Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, yada yada yada…
Background: Storm and Wolverine have been in a serious relationship for the past year.
"Rogue to Beast, come in!" the intercom screamed as the command center came alive with activity. "Rogue to Beast – come in. This is an emergency!"
"Beast here Rogue, what is your situation?"
"Storm's hurt…she's hurt bad. We're comin' in fast – 'bout 5 minutes, meet us at the landin' pad and bring 2 stretchers."
"Two? Who is the other one for?"
"Unknown mutant – a little girl, she was injured with Storm"
"What is the nature of their injuries?"
"A bomb blast – way too close to them. Storm shielded the little girl and paid the price for it. She lost a lotta blood Beast – a lot!"
"I read you Rogue, I'll be waiting for you when you land."
The Blackbird came in 3½ minutes later. The hasty and unorthodox landing alerted Beast, Professor Xavier and Jean to the severity of the situation; but nothing could have prepared them for the injuries they saw. The child was awake and in fairly good condition. She was 8 or 9 years old and had several cuts and bruises on her – one being on her forehead, which immediately gave Hank a reason for concern. Other than that and a little dehydration, she looked to be in pretty good condition.
Storm on the other hand, had taken the brunt of the blast – which judging by her injuries was an incendiary bomb. Rogue and Gambit placed the unconscious field commander on her stomach to tend to all her injuries on her back and side. Her injuries were brutal and significant; what remained of her pure white uniform was covered in blood; and scarred tissue showed through everywhere her uniform had been burned away. Beast's hasty preliminary estimate put 3rd degree burns over 25 – 35% of her body. Her loss of blood was also significant – so much so that Beast didn't wait to get her to the med-lab before initiating treatment – he started right there in the Blackbird. He sprayed an organic epoxy over her wounds to help stop the bleeding - something he created a while ago, but was hoping never to get the chance to test. Though his wish hadn't come true, he was glad he had created it as it quickly slowed her bleeding and aided in blood clotting. He then started a blood transfusion and quickly prepared to move her to the med-lab.
The other X-Men wanted to ask Beast how bad her injuries were but knew enough not to interfere with his work. They instead assisted him in moving her and the little girl to the med-lab and assembled outside awaiting word. Hank and Jean worked feverishly to stabilize Storm's vital signs and bandage her injuries. She remained unconscious the entire time, which really worried Beast. Rogue told him she had been unconscious since the blast – which immediately put the fear of a severe concussion or possible brain damage in his mind. As soon as he stabilized her injuries, he wanted to run a CATscan to see if there was any neural damage.
The awaiting X-Men that had assembled outside the med-lab looked intently at both Jean and Hank to gather any bits of information that would indicate the severity of the situation. Hank kept a straight face the entire time, and although Jean wasn't an MD, she knew the sturdiness in his face wasn't one of optimism – something she unfortunately transmitted to the other X-Men. Beast wasn't one to give up though – if there was a way to save her, he would find it; he was sure of that…and so was everyone else.
"What happened out there?" Betsy asked, looking at Rogue and Gambit – the two that accompanied Storm on their mission.
"It was an ambush by the FOH."
"The Friends Of Humanity? I can't believe Storm could have been done in by one of those lame-brained idiots! She's much too smart for that."
"Of course she is!" Rogue snapped – quick to defend Storm. "The FOH has been on a rampage ever since Creed and Senator Kelly were killed – an' they've gotten a lot more support – especially with weapons. They're also a lot more ruthless – using that little girl as bait. No one coulda seen that comin'."
"Could have seen what coming?" Betsy asked.
"De petit. Dey strap a bomb to her and tie her up…then dey wait for us t' come save her."
"That's when Storm was injured?"
"Stormy smarter dan dat Betsy!"
"So what happened?"
"We counter 'ttack – Stormy took out de one wit de transmitter an' sent 'im flyin' with one o' her energy blasts. We went after de rest."
"If she took out the transmitter, how did the bomb go off?"
"Like I said – it was an ambush. Storm went after the little girl to disarm the bomb, and had it off o' her in no time flat; but the FOH had a second transmitter – that's what did it. Ah yelled to warn her but it was too late. Ah thought fer sure she was gone – ah don't know how she survived that blast."
