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Author's Chapter Notes:
A companion piece to Chapter 3 - Suspension
Chapter 9 - Compromise

Relationship Status - pre

Logan angrily and resolutely stalked to his room, the air around him indicative of a looming thunderstorm, the simplest thing threatening to trigger his wrath. He didn’t need this shit. Who the fuck did she think she is? “No more missions until you are reinstated by me.” He growled at the recollection of her words less than half an hour ago. He’d had it with her and her superior, higher than thou attitude. He didn’t need the X-men, they needed him. He wasn’t the best at what he did for nothing. “Your lone wolf tendencies endanger all of us out on the field.” He snorted. His lone wolf tendencies indeed. He was the Wolverine, a survivor of all the horrors of that life had thrown at him. His lone wolf tendencies as she deemed to call it, have kept him alive thus far. He had no need, no use, for the baggage of people in his life.

He almost pulled the knob out of his bedroom door, when he forcefully twisted it. He slammed his way into the room, immediately making a beeline for his on-the-go duffel bag. He always kept it packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. This sure as hell was one of those times where a moment’s notice qualified. He had to get away from this minstrel show. It was crucial to keeping intact whatever mental health he had left. He grabbed his duffel, the remaining cigars on this bureau and his zippo lighter and left the room as angrily as he came in. He went in search of Marie to notify her of his departure. He found her in the foyer with the other two stooges, Kitty and Jubilee, apparently getting ready for their usual mall haunt.

Marie didn’t even need to see his duffel slung carelessly over his shoulder to tell her he was taking off. His face said it all. She was expecting this after news of his earlier row with Storm spread like wildfire. Marie downed a facsimile of a smile on her face. “Ah see yah’re takin’ off.”

Logan saw the sadness lurking in her eyes and tried his damnedest to stay focus to his plan. “Yeah, kid.”

She eyed him carefully, noticing the anger and something akin to hurt in his eyes. “How long are yah goin’ for?”

“I’ll be back in a few days.”

Marie understood. He wasn’t going to tuck tail and run to Canada. He was going to the secret apartment he kept in the city, where he usually shacked up to clear his head. This meant he won’t be away for long. She felt an immense rush of relief. She closed the remaining distance between them and enveloped him in a warm hug. He awkwardly patted her back in some semblance of comfort. She mumbled in his shirt, but with his keen sense of hearing, he heard her. “It’s gonna be ahright, Logan.”

He pushed her away from him and stared into her eyes. Amidst the sadness, he saw her understanding and simply nodded his goodbye. He knows that she knew him, probably as well as he knew himself. While she was sad to see him go, she understood his need to leave. He was grateful that the chatterbox and the half pint remained quiet throughout his exchange with Rogue. However, a brief glance at them indicated that they too weren’t too happy with his departure, but at this point, he didn’t give a bleedin’ damn.

As he turned to make his exit to the garage, his parting words to the three girls were, “Keep yer asses outta trouble.”

Her scent hit him head on as he approached the garage. That heady mixture of sandalwood, freshly fallen rain and jasmine. Logan growled softly, his hasty escape thwarted. He steeled himself against any tirade she might hit him with and entered the garage, making a beeline for his motorcycle. He ignored her, refusing to spare her a glance.

Ororo studied him intently, taking in his angry, jerky movements. She was leaving the locker room when the Professor gave her the heads up about Logan’s plans. The guilt she felt earlier about suspending him assaulted her again. She had to make him see that both the team and children needed him. You need him too, Ororo, maybe more than anyone else. She frowned at the direction of her thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on her feelings for the feral Canadian. Logan walking the motorcycle out of the garage snapped her out of her momentary lapse and she asked in a neutral tone, “Where are you off to Logan?”

Silence. She knew he heard her.

“When will you be back?”

More silence.

“Damn it Wolverine!”

Her swearing and the use of his code name stopped him in his tracks. He released the kickstand on the motorcycle and leaned up against vehicle. “Somethin’ ya want Storm?”

She shot him a withering look. He just wasn’t going to make this easy, was he? “Yes. Why are you leaving?”

Logan eyed her derisively. He was itching for a fight and he was more than up for going tit for tat with her. He scoffed at her question. “What business is that of yers?”

“It’s my business when an active member of the team is leaving without mentioning where he is going.”

Aww hell, she just had to go and pull rank on him. The gloves were off now. “Yer ass suspended me not ta long ago. So as far as I’m concerned, I ain’t an active member of da team.”

Ororo gazed at him, leveling him with an equally intense stare. If he wanted to play hardball, she was game. “I was hoping to discuss this like rational and mature adults.”

“Ain’t nuttin’ ta discuss Storm. Ya made that clear.”

“ Logan, it was nothing personal. My decision was strictly on a professional level.”

He snorted. “Yeah and I’m about ta go have tea with Magneto.”

She combed her hands through her hair, the frustration she felt not to long ago seeping through the surface once again. “Can we come to some kind of compromise?”

Logan looked at her as if she suddenly grew another head. “No. Ya made yer choice.” He turned back to his bike, intent on getting the hell out of dodge. Her next words gave him pause.

“I do not want to fight with you anymore, Logan.”

All the animosity went out of him then. He took in her stooped shoulders and the less than confident look on her stunning face. That look that took over her features gave him an uneasy feeling, because if there was one thing he can count on was the air of confidence she always exuded. Seeing the diffident look contorting her features unsettled him. At that moment he realized that he would give anything to wipe that look off of her face.

Without stopping to ponder the meaning of his unease and against his better judgment, he moved closer to her and without thinking, said, “What sorta compromise ya had in mind?”

She looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes and an accelerated heart rate. Beaming up at him, she replied,

“How about we discuss it over a drink?”





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