"Yer still in here?" Logan asked, walking into Hank's hospital room and
finding Steph in the chair next to the bed, looking at Hank's newly blue
hand, which rested on top of the sheets. She looked up and nodded.
"His pulse got weak for a sec, then his heart went nuts," she informed him, her voice catching in her throat slightly. "But no one showed up! Not one $#% doctor or nurse or no one!" Logan smiled and sat on the arm of the chair, patting her head.
"They'll come if it's serious," he said. "That was prob'ly jus' a lil' side effect from the sproutin' o the fur. Kinda suits'im though, doesn't it?" Steph looked at Hank's now furry face.
"I'm getting used to it. Kinda weird though, I though for sure if he ever got fur he'd be orange, like his hair was, but now that's gone too." Logan chuckled.
"Well, the others'll get a surprise when they come teh see 'im or when he gets back t' the school," he said.
"I want him to wake up and come back with us," she said. "I don't want to leave him with doctors who let his heart jump around like that." Logan put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"I know darlin', but the doc says it may be a while till they let 'im out o' here," he said. "An' Ruhko n' the others need teh sleep in their own beds t'night." Steph sighed and stood slowly, stretching and grabbing her coat and looking at Hank again before turning and walking out the door. Logan was about to follow when Hank spoke.
"You will return to visit this poor, furry man?" he asked quietly, his eyes opening slowly. Logan chuckled.
"I'd like teh see the guy who tries 'n stop Steph n' Bobby from gettin' here," he said. "An' it won't be me bub." Hank nodded.
"I bid thee farewell then, until you return," he said, closing his eyes again.
"See ya Hank," Logan replied, following Steph and finding her by Rogue and Bobby down the hall a ways, talking.
"Let's go," Logan said gruffly. "We'll come back t'marrow n' check on the big lump."
"Alright," Bobby and Steph said, sighing. On the car ride home Steph sat in front, holding Ruhko while Bobby and Rogue sat in back.
"What do you think will happen when Hank comes back?" Bobby asked. "I mean, he left a red haired guy to come back a blue furry one with fangs and claws and much bigger muscles."
"He's still Hank though," Steph said, "It's not like his attitude changed too, or his knowledge or the dumb way her talks."
"He'll be fine," Logan said. "He'll get used t' it n' everyone else will to."
"Stupid oaf, I knew Twinkies were bad for you," Steph muttered darkly.
"Wake up, wake up!" Steph yelled, banging on Logan's door, fully dressed with Rogue and Bobby in back of her. After a moment Steph reared back and kicked her dad's door open and charged in, fly tackling the sleeping mutant and bouncing off as she hit his rock- solid chest. Logan sat up with a roar, both sets of claws appearing.
"Man," Steph said, sitting up and rubbing her head. Logan's head snapped over to look at her and he glared. "You really are a-" she stopped as Logan's claws disappeared and he pulled two earplugs out of his ears.
"What the %&# didja do tha' for?" he growled. Steph growled back.
"Look at the time! Hank's probably already awake and dying, we gotta go!" she said. Logan sighed and fell backwards on his pillow.
"We ken wait till I get some shuteye," he mumbled. Steph stood up resolutely.
"Fine then, I'll drive us there," she said, looking around and grabbing his keys off the dresser. Logan sat up immediately but Steph was already running out the door. "Hurry!" she yelled at Rogue and Bobby, who took off after her, Ruhko laughing madly as Logan stumbled out of his room, re-doing his belt buckle on the pants he hadn't bothered to take off the night before and tripping over his half-laced boots, a shirt thrown over his shoulder.
"Steph!" he hollered, giving slow chase and trying to get dressed. "Yeh get back 'ere right now! Steph!" Steph laughed madly as she jumped over the stair banister, landing on all fours and then up and running to the garage, opening the driver's side door of the Jeep they had used the night before while Bobby and Rogue jumped in the back seat.
"Fasten' yer seatbelts n' 'old on, cause I'm hitting the gas!" Steph said, quickly pulling on her own seatbelt.
"Yoh not really are ya?" Rogue said worriedly. Steph laughed.
"&#(( no!" she said. "I'm just pulling out down the driveway! Give daddy a little morning run, that's all!"
