A/N: This is the first time I write a story for X-men so please go easy on me. The plot of this story just came out of nowhere. I know it might not make any sense but I just really need to get it out. Anyway, thank you for opening this story! And of course, try to enjoy it!

Warning: OOCness (I've never read the comics). Charles and Logan are just happened to be my favorite characters in the movies.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-men.


His adorable crazy little shit

*If ten readers want more after reading this, I'll try to write what happens next. Otherwise, this will be a one-shot.

May 1942

An annoyance. That was what the Wolverine named his tail. Well, his body didn't actually have a tail. A little street kid was tailing him. The annoying little shit was following him everywhere! For what purpose he knew not, but it was getting on his nerve…

The Wolverine tried to lose the kid by taking rocky routes to Mount Robson of Canadian Rockies once. There were hardly any human inhabitants in that wild area so the Wolverine, or Logan, was pretty sure the blasted bother would just give up and leave him alone. But no! After a few days hiding in a cave somewhere on Mount Robson, he smelt the kid nearby. Following the scent, he saw the damn boy cleaning up next to a river. It was noon and luckily in the summer, too so it was surprisingly warm. Looking closely, the kid was all muddy, dirty and a little bit bloody. Even to Logan's wild and violent nature, the sight was disturbing. Who the hell was this little kid? Where on Earth were his parents? And how did that wee little thing climb up here? The boy was about 7 or 8 if he had to guess.

Logan found himself keeping an eye on the annoyance. Most of the time. He still enjoyed his isolation and misery every once in a while when the damn child decided not to do stupid stunts like standing too close to wild animals or wandering around cliffs. Of course he didn't approach that blasted little shit because he was close to trouble but never in trouble. The annoyance had intelligence making up for the lack of self-preservation. It was still very unnerving. Especially at night, when the predators made all kind of noise in the woods and that stupid annoyance didn't even bother to search for a proper shelter. Despite his… curiosity toward the annoyance, Logan succeeded in staying away. Getting close meant getting hurt and he wasn't in a hurry to make that mistake again.

"I need a cigar and some beer." was what Logan thought of when he woke up one morning on the remote mountain. It was still early. The sky was quite dark, maybe about 5 or 6? He was about to leave for a village or civilisation of some sort to get what he wanted when he stumbled upon the cursed annoyance. In a blink, he was looking straight at round blue eyes. The kid stared at him without any fear. Abnormal. People always got the urge to run for their lives when they saw his face… He could sense curiosity and intelligence in those blue eyes. The two had a staredown for 2 or 3 minutes when Logan's impatience kicked in.

"Go home, kid." It came out not as intended. It was supposed to be "Leave me alone."

If the annoyance heard him at all he didn't react. He just tilted his head slightly, testing his patience. Logan growled in frustration. Crazy little shit.

"What do you want from me, huh?" He shouted at the boy, but kept his distance.

He rolled his eyes when he got no reaction again but only then did he realize the kid's hand. The annoying little shit had a cigar. Before he could think of anything, the question just slipped out:

"You smoke, kid?" Seriously, a 7-year-old kid could smoke? Maybe he had lived in the wild for far too long.

The kid's lips twitched a little like he wanted to smile, but then his face was blank like it never happened. His head shook though. No, he didn't smoke. Of course not. Logan considered asking the annoyance for the cigar but that would invovle "getting close". His jaw nearly dropped when little hand raised up and gave him what he wanted without him asking for it. Saying nothing, he accepted the offer and sat down, a considerable distance between him and the cryptic tail.

Logan didn't know what he was thinking when he let the kid tag along. Well, he didn't verbally announce it but the fact that he traveled obviously more slowly spoke volume. His pace allowed the tail to catch up faster. Neither had uttered a word since the cigar. They just watched each other carefully and kept their mouths shut. At some point, Logan even found the kid's presence comforting. Even though he named his tail "annoyance" for following him, the little shit didn't do anything else to annoy him. The silence was oddly appreciated and there was some sort of calmness in the air when he was close to the kid. He didn't have nightmares, like those bad dreams just magically disappeared or swept away when they were about to make their entrance. It was pleasantly strange.

