hello everyone here is the new chapter , i hope you like it, it's a chapter a bit hard for me to write although i have written from this pov before but still I made my best and I hope you like it. thank you and

Enjoy...

Chapter 13 – Desolation

'Logan try a little higher and to the right,' Ororo was saying behind him as he groaned a curse and tried to fix the painting against the wall.

'Ro, get on with it, please' he rasped out as he finally set the painting on the wall and jumped off the chair she had asked him to climb on; he turned around and admired his work.

The two of them would renovate the room Jean and Scott had left for new students to stay in. It was early in the morning and they had some time before Storm had to go back to her classes and Logan back to Charles for their sessions.

She smiled at the slightly curved painting; Jean could fix it, when she'd have a moment. Storm hated how long it took them to renovate the place when their best friend was the most powerful telekinetic in the world but that lady was trying to find Rice in DC and they had to be useful until she was back with information.

Truth was, there were a thousand things happening at the school that needed their attention but they had chosen the privacy of the empty room until Scott could assemble the team so they could go and find the base of Rice's experiments. They waited for Jean to send the information and Storm and Logan were simply restless. She reached him and he snaked an arm around her waist, she loved the way he acted naturally around her again.

'Looks like shit…' He declared and she couldn't help but chuckle and move closer to him. They were trying to reach their normal and they were in a good path. The past month had been difficult. Storm had been angry at first, towards everyone but he was trying. He was trying for the two of them and the rest.

Charles had apologized for never warning her, her mentor seemed as if he was trying to make up to everyone, especially after the stroke he suffered and Ororo wondered if there were more things she should know as both Scott and Jean seemed off. Franklin and the Brotherhood were enough distractions, plus Charles being sick but Storm had a feeling her best friends were trying to shield everyone from something worse.

Yet, they both had given her and Logan time and space, literally by moving to the boathouse and Storm was only happy to see Logan trying to be the man she knew before. She had told him about their year away in Africa and Europe, right after Hope's delivery. How they had left for months to find themselves and each other. Their adventures there and how they had bonded during those sunsets in Cairo, her hometown or how they had fun in Berlin and London. She had told him about their life together and his mind reacted and started recalling on its own.

'No, it's ok,' she lied to him and he looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and chuckled as well as he pressed her closer to him for a kiss, he tasted familiar, musky and she could only rely on the feeling of herself in his arms. Storm knew Logan had grasped the years they were together from his own timeline for a way to connect to their relationship now but she didn't mind. Of course he needed something familiar, she was only glad it had been a successful way for him to come back to her.

He had started making peace with what had happened to the other timeline, as he had discovered that the majority of those events – like Jean's eventual demise- had been inevitable. He suffered from nightmares, and Ororo was there –like back in the past, with different nightmares of his- to comfort and hold him. They shared their bodies and they shared their souls and there was that reassurance, that atonement every time they found each other. He had loved her in the other timeline as much as he did in hers. His consciousness was confused but Logan's body against Ororo's, his instinctive moves towards her said a different story, an old story Ororo loved to hear after the initial awkwardness of his arrival.

It wasn't only their relationship, she knew, it was also the realization of him not being on the run anymore, not being at war, in a dystopia. Until Franklin showed up, Logan had started getting used at being in peace, at happy days with routine of classes, meals and bedtime, a life in a school. And even if Franklin had come from the future, bearing news of destruction and death, Storm knew that Logan was adjusting to a life of happiness and he would sacrifice everything to keep it that way.

They had a lot in common; they had lived a rough life before they came at the mansion. She had been raised in the streets and he had been lost and wandering. She had experienced the touch of Apocalypse, manifesting her powers that later on she struggled to control and he had been experimented on, changing forever. But they had both found their place in the world, had become X-Men, belonged to an extended family.

They had laid back; allowing Scott and Jean do the work with the young man from the future, through diplomacy and tactics. Storm had focused on the school and helping Logan return as second in command for fights like the one that was coming soon, at Rice's base. In the team, where instincts kicked in, he blended in easily, his Danger Room sessions proved that and she couldn't help but admit that even if ended abruptly, the Wrecker had been fun for the four core teammates.

'I was thinkin',' Logan started and Storm looked at him, after the kiss was over. 'After all this mess, after we're done with Richards and whatever shit he's been throwing at us…' Logan added and Storm smiled and nodded. His language at her timeline had gotten smoother through the years at the school, but now he spoke almost as boldly as back when he first arrived. She kinda liked that link to their past, when the world was simpler and they were younger. 'Would you like to go for a trip again?' he asked and Storm smiled at him. Charles was sick and she would have to take care of the school, especially if Franklin was right, and Charles died – yet without destroying the school- she would have to take care of it.

