The Calming Storm (Part Two)
"Home?" Ororo asked, confused. She looked up at Hank - her _expression, one of silent questioning. Dr. McCoy was staring at Logan with a seriously concerned look on his face, then he glanced at her and shook his head slowly. He was not at all pleased with Logan’s mental state. Ororo turned back to Logan, hoping to sort this out.
"Logan, I’m not sure I understand. They want you to think you are home? You are home," she told him.
"No, no, no," he shook his head. "No, no I’m not. You can’t fool me… not any more." Ororo could tell that Logan really didn’t believe that he was home and he didn’t seem to believe that she was who she was. What had they done to him?
"Logan, please, no one is trying to fool you. I am sure… that they hurt you in that place... but you’re safe now. We've brought you home." As she spoke, Logan was shaking his head. He seemed determined not to listen to what she was saying. He kept his eyes shut the entire time, refusing to look at her.
"Tell me… please," Ororo asked, "what did they do to you?" Logan shook his head, refusing to tell her. "Why won’t you talk to me?" she asked him. He turned his head toward her and she watched his face screw up into an almost painful grimace, as if he really didn’t want to acknowledge the thoughts that were in his head. He made a couple of attempts to say something, but no words came out. Whatever it was he needed to say was obviously very painful for him. Ororo waited patiently, trying not to rush him. Hank remained silent behind her as he studied Logan’s behavior.
A few minutes went by and Logan’s _expression relaxed and he let out a sigh. Ororo wondered if he had forgotten her question or that she was even still there. She reached out and placed her hand as gently as she could on his arm just above the restraint. The feel of her hand startled him and Logan flinched away from her as best he could. In turn, his reaction made Ororo jump and she reflexively pulled away from him.
"Don’t touch me!!" Logan yelled at her. He tried to pull his arms in away from her, twisting them in the wrist restraints. Ororo watched his hands closely as they swelled and turned purple under the backward pressure he was causing against the leather restraint.
"Logan, please stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I won’t touch you. Please." But even as she spoke, Ororo couldn’t keep herself from reaching toward him. She stopped herself short of actually touching him though. He finally stopped pulling at the restraints and Ororo put her hands over her face and took a deep breath, to calm herself and get her own thoughts under control.
"Logan, please talk to me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"No, go away," he replied.
"Why?" Ororo asked. "Don’t you trust me?" Logan shook his head to indicate no and Ororo thought her heart would break. "Why don’t you trust me? I am your friend."
"No," he said with a shake of his head.
"I have always been your friend. Don’t you know me? I’m Ororo. I’m Storm."
"No."
"Yes! Why won’t you believe me? You have always trusted me, Logan. Why not now?" she asked.
"Because! You… do… not… exist!!" he shouted.
"I do exist, Logan. I’m right here," she told him. "You are home... with the X-Men. We are your friends. We are not going to hurt you." Logan just shook his head at her as she spoke. "We went to the compound and rescued you. You are free. You are safe."
"NO!" he shouted at her and she flinched in surprise. "Don’t gimme that shit! Who d’ya think yer fuckin’ with?!" His unexpected rage surprised her and Storm stared at him silently. "You do not exist! Not here! Not anywhere! You are a figment of someone’s imagination!" he yelled at her.
"That is not true. I do exist. We all exist, Logan…" She tried to explain, but Logan continued to rant.
"They implanted the image of you in my head! To make me think I had friends! People who cared about me!"
"We do care about you…"
"No! You’re not real! Don’t ya’ get it!? You don’t exist! My life with you… doesn’t exist! I am not an X-Man! I am government property! I have never left this place! I never will! They made you up! To placate me, to keep me ‘happy’ when they weren’t using me!"
"That’s not true. They’ve confused you, Logan. They want you to believe that."
"Well it worked! So get the hell away from me! I’m not talking to you!" His anger flaring, Logan tried to stand up in haste and was wrenched backward by the strap he had secured around his neck. He fell unbalanced against the wall, unable to use his hands and feet to steady himself. His head and shoulders slammed the wall and Ororo gasped in surprise. Her automatic reaction was to grab onto his wrists to pull him back up, as she watched him being hanged only inches off the floor.