"Stormy's a tough one – de man she datin' will tell you dat!"
"Omigosh! Has anyone told Wolverine yet?" Betsy asked, knowing how close they were.
"Wolverine, Bishop and Cike are still out – they were monitoring Magneto and some of his heavies before we went to Michigan. The last ah heard, they were still somewhere in the Rockies. Remy, could you get a message to him and tell 'em ta haul his hairy hide back here?"
"Sure t'ing Chere – but he not gonna like dis." I t'ink maybe de frans o' humanity piss off de wrong animal dis time."
Gambit went to the Control Room to contact Wolverine while the other X-Men continued to wait. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation. Logan was sometimes known to take on a "shoot the messenger" attitude, and this was the kind of message that tended to get people in trouble.
"Gambit to Wolverine…Gambit to Wolverine, come in mon ami." Gambit waited patiently for Wolverine's response; nearly a minute later he got it.
"This ain't the best time Gumbo! Me and the boys are knee deep in the brotherhood; we're dishin out a world o' hurt ta Snaggletooth, Blob and a few other 'less than savory' types!"
"Logan, dis an emergency. You gotta get back t' de mansion right away."
Wolverine responded nearly 2 minutes later. "What's so all fired important that it'd take me away from smackin' down on Sabertooth and Fat-ass?"
"It's Storm, Wolverine. She been hurt – real bad. You gotta get back 'ere fast."
"Storm's been hurt?! How bad?! What happened?!" Gambit could hear the tone in his voice change and knew he had Wolverine's undivided attention. Wolverine was one of the only people that could do that – fight off enemy after enemy while still concentrating on the issue at hand. As the battle continued, Gambit gave him some of the details he had and reiterated the importance of returning to the mansion as soon as possible. Unfortunately his conversation was cut short – interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice on the other end of the intercom.
"Wolverine ma boy! I'm disappointed in ya. You're more worried 'bout yer frail than ya are about me? You should be givin' me yer UNDIVIDED attention." Having similar mutant abilities as Logan, Sabertooth overheard every word of his conversation with Gambit. Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong time to eavesdrop on a conversation…or remind Logan of proper fighting etiquette. If he wanted Wolverine's undivided attention, he was about to get it.
"Pipe down ya egg-suckin' piece o' gutter trash! Didn't anyone ever tell ya that it's rude ta interrupt someone in the middle of a conversation?" he yelled as he gave Sabertooth a blood curdling uppercut followed by a size 10½ boot to his right temple – a hit that even Gambit could feel in HIS teeth.
"What did you say Cajun? She was hurt by a bomb? How bad?"
"She got burned pretty bad Logan. Hank and Jean are workin' on her right now, but you bett'r get back 'ere quick."
"You sayin' she ain't gonna make it?"
"Gambit don' know Logan…Gambit jez don't know."
Wolverine could tell Gambit was trying to be optimistic, but the fact that he called him "Logan" instead of "Wolverine" told him that he was also trying to be a friend – the kind that no one wanted.
With Sabertooth temporarily subdued, there were only 3 other mutants left to worry about: Blob, Toad and Hairbag. Hairbag was new to Magneto's group. Looking for a change of scenery, he left Sinister a few months prior. Although he now had a new boss, the scenery hadn't changed much. In fact, the view of Bishop's fist bearing down on him convinced him that it hadn't changed at all.
Bishop - not being one to step down from a challenge - had engaged Toad and Hairbag together. Neither presented much of a problem for the futuristic time cop as he toyed with the two of them much like a matador would with a bull.
Cyclops on the other hand wasn't fairing as well. His optical blasts weren't sufficient in neutralizing Blob – in fact, they were entertaining him. Cyclops dodged Blob's clumsy attempts to hit him, but still tussled with finding the right level of energy to subdue the enormous mutant – after all, drilling a hole in him wasn't an option for the upstanding field commander.
"Cyke, quit playin' around with doughboy and get over here. We gotta get back to the mansion. Storm's been hurt."
