Feral Bonds Chapter 16
The reviewer known as Me: Actually, no. I didn't originally plan to use X23. Hell, when I thought this fic up, I wasn't even aware of her existence. But then again, this story is basically nothing like what I originally thought up. But I did have X23 on the story arc outline as an alternative by the time I started actually writing, er. typing, whatever. As for how I'm gonna use her, ya just gotta read, sorry. :) And a lot of X23's appeal 'is' the fact that she's a stone cold crazy chick.
Burning Light: Um, wow. Think you could get a tax-exempt card for that? Might help with the plushie fund. And splitting up Mark and Kitty, I dunno yet. I have an arc-outline for both breaking em up and keeping em together. Just haven't decided which one I'm gonna use.
I Don't Review: Thanks. And on the issue of the Kitty/Mark romance, I..doubt it. Mark isn't exactly date material, he's as romantic as a sack full of doorknobs to the head.
Inuyasha0001: Thanks again. I hope I can do X23 some justice. There isn't really any material to work off of besides the fact that she's continuously pissy. Maybe they will flesh her out in that new comic NYX.
Bluefuzzyelf: Glad ya like it.
Answers to questions that people e-mail me about but I'm sure at least one other person wants to know section: Actually, my personal key to writing my action scenes is to watch anime music videos at full blast while running the scene over in my head a few times. I watch the craziest vids too. The one that really puts me in a mood to write violence is a video of Auska's fight with the MP-Evas in End of Evangelion set to an english version of Nena's "99 Red Balloons". Another one that sets my blood boiling is a Tenchi Muyo vid set to Metallica's "I Disappear". A weird techno-industrial version of the Christmas carol 'God rest ye merry gentleman' also set to Tenchi Muyo is another fantastic one. Trust me, after watching those vids back to back, you'll be ready to rip something apart yourself.
Harry's Bar and Grill
Logan slammed the empty beer bottle down on the counter. Catching the bartender's eye, he signaled for another one. The bartender walked over and sat another bottle down. Eyeing the half-dozen other empty bottles, he looked Logan in the eye. "Hey buddy, I think that's gonna be your last one for tonight. Want me to call you a cab?"
Logan drained the beer and dropped it on the bar. Taking a glance at the bartender, he narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess, you're new here."
The bartender leaned forward on the bar. "Yea, couple days now. Don't change nothing. That's still your last."
Logan growled. "Listen bub, takes more than american pisswater to get me drunk. Trust me on that."
The bartender inwardly sighed. "Don't matter how tough you think you are, that's seven brews in ten minutes. I'm cutting you off."
Logan started to shift forward to grab his collar when he heard a ringing. Blinking once, he grabbed the phone out of his jacket, snapped it open, and bit out. "What?"
Ororo's voice came out of the phone. "Logan, you need to return to the mansion."
Logan growled. "What? Chuck didn't want to give me a call? Got you doing the grunt work now?"
Ororo's sigh came across loud and clear. "Logan, the past few days have been stressful for us all, and the Professor doubly so. But this is not the reason I telephoned you. Kitty has devised a possible solution and wants your input on it."
Logan didn't respond. After a few seconds of silence, Ororo spoke. "Logan?" He glanced up at the bartender who made a cutting motion. Growling, he snapped "Yea." Before slamming the phone shut and stuffing it in his pocket. Tossing the bartender a dark look, he dropped a $20 on the bar and stomped out the door.
Mansion office
Ororo sighed again and set the phone down in it's cradle. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to the Professor and Kitty. "I believe he is on his way back home."
Xavier nodded and rolled back to the fireplace. Kitty glanced between them, sensing an understated tension. Ororo sat down next to Kitty. "The Professor and Logan had some words before he left, so Logan is most probably..unhappy at the moment. So this meeting could take a while." Kitty nodded and relaxed, it's not like Logan being angry was anything new.
Fifteen minutes later Logan came storming into the office and sat heavily down in one of the chairs. Glancing around at the staring faces, he bit out. "What's the plan Half-Pint?"
