(Chapter 1)
The dock worker trudged along the pier once more, his coat buttoned tightly against the stinging wind carrying spray in from the harbor. He paused as a cat silently skittered across his path and looked toward the place where the animal had been. There was no one there that he could see but it was extremely dark this time of night and hard to tell. Shrugging his shoulders, the swarthy blonde man continued his long, dismal trek down the slick boards. Finally he reached the place where he had started his loop along the pier and he stopped, obviously waiting for something. The man looked back the way he had come and a heavy sigh escaped his lips as he turned, not in the direction of his last footsteps, but toward the twinkling cityscape beyond.
"Something on your mind?"
The man whirled and slid a little on the slippery wood. A dark form broke free from the shadows of the closest warehouse and moved slowly toward the startled man. The dock worker seemed to relax and cut his eyes from left to right. Finding no one else lurking about, he walked toward the other and stopped just short of arm’s length.
The blonde man cleared his throat. "Where’d you bury him?"
There was a long silence as the other contemplated the answer.
"About five miles from the mansion heading North. There’s a small graveyard. If you come in from the back, it’s close to the tree line in the northwest corner." The words came out in a low growl.
"I’ll visit it."
"You do that. Just don’t come near the school."
The dock worker shimmered and seemed to fold in on himself, morphing into a blue figure with red hair and a definite female form. "Or what?"
Wolverine let his silence speak for him.
"Since you told me where he is, I won’t come near your precious school." Mystique then smiled coyly. "Feeling a little lighter these days?"
Again there was no answer.
The smile faded a bit. "I didn’t like what Magneto did, you know. I’m glad you lived."
There was a snort. "You want the honors or something?"
"Sure, who wouldn’t?" she purred. "I’d love to scar you the way you’ve scarred me."
"Don’t hold your breath."
The wind from the harbor gusted wildly between them for a moment and Mystique noticed he did not shiver. It was like nothing touched him. She had seen him torn and bloody, watched him stop breathing, yet here he was, larger than life in front of her. She took a step forward and relished the danger.
"We’re a lot alike, you know." She took another step and saw his nostrils flare. "We don’t have to be enemies." The heat from his body warmed her at this close range. "You could be so good for me." Eye to eye, nose to nose, breaths intermingling, she couldn’t help but feel the primal energy radiating from him.
"And you could be so bad for me," he murmured, his every instinct on a hair trigger.
She leaned forward, lips tingling at the thought of his touch. In an instant she felt him grab her and whirl her around and off balance. She fell, rolled on the wood, and came quickly to her feet. Slowly the claws retracted from her right fist. His uniform was still intact but it had been close; he had just been too damn fast.
She laughed long and loudly. "We’re so alike. No one will ever know you as well as I do. She can’t even come close. What do you see in that kid anyway? It’s not like you can touch her. Hell, you can’t even fuck her, can you?" Mystique’s gaze languidly traveled the length of his impressive frame. "What a waste." Her yellow eyes changed a little, almost softened. "What a damn waste. She’ll hurt you, you know, just like he hurt me. People with bleeding hearts…they crawl under your skin and try to change you, make you into something you can’t possibly be. Then they leave you and you’re vulnerable." There was a pause and she looked away briefly. She was smiling when she gazed at him again, only the smile did not reach her now hardened eyes. "Well, no one can change us. We are what we are. We’re killers, you and me. We’re the same. You’ll wake up and realize that one fine day, my dear Wolverine." She swayed her hips suggestively as she strode past him and on down the boards. "Until next time, lover," she tossed over her shoulder.
The dock worker reappeared and just like that the impromptu meeting was over as Mystique slipped off into the night, heading for the city and who knows what kind of solace she would find there.
Logan took a deep breath and released it. There had been too much of a wind to be sure, but she seemed to believe what she said. He turned his head and watched as Scott appeared out of the shadows.
"There’s no mutant runaway needing rescuing, I take it."
"Nope." Logan shook his head. "You hear?"
"The last part."
Scott glanced around to make sure Mystique was really gone. Frustrated at not finding a mutant in distress, he was heading back to Logan’s last known position when he had heard the scuffle and the laughter.
"She wanted to know where we buried Pyro."
"And you told her?" Cyclops tilted his head.
"That a problem?"
"No," Scott drew the word out and eyed his colleague carefully. "As long as she doesn’t visit the school again."
Logan was grim. "She won’t."
"How do you know?" The younger man’s tone was skeptical.
There was a sigh. " I just do."
They walked in silence back to where the Blackbird waited patiently in the water, the shadow of a huge warehouse camouflaging it neatly.
"You’re not like her, you know." Scott said in an offhand way as he started up the engines. "There’s a difference."
Logan latched the door behind him and entered the cockpit area. "Maybe, maybe not," he grunted.
Scott quickly brought the jet up before Logan had a chance to sit and the Wolverine fell back into the aisle between the seats, just managing to catch himself before impact with the floor.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Logan snarled as he made his way to the copilot position and strapped himself in.
"Oh I’m sorry, I was just imagining driving my former car. You know, the one you destroyed?"
Logan quirked a wry grin in recognition of a well thrust jab. "It wasn’t totally my fault it blew up."
"I know. That’s why I made sure the door was closed before I took off."
There was a noncommittal grunt as Logan closed his eyes and tried not to think of how high up they were going.
Scott smiled to himself as he watched Logan lean back in the seat and try to relax. It had taken a while to learn how to earn the older man’s respect and, to tell the truth, sometimes it could be quite fun.
---
Darkness was everywhere and Marie stretched out her hands as if to ward it off. Black leather shone briefly and morphed into the form of a man. He turned and revealed the familiar face of Wolverine.
"Logan?"
His eyes were black though and glittered in the red light that seemed to pour from him. His lips parted in a smile and she was horrified to see his teeth elongate, the canines becoming huge like McCoy’s. She began to back away.
"Sugar?"
There was a hollow ringing laugh and Logan changed into a dark form, something even more menacing. Still a man and yet not quite, it approached her and she sensed that she was in terrible danger. She struggled to take her gloves off and reached out a naked hand, palm upraised.
"Stay back or Ah’ll kill you!"
It laughed again and she touched it. Dark thoughts swirled in her head and her body seemed to shrink to that of a child. She felt helpless, like she was falling into something that would swallow her whole, something evil that made her feel like it was her fault it lived in the first place. She screamed and kept screaming.
Huge, strong arms wrapped around her and she struggled.
"Easy now, Marie. It’s okay."
Marie wrenched her way out of the grip and shoved whatever was holding her off with frightening strength. There was a tremendous thump followed by a soft groan.
She sat up in bed and looked over in a dazed and detached sort of way. The light from her night table illuminated the room in eerie shadows, similar to the visions Marie had just seen. For some reason Logan was on the floor of her bedroom, his scalp split open. The wall above him was cracked and smeared with a dark stain. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly, his head healing as he did so.
"Easy, Marie, ’sokay," he murmured.
She recognized it as the voice from her dream, the one at the end. She blinked and began to focus.
"Oh, Logan!" Marie realized he was real and began to understand what had happened. She joined him on the floor in a rush, almost crushing him in a hug that begged forgiveness. "Sugar, Ah’m so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I’ll live." He quirked a grin. "How about you?" He reached out and tried to stroke her hair but missed. "You okay?"
She frowned and reached over to tilt his face toward her small bedside lamp. Sure enough, one of his eyes stayed dilated, even in the light. Her hands began to tremble.
"You’ve got a concussion, Logan. Jean needs to see you."
"She’s asleep. Give it a second, it’ll heal," he replied and he reached out a hand. "Help me up?"
She noticed his hand was gloved and that he was in uniform.
"You’re back? I must have dozed off after just a few pages. How long have I been asleep?" She stood and pulled him up gently. "Why didn’t you change?"
"I was going to when I heard you yelling." He pulled her into a hug then let go and opened the door. "It’s okay, guys. Nightmare’s over."
Four solemn men nodded and went their separate ways.
Marie blushed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Just how many people were coming to my rescue anyway?"
"Well, Remy, Bobby, and Sam were about to break down your door when I stopped them. Scott must have followed me from the kitchen. We were grabbing a snack before hitting the showers."
"Ah could have killed them. Ah’m glad you stopped them." Her bottom lip trembled.
He sat beside her on the bed and held her once more as she sobbed on his shoulder. He grimaced. Not only could she kill with a touch, she could crush with a blow. That was a whole lot for one person to take.
His arms held her securely and she took comfort in that until she was reminded of the dream. Something in her panicked and she pulled out of the hug on instinct.
There was a spark of fear in the air again, a scent Logan had begun to smell more and more frequently when they were alone together. He frowned and tried to figure out what was causing it. Was he doing something wrong? Mentally he smacked himself. The nightmare had scared her, that’s all.
"Just how bad was that dream, Marie? Is it still spooking you?"
She nodded, rose, and went to the bathroom, pulling off her gloves and splashing her face with cold water. He watched, puzzled, as she began to soap up of all things, lathering her face and arms as if to wash off something nasty. When she was done, he put the book she had been reading before dozing off on the bedside table and held back the covers as she slipped into bed once more. He then tucked her in with a flourish that was meant to amuse and took comfort in the small smile that was his reward.
"Do you want me to stay?" He knew the answer. It would be the same one she had given him the night before.
"No, Logan. Thank you, though. Ah’ll be okay. Ah’m just really tired tonight. It’s better if Ah sleep alone, Ah guess."
Logan leaned forward and kissed her on the hairline above her brow. He wasn’t so sure it was better but he would let her have her way. He would again leave his bedroom door open just in case. She had not come to him last night even when he heard her cry out in fear. When Logan had checked on her, she had lain with her back to him pretending to be asleep. He couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t letting him help her but he knew enough to let the door stay open. He could at least do that.
"Sweet dreams, darlin’. I’m here if you need me."
------
(Chapter 2)
A shadowy figure passed silently through the twilight sky, gliding over the cooling desert sands. He was an imposing male figure layered in armor and shrouded in the colors of the night. The energy trail he followed was crystal clear to his glowing red eyes and he landed, resting gently on his feet when he observed the irregular pattern of tents against the smooth surface of the natural horizon. He had been intrigued by the presence of mutants here and had searched out their presence for one of them had left an impressive signature, one bestial in nature. The possibility that this might be his long-awaited messenger had entered his ancient mind and he reasoned his quest might be nearing an end.
Long had he slept and only recently awakened. The world had changed, so had he and it was time for him to take his place in it. First, though, he needed two things and one of them might prove to be within reach. He raised his head and ‘searched’ through the sleeping souls in the tents laid before him, bringing powers he had absorbed from another to bear on this latest interest. No, he shook his head; the spark he was looking for did not seem to be in this one although it had impressive strength and size. Its sensory powers were equally enhanced. Perhaps it could be lured to the task on a basic level, through smell or sound. He used his armor to resonate and amplify a low frequency call on a subliminal level. There was a reaction but not the kind he desired. Again he felt the disappointment that had followed him for decades.
As the shadowy form turned, cloaked in the blackness that surrounded him, he heard a faint cry. Ah, a small one cries for the bestial one to protect. He listened. No, the small one is crying for someone else and the larger one is only there to comfort. They would see the others in a few days, the larger was saying. Were there more? Were these mutants traveling to a destination of more mutants? This might be the source of power he was seeking. Perhaps he would find his messenger there as well.
So be it, he thought as the sands welcomed him with promised rest and limited regeneration. He would follow their journey, trail them to their destination and ‘call’ again.
---
Sunshine streamed through the hall windows and Ororo lightheartedly danced through the morning beams that lit her path toward the dining room. Today was the day. Hank and the others would be here this afternoon. There was no way to contain her buoyant energy at the thought of being in her lover’s arms again, not that she would even try.
It had been a long, hard ten days. The mansion had been attacked; Stryker had taken Scott and the Professor captive at Magneto’s prison, and had later taken Bobby, Rogue, and St. John as well. A war between the X-Men and Stryker’s forces had ensued with Mystique joining the fight on the good side for once.
Ororo’s steps faltered as she remembered just what the cost had been to win that battle. Jean had been temporarily blinded, Rogue had been possessed, Logan had been ripped apart, and St. John had died because of a situation set up by Magneto to use Stryker to get rid of them all. Tears began to form in her eyes when she thought of St. John but her heart unclenched slowly when she remembered that everything else was pretty much back to normal. Stryker would never bother them again. Even Magneto had been taken care of, sent to a place where he would finally be at peace, now that his memory had been modified.
It was safe for the mansion to be inhabited again and she and the others had worked hard to make the necessary repairs to the battle-scarred structure. The children’s return meant the world to them and made all the trials and sorrows worth bearing.
As she entered the dining room and flashed a brilliant smile of greeting to Scott, Jean, and Xavier, she noticed there was nothing to eat. Confused, she raised an eyebrow. Jean grinned and put down the paper she was reading.
"We’re not sure if there will be any breakfast from the kitchen," she offered. "It’s Rogue’s turn to cook and Logan’s in there helping her."
"But Rogue’s a good cook. She can normally whip up…" Ororo paused when she heard a crash from the other side of the wall.
"That was before, Ororo," Scott said as he put his paper down as well. "Now she has a little relearning to do about how much force it takes to crack an egg." He grinned and shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. "I imagine waffles are not at easy to ‘whip up’ as they used to be."
Ororo whirled as a commotion came through the door behind her. Bobby, Remy, and Samuel laughed as they approached the table and deposited their bags of goodies.
"The cavalry is back. We brought coffee, donuts, pastries, muffins, juice, and milk. I think that should be…" The sound of something shattering in the other room interrupted Bobby’s speech. "You’d think Rogue’d get the hang of it by now. Has anyone checked on her?"
"Logan is in there," Xavier calmly replied as he reached for one of the coffees.
"Then has anyone checked on Logan? He is in a dangerous situation, no?" Remy started to dig through the bags for the pastries since he had a fondness for sweet things.
Samuel snagged a juice and a muffin as he sat. "He’ll be okay. There’s something in him that just naturally lends itself to loving dangerous situations."
"I’m not sure he really loves the danger as much as the challenge of beating the odds." Scott handed a coffee to Jean and searched for a chocolate-covered donut to go with his juice. "In this case, though, I’d agree he’s loving what he’s doing and who he’s doing it with."
They all smiled at that.
Charles pointed to the paper. "I’m relieved to see that the Mutant Registration Act has died on the floor in response to a plea from the President." He looked at Scott. "Have we heard anything from our liaison in Arizona?"
"Chiquita? No," replied Scott between bites, "but that’s not unexpected. She’s supposed to relay messages from us, not to us. The President doesn’t want our cover blown again."
"Perhaps it’s for the best." Xavier sipped his coffee and became lost in his thoughts.
"Where’s our little blue buddy?" asked Samuel. "I thought he’d be back this morning."
Storm picked at her croissant as she checked the clock for the umpteenth time. "He’ll be back in about an hour. I’m sure the priests were glad he went there to visit and tell them everything was all right."
"I’m glad he decided to stay with us," mumbled Remy with a full mouth. "He’s fun for a priest. I laugh every time he tells those stories of the circus and you should hear what he says about how he charmed the ladies after the shows..."
"He was only studying to be a priest, Remy. Besides, you can be a priest and still be human," said Jean.
"From what he said about women, he probably never would have made it with that ‘abstain’ rule they have," chuckled Samuel.
Ororo had abstinence on her mind as well and cleared her throat. "Does anyone know exactly when the children will get here? Has anyone heard from them?"
There were more grins around the table. It was well known how anxious Storm was that the reunion should occur as soon as possible.
Jean winked at her friend. "The bus will be here this afternoon sometime."
"Logan still won’t tell me where he sent them." Scott frowned and turned to Xavier. "Has he kept it from you, too?"
"Well," Xavier paused and shot a look at Jean, "I will admit that Logan has let his guard down a bit and has been far easier to read lately, especially since he recovered from that coma. I do not wish to betray a pact he made with a ‘friend’, however, so I will keep the secret safe. Besides," he smiled, "the children will in all probability tell us about their adventures as soon as they arrive. You’ll find out then."
"You can’t read him like the rest of us? Is that from what Stryker did to his brain or from having metal around his skull? I wonder if the adamantium was running interference on you, just like the metal top Magneto wore." Remy licked icing off his fingers. "How about that? Maybe Logan had his own helmet and didn’t know it."
A speculative brow furrowed. "I hadn’t thought of that. The alterations done to his memory and his subconscious ability to throw up mental shields with his strong emotions have been a chief factor in my inability to read him consistently. But, now that you mention it, the metal may have also provided a type interference. Interesting and insightful observation, Gambit." Xavier rested his elbows on the arms of his wheelchair and templed his fingertips. "Very insightful, I must say."
Remy beamed at the compliment.
The sound of something heavy thundering to the floor brought all heads up in a startled reaction.
"That didn’t sound good," commented Samuel. "In fact, that sounded like something needs repairing again. I’ve had enough of that these past few days. Y’all can fix that mess they’re making; I’m going out to enjoy the sunshine." He rose from his chair and swiped some crumbs into an empty bag, which he crumpled and tossed with great accuracy into a trashcan a few yards away. "Want to play some one-on-one, swamp rat?"
"Sure, I’ll play today, too, mon ami." He stood and held a hand out. "Do we have an audience?"
The four teachers looked at each other and shrugged shoulders.
Bobby grinned. "Maybe someone can join me in putting you guys in your place." He raised an eyebrow and got to his feet.
"Me, please. I need to work off some energy." Ororo rose gracefully then whirled and deposited her trash in the can in an exact replica of Samuel’s feat.
Remy and Samuel stared as Bobby whistled in appreciation.
"Sounds great. We’ll be the cheering section," said Scott as the rest of them cleared away the breakfast debris, leaving a few muffins and donuts for the couple in the kitchen.
---
"Hold out your hand."
"No."
"Marie, hold out your hand."
Logan’s tone was firm and Marie sighed as she extended a bare palm. She watched as Logan deposited yet another egg onto her outstretched hand.
"Damn it, sugar, Ah’ve already busted ten of these. Ah just can’t do it, alright?"
Dust had settled over the kitchen. To her it seemed pointless to continue making breakfast in such a state of chaos. She had broken several bowls, shattered one Pyrex frying pan, cracked tile on the island counter, and even pulled down the pot rack over the island. She looked down at the innocent egg in her hand. When had it become so hard to cook a simple breakfast? Since she had permanently absorbed the super strength of another mutant, one that almost died in the process.
"Ah should have just let Carol’s personality live on in my head," she mumbled as started to turn her hand over and let the egg smash on the floor with the rest of the mess. "She knew just how much strength to use and when."
A warm gloved hand closed over hers and stopped the motion gently. She looked up into concerned brown eyes, crinkled around the edges by a small smile.
"Even Carol had to get used to it. She didn’t have these powers until she was about twenty years old." Logan rubbed his forehead with his other gloved hand, at a loss of what kind of encouragement to give next. "Marie, you’ve made a lot of progress. You don’t pull the doors off their hinges anymore and the dent in the motorcycle came out just fine. You’ve even managed to squeeze toothpaste tubes again without squirting the stuff all over you. You’ve met every challenge head on and done great. What is it with you and cooking?"
"Ah don’t know," she sobbed.
He pulled her to him and let the egg drop to the floor as he gave her the hug she needed. Something was bothering her, something that was outside his ability to sense. All he could do was hold her tightly and pray everything would work out for her. The sessions with Xavier seemed to be helping her more than he could and, as much as his heart envied Chuck’s ability to help, he knew she needed it right now. Logan pulled away slightly so he could see her face.
"Do you need to go talk with Chuck?" He stammered over the next words. "I know you two have been making a lot of progress in the last couple of days and I can clean this mess up if you need to be with him." He started to pull off his gloves but she stopped him.
"Oh, sugar. Ah don’t know what’s wrong with me just now and Xavier’s not helping me with my strength problem, anyway." She missed his frown as she broke away and began to pick up pots and pans. "You’ve been the biggest help so far and you’re right. Ah need to look at what Ah have been able to do and not dwell on what Ah’m having problems with."
She stopped cleaning and eyed the situation again. Tentatively she took the last egg from the egg carton. Glancing shyly at her mate, she tapped the shell against the side of one of the few remaining unbroken bowls. The egg cracked. The bowl remained untouched. She stood there in astonishment for a moment and then gently peeled the shell halves apart, allowing the gooey inside to fall innocently into the dust-filled bowl. Even the yolk was unbroken. They looked at it in full appreciation of the effort it took for her to achieve this small miracle. Then she laughed and grabbed him, swinging them both around the room as she let out a whoop of joy.
They ended their celebration with a kiss that became quite passionate. Logan was overjoyed. This was his Marie, the one that seemed to have been hidden the last day or two. They broke apart, breathless, and he chuckled at the light that shone in her beautiful green eyes. There was no fear in the air now. Maybe it was all in his head.
"Let’s say you and me get this mess cleaned up and Ah make you a breakfast fit for a king."
"I’m no king, darlin’," he said with a small smile, "but if I have a kingdom, you definitely rule it."
------
(Chapter 3)
It was now mid morning as Logan hauled the laundry basket into the locker room and dumped the contents into the first available washer. He never had that much to wash because he didn’t own that much but he did take care to keep it clean. Even in the wild it had seemed important to rinse out clothes and wash himself regularly. A strong smell was easier for prey to pick up and the hunter in him wanted every advantage. As he dutifully put in non-perfumed soap and spun the knob he heard a stream of curse words from the shower stall in use. Curious, Logan investigated.
He rounded the wall separating the laundry and locker area from the showers and lavatories. Sure enough, the curse words continued and Logan stifled a chuckle.
"And here I thought you wanted to be a priest. You didn’t learn those words in a church."
"Not funny, Logan. I have this…stuff in my eyes and I cannot see a thing." Kurt cursed again. "Get me a towel, please?"
Logan grabbed one off the shelf and pulled back the curtain slightly as he stepped into the stall. He reached over and grabbed Kurt by the hair and forced his face under the water.
"Open your eyes and let the water wash it out."
"Auurrggh! That hurts!" A few seconds later the struggling ceased. "Okay, okay! It’s out! You were right."
Logan released the hair, slapped the small towel in one of Kurt’s hands, and stepped back out, pulling the curtain to. He grabbed another towel and dried his arm as the other mutant shut off the water.
"Damn! That hurt!" Kurt scrubbed his face with the towel, obliterating some of his words. "Good idea with the…I didn’t know you could speak…It was hard enough to get the makeup off..."
Logan’s ears latched on the last two words. "Makeup off? What were you doing wearing makeup?"
Kurt pushed the curtain aside and dried himself. "I was wearing makeup because blue people do not usually drive around in cars. Odds are I would have been stopped."
There was a nod. "You should use some of that baby shampoo Jean has if your eyes are that sensitive."
"I was not using shampoo…I was using hair remover." Yellow eyes flicked over Logan’s face looking for a humorous reaction. There was none so he continued. "I use hair remover to get rid of the fuzz."
"Most men shave."
"Not when the fuzz is all over your body. It’s bad enough having a tail and hands like these. Many people believe I am an animal already. I’m not but appearances do matter, especially when you are talking about a profession where you are seen by many people and make an impression on first sight." Kurt finished drying his body and wrapped himself in one of the biggest towels. "While in the circus I hit puberty and fuzz started to grow all over. I began using hair remover so I could remain one of the attractions and not end up as a side show."
To his surprise Logan frowned and sat on one of the dressing benches.
"You know what it is to be a sideshow, don’t you?" Kurt stepped over and sat down too.
"I fought for money in a cage." Logan grunted. "I never thought of it as being a sideshow attraction until now. To me it was just a way to survive."
"You at least look human, I don’t." Kurt wiggled the two toes on each foot. "After the aerial act, women would sneak around the trailer late at night. They wanted to know if the tail was real and if it made things ‘different’ in bed."
Logan eyed him with an unspoken question.
