Disclaimer: You know the drill and who is and isn't mine...if it's not mine, it's owned by Fox and Marvel...if it is mine, hands off...
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Chapter 15
(Logan)
There were several notable events during the next three weeks. First, Chasca (with the help of Charles and her roommate) had learned enough English to be able to converse with everyone. Naturally, this turned her into a regular girl and she could be found chattering away with the other older students at any time they weren't in classes. We also discovered she was older than we first thought. I hadn't thought to ask her and she seemed a little afraid of me, so when she told us she was twenty-two, we were a little shocked. With her athletic build and spiky hair, we thought she was no older than sixteen. We also managed to draw her entire story out of her.
Her mother and father had been afraid that she was different even when she was very young, due to her eyes, which are the exact color of a deep, flawless amethyst crystal. This was confirmed when, at the age of thirteen, she woke up with her elongated fingers, claws on her hands and feet and the beginnings of her bat wings sprouting from her back. They at first tried to have her exorcised of the demons that had possessed her, but when everything from Roman Catholic to ancient Incan rituals didn't work, they tried to kill her. Fortunately, she was able to use another aspect of her mutation to get away, since she also had echolocation, just like a bat. The sound was just enough to stun her attackers and she got away. She'd been living wild in the jungle ever since, stealing food and clothing from small villages and the occasional logging camp that she came across. Stumbling into the cocaine plantation had been bad luck on her part and only Chuck's chancing upon her with Cerebro coupled with Storm's quick thinking had gotten her out of there alive.
She was a little disappointed that she'd have to go to school with the children, but she was severely lacking in the formal education department and Chuck insisted she study. However, what she really wanted was to train as an X-Man. She'd been overwhelmed by the way Storm and One-Eye had helped her, a complete stranger, and she wanted to give that back in some way. I had no problem with it and the Boy Scout actually agreed. It wasn't often that adult mutants showed up on our doorstep and having someone else we could count on in a fight, especially one who could fly, was good news for all of us. And now that she had enough English to understand Angela and I while we were teaching, we could include her with other groups for Danger Room training. We put her on the schedule with the new Delta team.
The second noteworthy event involved Totem. I'd been outside with Chasca, watching as she demonstrated her flying ability. She was really quite amazing, even if she did almost give me a heart attack several times by folding her wings in and diving towards the ground so fast I was afraid she'd crash. But she always managed to snap her wings open just in time, turning her dive into a rush back up into the air, sometimes adding a corkscrew spin to the return trip up. I was mentally plotting out an obstacle course for her to fly, something with targets for her to hit and threats to dodge or take out if she could, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw Totem standing in the shadow of a pine tree, barely perceptible in his shifted form, which gave him the head and black fur of a panther, though the rest of him appeared humanoid. What had betrayed his presence was his tail, switching back and forth restlessly as he also watched Chasca at her exercise. I motioned for her to come back to earth.
"Is everything good, Logan?" She asked.
"Yeah, you're fine. I just have to take care of somethin'." I replied. "Why don't you go find Sofia and have her help you with some of your homework?"
"All right. We will continue later?"
"Sure kid. Now go on." She smiled and ran into the mansion. I was glad she was fitting in so well. Once she was gone, I stalked over to the tree. "Ok bub, come on out."
He came forward slowly, shifting to his full human form as he did. "What do you want, Logan?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I wanna know what you found so interestin' out here."
He swallowed hard and looked away from me. "Nothing. I was just walking."
"Sure you were." I replied, gritting my teeth. "Now, I don't know what you think you know about me, but I'm bettin' that Stryker never told you everythin' about my mutation." I tapped the side of my nose. "See, this never lies to me, even when someone else is. And lies all smell the same to me. So why don't you try again?"
His eyes widened in shock. "You can smell lies?"
"Among other things. Now, what you doin' out here?"
"I was curious about that girl you were out here with."
"Why?" I asked, full of suspicion.
"She is very interesting. Can I not watch and learn while I am here like everyone else?"
"Did you forget the part where you can't be trusted? Or the part where you're still Stryker's trained lapdog? Do you really need me to go on?"
