Terri's Peep Hut ~~ Fiction Archive

Winter In Banff (Part 1)

Title: Winter in Banff

E-mail: xgrrl26@yahoo.com

Rating: NC-17, violence and sexual content

Archive: WRFA, Dolphin Haven, Peep Hut - anyone else, please ask and I'll happily provide :)

Feedback: Please? Pretty please? Good, bad, and ugly welcome.

Summary: AU of Winter in Yellowstone. Logan rescues Marie and begins to build a
life and a home with her.

Comments: This story idea come to me in the middle of writing Summer in Yellowstone (which is still in progress.) and demanded that I stop everything and write it - don't you just love bunnies like that ;) I was reluctant to do it, because it's something that I've done a lot - AU takes on Logan and Marie meeting (the Alter-Eighteens were nothing but.) - but I'm fascinated by this post-virus, apocalyptic world, and, heck, I *like* writing AUs of them meeting ;) Plus, I realized that doing Winter in.. takes on this story universe would allow me to use (or kill off) different characters than I did in the original story. Once that thought occurred to me, I was sold ;) This was also inspired by two friends of mine - he's a ultra-geeky tech kind of guy who has very limited social skills and she's a warm, friendly, outgoing person. He once said to me that she 'humanized' him and that stuck with me - she really did take him out of himself, connect him to the world. That's kind of the concept behind this Logan. He doesn't see much in the world worth connecting to, but Marie opens him up to those possibilities :)

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Logan finished off anyone still moving as he made his way to the heart of the complex. It had been a bloody, costly battle, but it had been a decisive one. The mutants had survived the humans' best attempts at genocide through three grueling years of all-out war, and this, their last stronghold, was now in mutant hands. Game over, Logan thought sardonically, as he put an adamantium claw through the brain of one poor burned-up bastard.

He also reflected that Magneto had been right after all. The old man was long in his grave, but the words he'd said when he recruited Logan to the cause had proven true - there had been a war coming, and much more quickly than anyone thought. Logan wondered what the old man's counterpart, 'Charles' as Magneto often called him, Professor Xavier to the rest of the world, would think about it all now. That's another thing Magneto was right about, Logan thought, Xavier was a naïve, do-gooding idiot whose insistence on fighting fair got him killed in the end. It was too bad that so many other mutants had chosen his path, had gone down with him. The war could've been over a lot quicker than three years if they'd all been on Magneto's side.

Logan rounded the corner to see Sabretooth, Mystique, and a few other 'brothers,' as Magneto used to call them, facing off against a group of three women - an older, red-headed one missing an arm, a young brunette with a vivid streak of white in her long hair, and a black woman whose hair had gone all white somewhere along the way. The last was in bad shape - she wasn't long for this world, Logan could smell it - but the other two seemed relatively OK.

They wouldn't be for long. The typical protocol was to divide and share the spoils of war, as it were, and none of the brotherhood were especially gentle with enemy trophies. Most lived for a week, tops; eventually somebody got a little too rough or a little too carried away with them. Most were glad to see the end when it finally came. Logan didn't especially care for the practice, but he let it continue. It was a savage world, and throwing a few enemies to the troops kept them from turning on each other. Survival was the first priority, victory the second, and none beyond that mattered - Magneto had drilled that into Logan relentlessly. Logan didn't participate himself due to his distaste for the custom, but he did often exercise his option as the nominal leader of the group since Magneto's demise to have first pick. He usually tried to select the most innocent-looking of the bunch and give her a quick end. Sometimes, once or twice, he even let them go. But for the most part, Logan saw them as a fit with the brotherhood philosophy that the enemy had shown no mercy and therefore deserved none.

"They were attackin' from the north, same time as we came in from the south," Sabretooth answered. "Claim to be muties, usedta be fightin' on Xavier's side, or so they say."

"I thought mosta his were killed. Guy who took over was some idiot. Bad leadership." The red-head's eyes flashed at that, and Logan gave her a look. "You believe 'em?"

"My nose does." Sabretooth took a few steps closer to the group of women. The red-head and the brunette flinched back as he did, but they both remained by their fallen comrade's side. "Don't really matter now, I guess. It's over. Deal was we take what we want and go our own way if this worked out. Just gotta decide which one I want," he leered, and the brunette's eyes widened in surprise. Logan caught it, and put a restraining hand on Sabretooth's chest as he stepped in front of the man. For some reason, he had a strong instinctual urge to put himself between his partner in murder and mayhem and the young girl.

"That's the deal, but I'm still in charge until we bug out. I pick first." These were mutants, not exactly the enemy, but Logan knew he'd have a riot on his hands if he said the men couldn't have at them. He could spare one for himself, and that would pass without comment, but the other two would be thrown to the pack. He mentally crossed off the black woman first. She wasn't going to live much longer anyway, so her suffering would be short. That left the one-armed red-head and the girl. His groin voted for the red-head - he'd always had a predilection for them - but his gut said to take the girl. If three years of brutal war had taught him anything, it was to trust his gut. "That one."

