It worried Marie a great deal that Logan had absolutely no memory of what had happened to him while he was Magneto’s prisoner. Other than a brief recollection of awaking in a dark room with a pounding headache, Logan could remember nothing. The Professor had offered to probe his mind, but Logan would not hear of it. Marie could understand that. Whenever the Professor or Jean would attempt to dig thoughts out of his mind, Logan would suffer terrible nightmares for weeks afterwards.
So instead of worrying and fretting about what had been done to Logan, Marie chose the same path he did. Playing with their children and doing their best to lead a normal life. Watching him sprawled out on the living room floor and being used as a human pillow by Kristyn and Braeden the morning after his return, Marie could almost pretend that nothing had happened to upset their little family unit in the past forty-eight hours. For their children, at least, there had been no real upset. Daidee had been gone for a few hours and Mommy had been sad, but that was as much as Kristyn and Braeden were concerned about.
Marie had kept the pair away from the medlab while Logan was sleeping off the effects of Magneto’s unknown treatment. Even though she hadn’t said anything, it worried Marie that neither Jean or Hank could find anything wrong with Logan. Marie knew that something had happened in those missing hours-- Magneto would not have released Logan otherwise. However, because of his ability to heal quickly, there was no way to see any damage that had been done.
Logan appeared to be fine, so Marie would take that for the blessing that it was.
“Momma, get down here now,” Braeden demanded, raising his head from its position on Logan’s chest. “There’s no standin’ and watchin’.”
Marie arched an eyebrow, staring down at her son. “Is that an order, squirt?”
Braeden paused to consider, his features scrunching up. “Yep!”
Marie rolled her eyes and glanced down at Logan who was doing his best not to laugh. She sat down just behind him and lifted his head onto her lap. “Don’t you start laughin’, mister. I’ve seen him bossin’ you around so you have no room to talk.”
“I didn’t say anything, darlin’. Not a word,” Logan was quick to assure Marie, grinning up at her.
“Doesn’t matter, I still get to hassle you,” Marie informed him, smoothing her fingers through his thick hair.
“Thanks a lot, squirt,” Logan muttered, reaching a hand down his body to tickle Braeden.
“Welcome, Daidee!” Braeden chirped, grinning up at his father.
Rogue, Logan, I need to see you both in the medlab immediately, Jean said in their minds, interrupting the peaceful family moment.
As Jean slipped out of her mind, Marie felt a huge sense of dread wash over her. There was no reason for Jean to call them down. She shouldn’t have needed to. Logan had been given a clean bill of health by both Hank and Jean the day before. Aside from his headache, there had been nothing wrong with Logan. Looking down, Marie met Logan’s eyes and saw the fear that he was trying to hard to hide.
“Okay, munchkins, the human pillow needs to get up now,” Logan announced, gently heaving his upper body off the ground.
“Noooo....” the pair moaned together, unwillingly lifting themselves off of their father.
Marie leaned forward and brushed a kiss against Logan’s forehead before sliding back and rising to her feet. “Don’t worry, guys, we won’t be long. We just have to go talk with Jeanie and Dr. Hank for a few minutes.”
“Are you sick?” Kristyn asked, looking from one grown-up to the other. She was chewing nervously on her bottom lip and stood up in front of her parents, passing glances between them and Braeden who was hovering at her side.
“Don’t worry, sweety, no one is sick,” Marie quickly assured her daughter as she knelt down and gathered her up in her arms. “Dr. Hank just wanted to make sure that Daidee didn’t hit his head any harder than normal so now he’s just gonna tell us whether we have to get Daidee a new head or not.”
That got a giggle out of both Kristyn and Braeden.
“Daidee needs a new head!” Braeden cried, smirking up at Logan. The little boy suddenly got very serious. “Where does Daidee’s old head go when Dr. Hank gives him a news one? ‘Cause I need a news soccer bawl an’ Unca Scooter saids dat Daidee’s head makes a good soccer bawl.”
It took everything Marie had not to start laughing at Braeden’s comment.
“And what did I tell ya ‘bout Uncle Scooter?” Logan prompted, the corner of his mouth curving upwards.
Braeden scrunched his face up as he wracked his brain for the answer to Logan’s question. “Dat Unca Scooter’s bawls are da size of a tick pea dat even a fwy wouldn’t toke on. An’ dat Unca Scooter isa--”
Before Braeden could say anything else, Logan scooped the little boy up in his arms and placed a large hand over his mouth. Kristyn was giggling madly and chanting, “Daidee’s in trouble,” over and over in a singsong voice while Marie glared at him.
“Logan Hunters, what on earth are you teachin’ our son?” Marie demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I was just teaching him the truth, darlin’,” Logan told her, holding onto Braeden who was squirming madly. “You’re not in the changing room with him before and after every mission.”
