Rogue met them near the charred remains of the facility's entrance. The sound of laser blasts from without leaked into the building.

"'Bout time ya'll showed up."

Rogue peered at Anne, her eyes widening with shock.

"Time fer questions later." Logan barked, following Rogue's gaze. She nodded curtly with a sympathetic smile towards Anne.

With her as an escort, they scrambled from the complex and out into the night. As soon as her body left the building and the psi-buffer, Anne felt her old shields reweave around her body. Energy poured into her muscles and mind, soothing away the worst of the pain, though not the injury.

Anne looked over Gambit's shoulder to stare at the building.

She recalled the cold way the scientist had talked of her mother, as though she had been nothing but an animal. Her mother, and countless others had been brought to this place to be experimented on. Anne did not want to imagine what would have been done to Jubilee, Everett and Angelo. She remembered the mutilated men and women who had fought them, minds so broken and twisted they were hardly human. She remembered the pain she had been forced to endure, and how they had tried to kill her friends.

A deep rage settled into her bones.

"Remy, put me down."

He hesitated, staring at her uncomprehendingly.

"Chere—"

"Do it...please."

She could see in his eyes that he did not want to comply, but he slowly set her down on her feet.

The others had already disappeared into the forest, the sounds of fighting diminishing. Anne ignored them. She knelt on the soft grass, burying her fingers into the soil.

Please, she whispered to the earth, sharing her memories and her pain. This place is unnatural, the people who do this as terrible as the one who emptied your blood onto the land. Please. I have Need.

The ground shuddered.

"Chere!" Gambit shouted. It was not difficult for the Cajun to guess who was causing the tremors. He slipped to his knees as the ground bucked and rolled. Anne did not seem to notice the violent shaking—in fact, she hardly seemed to move at all, though Gambit could feel his stomach lurching and his limbs jolting in their sockets.

"Anne!" he shouted again.

"Look!" she declared, pointing towards the complex.

Gambit followed her gaze, and swore in disbelief.

Trees were growing. Hundreds, maybe thousands of saplings crowded together. They pushed and wriggled their way up from the shaking earth, intertwining supple trunks that darkened and thickened before his eyes. Gambit caught sight of men running from the facility, only to be surrounded and cut off by the trees. Within minutes, the entire cement building was covered by hardwood, trunks still surging outward, the sound of creaks and groans filling the air in a deafening roar.

After what seemed an eternity, the shaking began to subside and Gambit gratefully stopped clutching at the ground. His breath was coming in thick gasps, sweat soaking his clothes and hair. The Cajun could feel his muscles trembling with fatigue, and when he tried to stand, his legs would not hold him. He finally stopped trying, and let himself soak in the miracle of what had taken place before his eyes.

A solid wall of trees, of every species indigenous to the area, hid the complex from sight. He would not even be able to slip his little finger in between trunks, they had grown so close together. What had been a large open field, with the facility in the center, was now an unnaturally dense forest. Gambit had the very strong feeling that he and his friends would be the last people to ever find this place again.

"Chere, what have you done?" he whispered, awestruck.

When she didn't answer, he looked down and found her unconscious. Her chest rose and fell with steady breaths.

He tenderly soothed her hair away from her bloody, bruised face.

"Rest, chere. Not ev'ry day someone grows a forest from de hills."

Gambit could hear the sounds of someone running towards them. He turned just in time to see Logan careen from the shadows of the forest.

He stopped in his tracks as he saw Anne laying on the ground.

"Annie." He rasped in an agonized whisper.

"It's all right, mon ami. Gambit t'ink Anne is sleeping."

Logan crouched by the young woman, furtively examining her. Gambit was right. Her breathing was slow and even, her face serene. She reeked of blood, but her body was as relaxed as if she had spent the entire night quietly enjoying herself instead of fighting for her life.

"What happened?" he asked Gambit, his voice thick with emotion.

The Cajun shrugged. "Don' know. But chere did dis." He held out an arm and gestured towards the new forest. "Gambit not sorry to see dat place go."

Logan thought about Jubilee who was nursing a bruised shoulder, and the strange disfigured people they had fought. He remembered the screams of his friends combining with his own as Anne's pain overwhelmed his senses. Even the blood rage that had overcome him at the sound and feel of her agony was not enough to save her. The sheer numbers of the mindless attackers had given the enemy enough time to spirit her away. Guilt still ached in chest.

"Same here, Gumbo." He said fiercely. Taking one long last look at the wall of trees, he stood, scooping Anne up in his arms and cradling her gently against his chest. Her head rested beneath his chin.

"We better get back ta' the plane. Cyke's prob'ly frothin' at the mouth by now."

Gambit groaned, and pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a little before straightening.

"Dat man still needs a less'n, mon ami."

Logan grinned fiercely. "I'm sure we can think o' somethin'."

Rogue met them at the entrance to the Blackbird. "You fellows sure took your time." She saw Anne, and her green eyes once again filled with concern.

"Oh my stars and garters..." Beast whispered, appearing behind her shoulder.

Logan brushed past them and moved to the small infirmary at the back of the jet. He gently lay Anne on a stretcher, his heart in his throat as Beast rushed up and began to examine her.

The smell of her blood filled his nose; her ears, eyes and the lower half of her face was caked in it. Beneath the mask of blood, ugly abrasions marred her cheeks and through several tears in her uniform he could see the dark discoloration of her skin.

