A\N: If anyone is reading this story, speak up. My life sucks and I need reassurance.
Chapter 4: Back to School
Logan was enjoying a glass of Whiskey in front of his fireplace, alternating between drinking and smoking his cigar. He was not entirely sure what he was looking for when he came back here, but he certainly found it. Although, knowing himself, he would find that serenity dull eventually, and seek new adventures. And when that time came, he knew where he was heading.
He did not hear from Medea since he left, 3 months ago. For the most part, he was relieved that she was not the type of clingy female who demanded constant attention, especially when he was not planning on gaining anything from her. Yes, she was old enough to consider, but her face was ridiculously young and her body appeared to be equally underdeveloped. He would definitely invest some effort in someone like Jean, if that meant he gets to shag a bombshell, but Medea did not even register as a sexual being as far as he was considered. Although in the short time he spent with her, she did spark his interest.
Which led him to feel a bit annoyed. Not that it bothered him normally, but on times like these when he was in a certain mood and pondering, he wondered why she did not contact him. It might have had something to do with his ego, since women did not usually discard him. No, it was mostly due to the fact that he was genuinely worried about her. If she was happy at the school, or if she was at the school at all. If he was being completely honest with himself, it would ease his conscious to know she was well. It was not the first night he wondered how she was doing, but it was the first time he got some sort of an answer, when his phone buzzed.
Groaning, he reached for the phone to see who would disturbed him. He found himself grinning when he saw it was a message from Medea.
"I'm drinking by myself. Couldn't find a new drinking buddy. Happy birthday old man."
Logan chuckled and typed. "I'm irreplaceable. How did you know it was my birthday?"
"Your favorite redhead asked me to fetch your medical records." Came the swift answer.
"Well, now you know I don't have Herpes. I hope you didn't do anything reckless to get it."
"You're so ancient your Herpes died of old age. I still have some inside connections, don't worry."
She was entertaining, he'd give her that. The old-man jokes usually got on his nerves but he found hers to be pretty amusing. Logan wondered how did she manage to keep her connections though. He would inquire about it when he returned. "How are you doing, kid?"
"I'm OK, busy mostly. I'm going back to work right now actually. Have a demo tomorrow."
"Don't overwork. Stay in good drinking shape, I'll be back soon."
Logan was not sure why he wrote he would be back soon. He did not plan to return soon. But suddenly the idea was not so appalling. His favorite redhead was still concerned about him, and he was unlikely to find a hot babe like her in the Canadian mountains. Also, he was more than slightly intrigued about his medical files, there was much he did not know about his condition and it did bother him constantly. And truth to be told, it got somewhat boring to be drinking alone.
"You're kidding me, right?" Medea was giving Storm a distressed look.
"No. try it on." Storm insisted, handing her the shiny black fabric.
As if the bra shopping was not traumatic enough, Medea cringed. Surrendering, she took the offensive garment from Storm, and entered the changing room. The process of wearing the uniform was far from easy, since it was skin tight and had way too many buckles, belts and buttons. Medea realized that in case of emergency she would have to be quick to put it on, and that actually required some training on her part. Bloody ridiculous.
"Come out already." Storm teased her.
With overwhelming reluctance, Medea stepped out of the room, walking towards Storm, who was standing by a full length mirror. Storm took in her appearance with guarded expression. Medea inwardly flinched at her reflection. "Does it have to be so tight?"
"It's not tight, it's snug." Storm corrected her. "You look good."
"Yeah it definitely accents my female assets but why is it necessary?" Medea frowned at the way her breasts were emphasized in the leathery suit.
"So you won't die an old spinster." Storm replied acidly. "It's lunch time. Get changed and let's get some food."
Taking a seat in the staff's table, Medea served herself some pasta. There seemed to be a commotion in the dining room when a certain bearded man entered the hall. He immediately locked eyes with Jean, who was also standing by the doors. They appeared to have a pretty heated welcome chat, and Medea knew better than to interrupt a predator in his hunt. It did not take long before Scott arrived, interfering with their conversation. Logan gave him a loathing glare before he disappeared from her sight, probably leaving the hall. Medea returned her focus to her food, when a heavy hand ruffled her hair.
"Hey!" She cried out, using her fork to stab whoever was behind her.
She heard the clash of metal against metal when her attack was blocked. "That's a rude welcome."
Medea turned around to see Logan, her fork stuck between his claws, with a spaghetti hanging from one of them. Apologetically, she handed him a tissue. "Sneaking on someone from behind isn't really polite either." She muttered.
Logan wiped the food from his claws, sending her a crooked smile. "I guess I had it coming."
