Sorry I've taken so long to update, I've been ill for a bit, and unfortunately I also lost a big chunk of this chapter, needing to rewrite it all over again :-) , so that little frustrating lol.
Anyway, here it is at last, not to much to note really, other the moment Kitty recalls Logan helping her join in with rest of the X-Men happened just after Kitty joined the X-Men proper, and the events with Ogun happened during the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine limited series.
Hope you enjoy it :-) .
Chapter 3
Kitty had been staked out watching the bar from across the street for the last hour or so, on top of the roof of a building across the street from it. Not that long ago Kitty would have been stuff and sore after being crouched in such an awkward position for so long, but now such a crouch seemed as natural as breathing, Kitty's new healing easily dealing with any muscle strain and stiffness.
It had been a revelation just in how much Logan's healing factor helped him out in so many little ways that Kitty had never really considered before. Training, at least her normal workout, had become a breeze. By the end of it, Kitty barely felt like she'd done anything at all, feeling as fresh as when she started. The rejuvenating effects of her new healing abilities made her feel almost tireless, like Kitty could go on forever.
Of course, the old man had soon seen about that.
Like a drill instructor from hell, Wolvie had taken her on his own customized training regimen, taking her through drills, hikes and Danger Room sessions that had shown that almost was definitely the operative word there. Kitty could barely remember feeling so exhausted. When, after the first time, Logan had turned around to her with that smug look and cocky smile and say it was time to go another round Kitty had been so mad she could have punched him. But thanks to the new healing ability she had recovered from her exhaustion even as he'd said it, damn him, so she had no room to argue.
But, as ever with Logan, there had been a point to it. Those boot camps had helped Kitty to adapt to the new capabilities she had inherited, to adjust her skills accordingly. The hikes through the woods of the Xavier estate and long meditation practices helped her gain the focus to deal with the overwhelming rush of sensations and information her new senses provided.
That had been one of the most difficult things Kitty had had to deal with since the merger her powers with Logan's. Her senses now immersed her in the world around her in a way Kitty had never imagined, a whole new reality had opened up to her. She now saw a landscape of brilliant colours, all in deep, high definition. A whole new spectrum of smells, each of which her mind attempted to sort and catalogue. Her skin had become sensitive to the slightest change in the air, her ears would perk at the sounds of footsteps a hundred yards away.
The first few weeks the sounds and smells had keep Kitty on high alert, reacting like a panicked little animal to the slightest sounds. Footsteps from the other end of the mansion sounded like they were stomping around her on parade. The rattling and thunder of the mansion's plumbing and the hum and static feel of the electrical equipment rushed around her. Kitty had found it nearly impossible to get to sleep that first week, she had no idea how Logan coped with it all.
And it had been just as bad surrounded by family and friends, such as at breakfast. The overwhelming rush of sensations, voices, body heat, scents, perfumes and deodorant, buried Kitty with their intensity. The animal she had within her now had wanted to do nothing more than pop her new claws and berserker her way out of there.
But Logan was always there, solid as a rock, hand coming to rest on her shoulder. He steadied her without a word in those early days, and lead her off to where it was just the two of them.
Wolvie had waited patiently, almost guarding her as Kitty had gripped the armrests of the chair he'd sit her in, taking deep breathes as she calmed herself. She'd focus on the steady drumming of his heartbeat and his comforting familiar scent that the animal within her responded to instinctively as alike, as family, helping to settle herself amidst all the other strange sounds, sights and smells.
Then when Kitty had calmed down enough, Logan had taken her outside, to the open skies and sprawling woods of the Xavier wood. There her anxiety at the sense of being trapped would finally dissipate into the broad open wilderness where the animal felt more comfortable.
Of course, that was whole other issue Kitty had to learn to deal with, her new animalistic instincts and impulses. It was like a strange feeling always rolling around inside of her, like a storm brewing in the tropics.
The animal within had it's own drives and needs, and Kitty found herself sizing up those around her as predator or prey, instinctively assessing what threat they represented and how to best to deal with them. And there were times that Kitty felt a nearly overpowering pull to get out into the wild, or as close as she could get, to roam, to hunt.
