The Unintentional Donor

Chapter Five





Logan wondered if Marie regretted their kitchen dalliance because for the next few days she seemed to be conspicuously avoiding him. A couple of times he’d casually inquired about her whereabouts and, aware of the telepaths in the house, tried not to project his disappointment when told that she was busy.



He occupied himself by trying to put together an actual self-defense course blueprint – because as Scott sarcastically told him, “You can’t just incite a brawl and call it a lesson plan.” The first thing Logan scribbled down was a note to himself to use Scott as his first demonstration volunteer. When Kitty stopped by Logan’s assigned classroom and saw a visored stick figure swinging from a hangman’s noose drawn next to Scott’s name, she informed him of Scott’s mastery of the highest level in the Danger Room.



“Probably cheated,” he muttered.



“Scott’s a very eloquent fighter,” Kitty noted, the admiration for her team leader plainly evident.



“I’m sure he’s a regular Baryshnikov in a simulated battle, but put him on the street with a thug who’s got no manners and I bet he’d get his candy ass kicked.”



“Scott isn’t the prep school graduate you apparently think he is. Charles found him living on the streets. Trust me, he’s quite capable of doing some ass kicking of his own,” she informed him and then added, “Isn’t ‘never underestimate your opponent’ the first rule of combat?”



“Point taken.”



Kitty just smiled, said goodbye and left him to ponder that particular information.





~*~*~*





Logan wasn't sure if Marie’s perceived avoidance was annoying him and he wanted to confront her or he was simply horny and unwilling to seek ‘exercise’ elsewhere, but after a week of no contact he decided to seek her out.



From perfunctory investigation he’d learned that she often spent time at a cabin by the lake that served as her art studio. Noting that Mrs. Anderson had taken Chance to Baby Gym and Charles was engaged in a chess match with Jean, Logan slipped out of the house and headed for the lake.



Without bothering to knock, he entered the cabin to find Marie in what appeared to be thoughtful contemplation – the tip of a paintbrush handle being tapped against her pursed lips – in front of a canvas that contained an abstract design.



Logan cleared his throat – and tamped down the urge to charge across the room and jump her.



“Hey,” she said calmly.



“Hey,” he replied and mentally chided himself for not being able to come up with anything better than parroting her.



“In case you’re wondering, I have been avoiding you.”



“Are you sure you’re not a telepath?” he asked with a smile.



“No, I’m just schooled in the obvious.”



“Then you should know how I obviously feel about you,” Logan stated simply, “And how I thought you felt about me.”



“How I feel about you scares the hell out of me,” Marie said with a wistful sigh.



“Why?”



“Because my life was …” She wrinkled her brow as she searched for the best descriptive word when Logan interrupted her.



“Dull.”



“Uncomplicated.”



“Didn’t mean to mess up your apparently perfect life,” he said indignantly and turned to walk out.



“Logan,” was all she had to say to bring him to a halt. He loved the way she spoke his name and even more so when she moaned it.



“What do you want from me, Marie?” he inquired, his voiced tinged with frustration, as he turned around to face her, knowing he’d grant her just about any favor that she asked of him.



“I want you to make love to me,” she answered softly – echoing the request she’d made on that blustery October night.



That certainly wasn’t what Logan had expected to hear, but just as he couldn’t refuse her then, he couldn’t deny her now.



In two strides he was across the room and had her in his arms.



“I love you so much,” she confessed, with a catch in her throat, as his mouth descended on hers.



“Love you too,” he murmured against her lips.



Unlike the encounter in the kitchen, which was raw and urgent, this time they made love slowly – with tender kisses and loving caresses. The world outside the sun-dappled studio was momentarily forgotten as they focused on one another.



Later, as she slept tucked under his arm with her head on his chest, Logan thought he was going to be the one who cried this time. A few moments later he drifted off himself, trying not to think too much about how badly this was probably all going to end.





