Logan envied Emma's serenity. The first time he had seen the girl she had been a mess. Not physically by any means, and there were few outward signs of her instability. When she tilted her head or smiled though, any onlooker could tell that something was wrong. Back then Emma had been a patchwork of broken pieces jammed together to make a person who was barely coherent.
That had been over four years ago. He'd seen it get worse to the point where she was lashing out and killing prisoners when she was supposed to be interrogating them. Azazel and Clarice had done their best to keep it under wraps, much like he'd done for Victor. They were more successful than he'd been, but in both cases it had been decided that something had to be done.
It was strange that it was the same incident that would decide both of their fates. Victor had gone after Kayla which had sealed his arrest warrant. Logan hadn't been to visit him after he'd been put away. There was too much there. His brother had attempted to kill the woman he loved just so Logan wouldn't have anyone else in his life. It wasn't the sort of thing that a relationship could be repaired after.
Emma had chosen her fate when she had stepped in and saved her sister. Charles had quietly recommended that they give her another month before they think of putting her away. That month had been all Emma needed to begin to stabilize, to show an interest in controlling her powers. She went into therapy and got better. Rediscovering that her sister was alive was all she needed.
And now, while he gritted his teeth and his stomach churned in turmoil Emma stood serenely by. One of her hands was on Kayla's forehead, a truly angelic smile on her lips. She was the devoted sister, preparing to see her new niece or nephew. She had driven Kayla to the hospital and made sure to check with all the orderlies and nurses where everything was. She'd given a doctor instructions to show Logan to Kayla's room immediately after he arrived. She was completely prepared.
She'd even given him a bright smile when he came in, his clothes disheveled and probably looking like a man who'd just escaped prison. He suspected that she didn't like him, but he'd never had anything to back up that theory. Besides narrowing her eyes at him when he was introduced as her sister's fiancé she'd been nothing but civil. Even at the hospital her smile was genuine. Emma had gestured for him to come forward and inclined her head, her face free from any signs of insanity.
"She's been waiting for you," Emma said.
"Glad you're here Logan," said Kayla, her voice strained.
Logan had taken up position next to her, holding her hand. He'd heard that women who were pregnant tended to break their husband's hands during delivery. He wasn't worried about that. It would heal. Kayla could break his hand a thousand times if it made her feel better and it wouldn't make any difference to him.
He knew that technically he wasn't allowed to be in the room for the birth. However, he was damned if he was going to let any nurses or doctors push him out. He'd let them see that in his eyes when the first doctor tentatively suggested that he should leave. Kayla had laughed as the doctor stumbled out, looking terrified. Emma had inclined her head in amusement but said nothing.
Logan looked over at his wife and squeezed her hand in support. He still thought it was incredible that he was in this situation. Sometimes he thought it was all just a strange dream. Years ago he had realized that he wasn't suited to fatherhood. There were people who would have families and then there were people like him.
Deep down Logan knew that he could easily become like his brother. It was only the pangs of a conscience which had kept him from ending up like Victor. The urge to use his fists and claws to solve a situation was always there. You couldn't use that approach with a wife or child, so he'd known that he couldn't do it.
Logan knew one thousand ways to kill a man. He knew how to infiltrate enemy bases and destroy equipment. He was a born killer, a soldier who didn't need orders and wasn't afraid to take the tough way out. It was the abilities that made him so useful in the Genoshan revolution that had confirmed that no woman would want to spend their life with him, and no kid would want him as a father.
And then Kayla had changed everything. She wasn't afraid. She'd seen some bad things in life, done some bad things too if he was to be honest. Kayla wasn't an angel, but who on Genosha was? Ever since the MRD had shown up mutants had been driven to desperate measures to survive.
It was her anger over what had happened to her family that had kept her going. Insanity had never gripped her like it had gripped her sister though. She had trudged on, determined. If she had left a trail of bodies and a river of blood behind her, what of it? Logan understood better than anyone that survival often counted on your ability to kill someone before they killed you.
