A vicious headache dragged Logan out of unconsciousness, one of only a handful he could remember ever having, and it appeared to originate at the back of his neck. His eyes opened as his hand encountered something hard just at the base of his skull, and just as quickly he realized that his bond with Teva felt ... wrong.

He groaned and sat up, looking around the small room he'd been placed in: concrete floor and walls, grey and colorless, the monotony broken only by a heavy reinforced door that had a small barred window up top. A cot sat against one wall. It was unfamiliar but he knew where he was.

And he was alone. He couldn't contact his mate across their link.

He tried the door even though he knew it was pointless but it went against his nature to just sit there and do nothing like a helpless child.

Sitting down again with his back to the wall facing the door, he closed his eyes and went back over the events leading up to this point. He remembered being at the cabin, stalking deer and then coming back to find Kane there. He remembered fighting him and telling Teva to leave, but after that point the beast took over and whatever had happened between then and him being defeated was a complete blank.

The sound of footsteps outside the door brought him back to the present. He recognized the tread of combat boots and the cadence of the steps before he heard Teva cursing at someone in Gaelic, insulting their heritage rather rudely, and it was enough to make him breathe a little easier. She was safe, for now.

His hackles rose, though, when the door opened and she was pushed inside by a man in black BDUs and then followed by Creed. A snarl drew his lips back.

"Y'okay?" he asked his wife, not taking his eyes off the bigger feral.

"I've been better," she retorted. Her scent was spiky with anger underscored by fear, but that's all he smelled. Vic hadn't touched her yet. "You?"

"Same."

Creed said something quietly to the guard and the man left, closing the door behind him.

"Nice to have ya home, runt."

Logan growled. "Ya know this ain't where I belong. Why can't the project just leave me the fuck alone?"

The blond man crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the closed door. "'Cause yer their golden boy, Wolverine, the most successful attempt at making a killing machine." There was bitterness in his tone, always had been when they spoke of this; Creed was angry that Wolverine had been better at something than he was though he'd never admit to that. "They want ya back."

"And I already told you an' everyone else I ain't comin' back."

"We'll see about that." Creed straightened up and rapped his knuckles on the door. The guard from before looked in and then opened the door to let him out.

Teva sighed and sank down on the cot with her back against the wall, her eyes squeezing shut.

Logan finally looked at her and was relieved to find she wasn't hurt. She looked worse for wear, her hair now loose, her clothes rumpled and ripped in a few places, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Y'sure yer okay?" he asked, crouching in front of her.

"Headache." She opened her eyes and looked at him and he saw that they were red from crying. "Worst I've ever had, even the ones I got when I manifested, and I cannae figure out if it's from the damned inhibitor or having my powers shut off."

"So that's why I can't feel ya." He gripped her arm and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry, baby, that ya got dragged into this."

Anger sparked in her eyes. "Are we going to have this conversation again?" She pulled away from him, hugging her knees to her chest. "I chose to be with ye, made vows I dinnae intend to break, and I'll thank ye no to question that."

"Dammit, Teva," he growled, "don't swipe at me. I'm not sayin' I wish we weren't together, I'm just sayin'..." He trailed off. "I know ya can fight, I've seen ya, but I'm worried about tryin' to get both of us out of here."

She bit her lip, meeting his gaze with some remorse. "I'd thought of that, too," she replied quietly. "I ken you've gotten out of worse situations than this on your own, but with me around it's going to be more difficult." Her head lowered, her forehead resting on her upraised knees. "I'm worse than useless without my guns or my powers."

Logan didn't respond, didn't know what to say to that because she was right. He was at a disadvantage, too, without his healing factor, but he didn't mind getting hurt in the process of escaping; the thought of Teva - with her minimal healing abilities - getting hurt to the point she couldn't survive made his stomach do a sickening flip that made him swallow down bile.

"What were they doin' with ya?" he finally asked, changing the subject to break the silence between them.

"Asking questions, mostly." She lifted her head only to rest it against the wall behind her, eyes still closed against the pain. "The nature of our relationship, how much I know about your past and powers, what my powers are... I lost track after a while, and after trying to make sure I did'nae tell them anything important. Such as my secondary mutation."

