Disclaimer: It's back there somewhere, you know the drill...:) But in case anyone was wondering, Angela, Buzz and a few mutants are all mine, hands off please...

Chapter 11.

(Angela)

I was dumbstruck. After all this time, as much as he had to have smelled me before this, what was it about now that was different? I didn't worry about it, it was enough that he was remembering. It took me a moment to find my voice and when I did, I said the dumbest thing that could have ever come to mind. "What?"

He took another deep breath, then looked back at me, smiling. "I know, it's crazy. It's not like I haven't been breathin' you in all this time. But right now, it's different. It's you combined with the wood smoke and the pine trees, hell even the dirt." He started babbling about an op we did in Oregon, taking out a nosy senator. He went from there to another one, this time in Austria. It was like they all came crashing back to him like dominoes falling: Argentina, Beirut, Miami, Rome. It was insane of us to be so happy that he was remembering so much misery, but we were. It meant that he COULD remember, if only we could find some way to jog other memories.

I hoped that he'd be able to remember what he'd been doing just prior to his arrival at Alkali Lake, but that still seemed to be eluding him. But he now had all the grisly details of the procedure that put the metal in him, our escape and everything that happened afterwards. In fact, it seemed that any memory connected to me, no matter how remotely, was coming back with crystal clarity. I hadn't realized how long he'd been wandering, I honestly thought that he'd settled somewhere and had only recently begun to travel again. It shocked me to think that he'd been living day-to-day for the better part of fifteen years and that we hadn't once crossed paths by accident in all that time. On the other hand, it helped to explain to him why he was attracted to strong, willful women. It had more than a little to do with memories trying desperately to resurface. He also admitted that there had been many times when he'd be looking in a shop window and sometimes he'd think "she'd really like that" when he saw something cat related. There was the time he'd seen a really nice set of throwing knives and almost bought them "for her". But he'd never known who "she" was until now.

And there were little things coming back to him. Like the only way I can read a book is if I'm sitting sideways in a comfy chair, because it's easier to get to the chip bowl on the floor that way since no one ever puts a coffee table in front of a chair. He remembered the way I used to sing while I was cleaning the cabin to distract myself from how much I hate cleaning. He even remembered the last things we said to each other when we parted ways so long ago.

"I remember, we'd just crossed into British Columbia and Stryker was right behind us, maybe half a day away." He began, staring into the flames. "It was fall and we were beneath this huge tree that looked like it was on fire with all the red and gold leaves on it. I turned to you and you already had tears in your eyes, like you knew what I was gonna say."

"I did know. I'd felt it for hours, but I didn't want to admit it." I said softly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sun is shining warmly through the branches of the huge maple, gilding every leaf with honeyed color. It's warm on your face, but you can sense the bitter undertone of the impending winter in the air. Which is fine with you, because you're pretty sure that Logan's keeping something from you that you're really not going to like

You've stopped beneath this tree to get your bearings and plan your next move. Stryker's men can't be more than a half day behind you, but you're so tired of running and it's been wearing on your spirit for weeks now. You've already had two near misses since Ontario and you got away the last time by sheer luck. But none of that matters because you also have the sense that Logan has made up his mind about this. Deep down inside, you know he's going to leave you.

He turns to you with a mixture of sadness, anger and fear in his eyes, which only confirms your feelings. The tears are already threatening to fall when he gently strokes your cheek with the back of his hand, a sad smile on his face. "Darlin', this can't go on." He says quietly. "We're too easy to catch if we're together. You know I'm right."

Your chin trembles and two fat tears roll down your cheeks. "Logan, I'll never make it alone. You're my strength."

He wipes the tears away with his thumb, resting his palm on your cheek. "And you're mine. But I'll never be able to live with myself if they tear you apart and you know they'll never let us be in the same country, much less the same lab." You throw your arms around him and kiss him soundly, clinging to him for dear life. You do not want to let him go, but he's just as stubbornly defiant as you are. Also, you know he's right, even if you don't like it. He holds you close, stroking your hair and making soothing sounds before he continues. "Listen to me. I swear to you I will find you again someday. It might not be next year or even five years from now. But as long as I'm alive, I'll always be lookin' for you, cuz you'll always have the best of me in your heart."

