Weapon X: Man or Animal

Chapter 9 

By the time Scott woke up he could already tell that it has been a few hours, he could hear the signs of it more clearly now that there wasn’t too many people within the mansion’s walls and he was well aware of evening rituals Ororo and Jean tend to without fail. Though the realizations that whatever plans he had would have to be dealt with tomorrow came quickly causing a brief flare of irritation to nearly take hold.

Briefly he wondered how the children that normally would be living at the school now are doing. Moira is a good person from what he learnt when he met her some time ago when he was still a teenager. She once told him she used to be in the CIA, but quit for reasons she didn’t share too freely. Scott didn’t push though.

The sound of a glass being put down on his bedside table caught his attention. He felt his sunglasses were on and the light was turned on causing brief blindness, despite the fact that he was wearing sunglasses. He didn’t understand why Jean wanted bright lights in the first place.

“I’m surprised it took you this long to wake up, but I shouldn’t be.” He heard the Professor say, and Scott frowned. He would have rather had Jean here with him rather than the Professor right now, not after the sense of betrayal he felt because of this man. Scott didn’t say anything as he sat up and found that his throat was sore. He didn’t ask for anything for it though and he knew full well why his throat hurt.

“Why are you letting someone like him here? He’s everything the X-Men aspire not to be. Everything I stand against.” Scott bluntly asked after a good five minutes passed, eyeing Professor Xavier impatiently through his tinted glasses. It bothered him sometimes not being able to see like everyone else, but he adapted. He always adapted.

“As you can see, we are stretched a bit thin. We need the help, Logan needs the help. And Victor is one of the most likely to be able to help him…” Scott heard the Professor start to say, but for once he couldn’t let himself let the Professor finish what he said. The thought of that animal being one of them made his stomach churn. The thought of that animal helping them, Logan included, wasn’t settling well with him.

“Because they’re brothers. I know. I was there when that son of… When Victor informed us of who Logan actually was. Who he was to Logan. But why is he still here. Logan was rescued from that place, so then why?” Scott impatiently snapped as he shifted on the bed until his feet touched the ground. It was chilly, but the cold was a welcomed contrast at the moment.

Silence and it was times like this that he hated how piercing the Professor’s eyes can be when he’s turned his attention fully onto you. Which it seldom was, he was a psychic in a school filled with children usually. And the Professor had a habit of keeping tabs on everything without having to read their minds, but using his ability nonetheless. So there was the rare time that he wasn’t paying attention to you when you were in the same room as him. He was after all, only human. More or less.

“Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance Scott?” Professor Xavier calmly asked, Scott noted his hands to be folded on his lap while Scott was regarded. He hated that the Professor had the audacity to ask such a question!

“Yes, but…” Scott started, a protest stopped prematurely by a calm rhetorical question,

“Everyone?” They both knew the answer, but Scott knew that he would have to voice it. Inwardly he cursed the man, and cursed Sabretooth or Victor. Whatever he was to be called. It made no difference to Scott.

“Sure. Sabretooth never showed signs of wanting to change, he’s the one who locked me up on that island. He’s the one who tormented other mutants there! So why is he here, and it’s not simply because of your belief in second chances.” Scott said, holding on to his side of this discussion. If the Professor was there, then he would have understood better. If Sabretooth took someone who the Professor loved, he would understand. But the Professor didn’t.

“In fact Scott, it is. We went through this, more than once. Think of him as an addict of sorts. I’m simply trying to help him get better. Not to mention there are so many parts of his personality that’s fragmented and not matured as yours or mine. But he also didn’t have the same upbringing we did.” Professor Xavier calmly explained, he too was keeping to his side and just as stubbornly as Scott was.

“And that’s an excuse?” Scott found himself demanding, his emotions have long since gotten the better of him. If they hadn’t he would be having a civil, but understanding conversation with the Professor rather than a mild debate.

“No. But it’s the start of an explanation. Even Logan had a better upbringing for the first eleven years of his life, from the brief glimpses I caught from Victor. Which is probably why he was the... Which is probably why he was more suited for being an X-Man despite how damaged he is.” Professor Xavier calmly explained, though Scott caught the rare inconsistency Professor Xavier barely makes. He was going to act on it. What was the Professor going to say originally?

“Why he was the, what Professor? You started to say something. Does this have anything to do with the current situation or what?” Scott pushed, determination setting in. He wanted to know what Professor Xavier was keeping from him. And he knew enough to know that whatever he was going to say didn’t have to do with Sabretooth, but Logan. He wasn’t a leader for nothing, and he had a sharp mind when needed.

More silence, Scott was starting to hate these brief silent pauses between them.

“Do you remember when you escaped? How the locks were undone on all of the cages at once. None of you spoke of it, fear and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome possibly being the reason why. Do you remember what you heard during that time?” Professor Xavier calmly started, stopping only to wait for Scott’s answer.

“Slicing, metal on metal I think. Why?” Scott answered, at least once a week now he thinks back to that time. In the early days he used to think about it at least once a day. He’s getting better.

