Full Circle: Reunion

Full Circle: Reunion

Prologue

You'd think a fella could catch a break every now and then, Logan thought to himself as he ducked around the crowd. Just wanted a couple a drinks, few rounds of pool, a little flirting, a little fighting, no big deal…

The boy had been forced out of the alley by a gang of street kids behind him. Even by the light of a street lamp you could tell he was a mutant, pale white skin, large pointed ears and a bare skull. He was young and, judging by the smell of him, scared out of his wits. That's probably why he grabbed the little girl. He didn't speak but he made it obvious that she was his hostage. As soon as the crowd backed away from him, he went tearing back down the alleyway. The little girl's mother was screaming for the cops but Logan doubted that they'd get there in time.

Logan finally made it to the alley in time to see a woman in a hooded coat sneaking in ahead of him. Perfect, he thought, what did she think she was gonna do? She was too far away to call out to. Yelling would have let the boy know that he was being followed. Logan tried to catch up to her but she was moving fast. Finally they came round the bend to a blind alley. Oh Christ, he thought, now the kid was cornered. This is getting worse by the minute.

"It's not a dead end. It just looks like one." Lena pulled her hood back and put her hands out to her sides. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the boy more. "The fence behind you isn't locked. Once you're through there it's less than a block to an access tunnel. That's where you live right? In the tunnels? You're safe. I promise. Just please let me have the girl, okay? Ya don't need her anymore. If you hurt her, you're just gonna make things worse." Come on kid, she thought to herself, don't do this.

The boy scrambled to the gate of the fence. It swung open, as she'd promised.

"See, safe as houses. So let me take the girl, okay?" She moved forward, too fast. It was enough to spook the boy. He drove a clawed hand into the little girl's stomach, dropped her body by the fence gate and ran into the darkness.

"Dammitdammitdammit! DAMN IT!" Lena kicked the empty boxes lying beside a dumpster on her way over to the little girl's side. Shouldn't have moved so fast. He would have let her go. He wouldn't have panicked. She wondered how much time she'd have before the cops finally made it. She hoped it would be long enough.

Dammit? What the hell was she up to? Logan thought to himself. The little girl might be dead and this woman was…angry? He was about to step forward when the woman spoke again.

"Hi Sweetie. Everything's gonna be okay. I can fix you up. Let me take a look." It was bad. The boy's claws had been very sharp and very dirty. The edges of the wound were ragged and the cuts went deep. She took the little girl's hand, relaxed and went in. Okay Lena, she thought to herself, let's do this quick-like. First stop the pain then slow the blood flow. She found the involved nerves and shut them down, and then she got control of the heart that was racing like crazy.

"There, does that feel better?"

"Uhuh"

"What's your name?"

"Kelly."

"Okay Kelly, I'm going to have to pick you up and carry you around the corner so I can get some more light on you. All I need you to do is try to calm down. Can you do that for me?"

"Uhuh."

"Alright then, let's go."

She's a mutant too huh? Well I'll be dipped, Logan thought, I guess she does know what she's doing. He debated making himself known but decided to wait until she was finished with the girl. No sense surprising her while she was concentrating.

The woman had shoulder-length, straight, blonde hair that she wore tucked behind her ears. Strands of it had come loose and they fell in front of her face. She moved quickly and more surely than she should have been able to in the darkness of the alley. She repeatedly stopped to scan her surroundings, frowning nervously.

Lena moved the girl out to the main alley where she had her pick of two escape routes and settled down beside another dumpster. Now she could concentrate on the task at hand. First she stimulated the white blood cells and cleaned out the wound. It was when she began to heal the cuts themselves that she heard it. Sounded like breathing, maybe. Maybe she was just being neurotic. Better safe than sorry. She stepped up the pace.

When she was done, she stood the girl up. "Alright Kelly, you're almost as good as new. When you get to your momma, you tell her that you need to go to the doctor. It's very important, okay sweetheart?"

"Okay."

"Good girl, now your momma is just down this alley." She indicated the alley behind her. "You go ahead and run back to her. Don't stop till you get to her."

Lena was pretty sure she was between the girl and where the sound had come from. She climbed stiffly to her feet. Dizziness hit her as she stood.

I've gotta be out of my damned mind she thought again. Still there isn't anything to do but carry on. I just spent my last bit of strength patchin' her up. I'm sure not gonna let some bastard tear her apart again.

She made an effort to look and sound tougher than she felt. "I know yer there whoever ya are. I ain't in very good shape right now but yer still gonna have to get through me to do anything to that little girl and I don't aim to go down without a fight. So what's it gonna be, continue yer nice, quiet evening or dance with me?"

"I ain't gonna hurt the girl." She'd heard that voice before. Her insides twisted slowly as recognition dawned.

Her eyes frantically scanned the dark corners of the alley until they found something. Boots attached to legs attached to the man who was moving now, into the light. It was him, oh God no, why now? Her mind reeled and the fear hit her like a punch to the stomach. Her knees went weak as she struggled to regain control of herself. You knew this moment was coming sooner or later Lanie-girl, she thought to herself, now you get to see what you're really made of, at least the girl's safe. That's one more to the good. Carefully, without taking her eyes off of him she dug out the penknife from her pocket.

"Who is it in there? Anyone I know? Is it you Kovacs? Is this your idea of a joke you sick son of a bitch? Well guess what, I ain't laughin' I knew ya'd find me eventually and I been ready for this for a long time. I told you I wouldn't go back; told ya I'd die first." He saw the flash of metal but he was too far away to stop her hand as she drew the knife against her throat. "Well I wasn't kidding," she croaked. The blood pumped out of her body in hot gushes. She sank down to her knees.

He covered the distance between them in a heartbeat, "Good lord, Darlin', what'd do that for? Don't you worry now, I'm gonna take care of ya." In his head, he was screaming for Jean or the Professor or anyone who could help; with his hand, he tried to stop the bleeding. He knew he didn't have much time. Her eyes were already glazing over. Those eyes! Wide-open, dark, gray eyes. He had seen them before, but where? Her scent wasn't familiar at all. How did he know the eyes but nothing else?

He didn't notice her hand reach up to his cheek. "Oh Logan, please forgive me … I just wasn't strong enough then … I'm so sorry this happened … I'm gonna try this time … take you with me if I can." The rambling trailed off but her hand stayed on his cheek. Then he felt it, pressure or energy coming from her hand and his world went dark. He jerked his head away from her and her hand fell. He shook his head to clear it, but the darkness didn't go away. Jeannie?! Dammit answer me, please, I got me a world o' trouble here!