"Driveway?!" Bobby and Rogue yelled as Steph locked the doors and put the keys in the ignition, starting up the car just as a fully clothed Logan appeared in the garage doorway.
"No! Yeh turn the car off now!" he yelled, but Steph was already backing up, turned around in her seat as the garage door opened. Logan growled and ran after them as Steph swerved out of the garage, quickly putting the Jeep in gear and hitting the gas as Rogue screamed.
"Do ya even know how teh drive?!"
"I stole a car once, I figured most of it out!" Steph yelled back, laughing as she gunned it down the driveway, skidding to a stop at the gates, which were closing.
"Ha," she said calmly. "So the professor found us out, oh well, here comes pa." She looked back and saw Rogue, breathing hard with her hair thrown about. She was holding Ruhko, who was still laughing, and glaring at Steph. Bobby looked pale and released his hold on the driver seat but still held Rogue's hand tightly, staring at Steph, who calmly unlocked the doors and crawled over into the passenger side as Logan arrived, red in the face from more than just his run.
"Steph!" he yelled. "What was that? Yeh coulda gotten yerself killed! Or Ruhko, or Rogue!"
"Hey," Bobby said, straightening up. Logan looked at him and then back at Steph.
"Or the ice pop," he growled, climbing in. "I don't think I should let yeh go teh the hospital." Steph laughed.
"You can try," she said. "But I can fly." Logan glared at her for a moment, but she met his gaze and didn't back down until he sighed.
"Where'd yeh learn t' drive like that?" he asked.
"I've stolen a few cars in my day," Steph replied, then quickly added "but I'm ashamed and will never, ever do it again!" Logan couldn't help but chuckle as the gate opened and he sighed.
"Fine then, but nex' time jus' wake me up nicer," he said as the car lurched forward. "An' no more joy rides down the driveway, got it?"
"Yes sir," Steph said. "Now we need t' get to the hospital, right ho, here we go!" Logan rolled his eyes as they drove away.
"Gung-ho master!" a little boy ran past Steph as she walked through the front doors of the hospital, swinging a small plastic sword and hitting her in the knee with it the kid ran off laughing. Steph winced and rubbed her knee.
"Ow, I came to a hospital to get crippled by a little brat?" she said angrily. "What's up with that?" Logan chuckled and pushed her forward towards an elevator.
"That would be yer first taste o' what livin' with you is like," he chuckled. Steph scowled and growled at him until they reached Hank's floor and all five of the mutants piled out of the elevator, walking down to Hank's room. Logan knocked first but Steph just snorted impatiently and pushed past him, opening the door and walking inside commandingly... and plowing straight into Hank, who was standing in the middle of his room, buttoning his shirt calmly.
"Oof!" he said, falling over backwards and landing on his butt as Steph did the same thing.
"Hank? What are you doing up?!" she screeched once her head had cleared slightly. Logan took one looking at his fuming kid and turned, pushing Rogue and Bobby out of the danger zone.
"Careful," he said. Hank was looking at Steph with a small smile on his large face, his new pointy teeth grinning at her.
"I was tired, fair Stephanie, of laying in a bed whilst my friends rush about," he said.
"Too bad! Did the doc say it was ok?" she demanded.
"The kind doctor had no objections to my rising," Hank said calmly, finishing buttoning his shirt.
"Hang what the doctor says! You're a mutant, he probably wants you dead anyway, but I won't let you, back in bed!" Steph said, her lower lip extending and her face turning to a pout as Logan put his hand on her shoulder.
"I think if he falls over, it'll be his fault darlin'," he said, trying to not laugh as Steph's hands balled into fists, her orange hair falling and hiding the edges of her dark face.
"You're- you're!" she said, then, unable to think of anything she said the first thing that came to mind. "You're shirty!' Logan growled.
"If that means what I thought it meant, yer in big trouble," he said. Steph blinked.
"No, shirty means irritable and annoying, I think," she said. "Hang it, he shouldn't be up! What about his heart?" Logan smiled and Steph realized she wasn't going to win when he slapped a five dollar bill in her hand.
"Go get somethin' ta eat," he said. "Leave Hank standin' fer a minute." Bobby chuckled as Steph stormed out of the room but stopped when Steph smacked him on the head.
