“Rogue, would you hurry up?” Jubilee was standing in the doorway impatiently tapping her feet, waiting for her.

“I’m coming!” She ran out of her bathroom to meet her friend. She was wearing a shirt, black skirt and knee-highs, and a dark blue v-neck sweater with long sleeves. Even though she could control her skin these days, she couldn’t help feeling safer covered up.

“Whoa, hot mama Rogue!” She blushed at her friend as they headed off.

They went out most Friday nights. They had to take their pagers in case there was a serious mission. But most Friday’s were their own.

Logan watched them jump into the waiting taxi and smiled. He was happy that his little Marie was such a confident young woman. She was an X-Men, despite his better judgement; she was 21 and beautiful. He had watched her grow up, overcome her issues with her mutation, enough to gain complete control of it.

She didn’t live at the mansion anymore. She had a small apartment in town over the top of a Chinese takeaway. She had only decided to rent it because of the smell. Most Friday nights she stayed with Jubes. They went out, and she spent all day Saturday there. She taught photography to some of the older students three times a week, but was there at least every other day to work out and train.

The club was heaving. People everywhere. Jubes kept glancing at Rogue to make sure she wasn’t freaking out, but there wasn’t any need. Rogue was having a great time.

They had been talking to a couple of guys for about an hour. Mike was tall, blonde and a little skinny, but Jubes liked his eyes and was flirting with him outrageously as he bought her drinks and flirted back. Ethan was well-built, dark with nicely-cut hair, and he reminded Marie of David Boreanez, the guy who played Angel in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.

He was amazingly easy to talk to. He had flattered her with compliments and made her feel pretty and wanted. They had chatted about films and music, and he was currently asking her about her job while he rolled a cigarette. “So you teach photography?”

“Yeah, it’s cool. You get to take pictures of really weird stuff, and no one questions it because you can call it *art*.”

He finished his cigarette put it between his lips, and lit it. The moment Rogue smelled it, she knew it wasn’t any smoke you could buy over the counter. He smiled at her and offered it to her.

Not wanting to look like a complete plank, she took it from him and drew off it. The weed filled her lungs, and she coughed. He smiled at her. “First one’s the worst. Take a second toke on it.” She did and was surprised that she didn’t choke.

He rolled another and left her to smoke the first one. As the evening wore on, she drank what he bought her and smoked what he gave her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so deliriously happy. She giggled at everything. So did he. They laughed together as they watched Jubes and Mike dancing slowly while kissing; for some reason, the scene was hilarious.

When the club closed, they exchanged numbers, and he kissed her, holding his hands on her cheeks and pulling her to him. It wasn’t a perfect kiss, but it was perfect at that moment. She didn’t pull away, the drug in her system making her forget she had only just met him.

When she and Jubes got home, they tottered on their heels back to Jubes’s room. Rogue couldn’t stop giggling, and Jubes, even though she was drunk, just couldn’t see what was so funny.

Waking up in the morning, Rogue felt like she had been hit by a truck: tired, dizzy, but thankfully not sick. Jubes, on the other hand, was already throwing up in the bathroom.

After a slow and weary day of watching the students swim and marking some papers, she decided to call Ethan.

He picked up quickly. “Yeah.” Her heart skipped a beat in excitement.

“Hey, it’s Rogue, from last night.” She was sure she heard him smile.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Are you around tonight?”

“Could be.” She bit her lip. She really did like him, and according to Jubes, it was about time she had a man in her life, other than Tall-dark-and-growly.

“Meet me at the club at eight. I really want to see you again.”

“Ok. See you then.”

“Ok, bye.”

“Bye.” She put her phone on her desk and clapped her hands together like an excited child.

She ran upstairs and borrowed Jubes’s shower, and then got into her best tight black jeans and a silver boob tube that Kitty had bought her for Christmas. As she was leaving, Jubes, ‘Ro and Logan were in the foyer.

“Where you going, dude?” Jubes called after her, but the others looked like they expected an answer as well.

“Ethan. We have a date. I’ll see you Tuesday.” She turned and ran to the waiting taxi. “See ya.”

She got stoned with him again, smoking more than she had the night before. She couldn't get enough of the excitement. It made her bold, made her feel very sexy and wanton, sitting in the booth in a darkened club, openly kissing someone she had only known for 24 hours. She straddled his lap as their kisses deepened. Then they giggled as they broke apart.

He took her home in a taxi, giving the driver an explicit lesson on French kissing. Groping her breasts and moaning into her mouth when she cupped him through his jeans. She didn’t know she could behave like that. When she got out of the taxi, he pinned her to its door, kissing her again, before getting back in and leaving her to go up to her door alone.

Logan sat in his truck opposite Marie’s apartment, watching some guy kiss her into the side of a cab. He wanted to growl, run over there, and throw the little prick a hundred yards. But he didn’t. He saw the way her body arched into him, saw her delicate hand and fingers wind into his hair. She wanted him, whoever the hell this kid was. Marie wanted him. He couldn’t deny her anything. Then he smiled - plus the fact she would kill him for interfering.

He had only gone to make sure she got home ok. He started the engine and pulled away, not wanting to see whether or not she took him up with her.

It went on like this for two more months. She would go out one night during the week and then both Friday and Saturday nights with Ethan. She would get completely smashed on whatever he was smoking, each night needing more and more to get that *thrill*, combining it with vodka or something else that was similarly potent.

In the morning, she woke up tired and hungry, her head ready to explode. She couldn’t think why she kept doing it. It gave her a buzz, and she certainly like the feeling of being so happy. So free. Not caring about the things around her.

She had started giving Ethan money for the drugs he gave her, after he said he only had enough to buy his own. He introduced her to people. All were fun to be around and seemed to like her. She had become part of his little group, and she loved it.

She loved the feeling smoking dope gave her. The feeling of being so out of it, she could forget about killer mutants like ‘Bagpuss’ and Bucket-head. The world melted away. She didn’t have to worry if there was a war coming or not. She didn’t have to worry that sooner or later she and the ones she loved the most would have to fight and kill in order to survive.

Not just evil mutants. Humans were just as bad. There wasn’t a news broadcast that went by when someone hadn’t killed someone else for this reason or that. Children, woman, they didn’t care. Now she had a way so that she didn’t either. She could lose the feeling, but take the attention of a man.

It wasn’t just general things; there were personal things too. She hated the idea of being left alone. She couldn’t cope with the thought of eventually falling in love with someone only to have it end badly. She just couldn’t deal with it.

She had done something similar when she was younger, with her grandmother. She had become old, but when she started to get ill, Marie distanced herself, stopped visiting, stopped calling. Her theory was that if she distanced herself from her when she was alive, it wouldn’t be so bad when she died. After that, whenever anyone said they loved her she just smiled, not able to bring herself to say it back. Not even to her mother.

The thought that everyone might just not want her anymore, like her parents, scared her to death. She had ended her relationship with Bobby, not wanting to wait for him to leave her; she did it before she got too close. Even her relationship with Logan had its boundary.

It was easier to smile, but not get close, be happy when people were around, but not join in. She couldn’t stick her neck out only to have it chopped off. It was all too much of a risk.

She stepped into the shower and winced as the water hit her skin. Yeah, that was it. She didn’t want to feel anymore. She didn’t want to feel like a freak, didn’t want to feel like the whole world was closing in on them, ready to kill simply because they were a potential threat.

Escaping was one thing, but she was truly in denial of her feelings. A couple of mornings she had even woken up in her bed with no idea of how she got there. The previous night simply a complete haze. One morning she had no clothes on and fearfully wondered how and why. But she just concluded that she must have come home and undressed herself.

Last night had been especially vague. They had gone to a new club called The Underground, somewhere she had never been before. She’d felt tense as they descended the spiral staircase into the echoing tile room below. A hulking bodyguard had stood in the middle of the room. He gestured to Ethan, who smiled and showed him some kind of membership card. He opened a door for them, and the sound of pumping music met her ears.

It was like an enormous warehouse. The lights were dim and gave everyone an eerie glow. Filled to the brim with heaving people, a stage at one end with a DJ, and off to one side some booth with important looking people in. Bodyguards keeping the revellers out. She also noticed a narrow corridor leading off to god-knows-where.

They had drunk and danced, and he once had left her at the bar while he went to one of the booths. He came back and offered her a pill with a small ‘e’ stamped on it. She was already stoned and at that time could see no reason not to take it. The rest of the night went by in a blur of kisses, bright lights, dancing and laughing. She was hot and sweaty and so perfectly high.

She never realised that she could be so out of control, be so free of all her thoughts. She was glad that the voices in her head had stopped years ago. It had been so long since she touched anyone like that, and they would drive her mad now.

She arrived at the mansion on her old Vespa and headed straight for her class. Logan stopped her in the hall. They had lunch together everyday she was there.

“Hey.” He looked his casual handsome self, vest, shirt, jacket and cigar. Leaning against the doorframe of her classroom, waiting for her.

“Hey yourself. We still on for lunch?” She noticed that his nostrils flared, and she hoped that she didn’t smell like the club anymore.

“Can’t. I got to run an ‘errand’ for Chuck. You in tomorrow?”

“Um, what are we on, Tuesday? So no, I’ll be in Friday afternoon. The schedule changed slightly this week. I’ll see you then?”

He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. And stop smokin’ that shit. It makes your eyes dull.”

She sighed and muttered under her breath as he walked off, “Yes, dad!”

“I heard that!” was the laughing reply she got from around the hall corner. She laughed and walked into her classroom to set up for the morning. She only had two lessons today. She was glad she was going out with Ethan again that evening.

She got home later than she wanted to, after being cornered by Jubes, who insisted that she tell her everything about her relationship with Ethan. Rogue told her the truth. They went out and partied, but at the moment they hadn’t even gone past the kissing stage.

She showered, dressed, and was just checking her make-up when her buzzer went. She didn’t bother to check who it was, she knew. Grabbing her jacket, she raced downstairs. Ethan was patiently waiting at the bottom. She was already slightly high from the joint she’d smoked while getting ready.

He looked handsome, and she kissed him easily. She was attracted to him, but she knew she wasn’t in love with him, nowhere near. She had purposely not bothered to get to know him properly.

She suddenly realised as they walked into The Underground club that she knew absolutely nothing about him: his last name, where he lived, where he was from, or even if he had a job.

He handed her a drink and a joint. She smoked it, and the familiar buzz began to fill her again. She got looser as the evening wore on. Openly kissing him in front of his friends. They danced closely, and she vaguely remembered him groping her breasts through her top as they swayed about.

He took her through the narrow corridor which led to some back rooms. He opened a door, and Rogue gasped at the sight that greeted her. A girl lay on her back, while a man, maybe her boyfriend, maybe not, roughly fucked her, his hands digging into her fleshy thighs as he held then apart. Marie could see every detail, his cock slamming in and out of her. Another man was harshly shoving his own cock in her mouth, her long blond hair wound round his fist as he forced himself in and out of her lips. The girl was so obviously out of it that she didn’t even move, arms limp at her sides, no sounds coming from her, her head hanging in the mans hand with a vacant expression.

She didn’t know what to think. She giggled, but it was a nervous giggle, the dope and ‘e’ in her veins making her not realise the seriousness of that girl’s situation, or her own.

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

Ethan laughed and closed the door again, wisecracking about it being the wrong room. The next one had one of his friends in. They entered, and he sat on the floor by the bed, Rogue sitting next to him. His friend was heating a golden liquid in a spoon with his lighter. She knew what he was doing, she wasn’t that naive. It must be heroin.

He drew it into a needle, then tied a bit of elastic around the top of his arm, holding it between his teeth, and injected himself in his vein. His eyes glazed over, and he let go of the elastic as his mouth went slack.

Rogue watched with fascination. His head tipped back, and he smiled lazily. Then she watched as Ethan took the spoon, put some water on it along with the heroin, heated it, and injected himself with it. After a minute or so, he held the same glazed expression as his friend.

He leaned towards her, took the joint out of her mouth, kissed her, and then placed it back between her lips. Smoking more and taking another ‘e’, she drifted in and out of euphoria.

She was aware that she was just staring at the ceiling of the room, white flaking paint hanging limply towards her, strange marks that if she looked long enough she was sure moved. She was hot and could feel the sweat on her back as she leaned against the bed. Ethan was in front of her, mumbling something about how wonderful she was going to feel, how beautiful the world would be.

She felt the scratch of the needle as it went into her arm. Ethan’s voice counted to eight, and then her body arched as she felt a wave, a rush of pure bliss fill her. She immediately felt cold, her breathing shallowed, and every care she had left in her mind floated away like a soft blowing breeze.

She let her body slip slowly sideways to the floor. She could see the door, the dim lights that came through, and the shadows of people stumbling past. The distant beat of the music slowed and matched her heartbeat, pounding noisily in her ears, along with the gentle whooshing sound of her blood through her veins.

The first time she came to, she was still on the floor. Her body felt cold and limp. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. She tried to speak but found she had forgotten how, and it confused her. Her mind swam with all the things that had happened to her. Meeting Logan. She felt her body jump as she remembered how he accidentally stabbed her. The train. His promise. Magneto’s machine. Falling out of the jet and Alkali Lake. She smiled at the memory of him looking at her, his eyes, his strong face.

The second time she came to, she rushed into the small dirty bathroom to be sick. Ethan followed her in and helped her back to the bed, laying her on it. “It’s ok, baby. I’m going to make it all better.” She tried to protest. She flapped her hand in his direction only to have him secure it under his knee. She arched off the bed as she felt him inject her again.

A fresh wave of nothingness hit her. She opened her mouth and tipped her head back, gasping at the sensation, too amazing and euphoric to describe. Time drifted by as if it never existed. She lay there looking at the window, watching the darkness slowly evaporate into the bright uncaring light of the sun, only to witness it slowly sink back down into the dangerous gloom as she finally fell asleep.

Waking up for a third time, she found she was laying face down on the bed, her clothes missing, the air in the room cool on her naked skin. The vision of that girl being used flashed into her mind. She looked to her left to see Ethan asleep in a chair against the far wall; he was fully clothed. Turning over, she nearly stopped breathing.

Ethan’s friend, she had no idea of his name, was lying next to her sleeping. He was naked as well. The bleak realisation that she must have had sex with him hit her, making her feel sick. She crawled off the bed, silently sobbing as found her clothes on the floor. She was still incredibly high, but somehow knew she needed to leave, right now. The two men slept on as she staggered out of the door.

She hailed a cab and cried in the back as he drove her to her apartment. She rested her head against the window. Let the coolness of the glass soothe her burning skin. She hadn’t realised she had fallen asleep until the cab driver yelled at her.

“Hey, wake up, and get your junkie ass out of my cab!”

“Hey, I’m not a….” She didn’t finish her sentence. Realising that, yes, she was. She chucked him a twenty and ran for the solace of her apartment. She passed her neighbour, Mr Sompting, on the way, ignoring the words he spoke.

The apartment was just as she had left it. Clean and neat. She had no idea that it was Sunday; she had been out of it for four days straight. She took off her jacket, shoes, socks and went into the kitchen and drank some water straight form the tap. She felt like she hadn’t drunk anything in years. As she drank like a thirsty cat, her neighbour was making an important phone call.

He dialled the number that the two men had left. The one with the funny sunglasses had been very polite, but the other taller, harder-looking man had made it perfectly clear he was to call if she came home. He spoke to whom he presumed was the nicer man and explained that she was indeed home.

She laughed at the way she was drinking. Opening her cupboard to get a glass, a small plastic bag filled with small round pills fell out. She looked at it and then at her reflection in her window. She looked pathetic, and at that moment the pills held a more promising option. She filled the glass with water and opened the bag.

At the now familiar feeling of the drugs nullifying her body and numbing her mind, she dropped the glass, watching it fall in slow motion, and it shattered and splintered on the floor. She didn’t care, honestly, wondering if she was capable anymore.

She walked over the shattered glass fragments. The sharp points cutting and digging through her delicate skin into her bare feet. She felt nothing. Leaving nothing but bloodied footprints and clothes as she walked into her bathroom and stepped in the shower.

As she turned on the water, she smiled hazily at the way the water turned red when it reached her feet. She pressed herself against the shower wall and sank to the floor, picking the glass out of her skin and tossing it out the shower door, not caring if that’s where she stayed for the rest of her life.

When Scott screeched the SUV to a halt outside ‘The Lucky House’ takeaway, it was difficult to tell who dove out of the car first: Jubes, Logan or Scott. Logan was definitely the first one to her door. He banged on it, calling her name.

Jubes began to dig around in her bag. “Wait, caveman, I have a key.” She was having trouble finding it.

Logan pushed her out of the way. “I can smell blood!” He reared back and kicked the door in. It swung on its hinges, but didn’t break.

The three rushed into the apartment, Logan immediately running to the bathroom, following the scent of blood. Scott looked at the floor, noticing the small bloodied prints leading from the kitchen. He went to investigate that.

Logan opened the shower door. “MARIE!” The water was freezing. God knows how long she had been there. He picked up the naked, cold, wet, and unconscious girl easily, taking her into the bedroom. Jubes grabbed a huge towel and wrapped it around her as Logan placed her on the bed, then covered her in blankets.

Jubes moved Logan out of the way and checked for her pulse. She let out a quick “Phew,” when she found it. Then she pulled up Rogue’s eyelids to look at her eyes. Finally she moved the towel and looked at her arms, sighing at the needle marks. She turned to Logan. “You need to go and call Hank. She is well out of it, man! I mean seriously smacked!”

Scott came in with a small plastic bag. “It looks like this is what she’s taken, but I don’t know how many.”

Jubes pointed to her arm. “She’s taken more than that.”

“FUCK!” Logan ran his hand through his hair. He looked at *his* Marie, taking in her drawn-out face, sunken eyes and grey complexion. “I *ever* get my hands on that little prick!”

Scott let out a sharp laugh. “Get in line!”

Over the next hour, many phone calls were made. Hank arrived and did what he could to help her. He bandaged her feet. She had regained consciousness and been sick. Hank had ushered the others out while he cleaned her up and saw to her. He asked her what she had taken. She told him quietly and honestly. He gave her a black drink that made her sick, again. Then he gave her something to help her sleep.

They had left her snuggled under blankets on her bed, shivering and sweating in her sleep. They were in the living room. Logan hadn’t stopped pacing. While Hank and Jubes sat on the sofa, Scott sat on the edge of the coffee table.

Hank took blood samples, but had already said he thought it was heroin. He studied the needle marks, their angle, placement, and concluded, to Scott, Jubilee and especially Logan’s relief, that she could not have injected herself.

“I don’t understand why she would let someone do that to her.” Logan stopped pacing when Hank answered his question.

“It is possible that she was quite inebriated already. She might not have been able to protest or even realise what was happening. She doesn’t have any obvious bruising, so I wouldn’t say she was restrained at the time.” Logan suddenly had a series of other horrible thoughts of what else she might not have been able to protest about.

Jubes spoke quietly, still trying to process what had happened. “What do we do now?”

“We wait and help her in any way we can. I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with this kind of thing, but I know that abstinence is the only true way.”

“You mean, like, cold turkey?” Jubes sounded shocked, secretly hoping there was a quick fix. Hank nodded.

“What if I touch her?”

“Firstly, she would have to be conscious and lucid for you to do that. Her mutation doesn’t take concentration -- she simply either turns it on or turns it off. Secondly, *she* has to get through this; you can’t just wipe her slate clean and hope she doesn’t do it again. It won’t be easy though. She will experience shivers, convulsions, sickness, and increased irritability, not to mention painful stomach cramps. She will need to be kept a close eye on; the temptation to simply have more to take the pain away will be immense. We will all have to be extremely dear friends to her.”

“Yeah, cause we’re such good friends, we noticed she had spiralled into a one-woman weapon of self-destruction.”

The room fell silent at Jubes’s comment. They all knew she was right. They had missed it. They didn’t know why she was doing it. It could have been harmless. But it wasn’t. No one felt it more than Logan did. He knew she had been smoking dope. He had smelled it on her, but honestly didn’t see the harm. Now he did.

Hank took his glasses off and cleaned them with his hankie. “There is another issue.” He had everyone’s attention, but he couldn’t meet Logan’s gaze. “On closer examination of her, her lower abdomen is very tender and slightly… well I think… I think she might be pregnant.” Logan’s hands flew to his hair, and he paced to the wall and rested his head against it. “I will need to do a test to confirm it, but I‘m pretty sure.”

“I need some air.” Logan slammed the door on the way out. The others let him go. They knew how he felt about Rogue, even if Logan didn’t.

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

He couldn’t believe she had been so stupid. She hooked up with some creep who drugged her up and then knocked her up, or whatever way round it was. He wondered if the baby would be all right with whatever-the-hell she had taken. He wondered if she wanted it, or if the baby was the reason she had gone and got trashed.

He couldn’t believe he had let it happen. He hadn’t been around much lately, and even when he was, he was a little distant. His past niggling at him and occupying his mind, making him search for this and that. Took time away from the mansion, spent hours researching. All for nothing.

Seeing her passed out on her shower floor had brought it all together. Who cared where he was from? She cared that he was here. Who cared who he was? She cared who he was now. He would be here for her now. He felt it was probably too little too late, but he would do anything not to see her like that again.

He walked back into the apartment and took off his jacket, chucking it on the back of the sofa. “I’ll stay here tonight. Hank, why don’t you get whatever tests and stuff you need and come back in the morning? If she wakes up, I’ll try and find out what happened and talk to her about the baby.” He turned to Scott and Jubes. “Why don’t you two try and find this Ethan bastard?”

