Stretching out, pain, God damn that hurts……… dizziness, distant voices….. who’s talking so fucking quietly. Dizziness again.

Blackness………

Come on, eyes, I know you want to open, but it’s so hard, the voices are there again. “Marie?” I think one of them said my name, but I don’t know who’s there. Feeling tired again.

Blackness………

“I’m sorry, Logan, but she can’t be moved.” Voices are louder now, yes, eyes are going to work. I blink to try and get my eyes to focus on the blobs in front of me. I know that one, I think.

“Lo…gan?” The tall blob turns towards me and touches my cheek with its hand. Yeah, that’s Logan, I think.

“Hey darlin’. How you feeling?” I’m on my side. Am I in bed? No, because I can’t see Jubes, she’s always in our room.

I try to push myself up and flop back onto the bed or wherever I am. “Hey, take it easy, darlin’. You’re not up to moving much yet.” Mmmmm, Logan. Dreamy Logan, I’m dreaming, I’m tired.

Blackness………..

I physically jump awake. Whatever I was dreaming about I can’t remember it now, but I am vaguely aware of violence. I turn slightly and try to sit up. Everything aches, hurts, and wants to go back to sleep. I push myself up, and the thin sheet falls down to my waist.

I’m on a gurney in the med lab. “How the fuck did I get in here?” God, my voice is croaky. Check that, this isn’t our med lab. It’s more advanced, more monitors and stuff. This is really weird. I was awake when he let go, I don’t get it. I’m wearing only a vest top and panties. That’s even weirder. Where did my clothes go?

The med lab door opens, and holy sweet be-Jesus! I scramble back on the small bed until my back hits the wall. Shit! There’s nowhere else to go. Fuck! I’m trapped in here with a fucking great blue gorilla.

The gorilla looks at me with a puzzled expression. Well, you’re, huge, and you’re blue. What do you want me to do, say, ‘Here you are. Kill me already!’?

“You’re awake, I see. Would you like something to drink?” My hands are wedged under my bottom, balled into tight fists. I really need to get out of here. I nod slowly. I would like a drink, but, God, what if it’s poisoned?

He hands me a small glass of water with a cheerful smile. I take it and raise it to my lips without taking my eyes off him. “Marie?” He seems hesitant. Fuck, it knows my name!

I put the glass down on the bed by my side. “How do you know my name?” He looks puzzled again, and he takes off his glasses and polishes them with the end of his lab coat, smiling.

“My dear, everyone knows your name.” I shake my head and try to back up even more, but the wall is stopping me. This isn’t happening. Where’s Logan? Logan, of course….

“LOGAN!” I scream as loud as I can. Blue gorilla jumps and backs up from me. It’s a long shot, but there’s a good chance he is near. Or maybe he’s not here? What if he’s hurt or dead? Oh God, Logan can’t be dead!

My breathing is coming in short gasps, and I know I’m on the verge of panic. The doors burst open, and thank God! Oh thank you, God! I scramble off the bed and fling myself at him, not worrying about the amount of exposed skin. He clings to me so tightly.

“I woke up, and I was all alone, then this blue gorilla came in and he knows my name and I don’t tell people my name –well, only you- but I‘ve got no clothes and…and…” My words rush out in my panic.

“Shh, shh, baby, it’s ok. I’m here, and everything is ok. Just calm down, darlin’. Hank, what the hell’s going on?” Hank - he knows him?

“I think that maybe Marie could be experiencing a small amount of short-term memory loss due to the, um, knock on the head. She appeared not to know who I am.” I turn around in Logan’s embrace. Something is not right here.

“What? I don’t know you! Certainly not enough to be standing here in my underwear, that’s for sure. And what knock on the head?” I look at Logan again. He moves me back over to the bed and lifts me up onto it. He has gloves on. That’s sweet. He picks up the sheet and wraps it around me and smirks.

“Better?” I nod and cling to his hand, I’m so confused. “You had a bang on the head We were on a mission. You’ve been out for nearly two whole days. Been waking up every now and again, but you ain’t been very coherent.” Mr. Blue or Hank or whatever-his-name is comes over. Mission?

“Or cooperative I, might add.” He hands me the glass of water again, and I sip from it.

“What do you mean by ‘short-term’?” Blue takes his glasses off to clean them again. I’m guessing it’s a it-makes-me-look-important gesture. He’s about to tell Logan whatever is wrong with me. Where the fuck is Jean anyway?

