The run back the Jet was the longest that Logan could remember. They had finally escaped with their ten mutants. He was happy to be out of that place. The smell alone was enough to almost lose himself. He was carrying a young girl probably about seven. She was in bad shape but he could still hear her heart beating. Jean would be able to help her, at least he hoped she would.

The Jet was only a few yards away from them now and he was ready to get the hell out of this place. Being in that Compound brought back the few memories that he had of his time in the lab. To their right, just ahead of them, Logan saw three mutants running as fast as their little feet would take them. He thought it odd that they were on their own and wondered for a moment if they had left some behind.

Finally reaching the Jet, Logan climbed in and carried his young charge to the back of the Jet where a makeshift triage had been set up for all the ones hurt. Sadly there were a lot of the mutants back in this area getting checked over by Hank. Jean ran to join him in assessing the damages that the small mutants had received.

Lying the small girl down on a makeshift bed, Logan turned to go back towards the front of the Jet. It was time to leave and get back to the mansion as quick as possible. “Let’s get the hell outta here now!” he yelled towards Scott and Storm. They were pushing buttons bringing the Jet to life.

Logan went towards his seat and sat down heavily. It had been a close one and they weren’t out of the woods yet. Turning towards Marie’s seat, he started to say something but noticed she wasn’t there. Logan raised his head and looked around at the other seats, wondering if she had gone to check on Jubilee and Kitty. The two girls were sitting quietly in their seats, but there was no sign of Marie anywhere.

A feeling of dread started to work it’s way into Logan’s chest as he climbed out of his seat and went towards the back of the Jet. He thought that maybe she was trying to help in the back, Lord knows there was plenty to do back here. Stepping back in the triage, Logan turned in every direction searching for Marie. She was no where to be found.

Logan turned on his heels and marched back up to the front, pushing everyone out of his way. His heart was pounding so loudly that he almost missed the angry comments from the X-Men as he none to gently pushed them to the side. Stopping, Logan turned in circles, checking every direction and every place that Marie could be. There was no sign of her.

Logan stood stock still as he tried to understand what was happening. Where could she be and why couldn’t he find her. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the Jet’s engines coming to life. They were about to leave and to Logan’s horror he realized that Marie was not on the Jet.

“SCOTT!” Logan shouted.

Scott turned in his seat, surprised that the volume Logan used to call his name. When his eyes met Logan’s he saw fear like he had never seen in the man’s eyes. This was suppose to be the Wolverine, nothing was suppose to scare him.

For a moment Logan could not speak. He was afraid to ask the one question he knew he had to. He was afraid of the answer that the younger man would give him, yet he knew he was wasting more time than they had.

“Where’s Rogue?” It came out as just a whisper but Scott was able to read Logan’s lips. He sat confused for a moment. Where’s Rogue? She should be in her seat of course. Looking at the girl’s seat, Scott’s face turned stark white. The seat was empty. “Storm, wait,” Scott said in an unsteady voice. It only took two seconds for Logan to see the look in Scott’s eyes to make himself take action.

“ROGUE!” Logan screamed, turning to search the Jet for the girl. If she was in here he was going to kill her himself. Logan could not deny that at this moment he was as scared as he could remember. Logan’s enraged voice caught the attention of the other X-Men as the looked up confused. “Has anyone seen Rogue,” Logan asked. Everyone shook their heads no.

“She went back for the little boy.”

Logan whipped his head around to the small voice that had answered him. It belonged to one of the mutants they had just saved and she looked up at Logan with a scared look in her eyes. Without thinking, Logan stormed over to the little girl and grabbed her by her already torn shirt. Raising her off of the seat, he brought her to within just a few inches of his face. “What did you say,” he said dangerously low. Logan was not in charge anymore…the Wolverine had taken over and right now he didn’t care how scared the young girl was.

“Logan, put her down now!” Jean yelled.

Before Logan could respond, there was a small pounding on the door of the Jet. Everyone looked towards the sound but no one moved. It could be the guards trying to get in. After a few seconds, Logan dropped the girl roughly in her seat as he went to open the door. He heard footsteps behind him and saw that Scott and Remy were behind him, ready to attack if they had to.

Opening the door, Logan was shocked to see a small boy. He was crying and pointing back towards the Compound. The words that he was saying could not be understood for he was crying too hard. Stepping out of the Jet, Logan bent to one knee and grabbed the boy by the shoulders. He had to calm him down to understand anything he was say.

“Help….help,” came the boy’s cry.

“We’re here to help ya son, get in the Jet and they’ll help ya in there,” Logan said.

“N…no, not m..me. He…help her,” the boy said pointing towards the Compound.

Logan felt as if the night sky was crashing upon his head. He didn’t have to look at where the boy was pointing because in his heart he already knew who “she” was. As if it was in slow motion, Logan turned towards the Compound. He could make out just a little, but it was enough for him to understand what was happening. He heard several gasps behind him and realize that the X-Men had climbed out to see what was happening, and now everyone’s eyes were seeing what he was seeing.

