Marie felt Logan’s hands on her arms, trying to pull her to her feet. “I’m okay -- just give me a minute,” she managed, holding him at bay. She had heard the Professor in her head before, but this time was very different. It was not just his voice, but a series of images and instructions, flashing into her mind so quickly and intensely that she felt like her head was going to burst.
“Military,” the Professor communicated, and she saw the scene, uniformed men informing the Professor that Logan was an enlisted officer wanted for desertion, with orders for his immediate apprehension. ”Cash,” the Professor said, showing her the lake house’s hall closet and the trap door under the floorboards. “Gear,” and she saw the bag, in upper storage of the lake house’s garage. “Tracker,” and she memorized the code to disable the Jeep’s transmitters. “Phone,” and she knew they were already trying to trace all the mansion residents that way. ”Route,” and through the Professor’s eyes she saw a small back road that bypassed the mansion drive, winding through the surrounding woods to meet up with a county road. ”Run, NOW,” he repeated finally, and then suddenly her head was clear.
She realized she was on her knees, half in Logan’s lap, as he pressed her against him. She was shaking like a leaf. “I’m okay,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “But they’re coming for you. We have to go, right now. There’s a blue canvas bag full of gear in the overhead storage shelves of the garage. Get it and meet me at the Jeep.”
Logan gave her one searching look and then he was already in motion. Maybe he really is military, she thought as she pulled the chip from her cell phone and smashed it under her heel, grimacing as she bore her weight on her injured ankle. She accessed the hidden closet space and found a satchel, full not only of cash but also a laptop, two prepaid untraceable cell phones, and a portfolio of documents that she didn’t have time to examine.
She made it to the Jeep just as Logan tossed the bag in the back. “Can you drive?” she asked, and threw him the keys at his brief nod. She pointed out the route, flipping open the glove box to reveal a panel of tech stuff specially designed by Kitty and punching in the code to disable the Jeep’s tracking device.
They tore down the road. Logan had to deliberately loosen his hands on the wheel before he snapped it. His heart was hammering, and every heightened sense was in overdrive. He took a look at the girl next to him, regret twisting his stomach.
“When we get clear a little ways, I want you to take the Jeep and go back to the mansion,” he ground out. “I’ll go my way on foot.”
Shock widened her eyes. “Like hell!” she said. “We’re in this together.”
He bit back some prime curses. He imagined them taking her, putting her back in some lab, and he felt the growl rising in his chest, his knuckles itching with the urge to pop his claws. “There’s no reason for you to get mixed up in this, Marie. And I’m not going back. Whatever it takes, I’m not going back there.”
He could feel her serious brown eyes on him as he glared at the road ahead. “Whatever it takes,” she repeated. “I’m not letting them take you.” He couldn’t help but look at her then, her words pulling at something inside him. Suddenly, a reckless smile spread across her face, lighting her eyes. “Besides, sugar,” she said, “You haven’t seen what I can do.”
He heard it then, the high whine in the distance. “I think I’m about to find out,” he said. “I think that chopper’s looking for us.”
She craned her neck, looking out the open top of the Jeep. “I don’t see it,” she said.
“I hear it,” he explained grimly. “Approaching from 3 o’clock.” She was digging something out of her jeans pocket. He took his eyes off the road for a second to look closer. It was a silver lighter, painted to look like a shark’s head. “Nice lighter,” he said.
She smiled again. “I took it off an old ‘frenemy’. Along with...other things.” She took off her seatbelt, shifting so she was mostly standing, ducking just a little to keep her head inside the Jeep’s open top. She handed the satchel over to him. “This stays with us no matter what, got it?” He nodded tersely, slinging the strap across his body. “When the copter is close to overhead, hold your speed as steady as you can,” she said. “I want to try to disable it, not crash it.”
He shot her a look, but she had her eyes closed, concentrating. He followed the winding road as the whirring of the chopper got louder and louder. “Marie...” he said, getting even edgier, but she was already opening her eyes. Down by her waist, out of the wind, she flicked the lighter open, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a ball of flame gathering in her hand. “Jesus,” he said, trying to keep the Jeep as steady as he could.
