Chapter 20: The Stand
Logan's eyes blinked open five seconds before the coo of the mourning dove pierced the near silence of the day. Sunlight streamed down in long golden cords through the leaves of the trees above, falling down onto the grass all around him and leading his senses into consciousness as he awoke to find himself wrapped around a still sleeping Marie.
Stirring lazily, he pulled her tighter against him, nose tucked into the soft curve of her neck as he drowned himself in her scent. She smelled like she was his again, and Logan only wanted to stay there, immersed in her forever. He could hear as much as feel her heart beating, steady and serene in her chest, and the soft sound comforted him, lulled him, almost pulling him back into the dream he was certain they'd shared.
Brushing a thumb over one of her temples, he pressed kisses to the other, gently coaxing her awake even as he considered drifting back into slumber with her. She only sighed softly, snuggling closer to him, and...
...wait. Sunlight?
Logan bolted upright in the grass, the last shreds of his blissful haze ripped away as the memory of everything that had happened the night before came slamming down onto him like a ton of bricks. Fuck. How long had they been sleeping?
"Sugar...?" Marie finally awoke, her voice thick and fuzzy with sleep as she turned over in the grass. Logan looked down at her distractedly as she sat up halfway, pulling the strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. He may just as well have not heard her; he was too preoccupied studying the sounds of the forest around them.
An uneasy feeling crept over Logan as he looked away again, quietly surveyed their surroundings. They should have been on the move hours ago, Logan knew that, but it wasn't what had him so suddenly on edge. It wasn't what made his blood suddenly speed up in his veins, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, sending a prickle of warning down his spine. Something had woken him. And it wasn't the mourning dove.
"Logan, what's wrong?" Concern filled Marie's voice now as she picked up on his tension, and she sat up fully beside him, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. Locking his eyes on hers, Logan held a finger up to her lips, shushing her as she watched him in puzzlement. And then they both heard it:
*snap*
Marie's eyes widened in panic as she recognized the sound of a twig breaking under what was, unmistakably, a human footstep. Another prickle of warning struck Logan as he suddenly detected a sharp change in the wind. Almost before he could react, a tranquilizer dart sliced through the trees, narrowly missing his shoulder before splitting into the bark of the tree beside him.
"Let's go!" Logan growled, grabbing Marie by the wrist and yanking her up from where they sat. She reacted swiftly, gripping Logan's hand tightly as they bolted, her bare feet keeping pace with Logan's booted ones as they ran from their unseen attackers.
The forest trees sped by them in a green blur as they gave wild chase to their predators, Logan's heart pounding hard in his chest as the sound of footsteps multiplied behind them.
"Keep running!" Logan panted, letting go of Marie's hand. She obeyed, disappearing into the thick bush as Logan turned to face the coming threat. A roaring growl rose up from his chest, his claws ripping out from between his knuckles as the familiar burn of adrenaline began to flood his veins.
He was ready for the first two before they even spilled out from between the trees, their black masks hiding their startled expressions as they ran right into Logan's claws. Logan surrendered fully to the feral within as he swiped the sharp metal across their midsections, splitting them both open in one bloody strike.
No sooner had the two fallen to the ground, groaning their last agonizing breaths as their intestines spilled from their bodies, than a third mercenary emerged from the bush. This one reacted quickly to the scene, his grip tight on his dart gun as he took a shot at Logan.
Logan yelled out in pain as the tranq seared past his bicep, the sharp needle splitting the flesh open as it sped by him. He stumbled backward a bit, a sudden haze falling over him as the poison took effect. Before he could shake it off, his enemy was on him, knocking him to the ground and pressing the long barrel of the gun toward Logan's throat.
His senses quickly returning, Logan grabbed hold of the gun, gripping it horizontally as he pushed back against the man on top of him. A low growl rattled in Logan's throat as he struggled for leverage, his muscles burning as he fought against the pressure of the man's hold. Just as it seemed he was losing out, a sudden burst of adrenaline shot through his veins, and he shoved hard, launching up from the ground and slamming the man backward into a tree.
