Taming a Beast

In two days time, our preparations were complete and all training was halted no matter if Scotty and Logan strangely agreed on the fact that the young X-Men could go through some more training, given more time. But we had plotted our attack for this moment, and we couldn’t move it now, not when we were so close to setting it all in action.

I had my iPod earbuds in, listening to some music to calm myself down, but also get myself psyched up for the big fight. Scotty always joked that I was like some mock-athlete, prepping myself for the big game. But everybody knew that, unless it was urgent, to never interrupt until they heard a lull, meaning I was in that awkward moment between songs. Until then, my eyes were shut and my foot was tapping away on the ground until we hit clear altitude.

However, this wasn’t just some small mission, and Scotty tore about my earbuds the moment he got close enough to me to do so. I glared up at him, but he had turned away from me to take his seat in the co-pilot chair, although Logan and I still said that was Hank’s rightful place considering he made the planes and knew them even better than Storm, our usual flight pilot. Again, all besides the major point.

“So,” Scotty said, clapping his hands together, “I don’t think I need to remind you all of how important this fight is. But I also need to remind you all that if we get in over our heads, which may very well happen, we must pull out.”

“You don’t have faith in us, Scotty?” Gambit teased, always the relaxed one in the group unless Logan was acting up, like he sometimes tended to do, mostly because he was the only one who could take him without killing him.

“It’s not that, it’s just...” Scotty sighed, struggling with his words. “This is our first major mission as a full team. We’ve never had these many people before, and the youngest of us haven’t had as much training we usually require in order to have them go on a first major mission. But honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better team, and we need all the help we can get.”

We all just kind of stared at him, since Scotty wasn’t exactly well-known for sentimental pep talks. He shrugged helplessly and Jean patted him on the shoulder, taking the stand from there on out as Scotty turned back around to do his co-pilot business. Jean debriefed us, going over the game plan one more time before we landed at our destination.

“When we land,” Jean began, “we will go out in pairs: Logan and Shiloh, Rogue and Storm, Cyclops and Iceman, Gambit and Colossus, Shadowcat and myself. My team and Scott’s will make sure that Hank gets in so he can hack into their intelligence system, see what damage we can do there, and see what we can control from that base. Meanwhile, the rest of you will enter through the predetermined entrances and attack whatever crosses you.”

“I still think that we should attack as a full team,” Logan grumbled. I put my hand over his, trying to quiet him. He had already argued to the point of a fist fight with Scotty about letting Logan and I go as a team because he liked to keep a close eye on me, and I didn’t want him to somehow get that privilege taken away from us, because whenever I fought with him, I got to keep an eye on him, too.

“No matter what you think, Wolverine,” Scotty hissed, swiveling around on his chair, “this is what we voted for and it’s how it’s going to be, alright? So just suck it up and--”

Jean’s constricting hand on his shoulder made him turn back around to the controls. I put my hand on Logan’s thigh and squeezed, reminding him to retain his calm attitude.

“We’ll be landing in about five minutes,” Storm’s calm, melodic voice interrupted the tension. We began our last minute preparations: Hank checking the medical supplies and his tools; Gambit and Colossus whispering about their way of attack; Rogue giving a pep-talk and reassurance to Shadowcat; Iceman conjuring ice into his palms.

I looked over at Logan and gave him a glistening smile, saying, “Ready to get back on the field with me?”

“I’ve looked forward to this day for a while,” he murmured, leaning over to press his lips to mine. I heard Gambit make a retching noise that gained chuckles from Colossus and Iceman, while Rogue and Shadowcat both rolled their eyes. I flicked Gambit off and gave him a teasing smile as I heard Logan murmur again, “That’s my girl.”

I turned and gave him a seductive smile, incentive for him to make it through this fight. I don’t think he realized that I gave him one before every fight, and I wasn’t one to brag, but I gave a damn good seductive smile. He leant over and kissed me again and Gambit complained, “Please.”

“You’re just pissy because you don’t have yourself a girl,” Logan growled, a confident smirk on his face. I gave him a look and rolled my eyes at Gambit’s immaturity.

“Guys are so stupid,” I grumbled as Shadowcat laughed at my revelation.

“Touchdown in twenty seconds!” Storm yelled back from the cockpit. I tightened my seatbelt and Logan’s hand found mine as the plane shook, making contact with the ground. We made a quick stop and evacuated even faster, running to the lake. Logan and I circled around to our entrance, entering stealthily and fighting our way through hallways. We might only minor confrontation, nothing we couldn’t handle without losing our breath.

We finally made it to a warehouse room that was completely empty, eerily empty. A gurgling noise was coming from the center of the room, displaying a glass case that looked like a large aquarium of sorts, flanked by a metal stool that was connected to the ground by a wire. On a hook on the side of the stool hung a giant needle. My heart flipped.

“What is this?” I asked no one in particular, my fingers touching the glass case. There were several needles and a pool of bubbling, sort of thick silver liquid. Logan inspected the liquid, putting his finger in but pulling it back out just as quickly as he hissed, flicking his finger as the silver liquid flew to the floor, melting part of the floor with it.

“Liquid iron,” he said to me. My stomach did a somersault, and Logan looked at me curiously. “You alright?”

I took in a deep breath, using all my confidence to begin talking. “Before you say no, just hear me out all the way. I talked to Hank and he said that he thinks you were injected with copious amounts of iron and that’s why you’re invincible and don’t age. I think that’d it be beneficial if we did the same with me.”

Logan looked over at me, his jaw hanging open as flies moved into his mouth. “You’re kidding me, right? Xavier has told me little about my life before the mansion, but he did tell me that the stupid science project they were running on me nearly killed me. I’m going to make an assumption here and say that I had a very high pain tolerance, as well as some intense motive for signing up for it. You think I’m going to stick this needle into you and watch you wither in pain?”

“I never said you had to do it,” I said, shifting as I teleported to the needle. I grabbed it, but Logan was faster as he jumped and pulled it away from my hands. I shifted down and glared at him, saying, “Why was it okay for you to do it?”

“For the reasons I just mentioned, and because I didn’t have somebody who cared about me as much as I do about you, somebody who wanted to protect me, somebody who would keep me from making a possibly fatal decision,” Logan said to me, his eyes sad and his voice worried. “Why do you want to do this?”

“For the reasons I just mentioned,” I mocked him, giving my sexy-and-sarcastic smile. He frowned, shaking his head slowly.

“Shiloh, please be serious,” he said to me, tipping his head almost sympathetically. I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest as I met his eyes.

“Why do you think, Logan? You’re afraid to be with me because you’re afraid you’re going to hurt me. I don’t want you to be afraid, to be hesitant, because of what might happen. And with every year I get older, I don’t. I don’t want to grow old unless you’re going to grow old with me, because not only will this relationship get creepy, but I could die at any moment, and I don’t want this to end. Try and tell me that any of that is irrational, I dare you,” I said to him, desperation and anger in my voice. He lifted his hand to my face, giving me a tortured look as he placed his hand on my neck and his thumb on my cheek, stroking my skin gently.

“Don’t make me do this, Shiloh. Please,” he whispered to me. I knew the iron needle was in his other hand, inches away from being pushed into my skin. I heard another explosion, another mutant ramming into the door, both reminders that I needed to do this not just to keep myself alive, or to get on the same playing field as Logan, but to save millions of other lives as well.

So, before Logan could stop me, I grabbed the needle out of his hand with both of mine and stabbed it into my stomach.