Logan knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. When he had fallen asleep he had been lying on the uncomfortable cot that Magneto had provided for him. As much as he hated the cot, it had been better than the uneven, rocky ground that he was now lying on. He attempted to move about and change position, but couldn’t. Even the slightest movement sent bolts of pain shooting throughout his entire body.
His grip on consciousness very tenuous, Logan was continuously slipping in and out of it. The sun was beating down hotly on Logan, all but cooking him in the remnants of his black leather X-Men uniform. Wherever he was lying, there was no shade and not even any hint of a breeze.
With a great deal of effort, Logan managed to lift his head from the ground. He surveyed the landscape, squinting against the harsh sunlight. All that he could see were rocks. Rocks and boulders without any sign of life.
Suddenly, off in the distance, Logan heard a very familiar sound. He strained his eyes in the direction of the sound, nearly crying out with relief when he caught sight of the black object racing through the sky.
The Blackbird.
Relief pervading his entire being, Logan allowed his head to drop back onto the rock that was currently serving as his pillow. He continued to track the Blackbird’s approach with his senses, praying that Scott wouldn’t bring the jet down right on top of him. The breeze created by the Blackbird’s descent was a welcomed one to Logan, relieving some of the oppressive heat that was consuming him. Feeling the uneven hop the jet made as it touched the ground, Logan sighed with relief. It was all that he could do to keep from passing out. Lifting his head had taken what little energy he had to spare and Logan once again found himself riding the thin line between consciousness and oblivion.
“Logan!”
At the sound of Marie’s voice, Logan felt a sense of peace rush through him.
“Logan, wake up! I’m here, sugah! Logan, please!” Marie continued to shout.
Logan could hear her making her way over the rough landscape. She stumbled a great deal, her feet catching on the uneven ground. Still, it wasn’t long before Logan felt Marie’s hands on his body. Being as gentle with him as only Marie could be, she carefully rolled him over and pulled him into her arms. Then her lips were on his face and she was tenderly pressing soft kisses all over his face.
“I’ve got you now, Logan,” Marie murmured, her lips brushing against his ear as she spoke. “You’re safe now. I promise. I won’t let anything hurt you anymore.”
Moaning quietly, Logan turned his face towards Marie’s throat. He inhaled her scent along with the faint traces of Kristyn and Braeden’s baby shampoo. It was comforting to have Marie so close after what felt like so long apart. He allowed all of his tense muscles to go completely limp and forced his eyes to open. Logan needed to see her face.
“Scooter! ‘Ro! Get over here now!” Marie shouted over her shoulder. When she turned back to him, Marie flashed him a brilliant smile when she saw his eyes were open. “Oh, thank Gawd, sugah! You scared me half to death!”
Logan gave her a tired, weary smile then shut his eyes once again. His mind numbing headache had only gotten worse since he had originally woken up in that dark cell and the bright sunlight was quickly making the pain more intense. Still, Logan could not contain a contented moan as Marie pressed her lips against his. Logan craved Marie’s touch like nothing he could ever remember.
“Is he all right?” Scott demanded from somewhere behind Marie. Logan could hear him stumbling on the rocks and knew that he wasn’t that far away. Moments later, Logan felt a short gust of wind and knew that Ororo had set herself down on the ground to his right.
“My head feels like it’s about to explode, but I’ll live,” Logan mumbled, shifting slightly in Marie’s arms. The movements only made his headache worse and Logan couldn’t contain a pained moan.
Marie let out an echoing whimper, her fingers sliding into his rumpled hair. “Easy there, Logan. We’re gonna get you home then Jeanie and Hank can check you out.”
Keeping his eyes shut, Logan allowed Scott to help him to his feet. He was less than impressed with having to rely on the smaller man to keep to his feet. So instead, Logan forced his eyes open and pulled away from Scott. He got only a few steps before tripping up on the uneven ground. He started to fall, but Scott’s arms about his waist kept him on his feet.
“That’s probably not the smartest thing you ever did, Logan,” Scott told him as he pulled Logan’s arm over his shoulder.
“I’m fine, One-Eye,” Logan grumbled, unwillingly allowing Scott to help him towards the Blackbird. “I just need to down a bottle of Tylenol 3 or Demerol and sleep for about a week.”
Logan didn’t see Marie again until he was stretched out on his customary seat in the Blackbird. He had never been so glad that the seat were reclinable until that moment. He was getting himself comfortable when Marie appeared in his line of sight, draping a blanket over him. With a tired smile on his face, Logan sluggishly an arm and draped it about Marie’s shoulders, pulling her down against him. Marie hugged his waist as she burrowed her face against his chest, the top of her head brushing the underside of his chin.
“You feel wonderful, darlin’,” Logan mumbled into her hair, holding her tight against him.
“I was so scared that I’d never get to see you again,” Marie whimpered, nuzzling the side of his throat. “I tried makin’ Scooter turn back, but I couldn’t. He just wouldn’t listen to me. I’m so sorry, sugah.”
Logan pressed a kiss against the top of her head, enjoying the feeling of Marie’s body against his. “Not your fault, Marie.”