Kurt sighed. "Well, they always came back for more. Or at least they did until I realized they were using me and I was using them. That’s when I stopped. I’m just glad I didn’t show them my fur. It would have made things even worse. I am not an animal and will not be treated like one."
There was silence for a while as Kurt toweled his hair dry and Logan thought back on all the females that had wanted the animal in him.
"Look," Logan finally said, "no one here is going to think twice if you don’t use the hair remover."
"I have not seen others with fur."
"The kids are due back soon. Why don’t you see how they treat the teacher that’s with ‘em before you make snap judgements on how they’ll treat you." Logan stood and dropped his towel in the bin. "This place is different. You’ll see."
"Logan?" Kurt smiled when the other man looked back. "Thanks. I appreciate the favor you did by talking to me and listening." He hesitated. "I will think over what you said. I guess I’ve had a chip on my shoulder without even knowing it was there. This place does seem different and, since I’m staying, I will try it your way for a while. Thanks for speaking to me in my native tongue. It made things easier to say."
"It’s okay. I thought you were from Germany, though." Logan walked over and started the washer. "The kids should be here soon," he called over the wall. "You’d better hurry." The door closed softly behind him.
Kurt looked extremely puzzled. "But I am from Germany," he said to no one.
---
When the bus pulled into the drive, the excitement both in and out of the vehicle was so thick it was almost unbearable. From his vantage point at a second floor window, Kurt watched the mayhem. Screams, yells, laughs, barks, and tears were everywhere and hugs were freely distributed. After what seemed like hours, the bus was emptied of everything and everyone, including the dog, headed to the dining hall for an early dinner and announcements.
While Logan had briefed Hank over the phone about St. John’s death and some of the events that had happened, he had obviously neglected to tell everything. Piotr let out an exclamation when Marie picked him up in a hug unexpectedly. And when he audibly cracked a couple of Logan’s ribs inadvertently with a good-natured squeeze, there were many raised eyebrows wanting explanations when the kids were not around.
Fascinated by the amusing sights and stories, Kurt crept into the room, trying to keep a low profile, When he caught sight of Hank, he turned and winked at Logan, finally understanding what Logan had meant about how the kids weren’t bothered by fur. Ororo proved she wasn’t either as she joyously hugged the big blue Beast and kissed him soundly. Kurt watched the couple demonstrate the kind of love he had only dreamed about, the kind that was blind to all but the beauty within a person. He sighed and was about to slip away when a small hand caught his.
"Who are you?"
Stunned, Kurt realized all had grown silent in the dining hall and he was held in place by the attention of a child.
"I’m Kurt. Who are you?"
"I’m Megan," replied the girl, her yellow eyes meeting his gaze easily.
Kurt began to feel nervous and started to stammer about leaving when the girl captured his heart.
"We have the same eyes. Can you see in the dark, too? I can do summersaults and flips and things. I bet you can, too, can’t you?"
Mutely he nodded. Was it possible the child did not see his blue skin and pointy ears? Surely she felt the difference between their hands. Always children had fascinated him but their shyness at the circus had taught him that his looks reminded them of someone who does evil things. This child showed no fear, though. She only smiled. Then her eyes drifted to his tail, which swayed behind him. He watched her eyebrows rise to her hairline and he dreaded what she would say next.
"Logan! He has a tail! Can I have one?"
Laughter erupted and Kurt felt himself join in without hesitation. He hugged the small child to him and teleported to the center of the room, creating an immediate sensation as all the children clamored for a turn.
Later that evening he watched as the school solomnly lit a bonfire and made arrangements for the trees to be planted in St. John’s honor tomorrow morning. The sadness did not last long as stories of the antics St. John had pulled flew fast and freely and soon laughter was heard, something St. John would have enjoyed.
Kurt stood in the shadows and found himself speculating on how a horrible twist of fate had finally brought him to a place he now saw as a new home. Stryker had the worst intentions in mind but God had other plans he reflected. Funny, a year ago he would have sworn he would be in a much different situation. Perhaps good can come from evil after all, he thought. These people certainly had hope.
Charles rolled up beside him.
"I sense you are coming to terms with all that has happened. I’m grateful we can provide a home away from home for you. You will stay, won’t you? At least for a while?"
"You take all the surprise out of my thoughts, Professor Xavier." Kurt softened his words with a smile. "Yes, I think this can be a home for me for a while." His eyes wandered to Megan. "I have never had the opportunity to be around people like this. It would be good for me I think."
"Well, don’t imagine we’re all saints, Mr. Wagner." Xavier did not try to hide his wry grin. "You haven’t seen us on a day to day basis yet. Chaos is the usual norm, I assure you."
"That I can well imagine," said Kurt as he watched one child chase another around the fire and run through it to catch him on the other side.
---
The kitchen door opened and in squished Logan, soaking wet from the storm outside. He shook his head and spattered water all over Scott who was trying to come up with something new for breakfast.
"I’m not even going to ask you why you were standing out there in the rain," Scott began before he saw the look on Logan’s face. "Wait a minute. What’s up?"
"I thought you weren’t going to ask." Logan’s reply lacked its usual growl and his eyes were shining a little too brightly to mask the happiness behind them.
"I’m asking now. All you were doing was standing out there getting soaked and now you act like you’ve just discovered a new way to take an enemy down." Scott thought for a minute. "You were watching something, weren’t you?"
"Just the lightning."
Click. The light bulb went off. "You couldn’t do that before."
"Nope." Logan snagged a bottle of juice from the ‘fridge. "What’s for breakfast? Muffins again?"
"I’m trying to come up with something different, you know. Unlike some people." Scott shot back to the retreating Wolverine.
For a minute, Scott stood there, looking out the windows at the storm that alternately raged and lulled. It was a safe bet what Ororo and Hank were doing at the moment. Then he opened the door and walked outside. Letting the rain beat on his face he raised his shielded eyes to the heavens and watched the spectacular light show from the best possible view. And grinned.
---
"So you guys were at an Indian reservation the whole time?"
"Yep," replied Jubilee as she began to unpack her neglected suitcase. "Do you remember that old dude Logan spoke with that time we were in the desert for our survival class? Turns out he and Logan kept the lines of communication open. He’s a spooky old guy and he looks at you like he can see right through you but he’s one of the leaders there and he dropped everything when we told him Logan’s name and what was going on. They rolled out the red carpet treatment, well as much as they could. I tell ya, chica, we got it good here. Some of those families…Kind of made me think of old times at the mall when I was on my own."
Kitty chimed in. "They fell in love with us and the feeling was mutual. We helped them fix some of the worst heating and plumbing problems and gave demonstrations of our powers to some of the kids for fun. It felt so good not to be hated. They could really sympathize with us; we had a lot in common in the ‘misunderstood’ department, if you know what I mean?
"The best part was all that wonderful outdoors. I swear the stars are closer there than they are here — you could almost reach out and touch them. And the desert…wow. Logan took us to a few places, but they showed us more and it was…indescribable. I never thought I could be away from a computer that long but I didn’t check my email once."
"Sounds pretty cool. Ah wish Ah could have been there." Marie frowned. She really did regret that things had changed so much in her life.
"If you had you wouldn’t be super strong now. Exactly what happened?" Jubilee flopped down on her bed. "Logan was pretty sketchy giving the details to McCoy. Did you really absorb someone else’s powers permanently?"
"Yes, along with her memories and personality," Marie confided. "She was so adamant about me escaping Stryker’s prison that she nearly killed herself. It was a miracle that she lived. The professor had a hard time bringing back her memories from her subconscious so she would remember who she was."
"What about you?" Kitty rubbed her friend’s shoulder. "You had a rough time getting rid of her didn’t you?"
Marie nodded but didn’t say anything, casting her eyes to the floor at the remembered pain of mental intrusion. She missed the look of sympathy passing between her two comrades.
"Hey, I have an idea. Let’s grab some muffins on the go and head out for some shopping. We could find some really cool toys and send them to those kids as a thank you for putting up with us." Jubilee beamed at the prospect of financing her generosity with Xavier’s money.
The other two laughed at the sight.
"Ah think that’s a great idea. We can run it by the professor and make sure that’s all he wants to give them. From what you said, they might need something more than toys."
"Yeah, well, blankets, generators, and other stuff aren’t that fun to shop for, spoilsport," Jubilee retorted.
Marie understood what her friends were trying to do for her and decided to help lighten the mood as well. She stood and raised herself off the floor a few inches, watching in amusement as the other two gaped at her.
"Oh yeah, did Ah tell y’all Ah could fly?"
------
(Chapter 4)
"Logan? Can I ask you a question?"
Remy was on the floor on his knees, panting heavily and holding one of the oak training staffs. Logan was on the other side of the mat, stretching. He eyed the young man.
"You just did."
Remy shook his head, "Yes, yes, I know. Please? I need to know something about women."
Logan busted out laughing. It was a rare sound and made Remy smile and flush at the same time.
"I didn’t know there was anything about women you didn’t know," Logan chuckled.
Remy seized the opening. "Ah but that’s just it. I know how to please women in that way and make them feel special. But now I’m…I want to know how to stop pleasing all women and just please…one." He stared at Logan with his red eyes, willing the older man to take him seriously.
Logan stretched for a moment, thinking about his answer.
"Did you love them?"
Remy shrugged. "I made love to them."
"It’s not the same thing and you know it."
Remy blushed again. "No, I didn’t."
"And now you love Jubilee?"
"I want to, very much." Remy sighed. "How do you know if wanting to love someone is the same as loving them?"
"Good question. I don’t know. I just know that Rogue made me feel different. And I feel something for her that I’ve never felt before. I’ve wanted women in the past, sure, but only for sex-there was never any need for anything else."
Remy nodded. "I know what it is to have the conquests, use my charm. That is what makes this so hard. Am I so used to loving many women that I cannot win the love of just one, normally, like others do?"
Logan shook his head. "No. You’ll know when it’s different. If you already find yourself wanting to learn how to please just one woman, something’s already changing in you." Another laugh sounded. "Listen to me give advice on women."
"Do you realize you’re speaking French?" asked a voice from the door.
Logan unconsciously switched languages. "Yeah, He told me. I’m getting used to the idea that Remy speaks French to me and Piotr speaks Russian. I figure one of these days I’ll begin to hear the difference between them and English.
"I have some things to do. See you, Logan. Thanks for the advice. Auvoir, Cyclops." Remy put the bo back in the rack of training weapons and headed for the shower in his room.
"Aurivwa, I know that one." Scott threw down a towel and sat on the floor, relaxing with some simple yoga positions. "Since when did Remy become interested in using a staff?"
Logan rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "Since he killed two men with a couple of cards."
Scott’s head jerked up. "When was this? Oh, wait, when those soldiers nabbed Rogue, Bobby, and St. John, right?"
"Yep. He wanted to know a less lethal way to take down an opponent and remembered what I did with a bo in D.C." Logan rolled his neck slightly. "He’s damn good with it, too."
"He can take one on the next mission then." Scott frowned. "I wonder if Jean should talk to him about those deaths."
"If she does, she needs to speak with Bobby, too. Remy said he can hear him through the wall at night."
"We really went through the ringer on this one, didn’t we?" Scott noticed the silence from across the mat. "Penny for your thoughts."
Logan looked over and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
"I said…never mind. What were you thinking about?"
"Rogue."
"There’s someone else who’s been through the mill. She seems to be better with the strength issue, though."
"Yeah. She’s getting more comfortable with flying, too." Logan grimaced. "Did Jean tell you she’s having some really bad nightmares?"
Scott nodded. "Sleeping together doesn’t help?"
Logan closed his eyes and remembered her fear. "No. She wants to sleep alone."
"She might think she’ll hurt you." Scott frowned. "Look what she did the other night."
That was true, Logan thought. Maybe the fear was from her not wanting to hurt him.
"Maybe," was all he said.
"You’ve been with her a lot lately, hanging around her almost all the time." Scott began stretching again. "Why don’t you give her some space? Let her have some time with Kitty and Jubilee. She’ll come to you if she needs you."
Logan let out a skeptical snort.
"You don’t think she’d come running to you? Oh ye of little faith…" Scott clucked his tongue reprovingly.
Logan rolled over and started doing push-ups. "You are never a worse pain in the ass than when you go ‘optimistic’.
"Just because I look on the bright side…see the glass half full."
"Got any more trite sayings?" Logan asked between reps.
Scott grinned. "Darkest before dawn, silver linings on clouds, third time’s a charm, those kind of sayings?"
Logan grunted. "The third time is never charmed."
"You have something against the number three?"
"Yes."
"Good things come in threes."
"Three strikes, you’re out."
Scott rose to the challenge. "Three of a kind in poker’s a good thing."
"Third degree burns aren’t."
"Three point landings are."
"Three on a match isn’t."
"Three on a match?"
Logan stopped the exercises and stood up. "Three on a match." He walked over and grabbed Scott’s towel. "Three is not a lucky number."
Scott looked up and realized what Logan was drying off with. "Hey!"
"Oh, sorry." Logan dropped the towel with a devilish glint before walking out the door.
---
Survival class was over but the children were still milling around him. Logan cocked an eyebrow.
"All right, what’s up?"
There were several grins and Megan stepped forward to be the spokesperson.
"We want to go on a field trip."
"Okay. Talk to the boss."
"We did. The professor told us a trip to the zoo tomorrow morning would be good. All we had to do was to ask the teachers and see if we could get three to take us."
"And you don’t have anyone yet."
"No, Mr. Summers and Dr. Grey agreed to go. So now we want to know if you can come, too."
"Me?" Logan’s eyes narrowed. "You aren’t going to free the animals or anything like that, are you? Stage a protest or act like lunatics?"
They all shook their heads mutely, some having a hard time trying not to giggle.
"Count me in, then." Logan grumped.
He began to lead the way back to the house as the group began to talk all at once.
"Rogue said she might come."
"Could we free the animals if they’re sad?"
"What’s a protest?"
"What’s a lunatic?"
"If an elephant starts eating peanuts and sneezes will it spray them out its trunk?"
Logan rolled his eyes but was secretly amused. It was good to have the kids back.
------
(Chapter 5)
"Sugar?"
Logan looked up from the book and cocked an eyebrow. He had taken Scott’s advice somewhat reluctantly and had been giving Marie more space. Much to Logan’s surprise it seemed to be working. She now sought him out, at least during the day. He glanced at the window and noted the darkness. Maybe things really were getting better.
"Yeah?"
"We need you."
"We? For?"
Marie pulled the book out of his grasp and laid it on one of the library tables near the chair. She extended a gloved hand.
"Ah’ll explain on the way."
Shrugging, he accepted the hand and continued to hold it as they walked toward the kitchen. She didn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t letting go.
"Hank and Megan are having a contest to see which of them has the better nose."
Logan snorted softly and Marie grinned as she pulled him closer, knocking shoulder to shoulder in an offhand, familiar sort of way that he relished silently.
"We’ve set up the kitchen to have different things and people in it and they have to walk in, blindfolded, sit down, and describe all the things in the room that they can smell. We’re recording the results and we’ll compare them to an itemized list of what’s in the kitchen and see who came closest to naming all the things in the room."
"What do you need me for?"
"You’re our control. We’ll record what you smell so we can see what Hank and Megan could have been capable of detecting. We’ll post the results in the morning."
Logan stopped, pulling her to a halt as well. "Who set this up? Whose idea was this?" he growled.
Marie smiled in a dazzling way. "Mine, of course. Ah overheard them one-upping each other this afternoon and asked Jean to come up with a suitable contest." She frowned. "Don’t you think it would be fun?"
He grunted, not really sure why he didn’t want to do this but sure that he was unwilling to disappoint her. They continued on toward the kitchen.
Hank came through the doorway from the kitchen to the hall, blindfolded and led by a giggling Ororo.
"Wait!" Hank jerked to a halt. "I forgot to mention the…"
"No you don’t!" Ororo clapped her hand across his mouth. "Here comes Megan and Logan and you’ll spoil everything if you give any clues."
Ororo laughed when Hank playfully nipped at her hand and took off the blindfold. She stopped laughing when he scooped her up in his arms and planted a wonderfully breathless kiss on her lips.
"Ah, ah, ah! There is a child present, now."
Kurt’s pleasant voice behind them made Logan and Marie turn around and move out of the way. Sure enough, he was escorting a blindfolded Megan who was grinning ear to ear.
"It’s okay, Kurt. I know what they were doing." Megan cocked her head. "Hi, Logan, Rogue. Are you going to play, too, Logan?"
"I guess so," Logan grinned. "Think you have him beat?"
"You know it," she replied. "But I don’t know if I can get everything you can."
"Just take your time and do your best." He ruffled her brown silky hair as she passed and he and Rogue watched Kurt hold the door open and usher the little girl inside.
"Remember," her blue guide said patiently before the door closed, "off to bed after this."
"Another Megan conquest," drawled Marie as she winked at Ororo.
"Personally, I’m not so confident she can be the equal of my faculties." Hank eyed Logan. "I still believe you and I have mature abilities more akin to the keen olfactory perceptions of the typical canine. She is still somewhat young to have manifested the true potential of her mutation. That is my advantage." He tapped his animal-shaped muzzle knowingly.
"Think so?" Logan bent down a little and let Marie bind a cloth over his eyes. "Would you have known what kinds of scents kissing throws off?"
"But…She heard us."
Logan noticed the questioning tone in Storm’s statement and smiled. "She doesn’t have sensitive hearing, Ororo." He heard Hank’s heart rate increase and knew the big blue man was going to be sweating over the contest now. "What did you bet her, fuzzbutt?"
"I, um, bet her a box of Twinkies."
"Considering how much damage you’ve done to your nose with that chemistry set of yours, you’d better get ready to pay up in the morning."
---
The cloaked figure had traveled during the darkness of night, not out of apprehension but out of loathing. Humans were nothing but a nuisance to him now and he preferred to avoid them. That was why he needed a messenger; someone of his own kind that would obey him and deal with these creatures once and for all. Like a hound following the tantalizing scent of prey, he had tracked the energy trail of the mutants. At last it ended at the structure just visible through the trees. He extended his awareness delicately, using his armor to shield him from detection. It would not do to show his hand too early especially if there were any mutants with mental abilities present.
For a long time he stood motionless in the tree line. There were many mutants here, some extremely powerful ones, and it was confusing to sort through them. There was enough power here to feed his need for regeneration many times over. He wished to capture just one first as stealth would lead to many more opportunities to absorb in the confusion that would follow. He stretched his own abilities of manipulation and harnessed the precognitive powers of another mutant he had absorbed so long ago. The future was always uncertain but, if he concentrated, he could see the threads of possibility strung tightly before him. Sure enough, several of his futures included two men that were in the building in front of him, one with red eyes and one with sharp claws. These two must be the key to his success, he reasoned.
Excited by the prospect of ending his search, he focused on the red-eyed mutant and sent a strong mental probe his way. There was raw energy here, tremendous power that he could absorb and refine. Enough to last a lifetime, several perhaps. This was the one he would take first. No, wait. This one was a leader here. He could feel its sense of duty and responsibility. Others would interfere if he made a move to pull it away from here. Unless he used bait…
He scanned the other, the clawed one. This one had a difficult mind to read. Ah, there was the spark, the quickened pulse of a hunter that enjoyed finding prey. Its sensory development was extremely impressive, more so than the bestial one of the other night. There was darkness here too; darkness from knowledge of evil and what it was capable of, what the mutant itself was capable of. This one was a killer…the messenger.
The cloaked figure nodded to himself. If he could lure this one away the other one, the red-eyed one with the energy he needed, would follow. Its sense of duty would make it come to its subordinate’s aid. This would be the way to kill two birds with one stone but could he reach this sharp-clawed one on a subliminal level and take him over? He suppressed his excitement while he conducted a cautious test.
---
Logan sat at the kitchen table, rattling off all the scents he could, careful to avoid mentioning certain pheromone-based ones. He was bored really, letting his mind drift somewhat. To him this was child’s play. His nose could tell him anything he wanted to know. He could smell all the spices in the cabinet, all the cleaners under the sink, all the food in the cupboard. A few years spent in the wild made the discovery of the human world that much more intriguing. Logan had made it a point to learn all the new scents associated with it so he would fit in.
There had been so much to remember. To him, for example, food was constructed of pieces. It was only through repeated association that he had learned to identify flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and water in a certain combination as the dough that made the crust of a pizza. A normal human would automatically make that assumption. It was probably no different for a dog, he reasoned. The dog couldn’t say it was pizza, just that everything in it smelled good.
Scott was as amazed as everyone else in the room was. Megan had been impressive, Hank, too. Logan, however, was naming off things Scott didn’t know were in here. He was even identifying what people in the room were wearing, from perfume to clothing, and had even tagged the Band-Aid Scott had put on Jean’s arm under her sleeve as an experiment to see who could smell it. How the hell had he known about the cut on Scott’s chin from shaving? Scott shook his head. He was supposed to refrain from commenting until Logan had finished but he was finding it pretty damn hard to hold back his verbal astonishment.
Just then a very strange thing happened. Jean, Scott, Charles, and Rogue watched as Logan stopped speaking for a moment and stood up slowly. He swayed and then quickly tore off the blindfold in an angry motion. He glared first at Jean and then at Charles, keeping his attention there as he threw the cloth to the floor.
"Not funny, Chuck. Don’t try that again." It was an extremely menacing tone, one Scott had heard only once before — when Logan had been speaking to Stryker.
Charles looked as taken aback as everyone else when Logan stormed from the room.
"What happened?" asked Rogue quickly. "What made him jump like that?"
"I…I’m not sure." Charles’ brow furrowed. "He’s too upset for me to get a clear picture but I get the distinct impression that he feels I trespassed into his thoughts using my mental abilities." He glanced over at Jean. "Did you feel anything?"
"No," Jean shook her head. "Nothing. Could he have imagined it?"
"Ah doubt it…" began Marie.
The door opened and Hank entered the room rubbing his forehead in pain. "By chance does anyone have acetaminophen? I seem to be in short supply."
"I do," Jean answered and reached for a small bag on the counter. "I just picked some up earlier. What is it, a headache?"
"Yes. I wonder if I am not coming down with something. While we were on a foray into the desert to study astronomy on our last night at the reservation, our entourage camped for the evening. As we were endeavoring to sleep, something woke me, a headache of immense proportions." Hank shook out six pills from the container and replaced the cap before handing it back to Jean. "I believe the headache I obtained that night has now returned fourfold."
Charles looked sympathetic. "Do you need something other than the pain reliever?"
Before Hank could answer, he shut his eyes and grimaced. There was silence for a moment then the far off sound of breaking glass. Immediately Hank opened his eyes and sighed.
"I seem to have had another rush of pain but it has ebbed now. Do not be concerned. I’m sure it’s nothing."
They all watched as Beast poured himself some water and took the medicine.
"Ah believe ah heard something," ventured Marie.
Scott nodded. "Something broke. I’ll go see what happened."
He narrowly missed getting hit by the door as it shot open to reveal a very upset Wolverine. Scott and the others stared at him as Logan strode over and pulled a broom and a dustpan out of the kitchen closet.
"Did you break a window or something?" Scott raised an eyebrow.
Logan stopped and glared at Charles. "Or something," he muttered before leaving.
They all turned to Xavier but he was as puzzled as they were. "He’s still angry with me and I’m not clear as to why. Rogue? Would you mind pursuing this? Perhaps he will share what he felt with you."
"Sure, Ah’ll check on him." She started for the door and was hit by a sudden irrational feeling of panic at the thought of being alone with a man at night. Irritated, she shook herself. "Ah’m sure he’ll be fine. Good night, y’all."
Charles was saddened by Rogue’s dilemma but applauded her courage. "Good night, Rogue. Pleasant dreams to you."
