For three weeks the residents of the mansion held their collective breath in anticipation. For three weeks nothing happened, Magneto didn't return, none of his minions tried to break in, and Marie was gradually allowed to ease back into a state of normalcy, under Logan's ever-present watchful eye.
This particular day, was hot and sunny, an early summer day, a hint of what was hopefully to continue for the next several months. It had resulted in most of the mansions residents abandoning the indoors, in favour of the Olympic size, outdoor swimming pool. Logan had agreed to allow Marie to frolic in the water with her friends, while he stayed with Jesse, who, between naps, was splashing about happily in a little blow up paddling pool or practicing rolling, from his front to back and back to front, on a sun warmed towel.
"Yay! You did it!" Marie was fussing and praising the little boy from the side of the pool, as he showed mommy what he had figured out how to do as he rolled from his back to his front. His excited squeals and giggles drew much attention, he was a real favourite among the student's, and was doted on by anyone who managed to get close enough to him - both his parents were insanely protective.
After a few hours Logan was surprised when a student moved over, and sat down on the sun lounger behind him. "Don't look too quick but Sabretooth is behind that tree to the left of the pool house," the girl said softly, as she scrolled idly through her phone, appearing oblivious to the goings on around them.
Helpfully, right at that moment, a chorus of shrieks broke out from that direction, which Logan turned to observe, his eye casting over the treeline at the same time. Sure enough, just inside the tree line, hidden in the shadows, was Sabretooth. Chuckling and shaking his head, as if he was simply amused by the antics of the kids in the pool, Logan murmured, loud enough for the girl to hear him.
"Go inside and alert the Professor, he'll tell you what to do next, tell him I'm here ready as soon as the kids are all out of the way."
A few seconds later the girl jumped up from her seat and ran off giggling, in the direction of a gaggle of students on the patio, bustling around a fresh cooler loaded with ice creams that had just been brought out of the kitchen. He idly noted that a moment later a different teen raced inside the mansion, while the girl stayed with her friends, making her way back toward the pool as if nothing had happened. It seemed Chuck had made sure at least some of the kids had a decent level of training.
Several minutes later a school bell rang loudly through the grounds and building. Immediately, as if it was a perfectly normal occurrence, the students collectively left the water and surrounding area and all began making their way inside, many complaining loudly about not being allowed to stay in the pool all day.
Marie approached, looking fantastic in the tiny black bikini she was wearing, as she collected her towel. Wrapping it around herself before she reached, with a smile and an exaggerated greeting, for Jesse, who giggled madly as he was handed over to mommy.
"What's going on?" she asked Logan between baby talk, never losing the beaming smile on her face.
"Just the Brotherhood," Logan commented, as he grinned back at her, offering her a quick kiss as he turned and led her back towards the building, his arm 'casually' draped around her shoulders.
"Are they here?" she asked softly, trying not to let her worry show on her face.
"Sabretooth’s in the woods, makes sense there would be more of them around. Don't worry, we got this," Logan assured her with a smile as they stepped inside, close to bringing up the rear of the flood of children heading for their evacuation routes.
The X-Men, including the junior training teams, were all assembling in the halls, as the students made their way, in groups, to the lower levels via the elevator.
"Go," Logan instructed, nudging Marie in the direction of the elevator.
"No, not without you," Marie replied, sudden panic now on clear display.
"We've got to get rid of them Marie, you need to get out of here, can't have these idiots getting you, off you go with the others, your priority is protecting Jesse," he assured her.
"Be careful," Marie insisted, as she pecked his cheek, waiting for Logan to kiss baby before he kissed her goodbye too. He made sure she was bustled into the elevator, and on her way below ground, before he returned to the defensive unit.
"I've got Sabretooth if you can handle the rest," Logan commented to Scott, as he approached.
"The trick will be figuring out who else is here," Scott sighed, "Sabretooth is all well and good but if Magneto is here... Kitty's down below reviewing perimeter footage to see if she can ascertain who came in, when, and where they went, Sabretooth is no doubt a decoy to draw our attention." Scott handed Logan a communicator as he spoke, so he could be updated along with the rest of them, before the fourteen strong group made their way back outside.
Sabretooth was clearly a decoy, now standing out in the open on the pool patio, waiting for them, with a dark, feral grin. "So, the bitch and the brat are yours huh? That was a dumb idea leaving them all exposed and unprotected like that-" Logan nodded in agreement, as those around him fanned out looking for more intruders- "She screams real pretty though, I'm gonna love hearing that again." Sabretooth continued to taunt, until Logan cocked a brow, looking impressively less than impressed.
"You done with the daydreaming yet?" he asked sarcastically, claws sliding out at the ready, to join the dark talons already on display from the other feral.
