Ch 16-The Truth Comes to Light
Logan felt his stomach drop and the bitter taste of bile rise in his throat as Harry pressed himself against the older mutant, physically and mentally drained after everything had come to light. It hadn't taken long to say, but the effect was jarring for both ferals as the silence stretched on before them nearly tangible in its weight and texture.
Harry felt suffocated as the quiet remained, the darkness of his guilt working to encase him in the all too familiar depression that had been his constant companion over the years. "I'm so sorry Big Papa." He said pressing his face into the older feral's neck; the tears nearly choking the feline feral as he felt Logan remain tense even as he continued to hold his smaller form gently in his arms.
The older man grimaced as he imagined what was going on in his charge's mind; probably derogatory thoughts that would leave scars worse than any scolding. Logan knew he should stop Hayden: tap him gently on the head to knock the barbs away, kiss the tears in his eyes that such a wringing always caused, and say the words that Harry needed to hear from him. But the older feral could not bring himself to comfort the shivering form and that made him feel sick to his stomach. So instead of doing what he should have done, what he knew was needed at the moment, Logan dodged.
"I need to go and tell Chuck. He should know what's really happening." The excuse felt weak even to his own ears, but it was the best he could come up with as he gently shifted his charge to the bed, lifting the blankets to cover the shivering form that had almost singularly destroyed everything that Logan and the X-Men had worked for. "Just stay here I—"
"I want to go with you! Don't leave me here! Papa, please!"
"I said to stay here!" the Wolverine growled, rushing forward to press his hand against the slender throat of the succubus, forcing the paramour to the bed. The older man's teeth held against the soft skin.
The moment the cloud of instincts cleared from Logan's head, the older man stood, walking quickly toward the dresser in the room in order to pull out a clean shirt to throw on, his hands shaking faintly. He avoided looking at the bed, instead Logan walked directly to his shoes by the door; one hand already on the doorknob when he heard the soft whimper coming from the blankets.
Logan tensed, his eyes crinkling in the corners with self-loathing as another soft cry sounded from the one he had sworn to protect at all costs. But Logan wasn't Jimmy anymore. All he could do was try to fix this mess that Hayden had brought upon them. "Just stay here. I'll deal with you when I get back."
The feral left, his ears attuned to Hayden's sharp cry of anguish as Logan walked away from him.
A twinge woke Bobby that day, a sharp ache in his chest that made his eyes snap open and a grunt of pain echo into the room. It was late in the morning and the air was cold enough that Bobby could see his breath without the aid of his powers. The youth stood from his bed, his torso bare to the chill in the air as he tried to pinpoint the source behind his discomfort. The answer came when a sharp tug pulled right on his heart, making his eyes water and chest heave: Hayden. Bobby quickly thought over the things that might upset his paramour as he made his way to his dresser, pulling out the first clean shirt that he came upon before slipping on his shoes and leaving his room.
It took some time to figure out which direction to turn to before Bobby grasped the ache in his chest and gave his side of the bond a mental tug, leading him to the right side of the manor where most of the teachers and official X-Men resided, which wasn't unusual. Hayden spent most of his time with Logan, now that he had his memory back, preferring to leave Bobby to his school work and friends until the night. Then the tiny feral would sneak into his room and cuddle up with him under his blankets, nearly purring in satisfaction when the ice mutant held him close; his body temperature increased to that of a normal human for the other mutant's comfort.
The few minutes that it took to trek across the manor felt like an eternity before the teen was standing in front of Logan's door; Hayden's soft crying coming from the other side. Bobby knocked softly, pressing his ear to the door as he waited for a reply. None came. So Bobby gently opened the door and entered, shutting the door behind him.
There was no light in the room, the curtains drawn across the window, blocking the little light that might have been given from the wintry sun. Bobby eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light, though he continued to walk into Logan's bedroom, crossing the room easily to the bed at its center where his wayward mate had ended up. "Harry," Bobby spoke softly, sitting down beside the barely clad figure wrapped in blankets, "are you all right?"
