Several hours later an exhausted Matt finally left the Professor's office. After regular questions and trying to remember had yielded little, the Professor had suggested a telepathic link, so he could dig deeper into Matthew's memory and hopefully find things he may have forgotten he remembered.
The Professor didn't tell him what he had found but his simultaneously confident and worried look told Matt, there may yet be a chance of some progress. The old man had promised to let Matt know as soon as he had been able to piece together some clues for him.
The bigger breakthrough didn't come until two weeks later.
Matt was ushered down to the 'secret' lower levels immediately after class one day. Upon entering what looked like a conference room, he was enthralled to find a detailed 3D map illuminated on the table in the centre of the room. As the Professor and Mr Summers began to go over the map, zooming in on certain areas as they explained they believed this area to be where Matt had lived his younger life, he spotted something that looked familiar.
"Wait! Go back... the lake but from this side... and zoom in... there was a tire swing, in that tree, and the house... ..." Matt paused, as he wracked his memory trying to remember.
~~Squealing noisily, as the fat fish flopped around on the shore. Trying to grab hold, falling back into the water but he had the fish! Daddy hauling him out of the water, laughing hard, before showing him how to hold the fish easier.
"Go show mama what you caught!" Daddy said, nudging him in the direction of home.
Mama was on the porch, watching him toddle closer with the still struggling fish, darn thing just refused to accept it was caught but he wasn't letting go. Daddy said if he let it go, he wouldn't have any dinner, and he was hungry.
Mama kissed him and hugged him, and told him what a big, brave boy he was. A big, brave, stinky boy, who smelled like lake water and fish. While daddy chopped the fish up, mama took him inside to have a bath...~~
"... The house is through there," Matt said, pointing to a grove of trees.
"You're sure?" Mr Summers asked, clearly seeking assurance his own assumption was correct.
"Positive," Matt murmured softly, as more memories began to filter through of home. A few cherished memories of his mother, but most of his father.
"We're going to fly up tonight and check it out, see if we can find any leads, do you want to come?" Mr Summers queried, as he began to collect the necessary coordinate data, and the computer calculated a suitable landing area for some aircraft - judging by the vertical landing projections Matt assumed it was a helicopter.
"Yeah, I'm coming," Matt insisted. "What do I need to bring with me?" he queried, as he jumped to his feet.
"Just an overnight bag, we may stay up there the whole weekend, depends how long it takes for us to find anyo- anything," Mr Summers replied.
Matt shot out of the room as fast as he could. Grabbing the small emergency bag under his bed - every student had one apparently - he shoved a couple of changes of clothes into it, and zipped it shut. As he pulled on his jacket he kicked off his sneakers, swapping them for the hiking boots he had bought a few days ago, before racing out of the room just as one of his roommates came in.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Justin, the oldest of his roommates, called out to him, as Matt ran down the hall.
"With the X-Men, don't know when I'll be back," Matt called back. All the kids around here seemed to be obsessed with the X-Men, so he wasn't above rubbing in the special trip just a little. As he swung around the last banister of the stairs, to jog down the last stretch of hallway back to the not so secret elevator, Matt screeched to a halt, catching hold of the person he had collided with before she could go flying.
"Sorry, are you okay?" Matt asked, as held Candice up while she got her balance back.
"Yeah, I am," she giggled. "Thanks for catching me, hero," she added, as she blushed, and stepped back from him, smoothing out her rumpled clothes.
"Sorry for slamming into you like that, they found my home!" Matt informed her excitedly. Candice had cornered him the morning after his meeting with the Professor, questioning him on the overheard statement that Wolverine and Rogue were his parents. He had gladly spilled the entire story to her, thankful to have someone to share his thoughts and feelings with. She had been so happy for him, sharing his excitement that he might find one or both of his parents, and at the very least get some answers as to why they had abandoned him. She had also spent a good deal of time calming his fears as to what he might find, what if his parents really didn't want him, what if they hated him.
"That's so fantastic!" Candice cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I forgive you for your hurrying, you should go, go on, get out of here, go find your parents," she said, nudging him to continue to the elevator, a beaming grin on her face.
With a matching smile Matt resumed his course, but quickly slowed, eventually stopped completely.
"Umm, hey, uh..." he stuttered, turning back to where Candice still stood, watching him oddly. "Um, would- would you come with me...? I just... I'd appreciate- the company," he murmured, shrugging uncomfortably. He wanted someone who would understand how much this meant to him, and so far, she was the only one who really seemed to get it.
“Really? Sure, do I need a bag too?" Candice asked, gesturing to the pack still clutched in his hands.
"Yeah, just an overnight bag Mr Summers said, but we might be up there for the weekend," Matt explained.
"Alright, give me five minutes," Candice said, and promptly fled up the stairs. He was standing, tapping his foot impatiently at the elevator doors several minutes later when Candice came racing down the stairs, out of breath, and clutching her own bag. "Come on, let's go!" she said, grabbing his hand, and pulling him into the elevator as the doors opened.
