Disclaimer: Yeah, characters belong to Marvel/Fox or whoever, just not me. No profit is being made.
***
This was not the welcome home he'd expected.
True, he wasn't actually 'home' yet - if he could call it home, and considering the previous home had been the back of his van he might as well call it home - and no one knew he was coming so they couldn't welcome him anyway, it just wasn't…
…quite what he had been expecting.
He thumped to the floor heavily, accompanied by the sound of something shattering. Growling against the pain, just as quickly he could feel whatever had been shattered fixing itself. Oh, that sonofabitch was gonna pay for that…
But before he could do anything about it, the mutant picked him up.
Logan swore.
Extending his claws he tried to angle his hands towards the mutant, but this one was smart as well as strong, carefully keeping Logan's hands away from his body as he began to spin him around over his head.
Getting distinctly nauseous Logan flailed wildly and finally managed to hit something with his claws.
Howling, the mutant let go.
Logan smiled viciously because he knew success was close to being his. In that same second the smile vanished as he realised that because the mutant had let him go…
Yup. There was the ground coming towards him at a startling rate.
This time when something shattered, he knew it was going to be a while before it repaired itself. Heaving for breath and tasting blood, Logan felt himself being turned over and discovered the mutant glaring down at him, a gash across its chest.
She/he/it screamed something he couldn't understand a word of and raised both its hands up to deliver a deathly blow…
Only to collapse on top of him.
Wincing, blinking, and swearing, Logan carefully studied the body as he suddenly got a whiff of something unmistakably feminine. Glancing up he tried to see who was there, and as his eyes slowly made the journey up the leather-clad and obviously female body, the smile returned to his face when he realised it either had to be Jean or Storm…but his smile froze when he reached the face.
"What's the matter Logan?" She asked in an accent he had missed beyond reason, smirking as she pulled her leather gloves back on. "Are you feeling your age today?"
He said the only thing he could.
"Rogue?!"
*
"Ow! Christ, watch it will ya?"
The small smile that graced Jean's features proved Logan's theory that she was enjoying this entirely too much.
The wide smirk on Scott's face as he leant against the wall opposite them proved Logan's theory that he was just an asshole.
"Well," Jean began softly, dabbing at wounds that hadn't healed yet "if you'd stop getting attacked we wouldn't have to keep doing this."
"I'd hardly say you 'keep' doing this." He protested.
"Oh really? The last time I saw you, you were lying on this very bed recovering from-"
"You don't have to remind me of the last time I saw you." He only realised after the words were spoken that it probably wasn't a smart thing to say when Scott was standing in the same room, well within hearing distance, the red visor over his eyes a vivid reminder of the damage he could do. Not that Logan was worried. "I…uh, I have too many memories of the pain for me to forget," He tried to cover, failing miserably.
Fortunately he was saved from any further embarrassment when the doors hissed open and the Professor, Rogue, and Storm entered.
"Logan," the Professor greeted warmly, coming to stop next to the bed he was lying on. "It's good to see you again."
"Likewise," Logan responded, waving Jean away and sitting up, trying not to wince. Once he was up he leant forward a little and tapped the Professor's wheelchair. "You still haven't traded this thing in for a newer model?"
"This one provides me with everything I need."
"I'm sure it does." Turning his attention to Storm, Logan nodded. "Storm."
She smiled and nodded back. "Logan."
"And as for you…" He began, turning towards Rogue who had thankfully changed from her uniform into something much less interesting. "…thank you."
Rogue nodded with a tight smile. "I need to get to class," She announced suddenly, then swivelled around and walked out of the room.
After she was gone, Logan stared at the others. "Is it just me, or has she developed something of an attitude while I've been gone?"
"That," Jean coaxed him back until he was lying down again, and grabbed an instrument off the medical tray, "is the result of her having you in her head for the last year."
"I know I wouldn't enjoy it," Scott commented.
Logan growled. "Shut up, Laser Boy."
The Professor intervened before anything could escalate. "Can I have a moment alone with Logan, please?" It was as much an order as it was a question.
Storm and Scott left immediately, and as Jean turned away Logan grabbed her forearm.
"She wasn't like that when I left."
Jean frowned at him. "You barely stayed ten seconds after you recovered. How would you even know what she was like?"
Surprised at the venom in her words he let go, and Jean - looking just as surprised as he felt - turned and left.
After the doors hissed shut, he looked at the Professor. This really wasn't the welcome home he was expecting. "Maybe I shouldn't have come back…"
"Maybe," The Professor agreed, then smiled. "Despite what they say, they are glad to have you back. It's just been a difficult year."
"Difficult…?"
Professor Xavier paused, and closed his eyes. "We lost one of the children."
Swearing vehemently Logan immediately sat up and swivelled his legs off the side of the bed. Any residual pain he might have been feeling was inconsequential. "Who? How?"
Xavier stared at him. "Bobby."
Logan swore again, gripping the edge of the bed, wanting to know who to punish for this…
"It was an accident," Xavier continued, clearly not seeing the point in going into detail. "Needless to say, it hit Rogue particularly hard, and that combined with the effect of her gift…with what's happening in her mind…she hasn't been in a particularly good mood. I've been trying to get her to talk about it, but you know how stubborn you can be."
"All too well," Logan agreed sardonically.
Bobby. Christ, poor Rogue…
Xavier nodded and cleared his throat. "Anyway…your room is still waiting for you if you want it. I suggest you get some sleep and then we'll discuss what you'd like to do."
"Sure," Logan agreed, staring at the floor. "Sure."
Smiling, Xavier turned his wheelchair away and waited until the doors opened before pausing. He didn't turn back as he spoke. "Logan…did you find what you were looking for?"
The floor became even more fascinating. "Not exactly."
"If you ever want to talk-"
{Pain. Pain. Shadows. Broken. Probing. Screaming.}
"No. No. Thanks for asking Professor…but…not now, anyway."
Logan watched as the man nodded his head, pushed forward on the controls, and the wheelchair quietly glided out of the room. When the doors closed with a resounding 'thunk', he couldn't remember the last time he'd been anywhere so quiet.
TBC