Paradise Lost

"THE REC HALL WILL CLOSE IN 15 MINUTES!" a boisterous voice announced over the intercom.

*It's a Saturday night and I should be out partying and living it up like every other college student, but all the cute guys in my dorm are afraid to ask me out!* Jubilee said to herself while she nearing the 4 mile mark of her jog around the Rec. Hall.    *"Oh – there's the babe with that mean-assed short dude!" they say – like he'd really hurt them!  Well, he probably would.  But still – have some balls for cryin' out loud!  I can't believe I'm here working out on a SATURDAY NIGHT because those WIMPS don't have the guts to ask me out!  And what about those frat guys in class!  Sure they'll ask me out but it's obvious what's on their minds!  Like I'm supposed to be impressed by their fancy cars and bank accounts and give it up to some egotistical spoiled brats just because they said I was cute!  Get real!* 

She finished her last lap and headed for the locker room.  *Man, this place is like a ghost town on Saturday nights!  Besides the employees, I think I'm the only one still here!  Or should I say the only one without a DATE tonight?  Well, at least I got a good workout, and I'll have time to get some studying in for Storm's test.  Ya think she'd cut a mutant some slack, but nooooo…she's gotta be extra tough on me.* she said while changing clothes.

She heard the door to the locker room open, then the lights went out. "HEY! I'm still in here!" she yelled.  "I've got 10 more minutes!"  *Damn Rec. Hall flunkies – my tuition pays their salaries and they wanna skip out 10 minutes early!  Luckily I can shed some light on the subject.*

Just as she lit up the room, she turned and saw a large man approaching her.  He was dressed in a Rec. Hall uniform, but given his demeanor; it was pretty obvious to Jubilee that he wasn't an employee.

"Hey Girlie…" he said with an arrogant grin.

"GIRLIE?!  You ain't supposed to be in here!" she yelled as she paffed him.  "This is the Ladies' room!" The paf knocked him unconscious and threw him back about 8 feet into the shower room.  *"I gotta call Wolvie and tell him what happened!*" she said to herself as she grabbed her phone and started dialing.  *"He'll want to…"* before she could finish her thought, a large hand grabbed her cell phone and hand.  She spun around to paf the guy that grabbed her but before she could hit him, he grabbed her other hand.

"I'm a bit tougher then him!" he said, motioning toward the guy in the shower.

"Izzatso?" Jubilee responded.  "Are your balls tougher?" she yelled as she gave the 6' man a knee to the groin.  He doubled over in pain and Jubilee turned to run.  As soon as she turned, some sort of aerosol was sprayed in her face and she immediately began feeling strange.  The aerosol temporarily blurred her vision, preventing her from getting out off accurate paf.  Before she could regain her composure, she had already started to fall asleep. 

The last words she heard were "Quick – get her into the laundry basket before somebody sees us!"  Her last thought before she fell asleep was of Wolverine.  She didn't know what would happen to her, but she knew he wouldn't stop until he found her.

Back at the lab…

"Did you have any problems?" the lead scientist asked the guards as they rolled Jubilee in.

"Nothin' we couldn't handle…but Mike's gonna need a big bag of ice."

"Was he injured?"

"Nothing he'd want to talk about – but he'll probably need a couple days off to recuperate.  That mutant's a little firecracker!  Sneaking up on her was tougher than we thought.  She knocked Joe out with some sort of energy blast, then gave Mike a knee to the family jewels."

"Yes, she has a very unique power.  As for Mike's family jewels…what kind of soldier gets taken out by a girl her size?"

"Hey Doc – I ain't as bright as you, but one thing I DO know is that when it comes to being tough – size has nothing to do with it.  If she wakes up – you'll have your hands full - trust me on that.  She's tough…and kinda cute too…"

******

Where's my little girl?

"Where's Lee?" Logan asked as Tara opened the door.

"I don't know?  I thought she moved out."  Tara responded.  "I assumed she was with you."

"Moved out?!" he yelled as he pushed past her and ran into the suite.  "She didn't move out!  I talked to her last night and she said she was going to work out!"

"Well I came back from Blackhawke this morning and all her stuff was gone."

By then they had both entered Jubilee's room.  All of her stuff was indeed gone…as if she had suddenly decided to quit school.  Jubilee's roommate hadn't returned from the weekend yet but it appeared as though her stuff hadn't been touched.

"Damn!" Logan yelled.

"She didn't move out?  She's not with you?"

"No!" he growled.  "Who was here last night?"

"Just Kim.  Everybody else went home.  I was the first to return…I came back this morning a little after 9."  The look on Tara's face was one of sheer fright.  The thought of Kim being kidnapped from that very room absolutely terrified her.  Logan was much to focused to notice though, his only concern was Jubilee.  He examined the room for any unfamiliar scents, and although he found lots; nothing could tell him where she was - though one scent in particular alarmed him. 

"Mr. Flamin' Rapist!" he grumbled to himself.  He also detected a very faint trace of the chemical he found in Hartford's lab – as well as a few faint traces of other things:  an anesthetic, gunpowder, and at least 3 people he never smelled before. 

