OH WOW O.O! It's been a looong while since I last updated this story O.O! Anyway, I hope you guys are still around :D!!! To those who reviewed chapter 84, thank you so much! You x-fans are the reason why this story's still standing and still going, despite the rather "odd" plot. Luv ya peoples :D!!!
Well, here's a very long chapter for all of you :D!! YAY!
Chapter 85: The long walk home
Charles turned his wheelchair around and Rogue stepped out of the doorway to give way to the professor. He quickly moved out of the bathroom, and was soon followed by Yuriko and Logan with Rogue immediately walking to Logan's side. Neither of them spoke a word as they hurriedly moved down from one hallway to another. There was tension and urgency in the air. The only sound they could hear were the echo of their own footsteps in the hallways, and the sound of their own quickened breaths.
Rogue looked at Logan and Yuriko from the corner of her eye as she quickened her pace to keep up with them. She actually knew nothing about what was going to happen next. She knew that it had something to do with Yuriko and that whatever it was, was going to be 'risky', but that was all she knew. She also had a feeling that it somehow had something to do with Logan. She wanted to ask questions, but now was not the right time to prod them with her curiosity, especially since everyone seemed to be on their toes. So she was left with no choice, but to follow them and wait and see.
As soon as they reached the hallway leading to the elevator, Logan quickly ran towards it and pushed the button to open its doors.
"Quick!" He said hastily, nudging his head towards the elevator.
Yuriko moved behind the professor and quickly pushed his wheelchair towards Logan's direction. Rogue hurriedly followed after them, not wanting to be left behind. Yuriko and the professor made their way inside the elevator, and were soon followed by Rogue and Logan. Logan immediately pushed the button labeled "B1", and the elevator's door closed. The four of them soon found themselves descending to the lower depths of the mansion, towards Sub-basement Level 1 where Stryker and Kurt were waiting.
Logan looked at the digital floor display above the control panel, and watched it as it changed from one floor to another. Yuriko, on the other hand, had her eyes on Logan. She couldn't believe how supportive he was of her choice. And she was happy that he decided to go with her too. She wanted nothing more but to have her by her side when she opens her eyes after the memory transplant…Because aside from Stryker, he was the only one she truly. And she wanted nothing more, but to wake up from the process, and see someone from her past welcome her to the present, and lead her to the future.
"Thank you, Logan." She said softly, looking at him.
He turned his face to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "For what?" He asked. His voice was rough and firm, like it always was.
"For everything." She said. "For this…For being with me. For not giving up on me even when I started to give up on my self." Her eyes never moved away from him.
Logan moved his head back to the front. He didn't even turn around to look at her….He didn't need to. He knew that Yuriko didn't need to look into his eyes or look at his face to see what he was feeling. She just needed to hear what he was about to say.
"I just want you to have what I didn't have." He said. His voice had a softer, gentler tone to it, though its roughness was still very imminent. "I want you to make the right choices that I didn't make. And I don't know why. But by helping you, I feel like I'm also helping myself…Kind of like I'm getting a second chance to make things right. And I'm making it right, through you." He said sincerely.
Rogue's eyes widened as she looked at him. She couldn't believe the words he had just spoken. Was this the same Wolverine she had met years ago? The same Wolverine who rarely showed a hint of emotion? She never thought he could be this out-spoken or emotional with anyone. But with Yuriko, he seemed so free, so expressive, as if he could tell Yuriko everything, right down to the last detail of his often-hidden emotions. Yuriko seemed to be the only person who could crumble his tough exterior. She seemed to be the only one that could tame the beast that resided within Logan's humanity.
Yuriko continued to stare at Logan. Though she couldn't see his face, she could feel the sincerity behind his words. "I couldn't have gotten this far without you." She softly spoke. "And I'm saying this, for yesterday, and for all the years that we've been together in the past." She was talking as if she remembered everything.
