'Even the strongest house has a weakness,
It's called a front door....'
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The hum of machinery was constant in his ears, locked up in the plastic box, strapped down with tubes in every orifice. His mind was still there of that he knew, because that fucker who passed for a humanitarian had come to visit him on the few occassions he was here.
He'd been seen by Storm mostly, her instructions to the medic team to keep him producing antibodies was the bastard of it though. To do that he had to be re-infected with stronger doses of the disease, he'd nearly drowned in his own fluids last time they'd pumped him full of this shit.
A neural inhibitor stopped him from getting up and killing every white coated fucker he saw. Kitty had been to see him once when he'd been strapped down and dosed up. Her words had stayed with him even though if he saw her again he'd forget all about his years of training her. Of saving her life, it was her fault he was here like this and he'd make her pay for it.
She approached the side of his bed and touched his face, her fingers shaking as she'd done it. Her voice tinged with salt as he picked up on her tears, "I'm so sorry Logan, we didn't want to hurt you just that we need your abilities. We've lost twenty children already to the disease, even Pete's had it, it nearly killed him. He's recovering now but he'll never be what he was, it's damaged his sight. A pretty cruel blow for an artist, although he says he'll just concentrate on sculpture." Kitty had tried to laugh then, her voice whispering to him so no one else would hear her. "I took your ring off, it's safe, no one knows your married Logan it's in my room on the shelf. I'm so sorry we had to take you away from her, but there was no other way. If there had been I'd have done it but we're dying here and you were the only one we knew with a healing factor as strong as yours." She'd dropped her face lower so no one could hear her say the words to him.
"I've been looking for Rogue ever since the outbreak, we haven't found her but she should be safe. People who've taken the cure seem to have an immunity somehow, thats why we think it's been engineered. Well Hank seems to think it's been made." She'd straightened up then as an orderly had come in to check on him.
"I'll leave you to it," her voice reaching out over the clean expanse around her leaving him to his world of pain and delerium. "Bye Logan."
That was all he'd seen of her but the news she'd given him had given him some hope. The people that had been exposed probably wouldn't get the illness that black eyed fucker had exposed them to. Even Marie could be immune to it, she'd taken the cure but her skin's powers had returned after their son had been born. Whether that would make a difference he didn't know but he had to get out of here. He had to make sure they were okay but he had to find a way out all he needed was someone to make a mistake. Someone to forget something, to leave him half undone or not strap him in properly. Thats all he needed then he'd be out of here and across the border before anyone knew what he'd done here.
Little did he know that his escape would hinge on his own family coming to rescue him.
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Marie had moved as close as she dared to the sensors, she was waiting for the blackbird to leave. They seemed to load up, change crew and set off again going on another mercy mission. She'd use the gap to nip in and find Logan, he'd be in the Medical Bay and that was downstairs. The lifts were out but it had to have a stairs for fire didn't it? She'd find him even if she had to drain the information out of someone, she wasn't sure if she could but she'd give it a go.
Finally the hanger opened and the blackbird rose into the air, Storm, Scott, Jean and Bobby on board, the smaller jet followed after, the black-eyed man seated next to Kitty a white box in her lap. Obviously filled with the stuff they needed Logan for, well after tonight there'd be no more Logan to use.
Dropping through the cordon she ran for the side of the house, her son fast asleep on her back. His body used to her movements when he was asleep, flinging herself around the corner of the main building. Going through the kitchen door, it's ease of opening something that surprised her. Once she was inside she flew through the once homely corridors, now this was enemy territory and she had to get through it as fast as possible.
The stairs leading to the lower levels weren't there, she'd have to risk a lift and that meant people would see her. Touching the panel with a gloved hand she waited for the door to open, standing ready to fight anyone who was inside. As the door opened she caught a flash of yellow before her body reacted to the threat in front of her. Hands that had cut ice in winter shot out and grabbed the once friend and pushed her back against the wall of the lift. Using her other hand she stripped her glove off, holding the bare skin close to her asian skin she growled out her demand. All her journey had been to here, to find him, to rescue him and she wasn't going to let an old friend stop her when she was so close to her goal.
"Where is he?!"
Jubilee had just been sorting out the bedding in the last quarantine area when she'd decided that what she and the Hankster needed was a food break. So she'd passed through the lab, where the cure was being cultured and Hank was doing everything he could to keep the kids alive. So when the lift doors had opened she hadn't been expecting someone to be there. When most of the X-Men were on innoculation runs she'd been left with Hank and Pete, her upbeat attitude something the kids could use in their fight for life.
Instead of someone from The Brotherhood it came as a shock to see Rogue there, a baby on her back and her bare hand only inches from her face.
"Where is he?!"
