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6

A few days later Vincent was almost all healed. He was very happy about that and so was his father, but he was very stiff. He tried stretching but that didn't do a thing. So the morning he was healed, Victor took his son downstairs and into the forest. He was also showing very small signs of his other mutations. Vincent and Victor stopped at the edge of the forest.

"Why are we here?" Vincent asked.

"Because I thought a little morning run would help un-stiff your body, Vince." Victor walked into the forest. Vincent followed him and they stopped twenty feet. Victor took his boots and socks off. Vincent did the same. "Since you don't have your other mutations yet, we'll run on twos. Try to keep up."

With that he bounded off into the woods. Vincent followed him and caught up with his father. His father took him all over the place in there. It did help the stiffness. He wasn't used to running like this and was starting to tire. He tried keeping up as best as he could but soon he was falling behind and lost sight of his father. Vincent was panting with his hands on his knees. He looked up and couldn't hear anything but forest sounds. He stood straight and looked around. He didn't know where he was. He only kept track of his father. Now he lost his father and got himself lost. If he turned back then he'd probably get more lost. If he went forward he would probably find his father. He decided to go forward. He searched and tried listening for his father as he walked. He didn't hear anything. He heard something snap behind him and he whipped around. Nothing. He continued walking. Then he heard something much bigger snap. He whipped around. Nothing again. He sighed, shaking his head and continued the search for his father.

After what seemed like hours which was only minutes, Vincent came across a clearing and a small river ran beside it. He sat right in front of it. He wondered where his father was. He knew his father knew he was lost. He'd probably come looking for him. He looked up at the sky and saw he was out here for an hour or two by the angle of the sun. It was getting hot out and he wondered how the temperature suddenly changed. It was cool earlier then turned muggy. He didn't like the hot weather. He preferred the cold. He decided to go skinny dipping and stripped. Vincent saw that there were stones that looked like steps and he went down them and into the cool water. He sighed at the coolness of the water as his whole body was now in the water. It was deeper than it looked. It went up to his shoulders. He dipped and came back up, his hair short hair stuck to his head. He sat on one of the underwater steps and leaned back with his hands behind his head. He loved this little clearing he found and the river he found, too. Probably someone from the school knew about this place. It was likely Logan knew of this place. Logan. Uncle Logan. Or Uncle Jimmy. He sighed thinking about how his uncle almost killed him on sight. Vincent got out of the water and used his shirt to dry himself. He threw on his boxers and sweatpants and set off for the mansion with his wet shirt in hand.

Logan was watching the kids at the pool while smoking a cigar under the shade of a tree. They were chasing and splashing each other. He finished the cigar and put the stump out with the heel of his boot. He looked around again then smelled a familiar scent. He turned around to the person.

"Runt, you seen my cub?"

"No, I haven't, Victor," Logan said. "You lost yer cub? Some father you are."

"I thought he was right behind me." Victor scowled and leaned on the tree beside Logan. "I'm a good father, runt."

"A good father doesn't lose their cub or pup."

"Fuck you, runt. My cub ain't got his other mutations."

"Where'd ya lose him?"

"Woods. Just came from there."

"Did ya look for him?"

"Yeah, I retraced my steps, but I didn't see him anywhere." Victor walked off.

Logan continued watching the kids.

You know you want to, said Wolverine in his head.

Want to what? Logan asked.

Hurt the cub. Make him bleed. Kill him.

No, you want to. I don't.

Yes, you do. After attacking him ya do.

That was you. You made me attack him.

That was not fully me, Logan. It was mostly you.

Because I hate him.

Yeah. You know you want to kill him, too.

No. Stop it! Logan held his head in his hands.

Yes, Logan. Kill him.

No!

KILL HIM!

NO!

The pain was ceasing and Logan let go of his head as Wolverine went to the back of his cage. He sat down and leaned against the tree. He put his head against it and closed his eyes. Never before in a long time has it hurt to make him go to the back of his mind. He heard footsteps and saw Vincent come out of the woods some twenty feet away and he walked to the edge of the pool. The boy looked around smiling then it was gone when his eyes laid on Logan. Logan waved to him and Vincent waved back. Logan got up and decided to talk with the boy. He got to where Vincent was and was about to talk to him when he heard someone shout, "Watch out!" and someone slammed into him, knocking him face first into the pool. He started sinking. He tried to swim, but couldn't. Then the water started turning a green shade and there were masked people in white coats standing over him. Flashes went through his mind. He held his head and screamed and howled in pain as he sunk to the bottom. It was some kid named John who knocked Logan into the pool. He was running and slipped on some water and knocked the older feral into the pool. All the kids were laughing and Vincent glared at them. They stopped laughing when the bubbles stopped coming up. Victor dropped his shirt and dove into the pool.

