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Author's Chapter Notes:
If you've ever read the Elektra Assassin series by the excellent Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz, especially issue 7, you'll know exactly where Logan's frustration mirror Garret's :)
Anyway that highly recommended series was the inspiration for the 'bath' scene. Lol and apologies for the long drawn out updates, but at long last it seems my schedule is finally clear to focus back on this :D
Part 27- ‘Welcome To the Jungle…’

‘Welcome to the jungle
we got fun 'n' games…’

It was strange but even as Mystique walked down the clean, metallic corridor it seemed the lyrics to that particular song were embedded on her mind, she couldn’t help but hum along. It seemed oddly appropriate for what she thought she would find behind the steel doors, cages, an endless row upon rows of cages, each containing a different mutant, caged and tied like an animal.

Her blood boiled at the thought, but she had to be careful, there were so many cameras, so many people watching her every move, here in the heart of this black-op, buried deep under a cavern, she was alone here, and the only thing that ensured her survival was keeping up the front. Mastering Bishop’s mannerisms, his habits, the things he was likely to say and then mimicking them perfectly, it was the only thing keeping her from ending up in a cage like those other poor bastards.

And she couldn’t afford to risk being caught, not yet, there was too much at stake, like revenge. Mystique stared at her reflection in the steel vaulted door, perfect, it was perfect, she was every inch the exact copy of Bishop.

She pressed her thumb to the small metallic plate just off centre of the doors, ‘fingerprint verified…’ the computer droned and Mystique knew what to expect next, a small camera melted out of the wall and beeped twice. ‘Iris recognition needed to confirm identity…’ demanded the voice.

She smiled and pressed her right eye to the camera, a retinal scan processing the unique image of her eye. ‘Identity confirmed…welcome Lieutenant Bishop.’ Mystique smiled as the steel doors parted and she stepped inside. Her gaze immediately shifted, and her stare sought the one mutant she had every intention of seeking out, the reason she had taken so much trouble, the one she’d promised the late Bishop she’d crawled out of hell for.

‘Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed…’


He could hear the water gently splashing, could imagine tiny clear droplets running down milky white skin, damp skin, he was perfectly in tune with the sounds coming from the en suite of his room only a few feet away.

Logan screwed his eyes shut at the gentle sighs and the soft moans she made, the steam escaping from the slightly open door and wrapping around him had him cursing under his breath. Dammit Marie, how the hell was it possible for someone to enjoy a bath this damn much?

She’d been in there for the past couple hours, talked ‘bout a shower and opted for a long hot bath instead. And had been slowly driving him crazy ever since, with every shift and every splash of the water had him burying his head in the pillow of the sleeping bag he’d thrown on the floor.

Sharing a room with Marie? Sure he’d thought, not a problem, what the hell, sure it was only the girl he’d fantasised about, the one over the past few weeks, who’d shown him she could be more of a cold hearted bitch than he could have ever imagined.

Share a room with Marie? Yep sure not a problem, he’d assured Storm.

Only there was a problem, and it had everything to do with those sounds she kept making, those slow satisfied mewling, the sound of water rippling down the soft flesh of her back, and hitting the side of the bath, dripping down to the tiled floor with a soft tap, drip after slow agonising drip.

The steam from water set to a temperature just above heated, filling the bathroom, drifting away and over to him, filling his head with every scent imaginable, fresh and seductive, soft and promising, and the faintest hint of…lavender?

Lavender…where the hell had she gotten lavender from? The last he remembered of his bathroom, there was no way in hell he kept lavender in there. Growling loudly to himself, he jumped to his feet, and began tugging at his hair, to focus on something, anything other than a naked Marie on the other side of that door.

Pacing back and forth, he shook his head, she knew, course she knew exactly what she was doing, when she moved like that, the barely audible sighs, softest sounds carried only to his ears, making the blood in his veins pound away at a hundred miles an hour, burning through him, burning the pictures of her long legs, the pink and puckered flesh and those plump lips of hers, burning and marking into his very mind.

