Marie was more scared now than she had ever been in her entire life. It wasn’t fear for her own well being, though. At that moment, she was more scared for Logan than she was for herself. The beating they had inflicted on him combined with whatever they had injected into him had Marie terrified. Anything that would knock Logan out had to be powerful.
And they had left him behind.
Once again they were there for her. This time, however, Marie had no clue who they were. Magneto was in jail and all of his lackeys had been dispatched by the X-Men. Whoever was behind this was a new enemy.
The only clue she had was that they were obviously ones who knew about her power. Not only because of the fact that they had left behind Logan and his adamantium laced skeleton, but all of their attackers had been covered from head to foot so that only their eyes and mouths were visible. Still, Marie had fought them off to the best of her ability. Drawing on instincts that she had absorbed from Logan, she had battled them off as long as she could. It was a futile effort, though, because within moments their sheer numbers had overwhelmed her.
Marie had been handcuffed then, her eyes never leaving Logan’s prone form. The entire right side of his face was covered in blood from he blow to the temple he had received from the attacker wielding the thick metal pipe. The sound of the metal smashing against Logan’s flesh sent chills up her spine. Even after he had lost consciousness, the man had continued to beat him and while Logan’s bones may have been too strong to break, his skin wasn’t. Logan’s abilities flaring as the adrenaline coursed through her veins, Marie could smell the sickly scent of blood. Logan’s blood.
No matter how often Marie had shouted his name, Logan hadn’t so much as twitched a finger. He had remained sprawled on his stomach, completely motionless. Still, Marie had continued to scream his name, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fought against men who restrained her.
In an act of complete desperation, Marie stomped on the foot of one of the men and slammed her fists into the other man’s face. While they were distracted, Marie broke away from them and bolted towards Logan. The others had been too shocked to react. Marie had collapsed on her knees next to Logan, smoothing her fingers through her hair. She had pleaded for him to wake up as she crouched over him, her lips only inches away from his ear.
Feeling hands grabbing onto her arms, Marie had clutched onto Logan’s jacket. In the end, though, they yanked her away from Logan. Before they were able to pull her away, she was able press a brief kiss against Logan’s cheek through his thick sideburns.
“Ah’m sorry, Logan.”
Without further ado, Marie had been dragged from the building. Marie kept her eyes trained on Logan for as long as possible. She was in a state of shock, unable to completely comprehend what was going on. The fear for herself would come later. At that moment, the only fact that her mind could wrap around was the fact that Logan was hurt and that she was being taken away from him. She needed to help him and she couldn’t.
“Let me outta here, ya bastards!” Marie shouted as she kicked at the roof of the trunk she had been locked in. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Marie continued to pound away at the roof of the trunk with her feet and fists.
It was pitch black in the trunk and Marie couldn’t see a thing. She had never been claustrophobic in her life, but she was starting to. She felt as though she were suffocating which, since she was in a trunk, could very well be true.
A sudden realization came over Marie. Sliding over to the front of the trunk, Marie raised her bound hands towards the latch. If she was lucky there would be some sort of release lever. Something that would get the trunk open.
“Open, open, open....” Marie murmured as she tore at the cloth covering the back of the trunk. “Please.... Gawd, Logan. Logan, Ah’m comin’ back fer ya. Ah’m comin’!”
Marie cursed under her breath as she cut her hand on a piece of metal. She could smell the distinct scent of blood and was surprised to find that the wound healed right away. Dismissing it as and added leftover from Logan, Marie continued to struggle to open the trunk. Desperation fueled her on. She knew that if she didn’t get out soon, it would be too late to go back for Logan.
The car hit a bump on the road, bouncing Marie upwards into the roof of the trunk. There was a flash of light. Very quick, but it was enough. A quick kick with her feet and the trunk was open.
“Think o’ Logan,” Marie said to herself as she hoisted herself up to peer over the edge of the tank. From her position, Marie could see the faint outline of the compound that she had been taken from. The compound that Logan was still in.
That was all that it took. With a quick prayer to whatever gods looked after mutants, Marie gathered up her courage and flung herself from the car.
The ground came up a lot quicker than she had expected.
Her forearms, stomach and thighs caught the brunt of the impact, ripping and tearing against the stones that littered the road. Adrenaline and Logan’s healing ability still pumping through her veins, Marie barely even noticed her injuries. Shaking her head to clear it, Marie scrambled to her feet and, after a quick glance to figure out her location, took into the forest. Not only would it be harder for them to track her in there, but it was a more direct route to the compound.
