Marie was exploring the woods a bit deeper today on Xavier's grounds. She had no idea that the old man had so much land but apparently he did. Logan had taken her through the woods lots of times with him, they'd even camped out under the stars a few times. She treasured those moments with him. He was never more open and relaxed than when they were alone. They would talk for hours about nothing and everything. It meant a lot that he could talk to her about things she knew he didn't share with anyone else.

Today, she just needed to get out of the house. She needed some fresh air and space and quiet solitude that the woods gave her. But a cry of pain nearby shattered that quiet just then and her attention was drawn to a large cave nearby. She approached it warily. It might be a bear, after all, or a wolf however unlikely. Then she heard the painful cry again mixed with a growl that sounded somewhat familiar. Whatever it was, it wasn't an animal. It was a person. She went into the cave and froze at what she saw lying there on the moss and dirt floor.

Sabretooth. He had lost a lot of blood, had been torn to shreds and was in a feverish state. She didn't know how he was even alive in this state. His eyes focused on her, recognition lighting them, and to her utter astonishment he let out a little laugh.

"I know you. You're Jimmy's girl," Victor said. "Guess I made it closer to Xavier's than I thought. Go and get Wolverine, girl."

"My name's Rogue, you mangy cat not girl," she retorted with a sneer and folded her arms over her chest. "And Logan's not here. He's still looking for his past up in Canada. He'd just kill you anyway. He practices doing just that in the Danger Room all the time."

"Then you can help me since Jimmy's run off," he said.

"Why do you keep calling him Jimmy?" she asked raising a brow.

"Because that's his name, James Logan Howlett. He's been Jimmy to me since he was born and that's what I'll always call him. He prefers Logan, though," Victor managed before coughing up some more blood.

Marie absorbed this information as she got out her canteen and offered Victor some water. He took it gratefully. "How do you know him?"

"He's my little brother," he answered. Her eyes went wide and he chuckled again. "My younger half-brother. We share a father. His mother had an affair with our father and that's how Jimmy came about. I know everything there is to know about him. He really doesn't remember anything huh?"

"No, not before Stryker put the metal in him and that's just images he gets in his nightmares. That was just fifteen years ago," she told him honestly.

Victor heard the sadness in her voice and studied her intensely. "You really love him, don't you? I knew he loved you because Jimmy's not gonna risk his life for just anybody but you love him too, don't you, sweetheart?"

"I love Logan more than anything," she stated firmly, "Which is why I'm not going to let you use his past to torture him."

"I won't. I love Jimmy, he's my brother. We stuck by each other a real long time, honey. Even when we're fighting I still love him. Hell, I'll even say that I like fighting with him. He's really the only one who can challenge me equally. I'm here for help, sweetie. My healing is working overtime and very, very slow. I need help and that ain't easy for me to ask for," he told her. She looked him over again, nodding slowly and then stood up.

"I need to go back and get supplies. I'll build a fire for you first and make a bed for you to lie on. I'm not telling Logan about this until I know you're legit, Tigger," she pointed a warning finger at him and he nodded. Though, he wondered what exactly a Tigger was.

Victor watched as she made a small fire and a makeshift fern bed. He could see Jimmy's training in the efficiency with which she completed the tasks. She was his brother's world, he'd stake his life on it. She was young, beautiful, intelligent and strong. There was steel in her, strength and determination that hadn't been in the one she resembled so strongly, the one whose photograph he still carried in his wallet. That woman had been Jimmy's world too, once upon a time.

When Marie finished she helped Victor onto the bed and covered him with her large down jacket and set her backpack beside him. "It has another canteen, some power bars and beef jerky in it. A couple of books too if you get the urge to read," she told him as she moved to leave. "I'll see ya in a bit, Tigger. Don't go anywhere."

He scowled but said nothing as he lay there. He was definitely going to find out what a Tigger was.

~

Marie walked out of the woods onto to the lawn and moved quickly and quietly to the infirmary, she took the supplies she thought might be necessary and dreading the moment she'd have to use them, she also went by Peter's room and took some clothes. His were the only size she thought would fit Victor, then went to the kitchen store room and got her camp cooking gear and some food. All the supplies filled three bags, two duffels and a backpack. She checked the outside for signs of anyone nearby before hauling her load back into the woods and made her way back to Victor.

He was surprised by how fast she made it back, especially considering the amount of supplies she'd brought with her.

"Well, I'm beginning to see why Jimmy values you so much," Victor said. "You're certainly dependable and efficient."

"Yeah, that's me, Miss Dependable and Efficient," she rolled her eyes and started setting everything she brought. The camp cooking gear was first. She put the grate over the fire then started boiling some water.

Then she put on some beef stew and biscuits for his supper. When the water had boiled she set it aside to cool a little. Then she set out the medical supplies on a sterile blanket beside Victor, her eyes flickering to his ever so often showing just how much she was dreading what was coming. She pulled her jacket off him and then cut the rest of his clothes off, what was left of them, as gently as she could.

"What did this to you?" she whispered. He could see her flinch apologetically every time he did as she removed his clothes and knew that hurting him, even being an enemy, wasn't easy for her. She was so tender-hearted, just like Anna had been.

"Sentinels," he managed to get out. "I ran into a couple by accident about a week ago."

"A week? You've been like this for a week?" she was shocked.

"I told you, the healing is working just very slowly," he said.

Marie nodded then sighed. "I have to clean these gashes before I can stitch you up or they'll get more infected than they already are. It's going to hurt, a lot."

"I won't kill you, honey. Jimmy'd never forgive me. I can take the pain. Just do what you have to," he answered.

She nodded again then took a sterile cloth and put it in the now just hot water. It took a while to bathe all the blood and dirt off him but she managed it. He found the blush that crept over her cheeks when she reached his genitals amusing but she shook it off with a professionalism that would have made Jimmy proud. Then came the painful part. She used witch hazel to clean the gashes and tears all over him and it burned like all hell. He managed it, nearly passing out a few times, and also managed not to go feral and kill her for doing it to him. Somehow he figured the animal in him saw her as part of the pack, his and Jimmy's, and knew she was only helping him.

"Okay, that's done. Now with the stitching," she breathed a sigh of relief. "I've had to do this to Logan a few times and I like to embroider and sew in my spare time so you're in luck. It's still gonna hurt, though."

"I can take it," Victor assured her.

It took hours and by the time she had sewn him up, applied the antibiotic coating, bandages and given him a shot of penicillin, it was pitch dark outside. And she was exhausted, covered in blood and medical smells and really wanted a shower and bed. She gave him supper then cleaned up while he ate. Then she dressed him in a pair of Peter's sweatpants and inflated the air mattress she'd brought and put the blankets on it and tucked him in.

"I'll be back in the morning with breakfast and to check on you," she told him. He nodded sleepily. Then she turned to leave and he caught her arm. She looked back at him and he smiled.

"Thanks, sweetheart. Jimmy's lucky to have you," he said then he let her go and his eyes drifted closed.

"You're welcome," she murmured. She prayed on her way back that Logan wouldn't kill her for helping him. After all, he was an enemy and Logan hated him.

~

She had just gotten a shower and disposed of her ruined clothing then slipped into her white silk kimono with cherry blossoms on the back that Logan had brought her from Japan when someone started knocking on her door impatiently. She opened it and found Remy standing there looking livid.

"Where the hell have you been?" he bellowed. "I looked for you for hours! Everyone's been looking for you!"

"I went deeper into the woods than usual and I came up on this big injured cat. I had to help it, Remy. I'm sorry that I'm so late and that I worried everyone," she said hurriedly. It wasn't exactly a lie. He was big and catlike. Remy visibly relaxed and sighed, raking his fingers through his hair then pulling her into his arms for a tight hug.

"Chere, don't scare me like that. I didn't know if you were hurt or kidnapped or what," Remy said hoarsely. She nodded and stepped back pulling away from him.

"I'll try not to," she told him. He nodded then turned to look as Scott, Jean and Storm burst in.

"There you are," Scott exclaimed oblivious to the moment he'd just ruined.

"Rogue, you really shouldn't wander off like that again," Jean told her disapprovingly.

"Just hold on, all of you," Marie stated loudly. "I'm not a child. Yes, I was gone a bit longer than I had planned to be but I don't need or want anyone keeping tabs on me. If I want to go off for days at a time I will and there's not a damn thing any of you can say about it. I'm twenty-two now. Why do I have to keep reminding everyone that? The only person I answer to is Logan and I do that because I want to. And last I checked, he wasn't here. Now, thank you all for your concern but it's been a long day and I'm tired so would you please get out?"

Jean turned a sad, hurt look to Remy and Scott. "I guess we're just having a hard time seeing you grown up, Rogue. Can you blame us for caring?"

"Cut the bullshit, Jean. Get out of my room," Marie stated coldly. She saw Jean's eyes flash to hers with anger then went back to the act she was playing for the men. She walked dejectedly out of the room and Marie barely suppressed a laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Scott followed his wife looking a bit confused then Storm shrugged indifferently and left as well. Remy hesitated but nodded to her briefly and walked out closing the door behind him quietly.

Her phone rang an hour later and she answered it with a smile. "Hey sugar, how's the weather up there?"

Logan grinned into the phone and replied, "Freezing but I'm used to it. How are you doing, baby? The geeks treating you okay?"

"We had a brief argument this evening but yeah, everything's fine," she told him honestly.

"What was it about?" he asked in concern.

"I was in the woods all day and didn't tell anyone where I was. Honestly, Logan, I'm twenty-two, I have your healing, bone claws, poisonous skin and you trained me. I don't know why they all think they can treat me like a child," Marie said her anger coming back.

He sighed heavily and nodded. "I don't know the answer to that, darlin."

"And I think Remy might be getting the wrong idea about my friendship with him," she added after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked slowly.

"He said it scared him and he hugged me. He was real emotional about it. I know I haven't led him on or anything but I think maybe I should stop hanging out with him so much. I don't want him getting the idea that I'm available," she explained.

"Aren't you?" he asked in confusion. He hadn't heard anything about her having a boyfriend but he had been gone a few months.

Marie froze, her heart shattering at those words. Apparently the Logan/Wolverine in her head wasn't at all in sync with the real life one. Drawing in a shaky breath she replied, "Since you're the one asking then I guess I am."

"What's that supposed to mean, Marie?" Logan demanded anger replacing his confusion.

"That maybe I should have listened to Jean when she told me you don't love me instead of the Logan I have in my head that assured me she was dead wrong and that you felt the same way for me as I do for you. Stupid me thought you were a bit more trustworthy than a skinny red-head doctor bitch. Well, don't worry, Logan. I get it now. I'll leave you all alone. In fact when you get back here I will endeavor to stay out of your sight if for no other reason than I won't have to watch you flirting or God forbid fucking Jean. Maybe you should start making your late night calls to her instead of me, Logan. Cause I'm done with you," Marie was sobbing by the time she finished and hung up the phone before he could reply.

Logan stared at the phone in his hand with the distinct feeling of being hit by a train assaulting his body and mind. He had been so stupid. He didn't count on him inside her head being honest with her about his feelings for her. But she knew. She had known all this time that he loved her more than anything in the world and instead of being repelled by it or ignoring it she had embraced it, treasured it and felt the same way about him. He had been in a relationship with the love of his life and hadn't even known it. And now she thought it was a lie and he had inadvertently broken her heart. Well, he could fix that. He would hop on his bike and head back to Westchester and make it perfectly clear to her that she was indeed his world. It also sounded like Jean had been making a nuisance of herself too if that 'skinny red-head doctor bitch' comment was any indication. He had six adamantium claws that could fix that problem, too.

~

The next morning Marie woke up feeling just as she had before falling asleep, like her world had ended. But she got out of bed anyway, knowing Victor would need breakfast and she'd have to check his bandages. She went to the kitchen and fixed some bacon, eggs, biscuits and sausage then wrapped up most of it, ate the rest and got a large Thermos and put some coffee in it, got some bottles of water and more soup he could have for lunch then headed out into the woods.

~

Victor could smell the tears she'd been crying as she traveled to the cave. She'd wiped them away but the scent was still there, that and the stench of heartache that he knew only his brother could have dealt her. He'd kick Jimmy's ass when he got better. He didn't know how good he had it with this girl.

Marie gave her patient a big smile as she walked over and knelt down beside him. She handed him his breakfast and he ate it gratefully while she checked his bandages and put more wood on the fire.

"What'd Jimmy do to make you cry?" Victor asked after a while, sipping on the coffee. She turned startled eyes to him and he shrugged. "I can smell the salt from the tears. Only Jimmy could make you cry like that."

"You seem to know us pretty well. What makes you think it was Logan?" she asked curiously.

"You wouldn't be helping me if you weren't in love with him. I've seen the way you look at each other. I saw his face when you were up there on the statue screaming. I have never in my life seen him that afraid," he answered honestly. "We've fought since then too, remember? You two are always together and either of you would die for the other. I know you've killed for each other. Don't pretend with me, sweetheart. It won't do you any good."

"I told him I was done with him. I got tired of getting my heart broken. That was last night. Happy now?" she asked bitterly, tears threatening again.

He was quiet a long moment then shook his head slowly. "No, baby. That doesn't make me happy. I'm sorry my brother's being such a dumbass. He doesn't deserve you. You're twice the woman that skinny redhead will ever be and he knows it. Don't let him lie to you. And don't give up on him. He's slow but he catches on eventually."

"What if he doesn't want me? What if you're wrong?" Marie asked doubtfully.

"I know my brother, honey. You're his idea of perfection. Look in my wallet in those torn pants over there. There's an old photo inside. Take it out and tell me what you see," he told her. She did as he said and gasped when she saw the lady in the photograph. It was her. The hair was different and the clothes and quality of the photo put it in the late 1860's but it was still her.

"Who is this?" she asked him carefully.

