Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 11
A few days after his talk with Hank, Logan finally found time to hunt Shay down and confront her about the missing Danger Room lessons and a way to make them up. She wasn't the easiest mutant to find though, seeing it took him an hour to track her down, with all the mixed scents and hallways in the mansion.
She turned up in the back of the Institute's insanely large library, trying to find some quiet.
"Shay, can we talk for a second?" Logan asked as he stepped up behind the girl.
She looked up from her book, then turned in her seat, ending up sideways on it, staring at Logan. "Bout what?"
Logan moved around the table and sat down across from her, leaning it back on its two back legs, a normal habit of his. "You know about what."
Shay sighed and looked down at the ground, still seated to the side on her chair. Logan stared at her profile for a few seconds, noticing for the first time how her lips pouted out slightly, giving a 'just-hold-me' feel. Realizing what it was he was actually thinking, Logan shook his head, trying to get the thought of his mind. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Shay?"
She finally looked over at him. "Yeah, I know. The lessons," she said simply. She gave a small sigh and bit her lip. "I talked with the Professor about dropping the class."
Logan's brow furrowed. "Dropping it? Look, Shay, no matter how you look at this, you're going to have to get back in the Danger Room, no matter how scared of it you are." She opened to mouth to protest, especially the 'scared' part, but he stopped her with a raised hand. "If you're an X-Men, you're gonna have to practice in there more then you'll like."
"And if I don't want to be an X-Men?" Shay asked, a little too much hostility entering her voice.
Logan's face showed his shock. He hadn't expected that, though it made sense. The kid only came to the Institute because her mutation was getting out of hand, why would she join the team in the end? In a few months, Hank would have all the answers she could want, and she'd be done with Xavier's School for the Gifted.
"Well, if that's what you want, drop the class," Logan said gruffly, setting the chair back on all fours and standing up.
Shay watched him the whole time, trying to figure out what in the hell he was getting so upset over this. What did it matter to Logan if she was a joined the X-Men or not? She was first and foremost a Morlock. She'd always thought she'd end up going back to Callisto, hopefully, if the other mutant wasn't still angry with her for leaving.
Join the X-Men? That was definitely a strange thought, one that had never even crossed her mind, though now it was making her confused, more so then normal. But that wasn't really the issue at hand. That was Logan and the Danger Room.
"Logan," Shay said softly, making the man stop as he began to pass by her, heading back out of the library. "What about the Danger Room?"
Silently staring back at her, Logan took a second to keep his frustration in check, also trying to figure out why he was getting so upset over all this. Finally, he spoke, his tone a lot gentler then before. "One-on-one, you and me, no one else."
"No one else?" Shay repeated. No one for her to hurt, well except for Logan, though he wasn't one of her favorite people anyways.
Logan nodded his head. "We'll ease you back to the Danger Room, though, Shay," and he looked her straight in the eye. "Another incident like the last time, you have to promise to talk with Charles."
Shay shot him a look. "You had me up till the end. Why do I have to talk with the Prof?"
"Cause, it'll help, trust me."
Shay looked back down at the ground. The day she started trusting Logan was the day she hugged her father. "Sorry, Logan. But I can live without the Danger Room and I'm sure as hell it can live without me."
Shay didn't see it, but Logan's hands clenched into fists and he shook his head. Without another word, he left the library.
Turning the right way in her seat, Shay closed her book, then dropped her forehead to the tabletop, taking a deep breath. What in the hell was going on with Logan?
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"Ok, that's enough," Logan shouted over the heads of everyone in the Danger Room. Above them, Hank flicked a few switches and the mechanical tentacles and lasers stopped abruptly, causing the kids in the room to sigh with relief.
"Ow, Kurt! You just smacked me!" Kitty's voice whined from the pack of the room.
"Sorry," Kurt smiled sheepishly.
No Shay, Logan thought as he watched the kids leave the room slowly, most heading for their rooms to shower and change after the training. Evan picked up his skateboard and left the room, half laughing at Kurt, half shouting that he'd be out front.
Logan looked up at the dome in the ceiling, the control center for the Danger Room and could hear the hum of the elevator as Hank descended to the ground floor again. Other then that and the soft 'tick' of the machinery behind the walls, the Danger Room was quiet, a vast change over a few minutes ago.
From out in the hall, Logan's enhanced ears picked up the soft thud of footsteps as someone made their way towards the Danger Room. Turning towards the door, Logan laced his arms over each other across his chest and waited for whoever it was. Catching a very familiar scent, he knew it was Shay a split second before her body appeared in the doorway.
