#scientist!logan

Borrowers Roman, Patton, and Virgil get caught in a trap laid out within a scientific facility, and when the scientist Logan returns, they question him about his intentions. 

Read more of my writing at @hiddendreamerwriting!

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Roman hit the bars of the cage angrily, hearing the sound ring across the currently empty lab. They had been so stupid. What sort of borrowers fell for a simple rat cage trap? Now they were caught, doomed to wait for some bean to come and discover them helpless in this contraption.

“Whelp, we’re dead.” Virgil groaned, huddled in the corner.

“Ah, come on guys, don’t give up hope!” Patton said encouragingly. “Maybe we’ll get found by a nice human.”

“A nice human?” Roman snorted. “Patton, I love you, but you’re speaking nonsense. Nice humans don’t exist.”

“Especially here.” Virgil muttered. He shuddered, remembering some of the things he had seen in their years living at this research station. Scientists weren’t exactly known for their kind treatment of smaller creatures.

“There’s got to be one nice scientist…” Patton continued, but his sentence trailed off, doubting his own words. Soon only silence surrounded them, broken only by the faint hum of the electricity traveling through the metal coils traversing the room.

A creaking door caught the attention of every cage occupant. The borrowers all covered their eyes, temporarily blinded by the overhead florescent lights switching on.

Virgil gulped, trying not to shake too terribly as a pair of dress shoes walked confidently across the tile, the steps echoing ominously. When they came closer to their enclosure the shoes seemed to pause, even going so far as to take a timid step back.

“…oh.”

Virgil shut his eyes, that voice confirming his fears. He didn’t need to look up to know that the scientist was staring right down at them. It was one thing to be caught, but it was another to actually be seen.

“Er, surprise?” Patton tried to lessen the tension, uncomfortable with how the human just kept staring. Patton’s words only seemed to shock him further, but at least he was moving now. His lab coat rustled as the scientist crouched, grabbing the container by the handle.

“Hey!” Roman protested, all three tumbling to the ground as their cage was suddenly moved. He glared up at the scientist, who seemed to still be processing their existence.

“…you aren’t rodents.” The scientist said dumbly.

“Yeah, great, fantastic.” Roman rolled his eyes. “We already knew that, gigantor.”

 “So, um, now that we’ve established we’re not rats,” Patton spoke up, timidly getting to his feet, “do you think you could maybe…let us go?”

The scientist seemed to consider this for a moment. “I’ll let you go in a minute, I just have too many questions.”

Virgil snorted, not believing that for a second as their cage was transferred onto the lab table. The scientist took a seat, still staring. Constantly staring.

“What are you?” The human got right to the point. “Why are you so small? How did you get entrapped?”

“What are we- can you believe this guy?” Roman gave his fellow borrowers a look before glaring defiantly up at their captor. “We have names, you know. Borrowers are people too.”

“Roman!” Virgil hissed, reaching out his leg and kicking Roman in the back. So much for borrower secrecy.

“I apologize.” The scientist amended. “Who are you?”

“I’m Patton.” Patton waved. “These are my friends, Roman and Virgil.” Neither borrower looked very pleased to be introduced, at best giving a grunt. “What’s your name, Mr. Bean?”

The human seemed puzzled by this title. “Ah…my name is Dr. Logan.”

“It’s great to meet you, Logan, but we really do need to get going.” Patton insisted, looking a bit nervous to request something of a human.

“Where do you need to go?” Logan asked. “What were you doing? Were you the ones who have been stealing food?”

“It’s not stealing!” Patton quickly corrected, throwing out his arms with wide eyes. “We would never steal, honest. We were just borrowing.”

“Borrowing?” Logan seemed confused by the term. “What, you intended to give the food back?”

“Well, no.” Patton admitted.

“Then how is it borrowing?” Logan pressed.

“You’re asking quite a lot of us.” Roman interrupted, crossing his arms. “You’re not the only one with questions, you know.”

“What? What questions do you have for me?” Logan adjusted his glasses, although Patton was pleased he sounded receptive enough.

“What are you going to do to us?” Roman spoke up, hiding the way his voice shook by clutching his sleeves tighter. He couldn’t meet the human’s eye. “What’s going to happen if we don’t answer your questions? What’s going to happen if we do? What’s it gonna be, tests? Experiments? Dissection?”

