A/N. I saw The Dark Knight Rises on Wednesday. I have one question for those of you who saw it: Robin or Nightwing. For those of you who didn't see it, I also have a question: Why?

Enough about Batman though. I'm pleased to have the next chapter up in a fair amount of time! That's three in a row, right? I hope that they're all good and that I can finish this story before September. No reason, I just want to have a realistic goal to work towards. Anyway, I won't bore you anymore. Read on!

"Kendall?"

It's strange how one week of Logan keeping to himself has made Kendall so unaccustomed to the sound of his voice. Kendall looks up to see Logan standing in the doorway of his bedroom, a shoebox in his hands. "Hey," he says softly.

"Hi," Logan almost smiles, but he's too nervous for that. He shifts his weight uneasily from one foot to the other and gestures to the inside of Kendall's room. "Can I come in?"

Why is he asking? Kendall struggles to keep a smile on his face as he nods. "Of course," he says, trying not to sound too enthusiastic and scare Logan away.

"Thanks," Logan walks in slowly, eyes scanning the room. "I was wondering if you could maybe help me with something?"

Kendall moves to the edge of the bed and pats the edge of his mattress. "Sit down," he tells Logan. "I'd love to help you if I can."

The box is placed down in the space Kendall indicated and then Logan sits several inches away, maintaining the distance he is comfortable with. "I found these in my closet last week," he says, lifting the lid off and setting it aside. "I've been trying to figure things out myself, but. . ."

Kendall starts to reach inside the box, then stops and looks at Logan for permission. When Logan nods, Kendall takes out a small pile of pictures.

He surprises both of them by laughing. "Oh wow," he says, shaking his head in amazement. "I didn't know you had all of these."

Logan leans a little closer to get a better look. "Are they all from science fairs?"

"And award ceremonies at school and spelling bees," Kendall tells him. "You don't have a strength or a weakness when it comes to school, Logan. Everything just comes so easily and so naturally to you."

Logan takes a picture from the pile Kendall is holding and inspects it closely. "I thought they were all school related," he says quietly. "But that's not the reason I brought them to you."

Kendall lets Logan take the rest of the pictures away and watches closely as his brother leafs through all of them. "Why did you bring them to me then?" he asks, not sure if he wants to hear the answer.

"Do you like science, Kendall?"
Logan asks him unexpectedly.

Again, Kendall can't help laughing. The sound is foreign to him. "Are you kidding? I would fail every year if. . . if you didn't tutor me." He sobers quickly and shakes his head. "I hate science, Logan. It's by far my worst subject."

Logan frowns, looking confused. "Then why," he starts "are you in all of these pictures?"

Kendall takes the pictures back when Logan hands them to him. He scans them all, not taking long to confirm that he is in fact, in every single picture right next to Logan. "Wow," he says, studying one in particular. "I forgot about the bowl cut I had in second grade."

A faint smirk appears at the corner of Logan's mouth. "It's definitely not your best look," he agrees.

A sense of familiarity is tugging at Kendall's subconscious. Are he and Logan joking together? He shakes the thought away, afraid of getting his hopes up too high again. "I'm in every picture because I wanted to be there with you," he says, answering Logan's previous question.

Logan raises his eyebrows skeptically. "Why? You just said that you hate science."

"Because," Kendall replies simply. "I love you way more than I hate science."

Taken aback by how naturally Kendall answered him, Logan chews on his bottom lip, still looking confused. "We're in second grade in this picture," he points out. "That's what you said, right?"

Kendall nods. "That was when you made your own volcano while everyone else did moldy bread and flower seeds."

"But I still don't get it," Logan insists, ignoring the pride in Kendall's voice. "I found a copy of the official papers from when you adopted me. We were fourteen. In middle school."

For once, Kendall feels like their roles have been reversed to some degree. He has no idea what Logan is talking about and why getting adopted has anything to do with Kendall's hair cut in second grade. "Work with me, Logan," he urges. "What can't you understand?"

Frustrated, Logan rolls his eyes. "Why are you in all these pictures even before you adopted me? Who did you think you were, my dad?"