~*~*~*





The sun was beginning to fade when Marie was jarred awake by a loud noise in her head. It was Jean – attempting to communicate with her telepathically, except she hadn’t quite mastered the technique and it tended to come across as yelling.



“Jean, turn down the volume,” Marie requested mentally.



“Sorry,” Jean replied, taking it down only a decibel or two in her attempt to *whisper*, “Just wanted to tell you that Charles is wondering where you are. So you might want to climb off of Logan and put some clothes on.”



Even psychically she managed to sound smug.



Marie bolted upright with a start. Jean knew! Charles’ closest confidante, his surrogate daughter – and the woman who was unequivocally jealous of her and considered her the other woman in his life … knew.



Well, there was only one way that Jean could’ve found out – and that was because she’d obviously been spying telepathically. She’d always been suspicious – and had done little to hide her contempt of the young woman now bearing the Xavier name.



Refusing to let Jean think that she’d succeeded in intimidating her, Marie shot back, “Did you enjoy the show, Jean? For Scott’s sake, I hope you learned a thing or two.”



“Everything okay?” a still drowsy Logan asked.



“Fine,” she replied a bit shakily, “I’ve gotta go. Mrs. Anderson is already on overtime by now.”



And with that she jumped up, dressed hastily and was heading out of the door in mere moments.



“What – no goodbye kiss?” Logan asked jokingly – but the door had already closed.



He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.



“I’m starting to feel a little used… again,” he called out to the empty room.





~*~*~*





Marie charged into the house – frantic to intercept Jean before she could expose her to Charles.



Dashing past his secretary’s desk she barreled into Charles’ office – only to discover that he was alone.



“Something on fire?” he inquired.



“What?” Marie replied as she skidded to a halt in front of the large desk. Recovering quickly she covered by saying, “I came in here to drag you out of this office. It’s way past normal office hours – even Martha’s gone home. So put down that pen, mister, and call it a day.”



“Very well,” Charles said, “I was starting to get a headache trying to deal with the construction problems with the new wing.”



“Is everything okay?”



“Nothing that can’t be solved by throwing a lot of money at it.”



At that moment Chance came charging into the office – followed by a very winded Mrs. Anderson.



“Mommy!” he squealed as he wrapped himself around his mother’s legs.



“Hey, squirt,” she said as she lifted him up and perched him on her hip.



He wriggled out of her grasp, slid down and then ran over and hopped up onto Charles’ lap.



“Sorry, it’s my fault he’s a little hyper,” Mrs. Anderson wheezed, “I let him have too much sugar today.”



“That’s okay, we’ll take it from here,” Charles told her.



“Yes – thank you, Mrs. Anderson,” Marie added, “Have a good evening.”



“Good night,” the nanny said and hastily retreated. She loved the little boy, but his energy level tended to drain hers.



“I should give Chance his bath.”



“The cook is serving spaghetti tonight – you might want to wait until after dinner,” Charles suggested as he ruffled the toddler’s hair.



“Good idea.”



~*~*~*





In another part of the mansion Scott and Jean were in the midst of an argument. He was upset that she’d used her gift to spy on Marie – while she maintained that she was only doing it to protect Charles.



“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t expose that …tramp,” Jean challenged.



“Because it would break Charles’ heart,” Scott replied.



“Look,” he continued, “I’m not opposed to anything that would get Wolverine’s hairy ass kicked to the curb – but we’ve also got Chance to think about. You’d not only be destroying Charles’ world, but that baby’s as well.”



“Well then, what do you suggest we do? They can’t be allowed to continue playing Charles for a fool.”



Tapping the side of his head Scott asked, “Did it ever occur to you that he already knows?”



Jean shook her head. “You know how he feels about reading someone’s thoughts without their permission. So even if he were suspicious, I doubt he’d do that. At least one of them would’ve had to have been projecting – and neither of them have, or I would’ve *heard*.”



“Just do everyone a favor, Jean, and don’t go running to Charles with this. Let me talk to her.”



