Author's Note: First things first...never upload a new story when you haven't been to sleep yet...to do so may cause forgetting to do things, like put in the author's note...:) Secondly, hello everyone! Here it is, the apparently much-anticipated next installment to my ongoing series! This story is both shorter and longer than some of the others...shorter in that it has fewer chapter than the last two, but it's longer word-wise...i've experimented with a few things here and you will be told the story from many different points of view...next, please keep in mind that the events of X-Men 3: The Last Stand have not happened and likely WILL not happen...this was true of the last story, which puts everything from that point forward strictly AU from a movieverse perspective...however, i hold to Bryan Singer's original intent, which was that the events of X:1 and X:2 were presented in a way to be plausible in our own world...so no aliens, no cosmic forces, a lot of what fans of the comics are used to will also not happen or will not happen in a canon way...however, in regards to X:3, i may explore some of the events at a later date, but there are no guarantees...

Also, to any new readers...please keep in mind that this is part of a much larger story...so if you have not read "Torn Asunder", "Devil Inside", "The Paragon of Animals" and "We Are Vengeance", this story may not make sense!

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or any of their cool stuff and ideas...it all belongs to 20th Century Fox and Marvel...this includes Logan, which breaks my heart...Angela, Evie, Atlas, Medusa, Totem and a host of other people DO belong to me, along with many events and scenarios that came from my own fevered imagination...no money is being made off this and no copyright infringement is intended...I am simply borrowing some of my favorite characters and having fun with them!

Now read on:)

Prodigal Children

By

Rowena DeVandal

Prologue

"…We're giving up. We're coming home." The words echo through your mind, stated so simply, so plainly, yet in a way even you believe them. In a way, you have come home, come full circle. The guards usher you warily into their Humvee, reluctant to leave you unrestrained, but at the same time following the orders they'd been given. After all, if this were a trick, you would try to kill them as soon as possible. But you make the trip to the base proper without incident, although a couple of the guards keep eyeing you and licking their lips as though anticipating some alone time with you. Let them try it; last time you were with the program and someone tried that, he was taken away in pieces.

The vehicle comes to a stop in front of a massive hangar, easily large enough to house all three of the X-Men's Blackbirds, Cerebro, the Danger Room and the infirmary and still have room to spare. You don't really want to know what they use it for, but the huge door rolls up about eight feet and a squad of about a dozen Marines comes out in full battle gear surrounding a man dressed simply in fatigues. Once the Marines are in position, the guards in the Humvee open their doors and drag you and your husband out, shoving you roughly forward to face the man who ruined your life. "So Hellcat, I see you took my advice." He says smugly.

You glance at your husband before replying. "In a matter of speaking." You take a step forward and the Marines immediately bring their weapons to bear, twelve very large automatic rifles pointed at your chest. "You win, we give up. But we have conditions."

"I don't believe you're in a position to bargain, Hellcat. After all, we can take you out, both of you, quite easily." He takes a step forward and sneers. "We can kill you with enough rounds and put him down in a coma the same way. Once you're out, we'll dissect the both of you, recycle your adamantium. We can eliminate you, though that is not the ideal choice."

"On the other hand," you say, taking another step forward, "I think we have a lot to bargain with, if you'll listen." Less than eight feet separate you from the Director now, well within springing distance for you. "But I think our conditions are more than doable, if you'll hear me out."

He crosses his arms and looks you over. You don't look the way that you did when you were previously with the program. Your hair is much longer and now that Storm's wedding is over, the blond streaks have been replaced with blood red. You haven't aged a day, not physically, but your eyes have a haunted look, the kind of thing usually only seen in refugees, disaster survivors and people who have been on the run. In a way, you're all three of those things rolled into one little package. The last thing he notices about you is your hand, specifically the left one. He glances from you to Wolverine and back again, and his eyes hold sudden understanding. "You married him," He states.

You nod. "I did. But that's only one of the conditions; we want to remain a team and I think you'll agree that we were the best team you ever had. Those other four jokers you have certainly don't measure up."

He narrows his eyes, but nods in agreement. "I believe we can keep that arrangement. Regardless of what you may believe, I am not heartless." Wolverine snorts and both you and the Director glance at him with a glare. "In fact, I believe we can even arrange for you to share quarters, if that happens to be another of your conditions."

