Walking out of Xavier’s office, not a word was said by anyone. It seemed as if everyone was in a daze. The reality was that while they were cozy in their beds, in their rooms every night there were other’s who were suffering at the hands of the government. What had happened in these months to allow them to just go back to experimenting on mutants. That had been banned a year ago.

It took Marie a moment to realize that she was being pulled along the hallways. Her destination was being decided by Logan instead of herself. At that moment, she didn’t really care.

Coming to Logan’s room, they both enter. The room’s earlier events came crashing down on Marie. She had been so close to kissing Logan, something she had wanted to do since the very moment she had met him. Now those things seemed far away from her. She could not afford to be happy when so many were suffering. No, she would rescue those poor souls first, those children and then she would resume what was started earlier.

“Marie, lay on the bed and try to get some sleep,” Logan mumbled.

Sleep? She was no where near being tired enough to sleep. She watched as he started to pace in front of the bed. His face was a mask of fury and she could tell he was on the brink of losing it. She could only imagine what kind of memories, if any, this was bringing up in his mind. She knew for a fact his nightmares were playing repeatedly in his head right about now because the same was happening to her. That was the only information she had to go on to prove how horrible those labs could be. Grown men and women celebrating their successes while a poor mutant lay in more pain that should be humanly possible. It just seemed so cruel and horrible.

“I can’t sleep,” Marie whispered.

“You have to try darlin’. I…we all need you with a clear head in a couple of hours and if you aren’t ready, you could put yourself in a world of trouble out there.”

Marie knew he had a point, and the same could be said for himself. He needed some rest as much as she did. She could tell with his tortured face that sleep would not come to him yet she still had to try.

“Logan, you need some sleep too.”

“Not tired,” was his short response.

This didn’t surprise her. She was expecting him to say nothing less than he wasn’t going to get some sleep. Slowly walking towards him, she wrapped her arms around his large frame and held him tight. She had always felt the safest in this position. Nothing and no one could get to her as long as his arms were around her. “Then hold me?” she asked.

There was an audible sigh as he directed her towards the bed and they both lay down. They were careful of her skin, wrapping her in the sheets while Logan lay on top of them. She had her back turned towards him as his massive arms snaked around her bringing her towards his chest.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the sound of his breathing and the feel of his heartbeat and before she could stop herself she fell into her dreams.

The sound of the alarm clock and Logan moving around woke Marie from her dreamless sleep. She didn’t even realize that Logan had an alarm clock until that moment.

Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Marie wiped the sleep from her eyes as she tried to get herself wide awake. She was not the kind of person that could just open her eyes and be wide awake, she needed a few minutes. At least she was sober now which was a good thing. Her mind was becoming more sharp with each passing minute.

“We gotta go darlin’. Xavier is going to brief us before we head out,” Logan said standing in front of her.

Marie shook her head in agreement and stood to walk out the door. Logan grabbed her gloved hand and both walked in the direction to the underground of Xavier’s Mansion. They were the last to arrive as they took their seats to listen to what the Professor had to say.

Laying a blueprint out on the round table, he began to describe what they were looking at. “There are two entrances to the compound. One right here and one on the back side of the building. The two ways in which you all will make entrance. There is a reason why I am having you go at this time of night. Right now, the compound is guarded by some thirty guards, the least amount at any time.”

“Thirty guards? How has that been enough to keep the mutants in check, I mean with their powers couldn’t they have escaped?” Bobby interrupted.

“My informant told me, in so many words, that they have found a way to suppress the mutant gene. He did not give me any details, the time was short and he gave me only what he deemed important information to help us get in and get out.”

“Will your informant be there?” Jean asked.

“No. He has been working days to get me the information that I needed.”

“Who is this guy? If he is so loyal what was he doing working at that place?” Logan asked.

