Chapter 14

(Bobby)

It is so hard to believe everything that's happened over the past couple of weeks. First off, we find out that the Professor's been trying to get Magneto sprung from prison because of that damned army coming out of Weapon X. Then we find out he's had someone who's known everything that's happened to Logan and Angela since they left, because that Bennington guy has someone inside there. As if that wasn't enough, we also find out Mystique's out there and that Logan's actually working with her on some plan to get rid of the guy in charge of Weapon X and get them the heck out of there. But I think the most shocking thing of all was Jubilee's uncle showing up on our doorstep out of the blue.

He'd been working at Weapon X for years, blackmailed by the Director into cooperating or else Jubilee would die. I don't know if anyone would have been able to pull that off or not, but it was enough of a threat to get the doctor to work with them, even if he did as much as could to be not very helpful at all. Jubilee was so happy to see him that she cried every time she saw him for a week. He was her only family, really, since her parents had turned her out at the age of fourteen when her mutation first manifested. Years later, after she'd become one of the "famous X-Men", they'd tried to weasel their way back into her life, but she wasn't having any of it. They'd made their feelings quite clear to her and she wasn't about to make it easy on them. But her Uncle Daniel had always supported her, given her money or food when she needed it, but he had suddenly disappeared just before Xavier found her living in a mall out in California. She'd been worried about him for years, but had given up hope that he was still alive a long time ago. Now here he was, living at the mansion and doing some massive research project with Hank that had something to do with Logan's healing factor. He says he hopes to have it finished before he dies, but at sixty-three years old he's in better shape than half the team and that's saying something.

But he also told us that Logan and Angela are free of that place, with two little girls to boot. One of them is apparently a clone of Dr. Grey and none of us know how to feel about that. Of course, she's only like twelve years old, so it's not like we'll have to worry about Scott. But if she's half as pretty as Dr. Grey was, it'll be weird for the rest of us to see the kids in the school hitting on her. But Dr. Lee said there's no guarantees that we'll be able to help her very much, because she was raised by the Weapon X people since birth and really believes that her whole purpose in life is to hurt other mutants. Because they taught her that mutants that don't work for the Director are all evil and need to be stopped before they overrun the planet. Sure, if we were all like Magneto that might be a problem, but we're not.

The other one doesn't even have a name, she's just called X-23 and she's apparently a clone of Logan. How the hell you clone a man and wind up with a girl is beyond me, but Hank explained that it's because all people start out female as a default, but a certain signal to the DNA changes that early on in pregnancy. He said that from what he understood of the old files that the Deadly Trio had brought back from all the bases they destroyed over the years that they'd been trying to force the clone to be male and they all failed. They let this one go and when they came up with a girl, they didn't worry about it too much. I feel really bad for her. How much must it suck to just be called X-23 your whole life, all seven years of it? I only hope she doesn't have too much of Logan's attitude or else they're going to have their hands full getting her back on track.

The last bit was the part where they hadn't actually planned on leaving this early. But the plan had changed when Angela found out she was pregnant! I don't blame any of them for getting out of there when they did, because I hate to think what they'd have done if they knew she was having a baby. They would have probably taken it away from her right after it was born and she'd never see it again. She's lost enough children for one normal lifetime, much less the really long life she's probably going to have. Losing another one in any way would probably kill even Angela.

But there's always bad news to go with good and this time was no exception. The Director had just lost his main base of operations to another incredibly bloody and brutal escape by two of his favorite guinea pigs. They had broken out twice now and it wouldn't go over well if any of the other people he had got wind of it, if their conditioning would allow them to even think such a thing was possible. Dr. Lee said that the conditioning is pretty extensive and might take years of telepathic therapy to reverse, but that some of them weren't going to be worth trying to save anyway because they were already dying. But he did give us a weapon we could use against them when they were finally let loose, some compound that suppresses the healing factor and makes them easier to kill. And that was the most important thing to know because we were going to need it.

Bennington called this morning and told us that the entire army was being assembled somewhere in the Yukon. It would only be a matter of time before they started their work and when they did, the X-Men would be the only ones with a chance to stop them.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Remy)

We get word today dat t'ings be moving much faster den we t'ink dey would. Logan an' Angela, dey got away an' dey are staying at de hideaway in Canada wit' a couple little ones dey save from dat terrible place. Dey say dey not ready t' come home jus' yet, from what a friend say when he show up at de mansion. But dis mean dat we be able t' go home soon, which make Remy very happy.

