Title: Cries Of the Wounded, Part Two
Author: TrilogyX
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Marvel owns them and I don't. Please don't sue.
Notes: This is movie verse and it kinda skips back and forth through
times but I try to keep it clear...but hey...I just started typing
and this is how the story decided to tell itself. Just to clarify,
Logan was gone for a year and he's been back nearly two.
Summary: Recovery and remembering
Cries of The Wounded
By Trilogy X
Part Two
They were all being so good to her that it was overwhelming.
Overwhelming and frustrating as hell. They all spoke to her in
hushed whispers as though she was broken. Always asking if she needed
anything. She wanted to tell them all, to scream to them that she
wasn't an invalid. She was still Ororo. Jean and Xavier had been
there for her, holding her hand when the bandages were removed and
she saw for the first time the extent of damage wrought by Victor
Creed's hand.
Scott brought her yellow roses. Xavier comforted her like
the father she always felt he was when she mourned the loss of the
beauty she'd once taken for granted. Promising that he'd do
everything he could to restore her face. He'd been true to his word.
Xavier had moved heaven and earth to get the necessary Shia'r
equipment and in a matter of days, her horrifying reflection was
suddenly just a memory. A horrible, terrible memory. Only a few weeks prior a, she'd stared in the same mirror through her tear blurred reflection
at the three jagged lines, coursing across the entire left side of
her face like three angry red rivers and choked on her angry sobs. But
erasing the scars from her face did nothing to remove the wound in
her heart. She decided to keep the two puckered half dollar sized scars
on her chest. They were a reminder of Logan's last words to her, Thank
you for not letting him win. She hadn't. That bastard never got to
hear her scream.
She'd remained in her room at first, when they finally let
her out of the med bay. Unable to stand the pity behind the eyes of
her teammates, the same pity that had been there both before the
bandages had been removed and after. She didn't teach her classes
which had resumed while she was still in recovery but graciously
Hank offered to extend his visit and take over her classes until she
fully recuperated. The few students she'd seen since her "accident"
were very awkward around her as if they no longer knew who she was.
She did not wish to be the cause of their discomfort so she avoided
everyone.
She was beginning to loose track of all the time she stayed
locked away in her attic. Nursing her fragile African violets back
to health and sleeping. Anything to try to forget that night. To
forget Logan.
No one knew about that night, not about what had happened
between them. Only Jean suspected but still she wasn't exactly
certain how far things went. So, when they heard her crying late at
night, anyone passing by her door assumed she was crying from the
near loss of her face. Believing that telling her how beautiful she
still was could heal the ache in her heart. Did they really believe
she was so vain? Of course, she was hurt that her once flawless skin
was marred so viciously but it wasn't what kept her up at night.
No...it was her painfully vivid memory of one uncommonly warm night
in early March.
A night that started with boredom and ended as one she would
never forget. Two hundred miles away under a blanket of stars in the
middle of nowhere, Logan was staring into a flickering campfire
remembering the very same night...
Flashback
'This is the life.' Logan thought with contented sigh, as he
toed of his battered boots and settled his sock-clad feet with a
thunk on the gleaming oak coffee table. It was a rare treat indeed,
to have the infamously busy school for mutants nearly empty for an
entire evening, well...empty except for the newlywed's who were
bunked up in their new boathouse and Ororo who was most likely still
in her classroom grading papers. Xavier left over a week ago for a
mutant mental health conference in Baltimore. It was spring break
and all the kids, including the quasi-adults Marie and Jubilee found
something more interesting to do that hang out around the place for
the next two weeks. Even that new kid with the weird red eyes had
managed to stop brooding long enough to tag along. Something he
couldn't be happier about. At least now he didn't have to suffer
through the silly girlie giggles and sighs whenever that Cajun
charmer was around, the majority of which came from Marie. He
allowed himself a frown at that thought, hoping that girl wasn't in
for some serious heartache. He really hoped she'd learned from her
silly little infatuation with him, not to waste her time on
unattainable men. And that little devil was about as attainable as
catching a wet fish with greasy fingers.