"Logan, I don't know if you noticed, but your dad isn't in any of these pictures," Kendall says heatedly. "Your dad never came to anything. He never wanted to. He didn't want you."

The words leave his mouth because he had time to think about them. Once it sinks in what he has said, Kendall stares at Logan in horror and disbelief.

Logan looks like Kendall has just smacked him in the face and punched him in the stomach at the same time. The shock and hurt in his brown eyes is all Kendall can see. It's everything he's been trying so hard to avoid.
Kendall reaches out to his brother. "Logan," he begins.

But Logan stands up so fast that the shoebox falls upside down on the floor. The pictures are scattered all over, but Logan doesn't stop to pick them up. He jerks away from Kendall again, tears stinging his eyes then he turns and runs out of the room.

Panicked that this is a repeat of the pond, Kendall stands up and starts after Logan. He stops almost instantly though when he hears Logan's bedroom door close. Logan is safe. He isn't going anywhere.

Kendall groans in frustration and despair. Spinning around, he unleashes his pent up stress on the wall. Pain erupts in his hand, starting in his knuckles and spreading like a wild fire, traveling all the way up into his shoulder. Swearing under his breath, Kendall clenches his hand to his chest and backs away until he can sit down on his bed again.

The pain is terrible, stealing his breath away and causing tears to spring to his eyes. Kendall bites down on his lower lip so hard that mere seconds later, he tastes blood. Blood is also leaking from the gash on his hand, dripping onto his jeans. He doesn't move.

Already the pain is beginning to ebb. He's distracted by the pain of knowing that he hurt Logan. Again. Why does this keep happening? For years, it was Kendall who made Logan feel wanted and loved. It was Kendall who Logan ran too and Kendall's shoulder that Logan cried on. It was never Kendall who hurt Logan and scared Logan and made him cry. But now that was all Kendall seemed to do. Because Kendall wasn't just a stranger to Logan. Logan was a stranger to Kendall as well.

Kendall shivers at the thought and glances at his injured hand to insect the damage and distract himself. The knuckles are bloody and already bruised and swollen. Gritting his teeth together, he tentatively flexes his fingers. Though the pain is still pretty terrible, he doesn't think it's broken. Then again, he isn't an aspiring doctor. He isn't Logan.

Kendall leaves his room, stopping in the bathroom to wash his gash and wrap a clean cloth around the hand. Logan's door is closed when he reaches it and Kendall can hear quiet, muffled sobbing when he listens closely. Afraid of making things worse, he doesn't go in. He doesn't even knock. Instead, Kendall sits with his back against the wall and waits.

He's not aware of how much time passes. Maybe he dozes off once or twice, Kendall isn't sure. All he knows is that when Logan's bedroom door opens, he can barely turn his head because his entire body is so stiff.

Logan's face is pale and wet from crying. His eyes are red and swollen, and when he speaks, Kendall hardly recognizes his voice because it's so tired and scratchy from so many tears being shed. "Were you sitting out here the whole time?"

Kendall hesitates and then nods. "Yeah," he says slowly, nervous that Logan will shut the door or just walk away. "I um, wanted to be here in case you needed me."

Logan stares at him, an expression on his face that Kendall can't read. But he doesn't go back in his room and shut the door. He doesn't walk away either. He nods and sits down next to Kendall, so close that their shoulders touch. It's the closest they've been in weeks. "You've always been there for me in case I needed you, haven't you."

Kendall doesn't miss the fact that Logan doesn't ask him. He states it, like he already knows it. "I tried," he says weakly. "I used to be able to protect you. I thought I was sparing you by not telling you about your dad. He hurt you so much, and not just when he was around. He haunts you even now, even if you're not aware of it yourself. I thought that keeping him from you was the best solution, but now I know that all it did was hurt you anyway. We hurt you. I hurt you."

"You said it yourself," Logan says softly. "You were trying to protect me. You didn't want me to get hurt. Because. . . you love me."

