“Look, I take all the good times I can get and Marie helps me feel like I’m too young for growing up just yet. Ain’t much I can promise you, ‘cept to do the best I can. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let someone take her from me. You may still think that I’m a real bad boy, but dammit, I’m a real good man too… And I’m gonna spend the rest of my life proving it to Marie.”
“How about ah give you uh hundred thousand dollahs ta walk away. Just leave Marie heah and go back to whatever cave or cage you came from…,” Owen said as he walked up to Logan with a signed check.
Finally, Logan had had enough… He literally snapped. He couldn’t let this man get away with this stupid idea in his head. He just knew that when he said, cage, that he meant it as a cutting barb. As he went to take the check from Owen, he balled up his fist. When his fingers touched the check, Owen never saw the fist coming toward him. *Pow!* A right cross punch and Marie’s father hit the floor. Out like a light…
“I may be a real bad boy,” Logan said as he looked at the knocked out man on the floor, “Oh but Bub, I’m a real good man. Yes, I am.”
Then Logan pocketed the check. “Thanks for the wedding gift donation,” he said before he walked out of Owen’s Sanctuary with a smug look on his face.
D’Ancanto’s Outdoor Dining Room
Meridian, MS.
8:45 A.M.
Marie had been quietly conversing with her mom and eating breakfast when she saw the look on Logan’s face. His nostrils were flared and his stance told her something wasn’t right. Before she could say a word…
“Marie, we’re leavin’, now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You have everything packed like I asked last night before I sent you to your room?”
“Well yeah, but…”
“Then, let’s go.”
“Ah was just finishing mah breakfast and you haven’t touched yours yet.”
“I’ll eat later. Come on, you wanted to see your grandmother and we’ve gotta head back to New York.”
Marie didn’t understand what was happening but she trusted him. So, she put her fork down and put her cloth napkin on the table.
“Well mama, seems that we’re leavin.”
“Looks lahk.”
“Ah’m sorry about your daddy, he’s not gonna change. But, for what it’s worth, ah give mah blessing for your weddin’.”
“Oh mama, thank you,” Marie said as tears formed in her eyes.
Logan was glad that at least one parent warmed up to them. Although after what he’d just done to Owen… Maybe it was good they were leaving now. He watched as his girl hugged his future Mother-in-Law. He even gave her a thank you and a quick hug of his own. He grabbed their bags off a chair in the parlor as he headed for the front door. A few minutes later after Marie hugged her mother at the front door; she joined him at the Suburban. She waved and climbed in.
Templestaff
Meridian, MS.
9:00 A.M.
“Ah’ll just be a few minutes if you wanna wait here. The smells maht be too strong where ah’m goin’ to.”
“You don’t want me along? You gonna be alright?”
“Yeah, ah think so,” Logan heard doubt in her voice.
“I’m comin’ too.”
“Listen, ah get the feelin’ somethin’ happened back there.”
“It’s nothin’,” he lied, not wanting to tell her he socked her dad.
He wondered if he’d call the authorities and have him arrested for assault. Then he decided he’d better cash the check quickly before her father called the bank and stopped payment. He hoped Marie didn’t want to stay long…
“Ah want the details later, mister. Ah mean it… Come on if you wanna be introduced to Templestaff.”
Logan was almost sorry he went with her. The backyard wasn’t normal… The backyard was a cemetery. She was right too, he smelled death, decaying flesh, and the calcium composition of the bones before he fully exited through the double doors to the courtyard that led to the cemetery. He stayed up on the courtyard area and let Marie go alone for some privacy. He let her know that he wanted her to take as much time as she needed now that they didn’t have to be concerned with going back to her parents’ home. Logan went back inside the foyer when he couldn’t take the scents coming from the backyard. He wandered through the house and looked at some paintings up on the wall. Then something odd happened in front of one of the paintings. He had a sudden flashback of him and a much younger version of the woman in the painting. They were walking and talking after midnight in a garden while a party raged on into the wee hours of the morning. Lots of hoop skirts and men dressed to the nines, some even in gray uniforms. There was no way that Logan could remember that the woman in the picture happened to be Marie’s great grandmother. He also couldn't possibly remember that he was a Yankee spy dressed like a southerner. He even faked the accent. Then he had a flash of Victor with another woman, he dressed much like himself, in a gray uniform.
Then a servant-woman came into the room and nearly startled a fog-minded Logan. He growled at her… She didn’t pay him any mind and asked if he wanted some refreshments. She didn’t tell him that Marie had called on her cell phone while she was outside and suggested that cook make him some breakfast. The Wolverine heard, ‘food,’ and he found himself following the woman into the kitchen.