Kitty inwardly blew a sigh of relief, Mr. Logan wasn't mad at her or he wouldn't be using her nickname. Feeling bolstered, she spoke up. "Well Mr. Logan, I was talking to Sam while we were totally trying to get Mark to the medlab like the Professor wanted when he brought up that Bobby had a point when he was yelling.." Logan scowled. ".he is dangerous to everyone here. I mean, he did almost like skewer Bobby. And we kept talking.."
Logan broke in. "Is there a point to this Half-Pint? Or you gonna tell me your life story?"
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he mentioned X23, and I got to thinking, she's a lot like him, so why not have her look after him? She beat all of us, Mark shouldn't like be a problem for her."
Logan blinked and sat back in his seat. His brows fell as he thought about his daughter/clone/whatever. She survived the destruction of the Hydra hovership, there was no doubt of that. But she had mentioned that SHIELD was after her as well and he wasn't sure if Fury had taps into the mansion or not.
Kitty continued. "And she had people with guns after her, so she knows how to avoid them. And she can like totally teach him. They both have the whole 'slice and dice' thing going on." Kitty mentally crossed her fingers, trying to will Logan to agree.
Logan just stared at Kitty for a while. Finally, he turned to Xavier and fixed him with an emotionless stare. "I don't know where she is."
Xavier visibly relaxed. "No need to worry, I've already taken the liberty of locating her." Xavier turned and missed the scowl on Logan's face. "She's in a homeless shelter in New York."
Logan blinked, then growled. "A 'homeless' shelter? And how long has she been there Xavier?"
Xavier folded his hands on the desk. "From what I have been able to tell, she's been there since shortly after the incident with Viper."
Logan inwardly swore and stood. "Have Scooter get the jet prepped. I'm going to New York."
Our Lady of Grace shelter
Logan pushed open the metal security door. Stepping inside, he immediately was assaulted by the stench of too many bodies that had gone too long unwashed. Snorting in a vain attempt to clear his nose, he caught the recorded sound of a man condemning mankind for their sins. -Great, a preacher.- Logan rolled his eyes and sniffed the air, trying to catch her scent. His eyes started watering after getting a lungful of the stench in the building. Sorting through the smells, he caught a faint trace of her. He followed the scent and tried to avoid stepping on anyone. Stepping through a doorway, he looked carefully around the room, trying to figure out which lump was her. He saw a likely heap of blankets and started to walk to it when a whisper of sound sent his danger sense skyrocketing. He tensed to spin around when a weight impacted on his back and the faint metal on metal scrape of a blade being unsheathed broke what was left of the silence. Logan froze when he felt an arm reach around his shoulders and the claw pressed against his neck next to his jugular.
X23 wrapped her legs around his torso to get a more secure hold and leaned forward. Almost brushing his ear with her mouth, she ground out. "What are 'you' doing here?"
Not moving a muscle, Logan spoke quietly. "I didn't know you were here kid. I could have helped you out, you didn't have to live like this."
X23 put a little more pressure on her claw and the coppery scent of blood wafted into the room. "Why are you here?"
Logan sighed inwardly. "Listen kid." the claw pressed harder and she let out a growl. "..ok, listen to me. First off, I really didn't know about this before today, and as soon as I was told, I came right out." X23 was silent, and the claw didn't move. "Anyway, I need your help with something back in Bayville."
X23 unwrapped her legs from his torso and dropped to the floor, not making a sound. Logan slowly turned and got his first look at her in months. Gone was the leather and kevlar jumpsuit and jacket he had seen her in before. Now she was wearing a dirty pair of way-too-big men's slacks and a threadbare sweater. Her hair was grit-filled and looked like she had hacked parts of it off with a knife. Which he guessed she probably did.
X23 obviously didn't care to stand and wait while he critiqued her fashion sense. She leaned back against the door jam. She looked at him expectantly for a moment before biting out. "Well?"
Logan looked her right in the eye. "We found someone a few days ago. Someone like you. Got the same problems with nosy parents. But that's all I want to tell you in the open like this. Ya interested?" Not getting an immediate response, he added, "Come back with me, no one deserves to live like this kid."
