"Two friends. Two friends I have lost because of me." Ororo said, pacing in Logan's apartment. It was a last resort, but no one knew where it was, so they were safe. For now.
"Look, I'm sorry." Logan said as he sat on the couch. Remy just sold him out, for money after all of the missions they did, he trusted him, but he turned on him. He felt sick inside. Ororo exhaled angrily and sat down beside him. Logan looked at her briefly and her face softened.
"Look, I'm sorry about your friend and Jubilee."
"He's not my friend, and it's not your fault." He frowned and checked his gun for the third time. "And not your problem. Our priority right now is keeping you alive."
"Maybe we should scrap this whole thing. I mean, I'll give them back the chemical and they'll stay off my back." Ororo jumped up, starting to pace yet again. Logan stood as well.
"Wait…they want a chemical? Why didn't they replicate what they had?"
"Because I hacked in and destroyed it, along with the digitally stored formula."
"And what does it do?" He listened as she told him the whole story. When she was finished, he whistled. "That would tip the world over."
"And the balance of power." She nodded. "So I should just give it back!" Logan looked up quickly.
"No! Where is it?" Ororo tapped her temple and he breathed a sigh of relief. "So they don't want you dead."
"I don't care! As long as they're after me I will continue to lose loved ones. I can't take it!" Logan moved in close.
"Well you know what? Maybe they'll kill you anyway when you give them what they want. Maybe not." He was half yelling but she didn't flinch.
"Better my life than anyone else!" She yelled back.
"So you want to end up like Michael Moverson." Logan spat.
"Who the hell is he?"
"A former employee of Bronson who came to us but then decided to hand over the software they needed. We couldn't even find him until it was too late. They flayed him, you know that? Skinned him alive and threw his body into a dog yard. Do you want that to happen to you?"
"It won't." She turned to head for the door. Logan grabbed her wrist and swung her back around. By instinct her other reached up to deliver a blow but he caught it in an iron grip.
"Listen to me. Killing yourself doesn't make your problems go away." She stopped struggling and stood there in his grasp, irate. Logan relaxed his hold and softened his voice. "Look. Don't do anything foolish Ororo. I don't want you dead." She smiled, a half sad, half angry smile.
"Thank you."
"No problem. But we're going to have to trust each other." He stared into her eyes. They really were the color of the sky on a beautiful day.
"Trust."
"That's what I said." Ororo stepped closer and Logan's hands fell away from her wrists as they circled his neck, his own coming to her waist.
"I don't know if I'd trust myself around you." She breathed, their lips so close together.
"I doubt I would too." He smiled and stepped back, holding her hand. They walked to the window and watched the sun set over the buildings. *
Ororo awoke to an unfamiliar carving of the Canadian Rockies and blinked. As her memories came rushing back, she gave herself a moment to grieve for Erik, another casualty of her own private war. Brushing away tears she sat up and stood, her body uncomfortable from sleeping in jeans. Running her fingers through her loose hair and she opened up the bedroom door.
Logan was already awake, the smell of coffee wafting through the air, doughnuts and muffins on the small table in the kitchen. He smiled as he sat down. "Hey 'Ro." A cloud colored eyebrow rose at that.
"Ro?" He nodded and swallowed his waffle.
"No one ever call you that before?"
"No…but I like it." She took three doughnuts.
"Good. Tell me, how is it you had a doctorate in Botany at age twenty?" Logan asked, reading her file.
"Skipped high school." She gulped down her glass of orange juice and took two more doughnuts.
"What's your I.Q.?"
"I'm sure its there." He nodded and smiled slightly.
*
"I told you she was intelligent." Scott said as they powered over the water in Xavier's yacht. Charles glared at him.
"I know."
"Her I.Q. is 215."
"She is still not smarter than I am." Charles said, eyes on the water. The truth was Munroe was ten points smarter, but she would not win.
"If you say so…sir." Scott laughed as he emphasized sir. He downed his third glass of scotch and smirked. "But I've requested that you be removed from this assignment." He stood shakily as he leered in his direction. Charles shook his head. Fool.
"Have you now."
"Yep! I'm so sick of you and your smug superiority. I know your pedigree. You're only new money. As for myself, my family has been in the Society for generations, with plenty of money. We have had power, and my father sits on the two spots on the right to the leader. You had nothing going for you but your smarts, and I guess in old age, those fail. The weak may die so the strong survive. Remember when they told us that Charles? When we joined? If you didn't agree, then they'd let you go, but your house would be blown to bits or your wife killed. You just never had the guts or the imagination." He laughed. " Frost will be brought in to relieve you."
The bartender raised his gun and shot Scott in the arm. Summers yelled, being pushed to the rail by the force of impact. "What in the hell are you doing? You know the rules!" he screamed.
"You see Scott…" Charles said as he picked off a piece of lint from his pants leg. "You could never keep your mouth shut and do your job. Munroe shouldn't have left the building when she took everything. The only reason why she walked right out of there that day was because your people were unprepared and late, and she was beautiful enough to get by anyone. Stupid." He shook his head. "Now it's all sloppy and she's on the run."
"With the FBI's best eraser with her! Whose fault was that!" Scott screamed, holding his injured arm. "You gave her the best way to keep hidden until the trial. The judge isn't ours, and the one that was used to subpoena the company wasn't ours either. You idiot. Do you really think my father will allow this?"
"Your father ordered this. You're right, Frost will be here to work on this assignment. But it won't be to fill my position. It will be to fill yours. Did you actually think we'd let you advance so that our lives work, and countless others lives work would go down the drain because of one snot nosed child who couldn't see his own prick wanted to be a big guy like his father?" He laughed. "Corsair has the talent, the drive, and the ability. You have nothing but the genes."
"I got this far."
"And you've gotten as far as you can. Do you know where we are?" Scott looked around.
"Near the Bahamas."
"Shark filled waters. When they find your body, and we'll make sure there is enough of you left to identify, they won't even be able to tell you were shot." A large burly man came on deck and smiled into the early afternoon sun. "Goodbye Scott. We appreciated the good work you didn't mess up." Charles raised his glass as the large man grabbed Scott by his neck and threw him over.
"When do I start?" He asked, crossing his arms and smiling as he heard Summers sputtering and yelling, half crying for a second chance.
"Pick up Frost at LaGuardia and drop her off at the specified house. Then start tracking the woman." He smiled. "You come highly regarded Peter. Don't disappoint me."
"I disappoint no one." His Russian accent thick. "This will be resolved quickly."
"And I want discreetly. That is the operative word."
"I was told it was dead."
"Touché."