End Of The Road

Title: End Of The Road
Author: Karen
Email: kittenrescue@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Marvel, Fox, yada, yada, yada.
Feedback: Second only to ice cream.
Summary: I was re-reading Terri’s “Christmas Miracle” http://www.peephut.org/fic/xtras/xmasmiracles.html and this plot bunny appeared out of nowhere and latched itself onto my delicate heine. I loved the premise of Terri’s story and decided to put my own twist on it. So here’s the result.


(Logan’s POV)


I think it was Jean’s realization that Marie had a crush on me that spurred her into action. I guess Jean thought I’d try and find out just how big of a crush the kid had and maybe even act on it, 'cause she suddenly became a lot more receptive to my flirting and even initiated a little of her own. That naturally pissed off both Marie and Scooter. I enjoyed inflicting torture on Scooter, it was a fun hobby, but I didn’t like knowing I was hurting Marie. She was still just a kid and deserved someone better than me, so I never acted on my attraction to her, which of course she took as total rejection. Marie sulked, pouted and tried to make me jealous by dating Bobby. Scooter handled it by giving me the most dangerous assignments; which usually only landed me in the medlab, so that plan kinda backfired. The last time I was down in the medlab I woke up to discover Jean skimming her hands over my stomach in a light caress. I grabbed a hold of her wrist and told her if she wanted to feel me up could she at least wait until I was awake so I could enjoy it, too. Of course, Marie chose that exact moment to come visit me and walked in to find Jean demonstrating a new definition to the expression ‘bedside manner’.

Jean didn’t appreciate it when she hit the floor with a hard thud when I quickly shoved her offa me. I grabbed a pair of sweats and took off after the retreating Marie. By the time I reached her room she’d already gone inside and locked the door. When I pounded on it I was greeted by a slew of words that would’ve made a sailor blush. After sitting outside the room for an hour, I took the hint she wasn’t planning on talking to me anytime soon, so I reluctantly returned to my own room figuring I’d be able to talk to her in the morning when she’d had a chance to calm down. I hadn’t planned on her being gone by the time I went back at daybreak.

Scott had smuggled Marie outta the mansion in the middle of the night and took her to his grandparent’s place in Alaska. My relationship with Marie was over before it even had a chance to start and Scott refused to forgive Jean. In the end, my fling with Jean turned out to be a one-time boink, but it had successfully destroyed two other people in the process.

I knew Marie was still in touch with her little friends Jubilee and Kitty, but even under the threat of torture, they bravely refused to divulge her location. Even Scott’s frequent visits to Anchorage didn’t clue me in. I wouldn’t find out where she was for two years.

It was Scott’s grandparent’s retirement and the selling of their airline charter business that finally brought Marie back to Westchester. Scott warned me ahead of time that she was returning, but he failed to mention she wouldn’t be alone.

I was sitting in the kitchen nursing a Molson’s, trying to act casual when I heard Scott and Marie approach. When she walked into the kitchen I caught my breath. I think she was even more beautiful than I remembered. She’d grown up a lot in two years, from shy sometimes awkward eighteen year-old to confident young woman. All those curves that had held such promise two years ago had realized their goal. Unfortunately, balanced on the curve of one hip was a beautiful baby girl about a year old. Marie had had a baby! To say that you coulda knocked me over with a feather at that point was an understatement. I nearly choked on my mouthful of beer.

“Hey, Logan,” Marie said casually, like she’d never been away, like she’d never had a baby with some man who obviously wasn’t me.

“I’ll warm up Sara’s bottle,” Scott said, taking the baby from Marie.

Sara. That was the name of the baby who wasn’t mine. My heart sunk into my boots and a lump formed in my throat.

“Sara. She’s beautiful, Marie. How old is she?” I finally managed to choke out.

“Thank you. She’ll be a year old in three days,” Marie replied nonchalantly. If she noticed the pain that flickered across my face she refused to acknowledge it.

“And we’re gonna have a big party,” Jubilee said, announcing her arrival in the kitchen. She walked over hugged Marie and then went over and placed a kiss on the baby’s cheek, “You’re even more beautiful than your pictures, cupcake.”

Marie had sent pictures? Just then Kitty entered the kitchen and threw her arms around Marie.

“I heard you and Sara were back. It’s good to have you home, Rogue,” Kitty said and then went over to coo at the baby.

A steady stream of visitors poured into the kitchen once word spread that Marie was back. Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know about Sara.