'Australia this time?' she asked and Logan nodded with a smile.

'It'd be great, just you and me,' Logan offered. He had no idea who died and who survived the infamous Westchester Incident but after almost a month at the new timeline he had started making peace with the past in both timelines and dared hope for new things in this one. They would fix things with Richards and enjoy life. He had been through Hell as to give Charles and by result, everyone a second chance. He deserved one too, with Ororo by his side who smiled sweetly at him and tiptoed for another kiss.

'I would love to,' she whispered against his lips and he grinned and picked her up, she wrapped her legs and arms around him as she chuckled and he groaned the moment she bit at his lower lip.

'Be good, this is a school,' he told her with a wolfish smirk and she laughed, the room smelled strongly of Jean and Scott but Logan could easily take Ororo back to their own room. They stopped immediately as Storm's beeper started buzzing between them from her belt.

'Fuck,' Logan grimaced as she checked the device.

'Scott's assembling the team,' Storm only said as Logan set her back on the floor and they exited the room together. As they moved down to the ground floor and from there to the underground base, they were joined by everyone else who came out of different rooms and corridors. Obviously the first exam would have to wait for the day.

The elevators filled with the X-Men as they moved down to the conference room, Raven moved out of the infirmary, where she spent most of her time even if though Charles was back in his bedroom.

Everyone filled the room the moment the sound of the base opening up for the Blackbird was heard. Cyclops was already in the room, waiting for the team who barely fitted by then, even with Rogue excluded for reasons Logan wasn't sure he wanted to accept, the team was large. The door remained open and soon Hank, Jean and Franklin entered the room. Logan could smell the sweat and worry off of both Jean and Hank. He wondered what had happened in Washington as Cyclops moved before them all.

'The base is in Mexico, here,' Cyclops started and a hologram showed the location, taken by a satellite. 'There are mercenaries and the children have their powers enabled.' Cyclops went on and everyone looked surprised. Usually mutants manifested in their teen years. 'The children there have been suffering constant torture for their powers to be enabled so expect havoc, don't get fooled because of their age but also don't kill any. Our mission is to pick them all up and bring them to safety; I want you all with tranquilizers with you. It's important to remember, some of the kids may have similar attributes to some of us.' Scott explained, everyone seemed unsettled at the idea of experimentation on children, they were right to be. Logan realized he might find some experiments too familiar to him. He glanced at Storm the moment she did the same towards him, their gazes locking. 'We don't know how many more experiments might be there. I want you all focused.' Cyclops said and Logan realized he could understand where Scott was looking, even with the visor on, Jean nodded her head before looking at her husband pointedly, Logan was sure they were communicating through their bond.

Remy smelled of Rogue all over him and Bobby probably felt it too. Mystique was glaring at Jean. Hank was glaring at Franklin. 'Jubilee is here and some of you will stay behind too. Psylocke, I want you here to remain in contact with Jean through your powers, in case we have another attack.' Cyclops started and Elisabeth nodded her head. Logan was glad there were no egos of who was going and who was staying, although he was definitely going.

'Hank, the same, I want you here, in case something happens to Charles.' Cyclops added and the man nodded his head with his turn, still shocked and lost from whatever that had happened in Washington. 'Rogue and Jubilee are also here, to help with the students.' The leader of the X-Men went on as the rest watched him.

'My team: Phoenix, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Colossus.' Cyclops started and looked at Logan who nodded, they could share responsibilities again, as co-captains, he was ready. 'Wolverine's team: Storm, Shadowcat, Iceman and what do we call you?' Cyclops asked and Logan looked at the blond man who remained stoic to everyone but Logan could sniff the nervousness.

'Hyperstorm,' Franklin replied and Cyclops nodded.

'Good, five on each team, enough air for all of us.' Logan knew he meant Remy and Bobby, each team had a powerful telekinetic, it was a good split.

'What about me?' Raven asked and Logan looked at her, she seemed furious for being excluded, he could hear her rapid heartbeat. He still couldn't like Mystique, from his timeline and from what he remembered in '73 plus all the things he had learnt about in the new timeline, he simply couldn't like her. He remembered Jean telling him, days ago, that the shape-shifter didn't consider herself a member anymore. Reason why she didn't participate in the Danger Room sessions, Logan guessed her age was another factor so he wasn't sure why she was lashing out now.

