I should've known something was up when Scooter came to talk to me. Voluntarily. About an "important matter."
An important matter. Shit. I should've smelled a rat right there.
See, Summers and I had been playing practical jokes on each other for months. I'd like to say he started it, but frankly, I can't remember. All I know is, I should've been on guard after I managed to trick him with the Shaving Cream Incident ... but that's another story.
So like I was saying, I should've been immediately suspicious of him, and I was, until he used the Magic Words: Rogue needs help.
I hate to do it, but I've got to give the guy credit. He played me like a freakin' violin. Any rational thought pretty much goes out the window when Marie is in trouble. And he did a great job, too. The perfect look of Fearless Leaderly concern, a trace of reluctance in coming to me behind her back. Giving me few details, just that Rogue had a mission, she didn't think she needed backup ... he disagreed. He thought maybe she'd accept help from me.
OK, I know what you're thinking. That should've raised the ol' red flag right there, eh? Sure, normally his little cloak-and-dagger would've raised a whole freakin' field of red flags. There'd be red flags coming out of his ass, if it hadn't been for one little thing.
Things between Marie and me had been really strained recently, and I wasn't sure why. Outwardly, we still kept up our beer-drinking, hockey-watching, joking-around buddy relationship. But something was different. Marie was different, and that was a problem in a few ways.
She was just barely 21, and one day I looked at her and finally realized that she was a woman. I mean, I'm not that dumb. I saw how beautiful she was when we first met, and I noticed it from time to time along the way. But, you know, she was a kid. And then, one day, she wasn't.
I started having dreams about her. Then daydreams. Then I would suddenly find myself staring at her, thinking some very X-rated thoughts, at random times of the day. The worst was when she'd catch me staring. She'd send me this little curious smile, and I'd feel like the biggest perv that walked the planet.
Then there was her attitude. For a long time, she seemed to really look up to me. Like I was a hero or something. I guess because of all the shit that went down on the Statue of Liberty. It was hard not to be flattered by that, and perhaps I took my perceived role of protector a little far. But I always meant well, and it's not like that Remy kid's broken bones wouldn't heal or anything. But again, that's a different story.
The protector role was pretty comfortable for me, and I was a little thrown when Marie started to reject it. She started with rolling her eyes. Not even behind my back; she did it right to my face. Then she'd add the sigh. "Lo-gan," she'd say, drawing it out. "I can take care of myself."
I can take care of myself. This became her mantra.
I hated it.
I knew damn well she could take care of herself. I mean, who taught her how to flatten an opponent twice her size without breaking a sweat? Me. That's right. Me, damn it. And now she didn't need me anymore, and it pissed me off.
So, I had no problems believing Scooter's little tale about Miss I-Can-Take-Care-Of-Myself refusing backup on a mission. And, just like he knew I would, I went charging right into the line of fire without all the facts.
A tactical error.
"Marie!" I caught up with her outside the library.
She turned and smiled at me, and a part of me wanted to cry. A tiny part. Miniscule. I mean, I am the Wolverine, damn it. But I missed the real Marie smile. The one that reached her eyes and lit up her face. I hardly ever saw it anymore. I wondered again what I'd done to screw up our relationship. It had to be my fault. Maybe she got tired of some old guy leering at her all the time?
"Hey, Logan," she drawled. "What's up?"
I don't believe in wasting time. "I heard about your mission," I said.
"My ..." She smiled again, this one a little warmer. I should've been suspicious of that smile. "My mission. Uh-huh. So?"
"You need backup," I said.
She giggled, a sound to warm my heart. Yeah, OK, sappy, but there you go. My brain wasn't functioning at peak levels. "Um, Logan. There's only five of them. I think I can handle it without backup."
Five? "Five? Damn it, Rogue, you can't go alone," I said. "I'm going with you. End of discussion."
Now, normally, that was the kind of statement that would earn me the eye-roll, the sigh, the "Lo-gan ..." This time, it got me a brilliant smile. The final warning sign. The nail in my coffin, so to speak. I would literally jump off a building for that smile.
"Logan, that is so sweet!" she gushed. "I can't. ... You would do that for me? I know you don't really get along with kids that well."
