Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.

She was asleep when he finally got there.

Curled up on the couch of a weird apartment, the comforter from the bed wrapped snugly around her legs and her hair falling around her face. Her breath coming slow and gentle and even, her little hands curled in on themselves where they lay beside her chest. Logan shook his head ruefully: He’d run every red light between Stark Towers and the Mansion, had gotten into the building without setting off a single security alarm, had picked the lock rather than clawing the door open and after all that-

His Marie was asleep. Dreaming.

But he padded quietly into the room all the same, unable to walk away even if she was unconscious. Her phone was lying in her hand, still open, the screen still displaying an image of a tiny envelope and the words message sent: She’d probably used the last of her strength to get in touch with him before her body finally forced her to rest. It was classic Marie, post mission: jittery energy fer ages and then a crash-down. Followed by a period wherein she slept like the fucking dead. Logan had to smile: When they were together he’d often found her like this, had often picked her up and put her to bed before crawling in beside her himself. Not, of course, that he’d be doing that tonight- No matter how tempting the idea was. He’d promised he’d give her time and that’s exactly what he intended to do- Even if it killed him. He couldn’t shake the memory of the way she’d tensed when he’d touched her earlier: The ache of what he’d done to her was literally written into her body, he’d seen that when she flinched as he laid his hand over her heart. He wasn’t bastard enough to forget that, wouldn’t let himself be bastard enough-

As if she’d heard his thoughts Marie raised her head sleepily then. Opened her eyes, looked right at him. Her expression confused and sexy as Hell. It sent a shot of lust right through him and for a split second Logan actually considered barging out the door and letting her think he was an hallucination but before he could move-

“Logan..?” she asked through a yawn, “Is that you?” She was looking around, a cute little frown puckering her face. “This ain’t the Mansion…” she murmured.

“No, darlin’, it ain’t.” And despite all his good intentions Logan found himself crossing the space to sit down beside her. Reaching out and rubbing her back soothingly, the skill to calm her second nature even after all these years. “I got your message,” he told her, “And I came to see you- Though I think I mighta gotten the wrong end of the stick.” Again he shook his head ruefully, the urge to press a kiss against her forehead- and a lotta way less chaste places- making itself felt. “You go back to sleep now,” he found himself saying gently, “And I’ll head back to Westchester-”

“Like Hell you will.” She’d pushed herself into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes again. Though she was trying to sound badass the sleepy tone just made it sound cute. “Ah remember texting you,” she was saying, “Ah remember wanting you here. Ah thought you’d be asleep so Ah wouldn’t hear from you until tomorrow, but if you’re not then Ah can tell you what Ah decided-”

“Decided?” That sounded way too certain fer his liking. “You don’t gotta decide anything, darlin’, I told you that-”

She shot him the kinda look you gave a backward child. “But Ah wanna decide something, Logan. Ah wanna do a something-” She moved slightly towards him.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea-”

She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t even heard what Ah want yet-”

He rolled his eyes. “You called fer me at three in the morning, I’ve a fair idea what you want-”

“Oh, for crying out loud!” She shook her head, her expression somewhere between fond and pissed. “No wonder you’re so damn muscley,” she muttered, “The weight o’ that big head o’ yours must be something else to carry.” And she moved away from him, scrambling outta the comforter until she was standing, her little arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Look,” she said bluntly, “This wasn’t a booty-call. Ah didn’t get in touch cos Ah wanna get jiggy, Ah called ya cos Ah’ve decided what Ah wanna have happen between us.” And she put her hands behind her back, the movement doing all sorts of interesting things to her breasts. Once again pitting his inner Wolverine against his best intentions- Though who’d come out on top in that fight right now was anybody’s guess. “Look, Ah’d be lying if Ah said that we’re okay,” she was saying, “And Ah’d be lying if Ah said it could go back to the way it was before.” She looked him straight in the eye. “It won’t be like it was before, Logan, it can’t be. This ain’t two years ago, and Ah can’t forget what you did.”

He felt her words hit him like a punch in his chest.

