Chapter Text
The pine trees on either side of the windy road were tall. They seemed to loom over Wolverine as he guided his motorcycle through the trees. Glancing up, he could only see a sliver of cloudy sky. It seemed dark, like it wanted to rain, but he could not smell any coming. It was peaceful. Quiet. No birds were singing. No wind rustled the dark trees. There were no colors; it almost looked like the world was in grayscale. The only sound was the roar of the engine, and even that seemed oddly muted. It was unnerving.
"Just get back to the mansion. Just get home."
This he knew this stretch of highway near the Xavier Institute well; he would come here when he was angry at one of the others to cool off. He would go back and forth, twenty miles each way, until he was certain he wouldn't hurt them if he saw them. He actually did this fairly often. Recent reasons included Jubilee accidentally blowing a hole in the wall of his room, Cyclops calling his work in the Danger Room "sloppy, uncoordinated, and dangerous," and Rogue and Gambit's loud argument in the middle of the night, she accusing him of stealing a necklace she had merely lost and then found the next morning. He couldn't remember why he'd come out here this time specifically, so it was probably safe to go back. That, and something felt very wrong in the woods right now.
As he pulled up to the mansion, it seemed still and quiet. Like no one was inside. He tried to shake off the uneasy feeling as he parked in the garage ("We're safe here.") but it wouldn't go away. He entered the main building and listened. It was too quiet. He almost took out his claws, but didn't want to risk hurting one of his teammates or turning a tense-but-manageable situation violent. But it also smelled like no one was home, like no one had been home for a while. Their scents were so faint that he couldn't distinguish one from the other.
A crash came from the kitchen, and Jubilee swore. As Logan sprinted toward her, he realized that it sounded distant. Faint. As he rounded the corner, he saw Jubilee kneeling on the floor, sweeping up a spilled box of Rice Krispies and a shattered bowl. Jean was there, helping her. He slowed to a walk and tried to catch his breath.
"You guys okay?"
Jean looked up. "Hey," she greeted. "We're fine, we just made a mess."
"I didn't think anyone was home."
"Really?" Jubilee asked. "It's not like we were exactly quiet."
"Yeah, it's weird. Guess I just missed you."
Jean stood and examined his face. "You look kind of shaken. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just... Yeah. I'm fine."
He left the kitchen so she wouldn't see him like this, but the truth was that he was shaken. Even standing next to Jean, he couldn't smell her. It was like his senses were muted. He decided to take a walk outside. Try and figure out what was going on. As he opened the door, he noticed a ladder leaning against a hedge with no one in sight. No sound or smell of anyone either.
"Hello?"
A voice called out from inside the hedge. "Logan? Is that you?"
"Scott?"
"I got tangled up in the branches. Think you could get me down?"
Logan sighed. "Yeah, hold on." He approached the hedge carefully. Scott wasn't lying; he was fully tangled in the branches. "How'd you do this?"
"I was trying to trim the hedge and fell."
The damage to the hedge was more than just a grown man falling into it. He must have thrashed around and tried to use his powers to free himself, to no avail. He was still struggling, actually.
"Don't move, Scott, you're only getting yourself more stuck. That vine around your neck is going to kill you if you don't sit still. Scott. Stop moving."
Scott froze. Logan took a step back and thrust his claws through his knuckles, a familiar wave of pain flooding through his arms. Only, the pain didn't dissipate. His shattered wrists didn't force themselves back together. The blood seeping through his broken skin didn't stop. And it hurt. It kept hurting.
He groaned as he felt his bones grind against each other. He fell to his knees, trying to block out some of the pain. Scott called out, and Storm appeared next to him. Then so did Scott and Rogue.
"How did-"
"We heard Scott calling for help."
"You okay?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, Rogue got me out. What about you?"
"What happened to you, sugar?"
"I... I don't..."
"He's not healing like he should."
"Let's get inside. We'll figure this out."
So they did. Storm helped Logan to his feet. It hurt to move his hands. It also hurt to try and keep his hands still. He was only vaguely aware of what was going on around him.
"What happened?" he heard Gambit say.
"I don't know," Rogue responded from somewhere behind him. "It's like his powers turned off."
"Whoa. Did yours?"
"Gambit! Now is not the time!"
"I'm just asking."
"We both know you were thinking more than that."
"You haven't answered my question."
Logan wanted desperately to tear them apart, both to separate them and beat them to a pulp, to get them to stop their incessant bickering, but when he tried to turn around and confront them, the pain in his arms became unbearable. He collapsed, vaguely aware that the others were saying something. Then their shouts faded into nothing.
As he regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that those around him now were not the same as those who had been. Storm and Scott were still there, but now so was Beast, Jean, Xavier, and Jubilee. Rogue and Gambit were gone.
"What caused it?"
"I don't know."
"Seems like something we should figure out, huh?"
"I'm working on it, Jubilee, but first I need to ensure he doesn't die."
"But what do we do if-"
There was a crash from somewhere upstairs. Faint. Distant.
"Jubilee, go check on them."
"But-"
"Jubilee."
"Fine, I get the hint, you don't want me around."
"Wolverine? Logan? Wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up."
He opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed in the infirmary. Beast was next to him while the others waited a little further away. "How did-"
"Don't try to move. Your wrists are about as broken as they can be."
"How?"
"The best I can figure out is that somehow, the X-gene in your DNA vanished."
"What do you mean, vanished?"
"It's just gone. It didn't just suddenly go dormant, there's no trace of it ever being there in the first place."
"How does that happen?"
"I don't know."
"Is it a bioweapon of some kind?"
Xavier scooted toward him. "Unlikely. All the various forms of the cure that have been released turn the gene dormant, leaving the ex-mutants carriers of the gene. You just don't have it anymore."
Scott was watching closely from his position leaning against the wall. "It could have been some kind of underground recreation."
"I would agree with you," Beast said. "But that would, or at least should, leave the physical DNA there. The actual proteins that make up that sequence of his genetic code are gone. It's like they never existed."
"How is that possible?" Jean asked.
"Scientifically, it isn't."
Jubilee tore into the room, quickly followed by Rogue and Gambit. They were talking over each other, trying to explain the situation. "There's been a Sentinel attack. A raid at a middle-slash-high school in New Jersey."
"It's a school for mutants, a magnet school for kids who are able to be open about their mutation. Like here, only they're a little more obvious about what exactly it is they do."
"They going after the kids."
"New Jersey School for Mutants."
Xavier quickly took command. "Wolverine, stay here. The rest of you, get to the Blackbird. The sooner we rescue those children, the better."
Wolverine tried to sit up, but the shooting pain in his wrists convinced him otherwise. "I can help."
"No, stay here."
"I can at least protect home base. If they're raiding schools now, this might be their next target."
"Good point." Scott turned to Rogue. "Rogue, you and Gambit kiss and make up?"
"Not exactly-"
"Are you still fighting?"
"No, we're okay."
"In that case, Jean, stay here to guard the school. The rest of us, let's go."
So they left, leaving Jean and Wolverine behind. She glanced at him awkwardly. "As soon as they leave, I'm going to do a loop."
"I can help."
"No, Logan, you can't."
"What if you get into trouble?"
"Then I'll figure it out on my own. Honestly, Logan, you'd only get in the way."
"Jean..."
"You're more of a hindrance than a help. You can't protect me."
"Jean, don't push yourself too hard."
"I know my limits, Logan. It'd be nice if you learned yours for once."
Then she went too, leaving him alone, vulnerable, and in pain. And there was nothing he could do to stop her.