'At last the robber found,
Reveale'd in his blackest hour,
A desperate shallow husk,
Mimicking the greatness of those he degraded by his touch.'
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When they reached the camp the whole place erupted in joy, kids were flying around the car, every single one of them wanted to see Hank, as if he were their touchstone. His gentleness as they swamped his larger form was something to behold but Logan had other things on his mind.
He took Marie with him as they went across the camp ground, his feet digging into the earth and feeling the coolness of the ground. This was home, this land he knew and he knew that a group this size wouldn't be alone for long. Heading for the main tent he'd instructed Hank to take Xavier out of the van and get him hidden, if there was a reckoning to be done he no doubt would have to pass it through Ro'.
Pushing through the tent flaps, he was met by the sight of Ro', Emma, Peiter and Kitty. They were all pouring over maps of the area, it was Peiter who noticed them first. "Tovarisch!" He moved quickly around the table to hold Logan in a firm hug, making everyone there notice Marie. She hung back a little as people welcomed them to the camp but Emma had a thin line drawn over her face as she went out to see who had come in with them. When she saw Jubilee she turned back and asked some of the younger members to leave the tent. When they'd left she turned to Logan who was still getting hugs from Kitty, her face red and streaked with tears.
"So you made it then? How did you get away?" Logan let Kitty go back into the arms of her boyfriend but she didn't stay there long. She went to embrace Marie in a huge cuddle, mindful of her skin she held onto the parts of her she could and cried openly. Her whispering voice cutting through the still air as she asked the same question of Marie.
Logan watched as Marie gently let herself be led into a small corner where there were chairs. She dropped into one with Kitty still holding her arm as if she wasn't really there. When he turned back to see Emma she looked tired, worn, frightened and relieved.
"Anyone would think you were glad to see me." His tone wasn't lost on Emma and her smile told him she welcomed his input to their situation.
"We need all the help we can get 'Logan'," she used his name as if she wasn't used to giving a human name to him. It made his knuckles itch and his temper was frayed as it was. A warning growl came out of him and Ro' interceded.
"Logan, is Xavier still alive?"
"Yeah, for now." He wiped a tired hand down his face and looked over at where Marie was watching his every move with the rest of them. They'd kept Xavier alive so far but now they were semi-safe something had to be done about him. He would be easy to track if they had a telepath on the army's side.
Peiter appeared at Logan's side with a bucket of coffee, the smell alone would've stripped paint but he took it gratefully. His arm went out for Marie and she quickly filled the gap he'd made for her. This was respite, a break from running but it wouldn't last and they knew it. Time to re-enforce some boundaries and Logan turned his gaze to Ro'.
"How many kids made it out here?"
"All of them Logan, we didn't leave any behind." Logan nodded and looked at Peiter, raising his mug to Pete and congratulating him. Turning back to Ro' he stared through her, his voice deep but the ice in it enough to stop Ro's blood.
"So, your tellin' me you've got nearly a hundred and fifty kids, all of em who are listed as dead to the rest of the world, an you don't think someones gonna come lookin' for em?" Logan moved his gaze to Emma who was ready for his attack. "You think this is a safe place?"
Emma shifted off her seat and walked toward Logan and Marie her hand giving him a piece of paper which Marie took from her. On it they both read the different ports where the kids would be leaving from for different countries. There had been changes and the kids from Xaviers had been added to the list.
"You've no worries 'Logan', the kids are going to be moved safely through the country. Dropped off in several different states then moved later, theres enough of a underground to get twice the amount we have here out. But that's not our first piece on the agenda." Putting the paper down he felt Marie's hand tighten in his and her voice ring out across the empty space. The words dropping like lead weights in a church, loud and disturbing to all who heard it.
"Xavier." Every eye went to Marie and she gripped Logan's body to her own, "He's gotta pay for this, it's his fault, he brought this on us all."
Ro' was about to speak when Logan just growled at her, the weather witch quickly dropped her eyes to the floor and took a back seat. Emma answered instead, "You're right, he's going to have to answer for this situation but how do we do it? We don't have the facility to question him safely, and what do we do afterwards? Who's going to make the judgement call on him? Are we really going to kill him?"
Hank chose that moment to enter with Jubilee, their faces tired and their bodies showing the stress that was finally able to fall from their tired bones.
"There is a way."
Everyone turned to see Hank holding up Jubilee next to his side, her arm locked around his middle. "We hold a senate, an old court, we keep him lucid enough to answer the charges against him. Afterward I'm sure there won't be any problems about who will be executioner." Hank's eyes were locked onto Logan's own and Logan just inclined his head a little, agreeing with Hanks own suggestion.
Emma noticed the air as it grew thick with untold anger and violence. This needed to be done as soon as possible, otherwise it would tear the entire place apart.
"Okay, you have it, there's a clearing two miles south, we'll use that. There's enough older kids here to look after the rest, I want every other adult over 18 to be there. I won't have it said we killed him in the dark or in private, if death is what everyone votes on, then he dies. Simple as that, we can't leave him alive, he'll only fall into the hands that have been using him for years. Whatever the outcome of the vote, he'll be dead before the end of tomorrow."
The sense of relief that washed over Emma from those words almost made her sob, the emotions from Kitty were strong but from Marie they were almsot off the scale. She wanted him dead, not for herself, but for Logan. That Xavier had known about him, about his mutation before the military had gotten to him. Had *allowed* it to happen to Logan, to take away everything he'd been, everything he'd had. It spoke of a monster, not a man, someone who believed mutants were tools to be used, just like she'd been. A new tool to use and she'd broken free, thing was she'd brought everything down with her. It'd be over with Xaviers death, one part of it anyway, and it was this anticpation Emma was feeling from everyone.
"Six o'clock everyone." Emma looked to Hank and waved to a smallish woman by the tent flaps.
"Francis here can help you get his dosing right, we want him lucid but not mentally useful." Hank nodded to the smaller woman and they left the tent together leaving Jubilee looking lost and alone. Marie held out a hand to her friend who quickly took the bare skin in her grip and let herself be held.
Kitty was about to speak when Peiter shushed her, whispering 'Not now Katya' in her ear. As the rest of the plans were outlined that afternoon, Logan realised that the rest of them had some choices to make, him and Marie could live out here indefinately if they needed to. But the rest of them? He doubted if they'd last the winter alone, looking at Marie who was comforting her friend. Jubilee who'd seemed so together, was now falling apart.
As soon as the plans were laid out, he sent the two of them away to get some rest. They needed to be clear for the evening, Xavier was going to be on trial and he needed them to be clear about what they were doing. Because when he finished the job there wouldn't be anything left of Xavier to put back together. It'd be public, it'd be messy and he wanted everyone to *see* it, no black bags here, no rooms where they were seperated from the death. They'd see, smell and hear the death they wanted, to remember it for all time, to tell it to the kids who were being hunted that the man who'd sent them after them was dead. He'd paid for his crime and it wasn't an easy death, it had been hard, painful and messy. It was what they deserved, all of them.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Xavier answers for his treachery at last and we find out what they can do about their lives from here.