A whimper was his answer, but Hayden refused to look at him, preferring instead to remain curled up in the fetal position that Bobby found him in. The youth sighed softly as he rested his back against the headboard, reaching forward to brush his hand gently through his paramour's hair. He felt the tremors that wracked the small form before Hayden could pull away, a small cry escaping the feral as he tried to move away from the comfort offered him.
"Hayden, are you ok?...Do you...do you need to...do we need to?...Harry?" Bobby floundered, the word on the tip of his tongue, but he still didn't have it in him to say it. He knew what Harry needed and was more than willing to give it to him; he just couldn't say the word.
A hiccup was the only response that Bobby got before he lifted the lithe mutant into his open arms, so that they were suddenly full of crying feral, skin chilled from the lack of heating in the building, heavy tremors from his hunger wracking his frame. "Shh, shh. I've got you. You're all right now. Everything's fine. It's okay," murmured the youth, adjusting his hold on the small form as he pulled a blanket from Logan's bed to cover the half naked body, hoping to stop some of the shivering that lingered in his paramour.
It took several moments of Bobby rocking and murmuring to Harry before the small paramour could manage to stop trying to escape from the firm hold the ice mutant had on him, choosing instead to bury his face in the slightly chilled neck. Bobby maintained the soft mutterings, one hand brushing gently through the messy black mane, while the other ran slowly up and down the feral's supple form, being careful not to push too far when the other mutant wasn't releasing pheromone.
The stimulation soothed the frazzled nerves of his trembling succubus, causing him to go limp and try to snuggle impossibly closer in Bobby's arms at the same time, though the shivers of hunger refused to abate. " 'M sorry." Hiccupped Harry after a few more minutes of petting from Bobby, the sea green eyes red rimmed and puffy from crying, the usually pale skin blotched red and damp with drying tears.
"For what?" Asked Bobby, almost laughing at the chastised look the paramour sported, though he thought better of it before the unwelcomed sound could escape; the ice mutant chose instead to press a soft, almost innocent kiss to the trembling coral mouth that had tempted him since day one.
"Ya shouldn't have ta put up wit' me like this. It's burdensome," Mumbled Harry, pressing his head back into the safety of Bobby's neck, trying to hide the obvious hunger in his eyes, causing them to glow an eerie green.
The younger mutant smiled ruefully at his bonded, his heart tugging painfully in his chest as Harry's words reverberated. "You're not a burden." Bobby said, pressing another kiss into the smaller mutant's hair still cradling Harry against his chest.
"You don't know what I've done. I...I—"
"It doesn't matter. I don't care what you've done." Bobby whispered. Skimming his hand up the loose flannel shirt, that had to be Logan's, resting his hand on the cold skin of Harry's hip, careful to secure the blanket with his other hand as the hungry succubus pressed closer into the fingers at his waist. The ice mutant knew it was a low trick, distracting his paramour with intimacy, but what else could he do? Harry was obviously upset about something and his hunger probably didn't help him think clearly, so was it really so bad to sate his hunger and direct his attention to something more beneficial.
The small feral shifted closer to the warm body of his chosen, his face pressed to Bobby's neck planting small persistent kisses that trailed to the younger mutant's strong jaw, the anguish of Logan's neglect pushed to the back of his mind by the instincts that screamed for sustenance. "Bobby..." whimpered Hayden, gasping softly as the teen maneuvered him onto his back trailing his own open-mouthed kisses on the exposed skin of the paramour's shoulders, neck and face, panting from the pheromones now laying thick in the air.
"Shh, shh. I've got you." Murmured Bobby, tracing his fingers softly over the skin exposed from Logan's shirt riding up Harry's waist. The pheromone wasn't at its normal level, Bobby noticed still fairly clear-headed as he marked the squirming paramour's neck , his hands suffering from the usual dilemma of deciding where to place themselves before Harry gave a kitten growl and rolled his hips into Bobby's, forcing the taller mutant to place both hands on the pale, curved hips to still them.
