“Cyclops, I have some friends with me. Tried to shook them off, but they followed me home. Get ready to leave. ETA in ten minutes,” he huffed in to radio, and shut it off. Things were about to get ugly, and Scott didn’t really need to hear everything. When first nightmarish creature emerged from the bushes surrounding the ravine, he was ready.
“Hello, ugly…” He muttered crouching and extended his claws.
It looked like a Doberman that had taken few rounds with meat grinder. Bare muscles and tendons gleamed wetly. Sharp, razor-like appendages jutted out from gaping maw. Low rumble echoed from its chest. Logan cocked his eyebrow.
“Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? Next Christmas? Come to daddy, you ugly bastard!” He shouted. Beast charged with a ferocious snarl. It came flying over the edge of the ravine and landed on top of him, jaws locked firmly around his throat. He had the time to hear another snarl, and another beast sunk its jaws to his left thigh.
He got a firm grip from the beast on top of him, locking his hands around its throat, and twisted sharply. He heard a satisfactory crunching noise, and creature that once had been a dog crumbled on top of him dead. He pushed it aside and focused on the second one that was shredding his leg. It had torn off huge chunks of muscle, and was trying to gnaw through adamantium coated thighbone.
“Here, doggy, doggy…” He cooed and wriggled his fingers at it. When it turned to look he showed one of his claws to its eye, sinking it straight through the socket, scrambling the brain in the process.
He patted his pocket. Good. Vial was still intact. He glanced at his wristwatch, and switched his radio back on.
“I got held up. ETA in fifteen minutes…” He looked at his leg. It was healing, but slowly. “… Or make it twenty.” His head fell back and he tried to steady his breathing, when suddenly a howl echoed from somewhere close. Another one answered to it.
“Fuck,” he groaned and dragged himself up.
“Got it?” Scott asked when Logan limped to the seat next to his.
“Yeah… Get us up in the air before those mutts chew their way in here.” Logan said and tilted the seat backwards slumping on it to a boneless heap. He was shivering all over. Sweat soaked leather on him was itching. His left leg was still cold and numb. His throat felt raw, new tissues not yet completely accustomed. He felt like puking up. Every time he closed his eyes he could smell their rotting bodies, feel the cold metal when they were cutting through his flesh. Had one of them actually been eating his thigh?
“I think I’m going to throw up…” He groaned closing his eyes and trying to force down the bile that had risen to the back of his throat. Jet around him whirred and vibrated.
“Here.” He opened his eyes. Scott was offering him a brown paper bag. It was too much. His stomach settled to give way to hysterical laugh.
“We don’t have weapons, but we do have barf bags!” He was giggling and squealing. He couldn’t make it stop. Scott smacked him to the back of his head, hard enough to blur his vision for a few seconds. That helped.
“Get a grip!”
“Thanks. Scooter…” Logan groaned, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“Hi. Ororo told me you were back. How did it go?”
He was sitting on Xavier’s front porch, smoking a cigar, just relaxing. He didn’t have to turn to look. He knew the owner of the voice. Knew the look she would have on her pretty face. Excitement, fear, compassion and adoration. All wrapped up to a neat little package. There had been a time when he would have given anything to see that look on anybody’s face.
“Got in, got out. That’s all there is for you to know, kid. What are you doing up this late?” He asked, feeling grouchy. No touchy feely. And he just knew what she would do next. Yep. Silent footsteps approached, and then small hands landed on his shoulders, rubbing gently. He resisted the urge to shrug them off.
“I know you’re not supposed to talk about missions. I just wanted to know if you’re okay.”
“I am okay. You can go back to sleep now.” But she didn’t go. Of course not. It wasn’t how this worked.
She sat behind him, curling over his back, pressing her face between his shoulder blades. Small hands slid over his chest, hugging him tightly.
“You got hurt. Didn’t you?” How the hell could she tell? Every fucking time?
“I might have. It doesn’t matter. I’m fine now,” he said, taking a long drag from his cigar. Hands traveled lower, until one of them ended up on his thigh, and he flinched. It was still healing, and skin was much more sensitive than it would have normally been.
