A New Life

*warning: some violence in this chapter

Chapter 12

Not until the mid 70s did Erik gain some knowledge about his own and Logan’s strange and amazing powers. It was the time when mankind had seriously started inquiring into things like genetics and biophysics, and found some amazing results.

This was the beginning of the mutant phenomenon. People who were genetically different, carriers of a so-called “X-gene” had started to emerge all over the world, some with extreme superhuman powers like telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, etc. These people were simply called “mutants” in the lack of adequate terms, and became subjects of intense research not only in America, but in Europe and Asia as well.

Some were considered so dangerous that they were seen as a security risk, and were therefore kept incarcerated by the government.

Understandably, thmpelmpelling but also frightening news about the mutant phenomenon created huge commotion everywhere on the planet, and people started to fear the mutants, not knowing who was one, and what kind of powers they possessed.

Most of the mutants who had been exposed so far were young people – teenagers and young adults, sometimes even children – but Erik, who was already 43 when the commotion began, was sure he could be nothing but a mutant. And neither could Logan.

I’m a ier ier of the X-gene, Erik thought. I’m a mutant.

He read everything he could find about the mutant phenomenon, X-gene and mutants in general. He read that the X-gene displays itself differently in different individuals. The mutation is physical in some people, and psychic in others. Physical mutation might result in a strange appearance, like odd-coloured hair, an unusual skin-colour, massive growth of hair, canine teeth, etc. often mixed with superhuman strength or speed, but not always. A psychic mutation, on the other hand, is more difficult to detect, and the subject might not even know he/she is a mutant until the gene becomes active and triggers the powers.

Erik concluded that his mutation was psychic, while Logan’s had to be physical. He wasn’t sure yet what exactly he could do – it couldn’t be simple telekinesis, because only metallic objects were affected.

He tried to find information about powers that resembled his, but he had little luck. Logan’s mutation was easier to research. He possessed highly regenerative powers, which enabled him to heal rapidly, and also slowed his ageing process. Logan would soon be 200 years old, and that made him the oldest living human being in history (unless there was another mutant with similar powers that was older.)

Maybe he was the first mutant ever?

Erik and Logan had not discussed the mutant issue very much. It was mostly due to Logan’s lack of interest in the subject, or seeming lack of interest, anyway. Erik had tried to explain the possibility that they were both mutants, but Logan had reacted only with disbelief and irritation.

“Don’t you want to find out more about yourself, and what you really can do, and why?” Erik had asked.

“I know what I can do,” Logan snapped in reply. “I don’t need some white-coat scientist to understand that! Okay, I know I’m not like “regular” people, but do you think I give a fuck? Those “mutants”t tht they’re talking about, they’re nothing new. There’ve always been people who’re different, but mankind has always killed them off from either hatred or fear! I for once won’t let that happen to us.”

Erik was a bit surprised at Logan’s violent reaction, but a part of what he said actually made sense. Mutants were already hated and feared all over the world, and some known mutants had already been put away.

It seems like the world doesn’t tolerate our existence, Erik thought sadly. We can’t help that we were born different.

Erik had worked part time as a laboratory assistant at nearby company named “BioTech” for the past five years. His pay sucked, and the job wasn’t very exciting or varied, but it was better than sitting at home at daytimes, waiting for Logan to come home.

BioTech was a pharmaceutical industry that produced and developed new drugs, and lately they had also started taking interest in genetic engineering. Not that Erik had a chance to affect anything that was done there, but at least he gained an insight into their projects. BioTech mostly worked with plants so far, but…

Erik was scared to death that someone would find out that he was a mutant. He tried to hide the fact that he was gay too, even though homosexual relationships were no longer illegal. Still he suspected that a lot of people knew about him and Logan, since he had heard some of his colleagues call him “faggot” behind his back. Erik had never really cared about what other people thought, and gay people were considered disgusting but harmless. Being a mutant though, was almost like being an evil alien. If someone found out that’s what he was, it would be his – and Logan’s – doom. They were living in a small town, and news here spread like wildfire, so he was really afraid. Mutants were most unwelcome in Bailey Falls.

It happened sooner than Erik thought, although it wasn’t due to him, but Logan.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

One evening in the spring of 1977 Logan and Erik were pushing a trolley around the local supermarket after work, looking for groceries and other things they might need. It had been a hard day for both of them, and they both just wanted to get home and relax. Neither of them was expecting trouble, but that’s exactly what they got before they made it home.

Logan bought a six-pack of beers, intending to relax with a cold beer in his hand while watching TV at home, preferably with Erik huddled up next to him.

