Disclaimer: You know who doesn't belong to me...Angela, Sam, Totem, Chasca, Asp and Tigress DO belong to me...hands off...

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Chapter 3.

I did manage to find what was left of the carcass. It was obvious that scavengers had been at it, but by the scoring on some of the rib bones it was also apparent that Logan was the one who took it down. Chasca found a couple caves that looked promising, but only one of them was currently unoccupied. I didn't even need to enter the other one to know that there was something hibernating in there, probably some variety of bear. We gave it a wide berth once we determined that and went to check the other one out.

There wasn't much in there, some pine boughs on the ground near the back and claw marks on the walls, but other than that it was empty. By my estimation, he'd moved on shortly after he'd killed the deer. Mr. Jack Campbell had probably stumbled across that carcass within hours of when Logan had killed it. He had no idea how lucky he was. I did.

We moved our base camp again, now focusing our search pattern to the north and west exclusively. He wouldn't have doubled back unless he felt like he was being hunted and we were still far enough behind him that it was unlikely he'd detected us. It wasn't until two days later that other forces aligned against us, namely Mother Nature. The Professor called to warn us about an incoming snowstorm, so we wound up losing two days because of that. Sam was a godsend during that time, going out to keep the tent clear of snow and keeping our spirits up with stories of his school days at Xavier's. It took us half a day to dig out, but again Sam was invaluable in that regard.

Of course, the new snow layer all but obliterated any surface signs of Logan, so the search was further slowed by having to check every tree that we came across for his marks. We did manage to find them and he was still moving gradually to the northwest. I still had no idea where he could possibly be going and Buzz hadn't been able to find anything, so there was no way we could attempt to head him off. The only good news was that I still didn't have any morning sickness, so that was a bonus. Still, every day that passed made me more aware of the life growing inside me, which in turn made me more determined to find Logan.

We followed his trail for three more days when it abruptly turned due west again. Two days later, it turned to the south. However, before I could do more than wonder about why he did that, the Professor called to let us know that Storm was on the way for our first re-supply. Just under an hour later, the jet landed in a clearing near where we had our camp set up. Totem, Chasca and I allowed Sam and Storm a few minutes of privacy before we set to unloading the jet. I almost cried at the sight of such simple things as clean underwear and the extra sweatshirts. It's easy to take such things for granted when you live in a huge mansion where they are commonplace. It's another thing entirely when you've been two weeks alternating between the same three pairs of pants. I hugged Storm gratefully and she just laughed and collected our laundry bags, memory cards and other information for analysis. Again, the three of us gave Sam and Storm another few private moments before she took off and we rejoined the search.

After we'd all changed clothes, we sat down in the tent to discuss Logan's change of direction. "There's only two reasons he would have done that." I began, pointing to the map. "One, he ran across a group of hunters and actually had enough presence of mind to turn so he could go around them."

"But you think it is something else." Totem said.

I nodded. "The Professor said that Tigress and Asp have been in and out of the area as well, so I think he caught on to them and did this to throw them off his trail. They wouldn't know about the markers on the trees, that's something we came up with because my mutation doesn't include a great sense of direction. And when you're in the middle of the jungle during the rainy season, it's easy to get turned around. So, he really did it for me. In a way, I think he's still doing it for me. Some part of him knows that I'm out here somewhere and he wants me to find him."

"How can you be so sure?" Chasca asked softly. "He knocked you out first thing after he went feral."

"That was a knee-jerk reaction to the situation. All he knew was that Rogue was dead and I think it knocked a memory loose in his head, something bad. I'd bet a kidney that it started a kind of cascading effect and it overwhelmed him. I was standing right there, looking ready for a fight and he instinctively defended himself against a perceived threat. It won't be like that this time."

"I don't know, Angela." Sam said, shaking his head. "You're putting an awful lot on faith here."

"I know. I can't explain it to you, not really. Kyro here, he understands it but to someone who doesn't have an inner animal…" I shook my head. "It's deeper than just loving him or needing him or wanting him back. I'm his mate and right now he's separated from me. He won't hurt me."