“Here.” Hand trailed higher, ending to his throat. “And here.”
“How do you know?” He asked, shivering from the touch.
“Skin is much warmer. I hate it when you get hurt.” Hands were rubbing lightly, fingers drawing lazy circles. His head lolled back, ending on her shoulder. No touchy feely, but it felt so good…
“Come on. Go back to bed now,” he groaned and pulled away from her touch. It wasn’t for him. It wasn’t him who she wanted to cuddle up with. It wasn’t her who’s hands and caresses he was missing. She was trying to get over Bobby. He wasn’t even trying to get over Jean. Why should he? She was dead. He knew Scott didn’t much appreciate his feelings towards his dead wife. Logan knew he wouldn’t either if it would have been his wife, and Scott pining after her.
“But what the fuck does it matter? She’s dead.”
“Yes. She is dead.” Scott. “It has been almost a year now, Logan. Let it go already.”
“Why should I? Give me one good reason.”
“You sent one good reason back to bed just few minutes ago. Have you even thought about what you’re doing to her?” Scott asked.
“Kid? She has her own problems. She doesn’t need me messing up her life even more.”
“She doesn’t need a man in her life, for that you are right. But she needs a friend.”
“She has friends.”
“Why does she keep searching you, if that’s the case?”
“Didn’t we have a deal? You stay in the jet while I go in.” Logan asked from Scott who clung to him. Scott was bleeding from numerous wounds.
“I got bored…” Fearless Leader slurred.
“I don’t fucking care if you get bored! Next time I’ll see you out I fucking kill you myself!” He growled, plunking Scott to pilot’s seat and strapping him down.
“Thanks buddy… I love you, too…” Scott murmured and started to power up engines with shaky hands.
“Just get us home before you pass out, and I might let this slip…”
“You’re in awful hurry to get back… Some plans I should be aware of?” Scott asked.
“No other than to get us back home, and get you patched up before you bleed to death.”
Marie was waiting in the hangar when Blackbird landed. Logan hated to admit it, but sight of her made his heart actually flutter. She fell to step beside him when he carried Scott to med lab. She was checking him up while they walked.
“It’s Scott’s blood. I’m fine,” Logan assured Marie before she had the chance to ask about red, sticky fluid covering his hands and chest. She waited at the door when he laid Scott to examination table under Hank’s scrutinizing gaze.
“One of those fucking dogs got him,” he said to the doctor. Scott had already passed out. He had managed to bring Blackbird down and kill the engines with shaky hands before slumping on top of the control board.
“I would give anything to get one of those here for studying…” Hank muttered, inspecting the wound on Scott’s side. Logan shook his head.
“Impossible. They are modified almost like me. Their teeth are made of adamantium. They would chew their way out of any kind of cage.”
“Dead, Logan. I wasn’t talking about live subject.” Again Logan shook his head.
“No. I’m not taking that kind of risk. They have some kind of regenerative powers, not as strong as mine, but given enough time they are able to heal from any kind of injury.”
“They are real?” Marie asked, voice quivering when they walked to the elevator.
“What are real?”
“Hunters.”
“Real enough. And I’m not supposed to talk about it with you. You’re not supposed to know about them.” Elevator arrived and they stepped in. He leaned against the cool metal wall. Blood was drying to strange patterns on leather and skin. He shivered slightly. It had been so fucking close. Few inches left and there would have been nothing left from Scott to bring home. That dog, Hunter, had only barely missed, just scraping Scott’s side instead of tearing him open.
“I’m scared,” Marie confessed. He could smell it. He could smell his own fear and exhaustion, too. They had spent past month with Scott, trying desperately to find the lab that bred Hunters, to put it out of commission, but with no results. Marie inched closer to him.
“Watch it. I don’t want you to mess up your clothes…” Words died to his lips when she wrapped her hands around his waist and laid her head on to his chest. She was absolutely terrified. Logan hugged her little awkwardly. Elevator door slid open and he untangled her hands from around him.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to bed. I don’t think Professor would be pleased to see one of his students wandering around hallways past curfew.”
