Title: Hope (Part 3) ((The Fire of Hope))
Author: © Renee Reel (Kymaerah@yahoo.com)
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG so far
Comic or Movie-Verse: Movie
Brief description: What Logan finds after leaving the mansion is not exactly what he expected.
Feedback: Surely!
Archive: Hey, if you want it cool! Just let me know!
Thanks: To Hugh's excellent portrayal of Wolverine that inspired me to write again. And to Mandy who always encourages me. =O)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In our last episode: "My fiancee? You're sure you're not mistaken there?" he questioned, his hazel eyes worried. His fiancee . . . he was to be married? And yet he didn't remember a fiancee, hell - he remembered nothing from his former life, not even his mother and father's name. He scowled and his desire for revenge grew even stronger. Those that had done this to him, to her . . . they would pay.
"No, I'm not mistaken. Her name was Evangeline." Logan jumped a little at the name. Kymaerah looked at him, curiosity in her shocking eyes overshadowed something else, something more dangerous. "You remember something?" Logan shook his head, running hasty fingers through his hair.
"The name Evangeline - there's a poem . . . " he trailed off remembering his first meeting with the one they called "Beast". The big blue hulk of a man had been reading a book of Longfellow's poetry to the students. Logan had stumbled across the class, but had stayed when Hank had begun to read "Evangeline". One of the only things he had ever been able to remember, aside from his name, had been that poem. "Longfellow's poem. I haven't been able to get it out of here. I've always known it" He said and pointed to his head. Kymaerah smiled, a genuine smile, and stood, tired of sitting for the moment.
"Of course! You recited it to her constantly. We were having dinner one night and I think you two had had an argument that day . . . you began reciting it to her over spaghetti. It was lovely." She said, her eyes wistful and sad. Logan looked at her, his face etched with shock. He had been engaged. That was the last thing he had ever expected the beautiful, familiar woman to tell him. Kymaerah looked down at the ground, afraid to meet his gaze.
"But, she was the reason you are here now." she looked up, meeting his amber gaze. "She was killed, murdered, and you were the number one suspect."
"No." his voice was soft, disbelieving. "No, that's not possible." He insisted, but the image of Rogue's panicked face fluttered into his mind's eye. He hadn't meant to hurt her, and without her touching him and using his healing powers, she would have died. Kymaerah turned her head away, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears. She hadn't wanted to tell him this. Why couldn't his memory just return? But then. . . if that had happened, she would have been unable to come to him like this. Unable to talk to him . . .
"You didn't, of course." she said and turned her back to him. "They had learned of your magnificent ability to regenerate. A man who can be shot, and yet repair the damage done to him. Kill him, and Kill him, and Kill him again, but he just will keep coming back for more." the bitterness in her voice was plainly evident and it was painful to hear. "They took her and they tortured her. They stabbed her again and again..." she said and turned to him, the fire in her eyes seeming to glow brighter. "They raped her, they tied her up and beat her and when she stopped breathing they took her to your apartment and they called the police." Logan's breathing was shallow; he had become more and more angry as her story had gone on.
"How ... did ... " he spat out two words and then could no longer speak. *snikt* The claws unsheathed themselves, but this time Logan didn't feel the pain as they burst through his skin. He let out a roar of anger as he spun around and sliced through the nearest object - a rather thick limbed pine tree. He went down on one knee as the tree began to sway back and forth. It leaned towards him one time and then it toppled into the darkness of the forest, a thundering sound shaking the ground as it landed. Kymaerah watched him, jewels of tears standing in her eyes.
"They wanted you to join them, and getting her out of the way was their only option. They gave you a choice: prison or join them. Instead of spending the rest of your life behind bars you chose to join them. You did not know at the time that they were the ones that had framed you." she said softly as she moved in close behind him. He was breathing heavily, his body shaking with anger. He could not catch a glimpse at a memory and yet he knew that she was speaking the truth. He knew that she would not lie to him.
