Title: Bad Blood Author: Crisis Kris (kmatwoodshaw.ca)
Rating: PG-13 for a bit of violence
Summary: When Scott is injured, the power of Logan's blood is revealed. But what will Magneto do when he finds out?
Disclaimer: The author has no copyright ownership of the characters contained within, and no profit is being made from this story.
Notes: Takes place after X2. Continues the storyline established in Fight or Flight, but can be read separately.
Charles Xavier concentrated on the fight unfolding only a few miles away, scowling. He supposed he should be grateful that Erik had given them as much time as he did, but it was increasingly difficult to feel anything but hate for the man. After all, this was his 'old friend' who had betrayed them all by giving away the secret of Cerebro, setting in motion the events that had culminated in the death of one of his most cherished students and colleagues, Dr. Jean Grey. Still, he had to acknowledge that Erik had an honor system of his own; three months had passed since Jean's death. Erik had maintained an unspoken truce during a period of mourning.
He sighed, focusing again on what was happening out there with his X-Men. It was safe to say that their period of mourning had been declared 'over'.
The attack wasn't much more than a test, really. After they had fled from Alkali Lake, Magneto had taken Mystique and Pyro back to his fortress to recoup and plan the next move in their war. Erik had no doubt that Charles would be off to see the President, and the ensuing swing back to the left on the issue of mutant registration freed up a lot of space for Erik to fill with his own plans for mutant superiority. One significant obstacle always stood in his way, however: his old friend Charles.
Pyro, eager to belong, had provided all kinds of information about the school – defenses that he could remember, the number of students there, what their mutations were. The only thing that remained was to find out whether any of those details were in any way useful, and the only way to do that was to plan a raid of the school. After a long discussion, they had decided to use Pyro's memory of the tunnels to investigate alternative ways into the school, thinking that if they were able to access them undetected, Mystique might be able to slip in unnoticed and do some more reconnaissance.
Unfortunately, Charles' mind had been remarkably free from grief as of late, and he detected Erik's presence long before they'd made any progress through the tunnels. As a result, they'd been met by a group of very ready – and very angry – X men, blocking their entrance to the school, ready to fight.
The Iceman had started in with Pyro right away, and they canceled each other out. Mystique was doing a great job of fighting it out with Storm, but that left Magneto to try and deal with both Logan and Scott. Much as he hated to acknowledge it, Magneto's powers had been significantly drained by his period of captivity, and he found it straining to keep Logan stuck up against a wall; he had no energy left to steal Scott's visor. This left Scott free to blast anyone he liked. Sensing he was outgunned, Magneto was about to signal the retreat when he heard a fierce roar behind him.
"Well, well, well," he said with a chuckle. "Look who's rejoined the pack." Mystique paused a moment to give the newcomer a sly smile, while Logan nearly pulled his bones out of his skin in rage. Sabretooth, however, chose Scott as his prey. This worked well for Magneto; all he had to do was sit back and concentrate on not letting Logan out.
Scott was a good fighter, but Sabretooth was a killer. Dodging the blasts with catlike grace, he stalked up to the younger man and growled softly.
"Look out!" Logan called helplessly, struggling. Scott ducked a little too slowly and Sabretooth's claws sliced through his arm. He cried, falling to one knee. The beast kicked at him a few times to get him moving, then resumed his game of cat and mouse.
Magneto threw his head back and laughed. He could feel Charles rooting around in his mind, panicking, but he was too far away and too weak to do anything about. The others were locked in battle and couldn't come to the rescue, and the Wolverine in particular was helpless and sputtering with rage. It was all too perfect...
The next moment he gasped in shock and fell backward, his eyes bugging out of his head. His lips flopped open and his veins bulged in his head as he panted for breath. His control on Logan slipped and faltered completely, and the Wolverine launched himself at Sabretooth. Soon the two men were at it with a vengeance, claws and blood everywhere. Rogue stepped up from behind Magneto, pulling her left glove back on. "I think I hate that man," she remarked in her soft southern accent. Then she hurried over to Scott's side.
