Disclaimer: The X-men characters mentioned in the story below belong to the highly talented group of Marvel. Any other characters mentioned belong to me.
Rating: Language is occasionally strong and scenes of violence.
Note: Italic text in
open and close speech marks (eg. ‘What!’ )
is mental thought/speech.
Comments are welcomed by readers
Rescue
Jan stumbled through her front door and kicked it close with her foot. Opening her jacket, she looked down at her belly. The three gashes had been deep, showing damaged skin, fat and muscle. Blood oozed from the wounds and Jan groaned in anger as well as pain.
“Son of a bitch. Who would’ve thought I’d meet him again. After all these years…Weapon X.”
A knock on the door interrupted her.
‘Who the hell…?’ Jan closed back her jacket before opening the door to a stranger she had never seen before.
“Jan Benson?” The woman asked.
“Yes.” Jan answered curiously.
“I was told to give this to you.”
* * *
“Whoa Logan! Wha’ happened to you?”
“Nothin’ Cajun.” Logan rubbed his face and then looked at his hand. As usual his mutant healing factor had healed up his surface wounds. The internal bruises that she had given him however were more serious and needed a longer to heal…by only a few minutes though. However the sight of his white vest told otherwise, being dirty, rugged and spattered with blood marks.
“Don’ look like not’ing.” The Cajun man said.
“Mind yer own Gumbo!”
“Okay! Okay!” He put up his hands defensively and backed off.
‘Logan will you please come to my office.’ Professor Xavier mentally called to him.
Once he was in the professor’s office, Xavier spent no time beating around the bush. Especially since Logan appearance told the story.
“I know you went after her Logan. But I want to know why and what exactly happened.”
It didn’t take long for Wolverine to answer the professor’s questions, despite an inner voice telling him not to.
“Well despite what’s happened, Miss Benson will soon find out that what she’s just been through has been for nothing.”
“What ya mean?”
“I’ve been doing checking of my own. She was telling the truth when she said that her ward had been kidnapped. But she was wrong in suspecting that the kidnappers were our usual mutant hate groups.”
“Who nabbed the kid then?”
“I do not know. But I will be assigning a number of you help find the child. You included.”
“What?!”
“Do you think you will not be able to handle it?”
“No I’ll be fine.” He answered a little slower than he intended.
Logan had never turned down a mission because ‘he couldn’t handle it’. He was the tough unbreakable, unshakeable, warrior Wolverine. Now was not the time for him to start changing his persona.
* * *
Jan slowly closed the door, still recovering from the shocking news she just received. She removed the disk containing the useless information that she had just gotten into a fight for.
“Shit!” She flung the disk across the corridor and watched as the disk case smashed on contact with the wall.
Jan then looked at the large brown envelope that the girl had given her while entering the sitting room. She was about to open it when a spasm of pain reminded her that she was still wounded. Stumbling, she dropped the envelope on her sitting room couch and had to grip the couch back for support. She swore silently to herself, angry that she had allowed herself to get caught on Weapon X’s claws.
Jan began to pull off her clothes as she made her way towards the upstairs bathroom. She forced herself to think about her next move, but that in itself was a challenge. She couldn’t shift her mind from the queries that were rising in her mind. The mysterious visitor had spoken her piece at record speed, thrust the envelope in her hand and ran off before Jan could ask her a single question. During her shower Jan watched as her wounds began to heal up on their own without leaving any scars and sighed when the pain subsided. When she had finished she hastily dried herself with a towel, quickly wrapped a dressing gown around her body and rushed down the stairs to open the envelope. She’d hardly opened half of the flap when the doorbell sounded.
“Dammit! What is it now?!” With the envelope still in hand Jan went over in a stomp to answer the door.
“Yes! What the hell do you want?!” She said before clearly seeing who it was.
“We’re here to see you.” Logan spoke with a low growl in his voice.
Jan’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“You! You just can’t leave me alone!” Jan raised her free hand and was about to release an energy blast when all of a sudden she found herself floating in the air by will of someone’s mind. “What the…!”
“We didn’t come here to fight you girl.” Logan said as he walked into her house.
“We?” Jan asked.
