CHAPTER 5-

When I left the X-Men, I can’t say that I ever thought I’d be working as a bartender.  I had the peanut gallery practically vibrating with disapproval every time I put on a slinky tank top and leather pants to go to work, but hey. The tips were pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.

“What do you need, Rave?”

“Two Molsen’s, three shots of José and a chocolate martini.”

I blinked. We didn’t get much call for martinis around these parts. Still, I did have, as Jubes would say, two of the suavest motherfuckers ever to walk the walk in my head, and between all of us we had a pretty decent repertoire of drink recipes. And what we couldn’t figure out there was always google.

We weren’t exactly in the swankiest area of Colorado. Kremmling was just a tiny little burg in the middle of nowhere. But somehow it had ended up being a mutant-friendly area, which quite frankly baffled the hell out of me. Not to be rude, but normally the small-town places tended to be full of the very small-minded.  Driving here had been strangely freeing in a way.  Aside from the initial shock of Charles telling me my mutation was temporary, I had enjoyed my road trip very much.

The idea that my mutation would eventually return had been quite a shock. Erik had done the mental equivalent of slapping Charles upside the head for telling me in the middle of traffic like that. I wasn’t the most experienced driver in the world, but had managed to keep from killing anyone as I jerked the wheel to the side of the road. I hit the brakes just in time to avoid taking out an orange construction barrel and had sat there in the break-down lane, shaking.

What? I had shrieked. I could still feel the burning sensation of the Cure killing off my mutation under my skin. Not often, and not for very long, but that wasn’t just something that your body just forgot.

What the fuck are you doin’,Chuck?! I could see Logan in my head, glaring at a worried looking Charles. Erik had even taken a step from his side and was frowning deeply.  She almost hit that guy!  I had. The guy in the black truck had flicked me off when I cut him off, clipping my back bumper just enough to jar my shoulder against the window.

Oh dear. Oh my dear I am so, so sorry. That was perhaps not the best of moments to tell you.  Charles had grasped his hands together, looking as though he might cry.

I had slowly unhinged my fingers from the steering wheel and taken a deep breath. It’s.. not permanent? I had spoken slowly, feeling my throat closing up with tears.  I met my own eyes in the rear-view mirror and Charles sent me a picture of his own gaze to look back at. Both of our gazes were wet. I’m not... it’s not...

No, Marie. No, it ain’t, kid.

I had just broken down there, burying my face in my hands and bawling. It was loud in the small confines of the car and  I could see all three of them give each other a panicked look and that made me start to laugh through my tears.  Erik and Logan had turned equally panicked gazes to Charles, who had rolled his eyes at their social ineptitude before sending me his mental comfort and support as he’d done countless times before.  It had shocked me that I would be so grateful for my mutation to return. How much the regret, mostly unacknowledged, had weighed me down but knowing that my mistake was some kind of mulligan was such a damn relief.

Slowly I had gotten myself under control and pulled back out on the busy highway. Suddenly, my super-secret random trip across America seemed much less strange, and much more like a road trip. An adventure. From then it was just a matter of getting to where we were going.  I kept to a pretty straight route, driving across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. I stopped when I wanted to stop, ate when I was hungry, and found out there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot to look at other than dead corn, wheat and bean fields in the middle of the state. Seeing the Rockies getting bigger and bigger as I drove towards them had been kind of a thrill.

“Order up!” I hollered. Rave rolled her eyes at the chocolate martini but plastered a smile on her face when she turned to deliver the drinks.

She had been another surprise. I’d been at Kremmling’s post office, staring at a community board.  Charles had been going on and on about needing a house that was ‘well off the beaten path’ and Logan and Erik had been arguing with him at the top of their mental voices about me needing to be around people and at first I hadn’t noticed the woman staring at me.  I had touched the white streak in my hair a little self-consciously and she had blushed a little, looking down.  

“Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to be rude. I was just going to put this up.” I stepped aside so that she could.  She was fairly tall, with short black hair and extremely striking eyes. I had one of those really strange moments of deja vu before she smiled again, holding out her hand.  

“Hi there. Sorry.. you just reminded me of someone. My name’s Raven. Raven Adler.”  

“Anna.”  The lie had come to my lips without me even thinking about it. No one called me Anna. But I wasn’t Rogue anymore, and I didn’t give people my real name. Something had flickered over her face when I shook her hand.  “You’re looking for a bartender?”

