I won't remember the dress I wore
I won't remember Champagne
I won't remember the things that we swore
I will just love you in vain
The Cranberries - "Will You Remember?"
Logan woke up in the backroom of some dive bar along the U.S. - Mexico border. Apparently, he knew the bartender and was served a meal of fajitas to go with his beer. The bartender was rambling on about Logan helping him out the other night, when something on the television playing behind Logan caught the bartender's attention.
"Have you seen this one, man?" The bartender turned up the volume with the remote. "Some school for mutants back East. Poor bastards."
As Logan watched the videos being shown, a feeling of helplessness overcame him. The clips appeared to be from the school's own security cameras of an attack by Sentinels. The reporter relayed information of a private firm the government had hired to assess the mutant threat using their newly developed robot line.
Oddly, the official story the firm and the government agency had reported last night and the videos playing on the screen didn't match up. Logan wasn't surprised at all for the government to have someone else to do their 'dirty' work. The videos had appeared online the morning after the attack on several internet video-sharing sites. It took only hours for the videos to go viral.
A few of the scenes were familiar to Logan. He recognized Colossus engaging a Sentinel, giving the group he was with time to flee. Another clip showed flashes of red 'lasers' and lightning in an outside area, drawing the attention of the Sentinels that were destroying the school. The final clip was of Iceman trying to block a Sentinel's path as a woman with streaks of white in her hair tried to shield a group of young children.
Logan's stomach turned over and he was suddenly glad he hadn't eaten much of his meal. The bartender still yammered on about something when Logan interrupted. "I need to leave," more to himself than to the other man.
"Your bike and stuff should still be out back under the lean-to." Logan reached for his wallet to pay for the unfinished meal. The bartender shook his head, "Nay, man. I owe you for last night."
Logan mumbled thanks and headed for the backdoor. He'd traveled back in time to prevent this from happening. He needed to get to Xavier's and find out what went wrong.
He stood in front of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, and for the second time in twenty-four hours Logan's stomach turned over. The wing that housed the dormitories was badly burnt. The rest of the building faired only slightly better.
Logan walked through the ruins, searching for any sign of life. He knew someone was watching him, had been since he set foot on the property, but let the youngster keep his distance. Finally, he located where the elevator to the lower levels should have been, but the elevator shaft was inaccessible under the rubble.
"Wolverine?" The boy was hiding behind a half collapsed wall.
"Yeah." Logan turned to the boy. "Is it safe for you to be out here?"
The boy shrugged. "It gets kinda crowded down there."
Logan wanted to ask more, but decided it would be best to wait until he found one of the X-Men he knew were in the area. The boy turned and began walking toward the trees, the ones that used to make up the gardens. He only looked over his shoulder once to make sure Logan was following.
It was a brisk five-minute walk to reach an area where several other children gathered. The boy pointed past them, indicating a tunnel opening almost obscured by boulders. Logan paused a second to study the boy. "Thanks…Michael." The boy beamed him a smile for being remembered.
Logan made his way down the length of the tunnel. There was a minimum of light and anyone without his heightened senses would best have a flashlight. A challenge was issued before he reached a partially open blast door and he paused.
A familiar face, one of the teenagers he remembered, peeked around the door. He felt her probing at the edges of his mind. There was a hushed whispering, then a shout of "Wolverine!" further down the tunnel.
The smell of a spring breeze reached Logan moments before Storm stepped past the still peeking teenager. Storm embraced him. "I'm sorry you won't be receiving a better reception," she said with a solemn expression.
Logan immediately thought of all the times Rogue had welcomed him back to the mansion. She had hugged, teased and joyously greeted him every time in the past. Or at least Rogue in the old timeline had. The absence of her warm reception made him wonder if it had been like that in this timeline. Had he and Rogue shared a friendship like he remembered? He wanted to ask about Rogue; after all it hadn't been that many years ago in his timeline that he'd promised to take care of her. Given the circumstances and what everyone had gone through in the last several days, he thought it seemed selfish.
Storm led Logan past the door, further underground to a small room where several more teenagers assembled backpacks with emergency supplies.
"It's good to have you back, Logan." Storm waved a hand toward an open door on the other side of the storage room. "The Professor is in the med bay. He's stable, but I don't think he's conscious yet. Hank is in his lab. Scott and Jean are down the hall, they'll get you up-to-speed." She gave Logan a pained expression, "I'm sorry…"
Logan knew there was a more significant meaning behind her last comment, but he felt like a fish out of water. He passed it off stiffly. "Thanks Storm."
