"My psychology belongs to everyone."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 7: Division 56
She was pretty. There was no doubting that. But could he trust her? Logan had to admit, there was most definitely a level of doubt in that.
He watched her intently, studying her expression, movements and memorizing her scent. She was serious, but always polite. Her smile was wide and brilliant, but not to an excessive degree. The way her fingers twitched every so lightly and her eyes jumped around the tiny room that they both sat in was a distinct indication that she was nervous, probably because he was watching her so carefully.
"I'm sorry," She snapped, her eyes turning to him, fierce with annoyance. "Do you need something?"
Logan kept himself from smirking. "No," He said calmly, his eyes still fixed on her face. "I'm fine. Thanks for askin', though."
She shook her head in annoyance and then rested it in her palm.
At that moment, the door to the small, white-washed room opened and storm entered, Lenore following closely behind her.
"Hello," The pretty woman said as she stood from the table to shake Lenore's hand. "My name is Mrs. Barrington, but you may call me Samantha."
Lenore shook Samantha's hand reluctantly, looking up at her smiling face nervously. "My name is Lenore." She paused. "You can call me Lenore." She said, her eyes darting around the room to Logan's face, who couldn't help but smirk at her subtle jab at this Samantha broad.
"Lenore, why don't you take a seat?" Storm suggested, and Lenore sat down across from Samantha at the table - the only furniture in the room. "Mrs. Barrington is just going to ask a few questions, okay?" She said, and Lenore nodded.
"Logan." Storm commanded in a much harsher voice, gesturing to the door.
Reluctantly, he moved from his leaning position against the wall and followed Storm out of the room, whom shut the door behind them. Lenore waved to him as she left. He wished he could stay to witness Samantha's little interrogation with Lenore, but he knew Storm would just get pissed at him later if he tried to eavesdrop. Apparently, it was supposed to be a 'private' session.
"Are you sure we can trust her?" He asked once he and Storm were out in the hallway. There was no one around to hear their conversation, luckily.
Storm rolled her eyes. "She has a son that goes here. You might know him - Jake Barrington?"
Logan growled. "Oh, yeah. I know him - Jake the Snake."
"Jake the what?"
"Jake the Snake." He repeated. "That's his nickname. He's sneaky, conniving... like a snake."
Disbelievingly, Storm raised an eyebrow.
Logan continued anyway. "Y'know, just last week I caught him and his three little minions trying to-"
"Logan," She sharply cut him off. "That's insignificant. What's your point?"
"Like they say - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Storm rolled her eyes before turning away and disappearing around the corner, cutting off their conversation for the umpteenth time.
[xxxxx]
Under the table, Lenore played with her hands nervously, avoiding any eye contact with the woman that sat across the table from her.
"So, Lenore, how has your day been so far?" Samantha asked in a polite, soft voice.
She looked up for a brief moment to answer the question. "It's been fine. Normal." She paused. "How are you?"
Samantha smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Her voice was again overly polite.
It grew quiet and Lenore began to play with her hands again. She bit her lip, not knowing what to say, or if she should have even said anything at all.
"Do you like it here at the institute?" Samantha asked quietly.
Lenore looked up and nodded. "Yeah. A lot."
"What's your favorite part?"
She smiled. "I like going to the library. It's quiet there and it smells really good."
Samantha smirked. "What does it smell like?"
She shrugged and looked away for a moment - out the lonely window to her right. "I don't know. It kind of smells like Christmas."
She furrowed her brow. "Like Christmas?"
Lenore nodded. "Mhm." She confirmed. "You know the way the tree smells? Then the kitchen always smells like cookies and gingerbread men. And everybody's always happy." She smiled and shrugged. "It smells like Christmas."
"Oh, I see..." Samantha nodded, but Lenore could tell that she didn't understand. "Tell me, Lenore, do you like Christmas?"
She continued to smile. "It's my favorite holiday. How can you not like Christmas? It's so much fun!"
"Yes, yes it is. What do you and your family usually do on Christmas, Lenore?"
"Mom usually makes chocolate pancakes for everybody after we open our presents. Then we go to my aunt's house for a party. All of our family is there and it's always really fun."
Samantha wrote something down in the notebook that sat in front of her. Lenore tried to peak and see what she was writing, but she stopped and covered up the notebook before she got a chance to. "Does your sister go with you?"
Lenore shook her head, not understanding. "What?" She asked.
"Your sister," Samantha repeated. "Does she go with your family to breakfast and to the party? You... do have a sister, correct?"
"Oh," She said, understanding now. "Yes. She does, but she doesn't like to. Adrian always complains in the car."
Samantha chuckled lightly. "Yes. Siblings tend to do that."
"Do you have a sister?" Lenore asked, turning the interrogation around.
"No, but I have a younger brother. I'm two years older than him."
"What's his name?"
She paused for a moment, looking reluctant. "His name is Jacob."
Lenore smiled. "I used to have a dog named Jacob."
There was yet another odd, awkward silence as Samantha made a few notes in her notebook, and Lenore began to play with her hands again.
Abruptly, Samantha stood and gathered her things - a notebook, a few pens and a thick, squarish book "I have to go now, Lenore, but Storm will be back in a little while. It was nice talking to you."
She shook Lenore's hand, then quietly left, leaving Lenore all alone in the tiny white-washed room.
[xxxxx]
It wasn't much, everything she had gotten, but it was enough. She couldn't make a detailed psychoanalysis with it, but she could tell some things.
