Notes:
Disclaimer: This is not mine. See first chapters for details.
Rating: PG13+
Other: This story is AU. Readers Replies at the bottom.
Chapter 5: The Triad
Almost two decades ago things had been very different for mutants. Or most mutants, anyway. They lived in secret, alone, unsure of their powers or identity. Indeed, the word 'mutant' had not even been heard at that time. Then came Charles Xavier, a young, enthusiastic American Oxford student, a telepath of no small skill, and an eternal optimist. He had made a mistake that would shatter the lives of many in the coming years, a mistake that he would ultimately pay for as well. He discovered, proved and proclaimed the existence of mutants to the world, using himself as an example. At first, of course, he was hailed as a 'crack pot!' a mad man, a charlatan, but though dint of hard work, evidence and sheer persuasion he managed to prove the existence of his kind beyond any doubt. In his naivety he had expected rejoicing from the human populace, gladness, acceptance, but instead found fear, hatred, and paranoia.
Logan, ironically, was not captured because of Xavier's actions, he had been part of the governmental Weapon X project for months before the statements of Mutant existence, but the statement and knowledge did nothing to help him either.
Forge, also, had been known at that time, if only as a brilliant young inventor, rather than mutant scum. It indeed had been him who had created Wolverine's collar, and though he had refused to create more of the same types to inhibit other mutant powers, other Government scientists had been able to make fair replicates. Not as good as the original, but functional nevertheless, able to turn of mutant powers when worn.
Three months after the announcements of Mutant existence, three months of press panic, vigilante groups, and lynching of anyone who seemed even remotely different, Charles Xavier was caught and brought to the Weapon X base. He was placed next to Logan's cell, and the thus the two men had met.
Xavier had been a very different man then. Enthusiastic, caring, passionate, intelligent, he spoke of hope, tolerance, and dignity. Even with the inhibitor collar on, he had been possessed of a unique empathy, a skill which drew out the hope and humanity even in Logan, bitter and animalistic that he was then.
Two more mutants came after him, a woman of the name Ororo Munroe, and a man called Hank McCoy. Thus then was their small group complete and Xavier deemed it time for an escape attempt.
The details of this need not be told, unimportant as they are to the grand scheme of the narrative, what was more vital was that it failed, though the four escapees got quite far, they were ultimately caught. And punished.
Here the memories were most painful, here the images burned and stinged and blazed in Logan's mind.
Each of them had been tortured in turn, in front of the other three. Xavier had suffered worst of all, for they had used machines to direct his telepathy straight into the victim, making Xavier share every ounce of pain, despair, suffering. It had nearly broken him.
Hank had been lucky, in his own way, for the guards were too rough in his 'discipline,' and he had died half way through one agonizing session.
When those long nights of torment were over they were returned to their cells. Xavier being placed in the middle cell, with Logan upon the left and Ororo upon the right.
The project X managers, seeing that Xavier was the most potentially dangerous of the three, took special pains over his training, and from then on Charles rarely spent a full day inside his small prison.
Logan remembered this well, the day after the punishment, despite his pain, Charles had remained full of defiance, anger, and passion.
Two days later, when his 'programming' had begun, he became quieter, more thoughtful.
Five days later his talks became more like rants, desperate plans for escape.
Two weeks later Logan had heard him crying to himself at night.
Three weeks: he spent most of each day and night in a depression, eating little, talking less.
A month: he sobbed all the time now, and was seemingly oblivious to all Logan's and Ororo's calls.
Six weeks: He came back from a 'programming session' a raging animal, killed three guards with his bare hands before being beaten into submission.
Two months: Every day and night was spent in wakefulness, for them all, as Xavier screamed and raged at the bars of his cell, alternately begging, laughing, pleading, moaning, his sanity seemingly lost complexly.
Ten weeks: Xavier was a robot, he said nothing, ate like a machine, did what the guards told him to. Never struggled, no matter what torment they put upon him.
Three months: Logan made his escape, on his own this time, though he made a last, desperate plea to the broken man.
