoil he was feeling underneath and his voice was loud enough to carry past the room into the waiting room beyond.
“Oh you do, do you? What else is there that I don’t know about Chambers? Just what the hell am I involved in here?” Chambers was still, his body tense but controlled. “The damn disc was handed to me by someone who has survivors of the damn facility Chambers! A pregnant woman no doubt,” he looked over to the serene face of Ororo who just inclined her head to the affirmative. “ A woman who’d been impregnated by this doctor who’d decided to breed himself a little army of these things, of these ‘Wolverine’s’.”

Charles felt the first threads of fear run through him, where was the President taking this, he looked to Ororo who had her own nerves showing by now. “Get me a damn computer in here NOW! I want to know what else is on this disc and everyone, I do mean everyone in this room is going to read it with me! If I’m going to go down I want an audience to tell the world I didn’t know anything about the damn thing before today! Chambers you’re staying put until I know exactly what you’ve been doing in my name and what you’ve released on the world.”

He moved quickly to the red telephone on his desk, picking up the receiver he spoke quickly and sharply, barking orders out. When he’d finished he turned to the assembled faces, some white and pale, others calm and secure. “Well gentlemen we’ll be here for the duration, there will be no troop deployments, only civil authorities. Make your calls gentlemen but make it quick, I’m not in the mood for waiting.”

Ororo plucked out the small phone and dialled quickly, Charles watched Chambers doing the same, reading the thoughts that were skimming through his mind as he spoke, images of hunting and killing were filling his mind. Coming to a close as the image of the President lain dead at the hands of Wolverine only to be brought down by a hail of bullets drifted through his consciousness. Chambers locked gazes with Charles for a second and a corpse like gaze swept over his own, the coldness in it making Charles shiver internally. The game had just been upped a notch and he communicated that to Ororo who turned her back to everyone and continued her call using code words that had been in place for months. He just hoped the school would be safe while he was absent, he had to trust those he’d trained but even he had his doubts.

*******************************************************

The house was just as the picture had led them to believe, the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains casting the valley into shade, the large plane seeming out of place in the green valley. Hank had carried the bulk of their supplies into the house, opening the door with a set a keys that had a small copper fob with them. He swiped the fob through a set of dark plates before he used the keys, his tone rushed as he spoke to Marie, “It’s a latent security measure, it releases a type of gas throughout the entire house, it knocks you out for a day or so but it also trips an alarm back at the mansion via satellite. So any unwelcome visitors get a surprise and us on the doorstep within six hours.”
Logan was stood outside with the baby, his eyes on the tree line in the distance, the relaxed look in his gaze making her fears subside for a while. The other two helpers brought things inside, switched on the lights, turned on the solar panels and the water pump, after just under an hour they were getting ready to leave them behind. Logan hadn’t even looked at the house yet, he was too busy watching the birds circle above in the cold thin air. Hank joined Marie as she watched the two of them stood in the foreground of the valley as if they’d always belonged here.

Hanks words cut through the dream and made the reality stark for her, “I don’t know how long you’ll be able to stay here Marie, there’s too much going on for us to come at a moments notice but there’s a communicator inside.” Her face turned to see the large doctor looking at Logan and the way the held his son upto the sky, as if he was showing him to the world. “It’s a bit like a radio crossed with a computer, just switch it on if you need anything and someone will answer it. I don’t know what happened to you both there, I have an idea of some of it and it makes this even harder to do.” Marie reached out to his covered arm, making the large head look toward her, care and concern raised high in his gaze. “It’s about Logan,” she could sense the reluctance in his tone as Logan turned toward them both, the other two helpers walking back to the plane. “He’s been institutionalised Marie, they’ve done things to him that make me wonder about leaving you here with him…” Marie’s gaze made the words die in his throat as Logan met them, the small child settled comfortably in his fathers arms. Reaching out to Logan’s face Marie let herself smile feeling a little more relaxed as she heard the engines fire up on the plane.
“Ah already know doc, he showed me, when ah touched him back in the facility, he showed me.” Hank looked at the small family and the protective air that was building around Marie from Logan.
“If you need anything….”
“Yeah ah know the computer thingy, we’ll be fine. Ah’ve got Logan to protect me, what more could we need?”

Logan then took her arm and pulled her to the house, knowing he’d want to explore every nook and cranny with her, his need to know the territory uppermost in his mind. A small purr rumbling out into the cooling air as they went inside the open house, Hank looked back at the couple once before putting his thoughts to bed. If anything were to happen they’d be half a continent away and getting to them quickly would be nearly impossible, there were others who needed his help and they were waiting back at the school. The calm gaze of Marie stayed with him all the way home, as if her soul had been bared to his gaze for a moment. That she was capable of coping with whatever came upon them both, his mind still wondered how well she would cope when the baby would begin to teethe, they had a few rocky months ahead of them out here in the middle of nowhere. Autumn was only a couple of months away, then winters harsh grip could crush life from anything up here.

Hank made a note on the onboard computer to come back in three months to check on their progress and the babies. He’d have to come by a different route next time though, the blackbird may be fast but it was expensive to use like this. House calls made in the X-Men jet wasn’t on his budget but it made him smile when he thought about the expenses that would make Warren choke. Sleep stole across Hank’s mind as he settled back into his seat, the squawk of Jubilee’s music reaching his sensitive ears. The world maybe falling apart but Jubilee’s taste in music never changed and it made his dreams sweeter for the comforting sound it filled his mind with.

*********************************************

Logan hadn’t wanted to interact with them, not that he didn’t want to believe it was real, that they were being given this place to live in for a while, it was the thought that someone actually cared for him. Someone apart from Marie was thinking about his well being, he knew instinctually that Marie would care for him, the way she’d held onto him, supporting herself as well as him when they’d faced the people when they’d woken up.

The two other’s who’d come along with them had been quiet but their movements had spoken volumes for them both, the way they moved with casual ease and strength. They’d been trained, they knew how to move, how to fight, how to dodge a blow before it fell, he’d seen it when they’d joked with each other as they’d gone back to the plane. Their uniforms were well used, the stiff leather worn in places, the seams stretched and soft, whoever they were they knew where they were and for how long.

He’d scanned the terrain and he knew that the chances of them getting out of the valley with the baby before autumn were scarce to none. The cold winds were coming from the north already and the geese that had been flying above told him that bad weather was on the way, if not today then tomorrow. No, they had to stay put till spring and that meant getting to know the area around them as well as he possibly could. Hank the doctor had given him a clue back in New York, he’d told them it had been years since anyone had been up here. Years for trails to change, for new growth to obscure old landmarks, if they were having to stay here then he’d make it the most secure place he could, even from those he was taking it from.