"Her name was Anna Morgan. She was Jimmy's wife," Victor told her. Marie was astonished at the tenderness in his voice just then. She sat down on the side of the bed beside him and waited for him to continue. "It was love at first sight. She was sixteen, a Southern belle in Savannah, Georgia. Jimmy and I were with Sherman's army on their march and came across her and her family's plantation on the way. She and Jimmy got married a week after they met. We took her with us back to Canada after the war was over. They were married thirty-four years. It's still the happiest we've ever been in our lives. Jimmy loved her more than anything. She was his world. I loved her too. She was a damn good sister in law, better than I deserved. It wasn't always perfect, though. They couldn't have children. Why, we still don't know. They tried for years and then she started going through the change and they knew for certain they wouldn't have any. Jimmy told her that it didn't matter, that they had each other and she was all he needed. But she started getting older, her hair started getting gray in it and the last few years she was alive were hard on their marriage. I know Jimmy didn't care about it, he loved her no matter what. But it mattered to her. She was fifty when she died."

"What happened to her?" Marie asked in a whisper.

"She killed herself. She waited until we went hunting one morning and took Jimmy's pistol and shot herself in the heart," Victor said in a flat voice. "In the letter she left she said that she just couldn't bear having Jimmy see her grow old and die, that he needed to find someone who was younger, healthier, a woman who could give him children and the family they had wanted. I'll never forgive her for that. How could she not know that we loved her anyway, that none of that mattered? She killed Jimmy that day. I'll never forget the look on his face, the way he cried, held her body in his arms rocking her like a baby. It took me over a week to get him to let me bury her. And then he insisted he do it himself. He made her a coffin and carved a marker for her and I dug the grave under the old maple tree she liked to read under. We replaced the marker for a marble one after the second World War, planted roses and lilies there. I was up there not long ago and pulled the weeds away. Jimmy usually did it, he would go and visit her on their anniversary and her birthday. He never married again. She was the only one he ever really loved until now. He was never the same after she died. Neither of us were really. I let my animal take over more often than not and Jimmy just didn't give a damn about anything anymore."

"Why does she look like me?" she asked after a long moment absorbing all this.

"I wish I knew, sweetie. It's the damndest thing, though. That's why I watched so carefully when Magneto had you. I knew Jimmy would come for you. I knew he'd love you," Victor explained. "I'm sorry about what happened to you up there. I know it scared you."

"It almost killed me. I had to absorb Logan completely to heal from it," she snapped at him. He grinned.

"You've got steel in you, kiddo. You're stronger than Anna was. You'd never do what she did. I'm glad Jimmy doesn't remember that. I wish I could forget it. Losing her destroyed us," his eyes met hers and she knew he was telling her something important. "If he ever lost you like that, you might as well take him with you because he loves you the same as he loved her, maybe more, and he wouldn't survive that kind of loss twice. Do you understand?"

"You worry about him," she said almost to herself.

"He's my baby brother, darlin. Of course I worry about him," he laughed lightly. He gestured to the photo still in her hands. "You keep that. It'll be safer with you."

"But it's yours. You cared for her too," she argued. He smiled and nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I did. You remind me of her. Not just the way you look but you have the same soft, honeyed Southern accent and same sassy attitude. But you're kind and thoughtful like her too. You treat me like a man, not an animal. No one's done that in a long time," he confessed quietly. "I haven't done much to encourage it though I suppose."

"I've treated you like Logan's brother. I'll continue to do so until you give me reason not to, Victor," Marie told him. "And I think you should keep the photo. You have to be the one to show it to Logan."

"I'll be better in a week. My healing has finally kicked in," Victor stated finishing the coffee. "I already feel a lot better. You're a pretty good nurse."

"Yeah, I took Triage 101 from Professor Logan," she joked smirking. He laughed and nodded.

"I bet Jimmy's harder on you than the rest too. It's because he cares, you know. He wants to be sure nothing will happen to you. I don't think you realize just how scared he is that he'll lose you, darlin," he told her seriously.

"If he already feels that way about me then why is he being so goddamn stubborn about the rest of it?" she asked scowling darkly. "I could kick his ass."

"Or make him jealous," he suggested. "Is there a guy around that's man enough for him to feel threatened by?"

"There is his Cajun friend from New Orleans," she said thoughtfully. "He flirts with me but I've never encouraged it or flirted back. His name is Remy."

"You mean Gambit? Oh that's perfect. Yeah, go for it, honey. If Jimmy doesn't come to his senses after seeing you with that man whore then I'll have to kick some sense into him after I get better," Victor instructed.

She nodded and rose, putting the photo carefully back into his wallet and setting it beside the bed on one of the bags. "I should get back. I brought some more soup for your lunch. I'll bring supper later and change your bandages later. There's water and more biscuits too. You'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine. I think I'll sleep a while," he assured her. She nodded and smiled before leaving. He smiled softly, watching her go. Jimmy better not fuck this up.

~

Marie made her back to the mansion quickly but via a different route. She took off the jacket she'd worn and hung it on a tree on the way, not wanting Hank or anyone else who had good senses to smell Victor on her. When she reached the lawn near the back veranda, Logan was sitting there facing the woods, a beer in his hand and looking as if he were waiting on her. She approached warily, keeping her distance from him when she made it onto the porch.

"What are you doing here?" Marie asked him.

"I drove back after our phone call last night," Logan answered. She nodded but didn't say anything.

"How's your injured cat?" he asked her after a moment.

"Much better today," she told him.

"I hope you're being careful. Wildcats are dangerous," Logan said with concern lacing his tone.

"I am, Logan. Don't worry," she smiled reassuringly.

He nodded then frowned looking a bit angry with himself before standing up abruptly and walking over to her.

"Marie, look I'm sorry about last night. I don't want things to be bad between us. You mean too much to me for something as insignificant as my flirting with Jean to come between us. I only do it to annoy Scooter," Logan explained in a frustrated tone. "I'd never actually go through with any of it. I don't want her. Do you understand that? I don't want Jean. If it bothers you that much then I won't do it anymore."

"But do you want me, want us, Logan? And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," she asked him carefully.

"I do," he said his voice breaking slightly. He cleared his throat to say more but hesitated.

"You do but?" she offered knowing her heart was about to break again.

"I'm scared," he confessed quietly. He set his beer down and slipped his arms around her waist bringing his forehead to rest on hers. Her hands came to rest naturally on his biceps. "I'm scared because I know once it happens it will be forever and I can't lose you. I can't risk you changing your mind one day when you realize I don't deserve you. You're still so young, baby. I want you to be sure this is what you want, that I'm what you want. If I ever lost you, Marie, even now I know it would kill me."

"You're saying you don't believe that I love you," she said looking up at him with hurt, disbelieving eyes. "How could you think that? You're everything to me, Logan. Haven't I done enough to show you that? What more do I have to do to prove how much I love you, that it's forever for me and no other man would ever make me happy? Tell me please, sugar, because I honestly have no idea!"

Her voice broke and that Southern accent was really coming out with her temper on that sentence. He knew he had pushed too far then. She was right. It was him that hadn't proven their feelings, not her.

"Darlin, I'm not saying you don't love me. I know that you do. Calm down, honey," he ran his hands up and down her back in an effort to soothe her.

"So you're scared to love me? Is that it? What are you really afraid of, Logan? That I'll die on you or that I'll break your heart?" she demanded angrily, hot tears falling down her cheeks.

"Neither, baby. I'm afraid I'll break your heart. I know you'd never leave me intentionally and I know you'd never break my heart if you could help it. I'm afraid of myself, that I'll hurt you and you'll come to hate me. That scares me more than anything. I'm not a good man, Marie," he stated in a flat voice. She could see he really believed that bullshit. It only made her angrier. So she did the only thing she could think of and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. The shock on his face was priceless.

"You really piss me off, Logan," Marie shook her head at him. "I know you better than anyone does, ever could even. I have you in my head, all your virtues, faults, hopes, dreams, failures and fears. I've seen it all, Logan. I've dreamt your nightmares, your fantasies, even the Wolverine side of you at his worst and you think I could do all that, know you like that and still have illusions that you're some sort knight in shining adamantium? I wish for once you could see yourself the way I see you that you could see how wonderful you are. You're just a man, Logan. But you're my man and there's no one better, not in my eyes. I love all of you. Don't you get that? I know you'll screw up sometimes, so will I. But I'd never hate you, Logan and I'll never leave you. I don't think I could if I wanted to. You're half of me and when you're not around I feel like that half is missing. Don't ever say you're not a good man to me ever again or that you don't deserve me. I won't have it."

Logan couldn't believe his luck. He also couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. Not trusting himself to speak and really not knowing what he could say after that, simply pulled her flush against his body and kissed her mouth with a pent up hunger and passion that took her breath and his away.

Marie moaned into his mouth and wound her arms around his neck, kissing him back for all she was worth. She buried her fingers in his hair, her nails raking his scalp lightly and making him growl low in his chest. Suddenly she found her legs wrapped around his waist and felt a growing and alarmingly large hardness pressed into the juncture of her thighs as Logan proceeded to kiss the daylights out of her. Damn, this man was good at that. She found herself unconsciously grinding her hips against him and pulling him tighter to her. He had her pinned against one of the columns on the veranda and rocked his hips into her as he plundered her mouth and ran his hands over her body.

"Holy shit!" they heard faintly coming from the doorway that led from the porch to the kitchen. It was Scott, it just had to be, and Jean and Storm were with him. "Stop that this instant!"

Logan didn't even register the words, just a faint annoying sound that seemed far away, as he moved from her mouth to her neck and growled a wicked grin at the cry of pleasure she gave him and the tightening of her thighs on his waist when he bit and sucked her there. He pressed wet, biting kisses all over her neck and collarbone, mumbling into her skin how much he loved her, how good she tasted and felt in his arms, all the things he was going to do to her.

"Logan! Rogue! Stop that! This is a school!" Scott was yelling now. But they were in their own world at the moment and nothing was getting through to them.

Finally Rogue remembered where they were and pulled Logan's head by the hair to make him meet her eyes. The intensity in that beautiful hazel gold took her breath away. "Logan, bed now," she demanded. He nodded and pushed them away from the column then carried her past their audience that had gathered and up the stairs to his room without giving any one of them a single look or acknowledgement.

~

Scott, Jean and Storm were left there looking at each other in absolute shock and confusion. Other students had gathered to look at whatever Summers had been yelling about and it was Jubilee that finally broke the silence.

"Well, I guess Wolvie finally pulled his head out of his ass then. Good for them, bad for whoever sleeps on either side of Logan's room," Jubilee stated wickedly. "He'll have her screaming his name all night, every night now. I wonder what their kids will look like."

"Jubilee, that's not appropriate. This is a serious matter," Scott said in a censuring tone. "Logan and Rogue have no business together. He's too old for her, too unstable, too wild."

"Okay. Let me know when you decide to tell Logan and Rogue that. I want to be there for that conversation. I doubt you live through it," Jubilee told him with a sarcastic laugh then walked away.

"Perhaps Jubilee has a point, Scott," Storm said thoughtfully. "They are fiercely protective of each other. I don't think interference will be brooked by either of them. We should stay out of it."

"She's a child, Ro," Jean cut in sharply. "He'll use her then break her heart. She's not woman enough for him and she'll be the one to suffer for it."

"Now Jean, I don't know about that. Rogue is definitely a woman and Logan seemed more than content just now," Scott reasoned. Then they heard a man laughing nearby. Turning they saw Remy leaning against the doorway laughing so hard he was almost doubled over.

"Oh y'all kill me," Remy managed to get out. He sobered after a moment then pinned them with a deadly look. "First of all, Jean is just jealous and chere, I hate to tell you but you ain't half the woman that Rogue is. Logan never wanted you. He just used you to draw attention away from people noticing his feelings for her and to piss off Ruby there. And don't you worry about Rogue. She can handle Logan and then some. Second, they have more love for each other than I've ever seen before. I know this, I'm an empath and I can feel what others are feelings. Don't forget that. Third, you try to come between them and not only will there be very physical casualties but they will not hesitate to pack up and leave this school and your precious X-Men all alone against the big bad war coming without a second thought. And finally, you need to know that if they leave, so do I. You really want to be without the three of us when the war comes? Think about that before you go sticking your nose into places it doesn't belong."

Remy walked away then, whistling Dixie and shuffling his cards in one hand. After a moment Storm nodded firmly and turned to Scott and Jean.

"He's right. It's none of our business. Leave them alone," she said sternly then walked away herself, leaving Scott and Jean alone.

"You're jealous?" Scott asked Jean crossing his arms over his chest. "You liked the flirting, didn't you? You really thought he was serious about you, Jean? Even I knew it was a front and that he was just trying to piss me off. You didn't though, did you? You liked thinking you were stringing him along, that if you really wanted him then you could have him? Were you so blinded by your ego and infatuation with him that you couldn't see that his world, his whole world, revolves around that woman he just carried upstairs? Honestly Jean, that's just pathetic."

"Scott, -" Jean began but he shook his head cutting her off.

"No, save it. I should have known. We're done, Jean. You can move your things out of our room while I'm in class," Scott told her coldly. Then he turned on his heel and strode off.

~

Upstairs in Logan's room, things were getting more heated by the second. Logan kicked the door shut when they made it in and immediately all their clothes suddenly began to disappear as they made their way to the bed.

He made her giggle when he picked her up and threw her onto the center of the bed with a bounce then crawled on all fours, both of them gloriously naked, over to her growling low in his chest. Her giggles were cut short when he grabbed her by the thighs and yanked her to him, though, rubbing his aching erection along her already wet, slick folds. She whimpered at the sensation and he growled louder then positioned himself and thrust into her smooth and fast, breaking through her maidenhead and making her his. He felt her tense and held still so she could adjust to him, stroking her thighs and belly soothingly until she relaxed.

Marie saw the concern on his face and though it had hurt, it was subsiding now and in its place was the most delicious feeling in the world. She was made for him. He fit inside her so perfectly she must have been fashioned just for him, she was certain of it as he was. Running her hands over his hairy chest and sculpted torso lovingly she finally relaxed and gave him a reassuring smile before rocking into him slightly.

He began to move them, in slow, agonizingly wonderful thrusts and she rocked her hips in rhythm with him. Their moans, groans, growls, cries, screams, grunts and roars of pleasure were no doubt heard by the entire mansion but to them there was only this moment, this act of their love and the rest of the world simply no longer existed. It was perfect because it was them, together finally. When she came around him and screamed his name and he followed a second later roaring hers and emptying himself into her, no words could ever describe the soul-deep satisfaction it brought to them. Lying there in each other's arms after, murmuring soft words of love and giving tender kisses, soaked in sweat and each other's scent, they felt whole and complete and knew it was forever.

