Chapter 2
Part 4
Kaylee woke up abruptly, slightly disoriented, and sprang out of bed, all senses on alert. As she realized where she was, the fatigue hit her, forcing her to sit back down. Woa! I better chill a little here;, she realized, last night's run was intense. The clock said 7:00 am, which was an hour later than what she was used to. Kaylee could not remember the last time she had slept more than four hours, she thought she had grown used to it by now, but even her body needed rest. Oh well, she thought, nothing I can do about it now. She heard a light knock at her door and went to open it.
"Hi, my name's Kitty, I heard you up, so I thought I just pop in and say hi before everyone else got to you." The young woman said smiling.
"Oh hey, nice to meet you, I'm Kaylee, but like I've been telling people, just call me Kay. I don't meet to sound like a leech or anything, but I have no soap or anything, so I was wondering if I could…"
"Borrow some stuff? Ya sure, no problem." And with that she passed through the wall into the next room, returning briefly with some shampoo, conditioner and body wash.
"Wow, thanks, a bar of soap would have been good, I'm not picky and I did not want to inconvenience you or anything." Kaylee said while taking the products.
"Don't worry about it, I got lots. So I'll see you downstairs later on then?"
"Ya, definitely, it was good meeting you."
Kitty gave Kaylee a wave and turned to walk downstairs, her ponytail swinging as she went. What a perky person, Kaylee remarked, I get really good vibes from her though, glad it's not all men here. With that she went to take a quick shower.
A half hour later, Kaylee emerge from her room, and made her way down the hallway. The sun had made its way up, and was shining through the large windows that looked out onto a frozen garden. Kaylee decided she would have to check the garden out later on. Breakfast smells of bacon, sausage, and eggs drifted up to her, and she felt her stomach growl. She remembered that the last time she had eaten was yesterday's breakfast, which entitled a bagel and coffee. Kaylee did not actually like the taste of coffee, but it did help her wake up and gave a little boost when she needed it. She walked down the staircase, and in the daylight she realized how grand it really was as the light reflected off the polished wood. It felt smooth to her touch and she paused, appreciating the architect. At the bottom of the staircase she ran into Gambit heading into the kitchen.
"Bon matin Kaylee, aviez-vous bien dormis ma chère? *Good morning Kaylee, did you have a good sleep?*" he asked her in French as his eyes took in her refreshed appearance. Pleased with what he saw, he turned his gaze back to Kaylee's eyes, red and black connecting with green.
"Plus ou moins, mais plutôt moins que plus. *More or less, but mostly less than more.* So, where is the kitchen anyways, I'm famished."
Gambit laughed and placed an arm over her shoulder.
"Well chere, Remy will show you de way. De othas been lookin' forward to finally meetin' ya."
Using his arm, he guided her to the left down another hallway, slowly moving his hand to her back. Kaylee let him, but only because she knew some of the French were more inclined to touch. In addition, she did not sense any malice from him, and if there was one thing she truly trusted, it was her instincts.
"Here we are Kaylee, la cuisine du mansion. Just a warnin', ders a lot of dem in there." He gave her an encouraging smile and pushed her forwards.
She took a breath and entered the bright kitchen, hoping to know the right thing to say; she had never been really good with crowds. The kitchen was lively and large, with its soft green walls, warm wood cupboards, and large stainless steel appliance. Various mutants were scattered around a rectangular dining table, chatting and laughing, or just sitting observing. From an outsider's point of view, it looked like a well bonded family of mishaps. Just then, Kitty noticed her standing in the doorway, looking just a little lost.
"Oh hi! Hey everyone, this is Kaylee, give a warm welcome since she's going to be one of us."
The group chorused various enthusiastic greetings in reply. Kitty led Kaylee around the table introducing her to everyone. There was Ororo Munroe, or Storm, who was the second field leader of the team, and could manipulate the weather. Ororo was followed by Hank, or Beast, the team's medical doctor and biologist. She was introduced to Scott Summers, or Cyclops, who was the field leader and in charge of Danger Room exercises and had Optic energy beams. Kaylee wondered what the Danger Room was, and looked forward to working with it. Kitty then introduced her to Bobby Drake, code name Iceman, who was a student like Kitty who had earned the right to fight with the X-Men. Kaylee sensed that there was something between the two young people. Then came Jean Grey, a beautiful red haired woman who was obviously Scott's partner and a teacher at the school, they introduced her power as the Phoenix, and as having telepathy and telekinesis. They moved on to meet Rogue, a student at the school whose abilities were the absorption of memories, skills, and powers through skin to skin contact. Finally, Kitty brought her over to an older man sitting quietly at the head of the table.