He swam and swam and saw Logan laying on unconscious on the bottom of the pool. Small bubbles came from his mouth. Vincent swam down and tugged on Logan's arm. He didn't budge. He pulled harder. He wished he had his mutant powers. Then Logan was feeling lighter and lighter. Vincent grinned and pulled Logan's arm around his neck and Vincent wrapped his arm around his waist and started swimming. It was fourteen feet deep. Vincent swam as fast as he could. His lungs were demanding air. He was about eight feet to the surface. He looked at Logan and saw that there were no air bubbles coming from his mouth. Shit! Vincent thought. The young boy's lungs felt like they were going to burst. He was almost there. Then he burst from the water, gasping for air. He dragged Logan six feet from the pool and laid him on his back. People circled around them. Victor was walking back to the pool from the school and saw everyone crowded in front of something. He separated the scents to only focus on two. His eyes widened and he ran to the crowd. He pushed through the kids and saw his brother laying on the ground soaked and Vincent was the same. They smelt like chlorine. Victor fell to his knees in front of Logan, shaking his baby brother.

"Jimmy? Jimmy! What happened?" he said.

"Some kid slipped on water and knocked him into the pool." Vincent put his cheek to Logan's slightly opened mouth. "He's not breathin', Dad."

"He's dead?"

"Yeah." Vincent looked at all the kids who gasped. "But I think I can revive him with CPR."

"How? He has a metal skeleton."

"When I was in the water I got super strength. I think I can give him CPR."

Vincent ripped Logan's button up shirt open. He pinched Logan's nose and lifted his chin up and breathed into his mouth twice. He then did thirty compressions. He did CPR again and there was still nothing. He should have healed right after he was out of the pool, Victor thought.

"C'mon, Jimmy. Come back. Yer needed here," Victor whispered.

Vincent did CPR again and then Logan started coughing up pool water. Victor and Vincent helped him get on his side and the remaining water came out. Everyone smiled and backed off, giving him breathing room. Logan sat up and looked at his brother and nephew.

"Do you remember what happened?" Vincent asked him.

"Yeah. Fallin' into the pool then the water was green and I was back at Weapon X and my head exploded with pain." Logan held his head.

"You okay, Jimmy?"

"Yeah. I gotta go." Logan stood on his feet, shaking.

Logan went to his room and laid on his bed. He had to figure out a way to let Wolverine out sometimes. There was a full moon that night, so maybe he could let him out then and see how he likes it.

Victor and Vincent were called to Charles' office. They entered and sat down in front of his desk. Hank was also in there.

"I heard what happened at the pool," Charles said.

"You have super strength?" Hank asked.

"Yeah. I think it might be part of my mutations that are coming."

"And you were strong enough to give Logan CPR?"

"Yeah."

"Interesting. I would like to do tests on your mutation. It will help us learn more about it. I would also like to test Victor's too. If it is okay with him. It is up to you and Victor."

Victor and Vincent looked at each other and then back to Hank.

"What kind of tests?" Victor asked.

"Blood tests and some physical tests. Nothing harmful."

Victor nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"We'll start in the morning. It will also help with teaching Vincent."

"Okay. Is there anything else you need?"

"No. I suggest you go right to sleep as soon as you two go to bed."

"Okay."

Victor and Vincent got up and headed out the door. Victor smelled that his cub was feeling uneasy. He lead him and Vincent to their room. He closed the door after his cub was in and walked to his own bed. He sat down and motioned for his cub to do the same. Vincent sat down on his father's bed and looked up at him.

"What's wrong, cub?"

"I don't know. I just feel weird about the tests."

"Can't be that bad. This is McCoy doin' it. He ain't anythin' like those Weapon X people or Stryker."

"Is Stryker dead?"

"I don't know. He might be."

"Does he know about me?"

"I don't know. He did know that she was pregnant, but didn't know the father. Hopefully he doesn't know and won't know about you or me being the father of the cub which is you."