“So do you want to leave?” he asked quietly. “Go back to Kansas?”

If she truly didn’t want him anymore he’d deal with it, but he had to hear her say it first.

She shook her head, exasperated. “No! Ah just ain’t going back to the Mansion. Ah ain’t re-joining the team- Yet.” And she raked her hands through her hair, her expression now less confident. Fer the first time Logan could see the girl he’d met in Laughlin in her. “Look, you were right when you said Ah’d a wound that needed healing,” she muttered. “You were right when you said Ah needed time. Ah do need time, Ah will need time. Time to remember who Ah am, time to figure out what Ah want. We’re talking heaps of fucking time here, shuggs, Ah know that.” She took a deep breath. “But what Ah don’t want is a life without you in it-”

Immediately Logan was on his feet. Hands on her shoulders. “No matter what you decide,” he said quietly, “I’ll be here.”

“But that doesn’t mean you’ll give me what Ah want.” And without a moment’s hesitation she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead. Her arms coming up to twine around his neck. He opened his mouth to question her and she kissed it softly- It felt so fucking good- Her tongue sliding through his lips. Glancing slowly, elegantly across his own. Nibbling at his bottom lip, sucking it sweetly between her own even as her hands glided across his skin. He took in a sharp breath and as he did it she moved away to kiss his eyelids, his chin, his temple. The scratch of stubble across his cheek, tingling with the contact even as her nails kept up their delicate, torturous journey across his chest. “Ah want this,” she was murmuring, “And this-” she kissed his throat- “And this,” she twined her fingers through his and pulled them palm to palm, kissing each knuckle, “Ah want this all so much…” And she gave a little pleasure-drenched moan, the kind that sent a shot of heat straight through him. That by-passed his brain entirely and went straight to his cock. “Ah want you so much Ah can’t think,” she was saying, “Ah can’t sleep, Ah can’t see straight. But what Ah want more’n anything else-” she trailed tiny, butterfly kisses up his face towards his mouth, “Is some control Logan-”

And suddenly she pulled away. Breathing heavily. Staring at him to make sure he’d heard what she said.

Fer a second Logan couldn’t really register anything except the fact that the Miracle of Marie had pulled away and that that this was a bad thing- A Very Bad Thing- But his brain, thank Christ, caught up with him in a moment and relayed what he’d been told.

“You want control?” He couldn’t help but notice the way the word made his voice drop a register; It seemed to naturally rumble in his chest.

“Yes.” She was looking straight at him. “Ah want some control this time.”

“But you were always-”

“No, Ah wasn’t.” She held up a hand to silence him when he tried to disagree. “Ah didn’t have control when you decided to break mah heart shuggs,” she said quietly. “Ah didn’t have any control when you decided to “save,” me from the Big Bad Wolverine.” And she sighed, going to move away from him; His hands moved instinctively to hold her and he felt rather than heard her give a little sigh. “You were always good to me,” she said after a moment. “Even when Ah was a kid, you always let me make mah own decisions, mah own mistakes. It’s one of the first reasons Ah loved you, you know- same with Kitty and Jubes. Same with all the kids. You never went on with that Ah-know-what’s-best-bullshit-”

“Things were different then.”

She gave a small, sad laugh. “Yeah, they were. Because back then Ah really was kinda helpless. Back then Ah couldn’t control mah skin. Back then Ah couldn’t fly the Blackbird and or hotwire a car or kill you seven different ways using only mah thumb.” And despite himself shot her a quick smile at that memory: Kitty had taken to Thumb Murder 101 with a worrying amount of flair. “But that was back then,” she continued, her voice harder. “That was when Ah was still a kid. When Ah became big and bad and kick-ass you changed tactics, you started making decisions for me. And that wasn’t fair, shuggs, you know it wasn’t.” She looked away. “That wasn’t a decision you’d a right to make.”

“So what?” He growled, “You wanna punish me now?”

She rolled her eyes again. “No! Ah’m done punishing you, you should know that. That’s why Ah kicked Callum to the curb. But Ah wanna have some control over what we do. Ah wanna decide the pace for a while. Ah wanna-” She took a deep breath, “Ah wanna- Ah wanna be chased, Logan.”

