it's okay.  shh.  it's okay. logan pants, chest heaving, eyes wild, gripping the tattered sheets in his fists. kayla holds him tight until his bone claws retract. kayla i'm right here with you. okay? i'm right here with you. kayla, a full-blooded innu, wears her long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. she's been sleeping in one of logan's flannel shirts. kayla the war dreams or the one where you're a kid? logan takes a deep breath, finally calming down. he relaxes into kayla's arms.
it's nothing. just a scratch. she kisses him. kayla we need new sheets again, baby.
nice. logan, caught with a snowball in his hand, looks sheepish.
stryker? colonel stryker? the one you told me about? what did he want?
and?
so why can't they get someone else? logan thinks about it for a moment. when he speaks there is a degree of self-loathing in his tone.
hey. you're not a freak.
you're not a freak. you've got a gift.
the kids made cornhusk dolls today in arts and crafts. she reaches for her bag and pulls out a little doll. kayla i made one for you. kayla hands him the doll and he examines it by firelight. given the limitations of the art form, it's a skillful representation of logan, unique hairstyle and all.
you're elvis with claws. the moon, swollen and red-hued, rises above the dark hills, framed in the cabin's window. i conttnttrn 1
you know why the moon's so lonely? logan shakes his head. kayla lies back, resting her head on logan's leg as he plays with her hair. kayla she used to have a lover. kuekuatsheu. they lived in the spirit world and every night they'd wander the skies together. but one of the other spirits was jealous. trickster wanted the moon for himself. so he told kuekuatsheu the moon asked for flowers. he told him to come to our world and pick her some wild roses.
yeah, well, you do some stupid things when you're in love. kuekuatsheu didn't know that once you leave the spirit world, you can never go back. now he's trapped here. every night the moon searches for him and every night he sees her in the sky and howls her name.  but he can never touch her again. for a moment they're both quiet, contemplating the sad myth.
kuekuatsheu. the wolverine.
be careful. logan bends forward to kiss her on the lips. he turns and walks towards a crew of lumberjacks circled around a supervisor with a clipboard. logan turns when he hears a honk. kayla leans out the window. kayla i love you, by the way. logan notices that dozens of lumberjacks are watching this scene. he clears his throat.
please? i'm already late.
thanks, fellas.
lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here, lolly lolly lolly got some adverbs here, come on down to lolly's get the adverbs here.  rounding a corner on the narrow access road, kayla nearly collides with a man in a long black coat. she slams on the brakes and the truck shudders to a halt. the man's back is turned to the truck, his head bowed. his hair hangs below his shoulders, clotted with dirt, as if he's been sleeping in the woods for weeks. kayla leans out of the open truck window. before she can speak, the man in the long black coat turns. it's not just his size that frightens us, though the man is massive. it's not just the four-inch-long black talons curling from his fingertips, or the gleaming fangs he licks as he smiles at her. what terrifies us most are his eyes. they are a shark's eyes, black and loveless and utterly inhuman. f conttnt1fd'
hey, you've reached kayla and logan. we're not home right now so please leave a message after the beep and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. bye! beep. logan replaces the receiver in its cradle and' lies back, alone in the world.
i'm sorry. i'm so sorry. an aluminum baseball bat whirs through the air, smashing the back of logan's head. logan falls to the floor, unconscious. victor creed stands above him, staring at the flattened barrel of the baseball bat. f nnttnitft)1
you know who i am.
they gave me a syringe full of hydrochlorothiazide.
shot my daddy when i was eighteen. big mistake. should have shot him when i was seventeen.
maybe he had a heart attack after i shot him. sat there and watched him bleed. after what that man did to me, i wish he died slower. logan stares at her for a long time. kayla that sweet little girl you lived with in the cabin? that was all make-believe.
i'm a good actress.
my daddy found out when i was twelve. said a freak like me deserved whatever i got.
spent so much time getting you to love me, by the time the colonel showed up i couldn't get you to leave me. (r0n'rtn1 f.n 1
my mother told me that story. she takes a deep breath and turns to go. kayla it doesn't matter. you won't remember any of this.
what?
you don't know where i come from. you don't know what it was like.
i didn't have a choice.
i'm sorry. t c nttnttpti'
you're going to let victor kill that woman. stryker and collins ignore her. kayla when you got me out of prison, you told me we were going to help people. stryker continues to sign papers, never looking up.
from the mutants? the phone rings. stryker answers it.
is he clean yet? cornelius and the assistant face front again.
he was good to me. cornelius, fiddling with the amperage dial, curls his lips in a sardonic smile.
you should turn it off now. cornelius turns and stares at her.
you two have always hated each other. you should fight. the assistant blinks and begins to scowl, turning toward cornelius just in time to get punched in the mouth. the two men brawl on the floor with the lack of skill you'd expect from two scientists.
hey. wake up. logan opens his eyes. he is clearly disoriented, as if waking from a long coma. he stares up at kayla. kayla are you okay? logan stares at her, groggy and confused. kayla do you understand what i'm saying?
please.
please.  creed's killing your friend.
please! we shouldn't be fighting each other. stryker's using us.
what's he gonna do with us when the other mutants are dead? put us in a zoo? creed hesitates, considering the logic of her words. a fanged smile splits his face.
get out of here. hines doesn't have to be told twice. she flees. creed sees his plaything running out the door. he snarls in frustration.
we're here as guests of colonel stryker. the sentries' hostility shifts into apologetic obeisance.
you boys are no longer needed here. go back to barracks.
logan! kayla runs down one of the steel staircases that clings to the cavern wall like fire escapes. kayla if we get closer to stryker, i can work my magic. logan stares at stryker, his true enemy, the.man who destroyed his life. ten thousand clones. encircle stryker, who stands on the raised podium in the cavern's center.
what are you doing?
one of them could have survived. logan glances at her. kayla the clones. they've got your healing factor. logan looks back at the devastation.
there's something i want you to know. he looks at her. (conttnt1f.fl