Reaching into the pocket of his well worn flannel shirt he
plucked out his lighter, flipped back the top and lit the stogie nestled between his teeth. It was strange not to hear the customary
assault of groans and complaints as he puffed life into his
favorite brand of cigar. He had kinda gotten used to someone griping
at him about smoking in the house.
Just because it was sitting there, he picked up the remote
and flicked on the tube. He normally didn't sit in front of the TV,
but hell...he was bored. Usually when he got bored he'd go find his
kicks at some stinking rat hole of a bar and attempt to get wasted
and laid, usually in that order. Or if all else failed, a really good
fight, but for some reason tonight, that idea seemed even more boring
than watching a little TV. Lazily he leaned his head back against the
plush sofa and flicked the channels blowing a chain of smoke rings
into the air. 'Hell, maybe a bar wouldn't be so boring after all.' he
mumbled after channel surfing past numerous 80's sitcom reruns, video
channels and infomercials. His most interesting choices were to
either watch rap videos or some flick he'd never heard of called
Mystery, Alaska. What the hell was so mysterious about Alaska he
wondered, idly. So long as it wasn't some disgusting chick flick,
he'd suffer through it. Looked like it had already been on for a
while anyway.
He grabbed one the bottles of good cold Canadian beer and
quickly gulped it down. He knew he wouldn't get drunk, he never did
but maybe he'd luck out and get a good buzz so he'd be able to get a
few hours of sleep tonight at least. Unfortunately it wasn't even
past 11:30 yet.
"Logan, are you trying to see how much smoke it takes to set
off the smoke detectors?" an annoyed feminine voice interrupted from
the entrance to the family room.
He turned his head in her direction and blew another
perfectly round ring of smoke at Storm, watching as she shook her
head in slight exasperation and stepped into the room.
Even through the heavy cloud of smoke he could smell her
scent and as usual he tried to ignore how it always seemed to provoke
a familiar twist in his gut. Watching her walk across the room, his
eyes helplessly took in the graceful sway of her hips. She was
casually dressed in well fitting jeans and a tank top, that
unwittingly afforded him a glorious eyeful of her more than ample
cleavage as she sat across from him on the smaller sofa. However, he
tried not to pay attention knowing she would not appreciate him
ogling her, but hell, he was after all a man. He'd have to been
blind or gay not too have ever noticed how gorgeous she was, and Logan
was certainly not blind and he was more than damn sure not gay. He
snubbed out his cigar before she could even request it, secretly
irritated with himself for checking out Storm. He was just really
horny, he decided.
"Mmmm, Russell Crowe." he heard her sigh after almost thirty
seconds of blessed silence.
"What the heck is a rusty crow ?" he mumbled, sliding his
eyes from the screen and groaning inwardly at the sight of Ororo
settling further on the couch with a weird little grin on her face.
He was more than annoyed with her presence, especially when he
figured out this was a hockey flick. That was cool with him, even if
it did have some of that annoying lovey dovey crap thrown in. He was
rather enjoying his solitude but since she came in he hadn't been
able to focus on the movie anyway. He'd mainly been staring at the
screen to keep from eyeballing her.
"The guy in the flannel shirt. Russell Crow." she
murmured back distractedly, finally remembering he was in the room. His gaze
flickered back to the screen, where the flannel shirt guy was busy
kissing and feeling up some woman in the snow. Logan couldn't help
thinking that if they kept that up someone was gonna get snow up
their ass.
He stared at the guy on the screen momentarily, then back at
Ororo's rapt almost glassy eyed expression. He'd never pictured Ro
to be the star struck type. And then his lips quirked as he noted
the guy's beard and flannel shirt and rubbed at his own stubble-
filled jaw thoughtfully.
Ororo was beginning to wonder if she would've been more
comfortable if she'd stayed in her classroom grading the few
remaining essays on her desk. She'd only come out to take a little
break but then realized the time and decided instead to call it
night. Then she saw the light on in the den. She was surprised
Logan was still home but determined that his presence was no reason
she couldn't enjoy a little TV. It was too early to go to bed.
Logan didn't seem to welcoming of her company but nor did he
appear too annoyed either. The man was so hard to figure out she
hadn't even bothered trying, and well, when she saw Russell Crowe
onscreen she didn't care one way or the other. Every since she'd
seen that man in Gladiator, she'd found the actor mesmerizing. She'd
always loved that not too pretty, rough around the edges type.