The moment that Magneto fell, Mystique had stopped fighting. Storm briefly considered frying her where she stood but in her mind she felt Xavier forbid it. Sighing, she turned instead to Bobby, who was still fire-and- icing it with Pyro. Taking a deep breath, Storm sent a whirlwind of snow and ice Pyro's way and their combined powers broke the deadlock. Pyro stumbled back, looked at everyone with wide, shocked eyes, then turned tail and ran. Mystique wasn't far behind, hauling Erik along with her.
That left Sabretooth and Logan, who didn't give any indication of letting up any time soon. "Logan!" Storm called. He ignored her. "We have to get Scott back to the mansion."
He paused for a brief moment, his claws hilt-deep in Sabretooth's stomach. "So take him," he ordered, "I'm busy." Sabretooth took that opportunity to clobber Logan over the head and he stumbled back. A second flashed by and they were at it again.
Storm sighed. "What is it with those two?" she wondered out loud, rushing to Scott's side. Bobby was already there, pulling Scott up over his shoulders and grunting in exertion. Just then there was a whirl of blue smoke as Kurt appeared beside them.
"Thank god you're here!" Storm exclaimed.
Kurt nodded. "I just returned." He'd been on a little vacation, getting to know New York. Without further ado, he scooped Scott up in his arms and teleported away. Storm spared one last glance back at Logan and sighed. He was fighting for all he was worth, blood and sweat and spit flying everywhere.
Rogue smiled uneasily beside her. "Do you think we should help him?" she asked.
Storm considered it for a moment and then shook her head. "I don't think he'll let himself get killed," she said. "Let's go." Together with Bobby, they headed back home.
Scott was already downstairs in the medical lab when they got there, Hank fussing over him. Charles Xavier sat near the doorway, looking a little sad. Storm went to him immediately. "Will he be all right?" she asked.
Hank was the one who answered. "His injuries are not severe, but he's lost a lot of blood. He'll need a transfusion. What I need is someone with B blood..." his voice trailed off as he started flipping through the medical files they had. "Ah, here's one. Logan."
"Yeah?" A gruff voice replied, and they all turned. Logan stood in the door, panting and bleeding, though they could already see his wounds begin to heal themselves. Storm looked at him quizzically and he answered her unspoken question. "Blue here figured I shouldn't be left on my own. He brought me back."
Kurt smiled from behind the other man's shoulder. "He doesn't play well with others," he explained.
"So what do you need from me?" Logan returned the conversation to its previous topic.
"You have the same blood type as Scott," Hank explained. "I need to give him a transfusion."
Logan was already rolling up his sleeve. "Take as much as you need, bub," he replied. "It's not like I can't spare it."
Within minutes, the transfusion had been set up, and blood was trickling out of Logan's arm through a complex maze of IV lines and various assorted medical contraptions and into Scott. Logan lay back on the bed, woozy. After all that fighting, losing blood like this was making him feel a little queasy. "All right there?" Hank checked.
" 'S long as I don't have to move anytime soon," he replied with a weak smile. Hank chuckled.
"Not too much longer, I promise," he replied. "Scott's blood pressure is rising nicely and – oh my stars!" The exclamation prompted Logan to sit up and open his eyes, ignoring the dizziness.
"What is it?" he asked, turning to get a better look. Hank stepped aside to let him see. Scott lay on the bed beside him, unconscious and pale, his uniform shirt torn and bloodied. "What? I don't see anything." Logan squinted, but he couldn't tell what the big deal is.
"Look at his face," Hank replied. "Look at the cut on his face." Logan complied. He understood immediately. Scott's face had been badly torn by a couple of Sabretooth's claws. As they watched, however, the cuts began to close up on their own, sealing off and then disappearing, first into little white lines of scar tissue and then into complete nothingness, as though the cuts had never even existed. "He's healing at a greatly accelerated rate," Hank continued.
Logan nodded. "Like me."
It wasn't too long before the entire group was reassembled in the med lab. Scott's injuries were continuing to heal themselves, and he breathed easily under the sedation that Hank had first administered. Charles Xavier watched him for a moment before turning to the room's other patient. "Logan, how do you feel?" he asked.
Logan shrugged. As soon as Scott had started healing on his own, Hank had ended the transfusion, which meant he wasn't losing any more blood. His own wounds had healed quite a while ago. "Fine," he replied, mentally checking in with himself. "Just like normal."
