ladydeathfaerie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladydeathfaerie) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
marysuevirus2024-04-06 07:24 pm
ladydeathfaerie) wrote in marysuevirus2024-04-06 07:24 pm
Among the Strong
Title: Among the Strong
Chapter Eleven: Memories Yet to Come
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs todazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar .
Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
The door was standing open when he finally made it to Xavier's office. The man was obviously waiting for him. Logan would have met with him earlier but Jubilee had been waiting for him in the hangar to let him know that Roxxy had requested he stop in and see her. Jubes had indicated that Roxxy had been insistent, so he'd gone to the infirmary first. It had been an enlightening conversation.
Logan rapped a couple of knuckles against the door jamb before stepping into the office. Xavier was, not surprisingly, sitting behind his desk. Waiting patiently. What was surprising was Jeannie standing by his side. She looked a little uncomfortable, which had Logan wondering just what he was about to hear. Because he was pretty sure this was a meeting about Dee with a bit of mission information on the side. Hiding his minor discomfort, Logan pushed the door closed behind him and moved to stand between the empty chairs that faced the professor. "Sorry I'm late. I went to see Roxxy," Logan told them in order to get the ball rolling. He needed to go hug his kids, and he wanted to ask Dee about the things she'd said to him on the phone yesterday.
"There's no need to apologize, Logan. Please. Sit down." Xavier motioned to the chairs with his hand. Logan considered it, then decided to remain standing. Xavier nodded, as if he expected nothing less, then leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure you're wondering how my meeting with Deirdre went yesterday."
Right to the heart of the matter. Logan appreciated that. He was never good at small talk and he hated beating around the bush. "She didn't give ya any trouble, did she?" he asked. He knew how Dee got and she wasn't above making mischief if she could get away with it.
The question earned him a knowing smile from Xavier. Yeah. She'd given him trouble. "She was incredibly reluctant to speak with us. It would appear that Deirdre has issues with authority figures. Not unlike someone else we know."
The comment was meant to be some kind of mood breaker. Just a little joke about how Dee had gotten her mother's temper. It kind of made Logan want to snarl. Just a little bit. Dare had good reason to mistrust authority figures. She'd told him some things. Not much, but a few tidbits about her life here and there. Morgan had told him about the kid who'd used her and thrown her away like trash. There'd been a lot of people in her life who had used and abused her. And, way she told it, not many adults had tried to help her. She'd had to fight for herself. Dee idolized her mother so it only made sense she'd picked up some of Dare's intense dislike for authority figures.
He needed to remember to take her out for some ice cream later.
"Did she tell ya anything?" He felt the question came out normal enough. Not much growl in his voice on it. He counted that as a win, considering the need to protect his girls ran thick in his blood.
"Again. She was reluctant to speak with us. I had Jean sit in on my interview with Deirdre because I wanted her opinion on the issue," the professor said. He paused for a moment, as if looking for the right words with which to answer Logan. Logan wasn't fond of pauses like that. They generally meant nothing but trouble. "Because of Deirdre's reluctance to answer my questions, I only have impressions to go by. I am nearly positive Deirdre is coming into her powers. But I cannot say for certain. Her mind was a jumbled mess. And she attempted to avoid answering my questions in any definitive way."
"What do ya mean?" Logan asked.
"As you know, most people's minds are rarely still and silent. Even during sleep, their brains project thoughts through their dreams. Minds can be orderly or messy depending upon various influences," Xavier began. Logan sat through the explanation as patiently as he was able. Which wasn't very. He just wanted an answer. "When a mind is messy and active, that mind projects thoughts loudly. That makes it very easy to simply pluck a person's thoughts from the air. Deirdre's brain was almost too active for me to get a read on."
The professor paused here and took a breath. Another pause as if he was collecting himself before continuing. Logan figured it was bullshit and all for effect. Charles did like to go on and on. If he'd gone villain, he'd have been the monologuing king. Weaving his fingers together, Xavier settled his hands on the desk before him. "As I said, she was reluctant to speak with me. And her thoughts were scattered in so many directions that it was difficult to follow them. But her certainty that her mother would be home soon was strong and it is rooted in something that defies explanation."
Well, that certainly tracked. She'd been really adamant on the phone the day before. An almost freakish certainty that had felt terribly alien coming from his twelve year old daughter. The fact that Xavier had picked up on it went a long way toward confirming Logan's suspicions. But the pause in the room was not a good one. There was a subtle tension that grated right on the edge of his nerves. Something was coming that he probably wasn't going to life very much.
"She heard us communicating telepathically, Logan," Jeannie told him. She looked slightly discomfited by the idea. He had to wonder what that meant for Dee. "She told me that she thought it was rude to speak about her behind her back."
Logan frowned at that. That didn't sound like a thing that would come with precognition. "She heard ya?"
"She did," Jeannie confirmed with a nod.
"After that, she assured me that Dare would return. And that she would return here, at the school. Not in the desert. Then she glanced past me and announced she was leaving because Johnny Storm had just arrived to see Rosemary and she was going to escort him to the infirmary." Xavier told him that bit. "Johnny had, in fact, just pulled into the driveway. I can only assume she sensed his presence because she is so close to him. Thus far, any show of possible powers seems to be tied to people she cares about."
Logan considered everything he'd heard. Dee had been pretty adamant with him yesterday when they'd talked. About her ma coming home. About her returning at the school. About all of them coming home. And the way she'd called all the men 'Uncle' made him wonder, again, what it was she knew that he didn't. Add all of that to what Xavier had just said... "So she's getting her powers, but you ain't sure just what those powers are."
"That would seem to be the way of it," Xavier agreed. "We can speak with her again, with you present, if you would like. Your presence might convince her to be more forthcoming with her answers."
"I doubt it," Logan shook his head. She took after her ma in more than just temper. He had a few ideas and they didn't include anyone in this office. "I need to talk to Dee first. She probably don't know what's goin' on yet. An' I'm gonna need to talk to Dare when she gets back. See how she wants to handle this."
"You fully believe Deirdre is correct and Dare will come home?" Xavier sounded unsure. Logan stifled the urge to snarl at the man and gave a single nod of his head.
"Dare'll come home. The absolute belief in Dee's voice, the certainty, tells me she knows somethin' we don't. We just gotta wait," Logan replied. He was tired of this conversation. He was tired of talking in circles about things. He hadn't expected an exact answer to the question of whether or not Dee was coming into her powers. But the one he'd gotten didn't even really constitute an answer. Logan didn't know if Xavier really couldn't figure it out or if he was playing games. At this point, he didn't care. Truth was, he was tired of Xavier's track record where Purple Team was concerned. It almost seemed like Summers gave more of a shit than the professor did. Or maybe Logan was just so tired that he couldn't tell anymore who did and didn't give a shit.
He missed Dare. He needed to hold her. Needed to tell her that he had a hard time with everything when she wasn't at his side. He needed to tell her he loved her. And he needed to believe that his daughter, a twelve year old who was just starting to find out how cruel the world could be, was correct and that everyone was going to come home. "You found anything? Picked up any sign of the missing? Sensed the horsemen?"
It was a blatant change of subject. He didn't care. Not what Xavier thought. Not what Jeannie thought. Not about any of it. Just his family. Dare and Morgan and Remy. They needed to come home. Warren and Scott and Sam and Jehnna. Every last one of them needed to come home.
The urge to return to the desert filled him, but he ruthlessly squashed it down. Dee was right. His kids needed him. They were no doubt confused about their ma. And he had to believe that everything would work out exactly as Dee had said it would. To believe anything else was just... unthinkable.