But we not telling la petit belle about dis, because we not sure when we be able to go home. We only know it be soon, so we keep it t' ourselves for now, as much as we can wit' little Genevieve knowin' so much all de time. I t'ink maybe she already know all dis, but we jus' bein' on de safe side.

But de bad news be very bad indeed, since dat terrible army be makin' ready t' move. Remy not know when dat will be, or where dey will go first, but dis Cajun know he will have to be dere when dey do start. Too many lives, too many people be at risk an' Remy not be able t' live wit' himself if he not be dere t' help. My precious Marie feel de same way, so we already tell Sam an' Storm dat we go back early if we have to, but we not wanting to leave dem all alone. But it was little Genevieve who tell us dat we not have to worry for long, since she see herself wit' her mère and père very soon. Remy hope she be right, for it worry me greatly dey be apart for so long.

But we can all feel it, like de whole world be waitin' for somet'ing t' happen, somet'ing dat will change everyt'ing. Remy be certain la petit belle already know what dis terrible t'ing be, but she not saying what or when. Maybe it be so terrible she not know how t' tell us, but Remy don' t'ink so. Remy t'ink dat maybe it be terrible for someone here an' she just not wanting t' frighten us. But not knowin' is jus' as terrible, if you ask dis Cajun.

At least we will be home soon an' dat be de important part. Everyt'ing else work out itself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Evie)

Dear Diary,

Ten months, three weeks, five days, two hours and forty-three minutes since mom and dad sent me away.

It's almost time to go home! Mommy and Daddy will be going first, for a few days, because they have things they have to do before I can go too. Uncle Atlas said that Uncle Charles did something to their memories so that the bad men wouldn't come looking for me, but he wouldn't tell me what, only that Uncle Charles has to put their memories back the way they were before I can go home. I hope it doesn't take too long, because I have to tell you, I am very tired of waiting.

It's spring again, did you know that? The snow is melting and there are birds around that I haven't seen in ages. Do you remember how I told you on my birthday that I'd see my parents again before the end of summer? I was right! It was just a feeling then, but now I know for sure that I was right. I asked Erin about it and she said that sometimes that can happen to people like us, that we just know when something is going to happen without seeing it. I don't care if there's a name for it or not, because it doesn't matter to me. I just knew we would be together before summer was over and now it looks like we'll be together before it starts! How cool is that?

But the bad army is getting ready to go, I can see them in my sleep and sometimes when I meditate. Erin says it's because I'm always thinking about my parents and that's where they are, but I don't know. She says if I wanted to see what the basketball scores were going to be or if it's going to rain the next day, I just have to think really hard about it when I'm meditating and I'll see it. I don't know how she thinks I can clear my head and think about stuff at the same time, but she says it'll get easier as I get better. Right now, I'm pretty good at clearing my head and being still and just letting the visions come.

I've decided on a code name for when I get to be an X-Man, because I've decided that's what I want to be when I grow up. Aunt Rogue was teaching me about ancient Greece and there was this lady called the Oracle at Delphi who would have visions for people to tell them the future. So that's gonna be my code name, Delphi. Do you like it? I sure do. It was either that or Cassandra, but no one ever believed her and I want people to know that I'm not just making things up.

Aunt Rogue and Aunt 'Roro both say I'm gonna be way ahead of everyone when I get back to school, so I might get to skip a grade in some of my classes. I think that would be really cool and I might even be able to be a real X-Man before all my friends. But I'm not gonna worry about it too much, because I know Daddy is gonna hate it if I become an X-Man. But I don't think it'll be too bad, because I think I got something from him and Mommy. I skinned my knee the other day and before I could even get to the house, it went away. So if I have the healing thing like they do, I'll be able to learn how to fight and I won't have to worry about getting hurt too bad cuz it'll just heal up. Then Daddy won't be able to be mad at me for being an X-Man, because I won't be able to get hurt either.

Oh, I can hardly wait to go home! It'll be so good to see Wendy and everyone again! But especially to be with Mommy and Daddy! I'm never gonna let them leave me like this ever again!

