Marie woke to the sound of a sickening cracking squelch, like a gunshot heard underwater. Her eyes darted open as she realized Logan's hand was pressed into the healing wound in her chest, touching her bare, nearly healed skin. A rush of heat went through her as she tried to separate the rush of thoughts and emotions pouring into her, from her own. She could feel his fear, his ferocity at finding her nearly dead. Could smell his blood and hers mixed together, staining the fabric of both their uniforms. She jerked her head as she caught a clear image of the Wolverine unleashing inside her. She was suddenly murderous with rage. Who would dare touch her? She is mine to protect, and they had endangered her. They will be hunted and slaughtered, I will bathe in their blood, I will-
She jerked upright and broke the connection Logan had made, breathing hard, trying to focus. The visceral images of Wolverine slaughtering those who had dared harm his mate-
Marie wiped the blood out of her face with her free hand, keeping one hand over the material covering Logan's chest, feeling the steady, though somewhat slow, beat of his heart.
I'm Marie, I'm Marie. Marie chanted to herself as she tried to rebuild the walls of the Wolverine persona within her mind. She tried not to let the bloodlust of Wolverine overtake her as she continued to heal. She had learned a measure of control over her mutation during the past several years, but she was prone to losing that control during especially stressful events. The ache in her leg was growing more faint, and the stabbing pain in her chest was nearly gone. The blood flowing from her forehead had stopped as well, though she could feel its sticky remnants in her hair and on what was left of her uniform.
A few minutes seemed to pass and Marie could feel Logan's heartbeat growing stronger. She let out a sigh of relief. The Wolverine within her quieted somewhat and she stood up.
The others. She must find them so they could get back to the mansion. The reconnaissance mission was obviously a failure. Their jet had somehow been detected and shot down.
They knew we were coming. The thought flashed quickly through her brain, and the Wolverine in her head growled his agreement. She went cold inside at the thought of the possibility they had been betrayed by someone they trusted.
Marie turned and glanced again at Logan's unconscious body. His chest was rising and falling at a normal rate. She inhaled deeply. She could no longer smell death on the air. But there was a new scent. Greasepaint and gunpowder. She froze and the Wolverine bared his teeth and growled a warning in her head. This threat smelled somewhat familiar to him. Marie cocked her head straining her temporarily heightened senses for the sound of footsteps, for the rustle of fabric, the crack of a branch. She bared her teeth at the breeze when no other sounds accompanied the new smell. Cautiously, she moved slowly toward the wreckage of the jet, hoping to find Storm or any of the others alive so they could get the hell out of there.
Suddenly, a strange sound met her ears. A small popping noise emanated from the cluster of aspen trees to her right, and she brought her hand up to her neck which was suddenly stinging. A wave of dizziness passed through her and she nearly fell to the earth. But the temporary gift of Logan's healing abilities kicked in once again and she remained upright. Carefully feeling the source of the stinging, Rogue felt three tiny darts and immediately jerked them out of her neck, throwing them to the forest floor. Then she heard it and jerked her head toward the sound of muffled cursing.
"Again. Medium strength."
And again, she felt the sting of a dart at her neck. This time, the wave of dizziness lasted longer, but still she was able to reach up and pull out the tranquilizers.
"Fuck. She's still upright, sir."
"Maximum strength dosage this time. Fire at will."
Rogue jerked herself toward the direction of the voices, prepared to attack. But it was too late. The sting of the tiny darts was everywhere; her neck, her chest, her arms. And this time, the dizziness prevailed and darkness awaited her when she hit the ground.
__________
Marie found herself swirling in a sea of white mist. Phantom images and sounds flashed before her but seemed to be just out reach. She tried to stretch out one hand in an attempt to clear the smoke but found her arm remained at her side. This isn't right, she thought. At the thought, the smoke seemed to clear from her head a little and she could feel herself laying on her back. On a cold, hard surface. She opened her eyes and stared directly into the harsh beam of surgical lights. She tried to jerk upright then groaned - no, tried to groan at the instant headache it had caused.
There was a sore patch at the base of her skull. Again, she tried to lift one hand to touch the sensitive spot but found her arm unresponsive to her commands. She couldn't even move her eyes except to blink them.
She began to panic. What had happened? Was she paralyzed? Where was she? Where was Logan? Her mind was spinning, and she could feel something was very, very wrong.
Oh, god, she thought as the memory of the crash came flooding back to her. Her broken leg, the shrapnel in her chest, Logan healing her, the tranquilizers.
The blood drained from her head and she saw dark spots at the corners of her vision. She was in the lab. They'd shot her full of tranquilizers and taken her to the lab they'd been sent to investigate.
Get up.
The command came without warning and she wanted to jump at the sound of it in her head. Instead she watched, horrified, as her legs swung over the edge of the table and her arms pushed her to a standing position on the floor. She did not move at all afterwards. She noted to her horror that she was naked but she could not move her hands to cover herself. Straight ahead she saw several men in uniforms in the next room. Others were in white lab coats. All of them were staring at her. She felt ill, her stomach roiling.
Raise your right arm.
The command sounded in her head again and her traitorous arm complied without a moment's hesitation.
Drop your right arm and bend over.
She could not refuse the command. It was impossible.
Sing, "I'm a Little Teapot."
She sang and heard laughter coming from the men in the other room. Humiliation crashed over her and she continued to sing.
Stop singing and stand up straight.
Her mind raced frantically, trying to summon any strength that may have remained from borrowing Wolverine's powers. She searched for him in her mind and found no trace of him. No trace of Bobby, no hint of Magneto. A bolt of pain shot through her brain as she tried to keep searching. There was nothing, not even any barriers where they used to be. The pain increased. It was like they had never been in her mind. She wanted to scream from the pain, but she kept looking, hoping, for any sign, any hint they were there.
"Stupid girl. That won't work."
She stopped searching and the pain ceased at once.
This time the words came over the intercom speaker from the wall to her left. It was an older male's voice. Marie detected a slight southern accent, but there was no charm in this man's voice. It was all honeyed slime.
You may speak freely, but you may not move.
It was though an invisible hand had lifted itself from around her neck. She rasped out, "What have you done to me? Where's Logan?"
"Tsk tsk, Marie. Where are your manners?"
"It's Rogue, to the likes of you."
You must say please and thank you and address the man as "sir" every time you speak with him.
Disgust exploded in her mind at the latest command. She tried to grit her teeth in resistance, but could not disobey.
"Please, what have you done to me, sir? Where's Logan, sir?" Rage coiled in her belly at her forced deference.
"Now, that's better," the man said. Marie could hear the smirk of smugness in his voice. "Well, Marie. Let's just say you're participating in the final phases of very important, very historic clinical trials. These trials must, of course, be conducted before our global launch initiative. We wouldn't want to flout regulations now, would we?" Another round of laughter could be heard from those in the room with the man. She wished she could see which man was speaking. So she could burn the image of him into her brain. So she could focus on killing him. Violently.
"Please, sir. Don't clinical trials usually have volunteers?" Marie ground out. She hated herself for her lack of ability to deny the commands.
"Well, seeing as animals like you don't usually volunteer, they've been in rather short supply since we - well, finished the last round of tests."
Animal. He'd called her an animal. "Thank you, sir. Please, where's Logan?"
The intercom speaker crackled once then went silent.
You may not speak. Go to sleep.
She collapsed to the floor and her mind descended into darkness.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Darkness ahead.
Chapter End Notes:
We'll check in with Logan soon!
Thank you for the lovely reviews on the first two chapters!
Thank you for the lovely reviews on the first two chapters!