“Where’s Jean? Can’t she look after me? I mean, I know I’m not exactly her biggest fan, but at least I know her.” I’m whining like a 12-year-old, but I don’t care. I feel crappy, and everyone should know about it. They both turn and look at me like I just let one go in a confined space.

They look at each other, and Logan lets go of my hand and rubs the back of his head. “Um, Jeannie’s, um, not here at the moment.” He looks at Blue. “What’s going on?” He takes a couple of paces away from me and carries on rubbing his head. Why do they both look so worried? Hank tries to sound positive.

“Marie, this is very important. What’s the last thing you remember clearly? Not a dream or something you think you know, but the actual last thing that you recall?”

Logan is standing with his hands on his hips looking really serious. “Um, the machine.” He looks pale for some reason and like he has no idea what I’m talking about. “You know, Magento’s machine? But I can’t remember hitting my head.”

“The Statue of Liberty? That’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well, duh!! You couldn’t have forgotten about it that easy. I mean, Jesus Logan, you were kinda….. you know, dead!”

“Marie, darlin’ that was, um…..” He is rubbing the back of his neck again and looking at Hank for help.

“What?”

“That was eight years ago, darlin’.”

He can’t be serious.

I start to laugh at him, but when he doesn’t laugh back, I stop and stare at him. “You’re kidding, right? Eight years? I’ve lost the last eight years of my life? So I’m….TWENTY-FOUR?!”

“Not lost, my dear, just put out-of-place, temporarily. It will come back with a little time, as everything clears. Don’t fret.” As I look at Logan, I realise this is how he must have felt.

“Isn’t there anything you can give me to help it go quicker?”

“Generally, drugs just mask the problem. You should figure it out on your own.”

“Fine by me. Mask it, throw a cape on it, let it fight crime! I don’t give a rat’s ass. I just, don’t want to feel like this anymore.” Logan chuckles at my impatience.

“That’s my girl. Come on, lets get you a shower and something to eat. Maybe a walk around will do you some good.” He looks at Hank for approval, who smiles and nods.

“Look, um, Hank, sorry. I never meant to be rude. This is a little odd.” He puts a hand gently on my arm.

“Its fine,” he shoots Logan a knowing smile. “I’m guessing I’m not going to be the only surprise around here.”

I look at myself. “Logan I’m not going up there with nothing on. It’s too much skin. What if I bump into someone?” He smirks again.

“This is going to be hard. Marie, you don’t have your original mutation anymore. Your skin’s normal, darlin’. Temporarily anyway.” That can’t be right.

“How?”

“A long story that hopefully I won’t have to explain, but the general idea is, your powers got switched with someone else’s about three months ago, and you never got ‘em back yet.”

“So I have another power then? What?” He looks tired and frustrated, and he smells really nervous - I wonder how I know that? OH DEAR LORD! “Yours? I have your powers, don’t I? And that’s why you’re wearing gloves. FUCK!”

“Calm down.” He puts his gloved hands out to stroke my upper arms gently. “Like I said, it’s a long story, darlin’. Come on.” He walks over to the chair and picks up some jeans and flip flops. I never noticed them, stupid girl. I put them on and turn to him. “Its after ten, so no one will be up there anyway.”

He’s wearing a white vest, open shirt, tight jeans and boots. He is a vision of loveliness, and even though I’m slightly out of it at the moment, I still definitely would!

Eeww, I can smell my own arousal. That’s just disturbing - but I can smell him as well. Mmmm, lemon washing powder, cigar, testosterone and desire. Nice combination.

He steers me into the elevator, and the door slides shut in front of us. I lean on him and drown myself in his scent.

“You ok?” His hand is rubbing my back, and he feels so strong next to me.

“Terrific! You?” Sarcasm, don’t you just love it.

“That’s my girl, you moan your way out of it.”

“That’s the second time you called me your girl. Is there something you ‘re not telling me?” He drops his arm from around me and moves away a little. The elevator starts to slow. We can’t be near the top yet?

“We dated, for about two years now, but it’s not been working lately. Guess we kinda broke up.” He looks at his feet, and I can smell the sadness rolling off him, as well as the fact that he is keeping something from me.

“What hap…..” I don’t have time to finish my sentence because the elevator lights go out, and it veers slightly, knocking Logan into me. Then it comes to a complete stop, and I fall on my ass.