'You're staying behind, Raven. You're needed here.' Cyclops replied and everyone looked at the two X-Men. The once trainer was now excluded by the main student. Mystique glared daggers at Scott and he remained frowned but Jean's expression of panic and worry betrayed the seriousness of the problem. 'I want you all ready within 15 minutes.' Cyclops added and the team members were ready to move out of the room when Raven shot up from her chair and reached Scott.

'I don't accept that,' Raven demanded and Scott turned and looked at her. Logan knew there had been tension between Mystique and the Summers, everyone at the school could sense that, question was why.

'I don't negotiate that,' Cyclops declared back and Jean moved close to her husband mostly to keep the two in a distance. Scott turned his head towards everyone who had halted at the door to watch the encounter and they all exited the room in a rush, all except Logan and Storm, the seconds in command basically and the people closest to the tensed trio.

'Do you think this is fair treatment? I would infiltrate the base in minutes.' Raven accused, and this time Jean turned at the older woman.

'Lets not talk about what is fair and what is not.' Jean offered angrily and Raven breathed heavily through her nostrils as she glared at the redhead. Logan knew this had nothing to do with who was coming to the mission; they were lashing out at each other almost like enemies, like in the past. It was a few days ago that they were practicing archery like sisters in the grounds of the school.

'Right, because we'll have to talk about the laws imposed on our kind when monsters like Rice walk free.' Raven replied and Logan frowned, not getting the implication. Jean glared at the shape-shifter. At those moments, Logan could see only Mystique, and not the teammate the rest counted as family, as Charles' step-sister. Jean was facing Mystique as an enemy too.

'The new laws are imposed on criminals of our kind, Raven, criminals who didn't mind attacking a place full of children of our kind….' Jean explained pointedly as the other woman breathed heavily and Logan could see there was something there. 'Rice is as good as dead, Franklin destroyed his brain an hour ago,' Jean went on and Raven seemed surprised only for a moment. 'Does that give you satisfaction? Is it fair treatment to you?' Jean asked, provoking the other woman.

'Enough,' Cyclops barked at both but the two women remained at each other's necks.

'Hey hey, what's wrong with the two of you? Stop it,' Storm demanded as she achieved to get between the two. Logan had to admit, his girl was cute being shorter than both women who glared at each other.

'It's fair treatment for a monster like him, yes,' Raven replied as if the team leaders hadn't spoken.

'We're not gods, self-justice is out of the question, have you forget that?' Jean asked and Raven chuckled bitterly.

'Said the woman carrying a Godly Force within her and uses it to kill people.' Raven barked back at Jean who seemed pained only for a moment. This was turning ugly.

'Hey, enough, you two, drop it.' Logan finally tried, remembering his own timeline, when the Dark Phoenix had annihilated hundreds at Alcatraz Island.

'Oh shall we count our sins, Raven?' Jean asked angrily this time. 'Should we start from '83? I had my first kill then, Apocalypse, how many had you killed until then, how many afterwards? What else have you done? Jean challenged, pointing her finger at Raven but it was Storm who pushed it down with a face of shock at her friend's bold accusations. Jean was always kind and the exchange taking place between the two had never happened before.

'Phoenix, stop it,' Cyclops this time ordered his teammate with a voice he'd never use for his wife, Logan was sure. It was only then Jean moved a step away and refrained herself.

'Get out of the base, Mystique, this is a direct order.' Cyclops said in his grave voice and Raven only huffed before she could step back and storm out of the room. 'Jean, this was absolutely unnecessary.' Scott turned at Jean who only huffed and rushed out of the room too without saying a word more.

'What the fuck is wrong with them?' Logan asked and Storm's expression mirrored his words as the couple looked at Cyclops who shook his head. 'What happened in '83?' Logan added and Cyclops sighed and faced Storm and Logan.

'Ok, no more secrets, not from you,' He mostly said to himself and Storm gathered herself, she was right, there was more.

'Lorna Dane…Polaris is Mystique and Magneto's child. Born in '84, raised away from us and kept a secret until recently.' Cyclops finally said Logan raised his eyebrows in surprise but Storm's eyes had widened in shock.

'What?' she exclaimed and Cyclops nodded. 'How…?' Storm tried but Cyclops shook his head.

'Jean and I will explain to you after we're done with all this. Charles kept it from us to protect us; we kept it from you to give you a break after Logan coming back from '73…' Cyclops explained quickly. 'Damn it, life has become too complicated,' he observed with defeat as he faced his two friends before him. 'Just focus on the mission, please.' He concluded as he exited the room. Logan exchanged a glance with Storm… Things were changing for the worse with every passing day.

xXx

The Blackbird landed close to the base, undetected by the radars. This was a secret mission, the X-Men would deal with all this without the help of the special forces. Children were involved, children with powers and the army was keen on using the cure darts all the time. This wasn't the case.