When Marie woke up it was already dark outside and she sat up abruptly remembering that she had to check on Victor. Her jostling out of bed and getting dressed woke Logan too. He sat up with a growl and studied her sleepily. They'd only gotten to sleep an hour ago after making love all afternoon.

"Baby, what're you doing? Come back to bed," he told her.

"I've got to check on – um – Tigger," she told him hurrying into her shoes now. Then she paused and looked over at him. "How'd you know about that anyway? I didn't tell you on the phone."

"Gumbo did when I got here and asked where you were. You named it Tigger?" Logan asked amusement lacing his tone. Then he glanced out the window and frowned. "Darlin, it's already dark out."

"I'll be fine, Logan," Marie flashed her bone claws at him to remind him she was nearly as indestructible as he was nowadays. He didn't look impressed. "Sugar, he needs his bandages checked and some supper. It won't take me long."

He studied her a moment longer then sighed and laid back down. "Fine but if you're gone longer than an hour I'm coming to get you," he told her.

"I won't be that long," Marie assured him on her way out.

Marie made her way to the cave with supper and some fresh medical supplies for Victor five minutes later. A guilty feeling was knotting her stomach at not telling Logan the truth about her 'wildcat' right away but honestly she didn't see him taking the news well at first and Victor deserved at least a fighting chance when Logan confronted him. Given the brothers' history of violence with each other the likelihood of it coming to blows between them was high.

Victor was asleep when she came in, or she thought so anyway, so she tried to be as quiet as possible while she laid out his food and the other supplies then replenished the smoldering fire. That she let so much time pass between visits that his fire was down that low made another feeling of guilt appear on top of the one she already had about keeping him secret from Logan.

"I take it the reunion went well," Victor's voice startled her making her let out a short scream and jump then whirling to face him. He gave her a grin so wicked he should have gone up in smoke, lying there wide awake and watching her. "You are drenched in Jimmy's scent and well -,"

"Yes, I know," Marie snapped blushing furiously. "There's no need to point it out. Mind your manners, Tigger."

He scowled at her then. "Why do you keep calling me that stupid name? What the hell is a tigger?"

A mischievous grin came over her face and she shook her head before kneeling down beside him to examine his wounds. "You should be all healed up in a few days," she murmured almost to herself. "Most of these don't even need bandages anymore. They're scabbing over and most of the stitches have fallen out."

"You've done a good job," Victor agreed.

She got up and gave him his supper while she heated some water to bathe him with and injected him with another shot of penicillin just in case. After he'd gotten his sponge bath and was dressed in fresh clothes she'd snagged from Pete again and laying on clean blankets, she packed up to leave.

"Where's Jimmy?" Victor asked her as she was about to go. "You've barely said a word about him the whole time you've been here tonight."

"I didn't tell him about you yet," Marie admitted quietly.

"Honey, that ain't the way to go about this. You're his mate now, he took you today when he got home, didn't he?" he asked and she nodded. "You can't keep this from him. Don't worry about me if that's what bothers you. I can handle Jimmy. Talk to him about when you go back and bring him back with you in the morning."

"Logan's gonna be mad at me," she sighed in defeat shaking her head and dropping down to sit on a rock nearby. "We just got it all in the open about our feelings and then we made love all afternoon and it was perfect, Victor. You can't imagine how perfect it was. But now it's like there's this big Tigger-shaped cloud hanging over me twisting my stomach up in knots because I told him I was looking after a wildcat I found injured in the woods and not one of his most hated enemies, no offense. He's just gonna be so mad at me. I mean, I only did it 'cause you're his brother and you could tell him about his past so he won't have to go off looking for it anymore. Then I got to know you a little and you love Logan, not as much as I do because no one's gonna love Logan as much as I do, but you do care and then you told me about Anna and I don't know what to do."

Victor just stared at her astonished that she got all that out without taking more than one breath. Then he tried to think of what to say to make her feel better. She had a point. Jimmy was gonna be pissed that she kept this from him but he'd get over it. He cleared his throat and she looked at him expectantly.

"Jimmy will get over it," he said simply. She just stared at him a minute then nodded slowly and stood up and picked up her bag again. Victor frowned. "What? He will. He may be pissed but he'll get over it. He loves you."

"You don't get it," Marie shook her head. "Trust and honesty is everything to Logan. I may not have outright lied to him because you are catlike and big and you were injured but I omitted some pretty big details. We're 'finally' together. What if he gets so mad he changes his mind about us?"

"That won't happen, honey," Victor shook his head. "Worst comes to worse, he'll just chop my head off, pace around and growl at you, maybe sulk in his beer a few days then he'll be right back to dragging you to bed every chance he gets. He's less of an animal than me I'll admit but Logan's still ridiculously easy to please and his animal is predictable as hell. You're Wolverine's mate. There's no 'changing your mind' after the claiming and that's what happened this afternoon. You'll be his and he'll be yours the rest of your lives. There will never be another for either of you. Any man who tried to touch you from this day forward he'd kill him and he'll expect you to protect your territory just the same. You feel in love with a feral, darlin and from what I can tell you got some of it in you too. Once we meet our mate then we're committed for life."

Marie was quiet a moment then closed one fist and let out her bone claws. Victor stiffened and met her eyes with shock reflecting in his. She smiled sadly and explained, "I've absorbed him so often that my DNA restructured itself. I got these and his healing factor and some feral senses but they're not as strong as Logan's or yours either probably. My animal's not much different from Logan's Wolverine. I call her Rogue for lack of a better name and because well, it was already my code name anyway. She can be a selfish bitch sometimes but not about Logan. He's our mate. I'd die for him.

She paused and looked away a moment then met his eyes again with a hard glint in hers. Her voice was harder too as she said, "I have killed for him too. That's how I absorbed Carol Danvers. She had Logan down during a mission and beaten so badly. She was about to break his head off his neck, I got that later from her thoughts, when I rushed her and grabbed hold of her face. Then I couldn't let go. I killed her, took her into me completely and got her invulnerable skin and flight and strength powers. You should have been around while I trying to lock her away in my head and then learn to use her powers. She tried to take over my body, did a couple times too before they locked me in a cell in the med bay and the Professor and Logan helped me get her under control. You'd have found the powers thing funny, though. I crash landed through the roof and two floors one day right into Scott's Calculus class. Then another time I went to open the fridge and pulled the door right off. Logan helped me get control of the strength thing and Ro helped me with the flying." She retracted her claws when she finished then walked away into the night without another word.

Victor just lay there a while wondering why she had trusted him enough to share all that. He was glad she had but at the same time she had to know that he was still dangerous no matter how he felt about her and Logan. They were pack and he wouldn't want to cause them permanent harm but they were still enemies fighting on different sides. Magneto would have given his right arm for the information she had just given him. They had all wondered what the repercussions had been regarding the incident with Danvers. He hadn't liked the bitch but she had been working for the Brotherhood so they were technically allies.

He was glad about the healing and claws she got from Jimmy, though. That meant she actually had a chance at staying alive and keeping his brother happy. She wouldn't die on him the way Anna had or grow old and do something stupid. Maybe, he thought, just maybe it was time to rethink where his allegiances belonged. If Rogue could help him square things with Jimmy then he might be willing to join the X-Men instead of sticking with the Brotherhood. He still couldn't stand their do-gooder attitudes and he'd like sharpen his claws on that little uptight shit Cyclops but he'd tolerate it if it meant him and Jimmy would be okay again. Plus, he was curious to find out what was gonna happen between Jimmy and his mate.

When Marie got back to the bedroom Logan was still asleep sprawled naked in the sheets. She smiled and undressed then went to take a shower. She wasn't in there five minutes when Logan slipped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her kissing her wet skin on her shoulder.

"I thought you were sleeping, sugar," she said smiling.

"I was but I heard you turn the shower on," Logan murmured between kisses. Soon he had her up against the shower wall, her legs around his waist and fucking her hard and deep in an excruciatingly slow rhythm that had her legs shaking before she came screaming his name so loud it should have shattered the glass in the room. He followed her over the edge growling with primal satisfaction and coming deep inside her.

"Christ, Logan, you're way too good at that," she told him breathlessly as they calmed down. The water had gone cold so they turned it off and got out. They recovered fast thanks to their healing factors but she was still tired from their afternoon session and then tending to Victor so she just collapsed on the bed when they left the bathroom.

He got in beside her and looked down at her propped up on an elbow. "Tired, baby?" he asked.

She nodded and yawned but said, "Yeah but I need to talk to you about something. You're not gonna like it."

"We're not going back to the way we were," he growled darkly.

Marie saw the feral look in his eyes and shook her head quickly sitting up to face him. "No, sugar, it's not about you and me. We're fine, better than fine even. You and I are perfect, Logan."

"Then what is it?" he asked allowing himself to relax a little now. "I don't really give a shit about much else at the moment."

"That's sweet, baby but you will this," she said laughing sadly. Taking a deep breath then letting it out she met his eyes and said, "My injured wildcat is actually Victor Creed."

"Sabretooth," Logan's dark glare returned and he sat up looking at her with warring emotions of shock, anger and a little betrayal and hurt mixed in. "Why, baby?"

"Because he told me he's your brother and that he would tell you all about your past if I helped him heal up. He went up against a couple of those new Sentinels and they nearly killed him. Something about their metal makes the healing factor slow down and he needed help," she explained. "He said your full name is James Logan Howlett and he's your older half brother. I told him he'd have to tell you the rest in person. He wasn't lying, Logan. And he cares about you. I know that's hard to believe considering how much he likes fighting with you but I've talked to him a lot the past few days and he does care about you a lot. I wouldn't have helped him if he wasn't your brother, Logan. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away but you weren't here when it started and Scott and the others wouldn't care if he was related to you or could help you with your memories or not. They'd just kill him or lock him up. Then when you did get here there wasn't time and when I went back tonight I hesitated because – I didn't want you to be mad at me and I didn't know how to explain."

"Where is he?" Logan asked finally after a long silence.

"In the cave by the creek that you showed me," Marie told him. "He wants me to bring you with me in the morning when I take him breakfast. He said he'll tell you anything you want to know, Logan. And he hasn't tried to hurt me or anything. He said he knew I was your mate when he first saw me during the whole Liberty Island, Magneto kidnapping me thing. He actually apologized for that if you can believe it."

"Marie," he said getting her attention. She looked at him fearfully nervous but he just reached out and pulled her into his arms and held her close. "It's okay, baby. I'm not mad at you exactly, now that I know why you did it. You did it for me, because you love me and want to help me, and I can understand that. And you're right about the others. They wouldn't have cared if he's my brother or not. He has tried to kill them all at one time or another. But you and me are fine, baby. I love you."

"I love you too, Logan, so much," she whispered wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face there. He kissed her temple and tightened his embrace. After a few moments she leaned back and looked at him. "What are you gonna do?"

He let out a deep sigh and frowned thoughtfully. Then he shook his head, "I don't know yet, baby. Do I want all the answers he could probably give me? Yeah, I do. But what's he gonna want for them? You said he's almost healed up. Once that happens he can go on his way whether he's kept his word to you about me or not. There won't be much we could do to stop him. But tonight, I think we'll just sleep on it and then I'll go with you in the morning and talk to him. It's all I can think to do right now."

"I am pretty tired," she agreed yawning again. "I don't think I'd have the energy to referee a fight between you two tonight."

Logan chuckled and kissed her gently. "Baby, if he and I start fighting you just stay out of the way altogether. Anything happened to you and I would kill him. That I promise you," he told her. "Now, let's go to bed and get some sleep."

The next morning Marie awoke to find Logan sitting up against the headboard and pillows beside her, wide awake and brooding. She knew what had to be on his mind of course and knew he likely heard her waking up with his senses so she just waited silently for him to say whatever was on his mind. You couldn't rush Logan when it came to talking. If he had something important to say then he'd say it when he got his thoughts in order and not a moment sooner. Pushing him only led to him shutting down on you.

Logan knew she was awake. He'd heard her heartbeat and breathing change from sleep to waking a few moments before. He had been awake since before dawn trying to decide what to do about Sabretooth and so far he had come up a big fucking zero in the idea department. That left only one thing to do and he'd never done it with anyone else before in all his remembered history. He was gonna ask someone's opinion. And of course, the only person he trusted enough to value their opinion was Marie.

"What do you think I should do?" Logan asked, his voice startling her a little bit coming out of such a long silence. He looked over at her lying beside him and she met his gaze with a puzzled frown so he sighed and explained, "I know I don't – haven't ever really –asked anyone their opinion before, mainly because I could always make my own decisions and didn't give a fuck what anybody thought of it. But I've been up for the past few hours thinking about this and I don't know what to do. Tell me what you think I should do, Marie. I trust you."

"Well, sugar, it's a hard one I'll admit," Marie sighed scooted up a little rested her head on his chest, an arm thrown over his torso. His arms came to rest around her naturally. "I don't think you should go in spoiling for a fight with him for one thing. He is still injured after all so it wouldn't really be fair. And maybe you shouldn't hold it against him how often you've fought each other before, like on missions and stuff. I mean, you can't tell me that you don't enjoy it. I'll even venture to say you look forward to it. I've heard you more than once on the jet talking about how you can't wait to "smack that big kitty around"."

Logan chuckled and nodded. "You've got a point there," he conceded. "It's always challenge to go up against him."

"But you've never 'really' tried to kill each other," she pointed out. "Why is that? You think the animal in you recognizes each other as pack? I know he knew you were his brother so it's likely he's never really tried but you didn't."

"There's been something familiar about him that nagged at me but I never could place it. The only time we were in each other's company was during a fight and our brawls tend to get interrupted because of some reason or another," Logan admitted thoughtfully. Then he sighed and shook his head running his fingers up and down her back idly. "I guess I'm just wondering if I really want to know everything he has to tell me. There's darkness in me, Marie. I can feel it and it's not just the animal. I'm capable of things no good man should be. I know you love me despite it but it's still there. What if I'm better off not knowing what kind of man I was?"

