"You sure ya wanna go through with this?" Logan's gaze transfixed Jan as he asked his question. "It's probably gonna get ugly in there — you up to it?"

"The Old Man's right, Jannie," Pete interjected, the faintest note of concern in his voice. "This ain't what you're used to — you might want to stay out here."

"I told you before, Wisdom — I'm in this thing all the way to its end — no matter what!" Jan snapped back. "I can handle whatever's in there."

Alright then," Logan growled as he took out his hip flask and, opening it, started to pour it all over his chest. "You two know what ya gotta do?"

"Wait a minute there, mate!" Wisdom snatched at the flask, returning it only after taking a hearty swig and offering it to his tiny companion still perched on his shoulder, who refused it with a wry smile and shake of her head. "Shame to let all that good scotch go to waste." Pete shook his head as he gave the flask back to the Canadian X-Man. "Yeah, we know what to do, Old Man. I take the back way, Jannie finds a way through the roof, an' you go through the front door, an' we all meet on the inside."

"Yeah... well... don't get cocky, kid." Logan flashed an evil grin as he took one last swig from the flask and then emptied its contents on his shirt. Then, fixing the petite Avenger now flying a few feet from him in his gaze, the former Canadian secret agent growled as he gave the diminutive adventuress one last chance to back out , "And don't forget, Waspie — this ain't some Avengers op — we don't play by nice guy rules here — you do what ya gotta do..." He then popped one of his claws for emphasis, "Understand?"

Nodding her head weakly as she gulped, Jan finally realized what exactly she had gotten herself into. Although placing herself in danger was something she had become long accustomed to, before now, she'd never faced a killing situation. As she looked into both Wolverine and Wisdom's eyes, she saw something that sent a chill down her spine — as it immediately dawned on her that, before the night was over, she might be forced to join the club that both these men and Natasha belonged to. "I understand," the Wasp replied, barely hiding her fear. "Let's go to work, 'kay?"

Nodding his head as he saw that the Wasp wasn't going to back out at the last minute, Pete flashed a cold smile. "Right, then — let's to it."

As he saw that the Wasp was holding firm, even through her uncertainty and fear, Logan clenched his teeth as he worried about whether she would be able to do what probably would have to be done before the night was over. Then, as he glanced at the Black Air agent, he returned Wisdom's smile with a fearsome grin of his own. "Ok, let's get the job done." Then, counting softly to himself as he approached the front entrance, a grin of pure anticipation slowly took over the feral Canadian's face as he wiped the sweat caused by the sticky tropical night from his brow. 'A little action's just the thing I need right now!' The X-Man thought as his mind raced with memories of Jean. The death of the Phoenix had shaken him to the very core of his being. 'I think you were the only one — other than me — who knew how I felt about you, Red. I don't think even the Prof knows just how much I loved you.' His grin turning into a grimace, Logan continued to brood as he drew nearer to the entrance of Coy's warehouse in Lowtown and the two guards standing in front of it, 'I'm sorry I couldn't do what you asked, Jeannie — I loved you too much to be the one to do it — and I know I should have.' Logan thought about the conversation he and Pete had just had with Jan and their concerns that the petite Avenger, when push came to shove, wouldn't have what it took to get the job done. Shaking his head, Logan sighed inwardly. 'Enough moping, Canucklehead, you got a job to do — so do it!'

Taking a deep breath as he turned all his thoughts to the job at hand, he began singing loudly and off-key, staggered drunkenly to where the guards stood, "What do ya do with a drunken sailor... what do ya do with a drunken sailor... what do ya do with a drunken sailor---early in the mornin'!"

Turning towards his companion, one of the guards shook his head and then, turning towards what he thought was a drunk sailor from one of the merchant ships docked in the harbor, shouted and motioned menacingly with his gun. "Move along, you drunk!"

"Gotta light, pal?" Logan slurred as he drew closer.

"I've got something for you!" The guard said as he slung his rifle and then, lunging at the feral Canadian, punched him in the gut. "Now — you gonna get outta here, or do we have to make you?" The guard grinned evilly as his partner also grinning, slung his rifle and came closer to join in the fun. Wolverine, doubled over seemingly in pain, counted softly to himself as both men stood over him. Then, as they drew back their fists to beat him into the ground, they stopped in shock as they heard the distinctive snikt sound of Logan's claws penetrating the still night. The guards, suddenly realizing who they were facing in the dark night, tried to draw back, but it was already too late for them as Wolverine, with a howl of rage and moving with a quickness that belied his stocky form, first disemboweled one of the guards before he could unholster his pistol, and then, turning rapidly, struck true once again, stabbing the other guard through the back just as he pushed the alarm button. Letting out a primal scream, the feral X-Man then jabbed his claws through the steel door, and stabbing upwards, tore the door off its hinges. Then, snarling, he leaped into the midst of the onrushing Ultimatum troopers.

