Now that he knew Marie wasn’t in danger, Logan was able to relax. His body, which had long since been running on auto-pilot, finally embraced the exhaustion that had been threatening it for so long. All that it really took was lying in Marie’s arms with her fingers moving gently through his hair. Add a few minutes of undisturbed silence and Logan was well on his way to being asleep. He wasn’t completely asleep, though. At least not as asleep as Marie thought him to be.
“Ah love ya, Logan,” Marie murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
Logan couldn’t contain a grin when he heard that and nestled deeper into Marie’s arms. He was relieved to find out that his feelings for Marie weren’t one-sided. Not that he had actually believed they were. Logan wasn’t even completely sure that he could call what he felt for Marie love. To him, it was so much more than that. It was almost as though she was a part of him.
“Fer the life o’ me Ah can’t figure out why ya want anythin’ t’ do with me,” Marie said softly, wrapping both of her arms securely around him. “All Ah ever cause ya is trouble. They’d hurt ya more when ya’d try t’ protect me. Plus ya damn near died when ya touched me back in the cave. Ah’ve been nothin’ bout a bother t’ ya an’ it would probably be better if Ah weren’t there at all.”
Logan was just about to protest when Marie gave a contented sigh.
“Whatever yer reasons, Ah’m glad ya decided Ah was worth the trouble o’ protectin’. No one’s ever looked out fer me the way ya do. Ya really do seem t’ care ‘bout me a lot, which is a good thing ‘cause Ah love ya a whole lot.”
Convinced that Marie was sure of his feelings for her, Logan allowed himself to relax and drift off to sleep. His entire body just shut down as he slipped into a deep, healing sleep. When he woke up, it would be as though nothing had happened to him. It was the main bonus of having advanced healing abilities. That, and the no hang-over factor. That one was a real big plus.
”So this is the man-beast you managed to find for me? Excellent. He looks down right ferocious. Where on earth did you find him?”
As the person spoke, Logan struggled to open his eyes. He was quick to wish that he hadn’t as he was blinded by an intense light.
“Welcome back to consciousness, Wolverine. I was beginning to think that my prime test subject was no more.”
“What the hell do you want with me,” Logan grumbled, tilting his head to the side in hopes of being able to see better. It was a futile attempt because he could still see nothing but a glowing whiteness.
“That will all be made clear in time.”
Suddenly his entire body felt like it was on fire. He tried to scream, but instead found his lungs filling with water.
Finally able to see, Logan could see hazy outlines of doctors milling around him.
Each of them holding a champagne glass, toasting to his capture.
“You will be the ultimate living weapon.”
Logan sat up with a jolt, his entire body wracked with tremors. He whimpered slightly as he reoriented himself to the waking world. Still breathing heavily, Logan turned to where Marie had been lying. When he found out that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be, Logan started to panic.
“Marie!” Logan cried, rolling out of the bed and to his feet. He scanned the room, searching for any sign of Marie. “Marie, where are you?”
Just as Logan was about to rush towards the door when it opened. Marie poked her head in,. “That ya makin’ all the racket?”
As soon as he saw her, Logan let out a breath of relief. Not taking his eyes off her face, Logan rushed towards Marie and gathered her up in his arms. Just being able to hold onto her again made him feel so much better. Logan tried not to let the fact that Marie wasn’t hugging him back get to him.
“Let me go. Let me go. Let me go,” Marie chanted, struggling to push away from him.
For a moment, Logan felt as though he had been punched in the gut. Mare was trying to get away from him. Squeezing his eyes shut, Logan slowly backed away from her. He slowly turned away from Marie, wondering when his nightmares had become real. Logan scanned the interior of the room, searching for some way out. The door was his best bet, but Marie was standing there and Logan didn’t think that he would be able to face her without doing something drastic.
“Gawd, Logan! Ya smushed mah sandwich!” Marie cried, laughter echoing in her voice.
