Since the revelation about Logan's age, Marie had never stopped contemplating her possibilities to help him and why there weren't any hints to his past. If he had walked this planet for so long there must have been people who knew him and might wonder what had happened to him. But knowing from his memories, Marie was aware that one of Logan's goals of his aimless travels across countries was the slight hope to come across someone who knew him from his time before he'd lost his memory. But even when he found a place seeming familiar, nobody knew him.

Those thoughts brought Marie to the conclusion – with the help of her inner Logan and Erik – that maybe his stay in that baleful lab might have been longer than they had hoped it had been. Maybe they had tortured and tested him for years and everybody, who might have known Logan was long gone or believed him dead. Maybe this was the explanation for their lack in findings – the gap in his life and freedom might be bigger than his gap in memories.

She knew she had to confront him with her theories eventually. But not tonight. If she did, Wolverine might get the upper hand and the outcome wouldn't be pretty for his opponents at tonight's cage fight. So she stood with Becca in her arms waiting for him at his door, watching him shrug into his battered leather jacket.

"You know my cell number, Kid?"

Marie rolled her eyes. "Yes, damnit! If ya make me repeat it one more time Ah swear Ah'm gonna make Kitty disable your porn-channel!" Her eyes gleamed in victory at his horrified expression. "Oh, yes Ah found that hidden channel on 67." Her smirk widened when his head snapped briefly over to the TV before he approached his girls.

"Marie." He pressed out her name like a warning, but the brunette only mimicked his scowl.

"Logan."

The Canadian had to chuckle about his mate's courage to not back down. The other teenagers in the mansion would usually tremble and shy away in the same situation, but not his Marie. "Fine, Kid. But don't hesitate to call if somethin's up."

Marie rolled her eyes once again. "Ah'll evade peas and beans for the next months, so there's no need to worry your Adamantium skull over Becca having colic or not." The night from Monday to Tuesday had been pure hell. They had spent the entire night awake and carrying their crying daughter through the infirmary, rubbing her belly to ease the pain until Jean – woken by a very worried Logan every quarter hour - eventually looked up in one of her smart books that a warm cherry pit pillow might help the child. So Logan sped away on Scott's bike in search for an open supermarket harbouring baby supplies while Ororo brought a mug of hot chocolate to the young mother, who was near tears herself about her inability to help her hurting child, and spent the next hour supporting Marie until Logan returned.

The feral bent down and brushed a kiss onto his daughter's forehead, smiling down on the gargling baby lovingly. "Be a good girl, lil' skunk."

"She'll be. And now hurry, sugah, or ya'll be late." Marie needed him out of the mansion before Kitty and Jubilee would show up for a girly evening taking place in his room. Logan captured her lips with his. "Good luck and don't get hurt!" She had opened the door and was already shoving him outside – as she had done the week before. When Marie saw his hitched brow about her comment, she added an 'at least not too much'.

"I get the impression you want me outta your hair, Kid." The intake of her scent told him he was right and both stared at each other for a small eternity. "Do I wanna know?"

"Nah." She beamed up at him. "Bye." And closed the door in his face, making him growl.

X X X X X

An hour later Marie sat on Logan's bed her best friends on either side of her while Becca lay kicking on her mother's lap. Several bottles of Coke and soda stood on the nightstands and chips bags were spread on the beddings next to the bowl of popcorn and a bunch of teenager magazines. Across from them was the Twilight DVD running on the TV, but the girls were wrapped up in their conversation. "So, chica, how was it?"

The blush on Marie's cheeks wouldn't fade under the girls' stares. "Umm… not like Ah had imagined." She struggled to get out the words and knew that her answer wouldn't close the topic.

Kitty raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Whatchaya mean? Was he good or bad?"

Marie thought herself still a virgin even with her baby girl cooing in her lap. "Neither…" This made the Asian pop her gum and both stared at the young mother. "It was over before it had begun." She eventually answered honestly.

