In Fear of Three Little Words

Damn, I'm so tired I could fall over the keyboard and snore. But, I've delved deep and found enough strength to post a couple of chapters, though by the end of the week, I'm going to have caught up with myself.

Dark!! Sweetie!! Thanks for the the lovely review. This is what I strive for, plot, characterization, action, emotion. I'm so glad it's coming across coherently.

Oh, I've got a question. Is this spelled right? Adamantium? Not like I can go to a dictionary and I'm too tired to surf the web until I find a site that gives me the spelling. Anybody...help.


Chapter 43


Logan whirled at the first sound of Kurt’s pain. He dodged a blow from Sabertooth and put enough distance between them to turn back to the window and let out a snarl.

“Stop hn’ hn’ him!” he yelled. “I’m doin’ what you want!”

“I’m not doing it,” Trask stated, obviously agitated himself. “He’s trying to teleport, the little fool.”

Logan growled and met Sabertooth’s next charge, unable to stop the backward momentum. He steeled himself for the inevitable, his back slamming hard into the wall. His breath left him, driven out of him by the blow. Gasping for breath, Logan grappled with Sabertooth, trying to get room enough to recover. But Sabertooth’s fangs were inches from his neck, aiming for his jugular. He wasn’t sure even he would survive the severing of that artery and this wasn’t the time to find out.

He drove a knee up into Sabertooth’s stomach and brought down an elbow hard against the man’s temple. Sabertooth staggered back, hold loosened. Logan pushed his advantage and lunged after, striking Sabertooth in the face.

A loud pop and crackle sounded and the smell of singed fur and burned flesh filled the air. Kurt’s scream sent the chill of death through Logan’s heart. He punched Sabertooth once again and backed off, whirling towards Kurt. What he saw filled him with momentary confusion.

Kurt lay unmoving on the cold stone floor two feet away from empty chains and manacles. Broken, the collar continued to smolder from its severed ends, sparks popping. It hadn’t even done that when he’d cut the thing in two with his claws.

The elf had done it. He’d shorted out the collar and teleported, but Kurt’s stillness sent a terrible foreboding through Logan, a fear that Kurt had gone too far, had made a sacrifice too dear to contemplate.

Logan turned back to Sabertooth with every intention of making Kurt’s sacrifice worth the price paid.

He put his fists up and let his claws slide out with deliberate purpose. A snarl rose out of him and Logan sprang.

Through the intercom, Trask was yelling, but Logan ignored him, uncaring of Trask’s ruined experiment, uncaring of the man’s threats.

He launched himself at Sabertooth with renewed purpose, slashing out and cutting flesh. The smell of fresh blood...Sabertooth’s blood, drove Logan on.

Sabertooth roared in pain, but met Logan’s charge, the two men grappling again. Logan heard the sound of men enterihe rhe room and knew their intentions to immobilize him again. He lashed out once more, drawing more blood when Sabertooth tried to retreat to give Trask’s men a clear shot at Logan.

He went after Sabertooth with a vengeance, his claws drawing blood repeatedly all the while ducking and dodging, desperate to avoid the kiss of the beam that he knew sooner or later was bound to hit its mark.

A new sound caught Logan’s ears, familiar and oh so welcome. He turned his attention to Trask’s control room just in time to see a bright red beam of light blow a hole through the far wall.

Logan let out a relieved sigh.

Doc, I owe ya big time.

Then it seemed everything happened at once. Another hole appeared, blowing glass shards and bits of stone across the cavernous room. Logan saw the familiar flash of his fellow teammates’ uniforms, Berzerker and Iceman, Cyclops and Rogue. Then others...SHIELD, he suddenly realized.

Damn you Fury, I’m gonna owe you the rest of my life.

Trask’s men aimed their guns, but an unseen force ripped them from their grips and Logan knew Jean was somewhere near. He caught a glimpse of her floating into the room, her arms outstretched, beautiful face tight in concentration.

Sabertooth slammed into him from behind, wrapping Logan up in a tight embrace. Teeth drove into Logan’s neck. He felt his flesh tearing and the pain dragged a roar out of him. Something hit them, a powerful blast that sent Sabertooth toppling off of Logan. Sabertooth rolled and recovered, scanning the mayhem and his lost advantage. With one last snarl of defeat, Sabertooth turned and ran for the door.

Logan pulled himself up from the floor, the free flow of blood from his neck slowing almost instantly and stopping. He started after Sabertooth, all his thoughts focused on catching his quarry now that he was on the run.

‘Logan!’ Jean’s voice sounded in his head. He ignored her call, the blood lust hot in his veins. His enemy was about to get away and Logan couldn’t let that happen. ‘Logan! Kurt needs you!’

Logan faltered and stopped, his need for vengeance battling with his love for Kurt. He shook where he stood, teeth gritted together, claws fully extended.