“Roman.” Virgil hissed again, not wanting to give the human ideas.

“How are you going to punish us?” Roman continued rambling, shaking harder. “Electricity? Water? Heat? Cold? One of your freaky chemicals?”

“Stop giving him ideas, now he’s gonna try them all!” Virgil got up, punching Roman in the arm. “He’s trying to freak us out and you’re just making it easier.”

“Virgil, don’t punch him!” Patton protested, immediately punching Virgil in the arm as punishment.

 “I think there’s been some major misunderstandings.” Logan said hastily, looking alarmed. “I am not trying to ‘freak you out’, I was simply curious.”

“Then what are you trying to do?” Roman insisted, giving Logan a suspicious glance.

“I’m not trying to do anything.” Logan groaned, rubbing at his face. “I apologize. I seem to have frightened you. I will not harm you, I promise. Can I please continue with my questions now?”

“I dunno, can you?” Virgil raised an eyebrow. Logan frowned, and Virgil instantly regretted his cheek.

“What happens if we refuse?” Roman pushed his luck, needing answers.

Logan considered this. “As soon as I’m finished I’ll release you. Is that enough of an answer?”

“It is not.” Roman shuddered, looking around at the lab behind Logan and wondering exactly where Logan would ‘release’ them. With their luck, probably into a vat of bubbling acid or something.

“What are you doing here, anyways?” Patton asked, trying to peek behind Logan.

“I’m studying electrical fields and solenoids as part of my physics dissertation.” Logan answered automatically. Three blank faces looked up him.

“…what’s that got to do with borrowers?” Virgil finally broke the silence.

“It doesn’t.” Logan sighed. “I truly did not expect to find you three, and just wanted to stop the culprits, at the time assumed rats, from traversing my lab further and getting caught in the after effects.”

“What kind of after effects?” Patton asked nervously.

“Hopefully nothing truly dangerous, mostly discharged static electricity.” Logan explained. “That being said, even a slight shock through a smaller individual can be fatal.” The borrowers shuddered at his statement. “My thoughts exactly. Let us get back to questions.”

“Alright, when are you gonna let us go?” Virgil pressed.

“And how does one theoretically disable your nefarious machines?” Roman pointed to the coils.

“I meant my questions.” Logan shifted the papers on his desk. “And don’t touch my experiments. Now, what is it like being a borrower?”

“I dunno.” Patton shrugged. “Hey, what’s it like being human?”

The Logicality version of the Captured stories.

Moxiety | Royality

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Patton shifted uncomfortably, the restraints irritating his skin where they rubbed along. Large leather straps kept him tied to the floor. It wasn’t the most pleasant way to way up, he’d admit. All he could remember was feeling a sharp pain as something pricked his neck, and then Patton passed out. How long had he been out? It could have been a few days for all he knew. The Giant looked around to try and gauge some sort of understanding from his surroundings. There was an unnatural light shining above him, and rounded metal formed a dome all around him.

Patton’s eyes widened in realization. He was inside one of those human structures. But how?

Hearing a sound, Patton turned his head to the side, watching as a human came out on what appeared to be a shaky metal bridge.

“Woah, you’re so small.” Patton gasped. He had never seen a human this close before. The human looked up, meeting his gaze. If Patton squinted, he thought the man’s cheeks had turned a bit red. Aw, was he embarrassed?

“I, ah, from your perspective, perhaps.” The human gave a cough, straightening his long white jacket.

“I never thought humans were this small.” Patton rambled on. “What’s it like?”

“Ah…”

“I think it’d be really neat.” Patton gushed. “I’ve always wanted to be smaller. I think then I could make more friends because my size scares lots of animals away. Although if I lay down on the ground, I can sometimes pretend I’m small too.”

The human looked increasingly perplexed at Patton’s statements. Patton giggled at his confused expression, deciding this one was cute as he was tiny.

“We’re getting off track.” The scientist shook his head. “I’m surprised to find you conscious, as the tranquilizer administered was quite potent. I’ll have to update our records.”

“Okay!” Patton said cheerfully. “Although, um, I do have a couple questions. Who are you? Where am I? What’s going on, exactly?”

