disclaimer: All recognizable characters are owned by Marvel, except Jenny who is MINE! (though I have been known to share if you ask nicely.) I expect to make no money off this fic. Dammit.

pre-note: The notebook referred to in the last chapter and at the beginning of this one was from waaaaaay back at the beginning of "Human in a Mutant World". The very first chapter to be precise. Jenny was writing in a notebook while studying one of her fathers books. The one Hank wanted, remember? She stopped doing that sort of thing when she found out her father was dead, that's why you never saw it again. Sorry for any confusion anyone may have had.

Oh, and "italics" indicates telepathic speech.

Human and the Demon
by Dizi

Chapter 12

The unknown members of the FOH dumped Jenny unceremoniously back in the cell with Lacy and slammed the door.

"Oh my God, Jenny," Lacy whispered reaching out her hand, but unsure where she could touch her she slowly drew it back. "He said they'd let you go because you're human, Jenny. Just do whatever they want so they won't hurt you anymore."

The cold stone felt good to her bruised and battered face, but Jenny was too numb to really notice. "I can't." she whispered as low as she could, afraid they might be listening. "He lied, Lacy, they're going to kill me no matter what. If I tell them, they'll kill us faster. It doesn't work. They're not going to believe it, but if they did they wouldn't need either of us anymore. I just have to make it until the X-Men come."

"But you're so hurt! And look at your back!" Lacy cried, taking a close look. She didn't really understand what Jenny meant but was scared for her. "Wait, they didn't do that. It's healed."

"No, they didn't do it." Jenny let out a soft harsh laugh. "They want to recreate it though."

"No." Lacy breathed. "Jenny tell them anything. Do whatever they want. Don't worry about me, I'm no one and have no one who cares. We don't even know what they want me for."

"I care, Lacy." She lifted her head in what she thought was the right direction for Lacy to be able to see her face and know how serious she was. "I care about you and your baby. They took you to experiment on. The information they want is to find out if babies are going to be born human or mutant. If they just believe me when I say it doesn't work, we're both dead now, or they'll try to use what there is to make one that does, then they'll use you to experiment on that way. There's no way out except for rescue, and I can make it until then. I have to."

"But... Jenny, you just met me." Lacy protested.

"I can't let you and your baby die." Jenny slowly shook her head. "I just can't."

"I- I don't know what to say." Lacy reached out and gently touched Jenny's fingers, she didn't see any bruising there.

"Lacy." Jenny's voice shook. "It's not that I'm brave, but it's the only way. The men who did my back, they had done it before and knew what they were doing. These guys have no clue. I'm not going to lie, it's more than possible that if they really do try to do the same things, I'll die."

Lacy's shoulders began to shake.

"Please, Lacy... please just listen. I really don't think they'll kill me anytime soon, but..." Pain shot through her and she let out a gasp as she tried to sit up, so she gave up and stayed on the floor. "But if they do, I need you to do a couple things for me."

"What?" Lacy asked tearfully.

"One of the X-men, his name is Kurt... I need you to tell him I love him. He knows, but I need you to tell him anyway."

"Okay, but if you die won't they kill me too?" Lacy placed a hand on her belly, fearful for her baby.

"I hope they'll wait, or that the X-Men will get here in time for you. There's something else, though. In my house, in the living room closet, on the top shelf, there's a notebook. Tell Logan about the notebook. He'll need to look for Stroud and will know what to do when he reads it."

"Tell Kurt you love him and Logan about the notebook. I got it." Lacy stroked Jenny's fingers, trying to comfort her. "Try to rest, Jenny."

"Don't forget." Jenny whispered, falling asleep on the concrete floor. "And try not to worry. They'll come and save us."

The moment they arrived at the warehouse the X-Men were attacked by overzealous members of the fanatical racist group.

All five of them.

It took about two minutes to subdue them and get inside the building. They stood in shock staring at the half empty room. One large room with only one other door on the other side of the building which led back outside. The only contents were boxes of signs, paint and other paraphernalia used for rallies.

This was the wrong place.

