Logan sat with his feet up on the console, impatient as usual. He watched the large screen and cursed the angle of the camera and bad sound. He wondered if they had done it on purpose. He could make out Hank clearly, the door, Scott's arm and the front of the desk, but not Xavier. The sound was horribly staticy, but he could hear enough to know he didn't like the way the conversation was going. Scott had already started making excuses for his friend, and he could hear the doubt in Chuck's voice.
The conversation stilled for a moment and then changed to the mental problems Warren must be having. He cursed Xavier for worrying about Warren's 'mental problems', what about Remy's? The Cajun has had problems since the day he arrived and nothing had been discussed about that, no excuses made before leaving him to die. He had always hated how the original five were favored more then the newest, youngest, recruits. He always blamed it on Charles really. He had hand picked most of the original students, the others just wondered in like lost puppies. The ones he picked he favored, giving them the impression they were better, superior to the rest. This time that superiority had almost gotten his best friend killed.
He quickly sat up in the chair and leaned toward the screen when the door opened to the office with a familiar creek, covered slightly with the fuzz of static. He watched Warren walk in with a smile on his face. That alone made Logan want to rip the man apart. He pushed back his anger and listened, waiting for an excuse. Any excuse...
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Scott and Xavier kept their faces neutral as Warren entered the office with a grin on his face. Hank didn't bother to hide his anger. To see Warren smile, even knowing why he was called here, angered him. He knew Warren was not that great of an actor, so he was sure Warren was genuinely happy about his actions. He turned his eyes from his teammate and stood, giving him his seat.
Warren thanked Hank as he took the chair in front of Xavier's desk, his smile never leaving his face. He knew they had called him here to discuss Remy. Seeing Hank's expression he realized he may have to sugar coat what happened, but that was alright. It's not like they would believe Remy over him anyway. He was a traitor and killer, and he was, well, an angel. He pulled his shields tight, hoping to keep out the Professor. If he did have to lie a little he didn't want Xavier catching it.
Charles felt Warren's shields strengthen, but said nothing about it. If he felt it was necessarily he could easily break through those barriers. "Remy was brought to Hank's lab early this morning. He was greatly injuried and we have concluded you were the cause of it. We are wanting and explanation as to why you would do such a thing."
Warren inwardly cringed at the anger in the Professor's question. Maybe this would require a little more lying then he thought. "Well, it was late and I ended up in his room and one thing lead to another. I guess I got a little carried away."
Hank raised an eyebrow at Warren. "Carried away? Is that what you call brutally raping him and suffocating...." Hank was cut off by a wave of Xavier's hand.
Warren's eye widened at his friend. "Rape? I didn't rape him, he let me do that! Is that what he is saying? That I raped him?" The Cajun had more balls then he thought. He was sure Remy would just back down and blame himself.
Charles sighed. "No, he is not, but he has not managed to say much on the subject. He has been unconscious most of the time since we found him. There are many aspects of this we do not understand. We are hoping you will help us with this. Let me ask the question and you answer them truthfully." Xavier looked at the doctor and Scott, making sure they understood not to interrupt again. He did not want a debate, he wanted answers.
Warren nodded. He knew the questions the Professor was going to ask, so he had to think of plausible answers, or lies, for all of them. He couldn't let this backfire on him. He had to get rid of that traitor for good! He knew the team would be better off without him, they would forgive him later for the lies. "Go ahead, ask me anything you want Professor."
"How did you end up in Remy's room last night? I was under the impression that you two where not friendly towards one another."
"I got home late last night and I ran into him in the hall. We had a conversation about him making it up to me and starting over and all. We ended up in his room to discuss it." Warren smiled at his answer. It wasn't at all a lie, just not the whole truth. This would be easy.
"If this act was consensual, why did you injury Remy so badly? Why suffocate him?"
Warren sighed. He put on his best guilty face and began to lie as best he could, all the while making sure his shield were tighten to the fullest. "Well, I am not very knowledgeable about these things, I guess I got a little carried away. I had been out all night so I was a little drunk, I guess I didn't realize I was being so rough. He said that he liked it that way, I thought I was doing what he wanted." Warren added a weak shrug to the end of his explanation, trying to act like the innocent.
Charles felt the strength in Warren's shields increase and knew he had to be hiding something. Not wanting to make Warren feel threatened he continued with the questioning. He would bring up his doubts afterwards. "If you believed what you did was right, why did you pour alcohol over Remy to mask your scent?"
