Chance Encounter - Wolverine/X-Men Fanfic

Chapter 12: The Recon mission to retrieve Logan spirals toward disaster

Max's clawed fingers jittered anxiously at her sides as Scott peered through a pair of high powered binoculars. She was trying hard to hold the shift in as he quickly assessed the facility before them, but parts of her were slipping from her control.

The complex was small. At first glance, the main building looked fairly rundown; as if it had fallen into disrepair over many years of neglect. There were a few lights, but they only illuminated the main east entrance and a side entrance on the south wall of the building.

"There are four men on the roof with what look like MP5's, but that's about it. I'm guessing they don't get many visitors out here."

Scott turned back to face Max.

"Jean's going to try to take down as many as she can from here. We want to be as unobtrusive as possible, but if things get out of control I'll start knocking them out. We'll cover you, then move in to follow," he explained as Jean smiled over at him. She had that proud 'that's my man' expression that usually lit up her face when Scott started giving orders.

"Let me do a test run first." She murmured, "I don't know how effective my telepathy is going to be from this distance. The professor's much stronger with it than I am."

Max watched as one of the sentries on the roof walked the length of his post, then crumpled to the ground.

"Good. How long's he going to stay out?" Scott asked.

"I inserted the idea in his head that he was exhausted, and that he needed to sleep for about an hour. I've never tried this before, so I don't know if the mental command will last the entire hour, but he's out for the moment."

Another slumped to the ground and Max's muscles tightened in anticipation.

"Now?" she asked, barely holding it together.

Two more went down, then Scott nodded.

"Go."

Max quickly disrobed, then shifted into four legged fur and ran at top speed to the corner of the building, giving the splashes of light a wide, cautious berth. Once there, she took a quick look around, scenting the night air. She smelled guns, sweat and the light hint of fear, but no Logan. She slowly made her way to a side entrance. Now that she was actually taking action, the wolf was starting to calm down a little, becoming a little more co-operative.

Max peeked inside, spotting a bored looking guard positioned behind a desk; his face illuminated with the dull glow from something he was watching.

Showtime.

She shifted back, shivering now. It was beyond freezing outside and her hands trembled as she knocked on the glass. The guard looked up, his eyes immediately going wide. She let out a puff of breath, watching as the small cloud of mist drifted slowly away from her on the night breeze. Jesus, it was cold.

She had to admit that this possibly wasn't one of her brighter ideas. Would he let her in before parts of her started getting frostbite?

The guard bolted out of his chair and walked quickly over to the door, his brow furrowed in consternation. Max pulled her arms tighter around herself, giving him a pleading look. The man picked up his radio and said something into it.

Fuck. Why the hell isn't he opening the goddamned door?

She looked up and peered up into the camera pointed at her. She gave it her best 'damsel in distress' face and the man finally moved to open the door, letting her in and pulling a coat off a nearby rack. He wrapped her up in it, then quickly stepped away from her. He opened his mouth to say something before his expression went blank. Max frowned back at him, cocking her head and waving her hand in front of his face.