He couldn’t have heard that right. “Chased?”

“Chased. Pursued. Lusted after.” She sounded confident, but he could hear the uncertainty underneath her words. Her body was practically vibrating with the strength of her nerves, trembling beneath his palms. This was hard fer her. “Ah wanna know that Ah’m wanted,” she was saying, “Ah want you to show me how you feel about me- With all mah clothes on this time.” At his (probably horrified) expression she rolled her eyes. “You don’t haveta sing me show-tunes!” she snapped. “Ah ain’t asking for poetry, just… romance me a bit. Let me take mah time. Ain’t had much of that in mah life, think Ah might like it. And if you can do that- or try to- Ah think we’ll be good again shuggs. Someday.” A beat. Her voice sounded tiny. “It’s all Ah really want…”

Well, there only was one answer to that.

“Where do we start?”

And she blinked at him, eyes wide as saucers. If it hadn’t been so damn attractive it probably would have been funny as Hell. But Logan didn’t laugh; instead, he ordered himself to stop stroking her arms. To move a fraction away from her. To cock an ear to her body’s responses, to start listening to-fer- her the way he hadn’t in years. He was pretty sure that this would take some getting used to fer him, but he was willing to try it-

“We start in the bedroom.” She held out her little hand, biting her lip nervously. She didn’t quite believe him yet, he could tell. “Ah wanna sleep with you,” she said softly, huskily. “You want that, Logan?” And she stared up at him through heavy lashes, chocolate brown eyes warm enough to drown in.

“No funny business?” he guessed.

“No funny business.” She bit her lip. “Just…”

“Romance?” He took a step closer to her, his arms around her. “I can do romance- fer you.” Or die trying, but she didn’t need to hear that. And he kissed her once, very quickly, like he used to do before she learned to control her skin. Squeezing her tightly, touching her over her clothing. That swift flash of heat and cloth and warming, pleased Marie beneath his hands making the beast within him growl with pleasure. The man in him doing the same. It seemed like the right move: Marie purred, began pulling him towards the bedroom. Her fingers threading gently through his. She didn’t flick the lights on, just pushed him back onto the bed, her expression somehow soft and hungry at the same time. Her form nothing but a silhouette against the pool of light spilling in from the main room. Fer a split second they just stared at one another, breaths sharp and heady and then- She was on top of him, breathing soft somethings as her nose ghosted up his throat, his face. His temple. So soft, so sweet, she was Marie…His fucking Marie… Logan growled, his hands sliding up to touch her ass, her back, skipping lightly over her shoulder blades but refusing to squeeze her. Every touch gentle, teasing. Soft against that skin that was warming to him, her breath coming in little pants now. She reached down and kissed him deeply, her hands raking through his hair, holding him close to her and moaning with pleasure but then-

She stopped, breathing heavily, and pulled away from him.

Turned so that they were side-by-side, his arm around her. The only sign of what they’d been doing the slight scent of her arousal and her erratic heartbeat.

Logan couldn’t help but feel that this was somehow a test.

“Control,” she murmured quietly, at his cocked eyebrow. That tenseness-that wound- was still there, in her chest, when he stroked her. Logan could see it only because he was willing to look.

“Romance,” he corrected, cupping her face with his hand. Fer a beat they just looked at each other, him smiling, Marie’s expression trying fer confident but hitting worried, and then-

“Control,” he said softly, kissing her forehead. “I can do that.”

And he pulled her more tightly against him, spooning her. Waiting until she was comfortable before letting himself drift off to sleep. The smell of her hair in his nostrils, the tremble of her and the hope of her warm against his chest. No nightmares came, no visions of Alkali Lake or even Daken. No horrors to frighten him, no Porn Smurf or Creed threatening those he loved. Logan fell into his sleep like he’d fall into the arms of a lover-

And though he’d never know it, Marie spent that night wrapped in his arms, truly smiling for the first time in two years.

It was a start.