Standard disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for our entertainment.

Pasts Imperfect

Chapter 4

Again, the scenes of the dream played out. Logan in mountains, walking around the wreckage, picking up pieces and discarding them. But this time, there was a silent watcher -- Professor Xavier.

"Well?" Logan asked as the Professor released his mind.

Professor Xavier sighed. "I fear you may be right, Logan," he said. "At the very least about the plane. I heard from my contact this morning. It was a government plane, a prototype being developed -- under Nick Fury."

"Isn't testing a plane with civilians on board unusual -- not to mention dangerous?"

"Yes, it is," he agreed. "But it wasn't a standard military aircraft. It was designed to carry small groups of people into rough terrain, possibly for intelligence uses or reconnaissance. However, after the accident, the project was canceled."

"That still doesn't explain how and why the Summers family were on board," Logan remarked.

"No, it doesn't," the Professor admitted. "My contact knew only about the technical aspects of the project. The plane had cleared the first batch of tests. Neither Major Summers nor his wife are listed as officially on the project, but the fact remains, they crashed in the Corsair."

"Did I do it?" Logan asked again. "Is that what the dream means? Was I the saboteur? Am I responsible for their deaths?"

"Logan, please think about it logically," Professor Xavier entreated. "Why would the saboteur be looking at the wreckage. Why would he even be at the crash site? Wouldn't your more obvious talents lead you to another deduction?"

"What other deduction is there?"

The Professor regarded the other man patiently. "What are you doing in the dream, Logan?"

He sighed. "I'm ... I'm looking at the wreckage."

"Specifically."

"I'm picking up bits of the plane and putting them down," he said. "I know the bodies were there, but they've already been taken away in the dream. I'm just looking at things. Finding things. I --"

"Yes?"

Now Logan understood. "I found the plane. I found the bodies. I'm a tracker -- I find things. That's what I'm doing in my dream. That's what I did for Nick Fury."

The Professor nodded. "Now that you know what you did, you'll know how to proceed."

Logan nodded. "I'm going to Washington."

x x x x x

Nick Fury walked slowly down the long hallway. For someone who was supposed to be retired, he spent an awful lot of time in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

He opened the door to his office and stared. Sitting in the guest chair was Logan.

Nick walked around to his desk and sat down. "I'm a little surprised to see you," he said. "You didn't seem to want to talk much in Westchester."

"Well, I want to talk now," Logan responded. "Specifically, I want to talk about the Corsair project. You know -- the plane Christopher and Katherine Summers died in."

"That's old news Logan."

"Not to Scott," Logan said firmly. "I found the plane for you; I know the remains were recovered there as well. But why cover it up? Scott and his brother were never told where the plane actually went down. And what were they doing on the plane anyway? Wasn't it still experimental?"

Nick sighed. "God help me, I suggested it. It was already at Offutt, it had passed all the tests. Kathy knew the specs and approved them. I thought it would be interesting to have her opinion on it. They were going to go to Alaska for a few days, just a short trip. I had no reason to believe anything would happen."

"So the possibility of sabotage didn't enter your head?" Logan asked.

"Why would it? Besides, the final report was inconclusive," Nick replied.

"Bull."

Nick just stared at him. "I choose to believe it was an accident," he said. "The project was scrapped. Chris and Kathy are dead -- I can't bring them back. Let it rest, Logan. Scott's going to be a father himself soon; he and his brother have moved on with their lives. What good would it serve to bring it all up again when there's nothing definite to tell him?"

"He has a right to know."

"No, he doesn't."

"At the very least, he's going to know where the plane crashed," Logan stated firmly. "Either you're going to tell him, or I will. And if I tell him, I'll tell him everything."

The two men stared at each other for several minutes.

"I'll have an accident report sent it to him," Nick said finally. "We took all the wreckage away. There's nothing left up there for him to see, anyway."

"He'll want to know." And speaking of things to know. "Were you involved with Stryker?" Stryker had been in charge of the project that had given Logan a metal skeleton and taken away any memory of his past. From what Logan had seen of Nick Fury, it was highly likely they knew each other.

Nick was genuinely surprised. "Certainly not. I advised you to steer clear of him, as I recall. And since you don't recall, I would say my judgement was correct."

"It was." Logan rose and went to the door. He stopped and, without turning, said, "We're going to Hell, Nick."

"I know."

x x x x x

Sometime after Logan left, Shelley entered the office. Like Nick, for someone who was supposed to be retired, she spent a lot of time there.

Nick looked up. Come to think of it, he had a few questions himself. "Why did you send that old photograph to Scott? Did you think it would force me to tell him everything?"

Shelley stared at him without flinching. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she left the office.

Nick smiled as he went back to his paperwork. Shelley had never been a good liar.

x x x x x

Scott got the promised accident report from Nick a few days later. As Logan knew he would, he wanted to go to the crash site. Scott wouldn't hear of Jean coming with him, but his brother Alex flew to Denver to accompany him.

The two brothers drove as far as they could and then chartered a helicopter to take them to the site. As Nick said, there was nothing left for them to see. But they could stand on the ground where their parents had died and where their lives had changed forever.

For the moment, that was enough.

x x x x x

Scott returned to the mansion in Westchester in a somber mood, but at the same time, with a weight gone. He could move on.

When he entered the main hall he noticed a small gaggle of students in front of the breakfront that housed the Xavier family silver. Scott smiled as he saw Jean break away from the group and come towards him.

Jean smiled broadly as she kissed him. "I'm so glad you're back, I've missed you. Come on, I've got something to show you."

Scott dropped his bag in the hall and followed his wife to where the students were gathered. He stared at the old breakfront. Gone were the silver platters and bowls. In their place were his mother's planes. Jean had gotten them from Hawaii while he was gone and put them on display. In a corner, on a placard, was a photograph of his mother and a short history of her career in aviation design.

Scott found himself shaking. Jean put her arm around him.

"I thought it would be appropriate to have them here," she told him. "There still aren't a lot of women aerospace engineers, so I thought it would be nice for the girls to see. And she's your mother, so that's just icing on the cake."

"I'm speechless," he said. "Thank you so much."

"Hey, Mr. Summers," one of the girls called out. "I guess you inherited all your mechanical ability from your mom."

Scott smiled broadly. "Yeah, I think I did."

THE END

As always, I'd like to thank my beta readers, Jen and Amy. I hope you all enjoyed the story.