He entered the main part of the underground facility; it looked untouched by the destruction above. The voice coming from the command room indicated as to where he would find Summers. The halls had been filled with too many people recently to easily pin down where Jean or Rogue might be.
It was probably best to find out how things stood before Logan indulged in his own personal interests of seeing Jean and checking to make sure Rogue was okay. Turning toward the command room, he stopped in his tracks as Jean entered the hall.
"Logan," she stated in her usual calm demeanor. He could she the dark circles beginning to form under her eyes. She was as put together as always, but under the veneer, worry was wearing her down. Jean managed a smile before Summers stepped into the hall.
Scott was tenser than Logan remembered. Logan felt the need to goad the younger man, but thought better of it, given the circumstances. Summers seemed to bristle at Logan's presence. His usual disapproval of Logan had deepened.
Jean interrupted the staring contest. "I need to go check on the Professor." As she turned to leave, she placed a light hand on Scott's arm. Logan was positive they were having a conversation that he wasn't privy to. "Come and see the Professor when you're finished Logan."
Whatever had passed between Jean and Scott had taken some of the anger out of the younger man. Summers tilted his head toward the command room. "We could use the help."
Half of the student body would be gone in a couple of days as their families made contact with emergency arrangements. Several others had taken the opportunity to return to living on the streets. Through whispers and bits of conversations overheard in hallways, Logan finally pieced together why Rogue was not there to greet him. A handful of students were unaccounted for and Rogue was the only missing staff member. They were believed to have been taken by the Sentinels. A plan was in the works, but first they needed to locate where the Sentinels may have taken the captives.
It bothered Logan to dwell on the fact that his traveling back in time still hadn't prevented Rogue from being taken by the Sentinels. He gave some thought to tracking her down on his own, but the people that dealt in these things might not be the same people anymore.
He didn't want to think about why Rogue being taken got under his skin so badly. Logan chafed at the thought of having to wait to find Rogue and it wasn't his usual impatience. It wasn't the waiting; he could be patient when the situation required it. There was something else and he had plenty of time to contemplate his feelings.
In the meantime, Logan had volunteered to sleep outside, not wanting to add to the crowded sleeping conditions in the underground facilities. But more than that he wanted to get away from the acidic scent of fear that hung heavy down below. He almost choked on it when everyone gathered for meals. The regular staff tried to set a routine, some sense of normalcy, but it did little to erase the reality of the last few days.
Then there were the looks. The pity directed toward Logan. The way Rogue's name was mentioned in hushed tones or conversations stopped abruptly when he was near. The adults were awkward, not knowing how to address the subject with him. A few too many 'we'll find her' comments made all the pieces fall into place.
After supper, he escaped to prowl the ruins of the living quarters. It looked like the staff's rooms had sustained less damage than the students' area. It wasn't hard to find the room he remembered as his. It now had a great view of the night sky. The room smelled of Rogue, both older and newer scents, and the closet was still intact with all of their clothes in place. Most of the rest of their belongings were scattered around when an interior wall was forcibly removed.
Logan found a picture of Rogue caught under some debris. It must have been a selfie she'd taken while sitting on 'someone's' lap. The hands holding her were unmistakably his. It was clear they had been lovers for several years.
This wasn't a complete surprise. He'd had a soft spot for Rogue and remembered worrying about her when he left the mansion in his past. Logan had always had undefined feelings for her he'd been unwilling to explore. He'd put her squarely in the kid category while he chased older women around. Now his uncertain feelings for Rogue were working their way to the surface, demanding to be dealt with.
There was a disconnect, he knew he should be enraged over his lover being taken, however to him she was a missing friend. He wanted Rogue back safe and sound like any of them, but at the same time he knew the X-Men were expecting him to explode any minute. He wondered if this was how an amnesiac felt when introduced to their "loved ones".
He was mad with himself. He should have tried harder when he was in the past to convey to Xavier what needed to be done to fix the future. Logan had seen Kitty at supper; maybe he could talk her into sending him back again. But to what part of the past? In the last fifty years, what moment would make a difference?
Grudgingly he settled for waiting. He hated to wait, but until he knew how bad things would be he couldn't just go off willy-nilly to fix what may not be broken. Besides, this wasn't the first time they had mounted a rescue. He would do as the X-Men had always done; they'd find their people, rescue them, and then rebuild.
~*~ end of chapter ~*~
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Story Notes:
Thanks to RogueLotus, SJ, Margaret, and Jamie for all their help. The title is taken from the Cranberries song Will You Remember?