You look up at him, eyes still shining with tears. "You better or I swear to you I'll hunt you down and kill you myself."

You both laugh, but there's no joy in the sound. After a moment, his eyes become grave again. He bends down and kisses you one more time. "Now go. Just turn around and don't look back. No matter what, don't look back."

You nod, stroke his cheek one last time and both of you turn at the same time. You take a deep breath to gather your will and take the first step that leads you away from him. It takes every ounce of that will to stop yourself from looking back, running back into his arms and damn the consequences. By the time you lose that battle and peer over your shoulder, he's long gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I couldn't watch you go any more than you could watch me." He said in conclusion. "And I tell you what, I'm such a coward, I didn't look back."

I was crying again, remembering how it felt to know my heart was walking away from me, but he had to know something. "Logan, I didn't look back either, at least not until it was too late. I did go back there about three years ago, to remember the last place I saw you. The tree was still there and I walked through that whole little town, wondering if you'd ever stayed there or come back to it since then. I thought that maybe if you had, I'd sense it and I'd be able to track you down." I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "But I'm not the one who does the smelling people thing, that's all you."

"Now aren't ya glad that I did?" He said with a grin. I looked at him and tried to smile, but it was too difficult, I was still reliving those last painful moments. He cupped my face with his hand and kissed me hard. "I know I am, because now I can say this and know that it's true. Angela, I love you."

He kissed me again, holding me close and I clung to him with all my might. Our clothes started flying shortly after that and the lovemaking was fierce to say the least. For the first time since he walked into my dive, we were both remembering the same things and it made the night all the sweeter.

The next morning, we took our time cleaning up our campsite. After all, it was the scene of revelation for him and what I considered the site of our actual reunion, so I was reluctant to leave it. I vowed to figure out who owned this forest and buy it as soon as I could. I was going to build a house right on this spot and I was never going to leave it. But for now, we had to make our way to New York somehow.

I didn't realize what Logan was doing until about three hours later. We were still in a fairly heavily forested area, no signs of civilization anywhere. I hoped that meant that no one owned these woods and they'd be easier to buy. We finally came upon a fairly large clearing, about two hundred feet by three hundred feet. He stopped in the center, turned around a couple times and declared "This should do it."

I removed my backpack and sat down gratefully. "Do what?"

"I think we can get a ride from here. That phone you had still workin'?"

I checked my disposable cell. It still had two bars in the battery meter. "Yeah, good enough, if you can get a signal out here." I tossed it to him and he caught it with ease. He punched in a number and walked to the farthest edge of the clearing, which was just far enough out of range that I couldn't make out what he was saying. After a few minutes, he walked back and tossed me the phone. "What was that all about?"

"Well, barrin' an emergency, we should have a ride out here in a couple hours."

"A ride? From where?"

"The mansion. The Professor's gonna send One-Eye to pick us up." He lay back in the grass and closed his eyes. "I tried to get him to send Storm, but she's in the middle of an exam with her senior history class and can't get away."

I was just staring at him. How the hell was he going to get us a ride all the way from upstate New York to here in a couple hours? Shit, we hadn't even seen a path big enough for a vehicle since we started hiking. His eyes were still closed, so he was completely oblivious to my confusion. I sat there wondering for a few minutes, then it dawned on me what he must be talking about. "Um, Logan?"

"Hmm?"

"You're not trying to tell me that he's flying, are you?" He didn't answer me. "Logan? He's not flying, is he?" I'm petrified of flying. Heights don't bother me, but I don't like to fly, not one bit. When I was still Hellcat, they had to dope me up before sending me on an op because I was so opposed to it. Even threatening me with vivisection wouldn't get me on a plane in anything but a completely stupor. I kicked him the ribs, which at least got him to sit up. "Logan! Is he flying?"

He sighed. "Yeah, he's flyin'. They have this kickass jet, you see."

