Marie lay face down on the small cot in the little crap of a cell staring at nothing. Her eyes were fixed on the cold concrete below yet she did not see it. Her mind was too wrapped up in the past days events. Her body was in too much pain from the whipping she received days ago.

Slowly, with as much ease as she could, Marie turned her head towards the wall closest to her cot. There, not five inches from her face were tiny marks. When she first arrived in the cell, Marie had found a small rock and she used that to keep up with the days. In a place such as this, it would be very easy to lose count. In this place, it would be easy to lose just about anything.

Quietly, she counted the tiny marks. “One…two…three.” She kept counting until she reached fourteen. It had been two weeks since she was brought here. It had been two weeks since this nightmare had begun. Two weeks since she was taken from him. Two weeks since she had seen his face and heard his voice.

“Two weeks since I stopped being human,” she whispered.

Stryker had not let up on finding Logan. He had deprived her of sleep for several nights, yet she would not give in. Her back was becoming infected she was sure of it. The pain had went from excruciating to numb. Marie wasn’t sure what would come first, Stryker getting tired of not getting his answers and he would sure enough kill her, or her body would succumb to infection and that would kill her. Either way, death was her only option out of this place.

Marie closed her eyes and breathed deep. The Logan in her head was making an appearance. She had touched the real Logan briefly, not too long ago by accident, during a sparring exercise but it was enough for him to find his way into her mind. Strangely, he had been really quiet during the two weeks she had been here.

“I’m not giving up Logan, just thinking realistically,” she spoke.

Anyone passing by her cell right now would probably think she was going mad and talking to herself. Marie didn’t really care what these people thought of her though.

“I know he will. But it might be too late. Stryker won’t keep me around forever.”

She knew that any day Stryker could snap and that would be the end of her.

“Why have you been so quiet. I could use the company you know,” she said lightly.

There was no answer. Usually the Logan and, don’t forget, Wolverine would be screaming and talking non stop. Those two got so bad sometimes that Marie thought she would go mad. The headaches were always the worse after they fought for control of her mind. Professor Xavier had taught her the way to subdue them. He had taught her a way of caging them so to speak. It had worked pretty good most of the time but sometimes they were just too strong to be contained.

During those moments, the moments she had to practically fight to keep control of her own mind, she made sure to stay far away from the real Logan. Marie didn’t do it because she was angry or anything, but because the look in his eyes, as he watched her struggle with his demons, was enough to break her heart. Guilt rolled off of Logan in waves as he tried everything to help her through the rough patches. It wasn’t enough that he had to feel guilty for the nightmares, now he had to watch her struggle to keep control. She wanted to spare him that as much as she could.

“I could make it all go away for you Marie. All you have to do is ask,” the Logan in her head whispered.

Marie had to admit that she did think about it. She could just give up control to Logan and she would not know what was happening to her. She could run from the pain. It would be so easy just to find the nothingness and cling to it for a while. All she had to do was say the word and she would be free for a time.

It sounded so good, but she couldn’t do it. The thought of losing herself and never being able to find her way back scared her. She had never willingly given up control of her mind and she wasn’t sure that if she did so right now that she would have the strength to regain that control back. No matter how much she loved and trusted Logan, she wasn’t sure that he would be able to give the control back. They would try to break her in this place, of that she was sure, but she would not give them the satisfaction of being a coward and running away. Marie would hold on to the truth about where Logan was and she would not divulge that information no matter how painful it became.

Before she could answer the Logan in her head, she heard footsteps approaching. Marie slowly sat up, being very mindful of her back. Two guards stood at her cell door. “Time to go see the Colonel,” one of the guards said.

Marie fought against the wave of nausea that overcame her. She tried not to think about what Stryker had in store for her today. Whatever it was she would get through it just like she got through it all of the other days.

The two guards helped Marie to her feet. She noticed that both were wearing gloves and were covered pretty well from head to toe. The possibility of her being able to touch the skin of one was not good.

“You know, this would end for you if you would just tell the Colonel what he wants to know. You wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.” Marie was surprised to hear compassion in the guard’s voice. It was as if he cared about what was happening to her.

“John, you would do well to keep you mouth shut and do not engage the Mutant.” The other guard was not so friendly. Marie was getting pretty sick and damn tired of being called mutant. She had a name. Not that anyone in here would respect her enough to use it.

