Remember Me, Remember Us
Note and Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything, like characters and plots, from X-Men, but the extra characters not in the series are obviously mine. This is now the fourth story of the series, "Unspoken", which will take place after Days of Future Past in trying to have Logan remember everything from the past in the new timeline. Enjoy!
I will remember you.
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by,
Weep not for the memories.
I'm so tired, but I can't sleep.
Standin' on the edge of
Something much too deep.
It's funny how we feel so much,
But we cannot say a word.
Though we are screaming inside
Oh, we can't be heard…
May 18, 2023
It had been a strange morning, Danielle Mitchell had to admit, but that was nothing unusual in Xavier's school, since drama happened everyday anyway. However, this particular day had started out pretty peculiar and was getting worse as time went on. First, she woke up early, to find that Logan (usually sleeping next to her), the ever sarcastic history teacher, was not getting up anytime soon and would not wake up to her usual ministrations (which he swatted away at). The next thing she knew, when classes had started, she saw him in his nightclothes, wondering around the mansion as if he didn't know where he was, appearing every bit amazed that people were around him and he was where he was.
To top it all off, Logan had closeted himself with Xavier for some hours afterward, having Jean cover his classes for the day as well as hers, causing Jean to combine some classes to keep everything in time and students not missing any lessons. She thought it strange too, whispering to Danielle in the hallway after the last class that Logan was acting pretty lost (even for him) and seemed…different (Jean's words). Ororo said something to Danielle as the latter completed her Music Theory classes after three, stating something along the lines of Logan seemed some mental help before walking away with a group of children. Scott was the worst of all, making a snide comment that made Danielle think that Logan was looking at Jean again.
Of course, that's ridiculous. Jean was just a brief fling, with eyes and comments alone. Logan loves me.
At least, Danielle certainly hoped to hell Logan still did love her. They were married, had five children (even if one was adapted and two were not biologically his) and had been in love with each for almost thirty years. It counted for something and should still, Danielle had to concede, as she walked from her classroom, her ears ringing with music and her mind seeming to be empty. It was odd, she realized, trying to figure out what was wrong, since yesterday Logan had seemed so normal and promised her dinner for their wedding anniversary next week. When she thought about, she noticed that her usual connection to Logan was broken, as if he was never there.
That hurt. Even at nearly forty-four, Danielle sometimes felt the older insecurities of the past. Granted, it was a tough road that got them all where they are now, with the mutant struggles and their own personal wars (some of them ongoing), but today had brought them nothing more than anxious students and equally so-called torturous teachers. It was a good life, Danielle knew, and one that she could not trade. None of it she would.
Danielle was so distracted in her thoughts that she accidentally ran into her older brother, Jay Mitchell. Married to the same woman of many years (the school's admission officer and only resident human, Fiona) and with a son that taught at the school too, Jay was fifty-four, youthful and in a prankster mood. Seeing his younger sister in her state must have made the jokes run a few times around in his mind, Danielle knew, but it was all harmless and in good fun. Besides, they shared their powers and sometimes their minds. It was too easy to predict what Jay was up to and she could counter anything he had up his sleeve anyway.
"What's up, little sister?" Jay asked Danielle, feeling generous today and lording his sibling status over her, even after so many years of infantile fighting. "What's got your goat?"
"None of your business." Danielle tried walking around Jay, but he stopped her.
"It's about Logan, isn't it?" The name rolled off of Jay's tongue as if it was still taboo to talk of him. The two rarely got along and were plain nasty to each other for Danielle's sake and generally stayed out of each other's way. "Everyone's been talking about it."
"You don't need to know."
"I can see that it is then. He's been strange today, hasn't he?"
"How would you know? Has his name suddenly become the fad of the week?"
Jay grinned. "I don't need to read your mind, Danielle. People talk. Besides, he's been with the Professor for hours, still in his pajamas. Well, if you call jeans, socks and a black t-shirt from twenty years ago that, but hey, I don't shop his wardrobe thankfully."
"Oh, leave it alone, will you?" Danielle finally got around Jay and stormed away, head down and tears in her eyes.
"You know I'm right!" Jay yelled behind Danielle as she wiped her eyes clean. "You'll see!"
Oh, to hell that you are right, Jay. I sure hope you're wrong.
There was only one person she dared to see now. Danielle walked on, dropping the remaining books, papers and instruments off in her bedroom before heading to Xavier's office. He might still be talking to Logan, but now wasn't exactly the time to be locking himself in there with Logan in some conference when so many things needed to be done. Danielle needed answers and she needed them now. She wasn't going to be walking around the school as if she didn't know anything anymore. She would be the first on hand and the one who would find the solution.
Her bravery not yet spent, Danielle then headed to Xavier's office, seeing the door open and Xavier working on some paperwork, perhaps the cafeteria menu for next week or a new student coming in. Regardless, Danielle knocked on the door and smiled, watching as Xavier looked up and grinned back at her.
"Close the door, Danielle," Xavier ordered, one that even Danielle obeyed. Once Xavier was sure that they would not be listened to, he added, "There are some things we need to talk about."
"I was thinking the same thing," Danielle replied crisply, taking a seat before Xavier's desk. "I woke up this morning to find that my world turned upside down and nothing going to be is the same again."
"Logan." Xavier wasn't pulling any punches.
"Yes. I have not seen him today, but I've heard enough from everyone else to tell me that there is something wrong with Logan…and you have the answers to it."
"This won't be easy to say, Danielle. There are many things you need to know."
"I assumed so, but I've been through worse. Try me."
