The dark mahogany walls of the mansion gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight, as they made they're way towards the Professor's office. The further into the building they progressed, the greater the tension Logan could feel radiating off of Kiara. She was casting furtive, wide eyed glances about them as they walked, and the muscles beneath Logan's hand were taut, bunched. He could see Jean glancing worriedly at Kiara, from the corner of her eyes, and he wasn't surprised when he felt the hesitant touch of her mind on his.
*Logan...*
*She hasn't been around people a lot, Jean - she's frightened. Now get out of my head,* he thought back at her, his mental 'voice' short and brusque. He felt her faint apology and then she was gone. As they came to a halt in front of the door to the Professor's office, barely discernible against the long expanse of dark wood, Kiara looked up at him with fear plain in her eyes. He let his fingers glide across her lower back, in soft, reassuring strokes. The door opened before them and Jean motioned for them to enter. Xavier came around the corner of his desk, his chair silent against the plush carpeting, and smiled warmly at them before dismissing Jean.
"Thank you, Jean. Now, please leave us." Her eyes opened wide in surprise at the dismissal - along with Scott, she was one of the Professor's most trusted inner circle and he normally didn't keep things from her.
"Of course, Professor. Let me know if you need anything," she said, masking her disappointment smoothly as she quietly shut the door behind her. Logan turned back to face the Professor as he spoke again.
"Welcome back, Logan - we've missed you. And who might this young lady be?" Xavier returned to behind his desk, motioning for them both to sit. Logan could feel Kiara relaxing beneath the Professor's kindly, unthreatening gaze, and his own tension level dropped a notch.
"Thanks, Charles. This is Kiara. She's... well, she was part of my life before the... experiments. They did the same thing to her as they did to me. Worse," he amended, as he thought again of how it must've felt for Kiara, to feel the life inside her extinguished, cut from her body. He glanced at her quickly, and he could see her face pale at his words. He tightened his grip on her hand, and continued. "We were hoping you could help us." Xavier nodded, and turned to Kiara.
"I'm terribly sorry for what you've gone through, Kiara. I have some idea of what was done to Logan, and I wouldn't wish that torment on anyone. You are as welcome here as he, and you both have my word that I'll do whatever I can to help you. Did you have something specific in mind?" he said, the last words directed at Logan.
"Kiara's nightmares showed her something mine haven't - a face. I - We were hoping that you could, maybe, read her mind and then put the image of that face into the mind of someone who can draw it. And then maybe, help us try to ID him." Logan felt awkward asking - he'd prided himself on never needing to depend on anyone for anything, and asking for help was not something he was comfortable with. But even he had to admit to himself that this was something which only Xavier could possibly help them, and he wasn't going to throw away their only lead out of stubborn pride.
"I can certainly help you with transferring the image to someone who can render a hard copy of it, but I cannot guarantee that the computer will be able to give us an ID." Xavier raised a hand, forestalling Logan's impatient response. "However, I promise that all of our resources will be at your disposal. I only hope that it is enough. And now, I strongly suspect that you are both hungry and tired from your long journey and would like nothing more than to have some dinner, shower and get some rest." Kiara's smothered giggle at the mention of a 'shower' made the Professor raise a bemused eyebrow but he politely ignored her and continued. "I'll have Jean show you to the kitchen where you can help yourselves, and then she can show you to your room." This time, there was a slight smile on the Professor's face and Logan didn't miss the emphasis he'd placed on the singular 'room'.
*It isn't difficult to miss how you feel about her, Logan - you're broadcasting strongly enough for even the weakest telepath to pick up* came the amused chuckle in his mind and then the door was once again opening, a smiling Jean waiting in the hallway. Logan laughed out loud and stood, Kiara quickly moving to join him.
"Thanks, Charles. I knew we could count on you."
"You're more than welcome, Logan, you know that. Now go and relax. We can begin tomorrow."
"Thank you... Professor," Kiara said softly, speaking for the first time, before she ducked her head shyly.