X23 didn't even growl at the kid comment, but just stared at Logan for a few minutes with an intense expression on her face. Finally, she took a single glance around the room and spoke. "Fine." And with that, she turned and started walking out of the building. Logan followed.
Blackbird
Logan leveled the plane out at 20,000 feet and snapped the auto-pilot on. He unsnapped his harness and stood, cracking his neck. --I hate flying.- Walking back, he heard the sound of the emergency chemical shower shutting off. Reaching into a compartment, he pulled out one of the extra student uniforms stashed in it. The door opened and X23stepped through, wiping off the water with a blanket. Logan handed her the uniform and she quirked an eyebrow.
Logan snorted. "It's either that or the toga." She glanced down at the thin blanket. She reached out and took the uniform. She stepped back into the medical section and emerged a few moments later wearing the black and yellow jumpsuit.
Logan fought to contain a grin as she picked at the skintight material with a look of disgust plastered on her face. X23 must have smelled something from him. Her head jerked up and she sent him a black look. Reaching up, she took a firm grasp on the shoulder guards and letting a claw slip out an inch, tore them off. She turned one over in her hand and stared at it for a second. Smirking to herself, she dropped it to the ground like a dead rat and Logan heard her mutter "Useless."
Her head raised again and they both locked eyes for a second before X23 turned and walked to the copilot's seat and strapped herself in. Logan walked back up and took his seat. Neither spoke for the better part of fifteen minutes before she spoke. "What's the situation you're pulling me into exactly?"
Logan folded his arms. "It's....complicated. Maybe you should wait for Xavier to explain it."
Her head turned and emerald eyes bored into his. "Uncomplicate it or land this jet."
Logan was silent for a moment before answering. "We recovered a mutant from an experimentation facility in Colorado a few days ago. From the data we recovered, they were the original Weapon X group." Searching her face for a reaction and finding none, he blazed ahead. "He was engineered, kinda like you, but not from my dna. They apparently had a shortage of adnamantium at the local 7-11 cause the procedure they used was.different than what we went through."
X23 rubbed the spaces between her knuckles. "Another super-soldier?"
Logan nodded. "Yea, we got the files at the mansion. You can read em when we get there." She nodded and turned back to stare out the window.
Logan just continued to watch her in silence for a few more minutes before he continued. "He's.different than us. They didn't train him." That got a sharp look. "They didn't even raise him like you. They kept him in a cage. Hell, he couldn't even speak before Xavier did a head job on em."
X23 narrowed her eyes. "Head job?"
Logan nodded. "Xavier will have to explain that one. I couldn't even if I tried." She seemed to accept that. "Another thing, remember Kitty?" She nodded. "Don't approach her when he's around, something with what Weapon X did to him attached him to her. Kinda like a pup to it's mother. He's fiercely protective of her. I doubt that he could actually hurt you, but just an fyi."
X23 nodded. "Fine. What's his name anyway?"
Logan shrugged. "He responds to Mark. Kitty pulled it out of his project name, Weapon mk2."
She snorted and had a lopsided grin. "They can't just name us can they? It's just one stupid codename after another."
Logan smirked. "Seems that way."
They kept silent until Logan started prepping the jet for landing. Flipping switches seemingly randomly, he didn't take his eyes off the board when he spoke. "By the way, what do you go by now? I don't think you'd use X23 after Hydra.
She popped a knuckle before answering. "It's the closest thing I have to an actual name." She was silent for another moment before continuing. "But I used Jennifer when I got to the shelter. It's a common enough name it wouldn't generate suspicion in a search if what's left of Hydra or SHIELD found out I was still breathing."
Logan nodded, then grinned. "So, mind if I call you Jenny?"
X23 turned and stared at him blankly before shrugging. "I don't give a damn. It's not my name either."
Logan didn't respond. He just flipped a few switches and brought the Blackbird in for a landing.
Outside the kitchen
Logan led X23 towards the kitchen, from how she looked, it had been a while since she ate something decent. He reached out and started to push the doors open when Rhane came bursting out. She narrowly avoided slamming into them. She started to mumble an apology when she got a good look at X23. Her eyes flew open and she jerked back. A cry escaped her mouth. "Ahhhhh, the crazy chick is back!"