Xavier took a deep breath, his mind trying to find the words to say and finding none except for the truth. "It's a story from a long time ago, Danielle, and one that I nor Erik have told anyone. It all started in 1973, when it was just me and Hank living in this school. I was going through a very hard time and soon found myself face-to-face with Logan, battling with Hank after some altercation. Logan pushed himself in and demanded to see me, telling me things that nobody else knew, not even Hank, and persuaded me to go on a mission."
"What?" Danielle was shocked. "What are you saying? That he was a stalker?"
"No, no, nothing like that." Xavier knew that he wasn't getting anywhere with the story and needed to tell the rest of it before Danielle blew up. "What he told me was that he came from the future, from another time where mutants were hunted down and killed and there were few of us left. He needed to stop someone from starting that event, which rocketed us to where his future was."
"He…was a time traveler? But Professor, I don't understand."
"And you won't perhaps. Regardless, whatever happened, we stopped it and Logan was brought back to the mansion after his disappearance in Washington, DC, hardly remembering what had happened before and deciding to pick up the torch. He went on to live his life as he did, going rogue a few times, tempted by Apocalypse and many more other adventures, as you know. The two of you have had a life together that nobody expected and we've had overcome many other obstacles along the way as a team. It should not matter to you who he is today, but that he is the same Logan he was before."
"But I don't know that, Professor. I haven't seen him since this morning and that was because he was sleeping and he run off afterward. I haven't seen him since. I don't even know where he is."
Xavier smiled. "I think you will."
"But that seems too easy," Danielle said, shaking her head when she realized the answer. "Ok, so he's in our bedroom upstairs. Why though?"
"You don't have a connection to him anymore?"
"No…no. It's like a clean slate from him, like he's there, but not inside of me and he shook me off. He's a new person, Professor, and I don't know how to make it out."
"Maybe you should find out? Use your abilities, Danielle. Find out what happened and bring him back to you. You might need to start the relationship over again, but you shouldn't see it as an ending. It is a new beginning and one that would perhaps be better too."
"I certainly hope so." Danielle got up. "Thank you, Professor. I really appreciate what you've told me."
Xavier nodded as Danielle turned to leave. She then went back upstairs, thinking along the way and ignoring students who asked for her attention, waving them away. This new Logan…his consciousness just returned from who knows when and the one she had known this whole time was gone, gone, gone. She would have to start all over again. Who the hell knew if Logan knew her in some other place and another time? Did this new Logan still know her or would she have to show him everything all over again, baring her soul open and showing all of her scars? It wasn't something she looked forward to, but it gave Danielle an idea. She had to begin somewhere and it had to be with them.
Finally, Danielle faced the bedroom doorway. Finding it oddly locked, she took out a key from her back pocket. As she unlocked the door, she listened to Daken and Celeste as they passed her from behind, their passive comments telling her that they were running off with their friends. She did not mind (she knew them to be more responsible and they would return for dinner anyway), seeing this as an opportunity to see Logan alone and without the awkward questions from the teenagers (and later, Devon, Michael and Riley, her older children). And he was in there, all right. He was pacing back and forth and she could hear it, if she used her assassin's hearing. Sighing, she opened the door and closed it quickly behind her.
Logan stopped his pacing, facing her with a confused face. Danielle walked to him, holding out her arms to hug him and feeling surprised that Logan returned the sentiment. There was…what? Relief? Happiness? Bewilderment? Danielle could not tell, the feelings from Logan were so jumbled up and hidden from her so well. However, she found it easy to put her head into his shoulders and feel safe there, even after so many years. But the distance was there…mentally anyway. Logan did not know what to make of her and did not know what else to do anyway.
"Did you have a good day?" Danielle asked Logan, unsure of what else to say.
"I guess so." Logan wasn't specific, even though Danielle's question was kind of vague. "It was…overwhelming."
"You didn't go to your classes today." That was a statement and not a question.
"No, I didn't."
Logan did not bother to hide that fact and was uncomfortable with it, as if he was ashamed of something. Danielle lifted her head up and looked up to him, smiling as she did.
"I know everything," Danielle admitted, playing a card she didn't really have. "The Professor told me."
Logan stiffened and pushed Danielle away. "What?" He was still, his face and mind so stoic that Danielle could not tell what he was thinking.
"You don't need to hide from me," Danielle replied. "I want to help you. I love you. And I hope you still love me too."
Logan still did not say anything. Danielle moved forward, trying to connect her back to Logan, and found that he accepted it, but he was wary of her and his memories of another time were very overwhelming. He knew her as someone else possibly. She might be a different creature than she previously was for him, but she could not tell that yet. However, Danielle wasn't giving up without a fight. Logan was married to her, for some years now actually. They had children and a life here and at the farmhouse. They had family around them. She couldn't push away the one person that stayed with her for so long and not help him when he was lost.
Smiling, Danielle took Logan's hand and picked up a random bag from the floor before the bed. "Why don't you come with me? I'm going to the library. I still got some research to do for my book and need to pick up a new more ones too."
Logan seemed to have accepted the offer, finding his boots easily enough and readying himself to leave. He did not seem to mind and was anxious to be with Danielle, feeling obvious relief that they were still (still?) a couple. He did not know this new world, she saw, and wanted to see what Salem Center was about versus where he originally came from. It might detract from this morning's incident and make things more normal again. People would seem them together and think that all was well.
But now, it's not. Danielle knew that now and hoped like Xavier. Logan would learn and they would help him.
Hey, everyone, I'm back! Yes, this is the new story and I'll be doing the best I can to update. Oh, and credit for the lyrics? Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You".