Chapter 2: No one should be left behind
"What are you talking about?" Logan hissed. He brought his face closer to the young man's, trying to get some real answers from him. "No one deserves to die here! How can you talk like that after saving their lives?"
The young man's face was emotionless. "Because saving another's life doesn't mean that I have to save my own. Not everything in life is quid pro quo, Wolverine. After all, with the state I'm in, I doubt that I'll live. I'm dying, you see. I was fated to die from the moment he brought me into this world."
"Stryker! Did Stryker do this to you!" Logan shouted, feeling more hatred for his "former" comrade than he ever thought possible. Noticing the small wounds on the boy's body, probably caused by repeated injections and electrocution - made Wolverine bleed inside. He couldn't just let this boy die here. He had to change this young man's fate. He, of all people, did not deserve to die in the way that he wanted to.
The young man remained silent. He just smiled and used all his remaining energy to move away from Wolverine. "You understand nothing." He said, as he slowly walked backwards towards the room. The room was slowly filling with icy water from the lake that surrounded them. "You don't know what I've been through." He continued. "You don't know what I'm about to become!" He shouted, his voice echoing around them.
Logan gritted his teeth and marched towards the boy. This kid was tougher and more stubborn than he thought. Kind of reminded him of himself actually. "Look, kid, whatever you've been through, I understand more than you'll ever know!" He shouted back. If he didn't get that kid out of there soon, they will both drown.
"Just go, Wolverine! Leave me be!" He shouted louder, causing veins to protrude from his neck and the upper part of his body. And as he shouted, the water that rose towards his knees rumbled in an unnatural, almost artificial fashion.
Wolverine didn't notice that of course. He was more concerned about the boy's safety. "I have no time for this, kid! It's either we don't go, or we go now! And I say, WE GO NOW!" And with that, he ran towards the boy with the speed of a hungry wolf and landed a solid, yet non-lethal punch against the boy's skull.
The young man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell forward against Logan. Logan quickly carried the boy in his arms and ran as fast as he could towards the exit.
x x x x x x x x x x
"Where's Logan!" Asked Jean. "We can't leave without him!"
Even Scott was worried about Wolverine. Though they weren't the best of friends and have fought for the love of the same woman, he too couldn't leave him behind. He couldn't bare the thought of escaping the place while Wolverine died in it.
"I believe he stayed behind to get the boy." Nightcrawler replied.
"Logan knows what he's doing." Added Storm. "He'll be here. He won't let us down."
Charles' eyes widened and his head perked up. "He's here." He said firmly.
The snow-covered door that they had just exited earlier suddenly flew open as Logan ran towards them. In his strong hands he carried the unconscious boy who had just saved all their lives, the boy who they all practically owed their life to now.
Jean quickly came to their aid. "Is he alright? What happened?"
"The boy was stubborn. I had to knock him into his senses." He replied.
Jean looked at him, almost knowing what he had meant by that.
"We have to get out of here." Storm said, interrupting Jean and Logan's untimely reunion. "The dam is about to break soon. If don't get out of here, we're as good as dead as if we had never escaped the underground base."
Logan and Jean nodded in unison. And as if some kind of miracle, the trees around them whipped with the wind as the Blackbird made its way over the hill and hovered above them, coming to their rescue. A shaking and nervous Rogue was in control, and she landed it with a soft thud before them on the snow. Its sight gave everyone hope that they would escape this place before it brought them their watery grave.
Nightcrawler was immediately tasked to teleport the professor into the blackbird, to bring him into the safer confines of their jet. The professor was weak, his mind was still raw from the mental beating he had taken, and without his chair, he was weaker and more vulnerable than he had ever been.
Bobby assisted Rogue in lowering the entrance to the jet and the others quickly made their way to it. They didn't have much time to lose. Their escape from Stryker's base was definitely not the last obstacle they had to survive today. The collapsing dam was definitely another matter, a matter that was out of their mutant powers' current state.
