It was a stupid mistake. He never should have put her down. she was vulnerable that way. He couldn’t protect her when they were running side by side. Getting to safety had been his main concern and he had almost forgotten about Marie.
Now, because of his lack of responsibility, Marie was bleeding from a gunshot wound in her stomach.
Logan raced through the trees, dodging any obstacles that appeared in his way. The sounds of pursuit were fading, but Logan didn’t slow down in the least. He wanted to make sure that they were very far away from the place before they stopped. Logan would find a place for them to hide in order for him to heal her. He had to. There was no way Logan was gonna let Marie bleed to death.
“I’m so sorry,” Logan murmured as he jumped over a large boulder. “I never should have put you down.”
When he heard Marie’s breathing begin to slow, Logan immediately began searching for a place to hide. She wouldn’t last much longer and Logan needed to hide them somewhere safe before he let her absorb his powers. Marie had once told him that when she absorbed people, they were usually out of it for a while. Even with his healing abilities, it would still take a little while for him to heal from her lethal touch.
“Just hang in there a few more minutes and I’ll get you somewhere safe,” Logan promised her.
Logan kept his eyes constantly moving as he rushed through the thick forest. A cave would be ideal but not one with a readily available opening. For once Logan’s powers were incredibly useful. His heightened senses allowed him to see things that others wouldn’t.
Including the small opening in the side of a rocky hill.
It was mostly covered with branches and underbrush, but Logan could still make it out clearly. It would be difficult for the soldiers to find them in the cave. It was the only real safe place for them to hide. At least until he got Marie healed up.
With infinite care, Logan eased Marie down on the ground in front of the small cave. He lovingly wrapped the blanket around Marie, protecting her from the cold night air. She moaned slightly and, oddly enough, Logan took comfort in it. If she was moaning then she was still slightly conscious and not completely dead yet. Lying down on his stomach, Logan peered into the cave, using his keen eyesight to scan the interior.
Nothing was inside except scattered leaves and some moss. There was also plenty of room for both of them to hide in for the time being.
“All right, Marie. I’ve got us somewhere to hide,” Logan whispered as he turned around and slid his lower body into the cave.
As he stretched his toes out towards the bottom of the cave, Logan smashed his knee against a large rock that stuck out of the wall. He bit savagely into his bottom lip to keep himself from crying out. Only when the stinging pain in his knee faded to a dull throb did Logan lower himself the rest of the way down.
Reaching back out of the cave, Logan wrapped his arms under Marie’s armpits and began to drag her towards him. Marie’s head was flopping about slightly and she was moaning again.
“It’s all right, Marie. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Just hang on a little longer,” Logan said softly as he pulled her upper body close to his chest.
“Nnughh....”
Logan buried her face in her hair as he lowered her the rest of the way into the cave. He held Marie tight against him as he carefully lowered himself onto the ground. Logan situated her comfortably in his lap, gently arranging her hair around her face.
There was a brief flicker of movement and suddenly her eyes were open a tiny crack.
“I need you to stay with me, Marie. Can you do that? Keep your eyes on my face,” Logan ordered, cupping her face lightly with his hand, her hair protecting his palm from her deadly skin.
“Lo-ogg....”
Her breath started hitching again and Logan started to panic. Pulling away the blanket that covered her, Logan’s eyes locked instantly on the bloody mess in the middle of her stomach. He whimpered slightly hen looked up to meet Marie’s eyes again.
“I’m gonna touch you now, Marie,” Logan told her, scrubbing away the tears on his face with the back of his hand. “I want you to take my powers. They’ll heal you. I’m not gonna let you die. Not now. Not when we’re finally free.”
Marie’s head shook almost imperceptibly.
Logan smiled softly. “You’re not gonna get me to change my mind, Marie. I’m doing this. I have to.”
Before Marie could protest again, Logan lowered his face towards Marie’s. Tenderness may have become something that Logan was no longer familiar with, but the memories still lurked deep in the back of his mind. As his face neared hers, Logan could hear Marie’s softly moaned protests.
“I have t’ do this, Marie,” Logan whispered, his lips brushing lightly against hers.
There was nothing at first. Absolutely no sign of Marie’s mutation. Desperation kicking in, Logan increased the pressure. He was going to save Marie’s life at all costs. Squeezing his eyes shut tight, Logan ran his tongue along her bottom lip, trying to stir some type of reaction from Marie’s powers.
“Please, Marie... Please....” Logan moaned against her lips, tears leaking from his closed eyes. “You can’t die. I won’t let you....”
Marie arched under him suddenly. She let out a loud, deep breath. The first Logan had heard in a long time.
For him, though, things were getting dark.
Logan refused to back down, though. He continued to kiss her even when his vision was becoming blurry. Marie needed to live. She was too young, too pure to die. Especially not in such a horrible way. Hunted down like an animal. Logan wouldn’t allow it. So, instead, he continued to kiss her with everything that he had in him.
For the first time that he could remember, Logan felt something beautiful.
He felt love.
Then he felt nothing.
~*~*~*~*~
With a gasp, Marie pushed Logan away from her. He collapsed on his back in the cave, unmoving.
“Logan!” Marie cried, pulling the blanket around herself.
Marie was in such a state of panic that it took her a few moments to realize that she could see clearly once again. By the time that she did, she was already crouching over top of Logan, placing a cloth covered hand on his cheek.
“Logan... Logan, please wake up. Come on, Logan, Ah can’t do this on mah own. Ah need ya t’ wake up,” Marie sobbed, placing her free hand over her mouth to quiet her sobs.
There was no response from him and Marie only began to cry harder. Logan had touched her.
He had touched her.
And it hadn’t been some accidental little brush of his hand against hers. Logan had kissed her. Seriously and on purpose. Bringing a hand up, Marie placed her fingertips on her lips, unable to believe what Logan had done.
He had done it to save her life, too.
“Gawd, Logan.... How could ya do somethin’ like this? Bein’ all noble like this. Yer not s’pose t’ be this wonderful,” Marie whimpered, carefully pulling Logan’s head up onto her lap. “Yer not s’pose t’ risk yer life fer mine like this.”
Marie could think of nothing to do for Logan except make him comfortable and comb her fingers through his hair. It was a soothing gesture that had always made her feel better when she was little. Even though he was unconscious, Marie was sure that Logan could sense what she was doing. She hoped that he did.
“... be going this way!”
Marie stilled completely at the sound of the voices in the distance. She glanced towards the opening of the cave, cursing silently when she saw how much of it was visible.
Gently setting Logan’s head down on the blanket that had been wrapped around her, Marie rushed towards the cave’s tiny entrance and began to pull nearby plantlife over it. She did this as silently as possible, not wanting to draw any attention to her and Logan’s hiding place.
When she had most of the entrance covered, Marie padded back to where Logan lay. Carefully removing the blanket from under Logan’s head, Marie wrapped her near naked and blood stained body in the blanket before sitting back down next to Logan.
Tears filled her eyes when she saw how pale and listless Logan was. Even when the doctors had been cutting into him, Logan hadn’t looked like that. He had always been so strong. Logan wasn’t supposed to be lying unconscious on a floor in a dank cave.
“Oh Gawd!” Marie moaned, cupping a hand over her mouth. “This isn’t happenin’! This can’t be happenin’!”
Trying to be as silent as possible, Marie gently flipped Logan over onto his back to confirm what she was seeing.