"Claws for everyone boys!" Wolverine snarled as he launched himself into the black and white uniformed Ultimatum troopers, slashing every which way with his normally shiny adamantium claws, now, dripping with dark red blood. Some troopers, panicking, opened fire into the melee, not noticing that their bullets where hitting their comrades as well as the berserk intruder. The Canadian X-Man, jerking from the impact of the bullets, staggered slightly, giving the surviving troopers the opening they needed. Rage overcoming them, they piled on the seemingly defeated intruder, determined to extract their vengeance through their sharp knives. But, as their raised fists lowered onto their intended victim, a howl of rage came from the bottom of the pile as Wolverine surged back to his feet, flinging the helpless terrorists to one side or the other, using his claws as a farmer would use a pitchfork. The surviving troopers, their eyes reflecting their fear as they witnessed this inhuman killing machine in action, through down their guns and bolted from the room in panic. "C'mon back boys!" The now berserk X-Man bellowed as he charged after his fleeing quarry. "The party's just starting!"

From his hiding place in the shadows, Wisdom heard the alarms and screams from the front of the building. Smirking as he imagined the chaos Logan was causing while at the same time worrying about whether his tiny partner would be able to carry out her assignment, the Black Air agent moved stealthily towards his target — a lone guard standing watch at the back entrance. Closing on his now alerted quarry, his foot made contact on some loose gravel, causing it to grind against the pavement. Turning immediately towards the sound, the guard crouched, his assault rifle in firing position. "Who goes?"

"Shit." Wisdom growled in a low voice as he released a tightly grouped spray of hotknives, striking his target squarely in the chest, killing him before he could utter another sound. "Right." Pete said as he took a magnetic card from the dead guard's pocket and slid it into the lock mechanism, and then, after the lock beeped it's acceptance, slapped the guard's still warm hand against the palm lock. "Good to see you're good for something, mate." Wisdom sneered as the door slid open, then, moving to the side, Pete charged his mutant power once again, ready to meet whatever awaited him on the other side.

As he entered, he heard the klaxon alarms telling him that Logan had succeeded in his task of providing a diversion. Still not entirely trusting the abilities of his amateur partner, "I hope Jannie hadn't gotten herself into too big a mess,"  Wisdom snarled as, keeping to the shadows and maintaining a wary eye out for electronic surveillance, he crept down into the lower levels of what was obviously more than simply a warehouse.

As Jan flew up towards the roof, she glanced down to see both Logan and Pete move silently and surely towards their positions. A determined look in her eyes, the Wasp, wanting to show the two professionals below that she was more than capable of pulling her weight, scouted the roof, quickly finding a small ventilation shaft with openings just wide enough to permit her access. Nodding her head with satisfaction, she darted through one of the openings, winging her way through the ventilation shaft as it widened to the point where a human sized figure could crawl within. As she quickly flew throw the passageway, she didn't notice the small electrical eye located at a juncture point. As she passed through the invisible beam, she heard the unpleasant sound of a bulkhead closing behind her and then the sound of gas hissing into the vent tunnel.

"Damn!" The Wasp cursed in a low voice as she picked up her pace. "I must have tripped an alarm," she gasped, as she zipped through a juncture mere moments before a bulkhead slammed shut behind her. "Good grasp of the obvious, Jan!" The adventuress sarcastically berated herself as she pushed herself even harder. "Better go faster or I'm not gonna have to worry about our dinner date with the Richards in a couple of weeks!" The petite Avenger said to herself as her heart raced until, finally reaching what looked like an air conditioning vent, Jan all but screamed as the bulkhead began sliding shut. "Oh no you don't!!" Flying even faster, she raced towards the vent as the opening grew smaller and smaller. Seeing the vent shrink to where it was almost too small for her to slip through, Jan knew that she only had a split second. Unable to safely use her bio-sting because of the close quarters and gritting her teeth, the winsome Wasp prayed that she'd clear the obstacle before the sliding door crushed her like a bug charged towards the narrowing gap. Her wings beating faster and faster as she grew ever closer, once she reached the point of no return, Jan called on all of her reserves as she entered the rapidly closing space and, barely scraping through it, sighed audibly as the bulkhead slammed shut, just microns from her feet. 'All right!' The petite Avenger shouted inwardly as she darted through the vent and into what appeared to be a sterile hospital corridor.

