It was cold enough down here to make her shiver,and it smelled stale,like dust and time,and she hugged herself to keep warm as white light panels slowly lit up inside the ceiling as they continued down the hallways,footsteps echoing ahead and behind them like some distortion of a nightmare.

"What are we looking for?"She asked,perhaps for the millionth time.She was starting to annoy herself.

"We'll know it when we see it,"Erasmus said,although she believed now that was bullshit.He wanted to believe that was the case,but he honestly didn't know.

The room they had walked through so far were empty,as if graverobbers had come and cleaned out the tombs long before they found it,but of course Dad insisted that was not possible,as only Logan could have gained access to it.Or someone with access to Logan's DNA,like them,but he hadn't mentioned that.

Since everything looked the same,she couldn't shake the feeling they had been going around in circles,and it all seemed so perfectly pointless she wanted to leave.

They went into another room,which seemed to look like all the others-stainless metal,featureless;it was like being in the compartment of a t.v. dinner tray-but this time there was a sort of depression against the far right wall,like someone had been slammed head first into the wall hard enough to leave an imprint.

Dad headed straight for it and she reluctantly followed,rubbing her arms to warm them up and subside the gooseflesh,and after examining it for a moment,he said,"I wonder if a drop of blood here will do something."

She took the vial out with a roll of her eyes and handed it to him,wanting nothing more than to leave,now.Why had she ever even come here in the first place?

He took the vial,seemingly never noticing her distaste,but didn't take the cap off more than he simply lifted it enough to splash a bit of Logan's blood on his fingertip.He smeared a bit of it on the inside of the depression before snapping the cap on tight and handing her back the test tube,which she slipped back into her bag.

"Now,let's see if this puppy does something,"he said hopefully,taking a cautious step back.

She did too,although she wasn't sure why.

They waited,and for a moment,nothing happened.Did anything ever happen right away?

But there was a rumble beneath their feet,and with a small grinding noise,like a piece of machinery almost rusty from disuse, the wall before them started to retract,withdrawing inside itself on an unseen track.A blast of air even colder and staler than the rest gasped out of the dark opening,and as she coughed discreetly,Erasmus stepped forward warily,craning his neck to look inside the dark room.

A light came on slowly,starting out dim in the ceiling above but growing slowly and steadily,like a flame,illuminating not the lab she sort of expected but a room no bigger than a walk in closet,all metal,right down to the table that took up the middle of the room,growing from the floor like a tumor.

"All of this for...this?"She asked incredulously,more disappointed than she would have been previously willing to admit.

"Now,come on hon,you know Enigma loved her puzzles.This is probably a box inside a box."He said it with an awful lot of hope,but that's exactly what it was-wishful thinking.

She followed him in as he started to search the stainless steel table,running his hands over the top and leaving a smear of blood across its silver surface."Come on,darlin',time to stop playing hard to get,"Dad muttered to himself,as she looked around the compartment (well,it was too tiny to be properly called a room).

Following her Dad's reasoning,Enigma made this room specifically for Logan-and was Logan the touchy feely,'scour the room for clues' type?No,he was the 'kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out' type,and of all people Enigma had to know that better than anyone.So,if she was Logan,what would she do?

Break open the table.It wasn't even adamantium-it was steel.So much for Erasmus the detective;he hadn't even noticed that yet.

She had no real need for weapons,being both a telepath and an occasional psychic,but she did have several souvenirs from her tenure in the Organization,including an adamantium bladed utility knife.It couldn't possibly be as efficient as Logan's claws,but surely it would cut through the top of the table.

A box within a box,huh?She pulled the knife out of her pack,and decided to see for herself.

She took the protective sheath off the utility knife and stabbed it down towards the table.

"Lu,what the hell..!"Erasmus shouted,jumping back in case she meant the blade for him.But instead it slammed hard through the tabletop,making a hollow thudding sort of noise as she punctured the surface and then seemed to whine as dragged the knife along,making a vertical gash in the silver skin.

It took more strength than she had thought,and she wondered if they had given Logan the entire metal skeleton just so he'd have the requisite strength to operate those claws as she pondered the next location to slash at.