His feet carried themselves of their own accord over to the bathroom, bracing his aching head against the door frame, he gulped loudly, the breath in his very bones shaking out and escaping him in one long sigh. Looking up he caught sight of her in the mirror positioned at an angle over the sink.

He saw her leaning back in the tub, soapy water brushing up and lapping above her breasts, one knee raised slightly, hair wet and matted against her forehead, her injured arm resting on the side of the tub. With her good hand she scooped up a handful of water and leaning back, her eyes shut she trickled it slowly down her face, letting the warm liquid run down her cheeks, into the hollow of her neck, and down her chest.

Logan shut his eyes and looked away, only to open at them again and see her staring back at him through the mirror. She seemed to be smiling, and even through the steamed up glass he could see the sharp glint in her eyes, and realised it was more than he could bear.
Turning right around he stomped out of the room, sick of both himself and her, slamming the door behind him as he went. Marie’s smile only widened.


She eventually emerged out of the bathroom to find a fresh skirt and top laid out on the bed for her, she smiled, at the rate she’d gotten through her clothes these past weeks she’d have to end up going shopping soon. With any luck fleecing the money from one of the newbie mutant kids wouldn’t be a problem.

Pulling on the clothes, and passing a hand to shake her hair loose, she pressed her injured hand to her side and stepped out of the room. It was the same, nothing had changed, at least in appearances, it was strange, she hadn’t really known what to expect, but six months away from the academy, leading the kind of life most of these X-kids only saw in the movies had seemed like a lifetime in a whole other world.

But being back here, seemed to peel away the years, back to when she had first shown up as a frightened teenager, when her powers had awoken. She’d arrived and everything was disorientating and awkward, every kid had ability, something that made them special.

And what had she ended up with, a curse, a gene that rendered her more lonely and awkward, and afraid no matter how many people they surrounded her with, their mutations never ever served to alienate quite as much as hers did. She would see them, running around, laughing, having normal teenage lives, and no matter what she did, or how she tried she never quite fit in.

It wasn’t a matter of conforming, she had only wanted what they all took for granted, the ability to touch, to heal, to love and laugh the way they did, without all the cautions, the endless worry and fear, and the pain, constant pain.

And even after she had taken the cure, after she had grabbed for that lifeline she’d trusted in, aching to save herself, they offered her nothing, except the same curious glances, until eventually they had pushed her aside altogether.

‘You’re never gonna fit in kid…you ain’t supposed to, like we keep sayin’ you’re special…’

Marie stopped, the voice, softer and gentler than she had been used to hearing, she could feel them smile, and she smiled alongside them, ‘Gee thanks, ya know all the right things to say…’

‘Then how ‘bout this kid, this is a bad idea, we both know you can’t stay here…you know what’ll happen…to you and to them…’ . And there it was the hint of menace that had become so intrinsic to her nature that it seemed almost odd that Marie missed it when it wasn’t there.

But now it stopped her in her tracks, ‘them’, she was used to the idea that her time was running short, but she hadn’t anticipated something happening to this place and to these people, these kids.

No doubt about it, she couldn’t and wouldn’t stay. But right now what she needed was a break, tired from running and the constant movement, she was curious, if nothing else, curious enough to wonder if she really had left anything of herself back here.

‘Alright kid…let’s play your little game, jus’ as long as you don’t go changing the rules…no point getting attached all over again…’

Marie nodded in agreement, and moved along the corridor, she was convinced she could hear them, the whispers, the half stares that greeted her, the strange, empty gazes behind closed doors that made her grit her teeth, in a house full of mutants, and suddenly she was the odd one out again.


Well at least this was new, Marie was stood before the glass cabinet outside the main office, staring at her reflection in the glass, only it wasn’t just her reflection, the others, for the first time she was catching glimpses of them, ghostly, ethereal like beings darkening the space around, stood to her side and behind her, whispers nothing more, and disappearing in seconds, but if Marie had ever any doubt, it was now gone for good.

