The Searchers

Logan sat by the window looking down at the seemingly innocent looking lumber yard. There were several large buildings that obviously housed mills and various other processing facilities, but the one Xavier had pointed out looked small and insignificant. It was a small office building, with a helo pad on the roof, a vacant one. Scott landed right on it and the team scrambled to the exit, ready to strike.

"This is one fight that we must win, not just for the sake of Danielle, but for all those who have been hurt here," Xavier said. "Go."

Logan was the first one out the door and he quickly found the roof access that led down into the building. The team's advance was not hindered until they reached the elevator. It was obvious that the small building was a disguise when they saw forty floor buttons in a four story building's elevator. As they were loading the car, they were attacked by several soldiers brandishing strange stun weapons. Logan stepped into the path of the strange laser shots which had little affect on him.

"What the hell? Just shoot the mutie bastard!" the leader yelled.

"But what if one of these is the one the boss needed?" another soldier protested.

As a burst of red light slammed the hall, killing several men and forcing the rest to take cover in the far corridor, it was obvious they wouldn't be able to take any alive.

"Never mind," he amended.

Snikt!

There was something sickeningly ominous about the sound that echoed from just around the corner. They had no time to react as three long razor sharp blades came briefly into view before darkness took the leader. The other soldier stared in shock and disbelief as a rather short stocky man in a black leather suit stood staring at him, his knuckles still resting against the bloody neck of his commander. The three blades were clearly visible poking through his chest.

"Where are they?" Logan asked in a menacingly quiet voice.

"L-l-level three, secure code 1776," he stuttered. "Please hurry or you'll be too late, they've gone and the girls are being terminated as we speak…Level three, wing eight…"

Logan quickly retracted his claws, letting the soldier drop. Scott, Beast and Kurt arrived just in time to hear Logan repeat that last word bleakly, "Terminated?"

"No," Scott said angrily, "We're not too late!" He grabbed Logan by the shoulder and shook him from his shock. "Move it!"

Logan ran to the elevator with the others behind him save Scott who looked at the terrified soldier with complete contempt. "Who is responsible for this place?"

"None know his name," he said weakly. "Please… save them…"

Scott scowled as he ran after the team and leapt through the closing doors at the last second. It was a large car, and everyone stood around in silence. None dared look at Logan whose body was so tense they thought he would completely snap. Their floor was approaching and Logan just reached over and typed in the number code for the door to open. The sight before them was nothing short of horrifying. A long corridor full of glass cells seemed to go on for a mile. The cells were all filled with yellow smoke and bodies… endless bodies.

"Ro, get a handle on this gas, use your wind to blow it out or something… Everyone else, search for survivors!" Scott shouted as he raced down the corridor. The faces of girls, some younger than many at the school and all in various stages of pregnancy, stared blankly. Dead, all of them were dead. His heart pounded in his chest and he could hear it in his ears like a throbbing ache. Horror. Dread. Panic. Righteous anger. Then he saw Logan run past him, and he knew he had caught Dani's scent. There was nothing he could do here, it was too late, so he followed Logan to try and help him.

Logan's sense of smell had returned. He could faintly smell the gas, mustard gas, deadly. Then he smelled it, Dani's scent. He nearly knocked Scott down to track it, but it led to nowhere, an empty cell. He looked around it in utter defeat. The memories of Alkali Lake were fuzzy, but this was a familiar sight. The thought of his Dani being here turned his stomach and made his knuckles itch for blood.

"Maybe they moved her," Scott said. "Jynx said they wanted the…"

Logan spun around in a flash, grabbed the front of his uniform in both fists and picked Scott up before he could say it. "Don't…!" His eyes were fierce, near wild with fury. Scott knew that if Logan let his claws go, he'd be dead.

"If she's not here, there is hope," Scott said calmly. "Or didn't you see all the bodies?"

Logan hung his head, dropped him and sighed heavily. "Help me find her, One-eye, please."

"Never figured it any other way," Scott said.

Bamph! "Logan, Scott! We found a few survivors!" Kurt said as he appeared in the cell with them. "They forgot a small wing, including a nursery with four infants."