"It's just that he was always so tied up in all his work that he never had time for you. He never made time for you. He was blind to how much he was destroying you, Logan. All you wanted was for him, your own father, to be proud of your accomplishments. That's partly why you worked so hard. You thought that if you got straight A's on your report card and if you won all the science fairs and spelling bees and if you were great at hockey, then he would notice you and be proud of you."

"But he never came to anything. He never even noticed you most of the time. You practically grew up at my house or James' house or Carlos' house because we didn't want you to be alone when he was gone on business trips. And he was gone more than he was home, Logan. He buried himself in his work so that he wouldn't hurt, but in doing so, be hurt the most important part of his life. You."

"I went to everything not just because I genuinely wanted to see you win and everything, but because I knew you needed someone to. I never thought that I could be your replacement dad of course, but I thought I could make it easier for you. I loved watching you work on a project and then when an award because of it. You were always so happy and on top of the world and proud of yourself, Logan. You were proud of yourself. Do you know what it was like to see you drop all of your insecurities and feelings of worthlessness that your dad gave you? You were like you always deserved to be and I hated that your dad couldn't see how incredible you were so you could be happy more often."

Kendall suddenly runs out of words and stops to catch his breath. Logan is watching him with wide eyes and he's not sure what his brother is thinking. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I just wanted to fix you like I thought I always did. Instead I broke you."

Logan is silent for so long that Kendall forces himself to meet his brother's eyes. The spark of curiosity he sees there confuses him and so does Logan when he says, "Did you ever get tired of watching me win?"

Kendall laughs and shakes his head. "No way, not at all. Seeing you happy made me happier than anything else in the world. Besides," he grind and nudges Logan teasingly. "I would always kick your butt in hockey practice later on. You weren't the best at everything, Logie."

There's a strange glint in Logan's eyes. He looks amused and thrilled all at the same time, but Kendall can't figure out why. "You. . . always kicked my butt in hockey?" he asks slowly. "Even in sprints?"

"Okay, so you were always faster than me," Kendall concedes. "Faster than all of us actually. I've never seen someone so fast. You always-" he breaks off as Logan's words start to sink in and then he turns around wildly to face him. "Wait, what?"

Logan grins. "The other day. . . last week you told me about the picture. And you said that I was always fast."

Immediately, disappointment floods through Kendall. "So were you connecting one thing with the other?" he asks. It doesn't seem like a real memory to him.

"Yeah, but I remember, Kendall!" Logan insists, his entire body trembling with excitement. "I remember always finishing sprints before anyone else on the team, even you! Because I remember that except when we were eleven, you were always the best on the team, no contest. It's still a little blurry and I don't remember everything, but it's my own memory, Kendall, I promise!"

Kendall can't take his eyes off of Logan. He expected to be overjoyed if Logan ever got his memory back and now it's happening, but all he can think of is how he's afraid Logan might experience some sort of memory overload. He's not sure if it's possible, but he's afraid all the same.

It doesn't matter that Kendall is at a loss for words, because Logan is still talking. "It's like staring at thousands of puzzle pieces and never seeing the picture. But suddenly you get two pieces together and the rest starts to come too. I don't remember everything, Kendall, not even close. There are still more pieces missing than anything. But I remember."

He slows down as his voice begins to break and he struggles against a sudden onset of tears. "I remember the year you and James tried to throw me a surprise birthday party but didn't tell Carlos because you were afraid he'd tell me. I remember that he thought you both forgot and that he got really upset and mad at you. I remember James breaking his nose when he got into a fight with Billy Anderson because Billy gave me a swirly and you were home sick that day. I remember-" Logan chokes on a sob and fights to go on. "I remember never being really disappointed about my dad for very long because you were always there and you made me feel better. I remember."

Kendall can't breathe. He stares uncomprehendingly at Logan, his mind trying to absorb everything. "How. . . How old were we when we threw that surprise party?" he winds up asking.

Logan shakes his head. "I don't remember that, but we must have been really young, right?"

"Nine," Kendall can only whisper.