That was worrying. It indicated they were looking for a way to break him. "They didn't hurt ya?"

She shook her head minutely. "No, though Victor could'nae help telling me all the things he'd like to do to me." She shuddered. "I dinnae care what else happens in here but I dinnae want him getting his hands on me, not when I cannae even the odds."

"We'll get outta here," he assured her, feeling a little better when she allowed him to put his arm around her. "I promise ya that, Teva."

~~~~~~~~~~

They came for him an indeterminate amount of time later. Teva had been dozing with her head in his lap, her head still paining her, and he couldn't begrudge her what little rest she could get if it would give them a better chance at fighting their way out.

Footsteps sounded outside the door a few moments before it opened, revealing two guards he hadn't seen before.

"Get up," the taller of the two commanded. His namebadge read Lt. Anders and he had sandy blond hair in a crew cut, with piercing blue eyes that seemed to take in everything. He carried what looked like some sort of taser.

Logan gently nudged Teva awake, helping her to sit up. He hated to comply so easily but he needed to get a sense of the layout of the place, a sense of how well-guarded it was, if he was going to plan any kind of escape.

"I'll be back," he whispered, dropping a kiss on her head.

"Be careful," she replied needlessly.

He rose and followed the shorter guard, this one with dark hair and hazel eyes whose namebadge said Cpl. Waters.

"Where're we goin'?"

"Director wants to talk to you," Anders answered.

Director? A chill ran up Logan's spine. He'd heard of the man, knew he was cut from the same cloth as Dr. Cornelius, the man who'd tortured Logan and turned him into a mindless feral killer. If he was in charge of this outfit then the situation had taken a decided turn for the worse.

It was nearly impossible to keep track of where the guards were leading him. The corridors looked very similar, all the same dull grey broken intermittently by doors and cross hallways, and at one point they entered an elevator and went two floors up only to come out into another bland corridor. The place smelled sterile, making it difficult for him to mark his way through scent, too, though he catalogued the scents of the guards and anyone else they encountered. Finally they came to a door that Anders keyed open, pushing Logan inside.

"Ah, here's the mighty Wolverine." The Director sat behind a desk where several file folders lay in a tidy pile, one of which he'd been perusing before he looked up. His eyes were cold and green, the color of faded money, with crows-feet at the corners marking his age. "We've gone to an awful lot of trouble to bring you here."

"Gee, I'm sorry," Logan replied sarcastically.

The Director smiled but it was predatory instead of amused. "Of course you're not, but that's no matter. You belong to Weapon X, Wolverine, we've poured billions into your development and we can't just have you running around doing as you please."

"I belong to no one," Logan spat out, his hands clenching into fists as his claws began itching to be released, "least of all you. I killed every bastard in that complex to get free an' I'll do it here, too."

"Under other circumstances that would be true," the Director said. "However, as I'm sure you have already deduced, we have a way now to ensure your cooperation. Anything less than complete submission and you will quickly find yourself a widower."

A red haze coated Logan's vision a scant second before he lunged at the other man, his claws emerging painfully as always, and the beast inside of him howled in triumph as three furrows opened up across the Director's face. The other man screamed and lifted his hand to the bleeding wound, shouting at the guards.

"Rrrraagghhh!" Pain burst inside Logan's head, enough to blind him, and when he could see again he was on his knees and the Director was gone.

Creed stood in his place, holding up a small object the approximate size and shape of a penlight. "Did ya forget about the inhibitor?" he asked, spinning the gadget in his fingers.

Logan shook his head, trying to clear away the pain and the dizziness that was making his vision swim a bit, and as he looked down he saw the cause: his hands were bleeding. He had indeed forgotten about the inhibitor, and right now it was preventing his body from healing as rapidly as it could. His claws always tore open the skin but he never had to worry about the wounds, at least not until now.

"Can't say that asshole didn't deserve what ya did to him," Creed continued, his tone conversational. "Been wantin' to do that myself but they stuck a chip in me that keeps me from goin' after anyone here that's my 'superior.'" That last was said in such a way to make it clear he considered no one his superior. Sabretooth had always viewed himself as being at the top of the food chain, everyone else was just prey.