He hung his head. "No, I have not forgotten those things." He mumbled. "But there is something about that girl. She interests me in a way I do not understand."
I stood there in shock. My nose was picking up something I'd never smelled on him before, not even when Angela was around. Everything he felt for my woman was manufactured, put there by telepaths and conditioning. But when he talked about Chasca, there was a distinct undertone of attraction to his scent. Well, I had promised I would help him lose the controls Stryker'd had put on him. No better time than the present. "Tell me somethin', Totem. When you think of Chasca, what do you feel? Not in your head, in your gut."
He stood there thinking for a moment, one hand nervously picking at the front of his shirt. "She makes me feel light inside, like something is floating away."
"Ok. So, what about when you think of Angela? What does your gut do then?"
He thought again for a long moment, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Nothing. I feel no different when I think of her, except that I love her."
I couldn't help but grin. "Bub, you just made your first step to bein' your own man."
"I do not understand."
I stepped forward and crossed my arms over my chest. "When you really love someone, it's not somethin' that you feel in your head. Sure, you know it, but it ain't your head that tells you. It's your gut. You look at Chasca and your gut tells you somethin'. You look at Angela and it tells you nothin'. Think about that for a while."
I turned and went back into the mansion, hoping Chuck was between classes. I got there just as one was leaving and slipped in before the next batch of kids could show up. "Hey, you got a minute?"
"Of course, Logan." He replied, coming around his desk. "Please, have a seat."
I settled into a chair. "We have to talk about Totem."
"He hasn't been harassing Angela again, has he?"
"No, not that I've heard." I leaned forward. "Chuck, I think he's got a crush on Chasca."
"Is that so?" He sat up straighter in his chair. "Well, isn't that interesting?"
"My thought exactly. I think we might have found the secret to gettin' Angela out of his head."
"You could be right. I have made little progress in our sessions. The telepaths that worked on him put in some very difficult blocks. I haven't been able to do more than circumvent them. Perhaps with an emotional attachment to someone else will work much better than simple telepathy alone."
"I want permission to put him on the schedule with Delta team. Angela can man the observation booth and I'll take over the supervision in the room. If we can get them into some kinda workin' relationship, the blocks might start to break down on their own."
"Agreed. Very well, put him on the team and I'll inform Angela before the session tomorrow." He smiled. "You know Logan, that may be why your own telepathic blocks broke down all those years ago at Alkali Lake."
"You think Angela was the key?"
He looked at me with a very serious expression. "I think she still is the key."
Before I could ask him to explain, his next class started filing into his office. I stood up and made way for them, shooting a "see you later" to him mentally, knowing he'd hear me. He sent back that we'd talk later and I left.
The next important thing happened about a week later, when Buzz left me a note to see him in the computer center. I made my way downstairs and found him sitting in front of an impressive array of equipment, some of which I'd never seen before. I knew Chuck had given him a more or less blank check to set up whatever he needed, but even this looked a little overboard to me. Then again, what do I know? Sure, I'm well trained with computers, I had to be back at Alkali Lake. A lot of what we did required us to bypass all kinds of systems and I hadn't really lost my edge when it came to that. But it doesn't mean I really like them.
He turned as I entered the room and grinned. "Hey Logan. I just finished decrypting one of those drives. Had to call in a couple favors, but I finally got through it."
I pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "Whatcha got, kid?"
He typed in a series of commands, then chose a file from a list called "Weapon X" and opened it. "I remember seeing this in your file and I did a little more digging. I figured that you and Angela couldn't have been the only candidates for that project and I wasn't wrong. Check this out."
He clicked on another heading, this one labeled "Subjects" and a list came up.
Weapon X Subjects and current status:
Coyote (458-25-225) – Deceased
Raptor (458-25-227) – MIA, presumed dead.
Hellcat (458-25-228) – AWOL, failure. No sighting since 11 June 99. Presumed dead.
Vulture (458-25-230) – Active. Current assignment: Beijing.
Tigress (458-25-233) – Active. Current assignment: Middle East
Ursa (458-25-234) – Deceased.
Silver Fox (458-25-237) - Deceased
Sabretooth (458-25-239) – AWOL, failure. Do not attempt recapture.
