Disclaimer: Marvel characters do not belong to me.
Dear reader, I give you, chapter three...
Morning. No, later. Sun streamed in through the french doors casting a shadow across the bed that Logan lay in. He opened his eyes, shut them again immediately after. He'd managed to sprawl himself out across the purple bed sheets, stomach down, face buried in a pillow. A fluffy pillow. He hated fluffy pillows, but the scent of these would make them an exception. The sound of running water, shower water. His eyes snapped open and he looked around the room, Ororo's room. He sat up. The plants resting on the long shelving units on the walls of the room had just been watered, fine mist still hung over them. His ears picked up the laughter of students down below on the mansion grounds, a bit of foot traffic a floor below.
Ororo walked out of the bathroom, lazily drying her long locks with a towel and comfortable in her naked beauty. “So you finally decided to wake.” She smiled, heading to her dressing table. “I'm quite amazed you slept through my arrival, but I thought it might be best.” Words escaped him as he watched her slowly comb through her hair, the gentle curve of her back glistening with beads of water. “You disapproved of my departure in Paris and now you don't seem too ecstatic about my return.” She said to his reflection in the mirror. “Although you made sure to use my bedroom while I was away. Just remember, this is no hotel, you'll be doing the next laundry.” A mocking brow lifted. Logan remained silent, motionless. “Logan, what is the matter?”
By the time she'd turned, he was behind her, and brought her into a kiss. It was soft, gentle, but he held her so tightly she had to flex to signal for her release. “'Ro.” He held her head between his hands, looking into her eyes. Searching. Though for what, he did not know. He pulled her in again, smelling her wet hair, nuzzling into her neck and letting his hands move over her. “I...” Her lips were still pink from the kiss; he kissed her again.
“Logan.” Never had she seen him so lost. A man lost, searching for answers to questions she did not know. Her first impulse had been to joke about the amount of affection she had received “Too little too late.” was the line she'd thought to give him, but now she knew he was serious. Something was wrong. She hugged him, as tightly as he had her, or as near to it as she could come. “Logan, what's wrong?”
“I... I don't know.” He whispered. “I don't know.”
Professor Xavier observed the man in front of him. Until earlier, he was unaware that Logan had come home. Ororo had mentioned it upon her own return, asking if he was happy to have Logan back. There had been a bit of confusion as to why he had not announced himself, but it had been decided that Logan tended to have his own way of going about things, and perhaps a big welcoming was not what he desired. The clock ticked loudly in his office as he thought on all he had been told by both Logan and Ororo.
The pleasantries had been quickly dispensed with by the Wolverine before he'd gone straight into the strange experience he'd had. A homecoming quite different to the present one. This could quite easily have been dismissed as a dream, if not for Logan's senses. Xavier knew about Logan's dreams, had helped him through some of them, but after having dipped into his mind and extracted the events just passed, he was aware that this was more than a dream. He'd explained to the pair, that the sensation of dreams and memory were perceived as two separate and distinct forces by him. There was no mistaking the facts, Logan's mind had revealed a recent memory. He looked to Ororo, finding himself unable to imagine such intense rage directed at a man she'd spent the better part of a year searching to find.
“I honestly don't know, Logan.” He said finally.
Logan sighed, pursing his lips. “I gotta say Chuck, that's the one line I was prayin' you wouldn't spit out.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I ain't a prayin' man.”
“Henry needs to have a look at you. Some two years in that kind of confinement would have lethal effects on anyone else, but maybe, it has but left a mark with you.”
“I ain't crazy.” Logan said quickly.
Professor Xavier nodded. “I am not disputing that, but maybe there is more at play here, and until we do further testing, we will not know. I believe Henry is in his lab at the moment, I'm sure he won't mind performing the medical exam now.” With that, Logan stood. “Logan, I am sorry for your suffering, but I cannot tell you how glad I am to have you back with us.” A warm smile crossed Xavier's face as he extended his hand.