The brunette skittered back when Logan pointed to her, and the red-head grabbed her arm to halt her progress. Somehow, Logan thought, she must realize the kid's getting the better end of the deal here. "Just go with him, Rogue," the red-head urged. "It'll be OK." No one still conscious in the room believed that lie, least of all the girl, who was now shaking her head. The red-head yanked her closer, whispering in her ear, so low that only Sabretooth and Logan could hear. "We're out of options. There's too many of them. It's over. It's either one man or dozens. What do you want?" Terrified brown eyes said that neither option was going to be acceptable, and the red-head gave up, releasing the girl and giving her a little shove in the process. "Go on, Rogue," she instructed.

Logan, not a patient man under the best of circumstances and markedly less so when someone he was trying to do a favor wasn't cooperating, snagged the girls arm and hauled her over. "Move it, kid." She didn't go along but didn't resist, so Logan kept dragging her by the arm. "I'm gonna take some of the weapons and food from the stores, and one of the Jeeps. Then I'm outta here." Sabretooth, technically his second in command, gave him a clipped nod, and that was it. Logan hustled the shell-shocked kid to the door. Her eyes trailed over his shoulder and stayed fixed on her friends. The last thing she saw was the brotherhood forces begin advancing on them.

After retrieving what he wanted from the compound and loading up one of the Jeeps, Logan shoved the girl in the passenger side, and shut the door after her. She hadn't said a word the whole time, and frankly, it was beginning to irritate him. For some reason, he didn't want her to be afraid of him. Very unusual for a man who typically reveled in the wide berth others gave him. "So, Rogue is it?"

She jumped, looked like she wanted to squirm out of her skin, then turned to stare at him. "Yes."

"I guess so." She pressed her back to the door, putting as much distance between them as was possible in the vehicle. "My friends, they - what - what - "

"You don't wanna know." Logan answered the unfinished question concisely as he turned the key in the ignition and set off.

At the motion of the car, she began squirming around a bit. "Wait - wait - we can't leave them. We have to - "

"Forget 'em, kid. Believe me, that'll be best." He watched the realization sink in, watched the fear slowly recede a bit behind it.

"Oh my god........" She'd turned completely now, and was looking out the back window.

"Forget about it." Underlining his words, he grabbed her arm and gently turned her back to face front. "Nothin' to be done 'bout it now." She grimaced, but settled. After a few moments of numb silence, she rotely fumbled for her seat belt and put it on. Logan let her absorb it all a while, then spoke again. "What's your real name?"

"If Rogue's your code name, what's your real one?"

Logan huffed, wondering if all the years of brutality had put simple conversation past his reach. "I'm just curious, that's why."

The girl didn't answer, but she did turn to face him a bit more and seemed to be gathering her courage. Instead of answering the question, though, she asked one. "What are you going to do with me?"

He almost answered 'whatever the hell I want, what do you think?' but then realized that the girl wouldn't be any easier hearing those words. "I'm takin' ya along with me. Got an idea of a place to go, up north inta what usedta be Canada." She didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but couldn't venture another question. "Look, just take it easy. I'm not gonna cut you up or anythin'." The way her eyebrows raced skyward told him that she hadn't even thought of that possibility. He wondered how she'd managed to hang on to so much innocence despite the war.

"My skin - you can't - my skin is my mutation. It sucks in the life force and powers of anyone who touches it. It kills." Logan smirked at her. She reeked of a lie.

"My mutation is healin'. Healin' and enhanced senses. You're full of shit, I can tell by the smell on ya. Your skin don't do nothin'." She frowned and burrowed back in her seat, and Logan was satisfied that he'd found her out. "Nice try, though. Creative. How'd you think that one up?"

"It used to be true," she said in a low and rueful voice. "But it - they had me in some lab and they changed it. First they made me absorb a mutant with healing powers - they were smart, they gave me that before they started screwing around and experimenting on me, so they'd know I'd live through whatever they did. Then they made it so I didn't kill with my skin. They tinkered with it so that somehow it stopped killing people. Now, I just take them in when they touch me - get their thoughts and feelings, that's all. I don't - I don't really remember much about being in the lab, but I saw my file."

"How'd you hook up with those other women?"

"I ran into them a few weeks ago. About a month ago, I guess. They destroyed the lab I was in." Logan nodded. She'd only been conscious and with it for a few weeks of this war - that explained a lot about how she'd held on to her innocence. "I remember before they got me - I remember that. We weren't at war then, not yet, so they must've had me a long time. But I lost - I don't know what all happened while I was there. I don't know what else they might've done to me."

"Sucks." Logan was a man concise in his commiseration. "So what's your real name?"

