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Author's Chapter Notes:
Ororo sees Logan at his most vulnerable
Chapter 39 “ Beyond Nightmares

Relationship Status “ established


The husky timbre of her voice, her soft pliant body molded to his hard planes, not to mention the fluffy pillows and softness of her one thousand thread count Egyptian cotton sheets were lulling him into much needed slumber. He didn’t realize how tired he was until he had climbed into their bed and his eyes began to droop. His healing factor had worked overtime during that mission to destroy that damned underground lab that was up until its destruction, experimenting on both human and mutant children. Together, he, Gambit, Cyclops and Beast had to fight tooth and nail in Uzbekistan of all places, for their own survival in addition to achieving the objective of the mission. Sleep was not a luxury for any of them and he had thanked whoever had blessed him with the healing factor as it had served to keep him vigilant in the hostile unfamiliar territory in order to ensure the teams’ safety.

Upon their arrival home, they were all debriefed, fed with an abundance of food and each sent their separate ways to clean up and get some much needed rest. After all was said and done, he had retired straight to the loft he more or less now shared with Ororo. Logan didn’t intend to fall asleep right away, but when he hadn’t slept in almost three days, coupled with the injuries he had sustained during the mission, all bets were off. He was mentally and physically exhausted, something Ororo had readily seen.

As they lay together, speaking to each other quietly, his body simply couldn’t take it anymore and he gave up the fight and submitted to his body’s demands for rest. As he dozed off, he felt her press a loving kiss to his forehead and the softness of the sheets being pulled over him.

All was peaceful in his repose, until the images began to trickle in unhurriedly and vividly. With the imagery came potent feelings and sensations he hadn’t experience in a very long time. A sensation of being submerged in a tank of cold water with a mask delivering vital oxygen to his comatose body assaulted him. There were tubes attached to him from head to toe and restraints keeping him in place.

Then suddenly, a burning, all consuming sensation rocked his body. He was in intense pain, inconceivable pain, as he lashed out, attempting to flee the hot flames of agony clobbering his body. He struggled wildly against the restraints, but in vain. When the pain threatened to consume his very existence, he roared with all his might and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Through his torment, he saw slight shadows of people above him, just beyond his prison of water, studying him, stabbing him, slicing him and inflicting the harshest form of pain on him. Then he felt liquid heat running through every inch of his body, solidifying almost instantly. Each and every inch of his body was abused as the foreign substance invaded him. He raged and howled incessantly, his sounds of pain ignored.

Even after the intense pain had faded to a throbbing ache, he continued to roar and holler. He was no longer man, but the beast that resided inside of him as he had tiredly and willingly handed over control to his feral half. His beast in all of its rage broke free of the manacles that held him. Smelling freedom and tasting revenge, he surged from the tank with a ferocious roar that instilled fear and dread in the figures that stood by purposefully inflicting this immeasurable amount of pain. He tore the mask away from his face and in one fluid motion, escaped from the tank.

The people in the room, sensing their impending demise, attempted to flee as the wild manic man sized up each and every one of them. As he moved forward to exact his revenge, another round of pain gripped him as metal weapons emerged from his hands. In his rage, understanding dawned on him as he looked at his hands. With a roar that was never heard before and lightning quickness, he exacted his revenge on each and every one of the cowards, punching their tickets to hell by slaying every last one of them. Bodies littered the lab and he ran from the massacre, a nude bloody mess, unsure of who he was and where he was going.

He barely suppressed the roar of rage and the need to release his claws as he shot up out of the nightmare. Disoriented, he felt the desire to cause carnage coupled with the panicky feeling and the strong impulse to take flight overtake him, as it always did after emerging from the nightmare. Then as quickly as the feelings engulfed him, they disappeared, only to be replaced by feelings of serenity.

