I ain't fond of hospitals. They stir somethin' in my mind that triggers some kind of response in me, perhaps some kind of memory of the Weapon X project. Might also be somethin' to do with the fact I don't need hospitals myself.

I'm a mutant, gifted with a healin' factor that cures me from any ailment, repairs broken bones and fixes damaged tissues. I also got a set of bone claws and hyper-acute senses. As mutations go it's quite a good one, and not as obvious as some out there.

However my powers are person specific, an' are non-transferable, unless you're Rogue. So while I don't need hospitals, my friends, my family do. Which brings me back to the here and now. Tyger Tiger's in there, comatose from a beating she got at the hands of some goons from Hydra. That was three days ago and' she ain't woken yet.

Doc's said there was a sub-dural haematoma, or a blood clot on her brain to everyone else. They've done what they can for her, but whether or not she wakes up is down to her now. She's got no other friends, no family. There's only me, an' I ain't leavin' until she wakes up.

I'm tryin' not to think of Elektra. I'll find her again. I know I will. I have to but Tyger takes priority here.

What I've been thinkin' about is the Shadow King, Viper, Hydra and what they're doing and more to the point what they've done. Hydra have bailed on Madripoor, there's none of 'em left in town. My quest to find the truth of what happened in World War 2 has been a success an' failure all rolled in to one.

I've started to remember things about what went on, but I gotta feelin' that I'm being allowed to remember. I ain't slept in three days so I ain't remembered any more as yet. While I'm tired, I ain't off my guard. There's a lot of people in this place that'd be happy to see both Tgyer and me dead, and there's the sound of footsteps. Can't pick up a scent, though and I turn.

"Logan."

"Nick? What the hell are you doin' here?" Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD and an old friend, makin' a social call? Unlikely.

"How is she?" asks Fury as he looks in to her room.

"Touch and go," I mutter, notin' that he ain't answered my question.

"Logan," he says, as he looks at me. "You look like hell. When was the last time you slept?"

"Few days ago."

"Get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on her fer you," he says. "We'll talk when you wake."

"Bub..."

"If anything happens, I'll wake yer." I nod and take him up on his offer.

London, 1942

"Excellent work, Logan," said General Makepiece as he finished the debriefing. The microfilm that Logan had brought back from Berlin had brought back all the information they had needed. "These plans are precisely what we need for the war. With this information we can drive the Axis out of Egypt and maybe further."

"There were no problems in getting these plans?" asked Lord Falsworth. This had been covered but Falsworth was sceptical as to the ease of the mission and with things poised as they were treachery would be a deciding factor.

"Nope," said Logan. "There was minimal resistance. I just figured they thought it impossible for someone to get in and photograph the plans."

"The arrogance of them!" sighed Makepiece. "Still, it's that arrogance that will be their downfall."

"I agree," said Logan, though there was an edge to his voice that Falsworth didn't like, as if there were someone else in there with him. As an Invader, Falsworth knew the possibilities of such a thing, however until Logan did something out of character, or his information turned out to be wrong, they would not be able to do anything.

"However, we do have a new mission for you," said Makepiece. "Something a little easier, to keep you out of sight until the Egypt campaign."

"What do you need me to do?" asked Logan and Falsworth looked up at him again. The edge in his voice had gone and he wondered if he had imagined it.

"There's a resistance cell in Greece that we want you to visit, bring them up to speed on guerrilla tactics."

"Sounds interesting."

"Yes," said Makepiece. "You'll be keeping the rank of Corporal as we feel it may come in useful for you in later operations. These men are skilled with guns, however they need training with explosives and knives."

"When do I leave?" asked Logan.

"Next Thursday," said Major West. "Department K have released you from its operations list for this. You've done good work, here. Take it easy, but not too easy."

"Yes, sir," said Logan and left the room. Outside, the Shadow King manifested himself as Logan walked down the corridor. Everything was proceeding as he'd planned. Of course for things to work as well as he needed them, Logan would have to conveniently forget what was going to happen, but he could arrange that.

The Allied powers would be weakened and the Third Reich would indeed fall, but on his terms. Neither side would know the extent of how they were being played and those who he 'served' would be defeated and the world would be prepared for the coming of the next genus of humanity, with the Shadow King at its command.

"Logan?" I wake up to someone shaking me, but more than that I know what happened back then. I know what the Shadow King did to me and I know what I did for him. Then I realize somethin'.

This ain't the hospital in Madripoor. In fact I'm feelin' a little groggy as I try to stand. I look up to see Fury, dressed in full uniform with a band of SHIELD agents behind him.

"What's goin' on, Nick?"

"Orders from above, Logan. I got told to bring you and Miss Hoan in to custody."

"What are the charges?"

"You're up for high treason, she's up for drug smugglin'. We spoke with the law agencies in Madripoor and they saw no problems in extraditin' the both of ya."

"Treason?" I say, puttin' on a bluff. "Where's yer proof?"

"Parcel got delivered to Washington, with details of your activities in World War Two."

"Really?" I ask. "It genuine?"

