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Logan grimaced as thoughts of his looming conversation with ‘Ro dominated his mind. After dinner, she had taken the twins upstairs to clean them up and get them ready for bed, while he cleaned up the remnants of their meal and did his customary security check of the premises. He had purposefully taken his sweet time doing his chores, putting off the inevitable for as long as possible. Christ! But he had gone and done it….gone and gotten himself into a conundrum. Here he was agreeing to head the special ops division of the X-Men, and the ink hadn’t even been dried on his resignation from the Avengers.

Ororo’s constant piercing looks during dinner and her tense posture, not to mention the anxiety rolling off of her, all told him that come hell or high water, they would be talking tonight. He knew she was smart enough to figure out that something was going on. Her calling him by his birth name was proof positive of that. He was smart enough to know that her reaction to what he and Scott had discussed was not going to be a good one. He hoped that Westchester was prepared for some dangerous storms tonight.

He sighed as he took a seat on the steps of the deck outside the kitchen. He lit up his second cheroot of the night and took a long pull. The nicotine didn’t bring him its usual comfort and he doubted he’ll find any this night, especially with his insides currently tied up in knots. For the first time for the day, he acknowledged the second thoughts he was having about taking Scooter up on his offer. Logan willingly admitted that his decision was a reflex one. It wasn’t every day that the fearless leader of the X-Men entrusted such an enormous responsibility to any one member of the team…most especially to him, the Wolverine and above all given their turbulent history.

Without much thought, he had readily agreed to Cyclops’ new vision for the X-Men and now that he had time to think about it, he realized that it should have been a decision best made after much discussion between the team as a whole and the Professor. But most importantly, it should have been a decision best made after discussion between Logan and Ororo, husband and wife…not Storm the second in command and Wolverine. Ororo was definitely going to blow a gasket…and she had every right.

He took the now burnt out cigar out of his mouth and fiddled with it. He sighed and thought about Ororo, putting himself in her place as his spouse. His off the cuff decision was unfair to her, not to mention his kids. When he was with the Avengers, he did his kids and wife a terrible disservice by placing working for a thankless government before them. He had promised them that all that was going to change, now that he was no longer part of the superhero group. However, he had already broken that promise by agreeing to Cyclops’ plan without much thought and rationale.

Ororo of all people didn’t deserve him making decisions without her, especially decisions that could and most like would have dire consequences, not only for the X-Men but for their family. Cyke was right about one thing, the world was changing and becoming more dangerous with the rise of more intelligent enemies. Even though the X-Men were on the back burner due to the many superhero teams currently saving the world, it didn’t mean that they should sit back and wait for their enemies to come to them. They had to be prepared for any and all possibility. More so now than ever because they all had families to protect.

Yet, on the other side of the change equation was his life, his family. His life was changing too…had changed. He no longer had the luxury to give into his wanderlust thirst and come and go as he pleased. He had responsibilities to the school as a teacher and trainer and he had responsibilities to his family as their pack leader. He and ‘Ro were adding to their pack, which in itself was a huge change to their current way of life. Additionally, they had to continue to provide for and love their twins as they grew up. Shouldn’t those responsibilities take precedence over any and all things? He immediately knew the answer to that question. Yes, his family was the most important thing to him and he would go through hell to protect them and provide for them whatever they needed.

So, did that mean he was willing to risk the same things he did when he was an Avenger to be the X-Men Special Ops unit leader? Again, the answer was immediately forthcoming. Hell no! While he agreed that the special operations unit of the team was needed and necessary, he also knew without a shadow of a doubt that his family’s dependence on him took precedence over everything…even the X-Men, something he had proven with his departure from the Avengers and had no qualms about proving again.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was one way out of this conundrum. Logan sighed, knowing what his decision was already made for him.

“Are you ready to let me know what is bothering you?”

Logan’s head swung around at the sound of Ororo’s husky voice. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even smell her heavenly scent as she approached. She walked over to where he sat and took a seat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. His arm instinctively and immediately went around her waist, pulling her closer towards him. They sat in silence for a while, with him thinking of the best way to broach the subject and she giving him time to gather his thoughts.

“Me and Cyclops had a talk earlier,” he began, clearing his throat of the roughness that gathered there out of nowhere. “We talked about expanding the team.”

“In what way?”

“He thinks…” He paused, withdrawing his arm from around her and turning so that she had no choice but to look up at him. “Actually…ya see…Scooter came up with the idea and I think it’s a good one.”