She was about to jump back into the kitchen when Logan grabbed her shoulder. "It's ok kid. She's supposed to be here." He gave X23 a sideways glance and saw the blank mask she wore. Rhane pulled out of Logan's grasp and backed down the hallway, keeping Logan between her and X23. Logan snorted. "Don't take it personally. They just have to get used to ya."
X23 turned to him, but the blank look never wavered. "I'm a living Weapon. Remember? The opinion of a frightened child is of no concern to me." She opened the door and walked in. Logan could hear the sound of utensils clattering to plates and the din of conversation had cut off like someone had slit it's throat. Logan rolled his eyes and walked in. Logan would later refer to what he saw as 'the one good way to shut those kids up for five seconds'."
Everyone was staring motionless and completely silent as X23 raided the fridge. Logan had to dig his fingernails into his palm to keep from laughing. It wasn't that much different from watching a fox in a rabbit hutch. They acted like she was going to suddenly turn and start hacking at them, or start screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. Which to be quite honest, after the last time she was here, the first option might not be all that unfounded of a worry. X23 dragged half a chicken out and spitted it on her claws. She turned slightly and glared back at the students before taking a bite.
No one but X23 moved for the next few minutes. And she just stood there and glared, occasionally taking a bite. Finally, the stalemate was shattered when Scott came busting in with his hand on his visor. He almost instantly caught sight of X23 and dropped into his fighting stance and waited for her to make a move.
She glanced at Logan for a second before grabbing a soda off the counter and slicing the top off nonchalantly before draining it in a single pull. Scott never even twitched, but finally spoke. Logan, what is going on?"
Logan smirked. "Well Summers, we think that she might be able to help us out with our problem."
Scott was quiet for a moment before dropping his hand and standing. "Did the Professor ok this?"
Logan nodded. "Yea, it was half his idea to begin with. We're heading up there when she's done." X23 dropped the rest of the chicken onto the counter and stepped away. She walked past Logan and Scott and into the hall. Logan could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Unable to resist, he called out over his shoulder. "You kids need another training session don't ya?" and walked out, a groan plainly audible.
The reviewer known as Me: Actually, no. I didn't originally plan to use X23. Hell, when I thought this fic up, I wasn't even aware of her existence. But then again, this story is basically nothing like what I originally thought up. But I did have X23 on the story arc outline as an alternative by the time I started actually writing, er. typing, whatever. As for how I'm gonna use her, ya just gotta read, sorry. :) And a lot of X23's appeal 'is' the fact that she's a stone cold crazy chick.
Burning Light: Um, wow. Think you could get a tax-exempt card for that? Might help with the plushie fund. And splitting up Mark and Kitty, I dunno yet. I have an arc-outline for both breaking em up and keeping em together. Just haven't decided which one I'm gonna use.
I Don't Review: Thanks. And on the issue of the Kitty/Mark romance, I..doubt it. Mark isn't exactly date material, he's as romantic as a sack full of doorknobs to the head.
Inuyasha0001: Thanks again. I hope I can do X23 some justice. There isn't really any material to work off of besides the fact that she's continuously pissy. Maybe they will flesh her out in that new comic NYX.
Bluefuzzyelf: Glad ya like it.
Answers to questions that people e-mail me about but I'm sure at least one other person wants to know section: Actually, my personal key to writing my action scenes is to watch anime music videos at full blast while running the scene over in my head a few times. I watch the craziest vids too. The one that really puts me in a mood to write violence is a video of Auska's fight with the MP-Evas in End of Evangelion set to an english version of Nena's "99 Red Balloons". Another one that sets my blood boiling is a Tenchi Muyo vid set to Metallica's "I Disappear". A weird techno-industrial version of the Christmas carol 'God rest ye merry gentleman' also set to Tenchi Muyo is another fantastic one. Trust me, after watching those vids back to back, you'll be ready to rip something apart yourself.
Harry's Bar and Grill
Logan slammed the empty beer bottle down on the counter. Catching the bartender's eye, he signaled for another one. The bartender walked over and sat another bottle down. Eyeing the half-dozen other empty bottles, he looked Logan in the eye. "Hey buddy, I think that's gonna be your last one for tonight. Want me to call you a cab?"