"It is."

You stare at each other for a long time, but neither one of you is willing to back down. "So, any others conditions? And what will happen if we refuse any of them?"

"Yes, there's more. And if they aren't all met, we'll kill you all and disappear." The Director throws his head back and laughs, but you just scowl at him. "Believe me, things have changed since you last saw us in action. We got better."

"Very well. Name your conditions and I'll see what I can do."

"You will leave the X-Men alone and never attack their home base again. Even without us, they can beat you. We showed them how."

He frowned and stroked his chin. "Professor Xavier has many…resources that we find intriguing. I can't make that promise."

"You will make that promise or you're about to take your last breath."

He gives you a hard look. "Very well. The X-Men will be left alone."

You glance at your husband, who nods curtly; he's telling the truth. "Good."

"Anything else?"

"No reconditioning. We don't need it. We're here of our own free will. We can't deny what we are anymore."

"Nothing about your precious daughter?"

You wince at the mention of your child. She'd been removed from the mansion before the attack began, but three days later Cyclops received a signal from the black box of Blackbird Three. "She's gone."

"I know that, you told me as much."

"No, I mean she's really gone. The plane went down and she didn't make it. Neither did Storm or Atlas."

"I see." The Director looks at Wolverine, who has his head lowered, fists clenched at his sides. "Is that true, Wolverine?"

"Yeah," He says, his voice tight. He looks up and his eyes are hard. "She was all we had to live for an' she's gone."

The Director looks back at you in time to watch you wipe away a tear before it can make its way down your face. That, more than anything, seems to convince him that it's true. "Very well. If there's nothing else?"

You shake your head. "No, that's it." You take a deep breath and look him in the eye. "We surrender."

"Good." He motions to the Marines and they secure your hands behind your back. You glance over to Wolverine and see they've done the same to him. "We may not need to recondition you, but you still need to be tested, scanned and punished for your insubordination, not to mention the senseless destruction of half the active bases over the past ten years." He snorts at you with disdain. " What ever made you think you could stay out of our hands forever?"

You don't dignify his question with a response; you simply glare at him with a burning hatred. He smiles at you, but the hatred in his eyes is cold. No one in this situation has any illusions about what's going on here. The Director knows that as soon as you get the chance, either you or Wolverine – possibly both – will try to kill him. You've lost your daughter, so you have nothing to lose in the attempt. You know that the Director has always wanted his favorite weapons back, if for no other reason than to prove to anyone else that might be thinking about escape that no one can get away forever. You both believe that you'll get your way in the end. Only time will tell who's right.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1

(Storm)

We got away clean, no pursuit. Rogue and Remy stayed with Evie for the whole flight, reassuring her that she would see her parents again soon. We followed Angela's instructions to the letter, contacting her friend Ricky in Detroit as soon as we were within fifteen minutes of the city. He said that he'd expected something like this someday, that Angela had left him instructions on what to do in case anyone contacted him for assistance. He told us where we could land the jet in relative secrecy, to expect a friend of his with a package for us, as well as some code phrases to use. I felt a bit silly about the last part, but I didn't make these rules. With no choice but to trust him – Angela did and she doesn't trust easily – we did as he asked. Ten minutes later, we heard a motorcycle approaching. We all tensed up, expecting the worst, but the person simply parked the bike, stepped off and retrieved something from a pack strapped to the back. When the figure took off their helmet, I was shocked to see it was a woman, her long red hair streaming down her back. She walked towards us, but stopped about ten feet away.

"You must be the superheroes," She said, her hand straying to her jacket pocket. Did she have a weapon in there?

Rogue stepped forward, being more or less invulnerable to harm, to answer. "We ain't no superheroes," She replied, crossing her arms.

The woman nodded. "Good." She took her hand out of her pocket and held it out in a welcoming gesture, so I shook it. "I'm Erin McKenzie, Ricky's friend. He wanted me to give you this." She hefted the package and Sam took it from her with ease. "There's a message in there for the little lady too."

We didn't need to ask who that was; we knew she meant Evie. "Thanks Erin. My name's…"

She cut me off with a curt wave. "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know. Just keep her safe, all right? She's more important than you know."