A memory had surfaced in his mind, an old man raising a child to the sky, his features worn and skin burned brown by the sun. There was nothing but the wind around him and the gentle rolling hills laid out underneath them, he hadn’t said a word, just raised the child upto the sky. The child resting safe in the grip stayed still and made no sound, a moment passed and the child was returned to the bosom of the old man, the smile on his face illuminating the world. He couldn’t remember if it was something he’d seen in his life, or from somewhere else but it felt right to him to do this now.
Holding his child in both hands, he raised the small new born toward the evening sky, the darkness just beginning to tinge one side a darker blue. Holding him aloft to the vast bowl of the sky, unaware of the eyes that were watching him, letting his own heart tell him when the moment had passed. A calm settling into his bones as he pulled the small child back into his arms, turning back to the mother of his child, seeing the concerned gaze lock onto his own.

She felt for him, knew there were things on his mind, things he wouldn’t be able to acknowledge never mind talk about. Yet she seemed able to forgive him these things, to just accept him as he was, sensing him and reacting to what he needed from her. It was easy with her and that was one thing that made him nervous, if it was this easy for her how had she known to act the ways he needed her to?
It would wait for a while, he needed to check out the home they were going to live in, moving back to her he took her arm and pulled her toward the house. She was his now, it was more than simple possession, it was a truth and he needed her to understand that. When she finally came with him he purred his contentment to her and the baby in his arm, her smile was bright as they walked into their new home, his only hope was that it didn’t fade when they began to understand each other. It was a lot to ask of her and she had enough of him in the tiny child she’d carried for nine months.

Shutting the door on the encroaching dark Logan held his breath for a moment closing his eyes as he made a memory out of the moment of perfection. Of the child in his arms, of the beauty he had by his side and the home he was about to explore, making it a place of light in his mind, no matter how things turned out he had this to keep him sane through it all. This was *real* and he would keep the memory lodged deep where they would never find it if they ever caught him again, he would have this to remind him he was human and that someone cared for him.

********************************************************

Richards had spent the last four months moving from safe house to safe house, crawling his way across the country. The shit had come down from above like he thought it would, he’d been close to being caught twice in his long absence. Once when he’d managed to contact Carter, they must have been scanning the bandwidths to catch his communication. They caught Carter but not him, the old man looked relieved when he’d seen the faces of the men who’d come to pick them up, he’d known them all but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t be in a ditch few miles down the road with no face left to recognise. Richards had just waited until dark to move away, his nerves were taut but he wasn’t going to die just yet.

His second mistake had been to go into Nevada, the damn place was crawling with spook’s, agency men and police looking to make a name for themselves. The plan had been to get into the outer suburbs where the main lot of safe houses were, to use them as he went across the large sprawling expanse of city that covered the desert. Thing was he didn't expect to be recognised by an ex-detainee, the guy had been on the phone immediately to his handler telling him all about the ‘harassment’ he was suffering at the hands of the agent who’d brought him in and what were the Fed’s going to do about it?

He’d had to leave most of his survival stuff behind on that one, he still bemoaned the loss of his sleeping bag because of that feeble minded idiot. The screech of cars had been the only clue he’d had before he’d flung himself out of his warm hiding spot into a cold Nevada night clutching his half emptied rucksack and firing the small blue ford into life before losing himself in the stream of traffic heading out of Nevada. So, he’d headed into Arizona going north instead of following his training to go south when winter was approaching, they knew what he’d be doing and why if Carter had made it back to Washington alive. There were priorities and one of his was to make sure that the girl had survived, he didn’t know where to start looking but he had to try before he gave in entirely and left the country for good.

All throughout his travels he’d kept up with current events, the newspapers had been filled with the thing, the entire mutant question had been exploded open by the facility being found. What was being done to the women there and why, it hadn’t been released by the government oh no, it had been the families of the women who’d survived and still had people to help them. Several children had been born but had died soon after birth, their immune systems not capable of coping with the bacteria that covered our skin.
It was in the second month that the other clinics had been revealed, the true extent of the program had then come to light and that was when the pro-human argument had stepped up their campaigning. The earnest faced men telling the rest of their blinkered flock that the mutant was an aberration of nature that needed to be ‘cured’. To be ‘studied’ so that the rest of humanity could be safely protected from their taint, most of them tended to be right wing Christians although they’re were a few right wing Muslim clerics there too. The irony of it all made him smile, the two opposing sides of God’s army finally agreeing on something, pity it had to be the death of a different people to make them finally agree.

Thing was he didn’t know which side he was coming down on, sure he knew the reactions to most mutants would always be dangerous, hell he knew human nature as much as the next man did. What humans fear they destroy, he’d been trying to get into the mutant underground but the men and women who worked for the small groups weren’t looking to help strangers. Especially strangers who were obviously looking for someone; it had been her eyes that had come back to him. The way they’d widened at the sight of his weapon held in his hand, the fear in her gaze as if she’d finally realised that she’d made a mistake trusting him. That had ripped into him more than his other nightmares had, that he’d failed her, she was becoming something more than an obligation or mission to him; she was becoming a saviour. If he could find her and find out where she went then he’d have a starting point instead of dodging every spook in the lower 48.

His break came hanging around a soup kitchen in Lubbock Texas, the group was a mix of mutant and human but there was a copper haired kid handing out flyers to everyone. He took one as he waited in line for the thin soup that passed for charity our here under the big skies. The flyer was for a meeting, mutants and humans working together to make the world a better place, a way to come out of the fear that was surrounding them all. He watched the small copper haired kid dodge the eyes of the soup kitchens priest, seeing the kid actually change shape to someone else, effectively hiding in the crowd of lost and lonely. Looking at the small crumpled flyer in his hand Richards knew this was his best bet yet, moving to the front of the line he took the small handout he’d been queuing for nearly two hours for. Concentrating on the food he ate quickly, his eyes never leaving the now dark skinned man that had once been a copper haired kid. He’d follow him and see exactly where the kid led him, maybe there was something in this meeting he could use to find her.

The spoon in his hand dropped into the empty tin bowl, clattering loudly bringing attention to himself, he quickly covered the error by coughing loudly and holding the flyer to his mouth. Nearly everyone here was sick in some form or another, his motions were ignored along with the sound of many others. Shuffling off his bench seat Richards went to wait for his flyering friend, the thin soup barely giving him the energy to stand. But he would, he’d wait and he’d follow no matter where they took him he’d follow, even if it led to hell itself.

*************************************************************

Hank was exhausted, over the last few weeks more and more people were coming to the mansion, every room was now filled with eight people; whole families were sharing with students. Teachers were billeted together, but it was only a stop gap; before long they had to move more out of here and Hank knew it. They’d been lucky when the outbreak of flu had hit last month, it’d raged through the entire school. He’d stacked as many as he could in the infirmary but eventually he’d had to open up the quarantine floor as well, luckily the patients who went down there were too far gone in fever to even notice the amount of extra equipment down there. Thing was the weather had turned to a full winter now, kids and adults alike were suffering from the close confines of the school and the cross mutation of the various diseases they were bringing with them. Hank would be lucky if they didn’t have an all out plague on his hands soon, plus that he was now on his own. Seeing as Jean was out somewhere in New York State trying to find accommodation for the families that were in direst need and could blend into the population.