Logan took in huge mouthfuls of air and held his head between his trembling hands, attempting to calm his rapidly beating heart and calm the flow of sinister and dangerous emotions the nightmare had triggered. He hadn’t had that particular nightmare in the couple of years since he had realized that Ororo was his love and since they had begun their relationship, which led him to question why now?

He glanced over to his mate’s sleeping form next to him and reached out with an unsteady hand to gently stroke the smooth skin of her face. In desperate need of some form of contact with her, he gathered her in his arms and held onto her as if his very life depended on it.

Ororo awoke with a start, her eyes whited over, ready to call on the power she wielded in order to deal with whomever had her trapped in a stranglehold. Her mind quickly registered that it was Logan when his tobacco and pine musk floated to her nostrils. She righted herself and held onto him, providing him with the comfort she instinctively knew he demanded.

She was reminded of the one night she had witnessed him in the throes of one of his infamous nightmares. Witnessing first hand his torment, fear, vulnerability and desperation was something she would never forget. When breathing became difficult for her, she squirmed a bit, letting him know to ease up with his stronghold.

With her eyes watching him carefully, she sat up, propping her back against the headboard and then signaling for him to lie his head on her naked ample chest. Soothingly, she ran her fingers through his damp locks and hummed a lullaby she vaguely remember her mother singing to her. Occasionally, she would lean down and press a kiss to his head. Long minutes passed and she continued to hold him in silence, giving him a chance to get his bearings and ponder having her seeing him in such a state.

Ororo felt his hot breath on her flesh and heard his soft whining noises. A few moments later, he turned his body so the back of his head was lying against her bosom and he gazed up at her with wide, fearful eyes that still held traces of obsidian in them. What she saw in them arrested her and simply took her breath away. The formidable Wolverine was afraid and was silently pleading for her protection and warmth.

She answered his pleas by cradling his head and leaning down to gently kiss his lips. “I am here, my love,” she said softly, reassuringly.

“I haven’t had that nightmare in a couple of years now,” he replied unsteadily, the beast still lingering at the surface.

Ororo smiled gently at him, giving him the opportunity to let it out.

“Christ ‘Ro,” he expelled a shaky breath. “It was so damn real. Feel like I was back in that flamin’ hellhole.”

Her brows furrowed a bit. “I sense that it was unlike the other times you have had your nightmares?” Her statement was more of an inquiry.

“It was,” he confirmed. “Felt as if I was physically there. I could see, feel and hear everythin’.”

“Hmm…” she mused, “Something must have happened to trigger it…to give you that intense feeling. Maybe it was the scope of the last mission?”

He shrugged carelessly, not wanting to dwell on the feelings of helplessness much longer. “Dunno ‘Ro.” Then, “Shit, maybe. Everythin’ ‘bout that lab we wiped out…” he sighed deeply, forcing out the breath harshly. “I didn’t have ta imagine the horrors those kids went through, cause I went through them.”

Ororo was silent for a minute, watching him intently as the emotions flittered across his face. “Maybe you should see Charles. Maybe this goes deeper than just the nightmare.”

He closed his eyes willing himself not to think about the horrors of that nightmare and the mission. “It was so damn real,” he grated frustratingly. “I’ll see Chuck in the mornin’.” He opened his eyes and gazed at the love of his life. He didn’t know how he would ever be able to survive without her…hell! He was surprised he had made it this far without her. She had heard his pleas for her protection and she had given it without a second thought. Christ! How much he loved this woman.

“Thanks darlin’,” he murmured hoarsely.

Her soft answering smile told him that she was simply doing her job as his mate.

He turned slightly and burrowed his head between her breasts, nuzzling her with his nose and mouth, urgently dropping fevered kisses to her delicate flesh. Without hesitation and whispering words of comfort, her fingers found their way to his head and she stroked it, knitting her fingers through hair. A few minutes later, his deep even breathing lets her know that he had fallen back to sleep. Without disturbing him, she reached for her pillow and placed it behind her back, making herself more comfortable for the night’s watch over her love.





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