Without warning Sabretooth launched himself at Logan, despite the latter's relaxed pose he was fully ready for the attack and rolled with it, flipping Sabretooth over his head and pinning him to the ground with claws through his shoulder. Sabretooth didn't stay down long though, wrenching the blades from his shoulder with a sickening squelching, crunching sound as he twisted the arm in his grasp, trying to dislocate Logan's arm. They traded fierce, deadly blows for some time before Logan suddenly froze, it took both surprised ferals a moment to figure out what was happening.
"Magneto is here," Logan growled into his communicator, as Sabretooth's face split into a grin before he proceeded to use Logan's prone body as a scratching post.
Suddenly, Logan was lifted into the air out of Sabretooth’s reach. Out from the shadows, Magneto appeared, surrounded on all sides by mutant bodyguards who engaged anyone who approached. It quickly became obvious that Magneto wasn't focused on those fighting around him, as he stared down one of the external security cameras.
"Come out, Rogue, I don't want to be forced to hurt your feral 'friend' to draw you out but I can, and I will, come out now to spare him further pain," Magneto stated, simply and firmly, as Logan felt white hot, stabbing, shooting pain through his body as his arm was wrenched, magnetically, from its socket.
He grunted in pain, gritting his teeth so he didn't cry out, before her growled out a command too. "If you can hear me, stay put Marie, don't you dare step foot out here."
Magneto tsked before turning to Logan. "For your sake you had better hope she comes out soon."
Logan felt his bones begin to warp, almost stretching, before they began to snap as the metal in and around his bones twisted into all manner of unnatural shapes. He couldn't hold back the pained roar that erupted, he felt like he was being turned inside out.
What happened next was a blur, for everyone not just Logan, but suddenly he was dropped unceremoniously, from where he was being held several feet up in the air, onto the concrete patio. Distracted by the burning pain in his body he didn't notice when the X-Men's efforts changed from fighting to get to Magneto, to fighting to keep Magneto's own henchmen away from him. He didn't see Marie launch herself out of the mansion, directly at Magneto and grab hold of the only skin she could find - his face – as she began to drain him. He did feel the small hands that came to run along his body only minutes later, and he saw the tear streaked face that swam into view through the agony he was feeling.
"Logan, I don't know if you can hear me, I have to put everything back, this is going to hurt," he heard, in Marie's soft, tearful voice. He didn't have time to comprehend her words before the twisting, tearing began again as he felt his bones bending and breaking again. Though this time he vaguely noted, through the pain, everything seemed to be going back to the right places.
As he lay on the ground minutes later, gasping for breath and whimpering in pain - a testament to just how delirious he was, he'd never made a sound like that before, and hoped to god he never would be in a position to again - he felt Marie's weight sag against him. She was almost catatonic but he could hear her whispered plea of 'Please be alright, I'm so sorry, please, please be okay'. "I'm okay darlin, just give me a minute," he assured her, forcing one arm to move, so he could cradle her head where it rested on his chest.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of blue, barely managing to call out a warning before Marie was ripped away from him. He rolled, trying to pull his still healing body to its feet as he watched in horror as Mystique tore into Marie, the knife in her hand gleaming wetly as blood flowed from the body now on the blade. With an enraged roar Logan forced himself up, Mystique didn't see him coming and he was able to slam a fist full of claws through her back, before a quick swipe severed her head. He was at Marie's side, where she had collapsed into a puddle of her own blood, before Mystique's body even hit the floor.
"Marie?" he called, trying to get her to open her eyes. Reaching out a bare hand he grabbed her own, whispering a plea, as he gathered her to him, for her to turn her skin on. Obviously Xavier's hypothesis that she could take other mutants powers was right, she had used Magneto's to fix him, now she could use his to fix herself. She didn't respond to his verbal cues but it seemed she had lost all control over her mutation as it began to sluggishly draw him in. Her eyes shot open, just as his were beginning to close.
"I love you Logan, please be alright!" was the last thing he heard before he collapsed into oblivion, a dark, swirling maelstrom of pain, he couldn't help echoing her plea.
"I love you Marie, be alright."
--
Logan woke slowly, he ached all over, his mouth was dry, and his head was pounding. Was this what a hangover felt like? No wonder people bitched about them, but he didn't get hangovers, so why was feeling this, he hadn't even been drinking. What had he been doing...?
"Marie!?!" Logan called, abruptly jerking bolt upright on the narrow hospital gurney. Several sets of hands reached out to grab hold of him, to stop him from toppling right off, before he sagged back to the semi soft surface with a groan. "Marie, where's Marie?" he demanded, eyes squeezed shut against the swimming room around him.
"She's alive," was Jean's first response, "She's in a coma but the Professor is trying to reach her, you healed her body, now we have to try and salvage her mind." Jean explained how she had absorbed several people; Magneto, whose power she used to fix the damage that had been wrought to his own body, he was dead. She had briefly touched Mystique, though the latter's blade had made short work of that attempt, Mystique was dead by his hand though. Then after Logan had touched her to heal her, Marie had gone after Sabretooth when he had appeared out of the mansion with a screaming Jesse - just how he had managed to get his hands on the boy no one was quite sure but Sabretooth was quite possibly dead, permanently, after Marie's attack. Jesse was unharmed. As soon as Marie had been sure Logan and Jesse were both alive and safe, she had promptly passed out. Her objective of protecting her family complete, she withdrew into her own mind to sort out the mental devastation wrought by so many significant absorptions.