"We got trouble…" he barked into his cell phone.  "Lee's missin'…taken sometime last night."

"What?" Storm yelled.  "Any sign of her?"

"Nothin!  Tell Hank ta get on it NOW.  I tracked her cell phone to a garbage can outside the Rec. Hall but she wasn't around.  She's got 2 more bugs on her – one of 'em's gotta be trackin'!  Tell 'em ta check out Lojack too – her HMMWV wasn't in the parkin' lot and it should be trackin'."

"Will-do.  You've been to her dorm room?  Is it the same M.O. as the others?"

"Yeah, they took everything…there were 4 of 'em.  It happened between 10 o'clock last night and 9 o'clock this morning.  Round up everyone…I'm gonna head fer the university and have a talk with yer boyfriend Hartford."

"Logan, No!  I'll talk…" 

**click**

Before Storm could tell him she would question Hartford, he had already hung the phone up and was headed out the door.  She immediately ran out and headed for the university.  She knew if she didn't get to Hartford's office before Logan, there would be nothing left of him to question.  She immediately took to the air; not caring if anybody found out she was a mutant.  Luckily for her, no one saw.

Logan was almost outside when Tara yelled to him.  When he turned around she saw the blind rage building in his eyes.  For the first time since they met, she feared him.  She knew his rage wasn't focused on her, but she also knew that somewhere out there, someone was about to die.  It was written all over his face.  Someone took his little girl and whoever it was, they were about to pay.

"Wait!  Kim was kidnapped?"

"Yeah."

"Omigod!  We gotta call the police!  We gotta…"

"The police can't help her…They ain't got a clue where she is.  I'll find her!"

"But what if they come back?   What if they decide to kidnap…"

"They ain't comin' back fer you.  They got who they wanted."

"How do you know that?"

"Cuz SHE was targeted…you weren't!" he said as he walked out the door, knocking over the 2 male students that happened to be walking by.  Clearly Tara wanted more answers from him but every second he was there meant wasted time for finding Jubilee.  He jumped on his hog and headed straight for Hartford's office.

At Hartford's Office…

"You can't go in there sir!"

"Can it lady – and get outta my way!"

Hartford could hear the commotion from his office and approached the door to investigate but stopped short of opening it.

"But sir – you can't just barge in without an appointment."

**Snikt**  "You wanna bet?" 

Just as Hartford reached for the doorknob, the door blew open, knocking him to the ground.  He barely had time to recover when he found himself face to face with 3 very sharp claws and the pissed-off mutant wielding them.  Before he knew it, Hartford was pinned beneath Logan and was very much at his mercy.  He didn't even have time to question the fact that Logan was a mutant. 

"Where is she?!" Logan yelled!

"Where is who?" Hartford frantically asked.  "Arowlyn?  I…I don't know."

"Not Ro!  Where's the girl – Kim Lee?"

"Who?"

"Bub if you don't start talkin' real fast um gonna slice that terrified look right offa yer face!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Hartford pleaded.  "I don't KNOW any Kim Lee!  Please don't hurt me!"

Logan's growl was filled with fury as he picked Hartford up by his collar and threw him against the wall.  He then retracted his middle claw and pinned Hartford to the wall with his two remaining claws pressing tightly against his neck.  After unsheathing all 3 claws on his left hand he drew his arm back – ready to strike.

"You got 3 seconds ta spill it Bub or you'll be spillin' it all over this floor."

"Logan I'm telling you the truth!  I don't know who you're talking about!  I don't know where she is!"

Logan's expression told Hartford he didn't believe him.  The fury in his eyes – that berserker rage that few humans saw and lived to tell about told Hartford that his life was literally seconds away from ending.

"Oh God!" he tearfully said as realized Logan was about to "cut" an answer out of him.  "Please don't kill me…please…"

Logan's roar was so loud and ferocious it could be heard 3 floors down.  The only thing Hartford could do was attempt to cover his face – though he knew it was futile.  Logan took a deep breath as he reared back.  Just as his arm arched, Storm ran in and grabbed it.

"Logan!  No!!!"  she yelled.  Had she been a split second later, who knows what part – or parts – of Hartford's body would have been sliced off.

"He knows where Jubes is and he ain't tellin'!" Logan yelled – still with his arm prepped to strike.  "I'll get it outta him if I have to slice every limb off his body."

"I don't!"  Hartford screamed.  "I don't know where she is!"  The fear in his voice was so high Storm couldn't help but pity him – no matter what crime he stood accused of.

"Logan, let him down.  You can't hurt him."

"He's got Jubes!"

"We don't know that!"

"Yes we do.  This whole mess reeks of him!  How much more evidence do you need?"

"Whether he is or isn't, it's not your place to be his judge, jury, or executioner." Her words made him pause, but Hartford was still in danger and they both knew it.  "Logan." she whispered in a voice so soft yet heart piercing that only she could pull it off.  As she positioned herself between Hartford and Logan's free left arm she touched the side of his face and looked into his eyes.  "This isn't you.  I know you want to find her, but you can't kill him without knowing for sure he did it.  Let him go."

