Okay, Part Three of The Trouble with Weather is VERY loosely based on the X-Men video game. I used it as more of an outline, since I don't own the game and had to look everything up on Wikipedia. Funnily enough, the game isn't too far off from what I was going to do in the first place, but there were some good ideas that I borrowed. I'm allowed to do that, right?
Part Three: The Calm Before the Storm
One month.
It had been an entire month since they'd been to Alkali Lake, and Logan knew that he wasn't the only one that was haunted by dreams every now and then of Jean being swept away. On more than one occasion, Scott's screams of terror had roused the entire house in the middle of the night, and Ororo had even caused a few nasty thunderstorms in her sleep.
As for Logan, on the one occasion that he'd managed to actually fall asleep, he'd awoke a few short hours later to find that his bed had been torn to shreds. Xavier had purchased him another bed, not blaming him in the least for the accident. Logan, nonetheless, tried to avoid long periods of sleep. It wasn't hard, considering that his mind was so busy that he'd have to force sleep on himself.
None of the X-Men were resting well, and Xavier certainly knew it. He often threw Scott sympathetic looks when he'd had a particularly vivid nightmare or when Logan's fatigue nearly overwhelmed him. Neither Logan nor Scott were fond of that look, but Logan didn't go out of his way to scorn the professor for it.
Like Scott was now.
Snapping at Ororo had only been the beginning. Scott had snapped at Logan, Ororo and even Xavier for any and every reason under the sun on a daily basis. He had even gone as far as to get into a fist fight with Logan. Realizing that the younger man needed to let out some steam, Logan had let himself take a bit of a beating by Scott, but it hadn't improved his mood in the least.
Though he hadn't gone as far as to lash out at any of the children, they seemed to know that they should keep their distance from him. Logan's sympathy for the man had begun to slowly ebb away into a vibrant dislike, especially every time he snapped at Ororo. But one night had changed his opinion about Scott.
Taking a stroll around the grounds to get away from the constant noise, Logan had caught Scott in a very private moment by the large water fountain. Logan would've simply passed by without a second glance, but he'd heard muttering and he'd thought that Scott was talking to him. Before he got the chance to ask Scott to repeat himself, his words rang out loud and clear.
"How am I supposed to do this, Jean?" he'd groaned. "I know that they'd help me if I asked, but how could I live with myself if I dragged them down with me?"
After hearing that statement, Logan had quietly stepped away to allow Scott his moment alone. And, though Logan wasn't sure why he'd want to go through such depression alone, he had a better understanding of why Scott was pushing everyone away from him.
Still, he didn't have to be such a dick about it.
"What makes you think I want to go anywhere near that place ever again," Scott asked Xavier in an impatient tone.
Logan and Ororo kept a sharp eye on Scott as Xavier looked up at the man calmly. He'd clearly been expecting this reaction from Scott. "I know that it's hard for you, Scott," he said softly. "But we really will need all the help we can get. I'm not sure how Stryker was able to move the plates so easily, but I can guarantee that Peter and Logan's strength alone won't cut it."
Logan found himself doubting that as he glanced sideways at the eager Russian. Xavier had invited him to come along because they were in dire need of brute strength. He'd gone a month without using Cerebro because Stryker had stolen plates and other valuable equipment for Dark Cerebro. While Scott had managed to piece most of the system back together, there were quite a few parts that were irreplaceable, and those irreplaceable parts were underwater in Stryker's base.
Xavier's excuse for waiting so long to send them to Alkali Lake had been that they needed to wait for the water from the collapsed dam to settle, but Logan didn't buy it for a minute. Xavier had probably known Jean longer than any of them had, and the wounds of her sacrifice were still fresh, even for Logan. If he could have, Xavier probably would've waited longer to send them back to Alkali Lake to retrieve the parts. But time wasn't a luxury they could indulge in at the moment. The X-Men knew that Magneto was up to something, and though Magneto had a device to keep his thoughts private from Xavier, they could still find ways to watch over him and monitor the things that he did with the aid of Cerebro.
Among the irreplaceable parts were at least fifteen of the large plates that went on the walls, and each weighted a good five hundred pounds. Being the strongest of the X-Men, Peter and Logan were required to go by default. Ororo could use the wind to help balance the plates, Kurt could teleport a few of the smaller pieces, but Logan had to wonder why Scott needed to be there.
In his own opinion, Scott would simply get in the way of progress. He was slightly stronger than the average human, yes, but that didn't count for much when they were going to be doing such heavy lifting. If he could use the beams from his eyes to carry a plate, that would be helpful. But Logan doubted that Scott's eyes could do such a thing. He doubted that Scott's eyes could lift anything without punching a hole through it.