He looked up at her under furrowed brows and took a deep breath. "What did they do to me here?" Logan hissed through clenched teeth as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
"They made you into a killing machine. They gave you your adamantium skeleton, brainwashed you. It was a sad sight . . . I would hear the guards talking about you, about how your mind was weakening." Kymaerah put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him. He grabbed her wrist and stood, turning to face her. His body was a live wire of angry energy. He was at his most primed . . . the anger was pouring off of him in waves of heat that Kymaerah could feel.
"What are you doing here? Why are you telling me this? Why am I being punished?" he growled, pulling her closer so that he could look into her eyes. "If you are lying to me . . ." he left his threat open-ended as he squeezed her wrist. The threat didn't need to be finished. His intentions were clear enough.
"What reason would I have to lie to you Logan?" the tears standing in her eyes spilled, sending two gleaming rivers of crystal down her cheeks. "You think those times were easy for me? I had to. . ." she trailed off, her heart pounding, "I was taken away from the man I loved, I was given these *wings*" she hissed, her anger growing as well, "They threatened to kill him if I did not assist them. But I refused. I refused and they tortured him. I can still hear his screams. . ." she trailed off as she began to glow slightly. . . her skin suffused with a golden color. "No." she jerked her wrist as hard as she could and she backed away from him, quickly. Logan growled and followed. The tears had caused something to stir in his heart, but what it was, he could not discern. He had had a similar reaction when he had seen Rogue crying that day on the train.
"I just need to know. . ." but he stopped as he watched fire spill from her mouth, her body heaving it into a wide ditch that had once been the laboratory. It only lasted a few seconds at most, but when it was over her lips were singed and she was sobbing uncontrollably as the fire spread towards the forest surrounding them. "What the hell?" he questioned as he knelt beside her.
"My mutation." she whispered hoarsely. "It's why I chose my name." Her slightly charred lips broke into a small smile "The Chimaera was a creature of myth in ancient times. The head of a lion, body of a goat and tail of a serpent. She could breathe fire and could not be tamed by anyone."
"Bellerophon." the word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Kymaerah looked up, her eyes glistening.
"Yes, he tamed her by killing her. It's what they called the man over the experimentations here. They nicknamed him Bellerophon. And that's the name he still uses today."
Author: © Renee Reel (Kymaerah@yahoo.com)
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG so far
Comic or Movie-Verse: Movie
Brief description: What Logan finds after leaving the mansion is not exactly what he expected.
Feedback: Surely!
Archive: Hey, if you want it cool! Just let me know!
Thanks: To Hugh's excellent portrayal of Wolverine that inspired me to write again. And to Mandy who always encourages me. =O)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In our last episode: "My fiancee? You're sure you're not mistaken there?" he questioned, his hazel eyes worried. His fiancee . . . he was to be married? And yet he didn't remember a fiancee, hell - he remembered nothing from his former life, not even his mother and father's name. He scowled and his desire for revenge grew even stronger. Those that had done this to him, to her . . . they would pay.
"No, I'm not mistaken. Her name was Evangeline." Logan jumped a little at the name. Kymaerah looked at him, curiosity in her shocking eyes overshadowed something else, something more dangerous. "You remember something?" Logan shook his head, running hasty fingers through his hair.
"The name Evangeline - there's a poem . . . " he trailed off remembering his first meeting with the one they called "Beast". The big blue hulk of a man had been reading a book of Longfellow's poetry to the students. Logan had stumbled across the class, but had stayed when Hank had begun to read "Evangeline". One of the only things he had ever been able to remember, aside from his name, had been that poem. "Longfellow's poem. I haven't been able to get it out of here. I've always known it" He said and pointed to his head. Kymaerah smiled, a genuine smile, and stood, tired of sitting for the moment.
"Of course! You recited it to her constantly. We were having dinner one night and I think you two had had an argument that day . . . you began reciting it to her over spaghetti. It was lovely." She said, her eyes wistful and sad. Logan looked at her, his face etched with shock. He had been engaged. That was the last thing he had ever expected the beautiful, familiar woman to tell him. Kymaerah looked down at the ground, afraid to meet his gaze.
"But, she was the reason you are here now." she looked up, meeting his amber gaze. "She was killed, murdered, and you were the number one suspect."
