Feral Compulsion
"Chapter Ten"

After buying the duo the necessary under garments, they had to make their way to a general clothes store. Logan was relieved when Jean let him pick out the store. Because he sure as heck was not getting clothes from Forever 21 or Old Navy.

"Yuck." Harry said as they walked into the store. Scrunching his nose up in distaste, but he didn't say anything more. Logan could guess it was the smell of the store he was commenting on. The smell of stale fake lumber permeating the entire facility.

Dragging the gaggle towards the clothes section he began flipping through the shirts first. Holding one up in front of Harry every so often. Harry, however, just stood there. Almost like a spare end that didn't know what to do. Logan guessed he probably had never been shopping in his memory before.

Shortly after placating Harry's assortment of shirts Logan started looking for similar shirts for himself on a different rack with Jean on the other side of it perusing the selections. Scott's face held a look of indifference. Almost as if he were bored. Logan was starting to not like this guy.

Grabbing something he found finally that he liked; he was about to chuck it in the cart when Jean held it up to herself. Lord she was nosey. "Logan, this shirt is giant!" She exclaimed. "Surely you could get a smaller size that would fit your form more." He guessed she was just trying to be nice, but as he caught himself in the mirror to his left with the shirt dangling half in the cart and half out, he was steamrolled with the fact that he wasn't even himself anymore. This shirt could wrap around his chest nearly in full. That was an oppressive thought, and he couldn't help but get lost staring into the mirror a little too long.

He grabbed another size, guessing it was more appropriate, and not even knowing what size he was anymore. He didn't look before he put the clothes on from their demolished dresser. He still hadn't told anyone about that.

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The group made their way toward the atrium of the mall to exit the establishment. As they were passing the food court, they began to hear irregular noises that you shouldn't hear in a shopping mall. Accompanied with screaming. "Do you guys hear that?" Scott asked questioningly.

"Yes! I do!" Jean stated in a rush, Looking around to see if she could see anything near them. "As much as I'm loath to say this, and it goes against my skill set, we need to get out of here." She added as she ushered the taller grizzled man towards the double doors they could now see a trickle of running people traversing through.

The quartet made it through the doors without much fuss. Their bags swooshing at their sides as they power walked toward the right area for their car. Now noticing that the entryway they had exited was on the wrong side of where they had parked. Jean groaned in annoyance. Realizing they'd have to walk toward the other entrance where the commotion seemed to be happening.

They walked as fast as they could with Harry trailing behind them a short distance. Neither of them seemed to notice except Logan who was trying to stay between the two ends of the group. They were far enough away from the building by now that when the side they were on imploded like a bomb had been lit, they weren't hit by much debris.

Logan peered behind him and noticed Harry was further back and seemed to be grasping his chest as he struggled to breathe. Immediately he was upon the smaller mutant and could hear the rasping wheeze coming from the younger one's lungs with each breath. "Shit!" Logan grabbed the boy and hoisted him over his shoulder and began running toward the other two who were now at the car they'd taken to the mall.

"Logan - Wha-" Jean began, having started putting the purchases in the back of the car.

"Help!" Logan exclaimed in a rush turning around with his back facing the red head so she could see the cloudy green eyes of the gasping younger man as he struggled to catch a reprieve from the overexertion of his small lungs. Why did all this stuff have to happen to the smaller boy. He so wished he could put him in a bubble and not take him out.

Jean grasped the younger males arms and they eased him to the ground, Logan bewildered and not knowing what to do. Harry had so far had impeccable healing so why was he now suffering some sort of asthma attack?

"We need to get his legs up so they're above his heart!" Jean stated in a rush as she put Harry's arms on his chest as best she could with the boy grasping at air. She also propped Harry's legs up so they were bent at the knees. Shooing Logan's hands away every time he tried to help. Telling the slightly bigger man that he was still healing too.

Scott was seated in the car with the door open feeling like a spare end not wanting to start the vehicle because the trio was at the back of the car where the exhaust would just pool around them. So he watched. Not knowing what to do. They could hear the sirens, now. Off in the distance. Probably coming with the Mutant Response Division (MRD), because he could see what looked to be an explosion of an invading force of rogue mutants just going hog wild from where he stood. "Jean! We got to go!" Scott yelled over the flurry of activity.

As he glanced one last time toward the mall, which was now partially destroyed with a few giant holes missing from its main walls, Scott could see what looked to be a SWAT Team pull up. But, the truck was unmarked, and completely slate black. Scott hurried out of the car with his heart pounding in his chest. "JEAN! MRD!" He grabbed the top of Harry's arms and the duo hurriedly maneuvered the small male's delirious form into the back seat.

"Logan get on the other side and hold him up. I can't buckle him when he's flopping like a fish." Scott said in a rush. Trying desperately to bring the seat belt over the other's torso.

Logan sprinted onto the other side and slid into the seat next to his charge practically leaning on him to hold him up. Scott was trying to fumble with the seat belt, and as he leaned back to check on their other newest member his ruby tinted glasses locked gazes with the heart-stopping glowing amber eyes of Wolverine. For a split second, he couldn't direct his gaze toward anything else, and he had to shake off the goosebumps he could feel on the back of his neck.

As soon as the moment happened it seemed to come to a crashing halt as Jean jammed herself in the driver's seat and yelled for Scott to get in or she was leaving him behind. With or without the door open.

After Scott got into his seat, Jean pulled out of the parking space so fast she was sure Harry's neck was going to have whiplash. She tried to look back and check on him, but for some reason, Scott stopped her. "No!" He exclaimed. "I'd rather you didn't right now" The bespeckled youth added in explanation. As if that was enough.

"What?" Jean asked in confusion. Turning her head toward the road ahead. There was an insane amount of traffic leaving the mall by now, and they had to sit in it because they weren't able to get a head start as they intended. "What are you doing?" Jean asked again at her boyfriend's weird behavior. "Logan, buckle up this instant!" She exclaimed in exasperation when she saw the thinner man lean forward in her rearview mirror.

"Jean. . ." Scott whispered desperately. Pleading with his girlfriend to not poke the bear. The only other feral alpha mutant he knew of was Sabertooth, and that guy would kill his own family to get what he wanted. Logan had only been with them for a few months, and Scott was not convinced the man wouldn't turn out to be another individual like Sabertooth. Ruled by his animal, and not giving any indication that he cared one lick about it.

"Logan I mean it, I'll turn this car around if you don't put that seat belt on!" She said again. Locking eyes with the man in the rearview mirror this time. Jean was actually able to catch the shift between the amber and the blue in his eyes. Which she'd heard Hank talk about, but the deep guttural glow of the amber eyes seemed to look deep into her soul. Piercing her to the core. She'd seen that look once before. With Sabertooth, and it never ended well for them. He was almost an indestructible killing machine.

Jean and Scott collectively let out a breath they didn't know they were holding when Logan began to twist toward his seat belt and mutter something about insane redheads and their insane tempers.

After that, the ride was pretty uneventful. Harry seemed to have passed out, or fallen asleep, Logan was watching the scenery and the two in the front were incomparably silent. Each reflecting on how close they'd come to contact with the MDR.

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AN: Hey guys! Don't forget to review what you think. The next chapter is the meat of the plot starting! :D Reviews make me want to write more. But I do want to say I am always flakey in writing since it induces mania in me if I don't pace myself by writing two at once. It's weird. I have so many unpublished stories you guys don't know about xD