5. Senses
“I need to see Wolverine.”
Holding Cell 3, Xavier Mansion
“He’s crazy if he thinks he can break out of that” commented Forge peering at the large monitor in front of him.
On the screen, an extremely agitated Wolverine could be seen trying to shatter the glass by running from one corner of the room and ramming his shoulder into it.
“He IS crazy” commented his companion. “You should have seen what he did to those soldiers. They didn’t stand a chance.”
---
After debriefing the Professor on their mission findings, Forge had joined Scott in the holding area. Scott had been telling him about their nearly botched mission when the holding room motion sensors went off. Wolverine was waking up.
“Its not possible” Scott said, his hands springing into action to check the sensors, while he stared at the monitor. Sure enough the mutant lying in the center of the room was slowly clenching and unclenching his hands.
“This can’t be happening” whispered Scott, his hand clutching his forehead in frustration. “Its JUST not possible.”
“What’s the matter?” inquired Forge, setting his coffee mug down and joining him at the controls.
“He’s….He’s waking up” said Scott pointing to the screen. “He’s waking UP.”
“Scott, you don’t have to repeat yourself every time” responded Forge, his eyes on the monitor as he patted his teammate on the back, trying to calm him down. “So what if he’s waking up. Isn’t that a good thing? It means he’s recovering.”
“No….I mean yes” blubbered Scott, trying to gather himself. “But its too soon. He shouldn’t be up for another eight hours.”
“Why” chuckled Forge. “Did he place a wake up or something?”
“No” scowled Scott at his friend. “You don’t understand. The reason he shouldn’t be waking up this soon, is because Jean sedated him with enough sedatives to render both you and me unconscious for a week – ten times over.”
“And that was just four hours ago.”
----
“Try talking to him?” offered Forge. “Maybe it will calm him down.” “He looks like the Disney comic character ‘Taz’ the Tasmanian Devil” he chuckled. “How tall is he? Four and a half…..Five feet?”
Scott smirked at his comparison of Wolverine with a cartoon character. Taking a deep breath he spoke into the mike .
“Please be calm. You can’t break that glass. You’ll only end up hurting yourself.”
Inside the holding cell Wolverine was rapidly losing control, his feral instincts starting to take over.
He had woken up to find himself in an unfamiliar surrounding. Initially he had thought he was in another lab and that everything had been a dream. For almost as long as he remembered he had been one lab or the other, being moved frequently. Till the last one. . How long he had been there, he didn’t remember. But then it struck him – there was something different about this ‘prison’. It seemed too clean to be one of theirs – no blood, piss, shit or vomit anywhere. As the last remnants of the sedative left his system, things started to become clearer. ‘RED’ he growled. The bitch had got into his head. ‘The Leather Freaks’ his mind called out ‘Musta be their place’. With that thought he began looking around, for a way out from the cell – his attention immediately going to the seemingly thin sheet of glass.
He was readying himself for another run, when a mechanical sounding voice filled the room. “Please be calm. You can’t break that glass. You’ll only end up hurting yourself.”
‘Grrr’ his fists clenched at his capturers. ‘Can’t break it….eh. Well then I’ll slice it.’ He didn’t want to get the claws out, but they left him no other choice.
“Once I get outta here, I’ll gut each and every one of ya” he threatened his captors, raising a fist to accentuate his point.
“Gut? What does he mean gu…?” Forge’s question stuck in his throat as three long metal claws sprang out of the *midget’s* raised hand and three more from the other one.
“That” Scott said wearily, with a hint of nervousness in his calm demeanor. “That’s what he meant.”
“CLAWS” Forge moved to the glass window on the side of the main control room. He had to see it for himself. ‘Yup…claws’ his mind processed through his shock. “He has…claws…..metal claws” he pointed out to Scott.
“I know” sighed Scott in resignation, with a slight smirk on his lips. Forge was just as stunned as he had been the first time he had heard the sound of metal on metal and seen the blades shoot out from between Wolverine’s knuckles.
As they looked on, Wolverine calmly stepped to the glass, drew both his hands apart and after a moment’s silence, let out a loud roar, sinking them deep into the glass sheeting, almost slicing the first layer completely.