Both Kurt and Logan wanted to tear the terrified men apart and some of the team had their hands full holding them back. The rest kept out of it as their sympathies were not for the five FOH members but in the other direction.

Such was the scene when Psylocke and Archangel arrived. She took one look at Jean telekinetically holding back Wolverine and sauntered to the cringing men. One by one she probed their minds, such as they were.

When she finished, Psylocke calmly told them where they needed to go and went back to the waiting vehicles.

They were on the wrong side of town.

"Move away from her, mutie!"

The man's yell woke Jenny where the opening of the door had not. She opened her eyes to see him raise a fist towards Lacy, but he smirked in satisfaction as she cringed away. "Nah, I ain't gonna contaminate myself by touching you."

He grasped Jenny by the arm and pulled her to her feet, laughing as she gasped in pain. She closed her eyes and concentrated on ignoring the pain as she was taken back to the other room.

Stroud, along with Mike and several other men she didn't recognize, was waiting.

His cold eyes raked her body and the smile he gave her didn't warm them in the least. "I do hope you have decided to be reasonable, Miss Green. I have people waiting for this information. Let's try again, shall we? Where is your father's research?"

Meeting his eyes, Jenny didn't let her fear show as she again answered truthfully. "I don't know."

Nodding as though he had expected that response, he stood and gestured to a woman in a lab coat Jenny hadn't noticed. "This is Dr. Breen. She will oversee the rest of your questioning and has some medication that may help you to remember."

Again she was handcuffed to the pole. As Breen slid the needle in her arm, Jenny tensed in anticipation of something unpleasant happening.

Stepping back, the woman said, "You may proceed. It will take about thirty to forty-five minutes to take effect."

Grinning, Mike went to the cart, studying the implements laid out. After choosing a scalpel, he brandished it in front of Jenny's face. "Now, we'll see how loud you can scream."

From the corner of her eye Jenny could see Stroud and knew this time there would be no last minute word, not from him or Dr. Breen. She forced herself not to shudder as Mike ran a finger across one of the scars going all the way across her back.

She felt the first sharp pain as the blade traced the same path his finger had.

The only sound was her deep harsh breaths.

There were definitely more than five of the radicals and they were quick to use their automatic weapons. The X-Men had arrived at the correct location.

"Wolverine, Bishop, Nightcrawler. You three find Jenny." Scott said from behind Jean's telekinetic shield. "Everyone else, you know the plan. Let's find out what's going on and make the world safer for mutant-kind!"

Bishop was fully aware of why he had been chosen to go with Wolverine and Nightcrawler. He was one of the few thinking clearly. He only hoped it was understood that if anything had happened to Jenny he wasn't going to attempt to hold them back, but would be helping them.

The ringing of Stroud's cell phone broke the silence. "What? ... I see ... Yes, continue what you are doing. I will be right out." Replacing the phone in his pocket, he gestured for Dr. Breen to follow him as he went out a door opposite to the one Jenny had been brought through.

As they went down the private escape route leading to his limosine a safe distance away, Breen frowned. "The injection should start taking effect within another ten minutes at most."

"Our time ran out, Doctor. The X-Men have arrived and I do not intend to be caught by them. It was a long shot that Genevra Grenislavich was given a different copy by the University than what Heinrik provided us."

"I can make it work. I just need more time and a few more test subjects." she assured him.

"You will be given all the subjects you need and you will make it work." Derek Stroud paused to meet her eyes, and for a moment - one single moment she would never forget - she understood how dangerous he and the Friends of Humanity could be, whether you were human or mutant. "Or you will be the first subject for the doctor that replaces you. I have promised to provide a reliable test so we can stop the mutant 'evolution'. One way or the other, I will."

"What about the Grenislavich girl? We can't just leave her, she knows who we are." Amelia Breen wasn't worried about Stroud. She believed in the same things he did and would do her best for him.

"I think we can leave her to the former police detective. He will kill her at the first sign of someone coming to rescue her, and someone should be taking care of the mutie any minute now."

