Chapter One
Logan stood surveying the sodden pathetic looking creature that stood in front of him, dripping a puddle on the mat that sat on the front doorstep.
"So ya decided to come after all?" Logan grunted, opening the door wider and stepping to one side, allowing the disheveled man to step in through the door.
"Ja." The man just stood there, a small duffel bag over one shoulder, looking back at Logan as he shut the large oak door.
He sure looked a mess…his bleached white hair was plastered to his head, exposing the dark roots at the base. One eye was still swollen, though it looked like whatever misfortune had struck him had probably happened a couple of days previously. His face bore numerous scabbed over abrasions, and a large cut ran up the side of one cheekbone. It had been taped up at some point, but now it was dirty and angry looking, the tatters of the tape sagging dispiritedly from his fur. Gone too was the man's bravado, his smugness…he looked defeated in both body and spirit. It was quite the change from when he had last seen him.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Six months previously….
"This is the place?"
Ororo and Logan stood on the street side by side. She was dressed smartly in a pair of dark jeans topped with a white cashmere top, her regal face partly in shadows and partly lit by the street lamps as she surveyed the exterior.
"Yep." Logan snuffed his cigar under one boot, tugging his beaten up hat down across his brow. He was dressed in his usual casual wear; faded jeans and a white t-shirt topped with a plaid flannel jacket.
They both could hear the predicable loud thumps of bass played beyond the decibel level that was considered safe for human eardrums pumping from the dark building. A bright neon sign blinked off and on, illuminating the front of the building with a flickering pink light. As they approached the door a woman stepped in front of them. She was about Logan's height, the same barrel chest, and her sandy brown hair cut in a mullet. A black t-shirt fitted tightly across her large bosom and proclaimed "My Shitty attitude is none of your Fucking business" in large bold white letters. A couple of giggling women waved to her as they slipped past and through the heavy doors.
"What do you want?" She asked, stepping slightly into their path, crossing her arms over her chest, nodding her head towards them.
"We have business with someone here." Logan replied, tipping his hat up with a flick of his fingers to take a better look at the woman. She looked like the type that you just didn't screw with - like she'd rip a piece off of you and use it like a toothpick. "Guy named 'Toy'."
"Oh." She nodded and stood to the side at that. "He's in the back."
Logan swung the heavy metal door open, and ushered 'Ro in front of him, following her down the stairwell. "What the hell kind of a name is 'Toy' anyway?" Logan muttered over to 'Ro.
"The professor said that it was short for something in German." She paused at the bottom of the stairs looking into the dark room, lit only by the sharp stabs of colored lights and by the twinkle of a mirrored ball, spinning dizzily in circles from the ceiling of the dance floor. Several couples were madly gyrating to the music.
"Oh." Ororo raised her brows at the realization that the couple nearest to them that were swaying to the music, eyes locked on one another, were both men. "Well that explains why the bouncer looked so oddly at a man and a woman coming in together." Her eyes scanned the dim recesses of the room. "Did Charles describe who we are looking for?"
"Nah." Logan snorted at the pop music blaring away. "He said we couldn't miss him though. C'mon." He grasped 'Ro by her upper arm, guiding her through the crowed room towards the bar at one end.
Once they reached it Logan tapped the counter "Jack. Make it neat." He waited as the bartender fetched him his drink and he pulled out a bill to pay for it. When the young man returned he caught his attention again. "Where's Toy?" The bartender pointed towards a group of tables clustered in the furthest corner of the room, positioned slightly above the dance floor on a raised partitioned off area.
Ororo turned at that, leading the way back through the crowd, unwilling to trail like a piece of flotsam in Logan's wake this time. The filed their way past the assorted partiers, sidestepping slopped drinks and careless feet.
"What the fuck!" Logan jumped forward slightly, nudging Ororo forward into a couple that she was trying to circle. He shot a dirty glare over his shoulder at the circle of men behind him.
Ororo apologized to the people at then flashed a quizzical look at him. "What did you do that for?" she leaned into him for support against the milling crowd.
Logan's jaw tightened so hard that his teeth creaked. "Nothin'."
"So you propelled me into a group of strangers on a lark?" She asked sarcastically, fixing him with a no-nonsense stare.
"Someone pinched my ass." He gave 'Ro a dirty look when she broke into a fit of giggles.
They finally managed to get up the steps of the raised area, relieved at the somewhat diminished volume of the music and thinned crowd. There were a few people scattered around in small clusters at most of the tables, but there was one table at the back with a man who immediately caught their eye.