“I can not reveal my sources Logan. I can tell you that he is human, and that he believes that mutants have a place in this world right beside the humans. He is sympathetic towards our cause and came immediately to me with the information to help these mutants.” After a quick pause to let the information sink in Xavier spoke again. “There is another thing. My informant could not tell me if our government really knows what is going on or if they only know some of it. There is one person in charge of which he has no clue who that man is. It is a don’t ask don’t tell policy in the compound. The one that makes the decisions has never been seen by any of the guards at the compound including my informant.”

“So it could be civilian money keeping those doors open?” Scott asked.

“No, I do not think that is the case. I believe whole heartedly that whoever is in charge is from the government, I just don’t know how much information they are giving their superior officers.”

“So, what do we do Professor?” Remy asked.

“You get in, you grab those mutants and you get out. The compound is two stories. When you make your entrance you will be on the first floor. The mutants are being held in a holding pad below ground on the second floor. This is your way down their.” Marie watched him point to what look like two sets of stairs. “There will be guards stationed at each end of the hall right here leading to the stairs. Once you have taken care of them, there will be other’s stationed at the stairs and along the corridor leading to the holding chamber.”

“What’s on the first floor?” John asked.

There was no answer from Xavier. He sat staring at each one of his “children”, wishing that he did not have to send them on this mission. He went through this every time he had to send them to rescue a mutant in need. He hated it every time. “The only word fitting for what the first floor holds would be to call them torture chambers.”

Marie could not stop the flinch. It was as if someone had come up to her and slapped her hard on the face. Torture chambers Xavier had said. What the hell did that mean. The Logan and Eric in her head answered that one for her. After flashes of Eric’s memories and Logan’s nightmares, Marie felt as if she was going to be sick. The bile was steadily rising from her stomach to her throat and she needed to get to a bathroom soon.

Without a word, Marie stood up abruptly and ran for the nearest bathroom. She could hear a concerned Logan calling her name, chasing after her but she couldn’t stop. Running into the bathroom, Marie grabbed the porcelain god and let the contents of her stomach out.

After she was done, she sat for a moment with her head against the cool wall. The door to the bathroom opened and she saw Jubes and Kitty walking in. They were looking at her with sympathy as they both sat beside her. Nothing was said between the girls until they knew she was ready to talk.

“Sorry y’all. I’ll be okay in a minute.” she whispered.

“Logan’s about to tear the bathroom wall down if you don’t come out and let him know you’re okay,” Jubes said. Leave it to her to joke at a time like this. Despite herself, Marie started laughing. The laughter helped and within a matter of minutes Marie was on her feet again headed back to group.

Walking back out in the hall, Logan’s concerned face fell on Marie. He walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m fine Logan. Sorry about that,” she said answering his unasked question. “It’s okay,” he said gently.

The four mutants walked back to join the group patiently waiting for them. Marie apologized several times and each on of her comrades assured her they understood. This situation was hard on every single one of them.

“Save who you can and if possible get each one of those lives out of there.” There was a pause as if Xavier was questioning himself on what he was about to say. “If…you see that it is too dangerous to get to them…retreat immediately. I do not want to lose any of you and if that means…” He did not finish his sentence. It hung in the air like a deadly gas. To Marie’s knowledge, Xavier had never told them to abandon anyone before and she wondered why he did it now.

A few minor things were discussed and then each moved towards the locker rooms to change. This would be the first time the newest members of the X-Men would wear their suits. As Marie walked into the locker room she saw that each suit was hanging up, waiting for it’s owner to claim them. She grabbed hers and went to put it on.

Twenty minutes later the guys were standing at the jet waiting on the women to join them. Each one was wondering why it took the women longer to get ready then it did them yet no one spoke their thoughts. This was not the best time to do such a thing. As if the women heard their thoughts, they all came towards the jet. Xavier was sitting beside the door of the jet, watching each one of the X-Men. He wished he could go with them but he was needed here. Someone had to stay with the children of the house so he would watch them from Cerebro. Each one of the X-Men climbed into the large jet. Xavier had paid a great deal of money for this jet and even more to fix it the way he wanted it. After all that money, he agreed that it was well worth it.