*******************END OF PART ONE

“Oh, my day just keeps getting better and fucking better!” We get to our feet, and Logan goes for the telephone in the control panel. After a couple of seconds, he slams it down. It’s broken.

“Fucking stupid, fucking thing. What’s the point of having a superhero bank balance if you can’t get an elevator to work?!”

“Now what?” I get to my feet.

“Shh, I’m trying to get Chuck.” He closes his eyes, then after a second or two opens them and rolls them sarcastically. “NO! We stopped it on purpose!...Whatever, just get us the hell out of here…She’s not right, remember? Thanks.”

He looks at me, and I can make out every feature in the dim of the emergency lights. Must be part of his mutation—sight as well as enhanced smell. Wonder if touch is part of the deal, too? Could be fun to find out.

“They’re getting on it. Won’t be long.” He’s very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. I’m guessing our previous discussion is not what he wanted. Well, stuff that I want to know.

“So, care to answer my half-question: what happened?” I slide down the wall and hug my knees. He follows suit and sits down against the opposite wall.

“Like I said, not working.”

“Liar. So who fucked up, you or me?”

“Marie, you don’t want to do this now. I don’t want to do this.”

“It’s not like we’re going anywhere. And besides, I’m guessing it never got discussed, right?” His head snaps up. BINGO! He went from sad to angry in one swoop. “So let’s discuss it.”

“Fine. You.” Shit, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that! But I think he’s lying again.

“What did I do?” Please don’t say I cheated. Why would I cheat, for God’s sake? Look at the man!

“You got hurt, wouldn’t let me heal you, said you couldn’t cope with me in your head again, told me to fuck off. Simple.”

“Again. Liar. This mutation of yours is kinda handy. Wanna try again?” My tone is sarcastic, but I’m trying to keep sane here. All this is a little on the crazy side.

He huffs and crosses his arms over his massive chest. “You got hurt badly, your shoulder. There was a lot of blood. I lost it, Wolverine took over, and he grabbed you, and you started to suck him in. You only got a small draw from him, but you pushed him off, and it must have brought me to my senses. When I tried to heal you again, you went berserk. Started screaming and shouting, clawing at yourself, screaming not to touch you again. So I haven’t.”

Still not everything, and if he hasn’t touched me, then how do I have his mutation? Oh, I get it. “When did this happen?”

“About three months ago.” Again BINGO! I growl. Where did that come from?

“So third time is apparently a charm. What aren’t you telling me that I probably will eventually figure out myself but want you to tell me?” For 17, I feel very mature, but I guess that’s because I’m really 24. Weird.

“You stopped your mutation from taking me in, and it somehow switched with mine. I pushed out, you pushed out. I don’t get it, but Chuck seems to think that it’s some kinda karma thing, that we’ll eventually figure out how to reverse it.”

“Because our mutations fit together so well?” He nods but still won’t look at me. “How far have we got?”

He looks at me but doesn’t raise his head. In the dim light it looks really dangerous and incredibly sexy. “I haven’t touched you in three months and, in between you shouting at me and screaming, I kinda stay outta your way. How far do you think we’ve got?”

Shit. I did fuck up. “Do you love me?” He stands up sharply and tries to open the door with his hands. “Logan?” When it won’t budge, he starts to kick it. He gets three good kicks in before I stand up and touch his arm. “Logan, STOP!” He turns on me.

“YES, I LOVE YOU. Is that enough for you?” He runs his hand through his hair again and rests his head against the elevator door. “Yes, I love you. It’s just been hard lately.” He steps back from the door. “It’s hot.” I have to admit I’m hot, too. Especially now that he has a slight sheen of sweat on his tight tanned skin.

He rolls his shoulders and stretches his neck to the side. He lifts his vest with his hand to rub his stomach, and I notice something.

“Hey, where did you get those bruises on your ribs?” Some are purple and others lower down are starting to yellow. As I scan him again properly, I notice other things as well: a faded bruise on the side of his jaw, dropped shoulder probably due to a blow to the back, around seven stitches on the back of his head, and redness around his throat, as if someone has tried to strangle him.

“Don’t heal, remember? You do.” He leans against the opposite wall again.

I stand up and try to have a closer look, but he bats my hands away. I growl and push him to the wall and lift his vest up. After growling at him he lets me. They are fading, about two to three days old. I see the annoyance in his face, so I back up and sit on the floor again. He visibly relaxes.

“So tell me how. On the mission? Is that how I got hit on the head?”