"Do they have kickass drugs on this kickass jet? Cuz if they don't, the only ass getting kicked will be yours."

"Don't worry, darlin'. It'll be fine, trust me." He pulled me into his arms and did his level best to make me not think about flying for the next couple of hours. Which, I admit, worked like a charm. We were lying quietly in the grass when a loud noise alerted us to the presence of something large approaching. We stood quickly and I followed Logan as he ran just inside the trees. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the aircraft touch down, but it wasn't because it was pretty (it was). It was because there was NO WAY I was setting foot on that thing without at least several thousand milligrams of Phenobarbital.

The engines powered down and a ramp in the back lowered. A moment later, a good-looking guy wearing what looked like red sunglasses came sauntering down the ramp, afrown on his face. Logan scowled, but approached him anyway. I followed behind him, reluctantly. I knew that he would scoop me up and force me on that thing if he had to, so I was primed and ready to scurry up the nearest tree if he so much as flinched in my general direction.

"Logan, didn't we tell you not to make headlines when you left?" The guy said, sounding pissed. "And what did I tell you about taking care of my bike? Not to mention getting involved in a fatal accident. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Piss off, it's not what you think." He growled back. I did some quick math and determined this was the Cyclops that Logan was always talking about.

"Oh yeah? Let's see. There's a nasty motorcycle accident in Detroit where YOU happen to be staying. The passenger is killed almost instantly, but her body mysteriously vanishes from the morgue twenty-four hours later. Now, reports say that she escaped, but I've never seen corpses lively enough to do something like that."

Logan took a deep breath and held it, his shoulders hunched. I'm pretty sure he was counting to ten. "She's…not…dead."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Logan turned and motioned for me to stand next to him. I was a bit wary, I still didn't want him to try and get me on that plane, but I was tired of the dick-waving contest going on in front of me. I took a tentative step forward. "I mean, she's not dead. She's right here." I gave Cyclops a little wave. "Is this lively enough for ya?"

To give him credit, he at least didn't take that last bit of bait that Logan threw at him. His mouth dropped open in surprise and he walked over to us. "Whoa, this is HER?" He asked with a bit of skepticism.

"Yeah, it's me, what of it?" I shot back. "Haven't you ever seen anyone come back from the dead before? Happens to me every time I look in the mirror."

Cyclops shook his head in disbelief. "You've been spending too much time with Logan. You sound just like him."

I smiled, but not in a friendly way. "Oh, me and Logan go way back. Further than you can imagine." I leaned in and lowered my voice. "We saved each other's lives, you know."

Cyclops just shook his head again and started back to the jet. "Come on, let's get going."

"Thanks, I'll walk." I said, taking a step back.

Cyclops turned and looked at me, then back at Logan with a frown. "What are you talking about? It's perfectly safe, come on."

I took another step back. Logan sighed and dropped his pack, walking over to me calmly. I was still ready to move if he so much as laid a finger on me. When he was a few inches from me, he leaned his head down and whispered. "Look, I know how you feel about this. But we'll be outta here and back at the mansion before you know it. If I have to, I'll toss you over my shoulder and carry you on like baggage."

I swallowed. "Logan, I can't. I just can't. And you'd never catch me to toss me over your shoulder anyway."

He sighed and glanced away, but a slight tensing in his shoulders warned me that he was going to make a grab for me. I threw my pack in his face and scurried up a fifty-foot pine that was a couple feet away. It's harder to climb with front claws only, but not impossible. Cyclops seemed surprised by my display of agility; Logan was spitting mad. He popped his claws.

"Look, I'll chop this damn thing out from underneath you if I have to. Get down here and let's go."

"No way, I'm not moving. I'll get a train to Westchester in the next town and meet you there."

"I thought I already told you I wasn't leavin' you behind anymore. And I don't want to risk anyone recognizin' us from the news. Now get your ass down here."

I didn't realize that I'd been outflanked until a red beam hit the tree just above me and Logan swiped the trunk from below. I felt the tree shudder as he hit it again, then it started to list to the left. I couldn't go any higher, it seemed Cyclops had wanted to make sure of that. I rode the tree until it was about twelve feet from the forest floor before leaping off, rolling and springing to my feet. What I didn't count on was Logan being ready for that and scooping me up.