"You don't laugh at me!" she growled, leaving. "I'm going to get something sugary, y'all are gonna be sorry!"
"Uh oh, is tha' such a good idea?" Rogue asked as the door shut.
"I see no harm in her eating sugar if the delectable choice is not contaminated with any substance, which is highly unlikely in such a setting as a hospital," Hank said. Then he frowned. "Unless she becomes hyperactive, the energy of sugar is a powerful one, though short lived."
"Don' we know it," Rogue giggled.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"Nothin' shugah," Rogue said, blushing.
Meanwhile Steph was greedily unwrapping a Hershey Bar while walking back to Hank's room when suddenly the little black-skinned kid that had hit her earlier ran by, laughing and hollering.
"Shut up! There are people trying to survive contamination experiences in here!" she snapped. The little boy stared at her wide eyed, his incredibly short black hair all scraggly and sticking up in back.
"Excuse me miss, but you can't talk to my son like that!" said a deep voice from behind Steph, who froze, cursing her luck. She sped up, pushing on the door of Hank's room as a large, black hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around, causing her to come face to face with a large, broad featured man with a bald head but a very finely shaped goatee.
"Huh?" the man gasped, and Steph's eyes went wide, her breath catching painfully in her throat.
"What the-?" she said. Her father stared back at her through the eyes that she had inherited.
"Steph?" Carl Renher said in a tight voice. Steph didn't reply, the forgotten candy bar falling to the floor as her arms dropped. "Steph, it is you! Did I just hear you talk?"
"D-dad," Steph stuttered, completely thrown off. "Wh-what are you doing down here?" Suddenly her father smiled.
"Steph!" he cried happily, stepping forward and opening his arms to embrace her. Steph's dear-in-headlight phase passed immediately, and she dodged quickly to the side, glaring at the man as she snarled.
"What the &# are you doing here?" Carl stopped and his face hardened.
"I taught you to not swear," he said.
"Well everything you taught me I threw out the window since you threw me out the door," she growled. Carl's face flashed and he stared at Steph.
"It was for your own good," he said at last.
"My own good? My own GOOD?!" Steph yelled, her anger rising fast. "What the %&$ are you talking about, my own GOOD? I nearly starved because of you! I nearly died a bunch of times because you couldn't deal with me being a mutant!" Carl jerked and looked at the little boy, who was staring at Steph fearfully.
"Brandon, go visit Mommy," he said in a tight voice. As the little boy disappeared Carl looked back at Steph, who glared at the kid's back.
"Who is he?" she said in a low voice.
"We adopted him," Carl replied. "After- about a year ago."
"Brandon? What was he for? To replace me?" Steph asked venomously. Carl shook his head and held up a hand.
"How can you even think that-" he stared.
"Well I don't know," Steph interrupted sarcastically. "Maybe because I never believed you'd throw me to the dogs, but that was a load of crap too, wasn't it?"
"Steph?" Steph whirled around to find Logan had opened the door and was staring unfriendly at Carl, who stared back. Logan came out and stood behind Steph, arms folded across his chest. "Who's this?" he asked gruffly, nodding at Carl. Steph's mouth opened and closed, how was she supposed to answer that? But Carl answered for her almost immediately.
"Her father, and who are you?"
"My father," Steph said, finding something to say and spinning back around, glaring at Carl as he and Logan exchanged startled looks, though it only showed in their eyes.
"Father?" both of them said.
"No, he's my dad, he adopted me, he doesn't throw me out if I loose it with my voice," Steph spat at Carl, pointing at Logan. "He dealt with me being a mute for months and then took me in instead of leaving me to rot in some prison, he's my father!" Carl glared at her, then at Logan.
"Well," he said at last. "It was nice meeting you, Mr.-?"
"Logan," Logan said gruffly.
"Carl, Carl Renher," Carl replied. "Thank you for watching out for Steph, but she's already got a father, and she'll be coming home now." Steph was about to reply when Logan pushed her, lightly, behind him.
"Oh no yeh don't, bub," he said. "Everythin' she said 'bout yeh is true, n' yeh obviously don't know how teh raise a kid-"
"And you do?" Carl said venomously, looking Logan up and down.
