“There’s something in my brain?” Logan muttered, glaring from Jean to Hank and back again.
Logan didn’t need to wait for their answer because it was clearly obvious from the looks on their faces what they would tell him.
“It’s not exactly in your brain,” Hank tried to assure him. “It is a small device attached to the inside of your skull. Rather hard to notice unless you are actually looking for it. Which, unfortunately, Jean and I were not.”
“What exactly does this mean?” Marie asked in a quiet voice.
The silent looks being passed between the two doctors did not help to instill confidence in Logan. Jean and Hank were very straight forward so them not saying anything meant it was bad. Just how bad depended on how long they remained silent.
“It means that Magneto implanted a device in Logan’s head,” Jean said at last. “Pending a further examination I can not be more specific than that.”
“Then get this fuckin’ thing outta my brain!” Logan roared, the claws on his right hand springing free. He had wanted to let them both out, but Marie was clutching tightly to his left hand and he didn’t want to risk hurting her.
“That, Logan, is where the problem lies,” Xavier said, breaking his silence.
Logan growled and was seconds from pouncing when he felt Marie’s hand on his arm. Almost instantly, Logan began to calm down. At least enough so that he could resheath the nine inch adamantium blades into his forearms.
“You won’t be able to get through the adamantium around his skull,” Marie murmured, her eyes becoming suddenly wide. “That thing is gonna be stuck in his head.”
“Such is our predicament, my dear Rogue,” Hank said, fumbling with a pen in the breast pocket of his lab coat. “As of yet, Jean and I have been unable to determine a way to get past the adamantium that surrounds Logan’s cranium.”
“So this could be fuckin’ anything,” Logan mumbled, dragging a hand through his hair and grabbing at the hair at the nape of his neck. “I want it out. Now! I don’t care what you have to do, just get this damn thing out of my head!”
“Logan....” Marie moaned, the pain discernible in her voice.
Turning, Logan automatically pulled Marie into his arms, holding her tight as possible. He allowed her body to mold against his completely, tucking her head under his chin. Logan squeezed his eyes shut, inhaling her scent. Marie had a very calming effect on him and it was probably the only thing that could ease him at that moment.
“Now, Logan, I have discussed this with Hank and Jean, and we believe that it is best that I search your mind for any memories that Magneto might have attempted to hide from you,” Xavier said once he was sure that Logan was calmer. “I know how you feel about me probing your mind, but--”
“Do it,” Logan interrupted, pulling himself out of Marie’s arms.
Xavier nodded his head, steering his chair towards Logan. “Very well, Logan. Simply relax and I will do this as quickly as possible.”
Letting out a deep breath, Logan pressed a kiss to Marie’s forehead before kneeling down in front of Xavier. Logan was less than thrilled about the idea of Xavier messing around inside his head. While Logan realized it was a necessary thing, he certainly didn’t like the idea of Xavier stomping around inside his brain. It meant weeks of horrible nightmares as Xavier popped loose memories that Logan would have rather remained stuck in his subconscious.
Feeling Xavier’s fingertips on his temples, Logan squeezed his eyes shut. “Get this over with, Chuckles.”
At first, nothing happened. Logan felt the traditional little push as Xavier worked his way past Logan’s defenses. Then suddenly Logan felt as though his brain was about to explode. There was an intense pressure building up inside his temples where Xavier’s fingertips were pressing. At first, Logan was able to ignore it. To shove it aside and concentrate on what needed to be done. Then the pain turned into an ice pick being shoved into his brain. Gasping in pain, Logan began to slump forward. He placed his hands on the armrests of Xavier’s wheelchair to help steady himself, but knew that it was a losing battle.
When at last he could take it no more, Logan let out a pained cry and collapsed backwards.
“Logan?”
“Hank, what’s wrong with him?!”
“Logan, can you hear me? Logan?”
“What’s happenin’? Make him wake up! Logan!”
The fear and panic in Marie’s voice was something that Logan didn’t like to hear. He hated it, as a matter of fact. So instead of staying where it was safe and quiet, Logan forced himself to open his eyes. It took a great deal of effort, but Logan was able to force a thin stream of light into his eyes. However, having his eyes open only made the pain in his head much worse.
“Oh, thank Gawd!” Marie cried, tears shining brightly in her dark eyes as she gazed down at him. She was sitting near his head, running her fingers through his hair and along the side of his cheek. “You scared the hell outta me!”
Rolling onto his side, Logan placed his head on Marie’s lap, curling his body around her. Marie wrapped her arms around him immediately and felt infinitely calmer because of it. Still, his head felt as though it were about to crack open at his temples and Logan didn’t know how to deaden the pain.
“Can’t you give him somethin’ to stop the pain?” Logan heard Marie ask, voicing his thoughts when all he could do was moan and whimper pitifully.
