Angels with Dirty Furs
Copyright notice and disclaimer: The story and the character of Lux © me, Katharine Johansson, whereas the X-men concept and all other characters © Marvel (www.marvel.com).
Rating: Currently PG-13 due to adult language as only one chapter is written; however in the future the rating shall be a (possibly strong) R rating.
Summary: A woman with mutant powers suddenly appears at Professor Xavier's school, acting strangely from the start. The professor lets her stay at the school, even though her secretiveness coupled with her obscure past cause some of the X-men to regard her with caution. Is she hiding something, and more importantly, can she be trusted?
Author's note: I'm very interested to see what people think of this, as it is my first fanfic that I have been able to write more than, say, five hundred words of. The title is stolen from a story arc at the web comic Zebra Girl (zebragirl.keenspot.com/) which stuck – sorry Joe! Please leave a review when you've read it, especially if you would like to see coming chapters posted here. That said, I hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter One
She stopped outside the main building and looked up at the windows. It was late, past midnight, and only one light was on, on the second floor. Shifting her duffle bag on her shoulder, she looked at that window for a few seconds more, then walked to the steps to the main entrance, climbed them and opened the door. After closing the door behind her, she looked around and adjusted the baseball cap on her head. She looked at the flight of stairs to her left, then started up them, headed for the second floor and the room with that light. Reaching the top of the stairs, she surveyed the doors first to her left, then to her right. Trying to figure out which door led to the room with the light, she slowly walked down the hall to her left and then stopped in front of the door she thought was the correct one. Drawing a breath, she gripped the doorknob, turned it and opened the door. A parallelogram of light spilled onto the burgundy carpet, and the woman stepped through the door. Facing her was a large wooden desk with papers scattered upon it and a bald man seated behind it. The man wore a black knitted sweater and a vague smile, as though preoccupied with other things at the same time. Draped over his shoulders like a live stole was an orange and white cat, purring, content.
"Hello there," the man said in a clear English accent, still wearing that faint smile.
"Hey. Charles Xavier, right?"
"That is correct," he tilted his head slightly to one side, "Although I am usually rather good at guessing names, I'm afraid you shall have to tell me yours this time."
"Sure. It's Lux," she said, taking a moment to look at the full bookshelves on either side of her.
"Well then, Lux. I surmise you need a sanctuary of sorts and I am please to say that there is a spare room for you."
"How did you know I need a place to crash? Did you read my mind?"
"Not at all, I made a logical conclusion. One doesn't usually bring a packed duffle bag to social calls. Nor are casual visits made this late in the evening," he said. "However, I must admit that I saw a mutant – you – headed this way rather purposefully, thanks to Cerebro."
"So you were waiting for me?"
"Well, that is half the truth. Unfortunately, not all my time can be spent upon creating my ideal mutant-human co-existance," he said as he held up some papers from the desk. "There is a lot of paperwork to take care of."
"I bet," she said, "I'll leave you to it then. Where did you say my room was?"
"It's on the third floor; it's just up the stairs and the fourth door on the right."
The woman nodded and shifted her duffle bag again as she stepped towards the door.
"Charlie," she said.
The professor looked up from his papers, "Yes?"
"Thanks," the woman said with a small smile before slipping out the door.
Logan stood at the open window, looking out at the school grounds with a lit cigar in his hand. He thought silently about what he had – and had not – found out about his past so far. The trip he had just returned from had taken him to eastern Canada, to the aptly named Mount Logan, thanks to a tip from an ex-government employee with insight into the Weapon X program. Nothing much had come out of it, and exhaling some smoke, Logan again wondered if he was wasting his time trying to figure out his past when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw a woman. Her brown eyes regarded him intensely and not without curiosity. She wore a white tank top and a pair of pajama pants, in contrast to Logan's jeans and t-shirt. Surprised over suddenly finding this unknown person in his room, he tensed. The young woman tilted her head to one side as she stepped closer, then extended a hand up to his face and stroked his cheek, which was coarse with dark beard stubble.
