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It really was a wonder that Logan survived adolescence at all. Normal human males have a tough enough time dealing with raging hormones through their teen years and it appeared that Logan would have to deal with them, at extraordinary levels, his entire life. Ororo could only imagine how quickly, and in what quantities, his body produced these endorphins in order to compensate for all the pain he had been forced to experience. Then another thought occurred to her... could those same endorphins that served to lessen his pain also serve to heighten his pleasure?

If Logan’s body produces that pain-killing hormone in such vast quantities, then wouldn’t it stand to reason that his physical sensations of pleasure could also be heightened to the point of evoking a state of euphoria? Perhaps even producing a state of ecstasy beyond a normal human level - an ecstasy that no average person could possibly comprehend?

That particular thought frightened Ororo enough to enable her to break free of Wolverine's hypnotic stare. She quickly became aware of their surroundings again and felt a little unnerved at how naturally it all seemed to have come to them. Out here, surrounded by nature, alone with him… she wanted him and, it was obvious, he wanted her.

Ororo turned her face away from him and Logan’s forward momentum stopped abruptly. His head cocked slightly to one side and his forehead creased with confusion. She stood very still looking at the ground, but watched him from the corner of her eye. He looked at her for a moment and then realized what he was doing. It was obvious to him that she wasn't comfortable with his actions.

Logan now had to push back his basic, instinctive response to her indecision. He reached deep down within himself to recollect his humanity as his hold on it had slipped a little. His natural and most atavistic response would have been to continue his advances in an attempt to prove himself worthy of such a prime female. The thought had occurred to him, but the side of him that clung desperately to humanity told him it would be wrong to continue his advances once she had made it clear that they were not welcome. It was clear to Logan that he'd made a mistake and that confused him. Had he made a mistake? His instincts had never been wrong before.

Logan swallowed and tried to think; unsure as to what to do next. In the past, women had either been interested enough to see it through or not interested at all. That’s not to say that he was able to follow through on all the opportunities that presented themselves. Time constraints or other pending business, more often than not, usually precluded any further action on his part beyond the initial flirting stage. Although he was certain he had picked up the right signals from her, he now sensed… fear? Why would Ororo fear him? That thought didn't sit well with him.

"Ro?" he ventured quietly.

"Yes?" Ororo replied, but she didn’t look at him. Logan knew by her behavior that she was feeling intimidated by him and an old familiar feeling came over him, one he didn’t like; self-hatred and shame… for having made her feel so uncomfortable.

"Uhm…" Logan continued, he it was his responsibility to end this. "Maybe we should… head back now." His voice was low and soothing but it held a gravelly edge to it, which confirmed for Ororo that he had teetered on the edge between his primal side and his humanity. Perhaps that’s all this was… a residual side effect of his bestial side left behind from stalking the deer.

Ororo closed her eyes, relieved that his human side had taken control of the situation. She had no illusions about the potential outcome from her having ‘rejected’ him if he hadn’t been able to maintain his control. She looked at him with appreciation and great compassion as she was sure her reaction had hurt him more than he let on and she felt awful for that. "That would be best, I think," she answered. Logan nodded somberly then stepped around her. Ororo turned and followed him back toward the jeep, and neither said a word as he led the way.

When they got back to the embankment that led up to the road where they had left the jeep, Logan climbed a few feet up the incline then he turned and offered her his outstretched hand. Ororo looked up at him and he smiled at her. She smiled back and took his hand, thankful for the bond they shared and his confirmation that their friendship would never be encumbered by the occasional miscue or an awkward personal moment.

She felt bad for putting him through that though. Why couldn’t she face her feelings for him? He was certainly deserving of love and she knew of no one who needed it more. Her memories of Forge kept coming into play though. She had loved him dearly and he had loved her, but in the end, Forge had hurt her tremendously and in return she hurt him.

Logan was a man of great loyalty and Ororo wasn’t sure if she was ready to commit to anyone again. He had never made such an overt move before and she was afraid of hurting him… more than she already had, but, he was resilient and she knew he would bounce back. He always did.