"This is Professor Charles Xavier Kaylee, the team founder and headmaster of the school. Professor X, meet Kaylee." Kitty introduced.
"Hello Kaylee, I've been looking forward to meeting you. I hope you will be comfortable here," he said kindly, "I think we have a lot to offer you, and I know you have a lot to give, so welcome to the team."
Kaylee starred into the man's kind eyes and shook his hand.
"Thank you Professor, I sure hope so too."
And with the introductions done, Scott cleared his voice and called for everyone's attention.
"All right team, now that we have all met Kaylee and ate, you know the drill. Danger Room exercise for Kaylee, Gambit, Kitty and Bobby in half an hour, so finish eating and go suit up."
Kaylee finished eating quickly, as was her routine, and asked Kitty where to get the uniforms. Kitty led her down to a sub-basement under the mansion. Kaylee let her thoughts wander on the way down while Kitty chattered away. Wow, Kaylee thought, how am I supposed to remember all of these people? She did notice that Logan wasn't there, and kinda missed hearing his gruff voice. She followed Kitty into a women's locker room where several uniforms were hanging up, and Kaylee picked out a black uniform decked with a silver X-men symbol on the right chest of the v-neck tank. The black pants were tight, but extremely flexible and the boots went up to her knees. She finished getting dressed, but decided she would add her silver studded belt for fashion's sake. You can go ahead and criticize me for vanity, she figured, but you have to enjoy the little things in life. Putting on some leather gloves to protect her knuckles, she left the locker room. Kitty was waiting for her outside so that she could show her the ropes.
"Oh my God!" Kitty exclaimed, "How did you ever manage to make that uniform look so amazing? It's been hanging in that room for forever, and no one has ever been able to wear it without looking absolutely horrid. I have a new found appreciation for you."
"Uh, thanks, I just liked the black and silver combination I guess. So let's do this thing, wherever this thing is."
Kitty took Kaylee into a large room full of monitors and computers and diverse technology devices. The bright room over looked a gymnasium sized room with gray walls engraved with several fissures. That doesn't look so dangerous, she reasoned, but I bet there is a lot more to it judging by the technology set up in this room. They walked over and joined Gambit, Hank, Scott, Bobby, and to her surprise Logan. Hank turned to her and introduced to a young man working on the computer.
"This guy here is Forge, and he is our local technology expert, so he basically lives in this room. Forge, drop the technology for a moment and come to the real world would you. This is Kaylee and this is her first experience in the Danger Room" Hank explained.
"Oh hey, welcome to the coolest room in the mansion, nice to meet you."
"Same, and thanks just call me Kay, so how does this thing work anyways?" Kaylee asked
"It's actually quite complex," Forge said, eagerly jumping at the chance to show off his work, "the Danger Room is equipped with Shi'ar technology, and it lets us create virtually almost any environment and scenario possible. With this beauty we can even recreate simulacra of people and things, such as through smells and sounds. Not to mention that thanks to a mixture of advance animatronics and force fields we can also give the holograms a realistic feel. End result, prepares you guys for any situation."
"Thank you Forge, all right get down there guys, and Kaylee, don't take these practices too lightly, ok? People can and have been hurt in this room because they under estimated it." Scott told her.
"Good luck kid." She heard Logan say as she entered the room.
Through the loud speaker, the four students heard Scott tell them that the objective of this practice was to rescue a mutant from two heavily armed MRD vehicles transporting the mutant on base.
"Ne t'inquiète pas chérie, Gambit t'aideras. *Don't worry, Gambit will help you.*" Remy whispered to her while positioning himself on her right.
Kitty and Bobby placed themselves on the left and the practice was engaged. At once the room came alive, displaying a highway and the city in the distance. She signaled to the others that the trucks were coming, and they hid behind a bush.
"Tell me when dey get here darlin', I'll take de first out, Bobby, dyou got de second?" Gambit told them.
"Ya, no problem." Bobby said grinning as he became Iceman.
"I'll get in and pull the prisoner out guys, it will be a piece of cake, but I need Kay to hold the MRDs off in the meantime ok?"
Kaylee grinned and said, "You got it Kit, it will be like taking cake from a baby."
She could feel the tires vibrating, smelt the exhaust but above all, heard the large engines. Gambit was tensed and ready to go by her side. She sensed his concern, but brushed it off. Ok, Kaylee, she told herself, this is it, get ready. Bunching her muscle up, she prepared to spring. The trucks came around the bend and she yelled out, "Now!"
With his long legs, Gambit jumped out of the bushes and threw one of his cards at each of the first truck's tires, bursting both of them with exploding violet energy. The first truck started skidding and ran into the ditch, crushing the crumple zone. The second truck's driver was on alert, but Bobby quickly had the second truck's motor frozen and froze the truck's wheels to the ground. Kaylee watched as Gambit blew open the back door to the first truck, and immediately several heavily armed MRDs threw themselves into combat. All right then, Kaylee thought, let's see how good this training really is. With that, she joined the combat, quickly disarming the first assailant of his stun gun and placing a well aimed kick into his side, breaking two ribs on contact. These MRDs may be tough with their toys in their hands, but they got nothing in hand to hand combat, Kaylee laughed to herself. She let her instinct guide her once again, and ducked and rolled just as a stun gun was fired at her back. Using the man's surprise to her advantage, she leaped at him and slammed the side of her hand on the man's neck, robbing him of air. She then took his head and slammed it into her knee, knocking him unconscious. Dropping him on the ground, she turned to see another MRD advancing towards Gambit, who too busy to notice as he fought off two others with his staff, cloak flying behind with every one of his swift actions. She knew there was not enough time to warn him, as the MRD took aim with his stun gun, so she picked up the gun the man she had knocked out had been using, and flung it at the assailant's head. The ordinarily heavy gun connected with the man's skull and Kaylee was relieved to see him crumble to the ground. Remy mouthed a thank you to her and gave her a wink. With the first truck taken care of, Kaylee and Remy went to help Kitty and Bobby with the second one, which held the prisoner. Bobby was holding off most of the MRDs while Kitty had gone inside to release the prisoner, but some were getting past him despite his best efforts.
"Kitty, look out!" Bobby screamed, as a MRD shot off a stun gun in her direction.
Kaylee had seen what was about to happen and threw herself in front of the beam, absorbing it in order to protect Kitty and the prisoner from harm. Receiving the beam full force felt like millions of needles were ripping through her skin, sending burst of pain up and down her whole body. After the first wave of pain, Kaylee felt fire burning her from the inside out, and she coiled herself up in a ball, fighting the urge to scream or show weakness, just like she had learned to do when she had first joined the street. Seizure sized shakes raked up her body, and she desperately tried to hold in the wolf trying to escape. She had not noticed that the simulation had ended and that the team was watching her in shock as Gambit tried holding her. Then, through a haze of pain, she heard Logan tell Gambit to move aside and felt herself being picked up and quickly carried off. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was Logan telling her that it would be ok and to stay with him.
She woke a couple hours later to the sound of silence, stifling her with its heaviness. I have to get out of here, she thought, I need some cold air to clear my head. She got up abruptly and sharp pains vibrated through her head, an aftershock of the stun gun. Yep, better take it slowly; she scolded herself, that's what you get for jumping in front of a gun. This is worse than a Sunday morning hangover. Moving a little more slowly, she got up from the narrow bed and pulled back the white curtain separating her from the rest of the room. She had been put in some type of infirmary to rest and be watched, but seeing that she was alone, she left the room and swiftly made her way down the hallway. Now where the hell am I, she wondered, ooh, is that how you get to the garden? She entered a large room but didn't bother to pay attention to its décor, and headed straight to a couple glass doors that lead out to a terrace. She quietly walked out the doors and on to the stone terrace which looked out on to a frozen snow garden. The sun was bright, and Kaylee had to shield her eyes for a few moments, the sun triggering another bout of headaches. Gradually removing her hand, she saw a bench overlooking a small frozen pond in the middle of the garden. She strolled over and sat down, breathing in the air through her nose and letting it slowly seep out through her mouth. Her extremities still tingled from the shock, but her body was already recovering much quicker than anyone else would have. Another perk of the mutation Kaylee thought.
Just then, Gambit walked through the doors, making his cautious way over to her. She patted the seat beside her and he sat down with a sad sigh. Not looking her in the eyes he said,
"Kaylee, I am sorry for what happened. It's my fault dyou got hurt, I shoulda been dere. It happened so fast, de man fired his gun, an' b'fore I could get to dyou it was too late."
Kaylee knew all too well what it was like to feel guilt and shame over something that had not been her fault and could feel these same feelings emanating from Gambit. She gently cupped the side of his face with her warm hand and turned his head so that his red and black eyes starred into her own.
"There is nothing, absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent me from jumping in front of the man's gun." She said to him softly but firmly, "I choose to do it, and I would do it in a real scenario as well, if it meant protecting others. You did what you could Remy and I appreciate how much you care. In my life, very few have truly given a damn about me, and your concern means much more than you know. I'm not the type that does well saying things like this, but I do mean what I say."
As she withdrew her hand from his face, she saw the spark light back up and the carefree Gambit come back. He grabbed her hand before she pulled back all the way and lifted them off the bench in one swift moment, putting his arms around her and hugging. Though she would normally flee, she felt content and hugged him back, enjoying the moment. As they pulled apart, Gambit searched her face and asked,
"Are you sure, chère, that dyou are ok? That twas quite a hit…"
"Ya, don't worry Remy, I'm fine. I am cut from stronger cloth, I guarantee you this. Common, lets head back in, I'm freakin' hungry."
They headed back inside and grabbed a bite to eat while Gambit explained how missions normally worked outside the Danger Room. He took out his card deck and started showing her some tricks as she tried to manage them, her attempts result in scattered cards all over the floor. Finally, after one last attempt, Gambit concluded,
" Ma chère, vous êtes bon au combat, mais vous n'avez aucun talent aux cartes. *My dear, you are good in combat, but you have no talent when it comes to cards.* Bon, I must go now, but I shall miss your company. A tantôt Kaylee." And flashing her one last grin, he headed through the door and outside.
She watched him leave and decided that since she had nothing to do; she may as well go find Logan, wherever he was. She made her way out of the kitchen and ran into Ororo who was heading off to teach a class.
"Oh hi Ororo, have you seen Logan today? I wanted to thank him for something, but I have no idea where he is, and this mansion is so big I'd probably get lost trying to find him." Kaylee asked.
"Well I'm glad to see you recuperated Kaylee, you had us a little worried, especially Logan. I think he is in the garage working on his truck, which is in fine condition, but he does that every time he is doing some thinking. But don't let that stop you; I'm sure he would not mind some company. Do you know how to get to the garages?" Ororo replied.
"Yes, I think I can find my way, thanks a bunch."
"It's no problem Kaylee, and I'm glad you joined us. Just remember that you're always welcome here, and that I am always available to talk if you want to." Ororo told her while giving Kaylee's arm a gentle squeeze.
"I appreciate the offer; maybe I will take you up on it sometime. Anyways, I'll let you get back to class now, see you later."
"I hope so Kaylee, good bye now."
They parted ways and Kaylee grabbed her black leather coat before heading out the front door. It was still sunny out, but if anything, the temperature had gone up. The forest beckoned to her, tall and peaceful trees swaying in a small breeze. Maybe later, Kaylee thought while heading along a cobblestone path leading to the side of the building. One large garage door was open, and she could hear tools being used against metal, smell oil and gas, and distinctly hear a rhythmic breathing under the sound loud music. She walked into the garage and let her eyes get used to the darkness. In the corner, Logan was bent over working under the hood of a red Toyota Tacoma, dressed in his tarnished blue jeans and oil stained white t-shirt, a plaid shirt flung over the back of a nearby chair. An old radio blared out some April Wine on a small table covered in various tools, used rags and containers containing washer fluid and anti-freeze. Logan had heard her coming, but decided to let her make the first move, curious to know why she had come to see him. Kaylee strolled over to the truck and leaned against its side so that she could see what Logan was doing. She almost laughed when she saw he was cleaning up imaginary specks of dirt.
"Hey Logan, sorry to disturb your meticulous cleaning, but I just wanted to come by and say thanks for this morning and all."
"S'no problem," came the muffled response from under the hood.
"Uh, not meaning to rain on your parade or anything, but if you scrub at that metal any more, I think it might disintegrate. So, what are you thinking about anyways?" Kaylee pointed out trying to sound serious, her voice coming out between giggles.
Giving her a funny look, Logan said defensively, "The truck needed to be cleaned, and it is not goin' to disintegrate. 'Sides, what makes you think I'm thinkin' 'bout something anyways kid?"
Raising an eyebrow, Kaylee looked pointedly at the spotless truck he had been needlessly cleaning.
Letting a curse fly, Logan muttered, "Ororo…"
Laughing with delight, Kaylee said, "Ya, you've got it. Not to mention it is pretty obvious. Looks like you might have a bit of OCD."
Shaking his head in disbelief and threw down the rag he had been using, "I ain't got no damn obsessive compulsive whatever. So, you seem okay; guess you heal pretty fast too."
"Is that a way to say you were worried about me?" she teased.
He avoided meeting her eye and answered, "Naw, you're pretty tough for a kid."
In reality, he knew that bigger men had been knocked flat on the ground crying after being on the receiving end of a stun gun. He had been quite worried, but pride and his ego stopped him from admitting that. He now wondered if part of her mutant ability involved as fast healing of his own as well, or if she had been just lucky. He remembered seeing her dive in front of Kitty, and absorb the stun gun's laser in the Danger Room that morning, immediately crumpling to the ground. The instant she was shot he had felt the agonizing pain pierce through his own skin, like it had been him shot and not her, the pain fading after a couple seconds. He had yelled for Hank to shut down the simulation and had ran into the room, pushing Gambit out of the way and picking Kaylee up, despite her violent shacking. He looked at Kaylee and wondered if he should ask her to go for a ride. Oh, what the hell, he decided, the kid could use a break for the afternoon.
"Kay, you got anything planned this afternoon?"
"Nope, getting barbecued is enough excitement for me as far as training goes. Why do you ask?" Kaylee decided to take a casual stance to his question, not knowing where it was truly headed.
"Well, I am goin' to take this thing for a test run to the lake, thought you might want to get out." He said already making up his mind that she would refuse.
"Actually, that sounds like fun, I love the outdoors, but I haven't gotten the chance to enjoy it for a long time." Kaylee said, remembering the beauty and exhilaration of the true Canadian outdoors.
Logan caught the brief look of sadness in her eye before she wiped it away and wondered just what her story really was. I have no right to ask, he thought, who am I to ask her 'bout her past anyways.
"So are we going or what?"Kaylee asked him as she climbed in the passenger's side of the truck.
Logan grabbed his blue plaid shirt and quickly slipped it on before sliding into the driver's side. He turned the key in the ignition and was pleased to feel the engine come to life instantly, the motor quiet after all his fine tuning. Kaylee turned on the radio and Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi started playing, it's unique intro drifting from the truck's newly installed speakers. She turned to Logan and asked rather sheepishly,
"Can I turn this up, this is one of my favorite songs and I find good rock songs are best played loud."
"Go ahead, couldn't agree more, did not know you were in to this type of music, I thought most girls your age were into that pop stuff." He answered while mentally appraising her music choices.
"Hell no, I can only stomach a small amount of that stuff, not that there is anything wrong with liking it. However, I am a true rocker at heart; bring on the noise, the beat and the guitar solos baby!" And with that, she cranked the volume up and to her surprise let herself go by singing along to the lyrics as they drove down a long highway, the sun up high and a cool breeze blowing through the window. Logan grinned and found that he enjoyed the noisy drive down, listening to Kaylee's rather beautiful voice singing with the songs. After a little while, he found himself adding his gruff voice to hers and realized how easy he found it to be with her. About half and hour down the road, Logan almost drove past the dirt road leading to the lake. He had been enjoying the music and company so much that he missed the two signs saying Alkali Lake 1 km. He slammed unexpectedly on the brakes, the trucks new winter tires preventing them from skidding into the ditch.
Kaylee, a little disoriented but laughing all the harder mocked, " Ha haha, I think you should stick to your bike, because if you drive this bad, maybe I will do the driving for now on."
Logan, in his defense, replied, "There's nothin' wrong with my damn drivin'. The sign was hard to see, that's all."
To prove his point, he turned sharply on to the dirt road, sending dust and dirt flying into the air as he sped down the road. As they made their way down a steep hill, Kaylee looked at the lively dark green forest, with its pines' and naked birches, yellowed ferns, fallen branches and brown leaves littering the floor. They came to the end of the small road, and an open area facing a small lake came into view. The snow was covered in several large tire tracks, and Kaylee deduced that Logan came here often. She wondered why Logan had chosen to share this beautiful spot with her. He backed up the truck so that the back was facing the lake and switched the powerful engine off then turned his head slowly to Kaylee. He gave her a crooked grin and said,
"Here we are Kay, so what do you think? Nice place hey?"
Smiling in return she replied, "It's peaceful, reminds me of Canadian lakes… So, are you going to show me around?"
With that, Kaylee jumped out of the truck and firmly shut the door behind her. She walked onto the crisp snow and paused to listen to the silence of the forest. The wind wisped through the tree branches as some cracked under the weight of the ice and the snow. The lake's waves lapped at the shore line, free from ice in the warming temperatures. A distant haunting cry of a loon traveled across the shore as dry leaves rustled across the snow. She breathed in the air, smelling the water, pines, and fresh scent so unique to a lake, indescribable through words. Logan left the truck and walked to the back, opening the truck's tailgate door and hoisting himself in the back so he sat facing the lake. She followed his example and he gave her a hand climbing up. Logan's large shoulders took up most of the space in the narrow opening so that one of his shoulders pressed into her side. She did not mind, the position was comfortable and she relaxed, enjoying the extra warmth in the cool afternoon. Truth of the matter was, Kaylee was never actually cold, her animal mutant powers somehow kept her body temperature much higher than the average human's norm for a fever. However, the heat coming from Logan was not stifling, and she enjoyed the comfort of it as opposed to the heat.
"It's nice here; I haven't had the opportunity to be at a lake for a long time. I used to love swimming in the summer, it was so much better in a lake because you could swim farther, and the water was much lighter. I spent most of my summers at a camp by a lake, so I learnt to swim pretty well I guess. It used to be the best place to be, away from home and people that thought they knew who I was." She told Logan thoughtfully.
"Why are you using "used to be" Kay, I can see how much you like it you know, so what's with the past tense stuff? You can tell me anythin', I ain't goin' to betray your trust." Logan asked her, hoping he had not taken it too far.
Kaylee decided she had nothing to loose or fear from this man, and told him the story of her last summer at the camp. She explained how some kids had heard their parents talking about her and how she was a no-good-for-nothing freak. Her dad knew their parents, and even if he had agreed to his wife's one request for their daughter, he had found a nasty way of making sure that no matter where she went, she would be hated and ridiculed. Spiteful rumors had already begun to spread through the camp before she had even arrived, but she had not known this when she first arrived. Kaylee remembered her father actually acting nice to her, like a real father, even giving her a hug before leaving. In her 12 year olds' mind, she had thought that maybe her dad was actually starting to like her, that she had finally done something right. Thinking back on it now, Kaylee realized that the bastard had been messing around with her mind, knowing that she was about to spend one of the worst summers of many to come. The camp leaders had started by showing favoritism with the other camp members, always placing her at the end, then magically forgetting about her, then progressing to excluding her from activities all together. Her teammates started by framing her for things she had never and would never do, the leaders turning a blind eye and punishing her cruelly through chores, isolation and privation of meals. Wherever she walked, she could hear snickers and snide remarks being said behind her back. People who had been her friends started treating her like common garbage, forgetting the fun they had known just last year. By the end of the summer, people were not even trying to hide their remarks and taunts, yelling them at her impassive face, hoping for a response from the "freak girl". The night before she was to return home, she had tried to sneak in a night swim, after having been deprived of the right to swim and shower, adding insult to injury. She had made it down to the water, but some of the older campers had been waiting for her. They had grabbed her, tying her arms and legs together and proceeding to shove her underwater until she had almost passed out, taking her out long enough to get a breath of air and shoving her back under again, repeating the process until she lost complete conscious. After that her memory was vague, recalling being tied to a tree a whiles away from the camp, punched around and left over night. She did however remember vividly the feeling of utter terror, hysteria and panic during the traumatic event. She had regained consciousness in the early hours, had broken free of the restraints and tried to make it back to camp without being noticed, the shame and guilt overruling the pain. Bruises that appeared later lasted weeks, but the emotional scars persisted on for years. But nothing hurt as much as hearing the leaders talking about how her dad had warned them about her, informing them that she was a trouble maker, an embarrassment to the family altogether, and that she was not to be trusted. She was picked up that day, and had gone from a fairly happy bright kid, to a broken and lifeless young teen. She shuddered, remembering the haunting memory, old feelings resurfacing briefly to try to stab at her again. No, she shouted to herself, I made it through that, and I am never going back to being that lifeless person again. Logan, who had mistaken her shudder as a sign that she was cold, placed his strong arm around her lean frame, his large rough hand resting gently on her waist.
"Hey, look at me now, you made it through, and I know you're a tough woman, don't give 'em the satisfaction and control over you. The damned cowards will meet their justice, that's one thin' I know for sure." He said in a gruff voice, thinking how he wished he could go back in time and show the bastards real fear.
She laughed bitterly, "It's not getting over the pain and humiliation that was the hardest, but struggling to control the desire to go back and find every single one of them and destroy them in the most pitiful way possible. You see, after I started truly mastering my mutation, I realized how much power I had, mix that with the rage I felt, well, let's just say there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't have to exert maximum control over myself."
Logan wanted to ask her more about her real mutation, but he feared that she might bolt is she was aware that he knew what it truly was. Yet part of him knew that he could help her if she would let him, knowing first hand what it was like to have to control yourself every second of every day. He was amazed that she had relived the experienced just to tell him and wished he could tell her how much that meant to him, but he couldn't.