Logan had understood of course. It was another reason for the long hikes he'd taken her on. It had given her the freedom away from everything else, to immerse herself in the wild and her new instincts. To stalk and hunt, to get close enough to a skittish deer in order to touch it without it even noticing. Kitty was still struggling with that a little, something Logan did with ease, flashing a cocky smirk, before he'd showed her where she'd gone wrong.
Sometimes during some nights over the last few weeks, Kitty had been too restless and couldn't sleep, the call of the wild too strong, and had headed out into the Xavier woods. Of course Logan was there, ready, having caught the signs. He'd watch over her carefully as she moved through the darkened woods, giving herself over to the animal inside, running on instinct.
It was an exhilarating experience, as a whole new world opened up to her new senses at night. Kitty's keen eyes pierced the deep shadows of the night, whilst a rich landscape of scents, sounds and sensations opened up the woods and the nocturnal wildlife living within. Kitty felt at home in what passed for the wild of the Xavier woods in ways she could never put into words. The pure, primal joy of racing against Logan through the woods at night, howling at the moon, like they were a pack of wolves, was indescribable.
The hardest of all this was learning to control the rolling red fury that lived within her now. It was like a thunderstorm always threatening to break, leaving Kitty with a new and volatile temper and the instincts of a predator to match. She still remembered the time she'd whipped around and snarled at Bobby Drake, almost unleashing her new claws on him, after she became the target of one of his silly pranks. Kitty was sure she'd taken a few years off his life, by the look of shock on his face.
Though, Kitty giggled, the Iceman had been a little more careful with his pranks after that.
Over the following weeks, the long training and mediation had helped Kitty come to begin to understand and come to terms with her animalistic instincts and impulses. Thanks to Ogun it wasn't Kitty's first rodeo at having her psyche and nature imprinted with dangerous new instincts, and as with Ogun, Logan was there to help Kitty adjust and get them under control.
At least now she wasn't going to impale Bobby anytime soon.
And despite the whirlwind of changes that had happened to her, and the anxiety that came with it, a part of Kitty had relished these last few weeks. Outside certain key moments, such as with Ogun, Logan had too often been withdrawn, attempting to keep her emotionally at arms length ever since he'd returned to the X-Men after Lady Mariko's tragic death.
The mask dropped whenever she or anyone he cared about was in trouble, but otherwise he too often kept his distance. Kitty understood, she had been the first to greet Logan when he'd first returned to the X-Men, had seen first-hand just how broken and devastated he been.
But it had still hurt to have him so distant. To see him hurting and not being able to do anything about it.
Logan had been the one, when she was nothing but an awkward, shy thirteen year old girl, standing beside the Professor, apart from all the other X-Men, that had first reached out and pulled her into the group. He'd sensed her anxiety over whenever to join the group, and using his gruff manner had covered any embarrassment for her joining them with, "what you doin' standin' over there pun'kin, when you should be over here with us. You're an X-Man ain't you."
And with that, despite finding him a little scary, he'd become a surrogate father figure even as Ororo had become her surrogate mother, Logan finding he'd taken her under his wing probably without even realising it.
Eventually, though her relationships with all the others were important, the one with Logan had in many ways become the most important, the most defining for her.
This was even more so after surviving the sorcerer-ninja Ogun's possession. Logan had helped her gain the will back then to survive, to fight Ogun's hold on her soul. He'd given her a choice where Ogun had just taken, helped Kitty reclaim her life, her very soul. And in the end, Logan had saved her life, slaying Ogun, a man who had been like a father to him, in the process.
Logan and his training had become as much imprinted on her soul as Ogun was. And now, that fact had only been deepened. Logan was now more a part of Kitty than Ogun would ever be, just as she was now a part of him.
Thanks to the bond Cortez had accidentally forged between them they had become more like father and daughter than ever before, the animal in both of them instinctively sensing it.
