Pick Your Poison - Chapter Two Title:  Pick Your Poison Author:  Terri E-mail:  xgrrl26@yahoo.com Rating:  PG-13, this chapter Disclaimer:  I only own Mary, such as she is ;) Archive:  WRFA, Mutual Admiration, and the Peep Hut - anyone else, please ask and I'll say yes ;) Feedback:  Please!  Pretty please?  And votes too ;)  Good, bad, and ugly welcome, but be forewarned that flames will be publicly mocked Summary:  Chapter two - by popular vote, Mary's mutation makes itself known on the ride back to Logan's place. Comments:  Thanks to everyone who voted!  I was surprised to get so many votes and I was surprised at the winner - I thought you'd all vote for option 1, and that came in last.  I can see you're going to be an unpredictable bunch, aren't you ;) --------------------------------------------------- "Are we almost there yet?" Mary inquired as they entered the fourth hour of the drive. "Yeah," Logan responded, with a quick backward glance.  "You need somethin'?  You doin' OK?" "Um, it's just that I, uh, have to use the bathroom.  Pretty soon."  Actually, she felt like her kidneys had been about to explode for the past hundred kilometers.  She hadn't wanted to say anything - the couple had been so nice to her, and she didn't want to do anything to rock the boat - but she could wait no longer.  "Uh, well, it's 'bout another fifty kilometers or so.  About another half hour.  If you, ah, don't wanna wait that long, we can pull over to the side of the road.  I think we got some tissues back there."  "If - if you wouldn't mind, that would be great."  Mary gave a small, embarrassed smile and looked around for the tissues.  Rogue turned around and pointed in their general direction, then gave her a bolstering grin.  Mary found herself liking the quiet woman quite a bit, and sympathizing with her even more after hearing Logan tell her story.  "How 'bout over here?  There's some trees."  Logan drifted to the shoulder and finally came to a stop.  Mary muttered a shy 'thanks' and grabbed the box of tissues before hurriedly exiting and making her way into the woods.  "How 'bout you, darlin'?  How're you holdin' up?" Marie made a small frown, and took one of Logan's hands in both of her gloved ones.  She traced her thumb across his palm and knuckles for a few moments.  He knew she was still thinking about their encounter with the x-men. "It's gonna be OK."  Marie let out a sigh and gave a small nod, but she still wasn't meeting Logan's eyes.  "Hey - I'm not gonna let 'em take nothin' away from me, especially you.  You, me, the kids, we're all gonna be fine."  Marie tried to smile a little. "We knew this would happen someday.  We knew that eventually they'd get Cerebro up and runnin' again, no matter how bad I busted it up.  We knew they'd come knockin' on our door one day.  All we gotta do now is just stay on guard, be on the lookout.  They'll get the message that they're not wanted 'round here soon enough.  And if they don't, well, then, I'll convince 'em."  Logan said that last part in a low, ominous tone.  "I'm not gonna let anybody take anythin' that belongs to me."  Marie's eyes finally did meet his then, and her gaze was worried, intense.  He could tell she wanted to believe him but she was still feeling threatened and unsure.  She also had a certain look about her at the moment, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, this would be one of the times she'd try to say something.  In the past few weeks, she'd said a handful of words.  Always only one word at a time, and always when she was alone with Logan.  Most of the time, the words came when they were in bed together, after they'd made love.  So far, she'd said 'love,' 'Logan,' and 'safe.'  Once, Marie had been driving with Logan and shouted out (well, it was a shout compared to her usual soft-spokeness or complete silence) 'Moose!' when one had sauntered onto the roadway and into the path of their vehicle.  Logan always tried to encourage her when she did speak - telling her he loved hearing her talk, loved her voice, letting her know it was OK if she wanted to talk normally again now - but what seemed most effective was when he hugged and kissed her after she'd said something.  He waited now to see what she'd do.  She held onto his hand more tightly and pursed her lips, seemingly trying to gather her nerve or find just the right word.  