It took much longer than it should have for her words to sink in, my mind still pretty much dwelling on the smile. Then, one word jumped out of the rest and bit me on the ass. Kids?
Hold on. Rewind. Huh?
"What kids?" I'm told I'm pretty fierce when growling like that. Of course, it's never fazed Marie. She just laughed.
"I figured you didn't know what you were volunteering for," she said. "It's OK. I can do it by myself."
By that time, I had finally caught on to the fact that One-Eye'd pulled one over on me. Hadn't Marie told me earlier in the week that she'd be spending a lot of time basically baby sitting a few of the kids at the mansion? But, like I said, Summers had me right where he wanted me. He knew damn well I'd never back out of helping Marie with anything. He knew, and he banked on it. Bastard.
"Hey, I said I'm in. What are we doin'?"
She beamed at me, and immediately I felt better. I mean, anything would be worth spending time with a smiling Marie, right? As if on cue, five little kids ran out into the hall, yelling indecipherable things and jumping around like monkeys.
Great.
"We're going to the carnival," Marie said, and the kids started chanting "car-ni-val" and hopping up and down like members of some kind of psycho cult. "It'll be fun."
Fun, my ass. Fun was Marie, beer, a comfy couch and a great hockey game. Fun was Marie, beer, a pool table ... naked Marie on a pool table ...
One of the kids, a blond girl of about 8 or 9, stopped hopping. She stared at me, tilting her head to the side. "Who's Marie?"
Marie frowned. "Why do you ask?"
The girl pointed at me. "That guy was thinking about Marie and --"
Marie interrupted the girl, and I wanted to drop to my knees and thank God right there. "Caroline, what did I tell you about reading people without permission? It's rude."
The girl crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. "It's not my fault," she said. "He was practically shouting it. Who's Marie?" she asked me.
"I'm Marie," she shot a curious glance at me. "Nobody calls me that anymore, though."
"Oh," Caroline said, suddenly smirking at me. "Ohhhhhhhhhh."
Shit. Just my luck. A telepath kid.
Marie glanced at her watch. "We've got to get going. Um, kids, this is Logan."
Like trained seals, they all yelled "Hi, Logan." All except Caroline, who was still smirking at me. I sent her a little thought.
Stay out of my head, kid.
She rolled her eyes. What is it about young girls these days? Don't they have the sense to be afraid of the Wolverine?
"Logan, you've ... um, met Caroline. She's telepathic." She pointed to the oldest-looking kid, a boy of about 10. "This is Chad. His gift is that he's able to breathe underwater."
The kid nodded to me, and Marie moved on. "This is David. He's 8 years old. And his brother and sister, Sam and Madeline, are twins. They're 5."
Even I knew about those three, the children of a couple of former X-Men who were visiting the mansion for a few weeks. None of them had "gifts" so far, but with two mutie parents it was a good bet they'd have them eventually.
All three of the kids had dark hair and dark eyes. The girl, Madeline, was staring at me, eyes wide. I wondered if that's what Marie looked like when she was a kid.
"What's your gift?" the oldest kid, Chad, asked.
"Logan is a super-healer," Marie explained before I could answer.
None of the kids looked that impressed. I felt vaguely offended. I mean, being able to heal from anything is a pretty kick-ass gift, if you ask me.
"I heard you have claws," Chad said.
"Chad!" Marie scolded him. "Don't be rude."
Just for the entertainment value, I popped the claws. All the kids gasped, and Marie glared at me. "Logan, put those away."
"Cool!" The two oldest boys rushed over to get an up-close look, ignoring Marie's warning to be careful. Caroline rolled her eyes again, but I could tell she wanted to get a better look, too.
Like I said, I am a badass.
The youngest boy, Sam, rushed over to Marie, crying. I felt kind of bad about that, but the kid was going to have to get used to some weird shit, with his parents being mutants and all.
Madeline stared harder at me. If possible, her eyes got even wider. Good, I thought. At least there was one girl in the world who had sense enough to be scared of me. But before I could finish that thought, she came closer and smiled at me.
"Mister Logan, will you carry me?"
Damn it.
"Maddy, I've told you. You're gonna have to walk. You can't have people carrying you around all day," Marie said. "Guys, let's get to the van. We're gonna be late."