‘Why did he always have to though?’ She knew he wouldn’t ask her about it. She knew he wouldn’t bring it up at all because, like her, he would rather remain her friend than chance losing her entirely.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 21

Acts of Vengeance (part 1)

*********************************************************

They topped the embankment and walked toward the jeep. As they crossed the road Logan let go of Ororo's hand and she moved around the jeep to the passenger side. As she opened the door Storm noticed that he'd stopped in the middle of the road. She was about to ask him what he was doing but stopped herself, she recognized the scowl that now creased his weathered face.

Logan hadn’t just stopped, he was frozen in place; sensing something. In a matter of seconds, he lifted his head toward the woods behind her and, bearing his fangs, snarled toward the trees on the hill right behind the parked jeep.

~Snikt!~

That was the distinct sound of metal scraping metal as Logan unsheathed the twelve-inch claws he'd been born with. When not needed, he could retract them into his forearms. When they were needed, he only had to contract certain muscles and these deadly implements, now laced with a rare and nearly indestructible metal alloy, known as adamantium, shot forward to protrude through the tissue between the knuckles of his clenched fists.

"Storm! Move!" he growled loudly and his tone was deadly serious.

Logan shouted his warning even as he closed the distance between himself and the jeep with great speed but, before he actually reached her, the woods directly above Storm exploded as something burst through with tremendous speed and power.

Reflexively, Ororo ducked behind the jeep and from the corner of her eye she saw something very big slam into Logan. It hit him so hard that it ripped him from the spot he had just occupied only a moment ago. So quickly, in fact, that he seemed to have just disappeared.

"Logan!" Storm shouted as she jumped out from behind the jeep. She recognized their assailant immediately. It was Sabretooth... Logan’s oldest and most hated enemy.

Born Victor Creed, he stood six and a half feet tall; more than a foot taller than Logan, and weighed in at more than a hundred pounds heavier. But, for all his size and strength he could not equal Logan’s speed, skill and of course those retractable claws. Both men were ferocious fighters and well known for the brutal methods they often used against each other.

Ororo saw them slam into the pavement and Logan nearly disappeared under Sabretooth’s massive form. But, using the momentum his enemy had created Logan somersaulted backward and, using his own powerful legs, catapulted the larger man over the embankment and was on his feet in a flash. Ororo could see blood dripping from Logan’s claws; evidence that even in an ambush of surprising speed his own quick reflexes enabled him to inflict damage upon his attacker.

Clearing the distance of the incline in one leap, Sabretooth was back in front of him in an instant. He towered over Logan who now stood in his own distinct fighting stance, which made him appear even smaller. His feet were set wide apart and, bending at the knees and waist, he held his clawed fists up in front of him.

"Sabretooth," Logan growled in recognition. Creed smiled at Logan, clearly thrilled to be engaging his old ‘friend’ in battle once more.

"You should’ve taken her, Wolverine," he informed Logan. He was obviously referring to Storm, which meant he had witnessed their personal moment and obviously disagreed with Logan’s choice of action.

"It’s not my way, Creed," Logan snarled.

"You’re getting soft, runt," Sabretooth taunted.

"It was never my way."

"Too bad," Sabretooth turned to look at Storm and the way his eyes scanned her body made her skin crawl. "She looks delicious," he remarked, licking his lips. A loud, low growl came from Logan’s throat and Creed looked back at him. "You’re not actually thinking about bringing another love into your pitiful life. Are you, Wolverine?"

"No," Logan growled. Normally he wouldn’t even think of playing Creed’s game, but he needed to make it absolutely clear that he had no romantic intentions toward Ororo whatsoever. She was now in grave danger.

"They never last," Creed told Storm, then he turned back to Logan. "They always choose me in the end. You know that. Don’t ya’, Wolverine?"

Logan didn’t answer, he just glared at Sabretooth. Ororo frowned, unsure what this little exchange was all about. She did know that Logan hated Victor. He had betrayed Logan, and other members of Team-X, the black ops squad they both had been a part of many years ago. Creed had killed a couple members of the team, including Logan’s love, Silverfox. He even attempted to kill Logan, but as Creed found out that’s easier said than done. This sounded more personal though, if you can get any more personal than trying to take someone’s life.

"Storm. Leave!" Logan ordered as he circled around Sabretooth, forcing his opponent’s attention off of her.

"I’m not leaving you!" she countered, upset that he would even think she might.

"Leave! Now!" he ordered again, shifting his eyes to meet hers. She could see he was serious, but she shook her head ‘no’.