"Christ on a camel,what the fuck has gotten into you?!"Dad exclaimed,irritated enough that his eyes took on that dangerous glass gleam that usually meant someone was about to get hurt.

But he was only an empath,an emotional manipulator-she was a telepath,and therefore stronger.She hadn't been afraid of him for a very long time."She made this for Logan,right?I'm thinking like Logan."

"If you really were thinkin' like him,we'd both be dead by now,"he snapped bitterly.He was just jealous he hadn't thought of it first.

There was another tremble in the metal floor beneath them,but it was minor,a little grumble,and the seam she had made in the top of the table seemed to grow wider of its own accord,the whole table breaking in half like a hatching egg.They both stepped back as far as possible in the tiny room,watching it like it was a volcano about to erupt,and Omen held her knife out protectively,but god knew what she could do against a piece of machinery with a utility knife.Assuming it was a piece of machinery.

The table frame cracked completely and fell away,thumping to the floor hard enough to leave dents,revealing...a smaller black table.

"Talk about an anti-climax,"she sighed,equally relieved and disappointed.

But Dad crouched down beside the plinth shaped object,and said,"I think there's an opening here.Give me your knife."

Her planned remark,about reminding him to say 'please',was swallowed as she heard another noise,traveling from far down the corridors.The one good thing about this metal labyrinth was that small sounds traveled far;it was like an echo chamber.
And what she heard were the scuff of boots on the metallic floor.And more boots.More.

Erasmus scowled up at her,hand out for the knife,but even he looked confused when he finally heard the noise. "Company.Logan?"He whispered,then smiled gleefully."I'll just scare the piss out of him and send him runnin' off."

He looked off through walls and corridors as he concentrated on emotionally 'pushing' Logan away,and Omen felt another chill,independent of the cold,dead air in this place.It was like someone with ice cold fingers had reached out and touched her spine,caressing every vertebrae,making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.It was psychic power unlike anything she'd ever experienced before-it was unearthly and inhuman.

Dad made a strange noise and fell back on his ass,colorless eyes wide and startled as he looked up at her and gasped in disbelief,"I got cut off and kicked out.That isn't possible!I can't even find Logan-is he here?It's not him,is it?"

Omen felt her heart stutter in her chest.She was now hearing the noise of what had to be multiple footsteps,and the brief static crackle of what could only have been a radio quickly silenced seemed to indicate it was the Organization that had somehow found them.But that was not what she had felt,and they did not concern her in the least.

He did.

That Australian man with the glowing blue eyes...but he wasn't really a man,was he?It would have been a mercy if he was a man.So if he wasn't a man,what the hell was he?

She glared down at her father,who,in fear,looked like the world's oldest and ugliest child."You should have listened to me,old man,"she spat angrily,taking her own fear out on the most available and obvious target."We're stuck in this goddamn place, and he's coming!"

"What's coming?"He asked,so surprised by her anger he seemed almost cowed.

She was gripping the knife so hard her fingers felt cold from decreased blood flow,and she wasn't sure she'd be able to straighten them again.But this knife would be no help at all.Doom shrouded her completely,enveloping her like the icy air.It was like death itself was stalking the halls,coming straight for them with a gruesome smile on its maggot eaten lips.

"The death of us,"she admitted,and it felt like defeat.

"You're out,"he said,jumping down from the top of the ladder and landing feet first in front of two soldiers,who had spun towards him,rifles raised.Instantly they fell away,unconscious,hitting the floor with muted metallic thuds.The whole place appeared metal-it was like being inside a gigantic aluminum lunchbox.

Except there were light panels in the ceiling.He had yet to see a lighted lunchbox,but surely that was another pointless use of technology to come down the pike soon.

He had taken maybe two steps forwards when Logan jumped beside him,his whole body coiled like a spring.Clearly he was aching for a fight,and was a little disappointed to find that one was not forthcoming."You didn't save some for me?"He growled low in his throat.