“I can’t fucking breathe…” Stench of rotting flesh assaulted his senses. He could taste it. Furious growling and wet sucking and tearing sounds filled his ears. He couldn’t breathe. Something heavy lay on top of his chest. His throat was on fire, windpipe blocked with cold metal blades. Hunter was tearing in to him and he was slowly suffocating to his own blood.
He woke up. He could still smell distinctive odor of half dead dog creature, but he was alone in his room. He sat up, rubbing his face tiredly. Four o’clock. No use to go back to sleep. He would just toss and turn and wake up grumpy few hours later. He got dressed. Might as well go and check how Scott was doing.
Scott wasn’t alone when he entered the med lab. Small lump of tangled brown hair and white cloth lay on the bed next to him. Marie. In deep sleep. Scott was awake, one hand combing her hair almost absentmindedly. He looked little shaken.
“What’s going on?” Logan asked.
“Hank told me it would take at least two weeks before I can fly again. I let Rogue absorb me. She’s the new pilot.” Logan frowned.
“So you’re sending her in to the fire now? What next? Maybe we should train Kitty too. Or Pjotr? He would be almost useful…” He started.
“You know I wouldn’t do this if there was another way.” Scott interjected him.
“Tell it to the kid when Hunter is gnawing its way through her…”
Scott knew that Logan resisted out of principle. Even he knew how serious this situation was.
“We’ll see if she caught my memories after she wakes up.”
“If you have any kind of urges to set your foot outside of this fucking jet, tell it to me now. I’ll cut you up here and now. Might as well save the trouble of luring Hunters after you,” Logan said. Marie could see from his eyes that he was dead serious. They were sitting in the Blackbird, and Logan was strapping on his equipment. Flight and landing to the location Xavier had found had gone smoothly. Logan had to admit that she got the knack of handling the futuristic jet.
“I think I’ll just stay here,” Marie said, wringing her hands together nervously.
“Good. You do that. We can’t afford to lose another pilot,” Logan said, handing her the receiver of his radio.
“I’ll check in every ten minutes. This shouldn’t take long. An hour tops.” He squeezed her shoulder smiling reassuringly, then turned and walked out.
First half an hour was quite uneventful. Receiver crackled thrice, and Logan’s hushed voice affirmed that he was still out there, alive and in one piece. After his last transmission it all went to hell.
“Logan!” Marie’s voice. They had agreed she wouldn’t transmit. He clicked his receiver.
“What?” He was too close to the compound. There were at least four Hunters circling the perimeter, drooling and squabbling with each other.
“Five hunters approaching the Blackbird. What do I do?” Well, what do you do?
“Get the fuck out of there before they get in to the jet! Move to the next location!” Shit. That meant extra half hour hike for him. “Better get going…” He grumbled to himself. This was most likely the kennel that spewed out those spawns of hell. He would have to come back, to take a little closer look later, but this was enough now.
Again receiver crackled. “It’s impossible to land. There are even more those dogs waiting already!” He could hear slight panic in Marie’s voice.
“Come back to the original location. I’ll wait there.”
“But Logan, what about those…”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he said and turned off the receiver. Five beasts he could take down. Probably.
Blackbird was hovering over him. Three dogs lay chopped to pieces, but two that were still left seemed to be a bit smarter than their pack mates. They stayed out of his reach, skirting past him with dazzling speed, tearing bleeding furrows to his legs. They were aiming for his Achilles tendons, trying to lame him. He could hear howling from the distance. Rest of the pack, closing in on him rapidly. He had to end this dance now, before they arrived.
“Fuck… This is going to hurt…” He grit his teeth. When one Hunter charged towards him, again aiming for his legs, he fell on his knees. His claws sunk in to the beast. Simultaneously he felt other one tearing in to his left shoulder from behind, severing muscle and tendons. His left hand fell limp, claws sliding back in. Hunter had cut through nerves, and it felt like it had no intentions to let him go. It bit deeper. He could feel blades scraping against metal. Dog shook its head, tearing off huge chunk of muscle. That gave him a chance to roll away from it. When he rose back to his knees, it was all over him, paws propped to his shoulders, metal teeth gnashing, slicing open his face and neck. He managed to swipe open its stomach and it fell.
