Special Note: My heartfelt thanks go out to Dark Phoenix Rising for helping me with German geography...:) If you haven't checked out her stories here on FFN, "Stages", "Changes", "Changes Sequel 1 Darkness" and "Return to Weapon X", please do so now...i've read plenty of stuff by people who claim English as their first language and she does better than A LOT of those i've seen...

Chapter 2.

(Logan)

"Ok, so we've taken out this one, this one, this one and this one." Angela said, stabbing her claw into the map. "We got the one guy from this one that we wanted. What's next?"

I looked over the map of North America that we'd marked with all the locations that were mentioned in the BCI file for Weapon X. I was a little surprised that they'd hidden entire complexes under existing military bases that the people above ground never even knew were there. Either they'd gotten smart after Alkali Lake or their funding got cut. Any way I looked at it, it made our job a hell of a lot harder.

"We've hit plenty on this continent." I replied. "Where's that map of Europe?"

"Uhh, hold on a sec." She rifled through the mess of papers that littered the table in front of us. We'd told Chuck that we needed an office downstairs for a "little project" and he'd given us one. Besides being psychic, he's also smart and I know he knew what we really wanted it for. He might not agree with what we were doing, but at least he understood why we needed to do it. "Ah, here it is." She spread the map out and Kyro and I leaned over it.

"You are thinking that we should, as you would say, switch it up a bit?" Kyro asked.

I nodded. "Yep. If we stop hittin' North America, they might think we got everythin' we knew about, start gettin' comfortable again."

"And comfortable people get sloppy." Angela finished for me. "Sounds like a plan." She chewed on a claw before stabbing at the map again. "This one."

The place she had impaled was in an area in the southwestern part of Germany. It didn't surprise me at all that there was a Weapon X base there. Some of the shit I'd seen in the Second World War made that pretty obvious.

I looked at her across the table. "I like it. But both of us ain't goin'."

"What?" She shouted and jumped out of her seat. "Hell no, Logan. You're not leaving me out of this!"

"Look, when it's a continental jaunt, we're there an' back in under a day. But this'll take more time an' I don't wanna leave Evie without both o' her parents for that long." I took her hand and kissed it. "One o' us has to stay here an' protect her."

"And how do you presume we decide who stays and who goes?"

I grinned. "The old fashioned way. Got a quarter?"

She looked down to hide her smile and fished a coin out of her pocket. "Heads, I go. Tails, you go." I nodded and she flipped it into the air. We both watched as it completed its arc and landed in the middle of the map, clearly showing tails. She scooped it up with a scowl. "If I hadn't flipped it myself, I'd swear you cheated so you could have all the fun."

"I promise, you can go on the next one." I said.

"I'm holding you to that!" She bent back over the map, then leafed through the file for the documents we'd need to plan this mission. "Ok, the base is located about a hundred miles southwestish of Nord-Hessen in Bavaria… "

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took about two weeks of careful planning before we – meaning Angela – felt confident that the mission would work. I gotta give her credit; when the time came, she let me go without any fuss, just a kiss and a "come back to me or I'll kill you". Can't help but love a woman who threatens to kill you if you die.

Xavier let us use Blackbird Three (the original jet) to get over there. Kyro had insisted on learning how to fly the things when he'd made Alpha team, which I think was at least partly so that none of the other X-Men would have to get blood on their hands by piloting the jet for us. I could have probably flown one in a pinch, but it's never come up and I hope that it never does. Once he'd said goodbye to his woman, we strapped into the cockpit and started on our way.

The trip took about four hours and that only because we took the jet sub-orbital. Once we got to the general area, we flew just below radar range and made a pass over where the facility was supposed to be. Sure enough, in the middle of what should have been a whole lot of nothing was a complex that looked very military to us. We found a secure spot to land about five klicks to the north and I took the time to radio back to the mansion before we set out. "Wolverine to base, do not respond. Project V is green. Will send again on alternate frequency when it's all over." I clicked the radio off and looked at my partner. "You ready?" He just nodded and we started on our way.

