Lupa

Logan wasn’t new to the X-Men. They had been going on missions for over a year now, beating the bad guys, saving the world. Despite that, Logan was struggling to connect. He had been around a long time, through multiple lifetimes worth of tragedies, heart break, and hurt. That’s not something that’s easy to talk about. It’s certainly not something many people can understand. Nor should they. Logan wasn’t about to spill his pain onto someone like that. It was his responsibility to deal with it. And he did deal with it, through violence. Killing, mostly.

Whenever Scott, Jean, or Storm attempted to get close it always ended the same. A cold shoulder, an eye roll, maybe a few hurtful words. Things were only getting worse, and Logan was becoming harder and harder to work with. Logan’s inability to communicate was leading the others to get hurt. He didn’t have their back. They knew it. He knew it.

“Get your shit together Logan! Jean almost lost her head back there because of you!” Scott said through gritted teeth.

Logan shrugged. “I never asked to be here. Not my problem.”

Scott shook his head in disbelief. “Not your problem? Your friends dying because of your negligence isn’t your problem? Then what is your fucking problem, huh?”

Jean stepped in before Logan’s death stare and growing claws went any further. “Hey! Cool it! I’m fine, okay? But Scotts right… You’ve been slipping, Logan. A few close calls here and there is one thing. But next time I might not be here to defend you…”

“Something has to change, Logan. We need you.” Storm said, her voice wavering.

Logan scoffs. “Yeah? And what exactly did you have in mind?”

They all look at each other.
“Well… Charles has new mission for us, Logan. One he wants you to help with specifically. I don’t know all the details, but it seemed important.” Jean says.

Logan raises an eyebrow suspiciously.
-----

As they walk into Charles’ office, Logan’s eyes go to a large board with images of a strange girl and various documents scattered around the table.

“We need your help, Logan. There's a girl. She escaped from a mutant research facility as a child and has been living in the woods for the past twenty years. All our attempts to bring her back have failed. She doesn’t respond well to others. She seems to have a difficult time… trusting. Sound familiar?” Charles says in a tone coated with irony.

Logan looks at Charles then back at the others, utterly confused. Then it hits him. “Hah… Hell no. Count me out.” Logan scoffs, throwing a hand up, and turns to leave the room.

“She’ll die out there.” Charles says bluntly. Logan stops.

“She needs us, Logan…” Storm says as she gently rests her hand on Logan’s shoulder.

Logan chuckles to himself and slowly runs a hand down his face. He pauses for a moment, deep in thought. Finally, he lets out a quick sigh. “Where is she?”
-----

Logan is confused when they pull up to a dilapidated shack in the middle of the forest. It’s run down, roof half caved in, vines growing through the broken windows. It looks completely abandoned. He finds it hard to believe that someone could have been living here for the past twenty years. “This the shit hole she’s been hiding in, huh?”

“Somehow. There’s a river nearby and a few traps in the area. She can hold her own that’s for sure.” Scott says.

“Still, nobody should live like this. Let’s bring her home.” Jean says with determination in her voice.

Logan turns away from the van window and back to the other X-Men after a moment of silence. They’re all staring at him. He looks them up and down and lets out an aggravated groan when he understands what their looks mean. He huffs as he slides open the van door. “Be right back.” He says curtly.

Logan’s foot falls through one of the half-rotted steps as he makes his way to the porch. The noise seems to startle something inside. He raises his head to see two big, blue eyes peeping at him through a window. The eyes widen when they meet his, then vanish. Logan lets out a grunt as he releases his foot from the floorboard. He knocks on the door. “Yeah alright, I saw ya. Come on out. Let’s go.” He shakes some wood from his boot.

No response.

He knocks again, a little harder this time. No response. Logan turns around to face the others who have stepped out of the van and gives them a ‘Do I really have to do this shit?’ look. Scott nods.

“Alright listen, open the door or I knock it down. Choice is yours.” Logan says.

No response.