Demon (458-25-240) – Active. Current assignment: Beijing.
Wolverine (458-25-243) – AWOL, failure. Recapture for Project Prodigal.
Totem (458-25-244) – Active. Current assignment: None. Training not yet complete.
Maverick (458-25-246) – MIA, presumed dead.
Kestrel (458-25-450) – MIA, presumed dead.
Mastodon (458-25-453) – Deceased.
Deathstrike (458-25-454) – MIA, presumed dead.
Asp (458-25-458) – Active. Current assignment: Middle East
A chill settled over me as I went over the list. I'm sure even Angela had no idea that Stryker had this many mutants in the same "program" we'd been in. What bothered me the most was seeing Sabretooth's name on the list. Did this mean he had the same enhancements to his skeleton? And the healing factor? I hated that guy enough already. Knowing he was probably still alive after Liberty Island just pissed me off even more.
But what had me the most worried were the four agents still active. It was only a matter of time before we encountered them and I wasn't holding out too much hope that they would be willing to defect to our side. I blinked as Buzz backed out of the list and into another file that detailed the bonding procedure and listed everyone who had been through it, with certain specifics for each person. It confirmed my suspicion about Sabretooth, which just made me want to hunt the guy down and kick his ass once and for all. Of course, it would take a very long time before either one of us died, but that would only make it more fun.
Buzz backed up again and opened yet another file, this one with pictures of each of the people on the list. The only ones I recognized besides my own were Sabretooth, Angela, Totem and Deathstrike, who turned out to be the woman I killed at Alkali Lake. I asked him to call up her file and I was sickened to learn that she'd definitely been under some hefty mind control at the time. I wondered what her life had been like before she ran afoul of Stryker, but I knew that finding out about her past would probably be just as difficult as discovering my own. For the first time since it happened, I felt serious remorse about killing her.
A couple hours later, we'd been through the entire Weapon X archive and I sat back, my head spinning. I thanked Buzz and went out in search of my woman and a smoke. I found her outside talking with Sam. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her, breathing in her soothing scent. I normally save my most affectionate displays for more private surroundings, but I really needed her at that moment.
She sensed something was wrong. "Logan, are you all right?" She asked, nuzzling my neck.
"Yeah darlin', I'll be fine." I whispered. "If you get a chance, go see Buzz. He's got somethin' you should see."
"All right." She pulled back a bit and kissed me. I held her for a moment longer before relaxing enough to look at her. "Is it bad?"
"It ain't good, that's for sure." I kissed her forehead, then let go and dug a cigar out of my pocket.
"My friend, if there's anything I can do." Sam piped in, looking concerned.
"Nah, I'll be fine. Just keep an eye on Angela for me for a little longer? I need to think."
"No problem, we'll be right here."
I walked back to the stream, chewing on my cigar and thinking hard about how to deal with this new information. It clarified quite a few things for me and I could feel some of my more vague memories coming into sharper focus. They still weren't clear enough for me to call up on my own, but I had a feeling that my nightmare-free nights were over for some time. I cursed softly, wishing I could just get it all back once and for all, but something told me I would regret that more than this gradual return. I still had a very bad feeling that there was something really terrible back there that I really wanted to keep forgotten and digging it up would only make things much worse for me.
I don't know how long I stayed out there, but soft footfalls behind me alerted me that I was no longer alone. A quick check of the breeze brought Angela's scent to me and I turned to her with a half smile. "Hey darlin'. Where's Sam?"
"Oh, he walked me as far as my tree. I figured I could make the last fifty feet on my own safely enough." She wrapped her arms around me, resting her cheek against my chest with a sigh. "Lover, are you really ok?"
"As ok as I'm gonna get." I tossed my cigar butt in the dirt and ground it out with my heel. "Did you talk to Buzz yet?"
"Yeah, he's deep in the middle of hacking some mainframe and told me to come back tomorrow. Any idea what he's looking for?"
"Yeah. He's lookin' for me." I didn't need to say anything else, she knew what I was talking about. Her arms tightened around me and I leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Damn it, I hate this! The more I find out, the less I wanna know. I keep feelin' like there's no point to it."
