Hey everyone! Welcome to another chapter!

Logan's Wolverettes: Big, big thanks to Logan'sDrover, Sarra Ambrai, Laudine, nileena, FrozenVoices and 12kirby12! I worship your shiny, gift-wrapped reviews!

No more waffle! Onward ....... !

ooXoo

Friend or Foe?

The more Scott thought about it, the more concerned he became for Kristi's well being. Roughly an hour earlier, just before setting out from the cryo-chamber, she'd gone into a frenzy, crying bitterly and insisting that something was wrong, but when pressed, unable to say what. Jubilee and Gina had done their best to calm her and even Jean had offered to assist, but she had been waved away by the young firecracker. Now, as they walked through the forbidding corridors of what he now understood to be an underwater base of some kind, she was uncharacteristically quiet. Jubilee and Gina had been joined by Coffey and Hudson and, together, they formed a protective phalanx around her, keeping Kristi close and allowing no one else near. The girls whispered constant encouragement to her, but the blank expression on her face seemed to suggest that she'd gone into shock and he had no idea why. Was it a delayed reaction to the cryo-sleep? Would they all suffer the same fate?

His other concern was the mysterious woman they had reluctantly welcomed into their ranks. Her name was Trudy Marland, she hailed from the British Isles and she had been forcibly abducted from her home one evening by, quote – "a bunch of super-powered morons" – unquote. Any more than that she would not say, but Jean had already ascertained that she was a mutant, with the ability to project images directly into the mind. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was the one who had been feeding them the stimuli for the 'other time', with the machine keeping them all linked together. Its execution was brilliant in its simplicity and Scott was not slow to realise that, if not for the Professor and his suspicions, they would still all be hooked up to it, living out their lives in a meaningless fantasy world. The mere thought made him shudder.

Trudy stomped along at the center of the group, arms folded defiantly, staring daggers at the heads of those in front of her. Despite their innocence, it was obvious that she blamed the X-Men for her current predicament and nothing would appease her. Scott had assured her that they would return her to her home, but she seemed sceptical of that promise and, to be honest, Scott wasn't sure how they would fulfil it. He had no idea where they were, if they could get word to the Beast, or even if the other X-Man was still alive. It was at times like this that being leader of the X-Men was vastly over-rated.

So far, they had encountered no resistance on their journey through the base and Scott was beginning to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Surely someone must be aware of their breakout by now? And where the hell was Wolverine? According to Jean, he'd set off to scout, but they'd heard nothing from him since and, without their comm-links, they were operating blind. He refused to believe that the feral had found a way out and not come back for them – if Jean was to be believed, his relationship with Kristi simply wouldn't allow that. But he couldn't shake the feeling that Wolverine had run into some kind of trouble and he hoped, for Kristi's sake, that he was well. He didn't think his young team-mate would be able to withstand another blow to her already fragile psyche.

He had no idea where they were heading, other than they needed to go up, and so he trusted to his instincts, leading his team through the stark corridors and relying on the telepaths to spot any potential trouble before it got too close. So far, their unique abilities had not picked up any signs of life and that worried him, bringing his thoughts back full circle to Wolverine. What the hell was going on?

He rounded a corner and stopped abruptly, rocking forward a step as Iceman, directly behind, walked into him. The young trainee peered around him, curiously.

"What's wrong?"

Cyclops gestured down the corridor. "Dead end," he announced.

Iceman stepped around his leader for a clear view down the corridor, as the rest of the group came to a ragged halt behind. "It's not a dead end," he pointed out, reasonably. "There's a huge door ……"

"Which probably leads into a room and therefore a dead end," Cyclops finished for him. "We'll have to go back."

He turned to retrace his steps, only to come face to face with Phoenix, who had detached from the group to find out why they had stopped.

"What's the hold-up?" she asked, trying to see around Cyclops to the rest of the corridor.

"Dead end," repeated Cyclops.

"But there's a door," insisted Iceman, pointing helpfully.

"We've been through all this, Bobby." Scott was not used to being questioned and was therefore losing his patience. "We have to go back."

Jean's hand on his chest stopped him from moving off. "Wait a minute, Scott. We've covered every inch of this base on our way here and we've seen no other means of going up. If our path leads through that door, then that's the way we have to go."

Cyclops considered this for a moment and was just about to comment when Trudy stalked towards them from the main group. She flashed Cyclops a glance that would have had him crashing to the floor, dead, if she had been gifted with the power to kill on sight.