"I know about you, Logan," she murmured quietly, her eyes focused on his.
Momentarily stunned by her touch, he could do nothing but stare at the stranger for a second before regaining his composure and grabbing her wrist harshly, removing her hand from his face.
"Get your fuckin' hand off me," he growled, releasing her hand with distaste.
A certain defiant look entered her eyes, and she quickly turned and began to walk towards the door.
"Hey," Logan said, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
The woman stopped with her hand on the doorknob and just stood still for a short while, the moonlight flooding over her back and long blonde hair, tied back loosely.
"Well?" he pressed.
She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder.
"Lux," she told him with a smile before leaving his room.
The next morning when Lux came into the dining hall, most of the tables were occupied by students and teachers alike, having their breakfast. As she made her way towards an empty table, practically everyone in the hall looked up at her as she passed, their breakfast momentarily forgotten. She sat down with a glass of orange juice and a piece of toast with cheese on it and began to eat her breakfast while reading a comic book. At a table nearby, Bobby Drake turned back to Peter Rasputin and Hank McCoy.
"Who is that?" he asked them, as he glancing back at the stranger wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap.
Hank and Peter's equally wondering faces as they looked at each other made it clear that they had no idea who the woman was either.
"Do you guys think she'll teach any classes?" Bobby asked instead.
"I don't think so, Bobby... The professor hasn't told us about a new teacher coming here," Peter replied.
"Y'know," Hank said, "Wolverine's back."
Peter looked up from his cornflakes in disbelief.
"No? You're kidding me?" he said, "She's with Wolverine?"
Hank shrugged, "All I know is neither Wolverine nor that young lady were here yesterday, and today Wolverine's motorcycle is in the garage and she's sitting over there."
The trio of X-men all looked over at the woman again. Wolverine hadn't brought any women back to the mansion before – casual acquaintances or otherwise – and both Peter and Hank wondered why he had made a sudden exception this time. At that moment, Wolverine came into the hall, looking rather annoyed. He quickly scanned the people sitting at the tables, spotted the woman sitting alone at her table, and started towards her, his steps determined.
"Looks like trouble," Peter said, trying to keep his voice down so Wolverine wouldn't hear him, "He seems more pissed off than usual."
Having reached the table, Wolverine pulled out a chair with more force than was necessary before sitting down opposite Lux, glaring at her with his blue eyes.
"Alright, exactly who are you?" he asked Lux, who only looked up from her comic when he spoke.
"This feels sort of familiar," she replied, taking another bite of her toast.
"Okay, so that was the wrong question," he said, "We've handled the who, so let's try the what. What do you want with me?"
Lux smiled at him.
"That's for me to know," she said before pausing to eat the remaining bite of her toast, "And for you to find out." She drank the last of her orange juice and grabbed her comic.
"Better tell me, darlin'," Logan said with a slight threat in his voice.
"Or what? You'll carve me up with those big bad claws of yours?" she asked, grinning. "Don't get your panties in a twist. You'll find out soon enough… Not that you haven't tried figuring it out already."
Logan frowned. He had stayed awake for hours after she had left his room, thinking about why she was in his room and what her business here at the school was, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
"Have I?" he said.
"Yes. And don't try to pretend you haven't," she said matter-of-factly. "Well, Logan," she said, rising from her chair. While she rose, she pulled something out of her back pocket, placed it on the table, her hand covering it. She leaned forward, closer to him, sliding her hand and the object over the table towards him. "I'll see you around."
She turned and walked towards the kitchen, her glass in one hand and her comic in the other, leaving Logan behind, staring after her, managing to look confused and annoyed at the same time. He looked down at what she had been covering with her hand as she slipped it across the table, and saw that it was a photograph, tattered and torn. It was an old and faded black and white, though now it was yellowing from age. Sitting in a chair at the front of the picture was a young woman, smiling sweetly, her face framed by long curly hair. Behind her chair there stood two men. One of them was bearded, older than the woman, but not an old man. His face was harsh and his smile was barely even there. The second man was simply Logan.
