"See you later Wolverine," a voice taunted as the two guards turned to leave their prisoner's cell, paying no further attention to the man left panting on the floor. The sound of their chatter was cut off by the door closing, and Logan dropped his cheek to the cold surface below him, waiting for the tremors in his muscles to stop. This particular session had been a mix of tasers on high power and good old-fashioned brutality, and the feral could only lay limply for a few minutes as his mutation kicked in to repair the damage. Blood was spattered on the floor all around him from his many visits by the soldiers at the base, following Stryker's orders to begin the process of breaking their captive's body and mind. For days it had been a cycle of hurt, heal, and then more hurt, and to make matters worse they didn't seem inclined to bring him food or water at all. Logan's mouth was dry and his head pounded occasionally, and he realized he was feeling the effects of dehydration. Already his blood seemed to be thicker than usual, mostly oozing out weakly when skin was split during the beating sessions. He knew he'd lived through times like that before, where he couldn't find food or water, but the addition of blood loss and damage to his body was stretching his mutation to its limits. How long before his healing slowed to a crawl? Or stopped at all? Maybe that was a question the bastards wanted to find an answer to, damn them. Logan coughed softly, licking dry lips with a parched tongue, and musing that maybe being dried out was a good thing, since no creature comforts at all had been afforded, including bathing or a restroom. He'd actually pissed his jeans twice in the first couple of days after his capture, but that must have been before he'd gotten the moisture out of his body since no further urge had made itself known. He sighed, closing his eyes briefly as they burned. Even when no one was torturing him, someone would interfere and keep him from sleeping. The feral knew he could go for days without sleep, just like water, but all of the bad conditions were combining at once to make him the most miserable he could ever remember feeling. Wolverine ached desperately to be out of there, hell, he just ached in general, too worn out to even bother trying to sit up just yet. The little cell stunk of his sweat, blood, and urine, offensive to his sensitive nose, but he was lying down and so tired…

"No sleeping on the job you animal!" A voice crackled over a speaker in the wall, accompanied by a high-pitched screeching sound, and Logan jerked out of the first beginnings of dozing with a snarl and what could only be described as a whine, although he'd have denied it. He pushed down the will of instincts inside him that howled to be let loose and rage at these creatures who tortured him, trying to breathe slowly. Had to hold it together, had to try to just stay sane, because if he went into a rage and couldn't come back from it, it would be harder for Charles to find his mixed-up mind. Logan cleared his thoughts, ignoring the cold seeping into his skin. His undershirt was already shredded, the tattered remains hanging from where it had been tucked into the waist of his jeans, much of it visibly darkened with old blood. The rest was lying in bits all around his prone form. A sigh escaped him as he struggled to sit up, hoping to at least get some quiet if he could stop from dozing off again by getting into an upright position. Logan was tired and hurting and just desperate for it to all go away.

"Come on Chuck, you've gotta find me," he whispered to the uncaring silence.

x_X_x

Rogue stared unseeingly into the distance, seated on the front steps of the school with her gloved palm propping up her chin. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Logan's disappearance. The fact that he'd left wasn't so surprising, but to leave without saying goodbye to her was out of the ordinary. With every trip he'd taken to follow leads on his past, he'd made sure to drop by and let her know he was going. Now, it had been almost five days since that Sunday and the sense of wrongness was getting stronger. She was hesitant to bring it up to the school's leadership though, afraid her worry would be mistaken for the reaction of a silly girl who couldn't handle being without her protector. Still, that inner voice was beginning to get louder, urging her to speak up and let some know because damn it, Logan deserved having someone to care about him and his whereabouts. There was also the fact that between training and sessions in the Danger Room, she was just starting to get a little control over her skin. The excitement over this didn't mean as much if she couldn't share it with her best friend, though. Lost in thought, the girl didn't notice a light step approaching until Storm sat down next to her.

"Something on your mind Rogue?" the older mutant asked kindly. Marie glanced over, gauging the woman's expression. Storm was always understanding and patient. Maybe she could confide her worries and not be seen as silly.

"Yeah," she started. "I just feel something is very wrong. With Logan, I mean. I can't shake the feeling that he needs us, needs help. I don't know why I'm feeling this way, I mean, he's the Wolverine. Of course he can take care of himself." She twisted a strand of white hair around her finger nervously. Storm's dark eyes were serious as the girl eyed her again briefly, the weather manipulator startled to hear her own thoughts echoed aloud from the younger mutant.

"I have that same feeling, Rogue. The feeling that something about this whole situation has been off from the beginning," she admitted, seeing the girl straighten up beside her in surprise and hope. "I think we should go to the professor."

Charles was receptive to the reason for their visit, knowing as soon as they'd stepped into his office that some action was needed.

"In truth I've been feeling some concern myself, given the circumstances under which Logan left. I'll use Cerebro and scan for his presence, but this could take some time. The first step is to make a grid search of sorts, starting with the most probable locations and then expanding from there." At Rogue's downcast posture, he smiled and gently took her gloved hand. "Don't worry Rogue, I won't stop until we know where he is." She felt relieved then, looking into the professor's sincere eyes. Everyone at the school considered Logan a part of their family, even if they weren't close, but sometimes she had to be reminded of that. The tight knot of worry in her chest finally eased a little as hope began to grow.