One black eyebrow winged up. “Yeah. Mine just quit.” She rolled her eyes. “Last time I try to hire a boyfriend. I should have known that would never work out well.”  She tilted her head. “Why, you looking for a job? It’s not much. Not quite a dive bar, but not far from it. We get college kids looking for a little adventure, and some of the rich bastards on their way to Aspen. Mix of locals and folks in from the mountain, mostly. I can give you five an hour, plus tips are yours.  On busy nights I’ll do the crowd, but most nights you’ll have to do tables and the bar. We open at three and close about two. You’ll have Mondays and Sundays off.”

My mouth must have been hanging open because she laughed and bumped my shoulder. “Come on. You need a job, right? Or were you looking for something else?”

“Yes. Thank you! Wow, I can’t believe this!”

She looked kind of critically at my sweater and jeans. “Not trying to be rude, Anna, but you might want to glam it up a little. Come by the bar tonight and I’ll get you started.”

“Wait! Where is it?”

She laughed in a way that had most of the men, and not a few of the women around us in the busy post office look around for the low sound. “Oh, it’s called Muties. On the main drag. I don’t think you can miss it, honey. See you about eight, okay?”

Holy crap I think I just got a job! Guys? Hello?

Erik congratulated me, but he sounded distracted. Charles seemed a little confused as well, but they wouldn’t tell me what was up. Don’t ask me how they were able to shut me out of my own mind, but it wasn’t much of a problem, believe me. I knew I should probably be more worried about stuff like that, but I knew that Charles would never shut me out of my own mind completely. It would be against his own code to completely take me over.

So you’re gonna be a bartender? Your parents must be so proud. It had been so long since I heard from Carol that for a second I was actually surprised. Her mind-voice was still very faint. It must have taken her a lot to be able to project even that much.

What could you possibly care?

I don’t. Believe me, I don’t. Just thought this was kinda interesting is all.

What?

Carol’s laugh was dark. Oh nothing. I wouldn’t want to ruin anything.

Ms. Danvers if you have something to say, I suggest that you, as they say, spit it out. this posturing is quite wearisome.

That’s pretty funny coming from you.  

I wrinkled my brow a little as I concentrated, pushing her bodily from the forefront of my mind. She’d always hated me, but this seemed a little odd- even for her.  I opened my eyes and saw an ad for a small one-bedroom apartment. It was above a bakery, located on the outskirts of town. I don’t know why they wouldn’t be in a much better location, but hey. Their loss.  I had stepped outside, wandering around a little.  Every view was either of mountains or of scenery so breathtaking that I felt like a total yokel for stopping and staring.  

Rogue, we do not know how long you will be here. It could take a few days or a few weeks to properly contact Moria and ... explain the situation. You’ve done exceedingly well with finding yourself a place to live and a job to occupy your time.  And ‘Muties’ seems like it would be beneficial to our plans as well.

This is kind of fun, Charles. Now if we can just get me a boyfriend, I’d be all set.  I was mostly joking. For a second in my head I felt a flash of hands sliding into my skin, the heat of his breath on my back and shiver, shoving that little gem way, way waywayway down in my brain.

I would be happy to assist you with this. Our minds have been twined together so intimately that I believe I am quite knowledgeable on what you wish for a gentleman lover.  My daddy had never really been the protective type, but the faint hint of protectiveness in Erik’s mind voice was impossible to ignore. Of course, if he never used the words ‘twined together intimately’ ever again, it would be too soon. Strangely when he said that my first thought wasn’t me and Logan, but Erik and Charles, and that was just.... awkward. But it did get make those long, brooding looks they were always giving each other suddenly make a lot of senc.... nah.Those two? They’d kill each other before anyone managed to get off.

It hadn’t taken very long to go to the bakery and sign the lease. The landlady seemed a little shocked when I offered her cash, but she must have made her own conclusions from the bruise on my face from that asshole driver back in New York and took first and last month’s with hardly a peep. The apartment was tiny, but stepping inside I had felt really, really grown up. I’d never had my own space before.  The first night I had unpacked my stuff from the car and had run taken a shower, trying to look a little less frumpy than I had managed on my trip so far. The best I could come up with was a pair of jeans and a pink tank top.  Yeah. Definitely was going to have to work on the clothes.

In the next few weeks, I had furnished my little apartment with the bare essentials and swung right into my new job as a bartender. Charles had been absolutely furious when we found out that Moria had gone on vacation.  Instead of speaking with her, I had made contact with someone who worked in her office, a Remy LeBeau.

I smiled to myself, thinking of Remy.  His accent was even thicker than mine. He was absolutely gorgeous. He was just slightly taller than me, and had longish brown hair that he wore behind his ears, or under a fedora that looked older than both of us put together. He wasn’t shy about having some of the bar’s regulars address him as Gambit. Out and Proud, that was Remy. I had first met him at Moria’s office. He answered the phone, and before the end of the conversation he had my name, my sign, and my phone number. A few nights later he met me at Muties. Raven had found it hilarious that I was so shy around him.  She found most things hilarious, actually.  

