The Unintentional Donor

Chapter Six


Scott was in the Danger Room’s control booth supervising an exercise when the alarm on the X-Jet’s monitoring system interrupted the relative quietness of the room. He immediately slid his chair over to the jet’s tech board to determine exactly what had set off the warning.

According to the data, Blackbird 2 was no longer in the air – and not because it had landed in San Francisco. The flight path ended abruptly somewhere over the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains.

But what made Scott’s own heart literally skip a few beats was the life support readout showed three flat-lines instead of the heartbeat blips that should’ve been displayed. Unless the system was experiencing a major glitch, all three occupants of the jet – Logan, Marie and Chance – were dead.

“Nooooo!” He wailed – loud enough for the trainees in the DR to hear.

Bobby was the first to run into the room. “What’s up, Cyke?” he asked breathlessly – winded from the workout in the holographic arena.

“Our scores weren’t that bad,” Piotr maintained as he tromped in – followed closely by Remy, Kitty and Jubilee.

Scott didn’t bother to answer; he simply dashed right past them and out of the booth.

“Did all of our mutations just become the gift of invisibility, or was he being rude?” Kitty asked. Storm’s proposed etiquette class was beginning to look like a useful idea after all.

“Ah who cares if Captain Uptight’s missed an etiquette lesson,” Jubilee said as if reading Kitty’s mind. “The important issue here is that the log is unsupervised. Time to erase some shitty scores.”

~*~*~*


Blowing right past Martha, Scott charged straight into Charles’ office. Noting the ashen appearance of the man he considered a surrogate father, he surmised that his information wasn’t news to him.

“Charles,” he said as he dropped down beside the wheelchair and placed his hand over Xavier’s, “tell me what I can do for you.”

Just then Jean came running into the office, having *heard* Charles’ anguished mental scream.

“Oh my God, what’s happened?” she asked fearfully.

“It’s the jet,” Scott informed her as he rose from his kneeling position, “It’s gone down.”

The look on both of the men’s faces answered what would’ve been Jean’s next question.

“No,” was all she was able to choke out.

“I should’ve insisted on being the pilot,” Scott said, “Rogue hadn’t logged enough airtime on the Blackbird to solo. I should’ve gone with them.” Why had he allowed Charles to coerce him into letting them go without him? Whatever had happened over those mountains, Marie wasn’t experienced enough to handle it – and now they were all gone.

“You don’t know if it would’ve made any difference,” Charles noted quietly.

The founder of the X-Men may have been absolving him of the blame, but as it was his tendency to reassess even the most trivial detail of every mission, Scott knew he’d be analyzing and second-guessing himself over this one for a long time.

“I’m so sorry, Charles,” Jean said solemnly as she bent to give him a hug.

“Thank you both for your concern,” he replied sincerely, “but I just need to be alone right now.”

Scott shook his head at Jean – to indicate that she shouldn’t try and argue with him.

“Okay,” she conceded, “But if you need us …”

“Yes – thank you,” he said dismissively and turned to gaze out of the window, effectively ending any further discussion.

Respecting his wishes, they reluctantly retreated from the office.


~*~*~*


The investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the jet had suddenly lost altitude and slammed into Cherry Peak in the Coeur d'Alène Mountains of the Rockies. The impact into the 7,352 foot mountain had turned the high-tech jet into nothing more than a few scraps of molten metal scattered over a five-mile radius. From the evidence collected at the scene, it was apparent that even Logan’s healing factor had been overwhelmed and he hadn’t survived either.

Charles requested that Martha pack all of Marie and Chance’s things and ship them to a P.O. Box in Canada where they’d be retrieved by a friend who’d dispurse them to a couple of charities. Logan’s meager belongings were donated to a local homeless shelter. Within a week it was as if none of them had ever existed.

Although Jean hadn’t cared for Marie, she was still worried about Charles’ grieving process.

“I mean, come on,” she said to Scott, “You’ve gotta admit it’s not normal. It’s like they were never here.”

“As far as Logan’s concerned, that works for me,” he replied, “But I know what you mean – it is kinda … disrespectful.”

“Do you think he knew about their affair, and that’s why he can’t mourn her?” She theorized. Marie may have been able to shield her thoughts from someone who was still learning to hone her gift, but had she successfully been able to avoid slipping around Charles’ more powerful mutation? Had he accidentally discovered his wife’s duplicity as Jean had feared – and the betrayal had cut so deep that he’d shut down emotionally.

“Well, that would explain his attitude toward Rogue,” Scott replied, “But he loved that baby – and he hasn’t even shed a tear for him. Something’s definitely not right.”

“I don’t know how to help him,” Jean lamented – her heart breaking for the ‘father’ she adored.

“We just have to be patient – and when he’s ready, we’ll be there for him.”


~*~*~*


Jean’s theory was partially correct – Charles had discovered Marie’s secret, but it was long before Logan joined the team. Three years earlier, to be precise.

Despite Hank’s promise to the young Mrs. Xavier that he would surpress the results of Charles’ tests, the Professor had managed to learn the truth about his ability (or lack thereof) to produce biological off-spring. So when Marie miracously wound up pregnant he did a little unethical probing, which was a challenge as she was quite adept at blocking him – but with persistence eventually he learned the shocking truth. For appearances sake, he allowed the deception to remain concealed. He never even let Marie be aware that he knew. Once Chance was born, and he’d fallen in love with the little guy, keeping the secret had become easier.

Because of Logan’s nomadic lifestyle, it took the private detective Charles had hired several years to track down Marie’s one-night stand.

As expected, the Wolverine took the bait – Charles had made sure the job offer was too tempting to refuse. It would’ve taken Logan months of pummeling rednecks in a metal cage to earn what Xavier was offering him per week. It was almost too easy.

Marie and Logan’s reunion in the foyer of the mansion that first day was like watching a telenova play out.

But revenge was not actually Charles’ motive for setting these events into motion. He really did adore Marie and appreciated the light she’d brought into his life. However, he couldn’t let her continue to sacrifice her own ultimate happiness. He wasn’t that selfish. Which is why he came up with The Plan. That way Marie would have her freedom, and he’d be the grieving widower instead of the cuckolded husband.


~*~*~*


One Year Later ~


The 6,315 population of Peace River, Alberta had welcomed three new residents only a year earlier – and now the Howlett family was about to add one more to the local census.

Charlotte Howlett entered the world weighing a healthy 8lbs 5oz – much to the delight of her parents James and Marie and big brother Chase. (Who sometimes told people that his name was Chance – but his parents explained that was simply because whenever he wanted a cookie before dinner he was told, “No chance.”)

“We have to call Charles and let him know his namesake has arrived,” Marie told Logan as soon as they were alone.

“Got the ‘Batphone’ right here,” Logan said as he pulled out the special phone they used to communicate with Charles.

Marie tentatively dialed the number of Charles’ private line.

“Hello, Marie,” he answered.

She told him about Charlotte and caught him up on all the other latest news.

At the end of the conversation she reverently said, “Thank you, Charles … for everything.”

The everything Marie alluded to included staging their ‘deaths’, providing them with new identities and setting up a trust fund so they’d be financially solvent. Logan had tried to refuse the monetary assistance, but Charles had insisted – telling him to put aside his pride and consider Marie and Chance’s security.

With just a hint of sadness in his voice, Charles replied, “For a while you made an old man very happy – and you deserve to have true love, Marie. I love you and Chance enough to let you go.”

And with that, Charles ended the call and turned to look out the window over the vast estate that would one day pass down to the Summers family.

THE END