Disclaimer: The X-men characters mentioned
in the story below belong to the highly talented group of Marvel. Any other
characters mentioned belong to me.
Rating: Language is
occasionally mild.
Note: Italic text in
open and close speech marks (eg. ‘What!’ ) is mental thought/speech.
Comments are welcomed by readers
Re-Encounter
Jan rang the mansion doorbell and waited.
‘It’s the right place.’
She thought to herself after reading a plaque on the side of the door
that had written on it ‘Xavier Institute’. Despite practically jogging up the
driveway for almost five minutes, she maintained her full breath by controlled
breathing. She rung the bell again and
allowed her glance to drop down to her suit skirt. Upon seeing a loose thread at the end of her skirt, she twisted
it around her first finger but found that the tread ran all the way up under
her skirt. Pulling up her skirt she
coiled up the string to its root and gave it a little tug. The stray thread held fast.
Hearing the movement on the other side of the
door, Jan gave the thread a vigorous tug and succeeded in not only breaking the
thread but in leaving another tail end of loose string.
“Dammit…”
Jan frantically pulled down her skirt, folded back in hem and smoothed
out the outside of her skirt. She
raised her head just in time to see the door open and then the person who
opened it.
It was a young Caucasian brown haired
brown-eyed man stood on the other side of the doorframe.
“Can I help you?” He politely asked.
“I’m here to see a Professor Xavier.”
The man looked at the strange young light
skinned black woman dressed in a two-piece gray skirt suit with flat black
shoes and the front end of her hair plated in a cane roe across the top of her
forehead while the rest was gathered in a bun at the back of her head. She couldn’t be any older than him. Her tone was flat and direct, though not
rude.
“Is he expecting you?”
“Yes he is.
I contacted him for an appointment a month in advance.”
“Come in.”
He stepped back and opened the wide for her to enter.
Jan walked in and took in the enormous
surroundings. The soles of her shoes
clicked on hard wood, and the area of the front hall had to be at least two
floors tall. A single large rectangular
rug occupied the floor. Its design
seemed to be Middle East, Persian, of very high quality wool. Jan quickly stepped off the rug and raised
her head to see a huge circular chandelier hung from the ceiling.
“Excuse me miss,” He said after giving her
moment to glance around. “I didn’t
catch your name.”
“Hmm, oh.
Jan. Jan Benson.”
“I’ll show you to the Professor’s office.”
Jan followed him as he took her away from the
front hall and in to a fairly large corridor.
After passing more doors than she could be bothered to count. The man stopped outside a door, and tapped
politely.
“This is it.”
The young man told her.
Jan heard a mature voice say, “Come in.”
“Just give me a moment.” The man told her before entering the
room. He pulled the door behind him but
it didn’t shut completely.
“What is it Bobby?” asked the mature voice.
“There’s a young lady here to see you. Says she expected.”
The voices could just about be heard where Jan
was standing.
“What’s her name?”
“Jan Benson.”
“Yes I am expecting her.” He adjusted the papers her had in his hand
and put them to one side of his large oak desk. “Show her in please.”
Bobby turned back to the office door and opened
it for the young woman to come in.
“Come, he’ll see you.”
“Thanks.”
He stepped back and let her in and shut the
door behind her.
“Miss Benson, have a seat please.” The man who Jan assumed to be the professor
gestured with his hand.
“Thank you.”
Jan took one of the four seats that were placed opposite the professor’s
desk.
“What did you want to speak to me in person
about?” The professor though bald
without a bout had a number of years on him though he apparently had the
appearance of a man in his mid-forties.
“I was hoping you could help me.”
“Help you with what exactly?”
“Information.”
“What kind of information?” The Professor could sense her uneasiness at
having an additional pair of ears in the room.
‘Bobby, would you please leave us.’ He told him mentally.
Jan suddenly heard the office door open and
then close. She turned around and the
young man was gone. Jan was slightly
surprised at how quiet his footsteps had been.
“I need to know…Well I…I know that you’ve
involved yourself in the promoting of co-existence between mutants and normal
humans. So you must know about the
locations and activities of groups that don’t.
Including those who would use illegal means to get their point across.”
“That’s a pretty big assumption.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Supposing that I do hold such information…why
do you need it?”
“You’re not even going to consider helping me
unless I give a good reason, are you?”
The Professor remained silent and waited for
Jan to explain herself more clearly.
“I have a ward who was kidnapped from our home
nearly a month ago. She’s a mutant.”
The Professor noticed how she didn’t feel
uncomfortable when she spoke her last sentence.
“She’s only nine years old Professor Xavier…”
Xavier was about to open his mouth to speak but
she interrupted him adding;
“If this was just a regular kidnapping there
would have been some kind of ransom note by now, or she would have already been
found alive…or otherwise.”
“Does anyone else know she’s a mutant?”
“No.
It’s not something we’re in a habit of declaring freely.” Jan took a deep breath realizing that her
voice had slightly risen.
“How do you know that she hasn’t just run
away?”
“Jeda has had tragedy in her life, but she has
strong love for life. She would never
just run away.”