In response, several more people entered her house. A man with brown hair and ruby red glasses, a woman with red hair and also the one responsible for holding Jan suspended in the air. An oriental woman with dark blue, purple hair and the same young man that shown her to the Professor’s office.
“Did Xavier send you?”
“As a matter of fact he did.” Answered the browned haired man wearing the glasses.
“Why?”
“To help.” Logan replied.
Jan remained silent for a moment. Were they speaking the truth? There was no way she was going to trust these people!
“If I let you down,” The red haired woman spoke, “Will you agree not to attack us?”
“One against five?!” Jan barked.
All five intruders looked at Jan and she stared back at them.
“You’re all mutants aren’t you?” Jan looked at them all. “I’ll take your silence as a yes.” Jan then faced the red haired woman. “Fine. Just let me down.” Once on her feet Jan adjusted her dressing gown and asked, “What ‘help’ are you offering?”
“Help to find your child.” Answered the man with the glasses. “Do you know why or where she is being kept?”
“I was just about to find out before you people came.” Jan held up the envelope for him to see. She turned her back and walked into the study while opening the rest of the envelope at the same time. The others followed.
“She was more polite when she came to the mansion.” Bobby whispered to the blue haired woman.
“First impression Bobby.” She told him.
Jan emptied out the envelope contents on the desk. They included three A4 sized black and white photographs and a medium sized disk. Jan slowly looked at the pictures one by one. She allowed a blank expression to cover her face and she put up a mental barrier. The pictures were of Jeda: She was strapped down on a cold hard looking flat operating slab half dressed with sensors, and wires attached to her. A drip tube ran into her wrist vein, and she had several big busies. Some sort of large metallic device was around her neck. Her eyes were closed, so Jan was unable to tell if she was alive, and no date was marked on the back either.
“What are the pictures of?” Asked the man with the glasses.
“Look for yourselves.” Jan said as she handed him the photos.
“Of your child?” He asked again.
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?” He passed around the photos to the rest of his team.
“Jeda. She’s nine years old.”
“It looks like she wearing a mutant power inhibitor collar.” Said the red haired woman.
Jan picked up the disk then walked over to her computer and turned it on, not wanting to think that no matter how hard Jeda tried to, her mental pleas for help would not even be heard. After she placed the disk inside the computer it automatically began to play.
A voice recorded on the disk spoke from the computer speakers.
“Jan Benson. Your ward, Jeda, is alive. The Ishida Group is holding her, and as you can see, she is not in the best of conditions. They have her in a well-guarded laboratory within a ten story building. The coordinates can be seen on screen.”
‘No…’ Jan moaned to herself. ‘Looks like your mother’s noose has come upon your head girl.’
“Detailed plans of the buildings internal, external and underground structure is also contained in this disk.” The voice continued. “The sharer of this information wishes to remain anonymous due to security reasons. But you wished much success on your rescue attempt.”
No more speech came from the disk. The file on the building structure automatically opened and was displayed on screen.
“I’m going to her.” Jan said clearly.
“Just like that?” Said the man with the glasses. “How do you know this information is genuine?”
“I know it is.”
“How?”
Jan looked at him silently.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us everything you know.” His tone of voice left no room for any type of compromise.
“The…Ishida Group, I’ve heard, are Japan only based. They’re involved in Black market weapon trade, smuggling, drugs, modernised slave trading, illegal escorts...”
“Illegal escorts?” Asked Bobby.
“Do I have to paint you a flipping picture? Prostitution, and they don’t care for about the ages their clients demand either. Perverted scum.” Jan looked away and added. “Think of the worst thing imaginable and they do it. Something should be done about those bastards.”
“But how do they know about Jeda? And why have they troubled themselves to capture her?” Asked the man with the glasses.
“I’ll be honest with you. I have no idea of their real motives,” In a sigh Jan leant her back against the bookshelf and folded her arms across her chest while shaking her head in disbelief at what she was revealing. “But her mother was once apart of them…before she and I met.”
“That explains little bit.” Said the blue haired lady. “Where is the child’s mother now?”
“Accidental death.”
“But you don’t believe that.” The red haired woman stated.