Perhaps that was why she'd developed a fascination with the mansions
resident bad ass.
A commercial came on and she cautioned a quick glance at
the bad ass in question. Logan just grinned at her before draining
the contents of his beer and then reached for another without giving
her a second glance. Or so she thought.
"This is a really great movie." she sighed as she settled
deeper into the couch, reaching back to adjust a cushion.
Logan's eyes immediately fell to her chest which
lifted with the movement in perfect symmetry, causing the tight
cotton tank to stretch and his fingers to flex in reaction.
In irritation he twisted the cap off the bottle and
tossed back his brew with a scowl. Why did the women in this place have to
look so damned good, he asked himself for probably the billionth
time. And he had to admit Ororo looked great, with her hair pulled
up in a loose topknot, a few platinum strands going astray and not a
stitch of makeup painting her face. Very few women could manage to
look so good au naturel. That's what he liked about her, she was
very unpretentious about her looks and unlike Jean she didn't feel
the need to flaunt them. Looking at her now, he wondered why he dismissed Ororo before and wasted so much time chasing after Jean.
He already knew. When he first arrived to Xavier's, Jean was
the one who made herself the most available. Always approachable
despite her relationship with Scott. Always there with a loving
touch or smile under the guise of Dr. Grey, but he'd already figured
her out before he left for Canada. Jean was needy. She needed to be
the center of attention. She needed to be wanted. He was surprised
when he discovered how insecure the beautiful redhead was, how she
seemed to crave having men fawning over her...maybe even she knew she
paled in comparison to Ororo.
Ororo on the other hand was the exact opposite. She seemed
to be completely indifferent to her beauty...her sex appeal. Men
stared at her all the time, he'd even found old One-Eye's gaze
lingering on her when she walked by him from time to time. He'd
nearly choked one day when he caught Cyke checking her out in the war
room as she strolled by in her leather uniform. Even behind the ever
present red glasses Logan saw where his eyes lingered, chuckling
softly as the guy lost his complete train of thought. It was a good
thing Jeannie hadn't been in the room at the time but he did agree with
Scott on one thing, Ro looked damned good in black leather.
"Logan, are you all right?"
Logan blinked, coming out of his reverie. Ororo was watching
with a half amused grin.
"Why were you staring at me like that?"
He gave a short laugh. "I wasn't staring." he lied.
She sat up slightly. "Yes you were." she assured him,
raising one pale eyebrow. She'd looked up from the movie to ask him
if he'd ever played hockey and caught him sitting there tracing the
rim of his beer bottle idly with a finger as his eyes made a slow
sweep of her body. She was positive he'd been staring at her
breasts.
"Oh," he began dumbly " I was just trying to figure out what you
see in that guy to make you go all googly eyed every time he comes on
screen. You remind me of Jubes when she's watching that Justin dude
from that boy group all the gals get all squealy over around here."
Ororo frowned momentarily wondering what the hell he was
talking about. "You mean that boy from N' sync ?"
Logan rolled his eyes. "See even you know who I'm talking
about. What is with you women and celebrities?"
Ororo sat up in a huff suddenly. "Am I hearing you
correctly? Are you actually comparing me to a teenage girl, simply
because I like the way that man looks."
Logan floundered for a moment. With her gorgeous womanly
curves there was no way anyone would ever mistake for a gangly kid
like Jubilation Lee. "Jeez, Ro...I"m just saying...I'm just wondering
what is so fascinating about him...I mean I wear flannel shirts all the
time and you never look at me like that."
Neither of them could believe he'd just said that and they
both laughed at the absurdity of their conversation at the same time.
Attempting to avoid saying anything stupid again, Logan sat
back with his beer and pretended to watch the rest of Mystery, Alaska.
Ororo couldn't help but sneak a peek at him every time
Russell came back onscreen and admitting to herself that there was
indeed something to be said for a man who could look good in a flannel
shirt.
Before the credits even began to roll, Logan was shoving his
feet back into his steel toe boots.