Easily, Logan found Jenny's trail once they got to the lower level. However with all the comings and goings he could not tell how old it was. It would be impossible for him to follow directly to where she was now.

Hearing a door slam and a woman scream, they quickly turned a corner. There was a shout, but before one of the three men could fire Bishop shot out a blast of energy, knocking one into the other two. Nightcrawler teleported behind them and took their guns before they were able to attempt to fire again. When Wolverine bared his claws and growled at them they quickly fled down the hall and down another corridor, going off Jenny's trail.

"Zat vas not Jenny." Nightcrawler stated, impatient to move on and find her.

Bishop agreed, but said as he continued into the room, "No, but we can't just leave whoever it is here."

Bracing against the wall, Lacy was struggling to her feet. Seeing the big man with a gun, she again cowered and screamed before she saw by their clothing that they weren't more members of the FOH.

Holstering his gun, Bishop calmly offered her a hand. She stared at it a couple seconds before cautiously allowing him to help her up.

Looking at them, she knew Jenny had been right and the X-Men had come. "You're the X-Men? Jenny said you would come, but I wasn't sure."

"You haf seen Jenny? She ist alright?" Kurt demanded.

"I-I'm not sure. They took her a while ago." Lacy was afraid they might leave her if she said she thought Jenny might be dead. "Are one of you Kurt?"

Already walking out the door to where Wolverine waited - having not entered because of the smell - Nightcrawler stopped to look at her again. "My name ist Kurt."

Happy to at least be able to do something for Jenny, Lacy nevertheless avoided his eyes, "She said to tell you she loves you."

"I zank you." A wave of anguish rolling through him, Kurt closed his eyes and, as he had so many times since she had been taken, prayed for Jenny. He met Bishop's eyes. Both men knew he was the one best able to take the woman out of the building, and both men knew he was not going to do it. He was going to be there when Jenny was found.

Wolverine was inching down the hall, anxious to move along and trying to get away from the stench of the room. He didn't say anything as Nightcrawler joined him and they continued the search.

Drawing his gun again, Bishop went to the doorway, keeping watch in the opposite direction the other two had gone. "Can you walk?"

"I... Yes." Lacy said firmly, keeping her arms protectively over her stomach.

"Stay against the wall as much as possible." Bishop ordered firmly. "Keep your eyes on me for any kind of signal, and always stay behind me. We should be fine until we get to the surface but I'm not one to take chances. Understand?"

Swallowing, Lacy nodded, and they started back the way the men had previously come.

When the door opened, Mike didn't stop toying with the knife in his hand covered in blood or his perusal of his handiwork.

At the deep menacing snarl, he turned his head and froze at the yellow and black clad figure hurling toward him with claws outstretched. Eyes wide, he lifted his arm to plunge the knife into Jenny's back.

Just before he could, Mike was engulfed by smoke and what he could only have described as a demon from hell grabbed his hand and jerked it into the air.

Hissing at the man, Nightcrawler punched him hard enough to send him sprawling away from Jenny, and teleported to another man raising a gun, kicking it out of his hand.

Forcing himself to control the killing rage threatening to overwhelm him, Wolverine continued to Jenny. With a slash of his claws, he cut through the handcuffs holding her up. She fell into his arms covering him in blood. Her breathing was shallow and he could hear her heatbeat was weak from blood loss, but he thought she would make it if they got her out quickly. "I've got ya, darlin'." he murmured, holding her protectively in case of stray bullets.

The room was filled with the scent of sulphur and brimstone as Nightcrawler teleported almost instantly form man to man, keeping them so distracted looking for where he might appear next that they didn't remember their orders to shoot their prisoner.

Jenny's eyelids slowly fluttered open and then closed again. Disoriented by the pain, she knew Kurt was there by some inner knowledge, confirmed by the sulfurous scent mingled with her own blood. "Kurt..." she whimpered, unable to call to him.

"Elf!" Wolverine shouted. "Get her out!"

Nightcrawler teleported to the far side of the room and waited long enough for all of the men to catch sight of him. Even as they opened fire, he was already across the room beside Wolverine and carefully taking Jenny in his arms. With a bamf they vanished in a burst of smoke as one of the men fired, the bullet going through the smoke before it had a chance to disperse.