About an hour later, that’s where Marie found him… Just finishing off his third plate of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Orange juice, coffee, and milk topped off the feast.
“Looks lahk you’ve been havin’ fun.”
“Ah made him all your grandmama’s breakfast favo-rahts, ‘cept the pancakes.”
“Well, when the ‘bottomless’ stomach is done we’ve gotta hit the road,” Marie teased.
“That don’t matter none, man’s gottah healthy appetaht. Whatchu gonna do ‘bout the house, Miss Marie?”
“Nothin’ for now. Ah’m sure you’ll look aftah the place while we’re away.”
“Shore nuff. Me’n Willie are here all the time. Then Billy and Marvin are the part tahmers.”
“We live in New York at a school so, we won’t be heah very often.”
“That’s okay, Miss Marie. We’ll keep up the place ‘cause we love it heah.”
“Done,” Logan stood up and pronounced him finished with breakfast. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, I said what ah wanted to say. We should get goin’.”
“Ah packed a lunch for yawl, while the Mr. was eatin’.”
“Aww, thanks Mrs. Brown.”
“Thanks ma’am.”
The Den-Owen’s Sanctuary
D’Ancanto’s House
Meridian, MS.
9:00 A.M.
Priscilla finished her breakfast and took her sweet time. Somehow, she knew something had happened to her husband or Logan and Marie wouldn’t have left in such a hurry. She assumed Logan probably socked Owen. Prissy would have too if she had the strength to. He had made a total ass out of himself while the couple had been guests. She felt somewhat bittersweet but happy that she’d made Marie happy with her blessing. Now, to deal with Owen… She went down the hall to his sanctuary and opened his door to find him passed out on the floor. Her suspicions were confirmed… Prissy sat him up and slapped his face a bit to wake him up.
“What have ya done now?”
“He hit meh. He hit meh. Ah wanna press charges against that mutie bastard. He hit meh.”
“And just what did yawl say to each othah that made him hit ya?”
“Ah offered him a deal to walk away from our offspring.”
“Exactly what ah thought… Owen, ya brought it on yourself. A man lahk that won’t give up Marie. She is his rock as ah was once yours, but aftah your mama died you abandoned meh. Ah’ve had it Owen. You’ve gotta change or you’re gonna lose meh too. You hear meh? Ah won’t take this domineerin’ crap from you much longer.”
“And just what you gonna do if ah don’t?”
“Ah’ll leave Owen… And just to let you know, ah gave them mah blessin’. From meh, just meh. Ah couldn’t give it from both her parents, but ah made her happy bah givin’ her mahn.”
“Ya think ah care?” Owen stood up and reached his desk. “Ah’ve gotta call the bank and get a stop payment on that check.”
“What check?”
“Ah gave that mutie monster a check for uh hundred thousand dollahs… To uh disappear.”
“You what? Oh Mah Gawd! No wondah he socked you.”
“He had to go. Prissy, he had to go.”
“No, you ain’t gonna cancel that check. No, what you’re gonna do is get in that kitchen and wash mah dishes and their breakfast dishes before ah call the cops on you.”
“For what? Ah didn’t do a damn thing. They couldn’t hold meh.”
“Wanna bet? Ah’ll go down and testifah that you are abusin’ meh. Maybe not physically, but emotionally and verbally. Ah got meh a safety deposit box somewhere with stuff ah’ve been collectin’ on you for years. Don’t try meh.”
“You ain’t got nothin’.”
“Oh ah do, and you bettah not dare raise a hand to meh or you will be in deep caca. Now, march.”
Red’s Diner
Knoxville, TN.
4:30 P.M.
Logan drove most of the little over 6 and a half hour drive to Knoxville, until Marie couldn’t stand sitting in the passenger seat anymore. She drove a couple hours while he was supposed to have rested, but he didn’t. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She looked like a girl on a mission; she looked determined. Marie looked over at him and read the look on his face.
“Ah’m fahn… Ah don’t know, just don’t piss meh off. Ah think ah’m hormonal today.”
“Hey, you got it,” Logan said as he held his hands up in mock defense. “Look, there’s a diner comin’ up. We should stop and get somethin’ for dinner.”
“Fine,” she spoke with a sigh.
‘Oh shit, there’s that word we hate a second time,’ the Wolverine spoke up in Logan’s mind. ‘Means that our girl’s upset. Fix it now…’
‘But how?’ Logan answered back in thought.
‘Feed her first… If that don’t work, feed her ice cream in massive amounts or buy her chocolate… Or both. After that, you’re on your own, Bub.’
“Nuh uh, Marie. That don’t fly with me. What’s up?” Logan called her on her mood.
