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.
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