There were some shuffling noises and some muffled voices before Logan felt a sharp sting on his arm. It took a few moments, but Logan soon felt the pain begin to lessen. The only problem with that was Logan could feel his grip on consciousness fading as well. Not wanting to fall asleep, Logan fought it as much as possible.
“Don’t fight it,” Marie murmured in his ear, brushing a kiss against his temple. “You need to sleep, sugah. This’ll help. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
Whether he liked the idea or not, Logan knew that he had no choice but to succumb to oblivion’s incessant call. What Logan really wanted was to stay awake and stay with Marie. Logan was consumed with the faintest sense of deja vu. He wasn’t completely sure, but Logan had a feeling that he his previous headache had been the result of an attempted contact with the Professor.
Before he had any time to completely work through that thought, Logan felt himself being sucked up by the consuming blackness.
“Now you really do not think that I am foolish enough to leave Charles a way to discover the purpose of those chips in your brain?” a cultured voice said out of the darkness.
Logan growled, swiveling his head towards the source of the voice. When he attempted to move towards it, Logan found himself unable to move. “What the fuck are you doing to me?” Logan roared, straining against the invisible hold.
“Really, my dear boy, I would have thought that to be blatantly obvious,” the voice said, sounding very amused with the situation.
“Let me go, you fucker!” Logan shouted, feeling muscles strain and tense much more than they were willing to.
There was complete silence then. An eerie quiet because Logan couldn’t even hear himself breathing. Then, all of a sudden, the area around him was flooded by a brilliant white light. It happened so quickly that Logan was unable to shut his eyes in time to prevent it flooding into his eyes.
“Scott, you can’t be serious! Logan’s right there!” Marie giggled from somewhere off in the distance.
Scott chuckled deeply, sounding much too close to Marie for Logan’s liking. “You heard Hank, Logan will be out for at least another six hours. He won’t even know what happened.”
“But, Scott....” Marie moaned, her voice high and breathy.
Logan knew that sound very well. They were the same high pitched sighs that Logan brought about in her when they were fooling around.
“Did you hear that?” Marie murmured, a slight panic in her voice.
“Don’t worry, it was just your imagination,” Scott was quick to assure her. “Now get over here you naughty tease!”
With a loud roar, Logan vaulted from the bed towards the sound of Scott’s voice. He automatically unsheathed his claws, intending to shove them as deep into Scott’s gut as he could manage.
“LOGAN!” Marie screamed in a panic.
Before he could reach Scott, Logan found himself stopping in mid-air. That only angered Logan all the more. He fought against the invisible grip, furious that he couldn’t get to Scott and disembowel him for daring to put a hand on his wife.
The air shifted around him and Logan knew that he was moving. He didn’t know where he was moving but was quite sure that it was in the wrong direction.
“Let me the fuck go!” Logan shouted, going into an all out frenzy when he felt himself being lowered back onto the bed. The thick manacles locking around his wrists and ankles were the last straw. “NNNNNNOOOOOOO!!”
There was a bright flash of light and Logan felt his entire body jerk. His eyes flew open and he found himself staring at the ceiling of the “Logan’s been an idiot and needs to be put back together again” room. His wrists were locked to the bed and Marie was curled up in a chair beside him, sound asleep.
“Marie.... Darlin’....” Logan called softly, longing to reach out and take her in his arms. “Marie, please....”
Marie let out a sleepy moan, her eyes fluttering open. When she saw Logan, a huge smile appearing on her face. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?” Marie inquired, rising from the chair and sitting down next to him on the bed.
“Why am I tied to the bed?” Logan mumbled as she ran a hand down his cheek.
“You were going insane,” Marie said sadly. “Screamin’ and thrashin’ about. Jeanie had to use her powers to get you to stay still long enough to get the cuffs on you.”
As she spoke, Marie rose from the bed and headed towards the button that would release the cuffs. The instant that his wrists and ankles were free, Logan rolled onto his side and reached an arm towards Marie. She came back immediately and Logan pulled her into his arms. Marie snuggled herself comfortably into his arms, tucking her head under his chin.
“Has Scooter been in here at all?” Logan mumbled, feeling his eyes slide shut despite the fact that he had been awake for only a few minutes.
Marie shook her head, running a hand up and down his back. “Not since he helped Hank carrying you in here after you passed out. “He’s gone out to London to retrieve a doctor friend of the Professor to see what can be done about those things in your head.”
Logan let out a relieved sigh. “Thank god.”
“Don’t worry, Logan, we’ll fix whatever Magneto did to you,” Marie told him, pulling back so that she could see his face.
Logan leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. “I hope to hell you’re right, Marie.... I feel like I’m losing my mind.”