“It’s about damn time ya called!”
On the other end of the line, Logan let out a choked gasp and, from the sounds of it, Marie was pretty sure he spit out a mouthful of beer. “Kid?”
“Logan,” Marie drawled with a roll of her eyes. “Yes, it’s me, Logan. Ya didn’t choke on yer beer, did ya?”
“No,” Logan mumbled, his voice dripping with caution.
Marie nodded her head, switching the phone over to her other shoulder. “Well now that we’ve got that settled, do ya wanna tell me why ya haven’t called before now?”
“Kid, what are you--”
“A month, Logan. It’s been a month! Do ya have any idea how worried Ah’ve been about ya? For all Ah knew ya were lyin’ dead in a ditch somewhere!” Marie chided, placing her free hand on her hip.
“Sorry, kid, but things kinda got a bit busy up here,” Logan told her, his voice softening. “I couldn’t really get to a phone for a while.”
That instantly caught Marie’s attention. She dropped down onto her bed, pulling her legs off the ground and sitting cross-legged. “Did ya find somethin’ out? Somethin’ about your past? Logan, talk to me....”
“My name’s not Logan. Turns out it never was,” Logan said quietly, almost too quietly for Marie to hear.
“Oh, Logan....” Marie moaned, wanting nothing more than to pull Logan into a tight hug. “Logan, please tell me where ya are. Give me a city and Ah’ll hop on the next train there.”
“Marie, I don’t want you too--”
Marie shook her head, grabbing a throw pillow and clutching it against her chest. “No ya don’t, Logan. Yer not allowed to tell me not to go to you. Ah’m a Southern lady and yer not allowed to say no to a Southern lady. It’s in the Constitution or somethin’. Now give me an address.”
Logan gave a loud sigh and Marie knew that he was contemplating telling her where he was. Whether he believed it or not, Logan was going to tell her. Marie wasn’t going to stand for anything less. It was easy to tell from his voice that Logan was upset by the information that he had found and Marie didn’t want him to go through it alone. From the memories she had absorbed from Logan, she knew that he had a habit of doing very foolish things when he was upset.
“Ah’m waitin’ here, Logan,” Marie prompted, her voice light. She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen. “Ah’ve got pen and paper in hand and Ah’m waitin’ for ya to give me a city.... Come on, Logan, you need a friend right now. I know Ah won’t be able to get ya to admit to it, but ya do. Besides, even if ya don’t tell me, Ah’m sure Ah could convince the Professor to tell me where ya are. But Ah’d rather not do that.”
Logan chucked softly at her words, sounding wonderful to Marie’s ears. “You’re not giving up on this, are you, kid?”
Marie smiled softly, tucking the pen behind her ear. “Ah care about ya, Logan. Yer the first person in a long time to actually give a damn about me. Now it’s my turn to give a damn about ya.”
“I’m at Alkali Lake,” Logan said after a long pause. “It’s on the Alberta side of the Rockies. I’m staying at a motel called The Grey Duck. Room 17.”
Marie quickly scribbled the location down on the scrap of paper in her hand, suddenly more relieved that she had thought to be. “Ah’ll be there as soon as possible, Logan. An’ if yer not there when Ah show up, Ah’m gonna kick yer ass.”
“I’ll be here,” Logan promised here. “Hey, kid, do you have the money to pay for a train ticket?”
“Yeah, Ah have money,” Marie was quick to assure him. “Ah got a job at an old book store in town. Ah want to build up a bank account just in case, ya know?”
“I get ya, kid,” Logan said softly. “I gotta get goin’, Marie. There’s a fight at the bar across the street and I need to work off some energy.”
Without even having Logan in her mind, Marie understood his need to work off his energy in such a physical way. Back home in Mississippi, Marie had had a punching bag in the basement that she would beat on when she was frustrated.
“Be careful, Logan,” Marie told him. “Ah’ll see ya in a few days.”
“I’ll be here, kid.”
It wasn’t until she was boarding the train that would take her to Alkali Lake that Marie really realized what she was doing. The only people who knew about her trip were the Professor and her boss at the book store. Marie hadn’t told anyone else about the journey because she knew that it would somehow get back to Jean and Scott and Marie didn’t want that to happen. The pair were less than impressed with her attachment to Logan. They had made it perfectly clear to her on more than one occasion. While Marie listened to their “lectures” politely, as soon as they were finished, she would simply smile and leave the room. Or ask them to leave on one of the occasions one of them would follow her into her room.
