Logan studied it for a moment, logging it all in his memory. Then he looked over at the professor. “Thank you.”
It seemed like such a small thing to say for what the professor had done for him. But at the moment it was just going to have to be enough.
“You’re welcome,” Xavier said, flicking the map off and rolling away from the now-empty table. “You know there’s always a place for you here.”
“I know,” Logan said.
Jean and Scott and Storm had also made that very clear. And for the first time since he had woken up in that meadow, his only memories being nightmares of pain, he felt as if he had a place to go—a place he almost belonged. This mansion was now his home. It was a wonderful feeling.
“Are you going to say good-bye to the rest?” Xavier asked.
“No,” Logan said. Then he smiled. “I suspect they already know I’m going for a little trip.”
Xavier laughed, a twinkle in his eye. “I suspect you may be right about that.”
Logan moved to stand in front of the professor and extended his hand. “I’ll be seeing you.”
Xavier shook the hand, holding it tightly, then nodded. “Good luck.”
Ten minutes later Logan was headed down the front steps of the mansion, toward the driveway. The professor had said there would be transportation waiting there for him to use. What he found was Cyclops’ wonderful black motorcycle, the same one Logan had stolen to get to the train station.
The keys were in the ignition, and there was a note taped to the gas tank. Good luck. Scott.
He laughed and kicked the motorcycle to life. If he couldn’t say anything else for old Visor Boy, he had good taste in women and motorcycles. And he was a pretty fine leader to boot.
Logan sat on the bike, letting the smooth rumble of the engine surround him for a moment. The day was gorgeous—not too hot, not too cold. Perfect weather to start a trip.
Without even a look back, he headed down the driveway. He knew he’d be seeing the place again.
On the big front lawn a bunch of the students were playing soccer, Rogue among them. He pulled over and stopped, letting the engine idle as he watched her run and play and laugh, being what seemed like a normal kid.
She deserved that much at least, while she still had some childhood left.
After a moment she looked up and saw him. With a wave she ran his way, smiling, looking happy and flushed from the exercise. He put out a gloved hand and took hers.
She nodded, seemed about to say something, then let go of his hand and looked down into her palm. He’d given her his dog tags.
She stared at them for a moment, then looked up at him, tears appearing in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“No,” he said, smiling. “Thank you.”
She had no idea what she had done for him. Maybe, ten years from now, she would understand. They’d talk about it. Maybe.
With that, he straightened his back, clicked the engine into gear, and with a smile for Rogue, headed down the driveway. He had some of his past to find, some answers to dig out of some ruins in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Then he could come home.
Now he had a future.
Epilog
Xavier smiled across the chess table at his old friend, Eric. They hadn’t played chess in years, and Xavier hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it until now. Maybe they would have to make this a regular occurrence. Maybe.
Xavier moved a pawn.
Eric nodded. “Doesn’t it ever wake you in the middle of the night, the feeling that someday, someday very soon, they will pass that foolish law?”
He also moved a pawn to counter Charles’ move, then kept talking. “Or maybe a law like it. And they will come for you and your children, and take you all away.”
“It bothers me very much indeed, Eric,” Xavier said, moving a knight.
“And what will you do when you wake up to that happening?” Eric asked. He moved a rook two spaces forward.
“I will feel a great swell of pity,” Xavier said, “for the poor soul who comes to that school looking for trouble.”
He made a pawn move; Eric countered with another rook.
“You know this is war, don’t you, Charles?”
Xavier nodded. The board was beginning to look like a one-sided war, as well. He had all his pieces in position, and it didn’t even seem as if Eric had noticed.
“And I intend to fight this war by any means necessary,” Eric continued. He aggressively moved a knight, again ignoring what Xavier was doing.
“And I will always be there, old friend,” Xavier said.
With that he moved his queen two spaces, taking away one of Eric’s knights.
“Check,” he said. He didn’t add the word “mate.” There was no need.
He pushed his plastic wheelchair back from the board and smiled at his old friend. “Thanks for the game, Eric.”
Then he turned to the clear plastic door. Beyond that were nothing but plastic walls. There wasn’t an ounce of metal within a half mile of this cell. It was a very special jail, designed for one very special occupant.
“Why do you come here, Charles?” Eric asked as Xavier reached the door and the guard on the other side opened it.
Xavier looked back. “Why do you ask me questions to which you already know the answers?”
“Ah, yes,” Eric said, smiling. “I forgot about your continuing search for hope.”
The two looked at each other for a moment. Then Eric said, “It could be our world, Charles.”
“It’s always been our world, Eric. It’s only when we lose sight of that that we imprison ourselves.”
He wheeled out, and the plastic door slid shut behind him. His old friend was left studying the board. And wondering what he had done wrong.
About the Authors
DEAN WESLEY SMITH was a founder of the well-respected small press Pulphouse. He has written a number of novels—both his own and as tie-in projects—including Laying the Music to Rest and X-Men: The Jewels of Cyttorak.
KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH is the Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning former editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She turned to writing full-time two years ago. She, too, has written a number of original and tie-in novels, including the Fey series and Star Wars: The New Rebellion.
A Del Rey® Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
TM and copyright © 2000 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Del Rey and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
X-MEN character likenesses: TM and copyright © 2000 by Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.delreydigital.com
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-190322
e-ISBN 0-345-46490-7
First Edition: June 2000
v1.0
eBook Info
Title:X-Men
Creator:Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Creator:Dean Wesley Smith
Format:OEB
Identifier:Rusc_0345464907
Language:en
X-Men Page 18