"It's fascinating," Hank broke in excitedly. "It seems that Logan's healing powers were transferred to Scott along with his blood!"
"That does make sense," Charles replied, thinking. "After all, our mutations are in our genes. We carry them at a cellular level."
"I wonder if all mutations are transferable," Rogue commented idly. Hank got a gleam in his eye.
"I'd have to do some experiments," he replied. "Perhaps set up a database to match blood types and set up some case studies. I am presuming, of course, that the blood types must be a match for the powers to be transferred, just as in any transfusion. Which means, unfortunately, that Logan's healing powers can only be made available to someone with B blood..."
"Good news for Scott," Storm broke in, and they all laughed.
Well, almost all. Logan tried to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace. His eyes had taken on a downright haunted look as he headed for the door. "Logan?" Bobby called back to him. "You all right, man?"
"Yeah," he grunted, not turning around. "Just want to get cleaned up."
"Well make sure you come right back down," Hank instructed. "I'd like to take some more blood samples from you. I wonder what would happen if we used your skin for grafts?" Logan stiffened at the idea and did not reply, walking quickly out of the room.
He paused for a moment outside the door, leaning on it and shutting his eyes. 'Air,' he thought. 'I need some air.' It was getting hard to breath in here. Pushing off, he headed toward the garage, thinking that a little bike ride might help him shake the sudden chill that had come over him. Especially if he took Scott's bike.
Back in the lab, Kurt was looking doubtfully at the doctor, who was jabbering away about experiments and blood samples while they all stood around and waited for Scott to wake up. "I don't think Logan wants to give you samples of his skin," he spoke up finally. Hank stopped mid-ramble and looked at him.
"What on earth do you mean?" he asked, genuinely confused. "He was more than happy to donate blood."
"That's different," Kurt responded. "That was for Scott."
"Yeah, that's a good point," Rogue joined the conversation. "Logan gets a little freaky about the idea of medical experiments – with good reason, believe me. He's been in my head, so I've seen his dreams." She shuddered.
"I didn't realize," Hank apologized. "I should have read his file more carefully." His expressive face drooped with remorse.
"It's all right," Storm reassured him. "You had no real reason to look at his file before now – I mean think about it, when do you ever see him? He heals himself." Hank looked at her doubtfully, but nodded.
Kurt was less concerned about Hank than about Logan. "I don't think he was too happy when he left here."
"He did look a little pale," Bobby confirmed. "Maybe someone should go check on him."
Kurt nodded and turned to leave when Charles' voice stopped him. "It's too late," he whispered. "He's gone."
"What do you mean, gone?" Rogue demanded. "He's not gone; he probably just took the bike out for a ride." She looked as worried as she sounded. "Right, professor?"
Charles shook his head. "I'm afraid not," he replied. "Something's happened – I can see a fight... a dark place... the images are muddled. I can't understand them. Something bad has happened."
Just then, a moan from the nearby bed distracted them. Scott sat up, looking confused. "What's going on?" he asked. Everyone stared at him in silence for a moment. Then they all started talking at once.
Logan rolled the bike down the driveway, mindful of the fact that several of the younger students would already be sleeping. Once he hit the road, he straddled it and kicked the engine into life. Ah, better. With the wind whipping through his hair, alone on the open road, he felt much better. Much safer. The med lab really creeped him out sometimes, and that new doctor was a little too clinical for his liking. Skin samples, ha! As if he was going to sit there while some doctor carved him up in the name of science. He'd already been through that once, in the name of war.
He revved the engine a little to chase the thoughts away, and was distracted enough to miss the tree that swung toward the motorcycle until it was too late. He swerved, but couldn't keep control of the bike; it spun out beneath him and he was thrown into the air, landing unceremoniously in a nearby ditch. "Damn!" he swore, pulling himself out of a puddle. Great. Not only had he dropped the bike, he was now covered in mud. He stood, shaking himself off, trying to get rid of the muck. That's when the large shape flew out of the trees behind him and landed on his back.
Logan staggered to his knees, then unsheathed his claws and stabbed backwards. The other man evaded them, but had to give up his position to do so, allowing Logan to spin on his heels to confront his attacker. "God damn it," he hollered. "Didn't you fucking die?"