Love, Evie Marie Logan

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Angela)

None of us really had the energy for more than a quick bath before collapsing, so we gave the girls another sedative and installed them in the spare room before doing so. We let Grant – whose full name is David Grant III – go first, then Logan and I shared a shower. We offered to sleep on the sofa in watch shifts, but he shook his head. "No, the two of you spent enough time without any real privacy, you deserve the time together. I'll sleep out here until we know what we're doing next, I don't mind." We were too tired to argue, so we collapsed in our room and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

When we awoke, we were both amazed to discover we'd slept the rest of the day and the night away. Morning sun was slanting through the windows and the smell of eggs, bacon and coffee filled the cabin. My stomach gave a loud growl and Logan laughed. "Darlin', I think the baby's makin' his presence known."

"Sounds like," I replied and smiled, my first genuine smile since this whole ordeal began. "Come on, let's get some of that before there's nothing left."

We pulled on some clean clothing and I slowly opened the door. David was out there with the girls, both of which were eating slowly. All eyes turned to us and the little one, X-23, scowled and turned back to her plate while Phoenix simply stared. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for an eventful few weeks, starting now. "Good morning everyone," I said.

"Good morning Angela," David replied, getting plates down for us. "I guessed this herbal tea is for you, so I made you a pot. Logan, would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, black as you can get it," he said and slipped past me. He loaded up a plate and sat down next to his little clone.

Neither one of us had gotten a really good look at her until we were on the plane out here and at that point she'd been unconscious. Now that she was awake, her resemblance to Logan was nothing short of startling. Her short black hair was unruly and had the same distinctive tufts at the sides, her bright green eyes full of suspicion. Even the scowl she gave him was identical. "You're Wolv'rine, ain't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am kid, what of it?"

"You let those people take me away. You both did." Her scowl deepened, her mouth clenched in a thin line. I loaded up a plate and took it with my mug of tea to the remaining seat at the table.

"It ain't that simple kid. I know what they told ya, but they lied to ya."

"I don't believe you."

"An' why's that? Or did they leave out the part where me an' Hellcat weren't even there when you were born? Did they tell ya that?"

Her eyes narrowed further. "So where were you?" Damn. Seven years old and already she was an expert interrogator.

"Livin' somewhere else, where we're gonna take the both o' ya if we can get ya both to understand some things."

"I understand all I need to," Phoenix piped in. "I know you gave me something to make my telepathy not work. And David here already told me that if I try using my telekinesis, he's gonna keep me drugged up til we leave here. So that means you guys are no better than my father."

That brought me up short. "Your father?"

She turned to me and I could have sworn I saw her eyes blaze for a moment, as though filling with flame. "Yeah, my father. Malcolm Colcord. I think you called him 'The Director'."

"Listen to me," I said, leaning over. "That man isn't your father…"

"Oh, I know," she interrupted. "I don't have a real mother or father. I'm a clone." I sat back, astonished and she just rolled her eyes. "I'm a telepath, remember? Like they could keep anything from me. I know I'm a clone of someone named Jean Grey. But he raised me, so that makes him my father." She turned to X-23 and smiled coldly. "You're a clone too, ya know. Wolverine's right about that, they did lie to you."

The smaller girl sneered, a growl rumbling from deep in her chest and she lunged, but Logan stopped her, pinning her to her chair with an arm across her chest. "Ya don't wanna do that, kid," he warned, shooting a glare at Phoenix who sat there laughing. "An' you stop laughin'. None o' this is funny."

"Oh, yeah it is," she said with a smirk. "What do you think's gonna happen here Wolverine? That I'm going to be so grateful to you for 'saving' me from those people?" She shoved her chair back and her eyes blazed. "I didn't want to be saved, okay? I was happy!"

"What did he tell ya, Phoenix? That the only good mutant is a mutant he controlled? That mutants ain't really people? C'mon, little girl, don't hold back now! Lay it all out for me, tell me what it is he wanted from you!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" She shouted and dashed back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

X-23 continued to struggle against him, scratching and biting at his arm, which he ignored as he turned back to her. "You 'bout done kid?"

"Don't call me kid!"

"Then what do we call ya? Do ya even have a name?"

"X-23! That's my name!"

"That ain't a name, it's a code an' do ya wanna know what it means?"

"An' what kinda name is 'Wolv'rine' then, huh?"

"That ain't my name, it's my code."

