Reunion
Chapter 1
by
D'Jean
A mysterious woman from Logan's past? The deuce, you say! I know. It's been done before but,well... as you might expect, Lena's stubborn and cranky and she wouldn't get out of my head. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
You'd think a fella could catch a break every now and then, Logan thought to himself as he ducked around the crowd. Just wanted a couple a drinks, few rounds of pool, a little flirting, a little fighting, no big deal
The boy had been forced out of the alley by a gang of street kids behind him. Even by the light of a street lamp you could tell he was a mutant, pale white skin, large pointed ears and a bare skull. He was young and, judging by the smell of him, scared out of his wits. That's probably why he grabbed the little girl. He didn't speak but he made it obvious that she was his hostage. As soon as the crowd backed away from him, he went tearing back down the alleyway. The little girl's mother was screaming for the cops but Logan doubted that they'd get there in time.
Logan finally made it to the alley in time to see a woman in a hooded coat sneaking in ahead of him. Perfect, he thought, what did she think she was gonna do? She was too far away to call out to. Yelling would have let the boy know that he was being followed. Logan tried to catch up to her but she was moving fast. Finally they came round the bend to a blind alley. Oh Christ, he thought, now the kid was cornered. This is getting worse by the minute.
"It's not a dead end. It just looks like one." Lena pulled her hood back and put her hands out to her sides. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the boy more. "The fence behind you isn't locked. Once you're through there it's less than a block to an access tunnel. That's where you live right? In the tunnels? You're safe. I promise. Just please let me have the girl, okay? Ya don't need her anymore. If you hurt her, you're just gonna make things worse." Come on kid, she thought to herself, don't do this.
The boy scrambled to the gate of the fence. It swung open, as she'd promised.
"See, safe as houses. So let me take the girl, okay?" She moved forward, too fast. It was enough to spook the boy. He drove a clawed hand into the little girl's stomach, dropped her body by the fence gate and ran into the darkness.
"Dammit dammit dammit! DAMN IT!" Lena kicked the empty boxes lying beside a dumpster on her way over to the little girl's side. Shouldn't have moved so fast. He would have let her go. He wouldn't have panicked. She wondered how much time she'd have before the cops finally made it. She hoped it would be long enough.
Dammit? What the hell was she up to? Logan thought to himself. The little girl might be dead and this woman wasangry? He was about to step forward when the woman spoke again.
"Hi Sweetie. Everything's gonna be okay. I can fix you up. Let me take a look." It was bad. The boy's claws had been very sharp and very dirty. The edges of the wound were ragged and the cuts went deep. She took the little girl's hand, relaxed and went in. Okay Lena, she thought to herself, let's do this quick-like. First stop the pain then slow the blood flow. She found the involved nerves and shut them down, and then she got control of the heart that was racing like crazy.
"There, does that feel better?"
"Uhuh"
"What's your name?"
"Kelly."
"Okay Kelly, I'm going to have to pick you up and carry you around the corner so I can get some more light on you. All I need you to do is try to calm down. Can you do that for me?"
"Uhuh."
"Alright then, let's go."
She's a mutant too huh? Well I'll be dipped, Logan thought, I guess she does know what she's doing. He debated making himself known but decided to wait until she was finished with the girl. No sense surprising her while she was concentrating.
The woman had shoulder-length, straight, blonde hair that she wore tucked behind her ears. Strands of it had come loose and they fell in front of her face. She moved quickly and more surely than she should have been able to in the darkness of the alley. She repeatedly stopped to scan her surroundings, frowning nervously.
Lena moved the girl out to the main alley where she had her pick of two escape routes and settled down beside another dumpster. Now she could concentrate on the task at hand. First she stimulated the white blood cells and cleaned out the wound. It was when she began to heal the cuts themselves that she heard it. Sounded like breathing, maybe. Maybe she was just being neurotic. Better safe than sorry. She stepped up the pace.
When she was done, she stood the girl up. "Alright Kelly, you're almost as good as new. When you get to your momma, you tell her that you need to go to the doctor. It's very important, okay sweetheart?"
"Okay."
"Good girl, now your momma is just down this alley." She indicated the alley behind her. "You go ahead and run back to her. Don't stop till you get to her."
Lena was pretty sure she was between the girl and where the sound had come from. She climbed stiffly to her feet. Dizziness hit her as she stood.