“You read minds too?” Jan looked at her.
‘Yes I do.’ She mentally answered Jan.
“You’re right. I don’t believe it was an accident. Rumi feared for her life so I told her to come to America with me. But now I know her fears were justifiably founded.”
“Have you left out anything we should know?” Asked the man with the glasses.
“No I haven’t. So…Still want to help me?”
“No.” Logan spoke. “We’re gonna help the kid.”
“You don’t trust me do you Weapon X?” It was more of a statement than a question.
Brows rose at the name Jan used to address Logan, as the other x-men realized that their friend had a history with Jan.
“Good.” Jan continued. “I don’t trust any of you either.”
* * *
Jan stared outside the window of the large aircraft called the Blackbird in a means to steady her temper. She had been forced to agree to the helping terms of her new allies. By now she also knew their names. Cyclops, Jean, Psylocke, Iceman and Wolverine. Everyone except for Jean did not divulge their real names to Jan even though they knew hers, but she already heard Xavier call Iceman Bobby. She instantly assumed them to be codenames to hide their real identities, but she couldn’t care less. Jeda was her only concern at the moment. It wouldn’t be until she was safe and sound at home that Jan would contemplate on how to repay them back and be done with dealing with them. ‘How much longer ‘till we get there?’ Jan asked herself.
“Don’t worry, it won’t take much longer.”
Jan turned to face to the inside of the craft and saw Psylocke looking at her.
‘You a telekinetic too?’
‘Not quite. On the other hand I never knew you had psychic abilities either.’
‘Only a little.’
“What is your mutant power then?”
“Who says I’m a mutant?”
“You can’t expect us to believe you’re not.”
“Well, you’ll find out tonight, won’t c’ya?”
Psylocke could see that Jan wanted to keep herself to herself, and so decided not to press her any further. But Iceman didn’t.
“Jan,” Bobby bent forward in his seat. “What’s the story between you and Wolverine?”
“Sub-zero,” She turned her head to face behind her. “If you really want to know, ask him yourself.”
“You’re not going to tell me are you?”
“Not a damn thing.”
“Is this an act or are you always like this?”
“Always. So please, leave me the fuck alone.”
Bobby sat back in his seat and refrained from talking to the young woman with the ‘chip on her shoulder’ (as it were) for the rest of the trip.
* * *
Since direct approach from the air and ground level would be too revealing, the best form of entry into the building was from the underground levels, and the only other entrance from there was from the sewers. Cyclops took the point with Wolverine bringing up the rear. Jan was practically walking in the middle.
She was right. They didn’t trust her. Jan couldn’t blame them though. If she were in their position she would trust her either.
After five minutes of brisk walking they came to a ladder that led up to the first of two underground levels of the building. Everyone was glad to get away from the sewer smell, especially Wolverine.
“Jean, how many are in the building?” Asked Cyclops. “We only have to avoid fourteen security guards. But for some reason there are some areas, some rooms of the building that I cannot penetrate.” She said once she had performed a mind scan.
“Alright people, you know what to do. So let’s get to it.” Cyclops told everyone.
Cyclops and Iceman headed towards to the south of the building. Jean and Psylocke began to make their way to the north side, while Wolverine and Jan headed towards the east end of the building.
The plan was for the three teams to perform a systematic search of area that they were assigned to and then work their way to next level above and search that area as well. The first group to find child would notify the others and then all would meet at the sewer entrance at the second basement level where they would all leave together.
Once Cyclops and Iceman had searched the south vicinity of the second basement level they took the south stair well to the first basement level. Meanwhile Jean and Psylocke had also finished checking their area and were making their way up to the next floor. At a faster pace, Wolverine and Jan were already searching the ground floor.
All rooms of the basement level were simple storerooms, and there wasn’t much on the ground except for offices and the main building entrance. As soon as Jean reached the first floor with Psylocke she froze.
‘What is it?’ Psylocke asked.
‘The security office is on this floor. If we find it…’ ‘I read you. Let’s get there.’
As their training in stealth had allowed, both women approached the office as noiselessly as possible. The security room was on the corner of a corridor with one-sided reflective glass. Jean and Psylocke crouched down and made their way to the door. It was locked by entry code.