He shifted into his half-panther form and melted into the shadows as I picked my way through the sparse cover. The area was lightly wooded, mostly varieties of pine with a few oaks and birches scattered here and there. This was bad for us, since it meant we'd have to cross some pretty big open areas to stay under some kind of cover. When it was possible, Kyro stuck to the high road, leaving me on the ground to scent out any sentries we might come across. But whenever we had to cross those open places, the space between my shoulders would tense up, waiting for a bullet to come out of nowhere.

We didn't find any guards of any kind until we were about a klick away from the base. I scented two of them about a hundred yards apart, so I motioned to Kyro to head to the east while I came up on the one to the west. He had his back to me and as luck would have it, he turned just as I came up behind him. His eyes widened in shock when my claws pierced his throat and I lowered him slowly to the ground. I slid my claws back slowly to minimize the sound and crept back to where I'd left Kyro. He was waiting for me, the smell of blood on his hands. I nodded to him once and we continued our progress.

Five hundred yards later, I motioned for Kyro to hold position and cocked my head. A heartbeat later, he did the same thing and we both scanned the area for the sound we'd heard, which was a faint buzzing. Moving carefully over the rough terrain, we finally found the source, which was a laser sensor array just like the ones we had scattered all over the mansion grounds back home. It looked to be about eight feet high with a laser every six inches, so we'd both have to find a way to get over it. We followed it to the east for about fifty yards before coming to a tree that would suit our purpose. He went over first, climbing about ten feet up and leaping from the branches to land silently about four yards from the lasers. I followed suit a few seconds later, landing a bit closer to the array but with no more sound than Kyro had. He emerged from the shadows of a cluster of oaks and we made the last leg of the journey without incident.

We finally came up on the perimeter of the complex and I swore softly. Besides the double electrified fence and the sentries posted every fifty feet in between them, the trees had been cleared for about twenty yards from the edge of the first fence. We pulled back into the shelter of a small grove of pines to plan our move.

"Logan-san, this will be difficult." Kyro said as he shifted to his full human form.

"No shit." I replied. "But we ain't gotta choice. We've come this far, we gotta finish it."

"What is your plan?"

"Don't look like stealth is gonna be much of an option, so here's what we'll do…" I outlined the plan for him quickly. I would break cover and slash open the nearest fence, either of which would bring sentries with guns blazing. While they were distracted, he would slip inside and start working on any other sentries that were coming to join the fun. Once we had a big enough hole opened in the living barrier, I would slice open the other fence and he would sneak to the nearest cover he could find. Of course, the whole place would be on high alert by then, so we'd probably end up having to fight every inch of the way. "By then, I figure we'll have gotten what we need an' we can get the hell outta here."

"I do not like it, you taking the major part of the damage here." He said with a shake of his head.

"Look bub, whether you like it or not, I heal a hell of a lot faster than you do. Besides, shooting me only pisses me off." I smirked at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Kyro. It'll work out." He nodded and we got into position.

We waited until the guards were at their furthest point apart from each other and I dashed forward quickly, claws out. I slashed into the fence as fast as I could, my body convulsing as the electricity arced through my bones. I recovered in a blink, but the sentries were already there with their guns drawn and shouting orders in German. I looked up at them with a snarl and leapt forward. Their guns chattered and I grunted as bullets impacted my chest and arms, sprays of blood erupting from the wounds. Then I was on top of them, my claws flashing in the muzzle flare as I brought them down to slash apart both weapons and limbs. I heard more shouting in the distance as the sentries fell beneath my claws, bleeding out from their wounds. I turned to face the incoming guards, who skidded to halt when they saw me with looks of horror on their faces. I rushed towards them and they lifted their guns, but they were too late to get off more than a couple shots before I shoved my claws in their throats, nearly decapitating one of them in the bargain.

