August 5, 1992
Logan groaned and rubbed his forehead. He was getting tired of waking up feeling bruised and beaten. He was irritated at being confined to bed rest after the fight on Staten Island, but he hadn't been in much position to argue with Jean.
Now things were different. He knew that he couldn't afford to hang around for too long. Then again, the school was the best chance he had at figuring out his past. Charles had been out the last time he'd been awake though, and he wasn't sure if the situation had changed.
He rubbed his forehead again and sat up.
"Bad idea."
Logan felt his back falter. He fell back onto the cot and opened his eyes. A young man with auburn hair was sitting next to him, a book in his lap. He stared down intently at the book as he made a little mark with his pencil.
"Your vitals are still too weak for you to get up," he said, "So I'd suggest getting some sleep."
Logan narrowed his eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"My name's David," he said, "Dr. Grey told me to make sure that you didn't get up."
"And where's she?" Logan asked.
A small smirk turned David's lips up. Logan wondered how much he knew about him, or if he was just being difficult. Logan had never seen him before, but he knew that didn't mean as much as it should at Westchester.
Logan took in his clothes: they were expensive, but they had seen better days. They were wrinkled as if from travel, and Logan could smell the road on him. There were dark circles under his eyes and his grip on the pencil seemed faulty.
"Just get here?" Logan asked.
"About twelve hours ago, yes," David said, "Dr. Grey had to go and help a patient, and you need someone with you at all times. So she told me to stay here until she got back or switched out with Ororo. It was me or my brother, so I volunteered."
For a moment Logan frowned, trying to remember just who Ororo was.
"You talkin about Storm?" he asked.
"I think she prefers Ororo when she's not on the field," David said, "In any case, don't get up."
"Kid, that's not happening," Logan grunted.
David sighed. He reached over for a mug and took a deep sip. Logan smelt black coffee. It certainly explained the dark circles under David's eyes.
"You'll just exhaust yourself," David said.
"You don't know me," Logan said.
"No, but I know some things about you," David said, "I hear you didn't want to be an X-man."
There was something tired and a little irritated about the question.
"I'm just passing through," he said.
"Not right now you're not," David said.
"Kid-" Logan began.
"I'm not an idiot. I know about your healing factor," David said, "I've studied healing factors a bit. The funny thing is that they don't do anything for exhaustion."
"That's not going to be an issue," Logan said.
"It will be though," David said, "Dr. Grey explained to me a little bit about your mutation, and a little bit about Rogue's too. She was almost dead when you tried to revive her. You'll be weak for some time."
"I've already been out for days," Logan said, "That's more than enough."
"We don't know that yet," David said, "You'll have to be patient."
"Patience isn't my strong suite," Logan said.
David stopped writing in his book.
"Your name is Logan, correct?" he asked.
"Yes," Logan snapped.
"Well then, Logan, I'm going to be frank with you," he said, "I've had just about enough of babysitting you when I'd rather be somewhere else, so I'd appreciate if you drop the attitude and try not to get yourself killed."
The voice came out low and sharp. Logan narrowed his eyes further.
"Screw you kid," he said.
He pushed himself up and got into a seated position. A moment later his limbs froze and he felt a force shove him back onto the cot. He flicked his eyes over to David. One of his hands was outstretched slightly, his fingers curling. Logan let out a frustrated breath.
"Another super kid?" Logan said.
"I'm twenty-two, thank you very much, so 'kid' is just irritating at this point," David said, "But yes, since you asked, I am telekinetic. I once stopped a car that was trying to execute a barrel roll into the shoulder of the road, so I think I can handle you. Just stay where you are and don't strain yourself. I don't want to have to explain why you need even more bed rest."
He wrote some more things down.
"Now, please be quiet. I have homework to do," he said.
"Thought you said you weren't a kid," Logan said.
"I'm in college, set to graduate with my masters in a year or so," David said, "I'm not doing this assignment very well, but I need to be doing something right now, and for some reason I just don't feel like listening to you."
"You need to work on your bedside manner," Logan said.
David broke his pencil. He sighed and tossed it aside, fishing another one out of his pocket.
"No, I don't," he said, "I'm training to be a lawyer, not a doctor."
"Then you're in the med-bay why?" Logan asked.
"It's not for your charming personality and excellent conversation skills, I can tell you that much," David said.
He put his book aside and pulled out another one. David continued writing, still not looking up at him. Logan found it irritating.
"I don't know who you think you are, but I'm not staying here," Logan snapped.
