Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, except for Aurora, Granite and Serpentine, and the weapons I gave to Orion, plus her name. But the character itself remains Marvel's. Plot is mine though.

Throughout story: " " = Speech ' ' = Thoughts ^ ^ = Telepath

I have a new reviewer!

*sends a large group hug from her and the characters in the fiction GROUP HUG!*

*also drags in all the other people who have reviewed to join her in the massive hug!*

*forces Sych to hug Scott.* Hehe

*hugs Logan* XD

What? I -am- the author. -_-

Oy..

*sneaks away, dragging Logan from the group hug.* XP

Chapter 28

Solitary. Passing in silence, lurking in the shadows. Trained eyes watched the area, all senses working effortlessly. Stealth aided each placed boot. Logan prowled down the corridor, making his way through calmly though consistently aware. The building appeared as if it wasn't in use. For dust lingered to the walls and cobwebs hung from every angle. But when Logan came to the end of his chosen corridor, he looked upon a new corridor that had been joined on by a few. Only these floors had been ruined of its dusty coating. The floor was scattered in moved dust, boot prints marking many frequent trips.

It was still dark, no lights were on, and many had broken glass bulbs. But Logan didn't need light, he was perfectly calm. He dashed, a shadow, floating effortlessly in silence to join the inhabited corridor. From rooms away he could hear voices, and the whirring of machines. It drew to him rapidly and he followed, hot on its trail, being lured towards his destination.

At the other side of the building, the X-Men were passing along a corridor of their own. This was in the same state, dust, and cobwebs, old redundant items left un-regarded for years. They passed together, close- knit and wary. Aurora wasn't even with them any more, and no one had managed to notice, for their senses were straining to try and do what they never could do, what Logan could. Predict and discover.

So, the mutants travelled down the corridors, the dark making it uncomfortably difficult to travel safely. They rounded a corner, Scott in lead. However, he suddenly stopped, the X-Men pausing behind and looking round Scott to discover the reason of the halt.

"What is it?" Whispered Kurt briskly, accent lavishing his words even when he murmured. His eyes scanned round them nervously, as if he was being watched without consent.

Scott let out a groan of frustration, hands clapping to the sides of his head as he let out a series of swearing. Already on edge this, had pushed his patience.

"Scott?" Came Storm's fluent voice, softly addressing their leader.

Scott just wordlessly thumbed ahead of him. Apparently he couldn't pronounce his despair.

Kurt and Storm together narrowed their eyes, straining through the murky atmosphere. And then it came clear to them. Bits of large rubble lingered in the corridor piling through the upper floor. The wall at that point no longer existed and had fallen long ago, bringing part of the ceiling with it. The way was completely blocked.

Storm let out an hmph, though much calmer in showing her disappointment.

"Blast through it Cyclops." Kurt said, nodding firmly to Scott.

"Can't." Answered Storm abruptly, "The partitions of the fallen wall are holding the rest of the ceiling up. If it fell down who knows what could happen. The whole roof could collapse in."

"Argh." Commented Scott heatedly, turning to face the two. That's when he froze again, "Aurora?!" He then hissed frantically, looking round the corner they had just travelled round. Damn wolvies, thought Scott instantly, pinpointing Logan rather than Aurora.

Lights lit up this corridor as Logan slipped through. Equipment, clean and new stood alone against walls. Doors were more frequent and they led to rooms hidden by shut blinds through newly inserted windows. A smell lingered in the air, but it was masked awfully by the smell of disinfectant. Also.. blood.

Blood stenched the atmosphere, the more Logan tried to pinpoint the smell from the mixture of aromas, the more obvious it became. But the blood brought a familiar smell with it.

Rogue.

Cursing himself, Logan ran through the corridor, insulting himself for missing this and not being so observant. Now he was on track, following this scent rapidly. His warm eyes stared ahead, but were now invisibly glazed over by anger, which made his eyes narrow, boring through every object in view.