“Bring it down. Fast. We are going to have company soon…” Logan’s voice was weak, and when the jet landed he crawled in on all fours.
“Close the hatch and get us in the air!” Hunters were approaching. Logan could feel Blackbird shuddering, then abrupt lurch and they were safe. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down.
“Are you alright?” He could hear her asking. Her voice sounded distant.
“No… Not yet.” His heart was hammering and he was trembling all over. Cold. He was so fucking cold. He crawled to the nearest seat, tilted it backwards and laid on it. Something warm landed on top of him and he cracked his eyes open. Blanket. Marie was wrapping a blanket around him.
“It’s on autopilot,” she explained when his questioning gaze turned towards cockpit. He nodded and closed his eyes again.
“Is it always like this?” She was sitting next to him, combing his tangled hair away from his forehead.
“Pretty much…” He mumbled. Feel of her fingers made him feel dizzy.
“Why? Why is it you always? Why Scott or Ororo never goes out anymore?” Logan groaned and opened his eyes.
“You think either of them would still be here, talking with you, if it had been Scott or Ororo? I already lost Jean. I don’t want to loose anybody else. I don’t do this for fun. Getting shot, bitten and hit fucking hurts. But I can take it. I heal,” Logan said, and reached one, unsteady hand to her face, tapping lightly ruby red glasses she wore. “How long until Scott’s mutation fades?” Marie shrugged her shoulders.
“Might take a while. I still don’t know everything I need to know about this jet. I have to touch him again when we get back.”
“Can’t you read? I’m sure Xavier has some sort of manuals hidden somewhere…”
“There’s no time to memorize those things. Scott told me we are coming back here early tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t like it. She’s fucking too young for this shit,” Logan growled. Scott was pale, and his breathing was ragged, unsteady. Marie had left them just couple minutes ago, after absorbing Scott.
“Do you think… That I’m… Enjoying…”
“Fuck you, boy scout. I know this is eating you alive. But that’s not the point. She’s a fucking kid. We are not much better than those we fight against, using her this way.”
“Would you prefer… Outside help? And who… Would come?”
“I’m starting to hate you, Scott.”
“Well, you’re going to love me after this… You have to let her absorb you… All of you. Tomorrow she’s coming to the field with you.”
“Right. Tell me another one…”
“I’m serious, Logan. We need detailed map from that place. You can’t chart the whole area on your own. She can help.” Logan stood up, face twisting to an angry scowl.
“You really are not much better than those fuckers running the labs…”
“She’s coming. With or without your mutation.”
She was sitting on her bed, sorting through information Scott had poured in to her mind, when Logan walked in with a disgusted look on his face.
“Got a room for one extra personality?” He asked, crouching beside her bed.
“What do you mean?”
“New orders from our fearless leader. You’re coming with me tomorrow. You’ll need my mutation.”
“Oh… Of course, but…” Logan didn’t let her finish. He nodded and stood up.
“I’ll come back later. I have some things to take care of first.”
“Take it all out.”
“Logan, do you realize what you are asking me to do?” Professor Xavier asked.
“Scott told me to let Rogue absorb me. The way she feels about me, she doesn’t need my memories and feelings over Jean floating around in her mind. Take them all out.”
“That action is irreversible. Are you absolutely sure that is what you want? I could just block them temporarily…”
“Take them out. Now.”
Short stab of pain, something hot burning through his mind, erasing cherished images and carefully nurtured feelings towards red haired temptress, that hadn’t been his, and yet in so many ways had belonged to him alone. Last one to go was memory of her, standing in front of him, his lips grazing slowly hers. That one burned with brightest flare, leaving big, empty feeling after it was gone.
“I didn’t take everything. It would be awkward if you forgot her completely. I just took out everything that Rogue would find uncomfortable,” Xavier explained when Logan noted he still remembered Jean.
“Fine. And block out rest of the stuff in my mind. She doesn’t need that shit taking up too much space. Most of it is worthless at her age anyway…” Xavier smiled and shook his head.
