CHAPTER ONE — THE FIGHT BEGINS

"Did that answer your question?" — henry howlett

THE SCENT OF BLOOD AND ALCOHOL WAS ONE HENRY HOWLETT WAS USED TO BY NOW. He sat inside the bar, watching as the fights continued within the cage, a water in one hand and the car keys in the other. In case they needed to get out of there fast. His foot tapped against the metal rung of the bar stool in a nervous motion as he watched his Father fight from the corner of his eye. They had been doing alright so far, but it was only a matter of time before they were outed as mutants. And mutants... well they weren't appreciated at the moment. More like treated like weapons and vermin. It made Henry so angry sometimes. 

He took another sip of his water and ignored the shouts of those surrounding the cage. His Father was going to win, there was no doubt about it. The sixteen-year-old was more worried about these people discovering their unique gifts as it had never ended well for them in the past.

Henry tried to put his mind elsewhere by focusing back on the papers in front of him — part of his home-schooling. His Dad may not have been the best person to teach him academically, but Logan always ensured that his son would have access to the local libraries to help him with anything he needed. And it also helped that Henry was apparently 'naturally gifted' in the intellectual sense, but he didn't really believe it. Without going to a human school a day in his life, Henry had nothing to compare to. So, to him, he was just Henry and that was it.

Tapping his pen against his paper, Henry tried to focus on the mathematical equations in front of him. But his mind was currently focused on the fight, worried about what would happen if someone questioned his Father's winning streak. It continued to be this way for a while with the screaming and cheering in his ears and his school work in front of his eyes. Henry put down his pen to run a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. The bartender spared him a worried glance at the boy, but said nothing.

Then, Henry was surprised when a young girl (who was no older than him) sheepishly walked into the bar and sat beside him. She looked scared, Henry noted, and he could hear her racing heartbeat inside her chest as she made herself comfortable on the stool on his right. A frown crossed his lips as he observed her skittish behaviour. 

Henry cleared his throat to gain her attention. "Hi, I'm Henry." 

The girl suddenly jolted up, put on alert by his voice. But when she realised that the person talking to her was but a boy her age, the girl just nodded at him, "I'm Rogue."

"That's cool." 

Henry then signalled to the bartender to bring over another glass of water and he handed it to the lost girl. "Thank you." She said gratefully. There was not a smile on her face, but Henry knew he had cheered her up a little. Taking a sip of water, she then asked him. "Is that a fight?"

The Howlett boy glanced over the cage and sighed deeply. From where he was he could see glimpses of his Father standing his ground against every person who dared go against him. They didn't have a chance. "Yeah, that's my Dad in there. He's a good fighter."

"That's cool."

Hearing the girl echo his words, Henry smiled widely. He rarely met people his own age, so when he did, it was special to him. And he was very curious about this Rogue person and was worried as to why they were so afraid. She seemed really nice.

When the bartender spotted Rogue eyeing the tip jar, he moved it from her reach knowingly. So Henry slipped what dollar bills he had left into her hand. It seemed she needed it more than him.

Rogue just stared at Henry in shock as the bartender shot him a disapproving glance. He didn't care about the last part and just stared at Rogue who was so surprised by his kindness it was like she hadn't experienced any in a while. "Why would you give me this?"

"I don't know what your situation is, and I'm not going to ask, but it seems like you're in some sort of trouble. I just thought you would need it more than me, that's all."

"Uh... thank you." She was too shocked to say anything else and just pocketed the money from Henry as if expecting him to change his mind.

They then sat there, in mainly silence as Henry continued with his Maths and Rogue rested her tired bones. Rogue ended up spouting an answer to the question Henry was on before he could answer it, then the boy moved the sheet between them so they could work together. It was Maths, of all things, which Rogue had disliked when she actually attended school, but doing sums with this strange boy brought a sense of normalcy to her life. So even if she it meant doing equations, for the first time in a long time, Rogue felt like a kid again.

It was an hour or so later that the fights concluded and Logan exited the cage.

He changed back into his normal clothes and then walked over to where he had left his son, only to find him sitting with a strange girl. A small smile spread across his lips as he watched his son behave like a normal teen for once. It made his heart hurt as he could not give Henry the normal life he deserved with normal friends and a normal school. Because of him, Henry was a mutant and as a mutant family, they could never be normal.

As he approached the bar, Henry heard him coming and turned to greet his Father with a wide grin. "Hey, Dad. How'd it go?"

"As well as it could have done, kid." 

He sat on Henry's left and patted the boy on the shoulder as he lowered himself onto the stool. The teen smiled in response. "I finished my Maths."

"Good." Nodded Logan as his son handed him the completed sheet. A small frown crossed his face when he noticed two different handwriting on the page and then realised the girl next to him had worked with him. Normally, Logan wouldn't approve of his intelligent son not working it out for himself, but on this occasion, he excused it. Putting the sheet in his pocket, Logan then turned to the bartender. "You got my money?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it right here." A moment later, Henry watched as the bartender handed his Father a wad of his cash winnings, a beer and a cigar. If they didn't heal from these things, Henry would not approve of his Father smoking. But they did heal so it didn't matter to them. "Fat cash tonight. Hope it was worth it."

