More Than the X Can See

Chapter 7

After Hank was finished with his questions, Annie had helped Angel take her shower. Afterwards, Annie gave Angel more medication and watched her drink two glasses of water before she left her alone so she could sleep.

Shortly before one, Logan walked into the Infirmary wearing jeans cut off at mid thigh and a cowboy hat. He glanced at Angel in her bed and saw that she was sleeping. He finished the last of his beer and gently placed it into the large trashcan near the door. He walked over to Annie who had put down her book and picked up a clipboard. “The music’s blarin’ and the food’s done cookin’,” he told her quietly. “Ororo said she’d save you some room in the jaccuzi, but you better hurry.”

Annie handed him the clipboard, which had Angel’s medical chart on it, “She got that shower she wanted, but it really tired her out and she’s been asleep ever since. If she wakes up, she can have more meds at two or any time after. I’ve put them on the tray in that paper cup. Make sure she drinks plenty of water with it. The fridge has bottled water if she wants it cold. If she’s hungry, there’s also a bowl of soup in there and you can heat it up in the microwave. The crackers are—”

“I got it handled,” Logan stopped her with a condescending smile. “Ya go, take your time and enjoy yourself. You’ve been cooped up in here for days and your son’s been askin’ when ya was gonna be comin’ up.”

“Did you see what Carter ate for lunch?” she asked reaching down and picking up a cloth tote and popping her book into it.

“Don’ know. You’ll ‘ave ta ask Juggernaut, he’s been watchin’ ‘im.”

“Oh, then he’s alright. Mr. Marko will make sure he eats a good lunch.”

“You trust ‘im?” Logan asked, a little skeptical of a known criminal like Cain “Juggernaut” Marko’s ability to watch children.

“Professor Xavier assured me that his stepbrother, Mr. Marko, would never let anything happen to any of the children. It’s one of the reasons he’s allowed to stay and been remanded to Professor Xavier’s custody.” She flung the tote over her shoulder, “Anyways, he’s been watching Carter on and off almost since he arrived at the Institute.”

“Juggernaut’s been y'r BABYSITTER?” Logan’s voice rose in incredulity.

“Shhh,” she hushed him and motioned towards Angel’s sleeping form. “Yes, he’s still learning and I wouldn’t trust him with a child under three yet, but with a little supervision he’s become an excellent babysitter.” Before the door closed behind her, she said quietly, “He may even be better than you.”

Logan heard her comment and he frowned at the thought that someone like Juggernaut could take care of children better than he could. He started to put Angel’s chart back in it’s place at the foot of her bed and realized that he didn’t want to continue thinking in that vein.

As a distraction, he pulled her chart back out and looked at it, reading the latest information on his charge. His interest was piqued by the fact that she was still healing her injuries so quickly. Warren‘s blood should have gone through her system days ago, but according to her chart, all of her injuries had healed. Hank had even made a note that her blood samples continued to contain the same healing factor that Warren’s did. The last entry was from Annie, she had written down in her visual inspection of Angel’s body taken while giving her a shower, that few bruises remained and that other than exhaustion and dehydration her patient seemed physically fit. It had taken a few days longer than Warren or himself, but Angel was fully healed after an explosion that, technically even with their regenerative ability, should have killed all three of them.

Warren had received the initial damage report from the inspectors yesterday, Friday afternoon, and let him read it. The explosion had damaged buildings in a quarter mile radius either from the initial blast shattering windows or from the spread of fire. The street above the sewers and the sewers themselves were going to have major construction to get them working again. There had been a strange note about how the damage to the sewers was more extreme from a certain point in the sewers away from where the three of them had been found. The debris pattern didn’t correspond with the available data and they were going to conduct further investigations to figure out why. The Lobo Tech building itself had literally been disintegrated. Some of the concrete was powdering and a few of the metal structural beams had melted from the extreme heat. Warren had told him it was a total write off and his insurance company was going to handle it, but he expected to see bills from all the claimants totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars soon. Good thing Warren was rich.

