Several hours later, Marie found herself back in her cell, clad once again in a pair of gray sweatpants and tank top. She sat on her cot, head in her hands, heart racing in anticipation of the next round of torture they had in store for her. Since she'd heard Bobby's voice in what she could only assume was the infirmary wing of the lab, and finding out that Kitty and Storm were alive, she'd become terrified that she would be forced to hurt one of them next. Different scenarios kept playing over and over in her mind, each ending with her eventually killing one of her friends after long hours of hurting them. They wouldn't heal like the Wolverine would. They would simply cease to be, their life force would be sucked out of them, by her poisonous, no longer controllable touch. Imagined scenes of Kitty gasping in pain, of Storm screaming at her touch kept forcing themselves to the forefront of her mind, and she began to rock back and forth in misery.
It was almost a relief when the command came.
Stand up, exit your cell, and follow the lab technician to the testing room. You may not react or communicate in any way unless you are explicitly ordered to do so. You will await further instructions once inside the testing room.
Marie complied, she had no other choice. She left her cot and, exited her cell, and followed the female lab technician down the hallway through a heavy door that led to a pristine portion of the lab that did not contain any cells. Down another corridor, the technician keyed in a code that opened to the observation and testing room. Not sparing Marie a glance, the technician closed the door behind her as she headed into the observation room.
This time, Marie found herself in the testing room, rather than the observation room. Last time they had waited until the Wolverine was conscious for her to enter the room with him. This time, he was already awake, chained to the wall, dark eyes glaring, a growl issuing from his chest. And he wasn't alone in the room.
Marie didn't know if Wolverine's animosity was directed at her, or at the huge shaggy blonde man that was staring at her, a feral possessive look in his dark eyes. He had dark eyes. Suddenly she recalled the eyes that had stared out at her through the slit in one of the doors on her way to Wolverine's cell. The same dark pair stared at her now, and with an internal shudder, she recognized Sabertooth. After Liberty Island, she, like the rest of the X-Men assumed that Sabertooth had been arrested or captured. But the X-Men had been unable to discern his whereabouts and now Marie knew why.
Sabertooth too was restrained, but he was chained up to the wall opposite of Wolverine forcing them to stare directly at each other. She could show no outward sign of distress, thanks to the orders she'd received. But internally, she was shaking. Terrified. What purpose could Victor Creed serve in this nightmare?
Minutes passed with no commands, with no sounds except the constant stream of growls issuing from each of the two men in front of her. Then, a blur or commands raced through her mind so fast, she became slightly dizzy.
Once the stream of commands had ceased, she walked forward to the table and placed her extremities in the metal cuffs on the table and heard the locks reengage. Marie waited calmly for the next round of instructions, confident her examiners would provide the appropriate instructions when they were ready to do so. Several moments passed, then a rush of feeling flooded her body. Arousal, such as she'd never felt, blazed through her veins. Her body was on fire, longing pulsed hotly inside her, her aching emptiness unbearable. She arched her hips in desperate search of release, rubbed her thighs together trying to make contact with her aching clit, but her restraints prevented her from achieving the desired effect. She tossed her head, eyes searching frantically about the room, hoping to find some means of easing the torturous, agonizing emptiness she felt. That's when she saw him. Dark, feral eyes glinting appreciatively at her, muscles rigid, chains taut as he strained towards her. She moaned as she locked gazes with him, her chest rising rapidly with the thought of his savage mouth sinking down on her aching nipples, teasing them with his tongue. She needed him. Why wouldn't they release him? Let him come to her and sink himself inside her. She could see that he was ready. His unrestrained cock strained upwards and she bucked her hips in response to the site. She could tell she was slick and ready. She waited, nerves on fire, want consuming her mind.
Rolling her head to the side, she caught the eye of another restrained male to her right. For some unknown reason, that one scared her. His gaze was even fiercer than the other male, but Marie didn't like the way he looked at her. It made her fearful. She turned her eyes back to the first male, willing him to somehow free himself from the chains and touch her, fill her, ease her pain. She wished her examiners would release him so he could grant Marie her own release. She wanted only to comply with their orders. A resounding click filled the room and she moaned in anticipation as the man's bonds were released and he began stalking towards her, his towering blonde head bowed slightly as he sniffed deeply and reached for her.
There was only one instruction that sounded in her mind.
Mate.
_____________
Gemma Watson studied the biofeedback readings on the screen in front of her as the test began, frowning slightly at the rapid change of pace in the subject's heartbeat. At first, the rhythm had been pulsing rapidly, showing the panicked state of the subject. Then it had begun to slow, returning to a normal rate. A few seconds later, the heartbeat had started to increase again, but not to the same level of panic as before. No, this rhythm was more indicative of anticipation or excitement.
She turned once more to her protocol for the test, and then flipped through until she found the programming notes on page twelve. Proceed to the exam table in the center of the room and place your wrists and ankles in the manacles. From this moment on, you will no longer believe that you are held against your will. From this moment on, you are a willing, eager participant in all experiments. You will not question orders. You believe you are a willing participant. You do not desire to escape. You desire only to comply. Compliance will be rewarded. You will not conspire with any other test subjects to escape, nor aid them in any way. The only thing you remember about your time before the lab is that it was filled with pain and misery, torture at the hands of Wolverine. The Wolverine was working with the other X-Men to destroy you...
Gemma skimmed the rest of the notes and then closed the protocol, understanding the change in the subject's bio status. She hadn't had time to read all of the damn programming notes in this report before the test began, and she had admittedly not been paying the most attention at the design controls phase review meeting just prior to the start of the test. She'd been distracted by her discovery of Farris' extracurricular activities involving both TS183 and TS01 as well as several other pairs of test subjects, and had been trying to decide just how she wanted to proceed.