Marie pulled back and peered down at his face. She lovingly smoothed his hair away from his face and brushed a kiss against his forehead. At that moment, Logan felt more loved than he could ever remember being. Just the look on Marie’s face, the way she was caressing him so tenderly. Marie and his children meant everything to him and to be so close to Marie after having been away from her for so long was the greatest feeling in the world.
“I love you, Logan. So, so much,” Marie told him, leaning over and pressing her forehead against his.
Suddenly, Marie all but jumped back, reaching for the chain that Logan knew she would have around her throat. After a few moments of fiddling, Marie held something out for him to see. Something that brought tears to his eyes. As he watched, Marie took hold of his left hand and held it up between them. In complete silence, Marie placed his wedding ring on his ring finger then brought his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss against his palm.
“It looks so much better on you than it does on this chain,” Marie whispered, lightly fingering Logan’s wedding ring. “You know, I was thinkin’ that maybe you and I could take the kids on a little vacation. We need to get away from the mansion for a little bit and just be a family for a while. No X-Men, no Brotherhood, no human-mutant relations. Just you, me, Kristyn and Braeden.”
“That sounds wonderful, darlin’. We could definitely use a vacation,” Logan agreed, smiling sleepily at her.
Marie began to run her fingers through his hair, her other hand lightly caressing the side of his face. “You should get some sleep, Logan. You look awful.”
“Love you too, darlin’,” Logan said, giving her a lop-sided grin.
“You know what I mean,” Marie mumbled, shifting position so that she was no curled up at his side.
The two were silent after that and Logan slowly drifted off to sleep. It was a much needed rest where his headache slowly faded into nothingness. Of course, Logan rationalized, it would return as soon as he woke up, but, at the moment, Logan could have cared less. Having Marie with him was all that he really cared about at the moment.
Enjoy your life while you can....
Logan awoke with a jolt, the words still echoing in his mind. He was breathing heavily, gasping air into his body in huge lungfuls. With one hand, Logan slowly pushed himself into a seated position, holding the back of his head with his other one. Slowly, Logan took in his surroundings. He was in a section of the medlab that had been built just for him. It was a recovery room that looked more like a bedroom than an actual hospital room so that he wouldn’t freak out if he woke up in it. Xavier had had it built after Logan had destroyed several thousand dollars worth of equipment and nearly beheaded Jean after waking up in the normal recovery room. There was an official name for the room, but the more commonly used name was the “Logan’s been an idiot and needs to be put back together again” room. Scott was the one who had dubbed it that and it had kinda caught on. It was so popular, in fact, that Logan had even heard Hank refer to it that way a couple of times.
“Marie?” Logan called out as he cautiously slid out of the bed.
Logan didn’t like the fact that Marie wasn’t there. Every single time that he had woken up in that room, Marie had been there. Considering the circumstances that he had ended up in the medlab, Logan would have expected Marie to be in there no matter what.
It took Logan a few moments to clear his head as he stood up. The throbbing was still there, but it was nowhere as intense as it had been earlier. It was much easier for Logan to push aside the pain and ignore it as he slowly made his way towards the door leading out of the recovery room.
As he reached for the doorknob, Logan glanced down at his attire. He was relieved to see that Jean hadn’t stuck him in one of those hospital gowns. The last time he’d been stuck in the medlab, he’d been in one of the gowns that left your ass hanging out. Logan had gotten incredibly bored at one point and gone out in search of Marie. It wasn’t until Marie had all but shoved him into an empty room that Logan remembered that he was wearing a hospital gown. Several other people had noticed and Logan later found out that he’d had a whole horde of teenage girls following after him. Even after nearly a year they still stared at his ass whenever he walked past them.
“Marie, you out here?” Logan bellowed as he opened the door to the main section of the medlab...
... only to find himself standing steel, boxed in room.
“What the fuck....” Logan cursed under his breath.
“Really, Wolverine, such vulgar language,” a deep, cultured voice echoed from off the walls. “After all, I do believe that you know exactly where you are.”
Spinning around on his heel, Logan went back towards the door. Only there was on door. Turning in a complete circle, Logan saw that there was no door anywhere in the room. Growling under his breath, Logan stalked towards where the door should have been. He ran his fingers along the steel and quickly resorted to punching at the wall.
“Let me the fuck outta here!” Logan roared, unsheathing his claws. He slammed his claws into the wall. Or, rather, he attempted to. Despite being made of adamantium, his claws bounced off the wall and Logan skinned his knuckles on the hard metal.
“There is no need for such dramatics, Wolverine. You will be released soon enough,” the voice assured him. “But first, you and I have some business to attend to.”
Logan turned back around only to be blinded by an intense white light.
“NO!” Logan shouted, bolting into a seated position. His body was covered with sweat and he was gasping as though he had just run halfway around the world.
“Are you all right, baby?” Marie asked, wrapping her arms about his shoulders and pulling his trembling body against her slighter one. “Gawd, you’re shakin’. That must have been one hell of a nightmare.”
Logan relaxed against her, pressing his face against the side of her throat. “What the fuck just happened?”
“Shhh....” Marie murmured, smoothing her fingers through his damp hair. “Just relax, Logan. You’re back home now. Everything’s all right.”
Enjoy your life while you can....