“Think your friend Hank will be able to assist if your friends show up again Rogue,” Pitero asked slyly as he pulled the van into the parking lot of a rest stop. A sign further down the road read the population of Washington, DC.
Rogue was quiet in the back of the van beside Logan.
Jaime had fallen asleep stretched out on the middle seat.
“I’d like to keep him as less as involved as possible, if you don’t mind,” she answered.
“He was an X-Men, perhaps still is one, I think he can handle himself,” Pietro answered back.
“Then you ask him when we see him,” Rogue bit out, annoyed with Pietro’s attitude.
Pietro smirked at her in the rear view mirror.
“I mean once an X-Men, always an X-Men, isn’t that how it goes.”
Rogue was about to responded when Jaime mumbled suddenly, “Five more minutes, mom.”
“Jaime, wake up!” Wanda snapped as she reached over behind her seat and shook him.
“What?” he blurted abruptly and fell off of the seat and landed on the floor, suddenly two Jaimes were present as his body split in half.
“Aww, Wanda,” he remarked, before allowing the copy of himself to blur back into his body.
Rolling her eyes she ignored his complaining. “Pay attention.”
Glancing out the window she spoke up over Jaime’s moans.
“Does anyone else notice how quiet this place is?”
Rubbing his eyes, Jaime sat up and looked out the front window. “Looks like no one is inside of the restaurant.”
“There’s a few cars parked though,” Pietro observed, his eyes scanning the parking lot.
“I’m going to take a quick look around, everyone be on alert.”
Getting out of the van Pietro was a sudden green blur as he disappeared around the building. The edge of a forest circled around the rest stop eerily. Slowly, Wanda and Jaime exited the van, their bodies side by side as they moved slightly away from the van with their eyes on the edge of the greenery.
“What is it Wanda?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” she responded warily to Jaime.
Sighing, Rogue got up from her spot on the floor of the back of the van preparing to go over the seat when the very quiet Logan grabbed her arm quickly and pulled her back.
“Logan…” she started in annoyance, but one glance at his face and she could tell something was wrong. His eyes were hard and he raised a finger to his lips telling her to be quiet.
Unsure of what he was concerned about she complied as he pushed her back down and he moved forward to stare out of the tinted back window.
“Stay here,” he whispered.
“What exactly are we waiting for?” she asked flippantly as he continued to watch the parking lot. There was a green blur coming in from the right as Pietro came to stand beside a wary Wanda and Jaime in the middle of the parking lot.
Watching the three of her friends talk she became further annoyed by Logan’s silence. Huffing she moved again only to suddenly feel Logan hover over her, his strong body humming with tense energy as his hazel eyes bore into hers with a ferocity she’d only seen in battle.
“Will you shut up and sit still,” he grated quietly, but his voice carried an edge.
She was quiet for a moment, torn between herself, wondering if she should act like the past Rogue, who would have simply done what he told her to, but she was further caught by the audacity that he was suddenly commanding her like he had a right.
“When did you suddenly become Team Leader,” she directed back coldly.
A cold feral smile slid across his face but his eyes didn’t blink.
For a moment his body was entirely still and a small flash of the unknown, perhaps maybe even fear carried through her, unsure of what he was going to do next and that was what scared her most of all, not that he was going to hurt her, but simply she didn’t know how he was going to react, she’d never experienced it before.
A fluid movement swiftly moved through his body and he was all heat again, his body calm as he sat back away from her and watched the window again.
“We’re not alone,” he whispered, his voice devoid of emotion. Turning his head slightly but not looking at her, he added, “And you promised not to get shot at again.”
Letting out a breath, she hadn’t realized she was holding she nodded. “Okay.”
“What about them?” she asked worriedly, focusing on her friends.
Logan shrugged. “They should be fine.”
“Should?” she echoed.
“They can handle themselves.”
“Logan…” she began but sudden movement behind one of the cars caught her attention. Five men covered in black moved out from the cars, rolling out from under them from all directions, their guns suddenly positioned on her friends. Several more soldiers moved out from the forest edge, motioning with their guns for her friends to move into the middle of the circle they had formed. Moving towards the side of the van both Rogue and Logan watched quietly, as the surprised mutants glared at their captures.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly.
