Work Text
The little old lady made her way up to the door of Xavier’s School with an air of determination. Her croc shoes scuffed a little on the paved walkway and her cane might have made a nice tapping rhythm had she remembered to use it rather than carry it under her arm as she so often did. She reached the doorway and straightened her wide rimmed white derby hat and pulled the wrinkles free from her red floral blouse then she reached up and knocked on the old wooden door. A teen boy pulled the door open and stood there as if he were waiting for her to explain herself. She didn’t like his attitude. “Take those things out of your ears so you can hear what I’ve got to say!” she said with a slight southern accent. The boy pulled his earbuds out of his ears and stuffed his ipod into his jeans pocket. “Sorry. What can I do for you?” he asked. “My name is Matilda Black. I am here to see a Professor James Logan Howlett.” “Well..uh...Professor Logan is in a meeting right now...I uh…” The kid was no secretary. He wasn’t sure what to do. “I’ll wait. I didn’t come all the way from Texas for nothing. Find me a library or someplace quiet where I can wait for him.” Matilda insisted. “Uh...okay. Come on in.” Matilda followed the clueless teen to a library. He waved her in and just about ran to get away from her. She shook her head and took a seat near an old oak bookshelf. She chose a book and bided her time. It was nearly and hour before Logan wandered into the library. He approached her looking careless and stoic but she knew he was a little confused too. They had never met before today. He had to be wondering why she was there at all. “Luke said you were looking for me?” Logan began. He was at least polite enough to offer her a handshake. Matilda got to her feet and held out her hand. “My name is Matilda Black. I came all the way here from Texas because we share a grandchild, and she needs our help.” “I haven’t got a grandchild,” Logan said, skeptical but not outright denying it. “You have a son, don’t you? Daken?” Matilda asked, knowing it to be true. Logan crossed his arms. “You’re telling me Daken has a kid now?” “My daughter Tess met your Daken some eleven years back. Neither one of ‘em were fit to be parents. Tess was too afraid of all the responsibility and wanted to focus on her career and Daken...who knows where he got off too? So I have been raising Aimee on my own and the two of us have been doing just fine until three weeks ago she didn’t come home from school.”“I take it you talked to the police?” Logan asked. “Of course I did and they can’t find any trace of her. All they know is that her cell phone was last turned on at this location,” Matilda unfolded a paper in her hand and passed it over to him. “This is a HYDRA base, in Russia.” “So I have been told. I already spoke to someone at SHIELD and all they could tell me was that they are looking into it. Can you believe that? Looking into it? I think that’s spy talk for something, for sure.” “Probably is,” Logan agreed and fell silent. “So the real question is, are you as useless as your fool son, or are you gonna do something more than just look into it?” She asked pointing at him with the cane she didn’t seem to need. “Look, Matilda,” Logan began, still unconvinced somehow. “I gotta talk to Daken first. I have a phone number. Haven’t talked to him in years but maybe…” “Maybe he’ll man up and admit that he has a daughter? I wouldn’t count on it. I do have here a birth certificate it it helps. And I have some of her hair from her hairbrush so you can do one of those DNA tests.” She pulled her purse from off her shoulder and handed him the items. Logan took them with a nod. “I’ll bring these to Hank. We’re about to have supper. You’re welcome to stay,” He moved towards the door. “Dining room is four doors down on the left.” Matilda found a restroom on her way to the dining room and went there first. Then she joined the young mutants and their teachers for a meal. “You were right,” Logan said, taking a seat across from her as the meal ended. Half the dining room had cleared out already. “Since I apparently do have a grandchild, I’m gonna find her like you asked.” Matilda breathed a sigh of relief. “Wonderful. When are we leaving?” “We?” he raised an eyebrow. “Of course I am going with you. She’s my granddaughter and she’s never met you. I need to be there when we find her.” “You do realize that I’m probably gonna have to break into a HYDRA base and see if she’s there? There’s gonna be shooting and probably lots of stabbing. I can’t promise that I could keep you safe. I’m gonna be plenty busy already.” “You think I’m afraid of a few bullets flying? I was a nurse in the war. I’ve seen battles and I’ve seen blood. There is no way in hell I am going back home without that child coming with me. I am going to Russia. If you won’t let me go with you, I’ll just get on the next plane and go there anyway.” “Fine,” Logan said with a sigh. “You can have a room here at the school for tonight. We leave first thing in the morning.”