Hello again, I'm back with another beastly chapter! My personal name for this one is: 'Logan pisses people off for no apparent reason'. Ah..ha...ha... I swear this story is going somewhere, I promise it! Which, actually fits in quite well with the real chapter title... Anyway, enough of my babbling. Please enjoy the inordinate amounts of angst.
Chapter Fourteen: Deals and Promises
While they waited, Scott gave Kitty an awkward apology, but they didn't pick back up with their conversation; they were both too busy anxiously watching the factory doors. When Jean came back in alone, Kitty felt her stomach clench.
The redhead approached them. "Scott, can I have a word?" she said ambiguously.
The X-Men leader gave her an apprehensive look, but followed as she led him to stand in a quiet corner.
"Is he – " Kitty called after them, her voice breaking.
"He's just outside having a smoke," Jean smiled at her reassuringly.
This received a scowl from Scott, but Kitty felt a light airy sensation free up her gut. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, Kitty watched the couple talk with slightly more elevated hopes. She had been so close to giving up on the idea of Logan rejoining the X-Men – of even finding them in the first place - this all seemed like a peculiar dream.
Scott's response to whatever Jean was telling him was accompanied by a series of exasperated gestures that made Kitty wonder just how close she could get without looking like she was eavesdropping. However, her machinations were cut short by an excited cry about three inches from her ear.
"Kitty!"
Her whole body jumped as she was pulled into a tight embrace. If it weren't for the colour of dark blue filling her vision and the unmistaken hint of a German accent, she thought she might just have smacked her attacker in the face. Still, she pushed him away far enough to get some breathing space and had to do so quite forcefully.
"Kurt! Oh my God, how many times have I told you not to do that?" she exclaimed.
"Sorry," the fuzzy elf dropped his gaze apologetically and loosened his grip. The sentiment didn't last for long, however, and he looked back up at her with a bright expression. "But I can't believe you're here!
"Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself," Kitty replied a little distantly.
"Did I see - was Logan really here?" Kurt said, turning to the exit curiously.
"Yeah, he still is. I found him. We've been traveling together for the last few days," Kitty explained.
This caught Kurt's attention and he looked back at her in alarm. "You mean... You survived him?"
Kitty pulled a tight-lipped smile. Originally, a statement like that would have been considered an innocent jest – one which they'd frequently exchanged and normally in the context of Logan's training sessions – but now there was an underlying seriousness to it. There was a subtle inference that spending any amount of time with the feral mutant was perilous.
"Wait, what's this?" Kurt frowned, reaching up to brush at the stitches on Kitty's forehead.
It of course didn't help when there was evidence to prove that theory.
"Oh, it's nothing," Kitty coloured, batting Kurt's hand away. "I just - it wasn't him!"
The blue furry mutant gave her a reproachful look.
"Kurt, he saved my life," Kitty said sincerely.
At this, Kurt's eyes widened. He, like Kitty, had wanted to believe Logan was still a good man. After all, he had been there that day when the crazy scientist had mind-controlled Logan into attacking them. He had seen the feral mutant fight against the chip in his brain and overcome it to keep them safe. Before the killing incident, the two of them were close to being friends. Kitty knew Kurt wouldn't be hard to convince of Logan's virtues.
Sure enough, he leant in and spoke in a low voice. "Tell me more."
Kitty then proceeded to tell him everything from the last few days, starting somewhat awkwardly from meeting him in the pub, but quickly moving onto how he'd saved her from the men with shotguns, and then from the café incident, and then from the truck driver. She carefully omitted the fact that Logan had known about Pete's intentions and actually been the one to put her in that dangerous situation. After all, she wanted the X-Men to take Logan back, so it was best to shed him in a good light. And in his defense, Kitty was pretty sure the good things he had done in the last few days outweighed the bad. As a result, Kurt was much more enamoured to the idea of having Logan back on the team.
By the time Kitty had finished her story, Jean and Scott had concluded their debate and came over to announce that Logan would be given a chance, despite Scott's obvious reluctance.
Jean then drew attention to Kitty's injuries and demanded to take a look at her ankle, whilst Scott slunk out to talk to Logan. Kitty watched him leave, anxious that another fight might break out, or that he may take the opportunity to tell Logan to leave when no one else was around. But Jean was very forceful and made her sit up on a workbench to better examine her ankle.