“I see.”
“Professor, please…can you give me the
information I need? I’ll pay you
whatever you want.”
“If I was to help you, what would you do with
the information?”
Jan hesitated before answering. “Use it.”
“Use it how?”
Annoyance was beginning to rise in Jan. The Professor was starting to ask questions
she did not want to answer.
“How would you use it Miss Benson?” The Professor repeated his question as he
looked at her intently.
“I’m not quite sure. I haven’t made a decision yet.”
She lied.
“I’m sorry to hear of your troubles Miss
Benson,” He sat back on his chair and placed his arms on the rests. “But I cannot help you.”
“Professor Xavier…”
“I am not in the habit of freely giving
information away.” He interrupted her. “Especially if there is the possibility of
it being used in an act of vigilantism.”
Jan had to fight the sudden strong urge to jump
over the desk grab the man and repeatedly deliver hard slaps across his
baldhead and force him to give her the information she wanted. Instead she resorted to calling him names in
her mind.
‘Stingy bald-ass-head old bastard.’
For a moment Jan saw the Professor raise his
eyebrows and look at her strangely.
Then his face returned to it original serious expression.
She could have tried to argue the point that
she would have given the police the information but she had already told him
that only she knew that Jeda was a mutant and had no intension letting others
know. So she didn’t bother to even try.
“Very well.”
Jan rose to leave, “But I’ll give you my mobile number, incase you
change your mind.” Jan took out a card
from her bag and wrote down her number on the back before handing it to the
Professor.
He looked at the number and then looked at the
other side of the card.
“I work there.” She explained. “Thank you
for your time.” Not waiting to be
escorted out Jan exited his office.
Still fuming Jan tried to retraced her steps
back to the front hall but found herself in a corridor that held no recognition
for her.
“Just bloody great!”
“You lost?”
Jan quickly turned around to see a short hairy
Caucasian man wearing a blue jeans and a white vest. He had the worst hairstyle she had seen in ages. Long fluffy sideburns and his hair curled up
in both the left and right side of the top of his head.
“Kind of.”
She replied.
“Where ya headed?”
“Outside.”
“Never seen you in here before.”
“First and last time.” She looked at the strange man with a hint of
familiarity but then quickly dismissed the thought. “Can you show me out?”
“Sure.”
He took off and Jan followed him.
By the time they had reached the front mansion
door Jan had calmed down. She looked at
the man as he opened up the door.
“Thanks.”
She said when he had finished. ‘Boy, he certainly reminds me of
someone? Then again, nearly everyone reminds me of someone else.’ Jan walked passed him and immediately began
the long walk back down the driveway.
He looked at her frame for a few moments, and
then slowly began to close the mansion door.
A wind blew down the driveway and on it he caught her scent. The man froze and looked at her disappearing
figure.
“So she’s left.” Bobby said as he easily looked over the shorter man’s shoulder.
“Bobby who was she?”
“Someone called Jan Bennett or something.”
The shorter man grumbled lightly. The name meant nothing to him. But her scent…
“She came to talk to the Professor,” Bobby
continued. “Wanted his…”
The shorter man pushed past Booby before he had a chance to finish his
sentence and headed in the direction of the professor’s office.
“…help.”
Bobby looked after the hurrying man.
“Huh. What was that about?”
“Professor,” The short man entered Professor
Xavier’s office without knocking. “That
girl who was just here, what did she want?”
“She wanted information on mutant resisters’
groups.” The professor was use to the
shorter man’s manner of doing things.
“You didn’t give it to her did you?”
“No Logan.
There was no telling what she could have used it for, with her state of
mind.”
“What do you mean?” Logan asked.
“She suspected one of them of kidnapping her
child.”
“Mutant?”
“Yes.”
Logan turned to leave.
“Logan.”
The Professor said.
Logan froze and slightly turned his head so
that he had a corner eye glance of the Professor.
“Before you follow, consider that she maybe
lying if not telling half truths, and you know how dangerous that could be.”
Logan left the office and closed the door
behind him. ‘Yer forgettin’ that’s
one of the things I love Chuck.’
***
Finally the security guard the left the
room. From her hiding position in the
ceiling vent tunnel, Jan gave a silent sigh of relief. ‘About flipping time.’
After she removed the grilled hatch she quietly
hand dropped herself from the ceiling. Jan was dressed in a full black body
suit along with a black balaclava. She
tried the data storage room door but it was locked.
‘No matter.’
Jan raised her hand and released a laser thin
energy blast destroying the lock. She
controlled it so that it got the job done without being too loud to attract
attention. Once inside the room Jan
headed towards one for the computers and immediately began to hack into the
database. It didn’t take her long to
get the files she wanted. After inserting
the blank disk into the disk writer and downloaded the files containing locations
and activities information mutant resisters’ groups. She placed the disk in its case and stuffed it into her
pocket. Jan left the room and jumped
back into the ceiling vent, making sure to close the hatch after her re-entry.
Jan began to crawl her way back through the
vent to it opening on the building roof.