He put Angel’s chart back into the slot at the foot of the bed and stared at her for a moment. When he talked to Hank he’d said that if she hadn’t flown into Warren in the initial blast she’d be dead. Not even at the Institute twenty-four hours and he would’ve gotten her killed. He knew he would‘ve blamed himself because he was the one who had overheard her conversation in the cafeteria and told Warren about it. Hell, he‘d even been the one to encourage Warren to talk her into going with them. Damn his luck.

With a sigh, he turned away from her and went in search of the television remote, finding it he turned the television on. The television was already at a low volume so he took off his hat and got settled in a bed. He adjusted it so he could watch the television and flip channels without getting a crick in his neck and kicked back to relax in the relative quiet of the Infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was around thirty minutes later and he was wishing he’d thought to bring more beers with him when he noticed Angel’s heart monitor had started beeping incrementally faster. He got up and went over to check on her. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids and her breathing had gotten faster, but she still seemed to be asleep. He checked the machines, but didn’t see anything he should worry about. He decided it was a nightmare and he stroked her arm through the covers as he said softly, “It’s alright, Darlin’. No need to be afraid. You’re safe and I won’ let anything happen to ya.” Soon she quieted and he smiled in triumph at helping to conquer her nightmare, “See, I told ya everything would be alright.” Seeing the machines and her breathing return to normal, he went back to watching television.

“Mmmm,” he heard her mumble in her sleep not less than five minutes later. “Mmmm,” she murmured and turned her head away from him. She shifted her legs under the covers and sighed with a smile. She moaned and he noticed, looking at the machines, her heartbeat had started to rise once more. He got up to check on her again. He wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare this time from the noise she was making, but he was going to check it out anyways. He stood beside her bed and watched as her breathing started to come in pants. He could smell her more intensely now, she was starting to cream her underwear. He’d made her go from a nightmare to a sexual fantasy. With a grin, he crossed his arms and stood over her, watching her have a wet dream.

He wondered if her dream was with a man or a woman. Lesbians had raised her so there was a large possibility it was with a woman. Just thinking about her with a woman started to get him hot and his dick twitched in appreciation. Angel’s head turned in his direction and her tongue came out to lick her lips. He suddenly remembered her scanning ability and wondered if she was aware of him beside her. He made his dick twitch again and watched as her legs opened as if in invitation. She was good looking and he thought about fucking her. His dick swelled slightly and she moaned then licked her lips again. This was starting to get interesting. He looked at the doors to the Infirmary and didn’t see anyone approaching. He reached down and ran his hand down the front of his cutoffs, rubbing himself through the material. She groaned and her body turned towards him, her near hand coming out from under the covers and flung out, almost touching him.

“Angel?” he whispered, and then he stepped back and tried to figure out if she was awake or not. He wondered what her reaction would be if she woke up hot and horny. He could smell how aroused she was and he’d have no problems taking care of her if she asked. He waited a few moments, but she didn’t respond. He decided to test his luck and stepped forward letting her outstretched fingers touch his crotch. They twitched and curled loosely under his balls, gently caressing him through the rough fabric. He froze and waited, his dick swelling even more in anticipation.

“Logan?” Angel asked as her eyes slowly opened.

“Yeah, Darlin’,” he wasn’t going to move, her hand was in a vulnerable area and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to draw attention to it.

Her nails scraped against his shorts as her fingers curled away from them. He was surprised when she raised her hand and rubbed her knuckles against his growing erection. “Do you want me?” she asked sleepily.

“Yes,” he said simply. He wasn’t going to beat around the bush, he’d rather be in it. “I want you.”

She was a little more awake and she moved the bedcovers back, “I want you, too.”
His grin turned into a full-blown smile, “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” she asked petulantly.

“To get a condom,” he responded.

“I’m clean and protected,” she answered sounding fully awake now. “I’m on Norplant.” She reached over and touched the underside of her left arm feeling for the little tubes that contained the anti-pregnancy hormones.