"Right," Logan nods, familiarity lighting up his eyes. "I remember now. It was superhero themed and your mom- I mean, our mom made me a Batman cake. And-"

As much as he would love to hear the rest, Kendall cuts Logan off by impulsively throwing his arms around his brother and holding him tight. For a heartbeat, he waits for Logan to stiffen and pull away just like he's done since the accident. But not this time. This time, Kendall feels Logan's arms return the embrace without a moment's hesitation. And then Kendall starts to cry.

"I'm sorry," he hears Logan saying over and over again. "I'm so sorry, Kendall."

"Shhh, Logie, it's not your fault, buddy." Kendall whispers, tears tightening up his throat and making it hard to speak. "It's okay, bro. Just relax."

Logan is shaking in his arms, overcome with the emotion that the sudden rush of memories have brought. He's clinging tightly to Kendall, like he hasn't seen him for weeks. Maybe he really hasn't.

Kendall is holding onto Logan even tighter, afraid that at any second, he might disappear. Again. His heart is beating so hard that it feels like it might fall straight out of his chest. "I'm here, Logan. I have you. You're okay."

"I k-know," Logan stammers out, trying to slow his sobbing and calm himself. "It's just that I didn't know you a-and even now I can tell that I don't k-know you like I used to."

"It's okay," Kendall says again. "We just need a little more time." He doesn't know if this is true or not, but it's all he has to keep himself from going insane and to comfort Logan. "Just relax. Just breathe. I've got you."

"I know," Logan takes a deep breath and lets it out, shutting his eyes as he does so.

It's not even the memories coming back that matter most to Kendall. It's that Logan is where he belongs once again. Safe and sound in his arms. He's not scared and pulling away. He's quiet and relaxed. He feels secure.

Logan wipes at his tearstained face. "I feel like I just woke up from a dream," he says, his voice still shaking. "A really bad dream. A nightmare. And I don't ever want to go back. I mean, there are still so many gaps and things I don't remember. I don't remember what we did for my tenth birthday or even who your favorite hockey player is, Kendall. There's so much more, but-"

"We went to the aquarium for your tenth birthday and my favorite player is Wayne Gretzky," Kendall tells him. "And now we're going to take it easy, Logan. I don't want you to get overwhelmed."

Logan opens his mouth to protest, but one look from Kendall stops him. He sighs, turning so that his head is resting on Kendall's shoulder. "You're right," he agrees softly. "But I want to tell the others."

"Of course!" Kendall lays his arm over Logan's shoulders. "We'll probably have dinner soon. Why don't we invite James and Carlos over, and then give them a surprise?"

Logan tilts his head upwards. "How am I- I mean are we going to tell them? It's so. . ."

"Wonderful," Kendall finishes. "It's wonderful and nothing else, Logan. If this is all you remember. . . just as long as you remember us, it'll be the best. If you remember more, then that'll be the best too. Whatever happens will be the best, because now I can believe that we'll be okay."

"And I can believe that too, because I believe you." Logan whispers, settling his head back on Kendall's shoulders.

They still have a long road ahead of them, and even though there's no sure way of knowing, Kendall really does believe with all his heart that the final destination will be what they've all been dreaming. For now though, he's more than happy to just sit with Logan next to him like they are now. "I missed you, Logan," he says quietly so he doesn't break up the peace.

Logan reaches out and grasps Kendall's free arm. He pulls it gently over so that it's around his waist and he's in another full embrace. His sigh moves both of them. "I love you," he says when all is quiet again.

Kendall's eyesight becomes blurred and he blinks tears away. "I love you too, Logan," he manages. "I promise that I always will.

A/N. I know how the next chapter will start, I'm just not sure how long it'll go before I hit a snag haha. We'll see though. In the meantime, yay, Logan is getting his memory back! I want to be clear though that most of it is still in limbo and will take some time to recover. But it's a start! Anyone notice what the key was?

I hope that you've all been having a wonderful week. Mine had been a little rough, but writing has been a wonderful release as usual. More importantly though, I've been blessed with an incredible job and the best friends anyone could ask for. If anyone ever wants to talk about anything, let me know because I love meeting new people. :) Have a great rest of the week!

P.S. I'm seeing BTR tomorrow. Hsjkehiejkey.