Disclaimer: All X-men characters are created and owned by Marvel. I am gaining no profit for this.

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Ch. 8: Forbidden Love

Sandra put one hand on Mathen's thigh and draped the other around his neck. She leaned into his face so that their foreheads and noses were just. Her lips were just a mere inch away from him. She breathed out deeply, waiting for the moment to take her.

"Where does Sinister want em'?!"

She quickly jumped back and away from Mathen. At the same time, Mathen hopped off of the table and began picking up the medicines to put away. Sandra looked over at Sabretooth, who had come in at the worst possible moment. "Didn't Father tell where they were to go?"

Sabretooth kept walking farther into the room. Dragging behind him, like broken marionettes, were Gambit and Jean. "No. He told me to bring 'em here. So now they're here. You take of 'em!."

Obviously Sabretooth was tired of taking orders for one day. So he dropped the two X-Men in the middle of the floor and walked out the door. Sandra didn't know what to do, at least Victor had been too occupied to notice what she and Mathen had been up to. She looked over at him. "Well that was close. Shall we continue?"

He batted he probing hands away from his waist. "No Sandra. He's going to be coming back, there's still more of those people."

"Come on Mathen, let's get a little dangerous. Let's see how long we can go until Victor comes back!" She traced the outline of his abs with her fingers, but again her took her hands and placed them at her sides.

"No Sandra. I mean it. We can't get caught, not yet anyways." He lifted her left hand and gently blew on her fingers. Magically, a small diamond ring appeared there. "Don't worry. Soon we'll tell everyone, but let's keep it a secret a little while longer. Ok?"

She sighed and leaned into his embrace. "Ok, but not too much longer. I'm dying to marry you, you know." Sandra looked up into his eyes.

"I know." Mathen stepped back began to walk out. Sandra was about to follow but he turned to her and said. "Stay here and finish your work. I have to go do some editing on the security film in here."

She smiled and nodded at him. Sandra had almost forgotten about the security tape. It was a good thing Mathen was a whiz with technology or they would have some serious explaining to do in front of her Father. If Mathen weren't so gizmo savvy, she probably wouldn't be able to even wear her ring. She lifted her hand to admire Mathen's ring. It was absolutely perfect. Small, subtle, and dazzling all in one. And it also had a neat little feature to it. All she had to do was blow on it and instantly become invisible to the eye.

The doors to the lab opened and Sabretooth and Fury came in again with more new test subjects. She gave her hand a quick blow and then went over to assist them. Fury was carrying both Beast and Rogue on her back Sabretooth had thrown Angel and an unconscious Scott over his shoulders, and he was lugging a very angry Wolverine behind him in a net.

Sandra went over to the main examination area and picked up the schedule of the day's planned events. While she was looking at it, both Sabertooth and Fury dropped their loads and began to leave. "Wait!"

Sabretooth, fully annoyed by now, turned and sort of growled at Sandra. "Stop it Victor. I need a little help. Would you please?"

She gestured toward the pile of X-Men on the floor. Sabretooth let out a huge sigh of unhappiness but still headed over to help her. Fury could have cared less, so she left. Sandra read the orders off of the paper she was holding. "Ok it seems that we'll be needing to put the females into Lab 4. Could you take them there?"

"Fine."

"Ok good. Let's see. Put both Rogue and Jean onto the examination table and secure them. As for Storm…..just put her in one of the adjacent cells for now.

Sabretooth furrowed his brow. "Uh we didn't get Storm."

Sandra looked up in surprise. "Oh. Then I guess just take care of the other two for now. I'll have to inform my Father about it later."

Sabertooth bent over and grabbed the two women by their waists and left the room. Sandra looked down at the remaining X-Men and sighed. "It's going to be a long day."

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Ch. 9: Tensions

Remy couldn't move an inch. Since the time the team had been attacked in the Danger Room, to the time he had been rudely dumped on the floor, Remy knew that he couldn't move. He had been desperately trying. All he could do was somehow, miraculously, blink his eyes every two minutes or so. Remy was also worried about how his breathing was going. It was getting harder and harder by the moment. Somehow that seemed wrong, unfortunately he couldn't tell anyone about his concerns. And it was all because he couldn't move.

