When they finally reached him, they found a badly bloodied, and passed out, Forge chained to a table in an upright position. It looked as if his body had been carved up like a turkey in certain spots across is chest. The scene was so horrible, Logan instantly believed that the other man would need cosmetic surgery to repair the damage.
Ororo instantly wanted to run to Forge but they feared it could be booby trapped or rigged with explosives that may have been hidden so they held her back. Tears erupted at the sight of her future husband chained to the table, but the worst part was that he wasn’t moving or even breathing as far as she could tell.
Blood was pooling everywhere and it was overwhelming Wolverine’s senses. He shook the smell away…
SNIKT!
The smell of blood wasn’t enough to overthrow all of his senses. Instantly a feral look overtook the mutant and it made Betsy want to move away from him. He sniffed the air, and then called out.
“I know you’re here, you bitch!” He continued to sniff and then followed a scent to the railing overhead where a cloaked figure appeared.
“No need to yell.” She leaped over the railing and landed in front of Forge.
“Bitch!” Ororo sneered trying to break away from Betsy who held firmly.
“No need for name calling either.” The figure through back her hood and her beauty spilled forth. Instantly, Ororo wondered how a woman as beautiful as she was could do something as terrible as this to someone she cared about.
Every rose has its thorn…
Logan’s adamantium laced claws itched to bury itself into the woman who seemed to be taunting them with her very existence.
He was patient.
He was intensely patient.
This was Storm’s fight, he reminded himself. She deserved to tear this bitch limb from limb.
The woman who had captured Forge watched them, observing. Especially the one with claws. He was like her, she decided. A killer.
Her attention returned to the white haired woman. “You must be Forge’s girl. Nice to meet you. Storm, right? He’s been screaming for you,” the woman lowered her voice.
“Begging for you to save him. I told him to give up because there was no way in hell that anyone would save him, come for him. And yet here you are…three mutants who want to save this piece of shit. Did you ever ask yourself what he did to deserve this?”
“I’ll make ya beg lady,” Logan growled.
Her eyes narrowed watching them.
“No one deserves that,” Betsy said her green eyes angry.
“Your right, no one deserves that,” the woman said almost as if she were sorry. But then she smiled and it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “But Forge deserved as good as he got. I’ll let you in on a secret, this man isn’t innocent. He created a weapon for the government to take away mutant powers. I was the first mutant test subject.”
Betsy could feel the change of temperature drop around them before she ever saw Storm’s eyes turn white.
“You must be the other man in this triangle,” Forge’s capture smiled. “He mentioned you too. Said you were the most dangerous mutant on earth.” She regarded Logan still smiling. “Somehow, I don’t believe him.”
“Enough!” Ororo screamed and launched herself with hurricane force winds knocking the assailant backwards.
“Take care of Forge,” she screamed to the others.
This bitch is mine, she thought as her hands grabbed for the other woman’s neck. She was so focused on hitting the other woman that she didn’t notice all the cuts and bruises that began to appear on her skin until it was entirely too late and she was nearly bleeding to death.
Collapsing under the weight of the pain, she watched through blurred vision as Psylocke summoned her psi blades and she and the other woman began fighting.
Betsy ducked as the other woman’s fist whirled by her nearly clipping her nose. She was quick, with almost blurring speed but Betsy was quicker. She maneuvered her psi blades precisely and she knew she had her, the other woman was going down.
Betsy’s opponent danced on her toes with the grace of a well trained boxer, almost military in the style she used, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
Before either knew it, the battle was over and Betsy had sliced her neck open to the bone
Betsy watched as life slipped from the woman’s eyes and she slumped to the ground. The glow of her psi blades died as she turned her attention to Ororo and went immediately to her aid.
“You look horrible, Ro.” Betsy smiled as she checked her friends face and noticed the cuts and bruises had receeded.
“Where’s Forge?” she asked as Betsy helped her to her feet.
“Logan took him back to the jet.”
Ororo paused. “Do you think what that woman said was true?”
“I don’t know Ro. What other reasons would she have had to come after him?” Betsy asked.
“I don’t know.”
Betsy shrugged and they made their way to the waiting jet.
Logan took his place up front. He had to put distance between himself and Storm and Forge. He couldn’t be that close to her now and still fight the feeling to claim her. He shook the thoughts away and smiled at Betsy as he took the co-pilot’s chair.
“What are you up to Wolverine?” Betsy asked looking at him before re-focusing on the controls.
He smiled. “Thinking about that date tomorrow night.”
She smiled. “Really? I was thinking that you were thinking about Storm.”
He almost choked. “You a telepath?”
She paused. “Yeah, but the look on your face says it all.”
He grunted and pulled out a cigar. “You mind?”
She shook her head no and continued to navigate. “If you care for her, then fight for her. Don’t use me to lessen the blow, Logan.”
Cigar smoke curled in the air as he contemplated her words and then sighed. “That obvious?”
She smiled. “To everyone but you two. I know she’s with Forge and she may even love him, but you two have been living together.”
“I know there’s a point, Bets.” Logan looked over almost annoyed that she wouldn’t just spit out whatever it was she was trying to say.
She quirked an eyebrow. “The point is. You two know each other. You know which buttons to push.”
“We’re friends.”
“Friends don’t sleep together, Logan.”
“Point.”
“Told you I had one.”
He smiled, something occurring to him. “I told Ro, you knew about us.”
She shrugged. “Emma pointed it out to me.”
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Ororo’s good at keeping things inside while she’s sober, Logan. But a drunken Ororo is a whole different story.”
He groaned. “You’re telling me.”
She laughed at that. “So I suppose dinner is out now that you’ve realized that you really care about her?”
“She’s gonna marry Forge. I won’t stand in the way of her happiness. I did that with Jean.” He said honestly and
Betsy realized that she had never heard him speak of Jean. She could tell that it hurt him every time he spoke her name. It was like he inwardly winced.
“What if you could make her happy?”
It was his turn to quirk an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, Logan. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it all those months that ya’ll have been together?” Betsy glared at him before putting the jet on auto-pilot.
“Okay,” he through up his hands in surrender. “I’ve thought about it, but I get restless, Bets. Ro wouldn’t put up with that shit for long. I mean, I just took off for two weeks to chase down a false lead. Forge can give her things I can’t. Like stability for one.”
Betsy nodded at his words and thought before speaking again. “That’s all true. Somehow, I don’t think Forge is going to be around long enough to give her stability. I think that once he’s healed, Ororo’s going to find out if he did what that crazy ass woman said he did. If he did, she’ll fry his ass on the spot.”
“And what do I do, swoop in to pick up the pieces and play rebound guy. Hell no,” he growled glancing towards the back of the jet hoping to catch sight of the white hair beauty but with no luck.
Betsy shrugged leaning back and propping her feet up. “Okay, so what’s your grand plan?”
“It’s simple,” Logan said. “I’m leaving. I can’t be around her and not be with her.”
