Logan took another deep sniff and turned east following the combined scents of Rogue and Kitty. They’d been through the east lab on the second floor, but hadn’t come back the way they’d entered.

That way, Wolverine barked out unnecessarily.

Yeah, I got it.

When Rogue and Kitty had missed the scheduled rendezvous with the rest of the team by five minutes, Logan hadn’t wasted any time, but had torn off, scenting the air deeply as he followed their trail up the stairs to the second floor.

“Logan!” Scott had barked out at him before he’d reached the exit. “Maintain covert ops.”

He grumbled a noncommittal reply. What did he care if he came across some guard? They had chosen the wrong side. What was it to him if they wound up on the wrong end of an adamantium claw?

Logan avoided the patrolling guards on the main floor easily. Their footsteps gave away their exact positions and Logan was able to follow Rogue and Kitty’s path without being spotted. He headed past the wooden cross in the rotunda and around the north end of the building. He was gettin’ more and more pissed the longer it took him to find out what had happened to them. He was goddamn sick of goin’ after Rogue, makin’ sure she was okay. Why couldn’t she just stay safe? Stay by his side so that he could protect her?

Then maybe get yer head out of yer ass and tell her ya don’t want her to go. Quit fuckin’ around.

He didn’t have a reply. Instead, he growled as the scents of Rogue and Kitty grew stronger as he continued east through the second floor lab. He stopped suddenly, as the sounds of a distant conversation met his ears followed by the quickening step of boots. The boots could only belong to a larger male, most likely one of the security detail Scott had kept going on about. Logan quickened his pace as he found a door marked by a “Staff Access Only” sign. He grinned as he popped his claws, ignoring the stinging pain, and sliced through the lock. There was a reason that Kitty had only brought two override devices. One for her, one for Scott.

Logan didn’t need one.

He moved quickly and silently through the series of stairs and hallways that had him twisting his way back east and he quickened his pace as he heard the muffled hiss of two gun shots, followed by Rogue’s scream. He wrenched open the door in front of him just in time to see her fall to the floor. He exploded with fury and roared as he plunged both sets of claws through the guard’s back, sliding them up until he punctured through intestines, lungs, and pierced the fucker’s heart. Breathing hard, he retracted the claws and the guard collapsed at his feet while he strained his ears for the sounds of breath. On shaking knees he fell to the cold cement beside her, drawing in a shuddering sigh as he heard the reassuring beat of three distinct sets of heartbeats and the abnormally slow sounds of breathing. Jerking around, he saw Kitty and a teenage boy unconscious behind the cage.

Logan bent forward to pull Rogue up to him. He shook her slightly as he muttered her name. She didn’t respond and was completely limp in his hands, her neck falling backward. It was then that Logan saw it. A bright orange dart protruding from the vulnerable skin. Without stopping to think, he pulled it out and threw it across the room, growling at the sight of the drop of blood that rolled down her neck. He laid her head gently back down and moved over to do the same for Kitty and the kid. But a sudden coughing and groan from the boy had Logan moving to him first. The kid was pushing himself up on shaking arms and groaned again as he put a hand to his head. Logan frowned. How was he coming around so soon? Was it a mild dose of tranquilizer? Or was he a healer? The answer was clear as the kid turned toward him and gasped when he saw Logan. The dart hadn’t been embedded in the kid’s skin like it had Rogue and Kitty. There was a small scratch at his neck, so it looked like he’d only gotten a small amount of the drug that had knocked the other two out.

Logan bent down and pulled the dark from Kitty’s neck too and then turned back to face the boy.

“You okay, kid?” he asked as he knelt down to haul Kitty up over one shoulder

“I-I feel dizzy,” the boy said in a shaking voice.

“Yeah, tranqs’ll do that to ya,” Logan replied as adjusted Kitty’s weight so that he still had full use of his hands. As he did so, he heard the small clink of glass against the cement floor and saw a small vial rolling across the floor opposite the cage. He’d grab whatever that was on the way out. “Yer lucky you didn’t get a full dose like these two.”

The boy only nodded his head as he gripped the bars in front of him. “Are-are you one of them?” he asked Logan.

Logan narrowed his eyes at the kid. “One of what?”

“The g-good guys,” the boy stammered. “The X-Men.”

Logan felt adrenaline surge through him as he realized for the first time exactly who this boy might be. Rogue and Kitty had been knocked out, not killed, by one of the guards. The boy was behind a series of secured doors in a part of the lab that wasn’t on any of the maps they’d seen, and was held behind yet more reinforced steel bars. The stench told him the kid had been held here at least a few months. And that’s when it clicked. His jaw working angrily he turned to step over the dead guard toward Rogue.

“Wait!” the boy cried. “Where are you going?”

“Sorry, kid. I gotta go.” He was trying to ignore the sickening feeling of guilt that was dueling with the vicious instincts screaming down at him.

“No!” A harsh desperate cry met Logan’s ears. “Rogue promised you’d take me. Don’t leave me here!”

A furious argument was unfolding in Logan’s mind. Wolverine was insisting they run, fast, leave Rift to his own devices. The further away they were from him, the safer she was. Can’t do that to the kid. Can’t leave him here. They’ll kill him or worse.

A growl of frustration ripped through Logan’s chest as he shifted Kitty’s weight slightly before slashing at two points at the vault bars with his claws. He’d never be able to forgive himself if he took away Rogue’s choice. And neither would she. The bars fell to the floor with a loud clang and Rift dropped his hands from over his head as he gaped at Logan.

“You comin’ or not?” Logan growled at him as he crouched down to pick up Rogue’s unconscious form and slip her over his opposite shoulder.

“Cyke,” he ground out quietly beneath his breath as he activated his comm. “Rogue and Shadowcat are unconscious, but I’ve got Rift. Meet ya at the exit in five.”

“Copy that, Wolverine. Maintain covert status, we’ve got the weapon. See you on the bird.”

He sniffed deeply, ensuring no other guards were nearby and he motioned for Rift to follow him with a jerk of his head. Rift, smart kid that he was, didn’t make a sound as he followed close behind, the glass vial forgotten behind them.
Chapter End Notes:
Yes, this was a super short chapter. Sorry. BUT, I think you're really going to like what's coming (pun intended?). There's gonna be a reckoning between these two, and you're not going to want to miss it.

Thanks to @englishmajor226 for her beta work on this one, as well as for giving me the idea to have this be a standalone chapter. So you can blame her if you really must :D

Cheers and thank you so much for reading!
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