Xavier sighed. An answer without saying anything. "I'm sorry, Logan. I haven't found anything. Both Jean and I have looked using Cerebro. Where ever Sinister has taken them, it is nowhere in this world."
Logan nodded. If he was being honest with himself, he'd expected nothing less. It still sucked, though. "Did ya ask Storm when he was here if he's felt anything? He's got a bond with Haley, after all."
"We didn't have the opportunity to speak with Johnny," Xavier admitted. Again, Logan nodded. Of course no one would think to ask Johnny if he felt anything. An uncharitable thought popped into his head, one that suggested the only reason Xavier was trying to find the missing was because members of his original team were missing, Hell, the leader of all the teams was missing. Something inside of him twisted at the notion that Scott and Warren were more important to him than anything else. For a moment, he considered pushing the thought aside. But then he stopped himself. Let Chuck catch a whiff of that. Maybe it'd make him think. And maybe Logan was pissing on a five alarm fire in the hopes of putting it out.
"I gotta go talk to Dee," Logan told them, though he really kind of felt he didn't owe them that. He turned for the door before Xavier could open his mouth again. He put the look Xavier wore from his mind, the almost blank patience that grated on his nerves and suggested the man had caught his thoughts and didn't like them. Fuck him if he thought Logan cared. And he put the look of confusion and sorrow on Jeannie's face from his mind. She'd made her choice a long time ago. And he'd made his. Fixing her problems wasn't his job anymore.
Now if he could just damn well fix his own...
~*~
"Ah. The good old days. When we were younger and the world did not seem quite so terrible as it does now." The voice came from behind him, full of wistful fondness and memory. Duke turned away from the picture, just some small snapshot, to find a large, furry blue man standing behind him. He recognized Henry "Beast" McCoy from Latveria, when the heroes had arrived. The man had made a huge fuss over both Haley and Dare.
One blue fingertip reached out to trace over the faces in the photo. It was older and kind of faded. But the five people in it were smiling and laughing, bunched together against what appeared to be a paneled wall. Duke recognized most of them. The ruby sunglasses gave away which one was Cyclops. The woman with the red hair was Jean Grey. There was no way to hide the white wings on the tall blonde, marking him as Warren Worthington the third. The other two people were men, one slightly taller than the other. Both sported blue eyes and brown hair, but that was where the similarities ended. The shorter of the two had a mischievous gleam in his eyes that suggested he was going to make trouble for everyone else. The taller of the two looked more introspective, as if his attention was turned toward some problem that he was attempting to solve.
When that blue finger reached the last face, it was that of the taller blue-eyed, brown-haired young man. "There are times when I would very much like to revisit my younger days. But such things are not to be. And the knowledge I've gained between then and now is too important to give up."
Duke looked away from the photo and the young man in it to the man behind him. There was a wistful look on his face to match the tone in his voice. When Duke returned his attention to the photo, it was to find that the look in those blue eyes was terribly familiar all of a sudden. And then it clicked for him. The young man in the photo and the man behind him. "Dude! You're one of the OG X-Men!" he exclaimed excitedly.
The reaction brought a faint chuckle out of the other man's throat. "I was one of the original five, yes," he replied. "It is good to see you again, Duke. Though I do wish it were under better circumstances."
The reminder of why Duke was presently standing in the mansion that served as school to the luckiest of mutantkind as well as the home of the X-Men brought a faint touch of sadness to his face. It diminished his smile. "So do I," Duke agreed.
"I was on my way to the kitchen to find myself some coffee and perhaps something to nibble on. Care to join me?" Beast asked him.
"Sure," Duke nodded. Beast offered him a smile and followed along behind the other man. They went through a door not far from the picture and stepped inside a rather substantial kitchen. The nearest counter was covered with trays that had been piled high with doughnuts and muffins. There were pitchers of juice and a few coffee pots that held the dark brew. He watched as Beast moved toward one of the pots to pour himself a cup.
"You are more than welcome to partake of our humble offerings. I'm afraid the hot breakfast foods are already gone. The children eat quite a bit," Beast said, one hand motioning toward the counter where the doughnuts and muffins resided. Duke found a plate and chose two doughnuts, both covered with chocolate frosting, and two muffins. One was blueberry and one was banana nut. He poured himself a glass of juice and then followed Beast out into the dining room proper.
There was no one in the dining room, allowing them their choice of tables. Duke took a seat across from Beast, who had grabbed some danish or pastry to accompany his cup of coffee. But there wasn't much eating or drinking going on with him. Instead, he seemed to be staring at the table top pensively. Duke watched him a moment, trying to decide if he should say something or leave it be. After a few seconds, he decided to say something. "Everything okay? You look.. kind of worried?"
Beast blinked and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, my boy. Its nothing."
"You're worried about everyone, too, aren't you?"
Duke's question saw Beast sighing and shaking his head. "Worry is an over-simplification of what I presently feel," the man admitted.
Duke mulled that over while he took a bite from the blueberry muffin. It had the look of homemade to it. The flavor was great, with real blueberries bursting between his teeth, and he had to believe it would have been incredible just out of the oven. "Yeah. There's some freaky shit going on and I imagine worry doesn't begin to cover it. To be honest, I am really kind of surprised by how chill everyone seems to be. There's super weird shit going on and everybody seems really used to it."
"While there is a certain level of the unusual that most of the residents and students here at the Institute have grown accustomed to, what is happening at present is far beyond the normal type of unusual we generally encounter."
Duke frowned. "I don't think I follow."
"Let me ask you a question, Duke. Your first encounter with our Dare involved going to Latveria and testing your mettle against Doom. Do you think that a normal occurrence for any member of the X- Men? Do you think that encountering the horsemen as you did is an every day occurrence for the X-Men?"
Duke stared at him a moment, taking time to study the expression on his face. "I'm going to say that the answer to those questions is a resounding 'No' and that people are freaked out about this. They just don't know how to act about it."
His response earned him a smile. "That, my boy, is a much more accurate description of the situation than everyone is used to these kinds of things. One never really gets used to the violence and horrors that one soul can visit upon another. Nor should one have to. And this is why the X-Men exist. To stop the violence and the horror before it consumes too many souls. But this? What is happening at present? That is a horror that few can comprehend, much less fight against."
Duke didn't like the sound of that. "How do you mean?"
"Mister Sinister has a flare for the dramatic and a love of chaos." The words were spoken in a soft voice, delivered with a heavy layer of emotions that seemed to run the gamut from worry all the way to fear and well beyond. "I fear what that will mean for our friends."
"I don't think I understand. Logan told me he was a bad guy but he never really got into details." Logan had made it sound bad. Somehow, Beast had made it sound so much worse.
"What did Logan tell you about Mister Sinister?" Beast asked.
"He said he was crazy and he had ideas involving genetics and mutants. But that's really about it," Duke replied.
"Very succinct. Much as Logan is," Beast said with a chuckle. A moment later, that mirthful sound was gone and Duke found himself staring into a pair of very intent blue eyes. And he got the sudden idea that he was not going to like what he was going to hear. Not one damn bit. "However, it glosses over a good deal of information I believe you should have. Because whatever happens., whatever Mister Sinister does, will directly affect your training with Dare."
"How?" Duke asked.
"Logan was correct in saying that Mister Sinister is a frighteningly brilliant geneticist who has developed a very deep interest in mutants. To be exact, he is focused on families and how mutations carry through their lines. And there are a few he has been watching for a long time."