I noticed that we were out of Budwiser- a damn criminal offense in these parts- called out to Raven to watch the till and went back into the cooler to find some.  The cooler looked like something out of an alcoholic’s wet dream. Raven didn’t cater too much to the beer snobs, but she did keep several different brands from ale to light beer to lager stacked on shelving units. There were a few wines, along with some snacks and stuff, but most of the regulars liked their beer, so that was what Raven stocked.

I made two trips before the front was stocked well enough for a Saturday night.  We were pretty packed.  Raven had the windows open enough that a cool draft of air swirled in with the mass of bodies.  Mutants tended to be a loud lot. What blew me away was how nicely they played with the Humans. For all intents and purposes, to the mutants I was human. No one was rude. There wasn’t any overt hatred or speciesism.

I really, really liked it here.

Two arms came around my waist and I smiled when he kissed my neck.  He smelled amazing, his cologne and the faint hint of ozone that always seemed to be around him. If I had been more obvious with my own gift, I would have just asked him, but I still didn’t know what the social niceties were for humans asking a mutant what their powers were.   I mean, I had always found it rude. But I’ve been accused of being sensitive.

“Hello there, Cherie.” I laughed a little to cover my shiver when he nuzzled against my neck with his stubble. Faintly I heard a crash of a beer bottle hitting the floor and started to look up but Remy had turned me around and wow, could that guy kiss.  For my first real kiss, one that didn’t send anyone into a coma, it wasn’t really bad. It wasn’t great, but I don’t think I was going to doodle in my diary over it. I pulled away and swatted him on the shoulder. “Get out of here! I have a job to do, you know.”

“Ah, Remy has seen you working hard. It is time for your break, n’est pas? Come have a drink with me.” He tugged at my streak and smiled.

Okay, I admit his dimples did things to my knees. I shook my head though.  “Aw, sugah, I can’t. I really do have a busy night tonight.”  I saw Josiah waving from the bar, his flannel stained with something dark. I was fairly certain that I would be glad that the lights in the bar were so low.  He only came down from God knew where about once a week, and when he did, he liked to drink. I smiled at him and gave him two beers, knowing that he’d down the first one in about a minute. Between my cleavage and my “Well hi there, sugah!” I managed to get him smiling. It wasn’t too hard. Josiah was a pretty happy drunk. From there, I got busy enough to forget that Remy was even in the bar, let alone waiting on me until I turned and he was there again, leaning over to steal some olives and kiss my hand.  The whole night was like that.  Remy’d  be gone, then back at the bar flirting, then gone again, then back with a kiss or two. I was beginning to think his mutant power was getting into girl’s pants.

Logan, of course took that minute to growl low in my head.  Oh stuff it, I told him. I’m allowed to have a bit of fun.

Finally the last customer had moved on their merry, if staggering, way and Raven was locking the door with a relieved breath. “Jesus! I thought they’d never leave. I swear to God if I hear another Patsy Cline song I’m going to throw myself off the goddamn mountain. Hey. You! Playboy! If you’re gonna lounge around then you can do it with a broom.”   I looked and sure enough, Remy was there.

“Aw sugah, you stayed!”

“Of course I did, Cherie. Remy was not going to let you walk home in the dark.”

Raven rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “Anna, you’re gonna want to get on home. I think we’re having a bit of a blizzard. You’ll want to make sure you’re all snug in your place. Remy, if you don’t mind staying a little longer, you can help me with the deposits.” Some sort of surprise must have shown on my face, because they both looked at me, grinning. “What? Remy didn’t tell you? We used to work together.”

“Non. I wouldn’t say... together. Raven.” His voice was quiet with a little smirk playing on his lips. His eyes almost seemed to glow red for a second. The deck of cars he always had in his hands clacked together as he shuffled them. I widened my eyes and blinked a few times, rubbing them.  It was pretty late. I must be seeing things.

“You’re sure you don’t need me to help finish up?”  

“Nah. You’ve got two days off.. go for it!” Her leer made it perfectly clear what she thought I would be doing.

I laughed. “My plans involve hunting up some furniture for my place. And making sure Killer is kept in the manner of which he has become accustomed.” Killer was my Maltise puppy. His former owner had left the pregnant mom, and when I had stumbled upon the tiny little ball of fluff on my second night here, he had been almost frozen to death. Only the fact that he was a greedy little shit had kept him alive. Unfortunately his mom and brothers and sisters hadn’t fared so well. I knew that I couldn’t keep him indefinitely, but I certainly couldn’t leave him there to fend for himself either. He  had just barely been weened.