The annoyance was good at catching fish and cooking his catch with fire and knowing where to find drinkable water. However, the way the boy moved showed that he was not that familiar with nature and he did live in a house with humans. The annoyance had proper clothes to wear and a bag to put those clothes in. He also read books, for christ sake and occasionally he chewed pills, whatever the pills were for. Maybe his health didn't like this environment…

Logan was alarmed when the annoyance didn't wake up one morning. The kid usually woke up too damn early. He managed to walk away, only to stop and wait if the annoyance was stubborn enough to be his tail any longer. The thought that the child would if he could bothered Logan more than it should have, and grumbling in confusion, the Wolverine made his way back to the tail's spot. The kid was still lying there, motionless.

Having the ability to run faster than 30mph had its perks. Right now for instance. His annoyance (since when it became his annoyance he didn't know) was burning like coal. The local people said it was a fever caused by suffering cold weather for too long. He wasn't surprised. But the… guilt? was definitely new here. He could have prevented this. But he didn't.

There were questions, nothing unexpected here. Logan didn't bother to answer and got away with it since something on his face indicated that "he was incapable of dealing with his child's condition". It sounded bullshit to him. The idea of having children never crossed his mind, not even once. And words like family, father, mother, siblings, all those crap never held any particular meaning to him. Perhaps they did, but nothing good. Pain. Hurt. Agony. You get the idea. For some reasons, his strange annoyance took those away. Why? He really wanted to know now. And getting close was required for the job.

The annoying crazy little shit left as soon as the fever broke. It was 3 or 4 in the morning or something, Logan never wasted his time on checking the… time. The kid got up, looked around and left a piece of paper with the word "Thank you" on the table next to the bed. Sensing the boy's improved state, the Wolverine was relieved (he still had a hard time admitting these annoying feelings). They both left the village before anyone even knew their names.

"Logan." He pointed to himself and said curtly. The annoying little shit gave him a small smile that looked like a flower blossomed under the sunlight.

Receiving no answer, he started to jump to conclusion that the kid was mute.

Dreaming about killing his own father with his own hands was not his hobby but he did that so often it felt like one. Not that he enjoyed it. When he opened his eyes and panted hard, his claws were already out. Logan braced himself for a scream and the sound of running footsteps but instead he met an awe-struck face. Blue eyes widened comically he felt the urge to chuckle. The kid stared at his claws like they were the most fascinating thing on the planet. It was unbelievable. Little fingers reached out to touch but stopped mid-way, eyes looking at him shyly as if his annoyance was asking for permission to make contact. Some invisble force had him hold out his hand to the crazy kid, but his action was not reluctant. Not scared, huh crazy little shit?

"Not your fault." The sentence was spoken inside his mind.

Charles, or perferably Chuck, was like him. He wasn't surprised to know there were freaks out there like him. His half-brother prepared him long ago for this. But Chuck's… ability was new to him since he had only seen physical mutation. Logan didn't need to be a genius to know the kid followed him because of this. But the Wolverine wasn't bothered by this and didn't push the kid away. His annoyance followed him aimlessly because there were no directions. And if Charles, man he hated that royal name, Chuck expected to find directions from a guy like Logan, he was barking up the wrong tree. He was lost himself. And somehow that made them quite a pair.

"What does 'barking up the wrong tree' mean?" A childish voice hit his eardrums, clearly and curiously.

Logan was speechless.


July 1942

"The world isn't black and white, Chuck. You live on the street now, you should get used to that." Logan said to the kid harshly.

The kid decided to call himself Chuck after being called Chuck by Logan 2 months ago. His real name started to sound awkward whenever the boy thought of it. Well, running away from his house was possible so it was normal to throw away the name that tied him that house, right? Neither of them paid attention to the name topic. The telepathic kid was Chuck and the clawed man was Logan. That was that.

Anyway, Chuck helped another kid from being abused and blacked out from suffering unpleasant emotions. They were passing through a town and there were quite many people there. Like always, Logan's annoying little shit let curiosity get the best of him and explored around. It didn't take Logan long to see the impossible kindness Chuck possessed. The kid loved… getting into trouble that was not his. Logan lectured his young companion about this matter occasionally. Chuck listened to his words, but never followed the message. There were many reasons. One of them was Logan wasn't such a good examplar. The man got involved with Chuck, and that was getting into trouble that didn't really concern him. And both of them were secretly glad they went against the rule of staying away from other people's business.