I've gotta be out of my damned mind she thought again. Still there isn't anything to do but carry on. I just spent my last bit of strength patchin' her up. I'm sure not gonna let some bastard tear her apart again.
She made an effort to look and sound tougher than she felt. "I know yer there whoever ya are. I ain't in very good shape right now but yer still gonna have to get through me to do anything to that little girl and I don't aim to go down without a fight. So what's it gonna be, continue yer nice, quiet evening or dance with me?"
"I ain't gonna hurt the girl." She'd heard that voice before. Her insides twisted slowly as recognition dawned.
Her eyes frantically scanned the dark corners of the alley until they found something. Boots attached to legs attached to the man who was moving now, into the light. It was him, oh God no, why now? Her mind reeled and the fear hit her like a punch to the stomach. Her knees went weak as she struggled to regain control of herself. You knew this moment was coming sooner or later Lanie-girl, she thought to herself, now you get to see what you're really made of, at least the girl's safe. That's one more to the good. Carefully, without taking her eyes off of him she dug out the penknife from her pocket.
"Who is it in there? Anyone I know? Is it you Kovacs? Is this your idea of a joke you sick son of a bitch? Well guess what, I ain't laughin' I knew ya'd find me eventually and I been ready for this for a long time. I told you I wouldn't go back; told ya I'd die first." He saw the flash of metal but he was too far away to stop her hand as she drew the knife against her throat. "Well I wasn't kidding," she croaked. The blood pumped out of her body in hot gushes. She sank down to her knees.
He covered the distance between them in a heartbeat, "Good lord, Darlin', what'd do that for? Don't you worry now, I'm gonna take care of ya." In his head, he was screaming for Jean or the Professor or anyone who could help; with his hand, he tried to stop the bleeding. He knew he didn't have much time. Her eyes were already glazing over. Those eyes! Wide-open, dark, gray eyes. He had seen them before, but where? Her scent wasn't familiar at all. How did he know the eyes but nothing else?
He didn't notice her hand reach up to his cheek. "Oh Logan, please forgive me I just wasn't strong enough then I'm so sorry this happened I'm gonna try this time take you with me if I can." The rambling trailed off but her hand stayed on his cheek. Then he felt it, pressure or energy coming from her hand and his world went dark. He jerked his head away from her and her hand fell. He shook his head to clear it, but the darkness didn't go away. <Jeannie?! Dammit answer me, please, I got me a world o' trouble here!>
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"Logan?" Kurt's voice came at him from the doorway. "The woman is stable, finally but we've sedated her. She lost a lot of blood and whatever she did to save the child seems to have taken a lot out of her. You can sit with her if you want."
Logan pulled his body up from the slouch it had settled into during the wait, stretched out the stiffened muscles of his legs and back and rose lightly to his feet.
"Thanks Kurt, think I'll do that." Logan headed into the room. Kurt was surprised to see Logan navigate the room so easily.
"Has your vision come back mein freund?" Kurt asked him.
"Nope, still can't see a thing."
"How can you find your way around?"
"She blinded me, Elf. She didn't get to any of my other senses. I can still hear and feel a lot better than most people, good enough ta handle gettin' around, 'specially indoors where there's always a little bit of echo to help."
"Like sonar?"
"Kinda."
"Fantastische."
Not as fantastiche as havin' my eyes back would be right about now, Logan thought dejectedly. I hope she pulls out of this an' I hope I can convince her to turn 'em back on when she does.
Jean had only just caught his frantic, mental screams in time. They had needed Gateway's help to get the woman into the mansion's med lab. Henry and Kurt immediately went to work on the woman and Jean had attempted unsuccessfully to get Logan's eyes to work again.
That was three hours ago. Logan was still covered in her blood, his clothes reeked of it, that and her fear. The combination of smells set his teeth on edge but he wouldn't leave. He wanted to be there when she woke up, wanted to get some answers from her. Who did she think he was? No matter how many times his mind went back over the events of the evening, none of it made sense to him. Why had she been so afraid of him? He'd told her that he wasn't out to get the girl. Who was Kovacs? How could her eyes be so familiar when nothing else was?