"How can you be late to a carnival?" I asked as the kids rushed toward the garage.
"Um ..." Marie blushed. What the hell? "Not late, exactly, just ... you know, we'll have more time if we ..." She trailed off and followed the kids.
By the time I got to the garage, the kids were all buckled in, and Marie was getting in the driver's seat. I climbed into the passenger seat, plotting ways I could get back at Summers. Oh, he was clever, but he was coming up against the best. I would think of something just as bad for him.
"Fasten your seat belt," Marie told me, starting the engine.
I just glared at her. Hadn't we been through this before?
"You hafta do what Miss Rogue says," Sam said seriously, echoed by the rest of the kids.
"Yeah, Logan," Marie said, leaning closer to me. Her breasts brushed up against my arm, and my mind went blank. Well, not blank, but it definitely went somewhere else. Marie leaned even closer, grabbing my seat belt and fastening it, her hand brushing my stomach on the way. "You have to do what I say."
Was that just me, or was there some innuendo in that statement? But Marie just smiled a little half-smile at me and returned to her seat.
She put the van into gear and started out of the garage, slamming on the brakes when a screeching "WAIT!" came from the back.
"What is it, Madeline?" Marie asked, turning around. Her voice was calm, but she had a panicked look in her eyes. I like knowing I'm probably the only one who would pick that up.
"Music," the little girl said. "We need music."
Then, God help me, they all picked up the chant. "Mus-ic! Mus-ic! Mus-ic!" What were they, X-Men cheerleaders or something?
"OK, OK," Marie laughed, fumbling for a CD. I braced myself, expecting some Disney crap to pour out of the speakers. I could take it. Even the freakin' Chipmunks would be better than listening to those kids.
But to my surprise, Marie was blasting Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." I turned around to see all these little kids jamming in their seats, and playing some decent air guitar. I turned to Marie, raising my eyebrows.
She grinned. "It's our favorite oldies CD," she explained.
With The Coasters, The Flamingos and Buddy Holly serenading us, the drive to the fairgrounds wasn't half bad. Watching Marie laugh and sing was worth putting up with anything.
Or so I thought at the time.
If I thought Marie was acting a little strange before we got to the carnival, after we got there her behavior became downright alarming. As we waited in line to buy all-access passes for the rides, she constantly scanned the fairgrounds, obviously looking for someone. But when I asked her, she said she was just looking around.
Then, she started messing with her hair, combing it out with her fingers. "Logan, how do I look?" she asked.
"Uh ... you look like Marie," I said, confused. My Marie never spent much time worrying about what she looked like. It was a little unnecessary, anyway, since she was drop-dead gorgeous all the time. And that day was no exception.
She should've been burning up in long pants and gloves, but she looked as cool as Ororo in a thunderstorm. Khaki cargo pants covered her long legs, and a deep blue tank top could be seen through her sheer blue, long-sleeved shirt. She should've looked out of place among the carnival-goers, but she looked perfect to me.
"You're a big help," she muttered and went back to scanning the crowd.
I was getting a very bad feeling. It wasn't helped by the way she took a deep breath and started smiling in that way that's supposed to only be for me. It took a moment to see who she was smiling at, but when I finally caught sight of the guy, I couldn't stop a growl.
Marie didn't even notice, but the kids started laughing.
Laughing. Shit.
Marie's practically drooling over this tall, blond, athletic, Greek-god lookin' guy coming toward us with his own group of kids. I found myself praying that all four of those kids were his, that his wife was bringing up the rear of their group.
I used to be a lucky guy. Not this time.
"Rogue!" the guy started grinning, and my knuckles itched. "You made it!"
"Well, I couldn't miss this," she drawled, and I swear to God she batted her damn eyelashes at the guy.
Pretty boy smiled even more. "Mind if we hang out with you guys for a while?"
Yes. Hell, yes. I mind a lot, actually.
"Of course not!" Marie gushed. "Oh! Um, Richard, this is my ... friend Logan. Logan, this is Richard Masterson. He works at the county's orphanage, and these are some of the kids."
"Hey, Dick," I said.
"It's Richard," he corrected me, frowning.
I shrugged, ignoring Marie's dirty look.
