I Will Make You Hurt - Prologue
Logan couldn't remember a time when he didn't long for death, and now with death knocking at his door he wasn't ready. He couldn't die yet, forget that it was physically impossible for him to die, he couldn't die because he has a kid. He has no right to have a kid, he's a horrible person whose done horrible things, but he has a kid, so he lives. He lives for her.
The last three or four miles to Eden are worse then everything else they've encountered since they started this journey just a week prior. Boots dragging miles in the dirt he'd take the heavy hits of X-24 before he pushes himself a foot further. But then Laura wraps her boney fingers around his wrist and squeezes with so much strength that he has no choice but to keep moving forward. Herded on by the children Logan is genuinley surprised when they come across a cabin, which leads them into a tunnel, which opens up on the other side of the border. Logan doesn't know if he's ever been here before but this place smells familiar. Smells like home.
Logan leans heavily on Laura, her small arm around his waist, his heavy hand pushing down into her shoulder. He tries to stand tall, tries to be the protector he once was. But he's old, and he's tired. So what once was an aggressive and fear inspiring scowl is now a tired leer, what used to be a powerful stance and a terrifying prowl is now a slow careen accompanied by the sound of his bum leg scraping the dirt floor of the forest.
Two women approach, coming out from between the trees it seems and wordlessly all of the children move behind him and Laura, why he doesn't know, because he's got to be the most useless in a fight out of everyone here. He fakes it though, pulls himself up as straight as he can and begins to force his claws out, he does his best to hide the pain of skin ripping and bones being pushed aside to make way for claws.
The two women are polar opposites its seems and yet they stand so close together they seem to fit like puzzle pieces. On the left, a tall, bony white girl, or maybe woman, he can't be sure she looks so malnourished, steps forward slowly and Logan notices out of the corner of his eye hows the trees and plants seem to bend around her, to make room for her, as if she couldn't slide between them with ease. Behind her stands a beautiful woman, short and curvy with beautiful brown skin, where the other girl had brown hair cropped close to her head, she had wild curls that surrounded her head like a halo, the thing that blew him away most was the sheer white color of her hair. The familiarity struck a cord in his heart he wasn't ready for. Storm, she looks like Storm, Logan doesn't want to think about it longer then he has to. It's been a long time since he'd seen any of the original X-Men, all of them having slowly perished over time.
The frail one takes another step forward before introducing herself; "I'm Tara, and this is my sister Talia. Welcome to Eden, we've been expecting you." A righteous grin breaks out across her face and the trees seem to push back, allowing the sun to penetrate the canopy above their heads and shine down on them.
Talia steps forward then gesturing for everyone to follow her back through the trees.
"Wait." Logan calls out, not realizing how horse he had gone his voice barely travels the ten feet that stand between him and the two women in front of him. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"
As soon as the question leaves his lips the trees snap back into their original position blocking out the sun once again. He didn't realize how good the sun felt until it was gone. A growl left his lips, he released his grip on Laura pushing her behind himself and took two laborious steps forward.
"Don't fuck with us! You have no idea how-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence the thin one steps forward again, he begins to realize that she just might be as angry about the world as he is, a fire burns in her eyes and he doesn't know what to expect.
"No idea what? What you've been through?! It's 2029! Mutants live exclusively in hiding, I know what you've been through, everyone in Eden knows! And some of us have been through worse. If you don't want to come with us thats fine, die here, steps from the closest thing to freedom left on this fucking shit hole planet. There aren't enough mutants left for us to have a hidden agenda." By the time she finishes her voice has gone from an angry growl to a soft and defeated tone that leaves his heart aching because she's right.
He grabs Laura's hand from where it had gripped at the back of his shirt and pulled her behind him as he followed Tara and Talia through the woods. They don't walk for long before they come across a somewhat dilapidated plane on a grassy, flat strip of land. Logan raises an eyebrow in question but doesn't say anything as the two women bored the plane, he follows after them first still waiting for the other shoe to drop for some unknown enemy to pop out from around the corner, some Alkali enemy they had missed in the forest on the southern side of the border.
The plane is empty, cargo hold full with children and boxed up cargo he wonders at the contents of. Tara comes back, warning them to hold on during take off, their are no seats so the children hold onto the walls and each other as the plane begins to float forward and lift into the air. He hears no hum of the engines, feels no turbulence, it's like they are floating on air.
As soon as he knows this isn't a joke, that salvation is real, he has a lot of questions to ask.
"Where are we headed?" he asks Tara, whose clutching a pallet of supplies to his left.