Charles hadn’t left him much room for manoeuvre in anything and his nerves were beginning to fray, when he had time to himself he often thought about Marie and Logan all the way out there in the middle of nowhere. Hank knew it would be impossible to go and see them any time soon but there was something irritating him, something about the two of them alone without any support.

He’d seen the injuries of those that had come here, they were quiet about who’d hurt them but the imprints of night-sticks were obvious. The police had done this to them, men and women whose only crime had been to look different. If that was the case then how were Logan and Marie holding up in North Dakota, he’d checked on the internet what was happening in the major cities but he’d been too busy to even think about the rest of the country.

Wiping his large hand down his face he didn’t see Jubilee until she handed him a plate, “Here Hankster, get some food down you before you come down with the heebie-jeebies.” Hank looked at the dark eyes searching his own rich amber, her smile was rare these days, she’s collected too many sorry souls running from somewhere that used to be home to them. She looked so grown up, so aged by the last few weeks, taking the laden plate from her grip he just smiled at her; putting it down on the tables surface.
“Thank you Jubilee, I’ve not had time to eat yet,” her face went to the clock on the wall, raising her perfect eyebrows as she answered him.
“Well that makes a new record then……fifteen hours an’ twenty seven minutes since seeing you stumbling around in the kitchen at six this morning.” Her gaze was locked onto his own as she sat down next to him, the tears in her uniform only now becoming clear as she moved and stole a fry from his plate. Concern filled his face as he put his large hand on her shoulder, Jubilee flinched away from the gentle contact, her lips pulling tight as she hissed in pain.

“Jubilee….” She just raised a hand and stood up, her small frame looking fragile, her features wan and pale. Holding onto his shoulders as she breathed in; the pain obvious on her, ribs that were pulsing and aching as she took breath.
“Hank, I’ll live. Eat first then come and see me over there,” her hand waving behind her where the few empty beds were. She pulled his face closer to her own, “Look I’m not going anywhere and I’ll probably be dancing again in a week. What you need to do is look after number one for a moment Hank, what’ll we do if you collapse huh? Send out for the Ice Queen?” Her smile made it to her eyes and she let him go, patting his large face before moving off to the empty beds, her wincing movements filling his ears and gaze.

The food went down well, making him feel more awake and alive than he had all week. Jubilee was strapped up and made to rest down here just for observation, one night wouldn’t kill her and she looked like she could do with the calmness of the med bay for a few hours. Upstairs people were staring to get ready for a Christmas that they really didn’t feel like celebrating but it was a hope they were all hanging onto.

Charles was rarely here, leaving messages and orders through Ororo, and they were having a hard time in Washington just trying to convince people not to react with their hind brains. Of course Magneto was out there as well, trying his best to pull every other mutant to his side, working the underground shelters, the soup kitchens, everywhere there were lost and frightened people. He gave them a choice, to join him in his dream of setting up a place where mutants could live freely, to be what they were without fear of reprisal or hatred. To segregate themselves from the rest of humanity, to eke out a living somewhere in the world and live in peace.

Thing was Erik knew it wouldn't work out that way, to settle anywhere they had to displace someone else and that meant fighting. Several families had come to the mansion without a few members of their own, lost to Erik’s dream that was nothing but shadow play. People would die in his cause and that was the only tragedy, the truth was even Hank believed that Charles’s way would lead them nowhere fast. Hearts and minds would be turned by the men on the street not those in power and The Brotherhood was already out there while they were trying to save as many as they could and were drowning in the process.

Hank did his rounds of the beds, checking on those that were sleeping, seeing to the medication of those that needed it. Working his way back upstairs to the living area he’d carved out for himself in front of the large fireplace in the den. The fire was still burning into embers when he got there, someone had left him a packet of twinkies on his blanket, an obvious thank you from someone he’d helped. Taking the sweet treat in his hands he tore open the packaging, letting the sweet scent fill him before he tore into them. Mouth watering he bit into the first one as his eyes dragged over the frosted window panes at the other end of the den. The snow blowing into drifts and flurrying across the gardens, the stark relief of the bare forest making him wonder how Logan and Marie were coping in the wilds. The cabin had enough for winter he was sure of that but how was the baby? Finishing his treat Hank bedded down he’d try to contact them tomorrow if he had time, maybe by then the storm would have passed over. Finally closing his eyes Hank let himself dissolve into the bedding he had wrapped around him, relaxing the weight of the house off his broad shoulders. He hoped for dreams as sweet as the sugary remains still in his mouth but he doubted they would be.

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Routine, always routine. Every single night the same routine, Marie watched Logan check and re-check every single door, every window, every crack in the cabin. Setting the security system and testing it before re-setting it and finally going with them both to bed, she didn’t complain, didn’t think it was funny, she understood it.
He was being cautious, careful, guarding her and his son, settling her first in the large bed and him sleeping beneath it. The room he’d chosen wasn’t the ones upstairs he’d chosen the large closet under the stairs for them. Upstairs the beds were turned down and what looked like people were sleeping in them but it wasn’t them. He’d only slept up there once and they both hadn’t liked the open feeling it gave them, even the baby hadn’t settled down until they’d gotten themselves under cover. Something defensible.

It was instinct, nothing more nothing less, Marie knew she had to explain it to him why she was so happy to comply with his wishes, as if her understanding of his motives sometimes left him stunned and surprised. She’d attempted several times to talk to him, to tell him about her gift and what he’d given her but he seemed so distant when they finally got some time to be together.
The days they had he’d spend hunting, foraging, trapping in the vast forest around them, she knew he’d made defences all around the cabin, every approach was rigged in someway or another. She’d occupied herself with cleaning the cabin, cooking and looking after their son; he was a healthy child, growing quickly and putting weight on well.

A happy child he had the colouration of his father but her temprement, he slept well, his first grumblings of his teeth were coming and even without her books she knew it was early. Hearing Logan's booted feet coming closer she shuffled herself closer to the back wall of the understairs, giving him more room to take off his boots.

He looked settled tonight as if the storm outside had given him some respite from the fear of being snuck up on. The wind was to much to fly in, the blizzard cut down visability and the wind chill would freeze anything trying to come across the open space toward the cabin. The small tilly lamp he used was set down next to the bed his gaze going over their son first then going to her own soft features. He didn't say much, over the last few months he'd been quiet more often than not, even when he'd spoken the words he'd used were clipped and small. She'd made her mind up, it would be tomorrow, she'd start talking to him tomorrow, she had to, Christmas was coming and she needed to know somethings about him before she invested anymore of her feelings for him.

A part of her had been questioning her about all of this, about her easy accpetance of him and his claim on her. He hadn't made a sexual move toward her at all, as if just having her there with him was enough for him right now. Her own needs though were another thing entirely, when she breastfed her body would sometimes react to the stimulus leaving her frustrated and confused. She'd read about it in her books but she'd thought it was something that didn't happen or wouldn't happen to her. Only once had Logan seen her like that, her face all flushed as her son was sleeping on her chest. He'd tensed up for a second his eyes taking in her wide eyes and the small form at her chest before leaving for nearly a day. He'd come back dog tired and had slept like the dead, they had to start somewhere and she needed to talk to him.