‘Shoot!’ Jean said. ‘Now would have been a good time for Gambit.’ She reached out her hand to try the lock.
‘No! Wait!’ Psylocke stopped her. ‘Someone’s coming out. Move.’
Jean and Psylocke backed off round the corner and drove into and empty office.
They waited until the footsteps pass them and headed down the main stairs. Instantly they headed back to the office just in time to see the door about to close on its lock. Jean immediately held the door in its place with her mind and both women silently entered the office.
There, completely oblivious to their present sat four men gossiping and laughing among themselves.
Psylocke and Jean looked at each other, nodded and rose from their hiding places. All four men turned around.
The guards made simultaneous expressions of surprise and hesitated before trying to apprehend the female intruders.
With her mind Jean raised two of the men in the air and heavily collided their heads together, knocking them out. While Psylocke threw two psy-knives at the remaining two, painfully putting them to sleep.
‘Scott.’ Jean mentally called to her husband. ‘We’ve secured the security office.’
‘That’s good Jean.’ Cyclops replied from the second floor south side. ‘Now see if you can locate the girl.’
“I’m doing it.” Psylocke having acknowledged the message was already selecting the security cameras and observing the hallways and rooms one by one on the monitors. She shook her head after five minutes of rotating through security cameras.
“I’ve doubled checked all available cameras but I can’t see her…Wait!” Psylocke selected a camera watching a corridor that led to a double door-room. At maximum magnification a sign on the door labelled it as a lab. “There. That is the nearest camera to that room.”
“Where is it?” Asked Jean.
“It’s on the eight floor, west side.”
‘Scott, it’s possible that Jeda might be held in a lab on the west side of the eight floor.’ Jean told him.
‘Alright, Bobby and I will meet you two there.’
“Let’s go.” Psylocke left the security office followed by Jean. Cyclops and Iceman headed for the south end stairs. Cyclops pressed communicator on his chest belt and spoke.
“Wolverine?”
Wolverine halted and looked down at his wrist communicator as he heard Cyclops voice. He glanced at Jan and saw that she had no intention of stopping. “Wait up girl.”
Jan stopped and turned around with an annoyed glare in her eyes. “Go ahead Cyke.” He held down the communicator button as he spoke, all the while keeping his eyes on Jan.
“There’s a lab on the eight floor west wing the girl might be in. Meet you there.”
“Right.” He released the button.
Jan not needed to be told quickly darted for the nearest staircase with Wolverine closely behind. Because they were the highest in the building Wolverine and Jan they reached the lab doors very quickly. Jan tried the doors but they were locked securely by coded locks on each side of the door.
“Must need simultaneous dialling of codes to gain entry.” Jan ran her hand over the surface of the door and then banged on it. “Sounds very solid, dammit! It’s going to take a bit to get thro...” Jan raised her hand to blast the door but jumped back when she saw flash from reflective metal in the corner of her eye. She watched in amazement as Wolverine began to claw at the door with a savage fury.
‘I still can’t figure out where he got those from!’
In less than a minute he had completely destroyed the door. Wolverine and Jan walked into the room. It apparently was a large and very well equipped medical lab.
Jan heard Wolverine growl angrily and sensed his uneasiness no matter how well he tried to hide it. He apparently hated labs.
If not for the weightiness of her presence there, Jan would have stopped to admire the lab’s compliment. But she hastily looked around the room, and then there in the corner she saw a figure that was unmistakably she. Jeda. Wolverine and Jan rushed over to the bed.
There lay the pail, frail figure of the girl. She looked to still, so silent that Jan feared she was dead. But the monitors that displayed her life signs abolished such dread.
“Jeda…Jeda.” Jan gently shook the child. “Come on girl, open your eyes.” Wolverine silently observed Jan talking to the child. Her voice was very soft and she spoke with much compassion. He could see that she sincerely cared for her charge and that she didn’t care about her audience either. In fact, Wolverine seemed to vanish to her.
‘This can’t be the same person.’ Wolverine was left to wondering. The girl silently stirred and her breaths depended. A low rumbled like sound arose from her throat as if she was trying to speak.