Erik wasn’t very fond of beer, but he too was looking forward to a nice cosy evening at home, just like his lover.

When they were on their way back to the car, carrying paper bags full of groceries, three men suddenly stepped out in front of Logan, blocking their way.

The men looked very menacing and stared at the two mutants, strongly determined not to let Logan pass without a fight. Logan didn’t know any of them, but he had seen two of them at the local bar a few times. The third one was a complete stranger.

Logan could smell that they wanted trouble, and tried to think of a way to avoid it. If he’d been alone he would have trashed these guys, but now Erik was with him, and he had to make sure Erik didn’t get hurt.

He inhaled deeply, looking straight in their faces. A submissive attitude might have worked better, but there was no way in hell Logan was going to let these guys think he was afraid of them.

“Excuse me, can you get out of my way, please?” he said calmly, emphasizing “please” so that they would realize he didn’t want any fight.

But none of the three made any sign of stepping aside. They kept staring at Logan as if he were a pile of horseshit.

“I said excuse me,” Logan tried again, but in vain.

“We know what you are, mutant,” the leader, a big, brown-haired guy in his mid-thirties said. “You’re a plague in this town, and we’re going to fix you. You and your little faggot!”

Logan’s expression became harder when they threatened Erik as well, and he desperately tried to find a way out. He knew he could take down these three guys, but could he do it before any of them hurt Erik? He didn’t count on it.

“Erik, go to the car,” Logan said sternly without averting his eyes. “Right now.”

“What?” Erik asked faintly. He was standing behind Logan, regarding the three bullies watchfully.

“You heard me, Erik. Go now.”

Erik was going to comply, and tried to step aside, but one of the men blocked his way and drove him back against Logan. Now Erik was scared. He tried to hold his grocery bag in a firm grip not to drop it, when he was roughly shoved into Logan’s side.

“Going somewhere, faggot?” the man grinned. He was bigger than Erik, and probably much stronger.

“Look,” Logan said, anger seeping from his voice. “If you have a problem with me, deal with me alone. Let Erik go. He hasn’t done you anything.”

“Is he a mutant too?” the leader asked spitefully. “We don’t want any mutants here in our town! You’re soiling our beautiful city!”

“We haven’t done you anything!” Logan snarled. “Get out of my way, or I'll move you!”

He was met by scornful laughter. “So, you will, mutant?” the men asked. “Then move us!”

“Believe me, you don’t wanna fight me,” Logan warned. “This is your last chance. Step aside and let us pass.”

“I wouldn’t think so!” the leader hissed and punched his fist into Logan’s stomach, as the other two grabbed his arms from both sides, trying to wring them up behind his back.

Erik reacted in an instant. He dropped his grocery bag to the ground and lunged at the men, desperate to help Logan.

“Stop it!” he cried, pulling their arms and clothes. “Let him go! Stop it!”

Growling, one of the men turned around to deal with Erik. “So, faggot, you want some too, huh?”

Then he backhanded Erik roughly across the face, knocking him to the ground instantaneously.

Dismayed, Logan saw everything that happened, and hoped Erik would have been sensible enough to run to the car while they were busy with him. But no. The image of his lover’s slender body lying face down on the pavement was enough to send him over the edge.

With a roar Logan threw his two attackers away, sending them sprawling onto the ground. He had a feral look in his eyes, exposing his teeth that almost looked like fangs. When he was free Logan spun around. He wasn’t angry for his own sake, but for Erik’s. He was going to make the fucker who hit Erik pay. Right now.

The man was standing a few feet away, looking down at Erik’s lying shape. He had his back against Logan – obviously trusting that his two companions would take care of him – and was totally unprepared when Logan lunged at him and knocked him to the ground with his weight.

Logan sat astride the man’s stomach and put his hand over his face. “You like beating up people half your size?” he snarled ferociously. “Huh? You like that?! Let’s see how you fare against me!”

He started hitting the man’s head against the ground, still enraged, wanting to tear them all into pieces.

In the meantime Erik had managed to get up from the ground, and saw what Logan was doing.

“Logan, please stop!” he called. “Logan, stop! He’s not worth it! Come on! Let’s go!”

Erik seriously feared that Logan would kill this man, and he wanted to stop him from doing that, since that would bring devastating consequences to them all.

But Logan didn’t even hear Erik’s voice calling to him. He just kept pounding the man’s head against the pavement until the two other men rushed to their companion’s aid. They tried to tear Logan off, but that was very difficult; Logan was a big, heavy man, and when he was enraged like now it was extremely difficult to budge him.

Suddenly one of the men drew out a knife from his pocket. Erik saw him do it, and gave out a terrified cry. “Logan!” he screamed. “Logan, watch out! No!”

