(no subject)
Title: Kryptonite
Part 6
Summary: x-over with x-men Origins. What if Reid had been raised by Logan and his brother? How did it come to that? Why doesnt Reid age? And what led to their seperation? What happens when the team gets a case involving the mutants?
Pairing: Morgan/Reid SLASH
Rating: PG-13
Hey guys! As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story, I´m glad so many people are interested :-)
So this is another flashback from Reid´s POV. It begins right where the last one left of and then skips some. The next chapter will be in the present again.
Sorry it takes me so long to update, I hate to keep you guys waiting. I could compromise by posting shorter chapters but I´m not sure if that wouldn't be even more frustrating…What do you think?
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"Come with us.", Logan smiled as he extended a large hand to where Jonah was still crouched on the floor, managing to make it sound like a question.
Jonah had glanced behind him one more time into the dark and feral faces of those bloodthirsty strangers, then he had trustingly put his tiny hand in Logan´s without uttering a word.
Somehow, even at eight years old, he had understood that it was his best option.
And his only option.
Logan had pulled him to his feet with quick ease only to lift him into his arms right after; he had turned around, his cold glare making the soldiers retreat from them.
Victor had looked at his brother with an expression somewhere between skeptical and annoyed, barely looking at Jonah before he shrugged and left out the door after them.
They had taken him away then, away from the ruins of his parent´s house, his burnt down town.
He had lost track of time as Logan carried him close to his chest, wrapped into his uniform against the chilling nightly wind. He had moved impossibly fast, Victor an ever-changing shadow in the dark landscape next to them as they ran for miles, never stopping, never growing tired.
Jonah didn't remember falling asleep but when he woke the sun was already at its zenith.
They were in the woods, a clearing in the background and a small creek a few feet away from him. There was smoke in the air which was what had him sit up with a start -remembering the night before.
He´d started crying for his parents, pitifully huddled on the ground in a dark blue jacket that went over his knees. Logan who sat a few feet away next to the fire he had produced, looked at him in silent understanding, letting him cry until it was out of his system.
He hadn't said anything then but his eyes left him with no doubt that there was no going back for either of them.
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While taking an instant, trust-based liking to Logan, Victor had scared him at first.
He had been raw, full of sharp edges and with a frighteningly short temper.
While they stayed in the woods, it had been mostly just Logan and him during the daylight hours -but Victor returned at night, moody and always coming up from behind when he wasn't expected. He never said anything about where he had been, not even to his brother but Jonah sometimes caught glimpses of dried blood on his skin and under his nails.
Jonah spent the first few nights cowering in the shelter the two men had somehow created out of brush and larger rocks, listening to the two of them fight outside.
Their words were low, vicious snarls but he never found out what they were actually saying. Maybe they were fighting about the life they had left behind when they had betrayed their unit to save him, maybe they were fighting about the fact that Victor obviously went out to hunt at night, but always failed to return with some kind of game…
No one actually ever discussed out loud what their respective future looked like.
Jonah was too afraid to ask, to risk them getting upset and leaving him all alone, Logan was unusually quiet on the subject even when Victor pressed him on the issue, announcing how fed up he was with hiding in these forlorn woods. He never left though despite his frequent complaints, always returning to them.
Sometimes Jonah thought he heard them talking about him, too, but by the light of day it wasn't brought up again, Logan distracting him with various activities while Victor stayed to himself.
In the meantime, Logan showed him how to make a fire by himself, how to catch fish and which wild berries to eat. Jonah was quick to treat him just like he would his father, looking up to him full of devotion.
And Logan seemed to return the sentiment. He took care of him, told him stories of adventures he may or may not have lived through and if necessary he held him at night to keep the cold and the nightmares away.
It might have stayed that way, might have been left at this uncomfortable truce between the three of them if it hadn't been for Victor.
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It happened one night just after Jonah had retreated into their shelter, tired from a long day tracking small birds for their dinner with Logan. He heard them yelling outside again and closed his eyes, expecting to fall asleep over it like usually.
This time though, there were suddenly heavy steps that came closer. He heard Logan growl and his brother snarl something in return.
A second later, Victor was at the entrance of the shelter, fixating him out of bottomless eyes. Jonah had been immediately frozen, knowing that victor was done ignoring him.
He heard Logan running towards them but knew it would be too late.