“What? You have seen my mind. It’s not a suitable place for a kid…”
“That’s all you let yourself see. A kid. A child. Somebody to shelter and take care of.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you people? She’s still a kid! Not something to use for your own purposes! Scott wants her to become some sort of weapon; you apparently have some other agenda!”
“Kid? You still awake?” Logan was behind her door. She had been dozing off. What ever it was he had to take care of, he sure had taken his precious time doing it.
“I’m awake. Come in.” No need to shout. He could most likely hear her breathing through that door. Door opened and Logan walked in, closing it behind him. She sat up and stretched, yawning and moaning. “I almost fell asleep already…”
“Sorry. It took little longer than I expected. Do you mind if I spend the night in here?”
“Uh… No?” Logan smirked for her puzzled look.
“We can of course do this in my room. I don’t think you can drag my corpse from here to my bed.” Corpse. Word made her flinch. “You have to take it all. Can’t have it wearing off at the wrong moment,” Logan said, lying next to her, pulling her against him.
“Wait…” She tried to protest, then Logan’s hand tangled to her hair and he pressed his cheek against hers.
It was all wrong. With Scott it had been different. Short and controlled burst of information, then retreat. With Logan there was no end to it. He kept pouring in to her. Continuous flow of power and life. And there was something wrong and distorted in that flow. It was filled with gaping holes, some still bleeding, jagged tears, and some neat, cauterized holes. No information or memories, just feeling of loss and confusion. What had he done?
His heart kicked in slowly. He opened his eyes. Breathed in deeply. Marie. He was in her room. In her bed. She took him in. Her hands were clutching his bicep almost desperately, and he turned to look at her. She looked absolutely horrified.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“What did you do?” Marie gasped. Pained look flickered briefly over her features, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, ending to her temples and disappearing behind her ears.
“I asked Xavier to make some arrangements. You don’t need my shit messing up your pretty head.” Logan said and tried to sit up, but Marie pulled him back down.
“Professor could have blocked your memories. What was so horrible that he took it away from you? And why did you let him do it?” Her face was hovering above his, her eyes searching for an answer. Logan swallowed and tore their connection, turning to look at the wall instead.
“It was nothing. Nothing important.” He had a feeling it wasn’t true, but apparently it had been something horrible enough.
“What’s the time?” Logan asked. How long until they had to climb to Blackbird? How long until he had to take this kid next to him in to battle?
“It’s two. We can sleep some more. We don’t have to leave until six,” Marie said, snuggling to his side and placing her head on his chest. Again he tried to get up. Again she pulled him back down, curling over him even tighter. “Stay.” Her hand rose to his forehead, smoothing back few tangled strands of hair. He could feel slight tremble going through her body.
“Nervous?” He asked.
“Just a little.” Her voice sounded tight and strangled. He turned to his side, facing her.
“You don’t have to do it. You can stay in the jet. It takes a little longer, but I can get the job done alone.”
“No. It’s okay. I’ll do it. I’m just a little worried. What if you get hurt again?”
“Come on. Turn over,” Logan asked and pulled Marie back on his chest, letting her lay her head on his arm. “I will be alright. So will you. I’ll take care of us.”
“Duck!” His claws slid in a gracious arc over her head, severing jaws from Hunter that had tried to attack Marie. She was taking pictures and scribbling down hasty notes, crouching at his feet.
“We have to go! Now!” He could hear guards approaching. If they didn’t leave now, they would be in that compound, caged like a couple of lab rats in less than ten minutes. He could see first armed goons running towards them. From this distance he could already tell they were carrying dart guns.
“Move your pretty little ass before it gets chewed off!” He tried to grab Marie’s arm, but missed when she fell flat on the ground. Small dart protruded from her shoulder. He scooped her up and bolted to direction from which they had broken in through electric fence. He could feel couple darts lodging to his back, but he kept running. Marie would wake up before they reached the jet. She had to. He couldn’t fly.
“Wake the fuck up!” Somebody was slapping her and shouting at her. Hard hands grasping her shoulders. Blurred image in front of her face.
