Reunion
Chapter 3
by
D'Jean
Caleb went in first. He found a seat and grabbed a magazine. As he pretended to read, he started watching for the right moment. Logan entered the waiting room a few moments after Cay. As the sharp-eyed nurse left for her break, Cay caught Logan's eye and nodded towards the corridor that led to the restrooms. Logan headed in that direction and Cay followed shortly.
All right, Logan admitted to himself, the kid was no fool. The nurse would have been immediately suspicious of their actions. The orderly she had left behind wouldn't have noticed a bomb going off. Cay had been smart enough to wait it out.
Unfortunately, it was all going to be for naught because the access door they needed to get through was locked and alarmed.
"I knew we should'a kept the Cajun with us. What are you gonna do about the door, Bub? I can force it but the alarm'll go off. That's not gonna give us a lotta time before we get company and we still ain't even sure which room this girl's in."
A faint smile touched the corners of Caleb's mouth as he moved his hand to the electronic lock's keypad. He half-closed his eyes and let the signal come to him. There was the pattern, tingling in his fingers. He punched the numbers into the keypad. A soft buzz whirred in the lockbar mechanism. Caleb pushed the bar and the door opened inward. He went in and held the door open for Logan. As the older man stalked by, Cay couldn't resist getting a bit of his own back.
"That's ah, Mister Bub to jou, Okay Jefe?"
"Not funny, Kid."
"Oh come on, jes it is. Even jou gotta admit it. 'Sides, why you think Lanie sent me wit'you? Jou think she figure I'm so pretty I might stop you from frightening all the nurses an' gettin' us caught?"
Logan kept his head bent down, hoping Cay wouldn't see the smile spreading across his face. He had to admit the kid had a lot of style.
They actually did end up making a good team. Cay chatted up the candy-striper working at the nurse's station while Logan swiped Annie's chart and Logan made sure the way was clear as Cay carried Annie to the meeting point.
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Remy signaled back to Lena who came out from behind the dumpster and headed toward him at the door by the loading dock. She had grabbed a black, hooded sweatshirt at the apartment and she blended easily into the shadows. Something about the way she moved told the Cajun that this wasn't her first time sneaking around. Even in this cluttered alley, she never made a sound.
"Okay, Chere," He whispered, "It's showtime." The door popped open but the alarm stayed silent. Lena raised her eyebrows and nodded her head at him to indicate her approval. They moved silently to the office.
Once there, Lena pulled a cable from the pocket of her sweatshirt and jacked herself into the terminal. Finding a weak point in the system wasn't hard at all. The inventory program didn't require a password and it didn't take very long to find a way into the password-protected system from there. She was done in five minutes.
Remy, intent on watching the hallway, didn't even see her come up behind him. Now it was his turn to be impressed.
"You done already, Chere? Dat din' take long. Guess we betta stroll on over to the stairway and see if de boys managed not to kill each other, non?"
"They won't if they know what's good for 'em. I'll kick their asses." She winked at Remy. It was, of course, false bravado. Lena needed Remy's support just to walk to the meeting place. She wouldn't be up to kicking anybody's anything for a long time. All she could think about was sleep.
Annie had been heavily sedated. Lena was going to have to go inside and clean her out. It wasn't going to be easy and in the back of the van, she let Caleb help her set up.
"What jou wanna listen to Lena?" Caleb asked flipping through the CD's.
"Slow, anything slow."
"'Kay, I got it." He eased back into the nest of jackets he'd made up against the van's back seat and grabbed the blanket he'd brought from home. The first notes of Concrete Blonde's cover of Little Wing started coming from the boom box. Lena smiled, the song was one of her favorites and there were a lot of other good ones on the album. She found the rhythm and went with it. Music made it easier to work. It gave her something to follow. Now all she had to do was stay warm.
Once Cay was settled in, he gestured to her and she cuddled up against him, using him as a backrest. They both pulled Annie onto Lena's lap and Cay covered them all with the blanket.
"All right M'ija, do your stuff." He kissed her lightly on the back of her head.
"Dat has got to be de cutest ting Remy seen in a long time."
