Logan had been growling pretty much non-stop since Dwyer had shoved the needle into Marie’s throat. Over the past few weeks, he had become used to Marie being there and was rather annoyed to find her gone. Logan also wasn’t very fond of the fact that he didn’t know what was being done to her. He knew that it was bad or else they wouldn’t have knocked her out.
Of course there was nothing that Logan could do with his forearms laid open and lacking any bone structure. As soon as they stitched him back together it was a completely different story. The fools had unstrapped his wrists in order to perform the operation which gave Logan incredible freedom of movement. Certainly much more than he was used to. It could very well be just what he needed to get free.
The metal claws they’d stuck in him wouldn’t hurt either.
Logan was pretty confident that he could slice through a few key straps before they were able to restrain him again. In fact, if Logan’s calculations were correct, the only straps that would remain were the ones on his elbows and ankles. That was enough for him to be able to free himself.
Logan’s thoughts were cut off abruptly as tendons in the upper part of his right forearm were fused to the metal that had been placed in his arm. A white hot agony shot up his arm bringing forth a pained scream from Logan’s lips. He cut his scream off abruptly by biting savagely into his bottom lip. Logan had long since bit through the gag and they had removed it rather than have Logan choke on it. The coppery taste of his own blood only made the animal inside of Logan growl louder.
“You know, I had thought that you would be screaming more,” Montgomery said, his voice drifting past the haze of pain that surrounded Logan’s mind. “Why else do you think I haven’t had Jacobs go get you another gag? I want to hear you scream, Wolverine.... I’ll bet the Rogue is a screamer. At least that’s what Dr. Dwyer informs me.”
“Fucking bastard,” Logan snarled, hoping his voice didn’t sound as pitiful to Montgomery as it did in his own ears.
It must have because Montgomery burst out laughing. “And they say that people proper education are incapable of intelligent conversation. Really, Wolverine, that is the most hurtful insult I have ever received.”
Logan’s angry growl turned into a howl as more pieces of his flesh were fused to metal.
Slowly, Logan’s mind became hazy. The extreme amount of pain over such a prolonged period of time was becoming more than his body could handle and he was slowly fading into unconsciousness. It wasn’t happening fast enough for Logan’s liking, but at least it was happening.
Logan was just about to fade off into oblivion when a sudden thought brought him screaming back into reality. If he passed out, there was no telling how long he’d remain in that state. It was entirely possible that he would remain unconscious till after they were done and had replaced the straps on his wrists. There was no way that Logan was going to blow a chance like that.
As the operation continued into what would become another endless hour, Logan could feel someone pushing one of the blades on his right hand forward at an infinitely slow pace. At first there wasn’t anything significant about the pain, it was almost minor compared to everything else. That changed almost immediately when Logan suddenly felt the sensation of his hands being ripped apart from the inside. The razor sharp blades began to slice their way through the muscles of his hands. When it emerged from the skin between his first and second knuckles, Logan couldn’t contain the garbled scream from escaping past his lips.
The second blade was pushed forward at a faster speed which decreased the pain somewhat as it passed between his second and third knuckles.
The third one moved at the fasted speed, making a SKIT sound as it passed through his hand and out between his third and fourth knuckles.
“Excellent!” Montgomery crowed. “Now pull the blades back and in repeat it on his left hand.”
By the time they were done with the other set of claws, Logan’s hands were throbbing painfully. The simple act of twitching his pinky caused Logan immense amounts of pain. They began to stitch his arms back up, pulling together layers of muscle and skin, and Logan could feel his arms healing around the implements in his forearms.
“I don’t believe it,” Montgomery murmured. “It is finished. His skeleton is entirely grafted with adamantium. The Wolverine will now be the ultimate living weapon....”
Logan wanted to tell the doctor that he would never be any sort of a weapon to him, but could gather up the energy to do so. He was struggling to simply the conversations going on around him.
To all intents and purposes, Logan was unconscious. His eyes were shut, he made no movements and his breathing was incredibly shallow. To the doctors that made him unconscious. Had he been truly awake, Logan would have been very vocal about what he thought of them.