He found a chair and turned it around so that he could sit facing the back. He had just spent the last three hours sitting frontwise on the same variety of chair and he was hoping that the change might keep him from getting uncomfortable right away. Not likely, stiff plastic and metal frontwise or backwards was still not meant for an all-night sit. He'd of paced if it hadn't of taken too much concentration without his vision.
"We have her restrained, so she can't hurt herself again. I'll be in again to check on her in an hour. Holler out if you need me." Kurt left Logan to watch over the woman.
Logan relaxed a little when he realized that the fear he smelled was coming more from his own clothes than the woman in the bed. She was sleeping peacefully now. Could be a good thing. Maybe she would be willing to talk when she woke up. He hoped so. He listened to the rhythm of her breathing. He decided to try and catch a nap himself. He rested his chin on his hands crossed over the back of the seat and tried to ignore the stiff, dried blood covering the sleeves. He sunk into a light sleep.
He woke abruptly to the change in her breathing. It was faster now and had a ragged edge to it. He guessed she was dreaming and not any sort of pleasant dream either. She began to moan and then to speak but he couldn't understand the words.
"Kurt, get in here. She's havin' some sort o' nightmare!"
"I'm here, what?" Kurt trailed off as he heard her speaking. He moved to the bed. Apparently, Kurt knew what she was saying because he began replying to her in a language Logan couldn't place.
"What's goin' on? What's she saying?"
"Mein Gott! She is begging us to kill her. I'm trying to tell her that she is safe but I don't think she can hear me Please child, wake up no one will hurt you here I promise. Please don't" Kurt drew his breath in sharply as if he had been hit, "NOOOO!"
This last word came ripping out of both the woman and Kurt. Logan wasn't sure what to do but he knew he had to do something. He launched out of the chair towards the bed, his left leg easily clearing the back of the chair. He swung his arms out slowly, open handed until he made contact with Kurt. His hand closed on Kurt's shoulder and he jerked the man back away from the bed. Once Kurt was out of the way, Logan searched the end of the bed and found a folded blanket. He opened it up and threw it over the bed. Only then did he try to touch the woman. Whatever powers she had, he figured that they relied on skin contact or centered on her hands. He found her hands still bound and slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders and shook her gently.
"Hey there now, yer just havin' a bad dream. Ya gotta calm down. Yer safe and everything's gonna be okay now. C'mon now, Darlin' rest easy." It wasn't working; he could feel her straining at the bindings on her wrists. She didn't hear him. He was surprised at her strength. He could feel the tight, wiry muscles of her arms slide and contract underneath her skin as she fought the restraints and his grip.
"It's the restraints," Kurt gasped as he regained his composure. "Somehow, somewhere she was held this way and it it was terrible I saw it when I touched her hand she pulled me in I could see her nightmare they made her they used her to Mein Gott! What did they do to her?"
Logan moved his hand down to the buckle of the wrist restraint and undid it, then he did the same to the other side. He pulled her hands up, still holding them through the blanket, to show the woman that her arms were free. The change was immediate. She stopped fighting and fell back into the bed.
"That's it sweetheart. I told ya. Yer gonna be just fine. I'm gonna take care of ya now. Ain't gonna let nobody hurt ya that's it girl" Logan's voice went on in a soft, low purr. Kurt couldn't make out the words anymore but he doubted that mattered as much as how it sounded. Logan was working his particular brand of magic.
Kurt had seen Logan do this before, calm down something wild. He hoped it would work on the woman. It seemed to be. As Logan's voice went on in a quiet singsong, she was relaxing into a fetal position curled around the hand that Logan held onto and stroked through the blanket. The tight lines of her face softened. Her breathing slowed and lost the ragged edge.
Kurt still couldn't get the images from her dream out of his mind. Lab technicians with needles and scalpels, their faces hidden by surgical masks machines that surrounded her pinned her down, gutted her. The poor thing, no wonder she begged for death. That thought set him to worrying again.
"Is it safe to leave her without restraints? She might try to hurt herself again."
"Ain't no way I'm puttin' those damn things back on her. I'll watch her and make sure she don't hurt herself. Don't worry about that."
"Watch her? How are you going to do that, Logan? You can't see a thing."
"This ain't a discussion, Elf." Logan's whisper cut through the room like a static charge. "I told ya already I can get by without my eyes if I have to, now pull that chair over here so I can sit closer to the bed."