"What if he does?" Totem asked. "Are you prepared to do what is necessary?"

"If you mean am I prepared to take him down, the answer is yes." I reached into my bag and pulled out my gun. "I didn't bring this for looks."

"I didn't know you brought it all." Sam said dryly.

"You didn't need to know. This is only for an emergency. If you damage him enough, he'll slip into a kind of coma. It usually takes him several hours to wake up, which is enough time for Storm to come pick us up and take us…away."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'away', Angela?"

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "I've been thinking. I don't think it'll be safe to take him right back to the mansion. He'll need time away and I have just the place." I told them about the cabin we'd hidden in after our escape from Alkali Lake. "No one but me has been in there for years. It's remote enough that Stryker's goons never found it, not even after we were dug out. I'll have Storm take the two of us there and I'll bring him back like I did last time."

"I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with him if he's not in his right mind. Especially in your condition."

"Look, you don't understand. Logan would never hurt me, not on purpose. My mind's made up, so you just have to deal with it." I hopped out of my seat and stalked out of the tent, more than a little irritated that he didn't trust me on this point. What I said was true, Logan wouldn't hurt me, not ever. The fear that I hadn't given voice to was that I wasn't dealing with Logan, I was chasing down Wolverine and that was a completely different story. I went over to the tree where the marker was and ran my fingers over the grooves, wishing I could magically see where he was just by touching them but nothing happened. I swallowed hard, holding back tears that desperately wanted to fall. A heartbeat later I heard footsteps behind me. "Sam, just go away."

"It's not Sam." I heard Totem say and I turned to face him. He walked up next to me and inspected the marker. "He does not understand how it is for people like us."

"I know. And there's no way to make him understand." I looked back at the tree, my fingers again seeking out the marks there. "You know, Logan's always going on about the animal, how it's a bad thing he wishes he didn't have. How it makes him less than a man." I shook my head. "He's wrong. He's never understood that it makes him more, better than just a man. We feel things no one else will ever feel, we love deeper than they do. We see things from both sides of our nature."

"Yes. Logan-san told me once that when you truly love someone, it is not your head that tells you but your heart, your gut. It was the first time I knew that what I was trying to do to you was wrong. I will never forgive myself for doing that."

I turned back to him. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. Stryker did that to you. But we fixed it, we took it out and now you have Chasca."

"Yes, I do and I have you and Logan-san to thank for that. She is, as you would say, my mate for life. She is not like us, she will not feel it the same way I do, but she knows in her own way." He reached over and put his hand on my shoulder. "But that is not why I came out here. I just…" He stopped abruptly as we both heard a sound and whipped our heads around to the east. He put a hand up, gesturing for me to crouch down and I complied. I watched in fascination as he shifted into his feral form of half-panther, half-man and scurried up the tree.

I quietly slipped from my position to a nearby spruce. Once there, I carefully removed my boots and slid out all of my claws, quickly climbing about halfway up the tree. I took my earpiece out of my pocket and put it in, tapping it to activate it. A moment later Sam's voice filled my ear. "Hellcat, what is it?" He whispered.

"Unknown." I whispered back. "Totem and I heard something. Be ready for anything."

"Where are you?"

"High road."

"Roger that. I'll have Echo go up and scout."

"Affirmative. Hellcat out."

I scanned the clearing for any sign of what may have caused the noise, but if it was Logan, Tigress or Asp, I wouldn't see them unless they wanted to be seen. A few moments later I heard the sound of wings and peered up through the branches to see Chasca flying impossibly high overhead. She was in her X-suit, which had to be cold but if this was going to get ugly she'd need the mobility. The pants were the same, but she also had a pair of modified tabi like mine. The main difference was she didn't have the jacket like the rest of us wore, but a racer back tank top with her katana in a special harness that allowed it to sit comfortably between her wings. A few weeks ago, she would have bitched that she was freezing, but we'd been out here long enough that she'd either grown used to the cold or else she'd just she'd just stopped complaining.

"Echo, are you live?" I whispered into my earpiece.

"Affirmative." She replied. "Where should I look?"

"Eastern quadrant. Totem is on the move."