Kaylee realized how much she was getting to like talking to Logan, and remembered that every time she got close to someone, they left. What am I thinking, she asked herself, I must be crazy doing this, whatever this is… With that she turned to Logan and said,
"Shouldn't we be getting back, the others might wonder where we are, don't want to give them cause for concern…"
Logan knew that they would not worry, but felt that Kaylee had pulled back, so agreed with her. He jumped off the back and lifted her down; their bodies so close that Kaylee could feel the heat between them, as they just barely touched each other. She looked up into his eyes and felt the same connection speed between them, even stronger than that it had been at the docks. Kaylee quickly broke away and got back in the truck, giving a half smile that seemed to say sorry. Logan started the truck up and drove back up to the highway, and turned back to the mansion. They spent the rest of the drive in a relaxed silence as the sun faded behind them.
Part 5
They made it home shortly after dark, Logan stopping in front of the mansion to let her out.
"Thanks," she said, "I enjoyed that a lot, see you later Logan."
"No problem Kay, I liked it as much as you did. See ya." With that he drove off to the garages.
Kaylee walked inside and went to the kitchens to see if there was any supper left over. In the fridge there was a plate full of spaghetti covered in saran wrap with a note of top. She took the plate out of the fridge and read the note to herself:
Dear Kaylee,
Thought you might be hungry when you got back, so I saved you some before the guys ate it all. Anyways, hope you had fun wherever you went, have a great night and see you later,
-Kitty
I will have to thank her, Kaylee thought, as she put the plate in the microwave to heat up. As she sat down in the dimly lit kitchen, she heard the approaching long stride of Gambit who was strolling across the wood floor to the kitchen. Before he made it in she called out,
"Bonsoir Remy, tout vas bien? *Good night Remy, is all well?*"
As Gambit came through the doorway he answered, "Mais oui ma chere, je m'inquiétais un peu a votre propos cependant. *But of course my dear, I was just worried about you*"
"Well there was no need to worry; I was just getting some air, that's all." Kaylee said as she took the plate out of the microwave and shoved a fork full in her mouth. She chewed rapidly and swallowed.
"Sorry 'bout my eating style, but when you're starved, you don't care 'bout etiquette." She shoved another fork full down, eating a bit slower.
"There's notin' to apologize 'bout Kaylee. Say, would dyou be up to watchin' a film wit me? Dyou can choose which…" Gambit asked her.
"Ya, sure sounds good to me, I love movies, they are so useful when it comes to forgetting about real life for a bit." Kaylee agreed, putting the empty plate away in the dishwasher.
"Mon dieu, I guess dyou were hungry!" laughed Gambit as Kaylee guzzled some water down.
"Ha, you don't say. So where are we watching this movie?"
Gambit led her out the back doorway of the kitchen, through the dining room that led into the garden, and into a large warmly decorated study filled with large bookcases, leather sofas and seats, two large windows with window seats and a big chestnut colored wood desk. This room only had one other door, and did not join up with any others. Gambit quietly led her through the door and back out into the hallway. To their left was another door, this one open, and Gambit closed the door to the study and motioned for her to enter the room on the left. As she walked in, Gambit went ahead and light a lamp on a desk beside a large comfy looking couch covered in a brown suede. Around the couch were a couple other small sofa chairs, so that a larger crowd could sit together. The couch sat facing what looked like a 60" flat panel plasma tv, surrounded by an intricate gaming system, a couple racks of dvd's, and several speakers. The tv was mounted on a oak entertainment system, which contained a dvd player and the gaming system. The other side of the room held a pools table, a foosball game and a ping pong set, and random bean bag seats were placed around them. Another large entertainment system holding a variety of different music players and speakers was set up. Kaylee had had technologically advanced systems when she had lived with her parents, so she knew a bit about how to work them, but after seeing the setup in the room, she realized she had a lot to learn. Wow, she thought, somebody around here has some serious cash, because this is insane. She whistled out loud and commented,
"Holy crap, this is insane, who set up all this stuff? What is this, surround sound, like, how do you remember how everything works? Whew, I thought I knew something about technology, but after this, I'm not so sure anymore."
Laughing at her surprise, Gambit replied, "Et bien ma chère, dis stuff here been setup by our own techno genie, Forge. We let 'im deal wit' da most of dis stuff, but I know da basics, so don't dyou worry, we're good."
"Cool, so long as one of us has an idea of what we are doing. You guys have a ton of DVDs, are some of these even out yet?" she said gesturing to the large arrangement of DVDs.
