Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since the last chapter

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Chapter 17

(Logan)

Four days after Angela's party, Dr. Endicott called me down to the infirmary to meet with her friend, the neurologist. Hard as it is for me to admit, I was a little nervous about this. I'd had people fuck with my brain in so many ways, I was less than thrilled at the thought of someone else having a go at it. Since I hadn't been brain damaged in living memory, I wasn't sure how quickly it would heal. Normal people don't re-grow brain cells so it wasn't clear if my healing factor would work on damaged brain tissue or not. I felt pretty good about it. Dr. Endicott wasn't convinced.

Still, a longshot is better than no shot and I wasn't going to leave the infirmary without making this neurologist agree to dig this thing out of me. With that in mind, I made my way down to the lower level to meet with this guy. Dr. David Gilford was considered top of his field, which made me feel a little better. At least I wasn't going to be operated on by someone who'd barely scraped by in med school. Dr. Endicott made the introductions and we all sat down to talk about what needed to be done.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Mr. Logan." Dr. Gilford began. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Its just Logan." I replied. "And I'd be surprised if you had. It's not like memory chips are the latest craze in brain implants, I'm sure."

"It's not just that." He gestured to the wall behind him where my x-rays were hanging. "It's all of this. If I hadn't already been assured that the people responsible for this were already dead, I'd do everything in my power to have them brought to justice. What they did to you is simply appalling."

I snorted. "That's one way to put it. Not to say it hasn't come in handy and it's saved my life more than once. I would still have preferred it didn't happen."

"You do realize that this makes removing that chip a difficult process at best. We'll have to go in through the sinus cavity and if I'm understanding Darlene here correctly, we can't anesthetize you for the procedure."

"Not unless you have several thousand milligrams of somethin' I've never had before."

"So far as I can tell, there isn't something he hasn't had previously." Dr. Endicott said. "We tested everything we had on hand here and none of it worked. His immunity to drugs is simply amazing."

"Fascinating." Dr. Gilford murmured under his breath. "Simply fascinating. And this immunity, does it extend to other things?"

"Most everythin', so far as I know." I replied. "Every poison I've run into, every toxin. My healin' factor just adapts to whatever and I'm immune to it forever."

"Well, I might be able to find something you aren't immune to. We may have to try several drugs or combinations of drugs before we find something that works, but I will try. I'm reluctant to perform this procedure without anesthetic. It could take several hours."

"Look Doc, I don't care. I want this thing outta me as soon as you can do it. It ain't like I'm gonna sue you for malpractice or anythin'."

"Very well." He stood up and retrieved a file from the desk Dr. Endicott used when she was here. He opened it as he sat down. "I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of medical jargon. The chip is located here." He tapped the right side of his head near the temple. "I'm not very clear on how it works, but it probably has its own power source, a tiny battery of some kind. Because of that, I'm not sure if it has any defenses built into it to prevent removal. So, I'm going to try disabling it first by overloading it. That in itself may be quite painful."

"Doc, they flayed me alive and put molten metal on my bones. I can live with a headache."

"Fine." He scanned the notes again. "If disabling it doesn't work, I will attempt to remove it. I'll use a micro laser procedure that I've had success with in the past. That should limit the amount of trauma to the surrounding area and allow me to extract it. If necessary, I'll cut it apart and remove it in pieces. Again, this will be probably be…"

"Painful, I know. I can handle it Doc. Just get this thing outta me."

"I can't guarantee you'll regain your memory even if I do."

"I know that I won't if you don't." I said, my voice hardening. "Look, I'm gettin' this thing outta my head one way or another. If you won't do it, I'll find someone who will." I nodded to Dr. Endicott. "I trust this lady as much as I trust any other doctor. If she says you're my best shot, then I believe her."

He sighed. "All right. Come back tomorrow and we'll see what we can do for you."

We went over a few more things before we were done. We all stood and I shook his hand before leaving. I had one other idea for how to knock me out for this thing, but I had to ask someone first. And I was sure she wasn't going to like it.

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"Are you outta your freakin' mind?" Marie said in disbelief. "No way am I gonna do that!"

I was sitting with Rogue, smoking my after dinner cigar when I asked her if she'd imprint me to unconsciousness just in case Dr. Gilford couldn't find an anesthetic to work on me. I figured if she could take enough to put me under, but not as much as I gave her on Liberty Island, it could work. I was right when I assumed she wouldn't like it.

"If none of the drugs he's got work on me, he'll have to go in without them." I replied. "I ain't waitin' for him to find somethin' to get this thing out. I'm only askin' you as a last resort, darlin'."