"So what's your name then?"

"You first." She scowled at him, then the fight went out of her completely and she sat there looking defeated. "Ya don't even have one, do ya? They never gave ya a regular name 'cause they didn't know if you'd live this long."

"They said I didn't get a name 'cause I didn't need one. They said you guys didn't care enough to give me one." Her brow furrowed in confusion and she looked at me. "Did that other girl tell me the truth? You guys ain't really my mom and dad?"

"Well, I'm not your mom, that's for sure," I said softly. "And he's not exactly your father."

"So where do I come from? And what's a clone anyway?"

I didn't want to get into a huge scientific discussion with a seven-year-old, but I had to tell her something. "It's a copy of a living thing, like a person."

Her eyes got wide and she looked between us. "So who am I a copy of?"

"Me," Logan said and sighed. "They tried a bunch o' times to copy me an' they had problems makin' it come out a boy. So they let the last one do whatever it wanted to do an' that's you."

"X-23," she breathed and slumped in the chair. "Am I number twenty-three? All the ones before me are what, dead?"

"Yeah, they are." He let the little girl go, but she didn't bolt like I thought she would. "It's really hard to explain, there's a lot o' scientific mumbo-jumbo ya wouldn't understand, but they did too much fiddlin' 'round to the babies an' it made 'em too weak to live for long."

"Except for me. I'm still here." She narrowed her eyes again, only this time in concentration. "They kept testin' me, ya know? An' one time, I heard one of the doctors say somethin' about puttin' metal on my bones when I grew up." She looked at me, then back at Logan. "They told me you let them have me, 'cause I was a freak an' you didn't love me."

He leaned forward and looked her right in the eyes. "Listen to me, kid, an' believe me when I say this. The only reason we were there this time was to get you an' get Phoenix outta there." Ok, a minor lie but she didn't need to know we were also planning to kill the Director. "We knew 'bout you two an' couldn't stand the thought of 'em hurtin' you like they hurt us."

"They told me you were just regular people, but you're not are you? If I'm your copy, then you're just like me."

"That's right, I am. An' they put metal on my bones, 'cause they knew it wouldn't hurt me for long."

"So who is my mom then? Who is she?"

"We don't know kid. All we had was her code name an' we never met her the whole time we were there."

Her chin started quivering and a tear spilled down her cheek. "So I'm all alone? I got nobody?"

I leaned over and took her hand. "No, sweetie, that's not true. We might not be your mother and father, but we could be, if you want us to. You have us."

"How do I know you're not tryin' to trick me? How do I know this is true if the other stuff wasn't true?"

"That's up to you, to trust us or not. We're going to be here for a while, so you can make up your mind. I know you don't believe us and you have no reason to. But we'll prove it to you, any way we can." I looked up at Logan. "Right?"

He nodded. "Right. We'll give you a chance if you give us one."

"I'll try," she said and sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "I'm tired, can I go back to bed?"

"Sure kid." She got up from the table and went back to the bedroom, closing the door more gently than Phoenix did. Logan sat back in his chair and sighed. "This is gonna be a long coupla weeks, you know that?"

"Yes, I do. But we have to do this. We can't take them back the way they are." I sipped my tea. "X-23 is young enough that we have a chance, but Phoenix?"

"Yeah, I know darlin'. That's gonna be one tough kid to crack."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I could have accused Logan of being psychic after that first day. "Tough" didn't even begin to describe Phoenix. We knew that it was going to be harder to convince her, since we had to keep her telepathy suppressed. Add to that the fact that she was almost thirteen years old and already a thousand times more angsty than any Goth kid four years older and we definitely had our work cut out for us.

It was early March, but the cabin is far enough north that it was still seriously winter up there. X-23 loved it, having never been allowed to play in the snow before. I don't know where they'd kept her before having her transferred to Area 51, but it must not have had much in the way of seasons. On our third day up there, it snowed and she sat at the window watching it fall for hours. When it stopped, she asked if she could go outside and we reluctantly agreed. Logan went out with her and taught her the joys of such things as building snowmen and his personal favorite, the snowball fight. By the end of the first hour, she was laughing just like any other little girl and it seemed like there was hope for her yet.

