Disclaimer: Buzz, Angela and certain villainous types are all mine...everything else has been disclaimed previously.
AN Take One: I'm a day early on my update, due to popular demand (or at least the demands of a certain reviewer who shall remain nameless...ready the reviews and you'll know who i mean!) But we're supposed to have thunderstorms for the next few days and i'm sneaking this in as fast as i can.
Interlude: Logan
It was dark where he was. Dark and cold and empty. What is this place? He wonders. Why do I feel so terrible? He tries to reach out and wrap his arms around Angela, but he can't move his arms. Wait, he can't move anything! Sudden panic grips his chest as a smoldering rage begins to burn in his heart. Ok, I have to take stock. What do I remember?
He'd laugh bitterly at himself at the irony of such a statement, but he doesn't have time. Ok, I was sleeping, waiting for Angela to come back from the Danger Room. The door opened and…someone came in, but I can't see their face. They smell familiar, like someone I should know but I can't remember who. Scent triggers memory, remember that scent, it's important. Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, sleeping. I hear a sound like a sudden puff of air, something stings my shoulder. What the fuck, someone darted me! I got up, popped my claws, I think there was a fight. Didn't anyone hear the fight? Hold on, I remember, I felt dizzy. Something cold and burning in my veins, in my head. Yeah, they knocked me out. That must have been some cocktail. How long have I been out?
He strains his ears, but he can't hear anything. This is familiar too. Sensory deprivation, one of their favorite punishments. His panic grows, his mind races. Wait, how'd they get past the security? How'd they get me out of there without someone knowing? Where did they take me? How long have I been here? He checks his internal body clock, something he can do and decides that it couldn't have been more than three or four hours at the most. They must have thrown me in here as soon as we got here. He inhales deeply, the one sense they can't deprive him of is scent. All humans, one mutant, at least four men and two women…and the familiar scent. I have to remember the scent, scent triggers memory.
A slight rustling outside the door alerts him to a presence. He closes his eyes and slows his breathing so they will think he's still unconscious. It works like a charm. He listens carefully and lets the outside come in.
"Damn Hallett, what'd you give him?" A man said.
"Some fucking cocktail the big brains dreamed up." She replied. Hallett? Anissa, from the school? What's that kid doing here? "You forget that I've been here longer than anyone. I remember when they brought this guy in."
"It's a shame we didn't know about Hellcat being there when this whole thing went into motion." A different man, his accent sounds like cultured Southern.
"Don't worry, she'll come to us." Anissa replies.
"You sure about that?" The second woman, Midwestern accent.
"Oh yeah. For some stupid reason, she's in love with this guy. She'll move heaven and earth to get to him, make no mistakes."
"Think she'll come alone?" The first man again.
"She might bring someone to fly that fancy jet of theirs, but I can't see her bringing anyone else. That Summers guy hates Wolverine with a passion. Xavier would never leave the precious children alone, so he'll stay behind. I'm guessing she'll bring Storm."
"Ororo Munroe, the African woman?" Another man, his voice a little clipped. British maybe?
"Anyone else? Any students?" The fourth man, his voice a deep bass rumble.
"No, I doubt it. The only person she trusts to back her up is right here. And by the time we're done with him, she won't even trust him."
"All right then. Good work Hallett."
They leave him alone and he opens his eyes. Was I just the bait all along? Did I just lead us both to our doom? His panic is still rising, but so is the rage. He tries to move again and realizes he's not paralyzed, he's restrained. But he also knows these people are not stupid and these cuffs are probably adamantium. Well, they have to let me up sooner or later. And when they do, gods help them.
An hour later, more footsteps in the hallway. This time, he acts like he's still groggy, just coming out of it. Time to see what these people really know about him and he's primed and ready.
The door opened and three people wearing lab coats came in. Wolverine was lying on a table made of adamantium, restrained with cuffs of the same material around his ankles and wrists. His eyes rolled in his head, unfocused. They bustled about, not paying any attention to him. One of them brushes his hand with theirs and they flinch, like they just touched something nasty. Finally, one leans over and checks his eyes.