"Let me go! Logan, I swear I'll rip the skin from your back if you don't put me down this instant!"

He just swaggered to the plane, scooping up our packs on the way. He didn't put me down until the ramp had been raised, then strapped me into the seat across the narrow aisle from his. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't unbuckle the straps. Cyclops was chuckling to himself as he prepped for takeoff. I whipped my head around and leveled my best glare at him.

"What's so funny, asshole?" I hissed.

"Well, that's hard to say." He replied. "On the one hand, I've never seen anyone so opposed to getting on a plane that they'd climb a tree to avoid it. On the other, I'm imagining Logan getting the crap beaten out of him when we get back." He contemplated for a moment before finishing. "Nope, it's definitely Logan getting beaten that's the most amusing." He turned to me with a smirk. "I could get to like you." Before either of us could retort, he fired the engines on the plane and we were off.

To say that the flight was brutal for me is an understatement. I was born long enough before such things were common and I'm still a little hardwired to believe that man should not fly. There was also the panoramic view out the front of the jet that was completely lost on me because it just looked like a whole lot of "long way to the ground" to me. I don't get airsick, but I do panic. And I was as bad as can be when that jet finally landed. I was in the middle of planning the many tortures I was going to visit upon Logan's person when I heard a voice in my head. "Angela, I'm Professor Xavier. I'm going to do something to make you relax. And if you would be so kind as to not get Logan's blood all over my school, I would greatly appreciate it." Before I could formulate a reply, I felt my panic diminish to nothing. Logan and Cyclops simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and the ramp lowered as my straps miraculously unbuckled themselves. I hopped out of my seat, stalked over to Logan and punched him as hard as I could in the stomach before leaving the plane. His breath left him in a rush, but I just turned my back and stalked off the plane. The sound of Cyclops' laughter died away behind me.

The bay doors opened before me and I found myself in some kind of underground complex. I was immediately on alert, as the last time I found myself in one of these, well…I became quite the little killer and my daughter died. I was getting ready to bolt back to the landing bay when some doors opened to my left and a distinguished looking gentleman in a wheelchair glided towards me. I narrowed my eyes with suspicion, knowing that evil doesn't always wear an ugly face. As soon as he spoke, I knew my fears were unfounded.

"You must be Angela." He said. I recognized his voice as the same one I heard on the plane. "I apologize for invading your will a little while ago, but Scott assured me that it was better for everyone if you were calmed before you were let off the plane."

"Scott?" I didn't know a Scott.

"Cyclops. He told me what was going on the moment he landed. I have to agree with his assessment. Those were some terribly, um, creative things you were planning to do to Logan."

"I still haven't decided not to."

"Well, if you insist on it, I'll make sure you get some Danger Room time with him so you can work out your frustration."

I couldn't help but like this guy. He reminded me a lot of a man who used to live down the road way back in my first home, before I knew I was a mutant. I smiled in spite of my still burning anger. "What's a Danger Room?"

Xavier smiled. "All in good time, my dear. First things first, are you hungry?" I nodded. "Very well then. Storm will show you where the kitchen is, you may have anything you like. Am I to assume you'll be rooming with Logan?" I nodded again and blushed. "Good. I'll have Scott take your belongings there." He reached out and grasped my hand. "My dear, welcome to my home."

Home. How long it had been since I had one of those that felt permanent. I just hoped that the jinx that seemed to follow Logan and me hadn't followed us here.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was sitting in the kitchen, getting better acquainted with Storm and munching a massive turkey and cheddar sandwich when Logan finally came in. I stiffened a little, but I didn't hurt him when he put his hands on my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. Storm gave us a curious look when he did that. I decided to field this topic in my own way.

"Oh, don't mind him. He's starting to remember some things, but forgot that I hate to fly and have a penchant for revenge. But don't worry, I promise I'll get all the blood out of the carpet when I'm done tearing him limb from limb." I popped some chips in my mouth and smiled. Storm merely looked up at Logan, who cleared his throat uncomfortably and went over to the fridge.