Yet, she wasn't bloodthirsty. Her kills had never corrupted her. She was a woman who accepted what she had done and moved on with her life. She was a warrior in her own right, and fiercely loyal. She was a woman who would befriend a CIA agent and volunteered to protect her daughter in a strange land.
It made no sense that she would want him, the broken soldier, but he was grateful that she did. She had pulled him into a world where things could be different. Kayla had made him want to be the kind of person who could spend his life with her and raise a child together. He had wanted to become better because, if she could get past what she had done, why couldn't he at least try?
The doctors came back in as Kayla entered the last stages of her delivery. He could see Emma hovering nearby, her face a picture of sisterly concern. Unlike him Kayla had forbidden her from holding her hand. She'd tried and failed with Logan, but with Emma she had some ground to stand on. Emma wouldn't heal and if she turned her hand to diamond then it would be too slippery to hold onto. Logan kept his hand firmly in hers, even when he heard his bones creaking.
Cries filled the room and he winced from all the noise, amplified by his sensitive ears. Hospitals had always been difficult for him, their myriad of chemicals killing his noise and the machines hurting his ears. The only place that could even compare with the sensory overload he experienced was the battlefield. His discomfort couldn't be compared with what she was going through though.
"Kayla, it's okay," he said, "I'm here; it's gonna be okay."
She gave him a wry smile. Despite his premonitions Kayla didn't break his hand. It seemed like hours passed before their child was born though. He knew as soon as the child was born that it was a girl, the smell filling his nostrils. He leaned down and whispered the news in Kayla's ear.
Kayla had laughed, a weak and strangled sound. She had quieted when they put the wailing baby into her arms. It figured. No child of Kayla's would come into the world meekly. No child of Logan's would come into the world quietly. Together their daughter made an incredible wailer.
She was placed in her mother's arms, her skin shriveled and red. Emma let out a cooing noise and Kayla smiled. She smiled at Logan.
"I was thinking Laura," she said.
He grinned and gently touched one of the baby's hand with his fingertip. He was going to have to be very careful from then on out. He'd been given an incredible chance, and he wasn't about to mess it up.
"Laura sounds great," he said.
Emma walked down the hall, feeling very proud of herself. It was funny in its own way. She hadn't done anything to be proud of really; it was her sister who had had her daughter a few hours ago. She had merely been a bystander, the devoted sister who reassured her until her husband arrived and tried to fetch things and be useful after he did.
She smiled to herself as she walked along the hall. Emma didn't like Logan. She didn't like the way he smoked his cheap cigars, his crude language, or his violent nature. Emma knew it was hypocritical to get angry at him for being violent; she herself didn't have the cleanest record when it came to that. However, she hadn't liked it in herself and didn't like to see it in others.
It wasn't as though she hated him. He had done several good things; namely her new niece. She had always been able to count on him when they were going into combat. He was a good soldier, but Emma had been shocked and angry to find out that he was joining their family. Where had that come from? She wasn't quite ready to share and he wasn't the type of person that she'd be willing to share with if she was.
However, she made a point of being nice to him for the simple reason that he made Kayla happy. Her sister deserved that. As long as he made her sister happy Emma would go on being cheerful around him. She would go on being the supportive sister-in-law. The minute he ceased to make Kayla happy she would be free to despise him. Even so she wished that the day would never come.
Emma came to a door and typed in her code. A panel opened and Emma pried her eyelids apart for the retinal scan. It made her eyelids itch but she stayed still. As soon as it was done the door slid open and she saw Clarice on the other side, leaning back in her swivel chair. Clarice smiled when she saw her, stifling a yawn.
"Long night with Calvin?" asked Emma.
"You could say that," Clarice said.