Logan glanced to his son. "Yeah, it was."

Suddenly a news announcement popped up onto the television above them and Logan took a sip of his beer. Henry watched curiously as it played.

"Preparations are nearly completed for the upcoming United Nations World Summit. With nearly every invitation confirmed, the event promises to be the largest single gathering of world leaders in history."

The screen was showing an image of a helicopter on Ellis Island, with the iconic Liberty Island and statue behind it. Something big was certainly going on.

"... The leaders of over 200 nations will discuss issues ranging from the world's economic climate and weapons treaties to the Mutant Phenomenon and it's impact on the world stage..."

Both Logan and Rogue looked up at that last part. Henry could see Rogue from the corner of his eye and could hear her heartbeat pick up at the newscaster's words. She was afraid. 

"You owe me money." A voice suddenly spoke up.

They all turned to see a man, drunk and bruised all over. He set his eyes on Henry's Father angrily. It seemed he was mad about losing the fight. Which meant this wasn't going to end well. Henry sighed and put his palms flat against the wooden bar.

Logan snorted and went to turn back to bar, only for the man to grab him and roughly yank him back around. Oh dear.

"No man takes a beating like that without a mark to show for it." The man continued, not letting up. People around them turned to see what the commotion was which was just gonna make things worse for the Howlett boys. Logan glanced down at the hand on his arm as he tried to remain calm. Despite the whisper, Henry could hear the man's words as he leant in. "I know what you are. You owe me some money, you mutant freak."

Henry winced at the name. He had always hated that word even though he knew it to be true. They were freaks. 

Turning away, Logan said. "You lost your money. Keep this up and who knows what you'll lose."

Then the man swung at his Father with a knife.

"Look out!"

Alerted by Rogue, Logan spun around and caught the arm about to strike him. Henry got up from the stool and prepared for a fight. At this point, a fight was usually inevitable. He had learnt from experience. Then his Father twisted back their attacker's arm, making him drop the blade and fall back against the wooden post.

Logan unsheathed his two outer claws on either side of the man's neck, trapping him to the post. He stared at Logan's claws, horrified. And that fear made Henry falter slightly. After so many years, he still had not gotten used to the fear people would have when they looked at the real them. He hated it.

Balancing on the balls of his feet, Henry was readying himself to either dash for the door or to help his Father. He watched as Logan slowly extended his middle claw so that it met the man's throat, poking the skin gently as a warning. If he moved, he was dead.

Then, all of a sudden, another man at the bar grasped Henry by his arm and yanked him into the open. "Are you a freak too?" Sneered the man. And seeing his son in that situation, fear flickered in Logan's eyes. But he couldn't move. 

It turned out, he didn't have to.

Henry grasped the hand on his arm in a hold so tight he was sure he broke at least one bone and then flipped the man over his shoulder. He was heavy, but Henry was stronger. The familiar pain of his bone claws extending came from his knuckles and blood dripped down onto the chest of the man as Henry placed his knee upon him with his claws to his throat. "Did that answer your question?"

A rifle was cocked.

The Howlett boys looked away from the men at their mercy to see the bartender pointing a rifle at Logan. "Get out of here." He demanded.

Logan glanced to his son with a look in his eyes that Henry quickly recognised. So, Henry retracted his claws and stepped off his attacker just as his Father spun around and used his other set of claws to slice through the rifle, only stopping when he reached the bartender's chin. Now, they had to leave.

"Come on, Henry." Logan grunted.

The teen waved goodbye to the kind girl before running after his Father. All claws were away and the people in the bar were most certainly not coming after them. It wasn't the best way to end things, but they've had worse. 

"You okay?"

Henry nodded at his Dad's question. "I'm fine, Dad. It's not the first time we've been shown the door because we're mutants."

"Yeah, and it won't be the last."

A sigh echoed in the crisp, cold air. "Let's just get out of here, Dad." He didn't want to think about it anymore. Logan said nothing and just nodded in agreement.

He hated his son being in situations like these, he most certainly didn't deserve it. And Logan, he wasn't sure what he deserved as he didn't remember anything from before sixteen years ago. But after he was given his son, Logan made himself a promise that he would protect Henry no matter what and give him as good of a life as he could. That was why he fought.

And as the two Howlett boys headed towards their camper, Logan could just hope that the World Summit would make the right decision about mutants so Henry could have the life he deserved.

Chapter one is here!!!

I love my boys so much! Logan does everything he can for Henry but feels bad he cannot give him the peaceful and stable life he deserves. Henry and Logan's relationship is one of my faves and I can't wait to write it.

Also, Rogue and Henry are so cute. They're definitely gonna become siblings. Henry has moved around so much that he hasn't met mutants his age before, he's not used to it. Going to the school is gonna be a culture shock, that's for certain. 

Anyway, thank you for reading!

Sincerely Rosie aka Wimter326