Disclaimer: Back there somewhere...truth be told, I'm very tired and I don't feel like getting into it right now...:)

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Chapter 10.

(Logan)

Dr. Endicott brought me a chair to sit in while I waited for Angela to come around. I hated the thought of anyone poking around in her head, even someone I relatively trust like Chuck. The few things I was beginning to remember coupled with the things she'd told me, I was pretty sure it was telepaths that had left me with a mind so fucked up it would probably be years before it all came back. And I knew I would never be lucky enough to get big chunks back with scent the way I had with Angela. Not unless I wanted to start sniffing everyone and everything I came across on the off chance it would work. As Angela would say, that's just kinda creepy.

It didn't take long for her to come out. The doctor explained how her healing factor had been compensating for the sedative and that her last dose had been enough to kill someone of Angela's size three times. I just chuckled at that; it would take a lot more to even knock me out, but I didn't mention it. The last thing I wanted was another doctor looking at me like some freaky experiment. I shoved those thoughts aside when Angela moaned softly.

"Hey darlin', welcome back." I said, kissing her hand. "How you feelin'?"

"Like I've been drugged to the teeth for about a day." She replied, still a little groggy. "How long was it really?"

"About two hours. Chuck wants to meet with us later, tell us what he found."

"Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better I'll feel." She moved to sit up, but clutched her head. "Oh gods, Logan. He jarred something loose."

I scowled. "What do you mean?"

"I'm remembering something. I thought I remembered everything, but I was wrong."

"What is it? Tell me." She went into a lengthy description of the memory, being strapped down and shocked while a telepath worked over her mind. I looked at her in confusion. "Wait, I just dreamed something almost exactly like that not too long ago and there weren't any telepa…shit."

"What? What's wrong?"

"There weren't any telepaths in my dream because they removed themselves from the memory. What the fuck did they do to me in there?"

"I don't know, lover. I wish I did. But Charles jogged this one loose for me, maybe he can do the same for you." She shook her head to clear it before sliding off the table to stand on shaky legs. Her arm snaked around my waist. "Get me out of here. I need to see sky."

I nodded in understanding and helped her out of the lab and into the elevator. By the time we reached the ground floor, the shakiness had left her legs and we walked outside hand in hand. We passed Jubilee and Kitty on the way, who saw us and giggled. What, the Wolverine isn't allowed to hold hands with his woman? I scowled at them which only made them giggle harder. God, please remind me why I work with teenagers on purpose?

Once outside, we walked back to the tree she had claimed as her own. She kicked off her shoes and scuttled up the trunk, disturbing the branches no more than a squirrel would. I should have known she'd want to perch somewhere to think, it's what she's always done. I shook my head and climbed after her at a much slower pace. She has claws she can dig into the bark to make her climb easier. If I tried that, well…let's just say it wouldn't be very good for the tree.

She'd settled in a little lower than her usual perch, where two limbs came together almost right next to each other on trunk. I took the empty seat and got as comfortable as possible before lighting a cigar. Angela had a cigarette clamped between her fingers and she was staring into the distance, facing away from me. The breeze shifted and I caught the salty tang of tears.

"Hey darlin', don't cry." I said, reaching out to touch her, but she shrugged my hand away. My heart clenched and I swallowed hard around a lump threatening to form in my throat. "It'll be all right. We'll make it through this. We've made it through worse."

"Have we?" She replied, taking a drag off her smoke. "Sure, we've fought our way out of some impossible battles, never lost a fight, killed a bunch of people. But this?" She shook her head. "No, this is the worst."

"Angela, listen to me. I know you can fight this. I'll help you."

"Logan, I'm fucking programmed to want Totem! I have a telepathically inserted compulsion to betray you! Do you think I can live with that for even a minute?" She turned to me and the pain in her eyes turned them a murky shade of green. "Out of all the fucked up shit that happened back then, I never thought anything like this happened. You were the only decision I made on my own and now I find out that it's being taken away from me years after we got out of there!" She crushed her cigarette out with her fingertips, hissing with the pain as the smell of her burning flesh flooded my nose. My hand darted forward to stop her and she lashed out at me. "Please, Logan. I can't take this. I have to get away from here, away from HIM. I can't trust myself."

"Look, I've never walked away from a fight in my life and I'm not about to start now." I said, my voice low. "Even if I have to kill the asshole to win."

"And what if I'm programmed to kill you if that happens? What will you do then?"

"Whatever I have to do. But this isn't gonna come between us and I'm not gonna stop lovin' you over somethin' you can't control. We can beat this."

She nodded and looked away from me. "Lover, can you just let me think for a while? Go find Buzz, see what those files had in them. I'll be in before dinner."