“Very well,” she acquiesced, “You have until the end of the week to come up with a solution – or I’ll deal with this my way.” It was only partially an empty threat – because she didn’t want to be the one to deal such a devastating blow to Charles, but would if it became absolutely necessary.



Scott’s relief at this deferment quickly dissipated with the realization that he didn’t have a clue how to solve this dilemma if Marie refused to give up her lover.





~*~*~*





The next few days proved to be stressful for several of the mansion’s residents.



Jean was actually nervous at the prospect of having to tell Charles about Marie’s betrayal, Scott was worried that she’d lose patience and tell him before the one-week deadline they’d agreed to – and Marie was jittery waiting for the whole thing to implode.



The situation became even tenser after Charles asked Logan to act as Marie’s bodyguard and accompany her to San Francisco – where she’d be representing the Xavier Institute at a conference.



“Is his telepathy out of whack, or what?” Jean asked incredulously upon hearing about Logan’s new assignment.



“He had to have picked up something by now,” Scott replied, “I’m not a telepath and even I’ve noticed they’ve been acting strangely in the last day or so.”



“I should talk to him – do a little fishing.”



“No – don’t,” he implored, “because you’re lousy at subterfuge.”



“Is this about your surprise birthday party that wasn’t such a surprise? Because that wasn’t my fault, Mr. Nosy Pants.”



“Honey, you’re a great doctor and a kick-ass superhero – but you’re not 007 Spy material.”



“Fine,” she reluctantly conceded, “I won’t attempt to find out if he’s suspicious.”





~*~*~*





Marie was in her room scanning her closet for outfits for the conference – the bed was already littered with clothes and shoes.



Logan entered without bothering to knock.



“If you’re gonna pack something sexy – and I hope you do – you better hide it between a couple of pairs of granny panties,” he suggested.



“Logan!”



“What?” he asked with feigned surprise.



“Oh stop,” Marie admonished with a small smile.



Logan scratched his chin in thoughtful contemplation, “As I recall, you were telling me not to stop …”



“Don’t be so damn proud of yourself,” she interrupted.



“Well, I am the best at what I do,” he replied with a naughty grin.



“Which is irritating the shit outta me,” Scott said as he walked into the room.



“Damnit, doesn’t anyone knock?” Marie asked, “What if I was indecent?”



Logan scowled at the big grin that flashed across Scott’s face. He didn’t need to be psychic to know exactly what image the X-Men leader had just conjured up.



Quickly regaining his composure – because that’s one of the things that Scott did best – he said, “Charles wants to discuss some of the topic points for the conference.”



“Sure. Tell him I’ll be right down,” Marie replied, “So – if you’ll both excuse me.”



The two men bumped into each other in their less than graceful retreat from the room.





~*~*~*





An hour later Charles and Marie were winding down their discussion of the subjects that needed to be addressed at the conference when Logan strode into the office.



“Thanks, Martha, that should do it,” Charles said, dismissing his secretary who’d been taking notes.



She nodded in acknowledgement, got up and walked out – closing the door behind her.



“Logan and I need to finalize some security details and logistics,” Charles informed Marie as Logan dropped into the leather chair next to hers.



“I’m guessing that five minutes into this and my eyes are going to glaze over, right?” she asked.



“Too much planning is bullshit,” Logan announced, “Anyone even thinks of pulling a stunt and they’re gonna get gutted. That’s my security plan.”



“Well, humor me,” Charles requested with a sigh.



He then went on to outline a plan that neither of the room’s other two occupants had anticipated.



~*~*~*





The next day Jean stood on the balcony overlooking the west lawn watching the smaller of the two Blackbirds lift off into the morning sky. The situation with Logan and Marie had still not been resolved and she was a dizzying combination of frustrated, mad and heartbroken. Scott wanted her to wait and give Marie more time to confess to Charles, but she felt that one of them would slip and he’d find out anyway.



Little did she know that just a mere few hours later, something would happen that would make it all irrelevant.