"How many total?" Scott asked.

"Nine," he said, less excitedly.

"How many dead?" Scott prompted.

"The count is up to nearly two hundred," he said softly.

"Elf," Logan paused, almost too choked up to ask. "Dani?"

"No sign of her," Kurt said encouragingly as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe she escaped."

Get the survivors back to the jet and let's leave. I've alerted the authorities and they'll be investigating this incident shortly. They cannot be allowed to cover this matter up. We must be gone when they arrive. Xavier called to everyone.

"No! Not good enough! What about Dani?" Logan shouted at the ceiling as if that would make Xavier hear him.

Our search will continue, but our survivors need medical aid. Return to the jet, Logan

Logan stalked down the hall and suddenly remembered his informant on the top floor. He schooled his expression into an unreadable one and helped load the five young girls and four babies into the elevator along with the team. He waited until they reached the top floor and then took off. He didn't have a hard time following his retreat; the poor loser soiled himself in the battle. Logan found him trying to get out of the building through a fire escape, but they'd all been sealed for security purposes.

"Ain't it a goddamn shame the way they cut corners on safety?" Logan said with an angry smirk.

The young soldier turned around suddenly and his eyes doubled in size. He was up against the wall with nowhere to run. He'd seen this man kill six guards in mere seconds and four of them with his bare hands.

"Please let me go," he pleaded.

"There were more," Logan said.

"He took only one with him, the rest were to be gassed, that's all I know," he said.

"They missed about eight cells," Logan said, playing a hunch.

"Wing eight, cells eighty-four through ninety-two," he whispered. "Shayna… and my daughter."

Logan wasn't sure he should believe him. He wanted to just kill him, but something held him back. He grabbed the man by the throat and squeezed just a little.

"Consider yourself a prisoner," Logan said and then tossed him to the floor. "Lose all the gear."

He silently complied and Logan just pointed to the stairs that led to the roof. By the time they reached the jet, everyone else was ready to leave. Logan looked over the prisoners a moment and then played out the rest of his hunch.

"Shayna?" he asked and one girl turned. She was clutching a baby, maybe six weeks old and she saw the soldier.

"Elliot?" she said in surprise.

"Is Rose alright?" he asked with a quiver in his voice.

Shayna burst into tears, "Yes, but the others… what happened? Where were you?"

"Yeah, yeah, touching! Sit down and shut up! Chuck, the leader left with just one of the subjects. I'll let you guess which one," Logan said angrily as he sat down and strapped in.

"I know," Xavier said. "She will be safe for the time being. They will not risk harm to the child. We will keep searching."


Mold. It was a horrible smell and Dani could smell the slightest hint of it. She sat up and looked around her room. It was another sterile white cell surrounded by glass, so where was the mold coming from? She sniffed again and tried to place the smell. It reminded her of a swamp or something like that. There was a tray on the floor beside her and a man staring at her through the glass wall.

"Eat, you need to keep up your strength, for the baby," he said.

"So you can take her from me?" Dani accused. She tried to orb, but knew it wouldn't work. He had a forcefield around her cell.

"Trying to use your powers will only tax your strength. There is no escape for you," he said flatly.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

He was not usually interested in talking to his subjects, but this one intrigued him. The initial DNA studies revealed more questions than answers. He'd never seen such a complicated set of jeans in his life. She both thrilled and terrified him, and he decided to chance speaking directly about his plans.

"Devlin," he said. "I must say, I want to shake hands with whomever it was who engineered your DNA. Very nice job. I can't wait to see what your child's gene codes are. So, what can her father do? Is he the one with the laser eyes or the kinetic charging ability?"

"None of your damned business. You'll never lay a hand on my child, never!" Dani hissed.

Devlin cocked a brow and smiled at her, "We shall see. In about six months, we shall see." And with that, he walked out, leaving her to stare at the sterile looking white walls and the closed door that she couldn't reach. Her hands went protectively to her stomach as she fought off the tears. This was a nightmare, a horrible sick nightmare…


One month later…

The mansion was finally settling back to normal after taking in four babies and five very young mothers. They had tracked down families for four of the girls, families that were accepting of both the mutations and children. Elliot and Shayna had been invited to stay, but they took their daughter Rose and disappeared one night. Jynx's son Jaden was one of the children saved, and she promptly took him and disappeared into the night. Of the original survivors, none stayed.