“Marie, it’s a bit more complicated than that.” This is all a bit wrong. He doesn’t smell like he’s lying, but he’s not being honest with me either. “The mission was, um….” Now that was a lie.

“There was no mission, was there? Oh god! This is all falling into place.” I stand up and face him, running my hand through my messed-up hair, the same gesture he used moments ago. I can feel it inside me, trying to get out. “We go on a mission three months ago, I get hurt. Wolverine tries to heal me, and I take him in. You said I started clawing at myself and screaming.”

“Darlin’, you need to calm down.” He has his hands up, trying to calm me, why is he so nervous of me?

“We didn’t break up because I don’t want you to touch me, and we didn’t talk, we didn’t see each other, because it’s not a case of staying out of my way. I’ve been down there, in the lab, haven’t I? I’ve been Wolverine, haven’t I? HAVEN’T I?” I shout, growl and demand the truth from him. He flinches and I realise I could be scaring him.

“Yes, you’ve been in isolation. There was nothing else we could do. No one could reach you.” I stare at him in complete shock. I’m numb.

“What was I like? Why isolation?” He rubs my arms and sits me on the floor. He sits with me and pulls me onto his lap.

“You would scream and shout at everyone who tried to get near you. Behave like an animal sometimes, and then be coherent enough to swear and say spiteful things, disgusting things, usually to me. Apparently my inner self doesn’t like me very much.” He holds me a little tighter, and I start to cry silently, the tears peacefully rolling down my cheek on to my vest.

“It all came as a bit of a shock. I never knew Wolverine was capable of speech or even knew he was human. Chuck says you brought it out in him. Other times you would just spit, kick, claw; you’ve got bone claws. My original mutation, apparently.”

“And what happened two days ago? Didn’t hit my head, did I?” He takes a shaky breath in and lets it out again. I can smell my own tears, as well as his sadness and worry.

“No, you didn’t. You went nuts again, tried to escape, and I had to tranq you. It’s the second time so far.”

“I gave you the bruises and the stitches in your head, didn’t I?” My voice is a whisper. My crying isn’t silent anymore, and I’m sobbing into my hands.

“Yeah, baby. It wasn’t your fault. But hey, you woke up without him this time. We’re not sure how, and I don’t care. I got you back.”

“Not all of me, though. We’ve had a relationship for two years that I can’t remember, and I’m just a snotty teenager not a woman to you.” He turns me round so I’m straddling his lap. “I hurt you again. I’m so sorry.”

“Darlin’, you never had to grow up because you’re already grown up. You stepped off of that statue the oldest 17-year-old girl in the fucking universe. The last three months have been really fucking shit without you. I never want to do that again. You’re my girl, and I don’t say it to you enough, but I love you.” Holding me close to him my mind starts to flash images.

“I like you holding me really tight. I wanted to do that after the statue, but Jean was so hell-bent on getting you in the jet…. OH… oh I remember, I remember something.” I sit back and look at him excitedly. “Jean and Scott got you in the jet, and ‘Ro helped me. I could smell everyone and everything including Jean.” He has a smile on his lips, and it only briefly reaches his eyes.

“God, she pissed me off. I was trying to sort through you in my head while Scott flew the plane. It was embarrassing. She was like….” I put on my best whiny voice, “Storm, help me get his uniform off.” I roll my eyes. “Pathetic. She had you in your jockeys before we got two miles away from Liberty Island.” He starts laughing, and this time it does reach his eyes.

“Marie, you’re a crazy person.” He keeps laughing.

“Guessing you haven’t done that in a while. Laughed, I mean. I’m sorry. Put you through a lot, haven’t I? Including beating you up, by the looks of your ribs.” I sit back a little. “Let me touch you, heal you.”

He laughs again and then looks really serious. “No, I’ll live. Only life or death, remember? We agreed.”

“Actually, no, I don’t remember. We agreed, huh? More like I made you promise, right?”

“Yeah, you drum it into me before every mission. No touching unless death is imminent.” He traces my bottom lip with his gloved hand. Even though, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve never been touched before, this feels so right with him. “I wish I knew what was in your head half the time.”

“Well, to know what is going on in my head, you would have to think outside the world that revolves around the tip of your penis!” He laughs at me again. “You know, technically, as far as the memory goes, I’m a virgin!” Laughing he rests his head forward on my chest and keeps laughing.

“Trust me, darlin’, that ship sailed a loooong time ago!” I smile and bite my lip.

“You?” He brings his head up and raises both eyebrows.

