Scott was fuming as he went down the hall. He had been awakened in the middle of the night when Jean cried out Logan’s name. He wanted to bust someone’s head and he knew where to start. Damn. He really respected Logan and felt that, despite their arguments and battles, Logan respected him, too. Now Jean was crying out his name and Scott was ready to tear him apart, healing factor or not.
He came to Logan’s room and found the door open and the bed ripped to shreds. There was some blood on what was left of the sheet. It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. Where was Logan and was he really awake? His first thought was for Rogue and he did a quick check. She was fine. He combed the halls and found nothing. The students were fine. Finally he decided to check the locker rooms.
As he entered, he heard the water running. Walking softly, he looked around the corner and discovered Logan standing under an ice cold shower. His hands were on the wall and his head was lowered, the water beating directly down on top of him. His back was to Scott and he was still in his pajama bottoms, which were clinging to him having been thoroughly soaked. He decided to ask what had happened, then he heard the professor in his head.
(Scott. This is Charles. Please back away from Logan slowly and quietly. Leave the locker room now. I’ll meet you outside.)
Puzzled, Scott did as he was told. Outside, he found Xavier with a very somber expression on his face. He motioned Scott to follow and led him to an adjacent hall where there was a bench.
“Please sit.”
“Professor, I don’t understand what’s going on. First Jean was calling out Logan’s name in her sleep and now you’re telling me to leave him alone. What is he doing in there?”
“I believe he is trying to numb the pain with ice cold water. He had a particularly disturbing sleep a short while ago and his pain woke me up.” He looked away and Scott would see a wetness in his eyes that he was trying hard to blink away.
Jean walked up, wrapped in a bathrobe. She smiled at Scott and was surprised when he did not return it. Her steps faltered. Charles looked up and held out his hand.
“I imagine you felt that,” he said.
“I just had a nightmare about Logan, if that’s what you’re asking. I was going to find Scott and suggest we check on him.” She glanced over at Scott again, tentatively, and was relieved when he stood up and hugged her. “All I remember was snow, pain, and lots of blood. We really need to check on him.”
“He’s dousing his head in the shower. You felt his dream? You cried out his name in your sleep and I didn’t know what was going on.”
“It felt like I was mentally hit with a sledgehammer. Did it wake you, too, professor?”
“Yes, it did. Although I’m not exactly sure what happened, I do remember some of the images and believe I can piece together what the memory was. It had to do with a helmet, not unlike the one in the virtual reality trainer. From what I gather, those scientists literally wired his brain to a similar helmet with sensory devices. Not only that, they wired into the nerves in his arms, legs, heart, etc. Then they sent him out in the snow, naked, to hunt down and kill men as a training exercise. The helmet, like the one in the danger room, covered his eyes and ears, giving them a means of controlling what he saw and heard and also providing them with a front row seat for the kills. It was also outfitted with remote control devices to correct his behavior. When he hesitated to kill or tried to remove the device, they charged up the electrical system and ‘punished’ him. The pain…” Charles stopped speaking for a moment. “The pain he felt must have been excruciating. Imagine having electrical shocks pumped straight into your nerve endings. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Despite the helmet’s soundproofing, Logan heard the men’s pleas for mercy as he slaughtered them one by one.”
Scott felt like he was going to be sick. “Damn. I wonder how much more they did to him and how many years he had to endure this kind of hell?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Charles grimly. “I do know that I should go in there and talk to him...”
“No,” said Scott. “Let me go in there and talk to him. He’ll already know I was in there when he steps out of the shower and smells where I was. If he remembers, we’ll deal with it. If he doesn’t, maybe it’s kinder not to tell him. Maybe you two should stay out of sight.”
“I see your point. All of us together might be overwhelming.” Charles nodded and Scott headed back to the locker room.
He opened the door normally, deciding that the best tactic was not to act any differently. Logan, wrapped in a towel, was putting his pants in one of the dryers. He did not look up at Scott, although the younger man knew his presence was noted.
“Are you sure those go in the dryer?”
Logan growled and slammed the dryer door shut. “I think I can find the fucking fluff cycle, Summers.” He turned on the appliance then leaned against it. “What the fuck do you want?”
This was going to be like walking in a minefield. Scott squared his shoulders.
“I went to your room to kick your ass.” He paused and was pleased to note the surprise on Logan’s features. “Then I saw your bed and started to worry about whether you needed some help.”
“Back up. Why did you want to kick my ass?”
“Jean called out your name in her sleep. What else was I to do but find out what you were doing that would make her want you and not me? I should have realized that she was picking up on something and was worried about you. So what gives? What happened? Same nightmare or something different?” So far, so good, Logan was listening. Maybe he could get him to talk.
Logan grunted. “Something different.” He walked past Scott and left the locker room.
Scott walked behind him into the hall. “Let me know if you want some help switching out the mattress.”
Logan stopped and turned around. “Jean felt that? I guess Chuck did, too, huh? Do you know if she saw anything?”
“It did wake her up. She said something about snow, blood, and pain. And something about being hit with a mental sledgehammer.” Keep it honest and he might open up, Scott thought.
The older man closed his eyes and grimaced with the remembered pain. When he opened them he saw the concern in Scott’s features. He may be a pain in the ass, but he is a pretty decent guy, he thought. Damn. Why ruin Scott’s night with the kind of shit that went through his brain? Logan sighed. “I don’t know about the sledgehammer, but it was about those fucking scientists again. Just another one of the modifications they did to me. You don’t want to know. Believe me. Just drop it.”
“Whatever. Let me know if you change your mind. Hey, if this nightmare was new, do you know what triggered it?” Logan growled and Scott held up his hands. “You said drop it, but I wanted to know if it was something I did.”
Logan paused. The question was unexpected and he felt it deserved an answer. “No. It had nothing to do with you or anyone else. Maybe I need to get away from here for a couple of days. Give Chuck and Jean a couple of good night sleeps without me fucking it up.”
“You can’t just leave. Let the kids know that you’re going away for a weekend or something. You leave in the middle of the night and your students will be raiding the Pentagon again and Rogue will go out on the warpath for you.”
Logan actually smiled. “I guess I can’t leave without letting Rogue know. She hasn’t been sleeping well either these past few nights and that would set her off.” The smile faded into a somber look. “God help me, I’m glad she wasn’t with me an hour ago. I could have killed her.”
For a fleeting moment, Scott saw something on Logan’s face that was totally foreign; he saw fear.
“Do you have the nightmares when she sleeps with you?”
“I’ve only let her sleep with me a couple of times. Come to think of it, I guess I didn’t.”
“Maybe that should tell you something.”
“Maybe you should butt out of it.” Logan started heading down the hall again.
“Maybe so.” Scott shrugged. He had done all he could do for the moment. He called out to Logan, “Are you going to try to sleep anymore tonight?”
A derisive snort was his answer.
“Let me know what time tomorrow would be good to kick your ass.” He watched as Logan turned back and cocked an eyebrow. Scott grinned. “My honor, you know. I’ve got to defend the fact that my fiancé called out another man’s name in her sleep. When’s your next self-defense class? I could do it then.”
Logan turned back toward his room but couldn’t quite hide the smile. “Be in the training room at one o’clock.”
Scott felt better. He had left the door open and felt confident that Logan at least knew they were there for him. Then he frowned. One o’clock? What had he gotten himself into now and how badly was he going to need the whirlpool?
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Story Notes:
Since the story I am working on is being pared down to a G fic this scene is now inappropriate and was cut. I thought someone might like to read it, though, and offer it up as a character study.