Logan spun around again, snarling with his lips drawn back over his teeth, prepared to tear anyone who came near him into pieces.

The two men were more apprehensive and watchful now when they’d seen what Logan had done with their partner, but they were not going to give up, still strongly determined to teach Logan a lesson.

But neither of them felt like attacking the feral mutant, who had shown to be a tough fucker. There were other ways to get to him, and they knew this. The man with the knife suddenly grabbed Erik and tried to get his arm around his neck, but Erik started trashing wildly, and one of his fingers poked the man straight in the eye.

When Erik was attacked Logan reacted without thinking and lunged at the attacker once more. He didn’t think about the knife, or the danger involved, but all he thought of was to save Erik.

Erik fell to the ground when the two large men collided. He tried to see what happened, and looked there just in time to see the knife sink into Logan’s side up to the hilt. Logan gave out a choked groan when the knife penetrated his body. He pushed away the man who had stabbed him, and looked down at himself, seeing the knife sticking out. With a stifled groan he pulled it out and saw that it was covered in blood. His blood.

The injury was already healing, and Logan thanked his healing factor, but it hurt like hell and he wanted to kill the three men.

Erik didn’t know what to do when he watched Logan get stabbed. It felt like his heart would stop beating in his chest. He was cold as ice, but still he somehow managed to limp toward Logan and grab him with his icy fingers. Logan felt hard and rigid.

“Oh my God…!” Erik whispered. “Logan…?”

Suddenly Logan seized him with great strength. “Come on, Erik, let’s leave. Right now.”

He threw the bloodied knife away and grabbed Erik’s hand and started running toward their car. Erik tumbled after him to the best of his ability, but Logan was fast and Erik couldn’t really keep up with him.

Logan fumbled for the car keys when they reached the car, trying to open the car door with his bloodstained hands.

“Logan, let me drive,” Erik said.

“No, I’m driving,” Logan said shortly.

“But Logan, you’re hurt…”

“I’m driving myself, Erik! I said get in the car!” Logan snapped and threw himself onto the driver’s seat. Erik could only obey him and sat down on the passenger side, still worried that Logan might not be able to drive. He had been stabbed in the stomach after all.

But Logan surprised him by driving them safely all the way to their house. When he stepped out of the car he was walking like he used to. Nothing seemed to indicate that he had been stabbed only ten minutes ago. His shirt and his hands were bloodied, but besides that he looked uninjured.

“Logan!” Erik exclaimed once they were inside. He grabbed the bigger man and almost shook him. “Logan, please talk to me! Are you hurt? Logan?”

“Not now, Erik,” Logan replied flatly and seized Erik’s wrists. “Give me a minute…”

He walked into the bedroom, and Erik followed him. He was not going to give Logan a minute, not even a second. He wanted to know how he was *now*.

Logan was sitting on the bed. Erik knelt in front of him and started unbuttoning his bloody shirt. When he tried to find the stab wound he was surprised at the fact that he couldn’t find any. Logan’s tummy looked perfectly normal and uninjured.

Could he have healed *already*? No, impossible. Yes, Logan was a superhumanly fast healer, and Erik had seen him heal small wounds in a matter of minutes, but being stabbed by a 5-inch blade was more than just a small wound. It was something that would have killed a normal man.

“Logan?” Erik asked in a trembling voice, caressing his lover’s hard abs. “Are you okay?”

Logan sighed. “I’m fine, Erik. Healing factor, remember? I’m alright. Don’t worry, I said.”

“But…you were stabbed! I thought you were going to die!”

Logan pulled Erik onto his lap and pressed their foreheads together. “I don’t die that easily. I’ve lived through a lot. But how are you, angel? Are you hurt?”

Now Erik felt that his lower lip was actually hurting, as well as his whole head. He’d been beat up too, but he just hadn’t had time to feel it because of what hned ned to Logan.

Logan saw that Erik had a split lip and something that would become a bruise on his right cheek. Nothing serious, but it still made Logan fume with anger toward the men who had done Erik this.

“I’ll…live,” Erik replied hoarsely. “Logan, why did they do that? What have we done to them? It felt just like… when I was a child, in Germany… Why do they hate us that much?”

“We’re different,” Logan said. “That’s a reason as good as any.”

Erik wound his arms around Logan’s neck and hugged him tightly, happy to be safe and alive, and have Logan so close. He was still shocked, and almost refused to accept the truth.

Those men didn’t even know us, he thought. Still they tried to kill us, more or less. I pray to God that this never, ever happens again, neither to us nor to any other mutant.

He was wrong.

TBC