"All knowledge is worth having, Logan, I truly believe that. And I'll be here to help you deal with whatever it is we discover, all right?"
"Yeah, I know. I just wish it wasn't takin' so long."
"I know, lover."
We stood there a while longer before going back into the mansion. I was at least lucky enough that no new nightmares came out that night, although I did have vague memories of dreaming something unpleasant. None of the images had been strong enough to remember, but the old nightmare had started out that way so I knew it was only a matter of time. And God only knows I have more than enough of that.
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The last and most interesting occurrence came in two parts. The first part was finally convincing Sam to meet me in the Danger Room.
He'd been here almost three weeks and I'd tried everything I could think of to get him to spar with me. He always had some plausible excuse, usually involving a talk with Scott or having to get back to some random art project, but after a while I decided he was just dodging me. I finally came up with a reason why he couldn't turn me down.
"Look Sam, I need someone in there with super strength to test this new scenario and Colossus is in a history exam right now." I said, arms crossed. I was not going to let him get away from it this time.
"Logan, I'm sorry but I can't help you." He replied, clutching his sketchbook. "Those particular roses only bloom for about another two days and if I don't catch them now I'm going to miss them."
"We ain't gonna be in there for two hours, much less two days. And Buzz told me we needed someone in there with the strength thing specifically." Sam didn't need to know I made sure Buzz programmed that last bit in there on purpose.
He sighed. "And why would that be?"
"Hell if I know, he didn't give me specifics. Just somethin' about a lot of heavy debris."
His shoulders slumped and he glared at me. "Fine, I'll meet you there in ten minutes." He said through gritted teeth and walked away. I just smiled and made my way downstairs.
Yeah, there was heavy debris in the scenario. It was also based on the old "Evil Wolverine and Hellcat" scenario, which meant he'd be fighting me. I got suited up while Buzz checked the parameters from the observation booth. Once he got them the way he wanted them, I had him do a preliminary check with me inside. Since Angela and I had extensive training with explosives (among other things), this scenario started with us blowing the hell out of a building in a large city, trapping civilians under tons of debris while we tried to keep anyone from going in and saving them. At the time, we still couldn't come up with anything that would be more difficult for the X-Men than having to fight two of their own, especially if those two were me and Angela. I had Buzz make a few minor alterations to the setting (adding darkness and bad weather), then power down until Sam arrived.
Exactly ten minutes after I talked him into it, he entered the Danger Room. He was wearing the standard issue X-Man uniform, one I'd never seen before. I assumed it was from his brief stint on the team before he left to become a reclusive artist. The door closed behind him and the red "in use" light went on over it. He made his way to where I stood in the middle of the room and glared at me. "I just want you to know that I am not happy about being suckered into this."
"Hey, I'm sorry, but Angela and I test every scenario before it goes on line for everyone to use." I explained, glaring right back at him.
"Fine, whatever. But I have to warn you, I don't like to use my mutation. It's taken me years to find a way to control it and I don't give it up easily."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You mean no one told you?"
"Told me what?"
He took a step back and his shoulders slumped. "About me, why I quit the X-Men." I shook my head and he sighed. "Yeah, I have super strength all right. In fact, I don't know my own strength. I can't control it, not like Colossus does."
"He's only super strong in metal form. In regular form, he's pretty strong but he couldn't bench press a Buick or anythin'."
"You don't get it. I can't turn it off. In fact, I have to make a conscious effort with everything I do. If I stop paying attention, I'll break anything I try to pick up. So, in essence, I had to habituate myself to be extremely gentle at all times. It's why I started working with glass, so I would be forced to be careful or else ruin my own artwork."
Well, wasn't that interesting? "So why did you quit the team? Seems to me you've got a pretty good handle on it."
"Several reasons, but mostly because I was always holding back. I don't want to hurt anyone for any reason. I'm so used to holding back that I have a hard time letting the control I have go. I felt useless to the team, so I left."
"Well bub, don't worry about it. I'm totally unbreakable. And I'll need you at full strength to test this thing right, got it?"