Xavier given no word that he had heard Logan then, no sight that he was even aware of his existence, or of the escape being implemented, he had seemed dead to Wolverine, except… except…
The last memory of Xavier reared up, the last time Logan had seen him, watching blankly though the bars of his cell, his once lively eyes dead and cold… unless… deep inside them, a flickering, desperate flame of life, a shadow of something dark, stirred.
Of Ororo's training and breaking Logan could say little, he had seldom seen the woman, except on those rare occasions when she was dragged by his cell.
She had screamed a lot, he remembered, had begged not to be put back into the 'small room,' but this meant nothing to the wild man, so he ignored it. On the day of his escape she, alas, had been absent from her cell, and thus he had been unable to break her out also.
But he could make a fair guess that she had escaped, probably along with Xavier, after all, was not 'Tempest,' a fair name for a woman who could control the weather?
Logan almost moaned in relief as the burrowing, burning pressure in his head abated, and he was able to slip out of the replayed memories, Xavier had finished the probe. He found he was shaking all over, his breath was rapid, fast, and he felt vaguely numb, removed, devoid of feeling. He wondered if this is what it felt like after being raped. Probably not, though it was still painful as hell.
Xavier's voice spoke up, calm but faint, as if from a distance.
'There can be no doubt, this is him.'
'Amazing,' said Magneto in a breathy whisper, 'I never imagined… we had been searching for so long… I had thought him dead, buried in an unmarked grave long ago. To find him now… and through coincidence, surely it is some sign of things to come, a good omen, perhaps?'
'Ain't no good omen if I put these claws through your gullet, bub,' snarled Logan, unsheathing his claws.
'I am sorry if I caused you any pain, Wolverine,' said Xavier, his voice smooth as silk, 'but it was necessary. You must understand that your sudden emergence, especially at this tender time, was somewhat of a shock, and extremely suspicious. You, of all people, must realize the importance of never underestimating the humans, it is a lesson we have both learned the hard way. Therefore I could not take any chances, could not allow for any spies in our midst.'
'Indeed,' added Magneto, 'but now we have been assured of your identity, I bid you come sit with us, and be welcome. There is much we must share, many questions each of us want answering. For example, I would dearly like to know where you have been all these years?'
Logan did not answer or accept straight away, instead he studied the two men in front of him, making quick calculations and decisions in his head. Despite Xavier's explanations he still felt violated, still felt unsure about these two. It was Xavier's eyes which unnerved him the most, those two, cold eyes which seemed to suck up the emotion around him and give nothing back, black holes to the soul. Within them, Logan saw, was pure insanity. Not the blaring, ranting insanity, but the quiet, calm, deadly kind which is all the more dangerous for it's subtly.
Yet what choice did he have? He supposed he could attempt to leave, but where else would he go? It wasn't as if these people's ideals conflicted with his either, Kurt and Todd at least seemed good sorts. Besides, these people had taken him out of the arena, out of hell, for that at least he owed them some forgiveness and civility.
So it was that, slowly, he followed Xavier and Magneto to the main table, and sat with them. Kurt, however, remained standing until Magneto's finger beckoned him to join them.
'Well…' prompted Xavier.
'Not much to the story, really,' said Logan, 'the dumb guards got lazy, and I got good at acting. One idiot forgot to turn off the collar as he led me back to my cell, I killed him, and escaped. But I couldn't work out how to get the damn collar off, so I kept it on, and kept the control pad near me. Wandered round Canada for a bit, kept myself free for about a year, but I then got sloppy too. Got discovered, cornered by a lynch mob, and taken down by a few lucky shots. They found out how the collar worked, used it, and took it in their heads to sell me to a passing show man. So that's how I got myself involved in the fighting scene. It's been like that for the last few years, passed on to different owners, moving around with them using the collar to control me. Suppose I was lucky, all their work is undercover, and the government ignores it. They never thought I'd get involved in that ring, so they never looked, guess those idiots kept me out of the hands of Weapon X.'
