Jynxed

Logan strolled into the infirmary with a flat expression on his face. He couldn't bring himself to smile and he had to keep from ripping the phony to shreds. This was going to be hard. He looked at the exact copy of the woman he loved and felt his heart break. Then he saw the ring on her finger and nearly lost it. This was too much. It was the last straw.

"Hank, take a powder," Logan said. "Me and the lady need to talk."

Beast glanced from one to the other and just left. She wasn't hurt, and it was obvious that something was going on.

"Logan, what's wrong?" Jynx asked him. He's supposed to be my boyfriend, so sound supportive, she thought.

Logan fought the urge to grab her by the throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I'm just waiting for a change of clothes so I can leave," she said.

"So, did Hank check on the baby?" Logan asked, hoping that knowing Dani was pregnant might make her feel guilty.

"No, I'm fine, he can see that," Jynx said nervously.

Logan looked her in the eyes and knew immediately she wasn't his Dani. There was depth to the eyes, but not in the same way. Then he felt it, fear. She was scared. Good.

"Forget the clothes, let's get out of here. You can tell me about the fire in our room," he said.

He saw the hesitation briefly before she smiled and covered it. "Alright, but I feel silly strolling around in this sheet."

Logan offered her his arm to help her down from the exam table. As he turned toward the door an angry frown crossed his face. He was going to make her crack. This little demon was his only link to Dani, and he'd make her talk, one way or another. He'd try it Chuck's way first, but if it didn't work, he'd improvise. His knuckles itched. He glanced at her, and his heart skipped. She looked so much like Dani, he questioned himself. Maybe it was her. She looked up and gave him a smiled and he turned away before he was tempted to say anything. It was definitely not her.

They stepped into the elevator and rode up in silence until she spoke.

"Are you angry with me?" she asked.

Logan cringed inwardly. He wasn't doing a very good job of playing along. "No, baby, I'm not angry. I just thought you were hurt tonight. I was pretty worried about you. It'll just take a little while for me to calm down."

His reassurance seemed to put her at ease. He glanced at her and she looked pale as the door opened and he led her to her room. They'd been sharing it, but it was hers. He opened the door for her and followed her in. He heard her heart rate pick up.

"I could use a shower," Jynx said, hinting at him leaving.

"I expected that, I'll wash your hair," he offered with a dangerous looking grin.

She blushed, and he stepped closer.

"I… that's okay," she stammered. "You should get some sleep, it's so late."

"You like it when I wash your hair," he said huskily.

"But…"

Logan pulled her into a kiss, grabbing her upper arms and holding her firmly. It wasn't a gentle or pleasant kiss, it was an assault. He jerked her away from him and his eyes bored into hers angrily.

"If you're going to take my woman's place, you'll have to play the whole part," he said icily.

She was shaking in his grip and her face was full of terror, "No, please…" she whispered. "I had no choice."

Logan looked into her phony violet eyes and growled angrily, "Who the hell are you, show yourself, your real self."

She was still trembling but managed to squeak out a meek, "Then let me go."

Logan reluctantly released his grip on her and stepped back. She fell to her knees and then hunched over in obvious pain. He heard her groan as he watched the transformation. She clutched the tattered sheet around herself as she looked up at him. Her short black hair was peppered with streaks of bright blue and her eyes were nearly orange. Her skin was a pale grey with little blue spots on her arms and shoulders. She looked like she was maybe… thirteen or fourteen. Logan was horrified at her age, but skeptical. It could be a ploy for sympathy.

"What's your name?" he asked harshly.

"J-Jynx," she said. "I'm sorry."

Logan frowned, "Sorry doesn't cut it with me." Snikt He popped out the claws on his right hand and held them up so she could get a real good look. "Tell me who has her and where."

Jynx looked at the floor. "Just kill me. If I tell you, they'll… I can't, please, just do it fast so it doesn't hurt too much." She was sobbing uncontrollably and Logan was torn between believing she was a victim and believing she deserved an Oscar.

He sheathed his claws and grabbed his phone. "Chuck, get the team ready for a meeting. I have someone you need to meet. She's going to tell us where Dani is."

Jynx's head shot up and she stared at him in disbelief. "No-no-no-no…" she said quickly.

Logan hung up the phone and pointed to the closet. "Put something on and make it quick. I ain't killing my only witness." He saw the ring still on her finger and his blood started to boil. "Take off her ring before I cut off your finger to get it."