---
It was too good to be true. Not only did this little mutant respond it fought back, ferociously. This one was the messenger, he was sure of it. He searched its mind again, straining to break through the turmoil he had just created. There was an immense knowledge here of ways to kill humans, efficient, precise, and effective ways. There was also something else. This one knew of another mutant, one that was larger and stronger and enjoyed the killing of humans in a way this one did not. He would find this bigger mutant as well and pit the two against each other. He was a firm believer in survival of the fittest and, although he knew this one was what he wanted, the opportunity to see it in action against a worthy opponent was too much temptation to resist.
After he secured the other mutant he would be back. He would have to make repeated calls and wear this little mutant down, bend it to his will in a subtle manner so as not to damage it. It might take time but that did not matter. Time was a relative thing to someone as old as he. Once he had this one the other one, the one with energy, would follow and his regeneration would be secured. This was a good day the armored mutant decided as he rose thousands of feet into the air and headed for the large distant city on the coastline. Destiny was smiling on him.
---
"Mind telling me what’s going on, sugar?"
Rogue perched on one of the tables in the hall. It had formerly been the home of an ornamental crystal figurine, one of Xavier’s favorites, the ruins of which were now being swept up by an irritated Logan.
"I could ask the same, darlin’" Logan stressed the last word, his anger too near the surface for him to care about manners.
Her breath caught. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what’s with pretending to be asleep when you’ve just screamed yourself awake from a nightmare? What’s with cuddling up to me and then jumping away when I touch you? What’s going on, Marie? What the hell is bothering you?" Logan’s face showed his frustration but it also showed concern.
Her own temper flared up as a defense against his attack. "Look, mister, Ah’m not the one who just smashed Xavier’s favorite statuette, okay? Ah’m not the one who stood up in the middle of a fun experiment and then went ballistic. Ah guess Ah’m not the one who needs my head examined after all. My brains seem to be fine compared to yours." She jumped off the table and stormed down the hall. "You let me know when you want to talk in a civilized manner, sugar."
Where the hell did that come from? He opened his mouth to ask her what she meant by that and stopped himself. She was right; he had blundered somewhere. Damned temper, he shouldn’t have let it get the better of him. He paused and had a sudden chill. Why had she mentioned having her head examined? Just what were those sessions with Chuck about, anyway?
Thinking of Chuck made Logan look down at the smashed figurine. It had been some sort of elongated ballerina, graceful and delicate. He had picked it up and hurled it to the floor in an attempt to stop Chuck from creeping further into his mind with whispers he couldn’t understand. The mind games had stopped so he had assumed Chuck had learned his lesson. Now he wasn’t so sure.
He thought back on the voices Xavier had implanted in his head when he first arrived here. They had been different, actual words that steered him to Xavier’s office. These whispers had been just out of reach, harsh scrapings that grated on his hearing like nothing he had ever experienced and said things he didn’t understand.
What the hell was going on?
------
(Chapter 6)
Marie flopped face down on her bed. Why had she just picked a fight with Logan? She was supposed to find out what was wrong with him and instead she had fired up and let her temper loose. Why, though? She was alone now, damn it. Was that what she really wanted? Or was that just a way of making things easier, so she didn’t have to deal with rejecting him again tonight? She should have told him what was bothering her but every time she opened her mouth some other subject seemed to come out. He was going to think she was a complete loon. He was giving her space and plenty of it. Maybe he already thought better about having a relationship with her. No, that wasn’t right. He had just asked her what was going on and there had been real concern in those big brown eyes.
She sighed heavily. Damn those warm hazel eyes, anyway. Why couldn’t she get her act together? Why was she pushing everyone away that was trying to help her? Why did Logan have to be such a…a Logan?
---
The zoo was fairly quiet that next morning and the troop of children that had wanted to go was treated with some wonderful sights. The nocturnal animals were still awake enough to be seen sleepily bedding down and the diurnal ones were stirring and wanting their breakfast.
"Why didn’t Rogue join us?" asked Jean lightly when she, Scott, and Logan paused the tour near the elephant enclosure.
No one wanted to mention Logan’s behavior of last night, least of all him. Chuck had run some gentle probes later when Logan was sleeping but his emotions were still in turmoil and it was hard to ‘see’ for sure what had happened. Xavier did learn of Logan and Rogue’s argument and warned Jean about Rogue’s problem. They both agreed that Rogue needed some time away from a relationship at the moment and Jean decided to gently broach the subject.
Logan was definitely more withdrawn than usual and his effort to rouse himself for conversation showed.
"I didn't go in and wake her. I thought she might need the sleep."
"She had a nightmare again last night?" Scott grew concerned. "Why didn’t you stay with her? We could’ve handled this."
A low growl warned Scott that he was treading too much on personal ground.
"You’ll have to ask Rogue," Logan muttered.
(Scott, the Professor has been helping Rogue try and remember something from her past that’s been triggering the nightmares, something that is intensified whenever Logan’s around. She might need a separation from Logan right now for her own piece of mind.)
(Obviously no one told Logan this. Why? Are you sure Logan is to blame here? Sure he acted a little funny last night but I would be willing to bet that Carol might have triggered something in Rogue’s head, not Logan. She was the last one in there, Jean.)
(It’s not that simple…)
(Why not?)
Logan inadvertently stopped the mental argument when he bent over to answer Megan’s upraised hand.
"What’s the elephant doing, Logan?"
The animal in question was standing near a huge pile of hay and other roughage but was not eating.
"She’s talking."
Megan looked over her shoulder at him. "Is there another elephant?"
Scott scanned his brochure. "There are two elephants here, Megan. A male and a female."
"That’s the female, right?" She watched Logan nod. "Where’s the other one?"
Logan paused and cocked his head. "The other two are in the back."
Scott read over the information again. "It says they only have two elephants, Logan."
There was an amused smirk. "If you say so."
Megan pulled on Logan’s arm. "How come we can’t hear them talking?"
The other kids nodded.
Logan shrugged. "I don’t know. Must be out of normal range." He pointed a finger at a corner of the enclosure. "She’s got her eye on that squirrel. Watch her chase him."
A squirrel was cautiously coming down one of the fake trees nearest the back rock wall. The children and adults looked on as it approached the elephant’s pile of grains.
Jean laughed. "Elephants don’t chase squirrels."
"If you say so," Logan replied again.
To everyone’s amusement the elephant waited until the tiny animal was almost to the prize and then lunged, trunk outstretched to catch the offender.
The little thief chattered madly and scampered up the ‘tree’. It still had to race to the top and make a leap for the wall if it wanted to avoid the angry pachyderm. The jump looked short and it spelled certain doom until the squirrel miraculously flew higher and landed safely on a ledge near the top.
All eyes turned to Jean, who blushed. "What? You didn’t want it to fall, did you?"
There were several hidden smiles as the kids quickly departed led by Logan and followed by a watchful Jean.
Scott stayed behind and caught the attention of one of the zookeepers.
"How many elephants live at this zoo?"
"Well," the older man scratched his chin, "We’ve really got just the male and female now since we shipped their daughter off to San Diego…"
"Thanks." Scott was smug as he started to walk off but his progress was halted by the man’s next words.
"’Course we just got in that female from the Bronx yesterday. Their facility needs some major repairs so she’s on loan for a while. Our male’s out back with her now, trying to see if she’ll go for him. We figured to send her back pregnant if we can. Their other female’s had problems with miscarriages. She was sent to D.C."
Scott’s eyes narrowed. How had Logan known? The wind was blowing the wrong direction for a scent.
"One more question," he offered as the man turned to go. "How do elephants talk?"
"With sound, smell, and touch, of course." The man snorted.
"Sounds? Like their trumpeting?"
"No, mostly low tones we can’t hear. We only pick up about one third of the sounds they make. Those low tones are useful, too; they carry farther, miles in fact, and aren’t stopped by mountains or trees that get in the way. That’s a handy thing in a place like Africa." The man chuckled. "Check out our website if you want. We posted lots of interesting facts about elephants and animal senses there."
With that he left Scott to stare at the pachyderm with a new appreciation. Could Logan really hear an elephant talk? The elephant continued to flap her ears at the small squirrel. What would the world be like with that kind of a sensory range? Overwhelming? Or more comforting because you knew more about what was going on?
"Sounds intriguing." He mused to himself as he quickly strode over to the field trip’s new animal interest. "I think I will."
---
"I take it you’re from Russia, my friend."
Piotr cracked an eye for a second. He was resting outdoors in the hammock and enjoying some much needed peace and quiet after many days with children hanging all over him. The pest turned out to be the little blue man with the tail.
"And you are German. Your name is Kurt, yes?"
"Yes. And you’re Piotr? Or is it Pete?"
Piotr chuckled, always willing to be friendly. "Only Logan calls me Pete and only because he can get away with it." Then he opened his eyes. "Oh, wait. I guess he’s different now." His face fell. "I hope he’s in less pain."
"Is that because of that metal that was inside him? He almost died when it was taken out. I offered to give him Last Rites but Cyclops didn’t want me to."
"I would bet he didn’t. You can call him Scott when he’s out of uniform."
Kurt teleported up into the tree over Piotr’s head and perched on a limb. "He is always in uniform even when he is not."
Again Piotr chuckled. Kurt was very perceptive.
"You’re right. Not much can get under that skin, only Jean. Okay, I guess the rest of us can, too, but he doesn’t always let it show."
"Jean is the doctor, right?"
Piotr nodded. It was different talking to someone up in a tree above you.
"Logan is okay. He is a good listener. He does seem angry sometimes."
Piotr sat up on that one and swung his legs over the side to touch the ground. "Of course he’s angry. He doesn’t have much left. That Stryker person took his memory and gave him all that metal in the first place."
Kurt fell from his vantage point and bamfed to the ground just in time. "He was the one Stryker used?" Kurt turned away for a moment, crouching down. When he looked back Piotr saw a single tear on his cheek. "Stryker used me, too. They told me he had taken another mutant and used him…I didn’t know it was Logan, though. Jean and Ororo only said it was a friend." He gave a shuddering sigh. "I wonder how long they had him?"
"They think it was years, but nobody knows for sure. Logan will probably never remember. His memory is faulty you see. Anything before seventeen or eighteen years ago is lost to him." Piotr was thoughtful for a moment and then decided to lighten the mood. "Of course that is not all sad. It can make for some fun things, too. Not even he knows what he can do."
"What do you mean?" Despite himself Kurt became curious and teleported to a perch on the hammock beside the giant.
"When I am homesick for someone other than my sister to talk with I go to Logan and wait until he is not paying attention. Then I speak Russian and he will talk to me. He does not know he is doing it and it annoys him when he finds out but he is not too annoyed I think."
A smile crept over Kurt’s features. "I wondered why he thought we were speaking English when we were saying things in German the other day."
"He did?" A booming laugh erupted from Piotr. "I see I have a competitor now for the languages. Remember, he will not always know when he is speaking differently and you should not do it often, only enough for his own good and yours so he will not lose the temper. I figure once or twice a week is fair."
An impish grin appeared on the smaller mutant’s face. "Sounds fair to me, too."
---
Almost a week later, Logan received his second hint that something strange was going on. He sat in the break room in the wee hours of the morning with a pot of coffee and a cup in front of him trying to make sense of what had just happened. Dutch nosed his broad head under one of Logan’s hands, whining pitifully.
"It’s not your fault, Dutch." Logan spoke soothingly to the dog. "You did the right thing. Good boy."
The furry tail wagged happily, cleaning a huge swath across the floor.
"I just wish I knew what I was doing." Logan looked down on his fully clothed body, not remembering anything since going to bed in his pajamas. "How the hell did I get dressed without knowing it? And who the hell is putting these damn whispers in my head?"
---
"That’s enough, Rogue. No more for today." Xavier raised the blinds in his office and let in the late morning sunshine.
Sweat poured from Marie’s brow as she struggled to sit up on his couch.
"We can’t stop now. Ah’m so close Ah can feel it."
Charles looked grim. "And I can feel you coming apart. There are circles under your eyes and I can hear your mental anguish at night."
A firm chin tilted upward. "Ah need this. Ah have to find out what kind of monster is scaring me enough to cause my skin not to shut off. Ah know it’s not Logan, even though Ah get the chills just being around him nowadays. Carol knew how to control it; Ah want to know, too."
Xavier shook his head and sighed. Their therapy sessions always ended struggling against a wall of emotion Charles was loath to break down. The mind set up protective defenses for a reason and whatever was behind Marie’s must be devastating. He smiled inwardly. Rogue had only told the secret of her name to Logan and he would respect that. To him this woman was like a daughter and a very small part of him wondered if the old man of mystery and the young woman of death were truly made for each other. When he saw them together, however, he knew his reaction was simply jealousy that they had found such a strong bond. He missed that, having lost it in his own life. Floating in his reverie, he was startled when he felt the silk pat against his cheek.
"Ah’m sorry, professor. Ah don’t mean to sound so ungrateful." Her clear green eyes were still something of a novelty to him. "You’ve been a dear."
She lightly kissed his brow and he grinned in surprise, reaching up to feel the traces of lip balm on his forehead.
"What a wonderful idea. Did you come up with it?"
She chuckled as she reapplied more to her mouth. "Logan did. Sneaky, isn’t he?" She reached over and wiped the residue off of him. "Ah gave him a case for Christmas." Her eyes turned serious. "Ah’m hoping someday Ah’ll never have to use it again."
He grew serious as well. "I will do my best to help you, Rogue."
"Ah know. Ah thank you for that. Ah may be rushing something that has to take more time, that’s all."
Xavier watched her leave and felt a twinge of guilt for his jealousy. She was right. He may be rushing something that needed time, too. He needed to truly heal before thinking of loving again, in that way at least. Logan had managed it and look what he had been through. Charles nodded thoughtfully. If Logan could find someone, maybe he could, too.
---
The next few days were normal by school standards. Classes resumed, tests loomed, love bloomed, and children grew as the temperatures warmed and the sunshine brightened the days again. The only exceptions to the normalcy were Marie and Logan.
Marie drifted in and out of conversations with her friends, not really paying attention to the world around her and more than once Jubilee and Kitty had to snap their fingers to focus her gaze. Her screams at night were muffled into her pillow to keep others from risking their lives just for some dark images and she had called off the sessions with Xavier for a while, claiming she was taking a break.
Logan was quiet, even with the younger children. His classes were as tough as ever but there was a spark missing. If his healing powers hadn’t been doing such a wonderful job, everyone would have seen dark circles under his eyes and would have known he was not sleeping, at all. It was a struggle for him but he was determined to stay awake just to make sure he was still sane. If anyone looked in askance when he started training Dutch to do some bizarre things, he never saw it. He wouldn’t have answered any questions anyway, not about this.
------
(Chapter 7)
"Here it is, listen to this: to the male the female is the ultimate conquest and he will do anything to obtain the unobtainable. He will woo and court the female until she bestows her favors upon him. After mating, he sees that his seed has been planted and will then look elsewhere for another viable receptacle, repeating the process of luring and winning another female until again conquest has been made."
"Gosh, Jubilee, that seems a bit harsh, don’t you think?" Kitty frowned at her friend. "Remy’s not like that, is he?"
"He’s the biggest flirt I know and I’m getting sick of it. Oh, I’m not saying he actually tries to sweet talk other women while I’m around, but, damn it, every time we’re in the mall some girl palms him her phone number."
"Yes, but I’ve seen him trash them when those girls are out of sight."
"If he didn’t look at them in the first place, they wouldn’t be ‘lured’ into giving him their phone numbers, now would they?"
Kitty laughed. "I’m not sure that article in the National Geographic was talking about human males, though. Let me see it."
"No." Jubilee held it out of reach, her injured air comical to see. "No, I know that’s all he wanted and now that we have done the ‘dirty deed’ together I can expect to be kissed off. It’s like I tremble every time he opens his mouth because I know he’s going to give me the bad news. I love that handsome mess of trouble, Kitty. I just don’t know if he loves…Oh, hi, Logan I didn’t see you over there."
The change in tone and demeanor was dramatic. Jubilee dropped the magazine and locked her hand on Kitty’s wrist as a charming smile crossed her dainty face.
"We were just leaving now." Logan looked on as they departed the library, hearing the whispers even out in the hall. "Why didn’t you tell me he was over in that chair?"
"I didn’t see him either…" Kitty whimpered. "Ow, let go, will you?"
Logan put the book he hadn’t been reading down. Would Marie think that way? Could that be the reason he smelled fear around her? Was that why she drew back from his touch? Damn, this whole ‘giving her some space’ idea could be the worst thing for her right now. She would think he was avoiding her. Why didn’t dating come with an instruction manual? How the hell was he supposed to know all this shit?
Mouth set in a firm line, he rose and left the room. He would show Marie just what he thought of their lovemaking. He would propose to her, tonight.
---
They walked together in the garden as twilight fell, one in one world and one in another. Neither said a word until they sat side by side on a bench.
"Marie, I…"
"Logan, Ah…"
She laughed lightly, a little forced even to her own ears. "You started first, go ahead."
He swallowed hard and she watched in fascination as his throat moved as he spoke. He was so close. Their fingers were intertwined and yet she could not hear what he was saying. Those hazel eyes, they held her attention even though her mind raced with too many swirling ideas to truly listen. His voice was low and warm and burred in her ears. How she wanted him to understand, to be there, but knew it was not possible. She was going crazy. Nightmares were eating on her and sleep deprivation was taking its toll on her rationale. She knew he was not the monster she feared but she reacted to him as if he was.
There was a pause and she slowly nodded her head, not really knowing what was going on. His hair had grown back and he looked as wild and wooly as he ever did. Yet, sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she saw an animal complete with fangs and claws waiting to pounce on her. Always when she turned her head to fully look at him he appeared normal. She was frightened and was making him out to be the source of her fears. The problem was she needed to find the real source of her fear before she ran from the one man who had ever loved her.
A rose swam before her eyes and she tried to focus. It was beautiful and red and he was trying to give it to her. She reached out a hand and stopped. Something was in the rose, something round and smooth. A small gold ring. Instantly her mind seemed to be transported back in time as she saw a hand with a gold ring just like it. The hand was large, a man’s hand, and it held a small hand, her hand, in it. She remembered a voice low and smooth, telling her nice things as the hand with the ring began to touch her. Touch her in places very private…
Marie jumped up as if she had been stung. Now she knew what the dreams meant. Her father had molested her as a child. He had been the monster all along. Oh God, why didn’t Mama say anything? Frightened and angry now, Marie stammered as she backed away and began to run for the mansion.
"No…. No."
---
(Same scene, different eyes)
"Marie, I…"
"Logan, Ah…"
There was a small, forced laugh. "You started first, go ahead."
Logan swallowed. This could be the wrong time but he had to know.
‘Marie, I understand you’re hurting for some reason and I think I know why. You’re afraid I’m not going to stay with you now that we’ve made love. You’re right, it did change our relationship but I never looked on you as some sort of one-time conquest. I want you just as badly now as I ever have, ever since I realized I was in love with you. Marie, I want to be here for you. And not just for tonight or tomorrow or even the day after that, I’m talking about wanting to be with you for the rest of my life. Whatever problems you’re going through, I can help with and if you’re worried that I’m thinking of leaving you and running off, I can tell you now that isn’t going to happen. Do you hear what I’m trying to say?"
His eyes pleaded with her to understand and were grateful for the small nod she gave. He let out a breath and went on.
"I love you, more than anything else, and I know you love me too. I swore to you that I would take care of you. I don’t back down on my promises, darlin’. I meant what I said. If you’re worried about me leaving you, well, here’s your answer. I want to marry you. I know you’re not ready yet. Consider this a promise ring, my promise to you that I’m serious about us. If you want to take me up on my promise one day, put the ring on. That way I’ll know that you’re ready to start thinking of marriage, too. You’re going through a rough time right now so I’m not pushing. I’m here for you no matter what you decide. Just think it over; there’s no rush. I’ve got all the time in the world."
He held out a red rose he had hidden under his jacket, one he had garnished with a simple gold band half hidden among the petals. Her hand moved for it and his heart raced. Just as quickly his hopes were dashed as wave upon wave of fear and anger smote his keen senses. He looked into eyes that closed themselves off from him and he watched in disbelief as she ran away.
"No…. No."
He stood, not really knowing what to do, not even realizing he had dropped the rose. Slowly he walked off into the night, into the welcoming woods.
A lone figure had been watching the whole scene unfold, bowing its head in sorrow and regret when it ended so badly for both of them.
---
She made it down the dark corridor without seeing anyone. Logan’s room had been empty and Marie had been grateful for that. All she could focus on was finding a solution to her problem and, as harsh as it sounded, she didn’t want to explain herself to anyone at the moment, not even her mate.
Marie didn’t hear the wheels but she saw the moving shadow and stopped. Xavier rounded the corner and looked at her with one of those damned enigmatic expressions that never gave a clue as to what he was thinking. She readjusted the dufflebag and moved forward to meet him.
"I’m not sure this is the wisest course of action, Rogue," he said, his voice carefully neutral. Xavier had seen it all from the library window and knew she didn’t have a clue what Logan had just asked her. "I don’t believe you realize just what you’re leaving behind at the moment."
She sighed. "Ah know Ah ran out on Logan in the garden. He’ll get over it. Ah’ll make it up to him when Ah get back." The image of a ring burned in her mind and she knew she would not rest until she knew all the answers. "Ah need to go."
"Of course."
Charles sifted through her thoughts and held out a hand. He would not be able to dissuade her, not now. She had already left her goodbye. She clasped his hand briefly with both of her gloved ones before heading off for the garage.
"Drive carefully," was all he said.
"Ah will."
---
Scott picked up the rose and the ring from in front of the bench, wondering why they were there. He had come outside to see if Logan and Rogue were finally talking but they were nowhere in sight. Maybe they had run off in the woods for some privacy, he thought, and he smiled. Then he remembered what Logan had once said about wanting to propose to Rogue. He had a sudden flash of insight and looked at the ring with horror. Had Logan asked? Had Rogue rejected him? He looked around but found no other clues offered in the glow of the garden lights.
---
The explosion never happened. Rumors spread quickly that Rogue was gone, but Logan remained calm and detached, in fact really detached. He wasn’t breaking things but he wasn’t talking either. Of course the others didn’t know about the note and the scarf.
Dearest Logan,
I’m not running again, honest. I’ve just got something I need to find out more about. Take care of this. I’ll be back for it.
Yours always, Marie
This note had been wrapped up in a beautiful piece of silk and gently deposited on his pillow. He knew that silk scarf well. It was one he had picked up a while back because it reminded him of her for some reason, probably because it was soft, strong, and colorful with no set pattern, just a lot of movement. She fell in love with it and wore it often. Now she had left it with him for safekeeping and he recognized the parallel. The scarf was a substitute for a certain dog tag.
He sighed. The message was clear, too: it was her turn to do a little background research just as he had done a couple of years ago. He would wait, then, just as she had. Didn’t mean he had to like it, but he would wait. The scarf, tucked carefully in his jeans’ pocket, would wait, too.
All the while the whispers kept drumming away in his head…
------
(Chapter 8)
She had driven two days to get here, a place she had thought she would never see again.
The door was the same. Only now she was on the outside. She could no longer just open it and walk on in. Her life had changed forever that warm Spring day when one kiss had cost her everything and everyone she ever knew. Desperate to save her family, she had made hard decisions, forced herself to see the brutal truth of the situation. Death was in her touch and she could not bear to endanger those around her, those she loved. She had been so lost afterwards. She squared her shoulders. Well, she had an anchor now and she was doing this for him as much as for herself. Marie cautiously knocked on the door, willing herself not to crush it in her emotional state.
The beautiful smile on the older woman’s face faded into puzzlement and then a dawning surprise and Marie half expected her to shut the door she had just opened. But the woman obviously had some strength of character, too, for she widened the opening and stepped back, allowing her daughter to come inside.