Sabretooth laughed. The female X-Man could not see the irony. She wouldn’t leave Logan here alone, fearing he would be in danger without her here to back him up. But, Sabretooth knew what Logan knew, he was in more danger with her here for him to worry about.

He should know better. Triggered by her emotions, the winds began to pick up and the skies grew dark. Sabretooth looked toward the sky and with his opponent momentarily distracted, Logan made his move. He charged Sabretooth, imbedding his foot-long, razor-sharp claws in the larger mutant’s torso.

Sabretooth bellowed in pain and surprise then he slammed his fists down on Logan’s shoulders, driving Wolverine to the ground. Reaching down with one hand he grabbed Logan by the back of the neck, driving his own three-inch long claws through muscle to get a good hold. Logan grunted in pain, then was pulled to his feet by Sabre’s powerful grip.

Wrapping his hands around Logan’s waist Sabretooth launched him into the air. He crashed into the leafy branches of a large oak and the tree seemed to swallow him up. The branches exploded as momentum and gravity pulled Logan’s weight back toward the ground at an alarming speed.

As he plummeted through the branches his clothes and flesh tore and ripped away. He got the wind knocked out of him when he hit a few larger branches that refused to break when he slammed into them. He tumbled toward the ground, disoriented. Logan tried to reach out, to grab hold of something, anything. Too late. He barely registered the pain as he desperately tried to slow his fall.

The final impact was enough to shatter the bones of an ordinary man, but Logan was no ordinary man. His entire skeleton was laced with the same indestructible metal that was bonded to his claws. He was virtually unbreakable.

The impact, however drove the air from his lungs. His head hit the ground hard, slamming his brain against the inside of his unbreakable skull and he bit through his tongue. As he lost consciousness, his claws retracted.

~ * ~ * ~


Sabretooth turned toward Storm. With an evil smile exposing his oversized canines, he brought his hand up and, staring at her, he licked Logan’s blood from his claws. It was a tactic he used many times to strike terror in his victims. Storm stood defiantly, determined not to let him see her fear.

"Wolverine's gotten soft living at that cushy mansion," he growled in disgust. "He’s lost his edge."

"You should not underestimate him," Storm countered. "He is full of surprises."

"Ha! You’re tellin’ me! I’m surprised he still thinks he belongs there with you X-Men."

"He does belong with us."

"He’s a killer. Like me," Creed teased.

"He is nothing like you," Ororo replied, emphasizing every word.

"Sure he is," Creed laughed. "He’s been trained as an assassin. You people really think you’ve changed any of that? Changed him?"

"Trained?! You mean brainwashed! Mind-wiped! Tortured!!" Storm glared at him. Her anger grew and so did the storm her elemental powers had conjured up.

"So? What difference does it make? He’s been trained for a specific purpose. A lot of time and money was spent on his training. Now they want him back... and it’s my mission to bring him in."

"That was a long time ago," Storm countered.

"Oh... not so long ago was it?" Creed taunted. Ororo's eyes narrowed wondering exactly what Creed knew about Logan's recent abduction.

"Weapon X doesn’t exist anymore," she stated, ignoring his comment. "Logan is free."

"Free? Hardly," Creed sneered, "and Weapon X does exist. I just tasted his blood."

"You are wrong, Sabretooth. Wolverine does not belong to the government anymore."

"He doesn’t have a choice. You’ve just given him the illusion that he did." Sabretooth was starting to grow tired of her upstart attitude. Did she really think she could stand in his way? "He’ll come back," he told her.

"Never." Storm defended Logan in his stead; believing, rightfully so, that the words she spoke now mirrored Logan’s feelings on the subject.

"You don’t know anything about it, Weather Witch."

"I know Logan. He would never go back there willingly," she attested and Sabretooth curled his lip at her.

"That has never stood in the way before," he growled.

Ororo grew furious. The thought that Creed would try to kidnap Logan and take him back to that hellhole he’d been free of for years infuriated her. It terrified her, too. Creed was despicable; he was beneath contempt. She could understand now Logan’s hatred of this man. A mutant himself, who took such great joy in helping his government bosses exploit other mutants. He found satisfaction in their torture and reveled in their pain.