Vincent nodded. "What would happen if they captured me?"

"Stryker would experiment on you nonstop and turn you into a weapon. He might go easy on you because you look like me. I was his best and favorite solider. He might think the same with you. Let's hope this will never happen."

Vincent nodded. "Alright."

Vincent wanted to ask more, but decided to leave it be and move onto a different topic. He could tell that his father didn't want to talk about it anymore and Vincent understood why. He just wondered what would happen if this Stryker captured him. The school would probably be raided and other students would probably be taken too when it would only be him that was wanted. He didn't want to imagine what would happen to him if he got captured. But he did wonder what the experimentation was. That left him to wonder for the rest of the day and through dinner he picked at his food, thinking still. When dinner was over, Vincent followed Charles to his office.

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Yes, Vincent."

Vincent sat down in front of his desk. "Dad and I were talking about Stryker and Weapon X people and I was wondering what kind of experiments they did. After Dad answered a few questions I didn't want to ask anymore."

Charles leaned forward in his chair with his hands steepled. "Any kind of experiment. They test mutants' powers. Sometimes it's not that painful, sometimes it is. Sometimes they enhanced them. They experiment to turn them into super soldiers. Into weapons that can be controlled. Stryker had been doing that for a long time. He has been controlling lots of them. The one he has control over that we know of right now is Lady Deathstrike. He also controlled another mutant. He is here and is in great shape. The experiments are different with each mutant. I'm not sure how Logan got the metal on his bones. He doesn't know. He either volunteered or was forced. We don't know."

"If Stryker were to capture me than he would probably do the same. Dad said that he was Stryker's best and favorite soldier why back when. I'm sure he didn't like it too much when Dad walked out on him."

"I'm sure. Do you know why?"

"No. Dad doesn't talk about his past. Doesn't like to. I try and talk with him, but he either changes the subject or just walks out of the room. . ." Vincent sighed. "Probably doesn't like it because Mum worked-or still works-for Stryker. We don't know."

Victor was walking around the school. He kept thinking about the things his son asked him. About Stryker. William Stryker. He growled. He hated that name. Hated the man with the name. Bastard had promised him the same skeleton as his brother. Then he lied to his face. He could take anything his brother could take. But there was the chance that he wouldn't live. It would take longer to come back to life. He was a slow healer. Didn't heal as fast as his baby brother. He sighed at the memory and continued his wandering. He should have left with Jimmy back in Africa. But he didn't.

Jimmy stood in front of his brother. "We didn't sign up for this."

"Who do you think you are? This is what we do!" Victor said.

"No, this is what you do. I'm done."

"We can't just let you walk away."

Logan ripped off his dog tags and threw them on the ground. He walked away from his older brother.

"Jimmy!" Victor called. "JIMMY!"

Victor sighed at the memory. He should have left with him. He would have probably ended up with Vincent anyway. He did leave after his little brother got the adamantium bullets to his skull. He hadn't really seen him since. Victor continued walking and heard growling. He sniffed the air. Jimmy. He looked out the window he was by. The moon was out and he could see his little brother walking to the edge of the woods and he stared removing his clothes. He smiled and continued his way to nowhere.

Logan was removing his boxers. He was letting the Wolverine run free. He opened the cage and the Wolverine took over. Wolverine bolted into the woods, running in different directions. He smiled. Wolverine was loving this. Loving running free. He wished the pack of wolves that lived near the mansion were near by. He stalked prey and chased them. He then heard a howl and turned around. The pack was back. They knew him. But they never really saw Wolverine. The alpha male and his mate slowly walked to Wolverine. Logan told Wolverine to put his hand out. He did so and the alpha male touched his hand with his mussel and leaned into his palm. Wolverine pet the wolf and his mate. The other wolves walked to them. There were a few males and females. There were also some pups. The pups ran up to him and jumped on him. Wolverine crouched and played with the pups. The other wolves laid down to rest or to watch him with their pups. The alpha gave a short howl at Wolverine as if telling him something. The wolf was white and black. Wolverine looked at him. Then he was tackled by a smaller male that was the same color as the alpha. This wolf was the alpha's son. The young wolf wanted to play with him like always. Wolverine did and they wrestled and had an audience. The alpha's mate snorted as if she was disgusted or annoyed by their behavior. Wolverine won and the wolf growled in annoyance. He always lost. He grinned. The alpha looked at him and walked to him. The alpha nudge Wolverine with his nose and turned his head in the direction of the clearing with the river. The other wolves got up and followed the pack leader to the clearing. Wolverine walked in the middle of the pack. When they got to the clearing they saw a young boy in the river. Logan recognized the scent. Vincent. He tried to get in control, but Wolverine wasn't letting him.

