CH5

My own first training lesson was pretty good, except for the fact that there was constant whining about it not being fair. It was a simple obstacle course outside, the only objective of it was to finish without using your powers. Charles said that although the students are sent here to learn how to control their abilities, it isn't bad to have some extra work so that they would know how to solve a situation if in public. Apparently though this was too difficult for the kids.

"This was so stupid, how are we supposed to get out of a ten foot hole!"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I told you before Bobby, this is meant to make you think. Seek out other options besides relying on your mutations. Come on guys, your the X Men, you have more training than most cage wrestlers ever will in their lifetime."

"What does that even have to do with anything!" I just ignored him, and looked at the others.

"As I said this, exercise was meant to make you think. Wolfsbane, good job with stopping when caught in a trap, letting yourself figure a way to get out. Berserker and Cannonball, great team work with getting Jubilee down from that net." The teens that I complimented smiled. "Remember guys this isn't all about speed, it's about accuracy."

"You had metal blades flying at us! And you expect us to take our time?!"

"And if I hear one more complaint I will make you run the course again while also being chased by flames at 2,900° fahrenheit." I turned looking at the whining popsicle. "I'm I understood?"

"Whatever…" Iceman said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

His attitude was getting on my last nerve. At his age I was fighting to stay alive... and although at the moment he was too, crying like a baby did not gain any sympathy from me. "Alright, smart ass, for that comment I have another exercise for you." The teen's eyes widened, and everybody stepped back as I walked over to him. "You and me, hand to hand combat. And since you think that it's so useless to fight without your powers, you can go ahead and use all the ice you want. And to keep you from dying, I won't change forms." I gave him a smirk. "Kay?"

"Piece of cake." He mocked.

"Dude she took down Wolverine in her first fight." Racer to pointed out. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Bobby's face paled when he brought that up, giving a nervousness laugh. "Oh yeah..right."

The rest of the kids stepped out, unpurposely making a ring around us.

Iceman let his body become frosty, covered in ice and sent his first spray of solid water towards my feet. I jumped backwards narrowly missing the icy ground, only to get a burst of cold hit my back, luckily he missed and the back of my uniform was only covered in a thin layer of frost. I bounded over to him in a single leap and kicked his legs out from under him. He hit the ground with a grunt, ice automatically shooting out from his hands, which hit me in the shoulder, the force sending me back. I quickly recovered as did he, but because of the large block on my shoulder, I couldn't move my right arm.

"Nice hit." I growled as he pushed himself up. Turning my head, I shot a flame at my shoulder and the ice quickly melted.

"Hey I thought you said you weren't going to use your powers!" Bobby accused.

I smirked. "No, I said I wouldn't change shape." He stepped back at the realization . "Loop holes."

With that I sent a billowing pillar of fire at him, he barely managed to deflect the flames with a shield of ice that immediately turned to water. I charged at him, and sent a open fisted blow to his chest, I aimed again but he blocked my forearm with his own and slammed me in the ribcage with his other arm, luckily the firmer red part of my uniform where he hit gave some protection. Quickly I grabbed his wrist, flinging him in a circle and sent him flying a few feet, frost spreading across the grass he hit. I leaped over to him, landing with my feet on either side of him, grabbing both of his arms behind his back.

I leaned down to his ear, letting a little bit of fire grow in my throat. "Barely used my powers." I said, heat flowing out of my mouth. He groaned.

I got off him, offering a hand as he turned over to pull him up. "Remember, it's about accuracy not speed." I turned to the rest of the team. "Class dismissed. Now hit the showers before you ruin my sense of smell."

The group of kids went off towards the mansion, chatting and talking, a few teasing Bobby. I smirked as I thought of how lucky they were. To have a place that could teach you to control your mutation and how to defend yourself against a world that was less than pleased about your existence, I would have killed for it when I was their age.

"Not too bad." I turned seeing Logan. "Thought you would'a done a lot worse."

"Thanks for the reasurement." I chidded. "How long were you watching?"

"Long enough, was coming back from town n' though I should see how you were handling them." He pulled a small packet out of his jacket, and rolled out a small brown cylinder. "Mind lighting this for me?"