Several of the guards were running towards something that look like a sack laying on the ground. Logan knew that that was no sack though. That was his Marie laying on that ground and that thought sent his feet into action. Before he knew it, he was running back towards the Compound.

Half way there, he became aware that there were footsteps behind him but he didn’t dare look back to see who was coming with him. They would have to fend for themselves, his only priority was to get to Marie and get her to safety. How had this happened. His mind started to wonder about what would happen if he couldn’t’ get to her in time. Logan had to stop his thoughts from going any further. He would not be able to live with himself if he lost Marie.

Getting to the front of the Compound, a few of the guards were waiting there for them. Before they had time to shoot, a red laser shot past Logan’s head taking one of the guards out. The other two guards were met with fire and ice. None of the guards had a chance.

Making his way into the building, Logan headed towards the stairs leading to the roof of the Compound. There were no guards to be found so it made getting to the roof easy and fast. Logan should have known it wouldn’t be that easy though. As he reached the roof, Logan and the others were met by some twenty guards, all in position with the guns ready to fire. Logan did not hesitate. He knew that their bullets could not kill him. It would hurt like a bitch but he didn’t care.

Logan watched as the guard carrying an unconscious Marie made it to a helicopter waiting for them. The raging Wolverine took over and with a blood curdling scream, Logan ran towards the helicopter. Again he saw the red laser from Scott’s visor and fire and ice from John and Bobby. Later, he would realize that even a blazing card was thrown past him towards the guards.

Running with every ounce of energy he had, he felt the bullets hitting him. He ran through the unimaginable pain as bullet after bullet made contact with some part of his body. As soon as those bullets would hit his adamantium encased skeleton they would drop towards the asphalt roof. Logan’s healing ability had no trouble keeping up with the amount of damage being done to him. He ran through it all…he ran for her.

Coming closer to the guards, that were standing in his way to get to Marie, he let his adamantium claws do the work. He cut through each one of them in reaching distance. Logan was almost there, and for a moment he gave himself hope that he would be able to reach her in time.

That hope all but dashed as he saw the helicopter slowly start to lift into the air. Logan made his body push even harder to get to Marie. He could feel the wholes, where the bullets made contact, close up on their own. Just a couple more feet and he would be close enough to the helicopter to grab a hold. To his horror he realized that he was running out of room on the roof. The edge was coming up too fast and he would have to make a jump for it.

At the last possible moment, Logan lunged towards the bottom step of the helicopter. He barely got a hold of the step but with everything he had he hung on to it. Logan was dangling from the helicopter by one hand and he desperately grabbed for it with the other. His free hand made contact with the step and he held on tightly. Now, he had to swing his legs up to climb into the helicopter.

Just as he was swinging his legs, one of the guards came and stood over him. Looking up with horror filled eyes, Logan watched the guard raise his gun towards his head.

“Marie,” Logan whispered as the guard pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun was deafening to Logan’s ears, but the pain was the worst part. The bullet made contact with Logan’s forehead and before he could stop it, he lost his hold on the bottom step. Darkness enveloped Logan as he crashed towards the ground.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Logan was aware of two things at once. One, he was not moving in the air anymore, and two, someone was calling his name. He jumped to his feet in an instant and ran towards the direction that the helicopter had went. It was no longer visible yet he could not make himself stop chasing after it. There were two words running through his mind as he ran…She’s gone. Those words played as if they were a broken record, over and over and over.

He ran until finally he had to stop for a breath. Falling to his knees, Logan felt a sense of loss of which he had never had to endure. Not even his lost years made him feel this kind of pain. He had failed her and now she was at the hands of mad men. It was all his fault. After a few moments, he got to his feet and ran back towards the Jet. He would use the Jet to find them.

The X-Men were standing outside the Jet when he arrived. They all had the same disbelieving look on their faces and he wanted to wipe that look off of each and every one of them. This was a nightmare, it had to be.

“We gotta follow them.” he said as he made to climb in.

“Logan, we don’t know where they went. They are way ahead of us. Let’s get back to the Professor and he can use Cerebro to find her. We can regroup and start our search for Rogue.”

Logan froze at the sound of the person’s voice. Hatred, hot red boiling hatred shot through him and before he could stop it his claws shot out. He slowly turned his ice cold stare to look at Scott. “You were suppose to look out for her. You were suppose to bring her back to me,” he said in a deadly voice.

“Logan, I had no idea that she would go back. If I could have stopped this from happening I would have.” Scott pleaded.

“This is all your fault you son of a bitch,” Logan said as he went towards Scott.

The younger man took a couple of steps backwards as he watched an enraged Logan coming after him. On instinct, his hand went towards his visor. “Go ahead and shoot me! It won’t stop me from gutting you!” Logan yelled.

Before he could get to Scott, Logan’s movements stopped abruptly. He could not move a muscle as he looked around furiously. Jean stood to his left, her arms raised keeping him in place. “Logan, you have to calm down. Let’s get back to Xavier’s and figure out how to get Rogue back. Killing Scott isn’t going to help the situation.”

“Jean, fucking let me go now!” Logan growled.