Okay and maybe he was a tad bit spoiled.

“Well, if you’re sure then...” Raven nodded.

“Remy will just walk you out and say goodbye properly, then.” Remy gave me a rather direct look and I blushed, smiling. He came over to help me on with my coat. “Ha, with this coat I will just have to be sure you don’t fall in the hands of the big bad loup, no?” I rolled my eyes. He made a similar comment every time he saw the bright red coat I wore. It was a lot like my green one, only firecracker red.

For some reason Raven found that absolutely hilarious. She had been in the process of drinking something when she laughed, spraying it onto the clean counter. She just laughed, shaking her head at our looks.  “Two minutes, Remy. We have a lot to discuss.”

“Oui. I will be only a moment.”

Raven snorted again, muttering something under her breath that sounded like “It’s your funeral,” before wiping up her mess and raising a hand in a wave goodbye. I waved back and Remy took my hand.  “No gloves?”  My smile faltered a little as we stepped outside. “No. No gloves. I don’t mind cold hands.” It had already started snowing. I looked up at the sky, my hood falling back onto my shoulders. “I can’t believe there are so many stars.” I guess it was kind of romantic. Starry night, Snowflakes gently drifting to the ground, walking hand in hand with a guy.... it was just then, at that moment I realized that this wasn’t the guy that I wanted to be doing little romantic things with.

“None of them are as beautiful as you, mon cher.”

I think I might vomit. Erik looked vaguely disgusted and made exaggerated kissy noises. He was not Remy’s biggest fan.  I ignored him. I laughed and Remy made a kind of disgruntled face when he kissed my cold lips.  “That was not exactly the reaction I was looking for. Although I  prefer the smile over whatever you were thinking that made you so sad.”

“What, more like... ‘Oh Remy, how sweet! Y’all should come back to my place where we can see all of the stars at once’?”  I had ramped up the southern in my voice and took a small step back, still grinning up at his face and fluttering my eyelashes.  I had to wonder how often his charming schtick worked, or if most people found it just kind of adorkable.

I have the feeling that his ‘schtick’ as you say is quite well rehearsed my dear. He is a bit of a charmer. Not hard on the eyes a’tall.  Erik’s good humor vanished at once, his face becoming strange and still at Charles’ words.  

Okay you two. Pipe down. There was a reason that I called them the Peanut Gallery- I swear to God.

“Is that an offer, Cherie?” Remy bent down and kissed me again, cupping my cold cheeks in his hands and tilting my face up as our lips met.

“Ain’t this sweet.”

I froze, every muscle in my body tensing.  I guess part of me was expecting this. Another part of me was maybe hoping for it. And yeah, it was a bit weird to hear him so suddenly, like my thoughts had summoned him. I purposefully finished the kiss, then pulled back, turning around and absolutely refusing to show anything of what I was feeling on my face.

“Hi Logan.”

He was leaning against the side of the wall. For a second my mind went back to the first time I saw him sit down at that bar in Canada. He looked exactly the same. Same leather jacket, same plaid shirt, same ridiculously large belt buckle. He inhaled the smoke from his cigar and blew it out, staring at me and Remy with a slight smirk on his face. My lower body tightened as I stared at him. He looked.... good.

“Hey, kid.”

I couldn’t help it. I flinched a little.

“Is this a friend of yours, Anna?”  I stepped slightly away from Remy, but squeezed his hand. I hesitated just a second before answering. “Yeah. We’ve known each other awhile. It was just a surprise that showed up is all.  It’s okay Remy.” I grinned and squeezed his hand again. “I can call you later, okay?”

“Okay, Cherie.” He looked a little irked, but was willing enough to follow my lead. “I will look forward to it.”  He kissed me again and turned to leave, going back inside the bar with one last searching look of my face. I think I was still a little numb. My lips tingled a little where he kissed me, and I licked them reflexively then turned to face the music. Well, the pissed off, feral mutant with metal claws. There wasn’t any music, unless you count the way my stupid heart was pounding.

I started walking and Logan fell into step besides me.  Strangely, the boys in my head were dead silent. He was quite a bit taller than me so my little darted glances couldn’t quite meet his eyes.  I could feel the heat that his body gave off and shivered a little as we walked. Logan just smoked, keeping his gaze dead ahead. I could see the muscle twitching in his jaw that fairly screamed that he was mangling the cigar in his mouth and winced. He usually only did that when he was really, really furious.

“It’s... ah. Not far. My apartment, that is.”

