"Wait here," he instructed, as he stepped into the hall that housed the cells. He wasn't at all surprised to find his brother trying to jimmy the door hinge with a claw. "That won't work but this on the other hand," he slid a key into the lock, and twisted, feeling the bolt slide away, "Hey what do you know, it was the right key," he added relieved.
The guy just stood there glaring at him uncertainly, he hadn't attacked him like he had everyone else so there must be some degree of recognition there, he clearly just wasn't sure whether to trust him. "Come on Logan, hurry up," the girl called softly from down the hall.
"Marie?!" he exclaimed, shoving his way past Victor to get out of the cell. He was down the hall, and had the girl in his arms, in a second.
"This is sweet and all but we don't have time, we need to get to the lab and get the baby before they come looking for us," Victor told Marie.
"You told them to give us ten minutes?" Marie replied confused.
"That means in eight minutes they're gonna be back at my quarters, only, we ain't gonna be there, so we need to beat them to leaving the lab, let's move," Victor explained as he began the trek back toward the lab.
"Why the hell didn't you get baby first?" Logan demanded.
"Because she's in a room packed full of guys with guns and I need your help to take them all out quickly so neither of your girls get hurt," Victor replied, not even bothering to look at him as he said it.
He pulled them up a minute later. "You wait here, when you hear the door close make your move, it's the only door on the left, will probably have two dead guys on guard, he advised Logan, to Marie he said, "You, follow right behind me, keep your head down, hair over your face, try to act like you're hiding, and don't speak unless I tell you to, okay?" At the girls nod of understanding he stepped around the corner, she was hot on his heels like he said. Thankfully Logan stayed put.
"Sir," the two guards greeted, one pulling out a key card. As he turned to the card slot by the door Victor attacked, breaking the neck of the first guard and moving on to the second before he could register the movement. He didn't hear the first body hit the floor and turned around to find Marie gently lowering it to the floor as he had done to the second. He grinned at her quick thinking; he didn't think those inside would have heard a body drop but better to be safe than sorry.
He swiped the key card, leaving the card in the slot for Logan, and entered the room with Marie hot on his heels as soon as the door unlocked.
She couldn't help the gasp as she spotted her baby on the other side of the room, lying naked inside an incubator, tubes and wires running all over her monitoring her vital signs. Victor grabbed hold of her arm when she tried to dart forward, and growled to remind Marie of his instructions, these people thought he was mistreating her so she had to play her part. She shrank back, pretending to hide behind her hair, which provided an excellent curtain for her to watch the room without anyone else being aware she was.
Several of the guards sniggered at her as Victor shut the door, all Marie heard was the resounding click which she knew meant a very pissed off Wolverine was about to join them. Victor shoved her into the room as he moved them away from the door, moving toward the General, he must be Stryker.
Seconds later the door exploded open as Logan burst into the room, claws drawn. The occupants of the room all turned their weapons on him but for those closest to him it was already too late. Victor shoved her again, this time toward the incubator. She didn't need to be told twice. Running to her baby she opened the incubator and began disconnecting all the wires from the baby. Very gently she removed the needles in her tiny arm, before grabbing a nearby pair of scissors to cut away the splints weighing her arms down. The feeding tube was the only thing left, and she didn't know how to remove it.
Looking around the room frantically, she spied a doctor trying to hide behind an EKG machine. Marie dragged her out by her hair and demanded she disconnect the tube, which she began doing before a loud crash behind them caused the woman to scream and attempt to hide again. Marie didn't waste a second, grabbing a dropped gun off the floor, she held it to the woman’s head, as she demanded again that she disconnect the tube. Blubbering and sobbing the doctor quickly disconnected the tube, the second it was done Marie dropped the gun and shoved her out of the way, absently noting that Logan was waiting for her with claws drawn.
She quickly dressed Niamh, finding all her clothes neatly folded on a shelf under the incubator, along with the baby carrier. Once she was dressed and buckled into the carrier Marie put her on, Logan appearing out of nowhere to do up the shoulder clip for her. She was concerned about baby being so still and quiet, unusually so, so she grabbed the doctor’s notes as Logan pulled her out of the room. She barely had time to register the carnage he and Victor had wrought on the room - everyone was dead, the room saturated in a generous coating of blood.