With surprising ease, he kicks the door off its rusty hinges. His eyes go to a shadowy figure hiding behind a dusty table covered in berries and a half-scaled fish. He looks around briefly. It really was a shithole. His eyes fell on the figure by the table. He knows he came here to help a girl but all he sees is a dirty, emaciated figure in tattered clothes. Her long dark hair half covering her wide, alarmed eyes. Logan can’t help but feel sorry for her. He lets out a deep sigh and approaches you.

“Sorry uhh… about the door. But you don’t have to live here anymore. C’mon let’s go-”

Logan is cut off by a deep warning growl. It stops him in his tracks. “Did you just… growl at me?” He blinks at you. “Enough of this weird bullshit, come on.” Logan takes a few more steps forward. He gets close, too close. You lunge forward and leave a nasty scratch on his hand.

“Ah! What- what the hell is your problem lady?” Logan stammers, shocked by the feral creature in front of him. He whips his head around to the others who have made their way to the porch, making sure to avoid the large hole in the top step.

“Careful Logan. You can’t just grab her. She probably hasn’t been touched by another person in years. You have to be gentle.” Storm says.

Another low growl from escapes your mouth as you back into a corner, fangs bared, eyes wide, searching for an exit.

“I don’t have time for this shit.” Logan groans as he reaches down and grabs your wrist, rather abruptly, pulling you up and out of the corner. You let out a terrified scream and stumble forward before falling.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re being rescued, life is so hard.” Logan rolls his eyes and ignores your screams as he drags you out of the shack. “Logan! Watch out!” Jean yells.

Logan turns to face her when he feels a sharp pain in his forearm. You grab him with your free hand and bring your face up to bite his arm, hard. Logan lets out a yell and releases you. You scramble to your feet and get in a half squat position, claws and fangs on full display. A low, warning growl rumbling in your chest. Logan takes a step back and looks at you up and down. “Charles is out of his damn mind.” Logan lets out, catching his breath.

Storm approaches you slowly, hand extended, palm up. “Shhh, it’s going to be okay. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re going to take you somewhere safe, clean, with food and water. It’s going to be okay.”

You take a few steps back, eyes darting to each member, checking for any subtle movements. You let out a yelp as Storm approaches and you fall back on the ground. One arm supporting you upright, the other in front of your face. Your small, bony frame begins to shake slightly.

Logan walks in front of Storm and lowers her hand. Slowly he takes a step towards you. He lowers himself to the ground, kneeling a few feet from you. “Hey, kid. Look at me.” Slowly, you lower your arm and see Logan in front of you. He raises his hand. You flinch but then your eyes widen as he reveals his silver adamantium claws. “Look, we’re not that different. See?”

You look down at your own claws coming out of your fingertips then back at Logan’s hand. Very slowly you crawl forward, your eyes darting to him, making sure he doesn’t pull anything. He stays still. The others let out a gasp when you slowly run one of our claws down Logan’s, your eyes wide, fascinated by him.

“Both got some freaky claws. Anger issues.” Logan smirks. “I was alone for a long time too, kid. You can’t keep living like this, trust me.” Logan says in a softer tone. The others look at each other, dumbfounded. They’ve never seen Logan like this.

You look Logan deep in the eyes after he speaks. You don’t quite smile, but your expression is no longer one of pure adrenaline and terror. Logan chuckles softly. “Come on, kid.” As he stands you flinch a little and crawl back a few steps. Logan slowly extends his hand to you. His eyes dart to his hand as he nods at you to take it. Slowly, shakily, you lightly touch his hand as he helps you up. As soon as you stand you slowly bring your hand back to your chest, as if to be ready to defend against an attack at any moment. Logan nods towards the van and turns his back. To everyone’s shock you begin to follow him. For some reason you feel you can trust him. He wasn’t afraid of you. And he seemed honest. Both things you weren’t very familiar with.

Logan hops in the van. “Come on, let’s get you home.” You hop in the van, and he recoils slightly. “And in a bath… Jesus…” You look at him then to the ground, stealing a little sniff of yourself.