In silence they moved to the living room, her mother gesturing to a chair as she perched on the sofa opposite, tucking the edges of her calico dress around her. The old clock on the wall ticked loudly. Once that had been a comforting noise. When Marie was sitting in this room for days, waiting to see if her boyfriend would come out of a coma or not, it had become more accusatory and ate on her nerves. Now it was just a sound in a room that belonged to someone else. Marie cleared her throat.
"How have you been, Mama?"
"Fine, honey, just fine. And you?" There was a tremble in her voice that Marie put down to fear.
She watched her mother chew her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had seen many times. Her heart clenched in response and she tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
"There’s no need to be scared, Mama. Ah just came to ask a few questions. Ah won’t be staying for more than a few minutes."
The woman absently pulled at a stray hair. "Scared? Oh, Marie, Ah wish…No, if that’s what you want, that’s what’s best. Go ahead. Ah’ll answer all your questions."
Marie’s ears perked. "Wait, what do you wish?"
Wrinkled hands twisted in a lap that Marie used to curl up in for comfort. "Ah wish you would stay. Please? Ah’ll try not to do or say anything that will make you run, but Ah want to…know you again. You left so fast. Ah didn’t get the chance to even tell you the door would always be open for you to come back." She wiped away a tear with a shaky hand. "You’re a woman now and Ah don’t even know you. Ah hardly recognized you. Ah just want a chance…please don’t run away again," she finished softly.
Marie held out a hand. "Mama, Ah left because Ah love you and Ah didn’t want you or Daddy to get hurt." She started to pull it back. "Ah thought you knew Ah didn’t’ want to go."
Somehow, some way, they ended up in a hug. A careful hug but a real one, one that brought back the fact that family can sometimes overcome even the toughest obstacles if there’s enough love.
---
That night Logan was tired of waiting, tired of trying, tired of everything. It had been two days since Marie left. Couple that with several days of not sleeping and you were left with one edgy Wolverine. At least nothing had happened. He hadn’t killed anybody. Either the whispers were getting fainter or he was more used to them. Maybe this meant he was okay again, maybe. The bed he had looked upon with distrust the last few days called invitingly. Logan stripped down, put on his pajama bottoms, and crawled between the sheets. She would come back; she had given her word. Secure in that knowledge he rolled over and closed his eyes. Maybe he could rest for just a few hours tonight. Was that too much to ask?
He found out later that it was.
---
Friday night had been both wonderful and terrible. Marie had enjoyed the way her parents had finally relaxed and sat around chatting with her all night long. Her daddy had been so pleased when he came home from work and she had watched with interest as the two cooked dinner together. A lot had changed. Forced to come to terms with such a terrible blow to the future they thought was in store for them, her parents had decided to forge a closer bond with each other, something she was glad to see. There was no more "Where’s my dinner?" or "She’s your daughter, you deal with her," or "I’ve had it with your accusations," ringing through the house. Instead Marie got the feeling that they now had a better appreciation of what they had and what they had lost.
She had lots to catch up on without even knowing it and they in turn proved to be an extremely attentive audience. She didn’t tell them everything but enough to let them know she was happy and healthy and in a wonderful relationship with a career in teaching and training blossoming in her future. Their smiles and hugs told her that they were closer to dealing with the issue of her being a mutant than they really knew.
The hardest thing had been turning the conversation to the subject of child abuse. Marie watched her mother break down into tears. It seems Marie’s biological father had indeed molested her as a child and her mother had found out and gone ballistic. Within a year of the divorce, her childhood sweetheart had proposed and they had married, with him adopting Marie as his own. The lack of ability to have more children had put a strain on the relationship and turned a romance sour that had once promised to bring healing. The additional blow of finding out their daughter could kill with a touch had strained it even further.
Tired of making mistakes and hiding truths, they had turned to each other in desperation. The little romance was back now as a solid foundation of understanding and compassion and it gave Marie a support she didn’t know had been missing. Her daddy told her about the prison her natural father had been sent to. Her mother told her how her father had lied to her and she had been too blind to see. Once the bad memory was out in the open the ugliness was easier to deal with, although the road to recovery was going to be tough.
At her parents’ request, Marie decided to stay the night. There were some things in her room that she wanted to look over, anyway, and it was too late to go scouting for a hotel room in this part of Mississippi. She found her bedroom had been preserved to reflect the exact moment of her departure and she almost laughed at the planned route to Canada that still hung on the wall. It had been the last thing she had seen on her way out the door. Thank God.
She gently took it down to reveal long forgotten photos behind it. There were images here that she needed to see: a tiny girl dressed in pink sitting in the middle of flowers, a naked toddler splashing in a bathtub (she flinched on that one), and an older girl sitting on a porch licking a spoon filled with homemade ice cream.
One picture caught her eye and she reached for it, dragging it out from behind two others. This one was not familiar: a child of about four with haunted eyes desperately clutching an old dog. Marie sat down hard on the edge of the bed as her memory finally returned full force. Her father had been molesting her at the time and the dog had been her only source of comfort. Tears began to flow. Up until this time it had seemed unreal, as if it had happened to someone else. She cried silently for a long time, rocking to and fro to try to comfort herself and the small child that still lived in her heart.
Marie tossed and turned in the bed much later as thoughts flooded her mind and would not go away. Her first kiss had triggered her mutation as it kicked in to protect her. Now she knew what it was protecting her from.
Carol had control over the mutation because she had control over herself. She had taken charge of her life despite what circumstances handed her. Well, Marie always thought of herself as a take-charge kind of person, too. After all she had planned her life after high school. She had even decided to go to college.
Nagging thoughts kept circling around in her head. Why had he molested her? Had she done something wrong? The feeling of being small and helpless hit her in response to these questions and Marie realized she had not been in control after all, not when she could feel this way after all this time. She never would be until she decided how to handle what had happened.
The next morning she had picked her parents’ memories for any information they had on the trial. It struck her that it was important to know if the man had ever regretted what he had done to his little girl. Was he truly a monster or was he something else? They had sent her to the library and told her the dates of the trial so she could look up back issues of the local newspaper. Marie now hunted through the microfiche thinking grimly about how strange it felt to be looking up a father she barely remembered.
A shadow fell across her and Marie glanced up. Three young men she had known in high school stood at the ready and she understood from their tense body language what their intentions were.
"You shouldn’t have come back, mutant." The voice was low and edgy, as if fearful of her and contemptuous at the same time. "We don’t want your kind here."
She smiled sweetly, remembering what Logan had said about throwing your enemy off guard.
"Ah’ll be done shortly, fellas. If you’re willing to tango, Ah’ll be out in the parking lot in about an hour. Ah wouldn’t start anything in here. This library cost too much money. Besides, blood stains paper pretty badly."
Not satisfied but at a disadvantage they exited the building for the roomier battlefield outside. She got up and looked out the window. Sure enough, they had a bat and were working up their courage with liquid reinforcement. Sighing, Marie sat back down. They were easier to handle that what she had been reading.
Her forehead furrowed as she poured through the trial transcripts. It had been a sensation in this area and,though the names had been withheld, many must have guessed who it was even with a change of venue. He had not denied anything. Even the pictures of him made him look distorted and grotesque. Was she descended from this person? Did she have this same potential for evil? In vain Marie looked for more clues. There were none. The defense had said nothing about a blow to the head or any other kind of trauma that would have caused this behavior. No psychologist had stepped forward to tell anyone he had been insane. There had been no excuses.
Sadly Marie returned the materials to the information desk and signed them back to the older woman who took charge of them. As she turned to go, the woman cleared her throat.
"Do you want the last one?"
Marie turned. "The last one? Ah don’t understand."
"The man who came here about a year ago checked out everything you did and a whole lot more. He didn’t seem satisfied until he found the last article on this man. The one that said how he died."
Confused, Marie came back to the desk. "If there’s one more article on this man then, yes, Ah want to see it. What other man are you talking about?"
The woman smiled. "It’s been over a year and Ah can still picture him. He fairly made my heart flutter Ah can tell you. Tall, dark, handsome, and as wild as they come." She flipped the pages in the sign-out book. "Here, he signed his name when he checked all this out that day."
Marie gaped at the signature as the woman pulled the last piece of microfiche.
W. Logan
Stunned, she took it from the woman and went back to the reader. It took her a minute to focus her thoughts on the article in front of her and not on why Logan had come looking for her past. When she did, she was glad he had found it for her. It outlined her father’s death. He had committed suicide in prison and had written a note. Now she knew why he had not put up a defense and why he had not fought against imprisonment. He blamed himself for everything and had written one last plea for the daughter he would never really know to forgive him someday for his terrible mistake. So he had been human after all, not a monster in the dark. Someone who had let a terrible decision destroy several lives.
Silently Marie handed back the information to the woman and walked out the door. She only remembered at the last minute that a ‘committee’ was waiting for her in the parking lot. Absently she grabbed the aluminum bat out of their hands and crushed it in her own. Without any further resistance she drove back to the house and said goodbye to her parents. She knew where she needed to be. It was time to go home.
---
The Saturday morning sun found the kids working on the long-neglected tree house. Surprisingly, Logan was right in the middle of the action, offering help and labor where needed. Laughter was heard up in the treetops and Scott paused to watch, a playful grin clearly visible on his upturned face.
Someone rolled up behind him. "I see the construction is in full swing."
Without glancing down, Scott answered Xavier. "I’d like to join in. Looks like fun."
"You should, Scott. No one needs a break to the extent you do. I do believe you have yet to take a day off from being leader."
"Hmmm, I guess you’re right, professor. I really haven’t, have I? It would be fun to skip being a chief and just be an Indian for a while."
Scott hailed the entourage and asked permission to climb aboard. To his relief he was welcomed at once and given a list of items that needed attending to. Climbing up he dutifully grabbed a hammer and followed orders.
Jean and Ororo brought out a picnic at noon and soon there was a party in full swing. By the time evening had come the tree house was beginning to take on an impressive look. A few more finishing touches and a coat of paint were all it needed now. The children were pleased with themselves, the adults were delighted with their charges’ imagination, and the dog was barking merrily.
Only Charles noticed Logan’s grim expression at the coming night.
------
(Chapter 9)
Marie gripped the steering wheel and almost broke it. Her anger had been rising steadily for the past few hours as she drove and she could feel control slipping through her fingers. Quickly pulling to the side of the road, she hopped out of the car and tramped through the roadside woods, slamming her fists into a few trees as she passed them.
There was no one to yell at, no one to vent to, no one to punish. She had been violated, dammit, and that innocence was lost to her forever. She roared her frustration to the fleeing birds. How dare her father do this? How dare he take his life? What kind of a coward hides behind death? She wanted to face him, take him down for what he did to her. Make him feel as small and helpless as she had.
Marie sank to the forest floor and cried out in pain. No one could hear her. No one cared. She sniffled. That wasn’t true. Her mom and dad cared. But mutations were scary and they didn’t even begin to know how to help her without showing their fear of her skin. There was one person who didn’t fear her. She picked up a rock and threw it with enough force to knock a hole in a rather large trunk nearby. Fat lot of good it did to have a boyfriend who didn’t fear you when he checked up on you without saying anything.
Logan had known all along and hadn’t said a word. Damn him. Did he love her or not? Why the hell hadn’t he told her? What was it he was after anyway? Her darkest secrets? Her temper boiled until a still, small voice posed the following thought:
You found out his darkest secrets but you never shared yourself with him.
"He could have asked!" she screamed. "He could have asked! He had no right to do that. He had no right to do that to me!" her eyes grew round as the parallel suddenly struck her. "He had no right! He had no right to touch me like that. Ah was just a little girl. How could it be my fault if Ah was just a little girl?" She threw her hands wide and yelled to the world, "It’s not my fault and Ah’m not taking the blame for it. Ah don’t need to live with what he did because Ah didn’t do anything wrong! He did! He had no right to do that to me! My life is not going to be lived in his shadow. He is not going to keep tearing me apart. Ah don’t need that. Ah don’t deserve it, do you hear me?" Marie shook her fist at the sky while tears raced down her cheeks. "Ah don’t deserve what you did and Ah’m not going to let you get to me anymore!"
Breathing hard, she sat there for a while and let the stillness of her surroundings bleed into her and give her strength. She would survive this, Marie reasoned. She would not be beaten. Carol had not let her father rule and ruin her life. She could use that as an example. He mother had kicked her father out of the house before any more damage could be done. She could take comfort in that. The mansion was filled with people who loved her and cared for her. She could heal there.
Her life could start anew from this moment. She could take heart in the fact that she was strong enough to fight. She could handle anything. While the wound of having her lover check up on her was still too fresh to delve into, she knew she would find out the truth about that, too. She could and she would. That was all there was to it.
Empowered by her release, Marie stood and walked back to the road. A hotel was in her near future. One that would offer some sort of a decadent meal and a warm bubble bath. She didn’t need these things to feel better, she wanted them and that was a good enough reason to have them.
---
Xavier watched Logan walk through the shadows like they weren’t there. He was only wearing jeans and padded silently on bare feet down the wood flooring of the hall like some sort of big cat on the prowl. Charles sighed softly, trying to think of a way to broach the subject when he realized he just did. His sigh had given him away as if he had shouted for attention.
"What do you need, Chuck?"
Xavier rolled out of the shadows. It was never easy to try and sneak up on Logan. It wasn’t advisable either.
"I was wondering why you have not been sleeping lately."
Logan shrugged. "You tell me."
"Rogue will be back, you know. She did leave that note."
"You get that from her mind?"
Charles nodded. "I was hoping she would come to you."
"She doesn’t come to me with her problems anymore." Logan frowned. "She went home to find answers, didn’t she?"
Xavier pondered that for a second.
"She needed to know about her biological father."
"She having problems dealing with him after all these years?"
Charles cocked his head as he absorbed that information. Logan had known and hadn’t told her. Then it hit him. Logan wouldn’t understand someone else not remembering something. He didn’t know what you might or might not remember from childhood, having nothing to go by.
"You don’t realize, do you?"
"Realize what?"
"Why is it I always make incorrect assumptions when it comes to you? Rogue is having a hard time dealing with her father because she doesn’t remember all that happened."
Logan growled. "If I were her I wouldn’t want to remember. That was a pretty sick thing to do to a kid, especially your own daughter."
Charles felt the anger rise in the man across the way from him and smiled softly. Logan would always have the instinct to protect. Stryker’s worst mind alteration experiments had not driven that from him.
"It is not unusual for a child to block a memory of something painful. As an adult, though, Rogue will have to come to terms with the situation."
"Why?"
"She needs to remember in order to heal, Logan. Most people do."
Now Logan was grimly amused. "Never stopped me."
"Nothing does seem to stop you for long, does it?"
"I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for a few people and you know it. You could see in her head, why didn’t you tell her if she didn’t remember? It would have saved her the trouble of going back."
"Yes, but she needed to go back and discover it for herself."
Logan began to project annoyance. "You would know. You know everything."
"If I did I wouldn’t still be wondering what happened to you in the kitchen the other night…" He stopped when he saw Logan’s reaction.
There was a dawning surprise on Logan’s features. "You don’t know, do you? You can’t feel it?" Logan’s gaze grew grim. "Then it is just me. Damn."
Charles became curious, "Logan, if…"
"Chuck, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to do those whispers again, like you did when I first came here."
Charles barely held his surprise in check. "All right, if you’ll tell me afterward what this sleeplessness is all about."
"Okay."
The whispers fluttered thick and fast as Charles bombarded Logan with all the questions he had ever wanted to know about the man, carefully overlapping them so much it would be hard to tell what had been said. There was so much Logan knew but could not say, since it was locked forever in memories he might never access again. There was so much more that had been stripped from him and the damage had been deep and cruel. Logan would never be entirely readable as so much was simply missing, gone forever due to a twisted scientist’s dream. After a moment Charles stopped.
"Now, what did I just do that for?"
Logan cocked his head as if listening for something. Charles received the impression that whatever experiment Logan had tried had not worked and he saw the older man shake his head softly as if denying something.
"Can you tell if another telepath is doing that?"
Startled, Xavier thought carefully before answering. "Yes, I could. I don’t feel anyone else around, though. Is that what you wanted to know?"
Logan sighed and looked down. Charles felt the projected sorrow and cringed.
"Logan? Is that it? Are you hearing things?" He was stunned. Could the man be loosing his sanity after fighting to keep it for so long? "What can I do to help you?"
"Nothing, Chuck. If things don’t get better, I’ll leave. I promise." He turned and disappeared in the shadows.
Charles was at a loss. Rogue wasn’t here and there was no one else Logan would confide in…unless…
---
"Scott."
There was a grunt.
"Scott?"
"Whaaassssst…" mumbled the man in question.
(SCOTT!)
"What?" Scott sat up in bed clapping his hand over his eyes.
"Your glasses are fine."
He looked over and sighed. "My heart’s not. Are you trying to give me a heart attack or what?"
"Or what. Charles says Logan needs someone to talk to."
"Oh…Logan. For Pete’s sake, Jean, cut the guy some slack. Rogue’s not here and you two expect him to act normal or something. Is that really fair?" Scott slumped back on the pillow.
Jean rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her hand. Slowly she began to trace circles on the clean-cut abdominal muscles beside her with a loving fingertip.
"No," he grumped.
She shook her head. "I’m not going to take no for an answer. He needs someone and if you don’t go out there I will."
Scott turned his head and gazed fondly at the silk negligee that barely covered her. He sighed.
"You would, wouldn’t you?"
"He needs to talk. He’s not taking this well and you know it. Come on, he respects you. You can find him out in the tree house."
Scott slowly rolled over and out of bed, grabbing a robe as he headed for the door.
"First you two want them apart and now you want me to fix it. You’d better keep my side warm, lady, or I’ll make sure my feet are good and cold when I hop back in."
"I will, lover. I promise."
---
Marie thrashed and woke herself up, her arms raised to ward off what she had just seen in her dreams. She went to the bathroom and gulped a glass of water to help her wake up. That hadn’t been a normal nightmare. That one reminded her of that other horrible dream just before…just before…
She looked at herself in the mirror. Was she feeling guilty about her anger over what Logan had done? Marie shook her head. This was different. This was tangible. Logan was in danger. There had been ice and snow and blood and a sunset. It was so much like the dream she had had before all that mess with Graves had occurred it made her shiver.
That was it, no more sleeping. She raced out of the bathroom and grabbed her small bag, shucking the nightie for her normal clothes. She would drive to the mansion as fast as she could. For a fleeting second she toyed with the idea of simply flying and carrying the car. It would be faster. She shook her head again. She would drive. She would make it before sunset. Everything would be all right.
---
"Okay. Why are you out here in the middle of the night working on the tree house with a screw gun?"
Scott looked up into the dark branches and tried to pick out any discernable movement.
"’Cause a hammer’s too noisy," came the faint reply.
Scott started for the ladder when Dutch, curled up at the base of the tree, jumped to his feet and began to growl.
"Dutch!" Shocked, Scott looked up again. "What’s with the dog?"
"No one comes up or down the ladder until I give him the signal."
"Not even you?"
"Especially not me."
Scott sat cross-legged in the grass. "Okay, I’ll bite. Why did you train the dog to do that? And why did you lock yourself out? I found your key on the kitchen counter."
"You really want to know?"
"Yes I really want to know."
"I’m…hearing things."
There was an incredulous pause. "That’s it? You mean you aren’t out here pining for Rogue? You aren’t having nightmares? You’re hearing things? I don’t get it."
"I only wish I was having nightmares now. Anything would be better than this."
There were two low whistles and Dutch sat down. Scott made a motion and the dog trotted over, letting him run his fingers through the thick, curly fur.
"He’s getting bigger." He watched Logan descend the ladder in the darkness. "Could he take you?" Dutch lay down and let Scott rub his belly.
"No, and you know it," Logan grunted as he dropped the last few feet. "But he’s got a good bite and it’ll wake me up."
Logan’s face showed faintly in the moonlight and Scott was shocked to see the worry reflected in it.
"Something’s really eating on you, isn’t it?"
He watched as Logan gracefully lowered himself onto the grass.
"That night in the kitchen I thought Chuck was pulling a fast one on me, making me hear whispers. I smashed his precious statue and there were no more whispers." Logan tugged absently at a blade of grass. "Four nights ago the whispers came back. I ignored them and went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the hall with Dutch clamped onto my heel and tugging for all he was worth. I was fully dressed and don’t remember doing it. I decided not to sleep for a while and see what happened. Since nothing did, I thought it was all in my head. Last night I dozed off in my bed. When Dutch woke me up I was in the garage sitting on my ‘bike in my clothes. My claws were out. Again, I don’t remember how I got there or what I was doing. So tonight I’ve locked myself out of the house and the garage and set Dutch to watch me. Now do you get it?"
Scott gave a low whistle and the puppy perked his ears. "Can you hear the whispers now?"
Logan grated his teeth. "I can’t understand them but yeah, they’re there."
Scott absently rifled his fingers through Dutch’s fur. "Any ideas?"
"I guess I’m finally going crazy."
Scott flashed a smile at the man seated next to him. "I’ll admit you’re insane at times, but crazy? No, I don’t buy it. Something’s up. I just wish you’d learn to let someone else know when you’re having a problem." He held up a palm quickly. "I know, I know, you’re not used to having help." He arched an eyebrow as an idea hit his brain. "How about we try an experiment?"
Logan frowned but Scott was glad to see a subtle nod.
"I don’t think I have another choice at this point."
------
(Chapter 10)
Hours later, yawning sleepily, Scott shuffled into the garage. He had fallen asleep but that had been expected. They had set the cameras and it all would be on tape. Logan had woken him up not too long ago and had headed off to the kitchen to do his turn at breakfast. That meant cereal and toast.
Scott made his way over to the big black motorcycle that belonged to Logan. Fishing in his pocket, he brought out the tiny tracking device he had pulled from the ‘bird earlier. If Logan really was flipping out it would be a good thing to know where he went, Scott mused as he attached it out of sight on the underbelly of the machine’s gas tank. That is if he remembered whose bike was whose. He fished out another disc and attached it to his own ‘bike. With Logan you never could be too sure.
---
"Okay, everyone, let’s get organized. Who has the brushes?" There was a show of hands so Jubilee continued. "Who has the primer?"
"I do," said Kurt and he dutifully held up the paint cans Logan had handed him.
"Bad news," Logan said as he walked up. "There’s no red and blue. All I could find was yellow and green." There was a resounding chorus of ‘awwws’ and Logan held up the cans in his own defense. "I’m not the one who was in charge of buying the paint."
All eyes turned to Jubilee who blushed. "There was this special and I…"
"She told me to go and get the rest from the store with the sale." Remy smacked his forehead dramatically, pulling attention away from the female in distress. "I am not so good with the memory yesterday. I will go get the blue and red and even find some purple, no?"
Now there were cheers from the children. Warm brown eyes reflected their gratitude and Remy smiled shyly before donning the dark shades that would hide his unusual eye color from detection.
"Someone will come with me to carry the buckets, please?" Remy raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, sure. Bobby?" Samuel sauntered over to Remy’s side.
"Yeah, okay, I’ll go, too. Do we need anything else? More brushes, primer, paint thinner, anything?" Bobby looked around.
"Get latex. Cleans up with water and is less toxic for the kids," remarked Logan as he made ready to open the cans of primer and start filling pails.
Jubilee waved at the retreating men and held up a paintbrush with a flourish.
"Let the great tree house painting war begin!"
---
Scott scrubbed the side of his face with his palm yet again. He had slowed the tape down, sped it up, and even reversed it. Again and again he watched Logan pace the virtual reality training room just off the main Danger Room. Again and again the older man would sit, pick up a book, read, yawn, stretch, and do everything else normally. Nothing stood out on the tape until the part near four o’clock in the morning. Logan had been sitting with his back against the door, his gaze staring into space. For the briefest of minutes his eyelids fluttered closed and there was no other motion. Within seconds however, Logan sprang up as if he had been shocked into action. The pacing then began anew along with the book reading and yawning.