"I guess it's Rogue now."

"What kind of a name is Rogue?"

"I don't even know your name."

"Logan," he answered, meeting her eyes for a moment. "Now yours." The words came out in a demand, with unexpected force. Some part of Logan's mind wondered why it was so important to him that he know her real name.

"Marie," she answered uncomfortably, and turned her gaze back to the road before them.

"Nice name." She didn't respond to that. Logan wondered if his earlier tone had frightened her. "Anyhow, like I said, I'm headed to Canada. You ever been there?" Still not looking at him, she managed a shake of her head. "Well, you'll like it. It's nice. Mosta the Canadians got offed when that nutball crop dusted Ontario with the Legacy virus. Not too many people left up there, so it should be nice." With that, he realized that his enthusiasm at the human and mutant death toll that Legacy had wrought was probably not helping to ease Marie's fears. "I mean - it's just us and the animals for the most part. You know, kinda back-to-nature." She glanced at him, so he continued in that vein even though it sounded a little silly to his own ears. "We can do some fishin', some huntin', find a nice little place to hole up for the winter."

"So you're not going to let me go then?" She stole another glance, a much more nervous one this time.

"Go where, Marie? What's out there for ya? Not too damn many people, that's for sure. Not too damn many muties either, and you wouldn't wanna run across most of the kind of either that have managed to survive this far. You might as well stick with me. I'm about as good as it gets, kid."

"They were pretty nice to me," she whispered, and Logan knew she was talking about the two women. Her face drew into a frown and he began to smell tears on her. "I shouldn't have left them."

"Trust me, kid, bravery ain't all it's cracked up to be. If you'd have stayed, it wouldnta made a difference."

"Maybe it would've made a difference to them, meant something to them," she whispered through the tears.

"Maybe," Logan conceded, "but they wouldnta wanted that. They wouldnta wanted you to be in the same boat with them if you had a chance to get out. That's what the red-head toldya wasn't it?"

Marie nodded. "Jean. Her name was Jean."

"I'm sure they were nice," Logan offered, thinking that yes, three years of brutal war really had cut down on his ability to make coherent conversation. That had sounded trite and silly. "I'm sure they're not mad at you for goin'." That wasn't much better. Marie seemed to think so too - her soft crying suddenly snowballed into full-fledged sobs. Logan wanted to tell her not to cry, that she'd be OK, but he realized that she really was crying for the other women. Empathy was a novelty in this world. He didn't think he'd actually ever seen it before. He let her cry it out, and when the tears slowed, he spoke again. "I'm sorry for your loss." That was something he remembered from the civilized world, something people said at a time like this. "But neither one of us coulda done any more than what we did. I get to pick one, that's how it goes. Just one. Couldnta said nothin' else without incitin' a riot and then we'd all be stuck there now."

Marie turned to face him fully, blinking away tears. "Wait - you got to pick one? This was - this happened a lot?" Logan gave a shrug and a nod. Marie swallowed hard before asking her next question. "What happened to the other ones you picked when this happened before?"

Logan knew an honest answer was likely to bring more tears, and for herself this time, so he told her what was half of the truth. "I let them go, I set 'em off and told 'em good luck. They hadta take their chances out there, but at least they got some small hope of makin' it, of livin'."

"But you won't let me go."

"You're different," he answered without thinking, then realized how it sounded to her ears. "Not that I'm gonna hurt ya or do somethin' different like that."

"But you'll - you didn't bring me along for - for conversation. You want to have sex with me." Her whole body trembled with the words, and Logan tried, and failed, to think of something honest but reassuring.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I was thinkin' that."

"I can see that," he answered in a fairly even tone. "You ever had sex with anyone?"

"No. Or not - not that I know of. I don't know exactly what they did to me in the lab." She was still trembling and Logan decided to take a calculated risk. He put a hand on her thigh, and waited as her horrified eyes found his, then tried to make his expression open, genuine.

"All right. I won't make you." He gave her leg a pat then withdrew his hand. "I'd like to, though, just so you know, in case you decide you wanna." Judging by her scent and the way her body relaxed with his words, it had been the right gamble. He *did* want to have sex with her, and he was fairly determined that he *would,* but he'd told the truth. He wasn't going to force her to. Indebt her to him, take care of her, use a little creative psychology, do what he could to put her at ease and get her guard down - yes. Hurt her or force her - no. It would be something of a challenge, and Logan liked those.

"Thanks," she breathed in amazement, sinking back into the seat. "I really appreciate that."

"You're welcome," he answered, letting the quiet settle in between them in the wake of his words. In a few dozen kilometers, she was asleep, proving that she'd believed him. That pleased Logan, and he drove on wearing the first smile his lips had seen in years. Well, the first one not brought on by vengeful bloodshed. He turned his attention to the road, and to thoughts of the next few days with Marie.