Beast paused to sip at his coffee. The cup looked small in his big, blue hands. "Our esteemed leader, Scott Summers, is but one he has kept a close eye on."
Duke thought back to the picture in the hallway. The young man in the ruby sunglasses. "Cyclops. Leader of the OG team."
"Yes. Scott's abilities are really quite amazing when one has the chance to study them. He has excellent control over his optic blasts. And the power behind them is off the charts," Beast informed him. "I could go on for some time about Scott's capabilities. All you really need to know is he's powerful."
"So Sinister is going for the powerful ones, too," Duke mused.
"Perhaps. That would certainly seem the case where Scott is concerned. Remy, Haley, and Dare would fall onto that list. But there's no knowing for certain if power is Mister Sinister's main criteria or if he has other factors he considered before choosing which mutants he wished to grab. Let us not forget that he is a geneticist. It is entirely likely that he's as interested in their DNA as their abilities or power levels. His intent may lie more specifcally in what he can do with their DNA than with their individual powers."
"How do you mean?" Duke asked. Beast seemed willing to talk and there were things that he felt Logan had kept from him. He'd seen something going on behind the man's 'eat shit and die' expression yesterday after talking to Dee.
'You saw the horsemen when they came out of the portal," Beast said. It wasn't a question. But Duke nodded anyway. "What do you remember of them? What did you see when they appeared?"
Duke tried to figure out what Beast was getting at. Obviously there was a reason for that line of questioning, but he wasn't sure what it was. So he took the time to sift through his memories. Not that there were many of them. The length of time between the moment the horsemen stepped out of the portal to the moment the last of them went back through wasn't very long. Probably no more than ten minutes, at the most. Hard to recall when that whole damn thing had been super hectic.
But he looked hard at the ones he did have and, slowly, he saw things that he hadn't noticed in the middle of all the fighting. War and Death looked familiar. War had organic armor while Death dealt with fire. And there were lines in the faces that belonged elsewhere. And then he saw more. He saw how petite Pestilence was. The only one he had problems with was Famine, but he could still see something vaguely familiar in her face.
When he thought he had the information Beast was looking for, he turned wide eyes back to the man across from him. Beast was watching him closely, a knowing expression on his face. "You see what I'm getting at," he said.
"I think so," Duke replied, his voice slightly hoarse.
"I interviewed every member of every team that came back from the desert. And, after some thought, I got the same answers from them all. The same descriptions of the horsemen. The same powers. And I have put together a theory."
"Sinister took them and is using them to create the horsemen," Duke whispered.
The look Beast shot him was filled with a complicated mix of emotions. "It would seem so. Let's start with Famine. She was reported to use blasts of both sound and fire. Jehnna is our mistress of subsonics. Her specialty is blasts of subsonic vibrations that she can use to push things around. To drive people back. The flames in Famine's waves can be attributed to, I believe, Sam Guthrie. Cannonball. He uses thermo-chemical energy to propel himself forward at high rates of speed. Sometimes, this results in flame trails."
That sure as hell explained those fiery blasts Famine shot from her hands. Some of them had gotten close and it was not at all comfortable. "Pestilence is the same height as Morgan," he commented softly.
"And her wings are no doubt a result of Warren's DNA," Beast said. Duke remembered the eerie way her wings glowed.
"They didn't even look solid. It looked like the sun shone right through them."
"As I haven't seen them, I cannot say if my hypothesis is sound. However, descriptions suggest that her wings are a psychic projection. Until she fires them at people. Then they become all too real. And that is how she spreads disease."
"Through her feathers? How is that even possible?"
Beast smiled, but it wasn't a very friendly smile. "Mister Sinister has tinkered with her DNA. Without hours of research, I cannot tell you how. But her wings are no doubt a result of genetic manipulation. Which, if you think on it, is how all four of the horsemen came about."
Duke's head was spinning. This was so much worse than Logan made it sound. "So War. She's got Haley's height. And her hair."
"She also has Haley's organic armor," Beast added. "And her blasts are from Scott. Which leaves Death."
"She's Dare," Duke said. His anger was rising to the surface as all of the knowledge he'd been denied for the past few days began settling on his shoulders.
"In looks, yes. Also the flames are Dare. But the eyes. And the energy that people felt in her flames. Those belong to Gambit," Beast told him. Gambit... Duke knew a bit about Gambit. The X-Man from New Orleans who was an accomplished thief and, apparently, some kind of ladies' man. Duke had never met him. "Gambit is capable of charging any inanimate object with kinetic energy that explodes when it comes into contact with whatever it touches. And his aim is deadly accurate."
Duke considered that. "So this Sinister guy is... what? Making clones an splicing DNA together to get the combination he wants?"
Beast offered Duke a look that rubbed him the wrong way. "While this is an option, I find it more likely that Mister Sinister is creating the horsemen the old fashioned way."
He repeated those words in his head. The old fashioned way. What did Beast mean by the old fashioned way? How did one create exact likenesses of people if one wasn't actively cloning them. For a moment, he struggled with it. And then the clouds cleared and it was like being struck by lightning. The next thing Duke knew, Beast was staring at him with wide eyes and a faintly stunned expression. "You mean he's forcing them to have sex so that the girls get pregnant?" he asked. The growl in his voice told him that he'd gotten angry enough to loose control of himself.
"How extraordinary!" Beast said softly. "Your transformation was instantaneous!"
"If he's trying to have them get pregnant, we won't see them for months!" Duke snarled. "We have to find them now! Get them back now! Before he can do... whatever it is he plans on doing."
"Given the fact that the horsemen are the ones who took them captive, I'd say that Sinister has already done what he plans on doing," Beast said gently. He took a sip of his coffee, which had sat untouched while they talked. Duke was sure it was warm, at best. "The professor has been trying to find them since they went missing. He has been unable to determine where they are. Which suggests that they are not in this world at the moment. All we can do is wait. And hope."
"All we can do is hope? How can you say that?"
"Because, my boy. Right now, there is nothing else we can do," Beast's voice was soft and gentle. Touched with regret. Duke found him sinking into his chair, his anger deflated and his body back to normal.
Hope and wait. It wasn't fucking enough.
~*~
He found Dee sitting at a computer in the... Hell, he didn't know what to call it. It was the room that had been set aside for Purple Team's kids. A glance through the glass on the door showed him that she was staring intently at the screen before her. He was sure the others were in there but he was trying hard not to attract their attention. He needed to talk to Dee alone and that wouldn't happen if the rest of his brood knew he was back. He'd be swarmed faster than a pizza in the rec room on a Friday night.
Logan cracked the door a little bit. "Dee," he called. His voice was loud enough to carry because she turned in her seat and looked at him over her shoulder. The smile that came was wide and warm and the best thing he'd seen in a few days. After a glance toward her siblings, Dee stood up and moved for the door. She waited until the door was shut before she threw herself into Logan's arms.
"Da! You're home!" she said. There was a hint of tears in her words and her arms squeezed him hard.
"Told ya I would be," he grunted, arms curled around her to hold her close. It was damn good to see her. Despite it only having been a few days, it felt like forever since he'd last seen her. After pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he gently disentangled himself from her arms so he could look down at her. "C'mon. I wanna talk and I want to do it before yer brother and sisters know I'm here."
"Okay," she agreed.
Logan turned and headed up the hallway. Dee was at his side, her stride matching his own. She was getting tall. Soon, she'd be taller than he was. Not that such a thing was difficult to manage. He had no doubts that all of his kids would end up taller than he was.