I sighed. "You know those things ruin your health?" I grabbed the cigar anyways, and blew a small flame onto the end.

"And you know I don't get health problems." He said coolly, taking back the tobacco roll, and leaned his back against a tree.

"Why do you even inhale that stuff anyways? I thought you had an 'extraordinary' sense of smell, doesn't it bother you?"

He puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Nope." I raised an eyebrow at him, honestly his nose was at least five times as good as mine when I was in human form, and I had a pretty good sense of smell. He gently rattled the box. "Take it you don't want one?"

I shook my head. "I'm good, my lungs are already filled with their own smoke. I'll see ya later." I said as I walked back towards the mansion. It was warm enough out, even though it was early evening and I sure could use a drink. When I got to my room I opened up my mini fridge I kept in the door of my dresser.

"..son of a bitch.." Empty. I hadn't been out to a bar since I've arrived here, so I figured might as well go out for a night. I stripped out of my uniform, putting on my usual jeans, boots, and leather jacket. I was on my way to the garage when I stopped, turning back to the training grounds. Logan was still out there when I came over from the rout I was going to take to the garage.

"Back so soon?" He said with sarcasm, not even looking to know it was me.

"You want to go get a drink? My stock ran out and I could go for one."

"Sure." He grumbled taking one last puff of his cigar as we entered the garage before throwing it in an ashtray on his workbench. I took two steps towards his bike before he let out a low growl.

"Ain't taking that one."

"Why not?" I said with an over exaggerated pout.

"Because it's mine."

"Uh yeah, I get that. You let me ride it once, so why not now?"

"Because I said so Dragon-Breath." He twirled his keys as he walked over to an old jeep. "Now do you want a beer or do you want to stay babysitting?"

I rolled my eyes with a small growl before jumping in the passenger's side. We drove into town and pulled up infront of the same bar of where we met.

"Are you kidding me?" I said unimpressed. "When I was in here last time I ran out without paying my bill, damaged property, and was chased out by guys with guns. Don't you think that's going to raise some suspicion?"

"I got it covered, your fine." He jumped out of his side, waiting on the sidewalk for me to do the same. Once inside we sat at the bar, this time an older guy was there polishing up the glasses.

"Logan, how'r ya buddy!" He gave a me a quick lookover. "This you'r new girl?"

"Nah Houg, just a friend." He gave a sideways nod to the man tending the bar."Hogan runs the place."

"Nice to meet you, Hogan. Names Chelsea." He gave my hand a shake.

"Please, call me Houg. Any friend of Logan get's higher status here. The guys practically half our income. On that note what can I get you guys tonight?"

"Regular whiskey for me," Logan said as we sat down. "And you want…?"

"I'll have a beer." Houg poured our drinks, and chatted with us for a while before walking into the storage room in the back to take care of something.

"So tell me," I said. "How exactly did you manage to clear up what happened with Hydra's boys here?"

Logan chuckled, taking A sip from his drink. "That's only for me to know."

The small bell over the door suddenly rang, signaling the arrival of someone new.

I turned around when I heard Logan mumble a "dammit". It was two guys, both were quite tall, but one was practically a giant, in height and physique. His head (looking tiny on his massive shoulders) was topped with short black hair, and his square face held a grim expression. The other was dressed in a trench coat, and although handsome, his most prominent feature was his eyes. Scarlet irises in pools of black, that held a cheeky glint to them.

"Logan, mon ami!" The shorter man called out in an extreme southern accent as him and his companion walked over to us. "How've you been?"

"I was fine before you walked in with your big mouth, gumbo." The feral man coldly said, taking another drink.

"Aww don' be like that Wolvie, is that anyway to treat your teammates?" This caught my attention, if they were X Men, how come i had never met them? The cajun looked over to me, as if just noticing my presence. "Who's ya friend? We left you for two weeks and you dive into pick up our game?"

"You never told me you had such the reputation as a ladies man Logan." I sarcastically remarked

"Don' worry cher, the hunters are here to preserve da game." The cajun took my hand in a very gentlemanly manner, in the classic 'kiss on the hand' move. "Tis a pleasure."