Of course, she was still prone to bouts of bitterness and outright hostility. Weapon X had conditioned her from birth to believe no one cared about her, least of all her parents. I don't think she quite believed we weren't her real mother and father who gave her up willingly to those monsters simply because she was a mutant. It was actually David who helped bring her around, because he had been one of the soldiers assigned to guard her for those last few weeks at Area 51. Oh, they gave her plenty of toys and games to play with, but they never gave her anything approaching love or even affection. Any doctor will tell you that infants who are not touched and handled will actually die, so they'd done that much. But no one ever made an emotional connection with her and that was the reason behind her hostility. She had all the same super-intense feelings as any other little girl her age and had never been able to act on them. From what we were able to glean in our time at the cabin, she was generally praised for negative emotions like anger and punished when she exhibited positive responses, such as being happy. David told us the whole story over the course of many late nights, that she'd been brought to Area 51 because they were going to experiment with a partial bonding process that would cover her bones in certain areas, allowing them to continue to grow normally until they could do a complete bonding on her. The testing she'd mentioned that first morning had been to see how effective her healing factor was, so they'd know what her chances of survival were. Had we not accelerated our plans to get out of there, we would have been too late to save her from that.

Phoenix avoided us at all costs, to the point of taking her plates to the bedroom to eat and only being in the same room as us long enough to cross from the bedroom to the bath and back again. There were a few nights where we could hear her talking to David long after we'd gone to bed and he was trying his best to explain to her how wrong everything was that had happened to her. After a while, she developed a "victim mentality", that maybe these things had happened because she deserved them, or because she made them happen somehow. Deep down, I thought she was just telling us what we wanted to hear and I had trouble trusting this development.

But David thought she was being sincere. There was a lot we didn't know about the guy and it wasn't until near the end of our second week up there that we learned everything. We knew he worked for Bennington, which made us trust him outright, but we didn't know much about him as a person. He finally told us everything one snowy night after the girls had gone to bed.

He and Logan were sharing a bottle of whisky while I sipped yet another cup of herbal tea. He told us how he'd lost his sister in the Des Moines attack and how he'd launched his own investigation into the events surrounding it, not buying the official story of a "gas explosion" or the slightly less official story of "mutant attack". He managed to find one person in the whole town willing to tell him what she saw that night and what he learned from her didn't add up.

"I mean come on! A giant robot shooting lasers?" He shook his head and polished off his whisky. "Sounded like something out of a science fiction movie to me. But she swore that's what she saw and the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the floor of her bedroom, every window in the house shattered. She said she was lucky to be alive, because everything within the blast radius was obliterated and her house was just outside that area."

"Yeah, I was there," Logan said and swallowed hard. "Nothin' but pieces left, some no bigger than the palm o' my hand. We looked for survivors, but…" He tossed back his whisky and reached for the bottle. "I've done some terrible things in my day, some of 'em recently, but I ain't never seen anythin' like that before."

"Well, I went back after things calmed down, tried to see if there was anything left and I found this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a computer chip. "It was buried in a flower bed about a block outside the blast area. I did the only thing I could think to do and tried tracking where it came from. See this?" He handed it to me, indicating a partial serial number. "I tried looking it up on the internet, see if I could find out where it was made. Three days later, Bennington showed up on my doorstep." I handed the chip back and he put it away. "He said I was very close to getting into a lot of trouble, that the people who made that chip would not hesitate to have me eliminated to get it back." He poured himself another glass and took a sip. "I was stunned! It looked just like a useless computer component, but he said it was much more than that."

"It came out of the Sentinel that destroyed that house, probably part of its main system array," I said, nodding in understanding. "He knew the Director would send a couple operatives to kill you and get it back."

"Exactly. So he offered me an alternative. He would make me disappear, make it so it looked like I never existed in the first place in exchange for my assistance in bringing the program down."

"What I don't understand is how Bennington hasn't been able to do that in the first place. He seems to have the connections, the authority…why didn't he just go in and kill the Director himself?"

"Colcord isn't the original Director. That guy died thirty years ago, from a stroke. Colcord took over because he'd been working with the original Director for ages, and twisted the project to suit his own ends. It wasn't always the monster it's become."

"Yeah, we know," Logan said. "Bennington gave us a bunch o' files 'bout twelve years ago with all the info we'd ever need to take the project down."