"Ain't supposed to be cute, Ese. Lanie can' stay warm when she this beat. If she get too cold, she go into shock. Believe me, you don' wanna deal wi'that."
The rest of the trip passed in silence for the most part.
Once Logan and Remy heard what had to be Annie's voice. "Enough with the slow stuff. Play me something fast before I fall asleep."
"Wrong mouth, Lena." Caleb mumbled wearily in Spanish as he punched up 'Roses Grow.'
"Oh crap," This time Lena spoke from her own mouth. She waited to make sure that Annie wouldn't react. "S'okay M'ijo, she's too out of it to push back."
When they finally pulled into the garage at the institute. Annie was sleeping soundly and, at least physically, well on her way to recovery. Lena, on the other hand, was a mess. She was shaking from cold and barely hanging onto consciousness. She felt like vomiting and she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She clung tightly to her brother as Henry and Kurt got Annie out of the van. With what remained of her strength, she lunged out and grabbed Annie by the wrist. Annie's psychic presence bloomed in the Professor's mind like a television flickering to life.
"Can you feel her, Professor?"
"Yes, Lena. Don't worry, we'll take good care of her."
Lena collapsed back into Caleb's chest. He rocked her and sang to her under his breath.
"Hermanito, I want you to go with Annie. Don't wan' her waking up in a room full of strangers."
"Who's gonna take care of you then, Lanie? I can't be in two places at once."
"I've got her, Caleb. You go on with your little sister." Logan told him.
"Jefe, do you even know the first thing about takin' care of Lena when she like this?"
"What's to know, I'm just gonna put her to bed."
"Jah great and when she wake up in an hour with screaming nightmares and can't eat for a week, then what you gonna do?"
"Caleb, just tell 'em what he needs to do." Lena's voice was barely a whisper.
He sighed. He knew he was going to have to let it go. "Right, Care an' feedin' of the Lanie Jones. Okay, jou gotta do t'ree things before you let her sleep. First, jou gotta get her back to room temperature. Jou gonna have to hold her like I was till she get warm. Second, jou gotta get somethin' in her belly. She should have soup but she'll probably want hot tea. She gotta have at leas' two cups but she'll fight you 'cause she's queasy. Careful, Jefe, she bites." He held his finger up to the light so that Logan could see the tooth-shaped scar near the tip of it. "T'ird, jou gotta help her get situated in her head. She been moving her mind from one body to the another too much an' if she don't get settled, she'll have them nightmares I was tellin' you about."
"How do I do that?"
"Jou jus' gotta talk to her tha's all. Jou'll know she's back by the way she talks. She'll be able to focus better."
"Got it." Logan reached into the van to pick Lena up. Cay's hand shot out and caught Logan's wrist.
"One more thing, Ese. Don' touch her skin. If you do, jou gonna feel exactly what she's feelin' then you won't be no good to her at all." Caleb carefully wrapped Lena up in the blanket before handing her over to Logan. "Soon as Annie wakes up and I get her all settled, I'll take over for you."
"Right, I promise ya kid, I'll take good care of her. C'mon Lena. As I recall we have some talkin' ta do anyway."
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He carried her through the kitchen, stopping to ask Jean to make a pot of tea and bring it to him in the study. Lena shivered and tucked herself as tightly as she could into his chest. He picked the study because he knew there was a fire burning there and because it was more private than the larger common rooms.
Soon they were settled in front of the fire. Lena's skin was like ice, he could feel it even through the blanket. She was shivering so hard that Logan had to hold the teacup for her. Finally the tea, the fire and his own body heat started working. Now they could finally talk and Logan didn't know where to begin.
"So you worked on me?"
"Yeah, I was your techyou were contract workbrought you in specialbut nobody could handle you." She wasn't settled in yet. Her mind drifted as she spoke. She had trouble focusing her eyes and moving her mouth. Her voice was very soft.
"What do ya mean, handle?"
"Your friends'll surprised by this I'm sure, but you're pretty much stubborn right down to the cellular level." She smiled at her own joke and was happy to see the smile reflected in his face. "No one else was good enough to take you on. They'd try to change you and the changes wouldn't stick. They'd push you and you'd push back. You gave all the other techs nosebleeds and black eyes. But me, I was the best. I never had trouble with you. So they assigned me to you full-time." There was a bit of pride in her voice. She had enjoyed being good at what she did.
