Logan’s fingernails dug into his seat. He hated flying and right now, he was on the verge of vomiting. The brotherhood’s jet was nowhere near as good as the X-Men’s. At least their aircraft could disguise some of the turbulence. This piece of metal crap hit every bump it could find.

Logan slammed his eyes shut. He was tense and waiting for the thing to land. He wanted to get moving quickly. There was no way of knowing if Marie was in the government lab, but he would tear it to it’s core until he found answers. He was so close he could feel it. Only a few more minutes and he might be holding Marie in his arms again.

Logan saw his cell phone light up.

“Yeah?”

“We are right behind you guys. We are not here to fight. If we find mutants, we respect their right to choose who they will leave with…except Rogue. She will come with us.” Logan shut his eyes as he heard Scott’s voice on the other end. “Tell your people not to engage in a fight with us. We all have the same goal here,” Scott finished.

His people? They were not his people. He did what he had to do for Marie, and he would do it again as many times as he had to. Logan looked around him, no, they were definitely not his people. He took a deep breath before speaking, “There won’t be a question of where Rogue goes. She will go home. I know where that is.”

Scott hung the phone up without another response. He felt a little better that the X-Men were behind them. In his mind, their chances looked good with everyone working together. Question was, could they all work together?

“The X-Men are behind us. I called them in to help. They aren’t here to fight. If we find any mutants, they will respect that mutants decision to go with whomever they choose. Except Rogue.”

Logan looked dead straight at Magneto when he spoke the last part. He would hammer that into the man’s head if he had to. She belonged at Xavier’s and he would not let that man get his hands on her. The pain of being separated from her after finding her would be a lot to bear, but it was a choice he had to make for her. Knowing she was okay would be enough to make him feel that his decision to go to Magneto was worth it. Magneto locked eyes with Logan and nodded his head slightly. He was agreeing to the deal. He was agreeing to the X-Men being there.

“Very well.” It was the only response Logan would get.

Sighing, he turned and looked out the window. The landscape below became one hidden in trees. Logan searched desperately for some sign that they were close and was finally rewarded when he noticed a break in the trees. There it was. It was smaller than Logan would have imagined the government lab to be, but there was no way of finding it other than in the air. The building’s location was perfect for keeping whatever was going on inside a secret.

Logan felt his claws itching to come out. He wanted to drive them into something to ease the anger. Could this be where Marie was kept this whole time? Was she down there waiting for him? Blind fury shot through his vision and everything seemed to go red. If she was down there, he would kill everyone responsible. He would do it slowly and without mercy.

There was a jolt and Logan felt the plane grow still. They had landed. At first, he couldn’t move. He feared that it was Magneto holding him in place, not letting him up, but he noticed the man was paying no attention to him. In the back of his mind, Logan knew it was himself that was keeping still. A fear, like Logan had never felt, came over him. What if she wouldn’t be there? What if it was just another wild goose chase. He had been on enough of those to last him for forever. Worse, what if she was dead?

He closed his eyes to get a hold of his running imagination. There were so many “what ifs”, but he would never get his answers if he did not get out of the seat. It wasn’t time to be a pansy. Marie needed him to be strong. If it was proven that she wasn’t at this facility, then he would begin his search again. If it was worse, like she was dead, then he would…no, Logan would not let his mind go there.

Slowly, he got to his feet, making his way out into the cool night air. It was late October and the wind bit at his hot face. He could make out the X-Men walking towards them. There were nine of them, walking together in a line. Their body language showed that they did not trust the Brotherhood. Logan thought that was wise. Though the Brotherhood was outnumbered seven to nine, they still had Magneto on their side. It would not be much of a fight.

Scott came and stood directly across from Logan. His face was stern and the eyes behind his ruby glasses bore into Logan. He slightly dipped his head to show they were there to help. Logan looked at each of the X-Men, most he trained himself. All eyes were on him as Magneto spoke.

“We can do this the easy way, or when can do this the hard way brothers and sisters. If they do have our kind in there, we must work together. If you are not willing to do what it takes to get those mutants out, then get out of our way!”

“We are willing to help. But, there must be an understanding between us. If you so much as make a wrong move that puts any of my teammates in jeopardy, it’s war,” Scott said dangerously.

Magneto just smiled. “Of course Cyclops, I understand.”

“Then let’s do this,” Logan said.

With that, the X-Men and Brotherhood, as one, entered the grounds of the building. Magneto made quick work of the security system surrounding them. Logan waited for some kind of siren to announce an intruder’s presence, but it never came. Looking around, he noticed that there were no guards atop the posts either. The building was totally unguarded outside. Logan swallowed down his unease.

