Chapter 5: Reunion
X23 had noticed the activity of the mansion. The white-haired woman had left with someone in a large hooded cloak and a girl. Several students had also left early in the morning to return home for the summer. From her perch in the tree by the main gate she focused on the house making sure the front was clear. She wouldn't have any problems with the front of the house. She hopped onto the wall that ran around the school and quickly scurried into a tree near the back of the house where children of all ages ran around playing in the expansive backyard. They were all mutants and at least amongst themselves they did not mind being such.
She waited in the tree and eventually around noon a very bald man in a wheel chair ushered the children inside. At one point, X23 thought that the man was looking directly at her, but then he shook his head as though puzzled and went inside. She reflected back on her own training sessions. The countless lessons, the exhaustion in the pain, just because she healed rapidly, didn't mean that the wounds didn't hurt. Sometimes she would collapse, and then they would beat her trying to get her to cooperate, but usually by that time she was thousands of miles away. She did not comprehend what it meant to play. She did not understand what fun was, at least not in a way anyone else would. Some emotion she could not explain welled up inside her, a feeling of deep loss. Something was running down her face and she hastily reached up to wipe away the unexpected and alien tear.
Why are you acting like this? You know what you came here to do, so do it.
But...
No, no buts. Now move. Obeying the more commanding side of her ego she got down out of the tree and headed towards the house.
Rouge was in the back seat, fidgeting. She didn't really understand what was happening. Bobby's parents were pretty rational. She'd remembered his mom being somewhat opened minded about her son's gifts. They hadn't really picked the best time to divulge to his parents that he wasn't at some prep school like they had thought for all those years. Then John had to go crazy and all the cops showing up, wasn't exactly the best way to make a pro-mutant statement for them. Thinking about it she felt that Bobby's parents deserved to hear the truth under better circumstances, fewer cops this time. Now she was depressing herself. She just wanted to find Bobby, see for herself that he was okay. She'd worry about everything else later.
Storm pulled the car into Bobby's driveway. The yard looked pretty good for having almost completely been incinerated. Storm turned around and looked at Rogue.
"You ready?" She asked. Rogue nodded and looked questioningly at Kurt. Storm answered her unspoken question. "Kurt you stay in the car. If anyone comes, call me and let me know." Kurt nodded or at least Storm thought he nodded. His hood was very deep and as such none of his face could be seen. Rogue and Storm got out of the car and headed up the drive. Storm looked at Rogue when they reached the door, and Rogue knocked. After a couple seconds of silence Rogue tried the doorbell. The door swung open and Bobby's mom gaped at them speechless. Recovering herself she ushered them in.
"I'm sorry, I was just about to call you. Isn't Bobby coming down? You are one of his –er teachers right?" Storm and Rogue looked at each other.
"Yes, I teach at the Institute, but I don't understand. Bobby was sent down here with another instructor, Scott Summers, to meet with you. We haven't heard from them since they left and we got a little worried." Storm explained. Bobby's mom looked puzzled.
"Well we were out for awhile last night, but other than that we were home for most of the evening. Bobby and his teacher never arrived." Rogue got up from the couch that she and Storm had been sitting on and went over to the window, trying not to cry.
Bobby where are you?
Kurt was doing as he was told. He didn't understand why he kept being sent out on these missions. He didn't do well in crowds and he had actually been doing his best to avoid them. He just wanted to be left alone for awhile, but he'd do what he was told for now. He was staring straight ahead, but something was tickling at the back of his mind. Something or someone didn't want him to look to the left, he found, because try as he might he could not turn his head to the left. He reached down for the cell phone but found he could not dial the number for the phone that Storm carried. Kurt was trying to figure out what to do but something was keeping his mind focused on what was straight ahead.
Bobby couldn't open his eyes. He'd tried, his mind had screamed at them for over an hour to open, but apparently his brain waves weren't intimidating enough. So he lay still and he listened. Two voices, one male and raspy, the other was the voice of the woman who'd found them after the crash.
"What happened?"
"The anesthesia wore off before it was supposed to. The boy went walking around out of his room. Someone left the door unlocked." This said by the woman in an accusatory tone.
"And the other?" The male voice asked.
"His ability is not one which is easily controlled. I had first hand witnessing of it."
"Yes, it's a shame he didn't kill you." The male voice said something else, but Bobby was fading fast. He felt like he was waiting for something, looking for some clue.
