A series by November

Chapter 65: Take me Home

“Cause I’ve been a prisoner all my life,
So take, take me home,
Cos I don't remember,
So take, take me home...”
--Phil Collins

The black bird descended through the spring air. A white shape rose from the shimmer on the horizon, moving forth. The grass was a sea of motion that stretched to the mountains in the distance.

The plane landed and its engines stopped, leaving a steady purr of fans that shuffled the air and the grass. The white SUV stopped beside the Blackbird.

Mariah emerged from the SUV and the Blackbird’s hatch opened. Her shirt was blinding white and her hair was silver. She looked impossibly cool, a large turquoise choker at her throat.

Logan emerged from the Blackbird with a large knapsack and a duffel and a box full of painting supplies. He was wearing a tee shirt and jeans and his heart was hammering in anticipation of memories that might come to him. Rogue exited behind him with a suitcase.

Mariah smiled and held her arms out. He smiled too, dropped his bag and hugged her, inhaling her comforting scent. “Hi Ma.”

“Hi.” She hugged him again and kissed his cheek.

Marie approached. “Hi Ma,” she mimicked with a grin.

Mariah hugged her tightly. “Hello.” she took her hand. “So good to see you wearing this.”

“Thank you.”

Scott appeared at the hatch of the ‘bird, red sparks glinting from his shades. He waved at Mariah. She waved back. The heat was oppressive and as the Blackbird roared to life and rose they slipped into the cool SUV.

Mariah drove them twenty miles through grass that parted like a pale green sea. Logan watched the scenery, testing himself to see if it sparked any memories. It didn’t. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

The approached a quiet highway at a near-right angle. Mariah looked both ways, down the deserted stretch, and pulled out to the right.

“How far to Canon?”

“Five minutes. It’s not much of a town. You blink, you miss it.”

They pulled up to a T intersection with a gas station slash video store and went right. There were a handful of ranch houses on the right and nothing to the left.

A mile or two down the road was a turn off to the right. The road was technically paved but dust rose high around them as they turned on to it. The sky went on forever.

The houses were sprawling and well-manicured. The third one on the right was of white wood and stone with a blue koi pond in front. Mariah turned into the paved drive.

“Here it is.”

She had told him that this was the house he had grown up in, since he was five. The house didn’t seem old enough. It wasn’t what he expected. Japanese box lanterns flanked the drive. It was utterly unfamiliar. Nice, but unfamiliar.

As if sensing his thoughts Mariah said “It didn’t look like this when you were last here.” She pointed out the deck, the painting of the upper level. It was one of the few bi-level houses on the lane.

“Come in, come in,” she said, leading them through a cool stone foyer where a fountain tinkled. Logan felt a ping of something upon his consciousness but before he could assess whether it was memory or not they were in the living room. The inner walls were cool adobe-like plaster, painted the color of saffron. Turquoise insets decorated the adobe hearth.

“This house is gorgeous,” Marie said.

“Thanks. I’ve done a lot of work on it. Let me show you your room.”

They followed her up the stairs into a side bedroom. It was very minimalist, like something out of a Whistler painting. White walls, white linens, white bed. on the shaker sideboard were three terra cotta pots of silk hydrangeas, a riot of blue-violet in the otherwise white room.

“Here’s your bathroom,” she said, opening an adjoining door. It was small and painted a heady turquoise with white moldings.

“I love this house,” Marie said.

“Me too. Make yourselves at home, I’m going to make some tea.”

Rogue glanced at Logan. He was staring at the room, turning slowly. She wanted to ask him if he remembered but she refrained. Logan was in his own world.

They met Mariah in the kitchen. She poured iced tea with lemon for them. Marie watched Logan covertly. His posture was relaxed, leaning back in his chair, hand loose around his drink. But there was something else there, in the way his eyes darted at times around the room. He wasn’t afraid of them, she concluded. His trust of Mariah was complete. He was afraid of what he might remember.

“So what was different about this house, last time I was here?”

Mariah laughed. “Everything. This room was atrocious. It was pink, can you believe that? The deck is new, the living room was wood-paneled and I had to get rid of that. We got this god-awful shag carpeting in there back in...I don’t remember, the sixties sometime. I don’t know what I was thinking then.”