Seeing Jenny and the creature disappear, Mike screamed in frustrated rage, "No!"

Growling, Wolverine deliberately advanced on the men while bullets started flying.

The situation under control, Cyclops, Archangel, and Gambit were searching the lower level, looking for whoever was in charge as Psylocke had said they had not been found. Hearing gunfire, they ran down the corridor and stood in the doorway taking in the scene.

A man with his hands covered in blood but with no visible wounds was running backwards and shooting as Wolverine advanced on him with a steady growl.

"Scott, Kurt just arrived with Jenny and she's bleeding badly." Jean told him telepathically through their psychic link. "We're working on getting it under control, but we need to hurry and get her to the mansion and do what we can until Hank gets here."

"We just found Logan and will be there soon.'" Scott returned.

Warren looked at him strangely and Remy raised a brow, but since Scott made no move to stop Logan's advance on the man still pulling the trigger on the now empty gun, they followed his lead.

Scott just watched. He no longer had to wonder where the blood on the man's hands had come from. He didn't condone killing, but knowing what the man had done to Jenny, he couldn't bring himself to save him.

"I- Scott, you have to stop him! He's going to kill that man!" Jean cried having seen the image in her husband's mind, shocked by the rage and approval he felt.

"Why?" Scott calmly replied, as Wolverine drew back his arm and slid his claws all the way through the man's chest and into the wall.

Mike slowly slid down the wall and all four men left before the light had completely left his eyes.

to be continued.

note:
B Oots- Well, I couldn't see them going to Massachusettes to get her and time was of the essence, as you can see. Jubes will be back soon though, and she may not be too happy with certain people. She really is my favorite so I can't leave her out.
Jinxeh- Okay, now you're done playing with the squirrel... I used to love 'Dharma and Greg', it was such a cute show! But it wasn't what inspired me. I had just read a story where some guy was cheating on his wife and then he got in trouble with the IRS and she protected him. I thought, "Heck I would have given it all to them" so here ya go.
CaptainTish- Well, she knew Hank had it, but that was it. If you said "take me to it" she couldn't do it, so she didn't precisely lie. I remember you now (like I ever really forgot, right?) you're the one who looks into my computer! (stands in front of comp with taser) Stay away! No peeking allowed!
xmenloganfan- I appreciate all the lovely reviews! I hope this is fast enough for you. I usually go 4-5days between postings. If I did it all at once, you would have to wait at least 6wks for the next story. Sorry.
afreddiefan- That is such a good attitude! Will you tell my beta that? One of them (you know who you are) tends to freak at me when the drama starts. And don't feel bad about being out of the loop, I am too. I haven't gotten a new comic book in more than 10yrs. I'm really interested in how the school is set up now though...
GothikStrawberry- Well, yes, bad stuff did happen... is happening... but it's for the greater good! I swear! And I thank you for the compliment, but I myself am not doing that much. I'm babysitting, but everything that can be done is appreciated, I'm sure.

If anyone is interested, I have a friend who is doing 'locator' work. As I understand it, that means you check postings on message boards for people LOOKING for loved ones and compare the info to what is listed from shelters and the Red Cross and stuff to bring the loved ones together. So if anyone would like to try doing that, send me an email (address is on my bio) and I'll put you in touch with my friend.

Generally, by now I would be hard at work on the next story. And I am. Really. But it's an adult story and I already started posting it on aff. I will start going back and forth in writing it and the ROMY soon. I'm co-authoring "The Gift" so I can't just run with it. So I go between them. On this front, ch18 has been sent to my beta, I have 19 in my notebook and I decided to do some research for ch20 before doing it. Before you sit back and say "She's not working on it!" let me tell you I also just finished two short stories for "Demon's Kind". So I was working on Jenny, just not the main story. The first of the new ones will take place after ch13 so I was running close, huh?

Next chapter! Jenny's hurt and Hank isn't even in the country! Here come the after effects...

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi