Chapter 10 (Logan)

I guess it's cold outside, but I don't seem to feel it. I'm still wearing the sweatpants and T-shirt I took from the jet. I did get shoes from my room, at least. Nori always scolds me when I do stuff like put out a cigar on my hand or go out in the snow barefoot. I always remind her I have a healing factor, and she shakes her head and says, "But you still feel pain, Logan." I guess since she grew up with Yuriko, she's never impressed by or afraid of my healing factor.

As a doctor, Jean was impressed by my healing factor, but not afraid. I remembered waking up in the medbay my first visit to Xaviers. I'd been so afraid I was back with Stryker (even if I hadn't remembered yet that that's who I was afraid of), but she'd still caught my eye. She'd been beautiful then, and she was still beautiful today. But different. Frightening. I'd been relieved to find that I could look at her now without lusting for her. I still cared about her, still found her beautiful, but my heart had found a home.

Still, I hated thinking about her and Scott with Sinister. I reminded myself that Nori had survived her time with Sinister more or less intact. On the other hand—Nori hadn't tried to fight Sinister. I was pretty sure Scott and Jean would. If they were in their right minds. Christ. This shit is complicated. But it would work out. It would.

I take a puff of my cigar and think back to Nori and Remy on the jet. Poor Nori. That power of hers had gotten her into some scrapes. But she'd always bounced back. Her sweet spirit was indomitable, it seemed, and I have every reason to hope she's got another comeback left in her. If she doesn't, it's going to ruin more lives than just hers. I'd been half-feral on the jet, but I could smell the pain on LeBeau when she'd shied away from him. I hope she snaps out of it soon.

When I'd first met Nori, I'd thought her naïve and ditzy. But I was wrong. She was clever, accomplished, and kind. She was kind without an ulterior motive; she was kind even though I'd been snide to her; she was kind even though I'd killed her sister. She spoke her mind and never minded coming across as silly, as long as she thought she was doing the right thing. I finish my cigar and decide to come in from the snow. Remy and I can wait for our girl together.

Remy's sitting in a metal chair with a blue padded seat, next to Nori's bed. His face is a study in composed blankness. Rachael and Cecilia are in there too. Great, my two favorite people. But I commit myself to playing nice. Rachael cares for Nori, I know, even if she has a bitchy way of showing it sometimes. And Cecilia's a pretty decent doctor as far as I hear. I've never had need for her services myself.

I nod to them in greeting and pull a chair next to Remy. I take his hand and he clutches mine tightly. "How is she?" I ask.

Remy shrugs. "Same as when you left."

We sit and watch her for a long time. At some point Rachael leaves and comes back down with some music. She plays Paul Simon for Nori. A few songs in, Remy starts crying quietly.

"Hey. Cajun. She's gonna be just fine."

"I hate listening to music without her," he says. I know exactly what he means. Her love of music and her projective empathy make even the worst pop song a thing of beauty. I put my arm around him and he puts his head on my shoulder. I guess we are not doing a great job of keeping our relationship a secret. But fuck it, Remy needs me right now. And we both need Nori.

Hank comes down eventually. He brings down some food for us and checks on Xavier and Nori. He spews out some medical-ese that I mentally translate to, "I have no idea what the hell happened here." I don't blame him. I don't think there are any doctors around who have dealt with a patient who rose from the dead and then fried the brains of two telepaths.

We eat dinner (well—I eat dinner, and everyone else picks at their food) and keep waiting. After another hour or so, Nori opens her eyes. We all beam. She looks around but clearly is having trouble focusing her eyes.

"Hey, cher," Remy coos. She looks up at him with difficulty. She blinks and then her face takes on a look of fear.

"No," she says. "Please."

Brokenly, Remy says, "Cher, it's me. Remy. I love you. I ain't gonna hurt you. Never."

She squeezes her eyes shut and I can smell fear rising from her. I decide to try a different tack, and in Japanese I say, "Nori, how are you?"

She shakes her head "no," but I can tell she's calmer. "Nori, it's Logan. I love you. You're safe here, with us. With Remy. He's your husband, remember?"

Nori makes a soft little sound. "What are you so afraid of?" I ask.

"Please," she says.

"The only people here are me, Remy, Rachael, and Cecilia. None of us are going to hurt you. We all love you."

She doesn't respond, and I sigh. "I promise, I'll protect you from whatever you're afraid of. I won't leave you. You're safe."