"Oh my. Remind me not to get on your bad side. Anyone who thinks they can tear him apart is frightening indeed." She said with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, she's scary all right." Logan piped up, sitting across from me with a sandwich of his own. "Her code name used to be 'Fluffy' back in the day." I threw my empty pop can at his head, which he ducked with no problem. He just chuckled and tucked into his sandwich.

"Storm, is it too late for me to get my own room? I'm starting to feel suddenly single."

"Oh no, don't get me in the middle of your little spat. But just in case, I'll get all the really expensive breakables put away for safekeeping." She looked at her watch and stood up. "I have to go, I have a class in five minutes. You two behave yourselves."

"You know me." Logan said with a smirk.

"Yes, that's what I'm afraid of." She smiled at me. "You're a brave woman. I'll catch up with you later."

She left the room and I finished my sandwich in stony silence. Whatever whammy the Professor had done to me was starting to wear off and although the panic was gone, the thoughts of revenge remained. I was just getting to the part where I did interesting things with piano wire when a voice with a very Southern accent shouted Logan's name from the door and a whirlwind of mostly black hair threw itself into his arms. Now it was my turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"Hey kid, how ya doin'? Stayin' outta trouble?" He said after the whirlwind let go, revealing itself as a very lovely, very YOUNG girl.

"I'm good, how're you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told ya." He gestured to me with his pop can. "Rogue, this is Angela. Angela, this is the one I told ya about."

Rogue looked me over suspiciously. It was a little unnerving, mostly because it was the same thing Logan would do to someone he didn't trust. She really was an extremely lovely girl, with long dark that had a streak of pure white in the front. Closer inspection showed that it came in that way, she didn't bleach it out. She was wearing a very tight camisole style tank top in ruby red, a short jean jacket, flared jeans and black gloves. I smiled at her, trying to put her at ease.

"Hello Rogue. It's good to meet you."

She turned to him. "Who is she? Why is she here?" Even more stuff like Logan. Just how well did they know each other? I was starting to worry.

"She's a very old friend of mine. More than a friend, actually." He cleared his throat. "She's my girlfriend."

"I didn't think you ever had one a those."

"Yeah, well. Angela here helped to save my life back at Alkali Lake. It's a long story, can we talk about this later?"

Rogue narrowed her eyes at him then relaxed. "Yeah, I suppose we can. But I'm gonna hold ya to that." She looked at me again and relaxed a little more. "Sorry 'bout all that. He's my friend and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"I understand, Rogue. Maybe you and I can sit down later and I can explain a few things too, ok?" She considered this briefly then nodded. "It's a date then."

She hugged him again and then took off out of the kitchen. Logan smiled and went back to his sandwich, but I simply glared at him until he looked up. "What? Somethin' on your mind, darlin'?"

"Don't 'darlin'' me, Logan. What was that all about? I was starting to feel like the other woman."

He threw his head back and laughed in earnest. "Other woman? Oh, that's a good one." He took a long drink of his soda, then proceeded to explain how he'd met Rogue in Laughlin City and the events that led to their arrival at the mansion. "In a way, it's because of Rogue that I'm here at all. I promised to take care of her."

"Mmmhmm. And just how good of care has she gotten?"

It was like a light turning on behind his eyes as he finally understood what had me so upset. His smile vanished. "Oh, Angela, it's not like that."

"Oh sure." I leaned forward. "Logan, she acts just like you. I don't mean you have some shit in common, she gave me the same once-over you'd give a potential threat. That alone tells me that she's got quite the, uh, intimate perspective on you."

