His face was buried against her neck, panting harshly against the slick, sweaty skin as he came down from his high. Her hands were soothing the marks her nails had left on his back, though they were quickly fading, and a soft smile wound its way around her lips. It dimmed a little when she realized that his panting wasn’t slowing down, and the hot moisture against her neck wasn’t just her sweat.
“Sugar, are you cryin’?” she whispered, smoothing a hand through his wild hair. He grunted in response, and almost immediately his breathing slowed and the tears on her neck began to cool. She would have laughed if it weren’t for the pure shock of Logan crying.
“Darlin’, normally I wouldn’t give a damn how you got here in my arms, but I think this calls for a little explanation.” He lifted his head and regarded her with slightly watery hazel eyes. “So? Let’s hear it.”
000
There really wasn’t much to say.
One second she’d been sending out a desperate good-bye message, and the next she had the vague sensation of being thrown around and twisting and blackness. Her throat and nose burned, and the last thing she remembered thinking before she finally shut her eyes was Logan…
When she reopened her eyes, she saw an unnerving, vast, never-ending white landscape. She looked down at her extended hands, and lowered them slowly. She felt different somehow, in a way she couldn’t explain. Suddenly, memories of her goodbyes and the sacrifice she’d made, and the stricken, pleading look Logan had sent her before she shut the hatch on him, flew through her mind.
She fell to her knees against the invisible ground, sobs tearing through her chest as pain overwhelmed her system. Desperation was creeping through her veins, and though she would have made the same sacrifice if she had a second chance, her body was pleading for one more moment with the people with whom she’d made her home.
“Don’t cry anymore, Marie.”
Her head shot up at the voice, and she scrambled to her feet at the sight of a rather ethereal looking man standing in front of her. His hands were buried in his khaki slacks, and a crisp white button down shirt fit to his body. He looked very casual at first glance, but the slight shine that surrounded his wavy blond hair let her know that he was anything but average. “Wh-Who are you?” she stammered, wrapping arms around herself.
He extended a hand to her, which she tentatively grasped in her own. “I’m Gabriel,” he said, shaking her hand. “You can call me Gabe, though.”
She nodded jerkily, and glanced around at the vast nothing that surrounded her. “Where am I?”
He shoved his sleeves up to his elbows and crossed his arms over his chest. “This…is the in-between.”
Marie stared at him, waiting for more explanation. When he continued to look at her, silent, she raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? The in-between?”
He shrugged, and signaled her to follow him. “Frankly, you weren’t supposed to be here.” He turned to look at her, and seeing her confused look, he elaborated. “Well, nobody’s really supposed to be here, but this wasn’t your time to die. You weren’t supposed to see Jean, and you weren’t supposed to stop her. Kinda screwed over the fates when you absorbed all her power and took her place. Jean was supposed to die. You, were not. So that’s why you’re here. You can’t go to heaven, you can’t go to hell, and I’m just waiting to hear what’s supposed to be done with you.”
“Done with me? What the hell do you mean, ‘done with me’?”
“Listen,” he said, stopping in his tracks. “You can’t stay here. You can’t go up, can’t go down, so you have to go back. We’re gonna send you back to earth, but the complications you caused by taking Jean’s place require some…alterations to your mutation.” His back stiffened suddenly, and he held up a hand to signal ‘one minute’ to her. His green eyes glazed over and he looked nearly catatonic. Marie felt distinctly uncomfortable, standing in a blinding, incomprehensible whiteness and waiting for a catatonic angel to tell her what her fate was.
When he finally shook his head and refocused, he took her shoulders in his hands. “Okay, kiddo. Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to be returned to earth, to a police station parking lot near Alkali Lake. You will tell them to call Xavier’s. They’ll take care of you, and make sure you’re okay until the X-Men come and get you. As for your mutation…”
His hands slid down her shoulders, and his fingers hooked into the top of her gloves. He slowly dragged them down, and her bare skin tingled from the unexpected contact. Her gloves dropped to the floor, and he grasped her hands in her own. “The sheer amount of Jean Grey’s mutation that you absorbed…well, it suppressed your own mutation a great deal. You will be able to have control over your mutation, using it when need be.”
Her throat felt tight, and tears burned in her eyelids. Her grip tightened on his, and she choked out, “I…I can touch?”
He smiled softly at her, squeezing back. “You can touch. However, the fates are a little ticked at you for messing with their ultimate plan. So, here’s what’s going to happen. Yesterday, a mutant named Carol Danvers was killed in a bank hold up. Her powers included extreme strength and the ability to fly, and her confidence in her powers grew to cockiness, and she attempted to leave the building. She didn’t realize, I suppose, that even shotguns can take down Ms. Marvel. You’ll be given her flight and strength, without the hassle of absorbing her personality as well. Which is good for you, considering she’s headed south.”