Creed moved across the room, crouching down next to him. "C'mon, runt, it can't be that bad. Just say yes."

"Why?" Logan asked, finally finding his voice. "There's no love lost between us, why the hell ya want me to stick around?"

"I dunno, maybe for old time's sake. We used to be pretty good as a team, least when you weren't bein' a bleeding heart, an' if I know where ya are that just means it'll be that much easier to kill ya when I feel like it."

"Why are ya even here, Creed?" Logan sat back on his heels. "Yer the last person I'd think would wanna be on a leash."

"They let me kill whoever I want and they pay me for it." Vic smiled, baring his teeth. "Don't get much better than that."

Logan grinned mirthlessly back. "Still a leash, Vic, even if it's a long one. They control ya. Yer just a dog they let loose whenever they want somethin' nasty done."

The bigger feral snarled. "Same as you'll be, runt. You ain't gonna let them hurt your little bitch so it's just a matter o' time before they got ya brainwashed an' killin' again. Don't act like yer better than me." Another smiled appeared, this one vicious and cruel. "But make no mistake, Wolverine: whether or not ya go along with it, the redhead ain't gettin' outta here without me markin' her."

Rage flooded Logan, just as it did any time his mate was threatened, but when he tried to unsheathe his claws he found that he couldn't.

Creed chuckled darkly. "Problem, Wolverine?" he asked tauntingly. "Inhibitor does more than just block yer powers. It can paralyze ya, all of yer body or just a few select muscle groups." He wiggled the gadget in his hand. "Nice little piece o' tech, this is."

A deep growl rumbled in Logan's chest. "I don't care what ya do to me but ya ain't touchin' her."

"Ya keep talkin' but all I hear is 'blah blah blah.'" Creed rose and gestured to the guards at the door. "Take 'im back, an' leave the inhibitor on this setting. Don't want him clawin' up anyone else."

Logan wanted very much to do just that, regardless of the fact he'd lose more blood. The wounds on his hands had begun to clot, at least, but he didn't know how much blood he'd already lost, just that it was enough to make him woozy, and he hadn't felt that in a very long time. It made the first threads of fear settle in his belly to take root, fear for himself and not just his mate.

Teva was on her feet as soon as he returned, concern making her ignore the guards when they told her to back away.

"Sod off," she growled, reaching for him. "What'd they do to ye?"

"Did it myself." He allowed her to guide him back to the cot. "Attacked the Director, didn't even think about my healin' factor being turned off."

She was examining his hands, being careful not to disturb the wounds and make them bleed again. "They threatened ye some more, didn't they?"

He nodded. "Won't be the last time, either. And if I keep sayin' no they'll take it out on you." He sighed. "I ain't gonna let that happen, Tev. If I can't find a way outta here, I'll let 'em have me if it means you go free."

"Logan -"

"Don't." He didn't mean to snap at her but he felt short-tempered and ill. "Like ya said, I got a better chance of escapin' if I don't got you to worry about. If you can get out you can rally the cavalry and work at it from the outside."

Teva met his gaze levelly and he wished he knew what she was thinking, what she was feeling, aside from just anger. He could read that from her posture and expression alone but their link had always afforded him a more nuanced understanding of her, gave him the subtle, unconscious things he couldn't sense otherwise.

"I hate it. I hate that you're right." A fine tremor ran through her body. "It feels like giving up, though."

"I know, darlin', I know." He cupped her chin in his hand, rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone. She leaned into the touch. "But I been through this once already an' came out of it mostly intact. An' this time, I got somethin' more than just survival to bring me back if I go too far."

She shifted closer to rest her forehead against his. "I know, I just -" Her inhale was shaky. "God. Why does this keep happening? Why can these bastards no leave ye in peace and just let ye live your life?" Her eyes closed and tears tracked down her cheeks. "Why can we no be happy?"

He had no answer for that so he shrugged and gathered her in against his side.

Silence settled between them, strained and nearly tangible. Logan closed his eyes and focused on his senses, hearing Teva's breath even out into fitful sleep as physical and mental exhaustion took over.

He leaned his head against hers and prepared himself for what came next.