“Fuck, yes. You really think I would have let you screw someone else? You’re mine, kid.” Holding me tighter, he nuzzles into my neck where my hair is. “I miss this, you babbling on about stuff and me getting to laugh at you and see you smile.”

“So let’s just do that, then. I don’t know you, not really. I may be 24, or whatever, but up here….” I tap the side of my head, “the statue felt like last night, and I’m 17. I’ve only known you a handful of days. So why don’t we get to know each other again?”

“If you remember after the statue, then you remember all my memories, personality and stuff right?” I think for a second, and yeah, it’s all there, so I nod at him. “And I know all about you, so, there’s only one other way to get to know each other.”

I’m 17, a kid, but he makes me feel all kinds of good. He loves me, and he’s right here just for me. He’s taken beatings for me and from me, he’s died for me, and a whole lot else in-between that I can’t remember right now.

He traces my lip again and laces his other hand in my hair. Leaning forward our lips are so close to touching. The elevator is suddenly filled with the thick smell of arousal, filling my lungs and making me suddenly forget about my skin, or his skin, or whatever.

“Fuck it!” I lean forward and kiss him hard so he can’t break it. I kinda of like this feeling of impatience and control. The pull starts almost immediately. I’ve never felt this side of it before, but I don’t care. The taste of him is fantastic. He lets my tongue in his mouth, and I start to feel dizzy. We should stop but something keeps us going. He’s draining me, and I can feel the light slipping away, but somehow I can still manage to kiss him.

Suddenly there’s a jolt of what feels like white-hot electricity…… White light…….
Hot………. Pain………. This must be what it fells like to die. At least I got to kiss him.

Blackness…….

*******************END OF PART TWO

I’m lying on the floor. How did I get down here? I can hear someone moving.

“Marie? Marie, talk to me.” I wave my hand at him, but I can’t seem to open my eyes. His hands close round my shoulders, and he helps me to a sitting position.

“Well, now I know why you were unconscious for days after. Jesus!” I open my eyes and look at him. His skin is a better colour. Raising my hands to lift his vest, I see his ribs are healed up completely.

“I can smell you!” He cheers excitedly, kneeling in front of me. I look at the floor trying to regain my focus.

“Your mother must be very proud.” His hands grab my face, and he turns me to look at him.

“No Marie, I CAN SMELL YOU! Feel you, hear you, everything. I can do everything! You can’t smell me right?” He raises his eyebrows and I smile suddenly realising. He lets go of me briefly, lets his claws out and then back in again. With a satisfied grin he watches his hand heel over in an instant. Then his hands are back on my face.

“Relax your stating to sound like a tampon commercial.” His hands are in my hair before I can register and he kisses me. The pull starts and he’s in my head laughing and happy, and he truly does love me. I feel suddenly like a million dollars. But just as I get something about Jean, he pulls away. “Ok?”

“Yeah, I’m ok, darlin’.”

“So I nearly got something about Jean then. Care to share?” Because I need to know. I can’t remember, and I really need to know. Maybe he did fuck her. Actually, maybe I don’t want to know. He pulls me onto his lap again. His back is against the wall.

“It’s not what you think.” Yeah, right!

“Sugar, you have no idea what I think!” He doesn’t; he thinks I’m such a nice little girl. Yeah, right. When it comes to Jean, I’m never nice.

“Ok, so tell me. What do you think the thing is about Jean?”

“That you want to start a small country in her name so you can put her on a postage stamp and lick the back of her head.” His brows knit together in the universal sign for confused.

“Huh? You think I wanted to lick the back of her head?”

“Well, you certainly want to lick something. Not necessarily the back of her head, but I’m guessing licking is gonna be involved.”

“Marie….” He has a stupid, big, grin plastered on his face.

“Look, I saw how she was with you after the statue, and then when you came back from your trip, she was all big smiles and batting eyelashes. Flicking her hair at you. Which, by the way, has to come out of a bottle. No one has hair that colour naturally, for God’s sake. I mean…mmmmpppphhhh!”

He puts his hand over my mouth and holds me still. “You realise you just remembered something else, don’t you?” He keeps his hand still, but when I nod, he lets go.

“It came back. I remember you coming home. Bobby trying to impress you with a cold handshake. Oh God, the attack on the mansion. The four of us only just got away. Bobby’s parents house—that’s a hum-dinger of a memory, that is. Right up there with watching you make a pass at Jean from the inside of my tent.”

Both his eyebrows go straight up. “You saw that? Why didn’t you ever say anything?” He rubs my back with his hands, and it makes me feel really warm.

“It was none of my business, and considering she turned ya down, I didn’t think you’d wanna hear about it.” I smack my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Ugh, Jesus. That’s why you and that Hank guy looked so worried. She’s dead. Logan, I’m so sorry!” What a relief. That’s awful, I’m actually glad she’s dead rather than fucking Logan. Now I feel guilty.

“It’s ok. We all dealt with it. It was a long time ago now. I never really wanted her anyway. It was more of a distraction from you than anything else.” His hand is back to tracing my lip, and his eyes are fixed on mine.

“A distraction? You’re the one who’s so good at distracting a girl.”

“Had a lot a practice, darlin’. How far up you remember?” His voice is quiet and soft and really, really loaded with sexuality. I don’t have to have his senses to know what he wants.

“After Alkali Lake, I remember graduation. You took me for pizza after and got me drunk ‘cause I broke up with Bobby. I slept in your bed and woke up with you wrapped around me. Scott went nuts when he came in to ask you why his bike had no gas in it. The next day, you bought me a beat-up, old jeep and taught me to drive.”

His hand is tracing small circles on my back, while the other one trails down my throat and plays with my vest strap. “I remember the whole year, mucking around with you and Jubes, baiting Scott. YOU actually really like her. Teaching me to fight, and the Professor offering me a place on the team.”

“Do you remember ignoring me when I said no?”

“Yep, and I remember pointing out that it was my choice, and if you didn’t like it, you knew where you could shove it!”

“You never listen to me, darlin’.” He is still playing with my vest strap and rubbing my back.

“Tell me about us?” My hands are on his chest, rubbing gently. I can’t help myself; I love the feel of him.

“What do you wanna know, baby?” I swear his eyes just dilated.

“The first time….” I blush, “we, you know, made love.” I can’t keep his gaze so I watch my hands on his chest.

“Er, can I tell you about the second time instead?” My head goes up, and I look at his expression. It’s like a guilty child who was just caught stealing sweets.

“Why? What happened the first time? What did you do?”

“I kinda took advantage of you. I’m not proud of it, but I couldn’t help myself.”

“Tell me. Now!” I fold my arms in front of my chest. And glare at him. I bet he didn’t take advantage; he just thinks he did.

“It was a bad mission, pick-up gone wrong. The teenager we went to get got killed by the brotherhood. You had hold of him at the time. They couldn’t have him, so they shot him. Missed you by inches.” He looks down, picks up my hand and kisses the palm; he closes his eyes and holds it to him for a second.

He begins to demonstrate as he talks. He puts his hand on my throat and traces to my breast.

“We got back on the blackbird and you were in tears.…..”

With his hand on my breast, a dark look in his eyes, I segue into the memory.

~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~

I’m sitting on the jet with Logan next to me, crying my eyes out and holding onto him for dear life.

“He… was just… a kid.” He holds me tighter.

“I know, darlin’.” We land, and he picks me up.

“Logan, take her to the med lab, and we’ll check her for shock.” Scott’s voice. My face is buried in Logan’s shoulder while I sob. I can hear ‘Ro crying too, and Bobby trying to comfort her.

“She comes with me, Scooter. Leave her for a while.”

“Logan…” Scott shouts after him.

“Let him go, Scott. He’s the only one she’ll listen to, anyway.” That’s a bitter tone from Bobby.

He lays us on his bed and pulls me close to him. After a little while of sobbing, I start to calm down. Wiping my face, I move back to look at him.

“Red eyes and puffy cheeks must look really sexy, huh?” He reaches past me and takes one of my thin, silk scarves out from under his pillow. How long has he had that?

Laying it over my lips, he leans in and kisses me gently at first, but it turns rougher when I let his tongue into my mouth. His hand takes the band out of my hair, and he holds me to him.

“I need to feel you alive, Marie. I nearly lost you today. I need to feel you NOW!”

He kisses me roughly again and moves so he’s on top of me, while his hands start to tear at my uniform. He breaks the zip open on my top and starts to peel it off me. I lean up and let him. He breaks the kiss long enough to get my top off, and he growls at the bruises on my ribs.

“Next time I see that Juggernaut bastard, I’m gonna rip him apart.” I pull his head down for another kiss, and I’m kissing him with matching roughness. I never realised how much I truly wanted him. A crush, my ass!!