"Roger that. Cover your ears." I removed my earpiece and clapped my hands over my ears. A moment later I heard an ear piercing shriek that would have gone unnoticed by a person with normal hearing, but for people like me, Logan and Totem it was pure torture. If that was Logan or Tigress out there, we would know.

I heard a shriek down on the ground and quickly reinserted my earpiece before bounding from my perch to the next nearest tree, heading towards the sound. A moment later I caught the sounds of fighting and redoubled my efforts. "Echo, Atlas, Totem is engaged. Repeat Totem is engaged, due east of base. Go!"

I caught sight of them a few seconds later. Totem was faced off with a fairly short man with very dark hair that was held back in a ponytail. His movements were extremely fluid and he was managing to avoid Totem's attacks with relative ease. A few feet away another figure crouched on the ground, clutching her hands to her ears. I smiled slowly even as my vision was obscured in a red haze of feral rage. Asp and Tigress were here.

I knew the effect that Chasca's echolocation could have on those unprepared for it, having experienced it firsthand during a Danger Room session once. Believe me, once was enough and it had taken Logan and me almost half an hour for the ringing in our ears to subside. I couldn't suppress my snarl as I dropped from the tree and leapt for Tigress, especially knowing that she was essentially deaf at the moment. It wasn't until I backhanded her across the clearing that she was even aware that I was there. Good.

"Hellcat, no!" I heard Totem cry out, but I was beyond any reason at that point. These people were at least partially responsible for Logan's retreat into a totally feral state and I wanted some payback. There was also the part where she was still an active Weapon X operative and there was just no way I was letting her leave these woods alive.

Tigress rolled as she hit the ground, springing to her feet with her own claws out. Her eyes narrowed as I faced off with her. "Hellcat." She said with a sneer. "My obsolete sister. Do you know how long I've waited for this?"

"You should have kept on waiting." I growled. "Only way you're getting out of here is in a bag." I didn't give her a chance to reply, if she'd even heard me. I leapt forward and feinted a slash at her throat, which she blocked as I expected her to. Even as she lashed out with her own claws, I spun into a roundhouse kick and raked my claws across her face, followed by a side kick to her stomach. As she doubled over, I grabbed her by her hair and slammed her face into my knee, breaking her nose with a satisfying crunch. Blood stained the snow beneath our feet as she cried out in pain and I jerked her head up and slashed my claws across her throat. She grabbed my hand as I completed the stroke and spun around, yanking out a huge chunk of her own hair as she jerked her head from my grasp. She dug her claws into my wrist and I bit back a cry of my own as I felt blood spurt from the veins she'd opened. Before I had a chance to retaliate, she'd grabbed me by the back of my jacket and lifted me over her head. She let loose a snarl as she tossed me across the clearing.

I twisted in midair and came down on all fours, springing to my feet and turning to face her. She was upon me a heartbeat later, lashing out with her claws. "Stupid bitch! Why go for the kill when you can go for the pain!" She screamed. I dodged under her arm and came up with an uppercut to her jaw that I followed with my other hand, raking my claws across her face. She backhanded me, opening four long cuts across my face. Blood trickled down my forehead, stinging my eyes, which only pissed me off more. Before I could react, she slammed her elbow into my nose and I felt it break, spraying blood into the snow and sending stars across my vision. I shook my head to clear it and my eyes widened when I saw her other hand raised over her head in what could only be preparation to slash my throat. I couldn't let that happen, I didn't want to chance that I would lose the baby if I died. I grabbed the front of her jacket, planted both feet in her stomach and pushed off as hard as I could. Her breath went out of her in a rush and she flew across the clearing, stopping with an audible thud against the trunk of a birch.