"You didn't really think Eden was just on the other side of the border did you?" She lets out a nervous chuckle and tightens her grip on the boxes, clearly uncomfortable without both of her feet on the ground. "Saskatchewan. Deep north. Where we met you is one of many meet up points. Eden is real, don't worry, we just can't afford to be so close to anyone. Every life is precious, every mutant life, the best way to protect ourselves is to not be seen, so thats what we do. It's the cowardly thing to do, but it's also the smart thing."
The flight carries on for another hour or two. At some point Logan and Laura sit on the floor and he falls asleep for a time, only wakes up when Laura pokes him roughly in a open and slowly healing wound. He lets out a growl and smacks her hand away before climbing back to his feet. He can feel the pressure change in his ears, they are about to land.
The air is cold here, but not uncomfortably so. He knows that has to do with one of the girls, either of them could be manipulating the environment to make it warmer then its should be out here in the cold, rocky territory.
Stepping off the plane Tara trips and Logan catches her around the elbow and begins to fall over himself in his weakened state, Laura's little fingers wrapped around his belt keep him from falling to his knees.
"Sorry, flying takes a lot out of me. Theres no Earth up in the sky, nothing to give me energy." Tara explains and as soon as her feet touch the snow covered ground its like he can see the energy flow into her, she stands a little straighter and her skin begins to tan before his eyes. Her eyes which were a dull green while they had been on the plane become shockingly vibrant. Talia steps out of the plane last and locks the door behind her.
"Were almost there you guys, just a bit further now."
They go into another tunnel, inside this one they board some sort of train that shoots them forward at a ridiculous speed. The ride is over in three minutes and when they exit the train they step into a domed community. The setting sun glints of the glass dome, that and the warm, humid air is the only way he knows they're not really outside.
He can't see the edge of the dome, just the top, directly above them, and he thinks this thing could stretch on for miles.
"Welcome to Eden." Talia announces, a broad grin stretches across her face, nearly identical to that of her sisters. Any doubt he may have had about the two girls actually being related vanishes.
A tour of the community follows, Tara and Talia pointing at this or that building and explaining what lies inside. They stop every few minutes to greet some of the other mutants that already live in Eden, but for the most part Logan thinks this place is just shy of being a ghost town. The two women leading their group seem to be the oldest people here, asides from him, everyone else is closer to Laura's age, a few older teenagers but not many.
"How many people live here? This place looks nearly deserted." He asks when the tour comes to an end at the apartment building they been informed they will all be living in.
"Just under a hundred" Tara answers barely above a whisper, but the spark in her eye remind him that she's ready for a fight.
Talia covers her sisters shoulder with a firm hand, "Its been hard. We rely almost primarily on information traveling by word of mouth. Mostly kids too because... well a lot of the older mutants died in the last war, or they're in hiding and they don't care to come out. But we take whomever we can, whom ever is willing to make the journey has a home here. We don't judge people on their pasts."
Tara picks up seamlessly where her sister left off, "We've all had to do things were not proud of, just to survive. Eden is exactly what the title claims it to be: its salvation for mutants. But don't expect to just laze around, everyone here works for their hand, even the youngest children." Here both of the girls shoot the kids a well rehearsed, stern look, the same look he'd watched countless teachers perfect at the X mansion. "If you guys will head inside, Booker, at the desk will sort out the rooms."
The kids all rush inside the building and Logans about to turn to follow them when warm fingers wrap around his elbow and pull him off to the side.
"To the clinic." Tara orders him, pulling him along behind herself and her sister.
As soon as she mentions it the ache in his bones rushes back to the forefront of his mind, his knees buckle for a moment, the movement jarring a slowly closing wound and pulling it open again, a fresh stream of blood starts to dribble out of him slowly, covering his already ruined shirt. Logan huffs and pushes his hand against the wound before following the girls to the clinic. Still unsure about what he thinks of Eden, Logan keeps his guard up, as well as he can at least, but the black is pushing out from the edge of his vision making it hard to stay alert.
When there is only a sliver of light left Logan cant help but to wonder if he'll wake up and none of this will be real. Charles will still be alive, Caliban too, and he'll have no idea that Laura or this place exists. He hopes he's wrong.
The air here is full of hope, something that he didn't ever think he would miss. As his vision finally turns black, edge to center, Logan thinks they might have a chance here, hiding up in the deep north of Canada.
I'm just gonna leave this right here. Undecided on whether I should leave this as a one-shot or make it a multi chapter fic. So someone give me some feedback. Clearly the way Logan ended broke my heart so I had to amend that. Sorry for any grammatical errors/spelling mistakes.