"You're late," Logan frowned at her.
Shay crossed her arms over her own chest, leaning against the doorframe of the room. She didn't retort with an answer, her eyes locked on his. Logan's arms dropped to his side. "What do you want, Shay?"
"Your offer still stand?" her voice echoed softly in the empty room.
Logan's lips twitched slightly, a smile almost appearing. "Yeah."
Shay nodded her head and moved farther into the room. Her eyes finally left Logan's and moved around the large, empty room. With the training program inactive, the room resembled a large gymnasium, minus basketball backboards and foul lines.
For the past few days, she'd been thinking about Logan's offer of a one-on-one training session. One half of her kept saying there was no need to accept Logan's deal. The Danger Room was not a necessity in her life at the moment. She knew how to defend herself and how to inflict quite a bit of pain on anyone who had the balls to attack her, so why push things?
And the other half of her kept saying 'What the hell?,' and she couldn't help but see the common sense in that. Why in the hell didn't she take his advice and face her fears? If she didn't get control of herself, her actions, she was never going to be safe around others.
Obviously, the latter half won out.
Shay followed Logan over to the back corner of the Danger Room where a few mats were strewn across the floor. Picking one at random, Logan moved across from Shay and waited for her to ready herself for the fight.
Shay brought her fists up in front of her, her eyes never leaving Logan's. She wouldn't lose control. If this demon inside of her couldn't be controlled, no one around her would be safe. Plus, she had to show Logan that he was wrong. She was going to stay cool and kick his ass at the same time.
Across the mat, Logan watched Shay ready herself. Her body would tense for a second, then relax. Over and over, Shay worked all her senses, getting them ready for the attack.
Logan shook his head, then spread his feet, steadying his stance. "Ready?"
Shay nodded, tipping herself up on her toes, then down again. "Ready."
Logan waited a second, then with a soft growl, swung carefully, but forcefully, at Shay. She dropped down under the arm, but shot off her feet, shoving her shoulder into Logan's chest.
With his feet apart, Logan stayed up, that was until Shay swiped her foot under him, sending him to the ground.
He was up again, much faster then Shay had anticipated, surprising her by the arm that wrapped itself around her waist, spinning her around. She ducked before Logan could get his other hand near her neck, and forced all her body weight away from him, breaking his grip.
As quick as she could, Shay crouched down, then sprang straight up, kicking out her foot. It connected with the middle of Logan's chest. She made a mistake though, and didn't bring her foot back in fast enough, since Logan grabbed it and pulled her down to the ground with him.
Landing atop him, Shay took it to her advantage, pinning his arms and legs to the mat as best she could. It wasn't too easy, seeing as how her hands were shaking badly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. At least she was still, mentally, in the Danger Room, still fighting Logan.
Staring down at him, Shay couldn't help but see a small amount of warmth concealed in the harsh blue gaze. Suddenly, the thought of why Logan had gone to all this trouble popped into her mind, distracting her.
That split second of Shay's absent-mindedness was Logan's best shot of breaking her hold. Even though Shay was thin, she still held quite a bit of strength hidden within her. As she still stared at him, Logan rotated his shoulders, rolling the pair over, so Shay's hold on him turned to his hold on her.
Shay gave a small cry as she felt a wing get bent up under her. The jolt of pain made her grimace, and she got an idea.
Logan heard her cry and lifted himself slightly off her, not wanting to put the girl in pain. It seemed a little late though, as he saw a few lit tears spring up in her eyes.
Pulling himself even farther off Shay, he put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
A sly smile spread across Shay's face, her tears vanishing. "Perfect." With that, she drew her knees up in the small space between the two and kicked Logan in the chest, knocking him back to the mat.
Shay crawled to her feet, a dull ache still coming from her wing. She watched Logan do the same, though she doubted he was in any pain, except for his ego. Damn self-healing.
"Cheap trick," Logan growled from a few feet away.
Shay smiled again. "Worked though."
"But it wouldn't in a real fight."
Shay's smiled faded. "Yeah, I know," she muttered as she moved towards the door.
"I'll take that to mean we're done?" Logan called after her as she neared the door. "Hey, kid!" he tried again to get her attention. It worked, seeing as she turned and looked back at him. "Nice job," Logan said simply.
Shay swallowed, staring at Logan, his 'nice job' echoing in the room. "Thanks," she finally replied, turning and walking through the door.
****Notes****
Yeah, this chapter ought to make my friend Ginny happy. She's all about hooking up OC's and other characters, lol. I can't promise anything for this story though. I'm just letting things flow.
