My name is Elektra Natchios and I have been many things in my life.

Student, ninja, assassin, and now I'm the last of the Chaste. For many years I was without them as the anger and the darkness within my soul was contrary to their teachings and principles but I managed to progress past that and learnt to be the kind of person they needed but it was too late and they were all but wiped out by our enemies, who in their turn have been destroyed.

However, my life ended in that battle and I was resurrected for a second time thanks to the machinations of Donald Pierce and the powers of Mephisto and I recovered. The Chaste are gone and the only other person who could help me rebuild what was destroyed has fallen in to the hands of his enemies and he is lost to me.

Logan. The X-Man known as Wolverine.

I was charged by Stick to aid him, a warrior who walked the Path of the Chaste. I helped him back, restored his humanity after he was almost destroyed by Genesis and in the months we were together we became friends, but trouble in both our lives drove us apart. After a while we were reunited in a common cause and we fell in love but the machinations of the Shadow King contrived to keep us apart and we were only able to have a few months together, in peace, before I died again.

By the time I recovered I had almost lost him again to the Shadow King and before he was taken away from me again we had decided to marry. Now Logan is gone, fallen to the darkness he tried to fight and I am alone, but not entirely for while the man I love has been stolen from me, within my head I possess the persona of Wolverine.

Logan's mind, or a copy of it, is implanted within me, a dying gift from Elena Ivanova. What she wants me to do with it, I'm not yet sure and I also have to learn to cope with the memories inside my head that are not mine. If I focus I can hear him in my head, or at least an aspect of him and that at least gives me comfort. I've known him for so long, and yet in his lifetime it is almost the blink of an eye.

He has lived over one hundred and twenty five years, fought in many wars and done many things, things I can see, things I can live through his eyes and I know what he would want me to do. He would want me to stay away from him, but that is the one thing I cannot do. I cannot leave him, because he would not leave me and though the price may be high, I have to try, I have to attempt to free the man I love.

For two weeks I have waited here, thinking of my next move and learning to deal with his mind within me and knowing what he knows, using the methods of the Chaste to cope with what I now have in my mind, and finally I am ready. I understand him on levels that nobody else alive ever will, I know his moves, his moods, his skills, his capabilities. I will find Logan again and I will restore Wolverine to his former glory.

I made a promise that I will restore the Chaste, and I need him for that.

I have done many things, but I do not break a promise.

"How's it going?" Viper asked as she wandered down to the lab and Dr Jamie Munoz looked at her.

"The adamantium feeds are fine, he's being infused with the metal as we speak," he said. "We've inserted the servos to his muscles to enable him to free the claws, because otherwise the weight would strain his wrist every time he extended or retracted them. As I understand they did it the first time they bonded the adamantium to him. Lady Deathstrike kindly donated them."

"How is he though?"

"Physically he's fine, the bonding process is occurring, mentally... I can't say just yet."

"Why?"

"He's been through this process three times now. Three times. The first time we know he was savage, feral. The second time he rejected it and in doing so he regressed his humanity. A third time..."

"I understand," she said. "I want to see him."

"Of course," said Munoz and he pressed a button on the console and the covers slipped open to reveal a circular tank in which Logan floated, his body peppered with feeds for the adamantium, which they could see flowing through the piping. His eyes were closed, and they could see the air against his mask indicating that he was still breathing.

"Interesting," said Viper as she wandered close to him and she looked down at his eyelids, seeing the movement. "He's dreaming."

"Yes," said Munoz. "You should see the spikes in brainwave activity. Whatever's going on in there..."

"Is incredibly interesting," said the Shadow King as his presence descended on them. "My father's subconscious is quite interesting, and his mind has been so subverted that any spark of the decency he used to have is gone."

"What is he dreaming of?" Viper asked. "Out of curiosity?"

"The past," said the Shadow King. "And how he feels it should have played out. However we need to know the answer that you came down here for, Mother."

"I was getting around to it."

"We need to be certain there is no proof, nothing to connect Logan's paternity to Jacob."

"His bloodwork is changing," Munoz confirmed. "The adamantium in his body is altering his body chemistry, so if there was to be a test done, there would be no possible way that he could be considered your father."

"Excellent," said the Shadow King. "Fury was right about the test between Logan and Creed. Which reminds me, when the process is done with we're going send the father after the son and ensure that Victor Creed does not interfere in our plans - now or ever."

"He'll be ready in twenty four hours," said Munoz.

"I think it might be an ideal opportunity to reacquire our other subject," said Viper. "Miss Drew has been out of the way for a long time. Once we have her then everything will be in place."

"Agreed," said the Shadow King. "That leaves just one loose end - Elektra."

"You still can't locate her?"

