Work Text:
‘I’m sorry, but what?’
Hank cringed under Emma’s icy stare and he turned to glance nervously at Logan, who was standing off to the side, looking completely unperturbed by the whole business.
‘I’m sorry,’ Hank stammered out. ‘I mean – not that I know what I’m sorry about exactly, considering that this has never happened before and never even been an issue, but – it’s not a problem, I’m sure it’s not a problem.’
Emma Frost rose from where she had been sitting at her desk, and though Hank was a good few inches taller than her, he still shrank back under the force of her presence.
‘Not a problem,’ she repeated silkily. ‘Did you just say that this is not a problem?’
Hank swallowed and made a sound that might have been a whimper.
Emma shut her eyes and brought up an elegant white hand to pinch her nose. She was breathing deeply.
‘Well, Mr. McCoy,’ she said at last, eyes still shut, ‘Allow me to disabuse you of that particular notion.’ Her eyes snapped open. ‘This most certainly is a problem!’
Logan let out a snort, and was immediately rewarded with an icy glare from Emma.
‘Don’t think that I don’t also blame you for this, Mr. Howlett,’ she said coldly. ‘I was aware when I took you on that your methods of handling our Actives would differ from the norm, but I most certainly did not expect this!’
Logan looked at her for a moment before raising an eyebrow.
‘Firstly,’ he drawled, ‘I have nothing to say to that that you would want to hear. Secondly: what exactly is the big deal here?’
Emma froze. Slowly, she turned on her pointed white heels and fixed Logan with a piercing stare.
‘The big deal, Mr. Howlett,’ she said tightly, ‘is that Charlie now wants to be called Charles.’
There was a pause.
‘…Yeah,’ Logan said slowly. ‘But I don’t see how that’s a problem. It’s – what? – two letters?’
Emma glowered at him.
‘You’re missing the point!’ she snapped, frustrated. ‘The point is that Charlie has an opinion.’
It took a moment for Logan to figure out what she meant. Something flickered in his eyes and he stood up straighter. Emma almost let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he had finally caught on.
‘So what are you saying?’ Logan asked cautiously. ‘You’re saying that Charlie is awake?’
‘No!’ Hank said immediately, drawing their attention. ‘Not at all. That is jumping completely ahead of the facts. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Charlie is aware of anything other than what we allow him.’
‘Then explain to me how he suddenly has an opinion, and how that opinion regards the use of his real name?’ Emma snapped.
There was a pause at that, in which Hank’s mouth moved up and down as he tried to come up with some sort of an excuse.
Logan felt it was high time that he stepped in.
‘I think I might know the answer to that,’ he said evenly, taking a step forward. He was immediately pinned by Emma’s stern gaze.
‘Explain,’ she said curtly.
‘Well,’ Logan threw Hank and swift look. ‘Me and Hank here were talking some, just after Charlie returned from one of his assignments – you know, the shooting one.’ He waited for Emma’s sharp nod, after which he continued. ‘And while we were talking, we somehow got onto the subject of names.’
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
‘Yeah,’ Logan agreed, scratching the back of his neck. ‘I guess we kinda got carried away, and the kid here-’ he jerked his thumb at a petrified-looking Hank – ‘let slip about how Charlie’s real name was Charles, and then I started asking some questions and … well, I guess Charlie heard it all. It musta stuck somehow.’
There was a pause.
‘I see,’ Emma said after a moment, her eyes still narrowed. ‘And I don’t suppose either of you geniuses thought to start this conversation up after the Active had left the room?’ She turned her cold eyes from Logan to Hank.
Logan shrugged.
‘No, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I guess we just thought that it wouldn’t matter, see? That Charlie wouldn’t even understand it, seeing as he’s … well – not all there.’
Emma’s mouth tightened. Impossibly, the room’s temperature seemed to abruptly grow a few degrees colder.
‘This is precisely the type of careless attitude that I have been trying to stamp out,’ she hissed, taking both Logan and Hank by surprise. ‘And I must say that I expected this from any number of my men here, but the two of you? After all the time you’ve spent watching them? Programming them?’ Her eyes fell on Logan. ‘Caring for them?’ She shook her head as the other two lowered their eyes, shame-faced. ‘How many times have I told you that our Actives are like children? Children understand a lot more than one would care to believe. And by treating them like they don’t understand – like they don’t exist? Not only will it lead to carelessness – which, in this line of work is unforgivable – but it also puts our Actives at risk, something that I simply will not tolerate.’
Logan frowned, bringing his head up.
‘How does that put the Dolls at risk?’ he asked, puzzled. ‘They’ve got all the handlers and security teams looking after them – and everyone here’s part of the Shaw Foundation …’
Emma’s mouth tightened.
‘And we can be our own worst enemies, Mr. Howlett,’ she said darkly. ‘We are so busy looking for problems on the outside that we do not spot them when they occur within.’ She paused, before taking a deep breath and explaining. ‘Treating our Actives carelessly leads to their objectification, and that, Mr. Howlett, leads to them being taken advantage of.’ Her cold eyes met Logan’s and held them as realisation dawned on him. ‘I see that you finally understand me. We must never forget that our Actives – that these people – are under our care and that they rely on us to look after them and keep them from harm. To do anything less is to break the faith that they put in us.’