Even though Remy already felt like he was in a tight spot, there was something much worse happening. For his own reasons, Remy had never told the team that he was an empath. He wasn't even sure if Sinister knew about this secret. Desperately, he wished that he didn't have that ability. The situation he was in proved why it was such a worthless power. Every fiber of his being wanted to scream right now. It was the absolute worst feeling Gambit could think of enduring. Right now he was snuggled in tightly with the rest of the X-Men. Everyone was reacting differently, but all were stressed. And all of their stress was amplified and being pushed right into Remy's head. He actually wished that he had the ability to cry at the moment.

His world was slowly caving in. He didn't know how much longer he could last. Maybe, he would survive but maybe, maybe he only had a few precious seconds left. He closed his eyes and thought of all the maybes that could happen. Maybe I'll go to 'eaven. Maybe…I'll………he sobbed inwardly. And inside he fully broke down. Please let it stop. Gambit can' take no more o' dis!

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Sabretooth growled as he threw Rogue onto an examination table. He proceeded to cuff her hands and feet, just as he had done to Jean a moment before. He absolutely hated caring out orders that were barked at him. Sure, he could care less about all of this, but for some reason authority angered him.

He leaned in to look into the girl's eyes. Sabretooth sneered. Looking into those deep green eyes for only a second had brought his mood up. Rogue's eyes were watery and in no way held back her fear. She actually broadcasted to Sabretooth just how terrified she was through her eyes.

Sabretooth chuckled. Why shouldn't he have a little fun? He took a claw and slowly scraped it down her cheek. "Don't worry little lamb. The big bad wolf's here to…eat…you…up!"

Her eyes widened, which of course only excited Sabretooth even more. "What's the point in bein' scared, huh? Either way, you're gonna die."

He turned and checked to make sure that Jean was secured. She was. So, he twisted his neck and allowed his vertebrae to crack. He stepped towards the door and it opened automatically. Suddenly he stopped and a thought hit him. He'd almost forgotten.

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Sandra looked at her Father's experiment plan. She wasn't exactly sure who all these people were, but she figured she could guess at where they were supposed to be placed. Obviously, she had to take care of the small cranky man first. She looked for his name on the list. "Ah yes, here we are! Wolverine."

Logan growled at the mention of his name. However, it hadn't been too convincing since it was all he could do against the pain of having a large dose of electricity running through him. He watched as the woman put on a large bulky pair of plastic gloves.

She began speaking. "Ok Wolverine. It seems we have a special cell designed just for you. It's made completely of adamantium, due to your physical abilities. But first…"

Sandra took out one of her father's mutant collars. They were specifically made to inhibit any mutant powers. She found them to be quite effective. She crouched down to Wolverine's position on the floor. Slowly, Sandra pulled the net up and over his head. Wolverine growled even more and managed to attempt a small lung at her. Sandra was quick. She jumped back and he ended up face first on the floor. She held tightly to the collar. This would probably be her only chance to get it on the man. Before Wolverine could lunge again she pinned him down on his stomach with one hand and with the other locked the device around his neck.

Without taking too much time, Sandra then quickly shoved him into the adamantium cell. She then walked over to the main computer. Wolverine was still being slowly fried by the electric dart. Sandra hit a button and suddenly the pain that had been hindering him stopped. Angrily, he pulled out the dart and began growling and cursing all at once. Sandra stepped up to the cell to look at him. "My, aren't we a noisy one."

He stood up and came to the edge of the cell. Sandra decided to ignore him. She still had to figure out where to put the other subjects. Slowly but surely, she was able to figure out who Cyclops and Beast were and managed to get them collared and into cells. She took a look at the remaining X-Men. Her father wanted these two out on tables. They were the first scheduled experiment for the day. The one with wings was probably Angel. So she followed the instructions. Sandra collared him, secured him onto a table, and then readjusted it so that he was made vertical to the ground.

Finally, she went to take care of the last man. His name was Remy LeBeau and somehow her father had a full profile on him. She looked down and realized that something was wrong. She gasped. The man was making a very labored wheezing sound whenever his lungs filled with air. He was also covered in sweat. Her mind began racing. How could she have not noticed the state of emergency he was in? What could possibly be causing such distress in the poor man? With great effort, she lifted him from the ground and placed him on the main examination table.

