Lost And Broken
Summery: His name is Andy Hughes, a simple small-town technopath with no control over his powers. He thinks of his powers as a curse as first and that he was all alone… Lost and broken… But then, somebody tells him he's not.
Rating: Rated T For Tiger, Because I Like Calvin & Hobbes
Disclaimer: All I Own Is One Lonely Little Technopath.
What The Radio Says: Tears Of An Angel By RyanDan
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Logan watched with careful eyes as he observed the male using his hands to jump over laser beams, moving saws, as momentum to push himself off the ground. He readjusted the toothpick in his mouth with his teeth, his hands in his pockets as the male spun around in momentary horror as a giant robot appeared from behind him.
"Don't get scared Short-Stuff… Don't get scared…" Logan advised from the tower, fully knowing that the boy couldn't hear him
The boy's eyes glazed over into a harsh glare as he moved his hands so they would be in front of him, concentrating solely on what he needed to do. Logan could feel Scott and Xavier's eyes watching him and the boy from behind. Scott in slight surprise, the teen was after all in the Danger Room –alone- after being only at the Institute for no more then half an hour- tops, while Xavier's head rested in his hands, watching the boy with a small knowing smirk.
The boy's name was Andy. Andy Hughes. He was a simple technopath (a person who can control technology) though his emotions got the best of him quite often, causing the occasional light bulb to suddenly explode (it used to be much worse). Though he had been failed to be found in Cerebros because Andy did not want to be found and Cerebros was after all, a machine. It had been Logan who found him on one of his lone-wolf journeys, finding the teen running out of his small-town high school in Michigan with technology after technology blowing up behind him; the lampposts, the televisions at the nearby TV store, even the cars (and almost Logan's motorcycle). He was running, scared of his own destruction, though he was not ignorant and kept yelling and waving for everyone to get away from him, to get away NOW.
Logan had followed him, knowing he was a mutant and keeping a safe distance (even if the kid wasn't in control, he'd tear him apart for messing with his motorcycle) until the boy had ran into the nearby Redwood forest ('Smart kid, nothing to blow up here' Logan thought), followed by foot after he was about a mile in, and easily was able to come into the kid's cave, where he was hiding—
And crying.
Cursing.
Cursing his powers,…
His genes,…
Cursing himself.
Asking "Why me? WHY ME?"
The boy hadn't noticed Logan until he spoke, the older mutant shrugging as he combed his hair with his hand, "Don't know, but ya' know Short-Stuff, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Andy began to back away until he had no more cave to turn to, "G-Get away from me…! I-I don't know… I don't know what I can do! I don't want to hurt you!"
He reminded Logan of Kurt, who thought everyone would hate him, hurt him, whenever they saw his blue skin. But Kurt had a cure, a hiding place, and that was when Xavier gave him the cloning watch to make him look normal. This kid had no physical problems (that Logan could see inside a dark cave anyway, the kid was wearing a hoodie and gloves, barely showing any skin) and had no hiding place. He, sadly enough, reminded the Canadian of a puppy that had been kicked one too many times, whose spirit was broken and unable to be fixed.
Logan chuckled, though it sounded more like a growl, even after his watch unexpectedly exploded right on wrist. He reminded Logan of those kids at the Institute, and even though he wasn't, though it was out of character for him—He wanted to help. So the Canadian knelt down next to him with a smirk and said simply; "Try me."
The boy was hyperventilating now, his chest frantically going up and down in sporadic breaths, sweating, his cheeks wet with tears, and his eyes scared of what he might do… But he was also looking guilty at where Logan's watch had once been, his mouth tripping over itself as it tried to say that he'd buy Logan a new one, that he'd try to cover the medical bills for his injury, that he was sorry…
But then, Logan's skin healed itself, the burn marks and bruises gone, acting as if Logan hadn't even worn that watch in the first place. The boy saw this with wide eyes and began stammering, trying to ask if the man before him was "one" too…
"Got a name Short-Stuff?"
"An-Andy Hughes…!"
He held out a hand, "Logan. Want to come with me?"
Andy's hand began shaking as he put his hand in Logan's, gulping as if he expected Logan to suddenly flip him onto his back and kick him like the wounded "puppy" he was. But all Logan did was help Andy onto his feet and let the boy walk outside with him.
"Got any parents?"
"Uh, y-yes, I-I mean no…"
Logan raised an eyebrow as he jumped onto a lower ledge, Andy following him hesitantly.
"Th-They… My parents… They don't really want me."
"Is that so?"
"They don't do… anything bad… They let me do whatever I want actually, they just…" Andy stumbled as he climbed down to the same ledge as Logan.
"Don't care?"
"Y-Yeah." The teen mumbled as he rubbed his arm guiltily as he continued moving down without Logan
Logan didn't come back to the Xavier Institute that day with Andy behind him; the kid was just too unstable around technology. Instead, he camped there with the boy and began teaching him survival training, the same training the other X-Men dreaded and avoided. And yet, it seemed that Andy enjoyed it.
The technopath enjoyed the hard trials Logan put him through and quickly became about as fit as the quarterbacks at his school and his body seemed to made for advanced agility he could (almost) easily perform. He enjoyed the cold canned food, because he would be able to get some stories out of Logan to tell while they ate. He slowly got more and more in control of his power, though when he was angry or excited some electronics would still blow up, but it was a major improvement.
