SUMMARY: An AU with things upside down and inside out. Mutants are the norm and unenhanced humans are on the rare side. The X-Men are still taking on Hydra in this twisted view.
THE LION, THE FRAIL AND THE WINTER STORM
The truck driver sped down the road after the young woman in the Outback Subaru and rammed her car hard. The icy road made it difficult to maintain her control and she was forced off the road and over the embankment. The sturdy Outback was rolled over and over and finally came to a stop. Smoke started to come from the engine and it look like a fire was going to breakout any moment. The dazed woman unbuckled her seatbelt and forced her way out of the car. A fire exploded with enthusiasm and the car got caught up in it. She tried to retrieve at least her purse but the fire got out of control and her purse had been thrown into the backseat by the rolling. She realized that she had to get away from the vehicle before the fire hit the gas tank. After running in the deep snow for fifty feet or more she turned and watched her car and everything she practically owned go up in a fiery blaze. She heaved a great sigh and turned and walked away. She didn't think it would be a good idea to try to climb the embankment since the trucker was probably waiting to see if she had died. Sheesh, he tried to kill her simply because she was a frail. Bigot!
At the same time not too distant away a very pissed off Colonel was stalking thru the underground base with many soldiers behind him. The crackling of the wires and power boxes only meant that the procedure was a failure or rather the Major in charge was trying to get away with something he shouldn't. If the huge claw marks on the walls and the large dent in the heavy steel door was any indication, there was trouble, and lots of it.
Barging angrily into the lab he surveyed the damage.
"What the hell happened in here, Stryker!" The colonel shouted angrily.
"We hit a minor glitch." Stryker said quietly. The Colonel raised an eyebrow and looked at the 'minor' glitch. Bodies were scattered everywhere and moans could be heard among the dead lab technicians. The Colonel's eyes narrowed. Minor glitch. HA! He advanced on Stryker who fell back against the wall.
"You dare to tell me that this is a minor glitch! You have a much skewed sense of what is minor, Stryker!" He kept up the advance until Stryker was pinned against the wall. His face was nose to nose with Stryker. Stryker had been playing mad scientist again. The procedure was supposed to go smoothly, without a hitch. But it would seem that Stryker had up the ante, adding something that was not agreed upon. The Colonel realized that it would be hard to tell what was really going on since most of the said witness and cohorts were either dead or getting there fast.
"Hank!" The Colonel yelled. A rather large blue biped advanced quickly at the summons.
"Yes Logan?" The large blue fellow asked.
"I want you to search the file and computers and see if you can get some answers from the wounded." Hank nodded and went to work immediately. "Hanson! Arrest Stryker. And take him to the chopper and keep a stern eye on him. If he gives you any trouble you have my permission to shoot to wound painfully. I need him alive for now." Hanson nodded and cuffed a protesting Stryker.
"You can't do this to me, Colonel!" Stryker protested.
"Really? It's alright to abuse someone else's purgatives, but not yours?" The Colonel glared at the Major. "I'm warning you right now. Victor better be alright. He is one of the most decorated heroes of our time and you treat him like this! If he can't be found or if he dies, I will see you sent straight to hell! Hanson. Get him out of my sight, now!" Hanson dragged the protesting Major away. The Colonel sighed. "Summers!" He yelled. A man with ruby colored goggles came at the call. He was tall and lean and rather young.
"Yes, Colonel!" Summers wasn't dressed like the other soldiers but rather in a black leather body suit.
"I need you to check on the weather and see if you can get Ro to do something…" The Colonel trailed off. "No….Ro probably isn't well enough to handle this storm yet, damn Erik! Just contact the Fortress and see if they can get a satellite reading on the weather and see if we can pick up Victor as well." The Colonel said thoughtfully.
"Yes Colonel Walker." Summers said briskly. The Colonel stalked around the ruined lab with a scowl on his face.
"Colonel, sir." One of the men said coming up to him. "We've found one of the lab techs alive and unhurt. He really doesn't want to talk."
"He doesn't does he? Well, let's see if we can remedy that." The Colonel got a wicked smile on his face. The man shuttered to think what was in store for that lab tech.
One hour later:
"I don't believe Stryker. How could he do this!"
"It was authorized sir." The med tech said quietly. "See the last page has the signature of the one who authorized the procedure." The Colonel was rifling thru some papers in a file folder. He had a very pissed off look on his face. He lifted the last pages of the paperwork and stared at the name.