I pulled my arm back. "Yeah, as your new team mate I should inform you I'm not much of a lady. Don't enjoy my hands being smooched by strangers."

"New team mate , eh?" He chuckled. "Well then I betta' introduce myself. Names Remy Labeau."

"Chelsea, Chelsea Marks...Labeau… why does that sound familiar?" I mumbled before the realization struck me. "Weren't you the guy in New Orleans that lead the police on a wild goose chase after causing some explosion at a casino?"

"Oh so you were in the south a few summers back?" He said with amusement. "Glad my name got around." He signaled to the large man behind him. 'Dis is Piotr Rasputin, also goes by Colossus, 'nother member to da team."

"Well if we're introducing our code names also, you can call me Dragoness."

"Shape shifter." Logan numbly said, answering their unspoken question. "Big Boy turns into metal, and Gumbo blows stuff up."

"And 'Gumbos' a masta' thief. by the way Logan, you gotta start hiding your stash better, you making it too easy for ol' Remmy." He said with amusement.

"I swear next time I find ya took one of my drinks, it's going to be a lot more than a pack of cards you loose."

I chuckled. "A bit of a thief, interesting."

"Nobody is a betta thief den Remmy." He proudly said.

"Careful you might be his next target." Piotr warned. His voice had a russian accent, and even though it was in a joking tone there seemed to be a real warning to it.

"I'll keep that in mind". We stayed at the bar for another hour before heading back to the mansion, we had a 6 am training session in the morning and I preferred not to be zombie when that happened .

For my first impression of the two they didn't seem too bad. Although cocky, Remy was at least entertaining to listen to. And Piotr, although not saying much, seemed like a relatively nice guy.

They had their own car that sped past us while driving. I could hear Logan mumble something along the lines of "fucking show offs" before he pumped up the gas to get ahead of them.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. "Men." I said to myself. They always had to prove who was in charge.

After pulling into the grounds, we parked the vehicles in the garage and headed inside. The TV was on in the den, signaling someone was up, and after walking in to throw my jacket on the couch I could see Rogue, Kitty, and Scott sitting around watching a movie.

"Hey Chelsea, how was your date with Logan?" Kitty jokingly said.

"Oh it was fantastic, we were able to sneak in a quicky in a crappy motel." I sarcastically countered.

She was about to open her mouth to say something when she caught sight of our companions. "Piotr!" She exclaimed, shooting off the couch and jumping on the big man with a hug.

"Hello Katya." He gently wrapped one of his massive arms around her with a smile.

"Aww Kitty, you didn't tell me that you Muscle Man here were together." I joked.

"Wh-what?! No! We're just friends." She defended, although a bright red blush spread over her face.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure kiddo."

Rogue got up. "Wait does that mean.."

"Hello cher." Gambit smugly said walking over to her. "Ya miss Remy?"

"God dammit." She mumbled flopping back down on the couch.

"Aw, what? Not going to greet my homecoming with a kiss?" He leaned over her, his brown hair flopping down into his face.

"Do you want meh to send you into a coma?" She retorted.

"So how did the mission go?" Scott said, propping himself up on the back of the couch.

Remy held up a small usb chip. "All my missions go well."

I looked at the small device. "What was the mission?"

"Ever heard of the MRD?" He said, turning toward me.

I nodded. "The mutant hunters hired by the government to "protect" the public. Yeah I've heard of them. Ran into them twice and got shot actually."

His red irises sparked with amusement. "Well the prof asked us if we could get some information from them. Confidential files on how d'er able ta track us down, wants to know how ta keep 'em from catching mutants and locking us up in cells."

"Well sounds like he's got a lot more in mind than just running a school." I mocked. "Then again he got a bunch of kids to save the world."

"Actually that was mostly Logan and Scott leading us into battle." Kitty piped in. "When the Professor was turned into one of Apocalypse's horsemen along with Storm, they had to step up as leaders for us."

