"... and that is the situation, Sabertooth," finished X23.

"Great," grunted the great beast-man, again testing his bonds.  To no avail.  Though his strength was easily greater than that of most normal humans, at his current angle he couldn't draw on enough to break the metal bands encasing his wrists.  Nor could he break the chain holding his legs.  Although, he thought, glancing down, that wasn't a bad thing just yet.

"Any bright ideas?" asked Logan.  "Anyone?"

No reply from his two cellmates.  Sabertooth was still squirming against his bonds, trying to force them by sheer strength, and X23 was either thinking or asleep, her eyes closed.

"Is anyone nearby?" inquired X23 quietly.

Frowning, Logan stretched out with his senses, but found no one.  No soldiers breathing, no gun powder nearby, no footsteps.  They were essentially alone.

"No one," he said quietly, glancing at her to figure out what she was up to.

"Swing yourself over and grab my chain," she stated, eyes now open.

"What?"

"Just do it!" she growled at him.

Reluctant to obey his pseudo-offspring, Logan eventually figured things couldn't get any worse if he tried.  So it was that, wiggling his body as best he could given his restraints, he slowly began to swing back and forth like a pocket watch on a chain.  Back and forth... back and forth... allowing his swings to become wider.

"Other than making me sick to my stomach," commented Logan on one particular pass.  "Is there a point to this?"

"Just... grab it!" she said, as he got near, and he did.  Logan twisted, grabbing the chain as it passed very near to his face with one hand.  Very luckily he managed to hold on, shifting to grab with his other, though the chain was practically strangling him, cutting against his neck.

"Rrrgh... got it.  What now?" he grumbled.

"Shift lower, closer to my feet... Sabertooth, keep watch," she instructed.  Creed grunted, and reluctantly did as he was told.

Ah, now the plan makes sense, thought Logan, as he dutifully shifted lower along the chain, almost inching his way down.  As he reached her black boo, the adamantium blade concealed in her foot shot out, nearly slicing through Logan's hand, but he shifted, and instead managed to cut not himself, but slice clean through the bonds holding his hands in place.

Now free of the binding restraints Logan swung an arm freely and slice off the metal chain wrapped around his own legs, holding on to X23's.

"Good work kid," he commented, reaching down and slicing through her bonds as well.  She climbed up along the chain as well, then leapt onto the platform nearby with all the grace and skill that had been trained into her at birth.

"Stop calling me that," she absent-mindedly grumbled, smoothing out her dark brown.

"Will you two stop the stupid family reunion and get me down already?" grumbled Sabertooth, squirming against his bonds.  Logan frowned, glaring over at his arch-rival as he swung down onto the platform next to X23.  He could just leave him here, he supposed, folding his arms.  Might keep him out of trouble for a while.

"Rrrrr... go on and help him ki... er, Sarah," he said.  "That chain might not support both of us."

X23 nodded, leaping up and gracefully grabbing onto Sabertooth's chain, flipping upside down gracefully and slicing off his bonds with her fist claws.  Her feet kept her anchored as Creed and she swung over to the platform, all finally free.

"I owe you for that I suppose," grunted Creed, flexing his now free and thoroughly sore limbs.

"Put it on my tab," remarked X23, unsheathing her claws once more.  Quickly she made her way to the door and leapt, slicing through it like it was made of cheese and sending it crashing to the ground.  Logan and Victor exchanged a glance, then followed after her.

"Tough kid... you sure she's yours?" quipped Victor.

A distinct 'snickt' sound and three adamantium blades slid from between Logan's knuckles, as he compared them, then glanced over at Sabertooth.

"Oh yeah."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They met no resistance as they made their way through the facility.  It seemed deserted as the three made their way to a nearby elevator and started to ride it to the top floor.  Presumably, the surface, for the entire thing they'd seen so far had no windows, and thus was likely underground.

However, the elevator came to a jarring halt midway between levels four and three.  The lights went out, immediately replaced by red back-up lights.

"Damn... must know we're on the move," said Wolverine, unsheathing his claws and slicing open a rectangle in the floor.  Sabertooth helped, ripping out the torn metal and creating a clear hole for the others to climb down.

"Head for the last floor, we'll take the stairs," ordered X23.

Not for the first time, both Sabertooth and Wolverine why she was calling the shots.  But ultimately they would've said the same thing in her place, so they did what she suggested.  Sabertooth ripped the door open, and -now- they met resistance.

Six armed guards immediately opened fire, pelting the corridor with bullets.  Sabertooth hurled one of the torn off doors from the elevator at them.  It didn't hit, but it was only his attention to distract them long enough as he, Wolverine, and X23 ripped through their ranks and knocked and every single one unconscious with a solid blow to the head.

"Just like ol' times, eh runt?" said Sabertooth with a grin, rubbing his knuckles.

"Shut up," grunted Logan.  Partially out of frustration that he was being forced to work with Sabertooth again, partially because he was always keenly aware that perhaps Sabertooth more about their mutual past than he did.