“Ah’m just not feelin’ raht. Ah’ve got this bad feelin’ and it’s makin’ mah stomach feel lahk it’s in knots,” she said as she parked the SUV in the lot slot next to the diner.
‘No, she’s not pregnant…’ the Wolverine told Logan after he got a whiff of her scent.
“Well, let’s go eat and see if it goes away, ‘kay.”
“Yeah,” she still seemed a bit sad to Logan as if there were tears threatening to fall.
They went into the small restaurant and Logan ordered for Marie because she just wasn’t up to make the decision herself. After a meal and desert that involved ice cream and chocolate and lots of it, Logan got them back on the road while Marie curled up in her seat. He didn’t like the trend she was headed in but, he figured after a nap she might be in a better mood.
Marie couldn’t tell Logan that she knew exactly why she was upset. Her father… His attitude and the way they left. It was nagging at her… When she napped, she had day-mares of her father locking her up and selling her off to the government for enough money to buy more models of ships. She had one of him chasing her with a gun, as if to wipe her off the face of the earth. Somewhere, deep down, she knew that Logan hit her father. It just didn’t make sense for him to leave without eating a fork full of anything for breakfast; especially since she knew how voracious Logan’s appetite could be in the morning… Marie hoped that as they drove away from the south that these terrors would leave her be.
The Hangar
Level 4 Underground
Xavier’s School for Gifted Students
Westchester, NY.
Friday, June 11, 2010
2:00 A.M.
The Professor walked off the Blackbird following Hank, Remy, Kitty, Bobby, and Pete as they carried a comatose Victor Creed to the holding cells on that level; those reserved for extremely dangerous mutants. They had gone on a rescue mission to Australia in the middle of the night to not only free incarcerated mutants but to recover Victor Creed. Through objections of the X-Men, Charles thought it best to not include Wolverine and Rogue. Actually including them was too much of a liability when he explained it to the team. Once they had more information the senior team agreed with the Professor. Logan would have turned himself into a renegade and put the team at risk. Rogue and or Logan might be captured and that wouldn’t be good at all if Charles’ inside info was correct from Maverick about what they had done to Victor Creed at the secret lab. So with a unanimous decision to not tell Wolverine or Rogue what was up, they went on a rescue and recovery mission. Maverick met them again in Japan before they made the final landing in Australia. With the help of an ancient telepath, comatose since the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Charles mind-linked with him. The X-Men team discovered that Victor Creed’s psychosis was rooted in his time as a CIA operative. On a mission, he slaughtered a target, his wife, and a little boy. The look in the boy's eyes has followed Victor ever since. Afterward, when the Professor had the information he needed to get through to Victor they headed for Australia.
The losses of life on the team were minimized by excellent teamwork that the Wolverine had taught most of the newly formed senior team after Alcatraz. They managed to rescue a dozen mutants but they recovered Victor as well. Now, they just had to keep him a secret from Logan and Marie until Charles could make sure he had a stronger foothold in Victor’s mind.
The Garage
Xavier’s School for Gifted Students
Westchester, NY.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
10:00 A.M.
A couple days later, the couple returned to the school with Logan behind the wheel as Marie napped in the passenger seat. He killed the engine after parking the Suburban next to Ororo’s car. He gently unbuckled her belt before he quietly slipped out of the driver’s seat. Then he went around to her side and scooped her up in his arms. Logan carried Marie into the mansion and she nuzzled her nose into his neck as he stepped into the elevator. He softly opened his door and carried her to his bed. After gently setting her down on her side of his bed he closed the door and pulled off his boots before he sat down on his side of the bed. He moved down and got comfortable and Marie just naturally snuggled into his side as she slept. Logan said a silent prayer that the central air conditioning was working. Fortunately, if it broke Iceman Bobby Drake was on hand to keep the swamp coolers supplied with ice. And the school wouldn’t have to worry about the Wolverine’s beer getting warm either. Everyone knew that when it did get warm, Logan was very grumpy.
When Marie woke up, she felt a moving pillow. Then when her eyes focused she saw Logan’s bare feet and jeans. She sighed and then began to draw silly patterns on his abs under his white tank undershirt. The silly patterns were a symbol of how her mind was acting; her mind was all over the place. However, she’d had a good nap and she was glad that the day-mares of her father had gone away. She debated getting up or staying in bed with Logan until lunch, but her stomach loudly objected. And as if a miracle of timing wonder happened, Logan’s stomach growled as well. Time to get food…
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Shock and awww... The return of Victor Creed!!!
This chaoter rocks!!!
My thanks to tamisnead for the Tim McGraw song.
This chaoter rocks!!!
My thanks to tamisnead for the Tim McGraw song.
Chapter End Notes:
Well, how did you like the opener? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!!! Thanks for your reviews!!!