'Indeed,' sighed Magneto, 'and out of our gaze too, it seems in out haste to go for large, high profile targets we have missed some small, but very valuable treasures. Thank you once again, Kurt, you have proved yourself a credit and fine example to mutants everywhere.'
Kurt smiled, and gave a slight nod, but there was something in his eyes… for some reason it seemed to Logan that he was not quite as happy with Magneto's praise as he should have been.
'What about you, Chuck,' asked Logan, 'how did you escape, last I saw of you it looked pretty broken.'
'Let's just say you're not the only good actor,' replied Psy, 'though I don't deny that Weapon X did change me, it didn't quite break me. I retained my wits, and abilities. I survived… just. The collars I wore back then was not as… efficient as yours, being only a replica. I learnt to overcome its mutant negation field, and thus was eventually able to use my telepathy against the guards and set myself free, along with Tempest. After some wandering we met up with Magneto and the rest is history.'
'Yeah,' said Logan, 'I heard about 'Ro's death, it's a shame. She was a good sort.'
'Indeed, but she died as she lived, gloriously.' Said Magneto, 'her body may be dead, but her name will live on for many years to come.'
'So,' continued Xavier, 'the next question is simply what do you want to do next?'
'We would wish you to stay here,' added Magneto, 'to join us in our cause, our fight to free other mutants like yourself. Yet we will not force you, like the humans might. Logan, something is coming, events are moving swiftly and soon, very, very soon I will need you, and all those like you. To have you on our side… it would be a great boon, both in moral and in skill. There is a… a mission coming, a vital mission, one which could change the entire course of Homo Superior. In this mission your help would be invaluable, if you could find the will and the desire to partake in it. Stay here for a while, tomorrow the preparations will be complete, and we shall reveal more details of this event, then, when you have heard more, you may decide to help us, or not. Does that seem acceptable to you?'
Logan nodded, why not? He owed this people his ear, if nothing else, and Magneto had surely riled up his curiosity.
'Excellent,' breathed Magneto, 'in which case you will want attending to. Kurt, will you be so good as to attend to Logan's needs until he is settled in? He will need food, cloths, and a place to sleep. Can you arrange that?'
'No problem,' responded Kurt.
'Good,' said Xavier, 'if any difficulties to occur, contact me. Until tomorrow then, the meeting will be at 09:00, don't be late.'
Kurt nodded, got out of his chair and gave a formal bow to the two men, Logan followed him, though he only nodded to them on the way out.
Reader's Replies:
Gyuumajo: I hope this chapter did as well. Glad to see you sticking with this, it's nice to have a steady reviewer.
Telle: You can do it! I know you can! Hold on in there pal!
Scribbler: It's good to see you around. Thanks for the compliments, too. And folks, just to return the favor, I would remind you that the FIRST chapter of this tale was written by her, she set the stage for all this. She's an awesome story crafter, one of the best writers out there, her Just The Way You Are fic started all this and, damn, it's good! So, once you've finished looking at my stuff, go to her! Ya hear me? Go to her!
Kiki5: A few short explanations. Psy is alive and kicking, as is Magneto, the dead one is Tempest. Yes, Psy is Xavier's new code name because 'Professor X' just didn't cut it for this story line. It just sounds… wrong. I hope you understand the reasoning for this. A few other people have different code names too, but all for good reasons. Don't worry though, most people will stick to the names we know and love.
Wolviesfan: Ooooh, another new vict- er… reviewer. To be fair, that's Scribbler's mistake rather than mine, as it appeared in the first chapter but… yeah… it's a mistake. I hope you can look past it. I'm not hugely into Logan history and stuff, I mean, I know a bit but there may be the odd mistake. Point them out to me if you wish, but please don't let them hamper your enjoyment of this fic, OK? Thanks for reviewing, BTW, I hope you continue!
Mocla: Hello! Nice to see another new face! Yes, Pietro will be making an appearance in this fic! In the next chapter, in fact! Though he might be different from how you remember him…
NEXT CHAPTER: A nice long one this time, folks, more Evo-characters introduced! A conflict! Logan faces his memories! And cabbage! Yes, that's right, cabbage!
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