"Yeah, he's awake now." She says. "Send them in."
"Wha? Send…in…" He mutters, as though still groggy.
The door opens again and two people walk in. By scent, he identifies one of them as Hallett, the other as the man with the deep bass voice. They stand over him and the look in the man's eyes indicates he thinks of Wolverine as less than an insect on his shoe. He's also wearing a military uniform, American, and by the stars on his collar, a general.
"Wolverine." He rumbles, sneering. "You have caused us a great deal of trouble. Thanks to you and those…people…we've lost our main base of operations. Why did you ever go back there? Did you think we wouldn't notice you? Did you think you could stop us?"
"Who are you?" Wolverine asks, bewildered.
"You don't remember me? I'm shocked. I'm General Franklin. I'm the reason you exist."
"What do you mean?
Franklin looks over at Hallett, a bemused expression on his face. "He really can't remember dick, can he?"
"No sir, he can't." She replied with a smirk. "I think the implant has been doing its job quite well."
"Implant?" Wolverine asks, then remembers that conversation so long ago in Xavier's office. "You put something in my head to fuck with my memory?"
"Yes, we did." Franklin replies. "We didn't have a foolproof method of mind control at the time. But we could make it so that you only remembered what we wanted you to remember. I'm not sure exactly how it works; it's something the big brains cooked up. We were amazed that you managed to get away and with Hellcat's help."
"She didn't help me. She came along for the ride. You killed her kid, what the fuck did you expect her to do?"
Franklin frowns. "So, that's what made her leave. We always wondered about that. I wonder how she found out?" He sniffed. "No matter. By our estimation, she'll be tracking us down right now. It's what we made her to do. I just wish we'd known she was there sooner, we could have grabbed you both with a minimum of bloodshed."
"I don't know how you define minimum, bub, but she's gonna tear through this place and she won't leave until we're swimming in blood."
"We'll see about that." He gives Wolverine a cocky half-smile, then gestures to the lab coats. "Get him out of here, put him in the tank."
The tank. That can only mean one thing, the tank where they cut him open and made him the man he is today. For a brief moment, all he feels is panic. Then, he remembers that help is on the way and rage once again takes control. They think she'll only bring Storm, but he knows better. She'll bring at least Rogue, which means they'll have to fight two Hellcats. And there's no goddamn way they're ready for that.
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Chapter 18.
(Angela)
Sleep was out of the question, no doubts about that. I still had enough adrenaline in my system to choke an elephant, but what was keeping me going was fear. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of the motivation that Logan and I used back in the bad old days was fear. Not fear of dying or anything like that, obviously, but fear of the pain we'd have to endure if we failed. Take a good look into his eyes one day and if you can get past the suspicion and the anger, you'll see fear. But don't tell him I said that.
We'd been arguing all night. We lifted the alert soon after Rogue and I returned to the mansion, once we'd determined that Anissa had circumvented our system with a cleverly hidden set of commands that disabled the parts of the system she needed for a brief period, just long enough to get someone in to help her get him out of there. She must have been some kind of computer genius to rival Buzz. I made the decision to get him out here to work his mojo on our system to prevent that from happening again, fuck whatever anyone else had to say about it. The Professor felt personally responsible, because he was the one who screened Anissa in the first place. She'd come to us through the underground, so it was a standard procedure. Not that most people would know about it, since he did so while doing their entry interviews before settling them in to the school. I blamed myself for not being there. I was convinced that if I had been, they'd never have taken both of us. And since an infiltration op like this would have taken months of careful planning to allow for every contingency, I'm relatively certain they didn't know I was there when they conceived it. Rogue blamed Scott, who really was the one that was most responsible for the whole mess. Had he not hesitated, they'd never have gotten as far as the chopper. Had he come with us, he could have shot it out of the sky, Storm could have made the weather too dangerous to fly in, hell Bobby could have frozen the damn thing and we could have chipped Logan out. I changed my mind, it was definitely Scott's fault.