"There is no room for error, no more errors from either of you. Keep them unconscious until the proper time. Keep them separated." A third voice joined the conversation. Bobby felt that he was listening to something that was incredibly important, but at that moment a new wave of lethargy coursed through him and he once again fell asleep.
X23 was sitting on the roof. The rain poured in a curtain around her so that her visibility was limited. She had been drenched an hour ago, but she couldn't let small discomforts bother her. She crept to a window that led down into the school. She had work to do.
The whole issue of there being someone else out there who shared his DNA was bothering Logan. He wasn't sure how he should feel about it, or how he should view himself in relation to her, which was bothering him most of all. This was essentially his kid and she was trying to kill him. Talk about your dysfunctional family. Logan quipped to himself. He flopped down onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was tired. He didn't want to think about this anymore.
X23 had put most of the children easily out of commission and had wandered into the library. She heard that same annoying voice from the past. This time it came from when she'd been caught with a book on Greek mythology.
Why would you want to fill your head with such utter nonsense? What good will fairy tales do you? There is no such thing as "happily ever after" so why would you even want to delude yourself into thinking that there was?
She quickly slammed the door to wherever that voice had snuck out from. However, the damage had already been done. She collapsed down on the nearby table and cried.
The professor couldn't sleep. It seemed it was an elusive activity in this household. A nagging sensation had been bothering him since this afternoon. It felt like there was another mind present in the mansion, but he could feel no stranger anywhere. He got up and headed down the hall. He could only hear silence from the rooms and the sound of rain on the roof. Then he heard something out of place. Someone was sobbing in the library. He wheeled himself in and saw someone flung on a table in the shadows. The mind felt vaguely alien and yet...
"Logan?" The professor asked worriedly. With an angry gasp of shock, the shadow loomed up and the professor was down for the count.
She was angry now. She was angry with herself for getting upset. She was angry because she'd been caught and crying no less! She was angry because she couldn't understand why she was upset. She was angry and embarrassed, a dangerous combination. As far as she knew, no one else was in the house, but she'd make a second sweep just to be sure.
Once again, Logan couldn't sleep. Sighing he got up and figured he'd go down to the kitchen and get something to drink. It wouldn't be beer, true, but he could pretend. He was walking past the library when he noticed the door ajar and a light on.
"Hello, anyone in here?" Logan looked in and was about to turn the lights out and leave when he noticed a chair overturned towards the back. As he got closer he realized that it was the professor's wheelchair.
He got to the professor and turned him over. He was obviously unconscious, but not by ordinary means. There was an odd semi-flat disc in the center of the professor's forehead. There seemed to be a slight impression in the center of the circle. The disc was definitely attached to the skin and when Logan tried to touch it he got a nasty shock. He wasn't sure if the shock he'd been delivered had also gone through the professor, so for the time being he thought it would be safer if he left it alone. He was fairly certain this was X23's handiwork, but he couldn't figure out how she'd tricked the professor. He continued downstairs until he was in the main foyer of the Institute.
In a flash of lightening she was there. At first, he thought it was the girl from his dreams again, but the shadow was crouched and stood up in degrees as he slowly circled it. A puddle had gathered underneath her. She must have just come in out of the rain. She had long hair that looked black right now since it was dripping wet. Logan couldn't see her face. He was about to say something when her fist connected solidly with his face.
Okay, so she had sucker-punched him, but if he had circled her one more time she would have ripped his spine out. She moved away quickly and blended into the shadows due to her ebony ensemble. She had a specially made black jumpsuit made of a stretchy but durable material. Kind of like what you'd find in a swimsuit, only thicker. It was very form fitting. She had on her black ankle length combat boots and her finger-less gloves to complete the look. She had to admit, she looked pretty damn cool, but right now she didn't care about how she looked. She was beyond pissed off, she was in a rage. She had to remind herself that she didn't want him dead right away.
"No, you have to suffer first." She hadn't realized that she'd spoken aloud because Logan looked up at her in awe.
"Get up!" She screamed as she kicked him in the stomach dangerously close to his crotch. Logan scrunched up trying to prevent as small of a target as possible. X23 wasn't happy with that so she kicked him in the back causing him to arch with the pain. Logan scrambled waiting for his broken nose to heal so that he might be able to breathe. Suddenly she was just there and she slammed him into the wall.