"I heal quickly," Sabretooth replied, grinning. "Apparently, so do you. And here I was thinking I was something special." Logan growled dangerously, but Sabretooth only smiled. "Now, now, runt, play nice." He feinted, and Logan lifted his claws to block, leaving his belly open. With deceptive speed, Sabretooth ducked in and slashed him across the abdomen.
It was hardly a deep cut. "That all you got?" Logan ground out. Sabretooth laughed.
"That's all I need," he replied. Logan looked at him, confused, before it hit him. He'd been drugged - and they had done it right. No pansy ass human amount, he realized as he staggered to his knees, his claws retracting against his will. No, Sabretooth had just put enough drugs into his system to knock an elephant out, and it was directly in his bloodstream – must have been on Sabretooth's claws. Damn. His vision blurring, Logan lashed out at the other man, but Sabretooth just skipped away and laughed again. After a moment, Logan crashed down to the ground, his body too heavy to move. He wasn't quite unconscious, but he was powerless to fight as Sabretooth hefted him up over one shoulder and carried him across the road to a truck, dumping him in the back and driving them both away.
It took Scott a few minutes to calm everybody down enough to piece together what had happened. After hearing the complete story, one voice at a time, he was able to find the missing link. "Sabretooth's still out there," he swore.
"But that's impossible," Kurt replied. "I mean, he was very badly hurt when I went back for Logan..."
"Yeah, and a year ago, he fell off the Statue of Liberty," Storm responded, "but here he was tonight, alive and well."
"Perhaps he has regenerative powers like Logan's," Hank hypothesized. Scott cut him off with an impatient gesture.
"I don't care why," he replied. "My point is that Sabretooth must have been waiting for him. This means that Magneto's got him now. We have to find him. Professor?"
Charles shook his head sadly. "I have not been successful in locating Magneto's fortress," he said. "I wouldn't even know where to begin looking."
"Well, I do," A voice spoke up, and everybody turned to stare at Rogue. "What? He did live in my head for quite some time," she defended at their stares.
"Could you direct us there?" Scott asked anxiously.
Rogue nodded. "I'm pretty sure," she replied.
"Good, let's go. Hank, you better come with us – just in case. Professor..."
"I'll be watching from Cerebro," Charles responded. "Now go!"
Logan woke by degrees, fighting off the heaviness of drug induced sleep and trying to get oriented. "Hello, Wolverine," a voice called out. Logan opened his eyes. Magneto stood before him, plain and vulnerable. Logan's first instinct was to lash out; he snarled when he realized that he could not. While Logan was unconscious, Magneto had forced his claws to unsheathe, and his hands were chained so tightly against the wall above his head that he couldn't get them into any kind of angle that would allow him to claw out of his captivity. Magneto laughed. "Welcome," he continued, his eyes glinting.
"What the fuck do you want?" Logan growled out in reply. Magneto smiled even wider.
"Well, initially, all I wanted to do was capture the first X-Man I could, so that I had something Charles would be willing to bargain over," he replied congenially. "And then, Mystique reported back from the security sweep she did of that precious little school. From the helicopter, she saw an interesting sight – all the X-men, running out to the jet, presumably to come save you." He advanced on Logan, his face calculating. "And I mean all the X-Men. Including your Cyclops. I was surprised; Sabretooth here really did quite a number on him before that mangy little girl got her hands on me. I wouldn't expect Mr. Summers to be capable of breathing on his own yet, let alone walking." He lifted Logan's chin and looked him straight in the eye. "In fact, it seemed eerily reminiscent of you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Logan replied angrily. "He was in the med lab the last I saw him."
"Of course he was," Magneto replied. "At any rate, I began to formulate an idea in my head. Your fearless leader no doubt lost a lot of blood. Perhaps he needed a transfusion. Perhaps when mutants give blood, they also give a little more of themselves, hmmm?"
Logan tried to look as indifferent as possible. "I wouldn't know anything about that," he replied.