Ororo jerked her head up off his shoulder and leveled him with a challenging stare. Her eyes were narrowed and her brows were knitted together into a fearsome frown.

Logan grimaced. That look from her meant it was time to spit it out. “We want ta create a special operations division as part of the overall team. And he asked me ta head that unit.”

Nervously, he gauged her reaction as he held her blue gaze. Her face registered blank, refusing to give him an inkling of what she was feeling and thinking. Out of desperation, he took a subtle whiff to see if he could assess her by her scents. Nothing on that front either. He began to panic at her lack of reaction and lowered his eyes under the weight of her heavy glare.

A minute later, Ororo slowly stood, rushing air through her lips. She turned and began to walk back towards the door.

“’Ro? Darlin’?” His words stopped her in her tracks, but she didn’t turn around to acknowledge him. “Baby, say something.”

“What is there for me to say, Logan?” She burst out, the emotions she attempted to suppress coming to the forefront. ”You just cannot seem to get enough of the thrill being a superhero mutant gives you. You have a family who needs you, but yet you go and make rash decisions without consulting me first.”

“Baby…I…”

Ororo spun around, her eyes flashing with righteous anger. Lightning streaked across the night sky, letting him know that she was in full Goddess mode…full angry Goddess mode to be exact. “Your damn impulsive decisions affects every single one of us in this household, Logan. Yet, you continue to make them. Do you not care about us? About our feelings?”

Logan’s soft growl carried a hint of vulnerability. The Wolverine didn’t like hearing he didn’t give a damn about his family. “That’s not fair, ‘Ro,” his voice was hoarse with his attempts to keep his bestial half at bay. “That’s not fair at all.”

“I cannot afford to be fair right now!” She railed, “I am trying to make you see that here is where you are needed most. Here is where you should be dedicating your time. Not to some damn team Scott thought of on a whim!” She glanced down at her still flat stomach, rubbing it softly.

Logan panicked at her action, immediately fearing the worse. He rushed to where she was standing, reaching for her. “Darlin’, ya ok?”

Ororo squirmed out of his grasp. She didn’t want to be touched by him right now, knowing that she would give up this fight should she succumb to his touch. “No, I am not ok. I am mad as hell at you right now, Logan.” Her nose flared dangerously as she got more worked up. “Goddess! You just finished telling Nick Fury to take a flying leap and because Scott has chosen you to head a new part of the team, you jumped at the chance? What is wrong with you? And my brother will be getting a piece of my mind too!” Thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance, effectively punctuating her feelings on the subject.

Maybe it was the hormones that was turning her into the raving lunatic she felt she was turning into on account of this exasperating man whom she loved more than life itself, but she didn’t care. She was fighting for their future. She took several deep calming cleansing breaths to quell her anger.

“Baby, give me a chance ta explain,” he whined.

“To explain what?” She shot back.

“My decision.”

She lifted pale eyebrows as she scoffed, “Oh, so now you want to discuss your decision?”

“Dammit, ‘Ro! Gimme a chance ta explain!” He huffed, assuaging his own rising temper. He expected her to be angry, but not unreasonable.

“Fine. Explain.” Impatiently, she tapped her right foot and glared hot angry fire at him.

Logan raked frustrated fingers through his thick locks. “I’m tryin’ ta be rational about this.”

Ororo barked a short mirthless laugh. “Rational? What is rational about you wanting to continue the work you swore to me last night was not the life for you anymore?”

“Christ! There’s no reasonin’ with ya,” he muttered. Then suddenly, he got a whiff of something. Something that stopped him dead in his tracks. Ororo was afraid. Try as she might to hide it, the slight stench of fear was unmistakable. He never wanted his ‘Ro to feel that particular emotion, especially in her current pregnant state. It was time to put her fears to rest. His eyes darkened and took on a dangerous glint, as the Wolverine rose to the surface.

He slowly made his way over to where she was standing, hands on her hips…sexy as hell in all her ire. He grinned ferally. “Yer gonna listen’ ta me, Ororo N’Dare Munroe Howlett and yer gonna listen ta me real good.”

However, before he could utter another word, she turned in a huff, marching towards the door, all but ripping it off its hinges. “I do not have to listen to this,” she stated angrily. “It is apparent that your mind is already made up.” Thunder and lightning followed her dramatic exit.

Logan watched her retreat in stunned silence, wondering what the hell just happened. Dammit! His decision wasn’t what she thought it was and if she thought that she was getting away from him without hearing his side, she had another thing coming. Growling lowly, he followed her with purposeful strides.





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