J immy woke in a red glow, bathed in a warm gooey heat. At first, he could not move, only float. He tried to reach out, but his fingers were stopped with a soft thump. Eyes opening a bit wider, he realized that he was in some sort of tank.

It was then that he noticed the wires attached to his body, tubes snaking down his nostrils. Incoherent voices were talking outside of the tank, rushing around to complete tasks only they understood. He tried to get their attention, but he suddenly felt too good to move.

A pair of hands from the outside reached into his goo to place sensors on his head. Jimmy tried to sit up, but the hands gently pushed him back down.

Jimmy could dimly make out the shape of Wade outside of the tank. Jimmy noticed that he can smell Wade through the goo. It took him a second to notice that the scent must have been added to the air coming from the apparatus pumping air in and out of his lungs, along with the tubing in his nostrils.

He started when one of Wade’s hands closed around his, the other lightly stroking the inside of his arm. Jimmy wanted to jerk his arm back, only to find that parts of him have been strapped down in the tank. He wondered why Wade was smiling at him. Hell, why was Wade trying to be nice to him?

“I promise you, James, everything is going to be much better in a moment.”

Jimmy’s head twisted around in desperation, trying to figure out where Stryker’s voice was coming from. It was only once he had bumped the headphones out of place that he put it together. Wade reached in to gently, damn near lovingly, put the headphones back over Jimmy’s ears.

“Now, this may hurt a little bit, but I want you to try and stay as relaxed as possible,” Stryker explained. “We’re going to make you stronger, both physically and mentally. Logan will be gone by the time we are done. But right now, the most important thing is for you to relax or else this procedure could go very wrong very quickly.”

Jimmy remembered learning something about some kind of electric brain therapy once. He wondered if that’s what they’re about to do to him. He wishes he could talk, ask questions. But some part of him recognized that he wouldn’t get any real answers anyway.

Jimmy’s mind started to wander for a moment. He felt gentle fingers pushing into his mind-

James? James, I need you listen to me. You must not react, or they may try to stop me.

Jimmy couldn’t tell if the voice was actually male or female, but there was something very familiar about this voice…Mother? he asked silently. Wait, what are you doing here?

Oh, James. I have come to protect you. It was as if his mother was lying beside him when he was a child, body racked with fever. He could almost feel her pushing back sweat slicked hair from his brow. Yet the woman his mind conjures up wasn’t exactly his mother. They’re going to try to erase your memories, and I fear they are going to be quite successful. But Mother has a plan to protect her little boy.

Jimmy felt the familiar tickle of panic rising in his chest. “James, I need you relax,” Stryker was admonishing him. “We’re going to be starting shortly, and I need you to be as calm as possible.”

Yes, relax, James. I am going to help you by taking your memories from you and locking them away in a safe place, his mother promises. And then, one day when it’s safe, I will return them to you.

“Now take some deep breaths for us, James. Just relax. We’re going to be starting the procedure in thirty seconds.”

Jimmy watched as Wade backed away from the tank. While he concentrated on his breathing, Jimmy felt his (not) mother reaching into his mind. He struggled not to panic as he watched his memories slipping out of his head-

Pain.

Horrible pain.

His body was on fire.

Cold burning was forcing its way into his bones.

The apparatus in his mouth was the only thing that kept him from biting through his own tongue. He struggles to keep breathing. His heart is trying to rip its way out of his chest-

This is Jimmy at fourteen years old. He and Victor are sitting around a fire. Victor is pulling burrs from his hair-

He watched as the memory slips into Mother’s grasp.

-he is cradling his brother’s head in his lap, waiting nervously for Victor’s chest to heal. Jimmy is torn between getting caught by the German soldiers, the American soldiers finding out what they are, and the ever present fear that maybe this time his brother won’t heal-

-Victor is grinning wickedly at no one in particular as he forces himself on some poor girl-

-naked in the snow, his face healing. Victor is forcing his way into his body. And, oh god, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts-

-Jimmy is on his knees, gladly sucking his brother off. Victor pulls his head up, kissing him before gently fucking him. Whispered words of love-

The pain was increasing. He wanted to scream at them to stop. His memories were whipping by so fast now, he couldn’t even recognize them. His body started to convulse.

