Chapter 2 – A Storm's a comin'
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Tasha yelled into the mic. The minijet entered stealth mode and started rising into the air. "I need help! MamaRo? Uncle Gambit? Hello!"
"Tasha, this is Storm. What has happened Sweetie? Where is Logan?"
"Some men with guns took PapaLo! They grabbed me and told him they would let me go if he gave up and so he did. He told me to push the emergency button but he's back there with them. You have to help him!"
"By the Goddess!" Thunder cracked across the sky so loud it could be heard from Sacramento clear through to Vallejo – nearly 70 miles away. "Tasha, just hold on…I have the minijet on screen and I will bring you home." About a minute later, the minijet roared eastward back to Davis where Storm was waiting. She met up with it outside town and hid it in a private hanger at the UC Davis airport. The mostly unmanned airport provided the perfect cover for it as nobody but faculty ever used it. An attendant usually stuck around during business hours to help refuel the tiny prop planes that populated the strip, but he left at 5 pm leaving the airport empty for the evening.
Tasha was still shaken by the time they returned to the house. It took awhile for her to calm down. Memories of how her own parents had been taken from her were fresh in her mind. Jubilee and Jean were there and immediately assisted in trying to comfort her and reassure her that everything would be okay. She told them everything that happened – which for a 10-year-old was extremely accurate, but Tasha had been blessed with above average intelligence and an incredible memory. She told them exactly what the mercenaries said and exactly what Logan did. She even described the 2-inch carbonadium restraints they made Logan wear. This really alarmed the 3 X-Women because they knew it took a great deal of research to understand how to subdue Logan. Storm seemed more upset than the other two X-women – especially when Tasha mentioned 'Old Man.' A cool chill spread across the room as Tasha went into detail about what had happened. The temperature dropped nearly 10 degrees before Jean eyed Storm and she realized what she was doing. They knew that it had something to do with breaking up the lab in Atwater and that Logan had been specifically targeted, but that was all they knew. Storm's fears for Logan were intensified at the thought of what Old Man was doing to him. She also considered the possibility that the other X-Men on that mission might be targeted. If they knew how to subdue Logan, they might know how to subdue the others.
Storm contacted and briefed the Professor and the rest of the X-Men then she and Jean set out to investigate Logan's capture. Professor X immediately dispatched Bishop to the area to give some assistance.
Jubilee took Tasha to a hotel and watched over her while Storm and Jean went to investigate the campsite. Though they found the site, they found nothing that could identify Wolverine's captors. They surveyed the entire area and found lots of evidence of a fight, but very little else. Each passing minute seemed to make Storm grow more uneasy – which was very unusual for the usually calm and experienced leader. Her cool, calm and collected demeanor never betrayed her, but being in the presence of one of the world's most powerful psychics meant hiding her emotions was nearly impossible. Jean knew she had been troubled by the mission at Castle and this just compounded her issues. Jean also sensed doubt from Storm in her abilities to safely lead the X-Men. This worried her because the one thing every leader needs is confidence in their abilities.
"Storm? Are you okay?" Jean asked.
"I'm fine!" She sharply responded without looking up.
"We're going to find him, you know that right?" Jean empathetically replied.
"Yes." she said in a very cold voice. "I know we will. BEAST, come in!" she yelled into her communicator.
"Beast here Storm."
"We've surveyed the campsite. There is nothing here to help us. Have you and Bishop found anything on the other 2 labs yet?"
"I have no news to report except that our endeavors have proven fruitless."
"You MUST find those other labs - QUICKLY. I fear Wolverine is in a very dangerous situation."
"I know you're worried about him Storm, but Logan can take care of himself. He's been in bad situations before. "
"This goes beyond that – way beyond that Beast."
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"No! What I would like is for you and Bishop to find those other labs!" Storm slammed her communicator closed, denying Beast the last word and giving a precursor to the sound of thunder rumbling in the background.
"Merde!" Stormy really concerned 'bout Wolverine!" Gambit said as he peered over Beast's workstation.
"Apparently!" Beast responded.
Meanwhile in a hidden lab in Vacaville, CA an eerily similar lab to that of Castle had been set up at a maximum-security detention facility. Unlike Castle however, this site had a full entourage of visible security and a landing pad suitable for 6 helicopters. Old Man had taken great care to hide each of his labs using completely different methods. Castle appeared to be abandoned but this lab had the full cover of a functional maximum-security prison…that the locals weren't aware was really a prison for missing mutants. Since it technically didn't exist and the local legislator had been paid handsomely to keep it that way, Old Man never worried about the state sending investigators or people dropping by to visit inmates. Nobody knew the "inmates" there and there was no other reason for anyone to investigate. It was the perfect hiding place…in plain sight of everyone. The ominous appearance of the prison even kept Vacaville residents from being too curious.