Magneto's smile turned nasty. "At least, not that you remember," he responded. Logan stared at him in surprise, but the other man had returned to his original train of thought. "Of course, I had to experiment, to find out for myself if my theory was correct. At first I had hoped to transfer your powers to myself, but alas, it turns out we are not the same blood type. Sabretooth over here is B, but I figured that wouldn't do me any good, since he seems to have regenerative powers of his own. Mystique's mutation, by its very nature, allows her to mimic other's powers, so she was out. Fortunately, my new initiate, Pyro, has O- blood. A universal donor, if I remember my basic first aid." He shrugged a little. "I was quite pleased with the results of my experiment."
As if on cue, Pyro held up his lighter toward Magneto, flicking it to create a flame. Magneto caught the fire up in one hand, twirling it around before sending it flying at the wall next to Logan's head. "I don't have nearly enough power to do anything of consequence, though I imagine it's quite a different story when the blood types are a match." He stalked closer to Logan, his eyes deadly serious. "And then I thought, what would happen if I gave a mutant with accelerated healing powers and superhuman strength the powers of another mutant with the exact same gifts? Why, he'd become unstoppable." From the corner of the room, Sabretooth growled, smiling. "And then I thought," Magneto continued quietly, "What a fabulous idea."
"What are you planning to do, Magneto?" Logan twisted in his bonds, trying to find some weakness in them. His eyes widened involuntarily as Magneto withdrew a syringe.
"Why, exactly what you fear I will, Logan," he replied. "Drain you dry."
The tension on the jet was thick enough to be tangible. Storm guided them through the cloud cover that had settled over New York, while Scott navigated with Rogue's assistance. All three were grim-faced, and Rogue's eyes were red and puffy, like she was trying very hard not to cry.
Scott tried to be patient with her as she stumbled through the disjointed memories of Magneto that she carried in her head, but it was difficult when he was so wrapped up in his own feelings. Logan had become and important member of his team. He wasn't quite ready to call the gruff man a friend yet, but he couldn't deny that he held some affection for the man, and he definitely harboured a healthy dose of guilt for what had happened back in the tunnels. Before they'd left, Charles had taken him aside and explained that there had been no way to predict Sabretooth's return, but Scott knew that he'd been out of the game too long, mourning for Jeannie. There had been a point where the animal would have never gotten that close, and if he hadn't gotten hurt then Logan wouldn't have needed to give blood, and they could all be living in safe, blissful ignorance at home right now.
"I think we need to head a little more south," Rogue interrupted his thoughts in a slightly apologetic tone. "This doesn't seem right to me."
"Okay, south." He replied, biting back the urge to mention that only a few minutes ago, she had directed them north. Rogue didn't need to hear it to know what he was thinking, however.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's not like I have a memory of him looking at a map."
"It's okay," he reassured her, turning in his seat and forcing himself to smile. He was glad for the visor for once, because he knew that if she could see his eyes, she'd have seen that he was lying about his frustration. "You're doing your best." He patted her gloved hand gently, remembering something Logan had said about Rogue needing to be touched when she was uncertain. Indeed, the young woman seemed to brighten, standing up a little taller.
Behind them, strapped into their seats, Bobby and Kurt sat quietly, staring off into space. Logan was important to both of them; Bobby needed a role model and Logan had always been there to listen to him, to rebuild his confidence, to assure him that Rogue loved him and that if they couldn't kiss or touch, it wasn't because he wasn't a good enough man for her. Others had told him this too, but when it came from Logan, it came with the Big Brother Seal of Approval, as Rogue put it, because Logan would protect Rogue with his life, and he trusted Bobby with hers. Kurt was thinking that in the three short months since he'd joined the X-Men, Logan had quickly become his closest friend. Even among the oddball mix of people they lived with, they were outsiders, having spent their lives on the fringes of society (different fringes, mind you), and they had fallen into some sort of unspoken understanding that left a hollow space in his chest if he thought for too long about something happening to the other man.
At the rear of the plane, Hank was busily setting up a make-shift medical bay. He had no idea what kind of emergency to plan for, but he'd brought as many things as he could think of – and Logan's file. There was no way he was going to make any kind of mistake with the man again.
Scott spared a look back at the rest of the team. Everyone was focused, ready. Now all they had to do was find the place. He was just cursing their luck in his mind for the hundredth time when Rogue took a breath and said, "There. It's that way. We're getting close now."
Scott looked up at her. "Are you sure?" he asked, finally daring to voice a little doubt.