They walked her down the long hall towards the lab room where all of her meetings with Stryker had taken place. She was becoming used to the routine. Stryker would allow her time to build up just enough strength to endure more torture sessions. After two weeks, it was becoming enough to drive her insane.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite Mutant. Do come in please!” Stryker said sarcastically.

The guards led Marie to the same wall where she had been whipped. Due to the damage done to her back, she could no longer lay on the table. Instead, she stood with her arms over her head, latched to the two loops. This position made her feel more vulnerable. She took a wild guess that Stryker realized this and took great satisfaction from it.

“How are you feeling today?”

Their talks always started out like this. Marie wanted to laugh at Stryker trying to sound as if he cared. They both knew that that was not the case. She wondered why he even wasted his time. Maybe it was a tactic of his to see if being nice would win him what he wanted. Fat chance of that ever happening.

Marie remained silent, staring daggers at the man in front of her. Such hate in his eyes caused Marie to flinch. It wasn’t much of a movement but Stryker caught it and his smile grew wider. She would never understand what sick mind would get off by another’s fear.

“I guess trying to be nice isn’t working huh? That is a great relief. It sickens me to even act like I care one bit about you. Truth is I would squash you all if I had the chance.” There was the Stryker that Marie had come to know so well over the past couple of weeks.

“Shall we get down to business then?” There was a pause as he stared at Marie. “Where is he.”

It was always a simple statement. The same question was asked of her every time she came into this room and she would give the same answer as she did now. “A place that you will never find.”

The first couple of days that she answered this way it produced a multitude of beatings. Stryker would not hesitate to inflict any kind of pain upon her and yet she was determined to never answer differently. He must have realized this because the beatings abruptly stopped when she gave him that answer, but he would continue to ask.

“Why do you protect him huh? What is he to you?”

‘Everything,’ she answered to herself.

“I would like to think that I know him a little since I spent so much time with him long ago. Did you know that? He and I were like family at one point.”

Marie stared at Stryker in disbelief. It could not be true. This was the same man that took everything away from Logan. “I see you didn’t know. It’s true. He really was like a…son to me,” Stryker said with a laugh.

“Liar,” Marie whispered.

Stryker’s smile never faltered. It was if he was in on a joke that Marie was not a part of. She wished that she could wipe that smile off of his face. “I gave Logan a second chance at life. When I found him, he was locked up in some dirty prison and if it weren’t for me he would still be there. I gave him purpose when he had none.”

Marie realized that if what Stryker was saying was true, he was telling her about the time in Logan’s life that he didn’t remember. This was his past that had been kept from him for so long.

“He was good at what he did. What I made him do. Most of the time he did the things without question. Logan was my puppet to do with what I wanted. That is all you mutants are good for you know. Being puppets to the human cause.”

“Why are you telling me this,” Marie asked.

“Because I want you to realize what kind of person you are protecting. I want you to realize that all of this is in vain because he isn’t worth your suffering. I can make it go away…everything. All you have to do is realize that Logan isn’t the hero that you think he is.”

“Fuck you,” Marie spat.

Styker smirked at Marie’s outburst. “I once heard a man telling Logan that same thing before Logan broke him in half. The man had done nothing wrong, just at the wrong place at the wrong time and yet Logan took his life.”

“Shut up”

“What’s the matter Mutant? You don’t like to hear the truth about our good ole pal Logan? I’ve watched him take life after life without so much as a thought. Like I said, he was a great puppet.”

Tears started to stream down Marie’s face. She cursed them but it did not stopped their movements. She did not want to hear this. “Tell me Mutant, are you in love with him? Oh but wait, your skin. He can not touch you can he Mutant? No one can. The Logan I know wouldn’t really have the patience to be with someone like you am I right?”

Marie looked away. She could not stand the sight of that smile anymore. That smile was mocking her and Stryker had found her weakness….her skin. He knew how it worked and he would use that to his advantage.

“Logan will never love someone like you. He is incapable of loving anyone. He is a monster, an animal, inside and out. I should know since I’m the one that created him and I created him to be nothing more than a machine. You would be doing him a favor actually. You would be sending Logan back to where he belongs and doing what he is made to do.”

“Never,” she whispered.

“You know Mutant, I can guarantee that if the situation was reversed and Logan was standing, chained to the wall, he would give you up in a heartbeat. He would no more think of you than he would a roach he stepped on.”