“J…Aunt Jan…Is…?”
“Yes it’s me.” Jan quickly answered, sparing Jeda the pain of using her voice.
“What trouble ya got yourself into this time yer little punk?” Wolverine looked at Jan strangely when he heard the words that she used to call Jeda.
“Wasn’t…my…fault…tried…” Jeda slowly began in her defence.
“It’s okay, it’s alright. I’m here to take you home. Don’t try to speak.”
Jan began to untie the leather straps that kept Jeda fixed to the table and Wolverine removed the sensors and drip tube attached to her. Jan gently turned Jeda’s head, studying the collar.
“This. How do you get this thing off?” Jan began to fiddle with the device and suddenly a spark lit up. Jan quickly removed her hand and a little trail of smoke rose from the collar. “What was that?”
Jan reached out her hand to try the collar lock again, but Wolverine at reflex speed grabbed her hand preventing her.
“It’s rigged.” He refused to let go her hand. “You can blow it if you take it off.”
Jan looked from Wolverine to Jeda with a confused and worried face.
“If we take her back to the mansion there’ll be somebody who’ll be able to get it off safely.”
Jan nodded her head in agreement. There was absolutely no way that she was going to take a chance with Jeda’s life. She gently picked up Jeda in her arms. Wolverine used his communicator to speak to Cyclops.
“Cyke?”
“Here.” His voice came through clearly despite the steady beep that could be heard.
“We’ve got the kid.” Wolverine continued.
Jan moved her head around in as an irritating reaction to the beeping sound.
“Okay, get out of there.”
“It’s a done deal.” Wolverine released the communicator switch.
“Good.” Said Jan. “That beeping sound is getting on my flipping nerves.”
“Beeping sound?” He froze.
“Yeah…” Jan eyes opened wide and she stared at Wolverine. “The machines
shouldn’t be making that noise. She’s been disconnected…”
“Run!” Wolverine yelled.
Wolverine followed by Jan carrying Jeda made a rush for the room exit, but just as Jan was in the doorway a terrific explosion flung them into the air. All three persons landed roughly and slid even further on the floor. The explosion demolished the lab and severely damaged the structure of the hall along with shaking the building. In addition to a whole section of the wall fell towards Jan encasing her body, a large piece of iron framework from above landed on Jan left arm crushing skin, muscle, and bone tissue completely into a bloody pulp. Jan’s scream racked the hallways along with Wolverine’s ears. He picked himself off the ground and looked around. He had to wait for at least some of the smoke and dust to clear before he could even make out a silhouette.
“If the guards didn’t know we were here, they sure as hell do know now.”
“Wolverine? Wolverine?”
“Benson I hear ya.”
“Jeda. Find Jeda.”
With difficulty of sight and smell he made his way over to the little girl and checked her breathing and pulse. He sighed after he found both and took the little girl in his arms
“She’s alright.” He walked towards the sound of Jan’s voice.
“Good.” Jan’s voice was strained as if full of pain. “Now take her and go.”
“What about…?” Wolverine’s sentence died off when he saw the state that Jan was in.
“Don’t think I’m moving anywhere.”
At the same time…
Eight of the remaining guards who were on their way to the eight floor were shooting their guns at the four intruders that they had met on the fourth floor. The guards had the benefit of having two corners to hide behind for cover. From which they took hit and hide shots. The X-men unfortunately didn’t have that same advantage. They were all but pinned down.
“Hey Cyke, what about Wolverine and Jan.” Bobby said in between firing ice projectiles, which caught one of its targets encasing a guard in ice. “That explosion went off on their floor.”
“I know that.”
“We gotta help them.”
“Don’t you think we’ve got out hands full here?” One of his optic blasts on low yield struck a guard’s chest pushing him against the wall knocking him out.
“But Cyclops?” Jean had a pleading tone in her voice.
“Once we deal with these guys we’ll go after them.” He said.
Jean glanced at her husband for a second and mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’ She looked at Psylocke and both exchanged thoughts of agreement in an instant. After erecting a psychokinetic shield, both she and Psylocke charged towards the opposing side. “Jean no!”
