“Where is she?” Logan whispered.

He knew that he would not get an answer. It was hard to speak with three adamantium claws stuck through the lungs. Logan’s face was mere inches from that of one of the guards. Fear shown through bright and clear as the guard tried to take breath after breath.

“I’ll kill every last one of you mother fuckers till I find her. Where…is…she?”

The guard answered Logan by giving him one last breath. None to gently, Logan let go of the man’s body. The sound of it hitting the concrete was loud in the tiny room.

Looking around, Logan searched for any clues as to where Marie could be in this place. They had been inside for about fifteen minutes and he had found no sign of her. Logan, or rather Wolverine was on the verge of going berserk. He had killed five men so far and not once did he feel anything but rage.

The com device in his ear came to life with the sound of gun fire and the voice of Scott. “We’ve run into gunfire on the third floor! I think we may have found the cells and the mutants. Need backup immediately!”

Without hesitation, Logan took off towards the third floor. If Scott was right, they may have found Marie. With that in mind, Logan ran faster than he had ever ran before. Anyone that got in his way would suffer. He would stop for no one.

Gunfire assaulted Logan’s ears as he made his way towards the third floor. If he had to guess, he would say that there were at least ten guards. He didn’t think that would be a problem.

Silently as possible, Logan made his way towards the back of the guards. None of them suspected that their lives were about to be over. If one had paid any attention and would have been able to hear over the gunfire, they would have heard the sound of metal cutting through skin. They would have heard the adamantium claws coming out to play. As it were, they were doomed from the start.

Logan took three down at the same time. It truly was an awe inspiring sight to watch one man take care of ten. It should not have been humanly possible for that to happen, but of course…Logan wasn’t human. He walked to the last two men alive. They were huddled against the wall far away from where Logan was standing.

They had realized that their guns would do nothing against this beast in front of them. In horror, they watched as he dragged his claws against the wall creating a display of sparks. One of the men started to beg for his life.

The man’s cries reached an enraged Logan’s ears and yet it did nothing to quench his rage. All Logan could see was red…this man’s blood.

In one swift move, Logan grabbed the man by the throat and brought him dangerously close to his face. He wanted to make sure this son of a bitch understood him when he told him what he had to say.

The man’s eyes bulged out of his head as he listened to the horrific whisper. The meaning of Logan’s words became clear to the man as he started to scream.

His screams turned in to gurgles as blood pooled from his mouth. Logan watched as the red contents ran down his chin and disappeared inside the man’s uniform. There was no remorse for this man. He was nothing more than a murderer himself and God knows what else.

Dropping him to the ground, Logan turned his attention to the last remaining guard. He had witnessed what just took place and now it was his turn to beg for his life. To hear the man plead, only enraged Logan more.

He tried not to go to that bad place in his mind but hearing the man beg…it made him wonder if Marie was having to beg for her life. Was she begging for them not to hurt her? Was she begging them not to do horrible things to her?

Logan’s mind was becoming a ticking time bomb and if he didn’t regain control soon, he would not be able to function.

Coming back to the present, Logan slowly made his way over to the guard. “Where are they?” he asked dangerously.

“P…Please, I’ll t..take you to…to them if you will no..not harm me.”

“I’ll harm you if you don’t take me to them. It’s your choice bub!” Logan spat.

Slowly, the guard stood and walked towards the end of the hall. The closer they came to the door in front of them, the worse the smell got. With Logan’s enhanced senses he could smell dirty bodies. It smelled like some had not been washed in months. Vomit, urine, feces…the smell was all around them.

The guard led Logan into another hallway surrounded by cells. Some of them were inhabited and some were not. Logan could not help the shock that colored his face as he took in this monstrous place. How could someone do this to another person?

As they passed the cells that were occupied, the prisoners would raise their heads to see what was going on. Some of them were so out of it, maybe close to death, that they did not even bother to see who had come in.

Logan could hear the rest of the X-men behind him. There was a mixture of gasps and cries coming from the hero’s in black. It would not matter how many times they raided a government lab, to see what kind of conditions the mutants were left in would never become something to get used to. It was something that was deserving of many sleepless nights.

“Unlock the fucking door!” Logan said, barely able to contain his rage.