“…my name is Dr. Logan.” Logan adjusted his glasses, looking down at a clipboard with a slight frown. “That’s all I’m permitted to share.”

“Why?” Patton tilted his head.

“Legal reasons.” Logan explained vaguely. Patton didn’t know what that meant.

“And why am I tied down?” Patton wiggled against the restraints for emphasis.

“…safety.” Logan paled significantly, watching as they both heard the leather begin to rip as Patton flexed lightly, testing the strength of the material. Apparently, not that strong.

“Safety?” Patton frowned, deciding to stop now that they were loose enough for his liking. After all, there was no reason to break the restraints, especially when Logan seemed attached to them.

“Well, ah…” Logan seemed less sure of himself, taking a step back from the edge. “Given your stature, certain precautions had to be taken.”

“What, just because I’m a giant?” Patton’s expression turned a bit sad, remembering how scared humans always were of his kind. “I think we can both agree that I’m nicer than most of the stories about giants, right?”

“I don’t even know you.” Logan frowned.

“Oh, I’m Patton!” Patton gave him a large grin. He wriggled his arm out of its band, intent on shaking Logan’s hand. Unfortunately, the human seemed to think something else, as Logan turned to bolt for the door.

“Oh, wait!” Quickly Patton sat up, no longer holding himself back as he ripped through the leather with ease. He reached out, putting his hand on the door so Logan couldn’t leave. The scientist let out a gasp, the platform shaking as Patton scooted closer. His arm bumped the bridge, the structure creaking under his weight. Logan began to slide towards the side and Patton let out a yelp, quickly cupping his hands beneath the edge to catch the human before he could fall.

“Phew! That would have been quite the fall! Good thing I caught you.” Patton brought Logan closer to his face, worry lines appearing on his forehead. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t touch me!” Logan flinched when Patton brushed his thumb against the human’s side. “Put me down. Now.”

Patton paused, looking down at the scientist in his hands with newfound interest. He had never held a human before. They were even lighter than he imagined, and he found he didn’t really want to put Logan down. The human was just too cute and cuddly.

“Not yet.” Patton said, lifting Logan even higher. Suddenly, Logan grabbed onto his thumb, and Patton’s heart nearly melted. Following the human’s gaze, Patton looked down at the ground. “Aww, are you afraid of heights?”

“It’s a perfectly natural phobia!” Logan cried out through gritted teeth, his eyes clenched shut.

“Oh, sorry.” Patton did feel a bit sheepish about that. He adjusted to lay down, holding Logan closer to the ground. “There, you can open your eyes now, you’re lower.”

“I would prefer to wait until my feet are on solid ground.” Logan retorted, keeping his eyes closed.

“Come ooooooon.” Patton blew gently, teasingly, in Logan’s face, but this only made Logan flinch again. “Show me those pretty little eyes again. Please?”

The human just shook his head frantically. Patton leaned closer, trying to get a peek. This close he could see his breath rustling the little hairs on Logan’s head. This close, Patton could tell the human didn’t seem to be having as much fun. In fact, the tiniest of tears seemed to be collecting in the creases of Logan’s closed eyelids.

“oh hey now kiddo, don’t cry.” Patton stuck out his lip, getting a bit upset himself in sympathy. He reached up with his fingers, petting the scientist in what he hoped was a comforting manner, but it just caused him to let out a choked sob. He hadn’t realized just how freaked out the tiny must be of heights. That is, until he heard the smallest, quietest little plea.

“Please don’t eat me.”

Oh. Oh. “Oh, hey, no no no, I’m not going to eat you!” Patton’s expression turned a bit horrified. Is that what people thought of giants nowadays? No wonder people always ran away from him, and no wonder Logan had gotten so scared all of a sudden. Now Patton felt bad.

“Okay, okay, I’ll set you down, alright?” Patton gently let Logan down on the ground, allowing the human to stand on his own two feet but Patton kept his hands close just in case.

Logan slowly opened his eyes, looking up at Patton wearily. Patton laid down on his stomach, folding his arms in front of him and resting his chin on them. Patton gave the human a gentle smile. “See? You’re okay, no need to freak, little guy.”

“I- I only freaked an infinitesimal amount.” Logan argued, quickly wiping at his face. “And considering I assume your intentions are…less than kind, I do believe I’m justified.”

