Logan went directly to his room and for the first time since he came back, slept. Although it was only a few hours of sleep, it was much needed and coupled with knowing Jubes was awake, gave him additional energy. He was down in the med lab at the break of dawn, entertaining his charge. Though she was nervous, she was considerably calmer, with Logan helping her coming to grips with what had happened.
Hank walked into the med lab at around eight, humming Eye of the Tiger. He wasn't even surprised to see Logan there before him. He was happy to see Jubilee in a better mood too as it will make the process easier. "What a glorious day this is shaping up to be."
"Mornin'," Logan grumbled.
"Morning, Dr. McCoy," Jubilee said rolling her eyes at the easygoing doctor.
"The chamber is in the room down at the end of this hall. Everything is all set up," He smiled at his patient. "First, let me explain what it is and what it will do."
Logan groaned, knowing Hank's propensity for longwinded speeches, especially when he was excited about a particular subject.
Hank laughed. "I will keep this brief. The regeneration chamber is similar in makeup to an MRI machine. The only difference is you'll be floating in the regeneration fluid inside. I will place a helmet that will constantly feed you oxygen on your head, while you're in there. You may feel the need to panic once the helmet is on and it quickly fills with oxygen, but you will get used to it after a few seconds. So, please stay calm. Once you're settled in the chamber, anesthesia would be fed to you and you'll be asleep for the duration of time you're in there. "
"How long would I have to stay in there?" Jubilee asked nervously.
"I don't know. Since this is our first time using the chamber for a burn victim…"
"How long Blue?" Logan's voice told him that he better give them a specific time limit.
"I would like to begin with keeping her in there for least five days."
"Ya gotta be kiddin'!" Logan huffed. "Ya can't keep her in there fer that long."
"Her injuries are quite extensive, and this is the best treatment for her right now," Hank held his ground. He turned to Jubilee, "Do you have any questions before we get going?"
She shook her head, then, "I guess I'll be naked in that thing."
Hank blushed. "Yes, being unclothed is a necessity for this to work, but you will be outfitted with a wet suit that will disintegrate once you're in the tank. Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," she mumbled.
"Alright then," he turned to Logan. "Logan if you'll be so kind as to help me wheel her bed down the hall."
In the room, Jean was waiting for them. She greeted Jubilee with a teary smile. "Glad you're awake, Jubi."
"Thanks Ms. Grey."
Ignoring Logan, she turned to Hank. "I'm ready when you are."
Hank pulled Logan outside the room, leaving Jean to use her telekinesis to attend to the injured girl. Hank and Logan returned after the all clear from Jean. Before Hank could place the helmet on Jubilee, Logan moved swiftly to kiss her head again and whispered the same words to her as he did last night. With a soft smile, Hank placed the helmet on and allowed Jean to move her into the chamber. Once the monitors showed she was secured in the chamber, Hank turned the machine on and slowly introduced her to the fluid and oxygen.
The furry doctor thanked the lord that there were no problems and his patient didn't panic. Once she was acclimated to the oxygen and fluid, Hank began the anesthesia drip. Within ten minutes she was fast asleep. Once all her vitals checked out, they all left the room, confident in the recovery process.
With Jubilee asleep for the next five days, Logan turned his full attention to his next mission. He gathered as much intelligence as he could without being conspicuous by using his enhanced senses, hoping to hear something. He didn't want to speak to those present during the attack because he knew they would more than likely know what he was up to. With nothing much to go on, he went back to the scene of the attack. He knew it was contaminated but, the authorities always overlooked things, always look at things that they deem inconsequential that time after time always emerged as big pieces of the puzzle. He scoured the area for over two hours before heading back to the mansion frustrated and empty handed.
Unknown to him and the rest of the X-Men, Remy had conducted his own investigation. He had ventured back to the scene when everyone was in an uproar after they brought back the critically injured Jubilee. He had retrieved the device used to detonate the bomb. He had also gotten a good look at one of the attackers and their getaway vehicle. Using his wiles and abilities he had tracked them down, scrutinized their every move and studied their habits, where they hung out and who they hung out with. Remy had a huge file on the attackers, the organization, and their base of operation in three days. He was just waiting for the right time to carry out his revenge. Knowing that Logan was back and would more than likely want a crack at the Church of Humanity, he bided his time until he could get the feral man alone.
Logan sat on the bench he had carved from the trunk of a fallen tree on the farthest bank of the lake. He closed his eyes, relishing the many scents around the lake and the cigar he was puffing on, his first one in more than twenty-four hours. With little to go on, he began formulating a plan on how to launch his attack on the mutant hating organization. He growled with the scent of cheap cigarettes and bourbon hit him.
"Gambit," he acknowledged when the devil-eyed mutant came into view. He carried a folder in his hand.
"Wolverine."
Logan tried not to let his annoyance at being interrupted show when Remy took a seat alongside him. After a few puffs of his cigarette, Remy silently handed the folder to Logan. Out of curiosity more than anything, Logan took the folder. He outed the cigar in the palm of his hand, wincing at the pain, before opening the folder.
It was hard for Logan to hide his excitement once he realized what he was looking at. "I ain't even gonna ask how ya got this."
"De Wolverine offend Gambit," Remy replied with the dramatic flair he was known for. "Remy got it the old-fashioned way."
Logan whistled long and low. "I'm impressed Cajun."
Remy nodded. "Jus' one t'ing. Remy go wid ya t' take them out."
The kid had done his homework and then some. Even knew where the weak spots of the building that served as their base were. He could understand wanting revenge on the people who tried to take him, his woman, and friends out. He knew he couldn't deny the Cajun's request.
