It was the very first international incident involving mutants, and the footage played around the world. In fact, unless you were living with your tribe in the middle of the rainforest, you had probably seen and heard about it.
The cameras at the world conference had recorded the strange white cloud expanding out from the Statue of Liberty, but the most interesting shots came from inside the statue.
Security cameras at the entrance had captured the mutants as they passed the metal detector: A tall slim man with a strange visor, a white-haired woman, a red-haired woman, and a man with claws. They were wearing similar black leather uniforms.
As they walked through, the last man set off the metal detector and in one swift movement his claws shot out and disabled the device.
He was on camera the longest, and there was a clear shot of his face.
"Patch?"
"Logan-san."
"Wolverine!"
"Weapon X."
"Logan."
The man might have forgotten his past, but his past remembered him.
Khaki
**********
It had been a long night. He needed a drink. It had been up to Nick Fury as the director of S.H.E.I.L.D. to ensure the safety of the world leaders and somehow his people had messed up. The first that he knew of Magneto's plan was the strange cloud heading his way. He had wanted answers and Magneto wasn't talking yet. The doctors said he couldn't be questioned until later in the morning. Then someone had found the security footage.
Now he sat in his quarters on the helicarrier with the image of a man's face frozen on his computer screen and an old photograph in his hand. The photograph showed a group of soldiers in front of a tank in Paris, France the day it was liberated from the Nazis. Nick had his arm around a brunette and a bottle of wine in his hand. Beside him was a smaller man with hair sticking up in two points, his arm around a redhead and another bottle of wine in the other hand and everyone had a cigar. It had been one hell of a party.
It was amazing. It couldn't be him could it? Sgt. John Logan had disappeared years ago. He would be an old man now. But it sure looked like him.
Lurker
**********
The old Complex was sure run down, almost nothing left, and what was left had been burned... to cover up any tracks. It was frustrating, his mind said no... he had never been here before but his instincts and the fact that this place made him feel strange told him that his past partly belonged to this place, but in what way? Had he worked here; was it here that they'd taken him; or maybe they did all the horrible things in his dreams right here...
Six, shiny, metal claws shot out from his hands, and he screamed and trashed a large pile of rubble that was still standing... He came for some answers and all he got was more questions... just as he always did.
-----
Unprofessional behavior?!? Fury stopped inches from smacking the young guard into the interrogation room.
"You listen, Boy. I'm about as far above you in the system as you are from an amoeba, now step aside and open this door." Nick Fury one of the most respected and most decorated soldiers around was not being let in to the Magneto interrogation by a 22 year old runt... He shifted the cigar in his mouth.
"Sorry, Sir. I have standing orders that you are not to be let in to the..." The interrogation room door opened and a big man came out.
"Nick, if you go in there, we know that you would go ape on the old fart." The big man placed a hand on the young guard. "The kid here is only doing his job."
Fury placed the picture in front of his friend's eyes.
"Remember him?" Fury took a puff on his cigar.
The man looked at the photo and closed his eyes... "Fury.. John died, don't start up that crusade..." He was interrupted by a second photo.
"Funny isn't it?" Fury looked at the picture. "Doesn't he look just like our old friend from the Canadian special forces? The guy that saved both our lives and vise versa?"
The big man looked and swallowed...
"Get in..."
Admiral
**********
"Hines, I told you never to call me here. It's not a secure number."
"But, Professor, it's him. Weapon X!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you watch the news? He was one of the mutants that wrecked the Statue of Liberty! His face is everywhere."
"How are you so sure it's him?"
"Who else do you know with nine-inch metal claws? It's him."
"Hines, we've got to get to him. He's not exactly without enemies and if his face is on the news, every one of them will come looking for him. Activate the team and send them to New York."
"What about the Alkali Lake base?"
"What about it? He'll never find it, and even then, it's been burned to the ground."
"But if he goes back..."
"Ok, send a few guys out there, too. But it's a waste of time."
-----
Nick Fury was incensed. First off, he was in a sweat suit and socks. They couldn't risk him wearing any metal around this guy, but it was hard to be intimidating in comfort-wear.
Secondly, Magneto wasn't talking.
"I know you know this man," he said, holding up the picture. "He was at the Statue of Liberty. Where is he? How can we find him?"