Mr Summers looked surprised when he spotted Candice following Matt out of the elevator, glancing around her wide eyed and in awe - she had never seen the underground levels before. Mr Summers didn't say anything however when Dr Grey shook her head at him, and Miss Lee, who it appeared was coming too whether they wanted her to or not, cleared her throat pointedly, before disappearing down the corridor, and into a hollow sounding room at the end of the corridor.
"Wow!" Matt and Candice exclaimed simultaneously, as they entered what turned out to be a massive underground hanger. A sleek, gleaming, black jet sat in the middle of the space, lights on and beginning to power up, as the roof above their heads began to roll back, revealing the dark blue late evening sky, very sparsely decorated with starlight.
They were ushered to seats and strapped in; these seats weren't particularly uncomfortable but the idea of being stuck in this seat for any length of time was not a pleasant thought.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Matt asked, he may have recognized the terrain but he didn't know where it was geographically.
"The location you identified is just outside of a town called Cougar Valley, in Yakima County, Washington," Mr Summers replied, as the planes large engines fired to full life and the craft began to lift into the air.
"Is this going to be another eight-hour flight?" Matt asked glumly.
"No," Dr Grey replied with a chuckle, "This plane goes a lot faster than the other one... Your dad never liked flying either," she added with a soft, sad smile.
For the next few hours the cabin of the plane was largely silent. Matt was comforted, as his thoughts began to stray down a dark path of what might be found on arrival, when Candice reached across the aisle and squeezed his hand, offering him a companionable smile. She fell asleep after a while but he kept hold of her hand, which unconsciously gripped his in return as they flew. He liked Candice, he wasn't usually one for getting close to people, from his experience there was no point, they always left eventually, but she had somehow burrowed her way through his defences and grabbed hold of him. Strangely he found he really didn't mind all that much, he was even starting to think it might be worth holding on to her in return. Maybe...
--
The plane settled down on the ground as they landed, it was on a slight lean due to the ground being gently sloped, but not enough to cause problems. As they disembarked, Matt couldn't help the feeling of recognition, an eerie, prickly feeling, as he looked around him. It was now dark but the full moon allowed everyone a decent look at the surrounding area.
It very quickly became obvious that no one was here. The cabin was pitch black, no lights, not even a fire dying on the hearth.
As they approached the cabin Matt smiled when he spotted his old treehouse. He remembered building it with his dad, smacking his thumb with the hammer on more than one occasion. Dad wouldn't let him give up though, he had to learn, and he had better learn quick or he would have sore thumbs forever, his dad had told him.
The large glass french doors of the cabin were locked, from the inside, the adults were contemplating smashing a window when Matt drew their attention and led the way around the house. Past a huge wood stack, and into a small lean-to, there was another door, the back door, opening into the kitchen. Still in its place, under an old boot, was a key. It took a bit of jiggling, and a fair amount of force but eventually the old lock groaned and clunked, and with a spooky squeal of stiff hinges, the door swung open.
Clicking on a torch, Matt looked around for a light switch, he found it fast enough but no light came on when he flicked it. They would need to find the fuse box, at the very least, before they could get the power going.
Turning back to scan the interior Matt took in the home he barely remembered. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, as if no one had been in there for years, upon years. It wasn't until he spotted the dishes, that had been left to dry on the dish rack that he realised the truth of that thought.
"He never came back," Matt murmured, as he stepped further into the kitchen, eyes fixed on the dishes, dinner for two it had been. "We had rabbit, I caught it, set snares, he made me skin and gut it myself, 'big boys need to know how to feed themselves'... mashed sweet potato, and peas, 'mama will be mad if you don't eat your greens', and baby carrots, 'so the rabbit has a snack on it's way down'..." he smiled sadly as the memory came back. His dad had always had a reason for everything, some lessons, some just meant to entertain.
"...Well," Dr Grey spoke from the gloomy silence, "Let's sleep in the jet tonight, come back when it's daylight and we can see better."
"That's a good idea," Miss Lee agreed, Jubilee she had told him to call her, his mama would have told him to call her Aunty Jubes she insisted but Jubilee would do just fine.
--
The next morning, they were back, the cabin still very obviously deserted, but Matt needed answers, he just hoped some of them would be found here. The first place he went was his own room.
It looked the same as when he had left it, right down to his tiny preschool size pyjamas still screwed into a ball and stuffed under his pillow. The thick sheets messily pulled over the bed, a huge pile of blankets thrown haphazard over them, one very special one pulled beneath his sheets.
"Mama made this one, before I was born, dad said she spent almost her whole pregnancy making it, so it would be ready for me when I was born," Matt shared, to no one in particular.