When Marie got up to leave, I asked her if we could talk and felt like I’d been hit with something heavy when she informed me we had nothing to talk about. I sat there in stunned silence as she walked out of the kitchen with Scott.

I avoided the baby’s birthday party three days later, instead spending my time in a local watering hole slugging back enough booze to give an elephant alcohol poisoning and then going home with a willing cocktail waitress. By the time I got back the next day I discovered that Scott, Marie and the baby had left for a mini vacation in Jamaica. When they returned a week later rested and tanned I was beyond pissed off. Marie and Scooter appeared to be getting closer and ‘that’ was not sitting right with me. Marie was allowing Scott to play surrogate daddy to Sara and seeing the three of them together acting like a happy little family was making me nauseous. If Marie was intending to pay me back for hurting her with Jean, she was doing a bang up job of it, cause my heart bled every time I saw her with One-Eye.

I finally cornered Marie late one night when she was raiding the freezer for some ice cream. I demanded answers and was shocked when she not so politely refused to indulge me. She informed me that I’d given up the right to be a part of her life the minute I climbed onto Jean. I asked her how long she was planning on punishing me for that stupid mistake. She told me that she wasn’t punishing me she’d simply gotten on with her life and recommended I do the same. I felt like I’d been sucker punched in the gut and just watched in a daze as she calmly walked out of the kitchen.

The next afternoon I caught Scott in the garage working on Marie’s SUV and decided it was time for a little ‘chat’ man-to-man. I informed him that I didn’t appreciate him taking up all of Marie’s time and that I couldn’t make the plan to win her back work with him constantly in the picture. He just laughed at me. The bastard actually snorted in my face. He told me that he had no intentions of stepping aside, that he was in fact making his own plans for Marie’s future. Then he said something that made my blood run ice cold.

“Logan, Sara is ‘my’ daughter.”

(Marie’s POV)


I couldn’t believe it when I walked into the medlab and saw Jean straddled on Logan. I literally thought my eyes were gonna fall out of my head. I turned around and got the hell out of there as quickly as possible. A few minutes later when Logan pounded on my door I called him every cuss word I could think of. He actually sat outside for a good solid hour before finally taking the hint that I wasn’t going to let him in so I could listen to some lame ass excuse. I went to Scott to tell him what happened; which I realized would hurt him, too, but I thought he ought to know. I told him I was leaving, because I just couldn’t sit around and watch the Logan and Jean porno show. He suggested I go to his grandparents place in Alaska and after making a phone call, everything was arranged. I’d always wanted to see Alaska anyway, so that was fine by me. We left later that night after saying my goodbyes to Kitty and Jubilee and promising to stay in touch.

Scott stayed for a week, playing tour guide and helping me get settled. His grandparents were wonderful. They gave me a job working in the office of their charter airlines business and I lived in their guesthouse. Alaska was as breathtakingly beautiful as I’d imagined and I quickly adjusted to my new home.

Although I did cry myself to sleep for the first few weeks, even Kitty’s phone call to let me know that Logan and Jean weren’t an item did nothing to appease me. Scott and I spoke on the phone everyday, I think it was comforting for both of us. I was so upset for him that he had to still live under the same roof as Logan and Jean. He told me that going out on missions with them wasn’t easy, but he tried to put on his best Fearless Leader persona. I really admired that about him.

Scott came to visit often and our previously close friendship started to turn romantic. All those walks in the snow holding hands and sipping hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire how could it not? When Scott came to visit for my birthday, he brought with him a modified version of the suppression collar used on Genosha that Hank had designed, except this was a bracelet that resembled one of those copper healing bracelets that were so popular. I could finally touch people without killing them or ending up with ‘voices’ in my head. Scott also wore one of the bracelets and I was the first person after Hank to see those amazing baby blue eyes. We celebrated that night by making love for the first time. By now it wasn’t about revenge; it was because we wanted to be together. It was tender, but also passionate. It was also the night that Sara was conceived.

Six weeks later when I suspected I was pregnant, Scott insisted on flying to Alaska to be there when I did the test. Did I mention that I love that man? When the little stick turned blue we celebrated by making love all afternoon. He asked me to marry him, but I told him I didn’t want a clichéd shotgun wedding. Over the next seven and a half months Scott would visit as often as he could, making sure he was there for all the important milestones: the first time hearing the heartbeat and the first ultrasound. We were lying in bed just snuggling one morning early in my fourth month when the baby decided to kick for the first time. Scott skimmed his hand gently across the small swell of my stomach and managed to catch a few more ripples as his child moved within me, the grin across his face was priceless.