Logan drained the beer and dropped it on the bar. Taking a glance at the bartender, he narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess, you're new here."
The bartender leaned forward on the bar. "Yea, couple days now. Don't change nothing. That's still your last."
Logan growled. "Listen bub, takes more than american pisswater to get me drunk. Trust me on that."
The bartender inwardly sighed. "Don't matter how tough you think you are, that's seven brews in ten minutes. I'm cutting you off."
Logan started to shift forward to grab his collar when he heard a ringing. Blinking once, he grabbed the phone out of his jacket, snapped it open, and bit out. "What?"
Ororo's voice came out of the phone. "Logan, you need to return to the mansion."
Logan growled. "What? Chuck didn't want to give me a call? Got you doing the grunt work now?"
Ororo's sigh came across loud and clear. "Logan, the past few days have been stressful for us all, and the Professor doubly so. But this is not the reason I telephoned you. Kitty has devised a possible solution and wants your input on it."
Logan didn't respond. After a few seconds of silence, Ororo spoke. "Logan?" He glanced up at the bartender who made a cutting motion. Growling, he snapped "Yea." Before slamming the phone shut and stuffing it in his pocket. Tossing the bartender a dark look, he dropped a $20 on the bar and stomped out the door.
Mansion office
Ororo sighed again and set the phone down in it's cradle. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to the Professor and Kitty. "I believe he is on his way back home."
Xavier nodded and rolled back to the fireplace. Kitty glanced between them, sensing an understated tension. Ororo sat down next to Kitty. "The Professor and Logan had some words before he left, so Logan is most probably..unhappy at the moment. So this meeting could take a while." Kitty nodded and relaxed, it's not like Logan being angry was anything new.
Fifteen minutes later Logan came storming into the office and sat heavily down in one of the chairs. Glancing around at the staring faces, he bit out. "What's the plan Half-Pint?"
Kitty inwardly blew a sigh of relief, Mr. Logan wasn't mad at her or he wouldn't be using her nickname. Feeling bolstered, she spoke up. "Well Mr. Logan, I was talking to Sam while we were totally trying to get Mark to the medlab like the Professor wanted when he brought up that Bobby had a point when he was yelling.." Logan scowled. ".he is dangerous to everyone here. I mean, he did almost like skewer Bobby. And we kept talking.."
Logan broke in. "Is there a point to this Half-Pint? Or you gonna tell me your life story?"
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he mentioned X23, and I got to thinking, she's a lot like him, so why not have her look after him? She beat all of us, Mark shouldn't like be a problem for her."
Logan blinked and sat back in his seat. His brows fell as he thought about his daughter/clone/whatever. She survived the destruction of the Hydra hovership, there was no doubt of that. But she had mentioned that SHIELD was after her as well and he wasn't sure if Fury had taps into the mansion or not.
Kitty continued. "And she had people with guns after her, so she knows how to avoid them. And she can like totally teach him. They both have the whole 'slice and dice' thing going on." Kitty mentally crossed her fingers, trying to will Logan to agree.
Logan just stared at Kitty for a while. Finally, he turned to Xavier and fixed him with an emotionless stare. "I don't know where she is."
Xavier visibly relaxed. "No need to worry, I've already taken the liberty of locating her." Xavier turned and missed the scowl on Logan's face. "She's in a homeless shelter in New York."
Logan blinked, then growled. "A 'homeless' shelter? And how long has she been there Xavier?"
Xavier folded his hands on the desk. "From what I have been able to tell, she's been there since shortly after the incident with Viper."
Logan inwardly swore and stood. "Have Scooter get the jet prepped. I'm going to New York."
