Okay, this chapter is kind of short, but the next one is longer. I wanted to put a nice cliffhanger in this one.

Thank yous to ehj2003 and Pendragon, my first two reviewers. If I wasn't so selfish, I'd dedicate the chapter to you. Pick one you like and call it yours.

Disclaimer: Fan fiction, hon. Look it up.



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Logan strapped himself into one of the front seats of the X-jet, mentally grousing about the uncomfortable uniform he had to wear, though the leather was much more flexible now than it had been at first. He heard Rogue squirming around in her seat, and pitied her having to wear a new uniform without a chance to work it out in the Danger Room.

The real reason he was grumbling was to keep his mind off the mission. For some reason, going to this ATLANTIS place made him feel uncomfortable and Logan couldn't pin down the reason, which bothered him. Where could he have heard of ATLANTIS before? The name sparked memories; nothing he could bring to the surface, but they were definately swimming beneath.

Storm flicked the thrusters to life and opened the roof, smoothly bring the jet straight up, smiling slightly. Logan figured she felt the same way about flying the plane as he did about driving Scott's motorcycle: euphoric. She was a good pilot, too. Her knowledge of the wind currents made for a very smooth ride. Unfortunately, that left him alone with his thoughts today.

"How do you people wear these things?" Rogue asked, balling her right hand into a fist, grimacing as that simple gesture was made difficult.

"I concur. This is very uncomfortable," Kurt added, his uniform also brand-new, a hole cut at the last minute for his tail.

Storm gave a low-pitched chuckle. "They'll loosen up."

"I doubt it," Kurt muttered softly, flexing his legs and arms. Logan supressed a laugh at the leather creaks, remembering his first mission in the uniform, at Liberty Island. That fight with Mistique had been a struggle, not that he'd ever admit it.

"E.T.A. two minutes, guys," Storm said, giving no indication she'd heard Kurt's remark, but a slight amused sparkle in her eyes suggested she had. Logan, in preparation, popped his claws out and then withdrew them, cutting slits into his gloves. For some reason, Xavier insisted on giving him a new pair after every mission, knowing perfectly well he'd just ruin them again. The old man was as stubborn as you could get.

Slowly, Storm circled a patch of bare ocean and carefully landed, checking the monitors as she submerged until the water hid the jet's presense, then shut down everything but life-support. "Kurt, you got the visual from the Professor?"

Nightcrawler stood. "Yes. Who wishes to go first?"

"I will," Logan growled, suddenly impatient. He unbuckled and stood.

He wasn't crazy about having the elf hug him, but it was over quickly enough, and then Kurt returned to get someone else, leaving him alone in the semi-darkness of the corridor. He could see just fine, but he looked for a light switch all the same, and found one beside a heavy door, which opened after he inserted a claw into the locking mechanism. He was aware that Rogue was behind him, but didn't glance back as he moved swiftly down the hall and instinctively opened another heavy door to his right.

The smell of death and decay hit him square in the face, and he twitched his head sideways in disgust, while he heard Rogue gag behind him. There were rows of cells, containing what had been mutants, all recently expired, from the decay rate. Rogue shouldn't have come in, he realized belatedly, but she stayed behind him, matching him step-for-step.

Some forgotten memory guided him down the cells to a specific one, and he stared into it. The mutant was female, and was lying on her side with her back to him. "Hey!" he voiced. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, painfully, she shifted onto her back, barely able to raise herself up. Black eyes strained towards him, though she didn't move an inch.

"Logan?" she whispered hoarsely, and his heart stopped.

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Review! It really does motivate me to post faster!

Oh, and if anyone recognized it, the whole thing about the stiff leather I got from the DVD extras on the 1.5 version. Kudos if you got it.