“Not unless you calm down Logan,” Jean said sternly.

Logan screamed out in rage. He fought against the hold Jean had on him but he could not break free. Tears of rage, pain, sadness and loss poured down his face. She was gone, he kept telling himself. He was as much to blame as Scott was and he hated himself far more than he did the other man. This is what he feared when she joined the X-Men. This very thing is why he fought so hard to keep her off the team and to his horror his worse nightmare had come true.

“Jeannie, knock me out please,” Logan begged.

“What?” Jean asked horrified.

“I can’t control myself Jean. Get me to Xavier,” Logan whispered.

Jean’s shocked face turned to pity and she nodded her head in understanding. Closing her eyes, Jean used her gift to push Logan into unconsciousness.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Marie slowly started to come out of her hazy state. She was confused as to what had happened yet she knew somehow that it wasn’t good. Coming back to reality, Marie did not dare move a muscle. She first had to figure out where she was and what was going on. The last thing she remembered was that she was trying to get Seth to safety and she felt a sharp pain in her leg and then again in her back. After that, she didn’t know what had happened.

As soon as her senses woke up, Marie first concentrated on the smells around her. Wherever she was reminded her of the med lab back at Xavier’s. The smell of disinfectant and decay assaulted her nose and it took everything she had not to throw up. Marie could feel something cold and hard underneath her. There were people talking around her yet what they were saying didn’t make much sense to her.

“Dr. Langford, the Colonel is here to see the patient, are you ready?”

“She is not yet conscious, but yes send him in.”

Marie started to have a really bad feeling about this. The sound of a heart monitor began to pick up rhythm and volume. Marie’s heart was beating too fast and pretty soon they would realize that she was awake. She had to calm herself.

“Are you awake little butterfly?”

Marie couldn’t help the surprise yelp as the low voice spoke in her ear. Her cover was blown and there was no sense in acting like she was sleeping. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around her. To her horror she was in a room that looked an awful like the med lab. No, this didn’t look like a med lab at all, it looked more like a torture room.

Marie was strapped to the cold, hard bed by leather straps that were tearing into her flesh. There were instruments to her left that she had never seen before. She could not begin to think about what they were used for. There were three people in the room with her, all wearing white coats. She assumed that they were some kind of medical staff. They were paying her no attention because they were staring at the closed door.

The door slowly opened and Marie turned her attention towards the person walking in. He stood and watched her with an amused expression on his face. He was an older man with short brown hair cut into a buzz cut. He had a round pudgy face with wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes. His goatee was cut nice and clean. Sitting on his nose were a pair of round rim glasses. All in all he looked just like any other sweet grandfather. Marie knew better.

“Well well, what do we have here?” he asked. Marie noticed that he had somewhat of a southern accent like her own.

“Seems you and your buddies interrupted my work.” His voice took on a more venomous tone with each passing word. The smile that he wore when he walked in slowly turned to one of rage.

To Marie’s surprise she realized that this man was somewhat familiar to her. She felt as though they had met before yet she could not recall where. It was at the back of her mind but she just could not place him. “H…have we met?” Marie asked slowly.

The man began to laugh. She didn’t know what was so funny about the question and still he continued laughing. “Oh believe me mutant, if you would have met me before you would remember me.”

Marie started to shake, she couldn’t help it. She had a feeling that this man was insane. He looked at her with eyes of hatred. Yes, she suspected she would remember him if they had met before but still the feeling of familiarity was there.

“Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Colonel William Stryker. By the time I’m through with you, you will be calling me God!”

That name sent every fiber of Marie’s body into chilling shakes. Yes, she knew that name and yes she knew this man. He haunted her in her nightmares every single night. It wasn’t her nightmares or her memories though, they were Logan’s. This was the man responsible for Logan’s memory loss and his adamantium.

Anger overtook Marie at all the memories of Logan suffering and she started fighting against the restraints holding her down. She wanted to tear this man limb from limb.

“You son of a bitch,” she growled.

This outburst seemed to amuse Stryker even more. His smile grew on his face as he watched Marie struggle. “Well, it seems as though you know…”

His sentence was caught in his throat as he stared at Marie. She watched his eyes turn wide and his smile drop. His mouth was hanging open as if he were frozen in place. Marie was confused as she watched him staring at her face.

Moving her head over to look at the other people in the room, Marie opened her mouth to ask what was wrong with him when she heard something that sounded like metal hitting metal. The sound was right at her ear and it was ear shattering for many reasons.

Everything became clear to Marie in an instant and all the blood drained from her face. Turning slowly back towards Stryker, his eyes went to her neck and she wanted to die right there.

“Wolverine,” he whispered.

“Oh no,” Marie whispered.

William Stryker was staring at the dog tags that he himself had made for one Wolverine. Those dog tags were now around Marie’s neck where they had been for years. Logan had given them to her before one of his trips to find his past and he had never asked for them back. One night, a few years back, she tried to give them back but he told her they were where they were suppose to be. She had never taken them off since that night. Now, the dog tags were laying out in clear sight for all of them to see. Everyone…including William Stryker.