Wolverine growled. It was the cub. Victor's cub. He talked to the alpha in wolf, telling him to get away from here. The alpha understood and led the pack back to where they came from. He saw the cub look at him.

"Hi, Uncle. . .Jimmy. What are you doing here?"

Wolverine just growled. Then Logan got control for a few seconds. "Get away from here! Quick! Wolverine hates you and wants to-" Wolverine got back into control and snarled at Vincent.

Wolverine walked to him, his claws popping out. Vincent.

Vincent hopped out of the river and started backing off, putting his clothes on. "Shit. Uncle Jimmy, it's me. Vincent. Are you alright?"

Wolverine snarled at him.

"Shit. You're lettin' Wolverine run free, huh? Damn, this is bad. If this is your territory than I'm truly sorry for trespassing. Won't happen again. I'll just go."

Vincent turned to leave and Logan-no Wolverine-was in front of him, blocking his way. He backed off. Logan told him to get away, but he didn't know where to run to. He backed off and took off deeper in the woods. Probably not a smart thing to do, but who the hell cares? Vincent was running and running. Wolverine was at his heels. He saw a tree and hid behind it. He needed to somehow mask his scent. He felt something wet on his foot. He looked down and saw mud. He got down on his hands and knees and covered himself from head to toe in mud. That should help. He heard footsteps and took off deeper into the woods. Suddenly, smells and sounds hit his senses and he fell to the ground overwhelmed by his new powers. All of the smells and sounds were giving him a headache. He got up on shaky legs. He didn't know how to control these powers. He decided to go left through the trees. Hopefully he would find his way back to the mansion before Logan found him.

The further he went the more scents and sounds hit him. He was either heading toward the mansion or the town. He didn't know. He did know that he needed to get the hell away from Wolverine. He kept on running and he heard growling. He didn't look back. How he wished he had control over his mutations. He felt like he was going to pass out. His eye sight was even worse. Everything was up too close. It felt like he needed a pair of glasses. It was making him feel sick to his stomach. How the hell did his father get through all this senses? Vincent didn't know. The scent was getting closer. It smelled like gasoline. He burst through bushes and found himself behind a building. The smell was overwhelming and he swallowed back the vomit. He didn't want to puke from the simple smell of gasoline or risk Wolverine following him. He ran to the front of the building.

"Thank God."

The gas station was still open. He looked around and wondered where he was. He couldn't be that far from the school. Could he? He heard rustling and bolted for the door.

Wolverine glared at his prey that was running away into the building. He growled in frustration. Logan sighed in relief. Thank God he got away, Logan thought. Wolverine growled and retreated back into the woods.

Vincent entered and the clerks stared at him.

"What happened to you, kid? You're covered in mud!" The oldest clerk asked. He was in his fifties.

"I was bein' chased by a group of huge teenaged boys," he said. I better lie. They won't be too concerned with that. "I didn't do nothin' to them."

"You poor thing." The other clerk said. She was in her late twenties and was curvy. She walked to him. "You got here just in time. We were about to close up."

"How far away is Westchester?" Vincent asked.

"Let me show you." The man walked and stood outside the door. Vincent followed. "Ya see those lights down the road?" he asked, pointing to his left. "That's where it is. Just a few miles."

"Thanks."

"Do you need to call someone to pick you up?" the woman asked.

"I'm staying at a boarding school. I don't know the number."

"You mean the Xavier school?"

"Yeah," Vincent said.

"My son goes to that school," she said.

"He has gifts, too?"

She smiled. "Yes, he does. He's a wonderful child. You're that boy from the news aren't you? The one the government is after?"

"Yeah. . ." Vincent looked down.

"We ain't gonna turn you in, boy," the man said. "It ain't right what they're doing."

"What?"

"We better get ya to that school. If you want a ride."

"Yeah, thanks."

Vincent was soon riding in the back of the man's car. Vincent found out the man is the woman's daughter. He rested his head against the window. The family in the front smelled of gasoline and other things. The woman smelled also smelled like roses. The man also smelled like tobacco and beer. His head felt like it was going to explode from pain. He also felt nauseous.

