His head pounded. His heartbeat was weak. His pulse was irregular.
Wolverine was sore in places he didn't even know he had. Slowly, the man
opened his eyes and groaned softly. Small pink strips were appearing in
the sky. It was sunrise already. He'd been out for about four hours.
What the hell had she done to him?
He slowly sat up, stopping when a brief wave of nausea swept over him. His head cleared after a moment and he finally stood. He stretched, and then looked down at where he'd lain. His sleeping bag was lying underneath his feet crumpled. So was his pillow, so someone must have taken them off his bike. Did Glow do this? Why would she make him comfortable after wishing him a nice after-life and frying him with enough voltage to almost get him there?
"Come on baby, hold out just a little longer. keep talking to me."
He stiffened instantly when he heard her voice. She was still here? He turned to see her sitting in front of the computer's mainframe surrounded by her weird halo. Images flashed across the screen and flickered in and out. Wolverine stared in amazement. She was powering the computer, forcing it to play back files the creators of this place must have thought lost when the CPU shut down with the CPU's shut down.
He took a few cautious steps towards her. Immersed completely in her research, she did not hear him. He got directly behind her and bared the claws of his right hand.
Glow heard the metallic sound of his claws extracting and froze. "You're awake?"
"I heal fast," Wolverine said flatly. "Tell me why I shouldn't give you several new air holes."
"Amazing. You should have slept until the middle of tomorrow. I would have been long gone by then," Glow said almost curiously. "You're Logan aren't you?"
"How did you know that?" He said as he pressed the tips of his claws to her neck.
She swallowed and let her halo fade as she let go of her mutant power. "I've been talking to my friend here."
She motioned slowly to the computer. "Logan, code name Wolverine, special divisions project. Project name, Weapon X. All your medical records are still in here, fragmented, but readable in some spots. The computer's memory was missing a lot."
Wolverine shook straight down to his very core. "This is the place then. Chuck was right."
"We need to talk, Wolverine. Logan," Glow said softly. "I give you my word not to use my powers on you again."
He retracted his claws and stepped back from her. She stood and slowly turned towards him. "I'm so sorry you went through this. If I'd known Future Tech had stolen your name from you too, I'd never have attacked you."
"Future Tech? What are you talking about?" Wolverine shook his head. "I'm confused."
"This building was owned by a company called Future of Technology Laboratories. This particular compound was rented out to another scientific research group, so their hand wasn't in this directly but. Oh G- d, I'm so sorry," Glow almost whispered. "I can't imagine what you went through here."
"You seem to know a whole hell of a lot more about me than I do about you," he remarked. "I don't that's quite fair."
She held out her hand to him. "Sorry," she said. He took it in a half-daze and they shook over her introduction. "I'm called Glow because of the aura that surrounds me when I use my power, obviously. My given name is Sara. Future Tech Labs kidnapped me years ago, used me in their experiments and to power their compounds. I was no better to them than a living battery."
"Some years ago, myself and several other mutants managed to effect an escape. We destroyed the place in the process."
Wolverine looked around him in awe of the sheer level of ruin the building was in.
"We didn't do this. We were held at a complex in Maine. Someone else did this. The records ended with a date fifteen years old. The last things entered into the computer were your records," Glow told him. "I've got most of it saved to a disk. What of it would still transfer, that is. "Well, the parts that would still transfer, that is. I wasn't able to get the whole system working."
"Why are you doing this?" he asked her.
"Because I want to find the bastards in charge of Future Tech and make them rot in Hell for what they did to me. I want to see them burn for what they did to all those other mutants who didn't make it out alive. I want them to know the pain that you felt," Glow told him honestly. She pulled off her sunglasses, which she'd still been wearing. Her eyes were a brilliant orange that matched her hair. "Vengeance is a powerful motivator."
He stared at her orange eyes. "I came here for answers. You came here for vengeance. You plannin' on starting a war between you and these scientific jerks?"
"If necessary. They cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to continue this. I've found labs that were still active. I'm gathering information against them from the failed experiments," Glow said matter-of- factly. "If they can't be beaten legally, then maybe, just maybe, it'll get personal."
"I need some time to take this all in. I want to read what you found. Can you fire that thing up again?" he asked as he thumbed to the computer.
"It was a miracle I got it working in the first place," Glow said, shaking her head. "I've got everything here. For what they did to you, you can have full access. We just need a working computer main frame that could fill in the pieces, maybe try and retrieve the bits that were scrambled. Catch is, I don't have a place like that."
"I think that maybe I do," Wolverine said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think maybe I do."
"Well while you're deciding whether or not you can trust me, can we go get breakfast somewhere? I'm starving," she complained as she stuffed the computer disks into a green duffel bag she had tucked next to the console. She slung the bag over her shoulder.
He laughed as he heard her stomach growl. "All right then, food first, mysterious pasts later."
"Good," she sighed with relief. "You'll have to drive."