"Nothing to save,"Bob pointed out,then stepped over the first soldier and headed down the first silver corridor.It was empty- the rest had surely gone on ahead after their prey-but after a few seconds,when Angel,Marcus,and Helga (respectively) had joined the little revenge fueled bunny hop train (he loved the mental picture that called up-and Helga would love the irony of being the 'tail' of the train),he felt...something.A small burst of psychic energy like an anemic breeze in the dead of summer,and as he turned to look behind him,Logan froze,eyes staring straight ahead as his pupils expanded,black pinpoints dilated to ink blots,and he could suddenly smell fear on him,a blue vein in his  temple almost visibly throbbing enough for Bob to guess his pulse.

Bob knew it wasn't telepathy...some sort of tele-empathy?Cute.The funniest thing was the bastard thought it might work.

Logan looked through him,wide eyed,and started to say,"I think this is another trap-"

Bob looked him straight in the eyes,and grabbed him by the shoulders;already rock hard,they seemed to tense even more,and Bob knew he was risking a clawing here,but only for a millisecond or so.He caught his frightened eyes and held them fast with his own,aware of the new intruder in his mind like a snake slithering in the shadows.So did that suddenly make him the mongoose?"Logan-they can't control you.Your mind is a fortress and they cannot touch you:they can't even get inside.They are nothing-white noise.Shrug them off."

Of course,physical contact helped Bob shove them-well,no:him.A weakly talented,patently soulless him,probably the world's biggest coward when he couldn't play with people's heads-out the door of Logan's mind and give them a little kick in the metaphorical ass,just for good measure.But it was up to Logan's mind and will to keep them out,and Bob was sure he had more than enough for the job-he just never knew how to access it.

Logan's eyes turned back to green ice as his pupils shrank back to normal size as Bob released his hold,the empath banished and locked out,and Logan did shrug him off.That is to say,Bob.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"Logan snapped,dark brows drawing down in dangerously annoyed slants.

Bob stepped back,hands raised slightly to show he meant no harm.Of course,he could take Logan whenever he wanted to- save for that unfortunate incident with Bellara,there really wasn't anyone who couldn't be his whenever he wanted them.But he was not a pocket megalomaniac who got his jollies off of controlling others (well,for the most part-but the idea of an Angel butler was pretty damn funny),unlike Omen and her apparent friend,and several other mutant and demon telepaths he could think of.Just because you could do it didn't mean you should.

And he liked Logan.In some respects,he reminded him of himself as a young man,although he hoped he'd never quite been so...unpersonable.Or hairy.Although a big bad ass-and he was,it wasn't just bluster,and you just had to love that-he hadn't lost his sense of humanity,although you couldn't have blamed him if he had turned his back on them for a while.Angel had, even Bob had,a long,long time ago,and they hadn't suffered half the torment Logan had.

"He's just trying to help,"Angel offered,having witnessed the whole thing.Marcus had too,but it was clear he wasn't completely sure what had just taken place.Helga knew,but she just looked bored;as always,she was just in it for the action.

"The soldiers are that way,"Logan growled,gesturing briefly up the corridor behind him."Did you lose your sense of direction?"

Bob noticed that Marcus,now squinting due to the lights in the corridor,gave him the strangest look before he slid his protective goggles back on over his dark eyes."Bro,I think he just made you completely immune,"he drawled,almost sounding kind of jealous.

"To what?"Logan asked,his irritation unabated."I'm immune to everything anyways."

"Not to telepaths."

Logan stared at Bob,caught somewhere in the void between irritation,disbelief,and anger."What?Did you do that?How could you do that?"

Bob decided there was no way to answer that Logan would accept or like.So he simply told him,truthfully,"The power is in you,Logan.I only tried to bring it out.The rest is up to you."

"Are we going to hunt these bastards down before the next Ice Age or what?"Helga demanded,her tail twitching impatiently, her hands gripping her borrowed Kalishnikov tight enough for her knuckles to turn a paler shade of green.

"What is this place anyways?It looks like one of theirs,"Angel said,as Bob turned and continued down the hall.

"Except it isn't as well guarded,"Marcus noted,as eager to move things on as Angel,apparently.

"And they wouldn't raid their own place,unless it was for our benefit."Logan grudgingly added.

"And if it was a set up,the soldier would have told me,"Bob pointed out,as he rounded a strangely severe curve.All these metal corridors had corners as sharp as machetes:falling into one would probably slice you to ribbons.It was that tiny detail- something that could be attributed to a design flaw,that made Bob think this place was created by a demon,or a mutant so far removed from humanity their brain had sort of turned that way.