"Well, I think we've found him." Ororo said, taking the lead again to weave around the chairs, heading towards the most obvious mutant in the room.
He was a dark blue from head to toe, his hair cropped close to his head, pulled into thickly gelled spikes atop his head. The color of it contrasted sharply with his body, being obviously artificially processed to a stark white. A series of piercings glittered from various places on his face, Logan counting easily a dozen in his ears, eyebrow and nose. And his tail…Logan amended, just noticing the unusual appendage that lazily undulated over the man's head, its spaded tip sporting three rings of gold. It made his wonder if there were…other places that the man had pierced.
Ororo reached the table first. It was hard to see his face as it almost faded into the semi-darkness of the room, but she would guess that he was in his early twenties. He was dressed in an expensive looking white shirt that was left half un-buttoned, exposing a length of his toned chest. "Are you Toy?"
The man looked up at her, taking his time to run his eyes over her well kept appearance, obviously trying to judge whether she was worth talking to. He then took in Logan's rougher exterior and nodded to him.
"Ja" He gestured to the chairs across from where he was seated. "So what can I do for you? What's your game…caps, blow, x, tabs…what?" At their befuddled looks he narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you two aren't cops are you?"
Ororo slid Logan a look that spoke volumes. Snorting in agreement, Logan returned the look, before turning his gaze to the man. "Naw, we ain't cops. We've come here to ask you if you'd like to join us." Ro rolled her eyes at his cut-to-the-chase style, but with his enhanced hearing, she knew that he wasn't going to sit in this loud god-damned place for a minute longer than he had to.
"Join you? My dear man, I am afraid I don't understand what you mean." Toy plucked a simple gold case from the table, swinging open its hinged lid he slid a cigarette from its depths, using a matching lighter to flame it alight. He inhaled the smoke deeply, before blowing it out through pursed lips.
"You are some sort of 'businessmen' I assume." He inquired in his thick German accent, before shaking his head back and forth at them. "I've already got my choice of associates, I am afraid."
Ororo looked a little thin lipped. "We aren't here for that kind of business." She shot a look at Logan, to which he shrugged, leaving her to finish what she started. He listened as she took a deep breath before launching into the 'standard recruitment speech' as he liked to call it. "We are mutants, like you, who fight those who would set humans and mutants against one another. We believe in a society where human and mutant can co-exist harmoniously together. Also, we run a school where mutant children can be raised free of persecution, to be taught how to control and manage their powers."
Toy looked at her for a minute, before beginning to laugh, smoke puffing out of his nose with the chuckles. "Did you practice that one in front of the mirror, my dear? Or do you peddle it to so many people that its now second nature for you?" His gaze narrowed. "How did you find out about me? And what is it about me that deserves your…attention?"
"Our leader, professor Xavier, heard of you and asked us to approach you. We routinely offer succor to mutants, like yourself."
The man just sat quietly for a minute, smoking elegantly with his two fingered hand, stopping to tap thoughtfully at a half full glass of amber liquid that was set in front of him. "Ah." He said, taking one leisurely sip. "What's in it for me?"
Ororo's eyes widened at Toy's brashness. "Professor Xavier sent us here to approach you, because he thought that you may be in need of some…" she paused for a moment, seeking for a word "…friends."
"Ah, but you see, I have friends here." Toy caught the eye of a nearby man, gesturing him over. "Like Leon here." The newcomer bathed them in an unnaturally wide smile, blinking his yellowish green slit cat's eyes at them. Leon then plunked himself down in Toy's lap, wrapping an arm around his neck before scooping up the glass to down what remained of Toy's drink in a gulp. "So I have not been in the market for new ones."
"Aren't you concerned at all about the events that surround you? People like us…and Leon." Ororo leaned partly across the table. "It doesn't worry you that people like us are being hunted down and killed just for being different?"
The white haired man just threw his head back and laughed at that. "People like us? You see, there are people like us..." He waved one fine boned hand to note the four people at the table. "…and then there are people like us!" Spreading his arms he gestured to encompass the whole bar. He studied them for a minute, taking another slow drag off his cigarette. "However I haven't been approached by the fag brigade, so I suppose I can't count them." Exhaling, he stubbed the cigarette briskly out in the ceramic dish that sat on the table. "But if they do show up, my answer will be the same as it is to you. I can take care of myself just fine. Go find some other lost children to join your cause – they are the ones that really need your protection."
