Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.

Because sure the hours sucked and she had to work with the kinda people who proved that homo sapiens was descended from monkeys, and yes, she was pretty certain both Vic and Daken had watched too many James Bond movies because anyone who seriously contemplates building an underground bunker (let alone goes through with it) deep down wants an eye-patch and a white cat to stroke-

But every so often you got an absolutely glorious moment like this.

Every so often you got paid to convince a hoity-toity, holier-than-thou, stick-up-her-butt girlfriend that her precious ex was screwing around on her (purely so that she’d storm out of their room and into your boss’s clutches, of course) and that there was pure job satisfaction.

Because the parasite was glaring at Logan now, eyes glassy and lip wobbling like he’d gone and skewered her favourite kitten. Her little fists balled up at her sides, the anger practically coming off her in waves. It was an image Raven wanted to use as a screen-saver on her cell-phone. Or post on You-Tube. It was that fucking entertaining-

And if working for Eric had ever been this much fun, Mystique mused, I wouldn’t be freelance now.

“Something you want to tell me, shuggs?” Marie ground out then. Gesturing to Raven and her naked, red-headed state. As soon as Mystique heard the stories about Tamzin’s little fan girl crush on Logan she’d known whose form she’d take for this gig: After all, the parasite was to territory issues what Sabre-Tooth was to the feather-cut, so getting her to go Scarlett O’Hara and storm out should have been a breeze. The meta-morph made sure to smile extra pretty for the Wolverine and she was rewarded by a charming little strangling noise at the back of Marie’s throat: It sounded like she was having an embolism. “Ah mean seriously?” the young woman snarled, “Seriously? Is there something you and me ought to discuss? Because Ah for one didn’t order a skank from room service-”

“And you think I did?” Logan retorted. Raven wished she could have brought some popcorn in with her. “You think I’d make a play fer the Little Stalker Who Could with you poorly?”

The parasite snorted. “Ah think you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants around a slutty red-head in all the time Ah’ve known you,”-Ooh, Raven thought, feisty! - “and today certainly ain’t no exception-”

“But I didn’t do anything!” he growled. “I wouldn’t- Not now- Not when I just found you again-” He tried to reach out for her and she pulled away, shooting him an obnoxiously cynical look. This was better than cable. “Jesus, Marie,” he tried again, “What kinda scum-bag would try to get the woman whose heart he broke into a threesome just hours after she’d nearly been killed trying to save his ass?”

“Oh, Ah don’t know, the kind who fucks a red-headed barfly in our bed while Ah’m out saving the world?”

“But that was one night!” he snarled. “One mistake- Losing you cured me o’ being that stupid an asshole-” And he grabbed her by the tops of her arms, pulling her close. Marie struggled, but he wouldn’t let her go, even when she squeezed her eyes shut.

Though for a woman that good at kicking the shit out of her opponent she didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight.

“I don’t want a Tamzin,” he was muttering fiercely now, face in hers. “I never wanted a Tamzin-I only ever wanted you darlin’.” Mean-Streak’s eyes flew open at his words and Raven bit the inside of her cheek- You believe that honey, you’ll believe anything- But Romeo wasn’t done with the waxing poetical. Bless. “I never loved anyone the way I loved you,” he was saying softly. “I never wanted anyone the way I want you…Two years without you, darlin’- That almost fucking killed me.” And he released one arm to stroke a platinum stripe away from her face, making her sigh slightly. Her little hands tightening against his chest, his bicep. Lips moving to tenderly meet his. I may vomit, Raven thought, rolling her eyes in disgust as the sight of the little love fest-

And at the precise moment she took her gaze off the couple the parasite swung a metalled-up fist into the back of her head, knocking her flying. The blow vicious enough that even Logan winced-

Though not as hard as when she brought that metal fist up to punch him.

It made Raven feel a little better about being on the floor, though admittedly not by much.

“What the fuck, Marie?” Logan demanded then, rubbing the back of his head. Pulling away from her, the closest Raven had ever seen him to pouting.

“That the fuck,” Mean-Streak snapped. Gesturing towards- and by gesturing, she meant kicking- Mystique. Stomping on her nose and her stomach, which Raven felt smacked a bit of over-kill. Though girls will be girls. “Didn’t you smell the Blue Bitch here soon as she walked in the room, shuggah?” Marie demanded. “Or were you too distracted by the sight of the Little Stalker Who Could to notice, hmm?”