"Probably not," admits Fury, "but orders are orders."

"Huh. Where's Tyger?"

"In our medical facilities aboard the Helicarrier, just down the corridor. You gents are dismissed." His guards take a walk. "We hit you with a pretty hefty sedative, Logan. It'll wear off in a moment or so, but we need to talk."

"Damn right."

"Look, Logan. You were askin' about the war last time we spoke, and I did some diggin' of my own. What's the deal with the Shadow King?"

"How...?"

"SHIELD were involved during the Muir Island Saga, so I got all the information we needed on the so-called Shadow King direct from Charles Xavier. I checked on your info from the NSA and I saw the reports. I saw that Ahmal Farouk co-signed your confession. The Shadow King, right?" I nod and Nick sits down. "What happened back then?"

I tell him the story of how I was captured and experimented on, then used by the Shadow Council to do acts of espionage for them. The Shadow King notwithstandin', the whole treason deal is 100% true.

Greece, 1942

One week after the battle of El Alamein and the defeat of Axis powers in Germany, Logan was getting ready to go back to Canada after his months of training the resistance movement in Greece, however before he could leave an event occurred as a young woman arrived at the cell, looking for one of the fighters, with tragic news.

"The SS killed your mother, Stavros! The pig who gave the order was a Luftwaffe colonel named Schlage!" Stavros eyes closed for an instant, and then he opened them again and picked up his rifle from the table.

"This Schlage is a dead man!" he said, his fury and grief boiling over. "I swear it..." Logan grabbed the man's arm, as there was a tingling in the back of his mind.

"If you do it with that, you're going to bring the whole Waffen SS regiment on us," said the Corporal, looking at the rifle. Then he passed him the knife from his belt. "Take this and do it quiet, the way I showed you. I'll come along and cover your back." Then he picked up a spade. "I prefer the E-tool for close work myself."*

(* Taken from the dialogue in Wolverine #106 - David)

Stavros nodded in agreement at the wisdom of the plan.

"Thank you, Canada," he said. He turned to the runner who had brought them the information. "Where are they?" he asked of her.

"They went back to their headquarters," she replied. "In the SS compound."

"Let's go," said Logan. "We'll be back by sun up." Stavros led the way and they made their way in silence, or what seemed to be silence.

"Hello, Logan," said the Shadow King, speaking directly in to his mind. "I have a job for you, courtesy of Baron Zemo. Apparently this Schlage is actually an Allied agent. It was not he who ordered the killing, but Zemo using his name. You are to kill Schlage, however papers will say he is on the Russian Front. His death will ensure that Allied Intelligence lose a vital operative. Once the mission is done and you are home, you will forget your time in Greece and if anyone asks, say it is classified."

Logan did not respond as the Shadow King had programmed him not to and made his way to the compound. The two men did plenty of damage to the camp, but Schlage was nowhere to be found, and Logan found papers saying he had been ordered to Russia.

"Take it back to base," said Logan. "I'll tidy up."

"Certainly, Canada," said Stavros and he left. Once Logan was sure he was gone, he quickly hunted down Schlage.

"I know you," said the Colonel. "You are Logan. We both work for General Makepiece."

"Not anymore, bub," said Logan as bone claws shot out, just below his wrists with a SCHLUKT.

"What are you?" asked Schlage, as to both what he was and whom he worked for. Logan didn't answer with words, but let the claws speak for him as he ripped through the man's jugular, tearing out his throat. The colonel was not even able to scream and Logan left him in a pool of his own blood to count the seconds until he actually died. He retracted his claws and went back to the camp.

"My God," said Nick, seeing the shame in my eyes at the memories. "And that's just one of the things you did back then?

"Gets worse, bub." I can barely bring myself to say this one. "That piece of paper that sparked the interrogation in '44? I was involved."

"With Cap being frozen? How?"

America, 1944

Logan had been back with Canadian Intelligence for a while, traveling over the world doing jobs for both sides, passing along information to both sides. The things he was doing could never be traced back to him, but there were people who were still suspicious of him.

Lord Falsworth had told his suspicions to the one man he trusted without question, the man known as Captain America. He had confided in him what he felt about the man and Cap agreed to look into things, having worked with Logan before in 1941. While he had only worked with him briefly, he had gotten a good measure of the man* and he caught up with him in America.

(* In Uncanny X-Men #268 - David)

Logan was there to back up Fury's version of events. Fury had become more of a spy than a soldier now and he and Logan did missions together from time to time. There had been a tip from one of their agents in Egypt that Hitler's super-men, including the Red Skull and Baron Zemo, had gotten together in a lot to eliminate Hitler from the war and take over, and Logan and Fury had been sent to investigate.

Just after Christmas they had gone in to the heartland of the enemy and now they were back halfway through January. It had turned out that this 'Shadow Council' as they had been codenamed had gathered together several times, however internal disagreements had broken their meetings up.