Rogue was instantly suspicious, narrowing her eyes as she stepped forward. "An' just what do you know 'bout her anyway?"

Erin smiled. 'You're not the only ones with gifts and neither is she,' we all heard in our heads, 'I don't see as much or as well as she does, but I do know that there will be a day when what she sees might just save us all.'

I shook my head. "You're a mutant. Why didn't Ricky tell us?"

"Ricky doesn't know. I'm a precog too, but not nearly as powerful as that little girl. Dr. McCoy consulted with me once on precognition and its relationship to psychometry. I don't have that, so I couldn't tell him anything. But I did tell him that we precogs always know when something can't be changed or not changed enough to make a difference."

"Some things are just meant to happen," I murmured, quoting the Professor.

She shook her head. "Not exactly. Some things are simply always true. Other things need to happen. If there's one thing we precogs know, it's that everything does happen for a reason."

"An…Ricky's friend is always saying that," Sam added, "but she says she's not psychic."

"Then she isn't." She shrugged. "I can't tell you any more than that." Suddenly, she went stiff all over and her blue eyes were suddenly covered with a gray film. When she spoke, her voice held a dreamlike quality. "You have to go. Police are coming. They can't know you've been here. Someone called them to find a jet with five mutants, one of them a small child. They kill you and take the girl." A shudder ran through her and her eyes returned to normal. "Get the fuck out of here. I never saw you."

She turned to go as the others went to re-board the jet, but I grabbed her arm to stop her. "Wait! How do you know Evie will see something that'll save us?"

"Because I saw it. And it's simply true." She jerked her arm from my hand and ran back to her motorcycle. I hurried back to the jet and we took off with more questions than answers. I looked back to where Evie had finally drifted into a fitful sleep, wondering just what the hell was really going on here.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Scott)

I never realized how much Logan's presence had filled the mansion until it wasn't there anymore. Add to that Angela's own formidable personality and the place felt positively empty. I was shocked when Charles told me what he'd done for them before they left. How they could possibly want to believe that the past ten years hadn't happened, that their daughter was dead, was completely beyond me. But we maintained the illusion, going so far as to put up a memorial marker for her, Sam and Storm in the back of the garden, next to Jean's and Alex's. I didn't think it was necessary, but I suppose if anyone from Weapon X decides to come in some night and check, they'll find that and realize there's no way it would be there if it wasn't true.

It took several weeks to get the mansion in good enough shape for the students to return, but once they got back they all threw themselves into their studies with a fervor I'd only seen once before, after Stryker had invaded over ten years ago. The biggest difference between then and now was that none of the children had been harmed, thanks to the evacuation plan Logan and Angela had designed based on their daughter's vision. Having an hour's lead-time on the assault force had played a major role in that, for which I will always be supremely grateful.

Of course, everyone wanted to know where Logan and Angela were as soon as they got back. We simply told them that they'd been sent on a secret mission and would return when they returned. Some of the kids – mostly younger ones – accepted that without question. The older ones were harder to convince, but it was the story we agreed to stick to. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Storm, Sam, Remy, Rogue and Evie were also gone. We told them they had taken Evie to a secure location due to the attack on the school, but were being asked to keep her away until we could be certain they weren't going to come back. Again, it didn't satisfy anyone's curiosity, but we certainly were not going to tell them the truth.

Logan and Angela had gone back to Weapon X and their daughter was taken away to protect her. What I wasn't sure about was if they were protecting her from Weapon X or from themselves.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Evie)

Dear Diary,

It's been two weeks since Mommy and Daddy sent me away. Aunt 'Roro says she don't know when we can go back home, but that we'll go as soon as it's safe again. When I asked her about that, she just smiled a little but she seemed sad at the same time. I asked her where Mommy and Daddy were, but she said she didn't know and left the room. I think she's lying to me.

Some lady gave her a letter from Mommy and Daddy to give to me, but the letter says that I'll know when the right time is to open it. She got a letter too and I guess it had stuff in there she had to tell me, because she sat me down and told me all these things I don't get. But I'm very sad because she said Mommy and Daddy are gonna be gone for kind of a long time and that we can't go home til they say it's safe. I miss them.