He decided to take a break and headed to the kitchen where he found Ororo, Hank, Piotr, Jean, and Xavier discussing menus for the coming week. The Russian wanted to add a little change of pace to the food served and was offering to whip up the dishes himself. Hank was expressing his newfound love for cooking with a wok and Ororo was voting for more salads and pastas.
The faint sound of laughter along with children’s shrieks and yells told Scott everyone else was out helping with the tree house. At least they were being productive. He was coming up empty.
Scott snorted as he pulled a soda from the refrigerator. He walked over and leaned on the counter beside Jean, nudging his shoulder against hers. She glanced up and threw a smile and a mental hug his way.
"So, what’s for dinner?" He asked.
She laughed. "That’s up for debate as you can hear. Any luck?"
The question was casual but Scott noticed that the room became instantly quiet. So much for having a telepath keep a secret.
"No, not really. The tape we made of Logan last night doesn’t show much but I keep thinking that there’s something there I’m missing, something I know but I’m not remembering."
Hank’s brow furrowed. "Normally you have a memory akin to that of a pachyderm."
"A pachyderm…?" Scott’s mouth dropped open.
Piotr stared. "Did a light bulb just go over his head?"
"Went on, Piotr. The light bulb went on over his head." Ororo leaned against the counter. "Now you’ve piqued my interest. What does an elephant have to do with Logan?"
"Hank," Scott had the delighted face of a child who just discovered a hidden present, "can you hear an elephant talk?"
"What?" Hank stammered for a moment. "I…uh…well, my hearing is generally confined to normal human range plus frequencies in the ultrasound fields. I’m not given to…"
"Can you hear elephants?" Scott repeated.
"No. Low tones are outside the realm of my sensory range. In fact what little infrasound I am able to receive gives me a…headache." The light bulb went off over Hank’s head now. "No…could it be? Is he that sensitive?"
"That’s what I’m thinking."
Scott headed back for the computer control area in the danger room. He grabbed the doorjamb and stopped. When he turned he noticed all of them were following. They all wanted to know, too.
"Jean, just for grins, grab that tape we made in the kitchen that night. I have a feeling we might find something interesting on it as well.
Half an hour later they were all stationed before a monitor, ready for the final test.
"This is at ten times normal speed. That’s right?"
Hank nodded. "The calculations should be correct."
Logan flitted across the screen, moving in fast, jerky movements. There shouldn’t have been any noises for Logan was normally a silent person and he had not talked during the entire filming. Nonetheless, there was something faint now audible in the room.
"Turn it up please, Scott." Charles leaned forward.
There was a voice, now. Something barely discernable in the scratchy noise of a volume turned up too loud. They could faintly hear the words chirping at an unnatural speed.
"You are mine, you belong to me. Come to me and we will kill them all. You are my messenger. Your soul is now mine and I will take it. Follow my voice and fulfill your destiny. Blood will run in rivers at your feet. I will feast on the souls you bring for me. Prepare yourself and find a means to join me…"
Over and over the words whispered their chilling and hypnotic message. Ororo put her hands over her ears.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
Scott flipped the switch and turned in his chair. His face was ashen and he could see that the others were just as upset as he was.
"Hand me that tape from the other night."
He had it queued up in no time. Now they could all hear the words that had made Logan stand up and react like he had.
"I need you. Your soul is mine to call. You are mine to control. Join me…"
Scott turned the player off and began clacking madly away on the computer keyboard.
Piotr cursed softly in his native language. "And I thought I was pulling a fast one by speaking Russian to Logan without him knowing."
"No wonder he was angry," Jean began.
"And we heard nothing," finished Hank.
Xavier paled. "I as much as told him no one was trying to influence him. Because of that Logan believes he is going insane." He looked over. "Henry, do we have any kind of hearing protection we can outfit Logan with?"
Hank shook his head. "All of it is geared to the higher decibels that can damage normal hearing. Nothing we have can prevent Logan from hearing this. All we can do is try to keep him awake until we can determine the source. Or induce a deep sleep and lock him down. Either alternative is not exactly pleasant."
"What is the range on that kind of a signal, Henry? Is it greater than my own? Why can’t I feel this negative outflow of intentions?"
"Infrasounds can travel up to six miles and are not stopped by buildings or other structures in their path." They stared at Scott who was surfing the Internet. "This is the zoo’s website on elephant communication."
"This discussion is all well and good but you are forgetting one thing." Ororo had their attention now. "We need to tell Logan of this. He needs to know he’s sane and in danger."
---
Charles left them to use Cerebro in pursuit of anything strange in the area.
The rest went upstairs and out through the kitchen to find Logan. They found a stunning sight. All the children and adults were fast asleep, either on the ground or up in the massive tree house. Piotr let out a cry and scooped up Illyana, whom he found over at the clean up area. He then went in search of Kitty.
"What on earth?" Scott knelt next to a group of sleeping children. "Jean? Can you get anything?"
Jean held up her arms. "It’s okay, baby. I’ll get you down. Close your eyes and think good thoughts."
A tearful child glided up and over the broken railing of the porch of the tree house. Jean gently guided the girl into her arms and held her tight.
"Poppy, what happened?" Ororo stroked the small one’s cheek softly. "Why did you put everyone to sleep?"
Poppy opened her eyes and sniffed, burying herself deeper into Jean’s shoulder to avoid the other’s attention. "I was painting and Lance made the wood shake to try to scare me. It worked. I got scared and I…used my power. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! It’s just that I can’t help it. I’m afraid of heights. Logan was right there with me and made me feel safe until Lance made fun of me and laughed."
"You are fine child. No one was injured. Your naps are always restful. Speaking of Logan, little one, do you know what happened to him?"
Hank spoke gently for the little girl had a powerful mutation that was triggered if she became too upset. None of them needed Poppy to put them to sleep at the moment, not while Logan was in danger.
"He felt what Lance did and stood up to make him leave. He fell when I..." Tears streamed down her little face and her British accent quavered. "He broke through the railing and hit the ground. I thought I killed him."
They could feel waves of lethargy creep over them and Jean held the child tighter.
"You can’t hurt Logan, Poppy. Remember, he heals from anything. Calm down. It’s okay." The feeling lifted with Jean’s soothing words. "Poppy, what happened after that? Did Logan get up?"
The girl nodded. "I called to him but he didn’t hear me. He walked away and left me up here. I’ve never had anyone wake up so soon after I used my power before. Even when I accidentally put Logan to sleep the first time I came here he didn’t wake up for a few minutes."
Scott touched something in the grass. Dutch was fast asleep along with everyone else. The one thing Logan had counted on to keep him from doing anything crazy was the dog. Scott stroked Dutch’s head then jerked up and ran for the garage. Sure enough, Logan’s motorcycle was gone.
------
(Chapter 11)
The three men exited the helicopter. Logan was moving as if controlled by an unseen force. Sabretooth growled.
"Can I rip him apart now?"
The tall, armored mutant raised his hand in irritation. "Patience. I want a fair contest. I wish to truly see who will kill all the humans for me."
"How did you make him fly the chopper?"
"I did not make him do that. He was flying on his own ability. I have no need to learn how to operate one of those loathsome machines. I only needed transportation for you two."
Sabretooth looked around at the ice and snow. "Where are we?"
"Where we need to be."
The mutant strode over the wasteland and settled himself in a seated position not far away. Immediately snow and ice began to form a protective coating over him. Sabretooth watched in disbelief as the camouflaging mound was shortly completed.
Logan blinked and turned his head. That was all the signal Creed needed as he lunged for the kill.
---
Jean, Ororo, Piotr, and Hank were adjusting the sleeping mutants, making sure no one was in danger of falling or choking. Scott came back wearing his weapon visor and holding a small device in his hand.
"Piotr, come with me. We’re going to take the new SUV and follow the signal of the tracer on Logan’s ‘bike. Jean, he’s not far away and the signal’s stationary."
"Maybe more of us should go." She plainly showed her concern in her tense body language. "You heard that voice. Whatever it has in mind involves death and destruction."
"I don’t want to leave the kids unguarded while they sleep, besides I’m not out to bring him back yet. If he can lead us to whatever is doing this we can rescue him and take care of the signal at the same time. This is just a reconnoiter, not a mission." They kissed and he squeezed her hand. "We’ll be back before you know it."
---
The fight was bloody and brutal with Logan pulling every trick he knew to keep the big man from ripping him apart.
"You’re weak now. I’m stronger. He’ll choose me."
Logan eyed him warily. "Who, bub? You got an imaginary friend out here? I always knew your mind was shot."
Again there was another flurry of battle and they broke apart, breathing heavily, blood everywhere.
"He wants to rule the world and have all the mutants worship him. I’m going to kill all the humans. I’m going to be death."
Sabretooth reached out and made a grab for Logan’s bone claws, actually breaking off the ends of two of them before Logan could react. He flung them in the snow between them, laughing at the sight of Logan clutching his hand in pain.
"You can’t stop me, not without metal. He’ll let me kill everyone."
Logan thought of Megan’s parents, Amber, Fuerte, and several other humans in his life who had done good things in his opinion. They didn’t deserve to have this maniac live anymore if he was crazy enough to start randomly killing everyone he ran into. Summoning the last of his energy, Logan rolled and grabbed the bone pieces, lunging to his feet with surprising speed and ramming his palm into Sabretooth’s face.
Sabretooth started to react but something was wrong. He felt his face where his nose was now reshaping itself. There was a pain in his head that was unbearable and he let out an agonized roar as he fell to his knees.
Wolverine held up one of the bone claw pieces. "One of these is now in your brain, bub." He shoved hard and Sabretooth flew backwards in the snow, clutching at his now healing throat. "Now one’s in your windpipe. I’ve always known what it would take to kill myself. Good thing for you, huh, bub?"
Logan leaned over, his lungs gulping in frigid air. Several of his bones were mending and he hurt all over. The big man had almost won. Almost. Problem was, Logan had no clue where he was or why Sabretooth had wanted to kill all the humans in the world. Was this a dream or something?
He grimly surveyed his work. Sabretooth didn’t have much longer to live. Logan had rammed one of the fragments up the nasal cavity where no metal protected his skull. Sabretooth’s body had healed his nose, effectively sealing the claw inside his brain where it would disrupt his ability to function. The other was now healed inside the big man’s air passage, blocking off the oxygen his body would desperately need. It was crude and brutal, tactics wise, but it got the job done.
There was a low chuckle to his left and Logan whirled, stunned that something could get that close to him and not be sensed, especially in this remote, barren land.
"You are the messenger. I had no doubt."
The man was tall, over seven feet in height and wrapped from head to foot in a dark fabric cloak and hood.
Logan’s eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
"Your destiny."
The man raised a hand from underneath the cloak and Logan noticed that he was armored with some sort of strange metal. He watched, fascinated, as the armor began to shimmer and change, becoming almost translucent. Sabretooth twitched and his body began to glow with a red aura. His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth again and again. If Logan didn’t know better, he could have sworn the big feral mutant was trying to scream. Within seconds the glow around Sabretooth had become so bright it was hard to look at and Logan squinted as the ball of light moved from the dying mutant to the upraised arm of the man encased in metal. It was quickly absorbed into the shimmering armor, which slowly changed back to a gray sheen. Now the hood of the man was dropped back to reveal chiseled metallic features almost overwhelmed by two red eyes. Logan looked back at Sabretooth. He was definitely dead now. In fact, it looked like he had been dead for a while. His skin was shrunken in and his bones were clearly outlined. Logan faced the man again and backed up a step, crouching into a defensive posture.
The man laughed. "You are a funny little mutant, acting as if you could take me down."
At the edge of his vision, Logan saw Sabretooth’s body begin to move grotesquely as if on marionette strings. The large man raised his arm yet again and his hand began to turn and change as the metal formed itself into a weapon. Logan glanced quickly left and right. There was no cover available on the ice.
The red beam from the weapon impacted Logan’s chest and he flew a few feet in the air before slamming down on the ice with enough force to make an indention. He felt a couple of his ribs begin to knit themselves back together as he struggled to regain his feet.
Something was coming out of Sabretooth’s body now and Logan could see it glinting in the dying sunlight. Slivers of adamantium were coming his way, floating in the air like giant needles ready to pin him in place. Logan shoved with all his might against the beam that held him but he couldn’t move let alone get up. His eyes focused solely on the metal pieces floating his way even though he heard a booming laugh from the man in armor.
"I am a mutant, small one. My powers far exceed yours. The other was useless to me as you proved. He was a killer but had no true knowledge of what it takes to survive." The voice washed over Logan and flooded his brain. "Struggle as you wish. I enjoy your spirit. I will enjoy it more when it is a part of me. Energy and molecular manipulation are my allies. You can only heal. I think I will win as I have done for many eons." Logan heard the material in his shirt and jeans tear as thousands of sharp metal points ripped through it.
"Your body is flawed as the other pointed out. I will make you stronger." The metal was touching his skin now and Logan winced as it began to bore under his flesh, all over. "I will reinforce your bone structure as his was. I will enhance the killing capacity of your claws. You will be changed as I see fit for I am your master now. I will bind your soul to me and you will kill all the humans on this planet at my command." Logan began to scream as his body rippled with the metal writhing underneath his skin. "Your new name is Death."
---
Rogue drove up the drive exhausted and shaking. She could not get the image of the nightmare out of her head. She slammed the jeep door closed so hard that it warped. Damn, she thought, I’m letting this get to me. There’s nothing wrong. There can’t be.
She smiled when she saw Logan’s ‘bike parked in its usual spot. See there? She felt the engine and discovered it was hot. He had just got back from somewhere, too. She shook her head. Nothing wrong, in fact, she set her face for the lecture she planned for him, she was going to give Logan a lesson about trust and privacy.
The hall was empty. So were the foyer, the library, and the media room. She ran up for a quick check. Nope, Logan was not in his bedroom. She threw down her duffel bag and sat on the edge of her bed. Where to now?
(Rogue, if you will, please join us in the dining room.)
The professor’s voice rang in her head and she complied as quickly as she could. He never sent a brain bulletin unless it was important. She stopped when she entered the doorframe. The entire school population was in there. Some were sleepy, some were asleep on tables, and others were awake and trying to get others to wake up.
Jean grabbed her hand and pulled her toward Kurt. "See if you can get him awake."
Mutely Marie managed to pull Kurt up bodily and walk him into a state of semi-lucidity. She eyed the professor and raised an eyebrow as a question. He raised a hand and she realized she would be find out when the others were told.
Slowly but surely everyone came awake. Hot coffee and chocolate along with a supper snack was served and people began to finally talk and express their confusion. The professor managed to instill a silence long enough to explain what had happened and why they felt the way they did. Some laughed and thought it was a good joke. Some glared at Lance and gave reassuring pats on the shoulder to Poppy, producing a smile on the girl’s face for the first time in hours. After that the professor sent them to bed to sleep off the rest of the lethargy which most were more than happy to do.
That left Remy, Bobby, Piotr, Samuel, Hank, Ororo, Jean, Scott, and the professor to tell Rogue the rest of the story. And she had figured out pretty quick that there was one.
"Somebody please tell me where Logan is. Ah need to talk to him."
Night was falling and she was getting nervous. Her dream had taken place about this time and she wanted to make sure Logan was safe.
Charles searched her mind and read her thoughts. Startled, he gazed into her green eyes and frowned.
"When did you have this nightmare?"
"Ah…Early this morning. Ah couldn’t go back to sleep so Ah drove straight here to make sure he was all right. He is, isn’t he?"
"Have you ever had any other nightmares like this about Logan?"
"Once. It happened before you two found that drug and Graves got his hooks into Logan. It was just an image of snow and lots of blood. Ah’m not sensing the future, if that’s what you’re thinking."
"No, but you are sensing when Logan is in danger and he is in grave danger now." Charles grimaced at the headache that pounded in his skull. The marathon session in Cerebro had produced nothing. "Someone has taken him away from us by subliminal means and we cannot locate him to help him get back. Cerebro has been useless and even tracking his motorcycle proved to be a dead end. Scott drove it back from the airforce base when he discovered Logan was no longer there." Charles turned to Scott. "Perhaps you can explain more fully."
"Come on, Rogue. You too, Bobby, Remy, and Sam." Scott said as he led the way down to the Danger Room. " I think you need to see this for yourselves."
------
(Chapter 12)
The pain eventually woke him. When Logan opened his eyes it was dark. Or was it? His eyes felt funny, like there was a film over them. He tried to move and found his limbs were heavy as lead, or rather adamantium, he corrected himself. Every muscle in him burned and twitched and his bones seemed to be on fire. He extended his fingers. Even this small movement brought incredible agony. His face itched and he tried to see what was causing it.
Two glowing orbs leaned over his face. Damn, it had been sitting above his head and he hadn’t even seen it. Logan tried to tilt his head back to get a better look. The armored mutant was extending his hands on either side of Logan’s face. This looked like trouble.
Then Logan focused his gaze past the eyes that bore down on him and saw a reflection in the metal. A man with long hair, a beard, and silver eyes looked back at him. Logan’s eyes widened in surprise and the reflection’s did, too. The man was he. It had said it would change him, make him over and set him loose to kill all humans. The mutant paused as if waiting for something and Logan took the opportunity to try to get his over-loaded brain going again.
He had to signal the others. He had to warn them. Logan fought against the pain long enough to lift his hand in desperation and hit the watch button against the hard ice beneath him. The mutant began to laugh. Once more Logan fought to hit the button against the ice. Now the red eyes bore down on him without mercy. For the last time Logan consciously moved his hand and struck the watch against the cold surface. His eyes rolled back in his head and his hand dropped. The effort had exhausted what little fight he had left.
Apocalypse laughed at the little mutant’s actions. "You have done well. Now the others will come and I will take them as I have taken so many."
Logan snarled. At least he had warned them. Scott would figure it out. He had to, Logan thought desperately.
A glow began to emanate from the mutant’s hands and Logan felt like his skull was coming apart.
"They will come to your aid and I will absorb them as I did the one you fought. Now I can finish my work on you and rest."
Logan fought desperately in his mind to keep out the red tendrils of connections the mutant was forging. He could no longer feel the pain of his body, only the new power that surged through it. He was losing his grip on reality; his emotions were ebbing away. Soon he knew he would lose his soul. Could his teammates reverse what this thing was doing? No, Logan thought as he felt his mind changing. The tendrils were forcing their way in and bringing an eerie numbness with them. He was becoming the machine Stryker had always dreamed of. The X-Men were going to have to kill him. The finality of that thought struck deep in Logan’s heart before that, too, seemed to fade into nothingness.
A red haze began to cloud his vision as the last of his emotions were stripped away. What little was left of Logan’s soul was buried so deep inside his mind it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing except the will of the master. It wanted him to kill humans, all humans; he could feel the thoughts of the master coursing through him, directing him. His brain accessed memories of efficient ways of accomplishing this task. He would do as commanded.
Apocalypse released his servant when he felt the final shackles of individuality slip away. He raised his hand and the smaller mutant rose up and stood obediently before him. The torn shirt and jeans the mutant wore were the last things to go, slowly changing into attire more suited to the job at hand. Death wore black in the human mind and Apocalypse knew what psychological effect clothes would have on those death would take. He forged weapons for his minion and finally unclasped his own cloak and secured it around Death’s neck.
"I will rest now. You scout the area. Make sure you receive the other mutants when they arrive. Do not kill unless necessary. I want them alive so I can absorb them."
There was no reply. He could feel the affirmative answer through their connection. It had been unusual to forge links into a mind such as this. Its sensory centers were far more advanced than his were. The rest of the mind was fairly normal, however, and had been easy to overwhelm. He did wonder fleetingly as he lay down and let the snow cover him if when Death made his first kill he would feel the sensations through the neural link.
---
The first faint beep made Scott jump out of a light nap, the second beep made him focus, and the third beep had him scrambling to train the array on the signal source. For a moment he stared at the locator, trying to comprehend the destination. Then he shook his head and went down the ramp on the ‘bird, anxious to share the news. Wait a minute. Scott turned back and replayed the signal: three distinct beeps. That was not one of the signals they used. One push of the button meant you needed help and two meant you needed to be picked up. There was no third signal. Logan didn’t even like the number three. Scott had a sudden chill and raced out of the hangar straight for the library.
He found Remy, Bobby, Kitty, Jubilee, and Rogue talking quietly. They stood as he entered the room.
"Where are the others?"
"Here, Scott." Jean entered with a tray of snacks.
Ororo, Kurt, Piotr, and Hank were not far behind her bearing more things in on trays.
"Logan managed to signal but I’m hoping I’m wrong in what he meant. Hank, what does ‘three on a match’ mean?"
Hank set his tray down and thought for a moment. "I believe the term was used during World War II."
"That’s right. It was." The history teacher in Ororo kicked in. "Soldiers had few if any comforts in the trenches and often smoked to relieve the tension. Even though rations were short they would never light up more than two cigarettes on a match because any match burning long enough to light up a third cigarette allowed the opportunity for an enemy sniper to draw a bead and kill the third man lighting up. Three on a match was an invitation to death."
Scott ran his fingers through his disheveled hair and surveyed the talents in front of him.
"Gambit, Iceman, and Storm, I’ll need you. Jean, you and the others can stay behind."
"Wait a minute! Why just them?" Rogue moved in front of Scott. "Ah think Ah have a hell of a lot to lose here. Ah’m going, too."
Scott reached out and gripped her shoulders willing her to comprehend his next words.
"Logan sent a signal of three separate beeps. I know from an earlier conversation I had with him that he considered three to be a deadly number. Don’t you understand? He doesn’t want help. He doesn’t want to be rescued. He’s warning us that if we come we have to kill something."
"We’re going to have to kill him?" Bobby slowly shook his head in disbelief.
"I’m not sure but anyone I’m taking has to be capable of bringing down an enemy Logan couldn’t stop. Even if it’s Logan himself."
Marie gazed steadily into the red visor before her. "Ah said Ah’m going. Ah meant it. Ah’ll follow your orders, but Ah have to go." She took a breath. "Ah have to know."
"I’m going, too. I can help and you know it," Jean said firmly.
"I, too, can help. And I am impervious. I think you can count me in, yes?" Piotr was as serious as they had ever seen him.
"All right, then. Let’s suit up," said Scott as he headed for the lower level. "Gambit, bring your staff."
The horrified look on Remy’s face eased a little as they proceeded to the locker area. He caught Bobby’s eye and they nodded to each other. Scott had no intentions of killing unless absolutely necessary.
---
They waited for the powdery snow to settle slightly so they could see out of the jet’s windows again. Scott had landed near the spot the tracking array had indicated but they could not see from the air whether Logan was present or not. There was some sort of unexplained interference that was causing the sensors to report erratic information. Scott sighed. This was going to end up with a search on foot. Exactly what he didn’t want to do as it put everyone at risk.
"Where are we?"
Scott glanced back at Bobby for a second. "The very top edge of North America. We’re on the ice over the Arctic Ocean."
"And this is where Logan is? Unbelievable." Piotr was incredulous.
Cyclops pointed out the window at a small dark object in the distance. "There’s the stolen helicopter from the base where we found Logan’s ‘bike. He should be around here somewhere. Jean, do you feel anything?"
"No, nothing. And that worries me. Logan’s emotions are usually strong enough for me to at least feel where he is."
They exited the jet and the seven of them spread out over the uneven terrain. The ice was coated with a dusting of sleet and snow and crunched underfoot. Every now and again a gust of wind would whip it up and blind the searchers, making their task more difficult.
Piotr glanced nervously downward and directed a question to the nearest X-Man. "We are on ice, not land?"
"You won’t sink will you?" Bobby had changed to a hard icy exterior but his cold eyes conveyed a concerned look.
"No. I would be heavy but not like real metal. I could swim if I had to but I would not drown. I don’t breathe while I’m Colossus."
Bobby let out a gratified sigh and walked toward a large uprising of ice and snow Remy was just disappearing behind.
