Disclaimer: Logan isn't mine, which is a very sad thing...the other X-Men and all their stuff aren't mine either...Fox and Marvel are the lucky ones...Angela, Buzz and Totem ARE mine and they get angry when other people touch them...so save yourself the trouble and don't...:)

AN Take one: Well, readers...you almost didn't get your update today...it took me over an hour to log into the site and i almost gave up so i could go to sleep...but, as you can see, the site righted itself and your update is here...:)

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Chapter 6

(Logan)

I have endured many terrible things in my life, survived horrors that only a handful of people can truly understand. I have been tortured, mentally raped and enslaved by madmen. I have wished I could die on more occasions than I can count and been close enough to taste it only twice. But none of that compares to the complete sense of despair I felt when I looked into Angela's eyes and we both knew she was going to fall.

I tried desperately to hold on to consciousness long enough to bring her back over the edge of that plateau. But Totem had slashed my throat open almost to the bone and the combination of blood loss and my healing factor going into overdrive drove me into a kind of coma, pulling reserves from all parts of my body, basically shutting me down until it could repair the damage.

I came to all at once, pushing myself to my knees and popping my claws. It was already full night, but I had work to do before I would rest again. I looked around wildly, hoping that Totem was still near enough for me to tear his guts out, but he was nowhere to be found. I calmed myself enough to take stock of my surroundings using the one sense that's never failed me: scent. I caught and discarded most of them, pine trees, churned earth and the spoor of small animals. Over all of those was blood, mostly mine, but also some of Angela's and most important of all, Totem's. I had him now. I would find him and kill him, fuck whatever Xavier wanted with him.

I stood and shook my head, then went in search of a way down to where Angela probably lay dying if not already dead. I'd taken less than a dozen steps when a great keening wail filled the night. I stopped to listen for it again and when it came, I could hear the anguish in that sound. I knew just how he felt, but it was his fault that this had happened in the first place. I followed his scent to a thin trail about a hundred yards from where she'd fallen. I made my way down, forcing myself to go slowly to avoid being heard. No one moves more silently than Angela, but I'm no slouch when it comes to stealth. The animal was beating the inside of my skull, howling to be set loose. I kept it at bay long enough to make the journey to the bottom. Once I got there, all bets were off.

The moon was only a few days past full, so there was more than enough light for me to see by. I had no sooner made it to the clearing at the bottom when Totem let loose another howl of grief. White rage and despair flooded my mind and the animal burst free as an answering howl of my own. Totem's head snapped up and I saw for the first time that he was clinging to Angela, weeping over her body, mourning the loss of one that had been promised to him as a mate. It only made me angrier.

I closed the distance between us so fast that he didn't have time to get off the ground. I kicked him hard in the face and heard a satisfying crunch as his nose broke. He went down on his back and I buried both sets of claws into his torso, pinning him to the ground. His eyes grew wide when he realized what had happened and who I was.

"I killed you!" He screamed, struggling to get up, but I held his legs still beneath me. "You're dead, I killed you!"

"Better than you have tried, bub." I snarled.

I pulled my right hand out of his chest and slashed his face open. He screamed in pain and rage, bringing his left hand up to do the same to me before grabbing my shirt and tossing me over his head. I rolled and came to my feet in a crouch and he mirrored my stance. His eyes grew wide again as he saw the cuts on my face disappear before his eyes. He recovered quickly, wiping his forearm across his face and dashing blood to the ground. But I was already on the move as he did so, slashing with my claws and snarling in rage. He backed up quickly, trying to gain the advantage, but I had him pushed against the cliff face in seconds, once again burying my claws in his chest to pin him there. He let out a gasp of shock and pain, but still held on enough to glare at me in a rage of his own.

In the moonlight, blood looks black. So it came as a surprise to me when the three black wounds across his face began to slowly knit themselves together. Not as fast as I heal, but faster than Angela. Those cuts would have taken her a couple hours to heal and she would have bled all the while. His bleeding had slowed to a trickle and the flesh was coming together slow enough that I could see the process at work. Well, I knew that if I took enough damage, I would drop into a coma and it probably wasn't any different for him. I pulled my left hand out and immediately slashed his throat open. His blood poured out hot, steaming in the night air. He stared at me in confusion before going limp on the remaining claws. I gave them a vicious twist as I pulled them out, letting him drop to the forest floor. He'd be out for a while, long enough for me to get Angela to safety before finishing him off.

I went over to Angela, cringing inwardly at how she looked. Her face was a mess of bruises and covered in blood, which was probably mostly mine. I couldn't begin to guess what kind of internal damage she'd taken, but she fell at least two hundred feet and even I would be hard pressed to come away from something like that without massive trauma. Even though I knew she'd come back to life in less than twenty-four hours, it was still hard to look at her and know that she was more or less dead at that moment. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I lifted her from the ground and made my way back up the trail.

