Night and Day: All the Rest
Chapter 3
by
Mo
Disclaimer: The X-Men and Alpha Flight belong to Marvel. The movie belongs to Fox. Belarus is an independent country and belongs to its citizens, mutant and otherwise. Bryn Mawr is a private women's college founded in 1885. It belongs to the women, mutant and otherwise, who have lived and learned there for the past 116 years. I do feel like Scott and Logan are a little bit mine since I've been borrowing them for so long.
"X-Men du nord. Can I help you?"
"Cute, Jean-Paul. But not exactly in the joint project spirit, huh?"
"Oh, Scott. I wasn't expecting you. Mac was supposed to be calling me back. For you I would have answered 'Alpha Flight, Western Division' or some such."
"Just torturing the folks back home?"
"There's not a lot to entertain oneself with here, Scott. It's a little remote. We keep busy - plenty of work to do - but just the same..."
"Well, I suppose we can take it if it keeps you amused. Do you think you need a break, though? Do you want me to rotate someone else in?"
"No, actually, I was mostly teasing. It's easiest for me, really. When I'm free in the evenings, I can go pretty much anywhere. Flight and super-speed come in handy. And Wendy and Arthur are so absorbed in each other and the baby that I don't think it's that hard on them. It's Logan who's having a rough time, really. Although I think that's less about being in a remote location and more about breaking up with you. I hope I'm not overstepping, here."
"I don't know. I'm not sure I want to talk about it. I do appreciate that you're speaking out of genuine concern, though, and not just idle curiosity."
"It's up to you. Talk if you want - tell me to shut up if you want. But I do think he's taking it pretty hard. Is it totally over between you two?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I think so. Too much has happened. Both of us said and did things we can't really undo."
"Can't undo? Or can't recover from? I don't know, Scott. Speaking as a fairly neutral observer, it really seems like you two were good for each other. Everybody makes mistakes. Maybe you need to forgive each other and move on. Together."
"Thanks for the advice."
"Is that a polite, friendly, Cyclops way of saying 'Shut up, Jean-Paul, you have no idea what you're talking about'?"
"Maybe a little... Jean-Paul? When you say he's not doing well, what do you mean? Has he said anything to you about being unhappy? Anything about me?"
"Ha! Logan? No way. He just mopes around, looking daggers at anyone who talks to him. Barely speaks. Well, that part's not so unusual for him. But it just seems like all the joy has drained out of him. Nothing interests him. He hardly seems to even have fun fighting with Wendy lately, and I would have sworn that was his chief joy in life until the other day. Did something happen a few days ago?"
"He called me and it didn't go too well, I guess. Jean-Paul, it's actually Logan I was trying to get hold of. I'm returning his call. Is he around?"
"Where else would he be? I'll get him."
**************************************
"Hi, Scott. Sorry about the other night."
"That's okay. You called?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to worry. It's not personal. Project-related."
"Logan? I'm sorry, too. You should be able to talk to me about personal stuff. I hope you will be able to sometime. Not sex, maybe, but other things. I want to get back to being friends on some level. At some point. If we can. I'm just not there yet."
"Well, I did wonder why Jeannie gets to be your friend and I don't."
"I guess because Jean's a much stronger person than I am, Logan. She managed to go from being lovers to friends right away. I hurt her a lot, you know. And she didn't pretend it didn't hurt, but she kind of rose above it. Like I said, she's really strong. I hope to get to that point. Anyway, what did you call about?"
"I'm worried about Jean-Paul. He seems to be having a hard time dealing with Arthur and Wendy. Well, not really them, but the baby. He said it's because his own daughter died when she was the same age. I didn't know he even had a kid... Scott, you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here. Just kicking myself, which I guess isn't loud enough to hear long distance. I can't believe I was so insensitive! I didn't even think of Joanne. Fuck! Logan, I am so sorry. Sorry to have stuck Jean-Paul in that situation without warning him I was sending a family with a baby the age Joanne was when she died. And sorry to have stuck you with managing the situation without even having the relevant information."
"Hey, you can't think of everything. Anyway, I'm just seeking advice. You're better on this interpersonal shit. He says he'll be okay with it, but I'm not sure. It's kind of close quarters up here. It's just the four of us - well, five counting the baby - and we're together all the time. I'm thinking it's going to be a long winter."
"I can see that. Do you think it would help if there were more people there? Or would that make it worse?"
"I don't know. It might make it a little easier, just sort of dilute some of the tension. I wouldn't want a lot - we'd have to make sure there's work for everybody. But maybe if we were ten instead of five? And, about Jean-Paul, do you want to talk to him about the baby? Maybe he'd tell you more about how he feels."
"Maybe, although he hasn't said a word to me. Shit! I can't believe I didn't even think of Joanne. Anyway, thanks for telling me. Charles and 'Ro and I are meeting later today about your project. I'll bring up the Jean-Paul thing and the idea of adding a few more residents. Would you want to come down here? You could meet prospective homesteaders again... Logan, are *you* still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. If I came down there, Scott, what would it be like? You and me, I mean. Would you give me something to do in the night?"
"No, Logan. I'm sorry."
"I think about you a lot, Scott. Not just about fucking you. I do miss that. A lot. But that's not all. You're not just one of a bunch of nobodies. You never were. You were always somebody to me. I did pay attention to you... You're not saying anything."
"I don't know what to say."
"You have somebody else now, right? You in love with him?"
"I really don't want to talk about this with you. But, no, I'm not in love with anybody else. Look, Logan - I'll talk to Charles and 'Ro. And then we can figure out where to go with the project. I'll call you later."