"Oh, for the love of God!" The Colonel exclaimed angrily. "Is he insane! Taking Victor's memories away! That is the most stupid idiotic thing I've ever heard of. Didn't they know that his healing factor would reject such damage! And what else is this?" The Colonel fumed shoving the papers into the scientist's face.
"Ummm. I'm not sure. That is Major Stryker's work. I've never seen that kind of treatment before. My unit was only supposed to do the bonding. Stryker was doing something else. He didn't say what, but the papers were all in order. I wouldn't have allowed him to do anything else. I know he outranks me, but I do know the regulations about that sort of things. Even I can veto such treatment. I wish I had, but the signature…." He trailed off. He remembered the violence of the subject's response to the memory tampering. He didn't know it wasn't part of the subject's agreement. "I'm
sorry. I didn't know that he wasn't informed about the entire procedure." The scientist said meekly.
The Colonel sighed. He realized that Stryker and the other man had deceived both Victor and the other doctors on the project. He calmed down somewhat. The scientist was genuinely upset, and saddened by the events he took part in. The Colonel knew this by his body language and scent. Summers came back to the lab and quietly spoke into the Colonel's ear.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!" He heaved a great sigh and took a deep breath. "Pierce!" Pierce snapped to attention and saluted.
"Sir!" He stood rock still and waited for the commands.
"I want you to contact the Fortress and tell Val and Kate to arrest this man." The Colonel held up the files and showed the name to Pierce. "I don't care what it takes to arrest him and throw him in the brig. If it takes a knee to the groin or anything stronger then that, I don't care!" Pierce looked at the name. He had a grin on his face. The most unlikable person on the planet as far as most people was concerned.
"Yes sir! It would be my pleasure sir!" Pierce saluted briskly. A smile finally came across the Colonel's face. It was not a pleasant one. Summers shivered. He didn't like what it implied, he had seen it before…and it was nasty business crossing Colonel Walker. Pierce got on his communicator and gave the fortress the Colonel's orders.
"Pierce? I want you to start the evacuation of the base of all nonessential personnel. Tell Hank to leave some of his staff here to further research the events and what Stryker did to Victor." Pierce nodded. "I want Hank to gather what evidence he can gather and get ready to join us to return to the Fortress. Pierce nodded firmly and went to give Hank his orders.
It took very little time to evacuate the base and leave only essential personnel to complete the investigation. The choppers and other air vehicles had left and the area was left alone to the storm.
CHAPTER II
Seven hours had passed and the search for Victor had been called off. Colonel Walker prowled his office like a caged feline and fumed furiously at the circumstances. His wife had called repeatedly and demanded to know if Victor had been found. He dreaded every call and was fearful that he had no news on Victor. She was getting angrier by the moment and his wife was not to be trifled with. To make matters worse, both Kal-El and Batman had been attacked during their search for Victor by agents of Hydra. Kal-El had been blasted by a rifle that used kryptonite as ammunition. Hank was surprised that he wasn't killed outright. Batman had the presence of mind to destroy the rifle and return Kal-El to the Fortress for treatment. Hank said it would be eight hours more under the special lighting and at least a full day of him taking sun for him to be fully healed. It was becoming obvious that Hydra had something to do with Victor's extra treatment. If both Stryker and the "now" former director of affairs of S.H.E.I.L.D. were in cahoots with Hydra….it now meant that a thorough housecleaning was in order. The weather however was not cooperating with either friends or foes that were looking for Victor.
Three days had passed since Victor's mad dash for freedom and the storm was still raging. Hank was certain that the extra treatment for Victor had somehow altered his DNA to such an extent that certain abilities had been enhance to a fine edge. Wither he was still Victor had yet to be seen, if he was still alive. But that was a certainty as far as Colonel Walker was concerned. Victor had a most prevalent healing factor and was well trained in survival skills. Even if his mind had been messed with; certain training couldn't be erased.
His office was cluttered with papers and files and boxes and several super heroes lounging about. Kal-El had finished his treatment and was looking almost like his old self. Batman still was a little pale from the broken ribs he had sustained from the Hydra attack. A beautiful woman had just opened his door and walked in, the Colonel's heart skipped a beat. But it always did.
