Long, empty hallways so brightly lit, the glare hurt his eyes. Sterile walls and disinfectant so strong his nose was burning. Smell of blood tinged with the metallic trace of needles, all barely hidden by the strong stench of ammonia. Restraints, metal doors, locks, codes. The building was small, non-descript and only 2 levels. Still, it held all the evidence of a place that conducted procedures and tests on subjects that were not voluntary. Logan never thought he’d walk into a place like this again, but she was here. They had to get Rogue back and infiltrating this living nightmare of a building was the only way.
******
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?!”
“Taken. She was abducted while in the city.” Scott tried to keep his tone neutral, void of the emotions he was really feeling. Besides, Logan was putting out enough rage for everyone in the room.
“She’s in a government research…hospital. But at least we know her location now,” Ororo added, trying to soften the blow of the truth.
“We’ve organized a team and a plan for extraction. We can bring her home,” Scott spoke again, making sure Logan knew that no one was sitting around on their ass on this one.
“How long?” his voice was low, but demanding, because he knew no matter how long she’d been in a place like that, it was too long.
“Almost a month.”
Logan’s eyes widened briefly in disbelief and then narrowed in outrage. A month?! Four fuckin’ weeks! Trapped in a hellhole for a whole month? It made him so angry, the fury turned into numbness. And when he was numb, he didn’t feel what normal humans felt about slitting throats and tearing out spinal cords. When white hot rage spread through every vein, he could kill without mercy, without hesitation. He’d relish it with a sense of morbid pleasure. At times like this, blood was as close to beauty as it got.
“Guess it goes without sayin’ that I’m going with you.” Even though it came out sounding determined, he was more than that. Prepared and ready, he was going to kill anyone that had laid a hand on her.
*****
Logan led both Peter and Kitty down one of the hallways. Other than the irritating buzz and click of medical equipment, the building was eerily quiet. He wondered if perhaps they weren’t stealthily sneaking right into a trap. They passed by empty room after empty room and then through a medical bay full of empty beds, finally arriving at the room that had been identified as Rogue’s location.
Scott and Storm had gone through the front with Bobby, circling around and intercepting anyone that might get in the way. Logan jerked his head towards Kitty, her cue to phase through the door and let them in. Once inside, the three of them faced a computer panel, staged in front of a Plexiglas barrier. The scene on the other side made the bile rise up in Logan’s throat.
Rogue sat as still as death on a metal chair, flanked on either side by medical personnel, two guards stood behind her. Her long hair hung to her waist in knotted strands and fell over her face, almost blocking it completely. She had on what looked like a hospital patient’s gown, but her wrists and ankles were bound by high tech looking shackles and around her neck there was a thin collar. A tiny red light was centered on it, blinking off and on, off and on; like it was winking, mocking her teammates stuck on the other side of the glass.
“Get those things off of her,” Logan growled to Kitty.
Kitty immediately went to work on the computer keys, hoping to get into the mainframe and unlock Rogue’s prison. Logan scanned the room, assessing each man, taking in all the details of the room. He realized then, with some gratification, that the glass seemed to be a one way. At least that would buy them some time. There were no lines or evidence of a door into the other room, but he knew there had to be one. If not, he and Colossus would just break down the damn wall. He watched as one of the doctors gave Rogue some sort of injection and his fists automatically clenched in preparation for the claws.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” Kitty announced.
Logan spoke to both of them.
“When the restraints are released, they’re gonna know we’re here. Remember, they’ll panic but it’ll give Rogue an opportunity to run. I don’t see a door, so we’re going through the wall instead. Okay, Colossus get into position and wait for my signal…go ahead Kitty.”
With a few swift clicks of the keys, there was a muffled beeping from the other room. Both doctors nearly fell back in panic as the cuffs snapped open on Rogue’s wrists and ankles. There was a split second where she raised her head, looking towards the glass, almost as if she could see Logan on the other side. Her eyes were black as pitch and Logan watched a menacing smile play across her lips.
Before he could even command Colossus and Kitty to go through the wall, Rogue launched herself up and onto the back of one of the guards. Wrapping one pale arm around his neck and placing her other hand on his head, she gave a clean jerk, snapping his neck instantly. The other guard reached for his gun, but she swiftly kneed him in the groin, grabbed him by the hair and drove her knee into his face.
Her three teammates stood there in a temporary shock, but that was all the time Rogue needed to relieve the guard of his weapon and shoot him and each doctor between the eyes. She dug into one of their pockets, retrieving a small plastic card, and made her way to the wall. She swiped the card through an undetectable slot and a door slid open.
“Go! Go!” Logan ordered his squad out of the room to meet Rogue in the hall.
“Rogue!” Kitty shouted as she cleared the door.
Peter had just enough time to jerk the small girl back before Rogue opened fire on all three of them.
Stunned once again, they waited for the shots to cease. Peter finally looked out to see Rogue running down the hall away from them.
“She’s headed to the stairs,” he told Logan.
Logan hit the com-link on his uniform as they followed her down the hall.
