Chapter Seven- Marie

I awoke slowly, becoming aware of two things almost instantly: The first sent my heart pounding in my chest as my sleepy brain caught up with my adrenaline-fueled body, telegraphing that my skin wasn't instant death and that it was okay to have someone snuggled up to me. The second was that holy balls did I have to pee.

Still, the last time I had woken up with this man was kinda burned into the 'poor life choices' part of my brain, so I was willing it ignore my bladder enough to enjoy the feel of Logan's arm around my waist as he spooned up behind me. The heat from his body put me in mind of a furnace. I had kicked off my covers during the night, and I could hear him snoring softly in my ear, with the bristles of his muttonchops brushing against my shoulder.

It took me awhile to manage to ease out of the bed without waking him up, and I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of the fact that this man, of all men, was comfy enough with me that I didn’t spark anything on his radar... that he felt safe enough with me to not even wake up when I left the bed. It was... something.

Guten Morgen, Marie.

Erik seemed strangely preoccupied. Normally they let me do my business without commentary. Although, the first time I got my period with those three in my head it had just been hilarious to gross them out. Big, strong Mutants. Pfft. Indeed.

“Can I have a sec here?” I muttered under my breath. Erik made a flustered, embarrassed sound and apologized. I finished, flushed, washed my hands and face, then brushed my teeth, trying to place why I felt so strangely dizzy. I was exhausted, moreso than usual and just really wanted to go back to sleep.

I was almost certain that had nothing to do with the surprisingly snuggly man in my bed.

Yeah, right.

... or the grouchy man in my head, for that matter.

Logan was blinking sleepily when I slipped back into my bedroom to get my clothes. I had learned early on not to get Killer’s leash before I was ready to step out of the door, otherwise the little guy practically barked himself into a stroke. He loved going for walks.

I didn’t bother with fancy; just stuck my bare feet in my boots, and threw a hat, coat and scarf and flung them over my jammies. I took more than a little pleasure in making it halfway down the stairs before Logan’s strangled bellow of “Damnit, Maire!” made its dulcet way out the back stairs of the bakery and to Killer’s favorite spot.

“You’re playin’ with fire, ma chére.”

Remy’s low voice two steps from the building sent me jumping straight up into the air, my yip of surprise startling poor Killer into falling over into a snowdrift so that a little bit of snow poofed up into the cold air.

“Remy! Lord Jesus!” I clutched my chest in exaggerated fashion, expecting him to grin. When he didn’t, it clued me into the fact that it was just a bit more than weird that he was standing out here at what-the-fuck o’clock in the morning, while my dog did his business in the bushes.

“Sorry.” He gave me a tight smile. “You mind if I come up? I...” He took a rather large step back from the man that suddenly loomed behind me like some great, shadowy wolf. “I think there’s’a few things t’talk about, Marie. Logan.”

Even the peanut gallery was quiet at this. I don’t think Remy had ever called me by my name. It was always ma chére, or chérie, and sometimes ma beau, but very rarely my actual first name. I think Logan picked up on it too. He didn’t even look cold as he stood there in his tank top, no jacket, with the top button on his jeans unbuttoned. It was weird that Logan did the same thing when he was worried. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I liked Remy. He was fun, and it was flattering to have the attention, but I didn’t expect the worried treatment from him. It seemed horribly out of character, and I couldn’t help but worry if I actually knew his character at all.

I turned to check on Killer and was surprised at the sudden vertigo. I felt like an absolute moron when I actually swayed on my feet, like some damsel in distress. Both Logan and Remy reached for me at the same time, but I just stepped out of their way, towards Killer with a small frown on my face.

“Okay, sugah. Come on up. It’s cold though. Do you want some coffee? Logan?”

“Non.”

Logan only grunted in the negative as he took the rear, following the two of us and my half-frozen dog up the stairs. It didn’t take very long to put my winter gear away on the hangers on the wall behind the door with one hand, while drying Killer off with the other. Once he was a little poof of fur, he growled once lowly at Logan, sniffed at Remy as though Remy had insulted his mother, and trotted over to his food bowl with his stubby little tail firmly up in the air.

I caught Logan rolling his eyes, and had to snort a little under my breath.

“Go ahead and have a seat. I’m going to make some coffee.”

What I was going to do was hide in my kitchen and hope the two men started this no doubt nifty conversation without me. I made the coffee, found some danish that didn’t look too bad, and set it down on my coffee table with a little tah dah motion. Neither of them seemed to notice though. Logan was glaring at Remy as though he could burn holes through him with his eyes, and Remy, for whatever reason, actually looked a bit sheepish.

Eventually though, I guess he could only stand so much awkward staring before clearing his throat. “Bon Well.” He cleared his throat again. “I do not know quite where to begin.”

Logan crossed his arms and frowned even more deeply. Remy sighed, and reached for his jacket. Before he could even do it, Logan had his wrist in a vice grip. “Not so fast there, bub.”

“No. In my pocket, Logan. You can see for yourself. Don’t shoot the messenger, non? But you might want to brace yourself.” Logan frowned even more deeply- for a second, I was worried that he’d cause himself permanent damage- and I saw Remy actually shrink back from whatever Logan now held in his hand.

Even Killer froze for a moment as Logan unfolded it. You know those weird sort of moments when all the air seems to leave the room? The last time I had felt anything close was during my time as an active member of the X-men. When I peered at the paper, all I could see was the top of someone’s head, and the way every single hair on Logan’s arms and neck stood up at once.

