Chapter Seven: Sweet Relief

Logan looked at the woman, who had told them her name was Nikki, then glanced at Rogue and nodded once. Rogue nodded back and dove into the entrance of the building from up high, Logan and Nikki running after her.

Logan could smell fear as he ran through the entrance. He saw more guards than before but didn't bother with them. He saw the man from earlier, the one he now knew as Professor Gerald, and snarled, heading over to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tank just as he'd left it – broken and empty. Suddenly, all he could see was himself inside it, screaming in agony.

"Logan!" A shout brought him back and he found a fist flying toward his face. He growled, grabbed it and twisted sharply, causing the owner of the arm to cry out in pain. He kicked the person in the gut then elbowed them in between their shoulder blades, causing them to fall to the ground in pain.

He looked up and saw Rogue fighting off two guards. He started to go to help her when he noticed the professor trying to sneak off through a back door. Growling, he ran after him, knowing that Rogue would be fine by herself. The professor saw him coming and froze, his eyes wide with fear. Logan grinned maliciously, grabbed the professor by his long coat and slammed him up against the wall.

"I should just gut you right now," he snarled in his face.

"P-Please d-d-don't," the professor stuttered, shaking. "I-I didn't-"

"I don't wanna hear any excuses 'cause ya got none! So you just shut your trap, got it?!" The professor nodded.

"Logan, this place is about ta blow!" Rogue shouted, flying over to him but staying a few feet away.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Whaddya mean?"

"Nikki accidentally hit a button while she was fightin' and it set off the alarms. A bunch of the guards are runnin' around like they don't got their heads on," she explained.

"So?"

"So I asked one of 'em what the deal was and they said that it set off some bombs that they'd placed around the area when it was built, just in case of situations like this. We gotta go now!"

He snarled angrily. "Fine! But this guy's comin' with us. I'm sure Chuck wouldn't mind havin' a nice little chat with 'im…" He turned and practically dragged the man out of the building. "Rogue, take 'im and go back to the jet. I'll meet ya there."

"Right," she mumbled, grabbing the man under the arms and flying off.

Logan ran through the snow, cussing angrily that he couldn't go any faster due to how deep it was, when he heard the explosion. He looked over his shoulder and saw a big, thick piece of metal flying toward him. Cussing loudly, he tried to pick up his pace only to have the metal piece land on him, slamming him to the ground, knocking him out.

Storm was sitting in the chair opposite of Jubilee when Rogue came in. She jumped to her feet and watched her friend tie Professor Gerald up in the back. She glanced out the windows but only saw trees and snow.

"Rogue, where's Logan?" she asked worriedly, looking back at her. "Didn't he come with you?"

"He was followin' me down on the ground," she told her. "The snow got deeper so he'll be a little while."

"Oh, right…" Storm wasn't sure she believed that but she didn't argue. She watched Rogue sit down in one of the chairs and relax into it, closing her eyes. Storm couldn't sit down – she was too worried about Logan to calm down. She kept her gaze out the window, waiting to see him come through the trees. But he never came. She waited for what seemed like forever before turning back to Rogue. "Are you sure he followed you?"

"Ah'm sure," she responded, lifting her head and looking up at her. "Ah glanced back a few times and saw him runnin' but then he got out of my view. Ah think he's fine, Storm. Don't worry 'bout 'im. He can take care of himself."

"But he could not have been that far behind you."

"Storm, cool down," Rogue said, getting up and putting her hands on Storm's shoulders. "He's fine. He's tough. You and Ah both know that. Ah'm sure he'll be he'e any minute. Have more faith in 'im."

Storm looked into her friends eyes and nodded. "If he does nott come back in at least five minutes, I am going out to look for him."

Rogue shrugged and let go of Storm. "Fine by me." She sat back down and Storm looked back outside, wringing her hands nervously.

Logan woke up, his whole face numb and his head pounding. He groaned and shifted, then stopped as the pressure on top of him worsened. He remembered what had just happened and growled in frustration. He pushed himself up along with the metal on top of him and then stood, throwing it to the ground behind him.

Rubbing his head where the metal had it, he started heading back toward the X jet. He didn't know how long he'd been out but it didn't seem very long, seeing as some parts of the building that were still intact were on fire from the explosion. Not wanting to stick around in case it exploded again, he picked up his pace.

A little while later, he saw the jet come into view. He slowed down and walked the rest of the distance, slowly walking up the ramp, exhaustion finally hitting him from the long mission.

"Logan, you are safe," Storm cried out happily, smiling. "I was very worried you were hurt or taken or…"

"She was real worried," Rogue told him. "She kept mumblin' things 'bout how you weren't followin' me and that you were real far behind. Ah honestly was startin' ta worry 'bout ya, too."

He shook his head, chuckling. "You guys know me better than that."

"I still worry about you though," Storm said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"Hey, where'd that Nikki girl go?" Rogue asked suddenly. "Didn't she go with us?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Looks like she ditched us… Oh well. I didn't like her anyway." He walked over to Jubilee and saw her eyes fluttering open. "Hey, she's wakin' up." Rogue and Storm rushed over, nearly knocking him over on top of the poor girl. He held his ground and growled, pushing the two back. "Be careful! We don't want her to get hurt anymore! Give her some space!"