Logan spent all of his time searching records and tracking down leads. When he was at the mansion, he brooded and everyone gave him space. Only Rogue dared to try to talk to him when he was like that. She was the only one that could get away with it.

"Hey there short hairy and brooding," Rogue said with a smirk as she stuck her head in his doorway.

Logan looked up from where he sat on his bed nursing a bottle of Wild Turkey. "Go away kid, I ain't in the mood."

"Get your sorry ass out of that bottle, damn it, and go find her," Rogue said angrily.

Logan threw the bottle on the floor shattering it and stood. He was barefoot, but stomped right through the glass without flinching and faced her down.

"You got any idea how absolutely pissed I am right now?" he asked. "I've laid out Scooter for a damn sight less than what you just said to me, kid."

"That's why I had to say it. You had to hear it, and Scott's jaw can't take your grief," she said, and then she hugged him. "Stop torturing yourself, Logan. We'll get her back."

Logan wasn't the type to let others see him vulnerable, but between the liquor and the offered comfort of a good friend, he broke down. "If I lose her, I know I'll just die," he sobbed into her shoulder.

"No one is going to let that happen," she reassured him. "Go talk to the professor. He has some new ideas."

Logan straightened up and turned away. "Get out of here kid. I ain't got a handle on this yet and I don't want to hurt you."

Rogue sighed at her unsuccessful attempt to pull him out of his funk. "You've never been so far gone that you hurt any of us, Logan, not even Scott. When are you gonna learn that you're not a slave to your nickname?"

"I stabbed a friend in the chest once," he said softly, still feeling the guilt of it.

"Let it go, Logan, let it go," she'd had it. He just wanted to be miserable but she didn't want to watch it. She left him there, standing in a puddle of whiskey, wallowing in pain. It was apparently what he wanted.


Five months later…

Logan pulled into a gas station off Interstate 5 near the Port of Tacoma, Washington. He'd been following his own leads this last month after Jean and Hank found some financial records associated with the lumber yard. Apparently they had lumber yards in Washington as well. He filled the tank on the bike and frowned at the dark grey rain laden clouds over head. He was about to get drenched, but couldn't care less. He was close, very close to an answer. Maybe he would find her here. He prayed he did. By his calculations, time was short. Dani would be nearly full term by now.

He paid for his fuel and headed down onto the tide flats where stacked containers, warehouses and lumber mills were wedged between rail yards and ship docks. The streets were littered with potholes and tracks and… damn the rain! …puddles. Then he saw it, the lumber yard he wanted. He pulled up to the small building by the gate and parked. He took a deep breath and strolled calmly through the door. A pleasant older woman looked up from her computer and smiled at him.

"Ah, delivering or picking up?" she asked as she grabbed a clipboard.

"Neither, I need to talk to whoever is in charge here," he said.

Her smile faded slightly and she responded nervously, "About what matter?"

"It's an insurance thing that has to do with his other location, in New York," Logan said. "I assure you, he will want to see me, or I will be happy to direct my questions to the local news…"

"That will not be necessary," she said as she picked up the phone. Logan could hear her heartbeat quicken as she calmly informed her boss that a man was waiting to see him. He easily heard the response.

"What does he want? I'm out on the yard…"

"He has questions regarding the New York lumber mill… Insurance, so he claims."

There was a very long pause on the line and Logan wondered if he had tipped his hand by mentioning New York.

"I'll have to deal with this, send him out here… To the mill."

"He would like to meet with you at the mill. It is the building directly behind us," she said with the fakest smile he'd ever seen.

"Thanks," Logan said as he quickly exited. He knew a trap when he smelled one, but there was no help for it. This was definitely the guy he was looking for. He enters the mill and notices that he has everyone's undivided attention.