“Fair enough.” Patton agreed. Logan seemed to gauge his expression carefully.

“So, you truly don’t wish to consume me?” Logan asked, seeming both hopeful and confused.

Cursed into the form of a Falcon, Deceit has spent the last two years spying on Scientist!Logan and his experiments in exchange for the promise that he’ll get his human form back. However, when the time comes to betray Logan and deal the final blow--Deceit finds that he can’t betray the man who treated him like he was human even though Logan only ever knew him as a bird. 

Summary: When Dr. Logan Berrie got sent to Siberia to research flora and fauna of the harsh russian taiga, he did not expect his whole world to change. Seems like none of his knowledge had prepared him for what he would find here.

Warnings: Gore, Violence, soft swearing

I am not a native english speaker, so I apologize in advance for possible grammar and vocab mistakes.

Word count: 1547

Chapter 1

Dr. Logan Berrie, best in his field of expertise at the Exeter University, did not believe in monsters, ghosts and frights of the night.  Neither did he think that all those legends or myths that people told each other were at all true.

Sure most of the old tales had some kind of moral core or deeper meaning to them that justified the pure abstrusity of their content, but his entire life he had been fairly certain, that there was no way creatures like ghouls, vampires or werewolves could actually exist.

Talking animals, flying carpets or brooms, magic and fairies. None of these things were something he would concern himself with, for as a scientist he only believed in, or rather trusted two things: the scientific evidence on his desk or in his labor and himself.

But somehow he had just started to question the latter. 

Because, if there was no way that those creatures existed, why did he find himself sitting in the snow of the harsh siberian forest, rescued from a glibbery creature, which he couldn't quite get a grasp on, by a giant black wolf, that certainly exceeded the heights and strength and intelligence of any normal siberian wolf?

In fact, the animal held the size of a bear, but it's facial features and anatomy clearly pointed it out to be a wolf. A male siberian wolf.

And just now it stood on top of whatever was left of the unknown creature, that had attacked the scientist earlier, blood and gore smeared into its fur and entrails scattered beneath it's giant paws, staring at Logan with soft curiosity in it's... His glistening lilac eyes.

Logan felt his breath falter and his heart rate jumped to unhealthy heights, when the wolf slowly started to approach him.

In a panicked frenzy he tried crawling backwards, out of the reach of the animals giant fangs, while he desperately looked for his bear rifle.

God he was too young to die. He still had to finish so much research! Write some scientific papers! 

Nonononono!

He just finished his dissertation, got the doctors degree. He was not finished with this world yet!

The wolf didn't stop. He slowly took one step after the other to bridge the distance between themselves and the panicking scientist.

Logan's clumsy, numb fingers brushed through ice cold snow, branches and half rotten leaves, But the early taigan nightfall had already covered the land with its shady blanket and the condensed water on Logans glasses, that had slowly rearranged its molecules to form ice crystals, worsened his sight even more.

Where was his rifle?

He must have dropped it somewhere around here. It had to be here!

The air that escaped his lips turned to thick clouds of vapor in front of his face and even glittered softly in the moonlight, as if it turned to ice as soon as it left the warmth of the doctors body.

The temperature had dropped drastically with the disappearance of the sun. But Logan didn't even notice.

Those lilac eyes that were directed at him sent an awkward feeling through his body. It was a mixture of pure fear and a weird calmness that took hold of his limbs. He suddenly felt the need to sit still and just wait for the beast to reach him, because it would be okay.

Except clearly it wouldn't.

He would be eaten alive, ripped to shreds like that thing earlier. (He could still hear the creatures screeching echoing between the cedar trees) and he fought with all his minds strength against this numbness in his body that took over his mind.

Again Logan looked around for anything that could help him (at this point he didn't even care what it was as long as it was pointy and/or deadly in any other way), when his eyes suddenly got caught by the reflection of the moon on the barrel of his rifle only a few feet away and he pushed himself up in one desperately fluid motion, jumped over to the weapon, grabbed it and swirled around to point it at…. Nothing.

The wolf was gone. 

Vanished without a trace, safe his paw prints in the snow.

The cold and the stress had exhausted him and the walk back to the relative safety of his Jeep had felt like a marathon run.