Logan pulled the Jeep up next to a small cabin. He'd deliberately chosen this place, Savona, because he remembered seeing a torn, faded ad promising lakeside cabins of one sort or another. He wasn't disappointed. The town was full up with corpses, but the living population appeared to be nil, leaving plenty of lakeside cabins to choose from. This one, set closely to the shores of Kamloops lake, would do.

"Stay here. I'll check inside for bodies." There was a rotting one on the porch of the big house, still staring up at the night sky with sightless eyes from its rocking chair, but that was the only one he could smell. Wouldn't hurt to check, though, and it wouldn't hurt to spare Marie the sight of it if he could. She nodded her assent, and he clawed through the cabin lock to take a peek.

The sight of a large, plush, made bed, a small fireplace and wood-burning stove, and a few Adirondack chairs greeted him, but no bodies. Satisfied that this would make a good place for a day or two, Logan went back out to get Marie.

"Nobody in there. Place is all ready for guests too. It'll be nice. Come on." Marie nodded, and got out of the Jeep. Logan reached into the back, snagging a bag of gear he'd brought for them. Mostly camouflage and black clothing, but it would do. When he turned back, he found Marie stopped at the threshold, staring open-mouthed into the cabin. "What?"

"I just - I - I didn't know that places like this still existed. You know, intact. Everywhere I've been, it's been looted or vandalized or something." Logan nudged her in gently, taking notice of the small tensing when his hand met her back. He made the touch casual, ordinary, and he didn't linger in it.

"Small towns. Mosta the stuff along major highways, most big towns, they've been looted. This is kinda outta the way."

Marie turned wide eyes upon him as he shut the door, closing them inside. "That was a really good idea."

Logan smirked, and decided not to be insulted that she was so surprised. "Stick with me, kid. We'll do all right." Marie blushed some at that, and a strong surge of desire went through Logan at the sight. "Lemme see if we still got runnin' water. I dunno 'bout you, but I could sure as hell use a bath. We can always get water from the lake and heat it up if we needta." Marie's expression told him that she thought that was another brilliant idea, and he was happy to allow her to labor under that impression for a while. He went off to the small bathroom to check, and got only the trickle of the stored-up water in the pipes. No water pressure. Bathing with lake water would have to do. "Nothin'. I'll see if I can dig up a coupla buckets. Why dontcha scrounge around some for food? Might be some in the big house." Marie nodded, steeling herself to pass the corpse guarding its entrance. Logan seemed to sense her trepidation. "They're just dead bodies, kid, they can't hurt ya."

"Right," Marie answered unsteadily. She gave him a tight smile, and headed off on her appointed task. Logan watched her go, enjoying the sway of her hips in departure, then set about his.

He found a few buckets and began filling the tub. Soon, he saw Marie emerge from the big house, arms filled and skirting past the rocking corpse. She smiled a little when she sighted him on his way to the lake, and he thought that was a good sign. By the time he returned with the last of the bath water, she'd gone in.

"Hey. Most things were rotten, but there were some chips and snacks that I found. Maybe we can have those."

"Looks good. You wanna go in the tub first or me?"

"Um, you. You. Definitely you." Logan raised an eyebrow at that. "I mean, if you'd like to go first."

"I got clothes for us, you know. They're in that bag. I won't make ya go 'round naked after the bath, Marie." He edged a little closer to her with each word and he could tell that she was fighting to stand her ground. "You'll have some privacy in there. Go on."

"Can I take some clothes in with me?" Big, uncertain eyes held his, waiting for an answer.

"Sure. They got big towels in there too. But whatever you'd like." She scooted around him and practically lunged for the bag, retrieving a black t-shirt and sweats, then clutching them to her chest for dear life. Logan tried not to notice her trepidation and brought the first bucket, the one he'd been heating on the wood-burning stove into the bathroom, adding it to the tub's contents. Marie waited for him to come back out with the empty bucket before moving. "Go 'head. It's warm enough."

She went in and took her time. Logan heard splashing water and a few sighs every now and then. He was pleased that she was enjoying the bath. It was a way to begin winning her over, to calm her down, to help her forget about her friends a little and to focus on the future with him.

Now there's something he'd seldom considered - the future. But now he could think about it a little - now that the war was effectively over, now that they'd won, now that he'd found a mate. His mind caught on the last consideration. Since when had he ever wanted a mate? He'd always considered 'loner' a compliment and an ideal. But even as that thought swam through his mind, he realized that he did want to keep this woman with him, that he did recognize her as his mate. He was still pondering it when she emerged from the bathroom, wearing the black clothes and toweling out her hair.

"I, um, let the water out. I thought you'd probably like new water. I can go fetch it if you like." Logan didn't respond. He was still caught up in the sight of her a bit, still enjoying the look of her all cleaned up. "I'll grab a bucket," she offered, tossing the towel over one of the chairs.