“Scott…Rogue is headed downstairs, possibly your way. Use extreme precaution she…,” he hesitated. “She’s not stable. She opened fire on us. I don’t know what these bastards did to her.”
As the words left his mouth, all hell broke loose. Screaming alarms sounded from within the building; guards, previously absent, seemed to come out of nowhere and open fire from behind them.
“Move!” Logan shouted and shoved Kitty ahead of him into the stairwell. Peter took the brunt of the shots, but in his mutated form they simply ricocheted off him.
Once inside the stairwell, Logan felt a vice grip close on his arm as he was thrown towards the wall. The force broke through the wall. Logan righted himself and turned to see Rogue glaring at him, Kitty on the ground behind her. Peter made to subdue her in a bear hug, but she rammed her elbow, full strength, into his chest. It sounded like ribs cracking. The big Russian was tossed away as Rogue grabbed Kitty with one hand, hauling her up, and leveled the gun at Logan.
“Rogue don’t - we’re here to help you!” he shouted, realizing she didn’t know friend from foe. He would recover from a gun shot wound, but it was the idea of her being the trigger man that made his stomach burn. “We’re here to get you out…take you home.”
She studied him with a harsh gaze and sniffed the air. He noticed the hand holding the gun was shaking. A look of uncertainty crossed her face and he took it as an opportunity.
“We’re your friends…we don’t want to hurt you,” he barely edged forward.
She caught the imperceptible movement, but just as she squeezed the trigger, Kitty phased them both down through the floor, making the shot swing high and wide.
“Damn it!” Logan roared.
He bent to help Peter.
“She doesn’t know us,” the Russian stated. “And…,” he took a breath and winced sharply, “she’s too strong…dangerous.”
Logan helped him to his feet.
“Yeah…I got that part when she tried to plant my face in the wall. Let’s go.” He tried not to feel anything. All he knew was that he had to get through to her; through that hard alien shell that looked like Rogue. She was still somewhere inside that bodily prison.
The two of them made their way down the stairs and slowly opened the door at the bottom in time to see Bobby being flung past them. He landed hard on his back, smacking his head on the floor, rendering him unconscious. Kitty lay on the floor, dazed, with the gun just a few feet away.
“Stay with them,” Logan ordered to Peter.
He continued down the hall on his own, pursuing Rogue.
He saw her turn a corner up ahead, her tangled hair flying out behind her like a battered flag. As he passed the nearest corridor, he was met by two guards carrying semi-automatic rifles. Without hesitation, he unsheathed both claws and drove them into their chests, piercing bone and cartilage, reaching the heart. It was the quickest way to kill because he didn’t have time to screw around with fighting them. Scott could reprimand him later if he wanted to, but in Logan’s mind, anyone associated with this place deserved exactly what he was more than willing to dish out.
He passed by an intersection of halls and felt a sharp bite of wind followed by a blinding flash of red. From the looks of things, once his vision cleared, Scott and Storm were in a tangle with a team of guards, but they had a handle on the situation. Logan kept on his path towards Rogue, working out a plan of action in his mind. He needed to corner her, make her listen; make her understand…but not get the shit beat out of him in the process. He didn’t want to hurt her and he definitely didn’t want her hurting herself.
Wrapped up in that thought, he rounded the corner and had to duck a fire extinguisher flying towards his head. He watched in awe as Rogue literally flew towards him, knocking him through the opposite wall. She’d knocked the breath out of him, but his quick recovery gave him the chance to grab her wrist before she fled.
“Damn it! Stop it Rogue. I’m not here to hurt you.”
She jerked her arm free and continued down the hall.
Shaking off bits of plaster, Logan followed, keeping pace.
She’d made her way to the back exit and using her body as a ramming rod, she threw her weight into the doors. Even with her strength, they weren’t budging. Adamantium, Logan thought to himself. He had her effectively cornered, now if he could only make her listen. He had to get through to her.
“Rogue,” he tried in a normal tone, but she didn’t stop battering the doors.
“Rogue!” he shouted. It was painful to watch her trying to break down something unbreakable. At the rate she was going, she could hurt herself, but the doors would never give. There had to be something he could do to stop her. Something, anything …
She turned on him then, her long hair swinging around, and snarled.
Logan thought, if it was fear driving her reactions maybe going with submissive posture would help calm her down. He was the world’s worst at submissive, but he was willing to try anything. To get her back he’d do more than that. He held his hands out, palm up and bent down to lower his height.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he tried, not knowing if she even understood what he was saying. “Damn kid…what did they do to you?” he murmured.
Logan caught the gleam in her eye right before she moved. Thinking he was admitting his inferiority, she boldly charged him. But this time he was ready. Hating himself while he did it, he caught her as tried to streak past and threw her hard against the locked doors.
He watched her crumble to the floor, then quickly recover and find her footing.
She widened her stance and raised her head towards him. Logan watched in surprise and a little admiration as she flexed her fingers while rotating her wrists, slowly clenching them into small fists. She was going to fight him…and enjoy it.
