Logan was quiet and withdrawn that evening as he returned to his suite. Blaming it on his usual lethargy, he said little for the rest of the night until Selene went to sleep. The night was hot, sticky, and uncomfortable, and Logan knew that he would find no rest. At first, he sat in the small adjoining room that acted as a nursery, gazing on his infant sons. They were almost six months old now, and even now they amazed him.

They took after him quite strongly; each had deep green eyes and a wild mass of black hair, but they had Selene's nose. His sons. The thought still floored him. He, the vicious Wolverine, had helped create these tiny, fragile, perfect things. Before he had been captured, he had often felt a stab of jealousy when he saw fathers and their sons. In the back of his mind, he had always felt a desire to sire and raise cubs of his own, but never thought it would have been possible. But now, here they were, and they were loved- so loved. He knew they would be raised right, with people to love them, and protect them, and teach them to be men when the time came.

Rather reluctantly, he left the nursery, closing the door gently behind him. He slowly made his way over to his sleeping mate. He relied now on his cane more than he ever had before, the weight on his mind seemingly doubling the weight of his adamantium-laced bones.

As gently as he could, he eased himself into bed and curled himself around his mate. Lightly groaning in her sleep, Selene automatically shifted herself against him, pressing herself up against his firm chest. Logan slowly wrapped his arm around her waist, and buried his nose in her hair, trying not to think about how this may be his last night at her side.

He inhaled her scent, reveling in the smell of fresh July rain that identified his love. He remained there, awake at her side, for the rest of the night, thinking until the dawn came. At first, he wanted to wake her, to tell her of his plans, make love to her, or just to talk and enjoy her company. Finally, he decided against it, knowing that this calm silence, just being able to hold his mate in his arms, was all he wanted.

Just after dawn, Logan knew it was time to go. He kissed Selene gently on her brow, thinking once more of his unwavering love for her, before making his way down to the subbasement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Selene woke about an hour later; Liam was wet, Daniel was hungry, and Michael just wanted to be held. As soon as the boys were settled, Selene went about her morning routine, making sure everything was settled before heading down to the common area where Rogue, Gambit, and Storm were waiting for their honorary nephews. Selene was somewhat surprised that Logan had not been around that morning, he didn't have class, but she figured he was tinkering in the garage or down working with Hank and the Professor. She sat for a while, visiting with the X-Men as they all entertained the triplets, when she was suddenly hit with an overwhelming feeling that something was horribly wrong. Without a word of explanation, she left the boys with the adults and bolted for the elevator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All three men had been nervous when the operation began. They all knew that the next several hours of surgery would require skill, luck, and maybe divine intervention in order to succeed.

With his healing factor knocked out, Logan only needed standard anesthetics in order to fall unconscious. Once he was stable, Hank and the Professor went to work. Minutes and hours dragged by slowly as they tried to maneuver around Logan's adamantium-plated skull. At long last they surpassed it, and were able to locate and remove the chip. That's when everything went to hell.

The trauma of the surgery, coupled with Logan's already weakened physical state, finally proved too much. The lab was suddenly thrown into a frenzy of action and harsh beeping alarms as Logan went into cardiac arrest. Hank and Xavier worked frantically over their dying friend, reaching for a defibrillator as they heard the lab doors open.

"What have you done?" Selene shrieked as she rushed to the table. Xavier interfered, blocking her path as Hank continued his attempt to revive Logan.

"Selene, you mustn't-" Xavier was cut off as a dreadful sound filled the room. Logan had flatlined.

Selene pushed past Xavier as she reached the table and screamed into Logan's deaf ears, "Don't you leave me, you stupid ass!" she sobbed, beating the table in agony.

Realizing that he could do no more, Hank slowly respectfully backed away from the grieving woman.

"Don't you dare die on me and leave me alone!" She continued to cry, "And you!" She glared at Hank, "Don't just stand there, fix him!"

Hank stood, sorrowful in the knowledge that the man on the table was beyond his help. Slowly wheeling over, Xavier reached a hand up to Selene's shoulder, "Selene," he began, only to be interrupted as she turned violently towards him.

"No, don't give me that. He's not dead, he can't be. He's invincible, for God's sake! No, it doesn't end here. You," she pointed at Xavier, "plug me into his mind. If he can't hear me out here, you help me reach him in there."

"Selene, I-" Xavier started.

"Just do it!" She screamed. Reason was entirely beyond her now. Seeing that there was no other way to make her accept the situation, the Professor began to link to her mind. He knew that there would be no response from Logan. It would be like trying to play a blank record. His heart nearly broke, knowing the harsh reality that he was going to have to show Selene, but he did it anyway.

With a sudden rush, Selene was again surrounded by blackness. For a terrifying moment, she was reminded of her solitary time in the facility, but she knew her mate needed her. She cried out into the darkness, "Logan, you stupid, stupid ass, you come back to me right now, or so help me, I will search every inch of this darkness and drag you back myself."