"Right," Rogue mumbled, taking a step back but keeping her eyes on the young girl.

Jubilee's eyes opened fully and she blinked several times, staring at them with a dazed look. Her clouded expression slowly faded and then she jumped up, gasping, looking terrified. "What-? Where-? How-?"

"Calm down, my young friend," Storm said quietly, putting her hand on Jubilee's shoulder. "You are in no danger. You are safe now."

Jubilee looked up at Storm and visibly relaxed.

"It was so scary in there," she mumbled, shivering.

"You still cold, kid?" Logan asked, furrowing his brows in concern.

"No. Just… Freaked out a little."

"No more harm will come to you, Jubilee. I promise," Storm said.

"Let's get ya home," Logan muttered then walked over to the front seats and sat down. Storm followed him and sat down as Rogue sat in a chair across from Jubilee. He turned the jet on and flew it back to the mansion.

They arrived a few hours later. Logan landed the jet then pushed a button which lowered the ramp and turned the jet off. He let Storm get up and leave the front of the jet first then followed.

"Ah'll grab Jubilee, ya get the professor?" Rogue suggested to Logan.

"Sounds fine to me," he mumbled. He waited for Rogue to pick Jubilee, who had fallen asleep, up and take her out of the jet, Storm following behind her. He walked over to Professor Gerald who was lying on his side, glaring up at him. "Rough ride, huh? I would apologize but you don't deserve one after what you've done."

He reached down and yanked him to his feet then shoved him front and led him down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him over to the elevator where the others were waiting. Storm pushed a button and the elevator went up. She glanced at the professor then looked at Logan and smiled. He met her gaze and smiled back.

"You're back," Jean said as the doors of the elevator opened. She sounded surprised then her gaze went to Jubilee and she gasped. "What happened to her?"

"We'll explain later. Where's Big Blue?" Logan said, putting his arm over the doorway so the doors wouldn't shut on the others as they exited the contraption.

"In the Scott's office." Logan nodded his thanks to her and followed Rogue and Storm down the maze of hallways. Finally they reached his office and Rogue set Jubilee down on the couch gently for she was still asleep.

"It's good to see you're all safe," Scott said as he stood to greet them. He looked at Jubilee and furrowed his brows in concern. "Somewhat." He turned to Kurt, who was crouched on a chair next to the desk. "Kurt, why don't you go get Hank? Jubilee needs medical attention." Kurt only nodded then vanished, leaving behind a puff of blue smoke.

"So, how did it go?" Scott inquired, looking at Storm, Logan and Rogue.

"Ya mean, aside from almost losin' Jubilee?" Logan grumbled. "Fantastic. We even brought a gift back." He shoved Professor Gerald in front of them and smirked when the man lost his balance and fell to his knees.

"Who's this?" Scott asked, staring at the man.

"His name is Professor Gerald," Storm told him. "He had his guards kidnap Jubilee and I and took us back to his base."

"Is he the reason Jubilee is in this state?"

"Yes. He had put her in this tank full of liquid and did something to her. He claimed he was curing her of her mutation."

"He most certainly did not though," Rogue snapped, glaring at the man. "We ran into a woman who had had the same treatment and she told us that it can kill people or make their powers stronge' and uncontrollable. Ah don't like it at all."

"We blew up his base, though. Unless he has more in different locations, he won't be doin' this kinda thing no more," Logan said.

"Good. We'll just call the police and have him put behind bars," Scott told them.

"Ya really think that'll keep him from doin' this again?" Logan asked, baffled.

"No but we'll keep a close eye on him anyway. He won't be doing this again."

"Good," Storm sighed, relieved.

Awhile later, the police came and picked up Professor Gerald and Hank had checked on Jubilee to find that she had just come out of it all with a bad cold.

Logan walked out front to go for a ride on his motorcycle when he saw Storm a few feet off the ground, staring off into the distance.

"Ro?" he said his nickname for her quietly, his head titled as he looked up at her. She turned and looked down at him then smiled and floated down to the ground. "You okay?"

"Yes," she said. "I was just watching them take that man away." She went quiet for a few minutes, wrapping her arms around herself. "He was such a horrible man for what he did to all of those people. I am just glad that Jubilee is alright."

"Me too," he agreed. "But she's a tough kid. She wouldn't give up that easy."

She smiled at him as he stood beside her. "Of course."

He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. "I was gonna go for a ride. Wanna come?"

"On your bike?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah."

"I've never been on it before."

"Then it'll be your first. You get to pick where we ride to though. Fair enough?"

She smiled and nodded. He led her over to his motorcycle and handed her his helmet. Before he got on, he leaned in and kissed her. She froze but then melted, kissing him back. He pulled away and grinned then got on his motorcycle. She got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso. He grinned at the warmth she gave him as a cold breeze blew around them. He turned his motorcycle on, felt her grip tighten, and drove off.

Hyper1Emo0: And that is the end of it! I hope I did a good job at ending it. I usually suck at coming up with good endings... Anyway, thanks for reading! I appreciate all the help I got through it and all the encouragement I received. It was really helpful! I'm not sure if I'll be writing another story on here but I'm planning on writing one on . I'm still writing it so I won't put it up until I have a few chapters. But yeah. Hope you enjoyed this story. Have a good day!