"Please…" Logan suddenly said. His voice was abrupt and somewhat commanding. "No more of the past. I want nothing to do with it. Not anymore." He still had his back towards her. "The past is gone now. I know you want to reminisce in yours, but I don't want to remember mine. Who I was is dead to me now."
She remained unmoving as she looked at his tall frame. Was Logan saying that the Logan she once loved was now a different person? That they could never be what they used to be? Was that what Logan was trying to say? Or perhaps, he was saying that they should start anew…That after the procedure, they should start their lives as new people, and not as the Yuriko and Logan that they were before. Maybe he was right. Maybe the past was worth remembering, but not worth reliving.
The digital floor display above the control panel flashed "SB1" and the elevator went to a complete stop. They finally reached sub-basement level 1. The elevator's doors opened and Yuriko took a deep breath. She was now literally going to walk her way to her past memories. Once she steps out of that elevator, there would be no turning back. Like Stryker's remembering, this was also going to be a one way trip.
Since Logan was nearest to the door, he was the first one who stepped out, and was quickly followed by Rogue. Yuriko lightly gripped on the handles of the professor's wheelchair, and the two of them followed after her. The three of them walked down the hallway towards medical room B14, where Yuriko's past was waiting.
x x x x x x x x
In a split second, Kurt and Stryker re-appeared in the middle of the medical room where the professor had asked them to go. Kurt had his arms wrapped snuggly around the older man's torso to hold up his unmoving form. He looked around and found two beds in the room. They were only a few feet away from each other. And unlike their ordinary medical beds, each of them had a technologically enhanced headgear attached to where the person's head would be laying.
The headgear devices looked like toned down versions of the one that the professor uses in Cerebro. There was also another headgear on the table at the far end of the room. It looked similar to the ones on the bed, but that one was attached to a computer-like device. The computer was unlike anything he had never seen before.
Kurt teleported beside one of the beds and gently lay Stryker there, positioning him in a comfortable position…though he wasn't really sure if it still mattered to Stryker anymore since Stryker already seemed to be 'dead' inside. The man looked like he could neither see, hear nor feel anything anymore. Kurt didn't know what the professor was going to do to him, but he was sure that the professor was going to help the poor man recover from whatever it was that had made him into this lifeless shell.
He curiously looked down at Stryker's face and shivered at the look of his lifeless eyes. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind. Was Stryker's mind even working still? Out of curiosity, he leaned closer and whispered to him.
"Mr. Stryker?" He whispered in his eminent German accent. "Are you still there?" He whispered again. He now felt more curious than fearful. "Hello?"
Kurt looked at Stryker, waiting for sign, even a glint of hope, that Stryker could see or hear him. But after a few seconds of silence and stillness, he got none. Not even a move of a finger, or a whisper. Not even a blink of an eye. Stryker was almost as good as dead. He had become a living and breathing dead man.
A sad and hopeless sigh escaped from Kurt's lips as he stood up straight, pulling his face away from Stryker's. He found it quite fortunate and ironic, that this had to happen to Stryker now that he had reformed himself. He could have had another chance in life, just like him. But now, that new life had been reduced to nothingness. The irony of it all was so bitter-sweet, that it made life seem so unfair and so uncaring.
Then a faint smile spread across Kurt's lips and he gently placed his hand over Stryker's chest. "It was a pleasure meeting you last night, Mr. Stryker. I am obliged to have been in the presence of the good man that you have become." He said softly and sincerely.
He bowed his head down and slowly pulled his hand away. But before he could move his hand further away from Stryker, Stryker's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed Kurt's wrist. Kurt's eyes opened wide with shock, and he almost jumped back in surprise. He immediately looked at Stryker's face. Stryker's unmoving visage was still lifeless and his eyes were still empty, but his hand was gripping on Kurt's wrist so tightly, as if the unconscious man didn't want him to pull away.
Kurt felt his heart thumping so fast in his chest as he looked at Stryker's still form. He couldn't understand what was going on.