"What the hell is going on here?" Flag Smasher raged as he burst into the control room buried deep within the basement levels of Coy's warehouse.

"Intruders." His second in command replied as he motioned towards the video monitors. "We've detected one whom we've identified as the Avenger, Wasp; another who's a local known as Patch..."

A soft-spoken voice then interrupted the report of the Ultimatum officer, "The one you know as Patch is well known to us. He has interfered in Hand operations one time to often."

"Very well then." Flag Smasher said dismissively, "He's your problem — deal with him!" Then, turning back to his lieutenant, the leader of the terrorist organization known as Ultimatum demanded, expecting to hear that the Star Spangled Avenger was amongst the intruders, "Are there any other Avengers?"

"No sir — just the Wasp and this man..." The lieutenant then motioned towards another screen monitoring the stealthy progress of Wisdom down the halls.

"Who the hell is he?"

Another voice, this one with a faint accent rang out. "That's the Black Air operative working with the Wasp."

"The one your people failed to take out in England, Van Bock?" Flag Smasher sneered as he glanced at the Genoshan officer.

Jerking his head angrily, the Magistrate grimaced, "Yes — that's him. Leave him to me and my people."

"No..." Flag Smasher said with an evil grin. "I have a better idea — one that'll take care of all our problems and give us a chance to see first hand how our special units work before their big debut." Turning to the Hand representative, Flag Smasher gentled his tone slightly as he spoke, "If you would, Hideo, instruct your people to help ours in herding the one known as Patch towards this location." He then pointed towards a corridor on the building schematic displayed on a computer monitor. Then, turning to Van Bock, the leader of Ultimatum instructed, also in a calm tone, "And you Colonel — instruct your people to herd the Wasp and the British agent to the same location." Finally, turning towards his lieutenant, Flag Smasher grinned, "Donovan — have the scientists revive the remaining special troopers — they'll finish off our intruders."

"But sir!" Donovan protested, "Dr. Bormann said that they're gonna need at least another two hours before they're fully stable!"

"We don't have time!" Flag Smasher raged. "We're too close to achieving our goals to allow a British agent, a local tough, and the weakest of the Avengers to ruin what we've accomplished. I want the special troopers activated and ready to move in five minutes — understood!"

"Yes sir." The subordinate said weakly as he left to carry out his orders.

"Damn!" Logan growled, his claws dripping from blood, as he backed away from the Hand assassins and Ultimatum troopers, barely controlling the berserker rage growing within him. 'Ok you bastards, I'll play along with you for now — I'm kinda curious where you're herding me."

"Sodding Magistrates!" Wisdom snarled as he unleashed another spray of hotknives, and then ducked for cover as bullets whizzed by where he stood. Then, ducking into a side corridor, he started, springing into a combat crouch upon hearing a voice, then relaxed as he realized it was that of his partner's.

"What are they doing, Blue-Eyes?" The Wasp asked as she fired a bio-blast at one of the Ultimatum troopers, instantly stunning him.

"Looks like they're herding us towards something — an' I'm not sure I want to what it is." The Black Air agent responded as he used his hot knives to set fire to a pallet full of boxes before withdrawing with his comrade. "Wonder how the Old Man's doin'?"

"Holdin' my own." A gruff voice responded as he came out of the shadows. "I don't like this — narrow corridor, not much cover except for those pallets over there..." Logan pointed towards another set of pallets stacked in a small alcove.

"Why did they herd us here all together instead of taking us out separately?" Jan asked, confused by their opponent's strategy.

"Good question, Jannie." Pete grinned slightly as he surveyed the terrain. "That would have been the smart play..."

Then, before he had the chance to complete his thoughts, an arrogantly confident voice came through the PA system, "Intruders... please allow me to introduce you to Ultimatum's newest weapon in its holy war for world unification — our special assault troopers!" With that, the bulkhead on the far side of the corridor slid open, armored troopers pouring into the room backed up by Hand assassins. "These troopers will ensure our 'ultimate' triumph!" Flag Smasher then finished as he smirked inwardly at his pun, "But I am afraid you will not be alive to see that day. Good riddance!"

"Those are Shi'ar blasters!" Logan growled as he dropped into a combat crouch.

"Yeah... I know, Old Man. They ripped 'em off of one of our military bases a while back." Wisdom sneered as he charged his hot knives and fired into the midst of the Hand assassins that surged forth ahead of the troopers.