"Well at least you didn't get anybody killed, Scotty." I turned to him with a smirk. "The few times I've been in the danger room with you, I thought you were a bit too much of a control freak. Guess it can actually pay off on the battlefield though, huh?"

"Uh..thanks?" His eyebrows lifted in confusion over his glasses.

I turned back to the cujane. "So anything else besides info on the hard drive?"

"Considering he wasn't supposed to get anything except info, there shouldn't be." Logan said as he walked in with a beer in hand.

I raised an eyebrow "Really? We were just at a bar and you open up another can after gulping down two pitchers by yourself."

He shrugged. "I don't get a buzz like you."

"Of course not." I ran my hand through my hair closing my eyes momentarily. "I'm gonna head up for some sleep. You three should think about doing it soon too, you've got an early training session with tough guy over there tomorrow." I said to the three students on the couch before turning to Remy and Piotr. "You guys running it with us?"

"Can't miss it when he's in charge." Piotr jabbed his thumb toward Logan, earning a snicker from the others and a eye roll from the man of subject.

I gave the tall guy an amused smirk before leaving the den for the stairs.

The nightmares started as soon as I lost consciousness.

I layed on a table, the cold metal sending freezing sparks up my bare back. I was barely covered, only a slim tube of cloth around my breasts and spandex shorts. Blinding white lights hovered over me, pulsing a headache with their bleach tone.

Cold. That's what I felt all over. The thermostat never went past sixty degrees in this god damn dungeon.

"That was quite a stunt you pulled in the exercise today, my dear." And then there was him. The wretched surroundings had nothing in comparison to the monster that hovered above me, his grey eyes like oily coins, glistened with enjoyment as he tapped a syringe. "But we have talked about this: no attacking the staff."

I let out a growl, baring my teeth as he grabbed my hair by the roots, forcing my head back. "Then again, you never do as you're told." His frigid hands traced down my cheek to my neck, grasping it in a choking grip as he pulled close to my face. The hot breath hit me with the scent of awful bodily smells mixed with wine. "When will we ever break you?" I grunted as the needle was plunged into my neck. A bleak sensation started to run through my body as the substance was transported through my blood.

"At least with these tests we have you controlled." He fiddled with a brace that hung above the table. Rows and rows of tiny needles lined it, like a torturous acupuncture contraption. "So let's try less restraint this time. After all the more you struggle… the more pain you'll endure." The brace was forced over by body, the slivers of metal plunged into what felt like every centimeter of my bare skin. The two injections started to mix together in my veins, the pain unbarable. I couldn't contain the screams of agony as what felt like acid raged under my skin.

X

I woke up with a start, whipping my head from side to side checking my surroundings. I rubbed my hand on the side of my neck and arms as I tried to calm my breathing.

"Just a dream… you're safe.." I told bed was a mess, the sheets were tussled all over the place, half of them were on the ground. Not to mention what I had done to my bed head. The side of the frame has scratch marks the size and width of fingers, meaning I must have started to shift in my sleep again.

"Ugh." I moaned as I rubbed my head trying to remove the memories that were fresh in my mind. The clock read 4:30, meaning I had an hour and a half before I needed to start training. But that was what I needed most right now, a rush adrenaline and something to get my mind off those memories.

Pulling on my uniform I headed down the danger room. Setting up a simple program designed to test agility and strength, the minutes passed by in a blur.

The course was a maze of different leveled blocks, ranging from 12 feet tall to actually going into the ground. I started running and jumping over them as programmed guns started firing shots.

The first canyon opened up while I was in mid air over a jump, the terrain completely giving way into blackness. Opening up my wings at the last minute I rolled across the ground before jumping up to run again. I could feel the heat from the shots being fired only feet behind me as I ended up in the lower levels of the labyrinth, suddenly as I turned a corner one of the guns pulled out from the corner I was about to turn. Sliding to a slower pace I turned my arms into their scaly forms and with the extra muscle strength, tore the machine from the wall and flung it behind me causing a small explosion.

I just kept running, it was an almost natural state for me, it helped clear my mind and put me at ease, but the constant shifting floor below me kept me focused. And the destruction of the drones and and guns firing at me got my aggression to rise. A strange meditation but it worked.