"I know that sometimes kids turn out t' be mutants," Logan replied, bristling. "N' besides, yeh don't got a say lawfully either, I've got all th' paperwork if that's what yeh need." Carl didn't reply when suddenly Hank, Bobby, and Rogue were standing behind Steph as well, and Hank put a protective hand on Steph's shoulder. Carl's eyes widened and he backed up when he saw Hank, who looked at him calmly but angrily through his glasses.
"A- a mutant!" Carl gasped. "You're all-?"
"Yeah," Bobby said simply, holding up a hand and creating an ice cube in his hand to prove the point. Logan growled at him about showing off and then turned to Carl again.
"We're her family now, bub, Steph ain't yer kid anymore," he growled. "An' I'd like t' see yeh try'n convince her yer a better parent, it seems t' me she's got her mind made up, so yeh better leave now." Carl stared at him, then at Steph, who glared at him, Hank's hand was now a restraint as she leaned forward.
"Fine," he said tightly, then turned. A few steps later he stopped and turned to glare at Steph. "In case you wanted to know, your mother just had a baby girl, we've named her Steph." Then he turned and walked away. For a moment Steph froze, then she let out a scream of rage and grabbed the ice Bobby had made and threw it, striking Carl in the head, though he ignored it.
"Steph, no!" Hank said, wrapping his arms around the struggling teen as she tried to break free and jump her birth father.
"You-!" Steph screamed, but as Carl rounded a corner and disappeared her legs faltered and she fell, Hank catching her, her body trembling uncontrollably as her breaths caught and she chocked.
"Steph," Logan said in a soft voice, and Hank released her to fall into his arms. Logan kneeled on the floor with Steph crying into his chest, soaking the front of his shirt as he stroked her violently colored head and hugged her close.
"Come inside," Hank said in a low voice, herding Rogue and Bobby in. "I fear Stephanie will need to recover from this unexpected strike."
"Tha' no good-" Rogue growled as she was pushed through the door. "Ah'll kill'em!" Hank closed the door and Logan looked down at Steph.
"It'll be ok darlin'," he said softly as she continued to cry. "It'll get better, shh, cry as much as yeh want." Inside his head Logan was planning the slow death of the one who made his Steph cry, the next time he saw that man, he'd get him, one way or another.
"His pulse got weak for a sec, then his heart went nuts," she informed him, her voice catching in her throat slightly. "But no one showed up! Not one $#% doctor or nurse or no one!" Logan smiled and sat on the arm of the chair, patting her head.
"They'll come if it's serious," he said. "That was prob'ly jus' a lil' side effect from the sproutin' o the fur. Kinda suits'im though, doesn't it?" Steph looked at Hank's now furry face.
"I'm getting used to it. Kinda weird though, I though for sure if he ever got fur he'd be orange, like his hair was, but now that's gone too." Logan chuckled.
"Well, the others'll get a surprise when they come teh see 'im or when he gets back t' the school," he said.
"I want him to wake up and come back with us," she said. "I don't want to leave him with doctors who let his heart jump around like that." Logan put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"I know darlin', but the doc says it may be a while till they let 'im out o' here," he said. "An' Ruhko n' the others need teh sleep in their own beds t'night." Steph sighed and stood slowly, stretching and grabbing her coat and looking at Hank again before turning and walking out the door. Logan was about to follow when Hank spoke.
"You will return to visit this poor, furry man?" he asked quietly, his eyes opening slowly. Logan chuckled.
"I'd like teh see the guy who tries 'n stop Steph n' Bobby from gettin' here," he said. "An' it won't be me bub." Hank nodded.
"I bid thee farewell then, until you return," he said, closing his eyes again.
"See ya Hank," Logan replied, following Steph and finding her by Rogue and Bobby down the hall a ways, talking.
"Let's go," Logan said gruffly. "We'll come back t'marrow n' check on the big lump."
"Alright," Bobby and Steph said, sighing. On the car ride home Steph sat in front, holding Ruhko while Bobby and Rogue sat in back.
"What do you think will happen when Hank comes back?" Bobby asked. "I mean, he left a red haired guy to come back a blue furry one with fangs and claws and much bigger muscles."
"He's still Hank though," Steph said, "It's not like his attitude changed too, or his knowledge or the dumb way her talks."
