Chapter 15: Day of Reckoning
Saying goodbye to Hector Ramirez should have been easier than it was, Logan thought that evening as he sat across from his half-Mexican, half-American friend amidst the usual hustle and bustle of the bar and grill. Truth was Logan never had to say goodbye before. Every time in the past that he had blown through Veracruz only to announce his leaving a short time later, there had been an understanding, an unspoken promise that he would return.
So Logan never said goodbye. Sometimes his farewell was as simple as a “See ya”, or a “Later”…at other times, a rough slap on the back or a nod of the head as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder was enough. Logan had never pretended to owe anything to Hector, nor had Hector ever implied that anything was owed to him, and both men liked that just fine. Months would pass, years even, before Logan came back, but he would always come back.
What made this occasion different, however – and they both knew this – was that when Logan packed up and departed with Marie in the following days, it would be for good. There would be no surprise return this time, no unexpected knock on Hector’s door in the middle of the night. As good as Veracruz had been to Logan and Marie over the last few weeks, Logan couldn’t shake the feeling that their time and luck was about to run out. The longer they remained in Veracruz, the greater the risk of danger for everyone involved.
“So where’re you two gonna be heading next?” Hector asked Logan once Marie got up from the patio table where the three were seated and retreated to the ladies’ room inside of the crowded bar. “Paris? Japan? I hear Alaska’s nice this time of year.”
Logan took a large gulp from his glass of scotch, his eyes still following the lovely brunette as she snaked her way gracefully through the throngs of people dancing and mingling on the patio.
“Dunno,” he replied stiffly, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t given that part much thought. Marie had a passport now, which meant that she was free to travel, and Logan had enough money stashed away to last them both a lifetime, so the world was their oyster, really. Logan couldn’t help a slight shiver at Hector’s last comment, though. Anyway you cut it, Alaska was simply too cold, so that was definitely out of the question.
Logan watched as Hector took a hearty swig from his beer bottle and then set it down on the table, absently rubbing the palm of his hand over his honey-colored goatee. Logan noted to himself that the younger man had not changed much in appearance or in mannerism in the ten years since he and Logan first crossed paths, or rather, since the day that Hector had stumbled upon the drunken, passed-out body of a depressed Logan on the Veracruz beach that he called home.
It was a day that Logan would never forget, the day Hector dragged his heavy body out of the violent storm and to one of the nearby villas, gave him a place to stay and get his shit together, offered up friendship at a time when Logan felt he neither wanted nor needed it. Hector never seemed to care about who or what Logan was, and in not pressing for such information, had become the first person in the world to earn the Wolverine’s trust.
Cocky though Hector could be at times, Logan knew that underneath the bravado, there was an earnest man, a good man. He also knew that however much Hector tried to hide it, he would be disappointed to see Logan leave for the last time. And although Hector didn’t know all of the details of Logan and Marie’s departure, Logan knew that he understood the urgency of their situation, understood why they wouldn’t be coming back.
“Well hey, if you ever change your mind about coming back, the door’s always open,” Hector finally offered up to a somber Logan.
The silence that followed barely had enough time to turn awkward before being interrupted by a bone chilling growl from deep within Logan’s chest.
“Chill, dude, what’s the prob…” Hector’s words trailed off as he followed Logan’s gaze to the interior of the bar, where it appeared one of his patrons – drunk, no doubt, and apparently harboring a death wish – was getting a little too familiar with an obviously disinterested Marie.
“…shit…” Hector mumbled under his breath. It didn’t take a team of geniuses to figure out that this party was about to come to a screeching halt.
Logan’s hand tightened like a vise around his drinking glass, nearly breaking it as he watched the scene unfolding inside of the pub.
There was Marie, trying to squeeze past a dark haired man at the bar, only he wasn’t letting her pass. The man was saying something in her ear, and she was shaking her head “no”…she was saying something else to him that Logan could not hear from where he was sitting. Now she was motioning in the direction of the patio, maybe telling the guy that she was already here with someone.
Evidently, the man was not about to take no for an answer, and proceeded to slip an arm around Marie’s waist. Marie’s hands were coming up to the man’s chest now, trying to push him away as his hold on her grew uncomfortably snug. Another low growl rumbled from Logan’s throat, his teeth now bared as he watched Marie try to free herself from the man’s embrace.
The party ended at precisely the time the man’s hand traveled downward to give Marie a much too friendly squeeze on the behind.
Logan was up from the table in a flash, fire raging in his eyes as he pushed past the people crowding the patio and stormed into the bar with Hector hot on his heels, trying to calm his friend down.
~*~*~
Marie was too busy trying to liberate herself from her admirer’s grip to either see or hear Logan coming. It was as though Logan materialized out of nowhere, pulling Marie out of the man’s arms and shuffling her protectively behind him. Before Marie could even make sense of what was happening, Logan slammed the man’s head down hard onto the lacquered surface of the bar.