Eyes still squeezed shut, she shakes her head.

"Nori, open your eyes. Look again. It's just Remy. Remy, who loves you. Remy, who you love."

She peeks up at Remy, who's crying and looking down at his hands. "Remy?" she whispers.

He sags with relief and smiles. "Oui, cher, it's me."

Tentatively, she takes his hand and strokes it. "Remy," she sighs.

"How are you, cher? Love you."

She whimpers, but holds tight to his hand. Her eyes flicker between me and Remy. "We are here," she says. Her voice is full of wonder.

In a choked voice, Remy says, "Oui, cher, we are here."

She gives us a smile and then lies quietly for a long time. She's not asleep, but she's not exactly awake, either. Remy murmurs to her constantly, endearments and encouragements half in French, half in English. She doesn't respond, but I can tell she's listening and getting calmer. His seductive voice is incredibly soothing.

Eventually she drifts off to a full sleep. Remy sighs and says, "I'm going out for a smoke."

Rachael comes to take his empty seat. She looks at me and says, without preamble, "Look. It's not my place to judge, but I'm just wondering—are you—are you three in some kind of ménage a trois relationship?"

I shrug. "Yeah."

Rachael sighs. "Well."

I say, "It'd be just great if you could postpone any kind of lecture until after she's out of the medbay."

"No… no lecture. You… you love her, don't you?"

I nod. She says, "And Remy knows?"

I nod again. "Takes three to tango. The way we do it, anyway."

She gives a wan smile. "Well… good for you three." She pauses. "This must be hard for you." I nod. She strokes Nori's hand and then retreats to sit with Cecilia. Remy re-enters the medbay, and I inhale a big whiff of his clove cigarette smell. He sits down and takes my hand.

Another reason I wish Nori would wake up: I miss being able to telepathically talk about Rachael when she's in the room. Contrary to popular belief, I do have some manners. But I want to tell Remy about the conversation Rachael and I had had earlier.

The hours blend into each other. I hate it in the medbay. The smells are all wrong. Too sterile, too unhealthy. Then there's the stink of anxiety rising off everyone else in the waiting room. The other adults in the school trickle in and out, sitting with Xavier and chatting with Remy and I. Remy eventually falls asleep with his head in my lap. Rachael and Cecilia go upstairs to sleep, though I'm told to call Cecilia or Hank immediately if anything happens. I settle in for the night, idly stroking Remy's silky hair and trying to find a comfortable spot on my chair.

Nori wakes up at some point, but she says nothing. I talk to her, tell her how important it is that she come back to us as soon as possible. She looks at me briefly and then fades back out.

The next morning, Aiko comes in to visit her aunt. I give her my chair and pace around the medbay. She says, "Aunt Nori doesn't feel right."

Remy says, "I know, petite."

"I mean, with my power. She doesn't feel… right."

"It's probably the medicine she's on," Remy says.

Aiko starts to cry. "She should stop taking it. She should stop, now. This isn't good."

Cecilia says, gently, "We'll take her off of it soon. It's just a short term measure."

"It's killing her spirit!" Aiko says shrilly.

Remy looks at Cecilia. "You know," he says. "Aiko's an empath, too. She… she can maybe see things that those machines don't."

Cecilia tightens her mouth. "I'll call Hank down," she says grudgingly.

Hank comes down and listens to Aiko. "Can you explain what you mean when you say it's 'killing her spirit'?" he asks.

"You don't believe me!" she says. "Neither of you believe me."

Hank says, "I understand that you are afraid for your aunt. She's had something scary happen to her, and now she's acting… strangely."

"I can see her! She is in there! But the medicine is like a black cloud all around her! It's trapping her with the other!"

I don't really like the sound of that, and I say, "What would happen if you took her off the medication? I mean, couldn't you just put her back on later if she needs?"

Hank and Cecilia both look at me sharply. Right. I'm not Nori's niece and I'm not her husband, so why am I even here? Fuck that.

Hank says, "Well—she's on a fairly high dose of lorezapam right now. If we stopped it abruptly, she could well experience withdrawal symptoms."

"Are those symptoms any worse than what she's got going on now?" Remy asks.

Hank says, "They can include seizures and anterograde amnesia. Ah, the inability to form new memories."

"What?" I ask. "Permanently?"

"Permanent anterograde amnesia is an extremely remote possibility. More likely it would only be a few days or so."