He backed off a little, hands out in front of him. "Look, I think you need to wait for Colossus then. I can't let go, I don't want to hurt you."
"I already told you, it ain't gonna happen. I have adamantium all over my skeleton. I heal from anything. You couldn't hurt me permanently if you tried."
Just then, Buzz's voice came through the speakers. "Ok guys, here's the scenario. Sam, your physical enemy is Logan. This is based on him getting recaptured and brainwashed again. Your other challenge is…well, you'll see. Program starts in fifteen seconds."
I gave him an ironic grin. "Too late now."
"Just remember, I warned you."
"Tell you what. Loser buys the beer later, agreed?"
He didn't get a chance to answer before the polished steel walls morphed into the lobby of a bustling high rise. I immediately took off to the nearest stairwell, knowing that this would be programmed to have the explosives ready for me to set up to blow the foundation out of the building, collapsing the structure and trapping hundreds of civilians. If the program was functioning the way it was supposed to, Sam would effectively be about fifteen city blocks from my current position, no matter where he'd been physically at the beginning of the program. He would have also discovered by now that he was backed up by virtual X-Men, namely Iceman, Storm and Nightcrawler. This gave me about three minutes to set the charges and get the hell out of there before the place blew. I made it with half a minute to spare, plenty of time.
I ran outside the building to an alley across the street and waited for it to blow. The "X-Men" showed up just as it went up and it was only because of quick thinking on the part of "Iceman" that they weren't hit by any flying debris. Once the dust settled, they waded in to start digging people out and that was my cue. I popped my claws and ran across the street with a snarl.
Sam was busily shoving debris aside with "Nightcrawler" by his side, waiting to bamf in and get people to safety, with "Storm" and "Iceman" to back them up. I engaged "Iceman" first, who was programmed to react as much like the real Iceman that Buzz could manage. I'll be the first one to admit it was pretty spot on. He immediately tried freezing me in place, but I slashed through the ice with my claws and kept coming, forcing him to engage hand-to-hand. In the meantime, "Storm" was using her power to toss lightning at my feet, forcing me to dodge while keeping "Iceman" in melee range. I sensed a bolt a split second before it struck me and dodged. At the same moment, "Iceman" lunged forward for an attack and was struck by friendly fire. One down, three to go.
I concentrated on "Storm" next, who was hovering a few feet over my head and continuing with the lightning strikes, as well as calling up a heavy wind to blow dust and smaller debris in my face. I finally chucked a hunk of concrete at her, breaking her concentration long enough to bring her to the ground. I fought against the wind she was still kicking up, eventually getting close enough to hit her. This broke her concentration completely and the wind died down. She threw a few kicks and punches, which I easily blocked before shoving my right hand claws into her gut. No matter how many times I've killed the virtual X-Men, it was still a terrible thing to see. It's what happened next that I hadn't counted on.
I'd gotten used to the real X-Men being in these scenarios, people I considered friends who still had trouble attacking me when one of their own went down. I had somehow forgotten the variable known as Sam in all of this, even though the whole point of getting him here was to fight him in the first place. So I shouldn't have been surprised when a chunk of concrete roughly the size of a Humvee came flying at my head, but I was. I barely managed to dodge it when I saw the hulking form of Sam bearing down on me.
I retracted my claws right away, since I knew he was the only other real person in here and I didn't want to permanently injure him. He had a look of pure rage on his face, his fists clenched so hard the knuckles were white. As soon as he was in range, I threw a punch at him but he blocked it easily by sweeping me aside and sending me flying through the wall of the building across the street. I stood up, shaking my head and calming myself; I could not let the animal out right now, no matter how much it wanted to be released. I stalked to the hole I left in the wall, popping out with a growl but I was forced to dodge again as a Buick came flying towards me. I rolled out of the way and came up on my feet, once again pushing the animal down. I lowered my head and barreled straight for him intending to tackle him to the street and pummel him about the head. The reality was a bit different, as he grabbed me by the arm and spun me around, tossing me to the pile of rubble behind him. I landed pretty hard, but I managed to scramble to my feet and turned to face him. I was about twelve feet above him and decided an aerial attack might be my best bet. I let out a primal scream and dove for his face, hoping to catch him around the neck and bring him down. He surprised me yet again by grabbing me by the side of my head and slamming me down into the street hard enough to leave a crater and make me see stars. I barked out "End scenario!" and the scene froze before morphing back to the normal plain steel.