"So you know that it was originally intended to help protect the United States from foreign enemies, not mutants. And the original Director would have never approved the adamantium bonding process. But Colcord has his own agenda, the extermination of mutantkind, root and branch. It's personal for him because his father was killed by a drunk driver who was only incidentally a mutant."

"So why would he surround himself with so many o' us if he hates us so much?"

"Because you have to fight fire with fire. Some mutants have awesome power, things normal people can hardly imagine. How do you defeat a man who can kill you with a thought? Or a woman who can render herself invisible and kill you on a street corner in broad daylight? He knew he needed people – mutants – who would be able to survive anything and that's where you guys came in."

"So how did Stryker figure into all o' this?"

"William Stryker's son was a mutant, who could project illusionary scenarios directly into the mind. He could make you believe you were sitting on a beach in Fiji when you were really in the living room watching a sitcom. Or he could make you believe you were raping a five-year-old boy in front of a live audience when you were really on a beach in Fiji. When his boy first manifested his mutation, Stryker took him to Charles Xavier for a 'cure', but when that wasn't forthcoming he pulled him out of the school and started trying to solve the problem for himself. Being a military man, he had some pretty extensive resources at his disposal. He started experimenting on any telepaths he could get his hands on, but then he was approached by Colcord."

"So how does any of this apply to Logan and me?" I asked, refreshing my tea from the pot on the coffee table.

"Colcord had some ideas about how to use Stryker's son to benefit mankind, but he wanted something in return. Stryker agreed and had his son put into a forced coma until he helped Colcord perfect the adamantium bonding process. A doctor named Abraham Cornelius solved the marrow problem using nanotech valves he invented and Stryker provided his expertise with metallurgy, coming up with a way to smelt the adamantium in a pure liquid form. There had always been a problem with keeping it molten long enough to be of use and Stryker solved it."

"How?"

Grant shrugged. "I have no idea and I don't care to know. What I do know is that once the process was complete, he started trying to bond it to any mutants he could get his hands on. It wasn't until they caught one that they code named 'Coyote' that they solved the death rate amongst the subjects."

"Feral mutants," Logan said. "He needed feral mutants who could repair the damage."

"Exactly. Coyote's healing factor wasn't nearly as good as yours, Logan. Only one subject has a healing factor on par and he's been missing since Liberty Island. But once he made that discovery, Stryker made it his personal mission to bring in every feral mutant he could find. But it didn't escape anyone's notice that he seemed disappointed every time they brought in a man."

"He was lookin' for me, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was. Seems that you'd actually worked under him, way under him during Vietnam. You'd already been alive God only knows how long by then and you'd been living in the States for some time. You joined the army, got sent over with the rest of the newbies back then and by the end of your first tour, you got noticed."

"Lemme guess, every unit I was assigned to died to a man 'cept for me."

"Pretty much. You signed on for two more tours, but you vanished without a trace halfway through the last one. Stryker questioned the survivors from your units and found out you'd been shot countless times, stabbed at least a dozen times and had supposedly stepped on a mine at least once, yet you were still walking and talking until your disappearance. The official story is that you were caught in a napalm drop, which explained the lack of a body, but for a man with luck like yours, he didn't believe it."

"He knew, even back then he knew I was a mutant."

"Yes. It wasn't until years later, after you had joined the Canadian Special Forces that he caught wind of you again. He found out about a mission you were going on to somewhere in Korea and leaked some of the details to their military, to ensure that it would be a disaster. You were kicked out of the force, got into some arms smuggling and the Weapon X guys grabbed you on your way out of a bar one night. Word is you were hunting someone down that had screwed you on an arms deal."

"No, I'd already gotten that asshole. Killed him in broad daylight middle o' Montreal. I was on my way to the Yukon to hide out til everyone figured I was dead or somethin'."

"Well, I don't know the details of how they found you, but they did. By then, they'd perfected the bonding process and the program was officially named 'Weapon X' because you were going to be the perfect killing machine, the tenth person they did the process to."

"But they didn't count on me goin' berserk on 'em."

"No. They thought they had you pretty well softened up by then, your mind had been worked over so badly it was like there was nothing left of you. Stryker tried to terminate the project after your escape, figuring it was too risky to try again on anyone else, but Colcord wouldn't hear of it. He found more feral mutants, bonded the lot of them and had more success. After that, they concentrated on Stryker's son for a while, finally resorting to lobotomizing him to keep him from using his power. But they discovered that his cerebral-spinal fluid could act as a mind-controlling agent and they first tested that theory on Deathstrike."