Hank nodded and began to gather his medical things. Scott got up, clearing the mugs he had made their coffee in. “What if she doesn’t know she’s pregnant? You going to be alright telling her?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” He would have to be. They left, and Logan tidied up the glass in the kitchen, along with the blood on the floor and carpet.

Xavier called, telling him that Hank had the results of Rogue’s blood test. She had indeed been injected with Heroin, about 5mls every 4-6 hours as far as he could tell, as well as at least two ‘E’s and an infinite amount of weed and alcohol. He also said he thought it was best that Logan kept her there, where she could be peaceful and feel at ease in her own surroundings. He said that he had explained to the other members of the staff and the student body that she had experienced a family crisis and had gotten ill as a result.

After hanging up from Xavier, Logan went to check on her. She still had no clothes on but was happily snuggled in her duvet and blankets. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her damp hair. She stirred and looked at him, immediately breaking down into sobs when she realised it was him.

He cradled her and let her soak his shirt with her tears. “Shh, it’s ok, darlin’. Let it all out. I’m here.”

She pulled away from him. “I’m gonna be sick.” He helped her to the bathroom and held her hair back while she puked. The he cleaned her gently with her washcloth. Carrying her back to bed, he snuggled her in and lay down with her. She pressed into him as she cried again.

After a while, she started to sweat and shake. Hank had told him there was nothing he could do, so he decided to just hold her. Hours must have passed while she lay there shaking in his arms. She had tried to push him away, swearing at him, yelling for him to just leave her alone, telling him she needed more to make it stop, why wouldn’t he help her, why wouldn’t he make it stop. He still held her, and she quieted down and then slept, shaking almost constantly in her sleep.

In the morning, she managed to stomach two sips of tea before she was sick again. Sometime during the night he had put an oversized t-shirt on her, to cover her dignity if nothing else. Her eyes still looked hollow, and she was deathly pale.

Hank arrived and checked her over again. He told Logan the shakes would get worse before they got better. So would the irrational behaviour and shouting, and she might get violent.

Another few days passed before she was coherent enough for Logan to talk her. She was riddled with sickness and awful stomach cramps. He was there to help her through all of it.

“Do you want to tell me how this started?” He was on the bed with her in his lap.

She shook in his arms, making her voice shake as well. “I just wanted everything to stop. I wanted to just be, and Ethan gave me an escape. I didn’t realise how far I’d gone until it was too late. I didn’t want to have to accept the fact that our lives aren’t perfect. The world just seems hell-bent on tearing itself to pieces, and I didn’t want to witness it. I’ve been watching my life go by through a window. It’s been screaming at me, and I’ve ignored it, because I was scared.” She began to sob into his chest again. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise, darlin’. Everyone feels that way sometimes. Being alive is easy. Actually living is the hard part.” He stroked her hair lightly. “Do you know where he lives? Where we could find him?” ‘So I can kill him,’ was what he really wanted to say.

She shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t know his last name, anything about him. Only the clubs we went to. The Underground and the one on East Street called Poison. I’ve been so stupid.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?” He was hoping she would tell him she was pregnant; he really hoped she knew.

“We were in this room with a friend of his. The guy was shooting up, and then Ethan did it. I was kinda gone anyway. I felt him inject me, but I couldn’t do anything. It all faded away, and I was just numb. Then I think I was sick, and he gave me more. I tried to stop him, but he pinned me to the bed and did it anyway. I did want to say no, but I don’t why I didn’t. Then I woke up, and I…I think I had sex with his friend. The guy who gave Ethan the heroin. I have no memory other than waking up naked next to him. I don’t know what I did or what *he* did. I don’t even know his name. How sick is that? I was so out of it, I let someone I’ve never even seen before just have me!” She cried into him again.

“Marie, there’s something else.” She pulled away from him slightly, fear spiking her scent.

“What?”

“Darlin’, you’re pregnant.” She pulled away even more.

“What? I can’t be. You can tell after just a few days?” She was genuinely confused.

“No. It’s longer than that. It must have been while you were dating *Ethan*.” Logan hated even having to say the creep’s name.

She had fear and panic in her voice. “Logan, I never slept with him. I haven’t had sex with anyone since Bobby. That guy from the other night, that I can’t remember, is the only one!”

“Marie, you must have done. When Hank examined you on Sunday, he suspected. But the last couple of days, I’ve been able to smell it on you. It’s about 7 weeks.” The fear rose in her.

She sobbed as she spoke, unable to hold onto her emotions and disgust at herself. “I didn’t! Not once, he must have--with me when I was…. Oh GOD! Logan, just make it stop, make it go away please….please!…..please!” Her voice was barely a whisper as she begged him. She clung to him briefly, then had to run and be sick. He helped her, then lay down with her again to hold her.

As she fell asleep, he nuzzled her hair and cried silent tears of his own. Sorrow weeping out of him that he let this beautiful, delicate creature descend into so much pain and suffering.

He was in love with her; he knew that now, without any doubt. It wasn’t like he had been denying his feelings or ignoring them, he just suddenly realised. He loved her. Nothing else mattered but making her better, getting her back to just being Marie. His Marie.

It went on for six weeks in all. Six weeks before four days of being pumped full of heroin every few hours was out of her system. She cried, shouted, tried desperately to push him away. Begged him to take the pain away, then held onto him for dear life.

She improved even more. She was sick most mornings because of the baby, but apart from that, she was just tired and drawn out. He cooked for her, made her tea as she built her strength back up. Logan eventually convinced her that she needed to be checked over again.

Hank came and tested her blood pressure and her urine for glucose. He felt her tummy and said that everything seemed fine. He had brought with him a portable ultrasound. “Lay flat on the bed, my dear.”

She did as he asked. She lifted her nightie to expose her toned abdomen. She felt a little awkward lying in front of Hank with her panties out but figured he didn’t care. “This gel will be a little cold. It helps me see the baby.”

“Ah!” She jumped and giggled. Logan smiled too. It was the first time she had laughed in the last six weeks or so.

Hank placed the handheld part of the machine on her stomach and moved it around using the gel. He looked at the screen and then smiled at her, pointing to a collection of black and white shapes that was her baby. “Allow me to introduce you to your baby, my dear.”

She looked at the screen and smiled weakly. She had been trying so hard not to think about this since Logan had told her. She didn’t want anything to do with Ethan ever again, but it wasn’t the baby’s fault. She knew she could never get rid of it. It wasn’t something she could even consider, but at the same time, she had no idea how she was going to cope with it. “Can you tell what it is?”

“No, it’s far too early. When you’re about 20 weeks, you should be able to tell with another ultrasound. You’re about 11 or 12 weeks. There will be some tests that need to be done about this time. If, of course, you decide to keep the child.”

Briefly glancing at Logan. “What I did isn’t the baby’s fault, and I kinda like the idea of keeping it. If I’m allowed a second chance, so is it.”

Both men smiled widely at her. “It wasn’t your fault either, darlin’. From what you’ve said, you didn’t sign up for full-out drug abuse. That bastard ever puts in an appearance, I’ll be having more than a few words with him.”

“Is the baby ok? I mean, because of the drugs?”

Hank took her hand and patted it gently. “That is something that you won’t find out until later on in your pregnancy. It is possible that there might be some complications with its health. You weren’t using for any great length of time, so we will see. We’ll get through this with you. You won’t be alone.” She smiled, and he nodded.

That night, Logan ran her a bath and made her some soup with chunky bread. She ate what she could. She washed her hair and felt the best she had in ages. She was still a little shaky, and she felt tired and sick most of the time, but some of that was because of the baby.

After they had eaten, they were snuggled up on her sofa watching a hockey game when her buzzer went. She looked at Logan. “Are you expecting anyone?”

He jumped up. “Yeah.” He pressed the buzzer, and a minute later, Scott and Jubes came in, hugged her, and spread out on the sofa. They brought with them bottles of coke, chips, and pizza.

She enjoyed the evening, remembering what it was like to be with her friends. She had hidden away from her emotions for too long, never letting people in. This was the start of sorting out what was important and what wasn’t. She knew that. She knew that everything she did over the next few months would dictate whether or not she could get through this.

The next day she was up first, showered and dressed before Logan woke up. He had been sleeping on the sofa for the last two nights as her shaking had stopped, and she could tell by the way he stretched every morning that it was getting to him.

She made some coffee and took it in to him. He sat up as she walked in. “Hey, sleepy head.”

“Morning, darlin’. You look good today.” She did: clean skin, bright eyes, and a smile. That was the best part.

“Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself.” He didn’t. He was only wearing sweats, and as he sat up, the sheet that had been over him slipped down to reveal his gloriously muscled chest. He caught her eye, and she blushed and sat down in the armchair.

“I noticed last night that we’re getting low on a few things. How about we hit the supermarket? You feel like going out?”

“You know what? I do. I feel like this is the start, you know. Here comes the rest of my life, and screw the past.”

He looked into her eyes and found himself mesmerised. She had said everything he felt in one sentence. Crammed his entire mind, his emotions, the way he felt about her, his love, everything into a handful of words. “You took the words right out of my mouth,” he whispered. And she had. That’s exactly how he felt. Screw the past and screw his stupid memories. They would never be worth as much as her.

He got up and stretched, moaning as he stood. “Logan, you’ve been practically living here the last month and a half. Would you stay? ‘Cause I think I’d like that.”

“Marie, are you asking me to move in with you? Be with you?” She looked at the floor and tucked a stray bit of white hair behind her ear.

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask why, why now?” He stayed where he was, afraid if he moved she would change her mind. He wanted nothing more than to stay with her, hold her, be with her. Make sure that for the rest of her life she was safe, she was his.

“I…I don’t know how I feel about you, like that. I’m not admitting to that yet. I feel like you’ve been staring me in the face. You’re the one who’s always there for me, always there when I need you. When Hank, Jubes, Scott any of the others come over, I feel on edge. Waiting for one of them to bring it all up, to judge me…” He was about to say something, but she put her hand up to stop him.

“Please just…let me get this out.” He nodded. “I’m on edge when anyone else is around. I don’t feel like that with you. I never have, even before this. I can wear a grubby old t-shirt, walk around in my panties if I wanted to. I feel that comfortable around you. I feel like just me, Marie. Not some mutant girl, just me. You’re my constant, when everything else is just shit. You’re there making everything fine again. Call me a selfish bitch, but I kinda need that right now.”

She stood up, placing her mug on the coffee table as she went. Moving in front of him, she ran her hands over his chest. He put his hands on either side of her face and tilted it up so she met his eyes. “I want to be with you, Marie.”

“I want that, too. I just need to go slow, really slow. I need you to know that before we start anything. I don’t know what I’m ready for, how far I can go right now. I’m not good with feelings, caring about people. I get scared, and I back off. You’re the only one I’ve ever really let in. I don’t even know if I’m any good for you. I mean, I’m kinda damaged goods.”

“You’re perfect. You’ve proven how strong you are with this. This wasn’t your fault. You made some bad friend choices, and it came back to bite your ass, darlin’. But you’re not damaged, you’re beautiful.”

He slowly lowered his face to hers and gently pressed his lips against her, still holding her face. She ran her hands up his chest and wound them around his neck. It wasn’t a hard kiss, or a frenzied one, but it held so much open emotion. He was admitting to her how he felt, probably the only person he ever would, and she was laying herself open. Taking the risk.

They broke apart, and she blushed. “I’d like it if you’d sleep in the bed again. I kinda like having you in there. You’re comfy. You know, only if you’re going to stay.”

He smiled at her. “I’m gonna stay.” She untangled herself, and he noticed how truly uncomfortable she was with her feelings. He should have seen it, been there for her before this, made her face her demons head-on.

“There’s something else I need to know.”

He nodded. “Anything. I’ll tell you anything.” And he honestly and truly would.

“The baby. I’m keeping it. So…if you’re with me….you’re with it.”

He put his hand to her face and ran his thumb gently over her lips, tracing the path his lips had taken only moments ago. “I’m staying. Like you said before, it’s not the baby’s fault. If it’s anything like you, it’ll be amazing.”

She hugged him again, and he held onto her tightly, placing small delicate kisses on top of her head as she cried gently into his chest.


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

Marie was five months gone now, and she had started to show. Logan had noticed, but hadn’t said anything just in case she wasn’t comfortable with it. The day he realised she was getting more and more comfortable with the idea of being a mother and being with him was when he found her in front of her mirror.

She was naked, completely and gloriously naked in front of her full-length mirror on the wall. He had walked into the bedroom to get his watch; he was on his way to the School. He had four phys-ed classes that day. But it was all forgotten. She was standing there, running her hands gently over her stomach, and tracing her fingers over her slightly round tummy. Smiling. She was smiling.

He had seen her naked before. She washed in front of him and changed with him in the room. They slept in the same bed every night. She always wore a night-dress, but occasionally it rode up to her stomach and revealed her bottom. They had only kissed and touched gently, never anything sexual. He didn’t want to push her, and she never asked, so he would wait.

This was something different. Her skin was glowing, her breasts full, the silky skin around her nipples had grown darker. He waned to touch her now. He couldn’t help himself. He knew he should walk out of the room before he startled her or did something really inappropriate like kiss every inch of her perfect breasts, while rolling her nipples between his fingers…

He growled. He hadn’t meant to but he did. She didn’t move; she just put her hand out behind her to beckon him to her. Walking slowly, he tried to calm himself. She looked unbelievable. He grasped her hand, and she leaned back against him, placing it on her bump. He jumped, he actually jumped, when the baby moved. It was like a light flutter. She laughed. He smiled at her in the mirror. Basking in her reflection.

Their eyes were locked as she rubbed his hand around her bump, then led it lower towards her public hair. Her scent held arousal and nervousness, also a slight hint of fear. Normally he could tell if someone’s fear was for themselves or someone else. This time he couldn’t. He liked the way the smell mixed in with her arousal. He shouldn’t, but he did.

Lacing his fingers into her soft brown curls, he never took his eyes from her, rubbing two fingers over her clit. Back and forth, back and forth and spreading her juices over her sensitive area. Increasing the pressure and speed, staring into her eyes until his touches became more insistent and she tipped her head back moaning loudly. Her own hands travelled up to cup her breasts. They were tender, and the added feeling of her hands made them feel sexy and sensitive.

He growled again at the sight of her touching herself and licked her neck, feeling her shiver he slipped one of his fingers inside of her. She clamped around his digit, unconsciously raising one knee as she bucked against him, shouting his name as she came.

He released his grip, and she turned around in his arms, kissing him wildly, their lips crashing together as their tongues tried desperately to catch one another. He wound both his hands into her hair, and she undid his belt buckle and jeans. He jumped again when her hand cupped his cock and rubbed down his length, kissing her harder.

She stepped backwards until she bumped into the cold wall-mirror behind her. Then she kissed his face, his neck and his chest through his clothes. She sunk slowly to her knees and took him into her mouth. He knew if he held her hair he would thrust roughly into her mouth. He didn’t want that, so instead he placed his palms on the wall, either side of the mirror.

Growling, he leaned his head forward to rest on the mirror. He could see her back, her buttocks, and when she bobbed forward, he saw her pink lips nestled between her thighs. They were wet with her juices, slick from what he had done to her. He wanted to lick them clean and then make her do it all over again. He wanted to watch her do it to herself, then lick her clean again.

She went quicker and was firmer with her mouth. His breath was fogging the mirror; he wiped it clear, so he could see her again. She parted he legs slightly to suck him harder. He had a perfect view of her opening, blatant for his view, his eyes only. He snarled as he came in her mouth, jerking sharply as she swallowed every drop. The pleasure-pain of her continuing to suck after his orgasm was making him hard again, but she pulled away.

Her lips red and swollen, eyes sparkling like they used to when he met her. He pulled her up and kissed her, pressing her against the mirror again, but always mindful of her bump. He raised her thigh, and his cock nudged at her clit. He was about to push into her when her scent spiked, and she pushed on his chest. He broke the kiss but didn’t change their position.

“No, not yet. I don’t want to.” Despite how much she wanted to make love to him, she meant it; she wanted him to stop. She wanted to be in control.

“That’s not what your body’s telling me, darlin’.” Their voices were whispers, sending hot breath into each other’s flushed faces. He nudged her again, and she pushed on his massive chest again.

She shivered. “My body may be saying yes, but the word coming out of my mouth is no. That’s what you need to listen to, Logan.”

He wanted nothing more than to ignore what she said and slam into her, taking her against the wall, making her scream his name in pleasure. But he could tell what she wanted. She wanted to control the situation, take it as far as she decided to and stop. She needed to know he would stop for her, needed to know he cared enough.

He let his grip on her thigh slip. He kissed her again and pulled away from her slightly. She smiled at him. “Thanks.”

“I have to go to work.” His breathing was still coming in short little rasps. She nodded, the action making her breasts bounce against his shirt.

“Ok.” Her breathing matched his.

Neither of them moved, just stood there, eyes locked, hearts racing. He kissed her again; he just couldn’t help himself. She was so beautiful. So soft, so perfect, and the smell of her was amazing. Pushing her against the wall again, he growled into her mouth.

She pushed on his chest, but he grabbed her wrists, and, placing them both in one hand, he secured them against the wall above her head. With the other hand, he raised her thigh and entered her with one good thrust. She threw her head back and yelped. He growled into her neck, nipping at her pale skin, while staying completely still.

He wanted to nip at her breasts, but to get that low he would have to let go of her hands. “Logan…”

“Want me to stop? Tell me to stop, darlin’, and I will. You want control, you got it. Tell me to stop.” He pulled out slowly and then thrust harshly back in, baring his teeth as he did. He knew if he was too rough, he would hurt the baby, so he measured his power perfectly, holding back how he really wanted to take her the first time. If she weren’t pregnant, he would fuck her so hard she would be screaming. He would posses her, show his power and dominance, but he would still stop if she asked him to.

“Logan!” He kept going, his fingers digging into her thigh, turning the skin white with the pressure. “Stop.” He did, he halted to a complete stop. Breathing pants into her neck as he pressed her completely flat against the wall, the cool glass mirror against her hot back.

He raised his head and kissed her lips. “Darlin’, I want you so badly. Please. I’m begging, I know, but please…please, I have to have you. If you want this to stop I will, I promise I will, but darlin’, please.”

She smiled into his lips. He had given her the control she needed, or as much as she was ever going to get from him, and she moved her hips against him. It was all he needed. He thrust into her, capturing her lips and grunting with each thrust. She moved to meet his hips and dug her nails into his hand as she came for a second time. When he felt her nails in his hand, he let go, gripping her hips, biting her throat as pumped himself dry into the woman he adored more than life itself.

Somehow during the post-orgasmic haze, they ended up laying on the bed. She was on her side snuggled into his chest hair, and he was running his hands up and down her back. “That was intense.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t really know what else to say.

“Can you wait 15 minutes for me to get dressed? I’ll go to the school with you today. I was gonna ask you to pick up some of my camera stuff, but I’d think I’d like to go myself.” She went to move away, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“I would have stopped. You know that, right?” She smiled at him and touched his lips with her fingertips. He looked like he wanted to run and hide, so vulnerable, so honest you could forget how dangerous he was.

She never raised her voice above a seductive whisper. “Yes. I wanted to have sex with you. I just needed to know that you would stop first, and I know you understand that. I know who you are Logan, what you’re about. The dominance, the possessiveness, how you need to be in control of everything. But you’re willing to give it all to me. I know the man I see, as well as the one I don’t see. The one you hide on the inside for fear of what he’ll do. I see you, Logan, and the best thing is, you let me.” She kissed him and moved again. Again he stopped her.

“I love you.”

“Logan…” Her heart had just stopped, she was sure of it. She said his name and looked at his chest unable to meet his eyes. He knew she couldn’t say it yet; he hoped she felt it and pleaded to whatever God that would listen, that, eventually she would be able to tell him. “You don’t have to say anything. Go get dressed.”

She kissed him quickly and shot off to the bathroom, leaving him with thoughts. She was complicated. She had been through a lot in her life, been let down a lot, and she needed time to get used to letting people in. He could smell her tears through the door, but he wouldn’t go to her. She needed to do this on her own; she was about as good with feelings as he was.

Logan went off to combat class, and Marie went to her dark room to collect some of her stuff. She had been thinking for a while that it would be nice to start taking some pictures again. She was seriously tempted to take a few of Logan while he was asleep and naked.

She giggled to herself at that thought. He would go nuts. She could hear him now, shouting her name and chasing her around the apartment to spank her. Actually, that didn’t seem like such a bad idea!

Her naughty thoughts were broken by a smack of bubblegum, and her best friend bounding into the room. “Well, hello, chica. How are the newlyweds?”

“Jubes! We’re not married. We’ve only just started having sex, for God’s sake.”

“Oooooh. Tell me. *Everything*!” Marie rolled her eyes at her.

“I am not telling you about my sex life. Logan wouldn’t like that.”

“Ok, how about some general stuff then? I ask a question, and you either say no or uh-huh.” Marie put her pack of films down and smiled at Jubes. She wouldn’t actually be telling her anything sooo…

“Ok.”

“Is he hot naked?”

Marie made her eyes go in different directions for a split-second. “Uh-huh!”

“Did he go down on you?”

“JUBES!”

“What? A girl needs to know these things.”

“NO! He didn’t do that yet. I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

“Ok. Is he big?”

Marie sighed and rolled her eyes again. “UH-HUH!”

“Where did you do it?”