'Logan, are you alright?' the Professor asked telepathically
'Yeah, Prof. Just found a new mutant, Andy Hughes, Michigan. Good kid, but I won't be able to bring him around for a while, still a bit unstable.'
'Andy Hughes…Cerebros hasn't scanned anything from there.'
'Technopath, probably blocked it or something, like I said, he's a bit unstable Doc.'
'Well, I'm glad you're all right, Logan. I hope Mr. Hughes comes to join us soon.'
'He will be Xavier, on his own good time.'
Logan could remember when the boy pulled off his hoodie and gloves when the man told him to go swimming in the nearby river. His skin was covered in tattoos matching that of a grid in circuit board. When he wasn't using them, they were an ash black color, though when he did, they glowed blue through his clothing unless he was wearing his hoodie and gloves. His red eyes became a neon light blue and he wouldn't be able to move for days if he did such a thing for too long. His hair was long (for a guy) and white, his bangs were to try and hide his eyes, his face, and the hair reaching his mid-neck was to try to cover up the marks on his neck. His face was an almost sickly pale from hiding for so long…
So Logan made a rule.
No freaking hoodies or gloves in the woods.
Silently following this rule, Logan was able to make more observations about the teen. When the technopath moved, the grid would move with his muscles, as if they were embed into his body. They continued to his ankles, from his feet they became scarcer unless you looked at the underside, to his palms, to the edges of his eyebrows (though they were thin and scarce there).
After a few months, the longest Logan had been from the Institute for a long while, he had finally trained Andy enough that he could trust him on his bike, though before they left, Logan stopped by for a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes.
"So we just wanna' teach him how to control his powers better." Logan explained, trying to ignore how much Andy looked like he wanted to just walk away from this place
"No problem." The father shrugged indifferently from behind his newspaper, "It'll help Andy build character."
Too easy. WAY too easy.
"See ya' son."
"Goodbye Andy!"
Logan put his hand on Andy's back as he led the teen away, his parents had done just about everything but pack his bags for him. All the albino-colored teen had packed though was a single backpack worth of stuff which Andy confirmed was an extra hoodie and gloves, his favorite t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, an unopened pack of underwear and socks, his cell-phone, toothbrush, and his favorite book ("The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, which happened to be signed by the author before his death).
"I take it you won't be coming back for the holidays anytime soon, huh?" Logan sighed as Andy put one of the helmets on
"I'm never coming back here for as long as I live." Andy replied, trying to show less venom in his mouth then he felt
In the 3 days it took him and Logan to get there, the duo had had a simple, all-guys, road trip complete with the Fat Cakes, bad motels, and Beef Jerky. But after those 3 days, Andy was in front of the gates of the Xavier Institute, Xavier greeting them on the sidewalk behind it.
"Welcome Andy." He smiled, offering a hand, "It's a pleasure to have you here."
Logan, fully aware that Andy was one of those who was shy at first but got over it quick enough, hesitated before shaking the Professor's hand, replying politely as readjusted his backpack with his free hand, "I-It's a pleasure t-to be here, sir…"
"Please, call me Professor." The man smiled, "Come, let's go inside, you must be tired."
"Doc, with all due respect," Logan interrupted, "We've been sitting on our butts for 3 days. The kid's due for some excitement, let's take him to the Danger Room to show ya' what he's got."
"Very well Logan, then I'll ask the other students if they'd wish to watch."
Though Andy winced at the fact that he'd have to prove himself so soon, he made no objections and was silent as he walked next to Logan, the Canadian separating him from the disabled stranger…
Andy's hands stayed in front of him before a sudden blue shock, almost as if it was a strange form of lightening, shot out from his fingertips, causing the robot in front of him to slow down, but not shut down. Soon the robot was almost of top of him, but the boy would not move as he shot more electricity from his fingers, wincing as he put more power into it while his eyes and marks remained a neon light blue.
"Come on Short-Stuff, just breathe… Remember your breathing…"
The robot slowed down even more, it's knees buckled, it's eyes dimmed to a haunting black as he collapsed. Scott's muscles tensed, that robot had been so close… W-Was the guy… Was he-?
Scott's shocked face formed into a smile as Andy, acting like a giddy little kid even though he was the same age as the rest of them, jumped out from behind the robot.
"Logan? Logan, did you SEE that? I-I mean…! That robot was HUGE!"
The albino-colored technopath laughed happily, not even flinching when he accidentally caused one of the many light bulbs above him to pop
"I did it, Logan! I did it!"
Logan shook his head as he pressed the speaker button, "Yeah, yeah, Short-Stuff.. I saw ya', you did all right."
"You did well with him, Logan. Very well." Xavier smiled as he allowed his head to rise and his hands to fall, "I'm proud of you."
Logan glanced at the Professor and then back at Andy, who now had several of the other X-Men crowding around him in praise and laughter. He was home. With people who'd tell him what to do, laugh with him, cry with him, correct him if he was wrong, and become his friends. He was with people who truly cared.
And Logan felt proud to have brought him there.
"Eh, I'll admit I did okay with the kid." He chuckled as he walked away towards the elevator, with the Professor beside him
"It's actually all the kid, Professor. He was the one who made the decision to stop being scared."