Chapter 3: Leverage

While Kurt and K had been out, the guards had come again and left with Scott, though as always, they weren't exactly chatty and simply dragged him wordlessly out. The others who were left shouted the usual abuse at the guards, of course — ignoring the "don't react" rule Logan had tried to get them to listen to in favor of letting off steam.

But they hadn't really been expecting it when, after a long stretch of silence, what they heard wasn't screaming. Not really.

"Wait, no — stop!" The tone was one they just weren't used to hearing from Scott, and it was desperate in a way that instantly had Jean on her feet and terrified that their kids were in trouble.

Especially when a beat later, Scott let out a sound that Jean had never heard — but Logan and Ororo had. When Jean had died, that had been Scott's reaction too.

But it was silent for far too long before the guards came back — without Scott — and went to Logan's cell, flat out ignoring Jean as she demanded to know what they had done with her husband, fire barely restrained in her eyes because she didn't know where her children were and couldn't risk the Phoenix with them.

Logan was taking up the defensive right away, even before they guards had put the key into the adamantium-encased lock on his cell. "What the hell did you do?" he snarled out, his claws pricking at the backs of his hands, just itching to tear into them.

"That's not really your concern."

"Like hell it's not," Logan countered, though as soon as he put up the least bit of actual resistance, the guards took advantage of at least one of their tricks.

"Come along quietly or one of them dies. We really don't care which one … we can make it random. One of the kids … one of your missing friends … maybe you can guess which it'll be." The guard smirked. "We've had a lot of practice figuring out how to kill one of you healers, you know. Pretty sure we got a sure-fire method now."

For a moment, Logan couldn't really react like he'd wanted to. He had it plotted out in his head - the best way to take this little group out … wouldn't take any time at all, and he knew he could be fast enough …

"One more thing," the guard said. "If we don't show up in the next five minutes, someone is going to die."

Logan was more frustrated still at that,and knowing he had no way to get out of it without costing them someone, he grudgingly went along with them.

But when Logan got there, all he could focus on was the look on Scott's face where he was tied up and just… still. Looking at absolutely nothing. For a moment, Logan didn't move, staring at Scott and not really wanting to show his cards, if he even had any at that point. He just couldn't figure out what could have made Scott lose that much that fast.

"We need intel," the guard said to Logan.

"He doesn't know anything that I can't tell you," Logan said.

"He ran the team."

"And was open about it, too."

The guard narrowed his eyes and then simply shoved a list at Logan, all the things they wanted, from the code to get into the room where Cerebro was housed to the names and locations of students that hadn't been there when they made their play.

All were things Logan was more than willing to lie about. And unlike Scott, Logan knew he could at least sell it. "Charlie's the only ones with the codes," Logan said in an almost conversational tone. "Auto resets every few days. His list. He shares it if he needs to, and only then."

"Then there's no point in not destroying the rest of the school," the guard said.

Logan tossed the list on the table in front of him. "Nope."

"Fine. But the rest of it—" The guard gestured to the list.

"I know he's a little Type-A, but he sure as hell hasn't memorized where all the kids are," Logan said dryly. "That's just stupid."

"Ask anyway."

Logan did his best to bite back a growl. "You know where the kids are, Slim?" Logan asked, his irritation perfectly clear in his tone of voice. "I think this guy wants to pick up that one that couldn't control the poison he emitted … constantly. Or maybe that vampire kid would be a good fit." It was Logan's only attempt to pull Scott into the here and now, and even as he said it, he knew it wasn't going to really work.

When it was clear Scott couldn't talk, Logan turned to the guard. "I don't know what you learned about interrogation, but you can't interrogate someone that's this far out of it. Even if he knew, he sure as hell couldn't put it together right now. Whatever you did — you went too far."

"Wasn't me," the guard said.

"Whoever it was was an idiot," Logan said before he closed the distance to sit down across from Scott. "I can't do anything here."