"Yeah, my bike's out front."
He eyed her suspiciously. "How'd you get here before me if you didn't drive?"
"Easy," she replied, stepping behind him and pulling him into a hug. Surrounded by her golden-yellow aura, she half-jumped, half-rose into the air, taking him with her. "I flew."
As she continued to rise into the air, he shifted slightly.
"Don't squirm, I'll drop you," she cautioned him. She leaned slightly in the direction of his bike and flew towards it.
"You know, the last time I did this, it was a lot less fun," he commented.
"I see your bike. I'm taking us down," she warned. When they were about five feet above the ground she let go. He fell down, landing on his feet. "Sorry, but you're heavy. I'm not used to carrying anything besides myself."
"It's okay," he mumbled as he straddled his bike and roared the engine to life. "Climb on... and you'd better hold on to me tight."
She climbed onto the bike behind him and readjusted her bag. "I'll be ok. aahhhh!"
Wolverine pulled away suddenly and swiftly. His smile was ear-to-ear and evil as Glow screamed, pressed her body against him, and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his shoulder.
"Couldn't wait for a chance to get close to me, huh?" he teased over his shoulder.
She pulled her head up and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Not likely, you're uncouth, unshaven, and unwashed."
"Better be careful, I might take that personal. After all, you were the one who said I was cute."
She snorted derisively. "Don't flatter yourself. I said you were almost cute. I also called you a jerk in the same sentence."
"Aw hell."
"What?"
"I left my sleeping bag and pillow behind," he complained.
"I'll buy you new ones," she shouted to him over the wind. "I'm sorry about going through your stuff, but I had to check for concealed weapons. I finished the pack of Life Savers in your pocket by the way."
"You frisked me?"
"Like I said, I had to check for a concealed weapon."
"Oh? And did you like the weapon you found?" he goaded.
"You did have a weapon? Wow, you had it really well concealed then. I sure couldn't find it," she said, assuming a tone of wide-eyed innocence.
He frowned. "I'm not sure I like where this innuendo is going."
"Then stop reading into everything I say and drive," Glow laughed back at him. She finally found her balance on the motorcycle and pulled away from him, throwing her arms into the air for fun. "Can this thing go any faster?"
A single corner of Wolverine's mouth curled into a smile. "Faster? Sure, this thing can go faster."
He flipped the turbo switch on the bike and was immediately greeted by another scream from Glow as she lost her balance and latched onto him. This time, she wrapped her hands together around his chest and kept her head buried in his shoulder.
Wolverine casually looked over his shoulder at Glow pressing against him with her eyes squeezed shut in fright, and smiled a very small, smug grin.
He slowly sat up, stopping when a brief wave of nausea swept over him. His head cleared after a moment and he finally stood. He stretched, and then looked down at where he'd lain. His sleeping bag was lying underneath his feet crumpled. So was his pillow, so someone must have taken them off his bike. Did Glow do this? Why would she make him comfortable after wishing him a nice after-life and frying him with enough voltage to almost get him there?
"Come on baby, hold out just a little longer. keep talking to me."
He stiffened instantly when he heard her voice. She was still here? He turned to see her sitting in front of the computer's mainframe surrounded by her weird halo. Images flashed across the screen and flickered in and out. Wolverine stared in amazement. She was powering the computer, forcing it to play back files the creators of this place must have thought lost when the CPU shut down with the CPU's shut down.
He took a few cautious steps towards her. Immersed completely in her research, she did not hear him. He got directly behind her and bared the claws of his right hand.
Glow heard the metallic sound of his claws extracting and froze. "You're awake?"
"I heal fast," Wolverine said flatly. "Tell me why I shouldn't give you several new air holes."
"Amazing. You should have slept until the middle of tomorrow. I would have been long gone by then," Glow said almost curiously. "You're Logan aren't you?"
"How did you know that?" He said as he pressed the tips of his claws to her neck.
She swallowed and let her halo fade as she let go of her mutant power. "I've been talking to my friend here."
She motioned slowly to the computer. "Logan, code name Wolverine, special divisions project. Project name, Weapon X. All your medical records are still in here, fragmented, but readable in some spots. The computer's memory was missing a lot."
Wolverine shook straight down to his very core. "This is the place then. Chuck was right."
"We need to talk, Wolverine. Logan," Glow said softly. "I give you my word not to use my powers on you again."
He retracted his claws and stepped back from her. She stood and slowly turned towards him. "I'm so sorry you went through this. If I'd known Future Tech had stolen your name from you too, I'd never have attacked you."
"Future Tech? What are you talking about?" Wolverine shook his head. "I'm confused."
"This building was owned by a company called Future of Technology Laboratories. This particular compound was rented out to another scientific research group, so their hand wasn't in this directly but. Oh G- d, I'm so sorry," Glow almost whispered. "I can't imagine what you went through here."
"You seem to know a whole hell of a lot more about me than I do about you," he remarked. "I don't that's quite fair."