“Thanks, Chuck.” He responded. “You comin' darlin'?” Logan asked Ororo, who'd been sitting to the lounge on his right.
“I must report my findings of my mission to the professor.” She stood as he did and kissed him goodbye. “We'll find answers Logan.” He kissed her again and left, making his way to the lower levels. Ororo turned to the professor, her face displaying the worry she'd masked well earlier. “Professor...”
“Truly, Ororo, I don't know.” He said, assuring her that he was not hiding anything.
Logan had greeted a few familiar faces on the way down, Betsy, Bobby, even Peter. It seemed by now everyone knew the circumstances of his disappearance, and although he could see that they wanted to ask him, no one did. He was glad to receive the required 'welcome homes'. His self-imposed exiles and hiatus' from the team were different, they were by his choice and in far better settings. His recent capture had made him realize how much he enjoyed the buzz of life in the walls of the Xavier Institute. It used to symbolize a kind of imprisonment, now it symbolized his freedom. Hank's welcome had been a great one, immediately embracing his friend in a bear hug and lifting him from the ground. Behind black framed spectacles and inundated with notes and papers, the blue man had smiled from ear to ear when Logan had come through the door.
“No interruption at all, Logan. These papers have been here for some time, they can wait a little longer.” He said, patting Logan on the back as he led him out and into the infirmary.
Logan lay back on the infirmary bed, wearing only his boxer briefs. “This gonna take long?” He wanted answers, but that didn't stop him from still hating the hospital-like setting.
“Not with these new instruments, no.” Henry McCoy looked like a kid in a candy store as he switched on the device in his hand, entering some information into it. “We'll have you out of here in no time old friend. Just lie back and relax.”
Logan looked up at the white ceiling and moved, or rather, tried to. His forearms and hands were encased inside what could only be some kind of fortified shackles. His lower legs and feet received the same treatment. He looked to the left and right of him, he was still in the infirmary. It was dark, emergency lights on, and his own bed light. Looking down, he saw the pensive face of Charles Xavier, fingertips touching, elbows rested on his Shi'ar modified chair. This was the Charles Xavier he remembered seeing on the refrigerator door. Things had changed again. He put his head back down.
“Hey Chuck.”
“Logan.” Charles said simply. “I'm glad you're still with us.”
“Depends what ya mean by that.” Logan muttered. His skin was healing well, the last he could remember of this, setting, was being burnt alive by one rather fucked off Ororo Munroe. “What happened out there?”
“I believe you almost died. I had to use an extremely powerful telepathic attack to disable Storm. We brought you here.” The professor closed his eyes.
“Logan, I need for you to explain yourself to me. It's been almost two years that no one has seen or heard from you, since the, incident, that transpired between you and Ororo and frankly many would be more comfortable to have you elsewhere. Why have you returned?”
Logan shook his head, still unable to piece together what was happening.
“Tha' wasn't me. I didn't... I'd die before I'd let somethin' like that happen ta 'Ro. I'd kill myself before even thinkin' about doing it.”
“Logan...”
“It's the truth goddamnit!” He growled, trying to free himself of his shackles, to no avail. “Something's happening t' me. I don't know what, an' neither do you.” He said. “Not you you, but... never mind.” Logan looked down again, the professor trying to make sense of what he'd said. “Go on, Chuck, look inside my noodle. If what ya said is true, then you should be able to tell that I'm not lying. You can tell what my thoughts are, what my dreams are, and what my memories are. You'll know if I'm bullshittin' ya.”
Xavier moved to his side, puzzled at his knowledge of his ability. He didn't recall having ever told him. “I will only skim the surface to find what I need. You have my word.”
“Ya can have a field day up there Chuck.”