Dick introduced the kids, but the names didn't register with me. We finally bought our ride passes, little plastic bracelets we had to wear.
Bracelets. Do I seem like a bracelet kind of guy to you?
Dick said we had to ride the ferris wheel first, and Marie told him what a great idea that was. I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm. It's not like he discovered the Law of Gravity or anything.
I just knew what Pretty Boy had planned, but if anyone was gonna ride Marie... um, I mean, ride the ferris wheel with Marie, it was gonna be me. But before I could say a word, disaster struck.
"Dibs on riding with Logan!" Caroline shouted.
Marie laughed, and all the kids started arguing about who would get to ride the ferris wheel with me. Meanwhile, Pretty Boy made his move. Or he tried to. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who didn't like Dick too much.
"Miss Rogue," Chad said, glaring at the man. "Ride with me, please?"
Damn, I like that kid.
Dick looked like he wanted to argue, but Marie smiled at Chad. "I'd love to, sweetie," she said.
Score one for our team.
Unfortunately, like I said, my luck was a little off that day. Caroline won the battle to sit with me. We'd barely gotten seated before she started.
"Do you want to do it with Miss Rogue?"
"Do what?"
"You know, sex. Do you want to have sex with her?"
"You shouldn't go pokin' around in people's heads, kid. Especially mine."
"But you do want to have sex with her?"
Damn. She was persistent. And we appeared to be stuck at the top of the ferris wheel. I could hear some kid crying below, afraid to get on the thing. Great. Just great. I'd love to be up here with Marie, but instead I'm stuck with Dr. Ruth Jr. "That's none of your business," I told her.
"I just don't understand," she said as if I hadn't just told her to mind her own business. "Why would you be naked on a pool table? Why not just use a bed?"
Marie was going to kill me, but I couldn't resist. "Boys will have sex on any available surface, Caroline. We're not picky."
She wrinkled her nose at me and twisted a blond curl around her finger. I wondered if she picked that particular mannerism up from Marie. "Oh. Well, are you going to marry her?"
I looked at the ground again. The kid was still screaming and refusing to get on the ride. Why the hell didn't his mother just take him to a different ride? Like, now?
"No, I'm not going to marry her," I said finally.
Caroline gasped. "You're gonna have sex with her and you won't marry her?"
"I'm not gonna have sex with her," I explained. I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with a little kid. "And it's not that I wouldn't marry her. She doesn't love me. Didn't you just see her making googly eyes at that bast-- um, that guy down there?"
"But you love her?"
Shit, the kid wouldn't quit. And I didn't have an answer to that question. I mean, of course I cared about her. And I was attracted to her. And, somehow, the thought of spending the rest of my life with one woman had a certain appeal, if the woman were Marie.
"Yeah," I said, surprising myself. "Yeah, I love her."
As fate would have it, the ferris wheel started up just then. Caroline was biting her lip. "We have to get rid of Dick," she said suddenly.
My thoughts exactly. But it wasn't right to get the kid involved in this. "You're not gonna do anything, OK?"
Caroline suddenly smiled as the ferris wheel turned a little faster. "Whooooo! This is fun!"
I didn't notice at the time, but she never answered my question.
When we got back down on the ground, Caroline gave me a quick hug before running over to the rest of the kids. Marie and Dick were talking, heads close together. I felt another growl coming on.
Marie broke away from him and came toward me. "Logan, I need a big favor," she said. Normally, I'd do anything for her, but I had a bad feeling about this.
"What is it?"
"Well, Richard and I were thinking of taking the older kids to ride some of the bigger rides, and I thought maybe you could watch the twins for a few minutes?"
Madeline cheered and ran over to me, hugging my leg. "Yay! Mr. Logan!" Sam immediately started crying again. We were gonna have to work on that.
"How few minutes?" I growled. I didn't like the thought of Marie spending time with Pretty Boy any more than I liked the idea of baby-sitting the twins.
"Forty-five minutes, tops," Marie said, giving me the puppy dog eyes. "Please, Logan?"
Madeline squeezed my leg and turned her dark eyes on me, too. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"
Sam cried some more.
"No more than 45 minutes," I said. She of all people should know better than to leave me alone with children for any length of time.
"You're the best," she said, giving me a quick hug. "We'll meet back here in 45 minutes."
