Kimenomi: Hehe, I'm glad you are happy! I hope this is a quick enough update for you!
Tamazi: Ah, ok, that's better, lol. Thanks, I had two exams today (upon writing this review reply) – I think they went ok..
Sakura5tar: Most definitely more action coming up soon. I've also realised we are actually very near the end of this story, I didn't notice until I read through my remaining notes. Unless I start padding out we only have about 3 chapters to go! I will try and stretch it out!
Blix: Well, whatever is in Logan's head said she isn't strong enough to take a physical form, so yeah; she's in his head, lol. She does explain it though!
Please bear in mind when reading this chapter that I have little knowledge of America/Mexico customs and information here is that I have researched online.
Chapter 48Magneto's orders stuck fast in Logan's mind, as did his dream the previous night. The early morning had gone alarmingly quick to say he had been tied up with little to do, but soon, he would be released from the chains and would be sent to complete Magneto's wishes. Magneto clearly did not want to waste any more time, and was quick and sharp in talking with Logan, prowling in front of his chained form, discussing plots and methods of getting inside undetected. Logan didn't really pay much attention. Even in this situation, there was only one way to go about things - Wolverine's way. The X-Men already knew this, but Magneto was slower on the uptake.
Madeline was to stay here in the base with Magneto and would join Logan later when Magneto went down to fetch Logan and the documents. Logan was going to Ecuador alone, however. He drifted out of thoughts to hear Magneto still talking, pacing slowly with sweeps of his cloak.
".. and don't even bother trying to contact the X-Men, Wolverine, because Psylocke has an inkling of telepathic ability that will be keeping an close watch on you when you go down to Ecuador. We agreed to keep them out of this, so, for your daughter's sake, let's leave things that way."
And Logan was willing to abide to Magneto's rule. If any of the other X-Men had been in this situation, Logan would have betted they would have called for backup immediately upon leaving. But Logan was not ready to risk Madeline's life any more than it already had been. This time he would do as Magneto wanted without argument, and get Madeline and himself away from the Brotherhood and back up to Westchester as quickly as possible.
Logan was so deep in his own thoughts that he did not notice that Magneto had raised a hand to release Logan's chains, and it was only when Logan slumped down off the steel column and fell onto his knees did he quickly realise he was free of the binds. Magneto was stood in front of his kneeling form, looking down at him with a superior glare. His cloak swished as he folded his arms, holding himself almost regally in front of the crouched mutant.
"Now?" asked Logan croakily, blinking blearily up at Magneto.
Magneto raised a hand and pointed at the double doors of the warehouse. They flew open with an echoing bang and wind bellowed inside in response. Madeline was abruptly wakened by the sound and her head flew up to stare at the opened doors, then she looked down to Magneto and her father.
Magneto kept his face his face impassive and blank while he made a curt nod once as his cloak billowed around him in the strong winds. He still pointed to the doors. His eyes slowly narrowed, "Now."
"Anything?" asked Scott quietly as he tentatively watched Professor Xavier exit Cerebro. Scott had come to the underground levels with Charles so they could check to see if Logan or Madeline could be contacted; the other X-Men were upstairs teaching lessons, trying to keep up normal routine. Only one night had passed since Logan's submission for his daughter, but the strain of a leader with deadly decision was taking its toll on Cyclops. His face looked oddly pale, and he held himself like an aging man, as if he had not received enough sleep to replenish the previous days battle.
Charles too shared the general sombre aura, but, as ever, there was sharpness in him that he always had. But even Scott saw the flicker of fire in his eyes dim as he spoke his words heavily, "No.. nothing."
"How long is he going to keep them for?" asked Scott aloud, a hand rubbing his bristly jaw slowly as he stared down at the floor.
"Cannot be for much longer," murmured Charles softly, "He will want to hurry, Magneto never does things slowly."
Scott spent a short moment watching the floor morosely, perhaps wanting it to open up and devour him somehow. Perhaps it would stop him feeling guilty. Upon deciding the floor was going to stay as solid as ever, Scott sighed and raised his head, nodding curtly to Charles before he turned and began to stride down the silver corridor.
"Scott!" suddenly said Charles, and Scott abruptly turned to catch a wary glance over to the Professor. He had quickly looked up with a strong gleam in his eyes. Scott turned around fully, looking alarmed but curious. Their eyes met and Charles's hands tightened on the arms of his chair, "I think I just sensed Logan leaving Illinois." And then, without another word, he spun his chair back to face the doors of Cerebro, and entered with the cool female voice echoing through the corridor.
"Welcome Professor."
The weather had not yet lessened in its volatile rampage in Chicago, nor in the whole of Illinois. By the time Logan had crossed the state border in his vehicle from Magneto (undoubtedly stolen by one of his Brotherhood,) the weather seemed to get more ferocious, as if deciding to set the scene quite perfectly as Logan drove down the large dual carriageway on towards Oklahoma. But after several hours a barren looking landscape was welcoming him into the west of Texas, and the bitter stormy weather was turning lighter as the coolness of the air changed into a humid sticky heat. The skies still remained a pitiful grey however, continuing to make his journey a visually gloomy one.
A few times Logan had grumbled aloud to the empty truck about its poor condition. The engine stuttered every fifteen minutes and made raspy noises from beneath the clanking metal bonnet. Although Logan could understand that the Brotherhood needed to work quietly and could not steal something as elaborate as Charles unwittingly provided to Mount Rundle, it still made him aggravated every time the engine made a pitiful whine as Logan tried to press its speed beyond 70mph. At this rate, he wouldn't be there till the end of the week. Time was of the essence. If only he had the Cadillac again.