"How is he?" Old Man inquired to the head scientist.
"You mean that beast you brought in yesterday? I want him OUT of here! He's jeopardizing our entire operation!"
"How so? He's only one mutant…he doesn't even have any projectile powers…all he can do is pop out those claws and swing them around like an animal."
"If you think he's so easy to subdue, then YOU take over his research! Every shift has had problems with him. He's already woken up 3 times, and every time he wakes up he starts slicing through his tank. He almost got through the first time, so we put him in a special tube with 2.5 inches of reinforced bullet-proof glass and when he woke up the second time, he STILL damaged it! We stunned him with enough electricity to knock out a friggin' horse! You know what he did before he fell asleep? He looked at me with those beast like eyes and I coulda sworn he growled 'You'll pay for that Bub!' We've already increased his anesthetic feed 6 times! Every time I do, his body adjusts to it and he starts to regain consciousness! Right now he's got enough anesthesia in him to knock out every single mutant in this room and MOST of the security as well! He's too damn dangerous for this!"
"That's PRECISELY why I want him here you imbecile!" Old Man yelled. "Who knows what we can do if we unlock the secrets of his body! Imagine living for hundreds of years, instantly healing, or never being sick…imagine finding a cure for EVERY disease known to mankind! Then imagine us using his own powers against him. Mutants think they can hurt us? Wait till we harness their own power and defeat them with it!"
"Imagine what he'll do to us if he ever escapes!"
"I don't care! If you have to cut him into tiny little squares to figure out what makes him tick, you WILL find out. THEN he'll PAY for what he did at Castle! That was our most productive lab and we nearly lost EVERYTHING because of him! If I had the resources, I'd go after the other mutants there that night as well. For now, he'll do; and I WILL get my revenge on him…and the irony will be sweet – succumbing to the very freedom he provided at Castle. The only redeeming factor of Castle is the data we had uploaded to the mainframe…that reminds me, have you backed up the data yet?"
"Why – are you worried?"
"Not as much as you'll be if you don't answer my question!"
"Yeah, 7 pm and 4 am – same times every day…just like it's programmed to do."
"Confirmed?"
"You are so paranoid, you know that Old Man?"
"If I weren't, Castle would have been a waste of over 80 million dollars. Reprogram the computers to start uploading information every 4 hours."
"Every 4 hours??? That's ridiculous – we don't have enough data for that. What's wrong with twice a day?"
"Nothing, but I'm not taking any chances."
"You're worried that beast's friends are going to come looking for him aren't you? From what I saw on that surveillance tape, they're nothing to sneeze at. Like I said – he shouldn't be here!"
"Shut-up and do your work. Tell me what you've learned so far about our little hero." He said, tapping on Logan's tube.
"Quite a bit actually – mostly from him waking up and trying to escape. Those metal claws; they're made of adamantium – a nearly indestructible metal; but that's not the amazing thing – the amazing thing is that it runs through his entire skeletal structure. It's not natural either…whoever did it knew what they were doing. I've never seen genetic manipulation like this. I'm sure his healing factor had something to do with it. I don't see how he could have survived the process without it. Also, it looks like his healing capabilities are pretty complicated. It seems that the more injured he gets, the more focused it becomes. If you cut his skin, it heals up immediately but if you damage an organ AND cut his skin, it focuses more on the organ and takes a bit longer to heal his skin. I can surmise that if he's severely injured, his healing powers will be significantly hindered. Also, it seems his healing powers are linked to his protein intake. If I increase his protein, he seems to heel faster…consequently, if he's severely injured and is low on protein, it won't work nearly as well – it might even fail.
Oh – emotions can drive his abilities…thus making him an excellent fighter or soldier. I imagine that in the heat of battle, he heals faster…letting him concentrate on other things – like whomever he's fighting."
"Very good! Keep up the research – I want ALL of his secrets."
"Well, you won't get ALL of them…I know nothing about adamantium, and since I'm not a physicist, you won't get that knowledge from me."
"That's okay…you just figure out what makes him tick. Leave the rest to me. Can you tell me anything else about him?"
"Only that whatever he's dreaming of is pretty bad."
"What do you mean?"
"His REM charts are off the scale…it's like he's constantly having nightmares or something."
"Interesting. I wonder what goes on in that hairy head of his." he said, looking at the unconscious mutant.
"What about the other mutants that broke up Castle? Are you eventually going after any of them?"