“Logan used his claws and sliced the locks on the cages, unlocking every cage at once before moving onto another enemy. That is when I believe the first hit to his memory took place…” Professor Xavier calmly stated though Scott didn’t hear the rest of what he had to say as he couldn’t get past the fact that apparently it was Logan who saved him and the rest of the mutants caged up like animals.

He didn’t even hear Hank enter quietly and a brief conversation or report being said. He didn’t care at the moment; in fact all he could think or try to put together what happened that day and the brief words spoke about it. They mentioned metal knives or claws. But he didn’t think anything of it; after all he didn’t see it for himself. He only heard.

And now according to what the Professor said, Scott had to come to the realization that it was that same unruly man who tried to kill him shortly before he left was the one who freed him and the other mutants. It was a shock to say the least, how could he come to terms with that? After all the animosity that seemed to form between them? After he told the Professor that, he was glad that Logan was gone. How could he come to terms with all the conflictions going on when it came to one man?

~ Man ~ Weapon ~ Animal ~

Charles wasn’t entirely sure if he did the right thing by informing Scott, but the man had a desperate need to know, one Charles barely kept from creeping up in the younger man whose head was now resting in his hands. And even doing that was in the grey area. Hank ended up coming by briefly informing him that they set Laura up in a room of her own. Supervised of course. And they were ready to track her down if she tried anything. They were taking a big risk by letting her sleep in a room, but how will they know if she could be rehabilitated if they didn’t take a few risks within sensible means.

“Scott.” Charles said, trying to get the man’s attention. Frowning slightly he reached out and put a hand on Scott’s knee, a further attempt to get the man’s attention only to have him pull away angrily. Charles sighed to himself and simply folded his hands in his lap again; he reached out with his mind to check on Laura to see if she was okay. She was confused, but other than that she wasn’t doing too badly. He could sense a great deal of caution and an underline concern for Logan. How that came about Charles didn’t know, but somehow the young girl became attached to the unruly man even when he was less than a man due to tampering and torture.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!” Scott demanded, it drew Charles’s attention from Laura to Scott again. He could sense a lot of anger, but that was to be expected. Before he could say anything though Scott continued,

“Didn’t you think that I would need to know something like that! That every one of us needed to know how we got out of there! Why didn’t you tell me when Logan was first brought aboard and why didn’t you tell him that you knew more than what you let on?!”

They were all good questions; there was no doubt about that. And Charles was briefly surprised that Scott was unknowingly or knowingly standing up for Logan as well. How people change after a little bit of information is given. He was right when he chose Scott to be the leader of the X-Men, and now Charles unfortunately had clean up work to do and he had to pacify Scott in this subject.

“Logan wasn’t ready to know and his mind is fragile enough as it is, and neither were you. Scott, I never told you because I knew how it would have affected you emotionally. Why would I jeopardize your chances of healing by informing you about something so drastic like that? I had to look out for the two of you.” Charles explained, pleading entered his voice in order to get Scott to understand what Charles was trying to say. He could tell Scott was going to protest some more, sensed it coming even before his mouth opened and before Charles interrupted with a calm,

“I had to look out for the two of you. I know now that I did it in the wrong way. But I had good intentions in doing it…” Charles was cut off by a bitter chuckle as Scott got up and headed towards the door.

“Scott?” Charles called out with concern tinting the edges of his voice. He noticed that Scott stopped at the sound of his voice, or it was because he was at the door already. One or the other, but stopped nonetheless.

“You know Professor… The road to hell was paved with good intentions…” Scott practically hissed over his shoulder and stormed out of his own room leaving Charles alone and contemplating. He had to fix this. Somehow.

~ Man ~ Weapon ~ Animal ~

Victor found himself in front of the door. Doubt settled in his gut, but he came to the conclusion that he had to do this. He had to meet his brother face-to-face. He had to see for himself how far down his brother has fallen in a situation that didn’t have so much blood or chaos. He had to see. He had to know. But going further wasn’t as easy as Victor would have hoped for it to be.

And he couldn’t make himself budge or move his arms from his side in order to push a simple button to open the door. Snarling to himself he cursed his own weakness and lack of ability to simply go in there and take a look for himself. But then again, when he gets in there what will he do? What could he do? Would his brother even recognize him? He doubted that he would, but there was a little bit of hope in Victor. And he hated that, hated that it felt far too human for his liking. Snarling again he shifted uncomfortably where he stood in front of a rather oppressive door.

'You got to be hard now…'

'Hard?' Victor scoffed at his own memory, hard his ass. Being here wasn’t him being hard, and Jimmy certainly was never hard when it came to some things. The fool had to do something so utterly stupid. He had to care! Victor wasn’t too fond of that, but his brother was always weak in that way. And now so was Victor, when it came to his sibling. After all someone who was hard, would have no problem walking through those doors and dealing with shit rather than running away from a door and facing someone with your tail between your legs.

“Pathetic…” Victor snarled at himself. And for the next ten minutes he stood there until he finally worked up the nerve and walked into the room that held the two cells. One was empty and the other had his brother.