She raised her arms toward the heavens and the winds gained in force and speed and the rain turned torrential. Normally, Ororo would center herself in the eye of her storms, but she didn’t care this time. The wind and rain battered them both. Like Sabretooth, her clothes became waterlogged and heavy with the weight of the rain and her long, white hair plastered to her scalp. The original volley of wind and rain, tempered by her initial irritation of Creed’s intrusion, quickly gained hurricane force. Sabretooth had to lean into the wind to keep from being forced backward while Storm seemed immune to its strength. She felt more than justified in this instance to call upon the goddess to send her lightning.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Logan, lying unconscious on the forest floor, was protected from most of the wind and rain by the thick canopy of the trees. Raindrops weaved their way through the leaves making their way toward the earth below. They landed with a tiny thud only to be soaked into the rich soil.

As the sprinkling became a steady downfall Logan was pelted by the cool rain and he began to stir. His head ached from the concussion he'd suffered on impact with the ground, but his mutant healing factor had already started to lessen the swelling to his brain. He felt a little groggy, but he knew he had to move so he tried to roll over onto his side.

Roaring in pain he fell onto his back again. He hadn’t noticed the pain in his leg until he tried to move. He gasped for air, the pain threatening to render him unconscious again. When he got himself under control he moved slowly into position so he could see the cause of his pain.

He'd been impaled through the right leg. A branch, about an inch in diameter and about eighteen inches long, protruded from either side of his thigh. He could feel the tissues trying to stitch themselves back together despite the foreign object and he couldn’t tell which hurt more. Logan figured the injury was nothing his mutant healing factor couldn’t handle, but he'd lost a lot of blood while he lay there unconscious and he was feeling lightheaded.

He noticed that his tee shirt had been torn to shreds, so he pulled the tattered remains from his shoulders and tore a strip from it. He tied it around his leg just above the impaled object, grunting in pain as he cinched it tight. He thought of pulling the stick out then, but feared that in his weakened state, and with the tremendous pain that would accompany the extraction, it would probably render him unconscious again and Storm needed him.

Grunting, Logan managed to get to his feet, but he had to grab onto the trunk of a tree as dizziness threatened to take him down. Gritting his teeth and swallowing hard he fought back the nausea that came with it. He was determined to rejoin the fight and he had no idea how long he'd been out. His fear for Ororo’s safety coupled with his pain and the taste of blood lingering in his mouth triggered his rage. He could feel an atavistic roar building deep within him and he fought desperately to subdue it. He needed to stay in control.

Logan began his trek back to the road and each step was pure agony. He lost his footing a couple of times, only to land sprawled in the mud. Each time he fell only served to feed his rage. He knew he expended more energy and strength getting back to his feet than if he had remained standing in the first place and he cursed himself. Sheer force of will kept him moving forward.

Finally, he could see the road. As he cleared the trees and began stumbling up the embankment he was buffeted by the strong winds. The torrential rain whipped about stinging his face. He certainly didn’t mind though, for he saw it as evidence that Storm was still alive.

As Logan fought his way up the incline the saturated soil was easily displaced by his clawing fingers. He was painfully aware that his leg wound was being reopened repeatedly with every step as he tried to use his powerful legs to propel himself toward the top. Finally topping the small ridge, he tried to peer through the weather onslaught for Storm. To his sensitive ears, the thunder was deafening and the fast moving wind and rain washed away any scent he could’ve used to identify her location.

"Storm!" Logan yelled as loud as he could, but he could barely hear his own voice over the noise. ‘Boy’, he thought, ‘is she pissed.’

He could barely make out the shape of the jeep parked across the street. That was the last place he had seen her so he started to make his way over to it. He had to use all his strength to fight his way through and against the gale force wind. His leg hurt like hell as he pushed through and he could feel the muscles tearing open again with each step.

He'd covered more than half the distance to the vehicle when something slammed into him. He grabbed onto it to keep himself from falling again and to his surprise the object grabbed back. It was Sabretooth.

Creed had jumped out of the way of one of Storm’s lightning bolts and nearly landed on top of Wolverine. Logan bared his fangs and tightened his grip so as not to lose his handhold on the drenched mutant. When Sabretooth felt him clutching at his clothes he turned to defend himself. His drenched blond mane whipped about his head as he grappled with Logan.

Ororo could barely see them. She moved forward for a better look and was surprised to see Logan in the middle of her small but powerful hurricane. As Logan grappled with Sabretooth she thought that his movements appeared stiff and unusual. He was now naked from the waist up and she could see the damage that'd been done to him from his fall through the trees. She ran forward to get a clear shot just as Sabretooth pulled Logan off his feet.