He drew in a long, deep breath and let it out, pushing away the blood lust and the need to hunt. His claws slid back into place and Logan turned to see Jean kneeling on the floor, cradling Kurt’s limp body in her arms. He crossed the room in a swift run and fell to his knees. Jean met his fearful gaze and nodded.

Kurt was alive.

Up close, the damage was worse. Kurt’s mouth was swollen and cut, his shoulders and neck ravaged by Sabertooth’s fangs. The fur had been singed from the left side of Kurt’s neck and blood slowly seeped from shallow cuts where the collar had shattered.

Logan knew all too well other wounds unseen, wounds inflicted by Sabertooth. He smelled Sabertooth’s sex on Kurt and the aroma of his lover’s blood rose up into Logan’s nostrils, assaulting his senses.

“I’m here, elf,” Logan said, gathering Kurt into his arms and holding him close against his chest. He felt others surrounding them and knew if he looked up Rogue would be there and Kitty as well as Scott. He swallowed down a hard lump, his throat constricted. “Everything’s gonna be all right now, sweetheart.”

Kurt’s eyelids fluttered and the boy took a sharp gasping breath. A moan escaped Kurt’s dry lips and his eyes opened, staring up as if unseeing then finally focusing.

“Logan,” Kurt whispered and a thin smile touched tortured lips.

“Yeah, it’s...me. I’ve...got ya, elf.”

Pain...terrible pain crossed Kurt’s features. “Oh Logan...it hurts...so much.”

“We need a medic here!” Logan yelled, looking around for help.

“Hank’s coming and he’s bringing someone,” Scott said, hunkering down beside them.

Kurt’s hand pawed at Logan’s shirt. “I...did it,” Kurt said in little more than a whisper. “I short...circuited the collar.”

Logan sniffed back tears. Kurt felt so cold even with his fur and the boy shivered continually.

“You sure did, sweetheart...and I’m...so proud of you.”

“Did...you win? Did you...beat Sabertooth?”

Logan hesitated. Had he? Not really, but he might have if Trask’s thugs hadn’t interfered. But that’s what Kurt needed to hear.

“Yeah,” Logan said. “You and me, we beat him...and Trask.”

Kurt tried to smile again, but a wave of pain washed over his expression, body stiffening in Logan’s arms.

“Oh Logan.” The words came out a sob.

Logan looked up with desperation. Hank appeared with one of Fury’s men and they knelt down beside them. The man glanced at Kurt then gave Logan an odd look.

“Hey, I’m not a veterinarian,” the man said warily, glancing over to Hank and obviously comparing Hank’s appearance to Kurt’s . “I’m a medic.”

Logan reached out and grabbed the man by his shirt, twisting hard.

“And he’s not an animal,” Logan snarled in the man’s face. “He’s human...more human than the bunch of scumbags that did this to him.”

The man looked properly frightened. Hank reached over and with effort, pulled Logan’s hand from the medic’s shirt.

“I wouldn’t so hastily provoke Logan,” Hank said to the medic. “Or me. And I’m certain you’d like to retract your ill chosen words, wouldn’t you?”

The man nodded frantically.

“Good. Then help our young friend here.”

“Is he goin’ to be okay?” Rogue asked with a shaky voice.

No one answered. No one knew.

The medic checked pulse and heartbeat, nodding to himself. “His vitals are fair, but by the looks of him he’s going into shock. We need a medical facility.”

Logan didn’t hesitate. He rose without effort, cradling Kurt close. “Then let’s get him home. Tell Fury we’re takin’ his medic. He can pick him up at the mansion when we’re done with him.”

Scott led the way, picking through the destruction of Trask’s newest facility.

“You get Trask?” Logan asked as they walked.

Scott nodded. “Yeah, Kitty stuck him in the floor until Fury’s people could take custody of him.”

Logan smiled grimly at the thought and nodded, pushing back mental pictures of how he’d like to make Trask pay for what had been done to Kurt. “They’re after Sabertooth aren’t they? They’d damned well better be.”

Again Scott nodded. “They’ve got a couple of teams hunting him down.” Scott’s hand landed on Logan’s shoulder, giving him an encouraging squeeze. “We’re going to get him, Logan.”

They strode out into darkness and that alone startled Logan, his sense of time distorted and skewed. He could only imagine how distorted time must be for Kurt.

Storm stood on top of the Blackbird, her hair a shining beacon. She called up her powers, parting the clouds and above them a full Christmas moon shone down, guiding them forward.

Logan pushed up the ramp and Charles appeared in the doorway, a welcoming committee if ever Logan saw one.

“Thanks,” he said, meeting Charles’ gaze. “I owe you big time, Chuck.”

Charles shook his head and a sad smile touched his mouth. “We don’t owe each other, Logan. We do what we do out of love.”

Logan thought a moment then nodded and passed on through into the Blackbird.