Logan didn't like telepathy, something about being able to see into someone's mind, control it, it just didn't sit right. But it had it's use, since in a world where most words were lies and most people deceptive, it worked to draw the line between true and false. Xavier lived the past 21 months of Logan's life through Logan's eyes in little more than an instant. Even still, Logan began to tell the story. He worked his way through it, just as he had before. He could see the face of doubt, turn into one of understanding, of thought, and finally of confusion. “Henry drove back from the city to perform your medical examination and found nothing out of the ordinary.” Xavier said. He entered a code to the shackle on Logan's arm, releasing all four simultaneously. “I honestly don't know, Logan.”
“I thought ya might say that.” Logan let out. He rolled his joints, relishing their freedom.
“Please, remain here until this evening. I would like some time to prepare everyone and to inform them of the situation, in particular Ororo.” Xavier said. “You must understand Logan, that while life essentially came to a halt for you, we continued on. Many things have happened here and regardless of whatever is transpiring at present, you are still known as the man who tore this family apart and sowed seeds of distrust so deep, I believe the institute is still poisoned from it.” He lay a hand on his shoulder. “Rest, and I will return later.”
The X-men sat silently in the war room, processing the information that Professor Xavier had given them all. Jean and Scott sat much the same - in disbelief. Hank stood against the wall, arms crossed, Warren sat observing his clasped hands. Rogue was biting her lip, deep in thought as Kurt's tale whipped casually beside her. When Ororo had been found bloodied on the danger room floor by Warren all that time ago, it was more than obvious that it was no program error. He'd passed Logan in the lower levels just prior to that, and gotten a usual Logan greeting. Not a hint of anything out of the ordinary. After they'd realised what had happened, there was not a trace of the wild man. Not that he'd be one to pack more than a toothbrush, if that, but it seemed as though Logan had just strolled out of the mansion never to return, taking nothing with him. Trust had become an issue for everyone after that. That someone so loyal and inherently good, despite his many, many flaws, would do something so heinous to a woman who many believed, he loved and respected above all others, was something even the professor failed to surmise.
Doors slid open, and Logan entered. The entire team jumped, subconsciously moving in preparation to defend, or attack, yet halting at the mental order to stand down that they all received from Xavier. A ghost, or a devil, might've triggered the same response.
“Yeah, I know. Public enemy number one.” He said.
“I called the team together,” The professor began, “to explain the situation, and to reintroduce you, Logan.”
“Reintroduce him! Professor, you can't be serious!” Scott shouted, getting to his feet.
“All of you. Whatever the transgressions of, that Logan, he cannot be blamed.” Xavier said, gesturing to Logan. “I can tell you all, with no doubt or uncertainty, that this man is the Logan that we hated,” He looked to Scott, “or loved,” then to Jean, “ for all those years. He is not the intruder who shook this family.”
Warren stood also. “Charles, what if this is a trick, some kind of shapeshifter? You can't just give him free reign.”
The professor looked at him with an expression of bewilderment. “My abilities, Warren; which I may not use to such a display as yours, but which, may I remind you, have no mutant equal, have made sure to eliminate any possibility of that.” He now surveyed the room. “Over and above that however, do you truly believe I would allow that? After all that we have suffered? You are all the closest thing I have to sons and daughters and...” A brief moment hit him, one filled with pain, “and I will not fail you, as I once did. Consider it a father's word.”
The doors slid open again. Ororo did not enter. Everyone felt the tension that hit the room like a ten ton of bricks. Logan could see her contemplating to leave or to remain. “'Ro...”
She raised her hand to silence him. “Please, never call me that. Never again.” It took some time, but, “Logan, could you please come with me. I wish to speak with you in private.” He followed her without question as she led him to the elevator. Again, her hand raised as he attempted to join her in the lift. “I would prefer if we rode separately. I will wait for you on the ground floor.” He did as he was told, hating that he had to act like a guilty party, even though the only thing he was guilty of was getting himself imprisoned. Anything might set her off, any word or move. And as unreal as everything in his life was at that point, he understood that it had been equally real, too real, for Ororo. The only person he wanted to be with, to talk to, was her; as though somehow she was the key to unlocking this. He arrived at the ground floor, following her again as she subtly gestured outside. They passed a small group in the lounge room, both ignoring the instant silence as they did. Through the kitchen they went, and out to the garden in front of her greenhouse, alone, yet still in view.