They took me to this little house that's real far away from everything. I get my own room and stuff, but I liked it when my room was part of Mommy and Daddy's room. I don't have to go to regular school anymore, but Aunt Marie says she's gonna keep teaching me anyway. It's not fair. Why do I still have to do school stuff if I'm not in school? They won't tell me where the house is, like what state or if we're close to a town and they say it's for my own good. I'm almost ten years old. How old do I have to be before I can do my own stuff for my own good?

I just want to see Mommy and Daddy. I miss them so much.

Love, Evie Marie Logan.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Logan)

Going quietly into that base was the second hardest thing I've ever had to do. Tied for first was kissing my daughter goodbye and watching her leave on the plane that eventually killed her and kissing Angela goodbye and leaving her on a lonely road in Canada. At least I got Angela back eventually. I'd never hold my little girl again.

The Director was a man of his word, I'll give him that. They tested us all right, everything from basic medical to serious combat. Tested our senses, our healing factors – even Angela's nine lives. I almost gutted the fucker who did that one, but they threatened to cut her heart out if I didn't back off. I got his scent though, so if he's ever sent anywhere with us, he won't make it back. And they scanned us, from full-body MRI's to telepathically. I don't know what the hell they were looking for, but they seemed satisfied with the results. And oh yes, they punished us.

They fell back on their old favorite, sensory deprivation, but the facilities they used for that were much improved over the ones they'd used at Alkali Lake. The walls, floors and ceilings were made of some kind of material that absorbed any sounds that I made, giving the air a dead quality. It also had the added effect of having no real texture to it and it felt almost buoyant, so even when I lay down, I felt like I was floating. The temperature was kept at a constant that had to be so close to human normal that I couldn't actually feel what it was. It was pitch black in there and I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face. The air seemed absolutely still, but there had to be some way to filter it or else I would have suffocated on my own carbon monoxide before they were done with me. They did bring me food every so often, but it was completely tasteless and without texture, pushed through a slot that was so well made there was no sound when it was opened or closed. I don't know how often they fed me, but the times were not regular. I might get a bowl less than an hour after the first one, then nothing for another fifteen hours, only to get another one three hours later. They did that to mess with my perception of time, so I would have no way of knowing how long I was there.

I was also butt naked, except for my wedding ring. I cut the hand off the guy who tried to take it from me and the Director had just laughed and told him to let me keep it. At first I thought he might have grown a conscience in the past twenty-five years. After an eternity in the dark, I realized it was another punishment. I had the ring, but my wife was out of reach. Having the ring made it harder to deal with being alone and the bastard knew that. The only other thing I had to prove that I was still alive and not some fucking zombie was my claws, which I would pop and retract over and over again for hours on end, til I finally fell victim to the hallucinations that would always start. Sometimes I would swear I could hear Angela on the other side of the tiny cell, other times it was Evie, crying that she didn't want to leave me. When that happened, I would attack the walls, howling to get out of there, find my woman, find my little girl. Then I would remember that my little girl was gone and break down weeping. I cried myself to sleep a lot in that cell.

I don't know how long it was after they threw me in there that they finally opened the door to let me out, but they eventually did. The lights seemed painfully bright, the slightest sound hurt my ears and the smells…God, I've never wanted to vomit more in my entire life, but the healing factor somehow won't let me. They tossed me into a shower and blasted me first with icy water, then changed over to scalding hot. I snarled in pain and anger, popping my claws and lashing out at the soldiers who brought me there, but they just laughed and hit a switch. I realized the floor was metal mesh, for drainage I had thought, but it was electrified. I fell down twitching as thousands of volts arced through my body. I passed out with the sound of their laughter ringing in my ears.

When I woke, I was in a different room, surrounded by a scent that was both familiar and comforting, but I was still a bit confused. I could feel fingers running through my hair, a low humming of a song I almost recognized, but I didn't trust it. I'd had this hallucination before, my head in Angela's lap while she comforted me and hummed to me until I finally slept. I shook off the imaginary hand and popped my claws before opening my eyes, ready to lash out in the darkness at things that weren't there. My hand was already on its way down before my head caught up with the rest of me and I managed to stop it with my claws an inch from Angela's face. "Darlin', is it really you?" I asked and I hardly recognized my own voice, rusty from disuse.