“That’s not a no or uh-huh answer.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Did you do it in the bed?”

“Nope.”

“On the floor?”

“No!”

“Against the wall? He strikes me as that kind of guy.”

“Uh-huh!”

“Arh! Oh my God!” She was jumping up and down.

“He told me he loved me.” Jubes stopped bouncing, and by the look of shock on her face, she could possibly have stopped breathing.

“Ex-squeeze me?”

“He told me that he *loves* me! He said and I quote ‘I love you’ end quote.”

“Oh My God! He said that?”

“Yep. He loves me. Mr-I’m-Such-a-badass-Wolverine said he’s in love with me. You know: ME!”

Jubes jumped her into a bear hug, and they jumped up and down together. “Well, fuck-a-doodle-doo!”

The pair spent the rest of the day in Jubes’s room, chatting and doing girlie stuff. Jubes painted Marie’s toenails and Marie did her hair. She loved the closeness of her friend; she had missed it over the past few weeks—well, if she was honest, years.

She had stepped away from everyone in an attempt to protect herself from her feelings, but now, in the end, she realised that she needed them all.

After dinner, they walked back to the main hall so she could meet Logan to go home. As they walked past the rec room, Scott called Jubes in to say there was a phone call for her. While Jubes took her call, Marie waited in the hall and displayed a perfect bright smile when Logan rounded the corner, coming into her view.

He kissed her on the cheek and swatted her on the bottom. She jumped and was about to tell him off when Jubes came back out with Scott.

She looked directly at Logan. “Me, you, and Scott need to go out, now.”

Logan looked confused. “We do?”

“Yeah, now.”

Marie looked from one friend to another and then back to Logan. “What’s going on?”

Jubes inspected her feet then gave an exaggerated sigh. “Ok, I’m not lying to my best friend, so here goes. A bouncer friend of mine works at Poison. He just called me to say Ethan just turned up with a group of losers. He’s there, right now.”

Logan’s whole body tensed, and all of them felt it. “Let’s go.” All three turned away from Marie, but she caught Logan’s arm.

“Wait, Logan you can’t…” He put a finger to her lips, his voice calm and reassuring, but she didn’t believe him for a second.

“It’ll be ok. Stay here, if he sees you he’ll know you’re pregnant.” She stopped him from leaving again.

“Don’t hit him.”

“What?” His eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at her.

“Logan, don’t hit him.”

“Darlin’, I’m not gonna…” She cut him off this time.

“Kill him. Yeah, Logan, you will. You’ll walk in there. Before you even have a chance to speak, all these images of what he could have done to me will flash around in your mind, and you’ll hit him. He’s human, and whatever you do to him has human consequences. After this morning, it’ll be even worse, because I’m your territory now. You’ll hit him, and the first time will feel so good you’ll keep on hitting him.” She brushed his temple. “I’ve been up here, remember? I know how it works. Don’t hit him.”

He looked at his feet then back to her eyes. “Ok.”

“Promise?” Shit, he’d been there before.

“Yeah, I promise.” He kissed her and walked off to catch up with Jubilee and Scott.

He got in the passenger side, Jubes was already in the back, and Scott was starting the engine. Jubes was the first to speak as they pulled out onto the main road.

“So, how we gonna kill him?”

“I promised Rogue I wouldn’t.”

“Yeahm dude, you promised. We didn’t!” Scott looked at her in the rear-view and shook his head.

“We can’t just kill him, Jubilee. He’s human.” He looked briefly at Logan, who looked positively feral lit up by the dashboard lights. “Rogue will never testify because it would bring too much attention to her situation and her mutantcy. So we have to think of something else.”

“I have an idea, but I’ll need to speak to my bouncer friend first. And when we get to the bastard, let me do the talking!” Both men looked at her and wondered what she had up her sleeve.

They reached the club, and after Jubilee spoke quickly with the bouncer, she turned back to Logan and Scott. “Wait in the alley behind the club.” They nodded and went into the side alley that led round the back of the club.

Twenty minutes later, a giggling Jubes and Ethan walked out the back of the club. Jubes stumbled as if she was drunk. Ethan turned and noticed the two men in the dim light. Jubilee immediately straightened herself, dropping the act, and shoved Ethan roughly against the wall.

“Hey, what’s the big idea, baby? When you said come party, I didn’t expect you to bring guests.” He laughed and moved away from the wall. Logan put his hand on Ethan’s chest and pushed him back again. This time it knocked the wind out of him, and he sobered up slightly. “What do you want? I don’t have any money.”

“You don’t remember me, do you? I’m Jubes, *Rogue’s* friend.” He raised his head slightly and nodded.

“White stripes. How’s my baby? I haven’t seen her in a while. She ran out on a particularly cool night, and MMMPHH!”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as the fist hit his jaw with enough force to knock him sideways onto his hands and knees. He touched his lip with his hand and sighed at the blood on his fingers. Using the wall for support, he stood up leaned back against the wall.

Logan instantly knew Marie was right: judging by the look on Jubes’s face, the first punch had felt fantastic, and she desperately wanted to hit him again. He almost chuckled to himself; girl gave the lecture to the wrong person.

She stood in front of him with Logan and Scott behind her slightly. “Dude, you, got my girlfriend stoned. Not only stoned, but completely wasted. She nearly died on the shit you pumped her full of. Not to mention whatever sick little perversions you decided to act out. You are a prime piece of fucking shit, and I oughta beat you to death for what you did to her.” She gestured to Logan and Scott. “You’re lucky they’re here, or I might have already.”

“Rogue wanted it.” She hauled back and punched him again. Again he ended up on the floor, but this time Jubes reached for his jacket and pulled him up against the wall again, his head banging on the bricks. “Go ahead. What are you gonna do about it, bitch?”

“She forgot to mention something,” Jubes smirked at him, then pointed to herself and both men behind her. “Mutants.” His eyes widened slightly, and Logan noted that finally his scent held fear. “Deadly mutants, who don’t take too kindly to bastards like you treating the people we care about like shit. You will never see her again. You will forget anything you ever had to do with her. Do you understand?” He nodded frantically. “Good.”

She released his jacket and punched him again. He didn’t fall this time, just spun around so he faced the wall. The three of them moved away from him, and Ethan figured it was over, so he might as well get in a jibe or two.

“Knew you couldn’t do it, bitch.” Logan was closest; without even looking, he shot his arm out and grabbed Ethan by the throat, pushing him against the wall. Then slowly, he brought his face close to Ethan’s. Ethan made small gurgling sounds as Logan’s grip got slightly tighter.

“Think yourself lucky. *Very* fucking lucky!” And for dramatic emphasis, he raised his right hand and flashed the claws close to Ethan’s eyes.

Ethan let out a girlie shriek and wet himself. Logan smirked dangerously and dropped Ethan who instantly landed on the floor, whimpering to himself.

They walked off again, and Jubes stopped “Oh! I forget something.” She ran back to Ethan sitting on the floor in a puddle of his own urine and kicked him hard in the nuts. Ethan doubled over in pain, clutching himself and wheezing desperately for air. She bent forward and put a large package in the pocket of his Parker.

As the walked past the bouncer again, she gestured to him. “He’ll be there a while.” The bouncer nodded and chuckled to himself. When they were back in Scott’s SUV, Jubilee punched the roof and shouted, “YES! That felt good!”

Logan smiled and turned to Scott. “Remind me never to piss her off.”

“Ditto.”

*********************END OF PART FOUR

A month later, Logan walked into his and Marie’s apartment and straight into the kitchen. Marie was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking coffee.

She jumped when he threw the local rag in front of her. “Page 8.” He sat down next to her and waited while she opened the paper.

“If I find a naked picture of you in here, I’m not going to be happy.” He chuckled and waited. She turned the page and was immediately confronted with a photo of Ethan being carted off in a police car; the headline read ‘Major Drug Dealer Jailed’.

She looked at Logan, who just stayed calm. “Read it. Then maybe you’ll believe me that the three of us didn’t kill him and dump his body in the nearest lake!”

“Today Ethan Palmer of Highland Terrace was jailed for two years on drug offences and, oh my God, another four years on sexual assault charges! Mr Palmer, 34--what? He’s 34…? Mr Palmer, 34, was found at one of the city’s most popular nightclubs with over $12,000 worth of crack cocaine in his possession. The club’s security team, who has testified that they witnessed him on several occasions attempting to sell the drugs to revellers, alerted the authorities. Mr Palmer claimed that a disgruntled girlfriend planted the drugs on his person. The Court, however, saw this as a desperate plea and found him guilty on the drug charges. During the trial, a 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named due to her age, came forward and gave a statement to the police. Once the trial was made public, the girl informed her parents of what had happened with Mr Palmer and made a statement. She claimed that Palmer had groomed her into his world, given her drugs, and then had sexual relations with her without her consent. In closing, the Judge said that this kind of person only deserves to be imprisoned, and it was a relief to the general public.”

She put the paper down and ran her hands over her face. “You ok?”

“Yeah. Out of everything, I never expected to find out he had done this before. I thought I was being dated, not groomed. Sorry.”

“What for?”

She looked at him a little sheepishly. “I kinda was convinced that the three of you had done something to him. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” He got off the stool and kissed her on the forehead.

“I wouldn’t have believed me either.” He filled the coffee maker back up and flicked on the switch.

“Do you still want this? Me?” He turned around really quickly and put his hands on her face.

“Yes. I want you, our home, everything. You’re mine.”

“What about the baby?” She was so scared of that answer.

He smiled and kissed her lips. “You’re mine, which in turn means the baby too.”

“I never want it to know who its father is. I never want him or her to know he was a manipulating sexual freak who is in jail.”

“And he won’t. I’m gonna be the one being called Dad. Scott, Hank, Jubes and the Professor are the only ones who know any different. That’s how it’s gonna stay, unless you say otherwise.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “He?”

“Way it kicks me in the back when you’re sleeping, baby, then…yeah!” She tensed, and he noticed it immediately. “What?”

“Don’t call me baby. I don’t like it.”

That’s what he had heard Ethan call Jubes. “Never again, darlin’.” He pulled her into his chest and pressed light kisses on her head.

When she was eight months gone, she started have fake contractions. A couple of times Logan had even got her in the truck, ready to take her to Hank. After the second time, Hank explained that it was perfectly natural and unless the contractions didn’t stop after a couple of hours or her water broke, then not to worry.

She went to the mansion with him everyday now, spending the day taking pictures, talking with students, Jubes, or simply hanging out. She read her baby books at night and was currently wading through a baby name book.

Logan came out of the bathroom, dried himself off, and got into bed. He snuggled in next to her and then rubbed her full tummy. Not able to suppress a smile, she put her hand over his. Then she brought his to her lips and kissed his knuckles.

“So what about Scott?” He looked at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Had Scott called?

“What about him?”

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “No, you yoghurt, Scott, as in a boy’s name.”

Logan sat straight up in bed. “No way! No way in hell! Marie, that’s not even funny.” She laughed again.

“Ok, how about Simon?” He pulled a face. “Stuart? Steven?” Another face. “Well, you suggest something then?” She shoved the book in her lap.

“How about James?” She looked at him; something nagged at her about that name. He saw her confusion and nodded. “You recognise something about it, too?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but I can’t place where.”

“Me.”

“What about you?”

“I think I knew someone, maybe my father, brother, or someone else important to me with that name. It’s always nagged at me.” She caught on then; it would have transferred to her at the Statue of Liberty.

“It could be your name, you know.”

“Nah, why would I remember Logan then? It’s not mine.”

“I like it. James it is. Now, what about girls?”

“Girls are your department, darlin’. I’ve done my bit for mankind. What about a surname? You never told me yours.”

“Its D’Ancanto. My dad was half Italian.” He laughed, and his whole body shook. “What’s so funny?”

“The way you say Italian it comes out like I-talion.”

She swatted him on the arm. “You leave my accent alone, Mr. Northern Exposure.”

He suddenly turned serious. “So you’re gonna register the baby as James D’Ancanto if it’s a boy?”

“Yeah. Is that ok with you?”

“Yeah…No…it’s not.” She put her book on her nightstand and looked at him, worried for a moment. He turned to face her completely. “Will you marry me?”

She was suddenly really taken aback. What? Did she hear him right? “Did you just say what I think you did?”

“Yeah. Will you?”

“Why?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“You know how I feel about you and the baby. I want the both of you. I would prefer his name to be James Calver.” She smiled at him; Calver was the pseudonym the Professor had arranged for him so he could get a credit card, driver’s licence, teacher’s licence and other stuff like that.

“And what if it’s a girl?”

“Then whatever Calver. I would like your name to be Calver, too.”

“Logan, I’m eight months. I would never fit into a nice dress…”

“We can wait ‘til after if you want to. Whatever you want to do.”

She jumped him as best she could, given her shape. She held onto him for dear life and only pulled away when she was sure she wasn’t dreaming. “I want that. After the baby’s born.” She hugged him again. She giggled and then a sharp pain caught her.

“What was that? You ok?”

“Yeah, I think so, ooh! O-Kay. Logan I think you need to call Hank and tell him we’re on our way.”

“Darlin’, it’s probably another one of those Toni Braxton’s or whatever they’re called.”

“No, and I know that because they’re not accompanied by a big puddle of water!”

He threw back the cover and revealed that, yes, the bed was soaked under her. “Shit! I’ll go call Hank. Stay there, don’t move or do anything.”

“Really, why? I was planning on dressing in drag and doing the hoola!” She scrunched her face up as another contraction washed over her. “Sorry. GO!”

He jumped off the bed and ran into the living room. She heard him crash into the telephone stand; she rolled her eyes and laughed when she heard him curse using every profanity she had ever heard. Her giggles didn’t last too long as she had another contraction.

In between contractions she managed to get changed, as there was no way she was going with a wet night-dress. She breathed deep breaths through her contractions in the truck on the way there. “How ya doing, darlin’?”

“OK. It hurts, but I can deal.”

They reached the front door of the mansion, and Hank, Charles, Jubes, Scott and ‘Ro were there to welcome her. Logan attempted to pick her up, but she stopped him. “No, let me walk. It’s easier if I walk.”

They had to stop every few yards for her to have a contraction, but eventually they got to the med lab. Logan helped her onto the exam table, but she immediately got off and leaned on it instead.

He lovingly rubbed her lower back when the contractions came. Even though the pain was intense, she was still amazed at how he was. This child wasn’t his, and it had come out of a situation that was truly awful. But Logan was still there for her, trying to help and make her feel better.

“Rogue, can I offer you any pain relief?”

Logan was about to say yes, help her, but Marie cut him off. “NO! Nothing.”

“Darlin’, this is gonna hurt. You need something.”

“No, I don’t. This baby started off life that way, and I’m sure as hell not going to take it back there. No drugs, ever.” Logan face was close to hers, and he nodded.

“I need to examine you.” Hank looked around the room at Jubes and Scott. “Anyone who’s not staying should leave now.”

“I’m staying, if that’s ok with you, chica?” Marie nodded.

“I think I’ll pass.” Scott said, and Jubes laughed at him.

Marie turned to Logan and gestured to Hank. “You sure you can cope with another man looking at your fiancée’s bits and pieces?” He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

Scott turned at the door. “Fiancée? When did this happen?”

Logan turned to Scott and smiled smugly. “About an hour ago.” Then he laced his voice with sarcasm. “She was so excited, she decided to have the baby now.”

Hank helped Marie onto the exam bed and was putting surgical gloves on to examine her. Everyone in the room was looking at Scott.

“Hang on, you can’t just decide to get married. You …”

“GET OUT, SCOTT!” It was shouted in unison.

“Ok, I’m going, I’m going!” He saw that Hank was about the lift up Marie’s gown to look at her private area, and he practically ran out of the med lab. Only thing was, he wasn’t looking properly, and he crashed into the closed door. He turned to the group, smiled weakly and left holding his nose. Jubes had to contain her laughter.

She had Logan on one side of her and Jubes the other. They held her hands and gave her praise and encouragement. Logan repeatedly kissed her and told her he loved her and how brave and wonderful she was.

When she finally managed to get the baby out, she slumped back and panted. Her hair was sweaty and clung to her face, and she was exhausted. All this was forgotten when soft crying erupted into the room, reverberating off the metal walls.

“Congratulations, my dear, you have a beautiful baby girl!” He towelled her off slightly, and Jubes ran to get some clips and scissors he gestured to. He then clipped the umbilical cord in two places and looked at Logan. “Would you like to?”

“Darlin’?” She smiled brightly and nodded.

He went to where the baby was and let out about 1-inch of claw and cut the cord. Hank bundled up the baby girl and handed her to Logan. He went to Marie and settled the wriggling bundle into her arms.

“Say hi to mama little one.”

Marie gasped and silent tears slipped down her checks. “Hey girlie! God, she’s so beautiful. Logan, look at her eyes.”

He did, and they were perfectly blue—not a normal blue, but a vibrant aqua blue. To other mutants the fact she was a mutant would be perfectly obvious, but to a human, they probably wouldn’t notice.

He leaned over her and the baby, touched Marie’s chin, and bought her head round so he could kiss her. She sobbed through her smile. He then turned to the baby and poked her nose with his finger. He was smiling, and Marie couldn’t take her eyes off him.

He really did want this, completely. She knew that now. She knew that he meant what he said. He was willing to be a father to a child that wasn’t his and came from a disgusting situation.

“I love you.” He froze. He must be going deaf. He looked at her, fear that he had heard her wrong evident in his face.

“What did you say?”

“I said I love you, and I do, I really do.” He kissed her, pressing his lips hard onto her; he lowered her jaw and slipped his tongue into her mouth. If the situation were different, he would have taken her here and now. He wanted to mark her. She had finally given herself to him fully, and he gloried in it. A soft cooing and wriggling broke their moment.

Logan took the baby, and Hank helped him wash her and get her dressed. Jubes helped Marie have a bath, and then once she was back in clean sheets, she fell asleep.

She woke up on her side facing the blank wall of the med lab. She tuned over and found and small glass cot, with her baby in it. She was asleep, too. Logan had dressed her in a little pink all-in-one with a matching pink hat. She wanted to cry, it was so overwhelming. She had gone from not wanting to be involved emotionally with anyone, not wanting to get too close, needing to keep herself away from her feelings, to suddenly getting engaged and having a baby.

She looked past the cot into the room. There were cards everywhere, three big bunches of flowers, a couple of pink helium balloons, and the best thing was a huge teddy. It had a pink bow round its neck and a pink biker jacket on. It had black strips on the arms, just like Logan’s. The jacket was the same leather their uniforms were made out of, and it had a small ‘X’ logo on the collar. It must have been specially made months ago.

“Xavier. Trust him to know it would be girl.” She smiled and jumped at the sound of a familiar gruff voice.

“Who said it was Xavier who knew?” She looked to the far wall. Logan sat on Hank’s desk. He had been there all along, watching them sleep.

“Been there long?” He got up and walked to the tiny cot. He picked up the baby and sat on the bed next to Marie. He made no attempt to pass her the baby; he just looked at her tiny little face.

“Just watching my girls sleep.” She hugged him fiercely, whispering ‘I love you’ into his neck.

*******************END OF PART FIVE

Standing in the hall looking out of the window, Logan smiled. Nearly five years. He had been with Marie for nearly five years. Becky would be five in a month.

He was currently watching her run around with Jubes and Pete. They were playing Cowboys and Indians. Every time Becky pretended to shoot Pete, he flipped on his mutation and fell to the ground with a load metallic clink. Becky nearly fell over because of her giggles every time.

She was tall for her age, long brown hair, which was currently in pigtails. Blue eyes. Logan had told Marie on several occasions that he was sure the girl could see right through a person. Her face looked so much like her mother’s, chubby little cheeks, freckles, and a cute little nose that she screwed up whenever you mentioned eating her greens.

He had married Marie. Becky had been five months old and the cutest bridesmaid ever; Scott had held her all through the ceremony. Marie was so happy. They got married by the lake, and after, he had picked her up and jumped in with her. Initially she had screamed about her dress, but once he was kissing her in the water and laughing, she had forgotten about the dress and laughed as well, screaming at the top of her lungs that she loved him.

That was the day she told everyone her real name. She said that she was done being Rogue and had left her behind. Now she was Marie. A week later they moved back into the mansion, as a family.

At first he had thought he would care that Becky wasn’t his, but he didn’t. She was so beautiful, like her mother. He couldn’t help but love her. The first time she rolled over, he was bouncing around yelling for Marie, “Look! Look what she did!” The first time she sat up on her own, he was the same. The first time she had eaten something, he was there laughing as she screwed up her face and pushed the spoon back at her mother.

The first time she held up her arms to him, asking *him* to pick her up, he had melted. He forgot Ethan and everything that he represented. This perfect delicate little copy of Marie wanted him, needed him, loved him.

Now she raced to him, screamed for him when she was scared, called him Daddy. He could put his hand on his heart and say not once, not even once, over the last five years had he looked at that little girl and thought, ‘She’s not mine.’

He had been given everything he had ever wanted: a life, a home, a beautiful wife, and the most gorgeous little girl in the world who though he was a hero.

That evening, Marie and Scott had finished cleaning up the dishes from dinner and were chatting about and looking at the latest batch of photographs that Marie’s students had taken.

“Becky asleep?” Scott was sitting on the kitchen counter with a picture in his hand, desperately trying to figure out what it was.

“Yeah. Logan read her another story. He’s too soft with her. One day he’s going to be really stern all of a sudden, and it will shock the pair of them.”