Logan again was left behind, carrying the unconscious boy in his arms. He stood there on the snow, catching a glimpse of a chained and helpless Stryker in the distance. Perhaps now was the right time to put his past's demons to rest. He would confront him, and hopefully, see his old face and hear that damned voice for the last time. He didn't need his past. He was ready to let it go by closing opened wounds. He was ready to let it wash away as the water was about to wash the remnants of his past away.
"Logan, let's go!" Shouted Scott. He motioned at Logan to hurry up.
Logan quickly walked towards Scott and handed him the boy. "Take care of him. Make sure he's taken cared of. I'll be back in a minute. I just need to settle some old debts with an old friend." So he marched away to confront Stryker.
x x x x x x x
And so he did. Logan had finally put his past behind. He threw his godforsaken dogtags on the snowy ground and knew that that was the last time he was ever going to see them. No more past. No more Alkali Lake. No more memories. No more Stryker.
"One day, someone will finish what I started, Wolverine! One day!" Stryker shouted at the top of his lungs.
He couldn't believe that that animal, that animal, who had once been his comrade, had forsaken him for those mutant fools. How dare he? How dare that James Howlett leave him there to die! But Stryker will not take death with fear. He would face it with honor, with dignity. He was a soldier and he would die as one. He would sink with his base, as a captain would sink with one's ship. If this be his fate, so be it.
"So be it." Said a familiar voice.
Stryker's eyes widened with shock as he saw the boy, HIS boy, standing before him. It was the boy who had saved Wolverine and the others earlier. "I hate you, father." The boy's eyes were filled with so much enmity and hatred as they looked at the chained man. "I hate you for the reason you had brought me here and for what you had destined me to become. This is your fate and I have mine. Mine is with them." The young man nudged his head towards the direction Logan had walked to. "And I will not let you stop that! Never! You will never get in the way of who I want to be!" He said, loud enough to make his voice echo in his father's mind.
The older man just chuckled at the younger man's words. "Someday, someone will finish what I started, my son." He whispered with a hint of mockery. "Someday…someone will...And you shall be there to see it all come into play...You..."
"Enough." The boy whispered through gritted teeth. He would not hear him anymore. He hated his father and his lies. He clenched his fists, and Stryker's head suddenly flew backwards against the concrete slab that pressed against his back. His stone cold blue eyes opened wide with lifelessness. And in that split second, his heart stopped beating. Just like that, he was dead. Dead and gone.
The young man looked at the dead body of his father, lifeless and chained against the giant-sized tombstone. And as he looked at him, he whispered. "I don't ever want to see you again. I don't want you back." Then he walked away.
Each and every step felt labored and heavy as he trudged back to the humungous jet where his newfound friends had retreated to. He refused to look back and see the dead body he had left behind. What happened between him and his father was now put to rest. Whatever pain Stryker had brought him, he wanted to leave behind. Let bygones be bygones. Let sorrowful memories fade away like forgotten nightmares. For all he knew, he had given his father one last gift…A quick and painless death.
He suddenly felt his chest tightened as his muscles and internal organs spasm in pain. What he had just done to Stryker had taken a lot out of his already battered body. If he had done something more drastic, he would have died together with him. He just hoped that his remaining strength would take him as close to the jet as possible.
His knees weakened and his joints ached. His body begged him to just give up and fall on the snow. But his mind said otherwise. His mind and his will were driving him to go on, to continue. He was finally free, free from the darkness and the pain that had bound him his entire life. And now that he had this freedom, this peace, he was not going to let it go. Not now. Not ever. He was going to survive and bask in it.
Then his blurry vision caught sight of a man in the distance. It was Wolverine. Looked like he too was making his way back to the jet. The young man cluched his chest and shouted out. "Wolverine! Help!" He bellowed. He couldn't keep himself on his feet any longer. He needed someone to help him carry his weight.