She held out her hand to him. "Sorry," she said. He took it in a half-daze and they shook over her introduction. "I'm called Glow because of the aura that surrounds me when I use my power, obviously. My given name is Sara. Future Tech Labs kidnapped me years ago, used me in their experiments and to power their compounds. I was no better to them than a living battery."
"Some years ago, myself and several other mutants managed to effect an escape. We destroyed the place in the process."
Wolverine looked around him in awe of the sheer level of ruin the building was in.
"We didn't do this. We were held at a complex in Maine. Someone else did this. The records ended with a date fifteen years old. The last things entered into the computer were your records," Glow told him. "I've got most of it saved to a disk. What of it would still transfer, that is. "Well, the parts that would still transfer, that is. I wasn't able to get the whole system working."
"Why are you doing this?" he asked her.
"Because I want to find the bastards in charge of Future Tech and make them rot in Hell for what they did to me. I want to see them burn for what they did to all those other mutants who didn't make it out alive. I want them to know the pain that you felt," Glow told him honestly. She pulled off her sunglasses, which she'd still been wearing. Her eyes were a brilliant orange that matched her hair. "Vengeance is a powerful motivator."
He stared at her orange eyes. "I came here for answers. You came here for vengeance. You plannin' on starting a war between you and these scientific jerks?"
"If necessary. They cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to continue this. I've found labs that were still active. I'm gathering information against them from the failed experiments," Glow said matter-of- factly. "If they can't be beaten legally, then maybe, just maybe, it'll get personal."
"I need some time to take this all in. I want to read what you found. Can you fire that thing up again?" he asked as he thumbed to the computer.
"It was a miracle I got it working in the first place," Glow said, shaking her head. "I've got everything here. For what they did to you, you can have full access. We just need a working computer main frame that could fill in the pieces, maybe try and retrieve the bits that were scrambled. Catch is, I don't have a place like that."
"I think that maybe I do," Wolverine said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think maybe I do."
"Well while you're deciding whether or not you can trust me, can we go get breakfast somewhere? I'm starving," she complained as she stuffed the computer disks into a green duffel bag she had tucked next to the console. She slung the bag over her shoulder.
He laughed as he heard her stomach growl. "All right then, food first, mysterious pasts later."
"Good," she sighed with relief. "You'll have to drive."
"Yeah, my bike's out front."
He eyed her suspiciously. "How'd you get here before me if you didn't drive?"
"Easy," she replied, stepping behind him and pulling him into a hug. Surrounded by her golden-yellow aura, she half-jumped, half-rose into the air, taking him with her. "I flew."
As she continued to rise into the air, he shifted slightly.
"Don't squirm, I'll drop you," she cautioned him. She leaned slightly in the direction of his bike and flew towards it.
"You know, the last time I did this, it was a lot less fun," he commented.
"I see your bike. I'm taking us down," she warned. When they were about five feet above the ground she let go. He fell down, landing on his feet. "Sorry, but you're heavy. I'm not used to carrying anything besides myself."
"It's okay," he mumbled as he straddled his bike and roared the engine to life. "Climb on... and you'd better hold on to me tight."
She climbed onto the bike behind him and readjusted her bag. "I'll be ok. aahhhh!"
Wolverine pulled away suddenly and swiftly. His smile was ear-to-ear and evil as Glow screamed, pressed her body against him, and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his shoulder.
"Couldn't wait for a chance to get close to me, huh?" he teased over his shoulder.
She pulled her head up and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Not likely, you're uncouth, unshaven, and unwashed."
"Better be careful, I might take that personal. After all, you were the one who said I was cute."
She snorted derisively. "Don't flatter yourself. I said you were almost cute. I also called you a jerk in the same sentence."
"Aw hell."
"What?"
"I left my sleeping bag and pillow behind," he complained.
"I'll buy you new ones," she shouted to him over the wind. "I'm sorry about going through your stuff, but I had to check for concealed weapons. I finished the pack of Life Savers in your pocket by the way."
"You frisked me?"
"Like I said, I had to check for a concealed weapon."
"Oh? And did you like the weapon you found?" he goaded.
"You did have a weapon? Wow, you had it really well concealed then. I sure couldn't find it," she said, assuming a tone of wide-eyed innocence.
He frowned. "I'm not sure I like where this innuendo is going."
"Then stop reading into everything I say and drive," Glow laughed back at him. She finally found her balance on the motorcycle and pulled away from him, throwing her arms into the air for fun. "Can this thing go any faster?"
A single corner of Wolverine's mouth curled into a smile. "Faster? Sure, this thing can go faster."
He flipped the turbo switch on the bike and was immediately greeted by another scream from Glow as she lost her balance and latched onto him. This time, she wrapped her hands together around his chest and kept her head buried in his shoulder.
Wolverine casually looked over his shoulder at Glow pressing against him with her eyes squeezed shut in fright, and smiled a very small, smug grin.