I was about take a leap from from one raised block to another over a large trench, then suddenly the whole terrain leveled out. I stumbled to the ground, cursing as I fell.

"Son of a bitch!" I roared as I felt my ankle twist under me, stprained in the process.

"Wouldn't know, can't remember her." Logan's gravelly voice said over the sound system. "What ya do'in in here anyways Scales?"

I wrapped my hands around my ankle, pressing the muscle and bone back into place. "What does it look like Wolf Man? I was doing a training exercise until the ground fell out from under me."

I heard him chuckle. "Come on up to the observation deck, I need to program the simulation before the kids get down here." I got up, pressing my foot into the ground, moving it in a twisting motion to make sure it had healed. With a leap I unfurled my wings and with a few beats was level with the observation room.

"I ain't taking the stares." I firmly proclaimed. The stocky man rolled his eye and opened up the emergency window, allowing me to crawl in.

"Seriously, what you doing down here so early? Last I checked you literally can hibernate."

I chuckled at the comment. Last Sunday I spent most of the day asleep, Kitty actually had to phase through my door to make sure I wasn't dead or anything. "Oh don't worry, I can. I just had to make sure that you knew what a real training session looked like when you got here."

He smirked at the remark before turning to the control panel. "Don't test your luck. If you want a real challenge ya can do one of my solo training programs, and believe me it's a lot more complicated than just jumping over some hills and dodging drones."

"Mmhhmm, tell me when it's actually testing my skills." I noticed two mugs placed by him on the panel, the scent of coffee wafting from the steaming contents. "One of those for me?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Walked in earlier and thought I might as well get some while I waited for you to finish up. Decided to bring some down for ya considering it's hell to get into the kitchen after the living stomachs with meat around them wake up."

I took one of the cups, sipping it. "Thanks."

"What were you doing in here so early when you're going to be doing a team session anyways?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nightmares, couldn't sleep." We sat in silence for a few minutes as he continued to press buttons and turn knobs to finish up the program, the only sound was the buzz of machinery in the danger room as some mechanisms were tested out.

"How do you stay so comedic?" He suddenly asked. "After what you've been through. Captured by Hydra, kept in their labs. I know what it does to people."

"Yeah, how?"

"How often do you see people with metal bones?" He snarled.

I lifted a brow "You were a test subject?"

He nodded. "Used by an organization called Weapon X. Essentially they're the same as Hydra when you get down to their basic purpose. Only reason their not considered terrorists is because they aren't foreign."

"You went through the same kind of hell I did. You've turned out just as sarcastic as I have, except you can't always take a joke." I pointed

He shook his head. "You're so much younger, I've seen what the effects of living like that can do to someone at such an early age. It ain't pretty."

"I had already been having a tough life for a while when they captured me. I was only fifteen, living on the streets, the only way I was able to eat was to steal wallets and purses. Even then I would sometimes end up starving." I sighed. "When you have a grey outlook, you expect the worse."

He huffed. "Tell me about it."

"It doesn't bother you that much." I pointed out.

"I've been living with what's left of those memories for years, I've gotten used to it." He replied.

I looked solemnly down at the mug between my hands. "Do you ever… get flash backs?"

He took a sip of his coffee. "All the time. Take it your nightmares were actually some of those?"

"Yeah...I'm just so...sick and tired of them" I snarled. "I'm free, I'm out of their reach, I'm safe. So why do those god damn thoughts always have to come back!"

"Instinct." Logan said simply. "It's there to remind you what to avoid and how to survive. It defends your weaknesses. It's there to protect you"

I scoffed. "Well if you put it that way, I guess the sarcasm is instinct… It protects the past."

Hey to everyone who's reading this story! I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated this story, I've been really busy with school and tests and finals and the rest of hell. But I hoped you liked the chapter, once again sorry for the horrible writing of accents. Also I had a much better ending to the conversation with Chels and Logan, but it's really late here and I'm tired so I guess this cringe worthy close up will have to do until I can update it. Please leave a review or feedback, and happy holidays! :)