"Are you going to take a seat, or you'll just tower over me for the rest of the meal?" Medea inquired cheekily.
"I don't really approve of the company." Logan gave Scott a dirty look. "Mind if we eat out?"
"Not at all." Medea replied, picking up her plate. Logan loaded two plate with medium rear stakes and potato mesh, and they went out to the lawns. Sitting down at a picnic table, they dag in their food.
"Your hair's longer." Logan remarked.
"It happens when you don't cut it for a couple of months." Medea smirked.
"Looks nice. Keep it long." Logan stated.
"Right, like I'm gonna take beauty tips from you." Medea drawled.
Logan raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm attractive?"
"If I ever need help with grooming my beard, I promise I'll come straight to you." Medea quipped.
"You're avoiding the question."
"For your ego's sake." Medea childishly stuck out her tongue. "And anyway, I'm not the one you need to convince of your appeal."
Logan groaned. "I had her in my pocket until that asshole showed up."
Medea gave an uncommitted hum, trying not to laugh at his delusional perception.
"Why did you come back?" Medea inquired.
Logan stabbed his steak unnecessarily for a long moment. "Got bored from drinking by myself." He said with a lopsided smirk.
"Well, we can fix it tonight." Medea suggested. "Do you...do you want me to bring your records?"
Logan regarded her quietly for some time. "Yeah, thanks."
Logan loathed being used as guinea pig, or as a test subject, but he found himself drastically less opposed to it when it was Jean who was doing the testing. He would just lay there and let her take his measures, track his healing speed, while he got to watch her swaying her fantastic ass across the lab, or bending over to take notes and exposing just a little more cleavage than appropriate.
Today she put him on the treadmill and let him sweat a little, examining his stamina. Logan pondered with a tiny bit of self-degradation, how pleased he was to show off his muscles in front of an attractive female. Well, Stryker always said he was an animal.
Jean was checking him out way more than necessary, which was not surprising as he used the exercising as an excuse to take off his shirt. And Logan knew he was well built. She adjusted the running speed to the maximum, trying to wipe the arrogant smirk from his face, but he was hardly challenged. A few moments later, Jean stopped the machine, and walked towards him, taking off all the monitors and electrodes from his chest.
"You know, I can last much longer than that..." Logan remarked suggestively, making Jean blush and fumble with the equipment.
Jean threw a towel at him. "I'm certain, but I have collected all the information that I need already." She completely ignored his innuendo.
"And to what conclusions did you reach after ogling me?" Logan teased, wiping the sweat from his glistening torso.
"Regardless of how unprofessional you think I am," Jean said curtly. "I'm with Scott."
"Oh, I'm no doctor, but I have a cure for that darling." Logan said in a rough voice.
Jean gave him an annoyed look. He could tell she was angry with him, but that her body was betraying her and showing signs of lust. His elevated senses could definitely tell she was attracted to him. "We're done here" Jean dismissed him.
Logan took a few steps towards her, putting his shirt back on. "We haven't even started yet, doc."
Jean gave him a prolonged look, that seemed torn between jumping his bones or breaking them. "I need to ask a favor from you." Jean said. "I think Medea has been losing weight lately and is certainly overworking. Can you grab something from the kitchen and bring it down to her lab?"
Logan seemed surprised. How can anyone tell Medea's weight with the shapeless, oversize garments she wore? If Jean was right, it was indeed a bit worrying, and he had never been to her lab before so why the hell not. "Will I get a kiss if I do it?" Logan tried his luck.
Jean laughed, and standing on her toes, placed a kiss on Logan's cheek. It was a bit disappointing, but better than nothing at all, and it certainly became satisfying when Scott stepped into the lab in a very poor timing just then. Logan gave him a challenging look when walking out, leaving them to have a very unpleasant conversion. Her scent lingered in his mind, and somehow it was not what he expected.
Logan decided to take a shower first, heading to the staff quarters. He was next door to Medea, but she was hardly ever in her room. Taking that shower was definitely a good idea. Logan assumed he smelled rather appalling after 2 hours on the treadmill, and washing the sweat off definitely felt good. But what felt even better was relieving all that sexual tension from spending those 2 hours around Jean. He had an incredible wank, thinking about how he would fuck her against that metal desk in her lab. Clean and lax, he made his way to the kitchens, and began piling food on a plate.
"Hungry again, Logan?" He heard Storm. "You had lunch with us."
"Jean had me running on her treadmill up until now." Logan complained. "I actually came to take food for Medea."
"Oh, good." Storm said, picking up an energy drink. "She slept through breakfast and lunch because she worked until late night yesterday."