Not only that, as he rumbled the pickup truck through the vacant dusty roads of west Texas, the heat was becoming unbearable, no wonder for it was midday. Logan, in a frantic bid to get some air, wound down the window beside him, which creaked pathetically. The stained window was pushed down into the door, and Logan breathed in the air. Stale musty air. He immediately coughed and squinted poorly as he tried to clear his throat of the dusty air. A hand fumbled along the passenger seat where he grabbed a bottle of water out of several he had bought himself for the trip (after Mount Rundle's epic of dangerous dehydration, he didn't want to risk losing his strength again,) there would be no doubt he would need the liquid once he was in the Amazon again. The problem was that this time round he was wearing his X-Men uniform; apart from the fact in had raised a few eyebrows when he entered the garage for his drinks, it was also very hot. The leather stuck uncomfortably to him, clanging to his thighs and arms painfully. For one wild moment he rashly considered going nude – there was no one on the roads – but he decided against it as quickly as the idea came and instead unzipped the neck down his chest which processed an immediate relief.
His gloves had already been removed, and his slipping hands grasped at the steering wheel with all their might. Still Logan hurtled himself down the straight road through the blank yellow desert, a gleam in the air as the sands scattered. Every so often be felt his head droop slowly, a sign that he needed a drink immediately. Several times the truck had swerved on his way towards Mexico as he kept dashing for his water. Well, at least there was nothing to hit.
A sinking feeling settled in Logan's stomach as he watched the large 5-lane road stretch towards a large feature of gates and barriers. People in official uniforms patrolled the area and some were stationed at the barriers and talked at the windows of waiting cars before the barriers raised and in each lane, one at a time, cars passed into Mexico. Logan watched with narrowed eyes as he saw the driver of a car a short distance ahead of him pass paperwork to the woman stood at the door who looked through the documents before holding was looked suspiciously like a passport. She then nodded and passed them back into the car before talking a little while longer. Logan quickly looked around the car, nothing looked suspicious.. but that didn't solve the problem that he had no paperwork or Visa.
The small truck crawled up towards the large metal barriers fifteen minutes later and with a grudging sigh he looked out to the woman who stepped down from her window box. She bent to look in his window, giving a glance over his features as she spoke in a southern North American drawl that Rogue would be proud of, "Good evenin'," she said, casting him another once over that made Logan shift uncomfortably. "First of all have you got any dangerous items in this vehicle. Firearms, drugs, alcohol?"
Logan suppressed a smile and said simply, "No ma'am."
"An' where are ya headin' to?"
Logan shifted again and said, as calmly as he could, giving the woman a sideways glare, "Ecuador."
The woman raised a brow before nodding, "Alright . That means I'll need all ya paperwork an' ya Visa. I also need to see a passport or birth certificate and I need the vehicle permit."
Logan felt his insides squirm. He then said, as calmly as possible, "Er.. I don't have any documents."
"Well, I'm sorry sir, but I ain't lettin' ya through without the needed information."
A shiver of panic ran through him, "No!" he said in a low whisper, "No, listen to me, I really need to get to Ecuador. It's my daughter! I needed to help her, she's going to be killed if I don't get to Ecuador!"
The woman rolled her eyes boredly as if it has been said plenty of times before, "Yeah, an' your wife is gonna be goin' inta labour, ya got a funeral, and ya house is on fire. Heard it all before, honey, without the documents, Visa, passport and all the registration details, you ain't getting into Mexico."
With a slow turn of his head, Logan stared at the road beyond the thick metal barrier that blocked his path. He slowly sighed and shoved the gear into reverse. "Sorry, sugar," the woman called as she stepped back into her raised glass block watching Logan pull back from the barrier. But Logan had no intention of turning around. His hand jerked back down to the gear stick, and he slammed it forward as his foot crushed upon the accelerator and with a wailing screech of his tyres the old rattling truck burst forward.
The intention was obvious. But the barrier didn't budge and with a wild scream from the female officer, the trunk crashed into the barrier with a tinkling of crushed metal and broken glass. Logan was thrown forward with a cry. Shouts sounded immediately and he heard other officers pulling guns upon him. Logan quickly ran out of the car, ignoring the commotion as officers began to run towards him. They stayed back a little however, "Does he possess a firearm!" one bellowed to the female officer.
"He said no, but he could be lyin'!"
Logan whirled around the front of his truck bonnet, and as though it was merely featherweight, he pushed it back from the barrier with a snort of irritation. Some officers jumped backin the shock. Logan wasted no time, his claws ejected from his knuckles with a hiss and a flash of glinting adamantium before he brought it down on the end of the barrier and with a dull clunk it collapsed off the wall and hit the floor. No one dared to move closer, all had looks of horror on their faces. Some of the other waiting cars had started to reverse away in their panic, and swerved dangerously into the road to get away from the scene.
Logan flashed a glare to the surrounding officers, making no bid to hide his claws from view as he jumped back into his pickup truck. It was then that the bullets fired. The tyres screeched as he raced forward, bumping across the broken barrier. A few abandoned items that sat in the opened back of the truck clanked as they slid along the humped surface. Logan ducked as more bullets fired, feeling the small pane of glass directly behind his head smash, and tinkling glass spilt into the small inside. Logan wasted no time exiting the scene, the truck raced down the large road, entering the country of Mexico.
Logan once more on his own racing to get somewhere for the sake of a family member. Deja vu, eh? Poor Logan.
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