Her diagnosis was much the same as the homeless centre's doctor. She confirmed it was a sprain, but reassured Kitty that it would take a couple of days to get to the base and settled in, so she wouldn't be that far behind anyone else in getting to the action. Kitty didn't really care; she was hardly listening to her and was more interested in what was happening just outside the factory. All this waiting was agony, she just wanted to know, one way or another, if Logan was going with them back to America.
There was a gentle breeze outside the factory and Logan was stood downwind from the entrance, so Scott's scent filled his nostrils the second he stepped out. The feral mutant did his best not to tense, even though the animal inside him was raring for a fight. He held a firm grip on his self-control as the X-Men Leader stepped close and tried hard not to notice the bitter tang of hatred emanating from the younger man. Instead, he focused on the embers of his half burnt-out cigar, watching them flicker as he inhaled deeply. He held the smoke in his lungs and waited for Scott to say something. However, all he did was stand there, so Logan exhaled noisily and looked over at him.
The man was wearing a ridiculous expression, as if he would rather roll around with pigs in the mud and eat their shit than be standing so close to Logan. However, there was obviously something still keeping him here, and Logan would be damned if he was going to wait around all night to find out what it was.
"Go on then, spit it out," he grumbled.
This seemed to kick something into gear, because Scott flinched slightly. "Jean... Has brought it to my attention that there may be some benefit to allowing you back on the team," he said reluctantly.
"Really?" Logan grunted noncommittally.
"So I'm giving you a chance – one and only one chance – you mess this up and you're gone for good. Do you understand?" Scott fixed him with a stern look.
The animal inside Logan snarled viciously. It refused to sit back and allow Scott to treat him like a disobedient child. It urged him to fight back.
"Perfectly," he affirmed sharply and pushed off the factory wall to square up against the taller man. "And hey, that was a pretty stirring speech you gave in there. Do you think your new recruits understood that you wanted them to kill for you?"
It wasn't exactly the violent assertion the animal inside him wanted, but he figured throwing punches would be a bit too counter-productive.
"What? I never said that!" Scott protested vehemently.
"But it was implied," Logan baited him.
"No! I don't want anyone to die but I'm running out of options! The MRD kill us without batting an eyelid. There's no way to sugarcoat it; this is genocide! And if we don't do something, if we don't stand up – " Scott broke off, bringing up a hand to massage his forehead. Logan watched the action shrewdly. He noted that the man stood before him wasn't the imposing, powerful speaker who had drawn hundreds to his cause, he wasn't the raging imbecile who had threatened to send Logan through a wall, he was, in fact, every bit of Jean's description; barely a man and already out of his depth.
"Look, I'm willing to do anything I can to save my people, and if that means a few evil men have to die then so be it," Scott sighed desperately.
Logan gave him an unforgiving glare. Just as he had suspected, the second Scott had hit bad times, he'd let his values slide. It wasn't like Logan had any issues with what he was saying, but it irked him that Xavier's lessons had fallen so flat on someone who had once treated them like holy testament. And to think a couple of days ago he thought this brat had died fighting for those beliefs.
"Right fucking martyr you became, huh?" he grunted.
Scott's jaw clenched. He shot into action and before Logan could react, he was smacked up against the factory wall with a hand tight around his throat.
"And where were you? Huh! Where were you, Logan? Tell me, because I'd love to know!" Scott shouted, his face inches from the feral mutant's.
His fingers pressed deeper into the sinews of Logan's neck, with nails hooking deep into the flesh. His palm pushed down hard, crushing the windpipe. Logan did his best to remain composed and above all not give into the animal itching to unsheathe his claws. Ruffling Scott's feathers, bringing him to the basest of all violence was victory enough. He had proved at least to himself that this boy had the killer instinct.
Normally, he would be able to see it in the eyes whether someone had killed before. It sounded like a cliché, but there was always something there. A cold hard edge, a fiery passion; whatever it was, he knew a killer when he saw one. But Scott's ruby quartz visor hid his eyes, and Logan had to draw on other, subtler hints. The first was in the grip; it was assured, accurate, but above all, practiced. Next, he noticed the determined set of Scott's jaw, already anticipating the outcome. And lastly, he realised from the tightening in his chest, that the level of force Scott was using was more than enough to kill.