Now it was Marie’s turn to smile. Raising her chin, she spoke with such conviction that it surprised even herself. “That’s where you’re wrong. You don’t know him. He would protect me as I am protecting him. Whatever he was and did in his past is just that…in the past. Logan has saved me more times than I can count and he will do it again this time and I hope when he does…he rips you into pieces.”

“You stupid girl. By the time I’m through with you, there will be nothing left to save.”

Marie swallowed hard at Stryker’s words. She always knew deep down inside that she was not meant to leave this place alive but just hearing it from his mouth made it more real.

“I’m offering you a chance to make this easy for yourself. There is so much I could do to you Mutant. There are so many ways that I could get that information out of your pretty little head.”

Stryker stared down at the dog tags that lay snuggly against Marie’s chest. Slowly he reached a gloved hand out and gently touched them, as if they were made of breakable glass. His face turned smooth for a moment as he studied the tags. “I remember the day that I made this for him. It confused me when he told me that he wanted new tags and wanted them to say Wolverine but I think it fit him perfectly, don’t you agree?” Marie did not answer. She wasn’t sure where Stryker was going with this.

“Did you know that he volunteered for the procedure…to have the adamantium put inside of himself?” Styker whispered.

Again Marie turned her shocked face towards the man. What was he saying? He was trying to get to her. There was no way that he could be telling the truth. “You liar! Logan…Logan would never!” she screamed.

As if Marie did not say a word, Stryker continued, “I went to him, tricking him of course, but it was his decision. He made the decision out of revenge, but he still made it. See Mutant, this is the kind of thing you are protecting. Someone who would go to the lowest of lows to exact revenge. Logan is no more than animal. He is no more than the animal printed on this dog tag.”

With that, Styker grabbed the chain and yanked as hard as he could till it gave way. Marie cried out in pain and sorrow as the one thing holding her to Logan was being taken away. She tried to move her arms to grab the tags back but it was no use. She was made to watch as Stryker pocketed the dog tags in his shirt pocket.

“Never forget, I made these for him therefore they belong to me,” he spat.

Her neck ached with the longing of feeling them again. The one thing that Logan cherished was now in the hands of the one thing he hated and it was all her fault.

“Give them back,” she begged.

“.NO! NOW GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!” Stryker screamed.

Marie sobbed as she stared at Stryker’s pocket. She needed those tags back. It was as if they gave her the strength to get through this place. Now, she had nothing to hold on to and she was afraid she would drown in the sorrows of her loss.

“I’m still here darlin’,” said the Logan in her head.

At the sound of his voice, her sobs stilled. If she could hold on to his voice, she could see a way of surviving this place. Without those tags, it really was all she had left.

“What would you say if I told you that I could control your skin Mutant?” Marie’s attention was turned swiftly back to Stryker as he asked her that question. Not for the first time today, she sat in shock at what he was asking her. “I can you know. I can give you the gift of control if you will only give me what I want. How long has it been since you’ve really touched someone Mutant? When was the last time that you have felt someone’s skin upon your skin without killing them?”

“Too long,” Marie whispered without thinking.

A dark smile started to grow on Stryker’s face. He saw the longing in her eyes before she had time to cover it up. “Let me show you what I can do for you Mutant.”

Roads. There were so many roads looking the same and going no where. Every road lead to another and another. Every town led to another town and at the end of it all there were still no answers. After two weeks of going from east to west, north to south, Logan still had no clues as to where Marie was.

He started his journey back at the building where it all had taken place. He had searched every inch of the place and found it spotless. There was not even so much as a piece of hair left. Someone had definitely come back and cleared all traces of what the building had been.

Logan took his searching else where. Going from town to town around the area where they had taken Marie. Everyone he spoke to told him the same thing, they had no idea what he was talking about. Each one had the same look on their faces, as if they were hiding something. These people knew damn well what was going on in their back yard but I guess as long as it wasn’t happening to them or their loved ones, it was easy to turn a blind eye.

Frustrated, Logan stopped at a bar near the Canadian boarder. The bar was practically empty which was fine and well with Logan. He did not feel like dealing with people at the moment. All he wanted was a good stiff drink before heading into Canada.

Sitting down at the bar, the barmaid made a bee line over to him. She looked to be young, no older than Marie. She was looking at him as if she could undress him with her eyes. He wanted to scream at her to quit fuckin’ lookin’ at him but it wasn’t her fault that he was in a shitty mood these days. Instead, he ordered a beer and looked around the bar.