Rogue nodded, smiling. "Absolutely," she replied. "I can see it clear as day." Storm gunned a little more speed out of the engine, dropping into stealth mode.
When Mystique reported that the X-Jet had been spotted, Magneto let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush. "Ooh, temper, temper," Logan laughed from the wall, where he'd been turned into a human blood bank. An IV dripped down from his left arm, steadily pumping out blood. He could already feel his healing factor lag behind in replacing it; he wouldn't be able to keep up. Magneto snarled out orders to lock the fortress down. "Now that seemed eerily reminiscent of me," Logan continued to taunt. "What's the matter, Mags? Not feeling up to stopping a big honking chunk of flying metal today?"
With a wordless cry, Magneto flung one of his hands toward the other man, and Logan felt the Adamantium on his bones sit up and listen, trying to pull through his skin towards Magneto's fingers. Logan laughed to stifle his howl of pain. "Better save your strength," he managed to gasp out. The older man looked ready to kill, but Pyro appeared at that moment and defused the situation.
"They're here," the young man said, breathless. "We need your help." With a final rage-filled glare, Magneto turned on his heel and left.
Once he was alone, Logan acknowledged to himself that a man with a metal skeleton would do well not to harass a human magnet, but he hadn't been able to contain himself. Besides, he'd noticed back at the school that Magneto's powers weren't what they used to be, and he had a little theory. In his experience, when strength wavered, so did control. He wiggled his wrists. Sure enough, when Magneto had focused his power on Logan's skeleton, some of that energy had affected the metal chains he was wrapped up in. He had enough room to retract his claws. Once he had done that, he had enough room (now that his hands weren't, effectively, more than a foot long), to twist them around, so he could put his palms down flat against the wall. Then he unsheathed his claws once more, and they sprung into the cement behind them. Ignoring the pain the twist created in his arms, he yanked his claws down behind his head, breaking the wall apart. The chain that had moments ago been bolted into the wall fell away uselessly. Once those were gone, he was able to free himself easily from the rest of his bonds. He pulled the IV out of his arm and stalked away, ready to join the fight.
It wasn't difficult to find; Logan just followed the noise through the maze of tunnels, creeping up on a large room. At the far end, he could see Magneto and his Brotherhood locked in battle with the X-Men. Logan silently unsheathed his claws, crouching low. He was the element of surprise, and he intended to use that to its full effect.
Scott had formed a plan as they came up to the entry way. The Iceman would neutralize Pyro and try to defeat him if possible. Storm and Hank would tag team Mystique, an enemy who had proven her fighting power. Kurt had two jobs. First, he had get close enough to Magneto to teleport him back through the tunnel to Rogue, who had orders to knock him on his ass and keep him there, through whatever means necessary. Second, Kurt was to get around the fighting, find Logan, and get him back to the Jet. Scott himself had plans for Sabretooth.
The Brotherhood was waiting for them as they came up to the end of the tunnel, and the X-Men launched into their plan wordlessly. At first, it seemed that it would go off without a hitch; Bobby had been practicing and quickly took the upper hand with Pyro, while Hank and Storm's approach with Mystique seemed to be steadily wearing her down. Kurt had moved quickly to teleport Magneto, but after that, things started to fall apart. When Rogue reached for the older man, he surprised them all: he lit a match and threw a fireball at her. It wasn't a big one, but it was enough for her to stumble back in shock and pain, and that gave Magneto enough time to turn around and focus his energies on Scott's visor, which came tearing painfully off his face.
Fortunately, Kurt thought quickly, teleporting to Scott's side. He'd squeezed his eyes shut as soon as the visor had gone. Kurt grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around. "Now!" He shouted. "Open your eyes!" Scott obeyed, and sent a full strength blast straight into Sabretooth's stomach as the other man was advancing on him. "Close!" Kurt turned him again. "Now open!" Scott surrendered control to the other man. He would be the weapon, and let Kurt do the yielding.
Mystique was unable to break free from the double onslaught she faced, so no one was there to help Magneto when Rogue recovered her balance and threw her hands around his neck, squeezing so hard that she might have made progress in killing him even without her mutant powers. He fought her off, staggering, but lost control of the visor in the process; it went clattering to the ground. Storm paused for a moment to kick it over to Kurt, who picked it up and handed it back to Cyclops. He slid it back on over his eyes, grinning.