A comfortable silence existed between the two of them as they walked. Soon, they were in the main hall, heading for the front entry. Then they were outside. It was a beautiful day to be outside, with the sun bright in the sky and the air temperature pleasant. Logan watched as Dee skipped ahead of him, stopping here and there to sniff or pick a wild flower, or to simply stare off into the trees. Eventually, they reached the gazebo and Logan waited until Dee was settled on one of the benches before he got to the reason they were there in the first place.
"Wanna talk to ya, Dee," he said. As gently as he could manage. Immediately, Dee's smile fell off her face and her eyes got huge. Just like her ma's.
"Did I do something wrong, Da? Am I in trouble?" Her words came out soft, but that did nothing to disguise her worry.
"Of course not, Dee. It ain't anything like that. I just... " he said, only to trail off and heave a sigh. He wasn't any good at this kind of shit. "I wish yer ma was here. She could explain this better 'n me."
"Explain what? If you're talking about me becoming a woman, Mum and Aunt Haley had that talk with me already," Dee told him. She sounded slightly confused. Logan had to bite back a laugh. Of course Dare had already had that talk with the girl. But had she had the other talk?
"It ain't about becoming a woman. Yer ma and yer Aunt Haley are better suited for that one than I am," he responded, reaching out to trail his thumb over the curve of her cheek. His little girl wasn't so little anymore. There were big changes headed her way. Probably none so big as this one, though. "Do ya remember what we talked about on the phone yesterday?"
"Of course I do, Da," Dee insisted. There was a touch of irritation in her voice. "Why are you asking me that? The Professor and Ms. Grey did the same thing. What's the big deal about a phone call?"
"Ain't no big deal about a phone call, Dee. Its some of what ya said during the call that's a big deal," he told her. She stared up at him, not quite grasping what he was getting at. Logan sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "You told me yer ma and the others would be coming home. And they wouldn't be coming home in the desert. You said they'd be coming home here. At the school. Do ya remember that?"
Dee blinked at him. Then her eyes slid away so she could stare off into the distance. She was silent for what he felt was far too long. But finally, she returned her attention to him and he could tell by the puzzled frown on her face that she was completely confused. "I... I thought that was a dream I had. I don't remember telling you about it, Da."
Logan nodded and took a seat next to her. "Kinda what I figured. The professor asked ya all those questions because I asked him to. There was something in yer voice yesterday, Dee. Something old and deep. Like an ocean of knowledge. I think yer coming into yer powers. Professor and Jeannie agree with me."
"You mean my mutations are coming forward." She was so matter-of-fact about it. For a moment, he saw a smile begin. Then it was gone and a frown took its place. "Well damn. That means I'm gonna start bleeding like a stuck pig. Doesn't it?"
Logan boggled at that for a moment. Then he realized she'd gotten it from Dare and he had to chuckle. "Yeah. Those two things tend to go hand in hand. Powers mean puberty ain't too far behind."
"I'm gonna have to start wearing a bra and all that girlie stuff. Aren't I?" The disgust on her face was a mirror for Dare's face when it came to girlie stuff. He couldn't help the laugh that came. His laughter made Dee frown harder. "Its not funny, Da!"
"Yer just like yer ma," he replied, trying to bring his amusement under control. Then he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, turning her face toward his so she was looking him in the eye. "Ain't nothing wrong with being girlie once in a while. Kinda wish yer ma would be girlie."
Dee's eyes went wide at that. "Mum? Girlie? I can't see it. I don't think I've ever seen her wear anything that wasn't black."
Her words saw him thinking back to Roxxy's wedding, when she'd worn a pant suit in dark emerald green with a dusty gold top. And to Haley's wedding, when Dare had worn a midnight blue dress to make her friend happy. And the time she'd let Morgan put her in that pink dress and how uncomfortable she'd been the entire time.
"Yer ma can be girlie. Kinda like it when she gets all girlied up. Probably why she don't do it that often," he replied. Dee's eyes got big.
"Mum was girlie once?" Her voice said she had a hard time believing it.
"Couple of times. But that ain't why we're out here talking," he reminded her. The astonishment fell away and left Dee staring at him intently. "Yer gonna have to learn how to work with yer powers, Dee. If ya don't, they'll eat you up."
"They won't really eat me up," she responded, her words ending on a snort.
"Not literally, girl. But if you don't learn how ta control `em, they're gonna control you," he told her. "Back when yer ma first came to the school, she didn't know how to control the flames. There was more than once she had an accident. And if she hadn't learned control, there'da been a lot more." He swore there was still a patch of hair that hadn't grown back after she'd roasted his balls in that one Danger Room session.
"Really?" Dee asked, eyes wide in disbelief. "Mum never told me that. And every time I've ever seen her using the flames in the Danger Room, she's always been in control."
"That's because she's worked with `em a lot. She has to be in control. Losing control means people gettin' hurt. And yer ma would never get over the guilt if she hurt someone," he told the girl. Dee chewed on that piece of information for a minute or two before nodding her head.
"But my powers won't hurt people," she said softly. Then she sent a questioning look his way. "They won't, will they?"
"Not in the way yer thinkin', Dee. They won't leave physical scars," he told her. "But they can leave emotional scars. On you and on anyone you might tell some of your visions about. Yer gonna need to learn how to control yer powers. And yer gonna need to learn how to understand what yer powers are tryin' ta say. It won't always be as cut and dry as saying yer ma is coming home. Sometimes, the things you see are gonna be vague and yer gonna have to learn how to interpret them. Which is why you need someone to train you."
"Who's going to train me, Da? Hopefully not Ms. Grey. She was kind of rude yesterday," Dee said, a hint of distaste in her words.
"No, Dee. It won't be Jeannie." Logan had to wonder what Jean had done to make Dee dislike her, but he wasn't about to ask. "Roxxy is going to help you learn how to use and control your powers. She understands how precognition works and she already agreed to help ya. Lessons won't start until she's all better, but she said yer welcome to go down and ask her questions."
"I'd like that," Dee nodded. She fell silent a moment, then looked up at him with big eyes. "Da, does this mean people are going to start treating me different? I heard some of the older kids talk about it and they said people who have powers like you and Mum make normal people scared."
"Folks are afraid of things they don't understand or that are different. And mutants are different to what they're used to. And they don't understand us. So they hate us," he said in his gentle tone. "It ain't gonna be every person ya meet. But you'll meet a lot. So you gotta learn how to protect yerself."
"Are you gonna teach me to fight, Da?" Dee asked, excited by the prospect.
"Yeah. Eventually."
"Cool! When?"
"When I think yer ready. And, right now, you ain't." His words saw a pout settle on her face. He hid his smile and got to his feet. "Right now, how about I take ya out for some ice cream?"
"Really?" she jumped up, even more excited by the idea of ice cream than by the idea of his teaching her how to fight. "Can we go to my favorite place? Can I have three scoops? Can we leave my brother and sisters here?"
Logan couldn't help the laugh her behavior brought. "Yes. Mebbe. And yes."
"Awesome! You're the bestest, Da!" Dee exclaimed before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. He held her close and tried to ignore the pang of guilt her words brought to life. If he was the best, he'd have brought her ma home to her already.
Shoving that thought aside, Logan nudged Dee toward the opening on the gazebo. "Let's go see if Remy left his keys."
"Not Uncle Remy's car, Da! I wanna take Uncle Scott's car. Can we take Uncle Scott's car?" she asked.