There was maybe a total of six people, including himself, that inhabited the bar. Two, a man and woman, were swaying back and forth on the dance floor. There was some sappy love song playing softly and the couple looked to be engrossed in each other.

The rest of the people were either passed out on their tables or enjoying their drinks. All in all, this place was pretty pathetic.

“Can I get you anything else sugar?” the bar maid asked.

Logan did not say a word, just shook his head no.

A couple of minutes later, Logan was about to ask where the bathroom was when his cell phone rang. There was only one person, besides Marie, who knew his number. He rushed to the front door as he flipped the phone open.

“Hello?”

“Logan, this is Xavier. How are you?”

“Been better Chuck, what’s the matter? Have you found anything out about Marie? Do you know where she is?” Logan asked excitedly.

There was a pause and then Xavier answered, “I haven’t heard anything specifically about her Logan, I’m sorry. I do however have a bit of information. I received a call this morning from an informant of mine. He proceeded to tell me he had some information on the whereabouts of a government lab. He had been keeping surveillance of the place and about two weeks ago they got a shipment in. When he dug further he realized that the shipment was actually human beings…mutants to be exact. When he learned of this, he called me right away.

There was silence for a few moments. Logan tried not to get his hopes up but he was beginning to feel the slightest bit of hope start to rear it’s head. Could this be the answer to his prayers?

“Where is it Xavier? Tell me where it is and I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

“Logan, please listen to me. I have no information or proof that Rogue is there. I am gathering the team up and they should be on their way to you in a matter of minutes. Please son, wait on them and go in as a team. You will need back up.”

As much as Logan hated to wait, he knew that Xavier was right. He could not go in there by himself. He needed to remain calm and focused. This was not the time to be stupid. Marie was counting on him and she needed him to be smart about this. He would wait for the others to come.

He did not have to wait long. Ten minutes after his conversation with Xavier, the Blackbird came into view. High above the trees, in all of her glory, was an aircraft that was well beyond it’s years. It really was a beautiful thing to behold.

As soon as it landed, Logan took off after it. This was a small town and there would definitely be talk of the strange aircraft landing in the middle of the old dingy bar’s parking lot.

Climbing into the plane, Logan didn’t waste time going to the back and getting the familiar X-men suit. Logan was shocked at his reflection in the mirror. He could not remember when the last time he slept was and even with his enhanced healing, he still looked as though he hadn’t slept in weeks. In truth, he really hadn’t slept in weeks. The nightmares were becoming too much. He didn’t dream of green water and pain all throughout his body. No longer did he see men in military uniforms celebrating their victory in creating a killing machine. No, his dreams were of falling from a helicopter he desperately wanted to get inside of because she was in there. His dreams were of a girl that was taken away from him.

“Good to see you again Logan.”

Looking at the reflection in the mirror, Jean was standing there watching him. He saw pity in her eyes and it made him want to break the glass in the mirror. That was the last thing he needed, these people’s pity.

“Jean,” he barely said.

Walking past her, he found the first available seat in the back. He wanted to stay as far away from the front as possible. He knew who would be up there and right now was not the time to confront him.

Logan looked around and all of the X-men were accounted for. Here they were, doing it again. Going to some other government military lab to stop God knows what. They were going to help some poor bastards that couldn’t help themselves. Logan only cared about saving one person. There was only one face that he wanted to see.

“Right there. I think I see it,” Scott called out.

Looking out of his window, Logan stared at a large facility. It was hidden pretty well in the woods. There was only one road going to and from the building. It was surrounded by barbed wire fences. Good thing the Blackbird could disguise itself well. They were in no danger of being detected.

Landing in the woods about half a mile away, everyone steadied themselves for the fight ahead. Gathering all of his strength, Logan stood from his seat and made his way towards the door. His eyes automatically went to the face of Scott’s. The two men stood and stared at one another for a moment. Neither wanted to break eye contact. Logan felt his anger boil to the surface as he felt the claws start to slide out.

“I’m not the enemy here Logan. Save it for those guys in there,” Scott said pointing in the direction of the building.

Before Logan could speak, Scott made his way out of the Blackbird. He slowly took a deep breath to get a hold of his emotions. Marie needed him right now and that is the only thing that mattered to him.

“Hang on darlin’. I’m comin’ for you,” Logan whispered as he stepped out into the open forest.