"For someone who was trained in the government, your fighting skills suck." She said as she slammed his head into another wall. Logan just kind of slumped there.
Logan was getting pretty tired of being a piñata so after the last hit he decided to lie there and lure her into to doing something stupid. She came at him again, only this time he wasn't about to take another beating. One had been enough for him. He extended his claws and stabbed into her foot with one hand and slashed across her knees with the other. She was taken by surprise and collapsed to the floor giving him enough time to stand up. She got back up too fast for him though and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, pummeling his face. He fell backwards. Once again she ran at him so he tucked up his legs and then thrust them into her stomach as she launched herself at him and threw her over his head and into something. He thought it might be the coffee table, but he didn't really have time to check right now. He got back to his feet just as she was regaining hers. Logan knew he had to take her down now, he had to stop her. He did the only thing he could think of, he charged her. HE took her by surprise, like he'd hoped, only he had misjudged where they were standing. The force of his impact with her propelled them both out of the window and into the night.
She hit the ground hard and covered her eyes to prevent the shower of glass from gouging them. He'd surprised her with those last moves because he hadn't been thinking when he'd done them. It threw off her perception of them. She was getting to her feet when something slammed into her shoulder blades forcing her body to the ground and pinning it immobile.
"Now you stay down!" Logan yelled at her. She just growled at him. She wiggled around and when she was in a better position she side swiped his legs from underneath him.
"Look I don't want to hurt you." Logan growled at her.
"That's too bad, because I really want to hurt you." She snarled at him.
He just stared up at her. Was I this angry too, years ago after I escaped? He decided he'd try and reason with her, but first she'd have to calm down. She ran at him again and he threw her into the fountain in the driveway where they had landed. She extended a claw from her foot, dug it into the stone and pivoted on it so that when she retracted it she landed on her feet. Then she extended her claws, two in each hand and waited for the next move. Logan just stared at her. He hadn't really wanted to believe that it was true, but now he had no choice. He extended his claws but only to defend from her own. He was determined not to hurt her. He didn't think that hurting her would help much. The sparred their way across the lawn.
"Listen to me! I understand what they did to you. I know what it's like! I know those people should burn in hell, but you coming after me isn't going to accomplish anything." Logan was barely keeping her at arms length.
"You're the reason they did this to me!" She screamed at him.
"It was not my fault they did this to you, you know that. If I'd have known—"
"You'd have done what? Stopped them?" She turned away and broke out in hysterical laughter that quickly broke down into sobs. She collapsed to the ground and cried. He heard a sound off in the distance, the rotary noise of helicopters.
"Look, I'm supposed to hand you over to some people that are looking for you." She looked up wildly at that and then prepared herself for battle once more.
"You son of a bitch, you set me up!"
"Now hang on! Would you listen for one god damn minute! I am not handing you over." With that he shoved her backwards.
"Go, get out of her." She looked at him blindly. She was very confused. "Do I have to shove you again? Go!" She turned around and ran. Just as she made it out of sight, the helicopters came into view.
Soldiers streamed out and invaded the school.
"Where is she Logan?" Fury's voice cut into the cold, wet air. Logan had forgot it was raining. He was soaked through.
"She got away." They had a brief staring contest and then Fury turned away barking orders.
"Oh by the way, just press the impressions if you want to get those discs off of your friend's heads." Logan sighed, he'd have a lot of explaining to do and as he looked around the yard, a lot of repair work as well. Maybe he could leave them all unconscious for just a little while longer...
Rogue was staring out of the window when she interrupted Storm and Bobby's mom's conversation.
"Wait you said you were goin' to call us, but the professor said your phone's been disconnected. What's really goin' on?" Bobby's mom just looked at her. The staring contest was interrupted by Kurt popping in.
"Someting is vrong," he directed at Storm. "Somevone is here, outside." Storm got up and moved, then froze.
"Storm, what's wrong?" Rogue asked.
"I can't move." She said. "Kurt take Rogue and get out of here."
"I can't." Kurt said.
"I'm sorry." This came from Bobby's mom, only it wasn't her voice, someone else's voice was underneath it and it sounded very creepy. "I'm afraid you'll have to be detained." Rogue, Storm, and Kurt had the similar sensation of feeling like someone was pressing them down into the ground. Right before they felt as though their head would explode, they blacked out.