"We'll talk about that later, Sonny. Right now, you and the Bug Lady start in on those troopers an' leave these Hand jokers to me."

"Gotcha, Logan." The Wasp confirmed as she fired a bio-blast at one of the armored troopers, only to be shocked as he apparently shrugged it off, and returned fire with his blaster, nearly hitting his diminutive target. "Damn!" The petite Avenger cursed as she fired blast after blast, all to no effect. "What do we have to do to knock these guys out?!"

"Wait a sec — I got troubles o' my own right now, Jannie!" Pete shouted as he ducked and rolled, just dodging an energy bolt fired by one of the troopers. "Looks like Logan's got his own problems too."

"Yeah... I can see that!" Jan shouted back as she saw Logan emerge from the bottom of a pile of Hand assassins and then leap at one of the troopers. Then, trying once again to stop one of the troopers closing on their position, Jan swore as her blasts continued to have little effect. "Even with their armor, I oughtta be stunning these jokers — but they just get up and keep coming..."

But before she could finish her sentence, the British agent yelled, "Dive, Jannie!"

Instinctively following his orders, Jan executed a power dive as she felt an object whiz by her. "What the hell was that!?"

"That was Logan!" Wisdom yelled back, not completely able to suppress a smile as he glanced back to see that the feral Canadian had landed square in one of the stack of pallets. "Fall back to the alcove, Jannie — I'll cover you — then you, me — got it!"

"Got it!" Jan yelled back as she withdrew while Pete let loose a spray of hot knives, temporarily delaying their relentless pursuers, and then, seeing that his partner had reached the pallets, ran back to join her and their new companion while she covered his retreat with a series of bio-blasts.

"You're gonna have to take off the gloves, love." Pete snarled as he saw the troopers once again continue their advance. "That's the only way you're gonna get through that armor." Wisdom then released a spray of hot knives that penetrated the armor of one of the troopers, causing him to collapse to the floor screaming.

"Kid's right, Waspie. You're gonna have to go at 'em full tilt." The Canadian X-Man then leaped, driving his adamantium claws deep into the bowels of the armor clad Ultimatum trooper facing him, the momentum of his thrust lifting his opponent off his feet.

"Wisdom... Logan, I'm an Avenger — we don't kill!" Jan cried out as she dodged another energy beam. But the armored troopers were getting closer and closer and her stun blasts were having no effect. Glancing briefly at the Black Air agent who was becoming more than just a partner and an ally to her, she could see him grimace as he launched another spread of hot knives from his fingers, bringing down yet another opponent. However, every time one went down, another took his place. Jan knew that sooner or later, they would be overrun.

"Pym, we got no choice here — there's too damn many of 'em and they're all armored and hyped up on that damned drug!" Wisdom snapped as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Your stun blasts just ain't puttin' these bastards down! If you don't cut loose, we're all gonna pop our clogs!" Pete called back to her as he strained to launch another burst of his mutant energy. They were all beginning to tire, but the troopers kept coming. Logan could only kill one of them at a time with his claws, and, thanks to the resiliency of their armor, it generally took more than one thrust to finally put them down. And as for Pete, he had to first penetrate their armor, and then go for the killing blow. While he was more than holding his own, one look at the British spy told Jan that he couldn't last much longer.

The Wasp fought down a wave of nausea as she witnessed Logan disemboweling his enemy, and then glancing at Pete, winced as she saw the strain on his face as he staggered briefly before sending forth another stream of hot knives, barely dodging the red flash from an energy weapon as he did so. She then looked at the Ultimatum troopers and Hand assassins as they continued to rush their position and knew that the Black Air agent and the feral X-Man were right. "Please!" Jan called out to the onrushing men, making one last, vain effort at reason. "Please! Don't make me do this. I don't want to, but you're giving me no choice!" She then barely dodged a bolt that almost grazed her wings, forcing her to momentarily tumble end over end. Even in her shrunken state, the tightness of the corridor they were trapped in was making dodging difficult. The only things keeping Wisdom from being hit was the crates he was hiding behind and his incredible luck. As for Logan — energy bolts, flechettes, and shuriken ripped into his flesh, taxing his mutant healing powers to their limits. But even he couldn't take the punishment much longer.

