They were two hours into their hike when Jubilee noticed Tessa slumping under the weight of the packs. She must be carrying close to one hundred pounds of supplies in the two packs. No wonder she was tired.

Jubilee leaned forward and whispered into Logan's ear. "Tessa looks like she's gonna drop soon. Let's take a break." He looked over at the struggling brunette and swore softly. "I heard that," Jubilee giggled. "Can I use that one?"

"No," he growled. "Let's stop and take a break." He slid Jubilee to the ground and turned to help Tessa with the packs. He lifted the packs in his hand. Not that heavy but too much for a woman. They would have to stop frequently or the packs would tear up Tessas' shoulders.

'Fine job yer doing looking after the woman ya were paid ta rescue,' he snarled to himself. 'Jubilee drops inta the picture and ya ferget everything.'

"Ya okay?" he asked Tessa.

"My shoulders are a little sore but I'm fine," she said as she rotated her arms to ease the stiffness.

"We'll stop more often to rest," he said. "At least until Jubes can walk."

"At the rate she's healing, that'll be soon."

"Mutants heal fast," he said as he pulled water bottles from the pack.

"Is that how you survived the snake bite?" she asked, nodding her thanks for the water.

"I'm a little different," he said with a shrug. "My mutation is rapid healing. I never stay down fer long."

"Handy mutation," she remarked, impressed.

"Sometimes," he said darkly.

They stayed for an hour, resting and letting the stiffness in Tessas' shoulders relax. "We'll stop again in a couple of hours ta eat," he said as they clambered up a small hill. Jubilee was, once again, perched on his back and Tessa with the larger pack on her back. Logan snatched the smaller bag before she could pick it up and had it slung across his broad chest. He had ignored the arguments Tessa had given him when he picked it up. He wasn't about to let her exhaust herself while he toted the injured teen around.

They walked in silence for the rest of the day, stopping several times to rest. Jubilee, ever the chatterbox, talked with Tessa during their breaks. Logan listened as the gregarious girl tickled the life story out of the secretive woman. Tessa and her father were not on the best of terms but she checked in frequently. She was altruistic and didn't care for some of the compromises her father made to further his career. She felt that he had sold his soul for votes at times. She was extremely disappointed with his vote to fund a mutant research program that Tessa believed may be more than it appeared. She was staunchly pro mutant rights and had heard of some of the goings on in most of the research centers in the country. She didn't want him to have anything to do with the programs and couldn't understand why he voted for the funding.

"It was one of the reasons I broke up with Brad," she told her. "He was real happy with Daddy's votes. He said that Daddy was showing vision for the future. He turned out to be a bigoted bastard. A little over a month ago, I found out that he's the president of the local chapter of the FOH. He and Daddy never got along but when I told my father that we were through, Daddy nearly had a heart attack. He wanted me to make up with him."

"We've had problems with the FOH," Logan grumbled. "We'll stop here for the night."

"They're terrorists and thugs," Tessa spat. "Those sonofa bitches killed my best friend six years ago. I won't rest until they're all in prison."

"Could they be responsible for your kidnapping?" Jubilee asked as Logan set her down.

"Why wait for me to go to Mexico?" Tessa asked. "They could have grabbed me anytime after Brad and I broke up. Why use slavers? It doesn't make sense."

"The FOH is bold but they ain't got the balls ta take the daughter of a Senator," said Logan. "I'm gonna scout around ta make sure we're safe here."

"I'll get firewood," Tessa said as she dropped her pack.

"I guess I'll sit here like a bump on the ground," Jubilee said sourly.

"Difficult patient," Tessa smiled.

"Ya ain't seen nothin yet," Logan snickered as he disappeared into the darkness. "She gets worse."

"I ain't gonna be carried like a baby tomorrow," she called after him.

"We'll see," came his amused voice. "Keep yer eyes open, Jubes."

Jubilee knew he was going to search for potential trouble and to mark the area. She saw him do this once when she was younger. When she asked why, he told her the animals wouldn't come near if his scent was all over the campsite. It didn't work on humans but it worked very well on the wild animals that could sneak into camp.

"I don't smell anything," he said as he returned an hour later. "That doesn't mean there's nothin out there. I'll take first watch."

They ate and rolled out their blankets, falling into a deep sleep almost as soon as they laid their heads down. Logan moved away from they fire and settled down to keep watch.

Jubilee was slipping into her nightly nightmare when a sound jolted her awake. She and Tessa were just getting up when five men in camouflage stepped into the camp site.

