A Future Unkown: An X-Men Fanfiction.

Chapter 15

“It happened when I was fourteen, after I ran away from here.” Kaya sighed, she couldn’t believe she was actually talking about this, but she knew the professor had been right. She couldn’t keep this bottled up forever, no matter how much she wanted to. “A stranger picked me up on the side of the road when I was hitch-hiking, trying to go south for the winter.” She cleared her throat, trying to keep her breath even, but this wasn’t an easy thing to talk about. Kaya looked down at the ground, it was easier than looking at Logan, seeing his reactions. “He seemed nice. Promised he’d help me get a job, that he knew how hard it was being on the road alone at such a young age.” Kaya scoffed, thinking about it now she couldn’t believe how naive she had been. “Well, he was right about one thing, he helped me get a job, just not the one I had in mind.” Tears were welling up in her eyes as the memories came flooding in, and Logan took her hand in his.

“I’m right here Kaya, nothing bad is going to happen to you.” He whispered, gently squeezing her hand.

Kaya nodded, glad he was there with her. “It turned out that the man’s idea of a job was putting me in a cage, like some animal. Told me that was where mutants belonged. How he knew what I was, I don’t know, but he did.” Tears were flowing down her face now, and she didn’t bother holding them in. “His name was William Stryker.” At this she could feel Logan tense up, and she wondered why, but didn’t stop, she couldn’t. If she stopped now, she may never continue. “He specialized in doing experiments on mutants, hated them for whatever reason. He knew I was a shape-shifter and could heal quickly, and he used that to his advantage.” She was squeezing Logan’s hand hard now, her own hand was turning red. “I…..I remember being strapped onto a table, they didn’t have me on any pain meds, said they wouldn’t work on me. I remember being lowered into a tank of water.” Kaya was nearly sobbing now, her vision turning blurry from all the tears escaping her eyes. “And then pain, oh God the pain. All these needles drilling into me….” She gasped, trying to breathe.

Logan put his arm around her, bringing her close to his body, where she just sobbed, soaking his shirt, for what felt like forever. “I passed out, I think, I don’t remember. All I remember was waking up with silver claws. He somehow managed to graph this…this Animantium to my bone structure in such a way that I could still morph, but it’s incredibly painful, and so I don’t. After than he dumped me out in the cold, something about me being an example of what happens to mutants.” A weight felt as though it had been lifted off her shoulders, and the tears pouring out of her eyes now were tears of relief as she sunk closer to Logan, who now had both arms wrapped around her, holding her close in his arms. She felt safe, for the first time in a long time she actually felt safe. Free.

Logan was eerily quiet, which made her nervous. Had she scared him off? Was her story too much? She looked up at him and saw tears in his eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked, being a bit bold and wiping a tear from his face.

“You mentioned William Stryker?” He looked down at her, ignoring her question.

“Yes, he was the one that took me.” She replied, a bit confused. “Why?”

“You’re not the only one he hurt Kaya.” He brushed a hand through her hair. From afar one could mistake them as lovers, but neither one of them was thinking about that at the moment. Kaya felt safe and secure, and that was all that mattered. Logan moved, though, stepping up, and Kaya wondered if it had been something she had said.

“What do you mean?” She was still confused.

Logan’s claws appeared, shining brightly in the sun. “William Stryker did this to me.” He whispered, pulling them back in. Kaya looked at him, bewildered. She had thought that was a part of his mutant gene, not some experiment.

“I thought…” she trailed off, shaking her head, how could she have been so stupid? She should have known that wasn’t natural. Kaya was still looking at Logan, the shock still on her face.

Logan smirked. “No, I wasn’t born with them like this.” He sat back down next to her. “At least, I don’t think I was.” Kaya looked at him, puzzled. “I’m missing a part of my memory.” Logan replied, sensing Kaya’s confusion. “I just remember waking up, buildings burning around me…and these claws. It was the Professor that helped me remember some things, like names.”

Kaya knew that she should feel bad for Logan, and a part of her did, but she mostly felt happy. She realized that she wasn’t alone in this, that there was someone in this world who understood her. “So this is what the professor meant when he said that you would understand more than most people.” She thought out loud, a small smile on her face.  Kaya leaned over and gave Logan a hug, catching him off guard. “I’m not alone.”

“No, you’re not alone.” Logan replied, and Kaya’s smile grew. “And you don’t have to be.”