His words were dangerously quiet and Jynx knew he was on the edge of his patience. She couldn't blame him, she had deceived him. She carefully removed the ring and timidly placed it on the bed before backing away toward the closet. She was careful to keep her movements slow as she opened the door and looked at her choices. These things belonged to her and she didn't want to take something that would anger him. She saw a set of sweats and thought it was the least offensive outfit to take. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him holding the ring with a pained look on his face. She dressed quickly while he was distracted.

"Okay," she said softly, shaking him from his thoughts.

Logan looked at the girl and sighed. He wished he could smell. He'd be able to judge her honesty better if he had all his senses.

"What the hell did you do to my nose?" he asked in annoyance.

"It's this dust they gave me. They knew you would be able to tell I was an imposter so they had me spoil your nose for a while. It'll wear off. Sorry."

"How long were you supposed to…?" Logan asked.

"Just long enough for them to get away, but it didn't go as planned…" her words trailed off.

Logan gave an annoyed grunt and grabbed her wrist with a painfully firm grip and dragged her out of the room and down the hall. He took her to the elevator and heard a familiar page in his head.

Come to my office, Logan, we're waiting. Xavier said with definite annoyance in his voice.

Logan didn't care; he was going to get to the bottom of things right now. The elevator opened on the main floor and he dragged his prisoner roughly down the long hall to Xavier's office. The door was opened for him and he dragged Jynx over to the couch and tossed her unceremoniously onto it.

"This is the little imposter," Logan said roughly. "She won't talk to me; maybe she'll talk to you."

Xavier had lost his patience and glared at Logan, "Have a seat Logan."

Logan scowled and stood with his arms crossed and waited.

Xavier turned his attention to the young woman on the couch. "What is your name?"

"Jynx."

"Who do you work for?" Xavier prompted.

Jynx sat quietly and stared at the floor. She could feel the angry looks of everyone in the room. She just wanted to disappear.

"Answer him," an angry Scott said bitterly.

"I don't know who they are," she said softly.

Xavier could sense that she was not a part of the plot, but a pawn in it. He probed her, and her eyes suddenly flew to his.

"You're a telepath," she accused.

Xavier didn't answer out loud, he just probed deeper, and she fought him.

What are you hidng? Why are you a part of this? I know you didn't want to deceive us, Xavier said.

They are far reaching, they know things, they control too much. They… have my son. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"Where?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know. I had been there a long time. When my son was born, they took him away from me. Then one day they brought him to my cell and promised they'd give him back if I did a job for them. If I refused, they were going to kill him," her eyes were full of sorrow and she looked back at the floor and sighed. "I'm so sorry about your friend."

Jean looked at her and just asked, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen," she said.

"Why did they want Danielle?" Xavier asked.

"They probably don't want her, they want the baby," Jynx said. "They weren't too concerned with me after Jaden was born. It was the same for the other girls. I heard one of the doctors say that they could simplify things if they just got us all pregnant again, but the other doctor said there was only one mutation he was after and none of us carried it."

Logan looked at his closed fist. It itched, and he fought the urge to let his claws go. Dani's mutation was powerful, but a child of his and hers could be formidable. "How did they know?"

Jynx looked over at him with guilt in her eyes, "One of the other girls visited the school and over heard a conversation. When she returned, they let her hold her baby, and then they killed them both."

"And you trusted them to keep their word to you?" Storm asked.

"Jynx hung her head, "What choice did I have? We were already dying."

Xavier knew she was telling the truth and he couldn't blame her for her actions. "I am going to see if I can find their location from your memories. If you just relax, it will be helpful."

"But my son…"

"We will do what we can to help everyone that is there against their will," Xavier assured her. He closed his eyes and delved into her memories. It was a laboratory, just as he'd suspected. It seemed to be run like a kennel, a breeding program. He saw soldiers that reminded him of Alkali Lake and Stryker's sort of agenda. He frowned; they kept her blindfolded when they moved her. But wait, she managed to peek out and see…

Xavier sat up and looked at her with deep sympathy. "Thank you, Jynx. Storm will show you to a room. You are welcome to stay here and I promise it will be safe. We'll do what we can to find your son." He nodded to Storm who took their guest out of the room.

"Well?" Logan asked.

"She is close, somewhere in the Adirondacks by the look of things. I'm going down to Cerebro for a look. The rest of you, get prepared for a all out rescue mission. Alkali Lake was a weekend resort compared to what I saw in her head."


Dani woke up on the floor of a cell. It had cold white walls, ceiling and floors and was split in the middle by a glass wall. There was nothing in the room save a small commode and sink, and a mat on the floor. She noticed several cameras watching her and frowned. Her clothes she'd been wearing were gone replaced by plain white cotton scrubs. She had strange white bracelets and anklets on. They were thick and bulky, barely big enough to get around her wrists and ankles. She noticed they were flat on one side and she looked them over. There were no seams or fasteners. She shrugged and stood up to look around. Well, it was interesting, but she didn't think she wanted to stay here. She smirked and closed her eyes to orb, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and concentrated. Nothing. She decided to blow the glass wall and run out the door. She concentrated, but couldn't build any power.

Dani started to feel panicked. No powers? How? She looked at the bracelets again and heard a loud high pitched alarm sound. Her bracelets instantly clamped together, flat side to flat side, and so did her anklets. She was immobilized and fell to the floor with a thud. The far door opened and a very smug looking man in a lab coat walked in with a clipboard. He looked at her with boredom in his eyes and frowned. A moment later, several other lab coats walked in and the man with the clipboard spoke.

"Subject 764 is approximately 9-10 weeks pregnant. Our informants verified that the father is indeed a mutant, and that the baby is 98.4 percent likely to carry one or more of the parents' traits. The female has been immobilized via our standard issue bracelets, and her powers are neutralized thanks to our ingenious force field. We will monitor her until she has reached full term and then take the child. It is our hope that this time we have found what we were looking for."

"And the female, if she carries the genes we want, will we breed her again?" another lab coat asked.

"That decision has yet to be made. It may be the father who carries the genes and he is not in our custody. In any case, we have taken blood and tissue samples from her and they are being tested. Her DNA will be deciphered in a few days. We have time to worry about future breeding programs later."

"What do you feed a pregnant mutant?" another lab coat asked with a chuckle.

"Obnoxious interns," the man with the clipboard said with a smirk. "Now, come with me and we'll have a look in the nursery. We have several high potential subjects being trained in there…"

They all left and Dani thought she was going to vomit. She had shadowy memories of a lab, but nothing could have prepared her for this. They spoke of her in a dehumanizing manner and it was revolting. She wasn't some damn subject and neither was her baby. She didn't know what to do. They seemed to think of every escape route. She hoped Logan and the Professor would find her. She didn't want anything to happen to the baby.

Dani was suddenly struck with an idea. She thought that if she called out in her mind, maybe the professor would pick her up. She sat on her mat and closed her eyes. She thought of Logan and everything he meant to her. She pictured him standing on that path in the forest near her home. He looked so wild, so dangerous, and yet she wasn't afraid of him. She had to get back to him. Professor? Professor! Oh, God! Professor, please, please hear me!


Xavier lifted the helmet off the control panel and placed it on his head. He sighed at its familiar weight and concentrated. He reached out for one very specific person, Danielle. He knew that she would be somewhere hidden, possibly underground. He knew that they could suppress mutant powers; he'd seen it in Jynx's head. He didn't look for a mutant or a human, he looked for Danielle's thoughts. He hoped she was projecting…

It was very faint at first, he thought it might be his imagination merely hoping to hear it, but then he caught a clear call. He concentrated on it and held his breath.

I don't want to lose my baby… please Professor, hear this.

I hear you Danielle, he said. I want you to keep calling me. Don't stop, I'm trying to get a fix on where you are.

I'm in some lab, they want… Oh, professor, they want the baby.

It isn't going to come to that, Danielle. We are going to come and get you, I promise. Danielle? Danielle!

He had a pretty good lock on her location, but the sudden silence had him worried.

They're coming…

Xavier suddenly felt the echo of pain from her before he lost her completely, but he knew her location. He removed his helmet and headed for the exit quickly. When the door opened, he never stopped, he just headed to the hanger and said, "Fire up the jet, I'm coming with you."

"Who's going to stay with the kids?" Jean asked.

"Rogue, Jubilee, Bobby and Peter are babysitting," Xavier said. "I've already paged them and they agreed, now move."

He wheeled his chair up the ramp into the jet and everyone followed. The professor never went on missions. Logan was suddenly terrified.

"You found her?" Logan asked hopefully.

"I found hundreds," Xavier said angrily. "They must be stopped." He'd seen the worst in human nature, both in his own experience and that of others, but this… This had shocked him beyond description.