Everything faded to black-

With a roar of pain, he broke through the bonds holding him down. A brief struggle with the wires, and he was free. He leapt out of the tank, glaring around trying to figure out just where in the hell he was.

“Doctor, we have a problem!” a woman was shouting. She opened a door and men in uniforms came running into the room.

He… wait, what was his name? Why couldn’t he remember his name?

This frustrated him. With a howl of rage, he lunged at the men. He had to get out of this place that reeks of chemicals, pain, and death.

The men struck out at him with clubs and needles. He fought them, punching and throwing bodies. But they seemed to just keep coming with their inflictions of pain.

“What…” he groaned, backing away. “What. Have you. Done to me?” His heart was beating so fast. The pain gripped his body in painful spasms again. “I… Hurt. What is going on?!”

One of the men came at him swinging a club toward his head. On instinct, he lifted one fist. Three shiny claws came snapping out, burying themselves in the man’s head.

He then decided that it was time to get the hell out of there. Growling, snarling like a rabid dog, he managed to break through the remaining men and dash out into the hallway. He could see a door, smell freedom just on the other side of it.

A body slammed into his. Disoriented by pain, he fell easily to the floor. The other body smelled familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“It’s all right, Jimmy,” a male voice husked in his ear. “I have you. You’re safe now.”

“Jimmy?” he murmured, rolling the name around his mind. There is no familiarity there. “Is that my name?”

The other man, tall, dark haired, manic eyes, was pinning him to the floor. He held his hands against the floor by the wrists. “That’s right, Jimmy, that’s your name. Do you remember me? Wade? Huh? No? That’s all right, the docs said you might not even remember your own name. But we can make a whole bunch of fun new memories together.”

He started when this Wade began rubbing his groin against his ass. Slow undulations, and there was no doubt in his mind that this man definitely wanted to fuck him.

“But don’t you worry,” Wade continued. “I’m going to take very good care of you. I’ll help you to feel better, I promise-“

“I think not.”

The weight of Wade was quickly hefted off his back. Wade made a squeaking sound that was cut short by his head connecting with the wall.

He rolled over to see an impossibly tall man standing over him, shirtless in leather pants. The man was offering him a hand. “James, are you all right?”

He gingerly reached out to take the man’s hand-

As soon as their hands touched, James felt oddly sleepy. “Romulus?” he mumbled, stumbling a bit as he tried to stand. “What happened?”

Romulus pulled James into his arms, slicking back his goo-laden hair. “Everything went according to plan, my love,” he explained to James. Though he would never admit it out loud, Romulus was shocked by how thorough Stryker’s mind wipe is. There were very few memories remaining in James’s head. It would take him some time to replace them all, but it would certainly be easier working with such a clean slate.

James still felt deeply confused, but found himself with the strangest urge to drop to his knees and start tongue fucking Romulus’s belly button. He didn’t exactly remember the large man standing in front of him, but his mind assured him that this man is in fact his lover. He could trust this man.

A young man of some kind of Asian origin came running towards them. “I can’t find Victor. He’s not in this facility.” His eyes flicked to James. “How is he?”

Romulus ran a soothing hand along James’s back. “They took more of his memory from him than I would have liked, but I can work with that. Is there any indication of where Victor is?”

“No.”

Gritting his teeth, Romulus pushed James gently towards the door. “We will deal with the Victor problem later. Right now your father is my main focus.”

James’s head snapped around to look at the young man. “You’re my son?” he asked, incredulous.

“There is no time for this right now, James.” Romulus grabbed onto his wrist and started dragging him towards the door. “Let’s get out of here while we still can.”

Romulus did not see Daken glaring at his back, nor did he catch the spark of jealousy as he watched his father being shuffled out the door that Romulus kicked open.

The cold, fresh air revived James and he managed to keep up with the other two as they run into the forest surrounding this mysterious facility. They run and run and run, James and Romulus in the lead with Daken following closely behind.

And he doesn’t know why, but James realized that all was close to finally being right in his world.