"Boys, this is one of Greenpeace's finest tree huggers. Let him know how much we appreciate spiked trees," an old man in jeans and a tan sport coat said to his workers.

Logan hated fighting civilians. Not one of these loggers probably had a clue as to what was going on but he'd have to fight them anyway. Damn. Several of them had axes in their hands, and some had big curved hooks. Logan didn't want to explain killing a few lumberjacks to ol' Chuck so he decided to try a new approach.

"I ain't no goddamn tree hugger, I'm with the FBI. Your boss is responsible for the death of two hundred and forty teenage girls and their babies. How many of you have kids?" Logan shouted to them.

"What's he talking about Mr. Brooks?" the foreman asked.

"He's lying," the boss said nervously as he took a step back. His body language was obvious to everyone. He was guilty of something, and none of his workers liked him enough to stick up for him. That accusation hit way too close to home. No one hurts children without answering for it.

"Where did this happen?" another logger asked.

"New York, at a lumber mill, owned by him…" Logan began.

"No, I am not responsible for what happened there. It was leased out, I had nothing to do with that… besides they weren't real people anyway, they were just a bunch of little…"

Mr. Brooks never got the chance to finish speaking before he was knocked down by his own foreman. Three punches later and Logan had to yank the man off of him.

"The government needs him alive," Logan said, trying to keep from smirking. He yanked Mr. Brooks up by his collar and asked the question he'd been trying to have answered for five months. "Who did you lease it to, and where is he now?"

"I do not have that information; I'd have to look for the records…"

Logan leaned in very close and spoke softly, "One of the women is mine and she's about to have our first baby. Lie again and I'll just kill you and search your records myself."

"Devlin… Dr. James Devlin, he left a sizeable debt. I was having him tracked down myself to obtain the rest of my funds along with the damages…"

"Where?" Logan repeated more strongly.

"Florida," he finally admitted. "My secretary has the address…"

Logan shoved him toward the door, "Get it," he said.

"Is he going to prison?" one of the workers asked.

"Not if it was my choice," Logan said gruffly.


Ring, ring, ring…

"Hello, this is the Xavier mansion… Who in the hall do you want?" a perky Jubilee answered.

"Damn kid, does the professor know you answer the phone like that?" Logan asked roughly.

"Oh, Wolvie, hi! Long time no hear from!" Jubilee practically shrieked on the phone.

"Get Chuck on the phone before you destroy my eardrums, kid," Logan said with annoyance in his voice.

"Sorry, Logan, I'll get him."

Logan stood next to his bike with his jaw set and waited.

"Logan, you found a lead?" Xavier asked.

"The everglades, she'd in the everglades, I have an address. Come get me," Logan said.

"Scott is scrambling the team as we speak. What is your location?"

"Washington… the state, I'll set my homing device, just hurry."

"Yes Logan, we're on the way. I'll call you when we are within pick-up range," Xavier said.

"Thanks," Logan said quietly. There was a click and Logan just sighted and put his com link back in his coat pocket. The rain had stopped and it was clearing up. His eyes took in the sky all painted in pinks and reds. Mt. Rainier was quite a sight at sunset, but the view was unmoving. He'd felt lost and hollow inside ever since Dani was taken. It took a while to pull himself together after they found she'd been moved from that lumber yard. The only thing keeping him going was the drive to find her. Nothing else mattered until she was safe.


"What did he say, professor?" Scott asked as he sat in the cockpit.

"He has an address, and he said to hurry," Xavier said.

"How did he seem?" Jean asked with concern.

"Like a man at the end of his rope. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we do not fail this time. I fear we will lose them both," Xavier said seriously.

"You mean all three of them," Beast reminded him.

Xavier closed his eyes and visible cringed. Logan was very fragile right now, worse than any time he'd known him. Losing his family could drive him back to his animal side. The thought was unnerving.

"Scott, have you tried the new boosters we installed?" Xavier asked.

"Not yet," Scott said.

"Try them now," Xavier said.

Scott understood the meaning all too clearly. They needed to hurry. At this point in the game, hours would count. Time was nearly run out.