"I don't believe that and from some of the things he's told me, no don't give me that look because I'm gonna tell you he is, then you have always been you," Marie said firmly.

"What did he tell you?" he asked despite her previous warning. She huffed and sat up to glare at him.

"It's nothing bad about you, Logan. He told me about a woman you knew a long time ago," she said quietly looking down at her hands in her lap now. "She was very special to you. And when I say a long time ago, I mean like during the Civil War."

"Christ, how old am I?" he asked shocked by that admission.

"I don't know, he didn't tell me that," Marie shook her head sadly then moved to straddle his lap and took his face in her hands to make him look at her. "Logan, no matter how old you are or what you've done I will still love you. We're mated now. There's no going back from that. So I don't want you to worry about that. Besides, I'm a healing feral now too so it's looking like we're gonna be together a very long time."

Logan nodded, kissed her then wrapped her in his arms. After a few moments of just holding each other he sighed and said, "Well, I guess we need to go take Tigger his breakfast then."

She started laughing and leaned back to look at him. He grinned wickedly back at her. "I wanna see his face when you call him that," she managed to get out through her giggles.

"I can't believe you call him that. It was Yellow that came up with that nickname for him," Logan shook his head laughing with her.

"She said it only made sense since sabretooths were a kind of tiger and Tigger is a tiger, plus he does like to pounce first and ask questions later like Tigger does too," Marie pointed out. Then she laughed again and told him, "He doesn't know what it means. He keeps asking me what a tigger is."

Logan was still smiling about it when they were packing up breakfast for Victor twenty minutes later. He hadn't laughed that hard in a while. It was gonna be funny when ol' Vic found out that he'd been nicknamed after a bouncy, enthusiastic cartoon tiger by the entire junior X-Men team and some of the senior ones. Logan really hoped he didn't try to gut Jubilee for it. Hell, she called him Wolvie and he had managed to restrain himself, mostly, so far anyway.

He and Marie had already had their shower, some quick shower sex, gotten dressed and had their breakfast. Now they were packing up Victor some eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuits and a Thermos of coffee to take out to him. Logan was still apprehensive about the confrontation that was to come but he figured with Marie there and Victor still injured there was less likely a chance they'd get into a fight. It was still hard to digest Sabretooth being his brother, though, and that part about him being around during the Civil War.

It was still pretty early and a Saturday so no one was up yet but them which was good. Logan wasn't looking forward to the 'talk' he knew would be coming at him from Scooter and the rest of them about him and Marie's new relationship status. It wasn't any of their fucking business to tell the truth and he planned on pointing that out but he had more important things to do this morning than argue with One-Eye.

"Okay, sugar, we're all set," Marie declared closing the fridge and turning to him. She had the food in plastic containers to keep it warm and he was carrying the coffee as they made their way into the woods. She really hoped Logan and Victor were able to keep their tempers and pride in check today.

Victor woke when he heard their footsteps approaching. Testing the scents he relaxed recognizing it was Rogue and Jimmy. So she had told him. He was proud of her for going through with it. He hoped Jimmy hadn't taken it badly. He couldn't smell any salt from tears so at least she hadn't been crying. He did smell food though and he was glad because he felt like he could eat a horse this morning.

Rogue's step didn't falter at all when she neared the cave, having visited Victor so often before, but Logan's did. His step turned cautious and Victor could understand it. Even if she'd told him about their brotherly status Jimmy still didn't remember him and they'd been enemies for years now. He'd have been disappointed if his little brother was walking into the situation too trustingly. Their instincts had taught them to always err on the side of caution and that had gotten them out of more bad situations than he could count.

"Morning, Tigger," Marie said giving him a bright smile as she walked over and started laying out his meal. Logan bit his tongue to keep from laughing at the petulant scowl Victor gave her.

"One day I'm gonna find out what that means," Victor muttered under his breath. Then he looked at his brother standing nearby watching him silently. "How ya been, Jimmy? I hear you finally pulled your head out of your ass and claimed your mate. Took you long enough."

"Now, don't you go starting an argument first thing, Victor," Marie said sternly giving him a light warning smack on his arm then handing him his food. "That's between me and Logan."

"I was just congratulating him on his decision to stop being a dumbass, darlin," Victor gave her a look far too innocent than he should have been capable of. She didn't look impressed, just raised a disbelieving brow at him, so he shrugged and turned his attention back to Jimmy. "Where were you anyway, little brother?"

"North," Logan answered gruffly then sat down on a rock nearby watching Marie give Victor his breakfast and check his bandages. "Rogue said you have some answers I've been looking for."

"Yeah, I could probably tell you everything you want to know about your past before you got the claws and even how you got them. I doubt Stryker was very forthcoming when you ran into him at Alkali Lake that time," Victor nodded. Then he gave Logan a calculating look and asked, "Do you really want to know everything, though? You were never as bad as me but you weren't a saint either, particularly after you lost Anna."

"Is Anna the woman you told Rogue about?" he asked. Victor nodded. "Who was she?"

"Rogue didn't give you the details?" Victor asked glancing over at Marie who shook her head.

"I told you that you had to be the one to tell him," she reminded Victor.

"Get him the picture then," he said in a resigned voice. He didn't want to tell this story again. It was hard enough to get it all out the first time. After Marie got the picture from his wallet and handed it to Logan though, he did just that. He recounted everything that he had told Rogue before and watched Logan stare at the photo in his hands with a look of shock, awe, sadness and disbelief as he did so. When he finished Logan looked at him for the first time in years without hate or murder in his eyes. Victor was shocked at how relieved he was by that.

"How old are we?" Logan asked him finally.

"You were born in 1832, me in 1829," Victor told him, "In British Columbia near the East Kootenay Valley. Your mother's name was Elizabeth and her husband, your father's name that raised you was John Howlett. Our father's name was Thomas Creed. We got our mutations from him."

"Is he still alive?" Logan asked and Victor shook his head. "I thought we couldn't die."

"He got drunk one night and fell asleep on a train track, cut his head clean off when it came through," Victor explained. "That happened in 1952. I guess we can't get up from that. We aged naturally until around twenty-five or thirty and then it just stopped. The senses and the claws, yours were bone like Rogue's are before Stryker put the metal on you, and all the feral stuff didn't kick in until around twelve years old. You got real sick just before it hit you, just like it did with me, running a high fever and everything. Your ma thought you were dying but I knew you weren't because I'd already been through it. There was a fight that night in your house. Our father came to get me and wanted to see you too. He was talking to your ma about you and them and your other dad Mr. Howlett overheard them and got into it with Pa. Pa killed him and you went into a rage and drove your claws into Pa's stomach then took off shocked and scared at what you'd done, what you'd become. I followed you. We took off together and looked after each other for a long time after that, right up until the 1980s in fact."

"What about the wars? I get nightmares sometimes about them," Logan asked. "Sometimes it's just flashes and sometimes they're clearer."

"We fought in the Civil War like I mentioned before, you hated Sherman by the way, called his methods with the civilians down South barbaric. Let's see, then there was the time we joined the Rough Riders with Teddy Roosevelt. That was kinda fun. Next was the First World War. What a waste of four years that was. We were bored as hell sitting in those fucking trenches. The French girls were nice, though, and the wine too. We must have hit every brothel from Calais to Nice by the time we were done with them," Victor smirked evilly at the look of disgust Marie gave him for that tidbit of knowledge and Logan was looking a bit uncomfortable too. Victor figured he might be having this conversation around his sweet and still fairly innocent young mate.

Continuing Victor said, "We went and joined the French Foreign Legion after that and played around in North Africa and the Middle East for a while during the 1920s and 30s. It was fun I guess. Morocco was okay. Europe was a bit too tense at the time with the Nazis on the rise and all. Neither of us could stand them and we were only too willing to join up and fight them when the Second World War started. That one was definitely my favorite. We were never bored, killed a lot of people, and hell even saved some. They kept transferring us to different units but we fought with the British Army most of the time. The Americans didn't come into it until Pearl Harbor got bombed in 41 and didn't even enter Europe until D-Day in 44. That was a bloody few days there. We were on the first wave on the beaches. Those fucking tin cans they had us in were suicidal and the Nazis were more than prepared. I still don't know how the others made it. You and I both had more bullet holes in us that we could count. They sent us to the Pacific not long after Berlin was seized and the Germans surrendered. The Japanese took longer. We stayed there a while in Japan when the war ended. I didn't really care for it but you loved it; the culture and the food and yeah, the women, too. We learned some new fighting styles there, though and trained under an old samurai in one of the mountain villages. He said I was hopeless because my animal was too restless to find the calm needed for the meditations and katas but you excelled at it. Then of course, came Vietnam and it was really my fault we did that one. I had gotten so fucking bored in Japan and all that I practically dragged you to the recruiting office to sign up for it. We were back in the States by then anyway. You had run into some trouble after sleeping with the fiancée of one of a prominent Japanese family's young men. He challenged you to a duel, you won and killed him and we got the hell out of the country. They'd all be old or dead by now though. She wasn't worth the trouble, Yukio or Yoshi or whatever the hell her name was. I forget. I told you she was trouble but you didn't listen. Anyway, it wasn't till Vietnam that I got out of control and yeah I admit it, I did lose control. It was so easy to let the animal out there, though, with the humans acting just as badly, even worse than I was all around us. And I'd been good for too long, hadn't been up to any trouble or killing at all in Japan or the States and we skipped the Korean War altogether. I got us into trouble one day at a village just south of Cambodia though, murdered a couple of village girls and then killed an officer who tried to stop me. You killed another soldier, both were on our side, defending me and we both got sentenced to execution by firing squad. Well, it didn't kill us and that's when William Stryker came into our lives. He offered us a place on a special unit for soldiers that had 'abilities' and we took it and went to work for him. Then there was a thing at a village in Africa in 79 and you decided you'd had enough, just dropped your gun and walked off leaving me behind with them. I stayed with Stryker but the unit disbanded not long after you left. I started rounding up other mutants for him taking them a place on Three Mile Island in the Gulf and at Alkali Lake up north. He didn't let you go entirely, though. Stryker sent a mutant woman named Kayla Silverfox to get close to you, keep tabs on you until he was ready to bring you into the Weapon X program. See, you were always his favorite. He saw the potential in you to become the perfect weapon but he couldn't control you. This girl, God I hated the bitch for her part in playing you, made you fall in love with her. Her mutation was tactile suggestion. If she touched your skin she could influence you, get you to do whatever she wanted or said. I hated her too because I felt like you were betraying Anna being with her like that. You'd had other women since Anna died but you never loved them. They hadn't mattered to you really. I shouldn't have helped Stryker with his plan to get to you, Jimmy. I had some conflicting feelings about it. On the one hand I felt like you'd betrayed me, abandoning me like you did in Africa, so I wanted to get you back for that. On the other hand, you're my brother and we'd looked out for each other for over a century by then, nearly two.

Victor paused then and thought how best to tell the next part. Marie had moved to sit next to Logan on the large flat rock nearby and he knew both were waiting for him to continue. Finally he decided to just to put it all out there. "When Stryker got ready for you to be part of the program, we staged Kayla's death at my hands. I caught her on the road between your house and where you were working as a lumberjack in the Canadian Rockies, injected her with something to stop her heart and breathing imitating death, then sliced open a bag of her blood we had on hand all over her body to make it look like I'd kill her. I even clawed up her car and left a dead wolverine for you to find in the woods nearby. You wanted my head after that and it was just what Stryker wanted. You found Stryker and he offered to give you the tools you needed to defeat me. You agreed and that's when they put the adamantium into you. He promised to do it to me too but the tests showed I wouldn't have survived the procedure like you did. But somehow you overheard them talking while you were in the tank about how they were gonna wipe your memories so that he could control you like he did later with Wade and you lost it, got out and escaped with brand new shiny, indestructible claws. They went after you. A couple of farmers got killed and you told Stryker you were coming for him when you realized you'd been played. They moved from Alkali Lake to Three Mile Island for good after that. That's where you found us later; me, Stryker and a very alive Kayla. Stryker had finished Wade by then who was now Deadpool or Weapon XI and set him after you. I fought with you against him after I found out Stryker had played me too and I wasn't gonna get the operation he promised me. We tore that facility apart between the two of us fighting with Wade. You and I said our goodbyes after Wade lost his head so I don't know exactly what happened after that except I heard Stryker had been found walking up and down the island aimlessly with bloody feet and Kayla's dead body was found near where we destroyed that silo by the beach. I do know that Stryker had a gun fitted with adamantium bullets. If he managed to get a shot or two into your head it would explain the memory damage you have now. And I know Kayla died of a gunshot wound so he might have done that too. I highly doubt it was you. You'd have used your claws. I'm not sorry she's dead, though. And that was the last I saw of you until the thing with Rogue and Liberty Island. I didn't look my best then, I admit, letting the beard and hair grow out like that. And we hadn't really had time to talk since being as we usually set straight to fighting. There're more stories I could tell you about the years we've been around but that could take weeks, maybe months even."

Logan was quiet a long time after he finished, digesting all that information. All this time the one person who could give him all the answers he needed had been right there as his enemy. It was a lot to take in. He felt Marie put a hand on his back and rub it soothingly then rest her chin on his shoulder wanting to comfort him. He wound an arm around her waist and gave her a reassuring squeeze before he cleared his throat and looked at his brother.

"If I talked Chuck into letting you stay at the school, would you make an effort to mind your manners and not hurt anyone?" Logan asked seriously.

Victor considered that a moment then gave Logan a firm nod. "I've been thinking that it might be time to change my allegiance but I still don't agree with everything the X-Men do, Jimmy. For you and your girl there, though, I'd try," he told him honestly.

"Well," Logan said standing up and Marie stood up with him, "I guess we need to go have a chat with Chuck then. We'll be back."

Victor nodded and watched them go. He was sort of relieved to have gotten all that out but he knew Jimmy'd have more questions later. Well, whatever he could tell him he would. And maybe with Jimmy and Rogue there then it wouldn't be so bad being a good guy for a change. He hoped, anyway.

Logan and Marie went straight to the Professor’s office after leaving Victor. The telepath bade them to enter before Marie was able to knock so they walked on in and found Scott, Storm, Remy, Hank, Pete, Bobby, Jubilee, Kitty and Jean already there with the Professor seated behind his desk.