Magneto kept his mouth shut. Why were they looking for Wolverine? He was with Charles' people, and probably lived at the school. But he wouldn't tell them that. No one was going after Charles but him.
Khaki
**********
"You know that beast, Ogun?"
"Indeed, Shingen. That bestial man was the greatest student I ever taught. Over four decades ago. Yet he remains unchanged today. I knew there was something more than human about him."
"He seems very skilled," Shingen's daughter, Mariko, observed. She didn't voice her opinion that he was also handsome.
"Leave us, Mariko. What we are about to discuss is a concern for men."
The demon ninja and one of the highest ranking members of the Yakuza discussed plans.
-----
Nick Fury was continuing his fruitless interrogation when a young officer ran in.
"What the hell are you doin' bustin' in here, Boy?"
"Sir, we've got an identification on Magneto."
"Do not speak of me as if I wasn't here child."
"Ya ain't in the mood to add to the conversation, so I don't care if he does ignore ya."
"His name is Erik Lensherr, Sir. He used to work with the CIA in tracking down war criminals." The young man handed over the dossier and left.
"Ya were in the camps."
"The camps?"
"The concentration camps. I'll never ferget 'em. I helped liberate some of 'em and it just made me wanna toss all those Nazi scum inta the ovens where they put your people."
"Mutants are my people. And don't patronize me. You are far to young to have been in World War II."
"It's called the Infinity Formula. Practical immortality and it sucks. I'm older than ya are sonny-boy. And if ya were in the camps ya should be bendin' over backwards ta help me. That man is one of the biggest heroes of the war. The Canucks don't get much credit, but Logan an' another one, a guy named Creed helped save my unit's butt a bunch a times. The Howlin' Commandos wouldn't have lived long enough to be famous without those two."
Jason Barnett
**********
Magneto, or Erik, whichever you prefer, held his head in his hands as he contemplated this new information.
'The Howling Commandos! Those men were famous, even if I didn't know there names.' Magneto thought.
"Come on ya dead beat! Tell me what you know!" Fury yelled at him as he slammed his fist on the plastic table.
"Wouldn't you like to know Commander Fury. But I doubt those beasts would even recognize you." Erik said.
Sparrow
**********
"It's Colonel Fury. And what do you mean?"
"The blonde man who was with me. His name is Victor Creed. I certainly had no idea he was one of the Howling Commandos."
"He wasn't. I'd just been assigned the command and the whole team was rookies. We were bein' pounded on 'til those two came in with their unit an' saved our asses."
"Colonel, you think he's telling the truth."
"You saw him too, Dum Dum. I knew the blonde guy looked familiar, but he's changed a lot. Now, I wanna know what ya know about Logan!"
"Very little except he knows nothing either and his skeleton his merged with a metal that is very easily manipulated by magnetic energy."
Jason Barnett
**********
"What do you mean, 'his skeleton is merged with metal'? How..."
"Colonel Fury, we've got an I.D. on one of the other mutants."
"Lemme see that," Fury said as he snatched the bio sheet from the young corporal. "Dr. Jean Grey?"
"Yes, sir. We I.D.'d her from last month's senate hearings on mutant issues. She was one of the speakers. She works at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters."
"Let's go."
-----
"Roger that, we have Weapon X in sight. He seems to be searching around in the rubble. What are our orders?"
"Keep out of sight and stay downwind of him. The rest of the team will join you in three hours. If he attacks or tries to leave, shoot him."
Khaki
**********
Nick Fury pulled up the drive of Xavier's School. According to his people Dr. Jean Grey had been with the man who looked like Logan when Magneto had been taken down and would have answers. While he was curious about why four people with mutant abilities had decided to wear leather jumpsuits and fight the evil in the world, what he was really after was any information on Logan.
He knocked on the door and waited. After a few minutes it was opened by a young Asian girl with the most beautiful blue eyes he had seen.
"Hello, Col. Nick Fury of S.H.E.I.L.D." He said showing his badge. "I'd need to speak to Dr. Jean Grey".
~Jubilee please bring our guest to my study,~ said the professor.
"This way," Jubilee said as she lead the tall dark haired man to the professor. The door opened as they reached it, and a group of students poured out almost running them over.
"Thank you Jubilee that will be all," said the Professor.