Watching his back as he undressed, throwing off the clothes he wrapped himself in as he turned toward her in the small bed. His body shielding them both from the room behind the solid door he'd pulled closed. Seeing his smile warm his eyes before he placed a gentle kiss on their sons head and one on her own before wrapping his bulk around them. Closing her eyes Marie knew this peace wouldn't last forever but she'd take as much as she could while they had it.

The car slowed to a halt, the shabby building was just like any other in the district, it was only if you knew what you were looking for that you found the sign inscribed in the brickwork.
Chambers smirked to himself, the mutant underground was quite well known to him, hell he'd even supplied some of the cells with weapons. The sign was an 'M' or a 'B' scored lightly into the mortar that held the bricks together. The one on this building was obvious, someone wanted people to know about this one. Smiling to himself he checked the gun he was carrying and the several plastic weapons he had secreted about his person. Eric wasn't the only one who could play games.

Richards had followed the small stream of mutants back to the place, there were some humans but they weren't going of their own free will. Rope was tied around their hands and their knees were hobbled together making running impossible. They were quiet, very quiet as they made their way into the building, Richards following his curiosity peaked by the sound of voices cheering.

Inside the view was one out of a different era, the main room was filled with a metal cage, the bottom of it made up of grills that were open to the sewers below. Inside a man bigger than he'd ever seen was killing another. The cheering was loud in his ears as one of the men who'd been brought in was untied and thrown inside. The brute inside the cage just turned from the corpse that was in his hand to the fresh meat that was trying to push at the walls in desperation. The cries of the man tore at his heartstrings, the thug that had beaten up and more than probably killed mutants was going to be given a lesson. A permenant one. He turned his face away from the roaring and screams that filled the vaulted room, his gaze lighting on a suit. The unusualness of it making him narrow his gaze on the man, waiting patiently as the man in question turned round.
Tanned skin, dark hair pulled back in a severe style, shaved neck, cold dark eyes that flickered around the room never still for a moment. The little half-smile that had always remined him of a snake that had just bitten you but you didn't know it yet.

Chambers.

What the hell was the presidential aide doing here? Everything began to make a sick kind of sense when he saw exactly who Chambers had been there to meet, an elderly man wove his way through the screaming crowds. The silence that followed his wake crept around the entire room. It even reached him in the rafters making everything even his breathing seem like a hurricane. The grey headed man turned his gaze to the now feasting beast in the cage. The remnants of the human were being devoured raw, the soild voice that rang out across the depths of the room shook Richards to the core.
"My Brothers! The time of our deliverance has come! After tonight there will be nothing that can stop us, we shall wheel over those who have tried to destroy us. We will use their own weapon against them, only we, The Brotherhood Of Mutants will survive this purge, we will find the lands we need, the resources we need to live free, to build the world we need to thrive and grow. Tonight we shall bring the war to them!"

The roar that sounded out shook the building with it's force and Richards watched the old man's progress to the cage. Saw him produce a syringe levitated it and threw it full force at the mutant inside the cage. The giant didn't even register the prick but as another human was manhandled into the cage a sick smile broke onto his face. Moving to the side as the human was forced inside his voice once more rang out to the rest of the crowd. "Watch my children, my brothers, watch!" His voice came down a few notches and Richards saw the giant walk toward the human cowering in fear. He didn't do anything but lift him up and breathe on him, the effect was slow but it was hard to see from his vantage point. The man being dangled seemed to thrash in the giants grip as if he was suffocating. Blood began to trickle down the mans face as something ate at the very tissue of the man. Richards quickly pulled his face upward out of the drafts that circulated the air, whatever he'd been injected with was airbourne. The older man's voice raised high as the corpse of the man was dropped to the cage floor still twitching. "We have the power, everyone we breathe on will crumble and fall! With this power within us no one will stand in our path, we shall be VICTORIUS!" Slipping into the shadows and back out of the building Richards knew just what this would do to the world outside.
War would be declared on any mutant found; death would walk the streets cutting a swathe through the population but if he knew Chambers like he knew Chambers there wouldn't be anyone left to enjoy the new found space. he'd thought Magneto was a bad guy but it was nothing compared to his own side.

He had to find her and that meant going to New York, to the one place he'd been avoiding upto now. The Mutant School, Xavier's wasn't it? Maybe she'd found her way there, it was a long shot but it was all he had to go on and it'd have to be enough. Peeling away from the rooftop and scuttling back down the side of the building Richards kept an eye on his back as he left the shabby quarter. His eye taking in the slick car that had brought the presidents aide, he only hoped someone somewhere had his head screwed on properly and knew what was going here. But the coldness in his stomach told him that that was more than likely an impossibility. Chambers was well known for tying loose ends personally and he almost felt sorry for Magneto because when the end came it wouldn't be pretty.
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They'd been quiet all day, Logan had done more small jobs around the cabin while she'd been trying to figure out a way to start talking to him. Finally she'd just come out with it. "Logan how much do you remember?" His hands had stilled, he was currently finishing a crib for their son. His gaze had met hers quizically but he hadn't answered her; she carried on, "Just that ah'm having memories that aren't mine. You're the only one that's touched me Logan so ah have to assume that they're yours." She had his attention now, he'd dropped the tools and was walking over to where she was seated on the soft sofa. He sat next to her in it's patterned warmth, their son sleeping between them.

"When ah have them ah'm somewhere in Germany ah think. Sometime in the last war, there's a man with glasses and ah'm locked up in a cell. Logan ah think it was World War Two, you were kept a prisoner somewhere. I think someone did 'things' to you." The look on his face fell into one of despair as soon as she said she'd been having his memories. He looked like he wanted to bolt but his eyes kept dropping to their son who was murmuring in his sleep. She knew he couldn't leave them both alone here even if he wanted to, it went against everything he was. But the words she was trying to tell him were harder than his instincts and she saw his beginning to shift in his seat.
"Logan we need you." That was all it took to settle him again, the solid look he was giving her made her blush from the heat of it. All this time they'd been sleeping together but he'd never made a move on her and she'd never touched him either. It was if an accord had been agreed on without either of them ever speaking a word but now it was time she got out into the open just how she felt about all this.

"Look Logan, ah know you didn't expect to be lumbered here with me and a baby. When we were in the lab ah never expected to get out there alive, never mind here with you. It's just as weird for me as it must be for you, even more so for you though; at least ah had time to get used to having a baby."

She watched his eyes change through the emotions that were running across them. From anger when she spoke about the lab to calm when she mentioned the baby. His hand reached out toward her face, the touch of his skin on hers still unusual as they both went to bed clothed just in case. They even gave each other space when they showered, Logan always waited outside the room when she went in. Holding his son as she cleaned off under the water, all the intimate things she'd thought would come along weren't there. Even eating he made sure she was fed first then he ate, seperately.

