stories.htm
Playing Hero
"Chapter Two: Of Right And Wrong"
Title:
Playing Hero: Of Right And Wrong
(Chapter Two)
Rating: T (what
does this mean?)
Date Written: March 2009
Word Count: 3203
Summary: Part Two of
"Playing Hero". Logan confronts Laura on her
actions of the previous night, and struggles to teach
her that what she did was wrong.
Meanwhile Nick Fury
visits the school.
Disclaimer: Marvel/X-Men
characters, established concepts and previous
storylines full credit goes to Marvel, Stan Lee, Craig
Kyle, Chris Yost, and Co. Original storylines credit
goes to me.
Author's Notes:
Please read the first arc to the series titled "Ties
that Bind" before reading this. |
Chapter
One: Of Right And Wrong
Laura wasn't in when Logan arrived at his
apartment an hour or so after speaking to Hank.
Instead of going out to track her down, he decided to
sit and wait. He spent ages mulling over what the hell
he was going to say to her. But in the end, he
figured, what he would say really depended on Laura's
reaction to the whole situation. He'd been waiting
about thirty minutes when Laura walked though the
front door, dressed mostly in black, and carrying a
large fully loaded brown grocery bag.
"Logan", said Laura, with a slight smile, "I thought
you said you were not coming today?". Logan rose from
the Sofa and turned to face her. "Hadn't planed to"
was the only answer he gave. "Where the hell yer
been?" he asked. It was then Laura noticed his scent.
He was angry. Placing the grocery bag on the nearest
kitchen counter, she replied, "To get food". She
walked a few steps closer to him, then asked, "What is
wrong?". Logan paused for a moment or two before
answering her, "You have fun last night?". Laura gave
him a confused look, "I... I do not understand".
"Pretty simple question, kid" bit back Logan. "You
made mornin' TV". He slammed a newspaper down on the
coffee table, "And the early edition of the
Bugle!". Laura picked up the newspaper and read
the headline: Three Murdered in Brutal Attack.
Now she understood. "Oh..." was all she managed.
"What the hell were yer doin'?!" asked Logan,
his anger slowly rising. "Helping" answered Laura, in
an almost innocent tone. Logan was thrown by her
answer. Trying to keep his cool, he asked, "Helpin'
who?". "Innocent people" she answered, "I have watched
those men, Logan. They hurt people, women, for their
pleasure. It is not right". Logan sighed. He was
beginning to understand the situation. He walked a few
steps closer to her, and spoke understandingly. "Kid,
I get why yer did it, a'right? But understand, yer
can't run around New York playin' superhero". "Why
not? Are you afraid I'll get hurt?". "No!" shot back
Logan, "I'm afraid yer'll get caught!" he told her.
"Kid, yer supposed to be layin' low. There's enough
people out there lookin' for yer, without yer bringin'
more attention to yerself", he took a breath
before adding, "Geez, I know they trained good and
proper in covert ops. So I know yer know
this!". "Yes, I do. I know how to stay hidden" Laura
told him. "Right. So then tell me why the hell
yer'd risk yer cover?!". "Because I... I just want
to be like you!" she blurted out. This shocked Logan.
Those words were the last thing he ever wanted to
hear from Laura. "Like... me?", he shook his head, "No.
Kid, that's the one thing I don't want yer to
be. The world don't need two of me. Hell, it ain't
copin' well with one of me". Laura ignored that,
but spoke in a calm tone, "You and the X-Men help people. You stop bad
people.
I want to help, I want to stop the bad
people. I have hurt so many people, Logan. Innocent
people, who did not deserve to
die by my hand. I know that now. I want to make up for it. I want to make things right".
Logan sighed. In a way he was touched by Laura's effort
to, in her mind, "put things right", but he also knew
there was no way of doing that, she'd gone too far,
years ago, just like he had. For a few moments, he
just looked at the young girl, her green eyes looking
back at him. He wondered how he would explain what
Laura need to know, without sounding like one hell of
a hypocrite. A few seconds later, he came to the decision to
go for it, hypocrite or not, Laura needed hear this.