"He'll be fine," Logan said. "He'll get used t' it n' everyone else will to."
"Stupid oaf, I knew Twinkies were bad for you," Steph muttered darkly.
"Wake up, wake up!" Steph yelled, banging on Logan's door, fully dressed with Rogue and Bobby in back of her. After a moment Steph reared back and kicked her dad's door open and charged in, fly tackling the sleeping mutant and bouncing off as she hit his rock- solid chest. Logan sat up with a roar, both sets of claws appearing.
"Man," Steph said, sitting up and rubbing her head. Logan's head snapped over to look at her and he glared. "You really are a-" she stopped as Logan's claws disappeared and he pulled two earplugs out of his ears.
"What the %&# didja do tha' for?" he growled. Steph growled back.
"Look at the time! Hank's probably already awake and dying, we gotta go!" she said. Logan sighed and fell backwards on his pillow.
"We ken wait till I get some shuteye," he mumbled. Steph stood up resolutely.
"Fine then, I'll drive us there," she said, looking around and grabbing his keys off the dresser. Logan sat up immediately but Steph was already running out the door. "Hurry!" she yelled at Rogue and Bobby, who took off after her, Ruhko laughing madly as Logan stumbled out of his room, re-doing his belt buckle on the pants he hadn't bothered to take off the night before and tripping over his half-laced boots, a shirt thrown over his shoulder.
"Steph!" he hollered, giving slow chase and trying to get dressed. "Yeh get back 'ere right now! Steph!" Steph laughed madly as she jumped over the stair banister, landing on all fours and then up and running to the garage, opening the driver's side door of the Jeep they had used the night before while Bobby and Rogue jumped in the back seat.
"Fasten' yer seatbelts n' 'old on, cause I'm hitting the gas!" Steph said, quickly pulling on her own seatbelt.
"Yoh not really are ya?" Rogue said worriedly. Steph laughed.
"&#(( no!" she said. "I'm just pulling out down the driveway! Give daddy a little morning run, that's all!"
"Driveway?!" Bobby and Rogue yelled as Steph locked the doors and put the keys in the ignition, starting up the car just as a fully clothed Logan appeared in the garage doorway.
"No! Yeh turn the car off now!" he yelled, but Steph was already backing up, turned around in her seat as the garage door opened. Logan growled and ran after them as Steph swerved out of the garage, quickly putting the Jeep in gear and hitting the gas as Rogue screamed.
"Do ya even know how teh drive?!"
"I stole a car once, I figured most of it out!" Steph yelled back, laughing as she gunned it down the driveway, skidding to a stop at the gates, which were closing.
"Ha," she said calmly. "So the professor found us out, oh well, here comes pa." She looked back and saw Rogue, breathing hard with her hair thrown about. She was holding Ruhko, who was still laughing, and glaring at Steph. Bobby looked pale and released his hold on the driver seat but still held Rogue's hand tightly, staring at Steph, who calmly unlocked the doors and crawled over into the passenger side as Logan arrived, red in the face from more than just his run.
"Steph!" he yelled. "What was that? Yeh coulda gotten yerself killed! Or Ruhko, or Rogue!"
"Hey," Bobby said, straightening up. Logan looked at him and then back at Steph.
"Or the ice pop," he growled, climbing in. "I don't think I should let yeh go teh the hospital." Steph laughed.
"You can try," she said. "But I can fly." Logan glared at her for a moment, but she met his gaze and didn't back down until he sighed.
"Where'd yeh learn t' drive like that?" he asked.
"I've stolen a few cars in my day," Steph replied, then quickly added "but I'm ashamed and will never, ever do it again!" Logan couldn't help but chuckle as the gate opened and he sighed.
"Fine then, but nex' time jus' wake me up nicer," he said as the car lurched forward. "An' no more joy rides down the driveway, got it?"
"Yes sir," Steph said. "Now we need t' get to the hospital, right ho, here we go!" Logan rolled his eyes as they drove away.
"Gung-ho master!" a little boy ran past Steph as she walked through the front doors of the hospital, swinging a small plastic sword and hitting her in the knee with it the kid ran off laughing. Steph winced and rubbed her knee.
