Chapter 5

Logan gazed down at the girl who was so trustingly snuggled against him, her soft and steady breathing telling him that she was in a deep sleep. He was glad that she was finally getting some rest, even if he didn't know the reason. He stroked her hair, careful to keep his skin from touching her own.

Logan studied the streak of white that now hung down one side of her face. He could remember watching it spreading through her hair as she had screamed, while he had been fighting the pull of Magneto's weakened power. It was the outward show of just what Magneto and tried and failed to do. Yet, it was also a sign of the maturity that she had beyond her years.

The maturity of her mind and spirit.

He allowed his thoughts to drift to when he had first seen her. She had been sitting at the bar, a glass of water in front of her, dressed in that ridiculous green coat thing. She had looked at him, and he had got the impression that she was taking all of him in with those innocent brown eyes of hers. He had known the minute that she had walked through the door. She didn't have the smell of a trucker who had been days without a shower or some woman out for a good night. She had a nervous, scared scent that had made him try to find her in the crowd, wanting to protect her from her surroundings. He had just caught a glimpse of her when his opponent decided to make himself known. The interference had angered him so he had been harder than he needed to be on the other man. But then, the other guy hadn't exactly been soft on him so it evened itself out.

He had been glad that she was still hanging about after the fight. The bar was empty of everyone but the owner, the MC, and some sleeping trucker on one of the sofas. It was then that he had gotten a good look at the girl who had caught his attention.

She was young- too young to be in place like that. Yet when that bozo from earlier had tried to put a knife through his back, she had warned him. Sure, the knife wouldn't have killed him, but it would have hurt like Hell at the time.

He had smelt the fear coming from everyone in the room when he had pinned the man to the wall, his claws keeping him in place, yet it had been Marie's feelings that had beaten at him the most, and he was sorry for frightening her. Yet she had not run from the room like he would expect, instead she had remained in her seat watching his every move and the fear had moved to one of amazement and... joy. That had confused him at the time, and it wasn't until he had discovered that she too was a mutant that he fully understood just why she had felt that way.

Had all of that only happened a few days ago?

He thought over her last words to him before she had given into sleep.

“The you in my head.” That was what she had said. And the him in her head thought that he was an idiot at some point. He thought it through carefully. He knew that he had feelings for the girl in his arms, but did the Logan in her head know that, or, more to the point, would the Logan in her head tell her?

Who am I kiddin', that's probably why he was calling me an idiot- for not doing a better job of looking after her when I know how much she has come to mean to me; for not telling her how I feel. Even from the very beginning, I wanted to keep her safe. I would have left anyone else standing at the side of the road without a backwards glance, yet, not her- never Marie. But I have only known her for days, and despite her maturity, she is still a kid.

The wolverine began to feel smug at this inner confession.

What? I still can't do anything about it. She probably sees me as a father figure, or something like that.

He shuddered inwardly at the thought, but accepted that if that was the only way to be in her life, then he would accept it wholeheartedly.

Or maybe a brother... That I can work with, he thought hopefully.

What! No! When did I decide that? No. I am going to be here to help her- nothing else. Get a grip, Logan.

Marie stirred in her sleep, moving closer to him as she nuzzled her head into his chest- a contented sigh coming from her as she wrapped her arms around his waist even tighter.

That was when he realized that they were both still propped up against the head board of her bed. Well, he was at least, and she was propped up against him, well... snuggled against him, to be more precise- her head at a funny angle where it lay on his chest. Logan had never thought of himself as a cuddly kind of guy, but Marie seemed to think so. Shrugging at the un-tough guy image that he was portraying, he tried to shift them both down the wall without waking her.

She moaned in distress when he had to take his arms from around her and she clung to him desperately, her small hands gripping him tightly as she pressed her face deeper into his chest.

“Don't go,” she moaned- her voice still thick with sleep- and he knew that she wasn't awake.

“I'm not going anywhere darlin',” he whispered- the tears in her voice bringing a strange tightness to his chest.

“But I need you to lie down Marie,” he told her gently. Swinging himself off of the bed and supporting her body, he carefully laid her against the pillows.

She thrashed about, searching for something.

Him?

“No...No… Don't go,” she cried, a tear falling down her cheek as she moved restlessly about the bed.

He quickly lay down beside her, not giving any thought to what others would think in the morning. Logan wrapped his arms around her tightly, drawing her to him, stroking her hair, and mumbling nothing in particular to her but trying to reassure her by the sound of his voice.

Her reaction was immediate; the tension flowed from her small shaking body as she nestled herself closer to him, gripping the front of his shirt with both of her gloved hands- holding him to her. She buried her face in his chest once again and breathed deeply.