"Sure," Logan said, voice gruff. "As long as ya stop calling him that."
Chapter Eleven: Memories Yet to Come
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs to
dazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar . Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
The door was standing open when he finally made it to Xavier's office. The man was obviously waiting for him. Logan would have met with him earlier but Jubilee had been waiting for him in the hangar to let him know that Roxxy had requested he stop in and see her. Jubes had indicated that Roxxy had been insistent, so he'd gone to the infirmary first. It had been an enlightening conversation.
Logan rapped a couple of knuckles against the door jamb before stepping into the office. Xavier was, not surprisingly, sitting behind his desk. Waiting patiently. What was surprising was Jeannie standing by his side. She looked a little uncomfortable, which had Logan wondering just what he was about to hear. Because he was pretty sure this was a meeting about Dee with a bit of mission information on the side. Hiding his minor discomfort, Logan pushed the door closed behind him and moved to stand between the empty chairs that faced the professor. "Sorry I'm late. I went to see Roxxy," Logan told them in order to get the ball rolling. He needed to go hug his kids, and he wanted to ask Dee about the things she'd said to him on the phone yesterday.
"There's no need to apologize, Logan. Please. Sit down." Xavier motioned to the chairs with his hand. Logan considered it, then decided to remain standing. Xavier nodded, as if he expected nothing less, then leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure you're wondering how my meeting with Deirdre went yesterday."
Right to the heart of the matter. Logan appreciated that. He was never good at small talk and he hated beating around the bush. "She didn't give ya any trouble, did she?" he asked. He knew how Dee got and she wasn't above making mischief if she could get away with it.
The question earned him a knowing smile from Xavier. Yeah. She'd given him trouble. "She was incredibly reluctant to speak with us. It would appear that Deirdre has issues with authority figures. Not unlike someone else we know."
The comment was meant to be some kind of mood breaker. Just a little joke about how Dee had gotten her mother's temper. It kind of made Logan want to snarl. Just a little bit. Dare had good reason to mistrust authority figures. She'd told him some things. Not much, but a few tidbits about her life here and there. Morgan had told him about the kid who'd used her and thrown her away like trash. There'd been a lot of people in her life who had used and abused her. And, way she told it, not many adults had tried to help her. She'd had to fight for herself. Dee idolized her mother so it only made sense she'd picked up some of Dare's intense dislike for authority figures.
He needed to remember to take her out for some ice cream later.
"Did she tell ya anything?" He felt the question came out normal enough. Not much growl in his voice on it. He counted that as a win, considering the need to protect his girls ran thick in his blood.
"Again. She was reluctant to speak with us. I had Jean sit in on my interview with Deirdre because I wanted her opinion on the issue," the professor said. He paused for a moment, as if looking for the right words with which to answer Logan. Logan wasn't fond of pauses like that. They generally meant nothing but trouble. "Because of Deirdre's reluctance to answer my questions, I only have impressions to go by. I am nearly positive Deirdre is coming into her powers. But I cannot say for certain. Her mind was a jumbled mess. And she attempted to avoid answering my questions in any definitive way."
"What do ya mean?" Logan asked.
"As you know, most people's minds are rarely still and silent. Even during sleep, their brains project thoughts through their dreams. Minds can be orderly or messy depending upon various influences," Xavier began. Logan sat through the explanation as patiently as he was able. Which wasn't very. He just wanted an answer. "When a mind is messy and active, that mind projects thoughts loudly. That makes it very easy to simply pluck a person's thoughts from the air. Deirdre's brain was almost too active for me to get a read on."
The professor paused here and took a breath. Another pause as if he was collecting himself before continuing. Logan figured it was bullshit and all for effect. Charles did like to go on and on. If he'd gone villain, he'd have been the monologuing king. Weaving his fingers together, Xavier settled his hands on the desk before him. "As I said, she was reluctant to speak with me. And her thoughts were scattered in so many directions that it was difficult to follow them. But her certainty that her mother would be home soon was strong and it is rooted in something that defies explanation."
Well, that certainly tracked. She'd been really adamant on the phone the day before. An almost freakish certainty that had felt terribly alien coming from his twelve year old daughter. The fact that Xavier had picked up on it went a long way toward confirming Logan's suspicions. But the pause in the room was not a good one. There was a subtle tension that grated right on the edge of his nerves. Something was coming that he probably wasn't going to life very much.
"She heard us communicating telepathically, Logan," Jeannie told him. She looked slightly discomfited by the idea. He had to wonder what that meant for Dee. "She told me that she thought it was rude to speak about her behind her back."
Logan frowned at that. That didn't sound like a thing that would come with precognition. "She heard ya?"
"She did," Jeannie confirmed with a nod.
"After that, she assured me that Dare would return. And that she would return here, at the school. Not in the desert. Then she glanced past me and announced she was leaving because Johnny Storm had just arrived to see Rosemary and she was going to escort him to the infirmary." Xavier told him that bit. "Johnny had, in fact, just pulled into the driveway. I can only assume she sensed his presence because she is so close to him. Thus far, any show of possible powers seems to be tied to people she cares about."
Logan considered everything he'd heard. Dee had been pretty adamant with him yesterday when they'd talked. About her ma coming home. About her returning at the school. About all of them coming home. And the way she'd called all the men 'Uncle' made him wonder, again, what it was she knew that he didn't. Add all of that to what Xavier had just said... "So she's getting her powers, but you ain't sure just what those powers are."
"That would seem to be the way of it," Xavier agreed. "We can speak with her again, with you present, if you would like. Your presence might convince her to be more forthcoming with her answers."
"I doubt it," Logan shook his head. She took after her ma in more than just temper. He had a few ideas and they didn't include anyone in this office. "I need to talk to Dee first. She probably don't know what's goin' on yet. An' I'm gonna need to talk to Dare when she gets back. See how she wants to handle this."
"You fully believe Deirdre is correct and Dare will come home?" Xavier sounded unsure. Logan stifled the urge to snarl at the man and gave a single nod of his head.
"Dare'll come home. The absolute belief in Dee's voice, the certainty, tells me she knows somethin' we don't. We just gotta wait," Logan replied. He was tired of this conversation. He was tired of talking in circles about things. He hadn't expected an exact answer to the question of whether or not Dee was coming into her powers. But the one he'd gotten didn't even really constitute an answer. Logan didn't know if Xavier really couldn't figure it out or if he was playing games. At this point, he didn't care. Truth was, he was tired of Xavier's track record where Purple Team was concerned. It almost seemed like Summers gave more of a shit than the professor did. Or maybe Logan was just so tired that he couldn't tell anymore who did and didn't give a shit.
He missed Dare. He needed to hold her. Needed to tell her that he had a hard time with everything when she wasn't at his side. He needed to tell her he loved her. And he needed to believe that his daughter, a twelve year old who was just starting to find out how cruel the world could be, was correct and that everyone was going to come home. "You found anything? Picked up any sign of the missing? Sensed the horsemen?"
It was a blatant change of subject. He didn't care. Not what Xavier thought. Not what Jeannie thought. Not about any of it. Just his family. Dare and Morgan and Remy. They needed to come home. Warren and Scott and Sam and Jehnna. Every last one of them needed to come home.
The urge to return to the desert filled him, but he ruthlessly squashed it down. Dee was right. His kids needed him. They were no doubt confused about their ma. And he had to believe that everything would work out exactly as Dee had said it would. To believe anything else was just... unthinkable.