He laughed out loud again, but it was harder for him to stop this time. It only pissed me off further. When he finally calmed down, he took my hand in both of his. "Darlin', you ain't wrong about that, but it ain't what you think, either. Did you notice those gloves? And the fact that she's wearin' long sleeves when it's so warm out?" I nodded. "Whenever she touches someone or someone touches her bare skin, she absorbs their energy, their life force. If it's a mutant, she absorbs their abilities, too. Right after we got here, she heard me screamin' in my sleep and came down to my room to try and wake me up. I didn't realize who she was and I stabbed her right through the chest. She knew she'd never make it, so she touched my face til the wounds healed." He swallowed hard with regret. "A couple days later, the whole Liberty Island thing went down."

My eyes widened with shock. "You were there? You were a part of that?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, but we went there to stop Magneto." He went on to explain the events in great detail.He even admitted that he'd gotten his ass handed to him by some mutant named Mystique. But I felt my anger begin to melt when he told me how he'd saved Rogue almost at the expense of his own life. "No one was sure I was gonna make it, but I did. Poor Rogue, she absorbed so much of me that sometimes she acts just like me, does things on instinct the same way I would."

This was the man who thought he was an animal. This beautiful, selfless man believed he was nothing but a heartless killer. Suddenly, my revenge plans didn't seem so important anymore. I slid off my stool and walked around to him. He looked me in the eyes and barely managed a weak smile as I slipped my arms around his waist. He sighed and held me close. After a moment, I stepped away a bit, but kept a loose hold on him.

"Logan, the next time you worry that you're nothing but a killing machine or an animal, you need to remember what you just told me. A psycho killer would never sacrifice himself to save a girl he really barely knew. An animal would never have bothered to bring someone back from the dead. And a machine would never have cared enough to try." I kissed him softly. "And if you ever wonder why I've always loved you, well…now you know."

He gathered me in close again and we stood there for a long time. A slight sound in the hallway outside caught both of our ears and we whipped our heads around to see Cyclops standing there, his expression blank. Logan scowled at him; I just went back to my stool.

"The Professor wants to talk to both of you in his office, if you have the time." He said, his voice carefully neutral.

I shrugged and stood up again. "Sure, whatever." I glanced over to see Logan stand, his sandwich in his hand. He took the lead out of the kitchen, not sparing a glance at Cyclops. However, as I passed him, he said my name and I stopped. "Something on your mind?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that there's been a lot of upheaval around here lately. You're a new face and people will be curious about you, especially the older students. I just wanted to warn you that the kids might ask you all kinds of stuff that you're not expecting."

"Such as?"

"Well, it's obvious that you and Logan are close and it doesn't seem like a new thing to either of you. So I'm sure you'll get a whole interrogation from Rogue about that. But you also have your own mysterious past and everything, so the rest are going to want to know about that." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "And well…you're a new, attractive female, so don't be surprised if some of the older boys get curious about you."

I narrowed my eyes a little. Was he blushing? "Older boys?"

"Look, I'm just saying…" He trailed off.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit." He looked down at his watch. "Shoot, I have class in a few minutes. If you like, I can sit down with you later, maybe help you get settled."

Was he hitting on me? "Excuse me? What makes you think I'm going to stay here?"

"You mean, you're not?" He blurted then snapped his mouth shut.

"I've only been here what, an hour? I haven't gotten that far yet for fuck's sake."

"Hey, I just want to help out, make sure you don't have a rough time of it around here." He took a step forward and touched my forearm. "I want to make sure you know you're amongst friends."

I looked down at his hand on my arm, then looked him in the eye with an icy glare. "I know who my friends are. And I really can take care of myself." I jerked my arm away.

"Well, being around Logan, I'm sure you can." He replied with barely concealed disdain.

That did it. I took another step forward, my face just inches from his. "You leave him out of this." I hissed. "You don't know shit about us and it's really none of your business. And if you ever touch me again without permission, you'll find out why they call me Hellcat." I spun on my heel and went in search of Logan.

I caught up with him a few minutes later standing in the front hallway of the school. Every muscle in my body was tense and he took one look at me and knew something was wrong.

"What happened? He say somethin' to you?" He asked, his scowl deepening.

"Something, yeah. Nothing I can't handle." I took a deep breath, counted to five and let it out. "I can see why you don't like the guy."

"If he said somethin' offensive, I swear I'll break his fuckin' neck and dance on the corpse."