Marie pulled a pack of photos from her purse. “I’ve made doubles of these for you.”

“Oh, good, let's look at them."

“This is the Christmas Eve party.” A photo of Maggie sitting on Logan’s lap. She was holding a stuffed unicorn. Another photo of Maggie on Xavier’s lap. Big grins. Maggie’s hair was curled in big ringlets. A photo taken by Jubilee, of Rogue and Logan, smiling widely. A photo of the three of them. Bobby, Carter, and Scott. Logan and Hank.

“This is New Year’s. We went to Dave and Buster’s.” The photo was taken by a waitress, showing everyone at their table. Big grins all around.

“Who’s that?”

“That’s Oleander, Jean’s best friend.”

Logan sat back and watched the women look at pictures.

Mariah smiled. “Hank is so blue.”

“Yeah. Jubilee laid this kiss on him at midnight. We all looked over and he had dipped her down into this liplock... It was so funny. Too bad we didn't get a picture of that. And you remember Scott, and that’s Darla, Jean, Carter, John, and Bobby. That's Cody, he's from my hometown.”

"Is this the one you put into a coma?" "Yeah." She glanced at Logan. “How is Jean?”

“She’s due any day now.”

“Do they know what they’re having?”

Rogue laughed. “Scott wanted to know but Jean didn’t. Of course, Jean’s a telepath so she couldn’t resist reading his mind. That’s a big no-no but one day she decided to hell with it. It’s gonna be a boy.”

“Aww. I hope he doesn’t have Scott’s problem.”

“Actually the only reason Scott has a problem with the beams is that he had a head injury as a child.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They’re pretty sure that if it weren’t for that he could control his beams.”

“What a shame.”

“I’m gonna use the bathroom,” Logan said. Marie smiled up at him. That smile warmed him like sunshine, comforted him.

“Yeah.” Marie added a new photo to Mariah’s growing pile. “These are from Logan’s birthday. I made dinner and he wanted to keep it small but I invited his friend Johnny without telling him.”

“How did he meet Johnny?”

“In a bar in Tijuana, a few years ago. Johnny’s an interesting character. Logan doesn’t make friends easily, or trust people easily. So Johnny’s a good egg.”

“He looks so happy.”

“Oh, he was. I was so relieved. Wasn‘t sure how he‘d react to the surprise.”

“He’s a fragile man, isn’t he?” Mariah’s gray eyes searched out Marie’s.

“He is, and at the same time very strong. Incredibly strong.”

Logan came back and they looked at the rest of the pictures together.

“I’m gonna go call Maggie.” Marie went upstairs and dialed London.

“Hello,” It was the poised and articulate voice of Xavier’s niece Camille, Gillian‘s mother.

“Camille? It’s Marie.”

“Oh, hello Marie.”

“Hi, how are you?”

“Oh, we’re good. We’re at Big Ben.”

“How is Maggie?”

“She’s good. She’s doing really well. It's been a long day and I think the girls are rather tired.”

“Thank you again for having her.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. She and Gillian get along very well.”

“I’m glad. She’s so little, and this is her first time away from home.”

“I guess you’d like to speak to her? Let me call her.”

“Thanks.”

“Maggie, it’s your mum on the phone.”

Then there was the sound of the phone changing hands. “Hello? Momma?”

“Hi, baby! How are you?"

“I’m good. We went to Barney’s and Piccadilly circus and now we’re at Big Ben.”

“Do you like London?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna live here someday.”

Over my dead body, Marie thought. “I miss you, Bluebell.”

“Me too. What’s it like out there?”

“Well, it’s very different from the east coast. It’s very flat and hot, and the dirt is sort of orange. It’s pretty. Next time we’ll bring you.”

“What is Logan’s Momma’s house like?”

“It’s really nice.”

“So is Camille’s.”

Marie smiled. She was sure that Camille Xavier had a palatial estate nothing like this cozy house Mariah had.

“Camille bought dolls for me and Gillian. Mine has blue hair.”

“She did? How sweet of her. Did you thank her nicely?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl. How was your flight?”

“It was long. It was hard to sit still that long. But they gave us juice and snacks.”

