The first thing Logan saw upon opening his eyes was a hazy image of Marie. He sluggishly reached a hand up, cupping the side of her face, closing his eyes for a moment in relief when he realized that she was solid to the touch. and not just a figment of his imagination. As his vision began to clear, so did the smile that was lighting her face. Choking back a sob, Logan slipped his arms around Marie and pulled her down sot hat she was practically lying on top of him.
“It’s over now, Logan. It’s all over. Yer safe now,” Marie whispered in his ear as she twined her fingers in his hair.
At that moment, Logan didn’t care about anything except the fact that he was once again with Marie and that he was lying in her arms. As far as Logan was concerned, all was right in his world. Marie was all he knew and Logan liked it that way. Unlike the doctors who were only out to hurt him, Marie had done so much for him without even really knowing who he was.
Marie pulled back and stared down at Logan, her face only inches away from hers. “How are ya feelin’, Logan?”
Smiling softly, Logan lightly brushed his thumb over her high cheekbone. “Better now that I know I’m awake. Am I really awake?”
“Yer really awake,” Marie murmured, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Logan’s. “Yer wide awake just like Ah am.”
Logan sighed and let his eyes fall shut. “I’m glad that I’m awake. I don’t like being asleep because you’re not there when I’m asleep. You’re only there when I’m awake.”
Marie shook her head, her nose brushing against Logan’s. “Ah’m always there, Logan. No matter what.”
Hearing those words filled Logan with an incredible sense of calm. He relaxed completely into her touch, allowing Marie to comfort him in a way that he knew only she would be able to. The only tender touches Logan knew came from Marie. She was the only person he had known that hadn’t wanted to hurt him. Logan trusted her completely. Marie wouldn’t hurt him. That was the one thing that Logan was sure of. There was so much that he either didn’t know or remember, but he was completely sure that Marie wouldn’t hurt him.
Slowly, Marie sat up, drawing a protesting moan from Logan. He lazily reached towards her, his left hand finally coming to rest on her waist. Marie grabbed hold of his right hand and held it lightly in her own, her thumb gently rubbing over his knuckles.
“Come on, sugah. Ya need t’ have a shower,” Marie told him, leaning over to smooth a few arrant strands of hair from his face. “It’ll make ya feel so much better.”
Logan shifted a bit so that he was staring straight at her face. “You’ll be with me, right? I won’t be alone? I don’t wanna be alone in the water. Not again.”
Marie must have sensed his rising panic because she placed a finger over his lips and a kiss against his cheek. “Ya won’t be alone, Logan. Ah promise. Ah won’t leave ya alone if ya don’t want me to.”
“I don’t want you to,” Logan told her honestly, not bothering to hide his fear from Marie.
“Then Ah won’t leave ya alone,” Marie assured him, smiling softly at him. “It’s as simple as that.”
Confident that Marie would stay with him, Logan allowed her to lead him into an adjoining room that apparently served as a bathroom. It was only then that Logan realized that he had no clue where he was. The room that he had been in wasn’t Marie’s and the bathroom certainly wasn’t. Marie’s bathroom smelt flowery and had a rubber duck sitting on the back of the toilet.
“Where are we?” Logan asked as he watched Marie turn on the shower. His panic was starting to return as he took in the stark barrenness of the bathroom.
Marie pulled off her long sleeved shirt as she turned around to face Logan once again. “We’re somewhere that ya’ll be safe. No one’s gonna hurt ya here an’ that’s all that matters far as Ah’m concerned.”
Logan stared at her in confusion, his hand once again finding its way to her waist. “We’re safe here?”
Marie placed on hand on his arm and the other on his cheek. “We’re safe here, Logan. No one is goin’ t’ hurt ya as long as we’re here.”
“What about you? Will they hurt you?”
Marie gave his arm a squeeze, shaking her head slightly. “They won’t hurt me either. We’re both safe from those bastards.”
