It never occurred to Logan, or anybody else for that matter, that Shortie had never left the facility since she had joined. She never wandered to the doors, looked out the windows for long, or even asked to go outside. So Logan's paternal state of panic was well justified when he woke up to an empty bedroom and couldn't find her all over the mansion. His first worry was that she had found her way to the Danger Room and could get seriously hurt. He then wondered if any of those bastard students were messing with her or scaring her. He had to be collected (a trait that goes through the window when he's distressed) and go to Xavier for this. He was embarrassed as a new father since he had to admit to his superior that he had lost his own child under his watch. He sighed and entered his office.
"She's gone." Xavier looked at the wolf man with bewilderment. He could voice his disappointment and severity of the situation to him, but that would be the last thing he needed to hear as her dad. Against his initial commentary thoughts, he had sighed and started the trek to Cerebra. The whole walk down there was uncomfortable for them and anybody who was near. For Logan they were not moving fast enough, his hands shook with anticipation to get there already. He knew that she could heal, but he also knew that the ability wasn't as efficient as his, and he also had the burden of knowing those powers could wane at any moment. The journey of a million miles finally ended and Charles was hooked up to the machine. He swam through the thoughts of the many mutants of the world, looking for a specific voice. He had searched and searched, but to their horror, she was not to be found. The only explanation that Xavier could give was that she must've had some psychic power. Logan was not happy with this and fled the room to their bedroom. He grabbed a dress she frequented and sniffed it. He took it with him as he went outside. He got a faint scent of her; she wasn't too far. But he could tell that she was far out enough to be into the city.
Everything that could be against him transportation wise, was. The X Jet was in need of gruesome repairs, Scott's bike wasn't there, nor was any other car, seeing as the students don't leave their home that often. All of the students have never seen Logan, or anybody, run that fast; the only person that could outdo that speed would be Quicksilver.
He was starting to breath heavier, but this just felt like an intense cardio session. The exercise was admittedly making it easier for him to clear his mind and think rationally. The search began...
She woke up much earlier than usual; five thirty was extremely early to her ten. She shook Logan a few times but he was stone cold asleep. She gave up the battle and jumped off the bed, going into the hallway, taking some food in a bag from the kitchen, then to the back yard. She was able to witness a sunrise over the mountainous trees in awe. The one thing she appreciated her whole life was witnessing numerous sunrises. To her, they were a hope of a new day; that she woke up and was alive. She stretched and started wandering. She made her way to the front and decided to follow the road; it was the road she followed when she found her new home. She remembered the harsh but gilded city of which she originated. She hadn't realized how long she had be walking until she looked up to the sky with the sun getting closer to the center. She also realized that she was only a few blocks away from the heart of the city. She ventured until she found a familiar park that she used to call home.
Everything was the same; a single swing set with ten slots but five seats, the paint long washed away. Water fountains were plentiful with half filtered city water. Benches were dispersed. The jungle was still broken but with a single stable tube ten feet above the ground. She crawled into that crevice with a bitter nostalgia. She'd never want to live here again but she never had the chance to say goodbye to it. Many cold and rainy nights were hers to whether as she sought shelter in the play area. She crawled out and decided to take a stroll. She looked like one of those asses that never bothered to change out of their pajamas despite going out into public. She couldn't exactly blame them, though, they were comfortable. She saw the birds play in the trees and admired the extraordinarily beautiful flowers along the bushes and sidewalk. It has been said that people would throw their own seeds or plant flowers about in the park to create a unity of something beautiful. She had always picked the flowers and used them to decorate her "house". She felt that this time she should leave them be. But she still went inside the bushes. She laughed as she danced with a couple butterflies who were hiding. She didn't pay attention and stumbled backwards, falling on her ass. She found that the object that made her fall was an old, rusty helmet. They weren't like the helmets she was the bikers wear in the park, it covered most of a face and was really hard. Her curiosity spiked and she put it on. She was surprised that it wasn't as heavy as she thought.
She exited the bushes and continued walking. Now she was a spectacle. She heard people pass rude comments about her. She looked up to see a young lady with long brown hair holding a card that read "rehab". She didn't know what that meant, but her face indicated that it was bad. She continued walking, and though it seemed like nobody else had noticed, she saw many more cards like "abortion", "capitalism", "drug addiction", "poverty". What confused her even more was that all of them looked so miserable.
She started feeling hunger and pulled out an orange. She was about to sink her teeth in the unpeeled fruit, but above the surface of the orange she saw a man laying on the bench. His clothes were battered, dirty and town. She felt guilty for nearly feeding a small hunger pang. She had more food in her bag, and a lot at the mansion, so she walked up to the man. She shook him awake; he jerked back in initial fear until he saw it was a little girl extending to him an orange and a bottle of water. He was apprehensive, but after she flashed a smile he gratefully took it. He didn't bother to peel the fruit and devoured it. It was gone in a minute. He gulped his water down too; he hadn't had fresh water in years. He looked into her innocent eyes and began to weep as he thanked her for her cordial act. She said it was no problem and went on her way. There were more people who seemed hungry, so she figured she could skip a meal and feed them.
Horribly guilty was what he was feeling. It was his job to monitor her and make sure she wasn't wandering off where she wasn't supposed to be. He scanned the road and other places, wishing that she'd giggle and jump out from behind with a bush and say "boo!" and admit it was all a game. He was furious. He was furious with himself. He had always feared he wouldn't be a good parent ever since she came into his life and now this just proved it. He almost started crying but his strength had pulled through once again to shelter his feelings. He was adept at that. Soon he had found the park and her scent intensified. The whole time, Logan had been panicking for nearly an hour until he smelled her and saw her. Her scent gave him the drive to run to her, knocking over a few people in the process. She turned around to the sound of a few yells and saw him running towards her. She quickly threw her bag to the family of three she saw; two young lovers and a baby. She was suddenly swooped up into his strong arms so fast that her helmet flew off. Her face met with Logan's. She could see the distress and panic written all over.
"Don't you EVER do that to me again! Do you hear me?!" He wasn't yelling at her in anger, he just didn't know how to tell her how badly he was scared. He had never been that afraid of anything in his adult life. She buried her fave in his neck. He peered over her and noticed a grateful homeless family with her bag full of food. "What were you doing out here, anyways?"
"I just wanted to see my old house over there." She pointed to the trail that led to the jungle gym he had passed by. He punished himself everyday for subjecting her to a homeless childhood, and this was just another stab in his chest. They (he) started their walk home. "Did you give them your bag?" She nodded.
"I was hungry but a lot of people looked hungrier so I gave them the food from the kitchen." Even though this whole ordeal made him age twenty years in stress he couldn't help but be immensely proud of what she had done for complete strangers. People still had the gall to say that mutants were evil. Maybe in this rotten world, love and purity can exist. There were many elements of her past he did not know (which haunted him), but he knew that she could still be pure. Maybe she had seen things, but since she was young, there was a chance she would forget. He could only hope. He then had an epiphany to why they couldn't find her on Cerebra: she must have found an old helmet of Magneto's lost in a battle, which would explain both her helmet and the fact that the style of his helmet inexplicably changed. The walk home had been a quiet one, but didn't last too long since it was only about three miles. For her, it was a hundred, but for Logan it had originally been a million.
He was sure that she wouldn't be punished, if anything rewarded by Xavier for her selfless deed. Maybe she was the force that would end up saving us in the end. He hugged her tightly in a rare display of affection. He happily hugged him back and told him she loved him. He was silent but the feeling was beginning to become mutual.