He just grunted and continued to walk, ignoring me.

“I really like it here. I have my own space, and am doing pretty well for myself. I even got a job! I don’t do too badly at it either. I mean, aside from the first few times I dumped beer on someone’s lap. That really didn’t go over very we---”

He stopped suddenly, turning and grabbing my elbow so that I turned with him, cutting off in mind-babble. My body fell against his and I gasped, jerking back to regain my balance and put some space between us. Logan tossed the cigar and leaned down. His eyes were narrowed, his face pale under his ‘chops. His other hand  tightened for just the briefest of moments on my other arm before his touch gentled, although his voice was low with fury.

“Yeah, about that. How long have you been so buddy-buddy with fuckin’ Mystique?”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “What?!” I shrieked, startling a dog a few houses over into barking .

Logan

I had found the place with very little trouble.  One question of the overly friendly, pizza-faced gas station attendant had me a lead on Marie- or the ‘hot young thang with the white streaks in her hair.’  Only one day left. Assuming that Destiny broad was right. One day to find Marie, figure out who wanted to hurt her, and slice their balls off.  

The snow was piling up fairly nicely by the time I pulled the bike in the parking lot. The bar looked a little less like a dive, and more like a dive dressed up so that they would get what little tourist traffic off of 40 they could. I just had a saddlebag strapped to the back of my bike, and figured it was pretty safe. In ten minutes they’d be covered with snow anyway.  I could smell the weather and wanted to get this situated before I froze my damn ass off.

I knew from the scuttlebutt that ‘Muties’ was a mutation-friendly place, but that didn’t mean that humans, or mutants who had un-mutanted themselves, would be safe there.  What I couldn’t figure out was why the hell she’d chosen this place to run to. It was on the top of a mountain, about two hours from Denver. It wasn’t fancy. It had the look of one of those mountain towns which had sprung up because pioneers  going west realized how much further they had to go to get up and over the Rocky Mountains, said ‘oh fuck it,’ dropped their shit, and settled in.

I followed a couple of roughnecks into the bar, blinking a little at the shock of smoke. I’d been in New York for so long that I forgot there were places where people still smoked in bars.  My eyes only made it halfway around the room before I saw her and stopped short.

The little white tank top left her belly bare. My body tightened and my teeth clamped down on the cigar. I don’t think I’d ever seen the long white expanse of her collarbone and shoulders before. Or if I had, I never would have let myself notice how smooth they looked.  I could see the play of muscle under her skin. She turned to get something behind her and my body felt cold- no too hot when I saw the almost completely faded bruise I had marked her with on the back of her neck. Her hair was pinned up in a bun and I could see the graceful lines of her face as she poured something on tap and handed it to the guy sitting on the stool with a grin.  

I’m not proud, but I can admit that I panicked. I darted over to a corner where I could sit with my back to the wall but still watch the dim, smoky room with no problem.  I made myself stub out the mangled cigar and nodded back at the waitress when she nodded at me. I was used to women doing a double-take when they saw me, but I don’t think I had ever been less in the mood.

I knew that a lot of the shit I had kept bottled up over the years wasn’t gonna stay bottled up. I knew that the second I woke up and smelled Marie and sex all over my skin. But that sure as shit didn’t explain the near panic attack I felt when I saw her: uncovered and happy pulling beers for the local crowd.  It took me a damn long time to remember the last time I saw her smile that much, and I knew that whatever it was that Marie had left to look for, she had found it.  

I was one stupid motherfucker.

Right before she left to get the cure, I had told her to make sure that she wasn’t taking it for some boy. I had meant the Iceprick of course. It was pretty obvious that those two wouldn’t have lasted very long- and I didn’t want her to do this grand gesture for some punk kid. What I didn’t get until just now was that this was why she did it.  So that she could be a normal kid in a bar, flirting with customers and not having to worry about killing someone if their fingers accidentally brushed.  I didn’t know what was worse- knowing that this was temporary, or hoping that she didn’t know that this was just temporary.

The waitress squeezed into the chair, blocking my view of Marie. My nostrils flared and my eyes narrowed as Mystique raised her hands up in front of her, wincing at my reaction.

“Wait! Before you say anything! Hear me out.”

I cocked my eyebrow. Her scent was off in the way that Marie’s was off, and she watched the realization bleed across my face.