Kurt new better to push the issue, he did as Logan asked. He hoped Logan knew what he was doing. He left the door open so that he would be able to hear if there was trouble.
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It was morning now, still early yet. Logan could hear people upstairs stirring to life. Water was running through the pipes to the showers and he could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen. His stomach growled and his body ached. He figured that two or so hours had passed since she'd had the nightmare.
She was going to wake up soon. He could tell by the changes in her breathing. He'd be ready this time.
"Nononononooo!" She scrambled backward slipping out from underneath the blanket. She tried to jump off of the opposite side of the bed. He caught her easily across the waist and scooped her back onto the bed. He pinned her arms down firmly, but gently.
"Now hang on just a second, Darlin' and listen to me close. I don't know who ya think I am but I ain't him. I wasn't gonna hurt that girl; I don't wanna hurt you and I don't know where ya think I was aimin' to take ya but this ain't there. Yer safe and yer free ta go as soon as yer able. So would you please settle down and stop acting like yer dealin' with the devil himself. Yer gonna give me some kind o' complex."
The room went dead silent as he realized that he was holding onto her bare arms. He couldn't take his hands off of her now. They wouldn't move. He could feel the energy coming from her again. Just the slightest warm pressure rose up his arms up through his head. Suddenly he could see light and it was blinding. He whipped his head away and blinked at the tears that filled his eyes. Small hands flew up and covered his eyes. Protecting them from the light.
"Sorry, I should have warned you. Here, give your eyes a second to adjust I'm gonna take my hands away but you keep your eyes closed and open 'em real slow." When he opened his eyes she was staring back at him in wonder.
"I can't believe it's you, Logan. How did you ever? When I left you were just empty, you weren't in there anymore. I thought that was it." The words bubbled out of her. It still didn't make much sense to him. But he could feel her joy, the sense of having a weight lifted from her soul. He could feel it and feel her, that pressure still flowing in his own body. "But you did it didn't you, ya old scoundrel. Yer here and yer you. I'm so glad ya found me. Ya wouldn't believe what I been up to."
Her face broke into a huge grin as she pulled his head down and kissed his brow and cheeks and scratched her fingers through his whiskers. Logan responded in kind, caught up in warmth she emanated. Warmth turned quickly to heat. He grabbed her up in his arms and planted a firm kiss on her mouth, parting her lips with his own and pushing his tongue into her. He could feel her heart racing and the blood shooting through her body. Then, just as abruptly, she stiffened and pulled back. Whatever connection they had shared was broken. He couldn't feel her anymore. His head cleared but the blood didn't want to return. He tried to look in her eyes but she wouldn't meet his gaze. She was blushing violently. "Sorry again. That was me. I got a little carried away. It's just the surprise of seeing you again."
"Uh, ya sure that was just you Darlin'?" His voice was thick and hoarse and his pulse was racing just as hers had been. He still hadn't let her go.
"Really Logan, it was me. You were feeling what I was feeling. Usually I can keep it to myself but if I'm surprised or tired, sometimes it slips out. And then it kinda feeds on itself and gets stronger." Her grin was sheepish now but still there and she dared to return his gaze from the corner of her eye. "I always figured you'd be a real good kisser."
"So then we weren't we didn't?" He knew he must sound like an idiot but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on.
"Logan, I was all of fifteen years old! You ain't that kind of guy. Not now an' not then." She started a bit and looked him full in the eyes. "You don't remember any of this do ya?"
"Sorry, Darlin' not a bit, 'cept yer eyes and that's a part I can't really figure out at all. Why yer eyes and nothin' else?"
"'Cause that's all you ever saw of me, Logan."
"Ahem." Kurt cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, Fraulein. My name is Kurt I'll be taking care of you while you recover. I'm glad to see you awake. It looks like the sleep did you some good." Kurt stood in the doorway and tried not to make any assumptions about the scene before him. Logan hastily set the woman back down onto the bed and stood up.
"I hope you don't mind stepping out for a bit, Logan? I need to run some tests on the young lady."
"Ah no, that's fine Kurt. I gotta git cleaned up anyway." He turned back to the woman on the bed. "I'd like it if we could talk a bit more. Let me know if ya feel up to it. Anyone here can get me for ya and I'll probably stop by ta check on ya later. You need anything, you let Kurt know. He'll take good care of you." He felt like a schoolboy caught kissing in the coat closet. He avoided the German's gaze as he turned to the door.