"Oh…" Jubilee swallowed her gum in her bewilderment. "If he meets Wolvie he won't shot his load again, no matter how fast he is." Marie had to grin about the irony.

Kitty remembered their lunch almost two weeks ago. "So it was your only time?"

'If ya wanna call it time. Becca's gonna walk and talk till Ah get mah first real orgasm…' Marie thought sourly. "Logan's adamant about me having no sex before mah 18th birthday."

"You had to tell him and the other teachers about …" Kitty trailed off.

"Yessss." Marie let out the word with a sigh and flapped back onto the pillow careful not to make her baby roll down from her lap. She was beyond embarrassed, but thanked the circumstance that it hadn't been her mind the professor had looked into for information about Becca's conception.

X X X X X

Sam the bartender had been right the former Saturday when he had told him that there would be more capable fighters this evening. Logan was sure he would have dealt with a few broken rips and a smashed jaw if his skeleton wouldn't be enhanced with the indestructible Adamantium. Especially the final fight against Cruncher had be rough and there were several moments Logan had feared his mutation would give him away, but luckily the blood on his face came from his nose and mouth, so nobody was able to see his wounds knit themselves back together.

And Sam had also told the truth about this evening being more profitable. Now Logan emptied his last beer, his wallet bursting with money and shook his head as the bartender fetched another bottle of Molson. "Nah, Sam. Gotta go now."

The other man was surprised that the new champion was still able to get off his stool and stand on his own two feet without swaying from side to side. "Ye sure, ye don't need a taxi?"

"No need, bub." Logan approached the door when he heard Sam's voice reminding him on the fight the upcoming week, on which the mutant only lifted his hand. When he neared Scott's bike on the parking lot, his sensitive hears and nose picked up on moaning and arousal. With a short glance into the adjoining alley he saw Patty, the needy blond he showed the cold shoulder the whole evening, and another cage fighter making out heavily against the dumpster. Shaking his head the Canadian mounted the bike and drove off.

Logan was half way back to White Plains when he felt someone following him for quite some time. With a frown he pulled over into a smaller path and killed the engine. The night was dark, but the faint light from the moon was enough for Logan to identify the other biker as his last opponent Cruncher and he unshed his claws at once. It wouldn't be the first time that some idiot would claim the night's winnings to be theirs. But to his relief – not that he would have feared the other man, but he would have to look for another fighting place, since the other man was a regular at Sam's – Cruncher kept driving.

Not to be someone to leave his guard down, Logan revived the bike and dogged the other bike in a save distance, his light switched off. The closer they got to Westchester the more queasy he felt. 'I told nobody where I come from. How does that punk know?' He shook off the uncomfortable thought of bringing a threat about his two girls.

But then the other man took another exit and Logan followed him to a club near central station. Curiosity got the better of the mutant and he stopped in an alley across and watched the row of styled young people in front of the entrance, Cruncher had vanished into a few minutes before. The kids looked happy and though he knew this wasn't one of the places his Marie would hung around, an idea began to form in his mind, when he saw Cruncher take the place as one of the bouncers of the club.

The Canadian revived the engine and crossed the small distance, before getting off right next to the two tall men guarding the entrance. The dark haired, tattooed man with a bad gash on his forehead recognized him immediately and took a step towards him. "Wolverine, if I remember correctly." Logan nodded and eyed the other man, who broke the short silence. "Thought I'd seen you before. You're from around here, too."

"More or less." Despite his dangerous exterior, Cruncher had been a good loser after the cage fight and had congratulated Logan to his new title and was now sending a group of teenage girls no older than 15 away, telling them to go home, their parents would surely worry. "I got family here."

Silence befell them for a few moments and Logan watched the other man do his job, before he faced him again. "My girl's a real bookworm, never was in a club before. Saturday next week is her birthday. I thought makin' party with a few of 'er friends like any other kid, would make her day."