"Both of you shut up," grunted X23, grabbing one the guard's guns and snapping a fresh round into it, sliding it into her belt.  "Let's move."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank again lifted his head, rubbing his eyes.  Between a lack of rest and having them pressed against the eyepiece of a microscope, they were quite sore.  Still, he took a few moments to rest them, sipped his coffee, and returned his view to what lay beneath the microscope.  One cell, two cell, more... all dead and dying.  The virus spread and multiplied faster than Ebola, but that was the closet resemblance it held to any virus on the records of the Institute.  Records that rivaled that of the Center for Disease Control in Washington D.C.  And short of keeping those infected isolated, there seemed no method cured it.  Only a few treatments he'd tested even had any luck slowing it down.  These were currently being administered to the ill by Bobby, Tabby and Amanda, but the virus continued to spread and worsen.  In a few days...

"Any luck?" came a voice to his side, interrupting his thoughts.

"None," he replied, lifting his head and turning to see Professor Xavier wheel into the room.  "Nothing seems to eliminate the virus, I've tried just about every method I know of and a few that just sprung to mind.  All we've managed to do is slow it down..."

"I see," replied Professor X.

"And the calls?  Did you contact them?"

"I did... they should be arriving as soon as they can.  Not as fast as the Blackbird travels, but they should be here before the morning anyway.  The parents have all been informed as well.  I've… been forced to downplay the severity of the situation.  I did not want to cause a panic."

"We are fortunate those two we needed were in the same place," remarked Hank, turning back to his research, again hoping he'd find some answer to the plague that gripped the students.

"Indeed.  And just so you know Hank... but with the recent addition of sick I've been forced to call someone else here as well.  I think you know whom I refer to."

"I suspected it was only a matter of time," replied Hank, not looking up from his work.  "He would be concerned, if only about the one boy."

"Indeed."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

X23, Sabertooth, and Wolverine, together could've easily taken on a small army and walked away unscathed.  And with the hearty remark 'you should see the other guys.'  But there was one opponent the three of them couldn't defeat.

And unfortunately, it was staring down at them right now.

They'd been heading down the corridor, trying to find the stairs when they'd found themselves in a large, open area in what appeared to be a metal working facility.  Some of the larger machines were marked with the 'Legacy' corporation logo.  A number of canisters lay to one side of the room, some overturned, with great silver lids lying nearby, tarnished with rust.  But it wasn't that little tidbit that drew the attention of the three warriors.  It was what had moved behind the machines, moving in closer.  It was almost too late before they noticed, their senses distracted by the moving machines.  But now there it stood, right above them.

A sentinel.

The three dodged in opposing directions from one another instinctively as a blast of blue energy shot from the automaton's chest and narrowly missed blasting them all to pieces, sending chunks of granite hurling into the air.  Sabertooth and Wolverine rolled with the blast, landing in combat crouches on either end of the room.  X23 caught the worst of it, however, and slammed fully into a steel column head first.  She collapsed onto the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a nasty cut in her forehead.

"Dibs on the head!" roared Sabertooth, taking a great leap and digging his short black claws into the black and red armored hide of the sentinel, climbing up towards the machine's head.

"I got the legs!" shouted Wolverine in reply, springing forward.

Wolverine sprang forward, claws slashing, ripping out whole chunks of circuitry and metal casing.  Alas, the sentinel saw his plan and lashed out with its foot, sending Wolverine flying.  He landed deftly on his feet, but the sentinel swung around to give chase, and he soon found himself running for his life, dodging energy blasts as they rocketed all around him, narrowly missing him.

Sabertooth was having little better luck.  With the sentinel's sudden lurching forward he'd been flung onto its back, where he was relatively safe from its arms and blasters.  For now at least.  Growling he climbed up, ripping at the beasts shoulder, where the plating was weak and the circuitry beneath was easier to reach.  Eagerly he tore into it, ripping it to pieces, and saw to his relief the right arm dropped down uselessly.

His relief was short-lived, however, as the sentinel saw a threat to its continued operation and turned its attention from Wolverine to Sabertooth.

The sentinel truly was a marvel of technology.  Employing practically every breakthrough in the sciences of combat, tracking, and strategy, it was easily capable of taking out all but the most powerful of mutants.  Apocalypse had proven the only exception so far.  A few upgrades on the behalf of the creator Trask had even improved against previously unconquerable threats like Magneto with its new dura-plastic armor.  And of course, being able to mass-produce such behemoths made them very appealing to all the world's armies.

Now it was that the sentinel's functioning right arm readjusted itself.  Unlike a human arm, designed to only work in the forwards way, the sentinel was capable of rearranging its structure in a number of useful ways.  Now it was that its arm reached around and grabbed Sabertooth.  Another quick switch brought him back in front of the sentinel as he was held up high... and the metal fingers slowly started to crush him.  Sabertooth roared in pain.

Suddenly a bang split the still air and a flurry of bullets sliced clear through the sentinel's equivalent to a wrist, sending Sabertooth and the metallic arms crashing to the ground.  Thus the sentinel's golden eyes turned and fell upon a fifteen year old girl, one hand extended with two adamantium blades, the other holding the gun she'd grabbed earlier.