"Logan! Any word on Victor?" She demanded. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. That was the only conformation that she needed that no new word about Victor.
"To bad we can't just call him on the phone." Kal-El said wistfully. The Colonel started. It wasn't like Kal-El to joke about something like this, but Victor was a sometime partner of his during his fights against the bad guys. They were quite close. Call him on the phone, call him on the phone…..a flash of an idea hit the Colonel like a solar flare.
"Why the hell not!" Colonel Walker exclaimed. Everyone looked at him in confusion and surprise. "Kal-El old son, you're a genius!" Exclaimed the Colonel. Kal-el looked surprised.
"I am?" He looked at Batman and shrugged.
"Logan what are you thinking?" Asked his curious wife.
"What if we were to call him at the cabin? It's not that far away from where he was, by his standards. What if he has been there the whole time?" The Colonel became very animated and picked up a receiver of a radio phone and punched a few buttons quickly.
"Hey if you're calling the cabin I want it on speaker phone so I can hear him myself." His wife said firmly.
"Fair enough," and another button was pushed and he put down the receiver.
The room became very quiet and the woman settled into a spare chair and sat fidgeting a little impatiently. Kal-El had decided that he wasn't comfortable standing any longer and took a lotus position and hovered about four feet off the floor. Batman shifted carefully on his seat minding his sore ribs as everyone listened at the ringing phone. It was allowed to ring and ring.
"How long are you go?" Kal-El asked. When the phone stopped ringing and a timid female voice asked….
"Hello? Cabin in the middle of nowhere, during a major wicked snowstorm, Jubilation Lee speaking." The office became even more silent. "UH Hello?"
"Hello, Jubilation Lee. What are you doing in the cabin?" The Colonel asked.
"Waiting out a really major storm here. The wind is like blowing really fast and the snow is like real deep."
"Are you alright?" The Colonel asked.
"Oh yeah. Just doing really swell here. There's food and blankets and even power, gnarly." She sounded like a teenager, a valley girl from California no less.
"Uh, Jubilation, how did you get there in the first place?" The Colonel asked.
"You can like call me Jubilee, all my friends do." She answered. "Well, it's kind of a long story…wanna hear it?"
Fidgeting in the office got to the maximum but the Colonel was curious how an obvious valley girl was in a cabin in the Canadian Rockies. The Colonel knew that everyone was wondering if Victor was there, but his curiosity was peaked.
"Yes, actually I would be very glad to hear your story." The Colonel said among the groans that filled his office not to mention the hissy fit that his wife was beginning to have.
"Actually it started way back in Metropolis, you know, Superman's hang-out. I had this boyfriend ya see he turned out to be someone that I didn't know, or someone he said he wasn't. Does that make any sense to you? Well, I decided to get away for awhile, I came to Canada, cause I want to see some snow…like there's a lot of snow alright. Any way I was looking for a job and this trucker made a really strong pass at me and I told him I wasn't like interested… and he got kind of upset. During which time he found out that I'm a frail. You would believe how some people will give you trouble for being that, ya know." She paused to take a breath.
"Yes well that's his problem isn't it?" The Colonel said gently.
"Yeah, well. I left cause they didn't need any more cooks and he followed me and ran me off the road. My car went over this cliff and rolled and rolled. Boy, it's a good thing I was wearing my seatbelt. Anyway, the car like caught fire… and I had to leave everything behind, like all of my personal belongings. The car like exploded in a huge fireball and there wasn't anything left of my life…totally bogus man. I couldn't go up the cliff cause the trucker was probably waiting for me…so I like trudge thru the snow for hours and hours trying to find my way back to the road. Didn't find it. Found the cabin though. It's really nice and I like it a lot. Is it yours?" Jubilee asked.
"It's the family's vacation home. I built it myself." The Colonel said with a little pride and some fondness. "So how did you find it? It's not that easy to see if you don't know where it is."