If I was the best, why was she running off with that other guy?
Before they left, Caroline came over to me. She motioned for me to bend down, so I disengaged Madeline from my leg and squatted slightly. "What is it?"
"Don't worry about Dick," she whispered. "We're gonna take care of everything."
Before I could respond to that frightening statement, she rushed off. David and Chad looked back at me, flashing grins and thumbs-up at me.
Oh, shit. Marie was so gonna kill me.
I turned back to the twins. Madeline was leaning on me, and Sam was still crying.
"Sam, c'mere," I said. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
He cried harder.
"Look, you gotta cut that out."
"He's a big baby," Madeline said loudly. "He cries all the time."
"Am not!" Sam screeched, crying some more.
"Sam --" I reached for him, but he darted away from me. "Hey, um, are you hungry? They got all kinds of junk food here."
The boy stopped and stared up at me with wide eyes. "Miss Rogue said we can't have anything 'less she said it's OK."
"Well, she left you with me, right?" The boy nodded. "So, I guess I can decide what you can have."
The tears stopped as suddenly as they'd begun. "Hot dog," he said.
I sniffed the air, and took the kids' hands. "This way."
"Can you smell them?" Madeline asked.
"Yep."
"Cool," Sam said.
Heh. This baby-sitting stuff was a snap.
Forty-five minutes later, I realized what a damn fool I was.
And if I hadn't realized on my own, Marie was certainly not shy in pointing it out to me. "What did you do to him?" she demanded.
I glanced down at little Sam, who seemed fine. Great, in fact, for someone who had been throwing up the entire contents of his stomach a few minutes before.
"We had some snacks," I said.
"What snacks?"
"Well, Sam wanted a hot dog."
"You can't just let a kid have whatever he wants," Marie said.
I don't see why not; it's his stomach lining. But I didn't tell Marie that. Things had been fine while we ate hot dogs. Minus the little incident where Maddy dumped an ice-cold lemonade in my lap, of course.
But Madeline hadn't wanted a hot dog. She wanted ice cream. So, I got her an ice cream cone. Then Sam started to cry, and I had to buy him one, too, just to shut him up. It went downhill from there.
"What else?" Marie asked, and let me tell you, she sounded pissed. That wasn't like her at all; she tended to be more amused by crap like this.
"Um. Ice cream. Some cotton candy. Uh ... part of a funnel cake."
"Logan! God! I should've known better than to trust you to take care of them." Marie picked Sam up. "Let's get you cleaned up, honey," she told him.
I don't know why she was cleaning him up. I was the one with lemonade and regurgitated junk food all over me.
"Watch the kids," she ordered. "Don't feed them."
I was pissed. It wasn't like I asked to take care of the brats. She'd dumped them on me so she could run off with Dick. And her attitude was a little uncalled for. I'd have some things to say to her once we got rid of the kids.
As soon as she left, Caroline came over. "You won't believe it," she said.
For the first time, I realized that Dick was nowhere to be found. "What did you do?" I asked suspiciously. Perhaps this was the reason Marie was in such a nasty mood.
"We didn't have to do anything," Caroline said. "He did it himself."
"Did what?"
"Well, we walked by these two boys from school, and one of them has fur all over his body. And I heard ... I didn't look in his head, but he was loud.... Dick thought 'mutie freak' when he saw him." Caroline sounded a little sad.
"Hey, kid, it's OK." I put an arm around her, and it didn't feel as awkward as I thought it would. "There's lotsa people like that out there. You can't let it bug you."
"Yeah, but he was drooling all over Miss Rogue." She wrinkled her nose again. "I knew she'd be mad if she knew he had thoughts like that. So ..."
"What did you do?" I asked again.
"I asked him what he thought about the Mutant Registration Act," she said.
Uh-oh. Caroline might be young, but she had quite a brain on her. "What did he say?"
"You know," she said. "Mutants can't be allowed to take over the world, the government should keep track of them because they're so dangerous ... stuff like that."
I pondered what kind of moron the guy had to be to not know that Marie was a mutant. It made me feel a little better. Obviously, nothing had happened between the two of them, or he would've known about her skin. But did the dumbass think she wore long sleeves and gloves in the summer as a fashion statement?
