Six weeks, it had taken six weeks of training before her first broken bone and it had been a big one. They'd been chasing all over the damn mountain all day, using every piece of ground and cover to their advantage. Now the trees were becoming bare it was harder to move silently, she'd been harried by him across several ridges and gullies. Yet it had been the scree slpoe that had finally been her undoing, they were above the shelter, she'd thought to get across it quickly and then hide in the thicker parts of the underbrush to the left of the shelter. What she hadn't expected was Logan to move out ahead of her claws drawn and a face devoid of all emotion.
She'd run, forgetting the golden rule he'd told her about unstable surfaces, that you go *across* the face not *down*. When her feet went out from under her she knew she was in trouble, raising her hands to save her sight she went over. Tumbling over and over did nothing to keep the dried bear meat in her stomach but it was the thump she did against the stones above their shelter that did her in. The rattle of the scree covering her pain wracked body drowning her body making it hard to breathe as the shale settled around her. Blue black images were floating around her vision when Logan got to her, his voice sounded so far away as her chest was giving her signals that it wasn't getting enough oxygen into her blood.
Even her arms were limp as Logan dragged her uncermoniously out of the shale, the sharp edges cutting into her skin as he hauled her dead weight out.
As she saw the dark encroaching she heard the laboured breath of Logan next to her ear, his voice a little unsteady as he talked to her. "Marie, honey; your legs busted. I have to move it back before you touch me, it'll be bad." Never one to sugar coat details she felt his hands shift down to the icicle warm pain that covered her lower body. It spiked and her voice sounded out her bodies complaint, adrenaline kicked in clearing her eyes for a moment. Logan was in her field of vision, his face streaked with mud and stone chips, the look in his eyes part pride and part fear.
"Ready kid?" Marie felt herself stiffen up, he'd called her 'kid' it must be bad. She nodded, letting Logan's now uncovered hand touch her skin, he wore gloves when they trained, not her. The pull was slow but it was there, she'd been learning control, to focus on the breath, the feeling of her own skin. She had it down to a half of what it usually was, Logan could touch her without dropping dead but it still hurt like a bastard for both of them.
Sensation flooded her skin, as well as Logans thoughts, his concern for her, his pride at her as he'd seen her reaction to him. That she'd seen the slope as the lesser evil and took it, although that had faded into fear when he'd watched her feet go out from under her. She watched the accident from his point of view, seeing her tossed down the slope like a rag doll, her head just missing a boulder. She'd kept her form though up until the last roll, thats when she'd broken her leg. Logan's ears had picked up the sickening crunch as the stone beneath her had snapped her femur. Her mind still focussed on the memory as Logan's healing went to work sorting out the damage she'd aquired.
When Logan let go she could still feel his presence in her mind, his image being impressed harder into her mind. Taking up a permanence she never wanted him to quit, she'd had to touch him before,just fleeting glances to heal bruising and cuts. They'd only added small pieces of him to her, things that faded away in days, but this was more. Sorting through the images and impressions she caught Wolverine in there too, he was pleased with her. She was a strong mate, capable, independant, a survivor and he liked that in her.
A gloved hand on her chin made her eyes focus on Logan, he was searching her eyes, shading one then the other and watching her reaction to the fading light. The cold wind biting through them both now, grumbling under his breath he just plucked her up from the icy ground. She was about to protest when her leg gave a very nasty twinge, she'd done more damage than she'd thought and Logan wasn't going to let her walk just yet. Wrapping her arm around his shoulder she let him take her back down the tiny path to the shelter. Clouds gathering in the west, telling of the snow that had been promising for a week or more.
When he put her down he left her to get on with the fire making while he sorted out fresh water, the routine was the same every night. They'd train all day, discuss what had been learned and what she needed to work on and then they'd eat. Just listening to the world and sharing the wildnerness with each other, she'd found it quite easy to live here in reality. It wasn't that bad, although when her period had arrived she'd been a little worse for wear. But the fur strips she'd managed to use were okay, tying them to her they soaked up as much as a normal pad did as long as she remembered to fill them with deer moss. Yeah life wasn't as slick as the mansion but out here she'd put on muscle, honed her vision and hearing and getting the occassional booster from Logan didn't hurt either.
Yeah life was pretty good here and she could see why Logan came here to get away from everyone. It was those thoughts that made her face change, the realisation that one day Xavier was going to come looking for them both. Logan returned with the water soon after and saw her staring into the small fire she'd made, knowing where her thoughts were usually when she'd had a set back like today. He sat next to her, his arm resting comfortably on her shoulder, his gaze locked onto the small point of light in front of them both. "We'll make it Marie, he won't know what hit him when we go back. If we pull it down, we pull *all* of it down, Xavier, Jean, Cyc, Storm, the kids, everyone. We show them everything, all the games, all the deals he made with their lives. It take time to learn Marie, we have the winter but the rest you'll learn as we go." He paused for a moment, letting her take in what he'd told her, his breath even and deep. "We'll win Marie, no matter what we'll come out alive, even if we have to pick em off one at a time. I'm not gonna lose you to that bastard or his ideals."
Marie snuggled down into his warmth as the first flakes of snow began to fall in the encroaching darkness. She knew they'd come for them eventually, she only hoped they were ready for the two of them, they'd be getting two Wolverines not one. Flexing her arm toward the fire she watched as her muscle shifted under her skin, every time she touched Logan it happened, little twitches and her arms felt heavier, her whole frame did. But she still had winter ahead of her and all that it entailed. Holding onto Logan she was just glad to have stayed alive today.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Marie gets her ass handed to her and Logan begins to see exactly who Marie is.