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Sabretooth pounded his fist into the wall. There were already three holes from previous punches. It was the only way Creed knew how to let his anger out. He probably would have strangled one of the sluts that were in the room, but he knew Sinister would punish him for that. How could he have not noticed what had been going on between Mathen and Sandra. They were up to something. He knew it because they had seemed very awkward once he had entered the room. He knew that Sinister hadn't noticed Sandra's little crush on Mathen, but he certainly had.

Sabretooth slowly let the rest of his anger out with a sigh. He would talk to Sandra later. She would be convinced that Mathen was no good for her. Maybe she would even realize how much she meant to Creed. For now, Sabretooth had other work to do; there wasn't any hurry. Mathen probably hadn't even gotten her out of her clothes yet!

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Storm slowly awoke from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered opened and focused on her surroundings. She was still in the med lab. Carefully, she lifted herself into a sitting position. A yawn emerged as she stretched her arms. Storm finally felt awake and ready for action. Before he had left for the training session, Hank had given Storm a pain pill. He had mentioned that it might make her sleepy, but she didn't realize that it would knock her out within ten minutes! Storm remembered dragging herself over to a medical bed and snuggling into the sheets.

She now looked at the clock on the wall. She had slept for almost two hours. Well, at least now the constant throbbing in her hand had ended. Feeling rested, Storm stood up and headed towards the Danger Room. She wanted to see if the team had finished yet.

Within a couple of minutes, she was standing outside the doors to the Danger Room. They were still locked, which usually the meant that the simulation was not over. Storm stood there contemplating the situation. It was very odd for a training session to go that long. She hoped that Scott did not plan to continue it for much longer. She was about to head to the kitchen to get some food, but she paused. Something didn't feel right.

The hallway was completely silent. Of course normally it was. The whole Danger Room was sound proofed to its surrounding halls. Even if it were running at full power, there would still be no disturbances outside. But still something felt wrong to Storm. She couldn't even feel any rumbling from explosions. Normally it was easy to tell if the Danger Room was running, even if it was sound proof. It didn't feel as if the Danger Room was even on.

Storm decided that she would go check on Scott in the control room. She knew that it was inconsiderate to do such, but it would ease her tension.

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Sinister was resting in his leather chair. He had already changed and was now relaxing for a while. He was making plans for his new experiments. He felt like a little boy in a candy shop. He had all of the X-Men in his hands. And he had all the time in the world to dissect everyone one of them. This could very well be his greatest bunch of experiments he had every come upon. He would surely find some interesting information from all of them. Suddenly he was interrupted from his thoughts.

"Father?"

"Yes Sandra?"

"I'm having a problem with on of the subjects. It's…Mr. LeBeau I believe. He's having difficulty breathing and he seems to be in a state of distress."

Ah LeBeau. You could never keep yourself calm. In a moment I will show you what you should really be afraid of! "Just release him from the effects of the gas. He should calm down after that."

"Alright."

"But Sandra…."

"Yes Father?"

"Collar him before you do and be sure to keep his hands restrained. He's a very slippery fellow. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Of course Father."

Sinister leaned back in his chair. He was very pleased with his success.

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Ch. 10: The Blood of Evil

Someone had lifted him onto a table. He hadn't seen the person, because he had his eyes closed, but he had a good idea. Suddenly, he lost his train of thought. More uncontrolled emotions filled his mind. There were so many that he couldn't pinpoint who was sending them. It was probably all of his teammates that were being so emotional.

Gambit continued his struggle to keep breathing. He was slowly losing. Death was coming to take him. There was just too much for him to handle. Gambit didn't know why, but for some reason his mental barriers were down. He figured it had something to do with the gas. It didn't matter now. He was dying. He knew it. It was so hard to breathe now. So…he just stopped.

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Sandra took her finger off of the comlink and headed back towards the patient. On her way over, she grabbed a collar. Her father was probably right about it being the gas that was affecting the man. Sandra also picked up a syringe to administer the solution that would reverse the effect of the gas. She then headed over to the table. She looked down at him and realized that he had stopped breathing.

Quickly, she snapped on the collar and began giving him mouth to mouth. After a few seconds she eased up to see if it had worked. No. It hadn't. The man was still unresponsive and soon he would probably go into cardiac arrest. If he didn't begin breathing soon, there would be a serious chance of brain damage. She couldn't let that happen.