I stood up and walked over to Sam who was shaking his head as though to clear it and backing up. I grinned. "Good fight man. Thanks."
His head snapped up and I saw fear in his eye. "Logan! Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"
"Nah, I've had worse." I replied, still grinning. "It's a shame you're not on the team, that was some quality work there. No one else can beat me in here."
"I don't understand, why were you the enemy in that program?"
"Me and Angela, we're assassin trained. They wanted us to come up with worst-case scenarios for them and the worst we could think of was them havin' to face us. They ain't beat us yet." I clapped him on the back. "Congratulations, friend. You did the impossible."
His posture relaxed and he managed a weak smile. "Uh, thanks I suppose." He replied, looking at his hands then back up at me. "You sure you're all right."
"Yeah I'm fine. Looks like I'm buyin' the beers eh?"
He smiled again and we went to the locker room to put our uniforms away. As I was leaving, I caught him looking at me with a strange expression on his face, part confusion and part admiration. I just gave him a wave and went in search of my woman. I found her sitting in the lounge with Storm and Rogue, the three of them giggling over something. I cringed a bit, not really wanting to get caught up in anything really girly, so I tried to sneak out to the patio but I was too slow.
"Logan!" Rogue called. I carefully schooled my expression and turned around. "Come here, we've got a mystery. Maybe you can help."
"Sorry kid, I can't tell you anythin' about the inner mind of the male mutant or I'll lose my guy tags." I said as I walked over. "You'll just have to figure it out yourself like everyone else."
"Be nice, lover." Angela replied, standing up to give me a quick kiss. I lowered myself into an armchair and she perched on my lap. "We think Storm here has a secret admirer."
"The hell you say." I said with a grin. "Like who?"
"I don't know!" Storm cried, throwing her hands in the air. "All I know is that I've had little gifts left outside my bedroom door the past three days. No notes, no cards, nothing to give me any idea who it could be."
"So? Who cares? Just go with it."
"It's just making me crazy trying to figure this out! I got roses the first day, a bottle of wine yesterday and this morning, I got this." She held out a CD. "It looks like every other Sting CD, except this one isn't supposed to be out for two more weeks AND it's signed. Who the hell could have managed that around here?"
I shrugged and gave her a blank look. "I have no idea. Someone with crap taste in music?" She slapped my arm lightly and I laughed. "Seriously, I haven't a clue." Actually, I did have a clue, I just didn't say anything.
"Well, I think it's romantic." Rogue said with a sigh. "No one's ever done anythin' like that for me." She looked at Storm, her eyes twinkling. "Hey, think you could talk about this real loud in front of Bobby? Think he'd take the hint?"
"Don't hold your breath, kid." I said. "His skull is almost as thick as mine."
"Not possible." Angela said with a giggle. "I haven't had a romantic gesture from you since right after Alkali Lake."
"Maybe so, but your idea of a romantic gift is a matched set of throwing knives."
"So? A girl has to have standards and throwing knives are shit if they're not matched." Everyone laughed at that as Angela kissed me again. We chatted for a little longer until the clocked chimed and it was time to go to dinner. Sam was quieter than normal, but that wasn't the most shocking thing I saw. What took my by surprise was Totem sitting in a corner with Chasca and Sofia, the first time I'd seen the guy out in public during any meal since we'd brought him back here. He'd mostly taken a tray in his room or eaten in the kitchen for some reason. I nudged Angela and pointed them out to her and she just smiled.
"You didn't hear? They've spent most of today together." She whispered. "In fact, today was the first day he wasn't lurking about trying to catch me without one of my shadows." She meant Storm and Rogue, who had appointed themselves as her "bodyguards" when I wasn't able to do so myself.
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, isn't that interestin'?"
"Logan, do you know something you're not telling me?"
I shrugged. "Lets just say I explained the difference between knowin' you love someone and bein' told you love someone to the guy."