The grin faded, however, when he saw what lay before him. Sabretooth, having received two full-strength blasts from Cyclops' eyes, was getting up to his feet, barely breathing heavily. "How is that possible?" Kurt muttered in his ear. From behind them, Mystique laughed.
"You think you are the only scientists?" She replied, parrying a thrust from the Beast. She had taken Storm's shape and was fighting weather with weather on one side, while using her martial arts skill to the maximum to keep the doctor away.
Her comment brought Hank up short. "Logan's blood!" He cried. "They must have figured out its properties. They must have given it to Sabretooth!" His assessment was correct, but his pause was costly. Mystique managed to land a blow on the back of his head, knocking him down, giving her an escape route. Ignoring her compatriots, she leapt over Scott and Kurt's heads, dodged around Sabretooth, and headed down one of the tunnels beyond.
A few seconds later, her body came sailing back through the room, crashing unceremoniously into Sabretooth, followed by a roaring Logan, claws fully extended. He landed on the two of them, slashing for all he was worth, and they rolled away in a fine mess. Everyone stared for a moment, and then Logan's head surfaced and he shouted, "You planning to gawk, or help?" And they surged into action. Hank was sent back to Rogue to ensure Magneto was secure, and Storm gave Bobby the extra oomph he needed to encase Pyro in a thick shield of ice. Mystique's body came flying out of the foray at that moment, landing at their feet, bloody and breathless. This time, Xavier be damned, Storm did fry her, watching in satisfaction as the body twitched at her feet.
That left, as usual, only Logan and Sabretooth. This time, however, Logan wasn't smiling as he slashed, enjoying the fight. Instead, he was steadily losing ground under Sabretooth's vicious attack. "I'm going to kill you, runt," the big cat promised, growling.
"I'd like to see you try," Logan growled back, but it was plain that he was at a disadvantage; Sabretooth was fighting with enhanced strength, while Logan was lagging from the blood loss he'd suffered. Scott tried to get a good shot in, but they were locked in a fierce embrace, hacking and slashing at each other without mercy.
"Damn it!" Scott howled. "Logan, get back!" He raised his hand to his visor, prepared to blast them both, but a hand on his arm stopped him. Hank had come up from behind.
"I don't know if he'd survive it, Scott," The doctor informed him quietly. They watched, helpless, as Logan slid to his knees, barely blocking Sabretooth's claws as they came tearing down from above. Around them the X- men surged forward, and then paused, trying to figure out how to help.
Then Bobby came over, a little lightheaded from exertion. He'd just finished encasing Mystique and Magneto in similar little ice fortresses, keeping everyone nicely disarmed. He turned to Hank. "Would freezing him hurt him?" he asked. Hank considered it.
"I shouldn't think so," he replied after a moment. Bobby nodded and immediately lashed out, sending a stream of ice crystals toward the two men. He was too tired to fully encase them, so he concentrated on the floor instead, creating a skating rink under their feet. Sabretooth slipped and fell on his ass, giving Logan a moment to crawl away. In a flash, Kurt had teleported beside him, picked up his friend, and teleported him out of danger. Scott's hand leapt up to his visor and he blasted Sabretooth for all he was worth, again and again, until the other man wasn't getting up anymore. Storm finished the round off with a bolt of lightning for good measure.
"Let's get the hell out of here," she said, turning on her heel.
"Wait," Logan called. He was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the doctor. He struggled to his feet. "That won't keep him out for long," he continued, indicating Sabretooth.
"I know. That's why we have to get out of here," Storm replied.
"No. We have to lock them up first," Logan took a steadying breath and then limped over to where Sabretooth was lying prone. He leaned over, his face a mask of pain, and pulled the heavy body onto his shoulders. "There are cells on the east side, not far from here. We need to get them in there, come on."
The others stood doubtfully behind him. Summoning up the last of his energy, Logan turned to glare at them. "Sorry, Logan," Storm said, "But if Sabretooth really has super human strength, what cell is going to hold him?"
"These are good cells," Logan replied. "They nearly held me."
"But you did get free."