The team remained silent for a split moment before they could all get unstrapped and stand. Storm could feel the tension on everyone; the team was entering a new place in dynamics, a place she didn't like. They got out of the jet and Storm created a light wind for the sand to conceal them all just in case they had landed too close. It was a clear day and they had to be quick with the mission.

As they approached the base they encountered silent disarray. News of Rice's stroke had obviously reached the place. The base seemed silent from the outside, no mercenary. Logan sniffed in the air, blood, fire powder, sand, burnt flesh, metal, alcohol and other drugs.

'We're too late,' Jean confirmed his thoughts as the X-men moved through the small dry yard before the concrete building. The door to it was closed and the windows sealed. 'There are people inside.' Jean added and Logan exposed his claws as Jean and Franklin opened the heavy doors with their powers, their right hands raised.

The team came before the sight of a corridor, dead guards in a pool of blood, bullet holes all over the walls, some lights broken by the shots. It wasn't just the news of Rice's demise that had reached the place.

The team got inside, their boots stepping on the blood that had spread from corner to corner.

'Phoenix? Hyperstorm?' Cyclops asked as the two telepaths were already scanning the area.

'Many dead, at least fifty.' Jean informed them.

'The children are alive,' Franklin added as they worked in unison.

'Do we have to split up?' Logan asked and Jean shook her head with her eyes closed.

'No, whoever came, killed all the militants, I can read at least fifteen children. There are more dead upstairs, all the databases are destroyed or stolen.' Jean added and Franklin nodded as he pointed at the basement doors.

'Downstairs,' he instructed and everyone started moving.

As they descended they encountered only dead bodies, the blood still warm and running from the wounds, mostly killed by bullets and stab wounds. Doctors, mercenaries, researchers, scientists, nurses were all eliminated.

Project Weapon X was written on a small label on a door as the team moved through it, the doors on the corridor mostly seemed like vault doors rather than simple doors of a medical base. All the cage-like rooms were empty, the doors had been ripped open and barely hanging from their hinges.

Weapon – X-Y/I The cage smelled of burning flesh and concrete.

Weapon - X-Ω/II Melted metal and blood was on the walls.

Weapon X – 24/III Blood all over the walls. Logan sniffed at the place, it smelled oddly familiar, he felt the hairs of his back standing on edge at the smell.

Weapon X 23/ I There, the only closed and sealed door.

'The children are behind this door. Some of them still try to get out, some have passed out, some gas was thrown at them through the ventilation system but didn't work on all of them.' Jean informed the team.

'Put them to slumber, will you?' Cyclops instructed and Jean nodded as she closed her eyes.

Cyclops nodded his head as the rest made way for himself, Jean, Franklin and Gambit to move forward. Jean touched her temple, raised her hand and Logan was sure she was smart enough to push the children away from the other side of the door and shield them before the X-Men could blast through the door. They had practiced that scenario in the Danger Room many times.

Cyclops and Gambit hit with their powers in unison at the locks and hinges, melting the spots and soon the metallic door was groaning as Franklin and Jean were pushing it down. Revealing a cage where toddlers and children held in a pinkish field made by Jean. The moment Cyclops nodded at her, she released the field and the team entered the room with the unconscious children.

The mission was done before it had even begun, Logan thought. Whoever had attacked the place was there for something else, the children didn't concern them. The X-Men started picking up the children, so young, so small and seemingly innocent and yet bred to become weapons. There were labels on the children's clothes, names and a code, their bodies were full of scars from the experiments.

Colossus got out of the room first, holding two children in his arms. April X-23vS18 and Tomas X-23Hu18, toddlers of less than five years. Nightcrawler picked up two young boys Gideon X-23 UI19 and Jackson X23jW17 and teleported them to the jet before he could return and pick up two more, a girl and a boy. Gambit did the same with a girl named Erica and Franklin with another named Charlotte. Logan decided to look only at the names and not the codes, these children deserved better than codes. Logan felt his heart breaking at how low humans could get, he felt for the children, in both timelines, he had lived through the experiment on Alkali and now he couldn't help but wonder if some of these children was a reminder of that time? The result of those experiments, taken to a new, sinister level. He remembered Jean showing him how she had to destroy the mutants created by hers and Scott's DNA at Alkali Lake in the new timeline, being experimented on was one way of violation, creating other beings through it reached different heights of wrong.