"Wolverine! The fence!" I heard behind me and I spun to face Kyro, his clothing liberally splashed with blood. I stalked over to him and slashed through the second fence, my body once again convulsing in response to the electricity. I heard another shout in German behind me and I turned to meet the guards even as Kyro slipped inside the perimeter to find cover.

These guards must have been made of harder stuff than the others, because they met me without a hint of hesitation. The first one came running right up to me and whipped me across the face with the butt of his rifle. My head snapped to the side and I looked back at him slowly, a low growl coming from my throat. He raised his weapon to hit me again, but I lashed out with my left and severed his arm at the elbow before thrusting my right into his gut. I twisted my arm as I pulled my claws out and he was dead before he hit the ground. His comrade threw down his weapon and fell to his knees, begging for his life in German.

I grabbed him by the back of his head and forced him to stand. "How do we get into the underground part of the base?" I snarled in passable German.

"There is a door in the second bunker." He replied, his voice quivering. "You need a key card to get in."

"I got all the clearance I need right here." I lifted my hand and showed him my claws, still covered with the blood of his comrade. "Is there anyone else here like me? Other mutants?"

"Nein, not that I have seen. Please, don't kill me! I will tell no one I have seen you!"

"Sorry bub, can't take that chance." I couldn't leave him alive, no matter what he'd said. These bastards have ways of making people talk. I should know, they taught them to me. But at least I could grant him a quick death and I did.

I could still hear other sentries on the move to my position, so I got out of there and through the perimeter before they could arrive. I sniffed the air and picked out Kyro's scent above the stink of blood and cordite. I ran silently to where he'd hidden himself in the shadow of a truck. I paused to wipe the blood off my claws before sheathing them and turned to him. "Status?" I whispered.

"The main entrance seems to be over there." He replied quietly, pointing to a well-lit door guarded by four men. "One of them spoke to someone over the radio, but I could not hear what he said over the shooting and screaming."

"Ain't gonna apologize for that. Any other ways in?"

He nodded. "There is a window on the west side of the building on the second floor. Are we going in?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Main entrance to the underground part's in that bunker over there." I jerked my head to the right. "We'll take that out first."

He nodded and we took off quietly towards the bunker. It pissed me off that these guys were hiding their biggest secrets behind people who were probably completely innocent. It didn't mean I wouldn't kill them; anyone who points a weapon at me is an enemy and I would deal with them as such. The fact that they didn't need to die is what made me so angry about the whole thing. No matter what anyone has ever thought of me, I am not cold-blooded killer. It took me a long time and the love of a woman for me to get that through my extra-thick skull and I truly believe it now. Just because I was on a rampage of murder at the moment didn't mean I was just a killer. These Weapon X people had hurt, tortured and killed far more people than anyone will ever know about and I was going to make sure they paid for those crimes.

We made it almost all the way to the bunker undetected. Just as we were about to make our final approach to the door, a pair of guards rounded a corner and pretty much ran right into us. They stared in surprise for a moment and I grabbed the one on the left and shoved my claws into his throat even as Kyro leapt onto the other one with a snarl. The guard had time to make a single cry of alarm before Kyro knocked him to the ground and tore his throat out. Not wanting to take the chance that someone had heard his shout, we ran the last twenty yards and I hit the door with my claws and wrenched it off its hinges. As I tossed it aside, Kyro slipped past me and attacked the first thing that moved.

The bunker was mostly empty, only about half a dozen soldiers still inside. I didn't know where the rest of them had gotten to and I didn't care; these six people were standing between me and another slice of vengeance. Movement flashed in the corner of my eye and I turned to face a soldier who couldn't have been more than twenty years old, a Sig-Sauer P226 pointed at my chest. He shouted an order to me in German, which I ignored and drew my fist back, claws out. He shot me point-blank and the bullet ricocheted off my sternum to hit him right between the eyes. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Another soldier rushed at me from the side and managed to bury a knife in my side to the hilt. My hand lashed out to the side and his eyes rolled up in his head a moment before it fell to the ground, followed by his body. I grabbed the knife and pulled it out with a snarl, flipped it around and threw it at the last advancing soldier. It hit him high in the right shoulder with a meaty thunk and he fell to his knees, his hands wrapped around the handle. Before he could pull it out, I rushed over to him and grabbed his head. With a quick twist, I snapped his neck and he fell over.

