This chapter is a little longer, as I thought the story would be finished by now. As I kept writing, it just kept coming...so enjoy! Again, I don't own the X-men, yada, yada...

Chapter 22

Logan was gone, and I felt as if my last hope of ever breaking out of this nightmare had gone with him. I lay staring at the dark metal ceiling, trying futilely to remember how this scenario was supposed to proceed, but everything in my brain seemed to be on hold, waiting for something…but what? My mind lay cold and heavy, like the adamantium in my bones.

Klaxon alarms brought my head off the pillow and my heart into my throat, breaking me out of the maddening circle of thoughts in which I had lost myself. I was still in the high security cell, laid out on the cot where the lab coats had left me. They had seemed unsurprised that I survived the Wolverine's attack. I heard voices, raised in urgency, pass outside the door. "Secure the corridor, Section 203, report! The subject…" Footsteps thundered past, orders were shouted and all the while the deafening sound of the alarm kept on. Something started to tickle the edge of my memory. "..ode 4! Repeat Code 4! Close off…!"

Suddenly, my cell door flew open, and an angry, goatee-ed man entered, veins popping out of his forehead as he spit commands at the soldiers who accompanied him. "Take her out! She's our bait. Wolverine is very…attached…to her." His face screwed up in disgust.

Wolverine. My heart pounded even harder. This was it! The pieces were starting to fall into place. Logan had escaped somehow, and they were going to use our connection to try and recapture him. Two armed men approached me and I got slowly to my feet, feigning more grogginess than I truly felt. Lead them to think I was little threat and I could use that to my advantage. They each grabbed an arm and started to pull me forward, but stopped short at the shouted expletive from the leader. "The cuffs, you idiots!" He threw a heavy-looking restraining device at the closest soldier, causing him to release his grip on me.

I lost no time in taking advantage of his distraction. The snikt! of my claws was lost in the cacophony of noise in the hallway and the first soldier hit the ground with the high-tech handcuffs. A fist full of metal to the nose dropped the second and I leapt toward the man with the goatee, who was aiming a tranquilizer gun at me. With a growl I dove at his knees and his shot went awry, darts pinging off the metal wall. We both scrambled for the pistol he had at his waist, and I felt a cold explosion in my thigh almost before the gun went off. Roaring in pain and rage, I drove my adamantium blades into the bastard's shoulders, slamming them into the floor beneath before retracting them in a gout of blood. His hoarse scream followed me as I stumbled into the hallway. I had to find Logan…

I limped-ran up the long dark corridor, heedless of any danger. Logan! I reached out with my mind, and was met with mental chaos: jagged pain, inhuman bloodlust and red-black hate. Fear and confusion spurred me on, despite a growing feeling of heaviness in my limbs. My bare feet slipped out from under me and I fell to my knees on the damp, clammy floor. Waves of pain shot up my arms as my hands struck ground. It now felt as if someone had replaced my bones with red hot pokers. I could hear loud voices and heavy boot steps coming up the hallway behind me, and I scrambled frantically to my feet. I had no sense of direction in the darkness, how was I going to get out? Panic began to set in.

And then I smelled Logan. His earthy, masculine scent filled my nostrils, making my heart hammer in my chest. LOGAN! My mind screamed, praying for a response. I had to find him. With all my force of will, I commanded my burning legs to move. There was a faint light ahead and Logan's presence was stronger, urging me past my point of endurance to RUN!

Then there really was a light, pricking at my consciousness through closed eyelids. I could smell something like magnolias, and sensed a presence watching over me. Forcing my eyes open with a gasp I, at last, let the brightness fully in.

I was home.

The light was coming from the banks of fluorescents that lined the ceiling in the med lab. I was flat on my back and could hear the beeps and hums of all the monitors. There was a squeal and an excited Southern voice called out, "Oh mah God, she's awake! Dr. McCoy!" A gloved hand grasped mine and I looked up into Rogue's face. She was beaming like a Christmas tree. Puzzled, but grateful, I squeezed her hand back.

"Wh…how long…" My mouth felt full of sand, and I licked my lips. "How long have I…?

A furry, blue, bespectacled face moved into view. "Welcome back, Ms. Hastings. You have been missed." His smooth voice was in stark contrast to his wild appearance.