Then Stryker's parted lips slowly started to move, like he was trying to say something, but he couldn't. He seemed to be trying to form words with his lips, but no sound came out from them. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed this. It was the first time he'd ever seen Stryker do 'anything' since he found him in the bathtub. This was definitely a good sign. At least he knew that Stryker was still in there somewhere, lurking within that lifeless shell of a body. Kurt quickly leaned down and moved his face closer to Stryker's.
"What are you trying to say?" He asked manically. "Tell me." He looked into the man's empty eyes, hoping to see more signs that Stryker was still conscious.
Stryker's hand continued to grip Kurt's wrist as he tried to speak. His lips continued to move in a fragmented manner as if he could barely move them. Then after a few seconds of silence, a very faint and nearly inaudible sound slowly crawled out from his lips. The sound was like a small groan, mixed with air from his throat. It wasn't even a word, not even a syllable. It was like a faint murmur that a hopelessly dying man would make.
Kurt pursed his lips and looked intensely into Stryker's empty eyes. "I know that you're still in there, Mr. Stryker." He said. "And I know that you can hear me. I know it. I can feel it. But I can't hear you. I cannot. So please…try to speak. I know you want to say something, but you have to try harder." He said in an encouraging manner.
Kurt suddenly felt Stryker's hand gripping his wrist harder. Stryker was squeezing his wrist so tightly, that Stryker's hand was almost shaking. It was as if Stryker was holding on to him to keep in touch with the outside world. Then another faint sound escaped from Stryker's mouth. But this time, it seemed to be a syllable.
"Yu…" He faintly whispered. His eyes and face were still empty and expressionless. But his mouth seemed to have a glint of life in them.
Kurt's eyes widened when he heard him mutter what seemed to be a part of a word…or perhaps, a part of a name. Then he furrowed his eyebrows and leaned his head down towards Stryker's. He tilted his head to the side and moved his ear closer to Stryker's lips. He doubted that Stryker would be able to speak louder than a whisper. The man could barely speak a word or phrase. So if Kurt was to know what Stryker was trying to say, he knew he would have to listen and listen close.
"Yuri --- ko." Stryker whispered.
Yuriko's name barely escaped from his stiff lips. It was even more of a slurred word than a name. If Kurt hadn't lean closer to him, he wouldn't have even been able to understand it. But at least now he understood his first word. It didn't make any sense yet, since it was just Yuriko's name, but he knew that there was more to come.
"What about her? What about Yuriko?" Kurt asked. His ear remained close to Stryker's lips. He hoped that Stryker would hold on long enough to say what he had to say.
Another airy groan escaped from Stryker's mouth as he tried to speak another word. "Yuriko…" He whispered again. And after he spoke her name, his lips continued to move silently. They were forming words, as if he was speaking, but they didn't create a single sound. It was as if he was speaking to no one but himself.
Kurt felt Stryker's grip slowly loosening. The man seemed to be gradually slipping away. "Mr. Stryker, you keep on saying Yuriko's name, but…But it's not making any sense. I --- I can't understand what you're trying to say. I don't know what to do with a name. I need to hear more." Kurt said as he remained close to the older man. He was determined to find out Stryker's message before the man went back to his dead state.
Stryker's grip on Kurt's wrist loosened more. The life on his hand seemed to be fading with every passing second. But before his remaining grasp on reality completely disappeared, he was able to utter two faint words. "Tell her…" He whispered weakly.
"Tell her what? What do you want me to tell her?" Kurt asked. He needed to know. He had to know. He felt like a person who was in the presence of a dying man, a dying man who had a final request. And now, Kurt couldn't help but feel compelled to hear out the man's fading words, at what seemed to be the final breath of Stryker's life.
Stryker's hand opened, in a way that he just had it over Kurt's wrist. His hand, his fingers didn't seem to have the energy to hold on to Kurt anymore. "Tell her…"
Kurt waited in anticipation. He waited for the words that would finish Stryker's sentence. But after a few seconds, no words came. It ended right then and there. Stryker's hand slipped away from Kurt's wrist and fell limply by Stryker's unmoving body. And his lips became lifeless and still once again. Stryker seemed to have reverted back to the dead state that Kurt had found him in that morning.