Xavier sighed. An answer without saying anything. "I'm sorry, Logan. I haven't found anything. Both Jean and I have looked using Cerebro. Where ever Sinister has taken them, it is nowhere in this world."
Logan nodded. If he was being honest with himself, he'd expected nothing less. It still sucked, though. "Did ya ask Storm when he was here if he's felt anything? He's got a bond with Haley, after all."
"We didn't have the opportunity to speak with Johnny," Xavier admitted. Again, Logan nodded. Of course no one would think to ask Johnny if he felt anything. An uncharitable thought popped into his head, one that suggested the only reason Xavier was trying to find the missing was because members of his original team were missing, Hell, the leader of all the teams was missing. Something inside of him twisted at the notion that Scott and Warren were more important to him than anything else. For a moment, he considered pushing the thought aside. But then he stopped himself. Let Chuck catch a whiff of that. Maybe it'd make him think. And maybe Logan was pissing on a five alarm fire in the hopes of putting it out.
"I gotta go talk to Dee," Logan told them, though he really kind of felt he didn't owe them that. He turned for the door before Xavier could open his mouth again. He put the look Xavier wore from his mind, the almost blank patience that grated on his nerves and suggested the man had caught his thoughts and didn't like them. Fuck him if he thought Logan cared. And he put the look of confusion and sorrow on Jeannie's face from his mind. She'd made her choice a long time ago. And he'd made his. Fixing her problems wasn't his job anymore.
Now if he could just damn well fix his own...
~*~
"Ah. The good old days. When we were younger and the world did not seem quite so terrible as it does now." The voice came from behind him, full of wistful fondness and memory. Duke turned away from the picture, just some small snapshot, to find a large, furry blue man standing behind him. He recognized Henry "Beast" McCoy from Latveria, when the heroes had arrived. The man had made a huge fuss over both Haley and Dare.
One blue fingertip reached out to trace over the faces in the photo. It was older and kind of faded. But the five people in it were smiling and laughing, bunched together against what appeared to be a paneled wall. Duke recognized most of them. The ruby sunglasses gave away which one was Cyclops. The woman with the red hair was Jean Grey. There was no way to hide the white wings on the tall blonde, marking him as Warren Worthington the third. The other two people were men, one slightly taller than the other. Both sported blue eyes and brown hair, but that was where the similarities ended. The shorter of the two had a mischievous gleam in his eyes that suggested he was going to make trouble for everyone else. The taller of the two looked more introspective, as if his attention was turned toward some problem that he was attempting to solve.
When that blue finger reached the last face, it was that of the taller blue-eyed, brown-haired young man. "There are times when I would very much like to revisit my younger days. But such things are not to be. And the knowledge I've gained between then and now is too important to give up."
Duke looked away from the photo and the young man in it to the man behind him. There was a wistful look on his face to match the tone in his voice. When Duke returned his attention to the photo, it was to find that the look in those blue eyes was terribly familiar all of a sudden. And then it clicked for him. The young man in the photo and the man behind him. "Dude! You're one of the OG X-Men!" he exclaimed excitedly.
The reaction brought a faint chuckle out of the other man's throat. "I was one of the original five, yes," he replied. "It is good to see you again, Duke. Though I do wish it were under better circumstances."
The reminder of why Duke was presently standing in the mansion that served as school to the luckiest of mutantkind as well as the home of the X-Men brought a faint touch of sadness to his face. It diminished his smile. "So do I," Duke agreed.
"I was on my way to the kitchen to find myself some coffee and perhaps something to nibble on. Care to join me?" Beast asked him.
"Sure," Duke nodded. Beast offered him a smile and followed along behind the other man. They went through a door not far from the picture and stepped inside a rather substantial kitchen. The nearest counter was covered with trays that had been piled high with doughnuts and muffins. There were pitchers of juice and a few coffee pots that held the dark brew. He watched as Beast moved toward one of the pots to pour himself a cup.
"You are more than welcome to partake of our humble offerings. I'm afraid the hot breakfast foods are already gone. The children eat quite a bit," Beast said, one hand motioning toward the counter where the doughnuts and muffins resided. Duke found a plate and chose two doughnuts, both covered with chocolate frosting, and two muffins. One was blueberry and one was banana nut. He poured himself a glass of juice and then followed Beast out into the dining room proper.
There was no one in the dining room, allowing them their choice of tables. Duke took a seat across from Beast, who had grabbed some danish or pastry to accompany his cup of coffee. But there wasn't much eating or drinking going on with him. Instead, he seemed to be staring at the table top pensively. Duke watched him a moment, trying to decide if he should say something or leave it be. After a few seconds, he decided to say something. "Everything okay? You look.. kind of worried?"
Beast blinked and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, my boy. Its nothing."
"You're worried about everyone, too, aren't you?"
Duke's question saw Beast sighing and shaking his head. "Worry is an over-simplification of what I presently feel," the man admitted.
Duke mulled that over while he took a bite from the blueberry muffin. It had the look of homemade to it. The flavor was great, with real blueberries bursting between his teeth, and he had to believe it would have been incredible just out of the oven. "Yeah. There's some freaky shit going on and I imagine worry doesn't begin to cover it. To be honest, I am really kind of surprised by how chill everyone seems to be. There's super weird shit going on and everybody seems really used to it."
"While there is a certain level of the unusual that most of the residents and students here at the Institute have grown accustomed to, what is happening at present is far beyond the normal type of unusual we generally encounter."
Duke frowned. "I don't think I follow."
"Let me ask you a question, Duke. Your first encounter with our Dare involved going to Latveria and testing your mettle against Doom. Do you think that a normal occurrence for any member of the X- Men? Do you think that encountering the horsemen as you did is an every day occurrence for the X-Men?"
Duke stared at him a moment, taking time to study the expression on his face. "I'm going to say that the answer to those questions is a resounding 'No' and that people are freaked out about this. They just don't know how to act about it."
His response earned him a smile. "That, my boy, is a much more accurate description of the situation than everyone is used to these kinds of things. One never really gets used to the violence and horrors that one soul can visit upon another. Nor should one have to. And this is why the X-Men exist. To stop the violence and the horror before it consumes too many souls. But this? What is happening at present? That is a horror that few can comprehend, much less fight against."
Duke didn't like the sound of that. "How do you mean?"
"Mister Sinister has a flare for the dramatic and a love of chaos." The words were spoken in a soft voice, delivered with a heavy layer of emotions that seemed to run the gamut from worry all the way to fear and well beyond. "I fear what that will mean for our friends."
"I don't think I understand. Logan told me he was a bad guy but he never really got into details." Logan had made it sound bad. Somehow, Beast had made it sound so much worse.
"What did Logan tell you about Mister Sinister?" Beast asked.
"He said he was crazy and he had ideas involving genetics and mutants. But that's really about it," Duke replied.
"Very succinct. Much as Logan is," Beast said with a chuckle. A moment later, that mirthful sound was gone and Duke found himself staring into a pair of very intent blue eyes. And he got the sudden idea that he was not going to like what he was going to hear. Not one damn bit. "However, it glosses over a good deal of information I believe you should have. Because whatever happens., whatever Mister Sinister does, will directly affect your training with Dare."
"How?" Duke asked.
"Logan was correct in saying that Mister Sinister is a frighteningly brilliant geneticist who has developed a very deep interest in mutants. To be exact, he is focused on families and how mutations carry through their lines. And there are a few he has been watching for a long time."