“And neither are you,” Marie pointed out.
Braeden finally managed to get his mouth free of Logan’s hand. “Tick pea bawls! Tick pea bawls!” the toddler shouted over to top of Logan’s hand.
“I think now would be a best time to leave,” Logan said, walking over to Braeden’s room and dropping the toddler inside. Shutting the door behind him, Logan looked over at Marie, trying his best to appear innocent. “So, Marie, what say you and I head down to the medlab.”
“Tick peas! Tick peas!”
“Kristyn, make sure that Braeden behave himself,” Logan instructed as he pulled Marie out of the room.
Marie followed after Logan, doing her best not to laugh. She knew that she should chastise Logan for teaching their ever-impressionable son, but it was just so cute. Logan and Braeden were so similar it was frightening at times. Marie pitied any son that Jean and Scott had in the future. There was no doubt in her mind that Braeden would treat their son just as Logan treated Scott.
After making a brief stop across the hall to ask Katrina, a sixteen year old with the ability to levitate herself off the ground, to keep an ear out for any trouble in their room. Kristyn and Braeden normally got along well, but there were times when they got into screaming matches and were in need of a referee.
“You are aware of the fact that you will one day have to explain to Braeden that he can’t tease Scooter the way you do,” Marie informed her husband, slipping her arms about his waist as they walked towards the main staircase. “As cute as I think it is, it’s not fair to Scooter to let Braeden talk to him like that.”
“You’re no fun,” Logan taunted, turning his head to press a kiss against her temple. “I’ll have a talk with him later.”
Satisfied, Marie pressed herself against Logan, resting her head on his shoulder. The pair walked in silence, both dreading what they would learn in the medlab. Marie hated getting summons from Jean. It was very rarely that the older woman had good news when she gave a mental summons. So Marie held Logan as close as possible, dreading what Jean would tell them and how it would effect her family.
The fact that Logan was saying nothing was proof enough for Marie that he was upset. Logan was as stoic as they came and hated for people to know when something was bothering him. Marie was the rare exception and was well aware of that. Over the years they had known each other, Logan had allowed himself to become vulnerable to Marie in ways that he had never allowed anyone else.
“I really hope we don’t have to replace your head. I’ve become quite fond of it over the years,” Marie said in an attempt to get a smile out of Logan.
No smile, but Marie did manage to get a smirk from him. Logan also paced a hand on the back of his neck, close to the base of his skull. Marie had noticed Logan doing that a great deal since he woke up. If anything, Logan had a habit of running his fingers through his hair, not clutching at the back of his neck. Releasing his waist, Marie slid her hand up his back to link her fingers with his which were on the back of his neck.
“I wish I knew what the hell that bastard did to me,” Logan mumbled, squeezing her hand as they entered the elevator that would take them down to the mansion’s lower levels. “It’s pissin’ me off that I don’t know anything. Something happened. That much I know. I know it.... Just what it is, I don’t know.”
“If he did somethin’ to you, Jeanie and Hank will figure it out,” Marie assured him, turning to him and winding her free arm about his neck. Cupping his cheek, she smiled softly at him. “And if he did do somethin’ to you, we’ll deal with it. We won’t let him hurt us. That’s a promise, babe.”
Leaning forward, Logan caught her lips up in a tender kiss. So attuned to Logan’s body language, Marie could sense his desperation as he kissed her. He did his best to keep it hidden from everyone else, Kristyn and Braeden especially, but Marie knew Logan better than most people. She could see what the casual observer missed.
Marie would have much rather remained in Logan’s arms, but the elevator doors opened which drew an end to their private moment. Holding tight to Logan’s hand, Marie headed towards the medlab. It would be better to get it over with as soon as possible. The quicker Jeanie and Hank gave them their news, the quicker Marie and Logan could figure out how to deal with it.
“Good, you’re here,” Jean said, looking every bit the detached ice princess as always. “Hank and I discovered something earlier that we thought you should be aware of.”
Marie chewed nervously on her bottom lip, clutching tightly at Logan’s hand. “Well then get on with it, Jeanie. Suspense is not really my thing.”
“Then follow me,” Jean instructed, turning and heading into another area of the medlab.
The fact that Xavier and the older members of the X-Men were gathered in the viewing room had Marie instantly on edge. She glanced up at Logan, feeling his hand begin to tremble ever so slightly within her own.
“So what’s the verdict?” Logan inquired, trying his best to sound nonchalant but failing miserably.
Hank and Jean exchanged looks, neither of them looking eager about the information that they were about to share.
“What’s goin’ on?” Marie murmured, fearful of the silence that was engulfing the small room. “Is it bad?”