The ground began to shake on the basketball court as if a great earthquake was waking up the night in New York. The basketball started to roll towards the center of the court as it opened up. The children, being awakened from their sleep, ran towards the window to see what was making such a loud noise. To their amazement, the jet rose from the ground shaking everything in it’s wake. One minute it was there and then the next it shot into the sky and out of each one of their sights. Later, some would even question whether they saw anything at all.

Marie was sitting next to Logan in the Jet. No words were spoken by anyone as they flew at a rate of speed that should have been impossible. No radar to date could pick up the Jet’s speed. It was one reason why it had cost Xavier an arm and a leg.

“Hey,” Logan whispered.

Marie turned her attention from the window towards Logan. He was staring at her with an intense look. “You still got me up there in your head?”

“Yeah,” Marie said with a small smile. Logan shook his head in understanding. “Good! Whatever that voice tells you to do, you do it okay?” Marie agreed.

In what would take any other object an hour to get to the compound, it only took the Jet fifteen minutes to reach it’s destination. They had made it and now it was time to get to work. Scott set the Jet down in a clearing of the woods surrounding the compound. Another thing that had cost Xavier was that the Jet made no sound, not even when it made contact with the ground.

As soon as the Jet touched down, everyone climbed out of their seats and exited the massive craft. The night air was cool on Marie’s flushed face. She wished that she could enjoy the feeling even if just for a moment but there was no time.

“Okay, we will break up in two teams. Jean, Logan, Kitty, Jubilee, Storm and Remy you will go around to the back entrance of the compound and come in that way. Me, Hank, Piotr, John, Bobby and Rogue will come in the front entrance.” Scott said.

Marie did not miss the look that passed between Logan and Scott. She also didn’t miss the angered look from Logan. It dawned on her that Logan didn’t like the fact that Scott had separated her from Logan. The teams were evenly divided and Logan knew it, didn’t mean he had to like it though.

“Remember to get in and get out. We don’t have very long. Once we get in there and they become aware of our intentions they will call back up and we don’t know how many will come to help so we have to get our mutants and get out. We have forty-five minutes to do this but if we can do it faster that’s even better. Protect yourselves and your comrades and lets all go home tonight!”

Everyone agreed with Scott. They all wanted to go home after this without any harm being done to any of them. Marie turned towards Logan to tell him good luck but noticed he was still eying Scott as if he wanted to gut him.

“Hey,” Logan called to Scott.

The younger man turned his attention towards Logan, waiting to hear what he had to say. “You bring her back the same way you took her in got that?”

Scott looked over at Jean for a split second, “The same applies to her as well. Bring her back to me.”

The two men stared at each other without another word. They were communicating with each other without having to say a word. Logan nodded at the younger man and turned back towards Marie.

“Remember what I said darlin’. You listen to me in that head of yours and don’t get any ideas about being a hero. You get in there and you get out you hear? I’ll meet you back here real soon.”

“Yea well you do the same Logan. Remember, hard to kill but not impossible.”

Marie hated this. For just a brief moment it felt like a goodbye. She would not even dare think of losing Logan. It was too much for her and she would not be able to make it through this mission. Logan bent down and kissed her on the head, her hair being a barrier between their skin. She closed her eyes and threw her arms around him. It only lasted a second before Logan turned and walked away with his group. Marie stood there and watched him go until she herself had to move with her group.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

There was no way of knowing what had caused the situation to go to hell fast. It was going the way they wanted it to go at the beginning. Each group had made it in the compound easy enough. They had taken care of the guards that were standing in their way of the other mutants without much of a problem. Both groups had made it to their stairs and proceeded to walk down them. Again, they were not met with much force and took care of the guards easily.

Marie walked to each holding cell and released the mutants. Too many times though, and something she would never forget, she had ran across a cell where the inhabitant was looking through unseeing eyes. Marie had to walk away from those cells because there was no way of saving the ones that had already succumb to death. It made her hate whoever was in charge more and more with every body she had to pass by.