"Well. The really large blonde lion dude found it. It was like he knew where it was and how to get there." Jubilee answered. Really large blonde lion dude! Could it be? Victor! The woman sitting next to his desk gasped. "When we got in I had to like light a fire and stuff. After awhile it got warm and cozy. The kitchen wood stove…I lit that too. I used to work at this old fashioned pizza place and it was a lot like that. I got the lion dude settled because he was not feeling so hot, or rather he was. He was like burning up. I searched the cabin and found a bathroom and it had a medicine cabinet. But really man, it's not really well stocked. It had shaving stuff and toothpaste and brushes and deodorant and mouthwash and a very nice selection of condoms, which I wish I had know about earlier when lion dude became really, really very friendly and affectionate when I settled him in front of the fireplace. This medicine cabinet has like no aspirin or medicines at all. You really need to stock up on stuff like that." Bedlam in the office broke out at that little tirade and a booming laugh came from Kal-El. The woman snickered and the Colonel smiled broadly. "Uh like what's going on?" Jubilee asked.
"Sorry Jubilee, the TV is turned up too loud, I'll have the wife turn it down." The Colonel said hiding an amused snort as a cough. "Listen I'm sorry that there's no medicine in the bathroom cabinets, but my family has a real good healing factor and we are rarely if ever sick."
"Oh, that kind of explains things. Well, lion dude's fever is almost gone now anyway. He really packs away the food. I hope the storm is gonna be over soon, we'll run out of supplies soon."
"Don't worry about that, Jubilee there's more supplies in the root cellar." The Colonel said reassuringly.
"Get out! This place has a root cellar?" Jubilee said surprised. "The lion dude most have known that cause he doesn't seem very worried."
"Why do you call him lion dude?" The Colonel asked.
"Because I don't know his name and he doesn't talk, just growls and rumbles and sounds like a lion. He kinda looks like one too."
"Okay, now Jubilee, lion dude's name is Victor."
"Victor! What a great name!" She sounded delighted. "Hey that must be his name…he's looking over here and smiling at me." She paused. "Oh, wait, Victor you just stay put now." They heard a thump and oomph. "Now see we're both on the floor now." The office heard a familiar sound coming out of the speakers. Victor was in full purr mode. "Okay now that tickles….stop that Victor….no wait that makes me crazy…." She giggled joyfully. It appeared to everyone that she really didn't mind the affectionate mauling she was getting. It did indeed sound like a lion in full throat and the Colonel could easily understand how she would think of him as a lion. "Okay. I'm on the phone so you better stop that so I can finish talking……"
"Are you alright Jubilee?" The Colonel asked amused.
"I'm fine, it just like getting rubbed on by a lion or tiger. I'm not really sure of which one though. It depends on which one is the heaviest. I mean Victor weighs like a ton!"
"I'll just bet!" The Colonel laughed. It was mostly out of relief then humor. "Listen carefully Jubilee. There are some very unfriendly people out to get Victor. So stay alert to what's going on outside."
"Well now I can only see snow outside and the wind is like blowing like a tornado. So if anybody is outside they're gonna be in trouble. I don't think it's a very good idea to bother Victor."
"What do you mean by that?" The Colonel asked.
"Well, that's how I kind of met him. See I was trudging around in the snow and this huge Grizzly bear like looked at me like I was a Hardee's hamburger and charged. He was getting closer and closer, I mean he's like the size of the Chrysler Building. I was certain that I was gonna be his fast food lunch, but lion dude…I mean Victor came roaring out of nowhere and attacked Chrysler Building Grizzly bear. I mean he was like almost totally naked wearing nothing but black brief, briefs, leaving nothing to the imagination…. and he pounced on the bear and took him on with nothing but his bare hands."
"What happened to the bear?" The Colonel asked.
"Well, Victor's like been using him as a sleeping bag in front of the fireplace. And I think if those people want to keep doing things…. like breathing, they better leave Victor alone." The office simple exploded with laughter, even Batman had cracked a huge smile. "Because if he can take on a Grizzly bear with no clothes on, in not to good a shape, then he'd be trouble for whomever, now that he's better." The girl continued without noticing the explosion of laughter in the background.
"Listen Jubilee, I'm really grateful to you for taking care of Victor. Would you mind doing me a favor though?" Logan asked.
"Sure. What kind of favor?"
"Well, would you see if you can get Victor talking? I'm pretty worried that he's not talking. I need to know precisely what happened to him."
"Oh sure. Now that I know his name and everything, it'll be easy. Ya know he looks a little like that Sabretooth guy." Jubilee said.
"It's because he is that Sabretooth guy." Logan smiled. She sounded kind of sweet. He was beginning to like her. Victor obviously did. His wife looked very relieved and she sighed quietly.
"That is so cool! I'm shacking up with a hero!" Jubilee exclaimed. Logan chuckled.