"Nah, I'll get it. You, ah, you just relax. Have somethin' to eat." She nodded her thanks and began picking through the pile of junk food she'd deposited on the table earlier. He traipsed in and out as he filled the tub and brought more water in to be heated. She busied herself with the food. It wasn't good food, but it was a lot of food, and abundance hadn't been something she'd experienced since leaving the lab. She got so caught up in eating that she didn't notice Logan had finished bathing and was emerging from the bathroom. He had selected a towel, one of the smaller ones, for his post-bath attire. Marie was nibbling on a Dorito when she came face to bare chest with him.

"Oh! Uh, sorry. Sorry." She retreated with a flurry and a blush, and Logan found himself thinking both were attractive.

"No problem," he replied lazily. As he began picking at the snacks she'd brought, he tried to remain casual, tried to suppress the urge to strut and preen for her a bit that had irrationally surfaced. "You know, it's probably been years since I had a Frito." The attempt at casual conversation sounded stilted, he knew, but it was the best he could do.

Marie, however, didn't seem to note the awkwardness. "Mmm. The Doritos are good too. It's not really real food, but it's something."

"Yeah." They both munched a while before Logan spoke again. "Thought we'd stay here a coupla days, then move on. I got a place in mind a little further east, up in the mountains. Lotta space, lotta wildlife to hunt for food. We could fish here, maybe hunt a little, but I'd just as soon get a good night's sleep or two and relax." His tone left no room for any doubt that he might be asking her permission or would change those plans, but he nonetheless clearly wanted a response.

"OK. When we get to where we're going, um, what then?"

"We hang out, live life." Marie nodded, fidgeted, and shuffled her feet. "What?"

"I, um, was thinking while I was in the bathtub. I was thinking about how you said you wanted to have sex with me and how I said I didn't want to. I guess I just wanted to make sure that you knew that - that it's not anything because of you. I just don't want to, and I don't know you, so - so I don't want to. I, uh, I miss my friends and I'm a little shaken up by everything." Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor throughout her monologue and only after she finished did she chance a glance at Logan.

"I pretty much get that. You don't hafta explain to me why you don't wanna. That's pretty plain. But, Marie," he added in a nearly purring tone of voice, "you told a little bit of a fib there. You kinda lied. There is somethin' 'bout me that's the cause of it, at least a little." He'd smelled it, he knew it was true. It wasn't that he was mad, and he hoped she knew that by his light tone and words, but he was curious.

However, her demeanor changed in a flash. She didn't seem to appreciate his attempt at levity. Her eyes raised to meet his and her shoulders squared. "What do you suppose your friends and my friends are doing right now?" she asked by way of reply, with a spark of spirit in her eyes.

Logan got the point. He held her gaze and answered levelly, "I'd bet that the black girl is dead by now and her friend the red-head probably wishes she was dead about now. I don't do that kinda stuff, Marie, although I get why you'd think I might. But just 'cause I let some things happen, it don't make me like them. We coulda fought for your friends, sure. Lemme tell ya somethin' - we woulda lost. Survival comes first, Marie, that's the kinda world we got. I ain't the kinda guy that gets off on causin' people pain or seein' 'em suffer, but I'm sure as hell not the kinda guy that takes on a helpless cause just to make a point. World usedta be fulla those kinda people. I'd be willin' to bet every last single one of 'em is dead now. You want me to say I'm sorry 'bout what happened back there? I am. If I coulda helped them, I woulda, but I could only help one of ya, and I picked you. Survivor's guilt - it's a bitch, I know. It wasn't always just them in the brotherhood, Marie, there were guys I liked, guys I admired, true brothers that went down in the war. But you *did* survive, you did get out. Goin' back there, dyin' with 'em, sufferin' with 'em wouldn't do any good. I know that. I know it in my gut and that's why I let things happen that were wrong. I won't lie to ya and say I gave a shit 'bout the enemy. You pick up a gun or a suppression collar or a vial fulla virus, and you step on the field, you assume the risks. You play, you pay. I tried to help those who didn't fall inta that category where I could, but I'm not gonna go givin' up my life for them. Uh-uh, no way."

"So as long as you survive, as long as you're OK, everything's fine?"

"No, kid, everythin's not fine, and that's what we hafta survive, that's my point. We don't have a normal society - hell, we don't have any society. It's a brutal world and you exit it pretty damn quick if you don't make your own well-bein' top priority. Besides, you ever stop to think that if I tried reformin' my mutie 'brothers' back there, if I stepped in to intervene, that they probably woulda found a way to kill me and you'd be - well, you sure as hell wouldn't be in a nice warm cabin eatin' Doritos."

Marie finally lowered her eyes, not in abashment, but in frustration. "I was alive in the lab. I was surviving. I didn't have much of a life. There's a difference."

