What does a Wolverine do in the Woods?

Chapter Two


“Would you now?” She frowned, backing away from him and she slid the zipper on her uniform back up an inch or two. “And you think that this Tarzan and Jane thing you’re going with is the means to accomplish that?”

He lashed out, gripping her wrist and pulling her back into his arms, and took her mouth roughly, his tongue pillaging through her like storm of lust. Her body seemed to melt into the heat of him, yielding to the other half of itself in spite of the protest in her head.

At her softening, her yielding, he gentled, taking his time in tasting her, swallowing the essence her, pulling gently to bring her as close to his own flesh as he could. He longed to crawl inside of her and wrap himself in everything that she was.

He eased back from her, his nostrils flaring with a feral quality that sent shivers up her spine. “Go home, Marie. I’ll be at Chuck’s late tonight. We can talk in the morning about where this is going.”

“I won’t be manhandled, Logan. If you want me, you better do some serious stepping up and you can drop the Tarzan routine, because I won’t swoon over a swinging dick, no matter how much I care about you. I grew up while you weren’t looking, Logan. My days being interested in a fast fuck are long behind me, so if you’re not looking for more than a one-nighter, then don’t bother coming home.”

Logan pushed away from the truck and stepped away from her, taking a deep steadying breath, “Marie…I haven’t been able to get you outta my head for a long time now. I got aggravated with you just now because I was pissed off about not being able to stop thinking about you, which is what I was doing when I pulled over here. I was angry because I had a hard on in the middle of the woods, alone, just from thinking about you. I forced myself to think of you as a kid for a long time, but one day that stopped and I don’t know when that was. One day you were suddenly this woman that I couldn’t stop thinking about, that I didn’t dare try anything with, because everyone seemed to think that I was some kind of an uncle or something to you, a mentor. I never wanted that role, Marie. Especially not after you grew up.”

“I never thought of you as anything even remotely resembling an Uncle, Logan.” Marie protested in disgust. “I loved you from the first day that we met, but there was absolutely nothing familial about it.”

“I know that, Darlin’,” He sighed, “ but I need some time to think, ok? I want you to go home and we’ll talk tomorrow night over dinner.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Logan?” Marie grinned uncertainly, her nose crinkling in absolute delight at the prospect.

He grimaced at the silly grin on her face. “It’s just dinner.”

“Back to Tarzan, huh?”

“Marie… you know I ain’t the type for hearts and flowers. I never have been.” He shrugged. “I have never been the kind of man that called up a woman and asked her out to dinner and a movie. I’m more the sort to pull up on the sidewalk on my bike and tell her to hop on then take her to a bar and get us both drunk before finding a motel room somewhere where I can get laid. This is new territory for me.”

“It’s new territory for me too, Logan.” She admitted with a shrug. “I misled you before. I haven’t let anyone touch me. I’ve been holding out for you.”

Logan spun to face her so fast that he nearly landed on his ass. “You have?”

“Yeah. I mean what I said about loving you, Logan. I couldn’t let anyone else have me when you were the only one I ever wanted. I couldn’t even let Bobby do more than kiss me a little.” She shrugged as she kicked at an imaginary rock. “It just never felt right.”

“I’d kill that fucking little popsicle if I thought he’d laid a finger on you.” He growled. “Good thing that bag of frozen peas has all the imagination of a tick.”

She giggled, “Bag of frozen peas, Logan?”

“Yeah, well… push pop just sounded kinda gross.” He shrugged with a mischievous grin.

“You sure you don’t want a lift home? I could have you there in less than an hour,” She asked, “truck and all.”

“Truck and all?” He frowned.

“Yeah, just get in and put your seat belt on, I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You mean you can fly while carrying a truck?” He was very obviously taken aback.

She laughed. “Logan, I’ve flown carrying the X Jet with seven X-Men inside of it. The last time the stabilizers went out it was mid flight. I just flew out of the hatch and carried us home.”