"Not just yet. It's hard enough dealing with THIS animal! Besides, we don't know how many there are. The video surveillance showed 4 plus the girl they came to get, but there are more – who knows, there could 40 – or even 400 or 4,000. Whoever they are, they're heavily trained and are excellent fighters. They took the entire security staff at Castle apart like they were a bunch of cub scouts! You should have seen them fighting – it was incredible…especially him!" he said, pointing at Logan. "It's too bad I had to cut the satellite uplink before they traced it back to HQ…it could have given us some insight into how many others there were or where they came from."
"Is that why you beefed up security around here?"
"Yeah. If they ever DO find out where this is, we'll need all the help we can get."
"And the choppers? I noticed you always have one of them on."
"And I bet you'll beat me to it if all hell breaks loose won't you?" Old Man chuckled.
"Got that right!"
Storm called ahead and told Jubilee they were headed back to the house. Jubilee and Tasha left the hotel and headed back to meet them.
"When will Bishop arrive?" Storm asked Jubilee as she and Tasha walked into their North Davis home.
"Didn't find anything useful?" Jubilee inquired about their trip to Logan's campsite.
"No. Bishop?"
"Another hour or so."
Storm didn't acknowledge Jubilee's response. She just walked past her into the house's makeshift ready-room and started researching the data she had recovered from the Castle lab. She'd seen it a thousand times before but still hadn't come up with any clues as to where the other 2 labs were or who Old Man was. The mission had suddenly taken a greater importance though – with another teammate gone; this one being the love of her life; she scrutinized every detail of the information she had.
"What about this place? You think it's safe to stay here?" Jubilee asked.
"They won't send anybody here." Jean responded. "If we get attacked, it will be when we are separate and presumed vulnerable. As long as we are all here, we won't be in any danger. Also, I can sense any impending attacks."
Think outside the box. Storm said to herself. How can they hide these other 2 labs so well? Where are they getting the mutants to do these experiments? Professor Xavier would have come across more missing college students by now, so they can't be using college students. Who can they take without many people noticing?
Logan always said the best place to hide was in plain sight. If we haven't detected a missing segment of society, it's because they're pulling them out from right under our noses; and if we can't find them…it's because they're hiding them right under our noses. The only segments of society I can think of that goes completely undetected are the homeless and poor. Could it be whoever is running these labs are targeting homeless mutants?
Even as the wheels in her head started turning, she couldn't get Logan off her mind. Goddess, the things they could be doing to him. I know he's strong, but if they're experimenting on him again, this could completely push him over the edge. The thoughts of all the physical experimentation Logan had endured during his entire pain-ridden life started cycling through Storm's mind. One horrible event after another seemed to follow him wherever he went. A tear rolled down her cheek as she recalled the events that lead Logan to the X-Men and into her heart.
"Storm?" Jubilee asked from the doorway of the ready-room.
"What do you want child?" she responded in a soft, almost weeping voice.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes Jubilee, I am." She said, turning to face the worried teen. As soon as Jubilee saw the tears on Storm's face, she ran and hugged her.
"It's going to be okay Storm. We'll find him – just like you guys found me. You'll see – he'll be fine."
"I know child. I'm not worried about finding him – we will find him."
"Why are you crying?"
"You know Logan as well as I Jubilee. You know what he has been through. You know how he has always tried to reconcile his past only to be wrought with more pain and loss."
"Yeah."
"I fear for what they are doing to him right now. For what damage it might do to his mind."
"Whatever damage they do, he can handle it."
"I hope so. We've all seen what happens when he loses control…"
"Yeah. But he'll be okay…and we'll be there to help him."
"Enough about this." Storm said while straightening up with attention. "I have a project for you. Get a list of all the homeless shelters, food shelters, free clinics, and any other service that might be used by homeless and indigent mutants. Start in the Sacramento area and then work your way out to the bay area."
"What should I do after I compile this list?"
"Well, you're a student right? Contact them and tell them you're doing a paper on homeless people. Ask them if their numbers have changed in the last couple years, and if so – how. Make a note of ANY discrepancies."
"Discrepancies?"
"Any place where the numbers have gotten lower." Jubilee quickly sat down and started working. By the time Bishop arrived, she had a very comprehensive list.
Bishop had a unique talent for investigation – almost as good as Logan's. Storm put him and Jubilee immediately to work on missing homeless people. She knew it was a tough task, but it was a long shot that she hoped would pay off. She was counting on the fact that most homeless shelters kept accurate numbers because their funding was tied to how many people they served. Maybe one would give her the lead she needed.