Relief flooding through him when he heard that. A wide grin on his face, Logan spun around and gathered Marie up in his arms again.
“Logan, yer squishin’ mah sandwich again!” Marie squealed, giggling madly. “Ah was plannin’ on eatin’ that!”
“I’ll make you a new one,” Logan told Marie, squeezing her tighter.
“Ya mind tellin’ me what’s got ya so worked up?” Marie asked, squirming out of Logan’s arms once again.
This time Logan didn’t feel an overwhelming sadness when Marie pulled away. His heart rate was finally starting to go down after the nightmare. Having expected Marie to be there when he woke up, the fact that she hadn’t been there had freaked him out more than he had expected. The nightmare he’d just had hadn’t made his state of mind any better.
“I thought you were leaving me,” Logan admitted, slumping onto the bed. Burying his face in his hands, Logan flopped onto his back, sighing loudly. “I had this real fucked up dream then you weren’t there anymore. I freaked and the fact that you started pushing me away didn’t help much.”
“Ah’m sorry, sugah,” Marie murmured and Logan felt the bed dip as she sat down next to him. “Ah got hungry an’ thought ya’d be sleepin’ fer a while. Ah honestly didn’t think ya’d wake up so soon.”
Logan rolled onto his side and curled his body around Marie. His arms went automatically around her waist and he rested his head on her breast, his eyes once again falling shut.
“Yer gonna end up with mayonnaise on ya,” Marie murmured, snaking her fingers into his hair.
“I don’t care,” Logan grumbled, holding her tighter.
“Yeah, well Ah don’t think Thomas would fancy washin’ mayonnaise outta that shirt yer borrowin’,” Marie teased, kissing him on the top of the head.
Extracting himself from her arms, Logan sat up and pulled the two shirt he was wearing over his head. He tossed them on the floor then quickly curled himself back in Marie’s arms.
“All better now,” Logan informed her, sighing contently.
“Ah don’t remember ya ever bein’ this weird,” Marie teased, shifting slightly. Logan knew that she was changing position to protect the two of them from her lethal skin. Logan didn’t like that she had to do it, but understood the necessity of it. “Are ya really all right, Logan? ‘Cause ya were real freaked out back there.”
Logan shrugged slightly, burrowing his way deeper into her arms. “I know I was acting real weird, but I just... I just thought that you were going to leave. I don’t know what I’d do if you were gone. You got me through so much in that place and I really don’t want to find out what it will be like without you there.”
“Well if Ah have it mah way, yer not gonna hafta find out,” Marie assured him.
Letting his eyes fall shut, Logan finally allowed to relax completely after having woken up from the vivid dream of his own drowning. He felt safe with Marie and safety was something that had been hard in coming since that night they had picked him up in the alley.
“Thank you for loving me,” Logan whispered, allowing himself to fade into oblivion once again. He hoped that this time his sleep would be peaceful.
Logan woken once again in a less than calming way.
“LOGAN!” Marie screamed as she was ripped out from under him.
Logan was fully awake in an instant, claws unsheathed as he rolled from the bed. He came face to face with a large, blonde-haired man who had Marie clutched against his chest, his glove covered hand wrapped around her throat.
“You’re being real stupid right now, bub. Let her go before I have to hurt you,” Logan snarled, advancing towards him.
The blonde man laughed bitterly. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Get too close and I may be forced to hurt her. Wouldn’t want your girl to be hurt because of you, now would you?”
Logan met Marie’s tear-filled eyes and felt his heart breaking in two. She had been through enough already and didn’t need this. Marie should have been kept safe at all costs. Logan had wanted to keep her safe. At all costs.
“Just let her go,” Logan pleaded, holding his hands out before him in a gesture of surrender.
The other man simply snorted. “Yeah, like I’m going to believe that when you have those fancy knives sticking out of your hands. Get rid of them.”
It was the pleading look in Marie’s eyes that forced Logan to obey. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt.
“Good. Now that you’re ready to behave. Let’s get going.”