Which brings me back to the meeting in the office. Scott was arguing that we couldn't go after him because we didn't know where he was. Rogue had her gloves off (figuratively and literally) and was demanding we look anyway. The Professor had so far been unable to find Logan, which meant he was probably still unconscious wherever he was. Bobby was trying to keep Rogue from doing Scott in right there. Piotr, who is normally a very quiet guy, was sitting near the window, quiet. The rest of the team was in the dorms, calming the rest of the students. I was ready to hop back on the motorcycle and follow my instincts to find him. Except for maybe Scott, we all shared one thing in common; we felt helpless. And the only thing that's more dangerous than an angry Hellcat was a helpless one.
"Professor, if you can't find him with Cerebro then I don't see how we'd do any better any other way!" Scott was arguing.
"That doesn't matter!" Rogue shouted back. "We have to try! If it was anyone else in this school, you'd be out there right now!"
"Rogue, please. We have to talk about this calmly." Said the Professor. I knew he was about a half inch from just knocking her out telepathically, but he didn't like to do that.
"How can I be calm?" She shot back. "How can any of you be calm? Whoever Stryker was working with has Logan! Do you know what they could be doing to him right now?"
It was then that the shock finally settled in on me. Suddenly, all the noise in the room was deafening, all I could hear was a kind of rushing in my head. I turned to the Professor. "Oh gods, he's gone." And I pitched headfirst into the floor.
I woke up a couple hours later in the infirmary, Storm sitting nearby. I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd ever fainted in my life. It's terribly disorienting. "Ugh, what happened?"
"You fainted." She said. "Shock. It happens to everyone."
"Not to me."
"First time for everything."
I smiled weakly, then it all came rushing back and my face fell. Sudden tears sprang into my eyes and my shoulders started shaking. Storm came over and put her arms around me, soothing me like a scared child. It's just how I felt, really. Logan was gone and I didn't know if he'd be the same when I saw him again. I didn't know what I'd have to do. Would I be able to get him back? Or would I have to kill him? I didn't know if I could, emotionally or literally.
After a few minutes, my infiltrator mind kicked in. I dried my tears and looked up. "Storm, I need a phone. A secure line to the outside that I can use and no one will interrupt me. I need a notebook and pencils, a map of North America and a laptop. Can you get them for me?"
"Of course I can. Should I get anyone down here?"
I thought for a moment. "Yes, I need Rogue, Kitty and that kid Jesse who calls himself Bedlam. Especially Rogue. She'd never forgive me if I left her out of this. Have them meet me in the war room." I looked up at her. "You too, when you can."
I always thought that was an ironic name for a room that, until now, had precious little to do with war. But the war room outdates even Logan, which always struck me as funny. I got up off the bed, got dressed again, ran my fingers through my hair and rushed down there on legs that were still shaky with adrenaline and fear. Storm was kind enough to have all the things I asked for waiting for me when I arrived. Even though it was still very early, I put a call in to Buzz.
"This better be good." He said. I was surprised he picked up.
"Buzz, it's Angela."
"Ang? You know better than to call me this early."
"I know. It's an emergency."
"Like Detroit?"
"Bigger. Can you get away for a few days?"
"Sure, I can. What's up?"
"No, not over the phone. I'll fill you in when you get here."
"You got it."
He hung up and I booted up the laptop. I called up a three-dimensional map of the area where the chopper had taken off and typed in the trajectory it had been headed when it left. It hadn't been a long-range model, so they either had him very close by (unlikely), or they'd taken him somewhere close and switched to a longer range vehicle, probably another chopper. That was the bad news, since they could have taken him anywhere in this part of North America. And there's a lot of empty out there. I started marking the regular map with likely places they could be, starting fifty miles out.
Storm was the first to join me. "Angela, what are you doing?"
