Chapter Text
She'd only been outside for a couple of days when some men found her. She knew they weren't the same ones who had kept her locked up before because the smell was different. But that didn't stop her from trying to escape. Even though she tried to run as fast as she could, The things that shot from their guns hit her, making her feel dizzy. Unable to resist any longer, she fell into the snow before everything went black.
—
Wolverine and Morph were relaxing on the couch, watching a movie, but Logan wasn't paying much attention. He was more amused by Morph's comments. But suddenly, the professor spoke to him telepathically.
"Is something wrong?" Morph asked, noticing the change in Logan's expression.
He stood up from the couch. "It's Charles. Something must be wrong. He wants me to go to his office immediately."
"Oh, okay." Morph also stood up and started walking with Logan.
When they entered the office, the professor was behind his desk with a serious and thoughtful expression.
Xavier looked at Logan for a few seconds before speaking. "SHIELD just called."
"That can't be good," Logan said.
"They found a young mutant... Fury said she was related to Wolverine."
Logan remained silent and still. A relative? No, that wasn't possible.
"A distant relative?" Morph asked.
"Quite the opposite, in fact," Xavier said. "She's his daughter."
"What?" Morph said, confused, and moving closer to Wolverine "Logan, is that possible?"
“No,” Logan said, and it was quite obvious to Morph, and Xavier was trying to control himself. “No, no, no, it’s not possible. They’re mistaken.”
The professor began to move closer to Wolverine. “Logan, I can imagine how you feel, but even if there’s a mistake and you’re not related, we have to go see her. She’s still a young mutant.”
Logan fell silent again, his jaw clenched. The years before he joined the X-Men were a blur. It wouldn’t be surprising if he’d had a one-night stand and it had resulted in a mutant baby. But the thought of not having been there for his daughter all these years…
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I’ll go with Scott and Jean,” the professor said again.
“I’ll go with you…” Logan said before looking at Morph and taking they hand. “Are you coming too?”
“Of course, love,” the shapeshifter replied, smiling.
—
The black bird landed on the helicarrier, and when the X-Men disembarked from the jet, Nick Fury was waiting for them.
"I’m glad you came so quickly," said the director of SHIELD, but his expression was less than happy. Fury led the way into Inside of the helicarrier. "When we found the girl, we had no choice but to sedate her. She woke up a while ago."
Logan let out a small grunt before speaking. "You must have made a mistake. I don't have any blood relatives, much less a daughter."
Fury glanced at him sideways. "The DNA comparison is so similar that the only possibilities are that she's either your sister or your daughter."
They all entered a large room with a black glass panel that covered almost an entire wall. Logan recognized it as one of those one-way mirrors used in police stations. Fury pressed a button, revealing what was on the other side.
A white room with padded walls, covered in claw marks.
In one corner, a small, thin girl with long black hair that partially covered her face.
“What’s her name? How old is she?” Logan asked, his eyes fixed on her.
“We don’t know. She hasn’t said a single word. It seems she can hear and understand what we’re saying, but we’re not sure if she can even speak,” Fury explained.
“She looks too young to be over 10” Xavier said.
“She must be scared. If a bunch of men with guns locked me up, I’d be scared” Morph said, peering through the glass.
Logan hadn’t thought of that. He grabbed Fury by the collar, growling, “Get her out of there. Now.”
“I can’t just drag her out. It’s dangerous. Look at the state of the room!” Fury raised his voice, and Logan knew the professor and Cyclops would agree with the director of shield
“Fine, then let me in. I’ll try to talk to her, and if she hurts me, I can heal.”
Fury stared at him as Charles spoke. “Let him try. You think she’s his daughter, after all.”
Fury agreed, and they led Logan to a door leading to the other side of the room. When the girl noticed Logan enter, two claws extended from each hand. But she didn’t attack him; she stayed there, huddled in the corner of the room.
Wolverine spoke low and the more gentle he could as he slowly walked toward her. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
The girl didn’t move, Still with her claws extended. The closer Logan got, the more he could see her trembling. He stopped close enough to talk to her, but at a safe distance, so she wouldn’t be more afraid, or so he could easily dodge if she tried to attack and not hurt her. Logan crouched down to her level and extended the claws from one hand, trying not to appear threatening.
“See? We’re the same. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help you, I promise.”
Her eyes widened at the sight of Logan’s claws. But it seemed more astonishment than fear; at this distance, Logan could see her dark brown eyes.
“My name is Logan. Do you have a name?”
The girl used one of her claws and, leaving marks on the wall, wrote something:
X-23
Logan felt like his throat was being ripped out.
“That’s not a good name… don’t worry, we’ll find you a better one.” Logan hid its claws and extended his hand toward her, but he didn’t move.
She approached slowly.
“There are some friends of mine outside, okay? They won’t hurt you, so don’t attack them,” Logan said, but the girl didn’t answer. “We’ll get you out of here, we’ll take you to a nice place where there aren’t any men with guns, would you like that?”
The girl nodded almost imperceptibly.
“I’m going to carry you, okay, pumpkin?” The girl didn't respond, and Logan carefully picked her up. He could feel her hands clutching his shirt as if she were afraid he would drop her. She also buried her face in his neck.
When they left the room, Logan bent down again to lower her from his arms in front of Morph, Jean, and Scott.
"These are my friends. I'll be back in a moment, okay?" Logan said before going over to Fury and the professor. It took him a moment to start walking seeing the sad face the girl made as he walked away. He could hear Morph immediately crouch down and speak gently to her, trying to reassure her.
"I don't think she's my biological daughter... I think it has something to do with the Weapon X project" Wolverine explained to the other men.
Fury stepped forward. "We'll take care of it."
"So they can lock her up again?" Logan growled, "No, they have my DNA. It'll be my responsibility."
Fury glanced at the professor before turning back to Logan. "If the X-Men want to take care of her, that's fine by me. We have enough to deal with at S.H.I.E.L.D. without adding another one."
The professor continued talking to Fury, and when Logan turned to rejoin the others, he saw Morph still crouching down to the girl's level, making funny faces. Suddenly, the little girl let out something like a giggle.
Wolverine had made up his mind. He wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt his girl.