*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



A few hours after dinner, everyone had regrouped out by the pool to put the final touches on their project. Bobby and Kurt were once again splashing in the pool as Charles came out to enjoy their company.

Bobby was attempting another cannonball dive, seeing how close he could land next to Kurt. After splashing down Bobby surfaced and splashed Kurt one more time for good measure. As Kurt turned away from him, trying to wipe the water from his eyes, he did a slow double take as something in the distance caught his eye.

"Whoa, check it out," he said to Bobby. Iceman stopped splashing him long enough to take a look in the direction Kurt indicated.

"Wow. That looks pretty nasty," Bobby stated, a bit concerned. "I didn’t know we were getting a storm tonight." Kurt nodded, then shrugged. "Hey, Professor!" Bobby shouted to get his attention. "Did you hear the weather forecast for tonight?" he asked, and as Charles turned toward him, he pointed toward the darkened sky.

"I did, Robert. They forecasted clear skies…" his words trailed off when he saw the blackened skies in the distance. His forehead creased with concern as a thought came to him and his heart jumped into his throat. He turned to address his X-Men who were still working to finish the pit.

"Have Logan and Ororo returned yet?" he asked calmly, trying not to alarm anyone.

"I don’t think so. I haven’t seen them," Scott answered, then paused in his work. "Come to think of it, even if they did spend the whole day in the city they would’ve made sure to be back by now." Scott looked at the others who all nodded in agreement. Even Rogue realized how long they’ve been gone and looked at Jean a little worried. Scott stood up from where he was crouching, trowel in hand. "What’s up, Professor?"

"I’m not sure, Scott, but that storm seems too localized to that one small area to give the appearance of being a natural occurrence," the professor stated as he looked to the horizon. Scott stepped over to him and frowned at the black clouds then he looked at the professor with a thought, and Charles nodded. He closed his eyes in concentration and reached out with his telepathy toward the seemingly unnatural phenomenon. An instant later his eyes snapped open in alarm.

"X-Men! Storm and Wolverine are under attack!" he nearly shouted in alarm. Bobby and Kurt sprang from the pool and Warren flew off in that direction without waiting for orders as the others came to immediate attention. Scott glanced quickly over his shoulder to make sure everyone was ready for action.

"We’re on it, Professor!" Scott acknowledged dropping the trowel as he ran toward the garage with his team close behind.

The garage housed many varieties of ground transportation, most of which were owned by Xavier for use by students and X-Men alike, but some were privately owned by various team members. Normally they would scramble the SR-77 Blackbird, fondly renamed ‘The X-Jet’ by the institute’s younger students. It appeared though that their destination lay only a few miles down the road so ground transportation seemed more reasonable and certainly more discreet. For although most of their enemies already knew the address the X-Men called home, most of Westchester County did not.

"Jean, Beast and I will take the van," Scott announced. "Nightcrawler, can you teleport that distance with Iceman?"

"I think so," Kurt answered looking toward the disturbance.

"Good. Rogue, you take Gambit. We’ll meet you there." Rogue nodded and they all waited for further orders. There were none. When Scott was sure everyone knew what they needed to do he released them. "Okay. Go."

As the leader of the X-Men Scott did not relish being left behind to catch up, but the important thing now was getting aid to their missing teammates as quickly as possible. Rogue took Gambit by the wrists and lifted him into the air. She flew as fast as she could, being mindful of Remy’s safety. She didn’t have to push it too hard, ‘cause she knew Night-crawler and Iceman would be there in a blink of an eye. And Angel, who could fly like the wind, had taken off in haste before Scott could start giving orders. Bobby put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder and they disappeared in a puff of black smoke and Charles watched the team deploy, then went inside to monitor activities from there.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



Sabretooth grabbed Logan by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Wolverine kicked his legs as he grabbed onto Victor's wrist, but that wasn't going to do it. He could feel his windpipe being crushed in Creed's fist.

~Snikt!~

Logan’s claws stabbed through the muscles of Creed’s forearm and he roared in pain. At that very moment, a bolt of lightning hit Sabretooth square in the chest. He lost his grip on Logan, as the impact sent him sailing across the road and over the embankment. The thunderous clap created by the bolt on final impact with the ground sent Logan reeling. Clutching his hypersensitive ears, he staggered and fell to his knees.