“Did you get to sit by the window?”

“Yeah. I can’t wait until I can fly.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Oh, the professor wants to talk to you.”

“Okay.”

“Bye momma.”

“Bye Blue, we love you. Big kisses.”

“Big kisses. I love you too.”

“Rogue?”

“Hi, Charles. How’s it going there?”

“Splendidly. Maggie is a delight. How is Logan?”

“Good or bad, I’m not sure. I think he’s terrified of remembering his earlier life. I think he’s afraid that if he does he’ll start remembering the lab.”

“Do you think he remembers?”

“I think he might. I’m not going to push him. He and Mariah are enjoying each other’s company.”

“Tell her I said hello.”

“I will. Is everything okay at home?”

“Last I heard the place was still standing.”

“Knock on wood.”

“Scott and Jean are there. And Eloise is good at keeping the place running. I’m not too worried.”

“So what are you doing tomorrow?”

“We’re going out into the country to see my cousin.”

“That sounds fun.”

“I’m afraid the girls will find it very dull.”

“Give Maggie a book and she’ll be okay.”

“Good idea.”

“I should go.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Allright. Hug Maggie for me. And you tell her that if she gets homesick, she can call me any time. I’ll have my cell.”

“Okay.”

Marie listened at the top of the stairs before going down. She heard the sounds of cooking and the low voices of Logan and Mariah. She figured it was okay.

Logan was chopping onion at the counter. She walked behind him and held him around the waist. “Hey sugar. Chuck and Magster say hi.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Really good. They’re doing the touristy thing.”

Logan nodded. She gave him a sudden close hug, overwhelmed by love for him. “Love you, sug.”

“Me too,” he whispered.

They got a pot of green chili stew going on the back burner, and went out for dinner. Mariah drove for about a half hour to a Texas-style steakhouse with a huge outdoor deck, chili pepper lights, and ample neon. Country music played and the scent of beef and mesquite surrounded the place. They had Molson on tap and Logan availed himself of it. The catharsis of earlier that day had done him good. He was more relaxed, reclining in his chair, baseball cap on.

Mariah had told him that this was her cousin’s place, and that he was eager to see Logan. The only remaining family was Mariah’s cousin and his wife Marisol, and several nieces and nephews of Per-Andrew’s in Europe.

The waitress came to the table and took their order. They got steaks all around. “Is Jimmy here?” Mariah asked.

“Yeah, he is.”

“Could you tell him Logan is here?”

“Sure thing. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Jimmy came out a few minutes later was wearing jeans and a tee shirt. He was extremely thin and extremely dark. He looked about fifty, a good deal younger than Mariah.

“Hi Jimmy,” Mariah said.

“Hey cos.” He turned to look at Logan. “Well look at you. Damn, you look just like your papa.”

Logan smiled. He stood and offered Jimmy his hand. “How ya doing?”

“Good man. Haven’t seen you since you were about twenty. Damn, you look good.”

“Thanks.”

They shook, and Jimmy pulled him in for a rough hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to be here.” It was a very diplomatic way of skirting the issue that Logan didn’t remember him at all. Marie watched the interchange and was amazed at how substantially Logan’s social graces had developed since she met him.

He turned to her. “This is my fiancée Marie.”

“Well hello Marie,” Jimmy extended his hand to her.

“Hi Jimmy. It’s good to meet you.”

“You too.”

“I hope you can make it to the wedding in August,” she said.

“I won’t miss it. My wife wants to meet you but she’s not here tonight.”

“Maybe you two can stop by for dinner tomorrow.” Mariah said.

“Okay. Should be good.”

The steaks were delicious and on the house. They ate until they were stuffed, and then some. "So Logan, your mom tells me you're a teacher." "Yep. I teach martial arts and self-defense." "Cool. You'll have to show me some moves. Marie, what do you do?" Jimmy sat down and they made small talk. Logan was watching, smelling, and listening to everyone in the crowd, vigilant for hostility. It wasn't there. He made an effort to stop and he couldn't, but he did manage to relax a bit. Jimmy was no threat, he was amiable and calm and Logan actually liked him. Logan told himself over and over that things were okay. It didn't seem real. That night he slept with his arms around Marie, fending off nightmares.