"But it'll shut you down! You were out for three days after Liberty Island! What if your healin' factor shuts down too much and he does real damage while he's in there?"

"Hey I came back just fine, didn't I?"

"No one messed with your brain then, either."

I took a drag off my cigar and exhaled with a sigh. "What'll it take to convince you to help me?"

She sat back and thought for a while, chewing on her lip while I finished my cigar and waited for her. I looked out over the school grounds, at the kids lounging around in small groups enjoying the weather while it was still warm enough to hang outside. Another group was busy with a basketball game and still others were walking about, hand in hand. I noted that one such couple was Piotr and Kitty. Well, maybe tossing him around last summer had made him notice the crush she'd had on him since forever. About damn time they got together. I also noticed Chasca flying around, trying some new maneuvers we'd been working on with Totem watching from the ground. Yet another unexpected yet completely welcome pairing. At least he wasn't sniffing around Angela anymore; in fact, since they were both now more or less in control of their own impulses towards each other, they'd started working on becoming friends. Hell, even I liked the guy now. Call it the "Alkali Lake bond" or whatever, but we all understood each other.

"I got it!" Rogue shouted and I jumped, startled. I turned to her with a scowl and she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya."

"Don't do that again." I growled. "You got what?"

"I'll do what you ask if Josh is there, too."

"Josh? For what?"

"Well, if your healin' factor goes to hell, he can just touch you and heal stuff up for you until it kicks back in."

"Huh. I didn't think about that." I grinned. "Ok, it's a deal. I'll let the doc know tomorrow. You might have to skip a couple classes."

"Oh the horror." She said dryly. "I'm gonna miss math. Shoot me now."

"You've been hangin' around Angela too much."

She laughed then stood up and gave me a quick hug before going in search of her boyfriend. I sat back and thought about the next day. I finally had a chance to get my whole life back. Sure, there was still a part of me that was afraid of that past, afraid that I'd find out I really was nothing more than an animal. But the not knowing was worse than that by far and I was damn tired of it. Better an animal who knows than a man who doesn't, I say.

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I slept uneasily, my dreams filled with images of men in masks hulking over me, cutting open my head and replacing bits of my brain with computer parts and other machines. Compared to the old nightmares, they were a breeze to get through. I still woke up sweating but without the yelling that usually happened. I felt Angela stir beside me and I lay back down.

"Sorry 'bout that, darlin'." I whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"S'ok lover." She mumbled, snuggling into me. "If I knew someone was gonna be digging through my head in a couple hours, I'd have bad dreams too."

"You still sure you wanna be in there while they do this?"

"I'll kill anyone who tries to keep me out of there."

"You're so sweet." I said with a chuckle.

"I try."

We drifted back off to sleep and I managed to get through the rest of the night without any more nightmares. Chuck had cancelled most of the classes we normally teach for the day, knowing I'd be in no condition to teach afterwards and that Angela probably would kill anyone who tried to keep her away from me. The Beta team kids were taking over the defense classes for the middle level students while the potential Delta team took the youngest kids over for them. So really, the only classes anyone would be missing were the strategy and tactics courses, which were only offered to the kids who wanted to be X-Men anyway. This meant that Angela and I got to sleep in a little, which was a luxury we usually didn't allow ourselves. Of course, "sleep in" is a relative term. Sure, we were in bed, but we weren't really sleeping.

She never said anything to me, but I could tell she was afraid that something might go wrong in there and I'd either come out wrong or not make it all. I was reluctant to give her any reassurance, because I honestly didn't know what might happen either. We were all in uncharted territory here and everyone in the mansion from the Professor down to the newest students had their own fears about this thing. But it was something I had to do and no one tried to talk me out of it.

Angela and I emerged from our room about an hour before I had to be downstairs and we met Rogue and Josh for breakfast. They were also excused from classes for the day, just in case I needed Rogue to do her thing or if we needed Josh for any reason at all. Having him around for this would make both of my favorite women feel better, so I was all for it. I wasn't actually allowed to eat because of the surgery, but I was too jumpy to be alone. I noticed that Angela wasn't really eating either, which told me she was more afraid than she'd let on. Rogue at least managed some toast and jam, but I knew she was holding on by a thread as well. The smell of fear coming off the both of them was almost overwhelming and I was amazed that Josh couldn't smell it too. Angela finally gave up any pretense of eating and just held my hand under the table, resting her head on my shoulder. I leaned over and kissed her on top of the head, squeezing her hand to try and reassure her a little. A few minutes later, we all stood up and went down to the infirmary.