Copyright notice and disclaimer: The story and the character of Lux © me, Katharine Johansson, whereas the X-men concept and all other characters © Marvel (www.marvel.com).
Rating: Currently PG-13 due to adult language as only one chapter is written; however in the future the rating shall be a (possibly strong) R rating.
Summary: A woman with mutant powers suddenly appears at Professor Xavier's school, acting strangely from the start. The professor lets her stay at the school, even though her secretiveness coupled with her obscure past cause some of the X-men to regard her with caution. Is she hiding something, and more importantly, can she be trusted?
Author's note: I'm very interested to see what people think of this, as it is my first fanfic that I have been able to write more than, say, five hundred words of. The title is stolen from a story arc at the web comic Zebra Girl (zebragirl.keenspot.com/) which stuck – sorry Joe! Please leave a review when you've read it, especially if you would like to see coming chapters posted here. That said, I hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter One
She stopped outside the main building and looked up at the windows. It was late, past midnight, and only one light was on, on the second floor. Shifting her duffle bag on her shoulder, she looked at that window for a few seconds more, then walked to the steps to the main entrance, climbed them and opened the door. After closing the door behind her, she looked around and adjusted the baseball cap on her head. She looked at the flight of stairs to her left, then started up them, headed for the second floor and the room with that light. Reaching the top of the stairs, she surveyed the doors first to her left, then to her right. Trying to figure out which door led to the room with the light, she slowly walked down the hall to her left and then stopped in front of the door she thought was the correct one. Drawing a breath, she gripped the doorknob, turned it and opened the door. A parallelogram of light spilled onto the burgundy carpet, and the woman stepped through the door. Facing her was a large wooden desk with papers scattered upon it and a bald man seated behind it. The man wore a black knitted sweater and a vague smile, as though preoccupied with other things at the same time. Draped over his shoulders like a live stole was an orange and white cat, purring, content.
"Hello there," the man said in a clear English accent, still wearing that faint smile.
"Hey. Charles Xavier, right?"
"That is correct," he tilted his head slightly to one side, "Although I am usually rather good at guessing names, I'm afraid you shall have to tell me yours this time."
"Sure. It's Lux," she said, taking a moment to look at the full bookshelves on either side of her.
"Well then, Lux. I surmise you need a sanctuary of sorts and I am please to say that there is a spare room for you."
"How did you know I need a place to crash? Did you read my mind?"
"Not at all, I made a logical conclusion. One doesn't usually bring a packed duffle bag to social calls. Nor are casual visits made this late in the evening," he said. "However, I must admit that I saw a mutant – you – headed this way rather purposefully, thanks to Cerebro."
"So you were waiting for me?"
"Well, that is half the truth. Unfortunately, not all my time can be spent upon creating my ideal mutant-human co-existance," he said as he held up some papers from the desk. "There is a lot of paperwork to take care of."
"I bet," she said, "I'll leave you to it then. Where did you say my room was?"
"It's on the third floor; it's just up the stairs and the fourth door on the right."
The woman nodded and shifted her duffle bag again as she stepped towards the door.
"Charlie," she said.
The professor looked up from his papers, "Yes?"
"Thanks," the woman said with a small smile before slipping out the door.
Logan stood at the open window, looking out at the school grounds with a lit cigar in his hand. He thought silently about what he had – and had not – found out about his past so far. The trip he had just returned from had taken him to eastern Canada, to the aptly named Mount Logan, thanks to a tip from an ex-government employee with insight into the Weapon X program. Nothing much had come out of it, and exhaling some smoke, Logan again wondered if he was wasting his time trying to figure out his past when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw a woman. Her brown eyes regarded him intensely and not without curiosity. She wore a white tank top and a pair of pajama pants, in contrast to Logan's jeans and t-shirt. Surprised over suddenly finding this unknown person in his room, he tensed. The young woman tilted her head to one side as she stepped closer, then extended a hand up to his face and stroked his cheek, which was coarse with dark beard stubble.
