The Ice Queen Cometh Who: Logan and Emma Frost, Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy What: Snark and use of Cerebro When: Thursday afternoon Rating: PG-13 Status: Closed Warnings: None
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"I'm astounded that you didn't contact me sooner, Logan." Emma Frost's voice was a throaty, cultured purr, modulated perfectly to elicit a response in whomever heard it. She'd upped the sultry tone of it until he'd told her, not so politely, that he wasn't interested in what she was selling. She'd rather haughtily informed him that she wasn't interested in him, either:
"I don't go for the knuckle-dragging lumberjack type, darling. Too much chance you'll shed on the furniture. And you may not be housebroken, either."
Logan looked over at her as they walked down the hallway from the front door where he'd greeted her, her Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith parked right up front. She'd stepped out dressed in pure white, from her cashmere sweater to her skirt with a slit up the side, all the way to her knee-high stiletto heels and her clutch purse. Her platinum blonde hair was perfectly styled to look artfully messy and she looked as if she wore no makeup. Platinum and diamonds sparkled discreetly at ears and fingers, her neck left unadorned.
He found he wasn't insulted by her at all. She said things in a bored, I'm-not-paying-all-my-attention-to-you way, cultivated to make herself seem distant and above it all --- hard to get angry at a woman who spent that much time and effort on being snooty. The insults were obviously second nature to her and he just shrugged it off. "We didn't even know at the time if Cerebro would have been any help," he said, calling up the elevator and holding the door for her before stepping inside with her. "Tony just found out last night where the plane was headed."
Emma wrinkled her nose delicately. "Tony Stark? He's such a boor, I don't know how you can stand him. He flirts like an amateur."
Logan smirked at her. "I wouldn't know, babe, I don't have much experience with that sort of thing." He'd much rather be with Tony right now, leers and joking and all. "Anyway, our one telepath, Brenna, got taken so we're stuck."
Emma finally looked a little interested. "Brenna Lawson? That pathetic girl? She's barely strong enough to do anything, poor thing locked away most of her powers after killing a man in Chicago." Her tone suggested it was a despicable thing to do, beneath her.
"So you'd just let a guy rape you, is that it?" Logan sneered at her. "Knew you were easy, Frost, but not that easy."
"We have a duty to control ourselves, Logan, and she failed at that. There would have been another way."
"I'll come to you next time I need advice for livin' on the streets then, thanks." Now she was pissing him off, but he'd heard the thread of anger in her voice and it was enough, coming from a woman who held herself so tightly wound. The elevator stopped and opened again, revealing the silver hallways of the underground. "After you," he said, holding the door again.
Her heels made sharp little clicks on the floor here as they had upstairs. "Have you even touched Cerebro since you rebuilt the Institute?" she asked.
"We have a guy workin' on makin' it accessible to anyone with the X gene, we don't wanna be caught with our pants down again."
"Crude analogies aside, why didn't you call me sooner? I could have at least tried."
Because you're an annoying bitch, that's why. And I'm not gonna admit to you I should have called ya sooner. He didn't bother not thinking it, she'd have a hard time getting through his adamantium skull and the psi-shields he seemed to naturally have. "Well, yer tryin' now." They stopped outside Cerebro's circular doors; whatever had destroyed the school hadn't affected the lower levels, possibly because no one else could access them. He'd never thought to ask and they still didn't know why the place had gone up. Since the Professor's death a more normal-height retinal scanner had been installed. He stepped up to it, tried not to blink when the swath of blue light did its job.
"Welcome, Logan." That voice was so creepy. The doors slid open to reveal the deck, at the end of which sat Cerebro. They'd placed a small chair inside and Emma strode purposefully towards it.
"You know who to look for?" Logan asked.
"Please. I've had copious interaction with your band of misfits, I can find them if they're alive to find."
That last statement brought a growl from him and he stalked away, let her get on with it because if he kept standing there he was going to be hard pressed not to bash her damn skull in. It wasn't her kids that had been taken. They were his. And goddammit he should have called Frost sooner because his pride and whether or not he liked her didn't matter when the lives of people he loved were on the line.
He left her to it, went outside to pace the corridor and try to ignore how much time was passing, until finally Emma emerged, looking a little haggard. "What'd you find?" he demanded immediately.
"Can -- may I sit down, please? And possibly have a glass of water?" It was an epic show of vulnerability, something Logan hadn't thought she possessed, and he softened a little. He led her further down the corridor to the War Room, sat her down and got her some water. She sipped at it, eyes closed for a few moments before reopening and focusing on him.
"I had forgotten how draining Cerebro can be, for all it's a rush to extend myself that far." She set the glass down on the table in front of her. "I searched for their unique psychic signatures as well as their X genes, and was only able to definitively find a couple of them: John Allerdyce and Kitty Pryde. The intermittant use of their powers leads me to believe they may have been fitted with inhibitor collars, which means that those I could not locate may have their powers shut off at the moment, rather than indicating that they are dead."
Logan breathed out, hadn't realized he'd been holding air in, when she explained about the collars. "Tony sent me specs on some kind of robots or somethin', he thinks they might be testin' 'em on our kids. Maybe Johnny and Kitty are being tested right now."
Emma nodded, reaching for her water again. "It may be." She touched the table in front of them, a surface that doubled as a sort of keyboard. Her fingers moved rapidly to bring up a map on the big screen at the front of the room. New York State and Quebec, Canada were highlighted, a small red light blinking just across the border. "This is where they are. You were correct in assuming that the plane did not take the course it was charted for. They haven't gone far."
"Tony should be able to get more information now that we have a location." Finally. Point him in the right direction and let him loose, that was all he needed. The thought came again of what might be happening to his kids, and suddenly a soft, warm hand was laid over his. He looked up to find Emma looking at him.
"I'm sorry, Logan, for what has happened. No one should have to go through this." She got to her feet. "I'll show myself out, I know you have planning to do. Thank you for the water."
"Emma." His voice, rough with emotion and the need to act, stopped her. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it, darling. Slug one of those bastards for me, would you?"
He bared his teeth at her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.