The chopper was nearly overhead now and she stood up, her dark hair flying behind her like a banner. She cast her arm up, sending the bolt of fire directly at the rear rotor. The rotor and a good part of the chopper’s tail was smashed to pieces, and he heard the change in the sound as the pilot tried to compensate for the sudden imbalance. The chopper quickly veered off, the sound of the main rotor fading into the distance.
Marie ducked back down into the car, and he shot her a sidelong glance. “That was pretty...neat,” he said wryly. She didn’t seem to hear him though, she was watching a flame flicker in the palm of her hand, entranced. “Marie!” he said, and she looked up suddenly, her eyes snapping into focus as the flame snuffed out.
“Sorry,” she said, shaking her head a little bit as if to clear it. “It’s a little hard to let go of sometimes.” He kept sneaking glances at her, but she seemed okay now. “We shouldn’t be far from the county road, and then it’s only twenty minutes or so into New York City, even by the back roads,” she said. “We should be able to lose anyone there.”
Logan narrowed his eyes, trying to concentrate both on the road ahead and the sounds around him. “We’ve got a vehicle on our tail,” he said. “Heavy, maybe armored.” He pressed on the gas even harder, but looked up when he felt Marie’s hand on his thigh.
“Only one?” she said.
He slowed the car a little, looking at her again. “Just what are you thinkin’, Marie?”
“I’m thinking this may be the best chance we have to find out who exactly wants you so bad. We have to stop them from following us either way.”
Logan thought about it. “Ramming it with this Jeep is not going to get us very far. You got something in you that can stop an armored vehicle?”
Marie smiled that reckless smile again. “Think those claws of yours will cut wood?”
They found the perfect spot about a minute down the road. A sharp curve in the road, heavily wooded on both sides. They pulled the Jeep off to the side well ahead, and doubled back quickly. Logan started hacking at a tree, quickly toppling it over to cross the road. Marie kneeled down and closed her eyes, and soon a slick of ice spread outward from her hand, sheeting the road.
“I want you to stay out of sight,” Logan said. He took the satchel off and slung it across her body, unable to resist the urge to let his hand linger as he settled the strap across her. He saw her open those soft lips to object and suddenly had the strongest urge to squeeze her to him and kiss her quiet. Instead he just put a hand to her face, rubbing his thumb across her lips gently. “Please,” he said. “I don’t want them knowing about you any more than they do already.” She finally nodded, eyes wide, and with one final look back she disappeared into the woods along the side of the road ahead.
Logan crouched down out of sight and waited, one hand to the ground to feel the vehicle’s approach. His senses still on overload, he had almost all the information he needed before the vehicle was even in sight -- the sound of the engine, the smell of the fuel, the four men inside smelling of excitement but not nearly enough fear. At least not yet.
The vehicle came roaring around the curve, and the driver didn’t stand a chance. If he had kept his head he might have at least just hit it straight on, but he foolishly jerked the wheel and braked and the ice slick sent the car into the felled tree at an angle. The car started rolling almost before it hit the tree, and it had barely settled into a crunch of steaming metal and broken glass before Logan was on it, grabbing the man who was unfortunate enough to be the only one still conscious and shoving him up against a tree.
“Oh God, oh god, don’t kill me, don’t kill me,” the kid was babbling. Hell, he barely looked eighteen. He got a good look at the claws, and started blubbering so hard Logan had to shake him.
“Why are you after me?” he growled.
“I don’t know, I don’t know anything!” the kid sobbed. “The orders came from another unit, we just happened to be in the area! I don’t know anything!” Christ, this was almost embarrassing. Logan had been more than ready for a fight, and instead this kid was just pathetic. Logan had a feeling that if he loosened his grip on him he’d fall down at his feet like a wet noodle.
“What were your orders?” he snarled, moving the claws in a little as motivation. The kid looked like he was going to faint.
“We were supposed to apprehend you and turn you over to General William Stryker...that’s all I know! You were supposed to go straight to the General, and nobody else. I don’t know why -- I don’t know anything!” Logan roared with frustration, sinking his claws into the tree at the side of the man’s head.