"Huh. Interesting." She sat back and chewed on her thumbnail, deep in thought.
"Speakin' of which, how's that stuff goin' with Chuck, gettin' rid of those telepathic suggestions you have?"
"Pretty good. I can actually be in the same room with Totem now and I don't feel like throwing myself at him, then scratching his eyes out."
"I still ain't opposed to that second option."
She rolled her eyes at me and we finished our meal in silence. It had become habit for the adults to meet on the patio for brandy after dinner since Sam had showed up and he'd finally broken his funk by the time we got out there. I offered him a cigar, which he accepted and we stood around making small talk for about half an hour before Angela dragged me off in her trademark unsubtle fashion. I can't begin to explain how much I love that woman.
A few hours later I emerged from the shower and I was running my fingers through my hair in yet another useless attempt to tame it when I felt something odd. I pressed my fingers into the side of my head, pushing my hair aside and looking into the mirror. The more I prodded this one tiny spot, no bigger than my fingertip, the wider my eyes got. My guts twisted and I yelled for Angela.
She came at a run, claws out. "What's wrong?" She snapped, a note of panic in her voice.
"Come here." She put her claws away and I grabbed her hand, putting it to the spot I'd found on my head. "What is this? What do you feel?"
She prodded my skull, her eyes narrowed. She pushed me down on the side of the tub and shoved my head sideways, pulling the hair aside and prodding harder. "Logan, is that a dent? How the hell did you get a dent in your skull?"
"You don't remember it from before? Are you sure?"
"I know every inch of you, Logan and I swear to you, that's new. Now what the hell happened and who do I have to kill?"
I stood up, gritting my teeth. "That son of a bitch DENTED me!" I snarled, pulling on a pair of sweats. "He fuckin' dented ME!" I went to the bedroom door and yanked it open so hard it slammed into the wall. I stalked down the hall to Sam's door and pounded on it until he threw it open. I didn't give him a chance to speak, I just grabbed him by his shirt front, planted my feet on his legs and snarled. "God damn you! You DENTED me asshole!"
"What?" He asked, clearly bewildered.
"I said you dented me! How the fuck did you do that?"
Understanding came into his eyes and he took a deep breath. Grabbing me under my arms, he pried me off him and set me down gently on my feet. "Logan, when I was a student here I once got in a fight with another student over a girl. I hit him and it was only his mutation that saved him from being killed when he went through the wall. As it stands, he was comatose for four days and part of the northwest corner of the mansion came down on top of me. Lets just say that anger, adrenaline and my uncontrolled strength do not mix."
I took a step back, not sure I'd heard him correctly. "You're sayin' this was from the Danger Room?"
He nodded. "Probably when I slammed you into the street. I told you, I left the team for several reasons. My temper was another one, especially when it comes to my teammates. When people I care about get hurt, I just lose it. That's not something one can afford to do in a combat situation."
"Shit, I do it all the time and they keep me around."
"Logan, you're not going to change my mind. I'm sorry I damaged you."
"Ah, don't sweat it. It just threw me off." I grinned and went back to my room. As I was closing the door, it occurred to me that he hadn't lost his temper when I took out the virtual Iceman. In fact, he'd not even attempted to intervene even a little during that fight. It wasn't until I'd taken out the virtual Storm that he'd lost it.
Yep, I knew who her "secret admirer" was, all right.
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AN: Well, i'm sure i'll hear quite a few things about aspects of this chapter...but let me say this first...according to the novelization of the Weapon X story, the only thing harder than adamantium is diamond...yet if the perfect conditions are present, a diamond can be cut...after all, they don't come out of the ground all pretty and faceted like that...:) So take into consideration things like Sam's mutation plus adrenaline from losing his temper plus a bunch of physics i'm not going to get into, and yes even Logan's head can be dented...:)
Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their hard work and dedication...Extra Special thanks to Dee (MidLifeCrisis) and Rhia (RhiannonUK) for their assistance throughout my writing process...if you haven't read their stories, go now, don't wait another minute...Super Special thanks to the readers, who are the reason i keep doing this...and Super Special Swanky thanks to those who have reviewed...your ongoing support keeps me happy...:)