“He’ll never be stern with her! Kid’s got him wrapped around her finger tighter than you have.”

“Are you saying my husband is whipped?” She was smiling. Scott was completely right.

“Oh yeah! The man has no hope, ever.” He frowned and turned the picture upside down and bent his head to the side. “What is this?”

“I think it’s someone’s inside leg, but I could be wrong. I think this group took the ‘free range’ I gave them a little too far.”

Both Marie and Scott looked up and smiled when ‘Ro walked in. “Hey, any coffee left?”

“Yeah, it might not taste too good though. It’s been there a while.”

She laughed. “When does the coffee in this place ever taste any good?” She looked at the picture Scott held and matched his frown. “What is that?”

No one had any time to answer as they all froze. The scrap of claws on wood and the soft thudding of an animal running past the kitchen door were caught by all of them. They exchanged glances. Marie got off the stool, Scott hopped off the counter, and all three moved to the door.

They peered into the gloomy corridor, trying to find what had run past. They all saw a pair of deadly glowing eyes in the darkness. It moved forward. As the shadow evaporated into light the wolf came into view, its teeth bared into a vicious snarl. It ran at them.

All three, including Scott, screeched and ran back into the kitchen. Marie and ‘Ro jumped up on the middle counter, hugging one another, and Scott stood up on the counter in between the sink and the fridge. He knocked the coffeemaker off, and it smashed loudly

The wolf snarled, growled and barked at each of them, eliciting a screech every time. Scott attempted to shoo it away, but the animal simply snarled more, baring its teeth dangerously.

“’RO, BLAST IT WITH SOMETHING!” Scott was completely petrified.

“OH, LIKE WHAT EXACTLY? I CAN’T KILL IT!”

“MARIE, TURN YOUR SKIN ON! TOUCH IT!”

“I’M NOT GETTING FUCKING NEAR IT! YOU BLAST IT!”

“I CAN’T. I DON’T HAVE MY VISOR. I COULD HIT ONE OF YOU!”

All three looked at each other, the same thought dawning on them at the same time. They all turned to the door.

“LOGAN!”

Logan was picking up Becky’s dolls off of their suite floor, wondering why in the hell she needed so many and why they all had to be pink, when he heard something break downstairs. Then he could hear snarling and barking. He dropped the dolls and raced into Becky’s room. She was still fast asleep and shifting slightly as she dreamt. He ran out into the hall and headed down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

When he hit the bottom step, he heard Marie, ‘Ro and Scott yell for him. He increased his pace as he could smell their combined fear. But he couldn’t smell anything else. Whatever was growling and snarling had no scent whatsoever.

He rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped abruptly. “WHOA!” The wolf turned and saw Logan. It took a few paces back, snarled, and bared all its lethal teeth. As it charged him, Logan ducked and put his arms up in defence. The wolf electrified with a pale blue aura and disappeared in mid-air.

“What the fuck was that?”

Scott jumped off the counter and then nearly fell over on the spilt coffee. Logan moved forward and helped ‘Ro and Marie off the centre counter.

‘Ro was the first to catch her breath. “I have no idea. Is the Professor still up?”

Scott nodded. “He was the last time looked.”

They left the kitchen, moving slowly down the hall to the Professor’s office. All the time Scott was looking behind him, checking for the wolf. “I’m glad you heard us call.”

“You mean you’re glad I heard you screaming like a girl?”

“Hey, they were screaming too!”

“Yes, Scott, but, they are girls!”

“Shut up, caveman.”

Logan was about to reply, but they were interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched scream from upstairs.

Marie’s face dropped. “Becky!” All four adults took off up the stairs. Marie ran as fast as she possibly could, Logan was close behind, followed by Scott and ‘Ro.

As they reached the door, the wolf raced out and immediately disappeared in a shimmer of blue again. Logan was first in the door and through to Becky’s room.

She was crying for him already. “Daddy! Daddy!” He sat on the edge of the bed, and she jumped into his arms, almost getting lost in their size.

He shushed her and stroked her long hair. He could feel her tears staining through his shirt. Marie was kneeling on the floor next to her. She pulled Becky out of Logan’s embrace slightly and began to check her over.

Scott flicked on the bedroom light. She had no marks on her, and her thick flannel pyjamas were in perfect condition, just slightly bed-ruffled.

She clung to her father, shaking lightly in his arms. “I had a bad dream, daddy.”

“Tell me what it was about, Becks?”

“It was my story, free ickle pigs and the big bad wolf. But the wolf tried to eat me instead. I was running, and I fell, and it tried to bite me!”

He looked at Marie whose face showed nothing but confusion. “I read her three little pigs earlier.” He looked back at Becky as she rubbed her face. Then she raised her head, and he saw into her eyes. They shone at him, pale blue, like lightning. “I think she did this, her mutation.”

“How could she? She’s only 5 years old, Logan. She’s not supposed to manifest until she’s at the least 15 or 16.”

“We need to talk to the Professor and Hank.” Scott was right.

Logan scooped up Becky, and they headed for the Professor’s office. As they sat in his office and explained what had happened, Becky drifted off to sleep again in Logan’s lap, oblivious to the conversation.

When Hank arrived in his pyjamas and dressing gown, the Professor gestured to ‘Ro. “I think a couple of students have drifted out of bed in the commotion. Would you mind sorting them out before you go to bed yourself?”

She smiled at the group. She got that there was something-private going on. “Of course not. ‘Night, all.” She touched Becky’s head lightly as she left the office. After she had headed up stairs, she heard Hank, the Professor, Logan, Scott and Marie take Becky to the lower levels.

“It will be simple to ascertain if it is her mutation. A quick series of tests, that’s all. Nothing too stressful for our little one.” Becky had woken up when they entered the med lab. She smiled brightly at Hank. He always called her ‘our little one’, and she loved it. It made her feel special, like she belonged to everyone. Little did she know that she did; the whole mansion adored her.

Marie sat on the exam table with Becky in her lap, her small face scrunched up and buried in her mother’s chest as Hank took some blood from her arm. “OW!” Once that was done, he took a saliva swab from inside her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Rebecca. It’s all over now.”

Hank took two drops of her blood out of the vial and dropped them onto a glass plate. Then placing it under his microscope, he nodded. “Yes. She has manifested her gifts.”

“Gifts? I have a gift, like daddy?” Hank knelt on the floor in front of the exam table. Kneeling he was still the same eye level as the little girl.

“Yes. You do, but it’s a little different than daddy’s. You made a wolf. It was very clever. Do you think you can remember how you did it?”

“I was dreaming about my story. I don’t know how I did it. I was standing there watching the little pigs build their houses, and the wolf chased me. I ran. Sorry.”

“Becks, you don’t have to be sorry for runnin’, kid.”

“You’d never run, you would have fought it. I’ve seen you fight stuff, in the dangerous room.” He walked over to the exam table and sat down next to her.

“You’re right. I would have, but that’s because daddy can be dangerous too. You, you’re meant to run. You’re meant to run as fast as you can and hide until mummy or daddy come find you.” They had drummed it into her: they were all different, and people some times hurt others who were different. If that happened, she was to run and hide.

“I know. Mom says that you’re not dangerous. You’ve just got mist under your hood.”

“That’s misunderstood, sweetie.” Marie giggled, and everyone smiled at her daughter.

She leaned in and snuggled against her father. “That, too. Can I go back to bed now?”

The Professor closed his eyes briefly before speaking. “Jubilee is on her way down to take you. She has promised to stay with you until your parents come back up. We have boring things to talk about.”

As she nodded, her brown hair flapped around her face. Jubes came through the doors looking a little sleepy. She picked up Becky, and after saying goodnight to everyone, she left with her.

The room was quiet, each one of them with their own thoughts. Marie was the first to address the situation.

“This shouldn’t be happening.”

“You’re right it shouldn’t, but it is.” Hank cleaned his glasses as he spoke.

“Is there a reason why it has manifested now?” Even though the Professor sounded calm, he was very worried about the little girl.

“Well, there are two possibilities I can think of straight off. She could have a medical condition called Precocious Puberty. If she suffered from that condition, her body would release oestrogen into her bloodstream, causing her to go through puberty early, which would in turn confuse her mutation into thinking that she had reached puberty, and it could therefore manifest.” He walked over to his microscope and other equipment. He took some more of Becky’s blood out and used a pipette to mix it with something clear, then he dropped some on a strip of paper and measured the colour it turned next to a chart. “Her cells show no increase above a normal level of oestrogen for a girl her age.”

“What’s the other possibility?” Logan had his arm around Marie. He could feel her shaking. He wanted to make this stop, protect her again.

He looked at Logan before he spoke. “I have read reports and witness accounts of early experiments and medical examinations of early mutants. The experiments themselves were never documented. Neither were the test subjects.” He lowered his gaze from his friend. “Hence the reason you can find no record of yourself. One good thing to come out of those labs was the findings. They have given *decent* scientists a head start on how the ‘X’ gene works.”

“Get to the point, doc.” Logan wasn’t comfortable with this line of conversation.

“They discovered that the gene not only mutates a person’s bodily cells causing a mutation, but it itself mutates and changes its structure.” Everyone in the room looked a little confused. “Everyone carries the ‘X’ gene, even humans, but there are a few humans and mutants that carry an accelerated form of that gene. For example, the chances of two normal humans having a child with a mutation are around 37.5% these days. If one parent is a mutant, then the chances of that child being a mutant increase. If both parents are mutants, then it is a certainty that child will have a mutation.” He pointed to Marie. “You carry a normal ‘X’ gene. If *he* carried an accelerated form, even though he’s human, the combination of the two would pass to little Rebecca and could cause her mutation to manifest early and be more powerful.”

Marie sighed. “How do you tell if you’re right?”

“I can look at her DNA and gene structure. It shouldn’t take too long, but I’m sure I’m right. There are other issues concerning this.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is young, too young for this. Her mutation is obviously a powerful one, if she can create something that not only is corporeal, but can also think for itself. It will take a lot of her energy to control and use. Her age and size means that she doesn’t have the energy levels necessary to gain that control, meaning she couldn’t stop it if she wanted to. It could be physically dangerous for her, possibly fatal if prolonged. I would say that it needs to be suppressed until she is physically and emotionally developed enough to cope with it. After all, most mutations don’t manifest until puberty; it’s nature’s natural control.”

“Was it the drugs?” Her voice was quiet because she didn’t want to ask, but she had to. If it was, she would never forgive herself.

“No, we ran several tests during your pregnancy and since. There is no indication that the drugs had any affect on Rebecca whatsoever.” She visibly relaxed, and as Logan looked at her, he realised how hard it must have been for her to ask that.

“Is there a way to suppress it until she’s ready?” Scott really hoped there was.

“There is, but I fear it may bring with it other…more personal complications.” He looked directly at Marie.

“Like what?”

“If I can get an exact DNA and blood sample from you and from Rebecca’s biological father, I can create a suppressant. But it would mean contacting him for the samples.”

She smiled. “Hank, that’s fine. We can contact the prison service. We can get it from their records.” Logan shifted uncomfortably.

“A sample from medical records won’t be enough. It has to be no more than 12 hours old. Freezing for containment, preservation or transportation works fine for normal tests, but the necessary information relating to a mutation or the ‘X’ gene disintegrate after that time. And the blood, well it always helps to be fresh.”

“Well, there must be a prison doctor who can do it, without asking questions, a quick back hander and no one would know.” She looked at Logan, and then to the other men in the room. All were inspecting their shoes. “What?”

“Darlin’. It’s not as simple as that.”

“Why not?”

“He’s not in prison, Marie. He was released just over a year ago.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” She moved away from her husband. “And you’re just telling me this now? Oh my God, you all decided that I didn’t need to know?” She paced slight with her hands on her hips. “Does Jubes know?”

“No.”

“And why is that, Logan?”

“Because she would have told you, Marie.”

“Too fucking right she would have. Because unless you forgot, that son of a bitch is the reason we have this situation. I don’t care what way you sugar coat it. He had sex with me without my consent, which, the last time I checked, was rape and now he’s out, anywhere!”

“Marie, it wouldn’t have done you any good to know. Unless you were planning on contacting him?”

“No, Logan, I have no desire to ever see him again. What if he had come looking for me? What if he had seen Becky?”

“He would never have got anywhere near you. I would never let him do anything to you ever again. You don’t have to be afraid of that.”

“Logan, wake up! I’m not scared that he wants revenge. What scares me is Becky. We registered her birth. You’re on her birth certificate as her father. That’s illegal. If he found out about her, he could report that. Who do you think the courts would side against, a reformed con who could play himself as the victim, or a mansion full of mutants who lied? They could take her away…” Her voice broke with emotion. “They could take our little girl away or…or she could die!”

He walked to her and hugged her tightly as she cried. “No one is ever taking her away from us.”

He looked at Scott, Hank, and Charles. “We can get the samples without giving away the situation. We do it tomorrow, and get this over with.” They nodded. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

After she spent a little while in the bathroom gathering herself, she joined him in bed. He lay there holding her, unable to sleep. She couldn’t either. Suddenly he got up, roughly throwing the covers back with a growl and stalking out of the room. “Logan?”

He came back a couple of seconds later with Becky in his arms. She was still asleep, and he settled her in between them, all three eventually sleeping peacefully together.

**************END OF PART SIX

Marie woke up and was alone. She looked around the room. Logan’s clothes and boots were gone; so was Becky. She dressed quickly and went down to the kitchen.

What she saw made her heart want to break. Logan was sat at the counter, Becky in his lap. She was colouring a picture of a horse. Logan had his arms around her waist and his head resting on top of Becky’s, his nose buried in her hair.

It was as if he was trying desperately to hang onto her, make sure he knew her scent, and at the same time make sure that she carried his. The closest way he could mark her without actually physically doing it.

Becky was oblivious to her father’s inner turmoil. She happily coloured her horse a violent shade of purple. Marie realised that this wasn’t about her anymore. It wasn’t about her experience with Ethan, what he did or didn’t do to her. It was about Logan now, and how he couldn’t live without either of them.

Marie had finally let go of her heart and given it to another, but Logan had more to lose. He had taken a risk too. He had taken on another man’s child, fallen in love with her. Now he was faced with the possibility of losing something that, deep down, he didn’t think he deserved in the first place. If they couldn’t get a suppressant, Becky could die, and that wasn’t an option anyone was willing to consider.

She moved into the room. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Logan didn’t raise his head; his deep voice simply radiated through the little girl’s hair.

“Becky, I forgot my cell phone. It’s by my side of the bed. Can you run up and get it for me?”

“Ok, mummy. Look after my horse, dad.” She slipped off his lap and raced out of the door.

“Sure thing, kid.”

He stayed in his seat, just watching the empty door. “Thought *I* was the kid?”

“You grew up, remember?” He voice was solemn, but he smiled.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for, growing up?” He shifted but still didn’t look at her.

“No, for taking your protection for granted.”

He raised his head and looked at her for the first time. She smiled, and so did he. He got up and stood in front of her, in between her legs. He touched her cheek and let his hand trail down to her collar bone.

“So if you’re sorry, then you’re not pissed at me anymore?” He smirked at her; her scent was slowly growing in arousal. She damned herself; he always had this effect on her.

“Oh yes, I am.” She smiled and pointed to her face. “Look this is my ‘I’m-still-pissed-at-you’ face.” She giggled as he rubbed his hands down to her hips and round to her bottom.

“Well, these are my ‘You-cant-stay-pissed-at-me-for-long’ kisses.” He kissed her neck and the spot she loved behind her ear.

“Mmmm. Logan, seriously I mean it, I’m sorry.”

She moaned again when he rubbed his face into hers, then kissed her passionately. “I’m sorry too. We’ll get over this, and everything will be fine. I promise.”

“One day, making promises to young brown-haired girls will get you into trouble.”

“If I remember rightly, I was in trouble long before I promised you anything.”

“EWWW!”

They turned to see Becky standing in the doorway, scrunching her nose up at her parents kissing. Marie gestured to her to come here. She ran up and jumped into her mother’s arms. Logan hugged them both.

“I’ve got to go out for a while tonight.” He stroked Becky’s hair

“Can I come?” Excitement evident in her little voice.

“Not this time, Becks. You look after your mum for me?” He kissed them both, nuzzling and growling softly into Beck’s neck. She giggled at him.

“Tickles, Daddy!”

After dinner, he met Scott in the garage, and they got into his truck. He started the engine, and as he was about to pull out, the back door opened and Marie and Jubes jumped in. “We’re coming, too.”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, Logan, we are. Now, are you driving, or am I doing that too?”

“Where’s Becks?”

“With Hank.”

He growled and put the truck into drive. He knew where he was going. He had known since Ethan had been released. It took about 3 hours, but they finally arrived, outside a rundown building. It was a halfway house, for people who had been released from prison but had nowhere to go.

Scott went in and spoke to the woman behind the desk. When he came out, he looked a little worried. “Well?” Logan’s voice held hardly any patience.

“He’s not there anymore. He’s living over the top of a bar about a mile out of town. The clerk seems to think that he’s involved in some kind of organised crime group that owns the bar. Drugs, women, gambling, but she can’t be sure, hence the reason he hasn’t been prosecuted.”

“So we go to the bar,” Logan growled.

Marie was quiet in the back as Logan made the decision to go after him. He kept checking her in the rear-view mirror. Her face didn’t give anything away, but he could smell her nervousness and fear.

The bar was dirty-looking and obviously rough. The big neon sign over the door read ‘Sandy’s”. All four of them got out of the truck, but Logan stopped Marie.

“You don’t have to go in there.”

“I know. As far I’m concerned this is just another mission Logan, except the stakes are way higher.”

He nodded, and they entered the bar. It was dimly lit and noisy. A group of suited men near the dance floor were obviously drunk and celebrating someone’s birthday. There were other smaller groups of people in booths and at tables. There was a big jukebox next to the bar churning out music.

They sat down in a booth in the far corner, and all ordered a beer when the waitress came over to them. A few minutes later, she brought them their drinks.

“There’s a door and a stairway next to the bar. My guess is he’s up there.” Two hulking bouncers flanked the door. Logan took a swig of his beer, secretly wishing that he didn’t have to be here and neither did Marie.

Marie sank down into her seat when she saw Ethan, dressed in a smart suit. He came out of the door, spoke to one of the bouncers, and then disappeared back up. He looked the same, handsome, but the sight of him made her angry and sick.

“We need a distraction. If we try and fight our way up, those bouncers will have the whole bar on our backs before we can blink.”

Scott and Logan looked deep in thought. Marie had an idea: Logan wouldn’t like it, but she was past caring. She would do anything at this point. She eyed Jubes and then shot her eyes toward the birthday revellers.

Jubes looked slightly confused and then smiled when she realised what Marie had in mind. “St John’s 18th?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll have to do it. I’m not wearing suitable attire, if you catch my drift.”

“Ok. You sort out the jukebox.” She turned to Logan, who was listening to their quick conversation with confusion. “Do you still have a spare shirt and that hard hat in the back of the truck?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Me and Jubes have a distraction. When we give you a signal, get up those stairs, get the blood and DNA samples, and get out.”

“St John’s 18th? I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Scott looked liked he was going to pass out.

“You got a better idea?”

“No, but come on, not that.”

Marie got up and moved past Logan. Scott stood to let Jubes out of the booth, and both women went outside.

“What happened at the fire kid’s party?”

“Logan, trust me, you really don’t want to know.” He took a sip of his beer and briefly wondered if Logan would survive the show he was about to get.

“Scott, what is going on?”

“While you were off in Canada, St John turned 18. At his party Jubilee, Kitty, Rogue and Amelia gave him a…present.”

“I don’t like the sound of it.”

“It’s not the sound you have to worry about!”

Both men turned as Jubes and Marie walked back in. Jubes went straight over to the jukebox. Logan’s mouth dropped when he saw what Marie was wearing. She had his flannel shirt tied in a knot just below her breasts, his empty tool belt round her hips, and his hard hat on with her hair stuffed under it.

He immediately knew what she was going to do. He wanted to stop her, but the sight of her in his shirt and tool belt was making it hard to concentrate.

She swung her hips over to the edge of the dance floor, grabbed a chair, and shoved it with her foot into the middle of the floor. The group of birthday revellers stopped and looked at the chair.

She tipped the front of her hat with a wry smile. “Who’s the birthday boy?” A couple of drunk men shoved a blonde man with a big badge that said ‘Birthday Boy’ into the chair.

A quick glance at Jubes and the music started. Marie wanted to slap her; it was Fedde Le Grand, ‘Put your hands up’. How fitting. She began to dance around the man in the chair.

She took her hat off and shook out her hair. There was a loud cheer, and she had everyone’s attention.

Scott noticed that the bouncers on the far door had moved to get a better look at Marie. He stood up and was about to tell Logan that they needed to be quick, when he noticed Logan was still completely lost, watching his wife slowly take her clothes off.

He grabbed Logan’s arm, and when the larger man came to his senses, they both headed through the door and up the stairs. They walked directly into an office-like room. There were three men in the room, two bodyguards and Ethan.

Logan and Scott simultaneously raised tranq guns and shot the two bodyguards. As they fell, Ethan spotted Logan and Scott. Logan smirked dangerously at him, swung his arm, and punched him in the jaw.

He was sure that he had never hit anyone that hard in all the years he could remember. Ethan went down like lead, and Logan resisted the urge to kick him. Logan pointed the tranq gun at him and fired.

“Logan, was that really necessary? He’s already unconscious.” Logan just shrugged his massive shoulders as he heard another cheer from downstairs.