“Wake up. Take us home.” Logan. He was holding her up and shaking her. Why was he shouting? What was going on?
“Kid. If you don’t wake up and pull this bird to the sky, I will chop off your head.” Cold claws pressing against her throat cleared her head considerably, and she was able to sit down, close the hatch and power up the Blackbird. Small lurch and they were up. Not a second too soon. They could see from the radar screen ten green spots below them. Guards from the compound. Logan let out a shaky breath and turned his back to her.
“Yank those darts out.” There were five of them. Big, fat, poisonous bees, three of them lodged to a tight group just below his cortex, two jutting out from his left shoulder blade.
“That’s better…” Logan slouched to co-pilot’s seat, rolling his neck, popping joints. Marie had switched the autopilot on, and was dozing off, head lolling from shoulder to shoulder uncontrollably. Half an hour and they would be home. Half an hour and he could go and gut Scott.
“Sending fucking kids to the war…” Marie could hear Logan grumbling. His hands buckled the seatbelt she had forgotten. Warm blanket landed on top of her.
“… And those fucking sunglasses… Not anymore. I’ll take you away from there before…” His continuous litany of curses and promises lulled her to sleep.
When Marie woke up the jet was flying in wide circle above the mansion and Logan was shaking her gently.
“Kid? Wake up. You have to land. This heap of junk can’t do it on its own.” It was an effort, but finally she remembered the correct procedures. Landing was wobbly, but Logan didn’t launch his patented snort. Instead he patted her to shoulder, and flashed her tight-lipped smile.
“You did good, kid. Get up and go to sleep. I’ll come to check up on you later.”
“How did it go?” Scott asked when Logan strode to the med lab. Glare the other man sent to him was absolutely murderous.
“It didn’t stick. My mutation. It wore off before we even landed. It took only one tranq dart and the kid went down. I still can’t comprehend how she managed to stay awake long enough to fly us back to home. Here,” Logan nearly growled and threw scattered stack of hastily scribbled notes and a small camera to Scott’s bed and turned to leave.
“Hey! What about your briefing?”
“It’ll have to wait until Rogue is better.”
She slept nearly ten hours straight. When she woke up she discovered Logan, sleeping on the floor, his back propped on to the side of her bed. As soon as Marie moved he woke up, too.
“How do you feel?” He asked.
“Like shit. I think I’m going to be sick…” She made it to the bathroom just in time. There was not much for her stomach to force out; she had last eaten nearly twenty hours ago. Nevertheless experience left bad taste in her mouth, and nasty cramp to her thighs and abdomen. She crawled back to bed.
“Well, now we know you can’t absorb mutations permanently. This means you’re off the hook. No more combat for you,” Logan said.
“Good…” She groaned, trying to tug the blanket tighter around her. Logan took it from her numb fingers and tucked it around her.
“And no more flying for you. Next time I need a pilot, Scott will have to do it. You did well. Real good. But I can’t keep worrying whether you’re going to make it through in one piece.”
“But what about… Scott can’t fly. Not yet anyway.” Marie’s voice was still trembling, but he could see tiny sparkle of hope tingling in her eyes.
“That’s Scott’s problem. You’re not going back to field.” That tiny sparkle grew and lit a relieved smile on her face.
“I was so scared… Thank you, Logan!” She grasped his hand and squeezed it gently. Small smile tugged the corner of Logan’s mouth.
“Don’t mention it.”
Logan lay on his bed, surfing through countless channels on TV when his phone rang.
“What’s this shit about Rogue not flying anymore?” Scott. Angry as hell.
“She’s not coming to missions. And that is something we are not going to discuss. She’s fucking too young for that shit. She was scared out of her wits last night already.”
“She made it through. You yourself said she did well. So what’s the problem?”
“Problem? She’s not a weapon for you to use. She’s just a scared little kid. She shouldn’t have to worry if she’ll be alive at the end of the day. I promised her that she wouldn’t have to do it anymore.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, Logan…” Line went dead. Scott had cut the connection.
“Can’t keep? We’ll see about that…”