Guess he really was he was her old man now, Kitty chuckled to herself.
Despite everything else about it, these last few weeks had been like having him back again, enjoying the closeness had known in the early days, and in the days after Ogun. Kitty hadn't even realised how much she had missed this kind of quality time with the old man, and she had dreaded the point when their joint training would be finished and Logan would put his walls up again and return to being distant.
But it hasn't happened, after whatever had gone down between Logan and Jean Grey out in the grounds of the Xavier mansion a couple of days ago, Logan had been actively seeking to spend more time with Kitty, as well as Rogue and Kurt.
Kitty had been so relieved to finally have him back, and was grateful for whatever Jean had done. It had felt like the first time they'd really had him back since Wolvie had returned to the X-Men after Mariko's death.
On that topic of Jean it had amused Kitty no end to see Logan circling around Jean the last couple of days, uncertain and figuring out how to approach the redhead psionic, only to chicken out and avoid her entirely.
Still, Kitty was getting a hang of her new hyper senses now, though she still felt like a rank amateur, lacking Logan's skill, finesse and experience. She still missed so much of what her knew senses gave her that the old man picked up with effortless ease.
It was something Kitty had never really thought that much about before, that Logan's ability with his keen senses wasn't just automatic but involved considerable skill and subtly. It was like learning multiple and interlocking languages all at once, the depth of information contained in a scent, sound or sensation, the visual cues hyper-keen eyes could pick up. To understand the wealth of details the slightest change could reveal and how to synthesis everything into a seamless whole.
However, Kitty had learnt enough to pick up the anticipation and excitement, the action junkie high, tinged at the edges with a hint of worry and anxiety, that had radiated of Logan today ever since he'd received his letter this morning.
Kitty knew him as well as anyone alive, and knew immediately the old man was about to get himself tangled up in a whole mess of trouble.
And as usual he wasn't going to tell anyone.
Well not this time. Kitty had 'accidently' knocked into Logan whilst he was holding the letter and had caught part of it, inviting him to the bar Kitty was currently watching.
Logan had given Kitty a funny look, but at that moment they'd both heard Jean coming down the corridor and Wolvie had shot out of the room and made himself scarce so fast he could have given Quicksilver a run for his money.
Kitty was left giggling as Jean had passed by, waving the redhead off as she looked at Kitty strangely.
It wasn't everyday you saw the big, bad Wolverine running scared of anything, let alone a beautiful redhead.
Thanks to that distraction though Logan had forgotten all about Kitty's move, and Kitty had made her way to the bar, floating up unseen to take her place stalking out the bar, just after Logan arrived.
Kitty almost thought she'd completely gotten the wrong end of the stick when Jean got out of taxi dressed to kill, and headed into the bar. It was only the surprise radiating of the old man telling Kitty he hadn't been expecting Jean at all, that kept her in place watching their back rather then heading back and giving them their privacy.
Not long after Jean unexpected arrival the pair exited the bar. Kitty's eyebrow shot up at change between them, the two smiling and laughing together as Jean leaned into him, her arms wrapped around his.
Kitty would have thought once again she'd overreacted except that her senses picked up the slight tension in Logan's stance, alert and scanning his surroundings surreptitiously beneath the appearance of Jean and he as lovers lost in their own world.
Kitty noted a similar change coming over Jean, a focused look in her eyes that Kitty knew from experience likely meant the psionic was telepathically scanning the area.
Kitty could also make out the spike in adrenaline from both their scents and the tempo of their heartbeats rise as both turned to walk down the alley, heading towards the back alley behind the bar.
Jean quietly disengaged herself from Logan's arm as both entered the alleyway. Kitty saw Logan's hands unconsciously curling into fists, forearms flexing, his hidden claws ready to burst forth. Kitty also felt the subtle pressure in the atmosphere as Jean's psionic power radiated invisibly from her in waves like a storm about to break.
The pair vanished around into the alley behind and Kitty launched herself forward, still phased, sailing through the air to catch up with her comrades.