She stepped out and closed the door making enough noise to make it sound like she had left and put her ear to it.
Lurker
**********
"Hello, I'm Professor Charles Xavier. Dr. Grey is unavailable at the moment. May I help you?"
-----
-2 hours earlier-
Scott, Jean, and Ororo were waiting outside of Cerebro.
"This is a waste of time. Logan can take care of himself."
"Scott, what if he doesn't know that he's on the news. He could get into real trouble if any FOH spot him."
"More likely, it's the FOH that would be in trouble."
-----
Immersed in Cerebro, Professor Xavier concentrated, searching for that distinctive personality that was Logan. ~Logan.~
A string of curses flooded his mind followed by, ~What is it, Chuck? I'm busy.~
The professor stifled a mental chuckle and informed Logan of the security camera footage.
~No one seemed to recognize me when I drove out here, but thanks for the info.~
Just then, the wind shifted and Logan picked up the smell of Aquavelva, Brute, and gun oil. There were three men about 500 yards to the north hidden in the trees.
~Gotta go, Chuck. I've got company.~
~I'll send help.~
~Don't bother. I think I can handle three guys.~
That's when he heard it. Two or three choppers headed his way. ~On second thought...~
-----
Logan sprinted through the rubble of the old base trying his best to dodge the bullets coming from the soldiers to the north. He had to get to the bike and get out of here before the choppers could unload. He took a round in the shoulder and another in the thigh, before he made it to the trees. He'd stumbled, but kept going.
He could distinctly hear three choppers now. One stopping above the main road, where he'd left his bike, and the other two heading over to the frozen lake. That'd be the only clear place to land in the vicinity. The one by the road was probably de-embarking passengers by ropes. They were trying to cut him off, surround him.
When he heard the explosion, he knew they'd found the bike. 'Scooter'll be pissed that I lost his bike. Oh well.'
His objective changed as he ran East trying to get out of the area before they could set up their perimeter.
He wasn't quick enough. Helicopters were faster than he was on foot. Soon they were everywhere, and he was having trouble distinguishing between scents. He realized they'd placed snipers in the trees when shots rang out. He took three in the chest, one in the gut, and one in the back of his head. The head shot made his ears ring and darkness cloud his vision as it ricocheted off his adamantium. He fell and let the darkness take him.
-----
He awoke to the sounds of boots on ice, the jarring feeling of being carried, and the smells of four men close-by. He was on a cot, trussed up like a turkey, his hands tied behind his back and his feet tied and pulled up to his hands.
"Why'd we have to tie him up like that? There's no way he's getting away with those injuries."
"Orders. Shut up, Johnson, and signal the chopper."
If he was going, now was the time. *Snikt.* With a fluid movement, he unsheathed his claws and cut through the ropes around his feet. His hands were at the wrong angle to cut through the ropes on his wrists, so he'd have to make do. He jumped off the cot, kicking and spinning, slashing with his claws on the way around. They didn't have a chance. Their comrades on the chopper saw what happened, however, and started firing.
He ran away from the chopper out across the ice. He was hit again in the chest, but he wasn't letting it stop him. Then, he heard it.
*CRACK.*
The ice below him gave way, and he fell into the lake. His adamantium skeleton made him about as buoyant as a lead brick and he immediately sunk below the water. The stinging water pricked his skin like thousands of needles, and it took all his will-power not to gasp for breath.
Even if his hands were free, he would have had trouble swimming up to the surface. With his hands tied, there was no chance.
Khaki
**********
The ninja master Ogun and her father had left to track down the foreigner. Mariko slipped back into her father's office. She picked up the old photograph that Ogun had left there. It showed the man they had seen on the TV looking the same but dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.
Mariko was used to living in a world of shadows, layered meanings, and dangerous men. She had learned to be a good judge of character and to listen to her instincts. Putting her attraction aside she studied the face in front of her. Her father and Ogun were bringing him back to Japan, and she needed to know what kind of a man he was.
-----
It was hard to hear through the thick wood of the Professor's study but Jubilee managed to catch the name Logan before Xavier told her to leave. Something was up. All the students knew that the plane had taken off from under the basketball court a few nights before and everyone had seen the on-going coverage on the news. They knew that their teachers had saved Rogue and the world leaders.