Logan huffed. "Yeah, there is. But you wanna know what? Now that the war's over, once we get a little distance, once things settle down, we'll have enough of a safety zone. We'll have enough to have the luxury of thinkin' 'bout what kinda people we wanna be, what ideals we wanna live up to, and all that shit 'cause our survival won't be an issue any more. Look, I'm not a noble guy, kid. I'd rather live and be a bastard than die and be a hero. I've never found anythin' in my whole life that was worth dyin' for, except maybe a friend or two. Strangers ain't shit to me, Marie. I know it's cold, but that's - "

"Which one am I, a friend or a stranger?"

Logan considered the question a moment before answering. "Neither. You're somethin' different."

"What, then? What am I?"

He didn't want to say the word on his lips. He knew it wouldn't appease her; in fact, it would have the opposite effect. But emotion rose in him, and it sprang forth before he could rein it back in. "Mine." Predictably, she flinched and took a step back. "I know you don't know me. I know you're scared of me. But you don't hafta be. I'm not gonna hurt ya, kid." He could hear her heart racing and see her wide, terrified eyes, and he knew the words weren't really reaching her. "I know you don't know me," he repeated. "But somewhere inside you, I think you know you can trust me. I won't hurt you."

Marie gulped down a breath before responding. "I do - I can feel that. I want to trust you not to hurt me. But - but I don't know you and I am - I don't think I'm yours. I'm mine. I belong to me."

"But you belong with me."

She didn't argue and those big eyes sparked with an odd combination of curiosity and recognition. "Is that why you picked me? Is it because you thought that, not just because you wanted to have sex with me?"

"Yeah." He thought the addendum that he would've picked the redhead if sex was his sole motivation would be crass at this point, so he kept that to himself. "Isn't that why you're still with me? Isn't that why you haven't tried to run off?" Marie blinked. The idea quite obviously had never crossed her mind. He didn't quite know what to say to that little revelation, so he changed the subject. "Look, maybe we should just get to bed, huh, just get some sleep? It's been a helluva long day."

Taking a deep breath and obviously ready to change the subject too, Marie smiled a little, and nodded. They both made for the bed, with Logan losing the towel along the way. That halted Marie's progress, and crashed any tentative ease between them. Keeping her eyes resolutely on the bedspread, she asked, "Aren't you, ah, wearing anything to bed?"

"No." Logan turned down the long-ago made bed and climbed in. "It's just a penis, Marie." She still hesitated, so he flung the covers aside, went over to the clothing pile, and tugged on a pair of boxers. "Happy now?" The words came out a little more harshly than he'd intended and he mentally kicked himself for it. "Sorry. I just - I'm usedta doin' as I please, I guess. I don't mean to be an asshole."

"OK," she replied timidly. But she got in the bed. He joined her and she turned to lay facing away from him. "Thanks for putting those on," she offered, in a quiet voice.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry for gettin' shitty there for a second, but naked isn't anythin' to worry 'bout for me."

"I like it better when we're both wearing clothes," she whispered. "Naked is kind of a big deal to me."

Logan frowned, grunted his understanding, then turned to lie on his side, facing her. "Fine then. Compromise - don't freak out if I don't notice bein' naked and I'll be sure not to look when you're naked. Deal?"

"OK," Marie whispered, and when Logan saw her body sink into the bed in relaxation, he knew it really was. He fidgeted a bit before settling in himself, and tried to set a mental reminder that he couldn't just bark at her like he had his troops. She hadn't really lived the past three years and, despite the lab, she still expected at least a little civility. And after all, he was asking her to compromise some, and not just on the 'naked' thing, so he'd have to do the same. Fair is fair and in fact, she'd reacted better than he'd expected so far. She wanted to trust him, wanted to believe him. Contenting himself with the minor victory of knowing she felt at least something like he did, he drifted off to sleep.

Marie awoke to a mind flooded with feelings and sensations not her own and in short order discovered the cause of them - Logan had curled himself around her back and one of his hands had worked its way beneath the hem of her t-shirt to rest against her bare skin. At first, she thought about separating herself from him so that her mind would once again be her sole property. But then it occurred to her that instead of resisting the flow into her, perhaps she should explore it. After all, there would be no truer, no more unguarded view into his intentions and psyche than was available to her now. It would give her some sense of the man to peek into his unconscious mind, and now, in sleep, he wouldn't be trying or able to hide his real thoughts and feelings.

Marie relaxed and placed her hand atop his, securing it to her soft belly. Opening her mind to his, she was overwhelmed with the sheer strength of sensation she was getting from him. She wasn't sure if it was because he was asleep or just particular to him personally, but she'd never felt anything even remotely this strong when she touched Jean or Storm. She had to try to put some focus to it, to not lose herself in the feelings.