When Remy spoke, it was very, very soft, like you do to something that’s about to bolt. “He’s been seen for several years, resurfacing wherever there are a large amount of mutant deaths. Like a cancer.”

Remy took a deep, shaky breath. Logan still hadn’t moved. I took a step forward, unable to help myself as I touched the back of his shoulder. Logan flinched, but it was the reaction from Erik and
Charles that truly startled me.

“Scheißkerl!” Erik’s hiss was shocking, but it was the utterly hateful way Charles felt towards whatever he was seeing that absolutely floored me. These men knew what was going on, but no one would tell me. It was as confusing as much as it was pissing me off.

“Sugah?”

I peered over his arm and frowned. I knew that man. We’d all been briefed by the professor on men who were dangerous, and his name often came up.

William Stryker.

“He has been sighted as a tv-personality. Something fairly under the radar, no one that we’d associate with anti-mutant legislation, but whenever there’s a cause, or one of the norms are hurt by the cure... he’s there, offering support. Mystique has been working in this area for awhile, and once we knew the cure to be phony, we started trying to spread ourselves out to other areas.” Remy looked over at me, faintly apologetic.

“You showing up put a bit of a spanner in the works. We knew that where you went, this one was not far behind, and were right. The problem was that if we knew it, then so must Stryker. The man has nearly unlimited resources as I am sure you must--”

The snickt of Logan’s claws popping was loud in the quiet room. Remy prudently stepped away, but I couldn’t help myself, moving closer to Logan as if magnetized there. Of course, given the X-Men and all our talents, it was entirely possible that sudden magnetization was responsible.

Remy cleared his throat, finishing a little more quickly than he probably meant to. “I apologize ma chére, but it was decided that you needed protection, and that I would be the mutant for the job.”

“Oh, so we’re not going to get married and have beautiful mutant babies together?” The sass was instinctive, but Remy’s lips twitched.

“Non. However, I do come this morning to offer you and your loup an invitation to stay in a more secure location.”

“No.”

I shut my mouth. Clearly Logan was back, and just fine with speaking for me again.

“Me and Marie will be fine here.”

I knew that was Logan for ‘we’d be back in New York before lunch.’ I sighed. So much for my independence. “Well, wait, sugah. That won’t quite work. I’m here to meet up with Moria MacTaggert, and-”

Logan turned to look at me. It hit me like a punch to the gut. This man, he... cared. Despite everything, despite what had been done to him, or what I had done to him, he cared about me. Any objections I had trailed away like water down a drain. “Marie, I need. I.” He retracted the claws on one hand and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “It would be smart for us to talk out everything.” His gaze cut to Remy, who looked faintly troubled. “Later. There’s some stuff goin’ on that you’re not fully aware of, and with Stryker active I just.” He stopped, biting off the words. “Please.”

Well hell. There was no way I could say no to that. It was becoming real damn obvious that I didn’t know what the hell was going on. We did need some time to talk everything out, to plan and figure out our next move. I loved this little apartment, but Logan was right. It was too remote and it left us too exposed.

With that in mind, it was easy enough to pack up my few belongings. Logan still looked a little overwhelmed as he stared at the piece of paper in his hands, and I pressed him into the couch without thinking much about it.

“Remy, sugah . You’ll keep Killer for me? An’ make sure my apartment is still here when I get back?’

Remy looked doubtfully at the dog, who looked even more doubtfully back at him. “Oui.” He didn’t exactly sound sure of himself, but I wanted to make sure my little puppy was safe. If we were at the mansion, or at a safe house, or any of the other hundred places we could go, my priority had to be my people. As sweet as Killer was, it would just be better if he was somewhere where I didn’t have to worry about him.

Giving myself a task gave me a purpose. It was easy to call Raven... well. Mystique and quit my job. I called Storm and she sounded supremely unruffled as she asked to talk to Logan. I handed over the phone and heard Logan’s short, single-syllable answers as I went around and packed up all Killer's toys, his food and bowls and his dog bed. Remy still looked a little confused as I damn near shooed him out of my door, but managed to give me a kiss on the cheek and a muttered apology. I didn’t know what he was apologizin’ for, so I ignored him. If he was sorry that he had pretended to date me- well, I can’t fault him for that. I’d like the idea of not bein’ alone more than I liked the idea of him as an individual. If he was apologizin’ for leavin’ me in the middle of the shitstorm he’d induced when he gave Logan that little slip of paper, well. There was nothin’ anyone could do about that.

Soon enough, I had a backpack packed with the things I thought I’d need and had set it next to Logan’s saddlebag.

Logan was still staring at the paper, obviously not seeing it. I had time to get a shower and get dressed before I sat down next to him and gently took it out of his hands.

“Sugah??”

He took a slow breath, but shook his head.

I bit my lip and cast a look around the suddenly empty apartment. The baker from downstairs had started his trade, and the smells that wafted up of fresh made bread made my stomach rumble.

It struck me then that the Erik, Charles and Logan in my head had been strangely silent since I woke up. It gave me the feeling of knowing there was something that I was missing, but not sure if I had just missed it completely, or if it was on the tip of my tongue, ready to be rediscovered. I sighed then told myself to stop being a coward.

I inched slightly closer to Logan on the couch, huffing a little when the ancient stuffing had me leaning into him despite my intentions. Logan’s arm came around me to brace me from falling, and I smiled into his side. He rested his chin on my head and it was... it was damn near the closest to perfect that I’d felt in forever.

He needed it quiet more than I needed to run my mouth, so we just sat there in a companionable silence, waiting for my phone to ring.

TBC!