Before the masked man could get his bearings, Logan had the claws of both his fists buried in his chest, impaling him against the tree as a roaring growl sprang from deep within him. A strangled sound came from the man's throat as he choked on his own blood. Logan twisted his claws sharply, allowing the mercenary little mercy as he quickly ended his life. He then pulled his claws out, the once gleaming metal now dripping with the blood of his opponent, and the lifeless body slumped to the ground.
His chest heaving over panted breaths, Logan's turned and continued running, the thudding footsteps of even more mercenaries following close behind him as he tracked Marie's scent. Christ, there had to be dozens of them. Logan's pulse sped wildly in his veins as he zigged and zagged through the trees, trying to lose them.
Marie's scent was growing stronger now, leading the path before him as the footsteps of the mercenaries began to fall farther and farther behind. He finally saw her, running up ahead, her dress a white flash of light among the green of the forest.
"Marie!" he called to her, and she slowed her pace a bit, allowing him to catch up to her. He took her by the hand again, pulling her along as they ran in tandem, her panted breaths matching his as she struggled to keep up with his pace.
Just as it seemed they were about to outrun their enemies, another dart split through the trees, this time hitting Logan square in the shoulder and forcing a growl from him as the sting of the needle ripped through his muscle. Moments later the poison set in, Logan's limbs growing suddenly heavy under its effects.
His foot hit a rock and he tripped, losing his balance and falling down a small hill. Marie, still holding onto him tightly, came tumbling down with him, her body toppling over his as they rolled down the slope. They came to a stop at the bottom, Logan sprawled on his back as Marie's hand went to a cut on her forehead, where it had scraped against a fallen branch. Logan reached a heavy hand around to his shoulder, yanking the dart out of the stinging flesh as the haze from the tranquilizer slowly cleared.
"It's okay. I'm okay," Marie rasped as Logan scrambled over to her. Logan tried to stand her up, only to hear her cry out, her hand going to her ankle as her face screwed into a grimace of pain.
"I must've twisted it, " she said. She sat back down as Logan knelt before her.
"Flip it on," he said, wrapping his hand around her ankle. 'Let me heal it."
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Marie, we have to go!" he yelled.
"No!' she protested, just as forcefully. "I'll hurt you!"
"Goddammit! Marie --" Logan began, then he stopped himself as registered the fear in her eyes, realized she was right. There was no telling if or how long he would be knocked out, and then he wouldn't be much help to her. Besides, they had no time to argue now, not with the sound of footsteps growing louder as the men approached.
With a low growl, Logan scooped Marie up, her arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders as he darted through the trees, their attackers hot on their heels as they ran toward a clearing. They came to the edge of the woods, the leaves above giving way the blinding light of the sun as they emerged from the darkness of the forest.
Logan was forced to stop suddenly as the ground beneath them ended at a steep cliff, his feet nearly slipping over the edge and sending them tumbling down into the rushing waters of a river far below.
"Over there!" Marie rasped, nodding over Logan's shoulder. Logan turned to where she was pointing. About a hundred feet from them, a rope bridge stretched across the chasm, connecting the two cliffsides.
Adrenaline pounded hard in Logan's veins now as he ran for the bridge, the thudding footsteps of their attackers following behind them as the men spilled out from the trees and onto the cliff.
"Go," he said, setting Marie down on the bridge. "Keep going!"
Marie began limping across the bridge. Logan spun around, sliding a claw out from between his knuckles and making a quick assessment of the bridge's construction before beginning to snip away at the supporting ropes. The bridge swayed beneath them as he backed up slowly onto the bridge, snipping the ropes one by one as he went.
The men approached the bridge. One of the mercenaries stepped onto it, his stance tight on his gun as he took aim at Logan. Logan snarled loudly, drawing a claw closer to the rope, and the man backed off again, realizing that one more snip was all it would take to throw the bridge off balance and send them all to their watery deaths.
Logan kept a watchful eye on the men lining the cliff as he stood in the center of the bridge, holding them at bay as he waited for Marie to finish crossing over to the other side. The swaying motion of the ropes stopped then, as Marie’s movements suddenly halted behind him.
“Keep movin’ darlin’,” Logan called out to her.
“I can’t,” she said, and a sickly feeling crept up on Logan as he registered the frightened tone in her voice. “Look.”