After the initial brunt, she quickly realized he was having an erotic dream, and she was cast in the starring role. She'd have expected that, actually. He seemed like a fairly carnal kind of person, and he'd made his desire for her quite plain. But the content of it was something a little different than what she'd expected. His unconscious mind revealed to her a soft scene of her lying on her back, legs spread wide, his head settled comfortably between them. That this would be his fantasy of choice was surprising - she'd expected him to be dominant, animalistic and she'd have thought his subconscious would've put him on top, not in this somewhat subservient position. What caught her even more about the vision, though, was that he was focused on giving her pleasure. In his emotional landscape, pleasuring her was a way to bond her to him, to gain her trust. Those assumptions flowed into her along with the feelings and she marveled a bit at them, and at the fact that these needs related to her were powerful enough to push his own sexual needs and desires into the background.

His desire flooded her a moment longer, then the dream-scene shifted. He was torn away from her and suddenly in the midst of a battle with the humans. It must've been a recent one, Marie thought, because there were only a small number on each side. Logan was fighting viciously, by hand, leading the charge. She felt the pain as he absorbed knife blows, punches, crowbar swings. She felt his feral glee at the battle too, his animal revelry in it, and his confidence that he would be victorious. Sharp hatred for the humans also shone through and as dream-Logan took a swipe at one charging him, the scene flashed and changed again. Marie just barely registered the sensation of recognition as it did. The man attacking Logan had looked familiar, and that triggered a different memory, a different dream.

The new scene was a horror show that Marie could only gape at in morbid fascination. Logan was strapped down to a table, and various men milled about as two worked to cut him open. There was no anesthetic and the searing pain was more than Marie could bear, even if it was only the version paled by Logan's memory. She abruptly flung his hand away and shifted back from him, waking him in the process.

"Marie?" he asked, still bleary with sleep. "Somethin' wrong?" She kept faced away from him and struggled to control her surging emotions. She shook her head no, but almost immediately felt a strong hand settle on her side, over her shirt this time. "What's wrong? Bad dream?" The concern in his voice was evident and she suddenly broke into tears. The fighting, the suffering shouldn't have produced anyone who was still capable of that kind of concern for someone else, and it touched her that he bore those feelings for her. He wordlessly drew her closer, fitting her form to his. "Hey, things are gonna be fine now, Marie, don't worry."

The awkward tone of the reassurance and his naked desire to comfort her moved her to turn around in his grasp to face him. Confused hazel eyes met her teary ones as she rested her forehead against his and began snuggling closer into him. The touch of their skin brought his concern for her front and center in both their minds, and, without thinking, she nuzzled his face with hers in an attempt to quiet his distress.

He nuzzled back and somehow his lips had found hers, pressing a light kiss to them. She felt his desire course through them both and his lips devoured hers this time. Transferred yearning and need and something all Marie's own prompted her to respond. They were soon licking and tasting each other in the kiss, each lost in the flood of sensation and emotion. At length, Logan pulled back, checking her expression and caressing her cheek.

Marie swam in the haze of desire a moment after that, and Logan enjoyed the blissed-out look on her face. But as the flow into her receded a bit, she began coming back to herself, and blushed when she realized their proximity.

"That was nice," Logan commented, tracing her cheekbone with one large, rough finger. "You OK?" Marie could only nod. Logan's eyebrows crinkled together with worry. "Say somethin', OK, Marie?"

She nodded again before producing any actual words. "I could feel you. My skin - I could feel you dreaming." It was Logan's turn for embarrassment, and he began to disentangle himself from her. She let him, but she reassured, "It's OK. I'm not, um, offended or anything. It was a dream. You were touching me, you had a hand on my stomach, and my skin just took it in. I know you didn't mean for me to see. Um, sorry."

"What'd you see, exactly?" he asked, wincing. She realized the sexual dream wasn't what he was worrying about.

"The fight, and the lab they had you in," she answered concisely, guessing that talking about the pain or the feelings would only make things worse. "It was quick and I took your hand away and stopped the flow before I really saw anything."

He nodded gruffly, and appeared to be considering something. "But you felt it, right? That's how your skin works, isn't it? You said you get thoughts and feelings. You felt what I felt, didn't ya?"

"Yes," she admitted, not sure if that would bring anger or withdrawal, but betting on one or the other judging by what she knew of him so far. He surprised her again, though, when he looked up to meet her eyes.

"You shouldnta hadta see that, feel that. I wouldn't wish that on ya. If it happens again, you just get free of me as soon as ya can. You don't need to go through all that."

"OK," she answered softly, reaching out a hand to touch his side without thinking, wanting the reinforcement of his ease with this that a touch would provide. He seemed to understand, and he covered her hand with his, holding it to his side and holding her eyes with his as well. Shame was in there, but it was tempered with a great deal of sorrow that she'd felt what he had. There was no desire to hide those things from her, and the openness in his eyes would've told her that even if she hadn't felt it in him.

