She had fallen asleep. And now, because she had let her guard down for five minutes, Logan was in danger again. Marie hadn’t even meant to fall asleep. She had just wanted to lie down next to Logan for a little while. Just be able to relax and hold him for a few minutes. What she hadn’t expected was to open her eyes and find Logan gone.
“Logan...?” Marie called out, hoping that he would answer her. “This isn’t funny, sugah. Get out here now. Yer scarin’ me.”
Marie’s panic rose when Logan didn’t answer her.
“Oh Gawd. This isn’t happenin’. It’s not happenin’,” Marie mumbled to herself as she hurriedly slid off the bed and rushed towards the bathroom. Marie didn’t care if he was naked just as long as he was in there.
Still no Logan.
Marie could feel herself beginning to hyperventilate as the possibility of Logan being taken again became all too real. Still, she did her best to push her panic aside and rushed out of the hospital room in search of the nurse at the nurse’s station. If anyone had seen Logan in the hallway it would have been one of them. To Marie’s ultimate relief it was the same nurse who had given her directions to the cafeteria.
“Well what on earth has got you so worked up?” the older woman asked, looking up from the files in front of her.
“Have ya seen Hugh? ‘Cause he’s not in his room any more an’ Ah’m a little worried,” Marie said, glancing around constantly in case Logan appeared in the hallway.
The smile that appeared on the older woman’s face scared Marie. “You won’t have to worry about your lover anymore. Logan is in good hands.”
Marie felt all the blood drain from her face.
Logan.
The nurse had called him Logan. Not Hugh. Logan.
“That’s right, Rogue. We know all about you,” the nurse sneered, folding her arms and leaning closer to the frightened girl. “All about your friend Logan. Or, should I say, Wolverine. Vicious monster. Just wait till you see what we have planned for him.”
“Where is he?” Marie demanded, gathering up what remained of her courage.
“You mean right this instant?” she inquired, smirking down at Marie. “Well, right this instant he is most likely chained up in the back of a pick-up truck. I’ll bet that he’s real cold, too. Wearing nothing but that thin hospital gown. Poor guy.”
A quick image of Logan’s bound form flashed before her eyes. The thought of him suffering in any way made Marie’s heart ache. Marie wasn’t about to show any weakness, though. Not in front of this woman.
“Where’s Logan?” Marie demanded more darkly.
The nurse began chuckling quietly to herself. “I love how you think I’m going to tell you where Logan’s being taken. It’s so cute.”
At that moment, something inside of Marie snapped.
In the blink of an eye, Marie’s hands shot out, cupping the older woman’s cheeks. The instant that the palm of her hands touched the other woman’s cheeks, she could feel the absorption begin. As the nurse’s energy began to leak into her, so did her memories.
“Mutie freak! Mutie freak! Misty’s a mutie freak!”
The other woman was a mutant?
Yellow eyes gazed back at her in the mirror. Her hair was a brilliant red, complimenting her pale skin wonderfully. In a matter of seconds, though, the pale skin turned blue.
Marie’s eyes widened at the image she had received from the other woman.
“I can help you get back at those people who hurt you.”
“How?”
“Join me and my cause. The Brotherhood of Mutants. Through us, mutants will come to be the dominant species on the planet as we very well should be.”
There was no hesitation before she responded. “I’ll join you.”
“And we’re glad to have you. In fact, I already have a mission for you. A retrieval.”
Through the Blue Bitch-- Mystique --Marie was able to determine where Logan was being taken. She saw it all through Mystique’s eyes. Marie saw the path that Mystique had taken to the Brotherhood’s hideout. Seen her talking with the big man who had taken Logan. Even seen the injection that she had slipped Marie to make her sleep while they took Logan.
Releasing Mystique, Marie stumbled backwards, nearly crashing into the opposite wall. Glancing down at her hands, Marie watched in awe as her hands began to flicker back and forth between their normal colour and the blue tinge Marie had seen Mystique’s skin take on. Looking back at the other woman, Marie noticed that Mystique had taken on her natural shape.
“You bitch!” Mystique hissed, taking off down the corridor.
Willing her skin to maintain its normal form, Marie took several breaths to calm herself and process the memories she had just received from the other woman. She needed to figure out exactly how to get to the Brotherhood’s compound. It was where Logan was being taken which meant Marie had to get there as soon as possible. Before something awful happened to Logan.
Once she was sure she knew where she was going, Marie brought up Logan’s thoughts. More importantly, his knowledge of lock picking and hot wiring. If she was going to have any chance of rescuing Logan, she was going to have to get there fast. Before Mystique warned them of what had happened.
Of course, the only thing that really mattered was that she get there before they did something to Logan. Logan was all that mattered to Marie.
Sneaking through the vast corridors of the hospital, Marie quickly and quietly made her way towards the parking lot. As had been the case her entire life, no one gave her a second glance. She didn’t even exist as far as the population of the hospital was concerned. Well she did exist, just not as someone that needed to be paid attention to.
In the parking lot, Marie headed right to the centre of the lot just as Logan’s knowledge instructed her to. She found a relatively old car and glanced around to make sure that no one was around.
“All right, Logan, time fer ya t’ take over,” Marie mumbled as she reached for the Swiss Army knife that Thomas had given Logan and that she had taken from his pants when they were in Jack’s truck.
Watching with almost a detached eye, Marie used some attachment on the knife that she had never seen before. A couple twists and turns in the lock and some odd tugs and the lock popped open.
“Wow, yer good, sugah. Ah’ll hafta thank ya when this is all over,” Marie said to herself as she slipped into the car. “Now let’s see how ya do with the motor.”
True to form, all that it took was a few manipulated and Marie’s inner-Logan had the car running as though she had actually used a key. Marie had no clue who he’d done it. It had just happened while she watched. To Marie, it was almost as though she hadn’t been the one starting the car. She had simply watched as he body acted independent of her mind. Frightening as it was, Marie didn’t care so long as it got the car moving and her on the way to Logan.
“All right, inner-Mystique, it’s time fer ya t’ take me t’ Logan.”
Bitch!
“Yeah, yeah. Fuck ya, too. Now get me t’ wherever the hell yer big blonde buddy’s takin’ Logan,” Marie snarled as she pulled the car out of his parking spot and headed towards the exit.
Marie got a quick flash of a road in the back country. One much like the one she had travelled on with Jack on their way to the hospital.
“Back roads we go. Nice doin’ business with ya, inner-Mystique,” Marie taunted as he gunned the excellarator. “Ah’m on mah way, Logan. Just hold tight a little longer.”
“Marie, please!”
As Logan’s pained screams echoed in her mind, Marie nearly drove off the road. Whimpering slightly, Marie straightened the car out and continued on. She kept all of her attention on the road, trying to block out the sensations that she was getting from Logan.
Pain and fear.
So much of it that it was threatening to drown her.
“Gawd! Please hold on, Logan. Ah swear Ah’m comin’ as fast as Ah can. Yeah just gotta stay strong fer me,” Marie sobbed as she pushed the car as fast as it would go.
The pain soon spread to every fibre of her body. She could feel it tingly all over her, even making her fingers ache as she gripped the steering wheel.
“Marie, I need you.... AAAAAHHHHHHH!! MARIE!!”
“Logan....” Marie whimpered, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Oh God! Help me! Please, help me! Make it stop! Make them-- AAAHHH!!”
Hardening herself against both Logan’s screams and Mystique’s laughter, Marie continued along the roads that Mystique was taking her. Towards Logan.