Ororo sighed happily and began to collect the half a dozen
empty beer bottles with a raised eyebrow. She could not for the life
of her understand how that man could drink so much and never get
drunk. If she drank half of what did, he'd be peeling her off the
floor by now. Eyeing his flannel covered abdomen, she wondered why
he didn't have a beer gut. Well, she knew the answer. He trained
hard, worked out just as much if not more than she did and he had the
beautifully solid and graceful musculature to prove it underneath all
those layers he wore as she'd duly note after seeing shirtless every
now and then had revealed.
"I can clean this up, Ro." he grunted, grabbing the few
remaining bottles before she could reach them.
"I was only trying to help." she said goodnaturedly, pleased
when he didn't blow up at her for helping him. He just followed her
into the kitchen to dispose of his trash without another word. Truly
remarkable considering the man had the worst complex about accepting
even the smallest gesture of help from anyone.
A succession of clinking glass filled the industrial sized
kitchen as they discarded the bottles and Ororo turned to leave,
bidding him goodnight.
The low timbre of his voice stopped her.
"You going up to bed?"
Somehow in the dimly lit kitchen, his question seemed
incredibly intimate. Maybe it was just her imagination. Imagination
or not, his words caused a ripple of...something to trickle through
her belly.
"Um...actually I was about to go into the library and see if
I could find something I hadn't read." she told him honestly. "Why
do you ask?"
He shrugged. " I was thinking about going out for a couple
of real drinks, listen to some music. If you wanted to get out of
here, you know....I wouldn't mind the company."
Ororo's eyebrow shot up in surprise. Logan never asked
anyone to go anywhere with him. She was stunned. She didn't dare
think he was asking her on a date or anything, but just him asking
her to tag along was a major coo for the team. It meant that just
maybe he was ready to stop being so...independent.
Logan was equally stunned, when she agreed. He just shrugged
as indifferently as ever when she asked if he would mind waiting
while she changed. He just tried to not to think about how he'd just
asked out a teammate out and hadn't even realized he'd wanted to
until after he'd already done it.
He'd barely managed to change shirts himself when she came back downstairs
in a silky white shirt and a pair of well fitting dark jeans over heeled boots,a supposedly casual look that made his mouth go dry. Somehow she managed to look both elegant and poised, yet sexy as
sin at the same time. And all in less than twenty minutes at that.
She sauntered down the stairs in her tight jeans, three-inch heeled
boots,toosed her loosely tousled hair over her shoulder and announced that he could forget riding on that damned Harley of his. She'd stay home, she informed him, if she had to climb on the back of his deathtrap.
Logan shrugged and tried not take offense to her mockery of
his pride and joy. He knew she was scared to death of motorcycles
and already had the keys to Marie's car ready and waiting. He
restored that car for the kid for her 18th birthday two years ago.
Marie didn't hesitate to give him an extra set of keys for just in
case, she told him.
Logan smiled and waved the keys at Ororo, effectively shutting her up and ushering her out the door.
Logan had seen the reaction of other men to the woman on his
arm before, it had always amused him when he saw some poor sap do a
double take at first sight of her. Most men he'd observed just
stared after her a little wistfully, as if they knew she was too good
for them. Occasionally, one would get bold enough to approach her
only to get shot down in seconds flat.
Tonight was different. When he stepped through the doors of
the bar behind her as usual, a multitude of male heads turned as well
as a couple female. He led her to the table as casually as possible,
trying his best not to show the sudden possessiveness that was
seeping into his mind the moment he saw a few particularly heated
gazes being directed their way. He close to glare back at a few the
rest he ignored as they sat down and he listened as she resumed the
conversation they'd had in the car about Marie and the new kid,
Gambit.
" I do not think you should take it upon yourself to
interfere, Logan. You will only embarrass the child. She is a grown
woman now, Logan."
"That kid is trouble, Ro. He ain't the type of guy to be to
understandin' about...her abilities."
Ororo shook her head. " Believe it or not, Logan but Remy is
really a very kind young man. He understands her differences."
Logan snorted in response. "C'mon, you know that no boy that
age is gonna wanna go without..."
"I think you are mistaken about him. If you ask me he could
be exactly what she needs to help her overcome her shyness."
"And what happens when he decides to go satisfy his needs
with someone who can actually accommodate...his needs properly."