The others join, all sitting opposite of you in the back, Jean drives. You eye all of them down and let out a small, quiet growl as you bring your knees up to your chest. “Do you… remember anything? From before you were living in the forest?” Scott asks cautiously. You look at him, not so much paying attention to his words but studying his strange glasses.

“Oh, these?” He touches a finger to his glasses. “They help contain my ability. I’m a mutant. Just like you. All of us here are.” Scott and Storm smile at you warmly. Logan is looking out the window. “I’m Scott, this is Storm, up there is Jean. The mean one is Logan.” Scott adds. Logan gives Scott a cutting side eye.

“We’re going somewhere where you can learn more about your abilities. Where you can learn to use them to help others.” Jean says, looking at you from the mirror. Logan chuckles. “Yeah, if you’re lucky, you’ll even be sent to rescue feral little girls with a bite history.”

Scott swats Logan’s arm to shut him up. You tuck your knees tighter to your chest.
------

When you pull up to the mansion your eyes go wide, trying to take in the beautiful building and gardens in front of you. Your lips part but nothing escapes them except for a tiny gasp. The van stops and you look around nervously as everyone starts to move and open the loud van doors. You grow your claws and let out a nasty growl through bared teeth. Logan slides your door open. “Come on grumpy.”

“Takes one to know one.” Jean winks at Logan who rolls his eyes dramatically. You step out and survey your surroundings as you approach the mansion.

As you make your way inside, a few passing students stop in their tracks and stare at you. You show your fangs and let out a warning growl. “Cool it, Fido.” Logan says, trying to conceal his amusement.

Eventually you reach two large, ornate doors. Jean and Scott open them and nod at you to walk in. Your eyes fall from them to the large dining hall in front of you. A well-dressed bald man in a wheelchair is at the end of the middle table. You then notice the incredible banquet set out before you. Delicious smelling meats, brightly colored fruits and vegetables, tall pitchers of water, warm bread that’s still steaming. Your eyes go wide and drool leaks from your lips.

“Welcome home! My name is Charles Xavier. Apologies if we startled you. But we’ve been surveying you for quite some time. Your survival skills are impressive. Still, we found it best to bring you-”

Charles is cut off by a loud crashing sound and several gasps as you run straight for the table and hop on top, grabbing the food in front of you eagerly and eating it with your bare hands. You barely chew as you shove anything and everything in front of you into your mouth, taking breaks to chug the water straight form the pitcher. Charles has seen a lot in his days, but this leaves him speechless. You whip your head around when you hear Logan erupt in a bark of laughter. He folds his arms across his stomach and nearly doubles over from laughing so hard. The sight of you, on all fours, dirty from head to toe, your face covered in crumbs. After seeing how defensive and grumpy you were earlier, this was too much for him to bear.

Charles clears his throat. You whip your head back to face him, a couple pieces of food that were stuck to your face fall to the table. “Yes, please, make yourself at home.” He smiles nervously and looks over to Logan who covers his mouth to stifle his laughter, then to the others who shake their heads and let out a collective sigh.

Storm approaches you and sits a few seats down in the chair. You watch her as she tucks a napkin on her lap and holds a fork. “See? Like this. Can you try it like this?”

You swallow and wipe your mouth, studying her strange behavior. Slowly you slink off the table and grab the chair, sliding it out. You look around to the others as you slowly sit in the chair. You’re startled when you feel your chair being pushed in. Logan sits next to you. “You got a little something… well, everywhere.” He motions to your face. You wipe your hand on your face and look at him confused. He stifles more laughter.

The others join you at the table. Charles resumes his welcome speech. “Yes, well, as I was saying. We understand you’ve been on your own for a while now. You are a mutant, like everyone here at the school. We brought you here to give you a more permanent home. And to help you hone your skills. Does that sound like something you’d be willing to do?”

You chew and stare at him.

“Not very chatty, are you kid?” Logan asks you. The others stare at you, and you start to fidget in your chair nervously.

“Can you… understand us?” Jean asks softly. You stare at her a moment then begin to nod slowly. Her face lights up.