Beast paused to sip at his coffee. The cup looked small in his big, blue hands. "Our esteemed leader, Scott Summers, is but one he has kept a close eye on."
Duke thought back to the picture in the hallway. The young man in the ruby sunglasses. "Cyclops. Leader of the OG team."
"Yes. Scott's abilities are really quite amazing when one has the chance to study them. He has excellent control over his optic blasts. And the power behind them is off the charts," Beast informed him. "I could go on for some time about Scott's capabilities. All you really need to know is he's powerful."
"So Sinister is going for the powerful ones, too," Duke mused.
"Perhaps. That would certainly seem the case where Scott is concerned. Remy, Haley, and Dare would fall onto that list. But there's no knowing for certain if power is Mister Sinister's main criteria or if he has other factors he considered before choosing which mutants he wished to grab. Let us not forget that he is a geneticist. It is entirely likely that he's as interested in their DNA as their abilities or power levels. His intent may lie more specifcally in what he can do with their DNA than with their individual powers."
"How do you mean?" Duke asked. Beast seemed willing to talk and there were things that he felt Logan had kept from him. He'd seen something going on behind the man's 'eat shit and die' expression yesterday after talking to Dee.
'You saw the horsemen when they came out of the portal," Beast said. It wasn't a question. But Duke nodded anyway. "What do you remember of them? What did you see when they appeared?"
Duke tried to figure out what Beast was getting at. Obviously there was a reason for that line of questioning, but he wasn't sure what it was. So he took the time to sift through his memories. Not that there were many of them. The length of time between the moment the horsemen stepped out of the portal to the moment the last of them went back through wasn't very long. Probably no more than ten minutes, at the most. Hard to recall when that whole damn thing had been super hectic.
But he looked hard at the ones he did have and, slowly, he saw things that he hadn't noticed in the middle of all the fighting. War and Death looked familiar. War had organic armor while Death dealt with fire. And there were lines in the faces that belonged elsewhere. And then he saw more. He saw how petite Pestilence was. The only one he had problems with was Famine, but he could still see something vaguely familiar in her face.
When he thought he had the information Beast was looking for, he turned wide eyes back to the man across from him. Beast was watching him closely, a knowing expression on his face. "You see what I'm getting at," he said.
"I think so," Duke replied, his voice slightly hoarse.
"I interviewed every member of every team that came back from the desert. And, after some thought, I got the same answers from them all. The same descriptions of the horsemen. The same powers. And I have put together a theory."
"Sinister took them and is using them to create the horsemen," Duke whispered.
The look Beast shot him was filled with a complicated mix of emotions. "It would seem so. Let's start with Famine. She was reported to use blasts of both sound and fire. Jehnna is our mistress of subsonics. Her specialty is blasts of subsonic vibrations that she can use to push things around. To drive people back. The flames in Famine's waves can be attributed to, I believe, Sam Guthrie. Cannonball. He uses thermo-chemical energy to propel himself forward at high rates of speed. Sometimes, this results in flame trails."
That sure as hell explained those fiery blasts Famine shot from her hands. Some of them had gotten close and it was not at all comfortable. "Pestilence is the same height as Morgan," he commented softly.
"And her wings are no doubt a result of Warren's DNA," Beast said. Duke remembered the eerie way her wings glowed.
"They didn't even look solid. It looked like the sun shone right through them."
"As I haven't seen them, I cannot say if my hypothesis is sound. However, descriptions suggest that her wings are a psychic projection. Until she fires them at people. Then they become all too real. And that is how she spreads disease."
"Through her feathers? How is that even possible?"
Beast smiled, but it wasn't a very friendly smile. "Mister Sinister has tinkered with her DNA. Without hours of research, I cannot tell you how. But her wings are no doubt a result of genetic manipulation. Which, if you think on it, is how all four of the horsemen came about."
Duke's head was spinning. This was so much worse than Logan made it sound. "So War. She's got Haley's height. And her hair."
"She also has Haley's organic armor," Beast added. "And her blasts are from Scott. Which leaves Death."
"She's Dare," Duke said. His anger was rising to the surface as all of the knowledge he'd been denied for the past few days began settling on his shoulders.
"In looks, yes. Also the flames are Dare. But the eyes. And the energy that people felt in her flames. Those belong to Gambit," Beast told him. Gambit... Duke knew a bit about Gambit. The X-Man from New Orleans who was an accomplished thief and, apparently, some kind of ladies' man. Duke had never met him. "Gambit is capable of charging any inanimate object with kinetic energy that explodes when it comes into contact with whatever it touches. And his aim is deadly accurate."
Duke considered that. "So this Sinister guy is... what? Making clones an splicing DNA together to get the combination he wants?"
Beast offered Duke a look that rubbed him the wrong way. "While this is an option, I find it more likely that Mister Sinister is creating the horsemen the old fashioned way."
He repeated those words in his head. The old fashioned way. What did Beast mean by the old fashioned way? How did one create exact likenesses of people if one wasn't actively cloning them. For a moment, he struggled with it. And then the clouds cleared and it was like being struck by lightning. The next thing Duke knew, Beast was staring at him with wide eyes and a faintly stunned expression. "You mean he's forcing them to have sex so that the girls get pregnant?" he asked. The growl in his voice told him that he'd gotten angry enough to loose control of himself.
"How extraordinary!" Beast said softly. "Your transformation was instantaneous!"
"If he's trying to have them get pregnant, we won't see them for months!" Duke snarled. "We have to find them now! Get them back now! Before he can do... whatever it is he plans on doing."
"Given the fact that the horsemen are the ones who took them captive, I'd say that Sinister has already done what he plans on doing," Beast said gently. He took a sip of his coffee, which had sat untouched while they talked. Duke was sure it was warm, at best. "The professor has been trying to find them since they went missing. He has been unable to determine where they are. Which suggests that they are not in this world at the moment. All we can do is wait. And hope."
"All we can do is hope? How can you say that?"
"Because, my boy. Right now, there is nothing else we can do," Beast's voice was soft and gentle. Touched with regret. Duke found him sinking into his chair, his anger deflated and his body back to normal.
Hope and wait. It wasn't fucking enough.
~*~
He found Dee sitting at a computer in the... Hell, he didn't know what to call it. It was the room that had been set aside for Purple Team's kids. A glance through the glass on the door showed him that she was staring intently at the screen before her. He was sure the others were in there but he was trying hard not to attract their attention. He needed to talk to Dee alone and that wouldn't happen if the rest of his brood knew he was back. He'd be swarmed faster than a pizza in the rec room on a Friday night.
Logan cracked the door a little bit. "Dee," he called. His voice was loud enough to carry because she turned in her seat and looked at him over her shoulder. The smile that came was wide and warm and the best thing he'd seen in a few days. After a glance toward her siblings, Dee stood up and moved for the door. She waited until the door was shut before she threw herself into Logan's arms.
"Da! You're home!" she said. There was a hint of tears in her words and her arms squeezed him hard.
"Told ya I would be," he grunted, arms curled around her to hold her close. It was damn good to see her. Despite it only having been a few days, it felt like forever since he'd last seen her. After pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he gently disentangled himself from her arms so he could look down at her. "C'mon. I wanna talk and I want to do it before yer brother and sisters know I'm here."
"Okay," she agreed.
Logan turned and headed up the hallway. Dee was at his side, her stride matching his own. She was getting tall. Soon, she'd be taller than he was. Not that such a thing was difficult to manage. He had no doubts that all of his kids would end up taller than he was.