"Miss Rogue got really mad, and she called him ... something bad," Caroline said. "I think she's sad, though. I didn't mean to make her sad."
"Yeah, me neither," I said.
"I bet you could cheer her up," Caroline said. "If you told her you loved her."
"No." Not a good idea.
"Come on," Caroline said. "We could ride the ferris wheel again, and you could tell her when you get to the top."
"You watch too much TV, kid," I told her. "Forget it."
"You could buy her some flowers," Chad chimed in.
How did this get to be a group discussion?
Maddy jumped up and down. "Play a game!" she said. "Win a teddy bear!"
"No," I said. "Damn it, no."
"Pleeeeeeeease?" I'm not sure which one started it, but all the kids took up the chant. "Puh-leeze! Puh-leeze! Puh-leeze!"
"I'll think about it," I said, just to get them to shut up.
"Think about what?" Marie asked from behind me. She sounded a little more calm.
"Uh ..."
"We wanna go in the haunted house," Caroline said. Damn, that girl is quick. She’s a future X-Woman for sure.
"I don't know," Marie said. "It might be scary."
"We're not scared," David said. "Pleeeeeeease?"
Obviously, it worked on Marie, too.
"OK," she laughed. "I don't know about the twins, though."
"I'll go if Mr. Logan will carry me," Maddy said.
"Yeah, OK," I agreed, earning me smiles from both Maddy and Marie.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Marie said. "I was just mad and taking it out on you."
"It's nothin', darlin'," I said.
She smiled at me again, and the whole ferris wheel idea seemed a lot more attractive. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline, Chad and David --the three stooges -- giving me a thumbs-up.
"You go get cleaned up," Marie said. "Meet us in line, OK?"
Because I was facing that way, I saw Caroline nudge Maddy. "Miss Rogue?" the little girl said. "Um, aren't you going to help him get cleaned up, too? You helped Sam."
I couldn't help it. I laughed as Marie blushed. A blush had to be a good sign, right? "Yeah, Miss Rogue," I said softly. "I could use some help with that."
She blushed even brighter and swatted my arm. "You're a big boy, Logan. I think you can handle it."
Yeah, but I'd like it better if you handled it. Oops, did I think that too loud? I glanced at Caroline, but she was whispering with the other two stooges.
I was too afraid to even ponder what they were planning next.
We had to wait in line half an hour to be "scared" by the canned horror music, fake skeletons, unidentifiable glow-in-the-dark objects and jerks dressed up in bad Halloween costumes. At least it was air conditioned.
Maddy, however, clung to me like a leech, screaming at the top of her lungs every time someone jumped out at us. Approximately every two seconds. Right into my ear. My hearing would never be the same.
And I started to get a little offended, too. I guess I was sorta pouting, because Marie cornered me a few minutes later while the kids had a bathroom break.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked. "I didn't mean to yell at you."
"Yeah, I know," I said. "Caroline told me what that bastard said. I'm not mad at you."
She frowned at the mention of Dick but kept to the subject. "Are you OK? You seem ... upset."
I looked toward the restrooms, but the kids were still inside. "I'm not upset. I just ... am I losing my touch?"
"Your ... touch?"
"Yeah. You know, I used to be this badass guy. When you first met me. Now... Maddy was more scared of a plastic skeleton than she was of me. I mean, I growl! I've got metal claws! Why am I not scary?"
"Um," Marie bit her lip, but a giggle escaped anyway. "You're upset because Maddy wasn't scared of you?"
I glared at her. Since I was apparently no scarier than a puppy dog, that didn't faze her a bit.
"Oh, Logan, you are a total badass," she said, laughing some more. "It's just ... you make us feel safe is all. You're strong and brave, and you take good care of me ..."
She was looking into my eyes and smiling that special Marie smile I loved so much, and blushing a little bit again. "Not that I need anyone to take care of me," she said quickly. "But when I do ... I know you're there."
"Marie," I said seriously. "I --"
"Miss Rogue!" Sam yelled. "Can we play games?"
Marie and I jumped. She looked a little flustered and started playing with her hair, her gaze darting between me and the boy. "Um, sure, Sam. That sounds fun."