"Get me closer," Logan begged, turning his head so he could see Marie, laid out on a gurney a mere four feet away from him. With some effort his own gurney was rolled over until they were side-by-side, he gently took Marie's latex gloved hand. "You can do this Marie, come back to me darlin'," he said gently, lifting her hand to his lips, to kiss the covered skin. That was all the strength he had before he fell back asleep, her hand still clasped in his.
He had no idea how long he slept for, when he woke, Marie was still lying unconscious on the gurney beside him, the Professor still parked at her head, eyes closed as he worked to telepathically connect with Marie. Jesse was in the room, fussing hungrily in the arms of a frustrated Jean.
"What's wrong?" he asked Jean, his voice scratchy from sleep, and raspy from lack of moisture in his mouth. Jean offered him a straw, and he sucked down a hideously disgusting electrolyte, before she spoke.
"He's starving but he won't take a bottle," she explained.
Logan turned his head toward Marie, before turning back to Jean. "Boobs," he commented, pointing to Marie's chest, "Just hold him in place so he can suck," he said.
"I don't know if that's safe, if Marie's mutation is still on, he could be hurt," Jean pointed out.
With a sigh Logan, with more strength than he had had previously, lifted Marie's hand, stripping off the latex glove she was wearing before taking hold of her bare hand. Nothing happened. "It's safe, mutations off, give the little monster his mommy milk," he replied with a tired sigh. He would do it himself but he was still wiped.
Carefully Jean uncovered Marie's chest, and holding baby in place carefully, she watched in awe as he squirmed around seeking out a nipple to hungrily grab hold of, his little hands grabbing hold of the soft flesh he was pressed up against. Logan watched contentedly as the baby fed, and was then burped before he gestured for Jean to hand him over. Gently she lay the little boy on Logan's chest, skin on skin, where he promptly fell asleep.
Logan too dozed, off and on, for what seemed like hours before he finally had the strength to sit up. Jean brought him a substantial supply of food which he hungry consumed, before he supported Jesse while he fed again. Once the baby was fed Logan put him down to sleep in a little hospital crib Jean brought out for him.
And he continued to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Just as he was beginning to feel the first degree of panic, as the thought that Marie might not wake up began to worm it's way into his brain, Charles moved. Straightening up as he opened his eyes, the relaxed, happy look he shot Logan telling him everything was going to be okay even before Logan could form the words to ask. A split-second later Marie opened her eyes, with a gentle sigh and a soft happy smile.
"Marie?" Logan said, squeezing her hand, as he stood from his place seated next to her.
"Logan, thank god you're alright!" she exclaimed, squeezing his hand back. She didn't appear to have more strength than that at the moment, so Logan leaned forward to kiss her softly on her pretty plump lips. "Is Jesse okay?" was her next comment.
"He's been a little confused why mommy won't give him cuddles but he's okay, he's sleeping right now," Logan replied, gesturing toward the crib and its softly snoring contents.
"What happened?" It was Logan's turn to ask, addressed equally to Charles and Marie.
"Quite simply, you saved her life," Charles replied, "In every way. When you touched her, you healed her body, she absorbed enough of you to manifest a ... how do I explain - almost a physical mental projection. The part of you she absorbed was in a highly protective feral state, it searched out Marie's psyche, built a wall around her to protect her, and proceeded to decimate every other psyche it found. You purged Magneto, Mystique, Sabretooth, and the half dozen or so other psyches she had accumulated on her travels from her mind, all that is left now is you, but most importantly, Marie."
"Can you get rid of me, so, it's just Marie?" Logan asked worriedly.
"No!" Marie exclaimed, "I like you there," she added with a tired smile.
"The mental version of you already asked me the same thing, while theoretically it is possible I do not believe it would be in Marie's best interests, your presence is not disruptive or destructive, to Marie at least, but if she is ever forced to use her mutation again, you are there to help her purge the new psyche before it can take hold, in short, you are Marie's guard dog protecting the property of her mind," Charles said, causing Marie to giggle.
"My little guard Wolverine," Marie chuckled, tugging Logan closer as she wrapped her arms leisurely around his neck so she could kiss him softly.
"Anything for you darlin," Logan replied with a chuckle of his own, before he placed a kiss on the end of her nose. "You look exhausted, you should get some sleep," he suggested.
"Not here, I want to sleep in my own bed," she replied tiredly.
Turning to Jean questioningly, he gathered Marie up in his arms a moment later, once she had given permission for her to be moved. "I'll come back for Jesse..."
"It's okay, now that my patients are discharged, I can go to bed too, I'll bring him up," Jean interrupted, gently collecting the sleeping infant as the group made their way upstairs to bed.
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