What happened next can only be described as a fluke of timing. I had taken a couple steps forward to finish the bitch off when I heard Echo's voice in my earpiece telling me to cover my ears again. I quickly turned my com off and clapped my hands over my ears, absently noticing that Totem had hit the ground doing the same. A heartbeat later I heard the muffled sounds of Echo's sonar and Tigress' scream. I raised my head and saw her once again clutching her ears in pain, agony written on her face. I pushed myself up to my knees but ducked instinctively when I heard Echo diving from the sky in a rush with a primal scream. She came in so fast she was a blur and I barely had time to register that her sword was drawn. I heard a loud "thunk" followed by a scream of agony and watched as she spiraled back into the sky. I stood up and looked over to Tigress, who was now pinned to the birch with Echo's sword buried in her stomach nearly to the hilt. I spared a quick glance over to Totem, but he was holding his own nicely. I brushed the snow from my jacket and approached her as Echo landed soundlessly behind me.

"Nice work." I commented as she came up beside me. "Logan show you that one?" She nodded and I smiled. "He'll be so proud of you." My smile faded when I stopped in front of Tigress. She had her hands wrapped around the handle of the sword, struggling to pull it out. "Oh no, you don't." I said as I raked my claws down her inner forearms, opening them to her metal covered bones from elbow to wrist and she lost her grip on the sword as tendons and ligaments snapped. "Ooh, that looks like it hurts."

"Fuck off, bitch." She spat, a thin trickle of blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"That's original. Come up with it on your own?" She sneered at me and I grabbed her by the throat, digging my claws in just enough to break the skin a little. "Now you're going to tell me why you're out here. Then I'm going to kill you. And since we are sisters after a fashion, I'll make it quick."

"Spare me your false sympathy. You're nothing but a failure."

"Am I missing something here? Because I'm not the one pinned to a tree." I slammed her head into the tree and she cried out. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Neither one is going to save you from a world of hurt."

"Go ahead and try. Better people than you have tried."

I looked down and saw that her arms were more than half healed. I didn't have the time to waste with this bitch, so I released her throat and grasped the sword. "You think I don't go for the pain? How's this?" I pulled the sword out of her and brought it back down in one fluid motion, opening her up across the body from shoulder to hip. Blood splashed over me and she fell to the ground. I reversed the sword in my grip and thrust it down, pinning her to the ground. I was pleased to see that I'd managed to pull the stroke enough to prevent disemboweling her, but it was pretty close. However, she was still down for the duration.

I heard a sudden cry of agony from Totem and I whipped my head around. Asp had managed to gain the upper hand and had his arms pinned to his sides. It looked as though he was biting him on the shoulder and Totem was convulsing in pain. Echo let out a cry of horror and grabbed her sword, raising it over her head and we both lunged at the same time. I heard a low growl and stopped short. For a fleeting moment I thought it was Logan, but it was Atlas who burst into the clearing.

His features were fixed in a mask of fury and he rushed to Asp much faster than his size would dictate. He pulled Asp off of Totem by his throat, his fist a blur as it connected with Asp's mouth, knocking out teeth. When he pulled his hand back, I saw that he held something bloody in his grasp. He released Asp and punched him again, which sent him flying into the forest. Atlas looked down at the object in his hand and tossed it away with a snort of disgust. It was Asp's tongue.

I raised an eyebrow and looked Sam in the eye. "I can respect that." I said dryly. Before he could answer, Totem gasped and began convulsing again. Chasca and I rushed to his side. She knelt by his head, cradling it in her lap while I tore open his jacket and shirt with my claws. I sucked in my breath when I saw the wound on his shoulder. It looked just like a snakebite, complete with telltale puncture wounds. His skin was hot to the touch and the area surrounding the bite was black with angry red splotches around the outer area and his whole shoulder was swelling at an alarming rate. "Fuck. We have to get him back to base camp." I looked up at Sam. "I know we shouldn't move him, but we don't have a choice. Will you carry him?"

"What are we gonna do with them?" He asked, gesturing to Tigress.

"Leave them to me. Call Storm and have her bring some antivenin. I don't know if it'll work on this, but we have to try." He nodded and gathered Totem into his arms, taking off at a gentle trot. I turned to Chasca. "I need you to fly back to camp and get me something to tie these assholes up with. I'm not finished with them yet." She nodded and leapt effortlessly into the sky.