Hank had suspected that Marie's speaking difficulties were just that - limited to speaking.  She seemed to have a good grasp of language, seemed to remember how to read and write, and did not have problems understanding others.  Hank attributed her lack of speech to psychological trauma, theorizing that something fairly God-awful had happened in response to her speaking or that she perceived as in response to her having spoken.  The way Marie had blanched when Hank told them his theory gave it strong support.   "Hurt," Marie whispered finally, her eyebrows knitted together in concern.  "No.  No."  Logan shook his head emphatically and put his free hand to Marie's cheek.  He ran his leather-encased thumb back and forth over the line of her cheekbone.  "Nobody's ever gonna hurt ya again, Marie.  Never.  I swear that I - "  Logan cut himself off when Marie began shaking her head no.  She was wearing an incredibly sad frown now, and she lifted a hand to point at him, her fingertip gently stabbing into his chest.  "No, darlin', I'm not gonna get hurt either.  I promise."  Logan mentally kicked himself for not having guessed that.  In the beginning, Marie clung to him around the clock.  Even things like showers and trips to the bathroom could not be performed alone without throwing Marie into a state of near hysteria.  When they'd met Hank, one of the first pieces of advice he'd given them as their doctor was the very common-sense adage that perhaps they should simply avoid doing things that upset Marie for a while.  Logan liked Hank right off.  After getting to know them better, Hank had theorized that Marie associated Logan being in sight with her being safe, and him being out of sight with her being in serious jeopardy.  Hank had prescribed small separations, no more than a minute or so at first, to try to get Marie acclimated to the idea that Logan would return and nothing bad would happen in the meantime.  Now, Marie didn't begin to get edgy until a half hour or so had passed.  Still, he should've realized the thought that he might get hurt, might be separated from her for a long time, would worry her.  Logan hugged Marie to him, rocking her a little as he did.  "It's all gonna be OK, Marie.  It's all gonna be OK.  I won't get hurt.  I won't leave you, I promise."  He felt her nod against his shoulder and he pulled back from her a little to see what her expression looked like.  Worried, but bucking up, captured it nicely, he thought.  He decided to give her a little more encouragement.  "Hey, that was a new word.  You're sayin' lotsa things now."  That did get him a small smile.  "I missed hearin' your voice, darlin', it's been a little while."  That got him a blush *and* a smile, so he pressed on.  "'Course, I like it best when you say you love me." "Love," Marie readily complied in a whisper, warmth and affection spreading over her face.  "Love you too."  Logan kissed her head gently and caught sight of Mary heading toward them over Marie's shoulder as he parted from her.  "Here she comes."  Marie gave him one last glowing smile, then sunk back into her seat.  Mary returned, tissue box in hand, and hopped back in to the car.  "Good to go?" Logan inquired.  "Yeah.  Thanks.  I  - "  Mary cut herself off and became suddenly frightened, suddenly very tense.  "Oh-oh." "What's the - "  Before Logan could finish his question, he felt the SUV begin to rise off the ground.  "Uh" "Oh, God, I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!"  Logan looked around in confusion, seeking an attacker of some sort.  He only saw woods all around them.  He looked back to check on Mary and realization dawned on him as she yelled out another 'I'm sorry!' and got more frantic by the second.  It was her.  "What's goin' on?" "Sorry!"  The girl grabbed the bottom of her car seat with both hands, but began to float a little off of it nonetheless.  Logan, too, was floating out of his seat.  He rose until he bumped the top of his head on the roof.  Marie, seat-belted in, simply looked out the window in distress at their increasing altitude and back over at Logan. "What's goin' on?  Are you doin' this?"  "Sorry!" Logan took a deep breath and tried to form an even expression.  "It's OK.  Is it - is it your mutation doin' this?"  Mary nodded tearfully, still fighting to hold herself to the seat.  "Can you make it stop?" "I - I can't control it.  It - it just comes and goes and I don't know how to turn it off!"  "Shit," Logan cursed as they continued to float upwards.  He and Marie, thanks to her inheritance of Sabretooth's powers, would survive a drop from much higher than the few feet they had currently risen, but Mary would not.  In fact, she was likely to be seriously injured if they floated much higher.  "Look, kid, put on your seatbelt."  Mary remained frozen, gripping the seat.  "Your seat belt, put it on, now!"  That shook her out of her fog a little, and Logan tried to soften his tone when he spoke again.  "I'm gonna try somethin'.  You just make sure you're all belted in there, OK?"  Mary nodded, panicked and fumbling with the latch of the belt.  "Now just relax.  Breathe deep, in and out."  She tried to comply, but her breaths were shaky.  Logan continued in a soft, soothing tone, "OK, OK, that's good, just keep going, that's - BOOOOO!" "Eeek!"  Mary yipped at Logan's sudden scare and the car dropped to the ground like a stone.  After a bounce or two, the vehicle came to rest.  Logan looked at Marie, who looked back at him, and then they both looked back at Mary.  As soon as they saw that she appeared to be all right, just a little shaken up, Marie let out a giggle. "What?"  Logan asked as he cocked an eyebrow and looked at Marie.  She pulled the corners of her mouth down, then flicked at him with both hands, mimicking a scare.  "It was all I could think of.  You know, like with hiccups."  Marie dissolved into more laughter.  "I'm so, so sorry," Mary said from the back seat, a little confused by their reaction.  "Aw, it's all right, kid.  No worries.  Just glad we got down before the damn thing got too high up.  You coulda been hurt."  Logan guessed that they'd dropped from about ten or twelve feet up.  He hoped that the car was still intact.  Everything seemed mostly OK. "I really didn't mean to.  It's - it's just that I can't control it." "Well, we can see if Hank can help ya out there.  Whaddya say we get goin'?  He's probably waitin' on us."  Marie calmed her giggles, and Logan started the car.  Once again, they were off.  "Greetings and salutations!"  Mary started a little, then remembered Logan's description of Hank.  Still, the polite, erudite tones did not quite match his outward animalistic appearance.  "You must be Mary."  Hank extended his hand to her as she closed the car door behind her. "Yes.  Hi.  Nice to meet you."  Hank smiled broadly, showing his fangs.  Again, Mary thought how at odds his physical features were with his expressions.  "My name is Doctor Henry Phillip McCoy, Ph.D., but please feel free to address me as Hank." Logan slapped Hank's back as he passed him.  "Goin' inside to get some pop.  You guys want anythin'?" "No thank you," Hank answered politely. "Um - no, no."  Mary responded a little shyly.  Logan was about to ask her again, when he felt Marie tugging at his arm, directing him toward the store.  "Well, Mary - ah, is that your real name, Mary?"  Her eyes flew to the ground as he asked.  "I do not mean to offend, but, ah, it is not unusual for persons who find themselves in your situation to adopt an alias.  I would like to address you by your proper name," Hank finished hopefully.  "It's - it's really Isabella.  I don't like it that much.  My parents nick-named me Izzy." "Well, I think that's quite a nice name - it reminds one of Isabella, Queen of Spain, benefactor of Columbus."  Hank noticed the girl frowning at that and shuffling her feet.  "Or you can stick with Mary if you so choose.  Mary is quite a nice name as well." "I think I'll just stick with Mary for a while, if that's OK."  She lifted her head as she spoke, and caught Hank's nod.  "Logan - he said that you're a doctor?"  The fact that he'd just introduced himself as one and yet here she was asking, clued Hank in to what must be quite a bit of anxiety going on inside the girl.  She otherwise hid it well, Hank thought.   "Yes, that's right.  I have an MD as well as a Ph.D.  I have all the 'D' degrees," he added lightly, trying to put her at ease.  "Well, except perhaps for a JD, but then again, who would wish to be a lawyer?"  She smiled a little at that, and it gave Hank an opening.  "Are you well?  Do you need some medical help?"  She nodded.  "Would you like to tell me what your symptoms are?" "Not really, no, but..but I think I'm sick."  