Victor was waiting at the door, with a couple of damp towels for them both to clean their boots of blood before they left, so they didn't leave a trail of bloody footprints for anyone else to follow. As he led them out, he paused, ducking into a storage closet, returning a moment later with both of their packs.
They made a beeline for the nearest exit, Logan and Victor taking point and wiping out everyone they came across, not a single person was left alive. Marie was feeling a little vulnerable trailing them, essentially alone, Logan must have noticed as he swiped a sidearm off a body, handing it to her with instruction to use it only if necessary; they didn't want to attract undue attention with gunshots.
They were out of the base and more than halfway toward the treeline when an alarm began to sound behind them. Logan grabbed her hand and they ran for the trees, Victor lagged behind but when they paused to look back, he waved them on. Seconds later a massive explosion rocked the ground, almost knocking Marie off her feet as debris began raining down around them. Logan pulled her toward him, sheltering her between his own body and a tree so nothing hit her.
A few minutes later, once the fall of debris had petered out, Victor asked amused, "You two done?"
"You could have warned us," Logan replied, once he'd checked Marie was okay, she was busy trying to remove the carrier now that Niamh was crying loudly.
Victor suggested they leave the area quickly as he shouldered Marie's pack, leaving Logan his. Both of them fell in step with him but half an hour later Marie stopped them.
"I have to feed her, now," she said looking around for somewhere to sit down.
Logan saw her concern, and pulled her down into his lap behind a fallen tree, while Victor took watch. "What's wrong Marie?" he asked, as she hurried to free a breast for baby.
"I don't know, she's too ... quiet, like - I can't explain it, she's just not herself," Marie replied worriedly, "I stuffed the doctors notes in that pocket, what do they sa-" Marie broke off with a gasp, as Niamh suddenly sniffed the air before clamping her mouth onto her nipple, and began to suck strongly. The thin tendrils of blue that snaked across Marie's skin temporarily left her mouth dropped open in surprise.
"What was that?" Logan asked, seeing recognition flash across Marie's face.
"That - that's what my mutation does, she's feeding off me, literally, she’s absorbing energy off me as she feeds... I think," Marie explained, "What do the notes say?" she asked, nodding to the notes Logan had withdrawn from his pack.
"Her vitals dropped after about twelve hours... they tried several fixes... then she started regurgitating milk... they inserted the feeding tube and it all just went straight through... looks like they thought the same as you, that she might need stimulation from your mutation. Holy shit… they know everything about you, Xavier fucking sold you out..." Logan growled furiously, as he threw the notes back in the direction if his pack.
As he sat with the two of them, trying to calm down, he didn't notice he was absently stroking Niamh's tiny bare hand, until she screwed up her nose and began to cry, drooling milk everywhere. In surprise, thinking he'd accidentally hurt her, he pulled his hand away from her. Immediately she ceased crying, but looked him directly in the eye, as she slowly began to suckle again. He'd calmed down immediately when she cried so he tried again to touch her, thinking about nothing but how cute she looked. Niamh almost immediately cracked a smile, drooling more milk.
"Babe, she's getting more than just energy," Logan replied with a chuckle, as Niamh went back to hungrily feeding. "You okay?" he asked, as he turned to Marie and noticed her thoughtful frown.
"Her mutation is already active, that's not supposed to happen, what if it gets stronger, and she can never control it?" Marie asked, a sadness in her tone that he knew was linked to her own inability to control her mutation.
"At least she'll have us baby, but she seems to have it under control to a degree," Logan tried to assure her. She shrugged, resolving that for now all was well, they could worry about the rest at a later date.
Four hours later they walked out of the woods onto a highway, a nearby road sign directed them the nearest town a further mile away. They continued down the highway, just inside the treeline until they came across a motel on the outskirts of the small town they approached. Victor booked a two bed room while the other two stayed out of sight, he went directly to the room. Five minutes later Marie entered. Logan joined them twenty minutes after that, with food from the nearby diner.
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