Hayden, used to being the leader of such situations, tried to wrap his arms around the teen, pulling the ice mutant down, so he could shift his own weight at the last moment to straddle his bonded's thighs. But Bobby wouldn't let him, instead pressing his hips into the slender form under him in a show of rare dominance, divesting both of them of their shirts to press even closer to the warming body beneath him.
"Should we be doing this here?...I mean this is Logan's room." Panted Bobby, as Harry stirred from Bobby's display wrapped his legs around the younger mutant's hips and ferociously marking the teen's neck, canting his hips forward against the ice mutant's.
"Forget Logan and fuck me." Harry groaned, working Bobby's jeans from his hips and nearer to his entrance.
Bobby's mouth went dry, his eyes taking in the picture that Hayden made sprawled among the bedclothes: his eyes a smoldering shade of ivy green, the perfect cupid's bow lips a tempting coral shade, the mass of riotous black curls fanned out around the his head, the slim neck and shoulders marked with bites and hickeys of Bobby's own making. The sight was lovely, causing Bobby to lean forward and softly claim the lips that tempted him in a kiss, penetrating his paramour at the same time, Harry gasping in surprise at the intrusion before relaxing into the bed as Bobby rocked into his mate.
The gentle rocking of the ice mutant above him soothed Hayden into a sense of security and warmth that he thought impossible when Victor and Logan left for Vietnam and never came back. Bobby's murmurings lulled him even further into the safety that he so craved, but until then had been denied. It was only sad that it couldn't last. This moment was only temporary. Especially now that he couldn't stay, but he would try to enjoy this while it lasted.
It wasn't long before the pair reached their peak, both gasping for breath against each other's mouth as they rode out the feelings surrounding them; a pleasant thrum echoing in the air as they remained linked together. "I love you."Said Bobby, his icy blue eyes soft as they took the disheveled state of his chosen, linking their hands together as he rested his forehead against Harry's, their breaths mingling together.
Harry lay gasping under the ice mutant, his hands stroking through the short hair at the nape of Bobby's neck, the declaration of love causing a twinge in his chest that made his eyes sting with tears. "I know. I love you too." Said Hayden, tears falling softly down his face when Bobby lowered his head further, to rest against Harry's shoulder; the twinge developing into dull throb, that sat heavily in his upper body.
And he meant it. He really did.
"It was all a trick." Said Logan, resting his head in his hands as he sat across from the professor, a tea service between them; Scott fresh from the shower, sitting quietly in the corner as the two men spoke.
Xavier leant back in his wheelchair, Logan's account of Hayden's true purpose. It hurt, to think that someone, who had in a manner comforted him when times were at their most bleak, could betray them in such a way and so soon after what happen at Alkali Lake with Stryker seemed almost too much to bear.
The three were left in silence, each looking over the implications such news would bring to them. Scott quickly began cataloguing the manor's new defenses that were under lock and key, the things that Harry wouldn't have been able to access without help from one of the inner circle of the X-Men; while Xavier, leaving Scott to his thoughts of defense, reached out with his mind to look for the familiar presence of the wayward paramour, finding him with Bobby in a particularly compromising position on Logan's bed. He smiled indulgently when his mind brushed against the petite mutant, the purr of contentment resounding through the temporary bond between telepath and succubus warming the professor in fondness.
"….I'm really sorry for this Chuck. I mean after everything that's already happened and with Hayden coming so soon after, I should have suspected something was wrong. He wouldn't have left his hiding place for anything. "Grunted Logan, his voice thick with anger as his instincts rode a little too close to the surface. Hayden's cries still echoing in his head.
"You couldn't have known Logan. None of us could have known. Harry kept it to himself. All we have left to us is to move on and begin a counter to this attack. Do you know when Stryker plans to carry out his plan?" Asked Charles, looking to Scott as he wheeled over to his second in command, "Scott can you make sure everything is ready?"