As only she could do, the mere touch of her hand and softness of her voice pacified him.  He could see it in her eyes that she was right and that she too wanted desperately to find Jubilee; but starting the search with a bloody path was definitely not the best way, and deep in his heart he knew that just like himself, she wouldn't stop until Jubilee was safe.

**Snikt** 

The sound of Wolverine withdrawing all 5 claws echoed across the room as Hartford dropped to the ground in relief.

"Thank you Arowlyn.  Thank you so much…" he sobbed.  "I…I don't know what I…" he started to say just as he was again grabbed by his collar and thrown against the wall.  This time he was staring into the white eyes of a very angry Storm.

"HE is not the one to worry about!" she said in a voice that immediately brought back his fear.  "If Jubilee is harmed in any way and I find out you had ANYTHING to do with it – ANYTHING AT ALL – you will truly regret the day our paths crossed.  Do you understand me?"

"I swear to you.  I don't know anything about Kim…I mean Jubilee…I - I don't know anything!"  She released him and he tried to regain what was left of his composure. 

"Where is Benson?"

"I don't know?  He took the week off.  He said he needed a break.  What's going on?  Who is Kim Lee?  Do you think he had something to do with her disappearance?" he asked – now that he had the chance to regain his composure and properly assess the situation.

"Hey Bub!  She's the one askin' the questions, not you!  Got it?"

"If someone is missing I want to help find them – especially if it's someone close to you.  What can I do to help?"

"Take us to Site B." she responded.

"Site B?  He's not there, I'd know about it."

"That's where your human-mutant experiments are right?"

"Yes, but there's nothing fishy going on there – I'm there all the time.  I would have noticed even the slightest sign of trouble.  I'm telling you, there's nothing going on there."

"Then where?"

"Um...you know, he's been making a lot of trips to the valley lately.  I remember questioning him about it when I noticed a lot of the charges on our department account coming from down there."

"Down where?" Logan asked.  His curiosity was peaked when Hartford mentioned the valley.

"There were a few charges in Modesto…um, Livingston, and I think there were a few in Merced."

"Merced?  What about Atwater?  Any charges in Atwater?"

"I don't think…wait.  Yes, I remember seeing a charge at a gas station in Atwater.  I remember thinking the charge was odd because it was over $50."

"What's so odd about that?"

"He drives a Toyota Camry.  There's no way it would take over $50 in gas!"

"Maybe he bought food there?  Perhaps a souvenir?" Storm asked

"Not Benson.  He hates gas station food and is way too picky to buy a souvenir from Atwater – it's in the middle of nowhere.  I remember him joking about getting my Christmas present there, but it was only a joke."

"If he was involved in this, why would he use the university account?" Storm asked.  "It would draw suspicion to him."

"No it wouldn't.  We all do – it's one of the perks of being funded through our grants…a free travel accounts.  We kid each other all the time about it because we always know where we've been driving.  It's only gas…"

"That's gotta be it Ro!  Everything's centered around Atwater.  We gotta get down there now!"

"Shouldn't we call the police?  Shouldn't they be looking for…" Hartford asked.

"Shut it Bub or I'll shut it for you!  Hey - you're comin' with us!" Logan said as he grabbed Hartford by the collar and started walking out with him.  "I still ain't convinced you didn't have anything to do with this, and I ain't lettin' you outta my site."

His receptionist (who hid behind a desk when Logan popped his claws out) started to protest but Hartford told her it was okay and everything was under control – not that she believed him.  Of course the police had already been called, but the three of them were long gone before they arrived.

******

"You found the Lojack and destroyed it? The man in the lab coat asked.

"Yeah – they won't be tracing it." the guard responded.

"Why didn't you just get rid of her truck like you did all the other cars?"

"Are you kidding?  How often do you come across an authentic HMMWV?  This one even had a winch on it!"

"Well I certainly hope you enjoy your toy."

"Oh I will!  You aren't worried about finding that tracking device on that girl from Davis?"

"I've seen them before…they started Lojacking children back in the early nineties…once the device is out, it's not an issue, and we got it out so fast that I'm sure nobody traced her here."

"If you say so…you're the boss.  What about her biker friend."

"I've got bigger things to worry about than some idiot on a motorcycle.  As long as YOU did YOUR job, I won't see him right?  There's no way he can trace the girl back here."

"I did my job – he ain't gonna find this place."

"Good.  Help me get her into the chamber." the scientist said as he turned around and looked at Jubilee – who was lying unconscious on a lab table behind him.  The guard motioned for 2 more guards to help them.

"She kinda looks like the one we got rid of – UCD-4."

"There are similarities." he said as he pulled the sheet off her and did a final inspection of her body.  He did the final preparations and put a SCUBA type mask on her face.  The guards then put her in a chamber labeled UCD-14.  There the youngest X-Man remained…unconscious, helpless, and trapped - submerged in an aquatic prison.  As soon as the lid was in place, the machine flickered to life and the LCD on the front of the tank started recording her vital signs.