"What did you do to me?"
"Stopped your body from rejecting the adamantium. That was a big job. Tightened up your reflexes...increased your visual range...improved your balance...lots of stuff"
He could feel her choosing her words. She was holding back. He hesitated; not knowing how to ask the next question, not sure that she would answer.
"Did you tamper with my memories?"
She looked away from him. She closed her eyes. "Not directly, I was there...Kovacsby that time, the rig was set up to over-ride my control. He just used me like a machine. Didn't have any choice...couldn't stop him. I'm so sorry, Logan. I brought you so much pain." And if you hate me for it, she thought to herself, I'll understand.
Tears fell from her eyes. Her face was wet with them. She ignored them and stared off into the fire.
He hated to see the tears stream down her face. Hated the way she refused to acknowledge them like she didn't have a right to her own pain. He knew she blamed herself but he certainly didn't. It was important to him that she understand that.
She expected him to stiffen or turn away from her but he didn't. He pulled her even closer and tucked her head to his chest. "Shush now, Darlin'. It wasn't you. I just...had to know is all. I didn't mean ta make ya relive it."
Kindness, it was the last thing she expected. It brought down every wall she had. The silent tears became sobs and her body shook with them. He rocked her gently as she cried. When the tears finally stopped, he grabbed a corner of the blanket and dried her face.
"It's okay, Lena. Here, drink some more tea."
"Don't want it."
"I don't care. I promised yer little brother I'd get ya to drink two cups and you're barely half-way through the first." He held the cup up to her lips. "And don't get any funny ideas about biting me. I'll bite ya back."
The mock threat brought a smile to her face and despite the growing disquiet in her stomach she drank the rest of the tea. It was helping. The room was spinning less and Lena began to feel anchored in her body again.
"Did he do okay with you tonight? I know he was being a pain...but he's not used...we don't get close with too many people...I've taught him to be suspicious...ya know?"
"He did fine, Lena. You'da been proud of him."
"Oh good, I was worried."
"Yeah, well. . . I guess we didn't get off on the right foot but I have to admit, he is a good kid; he did pull his weight, and there's no doubt he cares a whole lot about his sisters." That reminded him of something else he had wanted to ask. "So Lena, I couldn't help but notice that Caleb is Puerto Rican."
"Yep."
"And Annie, is she Filipina?"
"Yep."
"So uh"
"How is it that we're all brother and sisters?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"We're family by choice not by blood. Both Annie and Caleb are orphans. After what happened to me, I couldn't leave them in an orphanage. If anyone ever found out what they were...well I just couldn't let that happen. It's all reasonably official. I did some mucking around in the Child Welfare computer systems and unless someone takes a real hard look at the files, no one's ever going to question it. I don't know if you've ever seen the average case load a state social worker has to carry, but I can assure you that it'll be a long time before any of 'em has time to look into this."
"Probably some time after Annie goes to college." He speculated.
"I can only hope."
"So how come she" She stiffened in his arms and he could tell he'd hit another touchy subject. "Tried to kill herself?"
"Yeah."
"Annaleah is precognitive to a high degree of accuracy. Her first premonition was that her entire family would die in a fire. She never told anyone because she thought it was just a bad dream. Well, they all did die in that fire and Annieshe never forgave herselfshe was seven years old. The psychologists gave her antidepressants and the foster home gave her very little supervision. By the time she was nine, she was addicted to smack. Caleb knew her from the neighborhood. He got me involved. I could get rid of the addiction butI couldn't do anything about the pain. SometimesI don't know. . . I can't reach her. . . can't"
Lena's voice cracked and Logan though for a moment that she might cry again. The moment passed and Lena composed herself. She refused to dump this pain on him too. This was hers to bear. She had chosen to take responsibility for Annie, she would deal with the consequences, whatever they were.
He made her drink more tea. It sounded to him like she was focusing better. Her voice was stronger and he realized for the first time how much he liked the sound of it. It was low and a little rough. When she relaxed, it eased into a pleasant sort of twang he couldn't place. When she spoke softly, as she was now, the roughness intensified and he could feel her words as much as hear them.