Darkness started to cloud the corners of his vision, and just as his body prepared for fight or flight, Logan felt the pressure on his throat release. He coughed and spluttered, doubling over. Air rushed back into his lungs, forcing the black splodges away. Taking several deep breaths, he looked up at his assailant, expecting a sudden barrage of fists or a violent concussive blast of red.
Scott was actually standing back, wearing a horrified expression. Apparently he couldn't believe what he'd nearly done either.
"Where… Where were you?" he said weakly.
Logan noticed the heat of embers burning close to his fingers and promptly dropped his spent cigar. It was a miracle he hadn't dropped it sooner, but the action of stamping it out allowed him time to think.
He supposed he owed Scott the honest truth. After all, it seemed like he had just dragged up a pretty taboo topic for the young man. It was only fair to respond like with like.
"Drowning myself in alcohol," he answered, trying hard to keep his tone as matter-of-fact as possible.
The statement was, of course, ill received. Scott gave him an appalled look, but he was apparently too embarrassed at his own outburst to say anything.
"Not one of my best ideas," Logan admitted. "But I'm here now, and I'm gonna make up for it."
Scott gave him a piercing look, his mouth pressed into a serious, straight line. "You'd better," he said flatly.
Before either one of them could add anything, Jean appeared from the factory entrance.
"Alright boys, are we done out here?" she called. Her cheerful tone had an ill fit to the situation and felt forced. However, it carried a clear message, which said 'resolve your issues later, we have more important things to do'.
Scott picked up on this and stiffly straightened his jacket.
"Yeah. We are for now," he said tersely.
Jean responded with a tight-lipped smile and turned to beckon behind her.
Out from the factory came a huddled group of mutants, assumingly the new recruits. Not one of them seemed particularly keen on standing at the front and they moved as a nervous cluster, a bit like a school of fish. At the back, Logan could pick out the familiar faces of Kurt, Colossus and Kitty, as well as the dark-haired boy Kitty had brought along, whose name still escaped him.
Scott made his way to the head of the group and started to lead it with Jean down the slope. Logan waited for the group to mostly pass, before sidling up to Kitty. She was already using her new friend as a crutch, so he simply fell into step with them. They didn't say anything to each other, but after a few paces Logan caught Kitty's gaze. She beamed at him brightly and he felt the corner of his mouth pull up in response.
Of course the girl would be happy to see him joining the ranks, she'd pushed for it enough times. However, he felt her enthusiasm was misplaced. It was hardly going to be sunshine and roses from here on out. They were putting themselves in a far more perilous situation, with much higher stakes than simple survival. He wondered whether she even understood that. Still, it wasn't the right moment to bring it up, so instead Logan focused on following the footsteps of the people in front.
After about ten minutes of walking, they started moving into woodlands and fields. This continued for at least another half hour before they reached the bottom corner of a large field and Scott stopped the march.
"Alright everyone, gather round. We're here," he projected his voice.
A few members of the group exchanged puzzled glances.
"Here? This is a field!" one of them piped up indignantly.
"Yes it is," Scott responded patiently. "But don't expect for a moment that it's empty."
Reaching into his jacket, Scott pulled out a small black device and pressed down on one of its buttons. A vast expanse of the air behind him seemed to flicker and shimmer. Streams of light passed over a huge cylindrical shape, which quickly materialised and revealed that the field was certainly not empty.
Stood in the middle of the field was a Boeing 747 that had been painted completely white. There were a few amazed gasps from the rest of the group, but for Logan, who had seen the X-Jet materialise on hundreds of occasions, found the appearance of an ordinary passenger jet entirely underwhelming.
"Well that was disappointing," he mumbled snarkily.
"What happened to the X-Jet?" Kitty asked, looking over at Kurt.
"Aah, we lost it in a sentinel fight," he replied awkwardly.
"You lost it?" Logan scowled. He knew it wasn't his place, but he had been rather attached to the X-Jet; he hated to think that anyone had been treating it carelessly.