Marie nodded, struggling to comprehend what she was being told. She was being given a second chance at life, a chance to return to Logan and her friends at the mansion, and the ability to touch them. She may have more mutations to learn to control, but she didn’t care about how much time it would take, because she could touch.
She raised watery brown eyes to Gabe and smiled. “Okay. Send me back.”
000
The next thing she remembered was the sensation of falling, then darkness, and then multiple warm hands pulling her to her feet. She was cold, she thought dazedly. Very cold and very numb. Where was she? Why weren’t her eyes opening? And where did Gabe go?
The things that Gabe had told her all flooded her mind, and all she could think to croak out before blessed darkness overwhelmed her once more, was, “C-C-Call Cha-arles Xa-avier. G-G-Get Lo-o-gan.”
When she next woke up, she was wearing warm clothing and covered by an electrical blanket that was clearly cranked up to its highest heat. She snuggled underneath the covers more, flexing her toes in the thick wool socks that covered her feet. A mug of steaming something was set next to her, and she looked up at a female police officer that was smiling at her kindly.
“You’re awake,” she said, and helped Marie sit up. “You’ve been out for a few hours now. We were worried about you.” Handing the mug of what Marie identified as hot chocolate, the police officer said, “I’m Officer Trevitt. We found you in our parking lot, freezing cold and near hypothermia. How are you feeling now?”
Marie smiled at her over her mug, and said, “Warmer. Better. Thank you very much.”
Officer Trevitt smiled at her, and made to leave the room. “Officer Goldstein made a phone call to Charles Xavier an hour ago. You were very insistent that we call him. He said he would be here within a few hours.” She smiled, and said, “He also mentioned that someone named Logan would be very anxious to see you.” With a small wink, Trevitt slid from the room, leaving Marie to clutch her hot chocolate so tightly that the handle cracked in her palm.
000
Less than two hours later (and she didn’t want to know what kind of air laws Scott violated in order to get there that fast), she was startled out of her thoughts by a crashing noise from the front of the station, and the loud sounds of violent arguing drifted back to her. Scrambling to her feet, she skidded to a stop behind the main desk, and almost felt her heart thunder out of her chest at the desperate, possessive look on Logan’s face as he snarled and demanded to know where she was.
She took a deep breath, and uncertainly said his name.
“Logan?”
000
Her hands traced over his sideburns as he stared at her. She gave him a wry smile, trailing a finger down his nose and to his lips. “I think you know what happened after that, sugar.” He nipped at her finger as it passed over the front of his mouth, and she giggled, flicking his nose. He growled at her and buried his face against her neck.
When he raised his head again, he regarded her with serious eyes. “I do remember,” he said quietly. “The promise I made. To protect you. If I had done that…even if I hadn’t made it. You wouldn’t have had to…” He swallowed, and shook his head a little. “But…I want you to know that I did save you, darlin’. Not when it really counted, of course, but after that. Every night after that. I’d see it all again. Do somethin’ to stop ya, faster or smarter, you know? Thousands of times, lots of different ways.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks as he finished gruffly. “Every night I saved you.”
She clenched her jaw as she tried not to sob, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her tightly against him, comforting her as she cried against his neck. “I love you, Logan,” she told him breathlessly, chest hitching with sobs. “I love you so much.”
He kissed her mouth, desperation and fierce emotion driving his passion for her. His mouth trailed down her neck, kissing away the tracks her tears had left, tongue bathing the slight saltiness away. He skimmed his lips over her collar bone, before his mouth latched on to a nipple, sucking hard. Her hands grasped at his hair, and she gasped, arching her back and pushing herself more firmly into him. He lifted his head and kissed her mouth again, before traveling back down to give attention to the other breast. Her hands eventually tugged him back to her mouth, and he was more than happy to comply.
When she grasped him in her small, warm hand, and guided him into her, it almost overwhelmed him. He was already being driven by pure emotion, needing to confirm that she was still with him. He pushed into her roughly, reveling in the pleasured moan that she made. He pumped into her, not using his full strength but going harder than any normal man would be able to. Her nails raked over his back again, and she pleaded with him to go harder.
He complied, and the sheer amount of force he was using when he pounded into her would have broken any other woman. When he finally felt the tightening of her inner walls, it all became too much and he thrust in twice more before he erupted with a low growl of her name.
He collapsed to the side of her, and gathered her body close to his. As he drifted into sleep, he heard her murmur, "I love you, Logan."
"Love you too, Marie."
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I used a speech from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Afterlife". Spike, a vampire who fell in love with the slayer (Buffy) says it to her after she is brought back to life after sacrificing herself to save her friends. I always thought that it was such a touching speech that I wanted to include it here.
Chapter End Notes:
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll