x-men: the movie slash archive

Intelligent Prey
by Jemisard

Fandom: X-Men movie verse
Pairing: None
Rating: M
Status: New, Complete
Series/Sequel: Lost Past 4.
Disclaimers: They arenÕt mine. You know that. IÕm just borrowing them.
Thanks:ERIKA, who has put in time, effort and encouragement to get me to write again. Thanks also to Ogham, Nadja Lee, and Hayate Shinto, who have been there for me.
Summary:Hidden pasts are becoming revealed slowly, and two people may have far more in common than was originally assumed.
Warnings:Adult themes.

"Scott?"

Scott Summers looked up from his papers, which he hadn't been reading anyway, and smiled at his father. "Come in, Charles."

Charles wheeled himself in next to Scott's chair. "What's worrying you?"

"Logan." So honest, so frank. It was times like this that Charles could see the damage done from the lack of socialization in Scott's past.

"Why does he worry you, Scott?"

"Because I don't know him. He dreams of places that shouldn't be, and talks of atrocities that I have to wonder about. It makes me ask what happened in my past."

They both shifted their gaze to Scott's upper arm, where, under the fabric, the remains of some kind of tattoo still dwelt. Scott rubbed the scar and leant back. "I never thought about it before, but now, I can't stop. I want to know."

Charles lay his hand over Scott's, gently pulling Scott to sit next to him on the floor, head resting on Charles' knees, like he used to sit when he was younger. He stroked the soft chestnut hair idly, thinking back to that time.

"Charles?"

"Yes?"

"When we met, back in Scotland, where were we?"

"Dunnottar castle, in Grampion. Built on a spire of rock."

"Near Aberdeen?"

"Yes, that one." Charles smiled and tucked an errant strand behind his son's ear. "Do you remember?"

"A little. I remember meeting you, and asking you not go. I have a memory of hunting deer, and being chased."

Charles sighed and nodded. "I know. One day, Scott. We'll find out what happened. We'll unlock those doors in your memory."

Scott nodded and wrapped an arm around Charles' crippled legs. "When?"

"I don't know, Scott. I don't know."

Logan watched them from the doorway, hidden. Scott's head was resting on Charles' lap like a pet, while the professor stroked his hair.

With a quiet snort, he walked out and down to the grounds. He had better things to do than watch the brat suck up to the professor.

He stalked into the grounds and threw himself down onto the grass, the sun throwing patterns across his bare skin.

He didn't notice the figure who watched them and left silently.

Confirmed target.

How should recovery proceed?

What of the other subject? Should we recover WMM-061000 as well?

<Negative. The study has finished with that subject. He has proved to be of little relevance. Intelligence has also been proven, any attempt may draw unwanted attention to the Study.>

Understood. What approach should be used?

<<Computations complete in five, four, three, two, one.>>

Understood.

A loud knocking on the front door startled Scott from the dozing he had drifted into while sitting with Charles. He blinked and stood up, stretching. "Do you want me to go and see who it is?"

Charles thought about it. "No, I'll go. You finish your reports."

Scott nodded and sat down at his desk, reaching for his pen. Charles left him to work while he went to see who it was at the door.

He was on his way when he heard Kitty talking to whoever had come here. He sighed. That girl was incorrigible, she really was.

He appeared in the doorway leading to the entry hall. Kitty was chatting to a tall man wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase.

A light brush of telepathy had Charles bristling. This man was dangerous and deadly, and he wanted something.

"Katherine, who is our guest?"

Kitty spun around. "Professor, didn't see you. This is Mr. Walker. He wants to speak to you about some possessions or something. Mr Walker, this is Professor Xavier."

"Please, call me Charles." He wheeled himself forwards and extended a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr Walker."

"Likewise, Professor. I must speak to you about some stolen property I believe you have."

"Stolen? I'm sorry sir, but nothing in this mansion was obtained illegally."

"Maybe. Is there somewhere more private we could speak?"

Charles' lips thinned. "Certainly. Please, come through to my office."

Mr Walker sat opposite Charles and opened his briefcase. "I am here in an official capacity, sent by the World United Countries Defence Organization. We are investigating the disappearance of some property of ours nearly ten years ago. We have traced it to this mansion."

Charles folded his hands. "Yes? What property is this?"

Mr Walker steepled his fingers. "A dangerous and psychotic subject called WMM-311276. He was in our custody, and we do legally own him, when he disappeared in 1990. He is adaptive, manipulative, but, ultimately, not fully intelligent. He is clever at mimicry and can pass as nearly normal."

Charles heart caught in his throat. "A human?"

"No. A barely sentient mutant." Mr Walker smiled. "We have sighted him here and demand his return."

"He was an experiment? Possibly in the adamantium calcium bonding process?"

Mr Walker frowned. "No. He was part of a study of animal behaviour and socialization. He was used to study how animals adapt and mimic despite not being sentient Such as chimpanzees. Though not intelligent, they can act human, from mimicry. He would be twenty three now." He slid a photo across to Charles. "We demand his return."

Charles looked at the photo and nearly lost it then and there. A grubby, terrified face stared up from the picture.

His Scott's face.

"Get out. Now." His anger boiled just below his calm face.

"He belongs to us."

"He is a human. He has emotions, intelligence, don't you dare show your face in here again!" Charles slammed his books down. Logan, Ororo, get this pitiful excuse for a human out of here.

Mr Walker stood up. "Do not threaten me, Professor Xavier. He belongs to us, we need him back, and you will give him to us. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy, you let me take him now, and you forget he was ever here. Hard, we drag you through the courts, every student, every detail of their lives. How will that harm your cause, Professor? How will it taint people's views of mutants?"

Ororo and Logan burst in. Ororo's eyes were white, and Logan's face was twisted into a snarl. They stared at Mr Walker who held up his hands. "No need for violence. I will go. But you think about what I said. I will be back in twenty four hours to talk to you again. I recommend you give us the subject."

Charles stared at him. "Get out. Come here again and I will have you arrested for trespass. Ororo, show him the way out. Logan, please go with them."

As Ororo and Logan left with Mr Walker, Charles felt tears prick his eyes. He heard a faint noise and looked up to see a flash of black moving from down the doorway.

Scott sat in his office, tears running down his cheeks. His arms were wrapped tightly around his knees, and he rocked slightly, trying desperately to remember the half seen images the man had evoked, desperate not to remember.

He pulled off his glasses and wiped at the tears, hoping to clear them away with his hands more easily than he cleared them from his heart.

"Hey, One-Eye."

The voice was from down the hall. Scott fumbled for his glasses and jammed them on, standing up smoothly and moving to the desk even as Wolverine walked in. "Can I help you, Wolverine?"

"Yeah. What's gotten into Chuck?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He turned to his files. "If that was all, I have work to do before I retire for the night."

"Cyke, I need ter know."

"Why? Why do you need to know, Logan? What business is it of yours?" He yelled. "The world doesn't revolve around you, Wolverine."

Logan blinked, stunned by the forceful outburst. "Calm down, bub. I'm just worried, he were mumblin' yer name and starin' at the photo, and he were real angry. I jus' wanted ter help."

Scott stared at Logan for a moment. He wanted to tell Logan about his own past, tell him that he knew what it was not to remember. But he couldn't. Logan would laugh, or make the subject him.

Scott shook his head. "There's been some troubles with an organization, that's all. Now, I have to finish my work. Good afternoon, Logan."

Logan turned around and stalked out.

Scott closed his eyes and started sobbing, sinking to his knees on the floor. He hated it. The half caught glances, the whispered voices that said indecipherable things.

They were the reason he would only see red.

See red. Anger. Hatred, and a consuming burn to escape, not to be trapped, must not be trapped.

Something in him snapped.

With a scream, he tore off his glasses and hurled them against the wall, before turning and running for the window.

He crashed through and hit the ground running. Voices were screaming behind him, yelling, angry, they were after him again.

With a last look backwards, he sprinted off into the forest and up towards the mountains.

Charles let his head rest on his hand, tears rolling down his cheeks. He couldn't touch that soft mind, the spicy apple scent of Scott was gone.

His son had run away, apparently in terror, completely blind.

The door opened and Ororo and Jean burst in. Jean's mind brushed gently across Charles' own, giving the little reassurance that she could.

Ororo grasped his hand. "We found the glasses, they'd been smashed against the wall. He jumped out the window and bolted for the window. We don't know where he's gone or why."

"I do. He's runnin' to escape." Logan leant in the doorway with a cigar stuck in his mouth. "He's bolted like a horse in a storm, when the door's not been locked."

"That would not explanin why I can no longer sense him."

Logan shrugged. "Ya taught him how not to be sensed. He'll be usin' that to stop ya. I can do the same thin'."

"Why though?"

Logan sat in the chair in the corner. "He ain't thinkin'. Somethin' spooked him. Spooked him bad. He ain't thinkin' like a human, but an animal. Like I do sometimes."

"Well, I never taught him how not to be sensed, he was like that when I found him in Scotland."

All three of them turned to look at him. Jean blinked. "Found? You never told us how you and Scott met previously."

Logan nodded slowly. "Found, like a stray animal?"

"You aren't so far off the truth Logan." Charles sighed and moved himself out from behind his desk. "I found him hiding at a ruin. He didn't speak, he didn't have an organized mind, he was a purely instinctual creature. He was just alone, among the ruins."

Logan pulled off his jacket and sighed heavily. "So, yer found a runaway?"

"Logan, you aren't grasping this. He wasn't a runaway, not from any home. He couldn't speak, he didn't know how to. He was completely unafraid of some things, predatory animals, cars, guns, but the sight of bars sent him into a frenzy. He was a teenage wild child."

Logan stared, as did Jean and Ororo. They all seemed too shocked to speak. "Our Scott? Mr. Civilized?"

"Yes, our Scott." My Scott, he added silently. "I taught him what I could, but he was always on the outside." He paused. "I need to tell you what happened today so you may understand."

They all settled in. Charles took a deep breath. "I was approached today by a man called Mr Walker, from the World United Countries Defence Organization, about some stolen property..."

By the time Charles had finished his story about that day's events and a small piece of Scott's history, both Ororo and Jean were near tears and Logan was fuming. Charles had left out the piece about the experimentation and the metal band, fearing how they would take the news.

Logan stood up and headed for the door as the room fell into silence. Charles cast a glance at him. "Logan? Where are you going?"

Logan turned to look at them. "He has ter be found before the get him. None o' yer have the skills needed to survive and catch him."

"He isn't an animal to be caught."

"He needs ter be tamed again. He ain't thinkin' up here," Logan tapped his head, "he's thinkin' here and here." Logan touched his stomach and heart. "And yer can't understand how ter do it if ya ain't done it before."

"Logan, are you saying what I think you are?"

"Yep. I'm going after him."

The End