So her teachers had a thing for leather and saving the world was an after-hours job. Yeah, it was weird, but her whole life was weird ever since her powers had shown themselves.
The one thing she knew was that Rogue had become a friend and that this Logan guy had saved her life and was one of them. Now it seemed that the law was after him about something. Maybe he'd stolen someone else's motorcycle. Jubes snickered at the thought. The look on Summer's face had been priceless. She hoped that the Professor could somehow warn Logan. Rogue said that he'd left to try to find his past, that he was headed back to Canada to some old base that began with an A.
By this point she had reached the front door again and saw John, Bobby, and Kitty admiring Fury's car. She headed over to them to tell them what she had heard but noticed something in the car that started the wheels in her head to spin. A plan was forming.
"Jubilee what are you thinking?" asked Bobby as he noticed the grin making its way over her face.
"No time, Icecube. Kitty can you get me inside the car?"
"Sure. Why?" Kitty asked suspiciously.
"Exactly," said Jubilee "Now get me in there and hand me a disk would ya? Bobby, John keep an eye out, if a dark haired man with an eyepatch comes out, stall him."
Kitty knew she was in trouble, but grabbed Jubilee's hand and phased them into the front seat of the car and handed her the spare disk. Jubilee started up the computer that was built into the car and began hacking with Kitty's help. They'd finally gained access and started looking for anything on Logan or the week's events, downloading promising top secret S.H.E.I.L.D. files onto the disk beside Kitty's history report on ancient Roman religions.
-----
Nick walked out of the school with more questions than answers. There was a lot more going on here than met the eye. There was a group of teenage students around his car.
"OK, kids, away from the car," he said as he walked up.
Bobby and John tried to warn the girls, but Jubilee had to get the disk and turn off the computer. She handed Kitty the disk and reached over to hit the power button letting go of Kitty's hand just as Kitty phased out of the car.
Bobby and John tried to distract him and blocked his view enough so he didn't see the girls, but there was no way Kitty could get Jubilee out without the man seeing. Jubilee jumped into the backseat and hit the floor. Nick climbed in without looking in the back seat. He was completely unaware of his passenger as he took off down the road.
'OK, J. Don't panic! He has to stop sometime. You'll just get out when he does, call the school, tell them it was just a joyride and get grounded for life. Everything will be just fine,' she told herself. She almost believed it, too. At least until the car shifted, and she got the sudden feeling of being in an elevator as the treetops she had been seeing slipped from sight, and all she could see was blue sky. She risked a quick peek out the side window and realized that they were flying! The destination was a huge flying ship of some kind.
'Oh yeah, Lee. Everything will be just fine.'
-----
Logan's world had narrowed down to the burning in his chest as he kicked with his legs trying to reach the surface. He couldn't really feel his legs anymore. He hoped that they were still working. He knew he didn't have long but he refused to give up.
Lurker
**********
Kitty ran into the computer lab, with Bobby, St. John, and Rogue hot on her heels.
"What do we do about Jubes?" Rogue wailed.
"She'll probably just get out of the car when he stops." Bobby said.
"I don't think so," Kitty said as she read the computer screen. "From the information I'm getting, he must work for some top secret government agency. What if he takes Jubilee to some compound she can't get out of?"
-----
'Ok, Lee, think. You're on board some kind of floating ship with no way down, no way to ask for help, and you've gotta get out of this car before someone walks by and spots you. This was so not a good idea.'
-----
As the Blackbird approached the coordinates the professor had given them, it picked up a jumble of activity. Two helicopters were circling the area while one hovered over the lake, and the scanning equipment showed the ground was covered with soldiers.
"Looks like Logan got someone's attention. There's too many to fight. Jean, use your powers. Find Logan, and we'll pick him up."
Jean closed her eyes and concentrated. She'd felt this mind before; it shouldn't be too hard to locate again. When she found him, she was overcome.
Chest burning... body numb... trapped... can't breathe... gotta get up... gotta get out.
Then, blackness.
"Jean!" Scott's hand, shaking her shoulder, helped her pull back into her own mind.
"He's trapped under the ice."