Hank nodded sympathetically and gestured for her to hop into Logan's SUV, much like he would usher one of the other children into his office back at home.  He closed the door behind her as she climbed in back, and he went around the vehicle to climb in and sit beside her.  "I realize that some things may be very personal and more than a little embarrassing, but I assure you, you can tell me.  I will keep things in confidence, if you so desire.  I can help you, ah, Mary?"  She smiled a little at that, then nodded and steadied herself.  "About a month ago, I was, ah, with this guy.  Since then, I've had, ah, some unusual bleeding, you know, down there."  She flushed red and stammered a little, but she managed to get the words out.  "Have you had a fever?" Hank inquired gently. "Not that I know of.  I haven't felt hot or had chills or anything like that." Hank nodded.  "Were you injured in that area?"  She nodded, and tears began to form in her eyes.  "I am so sorry.  When - when we return to the lab, I would like to do an examination.  Marie will stay with us while you are examined.  Would that be all right?" Mary nodded.  "No other people, though, OK?" "Of course not," Hank smiled gently.  "Are you in pain now?" "Not really.  It hasn't been that painful - just, the bleeding, you know, and it hasn't been that much blood." "Good."  Hank patted her hand reassuringly.  "I will have some other questions for you when we do the examination, but I think that if you are not in distress at the moment, they can wait.  Do you have any other medical questions for me?" "Can you help me control it, my mutation?"  She looked up at him with hopeful eyes.  Hank always wondered why that was so when he had so obviously failed to control his own mutation. "What is your mutation?"  "I - I don't really even know exactly.  I think it's levitation or floating or maybe doing something to gravity or something.  All I know is that I can't control it, it - it just happens.  I get a weird feeling a second before it kicks in but I don't know how to make it start or stop." 'We shall see what we can do," Hank said, trying for a reassuring tone.  They'd had some modest success with helping kids to control their powers, but it was a hard and difficult process.    Hank was about to say something else reassuring when he heard the front doors open.  "Hey," Logan called, entering the SUV and hefting a large bag in between the driver's and passenger's seats.  "Got some grub.  Gonna be about another four hours.  Hank, did Jason drop ya off?"  Jason was one of their first 'kids' - nineteen now, and a crossroads trucker.  Logan had butted heads with the strong-willed young man when he and Marie had first stumbled across him, but Jason had shaped up, gone to school, graduated, and gotten his commercial driver's license on the first try. Now, he stayed at the house between hauls, and helped out in transporting and looking for mutant kids when he could.   Logan was very proud of him. "Indeed.  He is headed all the way to Ontario this trip.  I was hoping to ride back with you all if that is agreeable."  Logan nodded gruffly and Hank snagged the bag.  "Ah, submarine sandwiches.  Delightful."  He passed one to Mary, along with a Pepsi, and they were once again underway.  In the far corner of the lot, Scott and Storm watched as Logan pulled out.  They'd been following Logan, Marie, and the girl from the air, in the blackbird, but were now switching to ground transportation, as arranged by the Professor.  The Ford Explorer they were driving was suitably nondescript, and Scott was ready with a plan to ensure that Logan would not spot them.  "She looks like she is doing very well," Storm commented.  "She looks so much better." "She does," Scott admitted.  "But what have they been doing all this time?  What did they mean by 'helping' that girl?" "And who is the large blue fellow?" Storm added.  "Hmmm.  Many questions," she mused. "And the Professor wants us to find out the answers.  Let's go."  Scott threw the car into gear, and followed them at a distance. Soooo - pick your poison: 1) We get to hear Hank's story (without interruption by the x-men - yet).yes, I have a big Hank-shaped soft spot ;) 2) We get to hear more about what happened to Marie back at the x-mansion, courtesy of Scott and Storm 3) We get to Logan's Home for Wayward Mutie Kids and get to learn a little more about the place and the current residents And the winner was #2.....NEXT