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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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