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Jan realized that she had no choice. The stream of tears now becoming a flood, she adjusted the bio-blasts recently augmented by her husband to fire at full power. Crying, she took aim at a young man clad in modified combat armor who looked like he was just into his twenties, with brown hair and hazel eyes that glared from both the zeal of fanaticism for his cause and from the effects of the conditioning program that had been fed into his synapses, now aiming one of the stolen energy weapons at her. As his finger pressed down on the firing button of the blaster, Jan let loose a burst of bioenergy from her hand, hitting her hapless foe in the chest. Hearing his scream as the energy from her blast burned a hole through both the combat armor and his midsection, Janet Pym — Avenger, heiress, socialite, and fashion designer — sobbed in grief both for the young man whose life she had just taken and for her lost innocence.

Pete saw the bio-blast coming from the Wasp and then saw the man taking aim at her crumple to the floor, only this time not to get back up. Knowing what the Avenger was going through, he glanced at her with rare compassion, as he saw, even in her miniaturized form, the tears cascading down her cheeks. Knowing that right now he could say nothing to make her feel better, and that they still faced too many enemies, he gave her a sympathetic look, and then, returning to the battle, readied another blast of hot knives for their oncoming foes.

Jan had hoped that they would stop attacking and run away — but they wouldn't — the drugs and implants wouldn't let them. They continued firing at her and her allies as they rushed their position once again. Knowing that she had no choice, the Wasp, her eyes puffy from her tears, flew above the onrushing terrorists and fired her bio-blasts at one, then at a second, then a third, bringing them all down in smoldering heaps. Her partner then fired another burst of his hot knives, adding to the destruction beneath her as Wolverine, with a feral growl, emerged from underneath another pile of Hand assassins and Ultimatum troopers, his claws extending from the already disintegrating bodies of two of them. As the smell from the burning bodies reached her nose, she started to retch and then heard Pete call out to her, "Wasp — the control center — you got to get there and shut it down before they turn loose any more of these soddin' wankers! We'll cover you here — go!"

Seeing everything now through a red haze, Jan zipped toward the end of the corridor, and flying past the door, strafed three more troopers as they approached. This time, there were no tears — the tiny Avenger was all cried out as she blew the door to the control center, and now fully overtaken by rage and fear, she opened up with her bio-blasts on anyone or anything that moved. As Pete and Logan finished the last of their antagonists, they heard the series of explosions coming from the control room. "Christ!" Pete swore as he struggled to his feet, nearly exhausted by his struggle. "When the little woman cuts loose — she cuts loose!"

"Yeah." The feral Canadian, calming down from his own berserker rage, said in a soft voice. "Kid...I think you oughta be there when she comes down — she's gonna need someone ta talk to."

Pete then sighed as he remembered his first time. "Yeah, Logan. You're right." Then, looking down the corridor at the carnage caused by the Wasp's bio-blasts at full strength, Wisdom shook his head. "An' blokes call her the weakest Avenger!"

Her rapid shallow breaths accentuating her dry sobs, the Wasp hovered above the wreckage of the control room — the twisted metal wreckage combined with almost equally twisted human wreckage turning the room into a warped parody of a Dali or Picasso painting. As Jan saw the body of a female lab tech lying draped over her, surprisingly still intact, computer console, she shivered. 'I did all this?' the tormented Avenger cried as she continued to hover. 'What will Cap and the others say when they find out? What will Hank say?' Then, hearing the sound of shoes hitting floor tile, Jan wheeled around sharply, her bio-blast still charged at full intensity.

"Hold on there now!" The sound of a familiar East-London accent caused the petite Avenger to drop her hand as she resumed her normal height. "Look, Jannie..." Pete began, somewhat uneasily as he took out a handkerchief and, slowly and gently so as not to startle his still jittery partner, wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. As he saw her puffy face and red eyes, the British agent managed a wan, tender smile. "We'll talk about this later... I promise, love... but right now we still have work to do — right?"

Reaching her hand up, she gently touched the back of her partner's hand as he finished wiping the tears from her face. "I'll be ok, Pete." The tormented Avenger said in a trembling voice that immediately told her partner that she was going to need very careful handling. "So what do we do now?" The Wasp, determined to prove to her partner that she was coping, asked.

"First thing, we see if anyone's still alive." Pete said as he moved towards the woman lying on the computer console, and checking her pulse, smiled. "We got a live one here."

"I got a couple too." Logan called out as he came into the room, propelling two Ultimatum members before him. "This one here..." Logan flashed a feral grin as he grasped the collar of one of the troopers' shirts, twisting it, "Looks like someone important. I caught him tryin' to make for one of the bolt holes Coy's got."