Logan shock his head slightly, he spoke in a slow,
low, but calm tone. "Kid... Yer can't make
things right... not really", he paused for a moments,
letting that sink in. "People like us… we done too
much damage, hurt too many people. And yeah, maybe it
weren't always our fault. The blood on our hands
weren't always our own, sometimes it was theirs", he
paused slightly, before adding, "But
sometimes it weren't". Logan watched the teen
listening to his words. He tried to get inside her
head, he couldn't. "We can’t fix what we done. But
that's what it is, kid. Done" he told her.
"The only way to ever make things right, is to take
away all the damage, and bring back all those innocent
lives we took", he carried on, "and there's just no
way do to that". Logan watched Laura stand in silence,
she was no longer looking at him, but at the ground.
He could see the girl understood his words - how much
she understood and took in, he didn't know. But it was
a start. And although his intention wasn't to make her
feel bad, he felt it was a lesson he needed to give.
Logan watched the dejected teen move to the old sofa,
and sit. He remained standing. After a few moments,
she looked up at him questioningly. "If what you are
saying is true, then why are you with the X-Men? If
you can not make up for what you have done by helping
others... then why do you do it?". Logan sighed and
slumped down on the sofa next Laura. "Its
complicated". he said.
The Office of Dr Zander Rice was almost completely
dark, the room was windowless, as most of The
Facility's building was. The dirty blond haired man
lent back in his leather chair, staring at his
computer screen. He was intently watching an old black
and while video of Laura, or X-23 as he knew her, in a
training session. The video was taken a few weeks
before she escaped, back then she was thirteen years
old. He watched the child mirror the hologram of
Weapon X's movements. Every attack the Weapon X
hologram made, she followed, even turn he gave, she
coped exactly.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Rice briefly
looked up from the screen, towards the door, then
quickly pressed a button on his keyboard, minimizing
the video footage from the computer screen, leaving
only his desktop showing. "Enter" he told his visitor.
The door opened, and Kirkman entered, carrying a paper
file. "Morning, Sir" said Kirkman as he moved across
the room, towards his boss, sitting at his desk. "I
have some new information on X-23, I thought you'd
like to know asap". "Yes indeed" answered Rice.
Kirkman opened the file and handed across the desk to
Rice.
"It appears that X-23 had an encounter with A.I.M a
few weeks back". "What?!" said Rice angrily,
glancing at the file. "It actually appears to be on
the night she left the school", Kirkman carried on,
"According to A.I.M's records, they somehow managed to
track her - and shoot her to hell - the bullets laced
in Chemical VH206". Rice looked up at his employee,
for a second, Krikman thought he detected a hint of
worry on his boss's face, "That, mixed with her own
blood--", "Would have shut her healing factor down and
proved Fatal", finished Rice. Krikman nodded. There
was a few moments silence between the two men. "Any
idea's how A.I.M would have known to use VH206 on a
target such as X-23?". Kirkman shook his head "All I
can think, is they grabbed samples her DNA when she
hit their base four years ago". Rice thought about
this. "Yes... you could be correct".
"So, why didn't it? Prove fatal? Did A.I.M's records
show what went wrong?" asked Rice. "According to the
records. Nothing went wrong. The virus, once in
her blood stream, would have incapacitated her.
Which was their plan of course - obviously enabling
safe capture". "However, weeks later, X-23 is still in
New York, alive and well" said Rice. "Yes, it appears
so. She must of had help" replied Krikman. "Which begs
the question, now isolated form the school, and from
those who care, who would be helping her?". "I do not
know, sir". Rice sighed. "Okay, thank you, Kirkman.
Anymore information, come to me immediately".
"Yes, sir" replied Kirkman, and with that he left the
room. Rice took a last look at the file, then closed
it and placed it to one side. He turned back to the
computer screen, and pressed a button on the keyboard,
the video popped back up and resumed. Rice watched the
screen once again, "Where are you X-23" he said to
himself, "Who's helping you".
Laura sat on Logan's balcony porch-swing, looking out
at the city below. She watched traffic pass by in the
distance. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't sense
Logan as he stepped though the glass doors and onto
the balcony. "There yer are" he said, bringing her out
of her thoughts. She looked up at him for a second
before staring back out at the city. "What yer doin'
out here?". "Thinking" was the only answer Laura gave.
There was a moments silence between them, then Laura
broke it.