Marie stomach ached as she ran. Part of it was from the still healing wounds that Logan’s powers hadn’t completely taken care of. The bulk of it, though, was fear. Marie had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Whatever they had injected into Logan, Marie knew that it was bad. How bad she had yet to see, but Marie knew that it was bad enough. Logan had been thrown from a car going over 80 kilometers an hour and he’d gotten up within seconds.
Pumping her legs faster than they were already going, Marie ran around trees that had probably been around for centuries and dodged the new saplings that were growing in their shadows. She stumbled a few times, her gloves tearing further as she held her bound hands out in front of her to keep her head from impacting with the larger trees.
Marie was breathing heavily by the time that she reached the compound. Despite the fact that she had temporary access to Logan’s healing ability, she certainly didn’t have his endurance. It didn’t matter, though, because Marie wasn’t going to let that stop her. The building was less than a hundred yards away and so far there was no sign that she had been caught.
Just as Marie was clearing the forest, her luck ran out.
Knowing that Logan was so close, Marie stopped paying attention to the ground beneath her. Instead, Marie kept her eyes focused on the building and missed the clutter of branches scattered between the two trees she was running between. Marie went crashing into the snow, the air shooting from her lungs.
Marie laid there in the snow for several moments, struggling to catch her breath. Eventually, though, her body got cold from the snow and Marie pushed herself to her feet. She staggered for a few moments then continued towards the door that she had entered with Logan only a short time ago. Her hands still bound, Marie slammed her fists into the door, forcing it open.
“Logan!” Marie shouted as she sprinted down the hallway towards the room she had last seen Logan in. “Logan! Ah’m comin’!”
Her footsteps echoed in the silent hall. She could still smell Logan clearly and vividly, the scent of cigars and worn leather mingling with the overpowering smell of blood. Her desperation increased the closer she got to the room with the mangled doors.
“LOGAN!”
The darkness was unnerving, but Marie was able to find Logan without the need of light. He hadn’t moved and inch. Not even flickered a finger so far as she could tell. Crashing down to her knees beside him, Marie crouched over Logan, gathering him up in her arms as best she could despite her mutation and the fact that her arms were still bound.
“Gawd, sugah, Ah’m so sorry,” Marie sobbed, pressing her face into his jacket between his shoulder blades. “Ah never wanted ya ta get hurt. Ah’m so sorry. Please, wake up, Logan. Ah can’t get ya outta here if ya don’t wake up.”
There was no response from Logan and Marie began to get extremely worried. He should have been awake by then. He should have been up and about if a little muddle headed. Marie had a memory of Logan being beaten up by a whole gang of bikers for pretty much the same reason the man had tried to knife him the night they met. He had been beaten within an inch of his life yet had still gotten up and walked away five minutes after they had left. Something that would halt Logan’s powers like that had to be powerful.
“Please wake up, Logan....” Marie whimpered, shifting her head to press a kiss to the back of his head.
With a great deal of careful maneuvering, Marie had herself situated so that she was crouching comfortably over Logan. She pulled his head onto her lap and held him close, her head resting in the centre of his back. She continued sobbing, her pooling on the back of Logan’s jacket.
Rationally, Marie knew that she had to get her and Logan out of that building as soon as possible. As soon as the men realized that she was gone they’d come straight back here. She had to get her and Logan out of there, but with him unconscious and her hands still tied up, that was impossible.
“Everythin’ is gonna be all right, Logan. Ah promise,” Marie whispered, lifting her head up and scrubbing at her tears with the side of her arm. “Ah’m gonna figure out how ta get us outta here.... Ah just gotta figure out how.”
Wrapping her arms around his shoulders as best she could, Marie pulled him closer and rested her cheek on the top of his head. Turning her head slightly, she pressed a kiss into his hair. Her adrenaline levels were starting to go down and all the aches and pains she had been able to avoid during her escape were coming back in full force. Logan’s healing abilities weren’t very strong, but they were enough. Most of the external injuries were already healed and the others were well on their way. In ten minutes, Marie was confident that the only sign that anything amiss had happened to he would be the tears in her clothes and the smears of blood, only some of which were her own.
“Ah’ll figure out how ta get us outta this,” Marie promised him, squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to block out the unknown.