As the echo of her voice faded, Selene was left with nothing. All of her senses were dead in this hellish void.

"Logaaaaaaaaaaaan!" She wailed again. When her call went unanswered and faded again into the darkness, Selene fell to her knees and wept openly. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard a whisper above her sobs.

"… ot…"

"Logan?" She asked, hoping against all logic that it might be true.

"…Mus… te…" The whisper reached her in the silence, "Protect…"

"Please, baby," Selene whispered, pleading to any higher power that might be listening, "come back to me."

"Must protect Mate." The whisper grew louder as a figure faded in before her. With a startled sob, Selene burst out crying again as her mate appeared in the darkness.

"Logan, is that you, baby?" She asked, terrified that it wasn't true.

The figure shook its head, "Must protect Mate." He said again. As he drew closer, Selene saw a new ferocity in his forest green eyes.

"You're Wolverine, aren't you?"

The Wolverine nodded.

"And can you come back to me? Both of you?"

The Wolverine looked puzzled, as if straining to decide, before nodding slowly again. "Must protect Mate. Must protect Cubs."

"You do protect us, babe." She smiled through her tears as he turned to leave. "Wait," she called out to him, stopping him, "You said Logan would come back, but will I ever see you again?"

The Wolverine considered this before sniffing her once and responding, "Not yet. Not soon. Must wait for new cubs."

Selene blushed at the idea as the figure before her shimmered slightly. Suddenly, there was a softness, a gentleness to his form that was not there a moment ago. He was her Logan again. He moved to her and began to speak, but was interrupted when an overwhelming force compelled them both to leave that dark, lightless place.

Knowing they were returning to the real world, Selene crashed into Logan; kissing him soundly before whispering, "See you on the other side."

All of a sudden she was back in the medlab. The monitors were still screaming that her lover had flatlined, and, for one terrible moment, she had thought it had all been a dream, when suddenly-

Beep.

The heart monitor peaked once, weakly. Then again. Then, as suddenly as it had all stopped, Logan's vitals rapidly returned to normal. His heart beat rhythmically, his lungs breathed powerfully, and bone, tissue, and even hair realigned themselves around his open scalp, leaving no trace of the damage that had been done. Then, with a slow, deliberate flutter, Logan's eyes opened.

While Hank and Xavier remained frozen in shock, Selene flung herself at her lover, locking his lips with hers with all of the passion she could muster.

When the kiss finally broke, Logan weakly muttered, "That was fantastic."

"You are so stupid!" Selene cried, tears still streaming down her cheeks, "Don't you ever do that to me again, you stupid, stupid ass!"

"It appears that your healing factor has returned at a most fortuitous time, my friend," Hank said after a few moments, tears running down his furry cheeks, "perhaps it just needed an episode of severe trauma in order to kick start it again."

"Most fortuitous, indeed," Xavier agreed, "Come, Hank, let us leave them alone for the moment. I'll be keeping an eye on you, so to speak, in case you need me." The psychic turned out of the room quickly, lest the tears that pricked at his own eyes get the best of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A week later, all had returned to normal in the mansion, but the chips, which lay forgotten in lieu of Logan's dramatic recovery, would not remain idle. Although no exterior change betrayed their activity, the chips sent out a pulse that not only would have activated an unnatural passion in Selene and Logan had they remained unchecked, but also sent out a signal to a very eager recipient.

Many miles away, buried deep in an underground fortress, Dr. Nathaniel Essex, or, as he preferred to be called now that he was not under the watch of the government, Mr. Sinister played over his latest test results. Feral 1, though he was only two years old, was excelling in his training.

"Excellent," Sinister purred as he followed the infant mutant's progress, "If only your brothers could join you. Well, any day now Mommy and Daddy should-" He was cut off as the screen in front of him lit up. "Aha, speak of the devil." He grinned evilly as his instruments centered in on the location of the signal. "Westchester, New York," he read, "Oh, Charles, you shouldn't have," he murmured, plans of retrieving his stock playing over in his mind. With a school of mutants protecting them, and his own force of grunts still diminished from his subjects' escape, Sinister knew that it would take time and careful planning before he would be able to reclaim his prizes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Dun dun dun! Things are really rolling here. I FINALLY, after about a year of stalling, know where I want to go with this, and Arc 3 should be updated in the near future. I still have some itty-bitty loose ends to clear up (maybe a lemon, but I don't want the story to just be lemon-heavy), but we should be starting to get into the beginning of the end. It's all super exciting! Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, favoriting and putting on alert. Y'all rock my socks!

bookdreamer17, kungfupandabear, and Carlypso: Thanks a bundle for reviewing! I'm always so happy when people enjoy my story! Extra special thanks to bookdreamer17 and kungfupandabear for reviewing within one hour of the chapter being posted! Extra gold stars for both of you! :)