It took Jubilee a second to remember that Rogue had taken the cure and she was about to protest when she felt Rogue's skin touch hers. The drain wasn't painful but she could feel her draining her thoughts, the lower levels the kids down there. Hank and his serum, the daily doses coming from the secure unit. Feeling woozy when Rogue switched her skin off she pushed Jubilee further into the lift wall and pressed the button to go back down. Keeping her bare hand near Jubilee's face Rogue spoke to her, hearing the desperation in her words.
"What have you done to him? Ah want you to take me to him, down into the secure unit. Ah want to see him." Jubilee nodded as she tried desperately to clear her head, whatever power she had now it was doing a number on her own. Stumbling out of the lift Rogue holding the back of Jubilee's jacket she let her lead her toward the medical bay.
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There were so many images flwoing through her mind, children sick, dying, her trying to keep a happy smile as she told them stories and lies about how they'd but up an about as soon as they took their medicine. How her own system had suffered through the worst of it, how Hank the doctor had given her the first dose from Logan's antibodies. That within a day she was up and healthy again, the smiles and congratulations on her recovery but she hadn't thought about where it had come from. Only that Logan was helping them, she'd asked to go and thank him but Storm had told her he was suffering too and they had to be careful about who saw him. She'd accepted it as the truth, there were too many others who needed attention and she'd been roped in to help. Xaiver wasn't here, he was trying to find out the cause of the outbreak.
All of this was running through her mind as she followed Jubilee down the corridor, a huge blue-black furred man dressed in a white coat came out of the last door on the left. Seeing Jubilee he opened his mouth to speak but Marie beat him to it, "Ah know he's down here Doc, so you'd better take me to him or Jube's here'll not recover a second time." Her fingers tingled as she dragged them over Jubilee's skin making her old friend's knees buckle. Holding her up she pulled her fingers away, her eyes locking onto Hanks own she nodded to the secure unit. "Get me in there an you can look after her." Hank backed up until he was close to the secure unit's door, he had the code but Storm and Xavier had told him not to let anyone inside who wasn't cleared through them first.
The woman whoever she was was good, she kept Jubilee between her and him, using her as a shield as the secure unit door opened. When it was fully open she threw Jubilee at Hank and dove through it, the baby on her back blinked bleary eyed at Hank over her shoulder. Hank caught Jubilee one handed as the door slid shut, he had the presence of mind to throw the security deadlock on it. Whomever was inside was inside for good, nothing could get out of there, not unless they could cut themselves out.
Hank turned his attention to Jubilee who was starting to come round, her words slurred but he was sure she said "I thought she was dead....we never....I wouldn'tve...if I'd known." Hank just pulled her up into his grip and took her into a room to examine her, their unexpected guest would wait. He had to look after Jubilee first.
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There was one other in the secure unit, a man with his back to her, his white coat making her skin crawl. She could see Logan inside his cell, strapped down, tubes and lines inside his body. Fluid being pumped into his bloodstream and being collected under the bed. Tears stood proud in her eyes as she grabbed the back of the mans neck. Squeezing and feeling his fear fill her as she ground out her words. "Get him out of there! Do it so he can walk out of here, Ah don't want you poison him either. Any odd movements an Ah'll drain you faster than you can blink." She made her powers surge for a second, her power making the man dizzy and woozy. Filling herself with the knowledge of what he'd been doing and for the first time since that needle had entered her arm she wished she could kill again.
The plastic door opened and Logan stiffened up they only came in to dose him so this must be another day to die. Bracing himself for the rush of fluid he held his mind in check, but the rush never came. Instead the tubes were being removed, the straps were gone, his nose picked up something else he'd never thought to smell down here. Cedar shavings, baby powder an the smell that was all Marie! Forcing his eyes open he caught a glimpse of her hair before his body began to heal the damage that had been done to it. The stomach tube was removed slowly, he felt the tear repair, then his body began to clear the rest of the substances that were floating around his system.
First to go was the sedative, he could hear, see, sense everything and he listened as Marie pulled at the thing on his temples. "Get this off him NOW!" The stink of fear filled the space around him and suddenly his body was his own again. He could *move*, stretching his body before he got up he heard Marie's breathing steady as she saw him moving.
"Logan get up! We don't have long, if Ah have to carry ya Ah will!" For the first time in two weeks he smiled, pulling his frame off the bed he saw her stood there, the man who'd been his torturer and carer was white. The little neural inhibitor in his grip, Logan snatched it from him and slapped it on the man's head.
"Let him go," she let him go and Logan switched it on. The orderly was frozen in place, his body filling the room with fear. Logan put his face to the man who'd treated him like a piece of unthinking meat.
The sound of his claws going through the man were music to his ears, even Marie looked satisfied as he pulled the red claws out of him. Logan's voice echoing around the small chamber, "Just remember this...I'm not the one to blame for you dyin' you've got your boss to thank for that. He's the one that thought it was a good idea to bring me here." With a growl he left the man to die, blood staining his trousers and beginning to pool on the floor below him.