"Mon Dieu!" Remy let fly with a playing card and the aerial explosion brought everyone running.
Dark stains of blood littered the ice and it was evident that an enormous fight had taken place. There was a body and Jean started to rush toward it but Scott held her back. He let fly with a small intense beam that moved it but produced no living reaction and then let her go.
"It’s…Sabretooth!" She knelt and examined his torn skin. "The metal has been taken out of him, just like Magneto did to Logan. And look…" Jean moved a gloved hand to the shredded skin near his throat. They all saw the broken bone claw blocking his airway. She gently rolled the skull and they saw another sticking out of the remains of the nasal cavity. "This is probably what did him in, lack of air and the destruction of his neural connections, because his tissue suggests he was dead long before the adamantium was removed."
Ororo turned away from the grisly sight and took some shaky steps to distance herself from the gore.
"Logan must have killed him but what pulled the metal out?" Scott bent down and examined an exposed bone.
"Cyclops," Storm called from a few yards away, "come over here."
They all responded and saw the human-sized depression in the ice smeared with blood. Faint tracks led away from the site.
"Iceman, grab Gambit and follow the trail on ahead. Rogue fly cover for them. Throw up a card if you see something. Call me if you don’t. Colossus, go back to the jet and make sure it’s safe. The rest of us will catch up. Remember," he said with a grim tone, "Logan did not give a signal for a rescue. Since we don’t know what’s up, don’t approach him if you find him. Just try to keep him in sight."
Bobby and Remy locked arms and Bobby created an ice track that he sped forward on, pulling his friend along behind him. Rogue silently rose into the air and followed behind.
A few minutes later there was a call.
"Cyclops?"
"Go ahead, Rogue."
"Ah’m beginning to see something going on from up here. Bobby was making a large arc for about five hundred yards, moving in a southwesterly direction. Now he’s veered off and is heading straight northeast."
"The tracks are heading for the ‘bird?"
"Ah believe so."
Scott frowned, concerned for Piotr. "We’ll start back from here. Maybe we can cut him off. Give Iceman and Gambit a lift."
"Will do."
Scott tapped the comlink. "Colossus? Did you copy?" There was no answer. "Storm, fly on ahead and make sure he’s okay."
The winds blinded them for a moment as Storm took to the air. When the snow settled somewhat, Scott grabbed Jean’s hand and they began to run.
------
(Chapter 13)
"Hello? Does anyone hear me?" Colossus pounded on the now useless comlink. "Damn, I think I broke another one."
He sighed and scooped up a handful of snow, squeezing it easily into a small, formidable projectile. Now for a target, he thought as he scanned the horizon. There was something in the distance, a dark figure that was heading toward him. He dropped the snowball and crushed it sheepishly with a toe before walking out to meet the person.
"Over here!" he called. "I’m sorry. It looks like I have broken another one of those thingies."
The dark form said nothing. A wind whipped up and it became apparent to Piotr that the figure wore a cloak that covered its head and shoulders. Curious and cautious, the Russian stopped moving forward but did not back away. There was movement and a flurry of snow behind him and Piotr turned his head just enough to ascertain that Storm had landed at his back.
"I’m not sure if it’s Logan," he muttered, not taking his eyes off the approaching man. "I can’t tell with that hood over his face."
"It’s his size and build but the walk isn’t the same. I can’t tell either," Ororo replied.
"Wait, I have an idea."
Piotr bent down and scooped up snow again. Crushing it into a rock-hard ball, he let fly. Years of accuracy from throwing snowballs in Siberia were evident in its trajectory. The top of the hood was hit and the force of the throw pushed it back and off the head of the man. Both X-Men gasped.
About that time the others appeared from two different directions and they saw the same thing. It was Logan, but not any Logan they had ever seen before. His hair was long, spilling over his shoulders, and his face was sporting a beard trimmed in an old-fashioned Elizabethan style. Even the clothes were fantastic. The cloak was strange enough but he was wearing a black silk shirt beneath it with a dark leather jerkin laced around his chest. Black gloves encased his hands and part of his forearms. He wore leggings and boots, both in black, and the belt encircling his waist was adorned with a scull-like buckle and decked out with dirks, knives, and a sword.
Rogue landed with Bobby and Remy as Scott and Jean joined them. Now they all could see what Piotr and Ororo were snake-fascinated by: Logan’s eyes had changed, drastically. Those normally calm, warm, hazel-brown eyes that could smile or kill with a look were no longer visible. They weren’t even the black shark eyes that Logan had had while high on Stryker’s horrible drug. These eyes were pure red and they glowed with an energy and fire that was eerie, especially since they didn’t blink. Scott felt the hairs prickle on the back of his neck and he inadvertently touched his own visor. Aware that there were people around him, Logan stopped walking. The wind caught the cloak and they watched as it whipped around him, but he remained unmoving, almost statue-like, as if he were some sort of weird zombie. On a signal from Scott the X-Men fanned out in front of him with Scott on his extreme left and Rogue on his extreme right.
"Wolverine?" Scott hoped against hope. "Can you hear me?"
"Logan? Sugar?" Rogue tried to keep her voice calm.
In the blink of an eye Logan moved. Cross-drawing two small daggers, he threw them in the same motion and with amazing accuracy. Jean managed to stop one before it impaled itself in Scott’s throat. Rogue was not so lucky. The dagger did strike her, right over the jugular vein and she fell back with the force it delivered.
"Oh my God!" Ororo started forward.
Thankfully Piotr called forth his mutation and threw up a hand. The dagger meant for Ororo bounced harmlessly off of his palm. Scott jerked his head toward Jean and she broadcast his order mentally.
(Don’t speak! He’s zeroing in on our voices! Remain quiet!)
To their surprise, Rogue got shakily to her feet, rubbing her neck.
Jean cocked her head and watched Remy examine her. Then she forwarded the good news.
(Rogue seems to have manifested the invulnerable skin along with Carol’s strength and power of flight.) She listened to Scott for a minute and turned to Bobby. (Iceman, Cyclops says to freeze Logan. It will confine him and won’t kill him.)
Bobby obeyed even though he had a horrible flashback of the pain-filled faces of the men he had killed at Alkali Lake. Once Logan was confined in a large block of ice the questions flew fast and furiously.
"What happened to him? I feel nothing from him, no emotions at all."
"He’s like some sort of killing machine!"
"Something is controlling him, yes? His eyes…"
"Hold it," Scott was firm. "Iceman, you and Gambit keep an eye on that block of ice. Don’t let him out until we’re ready. Rogue, fly over to the jet and grab the medical cot and some tow cable. We’re going to have to strap him down. Storm, fire-up the engines. We need to get him away from here, from whatever is manipulating him. Colossus…"
A loud crack interrupted him. Bobby and Remy had walked right up to their prisoner and he had reacted. As the ice broke away from him, Logan reached out and snatched the staff in Remy’s hands and smashed it against the side of his head. The young man went down as if he’d been shot. Whipping it around, Logan struck out at a shocked Bobby before more ice could flow. There was a cry of pain and Bobby staggered, clutching his now-broken arm. He didn’t move away fast enough and the staff caught him on the skull, too.
Jean reached out and the staff flew out of Logan’s hands and into her own. Red eyes bored into hers. Before Scott could react, Jean dropped the staff and held out her hands, extending her telepathic abilities. Within seconds she clapped her palms to her temples.
"Oh, God! It hurts! Stop it! Stop it!"
She screamed and fell to the ice, twitching uncontrollably. Scott knelt down and reached for the visor but Storm beat him to it. A wind whipped up and swirled snow around Logan, temporarily shielding them from the glowing red eyes. Jean stopped moving and lay still.
Marie rushed over to Scott and Jean as Ororo rose into the air and kept the tight swirl of wind around Logan.
"Drop the wind, Storm." Piotr angrily marched forward. "I’ll knock him out."
Scott, distracted by Jean’s condition, didn’t react in time.
"No! Colossus, don’t!"
It was too late. Storm had dropped the wind and Piotr cocked back his arm for the punch. It never fell. A sword sliced through the air and broke against the living metal. Then there was an all-too-familiar sound as six blades ripped out and dug for fresh meat. Piotr gasped as the razor sharp adamantium connected with his skin and tried to tear through it. Even though his mutation held, there were parallel sets of grooves on his abdomen that made Piotr flinch and hunch over.
"Cyclops! The metal is in him!"
Eye to eye with Logan, Piotr watched in disbelief as Logan sheathed the claws and let go with a punch of his own. Flashes of light danced before his eyes as Piotr felt an impact that sent him flying a few meters back in the snow. He struggled to his feet and lost control of his mutation due to shock; the Logan he knew did not have that kind of strength. Sensing vulnerability, Logan released the claws again and strode forward.
Storm started charging the air the moment Cyclops said ‘no’ and she let fly with a bolt now that Piotr was safely out of the way.
Logan did not see the lighting speeding his way but he must have felt it for he raised a fist. The X-Men watched as the energy hit the adamantium and sparked, travelling through Logan’s bones and down into the earth. One boot smoked but that was not what caught the team’s attention. Logan’s body glowed with a red pulse, similar to the eerie glow that masked his eyes. A haunting sound followed, a far-off wail that seemed to speed closer but died before it reached them.
Piotr called up his mutation and staggered backward in order to put more distance between himself and Logan.
"What was that?" Rogue shouted from the air as she hovered over Scott and Jean.
"I’m not sure," Scott answered. The Logan he knew would have been knocked out from the pain. While the bolt did not seem to phase this new Logan, Scott noticed that he was still for a moment. Something about the energy surge must have had an effect. "Storm, hit him again!"
Once more a white-hot finger of electricity raced down from the clouds and again Logan used the claws and channeled the bolt through his body and into the ground. His frame glowed with the red aura and the sound, closer this time, shrieked as before. This time Logan swayed on his feet, as if slightly dizzy. He opened his mouth and, for a moment, Scott thought he would speak but no sound came out and the mouth closed.
"One more time!" Scott was desperate to stop his teammate without killing him and now had hope that it could be done.
Storm hesitated a second too long.
"No!" a voice thundered. "Death, you know your duty!" The form of a man appeared in the swirling powdery snow. "Take them! I command it!"
Ororo saw that the man had the same glowing eyes and realized that he was the manipulator. She had to break his hold, for Logan’s sake. Another bolt was called forth but this time there was a different reaction. The strange man raised his hand and the searing charge meant for Logan was drawn into his frame, absorbed by the strange armor that he wore.
"Who are you and what have you done to our friend?" Scott shouted over the intensifying winds.
The man did not answer. Instead he made a motion and his hand twisted and changed into some sort of a weapon. A pulse of red energy flew from it and hit Ororo, knocking her from the sky. The winds immediately died down and the snow fluttered softly to the icy surface around them. Piotr stumbled over to her and dropped to his knees at her side, shielding Ororo’s body from further hits by the unknown man.
"I am Apocalypse," it roared. "Death, I need them. Keep them busy while I make ready to absorb them." He held out his arms and the metal that encased him began to shimmer.
Logan strode toward Colossus and Storm.
"No!" Rogue swooped down to their aid.
She landed in front of Logan and held up a hand.
"Rogue! Get out of there! Colossus, pick up Storm and run!" Cyclops threw the aperture on the visor wide open and fired a beam straight at the heart of the armored man even as he shouted instructions to the remaining X-Men.
To his horror, his energy beam did not hurt Apocalypse. In fact the man seemed to feed off of it, growing enormously in height and breadth. Quickly realizing that another blast would be a mistake, Cyclops tried to divert attention to himself by closing the gap between him and the expanding monster. Now close to ten feet tall and still growing, it trained it’s weapon at him and fired off a globe of red light. Scott ducked and rolled just in time, keeping out of reach but close enough to present a tempting target. The weapon was aimed again and Scott tensed for the dodge but no blast came. Instead, the giant’s head turned sharply and focused on Logan.
Wolverine was standing still in front of Rogue, stopped by the palm she held against his chest. Scott held his breath. Logan had once said that Rogue was his greatest weakness and now Scott prayed that this was still true. He and the others watched as Rogue used her other hand to fish for something beneath her uniform. She held it up and let it dangle in front of her mate’s eyes. The tag glinted in the morning sunlight, flashing at the glowing red eyes that didn’t seem to see it or even the female that stood before them.
Logan raised a fist still studded with knives. As he drew back for the strike Marie dropped the tag and quickly raised her chin, exposing more of her throat. The blades stopped with the tips dangerously poised over her pale skin.
"Death!" The giant’s voice boomed across the ice.
But the adamantium moved no further. The expression on his face was still blank and unemotional, but Marie watched as a single drop of perspiration made its way down one of Logan’s temples and froze in the arctic temperature. He was fighting it. Somehow she needed to help.
Marie’s heart beat rapidly against her ribs as she softly whispered, "That’s it, sugar, come back to me."
Slowly, the blades sank back out of sight into the gloves on Logan’s hand. Marie reached up and placed her gloved palm against the beard on Logan’s face as she smiled.
"Death, strike her down. I command it!" Apocalypse reached out a hand toward Logan and closed it into a tight fist.
Instantly Logan reacted. With all the superhuman strength in him he smashed a fist into the side of Rogue’s head, slamming her down on the ice with a stunning blow that broke her nose. He gazed dispassionately at the beautiful woman sprawled unconscious on the ground before him until he saw the drops of blood from her nose trickle into a small puddle. Staggering as if he had been hit, Logan stepped back away from Marie.
Colossus, with Storm still cradled in his arms, was close enough to see the light fade slightly in Logan’s eyes. "That did it, Cyclops! He’s fighting it now!"
"No!" thundered the giant and he extended his hand again.
This time Logan turned and began to stiffly walk toward Scott. As he neared, Apocalypse made another motion with his hand and Logan popped both sets of claws.
Apocalypse let go a booming laugh and watched Scott back up a step. "Whether you fight or not I will win. I will absorb you and use your power within me to regenerate myself. This is your future as I have foreseen it. You cannot win. You have given me all the power I need to take you. I will have you; there is no doubt. I will have you all." He swept his hand skyward. "I will rule all."
Apocalypse did not notice that Logan had stopped his advance. He did not notice that his servant was struggling to lift a hand up, not against Cyclops, but against himself.
Scott watched Logan use the claws to tap the leather over his own heart. Still without expression, still without emotion, Logan had managed to find some way to give Scott a clue and suddenly Scott knew what he had to do. The monster was somehow linked to Logan, controlling him. While Apocalypse was strong, too strong for them to take, he had reacted when Logan had been hit by lightning. It must have been his wail they had heard coming closer as he rushed to protect his hold over Logan. There was only one way to find out.
"I’m sorry," Scott whispered as he fired the visor.
A huge red beam engulfed Logan, flinging him backward in a high arc that ended a couple of hundred feet away where he hit and rolled on the ice like a broken toy.
The effect was immediate. Apocalypse, still connected to the weaker mutant, felt the searing pain as Logan’s extremely acute senses were overwhelmed by the energy. He screamed in agony. Unfamiliar with handling that kind of a sensory overload, his brain seized up and Apocalypse fell backward, insensible, and crashed to the ground.
There was silence but only for a moment.
"Quick! Put Storm in the jet!" Scott raced forward and scooped up Jean. "This one’s too big for us to handle. All we can do is try to get airborne before he wakes up and shoot the ice out from under him."
Within minutes he and Colossus had finished loading Bobby, Remy and Rogue.
"Should I get Logan?" Piotr tried to focus on the distant form sprawled awkwardly on the ice.
"No. Get in the jet and flip the switches I showed you. I’ll check on him." Scott held his fingers against the trigger of the visor, ready to crack the ice if Apocalypse moved. "Maybe the connection is broken now."
------
(Chapter 14)
It felt as if an explosion had ripped through the inside of his skull, taking everything with it. Logan opened his eyes and found he was lying on his side on the ice. The frozen surface began to burn his cheek and he focused on it, willing himself to wake up. The ear pressed against the ice heard the rumblings of the shifting mass and the ominous cracks of a breaking floe with water very near the surface.
He looked out over the ice and tried to focus. Pete was walking toward the jet. Scott was striding toward him with a grim look on his face, hand on the visor trigger. No one else was visible. Logan blinked hard. All he could remember were a few crazy images and feelings: Rogue bleeding, red pulses of energy that clung to his eyes and burned, pain lancing throughout his body, and his attempt to get Scott to shoot him. Shoot him and put him out of his misery.
There was another groaning sound below him and an ominous shuddering. Wherever he was, it was not a good situation and Scott didn’t need to be out here too.
"Stop!" He tried to yell and obviously Scott heard him for he skidded to a halt less than a hundred feet away. "Go back! It’s breaking up over here!" He swallowed hard. The ice was straining and starting to crack.
Hesitantly, Scott started to back up. "Don’t move! We’ll get you from the air!" He turned and raced back the way he had come.
Logan didn’t really hear him and couldn’t move if he wanted to. What had happened? Why was he so heavy? Was this some sort of living nightmare? He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He saw himself killing Sabretooth and some man in metal sucking the life out of his dying foe. He remembered some sort of rambling speech about absorbing the X-Men. The man had pulled the metal out of Sabretooth and had put it in…
"Noooo," he whispered to himself.
The adamantium was back. That’s why his bones burned like they were on fire. That’s why he couldn’t move right. Logan groaned softly. Wait. If the metal was real then the speech was, too, and his friends were in danger. In fact…if the speech was real he had been used to get them here and had probably attacked them, too. The image of Rogue bleeding flashed before him. No, he couldn’t think about that yet, not now. He had to find that bastard first. Logan opened his eyes and looked around as best he could.
As if thinking about the evil was the means of conjuring it, he saw Apocalypse’s form sit up. Fascinated, he watched the huge mutant stagger to his feet on the slippery ice. The others hadn’t spotted it yet. They didn’t know it was still alive. It was hungry, too. It wanted to absorb them, consume them. He couldn’t let that thing get his family, his mate.
He shouted with all the force he could muster. "What’s the matter, asshole, your plans didn’t work out like you wanted?"
The behemoth turned to face Logan even as Scott slid in the snow and ice at the bottom of the jet’s ramp, trying to turn and take aim. He collided with Piotr who had rushed out to warn the leader when he saw the giant rise from the snow. Both went down hard.
"That’s what you get when you can’t fight your own battles, bub. You didn’t want to get your hands dirty so you figured to use mine. Well you lost your hold on me you son of a bitch! Wanna try again?"
"You…!" The huge armored form bore down on the helpless Wolverine. "You were supposed to help me capture them. You have twisted fate!"
"That’s it, bub, come and get me! I fucking dare you!"
Logan tried to move and inadvertently tensed the wrong forearm muscles. A fist full of metal claws shot into the ice, effectively anchoring him on the spot. Logan cried out in rage and pain and the sound seemed to spur the giant on. It also spurred on Scott and Piotr.
"No!" Cyclops and Colossus both yelled as they scrambled toward their fallen teammate.
Scott’s blast hit the ice just behind Apocalypse’s heel as he strode toward Logan. Strained from the blow of energy and the weight of such a large force stomping on it, spidery cracks instantly appeared everywhere with entire sections suddenly breaking into pieces. Apocalypse realized where his anger had taken him as he fell.
"I will survive this!" He reached for Logan as he tumbled forward. "I will win! You will help me!"
Down he plunged as the surface gave way to bone chilling water. His outstretched hand had been mere feet from Logan when it smashed through the ice and disappeared into the murky depths. The broken remnants of ice bobbed to the surface again as if to cover the evil that thrashed in the water below.
Logan felt the ice shift dangerously beneath him. The piece he was on rocked and he was slammed against the blades. His muscles seemed frozen and he could not release himself. The sharp claws began to carve furrows into the frozen water, shifting his position more toward the edge.
Time seemed to slow as he watched Scott and Piotr race back toward the jet. Logan felt the weight of his own body drag him toward the edge of the ice and he threw a silent plea of forgiveness to Marie even as he cursed himself for falling into Apocalypse’s trap. He didn’t hear the whine of the jet’s engines as it took off with the ramp still down. He didn’t know Colossus was securing a cable to his waist so he could be lowered in a rescue attempt, shouting at Logan to stay still. He never heard any of it as the ice tipped up and slid him into the ocean below.
---
Piotr grabbed the spare tool chest and dove between the bobbing ice blocks on the surface of the water, praying the extra weight would help him catch up to Logan that much faster. The frigid temperature and lack of air would not hurt him due to his mutation, well not for a while anyway, but Logan would not be so lucky. On he plummeted through the trail of bubbles that marked Logan’s course. Finally Piotr saw his friend’s booted foot and stretched out his fingers to their limit. He caught the toe. Dropping the toolbox, Piotr clamped his other hand on Logan’s ankle even as the cable jerked him back, arresting his descent. He righted himself, glanced over his shoulder, and tugged hard on the cable twice. When he looked back at Logan, still aligned headfirst toward the bottom, he froze in horror.
The toolbox had continued to fall and had hit something dark in the water below them. It moved. Two huge glowing red eyes turned their way. Mentally screaming obscenities in Russian, Piotr jerked on the cable again even as he clutched Logan’s leg to him. An enormous hand reached for them. It managed to snag the edge of the cape that still hung around Logan’s neck and started to drag them down, its other hand coming up out of the gloom to assist. The cable slipped then caught and began biting into Piotr’s waist. Desperate now, Piotr pulled with all his might, willing Logan to stay with him. The pull was unbelievable and was stretching Piotr’s strength to the limit. There was a flash of metal and the cape clasp parted, robbing the monster of his prize as it sank further toward the bottom. Immediately the cable began pulling the two men skyward. Piotr hauled Logan’s legs up and managed to grab the jerkin. He hoisted his friend upright and almost dropped him in shock when brown eyes stared back at him.
Logan was still conscious and had cut the cape when he saw what was happening. Piotr quickly glanced skyward. Though they were moving upward pretty rapidly the surface still seemed to be a kilometer away. Logan would never make it. He looked back at Logan, his metal features trying to convey his regret. Understanding the situation, Logan closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, raising his eyebrows in a question. Piotr realized that Logan was giving him an out, a way not to see what would happen next and he shook his head softly in response. He would not close his eyes; he wanted to be there for Logan if he could. The least he could do was give his small friend company at a time like this. The older man gave Piotr a sad little smile before he began to cough out the last of his air. Piotr hung on and watched helplessly as Logan convulsed, his lungs working in vain against the flood of water that filled them. Finally Logan was still, his blades retracted, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes unfocused on the mutant that held him. Unashamedly crying, Piotr clutched his friend to him in a crushing hug.
As they broke the surface of the water, Piotr looked up and saw the tear-streaked face of Rogue peering over the edge of the ramp as she hauled the cable in by hand into the jet.
"What happened?" Piotr shouted.
"Something yanked the wench out of the wall and Ah was damn lucky to catch it." She swiped at some of the blood that was still dripping from her nose and continued to reel them to safety. "Ah tried to pull you up but something had you. Scott gunned the engines and Ah held on to you as best Ah could. We just managed to keep the jet out of the water." She pulled them clear of the surface and the ice. "Did that monster grab you? Are you okay?
"It did have us. It had Logan’s cape and was pulling us down. Logan cut it off right before he…drowned." Piotr choked on the last word.
"Jean’s coming to!" yelled Scott over his shoulder from the pilot’s seat. "See if she can help."
Rogue hauled them in the rest of the way and she and Piotr positioned Logan flat on his back on the floor as the jet hovered. She put a cloth over Logan’s mouth and began to breathe for him while a groggy Jean saw to Bobby’s broken arm and Ororo and Remy’s concussions. Within seconds Logan began to cough and spit up water, gulping in air with ragged breaths. His eyes fluttered open.
"Jean," he croaked.
Marie was taken aback, stunned that his first thought would be for another woman.
"Jean, we can’t leave. You have to kill him." Logan’s eyes rolled in his head and he closed them to try and concentrate better. "Jean, he won’t die. As soon as he touches the bottom of the ocean he’ll regenerate enough to fly up and take you. All of you are in danger but he wants Scott the most."