As if he was keeping a distance between them on purpose, as if he was expecting her to run away from him as soon as she could. Clearing her throat she let her body enjoy the touch from his skin, her voice whispering to him as he touched her. "Ah'm not goin anywhere without you Logan; as ah've said we need you. Both of us." His touch was making her bold, the warmth of his palm on her cheek made parts of her sit up and take notice. Her breasts began to feel heavy and it had nothing to do with feeding their son. Closing her eyes to the touch and the feelings that were building inside her she leant into his hand. The rumbling purr that echoed from Logan as she did it made her breath hitch, as if on cue her son opened his eyes and gurgled. Both of them dropped their gaze to the now wide awake baby that was beginning to fret when his demands for food weren't being met. A wry smile seemed to pass over both of their faces making Marie laugh out loud. "Well looks like it'll have to wait till later, someone's hungry."

Logan began to get up to leave her alone to feed him in privacy but she snagged his arm. "Stay with me." She could see he was unsure but he sat back down, picking up their son Marie shifted around so she was resting in Logan's lap, her back resting on his chest. Like she had when she'd been giving birth; unwrapping her top she bared her breast to the already searching mouth of her son. As he began to feed Marie settled back into the solid warmth behind her, she could feel the rumble of his breath on the back of her neck. Shifting closer she felt his body reacting to her closeness, taking his hand she put it on her hip and left it there. Dropping her head backward into his shoulder she saw the darkness there in his gaze. Knowing he was torn about touching her the way he wanted and needed to, she solved the problem for him. "Ah'm not goin to break sugar. You can touch me if you want to." She lifted herself so he could see her own need for him in her eyes and body, "Ah need you to, ah want you to touch me."
He held her gaze for what seemed like hours before he pulled her back down into him, bracing herself again as she switched breasts. Feeling the deep rumbling change into a purr she remembered from the birth. Smiling Marie let herself rest for now, tonight things would be different, especailly now they had a crib for the baby. He hadn't trusted the one that had been sent with them and he'd made one out of wood for them both. Looking at it she knew their bed would be free for them to move in from now on and just the thought of it made her smile.

Thursday's were always the day things kicked off in the infirmary, exactly why she had no idea but it was *always* Thursday's. But since it was just after Christmas everything was much much worse. Sighing as she went around the high desk to find out just what the problem was in the main triage area. Her colleagues were there, they seemed to be trying to deal with someone who was in arrest but it was the rest of the room that suddenly made her skin prickle.
The silence, the absolute quiet, she'd never heard it this still. The people waiting for attention were laid higgledy piggledy, their faces a mask of red, the decay reaching her nose just as she saw the first of her colleagues turn and try to run toward her. The vision of his face beginning to melt away as the flesh peeled from the muscle beneath. As his hands touched her she tried to back away but her gaze was locked onto the dreadful sight in front of her. The rasping breath stopped quickly covering her uniform in a mist of blood sending it a dusky pink. The hands dropped away leaving her looking at his corpse at her feet.

Looking back at the man who'd been on the floor being aided by the resusitation team she watched him get up, brush his coat off and blow her a kiss. The way his skin shivered and moved told her he was a mutant, he'd killed all these people just by walking in here. She never saw him get away because her throat began to get tight as she moved toward the phone. She ended up being found holding the phone to what was left of her ear the quiet finally noticed by the rest of the small hospital. It would have been a relief for her to know that what had happened here was only the beginning. At least she was free from what came next, her body numbered and burnt in less than twenty four hours. After this nothing would ever be the same again.

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When the news broke of the attack Hank was just dealing with the last of the gastro-enteritis sufferers. Anne was helping him down here, readjusting fluids and water balances in the bodies around her. Rehydration was important in gastro-enteritis and if Anne helped they would be able to leave within hours not days. The television they had on in the corner of the med bay flashed up with a breaking news bulletin. Turning his head to the screen what he saw made his blood go cold.

In three minutes he was in the office upstairs taking a call from Xavier, people were going to moved en mass. There was no time left to them, the attack had been orchestrated and they were a visable target with a high profile in the local New York community. It wouldn't matter what good they did locally because those that would come here wouldn't be local. It'd be people from the city, armed with whatever they could use and as for the police force they had enough on their hands just trying to keep order in the normal sense in the five districts. No they were on their own and Xavier made it clear that they should defend themselves yes but to make sure that they were only defensive attacks and to keep the live feed to the net running. That way no one could ever accuse them of attacking first.

Hank sent runners all over the mansion telling everyone to get things ready, to get possessions packed just in case they had to leave quickly. He just hoped he was upto the fight when it came down to it.

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Richards was on his way to the leafy suburb oblivious until he stopped at a light. Then the noise coming from a bar held his attention for a while, the sudden stream of men that flowed out of the bar had the looks of trouble all over it. Snagging a man who looked like he'd just been shell-shocked he got the man's attention, "Hey what's going on?"
The man's eyes cleared quickly as the rest of the crowd dispersed, the anger flowing out with it across the city. "A hospital in the city, everyone inside is dead a mutant just walked in and killed everyone."
"What with a bomb?"
"No they said he just stood there laughing as the people around him began to die, they just melted when they got near him. The police shot him in the head on the tv." Richards let him go, the warehouse coming back to him, Chambers plan to cause panic and spread hatred had worked. Every mutant for miles around was going to suffer for this and pushing the little car into gear Richards shot forward across the now green lights toward the school, his mind hoping they had the tv on somewhere in there.
His mind filling with the face of Marie, her tear filled eyes following his progress all the way toward his goal.

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Logan watched Marie move around the kitchen, her steps were light and her body graceful. She still had a little extra weight from the baby but it filled her out in the places where he knew she'd needed it. Breastfeeding was a tiring business and their son was growing well on it. Logan did feel a spike of jealousy as Marie lavished her attention on the small baby, smiling, talking and playing with the small child. Looking over at the small sleeping face, the wrinkles finally smoothed out by the fat under his skin, content and peaceful a smile stole over his lips and a heat grew in his chest.
"He looks like you," Marie had caught him watching their son, she never seemed to think he was a threat to her or the baby. Even when he didn't know what to think or do, she seemed to trust him even when he didn't trust himself.
"Marie," his voice took her by surprise and the smile it earned him was worth the effort of speaking. "How do you know?" She turned her head to one side as she finished drying the dishes.
"What do you mean Logan? How do ah know what?" He motioned to the baby before speaking again.
"That you can trust me with you," he moved and his blades slid free from his hands, her smile didn't move as she moved toward him. Dropping the towel on the countertop Marie wrapped herself around his waist, bringing herself as close she dared without frightening him. Feeling his breath deepen as she hugged him close to her, making sure he could see her eyes as she answered the question he'd given her.
"Because ah know you Logan, your up here," she tapped the side of her skull with her finger. She could see him listening to her, taking in what she had to say. "My mutation, it's my skin, when we ran into each other," she felt him tense up and her hands smoothed over his back settling the muscle she'd felt shift. Keeping his eyes on hers she continued, "Logan ah wouldn't change anything that happened to us, ah have you, a place to stay till spring, a happy healthy baby and for that ah'm grateful to God and everything else up there. My skin took what you are, when we touched ah got everything you are in a rush. It was as much as a shock to me as it was to you Logan, ah didn't know what would happen if ah held on to you. Everyone else ah'd touched ah nearly killed but you," her fingers came round to brush his face tenderly and she saw his pupils widen and darken as she did it. "You didn't die and ah can touch you, really touch you..." Logan didn't let her finish the sentence, when she'd touched him with her fingers something had snapped inside him.