We headed toward the games, and the three stooges surrounded me. "That guy over there sells tissue paper flowers," Caroline said. "They're pretty."
"Butt out," I told them. But I couldn't help but notice the paper flowers were kind of pretty, especially the purple one about the size of my fist. Purple was Marie's favorite color.
I glanced at Marie, but she and the twins weren't paying any attention to us, so I quickly shelled out the cash -- 5 bucks for a paper flower! -- and held the flower behind my back. We caught up to the three of them beside a free-throw game.
"A lovely flower for a lovely lady," I said, giving it to her with a flourish.
Hey, I can be smooth when I put my mind to it.
"Logan, that's so sweet," she said, pecking me on the cheek. It was so quick and light her skin didn't have time to react, but my body certainly had a reaction.
I couldn't help it; I was kinda getting into the spirit. I flashed the stooges a thumbs-up.
We wandered through the games, letting the kids play and win all kinds of worthless crap that yours truly had to carry around. But Marie kept giving me the sweet smile, and all was right with the world.
I ignored Madeline's unsubtle gestures toward the stuffed animal prizes. Marie didn't need a damn teddy bear or stuffed bunny rabbit, and I sure as hell wasn't going to play any of the games. They were all rigged, anyway.
And then I saw them.
Really nice looking scarves in bright colors, hanging along a clothesline at the back of one of the booths. Now that was something Marie could really use.
"Hey, Marie," I said casually. "You want one of those scarves?"
She looked to where I was pointing and smiled. "They're beautiful," she said. "But you don't have to --"
"Hey, you think I can't win it for you?" I was kind of insulted.
"Um, no ... It's just, you know --" she stuttered.
"I got it," I told her. "Come on, kids." I led the whole group over to witness my triumph. Or, basically, I needed an audience to watch me make an ass of myself.
It was a pitching game. You just threw a ball at a tower of six milk bottles, and if you knocked all of them down, you won the prize. Simple, right?
Did I mention all these games are rigged?
So, the first time I threw the ball, it missed. OK, maybe the first couple of times. I was just getting warmed up.
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, the third time, I hit the bottles as hard as I could. Which is pretty damn hard, I'll have you know. Two of the bottles fell down.
I glared at the man running the booth. He looked like a weasel, tall and thin with a smarmy grin. The guy had the nerve to shrug and grin at me. "Maybe next time," he said.
"Maybe now," I growled, and Marie started to look worried.
"Logan, it's not that big a deal," she said.
"I said I'm winning you a scarf, and that's what I'm gonna do."
The kids started cheering behind me, and I handed Weasel Guy some more cash for three more chances.
This time, I hit the bull's-eye every single time. No more than three bottles fell. I turned my glare back on Weasel Guy, who just shrugged again.
"I think this thing's rigged," I said loudly. Weasel Guy started looking alarmed.
"No way, man," he said. "You're crazy."
"Logan," Marie said softly. "I've got lots of scarves. Let's go."
"We're not leaving until Weasel Boy admits his game is rigged and plays fair," I said, remarkably calmly. I didn't want to scare the kids, after all. But I shouldn't have worried about that.
"Mr. Logan," Caroline said sweetly. "You're not gonna throw him through a window like you did the last guy, are you?"
Did I mention how much I like that kid?
"Yeah," Chad said. "Then we'll get kicked out of the carnival."
"And there'll be blood everywhere," David added.
"Well, kids," I said. "That depends on Weasel here."
It wasn't that hard of a choice. Almost imperceptibly, Weasel's hand twitched, flipping a small switch. He was either un-rigging the game or calling Security.
Either way, I'd have some fun.
Weasel handed me three balls. "Maybe you want to try again?" he asked. When I glared at him, he continued. "F-f-for free?"
I grinned. Marie was right. I'm still a badass.
I knocked them all down on the first throw. In fact, I knocked down the pyramid next to it, too. "Not rigged, eh?" I said as the kids jumped up and down and cheered "Lo-gan! Lo-gan! Lo-gan!" It kind of had a ring to it.
"Er ... Would the lady like to pick out a scarf?"
Marie was busy trying to look disapproving, but there was a grin just begging to come out. She pointed at a sheer scarf of blue swirls. As we walked away from the booth, she tied it around her neck.