"Well, the sentinels blew it to smithereens," Kurt supplied.
Logan flinched. The X-Jet had been a beautiful and expensive aircraft, and it had given them a significant tactical advantage on more than one occasion. For the X-Men to lose it and have to resort to using a slow, bulky passenger plane, it was – well – cringe worthy.
"We've had mutants coming in from all around the country today," Scott announced. "Coming to this exact field, all to join the fight. You guys are our last batch of recruits. Everyone else has been given until 2am to get here, and then we fly for New York. There is heating and food on the plane, but if you'd prefer some fresh air before we leave, just remember its 2am and no later."
As if on cue, the doors on the side of the 747 sprung open and steps collapsed down from them to rest on the thick grass below. It was obvious that they'd made some significant adjustments to the airplane, and Logan supposed if they could alter a 747 to have a cloaking device, there was plenty of room for other developments. Perhaps it wouldn't prove to be such a disappointment.
Most of the group filed towards the steps and climbed onto the plane. Logan decided he would rather take up the offer of fresh air, or at least the opportunity to be outside so he could light up another cigar. He delved into his pocket and pulled one out, wedging it in his mouth as he retrieved his lighter and held the flickering flame up to its tip.
His first exhale was disturbed by the realisation he was being watched. Looking up he saw Kitty standing next to him expectantly.
"Go on, you get on. Can't turn down an offer like free food," he said. It wasn't like he wanted to get rid of her, but he figured the more time he could have to himself before being stuck on a plane full of chattering new recruits the better.
Kitty looked reluctant to leave him. "I could keep you company," she volunteered.
"I'll just be standing here having a smoke. Not much for company," Logan replied simply.
Kitty wavered. She didn't seem to believe that he actually intended to get on the plane; she expected him to bail.
"I'll be up in a bit," Logan said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
It seemed to work, because Kitty relented, smiled at him and said, "I'm really glad you're with us." Then she turned and limped up towards the steps.
On the plane, groups of new recruits were clustered together and talking excitedly. Packets of crisps and drinks were being passed around and Kitty eagerly received some as she joined the group Bran had latched onto.
He seemed to be doing a great job of making new friends, as he introduced Kitty to the other mutants with great familiarity. She found it considerably harder to retain the information about so many new faces, especially since she hadn't slept properly in a long time. The warmth of the cabin made her eyelids droop, and she found it very hard to keep up with the conversation. Instead, she took a seat and listened to the buzz around her, only talking when people asked her questions.
It didn't seem like long until two o' clock, when the last stragglers arrived and Logan appeared at the door. There were plenty of spare seats to choose from, but he obviously wanted to be left alone because he picked a seat at the back, isolated from everyone else. Kitty tried not to think too much of it. However, after they had taken off and been in the air for a good half hour, she decided that Logan had been on his own for long enough. Besides, she was burning to know why he'd chosen to rejoin the X-Men, so she got up out of her seat and walked down the isle to him.
"Hey, d'you mind if I join you?" she asked.
Logan looked up at her impassively, before removing his leather jacket from the isle seat and placing it across his lap.
"Sure."
Kitty took the seat and studied him for a brief moment. Discussions about the X-Men had been difficult before, but he seemed to be placid enough. Maybe this time she would get a bit more out of him.
"So what made you change your mind?" she asked measuredly.
"Huh?" Logan grunted.
"Yesterday you told me finding the X-Men was a waste of time. Now we're on a plane back over to America. What changed?"
"Jean knocked some sense into me I guess," the feral mutant shrugged.
"Oh," Kitty said, feeling a little put out. "What did she say?"
"Don't remember exactly," Logan mumbled. Whether he was trying to evade the topic, Kitty wasn't quite sure. She didn't really care.
"Well she must have said something that worked. I mean, it's not like I managed to convince you, and I did try," Kitty tried hard to keep her tone passive, but it was difficult when all she could think of was how Jean had done so much better where she had failed.
It wasn't like she begrudged Jean for it. After all, she always did seem to know the right thing to say. Kitty just wished she were a little bit more like her.
"She said if I didn't come back you'd probably all get yourselves killed," Logan answered flatly.