A comfortable silence existed between the two of them as they walked. Soon, they were in the main hall, heading for the front entry. Then they were outside. It was a beautiful day to be outside, with the sun bright in the sky and the air temperature pleasant. Logan watched as Dee skipped ahead of him, stopping here and there to sniff or pick a wild flower, or to simply stare off into the trees. Eventually, they reached the gazebo and Logan waited until Dee was settled on one of the benches before he got to the reason they were there in the first place.
"Wanna talk to ya, Dee," he said. As gently as he could manage. Immediately, Dee's smile fell off her face and her eyes got huge. Just like her ma's.
"Did I do something wrong, Da? Am I in trouble?" Her words came out soft, but that did nothing to disguise her worry.
"Of course not, Dee. It ain't anything like that. I just... " he said, only to trail off and heave a sigh. He wasn't any good at this kind of shit. "I wish yer ma was here. She could explain this better 'n me."
"Explain what? If you're talking about me becoming a woman, Mum and Aunt Haley had that talk with me already," Dee told him. She sounded slightly confused. Logan had to bite back a laugh. Of course Dare had already had that talk with the girl. But had she had the other talk?
"It ain't about becoming a woman. Yer ma and yer Aunt Haley are better suited for that one than I am," he responded, reaching out to trail his thumb over the curve of her cheek. His little girl wasn't so little anymore. There were big changes headed her way. Probably none so big as this one, though. "Do ya remember what we talked about on the phone yesterday?"
"Of course I do, Da," Dee insisted. There was a touch of irritation in her voice. "Why are you asking me that? The Professor and Ms. Grey did the same thing. What's the big deal about a phone call?"
"Ain't no big deal about a phone call, Dee. Its some of what ya said during the call that's a big deal," he told her. She stared up at him, not quite grasping what he was getting at. Logan sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "You told me yer ma and the others would be coming home. And they wouldn't be coming home in the desert. You said they'd be coming home here. At the school. Do ya remember that?"
Dee blinked at him. Then her eyes slid away so she could stare off into the distance. She was silent for what he felt was far too long. But finally, she returned her attention to him and he could tell by the puzzled frown on her face that she was completely confused. "I... I thought that was a dream I had. I don't remember telling you about it, Da."
Logan nodded and took a seat next to her. "Kinda what I figured. The professor asked ya all those questions because I asked him to. There was something in yer voice yesterday, Dee. Something old and deep. Like an ocean of knowledge. I think yer coming into yer powers. Professor and Jeannie agree with me."
"You mean my mutations are coming forward." She was so matter-of-fact about it. For a moment, he saw a smile begin. Then it was gone and a frown took its place. "Well damn. That means I'm gonna start bleeding like a stuck pig. Doesn't it?"
Logan boggled at that for a moment. Then he realized she'd gotten it from Dare and he had to chuckle. "Yeah. Those two things tend to go hand in hand. Powers mean puberty ain't too far behind."
"I'm gonna have to start wearing a bra and all that girlie stuff. Aren't I?" The disgust on her face was a mirror for Dare's face when it came to girlie stuff. He couldn't help the laugh that came. His laughter made Dee frown harder. "Its not funny, Da!"
"Yer just like yer ma," he replied, trying to bring his amusement under control. Then he reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, turning her face toward his so she was looking him in the eye. "Ain't nothing wrong with being girlie once in a while. Kinda wish yer ma would be girlie."
Dee's eyes went wide at that. "Mum? Girlie? I can't see it. I don't think I've ever seen her wear anything that wasn't black."
Her words saw him thinking back to Roxxy's wedding, when she'd worn a pant suit in dark emerald green with a dusty gold top. And to Haley's wedding, when Dare had worn a midnight blue dress to make her friend happy. And the time she'd let Morgan put her in that pink dress and how uncomfortable she'd been the entire time.
"Yer ma can be girlie. Kinda like it when she gets all girlied up. Probably why she don't do it that often," he replied. Dee's eyes got big.
"Mum was girlie once?" Her voice said she had a hard time believing it.
"Couple of times. But that ain't why we're out here talking," he reminded her. The astonishment fell away and left Dee staring at him intently. "Yer gonna have to learn how to work with yer powers, Dee. If ya don't, they'll eat you up."
"They won't really eat me up," she responded, her words ending on a snort.
"Not literally, girl. But if you don't learn how ta control `em, they're gonna control you," he told her. "Back when yer ma first came to the school, she didn't know how to control the flames. There was more than once she had an accident. And if she hadn't learned control, there'da been a lot more." He swore there was still a patch of hair that hadn't grown back after she'd roasted his balls in that one Danger Room session.
"Really?" Dee asked, eyes wide in disbelief. "Mum never told me that. And every time I've ever seen her using the flames in the Danger Room, she's always been in control."
"That's because she's worked with `em a lot. She has to be in control. Losing control means people gettin' hurt. And yer ma would never get over the guilt if she hurt someone," he told the girl. Dee chewed on that piece of information for a minute or two before nodding her head.
"But my powers won't hurt people," she said softly. Then she sent a questioning look his way. "They won't, will they?"
"Not in the way yer thinkin', Dee. They won't leave physical scars," he told her. "But they can leave emotional scars. On you and on anyone you might tell some of your visions about. Yer gonna need to learn how to control yer powers. And yer gonna need to learn how to understand what yer powers are tryin' ta say. It won't always be as cut and dry as saying yer ma is coming home. Sometimes, the things you see are gonna be vague and yer gonna have to learn how to interpret them. Which is why you need someone to train you."
"Who's going to train me, Da? Hopefully not Ms. Grey. She was kind of rude yesterday," Dee said, a hint of distaste in her words.
"No, Dee. It won't be Jeannie." Logan had to wonder what Jean had done to make Dee dislike her, but he wasn't about to ask. "Roxxy is going to help you learn how to use and control your powers. She understands how precognition works and she already agreed to help ya. Lessons won't start until she's all better, but she said yer welcome to go down and ask her questions."
"I'd like that," Dee nodded. She fell silent a moment, then looked up at him with big eyes. "Da, does this mean people are going to start treating me different? I heard some of the older kids talk about it and they said people who have powers like you and Mum make normal people scared."
"Folks are afraid of things they don't understand or that are different. And mutants are different to what they're used to. And they don't understand us. So they hate us," he said in his gentle tone. "It ain't gonna be every person ya meet. But you'll meet a lot. So you gotta learn how to protect yerself."
"Are you gonna teach me to fight, Da?" Dee asked, excited by the prospect.
"Yeah. Eventually."
"Cool! When?"
"When I think yer ready. And, right now, you ain't." His words saw a pout settle on her face. He hid his smile and got to his feet. "Right now, how about I take ya out for some ice cream?"
"Really?" she jumped up, even more excited by the idea of ice cream than by the idea of his teaching her how to fight. "Can we go to my favorite place? Can I have three scoops? Can we leave my brother and sisters here?"
Logan couldn't help the laugh her behavior brought. "Yes. Mebbe. And yes."
"Awesome! You're the bestest, Da!" Dee exclaimed before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. He held her close and tried to ignore the pang of guilt her words brought to life. If he was the best, he'd have brought her ma home to her already.
Shoving that thought aside, Logan nudged Dee toward the opening on the gazebo. "Let's go see if Remy left his keys."
"Not Uncle Remy's car, Da! I wanna take Uncle Scott's car. Can we take Uncle Scott's car?" she asked.
"Sure," Logan said, voice gruff. "As long as ya stop calling him that."