“I have already informed the others of Sabretooth’s presence. I was aware that Rogue was aiding him in the woods nearby but I haven’t had the opportunity till now to ask her why or even how he sustained his injuries. I assume that you have already confronted Mr. Creed this morning, Logan, and would be grateful for the two of you to shed some light on the situation for us all,” Charles told the couple. “Please have a seat.”

“I think we’ll stand,” Logan shook his head and crossed his arms preparing to go on the defense. The members of the team standing and sitting around the room did not look happy with him and Marie.

“Very well,” the Professor leaned back and regarded the two of them trying how to best approach the problem. With the upcoming difficulties for mutant and human kind alike he could not afford to lose Wolverine and Rogue on the team. He also knew if they left then Gambit would follow and likely Jubilee too. Finally he sighed and stated,
“Why don’t we start with how he was injured and came to be here?”

“He said it was Sentinels, two of them, and that it had been a week since the fight when he made it here,” Marie explained. “He wasn’t healing like he should have been; something to do with the metal on them that impairs the healing factor temporarily. I came across him in the woods while I was walking a few days ago and he asked for my help. I wasn’t gonna give it but he told me something that changed my mind.”

“And what was that?” Scott asked angrily. “What could possibly have come out of that monster’s mouth that made you help him, Rogue?”

“She did it for me,” Logan interrupted turning a glare on Scott. “Victor Creed is my half brother. That’s what he told her. I didn’t know until I got back and she told me about it but there it is. He told her that he’d tell me about my past if she helped him get better. And he did tell me quite a bit this morning. Rogue helped him because of me so if you wanna be pissed off you take it out on me, not her.”

“Is he still injured?” Charles asked them frowning. That was new information about the Sentinels. If Trask had developed some that could impair a healing factor it did bode well for them.

“He’s healing slower than usual but he was nearly dead from blood loss and open wounds when I found him. He should be back on par in a few days,” Marie told him. “They messed him up badly.”

“I see,” Charles’s frown deepened. He appeared deep in thought a moment then looked back at Logan and Marie. “How did you leave things with him this morning?”

Instead of answering that question Logan asked one of his own, “You don’t seem all that surprised that he’s my brother, Chuck. Did you know my relationship to him all this time?”

The Professor sighed and shook his head sadly, “No, I didn’t. Erik had hinted that you and Sabretooth had a past on a few occasions but I wasn’t aware he is your brother. I am pleased that you have a chance to get the answers you’ve been seeking however.”

“I told him I’d ask if he can stay here at the school a while,” Logan told him after a moment. An audible gasp from the rest of the team was heard and immediately the protests started but the Professor held a hand up to silence them all and nodded for Logan to continue. “He agreed to mind his manners and not hurt anyone if you let him in. I’d make sure he wouldn’t anyway. He’ll be my responsibility. He even said that he was thinking it was time to change sides.”

“The only side Creed has is his own,” Remy stated frankly. “I get you wanna get to know your brother, homme but he’s a dangerous man. And he’s never been a team player.”

“We already have one wild, unpredictable, unstable person on the team,” Scott said sending Logan a pointed glare.
“We don’t need another one. Besides that, how do you know the whole thing wasn’t staged by him and Magneto to infiltrate us here?”

“Nah, I don’t buy that,” Remy disagreed. “Creed’s not the self-sacrificing type. He’d never agree to get his ass kicked like that just to get in good with us.”

“He wasn’t lying,” Marie spoke up angrily and leveled a murderous look on Scott. “You better watch your mouth when you talk about Logan again, Scott. I won’t hesitate to lay you out if it happens again. And thanks to my new feral senses I can tell whether someone’s lying or not. Victor wasn’t lying about anything he told me or Logan. He gave his word to behave and give this a try. Logan and I will make sure he keeps it. And if you don’t like it well, all three of us could leave.”

“I go with Wolverine and the chere,” Remy informed Charles too. “I don’t like Creed, me and him ain’t ever gotten along, but the only reason I joined up here was because I’m friends with Logan and Rogue through him. If they leave then I’m gone too.”

“Me too,” Jubilee spoke up and sent Logan and Marie a wink then popped her gum. “Congrats on your new status by the way. And Roguey chica, we are so gonna talk later. I want details.”

Charles looked over at the members of the team who hadn’t spoken up yet. “Do any of you have an opinion on the matter?” he asked them.

“I’m with Mr. Summers,” Bobby said firmly.

“There’s a big fucking surprise,” Marie muttered under her breath and Logan chuckled quietly beside her at hearing it.

Kitty looked uncertainly between Bobby and Rogue and Logan before saying, “I agree with Logan and Rogue. I think we should give him a chance.”

“He’s tried to kill us all at one point or another and you wanna let him into our home, our school?” Bobby asked Kitty. He was shocked at what he saw as her betrayal to him.

“People can change, Bobby,” Kitty replied hotly. “Besides, he’s Logan’s brother. And I trust Logan and Rogue to keep us all safe if he steps out of line.”

“I do as well,” Storm stated earning a look of gratitude from Rogue and Logan. She acknowledged it with a nod but said nothing else.

Hank thought hard about it then sighed and looked at Charles, “Everyone deserves a chance. To my knowledge he’s never asked for one before. Perhaps we should give it to him. He would be a valuable asset to the team if he’s able to mend his ways.”

Pete was next and he sided with the couple by saying, “I don’t trust Creed but I trust Logan and Rogue. I guess one shot couldn’t hurt. If anyone can put him down it’s them. He may have valuable information about Trask and the Sentinels too.”

Charles nodded grateful that most of them were being rational about this. Then he looked at Jean and asked, “What do you think?”

Jean shrugged and shook her head, “If you say no then Logan and Rogue will take off with him and we lose two more if Gambit and Jubilee follows them. Right now we can’t afford to lose anyone. There’s really no choice in the matter.”

“Well then, I suppose you need to go and tell Victor the good news,” Charles told the couple with a serene smile. “I’m holding you both to your word however. Keep him in line and no harm must come to the students or staff here.”

“You got it, Chuck,” Logan nodded his agreement. “We’re gonna give him Rogue’s room across from mine since she’s moving in with me.”

“Very well,” Charles nodded.

Hank cleared his throat then and offered, “If you’d like I’d be happy to take a look at his wounds and see if I can be of any assistance.”

“We’ll ask, Hank, thanks,” Logan said then turned to Marie and smiled. “Well darlin, let’s go give him the good news.”

“You go,” she told him. “I’m gonna move my stuff to your room and get mine ready for him then Jubes and I are going to get him some clothes and stuff. I’ve been uh – borrowing some of Pete’s old clothes for him.”

She sent an apologetic look to Pete who shrugged and waved it off, “I haven’t missed them. Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re a saint, Pete,” Jubilee rolled her eyes in friendly amusement at the big Russian. Then she walked over and hooked an arm through Rogue’s pulling her toward the door. “I’m so up for some shopping, though, chica. And you can tell me all about Tigger and about you and Wolvie’s sex life.”

Marie sent Logan a slightly alarmed look but he just shrugged and smiled at her as the girls left. Then he turned to Remy. “I might need some help getting him here.”
“Got nothing else to do,” Remy shrugged and followed Logan out.

~

Hours later, Marie and Jubilee had returned from the mall with bags upon bags of clothes, hygiene supplies, and other miscellaneous items that they claimed Victor would need and had his room set up completely by the time Logan and Remy had gotten Victor to the mansion and Hank had done a thorough examination that Victor grumbled his way through. He didn’t seem to mind the way the girls fussed over him when the guys helped him up to his room, though. Logan and Remy stood watching as Marie and Jubes got Victor settled in his bed and served him his lunch. They even fluffed his pillows and arranged the TV remote and some magazines on the nightstand for him.

“I would have switched sides years ago if I knew I’d have pretty girls taking care of me,” Victor told the men with a wicked smirk on his face. Remy snorted flipping through his deck of cards while Logan just rolled his eyes.

“It’s only cause you’re hurt, Tigger. Plus, you’re Wolvie’s bro,” Jubilee told him. “Don’t get used to it.”

Victor looked at the yellow-wearing, petite mall rat and scowled, “You too? What is it with you girls and that name?”

Jubilee and Marie shared a conspiratorial grin then Jubilee looked back at Victor and shrugged innocently, “We just thought it suited you best, dude.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled as he dug into the chicken and rice that Rogue brought him for lunch.

“We’ll let you rest now,” Marie told him ushering the others out. “Logan and I will be by to check on you after we finish our classes this afternoon.”

Victor just nodded as they left the room. He hadn’t lied before. It was nice being taken care of for a change. The Brotherhood certainly didn’t give a damn if you were down for a week or so after an injury. Of course, being injured from something he didn’t heal right away from was new for him too. He was surprised that the X-Geeks had taken him in so quickly. Evidently his little brother had earned more loyalty and trust from them than he thought. He knew Rogue had a lot to do with it too, though, and there was no telling what they’d had to promise as far as his behavior in order to gain their agreement. Now he just had to not screw it up.

~

A week later Victor was fully healed and in the Danger Room for a session with Logan. Rogue was up in the control room with Remy and Jubilee watching along with Scott (who insisted he be there as ‘team leader’) and the Professor.

Observing the brothers fight the holographic images of Trask’s Sentinels and the human soldiers was a bit like watching a bloody, violently choreographed dance. They worked as one, muscle memory and instinct helping them anticipate each other’s thoughts and movements in order to take down the enemy quickly and efficiently. There was no hesitation when it came to killing their targets like there usually was with the other X-Men whose goal was generally to preserve life and incapacitate the enemy but not to kill unless absolutely necessary. This wasn’t the case with Wolverine and it clearly wasn’t with Sabretooth either. Both were ruthless and uncompromising when it came to eliminating a threat to themselves or each other during the fight.

It was odd to see Sabretooth from the side of an ally instead of a hated enemy but what struck them all was Wolverine’s performance. It became very clear that he had been holding back quite a bit in his DR sessions with the team. Even on missions they rarely saw him as unbridled and predatory as he was now.

Charles and Scott shared thoughtful expressions when the session was over and the brothers were standing victorious in the center of the simulated battlefield. There wasn’t a scratch on Logan or Victor either.

Rogue sent the others a knowing grin then walked down to congratulate them. They were bickering about who had the most kills when she came in.

“Well, you’ve rendered them all speechless, sugars,” she announced cheerfully. “By the way, Tigger, the opinion was unanimous that you look good in the leather. Jubes said it hugs your ass just right.”

“Did she now?” Victor grinned up toward the control room window and they heard a vague wolf whistle a second later. He turned a smug look at his brother.

“You look like puffed up peacock,” Logan snorted. “Wait till they steal your clothes from the locker room and spy on you in the shower. Then we’ll talk.”

“They’ll have to get their jollies somewhere else now, Logan because I’m the only one who gets to see you naked anymore,” Marie informed him wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her back and bent his head to kiss her. Then he leaned back and grinned down at her.

“Oh yeah?” he asked.

“Yep, already put out the word,” she nodded. “Jubes and Kitty were a little disappointed but Victor’s just the eye candy they need to get over the mourning period. There’s Remy too. He’s not called the Cajun Casanova for nothing. But you, sugar britches, are – all – mine.”

Logan growled deep in his chest then and took her mouth in searing kiss then made her shriek in surprise when he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder before striding out of the room and ignoring her half-hearted protests to put her down or calling him a caveman.

Victor watched them go laughing at his brother’s antics. Then he sobered realizing how foreign his own laugh sounded to his ears. Had it been that long since he’d really found something funny without an added layer or sarcasm or evil intent behind it? Then he realized that yeah, it had.

~

After his shower and getting dressed, he exited the locker room surprised to find Jubilee standing there waiting on him. She gave him a grin way too knowing and wicked for someone as young as she and immediately the alarm bells began going off in his head.

“So, I was wondering,” Jubilee began coyly, “Is there a Mrs. Sabretooth?”

“Nope, never been married myself and thank God for it,” Victor told her frankly. Then he closed the distance between them and towered over the young woman who stood right at five feet as opposed his six feet four inches. He was pleased to note a passing scent of fear in her at his proximity but there was an even bigger scent of arousal coming off her that he wasn’t certain he should encourage.

“What are you after, little girl?” he growled out in a low, husky tone. If anything the arousal spiked higher and he felt his jeans tighten in response. She was a tempting little thing, petite with a svelte figure, pixie-like black hair and doe-brown eyes. Not as curvy as he usually went for but she wasn’t flat-chested either and she had a nice round ass that would fit just right in his hands. He liked her attitude as well; feisty and sarcastic with an honest edge. What you saw was what you got with her and he appreciated that. He hated women who tried to be someone they weren’t. His senses didn’t allow him the luxury of ignoring the illusions most women used to make themselves look better or smell better. She smelled good too; not as natural a scent as Rogue’s because he could detect a light perfume of something fruity but it wasn’t strong enough to put him off either. And it had been a long time since he’d gotten laid. She might be on the small side but Jubilee was definitely the kind of girl you could take for a ride. Forcing himself to back away a little he wondered what his brother’s reaction would be if he fucked her. She was clearly close friends with both Jimmy and Rogue.

Jubilee considered his question. What was she after? He was hot, way hot actually. But he was also dangerous and she wasn’t deluding herself that he wasn’t still a stone cold killer when he wanted to be. He’d never tried to off her personally but he could have if they’d met on the battlefield and she knew better than to forget what he was capable of. Still, it had been a long time, like weeks even, since she’d been laid and there was no doubt in her mind that Victor Creed could get the job done right.

She closed the distance between them again and ran one hand up his t-shirt covered chest then raked her nails lightly back down to his belt, her eyes never leaving his, and said in a seductive tone, “You.”

Victor grabbed her by the hips roughly surprising her by how fast he did it and had her back against the wall and her legs around his waist a second later. He pressed the hardness of his erection into her to let her feel it and rumbled approvingly when she rolled her hips into it and dug her nails into his chest. Oh yeah, this was gonna be fun.

“Your room or mine, Sparky?” he asked huskily. She grinned slowly.

“Mine,” she said. “It’s closer, only one floor up.”
He nodded and carried her to the elevator, stepped in and pressed the button.