"That's not what's in the orders," the guard said. "Look, you don't want to run it, fine. But-"

"You don't get it," Logan growled out. "I've done this kind of work for half my life. If there was a way to do it, I could, but once you've taken 'em this far — you can't do a damn thing."

"And I told you: it wasn't us."

"Bullshit."

"Not our fault the guy couldn't play the game," the guard insisted. "You know the rules."

At that, Logan got up again and made his way toward the guard with a growl starting up. "What the hell did you do?"

"Ran exactly this with Xavier," the guard said, though he took an unconscious step back. "He refused, so we killed the old man. That's how this works."

Logan blinked at him a few times. "You did what?"

"Told you - it wasn't us. That was his call."

"And you can't figure out why the hell he's unresponsive?" Logan almost bellowed. "Your whole damn group is a buncha chimps with screwdrivers!"

"You gonna run this or not?" the guard shouted back.

"There's nothing to run," Logan snarled out. "He can't answer anything like this! Don't you get that? Even with those two brain cells firing on high, you should be able to figure that much out."

"Maybe you both need a better incentive," came the response crackled on the radio, obviously from Graydon Creed in the next room over.

"It's not a matter of incentive," Logan defended, whirling in place to where the one-way glass was. "He can't access anything when he's been pushed that far. No one can. That's why they call it a shut down."

"I don't care," Graydon replied. "He's worthless to me if I can't use him." There was a short pause before a different voice joined Graydon with an enthusiastic, "Hi, Daddy! Hi, Scoot!"

It was the first thing that Scott had actually responded to, and he was almost holding his breath. "Logan."

Logan looked up at Scott, but was stuck right on the verge of either snarling and snapping entirely or just … freezing.

"Logan, it's fine," Scott said.

"No, it's not," Logan whispered back.

"It's James."

It was clear how angry Logan was with all of it. If he could see where behind the glass they were, he could make a break for it, clear the room, and get James out. But Graydon never changed the light in the room he was in, so they were still stuck. "List is in front of you," Logan said, his tone entirely constricted. With the hand that was away from the one way glass, Logan was tapping out Morse code: war zones.

Scott nodded and closed his eyes. It was obvious he was trying to think, and he very slowly started to tell the guards a list of coordinates he knew would put them at least in the path of the Avengers or the Brotherhood. "That's it," he said, more to Graydon than Logan. "Let James go."

There was a beat of silence before they knew James was leaving — if only for the yelling from the little boy as he demanded his dad or his Scooter over and over.

Both Logan and Scott had the wind out of their sails. So it was deadly quiet as Graydon added, "One more thing."

Logan closed his eyes, just waiting for the shoe to drop and guessing at least that James was the leverage.

"Before you go, take his eyes," Graydon said as casually as if he had been leaving a lunch order.

"Why?" Logan asked, sounding every bit as angry as one would expect, though Scott had almost the opposite reaction, looking at the floor and bracing himself.

"Simple," Graydon said. "Make an example. Use your powers for me or you will lose them or your lives. No exceptions."

"Yeah? This your way of not givin' him a choice in it?" Logan challenged.

"This isn't a request, Weapon X. It's an order."

"And if I refuse?" Logan asked with a definite growl.

"Then little James never makes it to his nursemaid alive."

It was clear there was no decision to be made, but Logan had a hell of a time not attacking the guards that were at the edge of the room, and he still was searching for some way out of it.

"It's fine," Scott said at last, just barely at a whisper.

"Stop saying that," Logan replied just as low.

"Hey. We both know what's going to happen here. Better you than them," Scott said. He let out a breath. "It's fine. It's James. No choice in it."

Logan's hands were shaking from how tight his fists were clenched, and he curled up his lip slightly as he drew a quick breath — an instant before he lashed out. Careful, quick, and as efficiently as he knew how. It even took a moment for Scott to register what had happened.

And then, as Scott did his best impression of alright, biting nearly through his lip as he refused to give Graydon Creed the satisfaction of more screams to torture the others who would hear it, one of the guards handed Logan the supplies to clean up. "Take him back with you," the guy said. "You're done today."