"Ok," Logan said slowly, "But ya follow my lead."
"Fair 'nough." Remy stood, tossing the butt of the burnt-out cigarette up in the air before catching it and placing it in his pocket. "The Wolverine know where t' find Gambit, when the time is right." He glanced at the rough Canadian whose head was still buried in the folder. He knew the man was going to seek revenge on the hate group trash just as passionately as he had professed his love for Stormy. Though he wanted to confront Logan on his feelings for his adopted sister, he knew that would have to wait because he more than likely wouldn't survive the rest of the day if he broached that topic now.
"Thanks Cajun," Logan muttered as he tucked the folder under his arm and walked off. Gambit simply shook his head as he watched the complex man disappeared from view.
Two days later, the Wolverine and Gambit carried out their mission under the cover of darkness. They had scoped out the anti-mutant group's base of operations the night before. When they arrived, they found the base heavily guarded, which they eventually learned was due to the head of the organization congregating to plan their next attack. They grinned at each other. The trash was making it easier to do clean up.
They stayed well hidden amongst the many dumpsters that took up space in the open lot of the base. Logan thanked whoever was listening that the dumpsters weren't loaded with trash that can wreaked havoc on his sense of smell. Three guards with AK's stood sentry at the main metal door about thirty feet from their hiding spot. Logan glanced at the hi-tech watch on his left wrist. Gambit did the same. They noticed that it took another two guards ten minutes to circle the entire warehouse.
"Just as we plan, Gambit, ya enter on this side, I enter on the north. We take out as many as we can, seal up the rooms, then blow up this warehouse." Logan glanced at the younger man when he literally scented his excitement. "No theatrics in there, just do the job and get out. We meet at the rendezvous point. We only got fifteen minutes ta do damage and get out. Just remember the patches activate soon as ya stick 'em on. Yer comlink on?"
"Oui, mon ami. Hit 'em hard and fast and get the hell out." Like the skilled thief he was, Gambit silently slipped away in the dark, intent on his mission.
Logan allowed a few seconds for his beast to take over. He moved on trained assassin feet, placing highly advanced military grade explosive patches Remy had swiped from Xavier's stash, in strategic places. He supposed that the explosives was another of Forge's inventions. He was just about finished placing another patch when his enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of gunfire. No doubt Remy's cover was blown. He wasn't worried, the kid was more than capable of handling himself. Wolverine positioned himself at the south side entrance. He smirked. These criminals sure loved metal. Nothing his claws couldn't handle. The sickening sound of his claws being released echoed in the stillness before he sliced a huge hole in the door and entered the building. It was total blackness, indicating Gambit had taken out the power to the building as planned. He utilized his night vision, and saw that the room the entrance had led him too held various torture devices. No doubt used for torturing mutants.
He made his way out of the room and sealed off the door. He took three steps then stopped immediately. Hurried footsteps told him he was about to have company. A quick sniff told him roughly ten of them were heading his way. Wolverine's smile was positively sickening as he flung himself around the corner of the hallway, meeting the men head on in the open area that had five doors that apparently led to other rooms. He used the darkness to his advantage and in less than three seconds, he had decapitated one man and maimed another. He quickly dispatched two more with swift uppercuts as they fumbled amongst themselves in the darkness.
The remaining gunmen raised their weapons. "We know you're there mutie. Show yourself!" One raspy voice commanded.
Wolverine grinned. "Over here bub."
Shots rang out in the direction they thought the voice came from, but the Wolverine had already dropped to the floor and rolled to the nearest one, ramming his claws in the man's crotch. His weapon was immediately on the floor, which Wolverine quickly snatched up, rolled to a crouch and fired. Three more men fell. Damn! Night vision was one hell of a mutant power. The remaining two gunmen fired wildly, not knowing where the dangerous mutant was. A grunt echoed from the Wolverine when he felt one bullet enter his left shoulder. One of the bastards had gotten lucky.
"Let's get outta here," one of the two whispered shakily.
"Boss said to kill all intruders," the other replied. His nervousness was on full display if the heavy scent of rancid sweat attacking Logan's nose was any indication.
Wolverine sighed when the bullet slipped out as the hole in his shoulder closed. A deafening roar got the two men's attention and the Wolverine wasted no time ending their lives. He sealed the five doors, then rushed down the corridor. He let his senses of smell and hearing guide him, mercilessly ending the lives of all who got in his way as he completed the mission. A quick glance at the watch told him that the place was going to be a fiery ball in less than three minutes. The many scents of the dead and those trapped behind the sealed doors overloaded his senses. When he got to the north side of the building, he barely admired Gambit's work before he hightailed it out the blown out entrance. With lightning speed and deathly focus, he ran. He was at the dumpsters when the warehouse, everything and everyone one inside it and anything within a fifty feet radius exploded. Not waiting to admire their handiwork, he ran like the devil himself was on his ass.
Five miles away from the carnage, he arrived at the minicamp he and Gambit had set up, where he changed out of his destroyed uniform and discarded it. After cleaning up and downing the black T-Shirt he had found from Jubilee and threadbare jeans and military boots that had seen better days, he met up with Gambit at the nearby bar. The younger mutant had already changed out of his uniform into a camo T-Shirt, cargo pants and sneakers.
Logan joined Remy in the booth in the farthest corner of the rundown dive, where Remy already had a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses waiting. With each pouring a desired amount into their own glass, they clinked them together, silently toasting their success in bringing down the hate group.