Logan watched the door as Scott drew a vial of Ethan’s blood and then opened his mouth, swabbing the skin with a large cotton stick. He put the stick in a little tube and then put it in his pocket.

Logan could still hear the music downstairs, and judging by the cheers, Marie was running out of clothes. “Come on!”

“I’m done. Let’s get out of here.” Scott went to the door, but Logan stood still and just stared at Ethan. “Logan, come on.”

“It would be so easy, Scott. Get rid of him, get him out of her life forever.”

“Two more hits of the tranquilliser, and it would give him an overdose. He’d die. Is that what you want, kill him? Will it kill off your feelings, Logan? Make it all go away? Will it make things with Marie and Becky easier?” He paused to let his words sink in. “It won’t. It will only give you more problems, Logan, and you know it. What if Becky ever finds out?”

“She won’t.”

“Can you ever really be sure of that? Let’s say she does. How is she going to look at you then? Right now, you’re her hero, the best thing in her life. If you kill him, you just turn into the guy who killed *her father* out of anger and jealousy.”

Logan looked at the gun in his hand and then at Ethan again. If he killed him, he could guarantee that Marie and Becky would be safe. Everything would be simpler, surely? He could see Becky’s face, her perfect features, cute little nose and her smile. She smiled at him like he was the whole world. He was the one she loved, needed, and wanted. But what if she did ever find out…could he lose her? He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m her father.”

“My point exactly. Now let’s go. Now.”

They descended the stairs, and Scott nodded to Jubes. Logan caught sight of Marie, and what a beautiful sight. She was clad only in her bra and panties, gyrating in front of the birthday man. She got down low, running her hands over her pale thighs and then stood up, flicking her hair wildly. He looked at her shapely legs, flawless skin, flecked slightly like Becky’s. Logan wanted to lick every inch of her exposed flesh and planned on doing just that the first opportunity he had.

Suddenly the song stopped, and she picked up her clothes. “Show’s over boys! Bye!”

She tottered back to the entrance. She shoved her jeans back on once she was outside. Scott and Logan were already by the truck, and Jubes came out right after her.

“Nice diversion, darlin’. Care to give me a repeat later?”

“Maybe, cowboy. Is it your birthday?”

“Fucking is now!” They both chuckled, and he kissed her.

“Did you get it?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” He would have to talk to her later, when they were alone. He needed to talk about Ethan, get his feelings out, let her know how scared he was. He had very nearly killed Ethan simply because he could. Killing for him had always been a necessity, only when he had to, kill or be killed only. But just then, he would have simply because he could. The opportunity was there, and he very nearly took it.

**********END OF PART SEVEN

They arrived back at the mansion and found Becky tucked up in bed fast asleep. Logan left Marie with Hank to take blood and DNA samples and went for a shower.

The hot spray stung his skin, but he didn’t care. He was lost in his own thoughts, his head and palms resting against the cold tiles while he tried to calm himself. He was so wound up, dangerously so. He knew he would have to stay in the shower for a while, to gather himself, calm down and to make sure he didn’t get on his bike, go back to that bar and rip Ethan’s insides out through his nose.

He heard the door close, which meant that Marie was back. He could smell her over the steam and water; she was sad, nervous, and scared. He hated it when she smelled like that. It was one of the few times he wished his mutation were different.

She had smelled worse on top of the Statue of Liberty, scared shitless and screaming for someone, anyone, to help her. He had come to her rescue. He wanted to do that now, take away her pain, make her feel better, but he wasn’t sure he could. It was so difficult, so hard to feel like this. All he wanted to do was destroy something, slice, cut, claw and hit, somehow get rid of the dangerous energy gathered in his body.

He washed himself vigorously, trying to push all the evil, vengeful thoughts out of his mind. He was finding it hard. After missions where he had to fight or let it loose a little, he felt something similar: an unfulfilled rage like a lion that didn’t get his fair share of the meat. Normally he could push it all away, make himself calm again, but this was different.

This was about Marie and Becky, the two things in the whole world guaranteed to get a reaction. If Hank’s suppressant didn’t work, Becky could die, and heaven knows what that would do to Marie, or him for that matter. Whatever the genetics, Becky was his little girl.

He had bathed her, changed her and played with her. He was the one she called daddy. He knew that she didn’t like carrots. He knew that she couldn’t sleep without a little blue teddy he had given her when she was a year old. He was the one that noticed how she smirked just like her mother or how she crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted just like her, too. Him, not some brainless, perverted, junkie asshole, but him.

He banged his head on the tiles a couple of times. He decided his line of thinking wasn’t helping. He was only giving himself more reasons to get angry; he couldn’t and wouldn’t cry, so he usually just got pissed off instead.

He turned sharply when the shower door opened, and Marie stepped in. He kept his back to her as she wound her arms around his waist. “Darlin’, I ain’t good company right now.”

“Well, I am.” She ran her hands up his back; he managed to suppress a shiver. His cock was starting to harden at her touch. But she needed to leave; he couldn’t take out his frustrations on her. Every time they had made love, sex, a quick fuck, it had been out of love, respect and trust, not the need for vengeful relief.

He had been rough, left bruises, but never *hurt* her. He had never laid a hand on her when he felt like this. If he had her now, he knew he would cross the line. It would be for him, hard, rough and demanding. He would show his power and dominance. He would use her body, mark her skin, and remind her soul who it belonged to.

“Marie, just leave me be, darlin’.” She began to feather light kisses on his back. He could smell her increasing musky scent, filling his nostrils and nibbling away at his restraint, like a mouse on cheese.

He was breathing heavily, his shoulders and chest rising and falling in huge movements. Every muscle hard and unforgiving. Her small hands ran over his skin, inflaming it, making his heart beat harder.

It wasn’t just the situation with Becky and Ethan that had him wound up. He had watched her take her clothes off in front of a horde of men whose aroused scents had mixed in with hers. He could also smell Hank on her: no matter how well-intentioned his touch was, he was still another man. The animal inside wanted to re-take its territory, mark its ownership.

He grabbed her hand, pulled her round in front of him, and pushed her roughly face-first against the shower wall. “I told you to leave me be!” His breath tickled her ear as he growled his words, giving her goose bumps and making her shiver. Her scent held fear, but not enough to make him let her go; she would have to stink of it before he would stop now.

Leaning flush against her, he noticed that the fear in her scent was ebbing away and being replaced by excitement. He rubbed his hands roughly down her sides and round to her stomach. He moved one hand down to her pubic hair and roughly cupped her mound. “Logan!” Rubbed none too gently at her clit and she could help but push back against him.

It wasn’t that he was hurting her; she just knew that she was in over her head. She wasn’t stupid, she had never provoked him, and she knew better than to get near him after a mission, but tonight she didn’t expect him to be like this. She wasn’t sure if it was that that made her nervous or the fact that she liked it.

She expected him to slip his finger inside her, but instead he slammed two into her with a growl. She immediately clamped around his fingers, hissing at the pleasure-pain but unable to stop herself from bucking into his large frame.

He held her there, revelling in the sounds that she made. Soft moans of pleasure that mirrored his own need. She tipped her head back, and he took the opportunity to bite her neck, marking her pale skin and making her fling her eyes open wide and yelped.

She was so close to letting go, when he suddenly pulled her out of the shower, his fingers still inside her. “Logan, what the...?”

He shoved her against the bathroom counter, and she winced as the edge dug into her thighs. He was franticly running his free hand roughly over her body, nipping and growling at her back while he pumped his fingers into her, making her coo and moan. He grabbed her hair and wrapped it around his fist, pushing her forward over the counter. He took out his fingers and slammed his aching cock straight into her. “AAHH!”

He pulled her up by her hair so her back was flush with his chest, then raised one of her legs onto the counter and snarled into her shoulder as he pumped into her. She flung her head back and grabbed at her breasts, rolling her nipples between her fingers.

Looking over her shoulder into their large bathroom mirror, Logan snarled at the sight of her touching herself. It made his cock even bigger to see her generous breasts barely contained in her small hands and her dark nipples hardening in between her lithe fingers, her wedding ring glinting in the light reminding him he had her completely.

His fingers dug into her thigh as he tried desperately to hold her still. She was moaning and bucking and wriggling against him. He let go of her hair and put his hand under her chin, his huge fingers gripping her jaw and holding her tightly against him. He was going so hard into her, probably too hard. He had never been this rough with her, fucking her so harshly, taking what he wanted and be damned if she enjoyed it or not. He was going to bruise her, he knew it, but he just couldn’t stop himself.

Her inner muscles began to tense around his cock, and she screwed her face up tightly as her orgasm ran through her like a sharp unforgiving blade. Her body slackened against him slightly, but he didn’t stop.

He pushed her forward and lowered her thigh so both her feet were back on the floor. She was flat on the counter now, her forehead pressed against the cool surface with her hair fanning out over her shoulders. Logan leaned back and dug into her hips as he brought her body back to meet his fiercely hard thrusts.

She was moaning his name and scraping her nails on the counter. Every thrust he made, she cried out at its force. He smirked as he watched her writhe and moan under him, loving the sight of her, the smell of her making him want to go even harder.

“FUCK, LOGAN!” She was getting close again. She knew he couldn’t be too far behind her. She wished he would bite her or something, just a little nip to push her over the edge and take him along with her.

Her body glistened with sweat. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. He was also covered in sweat, and he looked positively lethal: teeth bared, muscles taught and balls deep in the most beautiful woman he had even seen.

He ran one hand over her back and onto her buttock. He smirked again as he raised his hand and gave her a sharp smack. She bucked and squeaked at the sting and immediate burn. It tipped her over the edge when he smacked her again. She grabbed at her hair with her hands and held onto it while she shouted his name.

His fingers dug into her hips again as he came; his sharp rough thrusts making her thighs dig painfully into the counter edge. When she was going through her orgasm, she couldn’t feel it, but now the pain came to her fully

He rested his head in the small of her back breathing heavily. He kissed her and moved away. Picking up a towel, he wrapped it around her as she stood up on slightly shaky legs. When she had finished tucking it under her arms, he lifted her up to sit on the counter.

The first thing he noticed were the red marks on the side of her jaw. Then he gently moved the towel up her legs so he could look at her thighs. He sighed at the angry red line starting on one thigh and carrying onto the other; it would bruise. He undid the towel and looked at her hips, inspecting the damage he had done. There was a full handprint on each, they were pink and would, overnight, turn blue. He picked her up off the counter and lifted the towel to look at her buttocks. An angry red handprint stared back at him, like a neon sign saying ‘bastard’.

She turned around to face him. He looked at his feet and then to her face. He shook his head a little and was about to speak when she put her fingers over his lips. “If you apologise for possibly the best sex we’ve ever had, I will hit you.” He chuckled and kissed her. “You’ve never been like that before. I mean you been rough, but… that was something a bit harder to control, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He took the towel off and picked her up in his arms, carrying her gently to their bed. Once under the covers, she snuggled into him, stealing his warmth and cosiness.

His face was pressed into her hair; he stared at the silky strands just not knowing what to say to her. He really had hurt her, not a love bite or little nips that left a mark, but pain. Even before he met her when he would have a different woman nearly every night, he had never gone that hard, that rough and uncaring.

She shifted in his embrace and pulled back a little so she could look at him. “Logan, it’s ok.”

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” Even though he knew it was about her.

“Logan, it was good, a bit rough, but really good. I’m not complaining. In fact I think I might start bugging you after missions now.” She giggled a little and snuggled into his chest again. He couldn’t help but smile. Even he had to admit it was damn good.

“You’re not there for me to take my shit out on, darlin’.”

“So why don’t you tell me about it, talk to me?”

He rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head. Marie rested up on one elbow to look at him. “I nearly killed him. I wanted to, I had the perfect opportunity, and I was gonna take it. Pump him full of tranquilliser and overdose the son of a bitch.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Scott said what if Becky finds out, and for a second I honestly thought she wouldn’t, no way would she ever know that. But it would come out, someway or another, and then that little girl would hate me for being a fucking dangerous freak who kills people simply because he can. I want to kill him, Marie.” He rolled on his side and mirrored her position, then gently touched her cheek before continuing. “Right now, I want to drive back over there and beat him to death. Forget the tranq gun. Forget the claws. I want to feel it through my hands. He made you into something you weren’t. He took advantage of you, pumped you full of shit, and then did God-knows-what to you. On top of all that, he put you in a situation where 1): you got used by some asshole you didn’t even know, and 2): you could have died. But it’s not any of that that makes me want to kill him. It’s worse.”

“What then?” He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed with his back to her. She moved out of the covers next to him and lowered her head so she could see his face.

It had been eating away at him, the real reason he hated the bastard so much. “He gave you Becks. I’ve never seen you so happy as when you’re with her. She makes you shine. She brought out so much in you, your courage when you were pregnant and giving birth and everything. She’s so beautiful and full of life and *pep*, for want of a better word. She makes everyone smile, especially you, and I adore her for that, making you happy again, making you want to feel again, rather than hiding in the background. That fucking bastard gave that to you, and I hate him for it, because I wanted it to be me. I wanted it to be me.”

She kissed his shoulder and ran her hands over him. “It is you. Everything is you. Logan, I love you.” She stood up then straddled his lap. “As annoying as it is, I do agree with Scott. I don’t want her to find out about him, but there is always the possibility that she will.”

He ran his hands up her sides and cupped her face. “I love you.”

“I know. It’s ok to hate him and to want to kill him. You’re not the only one, sugar.”

He gently let his fingers slip effortlessly into her soft hair and pulled her down for a kiss. “Let me make it up to you.” He kissed her again and let his free hand rub her breast. She could feel his erection come to life between them.

He stood up and gently placed her on the bed, all the time feathering her with light gentle kisses. He caressed up her thighs and spread them open. His hands roamed over her body as he entered her slowly. Every move he made was slow and gentle, making sure she realised how much he loved her.

This was for her. He cradled her face in his hands as he moved slowly in and out of her. She moaned at him as he took his sweet time, keeping the pace the same, slow and gentle, rubbing his big hands over her breasts and lightly pulling on her nipples.

He had no idea how long they had been going, an hour maybe. He kissed her lips and her jaw, her throat, anything in reach. Both were covered in sweat as the slow intense feeling grew in each of them. When she finally tipped over the edge, digging her nails into his back, her warm pants heating his skin, she took him with her, and they clung desperately to each other. His face buried in her hair and hers pressed into his chest. They broke apart and panted for air.

“We need another shower, darlin’,” he chuckled. She laughed and snuggled into him again; soon they were both asleep.

The next morning both of them were woken up by an earthquake. The bed shook and Logan’s head bounced on his pillow. He shot up and looked Becky straight in the eyes. She was bouncing on the end of their bed, making it shake violently. Marie stirred next to him but made no attempt to deal with the little kangaroo on the end of the bed. “Becks, cut it out!”

“Get up, daddy. I’m hungry, and you snore!”

He laughed at her. “Go get dressed, kid.” She bounced off the bed and ran into her room to get dressed.

He turned over to Marie and pushed the covers off of her. The first thing he noticed was the red handprint still on her ass. She moaned and tried to push him away when he turned her over. She had blue fingerprints on her hips and a blue-and-yellowed line across both her thighs. Thankfully her jaw wasn’t marked.

She opened her eyes and found him inspecting her body. She touched his mutton-chops. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t look fine. Turn your skin on. I’ll give you a boost.”

“So you can spend the rest of the day all groggy and irritable? I don’t think so, sugar. I’ll live.” She stood up and stretched.

“Darlin’, what if someone sees? What are they gonna say? That I’m a mean bastard who roughs up his woman, that’s what.”

“Logan, who exactly is going to see my hips, thighs, and ass?”

“But…but…” He stammered, because no one was ever going to get the view he had right now. She smirked at him and started getting dressed.

After Becky had eaten more than her fair share of eggs and pancakes, they took her down to Hank. He had spent most of the evening working on the suppressant and had finished it that morning. Logan sat Becky on the exam table, and Hank gave her a small injection. When it was all done, Becky ran off to play outside, completely unfazed by the whole experience.

“How long will we have to give it to her?”

“Once every other month until she’s about 14 years old. It seems a lot, but it is quite necessary.”

Marie had her arms crossed over her chest and was inspecting the floor. “What if we carried on giving her the suppressant?” She felt dizzy, but figured it was just her adrenaline pumping a bit too much.

“What? That’s a joke right?” She turned to see the anger in Logan’s eyes, opening her mouth to speak, but deciding against it. “So we, what, just take away her right to this mutation?”

“She could be normal, Logan, just another girl. Just another normal girl.”

“Rather than a freak! Is that what you mean?”

“No, I don’t mean that. I…just, I...”

“Marie, I can’t believe you even suggested that. She grows up with a deadly mother, a lethal father, and a band of aunts and uncles that could wipe out half the known world, and you want *her* to be normal. What if we have more kids? We gonna do the same for them as well? Take it all away, take away their right to be who they were meant to be, turn them into something they’re not? Make them lie and hide for the rest of their lives?” She knew what he was getting at. He meant how the army had tampered with him, trying to make him something he wasn’t.

“No, I just want her to be safe.”

“She is safe, with us.”

Hank, coughed purposefully to draw their attention. “I hate to interrupt, but what Marie has suggested wouldn’t even be possible. She will eventually outgrow the suppressant. Her hormones will take over, and her mutation will manifest anyway. I’m afraid it’s not even an option.”

“Good!” With that Logan turned and walked out of the lab, slamming the door as he went.

Marie found him in the grounds smoking a cigar. His mouth was set in a grim line as he watched Becky play catch with some of the younger kids. She touched his arm, but he shrugged her off.

“Logan…” He turned on her, anger still present.

“What? Huh? You want to say something? Then say it, I’m listening. Jesus fucking Christ, Marie! I can’t believe you would even think about it.” He paced in front of her slightly.

“Logan, she’s just a kid. God knows what way the world will go as far as mutants are concerned. What if there is a war coming? What if she gets caught up in it?”

“Then all the better she has something to protect herself with.”

“Protect herself or give them a reason to hunt her down! Fuck, Logan, you’re not stupid. Think about it. The Brotherhood, fucked-up scientists, the American government, another Stryker, what do you think they would do if they found out about her? A girl who can create anything she wants, and not just as an image--a solid, moving, living thing that can think for itself. Think about it. Now she’s making wolves, but in the future when she has a handle on it, who knows? A wall, a shield, an army of men or a fully-functional tank. She could put the President of the United States in front of you and tell you to kill every living human being on the planet. Tell me that’s not an asset?”

It was her turn to pace in front of him. “Marie…”

“You really think that I would suggest it if there wasn’t a damn good reason? The two of you are all I have, and I will do anything to keep that.”

She stormed off back to their room, slamming the door behind her, and paced around, running her hands through her hair. Her vision swam slightly, and she had to sit on the edge of the couch before she fell over.

She chuckled to herself; it must be the stress. There was no other reason for it. Her smile faded when she realised that she hadn’t felt like that since she was pregnant with Becky.

She got up and went into the bathroom. Opening the small cupboard under the sink, she took out a paper bag. It had three pregnancy tests in it. She and Logan had a long talk about having more children and decided to stop using contraception a month ago and see what happened.

She heard the door open and quickly locked the bathroom door. As she sat on he toilet to do the test, Logan knocked softly. “Darlin’, will you come out here and talk to me, please?”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” She kept her voice clipped, trying to sound annoyed rather than nervous.

She washed her hands and stared at the test. As she dried her hands, the liquid spread across the small window with the line in. The second window instantly started to colour, and after a couple more seconds, a brilliant blue line confirmed her suspicion.

She smiled brightly at the test. She was pregnant, by Logan. Her chest filled with air and began to ache as she held the test close to her. They both had wanted another child, but she feared the impact on Becky and Logan’s relationship.

Not knowing exactly how to handle it, she decided to go for the direct approach. She slipped the test in her pocket and went into the main room. Logan was leaning against the window frame looking out into the grounds. Obviously watching Becky again.

“Ok, look…” He turned around and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’m sorry about suggesting we keep her mutation ‘off’, but I just want her to be safe. I wasn’t safe, I had to run, and I got lucky, because of you. She might not get lucky, Logan, and I can’t handle that thought. I can’t handle any thoughts of what could happen to her.” She sat on the arm of the couch facing him, still feeling a little queasy. “So how about we compromise?”

“Like how?” He didn’t move, just stood there staring at her with piercing eyes.

“We teach her everything, absolutely everything we know. We make sure she can fight, that she’s strong, smart, everything.” He smiled and looked at the floor. “What’s funny?”

“She’s got more than a damn good dose of you in her. She’ll be all those things and more.” She smiled at him as he opened his arms and gestured to her to come to him. “Come here. I’m sorry I shouted at you.”

She didn’t move. “There something else that’s going to make things a little bit more complicated.”

He crossed his arms again and leaned back against the window frame. “What?”

“I’m pregnant.” She bit her lip, wanted to smile, to beam, to jump in his arms and kiss him till the sun went down, but she wanted to see his reaction first.

He chuckled. “What? What did you say?”

“I said, I’m pregnant.” She put her hand in her pocket and brought out the test, smiling as she gave it to him.

He took it and looked at the lines, nodding. Tossing it over his shoulder, he lunged at her, his hands instantly sinking into her hair while he kissed her passionately. She didn’t need her mutation to feel the joyous emotion pouring off of him. Then as quickly as he had grabbed her, he let go and raced for the door.

“Logan, where are you going?”

He shouted back at her as he got out into the hall. “GOTTA TELL BECKS!”

