Since the rain stopped an hour ago, something else was pissing him off, his passenger. Scott had been humming along with the radio for the last couple of hundred miles and it was really starting to grate on Logan’s nerves.
“Scooter, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shove the fucking radio up your ass!” He clenched the steering wheel even harder; causing is knuckles to go white. Why the fuck Scott had to come along, he didn’t know.
“Logan, you need to relax. We have a good lead this time. We’ll find her.” He was right they did have a good lead.
It had taken six months, but finally they had a lead. She had completely gone of the radar. Chuck couldn’t contact her and she never called, not once. She left her phone, credit cards and her cloak in the jeep. Logan and Scott had found it all at the side of the road. Abandoned, like he had been.
They managed to track her as far as the train station, her handbag was found in the trash in the ladies toilets, along with a blonde hair dye kit. They had lost her.
There had been a couple of leads, but none had ever been successful. The latest one had come from a bar in San Diego of all places. An old friend of Remy’s called to say that there had been a fight in his bar and the main culprit was a young woman, with short jet-black hair and a bar through her eyebrow. He suspected that she was a mutant, because she really knew how to fight and afterwards made some kind of wise crack about what little girls were capable of.
Xavier hadn’t been interested until the guy said she had a southern accent and deep brown eyes. Everyone in the mansion had wanted to come, they all wanted her back and Logan wanted it the most.
Logan and Scott took off the next day. The Professor had insisted that Scott go with him. They had been on the road for a week, travelling together, and it was starting to piss Logan off. Enormously.
They had been to the bar and were on their way back to the motel. Planning on searching the other motels and rest stops tomorrow.
Pulling up outside the room, Logan turned off the engine and opened the door. “You alright?”
“Scott, I’m not going to be alright until she’s home. Even if she hates me for it I’m not leaving her out in the open, where anyone could get to her.”
“If we can’t find her after six months, then there’s not much chance of anyone else finding her either.” As the walked through the door of the room, Logan couldn’t help but feel a bit pissed off at Scott’s attitude.
“Well, I’m so fucking glad you’re relaxed about the whole thing. ‘Cause damn I was beginning to fear for her.” He took his jacket off and threw it forcefully onto his bed.
“Logan, I didn’t mean I’m not worried about her, I’m just saying she’s good at keeping hidden. We’ve just got to keep looking.”
His anger at Scott didn’t go away. How could the man be so blasé about everything. He knew what it was like to lose someone, God they all did. “I can’t loose her. I haven’t got a lot to start with, loosing her brings me down to nothing.”
“You know for such a badass you’re starting to whine like a girl.” Logan turned on him and was about to shout when he caught the mischief in Scott’s face. He was trying to calm him and it had worked. Logan chuckled.
“Have I mentioned that I hate you?” He ran his hand through his hair and sat down on the bed.
“Several times. Go to bed. I getting in the shower.”
That night he was restless, he slept fitfully. Each time he closed his eyes his head was filled with images of Marie, writhing under him whispering her love in his ears and screaming his name in pleasure. The same dream he had for the last six months
In the morning they ate breakfast and headed out to the rest-stops at the edge of town and the surrounding area. One did recognise Logan’s description of Rogue, but he said it was a good month since he had seen her. After getting as much information out of the guy as possible they headed back to the town.
He was desperate; he had to find her, had to explain that it was all a stupid mistake.
He missed her, the smell of her, she ate cinnamon bread for breakfast everyday and somehow the smell got into her skin, he loved it. He missed the sound of her voice and the feel of her skin under his hands. The curve of her breasts, the feel of her breath on his ear, the soft mouldable flesh of her backside, and the sounds she made when he touched her, a sigh, a gasp. It all made his heart stop.
“There’s a market over there. Since the rains stopped, lets get some lunch before we check out the first set of motels.”
Scooter was always thinking like a fucking girl. ‘Make sure we eat’, ‘Gotta get enough sleep’, dumbass!
He mumbled “Girl” under his breath, but Scott never heard him. Pulling into the parking lot he took his seatbelt off and was out of the SUV in a flash. Despite Scott whining like he was his mother, he did like the idea of being out in the air for a while.
They walked to the café and sat at one of the outside tables. There were market stalls everywhere, selling fabric, clothes, food and a lot of other stuff he didn’t want. There was one selling incense sticks and they had a couple of them lit. He signed and rubbed his eyes. It was cinnamon.
“We’ll find her, Logan.” He raised his head to look at Scott.
“I know, but what happens then? What if she doesn’t want to come home?” The waitress comes over to take their orders and Logan’s question was left well alone.
Logan simply ordered coffee and Scott ordered some donuts to take away as well. Their coffee and donuts arrive and they walk back to the SUV in silence. Logan would have his whole life with Scott in silence, but it never goes the way you want it too.
They jump in and he stares into his coffee. Scott takes a swig from his and then coughs and spits his mouthful over the windscreen. Logan chuckles and slaps him on the back “I’m guessing that was hot!” But Scott just coughs even more and points widely out the front of the car.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Scott shakes his head and points out the front again. Logan huffs at him and looks in the direction of Scott’s hand. “Shit!”
Right there in front of him, standing next to a fabric stand is a young woman. She has chin length jet-black hair and a bar through her eyebrow.