Emma smiled at her. Calvin Rankin was someone she approved of, someone that her smiles were genuine for. Clarice and Calvin were sweet together, and Clarice was another person in Emma's life who deserved happiness. She had worked as an attaché to Janos before returning to Genosha to begin law school at Charles' night school. She'd met Calvin there; him training to be an X-man and her training to be a diplomat. It made for a good story.
"I brought you Hershey's," Emma said.
She slid the bar across the desk to Clarice. Clarice smiled and unwrapped the bar.
"I should be giving you chocolate," she said, "You're an aunt now."
"Her name's Laura," Emma said, her voice proud, "She looks a lot like my sister. Not so much like her husband, but a lot like my sister."
Clarice grinned and then looked down the hall.
"I suppose that's why you're here?" asked Clarice.
"It is, yes," said Emma, "He's got to know these things sometime but Logan won't come down here. He shouldn't have to really."
"And you don't mind?" asked Clarice.
Emma shrugged.
"Anything for my brother-in-law," she said.
Without another word she took off down the hall, her snowy-white heels clicking behind her. She walked past reinforced panes of glass that looked down on reinforced iron rooms. There were hundreds of codes to get into those rooms. Emma didn't need to get into where she was going though. She preferred it that way.
She stopped by the last cell and typed in a code. It would allow her to be heard and seen. She looked up as the light switched on.
"The hell are you doing back?"
Emma smiled politely at Victor Creed. She took in the tubes that conveyed the chemical restraints into his system on a continual pump. Other restraints had been welded into his bones, a detail she took in with no little amount of relish. It had been the only way to keep him down. They still hadn't figured out how to kill him.
"You're an uncle," she said, her voice bright, "Her name's Laura; seven pounds and eight ounces. Both mother and daughter are resting comfortably."
He snarled at her. Ignoring it she clasped her hands in front of her.
"She's very pretty," Emma said.
"The hell do you get off comin' down here and sayin' this shit?" Creed snapped.
Emma cocked her head.
"Her middle name is Christine," said Emma, "A girl's version of my brother's name. Laura Christine Howlett."
Again he snarled.
"Just thought you should know," Emma said, going to shut off the comm.
"I'm getting' out of here one day," hissed Creed, "And I'll feed that thing to Jimmy's slut, you hear me?"
Her hand stopped on the comm button. She turned back to him, no longer smiling.
"No," she said.
"What?"
"You're not going to," Emma said, "Now, seeing how we're both rational people I suppose it is possible that you'll break out of here one day."
She shrugged.
"It's a possibility."
"It'll happen bitch."
Ignoring him Emma put both hands on the reinforced glass and leaned in. She made sure that she was making eye contact with him when she spoke.
"But, even if you do get out," said Emma, "If you ever lay a finger on Kayla or Laura then you won't have to worry about Logan coming after you. You'll have to worry about me."
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Is that s'posed'ta scare me? Some teenage bitch trying to intimidate me?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Well," Emma said, "I was the one who suggested that they weld the chains to your bones. And do you know why I suggested that?"
Emma smiled her old broken smile, pieces of insanity coming together.
"I've been insane Vic; been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And do you know something?"
She leaned in even further.
"I'm not all here," Emma said, "Not like they all think. They want to believe that I'm alright because they never wanted to shut me away. But deep down I know that there's some part of me that wants to rip everything to shreds. So don't be fooled by my girlish appearance; you touch them and I won't even try to find a way to kill you. I'll destroy you. So yes; you should be afraid."
Insanity stained her teeth as she grinned, reaching over and switching off the comm.
A/N: Now, I know in the comics Logan has a biological son named Daken. He didn't get used for the simple reason that I find Daken an annoying, whiny, unkillable asshole. The only plot arc with him in it that I could stand was when he had to double team with Laura to track someone down. Laura, or X-23, is Logan's clone in the comics. She's an interesting character who develops over time. She goes through a lot of the same struggles as Logan to retain her humanity while simultaneously knowing that it's her beserker killing skills that make her useful.
And Emma. Let me just say that I don't think that insanity is like flipping a switch on and off.
