"Yeah, there's a door over here!" Logan called out, his hands caked in mud and moss from digging up what looked to be an old, metal, cellar door. Now coated with rust and earth, forgotten to the above world, his eyes scanned for any easy way to open it. Logan tugged on the handles that were barely hanging on by a thread, only for the one to snap off in his hand. "Great," he muttered under his breath.
"What's the problem?" Kaya asked, walking up beside him, Eve not far behind. She looked down at the door, and then noticed the door handle gripped in Logan's hand. "Oh" she frowned, gripping her jacket closer to her to protect her from the cold wind.
Logan extended his claws, "Looks like we're going to have to do this like everything else: the hard way." He jammed a claw between the doors, sliding his fist down until he heard the lock break. "That should do it." This time, he gently tugged on the remaining handle, earning a echoing screech from the metal door as it slowly opened. They were met with a staircase that led into darkness, and he held a hand out to stop Kaya, who was about to rush in without a moment's hesitation. "We don't know what's down there, or if we can even get down there." He replied when met with Kaya's annoyed sigh. "There's a flashlight and some other supplies in my backpack back at the car, we'll grab my backpack and then we can go."
Once Kaya returned with the supplies, Logan took the flashlight in one hand, hers in the other as they descended the rusty staircase leading them down into a dark hole. The smell of mold hit Logan like a truck, a sure sign nobody had occupied this place in years. But like everything, he knew that looks could be deceiving.
"It smells like something died." Eve gagged, covering her nose with her free hand.
Logan rolled his eyes, leave it to Eve to point out the obvious. "You could always hold you breath, or wait by the car." Kaya chucked beside him as they continued down the dark, musty, hallway.
Eve scoffed. "I can manage." she choked out, still covering her nose.
"You sure about that?" Logan chuckled, as they continued to descend into the unknown. Puddles of water lined the floor, moss was growing through the cracks in the wall. It looked like this place had been abandoned for years. Who even knew if they left anything behind?
As if reading his thoughts, Kaya asked, "Are we sure we're going to even find anything here? This place looks completely vacant."
They reached another door, luckily unlocked, and walked into a platform in a room that oversaw what looked to be a tank of water. What once must have been clear water was now filled with algae, making it look murky. Logan couldn't even see to the bottom of it.
"Well, there's a sight to see." Eve mumbled from the other side of him, looking around the room. "Shall we take a closer look?" She asked as she found a ladder down the walkway and began to climb down.
Kaya squeezed Logan's hand, the tension radiating between them. He couldn't deny the sense of familiarity that this place carried, as well as the sense of dread. It would be so easy to turn around and forget that they even stepped foot inside this place, to go back to their lives at the Academy, but he wasn't the only one deserving of answers here, Kaya was as well. She deserved to know why this was done to her just as much as he did, and with Stryker out there somewhere in the world carrying those answers, Logan was prepared to travel the globe to find him.
"You good?" he looked down at Kaya who was now practically vice gripping his arm, her eyes darting around the dark room as though something was going to jump out at them at any second.
Kaya met his eyes, "This place just gives me the creeps." she replied, taking in a deep breath and loosing her grip. "The sooner we get out of here, the better.
"I'll be right by your side, you're safe with me." He replied, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. They descended the ladder and rejoined with Eve on the floor below. Taking a closer look at the tank, they saw rusting tools surrounding the outside of it. Cables ran from the tools into what looked to be a reservoir of some sort.
"These look like torture devices." Kaya observed, eyeing the tools.
"They were used to tear apart flesh." Eve replied nonchalantly, as though she saw these things everyday, which caused Logan to look at her suspiciously.
"You've seen these before?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in question.
Eve shrugged, walking around the other tank in the room. "I've read about them. They were used to put that adamantium in you, if that's what you're going for."
"Could have started with that." Kaya muttered.
Eve flashed her a smirk. "I'm not here to hold your hand through this little life journey of yours. I have my own mission, one that just happens to coincide with yours, so I'm here to help." she waved her hands out, as if saying what they saw was what they got.
Logan could feel the anger rising within him, but he didn't want to add fuel to the flame. He hated working with Eve as much as Kaya, but at this point they didn't have much of a choice. "If your mission does anything to bring Kaya harm, I will gut you." he growled, staring Eve down.
She was unfazed by Logan's sudden threat, "Oh shush, I'm smarter than attempting to harm you or your precocious girlfriend."
"How can I not remember the pain?" Kaya whispered, soft enough Eve wouldn't be able to hear her, but Logan heard her perfectly clear. Her hands brushed over the tools, the look of dread clearly on her face. "I remember his name. I remember that he put adamantium in me." she took in a deep breath. "But I don't remember the pain, and surely this had to be painful?"
Logan walked over to where she stood, taking her hands off the tools and wrapping her in an embrace. "If it was painful, perhaps it is for the best that we don't remember." He smoothed his hand over the top of her head, meeting her eyes. She nodded before stepping away from his embrace, to continue exploring the room.
Not much was left from what he could tell. The machines were smashed, paper was scattered everywhere but due to water damage was pretty much unreadable. Hallways that lead out of the room were caved in with ruble, cutting off any access to the rest of the facility.
This room was all they had to go on, and it didn't leave behind much.
"Does any of this look familiar to you Kaya?" Eve asked from where she leaned against a wall.
She shook her head. "I was in a cage and blindfolded most of the time. The equipment is here, so surely this had to have been the place?" Kaya let out an aggravated sigh. "I remember bits and pieces of what they talked about, how I was the first try on a mutant that could change. At the time, I didn't know what they were going to try on me, but they mentioned how I had the same healing abilities as Weapon X."
"Which I am guessing is me," Logan mused, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought about what Kaya had said. "Seeing how we both have healing capabilities. Haven't met anyone else besides you that shares that, and adamantium." Logan watched as Kaya concentrated on whatever it was she was thinking, before a look of realization spread across her face.
"Nevada." Kaya said with such excitement, Logan thought she was going to combust. "I remember when he was making small talk with someone else, I'm assuming a guard, he said he was originally from Nevada and couldn't wait to get back."
"I knew you could be smart." Eve smirked, causing Logan to glare at her.
Kaya ignored her. "I mean, it's not much but it might be something? If Stryker obviously isn't doing his experiments here, he could be back home."
Logan shrugged. "It's worth a shot. If Stryker knows anything about mutants though, he's probably heavily guarded, which means we'll have to be careful."
Eve nodded. "Maybe your Xavier friend could help?"
Logan shook his head. "Couldn't find him the first time I asked the professor to. Which means, he's probably packing some shit that prevents the Professor from being able to use Cerebro on him."
"Which, you know, is our typical luck." Kaya replied grimly.
"Well, it looks like we are off to Nevada."
* * * * *
Authors Note: First I'd like to say I am sorry it has taken me so so long to get this story updated. I have been in a MASSIVE writer's block hole for the past few years. In all honesty, I was in a deep depression from an abusive relationship (That I am now 5 years free from!) and had lost all motivation to write. I am still healing, it was a very traumatic event in my life, but my motivation to write is slowly, but surely, coming back to me. I am hoping that as time goes on and I force myself to write more, that it will come a little bit easier to me.
This was my attempt at forcing myself to write, hoping that it gets me back in the groove.
I know how I want this story to end, it's just getting to that point that is proving to be difficult.
So I am sorry if this chapter and the next few are a little rocky, I will eventually go back and fix them, but I wanted to get something out there for people who have been so patiently waiting.
I haven't forgotten about this story one bit!