"Blue must be the it color for mutants this year," I mumbled.

"You've been out for ah week," Rogue injected, answering my question.

Something wasn't right. My thoughts were rather erratic, still trying to come back fully to reality. But… "Where's Logan?" McCoy and Rogue exchanged a quick glance, and I knew something was terribly wrong. I automatically tried my empathic link with Logan, and was met with the same disjointed rage and overwhelming pain that I had experienced in my memory. It was him, but there was no human finesse to his emotions. A dread certainty came over me. "He's gone feral?" The sorrow that sprang to Rogue's eyes gave me my answer. "Oh my God…" I tried to sit up, and spots swirled before my eyes. "I've gotta get out of here."

Dr. McCoy steadied me with a large blue hand and his calming tone. "Don't be too hasty. Give yourself a while to get your bearings, and I'm going to call Charles." As if on cue, the Professor appeared at the door.

"Brianna!" His usually stoic countenance broke into a broad smile as he glided over to my bedside. "I'm very glad to see you."

"What happened, Professor? Logan…" my voice went up an octave with fear.

"Logan will be fine, I promise you. His mental state right now is a temporary situation." Xavier grasped my hand. "You were in a coma of sorts. Your memory was coming back, and you were being mentally overwhelmed by the situation. Jean, Logan and I tried to help, but…"

"Yeah, I remember Logan telling me that. Right before he tried to kill me." I winced at the memory. "But he was in control of himself then. What happened? Why…"

"You weren't coming out of it as fast as we had hoped. Logan went back into the Danger Room to relive the entire memory from his point of view, in the hopes that his presence would give you the extra guidance you needed. He was obviously successful." The Professor gave a sad smile. "But that required him to go through some of the most horrific experiences of his life all over again. And, as it did in the past, Logan's animal nature has taken over in response to the torture."

I'd never felt such pain, physically or mentally. Guilt, anger and fear all made my gut twist in a very ugly way. I scrambled off the table and just made it to the stainless steel sink, where my empty stomach tried to turn itself inside out. My fault, oh my God…

"It was Logan's decision, Brianna," Charles said firmly. "Please don't blame yourself. And like I said, it is a temporary state. I detect no permanent damage to his mind."

A thought came to me through the anger. "Why wasn't Jean with Logan when he did this? I thought she was helping him. And where is she now?" I wanted to deflect some of my impotent self-loathing, and my friend, in her absence, was an easy target.

Everyone in the room became deathly quiet and all eyes went to the man in the wheelchair. Professor Xavier took a deep breath and looked at me with great sorrow. "Jean is no longer with us." He seemed reluctant to say more, and I silently urged him on with an empathic gaze. "Logan didn't tell anyone when he went in the second time, and by the time we found him, it was too late." There was a pause. "Jean had been exhibiting some …unusual power and attitudes over the last few days, and when she realized what had happened to Logan's mind, and what had been done to him in the past, she had a sort of…a…"

"Meltdown." Rogue supplied with a dark frown. "She just went berserk."

"Yes, THANK you, Marie," Charles replied. "Jean and I had a…disagreement, and she left the mansion rather abruptly." The look he gave the southern girl brooked no further discussion. "Dr. Henry McCoy has graciously agreed to act as our physician in her absence. I will leave you in his very capable hands for now, Brianna, and after he's made sure you're physically well, you and I will talk."

I gave a silent nod, my shock robbing me of any words. The Professor turned smoothly and left the room. As the door hissed shut, Rogue immediately returned to my side, a suspiciously familiar gleam in her eye. "Dr. McCoy, could ya give us a minute? Ah've got something Ah need to tell Vixen."

Cookie Monster's cousin gave me a questioning frown over the half-moon spectacles perched on his nose. "I think I'm fine, really," I assured him. Rogue's tone had set me on alert, as had the look on her face. "Healing factor, you know." I showed the doctor a small smile.

"Humph. Very well, Ms. Hastings, I'll be in the other room." The azure-furred mutant gave a last glance at us as he exited through an archway opposite the main door.

As soon as he left, Rogue grabbed my hand and fixed me with a penetrating gaze, one eyebrow arched in a way I found hauntingly similar to…my jaw dropped in sudden comprehension. "Logan?"