"If it's gonna be you and me, no secrets, OK?" She smiled, guessing that her eyes were giving away quite a few of her own thoughts. "But I don't wantcha to hafta deal with somethin' unpleasant. Just let go or get away from me if you feel somethin' like that."

"I'm sorry," Marie whispered, and Logan knew she meant for what he'd been through, not for seeing it.

"Thanks." He wasn't quite sure what else to say. No one had every said they were sorry for anything he'd been through before. "Wanna go back to sleep?" She nodded, and removed her hand from his body, but she didn't turn her back to him this time. He gave her a small smile

before her eyes blinked closed and they both drifted off again.

The next day they drove east, crossing into the mountains. Marie was fascinated by the scenery - she'd never seen anything like this, and she was avidly seeking out all the sights that could be found as they drove. Logan was amused by it, entertained. He was more than a little pleased that they'd be going to a place she'd like, that he'd instinctually picked somewhere she found beautiful as well. It was a promising sign, he thought. As they pulled up to the long-abandoned ranger's gate marking the entrance to their new home, Marie finally tore her eyes away from the scenery to ask a question.

"So this place was a park?"

"Yeah." Logan remembered it, but only hazily. He must've been here before the humans got him, before his stay in the lab, before the war. "Banff national park, I think. Famous for skiin', stuff like that. Lake Louise is supposedta be pretty. Hell, we could rename it Lake Marie if you like. There usedta be a hotel or somethin' right there on the lake, a nice one. We could maybe stay there, or if it's too big or somethin', there's probably a lotta little ski lodges and stuff. There's a lotta space and we got a lotta time. We can take a good look around before settlin' on a place."

"Let's try the hotel first."

"OK" Logan said easily. "Let's check it out." They drove up a windy road with crooked signs that once steered tourists toward the lake and its adjacent hotel. Logan thought it was a good sign that there were no other bodies or cars along the road - it meant that the place could very likely still be undisturbed. Marie had returned to her scenery-gazing and seemed to have sighted something of interest.

"What's that sign mean?"

"Hmmm. 'Continental divide?' Uh, I think it means that's the point where the rivers flow in different directions."

"Huh?" Her plain confusion forced a short bark of laughter out of him.

"I mean - it's the point where everythin' to the east flows east to the Atlantic and everythin' to the west flows west to the Pacific. Or at least I kinda remember it meanin' somethin' like that."

"Oh." She flushed pink with a blush and Logan found himself wondering how he could get her to do that again. That, and possibly kiss him again too. "Um, there - there's the parking lot."

"Thanks." He'd been staring at her, not the road signs. Trying to shake himself out of it, he brought the car to rest in the spot nearest the trail leading to the lake. "Well, here we are. Ready?" Marie nodded enthusiastically and disembarked. Logan followed, after pausing to collect a large-caliber rifle and some ammo from the back of the SUV. Just because it looked untouched didn't mean that was necessarily so. Plus, three years of war had taught Logan that it was better to not need a gun and have one, than to need one and not have one. The war had taught him that lesson very well. He met Marie's somewhat concerned look at the weapon with a wink, trying to keep the mood from turning serious. "Just in case. Could be bears or somethin'. Lemme go first, huh?"

As he brushed past her, swinging the gun over one shoulder, he felt one small hand reach for his free one. He didn't stop walking, didn't look back, but he did give her hand a little squeeze as he held it, and a warm smile began to spread across his face, growing wider with each step. They descended the trail and soon came within sight of the lake, Logan grinning all the while.

When they came to the lake, nothing looked amiss at first. The lake looked every bit as beautiful as Logan had been told. It was seated between majestic, snow-capped rocky mountains and was a unique shade of turquoise blue, somehow clear and colored all at once. The hotel was big - and probably therefore wouldn't be their permanent home - but it was also majestic, stately, a suitable complement for the splendor of the lake. It made for quite a picture, and they both spent several wordless minutes just taking it in.

The perfect scene was soon shattered, though. First, by the scent of something like a fire starting, a scent so faint that only Logan picked up on it, but then followed by the unmistakable sound of muffled cries. "Logan," Marie whispered, eyes alight with terror, "people - there's people."

"I know." Logan couldn't distinguish their number, but they smelled like a small bunch, less than a dozen or so. Mentally weighing the possible risks of investigating further against the potential need to eventually kill whoever it was in order to secure their new home, Logan decided that moving against them now, with the advantage of surprise and plenty of ammo, would be the way to go. "Listen - you stay here. I'm gonna go check it out."

"Logan....." Her voice was filled with anxiety and he liked to think part of it was for his own well-being, not just her fear of being left alone.

"It'll be OK. I'll be back in a little bit. I can handle this, Marie. Trust me." He gave her the second wink of the day, and headed off for the hotel. With a final backwards glance at a very tense Marie, he entered the building.