Gemma had discovered what Farris was up to when she was gathering her data to report on the Wolverine's reaction to the X29 serum. She was compiling data on his reaction, processing time, and any adverse effects noted and hand in the report to Stryker. Gemma thought the first blip in the video stream showing Wolverine's cell was just a fluke, a partially corrupt portion of the digital file. But no, there it was again. It looked like the file had been tampered with, a chunk of time missing. It was easy to discover what Farris had done. He hadn't covered his tracks very well at all, idiot that he was. Hadn't even bothered to delete the files on the backup server. She'd found dozens of recordings, each showing different pairings of the test subjects. It hadn't taken her long to find out he was selling the files, taking in an exorbitant amount of money for his efforts in the process.
She had two options; either turn him in, or blackmail him. Each option had its own set of perks and drawbacks. On one hand, she could stand to make a lot of money, and for once put that slimy bastard in his place. On the other, she would likely win Stryker's favor if she were to make him aware of any disloyalty in the ranks. She would have to come to a decision about Farris soon. His illicit mutant pornography films were rapidly gaining notoriety, and she did not want to be on the wrong side if things suddenly blew up in his face. Gemma let out a small sigh and turned her attention to Stryker, who was briefing the external team on the status of Project Vanquish via video conference.
"...and as you can see, with the upgraded suppressor chip we implanted into TS183, we now have the capability to shape the subject's thoughts, emotions, body chemistry, and memories. The previous chip model controlled only their mutation. But this latest model allows us to maintain complete control over the subject. If you recall from our previous briefing, our research found TS183 and TS01 had become intimate prior to becoming test subjects. Now," Stryker motioned towards the window into the testing room where TS183 and TS79 were writhing together on top of the exam table, "TS183 is following our commands to mate with TS79, a command which had it been given prior to the new implant, would likely have caused the subject great distress, perhaps leading to another hemorrhage. Now, she complies, and quite willingly by the looks of things."
A chuckle of appreciative laughter sounded through the video conference. Then after a brief pause one of the uniformed men addressed Stryker. "Colonel, while we certainly appreciate the demonstration, we are curious as to what purpose the presence of TS01 serves during all of this. Why have the subject in the room for the demonstration of the chip's functionality?"
Stryker smiled at the question, eager to answer. "Two birds, one stone, General. Our goal is to turn TS01 back into a weapon. The Wolverine was the most vicious killer ever produced in the Weapon X program. Ideally, we want to revert the subject back to that obedient killer state. But first, we have to destroy any thought of humanity from his mind. And we believe the quickest, most efficient way to do so, in conjunction with the constant dosing of serum X29, is to show the subject that his mate," Stryker filled the word with derisive scorn, "has chosen another. In this case, TS79 is the Wolverine's ultimate rival. Same visceral instinct for bloodshed, same healing factor, same enhanced senses and enhanced strength, though without the adamantium enforced skeleton, of course. Take Wolverine's mate away, take away the last vestiges of its humanity. From there, the programming can begin."
"Very good, Colonel. We look forward to the next briefing showing your continued progress," the General responded. "When do you expect to begin production?"
"Assuming the next few tests are successful, we'll be able to begin mass production on this model and begin global deployment within the month, General."
A rumble of appreciation from the uniformed men at the news that they were ahead of schedule had Stryker smiling in response. He'd been looking forward to their reaction all day.
________________
Wolverine sniffed and registered the waves of pheromones coming off his mate and growled. He was still leery of her touch after she'd last hurt him, but he could not help his response to the delicious scent of her. Her body was begging to mate. Hips rolling, nipples hard, he could smell her slick heat and he strained at his chains, desperate to be inside her again.
He looked over at the great shaggy blonde beast opposite him and let out another low ominous growl. He too was responding to the scent she was putting off and adrenaline flooded his body in anticipation of fighting his rival. Was this some sort of test she was putting him through to prove his dominance?
He met her gaze and she turned away, her eyes fearful. Wolverine was confused. Hadn't he proven to her that he would never hurt her? Even if he didn't understand why she'd hurt him before, he knew she would never willingly stray from him. They were mated for life.
The click of shackles being released echoed in the cold room and Wolverine strained forward, thinking he had been freed. But the chains had not been released. At least not for him. He watched, furious, berserk with rage as the blonde beast shook free his bonds and moved towards his mate. And then, she reached towards him, hand straining against he own bonds, lust clouding her eyes.
Wolverine howled and jerked in his chains. The pain of her touching the blonde beast cut through him. She had chosen another. She didn't want him. Didn't think he was strong enough. Didn't think he could protect her. He felt the man retreat even further inside his mind, the pain of seeing his mate take another was too much. Something within Wolverine snapped and he roared as he smelled the scent of his rival and his female rutting in front of him. He would kill them both. Her, for her betrayal, him for taking her away.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Happy belated Thanksgiving to those in the US!
Warning: I am a bastard. This chapter is dark and difficult, and I put these guys through hell, but it is necessary for what I have planned in the future. Happy(?) reading!
Warning: I am a bastard. This chapter is dark and difficult, and I put these guys through hell, but it is necessary for what I have planned in the future. Happy(?) reading!
Chapter End Notes:
I do have a plan/way out, it's just not an easy path for our characters. I'll try to get out the next chapter soon before holiday madness ensues!
Thanks, as always, for your amazing reviews!
Thanks, as always, for your amazing reviews!