Our Lady of Grace shelter
Logan pushed open the metal security door. Stepping inside, he immediately was assaulted by the stench of too many bodies that had gone too long unwashed. Snorting in a vain attempt to clear his nose, he caught the recorded sound of a man condemning mankind for their sins. -Great, a preacher.- Logan rolled his eyes and sniffed the air, trying to catch her scent. His eyes started watering after getting a lungful of the stench in the building. Sorting through the smells, he caught a faint trace of her. He followed the scent and tried to avoid stepping on anyone. Stepping through a doorway, he looked carefully around the room, trying to figure out which lump was her. He saw a likely heap of blankets and started to walk to it when a whisper of sound sent his danger sense skyrocketing. He tensed to spin around when a weight impacted on his back and the faint metal on metal scrape of a blade being unsheathed broke what was left of the silence. Logan froze when he felt an arm reach around his shoulders and the claw pressed against his neck next to his jugular.
X23 wrapped her legs around his torso to get a more secure hold and leaned forward. Almost brushing his ear with her mouth, she ground out. "What are 'you' doing here?"
Not moving a muscle, Logan spoke quietly. "I didn't know you were here kid. I could have helped you out, you didn't have to live like this."
X23 put a little more pressure on her claw and the coppery scent of blood wafted into the room. "Why are you here?"
Logan sighed inwardly. "Listen kid." the claw pressed harder and she let out a growl. "..ok, listen to me. First off, I really didn't know about this before today, and as soon as I was told, I came right out." X23 was silent, and the claw didn't move. "Anyway, I need your help with something back in Bayville."
X23 unwrapped her legs from his torso and dropped to the floor, not making a sound. Logan slowly turned and got his first look at her in months. Gone was the leather and kevlar jumpsuit and jacket he had seen her in before. Now she was wearing a dirty pair of way-too-big men's slacks and a threadbare sweater. Her hair was grit-filled and looked like she had hacked parts of it off with a knife. Which he guessed she probably did.
X23 obviously didn't care to stand and wait while he critiqued her fashion sense. She leaned back against the door jam. She looked at him expectantly for a moment before biting out. "Well?"
Logan looked her right in the eye. "We found someone a few days ago. Someone like you. Got the same problems with nosy parents. But that's all I want to tell you in the open like this. Ya interested?" Not getting an immediate response, he added, "Come back with me, no one deserves to live like this kid."
X23 didn't even growl at the kid comment, but just stared at Logan for a few minutes with an intense expression on her face. Finally, she took a single glance around the room and spoke. "Fine." And with that, she turned and started walking out of the building. Logan followed.
Blackbird
Logan leveled the plane out at 20,000 feet and snapped the auto-pilot on. He unsnapped his harness and stood, cracking his neck. --I hate flying.- Walking back, he heard the sound of the emergency chemical shower shutting off. Reaching into a compartment, he pulled out one of the extra student uniforms stashed in it. The door opened and X23stepped through, wiping off the water with a blanket. Logan handed her the uniform and she quirked an eyebrow.
Logan snorted. "It's either that or the toga." She glanced down at the thin blanket. She reached out and took the uniform. She stepped back into the medical section and emerged a few moments later wearing the black and yellow jumpsuit.
Logan fought to contain a grin as she picked at the skintight material with a look of disgust plastered on her face. X23 must have smelled something from him. Her head jerked up and she sent him a black look. Reaching up, she took a firm grasp on the shoulder guards and letting a claw slip out an inch, tore them off. She turned one over in her hand and stared at it for a second. Smirking to herself, she dropped it to the ground like a dead rat and Logan heard her mutter "Useless."
Her head raised again and they both locked eyes for a second before X23 turned and walked to the copilot's seat and strapped herself in. Logan walked back up and took his seat. Neither spoke for the better part of fifteen minutes before she spoke. "What's the situation you're pulling me into exactly?"
Logan folded his arms. "It's....complicated. Maybe you should wait for Xavier to explain it."
Her head turned and emerald eyes bored into his. "Uncomplicate it or land this jet."
Logan was silent for a moment before answering. "We recovered a mutant from an experimentation facility in Colorado a few days ago. From the data we recovered, they were the original Weapon X group." Searching her face for a reaction and finding none, he blazed ahead. "He was engineered, kinda like you, but not from my dna. They apparently had a shortage of adnamantium at the local 7-11 cause the procedure they used was.different than what we went through."
X23 rubbed the spaces between her knuckles. "Another super-soldier?"
Logan nodded. "Yea, we got the files at the mansion. You can read em when we get there." She nodded and turned back to stare out the window.