She moved closer to the glass, pressing a fingertip to the cool surface, closing her eyes and feeling the planes of her mind shift, she saw the past days play out, a demented movie reel of all that had happened, every step that she had taken, in bright green, green like the liquid she drowned, green like the cages suspended from dark ceilings, green as the lights she hated.

She hissed in a sharp breath, as pain took over once more, a nail through the head, sharp red hot, and tearing through every one of her senses, she staggered back and pressed her head against the wall, the ache subsided at last into a dull whine weighing heavy on her neck, she counted to ten before remembered to breathe again.

The sound of Storm’s voice talking low carried over to her from the office, Marie could catch the concern in her tone, and shaking her head clear, she moved closer towards the door to get a better listen.

‘Have you any idea what they want…’ Marie pressed closer to the door, straining to hear the conversation. She heard Logan answer, his tone grim.

‘They want Marie…it’s that simple,’ he seemed to be pacing, she could tell by the heavy shuffling of his feet.

‘But why..?’ Storm’s question was as natural as anything else, all that Logan had told her about soldiers, and phantoms chasing and hunting them down seemed to make no sense, the last time she had seen such wanton destruction was Stryker, and she had seen the damage that attack had done. The scattering of the students, the sheer misery that bastard had wrought on the Academy had taken months to repair, but the emotional and mental scars had taken so much longer to heal. Storm had first lost her friend after that miserable event; she had lost many more since then.

Now, the idea that such sorrow, such misery could return and wreak havoc over all their lives again was a fear that struck heavy on her heart, she did not have the strength she had used to, losing the Professor, Scott and Jean had seen to that.

Logan sighed heavily, staring out of the large bay windows into the dark grounds below, the only explanation he could offer was a poor one, ‘I don’t know what’s goin’ on Storm, all I got was somethin’ ‘bout Weapon X and chemistry sets.’ His next words came with a bitter pained tone, ‘all I know is that they changed her, whatever they’ve done, that girl isn’t Marie, sure she looks and even sounds the same, but they’ve changed her. Whatever they pored in or even took out, that girl is gone, the one we knew is gone…, I’m sure of it.’

Silence filled the room, Marie stepped back and gritted her teeth, angry at his words, he was right, the Marie of six months ago was gone, but only to be replaced by something better, stronger, unwilling to be hurt by him, and everyone else here, better, tougher than she’d ever been.

‘Logan, you say all this started after you saw them injecting her with something, you think it may account for the differing personalities you think she’s adapted?’ Doc McCoy’s deep voice cut through the still air.

‘I don’t think Doc…I know, there are others, in that head of hers, hundreds of them even, I saw them, behind those eyes, I saw her raise a gun and shoot me, I saw her blow a couple soldiers to hell and back. Those ‘personalities’, they’re real and ye know what, she says she’s in control, but she ain’t. I’ve seen them push her back, and take over…and ye can trust me Doc when I say it ain’t pretty.’

‘But if all this can be attributed to some sort of chemical, a hallucinogenic compound perhaps, it’s very much a possibility that we can treat her,’ the doctor’s voice was the only one that spoke with any hope.

Marie smiled at that, cure her? Not a chance, there was nothing he could, nothing anyone could do, not now, it was too damn late, she felt them, heard them, even saw them now, moving with her, moving inside her. And that was something that couldn’t be treated.

‘I hope so; at least she’s safer now, right?’ Nobody replied to Storm’s remark, ‘I mean here with us, we can take care of her…’

Marie shook her head having heard enough, she turned the handle to the door and stepped in quickly. ‘Take care of me huh?’ She fixed both Storm and Logan with a cold stare, ‘and ya did such a good job of that before.’ The sarcastic tone in her voice was clear, ‘but ya know…’ she continued, ‘maybe ah will stick around, just see what the good doc finds.’

She smirked and turned to walk away, but not before calling out over her shoulder, ‘ya don’t really want me here do ya?’ her eyes glinted as she smile at Storm, ‘ah don’t blame ya Ms Monroe, ‘cause ya know what they say right? Where else would ya hide a freak but in a circus?’ She smiled widely at them all now, ‘and if ah can figure that out, ya can sure as hell bet they have as well.’



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