Slowly, the came to a stop under the shadow of the building. “It is best that we split up. Brotherhood, you take the front entrance, X-Men you take the back. We will meet in the middle.”

Everyone shook there heads in understanding of Magneto’s plans. Quietly, the X-Men made there way around the back. Logan watched them go, but soon his attention was brought back to Magneto. He watched the man, with the flick of his wrist, tear the metal door of the hinges. Logan’s body hummed at the powerful man before him.

He entered the darkened building, listening for any sound of approaching footsteps. All was quiet around him. He felt it in his gut, there was something wrong. It was too quiet. Surly by now there would be gunfire and guards everywhere, but there was nothing. He could hear the sound of dripping water coming somewhere ahead of him.

“This way,” Mystique whispered.

Everyone followed the blue woman’s lead as her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Logan felt something familiar tickle the back of his mind. Something reaching out to him in the darkness. It started out as a slow drum inside his temple and began to grow. There had been a presence here, but it wasn’t Marie. A memory, something he couldn’t make out, began to play behind his eyes. His heart rate began to speed up as the perspiration fell from his face. He barely could keep his breathing under control. In the darkness around him, he realized that he had been here before. When, he did not know, but he could feel in throughout his entire being.

“Wolverine, what are you doing?” Mystique hissed.

Looking at the others, Logan realized that he had walked a good bit ahead of them. He did not even realize that he had done it. He could feel something pulling him to go forward. Somehow, he knew where he needed to go. He looked at Magneto, pleading with his eyes.

“Go,” Magneto said softly.

Without hesitating, Logan turned and walked towards the end of the corridor. He hurried left and passed different rooms, all of who’s doors were closed. He knew they weren’t the room he was looking for. A small light began to grow up ahead of him. His body began to scream for him to run towards that light, but he slowed his movements instead. He began to listen. There was movement in the lightened room. Quietly, his claws came out. He could hear someone talking. They sounded hysterical and the scent of fear hung in the air like smoke.

Logan stood in the entrance of the room. The white walls were almost blinding. He would take a wild guess that this room was where the experiments happened. As if in answering his question, his eyes fell to the white, padded table in the middle of the room, it’s shackles lay across it.

He took a step into the room and froze. Someone was in the room with him. He could hear there sharp intake of breath. He could smell the fear. Turning, he could see no one. Whoever it was knew he was there and was hiding. Logan brought his claws up to the walls and began to slide them as he walked. Sparks flew around him as the sound of nails to a chalk board cut through the quiet room. There was a cry to Logan’s left and he pounced, grabbing the closet’s door and yanking it away. He looked at the floor and saw someone huddled in a ball. There were shaking uncontrollably and crying out in fear.

“P..please don’t…hurt…me!” they begged.

Anger swelled up in Logan as he reached down and grabbed the person by the hair. He slammed them on the padded table, his claws within inches of their throat. The man began to plead for his life. Logan looked at him, noticing the white lab coat the man wore. The stitched name on the chest read Bruce Littleton.

“What is this place? It‘s been washed clean of bleach, I can smell it…why?” Logan growled.

The man was too scared to answer. He just stared at Logan with wide, fearing eyes. Logan could smell the man urinating on himself.

“I won’t ask again,” he said as one of his claws dug into the man’s neck. Logan watched as the blood began to trickle down his skin. The man let out a strangled sob. He began to fight against Logan’s hold, but that only made the claws go deeper into his skin. Logan had to hold back so he wouldn’t kill the man before he got some information, but die this man would.

“I..please, I have a wife and child!” the man screamed.

His pleas did nothing to sooth the Wolverine within Logan. This man had done something horrible, he could feel it. Through the fear, Logan could smell evil.

“If you hope to have any chance of seeing your family again, tell me what this place is!” Logan commanded.

“It’s…it’s a place where we do experiments. It’s…owned…owned by the government, but…what we do here…please let me go!” the man begged.

“What. Kind. Of. Experiments.” Logan said through clenched teeth.

His control was beginning to wane. Pretty soon, the man would not be able to control the beast. Logan was beginning to lose himself in the anger.

“You already know,” the man whispered.

Logan picked the man up and slammed him back down on the table. The wind was temporarily knocked out of him and he coughed to get a breath. Logan picked him up and threw him against the wall. The man landed in a heap on the floor. He did not have to time think before Logan picked him up again, holding him by his throat. His feet dangled in the air as he fought against Logan’s hand.