Logan's rider?Is that what had brought him here?Was he unknowingly protecting one of her creations?

Well,this had certainly gotten more interesting.

Sound carried easily in this place,like tin can telephones children used to play with,so the sounds of fighting could now be heard plainly and clearly,even though it was probably coming from deep within this maze.But there was something odd about the cursing,the thud of fists against flesh,of bodies against metal,that almost made Bob pause.It was Logan who first named the missing piece of the puzzle."Why no gunshots?"He wondered.

Yes-these boys were armed to the teeth.So why not shoot each other?

Only one answer occurred to Bob."Because someone doesn't want them to."

"I smell blood,"Angel said,as they got ever closer to the source of the noise,the sounds of fighting so loud they were almost deafening.

Logan grunted in agreement."So do I."

Bob could too-a cloying,coppery smell that was,regretfully,far too familiar."Maybe I should go ahead on my own,"he said,but even before it was out of his mouth,he knew it wouldn't work-none of this group were the patient 'hang back and wait' type.

No one even bothered to acknowledge him as they turned one more severe corner,and walked straight into a hockey game.Well,a hockey type brawl,at any rate.

The twenty four soldiers were beating the living shit out of each other,a rather difficult prospect since they were all wearing that chunky black body armor.Some had had their helmets ripped off,though,which accounted for the blood splattered sparingly on the shiny silver surfaces of the walls and floor:there were several bloody noses and split lips,and an occasional loose tooth in a gobbet of spit out blood on the floor.It was far from a pretty sight-it reminded him of a bar in Sydney called Rollo's on a Friday night,where men were men and sheep were scared.

Almost as one,the group of bloody soldiers paused,saw them,and charged.

"Knockout gas,"Bob said,and several in the middle of the pack collapsed,but he had not caught the eyes of all of them,and as several surged by him,others in the back trampled the fallen in their homicidal charge forward.

"Don't shoot!"He shouted to Helga,as he ducked a hastily thrown punch.He didn't know why the telepaths pulling their strings made them forget their guns,but he assumed there was a damn good reason.

He straightened up as the soldier who tried to punch him,a wild eyed boy who could have been one of his great-grandkids, pulled his fist back for another shot."Lights out,"Bob shouted,looking him straight in the eye.His knees seemed to give way mid-punch,buckling as his eyes rolled back in his head,showing whites as he hit the floor.

Man,this was going to be ugly.

The first soldier without a helmet  ran straight into an upper cut that sent him flying back into a guy behind him,setting off a small chain reaction of soldiers toppling like dominos,but that hardly stopped them.

They had a vacant yet crazed look in their eyes-those whose eyes he could see-and they stank of adrenaline:it was like they'd all gotten hypos of it straight in the heart.

Mind control?Maybe.

The hallway was narrow,so they had to spread out to have any fighting room at all,but in spite of the size of the horde,it was a very brief melee.

He already knew Angel and Marcus could fight,but there seemed to be no reason to worry about strange Bob or grabby Helga.

As he caught a charging soldier and spun around,throwing him face first into the wall,he saw Helga smash one of the soldiers in the head with the butt of her gun,and grab another one around the throat  with her tail and toss him down the hall like a bag of garbage.So her tail was good for something other than grabbing his ass.

Bob didn't seem to be doing much physical fighting at all.He blocked a punch here,smacked somebody when he couldn't stand it anymore,but mainly just looked at them and made them pass out.That was a handy ability to have.

He threw a hard elbow,knocking out some dickhead who tried to grab him from behind,and out of the corner of his eye he saw Angel nearly take someone's head off with a spinning backheel kick,as he noticed something else.

Bob was cutting quite a swath at the head of the hallway,the bodies scattered on the floor around him like trees blasted down by a volcanic eruption,and just beyond them there was a bend in corridor-what the soldiers were supposed to keep them from reaching,he bet.What else would they have attacked them en masse?

Well,for fun,certainly,but most likely it was a diversion,or some lame ass attempt to kill them or at least slow them down.