"No, not offensive, not like that anyway. Just…we'll talk later, ok?" He glared at me. "Ok? Come on, we have a meeting."

I could tell he wasn't ok with it, but he didn't have a choice now. He held the door open for me and closed it behind him. The Professor was sitting near a window, a pair of armchairs nearby. I took the one closest to him. After Logan was settled, he adjusted his chair so he could see us both and smiled.

"Feeling better after your snack?" He asked. I nodded. "Good. Now, Logan was telling me that you've known him for quite some time, is that correct?" I nodded again. "I was wondering if you would allow me to read your mind and get an idea of what kinds of things were done to him. It may help me to reverse some of the damage."

I shuddered. "Professor, with all due respect, there's quite a bit that I wish I could forget. I still think he's the lucky one, he's got amnesia." I leaned forward. "I was not a very nice person back then. It took me a long time to undo most of that they did to me. I know I didn't get all of it, some things just can't be unlearned. I did terrible things and I don't want anyone to see that part of me. That chapter is closed and I want it to stay that way."

He took one of my hands in his own, but I didn't sense that he was trying to manipulate me in any way. "My dear, I understand that you've done terrible things. I also understand that the person you were has no bearing on the person you are now. But you were close to Logan for a long time and there might be clues in the things that happened that might help me find some answers." He sat back and looked at us both. "I won't lie, reading his mind is like watching a slide show at an extremely fast speed. It's not an easy thing for me to do and that's saying something. It's as though something doesn't want him to dwell on any particular thought for long enough to link anything to it."

Logan's head jerked up sharply at that. "What? How can that be?"

"I don't know, but it's the way that it is. It also explains why you get things in small flashes, although it seems that those flashes have been getting longer since we returned from Alkali Lake."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, when I saw that lab where they…altered me." He suddenly looked at me sharply. "And again when I saw her for the first time, but I didn't make the connection then." He sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "But it makes sense, doesn't it? If they did put somethin' in me, I dunno, a post-hypnotic thing or a telepathic suggestion…" He raised his eyes slowly. "Or that chip you thought they were workin' on."

Now the Professor's eyes became sharp. "Chip? What chip?"

I sat back in my chair. "I don't know much about it. The only schematics I was authorized to check out were for security systems, building layouts, stuff like that. The other stuff was classified. But I overheard a couple of the scientists talking about a chip that could be inserted into the part of the brain that controls memory." I closed my eyes, trying to remember. "I couldn't hear them clearly, they were down the hall from me, but it was something that would randomly send an impulse to the brain to keep the memory from storing information. But they couldn't get it to stop scrambling things they wanted to be remembered, the stuff they were teaching us." I opened my eyes.

"How long before they altered Logan did you overhear that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, a few months, maybe five or six."

"Interesting." The Professor sat back, deep in thought. I glanced over at Logan, who now looked excited that there might be an answer after all. The silence stretched on for several minutes, so I jumped a little when the Professor spoke again. "Tell me, would they have put that in during the rest of Logan's procedure?"

"I would imagine so. There wouldn't be any way to insert it after the adamantium, after all. So yeah, if they did perfect it, then that would have been the sensible time to do it."

"Chu…Charles. Can we find out?" Logan was sitting at the very edge of his chair now, almost shaking with tension. "Is there any way to get a look in there and find out?"

"I don't know, Logan. But I swear that I will do my best to try."

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AN: Ok, not so cliffie as others, but it works for me...:) And hey! We are officially past the halfway point here...i'll let you in on a little secret, too! This story is technically done...:) I have a bit of polishing to do here and there, which i will do as i upload chapters, but i might be able to update even faster than i already do...:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for all their hard work and dedication (even though i think they offered so they could read everything before you everyone else!)...Mucho love to Da Big Kitty (tm) for his expertise in helping me keep canon characters in character and for being an inspiration (i.e. Pain in the ass!)...And last, but not least, to you the readers for keeping up with it and especially to those who have reviewed...you know, i love reviews, it means people are reading and i like that!