Drabble 51-Wail

When he was human, throughout his whole life, Danny had been silenced. His overbearing sister would interrupt him, his parents would talk over him, and the bullies at school would beat it out of him. So it shouldn't surprise him that his strongest power in his ghost form is his voice.

One that he couldn't use anymore.

He had used his voice to banter with ghosts and super villains and Fury whenever he annoyed Danny. It was, in his opinion, his most prized possession. Or at least, it was.

Vlad had teamed up with a few mutants from the Brotherhood. They captured him, held him down, made him drink Clockwork knows what. All he felt was burning and pain, like his throat was a volcano and anything he swallowed was the lava that burned the walls away. He couldn't eat hardly anything because the pain was so strong. When Logan had found him he was nothing more than skin and bones.

Thankfully Danny knew sign language thank to his few missions with Hawkeye from the Avengers, but at the Xavier institute he was pretty much the only one, which kind of made it all the more lonely.

They all noticed his change of mood. You would have had to be blind to not see it. Danny had become distant, forced into a sort of expressionless behavior. He wanted so badly to join in on the conversations, but he was always reminded by his dead vocal chords that he couldn't. It was driving him a little more than crazy.

It had almost gotten him and a couple of others killed in the Danger Room, because when he tried warning his friends, he couldn't. He was a danger to them and himself without his voice. That led him to thinking that maybe it was time for retirement. Maybe he should live his days out in the Zone, where nobody but Skulker would bother him. He could see Frostbite more often, and Clockwork too. It wouldn't be so bad, right?

It wasn't hard to sneak out of the school, what with his invisibility and intangibility helping him. But it was hard for him to leave. They took him in and helped him grow, helped protect him when nobody else would. He had made a family here, even if he wasn't technically a mutant. None of them had batted an eye at that; they were just happy to have a new family member. The more the merrier, as Beast had put it.

He forced himself to look ahead as he walked down the long driveway to the iron gates, wiping away the tears that began to blur his vision. If he looked back it would just hurt more.

"Kid, where do you think you're going?"

Danny stopped at the sound of Logan's voice but he didn't turn around. Instead he waited for Logan to catch up to him.

"So, you're leavin'?" Logan asked. Danny nodded, tightening his grip around the straps of his backpack. "Why?"

Danny turned to Logan forcefully, angry tears building up in his eyes. He opened his mouth and tried talking, but only ended up in a coughing fit.

"You're leavin' cause you can't talk anymore?" Logan sounded almost surprised. It was bound to happen sooner or later, Danny figured. But he just looked away, eyes closed. If he didn't have a voice what good was he? Yeah, he had special powers, but that what good have they done him so far? Absolutely none.

Logan had been speaking to him, he realized, but he hadn't been paying attention. But the mutant's rough hands on his shoulders shook him out of his thoughts. And if he started sobbing when Logan pulled him into an uncharacteristic hug, well, nobody was around to judge.

He gripped the back of Logan's jacket and made a wet spot on the front of his chest with his tears, taking in the alcohol and cigar smell. He couldn't remember when the smell became less disgusting and more comforting to him.

"You ain't useless just cause this happened to you. And it's gonna be hell coming back from it, but take it from someone who's literally been to hell and back: it is possible. Do you know how long it took Kitty to round up the students to teach them sign language so they could sign it at your surprise party?"

Danny looked up, his face puffy and red as he gave Logan a quizzical look.

"For your birthday. Don't tell her I told you, though." Danny cracked a smile at his mentor. He was thankful to have such good company hanging around to stop him from doing something stupid like running away in the middle of the night like some angsty teenager from a rom-com. Logan patted him on the back a couple of times and they separated, but he kept a hand on Danny's shoulder as they walked back to the school. Danny tapped Logan in the side to get him to look at him, before using sign language, placing his hand at his mouth and bringing it down in an arc.

Thank you. Logan smiled and shoved him.

No problem, kid..