"Logan!" Storm yelled to him, letting the winds carry her aloft.

She set down next to him and could see he was badly injured and she knew they were both exhausted. The only thing that overshadowed her anger toward their assailant was the concern she now felt for her friend. The rains receded immediately and the winds died down.

Ororo knelt down and put her hand on Logan’s shoulder. She took a quick look around to make sure Sabretooth wasn’t about to lunge at them, but he was nowhere in sight. It was now quiet enough to hear the raindrops dripping from the leaves. A moment later she heard another sound and she welcomed it.

~BAMPF!~

Kurt and Bobby materialized about twenty feet away and she watched as Warren lit upon the ground beside them in a flurry of huge flapping wings. The three X-Men quickly assessed that their teammates were alive, but perhaps not doing so well so they immediately took up positions to defend them if necessary. A few moments later Rogue touched down with Gambit, landing almost in the same spot where Nightcrawler and Iceman had appeared.

"Storm! Logan!" Rogue ran to them as Gambit took up the third position of defense, creating a triangular formation around their wounded comrades as Warren wandered the area searching. Jean had taught Rogue and most of the other X-Men emergency first aid and she was able to quickly determine that both Storm and Logan were in mild shock. Storm seemed to have only minor cuts and bruises, but Logan was a mess.

"Mah God, what happened here?" she asked. Logan slowly lowered his hands and she and Storm could see blood trickling from his injured ears.

"It was Sabretooth," Storm informed them grimly, obviously exhausted from her ordeal. She always felt drained after expending that much of her elemental powers at once.

"We’ll get you back to the institute. Scott’s on his way," Rogue reassured her as she inspected Logan’s head and neck injuries.

"What Sabretooth want dis time, eh?" Gambit asked, throwing a concerned look over his shoulder at Logan.

"Does it matter?" Warren asked from a short distance away, sneering at Wolverine. The ongoing private battle between Logan and Victor Creed posed a real problem for the team, especially since Creed had learned the address the X-Men called home. Angel was obviously tired of getting caught in the middle of it.

"I do not know. He wasn't making any sense," Storm answered in bewilderment. She intended to tell them what Creed had said until Logan looked up at her. Looking into his wounded eyes she couldn’t bring herself to tell them in front of him. He didn’t need to hear that right now. How could she tell him that the government wanted him back? She couldn’t believe it herself. He had to be lying. ‘After all this time? Why?’

"It won’t happen again," Logan growled, then tried to stand up and both Storm and Rogue grabbed onto him to keep him still. He winced in pain, grabbing his leg.

"Where d’ya think you’re going, sugah?" Rogue scolded him lightly, holding him in place.

"I’m going after him," he stated matter-of-factly, his voice gritty with anger.

"You are not going anywhere, except home," Storm ordered as she gingerly tried to inspect his wound. Through the holes in the ripped denim of his jeans she could see the blood seeping steadily from around the branch imbedded in his leg.

"Gotta go now… before I lose… his scent," Logan's words began to slur and that worried her.

"You can’t even stand," Rogue informed him. "You’ve got a branch impaled in your leg and you’ve lost a lot of blood."

"Pull it out," Logan ordered weakly. Rogue and Storm exchanged concerned looks.

"Ah will not!" she replied.

"It won’t heal… ‘til it’s… out," he told her, trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding and he was feeling nauseous again. He just wanted to lie down. Instead, he leaned forward and put one hand down on the pavement, trying to steady himself. He realized he really wasn’t feeling very good.

"You could bleed to death before it heals," Rogue stated, knowing full well that Logan’s healing powers, like all mutant powers, decrease when used for extensive periods of time. With a foreign object impaling a limb she knew his ability to heal the wound is forfeit until the object is removed. His healing factor would, however, exhaust itself trying to do its job even with interference.

She concentrated on keeping her patient under control. For now, that was all they could do.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~


The X-Van came around the curve about a quarter mile up the road. Jean, Scott and Hank were immediately relieved to see that Storm and Logan were alive. The fact that they were sitting on the wet pavement surrounded by their teammates who were in a defensive posture was not the best of signs though. The van pulled up to the scene and Jean and Hank ran to check on injuries while Cyclops went to get a report from Iceman.

