"I'm only human, I make mistakes
I'm only human that's all it takes
To put the blame on me
Don't put the blame on me

'Cause I'm no prophet or messiah
You should go looking somewhere higher."

(Human- Rag'n'Bone Man)

Hank didn't know what to do, he really didn't. The look on Logan's face when he'd seen the photo of the girl, of Maia, had been horrendous. The older mutant had looked ready to slit his own throat, and had stormed out before they could say anything else.

"He needs a minute." Charles said calmly.

"I think I need a minute." Hank gasped out, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, "What did we do? Ignoring this for so long, where did we think that was going to end up for us? Charles, he's got a kid out there, and we could have known about her years ago if we'd just told him…"

"He wasn't ready." Charles whispered softly, just a hint of regret on his face, "We can't blame ourselves, Hank. He might have lost his mind entirely if this information had been brought to his attention too early with what we knew. We interpreted the video incorrectly, and, had he not regained positive memories, he might have made the same error in judgment."

Hank was sure Charles was right, the Logan of a decade ago wouldn't have processed the news at all, he'd probably have killed them, but it didn't make Hank's roll in what had happened any less devastating. He'd agreed all those years ago to keep Maia's existence from Logan, but he'd gone a step further…he had stopped looking for information about her. He hadn't ever seen this day coming, and now he was woefully unprepared for the questions Logan and the others were asking.

Hank stared at the picture of the red headed girl, and wanted to apologize to her. Ten years, and he hadn't done a thing to find her or her daughter, a baby they'd assumed had died with her mother. She hadn't though, Logan had held her, had tried to escape with her and failed. Then Hank had failed to find her. He had nothing to go on, hadn't looked for her at all.

The police reports had been vague and had taken an obscene amount of time to decipher. Even on the original files he'd gotten the damned video off of, files he'd rescanned with his more modern computers, there was nothing but that video that made any mention of Maia. Someone had made her disappear, and they'd done a bang up job even he was envious of. Logan wouldn't appreciate that as an answer though.

Hank spent the next few hours digging through digitized files, and finally came to be the owner of the old address of one Maia Grace Kinney. Valleyview, Alberta wasn't that big, and he was able to look at property taxes to determine who still owned the property. Leslie Kinney. Maia's mother, who lived there alone, her husband having died in the late eighties. There was a phone number.

Charles interrupted his train of thought, "Hank, perhaps this is a conversation best had in person."

Hank nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a better idea." He sat silently for a minute, "How did we get this so wrong?"

Charles looked down at his hands, "I'm afraid I'm not sure, Hank. Perhaps I underestimated the humanity inside Logan at that time. I wasn't sure he was capable of love and affection, it was easy to assume he'd forced her. I was wrong." He looked up at Hank, his expression mournful, "Will you forgive me for making you keep this secret?"

"I agreed to keep it, it's not your fault that I did." It hadn't been a hard decision to make, and he hadn't wanted to think about he dead girl any more than he'd had to stumbling upon that video. "So, who's going to Canada?"

Charles sighed heavily, "Logan and myself, obviously. It's possible Jean would like to come, and Scott would want to come with her."

"They're practically attached at the hip." Hank laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't really work, but he did get a wry smile from Charles. "There's a strong emotional bond between those two. He's the only reason she escaped the clutches of Alkali Lake for a second time. That being so recent has made them leery of being apart."

Hank sighed, "Escaping from Stryker." He put his head on his desk, "There's no telling what hell that little girl has gone through." He sat up suddenly, "Charles, what if we drowned her?"

Charles went a shade paler than usual, "We can't think like that, Hank. We know Stryker had other hideouts. Also, I believe Logan would have been triggered by her presence."

"Kid isn't dead." Logan growled, and Hank almost pissed his pants. He hadn't even heard the man return.

"She isn't, Logan. I'm certain she must be very like you." Charles said magnanimously.

Logan growled something Hank was sure he didn't want to know, but followed it with, "You want us to go to Canada?" Charles nodded, and Logan growled again, "What the fuck can we learn there? We sunk Stryker's Alkali Base."

Charles gave him a vague answer, "Yes, but there's another reason to go to Canada, Logan."

"Leslie Kinney." Hank supplied, "Maia's mother."

Logan visibly recoiled, "Why would we go dredge up shit with that poor girl's mother?"

"Because she might give us some idea of why Stryker took Maia. She might know something that will help us find your daughter." Charles told him.

Logan shook his head, "No, there's no need for that. We don't need…"

"Logan, we're going to Canada." Charles said firmly.

"I am not going to be face to face with the mother of the girl I killed." Logan snapped.

Charles hardly looked phased, "You did not kill her, Logan, and her mother deserves someone to tell her the truth. She continually pressed police to look for Maia. I don't believe she ever bought the story they sold about her wandering into the forest with a fatal head injury."

Logan ground his teeth together, "This is shitty Charles, and you know it."

Charles leveled him with a dark stare, "Would you like the truth, Logan?"

"Of course!"

Charles nodded, "It is possible, Logan, that being near Maia's mother might trigger more memories."

Logan saw through him, and Hank wished he'd been anywhere else, "These memories hurt, Chuck. I don't see how more of them can help."

"You might know where your daughter is, Logan, and not remember. Isn't it worth trying?" Hank said, surmising what Charles was getting at.

Logan sighed, "Wheels, I sure as hell hope you're right. I'm not fucking up an old woman just because you want to mess around with my head some more. I won't do it."

Next chapter will give a boatload of answers you guys have been asking about. I'm excited! You guys rock!
-Jenn