"I'm sorry, Logan; I have to finish the rest of the examination privately." Beast apologized softly, his eyes soft with worry and sympathy.

Logan nodded curtly, and stepped away. Beast pulled a curtain around Anne and she was cut off from him.

The plane had already taken off, but Logan did not pay attention. He focused inward, guilt pursuing him doggedly. He was dimly aware of Gambit trying to explain to Scott why the facility no longer showed up on sensor readings.

"She did what?" The team leader exclaimed.

"Gambit see it wit his own eyes."

"But all those people...she basically left them to die!"

Logan leapt up furiously and slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a large indentation in the steel frame.

"Leave her alone, Cyke." He grated, stalking towards him. The berserker within hovered at the edge of release, and everyone could see it in his eyes. "You've got no right ta' judge. She found the kids when no one else could, an' she willingly went into that hell hole o' a building an' nearly died tryin' ta' save Jubilee, Everett an' Angelo. She may have even saved our lives."

Logan threw a meaningful glance at Gambit, who nodded quickly in agreement. They both remembered how she had severed the link to keep them from being incapacitated by her pain. A suffering so terrible that Logan still did not know how she had thought clearly enough to free them from each others minds. He could still her voice in his thoughts, her whisper of determination to keep them safe, no matter what.

Logan glared at Scott with unconcealed disgust in his eyes. "And despite what she's done, all ya' can do is complain."

Scott pressed his lips together and remained silent. From the frown on her face, Jean looked as though she was talking to him.

Logan turned away. He found a seat near the curtained off portion of the infirmary, listening to the sounds of Beast work over Anne. Jubilee snuggled up beside him and cushioned her head against his shoulder.

"You really like her, don't you?" she whispered, softly enough so that no one could overhear.

Logan swallowed heavily, memories dancing across his mind.

"Yeah, kiddo. I like her a lot." He looked down at Jubilee. "That bother you?"

She shook her head vehemently, and threw her arms around his neck. She winced slightly, her shoulder still sore where one of the guards had struck her with his fist.

"I think Anne is great," Jubilee whispered in his ear.

"Thanks, darlin'. That means a lot ta' me."

Gambit and Rogue settled down in opposing seats, Everett and Angelo taking up positions nearby. All of their eyes were worried as they glanced at the conspicuous curtain.

"We'll reach the mansion in less than fifteen minutes." Jean spoke softly. She lay a gentle hand on Logan's shoulder, just as Beast reappeared. His lab coat was red with blood, and his eyes were worried.

"Well?" Logan rasped.

Beast swallowed heavily. "I've managed to stabilize her. She is fortunate that she has a healing factor, but it seems that it took far longer to assert itself than one would have thought, if the extent of her injuries are any indication."

"We were in a room that suppressed our mutant abilities." Everett answered softly.

Beast nodded thoughtfully. "That would explain it. To be frankly honest, I am surprised that she is still alive. Whatever did this to her literally ripped her apart from the inside out. She shows signs of having bled freely from every orifice, and her ligaments are just now showing signs of regenerating themselves. Heavy internal bleeding, muscles torn, arteries damaged to the point of collapse...the pain alone should have incapacitated her."

"I knew she was hurt, but not like that. She—she never said anything." Jubilee looked at the others, her eyes wide.

"Anne not one to complain, petite." Gambit spoke quietly, looking at Logan. They both remembered their first meeting. A bear trap around her ankle, and not a whisper of complaint.

Everett stirred uncomfortably.

"I synched with Anne, when I thought we were going to be attacked. I—I felt her suffering. I don't usually share in anything more than a mutant's powers, but this time was different. I had to break the link. I couldn't take the agony she was in."

Sober silence filled the plane, broken only by the sound of beeps coming from the controls.

"How were you kidnapped, darlin?" Logan finally asked, his voice heavy.

Jubilee tugged his arm around her before speaking.

"We were standing around waiting for Monet to finish up, and wham! Suddenly we were surrounded. They, like, injected us with something before we knew we were in trouble. I couldn't even squeeze out a spark after that!"

"Monet found blood."

Angelo's eyes grew flinty. "I had a switchblade in my boot. I cut one of them, but after that, things got kind of woozy."

"Dey say what dey want wit you three?"

They frowned hesitantly, the three of them searching each other's faces.

"What is it, darlin?" Logan prodded. She hesitated.

"We were supposed to be test subjects."

Logan growled.

"That isn't everything though," Jubilee said. "The dude who talked to us...he recognized Anne."

"Or rather, he recognized her resemblance to her mother." Everett added. "Seems like her mom was part of an experiment a while back, but she escaped. The scientist seemed pretty surprised to see Anne, but happy too."

"Yeah, happy like a shark that smells blood." Angelo muttered. "He was just thrilled to be getting his experiment back."

"Was Anne aware of any of this?" Jean asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"Nope." Jubilee responded.

"What happened to de scientist, chere?"

"Anne broke his kneecaps." Jubilee answered nonchalantly.

"I've never seen a woman so pissed in all my life. Made Frostie look nice in comparison." Angelo added admiringly.

"Would've liked ta' have seen that." Logan rumbled.

"I am quite speechless." Beast added. "The extent of her injuries indicate that she should have been unconscious."

"She's making up for it now," Everett observed quietly, gazing at the curtained off portion of the plane.