**********END OF PART EIGHT

…13 YEARS LATER.

Becky had finished washing her hair, but stayed under the spray of the shower anyway, letting the heat wake her up so she was ready for class. She had been up till really late helping her roommate decorating their new bedroom. When she had been thirteen, she had moaned that she wanted to be like all the other kids at the mansion and live in the dorms and reluctantly her parents had agreed. Now, the beginning of the new term had signalled a reshuffle and yesterday, two days before her 18th birthday, she had moved from a four-bunk room into a two-bed room with her best friend.

She really was looking forward to her birthday tomorrow. She was convinced that her dad had bought her a car.

The bang on the bathroom door made her jump and broke up her thoughts. “Becky, get out of the bathroom already. I have class in 20 minutes.”

“Bite me!” She rolled her eyes and turned off the water.

Walking out of one of the communal bathrooms dressed and with a towel around her hair, he was still standing there waiting for her.

“You’re not the only one that has to shower you know Becky!” He growled his words at her.

“Grow up, Jimmy!”

“My name is JAMES!” He pushed past her into the bathroom and slammed the door in her face. Once she heard the shower turn on and the door shut, she opened the bathroom door, walked over to the toilet, and flushed it. Her brother shrieked like a girl when the water turned icy and hit his skin.

She was still laughing when she arrived for Geography class with Miss Munroe. She sat next to her best friend and now roommate, Rachael, and quietly told her about freezing her brother out this morning.

Second period of the day was a free one; she spent it alone in the library. She was trying to study but got distracted by the view out of the window.

On the grass was her phys-ed instructor, shirtless and putting one of the younger classes through their paces. She watched a couple of the girls giggle as he spoke to them. They all had a crush on him, and he knew it. He played on it. His class had the highest success rate in the whole school, and his shirtless, sweaty appearance was the only reason. Even her mother still got breathless around him, but then, her parents’ sex life was notorious.

His class ran off to complete laps as he dug out a cigar and lit it, watching them with a smirk. That smirk turned into a genuine smile as her brother approached him. She looked at them as they stood side-by-side talking. From a distance, they could be brothers, even though James was only 13. As for Logan, he never looked a day over 35. James was only slightly shorter than Logan but just as well-built and with the same dark hair, but James let it grow so it flapped around his face.

Watching her father and brother interact, she smiled. James always thought that he had upper hand as far as their dad was concerned because he was a guy, but she knew better. Logan had made it perfectly clear when James was born. She remembered it like it was yesterday.

Her mum had been in the med lab all day. She wasn’t allowed down there. Her dad had told her to stay with Jubes and Pete. After supper, he had found her watching TV with Jubes. She had left when her dad came in and sat next to her on the couch.

He pulled her onto his lap and gave her a really tight hug. “You’re a big sister now.”

She pulled back from him, a bright smile on her face. “Was it a girl? Have I got a sister?”

Logan smiled at her. “Nah, kid, you got a brother instead.”

“Really! Can I see?” She clapped her hands together and bounced in his lap.

“In a sec. I wanted to talk to you first.” She bit her lip, and her eyes widened.

“I didn’t eat all of it myself, honestly. It was Jubes’ idea to steal the ice cream. She said that with everyone waiting for the baby to come, no one would notice and…” He put his fingers to her mouth and chuckled.

“I don’t care about the ice cream, kid.” She nodded at him, smiling again. “You remember when I first told you about us having a baby?” Another nod. “Well I wanted to just make sure you’re ok with this. There’s going to be a lot of people fussing over him, making daft girlie noises at him, and giving him stuff. So I wanted to let ya know a few things.”

“Will I get stuff, too?”

“Yeah. All I want you to remember is, you’re the oldest now. You’re in charge.” He noticed that her eyes lit up. “No matter how much attention he gets or if sometimes I ask you to be quiet or just play on your own for a while, it’s only because you’re old enough, and he can’t do anything for himself yet. So he needs me and your mum a little more.”

“Can’t he do anything?” She looked truly shocked that someone could be that helpless.

“Not a thing. You can do lots of things, so you’re going to have to teach him, how to eat, get dressed, use the can.”

“Mum says you’re not allowed to say can. You have to say bathroom.”

“This is you and me, kid, so I can say can if I want!” She giggled at him and snuggled into his chest. He stroked her hair; it was silky just like her mother’s. “You’re the first, kid. Don’t ever forget that.”

Becky jumped when a book landed in her lap. She hadn’t heard her mother walk in. “You left that upstairs. Figured you might need it for Math later. Daydreaming?”

“I was trying to study.” Marie sat down next to her daughter and held her hand with a bright smile on her face. As much as Logan and James could be brothers, Marie and Becky could be sisters; she looked 29 instead of 39. It was all thanks to an accident not long after James was born. Marie had fallen from a ladder while hanging Christmas decorations. Logan had panicked and made her turn her skin on. She had drained him again, getting a fresh dose of healing and youth.

“Of course you were. Listen, I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do tomorrow. It is Saturday, and it just happens to be your birthday.”

“I don’t know. Hang out with, Rach I guess. Would you mind if we went to the mall?”

“No, I don’t mind. I was planning on going myself. I can drop the two of you off, and you can catch the bus back. I just wanted to see what you were up to.” She smiled. She knew that Becky would be driving herself tomorrow. She got up, kissed the top of her daughter’s head, and headed for the door. She turned as she thought of something else. “Scott wanted me to make sure you weren’t late for your DR session later. He says you’re doing well with it, so be there, ok?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, mum. I’ll be there.” Marie turned back to her daughter for a second time.

“Oh and stop tormenting your brother! He’s had enough to deal with lately.” Becky rolled her eyes at her mother as she left; she knew what she meant. He had manifested a month ago. He had been arguing with another student in the cafeteria, his anger had risen, and his senses had kicked in. He smelled the other boy’s fear as well as the lies coming out of his mouth. The argument had been about his sister, although he hadn’t told anyone that.

‘Ro and Hank had tried to intervene, but James had shocked them all by producing perfect bone claws, two from each hand. Then he had shocked them a second time when the wounds in between his knuckles had healed over instantly.

Hank had performed a series of tests on him and confirmed that James had almost an identical mutation to Logan’s, having two claws on each hand instead of three, being the only difference. Becky and Marie had joined them happily in the med lab, while Hank announced his findings.

After another glance out of the window at her dad and brother, she got back to her books.

After lunch Logan was stood in the observation room that overlooked the danger room. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the simulation below. It was a standard rescue-and-exit, but Logan watched nervously as his daughter easily made the rescue with Scott and was attempting escape.

It did annoy Logan slightly that it was Scott she trained with, but she had insisted on it, saying that training with her dad would be too weird. She then clinched the decision by telling him that she probably would have no respect for his authority or any order that he gave her and therefore would get herself killed. He shook his head. She was just like her mother, and she knew exactly what to say to get her own way.

As he watched her, he smiled as she easily used her mutation to fool her enemy, creating a copy of herself, Scott and the ‘victim’ running in the opposite direction, giving them cover and time to escape to the jet. She had manifested almost immediately when they had stopped giving her the suppressant. She had quickly learned to control it, but it had taken the last four years to perfect it.

Now she could create anything that was relatively the same size as her. Once she had created a small car, but she hadn’t been able to keep it up for long. She could also make a small shield in front of her; they had tested it against an array of different weapons and guns with enormous success. Her mutation was linked to her emotions, so if she was upset or annoyed, it tended to be a little unpredictable.

The current simulation he was watching had been used in training several times. It was hard and had tripped up a couple of members of the senior team on occasion. Becky however seemed to cope really well, taking it all in her stride. Logan felt briefly guilty wishing that she would screw up; at least then she wouldn’t get on the team. But he knew she wanted it, and he could never deny her anything.

The sliding door whooshed open as Marie swiped herself in. He turned towards her, smirked knowingly, and raised an eyebrow. “Well, well, fancy seeing you here.”

“How is she doing?”

“I thought you said we should respect her privacy and not watch.”

She looked him up and down, then gestured to him with both hands. “And you’re here because…?”

He coughed and straightened his back, puffing out his chest. “Monitors needed re-tuning.”

She laughed. “Bullshit!”

“Oh shut up, woman!” They both laughed. “She’s doing really well, better than you did on this program. If I remember rightly, you fell off the edge of the building.”

“I was pushed! Hang on a minute…you weren’t there. You watched my training sessions?”

He smirked at her, getting close to her ear before he spoke. “’Cause I watched. You in skin tight leather. I’m not stupid enough to miss that.”

She couldn’t help but blush and then laughed at him. Her attention was pulled back to the DR as the simulation finished and faded back to the blue metal walls. Scott was smiling and obviously telling her that she did well.

“You know he’s going to put her on the senior team, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed heavily as he spoke. “Why can’t they just stay little and not grow up and answer back?” It wasn’t a real question, and he smiled at the thought of his kids staying young forever. They would drive him nuts.

“Come on. Let’s go get some dinner.” She walked to the door and was about to push the button to open it when he stopped her. He wound his arms around her waist and started to kiss her neck, pressing her against the door. “Logan, what are you doing?”

He reached out and turned off the light so the room looked as though it was empty. “You know exactly what I’m doing, darlin’.”

“Logan, I’m not getting caught having sex in here again!”

“Well, we’ll just have to keep *you* quiet this time.” His hands rubbed up her sides and pulled her shirt over her head. He turned her around and began to kiss her deeply. She was pressed against the door with Logan’s hard, unforgiving body securing her in position.

Their kissing turned needy, and they began to divest each other of their clothes. Logan’s shirt was first. She slid the shirt off his shoulders and pushed it down his muscular arms. Then she practically ripped his wife beater away, so that the pesky material wasn’t spoiling her view of his glorious chest anymore.

Then she unhooked his belt buckle as he tore her bra away from her breasts, kneading the globes once they were free. They had gotten a little bigger since she had the children, and he loved the feel of them. Once his jeans were open, she freed his cock.

Their kisses didn’t stop as he pushed her jeans down, and she stepped out of them. He immediately grabbed the backs of her thighs to lift her up, getting impatient to be inside her, wanting to sheath himself instantly in her musky heat. He tore her panties away and thrust into her.

She was about to cry out at the pleasure of him sunk to the hilt in her, but he clamped his hand over her mouth, remembering that they could easily be heard from the DR if they got out of hand. His thrusts were hard and fast, making her moan into his hand. He began to growl at her as he got closer to his own orgasm. She took one of her hands away from his shoulder and put it over his mouth. He could feel her lips turn into a smile behind his hand.

Their eyes were locked as he drove into her, pressing her back hard against the obs-room door. Even as their joined climaxes took them into silent ecstasy, their eyes stayed locked on each other. When Logan took his hand away he kissed her passionately, lowering her legs back down.

She was about to say something when he clamped his hand over her mouth again. She could hear Scott and Becky’s voices in the corridor as they passed by. Her eyes widened as she looked at Logan. She kept repeating the same sentence over and over in her head. ‘Please don’t let them come in here!’ She was trying really hard not to giggle behind his hand. He glared at her and shook his head, which only made it worse.

“So, welcome to the senior team. I’ll, um, let you have the honour of telling your dad.” He didn’t want to tell him, because he knew Logan didn’t really want her on he team. He didn’t blame the man, Scott had thought on several occasions that if he and Jean had had children, he wouldn’t of liked it either.

“No, Scott, you’re the team leader so you should tell him. Really, I don’t mind!”

“Becky, it’s fine. I don’t mind, honestly. You tell him.”

Scott and Becky’s voices were muffled thorough the door, but Logan smiled at what Scott had said. As their faded away, Logan took his hand away from her mouth. Marie instantly fell into a fit of hysterics and giggled her way through the rest of the day.

Logan was first out of bed in the morning. He looked around his and Marie’s room. They had moved into a large bedroom with an en suite, giving up their two bedroom one to the ever-increasing number of students. Both Becky and James wanted to live in dorms like the other kids, so he and Marie had a room to themselves again.

It was early, too early for any of the other X-Men or students to be up. He had a bad feeling about today. He couldn’t think why, and he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know. Becky was 18; there was no getting away from it. She had grown up, and James wasn’t too far behind her.

He had already been downstairs and got himself some coffee, bringing it back up with him. He stood by the window, watching Marie sleep, sipping at his coffee, and enjoying the view. She was face down across the bed. Her hair piled onto the pillow leaving her neck, back, and ass exposed. He dragged his eyes up and down her creamy skin, smiling because every inch of it was his.

Finishing his coffee, he kissed her back and left her for the garage. They had bought Becky a small car for her birthday, and he wanted to make sure the engine started ok and maybe check the oil to make sure it was ready to give to her later that morning.

About an hour later, Marie came in with the whole X-troupe, Becky in the middle blindfolded. James went and stood by his dad, and Logan casually slung his arm around his son’s broad shoulders.

Marie pulled the blindfold away, and Becky gasped as she looked at her new car. It was a bright pink Suzuki Jeep, second hand, but in perfect running order thanks to her father and brother.

“It’s fantastic!” She hugged both her parents as everyone clapped. Logan reluctantly gave her the keys as she kissed him on the check. “Thanks, dad, you’re the best!” And she hugged him again. He beamed at her, and Marie could have sworn that he blushed.

Logan gave her a quick run-through of the controls and then stood with Marie, watching Becky and Rachael drive off to the mall for the day. Everyone slowly filtered back to the mansion.

Marie pulled away from him and gave him and James a quick kiss before heading for her own car, a green VW beetle. “What time will you be back?”

“About two, I think. I have a couple of things to pick up for the party tonight. Do you need anything?”

Logan walked over to the car, and, leaning in the window, he kissed her again. “Nah, just you.” James rolled his eyes in the background and stuck two fingers in his mouth as if he was making himself sick.

“You know, Scott’s right. You are turning into a big softy.”

“I’m going to ignore that. Scram!”

“Yes, sir!” She laughed as she drove off, leaving her husband and son to their own devices.

Logan watched her go with the same bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He put it down to the fact that Becky was 18, and that meant, as far as the male population of the mansion were concerned, all bets were off. There would be hell to pay if he caught anyone sniffing around is little girl.

He turned to James. “Fancy a DR session?” The boy’s face lit up.

James pointed in the direction his mother had gone. “She’ll kill you if she finds out.”

“You’ll just have to keep your mouth shut then, won’t ya?”

James smirked a familiar smirk. “I can live with that.” Logan smacked him affectionately on the back.

Both of them chuckled as they headed off out of the garage. They hadn’t gone very far when James stopped him. “Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Logan figured it would be about his senses. James could probably smell almost every thing.

“The smell thing. I’m getting used to it, but…there are so many differences.”

“Like what?”

“I know that you smell different from mum, even though you still smell of each other. And I know that me and Becky smell similar, but different. First off, I figured it was because she’s a girl or because of her mutation, but there something I can’t put my finger on.”

Logan showed no reaction, kept his breathing and heart rate the same, wrestled his emotions down into the bottom of his stomach, and smiled a his son. “It’s because she a girl. They all smell weird. Their hormones and endorphins run riot all over their bodies and make them smell *off*. Haven’t you notice that your mum can smell like one thing one day and then smell completely different the next?”

“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged his large shoulders.

“That’s just women for ya. They smell weird. Live with it.” He slung his arm around James’s shoulder again and began to walk towards the DR, chuckling along with his son, his thoughts in turmoil over what James was getting at. Becky smelled different because she wasn’t Logan’s daughter. He knew that; he had always known that. He had just never planned on mentioning it to anyone.

Coming out of the flower shop, Marie headed back to the underground parking lot where she had left her VW. She was a little annoyed the florist hadn’t had what she had ordered. They were getting it from another shop, then shipping it to the Mansion in time for Becky’s party.

Cursing under her breath, she rummaged in her pockets for her keys. She never carried a handbag, too much of burden. She had a feeling it was something residual from Logan. He liked to travel light: only what you could fit in your pockets for a quick getaway, that kind of thing.

She came round the corner to where she had parked her car but was confronted by an altogether different sight. Flanking her car were two rather large men, dressed smartly with dark glasses covering their eyes. She noted quickly that they both had gloves on. In the centre, leaning casually on the hood of her car, was Ethan Palmer.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. He looked older and with that age had come a dangerous look in his eyes. She tried to hide her fear by crossing her arms over her chest, refusing to say anything first.

As she looked at him, his face, his body, images began to flash in her mind. Peeling white ceiling paint, him hovering above her calling her baby, a naked woman being harshly fucked, the scratch of a needle as it entered her skin, and the unforgettable feeling of complete euphoria.

It made her want to be sick, but most of all she wanted to run. His cold gaze slowly turned into a smile as he slid away from the car.

“Well, white stripes, long time no see. What’s it been? 17, 18 years?” He took out a cigarette from a expensive silver case and lit it.

“What do you want Ethan?” She instantly turned her skin on, feeling the inner hum as its power coursed through her body. Then as she looked at him, she turned it off again. She didn’t want to touch him; she never wanted him in her head. His memories might fill in the blanks, and she would simply rather not know.

He smiled again. “Me? Well, just the same things as always. Money, power, a nice-looking woman every now and again.” His gaze travelled up and down her frame, taking in every curve of her body. “And damn you are a nice-looking woman.” He shrugged. “But mostly money. What about you, Rogue? What do you want?”

“To be left alone.” The way he had looked at her made her briefly consider putting her skin back on, but then she decided she really didn’t want to touch *him*.

He pulled an over-exaggerated face, which basically meant no. “Sorry, no can do. You see, I’ve turned into a vengeful bastard. Must be all those years in *prison*. I know all about you now. Should have checked you out properly the first time, but hey, I was younger then and hindsight is a wonderful thing, don’t you think?”

She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. She didn’t say anything, so he kept on talking.

“Like I said, I’ve turned a tad vengeful, and today I feel like acting on it. I spent nearly five years in prison because of you. *Then* I spent a week in the hospital because your big hairy boyfriend shattered my jaw.” He tuned his face to the side and pointed to a small scar along his jaw-line. “Had to have it pinned to repair it.”

“He’s my husband, and I should have let him kill you when he had the chance!” She was starting to get angry.

He took a step towards her so he was inches from her face. She stood her ground, refusing to back away from him. “I know he’s your husband. I have been watching you for a while now, trying to, pick my moment, shall we say. I know everything about you, *Marie*.” He lowered his voice to a dangerous whisper. “That big and hairy is your hubby and that you have two little mutie freaks for kids. Had someone tail you for a while. Your girl’s kinda hot,” he trailed a finger down her cheek. “Might have to have a little fun with her.”

Marie’s anger flared, and she slapped him hard across he face, only to be instantly held back by one of the big men. She struggled but knew it was no use. The guy was as big as Logan. She couldn’t free herself unless he was stupid enough to give her an opportunity.

Ethan walked up to her as she was struggling in the big man’s hands and backhanded her across the face. She yelped as the skin on her cheek began to burn. “Nasty little temper you got there.”

“What do you want, you son of a bitch?”

“Like I said before, money. As it turns out you and your little family are quite well known in underground circles. I may hate muties, but I ain’t too proud to work for ‘em. You’ve made quite a few wealthy enemies over the last few years. Powerful, influential enemies, who...” he began to laugh, “are willing to pay me to kill you! Can you believe that? I mean, if they had asked I probably would have done it for nothing. But hey, if I get paid for enjoying it, I ain’t gonna complain.”

He moved in close to her face again, holding tightly onto her jaw so that she couldn’t move her face, and he slowly licked up her cheek where he had slapped her. “You never did complain, did ya, baby!”

******************END OF PART NINE

Logan checked his watch for the sixteenth time that hour. It was twenty-five minutes past four. Marie was late. She was *never* late. He took out his cell phone again and called her number. The same thing happened as it had the last eight times he had tried—it went straight to her voicemail.

Normally he would have got the Professor to check Cerebro, but he had gone to Washington two days ago for a conference. He was due back that evening, Logan hoped that he would find Marie before then.

He paced around the garage while he dialled another number. Becky’s. “Hello.” He smiled at the sound of her voice.

“Hey, kid. Are you still at the mall?”

“Yeah, I’ve just left Rach at the salon, getting her extensions fixed. Why?”

“Have you run into your mum? She was due back a little while ago, and I think she must have left her cell in her car.”

“I haven’t seen her. I parked under the mall. Mum always uses the underground lot a couple of streets away and walks. Do you want me to go over there and see if I can spot her car while I’m waiting for Rach?”

“Yeah. Call me back.”

“Dad, is everything ok?” He could hear the tension in Becky’s voice; it matched his own.

“I don’t know yet, Becks. Just go check and call me back.”

“Ok. Bye.” Hanging up, she put her cell in her jeans pocket and walked back to the elevator. Riding it down to the parking lot, she was getting increasingly worried. Her mother never went anywhere without saying anything. None of them did. It was simply too dangerous, the Brotherhood and FoH were everywhere.

She jumped in her new jeep and manoeuvred through the traffic to the other parking lot two streets away. Marie always used it because she liked looking at the little knick-knack shops on the way to the mall.

She drove round one level and then took the slope down to the next level. Pulling round the aisles of cars slowly, she suddenly hit the breaks. She smiled at the green VW with personal plates.

Leaving her jeep in the middle of the aisle, she got out and walked to the car. There was no sign of anyone. She tried the door and found it locked. Then she looked through the windows and couldn’t see her mother’s cell phone or anything else in the car. She walked back to the front of the car and inclined her head in thought slightly.

