Logan couldn’t get enough of watching Marie while she slept. She looked so peaceful, so relaxed. Especially now. Cocooned in clean sheets in a hotel room. Wanting to see all of her, Logan had pulled the blankets completely off her. Marie was like a living statue. Of course, Logan couldn’t remember having actually seeing a statue, but Marie was just as beautiful as one he had ever seen, forgotten or remembered.
With a gentle finger, Logan traced along her side, over her hop and down her thigh. He didn’t want to wake her. Logan simply wanted to assure himself that she was real and not just a figment of his imagination. Even now, after everything they’d been through, Logan still found it hard to believe that she was real. Logan couldn’t think of one thing he had done to deserve someone as wonderful as Marie.
Letting his hand rest on her hip, Logan settled back down to go to sleep. He didn’t need much sleep, and with his nightmares he tried to sleep even less, but he wanted to relax for at least a little while. Logan felt marginally safe for once and planned to use it to his advantage.
Just as Logan felt himself beginning to drift off, he sensed something different in the room. All of his sense were on alert, trying to figure out just what exactly it was. A huge grin spread across Logan’s face when he realized what it was.
Marie was pregnant.
There was a shift in her hormones alerting Logan to the fact that there was a new life growing inside of Marie. A life that they had created. A part of Logan wanted to scream and shout. Marie was having his child. He didn’t want to wake her, though. The child would be there regardless of whether or not he told her now or waited for her to wake up. Logan opting for waiting because it meant Marie could get to sleep longer.
Carefully rolling Marie onto her back, Logan traced a gentle finger along her still flat stomach. Logan’s body followed his hand to her stomach and began to nuzzle her stomach. Inside, his child was growing. It wasn’t that big yet, but soon Marie’s stomach would swell with the evidence of their child.
“I’ll see you when you’re born, little one,” Logan whispered, brushing a kiss against her stomach before settling himself down to go to sleep. “Till then, you let your mommy rest.”
With that, Logan settled himself down to sleep, his arm around her thighs and his head resting on her stomach. Completely at peace with his world, Logan finally drifted off to sleep. The worries of their situation were completely forgotten for the time being, giving Logan a chance at a good night’s sleep.
“Thought you could get away from us, didn’t you, runt?”
In the waking world, Logan fought the presence of Creed in his dream. He felt an agonizing pain in his chest, as though the blows he was experiencing in his dream was taking place in the real world.
“That little whore you’ve been fucking is ours. Magneto has plans for her that don’t involve you. Too bad, ‘cause I woulda loved to fuck with your head some more.”
Logan continued fighting, refusing to allow Creed to interrupt his dream. Logan was going to have one night free of nightmares. One night where he and Marie could pretend to be normal. He wouldn’t allow the bastard the satisfaction of winning.
“Too bad we can’t take you with us, runt. Don’t worry, though. I’ll take care of your whore.... What’s this? Looks like I’ll be taking care of your bastard too. This is turning out to be even more productive than I’d thought. See you later, runt.”
“Noooo!!” Logan screamed, arching his back.
Now completely awake, Logan flung his eyes open. He turned on all of his senses, searching for any sign of Creed. Logan was relieved when he could find now trace of Creed. Letting out a deep sigh, Logan relaxed back onto the bed, ready to go back to sleep.
Seconds later something else occurred to him.
Marie wasn’t lying next to him.
Bolting into a sitting position, Logan scanned the interior of the room. Marie wasn’t anywhere. Jumping off the bed, Logan ran towards the bathroom, praying that Marie was in there. When he threw open the door to the empty room, Logan felt his heart sink. He turned around slowly, his eyes drifting back towards the bed.
“Oh God,” Logan moaned, when he caught sight of the blood that covered the once white sheets. It was all on his side of the bed, though. Add that to the very tender slash marks he could feel on his stomach and Logan was assured that the blood was all his.
Unfortunately, that didn’t make him feel any better.
“Kurt!” Logan shouted, sprinting towards the door after pulling on his boxers. He was momentarily blinded by the bright morning sunlight, but continued on undaunted. “Kurt, get out here!”