He needed to touch her, to claim her as his and he couldn't wait any longer. Growling he pulled her to him, crushing her chest into his, one hand already going to her ass. Her throat made a purring noise as he bent his head to hers, meeting her mouth and forcing his way inside it. She'd kissed before, but they'd been boys her own age, nervous and unsure, Logan wasn't a boy and he knew exactly what he wanted from her.

His hand shifted to cradle the back of her head; letting her relax into the grip he had on her. She was wrapped up in his embrace, there was no escape from him, not that she wanted to. Heat was building in her body, her skin was on fire, his fingers leaving trails that itched with it. When his hand went under her skirt and straight to her sex she thought she'd die just there. His fingers pushed aside the cotton that seperated her from him and the deep rumble that filled her as he touched her made her ache for him. Spreading her feet she allowed him more access to her, chest heaving as he slid two fingers inside her already moistening channel. Her mouth forming words she wasn't aware of as he pulled away from her; watching her eyes glaze as she bucked in his hands. Her own fingers digging into his arms locked up in the sensations he was pulling out of her.

She wasn't a virgin, oh no matter what her mother had hoped for she wasn't a white bride any more. That honour had gone to a friend behind the bleachers back home and a world away. But this could have been her first time all over again with the amount of sensation Logan was filling her with. Her eyes caught his as he tweaked her clit between his fingers making her bare her teeth to him as the rush filled her skin, making it prickle. She didn't even have time to settle down before he had his head under her skirt. Gripping the countertop for support as she heard the tearing of her clothing, looking down to see Logan shred her skirt and underwear away with his hands. His claws firing to shred his own jeans open to free himself, the sight of them making her own heartbeat jump higher. When he stood up again he gripped her tightly and slid himself home inside her, spreading her legs wide so he could control her movements against him. Wrapping them around his hips as he ground himself into her, her arms going around his neck bringing her breasts into his face. His voice growling out to her as he moved inside her, "Open it!" Understanding Marie opened her blouse to him, unhooking the clasp so she was free to his gaze and mouth. Watching as he latched onto one already sensitive nipple and suckled with his tongue. The pressure in her breast sliding up as he forced her to feed him as he fucked her. As soon as her flow started she felt him swallow her down; the sight of his large head suckling from her making her hips ride him harder. The pleasure from his tongue and lips nothing like the babies suction, she was so close to coming, just a graze against her clit would do it and she pushed herself down to meet his thrusting groin. Gripping Logan's head to her breast as she fell apart around him, feeling him release her she looked down into his face. The look in his eyes was one of ownership, of completion, of unity, she was his now and he was hers.

He couldn't help it, he needed her, wanted her, he'd been restrained in his actions,in his movements around her. He'd been so careful not to spook her, not to hurt her in any way. Yet when she'd said she had him inside her already, it snapped something inside him and he'd just reached for her. Letting instinct take over, letting his body do what it wanted to do to her, showing her he needed to touch her, hold her, taste her, keep her.
When she'd let him suckle he'd felt himself twitch inside her tight body, she accepted him, all of him, he was just as important as the baby to her. As he felt her inner walls crush him, he tore his mouth from her breast, catching her gaze and telling her everything in the basest way possible. Hoping she'd understand as he pushed toward his own climax, feeling it for the first time in his memory. Being part of someone who wanted him, needed him, cared for him, maybe even loved him.
Marie still shifted her hips on him as she fought to finish, her lips latching onto his neck and worrying the skin there, feeling his pulse quicken and his grip tighten on her. Her whispered voice finally sending him over the edge, her words filling him with heat. "Logan come in me, please Logan ah'm yours, sugar please."
When he finally erupted inside her it felt like he was pouring his insides out into her willing body. She gripped him tight to her, her mouth whispering things to him that he heard but didn't really comprehend. Soothing things, happy things, touching him as he came down, gently getting his attention back to himself.

Looking at her flushed face she smiled from her soul and just kissed him gently. Holding her close as she kissed his face, covering him in the love he didn't think he deserved. Showing him it had been alright to touch her, to fuck her, to love her physically, that she wouldn't break or be afraid of him. When the tears started she just held him tighter, her hips rocking against his again, bringing his mind to the body he still had in his arms, that wanted to be there. She didn't stop the tears but it didn't matter, she made him feel her this time, allowed him to touch and explore her body as they moved together as one. And when they finally peaked soon after each other they did it as equals, as a unit, bonded. Taking her to bed and returning with a still sleeping baby he wrapped himself up in them both, a little more settled than he'd been before and Marie a little more sure of the man she was with.

The gates were being forced open, a couple of trucks were there, no more than ten men in all. Richards drove straight at them all, smashing into them all. Braced for the impact he came off better than the men who were now scattered around the gates. Pulling out the tools of his work from the footwell, he moved swiftly through the men. Making short work of those that were upright, the ones that were prone he dispatched quickly. Pulling the bodies off the road into the ditch, they'd be found quickly if people were looking but he had to get to the person in charge. Carter had told him what to do and he as still doing it, still following his mission. Even after seeing what his own masters were unleashing on the world, squeezing through the gap he stowed his tools in his pockets. Racing up the gravel driveway he hoped there was someone inside the building who had their heads screwed on straight. Because what he was about to tell them no one would believe in their right minds.
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Hank was trying his best, moving people who were scared out of their minds. The phonecalls had been the worst, the number being rung continously by one hate filled human after another. The things they spouted were filled with such hate and evil he'd shut the phone lines down. The children had them informed him about the website being hacked, the images he'd seen before shutting the computers down disturbed even him. Everyone was gathered at the garage when the trucks had appeared, Hank couldn't leave them to go and fight. Instead he'd opted for the less attractive option, he'd sent Peter with those who could walk a fair distance through the tunnel system. They had maps, food, water, everything they'd need to get out and into the woods for the duration. Peter and the rest of the elder class had been trained for such an eventuality. Now it was coming to pass, it was his job to destroy any records that might implicate or lead to the prosecution of mutants for so called 'terrorist' activity.

Hank wished that Scott could be here, but he was already burdened with half the school, taking the younger children and families south of the border into Mexico. Ororo was with Charles in Washington still, they had to look after themselves there as it was. No there really wasn't much he could do right now apart from hope, he'd already trashed a quarter of the mainframe when he saw the man running toward the front door. The way he kept looking behind him, the way his eyes constantly scanned the grounds told Hank plenty. Gripping a paperweight he swung out into the corridor, he'd welcome their visitor and if he was an enemy then it would be the first purposeful death at his hands.
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Richards hammered on the door, his hand tried the handle and found it open, twisting it and pushing it wide he stepped into the foyer of the school. Looking at the two glassed doors he knew the age of them, at least a hundred years old. After this he hoped there'd be someone to appreciate them, entering the school proper he scanned around. "Hello anyone here? I'm not here to hurt you, I need to find someone, I'm looking for a mutant girl. She was pregnant, her name's Marie."