With amazing speed and skill, she filled the syringe with the release solution and stuck it into his neck. She pulled it out and then immediately went back to the assisted breathing. While doing this, Sandra noticed that the Wolverine had significantly quieted down. She figured the man was concerned for Mr. LeBeau.

After a minute she stopped again to check the patient's condition. It still had not changed. Sandra was beginning to lose hope, but then he opened his eyes and looked directly at her.

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At first Gambit thought he was in hell, because as soon as he opened his eyes all he could see was fire. Then he worried that maybe he was on fire so he began to struggle. Suddenly someone was clamping his hand down onto the table. He was instantly brought out of his state of confusion. He wasn't on fire, he would feel it if he were. And he could move again. How was that possible?

He focused his eyes on the fire and then realized that it wasn't a fire he was looking at. It was the eyes of a strange woman. He had never seen such eyes. They were even more unique than his. She didn't really have any pupils or irises, but if he looked hard enough he could kind of see them. Her eyes were flaming. They looked as is there was a fire within her and they were a window into her hot fiery soul. They never stayed the same either. They were constantly changing from a deep red to a bright orange mixed with some yellow and a hit of a gas colored blue. Gambit wondered if her eyes were actually made of a fire, because they looked like they did. He felt like he was being mesmerized by her eyes. And actually he sort of was, because ever since he had noticed her he had calmed down and even allowed to let her finish cuffing him. If he had noticed what she was doing, he probably wouldn't have. But those eyes were just so amazing that he was in awe of them

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Sandra had almost screamed when the man had startled awake and began struggling. But once he relaxed she knew that she would easily be able to restrain him. She noticed that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He was staring right into her eyes. Sandra knew that he was probably astonished by her eyes. Everyone usually was. Her eyes had always looked like there was a fire burning in them, but she had never known why. They could also show her moods. If she were angry they would turn a brilliant red and it would look as if they were burning faster. If she were saddened, they would grow calmer and turn a blue color. Kind of like the way a low gas fire on a stove would burn.

Sandra noticed that this man also had unique eyes. They almost looked demonic, and maybe even a little sad. She closed the last cuff around his ankle. He was still staring at her and she was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. No wonder he looked like a demon. He was probably an evil man. All the new subjects were probably horrid in some way. All of her father's test subjects were.

She picked up the syringe and headed to the counter to prepare for the day's tests. As she walked away she spotted the man turning his head to follow her. Sandra was definitely feeling very uncomfortable.

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Storm stood outside of the control room and hit the buzzer again for the third time. She knew that if Scott were running a program it would take sometime to answer her, but she had been buzzing for about seven minutes. It was time to open up a comlink. If Scott got angry she would just have to apologize.

"Scott, it's Storm. May I come in?"

She waited for a moment but there was still no reply. Dread began to seep into her heart. Scott would never simply ignore a friend. Even if she had angered him he still would have replied to her with some hotheaded remark. She had to get into that room.

Storm lifted her hands toward the doorknob. Said a quick prayer to the Great Goddess and then threw a thunderbolt at the door. It stuck with ferocity and blew the door off of its frame. Once the smoke cleared, Ororo gingerly stuck her head into the room.

No one was there. Her heart began to race. Was she wrong about them still being in the danger room? No. The door outside had still been on high alert meaning that a program had not ended. It had also been locked with a special security code that Scott had put in. She quickly stepped into the room. Something horrible had happened. The glass window in the room had been shattered and all of the computers were still on.

The Danger Room was in disarray. Some of the robots were still aimlessly walking around. But there was no sign of the X-Men. Then, she spotted a splotch of blood in the far corner of the danger room.

Storm stood helplessly in the room. Something had happened and now her friends were missing. How could she have slept through an attack? Who had taken her friends, if they had been taken by anyone at all?

Storm felt powerless, how could she help her team if she didn't know where they were? She fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands. She had to do something, but she didn't know what.

TBC

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Author's Note: I was gonna do one more chapter but I decided not to. I'm gonna post another grouping of chapters on my birthday and turn it into like a birthday special. So look out for an update on the 3rd! Keep reading and definitely keep reviewing! Luv y'all!