The hood had a dent in it. She inspected it closer. Yep, definitely a large dent. She was sure it hadn’t been there earlier. She looked around her and noted nothing unusual. Then on the ground a little forward from the front of her jeep were some large tyre marks. They had obviously been made by an SUV or a big jeep speeding away.

As she crouched down to inspect the tyre marks she noticed a slip of paper jut under the front of Marie’s car. She moved over to the car and pulled it out. It was a delivery receipt for a bouquet of flowers. The date was today. That meant she had been back to the car.

Quickly taking out her cell phone, she dialled he number on the receipt. Checking quickly with the shop attendant she confirmed that her mother had left there around one. She dialled her father’s number. She was shaking; this could be bad, very bad.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve found her car, but she’s not here.”

“Anything unusual?”

“Yeah, there a big dent in the hood, tyre marks from a large vehicle, a jeep or an SUV, I’m not sure an I found a delivery receipt from the flower shop around the corner. According to he woman there mum left about one.”

“Are there cameras in the lot?”

She looked up at the corners and at the ceiling. “Yeah, they sweep. There’s at lest two that would have caught her car.”

“Ok. Come home *now*. I’ll get Scott to tap into the CCTV and see if there’s anything to see.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Becks?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.” He broke the connection without waiting for her answer and ran into the mansion.

He passed Scott and ‘Ro in the main hall and yelled for them to follow him to the lower levels. Once in the security room which held their most advanced computer technology, Logan quickly explained the situation.

Scott immediately began to hack into the security camera at the parking lot, while ‘Ro went to call the Professor in Washington.

Logan paced anxiously behind Scott while he worked on the main computer. “Logan, you need to calm down. This may take me a while.”

“I can’t calm down, not until I find her.”

“Do you think it could be Magneto again?”

“I don’t fucking know, do I?! If I did, would I be in here? NO, I fucking wouldn’t!”

Scott sighed. “O-Kay. No calming down then!”

“Fuck you, Scooter!”

“Sorry, you’re not my type! I’m in. I’ll have to bring up the main entrance and then each camera in turn after that. It’ll take a few minutes.”

As he began to look through the cameras, ‘Ro came back in. “Charles is on his way home now. He has commissioned a private jet and will arrive in about two hours.”

“Good.” Logan began to pace again.

“Ok, I’ve got the camera nearest Marie’s car.” Logan and ‘Ro looked over his shoulder and saw the grainy image of Marie’s VW. “The security company stores all their camera files digitally in blocks of 2 hours at a time, so I can download the time block closest to when we think she would have been there and see what’s on it.”

“She left here at 9 and said she would be back around two. So she should have gone back to the car around 1 or just after.” Logan was on the verge of panic but tried to concentrate on the technicalities instead.

“Right.” Scott clicked on the download file for between one and three o’clock. As they were impatiently waiting for it to download, Becky and James flew into the room.

Beck looked pale, and so did her brother. She had found him in the grounds when she got back and had filled him in on the way down to the lower levels.

“Anything?”

“I’m getting the camera file up now.” It came up on the computer monitor, and Scott clicked around on a few things and brought it up on a big screen projector in the centre of the room.

They watched in silence. The digital clock in the corner read 13:00. Nothing happened, and Scott fast-forwarded the footage. When the clock showed 13:18:06, he stopped it as a black SUV came into the shot and stopped next to Marie’s car. Two large men exited and opened a rear door for a third man to exit.

The camera position meant that the third man had his back to the camera, but Logan had a sinking suspicion of who he was, and he crossed his arms over his chest. The SUV pulled away and left the three men next to Marie’s car. Another four minutes passed by.

Logan could smell the fear and anxiety coming off of his children. Becky’s heart rate was through the roof, and he wanted to tell her to calm down but he wasn’t sure he could get the words out without growling.

13:23:48 and Marie came into view; she was rummaging around in her pockets. “Marie.” Logan’s voice sounded hoarse, and his breathing was heavy.

All of them watched. Becky held her breath, and Logan flexed his large hands in and out of hard fists.

A conversation between the third man and Marie took place. It was short, only a few minutes before Marie lashed out at him. When the man back-handed her, Logan growled and James let his claws out, anger in his eyes. Becky jumped and whispered “Mum!”

Becky’s hand flew to her mouth when he licked up her cheek. The disgust and fear was evident on her mother’s face. Logan’s growl grew in intensity and filled the large room with feral anger. They watched as the man backed away from Marie and gestured to someone or something out of sight of the camera.

The SUV was driven backwards, and the two large men attempted to bundle Marie into the back. She struggled, and one of the men loosened his grip enough to give her an opportunity to attack. She punched one man and then back-kicked the other. He landed on the hood of her car but was soon on his feet. Both men grabbed her again and slammed her against the SUV.

They held her face forward into the SUV while the third man took something out of his pocket. It was a syringe and vial. Marie struggled while he filled the syringe and carried on struggling while he roughly pulled her hair out of the way and jabbed the needle into her neck. After a few seconds, she slumped to the floor. One of the men picked her up and tossed her in the back. They all climbed into the car and drove off.

Scott rewound the tape slightly. The third man had turned as he climbed into the SUV. He froze the footage and using a touch pad, highlighted the section of the man’s head. Then he enhanced it. As a clear picture of the man’s face filled the large screen. Logan clenched his eyes shut. “SHIT!”

“I’ll run the plates on the SUV, see if I can come up with an address. Then I’ll run his name.” Logan nodded at Scott.

“His name? You know who he is?” Becky turned to Scott first and then Logan. “Who is he?”

Logan looked at her, and he could see his whole world flying apart at the seams. He was breathing heavily and felt sick. He nearly laughed; he couldn’t ever remember actually feeling sick.

“Dad?” She looked from Logan to Scott to ‘Ro. ‘Ro simply shrugged, shock evident on her face.

‘Ro gestured to the screen. “Do the two of you know this man?”

Logan stood still, just staring at Becky, his breathing came in heaving breaths. Scott touched ‘Ro’s arm. “Um, can you give us some time, please? Call the Professor, tell him to cancel his jet. You and Jubilee pick him up in the Blackbird; two hours is too long.”

She was about to say something else, but he shook his head. “Ok.” She left silently.

The air in the room was thick. Thick with fear and confusion. Scott was the only one who seemed to be able to function. Becky and James just stood in shock at what they had seen, and Logan was in a complete daze.

Scott rubbed his closed eyes behind his visor and then spoke to Logan. “Perhaps now would be a good time to explain a few things.”

Logan glanced at him. “I can’t.”

“You don’t have a choice anymore.”

Logan ran his hands roughly through his hair and paced a little, then just stood with his head hung, eyes closed, hands on his hips. The heavy feeling in his stomach was getting worse.

“I’ll leave you alone for a while.”

“NO! I might no be able to get this out.” Scott nodded and leaned against the computer terminal desk.

Logan stood in front of Becky again. He smiled at her weakly, then dropped his gaze. “Dad?” The name rolled off her lips easily, but he knew it wouldn’t be so easy anymore.

He looked at her eyes; they were close to tears. He reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. It was dark brown and soft just like Marie’s. She smiled and grabbed his hand. Then she frowned. “Jesus, Dad, you’re shaking.”

“I want you to know…” He shot a glance at James over her shoulder. “I want both of you to know, that we love you.” He looked directly into Becky’s eyes. “That I love you, with everything. Me and your mother never wanted to lie to you, but we had to. It was…it was hard, um, and you were, er….” His voice broke with emotion, his mouth clenched in a grim line.

He sunk his hands into her hair at the back of her neck, brought her head forward, and rested his forehead on hers. She put her hands on his chest; it was heaving up and down. She could feel his whole body shaking with the effort to breathe.

“Daddy?” She was about to cry. She couldn’t take seeing him like this, so scared, so afraid of what was about to come out of his mouth. It made her scared too. “You’re scaring me.”

“I know, I know, darlin’, and I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

He clenched his eyes shut, unable to meet her gaze any longer. He could actually feel his chest breaking into pieces, the metal in his frame weighing him down to the point where he wasn’t sure if he could stand anymore. He could feel the loss before it came. The loss of his little girl, when she found out he had lied to her, that he wasn’t who he had portrayed himself to be.

Behind them James had moved and stood in front of the screen. He inspected the man’s face, his features. He noted noting unusual about him. Then he looked at his eyes, their shape, depth, and even though the picture was black and white, he could tell they were light in colour. He looked at his sister. And it all fell into place.

A tear slid down Logan’s cheek, just one single tear, and he broke away from her instantly turning his back and rubbing his face with his hands. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”

Becky grabbed his arm. “Can’t do what? What the fuck is going on? Dad, please. I’ve never seen you like this.” She was so scared. So scared he was about to tell her that her mother would be dead. That there was no hope. What was the lie? What was so bad that it made her father, a powerful, dominant and dangerous creature, back away in fear?

He turned to Scott. “I can’t.”

Logan just stared at her. He stared into her deep eyes. He had often said that you could get lost in there and that’s what he wanted to do. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and he wasn’t sure if he was breathing anymore. He wanted to grab her and pull her into his chest and never let go. Never let go of this beautiful girl who looked to him for everything, and now, he didn’t know. That scared him more than anything did.

Scott stood and was about to speak. Becky put her hand up to stop him and turned back to Logan, her anger and frustration outweighing her fear. Then she angrily pointed to the screen. “Who is he, and why are you so scared of him?”

Logan just started at her, trying to breath, trying to make the words come out of his mouth. He couldn’t, he couldn’t do it. It would break his heart and hers. Marie would have to explain all the things that she wanted to keep hidden.

The fact that she took drugs, she attempted to escape from life, and she was vulnerable, tricked, cheated out of her control and used. Becky was the result of all that. Becky was the result of pain and suffering.

“He’s your father.” Becky turned to James behind her.

“What did you say?”

James pointed to the screen. “He’s your father. Isn’t he?”

She turned back to Logan. “Tell me he’s wrong. He can’t be right, I mean *come on*, that’s…that’s just ridiculous. Dad?” She angrily shoved his chest. “Tell him it’s ridiculous!”

As Logan watched her, her eyes began to cloud, the perfect brilliant blue dulled. The tears that had been threatening to come, now fell easily from her eyes. She didn’t even notice, her emotions in turmoil as her mind tried to comprehend what was being said.

He took a step towards her and reached for her arm. “Becks!”

She instantly stepped back. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” She clamped both hands over her mouth and sobbed. She rubbed her face and shook her head. “No. This is all wrong.” Gesturing towards the picture again. “That piece of crap is not my father; you are. You’re lying. Why would you lie to me like this? Why…oh God!”

He grabbed her wrist and tried to touch her face, but she violently shook his hands off of her. “Becky, please! It’s biology, that’s all. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course it changes everything!” Her face was wet and puffy, her tears rolling into her mouth as she spoke. “But…you’re my dad!” She calmed slightly and shook her head again. “How, why? Did mum have an affair, what?”

Scott walked past Becky and Logan and took James’s arm. He didn’t move at first, but Scott tugged at him slightly, and he dumbly followed him out of the room. Scott quietly shut the door behind them.

“She didn’t have an affair with him. She was seeing him.”

“And he left her?”

Logan sarcastically snorted a laugh, but she didn’t notice. “Yeah!”

“So what, you heroically stepped up to the fatherly plate?”

“I fell in love with her. She needed someone, and I wanted to be there. You know how much I love her.”

“Yeah, you would do anything for her. Including raise another man’s child apparently.” Logan hated the bitter sound in her voice. She smirked at him and ran her eyes up and down him, shaking her head. Logan felt sick at the hateful look in her beautiful eyes.

Logan’s anger flared. “You got no right to judge me, kid. You don’t know the half of it!”

Her anger matched his as she shouted at him. “SO TELL ME! Tell me the half of it, *dad*!” She pointed to Ethan’s picture. “What about him? Didn’t he want me?”

“He doesn’t know.”

She threw her arms up in the air. “Great, just great.” She looked at the screen again and wiped her face. Logan watched her. He could almost see the questions entering her mind and he wished that he never had to answer them, but he knew he would and afterwards he would want to run.

“I don’t understand. If he left her, why does he want to kidnap her, kill her, whatever the fuck he wants? If he doesn’t know, why does he hate her enough to do this?” Logan dropped his gaze from her. “What happened?”

“He got sent to prison. He blamed your mother.”

“Why, what did she have to do with it?”

“Nothing. He got picked up at some club. He was carrying. The security staff testified against him, and he got sent down. The drugs were planted. He blames her for it, but the Courts knew he dealt regularly.” Logan felt numb. He would probably tell her anything now. What else did he have to lose?

“Drugs. Did mum…use?” Her voice was quiet.

“Becky, I…”

“So that’s a yes then. Oh my God! She got loaded, then knocked up by her druggy boyfriend, how romantic!”

He closed the space between them in an instant and grabbed her shoulders, roughly shoving her against the wall. It didn’t hurt, but it shocked her. He had lost his temper and shouted at her and her brother before, but he had never laid a hand on her.

“YOU watch your mouth!” She started to shake, the tears falling down her cheeks again. “She didn’t want it, she didn’t want any of it, but the bastard didn’t give her a choice!” He shoved one last time and released her, suddenly realising what he had said and turning his back.

Brushing the tears away, she walked up to him and tried to pull him around to face her. “What do you mean, he didn’t give her a choice?” He turned and locked his eye with hers again. “Dad?” His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and as she watched his face drain of nearly all its colour, they spilled out down his face.

She shook her head and put her hands over her mouth again. “No!” He grabbed her arms. She tried to struggle away, hitting his chest trying to run away, but he caught her wrists and held her to him, her loud, open-mouthed sobs only slightly muffled by his enormous chest.

He sunk to his knees taking her with him. Pressing his face to her hair, he sobbed as well. Sobbed for the humiliation his beloved Marie had suffered, for the danger she was now in, for the pain he had caused his little girl, and especially for the now rich smell of self-hatred pouring off of her as she shook and heaved in his arms.

**************END OF PART TEN

The wall was hard against his back. He knew it would make his muscles ache after a while, but he didn’t care anymore. He rested his head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. She had stopped crying. She was between his legs on the floor with her face pressed against his chest. The only sound or movement from her was the shuddering of her breath and a quiet sniff every now and then.

He stroked her hair, letting the monotony of the action soothe his nerves. She was awake but hadn’t said anything in ages. He had to explain things better, make her understand she had nothing to be ashamed of. None of this was about her, and it never would be.

“It all came out wrong, darlin’.”

She snorted a sharp laugh. “Really, I thought you handled it brilliantly!”

She shifted but made no attempt to move away from him. He took it as a good sign. “She made a lot of mistakes. Got in with the wrong people. It wasn’t her fault.”

She sat up and looked at him. “You really think that I would blame her for being…” She took a deep breath. “For being raped. I would never do that.” Logan said nothing, and she snuggled back into his chest.

“She would have explained this better. I don’t know what to say to you. She was using the drugs as an escape. She’d been through a lot and didn’t handle things well. A lot was going on. We’d lost someone, and all been through the ringer. Things weren’t as clear then as they are now. The Brotherhood was more prominent. I know there was no FoH, but the government made up for that. Mutants are more accepted now. It was a lot to deal with and a lot to fear. I guess she figured ignoring it was better.”

“Did he hurt her?” Her voice was quiet and girlie, like she was five again.

“No. It wasn’t violent. She didn’t even know until a few weeks later. He gave her a load of drugs.”

“Date-rape?”

“Yeah.”

She sat up and faced him. She looked into his face, and he could see she was steadying herself for something.

“I know how you feel about mum. So why didn’t you just kill him?”

“Becks…”

“No, tell me. There must have been a reason to stop you. I mean, let’s face it, you have a serious impulse control problem.” He chuckled, and so did she.

He cupped her face with his hand and smiled at her again. “I wanted to. I really really wanted to, but…I…I was scared. Scared that if you ever found out, you would…I don’t know, hate me for it or think I was just a sick twisted fucker who killed simply because he could.” He dropped his gaze and shrugged.

“Who else knows?”

“Um, Scott, Jubilee, Doc Hank, and the Professor.”

“Will you tell everyone?”

“No. It’s none of their business, never was.”

“I can’t believe they all knew, all this time, and not one of them said anything.”

“They’re our friends. They knew what your mum went through, and they know how much we love each other. It didn’t matter to them about *him*. I wanted your mum, and I wanted you too so did she, more than anything.”

“What about James? Didn’t that change things?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Not a bit. You’re the first, kid.” She gave a weak giggle.

“How did he know?”

“Your scent. It’s a little different from mine.” She put her face back in his chest and nodded. She hated that more than anything, that she didn’t smell like him. She knew how important scent was to him. He lifted her face back up to look at him. “But you still smell of me, and you always will. I’m on your skin, you’re still my Becks. You got that, kid? You’re still mine?” She nodded weakly.

“You’re not sick or twisted. You’re a good man.” She took another deep breath and tried to hold onto her emotions again, but the tears started to fall anyway. “I love you, daddy.”

He pulled her into him again, and she began to sob. He held onto her as tight as he could, never wanting to let her go. Never wanting to hurt her again. “I love you, too, darlin’. I love you, too. Always have. Always.”

A soft rumble through the wall signalled that the Blackbird was landing. Which, Logan figured, must have meant that a good hour or so had passed. She lifted her head as she heard the jet. She wiped over her face, took a deep breath, and stood up. Turning around, she smile and offered him a hand up. “Gotta help the old man.”

He smirked and took her hand. “Not so much of the old, kid.” He smoothed out his jeans and wrapped an arm around her. “Come on. Let’s go see Chuck. Then I can get your mum back.”

They walked out into the metal-plated corridor to find Scott and James waiting for them. James was sitting on the ground, and he stood up when he saw them. He immediately went to Becky and grabbed her into a hug. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

He looked at his father and then back to Scott. “No one is telling me anything. What happened? Don’t I get to know?”

Becky rubbed his arms, smiled, and shot a quick glance at Logan. “It’s nothing amazing: an affair that ended badly. Mum made a mistake, a big one.”

He looked at her quizzically, as if trying to assess whether or not she was lying. His senses weren’t as in tune as his father’s, and Logan hoped that he wouldn’t pick up on the lie. James smiled and hugged his sister again, then turned to Logan. “Can we get mum back now?”

“Indeed you can, young James.” The Professor had rolled into the corridor behind them and heard the last part of the conversation. ‘Ro and Jubilee were with him. “Scott, did you find anything?”

“No, there was nothing registered to the SUV plates or under Palmer’s name. I can’t trace him.”

Charles continued to the far end of the hall and used the retina scanner to open the circular door that led to Cerebro. “I will need at least thirty minutes.”

“Yes, sir,” Scott replied just before the doors slid shut. Scott noticed the confused look on Logan’s face. “I called him while he was en route, explained.”

“Ok, let’s suit up.” He walked past Becky and James and headed for the locker room. Becky began to follow him, he noticed immediately. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not! No way, Becks!”

She squared up to him. “I have every right to be there. Her being my mother won’t cloud my judgement anymore than it will her being your wife. I am part of this team now, and you don’t get to say when I go and when I don’t.”

“Really, don’t I? You, young lady, will do as I tell you are told. I’m your…” He stopped himself, his face falling, and she smirked at him.

“Father? Yeah, you are…but you’re not my boss!” She strolled past him into the locker room, letting the swinging door smack him in the back as she went.

He growled and then smiled at what she had said. He saw James’s expression and shook his head. “Sorry, you’re too young and don’t have a handle on those claws yet. You’re more likely to skewer yourself.” He walked to him and put his hands on his shoulders. “Stay here with Chuck. We’ll get her back.” James nodded and leaned back against the wall.

Logan could tell from the boy that he wanted to come, but the relief poured off him when Logan said no.

Exactly forty-five minutes later, Becky, Logan, Scott, Hank, Jubilee and ‘Ro were in the jet and heading to the edge of New York. The Professor gave them Marie’s exact location and said that she was alive and scared. He was also able to have a brief look inside her head. There weren’t many people guarding her, and he felt it wasn’t necessary to involve the rest of the team. By the looks of it, they were there to hand her over to someone else.

Logan felt nervous. Night had fallen, and it provided a reasonable amount of cover for the jet. Scott piloted as usual. When Charles had come out of Cerebro and calmly told them that Marie was in the basement room under the Statue of Liberty, Logan had felt sick. Jubilee had sworn profusely, and Scott and ‘Ro just looked ill.

Storm provided enough fog for the jet to land on the water, just like she had done all those years ago. Logan hoped that this episode would have the same happy ending: Marie alive and in his arms. Hank and Jubilee stayed with the jet.

Entering through the museum, they were cautious, spreading out and scanning the rooms carefully. They found several unconscious security guards. One had been killed, but the others were simply knocked out.

As they entered the lower levels, all hell broke loose. A group of armed men scattered around them and opened fire of the X-Men. Logan managed to pull Becky behind a stone pillar as the gun fire started.

Scott took out at least three of the men with his optic blasts, and ‘Ro managed to electrocute one. Scott shouted to Logan and Becky, “GET THROUGH TO MARIE. WE’LL HOLD THEM HERE!”

Logan grabbed Becky’s hand and ran towards the exit. The room Marie was in was through a long corridor. They ran through some doors and down the dark corridor, Becky in front of him. Logan was taken completely by surprise by a hail of bullets directed at them both. Becky dove into a doorway on one side of the corridor, and Logan went down, three wounds in his back.

“GO!” He weakly got to his feet as she ran. She heard more gunfire and the unmistakable sound of his claws springing free. She wanted to stop and cry, but ultimately knew that she had to keep going.