Now, back in the warmth of the log cabin that his university had rented for him in the outskirts of a small russian town, he didn't have the strength to think over today's events, he couldn't even read a book.

After he forced down a hot cup of tea and some slices of the hard, dark russian bread, he went straight to bed.

Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe it all had been just a dream.

But of course it wasn't.

When Logan woke up the next day his body hurt in places, he didn't even know existed.

His fingers felt as if they had been under high pressure. A side effect of a near frostbite, he was sure. And he had various scratches and smaller wounds on his limbs that needed treatment.

A look in the mirror showed several more bruises and some cuts from when the slimy monster… no not monster. There was no such thing as a monster… the creature … had initially attacked, before the wolf had shown up.

His hair was a mess and dirt and parts of leaves and branches sticked out of it but nothing a shower couldn't mend.

He took his normal clothes, in which he had slept in, off and threw them into the litter, without giving them a second glance. They were shredded and bloodstained and beyond repair.

His thermoisolating coat and trousers were damaged as well. Maybe he could repair them, but he would probably just have to buy new clothes. 

The fabric couldn't guarantee a sufficient thermal isolation with all these holes in it and here in this unforgiving part of the world, a good isolation could decide on life or death.

After his shower and a forced down breakfast of one slice of bread with some cheese, he decided to make good use of the limited daylight here in the northern hemisphere and go shopping for new clothes first, before deciding or thinking about anything else. Especially about yesterday evening.

First things first, second things second, right?

Logan turned his Jeep into the parking lot of a small shop that sold outdoor clothing amongst other things and got out of the car with shaky knees.

During the drive here the dark trees in the distance and the reflection of sun rays on the snow had reminded him of the terror that he had felt the night before.

But to his own surprise, the fearful thoughts weren't directed at the giant, clearly not normal wolf, but at the other thing.

The thing that had more limbs than a normal mammal should have, with slimy skin that seemed clearly impractical for living in the harsh russian taiga, due to the fact that it should freeze. That thing that didn't even care about any of these points and still had wandered around the forest attacking people.

What the hell was that thing?!

The doorbell chimed a little too joyously, when he entered the store and he was immediately greeted by a very happy man in light blue, that distracted him from his thoughts about whether or not he should go back to examine the remains of the body.

"Hi! Hello there! Welcome to Patton's practical store! If you need something, just let me know and I'll be all there for you!"

The cheery guy beamed at Logan before his smile slightly faltered, when he sighted the scratches all over the scientists face.

"Oh my, what happened to you?!"

Before Logan could even think about answering that question, the man, probably Patton, had taken his hand and towed him into a small room in the back of the store, where he placed him on a soft light brown couch with way too many pillows and put a cup of hot green tea on the coffee table in front of the scientist.

"Thank you, but that was really not necessary", 

Logan weakly announced, when the man put a bowl full of at least 7 different sorts of cookies next to his cup.

"You poor thing got all bruised up! Did you have an accident? Do you need a doctor? I have never seen you here before. Are you on vacation?"

"N...no! No I'm fine. Thank you.. erm..?"

"Patton! I'm Patton! You can call me Pat!"

"Well thank you, Patton, but I am fine. Really. I just need some… clothing. Isolation clothes against the cold. For an excursion. You see I'm a biochemist. I explore the flora and fauna of the area."

Patton's expression changed. Just very slightly, very subtly, but it did. 

A hint of caution and concern now accompanied the shallow joy in his light blue eyes.

"So you have been to the forest lately, then?"

He asked, still smiling, while taking a cookie himself, trying to look nonchalant, but in Logan's opinion clearly failing.

Summary: A Giant Patton was taken in by humans, but who will be first to greet him? 

I couldn’t decide which human to use, so I wrote all of them! They’re a bit similar, but I am bored of having them in my WIP folder and don’t plan on changing them anytime soon so here they are! Each section is its own story, so you don’t have to read them in a particular order. In fact, you can just read one if you’d like. They all have the same premise.

Warnings: soft swearing, food, underground bunker nothing really bad.  Summary: Basically Patton has something to hide and Logans Log House has an underground laboratory. Word Count: 2015 A good day to meet new People

Patton had proven himself very helpful by figuring out Logan's Size and form perfectly, so in no time the scientist had new clothes to wear in the forest. 