“Holy shit.” He muttered under his breath. “You’re stronger than I realized.”

“I hate it, Logan. I never wanted any of these powers. When I put Carol Danvers in a coma, I was inconsolable. After I took Sunfire’s powers, I never wanted to do it again. I was willing to do anything to give up my powers, to never take them from anyone else ever again. It’s a horrible feeling, Logan, knowing that your touch can kill. After I gained control over them, I never used them again, unless it was to weaken, but never again to drain someone.”

“You fought Sunfire?”

“Yes.” She nodded quietly. “I’m not proud of it.”

“And what powers did you gain from him?”

“Plasma bursts, infrared sight, immunity from radiation and, if I hadn’t already taken it from Carol Danvers, I would have gained flight as well.” She grimaced, thinking back at all of the therapy that she’d gone through with the Professor to get passed the self loathing that she’d experienced after both incidents. There had been a couple of other times when she’d drained mutants, but they had been truly evil and she felt no remorse and their powers had just faded into the background of all that she was capable of.

“I had no idea that you’d grown so powerful, Marie.” He frowned as he looked into her eyes. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not easily intimidated nor insecure. A lesser guy might take a pass on getting involved with you.”

“There was one other mutant that I permanently gained powers from, Logan. He wasn’t someone I evah expected to have to go up against, but it was either fight him or watch the man that I love like my own Father get killed, so I chose to take him out. His power allowed me to control my own. His active powers were pretty much the same as Sunfire’s. He had plasma burst and flight, so I didn’t really notice anything at first.” She shrugged. “It was a coupla days before I realized that Synapses could control energy flow. When I went to the Professor about it, he helped me to apply it to my own power and it was only a matter of a few days until I had gained complete control over my curse.”

“Synapses? I know that name.” Logan frowned. “Black guy?”

“Yeah, he was tall and very muscular, had this strange hair cut, kinda came to a vee at the back of his head, like a high and tight, but more like someone woulda wore in the eighties. He wore grey leather and mirrored glasses. I hate that I had to hurt him, sugah, but I couldn’t let him kill the Professor.”

Logan slowly nodded. “I think I fought him in the cage once, a few years ago. Was one tough son of a bitch.”

She smiled halfheartedly and shrugged. “You want that lift?”

“I think I’d rather offer you one. You haven’t ridden in the front seat of my truck since I picked you up in Alaska. Think you can handle it again? It’s a newer truck though.”

She grinned. “I’d like that, Logan.”

“Let’s go, Darlin’.”

In the truck Marie took a moment to call the mansion on the communicator in her belt and let the Professor know that she’d found Logan and he would be at the mansion sometime late that night or early the next morning. She didn’t share the fact that she was going to be traveling with him, but she did tell them that should be gone until late that night and not to look for her.

She turned off the communicator and settled back into the seat of the pick up and looked over at Logan with a small smile, remembering this last time that she had been in this position with him. It was hard to believe that it had actually been ten years ago. Sometimes it seemed like just yesterday that they had been in Alaska traveling and that tree had fallen. She stiffened at the thought of Sabretoothe and straightened in the seat.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked immediately, sensing her tension.

She shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile. “Nothing, I just remembered what happened the last time we were in a truck together, when Sabretoothe knocked the tree over in front of the truck. That is one nasty guy.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be a problem this time, darlin’.” He grinned. “I’m pretty sure that you could take him on your own.”

“Yeah. It was just a memory, Logan, nothing more. Sometimes the ghosts of the past can be more disturbing that the ones we face in the present and that man scared the hell out of me. I know that no one has heard from him in a long time, but the thought of him is still enough to make my skin crawl.”

Logan reached out to her and twined his fingers through hers, “Why don’t you come over here and sit a little closer?”

Marie slid tentatively across the seat until she was nestled against his side and he slid his arm around her shoulder. She felt a bit like a teenager who was out on her first date and unsure of what it was that she was expected to do.