His lips pulled u in the mockery of a smirk, Victor reached for him and pulled him out of his hiding place by the neck like he was a rabbit. Jonah whimpered in fear as he thrashed fruitlessly, the cold night air outside hitting his bare arms.
He could see Logan charging at them, snarling his brother's name and writhed in Victor´s grasp to get to him. It made Victor adjust his grip, his fingers digging into his bare neck instead of his shirt.
And then everything changed.
As soon as their skin touched something happened that had them both shudder and gasp, tumbling to the ground.
Logan, who had reached them stopped short of ripping victor off him when he saw what was happening.
Until this day, he never fully understood what had happened in that night. All he knew was that when Victor looked at him again his eyes were full of wonder and longing -and Jonah hadn't been scared anymore. He had let Victor take his little hand, mesmerized by the soft glow that seemed to light up his skin as he did so.
All three of them stared at it with utter surprise and a certain relief. At least Jonah supposed they all did. He could only guess in Logan´s case, but concerning Victor he knew. He could feel his emotions like they were his own.
He looked up at Victor with questions on his face, trying to understand what was happening. The big man who still sat hunched next to him retuned his gaze, lightly shaking his head like he knew what Jonah meant to ask. He didn't have an answer either.
But it didn't matter because it was nothing but good.
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From that moment on, Jonah ceased to fear Victor who in return started bringing back game from his hunting trips, roasting it for them over the fire at night. He started staying with them more and more through the days, still bickering ceaselessly with his younger brother but not tainting the mood with it.
Things had changed somehow. They all could feel it.
Logan seemed incredibly relieved even though he too didn't understand fully what had happened; but he didn't complain about Victor spending time with them now that he had stopped complaining about their situation. The older brother suddenly seemed content to be wherever they were, as long as they stayed close. Logan saw the change with relief and after a while he even relaxed enough to leave him alone with Jonah.
Ever so slowly, they started to form a bond in midst the lonely wilderness.
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They never told him they were mutants.
Jonah had never even heard of the concept before but he was young enough to simply accept it as a part of them once he saw it, just like a child would accept the existence of Father Christmas without questioning.
He saw Victor´s nails and teeth grow razor sharp many times after he stopped hiding in his shelter at night and sat with them at the fire instead. It happened whenever he got mad -which was pretty much constantly. Jonah soon lost count of the many times the feline creature slammed his brother into a nearby tree by his collar, sharp claws scratching his skin.
He saw the cuts heal instantly, too, and because they never seriously fought he soon stopped to be worried by their behavior. He had fought with his brothers too…he thought…
The first time Logan used his claws in front of him was during a hunting trip.
They had been out tracking wild animals when they suddenly came across a huge bear. The animal roared aggressively charging at them when it felt threatened and Jonah had already seen them dead -until Logan had made short process of the huge carnivore, neatly slicing it open belly to neck.
They hadn't had to hunt for almost a week after that.
Far away from any other people, Jonah soon accepted their condition as the normal one. Sure, he knew his fingers couldn't change and he wasn't as fast or strong as them…but he was still young…and after all…he had that indefinable glow…
He didn't understand it and the brothers couldn't or wouldn't either, so he just accepted it.
The only time he ever asked about it was when he fell when running one day, long after they had moved on from the forest and into different territory.
Logan found him sitting on the ground, his knees cut open, bleeding and full of gravel with Jonah staring at them intently, murmuring to himself.
"Why won´t I heal like you?", he had asked in a small, insecure voice when Logan had sat down next to him, expecting his injuries gingerly.
The older man had smiled at him somewhat ruefully for the shortest moment, before ruffling his hair:
"You don't need to. This will heal within a couple of days."
"But what if it get hurt badly?"
"You won´t.", Logan had insisted gently: "Victor and I will make sure you always stay safe. Always. So, you don't need healing powers, see?"
Jonah had returned his smile, neither of them realizing just how tragically wrong they were about that.
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Done:-)
Oh my, I hope this wasn't confusing.
Like I said there is more to the backstory of course since Reid obviously is kinda human here. It´s just sniplets of the beginning and I will write more about it soon but for now I just needed some basis for the story Logan and Reid tell the team next chapter. You´ll find out when they do :-)
So: would you like some flashbacks from Logan/Victor, too?
-Oh, and the "glow". Yeah, that´s not from the movie but from the actual comics. I will explain it later on but if you don't wanna wait you can read the article on Sabertooth/Victor Creed on Wikipedia. I thought it was kinda neat so I included it.
Please R&R