Kitty's keen ears caught the distinctive staccato ring of Logan's claws unleashing, and the screaming protest of rending steel and flesh, followed by the surgical song of the old man's razor-keen adamantium, clashing against a sudden sharp crackle of energy. The scent of burning ozone and hot blood filled the air, accompanied by the tearing of metal and flesh, the sounds of struggle, cries and roars of rage and pain.
In panic, her heart leaping into her throat, Kitty pushed herself through the air, her forearms itching to unleash the claws contained within.
The shattering crash of metal, flesh and masonry colliding echoed across the block, followed by twin flashes of light accompanied by a sound like silk ripping, and the sickly sweet smell of burnt flesh.
An oval flash of light appeared above the bar roof, disgorging two shadowy figures moving quickly to join the battle raging alley below, as Kitty hit the bar roof and silently dashed forward to reach Logan and Jean in time.
Logan and Jean had just turned into the dark alley behind the bar, seemingly empty apart from large trash bins and rubbish scattered haphazardly across the alleyway. But Jean could sense a clear sense of menace focused on the two of them, mocking them. But the psyches she could sense felt insubstantial and slippery, cloaked and impossible to pin down.
Logan's mind had become focused, more animalistic as he entered into hunting mode. His thoughts were difficult to grasp as he became fully immersed in the world of his instincts and senses. He almost vibrated with tension as he moved in front of her, taking point as they headed further into the likely ambush.
Jean thought wryly for a moment that this wasn't quite the night out together with Logan she had anticipated. At least things were finally moving forward for them, as long as they made it out of here alive and whole.
At least she was with him, her heart constricting a little at the thought he'd been about to dive headfirst alone into danger again.
A part of Jean was seething at him, furious the son of a bitch had put himself at risk again, keeping her and anyone else side-lined, out of the way, 'safe' in his mind from any danger coming after him specifically. It was really starting to piss her off, while Jean understood, even appreciated the sentiment, she had no intention of letting him get away with it again, not after they were finally beginning to get their act together.
Didn't he realise that she needed him to be safe, just like he needed the same from her.
Once this was done with, Jean was determined that a few things were going to change. One being, if Logan was hell-bent on dancing with death so much, Jean was going to be right there, by his side.
And Logan would just have to get used to it.
Jean cast a brief look down at her dress and sighed. She'd never really worn it before, and probably never would again after tonight was done with.
Logan suddenly lashed out either side of him like lightning. Shinning claws burst free from between his knuckles with the familiar ringing of metal against metal, clawed fist seeming to halt in mid-air with the shriek of rending metal, before two cybernetic figures suddenly manifested around Logan's claws in a shimmer of distorted air.
The cyborg's metallic armoured bodies were gunmetal black, and they appeared to be almost wholly artificial. The lower half of their face, corpse white, was the only part of them that was visibly organic. The rest of their face and head was covered in the same metallic black metal, and looked like a skull. What passed for their eyes glowed blood-red from within their skull-like sockets, with twin, parallel ridges emerging from just above their eye sockets, and running across their heads and down their necks, back into their bodies.
Their minds felt animalistic to Jean, possessing no real consciousness or thought she could detect, or effect for that matter. They were purely instinctual, full of rage and killing intent, operating at the mental and emotional level of a berserker killer ape (rabid killer dog).
Logan threw both cyborgs back as he tore his claws free with a burst of electrical sparks and a spray of pale blue fluid.
Crimson energy blazed from the between the knuckles of the cyborg's armoured fists, forming itself into three very familiar glowing crimson claws on each hand as the cybernetic assassins rolled back to their feet in a flash, and launch themselves back at Logan who met them mid-air. The three combatants collided together in a storm of flashing adamantium and burning energy claws, moving to fast for Jean's eyes to follow.
For a second the air was filled with the sound of unbreakable metal clashing with energy, and the rending of metal and tearing of flesh.