Warren cheered inwardly, he was hoping this question would be asked. It gave him the opportunity to frame Logan in this as well. With Wolverine not here to defend himself it would be easy to manipulate his friends and mentor to believe him. "When I realized what I did hurt Remy I was going to bring him to the Medlab. Before I got the chance Logan was at the door demanding to come inside. He said he was going to kill whoever was in the room. I guess he smelled the blood and thought I had hurt Remy on purpose. I panicked and did the only thing I could do to make sure Logan didn't know it was me." Warren looked up from the floor he had shifted his eyes to and looked at the Professor with pleading eyes. He made sure to lay it on thick. "Sir, I am sorry about all of this. It was just one bad decision after another. I should have told Remy no when he made his advances, and I should have stood up to Logan's threats, I know that now. I am truly..."
Xavier raised his hand for Warren to stop. It was obvious that his student had been lying through the entire questioning. Even with his shields up, every movement and word made his deceitfulness obvious. Looking at Hank and Scott they were having the same doubts. Before Xavier could voice his opinion the office door was thrown open wildly, breaking the hinges from it's frame. "Logan, what do you think you are doing?"
"I've come to clip this little birds wings!" Logan growled while walking towards Warren.
Warren stood and backed away from a very angry Logan, almost tripping over the Professor's hover chair as he made his way behind it. He made sure he was next to the window so he could easily escape if he had to. "What are you doing Logan?" Warren asked as if he were oblivious to his own lies.
"I'm not going to let ya pin this on Remy ya little bastard, he wanted nothing to do with ya! Ya raped him and ya know it! I sure as hell didn't threaten ya either, I had no fucking clue someone was in the room with Remy until I walked in!" Logan point his finger and claws at Warren and addressed the others in the room. "Flyboy here is lying through his God Damn teeth. I'm not going to let ya bring this down on Remy."
Charles knew he had to calm Logan. He could sense Ororo and Robert rushing to the office, called by the noise of the argument. This was not something he wanted in the open until the real story was told. "Logan, I don't know how you heard the conversation, but you have only heard a fraction of it. I do not believe Warren, but I want a chance to hear the really story. Please, calm down."
Warren's eyes turn wide in surprise. The Professor didn't believe him! Looking at Scott and Hank he could see that they harbored the same disbelief. How could they not be on his side? Remy was a traitor, a whore, a killer! He only did what needed to be done! "You can't possibly be thinking what I did was wrong! Professor, this is Remy we are talking about! He killed the Morlocks, he took my wings. I only made him feel the pain that I had to endure because of him. He deserved this!"
Warren looked around the room and saw the looks of disgust on Hank and Scott's face. Looking down at Xavier he saw the disappointment on his mentor's face. His anger burned. His family had turned against him, all because of that damn LeBeau! He looked up at the door and saw Ororo and Bobby coming in to the room, demanding to know what was going on. Warren pointed at Logan getting everyone's attention. "You win this time you fucking animal! I don't know how you and Gambit manipulated everyone, but I will have my revenge! What Remy received was only a fraction of what I am willing to dish out! I will have him again!" He smiled maliciously at Logan. "Maybe next time I will find out how well he can use that pretty mouth."
Everyone stood frozen in shock, not believing the rants coming from Warren. All but Logan. He had heard enough! He lunged at Warren, who had made his escape out the open window. The others were shaken out of their trance when they saw Logan crash through the window and connect with Warren in midair, taking them both down to the ground. Everyone fled the room and quickly ran towards the front yard where they had landed. Ororo had taken the faster route and followed them out the window.
Storm quickly separated Logan from Warren, who was obviously losing the battle. She could see the blood covering Logan's claws and the wounds on Warren that were the cause. Logan fought her winds to return to Warren, but she held him back. "Logan, stop, I will not allow you to kill him!"
Logan growled, he was on the edge of feral, but didn't fight it. He pushed hard against Ororo's manipulations. He could tell she did not want to hurt him, he used that to his advantage. When Warren slowly made attempts to move he pushed harder. "'Ro, let me go!"
Storm landed in front of Logan, using herself as a barrier between him and Angel. "Logan I do not know what has occurred, but you must not kill him. This is not like you, my friend."