"What you said before... Are you saying people like
those men do not deserve to be punished?". With a
slight sigh, Logan sat down next to her. "No, I ain't
sayin' that. But, kid, it's not your job to
punish 'em" Logan told her. "It is not your job
either, but you still do it" shot back Laura. Logan
sighed, "Kid, Right now, yer gotta worry about yerself,
not others. A'right?". Laura nodded. "Look--" began
Logan, but just then his cell rang. He pulled an
annoyed expression, and then answered it, "Yeah?".
Laura heard Scott's voice on the other end of the
line. After a few moments, Logan spoke again, "A'right,
I'll be there soon". The line disconnected and Logan
put his cell back into his pocket. Turning back to
Laura he said, "Listen, kid, I gotta get back to the
school. Scott seems kinda--", "Concerned" finished
Laura. "I could hear it in his voice" she explained.
"Right" muttered Logan. He stood up, "So, yer'll be
okay, here?". "Yes" she answered. Logan gave her a nod
and he walked back into the apartment. Moments
later Laura heard the apartment door close.
Roughly twenty fives minutes later, Logan pulled into
the Xavier Institute. He brought his motorbike to a
stop, and killed the engine. Just then, Scott opened
the oak front doors. "Geez, Summers," said Logan, as
he got off the bike, "yer either got impeccable timin',
or--", "Emma told me you'd arrived" interrupted Scott.
"Right. 'Course she did" muttered Logan as the two of
them headed inside.
Scott closed the doors, and he and Logan continued
down the hall. "So, what's the emergency?" asked
Logan. "We have a guest. He wants to see you, and
refuses to leave until he does" answered Scott. Logan
stopped and sniffed. Annoyed, he tuned back to Scott.
"Fury?!" he growled. Scott nodded. "What's he want?!"
Logan demanded. "I don't know. You're the man he wants
to see. Not me" replied Scott. "Yer coulda told me he
was here" said Logan in a pissed off tone. "And would
you have came?" questioned Scott. Logan sighed. He hated
when Scott was right about him.
As Scott's office door opened,
Colonel Nick Fury,
dressed complete in his army gear, got up from his
seat. "Ah, Logan. Good" said the older man. "Fury"
growled Logan - which was his best attempt at a civil
greeting. Scott walked into the room behind Logan and
closed the door. "So, what's this about, 'cause yer
know, I really got better things to do" said Logan, as
he
crossed his arms. Scott moved around the room, and sat
behind his desk. Fury glanced at Scott, then directed
his attention to Logan. "What is this about? I'm sure
you can guess, Logan" answered Fury. Logan had indeed
guessed why he was here, and if he had to put money on
it, he'd say his guess was right. But playing dumb was
favourite a pastime when it came to Fury. It pissed him
off, and that was Logan's idea of funny. Logan just
looked at the
Colonel, pulling
the expression that he had no idea as to why he was
here. "Okay, let me make it simple for you" offered
Fury, as he opened a paper file, which lay on Scott's
desk. On the first page was a large printed black and
white photo of Laura. "X-23".
"And?" said Logan still playing dumb. Fury began to
get frustrated. "Quit playing games, Logan" he
growled. "Three men were murdered last night".
Fury then pulled a out a handful of black and white
photos from the file. "Jack
Morley" said Fury, as he placed the first photo on the
desk. "Edward Bellard" he continued, as he placed
another photo down next to it, "And, Tyler Kain" he
finished as he placed the a third photo down. Fury
watched Scott and Logan looking at the three images.
"Recognize the brushwork?" Fury asked Logan. They
showed morgue shots of Laura's three victims from the
alley. "And what makes you think Laura did this?"
growled Logan. "A
girl fitting X-23's appearance was put at the scene.
And, the weapon? Twin blades - or claws" he told
Logan. "But here's the big clue - Traces of
Adamantium were
found in the victims wounds".
Scott glanced at Logan, who registered it, but ignored
him. Logan thought Scott looked surprised, which meant
Hank had kept his promise. He'd not told anyone what
he had found out this morning. Fury turned back to
Logan, "Where is she?" he demanded, "I know you're in
contact with her". Logan ignored him. Scott, who had
kept quiet until now, not looking at his teem mate,
his gaze firmly fixed on the images, asked in a
serious tone "Did she do it, Logan?". Logan didn't
need to say anything, from
his
expression
both
Scott
and
Fury had their answer.
Scott shock his head in disbelief, while Fury sat back
down on his chair, lost in thought for a few moments.