Turning around, Logan growled low. “I think we have our own problem.”
Following his gaze she spotted the familiar figure walking towards the back of the van. Flipping the back open, Stacy X stood smiling at them.
“Thought you two would get some backseat nookie, while your friends hang?”
Logan growled at her, his hands clenching as he rested on his haunches.
“How the hell did you find us this time?” Rogue spat in surprise.
“Well, to be fair it wasn’t easy,” Stacy X began, as she rested her hand on her hip. “But you’d be surprised how strong your two scents are imprinted now on my system. Using my power on you makes me very susceptible to your presence, no matter how cold the trail may have gotten at times.”
“Gross,” Rogue muttered.
Stacy X smirked at her. “Now Rogue, I will extend the invitation one more time, you come with me and I’ll leave your friends be.”
Glancing out the side tinted window, her concerned gaze fell on her friends who were now all on their knees with some kind of metal net around them.
“Don’t worry it doesn’t hurt much, it’s a new technology of ours, it demobilizes a mutant, paralyzes them you might say, so they won’t be much help.”
“If I go with you, you’ll leave them alone?” Rogue asked quietly.
“No,” Logan spat and turned around to glance at her behind him. “Don’t be stupid, Rogue.”
“Well what do you suggest?”
“Wolverine!” Pietro called suddenly. “We could really use your expertise!”
Stacy X’s head cocked suddenly to the right, a small frown forming on her face as she suddenly regarded Logan like she had only just finally acknowledged him.
“My, my,” she began as she slithered forward in the van and closed the back down behind her. “Don’t tell me you’re the legendary Wolverine.”
Both Rogue and Logan backed up away from her.
“Don’t touch us,” Rogue spat in warning.
“Oh no, I won’t,” she began slyly. “Because suddenly things have gotten a whole lot more interesting.”
Rogue felt very warm and could feel the familiar tickle in the back of her head that had began the last time she’d been cornered by Stacy X.
Stacy X’s gaze moved from Logan to Rogue with a smile.
“Although, I can’t control everything, after being touched by my power so recently, you will find yourselves in my presence, feeling a few aftershocks I suppose you may want to call them.”
“So you’re Wolverine,” she began. “You never mentioned that before.”
“No need to,” he ground out, as his body was tense.
She nodded and her gaze focused on his knuckles. “So the claws are under there then, am I correct?”
Stacy X’s slender arm reached out eagerly as she became focused on his hands. “Let me see them.”
“No,” Rogue responded fiercely as she reached over and blocked the other woman’s advances. “You have no right.”
Suddenly, acknowledging Rogue’s presence again Stacy X’s head tilted towards her as her eyes moved to assess the sudden steeliness to Rogue’s eyes with amused surprise. A slim smile caressed Stacy X face and she pulled her arm back.
“Look, lady, I don’t know who you are,” Logan spoke up gruffly.
“No,” she smiled. “But I’ve heard of you and you know my boss The Director.”
Logan’s forehead creased in confusion. “Never met the guy.”
“Oh but you have,” she laughed lightly. “Believe me you have.”
“Is this of any importance?” Rogue snapped suddenly.
“It is,” Stacy X responded. “Because now there’s been a shift in the game.”
“I don’t understand,” Logan responded.
“I’m a bit of an admirer of yours, Wolverine,” she slithered through her teeth.
Logan was quiet as he glanced at Rogue in perplexity and concern.
“You see,” she began. “I quiet frankly hate my boss and you, well; you definitely screwed him over in the past. He doesn’t like anyone mentioning it, but the scars, the scars are pretty much a never-ending reminder.”
“What…” Logan began.
Stacy X nodded towards his knuckles. “The claws. You clawed him up good one time and ran off, ruining his pet project. So he’s turned to other mutants to use as he sees fit.”
Glancing down at his hands in bewilderment Logan spoke quietly. “I don’t remember anything before I got these and after the procedure everything is a mess anyways.”