“Yeah.  I know. The irony is practically choking itself. It certainly wasn’t on purpose. Kind of like what you guys did to Erik.” It was her turn to raise her eyebrow. “Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.” Her mouth twisted and I was surprised at the sadness that crossed her face.  “Look. I saw her and hired her on the spot. I’m not much at this playing human stuff,  but she’s a babe in the fucking woods comparatively. I gave her a job. That’s all. No nefarious plan, no trying to hand her over to the Brotherhood, nothing.  I cut my ties completely. They have no use for norms, you know that. Now I know you can smell that I’m not lying.  I took over this place from a friend. We just wanted a place where mutants could go, and with that governmental-offered poison being temporary, we need a place like this. Most of the people that took it did it ‘cause their mutations were dangerous, Wolverine. Like your girl there. We don’t know when it’s going to switch off, and they need a place where they feel safe.”

Both of my eyebrows had crawled up to my hairline by this point, and for me that was a neat trick. She was right. I could smell that she wasn’t lying, but that didn’t mean that she was telling the whole truth, either.  

That metallic fuckhead had taught her well.

“Right.”

“Look. Let me get you a beer. On the house for not gutting me on sight. Trust me; it’s appreciated.”  She smiled.

I noticed that she hadn’t come within claw reach at any point while we were talking though. I watched her walk up to the bar where Marie was talking to a short, old guy in a cowboy hat whose brim was so wide that the other barflys tended to hit it with their elbows when they got involved in conversation.

Mystique was back with my beer in record time. “So, does she know you’re in town?”

I shook my head and sniffed it. I didn’t think that she’d stoop to spiking drinks in her own bar but I wouldn’t put it past her. I was having a hard time equating the bitch Mystique with the woman in front of me.

“Hmm. That could be interesting.” I looked up at her for a second, then followed her gaze back to the bar where Marie had leaned over, some guy cupping her face while they kissed.

I dropped the bottle and heard Mystique’s muttered ‘oh, shit’ as she melted back into the crowd. The purely instinctual mineminemine shocked me to my core. I was furious. The few drunks around me gave me wide berth as I stood, my claws slowly sliding out as I watched her rest her forehead against his. Jealousy turned my gut and I had to leave before I gutted the little bastard that had his hands all over my Marie.

Wait. My Marie?

The frigid air was like a slap to my face. Marie was a lot of things, but she sure as fuck wasn’t mine. Something deep inside of me howled in denial. I started walking, not even noticing that the snow was coming down pretty well by this point. The temperature had dropped, too. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the thought of Marie being mine freaked me the fuck out.

Sure, I had been protective since meeting her.  And sure, I had gotten maybe a little too attached to knowing that she’d be there when I got back to the mansion. I hadn’t been able to drive away from her when she stowed a ride in the back of my trailer, and I sure as shit couldn’t leave her with Pyro and the Iceprick. Those two would have gotten her killed.  And when she handed me back my dogtags, being oh, so careful not to touch my skin I admit that my hands had clenched on the wheel. I had to grit my teeth so that I wouldn’t tell her to keep them.

I had liked her wearing my name. So much that I made it a point not to think about it.

Seeing her like that, kissing that guy had made me feel like eviscerating him on the spot. I had wanted to see his innards spill out over his stomach out onto the floor. I’d had a similar reaction when I had realized that Marie had a boyfriend back at the Mansion. The little show of dominance; the way the Iceprick had iced my hand for just the briefest of moments had sent my nostrils flaring. Marie had had a slight blush on her cheeks, and I could smell how much she wanted me to like him.  

It had surprised me, to tell the truth. Then, later while in the kitchen I’d really seen how much of a fuckin’ kid Bobby was- and it really brought home to me that my feelings were really, terribly inappropriate.Bordering on illegal type of inappropriate. Shame had flooded my mouth as I sat there, making small talk with him ‘til everything had gone to shit.

I shook my head.

None of that mattered.  I might have thought I’d buried those protective... and the other...type... feelings way down deep, but seeing her smile as she kissed the fucker in the fedora had made that dark part of me that liked her with my name nestled between her breasts, that had reveled in her scent all over my body even as I had panicked that I had hurt her, that had snarled and snapped at the idea of allowing her to run away, to wait before looking for her sit up and howl its displeasure. Words like mate and mine and holy fucking Christ what the hell was I thinking?!

I whirled on my boot heel and walked back to the alley beside the bar, holding the lighter in my hands but not lighting the cigar. I’d wait for her to finish working and talk to her. Explain about that crazy-ass dream vision that had sent me out here.  Find out what the actual fuck Wheels was doing in her brain.  My own feelings- too little and for damn sure too late weren’t on the agenda.

It was about an hour later when people started clearing out. There had been enough people streaming out of the bar that I had stepped back a few steps to make sure that I wouldn’t be seen.  If the drunks were leaving, then Marie’d be heading out soon enough. I didn’t really get cold, but I was uncomfortably stiff from standing there for so long.  