Hank watched from his vantage point, humans rarely looked up and he'd used that to his advantage many times. Swinging above the dishevelled man he listened and watched as he entered it was only when he spoke that his ears pricked up. Dropping down quickly Hank kept himself in his crouch behind the man, knowing that if he moved quickly he'd spook him. Looking at him this man knew how to react to threats quickly, so Hank cleared his throat before speaking. "Ahem, I think the person your looking for *used* to be here but she never mentioned *you*."

Richards moved round quickly as the air moved, someone had been above him and now they were behind him. Crouching hands resting on his pockets he heard the cultured voice reach his ears, it was at total odds to what he was seeing. The man was covered in blue black fur, his face was more animalistic than human, even his eyes were amber. Speechless for a few moments as he took in the form that was unfolding from the floor. Slowly he pulled his hands away from his pockets keeping his hands clear and visable. "I'm looking for a girl, she was heavily pregnant, I'm not sure if she'll had the baby yet but I'm thinking she might have come through here." Hank watched the man, he was very slow in his movements, assessing the threat that he posed to him.
"Who are you sir and why are you looking for her?"

Richards gave it some thought before seeing the calculating stare looking through him, for all he knew the man in front of him could read his mind. So he opted for truth, "I took her to the detention centre, my boss wanted me to make sure she got out of the facility. I've been trying to find her ever since the raid on it." Hank looked at him, the way he stood, the way he moved, everything about him told him that it was the truth. But could he trust him?
"You took her there? Why the change of heart?"
Richards stood still, he was tired, so very tired and he snapped at the man who obviously knew something about her.
"Look I understand why you don't trust me, beleive me if I was in your position I'd be asking the same questions. Just that we don't have the time to argue about it, I tried to get her out but the guys in black leather beat me to it. I'm a wanted man, everyone else from there is in custody or dead. I'm a liability and I'm just trying to make sure that *one* thing in my fucked up excuse of a life ends well." He gestured outside to the gates, "I've just killed ten men who were armed with rifles out there, they weren't coming to help you. You're enemy number one to the rest of humanity and at the moment the only person who gives a *damn* about you is me. So are you going to answer me or am I wasting what time we have left?"

Hank stood up, dropping the paperweight he reached out to the man, "Doctor Hank McCoy." Richards took the clawed hand in his and shook it feeling the strength it hid within.
"Richards, Jeff Richards. Most people know me as Richards." The mans face seemed to relax as the grip increased on his hand.
"Someone else I know goes by one name also, maybe you know him. He was held at the facility too, Logan."
All the colour drained from Richrads face, his hand became slack.
"Is he here?!" Hank tried to understand the reaction as the man suddenly looked afraid.
"Logan? No he left a while ago, he went north." Richards seemed to recover somewhat, "Why? What is he to you?"
Richards seemed to be fighting his own morals but finally spoke.
"Logan is something called 'Project Wolverine', he was a 'final solution' to the mutant problem. He was sent to the facility for breeding purposes." The doctor winced at the news, "Look I never said I agreed with it, I just had to take care of the girl. I made a promise." He whooshed out his breath as he said it, "As lame as it sounds doc, it's one I *need* to keep."
"So why do you need Marie?" Hank was thinking about the baby, what use it could be if he brought the child and it's parents into custody for the military.
"Because I'm in a dark place Hank, the only way out for me is the grave; I know that. There's no nice place for me when I go either, all I need from her is to know that she's okay, the baby's okay and she's not with Logan. He's a killer, a machine for destroying mutants or anything else that gets in his way. So if you know where she went, what direction, just tell me and I'll get out of your hair."

The thoughts that had been niggling him for weeks now came roaring forward. Logan! He'd left him alone with a newborn baby and a fragile woman, looking at the man stood a few feet away from him. Trust was something that had to be earned but at the moment they were all they had.
"Jeff, I know exactly where they are, but if you mean them any harm whatsoever I'll kill you where you stand. Do we understand each other?" Richards nodded, they were making progress, there was a God and for once it was smiling on him.
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Marie looked over the valley, the snow was deep, deeper than she'd ever seen back home. The wind cut through everything here and she wondered how Logan coped with the cold and the wind. He never complained, never seemed to be upset about what he had to do for them to live here. After that afternoon in the kitchen he'd seemed more settled, but as the week had worn on there was something on his mind. He was checking the area more and more, leaving her and the baby alone for hours at a time. She was about to feed him again after coming inside when the small computer/communicator beeped and flashed at her.

She'd looked the thing over and read the small booklet about using it, it had been written for children to use so it was easily understood. Flicking on the main screen she waited for the screen to tell her what to do, when the message 'video conference' came up she pushed the buttons in the correct sequence. The small screen flickered for a while and the little red light on top of the unit flicked on. The tiny camera in the screen was on, focussing on the screen Marie saw the familiar shape of Hank there. Smiling she waved at the screen, "Hank! How are you? It's been a while, Merry Christmas." Hank for his part looked a little ruffled, the room he was in was the office, not the medical bay and this for some reason unnerved her. "Is everything alright Hank?"
Her eyes went to her son who was sleeping soundly, when they came back to the screen her heart leapt into her throat. "Hank! Do you know who that is?!"

Hank took his time answering her, he saw her change and her distress at the sight of the man stood next to him. He needed to find out how she felt about him before he told Jeff Richards anything else about Logan and Marie.
"Marie, do you remember this man?"
The small figure nodded on the screen, "Yes Ah remember him, he was at the lab. He talked to me, every day if he could." She halted for a moment before carrying on, "Ah ran away from him when he came for me, he had a gun and Ah thought he was going to kill me."
Hank watched the news go through the man stood near him, the despair as it coloured the room, the way his shoulders sagged downward.
"Marie, do you really believe that? If I'd wanted to hurt you why did I shoot those soldiers? They were coming to kill you and your baby, I stopped them and got you out of the room. I would have taken you to wherever you'd have wanted to go, but when I went back for you, you'd gone. I've been looking for you ever since." Richards pulled out a silver chain and crucifix from his pocket, "Been keeping them for you, I'd like to give them back to you if I could."