"Thanks Logan. I'd be happy to talk to you later. I think we have a lot of catching up to do." She gave him one last smile and watched him leave the room before addressing Kurt. "Hope none of the tests involve blood samples 'cause I don't think I have any left."
Kurt smiled, "I think most of what's in you right now went in through your arm last night, anyway. If I need to test it, I can just get another bag from storage."
"Perfect," she laughed, "So what do you need?"
"Let's start with your temperature and blood pressure and, if you feel up to it, maybe we can talk about what happened last night." He gingerly took the arm she presented and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around it. Her skin didn't seem to have the same effect as before. This was going better than he had expected. That, in itself was odd. She had been upset enough to attempt suicide last night and now she seemed actually happy.
"My pressure and temp tend to run kinda low so don't be too surprised if they do."
"A little low, yes but nothing off the charts," he murmured one eye on the gauge. "Tell me, do you know what day it is?"
"Sunday, I hope. Otherwise, I've been out longer than I think I have."
"Do you know what your name is?"
Okay, not really, she thought, but better not to get into that yet. "It's Lena Jones."
"Do you know where you are Lena?"
"Haven't the slightest clue. It's some sort of med lab but it's not in any hospital. Judging from your appearance, it's mutant friendly. Am I close?"
"Very," he smiled at her again, "you are at the Xavier Institute in Westchester. Do you know why you're here?"
"Uh, I guess 'cause I took a fairly extreme route out of a dangerous situation?"
"You cut your own jugular vein."
"Yeah, that's another way to put it." She lowered her eyes and studied her hands.
"Why were you so ready to give up your life? You knew the girl wasn't in danger."
"I'd really rather not get into that right now." Or ever, she thought. "Did Kelly get out okay?"
"The little girl? Yes she's fine now, thanks to you. She needed a transfusion but she's going to be alright."
"Oh good." Lena stared off into the distance. Kurt waited until it was clear that she wasn't going to volunteer anything else.
"We don't have to talk about the rest if you don't want to yet. Tell me, are you hungry?" He looped the stethoscope behind his neck.
"I should eat."
"Why don't we start you with something light, maybe chicken soup?"
"Sounds great."
"I'll get you some then. If you need anything, just press that buzzer," he indicated the comlink beside the bed with one blue finger, "someone will answer. Ask for me."
"Thanks, Kurt."
Lena looked around the room for the first time and tried to get her bearings. She was wearing a standard hospital gown. Her arms were bruised and cut where the restraining straps had been and she could feel a bandage over the cut on her neck. Still, she was going to be fine after some rest and some food.
Logan was alive and whole! She couldn't believe it. When she had finally run away from the Program, she had almost been caught because she hadn't wanted to give up on him. She'd tried everything to bring him back and by the time she'd given up she'd been sure that Kovacs had succeeded. There had been no trace of him, no imprints, no patterns nothing left in Logan's body that held his consciousness, no Logan in Logan. But now, he was 100 percent Logan through and through. It was the first time she had been inside of him with a direct interface. Going in through his skin had been like going home again. Guess that's why it caused such a strong reaction, she thought. Her hand touched her lips absentmindedly.
She wondered how much Logan remembered of his time in the Program. She wondered about this place and the German mutant, Kurt. Were there more mutants here? Kurt had called it an institute. That usually meant doctors and researchers which, considering her history, gave her the willies. She hoped Logan had been telling the truth when he said she'd be free to go. She needed to get in touch with her sister and brother, make sure they knew she was okay. She'd ask for her phone when Kurt came back.
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He left his clothes in a heap by the bed. He'd deal with them later. He wasn't sure that they'd be good for anything but burning, anyway. He stood in the shower and debated whether he needed cold or hot water more. His body was still stiff from sitting but his blood was still racing from that kiss. What the hell had happened anyway? In the grand analysis, he wasn't much further along than he had been when he brought her in. True his eyes were working again and the woman no longer seemed to be a danger to herself. But who was she? How did she know him? What kind of powers did she have that could get him from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat? He shook his head trying unsuccessfully to clear it. Cold, definitely cold, he decided, maybe it'll wake me up too.
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