"I can see the minds of everyone on the planet, except hers," he said. "It's not a trick of the Chaste either, as Logan has provided me everything I need on that arcane institution. It's as if her mind simply isn't there."

"That would explain how she was able to sneak up on Nate Grey," said Viper. "If she is indeed invisible to telepathy..."

"Then she is a bigger problem than I would like. It may be necessary to keep her occupied. As I understand it there are still warrants out for her arrest. Perhaps Interpol would like to be informed as to her possible locations?" Viper smiled.

"I'll see to it myself," she said and she departed, leaving Munoz and the Shadow King alone.

"I am pleased with what you have accomplished here," he said to the doctor. "I will see you are well rewarded for your efforts."

"I serve the will of Hydra," said Munoz.

"Yes," said the Shadow King. "In time, everyone else will as well."

"Welcome to the X-Men, Mr Logan." The bald-headed gentleman in the wheelchair looked intently at him.

"Just Logan," he said. "Gotta say, this is kind of an interestin' place you have here. Mutant Academy, so to speak."

"Yes," said Xavier. "While I would have preferred to have had you on the rescue mission, you were out doing other things, as I understand."

"Yeah, pity," said Logan as he lit a cigar. "So it all got sorted?"

"Yes, the X-Men were rescued and there were no casualties, which is fortunate."

"I'll bet," said Logan and Xavier's gaze shifted, his eyes adjusting their focus.

"Is something the matter?" he asked. "You seem rather preoccupied…" Logan could feel the buzzing in the back of his mind and he knew that Xavier was scanning him and he knew it was now or never.

"Yeah, I got a message for you."

"From Department H?" Xavier asked.

"No, from Ahmal Farouk." Xavier's eyes went wide, remembering the name from times past but before he could say anything else, the claws shot from the back of Logan's hands and three pieces of foot long adamantium lodged themselves in the Professor's throat.

Inside the mansion a young woman screamed as she felt the death of her mentor in her mind, and the X-Men were alerted to the assassin on the grounds but Farouk had told him this might happen and that he should keep his senses ready. He hadn't needed telling and in an instant the stench of brimstone filled his nostrils and he knew that there was somebody there.

"Murderer!!" a voice said, the language spoken was German, but Logan knew it as well as any other and he struck with lightning fast speed, leaping up to meet the creature coming down, grabbing it's throat with both hands as it grabbed his with a tail, but Logan wasn't to strangle him, instead he snapped the creature's neck and the tail went limp around him as he slashed it free. He had to have been Nightcrawler, Logan though. Two X-Men were dead, and the others would soon follow and he was thrown back by as some kind of energy blast struck him.

"I don't know what your game is, mister," said Cyclops, "but you'll regret the day you ever started with the X-Men."

"Not gonna happen, One-Eye," said Logan and as Cyclops fired again, Logan was moving. The other X-Men were starting to appear now and this was going to be an interesting fight, but he could smell the fear on them and he new that their horror at seeing two of their number dead would make them sloppy. They were kids, and this was not what they had signed on for. He could hear the sonic scream of Banshee coming and he moved, striking Cyclops, knocking the visor from his face and his eye blasts fired wildly, striking Banshee as he approached. This had two effects, sending him high in to the air and stunning him and he began to plummet to the floor.

"I'll get him!" Storm said and went after him, leaving Thunderbird and Colossus.

"Two Reds," said Logan. "Gotta be my lucky day…" The Man of Steel came towards him first, using all his speed and power, but for everything he had seen he was still inexperienced and Logan was a fighter, a killer and he'd been trained by the best to be the best there was at what he did. He leapt up and over the six foot Colossus and turned so that as he landed, his claws raked the young Russian's back and his spinal cord, while made of steel, was ravaged and Colossus fell to the floor paralysed, nothing more than a living work of art.

"Just leaves you and me, Redskin," said Logan as he sheathed his claws. "Ain't gonna need the hardware for you."

"I'm tougher than anyone you've faced," Thunderbird said.

"Don't kid yourself, boy," Logan said. "Even give you the first shot."

"Mistake," said Thunderbird and struck at him. Logan didn't even roll with the punch and Thunderbird's fist ploughed in to his jaw, staggering him but not flooring him and the Indian grabbed his fist in pain.

"So you're fast, strong, a great tracker - you're nothing but a poor imitation o' me, without any of the benefits." Thunderbird's eyes grew cold as his anger grew and he charged at Logan who stepped aside. The Apache shifted his approach but it threw him slightly off and Logan was waiting, sending his elbow in to the young man's gut then meeting it with his fist against the Indian's nose as he doubled over and the speed he was going at ensured that fragments of his shattered nasal bone entered his brain and Thunderbird fell dead.