Gambit shrugged, "Don't really know chère, pick one out and we'll watch it."
Kaylee rapidly went through the stack and chose to watch Inglorious Bastards with Brad Pitt. How they even got this movie, she wondered, because it is definitely not out yet. She walked over to Gambit and handed him it, glad that he was the one dealing with the massive entertainment system and not her. She flopped down on the couch, curling one foot under her and enjoying the soft feel of the material. Gambit managed to find the right remote and get the DVD to work without to much difficulty and came to sit beside her, not close enough to be touching, but near enough that she could smell his cologne and could literally lean over a few centimeters to touch him. He turned the lamp of so that they could enjoy the big screen to the fullest. Kaylee watched about 2/3 of the hilarious movie before falling asleep. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she fought hard to keep them open, but failed and slipped quickly into a deep sleep, unconsciously leaning on Gambit's shoulder, who was rather pleased, mistaken the unconscious action for a decision on Kaylee's part. Dort bien my chère *Sleep well my dear* he whispered.
Logan's POV
Logan parked the truck in his usual spot where there was easy access to the door. He thought back to today and wondered what the hell was happening to him. Who was he to try and comfort Kay? I must be going out of my mind, he decided, I am getting in way to deep as it is, just need to pull back and lay low for a while. He closed the door and locked it, putting the key into his pocket. He walked up a couple stairs and headed through the door leading into the house, pausing to absorb the quiet. Logan walked up a short hallway that connect to the main one, which eventually lead back to the entrance way. On his way through, he smelt a sandalwood and jasmine mixture and some strong cologne. Damn, he thought, she is with that Cajun again. I should just keep goin', it's not like it is any of my business anyways. But in contrast with what his head was telling him to do, he walked into the mansion's game room. Immediately he saw the tv flashing, but what provoked his anger was seeing Gambit with his arm around Kaylee, who was leaning on his side. He briskly stomped over to where they were sitting, just simmering on the inside.
"Hello dere Logan, wha' brings you here?" Gambit asked, flashing Logan a mocking grin, easily aware of the other man's anger.
"What the hell do you think you are doin' Gumbo?" he growled, eyeing Gambit's arm.
"Just watchin' da movie, nothin' wrong wit' dat is der?" Gambit replied innocently.
"What game are you playin' at Cajun, she don't need your cajoling, her life is complicated enough as it is."
"Gambit is starting to tink dat perhaps it is you dat wants to do de cajolin', huuum?"
Logan felt the anger boling under the surface, and it was all he could do to not lift the other man up by the throat and send him flying.
"I'm warnin' you bub, no games. That's the last thing she needs, and I will tear you to shreads if you mess around with her, she is not some prize you win playing cards." He threatened.
"I play for keeps Logan, so dyou can do what dyou want with dat. As for tearin' me to shreads, I tink I can hold my own, and dyou know dat to be true, non?" Gambit laughed.
"But I tell you what, dyou are welcome to play too, but dyou betta be good, cause Gambit intends ta win. However, if it makes dyou feel betta, I can tell ya that da last ting I want to do is hurt or mess around wit Kaylee." He offered.
"Just go to sleep Gumbo, I have no intentions of playin' your damn games. Now move out of the way, got to get Kay to her room." And with that he bent over and lifted Kaylee up, who was so knocked out that she did not even stir at the movement.
Logan stalked out of the room, leaving Gambit to look after whatever they had been doing. He concentrated on making it up the stairs, avoiding thinking about Kaylee, who was still oblivious to everything. He swiftly and quietly made it up the stairs and opened the door to Kaylee's room, closing it silently behind him. He gently lay her down on the bed, pausing to look at her sleep. Noticing that her bangs had fallen into her face, he lightly ran his fingers through her hair, pushing them to the side. He ran his index along her small jaw, letting his thumb trace the outline of her mouth. Goddamn, he thought, what am I getting myself into? He stood back up and giving Kaylee one last look, closed her door and went to his room.
Part 6
Kaylee woke with a start, terror pounding through her body, her heart jumping in her chest. Trying desperately to calm herself, Kaylee clenched the sheets, closing her eyes and slowly calming her breath. Another nightmare, she thought, when will they end, I can't keep going through the same thing night after night, I will go crazy. The edge of terror started to ebb away, fading into a state of emptiness. Kaylee lay back down, exhausted from the dream, but unable to sleep. She spent the rest of the night wide awake, starring into the dark. Little did she know, but when she had waken up in terror, so had Logan, confused and disoriented he lay wondering what the hell had happened for a long time before falling back to sleep.