The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER CHAPTER TWELVE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, don't look now, but there's a mercenary in your garden... Internutter (who rocks for many reasons!), TC and Maxwell Pink make me feel all sparkled for archiving! Readers/Reviewers: First off, thanks for sending me the big banana (You know who you are! Made me laugh my ass off...) Second...The platypi sent me a rather cryptic note, something about seeking vengeance for slain brethren...the Killer Kitties (tm) had better watch their tails...


"What the hell..." Logan was halfway around the house when the bent drainpipe caught his eye. It was dented, bent at an angle not intended by the original contractors who installed it. Kitty's scent was everywhere around the area, overlain with panic, sorrow, and desperation. Logan's first reaction was panic. He searched quickly for blood, signs of a struggle, some indication that Kitty was trying to escape from someone or something other than herself. It took several moments for him to realize that Kitty had been alone, no one pursuing her. The cold air made it easier for him to detect the subtle layers of her scent, from the mild tang of cedar chips used to keep moths away from the clothes in her closet to the richer scent all women of child bearing age bore to his senses. It disturbed him to detect this part of Kitty-he much preferred to think of her as a girl, eternally innocent and in need of his protection. _This whole parent thing kicks you right in the balls, doesn't it? _ He pushed at the pipe tentatively and sighed in resignation. _Gonna need tools for this one...and Kitty's ass to help. She broke it, she can damn well help fix it... _ He was torn-should he go find Kitty and get her to confess exactly what on earth she had been doing, or continue on his way to the greenhouse? A faint giggle from the direction of the plant-filled outbuilding made his decision for him. _Kitty'll keep...I wanna get Storm off her high horse* now *. _ With one last, befuddled look at the ruined pipe, Logan crunched through the ice-shrouded leaves to the greenhouse.

"I don't think he meant anything by it, Jean...I think he was just being honest." Storm paid careful attention to the plant Amara was transferring to a larger pot-a rather sad specimen lay nearby on the table, a victim of the Nova Roman's haste. Storm sighed at the sight of one of her precious plants so misused, but she calmed her frantic instincts with the knowledge that she could fix it in a bit, make it healthy. _Maybe I need to get out more. I'm more worried about these plants than the state of whatever my relationship is with Logan. _
"Well, Scott hurt my feelings," the red head sniffed, adding the premeasured amount of root hormone to the bucket of water for Storm to use on her injured iris. "I guess I am being childish, huh?"
Over Storm's murmured ascent, Amara said in imperious tones, "I think he needs to be shown just what he has. Otherwise, he'll take you for granted and you two will be forty, married, and boring."
"Amara!" Storm quelled the royal. "Just because that initial rush of hormonal feelings fades after a while does not mean that long term, committed relationships are boring!"
"Doesn't mean they're fun, either..." The Nova Roman sighed. "Right now, I'd settle for a public relationship."
Jean and Storm exchanged vaguely surprised glances. Jean spoke: "Amara, you _want _ to be public? You, the Greta Garbo1 of the Bayville set?"
Amara frowned deeply at her friend. "There's a difference between letting it be known you're a couple and salivating over each other in the cafeteria line. I just want Lance to be up front about our relationship when other girls come on to him." She paused in her transplanting duties and looked at the other two women. "I kind of implied that I was going to flirt with other guys at school on Monday if he didn't make things...known."
Jean coughed to cover her chortle, but Storm shifted in apprehension. "Amara, playing games is not the best way to continue your relationship with Lance..."
"Oh? And what do you suggest, Storm? Avoiding him and then biting his head off when he comes near?" Logan's voice from the doorway produced three separate reactions-Jean gasped, Amara jumped and Storm blanched. "Girls, let me talk to Storm for a few minutes...go scare up Kitty and tell her I need to see her in the tool shed in half an hour."
Jean opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it, instead grabbing Amara's arm to lead her out. Amara's voice carried back, "Wait a second, we can't hear from over here!"
"That's the point, darlin'!" Logan called back, never taking his eyes from Storm's startled expression. "We need to talk, Ro," he said softly after he was sure the girls were gone. He took one step towards her and eyed the trowel in her hand, clenched so tightly that her knuckles were pale. "I'm not gonna bite, hon."
Storm raised her eyebrows at him and smiled slowly, putting the trowel on the table and relaxing her posture. "Talk, then."
Logan huffed out a painful breath and started twice before finally getting the words out. "I'm sorry I went weird on ya, but you freaked me out."
"Freaked you out? Logan, have you been talking to Jubilee again?" Storm smiled wider, amused at his turn of phrase.
"Ro, don't make this hard for me...I already had to figure out what I'm apologizing for!" Logan ran his s ths through his already disheveled hair and closed his eyes against' Storm's snapping gaze.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Storm tilted her chin, her expression calling his words ludicrous. "You presume to say you had no idea what I was upset about?"
"Ororo, listen to me before going off half-cocked..." Logan advanced then, placing his larger hands lightly over her shoulders, anchoring her to him as it were, preventing her from leaving though, if she had tried, he would have let her go. "As long as I can remember, sex has just been another drive for me. Eat, sleep, fuck, repeat."
Storm responded dryly, "How romantic. And here I thought I was special."
"Let me finish," he ground out. "You're different. I don't want to...damn it, this sounds so lame... I don't want to fuck you. I want to do all those things that we do and...and more. I just kind of got a little startled when you pulled that stunt in bed the other day. It was like you weren't you, like you had been taken over by some wanton."
"Logan," Storm said evenly, taking his hands from her shoulders but not releasing them. "I am a sexual being. Even though you are the only person I have had intercourse with, that does not mean I am some innocent virgin from the evil sorceress's tower. Like it or not, I've had some experience with men. And, like you do things with me that other women have taught you, I want to use what I know to both of our benefits. Now, if you're going to be alarmed by things like what I did, I first want to suggest that you have some issues with your vision of masculinity and secondly, I think we need to examine the structure of our relationship."
"Um, huh?"
Storm sighed and swayed forward, passing her lips over his in a brief kiss. "To put it simply, where do we stand? Do you want a woman who will submit to your will, play nice, be a lady... or do you want me?"
" Ro," Logan said with equal gravity, "I don't know how you see yourself, but to me, you are a lady. A strong, free thinking lady who won't let any man put her in what he thinks her place should be."
Storm tilted her chin up to accept his proffered kiss, biting his lower lip gently as she did so, eliciting a small groan from him. As they parted, she asked softly, "Have you been reading Naomi Wolf2, Logan?"
"At the risk of being an absolute Neanderthal, shut up." Logan growled into her neck, biting her enough to mark her but not to really hurt her. "We've got at least fifteen minutes before I go meet with Kitty..."
"How flattering...you can make mad, passionate love to me in fifteen minutes?" Storm's voice was breathy as she tried to enunciate around gasps, Logan's mouth clasping over her breast through her sweater and bra.
"I can give it a shot..." He suckled hard, her nipple stiffening despite the interference of cloth with his warm, seeking tongue.
She arched against him, her mind furring for a few moments, a pleasant haze descending over her vision as the smell of loamy earth, rich flowers and Logan overpowered her senses. Somewhere outside, a branch snapped under the weight of a winter's worth of ice and snow, resounding through the air like a gunshot, making her jump away from Logan's attentions. "Not here," she murmured when she caught her breath, pressing a kiss to his brow. "Later, my room..."
"Now...here..." Logan smiled against her, enjoying acting petulant, grabbing at her as if he were an untried teenager.
Storm laughed outright and extricated herself from his grasp. "Go talk to Kitty and I might be waiting when you go upstairs later..."
"Might be?"
"Might..." She winked at him and returned to repotting the iris. "I like to keep the mystery alive."
Logan snorted and walked off, but paused at the doorway. "If I die of blue balls before then..."
"I'll be sure to bury you face down so the world can kiss your ass, just like you asked me to." Storm hid her smile behind her hair as she bent over the ceramic pot.
Logan chuckled. "I knew I loved you for a reason..." He did not see Storm's slightly startled expression as he strolled away, her eyes following him until he disappeared into the tool shed.