He heard an intake of breath, and saw Marie, at the edge of the woods, watching him. He closed his eyes for a minute in shame and frustration. Well, at least now she knew what he was. He’d get her to the city, and then he’d let her get free of him before she got hurt any more.
He knocked the kid’s head against the tree for good measure, helping him along in his faint, and then dropped him. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing Marie’s elbow not so gently and towing her to the car, so caught up in his anger that he didn’t even remember her bum ankle until they were almost there. Like he needed more proof that all he could do was hurt her.
Marie insisted on driving, saying she knew the back roads into the city like the back of her hand, thanks to many weekend jaunts from the mansion. He sat in the passenger seat and brooded, caught up in his self-hatred and the general suck that was his life.
Marie shot him a glance from time to time, but generally left him to his thoughts. For some odd reason, that made him even more angry. She was a woman, dammit, shouldn’t she be bugging him to express his feelings and shit? He could not figure her out, she never seemed to do what he expected. Insisting on sticking with him when she should be running as far and as fast as she could. Even back there, any normal woman would be screaming and crying about being chased by the military, and she just coolly decides to attack instead.
Marie drove into Harlem, picking out an underground parking garage at random and parking the Jeep there. Logan watched her as she bought a stamp and envelope from a newsstand, and conscientiously mailed the parking ticket back to the mansion with no note and no return address. The damn girl thought of everything, and it was really beginning to piss him off.
He carried the bag of gear while she carried the satchel, guiding him into a subway stop and buying tickets for them both. Goddamn, he hated cities like this. The constant noise, the press of people against him, the million smells choking his lungs. He was constantly on edge, itching to bash in the face of the next person to brush against him.
They emerged from the subway downtown, wandering for a bit until they found a more or less deserted diner with internet access. They sat in a booth at the back. Logan watched Marie lift her foot up onto the seat beside him and rest her head on the back of the booth. She looked pale and exhausted, and again guilt and regret twisted his gut. “Are you okay?” he asked gruffly.
She managed a wan smile, letting her eyes close for a bit. “I’ll be okay. I didn’t sleep much last night, and using other peoples’ powers just takes it out of me sometimes -- ya know?” He remembered what she had said about the walls in her mind and how it was risky to tear them down, and nodded.
He looked down into his coffee glumly. He’d have one last meal with her, and then he’d go. He looked up to find her moving around the table, squeezing into his side of the booth with him. She leaned up against him, and without meaning to he let his arm come up around her shoulders, pressing her hard into his side. He pulled her head into the crook of his neck, stroking her hair, and let himself just feel and smell her for the last time. EarthraincomfortMarie.
She made a happy humming noise that he felt all the way to his toes, wrapping an arm around his waist, and only the arrival of the waitress with more coffee broke them apart. Marie pulled the laptop out and fired it up. “We’ve got plenty of cash, but I think a used car lot would ask too many questions -- you know, proof of insurance and all that. I say we find something on craigslist that we like, it’ll be a lot easier. You want some kind of SUV? I figure we might have to sleep in the car sometimes, so we might want a little more room to spread out...”
Logan looked at her, disconcerted. “You can’t seriously be thinkin’ about stickin’ with me after all that?”
Marie looked up at him, her dark deep eyes serious under furrowed brows. “Of course. I told you, we’re in this together.” Logan pushed his coffee away, aggravated.
“Why?!” he asked. “You don’t even know me. Who exactly do you think I am?”
Marie just looked at him, those damn chocolate eyes calm and trusting. “Who do you think you are?”
He stood up suddenly, tension and frustration in every line of his body, unable to think straight with the smell and feel of her so close to him. After pacing for a few seconds, he finally sat down opposite her again.
“I’ll tell you who I am,” he said finally, in a hard low voice. “I’m nothin’. I’ve never done any good for anybody. I don’t even remember who I was before fifteen years or so ago. I woke up with these things in my hands, and since that time I’ve been doin’ nothing worth a damn to anyone. Fighting, fucking, just gettin’ by. I’m a piece of highway trash, and you’re going to throw in with me? Risk your life for me?! Whatever you think I am, you’re wrong. This is all there is.”