Logan growled when Warren made it to his feet. He could hear the others running up the lawn towards them. Soon he wouldn't have a chance, they would stop him. He couldn't let him go now, he would come back for Remy. He would never allow anyone to hurt Remy again! Never! He glanced behind him and saw that the others were too close, he had to do something now. He looked up into Storm's eyes that had gone white with power. "'Ro, that bastard raped Remy. Your brother. Please."
Storm's momentary horror was all he needed. The winds against him ceased and he pounced on a fleeing Warren. He drove his claws deep into the winged man's side causing a scream to fill the air. He pinned the younger man to the ground on his stomach, pushing Warren's face into the soft dirt, as he growled in his ear. "How do you like this Wings? This is what you did to Remy! What's wrong can't answer me?" Logan felt the hands pulling him, the fists hitting, he heard the voices yelling, smelled the blood that leaked from the wounds he caused, but he fought against all of it. Just to make the man under him know the pain he had caused. Despite his best efforts, he was soon overtaken by his teammates and pulled away from Warren.
It took everyone to hold Logan down. He wanted more, he was going feral and he craved it. His animal side wanted the blood, the killing. Everyone held fast until Hank arrived with a sedative suitable to take down Logan. It would only keep him out for a short while, but that would be enough to get him to a holding cell.
Hank injected the drugs, then added his strength to hold Logan down until the struggling stopped. Everyone seemed to finally breath at the same moment when Logan was overcame by the sedative. Hank stood to help Warren and gasped at the sight. "He's gone!"
Bobby stood next and frantically ran to the spot his friend had once laid bleeding. There was signs of the blood loss and the struggle, but no Warren. He spun in a circle trying to find a trail, anything to find his friend. "There is no way he walked away from this. Where is he?"
Xavier scanned the area and found no trace. "I do not sense him, he must not have been as injured as we believed."
"Bullshit! I saw him! Look at the blood!" Bobby waved his hands at the ground. "He couldn't have flown out of here and gotten out of range so fast! This is all his fault!" Bobby pointed at Logan and made an attempt to attack the unconscious man before him.
Scott stopped Bobby by grabbing his arm. "Stop this now! You do not know what happened or who is at fault. Jumping to conclusions is what started this! We have to get Logan in a holding cell. We have no idea what condition he will be in when he wakes. Help me!"
Bobby huffed and helped Hank and Scott carry Logan to the elevator. "Why are we taking him to a holding cell, why don't we just kill him and get it over with!"
Hank turned around and glared at Bobby. "You do not know the situation Bobby, do not draw conclusions."
"I know the situation! Logan tried to kill Warren. Hell, as far as we know Warren is somewhere bleeding to death. He could be dead already." Bobby kicked Logan hard in the ribs.
Scott grabbed Bobby by the shirt and threw him against the wall. "Listen, I have had enough of this today! This is not all Logan's fault. Warren brought this on himself. Logan was just protecting Remy! Now help us get him to the holding cell so we can search for Warren. We are not punishing anyone until we know who's fault all of this is!"
They picked up Logan and carried him to the back of the lower levels of the mansion. Bobby stomped off as soon as he was in the cell. As he passed the nearby MedLab he stopped and mumbled. "I know who's fault it is."
Scott stayed behind, but backed out of the cell, worried that Logan would be feral. He glanced over his shoulder when he thought he heard Bobby say something. When he looked the young man had already left. He wrote it off as hearing things and watched Logan. Hank was making no attempts to leave the cell and that worried him.
Hank, not fearing Logan as much as the others, stayed in the cell to take vitals. He put on a weak smile when Logan began to come around. The doctor waited for Logan to slowly open his eyes and regain his vision, then spoke. "I am sorry Logan, but you will have to stay in the holding cell. I do not believe the others are happy with your actions." He finished his quick exam and patted Logan on the shoulder.
Logan slowly sat up on the cot. He looked away from the angry glare Scott was giving him. He looked up at Hank instead, who seemed to hold no judgment on him. "Watch Remy for me. This isn't his fault."
"I will do my best Logan. I will check on you soon. Please, do not make this anymore difficult on yourself." He waited for Logan's nod and left the cage. He pushed the buttons on the keypad to engage the forcefield.
All three men's attention was turned quickly to the Medlab when yelling echoed through the halls. Logan recognized the voice, it was Remy. He banged on the forcefield, using his claws in an attempt to break through. He watched helplessly as the others ran down the hall towards the loud yells and noises coming from the once quiet infirmary. Logan sank down to the floor as the two men disappeared into the lab. "I'm sorry Remy." He whispered.
TBC