"It is my pleasure, Kiara. Whatever help we would offer Logan extends to you as well." She nodded and smiled at his words, and then Logan was leading the way out of the office. Jean took them down a number of hallways until they finally rounded a corner, and Logan's nose picked up the lingering smells of lunch. His stomach growled loudly at the prospect of food, eliciting another giggle from Kiara. Jean smiled conspiratorially and leaned into Kiara.
"Just make sure he doesn't eat *everything*, ok? We still need to have something left over for the kids' dinner," she said in a loud stage whisper. Kiara laughed out loud and Logan simply glared at them both. Jean straightened, still smiling, and addressed Logan directly. "Do you think you can remember how to get to your old room from here? I have a class I'm late to teach."
"Sure, we'll be fine. Thanks, Jeannie," Logan said, nodding.
"Welcome back, Logan," Jean said over her shoulder, as she disappeared back the way they'd come. Logan pushed open the door before them, revealing a large commercial size kitchen, replete with metal surfaces everywhere. There were two large refrigerators against one wall, a restaurant style stove and ovens against the other, and a number of cupboards lining the remaining surfaces. In the center of the room, stood a large metal table flanked by several chairs. A quick search through the first refrigerator turned up the makings of a few sandwiches. The food was quickly consumed in companionable silence, since neither of them had eaten since the night before, and washed down with water. Much to Logan's disappointment, neither refrigerator had been stocked with beer...
"Now that was good..." Logan sighed, patting his stomach and leaning back in his chair. He raised an eyebrow at Kiara, who sat across from him. "I think now might be a good time to go see about that shower..." She laughed.
"Is that all you think about?"
"No. That and you..." The laughter bled from her voice and her eyes stared back at him. He could feel the muscles in his lower abdomen tighten as she smiled slowly back at him, running her tongue across her lower lip.
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea..." Exhaustion vanished and was replaced by a steadily building heat in his blood. He growled low under his breath and stood up, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her chair. As she stumbled to regain her footing, placing both hands on his chest, he dipped his head and kissed her with all of the passion that was threatening to boil away his insides. He allowed himself a moment of savage pride, when he felt her knees weaken and her body rested heavily against him. Drawing back, he looked down at her.
"Sounds like a damn good idea, to me. Come on." He grabbed her hand again and led her out the kitchen doors, into the hallway. No sooner had they turned into the next hallway, when a slight feminine figure came flying around the corner and threw her arms around a shocked Logan's neck.
"Logan!! You're back!!" Logan smiled and returned the hug briefly, before disentangling himself.
"Hey there, kid. I said I'd be back, didn't I?" Rogue smiled up at him, and then turned to face the silent Kiara beside him. She raised an eyebrow and Logan could see a fleeting emotion cross her face, before she smiled again and extended a gloved hand.
"Hi, I'm Rogue." Kiara's face lit with a warm smile and she took Rogue's hand in both of hers.
"Oh, so you're Rogue - Logan has told me a lot about you. I'm Kiara." Logan was a little taken aback by how quickly Kiara had warmed up to Rogue but, then again, it didn't surprise him. Rogue wasn't visibly threatening in any way and besides, he'd already told her how much she meant to him - of course Kiara would make every attempt to befriend the girl.
"Glad to meet you," Rogue said, smiling back at her. "So, why're you back?"
"It's a long story, kid. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, ok?" Rogue looked like she was about to protest, but then she took in the way Logan was holding Kiara's hand. The dark, impatient look in his eyes, and she smiled at him.
"Oh... I see... well, have a good night!" she called out over her shoulder, winking once before disappearing. Logan laughed softly at her presumptuousness and heard Kiara actually snicker next to him. Turning to face her, he raised an eyebrow.
"Something funny?" Kiara started to open her mouth to reply, but before she could, Logan had her pressed against the wall with his body. Hands on her hips, his face bare inches from hers. Her eyes stared back at him, the rapid rise and fall of her chest against his almost driving him out of control.
"Not at all..."
"Good," he grinned, suddenly stepping back and taking her hand in his. "Now, let's go find that room..."
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