"Wolverine, I'm a little busy right now, or have you been too busy chit-chatting with Sabertooth to notice?"
"Can it One-Eye. Gambit said Storm was hurt pretty bad and we gotta head back now, so quit playin' and get rid o' doughboy so we can get goin'."
"Well if you care to help…perhaps we can get this done a little faster!"
"Two of you?!" The Blob yelled out as Wolverine began his approach. "Makes no matter to me, I'm more man than all of you put together!" he yelled as he turned to face Wolverine and absorb his incoming drop-kick. Wolverine's left foot and leg sank halfway into Blob's stomach before the rubbery mass bounced him out like a giant trampoline. Wolverine slid into the ground doing 3 rolls before coming to rest against a large tree.
"Whoa! Guess I won't be trying that again!" he said to himself as he shook his head and regained his composure. "Well if I can't beat 'em, I'll perforate 'em." He said as he unsheathed his claws and headed back to the now laughing giant. Blob was distracted by Cyclops' optical blast as Wolverine made his second approach. As nimble as he was, Blob didn't see Wolverine until he was almost underneath him. Wolverine speared all 6 claws into the Blob's enormous leg – much to his surprise. Logan was sure this would bring the 8ft. giant tumbling down but much to his surprise, it barely had an effect on him. When he withdrew his claws there was barely a drop of blood on them. With Blob's mutant ability, the punctured skin sealed up like play dough.
"Cripes!" Wolverine yelled. "What the hell does it take to bring this guy down?"
"Hey – what's that behind me? A bug clawin' at my leg?" The towering giant yelled as he turned to get a glimpse of Logan. "You know what I like to do with annoying bugs? I squash 'em!" he yelled as he reared down on Wolverine. Only Logan's quickness saved him from what was sure to be a humiliating defeat – sending Blob crashing down on nothing but earth. Logan could feel the ground shake as the nearly 1,000lb behemoth hit it.
He could see the headlines now – "Crack Kills!" The thought almost made him laugh as he prepared for another strike. He couldn't imagine himself being the butt of the Brotherhood's jokes – literally. With that in mind, he readjusted his strategy yet again.
"Come here little man!" the Blob yelled as he clumsily climbed to his feet.
"That'll be the day!" Logan replied while using the Blob's head as a launching pad to climb over and in front of him. "Well, kickin' and punchin' ain't doin' a thing ta stop ya, so I guess I'll have to try slicin' and dicin'" he yelled as he rubbed his six claws together creating the unmistakable sound of sharp metal against sharp metal.
"We'll see who gets sliced and diced." Blob yelled as he lunged at Wolverine.
"You gotta be kiddin'!" Logan laughed while easily dodging Blob's attempt and diving between his legs, emerging behind him unscathed. It was then that he took a swipe at the Blob's backside, carving out a good 3 or 4 lbs. of flesh.
"Arrrgh!" the Blob yelled as he reached behind himself and felt his backside. Seeing the blood on his hand, he took off running in the opposite direction – nearly trampling Cyclops in the process. It wasn't Wolverine's most impressive victory, but it would suffice.
"Now that I'm through cleanin' up yer mess Cyke, let's get back to the mansion."
"Where's Bishop?" Cyclops asked.
"Right here!" he yelled running back up to the group. Toad and Hairbag won't be giving us any problems for awhile – they're a little tied up at the moment."
"What did you do to them?"
"Never mind that – did I hear something about an emergency back at the mansion?"
"Yeah, get in the Blackbird – Storm's been hurt, we gotta get back to the mansion and check up on her."
The three X-Men loaded up and headed back to Salem Center. The somber mood Wolverine was in prompted Cyclops to expedite their trip. As they lifted off, they all got a bird's eye view of the combat zone. They could see Sabertooth still lying unconscious; a trail of downed trees leading up to Blob – who was still fleeing the scene about a quarter mile ahead - still holding what was left if his ass; and what looked like Hairbag and Toad unconscious and tied to a tree – by Toad's tongue. Bishop truly had a sick and twisted sense of humor – which was often the source of great laughter from some of the other X-Men.