All in all they had fifteen mutants out of their twenty-five they had gone in to save. Marie was cradling a small child, no more than five or six, in her arms. She knew that if she didn’t get this child to medical attention then he too would join the others already dead. Coming back up the stairs they ran towards the exit. They were almost there and almost back out into the cool nights air, but before they could reach their exit some twenty guards on each side of them ran through the hall. They pushed their way back down the stairs, standing in the safety of the walls around them.

Gun fire was coming from both sides of them and it dawned on Marie that they were trapped. Looking around at her comrades, she noticed that they were starting to figure out the same thing she just did about their situation. The mutants that they had come to rescue were crying and scared. Some of them were too weak to do anything but sit on the steps and wait for their fate. Marie looked down at the boy she was cradling and saw him open his eyes just a little to look at her. He was too weak to speak and so he closed his eyes back. She also looked down at the two mutants holding her leg for dear life. They looked scared beyond what any child their age should have to endure and it angered her to no end.

Each one of the X-Men was wearing a Com device that consisted of a mic and an ear piece. It started to crackle and then Logan’s growling voice could be heard through each one. “Scott, we got surrounded. I don’t know where the fuck these assholes came from but they got us pinned.”

“Yeah, us too Logan, we are in the stairway looking at the Exit” Scott shot back.

“Is everyone okay?” It was Jean this time.

“Yeah, for now anyway,” Scott replied.

This was bad….this was really really bad. Marie felt herself losing hope in the thought that Logan and the other’s were trapped as well. She had no idea where and when this mission went so wrong. She just knew it had gone to hell really fast.

“Bobby, can you give us some cover?” Scott asked desperately.

Bobby nodded his head and without a word he transformed himself into the Iceman. He was Completely covered from head to toe in ice and it created a barrier against anything, including bullets. Standing to his full height, which was as tall as Piotr, Bobby went into the hallway and into the line of fire. The guards were not expecting to see him and weren’t ready to shoot. It gave Bobby all the time he needed to raise his hands and send a wall of thick ice towards the guards. They looked in front of them, stunned, as a wall of ice built it’s way in front of them. Before their little minds could understand what was happening, a wall of thick ice, about five inches thick, had blocked their view of the mutants.

“GO NOW!” Scott screamed.

Everyone started running towards the exit. Maybe they were not out of Miracles just yet. Marie ran as hard as she could, which was very difficult holding a boy and two other’s clinging to her. There was nothing to be done though for the other X-Men had the same problem. Each one of them was carrying a mutant of their own. She was in the very back but not too far behind the others.

As if the cool night air breathed new life into the little boy she was holding, he jumped, his arms moving around uncontrollably. Marie felt a shooting pain as his arm hit the side of her head causing her Com Device to fall out of her ear. Marie abruptly stopped and turned to retrieve it. She had to get this little boy under control fast. What scared her the most is she wasn’t sure if the boy was having a seizure, which he very well may be having.

Looking at her comrades, she noticed they had not seen her stop. They were continuing their run towards the Jet! Turning around, she went to grab her Com Device and found that she could not see through the thick grass. The Device was small and would be next to impossible to see without some sort of light. For a moment she cursed the fact that she did not have Logan’s eye sight anymore. The Com Device was lost and Marie knew it. She went to turn around and head back in the direction of the Jet when she took one last look at the compound and what she saw froze her blood.

There, against the compound wall, as if he were trying to melt into it was a boy no bigger than the one she was carrying. How in the hell had they missed him. Turning around, she frantically searched for where her comrades were. They were well ahead of her now and with the sound of the compounds sirens they would never hear her calling for them. She had to make a decision quickly. The Logan in her head was screaming for her to run to the Jet. He was screaming that the boy was a lost cause and that she had a responsibility to the others to get them to safety. Marie let out a frustrated cry as she battled with what she knew she had to do and what the Logan in her head was telling her to do. When this was all said and done, she knew the real Logan was going to kill her but she had to do it.