As soon as she was out of sight, I followed the trail of broken branches and blood spatter to where Asp had finally come to a rest about fifty feet away. He was a right mess and if he'd not been part of Weapon X he would have broken every bone in his body. As it stood, he'd gone right through at least one tree before stopping. With no regard to any possible internal injuries, I grabbed one of his feet and dragged him back to the clearing with some effort, dropping him next to a tree about ten feet from where Tigress still lay unconscious. Less than a minute later, Chasca returned with the straps from her spare sword. I took them from her and shooed her away, sending her back to wait with her lover. She left without hesitation.

I secured Asp and Tigress to the trees they were lying beneath. Remembering what Sam had said about the guy spitting his venom, I tore a strip off of my t-shirt and gagged him. It's always fascinating to watch the healing factor work when it's not on your own body, especially when it's regrowing something like Asp's tongue. I didn't want to give him any advantages when he came around. I sat back on my heels to wait for the pair to wake up. About forty minutes later, I heard the sound of the jet and tapped my earpiece. "Atlas, come in."

"Atlas here." He replied.

"Did I just hear Storm come in?"

"Roger that." I heard her say. "Where are you?"

"Keeping an eye on our friends til they wake up. I have unfinished business with them."

"Hellcat, Totem looks pretty bad. Should I take him home?"

I chewed my lip in thought. She had a point, but I needed him out here. "Have you given the antivenin?"

"Affirmative, but I'm not sure if it's going to work."

"Keep an eye on him for the next fifteen minutes. If his healing factor combined with the antivenin doesn't work, take him."

"Roger that."

"Hellcat, do you need a hand out there?" Sam asked.

"Negative. Subjects are still out. If I need you, I'll call. Hellcat out."

As I sat there waiting, I studied my adversaries. Dredging up the information I'd gotten from the Weapon X files we'd stolen from Hudson Bay, I knew that both of them had been recruited to the program after me. In fact, there had only been two before me and they were either dead or presumed so. Unfortunately, their files didn't include details on how they'd been recruited, so I didn't know if they'd been tricked like Totem and me or kidnapped like Logan. Either way, it didn't matter. Neither one of the people in front of me had obviously ever considered trying to get away, which in my mind made them as bad as the people who'd done this to us. I shivered involuntarily at how close I'd come to being one of these people for life. It had only been a series of flukes that allowed me to get away at all and I once again sent silent thanks to the gods for that. If only Emma had survived…

I let the thought trail off when I saw Tigress beginning to stir. My body tensed as I waited for her to regain consciousness and I hoped her bonds would hold. A few minutes later, she jerked into full wakefulness. She struggled against the straps for a moment before leveling a hate filled gaze on me. "Untie me." She said coldly.

"Now why on earth would I want to do that?" I replied as I got up. I crossed the clearing and stood over her. "Oh, wait. I know. Because you want to finish me off, your 'obsolete sister', was it?" I squatted in front of her. "Only one of us is about to become obsolete and it isn't me."

"What the fuck do you care? You know you're considered a failure."

"Why, because I still think for myself? That's rich." I shot my hand out and grabbed her by her throat. "Now, I spared you before because I want to know why you're out here. And you're going to tell me or I'll take you apart one piece at a time."

"Go ahead. I'll heal."

"Mm, maybe. But I know how to kill us. I also know how far I can go before you'll die. Unlike me, you won't come back to tell the tale."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" She spat, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, they didn't tell you? Well, maybe they're getting sloppy in their old age." I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out a knife. "Let's just say that's on a need to know basis. If they didn't think you need to know, then neither do I." I tossed the sheath away from the knife and buried it to the hilt in her shoulder. She screamed in pain, the sound echoing through the forest and I just knew that they'd heard it back at camp. "Now, tell me what I want to know and I won't kill you. I'll just leave you in another coma. What do you say, sister?"

"Fuck you."

I smiled coldly. "I was hoping you'd say that."

It took me about an hour, but I finally extracted the story from her, bit by agonizing bit. They'd been dispatched to Alkali Lake when one of the few intruder sensors that still functioned picked up on the jet as it landed. She and Asp had only recently returned from their assignment in the Middle East when they were sent straight up there to investigate. Their orders were to apprehend any people they found there, but their window was very narrow. That was the only reason Sam had managed to get away.