The shocked yells of the tavern’s customers could be heard as the loud music came to a halt, and a gathering of curious people quickly began to form around the bar. From behind Logan, Marie could see the man’s hand go up to his forehead, where a thin line of blood was trailing from a fresh gash just above his left eyebrow.
Logan grabbed the stunned man by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up to eye level, so that his feet were now barely grazing the floor.
“Didntcha see the ring on her finger, bub?” Logan growled through clenched teeth. Marie lightly placed her hand on Logan’s arm in an attempt to assuage him. The last thing they needed was to be creating a scene.
“It’s alright, sugar, I’m fine,” she said soothingly to him. “Let’s just leave, okay?”
The only response from Logan was another ominous growl. The man in his grip appeared neither sorry for his actions nor afraid of Logan, if the stony expression on his face was to be believed, and this was only serving to further provoke Logan’s anger.
Just then, Marie heard Hector’s voice behind her, pushing his way through the crowd of spectators that had collected around them.
“Hey man, come on, it’s not worth it,” Hector tried to reason with Logan as he approached, pulling at Logan’s arm. Logan shrugged Hector’s hand away from his shoulder, his growls growing louder by the second.
“Logan, let’s GO,” Marie said insistently, as she and Hector continued to try and pull Logan off of the strange man. An eternity seemed to pass before Logan’s anger subsided, but eventually it did, and Logan dropped the man to the floor with one final warning snarl.
The man slowly stood from the floor, brushing himself off as the patrons around him snickered and whispered to each other behind him. Hector placed a hand on Logan’s back, directing him and Marie toward the patio door, and telling Logan that he would deal with their unruly guest.
Marie wasn’t sure what told her to look back, but when she did, she was just in time to see the man reach into his shirt pocket and pull out what appeared to be a switchblade.
“Look out!” Marie shrieked as the man raised his arm to take a swing at Logan’s back. Almost as soon as the warning left her lips, Logan spun around, pushing Marie and Hector out of harm’s way, and knocking the knife out of the man’s hand. Before the blade even hit the floor, Logan had the man pinned to the wall by the throat, his forearm nearly choking the life out of the man.
Seconds later, the inevitable happened. The claws were out and Logan had twenty seven inches of gleaming metal grazing the man’s nose, the suddenness of his actions forcing screams of fear and surprise from everyone standing around them.
“What the f…” was all the man could choke out from beneath Logan’s iron grip.
“C’mon, dollface, I gotta get you outta here,” Hector said to Marie hurriedly, taking her by the arm. The situation was about to escalate out of control.
“No! Hector, you have to do something, he’s gonna KILL him!” Marie said, shrugging her arm out of Hector’s grip, her eyes pleading with his. She and Logan were already in enough trouble. If Logan killed this man, things would only get worse for them.
Marie knew that Hector could see the desperation in her eyes, hear the urgency in her voice. She also knew that he knew it was time to defuse the current situation before it was too late.
Marie watched as Hector made his way to where Logan was threatening to tear the man to shreds and reached into the waistband of his pants, pulling out a .38 revolver. There were more astonished screams as Hector placed the barrel of the revolver against the man’s temple.
“Go on, get outta here, man,” Marie heard Hector say to Logan. “I’ll take care of this.”
Logan didn’t appear convinced, so Marie approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Sugar…?” she asked tentatively.
“GO!” Hector said forcefully, his eyes not leaving the trembling man at the other end of his gun.
Logan finally sheathed his claws and Marie gave the sleeve of his shirt a light tug, leading him toward the exit.
“Let’s go outside and have a little talk,” Hector could be heard saying to the man as Marie and Logan made their way out of the door.
~*~*~
Later that night, as he stood on the patio of their villa looking out into the darkness of the beach, Logan couldn’t help but notice how the violent crashing of the waves on the shore seemed to warn of trouble ahead. Their cover now blown, he and Marie would need to leave earlier than planned. Word would spread like wildfire about a man with metal claws staying in Veracruz with a young brunette, and Magneto’s men would be swarming the area in no time.
The humidity hung heavy in the air, trapping that clover scent that was all Marie’s, and announcing her arrival on the veranda behind Logan as she stepped out of the villa. Logan heard the soft padding of bare feet behind him as she approached, and felt the tension drain from his muscles when her delicate arms slipped around him, hugging his powerful torso to her from behind.
“We’ll leave in the morning,” he said solemnly after a few moments of stillness. Marie said nothing in reply, only held him tighter to her, and Logan could feel the silk of her hair against his bare back as she nodded in agreement.
“Hey,” he said, turning toward her and taking her face into his hands, tilting it upward so that her gaze met his. “It won’t always be like this,” he said, trying to comfort her.