"That's the woman he killed at Alkali Lake the second time, right?" I asked, setting aside my cup.

"Yes. But with the loss of Stryker and his son, Colcord had to go back to the old methods of controlling people, with telepathic conditioning and regular tortures." He chuckled bitterly. "You know how he controls his telepaths? They all have implants in their brains, a tiny explosive that he can set off with the touch of a single button. If they don't do what he wants them to do, he'll kill them."

"Jesus Christ," Logan breathed. "An' I thought the one I had in my head was bad."

"Not even close, though you were the only one who ever needed one of those. The rest were either more sadistic or easier to condition, because they almost skipped to that damn tank with a smile on their faces."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked. "You weren't there for most of it."

"Bennington. He's got copies of every scrap of paper ever produced by that program. He's had people inside every government agency for centuries, feeding him the info he needs. Mostly, he uses low-level people and civilians – people who do transcription or data entry – because no one ever pays attention to them. It's very simple for them to make copies and smuggle them out, because it's believed they don't have the clearance to know anything important."

"So how do you figure into all of this, besides the Des Moines incident?"

"Because I'm a mutant too. I'm a telepath, but not a very strong one. Xavier could eat my brain for breakfast, I'm sure. But mostly I'm an empath. I can feel what other people feel and if I try hard enough, I can make them feel what I want them to."

"Is that why we trusted you from the start?" Logan asked, a touch of menace in his voice. "You makin' us want to trust you, like you?"

Grant shook his head. "No, it isn't and I know you can tell when people are lying. No, I don't use my power that way unless I have no other choice. I can use it as a weapon if I have to, but I don't like to. But that's why I think Phoenix is beginning to come around a little. With her telepathy suppressed, she can't tell when I'm using my power on her. So yeah, I'm nudging her a little, making her a little more receptive to believing us. But I am not and I will not manipulate her more than that. It's not right. The choice to trust us will be hers alone, but you both have to know that I do have orders regarding her."

"What? From who?"

"Bennington. If we can't convince her that we're not the enemy, I'm to remand her to BCI custody, where she'll be kept in a forced coma for the rest of her life."

My stomach lurched at the thought of that. "David, we can't let you do that." I said.

"And we can't let her run amok with the kind of power she has! Logan, you knew Jean Grey. Did you know she was a class five mutant?" We both nodded; the Professor had told us that much. "Then you know what that means. Her powers will have no limits. She'll be able to communicate telepathically with anyone, anywhere. And her telekinesis? Once that fully develops, she'll be able to take things apart at the molecular level. She's the psychic equivalent of a nuclear bomb without the failsafes. She'll be too dangerous to just let go, so my orders are to bring her in." He sighed and tossed back the last of his drink. "Just be glad I wasn't told to put a bullet in her head, okay? It was brought up as an option, but I refused and Bennington agreed. But if that had been my orders, I'd do it without hesitation."

"You know ya wouldn't live to see another day if ya did that, right?" Logan said.

"I know. But my first duty is to protect this country and the Constitution against all threats and right now, she's a threat. I don't like it any more than you do, but it has to be done." He put his glass down on the table and scrubbed his face. "Look, I'm not going to argue the ethics of this decision with you. Maybe if we can find another class five telepath someday, he can work with her while she's out and it won't be a permanent sentence. In the meantime, do what you can to help her and maybe it won't come to that at all."

"I hope you're right, Grant, 'cause I ain't gonna let ya have her, not as long as I have breath in my body."

He nodded. "I know, believe me. Look, it's late, why don't we all sleep on this and we'll worry about it if the time comes to make that decision, all right?" We agreed that was a fine idea and went to our room.

Sleep still eluded me a few hours later, even as Logan dreamed beside me. I didn't know what to make of everything David had told us, only that I agreed with Logan. No matter what, I wasn't going to let Bennington have that little girl. There had to be some way to get through to her, even if I didn't have a clue what that could be.

AN: Bleah...still sick, still on so much cold medicine i can hardly think straight, so i'm gonna skimp on my author's notes today...again, i say bleah...:/ But i do sincerely thank everyone for reading and/or reviewing...:)