"You two are more trouble than you're worth," one of the forms said as they approached. "I don't like to kill unless I'm being paid to kill." They walked toward the girls menacingly, guns pointed at their heads. Jubilee risked a glance at Wolverine and saw blood seeping from a wound to the back of his head. She knew that he would be okay but he would wake up with a splitting headache and a rage that would probably get the soldiers killed in the most gruesome way possible. She just had to keep them busy until he got back up.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want with us?" she demanded.

"I don't know who wants you," he sneered at Jubilee, "but her," he lifted Tessa's chin with the muzzle of his rifle, "she's insurance."

"Insurance against what?" Tessa asked, her voice cracking with fear.

"Don't know," he said lightly. "And I don't care. I get paid for delivering you, not asking questions."

Jubilee saw Wolverine stir behind the man. Only a little longer.

"How can you live with yourself doing work like this?" Tessa demanded. "I never did anything to you. My family doesn't have money. Let us go!" Logan was on his feet by now, his eyes blazing in anger.

"You don't have the leverage to demand anything," the soldier said. "You're two women, alone in the wilderness, with no protection."

"Only one problem with that," Jubilee piped up as Logan crept up behind them.

"What's that little girl?" the leader asked.

"We're not alone," she told him, her eyes hard, "or defenseless." She swept her leg out and knocked Tessa off her feet. Bringing her hand up, she let loose a stream of hot plasma into the faces of the soldiers behind her.

The leader was caught off guard by her actions. "She's a mutie," he yelled.

"She ain't the only one," a growl came from behind him. He whirled to find a very pissed off Wolverine facing him, crouched and ready to pounce. A shaft of fear shot through him as he realized that he had made a serious mistake. He didn't make sure the man was dead. His eyes widened in dread as six gleaming claws appeared from the backs of the growling mans' hands. With speed he'd never seen before, the man attacked, slicing off the barrel of his rifle. He watched in growing horror as the clawed mutant danced through his men, killing as he went. The brutality of his attack stunned the soldier. He had never seen a more efficient killer in his life. No excess moves, no words, just whirling death. He knew he was going to die.

He reached for his side arm, desperate to do something. Suddenly, a thick arm whipped around his neck and a fist pressed against his head above his ear.

"That gun clears the holster and you die," a voice growled in his ear. He froze. "Good boy. Who are ya workin for?" He could feel the coiled rage in the fist.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked, trembling. "You're going to kill me anyway."

"You tell me and ya die fast," the fist pressed harder against his head. "Ya don't," the fist moved to his belly, "and ya die slow. Yer choice."

"My god," he paled, "you're Weapon X. We thought you were dead."

"You were there?" Wolverine asked, growling. The man nodded mutely.

Logan's world immediately went red. All the nightmares he had suffered through for the past fifteen years raced through his mind. The pain, the torture, the nameless voices. All of it. He howled, the beast in total control, demanding retribution for the hurts of the past.

The next thing he knew, Jubilee was holding him by the shoulders, calling his name. The soldier was on the ground, his belly open to the air. His head was on the other side of the fire, its eyes wide in terror. Tessa was kneeling on the ground, her eyes fearful and her skin pale. The horror of what he'd done swept through him with a shudder. He tore himself free from Jubilee's arms and ran. Where he was going, he had no idea. He just needed to get away.

Jubilee watched him leave with sadness. She knew something like this would happen. When the soldier mentioned Weapon X, her heart dropped to her feet. It was going to take a lot of work to bring him back this time.

She turned and rolled up her blanket and stuffed it back into the bag. "We hafta move," she told Tessa. "The smell of the bodies will bring the coyotes."

"What happened?" Tessa asked in a shocked whisper. "He was like a wild animal."

"Wolvie was kidnapped by some Canadian government yahoos who experimented on him," Jubilee explained as she rolled up Tessa's blanket. "They erased his memories and implanted their own. They programmed him to be their ultimate weapon. They coated his bones with adamantium, trained him and turned him loose on their enemies. And they did it all without anesthesia." She straightened up and looked directly into Tessas' eyes. "Can ya blame him fer being a little testy?"

"A little testy?" she yelled, astonished. "He just murdered that man!"

"That soldier was part of the team that made him what he is," Jubilee said angrily. "Don't get me wrong, I love him more than any other person in my life but Wolvie comes with a lot of baggage. The rages are part of it and people like that soldier are the ones responsible. I have no pity for them what so ever."

"But…"

"Listen, he's spent the better part of the last fifteen years searching for answers. He doesn't know why they did this to him. Why they took his memories and twisted them. Hell, he doesn't even know his real name. How would you feel if someone came along and took everything from you, including your name, and made you into something else? All against your will." Tessa looked at her feet, deep in thought.