Remy sighs. "Well—can you just start taking her off of it? You know, slowly?"

Hank says, "Remy, may I speak with you privately?"

Remy glances briefly at Aiko, and nods. He follows Hank out into the hallway. I perk my ears and listen. Hank rattles off a long list of possible complications. He politely suggests that Remy might not be in the best state of mind to make medical decisions, and that Aiko has had less than a week to adapt to using her mutant power.

Remy says, "I know, I know. But if I've learned one thing from this life o'mine, it's to trust my gut. And my gut says to listen to Aiko. And, anyway, she's going to have to stop taking that drug sooner or later, non? So there would always be the risk of withdrawal?"

Hank sighs and says, "Very well."

Remy says, "Merci."

They step back into the medbay and Hank adjusts some settings on her IV drip. He says, "We'll reduce the dose gradually and have her off of it by tomorrow. The last traces of the drug should be out of her system in two or three days."

"Three days? No!" Aiko says.

Remy hugs her. "Hey, petite, that medicine is powerful stuff. We can't just take her off of it. It'll make her sick."

Aiko sobs. "It's making her sick now! It's killing her!"

"It is not killing her, Aiko," Hank says firmly.

"She is burning," Aiko says.

We look at Nori and I notice she's sweating. Her breathing is coming unevenly. Hank frowns and examines her.

"Running a fever… how long has she been like this?"

We shrug. Hank glances skeptically at Aiko.

We keep an anxious vigil around her for an hour. The fever rises, despite Hank's attempts at medication, and Nori shakes and shivers but doesn't wake up.

"S'vous plait, Hank, what if you took her off the medicine now? What's the worst that would happen?"

"I've already told you the worst that would happen."

Remy glances at me, and I nod. "Please, Hank, please just take her off of it."

Hank sighs. "At this point, I'm actually inclined to agree with you. But… this might not be pretty."

"It ain't pretty now, Hank," I say.

Hank shrugs. "I suppose you're right." He fusses with the IV for a moment and replaces the clear plastic bag with another. "This is just a saline drip," he says. "To keep her hydrated and to allow us to add other medications as necessary."

I get a damp washcloth and wipe Nori's face. Her hair is soaked through with sweat and she smells terrible. Her sweat is full of chemicals. We wait patiently, but not for long. Her reaction to being taken off the drug isn't instantaneous, but it's still remarkably fast. She stops shivering. Her fever drops, and she returns to a normal sleep.

We're just starting to relax and think that maybe things will be all right, when the medbay doors slide open and a familiar face reveals itself.

"Magneto," I snarl.

He sighs. "I assure you, Wolverine, I come in peace."

Aiko, still sitting next to Remy, looks up. "He's not lying," she says, though she still looks a little nervous.

Magneto takes in Nori and Xavier. "How are they?" he asks, brusquely. He's dressed casually in slacks and a sweater. No helmet. Maybe he did come in peace.

"They've been better," Remy says.

Magneto says, "I am sorry to hear that."

"What do you want, Magneto?" I ask, unable to bear another second of small talk.

He sighs. "I believe we are all in mortal danger."

"Same as it ever was," Remy says.

"No, Gambit, much graver than it ever was," Magneto says, sharply. "You do not know what Jean Grey has become."

"I think we have some idea," I say.

He shakes his head. "She could destroy us all, and I'm not entirely sure that isn't what Sinister has in mind."

"I thought you and Sinister were workin' together," Remy says.

Magneto says, "We entered into a certain agreement, yes. But now… I… I am afraid of what may come to pass."

"A little late for that," I growl.

"Wolverine, such childish behavior is not productive," Magneto scolds. I can feel my claws itching to come out. I try my best to keep them under control, and I pace back and forth.

Hank says, "So, Magneto, what exactly do you fear will come to pass?"

He sighs. "Sinister has a deep interest in the future child of Jean and Scott. He believes this child will be the most powerful mutant… ever."

"Are Jean and Scott in danger?" Hank asks.

"They are completely under Mesmero's control. I do not believe they are in danger, exactly. I don't think they are aware of their predicament."

"Well, if we're waiting on Scott and Jeannie to have some super-powerful kid, we got some time, right?" I ask. "Nine months, at least."

Magneto shakes his head. "By now, I'm sure Sinister has already harvested the necessary ingredients to grow a child in vitro. He no longer really needs Jean and Scott for that project. He no longer needs Scott at all. But Jean… Jean is extremely powerful. And extremely unstable. Charles never should have blocked her power off the way he did… but, of course, it's a little late for that."

