Chapter 14

Men in military uniforms milled about in a cavernous, dank laboratory, their conversation muted but with an air of excitement. Enlisted men moved among their superiors with trays of champagne. The centerpiece of the room, a large glass tank filled with an unknown solution, glowed green from the various machinery and instrument panels surrounding it.

"Gentlemen, we are about to begin," announced a man with glasses and a goatee, who seemed to be in charge. A very young Brianna was led into the room by a military policeman at each elbow, her eyes vacant and unblinking. The crowd parted silently as the unresisting subject was guided to the ominous cistern, disrobed and stood passively while the laboratory aides adjusted the platform suspended above it. "As you know, the adamantium will be permanently grafted to her entire skeleton. And," the man added, "we have perfected the biomechanics of the retractable claws, as well." A murmur of approval went through the gathering as the control panels and machinery surrounding the glass tank came to life.

FLASH

The lighting in the room was dim and erotic, thanks to a diaphanous red scarf draped over the table lamp. Low music was playing on the portable stereo, and a man and woman danced sensuously in the middle of the floor.

"You're my angel, come and save me tonight."

Brianna sang along softly, smiling as the man nuzzled the side of her neck. The air in the room became electric as they began kissing, softly at first, then more passionately.

"You're my angel, come and make it all ri-i-ight."

They danced in a tangle of limbs and finally collapsed on the couch, the man's body covering Brianna's completely. Their kisses became more urgent, demanding. Suddenly, a quiet snikt, and six metal points erupted from the man's back, blood spreading in thick black petals under the crimson light.

Jean gasped and sat upright, breaking her mental contact with Brianna, who lay sleeping fitfully on the table in the med lab. It had taken quite a considerable dose of sedatives to calm her panicked screaming in the gym, and Logan had had to carry her to the lower level.

He stood at Brianna's bedside holding her hand now, as he had been for the past hour. "What did you see?" he asked anxiously. He could not feel Brianna in his head, and it worried him, a lot more than he wanted to let on. "Jean, what's going on?"

The doctor was disturbed. "I think…" she trailed off, still pondering the images she had seen. "I think her memories are surfacing, and she's…shutting down in defense. The things she's remembering are overwhelming her." Jean looked to the Professor, who nodded in confirmation.

"That is what I sensed, as well. It seems whatever blocks were placed in her psyche are deteriorating. I think perhaps her mutation has something to do with it." Xavier caught the confused look on Logan's face. "Emotion and memory are affected by the same general area of the brain. That area, in Brianna, is altered by her empathic mutation. I think this is what's causing the memory blocks to break down."

"Bastards didn't do their research too well," Logan growled. Medical matters left him feeling so ineffectual and lost. How many times had he wanted to reach into his own head and slice away until he found the past he was looking for? Nightmares were all he had for clues, and now Brianna was lost in the worst of them. Logan preferred threats and dangers that were tangible, things he could fight with his hands, his strength. The sheer frustration of not being able to protect Brianna from the demons in her head made his whole body tremble with barely restrained feral rage.

Scott, who had been silently observing from a dim corner, approached the group. "Logan, why don't you take a break? Jean and…"

"No!" It came out a roar, Logan fixing Scott with a glare of pure hatred. "Get outta here, Summers. You've screwed things up enough!" It took all his self control not to unsheathe his claws and drive them into Scott's midsection.

Cyclops stood his ground. "I'm leaving, too. But I think you might benefit from a round or two in the Danger Room, so you can look at things with a clear head." The two men stood face to face, blazing hazel eyes meeting ruby-quartz shielded ones. "Jean and the Professor will take good care of her, Logan. C'mon."

"There's nothing else you can do for her right now, Logan," Xavier confirmed. "We will notify you if anything else develops." Jeanand I will do our best to bring her back to you, he promised silently. The utter despair that Logan had been trying to conceal from everyone in the room only served to confirm what Xavier had suspected from the moment Brianna had come to the mansion. Wolverine had been reunited with his mate. Even if his conscious mind didn't remember Vixen, his heart did.