"Oh," Kitty said. "Well that's a bit more melodramatic than what I went for."
She decided maybe Jean's gift of speech wasn't all that desirable, not if she had to go around saying things like that.
"She's right, though," Logan said somberly. "Nothing's changed, I still think this is a suicide mission. But if I can stop you all from doin' something stupid, if I can stop Scott from sending you all to your deaths, then it's worth me sticking around, right?"
Kitty frowned. She couldn't believe something so pessimistic was what sold rejoining the X-Men to Logan. Did he really have so little faith in them?
"You should give us all more credit," she said, spurred on by indignant pride. "It's not like we've been sitting on our asses since you left; we've been training."
"For war?" Logan asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"What?"
"Have you been trainin' for war? For casualties. For death. For getting stuck behind enemy lines? D'you know how to deal with any of that?"
"Yeah," Kitty retorted, as if it were obvious that she did. Then she gave it a bit more thought and remembered being in tears, wishing someone had prepared her for Scott's fake death. "Well, mostly."
"Trust me, you're not ready for war. No one is the first time 'round," Logan said seriously. He wasn't really looking at her anymore. Apparently the seats in front of them were much easier to talk to.
"Then train us, make sure we are ready," Kitty urged him, trying hard to make eye contact.
Logan sighed in frustration. "You don't get it. No one is ready. Not soldiers, not civilians, no one."
"What about you?" Kitty prodded.
Logan's eyes flickered to meet hers and in the brief moment before he looked away, Kitty was sure she saw years of regret, pain and remorse. "I've been in wars," he said slowly. It was clear that he wasn't keen to elaborate, but Kitty's curiosity wasn't going to be sated by such an elusive statement.
"And your first one?" she continued to prompt him.
She thought for a moment that he wasn't going to answer. He was focusing on the seat in front as if it showed some detailed tapestry of a scene only he could see. The glazed over look in his eyes seemed to suggest he was too busy reminiscing to remember she had even asked a question.
However, his eyebrows creased slightly and he mumbled, "Alright, I take it back. There is one type of person well suited for war." His gaze met hers with dark burning eyes. "A natural born killer."
Kitty stared into the darkness for as long as she could before Logan turned away again. It was pretty obvious that he had just bared his soul to her, although she wasn't quite sure how to react. Part of her felt a flighty exhilaration to have finally coaxed something deeply personal out of him. The other part was slightly fearful to hear Logan refer to himself so bluntly as a killer.
She didn't think she entirely agreed with him; it wasn't like killing was the only thing he was good at, it wasn't like that was all he was.
"You're not – "
"So, what have you learnt in training? You got any new talents I don't know about?" Logan asked, quickly cutting off her attempt to comfort him. It seemed like he would much rather change the topic and Kitty was happy enough to oblige.
"Uh, well I can phase for a lot longer than I used to. Found out its kinda like swimming - like a fitness you get used to - the more you practice the longer you can do it for," she informed him.
"So considering you're out of practice, how long d'you think you could phase for?" he asked brusquely.
Kitty hesitated before replying, "Um, well the last time I practiced I got up to twenty minutes. I dunno now long I'd manage now, I've never taken such a long break before."
"So that's no use, anything else?" Logan barreled on.
Kitty flared with irritation. Was he really trying to say her mutant powers were useless? Could he really be that pigheaded?
Determined to prove herself, Kitty answered huffily, "Well, I aced all my Computer Science lessons at school. Professor Xavier was so impressed he got a friend of his from the Government to teach me how to write and break down programmes, I got so good at it that he even offered me a job, but I told him I belonged with the X-Men."
"Who you abandoned anyway," Logan added bluntly.
Kitty's face distorted with anger. "Whoa, wait! I didn't abandon the X-Men, that was you, remember?"
"So this whole trip to England was what, a poorly timed vacation?" Logan glanced across at her. There was no accusation in his expression, only sombre honesty, which stopped Kitty's argument dead.
"Look, I don't blame you an' I know I'm hardly one to talk, but you gotta accept that we both walked out on the X-Men and we both gotta work hard to make up for it," Logan said as mildly as Kitty thought it could be possible.