In order to ensure that there would be no accidents on the two day journey from New York to Alkali Lake, Marie had splurged for a sleep compartment. Simply having a bed to lie down on was reason enough for her to get the room.
“They are serving dinner in the dining car now, miss,” a steward said, poking his head into the door of her room.
“Thanks,” Marie said, flashing the middle-aged man a quick smile. “Um, do you know how much longer it will take to reach Alkali Lake?”
The man checked his watch, making the necessary calculations in his head. “I’d say about four and a half hours, miss. Are you meeting family up there?”
“Ah guess ya could say that,” Marie murmured, knowing that, on some level, Logan was her family.
The one thing Marie hadn’t expected to find when she arrived in Alkali Lake was Logan waiting for her at the train station. He was leaning against a pillar, staring at the track with an unlit cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth. It took everything in Marie’s power not to fling herself into his arms.
“Well this is certainly a surprise,” Marie said as she made her way over to where Logan was standing.
Marie was thrown off even more when Logan pulled her into his arms before saying anything. Not wanting to question it, Marie wound her arms about his neck and held onto him tightly. It felt wonderful to be able to hold onto Logan. Since her mutation had decided to make its presence known, Marie hadn’t been on the receiving end of many hugs. In fact, this was the first one that Marie could remember and coming from Logan made it even better.
“Thanks for coming, kid,” Logan whispered in her ear.
Marie pulled back and grinned up at him. “And here Ah thought ya’d be don’ yer best to get me outta here.”
“No, kid, I’m glad you’re here,” Logan told her, reaching out to twine one of the strands of platinum hair around his index finger. “I may not be the best at sayin’ so, but I am.”
“From where Ah’m standin’ yer doin’ a real good job,” Marie was quick to assure him, sliding a hand up to link her fingers with his. As she had hoped, that got a quick grin from Logan. The smile had been almost non-existent and you needed to look really quick to see it, but it was. “So how ‘bout Ah go grab mah bag then we can get outta here.”
Wrapping an arm about her waist, Logan led Marie back to the train where the baggage was already being unloaded. Unsure of whether she would be going back to Westchester or not, Marie had packed everything she owned. Which actually wasn’t very much. A few pairs of jeans, some shirts and a handful of books. The rest of her belongings had been lost when Magneto had gutted the train in New York and since she didn’t feel comfortable taking things the Professor had given her, Marie had only taken the things she bought with her own money. Still, to see all of her belongings fit into a single bad made Marie realize how trivial material things really were.
“Ya’ll probably be happy to hear that Scooter nearly had a breakdown when he realized ya took his bike,” Marie told Logan as she strapped her dufflebag to the back of the motorcycle. “Ah even think he was on the verge of tears.”
That got a loud laugh out of Logan, something that Marie didn’t think was very frequent. If she had it her way, though, Marie would make it happen on a much more regular basis. Logan had such a wonderful laugh and it was a shame to keep it hidden.
“Well it’s a damn good bike so he ain’t getting it back,” Logan said as he straddled the bike.
“That’s what Ah thought,” Marie said with a smirk as she climbed on behind Logan. “Ah have a disposable camera in mah bag so Ah was thinkin’ that Ah could take a picture of ya sittin’ on it and send it back to Scooter.”
That got another laugh from Logan as he fired the bike to life. “You’re an evil one, kid. Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
It was only after Logan eased the bike off its kickstand that Marie wrapped her arms about his waist. Marie was naturally worried about accidentally touching Logan, but reasoned to herself that chances of contact were very slim. She was wearing a long coat and gloves and if she knew Logan at all he was wearing at least three layers of clothing. Since only her face was uncovered, all that Marie had to do was keep her face pressed against Logan’s back and he would be safe. The exact spot her head would be resting was right between his shoulder blades.
Never having been on a motorcycle before, Marie felt exhilarated by the ride. It became very clear to her why Logan didn’t want to give the bike back to Scott. If she had the money, Marie would have bought one for herself. After she got her driver’s license, of course. The very day of her lethal first kiss, Marie had finally convinced her father to let her go get her license. With everything that had happened, Marie had never had the time to get the certificate since then.
As Logan brought the bike to a stop in front of his motel room, Marie made a protesting noise. She didn’t want the ride to end so quickly. In fact, Marie would have been quite content to ride behind Logan for the rest of eternity. At least this way, Marie could be close to him without having to be worried about sucking the life out of him. A fear that Marie was unfortunately all too familiar with.