I start to unzip his top, but he stops me with his hands. I touch him through the leather, and the muscles in his perfect shoulders and torso ripple slightly.

He moves back and sits on his heels. I see the want and sadness in his eyes, and I think I’m still crying. I’m just a big ball of emotion. He undoes my leather pants and starts to peel them off. I’m covered in sweat, and they slip off easily. Pulling my boots and socks off, they all get thrown on top of the growing pile of clothes on the floor.

He’s back to attacking my mouth, and he moves down to my throat, as far as the scarf will let him. With shaking hands, I brush down his body and start on the button of his pants. He growls into my shoulder when I undo the first button. I stop, not sure how to proceed, and put my hands in his hair.

He lets out one claw, and in seconds, my bra is in shreds. Repositioning the scarf, he takes my nipple in his mouth and sucks on it gently. Then he licks and nips his way over to the other breast. Groping and kissing, nipping and sucking, till I’m moaning for more and arching my back.

He raises himself off me slightly and puts a hand on either side of my hips, inside my panties. A quick flick, and the claws have disposed of them with ease. I jump when I hear the metal snikt back into place, but it doesn’t stop us from kissing.

I’m completely naked and pressed against his hard, muscled, leather-encased body, kissing the man I’ve been in love with for years.

I reach for his buttons again and get them completely undone, releasing his engorged cock. He breaks our heated kiss and reaches for his nightstand, opening the drawer, he pulls out a foil packet.

Holding it near my face, he looks me in the eye. “I need to feel you alive.” I nod, and he leans back again, opening the packet and putting the condom on. He runs his gloved hands up my thighs, and I shiver at the touch.

He positions himself between my legs and kisses me again, letting his tongue in as he pushes his cock into me. It hurts like fuck, but I make sure I show no sign of pain, and he keeps going. After a few gentle strokes, it starts to feel like my insides are folding in on themselves in an attempt to hold onto him. It’s heaven.

He has one hand on my hip and the other in my hair, both gripping equally hard. I raise my legs around him, and he gets faster and harder. Hammering into me, growling into my mouth, I feel the light start to fade. I break the kiss, tip my head and scream his name. I love the feeling the leather of his uniform glide against my sweat-ridden, glistening skin. The contrast of the black against the almost-white of my skin causes me to come with amazing force.

“LOGAN!”

