Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, poor me. Wildcat, on the other hand, is totally mine.
A/N – okay, guys, my first posted fan fiction! Please let me know what you think...I absolutely adore constructive criticism. Flames on the other hand...let's just say that I will respond in kind - do you really want to risk it? Did I mention that I adore CONSTRUCTIVE criticism? I really don't bite – often. Please review!
She gazed through the leaves at the group of people in the clearing. She had heard them about half an hour ago, when they had first pulled up in their large van. It was a group of young teenagers, chaperoned by three adults, two men and a woman. It looked like it could be any other group on a field trip, except for subtle differences in the appearance of some of the children. Here and there a skin tone was off, or there was something different about a build. Every once in a while there was one child who didn't even look totally human. And yet they were all laughing and playing together with a soccer ball they had brought with them. The adults were standing together, talking quietly.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the adults. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't see clearly, but it looked as if one of the men was quite tall, and was wearing a pair of sunglasses, visor style. He had brown hair, a well built body, and a serious face. The woman was also quite tall and strong looking, with long reddish brown hair. The third man was shorter than the other two, but still taller than the woman in the brush. He had wild black hair and bushy sideburns, and had a very well muscled body. He was extremely familiar, even through her wavering gaze, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before. It was pushing at her like a flood, but some wall in her mind kept the memories at bay. He looked comfortable in his skin, she thought to herself. And he also looked like he was part animal. She would have to be careful with that one.
All of a sudden her eyes widened and she hissed. The wind had changed, and was carrying her scent towards the group. She froze, knowing that if someone came to see if anyone was there, she would have to run instead of fight. She would never survive a fight.
Logan stood with his arms crossed, listening to Scott and Jean talk. He felt the wind change slightly, and smelled an unfamiliar scent carried on it. His eyes narrowed and he popped his claws out of habit. It was not animal, and yet it was not quite human, either. He was about to go investigate when one of the boys playing soccer came up to him and spoke quietly, his back to the forest behind them.
"Mr. Logan? I can smell someone." Scott and Jean stopped talking and looked at the boy, but kept their mouths shut when Logan glared at them.
"Thanks, Jeff. I smelled it too. Behind us?" The boy nodded.
"What do you think it is? You said you smelled someone. Couldn't it be an animal?" Jeff shook his head.
"It doesn't smell totally like an animal. I think it's human. Or mostly, anyway." Logan nodded and motioned for the boy to go back and join the group, then turned to Scott.
"Keep the kids around the van. Until we know what's out there, anyway." Jean squinted.
"I can't sense anyone out there, Logan. Are you sure?" Logan glared at her.
"You've got an overactive brain. I've got overactive senses. It's not impossible for you to not feel someone. He's there. Besides, if Jeff can smell him, it's a pretty sure thing. His senses haven't totally developed yet." Jean looked like she was going to argue, but Logan glared at her again and she shut her mouth.
"Now, Cyclops." Scott turned with a sigh and called to the kids.
"Okay, everybody, back in the van!" Amid the sighs from the teenagers, Scott could hear Logan growl at him. "Thanks, one-eye. There goes my element of surprise." Scott just shook his head. Seconds later Logan had walked around the van and disappeared into the bush on the other side, working his way around to the place where he had smelled the intruder.
The woman in the bush watched, concerned, as the young people filed into the van. She didn't just want to walk out into the open, not knowing the risk she would be putting herself into, so she sighed and winced, knowing she had lost her chance. She was slightly concerned that she could no longer see the dark haired man, but decided that he had gotten into the van with the rest of them. She had panicked when she saw him with long, lethal looking claws coming out of his hands, but had managed to control herself. With a glare, she pressed her hand to the wound on her belly, seeing her hand stained red with her blood. The stripes on her back and arms burned like fire, and the gash on her leg was also burning. With a hiss, she vowed vengeance yet again, but now didn't know how she would get it, since her only chance for help was about to drive away.
Suddenly her eyes narrowed, scanning the area in front of her. The air around her was shifting, and on instinct, the nails on her hands grew into two-inch long curved black claws. Crouched in a defensive position, she growled and pressed her hand to her stomach again, wincing. Eyes and mind racing, she whirled on the balls of her bare feet just in time to see a blur of black. Seconds later, she was pressed against someone's hard chest, with one big arm wrapped around her, the other hand holding her wrists together. Her captor was leaning against a tree, with one leg wrapped around both of hers, his foot hooked on his other ankle, effectively trapping her. She was about to yell in pain, but then realized that he had managed to trap her without coming into contact with any of her wounds. His hand on her back was placed between any of the scratches, and with her arms bent in front of her, it protected the slash on her abdomen. The wound on the front of her thigh was pressed securely against the back of his thigh, and the pressure was actually making it feel better.
Logan looked in surprise at what he had managed to catch. The woman both he and Jeff had scented was shorter than he was, slim and strong. She had wild blonde hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in a very long time, pale skin and wide blue eyes. She was looking at him with a very nasty scowl on her face, but that didn't affect him. What had him worried was the fact that until ten seconds ago it looked as if she had normal nails. Now, they were long, lethal, and very sharp looking. And also reaching for his throat. It wasn't very hard to keep her hands still, and he wondered how weak she was, with all the blood she was very obviously losing. Her face was flushed and her breathing laboured, and all of a sudden he realized that the only reason she was there was because she was looking for help. She didn't look like the type of person who really wanted to come into contact with other humans. He flicked his eyebrows at her.
"You need our help, don't you?" She hissed at him and glowered again, struggling to get free. Logan chuckled.