The younger mutant nodded, his mouth a thin line as he stood from the armchair, walking over to Xavier's desk to open call the inner circle of the X-Men to the office. "We don't have nearly enough people, Charles. Even with the knowledge that the attack is coming, we just don't have the man power to fight off a force of that caliber without involving the children." Scott said, taking a seat in front of the professor's desk, opening the hologram projector to show an image of the manor.
"We don't have any reinforcements to call on, so that's out…..the new defenses are fully operational as of last month, but they are only defenses and not for attack." The door opened to the rest of the X-Men, Rogue among them, all dressed in leisurely clothes.
"Where's Bobby?" Asked Rogue, her eyes going to Logan still sitting with his head in his hands, before looking to the professor for answers, her hands clenching in their leather gloves as she sat next to the feral.
Xavier smiled indulgently at the teen, his eyes glancing over to Scott as the younger man pulled up another schematic of the manor, drawing up an attack plan. "He's indisposed at the moment. But don't worry, he should be here soon."
Marie looked less that happy with that answer, but there was nothing for that now. She had begun to realize that she was no longer the center of Logan and Bobby's world; that a warm, brighter entity was taking the place where she once so happily inhabited. It was no one's fault though. At least no one she could really blame; Bobby had been drawn away from Marie by Hayden's warmth and attention, while Logan left because of long forgotten memories. But she couldn't blame Hayden. He had never meant for anything like this to happen, he even told her so.
"Should I go and get Harry?" Asked Logan watching the professor for any indication that something was wrong, Xavier looked toward Logan for a moment before shaking his head no, focusing again on Scott as Hank came to stand close by the younger man, leaning forward until their shoulders brushed.
"No, Logan that will be quite unnecessary. Bobby will bring Mr. Potter when he comes." Said Charles as he continued to watch the sudden interaction between his second and the blue politician, the two had worked together closely in the months following, trying to come up with better legislature and defenses against another attack. It shouldn't have made Charles as uncomfortable as it did.
Jean looked dourly at the small group gathered, her eyes flickering between red and the warm brown that she was known for, her red hair tied up in a messy bun, her lab coat covering flannel pajamas. "So, we should assume they are together and most likely fornicating in some dark corner of the manor." She said, removing her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. "Also, I asked to see Hayden down in the lab awhile ago and he still hasn't shown up."
"I told him that he wasn't required to undergo anything that he feel comfortable with, I suppose seeing you in the lab would fall under that category." Stated the professor, smiling glibly at the red haired woman, as she sat in an empty armchair.
"Come on now children, let's not fight. We have bigger problems." Said Scott as he began running a cursory look at older students abilities within the institute. "Professor, I think we should begin an emergency evacuation sequence to remove the younger and more vulnerable children from the school before Stryker can do any damage….Professor?"
Xavier sat in his chair, cool blue eyes focused on the un-curtained window that took up most of the wall, the older man calmly turned toward his protégé. "It looks as though we are not as alone as we first thought. Eric is coming."
As though a switch had been flipped all the X-Men present turned to look out the window, Logan moving toward the door to head to back to his room. Praying that Victor was not apart of this company of mutants; he would not stand betrayal from anyone, let alone a wayward mate. Harry was going to need some fair warning to stay clear before the Brotherhood arrived.
Author's Note: (IMPORTANT)
Hello my freaky darlings!
Sorry I've been absent for so long, but school caught up with me this year. It's been crazy busy with everything, but things are finally calming down for the year so I should be able to get in some writing for this, fingers crossed, and I will hopefully finish it by the latest the end of the year. Now depending on how this ends I will have a sequel or prequel in the works but I haven't really decided yet.
I have plans for a couple new stories including a Sherlock/HP crossover/omegaverse, and an AU HP fic. Nothing's set in stone of course, these are just some ideas to show that I haven't been idle in the time I've been away.
Anyway, Please read and review this fic and others are it really does motivate me to write and maybe PM, or review some ideas you may have for oneshots as I feel like taking some requests at the moment…..maybe some back story between Logan/Harry/Victor, Scott/Charles, Harry/ Charlotte, or any other pairings you see I have worked with before.
Sincerely,
Aisha