I heard her soft accent before I saw her, and was glad she couldn’t see the way my eyes slid shut as I heard her sweet voice.  My dick twitched as I remembered hearing her scream my name when she came, her voice cracking, elongating the vowels as she shook and shuddered under me.  

I was quiet when I stepped out and had to make myself not react when I saw him step into her space, cup her face and kiss her again. I couldn’t see Marie’s face, but could see from her body language that she didn’t mind the kiss at all.  That dark bubble of jealousy surged, and before I could stop myself, I heard my snide, “Ain’t this sweet?” split the quiet night.

I was so busy looking at Marie that when I saw that it was Remy Lebeau that she was kissing that I actually rocked back on my feet as though punched in the gut. I saw the same recognition in his eyes.

My brain stalled for a moment as the two of them said goodbye.  I didn’t know what the fuck to think.  My gut said Remy was a good guy, but I couldn’t remember exactly where I had known him from- only that it was a shitload of years ago. We were walking on autopilot, my mind still whirling as I thought. Alarms were starting to go off in my brain.  I knew Marie was in danger. What I didn’t know was how Mystique was tangled up in this. Add in the fact that one of the shadows of my past was currently sucking face with my- with Marie and my instincts were screaming at me that this was just fuckin’ wrong.

Marie was babbling about something and I just snapped. I had no call to manhandle her like that and let go as soon as I realized what I was doing, sickened with my temper.  Her shock was loud enough that I winced, pulling my hands away as though burned. “Raven? Your boss? You’re tellin’ me that you never knew...?” Marie’s eyes were wide, the hurt in them making me want to growl, to snap off the head of the blue bitch that had hurt her this way.

Marie took a step back, and I saw her eyes go faint, in that way she had when she was thinking at one of the people in her head.  “Look... this isn’t the place for this conversation. I’m tired and my feet hurt somethin’ awful. Do you want me to drop you at your hotel?” Something must have flicked on my face because I saw her cheeks pale completely then flood with color.  “Oh.”

“Look- I do need to talk to you, but I can just find someplace to crash after. You mind if I come to your place?”

There was a very painful silence, then she nodded. “‘Course not, Logan. I know we should probably... talk.” Her whole body was tense with unhappiness.  I just nodded and indicated that I would follow her.  

She sighed, but wouldn’t meet my eyes as she began walking.

The awkwardness lasted until we got to the door.  I wasn’t used to this bullshit.  I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated at the way we were behaving.  I didn’t like that she was so uncomfortable around me. I hated that she felt she had to be brave to even do something as simple as walk down the street in my presence. Ever since we first met, Marie had never treated me like less than I was. She always saw the man behind the claws. Now… now she wasn’t as sure of me. And godamighty. The shame I felt at that. It sickened me.

“Are you hungry?”  She sounded tentative as she unlocked the door, and I had to stop myself from touching her shoulder like I’d done a thousand times before. I guess I never realized how much we touched until I had to stop myself from doing it. I didn’t want to scare her.

“No.”  Her face fell a little and I relented. “Not unless you’re making something for yourself.”  

“Sure.” She forced a smile and pushed open the door to a high-pitched whine of joy.  I raised an eyebrow as she bent down to scoop up the little white ball of fluff. “Hi baby! Were you a good boy? Did you eat any more of mama’s shoes?” I don’t know what it was with women and small, fluffy dogs, but she sounded like a damn idiot as she cooed to him.  The … well, I guess you could call it a dog… whined again, shaking its tail so hard that it almost shook out of her arms, yipping and licking her face.  It was the ittiest-bittiest little ball of floofy fluff I’d ever seen. I took a step forward and the happy yips turned to pissed-off sounding growls.  He put his tiny little paws on Marie’s shoulder and barked at me, warning me away from his girl.

Believe me, bub. I know the feeling.  It was barking so loudly that Marie had to put him down.  He was growling and snarling, furious that I had taken a step into his territory.

“Killer! What on earth? That’s just Logan!”

“You named this little rat-faced furball ‘Killer?’”  I stepped over the little twerp and sat down on a rather saggy couch, slinging my saddlebag to the side.   The dog followed me, barking like crazy.  Marie turned to shut the door and I glared at the little mutt, growling once, low in my throat so that Marie wouldn’t hear.  The dog stopped in mid-bark and turned around, lifted up its tail and flounced off to its food dish. I probably should have felt more embarrassed at out-dominating a ridiculous looking, miniature mutt like that but... well.

“Yeah. He’s a sweet baby, and I thought he needed something that would give him a little more oomph.”