Doing as he was told, the guard unlocked all of the cell doors, even the ones that were empty. The X-men went to work on getting the sick and dieing out as quick as possible. Logan held tightly to the guard as he watched the prisoners being lead out. Most had to be helped. There were a few that had the strength to make it on their own. Logan counted eleven in all.

Each one that passed him by, he would search their face and scent for Marie. Each one that passed by would drive him further and further towards that dark place because none were her. Logan could feel his resolve crumbling and his firm grip on the guard tighten. The last of the prisoners passed him by and he let his rage take hold.

Grabbing the guard, he threw him up against the wall as hard as he could. Logan heard a few ribs break and felt some satisfaction in that. “Is that all of them?” Logan seethed.

“yes…yes I promise. That was all that…that w..we had. Please let me go!” the guard cried.

This was not what Logan wanted to hear. It couldn’t be true. Marie had to be here somewhere. He could not leave this place without her safely in his arms. “Where is she? I know she’s here mother fucker. TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!” Logan screamed in the man’s face.

“I swear to you this was all that we had here! The other’s were taken out and burned once they died.”

Logan felt his feet waver for just a moment. No! She could not be dead. There was no way in hell that he would believe that she was dead. He would have felt it the moment it happened. This asshole was lying.

Bringing his claws up to the man’s face, he rammed them into his arms, pinning the man to the wall. It was a horrible sight to see and Logan was thankful that none of the X-men were around to see it. He was beyond control now and he would let Wolverine have his blood!

A blood curdling scream penetrated the quiet hallway. The guard’s arms were spread out wide, impaled by six adamantium claws. Logan could feel the man’s blood running down his arms and he relished in the feel of the warm liquid.

“Don’t…fuckin’…lie…to…me!” Logan said each word with meaning so the guard knew he meant business. “You kidnapped a girl from another lab two weeks ago. She’s about nineteen with long chestnut hair and a silver streak in the front. I want her back.”

“What? N…no we didn’t. T…there was n…no one here by that description. Th..these mutants were run..runaways. I…I have no idea who you’re talking…about!” the guard said in agony.

Logan could smell that the guard was telling the truth. Marie was not here. He felt both relief and loss all at once. It was relief that she had not been the one that was burned and loss because she was still out there somewhere.

“Please let me go! I…I swear, I’ll n…never do this shit…shit again!” the guard pleaded. He would have been doing more good talking to a tree stump than the man standing in front of him.

“Why should I give you life when you take life from others? You think you’re doing this world a favor but all you and your goons are doing is adding hate to an already hateful world. You do these God awful things and then turn around and say we are the enemy.”

“Yeah…well what would that make…you if yo..you killed me? I..It would make us right about you people.” The guard coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The smile that formed on Logan’s face was that of pure horror. The guard saw something in that smile that made him start to scream again. Urine ran down his pants leg as his screams intensified.

There was no use in searching the rest of the building. He knew the guard was telling him the truth and he also knew that he could not smell any trace of Marie.

Looking down at the disemboweled remains of the guard, Logan slumped to the floor. His strength was leaving his body and all that was left was defeat. This mission had been for nothing and Marie was still out there in God knows who’s hands. He had failed her again.

Footsteps were growing louder and coming towards Logan. He did not bother to look to see who it was. He stared at the blood that was running through the cracks of the floor. He was hypnotized by the sight of red. For a moment he wanted to bathe in it. He was losing it, he just knew it!

There was an audible gasp and it brought Logan out of his nightmarish thoughts. He did not believe his eyes. Marie stood, watching him with shock written on her face. “Marie!” he whispered. She looked to be in perfect health and not in any kind of danger. She was here and safe with him now.

Jumping to his feet, he ran towards her. Logan was surprised when she jumped back away from him, as if she was scared of him. He was confused. “Marie?”

He received no answer from the beautiful angel in front of him. The shock on her face turned into pity and again he was confused.

“Logan, it’s me…Jubilee.”

Logan looked confused and lost. Closing his eyes, he shook his head one good time and then turned his sight back towards Marie. She was gone. In her place stood Jubilation Lee. Closing his eyes again, Logan felt like he was going to be sick.

“Logan, I need you to hold it together for just a little longer. We…we have to get out of here now.”

Looking around, Logan remembered that they were still in danger being in the building. At any moment reinforcements would show up and they needed to be far away when that happened.