Hank could see she was confused by him being there at the school and he decided to step in. "Marie, have you been watching tv?" She shook her head, "Listened to the radio?" Again she shook her head, walking off screen she returned quickly with a small bundle that wriggled in her grip. The smile she wore was enough to remind Richards why he'd promised those things to her in the first place.
"Jeff, meet Hank," she unwrapped the little bundle and the sight that met his eyes was perfect. A beautiful baby boy, dark eyed and dark haired, his bone structure already following his father's. Hank broke into his reverie, "Marie where's Logan?" Richards almost broke his knuckles when he heard that Logan was there with her.
"He's out checking traps and getting wood. We're doing okay with the supplies there's still plenty down here." Hank nodded and a surprise thought came to him, "Marie things have changed a little out in the world, something has happened that puts all mutants in danger. It's nothing for you to worry about up there just that we'll be coming to see you soon." His mind made the calculations quickly, "It'll be about three weeks if the weather holds, if not we'll be later but we're on our way to you." She looked puzzled at that and Hank stopped her questions dead. "Marie you have to trust me on this, if there is anyone you don't know, a human you don't know get Logan to see them first. Do not go out yourself do you hear me?" She nodded, "It's very important Marie do you understand?"
"Sure Hank, what's happening?" He didn't want to spook her but she had to know a little about what was going on in the world.
"When we finish here turn on the tv to the news, then go look up on the internet. Now don't worry about where you are, it's the major cities that are dangerous. Just keep doing what your doing and warn Logan we're coming."
"How many?"
"What?"
"How many people?" Hank quickly did the calculation, including children.
"About twenty families, so around 70." Her face paled as the true extent of the crisis his her, she nodded and the screen went blank as she switched it off. News was something important she needed to know for her baby and she'd have to ready Logan for the invasion of people in the middle of winter.

Hank turned to Jeff, his face a picture as he looked the man up and down. "Could you move seventy people through the Continental US without getting us caught or killed?" Richards looked at the man who'd just told him that he was now their only escape route.
"I can't guarantee everyone will make it but I can try. There's a few things the government left laying around we could use if we're careful." Hank nodded to himself as he remembered the first cabin they were going to send Logan and Marie to.
"I think I know just the place..." the smile that filled the large mutants face was deviod of humour as the grin widened showing off his carnassal teeth. Richards just hoped he hadn't signed a deal with the devil.
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The hospital wing had been closed, everyone was dead inside, everyone except the man who'd brought the plague. He was sat in between the corpses, looking as healthy as ever, men in plastic suits were approaching, guns drawn. "Hands up and get on the floor!" The smiling mutant just raised his three arms, each hand flipping the armed men the bird. It was then his features changed, his smiling face suddenly became pained, the mottled skin went taut and tore. Muscle ripped apart and flowed like water down the anguished face, the scream that was half out of his mouth never finished as he bent double throwing up his stomach along with the contents. Dead before he hit the floor, the men in plastic nudged the corpse just to be sure but whatever he'd brought into the place had just killed him as well. They looked past each other to the man stood apart in his own silver suit, Director Chamber's smiled. The binary agent was doing it's job, the carriers of the first virus would have infected everyone around them with the mutant killer. Magneto would soon be without an army and the rest would soon be hunted down and killed as plague carriers. The original virus being so virulent burned out in hours not days, the destruction they wrought was only minimal. No the true test was how fast the second virus could bind to the errant rna in mutants. It would lie in wait, then strike when the body was weakened by prolonged hunger or fatigue. Moving over to the now rotting corpse of the mutant he just waved at the bodies, "Burn them, all of them. The building too." The soldiers looked at him for a second before acting, noticing the reluctance in their gaze. He really needed to get his own men down here, the normal grunts didn't have the stomach for the work. They soon would though, New York was going to be having a very bad day anytime soon. Smiling to himself Chambers left the hospital, the sound of fire crackling behind him. A demon coming from hell or an angel just returning to heaven after cleansing Gomorrah. He had his reasons, what they were, were between him and God.

The room was chilly to Xaviers mind, the reports were coming in thick and fast now, he had to get out of Washington as soon as humanly possible. Well as fast as anyone with some serious connections could, Chambers had made his move and it hadn't been in the direction he'd thought it would be. The phone in his hands was just bieng answered when the scanning he'd been doing regularly grew fruit. There were men coming and they had a definate turn to their minds, the blankness of them told him that they were here to kill, not to talk. He nodded to Ororo who took her station behind the door, the gun in her hand seeming strange to his eye. She'd been a thief, one of Cairo's best and she knew how to kill when she needed to. The voice on the other end confirmed their positions, the raw stink of sulphur filled the room as the demon appeared with another person. The aboriginal man just nodded and seated himself on the large bed, taking out a bull roarer he began to spin it above his head.

The sharp retort of Ororo's gun through the partially opened door was met by several men dropping low to the floor outside. Inside the entire room sparkled with light as the bull roarer shifted and flowed against the air. The fabric of reality being warped out of true so they could leave safely, the blue demon waved them toward him when the time was right. Ororo still held her gun at the doorway, they saw it open but by then they were already too far gone for the bullets fired at them to even touch the air around them. Gateway was a powerful mutant, he could send you anywhere or anywhen, no one but a few knew of him. Xavier had heard of him from others who'd been saved by him, of the light that sucked them from the places they were in, the dangers that surrounded them lost and they found themselves looking at a wizened old man before being dumped somewhere else. He'd called a favour in and it'd be one that would take some repaying of that he knew. He was heading for the Scottish highlands, somewhere he could keep a low profie for a while. He'd been pressing buttons in Washington and the responses weren't the one's he expected, this was turning into a war and there didn't seem to be a way to stop it.

Reaching out to Ororo as she floundered in the nothingness around them he gripped her hand, hoping against all hope that events wouldn't overtake the plans he'd put into place when the peace had looked like it'd win out. Scott knew his job, as did Hank, Jean was doing something else, a recon mission that wold hopefully give them somewhere to regroup and run to when all this calmed down; that is if it ever did. He just hoped there'd be a home they could rebuild, the school was so close to New York that it was inevitable that it'd be a target of humans. Angry at the destruction of their loved ones even though the school had nothing to do with the disease that was ravaging the city's hospitals and clinics.

New York was only the start, Chambers had been missing for days when the news finally broke open about the crisis. WHO had been in touch, the disease was a varient of a manufactured virus, made in Russia during the cold war. They were working on cultures but the thing was a chimera; which meant it would and could hide in the bodies own systems. Only coming to fruit when the carrier was under bodily stress, the amount of people who'd begun to stream out of New York would send the disease far and wide. WHO was doing it's best informing the CDC of measures that had to be put in place for the safety of the entire country. Thing was the panic and violence caused their own traps, police were breaking up riots about food and water, military were trying to keep order in places where any uniform was seen as oppression. Xavier knew the signs of war when he saw them and it would get a hell of a lot worse before it got any better.

The green of Muir Island was in view now, Gateway was wrapping up his bull roarer, his semi naked form even at home here in the coolness of the north. The look from the older man's eyes told Xavier that he'd be staying here too. Gateway was an enigma, he did what was asked of him but he also worked for his own purpose and what that was no one knew. Ororo settled again on her feet looked much happier, her hand wanting to drop the weapon it carried. Yet she couldn't do it, knowing that it might be needed even here. Tucking it into her belt they watched as a small boat flashed it's lights to them, telling them to meet at the quayside. They had breathing room for a while but for how long was another matter entirely.
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