“Where…are…they?” Logan growled.

The man could not speak. His eyes were beginning to grow glassy. Logan watched as the man picked up a shaky hand and pointed below them. Logan dropped him and the man breathed in a gulp of air.

“They are right below us on the next floor,” Logan said into his mic.

“We’re on it,” Mystique spoke back.

Logan took his cell phone out of his back pocket. It was the only way to communicate with the X-Men. Scott picked up and listened to what Logan said. Hanging up, the X-Men took off to the floor beneath them.

Logan grabbed the man by the collar of his coat and dragged him to his feet. Without being gentle, Logan escorted the man to the darkened hall. They made their way to the stairs and below they went. The man stumbled a few times but Logan kept him on his feet.

The smell of filth assaulted his senses and Logan had to keep from gagging. He could smell something worse than filth. He could smell decomposing flesh. His hands became tighter on the man’s collar as they walked into the corridor. The Brotherhood and X-Men were already there making nice work of the cell doors. Logan watched, but nothing happened. There was no sign of any mutants from Logan’s view and he wondered if it was too late. Both the Brotherhood and X-Men stood back.

Slowly, a small head peaked out. The boy could have been no older than six and his wide eyes took in the scene around him. He was dressed in nothing more than a thin hospital gown. He noticed the man in Logan’s grasps and he began to shake. Tears streamed down his frightened face as he scrambled back into his cell. Logan’s anger was to his boiling point as he roughly pushed the man out of view.

“Get them out of here!” Logan yelled from the shadows of the stairs.

One by one, the mutants began to clear out of their cells, following the others to safety. The man began to weep. His cries filled the air around Logan, but he did not let up his hold. This man was somehow responsible for those mutants and the state they were in. He could see the fear in the kid’s eyes when he looked at the man. Someone that young should never know that kind of fear.

“Scott,” Logan yelled.

There was a pause and then Scott answered back, “Yeah?”

“Is…is she there?”

Logan waited, his breath caught in his throat. He had not smelt her, but that did not mean anything. It was hard to smell anything over the dirty bodies and rotting flesh. She could still be there somewhere.

“No Logan! She isn’t here.” Logan could hear the defeat in Scott’s voice.

He wanted to crumble right there in front of the man he held. His world came crashing down on his head. He really thought that this would be where she was. His eyes were blinking fast trying to comprehend the fact that he was no more closer to her than he was six months ago. Again, she was lost to him. His feet came out from underneath him and he fell to his knees, taking the man with him.

“She’s not here,” he whispered to himself over and over.

“Please, can I go now!” the man begged.

Logan’s eyes hardened as he looked at the man before him. He wanted all of the mutants to come home, dead or alive. He would not leave any of them in this hell. For Marie, he would bring every last one of them home.

“Where are the others? Where are the bodies of the dead?

“They are in the…morgue, I…it’s in a room two floors…down,” the man struggled to say.

“Take me,” Logan said dangerously low.

They began to descend down into more darkness and something struck Logan. There were no other signs of anyone else in the facility. There were no guards, doctors, no one.

“Where is everyone?” Logan asked.

“They…they left a day ago.”

“Why did they leave you?”

“T…to clean…up,” the man whispered.

Logan grabbed him and shoved him into the wall hard. The man cried out in pain as his eyes grew wide. He stared at Logan and waited for his life to finally end. Logan studied him for a moment. None of this made sense. Why leave in the first place? Did they know that their facility had been found out? He threw the man in front of him. He hit the ground hard and scramble to his feet.

“Move!” Logan screamed.

The man grabbed the wall for support and moved on into the darkened hallway. The stench grew two fold as Logan made his way down the hall. He could feel the bile rise in his throat as the tears stung his eyes. Not even his healing ability could keep the vomit down.

Logan had less than a second to grab onto the man and turn his head. For the first time since Logan could remember, he threw up. Tears streamed down his face as he thought of what was down here. The man was also crying, but not for the dead. No, he was crying for his own life.

“Where are they?” Logan choked out.

“Th…there,” the man said pointing to the room ahead.

They made there way over to the door as Logan gain control of his stomach. The man took out a set of keys and with shaking hands tried to open the latch. His hands were shaking so bad that the keys fell to the ground. He let out a scared cry, waiting for Logan to pummel him. It never came.

“Pick them up,” Logan growled.

The man did as he was told and finally got the key in the lock. As the door was opened, the small light from the hall cast light into the room. Logan’s heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. For a moment, no matter how much he hated the son of a bitch, he was glad Magneto was not here to see this. The only comparison he could find to explain what was before him was pictures he had seen of the holocaust and what they did to their dead.