Using his claws to slice through the lock, Logan burst into the other man’s hotel room. Instantly he could see signs of a struggle. Kurt wasn’t inside. Furniture was upended and sheets were ripped off the bed. Rushing into the bathroom, Logan searched for any sign of Kurt. Cursing, sat down on the bed. He rested his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands.
See you later, runt.
Logan’s head shot up. It hadn’t been a dream. Creed had been in his room. He had taken Marie and Kurt and slashed him open so that he wouldn’t be able to follow. And if what had dreamt had really happened, it meant that Creed knew Marie was pregnant.
Only pausing long enough to get dressed, Logan immediately went to the used car lot across the street from their hotel. He bought a relatively cheap truck and was on the road within the next half hour.
Recalling the path that he, Marie and Kurt had taken in his mind, Logan retraced the steps on the vast highways of the Canadian north. He sped towards Magneto’s compound, knowing that it would take him at least a day to get there, but still determined to get there faster, speed limits be damned.
Before Marie or his child got hurt.
Logan didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself if Marie or the baby got hurt.
Marie not knowing about the pregnancy made it even worse. Logan silently cursed himself for not telling Marie as soon as he’d found out. Now it would most likely be Creed or Mystique that told her she was going to have a baby. Kurt was with her, though, and Logan knew that the other man would keep her safe if he was able to. It was the “if” that worried Logan. Because if Kurt had been caught, he could have simply zapped himself and Marie back to the hotel. The fact that he hadn’t meant that he was either unconscious or unable to. Logan didn’t even want to consider the other possibilities. He just wanted to believe that Kurt was keeping Marie safe. That he wouldn’t let Creed or any of the other bastards hurt her.
Slamming on the breaks when he rounded a corner, Logan narrowly avoiding driving into a huge black jet that had landed in the middle of the highway. Cursing under his breath, Logan jumped out of the truck and charged towards the jet, claws extended. He was gonna get real personal with whatever fuck had decided that it was a good idea to park there.
A door at the back of the jet opened and a guy wearing black leather and a red visor stepped out onto the highway. Growling low in the back of his throat, Logan headed straight for the other man who had his hands raised in defense.
“We mean you no harm, Wolverine. We’re here to help you,” One-Eye said, taking a few steps back.
Logan’s instincts told him that the other man wasn’t a threat, but that didn’t make him any less pissed off. He continued his advance, his eyes locked on the smaller man.
“Wolverine, please. We’re here about Rogue. We can help you get her back,” One-Eye told him, showing a little bit of spine by not backing up any further.
That caught Logan’s attention enough to make him stop. The claws didn’t go back in and his defenses stayed up, but he was listening now.
Taking Logan’s lack of advance as a sign to continue, One-Eye began to explain himself. “She was taken by a name named Magneto and he’s going to use her to mutate the world’s leaders at a summit in New York later tonight. We can get her back, but we need your help. None of us are strong enough to fight one of Magneto’s associates. His name is Sabertooth.”
“Creed,” Logan grumbled, the first thing he’d said since setting eyes on leather boy.
“You help us and we can free Rogue before anything happens to her. Now will you come with us?” One-Eye asked, almost pleading with him.
Pansy.
Of course, Logan was willing to do anything and everything to get Marie back. He wanted her safe and with him as soon as possible. If One-Eye could do that then Logan was willing to help him.
Almost.
“Who’s saying you don’t work for Magneto or any of the other fuckers who want to hurt her?” Logan demanded, taking on a defensive posture.
One-Eye shrugged his shoulders, his hands remaining in front of him, ready to protect himself in case Logan attacked him. “You don’t. All that you have is my word. Now is that enough? Or are you going to stay out here longer and waste more time. Time that could be spent rescuing her before Magneto does something to her.”
Logan arched an eyebrow, surprised at the amount of backbone the smaller man was showing.
“Now I get that you don’t trust me, Wolverine. After everything you and Rogue have been through, I can understand that, but I swear that we won’t do anything to hurt you,” One-Eye said, finally lowering his hands to his sides.
Logan retracted his claws and stalked towards the other man. With a growled, “I’ll kill you if you’re lying,” Logan trudged onto the jet.