Five minutes later they were in her room, the door locked and ripping each other’s clothes off. She was a wildcat, he thought, as he took her the first time against the wall just inside her room and she bit and clawed at his back and shoulders while he fucked her hard and fast. And she was a screamer too which pleased him to no end.

They went again five more times before she passed in exhaustion. He couldn’t complain, though. He was more than sated for now, Victor thought as he looked over at her sleeping beside him on her bed. They’d done it against the wall, over her desk, on the floor, on the bed, in the shower, and in the bed again before it was done. He hadn’t even had to wear a rubber because she told him she was on the pill. He wouldn’t have anyway but knowing she had herself covered was kind of a relief. He was pretty sure Jimmy’d kick his ass, or try anyway, if he knocked up the little Firecracker.

Victor lay there a few more moments trying to decide whether to stay till she woke up or go on back to his room. Jimmy was probably still enjoying alone time with his own girl. He finally decided to get up and head back to his room. It wasn’t like he and Jubilee were dating or anything. It was a fuck, well a lot of fucking, and it was great too but that didn’t constitute a relationship. He didn’t do relationships. He doubted she did either. Wouldn’t mind another round sometime, though, especially if he was gonna stick around here a while.

As luck would have it, it was Marie he ran into in the hall on his way back to his room. She was wearing one of Jimmy’s flannel shirts and little else as far as he could tell and smelled like his brother and a lot of sex. She stopped cold when he approached her, her nostrils flaring slightly, and he cursed under his breath knowing that he smelled like sex too, sex and her buddy Jubes.

Marie narrowed her eyes dangerously at him then. He held up his hands in self-defense and told her, “It was completely consensual, Rogue. She came on to me, was waiting on me outside the locker room. I didn’t hurt her either. She’s the one who did the biting and clawing.”

She grimaced at that last part, “Too much info, Vic.” Then she sighed and shook her head. “Logan won’t be happy about it but I’ll talk to him. Just don’t go getting all caveman and possessive about her, Victor. Jubes is – well – she likes her independence.”

“I didn’t claim her, darlin. Sometimes you just need a good fuck,” Victor told her honestly. “I ain’t looking to tie anyone down and don’t want to be tied down either. It ain’t like it is with you and Jimmy.”

“Fine, just don’t hurt her and let me handle Logan,” Marie nodded. “You might wanna take a shower before you see him again, though.”

He nodded in agreement and went into his room.

~

She went back into hers and Logan’s room carrying the tray of goodies she’d snuck down to the kitchen for. He was lounging on the bed, deliciously naked under the sheet, and watching the hockey game that just came on. Taking in his slightly damp, tousled hair and that healthy satisfied glow on his chiseled body suddenly food was the last thing on her mind. She set the tray down on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed and crawled across to him, unbuttoning her shirt as she went along, until she was straddling his lap and the shirt was tossed carelessly onto the floor.

Logan observed her hungry look with a knowing smirk and raised brow, his hands coming to rest on her hips naturally as she settled on his lap. The remote had been discarded the moment she began crawling across the bed and looking at him like a choice Grade-A prime steak she couldn’t wait to devour. Now that they were together it amazed him that they were able to stay ‘just friends’ for as long as they had. Of course, he supposed him constantly packing up and going on the road for months at a time had a lot to do with it. There was no way he would have lasted all this time without touching her if he’d stayed day in and day out the past five years.

“Now I wonder what’s on your mind, baby. You were complaining just a moment ago that you were starving and just ‘had’ to take a break,” Logan asked teasingly. “You change your mind?”

“Maybe I just saw something that tastes better,” Marie smirked wickedly and began kissing and licking and sucking her way down his mouth, neck, chest, shoulders, torso and finally his very hard, very erect cock. She had him coming with a scream and popping his claws a few minutes later. After swallowing his seed down and licking him clean she sat back with a self-satisfied grin and stated, “Yep, much better. I don’t call you sugar britches for no reason, you know.”

Logan barked out a laugh at that before he tackled her playfully and tickled her into submission underneath him. When they sobered a little he stared down at her, a tender expression on his face, and gave her a slow, gentle kiss before whispering against her mouth, “I love you, Marie.”

“I love you too, Logan,” she whispered back running her fingers through his hair. Looking up into those beloved golden hazel eyes of his, Marie felt a surge of love and protectiveness of this man so strong it took her breath away. She brought him down for a passionate kiss and growled low in her throat when she felt him hard again sliding over her wet folds.

She moved him onto his back and sat up astride him then eased herself down onto his erection making them both cry out with pleasure. Every time, it was like this every time for them, no matter what position they tried or what the pace and rhythm; whenever they made love it was perfection. She rode him deep and brought the pace up steadily until he had sat up with her and they were rocking wildly together, yelling encouragements and endearments till they fell over that edge yelling to the ceiling.

It wasn’t until about a half hour later after they had eaten the food she brought up earlier and were snuggled up watching the remainder of the hockey game that Marie remembered the thing with Victor and Jubilee.

“Um, sugar?” she began hesitantly.

“Hmm?” Logan grunted without looking away from the game.

“I, uh, ran into Victor in the hallway on my way back with the food earlier,” Marie told him.

“Okay,” Logan nodded slowly then looked at her and raised a questioning brow. “What about it?”

“He’d been spending some – let’s call it ‘bonding time’ with Jubes,” she said. The brow went up a bit more so she finally gave it up and blurted out, “They had sex, a lot of it from the scent coming off him.

Seeing Logan’s expression darken she hurriedly added, “But he said it was totally consensual and that she came onto him. He wasn’t lying, Logan. You know how Jubes is sometimes. When she sees something she wants she goes after it. She made her interest in him pretty clear earlier too, I just didn’t think about it. He also said it was just sex and he’s not gonna go all caveman on her or anything. Those weren’t his exact words but you get my meaning. They’re both adults, Logan.”

Logan was silent a long time before he finally relaxed a little and sighed, “Well damn. I ain’t about to go tell Yellow who she can and can’t sleep with but I will be having a talk with her about letting guys as dangerous as he is in her bed. He may be my brother but he’s done some really bad shit. She doesn’t need to ever forget that. Victor could change his mind about staying here and being a good guy at any given moment. I’ll be talking to him too. He harms a hair on her head or forces her to do anything she don’t consent to and brother or not I’ll cut his fucking head off.”

“I’m sure he already knows that, Logan,” Marie pointed out. Then she kissed his shoulder and snuggled further into him with a yawn. “I guess it won’t hurt to remind him, though.”

He nodded and placed a kiss on her head as he felt her falling asleep against him. Logan hoped and prayed Victor didn’t fuck this up by being well – himself. And Jubilee, he didn’t know what the hell had gotten into her. She didn’t usually go for the big, hairy and rough types. All he ever saw her with were pretty boy types like Drake or Scooter. It could wait till the morning though, he thought as he followed Marie into sleep.

Logan prowled the halls looking for his brother the next morning. Victor hadn't been in his room when he went to wake him and he had missed him at breakfast too. If Logan didn't know any better he would think Vic was avoiding him. Jubilee on the other hand had given Logan an almost defiant look this morning when she showed up for the junior team's DR session. He had noted she was moving a big more sluggishly than usual, though. He had even asked her if Victor had been out of line at all or too rough with her. Apparently he crossed some of sort of line there because the next thing he knew she'd shot her pafs at him and lit his suit on fire then stormed out cursing him and all his descendants in a vulgar mix of English and Mandarin.

When he did finally find Victor, his brother was entertaining Marie's history class with a vivid recount of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Logan slipped in quietly at the back and listened in, still amazed with the knowledge that he'd been there too fighting alongside his brother in every major war since the mid 1800's. Marie sat off to the side and Victor was doing a surprisingly good job, even managed to keep the cursing to a minimum. The kids were enthralled and hung on every word. Both his mate and brother knew the moment he had entered the room and while Victor gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement, Marie gave him a smile and a wink that he returned as he leaned against the back wall to watch. When Victor finished, the kids clapped for him, and Marie got up and walked over.

"That was very educational, wasn't it, class? Let's thank Mr. Creed for coming in and sharing," she told them giving Victor a proud smile that Logan had to stifle a jealous growl over.

He knew he was being ridiculous but his mate smiling at any other man, even his brother; hell especially his brother; brought out his possessive nature something fierce. Logan walked over to them as the class let out and wrapped his arms around Marie's waist kissing her neck.

"Hey sugar, I heard you got set on fire this morning," Marie teased with a mischievous glint in her eyes. He huffed and released her making her laugh. "Honestly Logan, you know better than to confront Jubes about her sex life. Did you really point out that she was 'walking kinda funny' and asked her if 'didn't she think the ride she had last night was just a bit too rough for her'?"

"You didn't," Victor chuckled darkly shaking his head at Logan who had the decency to look a bit sheepish before he glared at pointed a warning finger at his brother.

"She was dragging ass today because of you. I can't tell you two not to sleep together but if you hurt her or impair her ability to do her job on then it becomes my problem. You don't do anything to that girl that she don't consent to, Victor. I mean it," Logan told him sternly.

"Jimmy, you're my little brother and I'm real fond of you but if you want to keep that finger you'll get it out of my face," Victor ground out slowly, his good mood gone. "She came on to me. If anything she's the one who got too rough with me. You just can't see my marks because they healed. Hell, I didn't even scratch her with my claws. I don't see how it's any of your business anyway. She's not yours, Rogue is. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to meet with Xavier. That is, if you don't mind, Jimmy?"

Logan shook his head and sighed as Victor walked past him and out the door. Looking over at Marie he saw her giving him a disapproving frown. "Darlin, I didn't -," he began but she shook her head.

"He's trying, Logan. You can't be constantly expecting him to screw up. He's gonna get enough of that from Scott and Bobby, believe me. You're his brother. I know it's hard to go from being enemies to family for you but it's not to him. He's always known who you are to him and while he's loved fighting with you, sugar, you gotta admit he's never tried to outright kill you or anyone you care about. Jubilee is a grown up and while I don't understand the whole casual sex thing she likes to indulge in, it's none of our business who she takes to her bed. At least we know she can't catch anything from Victor," Marie told him frankly. Then she closed the distance between them and took his face in her hands. "I love you, sugar and I know you're not used to trusting people. But I am asking you to try. He might let you down. I'm not gonna lie to you and promise things I can't deliver. But then again, he might not let you down. But if you're gonna give him a chance then you have to do it whole-heartedly, not always looking over your shoulder to check for the metaphorical knife to your back. Do you see what I'm saying here, baby?"

He nodded, kissed her then wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck taking a deep inhale of her soothing scent. "Have I told you yet today how lucky I am to have you, darlin?" he whispered to her. She shook her head. He leaned back and nuzzled her jaw then her nose and kissed her again before looking into her eyes. "I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too, sugar. Now, I have another class to teach and you have teenagers to torture in P.E.," she told him as she gave him another kiss, a smack on the most delicious male backside ever made, and a shove toward the door. He gave her the eyebrow and a smirk filled with wicked promise in return as he strode out.


Victor took a seat in Charles's office and gave the telepath a hard stare. He could feel him trying to probe his mind and he didn't appreciate it.

"That won't work unless I let you in, Chucky," he said with a sigh, "Pissed Frosty off something fierce when she was working with the Brotherhood."

"You know Emma Frost?" Charles asked surprised.

"I know a lot of people," he shrugged. "I've been around a long, long time. I've been a bad guy, a good guy, even an in-between 'not really sure which side I'm on' guy. So has Jimmy but he doesn't remember it. I kinda envy him that. There's a lot I'd like to forget. Did you wanna know something specific or were just gonna try and rape my brain to get what you need?"

"No one's ever put that way before I suppose it is a violation if I don't ask first," Charles said carefully. Victor just shrugged. "I need to know about the Brotherhood and about Trask and the Sentinels, everything that you know."

"Well, I already looked over your information about the Brotherhood with the Kitten that walks through shit. You already know everything important. As for Trask and the Sentinels, you're looking in the wrong place thinking Erik has anything to do with it. He had me following Trask and also the head of the Friends of Humanity. They're in league together."

"Who is head of the FOH?" the Professor frowned. "We hadn't been able to find that out yet."

"My son Graydon Creed," Victor told him with a frustrated growl. "He hates me and I don't know him personally as his mother never told me about him till he was grown and a mutant-hater. She gave him up for adoption when he was little when she found out he wasn't a mutant. His mother is Raven Darkholme. You know her as Mystique. Don't ask; it's one of those things I'd rather forget. I still haven't figured out why he took my name. It didn't stop him from setting those Sentinels on my tail when I interrupted a meeting between him and Trask. They've been programming them to hunt down the strongest mutants first, adapting their materials to target specific ones and arming them with the capability to render those targets' mutations worthless against them. Guess who's at the top of their target list?"

"I imagine you, Wolverine and Rogue would be among the top ones," Charles stated with dread. Victor nodded.

"And you, Erik, Frosty, the Weather Witch, your redhead doctor and the Summers boys too," he told him. "I know Cyclops is here but his brothers Havok and Vulcan are on the list too. Shaw would have been but he's brokered a deal with Trask to manufacture the suppression collars and bracelets for when they capture the less powerful mutants. If anyone was ever out for number one it's Sebastian Shaw. I hate that fucker. Jimmy and I had to work with him once when we were part of the Hellfire Club back in the fifties. We lasted three months before he and Jimmy threw down and destroyed this five star resort in Madripoor. It was sort of funny to tell the truth."

"You're being very cooperative," the Professor said after a moment. Victor smirked then.

"I know you and the One-Eyed Wonder think I'm up to something nefarious here but I'm not. I came across Rogue by accident. I was looking for my brother for help with my injuries or to go ahead and put me down. As bad off as I was it wouldn't have mattered either way to me just then. But I got lucky and she decided to help me, I got better and a chance to spend some time with Jimmy again. I gave my word to the two of them that I'd give this place a try. I keep my word when I give it. That's all the explanation you're gonna get, son," Victor told him seriously.

"It's been a long time since anyone's called me 'son'," Charles smiled wryly. "I suppose you and Logan have that prerogative given your actual ages, though. Thank you for your candor and the information. It's more than we knew a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, it's been fun," Victor said as he rose. "I gotta go now. I gotta date with Sparky and the whirlpool in the spa."

