ALPHA/OMEGA

Book Two

FOUR

Something about Carl Grey was driving Logan crazy. The man had only been there four days, yet Logan somehow became hypersensitive to the man's presence. He smelled like Jean. That was the only explanation Logan could come up with. Carl smelled like Jean, only even more familiar. And what's worse, he actually liked the guy.

Carl was funny in an offhand way, and had the tendency to 'geek out' at the slightest provocation. He'd corralled Bobby into testing the exact temperatures of Bobby's ice abilities. He challenged Kitty to try walking through denser and denser material. Storm refused to engage in any experiments, but Kurt indulged Carl endlessly, once popping as far as Berlin and back within a matter of seconds, bringing that day's edition of the Berlin paper to prove it. Younger students immediately adored Carl, and the teenaged girls giggled whenever he walked by. Which made Carl blush furiously, which cracked Logan up.

"What sucks is, he's an OK guy," Bobby had complained the third night to Logan. Several of the girls had convinced Carl to play foozball with them. Bobby and Logan stood off to the side, watching. "Like, I could hate him, 'cuz even Rogue is being stupid about him, but then he does something cool like soups up the computers for everyone."

Logan chewed on his unlit cigar a moment. "I know what you mean, kid."

Bobby made a face. "You like him because his mere presence ticks off Cyclops."

Logan smirked. "There is that."

----------

Classes started in three days. That evening, Logan wandered outside to smoke. Not long after he lit up, he heard a voice say, "That's a rather dangerous habit, don't you think?"

Turning, he found Carl sitting on a bench, watching him. "Maybe. Not like I'm going to get cancer."

Carl frowned. "It gives you a scent. I can tell where you've been by it."

"Really?" Logan's opinion of Carl went up a notch. For a geek, he was observant.

"Really."

"What's that?" Logan asked, seeing something dangling from Carl's hand.

Wordlessly, Carl presented the item to Logan. From a chain hung a silver crucifix. "Nice," Logan commented noncommittally. Then suddenly, he had a sudden flash of memory. He could see this crucifix against brown fabric, robes, like a monk's robes. The monk turned away as he looked up, and the memory was gone.

Carl was staring at him intently. "Something wrong, Logan?" From his tone, it seemed he expected a reaction.

Logan shook off the memory. "Just -- reminded me of something."

"Really. I thought you didn't remember anything other than the last fifteen years."

"Yeah, and you supposedly remember lifetimes." Logan got defensive.

"Just one," Carl replied, calmly and a little sadly. He held out his hand, and Logan dropped the crucifix in it. "Just one," he repeated, whispering and rubbing his thumb over the cross.

"Say, if you -- SAW something about me, you'll tell me, right?" Logan asked, hating how uncertain his voice sounded. He knew he'd vowed to give up trying to remember his past, and start living for the future, but he couldn't help wondering if Carl's erratic gift might not be useful.

Carl stood, and regarded him silently. Logan felt like he'd disappointed the other man, and couldn't figure out why. Finally, Carl said, "I don't know anything about you Logan." And he went back into the mansion.

It took a few minutes for Logan to realize that Carl's last two words could have been hyphenated.

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After wandering around the grounds a while longer, Logan went back inside. As he padded down the halls, he heard voices, eventually placing them as Carl and Professor Xavier. They were in a classroom, talking.

Curious, he paused to listen.

"I can't do this!" Carl sounded stressed.

"Are you certain that he is--"

"Yes! God, in my sleep I'd know."

"So what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? Pray, I suppose."

There was a rustle of movement, and then Logan heard nothing more. Could they be talking telepathically? Frowning, and a little embarrassed for eavesdropping, he walked away.

(Big hugs to all who've reviewed or emailed me with comments. They do help immensely! Remember, this is all movie-verse, so some things are not quite the same as the comics.)