It was stronger; it ranked at his senses and spurred him into faint sickness. Still he pursued through, desperate. Madly in hurry, paying no attention to the obvious actions that could make him be detected. For he hurried through, not hiding, not sneaking. His brain just screamed for him to hurry, senses polluting his mind with images of what he could find, senses urging him to hurry. He promised he would take care of Rogue, and that's all that mattered.

There was a door, at the end of the corridor. Beckoning him in with Rogue's distinct scent. Logan pounded through the silent corridor, foot falls echoing heavily. His breathing had hardly been affected by the running and he stopped with majestic harmony by the door, calm and composed, though his eyes deceived this, for they were narrowed and shining with anger, and oddly, fear. Fear for Rogue.

A black leather hand pushed meekly at the door, reluctant to venture inside. It creaked mildly, though it's sound ruptured through the corridors, shattering the silence. In Logan stepped, claws drawn out, ready to sink into any victim who dared to even try and provoke this beast of a mutant.

His eyes narrowed and his brow sunk to slope over his eyes, glowering fiercely into the face of any supposed attacker. But the room was in silence. Blinking Logan stepped in, sniffing curiously and studying in disbelief. The room was lit by a faint strip of light overhead which flickered poorly every minute or so. The walls boasted shiny huge mirrors, sending the feeble lighting in all directions over the square room. The room was empty, minimalist. In the middle stood a thick metal table, alone. Logan's features relaxed, eyes lighting as they passed over the still form of Rogue who had been strapped harshly to the table by thick metal strips, keeping her down, firmly down. Her eyes didn't even flutter as the silence was destroyed. She just carried on, in silence, stationary. Logan immediately stepped over, preparing to unsheathe his claws to free her from this trap.

His ears took in a slight sound from behind him. He spun from Rogue, glaring viciously to try and work out what made the sound. Since mirrors lined the walls he was glaring venomously at his reflection. He turned again, looking round the room for any source of the noise. Another soft noise, again from the same area. He spun back to the wall he heard it from. He stepped forward, gloved hands lifting to touch gently at the mirror. The atmosphere suddenly got tense. He stood there, listening intently, sniffing softly at the mirror, all senses alert.

He was waiting for another noise, and he didn't have to wait long. As a sound passed through the mirrored wall, Logan erupted into a roar of anger. Taking a quick step back before he leapt through the mirrored wall. The glass shattered, hissing and tinkling as his heavy body threw itself through. He hit no wall, but went straight through and landed, crouched upon a desk covered in papers, computer monitors and a speaker, microphones placed round. He smirked, claws already drawn, staring in the face of one of many now very pale scientists.

It was clear what this room was. The mirror had been one way, the scientists sat round this room, all working busily, tapping away at keyboards or reading through complicated notes, studying their mutant.

Logan smirked; the fear on their faces was necessary, for the large man jumped in silence off the desk he had landed upon. The three scientists all shrunk back in awe and fear, staring at the mutant who had crashed through and discovered their hiding place.

"Disgusting.." Logan growled bitterly, "A young woman.. trapped.. you.." Words failed him. He couldn't express his rage. His voice shook gently, affecting the impact his strong voice usually had. But the scientists appeared to not fear him any less, their eyes were jumping from his face, which screamed out its furious anger, to the claws which glinted in the eerie light from the many monitors.

That was the last ever glance they got of the Wolverine, for within seconds they had all fell to their deaths from a single blow of Wolverine's claws. Logan felt no pity for them, he protected Rogue with his life and he would kill any who harmed her.

Calmly he slipped back through the shards of broken glass, venturing back over to the table, he gave her a soft glance as he lifted a claw and neatly sliced the metal bonds free without so much as a struggle. Then, lifting her carefully in his arms he left the room, now intent on getting out of this place.

*** To view pictures and detailed profiles of my created characters, visit: (www.freewebs.com/xwotw)

Review! Please! I was pretty pleased with this one.. is my pride soon going to be lost when you review? :0

It wasn't that bad..

Come on.

*hugs Logan for comfort* .