"Apparently they were ambushed," Bobby informed him. "By Sabretooth."

"Sabretooth, huh?" Cyclops frowned. Iceman nodded as he continued to scan the area. Angel turned and stomped over to Cyclops who saw him coming and was ready for it.

"This is getting tiresome, you know!"

"Stand down, Angel!" Cyclops warned him.

"Like it’s not bad enough the X-Men have their own enemies to deal with, we have to deal with his, too?" The Angel persisted.

"We all have enemies, Warren."

"Ah, bull! This fight goes way back, before he came to the team," Warren gestured angrily toward Logan.

"So??" Cyclops turned to face him, nose to nose.

"This battle… it’s personal, between the two of them."

"Logan’s enemies are our enemies, Angel," Cyclops informed him.

"Shouldn’t be that way, Scott."

"Well, it is that way, Warren!" Iceman broke in. He and Kurt glared at the winged X-Man. "That’s what it means to be part of this team. We don’t leave each other hanging out to dry. It’s that simple."

Overhearing the exchange Logan tried to stand up. When Rogue reached for him he gently but firmly pushed her away. She looked to Hank for assistance and he nodded, letting her know that he would accept the responsibility. He helped Logan to his feet and Logan immediately began to stumble away toward his jeep. Hank trotted up alongside him.

"Where’re you going?" he asked, trying to impede Logan’s escape by stepping in front of him. Hank noticed that Logan swayed drunkenly as he was forced to stop.

"I’m going after him," Logan growled. "Angel’s right, it’s not your fight," he said, trying to push Hank away. Everyone shot a hard glance at Worthington and he knew none of them agreed with what he'd said. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy took note of how weak Logan really was as he didn’t even need to push back against him to keep his spot in front of him.

"Logan, stand down!" Cyclops ordered.

"You stand down, One Eye. He’s my problem."

"And you are my problem, Wolverine. Your orders are to return to the mansion for medical attention."

"I don’t need medical attention."

Logan stopped and bent forward. Hank was sure he was going to be sick or perhaps was feeling dizzy so he waited patiently holding onto Logan’s shoulders to keep him steady. Then he felt the muscles in Logan’s arms tense and he looked down to see that Logan was trying to pull the impaled tree limb from his leg and blood was gushing from his mutilated flesh.

"Stop!" Hank yelled, grabbing Logan’s hands and pulling him up straight. The quick, forceful motion produced intense pain and Logan yelled out, then his legs gave out under the stress and he collapsed. Hank quickly wrapped his arms around his injured friend, preventing him from hitting the pavement.

Jean had been focused on assessing Storm’s injuries and found them to be minor. She didn’t have the chance to check on Logan yet, but he was being attended to by Rogue and Hank. Now seeing him collapse in Hank’s arms she ran over to them. Taking Logan’s face in her hands, she checked his condition quickly and didn’t like what she saw. He didn’t even have the strength to hold his own head up, his pupils were extremely dilated and he was fighting for every labored breath.

"He’s feverish... and in shock. We’ve got to get him back, now!"

Then Logan’s head fell backwards and his eyes closed, rolling over white. Jean knew that for his condition to deteriorate this quickly meant his healing factor was spent and that frightened her.

"Logan?!" Jean brought his head back up so she could see him. "Logan?! Open your eyes. Open your eyes!" Jean shook him frantically and she and Hank exchanged worried looks. Logan didn’t respond. "Logan! Open your eyes! You look at me! Right now!" In response to her frantic pleas, his eyes opened briefly, but they rolled around like marbles in a jar, unable to find the strength to focus. "We have to move, now!" she informed the team, there was no time to waste. Hank scooped Logan up in his arms and Cyclops got everyone moving.

"Hank, get him to the van! Bobby, bring the jeep."

Bobby and Kurt helped Storm to the jeep and she kept looking back at the others as they carried Logan toward the van. Rogue climbed into the jeep next to her and she watched as Hank climbed into the back seat of the van to tend to Logan.

"Jean, you’re with Hank in the back. Gambit, you drive!" With that, Scott slipped into the passenger seat while Jean informed the professor telepathically of Logan’s condition. They were to bring both he and Storm to the infirmary immediately.






TBC in... "Acts of Vengeance" part 2






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