But the odd feeling, that the happy man was hiding something just wouldn't leave him alone.

Maybe he was just paranoid after yesterday's near death experience, but somehow he doubted it.

In fact Logan didn't even feel like he was under the effects of shock anymore. The researcher inside him had taken control over his thoughts and now he was focused on being prepared for his next encounter with wolf and/or slimy creature.  Because he would definitely go out there again and find out what this thing was.

But first he would have to get back home, which was proving itself to be more difficult than one would think. Patton had decided that Logan would stay for lunch/brunch/late second breakfast and apparently there was no possibility to change his mind and get out of this.

So now Logan was sitting at the kitchen table in the apartment right above the store and stared in a mixture of awkwardness and silent awe at the huge mountain of spaghetti on his plate.

Apparently Patton was an excellent cook. But he also was a very chattery person and wouldn't stop talking for the love of it, or asking questions about Logan's life and work.

"You are american then? That's so cool! Me too! I mean what are the odds?"

Logan just smiled at that and slightly nodded. He had already figured out, that Patton had to be from the states. His heavy accent highly indicated so and on the ledge of the fireplace stood various framed fotos, some of which showed a younger Patton with three other men in front of different well known american landmarks.

"But… you're working at the university then? In England?"

"Yes, that is correct. I am currently employed at the University of Exeter."

"Watcha doing all the way up in Russia then?"

The man was constantly grinning, his dark blond curls falling into his light blue eyes, somehow highlighting the freckles on his cheeks.

Logan sighed softly. He really wanted to go home to prepare himself for a field trip into the forest, but he knew that the social thing to do, as well as the best thing for him right now, was to stay and to answer the questions. 

Especially when the guy had cooked lunch for him.

"My research is…"  He tried hard to think of a way to explain what he was doing, so Patton would be able to understand it and finally finished his sentence with: 

"Basically I am examining whether or not the pH value of the ground influences the occurrence of rare fauna."

Patton blinked at him with a confused expression.

"So you… do what exactly?"

Another soft sigh escaped the scientists lips.  He really wanted to be elsewhere right now.  In his lab for example.  Or in the forest with his bear rifle, searching for that slimy thing.

Logan slightly re-adjusted his glasses to collect himself, before answering.

"I collect samples of the ground, different plants and examine the animals in the area."

Again the expression in the store owners eyes seemed to falter a bit into suspiciousness, but before anyone could say anything else, the door opened and a man entered the room.

He was relatively short and seemed light weighted, but the well defined muscles of his arms were visible, even through the baggy fabric of his violet hoodie.

His hair was a chaotic brown and purple mess with bangs that fell deep into his eyes.  He was wearing ripped dark jeans, slightly worn out converse sneakers in black to complete the angsty dark look and had his left hand shoved into the hoodies front pocket. His right hand lifted up to take of his headphones.

"Hey Pat, I'm ba-"

When the newcomers eyes fell on Logan, both of them froze in place.

Logan felt his heart shortly stop, just to beat even faster afterwards, as if it wanted to make up for the lost beat.

The man's eyes, that Logan hadn't been able to see before, because they were covered by hair, were framed with dark eyeshadow, that only enhanced the brightness of his glistening lilac irises.

Lilac irises, that the biochemist had seen before.

Was that even possible? What was going on here? How should he react? What was the logical thing to do? Did logic even matter anymore?

I need answers!

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but Patton reacted quicker.

"Ah you're home early! Dr. Berrie this is Virgil. Virgil, this is Dr. Logan Berrie. A … bio.. chemist? From Amerika!"

Logan nodded softly.

"Yes that is correct. However…"

"Ok cool. Nice to meet ya doc. I have work to do. Seeya."

And with that the dark man disappeared up a staircase into the attic.  The door fell shut with a loud bang, leaving Logan and Patton in an awkward silence, before the latter quickly picked up the conversation with an apologetic grin.

"Ah I'm sorry. He's shy. He'll warm up…He's a bit frosty" 

The man grinned even brighter.  

"Get it? Warm up? Because we are in Siberia? And he's frosty? Because of the ice?"

