It was killing him to see the broken look in Marie’s eyes. The light that he normally saw in Marie’s dark brown eyes was gone. When he had kissed her on the forehead, Logan had hoped to give her something of himself. The touch was very brief, but it had still been enough for Marie’s skin to begin absorbing him. Once he was sure that he had reasserted his presence in her mind, Logan pulled back, smiling softly at her.
“You sure do know how to get a guy’s attention, kid,” Logan murmured, smoothing his fingers through her hair. “I damn near ran off the road when I heard you screaming.”
Marie smiled softly, turning her head more towards his. “Sorry, sugah. Ya were the only person Ah could think o’ ta help me.”
“Soon as I heard you, U turned around and got here as fast as I could,” Logan told her, allowing his gloved hand to trail down the side of her face. “I’ve never been so scared of anything in all my life. I had no clue what was happening and that scared the shit out of me.”
“Scared the shit outta me too,” Marie agreed, shifting slightly on the bed. She made a noise and began flexing her arms.
Glancing down at her wrists, Logan felt an angry growl building up in the back of his throat. he quelled it, though, not wanting to upset Marie.
“Jeanie, why is Marie strapped down to the bed?” Logan demanded, his voice low and lethal. He kept his eyes trained on Marie’s face, unwilling to let her out of his sight for even a moment.
“She keeps trying to hurt herself, Logan. I don’t want to sedate her so this is my only other option,” the doctor explained from somewhere off to his left.
“Take them off, Jeanie,” Logan ordered, his tone soft, but still holding a definite edge.
“I’m sorry, Logan, but I can’t--”
Reaching out blindly with his left hand, Logan grabbed hold of Jean’s lab coat and yanked her in his direction. There were shouted protests from the room’s other inhabitants, but Logan paid them no mind. All that mattered to him was Marie and the fact that she was extremely uncomfortable in the restraints. Besides which, it wasn’t as though she actually needed to wear them.
“Take the damn restraints off her, Jean,” Logan growled, his anger slowly increasing. “She doesn’t need them.”
“Logan, Rogue is not the one in charge of her body right now,” Chuck tried to intervene.
“Doesn’t seem that way to me, Chuckles,” Logan snarled, extending his claws only inches away from Jean’s face.
With a several lightning quick movements, Logan sliced through the restraints, freeing Marie. With a muffled whimper, Marie rolled onto her side and into Logan’s arms. She buried her face against his shoulder as his strong arms gathered her tiny body against his larger frame. His grip on her tightened when she broke out into sobs a few moments later, the hitching sound of her tears making his heart ache.
“It’s all right now, kid. I’m gonna take care of you now,” Logan whispered in her ear as he pressed a featherlight kiss to her temple.
Logan tensed when peals of taunting laughter began reverberating through his body. It wasn’t Marie, he knew that for certain. Marie’s laughter never sounded so dark.
“That’s gotta be the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard,” Marie’s voice snickered as she pulled away from Logan and folded her hands behind her head. “I figured you for the grunting, growling type of guy. Gotta say, though, the little girl has good taste.”
This time, Logan did growl. “Get the fuck outta her head, bitch. You don’t belong.”
“See, that’s just a matter of opinion,” the Non-Marie said. “My body was dying and I heard about your little girl’s power so I thought I’d give it a try.... In case you can’t tell, it worked like a charm. I have a new body now. One that isn’t sick.”
“No, you just have a mind that is sick,” Logan countered, struggling to remind himself that it wasn’t his Marie that was talking.
Non-Marie snorted when she heard that and rolled her eyes. “This from the disgusting old pervert who’s chasing after a little girl’s skirt. You could probably make that old guy in the chair seem young and you’re lusting after a girl who’s isn’t legal drinking age. Hell, you make me look like Mother Teresa.”
Logan was normally good at ignoring comments like that. He could brush them off without a second thought. When it was Marie’s voice that said such hateful things it felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Logan bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to block out the callous words that were spewed from the lips of the woman he loved. The only person in the past fifteen years that he had allowed himself to love fully and completely.
Marie’s back arched slightly and a pained whimper escaped her lips. When she laid flat on the table again there were tears shining in her eyes. Rolling back onto her side, she reached a shaking hand towards his face and touched his cheek. Logan made a whining noise a the contact and allowed a single tear to escape past his lashes.