Logan replied with an uncommitted hum, filling up another plate, since he was actually pretty hungry himself. He remembered Medea did not eat meat, and tried to recall what she preferred eating. Medea liked pasta, and fries and spicy rice and basically...carbs. He added some vegetables, in hopes of convincing her to eat them. Taking cutlery for both of them, and the plates, he proceeded to the lower levels. He was about to kick the metal doors of her lab, since his hands were occupied, but they instantly opened up.
Her work place was spacious. One part of it had bookshelves from floor to ceiling, with a comfortable looking armchair and a rugged sofa. The other part held countless monitors, and a few computers, around a L shaped desk. There was a very messy blackboard on one of the walls, and he noticed another door besides the one he came from. And all of that was engulfed in darkness, that was slightly lighted up by the monitors. It was also very, very cold in there.
"Nice place you got here." Logan remarked, making Medea jump at least two feet in the air, nearly falling from her chair.
"I didn't realize you were here." She answered, seemingly confused.
"Jean sent me here to bring you food." Logan clarified.
"Oh," Medea noticed the plates in his hands. "Is it all for me?"
Logan chuckled at her puzzlement. "No, I was hungry and I thought we can eat together."
"We can eat there." Medea pointed at the area where the sofa and the armchair were.
Logan took the armchair, wanting to test if it was cozy as it looked. Medea took her plate from him and began nibbling her food. She was shifting it from side to side while looking incredibly distracted. "You're supposed to eat it, not play with it." Logan rebuked her.
Medea seemed to snap out from her trance and actually began eating, sending him an apologetic smile. "Thank you. For bringing me food."
"Maybe it will help me score with Jean." Logan winked at her.
Medea rolled her eyes at him. "And I thought I was special."
Logan mused for a moment. "You are. I'd probably bring anyone else food to please Jean, but I sure as hell won't sit with them."
Medea smiled and picked up a piece of cucumber examining it like it was the first time she saw a vegetable. After a moment of thought, she took a bite. Logan chuckled at her quirkiness. He nearly finished his meal when he realized how quiet it was there. There was a monotonous buzz from the computers, but other then that, silence. It was like her lab was in a different universe than the noisy, chaotic school. The was a small floor lamp, just beside him, and the armchair was certainly comfy. He could detect the scent of old books, and his eyes trailed along the many bookshelves.
"There are some really good reading books here. This part." Medea pointed at a section of her private library.
"And the rest?" Logan queried.
"The rest are professional literature." Medea replied.
Logan put down his plate, and got up, checking the fiction section. "Are they yours?"
"Yes. I bought many of them along the years." Medea said, between bites. "Some are newer, I convinced the professor that I needed some inspirational reading too."
Logan scanned the shelves appreciatively. Medea's flavor in literature was very similar to his. He might not give a very intellectual impression, but Logan read a lot, especially when he was in his cabin. Logan raised his hand and caressed the spin of one of the books. "Childhood's End. It's one of my favorites."
Medea came to stood beside him, with a bitter smile. "It hits too close to home, doesn't it."
Logan turned to look at her, meeting a pair of green eyes that express uncanny maturity and sensitivity. The book itself held meanings and messages in many levels, and not only was she intelligent enough to read between the lines, she was perceptive enough to tell how it would affect him. "I sometimes wonder if I am going to be the last one left to watch how it all ends."
"I belong to a lesser species who just couldn't make the jump. At least you are a part of the progression." Medea said sullenly. "The future is yours. Or rather, the future is you. "
Logan contemplated for a moment. "Not exactly. He describes Omega levels mutants."
Medea's expression was cynical as she spoke. "But you wouldn't want to be a part of a shared consciousness anyway. You can barely stand sharing oxygen with others."
Logan chuckled. "I guess you're right."
They stood in silence for a few moments, each in his own thoughts. Medea spoke first. "You can come here, to read. If you want."
Logan honestly was tempted. The school was too loud, too crowded. This place offered him an escape. "I wouldn't bother you when you're working?"
"No. I probably won't even notice you're here." Medea assured him. "According to protocol the lab is off limits to anyone but me. But I already added you to the permission list."
Realization dawned. "That's why the doors opened automatically when I got here."
Medea nodded. "Yes, face detection. The lab is normally locked."
Logan stared at her appreciatively. He was not an expert in technology but it was obvious Medea was doing a marvelous job. She made so much progress in just a few months. He wondered where and how one draws the line between a genius and a mutant. Medea sent him another half smile, thanked him again for the food, and returned to her work, diving back in. He stayed a few more minutes, watching her, while she was completely and utterly oblivious to him.