Logan and Marie headed to bed right after dinner, settling in to the sound of soft rain on the window. Marie was just drifting off when she heard it. She felt the mattress lift behind her and watched as Logan walked around the bed to the window.
“What is it?” she asked, reaching for her dressing gown at the foot of the bed.
“Victor.” he huffed and pulled on his jeans. “And he brought company.”
Hank made it to the door before Logan, and nervously ushered in Victor and his companions. Of course he recognised Victor's scent from the jet, but he was unsure of his friends “ and their intentions.
“So, this is how you've been living?” Victor asked as Logan descended the stairs, closely followed by Marie. “Old habits, huh?”
“What is this?” Logan gestured to the others.
“I told you I was getting the gang back together.” He shrugged. “The ones I trust, anyway.”
“I'm touched.” John Wraith stepped forward and tipped his hat at Marie. “Ma'am.” She smiled and Logan rolled his eyes.
“John.” he growled.
“I'm just being friendly, man.” John grinned.
“Yeah, I know what you were doing.”
“Alright.” Chris Bradley put his hands on their shoulders. “As fun as this is to watch, we should probably talk.”
“What about your friend?” Marie asked, pointing at the truck outside the front door where Fred Dukes was sleeping soundly.
“I'll get him.” John said and vanished abruptly only to reappear in the seat next to Fred. The sleeping man stirred as the truck shifted with the sudden addition of John's weight.
“We there yet?” he mumbled, wiping at a string of drool on his chin.
“Second dinner?” Marie asked Logan, already moving off toward the kitchen.
“Sounds good to me, darling.”
Before long, they were all sat around the kitchen table, picking at their leftover lasagne. Fred was tucking in to his third helping when Chris broke through the smalltalk.
“So, I found something interesting in Stryker's files.” He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a handful of folded papers.
“What's all this?” John asked, scanning the pages. “Memory augmentation?”
“What's that?” Fred asked around a mouthful of ground beef.
“Messing with your mind.” Logan grumbled and ran a hand though his hair. Chris nodded.
“But, as far as I know, the technology for this doesn't exist.”
“Stryker was working with some other asshole; some creepy doctor who talked about 'advancement' a lot.” Victor added. “Maybe he helped things along a bit.”
“What do we know about him?” Hank asked as he collected their plates. Victor looked to Logan who nodded.
“Well, Chris reckons he's about 150.”
“So, he has time on his side.” Marie frowned and sipped her tea.
“And then some. He's what they call a mutate.” John raised an eyebrow at Chris.
“And what, prey tell, is that?” Marie cut in before Chris could answer.
“It means he shouldn't have any active powers.”
“Exactly.”
“So, what keeps him ticking?”
“I remember now.” Marie sat stone faced, tears running down her face. Logan took her hands and rested his forehead against hers.
“What is it, darling?”
“He was there.” she whispered. “In the lab.”
“The doctor?” Victor put his hand on her shoulder.
“Essex.” She held a crumpled sheet of paper in her shaking hand. “He told me what he did. How he got his powers.” She sniffed. “He showed me what he can do.”
“That's who I saw in your head.” Charles sat with his head in his hands and sighed.
“You seem to know who were dealing with.” Erik said. “Do you know how to stop him?”
“I don't even know that we can.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nathaniel Essex was disowned by the medical community for...playing God. He performed unspeakable experiments on mutants in an attempt to understand our powers. He was attempting to overtake evolution “ to have control over it. He created a serum that would activate his dormant mutant genes. It made him into a monster.”
“What kind of monster are we talking about?” Fred asked nervously.
“He has all the power he craved. And more. He can heal from any injury, read minds, move objects. He can manipulate his own physical form at will. Many have tried to stop him, and lost their lives in the process.”
“How exactly do you know all this?” John frowned. “I mean, I thought this dude was ancient.”
“My great grandfather lead the charge against Essex.”
The awkward silence that followed stretched out for quite some time, and was only broken by Raven's unexpected entrance.
“Oh.” she uttered from the kitchen door. “If I'd known you were having a party, I would've called first.”
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