"Logan,on your zero,"Marcus called out,and Logan instantly knew that meant he had someone trying to get him from behind,although how he knew that he couldn't say.Still,he threw back a fist and nailed some asshole right in the face,and didn't bother to turn and see the bastard fall as he punched and kicked his way through the remain crowd,eager to see what the telepaths were hiding,and where.

Bob turned as Logan stepped over the bodies towards him,although if he tried to use his power on him Logan didn't notice.

"You want them that bad?"Bob asked,and it took him a moment to understand what the hell he was saying.

"And what does that mean?"

"You walked away from a fight for them,"Bob pointed out.

Logan glanced at over his shoulder at the fallen soldiers,and they were pretty much all fallen now,as Helga,Marcus,and Angel batted around the last remaining ones without much difficulty."There isn't any fight anymore."He gestured with his head at the corridor beyond Bob."They're down there,aren't they?You can pick 'em up or whatever."

He nodded."Yes,I can.But do you know why you're here?"

Okay,now he was just being a deliberate asshole.Again."Because I want to shake their hands and buy 'em a beer.To kill them, jackass."He walked around Bob,and resented the sudden feeling that Bob had deliberately let him go.Where had that thought come from?

"But that's not what brought you here.She brought you here,Logan.Do you know why?"

For some reason,that statement made his stomach constrict,sending a stab of acid through his gut,freezing him in his tracks. Was it fear,anger,or something else?He didn't know;the feeling was so bizarre and alien,he didn't know what to make of it. Nor did he know why Bob saying that would make him feel that way."I want that bitch Omen-that's all I want,"he growled, glaring back at Bob,trying to shut him up with a look acrid enough to take off a layer of skin.

But he should have known that wasn't enough to make Bob shut his trap or back down,like a sensible person."But that's not what brought you here,Logan.You know that."

Logan ignored him and walked on,feeling Bob's eyes on him like the rays of a cold sun,and got a sense he was followed.But if Bob brought up that shit again he'd deck him.

He didn't have to go far before he found some sort of room off to the right side of the corridor,and again he smelled his own blood.Angel had speculated that they were using it for something,but nobody had an idea what,except Bob,who said,"It's how they opened the door." But that made no sense at all.

The light coming from the room was faint,and at first glance it was empty,but Logan could smell them,and popped his claws as he approached the door.

And someone hung an automatic rifle around the side of the door,and opened fire.

As the first slugs pounded into Logan,Bob shoved him aside,and shouted,"Molten lead!"

The man-it was a man-screamed as if in agony,the gun dropping from his hand like it was indeed molten,and he continued to shriek bloody murder as Logan ignored the angry pain of the bullet wounds and rushed into the room,looking for Omen.

But what he found was a screaming Erasmus,clutching his hand like it was nothing more than a stump when in fact it looked fine,and a shattered table in the center of the room.Omen had been here-so had another man-but they were no longer here.A visual search of the room showed that there had been a square hastily cut in the far wall,big enough for people to get through if they crawled out on their hands and knees.

"Son of a bitch,"he muttered,before turning to kick the slumped and screaming Erasmus in the head,knocking him cold.At least it finally shut him up.

"How could they go?There's no way out of this place."Marcus said irately,sidling behind him into the tiny room.

"They made a way,"Logan pointed out.

"That's why the soldiers didn't shoot,"Bob said."Adamantium coated bullets might have gone through the walls,and they were escaping through the walls."

Logan shook his head,wondering why he hadn't heard them,and started for the impromptu hatch cut in the wall when someone grabbed his arm and hauled him to a stop.He wasn't surprised to see it was Bob.

"There's no need to go through there.They're either in or out;I think I can figure out which and save time."

Logan yanked his arm out of his grip,and realized he smelled funny.Bob now had a funny metallic sort of smell,kind of like...

"Oh shit honey,you got nailed,"Helga suddenly exclaimed,and Logan glanced at Bob and noticed he had blue streaks  running down his white shirt,rivulets that looked like bright blue paint.Was that blood?

Bob made a sort of dismissive noise as he went to the opening and kneeled beside it."It's just a bullet wound.I'll live."

"Bullets kill Belials,"Angel said,wandering over to the strange ruin of a table.Was it a table?Even Angel scowled at it like he didn't know for sure.