He looked at the redhead as Jean picked up two of the youngest, both girls, barely four year olds, Mira and Rebecca. Her face was grim as she held the children close to her and moved out of the room. Each member of the team exited the room to make space for the rest to pick up the little ones. Everyone had fallen silent. They had prepared mentally for a fight, yet they had been left to deal only with the aftermath, and the aftermath was more heartbreaking than when the briefing was taking place.

Bobby picked up two boys, while Cyclops hugged a girl, Julie and a boy, Rictor. Shadowcat picked up a girl, Tamara and Logan was ready to pick up a heavy boy named Bobby as Storm was ready to take a raven haired girl that laid face-down on the concrete floor.

'Logan…' Storm whispered as she turned around the child to get a better hold of her. The little one with the name Laura on the label had passed out with her adamantium claws extracted from her skin. Logan's eyes widened as he stared at the eyes of his girlfriend and back at the five year old. The young one seemed unharmed, unlike the other ones, she had not a scratch on her body, as if nothing had ever punctured or cut into her. Her skin was spotless, a healing factor.

'Logan…' Storm tried again as her eyes filled with tears, the girl's mutation was obviously similar to his, too similar.

'Let's get out of here,' Logan could only say as he adjusted the boy in his arms and moved out of the room, unable to comprehend, to accept and deal with the facts just yet. The worst thing was that he had expected all that the moment he learnt about Rice's experiments.

Storm couldn't blame him, as she held the closest thing to a biological child Logan would ever have, she closed her eyes and the tears fell. He was back from a different timeline, thrown in a life where they had to stop yet another dystopia and a child had been created by his DNA and experimented on for the past five years at least. Logan was a tough man but there was only so much a heart could take until it broke. She picked up the young girl, careful not to cut herself from the blades coming out of the girl's hands and held her in her arms as close as she could. Laura was a new chapter in their lives, and Storm vowed to be there for Logan through it all.

The team got back in the jet, silence and fear of what was to become of these children, spread between the team. They strapped the young ones on the empty seats as they too took their positions inside the jet. There were more children than seats available so some of them were held by the team members in their arms. The Blackbird was leaving the base and as Cyclops and Storm piloted the jet, Jean stood up from her seat and reached for the medical station of the jet. She took out needles and sample containers.

'Is this necessary? They've been through enough already.' Logan didn't mean to bark the words at his friend who had started with young Charlotte, taking blood for DNA tests. Jean looked at him for a moment -he could see she was on the edge- before she could nod her head.

'Actually it is,' she only said and returned to her job. 'Trask industries, Essex Corp and Stryker had all taken our DNA samples, Logan… We need to know what powers they have and if they match our own DNA.' Jean added in his head and he only looked at her back as she drew blood from each of the children. He glanced back at Laura, who was placed on one of the seats, her head resting on the side of the seat as she lay there unconcious. He took a deep breath as he avoided Storm's eyes on him. What were they supposed to do with the children with a matching DNA? How much more could they face without breaking?

'X-Men, do you copy?' It was Psylocke's distressed and rapid voice through the link installed in the Blackbird, causing everyone to look towards the control panel. Jean felt her heart stopping, Elisabeth would have contacted her in case of need, why use the comlink.

'We're on our way back, Psylocke, what's wrong?' Storm asked and waited for a response.

'You need to- return as fast as you can,' Psylocke responded, her voice breaking in gasps, she was obviously pained. 'Charles had another seizure, it affected all telepaths at the school. Raven is missing, Jubilee is injured and… and Hope is in a coma.' Psylocke's voice from the radio caused the entire X-team to look at Cyclops' shocked face and Jean who had remained frozen on the spot, towering a boy as she had just taken his blood. Franklin was frozen on his own seat, his eyes betraying actual fear. The Summers looked at each other for a moment and Logan knew that even if he couldn't see them, Scott's eyes mirrored the same terror that nestled in Jean's.

The Blackbird went supersonic but Franklin shut his eyes and concentrated, teleportation was faster and they needed to get to Westchester immediately.

closing with a cliff hanger there sorry! what do you think? i wanted a chapter of logan/storm pov as i wished to explore more of them within the story but the arc led me to keep it very jott focused, i hope you liked it, what about the hints in the base in mexico and the small fight between jean/scott/raven?
i hope i got logan's and storm's ways of thinking correctly and i hope you liked the mission and little Laura is there although we saw only a glimpse of her, i promise we'll see more of her, what do you think is happening back at the mansion? let me know!

feedback is love!

CP09