"They have only been on one date, Logan. When her classes
start back up, she will not have much time to focus on him any longer anyway. You could be worrying about this for nothing."
"I see the way the little snake looks at her."
She shook her head at him. "Give the boy a chance. Just
like with you there may be more to him than meets the eye, Logan."
Logan leaned back in his seat then, raising a wary eyebrow at
her. " You mind tellin' me what the hell that's supposed to mean?"
"What will you folks have to drink?"a big breasted waitress
with even bigger bleached blonde hair interrupted before she could
respond.
" A bottle of Jose Cuervo." Logan said with barely a glance,
he was too interested in hearing exactly what the woman across from
him was about to say.
"And you, hon?" the woman directed to Ororo. She didn't look
to be the type to drink tequila.
Ororo was about to order her usual white wine, but at the
last second decided against it. She didn't have any classes to teach
in the morning. "I'll have a rum and coke."
Seeing Logan's brow shoot up even further sent a little
thrill through her. She thought nothing surprised him, so on a whim
she added. " On second thought, forget the coke."
"What the hell do you think your doing? You rarely drink more
than a glass of wine." Logan shot, the moment the blonde walked off.
"How do you know what I do, Logan?" she tossed back, suddenly
agitated. "You know nothing about me."
Logan eyed her for long moments trying to figure exactly what
she was playing at here. Oh, well she was a grown woman.
"Okay, sweetheart. It's your funeral."
Just two coke-less rums later, a slightly tipsy Ororo was on
the dance floor with the ...fifth... guy that night. He'd lost
count, especially since neither guy had been him. Logan was sitting
at the table, polishing off his bottle of tequila with nary a buzz
and not at all to happy.
He didn't want to watch her, but he couldn't help it. Ororo
Munroe was driving him insane. God, she acted so sweet and innocent
all the time. Who knew she could move like that?
His mouth went dry as he watched her moving in sensual
rhythm to the slow song some fool suddenly decided to play, not a
self conscious bone in her gorgeous body. He was uncomfortably and
acutely aware that he didn't want to just sit there all night and
watch her move like that.
The jerk she was dancing with didn't seem to wanna just watch
her either, because suddenly he had his damned hands all over her.
Logan didn't even remember getting up from the table. He
just remembered throwing a wad of bills on the table and nearly
dragging her out of the place, oblivious to the outraged shock on her
face.
The fiery pain that shot through his jaw when her hand
connected with it brought him back to reality quickly.
"What the hell is your problem, Logan? Have you completely
lost your mind?"
A growl escaped his throat as he clutched his stinging face.
He forgot that Ororo could hit like a man.
"You're drunk and letting some strange guy feel you up in a
bar. I'm trying to protect you and you fuckin' slap me." he said,
incredulously.
"Protect me?" she said in the annoying cool and calm tone of
hers. "You call grabbing me and almost carrying me out of there
like some neanderthal protecting me?"
"Yeah." was all he could growl back, still not certain why
he'd gone to such an extreme.
He took a quick step back at the anger flashing in her eyes.
He wasn't in the mood for an electrocution right now. "Did it ever
occur to you that I did not need you to protect me? I am a fully
grown woman. A fully grown X-woman...in case you hadn't notice. I do
not need you playing the superhero trying to rescue the damsel in
distress, Wolverine."
He couldn't speak. Couldn't do anything but stare at her.
How the hell did it take him so long to see how beautiful she was?
Why had he never seen past that cool exterior before and seen this
incredibly vibrant, passionate woman underneath. He froze when it
occurred to him that he wanted to do nothing else except pull her
into his arms and learn firsthand what that much pent up passion
felt like.
"Are you drunk, Logan? Is that it? Is that why you're
acting like such a damn jackass?"
Ororo swearing? Drinking, dancing and swearing, he amended
quickly. Whoa, the local weather goddess was really human after all.
Shocking revelations seemed to have a way of making him
want say the first thing on his mind he realized too late.
"I'm acting like a damn jackass right now because I want to
kiss you so fucking bad I can hardly breath." he said through gritted
teeth, thoroughly pissed because no matter how he clenched his teeth
those words still leapt out of his mouth.
