Dawn found the girls sitting on the soft mats of the gym tiredly, their bodies leaning heavily together as they waited impatiently for whoever was supposed to help them train to be real warriors.
The creaking of the door had them sitting up sharply, the exhaustion fading from their eyes to be replaced by cold curiosity and uncertainty. The sound of boots on hard wood had them staring as a tall, blonde haired woman stepped into the room.
Her hair was cut short, more like a boy’s buzz cut than a woman’s stylish cut, her eyes were an ancient, hard grey, and her face bore a strange tattoo. The lines curved around her features, from her temple to her jaw and down under the top of her leotard.
“Morning ladies,” she said, her voice professional, elegant.
“Morning,” Rogue shifted noting the Logan in her head sitting up and assessing the newcomer. The soft growl told of approval, of some hint of recognition and she wondered if he’d fucked the woman at one point. The short, low, negative growl told her he hadn’t and she relaxed slightly.
“So you three want to learn to fight huh?” the woman asked sinking down onto the mat before them and stretching her legs out in front of her.
“Yes,” Kitty nodded quickly, her hand darting up to cover her scars, “We aren’t expendable.”
Nodding the woman pursed her lips slightly before sighing, “Alright. I’m Valkyry, Val for short. I’m also the one person whom you’re gonna hate for a very long time by the time we’re done. Any concerns, questions?”
“Uh Rogue’s skin..” Kitty pointed out with a sad, apologetic look at Rogue who merely shrugged and ducked her chin.
Val laughed softly, “Honey deadly skin is hardly a drawback in fighting. Now then if you’ve never been taught how to fight, we should get started now. Today we’re gonna take it easy, some simple movement exercises to stretch out those muscles, things that will help build strength then I’ll give you a daily regiment to follow. Tomorrow we’ll get started on the harder stuff. Agreed?”
Quickly nodding their agreement the girls followed Val’s lead and rose to their feet – knots forming in their stomachs as they realized that they’d agreed to this, that they were about to get a crash course in living and killing.
“How they doing Val?” Helen asked gently as she settled at the table next to her best friend and took the glass of whiskey offered her.
“Remarkably well actually,” Val replied glancing at the older woman before focusing on the trio of women currently racing around the yard with bags of grain on their shoulders. “Rogue shows a remarkable aptitude for my training, she’s gonna be a hard target to take out.”
Helen smiled, “She’s got Logan in her mind.”
“How’s he doing?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him in years. Heard the military got him and it wasn’t pretty,” Helen shrugged, “Rogue tells me she met him a few years ago and he saved her life a few times. Promised to take care of her, to protect her.”
“Logan? Your Logan made a promise?” Val’s voice and expression revealed her shock and disbelief.
“Yep,” Helen smiled, “Took him long enough if you ask me.”
“I’ll say. So that explains Rogue’s aptitude for kicking ass. Katherine Pryde and Jubilation Lee seem to be advancing quickly as well. I’ve caught them sparring with Rogue a time or two as well.”
“They have more of a reason to want to fight then any of the other mutants here.”
“I can tell. Miss Lee seems to have adjusted to the optic piece quite well. She’s started using it extensively during training. She’s pushing her mind and body to rely on it as much as the other eye, becoming comfortable with its uses and limitations just like a real pro.”
“Glad to hear it. Any drawbacks you can see?”
“Miss Pryde should work a bit more on strengthening her left leg; it seems a hair’s breathe weaker than the rest of her.”
“I’ll take that into account. Any residual affects from their treatment at..”
Val shook her head and glanced at Helen, “They’re still haunted by it but they’re turning that into something to use. Miss Lee especially I’ve noticed is taking a great deal of pride in kicking the ass of anyone who makes an attempt to remind her of her treatment at the hands of those assholes.”
“They reveal where they were before the military got ‘em?”
“Not that I’ve heard,” Val grinned, “Aren’t you the one with superior hearing?”
“I’m not exactly the type to eavesdrop, besides that when I speak to them its more about the darker side of life. They’ve begun to question why them, why they were selected? Those women are beginning to ride that wave into the darkness, into the bitterness that will ultimately make them stronger or kill them.” Helen shrugged, “Besides, I’ve been thinking of Logan, wondering how he’s doing.”
“Ask Rogue, she might be willing to tell you.”
Watching as Val rose and stalked gracefully out of the room Helen nodded to herself. Rogue would help her with any luck. After all the girl had more than a vested interested in Logan, and sometimes when you had love you were a little more determined to keep it safe!
The soft crunch of gravel beneath heavy steps had Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee glancing up to see Helen walking toward them. “Wonder what’s up?” Jubilee mused as the older woman settled next to them.