Logan slowly turned to face the other side of the cliff, his heart sinking to the bottom of his chest as he processed the scene. Dozens of mercenaries lined the edge of the escarpment on the other side of the bridge, with even more of them pouring out from between the trees, swarming the edge of the cliff.
They’d run straight into a trap.
The men stood poised to shoot, rifles joining alongside dart guns as they surrounded their prey. Logan went to Marie, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into him as a low growl rolled in his throat. All three claws of his other hand were drawn now as he held them above the final balancing rope of the bridge. The man who appeared to be the leader of the group called out to Logan.
“You’re not going to win this one, Wolverine,” the masked man said. “Let the girl go.”
Logan only held Marie closer to him, her face burrowing into his chest as her heart beat wildly against his. One of the mercenaries tightened his hold on his rifle.
“I’ve got a shot, sir,” he called out to the foreman, centering Logan in the view-finder of his gun.
“Stand down,” Logan heard the foreman say.
"Oh God," Marie breathed against his chest. 'Don't let them take me, Logan. Please..."
“I’m taking it…” said the marksman, preparing to shoot.
“I said stand down!” the foreman shouted, a hand outstretched as he ordered his men to hold fire, evidently wanting this to end with as little bloodshed possible. He turned his attention back to Logan.
“We know you’ve got to be tired of running, Wolverine,” the foreman said. The words cut into Logan like a knife. He clutched Marie tighter to him, if that was even possible, the smell of her fear rising up all around him as her tears soaked his shoulder.
“Moving around, drifting from place to place," the man continued, "with no idea who..."
“Shut up,” Logan heard himself growl through clenched teeth.
“…or what you are…”
"You shut up!" Logan barked, his eyes filling with burning tears of rage as his claws trembled over the rope.
He was trying to be brave for Marie, but the truth was he'd never felt so furious, so frightened, so powerless as he did at right now. They were but two lonely soldiers, fighting a war they couldn't possibly win, a war that the world at large didn't even know was brewing.
A caged feeling began to creep over Logan, closing in on him as he considered his options, which weren't many. He could cut the bridge down and they could take their chances at escape in the rushing waters below, but how long would it be until Magneto and his men caught up to them again?
That metal-bending freak was going to find them eventually, and he would twist Logan's so-called indestructible bones into knots with all the effort of a toddler, and then where would they be? How could he protect Marie, as he'd promised he would?
The water rushed below. Logan's blood pounded hard in his ears, drowning out everything but the maddening whispers in his head, the clearest of which were the words of Mystique, just before he cut her tongue out of her mouth:
...He's never going to stop hunting her...
The suddenly remembered words sank like a stone inside of Logan, his heart dropping like an anchor to the pit of his stomach as the answer became clear. An answer that was perhaps always there, but one that Logan couldn't see, didn't want to see...until now. Mystique was wrong. Magneto would stop hunting Marie.
There was one way he would stop hunting her.
The foreman spoke again, his words cutting into Logan's thoughts and pulling him back to the present moment.
"It's not too late to make a deal, Wolverine," he said. "The girl. In exchange for your past."
And just like that, the offer was laid out before him. An offer that, when he thought about it, had never truly left the table: his life for hers.
Logan's claws slid slowly back into their housings, a sickening calm falling over him as he drew his hand back from the edge of the rope. Marie, sensing the sudden stillness within him, drew her face away from his chest and looked up at him.
After a few long moments, Logan tore his eyes away from the commander, meeting Marie's gaze as his heart thumped painfully in his chest. His hands came up to cup her face, his thumb sweeping gently over her cheek as her eyes glistened with tears.
Logan searched her eyes, saw her fear...but beneath that, he could see nothing but trust in there, nothing but love. And though he knew he didn't have to, he whispered three little words to her.
The tear that had been threatening to spill over finally broke as Logan spoke the simple words, sliding down Marie's cheek and over his thumb as she nodded solemnly. Before another tear could fall, Logan hauled her fully up against him, bringing her lips up to meet his.