"No, actually you're shacking up with my son."
"Your son's a hero, man!"
"It runs in the family, Jubilee." Logan laughed, delighted. "Look at the panel on the phone receiver and you'll notice a red button and a black button."
"Oh, yeah, they're there."
"Good. The red button is for emergencies and the black button is for redial. It will allow you to call back to my office. So if you'll work on getting him speaking, you can call me here and his mother would like to talk to him. Alright."
"Sure. Not a problem. I'll call you back in the morning?"
"That'll be fine, Jubilee. Thanks again for taking such good care of him, and do watch out for strangers. They will not be gentle with you two. There's a photo album there at the cabin and that will be the people you'll let in when the storm clears….right?"
"Right, Mr.……."
"Colonel Walker, Jubilee. Sleep well. Could you put the phone to Victor's ear please?"
"Sure, Colonel." She held the phone to Victor's ear, who licked Jubilee's nose affectionately.
"Victor. Victor. It's dad." The Colonel said firmly. Victor responded by purring loudly. "Be careful. Hydra is after you. Keep a lookout for them, alright." Victor acknowledge by growling softly. His dark eyes looked like they glowed red.
"Uh, Colonel. I think he heard you. I don't think he's like ready to speak yet, but I'll keep trying, okay?"
"Thanks Jubilee. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We'll see if there's an improvement then. Good night dear."
"Good night sir." Jubilee giggled. "Now Victor that tickles, you're gonna have to stop that. Come on that's enough." Jubilee hung up the phone. The office exploded with laughter. It was from relief mostly, then amusement.
"Gee, Vic has all the luck. She sounds really cute." Kal-El said, chuckling.
"Jealous?" The Colonel asked.
"Not really.
"Good. I want you to find out who she is. She sounds sincere and very open, but I do want to know who Vic is sharing the cabin with. And since Metropolis is your stomping ground, I believe you can find out who she is. Jubilation Lee is an unusual name to say the least."
"It shouldn't be too hard to track her after all she said she was a frail. They are kind of on the rare side these days." Batman said quietly.
"That's putting it mildly." Kal-El said. Although I know of at least one other, myself." In the office there were smiles all around.
"So how is Trica by the way?" Logan asked Kal-El.
"Pretty good as always. If anyone knows anything about a fellow frail, it'll be her. So the first thing I'll do is go see her."
"I'm going too." Batman said firmly. He rose out of the chair gingerly.
"I'll have to go see her as my other self, you know that." Everyone in the room knew who his other self was including Batman, who found out with a little subterfuge. "You going as your other self would be pushing it. Better go as Batman, she's pretty smart she just might figure you out. Going as Batman would be alright. She knows I work on new programming and building new computers…so building one for you would not be a stretch." Kal-El said smiling.
"Agreed." Batman nodded. The two super heroes turned to leave.
"Thanks for saving Kal-El, Bruce. I really appreciate your help." Logan said quietly. Batman turned abruptly.
"Did you?" Batman turned to Kal-El. Kal-El shook his head and tapped his nose with a finger. "Oh. You're welcome, Colonel." And Batman gave a rare smile and nodded and walked out the door.
"See you later, sir." Kal-El nodded at the Colonel. He winked at the Colonel and his wife.
"It's good to see that you're alright, Kal dear." The Colonel's wife said to the large superhero. Kal nodded to her and left the office with Batman. The office cleared of most of its occupants. The woman turned to her husband. "Bruce?" She asked confused.
"If you can keep a secret, my pet?" Her husband said to her.
"Don't think that'll be a problem." She grinned and chuckled.
"Bruce Wayne is Batman. He's got to remember that those with enhanced abilities can smell who he is. I think that little scene will see to it that he will find a solution to a problem he didn't know he had."
"Ah, you did that on purpose."
"Yes I did. Didn't really want to be too obvious about it." Logan smiled broadly.
"No sense of beating him over the head with a club, right?" His wife chuckled. Her bright eyes sparkled, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Marie…must you always take my breath away?" He took her by the hand. Normally it would be risky taking her by the hand, but she was wearing gloves. He could touch her briefly with little effect, unlike anyone else…except their children. They were immune to her deadly absorbing talent. Marie answered by holding her gloved hand to his face, smiling tenderly. "I'll take that as a yes," He said quietly.