She nodded, tears in her eyes and I fell into her arms. I held her, kissed her, ran my hands over every inch of her to make sure she was real. Her hair was much shorter, barely grazing her shoulders and the blood red streaks were gone. She returned every touch, every kiss and we fell upon each other like we were starving. In a way, we were starved; hungry for sensation, we tore into each other with complete abandon. Like animals. I'm sure they had some kind of surveillance in that room, their own little live sex show - see the animals mate and all that - but I didn't give a fuck. Much like the time I killed her after Alkali Lake and she came back, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and I wanted her so much I couldn't help myself, so I didn't even try.

We woke up several hours later, wrapped up in each other, a rough blanket tossed carelessly over us. I blinked in the dim light and tried to get out of the small bed without waking her, but she sat straight up as soon as I moved. "Logan!" She shouted, looking around frantically.

I took her in my arms. "Shh darlin', I'm here," I soothed, stroking her hair and she went limp. "I ain't goin' nowhere."

"Oh gods Logan, it was awful," She said, her voice shaking. She told me about everything that had happened to her, including the part where yes indeed, she had been given to a couple guards to "teach her a lesson". I laughed with her when she mentioned that they'd have to sit down to pee from now on. Then she was stuck in her own deprivation cell and her experiences were much the same as my own. "When they threw me in here, I didn't know what to expect. I mean, there's the bed, barely big enough for two and some clothes, but I didn't know if they were gonna send more men in here to rape me or what. But when they tossed you in, I thought you were dead. It took me almost an hour to get you on the bed and you didn't wake up for another hour at least."

"Hey, it's all right tiger," I said, tracing her lips with my fingertip. "Take more'n a little jolt to kill me."

"Lucky for me." She pressed her forehead to mine, closed her eyes and shuddered. "Oh gods, we're really back here aren't we?"

"Yup, we sure are. Torture an' everythin', just like I remember." I kissed her softly and she looked up at me. "But this time it'll be different."

"How?"

"Cuz this time we got each other." Her eyes filled with tears and she laid her head in my lap. I stroked her hair until she fell back to sleep, then eased her back to her side of the bed. I got up and pulled on a pair of worn camouflage pants, then sat down heavily in the only chair in the room. It wasn't very big, maybe ten feet square, the walls and floor bare concrete, a metal cabinet in the corner that doubled as a closet, a small scarred table and the single chair. As I looked around, I noticed a something hanging from a pair of hooks on the wall near the door. I crossed over and removed the items, already hating the way they felt in my hand. It was a pair of necklaces, simple ball chains with tags hanging on them, one for each of us. The next time we left this room, Logan and Angela would be no more, replaced forever by Wolverine and Hellcat. I turned and pressed my back to the door, then slid down to the floor, brought my knees up and leaned my head on them. I gripped the tags so hard that blood ran through my fingers and dripped on the floor. I thought I knew how it felt to hate them before. I was wrong.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Angela woke up again a few hours later. I was still sitting by the door, but I'd let the tags drop from my hand long before, the wound healed shortly after. She padded over to me and ran her hand through my hair. "Logan, we'll get through this," She whispered and I looked up into her eyes. "We'll do what we have to do, but we'll get through, take it to the end." I nodded and she grasped my hand and pulled me to my feet. "Come on, it's almost six o'clock. Time to face the music."

We dressed quickly in the clothing provided, the non-descript olive drab that militaries the world over used in abundance. I bent over and retrieved the tags from the floor, still a bit sticky with my blood. I held Angela's out to her and she swallowed hard. She actually still had her old ones, but had stopped wearing them years ago and eventually replaced both hers and mine with tags she'd gotten made for us. We left those behind when we walked away from the X-Men, not wanting to give them something else to torture or taunt us with. She took hers from me and ran her thumb over the characters engraved there, stained dark red from my blood, then sighed and slipped the chain over her head. I did the same a moment later and I swear it felt like the fucking thing weighed a thousand pounds. She slid her arms around me and rested her cheek against my chest, another shudder going through her. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. "C'mon tiger, can't put it off any longer." She nodded and I opened the door.

