A Winter Fire || Logan Howlett

Chapter 17

The couple had arrived in Vegas a few hours ago, and were now speaking with John, who used to be in Team X.

"You sure it was Victor?" He asked the couple, as he handed the two a beer each.

"Yeah" Was all Logan said, watching Laura quietly drink her beer. He stood up an walked over to the window, where she was seated and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What the hell happened to him after we left?" Logan asked, taking a gulp of his beer.

"He got worse. He felt like you guys abandoned him. Yeah, we all did, but Victor...he had to prove he was better than you. Hunting and killing everything he was pawing at. Quit a few months later myself. Couldn't take rounding them up" John explained.

Laura snapped her gaze away from the window, and looked at John in confusion.

"Rounding up who?" She asked, getting up and standing in front of his desk.

"Leave it alone" He waved off, making Laura glare at him.

"Rounding who up, John? And you better give me a goddamn answer" She snapped, pointing a metal claw at him.

"We hunted our own kind, Laura. There's a special place in hell for the things we did" He finally answered, causing Laura to look at Logan in shock.

"Mutants? Why?" Logan wondered.

"Stryker said we'd be making a difference, protecting people for the bad ones" The room went silent, none of them knowing what to say.

Laura's mind went haywire, so many things crossing her mind. She actually wasn't that surprised that Stryker would lead them down such a dark road.

But what she didn't get was, why did they all go along with it? They killed the bad ones, yet there they were. They probably killed lots of innocent mutants.

"How are you two gonna take Victor down, Logan" John questioned, snapping Laura from her thoughts.

"Remember that stuff in Africa?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, i remember Africa. What about it?" He wondered, as both Logan and Laura showed him their metal claws.

"Damn. What did they do to you guys, man?" He asked in astonishment.

"You don't wanna know" Laura muttered, her body shivering at the memory of the experiment. Logan looked at her sadly, and gave her a kiss on the side of her head.

"Listen, Zero said something about an island. Does that mean anything to you?" Logan suddenly asked, looking over at John.

"Nope. But maybe Dukes knows. Him and Zero were real tight" John answered.

"Fred Dukes? Where is he?" The female Howlett wondered, looking up from Logan's shoulder.

"He's here" John replied, causing the couple to stand up quickly.

"Well, let's go talk to him" Logan spoke up, causing John to shake his head.

"Hold on. He don't get in till around four, but i got to warn you both he developed a bit of eating disorder. We all got our coping mechanisms. I'm trying to whip him back into shape. Whatever you do, don't mention his weight. And i mean you, Laura" He said, pointing his finger at the woman.

"I feel attacked right now"

After waiting a few hours, John led the couple out to where the boxing ring was and of course Laura was the first to speak up when she saw Fred.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit. He's frickin giant" She whisper yelled, gaining an elbow to the side from her husband, who was trying not to laugh at her statement.

"Come on, Fred. You want to get in shape, you got to move, man" John yelled, as the three watched Fred launched the man he was fighting towards them, making them duck quickly.

"Fred Dukes? That looks like the creature that ate Fred Dukes" Logan breathed out, looking at the large man in bewilderment.

"I say something less mean, and i get an elbow to the side" Laura mumbled to herself, while crossing her arms.

"Hey, be nice you two" John whispered to them, as Logan spoke up first.

"Hey, fat--Fred, um...seem to remember that girl when she was about eighty-five pounds, huh?" Logan said, making John sigh and Laura to cough out a laugh that she tried to hide.

"Oh, that's funny. You're still so funny, Logan" Fred chuckled sarcastically.

"You know where Victor is?" The Howlett man asked.

"No idea" Fred answered, but Laura could tell he knew something.

"What's "the island", Slim?" She called out, making Fred look over at her and went silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Don't let the door hit you both on the way out" He said, causing Logan to let out a frustrated sigh and stepped onto the edge of the boxing ring.

"Listen, we ain't leaving here till you tell us where Victor is. So, come on bub, for old times' sake huh?" Fred then turned to Logan with a glare.

"Did you just call me...blob?" He asked, making the Howlett's look at him in confusion.

"No, but..." Logan started to say, but was cut off when Fred let out a yell and punched the man across the room. Laura gasped and quickly ran to help him up, just as John appeared beside them.

"I told you not to mention his weight. Why'd you call him blob?" He asked, getting a glare back from the two.

"He didn't call him blob, he said bub" Laura answered, glaring at Fred. Although Logan looked about ready to fight Fred, which didn't go unnoticed by John.

"Hey, hey, hey Logan. I got an idea" He said.