Stumbling Along the Path
"Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night?" Erik asked, "The feeling that one day, they'll come for you? And your children?"
Xavier wheeled around, "I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to my school looking for trouble."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or universe. They belong to Marvel and FOX Studio.
A/N: I'm back! Have been busy due to college but I am back J Will have more to come!
Jean locked eyes with the man in front of her, huddled down on the ground. Scott couldn't recognize him but the look on Jean's face was enough to put him on edge.
"Sorry, I think we may have just gone down the wrong alley." Scott mumbled, as he grabbed Jean by the arm with a look of concern.
"Jean, he doesn't seem like the friendly stranger type, maybe we should just leave him?" He suggested, his forehead wrinkled almost with a look of pain.
"No, he's just confused. You don't recognize him?" Jean communicated telepathically to Scott as to not irritate the rugged man further.
"From the lab where they kidnapped Xavier…" She said again, this time moving closer to the man who was now up and in a defensive stance, his arms down at his side with closed fists.
"You're from the States, we just wanted to see if you needed passage back home? We-"
"I ain't got no home, kid. I certainly don't need help from no shrimps like yourselves." He huffed as he began to walk away.
"We can help you, you're lost, and you can't remember who or where you are or where you are from, but we can help if you come. You might not remember but we've met before." Jean said, tentatively reaching out with one hand while brushing her bangs out of the way with her other.
"Don't know you. Don't know how you know what you know. But I think you and teacher's pet need to leave." He said, this time louder, Jean could sense she had hit a nerve.
"Your name is Logan… you were held captive for god only knows how long, and you saved us a while ago. I just wanted to return the favor." Jean said, putting her hands back down at her side, looking to Scott than back to Logan.
"How the fuck do you know that?" He turned and snapped, with the sound of knives being sharpened as his hands clenched and his claws began to reveal themselves.
"Woah!" Scott put his arm up in front of Jean.
"I'm a telepath. I can read your thoughts. I only know what you know, but my mentor, his name is Xavier, he can help you recover the rest of your thoughts. He's a far more powerful telepath than I." Jean said, her voice unwavering, no sign of fear crossed her face. It only made Scott more nervous.
"That name…" Logan mumbled to himself, his eyes going to the ground as if searching through his memories for some hint or sign as to why the name sounded so familiar to him.
"So do you want to come? We are here with a team of mutants, not unlike yourself," She motioned to his claws, "We were sent to gather the people who were taken by Genosha's government when they began to enslave mutants, so we are here to take them home." She continued to ramble as Logan still looked off, confused.
"Xavier…" He spoke indistinctly to himself, pictures flooding his mind of a stadium, a blue woman, blurs of words and images flittering through his mind, before suddenly there was nothing.
"Yes, his name is Charles Xavier. He helps many young mutants, and uh old too. Not that you're old. Just that you're not a teenager… are you okay?" Jean noticed the man's face appeared pained, or upset. He had a very expressive face, his eyes appeared blank though in that moment.
"Bald man in a wheelchair?" He suddenly spoke aloud again.
"Yes!" Jean chimed as she moved closer to Logan.
"Yeah, kid, I'll go with you. Can't do any damage at this point." He grumbled.
Jean looked to Scott and smiled, but Scott couldn't help but feel uneasy. He had begun to remember the last encounter they had had with him, and he clearly remembered hoping to never have to see that man again. He let out a sigh and motioned for Jean to lead the way since he had forgotten which direction she had taken them in.
Meanwhile, Ororo had been stealthily making her way through the streets, the children she had fed the previous day had still not trusted her completely, but were grateful enough for the food. She was just about to return to the boat when she turned and bumped into Kurt.
"You were not at breakfast?" He asked, holding out a muffin.
"Oh thank you. I just had some other plans…" She said, taking the muffin graciously.
"Do you vant any help? Or should I just…." He motioned back to the boat with a half smile.
"Well… how far did you say you could do that teleport thing you do?" She asked, a mischievous grin appearing on her face.
"Uh- well, I can go quite far." He began to rub the back of his neck anxiously.
"Can you teleport to the kitchen and get more food? I'm feeding the local children. Since most of their parents were taken to work for Genosha's officers nobody was able to provide for them. Most of them have been fending for themselves and their siblings." Ororo confessed as she handed off her muffin to one of the small children at her feet.
Kurt sighed a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes, I can do that. Be right back, as they say!" He laughed and vanished in cloud of blue smoke which caused the children to jump back in shock.
Ororo was just about to head down the next alley when she saw Jean and Scott with a peculiar looking man, who looked like he had been roughed up or roughed someone else up.
"Jean!" She shouted from a block or two away.
"Oh there you are! Sorry we got a bit lost. All these alleys began to look the same after a while." Jean admitted with a sheepish smile.
Jean ran over towards Ororo and her gaggle of tiny humans who had taken to her like ducklings imprinting.
"It's been a crazy morning. Strange to think we will be headed back tomorrow…" Ororo said, hoping Jean did not notice the large amounts of boat food that had been distributed to the locals.
"Yeah I know what you mean. When we got here and I tuned in to like everyone's thoughts, I found someone who I had met before, just briefly. The man over there. He's peculiar, but he seems to know the professor, and we had run into him before a while ago. It's crazy, but I think he knows a lot more than he remembers. I got glimpses of these things, like memories or something. Like he knows us. He knows something. I just can't put my finger on it." She whispered to Ororo.
"They do not seem to be too friendly if he remembers him." Ororo said, pointing at Scott and Logan who were facing away from each other, arms crossed, it looked as if Logan was muttering to himself again.
"Yeah… I think they just got off on the wrong foot. His name is Logan, he can be a bit…hostile." She chuckled.
In that moment Kurt had returned, arms filled with food, a grin on his face which vanished as he saw Jean and Scott, causing him to drop some of the food.
Jean burst out laughing, "What are you two up to?"
"Feeding children." Kurt and Ororo said in unison, with a slight smile on their faces as children began to make their way towards them at the sight of food.
Jean chuckled and grabbed a roll to hand to a small girl with large eyes in comparison to her small body.
"Scott, can you take him back to the ship. I'm going to help Ororo and Kurt out here. We will be back by lunch though, I'm sure." She chuckled and walked over and gave Scott a kiss on the cheek, causing his face to turn as red as the lenses in his glasses. Logan just huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I'll take him back. Don't over do it." He wanted to say he loved her again but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. Instead he just smiled and headed back towards the ship with the man-beast following along behind him.
"So you know Xavier?" Scott asked, trying to make small talk with their new companion.
Logan just groaned and rubbed the back of his head. He wondered what Red had done to his head, as more memories seemed to be returning but he couldn't make sense of them. But he knew one thing, he knew these people, some how, and he sure as hell didn't like four eyes.