A moment later there was a pause in the battle, cuts and tears marking both the bodies of Logan and the mysterious cybernetic attackers. Logan's left claws had punched through one of the cyborg's right forearm, whilst with his right he had blocked two incoming strikes from both cybernetic opponents, twisting his twin adamantium blades to briefly lock their energy claws in place.
Thee second cyborg, slightly behind Logan, knifed upwards with his still free left claws, stabbing deep beneath Logan's unbreakable rib-cage. Logan let loose a roar of pain and rage a spit second before Jean, finally able to see their cyborg attackers and reacting with desperate panic and anger, sent the cyborg flying back across the alley with a powerful telekinetic psi-burst that rent the air like a thunderclap. It crashed through the wall of the, thankfully empty, building opposite the bar in a eruption of shattered masonry and dust.
Soaring into the air, Jean grasped the cyborg with talons of telekinetic force, ripping it back out into the alley, now battered and damaged, it's metallic body protesting under her unrelenting psionic grip. She noticed with a start that the cyborg's body was repairing itself, cuts and tears slowly sealing themselves closed before her eyes, the twin tear Logan had ripped through it's armoured chest now almost completely vanished.
Just as Jean was about to send the cyborg flying high into the air, to slam back down into the ground with punishing force, it's right arm snapped up towards her.
The metallic arm flowed and shifted like liquid, the blazing energy claws vanished as the cyborg's forearm morphed into a rectangular-shaped directed energy pulse blaster. Jean had only a split-second to react, weaving a layer of telekinetic force around herself, before brilliant crimson energy flashed in the darkness of the alleyway with the ripping silk sound of a plasma weapon set to kill. The blaster bolt hammered against her telekinetic shield, sending the psionic X-Woman crashing back to the ground.
Losing her hold on the cyborg assassin, it landed fluidly on the ground as continued to tear into Jean's psionic defences with a constant barrage of blaster bolt fire. Jean exerted all her will into repairing and re-enforcing her telekinetic shields against the plasma bolts that shattered against it, just as with a flash of brilliant red and ripping silk flared behind her, joining the cacophony the blaster fire her own cybernetic opponent had already unleashed against her, Logan crashed heavily to floor beside her. His left hand and parts of his forearm, shoulder and part of the lower half of his face were smoking and bloodied mess.
Jean bit back a scream at the sight of his injuries, frantic panic and icy fear threatened to take hold of her, that she had to firmly pushed back, reminding herself his healing factor was back to full strength again, that it would be able to cope with the damage just fine. Her heart still constricted knowing there was nothing Jean could do to help him, caught up as she was defecting the blaster hailing down upon her.
Logan had rolled back up in a flash, moving faster then Jean's eyes could track, dodging the next blaster bolt that scorched the pavement he'd just occupied. He ducked and twisted, avoiding the first two follow-up shots of blaster fire that tore the air towards him, tracking his movements from the first cyborg Logan had been entangled with. It's right arm was completely sheered off at the elbow, alongside a deep gash torn through what passed for it's abdomen, both injuries leaking pale blue liquid and sparking electrical fire for torn wires and electronic systems, it's lower left arm now formed into a blaster just like her own cyborg opponent. The third plasma bolt managed to clip Logan's upper arm, scouring a blistering path, whilst he deflected a fourth with his left claws, the hot plasma melting the flesh of his hand down to the gleaming adamantium bones beneath, as he growled in defiance, leaving his arm a mangled and smoking mess with claws.
At the same moment, with his right claws Logan tore a chunk free from the pavement, and hurled it in a blur of movement towards his attacker's blaster arm, striking directly into the blaster barrel, blocking it a split-second before the cyborg fired again.
With a flash of crimson, the cyborg's arm erupted in a explosion of flame, white-hot metal and shrapnel that thundered in confined space of the alleyway. The explosion knocked the battered cyborg staggering back, as Logan launched himself at his opponent bellowing a battle cry as burning shrapnel imbedded itself across his arms and chest. He collided with the cybernetic assassin, his right claws lashing out in a lethal flash of gleaming silver, tearing through the cyborg's head in a scream of rending metal and the wet sound of hacked flesh, the shorn pieces of it's head and brains flying to vanish into the deep shadows of the alley, as Logan's second set of claws punched through it's chest as the headless cybernetic body collapsed, pinning it to the ground. With a primeval howl of triumph, Logan ripped his claws back out of it's chest, a burning and sparking power core caught on his claws, the cyborg's body still and unmoving beneath him.