Cruncher didn't show his surprise, but his scent did. "You gonna ask me if I'd get her in?"

"Yes, bub. I'd owe you." Logan looked expectantly, though his voice was low and gruff as ever.

"Nah, no problem. But you ain't gonna hold back next week. I wanna have a rematch."

The Canadian flashed him a feral grin, glad to have something special for his Marie. "Deal."

"How does your girl look like?"

Logan was aware that the other man most likely thought they were talking about his daughter, not the mother of his child. "Brunette with white stripes in her hair."

"Pale and quite shy, wearing clothes three numbers too big? And one of her friends is a loud and colourful clothed Asian?"

Logan furrowed his brows. "Yep, that's her, though she ain't clothin' like that anymore. Where do you know her from?" He didn't like the fact that this stranger knew about his mate.

"That Asian is hard to overlook. Threw a tantrum in the mall a few months ago, 'cause a girl said something against her outfit."

The mutant chuckled. "Yep, sounds like Yellow."

X X X X X

Logan had spent the next half an hour chatting with Max a.k.a. Cruncher learning that the other man had a teenage baby sister, who he and his girlfriend raised since their mother's death 6 years ago. With the cage fights he earned some extra cash for his two women and four year old son, so they could afford Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's parents in Florida.

At the moment Logan turned into the teachers' wing and wrinkled his sensitive nose over the obtrusive stench of nail polish coming from his room. Taking a deep breath before opening the door, he entered his room – breathing through his mouth – just in time to see Marie covering a bright pink spot on his beddings with a pillow.

The girl whirled around and smiled at him innocently. "Hi, sugah. How was your fight?" She batted her lashes at him and watched him stalked closer.

"Marie." His voice was dangerously dark as he sniffed next to her head. "You touched my beer." With a twist of his hand he revealed the pink nail polish on his comforter, the brunette swallowed hard.

"Umm… Ah pumped some milk off for tonight."

His eyes narrowed on her and he saw her squirm under his intense stare. 'Good.' "I know my memory ain't the best, but I believe to remember tellin' you your friends are not allowed in my room for a movie night." His tone was even and slow, making it even scarier.

Marie knew that opening one of his beers and sharing it with her friends was the worst idea she could have come up with, yet she did it and now she was contemplating her options. Begging for his forgiveness was a weakness in his eyes and out of question. Kissing him and hoping to make him forget wouldn't work either with his senses and the terrible nail polish stench lingering in the air. So she decided for the only way out – except for running into her room and hiding behind the crib.

She placed her hand on her hip and stared back into his hazel orbs. "Ya said they weren't allowed to watch McLeod's Daughters in your room, but we watched Twilight. And Ah wouldn't let mah friends sit in the door-frame so they wouldn't touch your holy room." She saw Logan furrow his brows – he hadn't anticipated this reaction from her – and he opened his mouth, but she beat him to it. "Ya had your fun, Mister! Do ya think Ah wanna sit at home all day just being a mum? I want to spent time with mah friends!" She knew she was exaggerating, but hey, why shouldn't she try to play this card?

A deep growl rumbled in his chest as he glared at the little spitfire. She had some points – not that he would tell her – and he was damn tired. He would make her wash his beddings and clean every evidence of her girls night from his room the following day, but at the moment he turned with a snarl on his lips and stomped over into her room closing the connecting door behind him.

Marie looked rather puzzled after her mate and followed him a moment later. When she opened the door again, she saw him strip out of his shirt – his boots already gone – and lay into her bed. "Logan?"

He pulled the sheet over his bare chest and leaned back into her soft pillow. "We gonna switch tonight. Don't forget to close the door behind you, Kid."

"What?" She was sure she would get a headache sleeping in that room.

"Shh! You gonna wake the baby." He turned onto his side, his back to her. He sensed her stand there for a moment watching him before she returned to his room. "Pink doesn't suit you, Marie." He added before the door was closed, her painted nails hard to miss.