"What the hell's going on?" she demanded, crossly. "We're freezing our asses off in this corridor. Are you lost?"

Iceman pointed down the corridor. "There's a door ……" he began, but got no further, as Trudy pushed past and began to walk towards it, determinedly.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" she called back to the obviously stunned X-Men. "An invitation?"

"God help us," muttered Cyclops, as he jogged down the corridor to get in front of her. "As if we haven't got enough trouble ……."

The door had one of the now familiar circular locking mechanisms and Iceman took control of it, spinning it easily in his hands as he sought to open it. He stepped back, pulling the massive door with him, as Cyclops led his team through. They emerged onto a walkway which encircled a vast room several metres below them, roughly rectangular in shape and with many doors punctuating the walls on the lower level. The room was obviously used as a recreation area and boasted several couches and easy chairs, an over-sized plasma television, two pool tables, several over-stuffed bookcases and a large writing desk which currently housed a computer monitor and a stack of discs. An old-fashioned juke box was set against one of the walls. An attempt had been made to conceal the starkness of the room and the floor had been adorned with several mismatched rugs, but the overall effect was startling considering its location.

To the right and left of the walkway, midway between the entry door and where the walls intersected, metal stairs led down to the lower level, and Cyclops headed for the ones on the right, barely having set foot on the first riser when a door at the far end of the room began to open, slowly. He held up a hand to halt his team, advancing several steps ahead of them as his other hand went to his visor, ready to attack should the need arise.

The figure that stepped into the room was instantly recognisable.

"Wolverine!" Cyclops released his visor with a relieved sigh. "Where the hell have you been, man?"

He hurried down the remaining stairs, followed closely by Phoenix and Storm, all eager to welcome their team-mate back into the fold. Behind them, Jubilee took Kristi's hand, urging her towards the railing surrounding the walkway, and pointing down. "Look, Kristi, it's Wolvie! He's okay."

Kristi looked down, her breath hitching in a startled gasp as she uttered the first word she had spoken in hours. "Logan …… ?"

"Sure, Kristi, it's Wolvie! I told you he'd be fine, didn't I?" She waved, attracting the feral's attention. "Hey, Wolvie! We're up here!"

Wolverine's eyes slid towards the two girls, but there was no recognition in their dark depths. He folded his arms, leaning casually against the back of a couch as Cyclops and his small entourage approached. Something about the feral's demeanour set the usually stoic X-Man on edge.

"Wolverine? Are you okay?"

"Never better, Summers. Ya gonna bring the rest o' the guys down?" He inclined his head towards the rest of the team, who were waiting on the walkway.

Something wasn't right. Cyclops beckoned the others down with a wave, but his eyes went to Psylocke and, giving her a barely perceptible nod of the head, he felt her slide into his mind. Seconds later, Gambit twisted and almost fell as he set his foot wrong, prompting Rogue to go to his immediate aid. Armor powered down to fuss with the lace on her sneaker and Coffey and Hudson suddenly found it immensely important to point out the juke box to Gina, somehow managing to impede Trudy as they walked slowly towards the stairs. Cyclops nodded in satisfaction, sending Psylocke his thanks. With the minimum of fuss, she'd neatly segregated the team, leaving the trainees, the injured and the civilians on the walkway to be protected by herself and Rogue should the need arise.

Wolverine seemed to have noticed nothing amiss as the others filed slowly down the stairs to join their leader. Jubilee scampered across the floor, dragging Kristi by the wrist, eager to greet her partner, but was brought up short by Storm, who put a finger to her lips to halt the youngster's protests.

"Hush, child, and wait a moment. Something is not right."

She inclined her head towards Cyclops, who was advancing beyond the line of his team-mates as he approached the feral, his stance betraying his caution.

Wolverine pushed away from the couch, massaging his knuckles, nonchalantly. He raised an eyebrow as Cyclops came to a halt several feet away. "Ya done pussy-footin' around, Summers?"

"Just being careful." Cyclops shrugged and looked around the room, watching the feral out of the corner of his eye. "Did you find a way out?"

"Not yet." Wolverine grinned, wolfishly. "But I found some friends."

Cyclops felt something cold and hard begin to form in the pit of his stomach. "Friends? You mean Hank and the Professor?"

Wolverine snorted. "As if! I'd introduce ya, but I think ya've already met. Ya wanna come out an' show yerselves, guys?"

His voice was pitched towards the door he'd come through and Cyclops took an involuntary step back as Blizzard appeared in the doorway. His hand flew to his visor, but froze when the young mutant wagged a finger at him.