I turned around to see if there was anyone left, but the only other person alive was Kyro. He'd shifted back to his full human form, his hand clenched to his right shoulder. "Hey bub, you all right?"

He nodded and grimaced. "Hai, Logan-san. This one shot me." He kicked the body at his feet. "I will be all right in a moment."

We moved to the back of the bunker, where there was a small office. I took a deep sniff and a faint chemical smell was coming from behind a bookshelf in the corner. I went over to it and pulled, revealing a door with a slot for a keycard next to it. I grinned, popped a single claw and jammed it into the reader. The mechanism sparked briefly and the door slid open a couple of inches. I made sure Kyro was still behind me and forced the door the rest of the way. On the other side was an elevator shaft, the car nowhere in sight. I sighed and turned back to my partner.

"We're gonna hafta climb down. You gonna be ok for that?"

"I will make it." He replied, his mouth set in a grim line. "Let us finish this."

I turned back to the gaping blackness in front of me, relieved only by the occasional red light bulb spaced about every fifteen feet all the way down. A service ladder ran down just to the right of the door and I swung myself onto it. After I climbed about six feet, Kyro appeared above me and we started our slow progress to the hidden complex below the base.

We passed two other doors on the way down, but I figured it would be easier to start at the bottom and work our way up. For one thing, they wouldn't be expecting it. It went against every bit of training that I had to do it this way, which was something I was hoping they would remember. The climb only took about ten minutes all told before we came to the top of the elevator car. I dropped on top of it and waited a few seconds. If there was anyone waiting in there for us, they would have shot me through the ceiling of the car, fuck any damage to the actual elevator. They could fix that. I didn't think they'd get over being dead any time soon. When no shots rang out, I popped my claws and slashed open the emergency exit and dropped into the car, followed by Kyro. I took a quick look at his injured shoulder, but it seemed to have healed up nicely. A quick nod was the only warning I gave him before I cut through the doors.

I expected resistance as soon as I stepped out, so I was surprised to find the hallway empty. Everything was bathed in an eerie red glow from the emergency lights that lined the walls, which were polished steel not unlike the lower levels at the mansion. I raised an eyebrow at that and inhaled deeply. Underneath the scents of countless humans, chemicals and gun oil I caught a very faint scent I hadn't encountered in a very long time. Magneto had been here, long ago, probably when he was a captive of the Nazis. Much as I hated the guy for what he'd done to Rogue, Charles and so many others, I still wouldn't have wished that fate on anyone.

"Wolverine, I do not like this." I heard Kyro say and I turned back to him. He was once again in his full human form, his eyes narrowed and his fingers curled. "I do not like this at all. Where are all the people?"

"Dunno. Gotta be around here somewhere." I sniffed the air again and took off to the left, following the chemical smell. "Lab's this way, we'll start there." He nodded and shifted back to his half-panther form and his claws emerged from his curled fingers. I listened carefully as we worked our way deeper into the complex, but I still didn't hear anyone. Kyro was right; this was definitely not normal.

After a few minutes of twists and turns, we finally came to the main lab. I took a deep breath, but I could only smell one person inside. Instead of hitting the doors hard and fast, I eased them open and slipped inside, Kyro a half step behind me. The person in the lab was a woman, hunched over a computer terminal with her back to the door. Without looking up, she called over her shoulder, "Thanks guys, just put them down on the table over there", in perfect English.

I smirked and slid my claws out. "Wrong answer, darlin'."