Logan waited on baited breath as they cleaned up around him, wondering whether they would strap his wrists back to the table. As long as his wrists were free, there was a very good chance that he could escape. Especially if they left him alone like they normally did after an operation. They could head out for their lunch and leave him unsupervised to heal for their afternoon operations.
When he heard them all leave and could no longer sense anyone in the room, Logan almost screamed. His wrists were still free. Montgomery and his cronies had left him alone with his wrists free.
Logan’s eyes snapped open and he scanned the room a final time to ensure that he really was alone. He was, so Logan immediately began his escape.
Squeezing his hands into fists and willed the claws to extend. As Montgomery had said, the claws came out on their own, slicing through the tender skin of his knuckles. Logan moaned at the incredible pain it created, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily. Once the blades were out and the pain had passed, Logan set to work freeing himself from the nylon bands that kept him strapped to the table.
Unused to the massive blades that extended from his knuckles, Logan cut himself repeatedly as he struggled to slice through the band that held his waist immobile. It took about half a dozen tries in all, but eventually Logan felt the nylon strap fall away from his waist. He next attacked the straps of nylon on his upper thighs, followed by the one across his chest and across his forehead. The wounds created were minor compared to the fact that now, with the exception of his elbows and ankles, he was free.
Focusing on his elbows first, Logan strained his entire upper body in an attempt to break the nylon bands that held them locked to the table. He twisted and pulled, rolling his upper body to the side in order to break the metal link that kept the restraints attached to the table. Logan could feel the blood sliding down his arms and onto the table as he cut his elbows on the nylon bands.
It was the left one that broke first. Rolling immediately onto his right side, Logan sliced through the right strap with claws. It wasn’t until he saw up to free his ankles that Logan experienced his first real problem.
It had been a very long time since Logan had sat up under his own power, or at all, and was instantly lightheaded. Logan struggled to keep himself in a seated position long enough to cut through the bands on his ankles.
Logan was free.
More or less.
No longer restrained, Logan rolled himself off the table, catching himself with his hands before hitting the ground. Muscles that had only been used for straining and pulling, were forced to heal rapidly and Logan pushed himself to his feet and began to staggered towards the door.
He felt incredibly ungainly and awkward in his new metal skeleton. His body weight was heavier, destroying almost all of his previous grace and stealth. Logan plodded along, stumbling as he made his way to the door.
“Goddmaned bastards,” Logan grumbled as he sluggishly moved along, getting himself used to his new body weight. “I’m gonna kill each and every one of them.”
Logan remained in the room until he was sure that he could move about without falling or listing to one side. Ever the efficient hunter, Logan adapted quickly to his new handicap until it was almost as though he had always possessed the adamantium laced skeleton. The rush of adrenaline rushing through his blood did away with his exhaustion.
Creeping towards the door, ears actively searching out the sounds of anyone. Since he could sense no one with either his ears or his nose, Logan decided to forego stealth in order to get the door open. Pulling in all his claws safe one on his right hand, Logan sliced through the lock on the door.
Logan held his hand up in front of his face as he watched the blade slide back into his knuckles and the skin heal over instantly. “A guy could get used to these.”
Pushing open the door slowly, Logan peered out into the hallway before slipping out into the sterilized corridor. Sensing someone around the corner fifty feet to his left, Logan went right, loping down the corridor on bare feet making no sound. At least not any that normal people could hear. Logan’s senses were on overdrive, searching out signs of any doctors wandering about. He kept his claws out and at the ready, prepared for any attack.
They weren’t going to catch him unawares again. He would rather die than become the guinea pig of the government sickos who masqueraded as doctors. Logan had always assumed that doctors were supposed to help people and not cut them open to mess with their bodies. Altering them at will.
Logan was cautiously passing the door to another laboratory when he was assaulted by a familiar scent.
Marie.
Up until that moment, he had forgotten about her. Logan had been concerned about nothing but his own survival and had completely forgotten about the girl with the wide brown eyes who cried for him. He didn’t hesitate for a moment before bursting into the room, claws extended. When he left, he was taking Marie with him.