***************************************************
We met in Charles's office. He and 'Ro were already there when I arrived, apologizing for my tardiness, explaining that I'd had trouble escaping from a couple of kids from my poetry class. Charles smiled at that and said that that class seems to attract the most enthusiastic students. "We don't mind waiting," he added. "Student needs come first." Then, turning solemn, he said, "Besides, Ororo has been filling me in on the latest news from Belarus."
"What have you heard, 'Ro? Were you able to make contact with any mutants there?"
"No, I'm afraid not, although I've tried a few times to call or email. I was just telling Charles what I heard on the news. The city of Minsk has been declared to be 'mutant-free'. They are calling what they're doing 'mutant cleansing' now."
We all sat there for a couple of minutes in silence, thinking about those phrases and what they had meant in the past. "Erik will tell me next time I visit him that this proves he's right, you know. I wish we knew what's really going on there, what's happening to the mutants they find."
"And how those who are still in hiding are doing, too," I added. "Keep trying, 'Ro. I wish Pyotr were here. I'm pretty sure he knows people in Minsk, in the Belarussian government. Even if not, I think he'd get farther seeking information in Russian than we would in English. Charles, you haven't heard from him lately, have you? Last time I tried calling, I got someone who spoke very little English but seemed not to have heard of him."
Charles and 'Ro both said they hadn't heard from Pyotr in months. We mused a little more about the Belarus situation, wondering if it would stay a localized phenomenon or spread to nearby countries. Charles ended our mournful speculations by recommending that I fill him and 'Ro in on the latest news from the Saskatchewan project.
I explained to Charles and 'Ro that Logan and Jean-Paul had each expressed concerns about the other's emotional state. Described at length the presumed source of Jean-Paul's distress, with much self-flagellation for not having considered this ahead of time.
'Ro hadn't known Jean-Paul when he adopted Joanne, so Charles told the whole story of her brief life. Jean-Paul, of course, knew that she was HIV+ at birth but he had hoped that she would turn out to be healthy, since half of all prenatally exposed babies turn out to sero-convert negative within six months. And, even after that, he just hoped that treatment would be effective for her. So, he'd certainly known fairly early that he had a baby with a life-threatening illness but he was in no way reconciled to her eventual death, much less death at eighteen months. He had so loved that little girl. No wonder it was hard seeing healthy, precocious April. And, just in general, Jean-Paul was someone who loved kids, always wanted to be a parent. His chances of adopting again now that he was out both as a gay man and a mutant were pretty much nil.
I also told the two of them that Jean-Paul said Logan seemed not to be doing well, although I glossed over the presumed reason, leaving the impression that it was the close quarters and limited recreational outlets that were the problem. I did say that I thought it was interesting, and probably good, that they were each concerned about the other. It suggested that the group was pretty cohesive so far. With such a small group in so remote and intimate a setting it would not be surprising if two members were complaining about each other rather than expressing concern. So, the good news was that they were worried about each other, not killing each other. The bad news was that they seemed to have reason to worry, that out of five people two were already in not-great shape.
"I'm afraid it's more than two," Charles said. "I'll see you your Logan and Jean-Paul and raise you an Arthur. I got a call this morning from Heather Hudson. She says Wendy is very worried about Arthur. Apparently he is blaming himself for the loss of their home in Vermont and has been quite depressed."
"Why would Wendy tell Heather about this?" I asked.
"They're old friends," he replied. "They were at school together. That's how Wendy and Arthur heard about us in the first place. When they were found out to be mutants in their little town, Wendy called Heather, who recommended they come here. But Arthur wanted to stick it out and see if the townspeople could get over their hostility. They ended up having to flee with pretty much just the clothes on their backs. So, I'm sure he's regretting not leaving earlier, when they could have taken some of their things and avoided the trauma and violence of their departure. Still, it was a generous and good impulse that led him to think well of their neighbors. It's unfortunate if he's blaming himself for that."
"It might also have been because it was his actions that revealed them as mutants in the first place," said Ororo. "Although, again, he was only acting out of the best motives. And he saved that child's life."
"What child? How did he blow their cover?" I had been away when Wendy and Arthur came to Westchester and hadn't heard the story.
"There was a car accident in their town in Vermont. A car hit a little boy on a bicycle," 'Ro went on to explain. "Arthur was just walking by at the time, had the baby in the sling. The child was pinned under the car, so Arthur lifted it. And, thinking it wasn't a good idea to move an injured person, he held it up for a while and then just kind of pushed it out of the way, keeping it off of the little boy. Not exactly something a normal human could do."
"If there is any better way to reveal one's mutant status, I can't imagine what it is," Charles said sadly. "No wonder he thought the townspeople would adjust. All the more tragic to lose their home, their livelihood, their roots after that act of heroism."
"Oh, yes. He should be blessed for being one who loves his fellow men, not punished for it."
Charles smiled a little. "Are you teaching Abou Ben Adhem?" he asked.
I nodded. "But get this - I asked the class why, in the list of those blessed by God, Abou Ben Adhem's led all the rest. Jubilee called out 'alphabetical order'." They both laughed. "Anyway," I added, "I think we can truly say that we have a problem up there. Three out of five people are apparently in poor emotional states."
'Ro laughed at that. "I know this isn't really funny," she said, "but sometimes you just have to laugh. It's not three, Scott. It's four. Arthur called yesterday and asked if I'd consider coming back to Saskatchewan. He feels that it's very hard on Wendy being the only woman there and that she's feeling lonely and stressed out."
At that point I was just about ready to tear out my hair. "Okay," I said. "I'm just warning you. If anyone tells me that baby April called to say she's worried about someone up there, I'm giving up on the whole damn project."
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