"Maybe, darlin', if you were healthy, you would pose a threat. But right now...don't bother. You'll just hurt yourself." Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open slightly. With another grimace, she proceeded to tell him off with a series of very animal-like growls and hisses. He just laughed.
"I'm sure that on a normal day, I would be very offended by that, but my cougar is a little rusty. Can you speak English?" She scowled and snarled at him. He shrugged.
"Well, whatever, darlin'. My name is Logan. And like I said, you need our help." She tried to struggle again, but was too tired and ended up resting against him. Leaning against him, it was as if the wall in her mind came crumbling down and she suddenly remembered who he was. Her heart leapt, but she saw that he didn't recognize her yet, so she kept her peace. Logan heaved a sigh.
"Alright, so you won't talk, so asking you your name ain't gonna get us anywhere. And I don't think you're gonna tell me why you're hanging around looking for help either, are you?" She just growled.
"Look, you can trust me. I don't know how I'm going to prove that to you, but you can. And nobody in that van is going to hurt you, either." From the direction of the said van, Logan heard Scott call his name. He groaned and rolled his eyes, but saw that the woman in his arms had been startled by the noise, and something very strange had happened with her eyes. He wasn't quite sure what he had seen, but he thought that they had changed to yellow cat's eyes for a brief second. It was the strangest thing he had seen in a very long time.
"Whoa...." He stared at her in shock. "Do that again." She scowled, then stuck her nose in the air and deliberately shut her eyes. Logan chuckled slightly.
"Oooohhh, attitude. But you just proved that you can indeed understand me, Miss Thing. You're not as smart as you think you are." With her eyes still shut, the woman just smirked and shrugged, clearly conveying that she didn't care if Logan knew she could understand him. Logan shrugged as well.
"Fine then." He leaned forward slightly so that he was right in her face, then yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Just a minute, Summers!" It got him the desired reaction, as her eyes shot open in shock and he was staring into golden cougar's eyes, black pupils just slits in the centers.
"Ah ha! I thought so! You're a mutant!" Too late she realized her mistake and started to struggle again, but was no match for the healthy man holding her. Logan just shook his head.
"It doesn't matter, it's all right. You can trust us, we're not going to do anything to you. We're mutants, too!" It was clearly the wrong thing to say as she started to fight even more. Logan was astounded. "What's the matter? We're not gonna hurt you, darlin'." She stopped struggling and looked him in the eye, her eyes still yellow.
Even though he was still holding her wrists, she managed to point to the gash on her stomach. Logan let one of her wrists go, she took his hand and traced her fingers along his knuckles where his claws came out, then pointed to her stomach again, and reached over her shoulder to touch one of the deep scratches on her shoulder. Logan nodded in understanding.
"You panicked about us being mutants because you were..."
"Hunted," she finished savagely, her voice harsh from disuse. He stared at her in shock.
"If you can talk, then why weren't you?" She glowered at him.
"Speaking with words is only good for those who walk on two legs and practice betrayal." They stared at each other for a moment, until they heard Scott crashing through the bush. Logan swore and walked out in the open, dragging the woman with him.
"Summers, we're here!"
Logan pulled her with him until they reached the van. Jean was standing at the door of the van, with kids grouped around her and looking out the windows. As they reached the group, the woman stumbled and fell to her knees. When she looked up, there was a wall of people around her, and she started to panic. Over the roaring in her ears, she faintly heard the man called Logan telling the other two adults about her. She thought, irrationally, that they were going to do something to her, and all she wanted to do was get as far away as possible. She saw the children all looking at her with solemn gazes, and she suddenly realized that she would have to hurt someone to escape.
Wincing, she rose slowly to a crouching position, evaluating her options. She didn't really want to hurt any one, as none of them really made any move to touch her, but she felt that she needed to get as far away as possible, so she looked over the kids and tried to see through her wavering vision which ones looked weakest. Her leg burned and threatened to collapse, and she knew she would only have strength for one attempt.
Just as she was about to make a break for it, she saw that one younger boy with tousled brown hair and serious dark eyes had inched slowly to the side, leaving just a big enough gap in the line to let her out. He watched her quietly, and she saw that it wasn't an accident, that he was letting her out. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she went with it, darting with amazing agility across the open space.
She had just cleared the group when she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Without anyone touching her, she flew through the air and came down with bone-shattering force in front of the three adults. The tall man was frowning at her, and the woman looked harsh as well. She had her hand to her temple as if concentrating, but took it away as soon as the wild woman was on the ground. Logan was looking at her with an unreadable look on his face.
She tried to rise, but her small reserve of strength had finally given out and she could barely move. She collapsed again, and Logan came towards her, gathering her in his arms, speaking harshly.
"Jean, she's hurt! You didn't have to drop her that hard!" The woman didn't say anything in reply, but had the good grace to look concerned. Logan looked down at the woman in his arms and saw that she was looking up at him curiously, but was having trouble focusing, and was close to slipping out of consciousness.
"We're gonna take care of you, darlin'. What's your name?" The wild woman smiled, and to his surprise gently stroked his cheek, her breathing laboured.
"You used...to call me...Nikka, Logan." She swallowed hard and struggled to continue, grasping to the last threads of consciousness. "Don't you...remember me?" With a quiet sigh she fainted, her head slipping off his shoulder. Shocked, the man without a past held her close, willing her to open her eyes again, to tell him what she meant. He quickly came to his senses, rose with her in his arms, and bolted for the van, followed by Jean, Scott, and the kids.