ALPHA/OMEGA

Book Two

TEN

"You know, I'm a little pissed at you."

"YOU are pissed at ME?"

"You could have told me."

"Oh, right, sure. 'Hi! Remember me? We were homosexual lovers in a past life! Well, a past life for me, at any rate. YOU, on the other hand, have apparently been traipsing around for several millennia!'"

Wolverine frowned. "Only a little more than two, I think."

Carl stopped and stared at him. They'd been exploring more of the cavern system, and they expected to stumble upon a pack of monsters at any second. But somehow, that didn't stop them from carrying on a constant whispered conversation almost the entire time.

"A little more than two! Jesus Christ in a handbasket, Logan, what the hell do you want from me?"

With a grin for the cursing, Wolverine pulled Carl closer. "How about another kiss?"

Carl yanked himself free. "You always did have to flirt while we hunted."

"Did I?" Wolverine thought about it. He didn't recall anything like that. He barely remembered the time Carl referred to. Still, he went along with the bantering because it clearly calmed Carl down. The other man was moving steadily and silently, doing everything Wolverine would do himself -- checking around every corner, staying low, keeping a gun ready in one hand, his dim flashlight in the other. But, the more Wolverine joked, the more Carl let slip about their past lives together. And it certainly helped that he found the transformation from Carl the geeky professor to Carl the deadly hunter extremely arousing. He decided as they prowled the tunnels that even if he never remembered his life as Gabriel Van Helsing, he was going after Carl.

Gliding ahead, Carl grumbled to himself, no doubt a running rant on all of Wolverine's shortcomings. Behind, Wolverine kept grinning, having discovered that yanking Carl's chain was almost as fun as kissing him. Jeez, he was getting obsessed over the kiss, he thought to himself. His mind kept leaping from one thing - Carl's knowledge of Logan's past - to the other - that kiss! If only he could remember what Carl remembered. It almost felt like he was competing against another man, this Gabriel person. If only he could....

A sudden shift in the air currents around him made Wolverine freeze. He quickly reached out and grabbed Carl, who stopped and crouched obediently. The same creeping scent as before assaulted Wolverine's senses. Carl watched him for signals. Wolverine tapped his nose, indicating he smelled their prey. Carl nodded. He sheathed his gun, set down the flashlight, and eased a number of dowel shaped items out of a pocket.

'Flares' he mouthed at Wolverine. Wolverine spared a quick thought of How many pockets does that damned coat have? Carl handed two flares to Wolverine. With another, he mimed activating and throwing it. His hand signals quickly conveyed their need for light, and the flares were perfect for the job.

Wolverine kept a flare in each fist as he slowly extended his claws. Carl shifted his shoulders, settling his voluminous coat. The two men looked at each other, and suddenly Logan was gripped with an irrational fear, a compulsion to snatch Carl and run, fleeing from what lay ahead. A mental image assaulted him -- Carl dressed incredibly similar to as he was now, holding a sword and a dagger, grinning up at Logan. Logan felt himself waver, losing his fighting edge as he stared at the man who was once his lover, and might be again. His heart clenched. What if he lost Carl now, when he'd just barely found him?

Carl's brows drew together. Some of Logan's mental anguish must have shown in his face, because Carl stepped closer. Shifting his flares into his left hand, Carl raised his right. He hesitated, then gently touched Logan's face. Logan's eyes closed, unconsciously leaning into the light caress. When he opened them, he locked on to Carl's eyes, colorless but glittering in the dim glow of the flashlight on the ground. Carl's expression was serious and determined, but gave no sign of promises. Logan realized that they couldn't make any promises to each other, not even to just survive what they were about to do. They'd made that assumption once before, to their shared grief.

Finally, he managed to latch on to one idea. They were hunters. The prey was out there. Time to hunt.

Carl sensed Logan's turmoil ease, so he lowered his hand and stepped away. He breathed deeply and nodded at Wolverine. He watched the larger man shudder lightly, then resume his persona as the hard bitten warrior. Inside, Carl sighed sadly. He honestly didn't expect to survive this. Oh, he'd try his damnest, of course, but Fate had a way of biting him in the ass. He fell in behind Wolverine as they began their cautious entry into the enormous cavern, and all he could think was that at least this time around, Gabriel would not be so hurt by loosing him.

----------

Wolverine could hear them almost immediately. The growls rumbled on some sub-audible level. He and Carl made no sound as they crossed the great open space. He didn't want to hug the walls; he instinctively knew the were's would be curled up against them like dens, untrusting of each other. He'd have to sacrifice the safety of a wall against the back for room to maneuver, and less chance of tripping on last night's dinner remains. Finally, he came to a halt. Carl stopped just short of bumping him. Without a signal, the hunter turned to put his back against Wolverine's. Feeling about as prepared as he could possibly be, Wolverine let out a growl of his own.