As we walked through the doors, I noticed that the entire room had been transformed from a general infirmary to a high-tech operating theater. Equipment that I didn't have names for was set up all around an operating table in the center of the room, with Drs. Gilford and Endicott busying themselves checking and rechecking everything. Another man was in there that I'd not seen before and he was introduced to me as the anesthesiologist. "Just call me Jim," he said as shook my hand. I was led away by Dr. Endicott to be prepped while Dr. Gilford explained everything to Angela.

"It's a fairly simple procedure, usually." I overheard from the next room, where I was told to strip and put on one of those ugly hospital gowns. I raised an eyebrow at Dr. Endicott who simply crossed her arms and gave me a look that told me I had nothing she hadn't seen before. I scowled back, but did as she said while I eavesdropped on Dr. Gilford. He explained everything to her that he'd told me the day before, sparing nothing and making sure it was understood that he made no promises about my memory coming back afterwards. Dr. Endicott took my vitals, made notes on a clipboard then led me back out to the main infirmary.

"…And that's all I can promise." Dr. Gilford finished as I came back in.

"I understand." Angela replied, already wearing a gown of her own and a cap had been placed over her hair. "Just show me where I'll be sitting and we can get this over with." He gestured to a chair that sat to the left of the table and she took it as I was positioned on the table. "Hey lover. You ready for this?"

"No." I replied with a slight tremor in my voice. "But I'm gonna do it anyway."

She smiled and squeezed my hand. Dr. Gilford cleared his throat and we both looked at him. "What?" She asked.

"Why are the children in here?"

"Contingency plan. Just in case Jim here can't find something that works on him."

"And what exactly does this 'contingency plan' entail?"

Angela explained the nature of Rogue and Josh's mutations and how we planned to use them if we had to. Dr. Gilford looked like he was going to protest, but Dr. Endicott held up a hand to stop him. "No, David, that's actually brilliant." She said. "I've done a bit of work with Josh here and so far, we haven't found anything he can't heal. He could make us obsolete. Hell, so could Logan and Angela, if we could figure out how to replicate their healing factors."

"Very well." He pointed to the two students. "You two, go with Dr. Endicott and she'll show you how to scrub up. You will wait over there," he pointed to the other side of the room, "until I call you. And I may not have to, understand? And no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you are not to move unless I call you. Ok?" Rogue gave him a scowl so like mine that Angela burst out laughing. I knew she'd rather be sitting next to my woman the whole time, but I nodded to let her know it was all right and she went with the doctor to scrub up. After what felt like days, we finally got underway. Jim started an IV, "Just in case", he said. Then the fun began. In case it's not obvious, that was sarcasm.

I'd been warned that there'd be some trial and error when it came to the anesthetic, but I'd also warned the doctors that I adapted pretty quickly to anything and there would need to be adjustments on the fly. I hoped Jim was up to the task. Since this was technically brain surgery, I had to be awake for the whole thing, so they were going to use a local anesthetic of some variety. I gripped Angela's hand every time he tried something new and I could feel her metal bones grinding against one another every time I did. To her credit, she didn't even wince; she just smiled and squeezed back. After about a dozen tries, he found one that worked. Acting quickly, he gave me what he said was "technically a massive overdose" of the stuff and Dr. Gilford got to work.

Unlike the probe that Dr. Endicott had done previously, all I felt this time was a lot of pressure. It felt like someone was trying to fill my entire sinus cavity with concrete or something and for some reason, it made me think of Deathstrike and how I'd killed her. I grunted and shuddered a little, squeezing Angela's hand again. I tried really hard not to look at what the doctors were doing. It was disturbing enough to just think about without having to see it too.

Less than half an hour later, the anesthetic was still holding and Dr. Gilford said "I've got it." He glanced over at a monitor, which I was told had the visual of the chip on it via a tiny camera that was inserted when they went in so he knew where he was going. "You ready, Logan?" I nodded slightly. "Ok, your friend Buzz worked all night getting me a schematic of this chip. I'm going to send a pretty hefty jolt to it and try to overload the battery. This might hurt." I nodded again and he did it.

Pain like nothing I've felt before exploded in my head and I screamed. I heard Rogue gasp across the room and heard Josh as he calmed her down. I had thought the adamantium bonding process was the worst thing I'd ever felt, but this was much different. For one thing, it was localized and my vision was obscured in a red haze for a moment. Angela had told me that she saw everything in red whenever she went feral and I gritted my teeth to hold back the animal. I didn't want to gut this poor guy before he had a chance to finish. After a few moments, the pain subsided to a dull ache.

"Fascinating." Dr. Gilford mumbled under his breath as he watched the monitor.