A pair of guards appeared from across the hall as soon as our door closed behind us, leading me to believe there was some kind of surveillance in our room. I vowed to hunt it down and destroy by the end of the day. I didn't want anyone watching us while we were alone. We know they didn't trust us yet, but that would change soon enough. The men looked both of us over before one of them spoke. "I'm Davison, this is Grant. We're your day shadows til the Colonel tells us otherwise. You get Morrison and Miller at night."

"Colonel who?" Hellcat asked.

"Sidowski, who you will refer to as 'sir'."

"An' what do we call you?" I growled.

He frowned, his eyes going cold. "Just Davison. Apparently, you two technically outrank us."

I raised an eyebrow and filed the info away for future examination. "Fine. Take us to your leader." I said with a smirk. Davison just glared at me, but started walking down the hallway as Grant fell in behind us. "So, just the two o' ya? Ain't that takin' a bit of a risk?"

"Colonel Sidowski said we're to make nice and that means minimal guards. Says you two came back on your own and that you're to be trusted…to a point."

"I see. An' how do ya feel 'bout that personally?"

He stopped short and whipped around to face me. "I think it's bullshit. You're both nothing but a couple of wild animals who should be locked up and taught your place before we go sending you back out. I think that they should have left you locked in those sensory dep cells for a month. I think that the second you even look like you're gonna do something funny or put even one toe out of line, I'm gonna pump you so full of lead it'll take a year for it all to come back out. So shut your filthy fucking mouth and follow me."

"Damn," Hellcat said, crossing her arms, "for someone who's beneath us in rank you sure do have a funny way of showing respect for your superiors."

"You're only 'superior' because the Director said you were. Personally, I hope you fuck up on your first mission so I can get rid of this bullshit babysitting assignment." Angela's eyes narrowed dangerously and she took a step forward. Before she could complete it, Davison had his sidearm out and pointed at her chest. "Do it, just fucking do it. Give me an excuse."

"Leave him alone, 'Cat," I cautioned, catching her arm, "he ain't worth it."

"Whatever you say Wolverine." She replied, backing off but keeping her eyes trained on him. "You watch yourself, Davison. Don't ever let me catch you alone. It'll be the last thing you'll regret."

He sneered at her, but put his sidearm away and we continued down the hall. My feelings about that confrontation were extremely mixed. On the one hand, I was cheering inside. Davison was just the kind of asshole that would try something and we'd have every excuse to take him out. On the other, I was deeply disturbed by how quickly Hellcat and I had fallen back into familiar patterns. Back at Alkali Lake, we had been feared by everyone except the highest ranking officers on the base because we were known for our hair-trigger tempers and dealing with those who insisted on testing us in very permanent ways. Towards the end, it was rare for us to be punished for those actions, because we were the very best at what we did and they couldn't afford to take us out of the field. I absently touched the band of adamantium on my left ring finger and hoped it would be enough to remind me that things were a lot different this time.

We finally came to a set of double doors that opened into a large room set up like a lecture hall. Davison and Grant escorted us to a pair of seats in the front row, each of them taking the seats to either side of us. A few minutes later, more people came filing in, but I didn't pay attention to any of them until a familiar scent filled my nose. I turned in my chair and saw Tigress walk in with a man a couple inches shorter than her, with dark hair held back in a short ponytail at his neck. Both were dressed in the same fatigues as the rest of us, but she managed to make hers look like the trendy clothes that you see in magazines. Hellcat turned to look as well and hissed when she saw them. "Asp. I really owe him one," She whispered.

"What for?" I asked as we turned back around.

"He almost killed Totem. Probably would have worked if we hadn't gotten the antivenin in him in time."

I was confused. "When was this?"