"When you get to my age,you find yourself getting less and less mortal,"Bob said cryptically,putting one of his hands flat against the interior wall of Omen's escape hatch.After a moment,he started muttering to himself,and Logan became distantly aware he was singing to himself again."In the land of the blind,be king..."

Logan joined Angel and Marcus at the shattered stump of furniture in the center of the room,and asked,"What the hell was this?"

Marcus shrugged his massive shoulders."Got me.Looks like it used to be a workbench or something."

Angel crouched down on the opposite side of  the ruin,and seemed to be examining something.

Logan sniffed at the smell coming off of it,and frowned."Again with my blood.Are they carrying a fucking bag of it with them?"

"It's not a lot,"Angel offered,then got a strange look on his face."They opened the table.Something was in here."

"What the hell could be in that?"Helga asked.She stayed by the door with her rifle,as if covering their backs.He had a feeling she had seen quite a bit of action in her life.After glancing back out the door and seeing no one,she asked,"Got anything,old man?"

Logan guessed she was talking to Bob.

"Lucretia,my reflection,"he muttered,then said,in a louder voice,"They're outside and making a run for it,but they won't get very far."

"Well,come on,let's go,"Logan snapped."What the hell are we standing around here for?"

"Patience,my child,"Bob said,getting up and turning around.For a moment,his eyes blazed a blue so bright it was like they had become neon,two stars going nova,but in a blink they were back to normal,and Logan wasn't completely sure if he had seen that or not."They're not going anywhere."

***

The secret she now held in her hands:a secret that looked an awful lot like a locked box you might cushion a syringe in.A rather large syringe.And the 'key to the human problem' was in this white metal box,hardly bigger than an eyeglass case?She doubted it.But she was very careful with it at any rate.It had to be valuable to someone.Why else had the Organization come here?

Prometheus-although a dickhead supreme-was at least a member of the mutant group working inside the Organization too. Otherwise he'd have been irredeemable.But if he didn't stop complaining,she was going to give him a taste of her adamantium knife.

"I do not crawl through walls,"he complained,as they climbed the ladder back up into the shack.The sound of fighting had just dimmed to nothing,and she couldn't sense any of the soldier's minds anymore-they had been snuffed out and removed from her control one by one,with a rapidity she had not anticipated,although in retrospect she realized she should have. That...thing,whatever he was,was like a growing psychic thunderhead:she could almost taste ozone in her mouth,could feel the electricity making the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end.She refused to be scared of a fellow mutant,but since she was now well convinced he was not one-she still had no idea what else he could be,since normal humans just weren't built like that-she decided to simply embrace the fear.

"Too fucking bad,you just did,"she snapped back at him,sliding through the shack's narrow doorway.At first,she heard a strange noise she thought might be coming from a mutant 'friend' of Logan's waiting for them,but it was just one of the two outside guards snoring.

Snoring?

They both had their body armor on,so they couldn't have used drugs or gas on them-could they have?This was just too weird to bother with right now.

She moved fast across the desert,warm sand leaking into her boots with every other step,not really caring if Prometheus was keeping up or not:she had no intention of sharing with him anyways.

And that was when she suddenly stopped.

She thought she was still going forward;she wanted to go forward.But it was as if her legs froze,and no matter how hard she tried to scream them (mentally) into moving forward,or moving at all,they wouldn't.It was like her body had suddenly developed a separate mind of its own and revolted against her.

It was then she felt something like icy fingers running down her spine,and she heard,loud and clear in the center of her mind,"Don't worry,darlin'.It'll all be over soon."

With a cold shock of fear,she realized it was his voice.That...thing posing as a man.

Somehow,he had taken over her body:she could almost feel him smothering her mind like a heavy,wet blanket.

"Ain't it a bitch to be on the wrong end of a mind fuck?"He said,his 'voice' tinged with a savage edge of cruel humor.

She could see,out of the corner of her eye,that Prometheus had frozen too;they had both been taken over by that thing.

Screaming inside her own mind,she seemed to watch from a distance as she sat down in the warm sand,Prometheus sitting as well,unable to move a muscle as they waited for their doom to come to them.