Logan didn't say a word until he'd managed to get a little better control over himself, and then he quietly warned Scott of what he was doing as he started cleaning up the mess - and after a moment, whisper-quiet apologizing over and over. He knew he couldn't fix this, but he did cut through the collar on Scott to wrench it off — it wasn't necessary anyway — and to cut through the ropes holding him bound.

"Stop. It's fine," Scott said through his teeth.

"It's not," Logan replied.

"Sure as hell isn't your fault either," Scott shot back.

"Could've done something different," Logan muttered, though he had moved on from clean up to dressing the wounds. There was a pause before he had to clear his conscience. "I beat up Bobby. It was me."

"Same setup?"

"No," Logan admitted. "They had him under heat. He was gonna fry him or kick him to death."

"Then you saved him," Scott said. He paused. "I couldn't… the professor…" It was obvious he was struggling to put words to what had happened. "I couldn't."

"I'm sorry for that, too," Logan said in a low rumble.

"It was me."

"Just like Bobby and this was me."

Scott shook his head. "You saved him from dying. And James." He let out a long breath. "This was me. All of it."

"I just can't buy that, Scott."

"You weren't there," Scott said. "I know what happened. It's my fault."

"So tell me what happened when we're away from the guards," Logan said quietly, entirely sure that he'd need to tell Jean and Kurt, which was all he thought he'd be able to do for Scott before Logan himself would simply draw back more from them if he could. "You don't need to say it twice."

"Same setup," Scott said in an almost dull tone. "But I wouldn't — I couldn't hurt him. I couldn't do it, and they killed him instead." By that point, Scott was almost shaking trying to hold in his pain and grief. "You're here because they know I can't do it. So I'm useless to them except to hurt the rest of — God, I'm sorry, Logan."

"I'm here because they already know all they need to do is remind me of what I'm supposed to be," Logan said dully. "Just had to get the right choke chain. That's all." He finished wrapping Scott up and handed him the rest of the bandages.

"I'm sorry," Scott said again as Logan helped him upright.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Slim," Logan said. "Outside of trusting me, that is. That … Just … keep your hand on my shoulder, and I'll get you to Jeannie."

"Alright." It was clear Scott was barely holding himself together, but neither man was able to say more than that. Not when they both felt like they were at fault.

The guards flanked them all the way there, and when they got to the cells, Logan honestly couldn't look either Jean or Ororo in the eyes — Kurt wasn't there, but their captors had apparently decided to let Ororo breathe outside of the small box or risk causing a shutdown like they'd down with Scott — as he helped Scott get to Jean's cell before the guard took a hold of Logan's arm and pulled him back.

"What happened?" Jean breathed out, staring at Scott openly as she guided him to sit down. The guards weren't stopping Jean and Scott from sharing a cell, but anyone could see it was because they wanted Jean to see what they were willing to do — and because Scott wasn't a threat anymore.

"They didn't give me a choice," Logan said quietly before the guard opened his cell and waited for him to step in. The moment he did, Logan made his way directly to the furthest corner and did his best to curl up into a ball there. "Sorry, Jeannie."

"It was me or James," Scott said in a breath, not about to let Logan take the blame.

Jean stared at him, both hands on either side of his face. "They… no." She shook her head slowly. "They can't — they won't get away with this." But it was clear she didn't have it in her to do anything more than watch over Scott at the moment, especially when both he and Logan seemed so… spent. She was too worried to risk leaving either of them.

The whole cell block was locked in a sort of stunned silence for a long time after Logan and Scott's return, with Logan doing his best to keep to the far side of his cell and Jean quietly running her hands in Scott's hair. No one knew what to say, so the spell of silence only broke when the door opened and the guards brought K and Kurt in as well.

Kurt was obviously furious, his tail in constant motion and his teeth bared, which had the guards giving him a wide berth. But K was simply unresponsive. She was awake, but she wasn't reacting to anything — and apparently, this was the norm, since the two guards that brought her there didn't seem to think that the little feral was any kind of a threat to them like that, even when they unceremoniously shoved her in the cell across from Logan by herself before they left.