“My God,” Logan whispered.

They were everywhere, packed on top of one another. Bodies of dead mutants, some too decomposed to recognize. Logan felt the bile rise back up and fought it with all the strength he had left. How would he get these bodies home? There were more than he thought there would be. The air was kicked out of him as his eyes roamed the room. What kind of person could do such a thing. He had done a lot of horrible things in his life, but this was evil to the purest.

Logan turned the man around to look at him and held his claws up to his throat again. The rage he felt was as potent as the smell of decay. “Who is responsible for this?” Logan said with what little voice he had left.

The man did not answer. His eyes kept looking back at the room, as if he had never seen it before.

“I said, who’s…” Logan began but suddenly stopped.

All the color slowly drained from Logan’s face. It was faint and almost nonexistent, yet Logan could hear it. He slowly turned his eyes to look into the horrible room and desperately searched around. The sound was gone and Logan only feared that he had been hearing things. He turned his attention back to the man in front of him and tried to speak again. Before he could utter a word, he heard it again. This time, Logan was sure of what he heard.

He stepped into the room, dragging the man in with him. The man began to vomit, but Logan paid him no attention. He searched for where the sound was coming from. The darkness was no match for his heightened eyesight. He took another step towards the bodies and then it hit him. Like a bolt of lightening it hit him square in his face and all of the breath was knocked away from him. His legs became like jelly and he almost hit the ground, but he kept himself upright.

“Marie,” he whispered.

Her scent was masked in that of death, but he could smell it nonetheless. It was the moment he had been waiting for, but another thought overtook him. He was standing in the morgue and he could smell her.

“Oh God no,” he pleaded.

He let go of the man as he hurried towards the bodies. In his search, he never heard the man run out of the room and into a waiting Sabretooth. The man’s screams were drowned out as Logan’s only thought was of Marie. At the same time as the man was being gutted, Logan noticed a small figure in the corner. It was the place where the heartbeat was coming from. Logan was not a praying man, but that was all that he did as he ran to the body.

She was laying on her stomach, facing the opposite wall. Slowly Logan got to his knees and lightly touched the body. Marie’s scent grew stronger and Logan let out a strangled sob as he gently grabbed her, bringing her to his chest. His hands worked swiftly as he moved the hair back from her face. She was so tiny and the bruises were everywhere, yet through the filth and the death her scent called to him. His shaking fingers touched her neck and there was the faintest hint of a heartbeat, but a heartbeat was there.

Without another thought, Logan removed his right glove with his teeth and lightly touched Marie’s cheek. He closed his eyes, willing his life to pour into her. Just like at the Statue of Liberty, nothing happened.

“No!” Logan yelled.

He tried again, this time pressing her face harder and still nothing happened. He felt nothing but cold skin and his wide eyes searched her face. He hardly recognized her. Why would her mutation not work? He held her close and whispered her name over and over again.

“I got you. You’re safe now Marie. I’m never gonna let anyone hurt you again.” he whispered.

He heard someone at the doorway and looked up to see Sabretooth covered in blood. The man’s black eyes stared down at the girl in his arms. For a moment, Logan saw a kind of sadness cross his features but it was there and gone too fast.

“Is that her?” Sabretooth’s deep voice asked. Logan could not answer him, but shook his head yes. It was her. He had finally found her.

“We have to go,” he said before walking away from the room.”

As softly as he could, Logan picked Marie up into his arms. He held her against him, not caring about the horrible smell and only concentrating on the smell that was Marie. He allowed it to flow all around him. As he turned to leave, he silently made a promise to return for the other bodies. They deserved a proper burial.

Logan half ran, half walked through the halls, trying to remember where the exits were. He had to get Marie to Jean and fast. She would know what to do for her. It did not go unnoticed by Logan that Marie felt weightless. Even in the darkness, the bruises were everywhere.

“I’m gonna make it all better darlin’, I promise. I’m gonna make it all better,” Logan said through a choked sob.

As if a beacon was calling a lost ship home, Logan saw the exit up ahead of them. He began to run, trying to hold Marie as firmly to him as he could. The night air hit them, and he realized that Marie had little to nothing on. That made him run faster to get her out of the cold.

He could see the Blackbird up ahead. It was hidden by a group of trees about fifty yards away. The X-Men were loading some of the mutants onto their plane. Logan could barely make out Scott’s profile as he ran harder.