Logan narrowed his eyes. “My senses still ain’t back,” he muttered. “Cos o’ that piece o’ shit got put in my neck.” He looked down at the now prone Raven, his stance still instinctively shifting to shield Marie. “You mean that’s-”

Mean-Streak nodded. “Yeah, Ah mean there’s a Porn Smurf in a whorehouse.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ah mean, what are you odds?”

And with that Marie brought a lethal, bare hand down on Mystique’s throat. Trapping her and taking her mutation as her own. A beat passed, then another and another, Raven twitching as she felt body and mind and power flood into the parasite-

And then Marie gave a sudden snarl, her eyes flashing yellow in fury.

“Ah’m gonna kill Tony Stark!” she growled.

“Ah don’t want to hear it.”

Marie wouldn’t look at him.

“The excuses, the explanations, any of it,” she muttered. She was staring at her hands like she wished she had claws, like the memory of him underneath her hands was causing her actual pain. Downstairs Stacey was checking the Ranch fer Stark, Jubes and Kitty but Logan doubted she’d find them: They were probably halfway to Manhattan by now. Storm was getting back to him with the girls’ IPS locations but fer the moment it was just the two of them, just him and Marie and a room to wait in. It was killing him. “Ah don’t wanna hear how you were just trying to calm me down,” Marie continued at his silence, her voice still tight and painful and angry, “Or how your inner Logan took over and made you crawl inta bed with me naked. How all you wanted to do was make me feel better- How ya love me like you’ll never love anyone else. Ah don’t wanna hear it.”

And suddenly she stood up, forcing her hands to her sides. Making herself to look at him.

There was something hard and dead and glittering in her eyes that he’d never seen before.

“So you’re saying you didn’t feel anything back there?” he asked softly. Moving closer to her. She took a step back, hands held up before her. Not like before though, not nervous. This time she was resolute. Cold. “You honestly telling me that there’s nothing between us after that-” and he gestured to the bed.

“I’m telling you it doesn’t matter,” she said evenly. Looking him straight in the eye. “It doesn’t matter what we did.”

“It matters to me.”

“But not to me.” Logan turned away at her words. “Sex was never the problem, with us,” she said softly. “Pulling our clothes off and making with the rutting wasn’t ever where we ran into trouble- And it never solved a damn thing. It was the other shit, the everyday shit that we had problems with. And that hasn’t changed, shuggs; It never will do-”

“You were happy with me,” he insisted. He knew that.

“Yeah, Ah was. But Ah didn’t stay that way, did Ah?” He winced. “And Ah won’t ever give anyone the power to make me feel the way you did again, good or bad. No matter how much Ah might miss-” She drew in a sharp breath. “No matter what. So like Ah said, it don’t matter what we did together.” She shrugged. “You made your choice, shuggs,” she said, eyes down. “And Ah made mine. Live with it.”

And with that she gently, elegantly, moved to check Mystique’s bindings. Not even looking back at him as she walked away.

Logan wanted to stop her- I can’t be without you anymore, darlin’, I don’t wanna be- But he didn’t. Because what right did he have to argue with her? What right did he have to hurt her anymore? Her happiness was what he’d always wanted, no matter what the cause to himself. He’d done the right thing by her two years ago, he reminded himself; He’d been the good guy fer her. After the threats from Sabre-tooth, after that debacle with the Hand kidnapping her, he’d given her everything she’d needed (including a nice clean break) and now he should just do the same. It didn’t matter if he’d been through Hell the last two years without her. Didn’t matter if he now knew she was the only thing he’d never heal from because he didn’t wanna heal. She had a life now and she was better off away from him-

And he knew if given the choice between Marie’s happiness and his own, he would always choose hers. Always. It wasn’t even a contest.

He’d just forgotten how much it fucking hurt to watch her walk away.

So he let her go and ask Stacey fer a progress report. Busied himself checking the room fer evidence (there wasn’t any) and cursing the fact that his sense o’ smell still wasn’t right. He kept his hands and mind occupied with anything that wasn’t to do with Marie or how he felt about her and her not wanting to be with him-

And when she came back in five minutes later he told himself not to notice that her eyes were ringed with red. That she’d clearly been crying.

Because after all, he always did what was best fer Marie.