"Man, Logan seemed _pissed _ ," Lance said sotto voce, watching their mentor as he stalked back to the house.
"I can't help it if Kitty took off somewhere..." Amara eyed the worktable disdainfully. "This place is filthy..."
"It's a tool shed, Princess. What'd you want? White-glove cleanliness?" Lance snorted and shook one of the battered cardboard boxes suspiciously. "Where does Logan keep the spray paint?"
"How should I know?" Amara asked, edging towards the door. "I just came here to deliver the message from Jean...not to take inventory. You're on your own."
"Amara, wait!" Lance said suddenly as she turned to leave.
She paused, half-turned, and waited. And waited. After a full minute of just staring at each other, she finally snapped "Well?"
"Are you...are you mad at me?" He shoved the box back under the workbench and chose another, this one oil-soaked and smelling of turpentinrom rom along the wall. "I mean, I know we talked earlier and all, but I can't help but feeling like you're still on a horse about something."
She was tempted to say yes, she was furious with him and he had a lot of work to do to make her happy again, but she took a deep breath and said, with a smile, "Of course not, love. I'm not mad at all...just a little frustrated." _Very. Very very very frustrated. My restraints are gathering dusts from disuse and I have a whole box of candles and no one to drip wax on...of course I'm frustrated! _
"Um, I was thinking," he said, walking towards her with the box still in his hands, a physical barrier to go with her invisible one. "If you're not mad at me anymore...maybe tonight, we could, um, you know?"
_Oh, gods above! Is Lance blushing? Must...not...snicker...must...keep...straight...face... _ "Actually," she said, her voice thick with the effort it took not to giggle or shout her acceptance and throw him down then and there on the floor, "I was thinking we could wait a while longer. It's only been a few days...I think thittlittle break will help us appreciate what we have more..."
e's e's eyes went wide but he nodded. "Er...we _are _ back together, right? I mean, I just wanna check..."
Amara laughed liltingly, making a vague gesture with her fingers, "Of course we are! I hope you're not going to hold my little...fit...against me, are you, love?" she d wid with doe-eyes. She licked her lips and swayed towards him, making him drop the box.
"N...no! Of course not...I just...you know. Wanted to know for sure..." He wanted to grad her and kiss her but her sudden turn for the door stopped him. "Amara!" he called again, making her pause. He really had nothing to say, just did not want her to leave. "Um..." he cast about in futility and finally seized on something from the bull session earlier. "What would you say if I gave you flowers?"
"Who are you and what have you done with Lance?" she answered without turning.
"Amara...seriously."
"I would...I would appreciate it. I've never gotten flowers before."
"Would you think I was trying to hide something?" Scott had warned Kurt against giving Kitty flowers too soon, so she would not think he was trying to use things to make up for actions.
"Well, I wouldn't until you mentioned it..." Amara turned just her head, giving him her profile, and said, "Lance, if you wantgivegive me flowers, do it. If you want to sing songs outside my window...well, warn me first. t knt know that whatever you do, so long as you mean it, I'll like it."
Lance sighed as she walked away, back through the mottled yard to the house. _Damn it. If it wasn't for Kurt fucking up with Kitty, I wouldn't be on the verge of getting my probation revoked all because of her... _

1Actress famous for saying "I want to be alone!" then pretty much doing just that for fifty years.
2 Feminist author. Really good...if you're of that bent, check out The Beauty Myth. Like a more political Kaz Cooke.