"I know about you, Logan," she murmured quietly, her eyes focused on his.
Momentarily stunned by her touch, he could do nothing but stare at the stranger for a second before regaining his composure and grabbing her wrist harshly, removing her hand from his face.
"Get your fuckin' hand off me," he growled, releasing her hand with distaste.
A certain defiant look entered her eyes, and she quickly turned and began to walk towards the door.
"Hey," Logan said, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
The woman stopped with her hand on the doorknob and just stood still for a short while, the moonlight flooding over her back and long blonde hair, tied back loosely.
"Well?" he pressed.
She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder.
"Lux," she told him with a smile before leaving his room.
The next morning when Lux came into the dining hall, most of the tables were occupied by students and teachers alike, having their breakfast. As she made her way towards an empty table, practically everyone in the hall looked up at her as she passed, their breakfast momentarily forgotten. She sat down with a glass of orange juice and a piece of toast with cheese on it and began to eat her breakfast while reading a comic book. At a table nearby, Bobby Drake turned back to Peter Rasputin and Hank McCoy.
"Who is that?" he asked them, as he glancing back at the stranger wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap.
Hank and Peter's equally wondering faces as they looked at each other made it clear that they had no idea who the woman was either.
"Do you guys think she'll teach any classes?" Bobby asked instead.
"I don't think so, Bobby... The professor hasn't told us about a new teacher coming here," Peter replied.
"Y'know," Hank said, "Wolverine's back."
Peter looked up from his cornflakes in disbelief.
"No? You're kidding me?" he said, "She's with Wolverine?"
Hank shrugged, "All I know is neither Wolverine nor that young lady were here yesterday, and today Wolverine's motorcycle is in the garage and she's sitting over there."
The trio of X-men all looked over at the woman again. Wolverine hadn't brought any women back to the mansion before – casual acquaintances or otherwise – and both Peter and Hank wondered why he had made a sudden exception this time. At that moment, Wolverine came into the hall, looking rather annoyed. He quickly scanned the people sitting at the tables, spotted the woman sitting alone at her table, and started towards her, his steps determined.
"Looks like trouble," Peter said, trying to keep his voice down so Wolverine wouldn't hear him, "He seems more pissed off than usual."
Having reached the table, Wolverine pulled out a chair with more force than was necessary before sitting down opposite Lux, glaring at her with his blue eyes.
"Alright, exactly who are you?" he asked Lux, who only looked up from her comic when he spoke.
"This feels sort of familiar," she replied, taking another bite of her toast.
"Okay, so that was the wrong question," he said, "We've handled the who, so let's try the what. What do you want with me?"
Lux smiled at him.
"That's for me to know," she said before pausing to eat the remaining bite of her toast, "And for you to find out." She drank the last of her orange juice and grabbed her comic.
"Better tell me, darlin'," Logan said with a slight threat in his voice.
"Or what? You'll carve me up with those big bad claws of yours?" she asked, grinning. "Don't get your panties in a twist. You'll find out soon enough… Not that you haven't tried figuring it out already."
Logan frowned. He had stayed awake for hours after she had left his room, thinking about why she was in his room and what her business here at the school was, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
"Have I?" he said.
"Yes. And don't try to pretend you haven't," she said matter-of-factly. "Well, Logan," she said, rising from her chair. While she rose, she pulled something out of her back pocket, placed it on the table, her hand covering it. She leaned forward, closer to him, sliding her hand and the object over the table towards him. "I'll see you around."
She turned and walked towards the kitchen, her glass in one hand and her comic in the other, leaving Logan behind, staring after her, managing to look confused and annoyed at the same time. He looked down at what she had been covering with her hand as she slipped it across the table, and saw that it was a photograph, tattered and torn. It was an old and faded black and white, though now it was yellowing from age. Sitting in a chair at the front of the picture was a young woman, smiling sweetly, her face framed by long curly hair. Behind her chair there stood two men. One of them was bearded, older than the woman, but not an old man. His face was harsh and his smile was barely even there. The second man was simply Logan.