Stacy X frowned. “No matter,” she spoke up, leaning back. “I know you have ties everywhere around this world, some you may remember some you may not, but there was even that rumour that you fought with the X-Men and I believe you were on reasonable terms with them, unlike Rogue here,” she finished with a head tilt at the very silent Rogue.
Rogue frowned but remained quiet.
“So what, you suddenly find out my name, and your gunna stop shooting at me, don’t you think from now on you should ask people’s names from the beginning,” Logan spat.
“Well I must apologize the Director has kept you as secret as he can, I had no idea what you looked like. I don’t get out much. He’s a very neurotic man, he likes to keep the mutants who work for him separate and as uninformed as possible and we have you to thank for that.” Her seductive smile deepened. “And you’ve had a habit of running out on me before I had a real chance to re-evaluate the situation.”
“This is a nice chat and all,” Rogue interjected. “But is this going anywhere?”
“I’d tone down the attitude Rogue, cause I just might be the one to help you.”
Rogue’s eyes widened. “Oh, really?” she asked in plain surprise.
“I need a doctor,” Stacy X replied.
Rogue laughed and glanced at Logan. “Is she for real?”
“I assure you I am,” Stacy X replied, her eyes on Logan.
“You may not remember but I can assure you, you and I, Wolverine, have a mutual hate for the Director.”
“Why do you work for him?” he replied.
“An occupational hazard,” she responded. “I was captured some years ago; he injected me with a chip that is attached to my brain at the base of my neck. It controls my powers, where I go, what I do, can apply pain. So you either work for him or you get thrown into one of his experiments, or you die and I wanted to survive.”
“Oh was this going to be the same chip you all too happily were going to give me,” Rogue snapped.
“Yes.”
“What do you want?” Logan seethed.
“You can’t take me to your X-Men for assistance. I’m only allowed in a certain designated area at the moment, for my mission in tracking Rogue down, he’d know if I stepped out of my boundaries because of the tracking device in the chip. I need you to get someone to come to us to remove this chip.”
“Why haven’t you done that for yourself?” Rogue asked.
“I’ve never been allowed before to have this much time for a mission, and I need not your everyday doctor, and who knows who’s in his pockets in the government. I need a very good doctor, one that knows mutants, that perhaps is a mutant. The procedure is complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“I could die, if not removed properly and there’s the added self-destruct aspect of it.”
“Of course,” Rogue muttered.
“You find me such a doctor and I will say your friend’s here, burned your body. We already found the empty coffin, I’ll just say they had you cremated, so they could do it on their own terms and all these soldiers here, will be gone from your tail.”
“What’s the catch?” Logan asked coolly.
Stacy X laughed. “Let’s say I do survive, even if the procedure is a botch, I’d still be under the Director’s control, therefore I want to make it clear I won’t hesitate in turning in you two, because believe me that would get me in good, me with the legendary Wolverine.”
Logan growled at her.
“Why should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t,” she replied. “But how about an act of good faith.”
“Like what?” Rogue asked warily.
Smiling at her, Stacy X lifted the back of the van up and slid out. “Stay here,” she whispered quietly before turning and facing the soldiers.
“They’ve already cremated her body, there’s an urn in here,” she called out to the men. “Retreat,” she commanded. Lowering their guns the soldiers’ blank stares focused on her. “Leave the net though; we don’t want them trying anything right now, I will question them.”
All of the men turned and disappeared into the forest a few minutes later the sound of a few car engines bursting to life were heard in the distance.
“They going to believe that for long?” Rogue asked in disbelief. “There is no urn.”
“I’ll say I let your friends bury it, I was feeling sentimental.”
“Right,” Logan grunted.
“So I did my part.”
Logan frowned and glanced at Rogue in a clear sign that he didn’t like what was going on.
“We’ll get you your appointment.”
“Good, I will be in contact with you soon. Now that my mission has been deemed done, I only have a short timeline to remain in the state. If I don’t hear from you in the next hour, I will be coming after you.”
Moving back she started to head towards the forest.
“By the way,” she called over her shoulder. “You two really need to get together, the tension is giving me a headache.”
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