Weapons fire from all four guards bombarded Jean’s shield and it took all her effort to maintain full defence. As soon as Psylocke and a clear shot Jean put down the shield and allowing Psylocke, with ninja trained accuracy, to throw four of her psy-knives and incapacitated the remaining guards. Cyclops approached the two women. He didn’t bother to hide his anger.
“I’ll talk about this later with the both of you.” He looked at them angrily.
“Now let’s go help Wolverine and Jan.”
Meanwhile on the eight floor…
“The longer she stays here the more chance of that bomb around her neck going off. So…so just go.” Jan released a small chuckle. “Besides I’m getting my just desserts for what I did, right?”
Wolverine looked at her for a moment and almost agreed with what she had just said. But then he looked at the little girl in his arms. ‘No.’ He thought to himself. He was not going to tell her that he was the one who had left her aunt behind to die He looked at Jan again.
“Wrong.”
Just then the rest of the team approached and like Wolverine had, they froze when they saw Jan.
“Are you alright?” Iceman asked.
“What the hell do you think?!” Jan answered.
“Jean, can you remove the rubble?” Cyclops asked.
“Yes.” Before she had even finished answering, the rubble began to lift off Jan.
Everyone all but shrieked when Jan stood up and they saw the condition of her arm. It was literally hanging off by a piece of crushed bone, blood continually gushed from the severed artery and veins and her top was soaked in her own blood.
“This arm is irretrievably lost.” Jan told Wolverine. “ I need you to remove it. Now.”
“Jan…” Jean said.
“Do it Wolverine.” She limped over to him. “Or I’m not going anywhere with you people.”
Wolverine looked at her. Searching her face to see if she really knew what she was asking for.
“Please…” She said. “There’s no hope of repairing damage like this. This useless arm has to go.”
No one could deny the truth, so Wolverine handed Jeda over to Iceman, and then approached Jan while unsheathing one of his claws.
“We ain’t got time to argue this shit.” With one quick swipe he severed the crushed limb from Jan’s body. She screamed when the nerves were forcibly detached, holding onto the limbless shoulder falling to her knees in pain, and fighting against her body’s defence to render her unconscious all at the same time.
Jean rushed to support Jan to her feet.
“Alright everybody. We’ve got what we came for, now let’s leave.” Cyclops quickly said before anything else happened.
They made it down to the second basement level without any further encounters.
“Wait.” Said Wolverine.
“What is it?” Cyclops asked.
“We left the sewer hatch open not closed.”
Everyone looked at the sewer cover. It was indeed closed, instead of being open.
Suddenly bullets from two separate automatic weapons came whizzing through the air. Several of the bullets fired were aimed at Psylocke and the others were aimed at Jean. Psylocke just about managed to flip away and drive for cover. But Jean being not as fast was pushed out the way by Jan, who fired an energy blast from her hand as she sailed through the air with Jean. The beam went through its target’s head, pulling a tail of blood and brains out through the back of the skull, killing him instantly. Jan landed on her armless shoulder.
“Ahhh! Ah! Fuck!” She balled in agony.
The remaining guard fired more bullets from his gun, but Iceman froze the projectiles to ice and Cyclops blasted him through the door. When the team eventually got to the Blackbird, all were silent. Cyclops took the controls and began their journey back home.
Jan limped over to Jeda who was secured safely on a bed in the back of the craft.
“She’ll be alright.” Said Jean as she approached from behind. “But we’ve got to stop your bleeding.” She reached out to Jan, but she pulled away.
“I’ll stop the bleeding myself.”
As soon as she finished speaking an aura surrounded Jan and she began to growl softly, which soon grew to a loud roar. The strain and pain she felt was indescribable, but she continued to force every scrap of her energy into her maimed arm.
All eyes in the plane turned towards her, wandering what the hell she was doing. Jean backed off, afraid that Jan might explode. Just when Jan’s roar reached its peak, from her limbless shoulder, shot out a fully-grown arm, splashing blood everywhere. Jan didn’t even have the strength to pant as she swayed on her feet and then collapsed. The next thing she knew was nothing.
To be continued…
Comments of all nature welcomed at…
On To Story 3