Logan just continued to watch her in silence for a few more minutes before he continued. "He's.different than us. They didn't train him." That got a sharp look. "They didn't even raise him like you. They kept him in a cage. Hell, he couldn't even speak before Xavier did a head job on em."
X23 narrowed her eyes. "Head job?"
Logan nodded. "Xavier will have to explain that one. I couldn't even if I tried." She seemed to accept that. "Another thing, remember Kitty?" She nodded. "Don't approach her when he's around, something with what Weapon X did to him attached him to her. Kinda like a pup to it's mother. He's fiercely protective of her. I doubt that he could actually hurt you, but just an fyi."
X23 nodded. "Fine. What's his name anyway?"
Logan shrugged. "He responds to Mark. Kitty pulled it out of his project name, Weapon mk2."
She snorted and had a lopsided grin. "They can't just name us can they? It's just one stupid codename after another."
Logan smirked. "Seems that way."
They kept silent until Logan started prepping the jet for landing. Flipping switches seemingly randomly, he didn't take his eyes off the board when he spoke. "By the way, what do you go by now? I don't think you'd use X23 after Hydra.
She popped a knuckle before answering. "It's the closest thing I have to an actual name." She was silent for another moment before continuing. "But I used Jennifer when I got to the shelter. It's a common enough name it wouldn't generate suspicion in a search if what's left of Hydra or SHIELD found out I was still breathing."
Logan nodded, then grinned. "So, mind if I call you Jenny?"
X23 turned and stared at him blankly before shrugging. "I don't give a damn. It's not my name either."
Logan didn't respond. He just flipped a few switches and brought the Blackbird in for a landing.
Outside the kitchen
Logan led X23 towards the kitchen, from how she looked, it had been a while since she ate something decent. He reached out and started to push the doors open when Rhane came bursting out. She narrowly avoided slamming into them. She started to mumble an apology when she got a good look at X23. Her eyes flew open and she jerked back. A cry escaped her mouth. "Ahhhhh, the crazy chick is back!"
She was about to jump back into the kitchen when Logan grabbed her shoulder. "It's ok kid. She's supposed to be here." He gave X23 a sideways glance and saw the blank mask she wore. Rhane pulled out of Logan's grasp and backed down the hallway, keeping Logan between her and X23. Logan snorted. "Don't take it personally. They just have to get used to ya."
X23 turned to him, but the blank look never wavered. "I'm a living Weapon. Remember? The opinion of a frightened child is of no concern to me." She opened the door and walked in. Logan could hear the sound of utensils clattering to plates and the din of conversation had cut off like someone had slit it's throat. Logan rolled his eyes and walked in. Logan would later refer to what he saw as 'the one good way to shut those kids up for five seconds'."
Everyone was staring motionless and completely silent as X23 raided the fridge. Logan had to dig his fingernails into his palm to keep from laughing. It wasn't that much different from watching a fox in a rabbit hutch. They acted like she was going to suddenly turn and start hacking at them, or start screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. Which to be quite honest, after the last time she was here, the first option might not be all that unfounded of a worry. X23 dragged half a chicken out and spitted it on her claws. She turned slightly and glared back at the students before taking a bite.
No one but X23 moved for the next few minutes. And she just stood there and glared, occasionally taking a bite. Finally, the stalemate was shattered when Scott came busting in with his hand on his visor. He almost instantly caught sight of X23 and dropped into his fighting stance and waited for her to make a move.
She glanced at Logan for a second before grabbing a soda off the counter and slicing the top off nonchalantly before draining it in a single pull. Scott never even twitched, but finally spoke. Logan, what is going on?"
Logan smirked. "Well Summers, we think that she might be able to help us out with our problem."
Scott was quiet for a moment before dropping his hand and standing. "Did the Professor ok this?"
Logan nodded. "Yea, it was half his idea to begin with. We're heading up there when she's done." X23 dropped the rest of the chicken onto the counter and stepped away. She walked past Logan and Scott and into the hall. Logan could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Unable to resist, he called out over his shoulder. "You kids need another training session don't ya?" and walked out, a groan plainly audible.