This perplexed her more than anything. It was true that she regretted leaving the team, but she had only done so because the Professor had encouraged it. To be called up on it by the one person who had done far worse than her was more than she could stomach. On the other hand, Logan had an uncanny knack for saying things exactly as they were, and she couldn't argue with the truth.
"I'll start training you up as soon as we get back on solid ground. I know you're injured but there'll be a lot to cover. We can start slow," Logan continued. His tone was inoffensive, but Kitty couldn't help but feel insulted. She could tell he still didn't think of her as a real grown-up. He didn't seem to think she could look after herself.
"Will you be training anyone else?" she asked, testing her theory.
"If I see they need it," Logan replied.
"Right. Of course," Kitty said sharply, getting up. "Well, see you later."
She walked off before Logan could say anything else and before she could completely lose her temper with him. Why he had to make her feel so small was beyond her, but she didn't want to make a big deal of it, not when there were so many people around.
Instead, she took some deep cleansing breaths as she walked down the isle, then sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She managed to feign sleep for quite a while, as she turned over every word Logan had said to her.
His brutal honesty was a hard pill to swallow and she found herself resenting him for it. He didn't have to bring up the fact that it was months since she had really used her power. He didn't have to bring up how useless it was, or how unprepared she was for the battles ahead. He could have at least pretended to have a little faith in her, rather than go on about how much more training she needed.
For the rest of the journey Kitty sat shrouded in a bad mood, even though the new recruits around her continued to chat jovially to each other. Bran tried to prompt a bit more of a conversation out of her, but her answers were short enough for him to eventually give up.
The plane landed at about five in the morning in a field on the outskirts of New York. Scott stood up and asked everyone to stay seated until Kurt had done some perimeter checks. They didn't take long and he reappeared in a cloud of sulphurous smoke to give the all clear. Scott then asked everyone to get off the plane and congregate outside.
Kitty joined the queues to get off, but flared with irritation when she saw Logan approach her.
"You need help getting down?" he asked when he was close enough.
"I think I can handle myself thanks, they're only steps," Kitty responded curtly, turning to keep her eye on the queue. It had gone down considerably, and as she stepped forward she could feel the chill of outside air.
"I only asked cuz I know the low pressure in air cabins makes injuries more painful," Logan muttered, keeping pace with her.
He had a point, Kitty had noticed the pain in her ankle grow sharper throughout the flight, but she was hardly going to go running to him for help. Not after he had sat there and detailed how pathetic she was.
"I'm fine," she snapped.
The queue in front disappeared and she moved forward to stand at the top of the steps. A sharp breeze whipped loose strands of hair across her face and caused her to grab the rail with a bit more urgency than she wanted Logan to see. Consciously, she loosened her grip and started to descend the steps.
A shot of pain went through her ankle, but she forced it down, grit her teeth and carried on. However, on the second step the pain only got worse. On the third, her ankle gave way altogether.
For a split second she felt entirely weightless, then she realised she was falling. Her hand came free from the rail and the steps rose up to meet her. She braced herself for impact, squeezing her eyes shut.
When she didn't feel striking pain, she cautiously reopened them. The steps were inches from her face, but there was a firm grip across her stomach, holding her tightly against her rescuer's body. She didn't really need to guess who it was, not when her nostrils filled with the scent of old cigar smoke.
"I told you," Logan's voice rumbled next to her ear, making her breath hitch.
Her stomach tightened into knots and her face flushed red as he pulled her back up to standing. Everyone would have seen her fall; everyone would have seen that Logan had come to her rescue. The thought was so embarrassing, that as soon as she could balance on her own two feet she threw him off.
"I just lost my footing," she snapped.
Then, making sure not to meet anyone's gaze, she gripped the rail extra tight and restarted her descent, this time unhindered by her betraying ankle. At the bottom of the steps, she did all she could to downplay her limp and stopped next to Kurt, stood at the edge of the group.
"Are you OK?" he asked her quietly, concern etched on his face.
"Yeah fine," Kitty breathed. Kurt didn't look convinced, so she added as patiently as she could, "Really, I am. You don't need to worry about me Kurt."