Charles raises his chin, looking at you with more promise than when you were shoveling food in your mouth on all fours.

Scott clears his throat and looks at Charles then at you across the table. “Do you… remember anything? From before the forest? Anything from the research facility?”

You stop chewing. Your eyes grow dark and dart around your lap as memories you haven’t thought about in years begin to flood back. It’s too painful. You bring your hands up to your face and begin to shake your head, whimpering softly. The others look at each other. Storm leans in and begins to speak but is startled when she hears a quiet, surprisingly timid voice escape your lips. “Bad…. Run…” You say softly. The others blink at each other, amazed.

Charles leans forward. “We understand. You’re safe now. Nobody is going to hurt you here. We care about you.” You nod slowly, still staring at the floor, wide-eyed. Logan looks at you, a little sadness in his eyes. His hand clenches into a fist as he thinks about what you must have gone through.

“Is there anything else you can tell us? Names of the researchers, how many others there are?” Scott asks. A sad noise builds up in your throat. Something between a growl and a whimper. Your claws start to grow slowly. Scott leans back a little.

“We can’t push her. She’s been through a lot today. And her whole life, I’m sure. We should leave it there for now. Now that we know she’s capable of talking, we can try again another time.” Jean says.

“There is no time, Jean. We need names. We need information if we’re going to put a stop to the horrible things they’re doing to mutants.” Scott retorts. You flinch slightly.

“Why not bust the door down and drag the bastards out? Seemed to work with this one.” Logan adds, nodding towards you. Charles shakes his head. “How would people react if a gang of mutants came and destroyed a lab intended to learn more about mutants? And brutally killed the leading scientists? No, we have to be smart about this. Jean is right.”

Scott throws his hands up in the air, frustrated. Jean faces you and speaks softly. “Ignore him. We all know this is a lot to handle right now. We’ll take things slow.” You blink a little, coming out of your daze. You raise your head and nod.

“Do you have a name?” Jean asks, tilting her head and smiling at you kindly. You furrow your brow a little, trying to think. After a moment you shake your head and grab some water nonchalantly, as if not having a name is no big deal to you.

“How about Bitey?” Logan asks with a smirk.

“Logan…” Storm warns softly.

After giving Logan a death stare, Jean faces you again. She studies you for a moment then grins warmly. “How about Lupa? It means she-wolf.” Slowly she reaches for your hand and runs a finger across one of your claws. “Pretty fitting, I think.” She smiles at you. You blink at her for a moment. Her eyes grow wide when she sees the corner of your lip curl into a smile. You give a single nod and quietly repeat back, “Lupa.”

Logan’s eyes narrow slightly and he gives you a quick glance up and down. “That’ll work.” He grunts. Charles smiles at you. “Welcome home, Lupa.” Jean grabs your hand softly. “Let’s show you to your room. You must be exhausted.”

You let out an audible gasp as they lead you into your very own room. You look around, mouth wide open. Running up to the bookshelf and flipping through a book upside down. You walk to the window and look out at the gorgeous garden view. Your sight then falls to the large, comfortable-looking bed decorated in pretty sheets and pillows. You slowly walk over to it and place a hand on the edge of the bed. Slowly you crawl onto the bed and sit down, running your hands across the plush sheets. You begin to sniffle and tears stream down your face. You’ve never known the feeling of a warm bed, a private room. It’s overwhelming. You look up at the others who have stepped closer, a concerned look on their faces.

“Lupa, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Storm asks. You shake your head then look at each of them and bring your knees to your chest. You look down and in a soft voice say “Th… Thank… you.” The others let out a little sigh of relief and look at each other, proud to bring you to safety, and glad to see you’ve begun to lower your guard.

Storm walks to the edge of your bed. “May I?” She asks. You nod. She sits at the edge of your bed and looks at you sweetly. “Get some rest. We’ll get you cleaned up tomorrow. One step at a time, okay?” You nod.

Logan lets out a soft chuckle. “Sleep tight, Bitey.”