Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.

“Ah swear to God, Logan will be the death of me.”

And Marie dodged a bullet, then another, then another. Yanked the guard nearest her forwards with one gloved hand and elbowed him. Swung him around to face the shooter as he stumbled, dazed, and twined her arm around his throat to hold him in place in front of herself and Jubilee.

She heard another shot, the impact shattering the wall beside her and then a yelped- “What the fuck-?” as her assailant fell to the ground. Twitching from where he’d been tazered-

At which point Kitty Pryde shot by her, holding the shooter’s machine gun in one hand, a tiny grin on her face. “That’s as may be, Marie, but what a way to go!” she smirked, shooting Rogue a thumbs up, grabbing a hold of Jubilee then heading for the door, still smiling-

Marie fought the urge to roll her eyes then.

Must be nice to be able to walk through walls, she thought caustically as Kitty hustled the firecracker towards the exit. Gesturing to Rogue to follow her and darting through a wall, phasing their friend as she went. Because here Ah was just gonna wait around to be captured, she groused. Marie watched as if in slow motion as the guard who was shooting tried to get to his feet. Felt the weight of the man she was holding tumble out of her hands as she pushed him forward into the shooter and promptly made for the door. All around her red alert klaxons were blaring, the building going into lock-down as their presence became known. So much for making with the stealthy… She guesstimated they had about three minutes before escape became impossible and she was stuck in here for good. And if that happened they’d never get another chance to save Logan-

Because she seriously doubted Victor would be stupid enough to keep him here now that the base’s location had been compromised. The blond was not that dumb.

Which meant they would have to get Wolverine out asap. However, he hadn’t been where their source had said he was. In fact he hadn’t been anywhere they could find. Originally the plan had been to find Wolvie, drag his ass outta Dodge and then torch the place but if he was still somewhere in the building- And they had no idea where- then there was no way Marie would let anyone burn it to the ground. She’d risked too damn much to find Logan-

And she cared too damn much to let anyone else to put him at risk.

Even if she did seriously sometimes think that he’d be the death of her.

Which left her options kinda narrowed on the jailbreak front- And also meant that she’d be dodging bullets for most of the foreseeable future. Since bullets and Logan went together like pretzels and beer-

Well, shit, she thought then.

Marie made for the door, fast as she could go. Her’n the girls’d fall back, regroup, maybe send for some reinforcements. Since she who fights and runs away lives to save Wolverine’s ass another day. That decided she went for the exit, slipping and then sliding, hoping desperately that she’d get through the rapidly closing metal grille in time. She nearly managed it too, her momentum carrying her forward, the guards forgotten as she skidded to a halt in front of the exit-

Only to see it crash closed with a resounding CLANG.

Again, she thought, with the shit.

Within seconds she was on her feet, looking around, weighing her options. Wondering whether it was worth her while to pull off the gloves and try getting some information from one of the guards. She looked left, then right, indecisive, and as she did so she felt a small hand on her shoulder. Felt herself yanked backwards through the wall as Kitty phased her, pulling her to safety though not preventing her from landing on her butt. Marie blinked up at her friend, brown eyes widening, and then pulled herself to her feet, Jubilee gesturing for silence as they heard another security team thundering through the corridor to their right. The girls moved quietly forwards, silent as shadows- Just like Logan had taught them. Jubes in front since she was the one with the best defensive power- And since she was also the one who could blind their opponents with her paffs. Kitty was in the middle, near enough to touch and phase her friends if they needed it and Marie as always came at the rear, the best fighter hand-to-hand but the one with the least helpful mutation. At least if she didn’t wanna end up in a rubber room. They stalked through the building, retracing their steps as best they could, trying to avoid trouble-

But unfortunately for them, trouble was dead set on making their acquaintance tonight.

Because they rounded a corner, still in stealth mode, and found a door. An open door. The metal hinges having been completely totalled by something big, strong, and by the looks of things monumentally pissed off. Kitty darted forward to examine it, still phased, and then Marie heard a gasp as Jubes set off three blindingly bright yellow paffs, illuminating the dank corridor in which they were hiding- Though not giving enough light to make out more than a blur before the tiny X-Man was tossed aside like a rag doll and smacked into the wall. Kitty tried to phase out of reach but the same thing happened to her, her tiny frame smacking into the wall beside Marie with a teeth-rattling smack. Marie snarled and lurched forwards, trusting her instincts to react more quickly than her mind would, already steadying her stance for fighting-

And in that moment something big and mean and angry smacked into her. Something that looked almost like Logan-

Because the hazel eyes staring down at her were empty, devoid of anything save rage. Hands twisting her wrists tightly, painfully, her smaller body pinned beneath a skeleton weighed down with adamantium and more muscle than she’d put on in a year. Marie tried to move, tried to force herself upright but he- And it was Logan, she’d no doubt of that- wouldn’t let her. Wouldn’t even let her twitch. His teeth were bared and he was snarling at her, his weight driving the breath from her lungs. His anger coming off him in waves. Marie stared up at him, fear for the first time ever beginning to pool in her belly, willing him to remember her. Trying to talk to him though he’d driven the voice from her throat. For a beat everything was silent and still and then-

Then she heard it. Clapping. Coming from behind her.

“I think Jimmy boy there likes you, stripes,” Victor said.