"No." his voice was soft, disbelieving. "No, that's not possible." He insisted, but the image of Rogue's panicked face fluttered into his mind's eye. He hadn't meant to hurt her, and without her touching him and using his healing powers, she would have died. Kymaerah turned her head away, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears. She hadn't wanted to tell him this. Why couldn't his memory just return? But then. . . if that had happened, she would have been unable to come to him like this. Unable to talk to him . . .
"You didn't, of course." she said and turned her back to him. "They had learned of your magnificent ability to regenerate. A man who can be shot, and yet repair the damage done to him. Kill him, and Kill him, and Kill him again, but he just will keep coming back for more." the bitterness in her voice was plainly evident and it was painful to hear. "They took her and they tortured her. They stabbed her again and again..." she said and turned to him, the fire in her eyes seeming to glow brighter. "They raped her, they tied her up and beat her and when she stopped breathing they took her to your apartment and they called the police." Logan's breathing was shallow; he had become more and more angry as her story had gone on.
"How ... did ... " he spat out two words and then could no longer speak. *snikt* The claws unsheathed themselves, but this time Logan didn't feel the pain as they burst through his skin. He let out a roar of anger as he spun around and sliced through the nearest object - a rather thick limbed pine tree. He went down on one knee as the tree began to sway back and forth. It leaned towards him one time and then it toppled into the darkness of the forest, a thundering sound shaking the ground as it landed. Kymaerah watched him, jewels of tears standing in her eyes.
"They wanted you to join them, and getting her out of the way was their only option. They gave you a choice: prison or join them. Instead of spending the rest of your life behind bars you chose to join them. You did not know at the time that they were the ones that had framed you." she said softly as she moved in close behind him. He was breathing heavily, his body shaking with anger. He could not catch a glimpse at a memory and yet he knew that she was speaking the truth. He knew that she would not lie to him.
He looked up at her under furrowed brows and took a deep breath. "What did they do to me here?" Logan hissed through clenched teeth as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
"They made you into a killing machine. They gave you your adamantium skeleton, brainwashed you. It was a sad sight . . . I would hear the guards talking about you, about how your mind was weakening." Kymaerah put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him. He grabbed her wrist and stood, turning to face her. His body was a live wire of angry energy. He was at his most primed . . . the anger was pouring off of him in waves of heat that Kymaerah could feel.
"What are you doing here? Why are you telling me this? Why am I being punished?" he growled, pulling her closer so that he could look into her eyes. "If you are lying to me . . ." he left his threat open-ended as he squeezed her wrist. The threat didn't need to be finished. His intentions were clear enough.
"What reason would I have to lie to you Logan?" the tears standing in her eyes spilled, sending two gleaming rivers of crystal down her cheeks. "You think those times were easy for me? I had to. . ." she trailed off, her heart pounding, "I was taken away from the man I loved, I was given these *wings*" she hissed, her anger growing as well, "They threatened to kill him if I did not assist them. But I refused. I refused and they tortured him. I can still hear his screams. . ." she trailed off as she began to glow slightly. . . her skin suffused with a golden color. "No." she jerked her wrist as hard as she could and she backed away from him, quickly. Logan growled and followed. The tears had caused something to stir in his heart, but what it was, he could not discern. He had had a similar reaction when he had seen Rogue crying that day on the train.
"I just need to know. . ." but he stopped as he watched fire spill from her mouth, her body heaving it into a wide ditch that had once been the laboratory. It only lasted a few seconds at most, but when it was over her lips were singed and she was sobbing uncontrollably as the fire spread towards the forest surrounding them. "What the hell?" he questioned as he knelt beside her.
"My mutation." she whispered hoarsely. "It's why I chose my name." Her slightly charred lips broke into a small smile "The Chimaera was a creature of myth in ancient times. The head of a lion, body of a goat and tail of a serpent. She could breathe fire and could not be tamed by anyone."
"Bellerophon." the word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Kymaerah looked up, her eyes glistening.
"Yes, he tamed her by killing her. It's what they called the man over the experimentations here. They nicknamed him Bellerophon. And that's the name he still uses today."