"This is getting too easy," he said as he looked to see Cyclops scrabbling around on the floor to find his visor, which Logan stepped on and crushed under foot. Then he felt the air charge around him and he moved just as a bolt of lightning hit him. Storm had rescued Banshee and was now in the battle as the weather around him changed. He could feel it getting colder and he knew she was trying to break him down with the elements, but the cold didn't bother him.

Then she shifted tack and summoned the winds to lift him high in to the air and then she let him go and Logan shifted his descent. He knew that the adamantium would protect him from being broken and that his healing factor would repair the rest of the damage, it would just be a case of how long it took for that to happen. Storm didn't know that though - for all she knew he would be smashed to pieces on impact and that was fine by him. He would play possum and then he would finish them off one at a time, but first he had to ensure he landed right and he could see just what he needed to cushion the fall and he struck Cyclops as if he were a weight in a cartoon and Cyclops body simply exploded under the impact.

Logan tried to stand but he couldn't move, not yet and he closed his eyes and played dead. Soon enough he would finish the X-Men. Then he'd move on to Alpha Flight. Soon.

Very, very soon…

"Elektra."

"Forge," I say and I can see he's concerned about how I got this far in to the SHIELD headquarters. "I'm sorry to burst in unannounced like this, but…"

"Sorry?" echoes Forge and he sits down in his chair, looking at me. "Elektra, I've just been informed that the warrants outstanding for you are still active. Plus the Canadian's want to speak to you about a jet of theirs that was found parked on the front lawn of Xavier's."

"I needed a ride," I say, looking at him. "I also need everything you have on Hydra."

"Hydra?" he says and I can see his heart sinking. After what's happened because of them, I understand his reluctance. The thefts had made the news and questions were being asked, questions that had no real answer. "Why?"

"They have Logan," I say. "The Shadow King has him and has turned him in to one of his people. I need to find him and get him out, but I need to know what's going on with them and SHIELD generally has the answers."

"Not this time," Forge answers. "How many more of us does the Shadow King want? First Peter, then Fury, now Logan and the others… This is getting out of hand."

"I know," I reply. "Forge, I think I can save Logan. I have a copy of him in my mind, something that maybe can be used to restore him to what he used to be."

"I wish we were all that lucky," Forge said. "I wish I could help you, Elektra, I really do, but Hydra's gone to ground. If we could find them, I'd send in X-Force and bring the bodies back…"

"Bodies?"

"An internal thing," he says and I can see it's hit him hard, whatever it is that's happened. "At least for now."

"I could help…"

"Out of the question. There's too many people after you, too much information about you in the public domain over your involvement in some killings and there's also word on the street they want to speak to you about the Kingpin case."

"I thought it collapsed…"

"Not officially," Forge replied. "Let's just say there are people keeping an eye on Wilson Fisk. SO to speak." I smile thinking of who he can mean and there really only is one person. I've not thought of Matt in a long time. "Elektra, there's a lot of people out there who're after you. A lot of money on your head. It died down once, but it won't this time. Someone's pulling strings in high places."

"The Shadow King," I say. I can feel his hand in this. He knows I'll be coming for Logan and this keeps me out of the way.

"Possibly," Forge admits and I can see he's tired. The last few weeks have been long. "I'm sorry I can't help."

"So am I," I say softly but as I turn to leave he says "Wait" and I turn.

"I don't know if you know her, but Jessica Drew is being monitored by SHIELD at the moment. She's been a target before, and with all that's happened she may be again. Maybe she can help you. It would mean you hacking the SHIELD files while I'm out of the office looking at, I don't know, a faulty coffee machine…" He smiles and I nod and then he stands and leaves the room, placing a hand on my shoulder as he does and I know he's a good man. I sit down and I get an address from the computer for a safe house where she's staying.

She was used by the Shadow King as well, experimented on by Arnim Zola and she's only just recovered from it after the Apocalypse reality distortion phenomenon. I think I need to pat her a visit.

"Hello, my love," Viper say as I open my eyes. My throat's raw and I'm tired as hell but seeing her staring down at me revives me a little more and I smile.

"Mornin' darlin'," I answer her as I pull her towards me, her tongue meeting mine before our lips do and I roll her over so she's pinned down under my body.

"You're heavier," she says.

"That'll be the adamantium," I reply.

"I see ot went as well as could be expected," she says. "I thought after such an operation you would be… well, drained."

"I may be tired, but I ain't down. In fact I'm pretty up."

"I can tell," she says. "But do you still have the same touch?"

"Let's see," I say and I flex the muscles in my arm, feeling the mechanisms in my forearms trigger, a sensation I've not felt in a long time.

~SNICKT~

The claws come out, gleaming in the half light and I slowly trace the body of my wife and her clothes simply drop away, without a mark on her.

"Yeah. I still got it," I say as I open her legs and she smiles because she knows I really am the best there is at whatever I do.