"Ah yes, about that," Charles began hesitantly. Victor raised a brow expectantly and the Professor sighed, "Jubilee is very young, Victor."

"I already got the 'talk' from Jimmy. I didn't appreciate it then and I still don't. You know, back when we were growing up women like Rogue and Sparky would have been married and had two or three kids running around by now. You coddle them too long and treat them like children who can't make up their own minds. What kind of people do you think you're gonna send out into society raising kids like that? As for Jubilee, well I can assure you that the woman knows what she's doing. She's not after a relationship any more than I am. That's the last time I'm explaining myself to you or anyone else about that, Chuck," Victor stated then he walked out without another word.


Scott entered the Professor's office after Victor left. He took a seat and looked at his mentor and father figure frowning out the windows to the grounds where Logan was teaching (torturing) the ninth graders in P.E.

"Well?" Scott asked after a few moments of silence.

"He seems sincere," Charles sighed. "He says the FOH and Sebastian Shaw are in league with Trask for the Sentinel program. It's going to be hard to beat them, Scott. We'll need Creed, Wolverine and Rogue to do it so, don't drive them off. I know you don't like Logan and you certainly haven't been shy about your feelings toward Creed being here but you have to put your personal issues aside for now."

"He and Logan ignore nearly every order I give, sir," Scott argued. "Do you really think Logan and Rogue would leave us if he did? We've been their friends for five years."

"Hank explained to me the other day that Victor, Logan and Rogue are part of a pack now. Victor and Logan always have been pack because they're brothers. Rogue is Logan's mate and that makes her part of their pack now too. They will put the three of them first in any given situation and everyone else is going to become a distant second on their list of priorities," Charles told him.

"So, as long as the three of them are okay then, to hell with the rest of us?" Scott asked with a harsh laugh.

"I'm certain Logan and Rogue would do what they could for the rest of us but they'll put each other first. Victor however won't care about us. His only concern will be his brother and his brother's mate," the Professor told him.

"Terrific," Scott nodded. Charles looked at him a moment then frowned.

"Is everything all right with you, Scott? I know you and Jean broke up recently. Would you like to talk about it?" he asked.

"She wanted Logan. All this time, she was thinking that she was the one he wanted and she enjoyed stringing him along. She made a fool of me, Professor. Hell, she made a fool of herself because Logan didn't want her. He wanted Rogue. It's always been Rogue. Even I knew that he was just flirting with Jean to piss me off. It was like a game he liked to play but it didn't mean anything," Scott explained frustrated. "I loved her. I wanted to marry her, have a family with her. Now I feel like I never really knew her at all."

"Are you certain there's no way to resolve the problems? Sometimes couples can become too complacent and comfortable with each other, 'in a rut' I believe it's called. I know you and Jean loved each other a great deal at one time," Charles asked. Scott shook his head. "Well, is there anything I could do to make it easier on the two of you?"

"I'm fine," Scott told him with a dismissive wave. "I've got my classes and the team to keep me busy and my mind off it. I'm more concerned she might try something to ruin things for Logan and Rogue. She won't succeed. I know that because of the whole mate thing with the two of them. But that doesn't mean she can't make things difficult for them. Maybe it's her you should be warning not to drive them off. She makes a play for Logan and Rogue will kill her."

"I will speak to Jean," Charles nodded his agreement. "She's been distant with me lately but you're right, I should talk to her about the situation."

"When do you think Magneto's going to realize that Sabretooth's not on his payroll anymore?" Scott asked after a moment.

Charles smiled at that. "I expect to hear from Erik any day now. He won't be pleased. Even if we hadn't realized what a valuable asset he had in his organization, I assure you he did."

"What do you mean?" the younger man frowned.

"Victor Creed, like Logan, has been alive since the mid 1800's, Scott. He has seen and done more than you or I could imagine. To have that kind of knowledge and experience at our disposal as well as his mutation abilities is a stroke of luck. Logan has all of that too and it shows but it's not as detailed and accessible as Victor's because he lost the majority of his memories," Charles explained. "Erik wouldn't have hired an imbecile. What we've seen of Victor, his Sabretooth side as it were, is exactly what he wanted us to see and nothing more. It's what you can't see, what you don't know, that's dangerous, Scott. I've noticed you have trouble seeing past the more animalistic side of Logan and Victor. You should endeavor to overcome that tendency. Hank did a mental diagnostic test on both the brothers last week. They are highly intelligent and master strategists. If anything their feral abilities as predators make them more formidable than handicap them. There is a reason they're both so sought after by our enemies."

Scott nodded. Somehow learning that Logan and Creed were even more dangerous than they'd thought didn't make him feel any better about them being on the team. They were both loose cannons and had zero respect for his authority as team leader. The fact that if it came to it they'd save Rogue but leave the rest of them to die didn't endear them to him either. Letting Logan train the junior team had caused a loyalty shift amongst them as well. They revered Logan like the master of their universe whose word was law even though he grilled them and often made them cry with his harsh criticism. He hadn't figured out yet how Logan could treat them like that and they still followed the guy. And now with Creed here, there were two of them.


Logan was on his way up to shower after classes when he ran into Victor and Jubilee in wet bathing suits making out outside Victor's room. Taking Marie's advice from earlier he just gave them a nod and continued on into his and Marie's room. It was still an odd situation for him, though and he couldn't figure out why except that Jubilee was kinda like a kid sister to him. Marie had always been his mate and he'd never really thought of her like a kid despite the nickname but then she'd made buddies with the Firecracker and he'd sort of looked out for her like a brother would since then. Now she was screwing his brother and the whole thing was just weird. But he'd get used to it, as long as it lasted anyway.

Hearing the shower on he grinned and slipped inside where Marie was already soaping up. Logan stripped down and got in with her, sliding his arms around her and moving her hair to the side and kissing her neck. "You know, baby, it's almost cruel how sexy you are," he growled making his chest rumble against her back.

Marie shivered involuntarily and leaned back into him with a whimper. "Likewise, sugar," she whispered looking back over her shoulder and meeting his eyes. "You should be against the law."

"There are a few countries I've been banned from," he chuckled and kissed her deeply tasting her honeysuckle and raspberry flavor. He loved the way she tasted, how 'all' of her tasted, in fact. He slid a hand down her body and between her thighs, sliding a finger along her folds to check her wetness. Christ, she was already dripping for him and so hot. She leaned back into him further and ran her hand along his arm to wear his hand was and laced her fingers with his then brought his hand to her mouth and sucked each of his fingers clean of her own juices never taking her eyes off his.

Logan's eyes turned bright gold then darkened to almost black as his pupils dilated. Then he let out a deep rumbling growl before he turned her to face the wall and braced her hands there with an unspoken demand for her to keep them there and slid a thigh between her legs to spread them open for him. Taking his cock in hand, he slid it along her folds with deliberate, tantalizing slowness until she was nearly trembling with anticipation and whimpering for him. Then he took her hips roughly and thrust all the way to the hilt inside her making them both shout with pleasure. Then he was fucking her hard and fast. They hadn't done this yet. So far he'd been fairly gentle and let her take the lead on how rough she wanted it but the animal was out at the moment.

Marie began meeting his thrusts with a roll of her hips and lifted her hands off the wall to grab his hair and neck roughly as her own feral nature began to surface. The Rogue really liked it when the Wolverine let loose with her. He was pounding into her now and she shouted encouragements at him, urging him on harder and faster. When he sunk his teeth into her neck where he'd made his invisible mark before she screamed out her climax and he followed with a roar popping his claws into the shower wall and destroying the tile and a foot of plaster behind it.

When they calmed down and realized what he'd done to the shower, Logan just laughed and said he'd fix it later before he picked her up and carried her to the bed for another round. Unfortunately it was during the end of their second go that they got a knock on their door.

"Fuck off! We're busy!" Logan barked as he paused a second in his rhythm to address whoever had the gall to interrupt his 'sex-with-Marie' time.

"We've got a mission," Scott shouted back. "Whatever you're doing can wait! Let's go, both of you!"

Scott walked off then to knock on Victor's door. He was surprised when Victor opened the door already dressed. "We've got a mission," he told him.

"I know," Victor said nodding to Jubilee coming out of the bathroom in one of his shirts. "Chuck sent her the mind alert a few minutes ago."

"Oh," Scott frowned seeing Jubilee with Victor. Apparently the Fearless Leader hadn't gotten that memo yet. "Well, be at the War Room in five minutes. Try and get your brother and Rogue out of their room. They're 'busy' they said."

"Uh-huh," Victor waved it off. A moment later they heard another yell from Rogue followed by Logan shouting her name and then silence. Victor smirked at a thoroughly scandalized Scott. "I think they're done, kiddo."

Scott glowered at the older man then stalked away. Jubilee came to lean against Victor's side, his arm coming around her shoulders naturally. "Poor Scott, he's gotta get his proctologist to remove that stick from his ass on his next visit," she shook her head feigning sadness. He chuckled and gave her a smack on the ass before ushering her down the hall toward the elevators.

"Go get dressed, Sparky," he told her. "I gotta go pry my brother away from Rogue."

"Good luck with that, Tigger," Jubilee gave him a mock salute then walked away.


Ten minutes later, Logan and Marie walked into the War Room where everyone else was already waiting. Victor had banged on their door once, told them to get their asses in gear then joined the team downstairs.

"Rogue, Logan, so nice of you to join us," Scott said glaring at them.

"Shove it, One-Eye," Logan said taking a seat and then settling Marie in his lap. "What've we got?"

"Bucket-head and the Porn Smurf are at it again," Jubilee informed the couple with a pop of her gum. Victor looked over at her curiously.

"Who?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Magneto and Mystique's nicknames," she said not seeing Marie's sudden warning look across the table.

"So Magneto is Bucket-head, that I get but why is Mystique the Porn Smurf? Well, the porn part makes sense. But what's a Smurf?" Victor wanted to know.

"A Smurf is a cartoon character," Kitty informed him helpfully. "They're blue."

"A cartoon," Victor said slowly. Jubilee had finally caught on to Marie's warning and the reason for it and was inching away from him when he took hold of her arm and leveled her with a steely look shaking his head. "What's a Tigger, Jubilee? Did you name me after a fucking cartoon?"

"Now, dude, I just want to say that we meant it in the best way possible and to try and remember that you really like me," Jubilee told him as she pried her arm loose and took off going across the table to hide behind Logan and Marie as Victor stood up angrily.

Logan was trying his best not to laugh because it was funny but the murder in his brother's eyes made it a little more serious than it should be. "Vic, it's just a nickname. Calm down. They call me Wolvie for fuck's sake," he said in a placating tone.

"Tigger is a cartoon tiger in the Winnie the Pooh books. Everybody loves Tigger," Kitty told Victor again trying to be helpful. He snarled at her and she eeped then inched her chair closer to Pete beside her. "It was Jubilee and Rogue's idea."

Victor turned back to Jubilee and now Marie had joined his target list as well. She read what he was about to do about a second before he came across the table at them and managed to jump out of Logan's lap and drag Jubilee behind her as Victor proceeded to chase them around the room.

"Victor, don't you dare harm a hair on my mate's head," Logan warned seriously chasing after his brother.

"She named me after a fucking cartoon tiger, Jimmy!" Victor argued swiping a chair thrown in his way aside as the girls went over the table again to avoid his wrath.

"It was a joke!" Marie shouted back at him. She couldn't believe they were running from him around the War Room or that he was this mad.

"Yeah dude, a joke!" Jubilee yelled as they went over the table again. "Besides, don't you know that "the wonderful thing about tiggers is tiggers are wonderful things"?"

That made Marie burst into giggles and Jubilee with her as their step faltered. Victor almost had them then but Logan managed to tackle him at the last moment and held him down.

"Stay down!" Logan snapped at his brother. Then he glared at the giggling girls. "I told you two it was a bad idea."

"Oh come on, Logan, it's like a term of endearment now," Marie argued. "We really didn't mean anything by it, Victor. You're our Tigger now anyway. If it helps we call Toad 'Kermit the Frog'."

"It doesn't," Victor muttered then shook Logan off him and stood, went back to his chair and sat down sullenly, apparently intent on ignoring them now.

"Well, now that the melodrama's over, do you think I could get on with the briefing for the mission?" Scott asked them all. Logan, Marie and Jubilee nodded and went back to their seats.


The mission had gone well despite the tension among Logan, Victor, Jubilee and Marie. Victor was still giving the girls the silent treatment two days later when Logan found him in the rec room watching hockey.

"You gonna talk to them again anytime soon?" he asked his brother.

"Nope," Victor shook his head.

"You're being stubborn," Logan scoffed and took a swallow of his beer.

"Have you seen this Tigger character?" Victor asked him. He nodded his head. "Well, I have, too. I found one of the younger kids and made him find me that cartoon Winnie the Pooh. It's not just a cartoon tiger. It's a stuffed animal tiger cartoon that bounces and sings and annoys the hell out of everyone else in the forest. I also had him find me the Smurf cartoon. That I admit was kinda funny. She is that shade of blue and that annoying too."

"Vic, they might have meant it in a bad way when you were the enemy but you're not now and you're hurting their feelings. Marie came close to tears yesterday when you threw those cookies she made as a peace offering away in the trash can then walked away from her. Now see, that upsets me," Logan explained his voice growing tight with anger. "And Jubilee hasn't been her usual cheerful self talking ninety to nothing and pranking the household. They've tried to apologize and even promised not to call you that anymore. What more do you want from them? Personally I think Tigger is a better nickname than the one Drake wanted to call you."

"Which one is Drake?" Victor asked.

"Ice Dick," he explained and Victor nodded. "He wanted to call you Tabby Cat. Oh, and then was Pyro's idea before he turned traitor. He wanted to call you Kitten-Caboodle."

"I never liked that little shit," Victor grumbled. Then after he thought about it a moment he sighed with resignation. "They really call you Wolvie?"

"Only Jubilee and my darlin are brave enough to get away with it but yeah, they do. I've gotten used to it," Logan admitted with a shrug. "And Wolvie and Tigger are never gonna be as bad or pansy-assed as the nicknames we've got for Scott Summers. The list is endless and ever-growing."