----
At the same time, in the corridor leading to the holding area, Jean Grey and Ororo Monroe stopped as they heard a bloodcurdling roar echo through the halls.
“He’s up?” Jean asked herself in disbelief.
“Up?” Ororo asked, her heart jumping to her throat. “Was….was he hurt bad?”
Jean looked at her best friend. Ever since she had heard about the Wolverine, she had been giving out some very disturbing vibes, the ones she usually sent out during one of her nightmares. ‘Must be someone from her past’ thought Jean, barely managing to reign in her desire to *peek* into Ororo’s mind ‘Just a little bit’ she thought before rejecting her idea.
“Yes he was hurt bad. That ‘Major Wraith’ used some sort of special bullets on him. Blew parts of his body right off the bone and at the same time tranquilized him.”
Ororo flinched at the horrid description her ‘sister’ was providing.
“Oh but he was recovering from that by the time we got here” Jean added try to provide some solace. “But he needed time to recover, so I sedated him. I injected him with enough to keep him out for atleast twelve hours. But I seemed to have miscalculated the effect of his ‘healing factor’. Not even four hours and he is up already.”
“Healing factor” Ororo whispered to herself. With every step, her suspicion was growing stronger as was the uneasy feeling in her gut. ‘It must be him’ she thought, almost sure by now.
“Yes” said Jean, telling her about Wolverine’s ability to heal at an alarming rate.
Reaching their destination, Jean entered the password for access to the main control room.
---
Inside his holding cell, Wolverine stopped mid-swing.
“What is he doing now?” thought Scott, not realizing he had spoken out aloud.
Forge stopped working and looked at the monitor screen. They could see Wolverine go stiff, and tilting his head upward, he sniffed the air lightly.
“He’s…..sniffing” Forge commented offhandedly, turning his head back to the screen in front of him. He was beefing up the holding room security, just in case Wolverine managed to carve his way out.
“I can see that” Scott was getting frustrated, with Wolverine and also with Forge’s condescending attitude. The scene from the base was still fresh in his head and he didn’t want the same thing happening again – at a mansion full of young students.
“How are the upgrades coming along?” he asked breaking away from the screen, where Wolverine was taking deep breaths, his claws sheathed once again.
“Almost done” replied Forge, typing away furiously. “With this new program in effect…..well let’s just say our friend here is going to get a nice jolt of reality.”
Just then the door opened, and Jean and Ororo entered into the room.
----
‘She’s here’ was all Wolverine was thinking, having forgotten all about his confinement.
He could smell her, vanilla and sandalwood and a tinge of the earthy smell that could be hers. It had changed, matured a little, but it was still her.
His captors had played with his mind, driving him to the brink of insanity time and again, but they had never managed to trick his animal senses. Those were as sharp as ever and had never let him down. And now every pore of his body was screaming out loud ‘SHE’S HERE.’
---
“Hey Ororo” Scott called out, glancing away from the monitor and raising his hand. “Jean I though I asked you to get some rest. You are tired.”
Walking up to her boyfriend, Jean drew close to his ear and whispered, “Yes, but I really missed not having my favorite blond cushion” “And besides Ororo wanted to meet our guest” she said straightening up.
“Guest” smirked Forge, “That’s a way to put it. More like a zoo display, if you ask me.”
“Forge” scolded Jean.
“What?” he asked innocently. “Just look at him, standing there sniffing the air like a wild animal.”
‘Sniffing’ With shaky steps Ororo made her way to the glass window. Right across from her was the holding cell. A corridor and one way mirrors separating the two. Sure enough, ‘Wolverine’ was taking deep breaths. Ororo instinctively realized what, or rather who he was sniffing out – HER.
Immediately Wolverine snapped his head to her direction. ‘She’s there…behind that mirror’ his senses told him. He let out a deep beckoning growl. He was calling her to come to him.
----
Stepping to the door to the corridor, Ororo entered her security code, unlocking the door.
“Ororo, what are you doing?” called out Scott, stepping towards her. He was however, stopped by a firm hand on his arm.
“Scott…..let her” Jean said, her eyes darting between her teammate and the feral mutant in the holding cell.
“Let her?” Scott asked incredulously. “Jean, have you gone mad or has she? Doesn’t she realize the danger she is putting herself in.”
