A familiar scent made its way to him. He heard quiet footsteps stop in front of him before feeling a smaller hand reaching up his wrist. He didn't brush it off, albeit mildly distracted by the company. His eyes opened, seeing the child in her usual spot. She always sat next to him, never talking. She simply played with his hands. He watched as her palm rested on the back of his before drawing his metal claws. He was unable to see her face clearly, but he could tell from her expression that she was fascinated. Letting himself ease back into slumber, he retracted his claws as he felt her play with his hand again.
Groggily waking up to the recognizable scent, he spotted the woman leaning her head against the cool wall of the cell. Placing her glasses in her breast pocket, she sighed. She slipped her heels off and slumped down, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He could finally see her clearly: her raven hair was clipped back in its usual style, but her face held a resigned expression.
"This isn't working, is it?"
He lazily looked at her before rolling onto his stomach, his chest rising slowly as he began drifting off.
"It's days like this I wonder what the hell I'm doing," she stared up at the ceiling, "We came here with the promise of being ushered into godhood, but those two keep stagnating the process. Knowing we're at the pinnacle of science, how could they be willing to do that?"
"My sister, of all people, called me. Apparently, I have a niece," she scoffed, "She shuts me out of her life and now wants the two of us to be a family again? I said only the girl could contact me to get her off my back. Really, how could she be a mother, James? After not believing in me? Can she even believe her own daughter?"
She leaned over and laid a hand on his cheek, "I believe in you and Laura—that's why I'm doing this. It's like they've stopped trying with you; there's no point in keeping you here."
"—Although I would've appreciated another target for Laura, I suppose I can take comfort in knowing those two unknowingly reinforced that I'm indispensable to this project. She really was attached to that instructor, but it was for the best."
He faded in and out of consciousness as he smelled the stench of blood.
"They've backed me into a corner twice before, so I need to enforce why the trigger scent would be a bad idea. And fear seems to be the only language they understand," she grimaced as she stuffed the tools into her bag, "I've always wondered why you never thought to slice enough of the flesh around your wrists to produce enough blood to slip these off."
Green eyes stared into his unfocused ones, "How can they expect you to get better if they're hurting you repeatedly?''
His eyes began to focus on the bold line in front of him but he didn't move past it; he'd learned years ago what happened when he did. Her warm breath was in his ear as she gently tugged his hand over the line.
"On your way out, see to it that you take out as many of them as you can," she stepped to the side as he drew his claws.
"Sir? Sir?"
Dread crept onto Logan's face, "How long was I—?"
He had traveled this far, hoping he got the chance to destroy a new Weapon X facility. It could've been a ploy to capture him, but the letter said there was a girl who was running out of time. There wasn't an address listed; it only included a number to text whenever he made it past certain checkpoints. Logan hoped if he got there fast enough, he might just be able to save her from that damn metal. He didn't want to risk the chance of someone having to go through the same thing he went through, especially not a kid. He just hadn't even considered the possibility that—
The cashier looked at him confusingly, "Sir? Did you want me to scan that item?"
"No thanks," he grunted as he exited the gas station.
Logan took a few steps before reaching into his coat pocket to take out his phone. Missed messages and calls flooded the screen. He went through his contacts, raising the phone to his ear as he heard the line ring.
"Charles Xavier speaking—"
"Hey, Chuck. It's me."
"Logan?" he heard a sigh of relief on the other side of the phone, "We've been trying to check if you're alright."
"You remember when you found me? It was snowing, wasn't it?"
Logan remembered flashes of red. Alarm sirens wailed as gunshots pierced his skin before he sliced the men down. He ran through them, into the outdoors, where there was powdery snow as far as the eye could see. Last time, he didn't make it, but this time he was getting farther. Through the mountains, he ran. His muscles burned from running for so long, but he kept pushing forward.
"Yes, I do recall our first meeting. There was a blizzard prior, so imagine my surprise when the rumors of a practically naked mutant running around in Canada were in fact true."
Logan shut his eyes, "Time flies by when you're not thinking about it."
"It certainly does."
It was thanks to Charles that he was able to regain his senses. He offered Logan a place to stay at the institute while he continued working with him to recover his fragmented memories.
"And now I'm a freaking P.E. teacher."
"It's called Physical Education, and you've done a great job teaching students over these years. You even learned that you could have students participate in recreational activities that don't involve the Danger Room," he could hear the smile in Charles' tone, "We've come far, haven't we?"
The powdery snow was becoming a problem. He hid in different structures. White swirled and swirled. There was a small cabin that radiated with warmth but there was no one inside.
Logan looked at the streetlights illuminating the falling snow, "The snow was so bright. Everywhere was empty and then I saw you. And you helped me."
"…Are you alright, Logan?"
"I was stuck in that place for years, Charles," his voice grew hoarse, "Shit, I should've remembered."
He thought maybe the kid was a recent capture, but she'd been there the whole time. His own kid was traded for his freedom.
Charles was quiet on the other side of the line, "Logan, would you like one of us to pick you up?"
Logan shook his head, "The intel is solid."
"It might be helpful to have someone around who can assist you with your investigation."
The X-Men didn't need to see what he did to get his answers, and Logan wasn't going to let them see this bloodbath. It was like chasing an endless shadow when it came to Weapon X. And the amount of people he's killed related to it has been too little. He had to end this. Permanently.
"It's about time I get going. Have someone save me a beer, will you?"
Charles sighed, "Then try to get some rest, but don't hesitate to call us."
Logan hung up the phone, clutching it in his hand.
He couldn't rest, not until he fixed this.