Taking a deep breath, he followed Jubilee outside and towards the jet. The cool air did a world of good for his fuzzy mind. For a moment, he let himself fear that he was going crazy.

Climbing in the jet, all movements froze and all eyes were on Logan. He wanted to scream at them to quit looking at him but that would only make his musings about being crazy more real. Instead, he walked silently towards his seat.

Sitting down he was stunned at the reflection looking back at him from the Blackbird’s window. His face was covered in blood. Bits of brain matter and tissue hung in his hair and ran down his face. He looked like the monster that he really was.

As he closed the blind, there was only one question running through Logan‘s mind. He wondered if the guard ever heard what he whispered to him as his blood curdling screams filled the building.

Tears fell from Marie’s eyes as she looked at Stryker. He was offering her the one thing that she had longed to have. He was offering her the chance to touch. This was a trick, it had to be. For years Marie had done everything possible to learn to control her skin and nothing worked. Xavier, as powerful as he was, could not teach her to control it. But here Stryker was, grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy store.

“You could have the chance to feel another person’s skin against your own. Isn’t that what you’ve always dreamed of? Do you dream of Logan being able to touch you? I can give that to you Mutant. It is all up to you,” Stryker whispered.

At the mention of Logan’s name, Marie came out of her dream world. The only way Stryker would give her a gift like that is for her to turn Logan in. Marie’s hopes were dashed in a second.

“No.”

“No?” Stryker asked angrily. “I offer you the one thing you’ve wanted for years and you say no? You will never be able to control your skin on your own Mutant, it’s too powerful. I can help you if you will just help me.”

Closing her eyes, Marie said goodbye to what little chance she had of actually being able to touch someone. He was right, she had tried everything. For the first time since her mutation kicked in, Marie found that something was more important than being able to touch again.

In that moment, being chained up like some animal and looking evil straight in the eyes, Marie realized that the ability to touch did not even come close to being able to keep Logan safe. If she had to make a choice, she would never touch again if it meant he was safe. The chains around her heart, that had been put there for so long, were torn away. She was free from thinking her skin was a curse.

“You will not use my longing to touch someone against me. I will not tell you where Logan is just so I can know what it feels like to really feel someone again.”

Marie watched satisfied as Stryker’s face turned every shade of red. He had actually thought that his little plan would work. He thought she would give Logan up if he helped her to touch again. Stryker really underestimated her devotion to Logan.

“I should really kill you. You are more of a burden to me than anything else,” Stryker said more to himself than to Marie.

“Why do you hate us so much?” Marie whispered.

The question popped out before Marie could stop it. She never intended on asking him that. It was more of a thought than anything. There were too many emotions to count on Stryker’s face as he thought about the question.

Again she watched as he face turned smooth. “I did not always hate your kind Mutant,” he said quietly.

Marie could have sworn that she heard sadness in his voice. His face was void of emotion yet his eyes spoke of a different story. They were older than his years and just for a split second, Marie felt sorry for him. She had no idea why this feeling came over her, but watching him lost in his thoughts, she couldn’t stop it.

“I was married once. She was my high school sweet heart and I knew from the moment I met her that I would give her the world if I could. She had the most gorgeous eyes that I had ever seen. The day she said she would marry me was the happiest day of my life…I will never forget that day.”

Marie was surprised to hear his voice so gentle. He had been nothing but hard and vindictive since she had been brought to this place. She wanted to believe that this was another act, but sadly she could tell that this was true.

“The day my son was born almost ranked up there to the day that my wife married me. I had always wanted a son. I had so many plans for him. He was the joy of our lives and we couldn’t have been happier.”

Styker stopped and stared at Marie for a moment. She wondered if he was trying to figure out why he was telling her all of this. It was so personal and he was allowing Marie to see a side of him that she did not think existed. It was overwhelming to say the least.

“Tell me Mutant, how did your parents react to you when they found out you were a mutant? Did they continue to love you? Did they try to help you?”

The sudden shift in the conversation had Marie’s head spinning but she answered him honestly. “They sent me away,” she said low.

Stryker only nodded. He sat for a moment in thought. Marie again watched as all sorts of emotions ran through his face. “So they just cut you loose? They did not bother with you anymore?” he asked casually.

“I guess you could say that.”