Leaning down on her knees, she handed the small boy she was carrying to the oldest mutant in her group. “You take them and you run towards the others there. You do not stop until you are to safety do you understand me?” she asked sternly. The girl shook her head yes as tears ran down her dirty face. “Then go,” she said and the girl ran towards the Jet with the others.

Without hesitation, Marie ran full speed towards the compound. Coming towards the fence, Marie ran straight through the hole that Scott had made to get them in. Luckily she had remembered where that whole was, otherwise this would have been for nothing.

All the while she was running, the Logan in her head was screaming at her to turn around. Marie wished she could turn him off for a second so she could get this done. All she needed to do was grab the boy and then she would run until her legs wouldn’t run anymore. None of the guards had made it outside, which meant they were still trying to break through the ice wall. Marie felt she could do this and get this young mutant to safety without any harm done.

After what seemed like eternity, Marie made it to the young boy who was cowering on the ground. She slowly bent down towards him and reached out to grab him. His scream pierced the night air and made Marie jump back in surprise. “Hey, hey…I’m not going to hurt you. What’s your name?” she asked breathless.

The boy hesitated before answering. “I’m Seth,” he whispered.

Marie gave him a small smile as she looked around to make sure no one was approaching. “Seth, my name is Rogue. I’m hear to get you out of this place…We’re the good guys,” she said softly.

At that moment, Marie felt her world turn upside down. Feet, hitting pavement could be heard within the door of the compound. The guards had broken through the ice wall and were now in hearing distance of Marie and the small boy. Without another word Marie grabbed Seth and turned to run. To her horror, she heard the door bang open and shouting behind her. The guards had made it outside and she wasn’t even beyond the Compound fence yet.

Coming towards the large whole, Marie began to pray. Seth was clinging to her for dear life, screaming in her ear that they were coming towards them. Marie did not dare try to look back for fear of tripping and falling. Looking to her left, Marie let out a loud cry as she saw Logan and the others making their way towards the Jet. They had found a way out and Marie couldn’t stop the huge sigh of relief she felt in knowing that. “LOGAN!” she screamed to get his attention. With the sound of the Compounds sirens and the distance between them, there was no way that even Logan could hear Marie.

Her next scream was one of pain as she felt something sharp hit her calf muscle. Before she could stop her momentum, Marie and Seth fell to the cold earth. Marie cried out as she reached back to touch her leg. Bringing her hand towards her face, Marie’s eyes turned wide as she saw they had turned crimson. Blood…her blood, it was pooling out of her left leg.

Her surroundings began to shift out of focus. Looking down, she noticed something sticking out of her leg. Reaching down, she grabbed the feather-like stick and looked at it. To her hazy mind, Marie realized that the guards had shot her with a tranquilizer. She was aware that Seth was trying to pull her off the ground.

Marie tried to sit up and found that she couldn’t do it. Her body felt as though it weighed a ton. Her eyes felt to heavy to keep open and she tried to close them. For just a moment she forgot that Seth was with her, all she wanted to do was rest for a few minutes.

“Please, wake up,” Seth cried.

Marie came back to herself and realized what was happening. She had to get Seth to safety. Finding the strength to get on her knees, Marie pulled her heavy body up from the ground. Her left leg was dragging behind her, she didn’t have the strength to make it work. The Logan in her head screamed at her not to stop, to keep going. Seth pulled on her hand as if he had enough strength to pull her all the way to the Jet.

They took just a few steps and again Marie screamed out in pain as another tranquilizer dart hit her in the back. She hit the ground hard this time, almost knocking her out without the help of the tranq. She had only a second to whisper one word to Seth, “Run.” He hesitated and then took off towards the Jet.

The darkness enveloped Marie overpowering her and she knew no more of what was going on around her.