She came to the end of the corridor, her adrenaline pumping loudly through her. She could feel her heartbeat in her chest as it threatened to break through her skin. Ploughing through the double doors in front of her, she had two options: go up the spiral stairs marked ‘To the Torch’, or down another dimly lit corridor to what looked like a large well-lit conference room.

She chose the conference room as the Professor said she was under the Torch. One wall of the room was glass, the bottom half frosted and the top clear. She got as close to the edge as she could and took a quick look in. The room was completely empty apart from a small table and one chair, three men in suits, and Ethan Palmer.

Two suits were by the main door, one leaning against the back wall looking bored, and Ethan sat casually on the table with his feet on the chair eating an apple.

She crouched low to the ground, so she was hidden by the frosted glass. She took some deep breaths and tried desperately to steady her nerves. It was harder than she thought. She wanted to forget that the scum holding her mother hostage was actually her biological father and that he had abused her mother and got her pregnant.

Taking another deep breath, she steadied herself. She let her mutation take over, the blue iris of her eye spreading and consuming her eyes in a similar way to Storm’s. They shone like pure crystals.

With a flash of blue she created a security guard and crashed him into the main door of the conference room. The two suits by the door immediately tried to jump and restrain the man. The struggle spilled out into the corridor.

Becky got to her feet and backspin-kicked one suit; he fell unconscious. She cleared her eyes, and the fake guard disappeared in another flash of blue. The other suit looked puzzled and never spotted her as she knocked him on his ass and punched him out.

The third thug from the room grabbed her from behind and dragged her into the disused room. She flung her head back and hit him in the face, making him let her go. He pulled out a gun to shoot her, and she quickly put her shield up. The bullet was absorbed into the invisible barrier, the only visible evidence of it the slight ripple where the bullet hit as if it were liquid. Her eyes filled with blue again as she created a copy of herself. It appeared behind the man and kicked him in the back.

He fell forward, dropping the gun. Becky’s copy disappeared as the real Becky grabbed the gun. She was about to shoot him, but Ethan kicked the gun out of her hand in time for the suit to grab her and hold her still by placing the gun to her throat.

“I have to say I’m impressed, little thing like you getting this far.” He was arrogantly flicking imaginary dirt from his clothes as he spoke.

He was about to say something else when two men dragged Logan into the room. He was barely conscious and had his hands cuffed behind his back. She immediately noticed the suppression collar around his neck, secured at the back by a big padlock. “Well, this makes things a lot more interesting, doesn’t it, baby?”

The men that had dragged him in dropped him on the floor; he let out a loud groan, obviously in serious pain. His face was bruised and swollen, and she noted at least two gunshot wounds to his stomach. All she could think was, at least he’s conscious and alive. She could hear gunfire, the distinctive crackle of lightning and optic blasts in the distance. “You two go finish off those freaks.” He leered at her. “I can deal with her.”

She struggled in the man’s arms, but it was no use. “Uh-ah. Don’t be a silly girl.” She froze, trying to think of a way out of this. “So, Rebecca, isn’t it? Tell me about yourself.”

She spat her words at him. “Fuck you!”

“Or don’t. Choice is yours.” He chuckled and walked over to Logan.

He grabbed Logan’s jacket and pulled him up so he was kneeling. He pulled Logan’s head back by his hair and got right into his face. He glanced at Becky. “She’s pretty.” He smiled at Logan. “So tell me. How does it feel to have me fuck over both women in your life?”

“Like she said asshole, fuck you!” He barely had enough energy to speak, but he managed it.

“Thought as much.” He stood up and kicked him in the stomach. Logan doubled over, his forehead on the concrete, wheezing in pain.

“Dad!” She struggled as a thought came into her head. Her eyes turned blue, and she put up her shield. She had never done it with anyone close and hoped her plan worked. It did: the shield knocked the man over and the gun out of his hand.

She quickly grabbed the gun off the floor and shot the suit as he got up, just one bullet in his shoulder. He slumped to the floor, wailing in pain. She immediately turned the gun on Ethan.

“Think you can handle me now?”

He put his hands up in defence and took a step back from her. She glanced at Logan; he had got back up on his knees. His was profile to her, and she could see his wrists were bleeding where he had struggled and cut the skin.

He looked at her, anger and pain in his eyes. “Kill him! Now!” He knew he was asking a lot of her. She had never been forced to take a life and he didn’t want her too, but if she stopped long enough to try and get the collar off him, Ethan would have a chance to run, or hurt her. The later wasn’t an option as far as he was concerned.

“We need to know a few things first. Where is she?” He didn’t say anything, and she made her eyes go blue. Logan smiled, as he smelled Ethan’s fear increase. “Where is she?”

“In the Torch, up the stairs.”

“Why?” Her eyes still shone blue, and it had him fearfully mesmerised.

“Because she reined five years of my life! I went to prison because of her!” He pointed to Logan. “He shattered my jaw and I had to have it pinned back together and then plastic surgery to cover the fucking scars. I’m not a nice person baby, and I like the idea of getting paid for it.” He chuckled at the last part.

“By who?” She was breathing heavily, her nerves beginning to get the better of her. She inwardly shook herself, she couldn’t and wouldn’t panic now.

“I don’t know who the fuck he was. Old guy, helmet, cape, liked the sound of his own fucking voice.”

She glanced quickly at Logan. “Magneto?”

“Yeah.” He was struggling for breath.

“Why’d he pick you?”

“Heard me sounding off about hating mutie freaks like *you*, asked me why I hate them, so I told him about your mother. Mad fucker nearly died laughing, said if I decided to have my revenge he’d make it worth my while. Wasn’t going to….. but he’s a very motivational speaker! He hates her almost as much as I do. Apparently ruined a lot of things for him as well, made him a little bitter.”

He chuckled again and Becky shivered. “You’re a sick bastard!”

“Sticks and stones baby, sticks and stones! Your friend Magnet or whatever his fucking name is the sick one, I mean come on, having someone whacked on the top of the Statue of Liberty at exactly nine o’clock a t night, that’s more than a little twisted! But hey moneys money.” He put his hands in his pockets and leant casually against the glass wall. “He told me where to find her and I did the rest myself” He sounded so smug and satisfied with himself.

“Your sick. Your just nothing. A sick nothing!” She was desperately holding onto herself. She wanted to shout, to scream and cry. She had come from him and she could help but wonder what horrible part of him she had buried away inside her somewhere. “You ruined her life first! You drugged her…..”

“Becky!” Logan could see the anger in her and he wanted her to stop before she said something she would regret.

“You… used her, raped and got her pregnant. YOUR NOTHING!”

Ethan stood up straight and looked Becky up and down. “Pregnant? I never knew about that. She had a kid huh?” He looked at Logan and then to Becky again. He smiled and chuckled. “Oh, its all falling into place now, *Rebecca*. Not a name I would have chosen. So, wanna catch a game of crazy golf, how’s school?” He laughed a full genuine laugh, which made her want to be sick. “And to think, before you shot my man over there, I was gonna give your old man a little show, see what was on under all that leather. Guess I can’t do that anymore, wouldn’t be right would it, but then I doubt you’re as accommodating as your mother was.”

“SHUT UP, just shut up! Don’t you dare talk about her like that!”

Logan heard her shout and was trying to hold onto consciousness. The wounds to his stomach were working their way through his organs and slowly he was shutting down, but he would hold on, he would hold on for his girls.

“Haven’t you ever wondered, why she did it? I didn’t force her to take that shit, she did it willingly, paid for it on occasion. And as for raping her, nah, she never said no. never screamed or shouted…” He took a step toward her. “She never begged me to stop or fought me off when I undressed her, spread her milky white thighs and ….”

“SHUT UP!” She looked at Logan again, then turned back to Ethan. She had the gun pointed at his chest. She raised it slowly so it was pointed at his head. It started to shake slightly in her hand.

He smirked at her. “You can do it, can you, baby?”

She stopped shaking, hate, anger and revulsion filling her entire being. She looked him up and down; this piece of shit had given her life.

“You’re right. I can’t.”

*****************END OF PART ELEVEN

He smirked at her. “I don’t think you can do it, can you, baby?”

She stopped shaking, hate, anger and revulsion filling her entire being. She looked him up and down; this piece of shit had given her life.

“You’re right. I can’t.”

She had thought of something better than killing him. She turned the gun towards Logan. Logan’s eyes briefly widened at he saw her point the gun at his head. She aimed and fired. The bullet made a loud metallic clunk as it blasted through the padlock holding Logan’s suppression collar on. He reached up and pulled what was left of it off.

Standing slowly, he kept his eyes on Ethan. His wounds began to heal instantly, the skin on his face knitting slowly back together and returning to its natural tan, the yellow and purple bruises disappearing. He stretched his back, cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. Lastly, he let his claws out and then back in again with a loud growl.

He looked at Becky, and she threw the gun to him; he caught it easily and pointed it directly at Ethan. Turning back to him slowly, her voice was cold and bitter, and her face showed nothing but vengeful hatred. “I’m gonna let him do it!”

Ethan instantly paled, and he opened his mouth to speak but shut it again.

“Go get your mother.” Logan never took his eyes off of Ethan as he spoke to her.

She ran past Logan and headed for the spiral stairs that lead up to the torch. As she took the first two steps, she stopped, briefly looking back towards the room. She knew Logan was going kill him. She wasn’t naïve enough to think that he wouldn’t.

He had hurt her mother and humiliated her as well. Not to mention the damage he had caused her and Logan. She knew he probably deserved what he got and, judging how Logan wasn’t known for his restraint, if he shot Ethan, he would get off lightly.

She heard Logan’s gunfire and a splattering sound which she assumed was the contents of Ethan’s head and fragments of his skull hitting the glass wall. Still she felt something; she wasn’t sure what and in that split-second before she turned and carried on up the steps to save her mother, she wasn’t sure she ever would know what she had felt.

It was easier to list the things she did know. Ethan had ruined a lot of peoples lives, people she cared about, people she loved. Logan was her father. He raised her; he loved her. She would never regret not knowing Ethan; the brief time she had spent in his company was enough to know he wasn’t worth it.

Climbing up the last few steps, she could hear her father racing up behind her. She was out of breath. She had read somewhere that there were 354 steps, and she had taken all of them at a run. She stopped to catch her breath briefly, then made her way into the upper torch section.

Marie was on the floor unconscious, her hands tied behind her back. Becky ran and knelt down beside her. “MUM! Mum? Wake up!” She undid her hands as she was trying to wake her up.

Once her hands were free, she rolled Marie onto her back and took off her glove, ready to take her pulse. Marie’s mutation caught Becky instantly, knocking the wind out of her and making her stumble backwards onto her backside.

Logan came in just as Becky stumbled. He caught her easily. “You ok?”

“Her, er, mutation…it’s on. Shit, that…really...” Becky was in awe. She had never seen her mother’s mutation at work or been a victim of it. She had heard her parents and other member of the X-Men talk about it. They had even suggested that it was more powerful than Logan’s; now she knew why.

“Yeah, I know.” He leaned her up against the metal wall and went to Marie. “Darlin’? Marie? Come on!” She was obviously heavily drugged and Logan figured that Ethan must have just drugged her and left her to die on her own. He turned back to Becky.

“You ok?” She nodded. “Ok, I’m gonna touch her, so I need you to go get Scott and ‘Ro.” He couldn’t hear anymore commotion from down below, so that meant that either ‘RO and Scott were dead, which he seriously doubted, or that they had the area secure. He voted for the latter.

“Are you sure it’s ok? Scott told me what happened the last time you touched her. She nearly killed you.”

He cupped her face with his hands and smiled. “I’ll live; I always do. Go get the others.” She nodded again and headed back down the stairs.

Logan watched her go and then picked up Marie, took her outside the metal room where he had stabbed himself to get to her all those years ago, and sat down. He carefully arranged her in his lap and then cupped her face the same way he had done to Becky.

“I love you.” He kissed her, his warm lips pressing to hers as her mutation kicked in and started to suck him dry, his life giving way to hers. He had always wondered why he was given this gift, and at a moment like this, he knew why. It was so that the world would always have her. He figured that it needed her more than him.

Marie began to regain consciousness slowly. She was being kissed, warm soft kisses. Logan was telling her he loved her. She kissed him back and slowly wound her hands into his hair. He opened his mouth, and their tongues laced in together. Warmth flooded her; she could hear his voice, smell him and feel every inch of his body as the fog in her mind slowly cleared.

Briefly she wondered how he could kiss her and tell her he loved her at the same time. Then it hit her: her mutation. She turned off her switch and broke away from him at the same moment.

He smirked at her groggily, then giggled like he had drunk his own weight in Scotch. His healing was kicking back in as he grabbed her bottom and pulled her flush against him.

“Hey, darlin’.” His trademark eyebrow went up as she wiggled into his lap.

“Hey, cowboy.”

He kissed her again. “Mmmm. You taste good.”

She broke away and shivered at the light breeze. She sat up and looked around her. When her gaze caught the top of Lady Liberty’s crown, her eyes went as wide as saucers.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING ON THE STATUE OF FRIGGIN’ LIBERTY?”

He chuckled again. “Coming full circle, darlin’. I love you.”

“I love you too, but seriously why are we mmmpphh!” He kissed her roughly and used his thumb to lower her jaw to open her mouth.

Finally he broke the heated kiss and let her breathe. “Be kinda cool to have sex up here, doncha think?”

“No, Logan, I don’t.” She laughed as he kissed her again, his hands running warmly over her body as if he was unconsciously checking every inch of her. He just couldn’t keep his hands off of her.

“Ugh…for God’s sake, get a room!” They broke apart and were confronted with their daughter watching them with her arms crossed in front of her chest, just like Logan. Behind her was a dishevelled-looking Scott and a laughing ‘Ro.

After arriving back at the mansion Hank had declared both Marie and Becky in perfect health and left them to talk while he saw to the others. They were sitting side by side on an exam table while Hank ran a few tests on Logan. ‘Ro was carefully tending to Scott; he had a few bruises and a gash on his upper arm.

Marie took Becky’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, mum, I’m fine, really.”

“I never expected to have to tell you any of that. It was a very bad part of my life that I chose to forget about. I’m sorry. I love you, and no matter what happened, whatever the situation was, I always wanted you. I need you to know that.” She smiled.

Becky let a couple of tears slip down her face and smiled back weakly. She then shot a quick look at Logan across the room. “Sorry, it’s was a shock, you know knowing he’s not, you know. You’re both so important to me.”

“He’s still your father. That will never change.”

Her tears kept falling. “I don’t smell like him though, do I? I don’t carry a part of him like James does. I don’t even get to look like him. I guess I just feel like a reminder.”

“You’re not a reminder. You’re our little girl, and you always will be. You’ve been around him enough to pick up more than your fair share of his scent. You have more of his mannerisms than I do, and I have the big lug in my head.”

Becky laughed a little. “I can swear kinda well, can’t I?”

“He adores you, and he always has. That won’t change just because you know about…about *Ethan*. Logan will always be your dad, no matter what. Ethan was my mistake, and I should have been more in control of myself back then, but I was scared, of everything.”

“I know. Dad told me all of it.”

Marie rubbed her hands over her face. “I wish he didn’t have to.”

Becky giggled, and then she couldn’t stop. “So do I. You know dad; he’s not known for his tact!” She carried on laughing, and Marie joined in.

“No, he’s not, is he? Bless him. Did he handle it really badly?”

Becky laughed even more. “Yeah, really really badly!”

They giggled a little more, and then Marie sobered up. “What about James?”

“He thinks you had an affair.” Marie nodded. “But, I think you should tell him the truth. This whole thing has proved that everything comes out in the end. It would be better to tell him the truth.”

Marie stroked a hand down her daughter’s cheek. “How did you get so smart, huh? We’ll talk to him in the morning. You’ve grown up so quick, Becky, and I’m sorry that this happened. I really am.”

“I know. Don’t be. It’s all over.” Both women smiled, and their smiles brightened as Logan approached them. Marie hopped off the exam table, kissed Logan quickly on the cheek and went to talk to Hank and ‘Ro, who were currently fussing over Scott’s arm.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hey.” She felt five again; she always did when he was around. She always felt like she wanted to forget about everything, snuggle into his chest and stay there, safe. That’s how he made her feel, safe.

He looked at his feet and shuffled nervously. Then he slowly lifted his head to look at her eyes. “We ok?”

She quickly hopped off the exam table and jumped into his arms. He wound them around her and pulled her tightly against him, his nose in her hair. She whispered in his ear. “Always, daddy.” His grip increased, and he smiled into her silky locks.

He felt her sob into his chest gently, and he let her do it, grateful he had full control of his own emotions. When she pulled back, she wiped her face and took a big sigh, relief evident in her scent and body language. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair. “It’s late. Go to bed.” She moved past him, and he caught her arm and stopped her. “Happy Birthday, darlin’.”

She kissed him on the cheek and went to her mother. She kissed her and said goodnight. Scott and ‘Ro walked out of the lab with her towards the showers.

Logan watched Becky go with the others, and when he heard the lift go up, he grabbed Marie with a loud growl and slung her over his shoulder, ignoring her screaming protests. “You need a shower!”

Hank watched the pair fly out of the med lab with slight annoyance. He called after them, “Really, Logan, I don’t think that now is an appropriate time for, for, oh, I may as well talk to myself!” He walked back into the lab to tidy up.

Logan raced to their room and practically threw her on the bed. She was about to protest when he silenced her with a frenzied kiss. He nipped and licked at her lips, whispering incoherent ramblings into her mouth. The only word she could make out was “Mine!”

Logan picked her up, and something crashed as he slammed her back into the wall by the bathroom door. They were tearing at each other’s clothes. What he couldn’t get off with his hands, he sliced with a single claw.

She had his jacket off and his trousers round his hips, and he had her in her bra and panties. She moved away from the wall and stumbled her way towards the bathroom as he growled and nipped at her neck. He undid her bra, and she briefly let go of him to take it off and throw it over her head, smiling all the time.

He kissed her again as he stood them still so he could kick off his boots, socks and trousers. He was naked, and she could feel his erection pressed between them. He grabbed her bottom and slid his cock against the silky fabric of her panties.

Once in the bathroom, Marie harshly raked her nails down his chest. She did it as hard as she could, breaking the skin. He tipped his head back and then growled as he slammed her against the shower wall. As he kissed her again, biting her lip and splitting it, she groped around to the side of her and turned the water on.

She gasped and smiled into his lips when he took a handful of her panties and ripped them off in one fluid motion. The next thing she knew he had lifted her up and thrust into her. All she could do was hold onto him, and he thrust wildly and growled loudly against her lips, whispering her name and calling her his.

‘Ro, Scott and Becky were walking back to their room. Scott was still rubbing his hair with the towel round his neck. ‘Ro said good night to both of them and went inside her room. Scott’s room was next door to Becky and Rachael’s so he carried on walking with her.

“So you thought about a codename yet? You could always go for ‘Rimmer’.” He laughed at his own joke, but it was soon apparent that Becky had no idea what he was talking about. “Never mind.”

She smiled at him; the truth was she had been thinking about it. “Yeah, James gave me the idea. He said I was a walking holographic machine, so how about ‘Hollow’?”

He nodded. “Sounds good.” Scott was about to say something else to Becky, but the loud, unmistakable shout of Marie stopped him.

“OH GAWD, LOOOOGAN!” It was followed by a loud howl.

Scott smiled and then put his hand over his mouth to stop the laugh that threatened to escape.

Becky sighed and gestured towards her parent’s door. “Great, as if I’m not scarred for life enough!” She shuddered and made a face. “Eww!”

Scott did laugh then. “Night, Rebecca.” He walked into his room still chuckling to himself.

She walked into her own room and saw her friend asleep in her bed. She went into her bathroom and silently locked the door. She put the light on and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her features and inspected her eyes. She didn’t know what she was looking for.

Long brown hair, blue eyes, full lips. All easily associated with her mother. She couldn’t see anything else. She stepped back and activated her mutation. Her eyes shone blue, and as she looked into the mirror, Ethan appeared behind her.

She turned around to look at him head on. He wasn’t real, and she knew that, but she still couldn’t suppress a shiver.

He put his hand in his pockets and leaned against the wall, staring at her. She sunk to the floor, her legs curling under her. She watched him watch her, still not knowing what she was looking for, what she wanted or what she needed.

The bathroom clock showed 01:13. She had been there for around two hours, just watching her own holographic image of him. He paced in front of her, inspected his nails and just casually stood there. She was ultimately in control of him, so he said nothing.

She stood up. She looked down at her left hand and materialised a gun. The surface of it felt cold. She had never held a gun in her bare hand before, only through a glove, so she had no idea how it felt. She pointed it at him. He just stood there and stared at her.

She fired. There was no sound. A glowing spark from the gun, and the bullet ripped through the skin in between his eyes and exploded the back of his skull against her bathroom wall. Holographic blood slipped down the surface and pooled around his body as it lay on the floor. She dropped the gun, her chest heaving.

She managed to reach the toilet as her stomach lurched, making her retch again and again until she had nothing left. She wiped her face and leaned against the counter staring into the mirror. The room was clean. There was no blood, no brain and skull fragments, no body and no gun.

She washed her face and changed into a tank top and clean panties. After cleaning her teeth, she went to bed. She smiled to herself. And as she feel into a deep restful sleep, she realised it hadn’t made her feel better, but then again, she had the power to kill him a thousand times a day until it did.


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