"I'd think carefully before you fire your eyeblasts, Cyclops." He indicated the walkway with a nod of his head. "Do so and Mirage will not live to see another dawn."

Cyclops turned slowly, looking up to see Psylocke and Rogue literally frozen in place. A man he hadn't seen before was holding a weapon to Gina's head. Her eyes were wide and she was clearly terrified.

He took a second to consider his options, then slowly lowered his hand. If anyone but a trainee had been under threat he would have gone for the shot, but he had no desire to risk the young girl's life when bloodshed could be avoided.

Blizzard nodded in satisfaction. "Wise choice." He moved further into the room, stopping just to the right of Wolverine. Behind him, several more figures appeared. Cyclops recognised Psyche, Blaze and Firefly, but there were also a man and a woman he did not know. The woman, dressed like a goth in black and deepest reds, placed herself at Wolverine's left side. He turned his head to growl at her and she grabbed his hair, pulling him to her and crushing her lips to his in a searing kiss. Several X-Men gasped, and Cyclops distinctly heard Kristi whimper.

The woman released Wolverine, but left a hand resting possessively on his arm, glaring triumphantly at the X-Men and ignoring their shocked expressions.

Blizzard laughed into the shocked silence. "Your face is a picture, Cyclops. It's not easy to discover that one of your big hitters is now batting for the other team, is it?"

"In your dreams, buster!" Jubilee stabbed an accusing finger in Blizzard's direction. "Wolvie would never willingly switch sides an' betray his friends!"

"Who said anything about willingly?" Blizzard smiled, smugly, and walked around Wolverine to stand beside the woman in black. "This is Vixen. She has the power of seduction. Ordinarily, the process is simple and painless. Occasionally, however, her victims put up a fight and that, my friends, proves most painful." He paused to let this point sink in. "Vixen has assured me that Wolverine put up quite a fight."

"Oh, Wolvie ……" Jubilee's agonised whisper was loud in the silence following his statement.

"You evil bastard …… !" Cyclops curled his hands into fists at his sides in an effort to stop himself from going for his visor. He looked left, right, taking in the stunned expressions of his team as they came to the awful realisation that, if they went into battle, they would have to face one of their own. Kristi was staring at Wolverine in pained disbelief, and Jubilee and Jean had moved in close to lend support with their presence. The whole situation was rapidly going downhill on a steep and slippery slope.

Unable to stand helplessly by and watch his team crumble around him, Cyclops made a valiant effort to regain the upper hand. "You won't be able to hold Wolverine for long, Blizzard. People have tried, to their ultimate cost. Are you willing to take that risk?"

"We don't intend to hold him for long, Summers." Blizzard folded his arms, nonchalantly, and rocked back on one foot. "Psyche, would you care to elaborate?"

Psyche nodded and stepped forward, importantly. Her voice was hard as she delivered her chilling information. "Wolverine has been conditioned to kill every last one of you, Cyclops, starting with your own fiancée. You will be the last to die, helpless to stop the bloodshed as he rips your people to shreds before your eyes. Afterwards, to save us the trouble, he will turn his claws on himself and rip out his own throat. The bodies will be easy to dispose of down here, in the ocean. I doubt if you'll ever be found."

"The only way to stop him will be to kill him," continued Blizzard, his eyes radiating evil glee. He tossed a thumb in Wildstar's direction. "But consider what slaying him will do to your young team-mate's state of mind. Psyche has long suspected a connection between her and the feral. In the light of recent developments, I think that connection has been proved, don't you?"

"You bastard!" spat Cyclops. "You'll stop at nothing, will you?"

"No," stated Blizzard, simply. "I won't." He inclined his head towards the goth. "Vixen, give the order."

"I'm warning you – don't." Cyclops raised a hand to his visor, fully prepared to unleash hell. This madness had gone on long enough.

Wolverine drew back his lips and snarled at him, and Vixen placed a restraining hand on his bare chest. Despite the red tint his visor bestowed on his world, Cyclops clearly saw the pulse that erupted from her hand into the feral's body, saw the shudder that rippled through him and understood at once. Her conditioning wasn't permanent. Wolverine was fighting it. And that meant they had a chance. A slim one, but a chance nonetheless.

He opened his mind to Phoenix, knowing she would be monitoring his thoughts for her cue to act. Without betraying the slightest hint of emotion, he ordered her to follow his lead, letting her see his hope in the man behind the Wolverine – his conviction that Logan would never allow himself to be controlled, or forced to attack the ones he considered his friends. Or the woman he loved.