It took me a little while to find someplace to put her where animals or Totem wouldn't find her. A tree had fallen over at some point in the distant past and there was a small hollow near one end of the trunk where it had come to rest against a boulder. I lined it with half of our blankets and piled the rest of them on top of her. Before I left to go finish my business with Totem, I carefully washed my blood from her face and neck, and then kissed her softly. "I'll be back, darlin'. I'm gonna take care of him. I love you." I looked at her one last time before letting the animal take over again so I could do what I needed to do.

Totem was just coming around when I got back. I didn't let him get that far before I picked him up by his throat and threw him across the clearing. He grunted and tried to stand, but I closed the distance between us and kicked him the chest, knocking him back down. I crouched in front of him and popped my claws in front of his face. "Say your prayers, bub. You're a dead man."

"I have no reason to live." He replied, bowing his head. "I failed to bring my mate home. I have shamed my father. I deserve to die."

Now I was confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hellcat was promised to me. As her mate, it was my duty to protect her. I have dishonored myself by failing to do so."

I retracted my claws and sat back on my heels. On the one hand, I really wanted to kill this guy. It was his fault that Angela had died in the first place. On the other, he had no idea that she would come back. Had Stryker kept that piece of information from him? It wouldn't surprise me. I'd been her goddamn partner and I hadn't known about it until that time we'd be caught in some drug war on a mission. For a dead man, I sure kept coming up with new reasons to hate him even more. But for now, I had to make a decision. It was becoming obvious that he was way more brainwashed than I'd ever been, especially with his single-minded belief that Angela really belonged to him, as though she didn't have a choice in the matter. Maybe that had been the original intent long ago, but I had no idea how long he'd been at that base or if he'd ever been at Alkali Lake. Much as I hated to do it, I decided I needed information more than I needed his still-beating heart in my hand.

"Look, I would really love to oblige you in the death department." I growled. "But I have some things that I want to know before I do that. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way, the choice is yours."

"I have nothing to say to you." He replied, sitting up. "You have taken what doesn't belong to you."

"Bub, you're gonna have to get over that real quick. Ang…Hellcat isn't the kind of woman to take kindly to being considered 'property'. No one tells her what to do."

"But Father promised…"

I cut him off. "Your 'father' lied to you. And I'll bet he did more'n that to you." I held up my hand and slid my claws out slowly. "See these? Your 'father' gave these to me. I have bone underneath them." I retracted my claws again before continuing. "I have the same shit all over my bones. He did the same thing to you, didn't he?"

He nodded. "He did not give me claws like yours. And he could not do my tail or it wouldn't be able to grow."

"What do your remember of your life before?"

"My family cast me out. Father took me in when I was very young."

I thought that over for a bit. I had an idea of how old I was and Angela knew how old she was, so was it so hard to believe that he could also be a lot older than he appeared? "How old are you, anyway?"

"I…" He stopped short and appeared deep in thought. "I…don't know. I don't remember."

Just the answer I was dreading. He wasn't in control of himself any more than I had been not so long ago. Which meant that I couldn't just kill him outright. "Totem, I'm gonna make a deal with you."

He narrowed his eyes. "And what would that be?"

"I have a friend that might be able to help you. If you can stop tryin' to kill me and stop tryin' to claim An…Hellcat, I'll take you to him."

"Why do you think I need anyone's help? I know what I am and what my purpose is."

"Listen to me. I used to be in the same position you are. So was she. Stryker was a complete bastard and he used us to do his dirty work. He worked me over so bad that I don't remember most of my life. I'd bet he did the same thing to you."

"You're saying that Father stole my life?"

I nodded. "Yep. And I'd bet that he had his pet telepaths fuck with your memory so much that what you do remember isn't even real. My friend can help you figure it out."

He lowered his head as he considered my offer. I had no reason to spare his life and he knew it. He had nothing to lose. I couldn't see where he would refuse. And he didn't. "I will go with you. If Father truly lied to me, then I want to know the truth." I stood up and held my hand out to him. He pulled himself up, still a little shaky on his feet. I turned back to the trail and started back to where I'd left Angela, Totem following a few steps behind me. He paused at the top. "Where are we going?"

"To get Hellcat." I replied, moving in that direction.

"But she's dead."

I looked over my shoulder and smirked. "For now."

"I do not understand."

"Don't worry, bub. Sometimes I don't understand either."

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No real author's notes til the end of the next chapter...however, that doesn't mean you shouldn't review this chapter anyway! Go on, you know you want to and reviews make me do the happy dance!