By seven that night as Logan and Marie sat on the couch eating dinner, he had given up getting the results to the DNA tests that night. He was trying not to give away any of his anxiety over the issue to Marie but she kept glancing over at him oddly as they ate, eventually he turned on the TV to distract them both. He was surprised, several hours later, after Marie had fed the boys again and retired to bed until their midnight feeding, when a gentle tap sounded on the suite door.
He silently rose from the couch where he had been killing time with a book, having spent too long in bed that day which had left him feeling even more restless. He opened the door, feeling himself tense as he recognised Jean by scent even before he saw her. His heart plummeted when he took in Jean's red rimmed eyes, mussed hair, and defeated stance. She followed him silently into the room, closing the door behind herself as she entered, and taking a seat opposite Logan when he sat heavily in the couch dropping his head into his hands.
Jean rifled through the papers, pulling out two pages of results. "This is big Logan, this is bigger than just- just what happened to Marie, can you do this now or do you want me to come back?" she asked gently.
"Now," Logan choked out, as he raised his head to look at the papers in her hand. He swiped at a tear that slipped down his cheek, as he tried to focus on what she needed to tell him.
"You were correct, Baby One-"
"Aidan," Logan interrupted her. "And two is Liam," he added, watching as Jean quickly scribbled each name on the relevant pages.
"So, DNA confirmed Aidan is your son with a match of ninety-nine-point-nine percent, which is the highest match possible-" she laid down the page before continuing- "With Liam... you're not the father but the percentage match was close, so I ran a close relationship test... You are genetically related to Liam, according to the results, you are most likely Liam's... uncle..." Jean whispered, setting down the two pages of results.
Logan froze, as that piece of information sank in, helped by the visual of the results. "You- you're sure?" he breathed in shock.
Jean nodded sadly, as she lay down the last pages of results. "We have Sabretooth’s DNA on record, he seemed the most… logical possibility, I ran the relevant test's... he is Liam's biological father, and he would appear to be your half-brother, through the paternal line... I guess you didn't know that?"
Logan shook his head mutely, as he tried to understand the results shown on the pages. He had always assumed he had family, of some description, somewhere in the world. Most of his memories from his earlier life were hazy at best but it was inevitable on the balance of probabilities but this... this was not how he wanted to find out. Logan buried his face in his hands as he tried to push that information aside, trying to focus instead on how to tell Marie about Sabretooth and Liam.
He raised his head as a sound caught his ear, just as the scent of fear, Marie's fear, reached him. He leapt to his feet and hurdled the couch towards the bedroom, getting to the door just as Marie let out a chilling scream. He was on the bed, holding a shaking, sobbing Marie, as Jean rushed into the room behind him. The babies began to wail to add to the confusion, and Jean focused her attention on them, gently rocking their bassinets in an attempt to lull them back to sleep, as Logan picked Marie up and carried her out of the room so her sobs would not disturb them.
He sat on the couch with Marie in his lap, rocking her as he gently rubbed circles on her back, and spoke soothingly to her, as her hiccupping sobs began to die down. The suite door popped open, and Scott stuck his head in to make sure all was under control. Logan waved him away.
"It’s okay Marie, I've got you, what happened darlin?" he asked, as she hugged him tightly. Jean wandered out from the bedroom then, having finally got the twins to settle again, just as Marie spoke, her voice muffled where her face was buried in his shoulder but her words heartbreakingly clear.
"I remembered," she said in a horrified whisper, "Oh god Logan, he ... he..." she broke off with a sob, as she hugged him tighter.
"I know darlin," Logan told her, catching hold of her as she jerked away from him.
"What do you mean you know, how could you know?" she demanded.
Logan placed a hand against her cheek, before he pulled her close to rest his forehead against hers, with his eyes closed. "You remember how I told you that I could tell people apart by their smell?" he asked, referring back to the day they first met, she nodded hesitantly. "When Aidan and Liam were born, part of a feral bonding is learning the scent of pack members, I did that with you, a long time ago now it seems, would recognize your scent anywhere, I did that with the boys, first thing this morning, my nose recognized something was ... more different ... it took my brain a while to catch up, and I had Jean run the tests this afternoon."
"What tests Logan?" Marie whispered, fear lacing her words.
"... Paternity tests darlin," Logan replied gently, "You remember how Jean told us with twins, the two eggs were often released on different days and fertilized separately? Well, only one of those eggs was fertilized by me ... I had a feeling your mystery nightmares might be related to how the other happened, Jean's test pretty much proved that... we were trying to figure out how to break it to you but ... it looks like your mind finally caught up."