Logan barked out a little laugh. "Yeah, well, I've got Adamantium claws," he reminded her. "Some things, you can't get from a blood transfusion." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the others to hurry along behind.
Once the prisoners had been locked away, Kurt turned to his friend and wrapped his arms around him. "Uh, Wagner, what are you doing?" Logan started to ask, but before he could push away, Kurt had teleported him back to the jet, where Rogue and Hank were waiting. "Oh," Logan finished up, feeling a little dumb. He'd thought Kurt was hugging him.
Kurt laughed, helping him lay down on the makeshift medical bed. "I know you are tough, my friend," he replied. "But I did not think it was necessary for you to hurt any longer than you had to." He patted Logan's shoulder and joined Rogue in the front of the plane as the others trickled in.
Hank hunkered down beside his patient, his big blue face apologetic. "Logan" he said hesitantly. "I feel a great deal of remorse for my callousness earlier. I would like you to know that I would never perform any medical procedure on you that you didn't fully consent to. Never."
Logan nodded. "Thanks."
The doctor nodded, seeming relieved. "Good. Now, that brings us to treatment options for you right now."
Logan held up a hand to interrupt. "If you don't mind, Doc, I'd rather just let my body heal itself. It won't take that long."
"Are you sure?" Hank's voice was skeptical, but there was a twinkle in his eye. "I mean, I could always give you a blood transfusion..."
It was quite late by the time that Charles was able to track Logan down alone. The injured man had spent the first part of the evening resting in his room and when he'd come down for supper, he'd been immediately surrounded by children demanding to know if he was all right, begging him to tell them what had happened, just wanting to be in his presence. Logan, with his usual gruff gentleness, had accommodated them with a story, leaving out the truly nasty bits and making everyone on the team sound like a hero in the process. After that, he and Kurt had disappeared outside for a smoke, and when they came back, Scott had grabbed Logan and dragged him down to the garage. Everyone seemed to need to reassure themselves that he was all right.
Finally, though, everyone was asleep in their rooms, and the mansion was quiet. Xavier rolled through the halls, finally locating Logan on the front porch, staring off into the night sky. "Hey, Wheels," he acknowledged softly, not turning around. They sat in silence for a moment.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Charles finally offered, fully prepared to back off if he was asked to. To his surprise, though, Logan nodded. Bit by bit, he was becoming more willing to open up.
"I've been thinkin' about Stryker's assistant, the Japanese girl. The one I killed."
Charles nodded in the dark. "Yuriko," he supplied.
"Yeah. I was – I was wondering what her blood type was." He took a drag off his cigar, inhaling sharply. "I don't think it's a coincidence that Sabretooth's blood type was B," he continued. "I'd be willing to bet hers was too." He sighed. "It's so frustrating! Sabretooth seems to really, really hate me – and when he calls me runt, my blood boils in a way I can't explain. It's not the way I feel about anyone else I'm fighting. It's like it's personal. And then this whole healing factor thing, with the blood transfusions, and him being B... well, maybe he's one of Stryker's weapons as well. But I can't remember." He bowed his head, clenching his fists.
Charles moved closer. "Logan, there's no way of knowing whether Sabretooth's and Yuriko's healing abilities were a natural part of their mutations, or whether they received blood from you in order to create those abilities. That information is gone. It's at the bottom of Alkali Lake. Yuriko is dead."
"Sabretooth isn't."
"He'd kill you before he told you anything."
Logan sighed, agitated. "I know that," he replied angrily. "But he knows something, Chuck. Somethin' that I can't remember. Somethin' that I've spent the last sixteen years of my life trying to find. It's hard to let that go."
"I know." There was nothing else for Charles to say. Platitudes and reassurances about how it was going to be okay weren't going to be appreciated by the Wolverine, and there was little comfort he could offer. So instead, he just sat there, being present, witnessing the pain and frustration and acknowledging the sorrow of a man without a past.
They sat there for a long time; the sky was beginning to lighten with the first signs of dawn when Logan shook himself free of his thoughts and stood, stretching. "I can't figure out what happened to me," he said softly. "But I do know what's ahead of me."
"Yes," Charles replied, reading his mind. "Another long, boring school day." They laughed together, heading back inside, where it was warm, and safe.
THE END... or is it?