Scott paused for a moment and then said, "Ok, here's the plan. Jean, Storm get back to the hatch. I'll lower the jet and set it to hover just above the ice, then I'll join you. Use your powers to raise him to the surface, and I'll use my blasts to keep the soldiers back." It wasn't the best plan ever, but time wasn't on their side.
Scott tried to keep his beams to lower intensity. He didn't want to kill any of these humans, just keep them back. When a helicopter swooped in on a strafing run, he had to increase the power and hope for the best. The helicopter fell from the sky about 200 feet from the jet, the ice cracked immediately, and it started to settle into the water.
"Hurry up," Scott called as he saw the other two choppers on the way.
"We've got him," Jean grunted and Scott ran back to the pilot's seat.
As he buckled in, he could hear 'Ro's astonished voice, "He's blue! Is he breathing?"
Khaki
**********
Jean let her mind briefly touch Logan's. "He will be in a second. Get us out of here, Scott!"
"Close the hatch," Cyclops called over his shoulder as he sent the Blackbird skimming over the surface of the lake.
"Shut!" Storm shouted. She quickly grabbed onto the seat farthest back when her team-leader pulled the aircraft up sharply.
Jean muffled a curse as she wrapped Logan in every blanket they had on board, forcing her telekinetic powers to the limit to keep both of them from bouncing around the cabin. ~Scott!~
~Sorry, Jean,~ Scott sent back down their psi-link. ~The bouncing will stop once we can go into stealth. Right now they're shooting at us.~
"Storm, cloud cover," Cyclops ordered as the dark mutant settled into the co-pilot's seat.
Storm smiled slightly as her eyes blazed white. "Why didn't I think of that?"
Mac
**********
While Storm and Scott worked on getting them away, Jean worked on keeping Logan alive long enough for his healing factor to work. She had already stripped off all of his soaked clothes and wrapped him in the blankets, but it wouldn't be enough, she knew. There was only one way to warm someone with hypothermia out in the field and Scott was not going to like it.
Jean checked Logan's vital signs again and then unzipped her uniform.
'I'm a doctor saving a patient' she told herself as she finished undressing down to just her panties and slipped under the blankets, snuggling as close as she could get to the unconscious man.
-----
Jubilee laid on the floor of the parked car. 'Now what?' she wondered. She was in a kind of hangar bay inside the big floating ship. Col. Nick Fury had left without finding her or noticing anything about the computer. She'd lucked out there.
'Options Lee, A.) I hotwire the car and fly it back to the school. Yeah right. B.) I stay in the car and wait for him to decide to visit Earth again hoping that I don't get caught. C.) I find a bathroom cause I really have ta go and snoop around some then figure out a way home. The main computer should be up here somewhere right? Logan, when I get out of here you're gonna sooo owe me.'
Lurker
**********
Since choice C seemed the only reasonable option, and the only one that allowed for a bathroom break, she peeked her head up to the rear window of the car and looked around. The hangar was deserted. Good.
'Probably don't need anyone down here unless you're coming or going,' she thought.
Off to the right side of the hangar was a Maintenance sign. She headed over there and found the maintenance office. It had a changing room with lockers and a bathroom! Thank heaven.
After matters were attended to, she started looking through the lockers. Only two were unlocked and only one had anything of any use: overalls and a cap.
'I'm gonna ruin this outfit with those greasy overalls. Oh well, I guess Logan owes me a trip to the mall now, too.'
Once she was incognito, including the strategic placement of oil smudges on her face, she left the hangar.
-----
Jean was cold. No, not just cold, freezing. Instead of her body warming Logan up, he was actually cooling her off. It must have something to do with his metal skeleton holding in the cold.
The lake water didn't help. About six minutes into the flight, Logan had started to cough. He must have swallowed half the lake judging by how wet she was.
By the time the plane landed, she was shivering so violently, it was hard to keep the blankets covering them. She had slipped out from under the blankets and was struggling to put her uniform back on when Scott and Ororo came back.
"Jean!"
"Nnnot now, Sssscottt. Get a ssstretcher." She said through chattering teeth.
Ororo moved quickly, grabbing a stretcher from its place in the hangar and ran back to the plane. She and Scott wrangled Logan onto it and carried him to the med bay, Jean shakily following behind.
Once there, Jean moved to Logan's side and started giving orders. "Ororo, get an electric blanket. Scott, turn up the heat in here; I'm freezing."