"Looking for Logan."
"The Professor is still trying with Cerebro, but there's been no luck."
"I don't need Cerebro. I just need a little help from my friends." I looked up at her. "Will you help me?"
"What do you need?"
I told her I needed her to get Buzz from Michigan and get him back here ASAP, which meant using the jet. I gave her his address and phone number so she could call him and tell him where to meet her. "And Storm, whatever happens, do not let Scott stop you. If they turn him back, he'll be unstoppable."
"All right, I understand. I'll be back in a little while."
As she left, the others came in. Rogue understood immediately what was going on and I set her to work marking the map on my instructions. Bedlam was more confused.
"Miss Rex, why are we here?" He asked. I could tell they'd gotten him out of bed, which I'm sure made the confusion worse.
"I'm sure you know by now that we had an incident last night." I explained and he nodded. "I believe that people who may have worked with William Stryker infiltrated the school and extracted Wolverine. We're going to find them."
"What? How? Why us?"
"The 'how' is simple. Storm's picking up a friend of mine who can hack any computer. And I want you guys there for several reasons. Rogue is an obvious choice. I don't want to find myself on the wrong side of her temper if I don't take her with me. Bedlam, I want you because of your wonderful way with electrical systems. Wherever we go, we'll have to disable security systems, computers, door controls, you name it. And I might need you to disable Logan. I don't know what kind of state he'll be in, so I need to plan for the worst. Kitty, you're my ninja. I want you to stay phased the whole time we're in there. Not only does it make you bulletproof, but Logan-proof too. And you'll be sneaking ahead and doing recon for me, letting me know what we're up against."
"Bulletproof?" Her eyes were incredulous. "You think they'll shoot?"
I looked up and she took a step back, her eyes widening. "I'm counting on it." I know what she saw when I looked at her. This is what I was made for, this is what I do best. I get into any facility and kill people. She was seeing the real Hellcat, the one they made me into. Right now, I couldn't care less. I needed that edge to get through this. Of course, Cyclops chose that moment to try and stop me.
"Angela, you're not doing this." He snapped.
"Yes, I am." I replied, still looking at the computer and typing commands. "Who's gonna stop me, you? I doubt that."
"You had Storm take the jet to pick up your hacker friend. You have these kids here and you're planning on taking them into danger. Look, I know he's your lover, but they'll be expecting us to come right after him. We have to wait and see…"
"NO! We don't. Yeah, they're expecting the X-Men to show up. They are not expecting us."
"If they're expecting the X-Men, then yes they are expecting you."
I looked up slowly, rage building inside me. "What makes you think I'm an X-Man, huh? Did I get the decoder ring or a uniform? No, I didn't. I am not doing this for you or the Professor or even me. I'm doing it for Logan. If they really knew I was here, they'd have sent a full attack force like before. Nothing smaller would take us down. Individually, we're tough. Together, we're an army and they know that. So no, they're not expecting me. And they really won't be expecting two of me."
"Two of you? What's that mean?"
I smiled. "Why do you think Rogue is here?"
His eyes widened. "You're going to let her imprint you before you go in? Are you insane?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. But I'm only giving her enough for about an hour. I can shrug that off in a matter of moments. Now please leave. You're bugging me."
"You won't get away with this. You have to know this is suicide!"
"With all due respect, I've heard that before."
He stormed out and I turned back to the computer. As I continued to search, I realized that their trajectory would have taken them in the direction of the Hudson Bay area. Wallace had told me years ago they had a secondary base there. Could they have gone back again?
Storm returned with Buzz (who was suffering from some major gadget envy by this time, I'm sure) about an hour and a half later. As soon as he walked in, I ran to him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes!"
He hugged me back a little awkwardly. "Well, with everything that's going on, I figured what the hell?" He sat in front of the computer. "So, what are you looking for?"