‘And has that happened?’ Logan growled, expression suddenly fierce. ‘Has an Active ever been … taken advantage of?’
Emma’s lips thinned.
‘Yes,’ she said shortly. ‘Not here, thankfully. It happened in the LA House. A handler was found to be subjecting his Active to systematic sexual abuse. He was found and dealt with.’
‘Dealt with?’ Logan cocked his head to the side, sounding almost suspicious.
‘The Attic,’ Hank supplied helpfully. When Logan didn’t look any more enlightened, he continued. ‘It’s what happens to rogue Actives. Basically, you’re put in the Chair and your mind is erased from-’
‘That’s quite enough, Dr. McCoy,’ Emma interrupted, causing Hank to immediately fumble and start blushing. She turned to Logan. ‘It hardly matters, Mr. Howlett. The only relevant detail is that it was taken care of.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘And I will be damned before I let it happen again on my watch.’
‘That’s why you don’t want us getting too close to our Actives,’ Logan said slowly. ‘That’s why you’re always going on at me to not get too attached to Charlie. You’re worried that it will happen again.’
Emma nodded briefly, her voice taking on a contemplative tone.
‘I have always felt that the ideal relationship between Active and Handler should be rather like that between a child and their parent.’ She gave Logan a pointed look. ‘So when the time comes to let your pseudo-child go, you do so without the slightest shred of jealousy in your heart. You let them go and then you welcome them back when they need you, and there is no judgement. No judgement and no anger. Even if they do something that you don’t personally agree with.’
Logan grunted and looked away.
Emma’s expression softened.
‘I know,’ she said, sounding strangely gentle. ‘It’s easier in theory than in practice. Now,’ her tone changed once more into that of brusque efficiency. ‘What are we to do about Charlie?’
Logan immediately stiffened, his muscles tensing.
‘Do?’ Hank blinked. ‘Well – nothing, of course! Apart from this one minor incident – which Logan has already explained to you, if you recall – there is nothing the matter with Charles. Charlie, I mean. Besides,’ he added eagerly. ‘I think it’s fascinating. It will really add another dimension to my theory on the Actives’ consciousness and their sense of …’ he trailed off at Emma’s less than impressed look.
There was silence for a moment as Emma appraised them both. Then she sighed and waved a hand.
‘Very well,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘We shall take no action at the current time. However,’ she added as Hank and Logan let out simultaneous sighs of relief, ‘I want Charlie watched, and I want to know the second that something out of the ordinary occurs. Do you understand me?’
Both men, fixed to the spot by Emma’s powerful glare, nodded quickly.
‘Good,’ and Emma was once more her normal, unreadable self. ‘I will be watching closely. That will be all, gentleman.’ And with that, she turned her back on them.
Logan and Hank shared a look before moving towards the door. Before he left, however, Logan paused, an oddly-serious look on his face.
‘You’d tell me, right?’ he said abruptly, causing Emma to raise her head in mild surprise at the question. ‘If anything … wrong was happening here, I mean. Or if it involved Charlie.’
Emma didn’t answer immediately. When Logan finally turned to glance at her, she was staring at him with a cool, contemplative expression.
‘Naturally,’ she said calmly, when she saw that she had his attention. ‘You are, after all, his handler, are you not?’
Logan didn’t respond.
‘Well then,’ Emma said, her eyes now boring into his, ‘If there was anything to tell, then naturally I would have already told you.’
Logan scrutinised her for a moment before huffing out a dry laugh.
‘Right,’ he drawled, ‘Naturally.’ He tilted his head and flicked her an almost mocking salute. ‘Thanks for the talk, boss.’ And with that he stalked out, shutting the door behind him.
Hank was still there, nervously waiting for him just outside the door. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Logan.
‘Thank goodness for that,’ he said, grinning awkwardly. ‘For a moment there, I honestly thought that you wouldn’t walk out of that office alive.’
Logan, however, didn’t respond. He was frowning, looking deep in thought.
‘She lied,’ he said abruptly.
Hank, startled, glanced at him.
‘What?’ he demanded. ‘When?’
Logan gave him a wry look.
‘You really need me to tell you?’ he asked sardonically, before continuing, ‘When she said that nothing wrong was going on. When she said that nothing like the LA incident was happening here. But it is, isn’t it?’ he said, suddenly fierce, his fists clenching. ‘With them all. That’s what they do, right? I mean, isn’t this whole shindig just a fancy-ass way of taking advantage of them?’
Hank looked at his feet, unable to answer.
Logan grunted, his expression bitter.
‘Yeah,’ he said darkly. ‘And that’s not even counting whatever screwed up shit is going on with Charlie and Shaw.’
Hank’s head jerked up at that.
‘Charlie and Shaw?’ he frowned.
Logan turned to look at him then, his expression inscrutable. He watched Hank closely for a moment, before finally speaking.
‘If you honestly think that there isn’t something fucked up about Shaw’s interest in Charlie,’ he said slowly, ‘then you’re a goddamn naïve bastard.’
And with that he turned and walked away.