“I’m not here to fight you. I’m not your enemy! Shit!” Logan’s words were cut off as she grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him down, rolling him head over heel until she wound up on top. Pinning his arms with her knees, she threw her first punch, landing it just above his jaw. Hitting the sweet spot, she made him see stars. Logan had cage fought for years, and only a hand full of times had he ever seen stars. The second punch landed across his mouth, effectively splitting his lip. The sweet metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, but the cut would heal within seconds.
He wrestled his arms from beneath her, and rolled them both until he could pin her down. Logan slammed her hard against the concrete floor, trying to subdue her. He felt his lip stitching itself back together and watched as Rogue noticed it too. She stilled momentarily, eyes widening at his mutation. She arched her back slightly to look closer at the now perfectly healed lip. She easily shoved him off of her and lashed out with her nails, scratching across his cheek.
She studied how that healed as well as she scrambled to her feet. Logan stood up and wiped the blood from his face.
“Rogue, listen to me! This isn’t you. They did something to you.”
He could tell that her interest was focused on his face, but not his words. Her gaze was wanting, dangerously close to predatory.
“Marie! Look at me and listen!”
She cocked her head then, her eyes squinting in concentration. Logan felt a flash of hope. Maybe she recognized her real name, the one that only he knew.
“Marie…Marie it’s me. Logan. I’m here to take you home.”
She stood up straighter then, Logan thought, maybe comprehending. Her eyes darted from his face to his hair, to his hands. Her gaze lingered over his hands for awhile and then traveled from the tips of his boots, up his thighs, along his abdomen and then drifted from his chest up to his face. There was recognition in her eyes.
He made an attempt to speak, but her eyes immediately wandered back down across his shoulders, roaming across his chest, then slowly concentrating on his crotch. It was so intent, so seductive that he imagined he could feel her caress through his uniform. Then he sensed the immediate change in her body chemistry.
His senses were suddenly flooded with pheromones stronger than he’d ever experienced, her hormones spiking off the charts. A woman in the midst of multiple orgasms gave off fewer hormones than Marie was emitting at that very moment just standing there. He fought the beast within from responding. He’d fought the urge to respond to Marie before, many times. This time it seemed useless as he felt himself stiffening inside the uniform.
“Marie?” he asked confused at her response, but not his.
Logan watched her move her hips as she flung her hair to one side, her gaze focused on his growing erection. She sucked in her bottom lip, taking it between her teeth, and bit down hard. She moved closer and as she released her lip, he saw the blood pooled against it. He felt like he was in some kind of trance. He couldn’t move, couldn’t reason with her, and couldn’t fight.
“Logan,” she whispered, and it sounded scratchy and rough like she hadn’t spoken in weeks.
She ran her hands up his rib cage and leaned in until her body was flush against him. Logan felt like he was bolted to the floor as her hands slipped into his hair. Her neck relaxed, bending back as his lips met with hers. Greedily, she pushed into his mouth. With equal fervor he latched on as they warred for control. He tasted the blood on her lip and sucked at until he knew it had to be painful. It tasted like heaven. She crawled up his body, wrapping both arms around his neck, unable to get close enough.
Logan lowered them both to the floor and broke the kiss only to lick and nip at her neck. It was as if he were watching everything happen from outside his body. He couldn’t stop this madness, didn’t even want to.
“Logan,” she said again, like she was testing the word on her lips.
She pushed against him, rotating their position to straddle his waist. Rogue cradled a hand underneath his head before taking his mouth again. Logan slid his hands underneath the flimsy hospital gown and gripped both bare hips. He was overwhelmed by the evidence of her arousal and moaned into her mouth. She returned the moan and began rubbing herself against his hard ridge in the leather pants.
Logan felt it when she slipped her free hand between them and began massaging herself, never breaking their kiss. He ran a hand up her side, unable to resist, and cupped one of her perfect breasts. He pinched the nipple firmly, making her cry out and tighten a fist in his hair. Her other hand was still busy at work and he grabbed at it, shoving it out of the way to replace it with his own.
He ran his fingers over the slick folds until he found the right spot and then held there, letting her ride out her pleasure while rubbing against him. She wrapped both hands into his hair and leaned down to his ear.
“Logan,” she purred, sounding like she loved the name.
She leaned over to the opposite ear, never breaking her rocking rhythm.
“Mine,” she said in a raspy growl.
Rogue locked onto his lips again, her hips moving her towards release. The hospital had all but fallen away and Logan knew nothing of the surroundings. He couldn’t hear the frantic voices start yelling to get her off of him. He couldn’t see his team quickly approaching or Marie as she lifted a hand, pressing a button on the neck collar to switch the red blinking to green.
“Mine,” she murmured again, against his lips as the pull began and his world fell into darkness.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to laenwyn for the beta and feedback. She was absolutely right when she said NIN does not inspire foofy fic. This one came to me quickly and it’s a lot darker than my usual stuff – so you’re forewarned.