Summary : Logan finds out some truths of his own. Origins retold. Part 16 of my Kimble series.
Notes : Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations.
AU but only because I chose to change a few things in my dear friends' histories for simplification, nothing drastic so please forgive. I've been working on this story for years so I do ask that you don't use any of my non-Marvel universe characters without my permission. I love my Siskans as I do my children.
Thank you for your comments, BJ2, it's always nice to hear from you. And you, too, vivi. I will be posting each week on Friday if I can. I will be returning to work this week so I will have less time. You may have noticed my more recent instalments have been shorter. I thought it was better to post smaller to keep them coming on time.
I will say a couple quick things before we begin. You have probably noticed that I intend to go over Origins in this section. While I did enjoy the series that revealed Wolverine's ancient past, I found it to be flawed in a couple of areas and decided to give it my spin in here for my own amusement. I tried to be true to the old Weapon X lore in the early issues of Wolverine and blended it with Origins, making it a little more of what I had expected to see in Origins and didn't get. I hope you will not be too upset with my twisting of the facts and forgive, this is AU after all. Thanks. -Sq.
Updated 10-17-13 to add (break)s as needed and to fix other things I got wrong.
(One)
Nightcrawler stood in the doorway of the common room, his long blue tail swishing in silent agitation as he watched Warren click the balls around the pool table. Warren was normally a decent player, but today he was just moving the balls about, thinking rather than playing an actual game. Kurt's teammate was trying to figure something out.
Kurt was content to watch for the moment. He knew Angel was unaware he was being observed. Kurt had a way of blending into the shadows and it was late evening. The gloom was concealing him until he chose to make Warren aware he was there.
Kurt had his reasons for being concerned. The mission to rescue Kimble had been a disaster and had caused a bit of a ripple through the house. Both Gambit and Wolverine had left that morning, disappearing off to parts unknown. Rogue and Manny had spilt up and the girl was off taking her frustrations out in the Danger Room.
It hadn't been easy for any of the members of the Blue team and Kurt reasoned Angel was upset about it as well. Not that Angel and Kurt had had a big role in it - they had been placed on the side on purpose and told only to observe the events at Cameron Bishop's place and not to engage. Charles had been concerned that Warren was still too new to go all out. It had rankled. Warren had been on the rooftop, doing as he had been instructed, but his wings had twitched with a restlessness Kurt knew all too well.
Angel may have had the wings of a bird, but he had the heart of a lion. Before he had been so seriously injured, he was one to get into the thick of things and never held back, especially when a teammate was at stake. He could fight and brawl with the best of them. Now, on the Kimble mission, it must have been frustrating for Angel to have to hold himself in reserve like that. He wanted to chase Kyle down but was ordered not to engage, only to report, and that was what Angel did. Now, Angel was stewing about something.
"Are you well, mon fruend?" Kurt finally asked, keeping his voice low so as not to startle his teammate.
Warren didn't startle, in fact he smiled just a tiny bit without ever taking his eyes off the cue ball. He struck it and dunked his target, the six ball, into the desired pocket. "I was wondering when you were going to ask."
Nightcrawler laughed softly, he hadn't been as stealthy as he had thought after all, and entered the room, taking a seat on the nearby sofa. He hoped that Warren might open up to him. It was an unspoken fact that Kurt was an excellent listener. He kept everyone's secrets.
Warren struck another ball. He wasn't playing in any particular order, he was just taking shots at random. "Do you think it was worth it?" he asked after a moment.
"Vas vat worth it?"
Warren straightened and looked at Kurt, leaning on his stick a little. "All of that fuss over somebody who didn't want to be with us anyway?"
Kurt sat back on the sofa, happy now that Warren had initiated the conversation. "Of course it vas worth it. Ze look on Remy's face told me it vas so."
Angel nodded and returned to the table, that thoughtful look in his eyes. It was a full minute before he said, "I never thought he was capable of being friends with anybody."
Kurt smiled a little, thinking how Warren always avoided saying Remy's name, Gambit or otherwise, unless he absolutely had to. "Maybe Remy isn't the man you think he is."
Angel ruffled his feathers a little, considering this. "You know, when I was hanging there, pinned so helplessly, I made a promise that I would kill whoever had done that to me. Not just for my sake, but for the Morlocks as well."
"I understand that, I do. But sometimes revenge is not ze best option. Zere is forgiveness."
Angel grunted softly and hit another ball. It wasn't exactly in agreement. They had had this conversation before. The thing was, Warren had seen that devastated look in Gambit's eyes when they had all met up back at the house. It hadn't been an easy thing to see. It was easier for him to regard Gambit as unfeeling, it made him easier to hate. But he couldn't hate the man who had looked like that. The fact that Gambit had left the way he had only made that feeling stronger.
"It's okay not to hate him, you know," Kurt offered. He could see Warren's indecision and it pleased him. Anything was better than the blind hatred Angel had felt for all these years since the Massacre. Perhaps Kimble in his indirect way had helped.
"I'm not there yet, Kurt," Warren said, grinning just slightly. He might have avoided confrontation in the field, but he was mentally sparring with Kurt right now. "You don't know what it was like for me."
"You're right. I do not," Kurt replied. "And I would not have wished zat on anyone. But zere is value in human suffering."
"Value?" Warren questioned sharply.
"Many people think that suffering is a curse, but sometimes it is up to us to embrace it. To rise above it. It can make us stronger and build our character. Would you deny zat you are a different man now zan you were?"
"No. But I won't say suffering is a good thing."
"Ah, but you misunderstand. Suffering refines us. If we did not know pain, we would not cherish love as much, I think. Sometimes it takes a loss to teach us to appreciate."
Well, Warren knew that one well enough. There wasn't a day that went by that he did not miss his wings, full and restored. He could fly now, yes, but it wasn't the same. He wished now with all his hear that he could have done something different to change the outcome, but the fact was, he had seen people in danger and he charged in. He would do the same thing again today without a doubt. He just wished the price for his courage hadn't been so steep.
Kurt continued, now that he had Angel's full attention. "Think of all the calamity ve have seen. Yes, it has caused some strife, but ve also seen where it brought some people together. Some may think of it as bad for me to say, but with each loss ve suffer, the X-men have banded that much tighter."
Warren nodded, moving around the table again. When he had first been injured, he had been startled at how many team members had come to see him. He hadn't wanted to see anyone at the time, but they kept coming anyway, his hospital room had filled with cards and flowers. When he looked back on it, it was their concern and Henry's tireless efforts to regain his flight that had helped him pull through that personal disaster. He had also seen other times where the enemy thought they could be divided, but they still managed to pull together that much more tightly.
"I wonder if that's true this time, elf. I heard both Logan and Remy have left."
"Yes. But zey vill return," Kurt replied, rising to take a pool cue of his own. He set the balls and motioned for them begin a game, a game that Warren accepted. "When zey are ready."