Then, a manila folder on the desk next to the injured woman caught the Black Air agent's eye. "What's this, then?" Wisdom asked as he perused the contents of the folder. "Fucking hell!" Wisdom cursed as he handed the folder to his chestnut haired partner.

"Pete? Does this mean what I think it does?" Jan asked, her blood suddenly running cold as she handed the folder back to the British agent.

"Yeah." Wisdom said as he then handed the folder to Logan, who, upon reading the data inside it, began to growl menacingly at the prisoners on the floor. "The sodding bastards! They took this poor sod's family as hostage to force him to undergo their fucking experiments!"

Drawing from her years of experience as a lab assistant for her husband, Jan shook her head. "They needed someone who had the X-chromosome, but who was either a latent or who possessed an unobtrusive power..."

"And who had a family or something else that would work as leverage to make sure he cooperates." Pete said, finishing his partner's thoughts.

"These bastards are tryin' to start a war between normals and mutants." Logan cursed as he looked down at the prisoners. "But we still don't know exactly where — or when — their hit team and that sucker they exposed to Osborn's formula are gonna strike."

"We also have to find out where they're holding his family — and quickly." Jan said as she turned towards the prisoners, Jan then demanded, "Ok — two questions — where are you keeping Norris' family, and where and when are you going to strike?"

Looking up at the diminutive Avenger, the Ultimatum officer, knowing that the Avengers scrupulously followed a rigid code of conduct where it concerned the treatment of prisoners sneered, "I'm not telling you a goddamn thing, Avenger. By the time you figure out on your own what happened, it'll be too late — our weapon's family will already be dead, and he'll have already completed his mission, and Ultimatum will have begun to accomplish its holy goal of Unification."

"Right. Then we do this the hard way." Wisdom flashed an icy grin of his own as he regarded the unfortunate Ultimatum officer. Turning back towards Jan, Wisdom softened his voice, "Jannie...you wanna do us a favor, love? This place is probably still shielded against cell phones. Why don't you go out an' give Tai a call an' ask him to send his people an' some meat wagons over." Then, remembering that they would probably still need a quinjet, The Black Air agent quickly added, "An' while you're at it, give your people a call about sendin' over somethin' that'll get us back home quick — I got a feeling we're going to be needing it."

Jan, taking one last look at the carnage she had wrought, then at the steely looks her two partners were giving the Ultimatum officer, turned to leave. As she left the room, she heard the feral Canadian's low growl as he extended his claws. "Ok Bub — we can play this one o' two ways — you either tell us what we wanna know, or I'm gonna start with your fingers with my claws while my partner starts with your toes with his hot knives, an' take a guess where we're gonna meet." As she heard the X-Man's words, she stopped and began to turn to go back into the room to stop the interrogation. She then remembered the battle that she had just fought and what her and her teammates had just discovered. Knowing that the lives of a mother, two children, and an infant, as well as thousands, maybe even millions or billions, of innocents could well depend on how quickly they got the information that those men possessed, and then recalling their prisoner's arrogant response to her demand, Jan reluctantly admitted to herself that there was no choice. Turning back to the now closed door, she saw the tell tale flash from her partner's hot knives from the tiny crack at the bottom of the door, followed almost immediately afterwards by a howl of pain and cries and whimpering. Steeling herself as she lost yet another piece of her innocence, Jan turned and walked away.

Shaking his head, Logan eyed the now unconscious Ultimatum lieutenant and his bound and gagged associates while Wisdom finished removing the hard drive from the computer console. "Got what ya need, Kid?"

"Yeah, Old Man." Wisdom said grimly as he put the hard drive in a protective satchel. "Sure you don't want our help rescuin' that poor sod's family?"

"I got it handled." Logan said in a grim voice of his own. "You an' the little lady just get your asses over to London pronto. Chuckles has 'Roro an' Petey there with him, but they're probably gonna be busy with the new kid so they might not be there when he needs 'em. It's gonna be up to you an' the Wasp to keep him an' Moira in one piece."

"Right, Logan." Pete said as he placed a hand on the former Canadian agent's shoulder and then turned to leave.

"Oh...one other thing kid..." Logan said in a soft voice as the sounds of sirens pierced the pre-dawn night. "Tell your partner from me that she's damned good and she can work with me anytime."

"I will, Old Man." Wisdom responded, a note of pride in his voice. "She did do a damned good job tonight — didn't she?"

End Part 5. I apologize for the severe lateness in my stories, but this has been an incredibly difficult semester and I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who has so patiently waited. After the end of the semester, I am hoping to be able to once again have my stories come out in a timelier manner. Thank you again.