Chapter 13

"Get me out of here!"

Bobby slammed his shoulder against the paneled wall of the sauna for what seemed like the thousandth time. Sweat poured down his face and neck, soaking him from his T-shirt to the waistband of his jeans. Blood trickled from his split knuckles and dripped to the floor. His usually placid blue eyes were blank with rage; his kind face was streaked on one side with the blood from his hand, leaving the impression that he was some two-faced monster, like Jekyll and Hyde.

Bobby thought he heard a noise outside, and threw himself at the door again. He suddenly felt a pop in his shoulder, followed by a burst of pain, but he merely winced. He needed to get out, pain or not, and find Her. He needed to claim Her as his own, to show everyone that he was not to be challenged.

"Let me out!" He shouted, and slammed against the door once more. He thought he felt it give a little, but before he could move to try again, a voice called back to him.

"Bobby! It's Logan. I'm coming in."

NO! His body screamed; Logan was a rival. He would challenge Bobby for Her. Logan would keep Her for himself. Bobby knew he couldn't let that happen.

"It's okay, Bobby."

Rogue.

She was there, out there with Logan.

Peter and Logan slid the barricade of boxes and desks away from the door, and Peter held the door closed with his massive body.

"Have fun, guys," Peter said, a sardonic smile on his lips. "I've got a headache from standing here for almost 7 hours, listening to him screaming and throwing himself around in there."

Storm reached up and patted his shoulder.

"Thank you, Peter. Why don't you go on upstairs and get some sleep?"

He nodded and switched places with Logan, then slowly made his way up the staircase to the second floor. When he was gone, Logan gazed seriously at the three women.

"If he gets out without me, do whatever it takes."

All three solemnly nodded, and he turned his attention back to the door. He took a few deep breaths, then quickly slipped into the room and slammed the door behind him. As soon as he was inside, the women pushed the barricade back into place and then found themselves someplace to sit and wait.

When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Logan saw Bobby crouched in the corner, but he didn't sense fear coming from the boy. In fact, he could tell that Bobby was waiting for Logan to make a wrong move, to show his weakness so that Bobby could attack. And so that he could win.

Simply put, Bobby wanted Logan dead. The idea shocked Logan, but he had to focus on this task for now. There would be time to process the rest later.

"Bobby, I'm here to help you," Logan said, taking a step toward him.

"Yeah, right. You just wanna kill me so you can have her all to yourself."

Logan was puzzled. "Who? Rogue?"

"Who else?" Bobby spat, grinning without humor. "You've always been her idol, her favorite."

"No," Logan replied, shaking his head. "No, Bobby; it's not like that. She loves you. She wants to be with you."

"Only because I'm her age! Face it, Logan, she's settling for me because she can't have you!"

Logan watched in sympathy as Bobby hugged his knees to his chest, suffering silently. Logan knew that Bobby wouldn't give him the pleasure of knowing just how upset he was; he wouldn't let him think he was weak.

"Why don't you come out with me and as her yourself?" Logan asked with a shrug.

Bobby suddenly jumped to his feet and ran a hand through his damp hair, leaving a red streak behind. His eyes sparked for an instant, before returning to the empty stare, and it intrigued Logan. He realized now what they reminded him of – a shark on the hunt. Or a wolf just before it attacks, Logan thought.

Before he even had time to finish the thought, Logan was on his back, staring up into Bobby's face. The boy's lips curled into a sneer, and he lifted his foot to stomp on Logan's chest. Logan rolled away at the last second and got to his feet. He had to concentrate on not becoming enraged, on not losing control, so that he wouldn't hurt Bobby. So far, it was proving exceedingly difficult.

Bobby punched Logan in the jaw, ignorant of the fact that he'd split his own knuckles even wider, and was now bleeding quite profusely. Logan was surprised to find that the punch had actually hurt him, despite his adamantium skeleton. Storm was right, he mused; Bobby was extremely strong.

Though he was quickly losing blood, Bobby wasn't ready to give up. He grabbed Logan's head and slammed it into the wall as hard as he could, making the entire sauna shake. Logan countered this with a kick to Bobby's kneecap, almost congratulating himself when he heard something snap. He shook his head to clear his swimming vision, and walked toward Bobby, who was now sitting on the long bench, clutching his knee and fairly roaring in pain. Logan felt a twinge of guilt when he caught a glimpse of something white poking through Bobby's jeans, but he couldn't stop now.

Bobby saw him coming, and screamed, "Get the hell away from me, Logan!"

Logan kept coming, his expression neutral. He grabbed Bobby's arm and pulled the syringes out of his inside pocket. He popped the caps off the needles, and Bobby started to struggle once more, his eyes now full of fear.

"Sorry," was all Logan said as he plunged the needles full of clear fluid into Bobby's arm.

Bobby continued to fight until the medication took effect, and when his eyes finally slid closed and his body went limp, Logan heaved a sigh.

"Okay, girls. He's down!" He shouted, and immediately heard the boxes being pushed away from the door. Soon after, the door itself swung open, and Logan stepped out with Bobby cradled in his arms.

"Oh my God, Logan! What did you do to him?" Raven asked, her face ashen.

Logan was offended by the question, but he merely replied, "I barely touched him. He did most of that himself. The kneecap is my fault, though," he finished with a shrug.

"Let's get him to the Lab," Storm said then. "We've got to stop that bleeding."