Christ, it amazed him how she still looked like jail-bait, but in a good way, a way he liked. She was wearing blue jeans cut off just below the knee, Doc Marten boots and a dark blue hooded jumper. “Marie.” He didn’t care that he had just told Scott her real name. They had found her.
He slowly got out of the SUV; Scott followed but was still coughing and wiping coffee off his cords.
Standing there looking at the red fabric, she wondered if she could make a new scarf out of it. It was nice and soft and it looked pretty. She heard a car door slam to her left and couldn’t help but look up.
Oh God! She saw the tall heavy frame approach, as he came round the topiary bush. She took two steps backwards. How the fuck had he found her. She didn’t want to see him, ever.
She had to get away before he lied to her, before her made her hurt again, before he smiled at her and made her remember she loved him.
Turning she bolted through the market. “MARIE!” She ran from his voice shouting her name. She was small and able to dodge people easily as she raced through the crowd. She turned her head to see how far behind he was. She saw him barging through with Scott on his tale. Fuck, Scott had come too.
She carried on running until she came to the end of the market stalls. Turning right she ran into the shopping centre behind the market square. Racing into the elevator, she hit the top button and then kept pressing the button for the doors to close.
Scott and Logan turned the corner just in time to see her in the elevator, pressing the buttons. “MARIE!” Logan shouted her name again and she looked up, their eyes locked as the doors slid shut, brown and hazel both reflected pain.
“FUCK!” He charged forward and banged on the door, then doubled back to the escalator with Scott close behind him.
She ran out of the elevator just in time to see Logan and Scott run up the escalator. She had held the elevator at the bottom making them think she had headed up. She ran back outside the centre and through the market stalls again. When she reached the road she hailed the first cab that came past.
Resting her head back on the seat, she signed. That was close, too close. “Westvale Motel please, and hurry up.” She let her breathing and heart rate get back to normal. The cab driver drove slower on purpose she was sure of it.
When he stopped outside the motel she chucked him a twenty. “Forget me!” She leaped out and ran to her room. She slammed the door behind her and ran into the bathroom. Grabbing her stuff she started shoving it all into her bag.
In a way she had no idea why she was running, he wouldn’t hurt her and he wouldn’t force her to go back. She just couldn’t bear to see him, to want him again, hear his voice or smell his skin. She didn’t want to remember him, the way he looked at her like she was precious china and the way he handled her like she was too. He had hurt her too much.
She zipped up her bag just as she heard a car screech to a halt outside. Looking through the net curtain she saw Logan and Scott jump out of the black SUV with Westchester plates.
Taking in his appearance, she thought he look tired and very very angry. God, maybe he would hurt her, he certainly looked angry enough, and running out on him really was a bad idea. Too late to stop running now!
She was panicking, what the hell was she supposed to do now? Logan went in the other direction obviously trying to pick up on her scent. Scott walked towards the office. She knew which one of them would find her first and she wasn’t going to wait for him.
She went back into the bathroom and opened the small window. She threw her bag out first and then climbed out after it. She landed without making a sound and ran through the back alley towards the main street again. She ran along the side of the road and it began to rain again. She ran backwards waving at lorries and cars. Finally a lorry stopped and she jumped in.
As it pulled away again she looked in the side mirror just in time to see Logan and Scott run to the edge of the road and look at the passing cars. Logan put his hands on his head and looked at the sky, then he put them on his hips and looked at the ground. Scott touched him on the shoulder and Logan turned and raised his fist ready to punch him for what ever he just said, but didn’t. They hadn’t seen her.
She put her head in her hands and started to cry sob.
“You alright sweetheart?” She raised her heard and looked at the driver.
“Yeah, parents. You know how it is. Can you take me to the next town?” He was rough looking but he had nice eyes and they smiled at her when he nodded.
Logan turned to punch Scott, not because he said anything, but simply because he was there and Marie wasn’t.
Scott put his hands up in defence and took a couple of steps back. “Calm down! We’ll find her, lets go back to the car.” Scott turned and started to trot quickly back to the car.
Logan shook his head like a wet dog and followed Scott. When they reached the car, Scott got into the driver’s seat and Logan looked at him sharply. “What? You think I’m going to let you drive while you’re pissed off? You may have a death wish Logan but I don’t.”
Scott pulled onto the main road. The only sound was the engine and the wipers going back and fourth.
“There was a Greenachers Farm lorry pulling out as we got to the street, maybe it picked her up. Logan? Are you listening to me?” Shaking his head, he carried on driving.
Logan scanned the sidewalk but couldn’t see her. She had looked scared, scared of him. What had she been through the last six months to think that she had to be scared of him? He loved her, didn’t she know that? Guess she didn’t. She must hate him. She must think he’s really is horrible enough to cheat on her in their own bed, otherwise she wouldn’t have run. She ran away from him. From everything they had, had worked hard to keep and she had run from it.
“Turn the car around. We’re going home.” His voice was tired, calm, strained and full of pain. Scott looked at him and then back to the road and then back at him again.
“Logan, are you crazy, we just found her, we can’t go back now.”
“I said turn the car round.” He still sounded quiet and calm. “She doesn’t want me… home, or she wouldn’t have run. I tired of chasing her is she really doesn’t want me too.”
Scott sighed and clicked the indicator.
*****************END OF PART TWO
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