She turned with a gasp and stood up so quickly her chair rolled several feet away from her. "Oh my God!" She cried and looked wildly about. She began edging towards a cabinet in the corner and I jerked my head to Kyro. He rushed over and put himself in between it and her, while I covered the door. Her jaw went slack; we had her cornered and she knew it. "Please, I haven't done anything!"

"I'll be the judge o' that." I said and stalked forward. "Where's the others?"

"I-I don't know!" She stammered and I knew she was lying.

"Wrong answer again." I was only a few feet away from her and she began backing up to the desk. I closed the gap and pinned her there, my claws under her chin. "Where the hell are they?"

"Up-upstairs! Level two, in the containment facility!"

"What's that for?"

"For y-you! They were counting on you starting at the top!" She closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. "Th-they think they can c-contain you! Get you b-back in the pr-program!"

"So you're all alone down here?" She nodded. "An' you've all been expectin' me?"

"You haven't exactly been subtle, Wolverine." She replied, suddenly finding some courage. "For all of your failings, you're a credit to the program. All three of you are."

"An' you think that's a good thing darlin'? Think again! I was plenty good at killin' before you got your hands on me. I just never did it without a good reason."

"Which was one of the problems with you, your damn conscience, your honor." She spat the last word like a curse. "You were supposed to be the perfect weapon."

"I am a MAN, not a weapon!" I shouted. "All of us were people an' you cut us open, stole our lives! NO MORE!" My other hand shot out and my claws went through the computer she'd been working at. I grabbed her by the throat and gave her a shake. "No more, do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Please, Wolv…Logan. Don't kill me. I wasn't here when they altered you, any of you!"

"Do you honestly think I give a shit?" I gestured to the lab with my free hand. "I know what this place is for! I know what happens here! This project didn't die with Stryker, so that means there's someone else pullin' the strings. Who is it?"

"I don't know! We just know him as the Director. No one knows his name!"

"We'll see about that." I let her go and she fell to the floor in a heap, coughing. I turned to leave, but I heard the distinct sound of a gun cocking and I rounded on her, claws out and I took her hand off at the wrist. "Such a shame, darlin'. I was gonna let ya go." Her eyes widened in shock as I slashed her throat. I looked up at Kyro. "C'mon. We got some house cleanin' to do."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took us a few hours to clear the place out, but there was no one left alive when we were through. I stood outside the main building and looked around. Kyro held a crate in his hands filled with files, hard drives and disks that we found in the underground complex. Once we were back at the mansion, they'd be given to Buzz and Sage for analysis, to see if we could learn anything about this "Director" or any other new operatives they were working on. If we could save even one more person, I would consider it a success. I made a final stroke on the wall with my hand to finish off the calling card. I looked at my partner. "We ready?"

"Yes, I think we have everything." He replied, shifting the crate a little.

"Good. Let's go home." We turned away and started back to the jet. I spared one final glance at the latest Weapon X facility to fall and the word I'd left in four-foot letters on the wall: Vengeance.

AN: Lots of thanks to everyone who's been reading this...NaNoWriMo is going, well, slow but i hope it'll turn out ok...:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, who do such a good job at making sure this all makes sense...Extra special thanks to DBK(TM) for really being my first fan...:) Super special thanks to the readers, for stopping in and checking it out...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were Ineluctability, reeltreble1031, sela103 and levanna...:) Ineluctability - Good luck with NaNoWriMo...if you need a cheerleader, i'm there! reeltreble - So glad to see you back...this is a bit of a darker fic than you might be used to, but i've made sure there's still some stuff in here that's pure fun too...keep your eyes open! sela - Yes, i can count to four...as you can tell by the part where i updated the 5th and not the 4th...:) Good to have you back! levanna - Good to see you back...:)

Now, out of all the people who read, only about 1/10 of you review...i'll make the same promise i made before...if someone who has NEVER reviewed before takes the plunge and clicks that button down there, you'll get an instant update...:) How cool is that? So go ahead, give it a try...otherwise, i'll see you all on Nov. 9th!