“Stay,” she breathed, and he could see the slightest of smiles on her lips.

Logan was filled with a warm glow that for once had nothing to do with alcohol. In the past fifteen years, no one had ever needed him, and yet this girl did need him. Him. Not his claws or his fighting, but him.

“I'll always be here Marie,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head and holding her tighter.

“I'll always be here.”

Marie lay in a state of bliss as she cuddled deeper into her pillow. She was so comfortable that she never wanted to get up.

She groaned in annoyance when her pillow began to move and she hit it lightly with her fist.

Stupid pillow… can't behave itself.

A low rumble came from it, and she thumped it again.

Where did mum get this thing from?

Then it all came back to her with brutal clarity.

This was not home, and judging by the rhythmic beating under her ear, this was not a pillow.

She remained silent and still, trying to keep her breathing shallow and regular as her mind raced, trying to remember what had happened the night before.

Bobby had come to see her, then Logan. She had cried all over him. Marie bit back the groan of embarrassment that came to her throat.

What had she been thinking?

She hardly even knew the man and she had sobbed all over him. Been held by him. Comforted by him.

She stopped breathing when a tired laugh echoed through her mind.

Great. Fantastic. Lovely.

“Now don't be like that, Marie,” begged her mental Logan, pleading with her as embarrassment engulfed her.

“You have me in your head. How much better do you need to know me?”

He had a point there, but it was the principle of it.

She remembered feeling drowsy and closing her eyes as she lay in Logan's warm arms. She couldn't remember anything after that. Had she fallen asleep? She had. She had fallen asleep and had no nightmares. Marie wanted to sing and dance- anything to show her joy. She had slept the whole night through and hadn't had a single nightmare.

Her pillow moved again, shifting slightly under her.

Her mind froze as and she took a deep breath.

The smell of cigars, outside, and... Logan filled her senses.

She had fallen asleep all right- on Logan.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. What can I do? This is so embarrassing.

Marie had never even had a proper boyfriend, and she was here in the arms of a man. Not a boy, but a man.

“Chill, kid, believe me- he don't mind a bit,” drawled the Logan in her head while her mind went into overtime as panic seized her.

“Och, you are so-" That was a new one. Erik's voice now rang threw her mind for the first time in days. Preferring to be a spectator in her mind, he had remained silent most of the time.

“She's a child, of course she is upset,” he continued, nearly yelling in her mind at Logan.

“Hey bucket-head, you nearly killed her, you and your self-righteous ideas. It was you that put her in that damned machine, you who forced your mutation into her body, you who-”

The men in her head continued to argue, and Marie was once again struck by the bizarreness of her situation. She was stuck with two completely different men in her mind: the one who had nearly killed her, and the one who had healed her, and then- not to forget- the sniveling, frightened boy who was cowering somewhere behind them both.

She had to admit that Magneto did believe in what he was doing, trying to unite mutants and humans by changing those in power, and thereby eradicating any risks that would arise. But that didn't mean that she agreed with him or liked him- only that she could see where he was coming from.

Will you both stop it, she screamed in her mind, as the two mutants continued to yell at each other. Silence filled her mind as they both went quiet, giving the impression of boys caught fighting behind the school.

“Sorry, Marie, but I've been stuck with him for days and this is the first chance I have had to yell at him. Sorry darlin',” explained Logan gently, his words cooling her burning mind.

“I am sorry, my dear,” came the older more refined voice of Magneto, and Marie remembered the last time that he had apologised to her. It had been right before he had placed his hands against her face, and pain had coursed through her mind and body. She stopped that line of thought when Logan began snarling angrily.

She brought her mind back to her present problem.

The real Logan.

The real Logan whose chest she was laying on.

Maybe he is asleep. Maybe, if I am really careful, I could slip away and then avoid him for a few days.

But she didn't want to avoid him. He had been there for her, and she wanted him with her.

“I wouldn't bet on either of those things, Marie. First, I don't think I'm asleep, and second, don't think for a minute that you will get away with avoiding me. Ain't goin' to happen,” the ever informative Logan told her sternly.

This is so weird.

She thought about it for a few moments, and seeing no other alternative, she opened her eyes and moved her head to look upward and straight into the eyes of a smiling Logan.

“Told ya, kid.”

Oh, great. This is just wonderful. I want to die.

“No ya don't.”

And you would know, she growled

“Well...yeah,” he replied smugly.

The real Logan smiled at her, and she felt him move a hand from her waist (a hand she hadn't even realised was there) and stroke the hair from her face - his fingers carefully avoiding her skin.

Funny... I flinch away from everyone else, but not Logan.

“Morning kid, sleep well?”