Chapter 28: Torn

I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel, I'm cold and I'm ashamed, bound and broken on the floor. You're a little late, I'm already torn.

"We're just trying to understand, Leigh." The words were so cold and empty. How was she unable to see through the lie?

It had been Hanks idea, really. He was no psychologist but he did have a basic understanding of the human mind. They needed Leigh as she was, as she had been. They needed the fighter. And in order to fully recover, to return to her old self, Leigh needed to face her problem. She was no unaware of her condition, it had been her greatest handicap since her power first awakened. It seemed to stem from her father's reaction to her mutation and had only been reinforced by the emergence of her passive ability. Even without probing her mind, he could sense it. She didn't believe herself to be important, didn't feel love, no, didn't feel deserving of love. She considered any interest in her well-being to be cause by the draw of her power.

Tears rolled heavy down Leigh's cheeks as she looked up at the Professor. Her voice was full of sharp accusations, but her eyes were soft and full of pain. He wanted to apologize, to tell her they had never meant to tell her these things, that it was just a cruel game. She wold be furious, yes, but it would be better to see her angry than to see her cry.

As Remy rose and pulled Leigh from the room, Professor Xavier lowered his head into his hands.

"Did we do the right thing?" he asked quietly. They had just intentionally hurt a girl that was already emotionally distraught. They claimed it would be for her best interest but…

"Sometimes you have to break something before it can be properly fixed," Henry replied. "But when you finally rebuild it, it will always be better than before."

"This isn't a science experiment, Henry," Charles continued sharply. "But was it the right thing to do?"

He looked at the blue man for a long, silent moment, neither of them sure of what to do. After the long silence, Henry finally answered.

"I hope so."

~ Meanwhile ~

She barely noticed Remy as he pulled her from that office. Why was the Professor doing this to her? Had he only called her in there to torture her? She had moved on, she was over that. Why had he brought it up again? And why did it hurt so much?

"Leigh, chere, talk ta me." Remy lightly squeeze her hand as they stopped in the hall.

She slowly shook her head and pulled away. "I have to think…" She kept her eyes down as she backed away. "I'm sorry." She turned and began walking, unable to focus on Remy in the midst of her own inner turmoil.

Her mind whirring, she walked without purpose, her bare feet making no noise on the wooden floors as she passed aimlessly through the empty house. She paid no mind to her path as she wandered. She could barely focus on all the thoughts spinning through her mind. Her only coherent thought came as she reached a small study in the back corner of the West wing, far from all the common areas. Thinking it would be a good place to avoid other people, she pulled open the door and stepped inside.

The study was nice and comfortable with book-shelf-lined walls that kept out the sounds of the mansion. The large bay window along the outside wall was open, letting in the fresh spring air. But Leigh was not alone. Logan reclined in one of the study's plush armchairs next to a cooler full of beer bottles. He looked up from the bottle in his hand to stare at Leigh. They simply stared at each other for a moment before Leigh finally sat down in the other chair and pointed to the cooler.

"You gonna drink all that?"

The feral man hesitated a moment, watching the girl warily. Finally, he reached into the cooler and passed over a beer, dripping water onto the carpeted floor. Leigh quickly twisted off the cap and chugged it down before reaching for another.

"Easy, Sunshine," Logan warned, placing a hand on the bottle. "That stuff'll kill ya."

"Let it," she mumbled, but she drank slower this time.

Logan just kept silently watching her. Something was bugging her, but she wasn't talking and he wasn't one to pry. As she placed her second bottle on the floor and reached for a third, she sighed and leaned back. She certainly looked more relaxed, but looks could be deceiving. It looked more like she was… resigned to something.

"I talked to the Professor," she finally told him, more from the need to talk than from actually wanting him to listen. "He told me that I was like a space heater, that people missed me when I was gone because the mansion was cold without me."

"Chuck told ya that?" Logan growled. Charles wasn't stupid, he would know how Leigh would interpret that information: 'I'm not needed. No one really just like me because I'm warm.' "That's a load of shit," he commented roughly, taking a swig from his bottle. "Listen," he cut off her protest, "I don't like many people. Most of 'em I can't even tolerate."

Leigh snorted, that was an understatement. She had heard Logan complain about everyone at one point or another.

"But you, Sunshine," he smiled, "you I like. An' it ain't because you're warm or whatever, it's because you're a good kid. No matter what happened while ya were gone."

She smiled and sipped slowly at her beer and he could only hope he was getting through to her.

'We have a situation. I need to see you in my office immediately.'

Logan scowled. He could tell by the sour look on Leigh's face that she had received the same summons and was none to happy about it. He stood slowly, really in no rush to see Charles, and rook Leigh's bottle from her before heading to the door.

"Come on, can't just leave ya here drinking all my beer."


Side note: Some people have complained about the pace of this story. I don't often focus on just moving the plot forward. I prefer to focus on developing characters and relationships with the plot as something that moves them along on their journey. If that's not the kinda thing you're looking for, then I guess this isn't the story you're looking for.

Next chapter: We actually begin to focus on the plot and the antagonist is introduced along with his new victim.

~ Demonlrd