“It’s nothin’ against you, Darlin’, but I’d rather be sure. Don‘t know what‘s goin’ on with your system right now,” he told her moving towards the cabinets. Once when he’d babysat a previous invalid, he’d searched through the Infirmary just to find out what was in it and he’d found a box of condoms. He’d wondered why they were there, but he wasn’t going to ask. It would have been undignified for The Wolverine to have been caught snooping. He looked for them again and found them in the same place, the box still unopened. Checking the expiration date he saw it was still valid. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled, he wouldn’t have to leave the Infirmary to go up to his room. Holding the box in his hand, he walked over to the doors to the Infirmary and locked them. There wasn’t a privacy curtain on the main doors, but he knew there was a horseshoe shaped one that was attached to the ceiling above each sickbed. He grabbed the edge of the curtain around her bed and made the circuit to enclose them in the white fabric wall.

She sat up in the bed and pulled off her backless hospital gown revealing her nude body underneath. The top caught on her monitoring wire and she pulled at the tape keeping it connected to her finger. He helped her get it off and the monitor began making a shrill noise as it flat lined. She jumped in surprise, scowled and raised a hand to it. A rippling wave of force emanated from her hand and the machine slammed against the wall. The monitor cracked and the whole unit crumpled like an aluminum can as it embedded itself.

“Shit!” Logan exclaimed, staring at the monitor, surprised by the new ability Angel displayed.

“Oh, no!” she was shocked at what she’d just done.

He turned to her with wide eyes, “You never told me you could do that!”

She glanced at him before returning to stare are the monitor, “I didn’t know I‘d do that!” She got down from the bed and inspected the destroyed machine. Logan pulled her back just as a last spark flared and landed on her naked flesh. “Ouch!“ she exclaimed putting a hand to the burned flesh on her stomach.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?” Logan asked accusingly, his arm resting beneath her breasts holding her close, her hair a silken curtain preventing his wiry chest hair from abrading her soft back.

Rubbing the smarting spot to the side of her navel, she explained, “I thought I would just unplug it.”

“You did more than unplug it, Darlin’,” he said sarcastically, eyeing the damaged metal for more signs of sparking.

She twisted slightly, giving him a hurt look, “When I was a little kid, I could push things away. Unplugging them usually. My parents didn’t want me to use my abilities when I started school so they started punishing me when I used them.”

His eyebrow rose up and he latched on to her last word, “Them? You have more?”

“I can create a ‘bubble’. I remember using it in the bathtub when my mom tried to rinse me off. The water would fall down the sides of the bubble, not touching me. I tried to use it during the explosion, but it didn't work very well. I should have realized that if my ‘bubble’ got bigger, my ‘push’ would have also. But I didn’t realize it would do that!” she pointed at the embedded metal. “Oh, Crap! Xavier’s going to take it out of my paycheck. How much does a heart monitor ... thingy ... cost anyways?”

Logan gently turned her back to the bed by turning his body and bringing her with him, his arm still wrapped around her chest. He had a thoughtful look on his face, “Not a clue, but don’t worry ‘bout it. What’s this ‘bubble’ you can make?” He was moving her back towards the bed.

“You want me to do it here?” she motioned at the room beyond the curtain. “I think this place is too small,” she said hesitantly, “I don’t want to break anything else.” She moved forward, his arm releasing her, and climbed back onto the bed, her knees dangling as she sat facing him.

“So it’s big?” he moved to lift the covers for her. Thoughts of sex having been put on the back burner of his mind with the crushing of the medical machinery and her revelation that she could do more.

“Yeah,” her eyes lost focus for a moment as she tried to remember, “It was really big. I remember thinking we weren’t getting away fast enough. That we were gonna get killed. That I needed to block off the sewer before the explosives went off. I remember making it,” she looked at him a little disbelievingly. “It was really big. Bigger than this room. I remember fire and rocks--BIG rocks--hitting it and bouncing off, but then I was being pushed back and I lost it. I can’t remember much else.” She looked at him helplessly, her hands folded in her lap.