“I don’t think she is in any danger” Jean said shaking her head, her eyes following Wolverine as his eyes followed Ororo. ‘Even from behind doors, he seems to detect her.’
“ Not in any danger, my ass” Scott replied, yanking his hand away and turning to Forge. “How much longer till those upgrades are online.”
“Five minutes” replied Forge, doubling his efforts. He didn’t like the way Storm was reacting. On entering the room she walked right up to the window, as if there was no one else present in the room. Her breathing was labored and her pulse high. It was as if she was expecting something and at the same time was nervous about it.
---
Stepping out of the room, Ororo crossed the corridor and was standing in front of the holding cell. ‘It’s him. He’s here. He’s finally here’ her heart cried out, joy washing over her. All other thoughts had taken flight as her world contracted to the six feet separating her and Wolverine.
On the other side of the glass, Wolverine was twitching with excitement. “’Roro” he growled softly, stepping forward and raising his hand to the glass partition.
Even through the remaining foot thick glass, Ororo felt the soft caress of his rough hands as he outlined the left side of her body. Drawn by an unknown power, she drew forward and placed her own hand on his left cheek.
----
Inside the control room, the three people looked on, each having their own reactions to the strange happenings – confusion, realization and jealousy.
“What is she doing?” Scott asked his eyes stuck to the window.
“She’s…….caressing him” said Jean. Watching Ororo’s reaction to ‘Wolverine’ made everything clear – especially the way she reacted in the kitchen and the strong emotions rolling off the usually controlled Weather Witch.
“Caressing?” “Why? Does she know him?” Scott asked, even as Forge frowned at the scene playing in front of him. ‘Who is this *Wolverine* that he having such an effect on Ororo?’
As if sensing his thoughts, Jean spoke answering his and Scott’s question. “That……that’s Logan.”
“Logan” Scott’s eyes widened as he looked afresh at the *foreplay* going on between Storm and Wolverine.
Forge winced as if he had just been punched in the stomach. ‘Logan’ he thought angrily as his jealousy reached new levels.
----
Completely oblivious to their audience, Ororo and Logan were completely lost in each other. They were flush against the glass, trying to minimize the physical distance between them. Ororo’s lips were quivering as she bit her lower one. The ache she had suppressed for seven years was back and stronger than ever. Her body seemed to be on fire, from the heat from Logan’s body and the caresses he was administering to her.
Suddenly Logan stepped back, hands spreading to his sides, he whimpered slowly. In return Ororo let out her own whimpering growl and began caressing his body through the glass, just as he had done to her.
“What are they doing now?” asked Scott, completely enthralled.
“He is showing her his wounds” came a gentle voice from behind them. Turning around they saw their resident genius, Henry McCoy ‘Beast’ enter through the door and come to their side.
“Wounds Henry?” asked Jean, taking a better look. “But he doesn’t have wounds?” she said perplexed by Beast’s words.
“No wounds…..that we can see with the naked eye” corrected Henry. “He’s showing her his….mental wounds……his emotional wounds.”
“But why is he showing it to her?” spoke up Scott, finally drawing his eyes away from the window. “Because he knows her?”
“Yes and No” answered Henry cryptically, a mysterious smile on his face, the scientist in him doing flips over the rare instance of observing such a ‘primal’ interaction between two human subjects.
“Yes and No?” “Lose the riddles Henry.”
Forge had been silent his whole time, his eyes never leaving the two mutants, his finger hovering over the enter button, waiting for the right moment.
“Yes, he knows her” stated Beast, explaining his hypothesis. “But that’s not the only reason he is acting this way towards her.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“I believe that his actions are similar to those of a wild animal’s towards his mate.”
‘Mate’ the word hung in the air for few seconds as Beast continued with his explanation.
“He checked her first and now is showing his own injuries to her.” “His injuries and…his pain.”
‘Well if its pain he wants…’ thought Forge, his finger lowering to the button as Wolverine came forward, his hands once again reaching for Ororo.
----
The holding cell and its surroundings were filled with loud cries of pain as hundreds of volts of electricity surged through Wolverine, the metal in his body providing a natural conductor for the flow of electricity.
“NOOOooooo” yelled out Ororo, her clear blue eyes widening and clouding over.
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