"He's a good man," Jubilee said softly. "He's protective of women and children and a fiercely loyal friend. They tried to make him something so far from who he is that he broke their programming and regained his free will. But the training can't be forgotten. He's a trained killer. When pushed too far, he will kill. He has no choice. It's what they made him into." She finished breaking camp and started north again, Tessa trailing after her.

"How will he find us?" Tessa asked as she trotted behind Jubilee.

"Smell," Jubilee said.

"Huh?"

"Wolvie has an overdeveloped sense of smell," She explained. "He'll find me no matter what by my scent."

"Even if you're dead?"

Jubilee stopped and grabbed Tessa's shoulders. "If anything happens and you see me dead, get away from my body as quick as you can. Don't let him find you anywhere near. If he smells me and death in the same place, he'll go nutso. You won't be able to talk to him and he won't hear you. I'm the only one who can deal with him when he's like that. If I'm dead, call the X-Men. They'll deal with Wolvie and get you home." She returned to the hike.

"Why would the X-Men help me?" Tessa asked as she followed.

"He's one of 'em," Jubilee said as she made her way through the thick brush. "The X-Men always help their own. They'll come."

"Will they know you?"

"I lived with them for a couple of years before I went to the Xavier Academy in Massachusetts. Wolvie took me everywhere with him for about two years before he caved into the pressure and started leaving me behind." They walked on silently for a while

"How far are we from the…" she couldn't say it.

"About three miles," Jubilee told her. "We need ta be about five miles away ta be safe."

They walked on in silence. About an hour later, Jubilee decided they were far enough away from their old campsite to stop and sleep. She knew that Logan would find them soon. He wouldn't leave her in the wild for days at a time without his protection. The only thing she worried about is that he would shadow them but never come close enough to talk to her.

They made camp and settled in for the rest of the night. Just before daybreak, Jubilee woke with a start. She felt as if she were being watched. She crept out of her warm blanket and padded around the campsite, looking into the brush for the intruder.

"Took ya long enough ta notice me," a low growl came from the thick brush. "Been here fer nearly an hour."

"I haven't been camping for years, Wolvie," she told him still searching the brush for his bulk. "I'm a little rusty."

"A little?" he asked as he stepped out of the bushes behind her. She whirled to face him. He looked like he hadn't slept. Leaves and twigs in his hair gave him a wild look that she had come to associate with one of his deep thinking binges.

"It's not your fault," she told him.

"Maybe," he said. "I heard what ya told Tessa and yer right. I can't ferget the training no matter how hard I try."

"The training and your instincts have kept you alive," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm glad you have them. If ya didn't, you'd have been killed long before we met. I would still be homeless in LA, possibly a hooker or worse. You saved my life and gave me a family. I owe you more than I can ever repay."

"I think we're even," he said thickly.

"How'd ya figure that?" she asked.

"Ya saved my soul," he told her. "Yer the only one that can bring me back when I've lost myself. If it wasn't fer you, I'd be living in some forest in Canada, lost in the feral fer the rest of my life."

"We're a pair, aren't we," she sniffed. "Two lost souls trying to make ourselves whole."

"We make each other whole," he whispered in her ear.

"What'll ya do when I get married?" she asked, curious as to what his reaction will be. She didn't have to wait long. He began to growl, softly a first. "I mean, I'll eventually get married and have kids so you'll have to deal with my husband." The growling got louder. "Unless ya want ta wait for me ta grow up." The growling suddenly stopped.

"Huh?"

"Messin' with ya, Wolvie," she laughed. "Come on, Let's get some breakfast and get back on the road."

"Wait Jubes," he grabbed her arm before she could leave. "What about Tessa?"

"She's a little freaked but she'll be fine."

"Are ya sure?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Come on, let's eat. I'm hungry."

The next two days passed without incident. Jubilees' feet healed and she now complained about the pace Logan had set for the hike. Tessa stayed as far from Logan as she could and still be polite. Logan knew what she was doing. Hell, it was hard to miss. Every time he came within ten feet of her, she gave off fear pheromones in waves. Jubilee watched the interplay with growing concern. She knew that if Tessa couldn't trust Logan, she would likely be killed or taken in the next attack.

They all agreed that there would be another attack. If they had more supplies, they would change their plan of reentry into the States. At it was, they would have to stop and hunt soon or die of starvation. Water wasn't a problem. The mountainous area they were in had numerous streams running through it. They were able to maintain reasonably good hygiene and rinse out their clothes from time to time as well as stay hydrated.

They were cresting a ridge as the sun began its western track toward night when Logan suddenly stopped and held up his hand for silence, his face hard, nose twitching. Jubilee was instantly alert, dropping the smaller pack to free her hands, ready to strike.