“Girls,” Helen greeted them.
“How’s it going?”
“Pretty well. Val tells me you’ve been doing excellent in your training.”
Jubilee shrugged, “We’ve got a good motivation.”
Nodding Helen plucked a blade of grass from her pants leg, “I’ve been thinking I should track Logan down, and see if he would be willing to help us out. Any ideas on where to find him?”
“Could be anywhere,” Rogue shrugged uneasily before glancing up to see Helen’s gaze steady on her. “Try Westchester, he might be there. If he’s not, the Professor’ll be able to tell you where he is.”
Helen nodded, “Somehow I don’t think that the Professor’s gonna be too happy to have someone show up on his doorstep and say I want you to find Logan so we can come kick your ass when my girls are ready.”
“I thought you said revenge was something better left to those who were comfortable with it,” Kitty stated calmly, her gaze steady, her expression void of any emotion.
Helen shrugged, “Didn’t say we were going to do it right this minute. Said when you were ready. What he did… stinks of a self-possessed idealist. You have to understand girls, a cause is wonderful, being devoted to that cause is great, being willing to take the risks is fantastic just don’t expect someone else to take them for you. I’ve never asked anything from my people that I wasn’t willing to do.”
“The old farts’ handicapped. Stuck in a wheelchair,” Rogue declared. “He’s a super telepath so it doesn’t bother him.”
“Being handicapped doesn’t change anything. There are ways around it, there are means to do what needs to be done and I’m sorry but that isn’t it. You don’t send a mouse down a snake’s hole; you send a bigger, more deadly snake or something that preys upon the snake. If he’s a mouse he should employ a few mongooses.”
Chuckling at the thought Rogue shrugged, “He’s weak. He doesn’t understand that life’s a bitch and then you die. For him its about respect and appearances..”
“Everything that has no meaning on a battle field darlin’, there’s a reason they have soldiers you know. A warrior has to have nerves of steel, and a will of iron. None of you had that before this.”
“Why do you say that?” Jubilee snarled.
Helen smiled sadly at the softly veiled threat, “Because you got caught on what should have been a simple contact and recovery, because you are here not there. Val’ll teach you everything she knows, she’ll make you sweat blood before you’re done and when she’s finished it’s my turn. I’m gonna teach you how to be a woman on the battlefield. How to use what the good lord gave you to win, how to use what’s between a man’s legs to defeat him.”
“Oh hell no,” Kitty rose smoothly, “I ain’t fuckin’ anyone just get…”
“I didn’t say anything about sex Katharine. I said I’d teach you how to use what you’ve got to distract, to seduce, to kill without ever giving anything to the enemy. You think you’re the first to balk at that line of thinking… you aren’t. I learned from the best, I’ll teach you what it takes to survive hell and walk away unscathed.”
Sharing a glance Rogue with her friends Rogue sighed, “What about Logan?”
Helen smirked slightly, a familiar expression that reeked of the man in question, “Logan? We let him play to.”
Jubilee glanced at Kitty and Rogue before back to the tall woman who sat watching with a calm expression, “What do you get out of this?”
Helen shrugged, “Four new additions to my outfit? Four talented, deadly warriors who are willing to do what it takes to save themselves…and others.”
“What if we don’t want to fight?”
“Don’t, blood doesn’t have to be spilt to win this war,” Helen replied rising to her feet, “Right now our war isn’t with humans, it isn’t with those who would exterminate both mutant and human to save a species… right now our war is with one old man stuck in a chair who thinks his cause is so mighty, so powerful that he’s willing to destroy others to win.”
“Mutual respect.”
“Something like that,” Helen replied, “Think it over. From what I’ve been told you’ve got some night training coming up so I suggest you take it easy. Val’s really good in the dark and she’s twice as deadly.”
“When are you going to start teaching us?”
“Give it a few weeks,” Helen replied as she walked away, “Hone your skills, file your weaknesses into slight blemishes. Give me some time to find Logan.”
Rogue sighed, “He’ll be a hard find if you can..”
“I have an idea of where he’ll turn up,” Helen paused and looked at Rogue, “just be prepared for hell. You’re gonna see a side of him you haven’t seen before, one that you might not want to ever see again.”
“First blood is ours,” Rogue protested.
“You belong to him; he’ll do whatever he thinks he needs to, if he wants first blood he’ll take it.”
Rogue nodded and sighed as Kitty and Jubilee moved to flank her, their grips tight on her arms as they leaned against each other. She didn’t think Charles would ever know what hit him.
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