"That's true," Victor agreed taking a swallow of his own beer. "Well, hell I guess I can live with it but only from those two. I'll sink my claws into anyone else does it."

"I'll pass along the warning," Logan told him. "You might wanna go let the girls know you're not angry with them anymore, though."

"Nah, not yet," Victor shook his head and leaned back propping his feet up on the coffee table. "They're cooking me a steak dinner tonight as a last ditch effort. I'll forgive 'em after."

Logan laughed and shook his head giving his brother a grin that Victor returned. "You're evil."

"Yeah, kinda," Victor agreed. He hoped Rogue remembered to make his steak raw. And he might even give Jubilee a special kind of forgiving later on tonight.

Victor listened with silent amusement to the conversation between Jubilee and Marie while he ate the steak dinner they made him. They were standing by the breakfast bar in the kitchen while he sat at the table nearby. Jimmy had been called off to do a pick-up with the One-Eyed Wonder.

“Do you think he’ll forgive us now? He hasn’t said anything but he is eating it instead of throwing it away like he did the cookies,” Jubilee whispered to Marie.

“You know he can hear you whether you whisper or not, Jubes,” Marie reminded her. “And Logan assured me that we couldn’t go wrong with steak.”

“Right, forgot about the senses,” Jubilee nodded. “It makes me wonder why he likes to hear me scream so much, though. Doesn’t it hurt his ears, or Logan’s when you do it?”

Victor nearly choked on his steak at that question but he managed to avoid it. He heard Marie snort in amusement and then she said, “No, that’s just male pride there. I imagine non-feral men are the same way. But you know what I’m pretty good at making Logan scream too. There’s this thing I do with my teeth and tongue when I’m –,”

“Too much information there, sweetheart,” Victor cut her off abruptly and the girls jumped a little having forgotten a second that he was listening to them.

“Hey, he speaks,” Jubilee pointed out beaming. Victor glanced over at them then gestured them over to the table where they sat down. He finished his steak before he sat back and looked at them.

“I’ve given it some thought and I’m gonna forgive you for the nickname on the condition that you two are the only ones that use it and only when we’re alone. If I start hearing around the school then I’ll start killing people. And I’m a firm believer in leaving no witnesses,” he told them firmly. They nodded their agreement. Then Victor gave Jubilee an evil grin. “I even got a new nickname for you when I was having that kid show me the cartoons. You know there’s this little yellow fucker named Pikachu that reminded me of you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jubilee glared at him darkly. He just grinned wider and chuckled. “We had to take the kids to see that damned Pokemon movie and they called me that for weeks after. I hate that cartoon.”

“Well, maybe I’ll only use it when you make me angry. Now then, you and I have some private making up to do,” Victor said after a moment. Then he stood up and walked over to Jubilee, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder ignoring her protests and looked at Marie. “The steak was good, darlin. Tell Jimmy not to wake me up till noon tomorrow. Me and Pikachu here are gonna be busy.”

“Okay,” Marie nodded smiling and giving a glaring Jubilee a wave while Victor carried her yellow-friend out.

When Logan got home later that night he found Marie still awake waiting up on him in bed. He gave her a tired smile and a kiss before beginning to undress. “Well, how did it go, baby?” he asked her.

“He forgave us and said not to wake him and Jubes till noon tomorrow. They’ve been ‘busy’ since around nine,” she told him nodding toward the room across the hall from theirs. “Sometimes these feral senses suck, sugar.”

“I know,” he agreed chuckling. “It’ll get easier to tune out certain things as you get more used to it. But you know the best way to tune out those kinds of sounds?”

She shook her head as he crawled over the bed to her. Logan kissed her deeply then and grinned. “Making some of our own,” he said before kissing her again. Marie couldn’t have agreed more as they made love the rest of the night.

Meanwhile in Victor’s room, he and Jubilee had just finished their fifth round of sex and lay together talking.

“Two days seemed like forever. I think I might be getting addicted to sex with you,” Jubilee told him in an amused, thoughtful tone. She was feeling pretty freaking awesome right this minute and curled up against his side while one of his hands stroked her back gently. He knew just how much pressure to use with his claws to make it feel wonderful but not scratch her skin.

“We need to talk about that,” Victor replied quietly. He felt her tense slightly and turned his head to look at her shaking his head with reassurance. “No, I’m not ending it or anything. It’s just if we’re gonna be bunking together a while, which it looks like we are, then I don’t want to be sharing you with anyone else. The first time you come to me smelling like another man, and let me tell you that no amount of showering will get rid of it for days after, then we’re done. We’ll still be friends but we won’t share a bed again. And I won’t be sleeping with other women either. There’s no one else here to tempt me anyway. I’ve noticed that Cajun sniffing around you since Rogue and Jimmy got together though and I ain’t telling you what you can or can’t do. I’m just telling you that if you want to stick with me a while, I won’t share.”

“I don’t want Gambit,” Jubilee told him. “And I’m not interested in anyone else right now either. I agree to your terms, Tigger.”

He growled at the name and she giggled then moved on top of him straddling his waist. His hands came to rest on her thighs and caressed her there while he raised an eyebrow at her actions all the while admiring the view.

“I like it up here,” Jubilee declared bracing her hands on his broad chest. He laughed and grinned at her.

“I bet you do,” Victor said feeling himself harden again beneath her. She felt it too and gave him a wicked smirk before lifting up then easing herself down onto him with a low moan of pleasure from them both. He let her set the pace this time, reminding himself that he had already fucked her hard five times tonight already and she was gonna be sore in the morning as it was not having a healing factor like him. He couldn’t complain though. She was the best bed partner he’d had in decades, maybe longer, and gave as good as she got. She didn’t even mind it when he bit her or left a bruise here or there on her. Hell, she didn’t even complain when he accidentally scratched her ass earlier when he took her from behind. Most women, even mutant ones, screamed bloody murder because of his claws and teeth. His little Firecracker now was made of sterner stuff though and he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Victor knew something good when he had it.

When he felt her getting close to her climax and lost her rhythm he took over and pushed them both over the edge, swallowing their cries of passion with a deep kiss. That was another thing. He liked kissing her. It usually wasn’t on his list of priorities where sex was concerned but he didn’t mind it with her. She tasted good, like pears with a hint of spice. He liked it. He didn’t mind sleeping with her either. She didn’t kick or steal the covers or snore and gave him space when he needed or let him hold her too when he felt like it. Yeah, he thought as he drifted off to join her already sleeping now beside him, he wouldn’t mind at all bunking with Jubilee for a while longer.
-
A month later things were going great for the two couples. They were currently having a barbecue in the backyard grounds of the school. Victor and Logan were debating the best way to go about grilling the steaks while the girls were nearby setting the table ready with the drinks and side dishes.

“I’m telling you, Jimmy, and I’ve been saying for over a hundred fucking years, that all you need to do is leave them on a minute on each side and they’re done,” Victor told his brother sternly.

“That might be all right for us, Vic, but I know my darlin doesn’t want her steak raw,” Logan retorted trying to remain calm. Then he raised a brow at Victor and asked, “Who’s fucking this cow anyway?”

“Fine, do it your way,” Victor threw his hands up and walked away to grab a beer and sit down pulling Jubilee into his lap with his free arm. “You burn my steak, though, and I’m taking yours.”

“I’m not putting ours on until the girls’ are about done,” Logan told him sending Marie an eye roll that she had to bite her lip not to giggle at. She walked over to him and ran one hand up and down his back and kissed his shoulder.

“You’re doing a great job, sugar,” Marie assured him. He smiled and turned to pull her into his arms giving her a deep kiss as a reward.

“Aw, they’re so cute,” Jubilee said with feigned mockery as she leaned back against Victor’s chest.

“Shove it, Firecracker,” Logan growled barely breaking his lips from Marie’s.

Victor watched his brother and brother’s mate kissing with vague amusement. He was glad Jimmy had found her and that he was happy now. He was curious about something, though, and voiced his question a moment later.

“So when are you gonna announce the cub to everybody?” he asked them then grinned when Marie stiffened in surprise in Logan’s arms.

Logan gave Victor a look then glanced down at his darlin who was looking at both brothers like a deer in the headlights. “Uh darlin, -,” he began and she held up a hand to stop him and took a deep breath then let it out.

“Logan, am I pregnant?” Marie asked him slowly. He nodded and she huffed stubbornly with a pout a moment later. “That’s not fair. I’m supposed to know first and then tell you. Damned feral senses. Why didn’t I smell it?”

“You’re too new to it to know what to look for and your own scent is harder to pick apart from others, darlin,” Logan explained. Then he smiled reassuringly and pulled her closer in his arms. “This is a good thing, baby. We’re having a kid. You knew that it was a possibility. We haven’t been using anything, said you didn’t want to even though I told you that you might get pregnant that way.”

“Sugar, I’m happy about the baby but I just – well, I wanted to know first and tell you. It’s supposed to be the other way around,” she explained and he kissed her long and tenderly until her pout went away. Then she smiled up at him, the one reserved only for him that made him feel like the most important, most beloved person in her world, and said, “I love you, Logan. You’re gonna be a daddy.”

He smiled back and nuzzled her nose with his then rested their foreheads together then whispered, “Yep, and you’re gonna be a mama, baby. There’s no one I’d rather have my kid than you, Marie. My mate.”

“Well, I say we have a toast, not Roguey though because she can’t drink anymore now that Wolvie knocked her up,”
Jubilee said raising her margarita in salute. Victor grinned and clinked her glass with his beer. “To Logan and Rogue, may they not fuck up this kid.”

“Here, here,” Victor grinned evilly at his brother and Rogue who just rolled their eyes at his and Jubilee’s antics. “It’s about time, Jimmy. You waited centuries to have a kid.”

“Do you have kids?” Jubilee asked him frowning. Victor hedged a bit then and she raised a brow. He sighed finally and nodded.

“I have a son,” he admitted. Logan frowned in confusion, as did Rogue, so Victor continued explaining, “He’s in his forties now. His name is Graydon Creed. I didn’t know about him till he was full grown and hated me, along with all other mutants because he isn’t one and his mother gave him up for adoption because of it. She never told me about him until he became a problem for us all.”

“Who is his mother?” Rogue asked.

“I believe you call her the Porn Smurf,” Victor stated dryly and Jubilee spit out her drink in shock. After she recovered herself she turned a wide-eyed stare to him.

“You had sex with Mystique?” she asked appalled.

“It was the sixties and she wasn’t as bad as she is now back then. Still, it’s not something I like to think about or remember,” Victor told her. “It was a very short fling because we got stuck together on a job. I was bored and horny and she was there.”

“Do you have any other children?” she asked him next.

“Not that I know of,” he shook his head. Then he pulled her close to him and pressed a kiss to her temple. “It bother you?”

“Not that you have a son so much as who you had him with,” she muttered resting her head on his shoulder.
“What’d you mean about him being a problem for us all?”

“He’s the founder of the Friends of Humanity,” he admitted. “It was him and Trask that set those Sentinels on me when I interrupted a meeting between them. And yeah, Chuck already knows about it.”

“He’s caused a lot of trouble for us all for certain,” Marie agreed frowning. “Does he know Logan’s your brother?”

“I don’t know but I wouldn’t leave out the possibility,” Victor told them. “Shaw’s working with him and Trask and he knows Jimmy and me from way back. It’s likely he’s told them.”

“That must be what Scott’s been working on with Kitty lately,” Jubilee mused. “Kitty told me that they just finished decoding a bunch of files from Trask and Shaw’s companies. She didn’t mention the FOH though.”

“How soon will we be ready to move on them do you think?” Marie asked Victor. He gave her an odd look tilting his head to the side. “What?”

“Sweetheart, I doubt Jimmy’s gonna let you go on missions anymore while you’re carrying the cub,” Victor said carefully.

Logan nodded and finished turning the steaks then looked at Marie. “He’s right, darlin. I won’t risk anything happening to you and our baby. I know you don’t want that either,” he said firmly.

“These new Sentinels are more dangerous, Rogue. They have some that are being engineered specifically for certain mutants; mutants like me, you and Jimmy and some others,” Victor told her diplomatically seeing her about to argue with his brother. “There’s a reason those impaired my healing factor like it did. It wasn’t an accident. They’re finding ways around our mutations, even healing factors and invulnerabilities. So for that cub’s sake and Jimmy’s, you’re gonna sit out the missions until after it’s born. We already had a talk once about how much you mean to my brother. I know I don’t need to repeat that to you.”

Marie gave him a long look then nodded. “You’re right. It goes against my nature to sit by and do nothing but I don’t want to risk anything happening to the baby,” she said then turned to Logan and wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. “You better come back every time safe and sound to me, though or hell will have no fury compared to mine if something happens to you.”

“You and I are gonna be together a very, very long time, darlin,” Logan kissed her back. “I promise.”

“You don’t have to worry about Jimmy,” Victor told her confidently. “I won’t allow anything to happen to him.”

Logan glanced over at his brother and it amazed him that he believed Victor. It was odd having a brother, let alone an older brother, and now starting a family with Marie too when he had been alone on his own for so many years. Suddenly he had everything he had been looking for the past fifteen years. It was terrifying to be so happy because it made him fear that he could lose it, especially with so many enemies working together lately against mutants. As new as it was for him to have a brother, Logan was relieved that Victor was gonna be here helping him look out for Marie and the baby they had on the way, not to mention everyone else.
-
The two couples were unaware of another watching them from a second floor window of the school. Jean Grey fumed in anger and injured pride. Since that mangy cat had come to this school she had lost Scott and suddenly Logan wanted nothing to do with her either. He was so wrapped around Rogue it was pathetic. Scott had moved on, too, dating Storm now. It was enough to make her sick watching all of them. That voice in her head that was always whispering tempting dark things had gotten more powerful the past few years and now it was screaming at her to get rid of her competition. She didn’t want Scott back. He was too tame, too predictable and good. No, now she wanted Logan; the Wolverine. To have him she needed to get rid of Rogue, and maybe Jubilee and the furball Sabretooth too while she was at it because they would only encourage Logan to hold on to hope that he could get the little bitch back. The timing would have to be perfect. She would need the best to help her achieve her goal and she knew just who she would call that might hate them as much as she did.