Kurt closed his eyes and he sadly sighed. He couldn't see Stryker's face since his head was tilted to the side, but he knew that Stryker was gone, from the moment that his hand slipped away from his wrist. Stryker wasn't even able to finish his final words. It was as if Stryker was a drowning man who had resurfaced for a few seconds to breath in air, only to find himself being pulled back again into the wild waters that were drowning him.
Then he breathed in and stood up straight, and opened his eyes to look at Stryker's still form on the bed. Those were his final words…Three words, and those were 'Yuriko, tell her…'. And as his silent companion lay there like a living statue, Kurt really wished that he knew what Stryker was about to say. He wished he knew what Stryker wanted to tell Yuriko. And he found it quite unfortunate, that at the moment when Stryker had a few seconds with reality, Yuriko, the person that he wanted to see, wasn't there.
"Don't worry." Kurt said as he looked at him. His voice was sad and soft. "I'll tell her that you called out for her. I'll tell her that you spoke her name."
Within a few seconds, the door to the medical room suddenly swung open, and Logan, followed by Rogue, the professor and Yuriko, stepped inside. Logan closed the door behind them, and the professor and Yuriko quickly made their way beside the empty bed. Yuriko's eyes were immediately on William's still form as she walked into the room. The sadness in her eyes was imminent again as she saw the lifeless shell of her former friend. She still couldn't believe that this was how it was going to end between them.
Then she suddenly noticed Kurt staring at her. Kurt was standing beside Stryker's bed, and he had his eyes on her ever since she had entered the room. He looked like he wanted to say something to her…Say something that was very important.
As soon as Kurt's eyes met hers, he spoke. "He spoke your name." He said, looking intensely into her eyes, as if he wanted her to take his words to heart.
Yuriko's eyes suddenly opened wide and she felt her chest tighten. She couldn't believe what Kurt had just told her. Without wasting another millisecond, she quickly walked around her bed to the other side so that she was standing right in front of Kurt. "What did you say?!" She asked with an agitated tone in her voice.
"Mr. Stryker…" Kurt said wispily. "He --- he grabbed my wrist. And then he, he asked for you. He was looking for you." He said with a sad tone in his voice. He could see a disheartened expression forming on Yuriko's face.
"He could barely speak. In fact, he was only able to whisper. And the first thing he said was your name. He whispered your name. Then he --- he tried to tell me something. He wanted me to tell you something, but…but he wasn't able to tell me what it was." It pained him to break this news to Yuriko. "Because before he could, he disappeared again. He tried to hold on. He really did, Ms. Yuriko. But he couldn't. I'm sorry."
Yuriko gasped as she looked at Kurt. She tried to hold back the tears that were budding to flow from her eyes. She had already cried so much, and she didn't want to cry anymore. She knew that it was useless to cry over something she could never ever have.
"But that's impossible." The professor suddenly said. There was a matter-of-fact tone in his voice. He moved towards Kurt and Yuriko. "On the way here, I tried to probe Stryker's mind to see if I could find a hole, even a fracture in the barrier that his memories have created around his brain. But I failed with every attempt. His brain is now trapped within itself, and he is now trapped within it." He said firmly, whilst looking up at Yuriko and Kurt. He didn't want to bring down Yuriko's hopes, but he wanted to tell her the truth. She had the right to know the reality of Stryker's state.
"Its mere purpose is now to process his memories until he remembers them all. It is not even connected with his body anymore. His brain doesn't allow him to speak, or hear, or touch, or feel, or do anything else in our physical realm. So I cannot understand how he was able to speak, or even hold on to your wrist like you said he did. It is impossible for a man to move and speak without his brain, Kurt." He said, lecturing.