"Thanks, Logan," she said, giggling. "My hero."
I liked the sound of that.
"You're welcome," I told her. "And thank the kids. They were excellent backup."
We spent the rest of the day at the fair, and I hate to admit it, but I actually had a good time. The kids were kind of growing on me, and I'd take all the time I could get with Marie, even if it meant riding cheesy carnival rides and eating crappy food.
As the sun started to set, Marie looked at her watch. "We've got to be getting back," she said. All the kids protested, but even I could see they were all pretty well beat. I'd been carrying Maddy for the past 45 minutes, and Marie had Sam in her arms. The three stooges stumbled along, leaning on each other.
Caroline looked back at us. "We've got to ride the ferris wheel again before we leave," she said, giving me a significant look. I glared back at her. Sure, I could go for the flower idea. I'd even gone along with humiliating myself by playing carnival games. But there was no way I was going to tell Marie my feelings on a damn ferris wheel.
She ignored me, of course. "Miss Rogue, why don't you and Mr. Logan ride together? The twins and I can fit in one seat, and the boys will ride together."
Marie agreed, and Caroline -- who has a brilliant future as a military strategist -- maneuvered it so we had to get on first. I had an inkling of what she was up to, so I wasn't too surprised when we got stuck at the top. I knew Marie couldn't hear anything, but I could hear Sam crying and throwing a fit and refusing to get on the ride, no doubt prompted by Caroline.
I knew they'd be at it for a while down there, so I settled back and looked at Marie. She was smiling at the sunset. "It's so beautiful," she said. "We've got the best view in town."
I thought I was the one with the best view ... of her beauty, but I didn't say so. I mean, I am the Wolverine. But still, I figured I'd be a damn fool to pass up an opportunity like this.
"Marie," I said. "Um ... Sam's throwing a fit down there." Now that wasn't what I meant to say.
"What?" Marie craned her neck and looked at the ground. I followed her gaze. Sam was putting on quite a show.
"Oh, Logan, we've got to get them to let us down there."
"Nah," I said, gulping. OK, I admit it. I was a little scared. "They're doin' it on purpose."
"Wha-- Why?"
"Caroline thought if I could get you alone up here, with the beautiful view... and it's all romantic and shit ... and I could tell you how I --" I cleared my throat. "How I feel about you."
"How you ... feel?" Marie was looking a little stunned. I couldn't decide if that was a good sign or not.
"I mean, I know you kind of liked Di-- Richard," I said. "But I ... I'm sorry he was such an asshole." Liar.
"I didn't ..." Marie looked understandably confused. I wasn't doing a great job of making my point. "I was just flattered. He ... It's just nice to be wanted."
"I want you," I said. Now there was something I was very comfortable saying. But it wasn't enough. I thought if I just said it fast enough, I could get through it. "I love you, Marie."
"I ... you ... Logan?" Marie looked a little dazed. "I thought you thought... I mean, I thought I was just a kid you promised to take care of."
"Sure," I said. "When you were a kid. Things have changed. I love you." Hey, it was easier the second time.
"Oh, Logan." Shit, she was going to cry. That was bad.
"Marie, baby, don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. Don't cry."
"Logan, I love you, too," she said, sniffing. "I never thought you'd feel that way about me, and I tried to move on, but I really couldn't."
"Thank God," I said. "I know I don't deserve you--"
Marie put a gloved finger over my lips. "We deserve each other," she said, tugging the scarf off her neck. "I've always wanted to be kissed on a ferris wheel, Logan."
What can I say? Her wish is my command.
I'm a damn lucky man. I know that. As Marie and I made good use of her new scarf on the top of that ferris wheel, I mentally sent out a thanks to Caroline. I owed that brat big time. I was going to buy her ... well, whatever she wanted. Whatever girls her age wanted, which was pretty much beyond me. Hell, I owed all the kids big time.
And Scooter.
Sure, the day had turned out better than I ever could have dreamed, but that didn't let Summers off the hook. I couldn't let him get away with playing me like that. I'd have to think of a suitable revenge.
Maybe I'd ask Caroline for a little help.
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Story Notes:
This is for Cheryl, for threatening to break my legs if I didn't finish this. Fear is a great motivator! Hope you like the ending.