Seeing how Logan had taken out the first cyborg, Jean focused her attention back on her own opponent. She extended, angled and curved her invisible telekinetic fields, deflecting the force of the incoming blaster fire, reducing the pressure enough so Jean was able to reach out with her mind. She grasped both his arms with talons of psionic force, wrenching them to the sides, blaster fire going wide, before spluttering into silence, the blaster crushed beneath the force of Jean's telekinetic will, it's mechanisms broken. The blaster fire assault gone, Jean lifted the cyborg high into the air just as she psionically tore two railings free from a nearby free escape. Jean wrapped the railings in fields of telekinetic force, re-enforcing them.
Then with twin psi-bursts Jean launched both the cyborg and the two railings against each other at incredible speed. The makeshift spears punched through the cyborg's chest and head with a shriek of rending metal and a flare of sparking electricity and fire, chest bursting out and it's head shattering. The cyborg's body crashed to the ground, whilst both re-enforced railings strike deep into the wall of the building opposite the bar, the cyborg's power core broken and sparking, caught, speared by the lower railing.
Naughty Jean, a telepathic voice that seemed a strange mixture of two voices, one male and one female, combined, laughed mockingly. The male voice felt familiar somehow, but intermixed with the female voice, Jean couldn't place it. This was supposed to be a party for one, but don't worry, we anticipated gate crashers, you'll find the cybernetic Hunters are more than able to accommodate you as well.
Logan came up beside her, moving slightly in front of her. Tension radiating psychically from him, his claws bared, as Jean looked down the darkened alley to see another cyborg, a Hunter as the mysterious psychic presence she now felt around and within the cyborgs, call them. Jean could also detect another Hunter moving towards them on the roof of the bar above.
Jean tensed and gathered psychic strength, weaving a telekinetic shield around both herself and Logan. The Hunter ahead spoke, it's voice lifeless, computerized. As with the first two, there was no real thought or consciousness existing within it at all, "new anomalous threat. Mutant identified as Jean Grey, type psionic, telekinetic and telepathic abilities, compensating."
Suddenly, Jean cried out in agony, feeling as though a white-hot poker was being hammered into her brain. Nausea gripping her as Jean dropped to her knees, clutching her head, that felt as though it was about to explode. Jean's vision swam before her, dizziness overwhelming her, her telekinetic fields failing as she struggled to maintain focus through the pain, dizziness and confusion.
Jean distantly heard Logan call her name, a powerful arm wrapping protectively around her, pulling her close. Jean was able to just catch projecting from Logan's mind, as he pulled her close into him, a desperate panicked urgency for Jean to shield herself again, an image of fire branding itself bright through the painful nausea and disorientation.
Jean heard another cry of pain, anger and frustration, before realizing it was her own voice, as she locked onto the strong presence of Logan's mind, wrapped herself in him as Jean centred herself, as though he were an eye of calm in the raging hurricane of disorientation, agony and confusion assaulting her.
With that Jean was able to reach for and focusing her power enough to wrap a faltering telekinetic shield around them, just as she sensed a blast of extremely hot fire strike the sides of her shield, the torrent of fire diverted away by her curved telekinetic fields.
Thankfully, something else had blocked the main thrust of the fiery blast blazing against them, otherwise Jean wasn't sure the weakened shield she'd managed to erect would be able to have withstood it.
As it was, Jean didn't know how much longer the shield would stand against to the inferno blast, particularly if whatever else was acting as a fire break stopped holding.
Jean desperately held onto Logan's psychic presence like a lifeline, making it a stable centre from which to try and focus through and beyond the painfully assault pounding through her brain, desperately attempting to regain control of her power again.
Before it was too late.