Shocked, Jean and Rogue exchanged glances.
Logan moved feebly and Marie caught his gloved hand. He opened his eyes and tried to smile.
"You’ll have to hold me down, darlin’. I’m too tired and numb to fight him. He’ll use me to take the jet. He wants Scott and he won’t rest ‘till he’s absorbed him. He has others inside of him. They’re in pain. Don’t let him take Scott. Don’t let him take you."
His beautiful caramel eyes locked onto Marie’s, willing her to do as he asked. She stroked his face, trying to reassure him.
"What do I do, Logan?" Jean bit her lip. "I couldn’t even stop you. How can I kill something like that?"
"No telepathic…use telekinetic…take his armor apart...He’s coming…don’t let me hurt you."
Logan winced, then snarled in pain. Within seconds his body began to stiffen and his eyes lost focus. Marie watched in horror as the irises changed from brown to silver.
"Scott?" Jean stared at her lover. "Scott, I can’t kill…"
Scott had been listening from the cockpit and he gained altitude away from the water and turned the jet around to face where Apocalypse would come out.
"Jean you can do this." His tone and face were grim. "Remember the generators at Alkali? You crushed them and ripped them apart. Think of this thing as a machine. It will kill all of us if we don’t stop it. I’ll open the ramp. Colossus, tie a cable around her for safety."
"Shit!" Rogue slammed her fist against Logan’s skull.
The blow had little effect. Logan’s eyes were glowing red again and he was trying to sit up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him from behind, using all the strength she had to keep him from getting close to anyone else. The claws sang out and it was all Marie could do to keep him down.
"Jean, hurry!" She screamed at her friend to get her to move. "He’s taken Logan. He’ll take Scott, too!"
Jean nodded and concentrated as Piotr fastened the cable around her and then raced over to help Rogue with Logan. She stood near the ramp as it went down and sat at the top when it was fully extended, placing her hands against her temples as she closed her eyes.
A huge rush of water surged skyward, following the path Apocalypse took as he shot upward and sought out the jet. Scott was facing the monster as it turned and spotted them. Those glowing eyes began boring into his soul and he felt the curious sensation of wanting to jump from the plane and let the thing catch him. It would swallow him and there would be no pain, the eyes promised, only power. His hands shook violently. It was all he could do not to let go of the controls and unbuckle his harness.
(Jean!) Scott mentally screamed against the madness that seemed to be taking over his mind. (Jean, help me!)
Jean heard the cry and desperation surged through her. Something within her heart seemed to expand and she focused her powerful emotions on just one thing — tearing the armor apart. A sense of déjà vu hit her as she felt an energy flood from her mind.
Piotr and Marie watched as Jean’s body began to glow with a flame-like effect. It was eerie and awesome at the same time and, for a moment, they thought she, too, had been consumed by the monster.
Apocalypse shuddered. Something was wrong. He felt himself expanding like a balloon. This couldn’t be happening. The joints of his living encasement began to tear and pop and he screamed. With a horrible wrenching sound the armor gave way and exposed the mutant for what he was.
Scott gripped the controls firmly, once more in control of his mind and body. The sight before him made him nauseous. There, suspended in the air, was a huge, wrinkled mass of flesh and bone. Without its metal skin to protect it, Apocalypse looked more like something slimy and disgusting that had been living under a rock. He watched as the body of the mutant writhed and shrank, curling into itself and shriveling into a decayed corpse. It looked like a mummy dried in a fetal position. The armored pieces began to drop into the ocean and, at last, the body did, too.
Scott looked over his shoulder and saw Piotr catch Jean and gently ease her to the floor.
"Is she all right?" There was desperation in his voice.
Finally, after an eternity, Piotr gave him a thumb’s up. Sighing with relief, Scott eased the nose of the jet in the direction of home.
Marie relaxed her grip when the claws retracted. Logan was unconscious and barely breathing. She lay there with her body wrapped around his, willing him to fight for life. She could feel his body throwing off a tremendous amount of heat and she felt his forehead. Even through her glove she could tell he was burning up. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced over at Piotr.
"Jean is okay. She is just sleeping, I think." He gently peeled back an eyelid. "Her eyes are red, though. Does that mean something?"
"Ah don’t know. Logan’s running a high fever. Ah wonder if that means something, too?"
------
(Chapter 15)
Back at the mansion, Jean woke from her nap, exhausted and blind, but otherwise okay. She and Scott embraced for a long moment as the others were off-loaded and bedded down in the medical facilities in the Lab.
One by one they recovered. Remy was the first one released. Rogue’s nose was healing admirably, according to Hank, and she left soon after. Bobby, arm in a cast, was next, followed by Ororo, who had suffered a concussion and a couple of broken ribs. Finally Jean recovered her eyesight and her eyes changed back to normal. That only left Logan. McCoy had been working overtime for the last two days trying to determine what was wrong since Logan should have been the first one back on his feet.
"There’s a chemical imbalance in his system. I’m afraid it’s the metal," Hank grimly reread his own notes. "There’s an excessive quantity of it. He’s suffering from blood poisoning."
They stood around the table where their friend lay, still laboring to breathe. Marie was perched on a stool at the bedside, replacing a cloth on Logan’s feverish forehead that she had dipped in some ice water.
Jean nodded. "I came to the same conclusion from my data. The fever is probably poison related. There are approximately 109 pounds of adamantium in his body, 12 more than he had previously, but every indication leads me to believe his system will overcome this. Look at these test results. He’s healing. I just can’t understand why he isn’t conscious. His regenerative abilities are phenomenal. So what’s using his mutation up to such a degree that he is still comatose?"
"Can we cut some of the metal out?" Piotr had a hand on Logan’s shoulder and grimaced at the amount of heat he was throwing off even through the clothes.
"No, Piotr," replied Jean. "I’m not sure how that monster did it, but it manipulated the adamantium into his bones on a molecular level. Stryker simply layered molten metal on top of Logan’s skeleton. This thing infused the metal into it. There’s no way to separate bone from adamantium now. It’s had a damaging effect on his marrow production. Still, as I said, he is healing." She checked her readouts again and took a breath. "I just can’t explain this vegetative state.
"He was unconscious after touching you, Rogue, because his abilities had been severely depleted. He was unconscious after exposure to Stryker’s drugs because they were designed to attack his neurological system in the first place. Magneto short-circuited everything when he caused such tremendous damage but even that only kept Logan out for a couple of days. It’s been three days and still he’s comatose." Jean shook her head. "His brain function seems fine this time, though. I don’t get it. I suppose all we can do is watch him and try to make him comfortable."
"You’ve done your best, Jean," murmured Scott as he wrapped his arms around his fiancée. "The rest is up to Logan."
There was a small, shaky sigh from Marie. "Ah shouldn’t have left. Ah didn’t even tell him why."
"He’ll live, Rogue. You’ll see." Scott’s voice was firm as he reached out and gripped Marie’s shoulder. "You should have heard him give that monster hell. There’s too much fight in him to go down easy."
"You’re right." Marie wiped the tears away with the silk of her glove. "Let’s clean him up and get this stuff off of him. Ah don’t want him to wake up looking like this."
---
"His fever broke a short while ago." Jean had just come back from checking on the patient across the hall. "However he’s still asleep and I don’t want to disturb him just yet."
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"He needs the rest," agreed Xavier as Jean resumed her seat.
"Apocalypse must have absorbed a telepathic mutant at one time," nodded Scott, "and it looks like he used those abilities to search for and control mutants he could use to kill."
"I don’t know why he used others. He was far more dangerous than any mutant I’ve ever seen," countered Ororo.
Hank linked his fingers with hers, grateful that no lives had been lost, especially hers. He turned to Scott.
"Didn’t you report that Logan shouted something to the effect that he was ‘not wanting to get his hands dirty’?"
Scott nodded. "That and the remarks he made about wanting to rule all made me think he was some sort of megalomaniac."
"The idea seems extremely plausible." Xavier face was grim. "Someone with that kind of power, bent on ruling the world and I couldn’t see him coming."
"He was armored," said Scott. "Didn’t Logan say it was living metal? It changed into a weapon and shot Ororo down. I’d be willing to guess that he manipulated it in some way on a molecular level. Logan mentioned that he pulled energy from the Earth with it. I believe he could do more than that. I imagine shielding himself from other mutants until he was ready to attack would be easy and might explain how he was able to absorb a telepath in the first place."
"He used those abilities in an unconscionable way." Xavier was as angry as any of them had ever seen. "Logan had enough damage to his brain without having it raped yet again. Stryker was bad enough. The man was a monster in the making. This mutant…was far worse. I only pray Logan doesn’t remember everything."
Marie stared at Xavier. The word ‘raped’ clung to her thoughts.
"Can he not be read anymore? Is the metal blocking you again?" Remy asked.
"There is interference, yes, much more than usual for Logan. Too much emotional turmoil for me to even begin to read what happened. All I can feel is the pain and anger he is projecting and…that he is awake." Surprised, Xavier raised his head and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he nodded. "Logan is on his way. He seems to have understood my invitation to our meeting although his response to it was anything but civil."
"He’s coming in here? He’ll need help." Marie came half out of her chair before Charles’ upturned hand stopped her.
"I’m not sure that would be a wise move…I am under the impression he does not want to be touched at the moment."
There was silence for a while as they waited. The entire complement of X-Men was down there, now that everyone had healed and was ready to talk, trying to make sense of what had happened. The children were in bed, hopefully asleep and the adults had all migrated down here to talk where they wouldn’t be overheard. When Logan finally entered the Ready Room across from the lab more than one person found it hard not to jump up and help. Lines of pain etched his face and his movements were forced and strained.
Remy jumped out of the closest chair and held it for him, but Logan shook his head.
"Move back," he growled, his voice thick from being unused for a while. "I don’t want to hurt you."
"But you’re not dangerous anymore…" blurted Bobby. "Are you?"
Logan made a move to grab the chair for support and winced as he brought his arm up. Claws popped out of their own accord and Logan worked hard to relax and pull them back in.
"I’ll be very dangerous for a while. I need to retrain a few muscles."
Try his entire body more than one person thought as they watched him sink down and finally rest. He had come straight from the Lab, dressed in the scrub pants Jean and Rogue had put on him. Logan turned slowly toward them, taking the time to study every face in the room.
"You’re all here, so I’m guessing he’s dead and I didn’t kill anybody." Bobby’s cast and Rogue’s swollen nose caught his attention. "I must have done some damage, though. I’m sorry for that. I’m sure you guys have questions. I do, too. You first."
Scott stifled a small smile. Trust Logan not to beat around the bush, especially when it came to this kind of thing.
"Do you know what day it is?"
Logan eyed Scott. "No. I don’t. I’m not sure of anything." His mood was black and Charles and Jean shuddered at its intensity. "I take it it’s been a while since Poppy put me to sleep."
"What do you remember?" Marie was hesitant to ask, knowing what kind of hell she had just been through.
"I think I saw you bleeding in the snow." Everyone in the room heard the small catch in Logan’s voice. He swallowed hard. "I also think I tried to get you to stop the pain." He looked at Scott for a long moment before continuing.
"When I woke up on the ice I remembered what he had done to Sabretooth, what he did to me, and that he wanted to do the same to you." Logan paused, "I don’t remember much else except trying to explain about him to Jean and being underwater with Pete." Brown eyes bore into blue ones. "You didn’t need to see that. You’ll get nightmares."
"I wanted to be there for you, not hide," came the big man’s simple reply.
Logan snorted softly but said nothing.
"What happened before? Why did you fight Sabretooth?" Charles leaned forward, they all did.
"I woke up in the arctic when Sabretooth attacked me. We started to fight. He said that some mutant had promised him the mantle of death if he won and he would get to kill all the humans in the world. I figured he was nuts and took him down. As he lay there dying this…thing came up and sucked the life out of him and hit me with some sort of beam. I watched the metal come out of Sabretooth as this guy started telling me how I was going to help him rule the world by becoming ‘death’. I remember the pain…" Logan paused and decided not to share how the metal got back in.
"While he manipulated the metal into my bones he started changing me. I must have passed out. When I came to I tried to hit the watch against the ice as a warning and he let me. He laughed and said that was what he wanted me to do." There was a deep breath. "He was hovering over me with those red eyes and I couldn’t even spit at him. He said he wanted you guys there so he could feed off of you. Take your energy and feelings. Make you part of him." Logan’s jaw muscle twitched. "I lost all sense of emotion and started to go numb...It felt like I fell in a deep hole and he was burying me alive." He took another deep breath. "I guess, in a way, he did."
There was silence as all the X-Men digested just what Logan had been through and several people hastily wiped away tears so Logan wouldn’t see them. Logan’s eyes met Xavier’s.
"I do remember a few things about him, some things he let slip while he was forcing himself into me. That’s why I had to tell you." Logan looked over at Jean. "I’m sorry you had to do that but only you or Magneto could have killed him."
"You said he wanted me. Why?"
"He wanted your energy, Scott. He wanted your mutation. There were others in him; I could feel them screaming. He wouldn’t have absorbed just your powers, Scott. He lived off of souls, too. He was like some sort of mutant vampire."
Logan said his last words with disgust and Marie blinked. That phrase could describe her very easily.
Jean let out a shuddering breath. "I’m glad I killed him then. I wonder how long he had been living off others? What was his goal? Why did he need you to be ‘death’?"
Logan grimaced. "His name was En Sabah Nur and he was from Egypt. I kept seeing images of civilizations, like he had seen the rise and fall of nations over eons or something. His goal was to rule the earth and have all mutants worship him. He hated humans and wanted me to kill all of them for him. He called himself Apocalypse because he wanted to bring about the end of the human world and he had read that stuff in the Bible and thought it was directed at him. He thought he could fulfill all the prophecies."
Kurt piped up, "And you would be his fourth horseman."
Logan nodded and leaned his head back against the chair, his exhaustion obvious.
"I got the feeling somehow that he had been asleep for some reason and had just woke up. He followed you from the desert, Hank. When he found this place he picked Scott as his first victim. I think I was bait."
"Do you want to know how he lured you away?" Scott asked.
Logan gave another slight nod.
"You remember how you said you could hear the elephants talk at the zoo?" Logan frowned, puzzled. "He must have resonated a call at that same low frequency. None of us could hear it but it worked on you like a subliminal message, something you couldn’t quite make out consciously but subconsciously you followed what he told you to do. You were right to try to stay awake. That was the only thing that kept you out of his grip.
"When Poppy put you to sleep that was all he needed. Under his control, you rode your ‘bike over to the airforce base. According to the reports we intercepted when we retrieved your ‘bike a man matching your description broke into a hangar and stole a helicopter. Apocalypse and Sabretooth weren’t mentioned but I bet they were on board when you flew it to the arctic. The rest you know."
They watched as Logan’s eyebrows raised in surprise. "I stole a helicopter and flew it?"
Scott grinned. "Who knew you had it in you?"
Logan snorted. "I sure didn’t."
He tried to shift in the chair and the blades popped out and impaled the table. Logan bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed for a second but didn’t utter a sound. He forced his body to relax against the pain and closed his eyes. Slowly the metal retreated out of sight behind the healing wounds.
"Your body will recover, Logan. Your muscles just need a chance to get used to the weight again. At least the worst is over. Your body has adjusted to the amount of metal. You won’t die of blood poisoning now."
"Jean," Logan’s tone was flat and hard, "read my mind."
Jean clutched her hand to her chest and gasped at the projected thought. She threw a quick look at Xavier before replying.
"You don’t mean that, do you?"
Logan slowly lifted his eyelids. "Maybe I don’t but you don’t have to be so cheery about me living with this fucking metal again." He noticed for the first time what was on the center of the table. "What’s with the clothes?"
"We’re not sure," answered Hank as he reached over and held up the black silk shirt Logan had worn as death. "They appear to be normal attire and yet seem to be impervious to almost any destructive force set against them, including one of Cyclops’ optic emissions. We were hoping you could answer some questions about them."
"Looks like a costume of some sort," Logan muttered. "Why would I know anything about it?"
Logan’s head began to droop and he pulled it back once more to rest against the chair. Slowly his eyes drifted shut.
"You should really get some sleep," Scott said thoughtfully. "We can talk about this later." There was a long pause with no answer. "Logan?"
"He is asleep, Scott." Charles spoke up after touching base with Logan’s mind. "He’s exhausted." He glanced over at Jean. "He’s too weak to try and injure himself and he knows it. I think his suicidal thoughts stem mainly from having been used again. He was set against all of you unwillingly. That has caused a pain as severe as any that monster inflicted while putting the adamantium back in."
"Can he stay here? He won’t want to be in the lab again and he won’t want to go to his room until he can control the claws." She saw the sympathetic glances and smiled. "He’ll be fine. Ah’ll see to it. Ah’ll stay with him."
Rogue and the professor exchanged a look as he mentally patted her on the back.
(I am relieved to find that you are on the road to recovery. I hope it is a journey filled with understanding and compassion and that you find what it is you truly seek. Hardship has a way of making triumphs that much sweeter when they come.)
(Thank you, Professor. Ah’m trying to get back on track. Ah think Ah have a ways to go still.)
(Have faith in yourself. You’ll see your way through this.)
She felt a swirl of good feelings rush through her, warming her soul and she gave Xavier a small smile as a thanks for the mental hug he had just sent.
The others had moved another chair up and cautiously propped Logan’s feet in it. Someone brought a couple of blankets from the lab and they covered Logan with one as Marie took the other and curled up in a nearby chair, intent on being the first thing Logan saw when he woke up.
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(Chapter 16)
All through the morning and afternoon Logan slept while Marie dozed on and off, checking on him frequently. At first she had wanted to kiss him and hug him, thankful that he was alive for her to do this. Then, as time wore on, she began to remember that he had checked up on her and her irritation grew. Finally, she could think of nothing but the red-eyed monster that had slammed her onto the ice with no more feeling than a master beating a dog. Her fear resurfaced and she angrily dismissed it. It was not her fault he had hit her. He was the one who had let that thing take him over. Fitfully, she drifted off again.
Marie awoke later to find two brown eyes staring at her intently. Startled and a bit disconcerted she tried to smile but only managed a small one.
"Sleep well, sugar?"
Logan nodded but said nothing.
"How do you feel?"
He thought for a moment. "Strange. You?"
"Ah’m just fine."
"You don’t look it."
She felt her temper flare on that and clenched her fists. Marie knew she was still upset with Logan but tried to be civil. She failed miserably.
"Thanks, Ah love you, too." The words were not meant kindly and it showed. "You and Ah need to talk. You have some explaining to do, mister."
She watched him close his eyes and blanch at the verbal blow she had just inflicted. Stunned by her own vehemence, a part of her wanted to reach out and cuddle him, apologize for her actions. He had just been through a devastating experience. What was she thinking? But something else in her wanted him to be strong enough to pull her into his arms and protect her. After all she had been through something traumatic, too. Marie watched as Logan adjusted his position in the chair, his pain clearly visible in the expression on his face. He could barely move and it struck her that she was angry at his weakness. He had promised to protect her and he couldn’t even protect himself.
He tensed when he sensed even more animosity coming from her. Her nose and her throat were telltale evidence that he had not kept his promise. In fact, he had probably inflicted every wound she had. Marie had every right to be mad at him and he shoved his emotions down deep, not wanting to take the chance that he would yell at her. A dizzying feeling crept over him when he did this, like he had thrown himself off balance. Why was he here again? Why was Marie angry with him?
Marie noticed his features fall into what she called his 'poker face' and realized he was closing himself off from her. She should not have given in to the irrational rage she felt. She loved him, even though he had hurt her, and felt a pang of regret that she had caused this. Then she remembered that he was the one who was pulling fast ones and slinking behind people’s backs. Did he even love her anymore?
"I’ll bet you didn’t even keep the scarf with you," she voiced her next thought out loud.
Logan’s brow furrowed. The scarf, his clothes, what had happened to them? He stared at her blankly.
"You don’t even know where it is, do you?" Her lip curled. "Fine. That shows me how much you care. Ah’ll be giving you back your dog tag then." A part of her screamed loudly in protest but her temper was in full command of her thinking. "Ah think we’d better save this conversation until you’re well enough to talk." She stood and folded her blanket. "Ah’ll bring you some clothes. You should stay down here and away from the children. You might hurt…You should just stay here until you can control yourself."
With that she left and Logan sank back in the chair. Control himself? He bristled at that remark. Then he checked himself. She was right. He might hurt someone; he always ended up hurting someone. Again he shoved his feelings down deep and held them at bay. The room began to swim and he felt like he was sinking in a hole. Why was he in this room again? What children was she talking about?
---
Kurt met Marie in the dormitory hall as she headed for Logan’s room.
"Is he awake? How is he?"
"Fine," she shrugged. "Ah was picking up some clothes to take to him."
"I’ll do it. You have been through much, too, and need some time to rest."
She nodded mutely. Time away from Logan seemed like a good idea to her.
---
Kurt popped his head around the corner of the door. Logan was still in the chair and staring off into space, a curiously blank expression on his features.
"Logan? Would you like some clothes?"
Mottled brown eyes turned his way and Kurt watched him blink.
"Yes…"
Kurt walked in and placed the bundle of jeans, T-shirt, underwear, and boots on the table. He hopped up on the edge of it and watched Logan slowly and stiffly change into his own things.
"Are you okay? Need to talk about anything? I am a good listener, you know. It comes with the training."
"Training?" Logan looked puzzled.
"To be a priest, of course. You know…you seem a bit out of sorts."
"Thanks for the clothes…" There was an uncertain pause.
Kurt stared at him. Could it be?
"My name’s Kurt."
"Kurt. Thanks for the clothes, Kurt." Logan sat down and closed his eyes and Kurt realized he had just been dismissed.
Stunned, he grabbed the lab pants and retreated.
---
"I tell you he did not know me. It was very strange."
Piotr frowned as he and his new little blue buddy made their way back to the Ready Room.
"You stay here, I’ll check him over."
Piotr knocked softly on the doorframe and saw Logan open his eyes. Immediately Piotr was struck by their strange color. The brown in them seemed to have faded drastically.
"Logan? Are you up for some company?"
Logan shrugged but his face betrayed no emotion or even a sign of recognition.
Piotr tentatively stepped further into the room to get a better look at his friend’s irises. "Are you okay? Still need some rest?"
"I’m fine…"
There was a hesitation and Piotr felt his heart sink.
"My name is Piotr. Do you want me to bring Rogue or Scott here? Do you remember them?"
" No and yes, I do know of them…"
"Piotr."
"Piotr."
Logan closed his eyes again, not moving from the chair.
Piotr slipped back into the hallway and grabbed Kurt’s arm in a painful grip. "We need to find Scott. Quickly."
------
(Chapter 17)
A while later, Scott, Piotr, and Kurt rounded the corner. There was no one in the Ready Room.
"Damn it! Search the hangar, Piotr. Kurt, you take the garage. I’ll check in with Jean across the hall and see if she knows where he went. Are you sure his eyes weren’t normal?" Piotr nodded solemnly and Scott sighed. "Then Apocalypse is still alive somehow."
Scott entered the Lab. Jean was in her office off to the left and he realized she wouldn’t have been able to see Logan leave. Maybe she felt him, though. He opened his mouth but his expression had concerned her enough that she ‘read’ him quickly and beat him to the punch.
"I never felt him move. In fact, I can’t feel him now. Logan’s eyes went red before I killed Apocalypse. You think he’s inside Logan?" She frowned and then looked stunned. "That would explain the coma! His mutation was being drained at an enormous rate as if he was healing something besides himself. Why didn’t I see it sooner?"
"None of us did." He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Fire off a message to the professor. We’ve got to find him."
---
Some of the adults were out on dates. Hank and Ororo were in the media room with the rest of the children, some watching the movie and others playing pool or talking. Poppy walked over to Ororo and tapped her shoulder.