“I'm sorry, fer what I didn't do.” He said, softly. Watching her - a gaunt frame when to his mind, he'd held her full and curved body only hours earlier. A fuzz of white hair, creating a sort of halo effect. She'd lost none of her beauty, yet this was a beauty bathed in sadness.
“The professor told me about your exchange.” She paced now, arms folded, a complete opposite to the night before. “He told me.” More to herself. She turned then to look at him. She regarded him in silence, and seconds became minutes.
Logan wondered if she was waiting for something. Waiting for him to Jekyll and Hyde before her eyes? Waiting for him to explain it all? Well, neither would happen. “You saved me, Windrider.” He started. “In that world, in that reality, ya saved me. You were the only one who came fer me. Ya felt it in your gut, that I was in trouble, an' ya came fer me. I mean I know that you ain't one fer small spaces, and I am puttin' that mildly... but neither am I.” He shot her a half-hearted side grin. “Crazy, eh? See, while shit was goin' down here, someone hogtied me and dragged me off t' Cairo. Fuck knows why... And while you've been workin' through whatever that scumbag did to ya, I spent the same amount o' time locked up in a hole so deep an' dark that I can't even believe ya found me. Almost two years in the dark. If you'd have listened t' everybody else an' not searched, not listened t' yer instincts... I'd have spent the long years o' my life a livin' corpse, in a concrete coffin.”
Her eyes betrayed her. “Except I didn't search. I told Charles not to use Cerebro!” She pushed him hard. “I made Remy swear not to hunt you down!” Again. The sky darkened, clouds forming overhead. “What could we have done?”
“That wasn't me.”
“Arrested you?” She pushed him harder, using her control over the winds to add force. “Taken you to the authorities?”
“That wasn't me, darlin'.”
“No court would try you, no prison could hold you.” Rain fell from above. “Non-mutants don't want us in their world. They could care less what happens to our kind.”
He grabbed her wrists as she pushed again. “When I woke up this mornin' I was lyin' in yer bed, breathin' in yer scent. I watched ya dry your hair,” He released her wrist and stroked her head with his free hand, “I heard ya laugh, felt ya against me. In that world I'm a hero, in this one, your demon. But in both worlds, you're only one thing t' me.”
“Let go of me!” She cried... and even under cover of rain... she cried.
“I can't!” He shouted, freeing her wrists and pulling her to him. One arm encircling her waist, the other on the back of her neck. He didn't know what or who was real anymore. His senses had once been his only true way of knowing, and now even they were questionable. Thunder sounded as she screamed out, fists listlessly hitting his back.
Ororo felt her strength leaving her. She was tired, so tired. Long years had taken the fight from her. Time spent recovering, in more ways than one. First came denial; a mutant of her abilities, but more so a woman such as herself, would not or should not have let such a thing happen to her. Did that mean that she'd wanted it? Had a part of her wanted the violation that she'd received? Even as the professor counseled her, prompted her to share her thoughts and emotions, she had not spoken of that. She and Logan had shared intimate moments in the months before, she once believed something more might come of it. She had retreated, more than her calm self, now an empty shell of what once was. To know that Logan, her Logan, had confessed to the professor that he would take his own life before committing such a crime against her. She'd thought that she would be forever repulsed by his touch, his face, even the mention of his name.
“Let go of me!” She tried to shout between her sobs, her knees buckling. The Wolverine. He was back, and though this might've been her weakest moment; if only for now, she felt safe with him in it. Logan guided her down, still wrapped around her. And there they were, a tangle of limbs, soaked with rain; the only figures caught in the storm. She repeated her words, though they were now little more than a whisper. “Let go of me.”
“ I can't.”
To be continued I believe.