"What's that?" Angela asked, peering at the screen.

"Oh, his healing factor." He replied, looking more closely at the image. "I knew there was a possibility of some residual effects to the surrounding brain tissue, but it's healing over. I've never seen anything like it."

"I told you I'd be all right, Doc." I said through gritted teeth. "Now did zottin' it work or are you gonna start cuttin'?"

He looked closely at the screen, his eyes narrowed in what seemed to be a frown. He then consulted something hanging next to the monitor then went back to the screen and frowned again. After repeating this for about ten minutes, he looked at me. "Well, I don't think that worked. So I'll have to try and remove it. How's the anesthetic holding up?"

"Seems to be fine. Don't worry about me. Just get this thing outta me already!"

"Have you ever been told you're a terrible patient?"

"All the time."

He chuckled and went back to work. About five minutes later, my healing factor finally took care of the anesthetic and I screamed again, clenching Angela's hand so tight she gritted her teeth. "Uh, Jim? Time to try somethin' else." I said in a tight voice.

"On it." He replied quickly and Dr. Gilford moved aside to let him work. Again, he went through several options before admitting defeat. "Sorry man. I don't have anything that'll work on you."

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. Dr. Gilford let out a sigh, sounding resigned. "Rogue? Josh? You're up."

I heard the sound of shuffling feet and Angela stood up to let Rogue take her place. "Hey Logan. I'll try not to peek at your really private stuff, ok?"

"Sure kid. Just do it." She nodded and peeled off her glove, twining her fingers with mine. I had just enough time to give her a reassuring smile before her mutation kicked in. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like when she imprinted. It's hard to describe it, really. How do you put into words what it feels like to have your very life drawn out of you? At any rate, she had enough control to know when she'd done all she needed to do and I blacked out.

When I came to, I was hooked to a couple different monitors, Angela sleeping in the chair next to me with her head on my shoulder. I reached over to stroke her hair and she woke up. She took my hand and smiled at me. "Hey lover. How you feeling?"

"Fantastic." I said, my voice weak. "Did it work?"

"Yeah. Freaked Dr. Gilford and Jim out right and proper, they thought you were having a seizure. But Josh was great, he stopped the bleeding and they got the chip out. Wanna see it?"

"You kept it? Morbid much?"

"The Professor wants to send it to a colleague of his, a Dr. Hank McCoy, so he can study it. We know there are other active operatives out there. If we can find them and help them like we helped Totem, knowing how they work can make it easier on the next one."

"What if they don't want to be helped?"

"Then you and I will find them and take care of them."

Before I could answer, Dr. Gilford appeared next to the bed. "So, it seems my fears were unfounded. Josh didn't even have to do much more than control the bleeding. Once I got that chip out, he even jump started your healing factor."

"Great." I said. "Can I go now?"

"Not yet. I still have a few tests I have to do. It's standard procedure, even if you're not a standard patient."

I sighed and scowled at him. "Fine. Do what you gotta do. But as soon as you're done, I'm outta here."

"I figured as much." He chuckled. He checked my vitals, eyes, reflexes, motor skills and asked me a bunch of stupid questions. Twenty minutes later, he declared me the worst patient he'd ever had and told me I could go, with instructions to call him if I experienced any loss of vision, headaches, nausea or any loss of memory besides what I was used to. I jokingly told him that I wouldn't know if I forgot something, since I would have forgotten it. He looked less than amused.

All told, I was out for a day and half. Rogue was thrilled that I was all right, though the rest of the mansion was far from pleased that we'd had to resort to the contingency plan. I finally got to witness what she was like with my "more charming" personality traits and I thought it was funny as all hell. Everywhere I went there were grumbles about it, but her inner me eventually faded and they only had to deal with one of me.

A week later, I still hadn't remembered anything new but the doctor had told me it might take some time before anything came back, if it ever did. I just threw myself back into my regular routine of defense, strategy and tactics classes, Danger Room with the teams and making love to my woman every chance I got. My life was finally pretty good for a change and even if I never remembered the life before Alkali Lake, what I had now was enough.

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AN: Ok, still no action...i'm saving that for the next chapter...:) In case you were interested, there's only 4 chapters to go...i may slow down the updates to one every 3 days til i leave for vacation, just to keep you in suspense...yeah, i think i'll do that...:)

Just in case you were interested, me and a couple of the other writers here at FFN have started our own discussion forum...if you want to come hang out with us, check out my profile for the address or send me a PM...:)

Special thanks to all the people i usually thank...i'm very tired today, so i'm being lazy...but i still want reviews! I promise, there will be happy dancing!