I frowned, not wanting to leave her alone like this, but I nodded anyway and gave her quick kiss before making my way back down the tree. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shuffled off down the path, lost in my own thoughts. I was used to fighting enemies I could sink my claws into, things that bleed and die. But this? How was I going to fight something that existed only in my woman's mind? I was feeling helpless and if there's anything as bad as an angry Wolverine, it was a helpless one. It made me want to pick a fight with someone just to feel like I was accomplishing something. Unfortunately, Chuck would probably not like it if I started beating either One-Eye or Totem to a pulp for no apparent reason.

I was halfway to the mansion when I heard the jet coming in. I remembered that Storm and the Boy Scout had gone to South America of all places to pick up some new mutant. I quickened my pace to a jog and made it to the hangar just as the ramp was coming down. The first thing I heard was the sound of arguing.

"Scott, you weren't there when we went to get Logan." Storm was saying with an edge to her voice I wasn't used to hearing. "If there's one thing I learned, it's that hostile forces tend to stay that way and sometimes you just do what you have to do."

"Damn it, Storm!" Scott replied forcefully. "There's no reason to use more force than necessary to get someone out of a fight! And killing people should only be the very last thing we do! We have to be better than normal humans if we're ever going to be respected by them!"

"Those men had precious little respect for life in the first place, human or mutant! Or do you think that they were guarding a cocaine factory to keep that crap OUT of everyone's hands?"

"Look, I'm just saying we should have subdued them, locked them in one of the buildings and sent the authorities to…"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Storm yelled, her face about an inch from his. My eyebrows took up residence near my hairline. She must be pissed if she was resorting to cursing like me. "A setup that big couldn't operate unless someone was being paid to look the other way." She folded her arms and raised her chin in defiance. "Now, they've lost their fields, the buildings are probably still burning and not only did we save the mutant we went to save, but we've also managed to keep goddess only knows how much coke off the streets. All in all, I say it was the right thing to do. If you don't like it, you can shove it up your ass." She turned on her heel and stalked to the door, where she noticed me for the first time. I just gave her a knowing smile, which she returned with a wink. Finally, someone around here besides Angela and I had a clue.

Scott had turned his back and was waving someone down the ramp of the jet when I walked into the hangar proper. He turned when he heard me approaching and gave me a grunt as a greeting. I guess that was a step up from the usual non-greeting, so it counted as progress. I stopped in my tracks when I got a good look at the mutant they'd gone to rescue.

She was of average height, maybe five and a half feet tall with very dark skin and striking purple eyes. Her hair was black and very short, almost spiky in a punk way. But what stopped me in my tracks was the obvious mutation; she had wings. Not like bird or angel wings, but bat wings. I also noticed that her fingers were a touch too long and too thin, tipped with wicked looking claws. As I finished my scrutiny, I saw she had similar claws on her feet, which were currently bare. I looked her in the eye and gave her a smile, which she returned weakly.

"Logan, do you think Angela would appreciate you checking out strange women?" One-Eye said with distaste.

"Why don't you mind your own fuckin' business, Cyke?" I growled. "I ain't checkin' her out."

He snorted. "Sure could have fooled me." He turned back to the girl and beckoned to her. "I have to get her to the Professor. Storm and I don't understand a word she says." The girl came up beside him and stood there, obviously nervous.

"Hmm, what language is she speakin'?"

"She has a little Spanish, no English and the rest of it…no idea."

I looked at the girl again and introduced myself in Spanish. "Me llamo Logan. Y tu?" My name is Logan. And you?

She smiled wide. "Me llamo Chasca Lupaca."

Scott looked at me like I'd grown another head. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish."

I shrugged. "You never asked." I gently took her arm and led her from the hangar. She looked at me gratefully and asked me something in a language I didn't understand. I shook my head. "No comprende."

She lowered her head, biting her lip. I shrugged and led her to the elevator, getting a feel for her general attitude. She was obviously scared, which was only made worse by the fact that her primary tongue was something no one seemed to speak. I hoped she had enough Spanish so that she could speak at least some of the people here. We had a few kids who'd come from the Southwest and the Spanish-speaking neighborhoods in New York, Miami or Los Angeles. I was going through the roster in my mind, trying to think of someone who could help her learn enough English to get by around here. I also wondered if maybe Chuck could help her with that telepathically.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor and I led her to the Professor's office. True to form, he told us to come in before I knocked. I pushed the door open and led her inside. "Hey Chuck. This is Chasca Lupaca, the girl you sent Storm after." Xavier raised an eyebrow at the fact that I left Scott out of the statement, then smiled at her and motioned for her to sit down. He introduced himself in Spanish and she smiled again.

"Logan, there's no need for you to stay." He said as I went to take a seat. "I have a feeling that I'll be communicating with her telepathically more than verbally."

