“Mother fucker!” Logan woke suddenly to searing and acute pain. He gasped a few times, letting his body finish healing. It was slow though, too slow. He remembering falling, surprised when she had actually let go.

She wasn’t who he remembered, not even close. It was as if she was a completely different person. Cold, vicious, “And mean.” he added aloud. He slowly stood, taking in his surroundings. When he had found Marie, he hadn’t been surprised to find her in large cabin in a forest outside of Anchorage.

After taking a sniff, he found that he wasn’t to far from Marie’s cabin. She may have flown high, but not far. It was night still, or maybe it was again. Had it taken him an entire day to heal? He groaned, she was stronger than him, a lot stronger. There was no way he would be able to beat her, unless…

He cracked his neck and stalked to his truck, parked a short distance from her cabin. A quick conversation with Chuck told him that he had been out for almost a day and that he agreed to her terms. Logan growled in response. Maybe Chuck agreed, but he sure as hell didn’t. When he had Chuck turned around to his way of thinking, he hung up and after grabbing his prize, he stalked back to her cabin.

Marie had just stepped out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but her robe, when strong hands grabbed her from behind. He pushed her face first against the wall and growled into her hair. “So you survived. I was starting to wonder.” she said calmly.

He growled louder, “You dropped me.” he snarled.

“I told you I was gonna. What? Didn’t believe me? Anyway, you’re alive. What’s your problem?”

“It fucking hurt, Marie.”

She laughed, “Never took you for a whiner, sugah.”

“You’re a bitch, Marie.”

She shrugged, “Been called worse by better.” When she tried to break his hold a moment later and found she couldn’t, she felt a brief edge of panic. “What’d you do? Why aren’t my powers working?” She continued to struggle against him, but stopped when he jerked one of her arms up. She resisted the urge to go to her toes and bit her lip to keep from crying out.

“It’s called a mutantcy suppressor. Any mutant within a hundred feet find themselves…useless.” He felt her relax against his words and when she gave a short laugh, he frowned.

“That’s it? You had me worried for a second.”

A moment later, he felt her shoulder disconnect as she broke his hold. She was a good five feet away from him when he realized he no longer held her. His eyes narrowed as he watched her expertly move her shoulder back into joint. After she rotated her shoulder in relief, she cocked her head and watched him. “You know, without the healing, that hurts like you wouldn’t believe.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and arched his eyebrow. “You just dropped me a good four hundred feet. I think I know.”

With a shrug, she conceded the point. “Yeah, I guess.” They were both silent for a moment. “Now what?”

“Now, I teach you some respect.”

Her eyes widened and she grinned. “You? Teach respect? Ya wouldn't know it if it bit ya in the ass. Repeatedly.”

“Maybe I don’t respect others. But I expect them to respect me. Like you used to.”

She rolled her eyes, “That was before I got smart. Anyway, you wouldn’t know how to fight without your healing. It wouldn’t be fair. For you.” she added with a smirk.

“You’ve had your strength and invulnerability be your crutch. I’ve taken them away from you. You don’t stand a chance against me.”

“I learned to fight without them, Logan. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that I’m helpless. It’ll only end badly for ya. But don’t worry, it’ll be over as soon as I find the suppressor.”

He gave her a grin. “If you find it, I’ll give you a cookie.”

She glared at him then turned her head away. That was what he used to say when he was training her, a long time ago. “I’m not who you remember, Logan. The girl who was in love with you died painfully. She’s not coming back.”

“Maybe I don’t want her back.” he said steadily.

“Oh, please. You loved having me fling myself at you. It was good for your ego.” she said scornfully.

“Yeah. I liked it. But not for the reasons you think.”

“What, were you in love with me? The tragic little girl with the poison skin.” He remained silent and when she looked at him, he averted his gaze. She slowly shook her head, “No. You fucked your way through the mansion. There is no way that you were in love with me.”

“What if I was darlin’? What if when I fucked every single one of them, I was thinking of you. What if I told you that when I jack off, I hold one of your old scarves. The scent is faded, I can barely smell it now, but it’s enough to make me come every time.”

“Yer lying. You were gonna get married. You wanted me to meet her.”

He pinned her with his gaze. “She looked like you. Talked like you, and she let me fuck her.”

She took a step back and blinked rapidly. “Yer lying. You have to be.” she said painfully.

“I couldn’t make the first move.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I couldn’t make the first move. I hoped that once you saw her, you would.” he explained.

“You selfish bastard.” she said lowly.

“I never claimed differently.” he said with a shrug.

The first hit was a surprise. Pain exploded along his jaw and he stumbled back. He managed to avoid the next hit, but took a kick to his knee instead. He cursed and blocked the next blow, catching her fist. He quickly brought her arm around her back and when she swung with her other fist, he moved that arm around her back as well. After moving both wrists to one of his hands, he used his other to grasp the back of her neck and pull her to him. “You left!” he yelled at her.

“I had to! You said you were in love with her!” she yelled back. “Would you have stuck around if -I- had brought someone else home!” He looked away at the question and clenched his jaw. “Ah didn’t think so.” When she found herself fighting tears, she shook her head furiously, trying to fling them away. “Damn it, let me go!”

She twisted and brought her leg up between them. The move loosened his hold on her wrists and the extra slack gave her room to plant her foot in his stomach and push him away. His hold gave way completely and she stumbled back. “How could you? How could you play games like that?” she asked softly.

“I wasn’t playin’ darlin’.”

“Oh, yeah? Then what would you call it?”

He thought for a moment, “Maneuvering?”

She huffed out a disbelieving laugh and then took a deep breath. “This doesn’t change a thing. I don’t love you anymore, I don’t even like you.”

“This changes more than you think. Do you actually think that now I’ve found you again, I’m gonna let you go?”