"How're ya feelin' now, Lanie? Ya seem to be warmer at least. Are yawhat'd the kid call it? Situated?"
"Yeah," she smiled, "I'm situated. I'm warmer and I think I'm going to be able to keep the tea down too. Not bad considering the past couple days."
"Yeah, we sure been busy ain't we?"
"Oh Lord," Lena exclaimed, "you haven't slept since Friday night have you?" She reached up, touched his cheek and looked into his eyes. She only scanned lightly but she could feel the fatigue and the hunger. "When's the last time you ate?"
"I ate this morning, Lena. I'll be fine." He was embarrassed by her concern. He hadn't meant to imply that he'd been going through anything like what she had. He justwell, he thought about itjust liked thinking of her and himself being a team, a we. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his face. "Really, Lena. Don't worry about me. You shouldn't be touching me anyway, Caleb said it wasn't safe."
"Oh bother what Cay Cay said." She wrinkled up her face in exasperation. "It's okay now anyway. I'm not live anymore."
"What's that mean? Ya mean how I can't feel what yer feelin' right now just by touchin' ya?"
"Yeah."
"Well that's only part of it as far as I'm concerned. I know ya were looking into me when you touched my face and you can't be strong enough for that yet. So you best just cut it out right now."
"Yessir!" She smiled wryly.
"I'm gonna take care of you whether you like it or not, Lena. I promised the kid" He bent closer to her ear and spoke low. "'Sides us people with only one name oughta watch out for each other."
She pulled away from him so that she could look into his eyes. "One name?"
"Yeah, Logan and Lena, that's only one apiece."
"Oh, I uh"
"What is it Lena?"
"It's." she paused and looked back up at him. "It's John."
"Huh?"
"Your name, John ...Logan. It's...well...you told me it was John...back in the program. Even then, you always went by Logan. I just assumed. Well, you might have been pulling my leg. You told a lot of tall tales back then."
"No, Lena. You're right...don't know how I know it but I do and you're right. I don't know how to" his voice trailed off for a moment, "Thank you, Lena. You don't know how much that means to me." She looked away coloring slightly. He grabbed her chin and gently lifted her face to see her eyes once more. He wanted to kiss her. But he couldn't tell if she wanted him to. The signals were crossed somehow. Then he smelled what was unmistakably fear and he backed off, settling for kissing her cheek. He wondered what had spooked her.
"Hey Lanie, there jou are. How you doin', hermana?" Caleb walked into the room. He still looked tired and rumpled but his mood seemed much better.
"This is my third cup." She told him, pointing at the tea proudly.
"That's my Lanie-girl. Good job." He ruffled his hand through her hair. Then he looked at Logan; "Three cups and jou still have all your fingers? Not bad, Jefe."
"Yeah well I wasn't about to give you anything ta complain about."
"How's Annie?" Lena asked.
"She good. She woke up. I talked to her so she knows she's safe. She went back to sleep. We should prob'ly do the same."
"I'm with ya on that, partner." She got up gingerly with Logan and Caleb's support. Caleb pulled her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist. Before Caleb pulled her completely away, Lena reached back to touch Logan's arm. "Thanks for everything, Logan. I owe you one, more than one really." He put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently.
"Yeah, Logan. Thanks for your help." Caleb offered his hand roughly, not meeting the older man's gaze.
Caleb had actually used his name. Logan guessed that he was trying to bury the hatchet. So he took Caleb's hand and shook it. "No problem, Caleb. You go on and get your sister to bed. I think they put you in guestrooms on the second floor. Can you handle getting her up stairs?"
Caleb snorted softly. "I just finished carrying bags up there that weigh more'n Lanie. Don't worry about it."
Logan put out the fire and took the teapot and cup back to the kitchen. He knew he should head to bed himself but he was too restless. He stepped out into the night and lit a cigar. As he walked toward the lake, he reflected on the events of the past day. His thoughts never strayed far from Lena. As the first lights of the coming dawn graced the sky, Logan finally turned back to the house. He pulled off his boots and collapsed into bed and a fitful sleep.
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