"That's cool." I replied. "I'm gonna find her a room and get one of the older kids who can speak Spanish to show her around." He nodded and returned his gaze to her. "Oh, before I forget, can you help her learn English mind-to-mind?"

"Most certainly. But I don't want to overwhelm her when she just got here. I'll make it clear to her that she'll be able to communicate with everyone soon enough."

I nodded and left the office. I still wanted to beat something to a pulp out of sheer frustration, but I still had to talk to Buzz before I could vent. I went back downstairs in search of him, finding him in the security office as usual. "Hey Buzz." I greeted as I entered.

"Hey." He replied, not looking up from his terminal. "Got some stuff for you."

"I heard. Let's see it." I pulled up a chair next to his and peered at the screen.

He closed whatever he'd been doing and pulled up another file. "Found this on one of the drives from Hudson Bay. Didn't know what it meant 'til the Professor told us what you found out about the new guy before you brought him back here." He moved away to give me some more room. "If you need anything, I'll be in the other room." I nodded and started reading.

The file I was looking at was under the heading "Weapon X". It detailed the procedure that Angela and I (and apparently Totem) had all been subjected to. However, it went into greater detail on the less physical aspects of the project: telepathic conditioning, memory alteration and removal, the chip Angela had heard about, amongst other things. It also listed the failed experiments and there were several names on the list I had never heard or seen before. At the very bottom of the list was both "Wolverine" and "Hellcat". I clicked on my name and a new file opened.

Code name: Wolverine

Real Name: Unknown, uses Logan.

Aliases: Jim Logan, James Howlett, Emilio Garra, Peter Richards. It is unknown if any of these are his real name and investigation of any of them has proven fruitless. Has also been called Patch, Canada and Wildboy in some areas.

Age: Unknown (see Mutations below).

Current residency: Alberta, Canada

Mutation(s): Rapid regeneration, which renders him immune to poisons and all known drugs, resistant to disease and the effects of aging. Current age is unknown, but estimates based on investigation indicate he may be anywhere from 80 to 100 years old at this time. Has bone claws that can be ejected from between his knuckles on both hands. Enhanced senses, primarily scent, but also has better than average eyesight and hearing. Has been known to degenerate into a feral state when severely injured or angered.

Other information: Is fluent in several languages including Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Cheyenne, Lakota, Chinese and French. Has some knowledge of Thai and Vietnamese. Is currently employed by Canadian Special Forces as a deep-cover operative.

I sat staring at the computer, not fully comprehending what I was seeing. Here was proof that I had a life before Alkali Lake that wasn't spent wading in blood. As I read further, I discovered that I'd been extracted by Stryker's goons while on a mission for the Special Forces. The nature of the mission wasn't mentioned, but I was willing to bet that as a deep cover operative, it wouldn't have been considered unusual for me to drop out for long periods of time. If I was ever reported missing, there was no record of it. The file also detailed the training and conditioning program, which verified that I was trained specifically to be an assassin. The last entry in the file stated that I was the best candidate to become his "Weapon X", or the tenth in a series of experiments to make the perfect weapon, just like Angela had told me. It also said that I was considered a failure, having escaped just after completion of the bonding process. It was an understatement to say I was stunned.

I was vaguely aware that Buzz had come back in and was standing behind me. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and turned to him. "How much of this can you backtrack for me?" I asked, pushing away from the computer.

He shrugged. "Probably all of it, but it'll take time." He replied, sitting back down in front of the computer. "But I'll warn you that the Special Forces stuff will be really hard to get into and once they figured out you weren't coming back, they might have purged you from their records."

I nodded, trying not to show any disappointment. "Yeah, I kinda figured. But damn it, kid, I need answers and this is the closest I've come in a long time. Just do what you have to do, all right?"

"You're the boss. I only work here."

"You do this for me and you'll be my hero." I replied with a smirk.

He glanced up at me and grinned. "Cool. I'll be a superhero's hero. I like it."

"I ain't no superhero." I growled.

"Sure. And I'm not a computer genius." He grinned again at my scowl. "I got a bunch of stuff on that Totem guy in here too, if you wanna look at it."

"I'll go over it later with Angela. Right now, I have energy I need to burn."

"Well, I saw her heading to the Danger Room a little while ago, maybe you can catch her?"

"Thanks kid." He waved me away, once again working intently on his computer. I walked quickly down the hall, hoping to catch Angela before she started whatever it was she was doing, but the red "in use" light above the door was on. I sighed and took the stairs to the observation room above to see what she was doing. I walked over to the window and stared in shock at the scene below me. I don't know what happened, but judging by the havoc she was wreaking down there, she was pissed as hell.

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AN: Ooh, what happened? Keep reading and find out! But i'd still really love it if you'd review THIS chapter and let me know what you think...:)