As they made their report, Ahmal Farouk smiled as he watched the events. He had pointed the finger at the Shadow Council, and put them under investigation. He knew the Allied powers would find only what Logan allowed them to find and that the reports were the truth insofar as the Shadow King had ruined their meeting, turning their own treacherous idiosyncrasies on each other. They would never be able to meet again, for now Hitler was aware of these meetings and was keeping a tighter grip on them.

There were very few telepaths in the world and he wondered if any of them had the imagination or vigour to do what he was doing. He watched the reporting through the eyes of his operative and watched as Captain America confronted him.

"Logan!"

"Cap," replied Logan. "Problem?"

"No, it's just that there are people who are worried about you. I'm just making sure that everything is okay?"

"Fine," replied Logan. "You heard anything of Natasha?"

"No," answered the Captain. "You?"

"Not much," he replied. "I'd love to chat, Cap, but I've got a briefing in ten minutes. Gonna get a smoke. Good talking with ya."

"Likewise," said the Captain and went to find a secure line. What he didn't notice was that Logan followed him and listened in on the conversation he was having.

"I spoke with Logan, as you asked... I didn't notice anything, but there was a feeling I got about him... Yes... Yes... I'll see what I can do... If I can keep an eye on him, I will. I don't think he's working for the Axis though... Okay... Talk with you later." Cap left the room and walked away, not noticing Logan.

Well, thought the Shadow King. I can't have this. Perhaps the Shadow Council can do one more task for me. It's time to put an end to Captain America, once and for all.

About a month later, both the Captain and his partner Bucky Barnes had been killed on a mission against Baron Zemo, however it had been a trap to do away with both of them, set up using Logan's knowledge of their movements. The event had been so finely timed and spaced that there was no real way that Logan could be connected to the event, save by a signed confession.

"However, as it would turn out, that was exactly what they got."

"Logan..." Nick doesn't know what to say, but there's horror in his eyes. The loss of Cap was one of the greatest blows to the Allied forces of the war and he knows it. He and Cap were and are friends. He was also a friend to Bucky Barnes. I can see the turmoil in his mind about the revelation. "I can't believe this."

"Me neither, bub. I've been used by one of the X-Men's oldest enemies and nobody knew about it. Not Xavier, not Jean, nobody. How can I face them or any of our allies again?"

"It wasn't your fault, Logan," says Tyger weakly from the doorway.

"How did you get past your guards?" demands Fury, but she just shrugs and I can see the annoyance in Nick's eyes and I know someone's head is going to roll for this.

"Yeah, but I still did the stuff," I reply as she sits down. I can see she's not feelin' great but she came to find me anyway.

"As I did things in Madripoor, and by your own words I am not to blame, so why should you be?"

"Darlin', it's different..."

"No it is not," she says, takin' my hand. "You cannot blame yourself for everything that happens when it is outside your control."

"She's right, Logan," says Nick. "You've got enough stuff to lose sleep over, don't add this to the list."

"What about my treason charge?"

"The papers signed by Farouk say you've already been convicted of it. I'll present it t'the people in Washington, and hopefully it'll solve that."

"Except I'll have traitor labeled about my neck for the rest of my life."

"'Fraid so. You'll have no official status in intelligence or military. It's gonna be all I can do to keep ya from being deported. I can't stop this from gettin' out."

"You think a court order'll keep me out, bub?"

"Nope," replies Nick, "but if you come back, you will be a fugitive. As I say, I'll do what I can." Tyger squeezes my hand and I know there's a question I have to ask, that I ain't sure about the memory. There's definitely somethin' missing.

"Nick?"

"Logan?"

"What happened to me after the war? After the confession was done?"

"Dunno. It looks like you went back on active duty until the Weapon X project set up."

"Wonder why?"

"Take it up with Farouk, he seems ta be the one who brokered the deal."

"If I ever find him. He's gotten away with Viper. My best guess is that Hydra have a new man in charge."

"Oh great," sighed Nick. "A telepathic entity in charge of those terrorists? That'll not do mutants any favours."

"Don't see you bendin' over backwards to help 'em either," I say, a little more harshly than I meant to. "Nick, I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

"Don't worry about it," answers Fury, but there's a look in his eye that says my comment hurt him. Nick Fury's many things, but he ain't a racist. "You're right."

"Nick, forget it. Am I gonna be here until this is resolved?"

"'Fraid so, Logan. Though Miss Hoan will be transferred to a more secure facility pending her transfer to Ryker's."

"Bub..."

"That's something I can't so anything about, Logan. She's gonna be tried, and with the evidence we have, she's gonna get convicted. Drugs and such are hot items and it'll do the President wonders in the polls."

"Tyger..."

"Do not worry, Logan. It is only right that I stand trial. Hopefully my lawyers will help matters."

"I hope so," I mutter. "Nick, one more thing. See what you can find for me on the location of Elektra. As soon as this is done, I gotta find her."

"Sure," says Nick. "I'll see what I can find."

I look at Tyger and she looks at me. There have been a lot of secrets revealed, but they've left me with more questions. I ain't gonna have too many friends left after this is done, and I gotta find Elektra.

"It will be alright," says Tyger, but I don't have an answer for her.

In the end, what I've lived by my whole life is a lie.