“That wasn’t me, sugah. Ah could never say somethin’ like that t’ ya. Ah love ya, Logan,” Marie whispered vehemently, pouring every ounce of emotion into her words.
“I know, kid,” Logan said softly, his head falling forward so that it rested on Marie’s abdomen. He turned his head towards her, cracking an eye open and giving her a crooked smile. “My nerves are just a little frazzled, kid. It’s better just to ignore me right now.”
“Does that mean Ah hafta ignore the fact that ya said ya loved me?” Marie said, completely seriously. Logan could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she fought to keep the impish smile from her face.
Logan reached out and entwined his fingers with hers. “That depends on you, kid. Do you want to forget that I said it.?”
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Marie shook her head. “Never in a million years, sugah. It’s the most amazin’ thin’ Ah’ve ever heard.”
“Then I want you to make sure that you never forget it. No matter what, Marie. I love you. Only you.” With that, Logan brought their joined hands to his face and pressed a kiss against her palm. He could feel the heat of her skin through the silky material of her glove.
“Have you ever heard of the word: pedophile?” the Non-Marie inquired, turning Marie’s soft smile into a hateful sneer. “`Cause I think it’s something you should look up, big guy. Hey, I’ll bet ya ten bucks that you’ll find your picture right next to the definition.”
Logan sat up quickly, breaking all contact with Marie.
“Do you wanna see what I can do?” the Non-Marie asked. a giddy look on her face.
Before Logan even had a chance to respond he found himself flat on his back with a pissed off Marie straddling his waist.... A pissed off Non-Marie straddling his waist, he reminded himself. Despite the fact that in body and voice it was his Marie, the person controlling his Marie’s actions and words was most certainly not his Marie.
“Ah don’t wanna hurt ya,” Marie whispered, breaking through the other woman’s control for a moment. Her eyes got soft and Logan knew for a fact that it was his Marie.
Logan could sense Jean, Scooter and Storm making their way towards them and held up a hand to still them. “Get the fuck outta the room,” Logan snarled, his eyes never leaving Marie’s. “If I’m gonna do this I’m gonna do it without you interfering.”
“Logan, are you sure that’s wise?” Storm asked.
Logan shrugged his shoulders, watching as the softness left Marie’s face and she was the Non-Marie again. “Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna do it whether it’s wise or not.”
Neither Logan or the Non-Marie moved until Chuck and his little X-Geeks left the room and shut the door behind them. Logan was pretty confident that they were watching everything from the observation room, but could have cared less. As long as they didn’t come in he was happy.
The Non-Marie began to rotate her hips, grinding herself against Logan. “Does the Big Bad Wolf wanna have fun with Little Red Riding Hood? Won’t I need a red cape for this? With nothing on underneath?”
Logan ground his teeth together, reminding himself once again that it wasn’t his Marie that was talking.
Slowly, and with a gentleness that only his Marie could posses, the Non-Marie began to unbutton his shirt, grinding her hips the entire time. When she reached his waist and the thick leather belt he wore, she tugged his shirt free and spread it wide, exposing his well muscled chest.
“My my my, someone’s been working out,” the Non-Marie cooed, trailing a gloved finger along the centre of his chest. She ground down against Logan exceptionally hard then causing him to jerk. “Seems that the Big Bad Wolf is enjoying himself. Aren’t you, Wolfman?”
Forgive me, kid, Logan whispered to Marie, his voice deceptively calm.
Moving with the speed of a striking tiger, Logan reached out and pulled the Non-Marie down onto his chest. She didn’t even have a chance to protest before his hands were buried in her hair and he had his lips locked tightly against hers.
Logan kissed Marie with everything he had in him, knowing that this was probably going to be the only time he would be able to kiss Marie with no barriers between them. Logan forced as much of himself into her as he could, helping Marie shoved her unwelcomed visitor into the far reaches of her subconscious. Logan could feel himself weakening with each second that passed, but held on tight as the Non-Marie struggled against him, trying to pull herself away from him.
Marie began to kiss him back suddenly and Logan knew that it had worked.
Let go, sugah, ‘fore ya kill yerself,Marie whispered to him softly.
Logan let his arms fall to his sides, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. Welcome back, Marie.