"Back when you went out of your head after the mission to retrieve Cyclops. The winter before we had Evie." She clenched her jaw at the mention of our daughter. I looked down and screwed my eyes shut against the burning that threatened to turn into tears. We both blamed Weapon X for her death as much as Hellcat blamed them for the death of her first child. Just one more reason to prove ourselves to them so we could turn around and take them out someday. I pulled myself together, then took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She looked at me gratefully. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Before we could say anything else, a door opened behind the dais and three men and a woman stepped out. They scanned the crowd for a few minutes, then the woman stepped up and cleared her throat. All the background chatter stopped immediately, all eyes upon her. "Good morning troops," she began, "for those of you who don't know me, I'm Colonel Sidowski." She looked pointedly at Hellcat and me. "We have a lot to do today, so I'll just give you your assignments." She consulted a sheaf of papers in her hand before continuing. "Before I give out your assignments for today, I'd like you to welcome back a couple of …old friends." Her lips thinned as she said that and I could tell she was not nearly as happy to see us as the Director had been. "Some of you may have heard of Wolverine and Hellcat. Let's make sure they feel right at home." Dead silence followed, broken only by a single cough from someone in the crowd. After a few seconds, she carried on. "All right then. Alpha squad, you're on the north perimeter today, we've had some trouble with hikers in the Groom Mountains again. Bravo, you get the south, same problem. Charlie, Delta, you get the east and west. Whiskey X-ray, follow me."

Davison leaned over to me. "That's you, asshole."

He grabbed my arm but I shook him off. "I know, Davison." I stood up and glared at him. "Ya better watch yourself or I'll make sure Hellcat catches you alone." He returned my glare and we stood like that for long moment. He finally looked away and fell in behind us. We followed the Colonel through the door at the back behind Tigress and Asp, which led into a much smaller conference room. The Colonel was already seated and we stood at attention waiting to be recognized.

She looked us over, taking in every detail but especially Hellcat and myself. From what I'd gathered when we first arrived, the two of us had slipped into something like legendary status amongst the program, the only two that had ever gotten away and stayed gone for over twenty years. After an uncomfortable two minutes, she nodded. "At ease. Have a seat."

We nodded back and sat down, us on one side with our shadows just behind us, Asp and Tigress on the other with no one to guard them. The four of us fell into an unconscious staring contest and I could feel the hatred coming from both of them. Here we were, the original unstoppable team, ready to take the crown away from them. Colonel Sidowski rifled through her papers and cleared her throat. "Welcome back you two."

"Thank you, sir." We replied, eyes still locked with the mutants across from us.

"Before I begin your briefing, there are a few things we would like to know." She shuffled the papers again, found the one she was looking for and cleared her throat. "Hellcat, about ten years ago, you managed to subdue both Asp and Tigress in under three minutes. Their official report and all telepathic scans indicate that you employed some kind of sonic weapon, which disabled Tigress. Is that true?"

"After a fashion," She replied.

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"I had a team with me, one of which is a mutant who has bat-like characteristics, one of which is echolocation."

"I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that term."

Hellcat rolled her eyes, but continued to stare at her adversary across the table. "Sonar, sir, like bats use to hunt for insects. In our training sessions with her, Wolverine and I discovered that those of us with enhanced hearing can be disabled easily, since the frequency is quite painful to those who can hear it."

"And you knew in advance that Tigress had enhanced hearing?"

"Yes sir."

"And how did you come about this information?"

"Analysis of the Hudson Bay files I stole when I went to retrieve Wolverine after Dr. Hallett attempted to bring him back to the program by force."

"Those files were triple encrypted. How did you break it?"

Hellcat shrugged. "I know a guy. And don't bother asking me his name, I only know him as Buzz."

"I see." The Colonel took up another paper and continued. "Now then, their report indicates that you had Totem with you. Is that also true?"

"Yes sir."

"And where is he now?"

"I assume he's at home, sir. I haven't seen him since before we left New York."

"And by 'home' you mean the home of one Charles Xavier? Founder of the X-Men?"

"Yes sir." The staring continued.

"Does it not also double as a school for young mutants?"

"After a fashion."

The Colonel slammed down the papers and stood up. "Cut the crap, Hellcat! And all of you, stand down! Your petty pissing contest can wait until later, understood?" Asp and Tigress looked away, shifting their gaze to the Colonel. I smirked with satisfaction before turning my own eyes to the head of the table. "Now that I have your attention, the four of you need to learn something right now. William Stryker was an idiot. He let you get away with murder, but that's not going to happen on my watch." She turned to me and Hellcat, her eyes stony. "Now the Director tells me I can't separate the two of you and I'm not about to countermand his orders. But let me make it perfectly clear that as long as I am in charge of this facility, you will accord me the proper respect. That means if I ask you a question, I want a complete answer, no more of your bullshit. You will also keep in mind that we own you, all four of you, understood?"