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Hank was seeing to Jubilee when he heard the screech of metal being torn apart, he was about to go and see what it was when Jubilee grabbed him tight. "NO! DON'T! Let them leave, please Hank don't go out there!" Her face was filled with fear and hurt, gripping onto his coat for grim death. He tried to pull away but she held him fast, "If you want to live past today you WON'T go out there. Logan's free, Rogue's come for him, don't try to stop them....please." Tears were falling from Jubilee's eyes as she held onto him. The sound of the door falling to the floor made him jump back and he could feel a presence outside the closed door. A menacing presence that would kill anything that met it or drew it's attention. Both of them slowly felt it pass by, as you would a predator on the hunt for food.
When it had passed Hank looked to Jubilee, her tear rimmed eyes red and wide open. She pulled herself level to Hank so she was on her knees on the small cot he'd put her on.
"The serum, they were harvesting it from Logan, infecting him and harvesting the antibodies." Hank looked confused he knew this so why had this Rogue come to get Logan?
"I know, he volunteered for....." Jubilee shook her head, tears flying as she did it.
"NO, No Hank he didn't! They stole him, they went and *took* him against his will. She came back for her *husband*, he's a *father* Hank, we stole him from his *family*."
Hank knew some of Jubilee's history and how important family was to her, that they'd played a part in the suffering of another family for their own gain hurt her deeply. Leaving Jubilee Hank ventured through the door, beyond it the corridor was trashed, blood covered the walls inside the secure unit. A mess of a body was on the floor the once white coat now stained red. The red footprints that left the secure room went toward the lift. Hank pressed the intercom, the crackling buzz something that had never happened before. Looking outside the room he saw the wires had been cut through, he could only hope that whoever got in their way was fast on their feet.
Going back to Jubilee he saw her holding herself tightly as she rocked on her heels, when he touched her she opened her mouth and screamed.
Inside her mind where Hank couldn't see Rogue had left her a memory, the day her husband had been stolen from her. The look on Logan's face as he'd been taken away, the pain she'd felt as he'd been taken, loaded up like a piece of meat. Her decision to come after him with a baby, to win at all costs.
Now they were free and in the back of her mind Jubilee was scared because one day he'd come back for her.
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The lift opened silently on the first floor, Logan had told her about Kitty taking his ring. He wanted it back, Marie guided him to what she thought was their room but Logan just went on. He shouldered into a room where obviously someone else lived, going over to the shelf he found the ring. Turning to Marie he gave it to her to put on his finger, as soon as the plain band was back on his hand he felt half alive again.
Turning the room upside down he found clothing for himself, the scent in the room told him it was Pete's stuff he was using but the guy wasn't here and hopefully they wouldn't bump into each other either. As soon as he was dressed he dragged them both down to the teachers corridor. Finding Storm's room he smashed the door open, his gaze telling Marie to stay outside as he did what he wanted to to the room.
When he'd finished there he went into Jean and Scott's, with a blow made from anger he smashed the bed in two. He let Wolverine destroy everything he could, as a vicious twist he wrote in Jeans own red lipstick on the wall. 'Fucked her before you got hitched, ask her about the pick-up in Reno.' He scored the wall with two claws like the small scar she had on her abdomen, he hadn't done those but Scott would pick them out and he'd ask her about them.
His final trip was to the office of the man himself, all he did was decapitate a bust and leave it on the desk. It'd be enough to tell him that he was now on the 'to kill' list in his head.
The final insult was to the beautiful machines in the garage, he ripped the heart out of every single one, shredded the frames, tore them open. All apart from Scott's bike, for that he put sugar in the tank, unbalanced the wheels, put a knife blade under the rockers under the seat. Then when he went over a huge bump it'd stab him right in the ass.
Finally finished he took them out of there, Marie was humming with tension but she was smiling as she held his hand. Running across the lawn, triggering the security system but they didn't care. They were free, keeping Marie at his side he ran through the forest, able to feel the ground beneath him again. His son's sounds of protest finally making them stop about half a mile from the truck.
Marie unclipped her harness and Logan took the weight of his son in his hands, his little eyes finding his fathers in the deep gloom. Settling down as he reached out to the familiar face he recognised, a smile covering his fathers reflecting the one from his son. "Hi there little guy, missed me huh?" Just seeing Logan holding their son again, made her heart ache, watching them both remake the bonds between them. Logan held him close to his chest with both hands for a second before reaching out to her. She filled the gap he made quickly and she breathed him in, finally letting herself release everything she was holding in. Gripping him tight to her as they found each other again, it was only the return of the blackbird that made them move. Logan wanted at least two hundred miles between them and anything to do with the X-Men.
It wasn't over, not by a long chalk. They'd pay for doing that to him and the suffering Marie had been through. But now they needed to get home and then away to somewhere no one could follow them. It'd be hard on Marie but he wanted her safe as well as his son, he had a family now and he'd defend them to the last.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Logan gets rescued....