On the little nightstand beside the bed was a nightlight, shaped like the moon, and several framed photographs. There was a large photo of Marie, a second of Marie cradling a new-born baby, her tired eyes telling him the photo had been taken when he was very new. The third photo was of the whole family, taken selfie style, Marie in the middle, eyes scrunched shut as she laughed, Logan grinning broadly as he kissed her from one side, while little Matt mimicked his father's actions and kissed her from the other side. He turned the frame over, and opened it, hoping there would be some indication of when the photo was taken. Scrawled on the back was an inscription that simply stated, 'The day before my world ended'.
Matt couldn't help the tears that began to fall. "She's dead, isn't she?" he asked no one in particular.
"We don't know that for sure," Mr Summers replied tightly, "Let's keep looking."
Matt set the photographs back on the nightstand, he would come back for them. He noticed suddenly, on exiting the room just how many photos there were around the small cabin. Almost every surface held at least one photo, and every single one contained his mother, some alone, some with his father, some with Matt, a few of the whole family.
The next room was his parents’ room. It looked as you would expect, though everywhere you looked there were signs of a woman, it looked like everything of his mothers had literally been left where it had been. Almost everything of his father's though was gone, almost... Draped over the bed was a thick flannel shirt, gingerly picking it up Matt realised his dad must have been a pretty big guy; the shirt was huge. There were more photos in this room but the one that caught his attention was the frame that slipped out of the flannel shirt onto the bed as he picked it up. Turning it over he glanced at the photo, it took him a minute to realise what he was seeing, as he spotted his mother, sitting on this very bed, wearing this shirt, smiling coyly at whoever was holding the camera as buttons down to around her navel were being... undone?
"Could have done without seeing that one," he chuckled nervously, as he blushed and set the shirt back down on the bed, laying the picture back, face down, on top of it.
A call came from the main room then, pulling his attention back toward the living room. Jubilee had opened a cupboard, and was staring in shock at what it contained.
There inside the large, double door cupboard was a wall of information. Newspaper clippings, photographs. A makeshift desk had been set up in the closet, a computer sitting off to one side, pages and pages of handwritten notes, and a small leather-bound journal.
Starting with the newspaper clippings Matt read, through the crushing weight of grief, how a woman, his mother, had been killed in a devastating car accident. It was labelled a hit and run, her car had been pushed off a bridge, and the person who hit her fled, never to be found. Her car ended up at the bottom of a ravine, where it wasn't found until the thick plumes of black smoke had been spotted and fire crews had rushed to the scene to stop the fire spreading to the surrounding forest. The remains in the vehicle were charred beyond recognition, even DNA couldn't identify them, according to the hand written notes. It was determined to be Marie only because it was her car, Logan had seen her leaving home in it, and she had been seen leaving a store in town not long before the accident.
The notes and the photographs however quickly changed tone. At first his father had been trying to figure out who hit her, to track the bastard down and make him pay for what he took away from him, from Matt. Then new clues came to light, new questions were posed, photographs of people, casually dressed to the average observer, but all with the same note. 'MILITARY'. The boots, the glasses, a covert earpiece, all belying their status as something more than casual civilian.
Dr Grey was leafing through the journal. "He didn't believe she was dead... he was convinced it was a cover up and someone had taken her," her tone told Matt she thought his father had lost it, though in a sympathetic way of course. "He went looking for her, trying to find where 'they' were holding her," she finished sadly, gently closing the journal and handing it Matt, "You should read this, I think he would want you to, at the very least it would give you some understanding."
He took the book, turning it over in his hands as he regarded it contemplatively. "So, if he went looking for her, where is he now?" Matt asked simply. Maybe his father was right, maybe someone did have his mother, maybe they had gotten him too when he tried to rescue her. When no one answered him, he silently set about gathering all the clippings and notes, he wanted to read everything, he wanted to find out what happened, he wanted to see what his father had seen. Silently Candice helped him, it didn't take long, then he moved around the house, collecting photographs he wanted to take with him, he wouldn't take them all, just a few, to remember them by, the rest belonged here, with their memories.
Mr Summers found the deed to the property, and other 'official' documentation, including Matthew's birth certificate with his full legal name. He was no longer Matthew Smith, unknown abandoned child, his name was Matthew Logan Howlett, son of James Logan Howlett, whose occupation was listed as forestry, and Anna Marie Howlett nee. D'Ancanto, homemaker. Looking around the cabin he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, his mother sure had made this house a home, that fact was written into every surface.
Matt wandered around for a while longer, everyone leaving him in peace to say a proper goodbye this time. He let memories wash over him as he moved around the house; baking cookies with his mama, just to lick the spoon; watching his daddy clean fish; dusting with mama and accidentally knocking over a lit candle when he climbed on a chair she told him not to, it wasn't enough mama told him off but then daddy came and growled at him too; daddy showing him what happened when you weren't careful with candles; roasting marshmallows in the fireplace wrapped in thick woollen blankets; his daddy chasing a squirrel around the house after it fell down the chimney; watching from the window as deer wandered through the yard grazing.
He was glad he had found this, at least he had some answers now.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
'~~' denotes memory/flashback scene.