“Oh Gawd!” Marie whimpered as she scrambled towards the what was left of Logan’s jacket.
With trembling fingers, Maria picked up the ripped jacket and held it up at eye level. She knew right away that it was Logan’s. The three distinctive bands of yellow on each arm were left practically unmarked. There were tears all over it. Angry, jagged tears that greatly resembled claw marks. Not three, like Logan possessed, but an entire hand.
Like Sabertooth.
Dropping the jacket as though it suddenly pained her to hold it, Marie jumped to her feet and began running through the entire room, searching for any sign of Logan. There was no telling when the attack had take place. It could have been only a short while ago meaning that Logan was still somewhere in the building. Hurt.
“LOGAN!” Marie screamed as she rushed through the tangled mess of machinery. “Logan, if you’re here, answer me! Grunt, make a noise! Anythin’! Please, Logan, Ah’m beggin’ ya! Answer me!”
The only sound were her own footsteps echoing throughout the room.
Not wanting to admit to herself that Logan wasn’t there, Marie covered every inch of the room. Bottom to top then top to bottom. She checked every available opening for Logan, praying that he had may just hidden himself away so that he could heal any wounds he had received from the vicious mutant.
With that in mind, Marie gathered up Logan’s coat and the files before heading through the entire complex. She searched every room again. Areas that she had originally ignored-- mostly closets and locked doors --were thoroughly checked. Marie wasn’t going to leave until she was sure that there was no possibility of Logan being in the building. She wouldn’t leave him behind.
It was well after dawn when an exhausted Marie headed back out into the snowy landscape. There had been no sign of Logan anywhere. A few traces of blood here and there, but nothing concrete. The thing that frightened Marie the most was evidence of altered metal. Safes that had been ripped apart, doors bulging inward. Things that shouldn’t have been. Evidence that Magneto had been nearby.
The Professor’s longtime friend had been out of his plastic prison for nearly four years. And he most certainly hadn’t been released on good behaviour. With the aid of a “guard,” Magneto had escaped from his prison and set about wreaking havoc worldwide. None of it had ever been serious enough to warrant the X-Men’s attention, though. If he had done anything to Logan, Marie was going to deal with him herself.
The trek back to where she had stashed her bike seemed to take nowhere near as much time as it had on the way there. Not wanting to risk anything happening to Logan’s coat or the files he had been searching so long for, Marie slipped into the large coat and stuffed the files inside before zipping it up. Marie felt a sense of calm wash over her as she pulled Logan’s coat on over her slim shoulders. This jacket and the dogtag that she had worn daily without fail for the past five years, were all that she had of Logan. The only physical proof she had that he had actually existed. Many thought it odd that she clung so tightly to the memory of a man who had only been in her life for a few days. What they couldn’t understand was that he was a part of her. She had witnessed firsthand the nightmares that had plagued him for so long. Memories of what had happened to him in the building that she had left only a short while ago.
Marie sped back to the hotel she would be calling home for the next few days. Throughout her search, Marie had kept in touch with the Professor, keeping him informed of her progress. Knowing her determination, he had given her access to the school’s financial account in the form of a credit card with her name on it being delivered to a cheap motel she had been staying at less than a hundred miles from Laughlin City. The place where she had met Logan as he fought for money in a large metal cage. After Logan’s departure from the school, whenever she saw a cage match when watching WWF with Bobby and the other students her mind had inevitably drifted back to the man who had twice saved her life.
The man in the lobby smiled at her when she entered. Marie tried to smile back, but her effort was in vain. All that she could think about was Logan. Where he was? Was he in pain? What was Magneto doing to him? Why did Magneto want him for?
Pulling out her room keys, Marie trudged towards her room. She was completely exhausted, emotionally and physically. All that she wanted to do was lie down and sleep the rest of the day. Marie wasn’t foolish enough to think that she could find Logan on her own. Not now that she knew there was a possibility that Magneto had him. That meant she would have to ask the Professor for help. He knew Magneto better than anyone. The two men had been friends more than twice as long as she’d been alive.
That would come later, though. Marie was too exhausted to talk to anyone. All that she wanted to do was sleep. So, of course, that meant the Professor got in touch with her as soon as her head touched the pillow.
Have you discovered anything new, Rogue?
Ah found what Logan was searchin’ for. Ah found files an’ machines.... Ah also found Logan’s coat.
So Logan was there? I am surprised that he didn’t take the files with him when he left.
Ah don’t think he left willingly, Professor. His coat’s all tore up an’ it looks like Magneto was there. He mighta taken Logan with him.
Are you certain, Rogue?
Trust me, Professor, I couldn’t be more certain. Magneto was there an’ now he has Logan. We’ve gotta get him out of there, Professor. We’ve just gotta. We gotta save Logan. He’s a part of th’ team.
And we will find him, Rogue. But you need to come back to the mansion. I would like to over those files you’ve found.
Ah right, Professor, I’ll come back. Give me a day or so to get back.
I’ll see you then, Rogue.
As soon as the Professor’s voice faded from her mind, Rogue snuggled under the blanket and drifted off to a much needed sleep. Her last waking thoughts were of Logan and whether or not he was okay.
~*~*~*~*~
He hadn’t moved in what felt like months. In many ways, it was a blessing. It had been nearly four years since he had moved of his own accord. Any and all movements he made were controlled by Magneto. It was the downfall of having a metallic skeleton. Magneto was able to control every aspect of his movement whenever he wanted to. When he didn’t, Magneto placed him in a room filled with a magnetic field that prevented his movements just like the aging mutant did. So, in a sense, he became the ultimate living weapon.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t been trying. For four long years, he had been trying to get free. Every time Magneto would shut off the magnetic fields in his prison, he would make an escape attempt. He would only get a couple of feet, though, before Magneto exerted full control of his body, forcing him to move. When Magneto controlled him, every twitch of a muscle created a painful ache that coursed all through his body. It was agonizing and he would normally pass out within minutes of Magneto taking control of his body.
The only thing that had kept him sane those four years was her face. As he hung there in his magnetic prison, he pictured her face, letting her smile and her voice dull the ache that went deep into his adamantium enriched bones. She was the reason that he fought. The reason that he had yet to give up hope. She would find him.
And then he would never let her go again.