He stared at her, “Are you sure about the rocks bouncing off?“

She nodded, “Oh yeah, there was this really big piece, flat on one side, like it was part of the sewers and it just slammed into my bubble, would have crushed me if I didn‘t have it up, and then it sort of rolled off and away. By then all I could see was fire. The bubble held it off for a bit, but I couldn’t breathe and the bubble started to get heavy like someone was pushing it. I don’t remember much after that except flying backwards and ... white stuff.” She frowned at the last part, trying to remember, and then she shrugged and shook her head, giving up.

“I think you need to talk to Chuck or Jean,” he said seriously, “they might be able to get in your head and figure out what happened.”

“I don’t think they can,” she told him. “Jean tried in California and she couldn’t do it. Professor Xavier and I discussed it at lunch when I arrived, in the cafeteria. I think it was before you walked in. And he told me he’d tried to get into my mind and he couldn’t.”

“They can’t read you?” Logan was surprised. Charles was the most powerful telepath in the world as far as he knew.

“I guess not, at least that’s what I was told.” Her stomach gurgled and she put a hand on it. “Excuse me,” she said, embarrassed.

Remembering that he was in the Infirmary to take care of her, Logan finished gathering the covers and lifted them up in silent invitation. After she lay down correctly in the bed, he placed them over her. “Annie told me there’s some chicken soup for you in the fridge.” He looked up at the time, “and you also have some pills to take.”

After taking her medication and eating her soup and crackers, Angel had gone into the bathroom. Logan had casually admired her body as she moved across the room. It reminded him of their aborted attempt at sex and he quickly moved around the room gathering up the condoms and putting them back before unlocking the Infirmary doors.

Angel knew what he was doing through her senses and she smiled and then shrugged. She’d been in the mood earlier, but ... oh, well, c’est la vie. While she washed her hands, she realized she was still hungry. “Logan, is there anything else to eat?” she asked coming out of the bathroom. Her senses told her there were more crackers, but nothing substantial. “I’m still hungary, but I don’t want crackers. I want something meatier.” He looked her up and down and opened his mouth to make a suggestion when she said, “I’m not in the mood anymore, sorry. Could you get me some of the food from the party?”

Logan thought for a moment, his gaze traveled over the useless crushed monitor in the wall and he smiled. “How well do you feel? You up to some travelin’?”

She smiled, “I feel fine, just hungry.”

“Not sleepy?”

“Nope.”

“Good, you’ll need to get some clothes on first,” he looked around the room.

“There isn’t anything but hospital gowns,” she informed him. He gave her a sharp look and she nodded her head while her hands motioned outwards in front of her, “I know these things.”

“Then we’ll have to stop by your room upstairs,” he said. “They’d kill me if I let you go around with just a hospital gown on. ‘though it‘s hot enough, you’d be more comfortable in it.”

She smiled at him, “I did bring a couple of bathing suits. Professor Xavier told me you had a pool and a couple of Jacuzzis.”

He nodded with a smile and advised, “You’ll need to put your gown back on before we leave.” He opened up a large cabinet door, pushing aside a pair of crutches he grabbed a folded wheelchair and hauled it out.

She picked up her old gown off the floor and tossed it on the bed. She went over to a drawer in the cabinets and got out a fresh gown and put it on backwards. Then she pulled out another gown and put it on correctly. This covered her rear and her front but it bunched strangely around the shoulders and arms.

“I’ll need to remember that trick,” he told her, eyeing her attire as he presented the wheelchair to her.

“We’re small enough for it to work,” she smiled, “someone tall like Warren would have problems in the shoulders even if he didn’t have wings.” She sat down in the wheelchair, careful to smooth the hospital gowns down her rear to protect against the cold vinyl.

He moved the feet pads down for her to rest her feet and keep them from dragging. He grabbed his hat before he moved behind the chair and pushed her out of the Infirmary and down the hall to the elevators.