I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

I should've taken a picture

dedicated to AwkwardCaterpillar for the absolutely adorable banner she made!

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Logan

It didn't surprise Logan to see his old mentor, and XYZ's second-in-command, sitting across from his mother in her office, sipping a mug of tea with a plate of cranberry scones in front of him. Six glanced up when Logan entered and raised the mug as a salute of welcome. 

"Punctual, just like I trained you," Six complimented. "I didn't know you'd be released today. My sister would've been begging me to pick you up for her if we'd known."

"I didn't know either," Logan lied smoothly. "They told me just this morning. It's a good thing you didn't drive up to the hospital to speak."

Catarina Cross' eyes narrowed. Her son had most definitely known he'd be released today, but with a sharp smile from Logan, she merely sipped her coffee and kept this piece of information to herself. It was a good thing she didn't mention this knowledge to Six when he stopped by to request permission to visit Logan. She had merely said that Logan was just released and would be on his way to the school. 

"Sophia will be happy." Six's grin slipped. "Way too happy," he muttered against the mouth of the cup. 

"Do you want anything warm to drink, Logan?" his mother offered, getting up from her table. "The rain is unbelievable today. You just got out of the hospital, I don't want you back in because of some cold."

"I'm fine, Mother," Logan said, his smile becoming warmer. "I heard Six wanted to speak to me about something?"

"Could you give us a minute, Lady Cross?" Six asked, flashing a charming smile towards the headmistress. She returned the gesture and headed towards the door, stopping only to remind Logan about the dangers of pneumonia and not being properly dried before shutting the door behind her. 

"Where's the Sparrow?" Six inquired, his casual expression morphing into the darker, more grim features that Logan knew best. 

"You said not to bring her."

"Oh, I didn't mean it in that way. I was just wondering whose care you left her in."

The tone behind Six's words had Logan narrowing his eyes. "I left her with Zen. Why do you sound like you don't trust who I left her with?"

Six smiled, but the gesture didn't reach his sharp eyes. "You still retained your skills--good."

"Why would I lose them?"

"Bodyguard jobs, Logan. They make you soft. There's no action to keep your body and reflexes in check."

"You're delaying." 

"It's bad news."

"Doesn't mean you should delay it."

Six was terrible with delivering news, especially the bad kind. The guy tended to drivel and distract himself from the topic. Six was all about rehearsal and perfection. If he were to deliver something, it needed to be at the right time, said with the right words, emphasized by the right tone. 

Six took a minute to take another swig from the mug before speaking again. "What do you know about Alexander Darkwood?"

To say that Logan was confused would be a huge understatement. "Darkwood? Are you making me miss class so you could talk about Darkwood?"

"My team has been going through security footage ever since the prince of Cimeria requested that I dig even deeper into the case of attacks against his family. One of my agents came across something interesting."