Logan suspected that Xavier just wanted Scott to get out of the house. His pain still seemed to be as fresh as the day Jean had died. After a week and a half of being locked in his room, Scott had thrown himself into repairing Cerebro as well as building a training program that he'd designed not long ago. He kept himself busy in that way, and Logan didn't see why Xavier thought it was unhealthy to bury his pain like that. It was certainly better than drinking himself to death or just taking up space.
True, it had been a while since Scott had been in actual daylight; the pallid color of his skin was proof that he didn't get out much lately. He looked a little skinnier than Logan had last seen, and he had bags under his eyes that reached below his glasses. Logan knew that losing someone you loved that much hurt like nothing else, but he also knew that Scott would heal eventually, and he needed to do it on his own without anyone forcing help on him.
Xavier was the only person that seemed willing to help Scott, despite how he tried to push the older man away. Which brought him back to wondering why Xavier wanted Scott to go with them to Alkali Lake so badly.
"Excuse me, Professor," Peter said, Russian accent painfully thick. "These panels that we have to carry are quite heavy, yes? Cyclops won't be able to help very well. He isn't nearly as strong as Wolverine and I, and he's lost a lot of muscle mass recently." Peter threw Scott a cautious glance. The older man was staring right at him, his brows drawn together. "I'm only stating a fact," Peter told him.
Logan could tell that Xavier wasn't terribly fond of Peter's blatant disinterest in being overly sympathetic to Scott, but Logan found it refreshing. Everyone in the mansion had been tiptoeing around the subject of Jean's death and how hard Scott was taking it, but anyone with eyes could see that it had devastated him. Why beat around the bush?
"Peter's right," Ororo said flatly. She certainly wasn't beating around the bush, nor had she attempted to in the past month. "We don't need everyone there. The four of us should do fine without Scott."
"You think I'll slow you down?" Scott challenged.
"You think you won't?" she snapped back.
Logan tensed, ready for anything. Scott and Ororo's first small fight had only been the beginning. While Scott had never raised a hand to Ororo, she'd struck him more than once when they had their arguments. The idea of physically restraining her didn't appeal to Logan. The last time he had, she'd redirected her anger at Logan, and the result had been his bones being hotter than usual for three days after she'd zapped him.
The best remedy had been to keep Scott and Ororo apart as much as possible, and Logan agreed that this small mission was no exception.
"You don't want to go," Logan said calmly, addressing Scott. "We don't need you to go. It's a win/win situation."
"Logan…" Xavier began testily.
"Good enough for me," Ororo stated, leaving the room. Kurt shrugged apologetically at Scott and vanished from his spot on the couch, undoubtedly to talk to Ororo. Logan's gaze lingered on the blue mutant's now vacant spot a moment longer than necessary. Much to his dismay, though Ororo had promised to open up to him, she seemed to be growing much closer to Kurt. He kept telling himself that Kurt was something of her personal religious consult, but each time it sounded more and more ridiculous.
"Well, since you don't need me I'll get back to work," Scott said in a dull tone, leaving the room as well. Though they were going to the same place, it didn't escape Logan's notice that Scott purposefully went in the opposite direction of Ororo. Well, at least he doesn't always go out of his way to provoke her...
"I guess I'll go get ready to go then," Peter said, slipping out as well.
It was just Logan and Xavier, and Logan turned to leave as well. Though they didn't go out of their way to avoid each other, there was still a lot that was unresolved between Logan and Xavier. Logan didn't like being lied to, and liked not being trusted by someone he placed his faith in even less. As everyone had been under a lot of stress, neither of them had made a big deal out of it, but that didn't mean that it didn't hang in the air on the rare occasion that they were in the same room together.
He shrugged off the odd silence as he walked down the hall, only to be met with the sight of Kurt embracing Ororo. Swallowing his jealousy, he marched right past them without a sideways glance or a moment's hesitation. As of that moment, they had a mission to complete, and Logan couldn't be weighted down by something as trivial as mild jealousy. Perhaps not mild...
If he wanted to be honest with himself, it burned him to the core that she trusted Kurt more than she trusted him. She'd known Logan longer. He was almost positive that he knew her better, but still she ran to Kurt when she needed a serious talk. Why?!
He blinked hard as he arrived at the changing area, trying to rid himself of his thoughts. If it was still bothering him later…
He didn't really know what his options were if it turned out that he was still bothered by it later.
Who the hell am I trying to kid, he thought. He knew that he'd still be bothered by it.