"You okay back there?" the woman asked.

Vincent nodded and closed his eyes.

Victor had been looking for his cub all night. He looked all over the mansion for him. He checked their room, the rec room, kitchen, every place he could think of where the kid could be. He even checked in the woods where he and his cub ran earlier. He was getting worried. Victor was walking by the front doors when they opened. He looked and saw his cub stumbled in and fall. Victor caught his cub and closed the doors.

"Cub, you okay?"

Vincent shook his head slowly. "Powers. . .came. . .all. . .at. . .once. . ."

"Let's get you to cleaned up and to bed." Victor carried Vincent to their room. "Why ya caked with mud, cub?"

"The animal side of Uncle Logan chased me and I had to mask my scent."

"How far away did ya get?"

"A few miles from here. . .Two people that own a gas station brought me here. . .They're nice people. . ."

"Once yer cleaned up and into bed I'll give ya some ear plugs, so ya can sleep."

"Some nose plugs, too?"

"Sure."

Victor carried him into their bathroom. He set him on the toilet and started filling the tub. He helped his cub strip. The tub was filled and Vincent crawled into it and leaned back, his head resting against the wall. Victor rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a wash clothes, dipped it in the tub water, squirted soap on it, crouched beside his son, and started scrubbing his son's arms. He didn't look good at all. Victor cleaned Vincent's legs and then got to his face. He carefully cleaned it and saw how pale he was. Victor got up and put the wash cloth in the sink. The only thing that was left to clean was Vincent's hair. He moved Vincent around and started washing his head. He gave it a quick scrub and rinsed it. Vincent looked at his dad.

"How do you do this?"

"Do what, cub?"`

"Senses."

"Takes time getting used to. It wasn't hard to control. I'll teach ya to control it. There's no controllin' the hearin'. You'll have to live with it. For the smellin', you'll just Have to separate the scents. It may take a while. Probably take a day or two."

Vincent nodded. "Everythin' is too loud."

"You'll get used to it. It'll take a while. I was gettin' real worried about ya, cub."

"I know. I was in that clearin' in the woods. I just took off runnin'. I think he was letting Wolverine run free."

"He is. Jimmy needs to let him out every now and then. Looks like he's gonna do it every full moon. Stay clear of the woods. Don't go in there on full moons."

"Okay. Won't he attack me if he sees me and I'm not in there but he is?"

"No, Jimmy won't let him. He'll make sure he is in the woods. But if Jimmy can't make him and he attacks ya, I'll kick his ass."

Victor put his son to bed with ear and nose plugs. He looked out the bedroom window and saw it was getting near dawn. He went outside and saw Logan walking out of the woods. He pulled his clothes on as Victor walked to him. Logan looked up and sighed. He was about to open his mouth when Victor raised a hand.

"I ain't mad at ya, runt. I was just wonderin' if I could join you on your full moon runs. Sabretooth needs to be let out too. I used to just keep him bottled up, but he needs to be let out to run free. So, can I join you, Jimmy?"

Logan shrugged. "I guess, but I don't know what Wolverine would think of it. Or Sabretooth."

"Sabretooth may hate you a lot, but he doesn't want to kill you. You're still our brother. Hopefully, Wolverine will feel the same."

"I think he may, but he hates yer cub."

"I think he may just wants to be the alpha male. Have dominance over him."

"Maybe. We'll have to set up a time when they can duel."

"Yeah, but not for awhile. Vincent just got the rest of his mutations. It's overwhelmin' for him."

Logan nodded and gave a big yawn. "Damn, I'm bushed. Besides chasin' your cub, Wolverine spent some time with the wolf pack that's here. I do not want to do my classes."

"I'm sure Xavier will give you days off when there's full moons."

"Yeah."

They walk inside and they both walk together to their rooms. Victor entered his and his son's room and sat on his bed and watch him for five hours. At about nine in the morning, Victor wakes him up and takes him to the kitchen. They entered and saw

everyone except Logan at the island. Vincent still had the plugs in his nose. They sat down and grabbed the french toast and bacon and put it on their plates. Everyone was staring at Vincent as he ate.

"Why does Vincent have nose plugs?" asked Jubilee asked. "His mutations came didn't they?

"Yeah," Victor said.

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