I e-mailed photos to Jubilee and Kitty as my pregnancy progressed with strict instructions not to let anyone else know, particularly Logan. I swore I’d never speak to either one of them again, if a certain wild Canadian showed up on my doorstep asking questions I didn’t want to answer.

Two days past my original due date Sara entered the world at a healthy seven pounds five ounces. Her father cut the umbilical cord and helped to bathe her. As I cradled her in my arms for the first time he asked me to marry him again and once again I politely declined. When I sent the first photo of the three of us, Kitty wrote back and asked if it was okay to show Bobby and John. Knowing how much they both disliked Logan and would keep my secret, I conceded.

Scott’s visits became more frequent and he was lucky to be able to catch most of his daughter’s ‘firsts’ – like the first time she sat alone for more than thirty seconds or the first time she did more than just rock back and forth on her haunches, but actually crawled. He arrived for a visit the day after she cut her first tooth, but was there the first time she stood alone. She would walk around the coffee table or if you held her hands and guided her along. I took video of him walking her around the living room of his grandparent’s house, her chubby little hands wrapped around his fingers as he beamed proudly.

When his grandparents decided to finally retire and sell the charter business Scott used it as the perfect excuse for me to return to Westchester. I was initially leery, but figured that enough time had passed and I could be under the same roof as Logan and Jean without cringing.

The evening we returned I was noticeably nervous, I wasn’t sure how I’d handle seeing Logan after having no contact for so long. I strolled into the kitchen casually with Sara perched on my hip as if I hadn’t been gone for two years and hadn’t had a baby during my absence.

“Hey, Logan,” I said brightly, hoping the quiver in my voice didn’t betray me.

I thought he was gonna choke on his beer when he looked up and noticed Sara.

“I’ll warm up Sara’s bottle,” Scott offered as he took her out of my arms.

“Sara,” Logan repeated, “She’s beautiful, Marie. How old is she?” He asked, trying to sound casual, but I noticed the catch in his voice.

“Thank you,” I replied politely, “she’ll be a year old in three days.”

Just then Jubilee entered the kitchen, followed shortly right after by Kitty, negating any further conversation with Logan. I saw his face fall when Jubilee mentioned the photos I’d sent. I still can’t believe Jubilee managed to keep a secret, I must remember to call the Guinness Book of World Records. The word must’ve quickly spread that we were back, because it seemed like the entire population of the mansion was crammed into the kitchen.

As we got up to leave so that I could put Sara to bed, Logan grabbed a hold of my arm and asked if we could talk. I told him we had nothing to discuss and continued walking, trying to ignore the look of dejection on his face.

Three days later Logan was noticeably absent from Sara’s birthday party. Jean thankfully was still attending a Senate hearing in Washington, DC so I was able to avoid that awkwardness. By the time Scott, Sara and I left for Jamaica the next morning Logan was still nowhere to be found in the mansion. John said he was probably still in some tramp’s bed. Well, good for him I thought bitterly. Some things apparently never changed.

I knew it would be uncomfortable being around Logan, but his hangdog expression whenever he saw me with Scott made my heart ache. I was pleasant to him, but remained distant – afraid to trust him with more than casual friendship. Logan obviously wasn’t aware of the depth of my relationship with Scott, that he spent his nights in my room and most importantly was Sara’s father. Scott and I talked about the best time to break the news to Logan, but the weeks dragged on and we never did find that right moment. As Logan accelerated his flirting with me in some plan to change the scope of our relationship, I realized he’d have to be told sooner than later. In Jamaica I’d finally accepted Scott’s long-standing marriage proposal and it wouldn’t do to have Logan shamelessly chasing after me if I was going to be wearing Scott’s ring. After all, I wasn’t Jean; an engagement ring meant something to me. It meant commitment – one hundred percent commitment and not just until the offer of a quick roll in the sack with a hot guy became too tempting.

I was raiding the freezer late one night after Scott and I had just discovered new uses for whipped cream, when Logan cornered me demanding explanations. After I got over the initial shock at his audacity, I calmly told him he’d given up the right to be a part of my life when he climbed onto Jean. He asked me how long I was going to punish him for that one small mistake. I informed him that he was flattering himself if he thought I was punishing him, that I’d simply gotten on with my life – something I highly recommended he do, too. I turned and walked out of the kitchen doing my best not to be affected by the wounded look on his face.

The next day Logan confronted Scott in the garage as he tuned up my SUV. Scott finally found the right moment to let Logan know just how close he and I’d become while I was in Alaska.