"Yes, Poppy, what do you need?"
"I’m going to go to bed now, Ms. Munroe."
Ororo smiled at the down-turned face. "Please stay. No one blames you for the other day, child."
There was a small sigh. "I know, but Logan’s still sick and I think I had something to do with it."
"I can assuage your fears on that, little one. Logan is up and moving around now. You had nothing to do with his illness for he was never ill. He simply had an accident that took even his strong constitution a few days to recover from." Beast reached out a large hand and rested it gently on Poppy’s shoulder. "We will tuck you in if you wish."
The little girl smiled at that. "I’ll be fine. I’m glad to hear about Logan. Thank you for telling me."
She yawned and left the room and they realized how late it was getting.
"Time to pack it in, ladies and gentlemen," said Ororo in her authoritative teacher’s voice. There was a rumble in her ear.
"Time for us to retire as well?"
She blushed and pushed her loving furball away. "Everyone, finish up. Lights out in half an hour." She gazed meaningfully at Hank and held back a giggle when he gave her a delicious toothy grin.
---
Poppy gasped. Logan stood in her doorway both frightening her with his silence and delighting her with his presence.
"Logan!" She hopped out of bed and ran to him for a hug. "I’m ever so glad you are all right." The hug was stiffly returned and she glanced up. "Are you still feeling some pain?"
"Yes, I am. I need your help."
He gently guided her to the bed and tucked her in, sitting on the edge of the mattress.
"What can I do?" Her small eyes widened. His eyes were different. They were now the color of shiny metal. "Logan?"
"Just relax."
He held a palm to her cheek. Within seconds her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped bonelessly against her pillows.
"Rest, little one. I did not take everything. Yours will be the first generation to worship me. Sleep well on that thought."
With that, Apocalypse rose and strode out the door.
---
The media room was quiet, too quiet. Jean and Scott surveyed the inhabitants, all of whom were unnaturally asleep. They looked at each other.
"Poppy!"
---
Charles held his temper in check. He could feel what had happened and he braced himself for the confrontation as the stranger neared him.
"Where is he?" It was Logan’s voice but Logan had not asked the question.
Charles concentrated his powerful abilities in an effort to thwart Apocalypse but the response was surprising, even to Xavier. Logan’s skin seemed to crawl and shimmer taking on a metallic sheen. Xavier glared at his opponent.
"You can’t shut me out forever. Logan cannot keep up with the energy you are expending."
Apocalypse laughed and it struck Xavier how cruelly used Logan was at the moment.
"I don’t need to hold you off forever, just long enough to put you to sleep." A shiny palm was raised and Charles felt his mind began to drift toward slumber. "I will find what I seek and I will take him. I need his energy and will use his body as my own. This one will still serve me as my messenger, once he recovers from my possession."
Desperately Charles sent a feeble message to Jean before he slumped forward and fell out of his wheelchair.
---
"Is she all right?" Scott kept watch at the door while Jean made a cursory examination of the small girl.
"No. I need to get her to the lab right away. Her heartbeat is erratic and her breathing is extremely shallow. Look at this bruise on her cheek — it looks like a handprint. Apocalypse must have touched her to do this." Jean paused and shot a glance at Scott. "The professor just told me Apocalypse is looking for you. He stole Poppy’s powers and is putting everyone to sleep. Scott, I’m…I can’t tear Logan apart." Her lip trembled. "I just can’t."
"No one said you had to." He was across the room in a second and held her tightly. "Look into my mind." He held her at arm’s length.
She gasped. "No! It’s too dangerous! He can kill you! Or worse!"
"He won’t get the chance. Where’s Rogue?"
"Scott!" There was a short mental battle and she sighed in defeat. "Damn. I guess you’re right."
"There’s no other choice at this point and you know it. Come on. I’ll escort you to the lab and grab the gloves. Where’s Rogue?"
"Out in the garden with Dutch," she said sadly as she scooped up Poppy.
"Perfect."
---
"Rogue."
Marie turned. Scott had surprised her. She shrank away from him and hugged her arms tightly to her. Normally she did not walk the garden in her nightgown and robe, as it was far too dangerous.
"Scott! Stay back!"
"I need your help, Rogue. Logan’s gone. Apocalypse is here."
She was stunned. "What?"
"I need to get Logan back long enough to get some gloves on him and get him angry."
"What do you mean?"
"Emotions. Apocalypse cannot control Logan if Logan is emotional. Jean and the Professor have said over and over that he’s hard to read when he’s emotional. They only truly get him right when he projects or when he’s calm."
"Ah don’t understand…the gloves?"
"Apocalypse takes energy and power from mutants. Since he doesn’t have his armor, he’s taking them through touch."
She gasped. She was a monster then.
"Did you fight with Logan today?"
She stared at him. "What? What if Ah did?"
"He shut down didn’t he? He didn’t want to hurt you. I’ve seen him drop all his emotions to protect himself and others. Apocalypse used that; he broke through. He took control over him and started taking his memories. First Logan forgot Kurt, then he forgot Piotr. Now Logan’s gone." Scott held out his hand and she noticed he was wearing his X-Men gloves. "I need him back and for that I need his only weakness. You."
------
(Chapter 18)
"Remember the plan," Scott said softly.
"You said he touched Poppy to get her powers?" She watched Scott nod. "Then it’s one monster against another," she said bitterly.
He winced. "We don’t think of you that way."
"It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of me at the moment except Logan." Marie gave Scott a meaningful glance. "Ah can only get him if he doesn’t get you first and if Ah have the element of surprise."
"You will. I told you, you’re his weakness. Besides, that’s the backup plan. Don’t try to take him on unless the primary plan fails."
Marie nodded and stopped. Scott turned to look at what she was seeing. Logan stood in the kitchen doorway, a red-eyed and impassive Logan.
"I have come for you."
Scott snorted derisively on purpose. It wouldn’t hurt to throw the egomaniac off balance.
"Talk about melodramatic. In that body, those words just don’t work." Scott’s tone changed to a more menacing level. "Do you really think you’ll take me that easily?" He gave two low whistles and Dutch, curled up and hidden in the corner, perked his furry ears.
"You cannot stop me." Apocalypse held out a hand. " I will put you to sleep. There will be no fight."
The instant Logan moved forward, Dutch sprang. His powerful adolescent jaws closed painfully on Logan’s left calf and Scott winced as large canine teeth sank in deep. Logan had taught the dog well. A shudder ran through Logan and he closed his eyes. When he opened them they were no longer red and his expression was no longer blank.
"Mind calling off the dog?" It was said in a low, formidable growl.
Scott held up his gloved hands. "Not my dog."
Logan’s nostrils flared. The Wolverine was definitely just under the surface, exactly where Scott wanted him.
Marie gave two low whistles and Dutch trotted to her. "There’s a good boy." She bent over and patted the 70-pound over-grown puppy affectionately. "Ah’m sorry about that, sugar." She stood and glanced at Scott. "Gray, not brown."
Scott nodded in understanding. Logan’s eyes were still not normal. They had to get him angrier.
"Gray, not brown, what? Where the hell am I and who the hell are you?"
Scott’s heart sank. Logan didn’t remember them at all.
"You’re in New York. I’m Scott and this is Rogue."
"Rogue."
There was something very familiar about the way Logan let the word roll off his tongue.
She smiled. "Would you mind putting your gloves back on, sugar? It’d make me feel better." Logan stared at her blankly. "The ones on the table, there."
Logan slowly picked up the gloves he had worn as Death and noticed the slits between the fingers. For a fleeting second he showed surprise and then his eyes narrowed.
"I don’t wear gloves."
"They're yours, Ah swear. Please? For me?" She utilized her most doe-eyed look, knowing her Logan would never refuse.
He frowned but put them on and watched as both she and Scott relaxed visibly. "All right. That does it. What the fuck is going on?" He started to take the gloves back off until Scott diverted his attention.
"Gladly. Turn around and look at your reflection in the refrigerator."
Warily, Logan looked over his shoulder. Instantly he turned back with a snarl. "What happened to my eyes?"
"Another mutant worked you over and got inside your head. He beat the crap out of you, too. Want to see it on tape?"
If looks could kill, Scott thought, I’d be dead right now.
"No." There was another snarl. "I don't know this place. I want out of here." Logan moved toward the door and found it locked.
Scott raised an eyebrow and Marie shook her head. Logan’s eyes were not changing back. Apocalypse had too firm of a hold. All they could do was keep him at bay by irritating Logan but they risked seeing the business end of the claws eventually. Scott had a grieved look on his face as he patted Marie’s shoulder, the signal for her to start plan B. They both jumped, startled at the sound of the door falling to pieces at Logan’s feet. They scrambled after him as he walked off into the night.
"Sugar! Please! You can’t leave now. You’re in danger!" Marie struggled to keep up and then had to put on the brakes as Logan halted abruptly, claws at the ready.
"For all I know you did this to me." There was no give in his voice. He was ready to kill. "Leave me alone."
"Wait! We can help you!" cried Scott.
Cold, hard eyes flicked in his direction.
"Why? Why help me? What’s in it for you? I don’t know you."
Marie seized her opening. "Don’t know or don’t care?"
There was a long pause, as Logan seemed to try to access something.
"Pick one," was his reply.
Marie took a step forward and nodded at the blades. "Does it hurt?"
Logan glanced down and then back at Marie, cocking his head with curiosity. "Every time," he said as the claws slowly retracted.
Silver eyes locked on green eyes and Scott held his breath. She was purposely calming him down, giving Apocalypse the opportunity to surface. He couldn’t even help her. One blast from his eyes would give Apocalypse exactly what he wanted.
"So, what kind of a name is Rogue?" Logan said softly.
Marie grinned. "What kind of a name is Wolverine?"
"Name’s…my name’s…"
Logan went blank for a moment then he grimaced and hunched over, clutching at his temples. Suddenly he straightened. His eyes were no longer silver. They were glowing with an eerie red light that was all too familiar.
"His name is Death, young one," said Apocalypse from Logan’s mouth. "You are too clever. You will be the first to go."
The gloves on Logan’s hands shimmered and changed into two pieces of silk scarf that fluttered to the ground. Marie now knew why Logan couldn’t remember where her scarf was and she glared at the mutant in front of her.
"Why you bastard! You had to take that from him too didn’t you?" Marie fairly growled. Here was a monster she could take all of her anger out on and she concentrated on the red eyes so she would forget the face that framed them. "Ah guess it was a handy thing Ah got mad about it. Handy for you."
There was the barest of blinks. "As I said, you are too clever."
"Death, huh? Well, nice to meet you Death. Let’s see just how deadly you are compared to me," she sneered as she stripped off her robe. Bare arms and hands now stood at the ready, as her negligee did not cover much. "Ah believe this is my fight now, Scott."
Scott had instinctively started forward but stopped at her tone. Apocalypse had absorbed Poppy’s powers through touch and they could not afford to have the mutant gain Scott’s energy. Rogue was right. It was her fight now but it was anyone’s guess what would happen when deadly skin met deadly skin.
She continued to speak as she circled her opponent, forcing him to turn and concentrate more on her. "Ah’ve been having a problem lately, Scott. Ah’ve been letting monsters rule my life. My father molested me as a child and Ah tried to forget it." Her eyes flared at the remembered betrayal. "Carol stirred up my head a bit and that came back out." She watched as Apocalypse moved to keep her in front of him. "Ah started to see monsters in everything, but especially in Logan. It wasn’t until Ah went home that Ah realized my father was just a man who made a terrible mistake. Logan helped me see that. Problem was, Scott, Ah was angry and Ah wanted to take out my anger on someone. Ah chose Logan for the stupid reason that he didn’t tell me he knew all about it."
Marie held out her arms in a wide arc. "You think you’ve won, don’t you? If Ah hadn’t attacked Logan, he wouldn’t have shucked his emotions and you wouldn’t have had a toehold on him. But there’s something between him and me that you can’t understand."
"I know all that he knows, young one. You cannot defeat me. Your strength is no match for mine and flight will not escape me. One touch is all it will take. Stand still and I will take you. It will not hurt. I can at least give you that in honor of your courage."
There was a small, sad smile on Marie’s face now. "Monsters always say things you want to hear, tell you things are going to be okay if you do what they want you to. They make you believe in them. They take advantage of you. Well not anymore, not this lady, anyway. So you know all that he knows. Ah’m strong and Ah can fly." She took a step forward and lowered her arms. "Ah was hoping that was all you’d say."
Scott stepped back. Rogue was going in for the kill and Apocalypse had no idea, thanks to Logan, what Rogue’s true power was. Apocalypse saw his movement peripherally and held out a beckoning hand to his ultimate goal.
"You are what I am after. I will have your energy. Perhaps I should take you first."
"Ah can’t allow that. Ah need you just as you are." Marie took another step.
Apocalypse reached out his hand just as she reached out hers. For a brief second Scott saw their fingertips touch. An incredible spark crackled in the air and both were thrown backwards, away from each other.
---
There was a gentle, repetitive tapping on her face and Marie waved her hand feebly to ward off the irritation.
"Go away."
"Rogue? Rogue, open your eyes, okay?"
Scott came blearily into focus and she rewarded him with a beautiful smile.
"Did it work?"
"Yes, you did great. How do you feel?" He gently moved her hair out of her eyes with his gloved fingers.
She held out a hand and he pulled her up. "Ah’m okay. You know it’s kinda funny in a way. Apocalypse knew everything Logan knew and that was his undoing. Logan should think of me the same way that he thought of Apocalypse, as a vampire." She smiled. "But he doesn’t though. He loves me and he thinks of my mutation as just a way for him to heal me."
"We don’t think of you as a vampire either and you know it. We just know how much it hurts you to have someone else running around in your head. You don’t have any Apocalypse in you do you?" She shook her head to his great relief. "You two cancelled each other out perfectly then." Scott looked up at the starry sky above for a second. "You should have seen the aftermath. There was a huge spark and you and Logan fell to the ground unconscious. Logan convulsed for a second and stopped breathing. Apocalypse must have panicked. There was a strange sound and this red mist came out of Logan’s nose and mouth. It headed for me but it started to dissipate before it could reach me. I suppose Apocalypse had his limits without having a body. The mist blew apart in the breeze out here. If we had been inside…" Scott shivered. "I’m glad Logan has a preference for the outdoors."
"Wait, you said he stopped breathing…" The look on her face was heartbreaking. "You mean Ah killed him?"
"Not at all." Scott bent down to pick up her robe. "You know him. He started breathing within a minute. It was just long enough to make Apocalypse think about finding a new home."
She ignored the proffered robe and went over to Logan, kneeling in the ground by his side.
"Rogue, you don’t have your gloves…"
"Shhh." Marie closed her eyes and concentrated.
"There’s no guarantee he’ll even remember us. You heard him before Apocalypse took him over, he didn’t know who we were."
"Shhh. He’s all right. He has to be."
Scott watched as she clenched and unclenched her hands. Then, to his surprise, she reached out and touched Logan’s brow. Just a fingertip, but it was a soft tap that made contact just the same. She touched him again, this time on the lip, slowly stroking her finger across it with a loving caress. Next she placed her palm on Logan’s cheek. It was again only for a moment, but the tentative initiations of skin on skin were growing longer as she felt nothing happen. Soon she grew bold enough to take his head in her arms and nestle it against her chest, willing him to hear her heart beat.
Scott felt he was somehow a voyeur now but the wonder of seeing her realize her dream rooted him to the spot. She looked up at him finally and Scott saw the happy tears that coursed down her face.
"No more monsters, Scott. No more monsters."
He hesitated. "Is it permanent?"
"No," she smiled, "but I can control it as long as I don’t fear the monsters."
------
(Chapter 19)
Snikt. He was out of the bed and crouched for defense before she knew what was going on.
"Wait!" she tried to disentangle herself from the covers. "It’s just me!"
His dark form slumped in the shadows and he almost hit the floor.
"Marie? Darlin’, what are we doing in my room? I should have stayed downstairs. I don’t want to hurt the kids if the claws come out on accident."
She flipped on the bedside lamp as he slowly made it to the edge of the bed.
"You know me!" She couldn’t help the happy tremble in her voice.
"Well of course I know you, woman. Why wouldn’t I?" he grunted painfully.
She reached out and he noticed her hand was bare. His eyes flicked to her bruised nose and throat and he sat still, waiting for her touch.
She bit back a grin. This was her Logan; never truly associating her with the death that was in her touch. She placed her palm on his warm cheek. Nothing happened.
His trusting expression changed to a proud grin. "You did it."
She laughed. He made it sound like he had never had any doubts she could control it.
He turned his head and kissed her palm tenderly, then he licked it with a darting tongue. "God how I’ve wanted to hold you, taste you." He groaned and she realized it wasn’t from being turned on. "You had to show me this on a night when I’m hurting like crazy, didn’t you?"
"Lay down here, sugar." She patted the place beside her on the bed. "Time for that later when we’ve both healed up some. Right now we need to talk."
---
"You gonna tell me or what?" He said between bites.
Logan sat on the edge of the kitchen island working on his second plate of breakfast, the first one having shattered when he picked up his fork and inadvertently shot a claw. Marie was puttering around the kitchen readying all the toppings for the waffles she was making. She turned and eyed him for a moment.
"Tell you what?"
"What’s bothering you. I thought we talked everything out last night."
She put her hands on her hips in a defensive posture and then sighed. Attitude and first reactions had only made things worse lately. She opted for plan B — come straight out with it — and put her arms down
"We did, but that was about Apocalypse and what happened. There is something Ah want to know. Why did you go to Mississippi about a year ago?"
"Oh, that." Logan gently put down the plate and gazed at her with clear hazel eyes. "I was curious. You were, what, seventeen or eighteen when I met you?" He watched her nod. "I don’t know much about families, Marie, but I do know that yours had seventeen years to be with you, know you, and understand you, more years than I could even remember. But when we met you were alone. All it took was seventeen minutes for you to make one hell of an impression on me. I guess I just wanted to know how they could let you go."
She smiled. "So you weren’t checking up on me."
"No," he shrugged, "I just wanted to understand. I had an idea that either you left and they were too scared to stop you or they kicked you out because they were too scared to keep you. I figured it was the former when I read the article about the boy. You stuck around to make sure he’d come out of the coma, didn’t you?" Again she nodded. "There wasn’t any real news on you which meant they had fought hard to keep you out of the papers. That led me to believe they were protecting you.
"When I found out about your father…well I figured you already knew about it. It seemed pretty clear your mother split with him and married somebody else because of it. That’s why I told you I knew our relationship was going to take some work. I thought you might have a problem with touching and being with a man."
"You’re something else, you know that?" She walked over and stood between his knees, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You could have asked. Ah left them so Ah wouldn’t hurt them. Ah didn’t remember anything about my father until Carol was inside my head and causing a few things to go haywire."
He cautiously folded his arms around her and kissed her brow. "You could have told me what was bothering you. All I could smell was fear whenever we were together. I thought maybe all that killing I did protecting the mansion was making you think twice."
"You did?" She frowned. "Damn. Ah guess Ah should have promised when you did."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Promised what?"
"Ah made you promise not to come between us and here Ah pulled the same stunt. We need to talk, okay? Say what’s on our minds when we think there’s a problem? Not just guess?"
"This dating stuff sure is complicated." He noted. "I’ll promise if you will. Is that how it works?"
"Yep."
"Okay."
They kissed but were interrupted from going any further when a small knock sounded at the door.
"Go away!" Logan barked and Marie slapped him on the back. "Ow!"
"Come in!"
The door opened and a crowd of people stood outside. Delighted smiles lit many faces as they beheld Logan and Marie, he in jeans and a shirt and she in jeans and a skimpy little tank top, holding each other skin on skin.
Logan whispered in her ear. "Go get your hugs, woman. You deserve them. You’ve waited long enough." He slid off the island and watched her live out her dream.
They all rushed in and she relished the chance to finally let her affection for her friends and new family loose. Logan calmly surveyed the scene, holding back any thoughts of jealousy. Now wasn’t the time. He watched as Scott sidled past the crowd and walked up to him.
"You lose this?" He held up a ring.
Logan grunted, a little surprised, and held out a palm.
"Are you going to ask her again?" Scott dropped the ring in the other’s hand. "She might not have heard you the first time, you know."
"I know." The ring was carefully pocketed. "I’ll wait. She’s not ready yet, neither am I."
"Probably. When you do get around to it, we’d like an invitation…"
"I’ll think about it."
Scott huffed and was about to say something when he saw that devilish grin. He matched it tooth for tooth.
"Logan," Jean said as she approached him with her arms open, Ororo right behind her.
"Give me one more day," he said as he stepped back. "I can heal Rogue if something happens. You guys I can’t." They smiled and nodded. "How’s Poppy?"
"Much better." Jean showed her surprise. "Do you remember it?"
"No, yesterday's a complete blank, but Rogue told me everything."
Piotr strode up. "Do you know me now?"
Logan rattled off something in Russian and Piotr, stunned, let go with a booming laugh. "Jean, check him out," muttered Logan. "I think something’s wrong in that tin-plated head."
"Hold it! You spoke Russian to Piotr and English to Jean." The room became quiet as Scott continued. "How did you do that?"
"He speaks Russian and she speaks English." Logan shrugged then went still as what he said sank in. "I could hear it." He turned to Marie. "Why can I hear the difference now?"
She held a hand to his cheek. "Maybe Apocalypse broke something loose for you just like Carol did for me. How many languages can you speak, sugar? Do you remember now?"
Logan’s gaze became unfocused as he looked inward. "Several."
He glanced over at Kurt and let fly with something, then switched neatly as he addressed other words to Jubilee.
Shakily Jubilee put her hands to her face. "I haven’t heard Mandarin since my parents died." She rushed forward and hugged him. Logan held his arms out and winced, trying to stay as still as possible.
"How many?" Scott was dying to know.
"Russian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetan…" Logan clutched at his head. "There’s more, it’s just jumbling up on me."
Marie gently pulled Jubilee away and held her own arms loosely around Logan to calm him. "Don't rush it, they'll come out sooner or later."
"Knowing me, later," Logan grinned as he rested his forearms on her shoulders, planting a kiss on her forehead. He looked around and glared, "Aren't you guys hungry or something?"
Instantly there was a scramble as many hands helped transfer the food to the dining hall where the rest of the school was waiting anxiously. The kitchen quickly cleared.
"You are so bad," Marie said as she slapped him playfully.
"And you are so good." He kissed her soundly then let her come up for air. "Want to play hooky today?"
"You're a teacher, what will they say?"
"That you corrupted me." He groaned, "Actually, I'm going to head for the lab now." At her concerned look he replied, "There's a little girl I need to see."
Marie smiled. "There's about two dozen kids Ah need to see, too, in the dining room." She eyed him. "Were you serious about playing hooky? We could ride around on your bike and sit in a nice peaceful park or something?"
"You'd be driving."
"Really?" Her eyes shone. "You'd let me? Ah guess you would have a problem if you lopped off the handle bars on accident."
"Hmmm. If I'm not driving, and you're sitting in front of me, what will I do with my hands?"
The question was innocent enough and he almost kept a straight face, but when she busted out with a laugh he did, too.
"What am Ah going to do with you?" They held on to each other for a moment and she pulled back to look in his eyes, those wonderful hazel eyes. "Ah love you, Logan."
"I love you, too, Marie. Always."
------
End
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Story Notes:
This is the original, and therefore unedited (sorry).
Please be advised that the following story touches on the subject of child molestation. Although I did not describe anything in detail, I thought it best to mention it in case someone would rather avoid that type of delicate subject matter. There are also a couple of character deaths. This was not beta’d so bear with me. 11/03/03
Please be advised that the following story touches on the subject of child molestation. Although I did not describe anything in detail, I thought it best to mention it in case someone would rather avoid that type of delicate subject matter. There are also a couple of character deaths. This was not beta’d so bear with me. 11/03/03