At any rate, as soon as they realized that Scott was a mutant, he was taken to the base where we found him to see if he'd be a good candidate for one of their other mutant experimentation projects. It wasn't until they'd discovered that Scott knew Logan and me that Tigress and Asp had been deployed to intercept us. Apparently, he and I were a project of our own now, something they called "Project Prodigal". I'd heard a little about it before from that bastard Wallace, but it had been so wildly unsuccessful that they no longer wasted resources on actively pursuing it. However, whenever there was a report in the news that matched our descriptions or M.O., they'd send a team to investigate and try to get us back. What they hadn't counted on when we came to get Scott was two complete teams with one as a decoy and the other to perform the actual extraction. It gave me all the evidence I needed that those people had forgotten the most important things about me and Logan, namely that we are the best at what we do. Either their training methods had started to slip or else they thought their later versions were more than a match for us. At any rate, the two of them had been assigned to retrieve us at any cost. They had correctly assumed that I would come after him and would not give up until I succeeded. However, he was still their main objective and they'd been gaining on him until a week ago when he abruptly changed direction on them. They were in the process of reacquiring his trail when they stumbled across us and the rest, as they say, is history. Yeah, I'm the best at what I do and Tigress learned that the hard way.

I sat back on my heels and contemplated the bloody wreck before me. It had been a long time since I'd had to torture information out of someone and the darkest parts of me were pleased that I still had the touch. The rest of me was pretty indifferent about the whole thing. I knew I should finish her off, gut her like a fish and strew her guts around for the wolves, but I didn't. I knew what her handlers would do to her when they picked her up and it made what I'd just done to her seem like a day at the spa in comparison. I didn't have enough pity left in me to kill her. My only regret was that I wouldn't be there to watch as they killed her an inch at a time.

Asp had regained consciousness at some point during the proceedings, but I'd ignored him until I was done with Tigress. Once she'd passed out again, I turned to him, pointing my gore-stained knife at him. "So, do you have anything to add?" He shook his head, eyes wide with horror. "Well then, I guess I'll just put you out again and we'll move on. But keep this in mind, ok? If you survive your punishment when you get back to base, do not come after me and mine again, understood? And you tell those fucks that Logan and I are never going back to them. If they think what we did at Alkali Lake was a massacre, they've seen nothing yet." I squatted in front of him and pressed the knife to his throat. "Oh, and before I forget, tell them that we're going to come for them. We will not stop until all of you are very, very dead." I didn't wait for him to react. I pulled the knife across his throat and sliced it open to the bone, then casually wiped it off on his jacket before finding the sheath and putting it away.

I tapped my earpiece to reactivate it and started back towards camp. "Hellcat to base, status."

"Atlas here. Status is good. Totem's a fighter."

"Roger that. Pack up and load the jet. We need to move out of here soon before their ride shows up."

"Why?"

"I didn't leave them much to pick up and I don't want them to know I'm still around. I think I know where we can reacquire the trail about ten miles northwest of here."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But my gut says that's where he's been heading so that's where we'll go. Hellcat out." I couldn't explain it, not really. But before he'd caught wind of Asp and Tigress, that's where he'd been heading. Whatever was up there that meant something to him was still waiting for him and he'd go to it, inexorably. We were getting close to him and I wanted to try and get ahead of him if I could. I was following my heart and I could only hope it would be enough.

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AN: There you have it...three chapters down, i don't know how many to go...i'm still in the process of finishing this story...usually i don't start posting til it's already done, but i went on vacation and that slowed me down a bit...but the muse has been cooperative lately, so i don't think it'll be too much longer...Special thanks to my beta readers, Turiel Tincdaniel and Zac...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for always begging for more...:) Super Special thanks to my readers for sticking with me through (already) very long saga...and Extra Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers: sela103, Ineluctability, Miss Lover Girl, reeltreble1031 and joegood2003 (if you haven't read his story, "Picking Up the Pieces", i suggest you go RIGHT NOW!)...your continued support keeps me inspired...:)

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