Blizzard turned, glancing pointedly at Psyche and the others, and they began to back off, leaving Vixen standing at the fore with Wolverine, who was growling softly. Recognising that something was about to happen, Cyclops braced himself, spreading his legs wide for balance, and hearing a general rustle of movement behind him as his team followed his lead. Whatever happened, they would go down fighting.

Vixen kept her eyes fixed on Cyclops as she slowly leaned towards the feral, defying him to stop her. Her lips brushed Wolverine's ear as, softly and with great deliberation, she whispered a single word.

Feral

Cyclops was staring right at Wolverine when it happened – saw his eyes darken to the deepest black and drain of every last shred of humanity that made him a man. Saw his lips draw back and bare his teeth in an animalistic snarl that made the hair stand on end and, too late, Cyclops understood. Blizzard had no need to control Wolverine because he had stripped him of his conscience and turned him loose.

He'd gone feral.

"Back off!" he shouted to the rest of the team, flinging out a restraining arm. "I'll handle him!"

Wolverine launched himself forward in a blur of motion, heading straight for Jean and growling like a madman. Cyclops yelled in warning and triggered his visor, staggering as a small figure barrelled into him, knocking him sideways. His shot went wild, demolishing a chair and catching Wolverine in the side. The blast still held enough force to knock him off his feet and he skidded across the floor on his back, fetching up against the writing desk with a bone-jarring crash.

"Kristi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Get outta the way!" Cyclops staggered to his feet, gesturing wildly, as Kristi ran towards Wolverine, her hands out to show she was no threat to him. "Kristi! He'll kill you!"

Kristi could hear the shouting, but shut it out as she advanced slowly on the snarling creature she barely recognised as her bondmate. The bond fizzed and popped in her head like a badly tuned radio, making her feel dizzy and nauseous, but even that was better than the awful nothingness she had experienced just after liberating the rest of the team from the 'other place'. She had no idea what had happened to cancel out their connection so abruptly, but the shock of it had almost been her undoing. Seeing Wolverine again had slowly brought her back from her walking coma and straight into the realisation that something was terribly wrong with her bondmate. He was snarling, his eyes as black as the darkest night, and Kristi was suddenly reminded of the picture she had seen on her lap-top all those days – weeks? – ago. The picture of the wild-eyed feral that had frightened her so, because she didn't know if the man she had come to love was capable of such ferocity himself. And here was her answer. He was.

Wolverine had risen into a crouch, his claws freed now from their housings and held wide as he glared at the girl approaching him. His lips drew back, exposing his canines, and Kristi stopped, showing him she was no threat, not knowing what to do but realising she had to do something – anything – to bring him back to her. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she looked into his wild and completely inhuman eyes. I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. She repeated the mantra to herself in the hope that if she said it often enough, she would believe it.

"Logan, please come back to me. This isn't you ……"

The room around her ceased to exist as she focused entirely on the feral before her, willing him to respond. She was dimly aware that chaos seemed to have erupted – the flyers were in the air, lightening bolts were being hurled down and the air was cold as two ice-blasters came to blows. But, in her head, there was just herself and Wolverine, and the small group of friends who had split off from the main battle to lend their support. Or, in the case of one in particular, to stop Wolverine at any cost.

She flinched slightly as Cyclops' voice cut across the chaos, his tone angry as he sought to clear the way for one of his optic blasts. "Kristi, for god's sake, move!"

She felt, rather than saw, Gina's hurried plunge down the stairs, throwing herself in front of the X-Men's leader as she sought to prevent him from firing. "No, Mr Summers, you can't! They're bonded!"

In her mind's eye, silence fell and time slowed as Gina's words flowed across the battlefield like a tidal wave. She heard Jean's startled gasp – "They're …… they're what? Bonded?" – envisioned Cyclops' anger as he suddenly realised that, by taking down the Wolverine, he would also inadvertently hurt Kristi. Blizzard laughed triumphantly, the mocking sound cruel to Kristi's ears.

"No," she pleaded, inwardly. "Please don't tell them. They shouldn't know ……"

Wolverine howled suddenly, his hands going to his head, writhing as if in pain and Kristi's breath caught in a sob. "Fight it, Logan!" she cried, desperately. "Don't let them control you ……!"

And suddenly there was no time for words – no time for anything but a startled scream as the Wolverine let out an almighty roar and sprang for her throat ……

NEXT: Kristi makes the ultimate sacrifice!