Beauty and the Bozo

Part 4

"Attacking a hospital for the blind!" Logan ranted as he slammed his hand down on the console, shutting down the news broadcast. "Just leave me alone with those clowns for five minutes; just five minutes!" Logan shouted, anger pouring off of him in waves. Scott reached out for his husband, but Logan pulled away. Scott sighed. "Logan, you need to calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down! Your brother could've been killed by those assholes, and you want me to calm down?!" Logan yelled, his animalistic rage thrumming through him uncontrollably.

"Logan, stop! You know that we can't—"

"X-Men never seek revenge. I know. So, do we just let 'em get away with it?"

"No," Scott says placatingly, wrapping his arms around Logan's waist, pulling him closer to his body. This time Logan comes willingly, Scott resting their foreheads together, hoping to keep Wolverine in check until the Professor and Magneto came back from their trip to the Savage Lands (Scott didn't know why they were there, but he wasn't going to ask). "We have to approach this delicately."

Logan raised an eyebrow at the X-Man. "Delicately?" he asked, his tone sarcastic.

Scott nodded, placing a hand on Logan's cheek, taking it as a good sign when the other mutant leaned in to the touch. "The Friends of Humanity thrive on public hatred of mutants. We can't help their cause by appearing to be on a rampage. "

It was quiet for a moment before Logan sighed. "Alright, Scott, for now. But I'm going after them, and if we don't find a kinder, gentler way to shut 'em down, there's gonna be a few less Friends of Humanity around stinking up the planet."

The leader acknowledged this, knowing that this was going to be the best he could get out of Wolverine. "All I ask is that you be subtle."

That got a snort from his second-in-command. Logan leaned the scant few inches forward until their lips were pressed in a chaise kiss. Scott hummed against the other man's lips, reveling in the gentleness he only ever saw the man have for him. "Oh, sweetheart, 'subtle' is my middle name."

Scott smirked at the man. "Sure it is," he replied before kissing Logan again. Where the hell is the Professor? Scott thought before Logan began to do things that made the Professor the last thing Scott wanted to think about.

---

Hank returned the next day a few hours before Alex's procedure. He obviously wasn't to be expected, because Alec sounded resigned when he greeted him. But Hank didn't care; he only had one concern: "Is Alex alright?"

Alec sighed. "Alex is... Alex is fine. I hate to say this, but, well..."

"What is it?" Hank asked, only slightly alarmed. He knew this was coming. This is why he should never have left. The only thing he didn't regret about all this was meeting Alex. He could never regret the best decision of his life.

"After what happened yesterday, the hospital board told me that you— They're worried about the patients and—"

Hank sighed. "And having a mutant around will make matters worse. Our work should be more important than catering to those bigots."

Alec sighed as well as he walked over to Director Kelly's office door and let it open a hair. "There's another problem." Hank heard a slightly high-pitched female voice coming from the office. My fiancé means everything to me! He may have agreed to this experiment, but I refuse to lose him because of some freak!

Now the mutant was confused. "Who is that?"

Alec sighed again. "She claims to be Alex's fianceé. As far as Alex has told me, Lorna Dane was his fianceé. He hasn't seen her for years. Not since she broke off the engagement."

"But why would she come back now, of all times?" Alec only looked at him, resigned. Hank felt that same resignation within him. "Can I at least say goodbye?"

"Of course."