I quickly outlined what had happened and what I thought was happening now. I gave him a few details about what had happened to me and Logan with the adamantium bonding process and conditioning they'd put us through. His eyes widened in horror, but he held it together. I also told him my suspicions about the Hudson Bay facility. He nodded and made notes before turning to the computer and doing his thing. If computer use is a mutation, then he's got it in spades. Given enough time, he could probably make a computer perform show tunes for him, complete with kick line. I waited nervously. Logan had already been gone for six hours by this time and every minute that passed was a minute closer to losing him forever.
Finally, the computer gave a beep and he leaned forward. He peered at the screen with a frown, typed in a couple commands and it beeped again. He repeated this process for the longest twenty minutes of my life before crying out "Aha!" We all jumped, but I recovered and leaned over his shoulder.
"Aha? Who says that, really?" I said, my main defense mechanism kicking in again. That's me, making jokes in the face of certain doom.
"I do." He replied, then pointed to the screen. "Ok, I had to call in some huge favors for this, but I think this is your guy." I squinted to see what he was pointing at. "Here's us." He pointed to a big black 'X' on the screen. "You said they left from here going northwest, right?" I nodded. "Well, they must have changed choppers at some point, because the only place on the North American continent that has any information on a Logan or a Wolverine is here." He pointed to a big red dot that all but covered a small island in the Hudson Bay. "You were right about that. It was supposedly decommissioned, but there's been unusual activity to and from the island for the past six months." He turned his chair around and beamed at me. "The best part of all? About four hours ago, a chopper came in from the southeast and landed there."
"That's it! Buzz, you're a genius. I owe you big time!" I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Name your price, anything you want, it's yours."
He looked around, thinking, then looked back to me. "Get me a job here and we'll call it even."
"Done." Said the Professor from behind me. We all turned to look as he eased his chair into the room. "You have done more to help my people in the past few months than I ever thought possible. And you have gone out of your way to help someone that I consider a valuable friend. I owe you a debt and if a job here is all you want, then it's yours."
I don't think anything could have made Buzz happier in that moment, but he stood and solemnly shook the Professor's hand. I smiled and patted him on the back, then turned back to my team. "Storm, I'll need you to fly the jet. We'll have to land nearby without actually landing on the island."
"She'll land in the water just fine." She replied. "I think this area would be best, we'll have the woods for cover." She indicated a small area near the southern part of the island.
"Good. Bedlam, as soon as we hit land, I want you to start finding things to scramble. Kitty, you'll scout ahead and alert us of any possible ambush they may have set up. Rogue, you're my secret weapon."
She grinned. "I just knew you were gonna say that."
"Well, I'm going to give you my powers. I'm not as strong as Logan and I don't heal nearly as fast, but my reflexes are quicker. As long as you don't take a really serious wound, you should be all right."
"And what if I do?"
"Then let me know and I'll let you suck me dry. We'll both come back tomorrow that way."
Storm looked concerned. "Are you sure? We're still not certain how her ability works."
"And how long was she Logan after Liberty Island?"
"A couple days…oh. Ok, never mind."
"Ok you guys, suit up. We're outta here."
Bedlam and Kitty dashed off to get uniforms. I didn't know if Rogue would get my claws and everything, her imprinting wasn't exactly a perfect science, but I told her to get ready to lose her boots if she did. As for me, I was going in just like I was: black cargo pants and a black tank top. No shoes, no weapons, no uniform. But before we left, I had one more part of the costume to put on. I took the elevator to the second floor where the room I shared with Logan was located. I opened the unbroken side of the closet and pulled down a small box, black lacquer. Still resting inside there were the four most important things I owned: a silver ring with a knot work pattern, a small stone cat, a faded photograph and a necklace, a simple metal tag, stamped with a numeric code and a single word, suspended from a metal ball chain. I took the necklace out and pulled the chain over my head. Hellcat was back.
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AN Take Two: Again, i mention weather here...everyone knows who i would normally thank and i apologize for not doing so today...but everyone should know they are appreciated, loved or otherwise have my eternal gratitude!