At that moment, Nori rises from the bed. She's glowing. "I hunger!" she says.

Magneto raises his eyebrows. "Seems that girl has a different power every time I see her."

"She is not me!" Nori says.

"Jean?" Magneto asks.

Nori-Jean looks at him. Her face is terrifying. "Erik, you know nothing."

"Jeannie, where are you?" I ask.

"I hunger," Nori-Jean says, and she flies at Magneto. He takes a panicked step back, but she floats easily after him. She caresses his face with a flame-flicked hand.

Magneto screams and falls to the ground. Nori-Jean looks content, and suddenly, she's just plain Nori. She looks down at herself, down at Magneto, and over at the rest of us. She bends down and pokes Magneto. Hank comes over to join her.

He ain't dead, I can smell that much. I can smell Nori's tears. Hank picks Magneto up and puts him on an exam table. Remy gets up and guides Nori back to bed. She sits on the edge of it, trembling.

"What did I do?" she asks. "What did I do?"

Aiko looks at her. "She's gone, now. The Phoenix was making you sick, and the drugs were keeping her from leaving. But she's gone."

"Did I—did she—what happened to Magneto?"

Remy sits on the bed next to Nori and puts an arm around her.

"The Phoenix ate his spirit," Aiko said.

Nori nods.

"Um. Is the Phoenix coming back?" Cecilia asks.

Nori shrugs.

"No," Aiko says.

"I think perhaps we need to have a serious discussion," Hank says.

"Yeah, because it's all been fun and games until now," I say. Now that the drugs are starting to leave her system, I can feel Nori's empathy start to waft out. She's frightened. My girl's afraid, and that's not right. I feel a low growl in my throat, but I'm not sure if it's audible to anyone else.

Aiko looks me in the eye and, in Japanese, says, "It will be okay, Uncle Logan."

I'm made of adamantium, not stone, and my heart melts a little at that. She smiles.

Aiko gets grudgingly sent upstairs and the rest of the school's adults trickle downstairs to the medbay. Everyone is startled to see Magneto. Hank brings everyone up to speed on what's happened. Nori's eyes widen when she hears what Magneto had said.

Kurt looks nervously at Nori and says, "Please, excuse me for asking, but… how do we know that this… Phoenix… will not be returning?"

Nori shrugs. "No clue, Kurt."

"Aiko said the Phoenix was gone," I say.

"I'm not saying I don't think Aiko means well," Hank says. "But we cannot necessarily trust the instincts of a twelve-year-old empath."

"She was right about everything else," Remy says. "She's a good kid."

"It seems to me there's nothing we can do about it if she's wrong," Ororo says. "None of us could fight the Phoenix."

"Seems to me we don't have to fight the Phoenix. We have to fight Mesmero," I say.

Everyone looks at me. Hank nods. "Yes, I suppose… if Jean were left to her own devices, she wouldn't fight us."

"Well. We ain't had too much luck fighting Mesmero so far," Remy says.

Nori says, "What does Mesmero have to gain from this?"

"What?" Hank asks.

"What's his angle? Magneto said he made a deal with Sinister. Sinister wants… wants the baby. What did Magneto get? What is Mesmero getting?"

"That's a fair question, cher," Remy says, nodding.

"I wish we could talk to the Professor," she says. Then she bites her lip and says, "Maybe…" She rises from her bed and walks over to him. Remy trails behind her, pushing her IV stand, and the rest of us watch. She puts a hand on Xavier's cheek and closes her eyes. She hums.

After a few anxious moments, she pulls away and blinks. "He's… not here."

"He's… dead?" Ororo asks.

"Oh, no, no. He's alive. He's just not here," she says.

"Well, then, where is he?" I ask.

She shrugs unhappily. Remy rubs her shoulders.

"Right. So. What do we do?" Ororo asks.

Nori says, "Maybe—I could use Cerebro, and find them."

"Not a good idea," I say. "You've never done it alone before."

"You need to rest," Hank says.

"Maybe tomorrow," Nori says, sleepily.

"Maybe tomorrow," Remy agrees, helping her back to her bed.

She drifts out of the conversation. We continue to talk strategy for a while, but it's clear that we can't do much until we know where Sinister and Jean are. I think Nori's right. She's going to have to use Cerebro. I hope to God she's up to it.