Again, Stryker went deep in thought. Marie was beginning to become very uncomfortable with this situation. She wasn’t used to seeing Stryker so…vulnerable.

“Maybe that’s what we should have done.,” he said more to himself than Marie. “We should have cut all ties while we still could. She would never have done that though. Up until the final moments of her life she loved that boy unconditionally.”

A single tear ran down the side of Stryker’s face. Marie felt her own tears welling up again. How she could cry for this man she did not know, yet she sat with the tears ready to fall.

“Your wife died?” she said in a shaky voice.

He slowly looked up to face Marie. Anger filled his every pore as he bore his eyes into hers. “My wife did not just die. She was murdered by the one thing in our lives that we loved more than each other,” he spat.

“Oh God,” Marie whispered.

“God? God? God had nothing to do with this. It was the disease known as mutation that murdered my wife! Would you like to know what my son did to her? Huh, MUTANT!” he screamed. Stryker flew out of his chair and knocked it to the floor. Marie jumped back in shock and surprise.

“He played with her mind. That…thing made her see things, horrible things, that weren’t there. He made her believe she was going crazy.” Stryker was now mere inches from Marie’s face. Every time he spoke, his spit would fly in her face. She could only watch as he anger built up and she knew at the end of this there would be hell to pay.

“She finally had enough and you know what she did Mutant? DO YOU!” he screamed.

Marie braced herself as she waited for him to tell her what his wife did. She started to pray because she knew it was not going to end well. She could see the rage at the surface and sooner rather than later it was going to explode. The horrible thing was she was in it’s path.

That is when Marie got a taste of what was to come. Before she had time to answer him, Stryker’s fist met her jaw. The force alone was enough to knock Marie senseless. For a split second she forgot where she was. Her head was ringing so loud she could barely hear herself breathing.

Marie’s head pounded with a fury she did not know and Stryker’s screaming in her ear did not help her cause. She tried shaking her head to get her bearings back but it was no use. Stryker had literally knocked her senseless.

Settling down a bit, Stryker went on, “After I buried the love of my life, do you know what happened next Mutant?” he asked with a laugh.

Marie was too afraid to speak so she just nodded her head no. She really wanted this conversation to end. The longer it went on the more terrified she got. To think she allowed herself to feel sorry for this nut job.

“He came after me!” Stryker whispered. “He shoved images in my mind so horrible that I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone Mutant. He showed me images of my wife’s mangled head over and over and over until I was screaming for mercy. I begged my son…my mutant son for mercy and he pushed the images further. My love for my own flesh and blood, the one responsible for the love of my life becoming worm’s food, became a hatred like none I have ever known.”

Marie did not realize that she was softly begging Stryker to stop. She could not take it anymore. The story itself was enough to drive her crazy. What scared her the most was that Stryker had this far off look in his eyes, like he did not see Marie. It was as if he was seeing someone else.

“Do you know what I did then?” he said laughing. It was a laugh made from pure madness. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID? Being a scientist, I know a thing or two about the brain.” There was that laugh again.

“As he lay sleeping in is warm bed one night, I crept in and shot him with a tranquilizer. It was almost too easy really. I was actually expecting a fight but he just lay there as I stuck him with the needle. I took him to a warehouse where I had doctors waiting there for us. Doctor Langford was one of them.”

Marie really didn’t like where this was going. The look in Stryker’s eyes told her he was beyond reality.

“Do you remember what I did Jason?” he asked, looking straight at Marie. He did not wait for an answer. “I scrambled that pretty little head of yours up didn’t I? Tell me, did you feel every bit of what I was doing to you? Did you try to scream but found that you couldn’t?” Stryker’s voice so gentle. It was as if he were trying to console his son. “I made sure that you could never hurt anyone again. I made sure that your mother would be your only victim. And I’ll make sure that all who are like you will pay. I’ll make sure that she didn’t die in vain.”

The tears again flowed down Stryker’s face. Again sadness overtook him but Marie did not pity him. She still saw the hatred and rage in his eyes. Those eyes were looking straight at her.

“I’ll do to every Mutant what I did to my son. Starting with you.” Before Marie could prepare herself, she watched in slow motion as Stryker’s hand came down upon her head. Whatever was in his hand, Marie would never know because the darkness came to her too soon.