Maybe she was drunk, she thought wildly. As she glared at
him, expecting him to suddenly sprout another head she did a quick
mental calculation. No, just two drinks.
"What did you just say?" she asked finally, just to clarify she
wasn't loosing her mind.
They eyed each other for a long tension filled moment under
the flickering neon lights before he opened his mouth.
He didn't look at her, instead he made a show of fishing
around his pockets for the car keys. "I think I had to much to
drink. We should be heading back to the house."
He was halfway to the car before her feet started working,
but she caught up with him just as he was wrenching open the
passenger side door.
"You don't get drunk, Logan." she reminded him, yanking at
his sleeve until he was forced to turn around. It wasn't very well
lit by the car, so most of his face was hidden in shadows.
"Get in the car, Ro...before I do something real stupid."
Shocked by her own boldness, Ororo moved closer to him. So
close she could feel his breath ruffle her hair. Suddenly, her own
breath was just as shallow and labored as his. A heady sensation
overtook her, as she realized she had the power to make him so
nervous.
"What if I want you to do something stupid?" she purred,
lightly pushing him against the open door. Trapping him.
Logan groaned at the sheer agony of having her pressed
against him so closely. His body had gone for semi-erect to rock
hard in a matter of seconds and the blood rush made him momentarily
dizzy. His entire body was shaking when he finally tangled his hand
in her silky cloud of hair and slanted his mouth across hers.
His kiss was nothing at all like she expected. White hot
heat exploded right through her the moment his lips touched her. But
his kiss wasn't brutal, like she thought it would be. Just the
opposite. It was desperate and intense. Desperate, full of need and
so full of longing that she could do nothing but cling to him, taking
it all in.
Logan couldn't hear anything but his own heartbeat thundering
in his own ears. He'd meant to give her a hard quick punishing kiss
for toying with him. The whole universe was not supposed to tilted
on its axis when he touched his mouth to hers.
And then she was kissing him back, her sweet little tongue
stroking his and her hot little hands sliding underneath his shirt.
She was everywhere all at once.
Ororo vaguely felt the press of the gear shift on her back as
he lowered her inside the car, his mouth never leaving hers.
His skin was so hot, he didn't even miss his shirt when she
pushed it off his shoulders. He didn't even realize she'd been
unbuttoning it. He just wanted to go on tasting the sultry fire of
her kiss. He automatically shrugged it completely off from where it
dangled at his wrists very anxious to feel her bare skin against
his.
It was natural for him to unbutton her silk shirt while she
sucked his tounge with erotic abandon. If she cared that he ripped
the flimsy material of her lacy black bra, he never knew because they
were both distracted when she reached between their bodies to caress
his aching arousal through its denim confinement. He groaned into
her mouth, impatience causing him to brush her hands out of the way
to fumble with the button on her jeans.
Reluctantly, he lowered his lips to taste her pulse at the
base of her throat as he finally freed the stubborn button. It was
the impossibly loud rasp of her zipper that finally drew his eyes
open giving him a glimpse of the white leather upholstery surrounding
them.
Making him remember where they were. Marie's car.
"Jesus, Ro...We gotta stop this." he said, tearing his lips
away from her heated skin.
Dazed, Ororo shook her head but stopped tugging at his belt.
"We can't do this, here. Like this. We're in a parked car
at a roadside bar." he reminded her.
Logan tried not to think about what had almost happened as he
slipped out the car and pulled his shirt on. He stalked to the driver's side door and let go of a deep sigh. He really was disgusted with himself. She was his friend.
He respected her more than anyone he could think of and yet he'd was
more than ready to fuck her in the front seat of a car. He braced
himself for more than a slap when he settled behind the wheel.
"Ororo, it's not that I don't want you. Believe me, I do...I
just..."he said, forcing himself to look at her.
Ever full of surprises tonight she just smiled at him as she
closed the last button of her blouse. "If I am not mistaken, we
passed a hotel on the way here." she said softly.
He waited long enough for her to make sure her door was
closed, before he sped out of the parking lot with a spray of gravel.
Minutes later a pair of yellowed eyes glowed momentarily in
the night as one man emerged from his perch just downwind of the
little scene he'd witnessed and resumed his hunt.
Continue....