We all mumbled "yes sir" and she sat back down. "Now, the school."

"Professor Xavier has been known to take in mutants with dangerous powers to help them learn control," Hellcat said. "While they are there, they are required to undertake a normal curriculum so they also have a proper education. Only those who pass a rigorous physical exam when they come of age are asked if they would like to join the X-Men, though it is by no means required." She leaned forward and returned Colonel Sidowski's stony glare. "Xavier would never force someone to fight for him."

"And how many students did he have when you two left?"

"Maybe a dozen, no more than that."

"Do you know their names and powers?"

"No sir, I do not. Wolverine and I left before the latest batch arrived."

"Very well." She couldn't hide her disappointment, but it was true. We didn't know who they were or how many were there anymore. We'd just graduated a bunch of kids and a few of them had stayed on, but neither one of us were about to volunteer that information. The Colonel searched for another paper and went on. "Now, back to Totem. His file indicates that he had extensive telepathic conditioning and that the two of you had also undergone some as well. How was that overcome?"

"Professor Xavier broke down the blocks and reversed the implanted commands. As I recall, he referred to them as 'amateurish' and 'sloppy'."

Colonel Sidowski's mouth thinned to a harsh line, but she continued. "I see. Thank you Hellcat." She turned her eyes to me. "Wolverine, your file indicates that you had a memory suppression chip implanted shortly before you underwent the bonding process. However, your behavior over the past ten years suggests that it is no longer functioning. How did that happen?"

"It was removed, sir, over ten years ago," I replied.

"So you knew about it?" I nodded. "How?"

"The Hudson Bay files mentioned it an' it was confirmed by a neurosurgeon."

"And how was it removed?"

"Went in through my nose. Hurt like fuckin' hell."

"So you now have complete recall?"

"Yes sir, all the way back to when I was born."

"And precisely how long ago was that?"

I shrugged. "Oh, 'bout a hundred twenty-seven years ago." Colonel Sidowski went pale, while Asp and Tigress both gaped at me. "What?"

"You expect me to believe you're that old?" She asked.

"Yes, I do, 'cause it's true. 'Cat here's a hundred eleven." Now everyone's eyes shifted between the two of us and the Colonel tossed down her papers in disgust. "Got a problem?"

"Unless you're lying, you're telling me that you two are the oldest living mutants on record."

"Nah, I think Sabretooth's got a coupla years on me. An' I ran into this guy once who claimed to be at Valley Forge."

Sidowski shook her head. "No, this is some kind of trick, isn't it?"

"Sorry Colonel, it's the truth." I leaned forward and gave her my best feral grin. "Kinda puts a hole in your nuclear power an' x-rays theory, don't it?"

"Something like that," She muttered under her breath as she took up the papers again. "Very well, that will be all for today. Tigress, Asp, you already have your mission assignment, continue preparing for that. You leave at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow. Hellcat, Wolverine, report to lab seven at oh-nine-thirty. Dismissed."

We stood up and filed out of the conference room through a side door, Davison and Grant still flanking us. Asp and Tigress were waiting for us in the hallway, cocky grins on their faces. I stopped short and growled. "Dahell you smilin' 'bout?"

"Lab seven's where they keep the Phoenix." Asp said with a chuckle. "That little girl's gonna rape your mind."

I narrowed my eyes and took a step towards him. "Whattaya mean, that's where they 'keep' her?"

"Just that. Kid's powerful, so they have to keep her contained. Took them almost a week to calm her down after that mission where they went to get your kid."

"They already had the telepaths scan us when we got here, why bother with another one?"

He shook his head, laughing. "You don't get it, do you Wolverine? No one here trusts you, either of you. Regular telepaths couldn't find anything, so they're using the big gun on you." He pushed away from the wall and he and Tigress started walking the other way. "Hope you're not trying to hide something, 'cause she'll find it, mark my words."

I spared a quick glance over to Angela, then followed Davison to lab seven. We didn't have anything to hide, so this all seemed pretty damn pointless to me. She shrugged at me and we made our way through the maze-like corridors to the lab. They wanted this kid to scan us? Let her.

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