"Ow, I came to a hospital to get crippled by a little brat?" she said angrily. "What's up with that?" Logan chuckled and pushed her forward towards an elevator.
"That would be yer first taste o' what livin' with you is like," he chuckled. Steph scowled and growled at him until they reached Hank's floor and all five of the mutants piled out of the elevator, walking down to Hank's room. Logan knocked first but Steph just snorted impatiently and pushed past him, opening the door and walking inside commandingly... and plowing straight into Hank, who was standing in the middle of his room, buttoning his shirt calmly.
"Oof!" he said, falling over backwards and landing on his butt as Steph did the same thing.
"Hank? What are you doing up?!" she screeched once her head had cleared slightly. Logan took one looking at his fuming kid and turned, pushing Rogue and Bobby out of the danger zone.
"Careful," he said. Hank was looking at Steph with a small smile on his large face, his new pointy teeth grinning at her.
"I was tired, fair Stephanie, of laying in a bed whilst my friends rush about," he said.
"Too bad! Did the doc say it was ok?" she demanded.
"The kind doctor had no objections to my rising," Hank said calmly, finishing buttoning his shirt.
"Hang what the doctor says! You're a mutant, he probably wants you dead anyway, but I won't let you, back in bed!" Steph said, her lower lip extending and her face turning to a pout as Logan put his hand on her shoulder.
"I think if he falls over, it'll be his fault darlin'," he said, trying to not laugh as Steph's hands balled into fists, her orange hair falling and hiding the edges of her dark face.
"You're- you're!" she said, then, unable to think of anything she said the first thing that came to mind. "You're shirty!' Logan growled.
"If that means what I thought it meant, yer in big trouble," he said. Steph blinked.
"No, shirty means irritable and annoying, I think," she said. "Hang it, he shouldn't be up! What about his heart?" Logan smiled and Steph realized she wasn't going to win when he slapped a five dollar bill in her hand.
"Go get somethin' ta eat," he said. "Leave Hank standin' fer a minute." Bobby chuckled as Steph stormed out of the room but stopped when Steph smacked him on the head.
"You don't laugh at me!" she growled, leaving. "I'm going to get something sugary, y'all are gonna be sorry!"
"Uh oh, is tha' such a good idea?" Rogue asked as the door shut.
"I see no harm in her eating sugar if the delectable choice is not contaminated with any substance, which is highly unlikely in such a setting as a hospital," Hank said. Then he frowned. "Unless she becomes hyperactive, the energy of sugar is a powerful one, though short lived."
"Don' we know it," Rogue giggled.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"Nothin' shugah," Rogue said, blushing.
Meanwhile Steph was greedily unwrapping a Hershey Bar while walking back to Hank's room when suddenly the little black-skinned kid that had hit her earlier ran by, laughing and hollering.
"Shut up! There are people trying to survive contamination experiences in here!" she snapped. The little boy stared at her wide eyed, his incredibly short black hair all scraggly and sticking up in back.
"Excuse me miss, but you can't talk to my son like that!" said a deep voice from behind Steph, who froze, cursing her luck. She sped up, pushing on the door of Hank's room as a large, black hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around, causing her to come face to face with a large, broad featured man with a bald head but a very finely shaped goatee.
"Huh?" the man gasped, and Steph's eyes went wide, her breath catching painfully in her throat.
"What the-?" she said. Her father stared back at her through the eyes that she had inherited.
"Steph?" Carl Renher said in a tight voice. Steph didn't reply, the forgotten candy bar falling to the floor as her arms dropped. "Steph, it is you! Did I just hear you talk?"
"D-dad," Steph stuttered, completely thrown off. "Wh-what are you doing down here?" Suddenly her father smiled.
"Steph!" he cried happily, stepping forward and opening his arms to embrace her. Steph's dear-in-headlight phase passed immediately, and she dodged quickly to the side, glaring at the man as she snarled.
"What the &# are you doing here?" Carl stopped and his face hardened.
"I taught you to not swear," he said.
"Well everything you taught me I threw out the window since you threw me out the door," she growled. Carl's face flashed and he stared at Steph.
"It was for your own good," he said at last.
"My own good? My own GOOD?!" Steph yelled, her anger rising fast. "What the %&$ are you talking about, my own GOOD? I nearly starved because of you! I nearly died a bunch of times because you couldn't deal with me being a mutant!" Carl jerked and looked at the little boy, who was staring at Steph fearfully.