Jean hurried to the medical supply cabinet and pulled out two IV bags of heated saline. It's a good thing she keeps a few on hand during the winter months. They'd help heat Logan from the inside while the blankets worked on the outside.
She put an oxygen mask on Logan and hooked him up to the heart monitor. Then she started to go through the list of drugs that he might need.
Khaki
**********
Just then, Logan's eyes snapped open and he jerked his head around, taking in his surroundings.
"Logan, it's ok. You're safe. How do you feel?"
"Cold."
Jean smiled, "That's understandable. Your healing factor seems to be kicking in. You'll be fine in a little while. Try to get some rest."
-----
It always worked in the movies. It even worked on TV. It just hadn't worked in real life. Not five minutes after she left the hangar, Jubilee was discovered.
It wasn't that surprising once you thought about it. After all, she was only 16, and she looked her age. The rest of the people she'd seen on her trip to the brig were older, and definitely more on the crusty-soldier side.
She'd been sitting in her cell for about an hour when she got a visitor. It was that guy from the school. The one with the eye patch.
"Ok, kid. What d'ya think you're doing here?"
Khaki
**********
"Well... I was looking for the bathroom."
"Don't give me that crap, girl."
"Okay, fine. I heard you were looking for Logan. I barely know him, but he's a friend of a friend. If Marie would've just moved a little faster she'd be here too."
"Who's Marie?"
"Depends on who you ask? I say she's his girlfriend."
Jason Barnett
**********
"Master Ogun we have located the foreigner that you seek," the kneeling ninja said respectfully. "He is at a school in Westchester, New York. Xavier's School for Gifted Children"
"Then we go to New York," said Ogun to Shingen.
-----
Logan got up and dressed. He needed to talk to the Professor. He needed to know why the military was after him and then he was going to have to leave. He couldn't bring this kind of trouble or attention to the school. The kids here deserved better. He had no right to endanger them this way.
As he headed out he passed Scott who gave him a dirty look. He must be really sore about the bike.
"Sorry about the bike, Bub," he said as he walked by.
"The bike? What happened to my bike?" Scott asked.
Wolverine just kept walking.
-----
"Well that's it," said Kitty to the assembled students. "All I can find on Logan is that someone that looks like him was part of a special forces unit in the Canadian Army during WWII. It went on missions first in Europe and then in the South Pacific, particularly an island called Madripoor. After the war, it went classified."
"If Logan was a part of that unit he'd be over 75 years old," said Bobby softly.
"Maybe it wasn't him but his dad," said St. John.
"He does have dogtags, so he was in the military at sometime," Rogue replied.
"What are you children doing?" Storm asked as she walked into the room. Having that many students clustered around a computer was not a good sign.
Lurker
**********
Kitty quickly switched the screen to a game she had kept in the background just in case one of the teachers came around. Turning she said, "Nothing, Miss Munroe. We were just playing a game."
"None of you should be playing games when you have history reports due tomorrow. Speaking of which. Where is Jubilee? I didn't see her in class."
"Oh, she's not feeling well. She's up in her room taking a nap. You probably shouldn't disturb her."
The doorbell rang.
"Very well, I'll go see her in a few hours. I'm going to get the door and when I get back, I expect to see all of you working on your reports."
-----
"Logan, I wish you would reconsider. If you stayed at the school, we could provide some protection."
"I can take care of myself, and I don't want to put these kids at any risk. Thanks for the lead on this Colonel Fury. Do you think he's behind those troops that attacked me?"
"I didn't get any feelings of hostility towards you when we talked. In fact, I believe he knows you and likes you."
"Hard to believe, huh?" Logan said as he opened the door and headed out into the foyer. The professor followed behind. Ororo was at the front door talking with someone.
-----
Nick Fury rang the door bell with his right hand and clutched the girl's collar in the other. He'd find out what she was doing at the base soon enough. She certainly wasn't talking to him.
A white-haired beauty answered the door. "Yes, may I help you?"
Nick pulled Jubilee out in front on him. "Does this belong to you."
"Jubilee?" a male voice called out.
Nick looked behind the white-haired woman at the professor he'd spoken with earlier. There was a man standing next to him.
He couldn't believe it. He looked exactly the same! "Logan?"
Khaki
**********