"That'll teach you, you over-grown sorry excuse for a transformer!" she shouted, emptying the chamber with pinpoint accuracy, aiming for the neck.  The sentinel's head was sliced clean off, dropping down onto the ground.  The rest of the body quickly followed suit, crashing down nearby.

The sentinel's yellow eyes faded... faded... and soon became dull and inert.

Wolverine took a step towards the head, giving it a kick to make sure it was inert as he re-sheathed his claws.  Then he glanced over at X23, quirking an eyebrow.

"What?" she said, tossing the now empty gun aside.  "Jamie showed me that show once... it wasn't half bad."

"Let's get out of here," grumbled Logan.

"Not yet," interrupted Sabertooth with a grin, as he made his way over to the inert Sentinel's head and, with a tremendous grunt, lifted the entire damn thing up under his arm.  "Wanted a souvenir of my time here," he said with a rather distinct, fang-filled grin.

They all heard it at the same time.  It was a very distinct sound.

The whirr of metal moving, of machines preparing.  Six more pairs of golden eyes appeared in the darkened corners of the room, and as they shifted, red and black steel became visible in the light.

"Looks like the gift shop just opened," grumbled Wolverine, unsheathing his claws.

Author's Notes:

Another cute scene with my fav mutants, the Weapon Xee's.  Basically its to stall for time and continue to build suspense regarding both their situation and those at the Institute.  And give time for those traveling to the Institute to get there.  The company Legacy is of course obvious reference to the Legacy Virus, but there's something even deeper to it than that.  In my story, at least.  Again, another reference to 'Weapon X24' where X23 lived at the Institute as a "normal" mutant girl and became at least passing friends with Jamie.  I think it was Red Witch was the first one who noticed the similarities between the new Evo sentinels (a vast improvement over the pink human giants from TAS) and the transformer robots from a slew of other series.  But whoever it was, it's still funny.  And actually the final line from Sabertooth mimics a line he had from 'Weapon X, Lies and Videotape' where he picked up the head of one of the TALOS robots and said he had "a new ashtray."

Comet-hime: Sorry to disappoint you, luv.  More Tabbyamaraness next chapter, promise.  I'm glad you're liking the portrayal of the characters, I do try and be accurate.  I'd like to trade in my brown points, what can I get?

Todd fan: Hehehe, I thought you'd like that.  I was worried you wouldn't like what Tabby thought about him though.  Especially since you paired up with Danielle so recently.  And yes, many many more sequels to come, until you're all positively sick of me.

Nessie6: Wow, you really like the underdogs, don't you?  Pietro, Forge, who's next?  Dorian, Jason and Ian?  Hehehehe.  And yes, I try to update quickly.  If I don't get all these stories out of my head they fester as a mental illness.  Hehe.  'fraid Guyrich is not the fellow you're looking for.  But you're soooooooooo close it hurts!

Snitter in Rivendell: Well I am glad I restored your confidence.  Glad you liked my work with Amanda and Wanda, I was very proud of those.  And yes of course I put in Forge.  I try to include as many of the Evo cast as I can in my big '-tion' stories.

GryfinndorSeeker: Well thank you very much.  I do try.  I hoped you liked my portrayal of Ororo and her encounter with the Morlocks.  And glad you liked what I did with Forge.  I wanted to portray his inventive side without having him make something like a ray cannon or some junk.

Optic Red: To be honest I have absolutely no idea on the exact mechanics of Scott's powers.  But I do know that his body is perpetually shielded from his own powers, and so is Alex from his (and each other's) so presumably his tears are shielded.  But if not, I dunno.  Point is, in my story he can cry, damnit!

Elrohirthewriter: Of course Lanccity forever!  And power to the Scogue as well!  But no, the virus won't kill Jean.  It isn't her time to die… not yet.  I have bigger plans in store for her and the other X-Men.  And yes, Wanda and Kitty do normally get along, but Wanda doesn't get along well with anyone really, does she?  She hates her own sibling for crying out loud.  The fact that she didn't hex bolt Kitty means she's at least a friend.  And yes Moira will show up, though I'll need to do some research since I know next to nothing about her.

Rogue14: I will, I will, fret not.  But don't worry, you know I would never hurt the precious little elf.  It would break Amanda's heart.  Well, then again… *evil laughter*.

Sandoz: Yeah Lance and Kitty are one of my most favorite couples on Evo, second only to Kurt and Amanda.  And of course Wanda and Todd kissed!  Thought you can bet dollars to doughnuts that she didn't do it willingly.  Hehehehehehe.  You will see soon who is behind this.  Plenty of cameos to come, Magneto being the very least of them.

The Rogue Witch: Who the heck is Cecilia?  Essex I know (who doesn't?).  Moira and yes one other mutant-scientist type person are being called, though you'll find out soon more about them.  Glad you liked Wanda, I know that creepy rocking back and forth is totally her.  Glad also you liked the descriptions of the infected, it took me a while to write that.

Ray1: I already have, Ray1.  I already have.