"Where?" she whispered tightly.

"North and west," he gave a low growl. "Keep movin. I'm gonna swing around the western ones first, then ta the north. Keep yer eyes open. Ya see anything movin, paff it, even if ya thinks it's me."

"K," she whispered. He handed the pack to Tessa and slipped onto the shadows and was gone.

"You really going to attack him when he comes back?" Tessa hissed as she swung the pack onto her back.

"If I don't, he'll rip me a new one," Jubilee told her. "Let's move."

Two hours later, they crept into the trees near a small camp. Jubilee was worried. Logan should have already been there. He must have has problems with the group to the west. She motioned Tessa to hide in to foliage and listen.

"...getting paid to camp in the Mexican mountains," a heavy set black man was talking. He poked at the logs in the fire, stirring it up to new heights.

"Ain't gonna be easy Bill," another man said. "I hear she's got a mutie with her."

"So?" Bill asked. "We kill the mutie and take her back to her old man. That's what we're being paid for."

"Yeah, well we got competition now," another man said. "I hear her boyfriend sent some teams out too."

"We'll deal with them too," Bill growled. "Her father thinks the slavers were hired by the boyfriend."

"What for?" the first man asked. "She not putting out?"

"Everything's sex for you, isn't it Clete?" Bill demanded. "The boyfriend evidently has something on the old man. He wants the girl and the information back in one piece."

"How do we know she has the information?" the second man asked.

"We don't, Frank," Bill turned to him, "but the old man thinks she does."

"When is Jimmy getting back?" Clete asked. "I'm getting hungry."

"He's only been gone for an hour," Frank said as he got up from the stump. "I gotta take a leak." He walked toward where Jubilee was hidden. She quickly slipped away from her position and deeper into the foliage. She found another hiding place and went to slip into it when a hand clamped around her mouth.

"Keep still Jubes," Logans' voice growled in her ear. She relaxed against his bulk and continued to listen to the men. Logan removed his hand, his senses sharp. They continued talking but about more mundane things like cars and hunting. Jubilee was getting bored and began to fidget. Logan sniffed the air and swore softly. Her eyes widened as she saw Frank return, dragging Tessa behind him.

"Lookit," he crowed. "I found us a treat in the bushes." He mashed his mouth against the struggling woman.

"There's one more," Jubilee said in a whisper only Logan could have heard. Logan shook his head and drew a finger across his throat. He'd taken care of the fourth member.

He watched, growling softly, as Tessa was passed around the fire to be groped by the lusty men. He waited until they were involved with trying to rape the terrified woman before he attacked.

"Watch my back," he instructed.

"Always," Jubilee replied as he walked out of the covering bushes.

"Let the girl go," he told them.

"Who the hell are you?" Bill demanded, his fist caught up in Tessa's hair.

"I'm all your nightmares come ta life," he growled, moving closer. "Let her go and ya live."

A knife flashed up to her neck. "Move and she dies." he said in a low voice.

"Wrong move, bub," Logan popped his claws. "I got yer blades here."

Eyes widened all over the campsite. Tessa took advantage of their distraction and twisted free, running into the brush. The men saw their only chance of escaping alive fleeing from them and were terrified. They did what stupid, terrified men usually do; they attacked. And they died.

Jubilee carefully made her way over to Tessa's position. The woman was trembling but not injured. They watched as Wolverine worked. Jubilee with boredom, Tessa with fascination. His moves were so smooth that it didn't even appear as if he were trying. One man, Jubilee thought it was Frank, finally wised up and ran. Unfortunately, he ran toward Tessa and Jubilee. Tessa had finally had enough. She stepped out of the cover and dropped into a defensive crouch, waiting for the terrified man.

"You won't get past me," she growled at him. "I've been kidnapped, drugged and frightened to death. I've had enough! All I wanted was to get in on some bargains in Nuevo Laredo. What give you the right to ruin my life?" she was screaming. Frank looked at her as if she were completely crazy. "Fuck you!" She jumped up and with a powerful round house kick, slammed her foot into his temple, dropping him to the ground with a thump.

She straightened up and turned to her companions. Jubilee was staring at her with her mouth open in shock. Logan was leaning back against a tree, lighting his last cigar and smiling.

"Knew ya could do it darlin'," he said, satisfied. "Yer dad said ya were a firecracker."

"Yeah, well," she cleared her throat. "I've been trying to clean up my act."

"Hell of a kick," Jubilee said, impressed.

"I didn't kill him did I?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" Logan shot back. "Come on. Let's get movin."