“Darlin’, if you give that little rat-faced furball a spike collar, it would only hurt himself.” The ‘darlin’ had slipped. I hid my wince with a stretch, popping most of the vertebra in my back.  Marie took off her cloak and hung it in the closet, picked up a magazine and put it back down, straightening it carefully. She started to sit down, then jumped up, went and got us each a coke, then sat back down, curling up on the couch so that she was as far away from me as she could get without falling off the damn thing.

“Why’d you leave, kid?”

“Why are ya here, Logan?”

We both spoke at the same time.  I rolled my eyes and nodded that she should go first.  She took a deep drink and set down her coke can on the rickety-looking coffee table.  I tried not to notice the slight wetness to her lips and failed miserably.  This was gonna be a long few weeks if I couldn’t get my shit together. I felt like a kid, like I couldn’t seem to control myself in the slightest.  Normally with a woman, it was just a quick fuck and a quicker goodbye. Neither of us expected anything more. This, what I had done to… done with Marie was so goddamn far out of my realm of experience that I had no fuckin’ idea what to do. How to act.  

“Why are you here,” she repeated, biting her lip.

Shit.  All that time thinking and I still didn’t know what I wanted to say. How I wanted to say it. I noticed the little furball come over and start sniffing at my saddlebag, biting a little at one of the straps.  I sighed. “You’re in danger, Marie.”  I started to explain, but couldn’t figure out what to say.  “Shit!” I scrubbed my hand roughly over my face for a moment, “Fuck, I suck at this. Marie. I’m… I’m so fucking sorry.  I never, ever meant to hurt you.”

Her eyes widened and I could see every single muscle in her body tense. It made me wince again.  “Look we don’t gotta talk about it ever again. There is nothin’ I can say that will make what I did to you okay. But I can’t keep acting like… like we didn’t have sex.”  I almost said ‘fuck’, and the shock of that caused my throat to tighten, remembering what she smelled like, what she looked like when her head tipped back. I wanted to remember what she tasted like, what her skin felt like under my teeth and I was completely fucking disgusted with myself. An animal. I was like some rutting animal. I had no business sniffin’ around someone as sweet as Marie.

“Logan--“ Her leg was jumping up and down. Marie’s eyes darted around the room, landing everywhere but on me.

“No. Let me finish. I know I’m the last person that you want to see right now.  You did a damn good job of hiding your tracks.  I lost ya in Albany, and would’ve still been looking around there if the Professor hadn’t called—“

Her eyes widened even more, her skin paling so much that for a second I thought she was gonna faint. “What?” Her whisper made me think back over what I just said; wondering what had caused her shock.

I raised my eyebrow.  “You called me. Well, it was your voice, but the Professor was talk—“  She got that look on her face again, the one that made absolutely no sense.  I blurted out what I was thinking before I realized quite what I was saying. “How the hell is that possible? I mean, you got the cure right? When did you take Chucky’s mutation?  How can he still be rattling around in your head?”

Now she looked pissed.  The last time I saw her with that look on her face, Carol Danvers was screaming and writhing on the floor while Marie sucked the life out of her.  “Yeah. It’s a long story.  I’ll be sure to address that  with him in just a moment, don’t you worry, sugah. But you didn’t really explain anything!  What do you mean- I’m in danger? How did you know that was Mystique? What are you doing here? I’m not tryin’ to be rude here, but didn’t the fact that I left clue you in on the fact that I didn’t really want to see any of y’all again?

“Look, kid….”

“Don’t call me kid!” Her voice was like poison, as she hissed at me. “ You don’t get to fuck me into the mattress, then call me kid!”

My mouth dropped open. “Then quit acting like a damn brat! I’m trying to explain!”

“No you’re not! You’re all blah blah I’m sorry. You don’t have anything to be sorry about. It’s not a big deal.” Her neck twitched hard enough that it looked like she was hit from behind. “People have sex all the time! You gotta stop this big brother protective crap, Logan. I’m not your little sister. Or your--- ahhh!” She grabbed her head and sucked in her breath, her voice trailing off into a scream.  I grabbed her wrists when I saw that her nails were embedded in the skin of her temples. She was pulling at her hair.  She started to twitch, her eyes rolling back in her head, her whole body trembling before she gasped, eyes wide-open and slumped over. If I hadn’t had her wrists she would have fallen onto the shitty coffee-table.

The little shitstain of a dog started barking, growling as he tried to scramble up onto the couch. I lowered Marie’s body to the ancient, paisley-patterned cushion and reached into my pocket for my phone, the other hand drifting over her face. The small trickle of blood from her nostril made my heart stop.

“Marie?” I roared, feeling completely fucking useless. “Marie??”

Tbc!