It was their first kiss, it was their last kiss, and it was every kiss in between. Logan crushed Marie to him, bloody hands going to the back of her head, fingers sliding up into the silken locks of her hair as he smothered her mouth with his.
He kissed her like a dying man tasting his last sweet breaths, his lips moving desperately over hers as he swallowed the sudden sob of emotion that escaped her chest. Their embrace stretched into eternity, Logan losing himself completely in Marie as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. Time stood still for them, everything disappearing until it was just him, just her, and the gentle sway of the bridge beneath them.
The kiss ended too soon. It wasn't enough, could never be enough. Logan pulled back from their embrace and pressed his lips to her forehead for one long, final moment before pulling her back into his chest. Her tears spilled onto him again as Magneto's men stood on either side of the bridge, guns poised and ready to fire, awaiting Logan's response to the foreman's offer.
Logan held Marie against him, a hand twisting in her hair again as his claws slid slowly out from between the knuckles of the other, metal scraping against bone as they extended to full length at his side. His eyes met the commander's as he made his final decision. No more running...it was time to take a stand. This was going to end. Right here. Right now.
"You," Logan said, nodding his chin toward the foreman as Marie sobbed against him. "I want you to go back and deliver a message to your boss."
The men tightened their grips on their guns as he spoke.
"You go back and tell Magneto..." Logan said, the hand at his side closing into a fist as his heart twisted deep in his chest,
"...the deal's off."
The men realized too late what he meant to do. Their yells of protest filled the air as Logan drew his claws back and swung, a roaring growl rising up from within him as he allowed the beast to take him over completely.
Everything went silent around them then, as the shouting from the mercenaries suddenly stopped, their hands frozen on their guns as they looked on in stunned silence.
The bridge swayed beneath them. Logan's eyes squeezed shut as he held Marie in his embrace. His hand caressed the back of her head, tugging gently at her hair as she breathed warmly against his collarbone. After what seemed like an eternity, she raised her head from his chest, looked up at him. Logan finally opened his eyes to meet hers.
He had to have made the kill at least a thousand times in the years he could remember...and yet nothing he'd ever done or seen could have prepared him for the feeling that wrung deep inside him as he watched her eyes widen in pain and her mouth open to speak his name...only to be silenced again as a trail of crimson dripped from the corner of her lips.
Logan yanked her tighter against him, a grunt his lips as he sank the claws further, impaling her fully. A strangled sound came up from her throat as she choked, a drunken look welling up in her eyes along with the tears as she surrendered to him, surrendered to the pain.
Logan pulled his claws from her belly, and she stumbled backward a bit, hands flying to the the three gashes in her dress as blood sped from between her fingers. Logan grabbed her by the shoulders, steadying her as she looked up at him, a heartbreaking mix of shock and pain on her face as the smell of death began to rise up all around her.
Logan's eyes filled with tears as her eyelids fluttered shut, knees finally collapsing beneath her. He caught her, sweeping her up into his embrace, her hair spilling over one bicep and her legs draping over the other as her body went limp against him.
The bridge swayed beneath them. Magneto's men watched, speechless, as Logan held Marie's body up before them, her once white dress covered with her own blood as she lay, boneless, in his arms. Before they could even react to the shock of the scene before them, Logan hoisted Marie's lifeless body over the side of the rope bridge and let go, her body tumbling down into the rushing river below in a mass of white fabric and twisted limbs.
Logan stood on the bridge alone now, his claws dripping with Marie's blood. He turned to face the men, his head spinning as the sun blazed hotly above him. His chest felt heavy, the air around him suddenly too thick to breathe. His hand trembling, Logan slowly raised his claws for the men to see. Then he housed them again, the metal snapping back into his knuckles with an audible snikt.
The sound was what seemed to finally jog the men out of their shock. The commander gave his signal, and they fired, showering Logan with a hailstorm of bullets. It wasn't be the first time he'd ever been shot, but it would be the first time he welcomed the white hot burn of the slugs, his body registering almost no pain as the bullets tore into his flesh.
Logan's body slumped against the side of the bridge, his world quickly growing distant as the rope twisted beneath his heavy frame. It finally gave way to his dead weight, and he fell over the side, plunging into the river below...
...and following Marie into darkness.
~*~
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