Ororo sat stunned for a minute before uttering a faint. "What!" Logan rested one large hand on her arm, causing her to look towards him. "He's made up his mind, let's go." She looked ready to argue for a minute, but then had pushed her chair back, gracefully rising to her feet.
"If ya ever change your mind…" Logan flicked a plain white business card at the man, and turned on his heel, following Ororo out of the bar.
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"C'mon" Logan said rather reluctantly. "Chuck gave instructions to give ya a room…but I think ya probably need to see Hank first."
Toy just stood there for a minute, his flat yellow eyes watching him, before nodding.
Logan led the way down the thickly carpeted walls, the woodwork glowing richly in the artificial light that came from the sconces that dotted the walls at regular intervals. "So what made you change your mind?" Stony silence greeted him.
Coming to the elevator, Logan stepped in, punching in the number for the infirmary floor. He waited until the doors closed with a whoosh, confining the two of them in the small space. "Look, bub, I am going to say this one time and one time only." Turning to face Toy he slid the claws from his right hand, lips lifted in a snarl. "Hurt anyone here, or get them into any trouble, and I will slice you up like luncheon meat. And no drugs."
Ohh…so the kid did have a bit of pluck left after all, thought Logan as he watched the glow from the man's eyes flare with anger at his words. He kind of admired the fact that Toy didn't back down, or cringe like others had, but simply nodded. Of course that could also just mean that the punk would be all sorts of trouble here.
When the doors swished open, Toy shoved rudely past him to walk about two paces down the hall before coming to a stop, fists clenched at his side. He was obviously unsure which way to go, but reluctant to be led around. Good, Logan chuckled in his mind, maybe it'd teach the bastard something if he had to toe after him for a while.
Logan strode past him, boot heels clicking on the tiled floor, until he came to a door with a frosted pane set in it. Rapping on it with one hairy knuckle in fair warning, he then opened it and stuck his head in. Henry looked up from the large book that was laying open on his desk that stood in the corner. "Yes Logan? Can I assist you with something?"
Tossing a look back over his shoulder, he saw that Toy had chosen to linger in the hall, hidden from view. "C'mon punk." Logan reached out and grabbed the mutant by one soggy sleeve, yanking him unceremoniously into the room. Toy glared at him, nostrils flaring as he obviously fought to bite off angry words.
"Ah…I see." Henry turned to scoop his white coat of the back of his chair swinging it over his massive shoulders. "Well let's go have a look at that." He exited his office and led them down the hall to a simple room that held a typical white paper covered exam table, a small desk and a couple of stools. Logan settled himself on the nearest stool to the door, the metal welds of the stool creaking alarmingly at his weight but holding firm. The furniture here had to be built to last.
Henry raised one blue furred eyebrow at his continued presence, but didn't say anything as he pulled bits of gauze and disinfectant out of the drawers of the exam table. Toy reluctantly hopped up on the table, his tail lashing with nerves behind him, making the paper rustle.
Pulling out a pen from his front pocket, Henry began to write on a clipboard. "Name?" He rumbled, glancing over his glasses at Toy.
"Toy." The punk bit the word off like it was something sour.
Henry frowned at the man, tapping his pen against the side of the clipboard. "And that is short for…?"
Logan noticed that the punk had tightened his fingers on the edge of the bed at that question. What was so difficult about just a name he thought, before snorting wryly, thinking of his own troubles in that department. Toy had jumped a little the noise, obviously taking it as disapproval at his reluctance to answer. Toy shot Logan a tight eyed glare of defiance.
"Teufel." The word was almost spat out. He glared at Logan. "It means devil."
"Ah. Yes, quite." Henry had started poking at the punk's numerous abrasions, tsking at the condition of the long cut. He swabbed them with a solution from one of the bottles, causing Toy to suck in a pained breath. Logan slumped back against the wall. The punk had a fairly obvious reason for that name, with his dark blue skin, brightly glowing pupil-less eyes, sharply pointed ears and of course the tail. Add a pair of horns and hand the kid a pitchfork, and he was something right out of a horror story.
Hank interrupted his musings with the next question "Is that it? No last name?"
Toy was obviously reconsidering his options in the face of the probing. Logan didn't know if he should be relieved or disappointed when the man took a deep sigh, obviously coming to the conclusion that he was stuck here. "It's Wagner. Kurt Wagner."
"Well Kurt…" Henry had dried the cut off, pressing thin steri-strips along the length of it. …welcome to Xaviers school for Mutants."