She just about to climb out when her foot slipped out from under
her. A hand flashed out, grabbed her
and pulled her out of the vent and onto the roof.
“Need a hand?”
Jan looked at her helper, and then pulled her
hand away and narrowed her eyes when she recognized him.
“That’s twice I help you now.” Said Logan
“I don’t even know you.” She lied.
“No point in lying to me girl.” Logan tapped his nose, “The nose knows.”
Jan stared at him silently. ‘The bastard’s been following me. Damn!
I must be loosing my touch as well as him being good.’
“What ya doing here?”
“None of your business.”
“Get the information you want?”
“I’m not telling you a damn thing.” Jan bolted pass him and headed towards the
fire escape stairs that ran on the outside of the building.
Jan hadn’t even reached half way down when she
heard him in pursuit of her. ‘Why
the hell is he following me?’
Logan unsheathed his adamantium claws and
jumped from the stairs. He was not
going to allow her to escape so easily.
After being in free-fall for a couple of seconds he dug his claws into
the wall and eventual came to a stop just fifth teen feet above the ground. Drawing his claws back in he dropped to the
ground.
Jan took the last nine steps in a jump but
froze when she saw him waiting already on the ground waiting for her.
“Weren’t planning on leaving me already, were
ya?” He mocked her.
“Leave me the hell alone!” The rage was high in her voice.
“Not until I get some answers.”
“About what?”
“What’s ya real name?”
“Don’t you already know?”
“Tell me!”
“Jan Benson.”
“You’re lying.”
“No I’m not.”
“I know I’ve tangled with you before.”
“I don’t…I’m not…I don’t know you.” Jan was beginning to feel confused. He reminded her of someone but had she met
him before?
“You’re not fooling me.” Logan sniffed at the air. “But now I’m positive…”
Before Logan’s minds eye flashed the time of
his past encounter with Jan.
“Can I take the shot?”
She had yet to
assume her current name of Jan Benson.
Her name was Hannah Pearson back then and at the moment she had a sniper
rifle aimed at the detonator from over a hundred yards away. From it ran wires that lead to high
explosives that were securely planted in the building foundations.
“No, we still have two guys inside.”
His name was Weapon X, working for the Canadian government. The mission was to infiltrate an unofficial
federal building of the USSR, located in northwest, (the now known country of Belarus) and destroy the building along with all of its
contents. All within a very strict time
limit.
Straightforward enough.
At least that’s what it seemed like in the
beginning. One of the floors of the
building turned out to be an orphans’ ward with at least twenty children, some
very young. Nevertheless the sudden
change of circumstances could not warrant the abortion of the mission.
“We haven’t got any more time.” Hannah took a glance at the time countdown
on her watch. There was less than half
a minute.
Two of the six team members had gone back into the
building to retrieve the last three children.
Though the rest of the children had already been evacuated, the men
found it harder convince the last few children leave with them.
“No we’ve gotta wait for ‘em.”
“There’s no more time.”
“Wait a few more seconds!” Weapon X’s face lit up when the saw the figures of his teammates
emerge from the building with the remaining children.
The alarm on Hannah’s watch began to ring and she
refocused her eyes on the target and placed her finger over the trigger. She opened her closed eye to note of the
position of her teammates and the children.
Then she closed her eye. ‘They’re
not going to make it.’ She said to
herself.
“I have no choice.”
She squeezed the trigger, firing a single bullet.
“Don’t do it!”
Weapon X jumped towards her, but his heightened mutant agility was still
no match for a speeding bullet.
The bullet struck dead-on on its target. The explosives went off destroying the
building foundations and the fire of the blast caused the men carrying the
children to fall. The building began to
crumble and fall vertically into the ground.
As it came down tonnes of dust came up.
When it was all over no life emerged from the rubble,
and a helicopter descended from above to pick up their agents after a mission
completed.
“You murdered those men…and those
children.”
“From what I can now remember, I
had no choice. The mission instructions
were concise and we had a time limit.”
“They were innocent children.”
“The mission’s success was
detrimental.”
“You don’t even feel guilty about
what did, do you?”
“You don’t even know me. How the hell can you judge me?!” She looked the reflective claws protruding
from the back of his hand. “Were you
planning on skewering me or what?”
“Thought about it.”
“I guess you’ve come to take
revenge for the ones I’ve fallen. You
know, I try not to kill people if I can help it.”
“Expect me to believe that?”
“Don’t give a rat’s ass if you do
or don’t! But if me fighting you is the
only way you’ll leave me alone, then let’s get at it!”
“About time!” Logan roared as he pounced at her.
Jan positioned herself so that when
Logan was above her, using his own force she flung him away from her. He landed with painful crash. Logan flipped onto his feet and smiled at
her.
“This is going to be fun.”
Again he charged at her. This time he lashed out with a combination
of left and right hook swipes. Jan
dodged them all but he instantly delivered a low right swipe that caught her
lower left arm. Jan grabbed her wounded
arm and stared incredulously at Logan.
‘He’s serious!’
to be continued………
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