Another silent nod from Marie as she cast her eyes downward again. Logan leaned down and pressed his lips soflty to Marie’s, hoping she could feel what he wasn’t able to put into words. When their lips parted, she looked up at him, her chocolate brown eyes glistening with love and joy and sadness all at the same time as Logan brushed his thumb gently over her cheekbone. Marie turned her face into his palm, kissing it lightly before turning and going back into the villa. As Logan watched her disappear into the villa, he began to wonder if he could even keep that promise, and hoped against hope that her faith in him wasn’t misplaced.
Logan looked at the closed door of the villa for a few moments before making his way over to one of the rocking chairs and taking a seat, rocking it gently back and forth as the night grew darker. There would be no sleep for him that night; he would remain exactly where he was, keeping watch until the sun rose over the beach the following morning.
~*~*~
Morning arrived quickly and found Marie alone in the villa, preparing for Logan’s and her departure. Logan had left earlier, telling Marie that he would be back a little later with some plane tickets.
Anywhere you wanna go, baby. Anywhere in the world, he had whispered lovingly as he kissed her awake that morning. Opening her eyes to meet his, Marie saw perfect love reflected in them, and knew that he was prepared to give her no less than everything.
Marie smiled at herself in the mirror over the oak dresser, smoothing down the feathery material of her white sundress as she contemplated the new life that lay ahead of them. She’d never traveled before – not really, anyway. Her adventures as a runaway didn’t count, and the only other place she’d been was, well, here.
Marie had told Logan to surprise her with their destination. Who knows, maybe she would get to see Europe, India or even Africa. The thought sent butterflies swirling in her stomach. As hesitant as she may have been the night before about leaving Veracruz so suddenly, she couldn’t deny the surge of excitement that coursed through her now at the dream of seeing new places and encountering new adventures with Logan. And she had faith in that things wouldn’t always be like this; that they wouldn’t have to run forever.
Marie turned her attention back to packing, the soles of her mules clicking loudly on the wooden floor as she moved back and forth between the open dresser drawers and the duffel bag on the bed.
She was halfway through packing when a loud knock came at the door.
Marie immediately froze in place, alarm shooting through her veins like ice as she wondered whether whoever was outside had heard her footsteps. Marie stood her ground in silence for a few moments, hardly daring to breathe and listening intently for any sounds on the other side of the door. When some time passed and nothing could be heard, Marie relaxed a bit and returned to the task of filling her duffel bag.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when another knock came a few seconds later; a little louder this time, a little more insistent.
Marie slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for further knocking. When none came, she slipped her feet out of her mules and, as quietly as possible, slid them under the bed with her bare feet. She then stood from the bed and tip-toed toward the front window carefully, so as not to cause the floorboards to creak underneath her.
Logan had left her with specific instructions not to open the door for anyone, and Marie was not about to go against his warning, but she needed to know who was at the door. If anything, she thought, she could make a quick and quiet exit through the bathroom window.
Approaching the front window, Marie tugged discreetly at the sheer white curtain, pulling it just enough to the side so that she could see out onto the veranda. When she saw who was on the other side of the door, she let out the breath she had been holding and went to unlatch the door.
“Hector,” she said, greeting her visitor.
“How ya doin’, dollface?” Hector asked as Marie ushered him inside the villa.
“Logan’s not here,” Marie said, noticing how Hector’s eyes seemed to be darting around looking for him.
“Yeah, I know, I saw him leaving earlier,” Hector replied flatly.
“Oh,” Marie said, a little puzzled. “Well, you’re welcome to wait for him. He should be back in a little bit.”
Marie turned her attention back to her packing, rushing to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. She was actually glad that Hector had stopped by. There was something she had wanted to say to him before she and Logan left for good.
“Y’know, I’ve been meaning to thank you,” Marie said cheerfully, standing in front of the dresser and making sure that she had her passport. “Logan and I are really grateful for all your help.”
Marie lifted her hairbrush from the dresser and began stroking her long locks in front of the mirror as she spoke. From the corner of her eye, she could see Hector’s reflection as he stood behind her, close to the door.
“No need to thank me, Rogue,” Hector replied coolly.
Marie’s hand immediately stopped mid stroke, her eyes glued on her own reflection before her. It wasn’t the icy tone of his voice nor was it Hector’s uncharacteristically cold demeanor that made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
It was that he called her Rogue.
The hairbrush fell from Marie’s hand as she looked up at Hector’s reflection in the mirror to see that he had pulled on a pair of leather gloves. Marie’s gaze locked onto Hector’s blue eyes, frozen there for a moment as he reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a gun.
Her sudden dash for the open bathroom door ended with the sharp sting of a tranquilizer dart hitting the back of her neck. It was the last thing she would be aware of before her body suddenly grew heavy and her world went black.
~*~
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