"Let's get this party started!" he snarled, jamming the butt of a flare against his hip. The other end exploded into hissing red flames, and he tossed it away. Behind him, Carl did the same, and soon they'd created a ring of red light illuminating the chamber. Huge forms rose and howled at them, casting giant shadows on to the cavern walls. Wolverine spared a glance to see Carl draw his guns.

"Any clear shot, I take, so try and stay out of the way!" Carl yelled, just as he raised a gun and fired.

The report didn't have time to echo before another sounded out. In moments, Carl had downed a werebear. As if the death of one of their own set them free, the were's leapt over the flames and attacked.

The guns sounded almost constantly. The two men stayed as close as they could. Carl swiftly determined that a single head shot was as effective as three to central mass, and soon started bringing the beasts down. Wolverine kept to Carl's back, discouraging any rear attackers. They rotated together, covering 360 degrees, until one unfortunate moment, where both turned to look the same direction.

In that second, a werepanther pounced, driving both men to the floor. Carl rolled and came up firing at another wolf as Wolverine slashed at the panther. It shrieked, an inhuman sound worse than any woman's scream. Roaring his own rage back, Wolverine tore out its throat. Behind him, the gunfire stuttered to a halt.

"SHIT!" Carl cursed. Wolverine turned and bounded forward, driving back two wolves, giving Carl time to reload. He did, quickly, and resumed firing.

The monsters did everything they could to bring down the two men. But the past had given both excellent reflexes, and they managed to stay ahead of the creatures, but only by the skin of their teeth. Teeth that both bared at their foes, snarling right back at the monsters that would kill them.

It was the wolves that managed to get them truly separated. Acting as a pack, they managed to feint and draw Wolverine just enough away to cut him off from Carl. The mutant spun and slashed at the beasts, all of them half again his height. He tried desperately to get back to Carl.

He watched as Carl suddenly dropped a gun, drawing his sword from its back-sheath. He turned, and for one half second, his eyes caught Wolverine's. He raised his gun, and in two shots brought down two of the werewolves keeping Wolverine occupied. With that opening, Wolverine was able to scramble free of the pack and he charged for Carl's side. In a lightening movement, Carl jammed his sword into the ground while ejecting the clip from the gun in his left hand. His right dove into a pocket, came up with a new clip, stuffed it into the gun, and reclaimed his sword. It took less than five seconds. It was a maneuver he'd repeat twice more.

Soon, Carl noticed no more panthers prowled the melee. The number of wolves thinned. He could hear Wolverine panting behind him. He felt completely winded himself. Though the fight had only lasted a short time, it felt like they'd been fighting for ages.

A tremendous roar tore through the cavern. An enormous were-bear loomed up behind the remaining wolves. Frenzied, the wolves charged the two men, bodily tackling them. Wolverine rolled with one, snapping its neck. He left it behind quickly, tackling another as Carl took out two with well-placed gunfire. Wolverine ducked his head instinctively, feeling his opponent jerk. Carl's aim was ever accurate, shooting the werewolf fighting Wolverine, missing the mutant by inches. As soon as the werewolf fell, Wolverine spun, eyes widening in horror. Behind Carl loomed the werebear. Carl had turned his back to the larger danger in order to protect Wolverine.

The monster brought its paw down in a massive strike, intending to instantly behead Carl. But Carl saw Wolverine's face, and dove forward, ducking the swing. He never looked over his shoulder. Bringing up his gun, he fired twice, right over Wolverine's shoulder. The mutant spun to see the wolf whose neck he'd snapped crumple. Enraged by Carl's disregard for his own safety, Wolverine turned back and dove blindly at the werebear.

The monster had been about to rake its claws over Carl when Wolverine dove. He struck the arm of the thing, deflecting its blow, but also drawing its attention.

"Logan, NO!" Wolverine ignored Carl's cry, engaging the bear in battle. Gunfire echoed, but the bear didn't even flinch. He was fast, but the bear was more powerful. A glancing blow staggered Wolverine, and as the followup strike descended on him, he knew he was not going to make it.

The pain shocked him. An adamantium skeleton is one thing, he thought wildly, but nothing protects soft tissue. As the bear prepared another blow, he thanked whatever powers there were that Carl would live.

Falling to his knees, Wolverine didn't see the bright blade sever the werebear's arm before the ultimate strike could fall. He faintly heard the rapid report of a full clip emptying into the bear's skull.

Was the silence the end of the fight? Or was this death?

"Logan! Oh, god, Logan, stay with me! No, no, NO! Shit, Logan, listen to me! KURT! HELP ME! Logan? Logan, you stay with me now, don't you dare die on me, Logan!"

Logan?"

No, Logan, NO!..."