"Don’t touch me! Get the fuck off me!" he screamed at her, despite being strangled.
Hank had seen Ororo’s intentions to grab hold of Wolverine and was moving toward her even before she made contact. He pulled her away at the very moment Logan started shouting at her to leave him alone. She was pulled clear just as Logan started thrashing violently against the restraints in his attempts to throw her off. In his panic, he tried to kick out at her but was unable to straighten his legs. His fear spiked to terror as he tried to get his feet back under him with little success. He began throwing himself back and forth against the straps - bucking and twisting his back, growling like a rabid animal. Ororo was positive that if it weren’t for the adamantium being unbreakable he would’ve snapped his back in two.
She fought against McCoy as he dragged her out of the storage closet and across the infirmary floor toward the doors leading out of the lab, removing her from Wolverine’s line of sight. Ororo was still shouting to Logan, trying to reason with him in an attempt to calm him down… until he disappeared from view. She immediately began to scold Hank for his interference, ordering him to release her. They could hear Wolverine growling viciously inside the small, dark room - as he continued to fight off enemies that were never there.
"Henry! Release me, at once!" she ordered one last time, as they reached the exit. Hank removed his arm from around her waist, but quickly grabbed onto her elbow as she turned away from him.
"Ro, do not go back in there!"
Ororo spun around in anger. "He needs me!" she yelled at him. "I won’t leave him alone! He’s terrified!"
"He’s psychotic!" McCoy shouted back.
"Don’t say that! He’s not crazy… he’s just scared!"
"Ro… he’s delusional. He doesn’t even know who we are," McCoy explained hastily, trying to keep his voice calm.
"He’s not delusional. He’s confused."
"And extremely violent… we can’t do this alone," he told her in hushed urgency. "We need the whole team in on this."
"No," she hissed at him. "He’s scared…and he’s cornered. He feels trapped. We’ll only make matters worse if we surround him with a dozen people," she told him.
"What do you suggest? We leave him in there?" McCoy asked.
"Of course not."
"He put himself in there…" Hank reminded her, "he’s not going to come out voluntarily...especially if he thinks we’re the enemy." Ororo stared at him - listening closely - knowing exactly what he was going to say and not wanting to hear it. "We have to go in… and get him out."
They stared at one another, contemplating what that meant exactly. Ororo closed her eyes, not wanting to think about what that was going to entail. Hoping… praying…it won’t be as bad as she feared it was going to be. Hank leaned toward her so he could speak softly. "We need the others. We’re going to need their help."
"Let me try to talk to him…"
"You just did that. Look how far it got us."
"So? We shouldn’t try to talk to him? Just move him around bodily, against his will, without his understanding? Like they did?"
"No. Of course not," Hank replied. "But we can’t help him like this. We need to get him out of there, out of that… ‘reality’… he’s built for himself." Hank waited for her to reply. He knew that Ororo's personal feelings toward Logan were getting in the way of her rational thinking. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying to shut out the sounds of Logan’s struggles in the other room. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
Ororo nodded and Hank gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. A few moments later they were surrounded by silence, as Logan quieted down – obviously regaining control over his situation. Ororo’s eyes opened wide looking at Hank with something akin to hope. Hank shook his head at her dispelling her hopes.
"Listen," he whispered and Ororo did as she was told, straining to hear through the sudden silence. She could hear Wolverine’s raspy, panting breaths from across the room. He had quieted, but he was still highly agitated and, she had no doubt, extremely dangerous.
"Let’s get him out of there," she whispered to Hank, staring across the room at the open door of Logan’s ‘cell’. Hank nodded, thankful that she was being reasonable again.
"I’m going to go upstairs and explain the situation to the others," he told her.
"I’ll wait hereh" she answered.
"Please do not go back in there while I’m gone. Promise me."
Ororo thought about it a moment, then nodded. "I promise."
She could feel Hank’s eyes on her. He didn’t believe her. So she moved away and took a seat in the chair beside his desk. Ororo closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself. She could feel Hank still watching her, so she opened her eyes and gave him a ‘what are you waiting for’ look. McCoy pursed his lips tightly, then nodded and left the room.
TBC in The Calming Storm, pt 3