“You do realize that we’re here now?” Logan asked, his body shifting in such a way that Marie was sure he was now looking over his shoulder at her. “That means you can let go of me now.”
Marie shook her head, pressing her face against his the back of his head. “Ah’m happy here, sugah. Just give me a few minutes then Ah’ll get movin’.”
Logan slid his hands down Marie’s arms, clasping his hands overtop of hers. “You’re an odd one, kid... but I love ya anyway. And I’m real glad that you’re here.”
It took everything Marie had in her not to overreact to Logan’s words. Casual as they were, to Marie, they were packed with meaning. There were so many other words Logan could have used other than “loved.” So many.... Marie could think of at least one other word that could be used.
“Ah’m real glad that Ah’m here too,” Marie told him, giving him a quick squeeze. Suddenly remembering her earlier plan, Marie quickly jumped off the bike. “Stay right there! Ah wanna take the picture of ya on the bike for Scooter before Ah forget!”
“Okay, when I said you were weird before, I really meant it,” Logan smirked, glancing at her over his shoulder while she searched through the side compartment of her duffelbag for the disposable camera.
“And Ah’m damn happy bein’ weird. It’s an enjoyable way of life,” Marie informed him, glancing at Logan and grinning. Her fingers brushed against the camera then and Marie quickly pulled it out. Practically bouncing, Marie backed away from the bike so that she could get all of it in the picture. As she set up the shot, a sudden thought popped into Marie’s head and without even being aware of it, she voiced that thought.
“If you say so, darlin’,” Logan muttered, already slipping out of his leather jacket.
Marie let out a startled gasp, nearly dropping her camera. “Oh mah Gawd! No! Ah didn’t mean it, Logan! Well Ah did... but not for ya to hear! It was just supposed to be in my head! My own imagination! Keep yer clothes on!”
Even as she was telling Logan to keep his clothes on, Marie longed to tell him not to. She had memories in her head of Logan seeing himself naked in a mirror, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to see the real thing. She did. Marie really wanted to see Logan naked. Knowing that it wasn’t going to happen, Marie hid her face behind the camera so that Logan wouldn’t see her disappointment.
What a glorious sight it would have been.
“Thomas Joseph Michaels. That was my name before the government turned me into their guinea pig,” Logan said with a resigned sigh as he flopped down on the large king size bed in the motel room. His eyes were trained on the large file that sat on the round table in front of the window. “The name Logan doesn’t appear anywhere in the file. I have no damn clue where I came up with the idea that was my name.”
Marie frowned and sat down delicately next to Logan. “Well then how do you know that file is talkin’ about ya?” Marie asked softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and resting her head on his shoulder.
“‘Cause there’s pictures of me,” Logan said with a resigned sigh. “And diagrams. Ones that match the x-rays Jeanie took of me back at the mansion.... Plus the numbers match up.”
“What numbers?” Marie questioned, letting her hand slide down his chest to his stomach, rubbing the taut muscles in a soothing manner.
Without words, Logan reached out and touched the chain held the dogtags he had left with her.
“Oh, Logan....” Marie moaned, burying her face against his shoulder. From the memories she had absorbed from Logan, she knew that the tags were all that Logan had had in his possession when he woke up naked in the snow fifteen years before. They were all that existed of the past he couldn’t remember.
Suddenly, without warning, Logan turned towards her, gathering her up in his arms. Marie went willingly, wanting to hold Logan close at that moment. Logan all but sagged against her and Marie could tell that he was about to drop off to sleep. It made Marie wonder when Logan had last slept.
“You should get some sleep now, Logan,” Marie whispered in his ear, snaking a glove-covered hand up into his thick hair.
Logan shook his head slightly, the movement barely distinguishable. “I’m fine, Marie. I just haven’t been sleeping all that good lately.”
“Which is exactly why yer gonna get some sleep right now,” Marie told him, pulling back to peer into his half lidded eyes. “And Ah’m not gonna hear any arguments. Ya got it? So just lay down and get some rest. Ah need to have a shower and get mahself cleaned up anyway. Ah’ve been stuck on a train for two days and probably smell real bad right about now.”
“You smell good, darlin’,” Logan assured her, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily.
Logan tried to protest further, but Marie was able to coax him to the top of the bed. It was easy to see just how exhausted he was because almost as soon as Logan’s head touched the pillow, Marie could hear his breathing start to even out as sleep overtook him. Marie sat silently beside him for a few minutes simply watching him.
“Sleep sweet, Logan,” Marie murmured as she rose from the bed. She would have touched Logan if she didn’t know that how lightly he slept.