“JEAN!” Logan screamed with all the force that he had. He was twenty yards away from them and they all looked up, clearly hearing his scream.

The red headed doctor took a couple of steps towards Logan. Her face shown her confusion as she tried to make out what was in his arms. She heard the desperation his in scream and her walking turned into a run. She was closing the gap towards Logan.

“Logan, what on earth,” she panted as she got close to him. Her breath stopped in her throat as she could make out a person in his arms. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

“Jean, help me. It’s…it’s Rogue,” he barely spoke.

Jean’s wide eyes met his. She was stunned into silence. For a moment, Logan thought that he would have to show her proof, but then the doctor in her took over.

“Follow me,” she commanded.

Logan did as she asked. As they made their way to the Blackbird, Scott and the others started gathering around them. There were questions, one after the other, but Logan ignored them all. He climbed onto the plane, as he made his way towards the back to where the makeshift med-bay was. There were several mutants lying on stretchers, needing attention. Kitty and Hank worked as fast as they could, making each mutant as comfortable as possible.

“Put her right here Logan,” Jean said.

As softly as he could, he laid Marie down on one of the stretchers. In the brightness of the jet, he was able to see her completely now. What he saw made his stomach turn. Lying before him was only a shell of a human being. Her skin was black and blue and nothing but bone. Logan let the tears fall from his eyes. He did not care that he was the mighty Wolverine and that he wasn’t suppose to cry. Let the people say what they wanted. Marie had been hurt badly.

He felt completely helpless as he watched Jean hook an oxygen mask up to Marie. She started an IV and the fluid started running as fast as was safe to do so. She began to hook Marie up to a monitor to watch the heartbeat. It was there, but very faint.

“I tried to touch her, but it didn’t work,” Logan said low.

Jean never looked up, only shaking her head in acknowledgement. “We will deal with that later. What’s important right now is getting fluids into her.”

“What’s going on here?” Scott said coming up to stand beside Logan.

No one answered his question. No one had to. One look at Logan and one look at the girl on the table told him all that he needed to know. He felt himself go into shock as he finally understood why Logan was on the Blackbird.

“Rogue?,” he said loudly.

That was all it took for every X-Men to look over at the girl on the table. No one said a word and the silence was so that you could have heard a pin drop. Their comrade, their sister had finally been found.

“Is it really her?” Logan looked over at Jubilation Lee as her watery smile shown through. She was slowly walking towards her best friend, but Scott stopped her.

“Guys, I need room to work here. I have to get her stable and then the questions can start,” Jean said not looking away from her patient.

Logan wasn’t going to move. He stayed where he was, watching his girl. He held on to her scent like it was his lifeline. Her heartbeat could be heard now through the monitor and he begged it to speed up. He begged Marie to be okay. He stayed out of the way, but he did not take his eyes away from her battered face.

“Logan, it is time to go!” Then, reality came crashing down before him. He slowly turned to see Magneto standing at the opening to the Blackbird. His eyes stared past Logan to Marie. Pity showed on the man’s face as he looked at her.

He couldn’t leave Marie now, not ever. He felt anger building up inside of him, but then he remembered the promise. Magneto had helped him find her and in doing so, he promised the man his life. Besides, if Logan did not go with him, Magneto would not hesitate to tear this jet apart and everyone in it…including Marie. No, he did what he came to do. He found her and hopefully he saved her.

Logan turned his haunted eyes back to Marie and felt a pain that matched the one when he lost her the first time. He was having to say goodbye to her again. The only comfort he had was that she was with the X-Men this time. Logan stayed frozen in place. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave her.

“Logan, please! If you don’t go with him, there is no telling what he will do. I swear to you, on my life, I will take care of her. Please…” Scott whispered.

Logan felt numb as he looked at the younger man. He stared at Scott for a moment and saw the concern in his face. Looking around, he saw the rest of the X-Men. They were watching him closely to see if they should get ready for a fight. They would stand behind him if he decided to defy Magneto, but at what cost? He swallowed hard and looked back at the only person who ever really mattered to him.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and not bothering to wipe the tears on his face, he walked slowly towards Marie. Leaning down towards her forehead, his lips gently met her cool skin. He squeezed his eyes shut as the severity of the situation hit him. He had found her and now he was walking away. He silently begged for her to wake up just so he could see those big, brown eyes. She remained unmoved.

“Fight for me Marie, don’t give up. I swear to you no matter what I have to do, I will see you soon. I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

With those final words, Logan straightened up and slowly walked away from Marie. He did not have the strength to look back one final time.