"Brandon, go visit Mommy," he said in a tight voice. As the little boy disappeared Carl looked back at Steph, who glared at the kid's back.
"Who is he?" she said in a low voice.
"We adopted him," Carl replied. "After- about a year ago."
"Brandon? What was he for? To replace me?" Steph asked venomously. Carl shook his head and held up a hand.
"How can you even think that-" he stared.
"Well I don't know," Steph interrupted sarcastically. "Maybe because I never believed you'd throw me to the dogs, but that was a load of crap too, wasn't it?"
"Steph?" Steph whirled around to find Logan had opened the door and was staring unfriendly at Carl, who stared back. Logan came out and stood behind Steph, arms folded across his chest. "Who's this?" he asked gruffly, nodding at Carl. Steph's mouth opened and closed, how was she supposed to answer that? But Carl answered for her almost immediately.
"Her father, and who are you?"
"My father," Steph said, finding something to say and spinning back around, glaring at Carl as he and Logan exchanged startled looks, though it only showed in their eyes.
"Father?" both of them said.
"No, he's my dad, he adopted me, he doesn't throw me out if I loose it with my voice," Steph spat at Carl, pointing at Logan. "He dealt with me being a mute for months and then took me in instead of leaving me to rot in some prison, he's my father!" Carl glared at her, then at Logan.
"Well," he said at last. "It was nice meeting you, Mr.-?"
"Logan," Logan said gruffly.
"Carl, Carl Renher," Carl replied. "Thank you for watching out for Steph, but she's already got a father, and she'll be coming home now." Steph was about to reply when Logan pushed her, lightly, behind him.
"Oh no yeh don't, bub," he said. "Everythin' she said 'bout yeh is true, n' yeh obviously don't know how teh raise a kid-"
"And you do?" Carl said venomously, looking Logan up and down.
"I know that sometimes kids turn out t' be mutants," Logan replied, bristling. "N' besides, yeh don't got a say lawfully either, I've got all th' paperwork if that's what yeh need." Carl didn't reply when suddenly Hank, Bobby, and Rogue were standing behind Steph as well, and Hank put a protective hand on Steph's shoulder. Carl's eyes widened and he backed up when he saw Hank, who looked at him calmly but angrily through his glasses.
"A- a mutant!" Carl gasped. "You're all-?"
"Yeah," Bobby said simply, holding up a hand and creating an ice cube in his hand to prove the point. Logan growled at him about showing off and then turned to Carl again.
"We're her family now, bub, Steph ain't yer kid anymore," he growled. "An' I'd like t' see yeh try'n convince her yer a better parent, it seems t' me she's got her mind made up, so yeh better leave now." Carl stared at him, then at Steph, who glared at him, Hank's hand was now a restraint as she leaned forward.
"Fine," he said tightly, then turned. A few steps later he stopped and turned to glare at Steph. "In case you wanted to know, your mother just had a baby girl, we've named her Steph." Then he turned and walked away. For a moment Steph froze, then she let out a scream of rage and grabbed the ice Bobby had made and threw it, striking Carl in the head, though he ignored it.
"Steph, no!" Hank said, wrapping his arms around the struggling teen as she tried to break free and jump her birth father.
"You-!" Steph screamed, but as Carl rounded a corner and disappeared her legs faltered and she fell, Hank catching her, her body trembling uncontrollably as her breaths caught and she chocked.
"Steph," Logan said in a soft voice, and Hank released her to fall into his arms. Logan kneeled on the floor with Steph crying into his chest, soaking the front of his shirt as he stroked her violently colored head and hugged her close.
"Come inside," Hank said in a low voice, herding Rogue and Bobby in. "I fear Stephanie will need to recover from this unexpected strike."
"Tha' no good-" Rogue growled as she was pushed through the door. "Ah'll kill'em!" Hank closed the door and Logan looked down at Steph.
"It'll be ok darlin'," he said softly as she continued to cry. "It'll get better, shh, cry as much as yeh want." Inside his head Logan was planning the slow death of the one who made his Steph cry, the next time he saw that man, he'd get him, one way or another.