Samantha stepped out into the hallway with her things in hand, and looked around. She caught sight of the scruffy-looking man hanging around down the hallway - the one who had refrained from giving her his name. Ms. Munroe was nowhere in sight.
"I'm finished." She said as she approached the scruffy man. His head turned, and she could see that he held a cigar in between his lips. "Are you smoking? In a school?" She asked disbelievingly, eyeing the cigar.
Scruffy hid the cigar behind his back. "No." He answered simply.
Samantha shook her head and ignored the cigar. "Have you seen Ms. Munroe? I have to give her my report."
"Report?" He raised an eyebrow skilfully and put a watchful eye on her. "What report?" He asked.
Quickly, she hid the notebook behind her back. "If you don't know already, then I'm not sure if I should tell you."
He stepped toward her, and she took a step away from him. "What's behind your back?" He asked, seeing that she was holding something behind her.
"Logan!"
They both spun around to face Ororo, who was walking towards them in an angry and rushed manner.
Logan... that must be his name. Yes, that's what Ms. Munroe called him back in the conference room. Logan's an Irish name. Samantha snuck a glance at him. He doesn't look Irish.
"Take Mrs. Barrington to my office." Ororo told Logan once she had reached them. "I'm going to take Lenore back to her room. I'll meet you there." She pushed past Samantha and Logan, and they both watched as she retrieved Lenore from the tiny conference room and sped off in the other direction.
"This way." Logan said in a monotone voice. He gestured for Samantha to follow him before leisurely waltzing down the hall. She followed closely behind.
"So," He said once they were a ways down the hall. "What is this report-thing that you were talking about before?"
"I told you," Samantha said, annoyance overtaking her voice. "If you don't already know why I'm here, then I shouldn't tell you."
They reached the stairs, which Logan descended quickly, Samantha trying to keep up. When they reached the lower level, she walked at his side rather than behind him.
"So the report has to do with why you're here?"
Samantha bit her lip. "Of course." She said coolly.
Logan smirked as they stopped in front of a thick wooden door. He opened it up to reveal a lavish office that she guessed to be Ororo's. They stepped inside, and Samantha took a seat in one of the two chairs across from Ororo's desk while Logan chose to stand.
They sat there for a few minutes in silence, until the door opened and Ororo stepped inside. She quickly took a seat at her desk. "Dr. Barrington," She said with a smile. "How was your session with Lenore?"
"It went very well."
"Do you have anything that we could use?" She asked, her smile disappearing.
Samantha shrugged. "Lenore is young, but she knows not to share information with strangers. It's hard to tell if she's suffered any permanent psychological damage from her encounter with Control, but her condition doesn't seem to be irreversible. We'd just need a trusted and skilled telepath to perform the sprout. I can't be sure of anything, though. I would have to establish a stable relationship with her before being able to confirm much else. Either that, or..." Her eyes turned to Logan. "We have someone she already trusts perform the interrogation."
Storm also looked to Logan. "Well?" She asked.
Finally getting a clue, he raised an eyebrow in question. "Me?" He asked disbelievingly. "No, no... I'm just the babysitter. If you wanna interview the lil' bit, I suggest you go to ol' Angel-wing. He's seemed to win her affections."
"For God's sake, Logan... can't you just suck it up and take one for the team?" Storm asked in an annoyed voice.
He scoffed "Take one for the team? Do you know how many ones I have taken for the team? I've taken more beatings tha-"
Before he could finish, Samantha interrupted. "It's okay, Storm. If Logan doesn't want to do it, he doesn't have to." She nodded. "I'm willing to help in any way I can. A few more sessions with Lenore and we should be getting somewhere."
This time Logan interrupted. "You think that a few more days in the therapy chair's gonna knock Control's gang on their asses? Even if we reverse this little problem Lenore has, what's stopping them from coming back and slurping up her memories again? We need action, not hugs and friend-making. I say we figure out what Control was up to and try to stop her team from finishing the rest of the job."
"And what do you suggest?" Samantha snapped back. "We torture the telepath into spilling the beans?" She suggested and crossed her arms.
Logan shrugged. "I've never tried Chinese water torture before." He said with a smirk.
Samantha scoffed and turned away from him. "Ororo, please tell Lenore that our sessions have ended for the day. I'll be returning in a few hours with my luggage." She stood and turned before giving a condescending look to Logan whilst brushing out of the room.
"I'll have a room ready for you when you come back." Storm called as she left. She stood and sighed toward Logan. "I know you're concerned with Control's plans, but I'm more concerned with Lenore. She's twenty-seven years old with the mind of a child. How will she ever live her life normally?"
"We're mutants, 'Ro." He replied. "We're not supposed to live normally, if there is such a thing."
"Logan," Storm sighed and sat back down in her chair. "Get out."
With a huff, he left the office and shut the door behind him. "Women..." He growled to himself as he raised his eyebrows and headed down the hall.
Thanks again to martshi3, my awesome Beta!
Don't think it was mentioned in the chapter, but Sam's a psychologist, hence the name of this chapter. And if you don't get the title chapter, it's the 56th division of APA. And since I'm going to start listing the authors of these quotes, the quote is by Alfred Adler.
Please! If you're reading this, please review! It doesn't even have to be anything deep! Just "Hey, somebody's actually reading you're piece of crap!" Please? God, I am too desperate...