"Where have you been?" Ororo asked, looking both relieved and concerned as she watched Kurt pace his cell.

"They've had her working for them," Kurt said. "And when they're done making her do unspeakable things, they've been torturing her non-stop." He ran both hands through his hair. "She can't think properly to form a plan that won't get all of us killed."

"What are you talking about?" Jean asked, finally looking over to watch Kurt as she did her level best to keep Scott's head on her shoulder.

Kurt let out a sigh of frustration. "They put a device on me for the mission they made us run. I was to ensure that K got to Westchester and back out again after killing most of the Brotherhood."

"How does that get all of us killed?" Ororo asked.

Kurt let his shoulders drop as he turned toward her. "She killed Pietro first."

"Magneto is going to crush this entire compound," Scott said, sounding almost resigned. After everything else, it was just… one more misery to pile on.

"We have to find a way to alert him — at least to get the kids out of the way of his attack," Jean said in a breath.

"K … may have done something like that," Kurt said slowly and very quietly. "I didn't see what she wrote, but she had Pietro's phone."

Jean nodded as Ororo said, "Then it's only a matter of time."

"Yeah. We know better than anyone what he's capable of on the warpath," Jean said, trying hard to find a grain of optimism when the rest of the group was obviously spent.

"Let's just see what happens when he arrives," Kurt said tiredly. He leaned back and then frowned at Scott. "What…"

"They want me to take them apart," Jean bit out, her hand on Scott's knee and the other in his hair as he leaned against her.

"Then he's using all of us," Kurt said softly, tipping his head back as he looked toward Ororo. "I can only hope he wishes you to use some lighting. A lot of it."

"If that is the case, I will oblige," Ororo said. "With pleasure."

"What … has happened while I was gone?" Kurt asked, watching Scott and Jean.

"Creed doesn't know when to stop," Scott said, though Kurt was concerned by the fact that his tone was worn and had none of the usual bite to it.

"Yes, but what happened, Scott? I'm sure you are fine, but to what degree?"

"It's fine, Kurt," Scott said. "I'm fine. I'm not—" He cut himself off and then let his voice drop. "The professor — I — he's—"

"We'll find him," Kurt promised.

"No, Kurt," Scott said softly. "No we won't."

"Scott, you can't give up hope, not now," Kurt replied almost sternly.

"There's nothing to hold onto, Kurt," Scott shot back. "He's — he's dead." It was obvious the admission cost him, and he had nothing to give when it was done, leaning against Jean almost limply while she tried to reassure him with her presence alone.

Kurt looked as if Scott had thrown water in his face. "Then … we have to focus on the little ones," he decided finally.

"That's all that matters," Scott breathed out. "He's been using them as leverage, but he knows that can't last."

"Yes, I've seen the leverage," Kurt said in a more serious tone.

"I've only heard James — are they okay?" Scott asked, a bit more openly.

"No, they most certainly are not," Kurt replied. "Bobby and Kitty are watching over them, but the devices they are using …" He let out a growl of frustration before he explained how they worked — and how little Rachel was wearing one.

"That has to go before we can get them out," Jean said. "If you can tell me where they are, if I let out a little fire…"

"I can tell you where they are, but I don't know where the men holding their fingers over the buttons are. They took my bracelet off before putting me in here again," Kurt said. "Probably to protect their assets. The one on Rachel was to keep K in line, by the way."

Ororo narrowed her eyes and looked toward K, who was the mirror image of Logan curled up in her cell. "As soon as that comes off, we destroy them," she said.

"Does Rachel know what it is?" Jean asked, not even bothering to hide her concern.

"I don't know," Kurt said. "I wasn't allowed to speak to them."

"At least they have someone they know with them," Jean said, though her eyes were flashing the more she thought about it.

"Then for now, we wait," Ororo said in a breath.