The pencil broke again. For the first time David looked up. Blue eyes glared at him. They were familiar, but harsh and cruel at the same time. Logan watched as David snapped his book shut and let out a long breath.
"I was being honest when I said that I didn't feel like dealing with you," David said, "And I don't. Right now, I'm not in the mood to argue with anyone, not even you. So shut the hell up and get some rest, okay?"
The words were so unexpected that, coupled with the familiar blue eyes, Logan stared for a moment. He got his voice back soon enough, but it was more than a little disturbing.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" Logan said.
"Don't be stupid," David said, "I doubt that would scare you. I'm just saying that you're not the only one running on a very short fuse right now, and mine is getting shorter with every second that passes and no one tells me what's-"
He stopped himself and took another deep breath. David closed his eyes and Logan saw blood start to dribble out of his nose. He wiped it away with the back of his sleeve and looked back down at his book.
"Just make this easier on both of us and stop talking," David said.
Logan continued to stare as David kept marking things down in his book. A moment later the doors opened and Jean walked in, followed by a white-haired woman carrying a doctor's bag. David looked up at them.
"Any change?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," Jean said.
David rubbed his temples. He shut his book and began gathering up his things. Jean glanced at Logan before turning her attention back to David. The white-haired woman next to him looked at him nervously.
"David," she said, "You should really get some sleep. You know that he wouldn't want-"
"I know Sharon," David said, "But, as we both know, I've never been very good at doing things that he wants. And of course..."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at Logan. Logan stared back. He knew that there was something going on that he didn't know about, didn't understand. There was no point in inquiring though: he had only been with the geeks for a few days, and he didn't think he'd be there for much longer.
"Never mind," he said, "I'm heading back up there. Rahne doing well?"
"She's upstairs," Sharon said, "Sleeping. Like you should be."
David waved her away.
"You call your father yet?" he asked.
"We called him minutes after they got here," Jean said, "And Kurt's community service project knows that he's had to leave due to a family emergency. The same goes for your school. It's all been taken care of David."
"Okay, okay," David said.
Sharon put the doctor's bag onto a counter. She gave Logan a glance of mild curiosity, her nostrils flaring briefly. She turned her head back to David and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Take it easy, okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he said, "You should go and be with Rahne right now."
Sharon hesitated. She glanced at Jean once, who nodded. Sharon looked back at David before she left the room. Once she was gone he put his books under his arm just as a noise went off in Jean's pocket. She fished out a phone and put it up to her ear.
"Marvel," she said.
Her eyes widened.
"I understand. I'll tell him immediately," she said.
David stopped gathering his books as Jean clicked off her phone.
"Your mother just arrived," she said.
David immediately dropped his books. He held out a hand and stopped them before hitting the ground. David stumbled slightly before levitating them over to the counter. He turned to Jean.
"I'll uh, I'll be back for them later," he said.
Jean nodded and stepped out of the way. David ran towards the door. It opened for him and David headed down the hallway. Logan felt the force holding him down disappear, but he didn't move.
He waited as Jean walked over to the counter and began preparing some syringes. He didn't know what was in them, and decided that there was no point in asking. There was, however, something he was a little curious about now.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
Jean paused.
"Do you know who that was?" she asked.
"Said his name was David," Logan said.
"Yes: David. David Xavier," Jean said.
Logan paused.
"Chuck's kid?" he asked.
"The Professor has two sons," she said, "David's the older one. They were both in Boston with some friends during the attack, and they heard about a day ago what happened to their father. They came down immediately."
"So he's still out?" Logan asked.
"Yes," Jean answered.
She finished filling a syringe and put it down. Logan thought about the story.
"Must've been hell booking a flight on short notice," Logan said.
"Kurt, the Professor's younger son, can teleport," Jean said, "He took everyone back to the Institute as soon as he could."
Logan leaned back.
"And their mother?" he asked.
"Moira Xavier," Jean said, "She was up at a conference in California."
"Hm," Logan said, "Didn't know Chuck had a family."
"There wasn't much of a point in talking about it with everything that's been going on," Jean said.
Logan tilted his head, thinking about David briefly before turning his head back to Jean.
"Chuck is going to be alright, right?" he asked.
Jean gave him a helpless shrug.
"We're not sure. We don't know exactly what that was in Cerebro," she said, "We're still figuring it out. We never thought Magneto would strike us at the school: there was some unspoken rule about it between him and the Professor but..."
She shook her head.
"We just don't know now."