Marie stared at Logan in shocked silence as her head dropped and her shoulders sagged as she began to sob again. "I'm so sorry Logan, I’m so sorry," she repeated.
"No! No Marie, you have nothing to be sorry for, you hear me, not a goddamn thing, what that fucker did to you is all on him, I- I'm so sorry I didn't find you, I couldn't get to you sooner, if I could have just found where they were keeping you I could have--" Logan began, only to be interrupted when Marie placed a finger against his lips, as she raised her tear stained face.
"Don't do that Logan, it's not your fault, if you had more time I know you would have found me, it wasn't your fault," she said. "What ... which baby is his?" she asked uncertainly.
"Neither of them," Logan snarled, "Goddamn molesting fucker isn't getting a hand on either of them, or you, ever again, those boys are ours Marie, mine and yours, a- a genetic anomaly won't change that," Logan stated forcefully.
Marie smiled sadly as she rested her forehead back against his. "I need to know Logan," she told him honestly, "I need to know. It helps to hear this doesn't change anything, that you'll still love him, but I need to know."
Logan paused before nodding reluctantly. "I love him, more than you can ever know Marie, and this doesn't change anything, they'll be raised as brothers, they never have to know, it... it's Liam..." he told her gently.
Marie nodded as she sank back into Logan's arms and let him hold her. "There's more," he said, as he held her close, feeling her tense at his words. "When Jean was running the tests, I came back as a biological match to Liam, genetically I'm his uncle. Sabretooth ... he's my brother," Logan revealed.
Marie bolted upright, staring at Logan in shock before she noted the haunted, hurt look in his eyes. "Oh Logan, I'm so sorry," she told him, as she offered comfort to him. She knew that Logan's memories of his life 'before' were patchy, and that he had always held out hope he might find someone who had known him, hopefully family. But to find out it was this man, and to find out in this way... no wonder Logan was feeling so guilty, even if none of that guilt was deserved.
They held each other for a time as Jean moved to sit across from them, silently gathering up the DNA results off the coffee table, she waited until the devastated couple acknowledged her. "I hate to have to do this Marie, especially now, but are you able to tell me what you remember, about the attack?"
Marie nodded, as she shuddered at the flickers of memory she had seen. "I don't remember much, I think the drugs they used to keep me out must have blocked most of it, what I do remember is coming to, suddenly, and he was, he had... when I ran from Mystique, before Sabretooth caught me, I turned my mutation on, when he... he used a condom but I think it must have broken, and when he- he... I sucked off some of his healing, it must have been enough to flush the tranquilizers out of my system. I tried to fight but there wasn't enough skin for me to use my mutation against him, and he was too strong, then he tranq’d me again... other than that brief moment all I remember is sensation, his hands on me, and him- him in me, and ... I remember it hurt, I didn't want him to touch me but I couldn't do anything, I couldn't see him, and I couldn't push him away, and..." she broke off as she began to sob again.
Logan held her tightly as she cried, telling Jean it was enough, they knew enough of what had happened to fill in the blanks. She nodded in response and prepared to take her leave, she offered sleeping pills again, stressing how important enough sleep was to a new mother recovering from birth, and told Logan not to worry about waking her if Marie needed anything during the night. Taking Logan’s word that they would be fine, she slipped silently out of the room.
The pair sat on the couch, wrapped in each other for another hour after she left, just holding each other and thinking, neither quite sure where to begin to process this horrible situation. Eventually Logan picked her up and carried Marie back to bed, helping her get comfortable in what had become her feeding position before he collected each baby for her. She gladly took Aidan as she encouraged him to suckle, for a moment she looked warily at Liam as Logan sat down on the bed next to her holding him.
"You, little man, are so loved, don't you ever forget that," Logan said softly, to the sleepy little boy as he placed a kiss on his tiny nose, smiling softly at him as the bright blue baby eyes regarded him curiously, before he opened his mouth and tried to suck on Logan's nose. Both parents laughed, Marie letting break her first smile since her world shattered into a million shards; the first pieces were beginning to fall back into place.
After both babies were fed, and changed, and put back to bed, Logan climbed into bed with Marie. He spooned her as he held her tightly, and she eventually fell asleep to the sound of his voice incontrovertibly iterating how much her loved her. It was almost enough for her to sleep undisturbed through the night.
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