Kurt returned the professor's stare with an understanding look, but he knew that what just happened between him and Stryker was the truth. He was sure that he didn't imagine any of it. It really did happen. "But professor, I did hear him speak." He said imposingly, yet politely. "And he did hold on to my wrist. In fact, he held on to it so tightly, that I couldn't pull away. I'm sure of it, professor." He confirmed.
The professor nodded his head. He didn't have to read Kurt's mind to know that Kurt was telling the truth. He could feel the sincerity in the blue man's voice and see the pure honesty within his yellow eyes. And despite the impossibility and unfeasibility of what Kurt had just said, Charles knew that when it came to the human mind, nothing was virtually impossible, and Stryker might have really freed himself from his mental bondage, even if that freedom only lasted for a very short moment.
Then Charles turned his attention towards Yuriko. He could see her looking at William's still face. Her eyes were filled with determination and her fists were clenched into fists as she looked at him. She seemed to have something up her sleeve.
Without saying a word, Yuriko suddenly pushed Kurt aside, and then she leaned down towards Stryker and grabbed him by front end of his shirt. The empty look in his eyes still haunted her, but she did not fear them anymore.
"I'm here, Will! I'm here!" She said through gritted teeth as she gently tugged on his shirt. "So if you want to say something to me, then dammit, say it now!!! Say it now!!!" She shouted. She shouted at him as if he could hear her. But unlike Kurt's experience with Stryker, Stryker did not move his hand, or his lips. He just lay there, looking up at the ceiling with those empty eyes and that lifeless face.
"Yuriko, we don't have much time." The professor said. He knew that Yuriko suddenly had a glint of hope when Kurt told them about his encounter with Stryker. But that didn't mean that that encounter was going to happen again. Stryker shouldn't have even been able to do what he did. In fact, even the professor was amazed when he found out that Stryker was able to move, even utter a sound even at such a mental state. The human brain was definitely an unpredictable entity.
"If you want to remember your past, then we must start the procedure now. I don't know how long before he remembers everything. And as I have said earlier, the longer we postpone it, the riskier and more dangerous it is going to get." The professor added. "He's not coming back as who you want him to be, Yuriko. Let him go."
Yuriko continued to grip on the front-end of Stryker's shirt. Then she pursed her lips as she looked at his still face. The professor was right. She might as well do what she had set out to do from the beginning. She bowed her had down and sharply exhaled. Then she released him from her grip, and she leaned back and slowly slipped her hands away from his chest.
She turned and looked at the professor. There was intensity in her eyes and an unwavering look on her face. "Let's do it." She said abruptly.
"Good." The professor replied.
He moved his wheelchair towards the table with the computer console and the third headgear device. While the headgears on the beds were for Yuriko and Stryker, the one on the table was for him. He stopped beside the table and slowly turned around to face the others. Yuriko was standing beside her bed, Kurt was standing by the foot of Stryker's, Rogue was in the middle of the room, while Logan stood by the door.
Charles looked at Kurt. "Kurt, place the device on Stryker's head. Please make sure that it's secure." He requested. "The procedure might cause either him or Yuriko to make impulsive movements, and I might lose them both if either of their headsets comes off." Those headgears were their connections to the professor's brain. They would bind their minds to the professor's, like a string would to a kite and its controller.
Then he looked at Yuriko. "Please lay down on your bed." He said firmly. "And please make sure that you're in comfortable and safe position. I am not sure how long it will take for me to restore all of your memories. It might take an hour, or two, or half of the day. So I suggest that you keep your physical form in the most comfortable position possible." He explained. "Even though you will be within yours and Stryker's mind during the entire length of this procedure, what your physical body feels, may still affect how your mind processes its memories."
Yuriko nodded her head. "I understand." She replied.
The professor's eyes turned to Logan. "Logan, assist Yuriko with the device. We can't lose anymore time if we are to go through this without any complications."
"I know." Logan said as he walked towards Yuriko's bed.