Logan had rules. Chuck had made it clear he would follow the Wolverine and the two didn't have a hard time accepting that fact.

"Hey kid?"

"Yes, Logan?"

"If you're gonna stay with me, Chuck, then fine..."

Rule 1: Don't give a damn about strangers.

Rule 2: Don't expect me to be your parent. (But I can do with friends was silently stated.)

Rule 3: Don't question me when more rules come out.

Chuck followed. No questions asked.

Day after day, Chuck got bolder and talked more. Logan was surprised at himself when he didn't feel annoyed at the kid's change of behavior. In fact, he was relieved that the kid finally behaved like a kid. However, unlike other brats, Chuck knew when to talk and when to be quiet. Probably because of telepathy but still, what his annoyance decided to do with that knowledge pleased him. The kid respected boundaries. It was a rare thing.

"Does it hurt when the claws come out?"

"All the time." Logan felt bad when the kid looked at the ground in shame. Maybe the Wolverine must have caught a sickness; that was the only reason that made any sense in this situation.

"You're in pain having people screaming inside your head all the f*cking time?"

Logan received a light nod.

"Then that made both of us."


January 1944

Logan was terrified. Yeah, you got it right, he was terrified alright? But he didn't really express that emotion. All came out was:

"Don't do that again."

What was that? Getting hurt. Bleeding almost to death. Playing hero. Jumping in front of Logan when someone tried to cut his head off. It started with an asshole who attempted to kill the Wolverine. Apparently someone saw Logan three decades ago and now the man looked exactly the same, unchanging, abnormally young. A bastard was sent to investigate and somehow, it resulted in fighting and killing. Whoever wanted Logan must have had certain knowledge of mutants to know how to actually successfully kill the Wolverine. Logan wouldn't be able to regenerate if he lost his head, that was obvious. So Chuck's torso took the blow. The kid also ordered the jerk to stop breathing before passing out. Logan did what he did best. Run.

"I can't promise that." Childish voice rang sincerely. It was a miracle Chuck was still naïve after travelling with Logan for so long.

"Sure you can." Logan hissed angrily. His annoying little shit was being ridiculous.

"But I won't." A smile. In any situation, his adorable crazy little shit could still smile. That was what he liked most.

"Why?" Logan didn't fully understand why Chuck treated him the way the kid always did.

"Because I'm your adorable crazy little shit."

Logan laughed. It felt nice. Foreign, but nice.

"You won't age like you're supposed to. Not anymore." Logan informed the kid carefully.

"Your blood flows in my veins. That's to be expected."

"Seeing others getting old…"

"I'm Chuck Howlett and I don't give a damn about strangers."

"You have a talent in turning strangers into friends."

"You're my only friend." Chuck said firmly. "And I'm not planning to change that."

"But for how long?"

"Why don't you trust me when I say I'll always be your friend?"

"People normally change, kid."

"And people also normally read minds and have claws shooting out from their knuckles."

Man and boy stared at each other, no-one blinked or moved a muscle.

"You're too smart for your own good, Chuck."


May 1944

"Two years already, eh kid?" Cigar in his mouth, Logan stated.

"And it will still be like this after a few decades." Chuck sipped his tea while reading a book.

"Promise?" Logan had stayed with this kid for far too long.

The young telepath looked at the Wolverine. Without reading the older man's mind, Chuck knew Logan was testing his head and wisdom.

"I hope so."

Rule 4: Don't make promises you cannot keep. Chuck wasn't an oracle. He didn't dare to say anything for certain about the future, no matter how much he wished it was true.

"I'll still be like this after a few decades." Logan stated, gulping down some beer.

"I'll try to remain the same." Chuck replied.

"Promise?" Logan smirked, blowing out smoke.

"Promise."

His adorable crazy little shit, indeed.


A/N: Reviews? I hope you enjoyed it!