He was half hoping she would get mad. Argue, huff out, something to make this easier. Maybe even tell him she thought he was some kind of Prince Charming, so that he could know for sure that she was crazy, and feel better about shipping her off back to that mansion. Instead she just reached out her hand to touch his, rubbing her thumb across his palm contemplatively, and then drawing three of her fingers lightly down the spaces between his knuckles, so sensitive there it made him want to groan with wanting.
“I’ll make up my own mind about you,” she finally said. “But I want to stick with you. I don’t know if I can explain it, and maybe it’s not worth trying. I don’t know what your life was like before except what you tell me, but things are different now. You’re not alone unless you want to be. If you can’t stand having me around, tell me to get lost and I’ll get lost, but otherwise I’m with you. So what’s it going to be?” She looked up at him, and he could not look into those eyes and let her go. He looked down and cursed under his breath.
The waitress came with their food, eggs and pancakes for her and bacon and eggs for him. Marie kicked his foot a little to get him to look up from his dark thoughts. “Cheer up,” she said. “That makes three days that we’ve been together and we’ve never made it past breakfast. High cholesterol may get us before the military does.”
He couldn’t suppress a laugh at that. To hell with it all, he thought. If she was crazy enough to want to stick with him, he would be selfish and keep her around. At least he would be close by to protect her. He came back to her side of the booth, pushing in beside her and stealing a bite of her pancakes. “Let’s get an SUV,” he said.
Logan looked over Marie’s shoulder as she sent a bunch of emails for cars he deemed acceptable, finding one person who was apparently glued to his computer screen. A little back-and-forth and they were set up to meet with the seller, a hippie-looking guy in his mid-twenties who talked Marie’s ear off about wanting to go green and downsize while Logan prowled around the car, checking out the engine.
Only half paying attention, he heard Marie spinning some tale about just moving to the city and planning to buy a car a little later, but then her dad got sick and now she has to drive to South Carolina this weekend, her honey-coated accent getting thicker by the minute until by the end of it she got a couple of thousand dollars knocked off the price. They finally drove off and left the guy looking dazedly after them, but whether it was because of Marie, the wad of cash she had handed over, or the growl from Logan when hippy dude asked for Marie’s phone number, there was no knowing.
With no real plan except to get as far from the city as they could, they started driving out north and west, Marie navigating them out of the city and then Logan taking over on the highway as Marie dozed next to him. Marie knew of a place in the Catskill mountains where she had been camping a time or two, and they headed there, just making it before the national park closed at dusk.
They found a deserted spot as far away from others as they could, and Logan finally felt some of the tension leave his body. Setting up the tent from the bag of gear, he unrolled the sleeping bag. Marie was so sleepy he practically carried her to it, holding her closer to his body than he probably needed to and enjoying the feel of her hair as it grazed his arm. He zipped her in and settled at the entrance to the tent looking out into the night.
He thought she’d be out like a light, but she continued to make restless movements behind him. He closed his eyes, willing himself to keep some distance, but it was no use -- he was sunk. Maybe he could just lie beside her, on top of the sleeping bag. That would be safe, right?
“Can’t sleep, baby?” he asked. She squirmed a little more, and God he loved to see that, the shape of her mesmerizing even wrapped up in the sleeping bag.
“It’s a little cold,” she said. Damn, damn, damn.
“Ya want me to get in there with you?” he asked, and much as his brain objected his heart sang out when she nodded. He unzipped the bag and squeezed in there with her, ending up with her half sprawled on top of him, her slight weight pressing into him, curves against his body in just the right places.
“Marie,” he rumbled, wrapping his arms around her and lifting his head to drop a kiss on her forehead. “Marie...” he said again, and ... felt her slide into sleep. He let his head thunk back against the ground hard, welcoming the pain. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews, they are definitely motivating! See, this update is being posted at 12 a.m., not 2 a.m.! Progress!
Chapter End Notes:
Okay, maybe I'm a bit of a tease. Next chapter will have at least some smutty goodness, I promise!