The scientist could only blink at him in soft bewilderment. He was too startled to even respond.  Not just because of the sudden disappearence of the third person in the room, but even more so, because of the sentence, the light blue one had just phrased. Puns were and always had been the lowest form of humour to him. And that one was particularly bad.

"Wasn't one of my best. I admit it. Buuuut no need to be so cold about it!"

"I think it is time for me to return to my research. I have taken advantage of your hospitality way too long already. Thank you for the meal, it was much appreciated."

With that Logan got up, took the bag with his new clothes and left. He had things to do. And issues to address. And purple haired men to figure out.

------

"Why was he here?!"

Virgil hissed in a mixture of panic and rage. "Pat you can't just invite everyone in! We are in a very sensible position right now! What if he were to capture you? He's a scientist! You cannot trust scientists!"

"Whoa there! Someone's all heated up! I think you need to cool down again, kiddo."

Patton grinned, completely ignoring the weight of the situation.

"This is not the time for temperature puns!! Seriously! What if he was one of them?!"

The man in light blue slightly frowned.

"He is not. He's a good man. And you said it yourself. He was completely shocked, when the ghoul attacked him. He didn't expect it. He didn't know. And he still doesn't."

Virgil calmed down a little, pinching the back of his nose with two fingers, trying to control his breathing. Finally he looked up again.

"Ok. So you invited him in to find out, what he knows? Not just because you love having people here?"

Patton grinned sheepishly and the darker man thought, that the truth probably lied somewhere in between those motives. His cousin/self proclaimed father did feel lonely quite easily and the doc was the perfect opportunity to chatter. No harm had come from it yet, but the rest was to be seen.

"You know Pat, that is why I said we should move back home to America. We are in dangerous territory here. Just let all of this be Remy's problem. It's not our war."

But the other just shook his head.

"We are family, Virge. We don't leave people behind."

Virgil sighed. Deep down he agreed, but the animalistic instinct to just run was becoming overwhelming from time to time.

"Yeah. You're right. Sorry."

------

The log house Logan was currently residing in was rented to his university by the russian government itself. That was, because the property was a bit special.

The house was bigger than it looked from the outside.  Apparently it had been a laboratory of the Akademgorodok University back in the 70ies and had been used to do secret experiments on animals back then. (Logan had read something about genetic manipulation on dogs to make them stronger and more durable, but he didn't know any more about it, than that the experiments had been stopped by the government. Since then this place had been abandoned.) So the basement was basically a huge lab.

It was stretching further than the house itself and even had an escape tunnel in the furthest part, that led into the nearby forest.

But for Logan's purpose, the front part of the lab had been enough. He didn't need the dissection tables and the huge cages in the back. Or the electronic devices, that he couldn't even identify.

(The researchers seemed to have left the place rather quickly back then, only taking their notes and research papers, but leaving everything else behind.)

All he had needed was a place to chemically examine different components of soil and plants and sometimes small dead animals like lizards, or their excrements. He had set up his personal work space with his own chemicals, instruments and devices that he had brought with him and had just ignored, that there was more to this place.

But that was, when he just had to make smaller experiments to test samples for compounds.  Now, that he had a whole new unknown slimy creature to investigate, maybe the dissection tables would be of use.

They were the only logical place to put dead remains, after all. And after what the wolf had done to it, the thing was definitely dead. 

Even now he still heard it screeching…

With a low sigh Logan turned on the lights in the back room of the basement. The neon rays flickered to life to send their cold unfeeling light over metallic objects all over the place. The biochemist had been in here only once before, when he first moved here three weeks ago.  And that only because he liked to make himself aware of his surroundings.  He liked to know what he was sleeping on top of.

But now he actually stepped into the room and touched things. He emptied one of the tables of all the tools that laid scattered around and put them into one of the smaller metallic containers. Maybe he could use some of them? The scalpels were probably dull by now, but most of the clamps and tongs seemed fine.

Then he used some laboratory sanitizer and wiped the table clean. This would be his workspace in here.

In the end he needed the whole day to clean and reorganize the laboratory.

All those cobwebs and all the dust that had gathered here for nearly 50 years were hard to get rid of, and then he still had to sort out the useless tools, replace them with his own and toss them into one of the bigger containers at the back wall of the room.