Logan was relieved to hear it and pulled Marie into a his arms, hugging her tightly. He loved the feel of Marie in his arms. She fit so perfectly. All of her curves matched the hard planes of his body and he head fit snugly under his chin. Some part of Logan that he had long since forgotten told Logan that a feeling like that wasn’t normal. Normal or not, Logan didn’t care. All that Logan cared about was Marie and that she was doing so much for him without really knowing him.
“Ya sure yer all right, Logan?” Marie asked as she pulled him into the shower with her. “Ah know that ya heal real fast, but that doesn’t make what they did t’ ya any less awful.”
Logan was silent for several minutes, trying to determine, for himself, whether he was he was all right. As he considered Marie’s question, he allowed her to massage the almost scentless soap that was in the bathroom.
“I’m not... I’m not sure. I feel strange all over, but I don’t know why,” Logan said at last, nuzzling the side of her throat. “It’s not like it really hurts anywhere. Some parts ache. Some parts are kinda numb. I’m not really sure how to explain it. I guess it’s like... like I just feel odd. You know?”
“Ah’ve felt odd in mah time, but Ah know that it’s nothin’ like what ya feel, Logan,” Marie said, her lips brushing against his throat as she spoke.
Her fingers danced up and down his spine, pressing against the small of his back every so often. Every time she did, Logan shifted a little closer, his face brushing against hers, nuzzling softly. He kept his hands on her waist, rubbing gently.
“We should prob’ly get outta here soon, sugah,” Marie whispered in his ear after about ten minutes of their gentle touching.
Logan shook his head, wrapping his arms completely around her waist. “No. I never wanna leave here.”
Marie slapped his hip lightly. “We’re gonna hafta leave here, Logan. We’re waterlogged enough as it is.”
“Not at all,” Logan insisted, holding her tighter. “I like it in here.”
“Ah like it in here, too, Logan,” Marie admitted. “We still hafta get out, though.”
He didn’t want to admit it, but the main reason Logan didn’t want to leave the shower was because in the shower Logan knew exactly where Marie was at all times. All that he had to do was reach out and he could hold onto her. As soon as they left the shower that wouldn’t be true any longer.
Eventually, though, Logan conceded and got out of the shower. The attention that Marie gave him made him glad that he did. Marie was so tender, wiping him gently with the towel, helping him into his shirt and jeans. This time when she shaved him, Logan didn’t flinch in the least. He sat there calmly, tilting his head as she directed.
Logan was completely relaxed until they stepped out of the bathroom.
Seated on the bed was an old man that Logan didn’t recognize. Whimpering slightly, Logan back towards the bathroom. He didn’t know this man which meant that he had no reason to trust him. The only person that Logan trusted was Marie and that was because she had earned it. She had pulled him from the snow and taken him into her home.
“I am glad to see you are feeling better, Logan,” the older man said, rising from his seated position on the bed.
“Marie....”
“It’s all right, Logan. This is Magneto. He helped me save ya,” Marie told Logan, reaching back and placing a hand on his arm. She smiled confidently at him, sliding her hand down his arm to clasp his hand.
“Actually, now that we’ve arrived here you may call me by my given name,” the grey haired man said holding a hand out towards Logan. “You may call me, Erik.”
Logan glanced at Marie first before hesitantly reaching out to clasp Erik’s hand. “Thank you for helping Marie.”
“Think nothing of it, my Brother.”
Logan stared at the other man in confusion. “Brother?”
“The Brotherhood of Mutants,” Erik clarified, spreading his arms wide for emphasis. “In the end, we are all Brothers. Joined together by circumstances of fate.”
“But Marie....”
“Could easily become one of us if she so chooses,” Erik assured him. “The procedure is really quite simple.”
Logan could sense Marie’s shock at Erik’s words. A lot of it had to do with the fact that he was shocked by them as well.
“Pr-procedure?” Marie stammered, coming to stand in front of Logan. He automatically placed his hands on her hips, letting her know that he was there.
“A very simple one, my dear, that would create mutate the same chromosome in your body that is mutated in ours. You would become a mutant like us.”