They'd set off, early morning, each team dropped off to their destination before Bobby and Ororo took off with the Blackbird by themselves,

"Have ya ever noticed" Logan murmured, voice echoing down the tunnel,shoving an ancient shopping trolley out of his way before wading on through the knee deep sewer-ridden water, "that we get all the scenic spots?" He heard a sigh from the darkness behind him,

"Indubitably, my wolfish friend, obviously the others are that jealous of our natural charm and good looks-" Hank grunted a little, tripping over a rock beneath the water, "-that they seek to sully us with waste" Logan smirked over his shoulder, reaching out to help his friend,

"Steady there doc" He murmured, a smile barely suppressed, "Gettin old?"

"Thank you" The Doctor said dryly, "Any luck in the olfactory department?" Hank asked. Logan gave him a look of pure incredulity,

"Ya wants me t'take a deep breath? In this?" He waved a hand at the sewage surrounding them, "what? Is the air clearer where you're at?"

"Sorry" Hank coughed, his own eyes watering a little from the stench. The intercom crackled,

"Come in Moles" Bobbys voice crackled,

"Moles?" Logan said flatly,

"Come in Moles, this is team Icy Blast"

"Getting you loud and clear Icy Blast, what's the problem?" Hank called back, trying not to laugh at the slowly infuriated Wolverine before him as they trudged through the sludge,

"Change your frequency, Hank" Kurts voice chimed in, "ve've all been tryink to get to you for zer past half hour, ve thought somethink had gone wrong"

"Nice one Elf" Bobbys voice snapped sardonically, "we were trying to keep to code names"

"And we got Moles?" Logan asked. There was the sound of muffled laughter from both Kurt and Bobbys coms,

"Thought you'd like that Logan" Rogue called through,

"Mmm" Hank murmured, unable to keep away his own grin, "I'm just glad no one made any reference to the seven dwarves-"

"Hold on bub" Logan called back, crouching a little lower suddenly, "turn that thing off will ya?" He whispered over his shoulder,

"Hank whats-"

"Sorry Bobby" Hank flicked the com off, straining his own ears, watching Wolverine tense slowly,

"Don't make any sudden moves" Logan said lowly, barely moving his lips as he turned round with glacial slowness,

"Why not?" Hank murmured in reply, feeling his heart speed up – he hated not being able to see through the murky water,

"Because there's somethin-" Logan never finished the sentence, pulled under water quicker than humanly possible, not even time for him to draw breath,

"Logan!" Hank dived forward, taking a breath of fetid air before going under. He groped blindly, finding the bottom of the sewer with nothing but debris on it, no hint, no sign that Logan had even been standing there. Hanks lungs screamed at him and he was forced to surface, flicking on the com, "All teams, we need you now something's got Loga-"

"HWARUGOOOO!" Hank turned with a low roar at the sound behind him only to see Logan standing and taking another huge breath of air before he started choking,

"Hank? Hank?" Ororos voice crackled over the com. Logan looked up through streaming eyes to see Hank moving towards him,

"What was that?" Hank asked, helping him upright. Logan gasped,

"I dunno but it was strong and- HANK!" This time the Doctor was pulled under and Logan growled, unsheathing his claws before –

"Help me!" A woman, red from head to toe, her hair, even her clothes a bright scarlet was heading towards him, bedraggled and wet through she waded towards him. Logan held out his arms instinctively, claws sheathed, catching her as she stumbled, "oh thank God you're here" She said breathily, clinging to him. She gazed up at him with hooded eyes, an odd scent on her breath. Logan opened his mouth to ask who the hell she was and what was going on but he never got a chance to speak. She fastened her mouth over his and…a bitter tasting liquid flowed from her into him and suddenly Logan didn't care about anything, not even the sneering voice that was the last thing he heard before everything went black, "Males. Why do they always fall for the damsel in distress thing?"


A/N - do you guys have any idea how hard it is to spell the noise you make when you take a deep breath? I think 'hwarugooo' was a pretty good guess.