"I'll have to take her in, Logan. You know that" said
Fury. "Yer'll have to find her first" shot back Logan
in anger.
"Logan--" began Scott, calmly, but was interrupted by
Logan himself, "No! I don't wanna hear it, a'right,
Summers? Whatever it is, I don't wanna hear
it!". Fury stood
up. "She's killing!" snapped Fury, jumping to his
feet. "Again!" he added. Logan gave Fury a dangerous
look. He spoke in a low, but pissed off tone, "I told
you. She weren't responsible for what happened here a
few weeks ago". "Yes. So you say. Upon smelling that,
uh, 'Trigger Scent', she looses control" replied Fury.
"But, Logan. I'm betting there was no Trigger Scent in
that alley". Logan couldn't answer. Fury was right.
Logan sighed. "She's just a kid" he said, almost
sadly, "She don't know any different. She's had nobody
to teach
her different". "I'm sorry it's worked out this way"
said Fury, not un-kindly, "But at some point, Logan,
that excuse, just stops working" he finished. "I
agree. Logan, I'm sorry, but I think it would be best
if you cooperated here" said Scott. "Look!" bit back
Logan, "Yer got no idea what she’s been
though, Summers!" he shouted angrily. He turned to
Fury, "Either of yer! Yer got no idea what they did to
her, what they forced her to do. What screwed up
concepts they put into her head of Right and wrong",
he turned back to Scott, "So
don’t tell me what I should be doin’!"
"Logan,
calm
down"
requested Fury. "Yer know what? I ain't gotta listen
to this crap!" spat Logan, and with that he opened the
door, walked out and slammed it shut behind him. Fury
turned to Scott, "What know?". "You do whatever it is
you have to do. This has nothing to do with the X-Men"
replied Scott. "The girl's a mutant!" argued Fury.
"It's between you and Logan" said Scott, "I have a
missing student to find" he sighed, getting to his
feet. "Missing?" asked Fury. "Oh, I can assure you,
nothing sinister,
Colonel"
smiled Scott, "The boy took off of his own accord. We
just need to find him and make sure that he's
alright. Now, if you'll excuse me" said Scott, holding
the door open, indicating he was asking Fury to leave.
Fury picked up his file, and left the room.
Logan had almost made it to the oak front doors when he
heard Fury call his name. He stopped,
sighed and turned to face the other man. Fury caught up
to him, "Your not doing her any
favours by keeping her from us. She
will be
caught. Sooner or later". "Is that right?" said Logan
in a matter of fact tone. "I'm not the enemy here"
protested Fury. "Well, yer sure as hell actin'
like it" retorted Logan. Fury sighed, "I just
want to help the girl. Just like you". Logan let out a laugh, "Yeah,
but yer see, yer idea of
helpin' her, is a
damn site
different to mine!". Logan paused briefly before
adding, "The last thing the kid needs is to be locked
up in a cage! So, I'm tellin' yer - come after her,
and it's gonna get messy".
"I have no choice", replied Fury. "Then we're done",
said Logan, before turning and continuing across the
hall. He'd just made it to the front doors when Fury
said,
"Logan, I know you know
where she
is". Logan stopped and turned to face him, he
gave the Colonel a smirk, "Yeah?" he said,
"Prove it". And with that he opened the left
oak front door and
walked out.
Fury waited until he heard Logan start his bike's
engine, then he took his cell from his pocket, flipped
it open and hit a speed dial number. "It's Fury. I'm
pretty sure he's making contact with the girl. Follow
him. And, do not be
seen. Update me as soon as you have a location". Now
standing in the open doorway, Fury closed his cell and
watched Logan ride down the drive and out of sight.
Logan had ridden ten miles before coming to a stop at
the side of the
road. He wasn't stupid. He knew he was being followed.
He waited for just under a minute, and sure enough a
dark looking car came into view. It had no choice but
to carry on past him. Logan reached for his cell and
dialled the required number. "It's me" he said into
the speaker, "get out of the apartment. Wait for me in
the park near the fountain. Stay hidden". "What is
wrong?" asked Laura on the other end of the line. She
could tell by his voice that this was serious. "Just
do it, kid" said Logan. With that, he hung up. He took
a few moments to think, before starting the engine
once again and carrying on his way. |
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