“GRRRRrrrrr…..” He explodes into me and lays there, panting into my neck.

~~~~FLASHACK END~~~~

*************END OF PART THREE

“Hello, in there.” He waves his hand in front of my face.

Coming back to reality with a wild blush, I giggle and hide my face behind my hands.

“Guess that all came rushing back then. Sorry.” I look at him and touch his mutton chop.

He takes off one glove and gives it to me. We have one each to do a little touching.

“Sorry? You gave me wild sex and my need for you to be alive, and you’re saying sorry? You’re amazing.”

“No, I’m not, just a regular person.” I laugh at him a little.

“Just a regular mutant-type person, I know. Apart from the fact that you come from the planet gggrrrrrr.” He chuckles at me while rubbing my back.

“After the last three months I understand you a bit more” I frown and he carries on. “I mean, why you cover up, don’t go certain places that kind of thing. Guess I understand myself a bit more to.” He smiles at me and relaxes completely for the first time. “We should be getting out of here soon.” He is rubbing small circles as he talks.

“Maybe I don’t want to get out of here anytime soon? Maybe I want to stay here for a while.” I nervously bite my lip, wonder what he’ll say to that. We’re together and in love and have been for two years, and it’s finally starting to hit me. There’s a lot in-between and some stuff I don’t remember yet, but we really belong to each other.

“Marie.” He raises his eyebrows at me.

“That’s another thing. I can’t remember telling everyone my name. Is that a recent thing?”

“Yeah. You said you wanted to go back to being you, not a codename or a cover-up. On missions you’re Rogue, and at home you’re my Marie.”

“This is all a little weird. I wake up, and you’re with me. I mean, really with me, heart and soul and everything. And it’s new because of the memory thing. I can’t even remember you. This is the most you’ve ever even talked to me, and I’m having flashbacks of us having sex. Like I said, it’s weird.”

“Can I kiss you?” His eyes are soft, sparkling balls of hazel, and they are so beautiful, I nod. How could any woman in her right mind refuse this man anything?

Reaching inside his jacket he pulls out a scarf. It’s the same one from my flashback. I recognise it but can’t remember the last time I saw it.

“Where did you get that?”

“You don’t know?” I shake my head and rub his chest with my one, gloved hand. “It was the one you had on at Liberty Island. I woke up in the med lab with it in my hand. Jean never saw it, or she never said anything, anyway.”

He holds it up between us, and I lean forward and trap it between our lips. Kissing him feels like eating chocolate cookies and ice cream at midnight. Warm and fuzzy, happy and safe, but there’s still the tingle of danger lurking under the surface.

I feel his left hand snake up under my top and gently squeeze my breast, then roll my nipple between his fingers. He stands up, brings me to my feet and unzips my jeans.

We are kissing feverishly while he pushes my jeans to the floor. Then he lifts me and sits me on the handrail. I reached down to unbutton his jeans, and his cock was already starting to harden responsively. I squeezed and rolled it with my gloved hand, and he groaned gently and leaned his head against the wall beside my neck.

Kissing me and then breaking our heated and needy kiss, he reaches behind him. He gets his wallet from his jeans, taking out a condom. All the while I’m still moving my hand gently up and down his length.

He stops me and rolls the condom on. We haven’t said a word, and we don’t need to. I’m finally getting that this is all real, and we really are together. He grasps his cock with his other hand and rubs it tenderly around my clit through my panties.

Pulling them to one side, he sinks into me. I half-expect it to hurt, but then remember we have done this before. I squeeze my thighs around his waist, and my insides tighten, and he groans loudly.

He grabs my gloved hand, yanking the glove off and putting it on his bare hand. He grabs my bottom, pulling me towards him as he thrusts into me. If I bend my head down slightly, I can see his cock emerge from underneath my fuzz of hair, glossed with my own juices. The action makes little sucking sounds which fill my ears and echoes off the walls of the elevator.

He leans into my ear and whispers softly “You remember me now?” Then the waves of heat begin to spread over my body.

“Logan, uuhh GAWD!” We gather intensity, thrusting in unison, his hips and mine to meet him. Then in those few seconds of silence before climax, I look at him, realising he truly loves me. Then it undulates through my body, making my back arch like a cat’s and my mind explode into a million images.

“MARIE! Luv ya baby.”

We slide to the floor in a heap, panting into each other’s neck. I rest my head back against the wall to look at him. Blazing eyes, heavy frame, the way his mouth curves in clean lines when he smiles, and the strong scent of sex. At some point during all that, I got a quick draw off of him and can smell everything.

“I remember you and everything else. Maybe we should tell Hank the cure for short-term memory loss is to spend two hours trapped in an elevator with you.” He helps me to my feet and does up his jeans.

“Everything?”

Yes, everything. Catching Hank and Jubes having wild, furry sex in the lab. Laughing with Kitty while we tried on the hideous bridesmaid dresses Jubes made us wear to their wedding last year. Remy arriving and causing havoc among the entire female population, and then Logan laughing evilly when I broke his jaw ‘cause he cheated on Kitty. Kitty and Bobby finally realising they liked each other, along with Scott and ‘Ro. The best one is waking up everyday, wrapped in a pair of strong, muscled arms.

And two days ago, throwing Logan through a set of double doors, slicing three slashes across his upper back, smashing the back of his skull against the floor, breaking his ribs, and then trying to slit his throat while he tried desperately to calm me. He never once laid a finger on me; he never even defended himself, if it meant he might hurt me. If he hadn’t had the tranq gun hidden in his jacket, I would have killed him.

“Yeah, you lied, again. I didn’t just go nuts two days ago; I tried to kill you and very nearly did. I’m so sorry.” Pulling me to him, I bury my face in his chest.

“Like I said, it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t your fault. I want you to forget about all this.” He tips my face up to his and kisses me quickly before the killer skin has time to react.

I pull my jeans on and put my old scarf round my neck. “Can you imagine Scott’s face if he caught us a minute ago?”

“Probably give him a stroke.” Giggling I smack him on the arm.

“He’s not that bad since he started seeing ‘Ro.” I really do remember everything. I have a wonderful life. A bit dangerous every now and then, but we’ve just proved it all works out if we have each other.

“Trust me. I bet he was a pain in the ass when he was a kid, but now he’s blossomed into a three-fingered prostate exam!”

I lean against the elevator wall to steady me, as I laugh my ass off. The lights suddenly flicker back on, and the elevator starts to travel up again.

I love this man!

END