He must have picked up on the frustration in her tone, because he didn't say another word. Instead, he briefly looked behind her with a mistrusting expression, which most likely meant that Logan had followed her to this spot. Kitty's jaw tightened, but she didn't look back. She didn't want to see the stupid sanctimonious expression that he was no doubt wearing.
Thankfully, Scott quickly provided a distraction as he caught the group's attention. "Alright everyone, listen up," he spoke loudly. The few chattering voices fell silent.
"We've had to land on the very outskirts of the city so that we don't cause suspicion. From here on out we will be broken down into four separate envoys, each taking a different route to one of four locations where an X-Man will be waiting to lead us back to the base.
"MRD patrol patterns change on a daily basis here, so only the X-Men left in the base will have any idea of where we might run into them. For that reason, I ask you to keep your heads down and take their word as law.
"The routes have been calculated to take approximately the same time and we should all be in the base by five o' clock this evening. Are there any questions?"
There were not.
"Good. Everyone find an X-Man I want you in teams of twelve," Scott ordered.
This caused an explosion of noise as everyone started desperately bunching together in their already formed friendship groups, and started to move tentatively to the four team leaders.
"Kitty, you're with me," Kurt said quickly as new recruits started to approach. She didn't bother to argue with his abrupt decision; he was by far the X-Man she would most prefer to travel with.
Unfortunately, Logan piped up. "Me too."
Scowling, Kitty turned on him. "Look Logan, I don't need you to babysit me anymore, we're with friends now," she said exasperatedly.
The feral mutant flinched slightly. "I'm not trying to babysit you," he said, looking guarded. His gaze flickered to Kurt, who was watching them as if wondering when to step in. Then Logan leant over close enough so that only Kitty could hear him. "I made a promise to look after you, to make up for what I did. So please, let me do this."
Kitty stared at him in surprise. She didn't think she could remember the last time he'd said 'please'. In fact, she didn't recall him ever saying it.
However, it was the look in his eyes that softened her. They held a hint of the same dark intenseness from before and convinced her of his sincerity.
"Fine, whatever," she grumbled, not quite ready to let him off the hook altogether.
He stood back, silently satisfied and Kitty turned to face Kurt, who was now surrounded by several new recruits.
"Alright?" he asked apprehensively.
"Yeah, fine," Kitty replied briskly.
"Sure? You don't want me to – "
"It's fine," Kitty cut him off.
Soon after, Scott checked the teams, hovering over theirs for a brief moment longer to give Logan a wary look and non-verbally communicate some sort of subtle message with Kurt, to which he nodded reassuringly. Then, with one final reminder of the danger they were walking into, Scott bid farewell and the teams went off in their different directions.
The terrain was a little bit uneven, which sparked pain in Kitty's ankle, but she did her best to walk normally. Apparently her efforts weren't good enough though, because Logan walked up next to her and mumbled, "If you want a shoulder to lean on – "
"I'll take it, Logan," Kitty snapped.
He fell back a little but didn't leave her side entirely.
"Have you noticed you drop the 'Mr.' from my name when you're angry at me?" he said quietly.
"I - what?" Kitty frowned in confusion.
"You should drop it altogether," he continued, looking down the sloping field before them.
"D'you mean you like it when I'm angry at you?" Kitty asked disbelievingly.
"I mean I don't like being called Mr." Logan replied coolly, gaze still fixed forward.
Kitty's eyebrows pinched even tighter as she studied him. It was a rather bizarre subject to bring up, considering she would rather not be talking to him at all. But then, maybe he was trying to distill the tension.
"In that case I should make it the other way around - only call you Mr. Logan when I am angry at you," she said, a little confrontationally, despite the smirk pulling at her lips.
"Then I'll have to try really hard not to make you angry," Logan said simply. His eyes darted back to meet hers and the corner of his lips curled.
Kitty supposed that in a weird sort of way, this was Logan's form of an apology. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear from him, and their issues were far from solved, but after hours of sulking, she was prepared to at least bury the hatchet.
"It's a done deal," she said, allowing the smirk to take hold. Knowing that Logan was bothered by his formal title gave her a small sense of leverage. At least now when he pissed her off she would have something to come back with.
And if you thought this chapter was full of drama and angst, just you wait until the next one! I'll be introducing another one of the X-Men, can you guess which one?