When she emerged from the bathroom a forty-five minutes later, Logan was still sleeping soundly. Wrapped in nothing more than a white towel, Marie scampered across the room to where she had left her bag. Silently hoping that Logan would remain sleeping until she changed, Marie extracted a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt from her bag. Marie was quite sure that it was Logan’s influence in her mind that was responsible for her sudden dislike of underwear. Since he had saved her life on the Statue of Liberty, Marie hadn’t once worn a bra or panties.
As she poked her head out of its proper hole, Marie spun around to look at Logan. She was nearly staggered by what she saw. Logan looked truly beautiful. His features was well and truly relaxed and there wasn’t any sign of tension in his body.
Chewing on her bottom lip, Marie slowly inched towards the table where she had left her camera. Silently as possible, she picked it up and tiptoed across the room so that she was kneeling beside the bed with a clear view of Logan’s sleeping face.
“Don’t even think about it, kid,” Logan mumbled, his eyes remaining closed.
Without so much as a second thought, Marie quickly snapped the picture.
“Too late, sugah.”
Before Marie had time to react, she found herself lying in the middle of the bed with Logan hovering over her. “I thought I told you not to take a picture, darlin’,” Logan said with a slight grin playing on his lips.
“Ah know ya did, Logan, but that doesn’t mean Ah hafta listen to ya,” Marie told him, grinning up at him.
Shifting himself upwards slightly, Logan pressed a kiss against the top of her head. He smiled softly then slid back down so that he was able to look into her face once again. “I really do love you, Marie,” he told her, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Ah love ya too, Logan,” Marie whispered, winding her arms about his shoulders. “And right now Ah want ya to get some more sleep. Ah mean it this time. Just relax and sleep. Okay?”
“Okay,” Logan consented, lowering himself down on top of her.
Marie held him tightly, shifting slightly so that so that he rested more comfortably between her legs. It startled Marie that Logan was so trusting considering how close he was to her exposed skin. His head was resting on her chest and if she had been wearing the low-cut shirt she’d had on before her shower, his face would have been exposed to some of her lethal skin.
Minutes later, Logan was asleep once again and it wasn’t long before Marie joined him in sleep.
“Scooter’s less than impressed with the picture Ah sent him,” Marie said as she turned off her cell phone. “He says not to hurt his baby and that he would eventually like to have her back in one piece.”
Logan smirked from inside the camper where he was busy setting up the blankets on their bed. “Well he ain’t getting it back. That contact of mine already got the plates changed.”
Glancing to her left, Marie caught sight of said license plate. Logan had even gone so far as to have the plates personalized so that they now read, “MREE 2” in place of the normal plates Scooter’s had on it.
“Well yer the one who’s gonna break it to Scooter next time Ah call,” Marie told him as he climbed out of the back of the camper.
Logan arched an eyebrow and stepped towards Marie. Grinning down at her, Logan grabbed the cell phone from her hand tossed it into the lake that their campsite overlooked. Slipping his arm about her waist, Logan pulled Marie against him so that they were pressed together fully.
“That was mah new cell phone,” Marie informed him, unable to keep the smile from her face. “Ah hope ya know that yer gonna be replacin’ it.”
Leaning forward, Logan brushed the briefest of kisses against her lips. Over the past two months that had passed since Marie had arrived in Alkali Lake, the pair had discovered that Logan could withstand her lethal skin for a few moments. Hank, the X-Men’s newest physicians, was quite certain that in a few years Logan would be able to touch Logan whenever he wanted. It was a goal that the pair were eagerly working towards.
“I think it’s time that we distanced ourselves from the X-Geeks,” Logan told her, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face. “There’s no need for us to risk our lives for them or even have anything to do with them. We’ve got our own lives to live and I plan on doing that to the best of my ability.”
It was the burning of the file Logan had recovered from the Alkali Lake complex that had given Logan that new outlook. It was almost a religious experience for him. Logan had taken them out into the wilderness that surrounded the military base to dispose of the stack of documents and photographs. Logan had made sure that only ashes remained before the returned to the motel. Marie had understood his need to make sure that documents were completely destroyed and had sat silently by his side, wrapped up in his arms.
“And just what do ya have planned for us, sugah?” Marie inquired, arching an eyebrow.
“You’ll just have to wait and see, darlin’,” Logan said, sliding his hands up and down her torso.
Marie moaned quietly, arching her back slightly. “Just so long as we do it after ya buy me a new cell phone.”